A bone deep sort of weariness settled over Bloom on the ride back to Alfea, so much so that she curled up into an uncomfortable ball in her chair, and drifted off into a deep sleep. She didn't wake once, not as the others chattered quietly around her, and not even when the ship landed on Alfea's quad. She only stirred when a hand touched her shoulder, shaking her gently awake.

"Hey," the owner of the hand said softly, and she groaned a little and blinked, a blurry image of Sky's face swimming into view. "We're home."

Still groggy from her slumber, Bloom's mind went immediately to Gardenia with the streets she'd trodden countless times, and the people she'd known for as long as she could remember. "Home?"

"Alfea," Sky amended.

Bloom tried to summon a smile even as a burst of longing for Gardenia's familiarity shot through her. Settling for a nod instead, she scrubbed at her eyes and forced herself to unwind her stiff limbs and stand. The others were already up and gathering their things, looking excited to be off the ship. And they weren't the only ones. Through the front windshield, Bloom saw the double doors of the castle burst open and three familiar people come hurrying down the steps. Looking at them, the smile came easier this time.

"Happy to be back?" Sky asked as he walked her to the ramp.

"Glad to have a bed to sleep in again. Let me tell you, a cave floor is not conducive to a good night's rest; I want to crawl into bed and not leave it for a week."

"And instead we've got classes tomorrow."

"Don't remind me." Bloom was laughing as she said it, but she couldn't help but feel her mood darken a little at the thought; people had stared at her just for crossing the quad on her first day back, she couldn't imagine that her classmates would show any more restraint when they were stuck together for hours at a time.

Knowing Sky and the others had to get back to their own campus, the girls bade them a goodbye at the base of the ramp, thanking them for accompanying them on the mission, before turning to face the welcoming committee who were looking eager for some attention.

"What's up, girl?" Musa said to Bloom, slinging an arm around her shoulders and hauling her close.

"Oh you know, rescue missions, fighting monsters, same old, same old," she laughed as Tecna appeared on her other side.

Just behind them Stella was trying to fend off an overenthusiastic Flora, who, in her relief at seeing them back, had thrown her arms around her friend and was holding on for dear life.

"Down girl," Stella said in between bouts of laughter. But despite her words she slipped her arms around Flora and hugged her back.

Layla, meanwhile, was having her own reunion with Piff who had flown out with the other girls and seemed quite content getting herself resituated on Layla's shoulder.

"Oh," Bloom said, pulling away. "You guys have to meet the pixies."

"The mission was successful then, I take it?"

"And then some," Stella said, nodding. "You'll never guess all the things that have happened." She shared a satisfied smile. "Including," she continued. "Me and Bloom meeting our bonded pixies."

"No way!"

"That's so cool!"

The pixies, who had been hanging back shyly with Layla, at once darted forward, Lockette and Amore coming to hover by Bloom and Stella.

"This is Lockette, and that's Amore," Bloom said, gesturing between them as the pixies waved, before trailing off to let Layla take the rest of the introductions.

"And then we've got Zing, Jolly, Digit, Tune, and Chatta." She pointed to each of them in turn, and the group burst into excited chatter as they got to know each other. In the chaos it was almost missed when three new bonds settled into place.

"-bonds between pixies and fairies are truly fascinating," Tecna was gushing to Bloom. "I've read how the strongest of bonds can actually turn into something of an empathy link between the two so they know when the other is in trouble-"

"-not to mention," Digit interjected, looking excited. "That bonded fairies and pixies can combine their powers in ways that are completely unique to the pair."

"Exactly!"

Tecna and Digit locked eyes and the conversation instantly died away as they felt the thrall of the bonding seize them. Digit darted closer, her mane of dark hair trailing behind her, as she circled Tecna once, and then twice.

"I'm Digit, pixie of technology," she introduced herself, her eyes already glazing with adoration.

"It's nice to meet you." Tecna noticed the silver runes adorning Digit's navy shirt and pants, her eyes lighting up as she asked, "Do you know runic magic? I've always wanted to learn!"

"I could teach you," Digit said shyly, tucking a lock of hair behind her ear. "I'm sure you'd pick it up straight away."

"I'd love that."

Across the group, Musa was telling Tune how much she liked her name.

Uncharacteristically flustered, Tune fiddled with her gloves as she said, "Thank you. I'm the pixie of traditions and customs, and I've always thought a realm's music said a lot about their culture, so when it was time to pick my name that's how I ended up with Tune."

Watching nearby, Jolly whispered to Zing behind her hand, "I don't think I've ever seen Tune ramble so much."

"Do you think they're going to bond soon?" Zing whispered back.

"I love your hair," Tune was saying, peeking up at Musa through her eyelashes and gesturing to her pigtails. "It's so unique."

A sigh gusted from Musa as she felt the bond settle between them, and they both subconsciously inched closer.

"I really like your dress."

"Really?"

Tune's poofy ball gown and gloves couldn't be any different to Musa's own baggy jeans and tank top. But Musa glanced at Tune's immaculately curled hair, tied back with a big blue bow, and was being completely honest as she said, "Yeah! It really suits you."

Tune cocked her head, before flying closer and coming to sit on Musa's shoulder. "You're from the Harmonic Nebula, right? I've always wanted to go."

Musa grinned, and wasted no time telling Tune all about it while the pixie hung on her every word.

The bond between Chatta and Flora might have been the last to appear, but it also happened the fastest, snapping right into place as Chatta barrelled towards the fairy, leaving Flora feeling a little disoriented.

"Hi! What's your name? I'm Chatta! Do you have a boyfriend? I bet you do. What's his name? Is he a wizard? Or maybe a hero? Heroes are so so so cute! Don't worry, you can tell me. I might be a pixie of gossip but I'll keep your secrets I promise."

Layla, watching nearby with her hand over her mouth to keep from laughing, opted to interject and save Flora who looked adorably lost.

"Chatta," she said gently, when the pixie was forced to stop and draw breath. "This is Flora."

"Oh, that's such a beautiful name," she sighed, eyes shining.

"Flora, this is Chatta."

"It's nice to meet you Chatta," Flora smiled, her usual friendliness returning. "And to answer your question, I'm kind of flying solo at the moment."

"Don't worry, we'll find you one before the term's over, I promise. Don't tell Amore, but I'm actually the best matchmaker in the village."

"Hey!" Amore squawked from the other side of the group, the pixie of love looking more than a little affronted.

Flora giggled, and winked at her newly bonded pixie. "I'm sure you are."

"I really am," Chatta said, flying closer. "Hey, do you want to hear all about our adventure in the Under Realms? I was so brave!"

"I think we'd all like to hear about that," a new voice said.

The babble of sound instantly died away as they turned in surprise to see that Faragonda too had come out of the castle and was watching them talk with a faint smile on her face.

"It seems like much has happened while you've been away," she continued, her eyes roving over Bloom and Lockette and then Amore and Stella. "A bonding between a fairy and a pixie is a precious and unique thing. And to have five happen so quickly, well, it's quite unprecedented. But something in the universe must have known you would need each other."

For a moment Faragonda's eyes lifted to the night sky as if she could actually see those forces at work, before she looked down at her students once more.

"But I'm afraid the story will have to wait until tomorrow morning, it is rather late you know." She winked at the girls goodnaturedly and began to usher them into the castle.

Bloom took out her phone and was surprised to see that it was hours past light's out; Faragonda must have specifically opened the curfew barrier to let the ship in.

"Drop by my office after breakfast tomorrow and we'll discuss everything," Faragonda said, when they were inside and about to turn into the student dormitory wing.

They agreed and bade their headmistress a good night before leaving. They tried to walk as quietly as possible, aware that other students were trying to sleep around them, but it was hard to keep their excitement to a minimum as they recounted for Flora, Musa, and Tecna everything that had happened in the Under Realms.

They made it back to their dorm and threw themselves onto the lounges in the common area, so Bloom, Stella, and Layla could finish telling the story, with the pixies chiming in often with extra details.

"I can't believe Brandon almost got married off to some Trog queen," Musa said with a chuckle when they were done.

"Trust me when I say there was nothing amusing about the situation," Stella said sternly, although Bloom was certain she saw her friend's lips twitch.

Flora didn't seem to feel like laughing however, as her happy face was unusually grave. Balanced on her knee, Chatta looked up at her in concern. "So the Trix were involved in all of this? And they somehow got out of Light Haven?"

Musa's amusement faded, and she bit her lip. "Yeah, that doesn't exactly bode well, does it?"

"The Trix are the ones who attacked Alfea and the other schools last year, right?" Tune asked.

"Yeah," Tecna said. "And somehow I doubt this was some one off occurrence."

"They're working with that dark lord that took us, aren't they?" Digit said.

"But who is that dark lord?" Lockette asked, wringing her hands nervously. "And what did he want with us? And what if he comes back or tries to attack the village?"

"Hey," Bloom said gently. "We're bonded now, that means we look out for each other, right?"

Lockette smiled, looking a little put at ease at that.

"And don't worry," Layla added, winking at Zing and Jolly. "We won't forget about you guys either."

"We'll all keep each other safe," Flora said firmly, looking around at everyone gathered, and a murmur of agreement went through them.

