Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Five months, two weeks and four days. 

Aisha paused. Her backpack was heavy on her back, but the strap was limp in her hand, forgotten. She stared at the empty bed. The sight opened a gaping hole in her chest. 

The same sky blue sheets that she’d left behind were now neatly tucked into place. They’d been a mess the night that she left. Aisha had tried to recreate that mess once, but she had always been bad at leaving messes. It had taken her a few weeks, but the sheets needed cleaning, her things needed dusting, and so Aisha kept them neat. For if she ever came back. Because the room felt empty without her, and this at least reminded her that Bloom had been real, that she had existed, that she still did somewhere. Over the months, the housing manager had offered Aisha a number of new roommates; she'd refused him every time. This was Bloom’s place. No one else’s. 

So Bloom’s books were stacked and dusted on the shelf and her laptop sat unopened on her bedside table. Her human parents stared out from their picture frame at the empty bed, their glass clear and their smiles frozen and bright. Some mornings Aisha wondered about them. Did they know? Should she try to contact them? No, she’d decided every time, it wasn’t her place to interfere with the world of humans.  

“Aisha.” A muffled voice came from the common room. “Dude, did you fall asleep or something? We’re going to be late to class.” Musa opened the door and marched in. She stopped when she saw Aisha and the altar, pristinely frozen in time. “Oh.” She sucked in a breath and got close enough to carefully pull Aisha’s backpack from her fingers before slinging it over her shoulder. She put a steadying hand on her friend’s arm. “Okay. This’ll be here when you get back. Why don’t we make our way to class, yeah?” She steered her towards the door. Aisha moved listlessly, her mind still elsewhere. “Yeah that's it.” Musa nodded encouragingly as they stepped out into the common room.

“Hey. You ready—” Terra’s voice tapered off from where she stood by the couch. Her arm was half in the sleeve of her jacket. She melted in sympathy. “Oh? Rough morning?”

“Looks like it.” Musa nodded.

She tugged her jacket on all the way. “I’ll go ahead and get her something warm from the cafeteria then.” She flipped her hair out of her collar.

“Okay.” Musa smiled.

“See you in class.” Terra walked towards the door.

“See you —and thanks.”

“Of course.” She smiled, “You need anything?”

Musa chuckled nervously. “Think you can grab a muffin? Blueberry?”

“A blueberry muffin.” She nodded sweetly and stepped out into the hall. 

The morning chill wafted in from the stone hallway. 

“Alright. You’re going to need more than just a thin little rain jacket.” Musa said, turning towards the coat rack. “How about a scarf? Nice and compact if you decide against it?” Aisha shrugged absently. Her gaze had fallen to the floor in the absence of any abject remnant’s of Bloom’s existence. “That's alright. I’ll put it in my backpack for now. I’m sure you’ll let me know if you get a chill.”

She steered Aisha out into the hall and to the staircase. Aisha moved robotically, avoiding eye contact, but she thankfully had enough wits even on auto pilot to maneuver her way down the stairs safely. The clatter of early morning voices and chairs scraping rose up from the atrium. Tall vaulted ceilings with a massive skylight poured down what little gray morning sunlight filtered in through the clouds and across the dull washed stone. Red carpets stretched across the halls; an attempt by the new headmistress to liven up the atrium some. However Musa found the dark red a bit alarming and reminiscent of blood. If anything, it fit the gravity of the castle. 

When they reached the bottom of the stairs eyes were quick to follow them. In the crowded atrium people paused to lean across tables and whisper. No doubt they had their opinions. She dragged Aisha along hurriedly.

Everyone had been strange the last few months. Musa wasn’t sure whether that was because her friends had been the only fairies to transform in centuries, not that that had happened again in the last 5 months, or because Bloom was gone. Maybe the answer was as simple as the usual mill of rumors. Knowing this school though, it was probably all three. 

Alfea had been particularly quiet since the new headmistress took office a few months ago. But after the Dowling and Rosalind murder fiasco and after everyone was almost killed by blood witches, it was only natural that the students were anxious. Still, it was clear that the quiet didn’t seem to sit right with anyone.  

On the surface life had carried on as normal. But there was just a little extra bite to the offhand comments, a little more spark in magic practice, a little more brute force on the specialists' training grounds. Terra had told her about the number of people coming into the infirmary. She, Flora, and her dad had been spending almost all their time patching people up from accidents during practice or a flight down the stairs. Florra had joked that some of them had wanted to test if they had wings. 

Musa didn’t think that she’d heard how dark that sounded.

Everyone was coping differently. Some people had adopted a blind optimism. Some had rushed to move on. Others refused to budge. 

Aisha blinked around at the crowd. Musa slowed and followed her gaze. Dane was striding towards them from the other side of the atrium, his eyes were sharp and a cocky grin spread across his face. He was out for blood.

She eyed the hallway towards their classroom. Would it look like they were running away if she tried to speed up now? 

“Here we go again.” She breathed, preparing herself for the worst. 

“Morning girls.” He said as he walked up beside them. His hands were shoved deceptively casually in his pockets. “You off to class?” 

“Yeah. What’s it matter to you?” She eyed him.

“Was wondering if you wanted to hear a bit of morning gossip.”

“No. We’re not really interested—”

“Sky’s back in the headmaster’s office. I hear that they found him out by the woods again, wandering. Wonder why that is.”

“Probably because he needs therapy. So do you.” She tried. 

“Rude.” He raised his head. “Those are fighting words Musa. You’re going to come back out to the training grounds and fight me, right? You know, I hear you keep wasting Riven’s time. Having him train you even though you’re a fairy? Please, show me what that weak little snake taught you—”

“Just shut it Dane. She has better things to do.” Aisha said, suddenly very present and rolling her eyes. She pressed her hand against her forehead as if working back a headache. “You know what? She’s right. You need therapy. Just because your girlfriend died, doesn’t mean you have to be a dick and take out your shit on everyone. Now this is our classroom. Fuck off.”

She grabbed Musa’s hand and marched her straight into the open classroom. Dane made to follow behind them but the professor eyed him and his specialist uniform critically. That made him pause. He shot the two of them a glare and then turned and marched back down the hall with a scowl.

“Um. Good morning.” Musa said in shock, staring at her friend.

Aisha laughed nervously as she walked up to a row of desks. “Good morning.” She chewed her lip for a moment and stared at the door, thinking. “That was a little much huh?”

“A little.” Musa nodded but she smiled. 

“Thanks for getting me to class. I got a little lost in thought.” Aisha took a seat.

“No worries.” Musa handed her her backpack and took a tentative seat next to her. “So I know I ask every time, but are you sure that you don’t want to switch rooms? It just seems so rough on you having to see that empty space literally every day.” 

Aisha began pulling out her laptop slowly. “No. I don’t know exactly why, but I don’t want to leave our room. Not yet. I just have a feeling.”

“Okay.” Musa nodded. 

“Was Stella around this morning?” She asked.

“No. She left early again. Another meeting with her mother she said.”

“Another one?”

Musa frowned. “They have a lot to sort through I guess. Stella hasn’t really been answering my texts about it.” 

“Same here.”

“Must be ‘official Solaria business’.”

Aisha sighed. “Isn’t it always?”

“Yeah.” Musa rolled her eyes. After everything that they’d been through, Musa had thought that Stella might actually trust them. But with the way that she was icing them out, it didn't look like it. 

They sat in painful silence. The weight of their friend’s fate seemed to sit heavy in both of their minds. But neither said a word. If Stella didn’t want their help, there was little they could do. 

Terra showed up a few minutes later alongside a rush of students, who all filed into their seats, and the morning lecture for The History of Fairy Wars in The Medieval Period began. It was boring and dry, and in the end all Musa took away from it was her notes. But that wasn't new. What was the point in studying wars that were so old? Those things were done. Those people were dead. All that remained of them were dusty old pages. 

She much preferred combat classes. At least those made sense

Chapter Text

The pine needles pricked her feet. They were sharp and shifted in the damp mud like ants biting at the underside of her toes. She hit a rock and stumbled. That had hurt unusually much. Were her feet bare?

Where were her shoes? She never left the house without shoes.

The forest was dripping. It was raining. She could see her breath in the air; a nice big puff of steam. Was it cold out?

She couldn’t tell, her skin felt comfortably warm, never cold. 

That's right, she never got cold. Even as a child when all the other kids needed to bundle up in jackets and sweaters and scarves, she was just fine in her short sleeves and jeans. What a weird life that had been; one where everyone was normal and she was not. 

But she had friends now. Good friends, who had her back no matter what. 

Where were they?

Where was she ?

Bloom stopped her walking and looked around. 

She was alone. In a forest. 

Rain trickled down in patches between tall pines. Moss crept up great trees and shelves of rock peeked out under sloping beds of ferns and pine needles. Distantly, a body of water rushed against stones. 

Her sweater was worn and had a few singed holes. Her pants were torn and blackened at the bottom and there was a nice tear on the knee. Clearly she’d been wearing these clothes for a while. And she’d lost her shoes.

Bloom frowned. That was strangest of all.

She went to tuck her hair behind her ear, suddenly nervous, but found it pulled back in a tight braid. 

She’d never been good at braids. This one was neat and clearly done by expert hands.

The mysteries were piling up. 

What was the last thing she remembered?

The blood witches had attacked. She’d stopped Sebastian. She’d said goodbye to her friends. She’d been ready to leave for the Realm of Darkness, right she needed to close the portal, but Sky. God, Sky. She’d left him in the Otherworld. 

Alone.

Fuck. 

She’d done that to him.

He was going to hate himself for letting her go, wasn’t he? That stupid heart of gold.

She missed him. She just wanted to hug him, to hear his voice. How long had it been? Days? Months? Years? 

—No. 

She sniffed and straightened. She couldn’t cry now. It was done. She needed to orient herself, distract herself. 

The running water sounded like a good start. Wasn’t there a bit of wisdom about following bodies of water to their source if you ever get lost?

She started walking towards it, teetering carefully on rocks and patches of softer pine needles to avoid the mud. 

So this was the Realm of Darkness. 

It looked eerily like the Otherworld. It even had the same kinds of trees and ferns. This didn’t seem quite so scary.

She found the bank of the river that she’d heard earlier. The rain fed it and it nearly threatened to pool over onto the river bank. The water rushed on and she looked up, tracing a path, and began to follow it. She worked her way slowly up the river bank, thoughts swirling.

This reminded her of the river that passed by the Alfea campus. It was just as big and when it rained it threatened to spill over too. 

She supposed that rivers were rivers no matter where you went.

And brambles. Wow, brambles in the Realm of Darkness. That was strangely comforting. 

And roads. 

She stared at it. A long stretch of packed reddish dirt that snaked off from inside the forest to follow alongside the river bend. 

And tire tracks.

A chill ran down her spine. This was not the Realm of Darkness. 

She walked now, down the road of red earth, equal measures dread and excitement swirling in her gut. She had seen this same red earth cloud windows and blow plumes of dust behind trucks while Specialists jovially sang war songs or yelled at her heels. 

She’d been chased down this road before. 

Now she ran it at full tilt. 

She was back. She was home.

“Sky. I told you, Sylva’s not going to like that you’re out here. He’s going to report you to the headmistress, again!” Riven bounded down the slope behind him, raining pine needles and mud down the back of his legs and watching it tumble into his shoes. 

“Yeah, well Sylva can suck it. I don’t care what he tells that smiling old badger.” Sky rolled his eyes and trotted down the bottom of the slope and onto the flat ground.

“Are you even thinking about graduating? At this rate you won’t pass any of your junior classes.”

“I’ll be fine. You play hooky all the time. You do fine.” Sky shrugged.
“But I cheat Sky. I do favors for a classmate here or there so that they have my back.”
He shook his head. “Fine, I’ll cheat. I can do it.”
Riven snorted and raised an eyebrow expectantly. “You’re not going to do the favors part?”
Sky blinked. “No. Why would I?” 

He patted his shoulder, nodding sardonically. “Good. You’d be bad at it.”
“Dick.” He smiled.

“So. What do you do out here?” Riven asked, looking around at the empty forest and dodging a patch of broken canopy that was letting the rain through.

“Well normally I’m alone.” Sky jabbed as he started forwards. “I mean I mostly come here to get away from everyone. They have expectations. They want me to be who I was last year. I’m just… I’m not that person anymore. At least not right now. I need time and space. I want permission to be just as alone as I feel I am.” He kicked at the pine needles as they walked.

“Sounds depressing.” Riven sniffed. 

“You don’t ever feel like that? I mean you lost Beatrix… ”

Riven crossed his arms against the cold and peered out. “Sure I lost her, but I didn’t think I ever really had her in the first place. More like she just needed me for something every now and then.”

