Chapter Fifteen: Shifting Gears

Bloom grunted in annoyance at her latest sketch before furiously erasing the lopsided eye with the back of her pencil. She and Valtor sat face to face and back to back against one of the two freakishly tall trees that surrounded what he'd told her was called Verdant Lake. Now the morning, fantastical birds tweeted in the boughs above them, the breeze was subtle, and the sun was perfect. Her sketch pad was propped against her bent knees and her art tools were splayed on the grass on either side of her.

"You must be in the midst of making a masterpiece," Valtor said. The low chance of anybody bothering them in the middle nowhere meant he was comfortable in his true form, eyes closed and head tilted up to soak in as much sun as possible from between the large swaying branches and shivering leaves. "You're certainly taking awhile."

"Be patient, Mr. Dinosaur," Bloom said as she carefully redrew the sharp oval that would be his new eye. "Unless you want to look like the Picasso."

Valtor hummed and waved a hand above him, causing the branch that was shading him to move aside and beam more sunlight atop him. "I'm going to pretend I know what that is."

Bloom snorted and rolled her eyes as the reason for her distraction slowly faded back into her brain, slowing her movements.

It started when she'd woken up with a stretch and a yawn from her lightly swaying hammock. Birds coloured in glittering neon colours flitted away from her reaching hands and she'd watched with a pleased giggle. Gripping the edge, Bloom leaned over carefully to check on Valtor, only for something to explode in front of her in a shower of sparks.

Bloom jerked back with a little shriek and winced as the swaying hammock called down loose leaves and branches to smack her on the face. Once she'd spat out the leaves and brushed away the twigs though, she saw it was a hovering note. Taking it, it read,

Gone for a bath —Valtor

The paper burned away in Bloom's hand, causing her to flinch in surprise and gasp, then she watched wide-eyed as the ash formed a thin arrow pointing and moving downwards. Bloom gasped again, this time in delight instead of shock. "Aw, cutesy magic! Didn't think you had in you, Mr. Mysterious." Closing her eyes, she called on her magic and felt the now familiar sensation of it wrapping around her body and tugging her wings free from her shoulder blades. Then, she rose slowly from her hammock and followed the magic ash towards the ground far below.

As she weaved around trees and followed the shifting arrow, she briefly let her eyes wander. Flowers made out of beads of dew winked at her, parrots with tassels on their wings cawed above, giant fly traps that—

The giant fly trap in question jerked its head towards Bloom and snapped at her ankles. She yelped and jerked her legs away from the sharp teeth and dripping saliva before speeding up and away.

Finally, the arrow led Bloom to a clearing before losing shape and falling to the bright green grass in a sooty heap. Landing, Bloom checked her surroundings again and quickly found the prettiest lake she'd ever seen. The lake edge was decorated by lily pads (with sparkling lilies!), swaying bulrushes, and Valtor's clothes folded neatly atop a nearby rock—

Huh? Oh that's right! He wanted a bath—!

Oh.

Valtor had his long hair draped over his shoulder and her back to her. He stood far enough in the lake for the water to sit at his waist, so not close enough that he was getting tapped on the head by the bulrushes but certainly close enough for Bloom to watch his naked back muscles shift beneath his skin as he poured water over his shoulder. The droplets sliding down shimmered in the light and she found her wide eyes following one wet bead all the way to the sharp jut of his hip.

The smell of smoke tore away Bloom's attention and she looked down in time to see the grass burning to ash beneath her boots. She yelped and jumped away from the singed black circle, causing Valtor to twist to look at her.

Bloom didn't spare a single glance to his bare, dripping, and muscular as fuck chest. She did not.

