I would like to make a special message to say merry Christmas to everyone and a special holiday as we come close to the end of the year. I have been so busy with my winter job that I really liked it but hoped by my fingers crossed to keep it to continue working and earn wages, but sadly it was only temporally.
This was a long one but in the later chapters be shorter and will add some episodes but will slowly change course from the canon.
It was the reason for being so busy but have more free time now to work on my stories and my comic. Hope you all have a great day and have lots of presents to open, foods and drinks to dine and music!
This chapter will have a special tribute to a man we sadly lost to us last month, a man who created the greatest known superheroes and reasons to love comic books. I know this fanfic is not related to Marvel but wanting to make something to honour to the greatest person who we loved.
R.I.P. Stan Lee, died 95.
Merry Christmas everyone!
Chapter 5: The Three Witches
The keybladers and the fairies boarded the bus to take them to the place called Magix City as the capital of the entire Magic Dimension. Bloom was very excited to see it but Stella wanted her to close her eyes before they get there, wanting it to be a surprise for her. The wielders of the keyblade didn't need to but not wanting to spoil it for the red head.
Ben was thinking of other things, noticing Taren was having a sleep on his spot behind him, probably to catch up on his sleep when they had to get up early to fix up Bloom's home. Then noticing Mal sat by herself, noticing the book she was sketching, since they met she hadn't said much about her personal life apart from being a witch and not much of a social person to people other then him, Taren and the masters during their training. While the girls were getting to know each other until they reach the city he might as well move to the seat behind her.
"Hey." The prince greeted her.
Mal turned around and noticed it was Ben coming up to her. "Oh, sorry didn't see you there." Not minding him taking the seat next to her, but wondering what brought him to sit with her. "Something up?"
Shrugged his shoulders and smiles a little. "Nope, just checking on ya, the girls want to keep this a surprise for Bloom on her first day and Taren… well, a sleep anyway." Pointing his thumb to the red head leaning against the window with his eyes closed and arms folded across his chest.
"If you're asking me about waking him up, I'll do it if it involves splashing or putting itching powder." Mal always loved to make some practical jokes on Taren since the two started a bond of rivalry, normally not on Ben but unless involved combat training. Especially when getting the son of the heroes out of bed if been giving more then one wake-up call.
Ben shook his head, although sometimes funny to see him dance about with itching powder, but not in front of their new friends. "No, nothing like that. I was seeing how you were doing since we got here. Just thought if something was up."
The purple haired witch/keyblade wielder looked at him for a moment and was somewhat uneasy about it. "Nothing. Just thought she reminded me of the time leaving home for this." Gave a quick response and turned to the window. "You should know what it must feel to leave yours behind."
"Yeah, I… kinda guess you're right. I mean, not easy for everyone." Ben said to her. Wasn't sure but he had a feeling she was a little hesitated when he asked her, but he didn't want to go further and decided to go along with it. Least until she was ready. "Thing is I just wanted to be sure you were ok, you know as any friend would look out for each other."
Mal almost made a surprised look on her face when he said she was a friend, at first when she first met the two, she didn't think much about forming a bond with either of them but was a slow progress over the months. Hearing this from Ben made her feel like something she didn't expected, what was it? Special? "Really? I… guess that makes some sense. But what do you think of the girls with us?"
Ben thought about it and believes them to be nice and getting along well, thankfully Stella didn't spill on their secret. The pinkette named Tecna, seems to be a little edgy with them. "So far they seem ok, but I still think we should be careful."
"Oh, yeah, especially that Tecna. Get the feeling she may be not buy our story. But how long d'you think they find out Bloom isn't who she is?" Mal gave advice to him. Just before they got on the bus, Stella explained to the trio how she convinced Bloom to play along as the princess Varanda in her place. They were a little reluctant but didn't want to ruin Bloom's goal of becoming a fairy, however, they weren't entirely convinced that it could work.
"Come on, you're probably just over thinking it." Ben thought she was getting a little ahead of herself. But also thinking of how long Bloom can keep up the act.
The two looked through the window and realised they in the city and were amazed by the advancements the capital of an entire dimension has for them to see, the bus finally stopped and opened the doors for everyone to get out. Taren woke up after feeling the bus stopped moving and joined everyone to get off and couldn't believe just how advance the city is, more impressive then Radiant Garden or the city of Auradon.
"Wow." Which was all Taren could describe of the city.
"I know it's amazing isn't it?" Turned to the brunette, Flora that was her name who gave a giggle of their reaction. "First time I came here, I couldn't believe how big the city is."
Taren couldn't deny that, hasn't visited many worlds apart from a handful but never been to anyplace like this. "Yeah, I know some back home would love to see this. Feels like being in some future or something."
They waited for Bloom who the last to disembark and was guided by Tecna with her eyes closed.
"Are we there yet? Can I open my eyes?" Bloom was too excited and anxious to see the city. Not even sure how long she can stay calm.
"Sure. Go ahead, take a look." Tecna let go of her and stepped back to see her reaction. The keyblade wielders shared a thought that Bloom's reaction be awe and amazement like theirs; instead she looked a little... disappointed.
