A familiar figure stood before her. She was confident that once she had known his face, his warmth and his soul. And yet, as Bloom gazed upon him from her place beside her Shadow Master, she could not remember his name.

Darkar kept deflecting all of the reluctant attacks that the Winx were throwing at her. She heard their shouts, their prayers for her to snap out of it, but what was there that she had to run from? She was exactly where she wished to be. Her power sang to her as her flame whispered the enchantment for the Relix.

Bloom could feel the energy rise as she chanted on, undisturbed by anyone's meddling. She saw Darkar push the Trix's body-double away, trap the Winx and the Specialists within some sort of tar, making them unable to move and all she did was smile.

She could finally let her magic fly, and feel the freedom from the restrictions of Alfea's rules.

Faragonda had once worn her of dark magic, but Bloom somehow felt lighter within this dark embrace.

She could have all the power and be glad of it.

"Beatus fortis subvertio," she whispered again and felt the finality of it as the words left her lips. Blood rushed to her cheeks as she raised her hands to the air and let the surge of power flood her. Even as parts of her mind seemed to struggle, she forced herself to finish the incantation: "Relix!"

Darkar did not hesitate as he transformed before them all, his demon-like body now the true Shadow Phoenix. He lunged towards Bloom and the Relix crystal which now shined above the fairy's head. Darkar opened his beak and began to siphon the ultimate power.

Someone moved in front of her. A face, now clearer than before. Blond hair and an inviting smile. He stood before her, so small in comparison to the greatness that was about to unfold.

"Bloom, can you hear me? It's Sky. Your Sky."

The words he was saying all meshed together and she could not comprehend anything after he said his name.

It was the same boy she had first met as her saviour in Gardenia, the boy she took long walks with, the boy she kissed after the battle with the Trix, the boy who she brought back to life, the boy who loved her.

And there was nothing worse in one's soul than love.

"I know you didn't choose this, I know that the real you is still in there somewhere." Bloom saw his eyes shine as he continued to talk and felt her own heart waver at the emotions behind his words.

She should be feeling triumphant at Darkar's victory, but her heart still ached at the thought. Bloom's mind was begging her to drop the spell, but Darkar's power over her psyche was stronger.

"You can come home now Bloom," Sky said and she felt her powers shift. Darkar must have felt it too, for he tightened his grip upon her soul, twisting the darkness all around her heart.

In the last second, Bloom's heart gave her a way out, the only possible answer.

Bloom understood exactly what she had to do.

She recognized the essence of this place now. Understood what Faragonda had meant when she said that Shadow Hauant was the closest thing to Obsidian that they had come across. The memories haunted her almost daily since she arrived, probably as just one more cruel attempt to break her from the inside.

But, as damaged as her mind was, Bloom still held her ground firm. She knew that the choices she had made had to some extent brought her here. All of the answers she had and all of the lies she discovered stemmed from exposing Faragonda, and she never could have done it if she hadn't gone against her. She had made those choices and nothing could reverse them now, and feeling sorry for herself couldn't fix them either. She had carved herself a new path for her future and it landed her here.

She had survived Shadow Haunt and she would undoubtedly survive this too.

She had to.

Because not doing so would make all of her actions go in vain.

Bloom straightened as the visions of Sky's speech flooded her mind. For weeks after Shadow Haunt she would wake up covered in sweat, screaming for him, sometimes even fighting whoever woke her. It had gotten so bad that Flora had to brew her special sleeping potions that would disperse any sort of dreams.

She had walked the halls like a zombie, completely deprived of any feeling other than despair. She searched for time-travelling spells, reversals, and healing potions, but nothing could fix the damage that she had done. For the most part, her grieving was completely consumed by guilt. She had caused his death and nothing in the Magix dimension could bring him back. And it had taken a long time for that realization to settle in.

Sky was dead and he wasn't coming back.

Now, as Bloom stared at his holographic illusion that cursed at her, spat at her and called her all of the worst things imaginable, Bloom didn't even flinch. She had done this to herself so many times that it didn't phase her anymore. She had accepted her role in his death and made as much peace as she could with the fact that the Sky she knew would have understood.

