Riven woke up and for a second forgot that he was still stuck in a dungeon at Cloud Tower. He was starving and still couldn't see anything around him.
"Shit" he managed to say. His throat was raspy and hurt from being dehydrated for who knows how long. He had no idea how he had been in that dungeon or if the witches were even still around. He managed to sit up and balance himself. He couldn't feel any walls around him so he felt like he was in a black hole. The only support he had was the ground, or what felt like it.
At random times the floor would give out and Riven would be in a kind of free fall for what felt like hours.
Darcy wasn't directly torturing him, but this felt like enough torture to him. He certainly wasn't able to sleep without fear of falling again or hearing the Trix's cackling voices in his head again. He never was afraid of the Dark before, but he had no clue where he was or if there was anything else in the dungeon with him. From time to time he could hear gurgling noises echoing around him. He figured he was in one of the towers. If only he could feel the walls around him to be able to grip anything.
Riven's confusion lasted for what was possibly a few more days, he wasn't sure how much time had passed. It was impossible to know. He had just about given up after several attempts of pacing around in the dark, trying to find a way out. He sank down to the ground in exhaustion and thought about how much he had screwed things up.
Darcy never really cared about him, he was sure of that now. She must have used her powers to help seduce him. This made him sick to his stomach.
"How could I have let this happen? I should have realized she was just using me" Riven thought to himself. He couldn't believe that he had been that weak. Sure, he was attracted to Darcy and he was partially responsible for betraying his friends and staying with her.
"Oh god, Musa" Riven whispered. Through all of this he had forgotten about his previous feelings about Musa. They never had been official so he had never thought he was hurting her at first, but then he remembered how the witches attacked her and the look on her face when he told her to get lost.
"I'm a fucking idiot" Riven screamed. He heard his voice echo back to him as he felt even worse about himself.
His whole body hurt as all of the mistakes he had made in the past year flashed in his brain. The way he had let down Matt and screwed up the one connection he has left to his mother. How he let down Timmy, Sky, and even Brandon most of the school year and probably affected their grades because of his stupidity. And most of all how he screwed up the one good relationship he could have had with a girl, with Musa.
Thinking about her, her beautiful dark blue hair, the way she blushed when he even looked at her, and her beautiful singing voice made him feel better. But then he realized that she was in grave danger, as well as his team mates and the other girls. He had to find a way out and get to them before the trix did. The witches probably already did, but he had to try and help them at all costs.
He sat up again, using all of the strength he had left and focused on finding some thing in the dark to hold on to. He couldn't find anything but empty space while standing up and decided the his best chance of getting out was whatever he was currently standing on. He knelt down and began to feel around with his hands for any break in the floor. He knocked on it and continued knocking around until he heard what sounded like a hollow spot.
"Hopefully this is a door" he said aloud. He stood up again and put his foot back where his had had just been and began to stomp on the ground has hard as he could. The door didn't budge but Riven then remembered that he had his pocket knife. The trix couldn't take that away since he always kept it hidden in his jumpsuit.
He got it out and began to hack away at the door viciously.
"I need to get out now" Riven thought to himself over and over again as he cut away at the door. He stood up once more and stomped on the spot he was cutting one last time was suddenly falling. He fell for a while and hit the ground with a thud, twisting his leg as he fell.
"Shit" he yelled as he tried to get up and put pressure on his leg. He definitely sprained it but he had to keep moving. Slowly, he got up and began to walk around. There was a little bit of light and he could tell that he was on the outside of Cloud Tower. He walked around the bottom of the tower he must have been trapped in and couldn't find his bike anywhere.
He knew that he probably didn't escape on his own since Darcy used magic to trap him. But since he was able to escape, her magic must be fading or her focus on trapping him not as strong as it had been. Either way, he was at least out now and frantic to find his motorbike. After searching most of the grounds he began to think he would just have to walk and began to limp his way towards the forest in the dark. But as he walked he remembered that the bike disappeared the same way he did and was probably in the same location he was trapped at.
