Bloom was sure she became insane. Once she regained some consciousness, she could tell that the space around her clearly wasn't the Omega dimension. There were colours, nature and most importantly, life all around her. Bloom slowly rubbed her eyes, clearing her sight as if in disbelief. Birds were carelessly flying above her head, and wild animals peeked their heads behind nearby stones.
She knew this place. All of it.
The big lake in the open field, the hidden cave deep inside it, Daphne's ghost that was hovering there. But it didn't make any sense. The last thing she remembered was passing out on the ice. And now, somehow she was next to the Roccaluce lake. She opened her palm, finding Stella's ring gone. Which meant someone had brought her there. Someone had gone to Omega for her and gotten her out.
But she didn't know anyone who cared enough to do so. At least, apart from the girls, but if it was them, then they would have been next to her right now. There were no traces of anyone else around her though. Bloom released a long sigh. She had finally lost it completely.
Who else would want to endure the hell that is Omega just to get to her? And why would they just dump her here after going through such troubles? Or maybe they just wanted the ring, even though Bloom still had no clue how it got into her hand. It felt like her memory was so blurry that there were no clear pictures within it anymore.
So she did the only thing that sort of made sense. "Daphne can you hear me?" she called out towards the lake. Bloom felt a wave of relief as a transparent figurine of her sister appeared on the water surface. She wished, now more than ever to be held in someone's safe arms. Daphne's expression held utter surprise and a visible layer of fear.
"Bloom? How are you here?" her voice was just as soothing as always and Bloom did her best to get up and run towards her, but her body gave out. She was so exhausted and worn down from the last couple of- weeks? Months? She had lost count. Her body simply refused to move. Daphne let herself drift towards her though, her palm moving to her younger sister's beaten face.
"Oh Daphne, you have no idea how good it feels to see you," Bloom managed to somehow crawl a little bit closer to the edge of the lake. Daphne ran her hand across Bloom's forehead, a touch neither of them could feel. "You are hurt," she said, and it was then that Bloom touched her head and felt a small scratch there. And like everything else, she didn't know how she had gotten it.
"I can't stay for very long," Daphne whispered, tone of her voice saddening. It was clear she had missed Bloom too.
"Faragonda told me what they have done to you... I refused to accept it, I wanted to protest, but of course, I had no saying. Bloom, I am so sorry." Even in her ghost form, Bloom could see tears gathering up in her eyes. Each one rolled down her cheeks and then continued to spill down her skin. And once they should have fallen and hit the water, they completely vanished. The idea of Daphne leaving now, of letting her stay on her own again, made the pain in Bloom's heart ignite once more.
"How did you get free?" she asked at last after Bloom hadn't given her a response.
"I- I don't know. My memory is a bit... hazy."
Daphne now looked, highly concerned as well, and Bloom wasn't sure what to do, to ease the situation. She didn't want to lie and tell her that everything was fine, because clearly, it wasn't. It just felt so relieving to see Daphne that Bloom didn't want to waste that precious time talking about Omega.
"Did you hear anything about the Winx?"
Her sister's eyes sharpened for a slight second, but she didn't say anything. Instead, her figurine began to quiver as if ready to fade away. "I think my time has run out, I- I have to go back."
Bloom pushed hard against the ground, dragging herself to Daphne, but it was useless, there was nothing she could do. "Please-" she said with her voice breaking: "Daphne, please- please don't leave me alone."
"I will see you again Bloom, this isn't a goodbye-" her sentence was cut short because in the next moment she had dissolved. Bloom wrapped her hands around her trembling chest. She didn't know what to do now. No one would accept her if she returned to Alfea, Red Fountain would chain her up and toss right back to Omega and the Cloud Tower was off-limits.
She let her tears smudge her face again, her sobs fill her ears. Entirely alone, all over again. Not even that fire that had kept her alive in the ice was there. The whole world had truly given up on her.
And that is when she heard a voice.
"I am never going to start understanding Faragonda," Stella complained while removing yet another branch from in front of her. "After we tell her that Valtor is involved in this, how does she react? She sends us on a wild goose chase for his lair. Again."
"Maybe if you spent more time looking you would actually notice something," Tecna replied sarcastically. Because she agreed with Stella completely. Faragonda was so busy lately that she treated them like children who didn't have any business meddling in any of this. As if they didn't stop the Trix during their very first year in Alfea.
The rest of the girls just gave them looks when they returned to their suite, after alerting Faragonda. None spoke but Tecna noticed that even Musa was avoiding making any sort of long eye contact with her. And they were roommates.
