Bloom didn't realize just how cold it was until her body began to shiver. The older woman waved a dismissive hand at Lucy after which the girl retrieved. "I asked young Lucy to bring you here. Your magic could be sensed as soon as you neared the castle."

So Lucy was just following orders. Bloom was glad she wasn't really indebted to a witch. "I came to warn you-"

"About Valtor?" the headmistress of Cloud Tower cut in and Bloom nodded. "Child, Valtor is a well-known enemy of Magix. It would be a bigger shock if he didn't try to claim the three schools." Bloom pushed back the strong urge to roll her eyes.

"I know, but he will come here first. He wants revenge on you," she trailed off because Griffin seemed to barely be listening. "And how would you know what Valtor is planning?"

The question struck Bloom like a slap. If she knew the exact reason, Bloom would be back in Omega by now. "Because-" she started and her voice cracked.

"Because he told me," she confessed, feeling the tears sting her eyes, but she wouldn't let them fall. The choices she made are what lead her here, the least she could do is stop feeling sorry for herself.

"Did he now?" Griffin smirked. "I thought fairies didn't align themselves with dark wizards. Especially not the one who killed their parents." As the words left her mouth, Bloom could only stare down at her shoes, unable to meet the old woman's gaze. She didn't remember Griffin being this cruel, yet honest with her words. "My parents aren't dead," she said bitterly.

"Marion and Oritel were people of honour. We all wanted to believe they could be saved. But in 18 years no one was able to find them. It's a hard thing to accept Bloom, but it is the truth," the Headmistress finished matter-of-factly and sighed.

Forgetting entirely why she came there in the first place Bloom shot back: "They are in Obsidian. I saw it inside of Valtor's mind." Griffin's eyes went dark. "There are no living things in Obsidian, Bloom. Best get such foolish thoughts out of your head."

Tears fell on her skin as she shook her head.

Damn it, couldn't there be a single day that she didn't cry?

"I just need to get there. I will find them and everyone will see that they are alive," she said, knowing that no matter what answer she heard, it wouldn't change her mind. So she repeated what she came there for. "Valtor is coming for you. You need to find a way to fight him off. He already took too much."

Griffin exhaled longly, motioning for Bloom to sit at the chair by the desk. Bloom's feet happily surrendered, but she didn't let her guard down. "I should give you over to the Magix Council. Or at least to Faragonda," she murmured into her beard. The fairy decided to press: "But you're not going to, or you would have already done so."

"You're right. I guess I think Cloud Tower would have a better shot of staying standing if there was a fairy with your power to defend it. Along with my witches of course." Bloom's mouth hung open in surprise. Did Griffin want to recruit her against Valtor? She bit the inside of her lip, waiting for the suspense to end. Griffin was aware of what exactly happened during Shadow Haunt, she knew the extent of Bloom's power.

"I offer you a deal. Help defend my school when the time comes or I hand you over to the Council right now."

The words were left in the air between them and Bloom couldn't shake the feeling that she was about to regret whatever option she sided for. But one was far more simple than the other. "Fine," she answered with a nod.

Griffin's smile grew as she clapped her hands. "Excellent choice. And in the meantime, the least I can do is give you shelter. The words of your stay here will not leave this building. The witches won't bother you and if you need anything, Lucy and I, as well as the staff will be at your disposal."

"Why do I have a feeling like leaving isn't an option?" she couldn't stop herself from asking. As if she had somewhere to go anyway.

The witch grinned: "We wouldn't want Valtor to get his hands on you while you're outside and unprotected, would we?" Bloom shook her head: "I guess not." Even though Valtor was the one who led her here in the first place. If he wanted to keep her as a prisoner, he had more than one chance to try.

Griffin stood up and walked over to a long bookshelf in the back of the office. She tapped it twice on the sides and it moved away, leaving a gaping hallway for Bloom to see. "Your room is through here," she said and the fairy got the hint to follow.

There were many other doors at each side of the hall, but the ones Griffin stopped at were second to last. "What's in the other rooms?" curious, she dared to ask. "These are for guests, and since you are currently the only one, the rest of them are empty." Bloom nodded and turned the knob on her own. The doors opened into a small room with a single bed, a wooden dresser and a shelf with exactly five books on it. "I hope you enjoy your stay," Griffin said behind her and closed the door.