He walked back to the tower he was held at and looked around one last time, feeling around for something hidden. Sure enough, he found something leaning against the wall when he saw nothing. It felt like a cloth and he grasped it with his hand and pulled, revealing his bike.
"Thank God" he said. He threw down the sheet that was now revealed and got onto his bike.
As he was about to get on and speed off he heard noises coming from inside the tower. It sounded like screaming and he didn't want to go back in to see what it was in case it was a trap. But it could also be someone in real trouble, so he ran back to the door and opened it up to see two figures running towards him. He went in and grabbed his sword which was on his bike.
He walked further into the room towards the figures and saw that they were running from huge bug figures. They started appearing around him now and he fought them off. As the two people got closer to him they almost ran into him and knocked him over.
"Wait, that's Riven!" one of the voices said. Riven recognized that voice, even though he was never fond of it he was elated to hear her now.
Bloom ran back to him and grabbed his arm as Riven continued to fight away the bugs.
"Get out of here! Go! " Riven yelled to her. He saw that she was with Sky and Stella and Brandon. He was still getting used to the fact that Brandon and Sky had changed identities.
"There's no way of stopping them, we have to go!" Sky yelled at Riven as Riven continued to try and fight them off. The monsters were closing in on them and Riven eventually stopped and ran as fast as he could even with his injured leg.
The group got outside and Riven managed to close the door just in time, trapping the bug monsters inside. They were all outside now, trying to catch their breath.
"Riven! Boy am I glad to see you" Brandon said. He went up to him and patted him on the back.
"What the hell Brandon, why would you be happy? Don't you remember how he betrayed us all?" Stella said.
"Well he just helped us now" Brandon said and shrugged.
The others just looked at Riven and he realized what he had to do.
"Look guys, I know I acted like a dick for the past couple months and I'm sorry. Darcy put some kind of spell on me—"
"Oh really?" Stella interrupted.
"Yeah, and I know that's not an excuse because it is partially my fault too. Anyways I'm sorry. I wish I could go back and change it but I can't. I want to help now though, and hopefully you guys will let me help in any way I can to stop the Trix"
The others were quiet for a while until Bloom spoke up.
"Thanks Riven, that really means a lot to us. Well to me at least. I know that they tricked you, and I'd love for you to come back to the group."
"Thanks Bloom" Riven said. The others seemed okay with him helping, though they weren't very open and friendly with him. He didn't expect them to be though and realized it would take time for them to forgive him.
"So what now?" Riven asked after everyone remained quiet.
"Bloom lost her power and we are trying to find the trix to get it back. We thought it would be here but we can't find it." Stella said.
"I don't think that it's here. It's too simple" Sky said.
"Well I don't see you coming up with any better ideas!" Stella replied.
"I think I know where to look, there's this place in the woods where Daphne's spirit is at." Bloom said.
"It's too dangerous! You can't go in there!" Stella said.
"I can go with you Bloom" Sky said.
"Thanks Sky but I should really do this on my own" She said. Sky walked over to her and lightly touched her arm.
"Bloom, I don't want to lose you again and I am going to do whatever it takes to help you stop the Trix. I am going with you to protect you no matter what."
"Thanks Sky" she said. They kissed briefly. Normally this would make Riven angry and he still didn't care to see them, but he knew he was not in a position to argue and in a way he was happy for them. It seemed like they had gotten through their issues after the Day of the Royals.
"We need to get back to Alfea pronto. All of the witches and specialists are meeting there. Red fountain fell to the Trix yesterday" Brandon told Riven.
"Shit man, so everyone is piling up at Alfea?" Riven asked.
"Yeah, for one last stand against the Trix to hopefully stop them."
"Well we should get back then." Riven said. Bloom and Sky got onto Sky's bike and headed to the woods after saying goodbye.
"Good luck Bloom!" Stella said with tears in her eyes as she hugged Bloom.
"You too, I'll be back soon don't worry" Bloom said.
Riven got onto his bike while Stella and Brandon got onto Brandon's and sped off to Alfea, hopefully in time to help everyone else fight against the Trix. Riven kept thinking about Musa being in danger and all he wanted to do was get to Alfea and protect her.