Chapter 22 - A Broken Bloom

The rocky ground crunched beneath her feet with every step she took. But she barely registered the noise as she pressed onward. Her breathing was loud and her heart beat harder the closer she got to her destination. Terrifying memories of her previous missions in the realm filled her head. She pushed them to the back of her mind and tried to keep her focus. In her hand she fingered the necklace she'd taken from Mathias. She had to be ready and prepared to do what she had to do. It was her destiny, right?

But Bloom wasn't ready at all for what she saw once she'd exited the tunnels of Shadow Haunt and entered the cavern that used to contain Darkar's fortress. The last time she'd been to Darkar's Fortress she and her friends had to run like hell to get out because the whole place was collapsing. She'd expected to see massive ruins and rubble scattered about the enormous cavern, perhaps even blocking the entrance she just came through. But instead of ruin there was Darkar's fortress, eerily hanging from the cavern ceiling like one massive system of stalactites. Seeing the fortress intact made Bloom stop in both shock and horror. "How the hell… I didn't resurrect Darkar did I? No… I don't sense…"

"AAAAAGGGGHHH!" cried out a voice, cutting off Bloom's train of thought.

Bloom recognized the voice. It had sung to her, read to her, soothed her, and disciplined her throughout her child hood. Hearing it cry out and express pain and agony made her heart break and her panic arise. When it cried out again, Bloom felt compelled to run to him. "Dad!" She abandoned her fears and charged forward, heading down the a recognizable path for the staircase that originated at the bottom. "I'm coming Daddy!" Bloom shouted, hoping she would hear her. "I'm coming!"

She took the seemingly natural stairs two at a time, feet clapping against the stone hard, her gaze locked ahead of her. She clenched the cold amulet tightly in her hand; a nervousness arose in her as she became more conscious of the amulet's being in her hand. "I'm coming!" she cried out again. As time passed Bloom's nervousness shook up question after question: How much time had passed? How many more steps could there possibly be? Were there this many before? Was she going to be too late?

"No!" Bloom slammed through a rickety wooden door at the top of the staircase and stumbled into a long hallway. She looked both directions, her memory and intuition suddenly abandoning her. "Which way… which…"

Her father gave another cry, this one sounding more fearful than pained. Bloom took the right corridor and raced along the hallway. "Please don't be like that endless hallway dream…" Bloom muttered as she settled her sights on a door at the end. "Don't be endless… don't be endless…" She reached the door and threw her shoulder against it. It busted open with a resounding crack. "Dad?"

Mike lay unconscious on the cold stone floor of the Shadow Phoenix's decrepit throne room. He looked pale and beaten, a hundred times worse shape than Bloom had ever seen him come out of a fire. Her heart dropped as she rushed to his side. "Daddy!? Don't be dead! Daddy…"

"He's not dead…" called a sad voice from across the room. Bloom's head snapped up and she locked eyes with herself: blue eyes met amber eyes. "Hello, Bloom…" Dark Bloom said. She was seated at the foot of Darkar's empty throne, her arms wrapped about her knees. Her expression looked blank, but her eyes held anger. Seeing them made Bloom mad.

"Enough." Bloom snapped angrily. She stood up and stepped over her father, placing herself between him and herself. "I don't care if you're me… I've no sympathy for you after all that you've done! Your crazed antics and tantrums have hurt everyone and everything in ways that are damned near irreparable!"

"I know." Dark Bloom looked up, her eyes suddenly a shocking blue. Bloom faltered in her rant and stared. "I know what I've done…" Dark Bloom whispered, her blue eyes becoming glassy. She buried her face in her hands and her shoulders gave a sudden heave like she was sobbing. "I know… I know… God, I know…" She looked up at Bloom, her cheeks suddenly stained with tears. "But I swear it's all I know, Bloom! It's not all I want to know, but somehow I can't bring myself to do anything but take and destroy." She held her hands before her and Bloom saw they were shaking. "It's like I'm you but I'm not… I'm not me…"

Bloom raised her own hands then and looked down at them, her mind sifting through all she'd done and all she could do. In her right palm she saw Mathias' amulet. It exuded its dark energies and Bloom remembered what she had to do. "Perhaps… perhaps neither of us is truly Bloom." Bloom said quietly. She looked up and saw Dark Bloom was gone. Panic filled her and she whipped around to look at her father, but instead she was tackled. "No!"

"I am Bloom! The Great Bloom of Domino!" hissed Dark Bloom, her eyes amber again and filled with hatred. "You are a pathetic girl with my powers!"

"No!" Bloom wrestled with herself. She managed to roll over on top of herself for mere seconds before the other regained the upper hand. "This madness needs to end! I need to end!"

"Yes, you do!" Dark Bloom laughed maniacally then. "Why fight me if you see things my way!

"I meant all of me, which includes you!" Bloom snapped.

"Never!" Dark Bloom growled and struggled to summon her powers. Bloom grabbed her hand and broke her concentration. "You will die! That damned agent should've dragged your pathetic ass back to the Death Realm! But now I see I have to do it myself!"