Valtor smirked at her and she wondered in panic if he'd noticed her brief second of ogling until he said, "Good afternoon, Sleeping Beauty. I've brought our things—"

"Afternoon!" Bloom cried in horror. She zipped towards the luggage Valtor had lazily gestured to and began tearing out her outfit for the day. "I can't believe it's afternoon! Why didn't you wake me?! That's like—" Bloom paused to murmur under her breath and do the math with her fingers before shoving a splayed open palm towards his stupid, stupid wet naked body and his equally stupid smirk and hands-hips pose. "—five hours after we usually start the day and that's prime—!" Bloom noticed her phone alone in the grass, the time staring right back at her.

7:30.

Bloom's face slowly scrunched into a pouting scowl as Valtor laughed. "I apologize, Bloom," he said with a twirl of his finger. A towel zoomed into his waiting hand and he held it open to shield his lower half as he got out of the water. Once out, he wrapped it tightly around his waist as he said, "It was far too delicious of an opportunity to pass up on."

Bloom agitatedly tossed her clothes from her hands, scowled and crossed her arms at him. "My mom and you would get along just perfectly, you know that?"

"Doubtful. She has mediocre taste in men and I am anything but, thank you very much." Valtor twirled his finger again and another towel shot into his hands, this one he wrapped around his wet hair. "Speaking of your…father, he's been calling incessantly after you fell asleep." After a couple of pats, he removed the towel and shook it to get his wet and stringy hair to fall back over his shoulders.

Bloom winced and covered her mouth as a tired yawn left her lips. "Oooh, yeah I kinda skipped the nightly phone call. Whoops." She landed once more and called back her fairy wings, slumping her shoulders with a weary sigh. She wasn't going to hear the end of it.

"Yes, well, after the fifth call I answered and explained the situation to the errant man," Valtor explained as he lifted his hand and ignited his fingertips with glowing blue magic. "I claimed you'd exhausted your magic during a training session and were too tired to talk." He then pressed his fingers to his scalp before dragging them through his hair with one quick motion. The strands of strawberry blonde briefly ignited with blue flames before regaining their volume and earning a subtle shine that hadn't been there before, all while it elegantly returned to its job of framing his face and sitting above his hips.

Bloom beamed, fascinated by the casual display of magic as Valtor continued. "He then went on a tirade about how I was pushing you too hard and that if something happened to you he was going to blah, blah, blah some foolishness along the lines of, 'I'm going to break every bone in your goddamn body, pal!" Valtor said the last part after he'd swiftly transformed into Bloom's Dad and bent towards her, hands on hips and a perfectly fitting voice including.

Bloom's snort exploded into a giggling fit that she tried to stop, as she didn't want to encourage Valtor's continued slander of her Dad, but goddammit…

Valtor smirked once at her reaction before he straightened up, dropped the disguise and continued once more. "He was perhaps going to say more but I hung up on him mid-rant and ignored all twenty more of his phone calls. I do not jest, they continued up until the early morning."

Bloom squeaked and winced again.

"Hmm, yes," Valtor said as if something had just occurred to him when seeing her expression. "You should call him back." He reached for the towel on his hips before pausing and twirling his finger downwards.

Bloom assumed he'd been doing another spell until he cleared his throat and raised his eyebrows expectantly.

"Oh! Sorry!" Bloom said as her cheeks burned pink and she swiveled around quickly.

"I'm beginning to doubt your innocence, darling."

Bloom's pink face burned crimson. "I wasn't—shut up!" She blurted, and he laughed yet again in response while she snatched her phone from the ground and fumblingly dialed her home number.

As Valtor's clothes floated over to him from the rock, Bloom pressed the phone to her ear. Within the very first ring the line connected.

"Bloom?!" An urgent voice exclaimed.

"Morning, Dad! Sorry I—"

"Thank goodness! That Baltor freak—"

"Valtor, Dad."

"Whatever! He told me you were too tired to talk and I didn't believe him for a gosh darn second! And then he hung up on me! Who in the hell does he think he is trying to come between a father and his daughter?!"

Bloom sighed in fond exasperation before saying, "I was tired, Dad. I crashed early because of training, just like Valtor said. I'm still tired, actually, and sore—exercise pains, y'know," she added quickly with an awkward laugh.

