Chapter Text
“I think I should leave Alfea.”
All of us looked up from our homework at Bloom.
“Like, for a break?” Musa asked hesitantly.
Bloom refused to make eye contact.
Stella smacked her pen down on the table and stood, “Listen, that stupid little incident doesn’t mean anything. We’re all on edge after the Trix attack, it could’ve happened to any of us!”
“I don’t belong here, not really, and every day I notice it more. I’ll always just be the girl from Earth.”
“But you’re not! What about your origins, or Daphne the Nymph?” Tecna protested.
“We’re so close to answers, you just want to give up now?” I agreed.
Bloom sucked in a breath and stood, “I don’t care anymore. I’d rather just forget the whole thing.”
“Bloom,” Flora stopped her with a hand, “Just, think about it, okay? It’s a very big decision.”
“Trust me, Flora. I’ve given it a lot of thought.”
She walked into her bedroom and shut the door behind her.
✭✭✭
“Bloom, we’re back! I brought you some dinner.” Flora knocked gently on her bedroom door.
“I’m going to go plug my phone in. Anyone want to watch something tonight?” I asked over my shoulder.
I fished out the cable that had fallen between my bed and my nightstand and connected it to my phone.
I should just tape it to my nightstand or something.
As I waited for it to come back to life, I noticed that the drawer was slightly askew. Strange, since I always make sure my drawers are shut properly, to the point that Stella had made a comment about it. I pulled it open.
The entire contents of the drawer had been completely rearranged. Granted, it wasn’t very neat before, but it looked like someone had rummaged through it without bothering to be subtle.
“Stella, did you take my pills?” I tried to keep my voice steady. I hated when other people touched my things.
“The sleeping pills? Stars, no. They give me nightmares.” She shouted from the living room.
“No, the other ones.”
I pulled everything out of the drawer and dumped it on my bed, hoping the bottle was just tucked under a notebook or something. But no, they were gone.
“Bloom left!” Flora’s voice sounded like how I felt.
I rushed to the doorway, mirroring her pose with one hand gripping the frame.
Tecna peered over her shoulder, “Are you sure?”
“Look, all her stuff is gone!” Flora moved aside to show her empty side of the room.
“And she took my magic suppressant pills with her.”
✭✭✭
One fraught night later, we were gathered in Faragonda’s office.
“There was an unauthorized use of my portal during dinnertime. Would you five happen to know anything about it?”
That explains how Bloom had made it to Earth.
Tecna stepped forward, “Bloom went home last night.”
“What? Why wasn’t I notified immediately?”
Flora fidgeted with the ends of her hair scarf, “Well, we thought that—”
“That what?” Faragonda slammed both hands onto her desk, “That I wouldn’t have noticed, perhaps? You are Bloom’s best friends, and you let her leave without trying to stop her?”
“That is not true!” Musa yelled.
She sighed and leaned back in her seat, “Alright, alright. You may go.”
“Thank you, Headmistress.” I mumbled.
“One more thing.”
We froze on our way to the door.
“May I remind you that portal travel to Earth is still illegal.” Faragonda eyed each of us in turn.
Stella’s ring hand tightened in a fist, “Of course, Headmistress.”
“You’re not actually gonna listen to her, right? We’re getting Bloom back?” Musa hissed once we were out in the hallway.
Stella tossed her hair back, “Of course we are.”
“Didn’t you hear the part where Faragonda said it was a crime?” Tecna glared.
“Oh yeah? You’re one to talk, Miss Satellite-signal-whatever you do with them!”
She glanced around nervously, “That’s different.”
“Bloom’s upset, we can’t just leave her alone without at least trying!” Flora reasoned.
I shrugged with false nonchalance, “Besides, Stella’s teleported to Earth before, she can do it again.”
“I mean, the first time was an accident, but yeah!”
“That’s reassuring.” Tecna deadpanned.
“Okay, but what are you going to do when you get caught?” Musa pressed, “Because there’s no way you’re not getting caught.”
Stella snorted, “I’m the sole heir to the Solarian throne. What are they gonna do, fire me?”
Tecna shook her head and muttered something about being glad she lived in a democracy. Once we were back in the apartment, Stella got ready to leave, donning a light jacket and her signature headband.
“Just go to class like normal. If anyone asks, I have a terrible headache. If anyone really asks, the new Spella McCarthy collection is dropping today.”
“Hold on,” I grabbed my own sweater, “Last time I watched Bloom go on a secret mission, she ended up in the middle of Gloomywood Forest. I can’t stay behind again.”
“Fine, I could use the company.” Stella held out her hand, and I took it.
She tossed her ring and shifted it into its scepter form.
“I’ll try to distort your magical trace. It should buy you some time.” Tecna conjured a green dome around the two of us.
Flora pressed her hand against it, “Good luck.”
“Bring our girl back.” Musa nodded in farewell.
“We will. Ready?”
“Let’s do this.”
Teleporting hurt a lot worse than I remembered. One second, Stella was raising her scepter, and the next, I felt like I was being dragged through a sea of needles. Tears clung to my lashes as I squeezed my eyes shut against the pain.
Fun fact about teleporting: there’s no air in transitional spaces. Normally, you’re in and out before you even notice. But some places are too far apart, or too magically different, or sometimes, shielded. As in, shielded to the utmost extent by the Magix government to keep magical beings off of Earth. Really, it was a miracle that Stella made it the first time.
And sometimes, miracles happen twice.
Stella and I crashed into the ground a moment later, both gasping for air.
I rolled to my side, “Is that what it was like the first time?”
