Bloom couldn't access her magic. The binds on her arms and legs were digging into her skin, the gag over her mouth preventing her from calling for help. Even though she was pretty sure none of her friends would hear her. She reached inside herself, attempting to free her fire, but the Dragon only slumped down, as if neutralized.

Come on, Bloom thought, trying repeatedly. But still with no use. Her magic wouldn't budge. Which was when all of her bravery succumbed to fear. This was really happening.

She wanted to believe it was just another nightmare. That Avalon, whom she trusted the entire semester, wasn't the spy for the one person who wanted them all dead. She could still feel the lingering force of his magic from when he entrapped them within the yellow orb.

She should have been smarter, she should have run.

The table beneath her was metal, cold seeping off of it and into her skin, causing her to shiver. She wondered whether the Winx even knew of her abduction, whether did Sky. And even though she wanted to believe they would stay away, she knew none of them would leave her. Especially not Stella and Sky. Not when she was the prisoner of their greatest enemies.

"Seems like the fairy has had enough sleep," she heard a painfully familiar, high-pitched voice behind the table. "Maybe now we can have a little fun," another one added.

The Trix stepped into the light provided solely by the spike-like candles on each side of the table. All three looked upon her with prying eyes, a victorious smile most evident on Icy's face. The white-haired witch moved her hand in the air, and a long icicle sprung from the metal and came to rest right under Bloom's chin. As she arched her head back on reflex, the ice followed, causing her neck to stay bent. Bloom felt her muscles protest, but there was nothing she could do. Then Icy moved again and ice pinned Bloom's hands to her body, going across her waist, scratching into the exposed skin between her skirt and shirt. Then Darcy's eyes turned a shade of dark purple, and a massive wave of pain shot through Bloom's head that she would have screamed if it weren't for the gag.

"You three, " a voice, Bloom could recognise as Darkar's echoed throughout the room. The Trix stopped immediately, their spells vanishing. Bloom fixed the posture of her neck, seeing a floating silhouette of Darkar in the distance. "Out," he finished and the three witches scattered away displeased. Darkar moved somewhere beyond her field of vision while another figure flew towards her. A wave of nausea came over Bloom as Avalon's scarred face lingered over her. On instinct, Bloom trashed on the table.

"Are you afraid of me Bloom?" he said with the same tone that he spoke with in the yellow orb. A cold wave shot through her. She could feel the bleeding scratch that the ice caused every time she moved. "You weren't when I was looking like this, were you?" he laughed as his scars faded back.

Then Darkar spoke again: "Stop bothering the young lady, you slave. She is much more important to me than you could ever imagine." Bloom's heart gave a flip. He was probably going to use her as leverage, so he can get to Faragonda and Alfea. But with the tone he used, Bloom began to fear there was something else he needed her for. The unknown was what terrified her most of all.

She could hear his armour scratch against something, as he moved back to his feet. "Once I have transformed this custodian of the Dragon Fire into Dark Bloom, the natural consort of the Shadow Phoenix," he spoke as he floated over, his voice becoming louder. When he stopped next to the table Bloom felt like his red eyes were about to completely obliterate her.

"-We shall unleash together the power of the Relix which I alone would yield," he finished and the picture cleared itself in her head. That was what he needed. It wasn't to bargain with Faragonda, he need her.

Facing the Trix all those months ago couldn't even come close to this. For the first time in a while, she was completely helpless. Her powers were weak, she couldn't get free and Darkar had all the control. He had the Shadow virus. The one thing which could completely strip her of her freedom.

Bloom felt petrified. His eyes sparked red and the gag disappeared from her mouth. As scared as she was, she still bit back: "Dream on Darkar, it will never happen." She tried putting as much spite into it as she could, but her voice still shook. "Forgive me, my dear Winx, but this isn't my dream. It's your nightmare."

Avalon came closer, a new gag in his hands. He leaned over her, ready to tie it back over her mouth as Bloom did her best to fight against it. Her eyes were watering and she could feel them give out and tears escaping down the sides of her face. She had never been this horrified before. The gag came over her mouth as she protested, but before Avalon could tie it properly, Darkar's cold voice filled the room once again.

"Remove it. I wanna hear it when the Twix make her scream."

Bloom shot up in her bed, panting with cold sweat covering her forehead along with the back of her shirt. Whenever she blinked, the memories played out again in her mind and she was back in Darkar's fortress. It was like she was in some state between sleep and awakeness.

