AN: Good day my lovely readers and welcome to another chapter of Brittany Spear's "Toxic!" *Violin plays*
This took quite awhile but I hope it was worth the wait! I'm excited to show you what I have but first off, reviews!
Videocrazy: Thank you for the constructive criticism and the kind words! Yeah, Bloom at this stage is desperate for purpose, belonging etc. so of course she'd be duped; I realize that now. Hope you enjoy this chap as much as the last!
RaraRowen: Thank you! Hope you enjoy!
Guest: Here's the update, hope you enjoy!
Without further ado...here we go!
Chapter Four: Girl Meets Magical World
Bloom and Selina had dreamed about magic cities all their lives, but the pictures in their head had been of majestic dragons and quaint taverns, pointed hats and horse drawn carts.
But Magix? Magix was the absolute and complete opposite of that idea with its sky trams and apartment buildings, floating cars and not a single pointed hat in sight.
"Well? Fascinating isn't?"
Bloom blinked out of her sight seeing and frowned in confusion at the familiar voice.
Looking to her side she saw Andy staring at the city with a somewhat nostalgic look on his face. "It could use a bit more—"
"Andy?!" Bloom spluttered in shock. "What are you—how are you—are you—?!"
"Hmm? Oh, apologies, I forgot to warn you," "Andy" said, turning away from the city to look at her. His brown eyes flashed ice blue as he said, "It's only me." This time with Valtor's voice.
"O-oh!" Bloom flushed and looked away. "Um...why are you..." she gestured lamely at his figure, still looking away.
"I saw the boy's picture in your room and decided to use him as a disguise," Valtor said, holding up Andy's hand and looking at it appraisingly. "An Earth boy is far more unnoticeable in Magix than any other person I can take the shape of—and I'm sure you'd prefer to be around a familiar face than a stranger, yes? Although I wasn't aware he was the ex you were referring to before—would you like me to change?"
Bloom nodded eagerly. "Yes, please?" She said with an apologetic wince/smile.
Valtor hummed an affirmative and transforming into Mike. "Better? Not the dashing first impression I wanted to give but..."
Bloom sighed in relief pressing a hand on her blessedly slowing heart. "Yeah, thank—hey! Are you insulting my Dad's looks?"
"Bloom, would you describe your father's looks as 'dashing'?" Valtor asked with a quirked eyebrow.
Bloom blinked slowly, trying desperately to imagine her dad in a magazine cover or wooing a woman that wasn't her mom. "...so what's with the disguise anyway? Afraid of crazy fans?"
"Tastefully changing the subject I see," Valtor smirked—an expression that looked incredibly wrong on her dad's face—before gesturing with his head for Bloom to follow. As they walked down the sidewalk together he said, "But I'm afraid it's a far worse reason. Remember those men from last night?"
Bloom glanced around nervously, eyes scanning every person for guns and goggles. "You think they'll come back?"
"I don't think, I know. That is why I must hurry in regaining my abilities and training you so as to properly defend ourselves," Valtor said.
Bloom nodded resolutely. "Okay. Where to first then? Is there a Diagon Alley kind of place here?"
Valtor turned to her with a furrowed brow of confusion. "I'm afraid you'll need to stop with these Earth phrases. I don't understand them."
"Right, duh!" Bloom said awkwardly as she hit her forehead with the back of her hand. "I was basically saying...y'know a place where they sell wands and potion ingredients and stuff." She glanced around her once more, taking in the hovering cars, giant buildings and fancy malls. "Although...somehow I doubt there's a place like this here. There's not even dragons or unicorns anywhere!"
"Now why would dragons be allowed to roam a city?" Valtor questioned. "And unicorns are incredibly rare; you won't see too many of them around, especially not in Magix."
"No unicorns?" Bloom said in mild disappointment. Valtor seemed about to answer when the shop door beside them swung open sharply and caused her to jump and yelp in surprise.
"Did I hear you say unicorn miss?" The grinning shop keeper said. "Just your luck we make our glasses from all sorts of unicorn products—unicorn hair, unicorn lashes, even unicorn horns!"
Bloom gasped, eyes widening with each promise of unicorn items and hands clasped excitedly. Glasses made out of unicorn hair? Get. Out. "You're not kidding! Can I see?"
"Sure can!" The man said cheerfully as he stopped back into the store.
Before Bloom could follow, Valtor had grabbed her arm and tugged her back. She turned over her shoulder to give him an indignant scowl. "Hey! What gives?"
Valtor frowned, opening his mouth to say something when he hesitated and clamped it shut again. He glanced between her and the shop thoughtfully before letting her go with an easy smile. "Nothing," he said simply. "I just don't want you to be running off on your own is all. I'm supposed to protect you, remember?"
"Right! Sorry, I just got a little excited," Bloom said sheepishly before the two entered (her first magic shop!) together.
The red-head eyed everything with unbridled awe. Everywhere she turned there were glasses shimmering with otherworldly materials—glasses with cupid wing frames that swooped and dove through the air, glasses that she had to squint to look at because they shone like mini stars and glasses with kaleidoscope glass.
In her awed bought of sight seeing, she bumped into a large mass of flesh.