“I was a little too busy fighting off an ogre to remember the finer details!” Stella wheezed.
I scrubbed the tears off my face and looked around. It was either just past sunset or just before dawn, judging by the dark red sky. We had landed on a large swath of grass, divided up by winding concrete paths. A handful of streetlamps illuminated a few benches and the undersides of short trees.
Stella slipped her ring back on her finger and rolled to her feet, “Come on, we should get moving.”
“Any idea where we are?” I shook the wet grass off my back as best I could.
“This looks like the park where I landed the first time. It’s not too far from Bloom’s house.”
“That's good news.”
I pulled my compass out from under my top, but she covered my hand with hers.
“We shouldn’t use magic until we have to. Besides, I think I remember the way, more or less.”
“Right, lead the way then.”
After a few false starts, Stella led us out of the park and into a grid of single-story houses and grass lawns. A few cars drove past, and a couple walking a small fluffy dog passed us, but other than that, we were alone.
“Twin Suns, Bloom wasn’t kidding about light pollution.” Stella remarked, looking up at the sky.
Full dark had set in, but the edges of the horizon held on to an eerie orange glow that only the brightest stars could shine through.
“At least you can see a moon.” I pointed to the bright crescent.
She scoffed, “Only one, though.”
I barked out a laugh, “Wow, moon snobbery? Really?”
“What? Planets with only one moon are boring.”
A couple of blocks later, the houses started growing taller and closer together.
“Bloom lives in one of these, but I’m not sure which one.”
I grabbed my compass, “My turn, then.”
The needle wavered for a bit, adjusting to the lack of magic in the air. Earth wasn’t completely devoid of magic, but the low levels took some getting used to. It was a strange feeling, like never being able to take a full breath, or suddenly not being able to see the color yellow. Eventually, the compass pointed us down another block and to a townhouse somewhere in the middle of the row.
“This one!” I pointed.
Stella grabbed my arm before I could walk up the stairs, “Hang on, do you feel that?”
I turned back to see her eyes glowing faintly as she looked for auras. She pushed me out of the way, squinting hard at something inside the building. I expanded my own senses, feeling a current of warmth, Bloom, and three unmistakable cold spots.
“The Trix.”
We sprinted up the stairs and threw open the front door. Icy, Darcy, and Stormy were already stepping through a portal, each of them holding strange, intricate vials that radiated with Bloom’s magic. Neither of us had time to react before Darcy gave a coy little wave and shut the portal behind her.
The portal’s absence revealed Bloom frozen against a shelf, body limp. Stella fell to her knees beside her, sunlight pouring out of her hands as she worked to defrost her. Footsteps from upstairs had me throwing up a shield and readying for an attack.
“Woah, it’s just us!” Mike held his hands up, but didn’t slow his descent down the stairs.
“Oh my god, Bloom! Is she okay?”
I caught Vanessa before she could get in the way of Stella’s spell.
“She’s alive.” Stella confirmed without looking up.
I staggered against Vanessa’s weight as she sobbed in relief. Mike wrapped an arm around her, and they sat on the side of the couch with the fewest burn marks. I took in more of the damage, the kitchen table and chairs knocked over and slammed against the wall, trinkets shattered on the floor, and everything else either lightning-scorched or iced over.
“What happened here?”
“Those three girls came in here and attacked us,” Mike shook his head, “We didn’t stand a chance! One of them trapped us upstairs, but I heard one of them shouting about ‘vacuums’ or something. They come into my house and attack my daughter—”
Vanessa placed a hand on his knee, “Mike, please.”
“They took my powers.” Bloom whispered.
Stella caught her as the last of the ice gave way, “Hey, hey, don’t strain yourself.”
Bloom swallowed heavily, “Icy said I was the keeper of the Dragon Flame, and that means that I’m part of the royal line of Domino.”
“This wouldn’t be the first time they tried to trick you.” I warned.
Stella’s eyes grew comically large, “It makes sense, though, doesn’t it? If Bloom holds the Dragon Flame, she’d have to be from Domino!”
“We’re making a lot of assumptions here. Bloom carries the Dragon Flame, sure. That would explain why the Trix wanted her power. But how could she be from Domino, let alone a royal? Nobody made it off of Domino alive.”
My mind flashed to my parents, and I dug my nails into my palms.
“But there was a baby,” Stella urged, “A newborn princess. My mom went to her baby shower. She kept the invitation, I saw it when I was snooping through her things one time. She would be about our age.”
Stella’s eyes slid back to Bloom.
“Fuck. If that’s true—” I ran my hands through my hair.
If Bloom was the keeper of the force that created the fucking universe, sole survivor of a planet destroyed by the Ancient Witches for that same power, what did that mean?
This was too much to process.
“Honey, I know you didn’t want to, but I really think you should go back to Alfea and sort this out.” Vanessa suggested.
“I know. You’re right, Mom,” Bloom dragged herself to her feet, “Let’s go.”
“Woah, you’re not going anywhere looking like that!” Stella protested.
“My clothes are fine, Stella.”
“The rest of you isn’t. Teleporting here was hard enough without being gravely injured.” I shot back.
Stella deposited Bloom next to her parents on the couch, “Just rest for a little bit, okay?”
“We can fix the damage to the house in the meantime.”
“You can do that?” Mike blinked.
Stella shrugged, “Of course, what’s a fairy for?”
I surveyed the scene, considering what spell to use.
“Remember the egg surprises at the Welcome Ball?” I raised an eyebrow at her.
“Oh, good thinking, Mira!”
The two of us stood in the center of the room and grabbed each other’s hands.
“What it once was, let it be again!”