She was very glad Valtor had stayed hush-hush on the whole "using magic to high-jack a broadcasting station before using a lot more to fake the disappearance of an even faker person" part of the 'training'.

"And I was supposed to just...what? Take his word for it?"

"Well…yeah. He's my mentor and my chaperone through the Magic Dimension. If you can't trust him, that'll kinda suck."

There was a pause. "I don't like him, Bloom."

Bloom snorted and rolled her eyes playfully. "Really? I didn't notice."

"I'm serious. There's something not right about that man—something seriously sinister...evil almost."

Bloom sat cross legged on the grass, staring up at the bright blue sky with an amused smile. "Sure, Valtor's rough around the edges but come on, who isn't? It doesn't make him evil."

Mike sighed. "Just…be careful all right? Will you be able to visit soon?"

Bloom's smile faded slowly. Would she be able to visit with power snatchers everywhere? And with her technically on the lam? And with her powers all whacked up and—?

"Mike?" Bloom heard her mother on the other end. "Did you sleep by the phone?"

"Whaaat? No, no, honey! I was just...uh."

Bloom smiled as Mike continued to double down on his denial while Vanessa pointed out the blankets and pillow on the floor in exasperation. Love and warmth and…and this deep sense of home sickness was—

Bloom shook her head firmly and went back to the drawing she'd stopped once going down memory lane with a sharp inhale and exhale of breath. "I was thinking," she said as she put the finishing touches to what would be Valtor's newest disguise.

"Oh dear," Valtor said.

Bloom stuck out her tongue, even though she knew he couldn't see her before she asked, "Maybe while your disguised you should use a different power?"

He opened his eyes and looked at her curiously. "What do you mean?"

"Well…" she paused to frown at the drawing before erasing a cheek with the back of her pencil and redrawing it sharper. She continued, "Valtor and Baltor Mike have fire powers so…"

"My newest self should have a different main power source to better disguise my other selves," Valtor finished with a slow smirk. "I'm impressed, Bloom. It seems my mind has rubbed off on you."

"It was my idea," Bloom said with a playful roll of her eyes. "But thank you for the self-centered compliment I guess." She blew away the eraser bits and loose led that had collected on the page before turning the sketch pad around. "Voila! The new you!"

Valtor leaned forwards and took the sketch book with a smile. He'd sat back against the tree and was saying something but pretty suddenly, Bloom's sunny mood faded and her smile fell with her arms. They slapped the grass limply and she stared her hands dazedly without really seeing anything as the world turned grey around her.

She felt…faded. Detached.

"Bloom?"

Bloom blinked and looked up. Valtor was crouched in front of her and scanning her face with a worried frown.

She gave him a weak smile and said, "I'm fine."

Valtor's frown deepened and he shook his head. "You aren't. What ails you?"

Bloom opened her mouth, closed it, then fell back against the tree with closed eyes and a tired sigh. "What am I doing?"

"Pardon?"

Bloom opened her eyes and gestured to the sketch pad still in Valtor's hand. "I'm drawing you a disguise because your other disguise is a wanted criminal and me and your actual self is being hunted down by crazy power snatchers and dark spirits that I need to make magic ball dream-catchers to keep away!" As the seriously crazy sentence went on, the more and more manic amusement seeped into her voice until she was bent over and laughing.

"Bloom," Valtor repeated and he placed a hand beneath her wobbling chin to tilt it up. Their eyes met, and they were scarily severe for a moment before widening as he murmured, "You're crying."

"I'm not!" Bloom protested loudly, but that plan went out the window when he swiped a tear away with his thumb.

"Why?" he asked, and his voice sounded flat but he was looking at her with so much intensity that it was kind of scary.

Bloom had to look away before answering. "I miss…home."

Silence.

Bloom looked back at him and caught what she thought was a split second scowl before his face went blank again. "We will visit. Today, if you'd like," he said in an even flatter voice than before.

