AN: Hello guys! I know what you're thinking; "Holy shit! Did she just publish a chapter exactly 7 days after the last?!" Yes! Your eyes do not deceive you, friends!
Very short chapter to end off the month of August! A little fluff, a little battle, and a little hint at what's to come. Hope you enjoy it!
Chapter Nine: A Little Unease
Valtor should have figured that Bloom's movies would be burned onto ancient technology. VHS cassettes? Honestly. He made a mental note to get her something to play them on from a Zenith thrift shop.
"A conundrum to fix at a later date, perhaps," Valtor told the disappointed girl with a light squeeze to her shoulder. "However, a movie theatre should be open about this time—would you like to test your new wings and catch one?" And that aside, he had too much energy pent up after the little high Solaria's Ring had given him and needed to go out for a bit.
The responding sparkling grin was all the confirmation he needed, and now the two were flying casually above Magix, the blurred lights of cars, street lamps, and buildings winking back at them from below.
"I can see why you love flying so much," Bloom said appreciatively as she spread her hands wide and tilted her head back to allow the wind to wash over her. "The view is so beautiful and the breeze is—!" She paused and shuddered, hugging herself. "Either super cold or it's the outfit."
Valtor chuckled lightly and shrugged his coat off, offering it to Bloom who excepted it with a thankful smile and pressed the cloth to her front. "Once you have better control of your magic, you'll be able to regulate your body heat. Once you do that you can go to any height with little discomfort and it never quite gets old after that," Valtor said with a light smile. "I do pity the poor beings who can't lift an inch off the ground. I suppose your wings are no longer sore from that fight yesterday?"
Bloom hummed, taking one hand off the jacket to tap lightly at her shoulder blades. "Not too bad. It was much worse earlier today when I had to save Brandon."
Valtor rolled his eyes. "Clumsy and a squire? Oh, goodie."
"What's wrong with being a squire?" Bloom asked with a frown.
"I find being a servant to be extraordinarily pathetic," Valtor responded simply.
"But he's not a servant,"
"Servitude is servitude, no matter how pretty the title is."
"So everyone except people like royalty and CEOs is pathetic?" Bloom challenged with crossed arms.
"More or less," Valtor shrugged.
"So what are you?"
Valtor narrowed his eyes and scowled at Bloom and she rose her hands in surrender. "Hey, just saying. You're a celebrity with a target on his back; not exactly atop the pyramid of society—unless incognito celebrities are The Magic Dimension's version of kings."
He opened his mouth to retort before closing it and glaring into the distance, because what was there to say? He was pathetic. He hadn't a fraction of his old strength, leaving him stuck babysitting and robbing from teenage princesses. And even with all the power in the world, he still dreaded the very thought of his mothers.
But he was working to change that, what was Bad Bang Boy doing?
Bloom then said, "I don't think you pathetic, just so you know."
Valtor blinked twice and frowned at her. "You just said—"
"No, you just said. I was just calling out the dumb holes in your argument, that's all."
"There's nothing 'dumb' about it," Valtor argued. "The very makeup of life is 'dog eat dog'. Those who have the drive to claw and devour their way to the top get to enjoy a long life, money, fame, a throne. Those who don't remain under the heel of the ambitious, and that's just how it goes."
"What about people who just happen to be born a prince or princess?" Bloom said. "I mean let's be real, all they did was win the life lottery. And there are several people on Earth who work their entire lives and don't get anywhere further than a dull nine-to-five."
Valtor sighed heavily. Her and her idealism. Before he could conjure up a response, however, a familiar building with overdramatic swirling fairy lights came into view. Thankfully, the Magix Deluxe Theatre hadn't changed since he'd last been.
"Ah, there. Let's go," Valtor said as his disguise magically slipped on and he angled his feet towards the ground as he descended.
"Are you changing the subject?" Bloom asked slyly as she followed.
Valtor glanced at her with lidded eyes. "I'm sorry, would you like to bring a philosophical debate into an entertainment establishment?"
Bloom gave him an infuriatingly smug smile as she squinted at him. "I won."
"You did not."
"Yuh-uh."
"A cease-fire is not a white flag."
Bloom hummed before shrugging. "Fine," she amended as they landed. She called her wings back and smoothed her clothes. It was mildly more fancy than her usual outfit—a loose baby blue lace v-neck paired with fitted white ripped jeans and her usual wedges. She tossed his jacket around her shoulder properly as she added, "But we're bringing it up again, and I'll get that white flag from you, mister."
