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.

18. Shadows In Bloom

Exhaustion dragged at Bloom as she stood before the mirror in her dorm room and gazed at her reflection in the mirror. They'd returned from their week's exchange at Cloud Tower days ago and yet Bloom swore that the effects of the castle still lingered. That was no more obvious than when she was looking at herself in the mirror, those troubling, golden eyes gazing back at her. More and more since her return to Alfea her reflection seemed to act independently of herself; a smile when Bloom was sure she was frowning, a rolling of the eyes even as she stared straight ahead…

Bloom was sure it was just her mind playing tricks on her, over tiredness from the events of the year catching up with her. The end of term was not far away and then she would get a break from it all. She just had to make it another few weeks.

Her reflection brought a hand up to her mouth, stifling silent laughter, and Bloom banged her fist against the mirror, making it rattle against the wall. Stomach rolling when her reflection didn't mimic her, seeming to actually laugh harder at her, she finally turned away.

Only to find Stella watching her from the doorway.

"Spying on me?" Bloom asked, exhaustion evident in her voice as she moved to get her backpack.

"Just wondering what you had planned for today," Stella said neutrally. She cracked a half-hearted smile. "Can't be a date with Sky because, girl, you're kind of a mess." Her eyes tracked over Bloom's messy hair, her lack of make-up, and the dark shadows that testified to many a sleepless night.

"Yeah well, we can't all be obsessed with how we look all the time."

The anger that had flashed through Bloom and made her snap at Stella like that was so intense that she didn't even feel bad as a hurt expression overtook Stella's smile. It fueled her enough that she snatched up her bag and stomped out of her room, where the rest of her friends were hanging out, watching a movie.

"I'm going to meet Avalon," she muttered to no one in particular and strode out into the hallway, slamming the door behind her.

Stella watched her go, arms folded, and feeling the weight of her friend's eyes on her. Sure enough, when she finally turned to look at them, they were watching her expectantly, wanting to know what on earth had happened.

"I am," Stella began, voice tight. "Really getting sick of this."

"What did you say?" Musa asked, attention drifting back to the movie.

"Why do you assume it was something I said?" Stella snapped.

Musa just raised her hands in surrender and Stella sighed.

"I made a tiny joke about her looking like a mess-"

"Stella," Flora sighed in exasperation and Stella threw her hands into the air.

"What?! I wasn't wrong? She looks exhausted!"

"I was hoping she'd be better today," Flora murmured so quietly that it was almost to herself, than the others. "She was actually sleeping last night."

Layla's gaze sharpened. "What do you mean she was actually sleeping?"

Flora startled and glanced around at them all, fiddling with her bracelet. "Oh, it's- it's just ever since we got back from Cloud Tower she hasn't been sleeping a lot. There's been a few times I've woken up in the middle of the night and she's already awake."

Musa looked away from the tv again. "Doing what?"

"Just on her phone, reading sometimes…" Flora hesitated. "Sometimes she's just lying there but I can tell she's awake."

"But she was sleeping last night?" Tecna asked.

"Yeah, but I don't think it was very peaceful. She was talking in her sleep, it sounded like she was arguing with someone."

A tense sort of silence settled around the group and while the movie played on in the background, no one was paying much attention to it.

---

Bloom's anger was still burning hot and righteous when she met Avalon in Herrolan Wood behind the school. He was waiting for her in a clearing, perched on a large boulder, face tipped towards the sun overhead when she stormed up to him.

His face grew more serious and he peered up at her expression. "Something the matter, Bloom?"

She exhaled a noise of frustration and just shook her head. Moving swiftly, Avalon rose to his feet, suddenly towering over her and settled his hands on her shoulders. She was expecting him to tell her to put whatever was bothering her out of her head and focus on what he was going to tell her, but he surprised her.

"Channel whatever you're feeling into your magic, Bloom."

"I'm not feeling many positive emotions at the moment," she muttered, looking at the ground.

"That's okay," and something in his voice compelled her to look up and meet his gaze. "It's okay to use whatever you're feeling to fuel your magic even if it's not positive."

Bloom frowned; what Avalon was telling her went against everything she'd ever been taught about fairy magic and how it worked. "I thought my magic was at its most stable when I draw from positive emotions."

Avalon snorted, possibly the most inelegant noise Bloom had ever heard him make, and moved away, finally releasing her shoulders. "I thought Headmistress Faragonda sent you to Cloud Tower for that week so you could learn from them. I think she'll be disappointed to hear that you didn't get much out of that time."

"I- I thought-" Bloom's brain scrambled, trying to remember what Faragonda had said before they'd left. She'd thought they'd been sent to Cloud Tower to understand witches better, how to work with them, not to actually use magic the same way.

"You're correct, of course, Bloom," Avalon said, smoothly cutting her off. He paced away from her before turning to her once more, gazing at her with his hands folded neatly behind his back. A steely glint at entered his eyes. "Fairy magic is more stable when drawn from positive emotions. But I think you're strong enough to control your magic even when drawn from negative emotions. The only question is whether you think you're strong enough or not?"

Bloom's lips parted, but her mouth was so dry she didn't think she'd be able to speak even if she tried. Was she strong enough? She thought she was, she had the power of the Dragon's Flame inside of her. She'd felt strong enough to stop the Trix when they'd been about to take Cloud Tower's piece of the codex.

"I- I think-"

We are. We are strong enough. Who is he to question our strength?

Bloom swallowed roughly. "I am strong enough to control my powers, no matter what."

Avalon nodded in approval. "Then let's begin." He pointed to the boulder he'd been sitting on. "Destroy it," he said simply.

Again, his words gave Bloom pause; she'd never thought of her magic as destructive. The core of her magic was fire, of course, fire that she used to attack and defend, but she'd never thought of herself as destroying anything.

"Bloom," Avalon prompted and she shook herself, pushing aside the thoughts and allowing Stella's words along with the weight of her friend's judgement to reignite her anger.

When she pushed her hands out, her magic seemed to explode out of her. The fire burned so hot and so fast that the boulder didn't have much of a chance, exploding on impact into a thousand smaller pieces of rubble. Bloom threw up a hand to protect her face but Avalon didn't even flinch, merely pointing to another large rock.

"Again."

And that was how they continued for some time, Bloom destroying the various boulders and rocks that doted the clearing while Avalon watched. At some point she transformed on instinct, needing to access deeper into the recesses of her magic, but she barely noticed. The minutes seemed to blur together until all Bloom could feel was heat, and energy, and the anger fueling it all. Anger at her friend's for their constant judgment and opinions. Anger at the Trix and Darkar for stealing two pieces of the codex from them. Even anger at the voice that whispered in her ear, urging her on.

More. More. More.

Avalon watched her throughout with sharp eyes. "What are you thinking about?"

Despite all that Bloom had revealed to Avalon so far, all the ways she'd opened herself to him, something held her back from admitting what had been happening to her lately. The yellow eyes she saw in the mirror, the voice that whispered to her, that feeling that she wasn't alone sometimes. It was too much, too dangerous, and even though Avalon had always been understanding of whatever she'd told him, she couldn't admit this.

"The codex," she said instead, and the mere mention of it stoked the embers of her anger. "We shouldn't have lost that second piece." Accompanying her wrathful words was a handful of flames thrown at another boulder. But they were too big, too wild, and along with destroying the rock, a nearby tree also caught alight.

Bloom gasped, her chest heaving, but something held her back from summoning the water to put out the fire.

"Was it your fault?" Avalon asked, unbothered by the burning tree. Bloom hissed and the fire flared brighter, hotter.

Avalon seemed amused, and he finally raised a hand, a small rain cloud appearing over the tree, dousing it.

"So it was your friend's fault then?"

The question drew Bloom up short and finally some of that anger faded. Their fault, their fault, their fault

It had been one thing when Bloom had thought privately that it was her friends' fault, but to hear Avalon vocalise it…

She couldn't meet his gaze, her head turning away so her eyes could sweep, unseeingly, over the surrounding forest.

"It wasn't anyone's fault," she finally said, voice tight. And she tried to ignore the disappointment she could feel emanating from Avalon at the words.

Unbeknown to either of them, they weren't entirely alone, a small pixie hiding behind a nearby tree.

Lockette wasn't sure what exactly made her hide when Bloom's eyes had swept over the place she hovered in the forest. Bloom might not have been very pleased to know that Lockette had followed her out to her meeting with Avalon but she knew her bonded fairy wouldn't have truly been angry at her. And yet…

She took a deep breath and tried to convince herself that her trembling had more to do with Avalon than it did with Bloom. Avalon after all, was the real reason that Lockette was out there.

Many who knew that Lockette's magic source was passages and portals didn't realise that that power extended beyond the physical world, and also gave her insight into the hidden passages of a person's heart and mind, allowing her to understand them better. But Avalon was proving harder to read than most, and Lockette couldn't quite get a handle on his motives.

She sighed when Bloom and Avalon finished up their lesson in the clearing and headed back to the school, Lockette setting off after them, taking care to stay hidden in the trees.

She could just hear the sound of Bloom and Avalon's conversation drifting over to her, had heard him suggest that it was the other fairies' fault that they'd lost the second piece of the codex. It made Lockette uncomfortable to be listening in but she couldn't help but drift closer. She would never repeat what Bloom and Avalon had spoken about, not when it would only make the other fairies dislike him even more, but she couldn't bring herself to stop listening either.

"You should come back to my office with me, Bloom," Avalon was saying. "I think there's more work we could do."

"Like what?" Bloom asked, and Lockette could hear how tired she was already.

Avalon must have been able to as well because he said, "Nothing too strenuous, you've worked hard this morning. I think a guided meditation would be beneficial. You might have a vision of your parents."

"My birth parents," Bloom corrected, almost automatically, her voice quiet. Some energy returned to her voice as she said, "Yeah, okay, let's Lockette?"

Lockette startled, nearly dropping out of the air. She'd been so intent on Bloom and Avalon's conversation that she didn't realise how close she'd drifted to the pair. They were now both looking right at her, only a few trees separating them.