"Oops!" Bloom said, spinning around with an apologetic smile. "Sor…" Her voice trailed off as the yellow wall of flesh turned to reveal a creature blinking down at her through a pair of red eyes covered in frilled glasses—the most ordinary looking out of all she'd seen so far. "...ry?" she finished awkwardly, taking a quick step back. He looked like some sort of troll—and if her fantasy research taught her anything it was that they were trouble.
"An ogre," Valtor unknowingly corrected in a low voice as he stood beside her and the ogre turned away to squint at himself in a tiny mirror. "Don't worry—they haven't any magic and don't make up for it in intelligence either. And he wouldn't be here if he was physically violent; you're safe."
Bloom sighed. "Well that's a relief," she muttered.
"Here you go, miss!" The shop owner chirped from behind them both, and Bloom turned to find him holding out a case filled with a row of opalescent glasses in different shapes and sizes. Bloom gasped in awe as she picked up a pair of sunglasses, the temples swirled like a unicorn horn and the glass within the frames fractured like a diamond glittering beautifully.
"Oh, wow," Bloom gushed.
"Would you like it?" Valtor questioned and Bloom turned to him with a hopeful grin—one that became a cry of surprise as the store shook violently and she stumbled on her feet.
The yellow ogre barreled out of the shop, shoving passed pedestrians as he charged like a raging bull.
"Hey!" The shopkeeper exclaimed, slamming the case shut, placing it on the counter and running out the shop. "Thief! Somebody stop him!"
"You see? He lost a store he could freely shop in all for a hideous pair of glasses—very dumb creat—what do you think you're doing?" Valtor demanded as Bloom placed the glasses down and ran towards the door.
"Stopping the thief! Duh!" She was about to step onto the sidewalk when her foot froze in midair. Her heart leaped in panic as that same force dragged her back like an invisible lasso reeling her in through the air. She crashed against Valtor's chest with a grunt and he gripped her shoulders tightly.
"Ogres are lowly creatures, yes. But they're formidable for someone untrained like you," he said firmly.
Bloom looked up at him with a furrowed brow. "But—"
"Let's just leave and pretend this never happened," he advised, removing one hand and sliding the other on her shoulder to her back, leading her out of the shop and back onto the sidewalk.
Bloom couldn't help but feel guilty for not helping that man; he seemed really nice and seeing someone in peril and not being a bystander was the worst—even if Valtor was right and she couldn't really fight, at least she would've tried.
"We're not vigilantes, Bloom," Valtor said, no doubt seeing the look on her face. "Besides, we have far more important matters to attend to than chasing down ogre thieves. Like breakfast if you recall?"
"I mean I'm not that hungry. Besides, what's the point of magic if you don't use it to help people?" Bloom pressed.
Valtor shook his head and clicked the button at the side of a traffic light pole to activate the walk sign. "Your magic is your gift and you aren't obligated to use it for anyone else but yourself."
"I wasn't obligated to save you last night but I did anyway because it was right. And you aren't obligated to train me but you're doing it anyway because you're grateful," Bloom pointed out as the cars stopped to let them and the other pedestrians walk across the street.
Valtor's lips twitched upwards momentarily, before stating, "True, but your statement that magic should always be used for others is still flawed—one should always have free will when it comes to their possessions."
"I...guess I see your point," Bloom said thoughtfully. Besides, the ogre was probably long gone anyway. "But I want to help people so we're going to do something the next time we see a thief or something, right?"
Valtore looked down at her for a few moments, an unreadable expression on his face before he gave that smirk of his and said, "Scout's honor," with a hand over his heart.
Soon, the two made their way to a simple looking diner. "After you," Valtor said, gesturing towards the door with another one of his dramatic arm sweeps. Bloom snorted at the repeated show of old time-y etiquette—another thing that looked weird for her "dad" to be doing—before walking towards the door. Before she could grab the handle however, a hand from her left grabbed it first.
"Hey!" Bloom said indignantly as a girl cut in front of her and threw open the door.
The girl, a blonde with waist length hair, didn't seem to notice Bloom, instead looking to her side to call, "Hurry up, ladies! The breakfast pastries would have just come out the oven so they're the perfect temperature!"
"Wouldn't they warm it up for us if it wasn't?" A girl with two short black pigtails asked as she and three other girls entered through the open doorway.
The blonde batted a hand through the air. "Just baked goods taste way better than 'baked goods that were made five hours ago and had to be rewarmed,' don't you know?" She said as she entered with the other girls.
"You see?" Valtor said from behind Bloom as he walked towards the door. "That is a young lady who knows what she wants. That is drive."
"That was rude," Bloom argued with crossed arms.
"But she's getting places, no?" Valtor with a smirk as he opened the door for Bloom.
Bloom squinted at him suspiciously. "You're not going to slam the door on my back or trip me to prove a point, right?"
Valtor rolled his eyes. "Now what would that prove? Come along now, we have a lot to do today."
Bloom entered the diner after a second of deciding if Valtor was telling the truth or not and was hit with the smell of dough and spices. She took in a deep breath and sighed in delight. "Wow, that smells good!" It wasn't as magically extravagant as the glasses shop—a bit to her disappointment, but you couldn't win them all she guessed.
