AN: Ello friends! I'm alive and Happy Bloom's Birthday! *throws confetti*.
As an apology for being late to both you and the readers of my other stories, I've decided to publish four chapters in a row as an apology Christmas gift! This week, it's "Twin Flames!"
Since I'll be mass producing these, I won't be responding to reviews right away, but I WILL eventually; hang tight!
Anyway, hope you enjoy!
Chapter Five: Trouble Comes in Threes
Within the unyielding darkness of his mind, three agonizingly familiar apparitions circled Valtor. They were all wrinkled, hunched, and ancient while sporting wicked smirks and absurd hairstyles. He'd known this was inevitable—he'd just hoped that fate would have the courtesy to prolong this meeting until he was fully, truly ready. But alas, fate always did seem to have it out for him.
"How lovely to see you again, Valtor!" one of the floating apparitions before him—Belladonna— crooned, reaching a gnarled finger forward to pinch his cheek in a mockery of affection that he jerked away from with a scowl.
"What do you want?" He demanded coldly.
Belladonna frowned as Tharma sneered, "Seventeen years in Omega certainly hasn't chilled your insolence! I've told you a million times and I will tell you again, Bella—rearing a child was the worst decision we've ever made!"
"A grown man but still a brat," Liliss drawled disdainfully.
"Silence, both of you!" Belladonna snapped, glaring at both her sisters individually before clasping her hands and turning back to Valtor with a syrupy smile. "I will admit I do agree with Tharma to some extent; I wasn't expecting such venom from you after not hearing our voices for so long, Valtor."
Valtor scoffed and said, "Did it ever occur to you that the venom comes from precisely the fact that I'm hearing from you?" But realized his error the second Tharma snarled and lit her hands with crackling violet electricity.
"Tharma," Belladonna warned as Valtor involuntarily tensed. The storm witch sniffed and let her magic die in her palms.
Belladonna addressed Valtor again as she asked, "Back to the point at hand. What makes you assume we want anything? As I said previously we haven't spoken in nearly two decades."
Valtor rolled his eyes and glared into the distant darkness. "Please, I'm many things but a fool is not one of them."
"Are you sure?" Liliss asked sardonically and Tharma cackled until Belladonna shot her another warning glare.
"And the answer is no. Whatever game you want me to play I won't participate," Valtor continued. "Now, if you would kindly let me get back to my sleep?"
Tharma was glaring at him while Liliss's eyes were narrowed. Belladonna however simply smiled and said, "Of course, dearie. I imagine you haven't had proper rest in years…but do remember…" Valtor grunted in discomfort as she pinched his cheek again but harder this time, and with a large grin showcasing crooked and jagged teeth. "This isn't over."
Valtor jolted awake, eyes snapping open to find the spinning fan of the hotel room above him and the sound of Bloom's soft breathing on the bed next to his.
It would be deluded to believe he could fall back asleep now.
He growled under his breath and rolled off the mattress, bending forwards to replace his boots on his sock clad feet. Curse those harpies. Curse them and their blasted games!
Valtor snacthed his coat from where it had been draped over the nearby sofa chair and opened the glass balcony doors with a simple flick of his wrist. Not stopping his stride, he vaulted the balcony handrails and fell through the air.
The wind slammed desirably against his face and clawed at his hair and clothes before he stopped abruptly in midair and shot upwards into the starry night sky, Magix a brilliant array of different coloured lights and faraway sounds of nightlife. Unfortunately he could hardly enjoy himself with the latest encounters with his mothers in the back of his mind.
Valtor sighed heavily. Typical; they managed to ruin just about anything in his life.
What could they possibly want? And whatever it was, how could he refuse? He could play rebel for a little while but it would fray on his mothers's nerves eventually. No matter what he wanted, his life was and would always be theirs. But how could he get revenge, regain his magic, train Bloom and go on a wild goose chase for….bah!
For once, flying was doing little to relieve his frustrations. He needed something a slight bit more...exciting, less idle. He glanced to the side, watching a heron gliding side by side with him before holding out his palm towards it and blasting it out of the sky.
Valtor sighed despondently once more. Even with the sound of its horrified squawking below and the sight of magical flames consuming its helpless body, he felt no glee—although that could be because he'd just killed something defenseless and beneath him simply out of spite and hadn't needed to challenge himself in the slightest…
But wait a moment; he did have a sparring partner nearly equal to him in magical prowess, did he not? Bloom couldn't be the only one getting something out of this apprenticeship after all. And training her at night would make more sense in keeping a lower profile.