Bloom smiled at the illusion. "You could never be him," she said and saw its shape begin to shift. Next, it was Vanessa telling her how much of a disappointment she was, Marion, being disgusted by who she had become, Stella swearing that she wished she had never met her and at the very end, when none of those helped to break her, he stood before her.

It looked like him and felt like him, but Bloom knew it was just due to the allure of Obsidian. "I hate you," the fake-Valtor said and she laughed loudly. It was the most normal thing for him to say and it hadn't touched her one bit. She summoned her fire and burned the illusion down. "You really have to get better at this," she said as she walked further.

The landscape never changed, so the best indication of where she had to go was her gut feeling. She felt the pull of this place the second that she entered, but this was something else. Like, somewhere over there was a small piece of Dragon Fire wanting to be reignited. She knew it was her mother, waiting to be freed.

So she walked on, destroying all of the insect monsters, and burning down any suspicious plants that came in her way. She only stopped when she reached a wall that seemed to stretch infinitely to both sides with a rusted gate a few inches away.

Bloom dared to let her fingers trace the outline of the doors and it was like they sang to her. She felt the humming underneath her fingertips and knew that she was getting closer to the centre. She summoned a small wave of her fire and pushed it through the keyhole gently. The fire spread within the mechanism and pushed the gates open before her.

Bloom doubted that it was that simple and knew that the Ancestral witches were expecting her arrival, and yet as the doors opened she had to suppress a heavy sigh.

The centre of Obsidian looked like a drop into hell itself. Right behind the door laid a ledge and beneath it a black hole. Gusts of wind nearly knocked her straight down, but she managed to keep her footing. The chasm seemed to stretch for miles because Bloom could not see its other side. The only way further was down and she couldn't push the thoughts of an endless fall away.

But the pull of her Dragon Fire told her enough, if her parents were here, they were at the very bottom, straight in the clutches of the witches. Bloom exhaled as she got closer to the edge and looked down. It was too steep to climb down and she doubted her legs could hold her either way. She would have to jump and pray that her wings would bear her weight.

She thought of her end goal, of her parents who never deserved to end up the way that they did, of monarchs who were stripped of their freedom and put into imprisonment for over a decade. She loosened her grip on the gates and let herself fall forward.

Valtor watched the grand orb of light spin in place, its power radiating across the entire chamber. The last time he was here, Bloom was the distraction which stopped him from completing his conquest, now he used it to distract himself from her. He had to laugh at how ironic it all was.

The second he even remembered the fairy, his thoughts travelled to what she could possibly be experiencing at that moment. All the horrors and the anguish just because he was too stubborn to go with her.

A spell flew past him and collided with a stack of scrolls that scattered in the air. He turned around to find none other than the obnoxious Winx at his heels. Valtor had to give them some credit, all of them had managed to earn their Enchantix which ought to make the fight at least a bit interesting.

Princess of Andros glared at him with so much hatred and Valtor realized just how much Bloom had changed during their time together. That was once how she looked at him. Now barely traces of that hate remained, or at least that's how he perceived it.

Layla and the Melodian fairy sent a convergence spell towards him and he thought he had dodged it successfully until an agonizing high pitch echoed in his head. Valtor tried to cover his ears, but it appeared as if the sound was glued to him.

"Magic Winding Ivy!" the plant fairy shouted and Valtor cursed as vines sprouted from the floor and wrapped around his ankles all the way to his waist. The static sound still pierced his eardrums as he managed to burn the plants away. He sent a blast towards the group, catching the technology fairy at her hip. She hissed, pressing her hand onto the burn as the nature fairy flew to her aid.

He smirked at her stupidity because as soon as she drew near, Valtor chanted a new spell. But, the Solarian fairy appeared in its path and redirected it to one of the shelves instead. The books erupted in flames and continued to spread like wildfire. The Winx didn't seem phased by the loss of ancient texts as they continued to attack him.

"Lost World!" the five of them said together in a convergence and energy beams began to shoot toward him. One shot at his shoulder, making him stumble backwards while the other landed a hit to his stomach. He bit his tongue as the spell took effect, spreading Morphix all over his torso which then grew technological vines to keep him in place. He guessed that the burning sensation was the sun fairy's addition and the vibration came from the music fairy.

