Tecna's Visit
Gardenia
It was a normal night in Gardenia, for the moment. Bloom yawned as she walked from her bedroom downstairs to grab a drink. It had been a massive change for her, from sleeping with roommates to her own bedroom again. She had just grabbed a glass from the cupboard with a light that appeared in the kitchen, someone very familiar appeared out of thin air.
"Tecna!" Bloom shouted.
"Oh," Tecna said, reeling under Bloom's iron grip hug
"Nice to see you again," Bloom squealed. "I didn't know you were coming for a surprise visit."
"Oh, I knew you were lonely, but I didn't know you were this lonely," Tecna observed.
"Why are you here then so early?"
"I left my laptop."
"Is this it?" Bloom asked, pointing to a computer on the counter.
"That's it," Tecna said, walking over to the counter.
She paused upon picking it up, knowing she was about to depart immediately. She gave Bloom an apologetic look.
"I know you have to go," Bloom said sadly.
"Alright," Tecna said, giving Bloom another hug, her conscience momentarily eased. "I'll be back soon, I promise."
She pulled out her phone and spoke into the receiver. "I'm ready."
There was no answer from the other end. "That's strange. I was just on with the headmistress just five minutes again."
"What do you mean?"
"I had an open phone line with Faragonda. But it's gone. Let me check something."
Tecna flipped open her laptop and typed away at a rapid pace. "Oh no."
"What?"
"No response. My link to the Magix Dimension has been severed."
She turned the screen towards Bloom. A picture was showing nothing but static on the screen. "That's supposed to be a street camera in Magix City's central square. I can't access it."
Suddenly, Bloom's phone started to ring. Bloom raced over to what had been Stella's old phone and picked it up. Bloom's anxiety replaced her sleepiness and skyrocketed the longer the conversation went. When she put the phone down, she exchanged a horrified look with Tecna.
"We've got to get my parents up," Bloom said, running towards her parents' bedroom.
Thirty minutes later, Mike and Vanessa, both with impressive bedheads, were sitting at the kitchen table while Tecna and Bloom explained everything to them.
"Mom, Dad, I know, but I need to get back," Bloom said. "They'll need us. They'll need the Dragonfire. Me."
She looked at her parents. Mike and Vanessa looked at each other before Vanessa spoke.
"I don't like this. Every mother wants to keep her daughter safe. But if these witches succeed, they will come to Earth. We have no choice. We have to get you two back to Magix. Bloom, can you call Stella?"
"Yes."
To Bloom's horror, she only received a busy signal when she typed Stella's number in. Every Magix phone number she tried failed and her text messages bounced back to her phone. She put the phone down slowly, in shock.
"Oh no," Tecna said, causing everyone to jump.
"What is it?" Vanessa said.
"The Realm Wide Web is down. I have no link. I also don't know of any way to get back to Magix either."
"Neither do I," Bloom confessed. "I always just used the portals that Magix uses for us."
Tecna was thinking hard. She had no idea how she was going to get the two of them to another dimension, but she knew the problem she faced. We need to establish a link between the Magix Dimension and here. One that can trans.."
Tecna looked away for a moment, and when she looked back, she had changed. She was now wrapping a strand of her air around her finger, and she looked guilty.
"Tecna, what is it?" Bloom prodded.
"I might not have left the ship as spotless as I told you."
"You did what?" Bloom asked, wondering if Tecna had done what the redhead was thinking she had just done.
"I actually didn't park it in the garage everyone got off," Tecna admitted. "I parked it in the small garage adjacent to the hangers. We took one of their primary ships and I parked it in the bay they use for their spare ships."
Bloom mentally facepalmed, something that wasn't missed by the analytical Tecna.
"Yes. But I did sync my computer with it too. Which means I can connect with and perhaps route a message. But I'll need something big, a signal booster..."
"Please clarify for us who are technologically challenged please," Mike requested.
Tecna closed her eyes partially out of frustration." I need to magically and physically boost a digital signal. A conductor, semichip.."
"Radio dish?" Vanessa said.
Mike suddenly lit up. "I know where, The fire station has a large radio dish mounted on it. As the fire chief, I can say it has to go down for maintenance and you can use it. I'll simply redirect the traffic to a local sub band. But you have to leave it as you found it. It was quite expensive to install."
"Nobody will know I will have used it," Tecna reassured him.
Mike began putting on his coat. "Come on girls. Get in the car."
Tecna, Vanessa, and Bloom pulled on coats while Mike got his keys. They all piled into his car and left for the fire station at top speed. As they drove through the street of Gardenia Bloom turned to Tecna.
"Let hope it works," Tecna said as they drove through the nearly empty streets of Gardenia.