They went to bed soon after that; it was after light's out after all, and they were all tired after a monumentally long day. But Bloom took a moment to watch them go, her heart aching a little at the sight. She'd already thought she was beyond lucky to meet five friends last year who were quickly coming to be like sisters to her, not to mention Sky and the other guys, but now she had Layla and the pixies as well. Affection and worry for them warred in her chest, and she went to bed with a horrible sinking sensation that danger was awaiting them all.

The next morning found the girls and the pixies sitting in Faragonda's office, ready to debrief about their trip to the Under Realms. Their headmistress listened without comment as they once again recounted their adventure.

It was only when they finished, assuring her that they had managed to get out of Downland on relatively good terms with the Trogs, that she said, "Very good, girls. I'm proud of the way you conducted yourselves."

"So, what happens now?" Bloom asked. "We're bonded to the pixies, do they stay here? Or do they go back to their village?"

"Well," Faragonda said, surveying them over steepled fingers. "Usually that would be for the bonded pair to decide. Some prefer to stay close, some are happy to live apart, and some find a living situation in between. But I'm afraid this time I have to insist that all the pixies remain at Alfea, at least for the time being."

Layla's eyebrows flicked up in surprise, as the others too exchanged surprised glances. "Even Jolly, Livvy, and Zing?"

"Yes," Faragonda said gravely. "I have conferred with the village elders through magical link," she said to the pixies. "And we share concerns that this might not be a one-off occurrence. And that this… dark lord, whoever he is, might try again to discern the location of your village. We agreed that it's simply too dangerous to let you return home in case you were to be followed."

"Why not just transport them directly home?" Stella asked.

"Even magic like that leaves traces," Faragonda explained patiently. "And someone as powerful as this dark lord likely would be able to use it to track the village down."

Tecna cocked her head, picking up on something in Faragonda's tone. "You know who he is," she guessed. "Or you at least suspect."

Tune narrowed her eyes. "Who is he? What does he want with us?"

Faragonda loosed a sigh. "Shadowhaunt is an infamous place, girls," she began. "It is despicable and deserted for a reason, a place of real evil. No others would dare inhabit it, not even witches as awful as the Trix, for fear of what they might awaken if they did."

The girls exchanged worried glances before Bloom ventured cautiously, "What do you mean, headmistress? What might they awaken?"

"He is known now most commonly as Lord Darkar, but he has had many names over the years, 'The Shadow Lord', 'The Dark Lord', and 'The Shadow Phoenix' being just a few of them. But millenia ago, when he and the Magical Dimension itself were much younger, he was first known as Argulus, a lord from Sparx. While Argulus was distantly related to the reigning Queen at the time and thus retained a piece of the Dragon Flame, their family branch had become so removed that they began to grow concerned about their ability to pass the power on. Adding insult to injury, the land they presided over was reduced by the Queen, a large portion of it gifted to another lord who was more in her favour. Furious at the slight and his family's waning powers, Argulus left his home planet, determined to find and gain control over an even more powerful magical source.

"He searched for many years, to recount it all would simply take too long, but armed with an old and powerful spell book, he finally gained passage to a small pocket dimension called Realix, a world which had long been reduced to ruins. It was there that he discovered the remnant power of the ancient gods who had once ruled Realix, a magic known only as the Ultimate power."

They were all so enraptured with Faragonda's story that the office had grown deathly quiet around them. A quiet that was only broken by Flora whispering, "Did he get it? Did he get the Ultimate power?"

"No," Faragonda said. "No, he didn't Flora. He tried, using a ritual from that spell book, but something went wrong, and the Ultimate power rejected him. And not just that, it completely warped him; it took that ember of the Dragon Fire inside of him and corrupted it, turning him into an unrecognisable monster, the Shadow Phoenix, before casting him out of Realix altogether.

"Incensed by his failure, Argulus returned to the Magical Dimension, shed his name and connection to Sparx, and made Shadowhaunt his new home, before turning his fury on those around him. For years, Lord Darkar wreaked havoc and spread terror in the Dimension until finally a group of courageous fairies, heroes, wizards, and witches banded together and rode out to meet him in battle. A battle they won, barely. The corrupted Dragon Fire was so strong that Darkar couldn't be killed, but they were able to contain him to Shadowhaunt and force him into a deep slumber.

"Lord Darkar has been awoken several times in the years since, usually by power-hungry magical users who naively believe they can harness his power, and use his obsession with the Ultimate power for their own gain. The most recent time was sixteen years ago."

Bloom swallowed, her mouth dry. "I thought you said it was the Ancestral Witch coven who caused the destruction of Sparx?"

"They were responsible, yes, but as you've surely read by now, the destruction of Sparx was not a solitary event, but was rather the horrific conclusion to a years long conflict between good and evil. Armies were amassed on both sides, and the Ancestral Witches recruited all manner of terrible villains and monsters to fight alongside them. Including Lord Darkar. He was defeated in one of the final battles, thankfully, and returned to Shadowhaunt, where he slumbered once again, until-"

"Someone woke him up," Tune guessed.

"From everything you've said, and Layla's description of the creature she faced, I believe so."

"Who?" Musa asked, her mouth a tight line as she took in all the information Faragonda had just supplied them with. "The Trix?"

Faragonda considered it. "Perhaps. Or someone else, and he recruited the Trix's help afterwards. We still don't know how they got out of Light Haven."

"So, what do we do now?" Bloom asked, leaning forward eagerly.

"Nothing," Faragonda said firmly, surprising them all.

"But we need to-"

"You need to do nothing," Faragonda said, not unkindly. "But go to class, and focus on the year ahead. Going to Shadowhaunt to rescue the pixies was a daunting enough mission, and as strong as you all are, it is not your responsibility to take Lord Darkar on. No, the Guardian Network will dispatch teams to look into the matter and intervene if Darkar attempts to move beyond Shadowhaunt's confines."

"But he might never leave Shadowhaunt," Layla argued. "If he has those witches doing his dirty work-"

"Then they will deal with them." Faragonda tried to smile but it seemed strained. "I admire your valour, girls, but the important thing is that you are all safe here at Alfea. And that you enjoy yourselves after everything that happened last year."

They all exchanged glances but wisely chose not to argue the point any further. It was clear Faragonda wasn't.

"Now," their headmistress continued, glancing at her watch. "Unless, I'm mistaken, you're about to be late for your first class, so don't let me keep you any longer."

Taking the dismissal for what it was, the girls and the pixies all stood and headed out the door.

"Did you notice," Tecna said once they walked enough of a distance away. "That Faragonda never explained what Darkar wanted from the pixie village?"

"I did," Tune said. "She was being most mysterious about it all."

"I could try a web-search." Digit tapped her chin thoughtfully, already pulling up a small hand-held device, and looking so much like Tecna that the others had to stifle laughter. "See if there's any connection between our village and Lord Darkar."

"I'll help you when I get out of class this afternoon," Tecna offered.

"What are the rest of you going to do today?" Bloom asked the pixies, as they approached their first class of the day: Magical History with Professor Callas.

"I want to look around the castle," Lockette said, gazing around at the corridor. "I can already tell it holds many secrets."

"Plus, if we're going to be staying here, it might be a good idea to know our way around," Amore put in.

"Oh!" Livvy suddenly piped up. "I've explored a little bit, I can show you everything! First stop: the Dining Hall for more breakfast."

"I'm always up for more breakfast," Zing agreed.

But Livvy was frowning, glancing first to her left, and then to her right. "I think it's this way? Wait, not it's definitely that way."

The fairies watched her fly off, biting their lips a little in worry.

"Don't worry," Lockette assured Bloom. "I'll make sure we don't get too lost. Have fun in class!" She waved and zipped off with the rest of the pixies, dodging around the other students walking the halls.

"They'll be fine," Layla said, before jerking a thumb in the direction of the classroom door. "Shall we?"

After their talk with Faragonda that morning, it was already going to be hard to concentrate in class, but it didn't get any easier for Bloom with half her classmates blatantly staring at her. The usually calm Professor Callas lost his patience and snapped at them all to pay attention not fifteen minutes into the lesson, Professor Isokalis had anyone caught whispering chopping up potion ingredients as punishment, and Lysippe just sent them all to run laps around the school, telling them not to come back until they were ready to work.

It was a relief then when the final bell rang and they all got to escape out into the afternoon sunshine. The other girls immediately turned towards the dorms, no doubt to meet back up with the pixies and hang out until dinner, but Bloom hung back, trying to ignore the heads turning in her direction.

"I just-" she began, when the others paused and glanced back at her. "Have a question about that last spell. You guys, go ahead," she added when it looked like they'd wait for her. "I'll catch up."

They shrugged, continuing on, and Bloom waited until they'd turned the corner and were out of sight to duck past the classroom and out the door that would take her round the back of the school. Luckily the slope down to the lake was almost completely deserted, with most students electing to stop by their dorms to drop their things off after their last class. But Bloom knew that many of them would be coming outside soon to enjoy the warm afternoon, especially with the cold months drawing closer when they'd be forced to spend much of their free time inside.

She reached the edge of the treeline and wasted no time slipping between them, skirting off to the right in order to avoid the edge of Black Mud Swamp. The small copse was relatively thin and within minutes Bloom had reached the small grassy plane that yielded to Lake Roccaluce's bank.

