A/n: THANK YOU SO MUCH for all the support and feedback! I can't believe this story already has 77 favorites, 80 follows, and over 13,000 reads! I think that's fairly exceptional in comparison to a majority of the other stories in the Winx Club Archive. My goal is to make O Wondrous Wielder of the Winds one of the most popular Winx Club stories on this sight and at the rate it's growing we just might make it happen! Again, I wanna say thank you to all of my loyal readers who're making my dreams come true. You have no idea how much this means to me. Just knowing there are people out there who actually read and like my writing is what inspires me to keep going.
Well, here's chapter 23. Enjoy~
Candi showed up to not one of her classes the next day.
When she failed to appear at breakfast I just assumed she was on another one of those stereotypically popular starve-yourself-until-you-drop-from-malnutrition diets and intentionally skipped, but then she was a no-show at our shared first-period class. I then came to the conclusion she was suffering from a massive hangover from whatever party she, her friends, and Flora had gone to the previous night and was bent over a toilet somewhere. But then I didn't see her at lunch period, which made it pretty obvious something was off. As the reigning queen bee of Alfea, Candi always came to lunch—not to eat but to preserve her status as the queen of Alfea's student body, to remind her subjects/victims that she was in control and always watching them with a ruthless, all-seeing eye from the comfort of her reserved seat at the centermost table. It didn't matter if a teacher kept her after class or she got into a World Star-worthy fight in one of the bathrooms; regardless of what happened prior to lunch period, Candi dutifully and punctually made it on time every single day so I couldn't help but become suspicious when she was MIA. It was unnatural.
The dining hall felt…off without Candi's bitchy presence and I think the rest of my classmates noticed it too. Everyone at the surrounding tables stole glances at the popular girls and spread their own theories about the top bitch's disappearance through hushed whispers. The only ones who didn't seem bothered by Candi's abnormal absence were Candis's friends themselves. Her whole group sat at their usual exclusive table, gossiping and giggling with each other as if nothing was wrong, as if they failed to notice the head honcho wasn't bitching in their company (sorry if I was being repetitive, but bitch was literally the only word I could use to describe her right now). One of Candi's groupies had even taken this as an opportunity to steal the seat Candi usually sat in and claim it as her own. Whoa, some "friends" the queen bee had. She hadn't even been gone a day and her friends were already moving in on her territory. Eh, served her right.
Even Flora, who'd been sitting amid them since the start of the blackmailing, looked confused. It was my guess that being an outsider/Candi's new "loser" servant, the others hadn't bothered filling Flora in on Candi's whereabouts judging they even knew where she'd vanished off to. They probably did and just didn't give a damn (I know I wouldn't), taking Candi's nonattendance as a long-needed break from her nagging, bitching ass.
Though the rest of the school day continued Candi-free (hallelujah), that didn't make my mission any easier. I hadn't been fucking around when I told Alice I was going to find some shit on Candi. I started digging for some dirt the second morning time came but, unfortunately, by the time classes ended I still had nothing. I didn't understand; I thought people would take Candi's disappearance as a chance to squeal on her, but everyone kept their mouths sealed tight when it came to the juicy stuff. I knew I was asking the right people; since nosy Stella kept up her nose in everyone's business and knew what went down behind the teachers' backs, she pointed me toward the girls who were guaranteed to know one or two of Candi's dark secrets.
"Trust me, these girls will be more than happy to spill," Stella had assured, "Candi's wronged each and every one of them so they'll be thrilled to rat her out."
She couldn't have been any more wrong. No one—no one talked. They didn't hint at anything, or even try to put me on a trail that'd guide me to the answers I was looking me. No, instead everyone either changed the subject or just outright ignored me. And now I was frustrated as fuck.
"Has it occurred to you that maybe these girls are also being blackmailed?" pointed out Bloom later that afternoon in her in the Winx's apartment. She'd invited me over so we could do a little homework together before it was time to go to work, and now we were sprawling on the floor with our textbooks. I'd just elaborated on my unfruitful day and Bloom attentively listened, which secretly made me feel a lot better.
That realization made me pause in the middle of a potionology equation. I thought about it for a moment before letting out a groan of annoyance/embarrassment and slapping myself in the forehead. "Ugh, I'm so stupid!" I growled, "of course! How did I not think of that?" It all made sense when I thought about it; the reason Candi's victims had refused to talk to me was because they couldn't afford to. How could they when Candi was holding something over all of their heads? They were all in the same position as Flora; if they so much as whispered something negative about Candi or did something she didn't like, she'd expose their secrets if—when she found out about their treachery. Just like Flora, they were wrapped about her delicate little finger. They were her puppets. That was probably how Candi had been able to ensnare Flora in her net so flawlessly; she was an expert in blackmailing. She had a string of victims at her beck and call to prove it.