Sky raised an eyebrow. “I recall you guys needing the room more than just ‘every now and then’.” 

Riven gave a snort. “Yes. ‘Haha.’” It was hollow. They came up to the bridge by the river. 

The new school administration had made a cover for it recently. They stopped beneath it and stared out at the river below. “I mean at least I knew what I meant to her before she was gone. —Dane. Not so much. The poor guy is stuck between a lovesick puppy and an angry macho man-child. He's so busy trying to make everyone think that he's okay. He's pathetic.”

Sky leaned against the railing.

“That's a little much, no? I’m sure he’s doing his best.”

“Don’t tell me that none of the girls have told you about the way he’s been going after them? Musa alone has told me too many stories. Makes me want to show up to practice for once just to knock some sense into him.” 

“Wow. I had no idea.” His eyes wandered and he got a solemn look. “We uh... we don’t really talk much anymore.”

“Really? Not even you and Stella?”

Sky frowned. “She’s been… busy.”

“A shame. I feel like you could use a bigger support network. You know, they understand what you’re going through.”

Sky sighed and shook his head. “No. They don't. They got letters. I got told to my face. I… I was powerless. I wish I’d stopped her. I should have stopped her. —We could have found another way.”

Riven reached for his shoulder and gave it a reassuring squeeze. “Sky, we all have things that we wish we could have done differently. But we’re here, yeah? We have to move forwards.”

“I am moving. Just…” He sighed. “Just not as quickly as the rest of you.”

Riven sucked his teeth and tried to smile when he nodded. “Okay. Well whatever you need, I’m here for you. So are the girls. Just try reaching out. Please.”

“Fine.”

Riven stood, satisfied. “Okay. Well I’m heading back to class then—”

Sky straightened, suddenly looking as if he had been hit by lightning with eyes wide. “Holy shit!” Sky practically threw himself over the railing.

“What?” Riven stopped and tried to follow his gaze.

He had to do a double take. Down the side of the river, rounding a bend in the road and from behind a stretch of brush, ran a figure. A half soaked woman with red hair was pounding the track like her life depended on it. She was laughing with relief.

“Bloom!” Sky was suddenly screaming her name and running across the bridge to meet her. 

A look of surprise and excitement crossed the girl’s face when she saw him.

“Sky!”

Impossibly, they ran into each other's arms as rain peppered their clothes and hair. They didn’t seem to notice. 

“Holy shit. Holy shit." Bloom was smiling uncontrollably. "Am I dreaming?”

“I was just about to ask the same thing.” Sky laughed and ran his fingers through her hair and down the sides of her face. “You seem pretty real to me.”

“Well if you’re hallucinating I am too.” Riven pushed his hair back and looked on in shock. “Fuck.”

“I’m back.” She laughed. They were both laughing with excitement, unable to keep it down. 

“Where’d you come from? How’d you get back?” Sky brushed her hair back, unable to keep from touching her. As if he feared that if he let go she would disappear.

“I—” Her smile faded a touch. “I don’t know.”

Sky’s excitement faded to concern now that he was properly looking at her. “You’re a mess. What happened? Are you hurt?”

“No. I’m fine. I just came to like this. I am missing my shoes though.” She stared down at her bare toes.

“We need to get you back to Alfea.” Riven said. “It's best if the nurse looks at you.”

“Yeah.” Bloom nodded. 

“I’ll carry you.” Sky crouched down and offered his back for a piggyback.

She giggled as he picked her up and kicked her feet. “Oh my god. I can’t believe that this is happening.” She gasped in realization and straightened, almost throwing Sky backwards. “Oh no. Everyone’s going to be so mad at me when I come back. I left them all those notes for nothing. They’re going to be so confused.”

Riven furrowed his brow. “Wait. What are you talking about?”

“Hm?” Bloom looked at him. “What do you mean?”

“Bloom. Uh…” Sky swallowed nervously and looked at Riven for help. Clearly he was at a loss.

“Okay. Promise me that you won’t freak out.” Riven began slowly, stepping out into the rain. “It's been a while since you went into the realm of darkness.”

Bloom went pale as she looked between him and Sky. “What? How— How long?” 

Riven sucked in a breath and closed his eyes. He couldn’t bear to see her heart break. 

“You’ve been missing for almost six whole months.”

Chapter Text

The walk back to Alfea was short and as they passed the training grounds on their way to the main building, specialists were the first to see them and one by one they paused their training, squinted at them, and, once they recognized them, watched with slack jaws. 

Bloom immediately tried to hide from their eyes by burying her head in Sky’s shoulder. 

She felt ashamed somehow. She’d been gone for so long. How could she not have known? 

Of course she’d suspected that time must have passed, but she was drawing a complete blank. There was nothing there. So many months in the Realm of Darkness and she couldn’t remember a second of it. 

Students and teachers alike stared at her as Sky carried her through the halls. Riven didn’t seem to care too much, though he shot Daren a particularly nasty stare.

Bloom wanted to hide. This was hard enough to process without everyone gawking. Part of her wanted to be embarrassed about having Sky carry her, but she knew that if he set her down she’d just stand like a deer in headlights; too scared to move and too confused to make a decision. Plus she felt safer close to him.

Nearly six months. 

The school had changed. Brightly colored carpets blanketed the pale stone hallways and clearly someone had made an effort to update the lighting because, despite the constant drizzle outside, the school seemed brighter than it had been when she’d left. 

The students themselves looked better than she’d left them after the ordeal with the blood witches. Though they all paused when they saw her, she caught a glimpse of them all laughing and talking and moaning over homework as if that was the biggest blight on their lives. That was reassuring. Time had done them good. 

She supposed that a new headmistress had to have been instated by now. She wondered about her. Was she like Rosalind or Dowling? Did she know about Rosalind? About what Bloom had done to her? Would this new headmistress try to protect her or have her incarcerated? —No.

Bloom shook her head. She couldn’t think about that now. She was overwhelmed as it was.

First she needed to get to the nurse.

It wasn’t long before the castle’s gray stone gave way to gargantuan archways and opened into a cavernous space. This room glistened with a pale light that filtered in through tall windows and between rows of dozens of white partitioned beds that stretched across the floor. Doctors and earth fairies milled around, from bed to bed and patient to patient. Some clutched clipboards or pushed carts of vials and gauze. 

This place was new. It must have been part of this new headmistress’ instatement.

“This is our stop.” Sky said as he leaned down and Bloom set her feet back on solid ground. The bare stone floor was cold.

“Thanks for carrying me.” She said with a smile.

“Any time.” Sky smiled weakly, looking her over in worry. “Are you alright? I know that this must all be a shock.”
Bloom sucked in a breath. His concern somehow made it sting more. 

“I’m fine. I just need time… and for someone to tell me that this weird amnesia thing isn’t permanent. I don’t like not knowing.”

Sky nodded and reached for her hand. “I’m here.” He said and squeezed it.

Bloom’s breath quivered and she felt a sob climbing up her throat. She swallowed it down and squeezed back.

Riven sighed as he watched them. “Well if you two love birds are set, I’m going to go take care of some business.” He shoved his hands in his pockets and eyed each of them. “Promise me that you’ll take care of yourself Bloom.”

“Yeah.” Bloom said, trying to laugh and finding it coming only weakly. “I’ll do my best.”

“And Sky, stay cool dude. You know her, she’s strong. Bloom’ll get through this.”
Sky sighed and tried weakly to roll his eyes. “I know. I know.”

“Good. Well then, I’ll find you guys later.”

“Bye.” Bloom sighed as she watched him go.

“Well?” A gravelly voice came from behind them. Bloom turned to find an aged woman sat on the other side of a desk. She peered at them from over the blue rim of her glasses. “Can I help you?”

“Yes.” Bloom took a shaky breath and stepped forwards. “I… Well, I’ve been missing for six months. My boyfriend found me in the woods outside campus and I have no memory of the time I’ve been gone. I was hoping to get checked out.”
The lady nodded, apparently not very fazed. Bloom wasn’t sure if that made her feel better or worse. 

The woman turned towards a computer that sat beside her. “Can I have a name?”
“Bloom Peters.” 

She typed that in noisily. “Hmm. I see. Your file says that you’re presumed dead. Let me change that.” 

Dead? 

Bloom looked at Sky. He shrugged.

That explained the stares.

“Take a seat over there. A doctor will be with you shortly.” The gravelly woman said, pointing a crooked finger over at a row of plastic chairs that lined the wall opposite her. 

How mundane . Bloom thought absently as she went and sat down. It could almost have been funny. She almost felt like she was back at the doctor’s office in the first world.

The wait time was the same too. Minutes passed like hours and eventually a short woman in a long coat walked up. She had a shock of black hair and bright green eyes.

“Bloom Peters?” 

She nodded. “That's me.”
“Great. We’re glad to see that you’re alive.”

She wasn’t sure what to do with that.

“Um. Thank you?”

The woman nodded. “My name is Hermia. I’ll be taking care of you today. Why don’t you come with me and we can get you checked out?” She looked at Sky and raised a concerned brow, “Though, I’m afraid that your friend is going to have to stay here.”

Bloom felt a flutter of panic in her chest and gripped his hand. No. She’d just gotten him back; she didn’t want to leave him. 

Sky squeezed her hand tight. “Bloom. It's alright. Riven’s right, you’ve got this. I’ll be right here when you get back.”
“You promise?” She asked.

“I promise.” And slowly he let go.

Reluctantly Bloom nodded, let him go, and turned to follow this Hermia woman down the rows of fabric cubicles.

She lifted a flap of fabric and led Bloom into a small blocked off space complete with a bed, a stool, and a desk.
“Take a seat please.” 

Bloom complied, lifting herself up and watching as her hands left dark tracks across the white sheets. She raised them gingerly and laid them awkwardly in her lap to avoid making the mess worse. 

Hermia didn’t seem to notice. She sat down on a stool, produced a clipboard from the desk, and wheeled herself opposite her. 

“So, Bloom. You’ve been gone for quite a while and you have amnesia, is that right?”

“Yes.” 

“Can you describe the first thing you remember?”

“I… Walking through the forest outside of campus, I guess. I don’t know where I was going; I  was just walking.”

Hermia tilted her head. “Interesting.”  She paused and made note of that. “Do you have any discomfort or physical pain?”
“No. I feel fine.”
Hermia nodded. “Well then, if you don’t mind, in order to diagnose you as quickly as possible I’d like to use my magic.”
Bloom hesitated. What did that mean? 

She wrapped her arms around herself wearily.

“What kind of magic will it be?”

Hermia smiled reassuringly. “I’m a mind fairy. I’ll just be taking a look at your mind for whatever might be causing your amnesia. It should at least help me see what kinds of things your body remembers that you can’t.” 

Bloom’s stomach knotted anxiously at the suggestion. Something told her that that was a bad idea, but she couldn’t place why and, unable to conjure a reason not to have this doctor work literal magic, she tentatively nodded. 

“I guess that's alright.”

“Great.” Hermia stood and walked over to stand beside Bloom. “I’ll need to touch your forehead.” Bloom went to move her hair aside so that she could get to it better, but found it still braided. Right. That was a thing. “You might feel a slight tingling sensation.” Hermia said as she pressed a thumb against Bloom’s temple and the rest of her hand covered the view from one of her eyes.

Bloom tensed, ready for some horrible feeling to crash into her, but none came. Instead she got a strange tickling sensation, like she had to sneeze but it just never hit her nose. The feeling persisted for several seconds and Bloom eyed the doctor curiously. 

Hermia’s face was screwed up in concentration, brow furrowed and lips pressed so hard they turned white. Then her eyes flew open and she stepped back, letting loose a frustrated sigh through her nose.

She eyed Bloom’s forehead for a moment, as if she could peer into her brain from where she stood a good pace away. “Well that's odd.”

“What?” Bloom asked, trying to indulge the concern that rose in the back of her throat.

Hermia crossed her arms, chewing her lip for a moment as she thought. “Bloom, have you ever done mental strength training?”
“No.” Bloom said, brow furrowing too.

“Hmmm.” Hermia looked Bloom over again, as if she had grown a second head. “And you’re not wearing any special jewelry or being protected by another mind fairy?”

“No. Definitely not.” 