"Bloom!" she squeaked and flew closer.

To her relief, Bloom didn't seem annoyed by her appearance, offering her a small smile. "What are you doing out here?"

"Me? Oh-" Lockette scrambled for a reason, trying to ignore the fact that Avalon looked much less pleased to see her. "I was looking for you," she said, not untruthfully. "You- you said you'd study with Musa," she remembered. "I just wanted to remind you."

Vague recollection seemed to swim in Bloom's eyes and while Lockette felt uneasy by her dishonesty, she was glad when it seemed Bloom bought the story.

"It's important that we push on today, Bloom," Avalon stepped in smoothly.

Bloom looked torn, chewing on her bottom lip fretfully. "Tell Musa I'll meet her later, okay?"

"Okay," Lockette said, voice small. She didn't like it, but didn't want to say more with Avalon listening so intently. "Be careful," she settled for.

Avalon placed a hand on Bloom's shoulder, guiding her on. "She'll be perfectly safe with me," he said, voice cold as he lead her away.

---

Just as Bloom and Avalon were re-entering the castle from the back of the school, Timmy was walking through the front gates, eyes nervously sweeping the busy quad, teaming with students enjoying their weekend.

He hadn't told his friends he was going; the last time they'd tried to give him romantic advice he'd wound up even more confused. This time all he knew was that he had to do something about whatever it was that had come between him and Tecna. Things had been wrong ever since they'd lost the first piece of codex, even earlier, since the opening of the new Red Fountain campus and he hated it. When they'd gone to Cloud Tower after Bloom had been attacked he'd been able to see how much it affected Tecna to see her friend like that, but he hadn't felt like he could comfort her. Whether they were friends, whether they were more, he just needed them to be okay again.

So he'd found himself jumping on his leva-bike and riding right over.

But he couldn't see her out enjoying the sunshine with the other students. Figuring she must be inside her dorm, Timmy set off along the path towards the front doors.

As it turned out, they opened before he could even reach them, and the exact person he was hoping to see stepped out, Flora by her side.

Timmy's heart leaped at the sight of Tecna, the crease between her eyebrows that he longed to smooth out with his thumb, the lock of hair that she was constantly brushing out of her eyes, that wry smile that played at her lips in response to whatever Flora was telling her.

His heart stuttered, stopped, and then restarted again when Tecna glanced up and noticed him, eyes going wide.

"Tec," he said, the space between them gobbling up his strangled voice. He hurried forward and jogged up the stairs.

Tecna's lips parted slightly but she didn't say anything as he approached, and for the millionth time since he'd first met her, Timmy wished he could read her thoughts. Flora bit her lip, glancing between them, before attempting a gentle smile.

"Hi, Timmy. I didn't know you were coming over today."

Her voice held a gentle question, and it took him a beat to realise that she was asking what he was doing there more tactfully than Tecna ever would have.

"Hey, I… I'm…" He should be saying something, he knew. He'd come to Alfea to say something to Tecna. But in that moment both words and confidence failed him. His mouth opened of it's own accord and spat out, "Faragonda asked me to do some IT work for her-"

Tecna's mouth snapped shut, her eyes narrowing, and she nodded sharply. "That's nice," she said, and Timmy didn't know if that was hurt or indifference cooling her voice, as she turned on her heel and strode back into the castle.

"Tec!" Timmy called desperately. "Wait!"

But the fairy was already gone.

Flora looked at him sadly. "Sorry, Timmy," she said and hurried after her friend.

Timmy sighed and leaned back against one of the sandstone pillars, unable to help but think that maybe he should have asked for some advice after all.

---

Flora hurried after Tecna, her taller friend's long legs carrying her along the hallway at a much faster pace.

"Tecna!" she cried, as she caught up, catching her friend's elbow and tugging her to slow her down. "Tecna, what's wrong?"

"Nothing's wrong, I'm fine."

"No, you're not. You're not fine, you look like you're about to cry."

Tecna was horrified to discover that Flora was right as she touched a hand to her face, finding tears just starting to spill down her cheeks. She stopped dead, pressing both hands over her face as she sucked in deep breaths and tried to get her emotions under control.

"Tec…"

"I just don't understand him sometimes."

Cautiously, Flora wrapped her arms around Tecna, rubbing her back soothingly. "Please, Tecna, you have to know he was here to see you."

"Then why didn't he just say that?" Tecna cried, ripping her hands away so she could look at her friend. "Sometimes I think he likes me, but then I think how could he? Why would he? And even if he did, why hasn't he done anything about it?"

"Tecna," Flora said gently. "Do you like Timmy?" She was pretty sure she knew the answer, but she had to hear it from her friend.

More tears slipped down Tecna's cheeks as she whispered, "Yes." Already anticipating Flora's next question, she continued, "I can't tell him, Flora. I can't."

"But why?"

"I can't lose him, Flora. I can't tell him I like him and risk him not feeling the same way."

Flora gestured helplessly to the direction they'd come from and what had happened outside. "Haven't you already lost him, Tec?"

Tecna just brushed away her tears, shook her head sadly, and kept walking.

---

"So, you were talking about a guided meditation?" Bloom asked as she and Avalon stepped into his office, shutting the door behind them. "Why do I get the feeling that you're not going to tell me to close my eyes and picture my happy place?"

Avalon chuckled and gestured for her to take a seat, sitting beside her rather than across his desk from her, as he usually would. "Not quite. I know you've been having a lot of dreams lately…"

Bloom shifted uncomfortably at the mention of the dreams which were only growing more and more disturbing. But luckily Avalon didn't press her for any more details.

"… so I thought if we could trigger something similar but when you're more awake and cognizant, we could talk about it afterwards and try and work out what they mean. And go from there for what it means for developing your powers."

Bloom wasn't sure how dreams about a stalking phantom who was practically her doppelganger was going to help her get stronger, but Avalon was looking at her so expectantly, that she heard herself agreeing automatically.

"Excellent. Are you ready to begin?"

Bloom took a deep breath and settled her hands on her knees, wondering why she felt so nervous. She trusted Avalon implicitly, she knew he would never do anything that would put her in danger.

Sitting in his own chair, Avalon frowned with concentration, cupping his hands together as he murmured under his breath in another tongue. Bloom watched curiously to distract her from her anxiousness. As much as they'd talked about magic and powers, she could only recall a few instances of having seen Avalon use his own.

Gold magic flared from between his fingers, not unlike Stella's own sunlight powers, but this light was darker, like gold left to tarnish and was threaded with strands of darkness. Bloom wanted to ask about it, learn more about Paladin magic, but something warned her not to interrupt his incantation.

"Close your eyes, Bloom," he commanded softly after a moment, and she obediently shut them, leaning back in her chair. And despite being very aware that she wasn't alone and that Avalon was right next to her, Bloom felt herself begin to drift off immediately, slipping into a state somewhere between waking and dreaming.

When Bloom opened her eyes, it was to find herself hovering over Gardenia, wings fluttering to keep herself aloft. She was struck by the sight of her town laid out beneath her, seeing it from an angle she had never seen before and part of her had thought she'd never get to see.

She wanted to stay up there for hours and hours and never come down, but something compelled her to fly lower.

As she approached the ground she realised she wasn't far from her house, in fact she could actually see it, her parents standing on the front stoop, faces turned towards the sky as if expecting to see her there. She got closer and they noticed her, lifting their hands to wave to her.

She grinned and waved back, zooming down to join them. No part of her worried about the neighbours seeing her in her fairy form; she had this innate feeling that it didn't matter if they learned about her magic in this world.

"Hey, guys," she said breathlessly, as she touched down before them. "What are you-"

A woman's voice stopped her, drifting out from the front door that Bloom hadn't realised had been left ajar. It was a pretty sort of voice, crooning a soft tune that wrapped around her like an embrace even though the words were unintelligible. It wasn't Vanessa's voice, but still she looked back to her parents, who nodded at her encouragingly; they didn't say anything and yet Bloom still got the sense that they wanted her to go in.

Feeling apprehensive, although she wasn't sure why, Bloom placed a palm on the door and pushed it open, stepping inside.

Instantly, she knew something was awry.

The door she might have pushed open might have been the plain wooden door of her childhood home, but the room she stepped into certainly wasn't. Her feet moved soundlessly across the white marble floors and she only stopped when she heard the door swing shut behind her. She spun around and found that the brown door was gone, replaced by magnificent white double doors, engraved with carvings daubed in paints of the most lustrous golds, emerald greens, and cerulean blues. The work in the doors alone made the artist in Bloom want to sink the ground and stare at them for hours just to capture every detail.

The rest of the entrance hall in which she stood was no less lavish. Breathtaking paintings adorned the intricately panelled walls, an imposing grand staircase stood directly opposite the doors, and when Bloom craned her head back, it was to have her breath stolen by the domed ceiling rising up, up, up, and ending in glorious glass-work that revealed the sky.

Bloom could have stood gazing at the sheer opulence of the room had she not heard the woman's singing start up again, the sound coming from somewhere above her.

'Goodnight my angel, time to close your eyes

And save these questions for another day.'

Heart suddenly in her throat, Bloom ran for the staircase, rushing up it two stairs at a time. She didn't know how she knew where to go, but some instinct deep inside her propelled her forward until she found a second staircase and ran up it as well. Hurtling along the wide corridor that the stairs opened out onto, Bloom could hear the woman's voice getting closer.

'Goodnight my angel, now it's time to sleep

There's still so many things I want to say.'

She was close, she knew it. Bloom didn't bother peeking into the open doors that she passed. Somehow she already knew which door would lead her to the woman.

'Goodnight my angel, now it's time to dream

And dream how wonderful your life will be.'

Bloom slowed as she approached. She knew who the voice belonged to, maybe she'd known the second she'd first heard it, remembering it even though she should have been much too young to. She reached the doorway and hesitated only a moment before she stepped through it.