Bloom shook her head. "I mean I miss normal. And I can't go back there. Not ever."

Valtor shook his head slowly. "Why in the world would you want to go back to your old life?"

"Because…" she wiped away another tear and let out a watery laugh. "Because I wasn't hiding and running and training so I can hide and run less and stop glaring! You don't get it!" Bloom jerked her chin out of Valtor's grip with a glare of her own and he leaned backwards with a blink of surprise, as if he hadn't realized he'd let looked anything other than cool.

"I'll remind you why this was the best possible path for you to take," Valtor declared as he stood and held out his hand for her. Bloom didn't take it.

"This whole vacation thing, it's really just…a bandaid sort of deal," she said with a sigh before turning slightly so she could lie on the grass without the huge tree trunk in the way. "It's like the night-light thing I made you—it doesn't actually kill the spirits it just makes them go away for a bit, yeah?"

After a brief pause, Valtor crouched again before rolling on his back and lying beside her. "These proverbial dark spirits of yours, what can I do to make them go away?"

Bloom snorted at the branches spider-webbed across her view of the sky. "Can you came make all those power snatchers go away?"

"Yes."

No hesitation. Bloom's eyes widened slightly and she turned her head towards him. He was staring right back; dead, dead serious.

"Yes, I can. If you help me." He turned on his side to face her better and said, "We don't have to keep ducking and hiding if you wish to do otherwise. We can fight."

Bloom gasped softly.

"Is that what you want, Bloom?" Valtor pressed. "To fight back?"

Bloom clenched her jaw and returned Valtor's hard gaze. She nodded firmly.

Slowly, a smile spread across his face.

"Hey! Bloom! It's uh…it's me again. I was just wondering if you're okay and hope that you're not dead or kidnapped or…something else bad. Bye." Sky pulled the phone away before going "oh!" and bringing it back to say, "Um, this is Brandon by the way. Again." He hung up, stared at the blank screen, and sighed heavily.

"She seemed like a powerful fairy," Brandon pointed out, doing his usual shirtless weighted bicep curls. "She'll be fine, dude."

"Yeah but if Faragonda of all people was scared of this guy, he's even more powerful. Besides, she's new to all this," Sky fell back on the bed with a sigh. "I'm seriously worried."

"Who is this chump anyway?" Brandon demanded, placing the weights down with a final grunt of exertion. "I mean is Baltor Mike some notorious criminal or…?"

"I couldn't tell you. Searching his name just brings up the latest stories," Sky muttered in frustration.

"Well that makes no sense," Brandon said. He crossed the room to get the closet and shimmied out of his pants. "If she's so scared of him he has to exist as someone dangerousright? At least before the whole fiasco last week."

"You'd think right?" Sky asked, rolling to his side to watch Brandon wrap a towel around his waist.

"Tell you what, after my date I'll help you research him. Maybe he's some ancient obscure wizard from the Mid-Nowhere Dimension, who knows?"

"No way," Sky laughed as he sat up. "You scored a date with Princess Stella."

Brandon shot a grin over his shoulder. "I scored a date with Princess Stella. I'll tell you how it goes, yeah?" And with that he disappeared into the bathroom with a wink tossed over his shoulder.

Sky smiled at the shut door before jumping as the phone rumbled at his side. His heart leapt into his throat as he snatched up the phone, only for it to thud down in disappointment when he saw the caller ID. With a sigh he pressed talk.

"Hey, Diaspro!" Sky said in a strained voice. "How are you?" His stomach churned guiltily that just seconds ago he'd been worried about a completely different girl.

-break-

Marigold, capitol of Linphea, was quite unlike Magix—there were no cars, little to no technology, and no hustle and bustle. The inhabitants all wore breezy clothes that allowed their skin to appreciate the balmy, breezy weather of the dimension and there were store-fronts made from large flower buds, outdoor eating areas atop bloomed daises and apartments carved into colossal stems; Bloom certainly would have loved it, Valtor thought, and to her credit she was enjoying scenery as much as she could. Between her determined, forward facing gaze, her bright eyes would dart to a store front floating down from a large leaf, or a group of Enchantix fairies patrolling the skies, and light up endearingly.