First glancing left and then right to make sure she was completely alone, Bloom dropped her backpack and toed off her shoes and socks but left her jeans and the rest of her clothes on as she waded out into the clear, blue water. The sandy lake floor swirled a bit around her feet as she moved but Bloom barely noticed it as she swam deeper into the lake, focussing instead on calling out in both her mind and with her power.

Daphne, she thought tentatively.

Bloom took another step, the water now up to her chest and dampening the ends of her hair.

Daphne.

She wasn't even sure if this would work; she'd never tried to seek out her sister without either Faragonda's help or being on the verge of desperation. But then she supposed, after the day she'd had, maybe it was desperation creeping in as she tried one more time.

Daphne!

This time, when she shouted her sister's name in her mind, Bloom felt a consciousness surge through the water around her, and then heard a faint voice speaking like a phantom whispering into her ear.

"Bloom?"

A relieved smile broke across Bloom's face as she pushed off from the bottom, and dove downwards, coming face to face almost immediately with Daphne's smiling apparition. Her sister reached for her hand automatically, before gesturing for her to follow instead when their hands passed right through each other.

Bloom thought she should have been scared as Daphne lead her further towards the middle of the lake, following the sandy bottom as it sloped deeper and deeper until the world around them grew dark and she could no longer see the daylight above. But like last time, whatever magic Daphne still possessed in this form allowed Bloom to breathe as easily as if she were on land, and she found that the darkness didn't bother her so much with Daphne's faintly glowing form beside her. But Bloom thought, even if Daphne's light failed them, and pitch black water pressed in all, she still wouldn't be scared, not with her sister by her side.

"How much further? My wings are killing me," Chatta complained, her frown deepening when she received no response. "Lockette?" she dragged out the second syllable of the pixie's name until it resembled a whine.

"I don't know, Chatta," she said, trying not to sound annoyed. "You know my wand only tells me what direction we need to go in."

"The girls got out of class ages ago!"

"Well, I can't get us there any faster!"

"I'm pretty sure we're on the complete wrong side of the school," Digit grumbled under her breath.

Livvy sighed unhappily. "I'm sorry guys," she said for the umpteenth time. "I really thought I knew the way back to the dorm.

"Next time we listen to Lockette from the beginning," Digit said.

Amore frowned at her before patting Livvy comfortingly on the shoulder. "Don't worry, Livvy. It happens to the best of us- oh, Piff!" She stopped, the others following suit, when they realised they were a pixie down.

Luckily, the pixie of sweet dreams hadn't curled up in a ball to sleep somewhere, and had instead just gotten distracted looking out the window. "Very dark out there," she commented when the others flew back towards her. "Good sleeping weather."

Jolly shivered delicately, the bells on the points of her red and black jester hat tinkling. "I did a reading earlier that told me that a very dark and powerful storm was coming."

Digit rolled her eyes a bit. "Those pitch black storm clouds out there also could have told you that."

"Oh, don't start you two," Tune snapped.

Digit turned to her with betrayed eyes. "I still can't believe you hold with such nonsense."

"The arts of fortune telling, predicting the future, and communing with spirits are important in many cultures," Tune sniffed.

"Yeah," Digit said, her dark eyes glittering dangerously. "Except Jolly isn't a pixie of fortune telling or prophecies like Concorda, she's a pixie of parlour tricks."

"Pixie of entertainment!" Jolly said, stamping her foot as her composure slipped, but as she was hovering in mid-air and had nothing to stomp her foot against, the movement lost a bit of its intended effect.

"Whatever-"

Chatta's eyes narrowed dangerously and she opened her mouth, no doubt to cut in furiously, but someone else beat her to it.

"That's enough, Digit!" Amore practically shouted, sounding furious and surprising them all. "You're just cranky because your web-search into Lord Darkar couldn't tell us anything about why he's targeting the village. And you're taking that frustration out on us, being needlessly cruel to Livvy and Jolly. I think you owe them both an apology."

"I agree," Chatta put in, and Lockette bit her lip and nodded as well. Zing had been watching the whole encounter stone faced with her hands on her hips, while Piff just yawned and turned her gaze back to the sky outside, uninterested as usual in their arguments.

Digit scowled a little but ducked her head and muttered an apology. Amore's eyes were still narrowed but it seemed like enough for Livvy who instantly threw her arms around her.

"That's okay!"

Jolly looked less inclined towards instant forgiveness but all was forgotten when Tune, who had joined Piff once more by the window, let out a startled yelp.

"What's wrong?" Chatta asked, flitting to her side.

Tune's hand covered her mouth as she shook her head mutely, peering with strange intensity at the growing darkness outside. "I thought I saw someone prowling around out there."

"Who?"

Tune shook her head again, her curls swaying with the movement. "I don't know, they were wearing a robe with the hood up."

The other pixies all looked out but the area was completely empty, devoid even of students who had all taken refuge inside to avoid the approaching rain.

"I think the storm's putting us all on edge," Lockette said, casting a worried glance at those heavy clouds. "Let's get back to the dorm."

"And fast," Amore added, her attention snagging on something. "I think we're about to lose Piff." The pixie in question was yawning and eyeing the floor like she'd like nothing more than to go to sleep on it. The others voiced their agreement and followed Lockette and her wand where it was leading them back to their new rooms.

Bloom didn't realise how long she'd been underwater with Daphne until her head broke the surface of the lake and she looked up at the dark sky. Heart jumping to her throat a little in surprise, Bloom twisted around in the water, relieved when the bank that she'd entered from was still in her sight despite the gloom. But it might not be for long, she realised, because looking around she found that she was quickly losing the rest of the lake to the darkness, with the opposite side impossible to discern already.

Sighing a little, Bloom set out for the edge of the lake, the water lapping gently at her back and propelling her along in a way that had her wondering if Daphne had a hand in it. Seeing her sister again had been exactly what she'd needed. Being away from her all summer had been harder than she'd expected, and she'd come down to the lake intent on unloading about everything that had been happening lately. And she had. Sort of.

Daphne had been torn between excitement and nervousness hearing about Bloom's adventure to the Under Realms, but seeing her smiling through it, Bloom had realised she didn't want to - or maybe she couldn't - tell her about the stares and whispers at school nor about the nightmares that still plagued her. She would, she resolved as she reached the bank and clambered out, come back and tell Daphne everything next time.

Despite the way she was shivering as the growing wind hit her damp clothes and skin, Bloom took a moment to check her phone, finding that it wasn't as late as she'd thought. But that didn't exactly make her feel better considering how dark it was already getting and how threatening those clouds looked. Shuddering a little, and feeling the first drops of rain splatter on her head, Bloom shoved her phone back into her bag and swung it over her shoulder, making for the glowing lights of Alfea in the distance.

Between the lake water, and the rain that was practically pounding down on her by the time she reached the castle, Bloom was absolutely soaked by the time she got back to the dorm and shouldered open the door.

"You know," Stella was saying as she stepped inside. "I gotta tell you, I didn't find that Lord Darkar dude to be all that scary."

Musa scoffed, while Tecna shook her head. "What are you talking about? Layla's the only one of us who's actually seen him."

"Oh yeah."

"Bloom?"

The group's attention shifted to the redhead still hovering in the doorway, not wanting to drip on anything, and they all grimaced at her bedraggled appearance.

"What happened to you?" Stella asked, before blasting her with a beam of sunlight that dried her instantly.

"It's raining," Bloom said lamely, coming over and sinking onto the arm of the lounge.

The others exchanged careful looks before Flora said tentatively, "You've been gone for a while."

"Yeah," she answered slowly, avoiding their eyes. "I ended up just walking around for a while."

If the girls noticed the lie for what it was, none of them called her out on it, but Lockette looked especially worried, her mouth twisting into an unhappy line.

"So, what are you guys talking about?"

"Faragonda's weird vibes this morning," Tune supplied.

"And the absolute lack of connection between our village and Lord Darkar," Digit added.

"Me and Digit have both looked now," Tecna said. "If there's a connection between them, the internet doesn't know about it."

Bloom blew out a breath. "Guess that means more library research, huh?"

"That's what we were thinking," Musa said.

Stella looked less than impressed. "And here I was hoping we'd left all that behind last year. The dust is murder on my allergies."

"If Faragonda would just tell us what Darkar's after it would save us a lot of trouble," Chatta harrumphed.

"Maybe she has a good reason not to," Flora said, but even she didn't sound convinced.

Layla glanced around at the pixies. "And you're sure you guys don't know anything?"

The pixies exchanged looks before shrugging and shaking their heads. A sigh went around the room, the girls and pixies wholly stumped on what Darkar could possibly want. Bloom was looking at them all and on the verge of suggesting they table the discussion for the night and just head down to dinner when the door opened again and Livvy came flying in.

"Listen up girls!" She called out and the others exchanged amused glances at the authority in her tone. "I've got an urgent message from Faragonda here!"

"What's the message?" Bloom asked when the pixie didn't continue.

Some of Livvy's bravado dimmed as she frowned. "I seem to have forgotten it."

Tecna's eyes narrowed. "You what?"

Livvy's smile returned as she said, "It's a good thing I wrote it down, I guess." She jumped off the envelope she'd ridden in on and consulted the words printed on the back of it. "My dear girls, please put on warm clothes and meet me by the south shore of Lake Roccaluce. Something has happened, tell no one except the pixies. If they want to come they are more than welcome to. Faragonda." As Livvy finished talking, the words on her envelope glowed a sudden and bright silver before disappearing.

