Volume Two: The Beckoning of Shadows

by gins-potter

The battle is over, they've won, and Bloom Peters knows she should feel on top of the world right now. But she just doesn't. Haunted by the memories of last year, Bloom returns to Alfea with a darkness growing within her that scares and taunts her. Part two of my Winx Club retelling for teenage audiences.

1. The Shadow Phoenix

Hey babies, guess who's back :D

What a motherfucking year 2020 has been, am I right? I feel like I've aged a million years in 6 months and particularly as an Aussie between the bushfires, COVID-19, and now the #BLM movement, (not to mention just life as a uni student) it feels like I've barely had a second to breathe. I hope you're all doing okay, I know shit's been tough so if anyone needs to vent feel free to drop something in the comment section.

Alright, on with the fic. As always, let's start with some housekeeping things:

- Immediately after finishing vol.1 and before i even started planning this vol. i did a massive edit of the first vol. it's not strictly necessary to re-read vol.1 before reading this second fic, it's mostly minor changes, grammatical stuff, tightening up the lore a lil bit.

- next, this fic is completely planned out. something i didn't do with vol.1 that i really regretted was doing a really detailed outline with where the fic was headed. and i think that really hurt me in terms of editing later. so i took the time this time to do a detailed plan for every chapter which is why it took me a little longer than i was expecting to actually get writing. but i'm in a really good place now and i'm ready to go.

- with the last fic i think i tended to update once a month and as far as i can predict that will probs be the same for this one. sometimes more regularly, sometimes less, just depends on what life is doing i guess.

- big thanks to Drops for letting me take inspo from his pixie redesigns. if you haven't check out his stuff get on tumblr right tf now, his url is Drops-of-moonlights.

- inspo pics for Tecna's hair and the girls dresses are on my tumblr (gins-potter)

- weird thing is they fucked with my formatting for the social media posts (you'll know what i mean when you get to them) so i fixed it as best i could. for best formatting check the ao3 version of this fic.

- re. this chapter it's kind of a monster (about 17k total) so sorry for that? or you're welcome lmao. depending on whether you like long chapters or not.

I think that's everything? Let me know if there's anything that you think needs to be tagged, i'm terrible at that sort of thing, and as always let me know what you thought in the comments.

---

Bloom felt her heart stop dead in her chest when Icy strolled, cool as could be, through the front door of the shop. The long hair, pale as ice and spilling down her back was the same, the tall, slender frame, the same, and when she turned to look at Bloom, it was with the exact same cruel smirk and cold eyes. Same, it was all the same.

A small noise of protest escaped Bloom and even though Icy made no movement towards her the redhead felt frozen in place. She couldn't move, couldn't transform, couldn't do anything but stand there as icy terror spread over her body. Her fingers dug into the counter in front of her, the only movement she could muster as that frigidness pressed in on her, making it feel as if walls of ice were encasing her.

Air rasped in and out of Bloom's throat as Icy took a step towards her, and all of a sudden her breath caught completely. She couldn't breathe. She couldn't breathe. She was going to die. She couldn't breathe. She was going to-

"Hey B, shell these peas for me, would you?" The voice was loud and sudden behind her, and it, along with the accompanying thud of a heavy box being dropped onto the counter, made Bloom almost jump out of her skin. The cold air suddenly vanished and air whooshed back into her lungs as she glanced over her shoulder to see her tall and gangly co-worker standing there expectantly. Heart thudding, she turned back to the door but Icy was gone, a customer standing in her place.

Bloom breathed out, heart slowing. The resemblance wasn't even that similar; the customer's hair was fair like Icy's but more a caramel than the witch's white-blonde, and the woman was definitely too short. More than that, she certainly wasn't standing, smirking threateningly at Bloom, but was wandering down the first aisle, completely oblivious to the redhead's abating terror.

"Bloom?" Marco asked. "You okay?"

Bloom twisted around, running a shaking hand over her hair, before forcing herself to smile, and nod. "Yeah, of course. Just zoned out for a second there," she added, chuckling tightly. "And yeah, I can do those. It's not too busy."

Aside from the customer who definitely didn't look like Icy, the Genero Fruit and Vegetable Shop was empty, which wasn't unusual since it was the middle of a weekday. Bloom knew that it would get busy again in a couple of hours when the 9-5 work day ended and all the harried parents came through after picking their kids up from their various summer programs, but for now she had time on her hands. Not that Bloom would be here when that happened; she'd drawn the short straw and had helped open the store at six that morning so she got the afternoon off.

Bloom moved to the empty side of her station, where she could shell the peas but still be near enough to serve any customers who came through her register, expecting Marco to get on with his own work out the back. But he didn't immediately move away. She swiped her hands with sanitiser before grabbing one of the peas and sliding her nail neatly along it's edge, splitting it open. Surprising her, Marco grabbed his own, and together they tipped the tiny round peas into another waiting container before dumping the now empty pods into the bin. It wasn't particularly exciting work, but there was something comforting in the banality of it all, something for her hands to do while she thought.

Not that she was thinking about much, as she was too preoccupied with not thinking about what had happened just a few minutes ago. Instead of letting herself be consumed by it, she casted a quick sidelong look at Marco, wondering what he was still doing there. Marco was tall, tanned, and cute. Cute in the obvious kind of way, with dimples and a smile that always reached his eyes, that one couldn't help but notice even if they weren't particularly interested. Unconsciously, Bloom felt herself relax a bit and start to smile in return.

"So, there's this party tomorrow night," he began, eyes fixed firmly on the peas he was shelling methodically.

Ah, Bloom thought, that was what he was after, and she felt her brief smile start to slip.

"It's a kind of last night of summer hurrah slash back to school thing," he added. "Probably lame." He was speaking faster now, and Bloom thought he was nervous. "But I was wondering if you wanted to come."

"Oh, that's really nice of you, Marco. And it sounds fun. But I'm going back to school tomorrow morning."

"Oh, right," Marco mumbled, ripping another pea pod open.

Bloom bit her lip, worried she'd hurt his feelings.

"Wait, so today's your last day then?" He glanced at her, his dark, shaggy hair sliding over his forehead.

"Yeah, my shift ends in a little bit, then I'm done for the summer."

Marco's dark eyes lit up. "My shift's only an hour longer, maybe we could do something this afternoon instead."

Bloom wavered, trying to decide if she would be nice and accept, or try and explain gently that after getting up at the crack of dawn to make it to her shift on time, all she wanted to do after this was go home and collapse on her bed. She was saved having to come up with an answer by the sudden appearance of her friend Mackenzie, who also worked there.

"Marco! What are you doing out here? Nonno's out back looking for you," she told her cousin, referring to their grandfather, Mr Genero, who owned the store.

"I'm going," Marco grumbled back, pushing away from the counter. But he hesitated, probably waiting for an answer from Bloom about his proposition.

"Now," Mackenzie said impatiently. She was only six months older than her cousin but she loved lording it over him every chance she got, especially at work.

Marco cut her a dark look but didn't wait any longer, loping away on his long legs and pushing through a door marked 'Staff Only'. Mackenzie watched him go before slipping behind Bloom's register to serve the customer she hadn't even noticed lining up. Having worked at the store since she was old enough to see over the counter, Mackenize got the customer's items scanned and bagged faster than Bloom ever could have and sent the woman on her way with a chirpy, "Have a nice day."

Then it was just the two of them.

"Boy's got it bad," Mackenzie said under her breath as she joined Bloom at the peas and began shelling them with a speed only someone who'd been doing it for her entire life could possess. "He's gonna be heartbroken when you go back to school."

Bloom blinked in surprise. She wasn't the type to presume but she'd had an idea that Marco had a bit of a thing for her. Still, her friend wasn't exactly known for being subtle so she didn't quite know what Mackenzie was getting at with the comment.

"Mack," she began uncertainly. "I didn't mean to lead him on or anything."

Mackenzie blinked and shook her head. "Nah, B, I didn't mean it like that. I know you've got your guy back at school."

Bloom scoffed a little at her word choice, but knowing her friend as she did, didn't bother to argue. As it was, she didn't know what exactly she and Sky were now. They still hadn't talked about the kiss they'd shared at the end of the school year - even if Bloom hadn't been able to stop thinking about it - but they'd talk about nearly everything else, texting or calling each other nearly every day of the break. There'd even been some nights, where plagued by terrible nightmares about the Army of Decay, Bloom had found herself reaching for her phone to call him.

"Be nice to him, will you?" she said instead of any of that. "I didn't mean to hurt his feelings."

Mackenzie rolled her eyes half-heartedly. "He'll be fine. Alright, I'll be nice," she said, when Bloom only raised her eyebrows at her. "You must be almost finished with your shift."

Bloom glanced at the time on the register. "Five minutes," she said, torn between relief for her sore feet, and sadness that this will be her last shift at the store. It hadn't been a particularly exciting summer but after the school year she'd had it had been just what she'd needed.

"Five minutes before you break my heart," a boisterous voice said from behind them and they both turned to find Mr Genero standing there, a wide grin on his face.

Mackenzie and Bloom both laughed, and the redhead shook her head fondly at her boss. "I think you'll survive without me, sir."

"I'm not so sure," Mr Genero said with a faux suspicious look at his grand-daughter. Mackenzie poked her tongue out at him and laughed. "You've been a wonder, Bloom," he said, pressing her last paycheck, as well as a plain brown paper bag into her hands.

"My Nonna made you some cannolis," Mackenzie told her, explaining the delicious scent wafting from the bag.

"Tell her thank you for me."

Mr Genero assured her he would, and Bloom retrieved her backpack from behind the counter, before waving goodbye to her boss while Mackenzie walked her out.

"Coming to the rink later?" Mackenzie asked hopefully.

"I've got to pack," Bloom reminded her, and Mackenzie dimmed a little, before shrugging with a smile.

They'd had their last roller derby match the week before - ending the season with a win - but had spent all their free time since then at the rink. Her friends would continue to muck around and train there until the winter when hopefully they would have enough teams for a couple tournaments. Bloom had gone with them the day before, saying goodbye to them as she knew she wouldn't have enough time after her shift or the next morning to see them again before she went back to Alfea.

"Stay in touch, yeah?" Mackenzie said with a brief hug, her friend never the type to draw out a goodbye.

