Chapter 2- Shadow
Miriam sat quietly at the tea table and observed her daughter slowly stir her tea. Bloom seemed to be distracted by something, her blue eyes weren't focused on anything at the table or in the room for that matter. Miriam wanted to say something to encourage her daughter to speak her mind, but she didn't want to come off as a nosy mother. So she sat drinking her tea with well-trained composure. She could wait for Bloom to confide in her. And she believed Bloom would in time.
As for Oritel, he couldn't just let that time come naturally with ease. Rather, he broke the tranquil silence with the question both he and Miriam had been thinking of. "Is something wrong Bloom?"
Bloom snapped out of her daze and looked in surprise at her father. "What?" Her blue eyes wouldn't meet either of their gazes.
"I asked if something was wrong?" Oritel's eyes narrowed and his voice became low and dangerous. "Has Sky said or done something to upset you again?" he asked brusquely. Startled by this comment, Miriam nearly dropped her teacup.
"What no!" Bloom shook her head frantically. "I'm fine Daddy! Really I'm okay…just a tad tired is all." She cleared her throat and focused hard on stirring her tea.
Oritel looked at Miriam, searching for the answer to Bloom's odd behavior. Miriam rolled her eyes and decided she'd have to find the truth herself. "Sweetie. You seem a bit distracted today. Your father is just worried that you're not feeling well." She watched as her daughter stopped needlessly stirring her tea and set the teaspoon down. They sat in silence, Miriam and Oritel both looking at their daughter, Bloom staring down at the beautifully embroidered table cloth. Finally Bloom spoke.
"I was just thinking about the wedding dress I should wear…" Bloom's voice trailed off. Miriam could tell she was lying. Bloom's lovely features became tense and her eyes unfocused whenever she lied to people. As they were doing now.
"That's wonderful!" Oritel gave a broad smile. Miriam placed a hand on her forehead in exasperation. Oritel was dense when it came to what was on women's minds and what they're feeling. He obviously had fallen for the lie, with the idea that everything was just well in Bloom's life stuck in his head. "You and your mother should definitely have a discussion about that! Perhaps this afternoon?" He was oblivious.
"How about we have a discussion about that right now?" Miriam threw a look at Oritel, who was biting down into a raspberry tart. He looked at her oddly, still holding the tart up to his mouth, and she gave him the same look again. "Alone. Together. Bloom and I…Oritel don't you have some matters to attend to?"
Oritel looked at the tart in his hand, thought about Miriam's question, swallowed, then looked at Miriam with a shrug. "No." Miriam kicked him beneath the table. "Ow! What?" Oritel looked at Miriam in puzzlement. He still wasn't getting Miriam's idea.
Miriam sighed, annoyed that Oritel could be so ignorant sometimes. "Go away Oritel." She watched as the signs and signals slowly began to tip him off.
He gave a slow nod of understanding. "I've got a royal meeting…with…someone." Oritel got up quickly and left the room. Miriam hoped he understood that Bloom really needed her mother right then.
Miriam and Bloom gazed at one another across the table. A tense silence filled the room after Oritel left. The tension mostly came from Bloom as she fidgeted nervously under Miriam's gaze. "Bloom, what is the matter?" Miriam asked gently. She hoped she wasn't coming off as a prying mother.
Bloom looked at Miriam. She still refused to meet Miriam's eyes and she blinked as she spoke. "There is nothing wrong. Nothing." Bloom sounded as though she was trying to convince herself as well as Miriam.
Miriam stood up and walked over to her daughter. She carefully pushed a strand of fiery red hair out of her daughter's face. "You lie." The next thing Miriam knew Bloom was hugging her fiercely and crying. "Shhh. It's alright." Miriam soothed. She waited as Bloom composed herself enough to speak.
"Have you…have you ever been incapable of doing something?" Bloom hiccupped. "Something that everyone expected of you, that everybody still expects you did?" Bloom pulled away and looked at Miriam, her blue eyes tinged with red.
"Of course…" Miriam took Bloom's hands into hers. "But what have you not done? Bloom, you've done much. But, I don't think you've done anything wrong."
Bloom just looked down at the floor. Miriam watched her, certain that Bloom would tell her what was wrong. But then Bloom pulled her hands away and headed for the door. "You're right. I haven't done anything wrong. How silly of me to worry for nothing." Bloom's voice didn't sound reassuring. Miriam's worry didn't abate as she watched Bloom leave the room.
Baltor stared incredulously at Diaspro. They were currently wandering through the shadow realm, a dark, god-forsaken realm that interconnected with all the realms of the universe. Shadow beings and dark magicians often traveled the shadow realms to quickly get from place to place. It surprised him that Diaspro was capable of opening the shadows. He had to admit he was impressed with the young girl, for it took years to master the shadow travel art. One could easily get lost in the shadows, but she seemed quite sure about where she was going.
"So this dastardly plan you have…what is it?" Baltor asked finally. He'd become annoyed with her insistence on being mum about the plan.
Diaspro stopped and turned to gaze at him, her amber eyes glowing despite the lack of light. "I suppose I can tell you now that you've vowed to assist me. As soon as Sky had me banned from Eraklyon, I went back to my home realm of Isis. I'd become a disgrace to my kingdom because of my actions and my involvement with you. I'll admit, those were my mistakes, but I didn't ruin my life. Bloom did. She took everything away from me!" Diaspro's fists clenched and her voice became vicious.
Baltor rolled his eyes. "Can we skip ahead to the plan?"
She threw him a glare. "I vowed then and there that I'd get my revenge on Bloom. But I kept hearing about how she'd become stronger and stronger. I couldn't take care of her at the power level I was at. So sought out power for myself."