There was a beat of silence before they all burst into action, scattering around the dorm as they got ready.

"I need to put on a jumper-"

"-let me just put on longer pants."

"Do you want-"

"-yeah that would be great."

"Tune, do you-"

"I'm coming, I'm coming."

In the end all the pixies except for Piff, Livvy, Jolly, and Zing went with the girls. Layla asked Piff if she wanted to come for the umpteenth time as they stepped out the door, but the pixie just took one look at the fierce rain still lashing at the windows of the dorm, scrunched up her nose, and shook her head. Shrugging, Layla left her to the nap she was undoubtedly going to have while they were gone, called a final reminder to the others to make sure they went down and ate something, and pulled the door shut.

As bad as the storm had looked from inside, it was a hundred times worse when the girls got outside. The wind was somewhere between a howl and a screech and tore at the exposed skin of their hands and faces. The rain pelted down on their heads, forcing those who were wearing clothes with hoods to draw them up, but they were all soaked in a matter of seconds either way The worst of it though was the rumbles of thunder and cracking lightning bolts that were so loud it sounded like they were coming down right on top of them.

They hurried through the trees and spotted Faragonda taking shelter underneath the thick branches of a wide oak, not that it was doing much to keep the rain from hitting her.

"Girls," she cried over the sounds of the storm, peering out at them from under the hood of her own long robe. "Thank you for coming." She gestured for them to follow her, which they did, walking down to the sandy shore of the lake, where they saw what had to be the thing she had brought them to see.

"They appeared shortly after the storm began," Faragonda explained.

The object in question was a monolith of grand proportions; easily ten times taller than them and almost as wide, it looked to be made of a dark grey stone with a shimmering surface that gleamed every time the sky lit up with another bolt of lightning. It rose up out of the lake, like a giant hand had reached out and dropped it there.

There was an awful sort of energy hanging around it that had the back of Bloom's neck prickling, and her hair standing on end. It took everything she had not to step back. Lockette must have been similarly affected because she whimpered a bit and hid her face in Bloom's throat.

"'They'?"

"Two more have risen in Lake Roccaluce alone, and even more in Black Mud Swamp, and Herrolan Wood. The professors have gone to investigate with other students. Considering the events of the last few weeks, I find their presence rather disturbing."

"What are they?"

Stella's question seemed to prompt something in Digit, because the pixie left the comfort of Tecna's jumper pocket and moved a foot away to get a better look at the monolith. A pair of goggles appeared over her eyes, out of which a green jet of light emerged, scanning over the rock's surface.

"We're not sure," Faragonda confessed. "Maybe Digit and Tecna will be able to tell us."

Digit must have sent the results to Tecna, because the fairy whipped out her own hand held computer and began reading what it said there. Their friend's mouth dropped open as she beheld the results, and she shook her head faintly. "It looks like rock but the scan says that it's neither metal nor mineral. It's not even made of matter. How can that be?"

Faragonda huffed a surprised breath. "It must be composed of pure magical energy. Professor Wizgiz believes them to be beacons of some sort, while Professor Isokalis is concerned that they may activate and form a sort of static blanket, robbing us all of our magic. Either way, we cannot take our chances, nor wait for the Guardian Network to dispatch a team to investigate. You must destroy this thing."

Faragonda pretty much left them to it after that, citing that she needed to check on how the others were doing.

"By the Dragon!" Musa exclaimed once she was gone. "This thing's huge. How are we supposed to destroy it?"

"Well," Bloom said, shifting a little on her feet. "We have a saying back on Earth: 'the bigger they are, the harder they fall'."

"Bloom's right," Tecna said, nodding vehemently.

"Yeah!" Stella agreed. "Let's show this thing what we're made of."

Musa, Stella, and Flora transformed first, their thick jumpers and jeans disappearing in a flash, replaced with their shimmering fairy outfits. They had much more skin exposed now but luckily their magic kept them safe from the elements in this form. Stella glowed a bright gold, already wiedling her silver sceptre and shot into the air, the other two following close behind.

"Aright, you big, dumb hunk of nothing," Stella gritted out from between clenched teeth as she stared down the monolith. "Let's see how you hold up against this." Holding her sceptre in both hands, Stella aimed carefully and shot off a half a dozen balls of pure sunlight. They flew at the monolith, two targeting the top, two the middle, and two the bottom, all six exploding into thick grey smoke when they connected with the stone's surface.

"She shoots, she scores!" Stella said happily, pumping a fist into the air. "Done and done." She turned to the other girls and flicked one of her pigtails over her shoulder smugly. "Sorry darlings, you needn't have transformed at all."

Musa smirked, while Flora winced and inclined her head at the space over Stella's shoulder.

"Try taking another look, princess," Musa said.

"Wha-" Stella twisted in mid air and it was only seventeen years of court-training that stopped her from swearing when she saw that the smoke had cleared, revealing that the monolith was still standing. And what was more, there wasn't even a mark on it; it was like Stella's magic hadn't even touched it. "Fine," she hissed, glaring at Musa. "Let's see you do better."

Musa lifted one shoulder in a half shrug and looked at Flora. "Let's go, Flo."

Stella sank back to the ground to watch with the others as Musa and Flora flew closer. The nature fairy raised her hands and vines shot from the shore on either side of the girls, surprising them. The vines raced through the air, wrapping around the monolith again and again. They could hear the creaks as the plants did Flora's bidding and tore at the rock trying to topple it, but it didn't seem to have any more effect than Stella's sun bursts had. For a moment it looked like both the vines and the monolith were going to hold up against each other's strength but then splits began to appear in the vines and they broke apart, falling into the lake. Flora shook her head and flew backwards, letting Musa have a go.

She raised her hands, palms facing outwards towards the monolith, and at first it looked like nothing was happening. Then a purple glow appeared, starting at her palms before it quickly spread to envelop the rest of her body. They heard a faint whine start up and a shudder passed through Musa, whatever magic she was using clearly taxing on her energy.

Tune cocked her head, as she stared up at her bonded fairy. "She's sending ultrasonic waves into the rock to see if it can be broken apart from the inside."

Another shudder, this one more violent, passed through Musa and she at last shook her head and dropped her hands.

Bloom didn't waste another moment, looking at Tecna and then Layla. "Let's do this."

It was work of a minute for them to transform and soar into the air, and this time the pixies went with them, splitting off and joining with their bonded fairies.

Bloom glanced around at them all, thinking that they looked like a considerable force, hovering in the air as they were. "Altogether now?"

The others nodded their agreement and raised their hands. Tecna and Digit raced in first, daring to fly close enough that they could attach little digital chips that would explode at the slightest provocation. Recognising the placement as the likely weak spots of the monolith, Lockette instructed Bloom to start throwing flaming arrows that she used her own powers to direct towards the chips, the combination of the explosion and Bloom's flames making them even more powerful as they detonated. Stella, Flora, Amore, and Chatta all teamed up to throw out another strengthened vine attack. Flora provided the vines of course, while Stella used her sceptre to shower them in light which made the grow stronger; Amore talked them through using their emotions to make their magic even stronger, while Chatta darted to and fro, megaphone in hand and using the power of her voice to yell encouraging slogans at the vines and make them attack with even more vigour. Meanwhile ind working overtime, Tune coached Musa into sending her soundwaves into the lake to amplify Layla's wave attacks. Over and over she forced the usually calm water to rise up and crash down on the monolith, trying alongside Flora's vines to topple the great structure.

Over and over the girls and the pixies threw their magic at the rock, growing more and more sodden from the rain still pelting down on their heads. But no matter what they did, whenever the smoke cleared, or the water washed away, or Flora's plants withered and died, they saw the monolith standing as it always had, not even a mark marring it's surface. Soon they began to tremble, becoming so exhausted that even the sharp wind and cold temperatures were beginning to affect them. Flora dropped from the sky first, barely able to keep her wings working long enough to crash land on the shore, the others following almost immediately after.

Bloom slammed to her knees on the sand, arms wrapped around her middle. "I don't get it," she forced out through chattering teeth. "Maybe we're not strong enough to destroy it completely, but how are we not able to make even a dent?"

"I don't know," Layla said, rolling onto her side, limbs trembling. "But I don't think I have anything left to throw at it."

The others grumbled their agreement, but Bloom reached inside herself, searching for that well of magic she knew was there. It had been drained practically to the dregs, but she forced a sliver of it to warm her skin, protecting it from the cold wind and rain.

"I do. This thing is mine." And she shot into the air, hands already encased in crackling flames.

The others watched her go, expressions concerned, wholly unaware that from the trees just behind them, someone else was watching, smiling slightly at what they beheld.

An hour later, Layla couldn't help but frown out at the storm still raging, even as her dorm-mates relaxed in the common room behind her. The thought of Bloom still out there on her own troubled the newest member of their group more than she was willing to admit.

They'd stayed for a little while, watching as Bloom lashed out over and over with arrows and whips of flames, targeting the weakest points, heating it until they could feel the waves of warmth roll off it, and even on one memorable occasion wrapping the entire thing in a wave of fire. But eventually the pixies had begun to sniffle and sneeze, and the others had gotten fed up with waiting, so with their friend showing no sign of giving up, they'd trooped back up to the castle.

