"Faragonda!" loud shouts echo from the library, calling out for the elderly fairy. They were bound to get discovered eventually, but Bloom's skin still crawled with unease. How on Earth was she going to do this alone?

"They can't know," Valtor says, angling his head towards Faragonda. Bloom narrows her eyes at him, not entirely sure where her loyalties lay after all that she had learned just in the past hour. But she did know that this person in front of her, her former mentor was a traitor, to both her and her family. Valtor, for once seemed to be the lesser of two evils.

A second later Palladium burst into the room, Avalon on his heels. She wondered what all the thought of her and how long it took them to agree to her exile. Was it a mere second or had any of her former teachers actually cared?

Command her to fight us. Valtor instructed through their connection and Bloom didn't have time to dwell on it. Faragonda instantly summoned a sphere of her magic, as if they had been fighting this entire time. Upon noticing Bloom and Valtor, the two men stood each on one side of Faragonda, a poor attempt to shield her if needed. They had no idea how late they had arrived.

"Bloom, it's still not too late," Avalon said, trying to reason with her but she barely registered it. Too many lines have been crossed for mere words to work on her anymore.

"I'm afraid it's far too late for that professor."

Valtor wasn't sure whether to simply grab the core while only two of Alfea's faculty opposed him or stay and enjoy whatever show Bloom was about to put on.

He watched as the man with long ginger hair summoned an orb of power and shot it at Bloom. She dodged it, but the stiffness of the movement caught his eye. He was sure she was fine a second ago, but now as he observed the way she avoided and shot attacks, he began wondering if maybe, marking Faragonda took away more of her energy than she had realized.

A new wave of attacks lunged at him too, but he simply moved out of the way, as if struck with a breeze. The rest of Alfea's professors would be bound to arrive soon, time was of the essence. But that left the question of what to do with the fire fairy.

He could just take the core and be out of there instantly, regardless of how the fight in the courtyard went, he would have what he came there for. This would leave Bloom possibly surrounded and potentially caught, thrown back to Omega and he would have his hands full with saving her all over again.

Just as the thoughts finished wrecking his mind, he saw an event he didn't predict play out in front of his eyes. One second Bloom was aiming her fireball at the dark-haired professor and in the next her body started plunging at full speed towards the ground.

He didn't waste another second, his body reacting on instinct as he dove toward the floor, catching her mid-air, before she crashed onto the woodtiles below. One look at her and he realized she hadn't been hit, but simply collapsed out of exhaustion. Her firey hair tickled his arms as he held her.

Valtor merely smirked at the three members of Alfea as he teleported himself and unconscious Bloom all the way back to the peace of Cloud Tower. Mentally, he pulled all of the witches and specialists back, all forced into their assigned schools until further notice.

He grunted as he pulled the doors open, even though he somehow felt relieved that Bloom was heavier than before. That the days when her cheeks were hollow and her body only skin and bones were behind her.

Carefully, he laid her atop the bed, not entirely sure what else to do with her. It had been a while since he messed with her dreams, but something pulled him back from the idea. He was disgusted by himself when he realized he didn't want to cause her more harm when she was already in such a vulnerable position. So he covered her with a silk blanket and returned to Griffin's office.

Bloom's head felt hazier than ever, colours dancing in front of her recently opened eyes. She could barely gather her thoughts enough to remember what happened and where she was. The answer to the second question still unknown. She pulled the soft cover off herself, looking around the dark room. It was too grand for her liking, but the wall structure and the dark wood of the furniture were enough to make her location clear. Somehow she was back in Cloud Tower, and some common sense knew very well in whose bed she had been sleeping.

But Valtor wasn't in the room, or any of the halls. The entire space felt utterly empty. When she tip-toed into one of the dormitories, she found the witches lying on their backs with eyes open and a shudder went through her at the eerie sight.

Following the sense of his magic, Bloom made her way through the rest of the castle, finally recognizing some of the interiors. She paused before the doors, unsure of what she was even supposed to say once she stood in front of him. He had many questions to answer her so she straightened her back and pushed the doors open.