Valtor led her in his newest disguise—a dark haired fellow still sporting his usual long hair, but possessing loose curls that Valtor found he quite liked. No glasses this time, though his eyes remained the bright green of Baltor Mike.

Soon, the two found themselves before a wide vine covered tower decorated in vines and flowers. The tree it was craved from was a soft spring pink and the spire was a flower clamped tightly in a bud. The crowd was dense here, filled with knowledge passionate citizens, students and important officials coming and going.

"Here it is, one of the most prestigious libraries in the Magical Dimension," Valtor declared as he gestured towards the tall wooden double doors. Bloom's noise of delighted awe was cut with a snort as Valtor continued, "Asparagus."

"Seriously?" She giggled dubiously. "Asparagus?"

Valtor chuckled as the two made there way forwards. "Yes, well, Linphea folk are fairly uninspired with their naming habits." Two fairies passing by shot him unhappy sideways glares that he apathetically ignored.

"In their defence, Magix is called…Magix," Bloom pointed out.

"It's a reference to fairies' magic winx, it's at least somewhat clever," Valtor said. "Now, we should hurry. Our first line of business is making sure those bastards from Omega never come after us again."

Bloom, who'd been briefly distracted by the wide round room and the shelves carved into the wood and the bobbing fairy lights spun towards and hurried after him. "What's Omega?"

"A planet you dare not set foot on." The fact that he had to go back there made him greatly uneasy, but now that he had Bloom's semi-blessing to act a little darker, it only made sense to destroy the biggest risk to his identity exposure as soon as possible and by any means necessary.

"I'm going to warn you right now; I am not good at studying,"

"No studying required," Valtor said as he ran his hands across the book spines. "I know what I'm looking for. Ah." He smiled languidly and pulled out a twig thin tome. "Anna Bellborne, one of Linphea's most powerful witches and influential spell creators." Bloom looked down at it over his shoulder and hummed.

"If she's a witch then why's it called The Fair Book of Flower Fairy Spells?"

Valtor met her gaze with a smirk. "Because Linphea folk fear witches—as does most of the Magic Dimension." He turned on his heel and gestured her after him with a tilt of his head. "They fear power. And so she pretended to be something else."

"Are witches more powerful than fairies?" Bloom asked as they migrated to the other end of the wide room towards a row of doors.

"Not inherently. However—" He paused before a door labelled 5. Right above was a long plague proclaiming, Silent Study. The jerked his head to coax Bloom inside before knocking the door twice to get the top half of the wood to carve OCCUPIED into its surface. He entered and shut the door behind him before continuing, "—they're far more willing to experiment with the taboo. Most fairies enjoy the perception of their inherent goodness too much to be creative. Right then." Valtor dropped the book atop the lone desk occupying the room. It was far more dim than the main library, bearing only one small window instead of one large one, but there was a chandelier above them that would do.

"Aw, there's no magic lights in here," Bloom said with a frown.

"Depending on what it is, it could interfere with any magic someone wishes to practice in here," Valtor explained off handedly as he flipped through the book. "If it's too dark for you there should be a light switch somewhere." He'd just found the spell he was looking for when the room exploded with vivacious warm light. Frowning, Valtor looked up to find Bloom glowing orange. Her hair swam in an invisible current, her eyes were closed, and her palms were upturned and pushing out orbs of light like heated bubbles. Two…four…six rose from her hands before she let them drop and the glowing from her body disappeared. In place of her warmth, the fiery orbs floated around the room and brightened it instead.

She opened her eyes and grinned proudly at him. "I think I'm getting better at control and stuff."

Valtor smiled at his protege, beaming in the centre of her creations almost as warm and vivacious as she was. "Very nice, Bloom. Now, Look this over will you?"