They'd run into Faragonda on the way, apologising profusely for what they saw as their failure to destroy the monolith, but their headmistress had only smiled kindly, and assured them that none of the other groups had had much luck either. Unsurprisingly, the sentiment hadn't exactly reassured them, and they're trudged inside feeling even more despondent than before.

But it was miraculous what a hot shower and some clean clothes could do for their spirits, because they were already chatting merrily amongst themselves, discussing whether representatives from the Guardian Network or even the Council of Magix themselves would come look at the monoliths in the morning. Their worry over the possible malevolence of the structures seemed to have faded away in the light and warmth of their dorm room.

Layla, though, still worried.

The sound of the shower turning off, and the door opening a moment later, shook her from her thoughts, and she turned and glanced over her shoulder in time to see Flora, wrapped in a fuzzy, pink bathrobe, emerge from the bathroom.

Her eyes went swept around the room before going straight for Layla standing at the window. "Bloom isn't back yet?"

"No," Layla said, turning her attention back outside just as a particularly powerful gust of wind rattled the glass in it's frame.

Tecna had been sprawled out on the lounge, but she pulled herself up on an elbow. "You know how stubborn she can get, of course she's still out there zapping that thing." Despite her words, Tecna's expression betrayed her concern.

Stella arched an eyebrow and sipped at her tea. "If I had any magic left, I'd be out there as well."

Musa waved a hand, easily the most relaxed of them all. "She'll come in when she's sick of being rained on."

Flora bit her lip. "I don't know, maybe we should go get her. It's getting kind of late."

As it was they'd already missed dinner, the meal having passed while they were all outside, and they'd had to settle for bread cooked in the toaster they had smuggled into their dorm at the start of the term.

Stella shrugged lazily. "Miss F won't let her stay out there all night."

Flora frowned, looking like she was going to argue, when a phone suddenly began to ring, capturing her attention. "That's Bloom's," she said, recognising the tone. She hurried into their room and scooped Bloom's mobile up from the bedside table, biting her lip when she saw the caller I.D. "Sky." She held the phone up for the others, who had followed her, to see. "Should I answer-"

Stella made an impatient noise and plucked the phone from her grasp, pressing the accept button and lifting it to her ear. "Hello Sky."

There was a beat of silence, and Stella smirked, able to imagine the blonde hero frowning and pulling the phone back to check he'd dialled the right number. "Stella?"

"That's me."

"Is there a reason you're answering Bloom's phone?"

"Because she's not here to answer it herself." Stella's smirk widened when Sky didn't immediately answer, unable to stop herself from making him work for it a bit.

"So, where is she?"

"Out."

"This close to curfew?"

"She's helping Faragonda. Did you need something, Sky?"

For the first time, Sky faltered, stuttering as he said, "No, I- I was just going to ask- well, see what Bloom was- no," he finally said. "I didn't need anything."

Stella gave a wicked cackle, ignoring her friends as they rolled their eyes at her. "If you were just ringing to hear Bloom's lovely voice, you could have said so, Sky."

The hero sighed down the phone, but the sound was fond. "Let her know I called, would you?"

"Of course," Stella said primly, before finally sounding genuine as she continued, "I'm sure she'll be happy to hear it."

"Thanks. I'll talk to you later."

"Bye."

"Did you have to mess with him like that," Flora asked, after Stella disconnected the call.

She scoffed and tossed Bloom's phone onto her bed. "Yes," she said simply, wandering back out to the common room.

"Pray tell, why?" Musa wanted to know, following with the others.

"Because they're supposed to be together, anyone can see that. And I wanted him to admit why he was calling."

"I've been on the receiving end of your romantic meddling before, hotshot," Musa said warningly. "You aren't always right."

"Oh, don't even get me started on you and Riven-"

"Don't-"

"But-"

"I said, don't-"

Stella's eyes glimmered as she said, "But he likes your pigtails, remember?"

Musa grunted and flung a pillow at her friend, who batted it away laughing. Musa shook her head, but even she was smiling at the memory, while simultaneously glad that she hadn't yet told Stella about Riven coming to see her while they'd been in the Under Realms.

"Bloom and Sky certainly do have a strong connection," Amore commented.

"See," Stella crowed, gesturing to the pixie. "The expert said so herself. They like each other and are just too scared to admit it." She cocked her head, considering. "Scared, or stubborn, I guess."

Bloom's breath was coming in short, shallow gasps, and the muscles along her back were seizing with the effort of keeping her airborne. Her toes had long gone numb in her boots, and she was pretty sure that the only reason she could still feel her fingers at all was because they were constantly encased in flames.

"Come on," she hissed, hurling a handful of fire at the monolith.

Her once powerful and precise attacks had become sloppy and weak, and at this point keeping her aim straight enough to actually hit the monolith was an effort. Incensed by the thought, Bloom grunted and hurled another attack at the rock. The smoke cleared, leaving the monolith's surface as pristine as ever.

"Fuck!" Bloom bellowed, her voice barely more than a whisper compared to the deafening sounds of the storm. "Fuck, fuck, fuck," she screamed, feeling that wave of white hot magic rise inside of her, something she hadn't felt since battling Icy the year before.

A part of her was terrified of that magic, terrified of the powerlessness she felt when it blasted through her, terrified of what it could do. But that part of her was drowned out by the magic itself, leaving her only with the wherewithal to raise her hands and aim. The magic burst from her, so blindingly bright that it eclipsed the darkness brought about by the storm. The wave of fire that poured from Bloom was a living, breathing thing, snapping and snarling at the monolith, fiercer than any dragon. There was a roaring noise as the stone was surrounded but as soon as it appeared, the fire died away again, leaving the monolith still standing.

A broken sound escaped from Bloom as her vision dimmed and a wave of exhaustion swept over her. She tried to blink, but her vision only grew worse as the monolith appeared to lurch back and forth, lighting up over and over again as lightning crackled down all around her. Bloom shuddered, the movement ripping violently through her, and before she could stop it she felt her wings disappear and her clothing change as her body started to fall through the air. She clenched her eyes shut, bracing for the impact.

But the impact never came, and she had just enough energy to marvel at how strange that was, before she felt a pair of arms slip underneath her and pluck her from the air. Her head lolled to the side, and through her hazy, blurred vision, as a strike of lightning lit the monolith up once more, Bloom could have sworn she saw a tiny crack appear on the rock's shiny surface. But before she could wonder what that meant, the exhaustion finally claimed her, and all thoughts ceased to exist, she ceased to exist, and she was subsumed into a great void of nothing.

"Stare out the window all you want, Flora," Stella sang, smirking at her friend. "You won't get out of the question, would you rather have to wear polka dots the rest of your life, or plaid?"

"I'd rather go out and look for Bloom," Flora said seriously and Layla looked inclined to agree with her. But privately, Stella thought their newest friend was just mad because she'd just been forced to choose between making out with an ogre and making out with a troll.

Stella ignored them both. "Don't be afraid to commit to a choice," she taunted, looking positively devilish. "No one here will judge you. I mean, not too much anyway."

"I'm with Flora," Tecna interrupted. "We need to go find Bloom and get her to come back inside."

Musa sighed. "She won't listen, you know she won't. We all know how she gets when she's determined."

Layla opened her mouth to argue, but broke off when another bolt of lightning lit up the window. "It's getting intense out there."

"I'm sure it's fine," Stella said, still not looking troubled, even as her words were drowned out by the rumble of thunder. "Now, Flora, would you rather-"

Something more than lightning lit up the sky outside, and they all jumped to their feet and raced for the window, only to flinch back when it became too bright for them to look at.

"What the hell is that?" Stella snapped, face turned away and cavalier tone long gone.

"I don't-"

As quickly as it appeared, the light outside receded. A moment passed, the silence hanging heavily in the air, then as one, every light in the dorm turned off, pitching them into darkness. A chorus of yelps went up amongst the girls, and all down the hall they heard the screams of other students as undoubtedly the same thing happened to them.

"What the hell?"

"Oh great, a black out."

"That's impossible."

"I thought Alfea was powered by magic?"

"It is. This shouldn't be happening?"

"Then what is happening?"

"I don't know, okay?! I can't even see anything."

"Girls?"

"What's happening?"

The voices of the pixies, who had all gone to bed a while ago but had woken at the sound of their arguing, joined the fray, adding to the confusion. Their eyes slowly adjusted to the darkness, the girls battled their way back to the middle of the common room, tripping over furniture and trying to make it to the pixies who seemed to be emerging from everywhere.

"It's okay!"

"It's just a black out."

"Not a black out."

"Well, what would you call it, Tecna?"

A sudden scream rose up from Flora and Bloom's room, and through the din, the girls met each other's gazes, terror reflecting back on all their faces.

"Lockette?"

"Chatta!"

They raced for Flora and Bloom's room, and were nearly bowled over by the strength of the wind ripping through it. Somehow the balcony doors had come unlatched and had blown open, leaving the room vulnerable to the storm raging outside. Flora ran through the rain for Chatta who had been sleeping on her bedside table, while Stella scooped up Lockette, and Musa, Layla, and Tecna went to close the doors. The wind was stronger than anything they'd ever seen before, and it took the combined weight of the three of them leaning on the doors to get them closed again, and even then they could feel the wind straining against the glass.

