/Notes: And I am back again.. finally. We are finally having holidays after finals and enrolling in college and I thought, why don't I update this fanfiction. All your supportive comments really make me the happiest so please don't be shy to leave them down below. Hope you enjoy this new chapter too! P.S. If you want to follow me on any other social media, my Ig is: eternal_delenas and my Twitter is: delenacatradora/

"You are really going to go through with it?" Tecna's voice filled their common room, now completely embraced in darkness. Stella refused to turn on any of the lights so the girls would stay asleep during her escape. Shivers ran down her spine as she heard the other girl's voice in the dark. As stated, she was sure no one would know she had left until morning.

"Did you hear me?" the technology fairy repeated and Stella shushed her down immediately. The last thing she needed was for Griselda to hear them, during her night patrols across the halls.

"I did, I did. But if I wanted to wake the whole school in the process, I would be far smugger right now," Stella answered, running her free hand along their sofa. The other was gripping the strands of her backpack.

"Fair point," Tecna whispered now, eyeing her friend up and down, and Stella could tell she was dying to comment on something. She and Tecna were probably the ones that communicated the least among their group. They were just so different, in both their powers and their general interests. The sun fairy couldn't remember the last time they had a one to one conversation.

"Come on spit it out already, otherwise you might burst."

Tecna grunted, rolling her eyes in the dark. "Fine. You are way under packed, your supplies won't last even a day and by my studies, you have a 56.78% chance to freeze in the first half an hour upon arriving. Assuming you are not killed on the very entrance."

Stella could only keep quiet as she heard the things she already suspected. Hell, she didn't know anything about Omega, besides that it was cold and a prison for most severe criminals. And that her very best friend was right now in there, completely alone.

"You done?"

"No, not exactly. I suspected you might try to sneak out and go on a saviour mission so I programmed this for you, " she said and walked to where she guessed Stella stood. The pink-haired girl tapped her on the arm, handing her over a strange-looking device. Due to the state of the room, Stella couldn't see how it looked.

"What does it do?"

"Preserves your body temperature on a normal level and does the same with anything that comes to contact with you."

Stella's mouth hung open. She had no idea Tecna could make something as useful as that. And give it to her, of all people. She was helping her.

"I- I don't know how to thank you."

And then Tecna did something Stella would remember for years. She- hugged her. Tecna wasn't a fan of too much and unneeded skin contact. And here she was now, willingly wrapping her arms around her. It made Stella freeze. "Bring Bloom home. That's how."

The sun fairy smiled in delight: "Oh that I plan on," she paused for a second and then dared to ask: "Why didn't you say anything before? I thought you agreed with Layla."

Tecna shook her head: "Honestly I just wanted to see how the situation will play out, you two were like two companies competing over whose software is better. But- also because you won't have any use of my magic there. Sun is the most effective thing against ice, next to Bloom's fire."

Stella guessed it made sense, so she nodded, taking few additional steps to the doors. Before opening them she turned back to the dark room, able to make out Tecna's silhouette by her bedroom.

"Thank you."

"Go get our friend back. And try not to die in the process, please."

Stella could only smile as she exited the chambers. The halls were just as dark as their common room and no sounds were able to be heard. She shivered as she sneaked along the corridors, always walking along the walls so she avoids possibly colliding with anyone.

On the first floor, she heard steps and saw traces of a flashlight at the floor. She ducked behind one of the walls, keeping her breathing at bay. "If anyone is there I will not hesitate to give you 2 weeks of detention." It was easy to recognise Griselda. Her tall figurine walked to the hallway right next to the one Stella was hiding at.

Once she was sure that the Head of discipline was far enough gone, Stella launched for the doors. They were locked, to no one's surprise, but she had spent enough time around closed gates that she knew how to pick locks by now. Or as it was her style, how to melt them down. Light sparked to life in her palm, igniting the lock and just like that, the doors slid open.

Stella took one more look back to the inside of the school, before breaking into a run across the grounds, straight to the gates that just spread to let her out. Once outside completely, she breathed a sigh of relief. One part was done, many more to go.