"Of course," Bloom said, and unlocked her bike from the rack. She swung her leg over and rode off for home, waving goodbye to Mackenzie until she turned the corner out of sight.

Bloom considered the Marco situation as she rode, still feeling a little bad that his feelings had been hurt. She hadn't been completely oblivious to his feelings during the summer and while what she told Mackenzie was true and she hadn't meant to lead him on, she knew she also hadn't discouraged his feelings either. It had felt nice to have someone smile at her and be friendly without all the extra drama that seemed to surround her when she was at Alfea. Despite that, Bloom knew it never would have gone much further than a few smiles; even talking to him she hadn't been able to stop herself from comparing Marco to Sky, noting that Sky was taller and more filled out in that hero way. And more than that, talking to Marco didn't make her feel like butterflies were swarming in her stomach like it did when she was with Sky.

Feeling worse than ever, Bloom finally got back to her house and left her bike in the garage before heading inside. She fixed herself a quick sandwich for lunch, knowing she didn't have long before she had to be online for her next session with Rhonwen, and took it to the dining room table where her laptop was sitting.

Pulling up the connectix website, Bloom distractedly took a bite of her sandwich while flicking through the messages that had accumulated during her shift. Most of them were from her friend's group chat, mostly just confirming that they were all planning on getting to Alfea around midday with plenty of time to spare before the commencement assembly in the afternoon and the back to school dance they were having afterwards.

Still having a few minutes before her session with Rhonwen and lacking anything to do, Bloom idly scrolled through her feed, liking the herbal tea recipes that Flora had posted, and commenting on a picture that someone in her class had put up from the dance at the end of last year.

The next post was from the official account of the band that Bloom vaguely remembered as one that Musa's dad managed and who she was accompanying on their tour over the summer. Musa had been tagged in the post, explaining why it had turned up on Bloom's feed, and she smiled as she read the caption and saw the video attached.

L.I.G.H.T

We finally found a spare minute to witness music_is_my_air's legendary talents and she blew us away with a cover of one of our songs!

Bloom clicked play on the video and Musa came into view, perched atop a piano and smiling as she nodded her head gently in time with her gentle guitar strumming.

"I come home in the morning light

And my mother says, 'When you gonna live your life right?'

Oh mother dear we're not the fortunate ones."

One of the band members joined in with a light drum beat and the song grew faster, Musa's smile and confidence growing as the other members whooped and started moving to the music.

"And girls, they wanna have fun

Oh girls just want to have fun."

"Yeah, girl," the drummer cheered, as Musa continued playing the guitar, waiting for the next verse.

"The phone rings in the middle of the night

My father yells, "What you gonna do with your life?"

Oh daddy dear, you know you're still number one

But girls, they wanna have fun

Oh girls just want to have."

The band's two singers joined Musa for the chorus, contributing beautiful harmonies but letting Musa's voice take centre stage.

"That's all they really want

Some fun

When the working day is done

Oh girls, they wanna have fun

Oh girls just wanna have fun."

Letting the video continue to play, Bloom scrolled down to the comment section, seeing that most of her friends had left messages already, complimenting Musa. Her eyes skimmed over the messages looking for one name in particular but while she couldn't see one from Riven, she did notice that he had liked the video, and the knowledge made her smile for her friend. Underneath her friend's comments, there were hundreds more from users who followed the band's accounts and Bloom's heart soared at seeing all the complimentary messages that had been left.

She scrolled back up just in time to catch the end of the video, watching as the band cheered and clapped for a grinning Musa and feeling a strange pang of envy go through her at the unabashed joy on her friend's face. Not that she begrudged Musa her happiness, she just wished that she could get over everything from last year as easily as Musa clearly was.

Bloom had put on a good face for her parents, and Sky, and her friends, but the truth was no matter how much she talked it over with Rhonwen and how much she told herself it wasn't her fault, the guilt, and the nightmares, and the visions during the day refused to leave her.

Bloom stood, feeling abruptly and irrationally angry, angry at herself, angry at the Trix, angry at the world for turning her into this. She didn't want to be this girl wracked with guilt over what someone else had done, she didn't want to be still upset about Asterin's death when it seemed everyone else was getting over it, she didn't want to be left behind as everyone else moved on from this. And most of all, Bloom really didn't want to talk about all this for the umpteenth time with Rhonwen, having to sit there and listen as the healer told her over and over that everything she was feeling was normal.

So, despite the fact Rhonwen's video call was scheduled for less than a minute, Bloom strode back over to her laptop and slammed the lid shut, before storming out of the room and upstairs where she could throw herself into bed and hopefully stop thinking about it for a while.

---

Musa couldn't help but smile as she scrolled through the connectix comments on the video of her that L.I.G.H.T had posted. She hadn't even realised someone had been filming them until she got the notification, and the subsequent ones as the band's army of fans started commenting on it.

fairygirlalyssa

L.I.G.H.T music_is_my_air Coralia88 DID YOU SEE THIS? WHO IS SHE?

Coralia88

L.I.G.H.T music_is_my_air fairygirlalyssa idk but i love anyone who gets them to sing this song again. they haven't played it in ages.

shininglightjareth

L.I.G.H.T music_is_my_air fairygirlalyssa Coralia88 Whoever she is, she has a great voice. I've never seen anyone but Al herself hit notes like that.

LilliLightFan

L.I.G.H.T music_is_my_air give me more collabs i need more of this!

WaylinWitches

L.I.G.H.T music_is_my_air Loved seeing the behind the scenes fun, and what a kickass voice.

Musa scrolled through for another few minutes, liking all the comments her friends had posted, as well as a bunch more from random users before the click of the door opening drew her attention. She shoved her phone into her hoodie pocket and made to stand but the healer gestured for her to remain seated, before wheeling over his own chair so he could sit in front of Musa where she was perched on the edge of the examination table.

"So, how's the wing been feeling?"

"Good," Musa said truthfully, thinking about the brief test flight she'd been allowed to go on the day before.

"And you've been doing your exercises?"

"Morning and night."

Musa had been vigilant about doing them every day while she'd been on tour with her dad and the band he managed. Wings were like an extra limb for fairies, one that allowed them to fly, and Musa didn't know how she'd cope if her wing had been injured permanently.

"I wish all my patients were this attentive to their exercises. How about we get you transformed and take one final look?"

It always felt a little weird for Musa when she tried to transform when there wasn't any imminent danger present but it only took a moment of concentration for the change to occur. Her hoodie and jeans disappeared and were instantly replaced with her glittery red minidress, headphones, and wings. The healer wasted no time in rounding the table to examine her right wing with quick, perfunctory touches, feeling along where the previously torn section of her wing had healed.

"It's healed beautifully," the healer commented, moving back around to face her and gesturing for her to change back. "It should be as strong, if not more so than before the injury."

"Thank you," Musa said, jumping off the edge of the table.

"You are very welcome," the healer said, walking her to the door. "Just try not to end up back in my office."

"You got it." Musa gave him a jovial salute and hightailed it out of there, eager to get home and share the good news with her dad.

Except when she bounded up the front steps of their home and pushed open the front door, it was to find the house cold, and dark, and empty.

"Baba?" she called out, walking through the house and flicking on lights as she went. "Baba, are you here?"

She reached the kitchen, finding it just as empty as the rest of the house, except for the note left on the counter. Sighing, Musa reached for it, a bad feeling in her stomach that she wasn't going to like whatever it said. The note informed her, in her dad's elegant handwriting, that he'd been pulled away to deal with a scandal with one of his other bands and he didn't expect to be back before she left for Alfea. 'Have a good term and keep your grades up,' came the completely impersonal ending of the note.

"Thanks Baba," Musa said sarcastically, crumpling the note up and pitching it across the kitchen. "I love you too."

For a moment Musa just stood there, listening to the trickle of water in the nearby stream through the open window, before, not knowing what else to do, she pulled out her phone and brought up the connectix app. The first thing she saw was the sunny landscape of a Solarian beach posted by Stella, with an equally positive caption underneath.

Musa tapped the heart button but before she could scroll any further her phone buzzed with an incoming video call, a picture of Riven's scowling face replacing her connectix feed. She felt her lips turn up in a small smile as she clicked accept. Maybe this day wouldn't be so terrible after all.

---

Stella watched the likes and comments on her latest photo pile in with a sort of detached interest, before sighing and scrolling back up to the picture she'd posted. It was admittedly a good shot, a glimpse of her pale blue bikini bottoms, long brown legs stretched out on immaculate, pale sand which lead down to the crystalline waters of the ocean. Her caption matched the picture, light, and happy, and breezy, joking about how she didn't want to trade this view for a classroom tomorrow when in reality she couldn't wait to get away from this place.

She dug her hands into the sand, clenching them into fists around the fine grains, before abruptly relaxing them again, letting the powdery sand trickle out between her fingers. Stella considered the flat expanse of the water, the ocean experiencing a lull between swells and debated going back in. Usually her trips to the beach were about lying around, working on her tan, and being comforted by the taste of the salty air. Long gone were the days where she'd spend hours in the water, swimming, and playing, and learning to surf from her father, those things losing their appeal as she'd grown older and started to appreciate her hair, makeup, and swimsuits for their aesthetic application. But some days when there was a lot on her mind, Stella liked to disappear between the waves once more and forget herself for a while.

Like today.

She sighed and swept her hands over the sand, absently smoothing it over and disrupting it again while thinking about what she had to do today. Seeing her mother off to Celestia would usually be a non-event, her mother visited her home planet frequently, except this time Luna was going because the divorce had been finalised, and this time she wouldn't be coming back.

For the umpteenth time Stella wished her internship with Teen Fairy hadn't finished last week. It had been a blessing to have a reason not to be in the palace all summer, forced to watch as her mother's things were packed up and shipped off while her parents quibbled about who was getting what. Stella was sure that the internship and going to see Brandon had been the only things to get her through the summer with her insanity intact.

In a rare show of agreement, both her parents had thought her internship at Teen Fairy had been a good idea, and would give her some real world skills and experiences before she inevitably assumed the Solarian throne one day. Stella's motivations had been more about keeping herself busy and away from the palace, but the internship had had the added benefit of working in an industry she was actually passionate about.

Stella's phone beeped on the sand beside her and she glanced at it to see a connectix notification informing her that Flora had posted yet another herbal tea recipe. She almost scoffed at the sight before remembering that she had tried one or two of them over the summer break and had actually found them quite comforting. Stella smiled a bit and almost picked up her phone to message Flora exactly that when a voice spoke from behind her.