Miriam stood on the other side of the beautiful nursery, back to the door, head ducked towards the bassinet that had captured her attention. Her hand was reached inside to rock the little baby it held, her song winding down as the baby drifted off.

'I promised I would never leave you

Then you should always know

Wherever you may go, no matter where you are

I never will be far away.'

Miriam sniffed as her sweet voice faded away, withdrawing her hand when the baby didn't stir and instead wrapping it around herself. A movement at the door behind Bloom made her half turn, and her breath caught in her throat as her birth father appeared, face both fierce and compassionate as he strode inside.

If he noticed her, could see her at all, he didn't show it as he went right to his wife, sweeping her up in his arms.

"Daphne?" she asked, her voice muffled by his chest.

Oritel gazed solemnly over her head into the bassinet, his eyes burning bright with emotion. "In her room. She wants us both to know that she's not talking to us."

Miriam made a sound somewhere between a laugh and a sob before she drew back, gazing up at Oritel. The moment was so unbelievably private that Bloom was torn. She wanted to run to them, to feel the embrace that she'd never gotten to experience from them. She wanted to run away, to leave them alone with their emotions.

Her feet made the decision for her, taking her backwards out the room, and she could only watch as the door clicked shut between them. She turned and walked further along the hallway in a daze.

Her birth parents. She'd seen her birth parents. She'd seen something that she was sure wasn't just a dream, but a memory, one that she should have been much too young to remember.

Her birth parents.

A bang against another door further along the hallway drew her out of her thoughts and Bloom realised that it hadn't just been her thoughts that had been a haze, the actual corridor had filled with a smoky haze, making it hard to breathe. She coughed, covering her mouth and nose with a hand, before jumping when another bang sounded.

Creeping along now, Bloom cautiously approached the next door from behind which she was sure the banging had come, as if someone were standing at the door, slamming their hands against it. A simple crown, cut from yellow construction paper, and hanging slightly lopsided as if a young hand had stuck it there some time ago, was on the white door.

"Daphne?" Bloom whispered, and nearly jumped out of her skin when the banging resumed, over and over again as if whoever behind the door was growing more frantic.

Bloom ran forward and grabbed for the doorknob, groaning in frustration when she found it locked. She banged on the door in return, feeling the sudden, desperate need to connect with whoever was behind the door.

"Daphne!" she cried, banging on the door, wondering if she could break it down completely.

Before she could truly consider the possibility, the person on the other side abruptly ceased banging, absolute silence permeating from within the room.

Stomach churning with the sense that something was incredibly wrong, Bloom stumbled back from the door and almost immediately her attention was drawn to a large, ornate mirror that hung on the wall nearby. Once again it was like her feet weren't totally in her control because Bloom found herself approaching it without having made the decision to do so.

She didn't want to see what was in that mirror, she wanted to get Daphne out of that room, she wanted to go back to the nursery with Oritel and Miriam, she wanted to see Mike and Vanessa. Anything but look at what was waiting for her in that mirror.

But she didn't have any choice in the matter because her feet took her to stand before it and she didn't even have the strength to turn her head away, as those horrible yellow eyes stared back at her. The phantom smiled at her, teeth gleaming red, and there was only time for Bloom's stomach to give a single twist of unease before the phantom launched herself forward.

For a split second Bloom held onto the hope that the mirror would keep the phantom contained, and then she passed straight through it, leaping straight out of the mirror and colliding with Bloom who went down under their combined weight. But rather than landing on top of her as they slammed into the ground, the phantom seemed to sink into her, merging with her, becoming one-

"No!"

Bloom woke with the cry of the word, hands instantly going to her head which felt as though it was splitting open from pain, chest heaving as she fought to get breath back into her lungs. Distantly, she was aware of Avalon leaping to his feet, touching her shoulder, asking what was wrong, but she could barely comprehend him over the sheer pain that was slicing her apart.

It was worse than Icy's frost seeping into her bones, worse than Stormy's lightning racing through her body, worse than Darcy's magic ripping her apart.

She sat in the chair clutching her head until finally the pain started to recede and she slowly got her breathing back under control. Although, even as the pain faded Bloom couldn't help but feel something of it remain, as though someone had spilled oil or ink throughout her head. Even if she cleaned it up, its residue would remain.

Avalon offered her a cool glass of water and Bloom gulped it down greedily.

"Can you tell me what happened, Bloom?" Avalon asked gently, his face the picture of concern.

Bloom nodded shakily, but when she cast her mind over the vision, much like a dream, she could already feel the details start to slip away. Her birth parents, something about Daphne, the phantom… the harder she tried to grasp them the more they seemed to turn to liquid and slip away.

"I can't- I thought you said it would be easier to remember when I was in this state," she burst out, and they could both hear the accusation in her voice. The intense pain from when she'd first woken up might have gone, but it had been replaced by a steady throbbing behind her eyes, the pain combined with her worry turning to anger in her voice.

"It should have been. I fear whatever you saw might have been too much to comprehend so your mind is trying to protect itself."

"Too much how?"

"That, I don't know."

"Then what do you know?"

Avalon just stared at her.

Bloom winced and said, "I'm sorry, I don't know-"

"My fault," Avalon stepped in smoothly. "You expended yourself this morning and I pushed you more than I should have."

He stood and Bloom followed his lead, allowing him to guide her towards the door.

"Go rest in your dorm for a while," he suggested, opening the door for her. "We can continue later."

Feeling torn between disappointment and relief, Bloom nodded and set off for her dorm, where her friends were still sitting in the common room, trying desperately not to think about what was happening in Avalon's office at that moment.

---

"Are we ever going to talk about it?" Layla asked after more than half an hour of sitting in silence, staring at the television.

"Talk about what?" Musa mumbled, slouching further into the lounge, glaring at the tv screen.

"Whatever the fuck's going on with Bloom," Stella snapped, and Musa jolted upright at the curse word leaving her friend's mouth.

Slowly turning to face the blonde, Musa grinned. "I didn't know you knew how to swear, Princess," she crooned.

Stella held up a finger. "I thought the situation warranted it, but don't distract me."

Musa slumped down, propping her chin on her hand. "What's there to talk about? We have no evidence on why she's turned into such a massive bitch lately, and no one would believe us even if we did."

"We could talk to Faragonda again-" Flora began hopefully, her face creased with worry.

"Remember what happened last time?" Tecna shot back darkly, clearly not over it.

"He's doing something to her, I know he is!" Stella exploded, jumping out of her armchair. "I don't care what we have to do to stop him, but she's my best friend-"

"She's all of our best friend," Musa interjected grumpily, but Stella ignored her.

"-and I'm not going to let Avalon-"

The sound of the door clicking open stopped Stella in her tracks, and she stiffened as she turned to find Bloom stepping into the dorm.

Bloom's eyes swept over them all, dark with an emotion her friends couldn't quite place. Then she said, voice silky, "Please, don't let me stop you from talking about me."

Stella grimaced but it was Flora who jumped in. "We weren't," she said quickly. "How was your lesson with Avalon?"

If Flora thought showing an interest would brighten Bloom's mood, she was sorely mistaken, for the redhead's expression darkened. "It was fine," she mumbled, attention drifting to the door of her room.

Flora persisted nevertheless. "Lockette said you were going to try a guided meditation. Did you see anything interesting? Did you see your birth parents?"

Bloom's hard gaze cut around the room as if searching for the pixie. When she couldn't find her, she just said, "I don't really want to talk about it" and headed for her room.

"Oh. Well, we're watching a movie if you want to-"

"I'm good," Bloom said shortly and disappeared into her room, the door clicking shut definitively behind her.

---

If Bloom thought the tension that had lingered in her head ever since the trance would ease by lying down in the darkness of her room, she'd been sorely mistaken. She didn't even realise she was drifting off until she was blinking back awake, a tight pain behind her eyes making it hard for her to orient herself. She cast her gaze around the room, looking for what had woken her, and her eyes landed on Lockette by her bedside, wincing in apology.

"Sorry," she whispered. "I was trying not to wake you. I just wanted to get my book." She gestured to the tiny book in her hands which Bloom could see was the next in a pixie adventure series that she'd been enjoying lately.

Bloom rolled her eyes and slumped back down on the bed, staring at the ceiling.

"I actually wanted to talk to you," Lockette said cautiously before flying over and settling on Bloom's stomach. It wasn't out of the ordinary for Lockette to stand on Bloom, she was so tiny, her weight was practically a non-issue, and yet Bloom was struck by the sudden, inexplicable urge to brush her off.

"What is it?" Bloom asked shortly, just wanting to go back to sleep. "It's about Avalon, I'm worried about him."

That got her attention and Bloom drew herself up on an elbow sharply so she could see the pixie properly. Lockette flared her little wings to keep her balance and gnawed nervously on her lip.

"I'm worried about what's happening in your lessons with him. I- I don't trust him."

Bloom could feel that her expression was hard, knew that it was making Lockette even more nervous, but she didn't smile, didn't try to put her bonded pixie at ease. She wanted her to consider her next words carefully.

"What do you mean?"

Lockette shuddered delicately at the iciness in Bloom's question.

"The pathway to his heart is very guarded. Usually that means he has something to hide."

"Maybe he just doesn't want some nosy pixie snooping around," Bloom snapped, and this time she did brush Lockette off as she sat up, swinging her legs off the bed.

Lockette was forced to fly up into the air to avoid falling and for a moment just stared at her.

"I wasn't snooping-"

Bloom ignored her and pushed off the bed, striding out into the common area. It was quiet and deserted, as was the rest of the dorm, and Bloom found herself glad that her friends were nowhere to be found; she was sick of their constant staring and judgement.

"Bloom, can we please talk about this?"

"I'm done talking." Bloom could feel the heat building at her palms, her magic sparking to life inside her. Avalon kept telling her his lessons were making her stronger and she was ready to test that.