Valtor scoffed and gave her a smirk. "You'll have to pry that flag from my cold, lifeless hand."
As they entered the theatre, Bloom gasped in awe right on cue. People stepped onto teleporting platforms and reappeared on rooms that pulled in and out of grooves in the wall before spinning to the next like giant wheels just above the lobby selling food and drinks. All around them, glitter decorated the air and a floating orchestra played above them.
Valtor chuckled softly as he led her towards the food stalls. He would admit, he was going to miss Bloom's expression of pure wonder once she got used to this world.
"This place is amazing!" Bloom said with a grin. "I feel kinda underdressed now."
"No worries," Valtor said, "We can come here more than once and you can dress differently then."
Bloom smiled brightly as he ordered them popcorn and soft drinks. "What's a fantasy movie like here? Is it like…a documentary or story set on Earth?"
"Would you like to find out?" Valtor asked as they walked towards one of the platforms with a woman taking spangles and giving out tickets.
A grin lit up her face as she said, "Let's."
Bloom shrieked in unison with the audience before shooting Valtor a half-hearted glare. "You didn't tell me this was a horror movie!"
"It's hardly horror," Valtor scoffed as he took a handful of his caramel popcorn. "Besides, this is based on the real-life story of Edger Oldman the Great—show some respect and stop closing your eyes every five minutes."
"Why do they ew—!" Bloom clamped a palm over her hands as the Edgar guy's mouth transformed into a muzzle and tore into a shrieking fairy with gleeful relish. "Why is it so graphic?!"
"Again, hardly horror. There are far worse things in this world."
"To a total dinosaur like you, maybe but my gross tolerance begins and ends with the cockroaches in my bedroom!"
Valtor turned to her and raised his eyebrows. "Surely this isn't coming from the girl who chases after hulking ogres over pairs of hideous glasses."
Bloom flushed and hugged herself. "Cockroaches—eek! Don't raise my karma points they just refuse to die!"
Valtor hummed casually as Bloom turned her face away from the movie again. Earth's practical effects and CGI now stuck out as extremely fake and lame now, and she was absolutely thankful for that. She was never going to get mad at Selina for showing her—
Bloom flinched at the sudden thought and shook her head with a sigh. She took a sip from the drink she hadn't touched (for obvious reasons), and then hissed, "Didn't you tell me you were going to test my theory that fantasy movies in this world were Earth spoofs?"
"I also said that we can come here more than once."
"You said it as if we were going to do that today instead of torture porn!"
"I insinuated nothing," Valtor stated with a smirk, just as the entire screen became sprayed in blood and guts. "I need enjoyment in my life too, you know."
Huffing Bloom stood from her seat. "I'm going to the bathroom before I barf," she announced as she made her way to the exit and stood before a row of platforms.
Gosh, that was intense. Bloom sighed as she followed the sign pointing to the bathroom. But she supposed Valtor was right...he needed some excitement in his life too, some that didn't include—
She paused, feeling the hairs on her neck stand and the sense of being watched sinking into her gut. But turning over her shoulder, she saw nobody. Shaking her head, Bloom continued forward.
Stupid movie.
Anyway, Valtor had been doing a lot of stuff for her during the past few days so she supposed it only made sense that he should have a chance to enjoy stuff too—even if it was torture porn.
Entering the ladies' room, Bloom splashed her face and fixed her hair. Nausea had gone away now, and maybe she'd overreacted a bit. They were supposed to be going out for a fun night together after—
The air within the mirror's reflection rippled and a familiar figure became visible behind her. Bloom gasped and spun around to face him
Those gunmen from Earth.
He leveled his weapon at her and Bloom backed up against the sink with wide eyes.
The man's eyes narrowed beneath his goggles as he held up a beeping device and pointed at her—no Valtor's jacket.
"A disguise, eh?" He said with a chuckle as he crammed the device back in his pocket and placed his finger on the trigger of his gun. "Knock it off, wizard."
Bloom flung her hand in front of her with a cry and created a barrier just as the blast of light shot out, causing it to explode into a harmless puff of smoke.
The man frowned in confusion, but before he could regain his bearings, Bloom repeated a simple action she'd seen Valtor do with his shield the day before. Clenching her fist, she watched, pleased as her barrier exploded outward and threw the man into a stall with a grunt.
"Ugh…fairy magic?" he muttered in confusion from his slumped position against the toilet before scowling. "Why do you have our target's jacket, girl?"