"If you're already impressed just wait until—" Valtor paused as they made their way to the counter before sighing and rubbing his forehead. "Ah...blast.
"What happened?" Bloom asked with a concerned frown.
"I forgot to convert the money we have," Valtor said irritably. "Well it is what it is. We can quickly—"
"That won't be necessary," The cashier piped up with a smile. "We're free from now till 12 to celebrate the new semester!"
New semester? Like school? In the summer—no wait, never mind that; there was magic school! Oh my...
"How convenient," Valtor smiled. "I'll have a milkshake and my companion here can have pancakes. That's what you wanted, right Bloom?"
"Wha—? Oh! Sorry, yes, please!" Bloom said, shaking her head to rid her mind of the exciting revelation. The cashier nodded and typed in the order before letting them know it would be ready in a moment.
The two had migrated to a two chaired table before Bloom excitedly blurted out, "There's magic schools here?"
"There's magic schools in every dimension," Valtor responded. "And before you ask, no it is nothing like any of your silly little Earth books—they all blatantly lied to you."
Bloom clamped her mouth shut and felt a disappointed frown creep onto her face.
"Besides," Valtor said, as his drink was placed in front of him and Bloom's pancakes were placed before her. She told the waitress a kind thank you as the wizard continued, "Why would you need school?"
"Well...I know I have you to teach me but I'm just a little curious that's all. What do the schools teach in Magix? Are there different kinds?"
"Alfea, Cloud Tower, and Red Fountain. A school for fairies, a school for witches, and a school for untalented pubescent boys respectively," Valtor said, counting the three names on his fingers before taking a brief sip of his drink. "All overrated," he said, taking the chocolate sprinkle shaker from the table's center and shaking a copious amount onto the top of the milkshake. "And all the home to the weakest links in The Magic Dimension—don't even get me started on their pathetic headmasters. They all have so much potential that they thwart in the name of keeping within the foolish boundaries of—"
Bloom frowned, mouth stuffed with pancake and syrupy (and oh wow it tasted soooo good!) as Valtor paused mid tirade and cleared his throat as if just now realizing where he was.
"Sounds personal," Bloom commented, tilting her head to the side and idly swinging her fork like a pendulum. "Do you know these headmasters?"
"You know quite a bit of people when you have my status," Valtor said vaguely as he took another sip from his milkshake and frowned. He took the chocolate sprinkles again and shook even more over his milkshake.
"Whoa! Are you trying to get diabetes?" Bloom balked in horror. She liked sweets as much as the next person but...that was a lot of sugar.
"I don't get sick," Valtor said off-handedly as he took another sip before nodding, clearly pleased with the sugary poisonous concoction he'd just created.
"Um...okay," Bloom said, suddenly feeling her teeth ache at the sight of the melting whipped cream drenched in chocolate and ice-cream—and oh gosh that poor saturated cherry...
She pushed her half finished pancakes away and drummed her fingers on the table awkwardly, turning pointedly away from the sugary mess and towards the window. There was a beat of silence before Valtor asked, "Do you still wish to see a dragon?"
Bloom turned back to him, a smile slowly spreading across her face. "...why?"
Bloom's...philosophy proved to Valtor that it would be quite a while before he and her could complete a heist together. If dumb creatures stealing a pair or repulsive glasses could work her up so much, then imagine her reaction of him stealing spells, or artifacts—or a blasted sun for Arcadia's sake.
That meant he'd need to spend more time gaining her trust than he'd hoped, which meant longer time without his full abilities, which also meant swallowing his pride to make her happy and more pliant unless he wanted to have that duel to the death earlier than he wanted—and in his current state, he did not.
So here he was, mere miles away from the school facilitated by one of his enemies. Out of his guise which probably unwise being so near enemy territory on three fronts but he hated looking like a bland faced Earthling—consequences be damned.
Bloom gasped in awe as another dragon swooped beneath the trees and blew her fiery hair with its gust. She blew a bang from her eyes and turned to grin at Valtor as it flopped back. "This is so cool!" She gushed. "The Red Fountain boys get to ride these?"
"They have no choice," Valtor said with a shrug from his spot sitting beneath the shade of a particularly large tree in comparison to its companions in the forest. "They possess no magic and thus can't fly on their own."
"Still, riding a dragon?" Bloom said as another swooped low and managed to create such a large gust of wind that she fell with grunt, still beaming excitedly. She continued with, "You gotta admit it's—okay what's wrong?"
"Hmm?" Valtor tore his eyes from the Red Fountain and back to the redhead whose hands were now on her hips. "Nothing."
"Oh, come on. You've been staring daggers at the school since the dragon migration started. I was right, wasn't I?"
Valtor quirked an eyebrow. "About?"
"About your dislike for Red Fountain being personal—all the Magix schools actually," she added in an afterthought. She walked towards him and plopped down next to him. "So? What's the story?"
Valtor looked away from her and closed his eyes, feeling the sun beaming down on him and smiling at the warmth. "What's the story between you and your not-anymore-friend?"
Bloom sighed. "Touché. Sorry."