But he wasn't sitting in the chair as she had expected, instead, his legs were crossed as he levitated a couple of feet in the air, consumed by a ball of blue energy. His eyes were closed and if he knew she was there he didn't let it show.

And Bloom couldn't stop 2 thoughts from crossing her mind as she stared at him.

First, how easy it would be to fire at him and have the threat to Magix wiped away.

Second, how peaceful he looked and how she wanted to feel that peace in her soul as well.

She took a step closer, inspecting the room itself, but everything looked exactly the same as when she was last there. Her attention fell back to Valtor whose eyes opened and as he saw her in the room, a grin appeared on his face. "I was beginning to think you dead Princess."

"How long was I asleep?"

"Close to 15 hours, magic exhausted your body once you placed the Mark on Faragonda."

Bloom's face fell at the mention, she still wasn't entirely sure whether to be glad or horrified of her actions. Even though a small part of her enjoyed every second of it. She wondered was this how it started for Valtor or was he always just a power-hungry conqueror. She wanted to ask him as much before a more important thought crossed her mind and she cursed herself for not remembering it right away.

"Where is she?" Bloom asked and watched as he pretended to be oblivious. "Do you think I care about where your little messes end up Princess?" But she kept quiet, waiting for him to drop his demeanour. Eventually, he released a sigh that could only be interpreted as utter boredom and said: "She is right where you left her. At Alfea." And before Bloom could bombard him with a new set of questions he added: "No, they do not know about the Mark."

"You got me out, didn't you, so why not her as well?"

He ignored her, walking over to the table and picking up a random scroll from the shelf, pretending to be looking through it. Despite it, Bloom wasn't stopping: "And why not take the core the entire time we were there-" she stopped when she realized he completely shut her presence out. The fire fairy flicked her finger and the paper in his hands began to burn. Valtor seemed neither worried nor amused, but at least he finally looked at her.

"Who says that I didn't get it?" he said with an annoying smirk of his as he crossed his arms. "We wouldn't be here," she motioned to the interior of Cloud Tower, "-if you had. Now, the last thing I remember are Avalon and Palladium coming to fight us. What happened, why did you leave Faragonda with them?"

"It was a matter of time. I could either let you kill yourself by falling from the air, get the core and be done with it. Or, save you and teleport us out," his voice was even and cold, but Bloom still decided to push further.

"Why save me then?"

"Because they would have gotten you if I didn't." Bloom simply stared at him, not entirely sure why that pulled on the tight strings around her heart. She shouldn't care what he thinks.

"We need to go back," she says and Valtor shoots her a glare, raising an eyebrow: "There is no we Princess. If you want to march into Alfea who will be ready for it, go ahead."

She had to swallow down her disappointment, not knowing exactly why she considered he would just go with her. "Faragonda said that the key is with her. And I don't know if you've noticed but I need her to get it."

He laughed into his beard. "Or," he said, taking a step closer to her. "You could use that handy Mark of yours and access her mind from right here."

As he finished, his hands laid atop her shoulders and Bloom felt an incredibly powerful force slam into the walls of her mind. Valtor's presence was overwhelming, the sheer pressure of it urging her to back away.

Relax Princess. The thought echoed in her head. She breathed in and then out, calming down the rapid heartbeats. As she did so, the evident link between her and Valtor's souls came into focus. A strong link of blue and crimson fire that seemed to be unbreakable.

Now, focus on Faragonda.

She followed Valtor's instruction, letting her thoughts wander to the Headmistress of Alfea, of the betrayal she had done to her family, the anger and rage that filled her when thinking about it. But then it became control, the force that Bloom herself held over her and she saw it. A black line ending at a wall of green-like magic. The doors of it were wide open, allowing both Bloom and Valtor to pass through.

Within the walls of her consciousness, Bloom saw a million and more images dancing around. Transparent-hollow-like versions of Faragonda were walking, never intersecting, each doing its own thing. Upon a few Bloom noticed Faragonda with the Winx, then of her and Griselda, of her and what must have been her family. But there was simply too much of it all to get any kind of clear image.