A twinge of guilt pierced my heart. How stupid and inconsiderate of me. I never took that consideration and now I felt so ashamed, so selfish. The only thing I could think about was hurting Candi and avenging Flora; I never once took into account all the girls I tried talking to today actually had a legit reason for staying quiet.
"Don't beat yourself up about it," said Musa, looking at me sympathetically. "It's not your fault." It's mine, her guilt-ridden eyes seemed to scream.
"It's definitely not," agreed Stella, who was sitting on the couch painting her toenails, with a nod. "From what it sounds, Flora's not the only one in a tight spot. Candi probably has a fifth of the school on a tight leash."
"That's what I don't understand. How does one chick have that many girls under her control?" I snorted with disgust. "It's sick."
"In case you haven't noticed, our precious Candi's the cold-bitch type," said Musa with a scowl, "why do things for yourself when you can just spend more time backing people into a corner so they can do them for you? She's extremely fucked up in the head. Instead of focusing on the meaningful things in life, she'd rather direct her energy toward manipulating, hurting, and setting up people."
"That's why I think fighting fire with fire is a bad idea in this situation," said Bloom, "blackmailing Candi is not the way to help Flora. Not only is it wrong, but it'll only make things more complicated. Do you honestly think Candi will simply back off just because we know one of her many dark secrets? No, she's cunning and ruthless. She'll just find a way to work around it, to back us into a corner for good."
"But what can we do?" I argued. "Tell an adult?" I said the last part sarcastically. No way could we go to a teacher about this. Not only would it humiliate Flora further but, ultimately, no adult regardless of their occupation or authority was capable of stopping Candi. Sure, they could notify her parents or even suspend her, but they could not control her actions. Despite their attempts to discipline her, nothing or no one could stop Candi from leaking those pictures of Flora. Nothing.
"I got it!" exclaimed Stella suddenly, finally looking up from her toes. "Why don't we just have Tecna hack Candi's phone and erase all her pictures of Flora?" Musa, Bloom, and I looked between each other in stunned silence, half amazed at the fact Stella actually had a good idea for once and half embarrassed that we hadn't thought of it earlier.
"That would be a waste of time," said Tecna matter-of-factly as she emerged from her room, murdering the hope we hadn't even had for a minute yet. "I'm more than positive Candi has the picture backed up on several flash drives. Though accessing her devices and deleting the pictures would be child's play for someone with even basic hacking skills, it would be meaningless when she has the files backed up."
"Okay, so she has them stored on flash drives. So what? Can't you just hack those too?" asked Musa hopefully, almost desperately.
"No," was Tecna's merciless, impassive reply. "In order for me to tap into them I'd need physical access to them first."
"So unless we feel like trespassing into Candi's room and going on a scavenger hunt, we're screwed," I groaned. "So we're back to where we started."
Musa gritted her teeth and clenched a fist. "It's hopeless. No matter what we think of nothing can help Flora."
"Something can," argued Bloom, "we just need to approach the situation differently. Reasonably." She looked at me pointedly.
I tried not to sound impatient as I said, "Bloom, I know you're trying to avoid more drama, but blackmailing Candi is the only way to keep her quiet."
"Blackmail her with what? No one would tell you anything, remember?" reminded Musa, just annoyed as me.
"That's because we've been going at this all wrong," announced Stella, applying another coat of orange polish. "The one we really should've been talking to all along is Blair Van Rensselaer."
I got a bad taste in my mouth at the mention of her name. "Why do you say that?"
"Candi might be the most popular here at Alfea, but she's actually one of Blair's minions outside of school," replied Stella flatly, "we shouldn't be trying to get information out of the girls Candi has control over, but out the girl who has control over her." Oh yeah.
"Did anyone not hear what I just said?" asked Bloom sarcastically, glaring at the blond.
"There's just one problem. How are we supposed to get in contact with her?" I pointed out, "and if we did, what makes you think she'd tell us anything without a price?"
Before Stella could answer, the door swung open and in walked Flora. Immediately, we all shut up about the Candi thing.
"Hi, Flora. How was your day?" asked Bloom brightly.
I expected Flora to murmur a half-assed reply and flee to her room like she'd been doing ever since Candi started blackmailing her, but the nature fairy glanced between us and asked, "Has any of you seen Candi today?" The concern in her voice confused and bothered the shit out of me.