There was silence then, save for the whooshing caused by dragon wings and the tree rustling they left behind. But it was a nice sort of silence; not the suffocating one that permeated throughout Omega because there was life and ambience.
The silence was ruined when the biggest gust of wind yet caused his eyes to snap open and sent both he and Bloom crashing against the tree with twin cries of surprise. As Valtor rubbed the dust from his eyes and cursed, Bloom let out a whisper-shouted, "Look!" while tugging excitedly at his sleeve.
Valtor had blinked the rest of the dust out of his eyes when he saw it—a dragon had landed in the clearing and was peering at them curiously.
"Can I pet it?" She continued to whisper giddily, eyes sparkling with delight. "I wanna pet it."
The dragon sniffed the air, letting out a low groan as Bloom crept forward with her hands out in surrender. Valtor simply stayed back and waited—he could erect a barrier in front of her at a moment's notice so he wasn't entirely worried.
Slowly, she placed a hand on the beast's snout and it licked her fingers with a large forked tongue. Her grin grew ever wider as she scratched under its chin and began babytalking it.
Hmph. Some dragon; he'd never seen one so docile before. Of course there was the possibility that it had sensed their Dragon Fires and felt a kinship—but in his prime Valtor has slain his proverbial brothers, not befriended them, thus he couldn't be fully sure.
"Valtor, you have to take a picture!" Bloom exclaimed as the dragon proceeded to nuzzle her hair and make it messier than it already was. "I can't believe this is happening!"
"I don't have any technology on me," Valtor said. "But if you wish I can make one out of your memories when I've found a spell as such."
Bloom eagerly nodded and was about to turn back to the dragon when the loud roar of multiple engines shattered the serene setting. The dragon jerked upwards and shrieked before leaping back into the air, causing Bloom to be blown onto the grass once more. Seconds later, the engine sounds were followed by loud boyish whooping that then made way to swift blurs of red, blue and white.
Bloom cried out as she rolled out of the way of four speeding hover bikes and quickly staggered to her feet. "What was that?"
"Hover bikes and Red Fountain boys," Valtor grumbled. "Ah well, it was fun while it—behind—!"
A hover bike slammed into Bloom and she and its rider when crashing into the undergrowth. The hoverbike went spiralling out of control and crashed into a nearby tree, splintering the wood.
"...you. Good Magix," Valtor sighed and trudged forward, pushing through the bushes and low hanging branches as he morphed back into his human disguise.
He found Bloom laying in a bush, groaning and blinking dazedly as she rubbed her head but otherwise appearing unharmed. The Red Fountain boy tore his helmet off in a panic, blue eyes wide and blonde hair spilling out of the tight contraption before he tossed it aside and dashed towards Bloom.
"Oh dragons and stars above I'm so sorry!" He exclaimed dramatically, slowly easing Bloom to her feet. "Are you okay?! I-I didn't see you! I was going so fast and—!"
Bloom pulled out of his grasp and batted a hand through the air. "I'm fine! Don't worry, the bush broke my fall," she said good naturedly before touching her bare stomach and wincing. "But I have super bad bruise now. Ow."
"Oooh man I—!" The boy caught sight of Valtor and began spluttering even more. "S-sir I am so sorry for hitting your daughter—"
"She's not my daughter," Valtor stated irritably. Goodness he needed a new disguise—preferably one that didn't give off father like energy.
Ignoring is continued apologies—although he found them quite entertaining—Valtor placed a hand on Bloom's shoulder and asked, "Are you alright?"
"Like I said, totally peachy!" Bloom grinned, even though she was clutching her stomach and doubling over.
"I-I'll take you to Red Fountain! We have some good healers there—"
"No," Valtor said shaper than he intended to as he levelled the boy with a glare, appreciating the way he shrunk in fear nevertheless. He places a hand on the large bruise and sent magic from his palm into the wounded veins.
Bloom sighed in relief and straightened as the purple and red Mark faded before turning back to the boy with a smile. "See? All good."
"Still...I have to make it up to you somehow, I almost got you killed!" The boy said.
"It's okay! Really."
"Please, ma'am," he said seriously, firm hand on her shoulder. "I insist."
Valtor and Bloom exchanged an odd look at the boys persistence before Bloom turned back to him with an awkward, "Oookay. Uh, how about…"
She tapped a finger on her chin before beaming. "You can teach me how to ride a dragon! You guys do that, right?"
"Oh! Erm...yeah but I'm sorta…" he looked away awkwardly before taking in a deep breath and looking back at Bloom with a smile. "You know what, why not? How about this Friday?"
"Really? Cool!" Bloom said with an excited clasp of her hands. Valtor considered protesting but thought better of it; yes it'd take time away from her training and thus slow down his progress but he needed Bloom happy.
So if dragon riding lessons is what she wanted, dragon riding lessons was what she'd have.
"For now I can ride you back to Magix on my bike though—I won't go too fast and I won't crash this time, promise!" The boy continued.
"Thanks a lot, I'm Bloom by the way and this is V—I mean Mike!" The fairy said, holding out her hand in greeting as Valtor scowled irritably at the disguised name she chose.
"No problem! And I'm Brandon," the boy said, taking her hand and shaking it firmly. "Specialist at Red Fountain and resident hover bike crasher!"