Think of your parents and filter out the exact memories you're looking for. Valtor sent the further instructions to her. She was somehow glad to have his voice guiding her.

Bloom pushed her own thoughts into Faragonda. The warm smile of Marion, the lullaby she sang to Bloom, everything she knew of her father's bravery, his lion-strong heart, their utter devotion to her and Daphne on the day Domino fell. She watched as the amount of memories surrounding her thinned out, leaving still a big amount. She drifted towards one and didn't know what to do as it pulled her in.

For not more than 10 seconds she saw young versions of Faragonda and Griffin holding each other's hands before Griffin said something Bloom couldn't understand and Faragonda backed away, terror looming in her expression.

A wave of Valtor's thoughts pulled her out. I doubt you want to dabble into the love complications of the old crones.

Bloom took that as a confirmation, making a mental note to question Valtor about it later. But it gave her an idea.

Standing again in front of the abundance of memories, Bloom tried narrowing it down toward the ones including Valtor, forcing herself to think of his brutality and lust for power. Ignoring the fact that deep down in her soul, she understood it was not all there was of him.

A new set cleared out, having around 100 memories altogether. Bloom emphasized her parents, and 2 seemed to call her more than the others.

She went into the first one, ready to get her answers.

"There was a new lead Faragonda," a man Bloom recognized as the younger version of Stella's father, King Radius, said to Faragonda, delivering a stack of papers to her desk. Faragonda eyed them with some suspicion, but also curiosity. "Griffin went to Sibylla," he continued and Bloom had no idea who this Sibylla person might be, but Faragonda apparently did. The lines on the fairy's face seemed to double at the words as well. "She didn't have an exact answer, but there was a hint."

"Whatever she said cannot be taken as one hundred per cent true, you know that. But we will see if it's worth checking into. What did she say?"

Radius looked around the room, as if afraid that even the walls might hear them talk. "She was summoned to Domino after the battle by the Council, to see if she can feel anything as to what really happened."

Faragonda kept listening intently as he talked. "Griffin says that Sibylla told her, we would find what we are looking for at the 'origin of it all'. The fairy's face was unreadable as she took in the information. "Faragonda you must be thinking it too," he said when she didn't respond.

"It's impossible," she said simply, trying to end the conversation entirely. "If he transported them to Obsidian, we have to call a search party right now."

Fragonda rose from her desk immediately. "We have already lost so much Radius. Dabbling into forces such as those could damage the dimension permanently. We barely survived the fall of Domino," she said crossing her arms, staring down the King of Solaria. Silence filled the room for a couple of long minutes, the only audible sound was the bustling of students in the courtyard.

Radius exhaled before speaking: "How did we survive it Faragonda? If all the guardians of the Dragon Fire are dead-" he trailed off, his hand pressed into fists as if he was assuring himself that he was really there and alive. No one had ever dared to raise the question until now, and Faragonda feared the day someone would piece things together.

Everyone was so happy that they managed to end the war and trap Valtor that no one wanted to place doubt on the obvious hole in the entire story. If Marion and Oritel were indeed dead somewhere if both of the royal daughters were killed in the attack-there would be no person to preserve the Dragon Fire which kept the universe intact.

If all the members of the Domino's royal family were gone, everyone in the magical dimension should have been dead.

"They never found the body, have they?" his voice was quiet but clear enough for Faragonda to understand. She shook her head and looked away. Walking through the hallways of the palace after the battle has been like going through a graveyard. There have been no survivors.

King Radius was the one to check underground. He was the one to find her. Faragonda could never forget the limp form of Daphne's body as he carried her out. But Bloom, her baby sister, was nowhere to be found. Volunteers went through the tunnels, the rooms, and the collapsed parts of the palace. The smallest Princess has never been found.

"Have you spoken to Daphne?" Radius asked another question and Faragonda stiffened at the name. For as much as the death of the Princesses shook them all, managing to regain Daphne's spirit form was the only good news the dimension got after the battle. Her spirit was declared as a Nymph of the Roccaluce lake, who now existed alone at the bottom of it. "No," Faragona replied, then added: "She hasn't spoken a word to anyone since."