"Not so proud now, are you Valtor?" Princess of Andros gloated as she watched him trapped on the floor. She clicked her fingers and the fire around them extinguished. The rest of the Winx eyed him with suspicion mixed with relief, but only the Solarian princess seemed still uneasy.

The morphix fairy turned to her friends as she talked: "We need to call the Council right away, they will want to-" her words were cut short.

The Winx didn't have time to react as Valtor burned their spell down and took a shot at Layla from behind. She fell forward, a big burn mark expanding along her spine. The nature fairy screamed as she attempted to catch her friend, but was sent flying into the wall.

Valtor smirked as he towered over them as his powers managed to knock all five of them down. He was tired of playing into their pathetic games. "And people consider you guardian fairies," he said with a sigh. He rolled his neck as he passed among them. They were still conscious, but gasping and unable to move as the smoke of his fire made its way into their lungs.

He accounted for the four of them, searching the room for the Solarian princess. When he turned back to the core, that was exactly where she was. Her trembling legs barely held her upright, but she still stood protectively before the core. Valtor was surprised that she was still standing, thinking that he used enough fire to smother them all for a little while.

"You better move away little fairy," he said slowly. But, Stella raised her head and stared at him with two orbs of moonlight in her palms. A sun shield surrounded her, ready to block his attacks. Even though, the more he fired at it, the weaker it was becoming.

He ignored the remaining four fairy insects and strode toward the core, blasting the shield with each new step. Once he was directly in front of the Solarian princess, she kept it up and gifted him with a smirk of her own.

"You will have to go through me first," she said confidently, strengthening her defences.

"That is where you are wrong," he replied and grinned darkly.

Stella couldn't depict what that look meant, but she knew she didn't really want to find out. She had to hold the shield long enough for Palladium and Griselda to get there, or until one of the girls managed to fight off his spell.

"I think you will move," he said calmly, and she couldn't understand why he wasn't just attacking her. Even though she was strong, she couldn't fight him one-on-one and win, and they both knew that.

So, what was he doing?

"No," she shook her head and attempted to send even more power along her shield.

"You don't have a choice little fairy," Valtor waited for her to step away, but she kept firm, thinking over if she could land a blow and hold the defence at the same time.

"You owe me."

The words landed over her like a bucket of ice water. She could see the looks of confusion on her friends' faces even despite the pain that they were in. The skin of her wrist began to burn, and the memory of her bargain with Valtor crystallised in her mind. She had given her word.

A favour for a favour.

Bloom for Alfea.

She began to shake as she locked eyes with Valtor and he smirked at her like he had already won. Stella exhaled as she took a step, one single step away from the core and let her shield fall.

Somewhere in the room, one of her friends screamed as Valtor victoriously wrapped his hand around the core of Alfea.

Stella was shaking as she gazed upon the scene. All of that power firmly in his grasp, the entirety of the school's magic flooding into him. She didn't have time to scream as he let the magic explode around them. The ground quivered as the walls surrounding them began to collapse. Stella pushed her legs to move, knowing fully well that there was no place for her at Alfea anymore.

Valtor let the power consume him as he brought the walls down until he stood amongst its rubble. The fairies around him backed away as he flew into the air. He noticed Alfea's faculty aiding the Winx, and other students running for their rooms, but no one daring to come closer, not even the little sun fairy.

Stella flew for her rooms, using Valtor's performance as a distraction. She grabbed Kiko and Amore, along with some spells books and necessities. In truth, she had nowhere to go, but she knew that after today, she was the enemy of the Council and with it, the entire dimension. Kiko trashed in her arms and Amore showered her with questions that she couldn't answer.

"You either stay here and pretend you never saw me, or you come along without protest little one," Stella said briskly, fully expecting the pixie to remain within the safety of the suite. But, Amore wrapped her little arms around Stella's arm and whispered: "I go where you go."

Stella led them to the yard, now mostly in ruins. Valtor was saying something to Griselda and Palladium as she slid along the walls, out of the school ground and into the woods.