Bloom laughed slightly at the self deprecating joke and followed him out of the bushes.
"Are you an Alfea girl?" Valtor heard the boy—Brandon ask.
"No, I'm just sightseeing with my friend—I'm new here."
"Well why didn't you say so? I can take you on a tour if you'd like."
"Really? Thanks! You're too nice."
"Well I did hit you with a bike so…"
"You owe me, yeah I get it," Bloom responded with another laugh.
"Even if that wasn't the case…"
Valtor tuned their little meet-cute out to stare back at Red Fountain.
Soon. Soon he'd get his revenge.
He was brought back to reality when the sound of a revving engine. Exiting the bushes, he found Bloom already mounting the bike and being offered an extra helmet.
She was in the midst of putting it on when she paused and cried, "Oh! Va—Mike are you—?"
"Go on, have fun," Valtor said with a smile. "I'll be dealing with my own business, you'll take care of her?" He added turning to Brandon.
"Yup! Don't worry, I'll bring her back in one piece." Moments later they sped off, leaving Valtor alone with his thoughts and the dragons.
"Hello?"
"Hey, Mom!" Bloom said, leaning against the building she was next to, a brand new phone pressed to her ear.
"Oh, sweetie! Hi! I wasn't expecting to hear from you so soon."
"I said I would, didn't I? Yea of little fate," Bloom said teasingly. From the other end Vanessa laughed good naturedly.
"From the tone of your voice I'm assuming your day went well. That's good, your father was half convinced Valtor would let something bad happen to you—well...more than half if I'm being honest."
"He's actually been taking good care of me," Bloom said, glancing at the museum doors where Valtor had disappeared to after purchasing her high tech phone.
She would have loved to go with him and see all the cool magic artifacts but he'd said he had some personal business to attend to and instructed her to wait.
"We had breakfast, saw some dragons and then I made a new friend named Brandon and rode a hover bike through the city. Did you know this place has some seriously awesome tech? Oh, and you know you'd never get the impression just by looking at him but Valtor has a huge sweet tooth."
"Oh, I had a hunch; seeing as how he finished all our sugar this morning," Vanessa said. "Your father wouldn't stop complaining about it."
"Yup, that sounds like him," Bloom said with an amused smile vaguely wondering how her dad would react to learning Valtor had been using his image and likeness all day. Her smile quickly faded however, when she saw a familiar hulking figure on the other side of the street.
The glasses thief.
"Speaking of your father, you should talk with him; he's been worried sick—"
"A-actually, Mom. I have to go now," Bloom said, already making her way across the street after checking to see if any cars were coming. "Give Dad a kiss for me, yeah? Okay, 'bye!"
"Wait! Bloom what's—?" Bloom hung up and slipped the phone into her pocket as she made it to the otherside, pressing herself against the nearby shop wall as the ogre looked over his shoulder and entered into an alleyway.
"You're not getting away this time," Bloom said under her breath as she creeped closer. Yes Valtor was right in that she couldn't really use her magic yet and she knew he was just looking out for her but this was her chance to return those glasses, and she'd do it Earth Girl style if she had to.
Once she neared the mouth of the alleyway, she quickly darted behind a trio of odd looking garbage cans. Shifting through the trash nearby, she picked out a sturdy looking wood plank and clutched it like a baseball bat with a firm nod. When she peeked over her hiding spot however, she saw the ogre wasn't alone.
There were three young women standing before the creature; they looked older than Bloom but younger than Valtor and carried themselves with an air of confidence and superiority that she could feel all the way from where she was crouched.
One had long brown hair with a purple bodysuit, another had a dark head of curls and a magenta dress, leggings and boots, while the one in the centre had long silver hair pulled into a ponytail and a lengthy cape billowing behind her. All three wore makeup that matched the colour of their attire.
"Well, Knut?" The silver haired woman drawled in an icy voice that made Bloom shudder. The ogre felt it too if the wince he made was any indication.
"Uh—" the ogre began. Bloom gasped and ducked when it looked like he was about to turn before he continued with, "I saw princess Stella!"
"And?" A raspy voice demanded. Bloom wasn't sure if it was the brunette or the curly haired girl from where she was hidden, clutching her wood plank tighter. "What else? We're going to need a bit more than that."
"U-uh well I followed her around, just like you said and now she's at the city plaza—oh! And don't worry; she has the ring, I saw it!" the ogre—Knut—stammered out awkwardly. "It's mostly empty right now but she's with some friends so I didn't think it would be a good idea to attack her head on."
The raspy voiced girl snorted. "Coward. Scared of a few pixies?"
"No, no, Stormy, this is a plus," The cold once said. "Knowing this idiot he'd probably muck everything up."
The raspy girl cackled and let out a snort. "Yeah, good point."
Okay, this was worse than being just a glasses thief! That ogre and those three women were going to hurt someone!
But...what did she do? Bloom had been expecting to take a pair of glasses back from one ogre not four bad guys! Maybe she could find and warn this Stella girl? But then she didn't know how she looked like and going around asking random people by the plaza if their name was Stella was a bit weir—
A shadow eclipsed the light from the moon and the overhead streetlights and Bloom tensed. Looking gingerly over her shoulder, she saw the young woman in the purple bodysuit smirking down at her.