Hermia narrowed her eyes and chewed away at her lip, clearly no longer seeing Bloom. “Perplexing.” She declared and then snapped around towards the desk and the clipboard. She picked it up and began to scribble furiously as she spoke. “Normally when I dive into another fairy’s consciousness there is little resistance, unless they have been trained, and they are effectively an open book; memories, worries, ambitions, habits. I can get a holistic view. But for some reason your memories are blocked, and everything else is being passed through at a trickle.” Bloom’s heart sank. What was that supposed to mean? Hermia must have seen because she paused and carefully put the clipboard and pen down. “One thing I can tell you, however, is that your physical memory is available.”
Bloom straightened. “What did it say?”
Hermia’s brow raised softly in sympathy. “That's another mystery, I’m afraid.” She dropped down to meet Bloom’s eyes and grasped her hands, seemingly recollecting her bedside manner after her fervor. Her hands were warm. “Bloom, over the past few months, you’ve been through some kind of strength training. As if you were put through a bootcamp. I’ve seen a similar pattern of growth for some of our high achieving specialists, but I believe that the purpose of your training was likely to enhance your magical capabilities, not just your physical ones.” 

Bloom stared at her. Strength training? Had she done that herself? No, she found her hands pulling free to drift to her braided hair, someone else had been there with her. Someone else had been in the Realm of Darkness. She squeezed her eyes shut and desperately tried to recall who. Surely she had known their name— at least a face. It was all blank, an inky blackness. Except…

A laugh. Light and caring. Warm. Hands gently twisting her hair back. 

Who was that?

“Do you remember something?” Hermia asked, eyeing Bloom gently. 

Bloom shook her head slowly. “No. Not really.”
Hermia nodded and stood. “Well, let me know if you do remember something more. We’ll figure this out together. I promise.” She smiled warmly. “I’ll be investigating your condition across the next few weeks and I’ll keep you posted on what I find. From what I understand you have a roommate who works in our infirmary. If you ever need to get ahold of me, she’ll know where to find me.”
Bloom’s heart soared. “Terra’s here?” 

“Yes.” Hermia said slowly, “However, I’ve asked her to wait until you’ve had some time to adjust. I’ve asked her to relay the same to anyone else who comes to see you.” 

“Oh.” Bloom blinked. “Thank you, I guess.”

“Of course.” Hermia smiled. “Well then I’m off to make my report. You may leave when you like.” 

With that Hermia collected her clipboard and exited the room. However, in the same moment that she seemed to step outside, an indistinguishable voice said something and Hermia’s voice rose as well. Bloom could make out none of the exchange. 

These cloth walls must have been enchanted somehow to muffle noise and keep privacy, she decided. 

Then the wall was parted again and Hermia reappeared, looking rather exasperated.
“Okay. I know that I said that everyone would wait for you, but our new headmistress just will not  take no for an answer—”

“Bloom.” A woman swept in beside Hermia. She was tall with thick black ringlets that fell about  her shoulders. She was dressed smartly in a simple sky blue blouse, a navy pencil skirt and, below that, a pair of plain heels. Her piercing blue eyes poured into Bloom, quickly assessing her, before her glossy lips widened into a warm smile. “I’m sorry to crowd you, but it is imperative that we speak. In private.” She eyed Hermia, and the doctor looked at her sourly before stepping back outside the room. The new woman smiled and swept forwards, extending a hand. “I’m Celine, the new Headmistress. It's wonderful to finally meet you.”

Bloom took it robotically while eyeing the new headmistress over, very much unsettled. 

“Likewise.” She said weakly.

“So,” Celine dragged the stool over and sat down; crossing her legs and leaning forward. “I hear that you took part in defeating Sebastian and his Blood Witches.” Bloom nodded slowly and Celine lowered her head to whisper covertly. “I’ve also heard that Rosalind’s death was neither ordered by Sebastian nor carried out by his followers.” 

Bloom straightened. She knew. 

Her heart raced, ready for a fight or a jail sentence.

Was she going to threaten her? Hold it as leverage?—

Celine smiled and threw her head back.

“Don’t worry. Don’t worry. Rosalind was a dangerous woman and I expect that you did what you did purely out of desperation.” She waved her hand in the air as if to dismiss any worries, “I seriously expect that neither of us will reach the point where that becomes necessary. —I just wanted to get that off my chest. No mind games. No vague allusions. I want us to be friends, Bloom. I know that you’ve been through a lot and you need someone that you can trust.” 

Bloom narrowed her eyes and her fists balled up in her lap. “Rosalind wanted me to trust her too.”
Celine frowned and nodded. “I can imagine that she did. However, I want you to know that my only intention in asking this of you is that I am concerned for you as a student. I want Alfea to be a safe place for students to grow. I want to offer students stability and safety. You’ve all already been through so much. —In fact, you have already racked up more misadventures and trauma in the last year than I did in my entire student career at Alfea.”
“You went here?”
Celine smiled fondly. “Oh yes. And Dowling was a wonderful headmistress. She was quite inspiring. —But she did refuse to mount a proper health care system, preferring instead to keep her students from getting so severely hurt in the first place. It was admirable, but well, when I took office I saw how much danger you all have been put through and I figured that that was one of the first things that needed adapting under my care.” She shook her head and smiled. “But I’m rambling. Now that you have returned from your trip to the mysterious Realm of Darkness, I would like your help with cleaning up Sebastian Valtor’s mess.” She looked at Bloom curiously. 

Bloom was at a loss and she frowned. “What kind of mess?”
Celine paused to look aside, choosing her words carefully. “Well, While Sebastian’s blood witches have mostly been rounded up, a few have scattered to the winds. I was hoping that, given your previous experience against them, you could help me and the team that I’ve put together find them and neutralize them.”
“Neutralize them?” Bloom raised an eyebrow. “What’s that supposed to mean?”
Celine sucked her teeth. “That’s another detail that I cannot disclose to normal students.”
Bloom stared at her for a moment. Did this mean that they would be killing the blood witches? Or torturing them? 

“Isn’t this something that the Solarian Military should be handling?” She asked instead.

Celine’s eyes gained a particular twinkle as she reappraised Bloom. “Yes, ordinarily they would, but many students have come to me, wanting to get involved. The Queen agreed to allow the students to handle the capture of the witches so long as I supervised it and had staff ensure their safety. —I figured that it could help them gain closure; and experience in the field has shown good returns on their studies.”
Bloom stared at her for a moment, horror bubbling in her throat. She was putting students on the front lines? After everything they’d been through? 

Were Celine and the Queen just using the students and their trauma to get her dirty work done without sacrificing troops? —No, Bloom shook her head, that was a bit too ridiculous. She needed to step back and think about this logically. 

Clearly she was still too raw and on edge. 

“Can you give me some time?” Bloom said tentatively.

“Of course.” Celine said with a nod of understanding. “You probably need time to readjust.” She smiled and stood. “Well it’s been very nice meeting you Bloom. I wish you a swift recovery and I hope that you can return to classes soon.” 

“Thank you.” Bloom said wearily.

“Ah, and as far as I’ve seen, you’ve gathered quite the welcome party. I wish you luck facing them all, and if you ever need somewhere to hide, my door is always open.” She winked at her and then disappeared outside the tent. 

Bloom sat alone, taking a moment to process. 

What a strange woman. She seemed… nice, but something didn’t add up. She had secrets.

But what Alfea Headmistress hadn’t?

It was practically a requirement of the position. So was a connection to Solaria’s queen, apparently. Surely something more was going on between her and Celine. 

Maybe Stella knew something. 

—God, Stella! She must have been through so much shit in the wake of Sebastian’s death and after her transformation. 

After seeing how Stella’s mother had hurt her and tried to control her with that magical gem, Bloom’s stomach turned at the thought of what kinds of horrors the beloved queen of Solaria had done to her in the past 6 months.

The same went for the rest of her friends. She had left all of them after an awakening that only she had weathered. They must have been so lost and under so much pressure. 

Bloom sighed and stared up at the ceiling, tracing the embellished archways distractedly. 

She needed to face them. 

She rolled to her feet with a huff and walked out of the room.  

Chapter Text

Aisha bounced up and down on the balls of her feet anxiously. 

A crowd had gathered to see Bloom. They clogged the entrance to the infirmary and the waiting area. She didn’t think that any of them had really talked to Bloom before, but she supposed that word had spread quickly and the ‘return of the fire fairy who could transform , after disappearing to a forbidden realm of magic, after being presumed dead’ had brought quite the crowd. Aisha knew that most people had heard of her —hell the school had been this close to building her a small memorial!— but this was extreme. She couldn’t even see the hallway from here.

When Riven had shown up to her classroom just a few minutes ago with the news, Aisha hadn’t been sure if she believed it. She’d had this dream a hundred times before. But when Musa and Terra had stood to leave, muttering half-hearted excuses to the professor on their way out, Aisha had followed. Aisha expected that she’d get an angry email from him later or a ridiculous make up assignment to do; but for once she didn’t care.

And when Bloom finally appeared, walking down the aisle between the cloth rooms, the crowd went silent. Bloom had made it back. She was breathing, something made of flesh —alive! It felt fake. Aisha would wake up any moment and find that empty bed perfectly folded into place, with her heart crushed.

But there she stood, staring out at the crowd with those familiar doe eyes. Then she found them, standing on the side with Sky, and an awkward laugh appeared on her lips.

“Wow. Um, this is… weird. —Uh. I’m alive I guess. Yay.” She made those stupid, awkward, jazz-hands.

“You idiot!” Musa was the first to break the spell. “You stupid, stupid self-sacrificing idiot.”
She ran forwards and tackled Bloom in a hug. Bloom’s face went red with the force of it.
“Oh. Ouch. I’m glad to see you too. —You’ve gained some muscles in the last few months.”

“Of course.” Musa rolled her eyes and laughed to try and hide the tears that were welling and the shake on her lips. “I’ve been training hard you dork.”

Terra was the next one up. She was slower to walk up and embraced her in a gentle hug. When she let go, she held Bloom at arms length and looked her over carefully. 

“I heard that you have some amnesia. Are you feeling alright?”
“Yes. Yes. I’m fine.” Bloom smiled. “Hermia took a look at me. She gave me a clean bill of health.”
“Oh good.” Terra’s nervous smile melted with relief and she nodded. “She’s a good one. Hermia.”

Bloom furrowed her brow in concern. “She mentioned that you’ve been working at the infirmary. Is that going alright?”
Terra laughed and looked back at the crowd of onlookers. “Yeah. It's not normally this busy.”
Bloom followed her gaze and her eyes found Aisha. Her smile gave a shake and she opened her mouth but nothing came out.

Aisha couldn’t bring herself to move. She couldn’t be real. This couldn’t be real. She didn’t want to break the illusion.

Bloom smiled again. “Hey roomy—” There was a little choke in her voice and Aisha felt her own throat close up too. Words wouldn’t come. But Bloom was suddenly walking towards her. Then her arms were pulling her close —and they were real. She was real; solid and warm. 

Aisha felt a sob wrench its way up her throat. 

“It's so good to see you again.” Bloom said.

“Mhm.” Was all Aisha could manage as tears began to spill over her cheeks and she hugged her back.

“It's weird.” Bloom laughed weakly and swiped a tear from her own cheek with the back of her hand. “I can’t remember it, but I feel like it's been forever. I’ve missed you so much.”

Aisha gave her a squeeze. “I definitely have. You have no idea.”

“—Hey Bloom! Do you remember me?” Dane appeared with a smile. 

Bloom took a step back and stared at him in confusion. 

Another girl, one who Aisha didn’t know, stepped up. “Or me? You lent me your textbook once.”

“What about me?” 

People stepped up, vying for attention.

Bloom just blinked at them all and her smile turned nervous. “What?”

“Hey, what was the Realm of Darkness like?” Dane pressed.

“Yeah. What was in there?”

“How’d you get back?”

Bloom reeled back a step. “Um…”

“That's enough.” Aisha hissed, stepping in front of Bloom and hiding her protectively behind her back. “Don’t crowd her!” 

Sky stood from his seat beside them. “We should go.”
Bloom nodded emphatically. 

Terra and Musa helped circle Bloom and together the five of them pushed their way out into the hall. Phone cameras and questions followed them all the way.

Eventually they made their way to the suite and they all collapsed in exhaustion onto the couch. 

“Wow. That was something.” Musa pushed her hair back with an exasperated sigh. 

“Tell me about it.” Sky shuddered. “I haven’t seen the students that rowdy since training the day after classes reopened. I swear, they were like animals; so much energy.” 

“I don’t know if I want to go out there again any time soon.” Bloom said with a frown. 

“That's okay.” Terra smiled and rubbed Bloom’s arm reassuringly. “You can take your time.”