In a flash of light she'd transformed into her fairy form and was at the front door of the dorm. Lockette was still trying to get her attention behind her but Bloom ignored her, opening the door and stepping out into the hallway.

"Bloom!" Lockette cried, racing after her. "I don't think this is a good idea. You're upset."

"I'm not upset," Bloom said back calmly, feeling her lips turn up in a smile. "In fact, I've never felt better."

The pressure behind her eyes had never felt so intense as it did then, but for once it didn't bother Bloom, it didn't even feel painful, instead she embraced it.

She strode along the hallway, having not quite decided where she was going yet, but slowed when she saw someone familiar heading the other way towards her.

"Bloom!" Timmy said, hurrying forward a few steps. "Have you seen Tecna? I really need to talk to her."

"No, I haven't," Bloom said shortly, ready to brush past him and keep going but something made her pause.

"Well, maybe you can give me some advice because I really don't know what to do."

"Sure, Timmy," Bloom simpered, a cruel smirk working it's way onto her mouth. Lockette was silent beside her. "What's wrong?"

Timmy blinked and seemed to really see her for the first time, taking in her fairy form. "Oh, were you going somewhere?" He looked into her eyes and his brow furrowed as he peered closer. "Are you-"

"Nowhere important," Bloom said breezily and stepped forward to sling an arm around his shoulders, steering him back the way he'd come. "Now, what's wrong? What have you done now?"

She could feel him wince under her touch and the feeling made her want to laugh. He took off his glasses and polished them on the corner of his t-shirt.

"Well, I don't know that it's something I've done-"

"You're right, I think it's more something you haven't done."

Timmy stiffened and this time Bloom did laugh, a cruel sound that made Timmy shudder and finally pull away from her. He glanced at her nervously.

"You know," he mumbled. "I think maybe this isn't a good time-"

"That's your problem, Timmy," Bloom said, folding her arms across her chest as she shook her head in mock sympathy. "You think too much. Tecna will never like you if you don't stop thinking and start taking action."

The hurt that flashed across Timmy's face was so clear that it almost made Bloom angrier. She wanted to scream at him to protect himself, to stop making it so easy for people to hurt him, to laugh at his vulnerability. She also wanted to twist the knife a little deeper and see how much she could make him hurt.

"Leave him alone, Bloom," Lockette said furiously. "If I upset you then this should be between you and me. Don't take it out on Timmy."

Timmy glanced between them as he edged away slightly. He didn't want to stick around whatever mood Bloom was in, but also clearly had reservations about leaving Lockette alone with her.

"It's fine," the pixie told him. "Just go. It's not a good time."

Timmy hesitated a beat, eyeing them both with concern, but finally nodded, backing away.

But Bloom wasn't done with him quite yet.

"Running away?" she asked, advancing on him quicker than he could back up. "Oh, I don't think Tecna will like that either." Her eyes narrowed dangerously, that cruel, taunting smirk still in place. "Especially… well." Her voice dropped like she was sharing a secret. "Especially after what happened in the Veritas Chamber."

Timmy's eyes shuttered with hurt and internally Bloom crowed with victory.

"You know," she added, unable to help but twist the knife a little deeper. "When you let the Trix get away with a piece of the Codex?"

"Bloom!" Lockette yelled, truly angry now. "That's enough!"

Obviously steeling himself, Timmy shook his head and turned on his heel to leave. Only to find himself blocked by a magical barrier.

He shot Bloom a look of pure shock before slamming his hands against it, only to yank them back at the warmth emanating off the barrier. It wasn't made of fire itself, but the magic was throwing off enough heat to keep him well away from it.

"Bloom-" He started, frustration finally seeping into his voice as he whirled back around, but he stopped dead when he saw the flames gathered at her palms.

Bloom couldn't remember making the decision to summon her magic like that but she did know she wasn't about to let Timmy run off. She was having too much fun with him to allow that to happen.

"Bloom," Timmy said again, voice calmer now. He slowly reached for the belt slung around his jeans and pulled out a small device, clicking it open into a metallic yellow shield. "I don't know what's going on with you but I need you to put the fire out."

Lockette was stock still in the air, not daring to move in case she set Bloom off.

Bloom cocked her head to the side, feeling indignation burning under her skin. "You need me to?"

Timmy winced. "I mean-"

"Oh, I know what you meant," Bloom spat, feeling haughty and proud. "You meant to tell me what to do!"

"I'm sure he didn't mean-" Lockette began quickly, sensing the shift in her.

"Please, Bloom, I'm asking-" Timmy said at the same time.

But Bloom had already made up her mind, the fireball building in her palm before she'd even really decided to attack. So very distantly, Bloom couldn't believe what she was doing, the words that were coming out of her mouth, but it was a very small, very distant part of her that the rest was steadfastly ignoring.

At the very last minute, something seemed to pull at her arm, ruining her aim right as it exploded from her. The fireball moved fast and hard but its off-centre trajectory combined with Timmy's fast reflexes allowed him to bring the shield up in time to protect his face. The shield deflected the fireball away, redirecting it so it slammed into a wall instead, leaving a nasty scorch mark, right as Musa, Layla, and Tecna rounded a corner into the hallway.

"Tecna!" Timmy cried.

"Timmy!" Tecna yelled in return, those discerning green eyes taking in every detail of the scene. "Bloom, what the fuck are you doing?!"

The surprise of hearing Tecna swear was almost enough to shock Bloom out of her wrath; but it quickly returned as Tecna strode towards them and slammed a small device against the barrier that destroyed it with a tiny little beep.

Still, she didn't unleash on the girl as part of her longed to, screaming at her to set the entire hallway ablaze. Instead that taunting smile returned.

"Oh, relax, we were just having a nice chat about you, weren't we, Timmy?"

"No-" Timmy began quickly but it didn't matter because Bloom could already see the hurt and worry taking root in Tecna's eyes. Worry that Bloom might have brought up what they spoke about at Cloud Tower only a few weeks before.

Musa and Layla looked between them.

"Look," Layla said, breaking in when Tecna didn't say anything. "Whatever this is, it's over. Timmy, you should get out of here. Bloom, calm down."

"You know what," Bloom purred, the flames at her hands jumping higher. "I don't think I want to calm down."

Layla's eyes went wide and several things happened at once. Bloom and Layla's fire and water met in midair, Timmy dived in front of Tecna, Lockette cried out, and Musa sent a targeted sonic attack right at Bloom who was too distracted to block it. The noise that rushed through her head was intense to the point of pain and Bloom was helpless to do anything as her eyes rolled back in her head and everything went black.

---

The first thing Bloom was aware of as she came too was the horrible pounding in her head; it felt like she'd gone ten rounds with Musa's sonic attacks and lost every single one. She groaned and tried to raise a hand to her head but was surprised to find she was so weak she could barely twitch her fingers. So instead she blinked and took in her surroundings, wondering why she was lying on the hard ground in the hallway, rather than her bed where she'd remembered lying down last.

She turned her head to the side and found Musa, Layla, Stella, and Flora standing with Timmy, looking like they were comforting him. Tecna stood a little apart, arms wrapped around herself, while Avalon and Ophelia conversed further down the hallway. Snatches of memory returned to her, the horrible feeling of wrath consuming her, talking to Timmy, Tecna's angry face.

Bloom groaned again when her head gave a particularly painful twinge and this time managed to get her hands to her head so she could massage her temples gently.

"Bloom?" a voice asked, and Bloom opened her eyes to find Lockette hovering above her. Relief filled her little face. "She's awake!" she called to the others.

All heads turned in her direction, and there was a brief moment of hesitation before they came rushing over, Stella and Flora kneeling down to help her sit up. She let out an involuntary whine at the movement and clutched at her head as Flora and Stella propped her up against the wall.

"I had the most horrible dream," she said, shaking her head. When no one responded, she let her hands drop from her face and glanced up at them all. "No," she whispered, face crumpling as she read the truth in their expressions. "I don't understand."

"We don't really either, Bloom," Tecna said, tone colder than Bloom had ever heard. "You attacked Timmy! For no reason!"

Timmy put a hand on her shoulder and although she quickly stepped out from under it, Tecna calmed down a little, even though her jaw was still clenched. Bloom looked away, unable to stand seeing her friend look at her like that and looked at Timmy instead.

"I'm so sorry- I don't- I don't know why-"

More and more details of the incident came back to her and she broke off, shaking her head again.

Avalon came closer and knelt before her, resting a hand gently on her knee to get her attention. "Can you explain what happened, Bloom?"

Bloom cast her mind back, trying to make sense of the snippets and flashes that she could remember, while filling in the gaps that remained. "I went back to the dorm after our session," she recalled. "I had a really bad headache and just wanted to sleep."

"How did you feel when you woke up?"

Bloom hesitated. "Different," she said finally. "My head didn't hurt but there was still this pressure. And I would do things without really deciding to. It was almost like-"

Again she hesitated. 'It was almost like someone else was making the decisions for me' was what she wanted to say but could imagine what it would sound like.

She looked desperately to Avalon. "What's happening?"

Ophelia looked like she wanted to jump in but it was Avalon who spoke. "It seems to me that when Darcy used her magic to take away your sight, it was just to disguise using another spell on you. I believe I've seen this before, but I need to do some more research to find the exact spell to reverse its effects."

"Maybe we should inform the Headmistress of what has occurred,"

Ophelia said, looking down at them with an unreadable expression on her face.

"I don't think that's necessary," Avalon said smoothly. "I can handle it. At the present I'm more concerned that Bloom wasn't harmed by Miss Shao's sonic attack."

Musa's face went stony, while Ophelia nodded tightly before performing a brief examination of Bloom.

"There shouldn't be any lasting effects of the attack, beyond a headache for a day or so; Miss Shao weighted the attack carefully. If that's all, Professor," Ophelia said briskly, turning on her heel to leave before hesitating. She glanced back at Bloom, "If you have any concerns, or if you get any more headaches, my door's always open."

Bloom nodded gratefully and Ophelia took her leave. Timmy, scratching his neck and glancing quickly at Tecna and then away again, also announced he was going to head off.