Dark Bloom's mention of the Death Realm reminded Bloom of Mathias' amulet. Then she realized she didn't have it. While tussling with Dark Bloom, she must've dropped it. With much struggle, Bloom managed to kick Dark Bloom off of her and she scrambled to her feet. Her gaze scanned the area, searching for where she'd dropped the necklace. "Shit!"

"Oh…" Dark Bloom cooed behind Bloom and she whipped around to find Dark Bloom had recovered rather quickly from a kick to the stomach. She was now standing over her unconscious father, the coyest of grins along with her almond eyes giving her a cat-like look. "…did we drop something? Was it this?" Dark Bloom held up the necklace by the chain, the dark amulet dangling over her father's head. "What cutesy little trinket is this? What is it? Is it a nasty little weapon? Were you planning to use it to stop me? I wonder if it will work on the mundane…"

"No, don't!" Bloom yelped, revealing her intentions with the amulet.

Dark Bloom smiled at Bloom's outburst. "Ah… so it is a nasty little weapon." Dark Bloom clucked her tongue and waggled her finger at Bloom. "Naughty…"

"We need to put an end to this… we can't keep going on like this!" Bloom pleaded. So much for fearlessly facing herself. "At least let Mike go. He's got nothing to do with this."

"But he's got everything to do with this!" cried out Dark Bloom then. Her eyes were blue again and the tears began to spill once more. "Why don't any of them love me? Why? I'm Bloom! Not even my parents… not even Daphne… I'm this horrible monster just because of these powers! I'm too strong… too much for anybody's expectations and still not enough!"

Bloom stared at herself. She'd thought the same thing before she'd gone to the Prima. She thought the same thing after she'd heard about her parents sending guards after her. She'd felt the same way after she'd destroyed Lilith and the demons. Everything this Dark Bloom felt, she'd felt too. This creature before her was a part of her. She only really wanted to be accepted for who she was. "Oh… Bloom…" Bloom whispered. The Dark Bloom was probably only acting out on her greatest desires: to get strong and powerful enough, to be able to deal with her problems using quick and simple solutions, to be able to overcome her fears and pressures without hesitation… this was her. She was literally in two pieces.

Suddenly the other Bloom looked up, her eyes shifting between blue and amber. "This rage and sadness will never end will it? We are incapable of exceeding anyone's expectations, including our own. We'll never be enough or have enough or want enough." She looked about the cavernous throne room, her eyes eventually resting on Darkar's throne. "Yes… I remember. The awakening… or was it an awakening? What if it was birth?" Dark Bloom looked at Bloom. "Perhaps… perhaps we aren't Bloom. Perhaps we are a creation of Darkar's? A mindless little pawn with no will of her own. All we know is take and destroy… take and destroy… And then what? Only one word came to mind and that was rule. And we tried that. But we couldn't do it… it's as if we weren't meant to do it…"

"No, Bloom." Bloom took a step toward herself, but the other Bloom backed away, clutching the necklace. "We aren't just a pawn…"

"You aren't… but I am…" whimpered Dark Bloom. Her eyes were flashing so quickly now Bloom couldn't actually separate the colors. She curiously gazed down at the necklace and looked up at Bloom. "I-I-I can't think for myself. Baltor just tried to use me to take out the Company of Light… I fell to his power so easily."

"We'll figure this out." Bloom held out her hand to Dark Bloom, not to take the amulet but to take Dark Bloom's hand. "Come on. Let me help you… me."

Dark Bloom's gaze was locked on the locket. Her curiosity somehow shifted to understanding and realization, as though she recognized the potential of the necklace. Bloom braced herself, praying Dark Bloom wouldn't use it on her. It took all her willpower not to flinch when Dark Bloom looked up at her. Dark Bloom spoke, "No. You're right. This needs to end. We… me… you… I… can't keep going on like this." With one last longing look to Mike lying on the floor, Dark Bloom quickly turned on her heel and ran for the opening in the wall that was supposed to serve as a window in the dark fortress.

"No, Bloom! No!" Bloom ran after herself but watched in horror as she threw herself over the edge. Suddenly it was like the two minds were melded, yet apart. Bloom could see the cavern floor rising up as well as watch herself fall. It was dizzying and brought on an onslaught of emotions, but Bloom grasped the wall and took in both scenes at once anyway. It was fearful to watch and yet she was too afraid to look away. "No!"

Then there was an overwhelming rush of darkness that consumed her and didn't consume her. Her head ached and there was an instant snapping sensation that left her head aching, like someone and pulled her apart. Bloom lost her grip on the wall and collapsed, dangerously close to the edge. Her vision was swimming and her mind reeling as it failed to collect itself. It took all the strength she had but she turned her head to look at her collapsed father. "I'm sorry…" she tried saying but she couldn't get her mouth to move. Her vision began to darken and she could no longer feel any of her senses or thoughts. The last thing she saw before she finally blacked out was Mathias stepping out of the shadows and racing toward…

~And so ends Destiny in Magic~