We all muttered a no and I swear I heard Musa say something profane under her breath. "You haven't seen her?" asked Bloom, sitting up. Though that much was obvious, Bloom was clearly taking this as an opportunity to spark a conversation with Flora since she'd barely spoken to any of us these past few weeks.
Flora shook her head gravely. "We went to one of her friends' parties last night. Her boyfriend showed up later and I guess she didn't want me around them, so she sent me back to school by myself."
That was news to me. "What about Candi's friends?" I asked.
"They left before me."
I felt the anger blooming inside of me again. "That harpy! The fuck's wrong with her, making you come back to school that late at night by yourself? That's dangerous. Something could've happened."
"You could've called us, Flora," said Bloom gently, "we would've came and picked you up so you wouldn't have had to come back to school alone." Flora refused to meet her eyes.
"So that settles it," announced Stella, "Candi ran off somewhere with her boyfriend and spent the night with him instead of coming back to school. I bet she even got her parents to call Headmistress Faragonda and give some lame excuse as to why she why she was a no-show in class. Considering her father is a senator of Magix and is known for donating money to all its major schools, she can get away with just about anything."
"Who gives a fuck about her? Something terrible could've happened to Flora last night," spat Musa. "She could've been the one missing right now."
Flora looked down at her shoes. "Girls, it's fine—"
"No hell!" I protested. Just because Candi had her on a ball and chain didn't give her the right to keep putting Flora in these shitty, fucked-up situations.
I wanted to give the bitch a piece of my mind, but I knew that'd only complicate things for poor Flora. Anything we said or did would. I bet that was what Candi wanted. She knew we all cared for Flora and that watching her go through all this shit would torment us. She was deliberately aggravating us, knowing we couldn't do a damn thing to stop her. And if we tried, she'd gleefully make Flora suffer for it. This was nothing but a game to her. A sickening little game where she screwed around with her victims' heads and emotions all for the sake of her cruel, demonic little pleasure. It was enough to make me scream.
To be honest, it was a little reliving to know she was gone. Sure, she'd probably just waltz in tomorrow and continue her reign of terror, but it was nice not having her here breathing down everyone's necks.
You know what? Fuck hacking and blackmailing. What would really solve this problem? If Candi just stayed gone for good. That way Flora and everyone else would be free. My mom always used to tell me not to say such things when I was smaller, but I didn't give a fuck now. I never wanted Candi to come back. I never wanted to see her witchy ass step foot in Alfea again. Mom would oftentimes warn me not to wish for such extreme things because they just might come true, but that was what I truly wanted.
Candi was nowhere to be found and I hoped it stayed that way.
Simply put, people were assholes.
If this whole situation with Candi didn't prove it, today's string of customers at Trillium Moon sure did.
Legit, practically every person who walked through the glass entrance gave us some shit. It all started with some sphinx lady who came into the shop in search of a detangler for her mane. Like, what the fuck lady? What you need is a really good conditioner, not a magic potion. When we tried to politely explain this, she thought we were coughing up an attitude with her and got offended. After swearing to write a bad review for Trillium Moon online, she finally left fifteen minutes, much to our relief. Unfortunately, about five minutes later, some other bozo wandered in and had the nerve to ask if we sold anything that could get rid of the mold that had randomly started to spawn all over his apartment. Like, dude. What you need is some strong-ass multi-purpose cleaner and better cleaning habits, not a magic potion. After getting triggered and giving us trouble for the next ten minutes, the guy left and in walked yet another dumbass. This one was a shady vampire and wanted to know if we carried—wait for it—anything that could get the blood stains out of his favorite vest. Um, NO! Firstly, why in the fuck would we help you cover up some murder you've probably just committed and secondly, what you fucking need is a stain remover or some fucking bleach, NOT A MAGIC POTION. SERIOUSLY. What was with all the morons who thought they needed some special magic remedy to solve their basic problems when in reality all they needed to do was take a trip to their local supermarket?
It got worse as the day went on. It seemed like the rest of the customers were all either brainless or bitchy and extremely unpleasant. Though I usually loved working my shift at Trillium Moon, this time I felt like blowing the whole fucking building down. But what really set me off was when the last customer of the day, some smart-ass prick, came in and tried creating his own concoction at the brew-your-own-potion station. I had no idea what potion he was trying to make, but I did know he made a huge-ass mess. Prick spilt a whole bag of unicorn hair all over the floor and had the nerve to get an attitude when we charged him for it.
So in a nut shell, today was shitty.