"You took the oaths to become a fairy of Hecate." Baltor stated.
Diaspro nodded eagerly. "Yes. My magic became stronger and darker. Just the magic I needed to take Bloom on, which was my original plan for revenge. But then I came across some interesting scrolls while I was training to become a Wicca fairy. Trainees of Hecate are given access to some of the most powerful scrolls of dark magic and history in the universe. In them I read about two fairy entities."
Baltor looked at her in surprise. "How? All scrolls and documentation about the fairy entities were supposed to have been destroyed centuries ago to prevent people from tampering with the forces of nature and laws of physics."
Diaspro laughed. "Please. When people say they're going to destroy something, someone somewhere works to preserve what they're going to destroy. Copies of those original scrolls and documents still exist. Some they never even destroyed."
Baltor nodded slowly, doubts still working in his mind. "Continue."
"In the scrolls I found I read about the fairy entities of time and space. Eilian and Aetheria. Legend has it they protect the aspects of time and space that make up each person's identity." Diaspro smiled, baring her white teeth.
"What does this have to do with your plan on destroying Bloom?" Baltor asked. He was growing more weary of Diaspro's dabbling by the minute .
"The entities aren't the key. The aspects are. My plan is to go to the very realms of Eilian and Aetheria and take the aspects that make up Bloom's identity." Diaspro's eyes flashed and excitement filled her tone.
"Then what?" Baltor asked.
"Then, we destroy them, thus destroying Bloom." Diaspro finished.
Baltor sighed. The plan was original, he had to give her that. But the plan was on the brink of, if not actually, impossible. "It's dastardly, but insane. Nobody knows where those entities' realms reside. We'd never be able to find them."
"I've determined that the two realms must lie outside of the magical universe. They must act something like the Golden Kingdom. Realms outside the universe need something to anchor them to the universe in order for them to exist. The trick is getting there. That's why I've taken us to the shadow realms. There has to be some sort of entrance here, considering the shadow realms interconnect with all the realms." Diaspro started walking again. "So we're heading to the ancient sections of this realm."
"How would you destroy the two aspects of Bloom?" Baltor asked, following the annoyingly, refined, blonde Wicca Fairy.
"We bring the two aspects to the Dais of Chaos, the very place, comparatively, where the heavens and the earth were born. Theoretically, it's also the birthplace of the Dragon Fire and the Water Stars. There we combine them and then there will be no more Bloom. Ironically, I've located this place to be close to Sparks." Diaspro looked at Baltor. "Well?"
Baltor fell to deep thought. Diaspro had thought of everything, proving just how devious she really could be. Nobody would expect Bloom's destruction would be caused by her very own identity. The whole plan was capable of being done. Without Bloom in his way, Baltor could have the magical universe as his own. Miriam and Oritel were weak and pathetic compared to their child. He'd have no trouble with them. "It's all well thought out. Very good." Baltor commented.
Diaspro smiled haughtily. " During all of that lovely chat, we've arrived at the primordial section of the shadow realm."
Baltor glanced around and sure enough he could tell the place was ancient. Even more ancient than the Ancestrals themselves. Dilapidated Grecian styled columns rose up everywhere. Rubble and the remains of architecture lay scattered over the ground everywhere. Here and there stood antediluvian doorways and archways; some were falling apart, but many still stood ominously, entrances to the unknown. "That we have." he muttered in awe.
Diaspro shivered and laughed in delight. "I can feel ancient powers still pervade the air here. It's rich and dark. Like chocolate!"
Baltor looked at her oddly and shook his head. "Which door will take us to the realm Eilian resides in?"
Diaspro looked around. "Well, the realm is called Eilian's Keep. Look at the standing archways and doorways. One of them must have a sign of some sort." Diaspro stalked away, intent on finding the door.
"A sign. Right." Baltor muttered. "I guess Diaspro's plan was bound to have holes in it. That must be why I'm here. To fill those holes." He carefully walked around the rubble, examining each and every doorway and archway he came across. Some were plain, while others were lavishly decorated with symbols and carvings. He doggedly continued his search until he became frustrated. Diaspro walked up, frowning at the rubble around her.
"There has to be some entrance." Diaspro cursed angrily. "I worked too hard on that damn plan to have my efforts be fruitless!"
Baltor said nothing. Rather he walked up to an archway he'd checked earlier. He'd gotten some kind of a feeling from it. He carefully walked around it, meticulously examining the carvings on the stone. At the top of the arch, a single symbol was carved into the stone, a scythe. Beneath this was a word written in some language. "Χρόνος." Baltor read.
"Excuse you?" Diaspro stared at him.
"It's Greek." Baltor explained. "Chronos."
Diaspro was quiet for a moment, then something dawned on her. "Chronos you say? Eilian was said to have been blessed by the titan Chronos. Chronos in Greek mythology was the Titan of Time." She gazed up at the top of the structure. "And the scythe was his symbol! This must be it. This must be the door to Eilian's Keep!"
Baltor nodded. Diaspro's plan was falling into place. Soon, Bloom would face the destruction she should've faced a long time ago.
-Author's Note- I apologize to one of my anonymous readers. I'm following the 4kids version of Winx Club, So I tend to call Valtor "Baltor". I've brought in some Greek mythology, mostly because much of Winx Club has been inspired by it. For example, there was the Minotaur they faced in Season 1, the name of the realm Narcissia is derived from the myth of Narcissus, even the name of Alfea refers to the first letter of the Greek alphabet alpha. There was even some Egyptian mythology mixed in. Diaspro's home realm is called Isis, after the Egyptian goddess. This bit of information is also from the 4kids dub of Winx Club. I hope you all enjoyed this chapter and I'd be grateful to hear your comments. ~Kyree Winx~