Bloom obediently went to his side and tilted her head with a frown. "'Flower Growth,'" she read. "What's the have to do with…?"

"Ah, ah," Valtor tapped the bold cursive lettering. "Look again."

Bloom squinted and leaned forward before jerking backwards with a gasp. Ah, she saw it now.

Core Tether.

"There's a spell on the book!"

"Indeed. As I said, a wonderful witch. This spell in particular—" he tapped the title. "—heavily inspired my own signature spell."

"Ooh," Bloom said with wide excited eyes. "Signature spell? What's it do?"

"You'll see in time, I'm sure," Valtor said vaguely as he held out his hand towards her. "Stay calm, yes? Stay calm and follow the instructions to the letter."

The word "stunned" didn't quite factor in what Faragonda was feeling at the moment. It was too minuscule too…mundane. It didn't fully encapsulate the body quaking fear that shuddered through her bones at the sight of what lay before her, or the fact that her nerves could not feel the bitter cold (she, the guards, and Their Majesties were in a tecno-magic sphere, but surely she should've felt something), or the spirit of Grizelda harrumphing an "I told you so". Her eyes did not take in the guards surrounding her, or the other ice cocoons nearby. All she could see was a pile of ice and a fallen nameplate—"Valtor".

"When?" Faragonda breathed just above a whisper.

"About a week or two ago."

"Any you've told nobody about this?"

"If these fools hadn't felt the need to tell their rulers," King Teredor began in a clipped tone, glare leveled at his guards who were looking anywhere but at him or his horrified wife Queen Niobe. "Then it seems that yes, this information—this deadly information—was kept to themselves." He, like Faragonda and his wife, wore heavily padded outfits. Although theirs were covered in intricate swirls coloured in silver against the rich blue cloth.

"We…" one man swallowed, staring down at the snow. "We were trying to bring him back and keep panic to a minimum—"

"I would like to know how well that has worked out for you, seeing as how the Solarian heirloom has been stolen, Magix has been consumed with a psychic spell, and an innocent girl has been roped into his schemes." Teredor's voice cracked like a whip, and the men flinched. Even though she wasn't the angry tongue's target, Faragonda tensed sharply as well.

"We've lost an entire squadron of men," the guard admitted quietly.

Teredor's nostrils flared in agitation before he turned to Niobe and nodded. "We will hold an assembly with the other rulers of the Magic Dimension. We will find a resolu—"

The ground heaved and sent the entourage to their knees with cries of surprise before searing light exploded through the frigid air. Years of battle practice had Faragonda staggering swiftly to her feet and spinning around with arms spread and a shield at the ready. She was dizzy and blurry eyed from the explosion, and a chunk of ice had sliced her brow but her glare remained firmly on the silhouette emerging from the curtain of vivacious flame.

"You…" a horrifyingly familiar voice began, "will not leave this place."

Queen Niobe let out a horrified cry as King Teredor swiftly pulled her to her feet and made for the exit. The prison guards surrounded them, guns leveled at the wizard who's cold eyes and arrogant smirk never once left the Headmistress before him.

"Faragonda." Such a contrast to his smirk; his voice was growled, teeth bared to reveal gums, and loathing shimmered in his eyes.

Faragonda lifted her chin, eyes full of a similar fire. "Valtor." He was positively brimming with power but how was this possible? Surely he wouldn't be hiding if—

Valtor charged and Faragonda strengthened her shields, but he wasn't after her at all. He leaped into the air and held aloft a hand, and Faragonda moved to shoot an energy blast at him that immediately crashed into one of his own.

One of his millions to be more exact.

Orbs of flame shot rapid fire in every direction, fracturing ground, wall, and ceiling alike. Gritting her teeth, before using one hand to create a one way shield, and the other to chill the already bitingly cold surrounding her, murmuring an old Dyamond spell.

…why was it barely working? Why was heat still causing the air to bend in a mirage? Why was Omega still—oh!

