Chapter 8- Aetheria
Diaspro frowned as she watched the Company of Light scramble for a lead. "So they've discovered that Eilian is involved." She turned from the scene and entered the shadows. "Baltor should know of this."
She stepped out of the shadow realm to find Baltor sitting and fiddling with the vial again. "Baltor. The Company of Light knows." she said in a controlled voice.
Baltor stopped gazing at the grain and looked at Diaspro. "Knows what exactly?"
"About Eilian."
He quickly stood up and pocketed the vial. "Are you telling me that they've found out about our entering the Keep?" His gaze was dark as he looked at her.
"No. They think Eilian did something to make Bloom disappear." Diaspro answered.
Confusion replaced Baltor's dark look. "Bloom's disappeared?"
"From what I was able to discern…yes." Diaspro returned the confused look. "I thought that removing her time aspect would remove her from the flow of time. Is she not supposed to be gone?"
"She's been removed from time, yes. That would begin to alter memories and past events she was involved in. But she shouldn't have been physically removed. She should still be on our plane." Baltor paced across the room. "It doesn't make sense."
"Then…where is she?" Diaspro asked slowly.
Baltor stopped pacing and removed the vial once more from his pocket. He stared at it. "I don't know."
"Perhaps she knows what we're up to? Maybe she's hunting us down herself." Diaspro glanced toward the entrance of the cavern they'd hid in. "It is something she'd do." She looked at Baltor, who continued his silence. "There's no evidence to explain her disappearance other than the mad ravings of one of the Winx."
"Mad ravings? What mad ravings? Which of the Winx?" Baltor lay out the questions rapidly.
Diaspro looked in surprise. "The technical fairy. She used her computer to observe an altering of the time of one of the walls. They said Bloom just disappeared there. After a string of ideas, they stumbled on the mythology of the Divine Fairies."
Baltor slowly nodded. "Those aren't mad ravings if they're coming from the technical fairy. She only knows logic. If it was from any one of the others…" He fingered the vial in deep thought. "Bloom's disappeared. There was an altering of time in the fabric of space." He glanced at Diaspro. "There's only one explanation. Someone has removed Bloom's space aspect. And it wasn't us."
Diaspro blinked and stared at Baltor. "Impossible. The idea I came up with…"
"…wasn't as original as you thought. Someone else seeks to destroy Bloom I gather." Baltor said solemnly.
"Who?" Diaspro asked. "Who would come up with something like my plan?"
"Nobody said they had to come up with the plan themselves. They could have borrowed yours." Baltor stated matter-of-factly. "Someone must've caught on to your plan and wanted the glory of getting rid of her themselves."
"No." Diaspro shook her head.
"Oh? And how do you know that you kept your plan well hidden?" Baltor mocked.
Diaspro clenched her fists. "Because before I began following Bloom I stayed alone at the ruins of one of Hecate's temples! I haven't had contact with another living being since Sky had me thrown off of Eraklyon and my realm abandoned me, not counting you! Everything…my plan, my powers, my studies…they were completed in absolute silence! I was alone!" Her fists shook with tension as she let her emotions loose.
Baltor seemed unshaken by her outburst. His pitiless gaze was locked on her. "And my eighteen years trapped in the Omega dimension were nothing compared to your few months of solitude." He said this calmly without any emotion. "I'm afraid you don't know what torture is, Diaspro. Very few of you who are of the newer generation actually know what true pain and horror is. I believe only Bloom has seen hell. No one else. Allow me to condole you, Diaspro; what Bloom's going through right now is ten times worse than your torture."
"Right." Diaspro said shakily. "It had better be ten times worse." She slowly unclenched her fists. She took a shaky breath. "So if no one else is plotting against Bloom, what are our other options? Who took Bloom's space aspect?"
Baltor turned from her and clasped his hands behind his back. "I don't know. But I know this may work out for us."
"What?" Diaspro stared in bewilderment. "Why? It means we've got competition! How would it work out for us?"
Baltor gazed at Diaspro, his eyes now dangerously bright. "We no longer need to get into Aetheria's realm to find Bloom's aspect."
Aetheria stood quietly in the shadows at the ruins of an old Grecian temple. The stars winked above the roofless building, beautiful shards of glass against the black expanse of Nyx. In her hand she held a small crystal vial, and within sat the tiniest droplet of water.