"I better get back to Red Fountain. I hope you feel better, Bloom."

"I'm so sorry, Timmy," Bloom said, wishing she felt strong enough to get up and hug him, but then wondered if he'd even welcome it after what she did. "The things I said…" she trailed off awkwardly.

Timmy's cheeks went red and he glanced compulsively at Tecna. "I know you didn't mean it."

They all bade him farewell, and Flora and Stella helped lever Bloom to her feet.

"I'm going to reach out to some fellow Paladins just to be sure we know what we're dealing with, but I need you girls to keep Bloom calm and relaxed until I can find the right antidote. It might take until tomorrow for everyone to get back to me."

"No problem," Stella chirped, hooking her arm through Bloom's and guiding her back to the dorm.

When they got there, Stella insisted on a rom-com marathon for the rest of the day but Bloom knew she was distracted the entire time. It was hard to focus on the movies when she knew the girls were watching her out of the corner of their eye and had to be thinking about what she'd done to Timmy. Not to mention the horrified feeling she got all over again every time she thought about the terrible things she'd said and done. Still every time the negative feelings prickled at her, she heeded Avalon's warning about staying calm and just sipped some of the calming tea Flora had brewed for her. She just had to hang on until Avalon came up with the antidote. He would fix everything. He had to.

---

Bloom struggled to sleep that night but for the first time in a long time it wasn't because of the voice whispering in her ear or the phantom haunting her dreams. Instead, it was the hurt on Timmy's face at her harsh words, the anger with which Tecna had spoken to her, the way her friends looked at her as if they didn't even know her, that haunted her. She tossed and turned for most of the night until finally dawn broke and she dressed in near darkness before creeping out of the dorm. It was Sunday morning and the campus was quiet, most students taking the opportunity to have a sleep in.

She figured it would be the same at Red Fountain and opted to walk to the campus instead of flying or catching the bus, hoping the long walk would help clear her head. And it did a little; with no reflective surfaces around, no eyes to watch her, Bloom felt something approaching normal for the first time in a while.

By the time she made it to Red Fountain the sun was well and truly up in the sky and Bloom was ignoring the buzzing of her phone, figuring it was her friends, wondering where she was. Flicking it to silent and dismissing the notifications lining the screen, Bloom took the magical lift up to the campus and set off across the grass to look for Timmy.

Red Fountain was much busier than Alfea had been when she'd left and her eyes swept across the grassy area that was already dotted with students. She was just wondering if she should check the guy's dorm first when she spotted a familiar head of red hair and glasses.

"Timmy!" she called, jogging over to him. She tried not to feel hurt by the wariness that flashed briefly in his eyes before it melted into friendliness as he waved.

"Hey, Bloom. You here to see Sky?"

Bloom bit her lip. "Well, no, actually. I just wanted to see you and apologise again. What I said yesterday, attacking you… it was so wrong. I really-" She bit her lip. "I really don't know where it came from."

Timmy shook his head. "Seriously, don't worry about it. You didn't seem like yourself at all, so I knew something else had to be up."

"What do you mean? Not myself?"

"Well, besides saying stuff I never thought you'd say, and the whole fireball thing, your…" he hesitated. "There was something weird about your eyes."

"Oh?" Bloom asked, mouth dry.

"They almost looked yellow." Timmy gave a self-deprecating laugh. "I mean, it all happened so fast so I'm sure I was just seeing things, or it was another effect of Darcy's spell." He looked at her hopefully. "Has Avalon found a cure yet?"

Cure? The voice whispered in her ear. There's nothing wrong with us! But Bloom ignored it.

"Not yet," Bloom said quietly, but her mind was racing. She had been seeing yellow eyes in her reflection for days now but this was the first time that anyone else had noticed. She didn't know what it meant, but she knew it couldn't be good.

"Listen, I'd better run, Bloom. I was on my way to work on our ship. But try not to beat yourself about it, okay? It's really okay." A shy kind of smile worked its way onto his mouth. "I think Sky's in our dorm if you wanted to see him."

"Thanks, Timmy."

Timmy waved and headed off, while Bloom stood on the grass, wavering. She'd barely gotten a chance to see her boyfriend since he'd visited her at Cloud Tower so Bloom decided to head inside to the elevators after all and took one down to their floor. She knocked quietly at the door in case any of the occupants were still sleeping, before letting herself in, crossing the common area to Sky and Brandon's room.

She smiled at the sight of Sky seated at his desk, head bent over a homework assignment, before knocking on the open door to announce herself.

"Heroes must have a better work ethic than fairies, because I don't think anyone was awake at Alfea when I left, let alone working on assignments."

Sky twisted in his chair, grinning at the sight of her. "You girls need to keep up; Brandon and Riven are already in the gym, Helia said something about catching the sunrise, and Timmy's gone to do some repairs on the ship."

"Yeah, I know, I just saw him… Timmy." Some of the amusement faded from Sky's face as he stood. "Wanted to apologise again," she tried to say, but it came out choked.

Sky crossed the room quickly and put a hand on her shoulder, the other brushing the hair back from her face. "Are you okay?" His eyes scanned her face, searching for what, Bloom wasn't sure.

"I think you're supposed to be asking Timmy that," she said, trying for lightness in her voice but falling flat. "I don't know what happened," she admitted, and her face crumpled.

Sky arms were around her before any tears could fall, tugging her into his chest and pressing a kiss to the top of her head. "Hey, it's okay. Timmy already said he doesn't blame you, it was Darcy's fault, something to do with that spell she put on you at Cloud Tower?"

"Yeah," Bloom murmured, pressing her eyes closed. She could feel the burn of tears threatening to fall, could hear the lump of emotion in her throat, but they never came, they stayed locked inside her.

We're not crying over him.

"Did Avalon find the cure yet? What did he say?" Sky asked when they finally drew apart. He lead her over to the carefully made bed, and she sunk down onto the edge of it, him flopping beside her.

"Not yet. He just said I'm supposed to stay calm until he can work it out. I don't know. I'm just sick of thinking about it, talking about it." It felt like the only thing that had been on her mind lately and Bloom was desperate for something, anything, to distract her. She glanced at Sky out of the corner of her eye, a devilish and completely uncharacteristic thought coming into her head. "Maybe I don't want to talk at all."

Sky looked at her, a smile unfurling across his face as he already reached for her, pulling her closer.

"Oh really?" he murmured, bending his head closer to hers. "I think I can work with that."

The first touch of his lips to hers felt like he was striking a match under her skin, the embers catching and building to an inferno as their mouths moved against one another. And when her lips parted slightly on a gasp, and his tongue slipped forward to tangle with hers, Bloom felt her entire body come alive with fire.

Feeling a little wild and completely unlike herself, Bloom shifted, throwing a leg over Sky's hips so she could straddle him. Sky made a noise of surprise at the sudden move but it turned to a groan of appreciation as her weight settled on him. This wasn't where either of them had intended their kiss to go but Bloom didn't want to pull away as the thought of those gold eyes faded from her head for the first time in days.

Sky broke away from her mouth, pressing kiss after kiss along her jaw and down her neck. "You're so hot," he murmured in between kisses, but his tone was wrong, the words no longer appreciative, but concerned, and she could feel his frown against her skin.

But she didn't care. All she cared about was the fire of his skin on her, the way his touch set her alight, it was amazing and she never wanted it to stop. Distantly, at the very back of her head, Bloom could remember Avalon telling her she needed to remain calm until he found the cure, but she didn't care.

She reached for the hem of Sky's shirt and he let it come off, but in doing so, it allowed her to see the growing concern on his face. Not wanting to know what he was about to say, not wanting to hear it, Bloom plunged her hands through his hair and yanked him back to her, not caring if she was being too rough, just needing his lips on hers again. One hand stayed anchored in his hair while the other explored his broad chest, nails digging in slightly.

His hands squeezed her waist warningly, his fingers digging sparks into her skin, but he didn't pull away, not until she freed her hands of his hair and reached for the hem of her own shirt. His hands moved quick, so quick, she'd forgotten how fast his reflexes were, and they covered her own, stilling them.

"Wait," he gasped, resting his forehead against hers. "Just wait a second."

"What?" she hissed impatiently.

"You're upset about what happened with Timmy, you're worried about Avalon finding the cure, I know you are. Are you sure you actually want this right now?"

"What I want is to not have to fucking talk for a while. And not have to fucking think for a while."

She yanked at her hands, trying to free them enough to finish taking her shirt off, but his tightened on hers as his eyes met her sadly. "We can't do this. I won't do this if I think there's any part of you that is being influenced by Darcy's spell right now. Talk to me," he pleaded when she said nothing. "Just talk to me."

Bloom hesitated, eyes sliding shut, emotion welling within her. She was so confused; she didn't know what was her, what was Darcy's magic, and what was something else completely. She wanted him, she wanted to cry, she wanted to scream, and more than anything else, she wanted to tell him - him, more than anyone else - what was happening to her.

"I-"

No!

Bloom's hands moved of their own accord, shoving him away as she clambered off him. His back collided with the wall with a loud bang and his eyes went wide. And if she were less angry she might have noticed the red marks her hands had left on his bare chest.

"I don't want to talk, I want a boyfriend who isn't immature. Come find me when you're done wasting my time," she snapped, and turned on her heel to storm out of the dorm. She could hear Sky calling after her, but she didn't stop, couldn't stop.

She barely remembered the trip back to Alfea, didn't know if she walked, flew, or found some other way back to the campus, all she knew is that her anger carried her all the way, right across the quad, up the stairs, and to the door of her dorm.

She didn't go right in however. Her friends would know something was up straight away if she didn't calm down so she forced herself to wait, dragging in deep breath after deep breath until her heart stopped pounding and the colour had faded from her cheeks. Then she finally went inside.

It was hard not to notice the looks of relief on her friend's faces as she stepped into the dorm. They were sitting on the lounges in the common area, but the television was dark and quiet so they didn't even pretend like they'd been watching it.

