Chapter 10- What's the Deal?
The crack that had reverberated throughout the magical universe had woken her. She knew what it meant. She knew what she had to do. So she scrambled out of her bed and raced to her balcony overlooking the Domino Palace grounds. Gripping the balustrade, she closed her eyes and worked on sensing the source of the crack. Her powerful magic reached out, surveying everything and finding the trail the reverberation had left. Within seconds she knew where it had come from.
"Alfea." Bloom whispered. "The demon came through a portal at Alfea."
Bloom had felt that kind of portalling energy twice before. Once falling into the Death Realm. Once escaping the Death Realm. This one felt very strong though. The powerful release of energy could only mean that the balance between the two realms was breaking down, just like Ciaran and the monster from her nightmares had warned her. What kind of creature escaped, Bloom didn't know. But it had to go back or they risked breaking the delicate balance completely, bringing about a universal apocalypse. Which wasn't exactly something Bloom wanted to handle.
"Believix! Zoomix!" Bloom closed her eyes as the familiar energy of her Believix magic washed over her, carrying her away from her balcony to Magix. When the feeling began to subside Bloom opened her eyes and landed in a crouch. She was surrounded by tall trees and thickets on all sides. She whipped around, trying to identify where she was. "Shoot." she muttered. "My portalling is off for some reason. Where the hell am I?"
A rustling in the bushes made her jump. She faced the rustling, flames in hand, preparing herself for any possible situation. Déjà vu washed over her as memory of her nightmare replayed in her mind. Fear shot through her and her flames sputtered out. "No…"
"I gave you a warning, a chance to make things right, Bloom." It was the same low voice and held that same growl. Bloom fought back shivers as it spoke again. "You could've turned yourself in. Now you've forced me to physically drag you back to the Death Realm."
Panic overcame Bloom's fear. "Don't! Something's escaped the Death Realm again! Something powerful! I have to save Alfea! My friends are there…"
"Don't waste my time. Don't give me excuses. You're that powerful thing that escaped the Death Realm. You need to be stopped before the balance is completely upset." Bloom saw a shadowy figure move from the bushes behind the trunk of a tree. "I want you to know that I don't want to do this. The fact that I've waited so long was a favor to your sister…"
"Daphne? What about her?" Bloom slowly stepped to the side to try gain a better view of the figure. "You don't want to return her to the Death Realm, do you?"
"NO!" The figure snapped, making Bloom flinch. "I'm grateful you were able to break her out… I'd never let the bastards of the Silver Kingdom take her back. Never." He sounded fierce as he voiced his denial.
Bloom frowned. "What?" She tried to approach the figure, but the figure stepped back further into the dark shadows. "What's Daphne to you? Why would you feel compelled to holdback because of her?" The voice said nothing. "Well if you care enough to hold back, at least hold back a little longer! Please, my friends need me." Bloom pleaded.
"I can't… you don't understand." Bloom could sense the desperate struggle in his voice as he spoke. "I made a promise that I'd take you back. In return the Silver Kingdom would leave Daphne alone. As her sister you should be willing to save her. She did the same for you eighteen years ago!"
"Who are you?! You're not the same monster that chased me in my nightmare! That thing was merciless!" Bloom re-summoned her fire and took aim at the figure.
"I was trying to convince you in your dreams. But you wouldn't listen… please, Bloom!" The voice was pleading with her now and Bloom felt confusion rise up within her. "Let me take you back!"
"Who are you!?" Bloom took several steps forward before the figure could react and the light from her fire lit up the figure's face. The figure flinched in the light and blinked rapidly like he hadn't seen light in a long time. She could see it was a man with dark brown hair and glinting gray eyes dressed in a long black cloak that blended in with the shadows all too well. "Tell me who you are!"
Shifting uncomfortably in the light, the man looked at her. "You need to go back."
"I'm not going back without whatever it was that broke out." Bloom said stubbornly. "So either we battle it out right now, which I doubt you'll win because I'm supposed to be uber-powerful, or you can let me go and handle the situation accordingly." She closed her fist and the fire went out. "Believe me, something terrible has broken through and needs to be stopped. I care about Daphne and I'll do anything to keep her alive. But I can't leave my friends with whatever it is that's free."
"So if I let you deal with this… problem you'll come back with me?" The man asked quietly, skeptically.
Bloom opened her mouth to say yes, but hesitated. Memories of the horrors she'd faced in the Death Realm haunted her in the back of her mind. She thought about her parents, her friends, Sky… they would all be left to mourn her yet again. She closed her eyes tight and held her breath as she shoved back her fears and worries. "Yes. Yes, I'll go back. But Daphne and Nabu stay."
He nodded slowly. "That's the deal then. But I can't just let you go off by yourself. I have to keep my eye on you. I'll be in the shadows, following you no matter where you go to hide. If you've lied to me about this evil, then I'll drag you back no questions, no mercy." He turned his back to her, looking straight ahead into the shadows of the undergrowth. "Alfea is to your left as the crow flies. Don't take any detours. I'll be watching you." He moved to leave but Bloom stopped him with one last question.
"Who are you?" Bloom asked again.
The man hesitated, then glanced back at her. "My name is Mathias. And I'm a servant to the Theistic Wizards." Then he was gone.
Taking Mathias' directions, Bloom ran through the growths of bushes and darted around the large trunks of trees. Her heart pounded harder in her chest the closer she got to Alfea. She was getting that much closer to helping her friends all while getting that much closer to her impending doom. So many feelings were fighting for control within her; fear, fury, melancholy, worry, determination… they all made her heart heavy and her head ache. She tried her best to ignore them all and focus on saving the universe, again.
'Will I actually die this time?' Bloom wondered as she ducked a large branch reaching out over her path. 'Or will they just throw me in body and soul again and let the demons have at me?' She redirected her thoughts and found herself thinking about her mission instead. 'What powerful thing broke out of the Death Realm? How am I going to be able to stop it if it's that powerful? I couldn't have broken out myself, could I have?' She used her momentum to vault herself over a huge log lying in the middle of her path. 'Why is everything going to hell again? Why me?'
Suddenly the density of the forest began to let up and Bloom found herself fighting less foliage. She fought her feeling of dread and latched her being on her feelings of anticipation. Finally she reached the forest border, where the treeline stopped at the bottom of a tall hill. Over that hill would be Alfea.
Bloom paused and listened. Everything sounded so quiet, which made her especially nervous. Was she too late? Had the creature already taken out Alfea and destroyed her friends? She scrambled to the top of the hill and gasped as her fears were realized.
Alfea lay before her in ruins.