As she did so, the fields in front of the gates began to shine. When she looked up, she saw an abundance of hovercrafts and shuttles with Eraklyon's crest on the side.

Stella knew who would be on one of those ships and it made her fly even faster. Her heart hurt as she disappeared within the trees, knowing well that by the time anyone thought to look for her she would be long gone. She wondered if he would be the one searching for her.

"I don't recognize you anymore."

Brandon's voice echoed in her head.

"How am I in the wrong here?" she bit back her tears.

"Stella, she killed him! You used to stop monsters like these."

"Bloom is not a monster," she raised her voice at him, hoping more than anything that she would get through to him and make him see sense.

But one look into his eyes told her that Brandon had chosen his path and it no longer aligned with hers.

"And I guess Sky is not a victim then," he said with an empty voice and she knew she had lost him.

"That's not what I-"

"Save it, Stella. I am done with this and I am done with you."

She wanted to feel sorry for it, but ultimately she knew that her friendship and love for Bloom exceeded his twisted view of the situation. If they couldn't be a part of each other's stories, she had to accept it. She had to move on.

Before she knew it, she was in the tunnels of Cloud Tower. Yes, Valtor was bound to return there eventually, but in the current state, she didn't care much. The least he could do was stay out of her way if she stayed out of his. So, she found one of the unoccupied rooms and raised shielding spells around the walls and the door. When her head hit the pillow, the sleep overtook her instantly.

Bloom's wings were struggling against the wind erupting from the chasm's middle. She cursed as it continuously swerved her to the side and caused her to collide with the stone walls. She didn't have to feel the blood, as the smell of it filled her nostrils right away. Her legs were scratched deeply, and she was doing her best to ignore it.

She couldn't tell if she was any closer to the bottom because all around her was still utter darkness. Occasionally, she would hear a flutter of giant wings, knowing that those monsters were somewhere close. Maybe they could smell the blood and were getting drawn to it. She managed to fight off a few, but it couldn't go on forever. Eventually, she would have to rest.

Bloom tried to imagine what would await her once she reached the bottom. Given the physical and psychological torture that she had endured while getting there, she could only hope that the rest was something she could handle. Not that it was a choice of could she when she had to do it. If she was going to reunite her family, she couldn't let anything push her down.

Just as she was starting to slow, trying to preserve her strength, something brushed against her leg. She attempted to move, but an insect's appendage had already struck her at her thigh. She was thrown off balance, her back slamming into the rocks behind her. The air was knocked straight from her lungs and her wings weren't holding her properly anymore, so she began to plummet downward.

But, before she could smash her head on the ground, Bloom summoned her dragon to slow her fall. It wrapped around her chest, easing her until she could fly the rest of the way down.

Once her feet made contact with solid ground she nearly let out a tear. There was nothing around her besides a dim orange light somewhere ahead. Bloom knew that light. It was similar to the Dragon flame, her mother's power.

She pushed herself forward, step after step until she reached them. Bloom inhaled as her eyes adjusted to what she was seeing. What Obsidian and Valtor had turned them into.

It looked like they were statues, but Bloom could see that the thing trapping them was not stone. It looked like a layer of magic, but she had never seen anything like it.

She would still recognize them anywhere. Even without the memories, the illusions or the visions. The two people before her could be no one else but her parents. Every single detail of their faces was clear, from her father's pointed chin, his armour and his famous sword to her mother's glorious wings. And there in her palm, was the small bit of Dragon fire that kept pulling at her this entire time.

Bloom inched forward, resting her finger on the tip of her father's sword and then on the frozen power in her mother's hand. Nothing happened, and she didn't expect it to. But, yet, she wondered if they could feel her, if this entire time they were alive beneath the stone.

"You must be Bloom," a scratchy voice vibrated throughout the space.

"We've been waiting for you," another one followed.

Bloom was on alert as she examined the darkness, fully expecting someone to come out of the shadows.

But, these voices weren't human.

They were otherworldly, something both present entirely, and yet not corporal.

Bloom knew who they were.

"Welcome to Obsidian Your Highness," said Belladonna, the strongest of the Ancestral witches.