"Where'd you get to so early this morning, B?" Musa asked lightly.

Part of Bloom longed to just go to her room and wait for Avalon to come with the cure, but she forced herself to join them on the lounge, settling beside Flora.

"I went to Red Fountain. I wanted to apologise again."

Tecna's face softened at that and Flora patted her knee comfortingly.

"You didn't need to do that, Bloom," Stella said. "We all know it wasn't really you."

"But it was very nice and I'm sure Timmy appreciated it," Flora added.

"Anyway," Stella trilled, practically dancing in her seat, such was her excitement. "Avalon said you had to stay calm until he came up with the cure, so I was thinking I would treat all of you all to a pamper day."

The other girls exchanged looks but Bloom got the sense they were all waiting for her reaction before they agreed. Again she longed for the solitude of her bedroom but the rest of her, who'd hated all this bickering with her friends and had felt so disconnected from them recently, relaxed at the idea. Even more so, she was glad they didn't question her further about what she'd gotten up to at Red Fountain.

"Sure," she said, smiling a little. "That sounds like fun."

Stella whooped and Bloom winced good-naturedly at the volume before allowing herself to be pulled up from the lounge by Flora. This would be fun, she told herself. She would have fun and let herself relax. And she did. For a while.

Stella conjured some salon-style chairs in her and Layla's room, and instructed them all to sit and relax while she prepared face masks for them all. Musa provided some music for them to listen to, and Layla and Flora put their respective talents together to come up with soaking basins for their feet; Layla keeping the temperature perfect while Flora added herbs and salts that she promised would leave their skin as fresh as a baby's. Bloom tried to help but her friends all waved her off, insisting she needed to relax.

To entertain - and distract her, Bloom suspected - Flora suggested that Tecna use her dexterity to give Bloom a manicure. Bloom also suspected that Flora had ulterior motives of wanting Bloom and Tecna to get over any lingering tension between them.

It was awkward at first, neither of them really talking as Tecna concentrated on painting geometric patterns onto Bloom's nails.

"You're really good at that," Bloom commented, mostly to break the silence.

"Comes from working with computers, the interiors are usually pretty small." Tecna said it with a dismissive shrug, but Bloom thought she might have looked pleased by the compliment.

"I'm sorry, Tec," she said, when silence descended once more. She bristled a little at having to apologise yet again, but forged on. "I know you told me some stuff in competence, and no matter the reason, I never should have even brought it up with Timmy."

Tecna stared at her nails for a long time, before she finally met Bloom's eyes. "It's okay, Bloom. Really. I need to sort out whatever's happening with me and Timmy and stop letting you guys get in the middle. And like we keep saying, we know it's not really you."

"So, we're good?"

"We're good."

Bloom slumped back into her chair with a sigh of relief. Stella breezed by not long afterwards to apply their face masks, and they all settled into their chairs to soak their feet and just relax. They kept the conversation light, not bringing up the codex or school work, and mostly just chatting about the guys. Well, Stella did anyway. Layla wasn't interested in any of them, Musa, Flora, and Tecna all categorically denied having anything to do with Riven, Helia, and Timmy respectively, so Stella just monologued about the state of her relationship with Brandon, lamenting over the fact that he still hadn't introduced her to his family. Bloom wasn't sure if they'd picked up on something having gone down with Sky when she'd been at Red Fountain, but no one brought him up and Bloom was glad, she was more than happy to listen to Stella.

Rejected. He rejected us.

Bloom shook her head and leaned her head into her hand, frowning a bit when her fingers came away sticky from the mask. Musa's music was starting to drill into her head and the headache she'd finally woken up without was returning, pressure building behind her eyes.

Rejected. He rejected us.

"I need a minute," Bloom muttered, standing so suddenly some of the water from her basin splashed out. Stella grimaced but Layla made it vanish with a flick of her wrist.

"Okay, but don't wash off your mask yet, it's not time," Stella called after her, as Bloom hurried across the dorm and closed herself in the bathroom.

Ignoring Stella's advice, and avoiding looking in the mirror, Bloom bent over the sink and splashed cold water on her face, hoping it would ease the intense throbbing. Moving gently, she slowly wiped away the mask, continuing to splash the water on her face long after the last of it had disappeared down the drain. But it didn't help much, if anything the ache got worse, so she finally shut off the water and pressed a towel to her face to dry it; doing everything she could to put off looking in the mirror.

She lowered the soft cotton from her face, and finally dared to look at her reflection, stomach twisting at what she beheld there.

Her eyes were a bright gold, and her reflection was smiling menacingly, despite Bloom's own blank expression. Someone knocked hard and fast on the bathroom door, the noise slamming through her pounding head, and her reflection lashed out, slamming a fist against the inside of the mirror. It fractured with an audible crack, fissures spreading across the surface, and Bloom reared back in shock, turning away.

"Are you okay in there, Bloom?" Flora asked in concern.

Bloom didn't answer, but it didn't seem to matter.

"Oh, screw this. We're coming in, Bloom!"

Bloom reached the door before it could crash open, fear and irritation stoking the smouldering flames inside her causing her to yank the door open with more power than she intended. Stella yelped as the doorknob was ripped from her grip but her voice died and her mouth hung open in shock as she beheld the mirror behind Bloom.

Musa paled while Layla grabbed for Bloom's hands as if to inspect them for injuries.

"Bloom," Flora whispered, her voice breaking. "Did you-"

"Leave me alone!" Bloom snapped, yanking her hands free and pushing past them. Stella yelped as Bloom's skin brushed against hers but she didn't stop. "Just leave me alone!"

Her head felt like it was splitting apart and all she knew was that she had to get away from the dorm and the others before she did something she regretted.

"We can't let her off on her own," Bloom heard Flora cry out in a panic before she strode out of the dorm and slammed the doors behind her.

She heard the clattering behind the door as the girls scrambled to follow her. Thinking fast, she took the doorknobs of the double entrance in her hands and concentrated on melting them together. She hadn't realised but her skin was already brimming with barely restrained magic and it was work of a moment to fuse them together. If anything she had to concentrate more on not setting the two doors alight completely.

Job done, she quickly took off, needing to escape her friends and her pounding head.

But the strange thing was, the further Bloom walked, the less her head hurt. The pressure behind her eyes remained, but it no longer throbbed in time with her heartbeats and she could finally start to think clearly about where she was going.

The codex.

She had to find the codex.

Bloom didn't question the sudden need to find the codex, she just let her feet carry her, instinctively knowing where she had to go. Maybe she'd known where it was all year.

She found herself walking down an unassuming corridor, tucked out of the way where no students were likely to stumble upon it, and she knew it had been designed this way to conceal what was truly hidden here. Bloom stopped between two storage closets, feeling the wall for the doorknob that was invisible between them. She smirked triumphantly when her hand closed around it and she twisted, opening the door and stepping inside.

The classroom was just as she remembered it. A tall room that traversed several floors, with walls that were full of recessed bookshelves and only yielded to the glass dome at the apex that let in the sunlight. A few desks for students dotted the floor, and a familiar, elderly pixie was seated comfortably on a lounge seat set up on the teacher's desk. At her side, shuffling through her tarot cards, was Jolly.

"Bloom!" she cried excitedly. "I haven't seen you in ages; Concorda has been letting me assist her in her divining research. How are you?"

Bloom ignored the chatter, turning in a circle to scan the bookshelves. The codex. The codex. The codex.

She knew it was here somewhere.

When it didn't immediately reveal itself she turned her attention back to the teacher's desk where Concorda hadn't looked up from her crystal ball.

"Bloom, what a lovely surprise. I'll be right with you, my dear. I'm almost done here."

Concorda continued to gaze into the crystal ball for a few more moments, while Jolly frowned at Bloom in confusion, clearly wondering what had happened to Bloom's usually friendly demeanour. She blinked, distracted, when Concorda finally sat back with a sigh and she jumped up from the lounge to fetch the elderly pixie a glass of water.

"Thank you, Jolly," Concorda said, draining the glass in one long pull before setting it on her little table and turning her attention to Bloom. "My dear, it's been so long since I've seen you. I do apologise, I keep mostly to myself during the school year and I've been extra busy with my divining this year." She paused, a small frown appearing on her face. "There have been many magical forces at play that have proven to be particularly troublesome." She shook her head, as if shaking off the concerns and once again refocused. "But enough about me, what brings you to my classroom today. Looking for another reading?" she asked hopefully. "Your last one proved to be particularly interesting."

"No," Bloom said quietly, picking her way towards the desk, eyes scanning the shelves once again. "I'm not here for a reading."

The codex. It had to be hidden in one of the books. It had to be. "I'm here for the codex."

Her eyes flicked back to Concorda and the pixie let out a small noise of surprise.

"Your eyes," she said, struggling to maintain her suddenly shaky smile. "They surprised me; they're usually such a pretty shade of blue. As for the codex," she continued briskly. "I'm afraid I can't help you with that."

She knows.

The last of Bloom's facade disappeared and she strode to the nearest shelf and started pulling books off the shelves, ripping them open to inspect their contents and shaking them to make sure the codex wasn't hidden within their pages. When they failed to yield what she desired she tossed them over her shoulder.

Jolly let out a gasp at her careless behaviour, little hands covering her mouth, but Concorda squared her shoulders.

"That's quite enough, Bloom."

Bloom laughed. "It's enough when I say it's enough. Now, you can either tell me where the codex is, or I can tear this place apart looking for it."

"I'm not sure why you would think the codex is here, and more to the point; no one, absolutely no one, tears apart my classroom!"

Bloom stilled, before turning to Concorda and deliberately ripped a book in two. Concorda winced but didn't back down, arms folded over her chest.

"And just who," Bloom began silkily. "Is going to stop me? Because pint-sized pixies generally don't scare me."