"What if we were wrong? What if the youngest Princess isn't dead?"

Because after weeks of searching, it was easier to declare her dead and say that the body got stuck somewhere underneath the fallen stones than to conduct another solution.

"She has to be."

Bloom gasped as the scene around her went black and she got pushed out and back into her body. She blinked, opening her eyes, and finding Valtor already watching her, his face not revealing anything as usual. "That wasn't enough. I have to go back for the other one."

"They thought you were dead," he said coldly, watching her pace around the room in a loop. "I guess that's why no one ever came to Earth, Daphne never told a soul." Bloom shivered as she pushed away the scene of her sister's scared face in front of the Ancestral witches. "But this told me nothing. I need more answers about the key."

She watched him take a step toward her, his hand moving to her face and gently brushing some hair away. The movement happened so suddenly that she had no proper time to react. "You have time. Now you're still exhausted, your magic is weak and you could easily kill the old crone if you kept messing around in her head unprepared."

Bloom stepped back and crossed her arms, deciding to change the subject. "Faragonda and Griffin, what I saw in there, have they been together?" Valtor chuckled as if remembering something and then nodded. "They were, well, up until darling Griffin didn't decide to join me. After she switched sides back though, my guess is, Faragonda couldn't totally forgive it." Bloom thought as much.

"That room I woke up in, was that yours?" she asked suddenly and saw the surprise play out in his eyes. "I might control every corner of this castle, but my chambers are the ones with most spells. We don't want your professors barging in here, do we?" She shook her head and leaned on the wall behind her back. Even if she had slept for hours, her body still felt strained, her magic almost subdued. She needed more rest, but-

"Am I meant to stay here?"

"Not at all. You're free to leave anytime Princess," he answered with a mocking smile that told her enough, but she wasn't in the mood for his games, she wanted to be alone. "I'll take my old room," was all she said before walking to the bookshelf that led to the hallway where she remembered her room to be. "Take this," he said when her back was turned. She looked at him as he tossed a scroll toward her. "It's a protection spell, for the room," he explained and without saying another word she went into the hall.

Once inside the quiet space of the chamber, Bloom could not get her mind to calm down no matter how tired she felt. Her thoughts swerved from her parents, trapped and alone, just like she had been in Omega, to Valtor at the other side of the hall, probably planning who to attack next to at last Faragonda who has told her so many twisted stories that she lost track of them and of their credibility. Pretty much everything she found out in the last two days has been new information that she didn't have enough time to process. She couldn't stop it when Faragonda's mind flashed to Radius carrying Daphne from the ruins. Her bruised, broken body, her beautiful soul that the Ancestral withes just decided to stop. Her body shivered, she wanted to forget that image, erase its trail from her memory.

They have been looking for her corpse too, she remembered. What would she have done if she had been in their shoes? Would she continue the search for a missing baby, would she focus on the king and queen of a destroyed planet or thank the gods that major parts of the universe remained safe? She didn't have a clear answer. Other than that, she would have searched through every single clue until she could swear on her life that Marion and Oritel were truly dead.

How many years had passed since that conversation between Stella's father and Faragonda? Ten, fifteen, was it right after the end of the war? It didn't matter much, but the thought that she could currently be doing something to help them wasn't letting her rest. And the answers were right there, just a memory away.

She knew she said she wouldn't do it, but she didn't answer to Valtor, he should have no claim over the choices she decided to make. He probably didn't want her digging because he was still trying to prolong her rescue mission. In and out, it was that easy. She'll look at the memory and be out in 10 minutes.

Bloom closed her eyes and opened her mind, letting herself travel back into the walls of Faragonda's memories. She was in control, there was nothing to be scared of. She repeated the process from before, forcing the memories to sort themselves. But something was different this time, an invisible force that seemed to be shaking everything around her. But as she couldn't pinpoint the source, Bloom ignored it. Two memories gleamed in front of her and she eagerly drifted toward her second one.

The area seemed to be repulsed and it dawned on Bloom that it could have been Faragonda, fighting it despite the Mark. The fire fairy pushed forward, driving her power onto Faragonda's mind until it slackened and the path to the memory cleared. She touched it and let herself get carried through.