It was the end of the day now (thank heavens!) and the shop was closed for the night. The three of us were just finishing up the last of the day's work—basically the rest of the cleaning—and then we'd finally be free to go home. I was helping Bloom sweep up the remainder of the unicorn hair while Flora was wiping down the counters, deep in thought. She'd been like that all day, mainly because she was worried about Candi, who'd still been MIA when we left for work. I didn't get that; Flora was being blackmailed by the bitch, so why did she give a shit about her whereabouts? If anything, I'd be happy she was gone. But then again, this was sweet, innocent Flora we were talking about. Her concern for any and all was sickening sometimes.
"I swear, if that freak ever shows his four-eyed ass around here again…" I muttered, dumping a full dustpan of unicorn hair into the trashcan. We'd gotten the majority of it up for the most part; now all that was left were those hard-to-reach places. I wasn't lying when I say the jackass got it everywhere.
Before Bloom could say anything, the greeting bell chimed abruptly and the glass door blew open so hard it banged against the wall, startling us. Ugh, what a nuisance. First the customers disrespect us and now they show up after hours. I turned around and opened my mouth to tell the newcomers we were closed and that they'd have to come back tomorrow, but the words got stuck in my throat when I saw who was barging into Trillium Moon.
"What are you doing here?" I demanded as the Trix and Riven appeared at the top of the steps. I prepared myself for the disrespect that was sure to come.
Icy gave the whole store a disgusted once-over before scowling at us. "So the rumors are true."
Stormy let out a rude laugh. "I can't believe this."
Darcy, who was latched on to Riven's arm, rolled her eyes. "Tell me about it. Right when I thought those old hags couldn't get more pathetic." I then remembered the Trix used to work here—and that we were their replacements. Of course it'd ruffle their feathers to know they'd been substituted with fairies, but us, their rivals, outof all of them? Shit was about to go down.
"What are you shits doing here?" I growled, putting aside my broom. "Last time I checked you three got fired. You're not welcomed here anymore."
Icy rolled her eyes dramatically, proceeding into the store. "Oh please. We never needed this crummy little store. We only worked here in hopes Andelle and Violet would take us in as their apprentices and teach us the advanced Dark Arts. When it was obvious they were just wasting our time we bailed."
"And trashed the whole store in the process," I spat as Icy strolled around the shop, inspecting every inch.
"It's their fault," insisted Stormy, "like Icy said: this place was just a waste of time. Only losers would work here without an ulterior motive." She smirked at Bloom, who was ignoring them as she finished the sweeping.
Riven matched her smirk. "I find this ironic. You all act like you're the stuff around the guys but here you are now, measly little shop girls in a run-down shithole."
Bloom went rigid and she slowly turned around to face Riven, her grip on the broom handle tightening. "Please do not talk about Trillium Moon like that," she requested politely, a cold edge in her voice. Oh shit. This was not going to end well. Flora, who was hovering behind the counter, started to fidget as she nervously watched the scene unfold.
Riven grinned devilishly. "Or what? You're gonna call Brandon so you can hide behind him like you always do?"
Bloom blinked innocently. "I find that ironic coming from the sucker who's being played by a bunch of witches." Oh snap! Bloom had insults!
Riven, who hadn't been ready for that comeback, looked taken aback for a moment. "Shut the hell up," he barked, "I'm not being played." Behind him, Stormy and Darcy exchanged smug glances. Oh yeah. He was totally being played. The rage on Riven's face was then replaced with another smirk. "But we all know who is."
Oh boy, here we go with this bullshit.
"No. We don't," said Bloom blandly, glaring at Riven before going back to her work.
Riven laughed lightly before stuffing his hands in his pockets and taking decisively slow steps around Bloom. "Don't act dumb, red. The only one you're playing for a fool is Brandon. Everyone here knows what you really are."
"Shut the fuck up, Riven," I warned.
"Oh yeah? And what's that?" challenged Bloom, the sounds of the broom's bristles brushing against floor growing louder as she swept furiously.
Riven's devilishly grin grew wider as he paused behind Bloom and leaned in closer so that his mouth was at level with her ear. "A slut," he whispered so subtly I barely heard him. Bloom's whole body tensed at the word and Riven, pleased that he'd gotten the reaction he'd been looking for, simply resumed his pacing around her. "Brandon, that dumb little fool. He's always bitching about who I hang out with when he doesn't even realize he's being used."
Um, no.
"Riven," I snapped. I was about to storm over and slap the shit out of him, but Icy seized my shoulder. A sharp cold tore through my body and down to my legs and I looked down to see my legs were now frozen to the floor.
Icy gave me a wintery blue smile. "Not so fast little fairy. It's starting to get good." I couldn't believe this! This was just Tuesday night entertainment for her and her sisters, who were watching the drama play before their eyes with sinister smiles glued to their faces.