"Your Highness? It's time."

Stella didn't need to twist around to know that it was one of her ladies-in-waiting.

"I'll be up in a moment, Rita," she said, dismissal clear in her voice. She winced; Rita had been assisting Stella for longer than she could remember. The fairy was a few years older, and they looked similar enough that they could be mistaken for sisters, and in some ways Stella did think of her as one. "Sorry," she said, glancing over her shoulder. "I'll be there soon, I promise."

Rita smiled and bobbed in a curtsey, graceful despite the sand beneath her heeled feet. "Very good, Your Highness. I'll have everything laid out ready."

A subtle reminder that time was running out but Stella let it go without comment, waiting until Rita had disappeared up the beach in the direction of the castle in the distance before standing herself. She brushed the sand from her skin, bent to pick up her things, but paused midway.

"Oh screw it," she muttered, straightening, and yanking her surfboard from the sand and heading back for the water. "A few more minutes isn't going to kill them."

---

Flora dragged in a deep breath letting the sweet scents along with the warm tea she was drinking soothe her. She was sitting at a table out on what passed for a city street in Linphea; a handful of shops all in a row, interspersed with great, tall trees, with thick trunks, and flowering branches. One of the sweet smelling flowers suddenly drifted down to land on the table in front of her, and smiling, Flora touched the fragile petal with a gentle finger.

She'd always liked the dichotomy of life and death in flowers; they were often associated with spring and new life, and yet their lifespans could be achingly short, some as short as a single day. It had been good for her, Flora thought, to be back on Linphea where everything was thought to be part of a great circle. Asterin's life had been too short, but Flora needed to believe that that was for a reason or else she felt like screaming.

Calm mood abruptly gone, Flora tossed a few gold coins down on the cafe to pay for her tea and stood, making her way back to the aroma-magic shop she'd been working in for the summer. She reached the end of the lane and turned the corner, the flowers overhead fading from a deep violet into a gentle rose pink. Flora was walking along, idly trailing a hand along the vines creeping across a storefront, when she saw Liliana. Her ex-girlfriend was leaving a store just across the way and as she stepped out onto the cobblestones Flora saw Liliana turn her head in her direction. Then in a very un-Flora fashion she pretended she didn't see Liliana's wave, and hurried down the street, dashing into the aroma-magic store.

She shut the door quickly, cringing as the bell overhead rang, and leant back against it, thinking about the first time she'd seen Liliana that summer.

"You've been home for two weeks, you need to get out of this room."

Flora snuggled down further into her bed, half pulling the blanket over her head in an attempt to avoid her mother's eyes. "I don't want to."

Her mother sighed and came to sit on the edge of her bed, running a gentle hand over her hair. "Oh honey, it really isn't that bad."

Flora ignored her, turning her head into the pillow. "It is," she mumbled. The bandages had finally come off, but even with the healing cream a Linphean healer had given her, the scar Stormy had left was still red and raw looking. "They all just stare at me."

"They stare because they heard how bravely you fought, and they're in awe of you."

Flora privately disagreed but she didn't want to argue with her mother further, so she pulled herself out of bed. "I'll go get those things from the market," she said, trying not to sound petulant, and Flora heard her mother sigh quietly before leaving. She dressed quickly and left the house, grateful that neither her sister nor father were around to witness her bad mood.

A bad mood that didn't improve when she hopped off the ladder leading up to her house and turned around to find Liliana also standing at the base.

"Oh, hi," Flora mumbled, ducking her head so her hair slid across her face in a poor attempt to cover her scar.

"Hi. I was just coming to see you."

"Really?" Flora said distantly. "That's nice. But I was just on my way to the markets."

Liliana didn't seem to hear her, and reached out to brush the hair back from Flora's face. Her lips twisted in sympathy. "I heard you got hurt, I'm so sorry."

Flora shrugged. "Lots of people had it worse than me."

"That poor girl," Liliana said softly. "I can't help but think she might have been alive if she hadn't been attending Alfea."

Flora's head jerked up and she found herself seething in a rare show of anger. She shook her head in disgust and strode past Liliana, not slowing down when her ex-girlfriend bit her lip and followed.

"I'm sorry, that was insensitive to say-"

"Yeah, it was. I've always respected your values Liliana, and despite our differences I've always regretted that we couldn't make it work between us. But for the record, if we hadn't fought those witches might be out there hurting even more people than they did."

"I- I'm sorry, Flora," Liliana said again, falling behind as Flora stomped off between the trees.

She paused only long enough to look back once and say, "Yeah, me too."

The interaction between them had been ugly, and uncharacteristic for them; even when they'd been breaking up they'd been civil towards each other. But what was even more uncharacteristic was the fact that Flora was yet to forgive Liliana, despite the girl's multiple attempts to apologise. She couldn't help the simmering anger she felt whenever she saw Liliana or thought about the things she'd said.

Distantly she knew she wasn't really angry at Liliana, or at least not completely. She was angry at the situation, at Icy, Darcy, and Stormy, and even in some ways at herself for holding onto all this negativity. Flora had always loved being able to see the good in the world, and she hated the fact that lately that seemed much harder to do.

The owner of the store, a large woman with a warm smile, came bustling towards her, a delicate potted flower cradled between her palms.

"A gift, for your last day," she said, pressing it into Flora's hands.

She leaned in and took a long inhale, feeling something inside her settle at the soothing scent. All summer she'd been learning about the different benefits of scents and how they could change someone's mood, promote healing, and do a number of other things. But she didn't think she'd ever seen this one before.

"What does this one do?"

"It's rare, so I've been saving it for a special occasion. It's scent is calming and helps you heal from trauma. I hope it brings you peace, Flora."

Flora smelled it again, smiling subconsciously. "I hope it does too." The owner smiled at her and patted her hand, before nodding at the depths of the store.

"Now come, we still have work to do."

---

"You've been staring at that PCB for ten minutes now."

Tecna jolted at the sound of her older sister's voice, and blinked down at the circuit board she'd been idly turning over and over in her hands. She couldn't even remember what she'd been planning to do with it.

"Have I?" she asked absently, thinking that she could do with a cup of Flora's concentration tea that she gave them when they were trying to study. "Guess I just zoned out."

Perl arched an eyebrow at her sister but didn't comment as she brushed past her into the kitchen to fix herself a drink. Tecna watched her go, thinking how odd it was to have her sister at home again. Perl was nearly twelve years older than Tecna and had moved out of home with her boyfriend four years earlier, but since their split had moved back in until she could find a place of her own. She hadn't talked about the breakup much, just telling her family that they'd decided they weren't compatible anymore, but Tecna suspected there was more to it than that.

That was also odd, these small intuitive leaps that she was making more frequently. Zenithians relied on logic and observable evidence more than anything else, so it was unusual for them to go off hunches and feelings. Tecna put it down to hanging around her friends so much and didn't think it was necessarily a bad thing.

"Are you doing okay, Perl?" Tecna asked suddenly, setting the circuit board down. "You know, with everything?"

Perl turned to her in surprise but she didn't look disapproving of Tecna's question, just curious. "I'm fine," she said evenly.

"He's stupid for letting you go. He's not going to find anyone else like you."

Perl pursed her lips, and Tecna waited for her usual spiel about the breakup being a mutual agreement of incompatibility, but there was a flash of vulnerability in Perl's eyes and instead she said, "Thank you, Tecna. That's very kind of you to say."

Tecna shrugged, she was telling the truth. Perl, taking after her mother, was prettier than Tecna with high cheekbones, pale eyes, and full lips. They shared the same willowy height however, and their hair was the exact same shade of magenta, though where Tecna wore hers short, Perl shaved half her head and wore the other side long. Tecna also knew her sister was extremely smart, being one of the lead engineers on a new spacecraft that they hoped to become the fastest in the dimension.

"Hey," Tecna said after a moment's silence, and set the circuit board down. Perl hummed in acknowledgement. "What are you doing now?"

"Nothing, why?"

"Because I was thinking," Tecan said slowly, eyeing her sister's hair. "That I'm in need of a new hairstyle for school."

Perl ran a hand through her shaved head, a wicked smile, one that Tecna hadn't seen in some time, taking over her face. "I'll get my razor."

---

As much as Bloom had liked being home and had been nervous about coming back after everything, a weight lifted off Bloom's chest as she walked through the Alfea front gates. Shifting her backpack higher on her shoulder, Bloom found herself glad that Stella had taught her a nifty packing spell that had allowed her to fit more of her belongings into her suitcase this year. Walking through the quad, Bloom gazed around at the familiar sights, and her heart lifted at the thought of the coming year.

Her good mood dissipated a little however when, looking around, she noticed the stares of nearby students. Most of them were subtle about it, quickly averting their eyes when they saw her looking, but some looked on openly with something between terror and awe displayed on their faces. Cheeks turning pink, Bloom shoved her hands deep into her hoodie and ducked her hand, making a beeline for the front doors.

All of a sudden it was like the sunny day had disappeared, and all Bloom could see as she hurried along the path was darkness from the thick cloud cover The smooth green lawns were once more smeared with grey goo from the Army of Decay and dotted with divots from stray spells. The South Tower was in pieces, and the laughing and chatting fairies were replaced with crying and screaming as teenagers ran around, frantic to find their friends. Bloom shuddered, panic rising in her chest, as she fought the urge to look over her shoulder in case Icy, Darcy, and Stormy were preparing to attack-

"Bloom!"

The sun came out again, and a gasp left Bloom as she spun around, relieved to see that it was Flora hurrying towards her. It was no surprise when her friend flung herself at Bloom and the redhead returned the hug, having missed her friends more than she realised.

"How are you?" Bloom asked. They released each other and wordlessly started for the front doors, skirting around a pair of terrified looking freshmen talking to Griselda. "You look great."

Bloom hadn't been talking specifically about Flora's scars from the attack, but even so the girl touched a hand to where the wounds had faded to a collection of almost indiscernible lines. She didn't think it would be long until they faded completely.

"Thank you, I feel good. I think a few quiet months at home was just what I needed."

"I'm glad."

They reached their dorm and pushed the door open, almost crashing into Musa and Tecna who looked like they were on their way out.

"Guys!"