Mal was confused by her expression as the others were. Placed her left hand on her hip. "Uh, Bloom shouldn't you be, I dunno, excited maybe?" She asked.
"Yeah, you look disappointed." Musa agreed with her and expected to be amazed.
"Sorry, but of course I'm disappointed. This is it? Magix? Capital of the Realm of Magic? The most enchanted city in the universe?" Walked about and threw her arms out to the city as she asked them.
"Well, this so far convinced me? What were you expecting?" Ben asked her, although he had to admit that they were expecting some magical feel here then all high tech that's present.
"I dunno, dragons, unicorns, magical shops for wands and stuff." Bloom said, something she thought since coming here and maybe some witches on broomsticks.
"You know, she has a good point considering this is a world of magic." Taren scratched his head when agreeing with Bloom.
Mal rolled her eyes. "And this is from someone who reads a lot of comic books."
"But that's fairy tale stuff. THIS is the real world." Stella explained to them. "Here, everything lives off it's own magical energy. Magic is everywhere." As the Moon and Sun fairy explained, the wielders could indeed feel a lot of magic around them since they arrived.
Bloom yelped and jumped out of the way for the car to pass through, they see it park nearby and what surprised the four was the driver using magic to create a space between two cars to move in.
Mal was interested in what that driver did in the parking area. She would definitely want to learn new magical abilities that could come in handy. "That's actually impressive."
"I know, that's the beauty of having magic." Musa said to her.
Stella clapped her hands to get their attention. "Okay, now that we're all settled its time for some fun."
"And now lets eat." Flora said before they walk off to wherever there was food, but unknown to them was a sphere-shaped probe, similar to the spindly-legged on from Earth was floating through the air, its single eye focused on the group, especially towards four individuals; the keyblade apprentices and Bloom.
"It's them. And they're in Magix." Tezzeret watched through the probe, he couldn't risk using a Grimm to spy on them without, not without further analysis of their abilities if they can sense the creatures so he'll have to do with machines for other purposes.
He spotted an Ogre who almost ran into the probe before he stopped, looked all panicked and stared at it in curiosity. "Knut! What are you doing?" He knew it was the creature that served his allies.
Knut backed off and recognised the voice. "M-Master Tezzeret! S-Sir! Please forgive me, I didn't know it was your robot, but I just found the girls in Magix and was about to alert my highnesses. They were heading downtown as you can see."
"Indeed, and seems the keyblade wielders are with them. I'll call the witches and set up a meeting place over there, we will plan out how to capture the princess' staff. In the meantime, you keep a close watch of them, especially those three." Tezzeret instructed them.
"Y-Yes sir! I won't fail!" Knut stuttered and didn't want to get on his bad side.
Cutting off the link to get in touch with other contacts to inform them. Waiting for a moment until a young girl's voice spoke. "Yes?"
"It is me. Knut has found the Solarian princess, along with the girl and the keyblade apprentices who fought the ogre on Earth." Tezzeret stated.
"Where are they now?"
"They just arrived at Downtown in Magix, Knut will be keeping an eye on them."
"Meet us at the Witches alley, you better not loose them." She told him, sounding eager and impatient which irritated the elder male.
Frowns softly by her lack of manners and responded. "Patience, young witch. Do remember that I agreed to work with you and your sisters to accomplish both our goals."
He could hear a 'hmph' sound coming from her end. "Fine then, but you better hold up your end of the deal as well, old man. We'll meet you in the ally and bring Knut along and we can discuss our plans steal the sceptre from the princess."
"Understood, but be sure not to be followed. Tezzeret out." Hanging up and left to his own thoughts, thinking of the way the leader spoke and needed to understand the means of becoming a greater witch if she and her sisters want to become queens of Magix someday. He will have to keep an eye on them.
A beeping sound caught his attention showing one of the probes suddenly gone off the grid. Curious as it was the same one that he spoke through to Knut. Typing away on his keyboard, ordering the nearest drone in the city to investigate while unable to connect it. "What's this?" On the screen, revealed that it was utterly destroyed with pieces scatted in the alley like it exploded. No, shot by the hold had. This did not go well, someone must be on to him and his allies. He will have to be cautious and make certain no one stands in his way.
As the sun began to set, the students found a restaurant and managed to find a large table to share and began having their meals, getting to know each other during the time. The keyblade wielders were a bit skeptic of what food Magix had to offer, especially Bloom who never been to the Magic Dimension but turned out to be really good then expected.
"So you got expelled for blowing up a lab? And they let you back in?" Taren couldn't believe what he just heard. When they heard about what happened to the potions lab caused by Stella, her father had to pay for the damages and got expelled. Fortunately for her, the headmistress was a believer in second chances and allowed her back in. Mal had to admit, it did sounded awesome if she didn't got expelled.
Stella simply shrugged as she explained it many times since they arrived. "Well, no one got hurt and I was trying to go for a new style."
"Yeah, and Griselda was so mad you should've seen the look on her face." Musa could easily tell how fuming she was that morning.