She slid her Solaria ring off of her finger, watching it extend into a sceptre. "Destination, the Omega dimension," she whispered into her beard and the object gave away, creating a portal. If she was honest, she didn't know would it work, since Omega was likely guarded. But without hesitating, Stella took the first step and walked through.

The first thing she felt was the freezingly cold gush of wind. How welcoming. It was so strong that the second her foot met the floor it threw her off balance. Luckily she was able to stop her fall by extending her arms fast enough. She guessed this was the right place...Tecna was right, no human could survive in here. She turned her head around, inspecting where she had landed.

The space was entirely covered in ice, from its top to the bottom. And that was it. Ice and snow. And a lot of cold. She took out Tecna's device, now finally able to see how it looked. It was actually quite bigger than she imagined. In a shape of a triangle, made out of some kind of special metal. And when she put it against her chest, it immediately connected to her jacket, filling her body with familiar warmth. She made a mental note, to ask Timmy which technological thingies could she buy for Tecna, once she came back.

Stella stopped wasting the time and begun walking through the maze that was Omega. She cursed whoever built this place. But then again what did she expect? For there to be a map that leads to whichever prisoner you wanted? Yeah, very unlikely.

Bloom was supposedly their high priority defendant, which probably meant that wherever they placed her had to be isolated. At least that was what she went with. As she roamed the space she could hear moanings of pain from all around her, which made the whole place feel that much more creepy. Regardless she went and checked every single one of the owners of those sounds. And there were way more people down there than she could imagine.

At some places, she could even see that some prisoners had broken out. Because there were ice platforms crushed down as if someone tore free of them. That thought alone made her feel uneasy. What would happen if she ran into some of them? She needed to preserve as much energy as she could, so she could help break Bloom out.

Her mind couldn't even fathom that this is a place where they had put her. A total opposite of who Bloom was, ice which could snuff the fire out. Icy would be thriving here, Stella thought. But no matter where she went, Bloom was nowhere to be seen.

And then she saw it. It was covered in snow so she almost didn't even notice it. But a corner was sticking out and carefully Stella pulled it free, brushing the snow away.

The wooden plank said: Valtor, eternal sentence.

Stella trembled again. If Valtor had rested here, Bloom had to be close. And as she put the plank back into the ground, something smashed her back into the wall behind her. All the air went out of her lungs and her head was spinning in circles. Another blast came, and then another one. Stella wasn't sure what was happening, besides that she was disoriented and that someone was purposely attacking her.

She looked up from her place sprawled on the ground and recognized the figure even with her blurry vision. Tall, long hair, a coat over the shoulders.

Valtor.

Stella forced her mind to clear, if he was here he had come for a reason. And the only one she could think of that made sense was the thing they both had in common. Bloom.

So she ignored the pain, pushed herself against the wall and back to her feet. Valtor was watching her, an amused smile across his face. "Princess of Solaria, what a pleasure."

Stella had prepared a variety of comebacks, some that included swearing but as soon as her mouth opened, he had summoned a new ball of his Dragon fire. To her credit, Stella managed to dodge it- well partly. It brushed against her leg, leaving a severe burn mark. She could tell her body was refusing to play along with her head. She was barely standing, the corners of her eyes were rigorously blurry and she was on a verge of collapsing.

Despite it, Stella still got up and yelled: "Winx Charmix!" In a second she was transformed, and once again grateful for Tecna's heating thing. Because short miny skirts and shiny crop tops were definitely supposed to freeze you in a place such as this.

"You think you can beat me-" before he finished, she had directed two sunbeams into him. Valtor was smart though, able to move and entirely avoid it. Stella continued firing, one attack after the other. But he could predict every single one and was just swiftly eluding them.

"You don't have much spite left do you?" he shot at her again and this time it caught her mid-flight. Stella was crashed down instantly. And this time she didn't get back up. She couldn't.