"Hey!"

"Bloom, Flora, it's so good to see you."

"Hey, Musa."

"Hi, Tec."

The next few minutes were a confusing mess of hugs, bags, and conversation as they all tried to simultaneously hug and catch up on each other's summers.

"Oh my god, how was the tour?"

"Amazing, how was Gardenia?"

"Great. We won our roller derby comp."

"Awesome, you still have to teach me how to play."

"Flora, did I see you were learning about aroma-magic this summer?"

"Yes, I worked at a shop, the owner was brilliant."

"You'll have to tell me more later. I've read up on it sounds fascinating-"

"Tec, your hair!"

Tecna grinned a little self consciously and ran a hand over her hair. It was still short and pink, but the underneath had been buzzed short, completely with intricate lines shaved in. "Do you like it? My sister did it for me yesterday."

"It looks great," Bloom grinned.

Musa and Tecna moved back and gestured for them to come in, rather than hanging out by the doorway. Bloom was kind of curious where Stella was since she hadn't come out at the sound of the conversation and she was sure Stella had said she was getting there as early as she could.

As if reading her thoughts, Musa said in an undertone, "I'm warning you now, Stella is in a mood. She can't decide what to wear tonight."

"Oh no," Bloom said, trying to sound mournful but knowing her twitching lips gave her away.

Musa grinned. "Yeah, so we're just going down to the quad to see if they need any help setting up or showing the freshmen around."

"I'll just unpack and meet you guys down there," Flora said, dragging her stuff over to her and Bloom's room.

"And I'll uh, deal with that, I guess," Bloom said, nodding at Stella's room. Even though the door was closed they could easily hear her throwing things around and grumbling.

Musa and Tecna bid her good luck and made a hasty escape from the dorm. Bloom meanwhile just dumped her bags in the middle of the common area, and knocked hesitantly on Stella's door, before pushing it open.

"Darling," Stella said, sounding calm despite the fact that she was sitting cross legged in the middle of her room, clothes, shoes, and accessories in towering piles around her. "Have I ever told you how much I hate fashion."

"No, you haven't, and no, you don't," Bloom said, picking her way between the clothes.

"Yes, I do." Stella sounded glum but stood regardless to give Bloom a hug hello. "I think I made too many fashion decisions this summer, I'm all tapped out now."

"Maybe you just have too many options," Bloom suggested, thinking that the contents of Stella's wardrobe resembled a department store.

Stella pulled back and gave her a half-hearted glare. "Don't joke, there's no such thing. The style editors at Teen Fairy gave me too many rules and now I'm all confused."

"You love fashion rules, though," Bloom said. She picked up a little black dress that would probably come down past her knees but on Stella would barely hit her mid-thigh. "You're always saying stuff like 'when you wear a short skirt, you should really mess up your hair'."

"Not helping, Bloom," Stella sighed, and flopped back onto the ground.

"Just make a decision, and then you'll feel better." Bloom sunk to the ground beside her, watching as her friend shifted frantically through a pile of long dresses. "Hey, Stel, your parents-"

"It's official," Stella said, flinging a sweater across the room. "Mum left yesterday." A pair of silver heels followed the sweater and hit the wall with a thud. "The King and Queen of Solaria are no longer."

"Stel…" Bloom trailed off, not knowing what to say. She slipped her arm around Stella's shoulder and the blonde leant over to rest her head on Bloom's shoulder.

"It's fine," Stella said, even though it clearly wasn't. "Honestly, I'm just glad they won't be arguing all the time now."

"Stella, if you ever want to talk about it-"

"I'm fine!" Stella said vehemently, pulling out from under Bloom's arm and leaning forward for another stack of dresses. "I appreciate the gesture, really, darling," she continued, not meeting Bloom's eye. "But I'm fine. And I just really need to work out what I'm wearing tonight."

Bloom didn't think she was, but she also knew Stella well enough that she would just shut down if she pushed too hard.

"Have you worked out what you're wearing?" Stella asked after a moment.

Bloom smiled, thinking of the shopping trip she and her mum had taken just before she'd come back. "Yeah, I told my mum about how we always have the start of year dance and she insisted on buying me a new dress."

"Cute," Stella said, but Bloom could tell from her voice that her thoughts were elsewhere, so she stood, touching her friend's shoulder lightly.

"I might go find the others. You'll be fine."

Stella hummed noncommittally, making Bloom smile. On her way out she passed Stella's desk and was distracted by a series of sketches spilled across the surface. Bloom easily identified Stella's messy handwriting annotating the drawing, and she was blown away by the gorgeous dress her friend had designed. She turned to mention it to Stella but saw that the blonde was fully immersed in her clothes once more and decided to leave her to it.

After dumping her stuff in her room, and resolving to unpack it over the weekend before classes started on Monday, Bloom left the dorm. Despite what she'd told Stella, she wasn't overly enthusiastic about returning to the crowded quad with all the stareing and whispering so instead Bloom found herself idly wandering through the hallways instead. Occasionally she came across a scared freshman and pointed them in the right direction, but for the most part Bloom was alone and that was more than fine with her.

Eventually, however, she ran into Rhonwen coming in the opposite direction. The healer's golden eyes blinked in surprise behind her glasses before she broke into a warm smile.

"Bloom, I was just coming to find you. You missed our last session."

Rhonwen's voice wasn't condemning merely curious and concerned, but still Bloom flushed a little.

"Yeah, sorry about that. I got called into work last minute," she said, the lie coming effortlessly to her lips. "Then, you know, I was so busy getting ready to come back I forgot to reschedule."

"But your last couple of weeks of summer were okay? And coming back today? I know that was a source of some anxiety for you."

Bloom thought about the nightmares, of waking up night after night gasping for breath, feeling like something was watching her, closing in on her; of the daymares where fear gripped her so tightly it was impossible to escape, or where she could have sworn she was back fighting the Trix all over again.

But then she thought of her friends, and how great they were all doing after everything that happened last year. She'd kept up to date with them over the summer break and she knew they were all healing and moving forward.

"I'm fine," she lied. "Really, you know, I think I'm finally coming out of all this."

"That's good to hear, Bloom."

"Yeah, so I really don't think we need to continue with our sessions."

Rhonwen contained her reaction well, but still Bloom saw the momentary surprise flash across her face. Then it smoothed out to a professionally pleasant look. "If you're sure, Bloom. I would suggest at least a few more sessions, just to get you settled, but the choice is ultimately yours."

"I really think I'm fine."

Rhonwen nodded her head in deference. "Of course. You likely won't be seeing much more of me then. Less students than we expected have requested continued sessions so I'll doubtlessly be reassigned soon."

Bloom nodded politely, thinking that that cemented her decision. Everyone else was clearly moving on from the whole ordeal, it was time she did too.

"I hope I've been able to help you, Bloom. I know it was a hard thing to move on from."

"No, you have definitely. So thank you. I couldn't have done it without you."

"Good luck then. I wish you well with your studies and everything after."

"Thank you," Bloom said again, and Rhonwen nodded her head and took her leave.

Bloom watched her go, before continuing in the opposite direction, resuming her aimless wandering. She didn't remain alone for long however, and almost cursed when she sensed someone else approaching her. Bloom's irritation dimmed when she saw that it was an unfamiliar pixie flying towards her. Only a few teacher's on campus had bonded with pixies so Bloom knew most of them on sight, and this pixie definitely wasn't one of them.

This pixie seemed older than most that Bloom had seen, wore deep blue robes, and had blonde hair tumbling out from underneath a pointed hat. Tiny spectacles perched on the end of her nose, and she looked over them at Bloom as she flew closer.

"Hello," the pixie said, stopping to hover just in front of her.

"Hi, I'm Bloom Peters."

Recognition lit up the pixie's face. "Ah, the lost Princess of Sparx. I had a feeling I'd be seeing you today. It's nice to meet you, Princess Bloom."

Bloom's stomach lurched uncomfortably at the title. "Bloom is fine. And it's nice to meet you too. I don't think I've ever seen you at Alfea before."

"You wouldn't have. I was away most of last year doing field research on different divination techniques, really quite fascinating, you know there's a subset of fairies who-" The pixie blinked and shook her head, seeming to come back to herself. "Sorry, I'm Concorda, a pixie of prophecies."

Concorda was still regarding Bloom curiously, eyes roving over her face as well as the air around her, as though the pixie could see something Bloom couldn't. "Would you like to have your fortune told, Bloom? I have a feeling yours would be an interesting one."

Bloom agreed easily enough. She had no interest in going down to the quad yet, and besides she hadn't met many pixies yet, let alone had a chance to talk to them for any length of time. Concorda led her a short way down the hall before turning down a short corridor that Bloom had thought held nothing but storage closets. The pixie stopped between two unassuming doors, and with a wink at Bloom, grasped an invisible doorknob, pushing open a hidden door.

"I had no idea there was a classroom here," Bloom said as she walked inside.

The room was tall and ovular, with a domed skylight overhead providing the light. There were only a handful of desks, and the walls were full of recessed bookshelves, the only clear space being for the door.

"I hold a few seminars each year," Concorda explained, as she settled onto a small lounge set on the teacher's desk. Bloom dragged over one of the desk chairs to sit with her. "And even then only when there's a particular interest amongst the cohort in the art of divination. The rest of my time is devoted to my research, and fortune-telling, and of course I look after some of Alfea's more precious books for Miss Faragonda. We're bonded, you know?"

Concorda gestured to the books lining the walls, and if Bloom had to guess she would be betting there were over a thousand of them. Her eyes widened as she realised what she had said at the end; she hadn't realised Faragonda was bonded with a pixie. Concorda poured herself a cup of tea and regarded Bloom for a long moment over the rim of the tiny cup.

"You have a lot of bright light around you," she said finally.

"I hope that's a good thing."

"Absolutely," Concorda said, and sipped her tea. "It means that you're surrounded by people you love very much."

"Oh, that's true," Bloom agreed, thinking of her friends.

"You must be careful though not to let your love for them cloud your decisions."

Bloom frowned. "What does that mean?"

Concorda didn't seem to hear her, as she set her tea down. There was a crystal ball sitting on the small table, but she didn't look into it, instead gazing at the air around Bloom. "I see four very strong friendship lights around you."

"Those would be my best girlfriends," Bloom guessed.