Mal smiles softly after finishing her drink. "I could've done better doing something like that. Back when I was 13 years old, was trying to make a bomb into art as an experiment. It gave such a bright colour to the dull boring street." Then her smile then dropped. "Pity I didn't work on the timing right."
Both Ben and Taren knew of her talents, during time when not training she would usually be in her own room for personal privacy. "Oh yeah, we've seen some she calls art." Taren mumbles and takes a sip of his glass.
"Oh come on, so you lost that challenge after my little trick." Mal said with a small grin and the boys flinched at the mention of it. The girls were curious to know what she was talking about.
"What? What happened?" Stella was eager to find out.
"Nothing happened." Taren replied quickly, acting like it was nothing.
"Correct." Ben agreed, much as he rather forget that day and hope she doesn't say anything.
Mal waved her hand. "Oh, something from our training. Maybe another time." She noticed Bloom with her phone and appears to be having a problem with it. "Something the matter?"
Bloom looks up and heard Mal asking her. "Seem to be having problems with my phone, its not working." Points her phone as Tecna was observing it. "See, I press down the number and nothing happens."
"Let me a look, I'm very good with electronic stuff." Tecna offered. Bloom handed her phone over to her if she can figure out the problem. As Tecna examined the device in her hand, she suddenly gave a soft laugh, gaining everyone's attention.
"What's so funny." Musa asked her.
Tecna stopped laughing and took off the covering. "This is prehistory technology. Where did you get that thing?" From the look of the keyblade wielders, they wondered if their phones are similar to Bloom's since their time on Earth.
Bloom was confused about it and didn't know what she meant. "But, it's the recent model." She said before Stella leaned to her in whisper.
"On Earth maybe."
Tecna felt bad when she laughed and decided to make it up to apologies to her. "Sorry, I shouldn't have laughed. It was rude."
Stella told her there be a phone that can allow her to contact her family back on Earth through inter-realm, which she can use to phone anyone on any planet or realm. Bloom managed to make a call back on Gardenia and hoping to check up on her parents, her mom picks up the phone and answered.
"Hello?"
"Hi, mom its me." Bloom replied.
"Bloom? How is your new school?"
She smiles as she replies. "School is wonderful, and I'm sharing an apartment with Stella and three other girls."
"Oh that's great, and how are your other friends?" Possibly asking about Taren, ben and Mal.
"Oh, their doing fine, they might be waiting for their teacher to show up. I think Taren and Ben might try out for one of the schools. Not sure which one Mal might choose. So the courses don't start until tomorrow morning, but don't worry I'll keep you posted."
"That's good to hear, hope you do well and maybe we might get a chance to see it." Bloom hopes so but was worried if they find out about her little lie to get in, she didn't want to get into trouble but had just found a place where she could truly be a fairy. At the corner of her eye, she potted Knut, the ogre who attacked both Bloom and her friends yesterday, quickly covered her face as he walked past without noticing her, much to a great relief but worried he may be up to no good. "Mom, I gotta go now, my friends are calling me so big hug and kiss daddy for me please? Bye!" Takes the card out and immediately followed Knut
Back with the others as they left the restaurant, Taren spotted a familiar yellow skinned ogre walking about. "Guys, look!" He whispered to them without alerting the girls, both Mal and Ben recognised him from Earth.
"He must be going somewhere, he's gotta be connected to Tezzeret and the Grimm." Mal was sure of it.
"But, one of us should go and the others to stay behind for now, but just in case he's after Stella again or something happens." Taren stated and knew they all couldn't follow without giving away the element of surprise.
Mal stepped forward. "I'll do it, like I said earlier, my keyblade's ability allows me to infiltrate and hide my presence."
Ben was a little unsure. "You sure you're up to it?"
She gave him a confident smile. "Don't worry, I'll keep you updated and before they know it." Summonsing her Shadow of Redemption to her hand. With no one insight, including the girls she focused on her magic and the shadow beneath her feet suddenly expanded and pulled her downwards. The boys took a step back and watch as Mal's body descended into her shadow until her entire form was within it. The shapeless form slithered across the road and headed towards the direction the ogre took.
"Ok, have to admit, that's a pretty neat trick." Ben thought, even Taren had to agree with him on it.
"Yeah, but don't tell her that otherwise she'll brag about it."
"You guys alright out here?" Ben and Taren suddenly heard Tecna who approached the two and noticed the female member of the trio was missing. "Hey, where'd Mal go?" Looked around to see where she went.
"Oh, she suddenly went to the restroom. Wanting to take one before we start to head back." Taren told her as a cover for Mal's sudden absence.
She didn't know why but the two were hiding something and knew there was something up about the three since she and the girls met them. "Well, guess we gotta have to wait for her as well.
Taren was confused by what she meant by that. "Wait, hold up. Bloom isn't back yet?"
The magenta haired girl shook her head and thought they knew. "No, she didn't come back. It shouldn't take that long to find a public phone. I thought maybe you'd seen her."
Somehow the keyblade wielders had a bad feeling of where this was coming and didn't like it.