Bloom didn't remember when she'd transformed but suddenly she realised she was in her fairy form, flames already encircling her hands. She flicked a fireball at Concorda and Jolly, forcing them to scatter, before launching into the air to search more shelves.

"I don't know what's gotten into you, Bloom," Concorda said, fury coating her voice even as she tried to keep her composure. "But perhaps you'd like to experience what it's like to be pint-sized."

Bloom rolled her eyes and reached for another book. "Whatever."

No sooner had she spoken, did a burst of magic hit her square in the back. It didn't hurt exactly but Bloom still whirled around, hissing in rage. But before she could retaliate a stomach-churning sensation rushed over her and all of a sudden it was like the room around her was growing ten times larger. Except it wasn't the room growing larger she realised as she looked at Concorda and Jolly. She was shrinking until she was the size of a pixie.

"You little pest!" Bloom bellowed with rage, fire exploding from her.

Concorda yelped and threw up a shield. "Jolly," she said urgently. "Go get help while I hold her off. The shrinking spell won't last long."

Jolly looked like she wanted to argue but a second glance at Bloom's furious face had her nodding obediently. She flew out from behind the shield, aiming for the door, but Bloom snarled, aiming a hand and conjuring a fire between the pixie and the door, cutting off her escape.

"No!" Concorda cried, as the flames flickered and danced, scorching the bookshelves.

Jolly reared back in surprise and quickly retreated to the other side of the classroom.

"I know the codex is in here, and I am going to find it. And if I have to roast every book in this place to do it, I will."

Concorda's voice turned pleading. "Bloom, some of these books are irreplaceable. If you destroy them they could be lost forever. Now, please, stop, I don't want to fight you."

Bloom laughed again, the image of the pixie putting up anything resembling a decent fight too amusing not to. Even at her current size. She turned back to the books and, grunting with effort, started pulling them out again.

"You don't want to fight me? Or you can't?" Bloom asked, panting from the exertion.

Concorda ignored her and zoomed down to cast protection spells on the books that hadn't succumbed to the flames yet.

More books went flying as Bloom continued her search and it was all Jolly and Concorda could do to avoid them as they thudded to the ground, pages in disarray and spines cracked.

"Alright," Concorda snapped. "I've just about had it with you, young lady!"

"And I've had enough of you playing dumb," Bloom shot back. Searching the books was much harder at this size and she was quickly losing her patience. "I told you, this will all end when you tell me where the codex is."

"I'm not telling you anything," Concorda snarled, but her worry betrayed her as she subconsciously glanced at a shelf behind Bloom's left shoulder.

Those golden eyes lit up with excitement. "Here?" she asked, darting for it.

"No!" Concorda cried.

Another burst of magic caught Bloom in the shoulder and Jolly went barreling through the air, aimed in the direction of the bookshelf. Bloom snarled and tried to head her off but Concorda didn't let up, sending an absolute barrage of magic at Bloom to keep her back.

"Hurry, Jolly!" Concorda urged. "The red one."

Jolly obediently grabbed a hold of the book bound in red cloth and yanked it out, wings straining with effort. She flipped it open and sure enough a rectangular pocket had been cut out of the pages, creating the perfect hiding place for the metal box containing the codex. She lifted it out and darted away.

Concorda looked around desperately for somewhere for her to go. The exit was still blocked by Bloom's fire, the glass dome in the ceiling was too far away and could be impenetrable for all Concorda knew, and there was no other way out of the classroom. She looked down and spied an open book on portals laying open on the floor. The magic on the book's pages had created its own mini portal when it had opened. It wouldn't be able to take whoever entered it far, but maybe it would buy them just enough time for help to arrive.

"Jolly," she cried again, pointing to it.

The pixie looked down and nodded decisively, diving towards it as fast as her wings could carry her. Bloom let out a scream of frustration and finally swept Concorda away with a wave of fire, dropping into her own dive as she followed the pixie.

Jolly reached the portal first and slipped through it, but Bloom was right on her heels. They both exploded into a world of white, black letters and words floating past. Jolly let out a yelp of fright and took off, ducking and weaving around the solid black lines, while Bloom gave chase.

"It's alright, Jolly," Bloom crooned as she followed, using every trick Faylinn had ever taught her to avoid colliding with the black lettering. "Just give me the codex and I won't hurt you."

"Never!" Jolly yelled and sped up.

Bloom spat curses and aimed a fireball at the pixie's back. The pressure in her head built and her arm shook, sending her attack off course. It didn't hit Jolly but came close enough that the pixie jumped in fright and the codex slipped from her grasp, allowing Bloom to swoop in and catch it.

"No!" Jolly cried in dismay.

"Finally," Bloom hissed, and twisted in midair, looking for the exit. A golden archway loomed in the distance and she sped for it, flying through it and back into Concorda's classroom. Jolly arrived moments later, but there was nothing she could do to get the codex back from where Bloom held onto it fiercely.

As Bloom flew up and away from the portal, Concorda's spell finally wore off, and she grew to her normal size, tucking the codex piece under her arm and looking for the door.

It was only then that she realised she had company.

Layla had clearly doused Bloom's flames when she'd arrived with the rest of the girls and Lockette. Not a single ember remained and the carpet was soaking wet.

"It's not very nice to undo someone's hard work, Layla," Bloom crooned, and her friend's attention snapped to her. A shudder seemed to pass through them at the sight of her and Layla didn't answer, jaw clenched.

"Please tell me that's not the codex," Stella said, gaze going to the metal box that Bloom was clutching.

Bloom ignored her. "And Lockette," she said in faux dismay. "You're supposed to be my bonded pixie, but I'm betting you lead them right to me."

Lockette trembled but didn't answer, and Concorda flew down to hover next to them. "You hand that codex over right now!" she yelled, voice trembling with a combination of fury and fear.

"I don't think so. It's mine now."

"Yours?" Layla asked sharply.

Tecna whipped out her hand-held and took a quick scan of their friend. "Something's really wrong here," she said, scanning the results. "Her magic's not even being drawn from her Winx right now. It's something darker."

Concorda frowned and flew closer for a look. Her lips parted in surprise at whatever she saw but before she could say anything Layla broke in.

"Does it matter? We've got to stop her before she leaves with another piece of the codex!"

Layla's hands moved smoothly through the air, like it was actually liquid, and a veritable tidal wave of water started to form. And she was about to send it all crashing down on Bloom.

"Layla!" Stella said, aghast, and even Musa grabbed her arm to stop her. Layla made a face. "I don't like it but-"

"Just wait," Musa said softly, eyeing Flora who was walking steadily forward. "Give Flora a chance to talk to her."

"Bloom?" Flora said tentatively, ignoring their murmuring and focusing on her friend. The gold in Bloom's eyes was unsettling but Flora forced herself to meet them. "Hey, Bloom. I know the real you is in there somewhere. I know the real you would never do this, so please, just hand the codex to me."

A grimace worked its way onto Bloom's face but it quickly gave way to a derisive shriek of laughter.

"You know what, Flora?" Bloom said sweetly, and the entire group tensed. "Take your touchy-feely, good vibrations, let's all hug it out, goody-goody-goodness, and save it for someone who gives a fuck. You hide behind all this sweetness and kindness to cover the fact that you're really a scared little girl who doesn't know if she has it in her to survive the big bad world out there."

Flora's face went ashen and the rest of the girls grimaced. Lockette, hands over her mouth, shook her head.

"This was exactly what she was like with Timmy. Please don't listen to her, Flora!"

Flora nodded but still looked hurt by the vicious words.

"Heads up," Layla cried and not a moment too soon.

Bloom seemed to have gotten sick of the hold up and fired a handful of fireballs at them, forcing them to scatter to avoid getting burnt. She flew through the air, aiming for the door but Tecna was quick to throw up a barrier, not about to let Bloom fly away with the codex. Bloom let out a cry of outrage and launched a fiery arrow at Tecna instead but it was Musa this time who deflected it with a sonic blast.

"Why don't you fight back?!" Bloom screamed.

"We don't want to hurt you," Stella said through gritted teeth, fending off yet another attack from Bloom.

"Or is it because I'm more powerful than all of you combined?"

A barrage of fire descended upon the girls, making them yelp and take cover. Feeling desperate, Stella dismissed her shield and instead summoned her sceptre. If whatever was happening to Bloom was being orchestrated by the Trix and Darkar, maybe a shot of pure sunlight would be enough to chase their shadowy spell away.

Across the room, Lockette met Stella's eye and nodded like she knew exactly what the fairy was planning. They both raised their hands, Stella clutching her sceptre, and called on their magic. A blast of pure sunlight burst from the centre of Stella's sceptre and Lockette directed the attack, making sure it made it through Bloom's defences for a direct hit.

"Stella!" Musa yelped, stunned by the sheer intensity of the attack, before she and all the others were forced to look away from the resulting bright flash of light.

"I either cured her or vaporised her," Stella muttered mostly to herself, desperately hoping it was the former as she waited for the light to subside.

But her heart sank as it finally did and she beheld Bloom, looking completely unharmed, as she hovered in the air above them. She gave a hearty laugh but there was something dangerous about it, and Stella noticed an anger simmering in those gold eyes, different to her earlier cruel taunting.

"My bonded pixie and my best friend, working together against me," Bloom said, shaking her head. Her words were mocking but her voice was icy cold with rage.

That anger seemed to bleed out of her and Bloom's friends could only watch in horror as a blot of dark colour appeared on her top, right over her heart. It spread, spilling like ink, across her clothes, turning even her shoes, the colour of dark wine. Even her fire seemed affected, for when she summoned flames to her hands, they flickered with an unearthly light; it was almost like her fire was actually burning her because black soot instantly covered her hands even though Bloom didn't seem to feel it.

Lockette trembled at the sight of her bonded fairy looking both like herself and wholly unlike herself and balled up her tiny fists. Stella stiffened but didn't back away.

Flora squared her shoulders, recovering from the verbal attack from earlier. "Leave them alone, Bloom," she said firmly. "We're doing this because we care about you."