"Wait," Concorda said, squinting a bit. "There's a fifth. But it's dimmer than the rest."

Bloom was puzzled. "I don't know, maybe it could be for Sky. He goes to Red Fountain but I'm close with him as well."

A funny smile appeared on Concorda's lips. "Sky has blonde hair and blue eyes?"

"Yes."

"He's here as well. But no, this light is different."

"I'm not sure then."

"Yes, I see a strong connection between yourself and this Sky. There will be some bumps along the way, but it will all be worth it in the end."

Half of Bloom wanted to know what that meant but the rest was embarrassed by the idea of a pixie who was essentially a teacher at Alfea giving her relationship advice so she didn't push it. "What else?"

Concorda tilted her head back and forth, her lips moving soundlessly as she attempted to interpret whatever she was seeing. "I see you will soon meet someone new. A fairy, oh a Princess. She has long dark hair and this Princess will have a sleepy pixie with her. Her arrival will be a catalyst for a big adventure in your life."

Bloom's head was reeling, trying to absorb all this information, when Concorda let out a noise of dismay. She leaned forward subconsciously.

"What is it? What's wrong?"

Concorda heaved a mournful sigh. "I see darkness and grave peril. The Princess is climbing a great cliff, in a realm that is host to a dark and powerful evil."

Bloom almost leapt to her feet. "She needs help!"

"Yes, but you can't help her. Not yet. I see it, Bloom. Keep your eyes open because your paths will cross soon and it will change everything."

It was hard but Bloom forced herself to nod and sit back.

"But that's not all you need to look out for, my dear. I'm afraid there's danger around every corner and in the most unlikely of places."

Concorda blinked a few times, almost like she was coming out of a trance, and reached for her tea. Finding it cold, she grimaced and set it back on the table. Bloom, in the meantime, was trying to sort through everything Concorda had told her, and trying not to worry too much about the looming threat of danger.

"I told you you would have an interesting prophecy. If only we had time for me to read your tea leaves or palms, I might be able to divine even further. Alas, I have a feeling Miss Faragonda will be calling you to her office in just a few minutes." Concorda smiled enigmatically, winked at Bloom, and the door to her classroom swung open, completely unprompted.

---

Layla Asherah, crown princess to the realm Andros, felt the stone bite into her fingertips and wondered how she'd ended up here. Not literally of course, she could remember every moment of the terrifying journey, but rather she contemplated how her life could have changed so quickly that she ended up in this dreary realm. The air around her was musty and dank, a result of the lack of natural light and the waterfalls that spilled down on either side of her. The water should have made the rockface she scaled slippery and unclimbable but, defying nature, the water repelled every time her hands drew near. The simple magic cost her dearly however and she was all too aware of the sweat beading at her hairline as well as the ache in her arms.

Even the tiny pixie balanced on her shoulder, one who she could usually carry without a thought, felt as though she weighed a thousand pounds. The pixie, Lockette, twisted her hands nervously in Layla's curls and shifted her tiny feet.

"Don't move," Layla huffed, pulling them up another inch.

"Sorry, sorry," Lockette whimpered, and let out a terrified squeak when the rock beneath Layla's hands began to crumble.

The fairy hushed her and stayed very still until the shadow of a monster crossed the ledge above her head and moved on. She forced herself to wait another minute, ignoring the quiver in her muscles, before pulling herself up the last few feet and collapsing over the edge. Lockette's breath left her in a relieved gush and she forced her hands to ease up the death grip they had on Layla's hair.

Nervous for her friend, the pixie buzzed into the air and hovered in front of Layla's face, the fairy still trying to get her breath back.

"Just rest for a moment," Lockette said.

The pixie rubbed at her bare arms and looked around nervously. Despite the tights and short cape the pixie wore with her yellow dress, Lockette found herself shivering in the cool air; although, Lockette knew it was equally likely that it was the knowledge that her friends were being held captive somewhere near that was making her shiver.

Biting her lip, Lockette looked between Layla and the underground cavern they'd found themselves in. The cavern was humongous, with rocky walls, and a grey lake at the bottom. In the centre was a large cliff, and built right into it was the castle they were attempting to break into. It had taken them hours to scale the cliff face, but Lockette knew that was relatively easy compared to what came next.

"Layla," she said quietly, flying down to perch on the fairy's bent knee. "Why don't I try and find the others while you rest a little bit longer?"

Lockette didn't like the idea of leaving Layla here alone, but they were running out of time, and the pixie could tell from her friend's ashen face that she didn't have the energy to move yet. Despite this, Layla tried to protest anyway, moving to push herself up.

"I'll leave you a trail to follow," Lockette assured her, wings flapping as she was jostled. "You're tired and need to rest some more." She tried to sound firm but they both could hear the waver in her voice. Lockette had always been a nervy pixie, usually preferring to stay close to her village rather than go out and explore with the others.

Layla finally agreed with a nod and settled back against the rocky wall of the castle. Far from being relieved, Lockette felt even more nervous at the idea of going off alone, but didn't dare show it, knowing it would make Layla feel obliged to come with her. Instead she busied herself with pulling free one of the two clips holding back her short, pink hair. The clips resembled small old fashioned keys and were made of a tarnished gold. Lockette threw the one in her hand up into the air and it immediately transformed, lengthening into a key shaped sceptre.

"Be careful, okay," Layla said, and Lockette nodded, avoiding her gaze. She knew if she looked at the fairy, she'd lose her nerve and decide instead to wait until Layla was feeling stronger. But her friends were out there, in Dragon only knew what shape, and she couldn't waste any more time.

Feeling her unspoken command, her sceptre twitched in her hands, the gem hanging off one end glowing a bright, buttery gold. As a pixie of portals and direction, Lockette had a better than normal sense of her surroundings but her sceptre focused that even more, the gem glowing brighter and pulsing faster when she was heading in the right direction of whatever it was she sought.

Moving through the labyrinth of outer hallways and corridors, Lockette could sense that there was a powerful and terrifying presence within the heart of the castle proper. She gulped and felt very glad that she could sense her friend's auras just up ahead still on the outskirts of the castle. Confirming her sense, the gem on the sceptre grew brighter and brighter, pulsating wildly as she flew between pillars and entering an alcove where she saw her friends being held.

"Lockette!"

"It's Lockette!"

"You're here!"

The sound of her friend's voice nearly brought Lockette to tears and all the fear inside her was momentarily eradicated as she whizzed towards their magical cage mindful of stopping short of the glowing, transparent walls.

"Are you girls, okay?"

Despite their fearful faces they all chorused answers to the affirmative and Lockette's eyes swept over them, checking for injuries and finding none. Chatta was standing beside Amore, a reassuring arm around the other pixie's shoulders even though she was almost too short to manage it, Jolly and Zing were hovering hand in hand, taking comfort in each other, Tune was putting on a brave face, Digit looked as impassive as ever, and Lockette was unsurprised to see that Piff was sound asleep, curled at the bottom of the cage.

"Did you come alone?" Amore asked, looking worried. "Oh, Lockette you shouldn't have, it's so dangerous."

"I didn't," Lockette assured her quickly. "Layla's with me. She's just resting back out there."

The other pixies all looked reassured by the news that Lockette hadn't come to this dank, gloomy realm on her own.

"Can you get us out?" Digit asked her, flying closer to the cage walls.

Lockette twisted her sceptre nervously in her hands, gazing at the cage walls clear with magical energy thrumming through them.

Tune sniffed. "Even if we can get out, that's only the beginning of our problems. We're way too low on power to fight our way out of here."

As one, the pixies shuddered, thinking of the monsters roaming around out there. Lockette thought of that powerful presence she felt deeper in the castle, and glanced over her shoulder, wishing Layla was there.

"Actually," Chatta suddenly broke in. "We might not need magic at all." Chatta sounded like she was geering up for a rant, and as a pixie of gossip, Lockette was just surprised it had taken her this long to say something. "I read this great article in the Pixie Post the other day, it was all about using psychology to beat a villain. Like if you can understand why they're evil you can work with that instead of fighting it." Chatta's long, strawberry-blonde pigtails swung wildly as she gesticulated, and Lockette fought down a smile, even as she saw Digit roll her eyes.

Amore however was nodding seriously, hanging on every word the pixie said. "I think he's evil because he's lonely. He needs to fall in love."

"You always think love is the solution," Digit grumbled under her breath, but the others ignored her.

"You're right, Amore," Chatta said excitedly, voice subconsciously rising. "That's so brilliant, I think it deserves a cheer!" Chatta reached for the megaphone pendant she wore around her neck, and Tune held up a hand warningly.

"No more yelling. She hasn't stopped since we got here," she said to Lockette.

"I'm just trying to keep spirits up."

"Well, it's doing nothing for my spirits."

"Well…"

Lockette smiled as her friends descended into an argument, glad that some things never changed.

---

It was hard for Layla to sit and watch Lockette fly off without her. She knew all the pixies were more than capable on their own and didn't need her to protect them, but if she was being honest, this realm scared her. All that she'd seen of it had been gloomy and dark, the monsters she'd seen prowling around had been spikey with sharp teeth, and she wanted to stay far away from anything with the power to capture a bunch of pixies.

Besides, she had the foreboding sense that the very act of standing in this realm was draining her of her power.

Which was why she only let herself sit for a few minutes before forcing herself to stand, ignoring the way her head pounded and her muscles trembled. Leaning heavier on the wall than she would have liked, the fairy forced herself to follow the faint trail of yellow magic that Lockette had left for her. She weaved between the pillars, hurrying past the dark doorways that lead further into the castle, and smiled weakly when the sound of the pixies talking reached her ears.

She should have known; no matter how much trouble the pixies found themselves in they always seemed to find the time and energy to bicker amongst themselves.

Feeling a surge of energy she closed the distance, smile growing when the pixies bickering instantly cut off at her approach. Seeing their friend they all flew closer to the cage walls and Lockette came to settle back on her shoulder.

"Are you guys, okay?"

"I came up with a new cheer," Chatta said immediately, and Layla winced, seeing that she was geering up to give her a demo. Chatta was shorter than the average pixie but boy did she have a big voice once she got going. Luckily, Tune broke in before she could.

"We're losing our powers." Layla could see that the pixie's wings were indeed drooping with exhaustion.

"Don't worry, I'm gonna get you guys out of there," Layla assured them. "Then I'll have you back to your village in no time."