Both girls followed Knut while completely oblivious to the other's presence, Mal took a darker area with more darkness for advantage in the alley, inside the shadows her physical form remains intact and floated like she was in zero-gravity observing through the 'window' she finds three girls about her age with knut, she can sense strong magic from the three, more powerful then the fairies and a lot of negative phibes from them, which concludes that they must be witches. Bloom took cover from the trash to get a glimpse of them.
The first one, possibly the leader of the witches, had long snow-white hair pulled in a high pony-tail, wearing a blue one-piece suit and a cape along with it, boots of darker shades of blue to add, and along with long fingerless gloves
Another girl with long brown hair explained to her, wears a pair of yellow glasses. She wore a dark purple bodysuit with a pair of gloves and ankle boots to match the outfit.
A witch with frizzy purple hair shaped like a cloud and has cyan coloued eyes, pale skin and lightening bolt shaped lavender bangs, she wore a dark red dress with a flared collar, matching the elbow-length gloves that stop to the palms of her hands. Most of her outfit was maroon colour and lacked the cape the other two had.
"Well, knut?" Icy, the leader of the group asked, pointing her finger at him.
Knut was nervous of giving the news to the witches he worked for. "Uhh, I saw the blonde girl with the sceptre in the square. They're also with the ones who use the keyblades."
"We got to get that sceptre. It's the only thing to lead us to powers beyond our wildest dreams." She said, then out of the ground a dark swirling portal opened from the ground, the four watched as something came out and a small black creature emerged from the darkness. It was a black jellyfish-like creature, an orange glow as a single eye inside its spherical body and red tendrils hanging loose with bone-like plates. Each of the tips had white bony spikes.
Mal realised what that thing was, it was a Grimm! She couldn't tell what it was so has to be very careful of what it can do.
Bloom saw the thing come out, she had the same sense of feeling when those Grimm monsters that attacked Stella and Taren. She had a very bad vibe from it and stayed quiet to know what was going on.
"What is this... thing?" The one named Stormy asked, leaning towards the Grimm for a closer look.
"Its a Seer, Stormy, a type of Grimm that allows us to communicate with others who use them. But also for look outs which is useful." The one named Darcy explained to her sister.
"Well, it still looks gross." Darcy complained.
"Enough." A faint but stern voice spoke, coming from the Seer that caught the I am using a Seer to speak with you, I'm certain no one has followed you."
"I'm very certain. But what about those drones you sent out. Shouldn't they be on the look out?" Icy asked him through the Seer.
"Some of them have been destroyed, which means we must be very cautious. Especially the three who posses the keyblades."
"So do you have any clue of who they are?" Darcy asked him.
"Indeed. They are Mal, prince Ben and Taren. They are from the worlds I attacked with the Grimm many months ago. Forced to abandon their homes and to hide ever since thanks to Yen Sid protecting them." Mal could hear his voice, frowning and trying to keep a calm and level headed, remembering the carnage his monsters had done to her home. She will never forgive him for that.
Bloom was shocked upon hearing this news and suddenly realised the reason Taren was feeling down that night. They must've been forced to leave their homes and families because of the Grimm and this person was responsible for it.
"I hardly doubt they be a problem, they're probably just on their training wheels." Icy scoffed. "We got Grimm on our side and can use them to take care of those idiots."
But Tezzeret didn't seem to approve of her choice of words. "You must not underestimate your foes. Though the fairies and specialists will not pose a problem to invade their schools, but the keyblade wielders are different compared to the others." He warned them in a serious tone.
Icy brushed his advice aside. "Whatever, but we should-"
"Hold on." Darcy called out to catch their attention. "We're being watched." This drawn the attention of the group, wondering what to do with the spy.
"Really, then perhaps we should 'invite' the guest over. Don't you agree?"
The witches smiled over the idea and eager for fun.
Inside the shadows, Mal was startled, she was certain they couldn't sense her presence. But, the one with brunette hair seems to be a sensor-type. Pulled up a sash to cover the bottom half of her face, she was preparing for a fight and surprise them. Watching the witch suddenly created a perfect copy of herself for whatever scheme she's up to. If she was being pulled into a fight, she might as well test her limits against these witches of the Magic Dimension.
Her phone vibrated from her pocket, talk about bad timing but maybe alert her friends and answered it. "Yeah, talk to me. But make it quick!"
"Mal? Sorry, but we seem to be missing Bloom. You haven't seen her have you?" Ben called her.
Much to her surprise when it wasn't her that was the culprit. It was Bloom who got the jump from one of the witches. "Uh, actually, I just did. And she's in big trouble. Lock on to my phone, hurry!" She must've followed him to the alley but had the unfortunate of being confronted by a very dangerous person and she won't stand a chance against them.
The witches snicker and smiled as they surrounded Bloom, who looked a little frightened but tried to show some courage like her friends. But it didn't help when creepy thing was floating beside them, looking down at her with that menacing gaze.
"I am a fairy." Bloom tried to use magic to defend herself, but it hardly did anything but her magic was so weak it barely reached them.
"Such a disappointment, and was so expecting much from the last living Earth Fairy."