Aisha wrapped her arms around herself. “I’m sure that they’ll calm down once they get used to you being back. Everyone is just fixating. You practically came back from the grave after all.”
Bloom’s frown deepened and she crossed her arms. “The grave… That's weird to think about.” She looked up. “I didn’t think that that many people knew about me. Or cared. What happened?”
Musa rolled her eyes. “Well everyone knew that you were the first fairy to transform and all that, and then you defeated Sebastian. Some of the students who were locked up or being controlled by the Blood Witches consider you their savior for that.”
Sky sighed. “And then you disappeared. It left them asking all kinds of questions.”

“And then it got out that you had gone to the realm of darkness…” Musa added.

“You became a heroic figure of sorts. Some of them even proposed a memorial.” Sky concluded.

“It was almost a thing.” Aisha laughed at the thought of such a melodramatic thing happening. 

“Oh please, as if you don’t have your own shrine.” A new voice said from behind them. They all turned and looked up to see Stella walking out of her room. “Welcome back Bloom. I’m glad to see that you’re still breathing.” Her smile was thin and she barely even paused to look her over before turning towards the door. 

Flora trailed behind her as they crossed the living room. She wore a high necked sweater and her smile at Bloom was a little more genuine but her eyes drifted guiltily and she held a thick book, clearly precious, to her chest. Sticky notes practically bursted from the pages.

“Hi Bloom.” She said sheepishly. “I hope that you feel better.”
And with that they swept from the room in a hurry. 

Bloom looked after them with mouth ajar. “Did I miss something?” 

Aisha frowned and crossed her arms. “Stella has been…” She couldn’t find a word kind enough.

Musa didn’t bother softening it. “She’s been acting like a power hungry bitch.”
“Musa!” Terra gasped. “She’s our friend. We can’t say that.”
“You know that she’s being pressured. That's too far.” Aisha shook her head.

“Look at her! She’s not doing well!” Musa pointed at the door that Stella and Flora had just walked through as if it was evidence. She looked between them all. “Are we seriously ignoring it now? She’s even dragged Flora into her crap. —Terra, just look at how ragged Stella’s running her!”

Terra sank into herself, as if she wished that she could be swallowed by the couch.

“Wait. Wait. Back up.” Bloom said. “Exactly what is this crap that Stella’s dragged Flora into?”
Sky nodded, similarly lost. 

“We think that Her Lordship the Queen has demanded that Stella be involved in the new Headmistress’ literal Witch hunt.” Musa crossed her arms and began to drum her fingers on her arm. “Stella’s taken it seriously. Obviously. And now she refuses to spend even an ounce of energy on any of us. She’ll berate you if you try to start a conversation. She's completely shut us out.”

Aisha sighed. “And she’s pushing Flora to the limit. Stella drags her out early and they come back late. I don’t think either of them are sleeping.”

Bloom blinked. “I guess that's pretty bad. But what can we do about it? —Stella’s dealing with her own stuff, right? We can’t fix that.”
Musa gave a huff of frustration. “I’m just saying we could try.”

Silence hung tense in the room. Bloom reached for Sky’s hand. He squeezed it back. Clearly he hadn’t known about this either. 

“Well, can I get everyone some tea?” Terra asked, standing awkwardly. 

“Please.” Musa massaged her temple, fighting back a headache. 

“That would be very nice.” Bloom said with a smile. 

Sky nodded. 

Aisha leaned back with a huff. “I’ll take one too.”

Terra walked off. 

“So…” Bloom said carefully. “Stella’s working for the new headmistress and hunting down the remaining Blood Witches?”

“Yes.” Musa took a deep breath and spoke with measured words. “Everything’s been weird. Anyone who joins her little squad gets pulled in deep. And I mean deep. They stop coming to classes, they barely have any time— Hell they aren’t even on campus half the time.”
Bloom nodded gravely. “The new headmistress tried to recruit me to it while I was in the infirmary.”
“You didn’t accept, right?” Aisha leaned in with a concerned frown.

“No.” Bloom sighed heavily and her gaze fell on the ground. “It was too quick for me. I asked for time.” She laughed sheepishly, “I mean, I can’t remember the last six months and I have no idea where I’ve been or what I’ve been doing. The headmistress knew that, and yet the first thing she did was try to get me onto her weird squad or whatever it actually is. I don’t feel like getting used by another headmistress. It felt too shady.”

Aisha scoffed. “Oh there is definitely something shady going on there. We just haven’t seen what it is yet.”

“Are we really just going to wait for that to jump out and bite us then?” Musa asked. “I’m telling you, we need to act. Whatever Stella and Flora are getting involved in, we need to help them.”

“Well I could try to talk to Stella if you want?” Sky offered. “She might actually give me a minute if I can get her alone.”
Musa frowned softly. “Sky, it's very nice of you to offer, but I don’t think she’s going to have a minute for anyone who isn’t part of Celine’s squad.”
Aisha threw her hands up with a groan. “And that's why we can’t do anything —We can’t get too close to get involved and we can’t help from the outside.”

“Well…” Bloom started, frowning pensively, “It looks like we need to take a risk. We can’t ignore this — I don’t want to ignore this— and let our friends get sucked into another headmistress’ schemes. From what you guys have said about the last few months, the only way to tackle this is to get an inside man close to the situation and find a way out for Stella and Flora.” She sucked her teeth. “Okay. I hate the sound of this, but I might have to accept Celine’s offer.”
“No.” Aisha shot forwards.

“Definitely not.” Panic filled Sky’s face and he clutched her hand fiercely. “You just got back. You need to rest. You need to take care of yourself.”
“I’ll be fine after I’ve readjusted.” She clutched his hand back. “Trust me. This won’t be anything like what happened with Rosalind. I know what I’m doing now. Plus I’ll have you guys at my back.” She beamed and looked at each of them. “And there’s nothing that we can’t do together.”

Chapter Text

The minute that Bloom laid down that first night, exhaustion engulfed her. That same exhaustion dragged her in and out of sleep for the next few days; which passed almost entirely without Bloom’s notice. 

Aisha had proposed that however she returned from the Realm of Darkness must have taken a lot out of her, and Bloom was inclined to agree with that theory. 

Even if Bloom hadn’t found herself exhausted, she didn’t think that she would have left the suite. According to Aisha and Sky, the crowds from the day she arrived still milled about the hallway outside the suite, looking for a glimpse of her. 

Her roommates made it entirely comfortable to stay out of sight in the suite. Terra and Aisha had made sure to bring her whatever she needed and Musa kept her from going stir crazy, playing cards, catching her up on the news from the last few months, or walking through stretches and at home workouts to keep her body moving. The three of them rotated through to keep her company for as many hours as possible. Sky called often and dropped by between classes to chat with her too. A few times Riven had come with him and Bloom got to catch up with him a bit more.

It was great to see them and Bloom found herself happy and bubbly when her friends were around, but the moment that they were gone this strange feeling began to creep in. An itch began at the back of her mind, like you get when you walk into a room and forget what you went there for. It was a disorientating blankness yet it clawed at her with such urgency that Bloom thought that she might be going insane. Bloom hoped that it was just restlessness at being stuck in the suite for so long and kept it to herself. Whenever the feeling began to creep in on her, she tried to do all she could to keep her mind occupied. 

So far she’d played thirty rounds of solitaire, read all of the history textbook that Terra had leant her to catch up on for their year, sent fifteen emails to her teachers, and spent way too many hours on instagram.

By the eighth day she couldn’t stand it anymore, and so when Aisha was getting ready to leave in the morning, Bloom asked to go with her.

“Already?” Aisha raised a brow. “Do you feel ready?”
“Oh god. Definitely.” Bloom laughed sheepishly. “You guys have been great, but I don’t think that I can spend another day in here.”

“Okay.” Aisha nodded and turned around to riffle through a drawer in her desk. “I should have a spare notebook in here that you can use in classes today.”

“Thanks!” Bloom brightened. “I’ll go find my bag.”

A knock sounded at their door a moment later. 

“Aisha? You ready?” Musa appeared in the doorway. Her face lit up when she saw Bloom pulling her old book bag out onto her bed. “Oh. Bloom, are you coming to class with us?” 

“Yeah.” She beamed. 

“Cool.” Musa grinned. “Do you still have that textbook Terra lent you?”

“Yes.” Bloom held it up and gave it a shake before tossing it into her bag. “It wasn’t as bad as I thought it was going to be.”
“You read the whole thing?” Aisha shrugged her bag onto her shoulder and raised an eyebrow. “But you hate studying.”

“I don’t know. It was actually really interesting.” Bloom smiled. “Did you know that half the chapters were on the Dominion Wars and the sealing off of the Realm of Darkness?”

“I really hope that this is the boredom talking.” Musa said quizzically as she turned and walked out into the common room. 

Aisha frowned and looked Bloom over. “How long did that take you?”

“Three hours, maybe four.” Bloom said with a shrug. “Why?” 

Aisha’s frown deepened and she murmured under her breath as she followed Musa out of the room. “Bull. That took me eight.”
Bloom shrugged that off and followed them while chatting on. “I thought you guys would be super into this. —Remember how Sebastian was a Valtor? Well the first Valtor was locked in there, you know?” 

Musa groaned and leaned against the couch. “Why are we talking about this?”

Aisha swallowed hard. “Bloom, wasn’t your mom thrown into the Realm of Darkness too? Doesn’t the book talk about, you know, how she also massacred thousands of people?”   

A chill ran down her spine and Bloom’s smile fell. “I guess. Yeah, that was in there.” 

“Who’s mom are we talking about?” Terra stepped out with an oblivious smile.

They all looked at each other silently. 

Aisha sighed, “Bloom, I know that you don’t remember much about the Realm of Darkness, but do you think that you saw your mom in there?”

Terra sucked her teeth in her “Oh.” face, but otherwise joined Musa to hover silently.

Bloom chewed her lip and eyed the carpet. “No… I don’t know. Maybe.”
“Wasn’t she imprisoned hundreds of years ago?” Musa posed. “Could she even be alive after all this time?”
“Well Dowling lived for almost that long.” Aisha shrugged. “It's not impossible.”
“I—” Bloom shook her head. “I don’t think so. I can’t remember her face; her voice. I want to think that if I had met her that I would remember.”
Terra rubbed her arm. “It's okay. Your memory will come back with time. These things don’t last forever.”
Bloom smiled, genuinely appreciative of the comfort, and tried to hide her frustration. 

Just how long would it take for her memories to return? How long would this deep emptiness sit in her chest for?

“It's getting late.” Aisha said, “We should go.”

“Yeah.” Musa gave a snort and stood. “Our history professor already hates our guts after we walked out the other day.”

The four of them stepped out of the suite. The halls were less busy than Bloom had imagined and while stares and whispers followed them, most people did little more than nod at her in acknowledgment. 

This seemed manageable, she decided. 

Their first class was normal, peaceful, and slow. Bloom found herself getting restless. 

She was hit by the same thought that had hit her when she’d first started her classes at Alfea so long ago: How could magic school be so boring?

She wanted to train. To be in the field. To be using magic.

Musa seemed to catch the same restlessness and she leaned over. 

“Don’t worry. After this we have a break and then we have control training. So long as you don’t fall asleep now, your day will become much more interesting—”

“Shhhh!” Aisha hissed back at them before cautiously whipping back around to scribble more notes.

Musa rolled her eyes.

Terra smiled covertly across the row and gave a nod at Bloom's page of doodles before showing her own, much more detailed, scribble of a flower.

Bloom found herself smiling back. 

Things were still the same with them.

Chapter Text

A few hours later they all stood at the training pitch. 

In a field behind the school, just beyond the greenhouse and down a slope, there was an obstacle course; complete with tall walls and little bunkers and tunnels. It could have been the ruins of a town. 

A dozen students had begun to round up and chat in groups on the side facing the school.

In the same way that Dowling had taught magic, the new headmistress stood before them now.

What perfect timing, Bloom thought. With Celine here Bloom could surely find a good moment to discuss Celine’s offer and begin her little infiltration project. 

The headmistress saw Bloom approach and she waved her over.

“Bloom! It's wonderful to see you up and about!”

“Good morning, Headmistress.” Bloom said curtly.

“—Oh no, no, call me Celine.” The headmistress beamed.

“Um, sure.” Bloom tried to laugh, but it came out a little fake. She mentally kicked herself. She needed to keep up a friendly demeanor if she wanted Celine to let her in.

Celine didn’t blink. “Will you be participating in today’s skirmish?” 