Despite the courage Lockette had shown earlier by going off on her own, her usual nerves had returned to her, as she shivered and drew closer to Layla. "But what if the phoenix comes back?"

"Then we'll fight it all together," Layla said firmly, sounding more confident than she felt.

Noticing the slumbering pixie at the bottom of the cage, Layla knelt quickly, drawing as near to the magical cage as she dared. Knowing her friends had been in danger had been hard enough, but the fact that the pixie she was bonded with was among them made it a hundred times worse. A bonding between fairy and pixie meant a lot of things, it meant that their magic was compatible, it meant that they would always have each other's backs, and it meant if the other was in danger they would always come to save them.

Seeing that Piff was safe and sleeping as usual, a rush of relief and fondness swept through Layla. As a pixie of sweet dreams, Piff always seemed to be falling asleep.

"Hey there, Piff," she said gently, knowing from experience that Piff tended to be grumpy when woken suddenly.

The pixie blinked a few times and pushed herself up with one hand, the other rubbing a tiny fist into her eye.

"Layla?" she asked dreamily.

The fairy smiled fondly at the sight of her. Piff always looked a little rumpled as if she'd just woken up - which, to be fair, she usually had - and Layla was surprised how relieving it was to see the familiar sight of Piff's beanie pulled low and the mauve curls spilling across her face.

"Hey there, Piff. You doing okay?"

Piff frowned sleepily and fiddled absently with the cuff of the lounge pants she wore. "Floor's uncomfortable," she said finally, and Layla tried to hide her growing smile.

"Don't worry, you'll be back in your comfy bed soon. Problem is," she continued, standing so she could circle the cage to get a better look at it. "This place has drained most of my power."

The cage had a circular rocky base out of which emerged a cylinder of red magical energy, sealing the pixies inside. She couldn't see so much as a crack to indicate a weak spot that she might be able to hit. But she wasn't leaving without her friends so as a test she decided to try a simple wave attack. Drawing her magic up from the well inside her she flung it at the cage, intending for a large wave of water to crash down on it. Instead, her attack was closer to a thin stream, and even that felt exhausting.

"See," she groaned, embarrassed by the pitiful attempt.

Digit shook her head swiftly. "It's not your fault, Layla. This place isn't good for any of us."

Lockette zoomed from Layla's shoulder and over to the far wall of the alcove. The wall was so jagged from the rocks that Layla hadn't noticed the ferocious gargoyle likeness that was protruding from it. She joined Lockette by it, cocking her head when she realised it's eyes weren't stone like the rest of it but were swirling with a strange red light.

"It's exuding a lot of magical energy," Lockette said, tapping it curiously with the end of her sceptre. She glanced at Layla. "Let's try hitting it together."

"You got it."

Trying to ignore her trembling arms, Layla squared her hands up to aim at the gargoyle and on Lockette's count, they attacked together; Layla fired a jet of pressurised water, while Lockette swiped her sceptre with a flash of gold light. A cloud of smoke enveloped the stone gargoyle and Layla heard a sizzle behind her, but she was too busy collapsing to her knees to look around. Her chest felt tight and she forced herself to stay hunched over for a minute until her breathing became less strained.

"Are you okay, Layla?" Amore said coming over to her.

Layla glanced over her shoulder to see the other pixies scrambling off the base of the cage, the magical walls having completely disappeared.

"Yeah." She didn't feel okay, but she could see some of her friends were too drained of energy to fly and she was going to have to carry them. "I'm just not sure if I can climb back down that cliff." Her stomach twisted in worry thinking about that sheer drop. But breaking the lock on the cage had exhausted both her and Lockette and she didn't think the pixie had the energy to create a portal for them just yet. "Let's take a quick look around and see if we can find another way down."

Amore, Chatta, and Lockette looked to be in the worst shape, so Layla scooped them - along with Piff, who had fallen asleep once again - up, depositing Piff in her hood where she liked it, and the others on her shoulders. The rest of the pixies, using the last of their energy, flew into the air and together they began to make their way around the castle.

They didn't make it very far however before they heard a low growl come from the shadows up ahead. Heart pounding in her chest, Layla froze, holding a hand out so the pixies flying around her did the same. There was no way she or the pixies had the magic to take on a monster so even though it was the last thing she wanted to do, Layla ducked through the doorway to her left and snuck along the hallway leading further into the derelict castle.

---

Deep within the castle the dark presence felt the disturbance and lifted his head from where it rested on his fist. He cocked his head and smiled, but the expression was devoid of humour.

"Well, that's very interesting," he said, silky voice filling the shabby throne room.

Idly he ran the pad of his thumb along the razor sharp nail on his index finger, considering how to proceed.

"My Lord," a quiet voice said from the corner but he flicked his fingers in a lazy dismissal, the talons catching the dingy light and his companion obediently fell silent.

He twitched his fingers again and immediately a group of the monsters that inhabited the realm crept from the shadows, ready to obey their master.

"You know what to do," he said simply, and the monsters slunk from the room.

---

Layla flung open a set of tall double doors, sparing half a second to admire the intricate designs carved into them. The interior of the castle was as dingy as the realm it was in, and although it looked as though the castle had once been grand and majestic, it had long since fallen into disrepair. The room Layla found herself in was covered in a thick layer of dust, the furniture was all in the process of deteriorating, and the glass in the window frames was cracked and discoloured.

"How are you feeling, Lockette?" Layla asked her quietly, setting of around the perimeter of the room, looking for more doors.

"I'm okay," Lockette said, but her voice was faint and Layla could hear how the pixie was trying to put on a brave face.

There was a quiet shuffle behind her and she whirled around, but nothing emerged from the din. Trying to calm her racing heart, Layla turned back around slowly, and continued around the room.

"We'll give it a few more minutes," she said, making her way back through the cluttered room towards the door. "Then see if you can open a portal to get us out of here."

"I can try now," Lockette said, voice wavering, and Layla knew she was eager to get out of there.

"It's okay, we'll just-"

A sudden crash from the other side of the room drew their attention and this time when Layla spun around it was to come face to face with a monster. It was gruesomely hideous, with grey armored skin, taloned hands, and a face with no discernible eyes but plenty of teeth. She backed away slowly, trying not to spook it with any sudden movements, but to her right a second monster emerged. This one moving towards her on four feet with a rough back that was covered in stone spikes.

The two monsters roared in tandem and Layla bit down a yelp of fright, instead instructing the pixies to hold onto her as she turned to run. Only a third monster was already waiting behind her, this one with slimy brown skin and large teeth. Before Layla could even think about dodging, it reared back it's head and spat a mouthful of bile at her.

The shot had power behind it and it threw her across the room where she slammed into a dilapidated couch which collapsed beneath her. Most of her body was covered with long cargo pants and a hoodie, but where her skin was bare the bile stung painfully.

Beside her, Chatta pushed debris from the couch off Amore, while Tune looked down at her dress and the bile drenching it in dismay. Sniffing sharply, she tugged her gloves further up her arms.

"Oh, you are going to regret that," she said in her polished voice.

She looked to Chatta and the pixie nodded decisively. The monsters didn't seem to find the two of them, short even for pixies and barely clearing 9 inches, very threatening and began to advance. They stopped very quickly however when Chatta and Tune both opened their mouths and let out simultaneous ear-piercing notes.

The monsters roared but dropped to their knees, trying to get away from the noise, while Layla grimaced and stuffed her fingers in her ears, the other pixies following suit. With their wings drenched in bile the pixies were unable to fly so Layla was quick to scoop them up into her arms, snagging Chatta and Tune as well when their energy waned and the noise died away.

Unfortunately as soon as the noise stopped, the monsters recovered and the one with spikes along it's back made a move towards her. It was a strange, aborted movement, more like a jerk than anything else, and Layla frowned before hearing a strange whistle and realising that the monster had catapulted a bunch of it's spikes at her. She dove out of the way and hit the floor, rolling into the impact and back onto her feet in time to see new spikes slid out of the divots the old ones had left.

The move had brought her closer to the monster standing up on its hind legs and it swiped at her, Layla dodging neatly. The slimy brown monster reared back it's head to spit more bile but this time Layla ducked out of the way. There was a screech behind her that told her another monster had been hit instead.

The way clear now, and the monsters turning on each other instead, Layla sprinted from the room, the pixies clinging to her desperately. She paused for only a split second at the doors before turning down the hallway that would lead her back outside. She could sense a dark presence in the place that was different from the monsters patrolling and if it was a choice, she would rather face the monsters.

She burst through a different doorway from the one she'd entered and came face to face with a rickety bridge leading away from the castle. But there was a man standing on the edge of it, blocking her way.

Within a second of laying her eyes on the man, Layla felt the blood in her body run cold, and she took a step back before she could stop herself. The pixies in her arms were more silent that Layla had ever seen them, and she could feel Lockette trembling where she was hiding her face in her hoodie.

The man was tall and thin, and wore sleek, plated amour in a deep burgundy from ankle to neck while his face was hidden by a heavy metal helmet. The skin on the backs of his hands were swirled with what looked like burns and his fingers ended in deadly sharp talons. For a moment the dim light in the cavern seemed to flicker and Layla thought she saw great, shadowed wings unfurl from his shoulder blades, but then she blinked and they were gone.

When he spoke, his voice was smooth like oil, slithering through the space and wrapping around her like an uncomfortable embrace.

"Hello."

---

Heeding what Concorda had said, Bloom headed for Faragonda's office rather than returning to the dorm, figuring the headmistress would be looking for her sooner or later.

"Bloom," Faragonda said in surprise, when she saw who it was at her door. "I was going to come looking for you in a few minutes."

Bloom couldn't help the small smile that crossed her face as she took her usual seat in front of the desk. "Yeah, Concorda mentioned it."

Faragonda's surprise grew but it melted into amusement. "She loves telling the student's prophecies, especially on the first day. Did she tell you anything interesting?"

Bloom thought of Concorda's prophecy predicting danger around every corner and hummed thoughtfully. "A bit."

Faragonda's head tilted ever so slightly, her smile fading a bit. "Concorda is very well versed in the art of fortune telling, Bloom, but even she makes mistakes sometimes. I wouldn't let it worry you too much."

"I'm fine," Bloom said, her voice more forceful than she intended.