"Boo," She said, holding out her hand towards Bloom. The redhead tried to jump to her feet and defend herself, but before she could even whip out her makeshift weapon violet circles shot out of the girl's hand and slammed against Bloom's chest.
She was sent crashing through the cans and flying into the air with a cry of pain, landing on the hard concrete with a grunt. Bloom's chest ached painfully where the spell had hit dead on and she could feel bruises forming on her back from the harsh concrete. Blinking away the dazed black circles in her eyes, she watched in mounting horror as the three girls circled her like a bunch of sharks (they sure grinned like them anyway).
"Well, well, well!" Ponytail Girl said. "What have we here?"
Bloom staggered to her feet gasping in pain as her chest protested at the motion. She clutched it with one hand and held up the wooden plank she'd salvaged—miraculously still clenched in her hand—brandished in front of her like a sword with the other as she gave the most threatening glare possible.
Curly Girl threw her head back in laughter and Brunette giggled in her gloved palm. Ponytail Girl just smirked broader and snapped her fingers. The plank shuddered in Bloom's hands before ice began creeping up from below like vicious frigid ivy.
"Ah!" Bloom exclaimed in surprise, tossing the board away. It hit the ground and shattered into a million pieces.
Okay, Bloom. So you followed an ogre thief when Valtor told you not to and managed to get tangled up with a trio of scary magic users who had just destroyed your only weapon.
This was fine!
"You—who are you?" Bloom demanded, clenching her fists at her sides and trying to keep her voice from shaking in fear. "What do you want with that girl?"
"Why? You a friend of hers?" Ponytail Girl asked.
"Ooh, bait," The Brunette purred, golden eyes flashing with malice.
"N-no I'm not—!" Bloom stammered out, taking a step back and hitting the alleyway. Her heart was beating faster in her aching ribs and her body was shaking.
'Breathe, Bloom,' She told herself. She could get out of this, she was a fairy.
"We're witches from Cloud Tower, dearie," Ponytail Girl said.
"Senior witches," Brunette added.
"You don't wanna mess with us," Curly Girl said. "So if you aren't a friend of Stella's I suggest you scram and mind your own business!"
Witches. Bloom had bumped into witches and they seemed to be the Wicked Witch of the West kind. It was probably best to take their advice and scram but what about that Stella girl? She would feel guilty as hell if she let her get attacked! But her magic—she couldn't—
No. Intent. Valtor said magic was all about intent. And her intent right now was to blast these girls into the next century like she did with that snake from the night before.
Inhaling deeply, Bloom rose her shaking hands towards the three witches. "You don't scare me!" she blatantly lied. "I'm a powerful fairy!" She imagined fire shooting from her palms, or a beam of energy sending them flying or better yet another dragon coming out of her chest.
Instead a tiny pinprick of flame poofed from her palm and dissipated.
"Oh my god," Brunette said with a furrowed brow as Curly Girl burst out laughing again and Ponytail Girl snorted. "I've never seen such weak magic in my life."
"Poor thing! Her core is so weak...how about we show her what real magic looks like, sisters?" Ponytail Girl said, causing the other two witches to cackle in agreement.
Ooooh snap.
Bloom dropped to the floor just as Brunette shot at her with those circles again, the wall where she'd just stood fracturing beneath the spell. She groaned and clutched at her chest again as she stumbled forward and began running towards the alleyway exit—only for the hulking ogre to block it with a ferocious snarl.
Oh no, no, no, nononono…
"Going somewhere?" Curly Girl mocked from behind Bloom as the wind began to pick up. Before she could react, her sandals had left the pavement and she was caught in a tornado of heavy wind, dirt and garbage.
A terrified scream was ripped from Bloom's throat as she was tossed around in the air, the three witches' laughter loud enough to hear even with the wind roaring in her ears.
Bloom couldn't believe this; she'd just discovered this place and now she was going to die.
Valtor left the museum with a pleased smile on his face.
That building was practically brimming with fascinating artifacts—that Agador Box was especially interesting. He'd need to plan a date where he could infiltrate it and—
His smile faded when his eyes fell to the side of the building. Where in Magix's name was Bloom?
Promptly, Valtor scanned the area with both his eyes and magic, trying to get either a visual on the troublesome girl or sense her Dragon Fire.
It took but a moment, and not only did she feel her magic but those of three other magic users.
Valtor massaged his temples and sighed heavily. Now what had that girl gotten herself into?
The tornado finally spit Bloom out, slamming her against a nearby roof and causing the breath to knock out of her. She was so dazed that she almost didn't catch herself as her sore and limp body began sliding down.
Quickly, Bloom rolled onto her stomach and tried clawing at the roof for purchase, only managing to grab a pipe drain before she could plummet to the concrete.
She squeezed her eyes shut and cried out in pain as her sifting ribs sent a sharp pain shooting through her body, causing one hand to release from her desperate hold.
"What're you doing up there, pixie?" Ponytail Girl taunted from below as Bloom's fingers began to cramp and slide. "Get down!" An invisible force pried Bloom away from the drain pipe and tossed her violently to the ground.