“Sure…” Bloom said, drawing it out uncertainly and looking back at her friends. Musa gave her a thumbs up. “I guess I am.”
“Wonderful.” Celine clapped her hands. “Let me explain the rules to you. Four teams of four will be playing a game of capture the flag. —Yes. Four teams. I understand that that might be a little different than the first world’s version of capture the flag.” Bloom nodded, it was. But she was curious. “Two teams will pair up on each side of the field. One will be in charge of defense and the other will be in charge of offense. Each team will get a chance at each position.” That seemed reasonable. “This means that there will be two rounds. The pair of teams to take both wins gets extra credit. If there's a tie then there will be a third round and I’ll designate which teams take which positions.”

“So this is capture the flag?” Bloom asked, “What's the flag supposed to be?”

Celine’s smile only grew. “I’m glad that you asked.” She held up her hand expectantly and something came flying out of the field towards them. It landed softly in her grasp. It was a thick, old, leather bound book with a blue strap tying it closed. “The objective will be to retrieve this book and reunite it with your team’s copy of it.” That strange itching sensation began to prickle at the back of Bloom’s mind again; like cold fingers on the back of her neck. Celine was still talking but no matter how she tried to shake it Bloom couldn’t bring herself to listen. Her ears pounded with her racing pulse and she couldn’t tear her eyes from the book. A hand landed on her shoulder and Bloom jolted to life. “Bloom?” Celine was staring at her in concern. “Are you sure that you’re up for this today? If you’re not feeling it, you can just sit and watch.”

“No. No.” Bloom shook her head and the feeling faded. “I’m fine.” She wanted that book. “How will you know when a team has won?” 

Celine laughed, “Oh trust me, I’ll know. —These books are from my personal collection. They are especially protected; so don’t worry about your fire magic harming them. They could withstand a barrage from six of the strongest fairies I know and come out unscathed. We’ll be giving each of you a vest that will protect you similarly, so do your best out there and don’t hold back. Of course, once that shield is activated three times, you’ll be out and need to leave the field.”

“Okay. Cool.” Bloom said slowly.

“Why don’t you line up with your friends and you can all figure out your plan for this first round? —Oh and, just in case, please don’t use your transformation during this skirmish. I’m sure that it goes without saying, but it would be unfair to the other students.” Bloom nodded and Celine gave her a beaming smile. “I’m excited to see what you have for us today.”

Bloom walked back to her friends with her mind still on that book. And there were two of them.

“Hey. Did she give you the rundown?” Musa asked, bobbing on the balls of her feet excitedly.
“Yes.” Bloom said distractedly.

“I imagine that she told you about the transformation bit.” Terra added. Bloom nodded. 

“Great.” Aisha said, craning over a notebook. “Bloom, how ready do you feel for combat?”
Bloom frowned. “I don’t know.” When was the last time she had even conjured her magic?

“Okay. We’ll put you on rear guard for our first round. I’ll suggest to Celine that we start on Defense. That way you can get a feel for our combat and teamwork before we have to move quickly. —I’ve adjusted our strategy to account for you. Terra, can you fill her in while I’m talking to Celine?” She tossed Terra her notebook.

“Of course.” Terra smiled as Aisha walked off. 

“So, what are these things like?” Bloom asked, peeking over at the other teams that had gathered.

Terra smiled as she cracked open the notebook. “They’re super intense. Everyone is really competitive.”
“It's also super fun. I love getting to bash some heads.” Musa grinned.

“Not literally.” Terra added hurriedly. 

“Fine. Shins. Is that better? Bashing shins ?” Musa rolled her eyes. 

Terra smiled sheepishly at Bloom as she leafed through the notes Aisha had handed her. “So, Musa is normally our rear guard and she catches any leaks that get past Aisha and I, but since you’re going to be taking that position she’ll be our…” She squinted down at the notes. “Musa, you’ll be our right flank today.”
“Yes!” Musa bounced excitedly. 

“I’m still the center. —I take a defensive position really well. And I can… well you’ll see. Aisha is pretty good at incapacitating anyone who gets too close. She has great range and can move pretty fast, so she’s very versatile.”

Bloom nodded. This was all new to her. Clearly her friends had developed a lot of skills while she was gone. A pang of guilt struck her at the thought of missing it.

“Oh! I see Mr. Harvey coming over with the first aid stuff. I’m going to get my staff.” Musa bobbed off to a rack of weapons closer to where Celine and Aisha still spoke.

“Yeah, it looks like we’ll be starting soon.” Terra smiled. “—Oh!” She suddenly began fishing around in her pocket. “Here’s your comms.” She handed Bloom an ear piece. Bloom put it on. “Since we’ve been running with only the three of us we’ve developed our communication a lot. Things can get pretty chaotic, so let us know if you need help and we’ll try to give you a heads up if we see someone heading your way.” 

“Okay. I’ll try to keep the same up on my end.” Bloom smiled.

“Thanks.” Terra grinned. “Aisha has here that you should be providing cover fire if we’re in a pinch, but don't worry about us. Just keep your wits about you. Okay?”
“Yup.” Bloom nodded.

“Everyone, round up.” Celine called out over the field and the teams hurried over to where she stood. A box of vests sat beside her and she instructed everyone to suit up. Aisha already had a handful of them and chucked one at Bloom. Musa showed her how to put it on while Celine listed off team positions. Apparently their team was team 4 and they had been assigned the defensive on the Blue side; to which Aisha lit up with a victorious grin. The Blue side was easier for them, Musa explained.

The teams all set out into the ruins. The buildings were bigger and more complicated up close.  Most were missing walls and roofs; some were little more than corners of stone, but holes and short tunnels had been burned into or carved out of piles of rubble. So many rounds of practice here had made these remains of a small town a maze. Channels of water ran along the streets and braziers of fire were shielded in corners and vines snaked up what remained intact. 

The side of the city that they entered was marked with blue signs and blue splashes of paint. Bloom imagined that the other side was similarly marked with red.

Aisha led them over to a relatively well kept building. It had a small yard that removed it from the winding streets. The other team split from them with a wave and disappeared back into the ruins.

“The book will be up there in the dining room. You can't miss it. ” Aisha said, pointing to the second story. “The three of us will stay down here to be the first line.”

Bloom looked at the building nervously.  

Musa nodded. “That old thing is going to be your best defense. Use it well.”
Terra patted her shoulder reassuringly. “If someone does come at you, don’t panic. They’ll want the book. It's okay to give it up if you don’t want to face them.”

“But not too quickly.” Aisha rolled her eyes. “Okay everyone. Enough chatting. We need to be in position when the horn sounds —That means you need to get a move on Bloom.”

“Oh okay.” Bloom started. “I can watch you guys from those windows right?”

“Yes.”  Terra said. Bloom turned to leave, “Oh! And turn your comms on!” She called after her. 

Bloom laughed and started through the door, it was barely on its hinges. She pressed her comms and heard the connecting beep.

“Testing. Bloom, can you hear us well?” Aisha asked.

“Yes. Can you hear me?” She shot back as she passed through a dusty and half dilapidated living room. 

“Yes. You’re good.” Musa sang excitedly. 

 “I'm in position behind the water tank.” 

“Me too. The old car is where we left it last time.” Terra said.

“Perfect. Give it a new ding for me.” Musa cackled.
“On the right corner this time, please . We need to even out what we did to the left side last time.” Aisha added.

Bloom found the stairs and sprinted them to the top. She immediately saw the dinning room. It took up the whole second floor and it was filled by a large table and a dozen half crushed chairs littered the floor. A chandelier must have hung from the ceiling at some point because glass crystals littered the floor and crunched under her boots. The great windows that she’d seen from below covered one of the walls and they allowed her to look out over the lawn. The glass was dingy and the light they let in was murky. 

Then she saw the book. It sat in the middle of the room. Innocent and alone—

A horn sounded; surprisingly deafening from so far away. 

“Bloom, please tell me that you’re in position!” Aisha hissed in a panic. 

“Yes. Yes, I’m here.”

“Good— Fuck!” An explosion lit the yard and Bloom ran to the window to see a figure get thrown back. She tumbled across the lawn and hit a bush. “Oof.” It was Aisha. “Electric girl from Team 2 went straight for the water tank.”
“They’re learning.” Musa growled. 

“On my way.” Terra said, and Bloom watched as the little hut by the driveway burst open, wood splintering out, and an arch of stone rose into the sky like a great catapult. A beat up, old, blue convertible —was that a convertible or had the top just been smashed in so thoroughly that it looked like it?— flew through the air towards where the tank had exploded. A pair of girls were striding out of the debris towards Aisha. The blue car hurtled towards them and the girls looked up. Panic struck their faces before they barreled out of the way. The car landed face first with a heavy clattering, half burying itself in a spray of dirt, before falling back onto empty wheels.

The girls weren’t even on their feet before Aisha ran at them. She raised her arms and water rose from the ground, sprinkler’s bursting, to create a ring around herself and she began to fire rapid shots of water spikes. The first girl was hit square in the chest and Bloom saw a little flash of magic dissipate the blow. That must have been the shield. 

The second girl rolled out of the way and to her feet. Electricity sparked around her hands and a shot sprang out towards Aisha, but it never quite reached because the ground shifted under the girl, throwing her aim off. A second later, a greater wave followed; rolling across the lawn from the driveway where Terra had stepped out of the dilapidated shack and thrown her hands to the ground. The girl was thrown off her feet and Aisha got two shots in before she was back up.

Then there was a flicker of movement down the street and a guy came running out and down the driveway towards Terra.

“Terra you’ve got a—” Bloom called over.

“I see him.” Terra pivoted and raised her arms. A barrier of earth rose to about waist height and Terra pushed it forwards. The other fairy saw it coming and used the vines from the buildings to lift himself up and to help flip him over the approaching barricade. Terra raised a series of spikes and barriers to try and stop him, but he just pulled himself higher into the air. 

Eventually she stopped trying to slow him and raised some rocks to attack with instead, but he was quick and changed tactics to run across the ground. He was closing the ground between them with dangerous speed.

“Musa. I think we need to switch!”
“On it!” A figure appeared as a blur between buildings and just a few feet from the yard, Musa barreled into him, feet first; knocking him to the ground.

“I’ll handle him, you get the right side.” Musa said, twirling her staff.

“Thanks.” And Terra ran off to her new position.

“Shit. Bloom you have one coming your way.” Aisha said. 

The lightning girl had her locked in an exchange, flashes of lighting and shifting water flying, while the other girl ran past her and towards the front of the house.

Bloom’s mind raced. Should she guard the stairs— No, the girl crouched and began to pull the air in around her, sucking it in and compressing it, before leaping into the air with a cry and letting the air loose to propel herself up and towards the second floor. As she sailed towards the windows she crossed her arms before her, ready to send out a slash of wind to shatter them. 

Her face was fierce, twisted in determination, as Bloom locked eyes with her. The world slowed. She knew what was about to happen —the glass would shatter inwards. She’d be hit head on. It was too late to run. She had to counterattack— and something in her sprang to life. Fire roared to life in her chest and she rolled off of her skin, radiating out in a vaporous wave, as the window shattered. Shards of glass rolled inwards on the gust of wind but the heat met it and sent it back twice as strong, flying out through the air and sending the fairy flying with it.

She lost her grip on her magic and tumbled down through the air, before landing onto the yard below. Bloom was sure that the fairy’s shield had triggered on impact, but she still stepped towards the now open free fall to make sure the girl was safe. As Bloom did so, she found that the floor, the remaining glass, and the window sill all glowed red hot and the air shimmered with the heat that peeled off of her skin. Had her magic really been that harsh?

She didn’t feel drained like she imagined that she should, but she reeled the heat back in and her surroundings began to cool in the midday air. 

Below her, the girl was rolling onto her side with a groan. Aisha shot a barrage of water at her and the girl gave a frustrated growl before her teammate helped her to her feet.

Apparently Aisha had gotten her out too because they hobbled off of the field together. 

Aisha looked up at Bloom and shot her a thumbs up. 

“Everything good up there?” Terra asked. “That was pretty loud.”

“Yes.” Bloom said. “Sorry to alarm you.”
“Someone just got a little close.” Aisha added with a chuckle.

If the other team also had four members, then they were now down to two. Bloom surveyed the yard. One was still missing.

“How’s that earth fairy doing Musa?” Aisha asked as she walked off.

“He’s a slippery bastard,” She growled. “Just keeps tripping me just enough to get out of my range. I’m keeping him mostly to the edge of the street, but I could use a hand if you’re free.”
“I’m on my way.”
“I don’t know if that’s a good idea guys.” Terra said, “I haven’t seen that fourth member. The right side is too quiet. We don’t know where they’re going to come from.”
“Well I can handle whoever comes up here.” Bloom said quickly. “I think it's fine.”