"Move aside, Tezzeret, let us show this puny fairy what real magic can do." Icy and her sisters stepped forward as the Seer drifted aside for them to do their work. First Icy unleashed a strong ice magic to create pillars of ice to trap her. This allowed Darcy to blast her with dark energy, shattering the ice and thrown her back a few feet. Then lastly, Stormy whipped up a mini tornado that would send her high above with no chance to get away.
But what happened came to a surprise when a shadowy figure leapt out of the darkness and flew towards Bloom. "Reflect!" A spherical shield of light surrounded appeared out of nowhere and prevented the attack from happening. The witches and Knut were confused and baffled until the dust cleared up, revealing a purple haired girl standing before the fairy, but what surprised them more was that she was holding a keyblade in her hands.
Mal stood and swiped her keyblade across the air, narrowing her green eyes at them. Couldn't see her face with the piece of cloth covering her lower face, but Bloom recognised who it was. "Mal?"
"You alright?" She asked Bloom without looking, but sounded bit of concerned. Bloom groggily stood up, but seems ok.
"So you're one those keyblade brats we've heard about." Icy glared at her for ruining their fun.
"And the one speaking through the jellyfish is Tezzeret? Right?" Pointing her blade towards the Grimm and could hear a faint chuckle.
"Ahh, Mal, so nice to see you again, and appears you have gotten stronger." Wasn't sure if he was giving a compliment or just mocking her, but didn't matter.
"And I can just probably do some starter runs with these clowns." Mal said, earning the witches' anger for insulting them.
"How about you try to help each other in a dust storm. Stormy!" Icy called her sister who unleashed a powerful hurricane, dust swirled around the two girls who raised their arms over their faces from the debris. Mal was having a hard time to see her opponents when suddenly she was hit by a magic blast from the side. But that wasn't all when she felt her wrists snared by the lashing tendrils from the Seer, not giving her the chance to use her keyblade or magic, it threw her over the side, landed roughly against the boxes near her.
Bloom could barely see but heard her friend in pain, but could able to see her slowly getting up from the trash. She tried to help her but Icy got in her way.
"Not so fast, little fairy, I'm not done yet!" As the hurricane died down, she used her magic to toss her across the alley and landed near Mal. The witches, Knut and the See Grimm approached the two. The witches smirked as they had the upper hand. "Now for the final touch." Icy cast a spell to trap Bloom in a block of ice.
Mal gasped and witnessed Bloom frozen by the ice witch. Glared at her and made a mental promise to beat the crap out of them, However, she found herself frozen up to the waist with both arms and legs trapped, remained in a kneeling position.
"Impressive. Now to finish off the young witch. She has information we need." Tezzeret instructed through the Seer.
"Understood." Icy said and looked down at angered witch. "Such a shame you had to be friends with weaklings like her, you would've made a great addition with such power."
Mal glared at her for a moment and responded. "I'll pass, rather be on the side to kick your oversized asses."
This caused the witches to feel insulted and were about to finish her off.
"Have it your way." Darcy said.
"Leave them alone!" Everyone turned to the source of Stella and the girls, including Taren and Ben who all did not look happy. "Take us on instead."
Mal was relieved to that they, but to find Stella and the rest of the girls with them as well. "Good to have you boys here. And you brought backup." Muttering the last word as the two shared a nervous smile by her response. But their moods changed when they see Bloom in ice, Taren glared at them and balled his fists for what they done to her.
Icy didn't seem impressed and found it pathetic. "Oh, look more dweebs to deal with." She pulls out a familiar amulet like the one Knut had from Earth. Creating an enchantment to make it glow. "How about a pack of Beowolves?"
At the snap of her fingers, five black tears opened in the alley, revealing a pack of large bipedal wolves crawling out of the surface, all baring teeth and claws ready to rip the flesh from their prey. The keyblade wielders tensed and didn't like this one bit, Taren recognised the wolf-like monsters back at Destiny Island and they look a lot bigger and meaner then ones he remember. The girls gasped at the sight of the Grimm as they never seen anything like them before and could feel a strong feel of darkness coming from them.
The pack slowly moved forward, moving passed the witches and Knut as if they weren't there but focused on the group before them.
"Ben?" Taren called him, knowing they would risk revealing their secret but can't let anything happen to the girls and their friend near the Grimm. Knowing Mal can escape as long as she was conscious but Seeing Bloom trapped and helpless when frozen was another thing.
Ben looked at Taren, knowing what he was thinking and nodded. "Yeah, lets. Mal? Get ready."
Mal looked at them in confusion until she realised what they intended to do. But given the situation she was in, better then being some helpless damsel. "Fine, but I call first dibs on the witches."
Stella was wondering if they were really going to use their keyblades out here, but didn't argue as it's worth saving their friend when revealing their secret.
"I'm bored. Sic 'em!" By Icy's command, the Beowolves let out a beastly roar and charged forward.
One leapt towards Mal, thinking she be an easy prey, attempting to strike her down with its claws. Instead it only struck the block of ice, and her body not in sight. It failed to notice her summoning the Shadow of Redemption, the witches failed to realise she can turn into a spectral-like shroud to escape. But was too late when she reappeared from the side and cut off the upper jaws in a horizontal slash.