Then again, if those witches from earlier were any indication, that may not even be an issue—and there he was getting annoyed again.
He sighed softly for a third time to himself before stopping and turning back towards the hotel, inhaling and exhaling repeatedly to taper off the worst of his temper; if he dealt with Bloom while he was too frustrated—well. He glanced over his shoulder where a lone singed feather was twirling towards the ground.
As had been reiterated to him tonight, destroying something that couldn't fight back was painfully unsatisfying.
Bloom woke up to the distant feeling of cool air tickling her skin and giving her goosebumps. She shuddered as her eyes fluttered open, squinting at the curtains billowing in the wind entering from the open balcony doors.
Geez. Getting frozen by that Icy girl had really made her cold sensitive, hadn't it? She'd need to ask Valtor if that was would wear—
She noticed the bed beside her completely empty, moonlight spotlighting a wrinkled bedspread.
Frowning, Bloom sat up and looked around the room before slipping off the bed. When circling his bed, Bloom noticed his boots and coat were gone and then turned back to the balcony.
It didn't take a genius to come to the conclusion that he'd gone for a midnight flight and she wondered what was bothering him. Somehow Bloom had a feeling it had nothing to do with her almost getting killed.
Asking him wouldn't yield any results...so maybe she could wait for him to come back and cheer him up?
"Ooh! Hot chocolate!" Bloom beamed to herself as she padded over to the night table in sock clad feet and picked up the telephone receiver. She'd always been given that by her parents when she was having a rough night.
"Hello, how may I help you?" A cheerful voice asked on the other end.
"Hey! Can you connect me to a café or something? I'd like—"
"No need. I can take your order here and charge it to your hotel bill. Room number?"
Bloom gave the man the hotel number and ordered two mugs of hot chocolate. Not a second later, a tray with two steaming whip cream and sprinkle covered drinks appeared in a flash of glitter on her bed.
"Oh!" Bloom said in surprise as the man asked if she wanted anything else.
"Oh—uh...sugar cookies maybe? Those taste good with—"
A plate of a dozen frosted cookies appeared on the tray. "Done," the man said.
"Okay, thanks a lot!" Bloom said as she hung up and turned to the tray with a smile and a sigh. "I love this place."
She'd just begun to sit cross legged on her bed with a mug and a cookie when a shadow darkened the moon's light.
Turning, Bloom smiled as Valtor landed into the hotel room with a curious frown. "You're awake," he said.
"Because someone left the balcony doors open," Bloom teased as she took a sip. "Anyway, you told me you like flying when you're down so I brought you this to cheer you up." She gestured to the tray and Valtor's eyes widened in surprise.
"You…"
"Mhm! And look, there's tiny sugar packets by the mini fridge so you can sweeten your drink if it's too bland for your taste."
Valtor blinked slowly before raising an eyebrow. "Why?"
"I told you, figured you were in a bad mood."
Valtor's lips twitched into a crooked smirk and he tossed his coat off with a chuckle. "You're going to get yourself killed with that attitude, Bloom."
"Everybody dies, right?" Bloom shrugged as she took a cookie and dipped it into her drink. "Dying while helping someone in need sounds like a pretty nice way to go."
Valtor rolled his eyes and sat on the bed beside her before he picked up his own mug. "Of course you would think that."
"And of course you wouldn't," Bloom playfully shot back. "But if a heroic death sounds so awful to you, how would you like to die?"
Valtor paused at bringing the mug to his lips as he chuckled again. "That's an awfully morbid question."
Bloom winced and laughed awkwardly. "Yeah...yeah I don't know why I asked, sorry."
"No, I'll answer," Valtor said as he snapped his fingers and called two of the sugar packets to him. They tore by themselves and tipped their contents into his hot chocolate as he answered with, "If I were to hypothetically die it would be in a grand blaze of glory—it will never happen however, I intend to live forever."
Bloom hummed in thought as she swirled her drink around before asking, "Is that possible here? To live forever?"
"With enough power and drive anything is possible with magic," Valtor said. "Why? Do you have your sights on immortality?"