"Fuck you." I tried spitting in her face, but she got out of the way just in time.
"I'm not using Brandon," said Bloom, her voice quivering more than I knew she'd like.
"Oh? From what I heard you hang out with a number of different guys," purred Riven, "and Brandon, that blond moron, is your latest victim. You don't really care about him. He's just your temporary entertainment. Once you get bored of him you'll just kick him to the curb like you do all your other love struck monkeys."
"I'm not using Brandon," repeated Bloom, turning her back to Riven when he tried to slink into her personal space.
Riven rolled his eyes as if he didn't believe her for a second. "Right. You're no fool, Bloom. The second you saw how easy Brandon was you moved in on him and now you have him wrapped around your little finger."
"Don't listen to this overgrown shit, Bloom," I warned.
Stormy scowled at me and then looked at Icy. "Can't you freeze her mouth shut or something?"
"Brandon and I are genuine friends. There is nothing going on between us," said Bloom firmly.
"Yeah, 'friends.' You like him, don't you red?"
"No," said Bloom way too quickly, giving herself away.
Riven laughed again. "You do! So that's why you used your charms on him. How sad. I hate to break it to you, Bloom, but he's only interested in you now because his luck with girls is shitty. As soon as another girl gets his attention he'll run after her and forget all about you."
"You're wrong," said Bloom shakily, her voice hitches as though she was near tears.
Riven kept going. "Am I, Bloom? Or are you just deceiving yourself? Who knows? Maybe it's you who's under his spell."
"Riven stop," ordered Flora in an iron-hard voice I rarely heard.
"You don't know what you're talking about." Bloom's voice was getting weaker and weaker and she started to tremble.
Seeing he had successfully broken her down, Riven went in for the kill. "I think I do. And I also think you're just a dumb little girl. You think you're the shit but you're not. You think people care about you but they don't. You think Brandon likes you but he doesn't. And guess what? He never will, Bloom. One day he'll come to his senses and he'll realize you're a waste of time. He'll realize he never wanted anything to do with you in the first place. And when that happens what will you do? You'll just go crying to the next sorry sap who—"
"SHUT UP!" screamed Bloom, whirling around with angry tears in her eyes and swinging the broom at Riven's head. Riven, who had decent reflexes thanks to his training at Red Fountain, ducked and Bloom ended up slapping a decorative glass vase right off a display table. It collided with the ground with an ear-splitting shatter as it broke into jagged fragments, sending glass flying everywhere.
"What's going on out here?" demanded Andelle's sudden voice. We all turned to see her and Violet shuffling out from the backroom. How they hadn't heard anything prior to that was beyond me, but I was just glad they finally decided to show up. Andelle zeroed in on the Trix. "You three again? You have some nerve coming back here."
At the sight of the Trillium Moon sisters the Trix sisters made a beeline for the entrance. "C'mon, Riven," snapped Darcy, grabbing the Specialists' arm and yanking him toward the door as Icy reached out for the handle. However, before she could, the door flew open.
"Via Levitus."
Next thing I knew, Icy, Stormy, Darcy, and Riven were being lifted off the ground in a clear bubble as Azriel casually strolled out from the night and into the store. He took one look at Bloom, who was wiping the tears away with her sleeve, and then at the broken glass before distastefully saying, "Why do I get the feeling I just walked in on a scene from one of those cheesy teen TV dramas?"
"I'm sorry, guys," said Bloom apologetically as we crossed over onto campus later that night. Though Andelle and Violet had insisted otherwise, we stayed later to help clean up the glass after Azriel successfully used his magic to dump the Trix and Riven on the curb. The witches, who were smart enough not to challenge Andelle and Violet, fled like cowards. I was more than sure they'd make us pay for that later.
Flora gave Bloom's hand a squeeze. "It's alright. Just don't let them get in your head next time. You're stronger than that."
Bloom's shoulders relaxed and she nodded, looking relieved by the fact Flora was back to her old self for now. "I don't know what got over me," she said as we entered the dormitory. "I knew Riven was just trying to get a rise out of me, but everything he said still hurt. I was stupid for letting him get to me—"
"Girls!" cried out Stella, she and Musa nearly pouncing on us the second Bloom opened the door to their apartment. "You're okay! We thought something happened!"
"Uh, yeah. We just stayed at Trillium Moon a little longer," said Bloom carefully, "why? What's wrong?"
Musa's eyes swelled. "You mean you haven't heard?"
"Haven't heard what?" Flora, Bloom, and I all asked in unison.
Stella looked at uncharacteristically serious for once. "Candi was kidnapped."