"I don't know what the hell this is, but there's no way it's natural," Tecna said.

"Definitely not," Digit agreed, flying across the room to settle on her shoulder.

"Then what-"

A sudden knock at the front door of the dorm cut into their conversation, and as a group they grew still and quiet.

"I don't suppose any of you ordered a pizza," Musa murmured hopefully.

The others shook their heads mutely, and she loosed a sigh, leading them out of the room and into the common area, wincing when the person at the door knocked again.

"Maybe if we stay quiet they'll go away," Stella whispered.

"It could be Bloom," Flora argued, her voice pitched low.

No one pointed out that if it was Bloom she wouldn't have bothered knocking, and Musa, curling her hands into fists, sighed again, and crept towards the door, right as a third round of knocking sounded.

Breathing fast, Musa forced herself to take the doorknob in hand, twisting it and yanking the door open as fast as she could. More lightning from outside lit up the room and a strangled yelp escaped Musa as she saw a hooded figure standing in the doorway, Bloom's unconscious body in their arms. Behind her Flora let out a scream, her hand jumping to cover her mouth, and setting off Lockette and Amore who also shrieked. The rest of them burst into immediate, worried speech.

"Bloom?!"

"Hey, what are you doing with her-?"

"Bloom?!"

"I don't know who you think you are, but if you hurt her I'm gonna kick your ass-"

"Bloom?!"

Another figure, this one much smaller, appeared from behind the hooded person, and bustled into the room.

"That's quite enough, girls," Faragonda said sternly. "And don't think I didn't hear what you just said, Miss Haleigha." Faragonda glanced around at the dorm, seeming to realise how dark it was for the first time. She harrumphed and clapped her hands twice, and the lights of the dorm obediently flared back to life.

The girls and the pixies cringed at the sudden brightness, but it was only after they blinked and their eyes adjusted that they realised that the lights weren't burning at their full strength but looked rather dimmed. Faragonda caught their curious looks and frowned.

"We're working on fixing that," she said, before gesturing for the hooded man to step further into the dorm. "This way, Professor."

"Professor?" Stella burst out, but both the hooded person and Faragonda ignored her, as the latter led them into Bloom and Flora's room.

"It will be fixed by the morning, Headmistress," the hooded person assured Faragonda in a deep, male voice as they went.

"That voice," Layla said, looking at Stella.

"The paladin who saved us."

The pair went rushing into the room after them, the others following, but neither of them said anything as they all watched Faragonda pull the blankets back on Bloom's bed so that the man could lower her gently onto the mattress.

"Is she-" Flora started hesitantly.

"She's fine." Faragonda drew the blankets back over Bloom, who didn't so much as stir. "Just exhausted."

"She should also be fine in the morning," the man said, reaching up to push his hood back now that his hands were free.

Amore let out a gusty sigh at the sight of the man's handsome face, echoing the sentiments of the rest of the group. Stella and Layla however were more concerned with the fact that they were correct.

"You're that paladin we saw in Shadowhaunt," Layla said, a note of accusation in her voice. The man smiled slightly and bowed his head in confirmation.

"And you called him 'Professor'," Stella added, looking at Faragonda, who broke into a wide smile.

"I did. I'm very excited to announce that Professor Avalon has agreed to join our teaching staff this year. He also did me a very big favour in checking up on you all when you were in Shadowhaunt."

"But what's he going to teach-"

"How did he know how to find us-"

"And what's the deal with those things outside-"

The noise level in the room rose with each of their questions, until a low moan from Bloom cut through it all, and Faragonda held up her hands for quiet. They watched to see Bloom shift slightly and settle back into sleep.

"I know you're curious and have lots of questions, but all will be explained in the morning. Now it's almost time for light's out, and after the night we've had, you all need to be getting plenty of rest. Off to bed now, girls."

They looked at each other, but realised it wasn't worth fighting her on because they sighed and chorused, "Yes, Miss Faragonda."

The stone was so heavy. So fucking heavy.

The stone was so heavy that everytime she breathed in it felt like her chest was going to collapse. The stone was so heavy that everytime she breathed out the sound rattled and she had to wonder if it was going to be her last.

Bloom whimpered and tried to shift but the mountain of stone weighing down her body didn't give an inch.

She was going to die down here. She was going to die down here. She was going to die down here, breathing in dust and breathing out blood. She coughed, the stone weighing down the movement, and someone else's cough answered her. Bloom frowned, turning her head, and found herself staring into Asterin's pale eyes.

A strangled gasp wrenched from Bloom's throat, and she found her hands long enough to try and shove the stone pieces off her.

"No, no, no, no, no," she muttered, scrabbling and scrambling, not caring that the rough stone was cutting her skin and ripping her nails. "No, no, no."

"I wouldn't bother," Asterin said listlessly. "It's no use."

"No, I need to get out of here. I need to get this off of me."

"It's never going to go away, Bloom."

She shoved at the rock one more time, and sobbed when it didn't so much as shift. Through the tears she found Asterin's face again. It was so dim down there under all that rock and glass, daylight so far away, but even in the darkness Asterin's eyes managed to shine like liquid silver.

"Was this what it was like?"

Asterin's expression shuttered at Bloom's question, but she didn't answer.

"Asterin. Was this what it was like?"

Bloom coughed, still waiting for a response, and she felt something warm and wet splatter her face. A sign her body was giving up on her.

"Asterin-"

"Won't be long now." Maybe the words were supposed to be comforting, but the tone was all wrong, and her expression, those silver eyes, hungry like she was glad Bloom was trapped down here with her. Asterin grinned, her teeth stained red, as she said, "Not long now at all."

Bloom jolted from the dream to the feeling of someone thumping down on the edge of her bed. She made it almost entirely upright, a half-formed yell on her lips, before she realised it was Stella sitting there, compact mirror and mascara wand in hand.

"Oh good, you're up," Stella chirped, but Bloom barely heard her over the roaring in her ears. "Uh, you alright there, darling?"

She blinked, and it took her a minute to realise that in her panic, she'd grabbed a hold of Stella's wrist and was still clutching it tightly. It took her another minute before she was able to unpeel her fingers and let her friend go.

"Yeah," she mumbled, slumping back against the headboard. "Yeah, I'm fine." She groaned and shifted, before frowning when she realised she was still wearing her clothes from the night before. "What the hell happened last night?"

Stella smiled at herself in the mirror before snapping it closed. Looking like she was enjoying herself way too much, she slowly capped her mascara and turned to Bloom. "What happened last night," she repeated, looking like the cat who'd eaten the canary. "Many things happened last night, Bloom."

"Stella," she said warningly.

"Fine," she sighed, her smug act dropping a bit. "Do you remember Mr Cutie Paladin who saved our asses in Shadowhaunt."

"Pretty sure that wasn't his name." Stella arched an eyebrow, and Bloom sighed. "Fine, yes I remember him."

"Turns out he's a new Professor at Alfea this year. And he carried you back to the castle after you collapsed fighting that dumb rock."

Bloom's mind turned over, trying to make sense of what Stella had just said.

"You got to be carried around in Mr Cutie Paladin's arms and you weren't even awake to enjoy it. I'm so jealous."

Despite herself, and the lingering terror and confusion left over from her nightmare, Bloom smiled at Stella's antics. But a moment later her frown reappeared. "Hang on, so what was that rock thing? Did they get rid of it? Or at least work out what it was?"

Stella's chipper mood dimmed a bit as she frowned. "I don't think Faragonda actually said what it was, but she didn't seem too worried. Plus she said she'd explain everything at breakfast this morning, so we'd better get moving."

Sure enough, when Bloom was ready and went down with the others to breakfast, Faragonda stood at her usual place at the teacher's table and beamed down at the students.

"I'm sure you're all very curious about the terrible storm and subsequent power outage we endured last night. Well, you must forgive me for this deceit, but they were actually carefully engineered at the bequest of the newest member of our staff. Girls, this is Professor Avalon." She gestured to the man sitting on her left, Professor Avalon raising a hand briefly in greeting. "He'll be teaching a special course available to a selection of Sophomores and Seniors. Students who will be chosen based on how they acted last night."

Whispers broke out amongst the students and Faragonda smiled patiently, raising a hand for quiet.

"I know you must have many more questions, and all will be answered at some point today. But for now, please join me in warmly welcoming Professor Avalon."

The students clapped and cheered enthusiastically, but that, Bloom was pretty sure, had more to do with Avalon's charming smile as he stood and waved again, rather than any interest they might have in his course.

"Why do my toes feel all tingly?" Flora joked, as they joined in for the applause.

"For the same reason mine do," Stella answered, staring up at Avalon dreamily.

"It's love," Amore sighed.

"It's a chemical reaction," Digit countered, wrinkling her nose.

"Are they always like this?" Layla asked, glancing at Stella and Flora.

Musa snorted. "Flora? Not so much. Stella? Always. Hey, Flo, I know he's cute but snap out of it."

Flora blinked, before a blush spread across her cheeks and she ducked her head.

"Flora's just appreciating the view," Chatta said gruffly, hands planted on her hips.

"Oh, she's appreciating alright, just like the rest of us," Musa said wickedly, before noticing Bloom, who was staring at her with raised eyebrows. "What?"

"You think he's cute?"