Bloom shuddered at the very thought and shook her head. "No way. Having to watch everyone I know and love eventually die while I stay the same? You'd never be able to fall in love or make friends because they'd all leave you eventually one way or another. That sounds like a nightmare...a very lonely nightmare."
"Quite the sentiment," Valtor commented and Bloom flushed.
"Sorry. I didn't mean to diss your lifestyle—or future lifestyle maybe. Are you immortal now or is that just your goal?"
Valtor paused before saying, "I can still be killed but I don't age, no."
Bloom's eyes widened in curiosity as she asked, "So...how old are you now?"
"None of your concern."
"You're a dinosaur, aren't you?" Bloom accused half-jokingly.
Valtor let out an amused breath and finished off his chocolate before taking a cookie. "While you hold disdain for immortality, I assume you don't care to die young either."
Sensing the subject change, Bloom finished her chocolate too and listened, wiping away the left behind mustache with her pajama sleeve as he continued. "I've decided tonight we could begin your training," he said, standing from the bed as Bloom gasped excitedly.
Flying arm and arm with Bloom again, Valtor located an older part of Magix where there would be several abandoned and decrepit sites that would suit their purpose.
The one he found was a dingy domed underground subway station that he quickly cleaned up decently with a few magic hand waves, appreciating the awestruck look on Bloom's face at such rudimentary actions. The redhead had insisted on keeping the graffiti however, claiming it fit the "training aesthetic" whatever in Arcadia's name that meant.
"Okay!" She said excitedly, as she jumped from one foot to the other completely barefoot. Valtor found that absolutely unsanitary, but he supposed it was more practical than her wedge heels. "I'm ready! What spell are we learning first?"
"We can start with shields. It's one of the spells a fairy can use at its fullest without transforming," Valtor said. "Now, throw something at me."
Bloom nodded and crouched to pick up one of her discarded wedges, winding her arm back before throwing.
Valtor held out his hand and a violet domed barrier shimmered into existence before him, the wedge slammed into it before exploding with a flash of bright light and falling to the ground in a smoking charred heap.
"Shields differ from power type," Valtor explained as Bloom picked up her wedge by its torn strap and mouthed an awed "wow".
"You and I possess the Dragon Fire, so our shields will burn anyone and anything that comes into contact with it. A being with ice based magic would freeze attackers, lightning based would electrocute—so on and so forth."
Bloom nodded slowly in understanding as she placed the shoe down and asked, "Okay, so how do I make a shield? The first time I did it was totally at random."
"Remember what I told you before? Magic is about intent—intent, drive, and power."
"Dip. Got it!"
Valtor frowned. "What?"
"You know, kinda like an acronym. "D" for drive, "I" for intent and "P" for power," Bloom explained.
"Well...if that helps you remember. Now, close your eyes and relax your muscles."
Bloom compiled and Valtor circled her appraisingly before nodding. "Good. Now try creating a barrier."
Bloom opened one eye. "How—?"
"Close your eyes."
Bloom snapped it shut quickly once more before continuing her question. "How do I do that exactly?"
"Remember; intent, drive, power," Valtor said as he stepped back and waited.
Bloom wrinkled her nose and scrunched her eyes, humming in concentration. A moment later, she became outlined in gold, hair slowly floating around her like a flaming halo.
"Yes, that's it," he encouraged as the air shimmered around her.
Seconds later however, the air exploded in a bright flash of flame and Bloom was thrown against the wall with a yell of surprise.
Valtor winced as the girl slid down the wall with a groan. She touched the back of her head and grunted. "Ow."
"Well, you have part of it down," Valtor said, holding out a hand for her to take. "Come, let's try again."
Bloom nodded confidently as she allowed herself to be helped to her feet before stepping back and taking another deep breath.
"Try out stretching your arms this time, perhaps that's why the spell backfired," Valtor added and Bloom nodded, eyes still closed as she followed the instructions.
This time, a translucent orange dome surrounded Bloom. She opened her eyes and blinked up at the dome with a grin. "I did it!"
"We'll see," Valtor responded, holding up his palm and calling a violet fire ball to his palm. "Let's see if it holds—otherwise it is as good as useless." He tossed the ball and Bloom tensed as it sailed towards her.
It tore right through the barrier like it was toilet paper and slammed into Bloom's chest. She sprawled to the floor with a cry of pain and groaned before pushing herself right back up once more and spinning around. "Okay," she said with a nod, rubbing her bruising stomach. "Let's go again."