Bloom gritted her teeth and held her palms forward at her side, pouring magic rapid-fire into her palms and watching the flaming orange-white light orbs grow. "Stay away from him!" She snapped as she tossed the flaming orbs one after the other.
The man rolled under the first, causing it to destroy the toilet and burst a pipe, and shot the second out of the air before shooting again at Bloom's chest. It hit her dead on and she slammed against the sink with a pained gasp before crashing to the slowly soaking tile.
Transform. She needed to transform. Pushing herself up to her knees and taking a deep breath, Bloom felt her magic rise around her, only for another shot to hit her in the skull and knock her onto her back.
"Alright, Accomplice," the man hissed, pressing the gun against her skull. "Where is he?"
Bloom snarled and kicked at one of the man's legs. With her force and the water slick floor, he slid backward and lost his balance with a cry of surprise. As he tipped forward and smacked his face on the sink, Bloom scrambled to her feet and tried to transform again, only for hands to wrap around the back of her neck.
He slammed Bloom against the bathroom mirror and she cried out as she felt the glass shatter at her back. "I'm going to go easy on you 'cause you're a kid," the man said as he switched his grip to the front of Bloom's neck. She gasped for breath, gripped the arm holding her against the mirror, and squeezed. "But—argh!" his arm sleeve burst into flame and he jolted back, slipping on the water and stumbling against a stall border.
Bloom slid to her knees with a gasp, rubbing briefly at her neck before quickly rolling out of the way of a boot—a very heavy boot it seemed, since the tile cracked beneath it.
The man pointed the gun at her again and Bloom spat, "No you don't!" before shooting a ball of fire from her palm and sending it crashing against the other end of the bathroom wall.
Snarling, the man tore a baton from his belt and switched it on. Crackling electricity decorated its tip and left a mirage in the air as it swung down at her. Bloom somersaulted backward to dodge, but it proved futile. The electricity raced across the water with vigor and sank its teeth into Bloom's nervous system, causing her to shriek.
"If you won't talk to me," he said towards Bloom's weakly twitching and gasping form as he took out a pair of cuffs from his belt. "Maybe you'll—"
The man's body became outlined in violet, and he looked down at himself in confusion just as he was flung up towards the ceiling with a scream of shock. There was a hard thud before he hit the ground.
He didn't get up, even as he let out a pained groan, and he'd never be able to as a dark aurora surrounded him and caused him to disappear.
With a grunt, Bloom rolled to her knees and looked up, smiling in relief as she saw a grim-looking Valtor with a palm slowly losing its glow of magic. "Valtor," she breathed, wincing as she tried to stand.
Valtor splashed through the puddle deep water and held his hand out for her. As he hoisted her to her feet, he gave her a dark look.
Her smile faded and she looked away, awkwardly brushing away her wet bangs. "I'm…sorry—"
"No. Look at me."
Bloom obliged, and Valtor squeezed her hand tighter as he said, "I apologize. I miscalculated when these...bastards would show themselves again. We need to speed up your training."
Bloom nodded firmly, silently relieved that he wasn't mad at her for getting her butt kicked again.
Turning to his coat, he levitated the sopping material before snapping his fingers. It too disappeared like the man. "I need to get rid of the signature off of that blasted thing," he sighed tiredly.
Bloom laughed bitterly "All because of a stupid decade's technological gap."
Valtor smirked as he moved his hand to her back and lead her out of the partially destroyed bathroom. "Try a millennium, Darling."
Bloom's eyes widened in shock as she looked up at him and mouthed, "Millenium."
Valtor smiled at the expression before chuckling in amusement.
"Stella?"
The princess looked up from her finger where the Solarian Ring perched and smiled over her shoulder. "Flora, dear! Need something?"
"I was going to ask you that," Flora frowned. "Are you okay? You've been up for an hour."
'No.'
"Yup! Sorry for bothering you with the lights," Stella said as she slipped off the ring and placed it back in her jewelry box. "I'm hitting the mattress now."
Flora didn't seem all that convinced, but she smiled anyway and said, "Goodnight, sweetie," before closing the door gently behind her.
As soon as she left, Stella flipped open her box again and lay a finger on her family heirloom.
She didn't know why but it felt…off.
...then again, it could be because of those stupid gross egg creatures from the ball tonight—whatever Tecna had called them.
AN: Again, super short chapter. Hope you enjoyed it anyway!
Fantasy Fan OUT!