Musa shrugged, but Bloom could have sworn she saw the tops of her friend's ears go red with embarrassment. "And why shouldn't I?"

Bloom thought about Riven who was all gruff words and sarcasm, sharp edges and hard smiles, and then looked up at Avalon, with his long dark hair, white jacket and pants, and good-natured smile. Bloom noticed that the wings he'd had in Shadowhaunt were nowhere to be seen.

"He just seems a bit too pretty for you," she said finally.

"Yeah, well..." she grumbled, trailing off. "You don't find him hot?"

Bloom glanced at him quickly again before shrugging. "I guess."

Musa smiled wickedly. "More into blondes, are you?"

It was Bloom's turn to blush and she kicked her friend under the table in retaliation.

"Whatever," she muttered, and Musa grinned triumphantly.

"Speaking of blondes," Stella interjected.

"We weren't-"

"Sky called you last night."

Bloom's protests died as she became more interested in digging out her phone to check her call log. "And you're only just now telling me?"

Stella shrugged carelessly. "I forgot. Things got kind of hectic last night."

Bloom shook her head, Avalon and his debated attractiveness completely forgotten as she focused on typing out a message to Sky.

Faragonda stood once more at the end of the breakfast to tell them, "Sophomore students, please head straight down to the lake instead of going to your first period class. Professor Avalon and I will meet you there."

The girls exchanged curious looks and as one shoved their plates away and stood. They bade the pixies farewell, and headed outside with the other sophomore students who all looked intent on getting to the lake and finding out more about the mysterious Professor Avalon.

Faragonda and Avalon stood with their backs to the lake, the monolith the girls had been fighting rising up behind them, and Bloom gaped when she saw it. For the shiny surface that covered the front of the rock was no longer perfectly untouched as it had been the night before, but was now completely covered in a web of fractures. The other students must have noticed the same thing as Bloom, because they broke into whispers, glancing furtively between their friends and the monolith. Faragonda patiently waited for the last whisper to die away before she began to speak.

"Welcome, girls," she said, spreading her hands. "I know you're all very curious about what's behind me, but I beg for your attention for just a few minutes. You've all survived your first week or so of your second year here, and it's around this time that I like to talk to you all about your goals for the year. Where first year was about you exploring and getting to know your powers, second year has a slightly more focussed goal. And that is to get your Charmix. I can see some of you have heard of this, but if you haven't don't worry.

"Charmix is a sub-transformation, a step if you will, between your Magic Winx form, that is, a fairy's first form and the one you all take on now, and the Enchantix form, which is the transformation you'll take on when you become a full fledged fairy. The Enchantix transformation is a mark of adulthood for fairies, and Charmix is an important step towards it. Which is why at Alfea, we encourage our second year students to focus on achieving it."

A hand shot up in the crowd and Faragonda nodded.

"What happens if we don't get Charmix this year? Do we get held back?"

"No," Faragonda said, shaking her head. "Definitely not. You will go ahead with the rest of your peers, but you must understand that you will always be less powerful, and your understanding of your powers lacking, until you achieve Charmix. And in Senior year we encourage our students to focus on attaining their Enchantix form. A Senior without Charmix will have to focus on that first. Because, let me be clear, girls, you have to achieve Charmix before Enchantix. It is the natural way."

Another hand went up, and Faragonda called on the student.

"How do we achieve Charmix?"

"By being honest, truly honest, with yourself and overcoming a great personal difficulty. This might mean a strong fear you have, or a flaw or weakness that's holding you back. This might sound simple, girls, but you'll be surprised how much we lie even to ourselves and shy away from confronting the difficult truths within us. It is only once you acknowledge that difficulty and face it, that you will be able to grow as a fairy.

"There will be more discussion about the Charmix form over the coming weeks. But I've taken up enough of Professor Avalon's time. As you now know, he was responsible for the Obelisks you faced last night."

"Yes, thank you, Miss Faragonda. And you must forgive me, girls, for the frightful storm you endured last night. It was an unintended consequence of having so many obelisks so close together. But regardless, you all did splendidly fighting against them, and I was monitoring your response very closely in order to determine who I might invite to join me for my course. As much as I would like to teach you all, I have only the space for 25 students from each grade."

Bloom's mouth dropped open, and from what she saw she wasn't the only one. Twenty five seemed like such a small number when there were easily over a hundred of them in the grade.

"But," Avalon continued, smiling kindly. "You needn't worry about that now. I have all the information I need to make my sel-

"Who did that?" Amaryl burst out, pointing at the fractured surface of the obelisk.

Faragonda frowned like she was going to chastise Amaryl for interrupting, but Avalon glanced at the obelisk over his shoulder, face breaking out into a grin.

"Ah, yes. As I was saying you all did extremely well, indeed better than I was expecting. But only one student came so close to destroying the obelisk. Miss Peters?"

Bloom felt her heart jump when he said her name, eyes sweeping over the crowd as if in search of her. She raised her hand into the air, and his eyes settled on her, his smile warm and broad.

"Yes, there you are. Miss Peters displayed considerable strength, not to mention fortitude last night. And while she wasn't able to destroy it, she was able to leave the damage you can see here, a considerable feat."

Bloom felt her cheeks pinken, even as pride soared in her chest. Stella nudged her, smiling wide.

"So, Bloom's in your class then, I guess," Amaryl sneered, and Bloom felt some of her excitement dim from the nasty tone Amaryl spoke in, but also because of Avalon's response.

"Perhaps. Perhaps not. The brand of magic that my course explores is very specific and isn't suited to everyone, nor every power, which is why I will be making my selections very carefully. For those of you who aren't particularly familiar with paladins, we are a race of magic users who are primarily concerned with research and education, and we are in a constant search to fully understand magic. My life's work has been focussed on the branch of magic known as genealogy or genealogical power, that is the influence that an individual's origin has on their magic. And it is my belief that once you understand that, you will be able to harness the full depth of your power.

"Genealogical power is a highly difficult branch of magic to master, and the class as such will be terribly difficult, and require great commitment. You'll likely have to devote much of your free time to it. Now, are there any questions?"

Hands shot up all over the place, and Avalon called on each of them in turn, patiently answering questions about how many classes a week the course would be, more about the theories behind genealogical magic, and what sort of work they would be doing. Finally, Bloom summoned the courage to raise her own hand and ask the question that had been in the back of her mind since Avalon had mentioned what branch of magic they'd be studying.

"Yes?"

"What if you don't know a lot about your origins? Could you still take this class?"

Avalon's dark eyes swept over her, and she waited for that flash of recognition. He had to know who she was, her face and name had been everywhere this summer, but it never came and he simply nodded. "Everyone will have to do research, which might mean a bit more work for that person, but it's possible."

Faragonda stepped forward, "I'm afraid we've run out of time, Professor. But if there are any more questions, we're going to have a special welcome dinner tonight, where you'll be able to discuss this more. But before they go, perhaps you could show them how to destroy the obelisk, Professor?"

Avalon dipped his head. "Certainly."

The students amassed looked at each, whispering quietly. They'd all felt the weight and might of the obelisk fighting it the night before. The fact that Bloom had actually managed to land a blow that had stuck was monumental enough, but that Avalon was going to show them how to destroy it completely? Unimaginable.

There was no flourish and grandeur in Avalon's movements as he turned to regard to obelisk, only a faint flare of gold magic as he spoke a spell in the same old language he'd used in Shadowhaunt. A gold orb of magical energy flew from his hands, straight towards the obelisk, where it was absorbed into the dark grey stone. But unlike when the girl's had attacked it, this time the fractures from Bloom's fire glowed gold before deepening, breaking the obelisk into large chunks. The obelisk crumbled, falling into a heap and sending the water racing up the shore, before even those chunks of rock and stone melted into nothing.

The students burst into enthusiastic applause, turning to each other with wide eyes, as Avalon smiled faintly and dipped his head. His mysterious humbleness seemed to do nothing but make him even more attractive to the students, and it was lucky that Faragonda stepped in in that moment, because it looked to Bloom like a bunch of them were thinking about mobbing the new professor.

"Very good, Professor Avalon. Off to class now, girls, or you're going to be late."

Avalon remained the hot topic of conversation for the rest of the day, something that Bloom found herself strangely grateful to him for. Their teachers still snapped at them to pay attention, but this time it was because girls were telling the story of him destroying the obelisk over and over again, rather than staring at Bloom like they were waiting for her to do a backflip. They waxed poetic about Avalon's long grey hair and handsome face, rather than whispering under their breaths about how Bloom didn't look much like a princess. And when Bria leaned over from her desk, it was to muse on how exciting it would be to be picked for Avalon's class, not ask Bloom what it felt like to have the power of the Great Dragon inside of her.

For the first time all term, Bloom felt like she could actually concentrate on her schoolwork, and something tight loosened in her chest at that feeling.

That heavy feeling that lingered over her since returning to Alfea lightened so much that she actually found herself in good spirits when it came time for Avalon's welcome dinner. It wasn't going to be as fancy as the back to school dance from the week before so the girls didn't worry about finding new dresses to wear, but the dining hall had been done up special for the occasion. White tablecloths now covered the long tables, the usual benches they sat on had been replaced with individual chairs, and instead of their standard silver cutlery and crockery, they used beautiful sets made of gold and crystal.