Over and over again she had to convince herself it was just a nightmare, it wasn't real. She thought of her parents, of her mother's lullaby, of Daphne's warmth. Her breathing calmed as she took in long gusts of the chilly air. The rapid beating of her heart eased and she closed her eyes, laying back on the bed, covering herself with the grey sheets. It was exhausting enough to avert her thoughts from Valtor while she was awake, let alone fight with Darkar while she was asleep. She hoped the nightmares would eventually pass, but in the last few days in Cloud Tower, they had been worse.

Her head was restless, urging her to get up and move. She knew she couldn't go back to sleep so easily after this, so she pushed the sheets away and slid her feet onto the tiled floor. Griffin would probably object to sneaking around Cloud Tower during the night, but when has that ever stopped her?

She opened the door and walked to the shelf which separated the hallway from the main office. Following Lucy and Griffin's movements, she tapped the spot twice and watched as it slid away. The headmistress' room came into view, and to Bloom's luck, it was empty. She wouldn't put it past Griffin to have an anti-sleeping potion and spend her nights working.

Her eyes roamed over the desk, the student files from each academic year, rows of history books and sets of potion bottles. Her eyes stopped on the year in which they first joined Alfea. Bloom slid it from its place and started flipping the pages until the three familiar faces greeted her. Pictures of the Trix, with proud smiles and in their full power. Each of the files had a single word written in bold red letters: Ejected. Exactly what brought upon their reign over the Army of Darkness. Bloom closed the book and placed it neatly back in its place. How stupid was she back then, to think they were getting rid of them just because they were no longer students? Desperation and loneliness made you do crazy things she guessed.

Like the ones, you've been making. Her own voicewhispered to her.

She crept to the main hall, trying to remember the way around from the last couple of days. Currently, she just wanted some fresh air that didn't come from the windows. Her feet lead her through corners, halls and empty rooms until she came upon a two-wide wooden door. To her surprise, they were unlocked. Bloom pushed them open and stepped through, not sure what to expect.

The walls had a couple of sconces along them, so she used her fire to light them up. A chill ran down her spine when she realized the chamber was in fact a dungeon. Sets of cells spread throughout and she felt something pull her forward, urge her to continue walking. The fire didn't provide much light, so Bloom pulled one of the torches free and carried it with her as she walked.

Most of the prisons were empty, and a few further back seemed to have people inside, but she couldn't depict the faces hidden by rags and hoods. As she neared the end, a silhouette came into view, causing her to stop in her tracks, even though the person was probably well aware of her presence.

"No need to stop now child, you've already broken about 15 rules," Griffin's voice echoed. Bloom exhaled in relief that it was the headmistress, and walked those few steps further. Griffin stood above a table, filled with scripts and scrolls in languages that Bloom couldn't read. "What is all this?"

Muffled sounds from one of the cells sent her head-turning, trying to see who was inside. "Pay them no intention, they get nervous when they sense new people." The way she spoke of them made it feel like they were animals. She looked over to the headmistress and noticed the dark circles under her eyes. She never seemed this tired during their training sessions.

The sounds from the nearby cell increased and Bloom began to feel unnerved. "Are you sure they're okay? Maybe we should-" She turned to walk over, but Griffin's arm closed around her wrist. "No," the old woman said coldly, piercing through Bloom with her eyes. Something about it felt oddly familiar, but she couldn't place it.

"Why aren't you upset with me?" Bloom asked, her voice beginning to quiver, her body wanting to recoil from the witch. Her other hand still held the torch, ready to use its fire if needed. Not that Griffin would ever actually attack her.

"Tell me again child, why did our simulation practice fail?" The fire fairy was taken aback by the question. Why did that matter now? And how did it relate to anything? The grip around her hand loosened and Griffin now simply watched her. "I don't know," she said in response.

"You're lying little fairy." The shuffling from the cells got Bloom's attention again and her eyes darted towards it. "Answer the question and I might just ignore the fact that you went lurking around my school."

The fairy tried to straighten her posture, not to show signs of weakness. She was so confused about this interaction, this behaviour from the woman who was supposedly her ally. "I told you, I don't know. Maybe I was just distracted-"

"That much is clear. But why?"

Bloom's blood pressure started to rise, as her heartbeat got loud and strong inside her chest. It was anger building up within her, a fire she won't be able to control if it exploded. "Why?" Griffin pushed, towering over Bloom whose back was practically glued to the wall behind her.

"Because I don't want him dead!" came out as a shout. The redhead instantly wanted to take it back, to curse herself for the way she was thinking. But in front of her, Griffin only smirked. It was an expression she never imagined seeing on her face. And again, it was so familiar. Almost too familiar.

No-. It couldn't be. And yet it was.