Valtor nodded and threw another spell. A dome didn't even reappear this time, the spell slammed into Bloom's waiting palm and she stumbled backwards with another cry, blowing heavily on the scalded hand.
"Let me see," Valtor said, trying to hide the irritation he was feeling. This girl was going to help him do absolutely nothing with the rate they were going. He'd seen toddlers get this right!
He rubbed his thumbs against her burn wounds and healed them with every swipe as Bloom sighed. "I'm sorry for being so lame."
"You're new to this, I never expected you to get it well immediately," he lied smoothly as he gave her hand a comforting squeeze and stepped back once more to try again.
Fifty more times, fifty more times they tried the spell and Bloom couldn't get it right once.
Great Dragon. How ironic was it that the most powerful magic source in the entire universe had made its home to someone so unskilled with magic? Daphne was an obnoxious little brat who deserved the painful death inflicted on her by his mothers but he could begrudgingly admit the girl could spar like there was no tomorrow—Oritel and Marion too if he were being honest, killing them had been a true pleasure for a reason.
The fighting gene seemed to have skipped a child however…
How was he supposed to finish everything on his personal to-do list before his mothers called on him again if she was being so painfully useless?
"Okay," Bloom huffed and pushed herself to her knees with a pained grunt and stumbled to her feet for the fifty-first time. "Let's try…" her voice trailed off as she panted for breath before inhaling slowly and continuing. "Again—"
"No!" Valtor barked in an explosion of frustration that caused his magic to flare around him and Bloom to flinch. "How can I—how am I going to—you—!" He swiftly snatched his frustration by the tail and reigned it back in, closing his eyes to calm his racing pulse and the magic sending blue flames across his body.
"I...am sorry," Valtor said, opening his eyes again, only to find the girl looking away in shame, rubbing her arm awkwardly. "I didn't mean to—"
"You're right," Bloom sighed. "I totally suck at this. I'm just wasting your time."
"No, no, Bloom," he said, not wanting to set up walls between them—that wouldn't help anyone now would it? "I'm on a...tight schedule and I simply took that frustration out on you."
Bloom frowned and tilted her head to the side. "A schedule?"
"Of no fault of your own," Valtor assured her. "It's simply...well let's just say I'm in debt. I owe some truly awful people something and I don't know when they'll demand payment."
Bloom's eyes widened. "You're in some wizard mafia?"
Valtor blinked slowly and said, "...yes?" not entirely certain what she was talking about. A mafia? What an odd Earth word. He supposed it meant "cult" however.
Bloom stepped closer to him before stepping off the station platform and sitting on the edge, looking over her shoulder at him and patting the spot next to her for him to sit. Curious, he complied before she said, "I'm sorry. That...sounds rough." She laughed awkwardly and hugged herself. "Kinda sucks that you have to train me, huh?"
"No," Valtor said. "I want to help you, Bloom," 'Help you help me steal my magic back, that is,' "I owe you this much."
"And I owe you too," Bloom insisted. "You're training me even though you're in trouble. That's...very super sweet of you."
Valtor wanted to wrinkle his nose in disgust at the sentiment but he outwardly smiled easily. "You never stop with your kindness, do you?"
"I toss it around like confetti," she said with a wink. "Karma's a two edged sword, y'know? Yeah, if you do bad, bad things happen. But if you do good, good things happen and I want…" her voice trailed off and she frowned sadly pulling her dangling legs up to rest her face on her chin and whisper, "I want…"
Valtor waited for her to continue. Instead she shook her head and turned back to him with a smile. "Anyway. I'm going to help you with this schedule. So if that means training extra hard and helping you browse museum art then I want to do it."
Valtor looked away from her in thought, drumming his fingers against the tiled ground. Well, if she was willing to put in the extra effort for his sake…
"I won't go easy on you," Valtor warned as she stood.
"Don't worry," Bloom smiled as she got up as well. "I don't want you to. Knock me up, coach."
Valtor rose both eyebrows and Bloom's face burned crimson before quickly looking away. "Goddamnit, Bloom!" she hissed under her breath.
AN: Very much on the short side, but this is due to me wanting to publish this today while also wasting time writing this chapter out with everything planned before realizing it didn't work and having to quickly rewrite it. Anyway, hopefully this was an entertaining set up regardless!
Fantasy Fan OUT!