Faragonda held her gaze for a moment, before acquiescing with a nod. "I hope your summer was also good. I know- I know the end of last year was hard for you."

"It was good," Bloom said, only half-lying. "It was nice being home with my parents." This part at least she was being completely truthful about.

Faragonda nodded but she looked like she had something else on her mind. "Have you thought anymore about Oritel and Miriam?" she asked carefully.

Bloom had. At first she hadn't wanted to, and in fact had spent the first weeks of summer break pretending like she hadn't found out who her birth parents were. But eventually Mike and Vanessa had sat her down and forced her to talk it out, and she'd realised that even though it would hurt, she did want to know more about them.

"I have," she said slowly. "I want to know more about them, you know, who they were as people. Maybe," she said hesitantly. "Maybe once term starts up again we can talk about them?"

Faragonda smiled gently. "I'd like that. And to talk about your powers as well. I discussed them with Miriam many times."

Bloom nodded, but didn't say anything further. Faragonda seemed to know not to push Bloom because she nodded and changed the subject.

"The other thing I wanted to speak to you about was the new tower. As part of the festivities tonight we'll be reopening it, and I was wondering what you thought of us naming it after you."

Bloom felt her eyebrows jump up in surprise as Faragonda peered over her spectacles at her, waiting for an answer.

Bloom forced a laugh. "So, it would be called Bloom Tower or something?"

"I was thinking more like the Dragon Fire wing," Faragonda said. "Slightly more subtle but a clear acknowledgement of what you did for us, Bloom."

She thought of the stares and whispers as she walked through the quad earlier, and swallowed roughly. Another reminder of what Bloom had done was the last thing she needed. "That's really nice of you, Miss Faragonda, but if it's okay I'd really rather not." Unbidden, the image of Asterin's face rose in her mind. "In fact I think you should name it after Asterin instead. She- she gave a lot more than me."

Faragonda nodded. "That's a lovely idea, Bloom." There was a beat of introspective silence, then Faragonda leaned back in her chair and readjusted her glasses, the moment broken. "I should let you go and get ready. Our guests will be arriving soon," she added, eyes twinkling.

Bloom said goodbye, and made her leave, swearing when she got outside the office and checked the time. It was later than she thought and she was sure the girls were already dressed and heading down to the quad.

---

Bloom wasn't wrong and the exact moment she was hurrying back to her dorm, Stella was standing with the others on the quad, eyeing the sun's position in the sky as she fidgeted with the skirts of her full length champagne coloured gown. The party wouldn't start until later when the sun was closer to actually setting, but guys from Red Fountain were expected earlier to attend the re-opening ceremony for the restored tower.

"Bloom, better get here quick or she's going to miss the guys. And I want us all together when they get here."

"Why?" Flora asked curiously. The Linphean fairy had gone much more casual with her outfit, still in a long dress, but her's a brightly patterned wrap dress paired with a brown leather belt.

"I have this theory that beauty enhances beauty," Stella explained. "If I'm surrounded by the four of you, I'll look four times as beautiful."

Tecna raised her eyebrow curiously, looking the picture of elegance and nonchalance in her white jumpsuit and nude heels. "What's your methodology for proving this theory?"

Stella blinked, expression blank and Musa rolled her eyes, smoothing her hands almost self consciously over her own dress. As always when Musa wore a dress she'd chosen to go short, in a black, velvet dress with billowy sheer sleeves.

"Don't worry, Stella, you look good," she muttered, scuffing the toe of her chunky boot into the grass.

"Good isn't good enough," Stella sighed. "I barely got to see Brandon over the break and this needs to be perfect."

"Well, you're in luck because Bloom's almost here," Tecna noted, nodding at something over Stella's shoulder.

They all turned to see Bloom hurrying towards them, hobbling a little as the strap of one of her white heels was still undone.

"Sorry, I'm late," she huffed when she reached them, immediately bending over to fix her shoe. "I was talking to Faragonda."

"Everything okay?" Flora asked, sounding worried and Bloom nodded without even looking up.

"Yeah, yeah, fine. So what do you think?" She straightened and spread her arms, showing off her new dress. The top was white with thin spaghetti straps that showed off the dusting off freckles across her shoulders. The dress was decorated with simple little white flowers just under the bust before falling into a pale blue gauzy skirt.

The others gushed with praise while Stella ran a critical eye over her outfit, residual annoyance from her friend's lateness still on her face. Finally she allowed an approving nod and started to herd them all towards the front gates.

"The boys are going to be here soon."

"Yeah," Musa said eagerly. "They're all gonna race here on their leva-bikes. And Riven's gonna win," she added smugly.

Stella huffed a disbelieving breath and rolled her eyes. "You wish, it's so gonna be Brandon."

Bloom smiled, having missed their lighthearted bickering over the break, but didn't comment. Privately, she thought Sky was going to win.

Stella and Musa's squabbling eased off when three leva-bikes came tearing around the corner and towards the school. Bloom felt her heart lift at the sight of Sky's sleek blue helmet, and she bit her lip, trying not to think about what that meant. Sky and Riven were half a bike-length in front of Brandon but for a moment it looked like he might come up on the outside and overtake. But ultimately it was Riven who reached them and pulled up first, Sky, then Brandon following.

"Oh no, it was so close," Flora sighed.

Stella groaned a little but she was smiling at the sight of her boyfriend. Musa looked pleased but restrained herself from gloating.

"Riven did go to leva-bike camp this summer," she admitted.

Riven pulled off his helmet, shaking out his hair, and already crowing with his achievement. "I won! Looks like you guys have to do all my chores this week."

Neither Sky nor Brandon seemed to hear him or if they did they didn't pay him any attention, as they simultaneously swung their legs off the bikes and dismounted. Brandon took off his helmet and hooked it over the handlebars in one fluid movement before striding over to Stella. The blonde met him halfway with a grin, and grabbed him by the lapels of his smart looking blazer, hauling him in for a passionate kiss.

They all turned away to give them privacy - not that Stella nor Brandon seemed to mind - and Bloom muttered, "I guess they're back on for real."

"For sure," someone said from her left, and Bloom's heart skipped a beat at the voice she'd been waiting for months to hear in person. "He hasn't shut up about her all summer."

Bloom turned to Sky, breathless, and for a second they both hesitated, everything from the year before hanging in the air between them. Then they both seemed to shake it off as Bloom slipped her arms around his neck while his curled loosely around her waist.

"Hey," he murmured into her hair.

"Hi," she said, hiding her smile in his shoulder.

Finally they separated and their eyes simultaneously swept over each other, drinking the other in.

"How are you?" Bloom asked, trying not to think of how sharp he looked in his dark blue blazer and jeans.

"Good," he said, sounding distracted. "You look beautiful."

"Thanks." Bloom felt a blush flood her cheeks just as Flora appeared on one side of her. Musa popped up on the other a split second later, leaving a scowling Riven in her wake.

"Awww," she crooned, neatly dodging Bloom's elbow. "How sweet."

"Nice to see you again, Sky," Flora said smoothly, ignoring their antics.

"You too, girls."

"Uh, where's Timmy?" Bloom asked, noticing the fourth member of their squad was missing. Out of the corner of her eye she spied Tecna leaning against the front gate, hands in the pockets of her jumpsuit, trying - and failing - to not look disappointed by his absence.

"He's coming," Sky said. "He was so eager to show Tecna our new squad ship that he decided to fly it over tonight."

"Your squad ship?" Bloom repeated, picking up on his words.

Riven joined them, Brandon and Stella finally disentangling themselves from each other to come over as well.

"Yup," Riven said smugly. "Third year squads get their own ships. We'll get full access to it for all of our missions."

Tecna stepped up to them as the ship landed just outside the gate, kicking up dust. "He wrote me a letter all about it," she said, already moving past them.

Stella yelped something about her white jumpsuit but Tecna ignored her, barely letting the ramp of the ship touch down before she was clambering up. Timmy at the top held up a hand and called a greeting before the pair disappeared back inside.

Stella sighed loftily, shaking her head a little as she watched them go. "Young love."

"Oh, leave them alone," Bloom said in gentle admonishment.

Not wanting to wait for Timmy and Tecna to finish talking about the ship, which could easily take half the night, they all decided to go in and scope out a table for the party.

"How was your summer?" Bloom asked Sky once they'd claimed one.

Sky made a face, half joking, half serious. "Not too bad, all things considered. Mine and Diaspro's parents took us to our private island to spend time together, hoping we'd agree to another engagement," he explained, and Bloom felt her stomach drop. "And we told them in no uncertain terms that it wasn't going to happen. An uncomfortable conversation but it had to happen."

Bloom winced sympathetically. "How's Diaspro?" She knew that Diaspro's parents were even more hardcore than Sky's and that ending the engagement was going to hurt her even more than Sky.

The blonde hero shrugged, looking worried. "She's okay. Her parent's have backed off for now, but she's worried about what they're going to do next."

"We'll be there for her," Bloom said, reaching out to lay a hand on Sky's arm. He still looked troubled. "No matter what."

"She might not be interested," he warned her. "Diaspro's a very… well, she's complicated. It takes a lot to get her to be vulnerable, and she hates asking for help."

"Friends don't have to ask."

Finally, Sky started to smile and he laid his hand on top of hers, squeezing gently. "Thanks; I don't know what I'd do without you."

Bloom smiled back and subconsciously leaned forward to say something, before Stella's voice cut through the moment, reminding them both that they weren't alone. Smiling sheepishly they both leaned back and turned their attention on the conversation the rest of the table was having.

"It's a waste of time getting dressed up just for a back to school dance," Riven was arguing, hands shoved deep into the pockets of his plain black hoodie.

Stella squawked in protest. "There are so many benefits to dressing well. It shows people you're serious and take pride in your appearance, which is a good impression to make. And besides it makes you feel better."

"Whatever," he grumbled.

"I mean, look at Timmy," Stella continued, clearly not ready to let the discussion drop. She gestured enthusiastically at Timmy and Tecna who had just arrived, both looking thoroughly confused. "He looks great in that shirt, is it new?"

Timmy frowned and scratched the back of his neck. "Uh, yeah," he said, although his voice lifted at the end, making it sound like a question. "Tecna picked it out and sent it to me this summer."

Tecna inexplicably blushed pink and looked away. "I just saw it for sale and thought it would go nice with his…" Tecna coughed and trailed off, avoiding looking at Stella who was wearing a devious smile.