“Okay Bloom, just don’t push yourself too hard.” Terra said slowly. “Remember. We still have another round after this.”
“Mhm. I’m good.” Bloom insisted.

She was better than good. She was practically buzzing with energy. That itch in the back of her mind was quiet and that restlessness in her chest had settled. Her senses were on high alert and the heat that had settled below her skin was begging to be called upon again. 

Bloom let it flow through her fingers and it danced in perfect arches that twirled easily between her fingers. It was familiar and natural, like breathing. It was gorgeous. Bloom knew, as if she had indulged it before, that if she stared for too long she’d be completely entranced. 

So instead she flexed her magic; letting it spread from her fingers and trace through the room. It danced across glass, throwing light in patches, and drawing circles around the book. 

Then a shadow twitched across the far wall. The roof was half collapsed, leaving the whole back wall exposed and crowded with splintered beams and broken tiles, the sun ran bright against it and left a shadow across the rubble. 

Could it have been a flicker of the flames?

Unlikely. 

Bloom stared at the wall, at the place where the shadow had been, and listened. 

The faint clack of boots on tile and the creak of shifting weight came from above. 

Someone was above her. 

She should get onto the roof. Flying up would be easiest; but no, Celine had pressed that she couldn’t transform. 

Bloom would have to make her assailant come to her then. 

She crept away from the shattered windows and closer to the book. Her flames still circled it and she tugged at them, sending them towards the far wall, up, and out onto the roof. It was tile, she remembered, so they wouldn’t be able to spread well up there. Still, she fed them —She had no reason to hesitate. The dragon flame was bottomless. It's only fuel was her will. So she pushed at them, growing the flames higher and wider; feeling them grow though all she could see from where she stood was the edge of the dim, flickering shadow they cast. 

Faintly she heard a voice hiss, “Fuck.” A shadow stood amongst her flames. She closed her circle and began to pull her net tight. “Fuck. Fuck!” The voice was louder and more panicked as the figure staggered backwards, towards the edge of the roof. 

Bloom found herself smiling. This felt familiar, easy. 

The shadow came closer and then a figure dropped down in a rush of wind. 

He was a lanky young man and he was breathing hard. He crouched there and looked between Bloom and the book with wild eyes. 

“Fuck.” He hissed out.

“Hello.” Bloom smiled politely. “You’re after this, right?” She picked up the book and weighed it in her hand. There was that odd tingling again but she ignored it.

“What are you playing at?” The fairy said, eyes following the book.

“Hm? Come and see.” She grinned daringly.

At the invitation the man started towards, extending his arm out with a jolt, sending out a whip of wind towards her hand. She clutched the book close, ducked, and used her momentum to slide down and out of the way, ignoring the sting of old glass tearing through her free palm as she steadied herself. The man adjusted his footing and began to pull air in around his hands for some harder hitting blasts.

Bloom threw out a line of fire and dragged it up to create a wall between them, blocking his view so that he couldn’t attack for just a moment more, before rushing forwards. She sprang through the fire and made a swipe at his legs. It made contact and he went down with a sharp “oof” as the air went out of his lungs. The shield had triggered on impact, leaving a gossamer shimmer sparking across his skin. He blinked up at her from the floor, momentarily stunned. 

She set a foot on his chest to keep him down. “Surrend—” Something occurred to her and she frowned. “Do we have a surrender option in this game?”

“No.” He hissed, sucking in a big breath of air and filling his lungs below her boot.

Bloom pulled her weight sideways and toppled onto a knee in alarm, catching herself on the floor again, before a mighty gust of wind split the air and shattered a new hole in the crumbling roof; leaving debris and dust to rain down around them. She’d unwittingly given up her height advantage. That was a bad idea.

He was staggering to his feet. She sprung up and spun around in a burst of flame, kicking him in the gut and sending him back. Unable to catch himself, he crumbled onto one knee to keep from falling entirely sideways. The shield had triggered again. That was two. 

Bloom pulled more fire from her skin and sent it in one great burst at his head. He tried to redirect it with a weak push of air, but he was too slow and it collided. Fire dripped from the shield in an angry spray, splattering and catching across the floor and the tablecloth.

Three. 

She let the fire and its remains fade. 

As it fell away the fairy looked at her, breathing hard and eyes wild with fear. His hair was a little singed, it had curled in the front and the air smelled of it, and there were several strokes of soot across his face. 

Clearly that had been too much. 

“Ooh. Sorry.” Bloom said, cringing in sympathy. “I wish you could have surrendered.”
“Yeah.” He said shakily, falling back onto his ass and staring at her. “Yeah. Whatever you say.”

The horn blared again. —That was it?
“Are we done?”

“Yeah.” He closed his eyes and leaned back.

“Can I help you walk back to the pitch?” She offered.
“No. I’m fine.” He heaved himself to his feet with a sigh. “Good game or whatever.”

She stared after him as he hobbled to the stairs and down. 

She hoped that he was as ‘fine’ as he claimed. Surely the shield had taken the brunt of it, but even if it stopped the fire, the heat had been close enough to singe his hair. Bloom was beginning to think that she shouldn’t go as all out as Celine had claimed. 

“Bloom? ‘You going to come down?” Musa asked.

“We always walk back together.” Terra supplied.

“Woah—” Aisha said, “The last team 2 guy just walked past us. What happened there?”
“I uh… I’m on my way.” Bloom started towards the stairs before she remembered the book in her hands. —She was itching to take it with her, but the next team would be looking for it. Plus Celine no doubt had more. It would benefit her to get in her good graces and access them more directly instead.— It took her a moment but she put it down softly on the table.

When she walked out of the house, her friends looked her over with concern.  

“So, what happened?” Musa asked. 

“With the guy?”
“With everything. That was a lot of fire power.” Aisha said. “I could see the light from here.”

“—Bloom! You’re bleeding!” Terra exclaimed, running up and grabbing her hand. 

As Terra turned it over Bloom stared at her own hand in bewilderment. She’d scraped up her palm pretty good. There were three long cuts oozing blood that stretched from her wrist to the base of her finger, and they stung the more she stared at them. How had she forgotten about that?

“I just slid on the floor. I didn’t think that it was that bad.”

“Let's get you to my dad.” Terra said, herding her off and back towards the hill. “There was a lot of debris up there, wasn’t there? We don’t want this to get infected.”

Bloom stared back at Musa and Aisha helplessly. Aisha just shewed her off reassuringly.

Musa leaned in to whisper in her ear. Aisha frowned.

Bloom tore herself away. There was no point in staring. She would just feel bitter about being out of the loop. —That was unfair to her friends. She’d been gone for months. It was only natural that they had grown closer.— She turned to Terra instead. “So I thought that the shields were supposed to protect us.” She held up her palm as evidence.

“Well yeah.” Terra sighed. “It does, against magic, but if you get hurt by something else there's little this vest can do for you.”
“So when you threw that car earlier, you could have crushed those girls?” Bloom asked, a little struck.

Terra laughed sheepishly. “Well yes, technically, but we’ve never actually hit anyone with it. So no harm, right?”

Bloom stared. She didn’t think that that brash sentiment was ever something she’d hear from Terra. 

She was reminded of what Celine had said about there being returns on training, and she began to wonder. Just what kind of “returns” was Celine looking for?

She eyed the headmistress carefully as they rounded the crest of the hill. 

The woman was locked in a grim looking conversation with the man from team 2 that Bloom had fought. He looked up and Celine followed. Bloom locked eyes with her. She should smile, she thought distantly, it would benefit her more to play nice; but it fell flat and Celine’s own smile pressed. 

The man grimaced and walked away, rubbing the soot from his cheeks. 

Mr. Harvey patched her up quickly with a salve and some bandages, asking questions all the while. Bloom just insisted that she was alright. Mr. Harvey nodded and agreed distantly, but he seemed troubled. Had he also taken a look at her opponent?

“Was he alright?” Bloom asked carefully.

Mr. Harvey stiffened and then nodded slowly. “Yes. A little spooked, but fine. —We’ve come to trust those vests a lot.” He gave a nod of his chin at the one Bloom wore. “They’ve let you kids stretch your skills a lot further.”

She stared at it for a moment. “Where did these come from, by the way? I don’t think these were a thing before I left.”
“I made them.” Celine walked up with her hands clasped loosely behind her back. “What’s training supposed to do if you can’t actually use your magic? —Do you mind if I steal Bloom for a few minutes?”

“Sure. I’m done here anyways.” Mr. Harvey gave Bloom a pat on the shoulder. “Terra, can you help me over here for a few minutes.” 

“Uh, sure.” Terra looked worriedly between Celine and Bloom for a moment. 

“Go. Go. We’ll talk later.” She reassured her with a smile.

“Okay. If you’re comfortable…” Terra said hesitantly, chewing her lip, and turning slowly away.

As soon as they were out of ear shot Celine turned to Bloom. 

“I spoke with Aston. He says that you showed quite some skill.”

Skill? “I’m more worried about any damage that I might have done.”

“Oh no. Aston’s a tough cookie. He can handle much more than you threw at him today.” Bloom was sure that that was supposed to be reassuring, but she couldn’t say that it helped. “I’ve been instructing him myself. Besides, he’s seen much worse in the field.”

Bloom crossed her arms. “He’s part of your witch hunting team.”

“Yes.” Celine appraised her from behind her smile. “And despite his bruised pride, he has recommended you. —Have you thought over my offer?”

“I have…” Bloom began slowly, deciding how she wanted to play this. “Though I’m not convinced that the reward is worth the risk to me.”

“Hmm.” Celine’s smile shifted to a thoughtful one and something sparked in her eyes. “Why don’t you wait out the next round and you and I can talk.”

“Sounds good.” Bloom said solemnly.

“Wait here, I’ll send the other students out to start their skirmish and we can resume this conversation.” 

Celine walked over to where the other students had gathered, most of them were circled up and chatting. Terra had rejoined their friends and they all looked at Bloom with questioning eyes.

“What’s going on?” Aisha asked over the comms.

Bloom realized that she’d forgotten to turn it off. 

“We have an in on the infiltration plan.” Bloom said evenly as she turned away from where Celine stood. “She wants to talk one on one during the match. I’ll try to negotiate a little. See if we can get some extra information.”
“Good.” Aisha said calmly.
“That was quick.” Terra said more nervously.

“It’ll be fine. I trust you. —Just really wring her for me, yeah? This time we use her.” Musa said.

“Of course.” Bloom nodded. 

“Teams. Get in position. You all start in five.” Celine’s voice cut over the crowd and everyone began to shuffle off. “Team 4, Bloom will be staying with me for this match, so things will be as usual.”
“A heads up would have been nice Headmistress.” Aisha said distantly.

“I know. I’m sorry girls. I just don’t think it's a good idea that she push too hard.”
“Fine. But if we win I want extra extra credit.” Musa said too, looking at Aisha. “It’s too sudden.”
“Of course.” Celine said sweetly. “Now hurry, we can’t keep the other students waiting.”
Bloom’s friends sent her a wave, which she returned, before they bounded down the hill and towards the ruins.

Celine watched them go as she walked over to Bloom. “They’re interesting girls. Smart.”
“Yes.” Bloom said slowly, trying to gauge her opinion of them.

“They’ll make good fairies.”

“They are .” Bloom insisted.

Celine smiled and nodded, motioning for Bloom to follow her as she passed. “I see. —Now about what you said. There’s too much risk for you?”

Bloom stepped in beside her as she began to trace a path around the edge of the ruins. “Yes. I expect that the remaining Blood Witches will have quite the vendetta against me.”

“Hmmm. I suppose that they do.” Celine said thoughtfully. “You seem to be able to handle yourself well, though. Surely they will be little trouble. Especially given the state that they’re in.”
And what state was that? —No. Now was not the time to ask. Celine might pull back if she tried to pry.

Distantly the horn sounded.
“But one can never be sure. Hence the risk.” Bloom said evenly. “To be completely honest, this whole memory loss thing has me feeling more vulnerable than usual, and while I want to help, I  think that I may be in need of some help myself.” As she said it she wished it was a lie.
Celine’s eyes fell on her and there was that odd flicker of something in them. She knew something that she wasn’t saying. “Yes. Your time in the Realm of Darkness is rather troubling. I have some books on the topic. Perhaps they could help you regain some memory.” 

The icy fingers were on the back of Bloom’s neck. “You mentioned your collection of books before. You would let me access them?”
“Of course.” Celine smiled.

“All of them? Even the ones we used today in training?”

Celine quirked a brow. “If that's what you require.”

Bloom’s heart quickened. That was easy. Too easy. 