The spells fell away, the sounds from the cells now clear, more than just some murmurs. "Bloom get away!" Griffin's voice shouted, coming right from the cell opposite her. She could now see the headmistress grabbing the bars, her face in agony. Next to her too, she could see the staff of Cloud Tower, Ediltrude and Zarathustra, curled on the floor.

A hand closed over her throat, pushing her into the wall. The torch fell from her hand, clattering to the floor as the fire of it went out. The magic was dropped and Valtor's piercing eyes stared into hers. His grip wasn't violent, but graceful, giving her enough air to breathe. "This entire time-" she tried but her voice fell away. Her practices, her breakdown, it was all in front of him.

She was never a guest in Cloud Tower, she was a pawn.

"It was all me," he said, reading her mind, his face inches from her own. "Every single person you saw, were nothing more but my puppets-" Bloom thought of Lucy's smiles, of her goodness. It was all just an act. None of it was real.

"And now you get a front-row seat for my new show," he finished and stepped away. Her attention was still on him, but when Bloom wanted to step away, she found her body unable to move. He was using the blood spells to keep her in place. Valtor turned toward Zarathustra's cell and opened it. Bloom had a realization of what he was planning to do. He could have done it the second he bested them, but no.

He wanted her to make her watch.

Bloom yelled at him to stop as he extended a hand and his mark carved itself in the crook of the witch's neck. Zarathustra rose, her eyes hollow, and knelt before Valtor's feet. He did the same thing to Ediltrude and sent the two of them away, leaving them alone with Griffin.

Terror crept upon Bloom's bones. If he got Griffin, he would be that much closer to unstoppable. The Cloud Tower witches would be the perfect army to distract Alfea as he attacked it. She couldn't let it. Not after all of the mistakes she made recently. Not after being so weak to fall under his influence.

"Stop! Valtor, stop!" she screamed, trying to put more force upon her body than ever. Please, she begged within her.

Let me do this one thing right.

She focused on the spell, the way it weaved over her. She imagined burning through it, bit by bit, scratching herself free and away.

Bloom stumbled forward and smiled.

"That's impossible," he gritted but still continued for the cell. Bloom ran across, placing herself between him and the bars. "Don't be stupid child, he'll kill you," Griffin objected from her prison. Valtor's eyes met Bloom's for a moment, and she begged, begged for him to give it up. A firewall surrounded her, and she had to simply watch as he stepped through it without any struggle.

"You are welcomed to do it instead of me if that's something you would prefer," was all he said. Bloom was sure she heard him wrong. He was the only known person to be able to brand someone with a controlling mark. "I can do that?" was out of her mouth before she could think over how it would sound. She noticed the shocked expression on Girffin's face. Valtor grinned, as if proud. "If you let me teach you, yes."

She hated parts of her that felt appealed to it, to such a new source of power. But the majority still was repulsed. Before she could respond, Valtor placed both of his hands on her shoulders, turning her slowly to face the prison cell. "Just follow my voice," he said into her ear slowly. Bloom found her hand rise the same way his did.

"Don't listen to him," Griffin barked, but with a snap of his fingers, Valtor spelt a gag over her mouth. Bloom flinched but returned her concentration to Valtor easily enough. His eyes were closed, so she did the same. "The key is to have a vivid goal," the wizard continued. There was a gentle press on the bridge of their connection. Bloom let herself flow into the shared space, finding Valtor already there with a proud smirk.

"You need a symbol," he went on, the already familiar sign of his appearing. Bloom's hands drew a sort of heart, with a few additional swirls in its middle. She didn't know where it came from, but it was so clear in her head. "Now focus on the control you want to have."

She pressed her thoughts together, imagining the bending of will, the simplicity of possessing something so complex. Bloom opened her eyes, finding the symbol floating carelessly above her palm. "All you have to do now is aim at your target." The fire fairy exhaled, struggling to keep herself concentrated. Valtor moved away from her and opened the doors to Griffin's cell as well as removed the gag from her mouth. The headmistress was shaking her head, disappointment and disgust both playing out on her face.

Bloom aimed the witch and just before she was about to release her spell, redirected it at Valtor. The wizard reacted instantly, totally unsurprised. He caught her spell in his hands and transformed the heart into his own symbol. Bloom intended to bolt for the headmistress, but a stone-like substance wrapped around her body, keeping her unable to move. And this time not even the power of her will could break it. He left her face free, so she could witness his next move.

"She is stronger than you think Valtor," Griffin managed to say before the mark engraved itself into her throat and Bloom screamed. After it was done, Griffin bowed her head to Valtor and smiled crookedly. He dismissed her which left only the two of them in the dungeons.

"Oh, I know precisely how strong my Princess is," he finished, turning back to Bloom who stood frozen in her spot.