"Anyway, and what about Musa? She looks great tonight, see what happens when you take out the pigtails and drop the hoodies?"

"I like her pigtails," Riven muttered under his breath, looking away.

It was Musa's turn to blush and she spoke quickly to cover the pink spreading across her cheeks. "Look, how I dress is for me and me alone."

"Exactly," Stella said, sounding satisfied and Musa frowned wondering how she'd somehow managed to prove Stella's point.

---

"I'm afraid you're going to have to hand those pixies over now," the man said pleasantly as though he were discussing the weather and not holding up Layla's desperate escape.

"Not gonna happen," she said defiantly, backing away.

The man clucked his tongue disapprovingly. "Now that kind of attitude isn't very nice." There was something sinister in his voice that made the hair on the back of Layla's neck stand up. "Maybe I need to teach you a lesson."

Quicker than Layla thought possible the man lifted a scarred hand and aimed it at her, sending a handful of flames at her. In the split second it took to reach her she managed to twist so her side took the brunt of the hit rather than the pixies.

She screamed at the impact, the flames hotter than anything she'd ever felt before. And they didn't stop there, they seemed to claw their way inside of her until she was burning from the inside out. Gasping for breath, Layla used the dregs of her magic to force the water in the air to collect and douse her, extinguishing those terrible flames.

The magic cost her however and she no longer had any strength to stop the man as a red cage formed around the pixies and levitated them away from her.

"No," she tried to yell, but it barely came out as a whisper. Then she had bigger things to worry about as the man stalked towards her, raising those sharp talons and moving to swipe at her with them. Layla rolled quickly out of the way and instead the man gouged deep marks into the rock floor.

"I'm growing tired of your insolence," he sneered.

"Too bad," she spat back, forcing herself to her feet. He threw more flames at her and she forced her tired body to dodge, yelping whenever she wasn't fast enough.

"Enough," he said, and clenched a fist.

Immediately Layla's body locked up as though a giant, invisible hand were clenching her tight and she realised he had been playing with her the entire time.

"Wait," she tried to gasp, but the force around her dragged her to the edge and she barely had time to take a breath before she was being pushed over.

Layla and the pixies screamed in tandem as the fairy felt the stomach lurching feeling of rushing through open air, and the pixies saw their closest friend fall to her certain death. All except Lockette, who, quick as a flash, summoned her sceptre and began to chant in a trembling voice.

"I call on this space to move and bend, and open a portal so I might save my friend. I call on this space to move and bend, and open a portal so I might save my friend."

Over and over she spoke the words, forcing them through the thick, syrupy magic that encased them and just hoping that she was positioning the portal just right so Layla would go through it. Finally the gem on the end of her sceptre glowed a bright yellow and she felt the shudder as Layla disappeared into the portal.

"She's gone," she said, dismissing her sceptre back into a hair clip and sliding it back into place. "It worked."

"Where did you send her?" Amore asked, twisting a tendril of her skirt nervously between her hands.

"Away," Lockette said grimly, eyes locked on their captor.

The man turned to them, something unsettling about the dark eyes behind the helmet. "Now, it's time for you to tell me where your village is."

The pixies huddled together, many of them trembling in fear, but they each wore a look of determined resolve on their faces, none willing to betray their friends.

---

Faragonda took her place at the podium and looked out at her students, a smile on her face. "I'd like to welcome everyone to our annual Alfea/Red Fountain Back to School mixer. To the professors and returning students, I say welcome back and how lovely it is to see all your faces once again. To our new students, I say a warm hello and how excited I am to get to know you all.

"I know after last year we all needed time to heal so I can't tell you how wonderful it is that you decided to return, we are lucky to have you as students. Over the summer break the school underwent remodeling to repair the damages sustained during the battle and I am very excited to unveil the new wing. After some careful consideration and discussion we have decided to name it the Asterin wing for the brave fairy we lost in the battle. Now without any further ado, I declare the new school year to have begun."

Faragonda lifted her hands and the gigantic white sheet hiding the new tower from view dropped away to reveal it. It blended in perfectly with the rest of the school, and if you didn't know that it was a recent fixture you probably wouldn't notice that the pale pink sandstone and glittering glass fixtures were slightly newer than the rest. In the distance Bloom could just see a glimmer of metal by the door that she was sure was a plaque honoring Asterin's memory.

Following Faragonda's speech the party kicked into full gear and Stella was immediately on her feet, dragging Brandon out onto the dance floor. Sky, Riven, and Musa fell into a conversation about Riven's summer at leva-bike camp, Flora got asked to dance by a fairy from the year above, while Timmy and Tecna were deep in a conversation about the ship again. So, when Bloom caught sight of Cyrenia standing alone on the outskirts of the party, she excused herself from the table and went to talk to her.

Cyrenia must have noticed her coming over because she turned to her and said, "It's all your fault."

Bloom blinked, stomach twisting in surprise. "What?"

It was only then that Bloom noticed the dust coating Cyrenia's face and the tears sliding down her cheeks. "It's your fault she's dead."

Bloom opened her mouth but nothing came out. She had no idea what to say to that, how to defend herself, but there was no defense because Cyrenia was right, it was all her fault, it was her fault that-

"Bloom? Bloom!"

Bloom blinked and the dust and tears disappeared from Cyrenia's face, and the fairy looked happier and healthier than the last time she'd seen her.

"Are you okay, Bloom?" Cyrenia asked with a hesitant smile.

"Yeah, yeah of course. I should be asking you that. How are you?"

Cyrenia shrugged, her smile turning self-deprecating. "About as well as can be expected I guess. I spent the summer training with the Guardian Network, so that kept me pretty busy. I'm actually getting ready to go on my first mission but Faragonda asked me to come hear her speech and I didn't want to miss it."

She gestured to the gate where a group of people were waiting for her. Among them Bloom could see the fairy twins that Cyrenia had fought with last year, and a witch, she thought had been the Cloud Tower class president.

"You're teaming up with witches, hey?"

"Yeah, the Guardian Network is trying to promote more interspecies cooperation in their squads. We're supposed to be the poster children for it or something." Cyrenia rolled her eyes half-heartedly and grinned. "But Marilla and the others are cool."

"That's great. You look really good, I'm happy for you."

"Thanks. I should probably go, there's trolls terrorising the people of Linphea as we speak. Take care of yourself, Bloom."

Bloom smiled and said goodbye, waving to Cyrenia until she disappeared out of the front gates. Bloom had to admit she was kind of stunned at how well Cyrenia was adjusting, she didn't know if she would be so put together 3 months after losing a boyfriend. Hell, she hadn't lost a boyfriend and she felt like Cyrenia was coping better than her.

The thought made Bloom frown and she was glad when Sky joined her, asking if she was okay.

"I'm alright, Cyrenia stopped by so I was just talking to her. Hey," she said after a moment. "I love this song."

"Yeah, I know," Sky said, eyes crinkling as he smiled at her. "Dance with me?"

Bloom slipped her hand into his and together they joined the others on the dance floor.

The party was exactly what Bloom needed and she was feeling a lot better when the party finally wrapped up and the Red Fountain students started heading back to their own campus; even more so when Sky brushed a gentle kiss across her cheek before climbing onto his leva-bike and riding off with the rest of the guys.

"Oh, so that's how it is, hey?" Stella crowed, throwing her arm around Bloom's shoulder.

"Oh shush," Bloom said even though she couldn't stop smiling. "We're just friends."

"Is it normal for 'just friends' to hug each other hello, dance together all night, and say goodbye with a kiss on the cheek?" Musa asked.

"Hey, I didn't notice you dancing with anyone besides Riven."

Musa flipped her off but didn't respond.

"Uh, guys," said Tecna.

They stopped from where they were heading into the school and looked back to see Tecna lagging behind, and even further back, Flora standing staring at the forest that bordered Alfea.

"You good, Flo?" Musa called to her, before heading back over to their friend. Bloom and Stella followed, the latter grumbling and shivering in the evening air.

"What is it?" Bloom asked when they reached her, and Flora cocked her head like she was trying to hear something.

"The trees," she said softly. "I think they're trying to tell me something, but I can't quite hear them."

Bloom bit her lip and glanced over her shoulder to where the last of the students were disappearing inside and the teachers were packing up the tables from the party.

"Come on," she said, and lead them closer.

"We're supposed to go straight back to our dorm," Tecna reminded them, but followed regardless.

"Stel, can you give us some light?"

They all squinted into the darkness, the lights from the castle not bright enough to illuminate very far into the trees, until Stella obediently conjured a ball of light to her hand and held it overhead. For a moment they saw nothing but forest, until Musa yelped and jumped backwards.

"Oh my god, who is that?!"

Bloom fought back the urge to curse as she also caught sight of the girl stumbling towards them, Stella's light throwing harsh shadows across her face. The girl didn't seem to notice them as she drew closer, her feet dragging heavily, as though it was taking all her willpower to keep going. Even from a distance they could hear her loud, pained breathing.

Not knowing who she was and what else to do, they crept backwards as she reached the edge of the forest and reached out blindly for another tree to lean against. Finding nothing, the girl stumbled, falling to her knees, before finally crumpling in a heap on the ground.

The girl falling seemed to act as a catalyst for the others, because they snapped out of their daze and rushed towards her, Bloom and Flora kneeling on either side while the others watched on. With gentle fingers, Bloom brushed the girl's thick, dark hair back from her face, Concorda's words echoing in her brain, 'I see you will soon meet someone new. A fairy, oh a Princess. She has long, dark hair, and this Princess will have a sleepy pixie with her. I see darkness and grave peril'.

"Stella, go get help," Flora ordered, and the blonde didn't question it, just taking off, long dress and towering heels not slowing her down in the slightest.

Bloom tapped the girl's cheek gently, but she didn't wake up. Flora hovered close nearby but seemed scared to touch her, neither of them wanting to make her condition worse.

"What is that?" Musa asked suddenly. She crouched by the girls head and shifted her hair out of the way to see a snoring pixie curled up in the hood of the girl's jacket.

Bloom felt her breath catch in her throat. "This is just like the psychic pixie said."

"Who?"

"What psychic pixie?"

"What else did she say?"

The last question came from Flora, and Bloom met her friend's gaze over the girl's prone form.

"That we should expect danger around every corner."