"Come on wings, you can do this. We need to- save Bloom," Stella begged, trying viciously to move. But her body had refused. Tears gathered in her eyes as she watched Valtor approach her and crouch down beside her.

"What do you want from me?" she spat out, trying to hold his gaze even in this shattered shape.

"Absolutely nothing."

He reached out, gripping Stella's chin and forcing her to keep her focus solely on him. She swallowed hard, fear beginning to settle in.

She failed.

There was no way she could beat him, not in this state, probably not even in her full power. Valtor was just- stronger.

"I will not let you harm Bloom," Stelly said, realizing that he decided to finally grab his chance and get rid of her best friend while she was trapped.

"Who said anything about harming her?" Stella's mind was spinning and not only because she didn't understand what he meant.

"Bloom happens to be very-" he searched for the words: "-precious to me." And even as he said it Stella could tell he resented it. He didn't even like this plan of his and was still going along with it.

"And I will not have you spoil it, " he smiled at her and all she wanted to do was just brush that disgusting thing off of his face. It made her ill.

"Believe it or not, we are after the same thing. The difference is, only one of us will actually succeed," then he finally let go of her chin and let her fall back down. Stella, at this point, could barely keep herself from drifting away. Some of her bones were for sure broken, her powers and energy were dried out and she had probably had a concussion.

"You will not win," she protested, using everything within her to send a blast at his back. And this time, as small as it was, it did hit the target. Valtor wavered forward a couple of steps but did not fall.

When he turned, she couldn't tell what he was feeling, his face was blank of any emotion. But he moved his hands in swift, sharp motions and she suddenly felt her body moving against her will. He was somehow, controlling it.

"Oh my dear," he said and snapped his fingers. Stella's vision went dark and her body fell numbly to the floor. "I already did." Before leaving, Valtor took time to try out some of the new spells he acquired. One of which was a mind spell that could supposedly alter memories.

He reached inside, changing out everything that happened to her in the last couple of hours. He saw everything, even back to when she was still in Alfea. So Valtor erased it, in her head she still didn't get out of her room and simply fell asleep while prepping to go; she never talked to Tecna either. He noted to erase the other fairy's memory too. Then he took the ring from her finger and used a spell to levitate Stella back into her room. All the Winx were asleep so reaching the technology fairy wasn't a problem either.

And with that, he left her there.

He decided not to kill her, unknown to him why exactly. Maybe it was for the effort she couldn't seem to linger away from. But at least, now she wasn't in his way.

When he saw her through his conjured vision, he could hardly believe his eyes. Why were these fairies so stubborn all the time? And she was close to the Dragon fairy. Too close. So he paid her a little visit.

Just a corner away, there she was. Embodied in eternal ice. So much raw power in one place. Valtor came closer, running his fingers along it. Bloom was unconscious it seemed since her head was slumped forward, her eyes closed.

He reached for their link and found that indeed, she was alive, just unresponsive. Which was perfect for him, saved him some more memory wiping. Valtor could feel her dragon sleeping within her, all this power that he so desperately craved.

He summoned a ball of fire to his palm and pushed it into her glacier. It began melting, oh so slowly, but at last, there was nothing in between them but mere air.

Valtor caught her in his arms when her body slumped forward. She was so fragile, and it would be so easy to kill her right there and then. But he reminded himself that it would not be wise. He pushed a hair out of her face and tucked it behind her ear. If he didn't absolutely hate her, he might even admit she was somewhat good looking. Even this pale, this broken. Her red hair spilt over his arms, her body like a corpse in his hold.

Valtor set her down, the cold of her skin leaving his body. He watched her for a second more, setting Stella's ring inside her palm before turning a corner and observing her from behind a wall. He slowly, not to scare her, sent a wave of energy, of fire, to her body. Just enough to wake her back up.

He monitored as she rubbed her head and looked frantically around. "What on earth-" Bloom swore, her body trembling. It was then that she noticed the object in her hand. "How- Stella?!" she called out and of course no response came.

And then Bloom said to the air around her: "Well... thank you."