Aetheria didn't give the droplet a second glance when she was removing it from the fabric of space. She'd been caring for millions like it for centuries, so what was so special about one more? Why would Eilian contact her and actually tell her to remove an aspect? Aetheria trusted her sister more than everything with the exception of the gods themselves. But if she or Eilian were caught tampering with the very aspects of time and space they'd be thrown alive into the pits of Tartarus.
She held up the crystal vial and opened it. The small droplet floated up out of the vial and rested before her at eye level. Aetheria gazed at it and she saw the most beautiful kaleidoscope of color within the droplet. She knew how to read a person by the small droplet of water. Reading this one, she saw that the girl was beautiful, both in soul and appearance. She had lovely long red hair and wide blue eyes, so expressive. Those eyes had seen so much, and now the girl saw more now that her being was torn from space. Aetheria felt pity for the girl welling within her.
The stars above flickered and Aetheria stuffed the vial in her pocket. She turned and saw a figure standing yards away from her. The figure slowly approached her. "Eilian." Aetheria acknowledged her sister with a nod and took in her features. Eilian wore a plain gray robe, a perfect copy of Aetheria's dull gold robe. Her gray eyes gazed out from beneath the hood and as she removed it, her brown plaits fell free from the cowl.
"Aetheria. I'm glad to see you again. How long has it been?" Eilian asked quietly, her gray eyes glittering in the starlight.
"Two centuries, dear sister." Aetheria answered. "I'd rather we didn't exchange pleasantries though, Eilian. I just broke my vows by removing an aspect from the fabric of space. Why?"
Eilian gazed at Aetheria. "Intruders broke into my Keep and successfully moved one of the time aspects I was assigned to protect."
Aetheria stared at Eilian in shock. "Are you unharmed?"
"I'm well, just my pride in ruins." Eilian said bitterly. "Two intruders. One was a girl with the powers of Hecate. The other was a man and he had great power." Eilian's eyes flashed. "They removed the matching time aspect for the one I asked you to remove. They seek to destroy her."
"Do they know of the mess they'll create? The fabric of space will tear. The strand of time will unravel. Everything to the point of the girl's conception will be undone!" Aetheria shivered as she imagined the process the universe would resort to in order to prevent chaos. "Eighteen years of life would have to be rewritten for every person she affected. New fates and destinies would have to be created. The outcome of that event will be unpredictable. The gods would know if good or evil will prevail. Of course it will take time…" Aetheria trailed off as she noticed Eilian shaking her head.
"Not if they take the aspects to the Dais of Chaos. It will all happen so fast…" Eilian went quiet.
"They're mad." Aetheria commented.
"They're desperate. This girl has affected their lives greatly. That's why I told you to remove the aspect. They're looking for it. And we won't let them have it." Eilian stated.
"No." Aetheria agreed. "But if they are as desperate as you say they are, they'll find me eventually. And it is most unfair to remove the girl from space and time, practically from existence. We can't wait them out."
"If the girl were to remain in space, what would she live for? Only she would remember anything, nobody else would. Her friends, her family…she might as well be nonexistent." Eilian closed her eyes. "The time strand has already begun to unravel. I can sense it. They're already forgetting her infant years."
"Once the time strand unravels completely she'll be destroyed anyway." Aetheria glanced at Eilian. "We're running out of time Eilian. We need to retrieve that aspect, or everything as we know it will fall apart."
"Yes." Eilian sighed. "I will hunt them down. You stay in hiding with the aspect. If they find you, you need to contact me immediately."
Aetheria nodded. "Yes." Eilian began to walk away, but Aetheria stopped her with one more question. "Where do you think she is now?"
Eilian stopped. She turned back to Aetheria with a sad smile. "I don't know Aetheria. But it must be something like Christian hell or the Fields of Punishment. Could you imagine being ripped from reality and finding you may have never existed?" With that said, Aetheria watched Eilian remove her scythe, tear open a portal, and walk through it.
Author's Note- It's still unknown where Bloom is. Baltor and Diaspro think they've got competition. Eilian and Aetheria are forced to play with Bloom's life in order to stop Baltor and Diaspro. Tell me what you think.