Valtor was missing and Bloom couldn't wrap her head around it. He left her in his hideout just to then completely disappear. He didn't go to either Red Fountain, Cloud Tower or Alfea. It made no sense. But then again, lately, nothing about him made sense. She couldn't feel his magic either, or their connection which meant he deliberately chose to hide them both away.

"Try again," Griffin's voice loomed over her as Bloom struggled to catch her breath. The hallucination of an opponent that looked exactly like Valtor, stood opposite of her. And she was realizing that her powers were no match for him, even when he wasn't real.

If only she could focus hard enough and break into his mind. She would have his location, his plan. She would have everything.

The fake Valtor attacked again and Bloom was thrown onto her back. "You're not concentrating at all!" Griffin shouted from the door, growing irritated, but Bloom didn't care. She summoned a fireball and tossed it at the hallucination, but her attack simply disintegrated even before it hit the target. She gritted her teeth.

How was she meant to protect Cloud Tower against Valtor if this exercise made her break into a sweat? He was strong, yes, but she should have at least been able to hold him back, not fail right away. Bloom's eyes burned as she called for her power and sent a flaming arrow at him. This time the puppet twirled out of the way but caught the arrow in an extended hand. Bloom watched, almost paralyzed as he hurled it back at her. She couldn't move fast enough and it knocked her back into a wall.

Griffin snapped her fingers and the exercise stopped, fake Valtor disappearing together with all her hopes. The headmistress walked over to the fairy, arms crossed at her chest as she stared. Bloom saw frustration boiling in her, simply waiting to start snapping out.

"Do you think this is a game?" the tone of her voice was ice-cold. Bloom brushed the dust off of her knees, avoiding meeting the older woman's gaze. "Of course not," she murmured under her breath.

"Then why are you making a fool out of us both? I allowed you to stay in my school under one condition. To protect it. And here you are, lazying around like a brat, "Griffin said and Bloom felt crushing waves of disappointment radiating off of her. The fire fairy wrapped her hands around her chest in an attempt to stop shaking. "I'm not lazying around," was all that would come out.

"No? So tell me, why is it that you've got beaten up by an illusion just now? I know for sure you've landed plenty of hits on Valtor in the past, so what is it now? What changed?"

What changed? it echoed and echoed inside her.

Everything did.

While Valtor remained mostly the same, his attitude towards her was different. And she, she had to admit, was different now too. He was the only real thing she could focus on, so much so that it made her restless.

She couldn't beat him because she wasn't trying to. Because she didn't want to.

Griffin made a sound as if reminding her that she was still present, and Bloom realized she hadn't responded. "As I said, you're distracted. My question is why and by what," the headmistress asked, waiting for Bloom to say something, even though they both knew the answer.

"Valtor. I can't get him out of my head. Every time I try, millions of questions just come pouring back in," she admitted, finally willing her head to rise and look at Griffin. She found a blank expression there, nothing like the frustration from earlier. Griffin walked past Bloom to the doors where she stopped short.

"Whatever he's told you-" she said before trailing off as if lost in thought. "Just don't give him a chance to get to you. If he does, there's little you can do to keep him away." With that, she walked away and Bloom was left staring at the empty training room.

I think he's already gotten to me.

Her train of thought was broken by a familiar figure at the door. Lucy.

The witch stood there, unsure whether to come closer or walk back. But then to Bloom's surprise, she smiled and waved her over. "Come on, lunch is almost up."

Bloom walked next to her throughout the dark halls that still looked just as creepy as the first couple of days she'd been there. She was sure it would become easier, but here she was, struggling to follow Lucy to the cafeteria. The first few days she had avoided Bloom like the plague, but now she seemed to mysteriously be finding herself wherever she was. And Bloom had to admit she was grateful for it. It felt good to have a friend. Or well, a familiar face that wasn't Griffin's.

"We can sit here," Lucy pointed at the table in the corner, perfectly isolated not to draw too much attention to them, even if all of the witches knew she was there. Griffin had apparently spelt them to be unable to tell anyone of her whereabouts. "Why are you being nice to me?" it came out meaner than expected and Bloom cursed herself.

Lucy rolled her eyes as a plate materialized in front of her. "Because," the witch said, "you're not as different from us as you would like to think." Before Bloom could dwell too much about what that meant, Griffin and her Heads of discipline walked in. "My dear witches," the headmistress said with a voice magnified by magic, "I wanted to remind you that our weekly convergence training takes place tonight. I would like for everyone available to attend, as well as, to invite our honoured guest to join."