Taren and Ben summoned their keyblades and bashed the nearest Beowolf that tried to attack the group, tossing it back at its own and giving the others space. The fairies took the moment to transform for defense, they know of Stella's outfit but the others were different; Flora's was pink, Musa's red and Tecna's a full light purple body suit with a futuristic style.
The trio looked at them and feel a lot of magic from them, and not the only ones when the Beowolves remained where they were and snarled like actual wolves. The girls took a look their strange key-shaped weapons and never seen anything like them before, except for Stella and knew they were in an advantage.
"Now its our turn you beasts." Stella told them with a serious tone in her voice.
Knut gulped and was glad it wasn't him to fight them, especially the keyblade wielders. The witches observed the group and recognised some of them from the reports.
"She's the one with the sceptre." Stormy said after recognising the Solarian princess.
"And they must be the keyblade wielders, so the stories are true." Darcy mentioned.
The girls prepared themselves for the attack from the Grimm. "Static Sphere!" Techna casted a spell to trap one of the Grimm in a green spherical cage, The two captured by her spell growled in frustration and tried to get out by clawing or biting the bars off.
Musa took her turn to take out the first two. "Sonic Blast!" Two stereo speakers were made from her magic, creating a loud blast of sound that made them howl in pain with their sensitive ears. The two Beowolves were freed, but the sound attack caused the two to feel disorientated and lost their focus.
While they were trying to regain their footing, this gave Ben the opportunity to attack them. He struck one down hard with his keyblade, knocking the other with his elbow and twirling the Beast Within in his hand to grab its leg by the hook of his blade's teeth and flipped the Grimm from its feet, sliced it in half through the stomach before it could land. The first one was destroyed as it evaporated into a black smoke, now down to the second vulpine Grimm as it started to recover its senses.
Realised its brethren was killed by the wielder of the keyblade, threw its claw down at him but Ben ducked and punched it right into the chest a few times and then threw an uppercut right under its jaws. It backed off a few steps until suddenly it felt the keyblade struck deep into the body. Ben threw it at his target when it was confused and simply walked over and pulled it out when it began to disappear.
Flora took her turn, feeling strong negativity from the monsters made her spine chill but didn't want to loose focus. "Golden Pollen." Blew magical pollen from her hands, surprising one of the remaining two when a plant-like tendril sprouted from the ground and snatching it by surprise. Trapped in a vice-like grip but the magical plant didn't let go and tossed it around like a ragdoll until it was destroyed.
The fairy of Nature was satisfied to rid the monster, but the last one snuck up by climbing up the walls and prepared to throw itself at her. The girls gasped in fear for her safety, she tried to use the Golden Pollen to grab it but it was too fast for her. Cried out and threw her arms out for the worst. But, it didn't came, she looked up and to discover Taren came to her rescue by blocking the coming claw that was intended for her, using his first to stop it with the help of his magical aura flickering preventing any damage.
Stood in her defence and glared at the Grimm as it gets back up. "Claws of the lady, furball." Taren muttered as he defended the surprised and awed fairy.
Stella let out a breath she didn't know and so glad he saved her friends. "Flora, let Taren handle that thing. He can handle it with a keyblade." She said with confidence, but didn't realised she just revealed its name.
Tecna looked at her in surprise of how she knew what it was. But sounded familiar to her. "What did you say?"
Using the keyblade in his other hand and struck its foot when it let its guard down, before it could howl in pain and lost its footing, he ran forward and threw a strong punch into the chest, then struck down by the coming keyblade. With the Grimm dealt with he went for Bloom and shattered the ice that trapped her inside, catching the unconscious redhead in his arms.
"I got her!" Taren called out and run back to them
The witches were not pleased to find their Grimm were defeated by both the fairies AND the keyblade wielders, Icy decided to do it herself, creating a barrage of ice shards at them.
Tecna had a plan to help her friends. "Everyone get behind me. Fire Wall." She called out a green shield and the girls took cover. Ben decided to lend her a hand. "Reflect!" Both their shield spells managed to stop the attacks, but despite the numbers on their sides, the witches clearly are stronger.
Mal thought of a plan to escape before they send more Grimm at them. "We can't stay here! They clearly too much for us." Seeing the storm witch was ready for her turn, not sure if they can deal with another blow. She took the chance to give them time by firing a wind spell of her one. "Aerora!" Called out the wind magic to counter Stormy's.
Stella nodded and summoned her staff. "Come on, let's get out of here!" Using the magic of her staff to send them away in a safe distance. Just in time before Icy could get the chance to freeze them with her ice.
"Damn it! They disappeared!" She shouted out in frustration.
A window from above opened, revealing an old man with a pair of shades looking down at the group. "Don't make me come down there you punks! You wont like me when I'm angry!" He threatened and then shut the window.
Someplace in the city, Stella uses her magic to warm up Bloom after melting away the ice to free her. Taren offered to help with his almost similar to hers, seeing her shivering and decided to offer her use his jacket to keep her warm, revealing his dark brown shirt underneath it.
"Just relax, you'll be warmed up in no time." Ben assured her.