“—And I want the ability to decide which of your expeditions I go on.” Bloom added quickly; too quickly. The excitement had gotten to her. Celine stopped and she had a question on her lips. “Stella.” Bloom explained, mentally kicking herself. “My roommates think she’s working too hard. I don’t think that I can keep up with that pace. Not yet. I need to know that I can step back and take care of myself.”

“An entirely reasonable request.” Celine nodded. “I do have one amendment though. —Tonight we have a mission. One of our fire fairies called out sick. I would like you to fill her position. It's standard information gathering. You shouldn’t run into any hostiles.”

Bloom took a deep breath, turning the idea over in her head. She couldn’t see any drawbacks. 

“That's fine.”

“Once you go on this mission, you’re all in. There’s no backing out. You’ll have to dedicate yourself to my team and its mission.”

“Which is?” Bloom asked.

Celine’s smile didn’t quite reach her eyes as she stared into Bloom’s. 

“The control of the remaining witches, of course.”

“Of course.” Bloom sucked her teeth.
“We have an agreement then?” Celine stopped walking and extended her hand. 

Bloom took it.

“Yes.”

Chapter Text

That night Bloom stood before the door to the headmistress’ office. 

Her friends had tried to drill her on what to do once she was in, but none of them had known what to expect. And now that she stood there alone, in that drafty hallway, she found herself wishing that they were there with her. She tried to tell herself that her friends were a phone call away if she ever needed them, but that did little to alleviate the hammering in her chest.

She was sure that these nerves weren’t normal for her, and now she wasn’t sure what to do with  them.

Bloom sucked in a breath. —It was best to just rip off the bandaid. She would just have to trust herself to deal with whatever was on the other side of the door. 

When she gathered the courage and opened it, she stepped into the reception room, comfortably familiar after so much time, where a young man with spectacles looked her over from behind a desk. 

“Phone.” He extended a hand expectantly. Bloom blinked. No one had told her this part. He rolled his eyes. “It's required. For everyone .” Bloom gave a hollow ‘oh’ and fumbled to produce her phone from her pocket. When he had it the young man tossed it into a box behind his desk. “They’re in there.” He motioned with a pen to the office and turned his gaze back to the newspaper’s crossword before him.

Bloom said a mental goodbye to her lifeline and walked robotically to the door and opened it slowly.

On the other side was an array of people, specialists and fairies alike, dressed in dark red vests, peppered with straps and the occasional weapon. They all stopped when they saw her.

“Bloom. I’m glad you could make it.” Celine sat behind the headmistress' desk with her hands folded over a series of papers, which spilled out from an open folder. “Stella. Would you get your friend a vest?”

Stella was leaned in beside her, as if the two had been speaking before Bloom walked in. She straightened and fixed an icy gaze on Bloom. Her hair was tied high in a ponytail that trailed over her vest and her lips were pressed into a hard, disapproving, line. She worked her jaw for a moment in something that Bloom couldn’t describe as either rage or disappointment, perhaps a blend of both. When she spoke her tone was clipped. “Sure.” She turned to a table behind her and hoisted up a spare vest, all straps and gangly edges. “I’ll help you put it on.”

Bloom walked carefully towards her, trying hard to avoid the judgemental eyes that followed. She spotted Aston in the back. He watched her bitterly. Flora sat beside him and her eyes were wide with shock and horror.

“Hey…” Bloom tried to offer a smile, but Flora quickly looked away, as if terrified.

Dane stood in the corner beside her. He gave a snort and elbowed Flora in the side. Flora looked as if she wished she could blend into the wall.

Stella began to pull the vest over her head, cutting her line of sight and sending Bloom squirming awkwardly. 

She tugged it straight and leaned in. “What are you doing here?” She began fastening the straps that tightened over the shoulders. 

“I—”
“Rhetorical.” She hissed with an almost imperceptible twitch of her lips. “Don’t answer. They’ll hear. —Later. Just stay close to me until I say.”
Bloom nodded slowly. A flicker of relief passed across Stella’s face but it was gone just as quickly as it had appeared and when she straightened, her face was all impassive sternness again.

“Good.” Celine stood and clapped her hands. “Let's go everyone, the night is waning.”

She turned towards the bookcase and opened the same secret passage that Dowling and Rosalind had used. Members began to file through behind her. Bloom hung back with Stella, watching everyone pass with restrained curiosity. Flora kept her eyes on the floor as she followed.

They were the last to enter the passage and the door swung closed behind them, leaving them in the dark. Bloom reflexively summoned a ball of fire above her palm to see by and she looked over at Stella, curious about what came next.

She eyed the flame for a moment, as if offended that someone had thought that she needed help illuminating a hallway, but said nothing. Instead she gave a sniff and marched towards the others. “Follow.” Stella said, her voice echoing through the stone tunnel. 

“Are we free to speak now?” Bloom whispered tentatively.

“No. Not openly.” Stella’s eyes were cold. “After. We have too much going on now. I’ll tell you what you need to know while we walk.” She pointed at the vest. “Firstly, that's different from the training vest you used this morning.”

“—How do you know about that?”

Stella’s brow furrowed for a moment, as if she had to be joking, then seeing that she was entirely serious blinked and straightened. “I forget that you’ve missed things.” She sighed and looked ahead of them, at the group that shuffled along just a few paces ahead. They had begun to turn down a set of stairs. When they stood alone in their stretch of tunnel her eyes looked hollow and haunted in the flickering light. “I know everything, Bloom. I have to.” She shook her head as they came to the top of the stairs. “—But back on topic. The vest. It has a similar shield. It’ll protect you from most magic; the blood witches won’t be able to get to you, but the people they control will. Expect to need defensive maneuvers.”
“Celine said that there wouldn’t be any combat though.”

“You actually trust what she says?”
“No. Not really. Still—”
“Good. Don’t — Definitely don’t in public.” A doorway was down the hall. The group was hurrying through. They were alone again. Stella licked her lips nervously as she walked. “Bloom. If there are ears, she’ll be playing her part well. Be careful.”
“Her part?”

“—God. You have so much to pick up on Bloom.” As they stepped outside into the sparse moonlight, her eyes were sad. Cold air and a faint drizzle of rain greeted them. Stella looked across the lawn at the group, who were now approaching the woods. She picked up the pace and rushed to follow. “We’ll have a talk later. —The vest. There’s a button here.” She pointed at a strap by her neck and pressed it. Then her face disappeared, blurring out as if seen through foggy glass. 

“Whoa. What the hell.” Bloom looked for her own button. She pressed it. The world blurred for a second and then cleared. Was that it?

“Good. Now they can’t identify you.” Stella nodded as she strided along.

“Wait.” Bloom stopped. “What are we doing that we need to hide our identities?”

“The fuck— Exactly what we’re ordered to do!” Stella hissed in alarm, turning to grab her arm and beginning to tow her along. “Now is not the time for questions. We need to catch up with the group.”
Bloom’s feet slipped a bit in the mud and she realized with a start where they were. “Stella! What are we doing here?— This is the way to portal to the first world! Why are we going to the first world?”
“So many questions!” Stella hissed as they approached the group. They huddled before the shed where the portal sat and it glimmered brightly in the doorway. “Where did you think the witches were hiding after Sebastian’s defeat? —The first world is the one place where we don’t have jurisdiction.”
“Fuck.” Bloom hissed under her breath. This was so many levels of illegal and amoral.

“Girls. Come on.” Celine said, holding the door open for them and waving them on. 

Everyone else was stepping through and they were quickly becoming the last ones on this side.

When the three of them were alone, Stella slowed and Celine looked around as if to confirm that they were in fact alone.

“Did you catch her up?” Celine asked with a worried glance at Bloom.

“Some.” Stella said grimly.

“Not enough.” Bloom said, frowning. “What is going on here-“

“Just keep your head up Bloom.” Celine cut her off gravely and grabbed her shoulder to look deep into her eyes. “I trust that you’ll figure this out quickly enough. —I trust that you’ll do what's necessary.”

“What—” 

Stella pushed her through before she could finish and she stumbled out into a semicircle of waiting fairies and specialists. 

They all bounced anxiously and the specialists looked around with their grips tight on their weapons. 

“Slow.” One of them commented. 

There was a jostle of agreement and a few odd looks of disappointment and distaste. 

Bloom swallowed hard and looked around. They were in a warehouse. This certainly wasn’t Gardenia.

Stella and Celine stepped through behind her.

“Alright everyone, we have two hours before this portal closes. Mask up and set your timers. If you’re not back, you’ll be on your own. —So don’t be late.” Celine looked at each of them pointedly and landed her gaze on Bloom. She stood awkwardly while the others set about activating the blurring magic. It was a strange sight to be surrounded by. As their grim faces disappeared, these faceless warriors struck her as ominous. “Specialists, keep your weapons to stun. Fairies, round up who you can, disarm and dissorient, and let the Specialists’ handle the rest. Remember, our goal is to capture and interrogate. We can’t do that if they’re dead.” There was a grumble of disapproval. Celine smiled indulgently. “Save that for later. Now move!”

That sent a shiver down Bloom’s spine. What was that supposed to mean?

But suddenly everyone was turning and sprinting away, crashing through the doors of the warehouse and revealing a junkyard beyond.

“Bloom, you’re with me.” A familiar voice said and someone grabbed her shoulder. “Stay close.”
“Stella?” Bloom ran after her. —God she hoped that was Stella.—

The closer they got to the open end of the warehouse, the more Bloom saw of the chaos that was growing outside.

Voices were yelling, masked Specialists and Fairies were scattered in pairs, circling unarmed men and women who huddled by tents and sleeping rolls. Some of them were screaming, some were begging, some were reaching for children. One pulled a weapon; a stick, and got the butt of a gun for it. It resounded with a heavy crack. Bloom flinched.

Ahead of them, a man crouched by a young boy in the middle of a makeshift road. They had to be witches. They were shaking. “Please, we don’t know anything!” A specialist swung out, light flashed from the end of his staff. It cracked against his skull and the man hit the ground. The child wailed over his body and the other specialist hoisted him up by the back of his clothes; kicking and screaming in terror.

“Don’t.” Stella hissed, grabbing Bloom’s hand. “You can’t freeze. Keep moving.” And she began to pull her away. 

“Why?” Bloom planted her feet, forcing Stella to turn back.

“What is wrong with you?” Stella hissed in frustration. “Did you really forget that we’re at war?”

Bloom’s blood ran cold. A laugh bubbled from her throat. She shook her head.

“What? —No. We ended that with Sebastian.”

“Seriously? —Shit. You’re serious?” Stella grabbed her shoulders and shook her violently, her voice lowering to a hiss that cut through the chaos. “Wake up Bloom! This is because of you ! You killed Rosalind! —This sin is in their names! The queen has decided they are guilty. You made this happen. Now act!” She blinked and behind the blurring spell there was shock on her face. “—Please tell me that's why you’re here.”
“No.” Bloom stared hollowly. “This isn’t why— I didn’t come back for this. I came back for…”

The tingle of cold slid down the back of her neck.

—Then a howl of rage came from behind them. A force came swinging down, Bloom could feel it like a fire radiating heat against the skin of her back. Instinct took hold and Bloom spun, reaching up and grabbing a throat from the air; the force throwing the ax swing uselessly into open air and leaving the body attached jerking back.

The woman gasped, the trauma to her larynx left her breathless and stunned. She was young and muscular, with tanned skin and symbols trailing down her arms and around her shoulders. As Bloom looked her over, the cold tingle settled, and she felt as if she had remembered something distant. This was familiar, practiced, and with it came words that were not her own; as if she was reciting a script that she did not understand. Her eyes fell on the woman’s trailing tattoos, they were words. Not English, but symbols that she understood. 

“An eastern witch?” Her voice was icy, but distant and foreign to her own ears. “Has everyone been involved in this useless mess?” She sighed and there was a heavy disappointment in it. “He’s going to have a lot to say about this. —Messy. Messy.” She lowered the woman to the ground; who collapsed onto her knees, still gasping, and glared at Bloom with fiery eyes. She smiled softly, as if a puppy had just made a yip at her. “Oh. Don’t look at me like that. You’ll survive. Just keep your ax to yourself and I’ll be friendly.” She cocked her head. “Now, would you happen to know where your community’s tomes are being kept?”

The woman went pale, her jaw hung open slightly, and her grip tightened on her ax. Bloom tilted her head and smiled in warning, baring her teeth.

“—Bloom? How do you know about the tomes?” Stella hissed and then stopped. “ What’s wrong with your eyes?”
“Nothing.” Bloom's smile pressed and she straightened. “Probably just a trick of the light. —Now. Back to the tomes.” 

The woman opened her mouth to speak, but nothing came out. 