Another exclamation of pain escaped her lips as she hit the concrete before being immediately held upwards with telekinesis.
"We should attack fairies more often!" Ponytail Girl said cheerfully as ice crystals began shooting out of her outstretched hand and clinging to Bloom's body like burrs.
Bloom tried struggling against her invisible restraints in order to escape the ice to no avail. The ice began forming a cage that began to encase her and all she could do was squeeze her eyes shut as it got to her trembling chin, letting out a groan of discomfort.
Once the ice enclosed her, Bloom couldn't move a muscle. Her limbs, mouth, eyelids, and every single nerve was pinned in the enclosed space. The only thing moving was her heart and lungs, but she knew in this tight place it'd only be a matter of time before she ran out of air—either that or froze to death, for her body temperature was plummeting rapidly.
"Now then! Where were we?" Bloom heard Ponytail Girl's muffled voice from outside her frigid prison. "Oh right! Getting that ring from—"
She was cut off as the sound of a magic blast echoed through the alleyway. This was followed by a yell of surprise and the two other witches crying, "Icy!"
'Icy?' Bloom's sluggish brain thought. 'Who names their kid Icy?'
It was probably a witch thing.
There was the sound of a few more blasts followed by a heavy thud, and more exclamations before Bloom could feel the tiniest pinpricks of warmth breaking through her prison.
The sound of cracking ice was deafening to her ringing ears, but the discomfort was short-lived as her cocoon shattered and she fell forwards with a wet gasp for air.
Before she could collapse weakly to the ground, a pair of strong warm arms wrapped around her stomach and eased her down. "Careful," Valtor murmured. "Are you alright?"
Bloom looked up at him with chattering teeth. He was no longer masquerading as her father and his brows were furrowed in concern.
"Hey! Dweeb!" One of the witches spat before Bloom could answer (not that she could at the moment anyway). It was Curly Girl who was pushing herself to her feet with a pained grunt while glaring daggers at Valtor. "Who do you think you are, huh?!"
Valtor gently leaned Bloom's quaking form against the wall before standing to face her. "You mean to say you don't know who you're dealing with?"
Brunette smirked and narrowed her eyes. "Why don't you come show us, Pretty Boy?"
"I see…" Valtor said, and Bloom was certain she could detect a hint of annoyance in his voice, even as she saw the corner of his mouth tilt upwards menacingly. "Well, since you asked so nicely." He held out both his hands, an orb of blue appearing in each before fired them both in unison.
Curly Girl and Brunette leaped into the air to dodge and the orbs slammed into the wall and cracked it but didn't dissipate, instead they flowed brighter and brighter.
"Ha!" Curly Girl said from where she hovered in the air. "Is that the best you can—ah!" The glowing orbs exploded from behind them and sent them shooting forwards.
Bloom watched as they tumbled through the sky and facepalmed against another building. Even from where she sat she could hear the crunch and crack of bones and brick alike and it made her wince.
Without even turning, Valtor held up his hand and produced a shield, blocking Ponytail—Icy's attack of ice shards from his side.
"Embarrassing," Valtor chuckled, causing Icy to grit her teeth in frustration and dive bomb forwards with a glowing fist. The wizard leaped easily into the air and flicked his wrist, causing blue flames to appear and circle beneath the plummeting witch before slamming into her with a geyser of fire.
Icy cried out before flipping backwards through the air and pushing off a build board, lunging towards Valtor again. "Oh you are so going to regret that!" She snarled, swiping her arm through the air and sending a chilly cloud of frost towards him.
Valtor held his hand out with one hand and the spell froze in mid air. With the other, he sent a powerful jet of flame at it and caused it to evaporate.
He then raised an eyebrow, smirk broadening. "Not with that spell work, I'm afraid."
"You'll be eating your words in a second, you smug bastard!" Icy snapped as she held both hands up in the sky and began chanting.
"From the depths of primordial space, I summon a box with a frigid embrace…"
Bloom hugged herself tighter as the temperature dropped, her breath fogging and her fingertips beginning to numb.
Valtor's smirk fell slightly as his eyes fell to her shaking form. Moments later he'd swooped down, and crouched next to her. Bloom didn't even have the energy to let out a noise of surprise as he gently scooped her into his arms and quickly pushed back into the sky just as the spell finished.
The alleyway was completely covered in ice and snow, icicles dangling from every surface and stray flurries spinning through the air. In fact from this high in the sky, Bloom could see that the spell has extended down four blocks.
"That is a spell I need to learn," Valtor said, in a voice that sounded begrudgingly impressed.
"Coward!" Icy barked, shooting higher into the air where Bloom and Valtor were.
"I dodged a spell. That's hardly cowardice," Valtor deadpanned. "From the condition of those two it seems I made the right call." He nodded to where the two other witches who had just recovered were pinned and frozen to the brick they'd been slammed against prior due to the spell—only their heads had been spared and a frozen barrier that failed to protect them hovered in the sky encased in ice.
"What the hell, Icy!" Curly Girl called.
"You could have given us a warning you know," Brunette grumbled.
"I suggest you take your friends and leave before I decide to take proper vengeance in the name of my apprentice," Valtor said coolly. "You won't be able to use any more magic for a while after a spell that powerful...or am I wrong?"