And then, before Bloom could respond, Flora used her magic on a pot plant sitting on the teacher's desk. The flower's stem lengthened, doubling and then tripling in a split second.

"Really, Flora?" Bloom cackled, as the flower stem looped itself around her middle, locking her arms by her side. "You think a little vine like this can hold me?"

It was work of a moment for Bloom to angle her hand and set fire to the stem, reducing it to ash in seconds. Flora could only watch in dismay.

"You tried," Musa said, patting her shoulder.

"Yeah, but now what?"

Musa's face hardened. "Now we stop being so nice about it."

Musa launched into the air and shot a sonic attack in Bloom's direction. It hit her but also affected the shelves around her, making them shake, and causing the books to fall, giving Bloom another thing to worry about.

"Not the books," Concorda said mournfully.

Bloom swept the volumes away with a wind that ripped through the room. It was so hot that the other girl's could feel their lips growing dry and cracked in response.

"Still so weak," Bloom taunted.

Layla growled and shot a blast of concentrated water at Bloom, aiming right for her stomach, but once again Bloom deflected the attack, soaking another section of the shelves.

"When are you going to accept that you can't beat me?"

"What's she waiting for?" Tecna whispered furiously to Flora. "She's clearly strong enough to beat us but she hasn't yet."

"Maybe the real Bloom's in there somewhere holding back," Flora said hopefully.

"I think she's having too much fun playing with us," Musa said, eyeing Bloom's feral grin.

And Bloom did look like she was having fun, outright laughing as she overcame yet another of Stella's sunlight attacks with a wave of her own fire.

"Or she's waiting for something," Tecna said slowly.

"There!" Layla cried, pointing to the roof.

A dark shape shot fast and direct for the glass dome, smashing right through it. The dome exploded into tiny shards of glass making the girls yelp and cover their faces as it rained down around them, but Bloom didn't seem bothered by it. She slowly lifted her head to face whatever had arrived.

"Kerbog," Layla realised in horror, recognising the Shadow Bat as Darkar's companion.

"Not good, not good," Musa muttered.

But although the bat cawed impatiently, Bloom didn't immediately fly to it. Instead she glanced at the piece of the codex in her hand, weighing the metal box carefully.

Time seemed to stand still as the girls watched Bloom decide what to do and for a moment they could have sworn she wasn't going to hand the piece of the codex over to the bat.

But then it dove at her, talons outstretched and cawing loudly, and Bloom rolled her eyes, tossing the box to it.

"Whatever," she muttered, watching with simmering eyes as the bat caught the codex and took off with it, departing out the destroyed roof.

Concorda let out a whimper of dismay, and the girls struggled to rally, unable to accept losing yet another piece of the codex.

"No!" Stella cried, launching into the air, the others right behind her, but Bloom whirled around, hand already outstretched.

They felt the heat build around Bloom and braced for impact. But Bloom hesitated, a tremble seeming to race through her magic as though it was going to flicker and die. But then she grinned, and that wave of heat slammed into them, sending them crashing right back to the ground, right as Avalon, and Faragonda, along with the rest of the pixies, rushed into the room. Faragonda's mouth parted in surprise while Avalon's eyes swept over the scene, taking in the girls groaning on the ground, and Bloom, eyes still gold and outfit still that dark colour, hovering above them.

He instantly held up a hand and began to speak in an unfamiliar tongue, "Terge, umbra gemina! Praecipio tibi ut ad tuum carcerem redeas!"

Gold light emerged from his palm and surrounded Bloom, casting her in its glow. But she seemed to resist its pull, baring her teeth at him.

Avalon gritted his own teeth, voice strangled with effort as he continued, "Satis cito libertatem gustes. Iam redi!"

His gold magic intensified, and they all watched as she gasped, eyes wide and lips parted in surprise, before those yellow eyes rolled back in her head and she fainted dead away.

---

As soon as Bloom opened and beheld the jagged edges of the domed roof so far above her she knew what had happened. What she had done.

"No, no, no," she muttered, shaking her head as her hands flew to cover her face.

A hand wrapped around her wrist, trying to tug it away.

"It's okay, Bloom," Avalon said. "It's all over. It's all over now."

"It's not," she cried, pressing her fingers down harder as she felt the burn of tears appear behind her eyes. "It's not okay."

She finally allowed Avalon to pull her hands away, needing to see the truth in his face. Knelt beside her, he looked down and met her gaze, expression grave and confirming what she already knew.

Another piece of the codex was gone and it was all her fault.

"No!" She forced herself upright even as her head swam, ignoring Avalon's noise of warning, scrubbing angrily at her eyes where tears spilled over. "It's gone and it's all my fault."

It was the last thing she wanted to do but Bloom forced herself to look around at Faragonda, Concorda, her friends, and the pixies.

"I'm sorry," she said emphatically. "I'm so sorry."

"It's okay, B," Musa said quietly, the others nodding along despite their dejected expressions. "We know it wasn't really your fault."

"No, it wasn't," Faragonda said, her voice hard as her attention shifted to Avalon. "But we must be certain Darcy's spell has been completely removed."

"It has," Avalon assured her, but his eyes never left Bloom.

Faragonda stared long and hard at the side of his face, as if willing him to meet her gaze. "There is only one piece of codex left," she said finally, looking around at them all. "We cannot allow it to fall into Darkar's hands. Bloom," she continued, aiming a forced smile at the redhead. "Please, don't be too hard on yourself. Professor Avalon, if you'll accompany me back to my office; I'm intrigued to hear why I wasn't properly kept abreast of the situation."

Something flickered across Avalon's face before he touched Bloom's shoulder briefly and stood. "Of course," he said graciously, folding his hands behind his back and following Faragonda out.

Tecna watched them go, seemingly on the verge of commenting before glancing back at Bloom and thinking better of it. Bloom, for her part, was looking around Concorda's classroom in dismay as she saw all the wreckage she had inadvertently caused.

"I'm so sorry," she told the elderly pixie, who just nodded and set about cleaning up. "I'll help you set it all right," she added, and Concorda's face softened a bit.

"Don't worry about it, dear," she said, flying over to pat Bloom's cheek. "That was a nasty curse that witch placed on you." Her expression grew slightly distant. "I'd be curious to know more about it actually, as I've never seen or even read about anything like it. But it wasn't your fault and luckily you didn't do any lasting damage; I'll have this place back to normal in two shakes of a dragon's tail."

Bloom forced herself to nod as Concorda flew off again before looking at her friends. She opened her mouth but Stella stepped forward shaking her head.

"No more apologies," she said, offering a hand out to pull Bloom to her feet. "What's done is done; we can't go back and stop it so we might as well focus on making sure they don't get the last piece of the codex."

"Okay," Bloom said, blowing a breath out. "I won't apologise for handing over the codex but I am sorry for the things I said." She made eye contact with Flora. "It was like I was just watching myself do and say all these terrible things but I couldn't stop it. I'm so sorry."

Flora's smile was a little weak but she hooked her arm through Bloom's regardless and steered her towards the door. "It's okay, Bloom. I know it wasn't you."

"Yeah," Bloom said quietly, before perking up. "At least it's all over now."

Flora looked relieved by the reminder and cheerfully changed the subject to what they were going to have for dinner that night as they disappeared out into the hallway. The others went to follow suit but hesitated when they noticed that Tecna hadn't moved, still watching the place where Bloom had laid after Avalon had lifted the curse.

"Tec?" Stella asked, trying for a smile but it came off strained instead. "You coming?"

Tecna ignored the question, eyes still distant. When she spoke, her voice was pitched low so Concorda, who was humming while she tidied, wouldn't hear. "Avalon said Bloom got the curse when Darcy spelled her eyes."

Again that strained smile from Stella.

"Yeah… that- that's what he said."

Tecna finally lifted her head and looked around at them all, fairy and pixie alike, faces all serious with concern for Bloom. Finally she stopped on Stella, looking her dead in the eye. "But I think we all knew something was wrong long before we ever got to Cloud Tower."

Stella's bottom lip trembled. "Yeah, I know."

Lockette's expression was devastated as she realised what they weren't saying. "This isn't over."

---

How do I always forget how long it takes me to edit one of these bad boys? I expected to have this chapter up this morning, edited half of it in the morning, had to go to work, came home, edited a bit more, went to dancing, and finally at 10:30pm have finished editing and fixing the formatting and am finally ready to post this.

Anyway, no matter how long it's taken me, I bet this is still earlier than you were expecting me to post another chapter given my recent track record. You are welcome XD

Nah, I just happened to get inspired and here we are.

Not much to say about this one, somehow. Miriam's lullaby to Bloom is inspired by the song Lullabye (Goodnight, My Angel) by Billy Joel. I borrowed some of his lyrics and mishmashed them to suit the context.

Dark!Bloom is well and truly out and wreaking havoc, so that was fun, hoped you all enjoyed it lmao. It was certainly fun to write and only makes me more excited for what's to come.

OH. There is a specific scene that I feel like a lot of people are going to have thoughts about. Yes, it's the Skloom one. I've had it in my head for a while but I really went back and forth on whether or not to include it and even consulted a few friends to see what they thought. I was worried it was a bit disconnected from the rest of the fic in terms of tone and themes. While I've obviously written some of the characters kissing, I've never had them go further than that, but it's not an area I'm necessarily opposed to exploring. The main characters all fall in that 16-18 age range, and it's important to me to consider that and what's appropriate for them to be doing, while also acknowledging the reality of teenagers exploring their sexuality. I hope I've struck the right balance, but please give me your honest thoughts, because what you guys think will definitely influence whether I write more scenes like that in the future, or whether you'd prefer I didn't. (I'm also going to have a look at the rating and tags of this fic now that I've included that scene and consider whether they need to be changed so don't be surprised if you see the rating change or something).

As always thank you to all who read, leave kudos, comment, and send me asks on tumblr. You can always reached me there gins-potter in between chapters if you want to chat about the fic or anything else. Stay safe friends x