All of them, the school faculty not just the Winx, have searched the woods countless times and there was never anything out of the ordinary, let alone anything Valtor related. For all they knew, he was probably crushing down another kingdom as they spoke.
"I am just being honest. Faragonda doesn't trust us anymore, the girls are acting like Bloom is just as bad as the Trix and the two of us are hanging out. Nothing makes any sense," Stella stopped and sat on the nearest rock.
"I will try not to get offended because my statistics match up with your words," Tecna answered and sat next to her, stretching out her hands and feet. They have been walking and wandering around the woods for hours. There was nothing to be found out there. And Tecna seriously doubted that Valtor would be stupid enough to leave any clues behind.
"You um never, you never said how all of this was affecting you," Stella tried, biting the inside of her lip. She wasn't used to feeling anxiety while talking. That was usually one of her strongest suits. Tecna looked just as confused as she met her eyes.
Rarely has anyone ever asked her anything related to her feelings. Everyone either saw her as an emotionless machine or just a super closed off introvert. Musa knew better than to pry in that area. And with Timmy... it was different with him for sure. Therefore talking about such wasn't something she was good at.
"Actually, I mostly agree with you. I do miss Bloom. She is not to blame for any of this. And I guess with Valtor at our throats I must admit I am scared too."
"Wow, I never took you for someone who gets spooked by an enemy," Stella said and smiled wildly, she was clearly trying to lighten up the mood.
"Well, he is way more powerful than anyone we faced so far. And with the Winx club gone, my statistics aren't sure we have a chance."
There was something in her words that caught the most of Stella's attention. "You think the club is done?"
The question hung in the air for a couple of minutes before Tecna spoke again.
"I don't want it to be. But with Bloom gone and the girls against us..."
Stella nodded, she knew that it was like that, it was just hard to hear someone openly say it. She got up again and grabbed Tecna's wrist, pulling her up. "We have miles more to cover, lets get going."
The area they were in wasn't that familiar to either of them, but it wasn't that far from Alfea. Stella was pretty sure that Bloom's Roccaluce lake was in close proximity. Bloom had told her how Faragonda took her there to meet Daphne for the first time. Stella herself has never been there though.
"800 more meters west and then we can call it a day," she said turning around to Tecna. The technology fairy tapped something into one of the devices and nodded with approval. Once they got back she was going to soak in the bathtub for hours.
Stella was about to head forward when she heard a rumbling sound from among the trees. "Did you hear anything?" she asked Tecna in a low voice.
Her friend looked around and just shrugged.
But then Stella heard it again, and this time she was sure someone was trying to speak. She cocked her head in that direction so Tecna wouldn't walk in any other way. The blonde fairy summoned a ball of the sun into her palm and started to step further into the woods.
Bloom was sure it was Stella's voice that she had heard. She knew it by heart, having lived with her for 2 years. And at that moment nothing mattered more than to reach her.
"...then we can call it a day," she heard her best friend state. Something warm spread through Bloom's heart. Something she hadn't felt in so long. Warmth. And not physical like a fire, but the warmth of friendship and love. A reason to keep fighting forward. She had lacked that voice.
"Stella-" she tried saying but her voice was indistinct and frail. She couldn't get to her feet either. So Bloom started to mess with the ground around her. Shaking the fallen branches, the dead leaves, the small rocks in her reach. Anything just to draw attention.
For a small bit, she thought she failed, that Stella had left and she would stay stuck there. Dread crept up into her bones again. But then she heard distant footsteps growing closer.
However, then she saw Stella's blonde and long hair, her sparkling, shocked eyes growing wide at the sight. Tecna was right behind her. She saw Stella abruptly stop and suck in a breath. Their eyes locked across the clearing.
Bloom, laying barely alive on the ground and Stella just as Bloom remembered her. "Stella is that-" Tecna asked but the blonde was already running. The fire fairy rarely saw Stella run, but now there she was, heading straight for her.
She knelt to the floor next to her and pulled her in her arms without asking any questions. Shock spread through Bloom. This was all she wanted while she was in Omega. To get to hug her friends again. To not be so alone anymore. And now- all of it was happening. She embraced Stella back with all strength she still had. Bloom began crying instantly, her tears wetting Stella's probably designer coat.
"How am I seeing you right now? Is this real?" Stella moved her head away to look into Bloom's face. She touched her hand to Bloom's pale cheek.