Stella nodded and smiled with pride. "You know Bloom for an Earthling, I must admit you did really well. You were really brave-"
"STELLA!" Stella crinched and looked up at everyone all glaring at her, Mal gritted her teeth and eyebrow twitching and Taren facepalmed when she blew their little secret.
"Seriously?" Taren groaned. He can just picture an angry Macbeth scolding them and Yen Sid with a more frightening stern gaze upon them for disobeying their orders.
Ben sighed and his shoulders fell. "Oh well, cats out of the bag."
Mal wanted to grab her by the shoulders and shake her about while questioning her inability to keep ONE little secret.
Musa, Flora and Tecna remained in their fairy forms and crossed arms.
"Is there anything to know about Bloom of Callisto?" Flora scolded at her with her hands on her hips, waiting for an answer from the very nervous Stella.
"Ummm, I MIGHT have been fibbing a bit about Bloom's background." She nervously pointed her index fingers together. Stella sighed and knew the jig was up. "Oh, I'll explain on the way back to Alfea."
Mal nervously smiled and slowly crept away. "Gee, this is touching and all, but… oh look the bus! Gottagobye!" But before she could make a run for it, the boys grabbed her by the arms to prevent her attempt to flee.
"Not so fast." Ben said.
"Yeah, if we suffer so should you." Taren muttered.
Mal grumbled under her breath. "So that's what friendship is for."
Bloom laughed at this and was grateful for them saving her life, realised she was wearing Taren's jacket and looked up at them as Tecna then walked up to them, making both Mal and Taren nervous of the way she was looking at them, along with Musa.
"And I suppose you have some answers we like to ask." Tecna crossed her arms and waited for a response.
"Yeah and this time the truth." Musa added.
Taren was the first to speak for them. "Look, we're sorry for keeping this a secret from you and didn't want to bring unwanted attention but when Bloom and Mal were in trouble we had to help cause it was the right thing to do."
"We didn't want to reveal our little secret in risk of getting you in trouble. That's why we couldn't say much." Mal said.
This surprised the girls by their honesty and reason for being secretive. They looked at each other and thought over, each of them shared a smile at the wielders in approval. Tecna smiled and offered her hand to them.
"Well then after what you did for us, I say you are trustworthy." She said.
"Yeah, and the way you used those key swords against the monsters was awesome." Musa smiled.
Flora nodded and smiled at Taren for saving her. "And also a thank you for saving my life, Taren."
Taren smiled nervously and blushed. "Hehee, it was nothing."
Mal rolled her eyes. "You know, I did risked my ass to save Bloom of course."
"And for that, you have our thanks." Stella said.
Bloom was overjoyed, not just for her new friends saving her, but also the friends she made in Alfea trust the wielders. But suddenly remembered what the voice from the jellyfish creature just said and decided to ask Taren something important.
"Taren?" She asked the male redhead who looked at her, along with Ben and Mal to wonder what she wanted to ask him. "Just before those witches attacked us, there was this voice from that Grimm. He said he knew you and said that you guys were taken away from your homes after he attacked them. Is that true?"
They realised she must have heard him speak about their previous encounter with Tezzeret and his horde.
Mal sighed and felt she deserved to know about it after what happened. "Ok, what we're about to say must never be mentioned to anyone. There's a big reason why we've been hiding our keyblades, the ones you saw us used against the monsters?"
The girls glanced at each other and nodded at them. Bloom thought of speaking on behalf of the group and smiled. "Don't worry, we promise we won't tell a soul."
The wielders shared an inquisitive glance at Stella. "Hey, just because I accidently revealed Bloom's secret, doesn't mean I wont do the same to yours." She huffed, causing the girls to laugh at her response.
Ben cleared his throat and spoke up. "You know those monsters we just fought recently? They're called Grimm. Creatures made out of pure darkness and bent on destroying anything not like their kind or represent light and hope, that's basically their only function and basic natural instinct. We were sent to stop them from attacking the worlds of your dimension. "
This news shocked them to find that a horde of creatures made out of pure darkness exist and pose a great threat to their worlds. "But who could've unleashed such creatures?" Tecna asked.
"The guy who controls them is actually responsible for the attacks on several worlds back home, including our own. Turns out he had some history with previous Keyblade wielders like my dad over a war years ago." Taren only remembered seeing only his heavy coat and a hood over his face, and that metal hand of his.
"Because of him, our homes were attacked and were sent away for our safety when we were chosen by the keyblades. Sadly we couldn't risk going back for months while he was hunting us down. Bloom and Stella already know a bit about them and fought the Grimm back on Earth when we met them." Mal explained, causing the girls to gasp and turned to their friends who knew all too well.
Stella could barely get them out of her mind after first meeting the wielders. "Ugh, wish I could forget about them, but the ones back on Earth were like bears. If it weren't for you, I be a goner."
The girls felt pity for the wielders for having to leave behind their homes and families, but thinking of someway to help them if they can since they fought the witches to save Bloom and Mal.