Griffin was standing in Faragonda's office, opposite her friend who sat behind her desk. "You spoke to Radius then?"

"Why haven't you come to tell me yourself?"

Griffin looked away, clearly embarrassed. "Because I feared you wouldn't have listened to me. But then when no new search party has been organized I thought you might have skipped the conclusion," her voice died out as she talked, knowing that the chance of Faragonda missing something was highly unlikely.

"We're not sending anyone into Obsidian," she said it so determinedly like it was the end of the conversation.

"Are you hearing yourself right now?" Griffin raised her voice slightly, clearly becoming upset, not realizing why Faragonda would ever be against it. She told her as much.

"We nearly lost everything, Griffin. I am not going to risk anyone's life for something that has better chances of failing than succeeding." Griffin reached out, trying to get ahold of Faragonda's hands, but the fairy pulled them back. "That's final."

"You don't get to make that decision Faragonda. They found an entrance spell on Valtor when they captured him, haven't they?" The quick dart of the fairy's eyes told her the answer. "Where is it now? If you don't want to go, fine, but you can't stop the rest-"

Faragonda cut in mid-sentence: "I destroyed it."

Griffin's eyes went wide, hurt and disappointed. "You wouldn't."

Faragonda held her gaze as she answered: "If it means keeping our lives at peace, yes, I would."

The witch broke the eye contact at last and decided to push a bit more now that she had a chance. "Radius thinks the Princess of Domino is still alive."

"If she were alive, her place is at the depths of Omega. We don't need the witches coming back, we don't need another war." Griffin only stared at her blankly, not recognizing this person. She turned her back to Faragonda and left her office without a word.

After the doors closed, Faragonda pulled a piece of string out of her shirt and let the golden key dangle from her fingers.

The memory went black, signalling its end. Bloom urged herself back into her body, but she couldn't move. The darkness thickened, tying itself around her like ropes. She slammed herself against the mental walls, begging to be let through. But the force was strong, all the exits shut, invisible through the dark.

She couldn't feel her body, her powers, there was simply nothing. A huge hole of nothing. She banged at the walls. Again and again. She could hear echoes of Valtor's laughter somewhere around her. The realizations wrapped around her one by one.

She was trapped. She fell into his plan, he had trapped her. This was all how he wanted it to go. That was why he saved her, that was why he showed her how to access memories. So she can let her guard down, consumed by the sheer will to do something. Now he had her exactly as he wanted. Her mind was imprisoned, her powers unprotected.

He had won. Valtor had won.

She would spend an eternity here, with nothing but her thoughts, unable to get out and unable to end it all.

No.

She had to get out even if it meant damaging Faragonda's mental shields. She pushed against the darkness again, but it only grew thicker, tighter. It snaked around her, enabling her to move.

She couldn't-couldn't get out.

She was alone again. Trapped.

Trapped just like in Omega.

Like at Darkar's fortress.

Like in Avalon's bubble.

Alone.

Forever.

And then suddenly, just as easily as it appeared, the darkness vanished, falling away and she was dragged back, back into her body, her room, her bed. Her eyes snapped open, frantically looking around.

Valtor was slumped into a chair in the corner, smirking viciously, already staring her down. "Welcome back Princess."

She hugged her hands around herself, the insides of her stomach twisting into knots. "You trapped me in there," she mumbled, trying to ease the urge to throw up.

"Yes, I did," he said as he got up and went over to her. She was still shaking uncontrollably. "I told you to be careful. I told you this could happen. You shouldn't have gone in again."

Bloom scoffed: "So what, you did it to punish me?"

"I thought of it more as teaching you a lesson, but punishment can work as well," he said with a dark laugh and she found herself shivering. "Had it been anyone but me Princess, you never would have gotten out."

Bloom nodded, more so because she didn't know what else to say.

He was moving, but she wasn't paying him much attention. Until she felt a warm pressure of soft fabric against her skin and realized he had placed a blanket over her shoulders.

"Rest up Princess."