"It's me, Stella. It's me."
Another person had joined in on the hug. Tecna had slowly gotten closer, making sure that Bloom wasn't some kind of conjured illusion. "We were so worried, I can't believe you are really here right now," Stella went on rambling. Bloom couldn't process the words, she could only melt further into their embrace.
"I don't know what happened-" Bloom started saying but Stella cut in: "
"You are freezing cold and deathly pale, we are going to take care of you first." When she moved away Bloom saw that Stella was crying just as badly as she was.
"Stella, where exactly are we going to bring her?"
The sun fairy realised she hadn't really thought the process through. "Alfea. There is nowhere else that she can get medical care."
"What makes you think they won't turn her in, to the Council right away?"
Stella looked back at Bloom who was now barely keeping her eyes open. "Fair point. Fine, I rent a room in Magix, you go get Faragonda but without saying the reason." Tecna didn't look very convinced but she nodded.
"It's okay Bloom, you're safe now," she whispered into her ginger hair. Stella had never seen her friend in more of a dishevelled state than right then.
"Stella- please stay with me, please-" she mumbled out, giving her hand a light squeeze before dozing off into unconsciousness again.
"Don't worry, I won't."
When he wasn't conquering realms or keeping an eye on Bloom, Valtor spent his time either in his hideout or in one of the secluded bars in Magix.
On this fine night, after getting rid of the annoying redhead, he sat at a barstool in one of those. He decided to use a new disguise this time, a 20-year-old student of Dark arts, whose right side of the head was shaven, the other covered in black curls of hair.
"Little bit young for this place, aren't you lad?" asked the grumpy bartender he had met on several occasions, just wearing another face. Valtor rolled his eyes and finished his whiskey. It wasn't the kind he usually favoured but it served the image. A lost soul in the dirtiest part of Magix.
"I like the eyeliner, it's hot," said one of the waitresses as she refilled his glass and winked seductively. On any other day Valtor might even bite in for the game, but not tonight. Tonight he was here for intel.
"I heard that the famous fire fairy went to school in Alfea here, that true?" he asked her instead, seeing as she looked away almost embarrassed.
"Rumours have it she also transferred to Cloud Tower after injuring one of the fellow fairies. Others, however, say she is currently rotting in jail, " another voice said trailing along his skin up to his ear. The stranger rested their head on his shoulder, hands playing with the curls of his hair. "Want to know what I think?" Valtor nodded, letting the show go on.
"I think she chose to go. That she joined that Valtor wizard and it's only time until she lets the dimension know it too." At that Valtor nearly choked on his drink. He spun around toward the stranger and found a guy smirking at him. He was handsome, that much Valtor himself admitted.
"Why would someone as powerful as him align himself with a mere fairy?" he asked, trying to keep the man interested enough. So Valtor decided to play dirty, toying around with the edges of his shirt and pulling him more towards him. He always enjoyed a good flirting game.
"It's just hearsay but, apparently she is even more powerful than him and he is the one who is a sidekick. But who knows?" then he straightened his back and blew a kiss at Valtor, handing a folded piece of paper to him. It smelled very flowery. Inside he found a phone number.
There was only so much Valtor could take, so he stood up, set the 100$ bill down on the bar and walked out without a glance back. The paper laid forgotten on the floor of the bar.
So that's what people were saying about him on the streets. That he was weak, that he could be someone's lapdog. Valtor felt repulsed by even imagining Bloom controlling anything he did.
He got a sudden idea and started to run it over in his head when he collided with someone from the opposite direction. He was about to demand the person to watch it when he recognized the stranger.
It was hard not to remember the princess of Solaria. The irritating fairy didn't even pay any attention to him, she quickly apologized and rushed down the street. He noticed a magic trail behind her, indicating that she was using it at that very moment. He wondered if she was hiding something with a spell and that was why she was in such a rush.
Well, thought Valtor as he turned to follow her, this night might actually turn out fun.
/Notes: So someone finally got to Bloom! Thoughts on the reunion scene? Also if anyone is wondering, yes, Valtor is fully queer in this fanfiction. Why? Because I'm queer and I said so. Jokes aside, I really feel like that he could be a tease and a flirt with everyone and that definitely not just towards women. If you have any more questions, feel free to leave them along with your opinions down in the comments! P.S. Totally unrelated: Is there anyone here who is watching The Owl House? It's such a comfort show to me, Idk how I will survive the hiatus. I miss Lumity and Reada so much./