Once the dinner portion of the evening was over, Faragonda clapped her hands together and the tables disappeared, replaced with a dance floor and smaller tables dotted around the edges for the students to cluster at. The girls snagged one for themselves to set their drinks on while a DJ came in and set up in the corner.

They people watched for a while before Stella convinced Musa to join her out on the dance floor which was quickly growing thick with dancing fairies. Layla looked half inclined to join them, but paused when Flora called out to Avalon who was wandering past.

"How did you enjoy your first day at Alfea, Professor?"

Avalon's expression was warm as he joined them at their table. "I found it very pleasant, thank you, Miss… Salgueiro?"

Flora blushed a little, although if it was because of his smile or the fact that he remembered her name, Bloom wasn't entirely sure. "I'm glad. And can I just say how excited we are that you've come to teach here."

"I'm excited as well. Miss Faragonda has been asking me to come teach a course for some years now, but I've never been able to find the time to do so."

"What changed?" Layla asked curiously.

Avalon's eyes swept over the room, and Bloom wondered if it was her imagination that had his eyes lingering on her for a fraction longer. "I suppose the timing just felt right."

"I was wondering," Tecna broke in. "How exactly you were going to be making your class selections."

"I'm sure Professor Avalon doesn't want to talk shop at his welcome party, Tecna," Flora said, but Avalon smiled patiently.

"Not to worry, Miss Salguiro; Miss Cray is hardly the first to ask me tonight. Not only was I observing you while you fought the obelisks, the magical composition of them also allowed me to absorb a bit of your power-"

"You absorbed our magic?" Layla broke in, before biting her lip as she realised she'd interrupted a teacher. Tecna, beside her, looked equally wary of the notion.

Bloom, however, felt like she wasn't in the dining hall at all anymore, nor was she even in the Magical Dimension. For a moment she was back in her home in Gardenia, pinned to the wall by ice, as Icy reached into her and ripped and ripped and ripped something from her, leaving her chest hollow and aching and bleeding. So hollow she felt like something intrinsic was missing, something so intrinsic that she'd never be right again. Never be whole again, never-

"Not your power exactly."

Bloom blinked, Avalon's friendly tone washing over her, and bringing her back to the dining hall.

"More like an echo of it, so I can analyse its essence and study you all in detail. From there I can decide who's most suited to genealogical magic and who will get the most out of participating in my course."

"When will you make your decision?" Bloom forced herself to ask, even as her skin felt clammy from the brief vision.

"Oh, the next few days I expect. Certainly by the end of the week so we can start fresh next Monday-"

"Hold up, hold up, hold up," a voice interrupted, and a red-faced Stella appeared, a panting Musa following after her. "Last time I checked this was a party, not a classroom. Don't make me drag you all out onto the dance floor."

Avalon laughed alongside the girls, but as if he were worried Stella would make good on her threats, he wished them all a pleasant evening and faded into the crowd seamlessly. The girls, in the meantime, joined Stella and Musa back on the dance floor.

Avalon's words about analysing their powers stayed with Bloom for the rest of the night, so much so that she found herself unintentionally seeking the professor out in the crowd, frowning when she couldn't find him. And not entirely sure what motivated her to do so, Bloom found herself slipping out of the dining hall and making her way through the empty halls to what she knew to be Professor Avalon's new office.

But when she knocked on his door, and he answered with a polite, "Miss Peters? What can I do for you?" Bloom found herself with nothing to say.

"Would you like to come in?"

Bloom nodded mutely, and Avalon stepped aside, opening the door wider for her. She entered and sank into the chair before Avalon's desk, while he rounded it to take his own.

"Are you perhaps wondering about your chances of being selected for my class?" Avalon asked, looking amused. "You're not the first student to drop by this evening," he continued when Bloom just raised her eyebrows.

"Oh," she said, frowning. "No. That's not why I- I was more wondering… you said you've been analysing our powers, right? To make your selection?"

"That's right, I did."

"Well, I…" Bloom trailed off, gnawing on her bottom lip. She was thinking about battling the obelisk, and that anger that had coursed through her, before that white-hot energy had consumed her and unleashed itself. "I was just wondering if you had noticed anything about my magical essence? Anything wrong with it?"

Avalon's face creased with concern, and Bloom hastened to explain.

"It's just- fairy magic is supposed to come from positive emotions, right? But sometimes I feel like I'm at my strongest when I'm…"

His face smoothed in understanding. "Angry?"

"Yeah," Bloom said, feeling ashamed to even admit it out loud.

"I'm afraid you've been slightly misinformed, Miss Peters. Fairy magic doesn't actually come from positive emotions."

"But they taught us-"

Avalon nodded understandingly. "Because, that's how it's come to be understood in this era, after being passed down through the generations, changing and warping a tiny bit every time they were retaught. But the idea of fairy magic coming from positive emotions, witch magic coming from negative emotions, they were simply ideas in their original conceptions. Theories and philosophies to try and understand why magic works the way it does, and how to conjure the strongest power. Each race of magical users has a slightly different idea you see."

"So, which is actually the truth?"

"Ah," Avalon said, grinning. "The answer to that question is still hotly debated I'm afraid, especially amongst paladins. It's why we're so interested in studying magic, you see. We're desperate to find out the truth, but if you were to ask a group of paladins, they'd likely each have a completely different answer for you. I'm sorry I couldn't give you a more concrete answer, Bloom, but I hope that helps in some way. If only to know that the way your power works isn't in the slightest bit strange or wrong."

"It does. I feel… a lot better actually," Bloom said, surprised that it was actually the truth. "Thank you."

There was a beat of silence, and she waited for him to say something else, comment on the uniqueness of her powers, or inquire about how they worked like everyone else had been doing lately. She had, after all, left herself wide open to it. But he didn't, surprising her a little, when he said, "Studying genealogy could be very beneficial for you, Bloom, if you were looking to master your emotions and control your powers more effectively. It's been my experience with genealogy that studying your origins and better understanding your powers is the best way to do this."

"It sounds fascinating," Bloom said honestly. "I would be so lucky to be picked."

Avalon smiled a bit, leaning back in his chair. "Yes, well, we'll have to see, I'm afraid. There are many applicants to consider. Now, is there anything else I can help you with?"

"No, but thank you. Good night, Professor."

"And a good night to you also, Miss Peters."

He saw her to the door, inclining his head a final time in goodbye, before she started down the hallway, feeling lighter than she had when she'd arrived.

Hello, yes, I'm still alive,

Well, it's finally here. I'm sorry it's kind of late? I hope the fact that this is kind of a beast of a chapter (around 15k I think?) makes up for that.

Literally so much happens in this chapter that I don't even know where to begin. It's kind of similar to the episode 2x07 but I also feel like I kind of changed a lot also? Idk, let me know if you think so.

So the girls fought against the stone/monolith/obelisk whatever you want to call it, I loved bringing the pixies into the battle and showing you a bit of what it looks like to see them fighting as bonded pairs.

Professor Avalon has landed and there's a bit of swooning and (completely innocent!) crushes going on amongst the girls. Who can blame them? He's pretty cute.

And Bloom had her first one-on-one scene with him. I was trying to do a lot to show the nature of their relationship going forward in that scene. The cartoon almost had a student-teacher crush vibe going on, and while I was comfortable having that for the other girls, I really didn't want that for Bloom considering how much time they do spend alone together. Instead, I wanted it to be more like, Bloom is feeling very unsettled in herself, as a person and as a fairy, and Avalon is able to manipulate that to his advantage and provide some reassurance there, and that's what draws Bloom to him. It's still a very intense, uneven, and manipulative relationship, but I didn't want that romantic element added into it. So I'm really hoping I was able to convey that?!

Oh and also we got three more bondings with the pixies, yay! See, so much happens.

Oh and Faragonda told them about Charmix, double yay! (literally so much happens even i'm forgetting lmao)

I took out the Sky and Brandon's scenes just because honestly the chapter was long enough without them and they're not a good look for Sky. So instead I did the phone scene with Stella just because I wanted him to be in there somewhere and I love their friendship. Don't worry all the guys will be in the next chapter a lot more!

As for the next chapter, I have no idea when I'll be getting to write it and posting. If you don't know (seriously I can't even remember what my life was doing the last time I updated) I'm doing an Honours year at university and it is intense y'all. I'm also trying to find a job because my mum is on my back about it and I want money. But as always I will do my best to get the chapter to you as quickly as possible. If you ever want to check in on me in the meantime and check out the headcanons and thoughts I post, absolutely come follow me on tumblr at gins-potter.

The other thing I'm playing around with is possibly doing a fic of missing moments/deleted scenes from my re-write verse. There would be absolutely no set updating schedule/chapter length for this fic, and it would just be composed of scenes I wanted to include but had to exclude for whatever reasons/things people wanted to see but I didn't include. I got the idea from a comment on the vol.1 fic actually where someone asked about the conversation Brandon and Stella were having in the background of another scene, and they were wondering what they were saying to each other. Because Bloom is the main character I tend to write Bloom/Sky into the fic more than the other ships, so this could be a good way of getting out content for the others. Would you guys be interested in something like that? Let me know in a review.

I think that's everything for now. As always I love love love hearing from you guys, especially because it has been a while since I updated, so tell me what's being going on with you and what you thought of the chapter! And yeah, please don't be shy about talking to me on tumblr, I love hearing from you all xx