Valtor called off his spell, and she fell to her knees and inhaled deeply, eyes filled with rage as she watched him. "Are you happy now?" she shot at him, upset by his calm expression. Like none of this was twisted.

"Not in particular. You are too predictable, I knew what you will try from the start."

Bloom stood back up and asked: "How?"

"Your eyes. They lost that spark you have each time you crave power. Just like in my hideout when you saw the blood spell scroll."

Bloom summoned a fireball into his chest which shocked him enough to send him flying across the room. "Impressive, yet stupid." Valtor rolled his eyes. "You already admitted it, Princess, you don't want to kill me."

Bloom wanted nothing more than to erase those words. Even if they were true.

He walked closer to her, using the back of his hand to caress her cheek. She stood utterly still. "I was lying," she said, standing firm and observing the way he breathed.

"I think you and I both know that's a lie," his voice trailed closer until it was against her skin. She didn't dare move.

"Your heart," he said, and let his hand linger at her chest, "-your head," he leaned to her, "-and your soul seem to think otherwise," he finished, the words slipping into her ears. Bloom expected him to move away then, but he continued to stay like that, closer to her than he had ever been.

Bloom's breathing slowed and she couldn't stop staring into his eyes, couldn't think about anything else but how close he was, how much power radiated off of him. The same power she sometimes felt in herself. "You and I are more alike than you believe. I know your desire for power, I've felt it more than once."

His hand, without gloves, travelled to the back of her neck while the other propped her chin up. His lips were close enough to touch hers, but yet far enough away. Her memories went back to the balcony on Paxesion, to that simple, shared moment in which he was the one to pull back. Now, though, he seemed more than willing to be near her.

There was pulsing she could feel which wasn't coming from her. And she realized it was his heart, Valtor's heart beating against hers. She didn't know why that single realization shocked her the way it did. That this entire time while she looked upon Valtor as a monster he had been just as human as her.

"You're meant to hate me," she found her voice and whispered into the space between them, the tension so tight she was terrified it might break apart with a single breath.

"And you are supposed to want me dead," he said back with a chuckle. "But all I am meant to do now is have you by my side." Bloom let the words flow into her ears, clouding the raging clear judgment coming from all the parts of her brain.

He moved, so that his breaths fell on the length of her throat, warming her, willing her to get even closer to him. His hand let go of her chin, extending in an offer, as he continued to talk: "Princess," it edged her. "Join me."

Bloom could imagine the power burning inside of her, its comfort, its joy. The perfectly equal way it would fit with his. The way it would light up her soul. But it was wrong. So wrong to get it like this.

She opened her eyes, which let themselves get carried into his words. There was an orb of blue flames around them, the closest to trapping them as it could have been. She stepped back abruptly, crashing into the fire which burned a small part of her. Valtor's eyebrows were narrowed in anger as he stared at her, the extended hand still open as an offer.

"Fine," he said darkly, the flames going out, letting the cold of the room creep up around them. "Have it your way then. I hope you enjoyed the little peace I let you have. Because the next thing you will feel is the ashes of your little school when I burn it to the ground."

"Valtor, wait-" she started to say, but then she was consumed by a portal which appeared behind her back. Once her eyes reopened, she was in the forest outside the Cloud Tower, the only difference being that now a huge mark of Valtor flew above the school, letting everybody know that it was his.

She thought back to those moments in the dungeon, how close she was to taking his hand. So much that she could imagine him training her. It had to stop. These thoughts, these emotions, whatever it was that she was experiencing. It all needed to stop if she was going to save her parents. That was the only thing that mattered. Alfea, the Winx, her image, all of it was just a side piece.

She needed the key to Obsidian, now more than ever.

And yet- Yet she couldn't help but wonder if, in those little moments, Valtor had felt the same as her.

/NOTES: FINALLY! I finally posted an update. I am so sorry you had to wait this long.

But here's the deal. I always have 2 chapters written. First which is the one I post, and second which is the one after it. I have to have 2, just in case.
And when I finish the second(so the chapter that goes after this) I wasn't entirely happy with it. It felt like I needed to take a step back and look at the fic as a whole and more carefully plan out what I want to happen. So today I finally opened the second one up and began to edit it. Lots of things got cut because they just don't need to happen yet, especially towards the end. Those cut events will happen eventually, I just need them to be pushed back a little longer.

Anyways, like always I hope you enjoyed this update and feel free to leave opinions in the comments!

P.S. How did you all like the little snippet of Bloom's memories as the intro?

I'm finally letting you in(just a bit) to see what went down while she was trapped. Even if the majority of the scene is taken from the cartoon itself./