Icy prisons all around cracked and shattered as villains of all sorts began to claw their way out of captivity. As the rain of flame seized, their snarls and roars of triumph echoed throughout the world. In the distance, there were gun shots and yells. Quickly, she swapped the spell she whispered feverishly under her breath, and watched in relief as the criminals collapsed in a deep sleep against the ice that was rapidly failing to hold them.

"Oh, don't waste your magic for a temporary tranquilizer, Faragonda. Besides, don't you want company for you and their Majesties?" Faragonda jerked her head up to watch as her old foe grinned down at her from the air. Something was different, however. The raw power that had been radiating from his being just prior had dissipated, and though he tried to hide it, his chest was rising and falling rapidly in an attempt to regain breath.

"I see," Faragonda said with narrowed eyes. "You've made use of that mark of yours again. Whose will did you sap this time? That girl?"

His sneer collapsed immediately into a thunderous snarl. "Her will is her own. Besides that, I don't need meddlesome fools such as yourself knowing about my presence at this time." His smirk slowly returned as he lowered his floating body vertically, hands crossed behind his back but still sparking with warning magic. Arrogant but not foolish. "This is why instead of giving you the painful end that you deserve, I've made this place your temporary limbo."

Faragonda scoffed and rose slowly in the air to meet him eye to eye, hands also glowing at the ready. "If you can't defeat me, you certainly can't defeat the old magic that keeps portals from breeching Omega—even ones leading to limbo."

Valtor laughed in her face and shook his head. The sharp grin was back. "Oh, no portals, Faragonda. Just desserts." He straightened and floating back from her, eyes shimmering with malice as he said, "do stay alive for me to properly kill."

She felt the air grow heavy before she saw the geyser of flame burst from the ruined ice wall at her right. She spun and rose her hands for a shield in instant, and shifted the shield to change its trajectory a mere moment later, but in that moment the bastard wizard was inexplicably gone, and her deflected attack only served to slam against whatever lay in the distance.

Just desserts. Now what did that mean?

Faragonda shook her head and landed on the frigid floor with a heavy sigh. His riddles didn't matter—the Magic Dimension needed to be warned. A snap of her fingers, and she teleported before the…

Ah.

Among the mess of ice stalactites and chunks of snow, lay the innocent and completely undisturbed portal—or it would've been had it not been for the glaring V shaped mark singed onto its surface.

Well she understood his riddles now.

Bloom didn't think magic could hurt to cast until this spell.

"The depths of my soul, I give to you. The depths of my soul, I give to you…" it was okay at first once she'd got it going. Magic like a lightning bolt shocked her system, and she jumped. Valtor inhaled sharply at his side, before a slow smile spread across his face, eyes falling closed. "Good," he murmured in an almost sleepy daze. "That's good, Bloom."

"It's working?" Bloom checked excitedly. The sizzling stopped and her hair stopped floating in the invisible magic current.

"Keep chanting," Valtor squeezed her shoulder and smiled. "I'll be back soon." And then he'd left the library room, but when was soon?

Bloom's tongue was heavy and her body was shaking and it felt like something in her chest was being scooped out like ice-cream. Not to mention the lightning in her bones was getting hotter and hotter and—

"Bloom?"

Bloom gasped and her eyes snapped open. She was blinking and squinting at the table leg in confusion before squeezing her eyes shut and groaning as a headache exploded in her head.

"Steady," Valtor said as he gently helped her sit up and lean against him. Bloom let out a little mumble of gibberish. "Hm?" he prompted.

"Did…you stop them?" She asked weakly.

Valtor chuckled in a dark way that rumbled in his chest. He smoothed his hair as he said, "Oh, I did even more than that."

Him admitting that unnerved Bloom a bit, but she smiled anyway.

They were a little safer now. That was good.

AN: Hi everyone.

I'm sorry for the lack of updates. I haven't been feeling very well. I hope you enjoyed this chapter.

Fantasy Fan OUT!