Icy narrowed her eyes, and for a second Bloom thought she was going to attack again. But instead she snapped, "Darcy, Stormy, let's go."
She turned around and flew away, her friends calling after her to wait as they struggled to escape the ice spell they were pinned by.
Ignoring them, Valtor landed once more, boots crunching against ice and snow as he placed Bloom down and knelt before her, placing two hands on either shivering shoulder and squeezing. His hands began to glow and immediately Bloom was filled with unspeakable warmth while the ice and snow around them slowly melted.
She sighed in relief, leaning into the warm touch as her shivers slowly faded away. "Thanks," she mumbled.
"I...forgive me," Valtor said, as the spell spread to her chest. Bloom winced as she felt a sharp pain, but it was quickly replaced with relief, for the aching was no more. "It was foolish of me to leave you alone."
Bloom shook her head. "I'm the one who decided to play hero and chase after that ogre—this is all on me; don't worry."
"Ogre—? Ah," Valtor looked over his shoulder as the yellow creature groaned from his unconscious state. Valtor blasted him in the head and he crumpled all over again. "That's him is it?"
"Uh-huh, but he was working with those witches to get a ring from some girl named...Stella I think," Bloom said with a frown. "Speaking of, I hope they're not on their way to attack her now."
Valtor shook his head and chuckled. "You nearly froze to death and you're worried about strangers?"
Bloom flushed and shrugged. "Force of habit I—ah!" A bolt of lightning shot from the sky, streaking towards her and Valtor at tremendous speed. Luckily, the wizard was faster, holding up a barrier just before it could connect with them.
"Eh," Curly Girl—the one Bloom presumed was the one named Stormy due to her powers said with a shrug. "Worth a shot." She and her companion then flew off after their leader.
Valtor huffed irritably as he lowered the barrier and stood, holding out a hand for Bloom to take. "I suppose they didn't appreciate you playing the hero all too much?"
Bloom let out an awkward laugh as she squeezed his gloved hand tightly and allowed herself to be hoisted up. "Yeah...you could say that."
The hotel they chose to stay in was simple and utterly bland with its simple white sheeted beds and equally white walls, furniture, and appliances. But at the moment, there were far more pressing matters on Valtor's mind.
He had appeared before those witches without his guise as a way to strike fear into the hearts, send them running so he wouldn't have to waste precious energy. Instead they had the gall to challenge him.
It annoyed Valtor more than he cared to admit.
Logically, it was a good thing he hadn't been recognized—he was still too weak for people like Faragonda or Griffen to know he was back—but his pride was seething and indignant because it made no sense. He was the one who had personally struck down the royal family of the illustrious Sparx Kingdom for Dragon's sake, and before that he'd laid waist to countless dimensions with the aid of his mothers!
How could every man, woman and child not know of him or his face? How could they not cower at the mere sight of him? Why—?
"Hey, it's okay," Bloom cut through his thoughts on the bed next to his, causing him to remember where he was and flick away his internal tirade. "I told you the thing in the alleyway wasn't your fault—I won't tell Dad, promise!" She continued, rolling on her side to give him a kind smile.
Is that what she thought he was worrying about? Please. He was glad he'd managed to save his little pet project/bio-battery/future battle-to-the-death partner but if Bloom had ended up freezing to death he wouldn't have lost sleep over it.
Still, he returned the smile with as much sincerity as he could muster before telling her, "I promise that your continued stay in The Magical Dimension will be far less—traumatic."
"Being frozen alive sounds traumatic but it isn't all that bad," Bloom assured him.
Valtor fought the urge to scoff. Either she simply hadn't been frozen long enough to realize that ice was hell or she was a liar—or a fool. Probably all of the above.
"Besides," she continued, rolling onto her back and smiling at the ceiling. "I got to see a cool magic shop, saw a dragon, and made a new friend."
This time Valtor did scoff. "Who? Bad Bang Boy?"
Bloom burst out laughing and turned back to him with an amused grin. "They're not that bad."
"They look like dangling noodles," Valtor argued.
"I was thinking more on the lines of the McDonald's logo," Bloom said.
Valtor blinked slowly at her. "...who?"
Her grin faded and she flushed, returning to the position on her back. "Right, you don't—I'm... going to sleep. Night."
"Sleep well," Valtor responded, hitting the lightswitch with a tiny blast from his finger and plunging the room into darkness. "Tomorrow we begin your training—I can't have my protégé being beaten down in alleyways after all."
"Can't wait," Bloom said with a tired yawn before silence reigned with the exception of crickets and the beating fan.
It took five minutes for Valtor to hear the soft breaths of sleep sound from her, and a grand total of fifty for him too to finally drift off.
He rather wished he hadn't.
"Well!" An all too familiar voice crooned. "Welcome back to the living, dearie!"
AN: I didn't feel like writing Bloom's tour with "Brandon", sorry! But you guys didn't care anyway, right? Right
Next chapter will be the beginning of Bloom's training and a few interesting bit of dreams from both her and Valtor, hopefully it won't take too long to post but you never know with me lol
Fantasy Fan OUT!