All eyes in the room turned towards their table and Bloom wanted to sink into the ground. Mumbling spread among the witches as Griffin sat down and began to eat. Lucy seemed unbothered as she stared at her plate, but Bloom had a feeling she regretted sitting next to her. "So, convergence magic, you do that too?" the fire fairy tried to start a conversation.

"Ever since Valtor's first attack, yes. Most of us got the hang of it, but some freshmen still struggle. I think the fairies have similar training, though you probably know about it." Bloom looked away, wishing she could hide her clear distress, but Lucy caught on. "Sorry, didn't mean to pry." The words still stung, but Bloom faked a smile: "It's okay. Alfea and I just aren't on the best terms right now." Lucy nodded.

"Anyways, you should come. Your magic might even be able to blend with ours," the witch went on, but the fairy's ears got caught on something. "You mean that our magic couldn't mix usually?"

Lucy shook her head. "I think not. But it's not like Griffin ever had us test it."

Bloom shrugged and returned back to her plate, but her appetite was long gone.

The evening crept upon the Cloud Tower faster than Bloom wanted it. She dreaded the training, of every witch seeing how broken her powers seemed to be. The anxiety wrapped itself around her so hard that her hands began to shake.

There was a soft knock on her door and when she opened them, she saw Lucy waiting outside. The black-haired girl's eyes fell onto her shaking palms and Bloom did her best to make them still. "Griffin asked me to get you, the training is about to start."

Just like before, Bloom tipped after Lucy and decided to ask some questions to calm her nerves. "So, what happened between you and Mirta?" The colour appeared to drain from Lucy's face, and whether she was surprised or angry Bloom couldn't tell. She thought she won't get an answer, but then the other girl spoke. "She wanted to become a fairy, I was a witch, and we broke up. After she moved away, we tried staying in touch but it just wasn't meant to be I guess."

Bloom guessed as much but was still glad Lucy felt comfortable to open up about it. She realized how little she actually knew about witches. To her, the term always related back to the Trix, and she doubted they had relationship problems. She always knew witches were humans too, but until now it never really settled.

"I'm sorry about your guy. Sky, right?" Bloom's feet came to a stop. Even a small mention of Sky was enough to cause a panic surge. But she took in a deep breath, then another and another, until her heart burned a little less. "Thanks," she managed but her voice still shook.

Lucy was looking at her, she realized. "I hurt my first girlfriend, badly. It was an accident, but I always blamed myself. It took a while to come to terms with it, but the pain never really settled." Lucy placed a warm hand on Bloom's shoulder. Though the fire fairy wasn't sure how was that meant to ease her, she still managed a smile: "Thanks." Her breathing evened while the other girl talked.

"Come on now or we will be late," she replied and offered Bloom a hand. The red-haired girl felt no reluctance as she took it and let Lucy lead them into the training area.

All of the tables were cleared and the entirety of the space was filled with witches. With horror, Bloom realized that now when everyone's attention wasn't on her, she actually blended in quite well.

"You know the drill witches, sort into groups," Griffin spoke from the centre and Bloom stiffened. Lucy let go of her hand and urged her over to her regular group. It consisted of three other witches who Bloom could recognize from the fight against the Army of Darkness. But she didn't know their names. The shortest one, with spiky blue hair and a nose piercing, commented first: "Does the fairy have to be on our team?"

Somehow, even though she was across the room, Griffin seemed to have heard her, because she spoke again: "Bloom, dear, please do come forward." Lucy gave a reassuring hand squeeze and Bloom inhaled deeply before walking toward the centre. Her conversation with Lucy calmed her down, she didn't feel like such an outsider now.

She stood proud in front of Griffin's dark gaze. "Perfect. The rest of you, you know what to do. Bloom here, will join me." There were more than a couple of shocked gasps around the room. Bloom herself wasn't that enthusiastic either. The witches went to their tasks as Bloom settled her eyes on Griffin.

The older woman extended her arms, suggesting to Bloom to do the same. "Can fairy and witch magic intertwine?" she dared to ask. Griffin smiled, pleased by the question. "Not recommended usually. But you're not just a fairy, are you? There is a lot of dark magic in you, even if you're afraid of it." Bloom gulped down, unconvinced, but still followed the example and took Griffin's arms.