The group made their way back to the school and get to know each other, Tecna apologised to them for being suspicious but understood for her reason, they explained that the Magic Dimension isn't as different to theirs with so many different worlds and some use magic and technology differently to theirs. They were really interested to know more about the keyblades and were promised to explain about them for another day.
But another thing to worry about was for Bloom to explain the truth of her origins and hope to not be sent back to Earth since she really loved the place. They made their way back to the school as it was late and passed curfew for the students.
"Ok, the coast is clear." Stella whispered, planning on sneaking back in without alerting the teachers. But seems luck wasn't on their side when the spotlights caught them.
"Hm hm! Do you have any idea what time it is?" They heard Griselda spoke as she and the headmistress stepped into the spotlights.
"Young ladies we were worried sick." Faragonda told them. "Go to bed immediately and we'll discuss the rules again tomorrow."
The girls walked back to their dorm for the night, but Griselda stopped the keyblade wielders and Bloom. "Not so fast, Princess Varanda, is there something you forgot to tell us."
Bloom sighed and knew it would come to this. "Alright, my name is Bloom and I'm from Earth."
Griselda was right the moment she knew something was up. "I knew it, you're not a real princess. Young lady, you have tricked us." Pointed her finger at Bloom for lying to them.
"True, but still, she must be a magical creature or the barrier would've kept her out." Faragonda stepped in front of Bloom. She gently turned the girl's head so she could see into her eyes to know her reasons. "Now Bloom, why didn't you give us your real name?"
Before Bloom could be able to answer, Stella came to her defence for being responsible. But Bloom assured her it was ok and revealed that she was really from Earth, much to the shock of the teachers as the planet was outside the realm the Magix. No known creature would be able to penetrate the barriers as far as they knew.
"I beg you, don't send me away. I've always wanted to be a fairy, and deep down I still did with all my heart. Now I can make my dream come true." Her friends were amazed and awed by her determination.
"Young lady you lied to us and that is unforgivable." Griselda accused.
"But she also has a dream, and she totally believes in it." Faragonda felt there was great potential in Bloom, much to the great relief to herself and her friends. The headmistress can feel the aura around her that is beyond that of any fairy she ever seen in her lifetime. "She has displayed a great tenacity and isn't that a quality that every fairy should possess?" Asking the head of discipline, who seems to realise she right, even though Bloom lied to them but has the qualities of a fairy and be given a chance.
"Yes, ma'am." The girls agreed.
The headmistress smiled and turned to the students. "Now off to bed, and please don't make any more noise."
The girls agreed and were thrilled that Bloom was staying, even the keyblade wielders were happy about it.
"Nice to see things turn out well for everyone." Taren said.
"I wouldn't bet on that." A heavy accented voice spoke out.
While the girls turned and saw a man in a heavy black coat walking up to them with a face that could rival Griselda's. They suddenly noticed the three were dead quiet, and their faces were pale as ghosts. The girls had a funny feeling this won't end well.
"Ah, Mister Macbeth, so good of you to come. I hope things have been well." Faragonda greeted him as he stopped before her.
Stella leaned to Bloom to whisper in her ear. "Hey, isn't that the name of their teacher?"
"Yeah, and he looks really mad." Bloom could easily read his expression when she saw how Taren, Ben and Mal were quivering. "I hope he doesn't know about today."
He smiled and nodded to the headmistress. "The pleasures all mine, madam. And I had to deal with some 'concerning matters' while I was here." But then turned to the three and eyed them. "And speaking of concerning matters."
The trio gulped nervously and braced themselves for the worse. "Although you were told NOT to reveal your secret to anyone outside our little circle, you be giving a punishment for disobeying a direct order."
Giving a moment of pause for them to digest the words, he let a soft sighed and continued. "However, I cannot punish you for doing the right thing by what you thought was best to save these young ladies."
"I happen to agree, and will have words with them to ensure no one knows of this. This that understood?" The headmistress asked them and all nodded since they promised their friends to keep it a secret.
"Yes, ma'am."
Mal smiled brightly and clasped her hands up to her face to create an innocent façade to pull it off. "So, does it mean we won't be punished?" Almost giving the sparkly eyes to plead with him.
Macbeth gave a thinking pose with his gloved hand up to his bearded chin to think it over. "Hmm, I wasn't thinking of it." The three lid up in mental glee as if they gotten away with it. "But since you brought it up, tomorrow morning, running around the school a few times."
Their hopes dashed and jaws dropped in despair, Taren and Ben groaned while Mal fell to her knees in deprssion with crocodile tears running down her cheeks. Flora and Stella gave her some comfort and patted her shoulders. Bloom also did the same for Taren and felt sorry for him to get the punishment instead of the girls, maybe think of someway to cheer them up tomorrow.
They all went to their dorms and guest bedrooms, leaving the three teachers to chat with each other.
"Is it true, she say she was from Earth?" Macbeth asked them, not believing what he had heard on the way.
"Indeed she is, I didn't think there any fairies left Earth." Faragonda thought so as well.
"I thought they all disappeared centuries ago." Griselda said as they watched the group leave.
"Then that leaves us to one question. Who is Bloom and where'd she come from?" Macbeth asked which raised a good question to the headmistress.