She could see the witch's energy flow out and form a blue sphere in between their joined hands. Bloom focused on her magic, sending out a wave. But as it slid out and flew for Griffin's, it bounced back, like it was angry. "It's too pure, you need to dig deeper."

She tossed a look at Lucy's group, but they were all performing their own tasks, not paying attention to the rest. The redhead exhaled, closing her eyes to concentrate. And of course, the thought of Valtor danced around as soon as she tried. Though right now, it was welcomed. Valtor was usually what brought out her darkness. His presence, his lies, how he played games upon her mind.

She didn't even feel the switch when it happened.

Energy surged from her to the sphere, but there was too much of it and it wrapped around Griffin's magic like it wanted to snuff it out. Griffin to her credit wasn't too fazed. She pushed her magic over Bloom's, in an attempt to smother it. But to the fairy, it only read as a challenge and Bloom struck back. The convergence energy grew too hot, blasting over them, throwing both Bloom and Griffin onto their backs. Students were around their headmistress in a second, but the woman was okay.

Bloom only saw Lucy make a step toward her, but her short friend held her back. She wanted to do more, she wanted more. Her powers inflamed her palms, ready to fight, to find Valtor, to force him to rip open the doors to Obsidian for her and-

Something wrapped around her. She looked down at her now restrained hands and saw a glowing blue thread tying her down. Griffin walked closer as the rest of the witches backed away. "I see now," she said, her voice even. "The powers of the witches run dark because we choose it, yours is neither fairy nor witchlike. You're full of darkness you don't accept and cannot control. And slowly it's turning on you."

Valtor's words echoed in her head. The very same ones. Bloom let her mind slow down, feeling the dark part fade away. At least she could control it when it was exhausted.

"Darkar did this to you, didn't he?"

Bloom stiffened at the mention, her entire body turning numb, the air around her seeming too thick to breathe in. Pressure built on her chest and she was back on his table, under his influence. Knowing that all of Cloud Tower's students were currently witnessing her breakdown only made it harder to control and tears poured down her cheeks onto her hands.

"Make it stop," she sobbed. This was too much, everyone's presence heightened her already raging panic. It grew over her body like a bubble, trapping her inside. All she wanted was to break it open, to free herself and make it stop. She clutched her fingers into her hair, feeling some of it rip from the skull. Her hands covered her eyes and she cried into them, not even realizing the thread holding her was gone.

"Please, it hurts, it hurts," Bloom begged, feeling the blood on her fingers from how hard she was gripping her head. All other voices evaporated, even though she knew people around her were speaking.

Darkar, The Trix, Valtor, why couldn't they just leave her alone? At least the first two made it clear they wanted her dead, but Valtor was worse. Valtor always did everything opposite of what she expected.

He enraged her.

He understood her.

She wanted him dead.

She needed him alive.

She hated him.

She-she wasn't sure if she could say it so confidently anymore.

Hating Valtor was supposed to be the easiest thing in this world.

And yet, here she was. Questioning when the hate has become a need.

"Bloom," she heard someone say her name. And at first, she thought Stella had somehow found her, but the voice didn't belong to her friend. The person continued to say her name softly, and eventually, she recognized Lucy. Bloom moved one hand away and saw the witch kneeling next to her, but not touching her. Bloom was grateful for that.

Her body was still shaking as she tried to settle on Lucy, her black hair that under this light looked almost green, the softness of her eyes. She was already breathing easier so she moved away the other hand as well.

The room around them was empty. Apart from Lucy and Griffin who stood a few inches away. "How do you feel?" the headmistress asked politely. "Not well..." her voice trailed off, throat raw from the crying. She managed to get up, watching as Lucy did the same, ready to catch her if she stumbled. "Where is everybody else?"

"As soon as I noticed the panic attack started, I shielded us from their vision and vice versa. They are all here, but they can't see nor hear us." "You're safe," Lucy reassured her and Bloom's heart felt much lighter for it.

"Can I um, can I go back to my room?" the fairy asked, voice still shaking. Griffin nodded and urged Lucy to lead her away.

Once they were in the hallway, Lucy said: "You said a name back there you know... Griffin looked genuinely shocked. You probably don't want to think about it, but I thought you should know."

Bloom gulped, somehow knowing the answer even before she asked: "Whose name?"

"Valtor's."