“Oh. Poor thing. Looks like I damaged your larynx.” Concern was flat in her voice and she cocked her head, looked the woman over, before smiling and extending a hand. “I guess you’ll just have to guide us yourself.” The woman did not move. Bloom sighed. “Do I need to motivate you? Seriously? Is this not enough?” Bloom motioned to the horrors around them.

The woman’s eyes widened and she casted a look around, at the families being torn apart and fairies hurling fire and water and light; each blindingly brilliant and equally destructive as makeshift homes smoldered or were crushed. Cries and shouts and exclamations of pain were thick in the air. The woman had begun to shake. When she tore her eyes away from the razing of her encampment and looked back up at Bloom, there were tears in her eyes. She swallowed thickly, shook her head, and took Bloom’s outstretched hand. Bloom hoisted her up, and her eyes now fell on Stella. Stella regarded their would-be-assailant coldly. The woman’s grip on her ax tightened. She pointed it down the street; which was now smoldering with errant fires, littered with unconscious figures, and cracked from stray earth magic. The woman hunched her shoulders against the sight and began to trudge away. 

Stella stayed close to Bloom as she led them past the destruction.

“She could be leading us into a trap.”
“No.” Bloom narrowed her eyes. “She’s lost and she knows it. —She knows we’re fairies and that the two of us can overpower her, today especially.”
Stella frowned. “And why’s that?”
“Because she’s an eastern bog witch.” Stella stared at her. “You know?” Stella’s eyes did not light up in recognition. Bloom stared at her in disbelief. “You’ve got to know about eastern bog witches.”

“Not really, other than that they live in... bogs.”

“That's it?” Bloom scoffed, “I can’t believe that I know something that you don’t. How can you wage a war with no knowledge of who you’re fighting?” She shook her head, “No. No. Celine must know. Why else would we be here today of all days ? ” She smiled warmly at Stella and began to wave her hands as she spoke. “See, bog witches can pass life in and out of things they touch. They’re great healers and ruthless killers, especially in groups. They are much weaker on their own, so they rarely leave their communities and have a big focus on their elders and family units. —However, there is one day a month when they are vulnerable and cannot use their magic. The 3rd.”
“Today.” Stella stared at the woman who led them. “That’s why you were so calm with her?”
Bloom blinked, her smile faltering in confusion, “Sure, yeah. I guess.” 

Why had she said what she’d said?

Bloom eyed the ground. She was drawing a blank. A cold dread settled in her stomach.

“Who’d you learn all of this from?” Stella asked, still eyeing the woman as she led them around a pillar of scrapped cars and towards a pile of random scrap; hoods, tires, trunks, and all kinds of twisted metal.
Bloom shook her head. “I don’t know. It must be something from the last six months. I don’t think that I knew these things before—”
“Hold that thought.” Stella hissed. “Hey! Where are you taking us?”

She pointed at an old powder blue car with chipped paint and broken windows that protruded from the base of a gnarly pile. 

Stella narrowed her eyes. “Are the tomes in the car?” 

The woman shook her head and opened a car door, then she began to step inside, and lowered herself below the car. 

“A false bottom.” Stella sighed. “Let's get this over with quickly. We’re running out of time before the portal closes.”

Bloom nodded and together they approached the open car door to find a ladder leading down the wall of a vertical tunnel. 

They descended and found a channel leading out and the woman there, waiting for them. She was looking around nervously.

“What’s wrong?” Bloom asked in concern. 

She pointed down the channel and into a crossing pathway. They followed. She turned to the right and moved brusquely, but checked behind her to make sure they were following. Stella followed a few steps but something caught Bloom’s eyes in the opposite direction. She stopped. A light flashed against the wall behind them and was gone. 

She motioned to Stella and she too stopped. It passed again and Stella watched it go. 

“What was that?” Stella asked, returning to the junction with Bloom. 

Bloom shrugged. “Want to go see?”

Hurried footsteps ran up behind them and the woman dashed in front of them with her arms out. Terror twisted her face as she mouthed.

“ No !”

“What’s back here?” Stella asked pointedly. 

The woman just stood there and shook her head vehemently. 

Bloom frowned. “We have to go see. Please move.” 

The woman lowered her stance and held her ax out in front of her. Her hands shook.

“Enough of this. Let's go.” Stella began to shoulder her way past the woman, and the woman tensed, pulling back and raising her ax. Before it could land, Stella snapped her fingers and a wave of blinding white light cascaded out. Bloom blinked back spots in the wake of it and suddenly Stella was gone —No. She was sprinting away, behind the woman; who appeared to be just as disoriented, ax raised to block the light from her eyes.

Then Stella pulled to a stop, breathing hard, and stared at something behind another turn.

“Fuck.”

The woman stared at Stella and collapsed back against the wall of the tunnel in stunned grief. Sobs ripped from her raw throat and tears sprang to her eyes. 

“ Please. Please. ” She mouthed in her broken voice.

Bloom looked between her and Stella in confusion. “What? What’s that important?”
“Come see.” Stella’s face fell to a grave resignation. 

Bloom picked her way past the woman carefully. She whispered earnestly as she passed.

“I’m sorry.” 

When she came up next to Stella, she found the thing that the woman had been protecting. A dozen elders wrapped in blankets and sick people on cots sat in a small room. Dozens of eyes stared back at both of them in terror. 

Bloom felt her heart plummet. The elders of a witch tribe held all the information, stories, legends, and rituals until they chose a successor. Their death would mean the death of a culture.

The tomes being taken was cruel enough. Ridding these witches of their guides and elders would be so much worse. Stella wouldn’t do that right? She had to know. 

Bloom looked at Stella carefully.

Her face was frozen as she stared at each of them. Her hands twitched at her sides and indecision played behind her eyes.

“Stella?” Bloom said. “We can’t…”

Stella swallowed hard, shook her head, and turned away. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.” She stepped back towards the rest of the passage, fists shaking. “I don’t see anything that we should have an interest in. Nothing was down here. You understand? No one. —Let's get those tomes and get out.”

Bloom sighed in relief and nodded. 

“Right behind you.” 

The woman looked at them in mild bewilderment as they passed her. 

“There's nothing there.” Stella said sharply. “I appreciate your compliance. Consider this your reward.” And she marched on down the hallway, leaving her untouched. 

Bloom followed and found a small alcove in the stone. A barred door stood between them and a stack of four volumes bound in faded leather. Bloom didn’t even bother summoning any fire, she simply placed her hand on the bars and the heat under her skin melted it easily. They retrieved the books; their leather was worn and rough and the binding was fresh. Clearly they had been well cared for. 

They left the woman on the floor and rose back up to the surface. 

The night stretched out beyond them, lit by the smoldering ruins of the junkyard encampment and it appeared that they were the last of the life amongst it all; save for an odd witch or two who poked through the ruins for other survivors or critical possessions; one of whom she watched emerge from a half dilapidated tent with a shrieking, ash streaked toddler in her arms. 

Bloom didn’t want to think about what Celine’s team had done to the rest of the witches. 

“We need to get back to the portal.” Stella said matter of factly, looking almost proud as she looked out at the horrid disaster. “Celine will be happy to hear of our success.”

Bloom set her glare on the floor and tried to swallow her ire at that. Success? This was a success?

Just what had become of the world in her absence?

When they returned to the warehouse, they found it packed with witches and suited students. Two dozen witches stood between the students and were in various states of harm. Some looked to be shaking from only terror, while others were missing limbs and others were busy tying them up with torn clothes or blankets. They were all bound by metal cuffs. One witch, a young man, threw himself at a specialist; unarmed and swinging wildly in a blind rage. The second that he got close, a current looked to go through him, sending him first ridged and spasming and then onto the ground in writhing pain. 

Bloom tried not to stare. She felt suddenly helpless. She couldn’t stop this.

Not yet.

“Girls.” Celine walked up with a no doubt proud smile on her lips behind the spell. “Is that what I think it is?”

“Yes.” Stella swelled with pride. “Four tomes. They were hidden in a subterranean tunnel.”
“Wonderful.” Celine took them —with what Bloom was tempted to call hungry hands—. She began to leaf through them with fervent eyes, moving too fast to actually be reading any contents. She finished the first volume and did much the same with the second, and the third. Whatever she was looking for, she must have found it at the end of the fourth because her breath caught in her throat and her hands stilled. It was a yellowing page, clearly much older than the rest, and the ink was almost green with discoloration. Bloom tried not to stare. If Celine honored her promise, she’d have a chance to look at it later. “Just wonderful.” Celine ran her hands through the air above the page in awe, as if afraid to actually touch it. Then she seemed to snap to awareness of her surroundings and closed the book with a gentle smile. “I’ll hold onto these. —Was there anything else hidden down in this tunnel of yours?”

“No.” Stella said with iron clad confidence, her eyes trained straight ahead. “This was all we found down there.”

“I see. Well, this is itself cause for celebration.” She grinned. “You two have yielded wonderful results. —And between these tomes and the witches that we have collected, I think that a dinner is due.”

“I look forward to it.” Stella smiled.

“Good.” Celine turned to her eyes on Bloom. “I hope that you will be joining us.”
Bloom expected that if she opened her mouth it would betray her thoughts in the face of the horrors behind the beaming headmistress. So she kept it clamped shut and nodded with a tense failure of a smile. 

“Perfect—” A buzzing started on her vest and Stella’s, cutting her off, as behind her the portal split the air and spilled out a shimmering light. “Okay! Everyone through!” She turned to direct the crowd of witches, and the fairies and specialist’s began to wave them through; the threat of the shocking cuffs sending them backing away from the students as they closed in, eventually forcing them through the portal a handful at a time. 

“We’ll only have a minute or two once these guys are done.” Stella said. “So don’t go getting comfortable.” 

Bloom couldn’t bring herself to nod. She only stared at the dusty ground of the warehouse.

She was angry. So angry. She wanted to act, to punch one of these students —Hell! She could probably roast them all before they could react; but that would kill them. Did she want to kill the other students? 

No. 

That was the simple, easy, answer. They didn’t deserve it. Right? 

On the other side of the portal Bloom found a handful of large trucks circling the clearing in the woods. Solarian soldiers in full armor and helmets stood at attention, ringing the portal and ushering witches into the trucks. It reminded her distantly of cows on their way to the slaughter, the faceless guards with electric cattle prods in hand. That sent ice through Bloom’s veins and heat fleeing up her neck. 

She balled her fists to keep them still at her sides, even as her nails seared into her palms.

She found her gaze skipping between the faceless figures that ringed the clearing, looking for someone that she recognized. Until she found a face that wasn’t cloaked.

He was young and tall, with thin eyebrows and dark hair curling over his face. He wore a two piece suit instead of combat gear and he had one of those, too wide, fake smiles on his face as he chatted with Aston; or at least who Bloom thought was Aston, it was still hard to tell with the magic in the way.

Celine followed them through; always the last one to pass. When she did, the smiling man straightened, patted Aston’s shoulder and strode over. 

Stella stood by Celine while she closed the portal, and so Bloom did too.

“Celine!” The smiling man smiled impossibly wider. “Another successful evening.”

“Certainly!” She pressed the button on her vest and the magic dropped to reveal her own smile; all teeth. “And I can happily report that we did so without incident.” She scooped the book behind her back and out of sight. The man did not blink.

“Wonderful!” He clapped and turned his smile to Stella and Bloom. “And your shadows are…”
Stella dropped her mask and reached out a hand. “Will. It’s great to see you again!”

“Stella! Oh you brilliant star! I should have known.” He shook her hand animatedly. “As resplendent as ever.”

Stella gave a polite smile.

Bloom followed suit and attempted a smile of her own, but her palms suddenly felt clammy and she gave them a wipe on her pants. “I’m Bloom.”

The man’s eyes lit up and he snatched up her flimsy hand in a vice grip shake. “Oh yes! I have heard so much about you! Welcome back to the world of the living! —I have many, many questions for you. Perhaps you could indulge me over lunch one of these days.” He smiled wide again. As he looked her over with renewed clarity, as if just seeing her for the first time, Bloom realized that his eyes were a piercing, icy blue. “I’m William Soul. My friends call me Will, and I hope that you will too.”

Stella leaned in, “The queen has put Will here in charge of the public image of the school.”

“Quite right!” He nodded emphatically. “Among other things. So we will be seeing much more of each other.”

The silence hung for a moment as he looked at Bloom expectantly. When no one chimed in to save her, she floundered awkwardly. “I hope so…”

He beamed. “Wonderful!”

“We will be seeing you at dinner, I hope.” Celine chimed in. 

“Oh yes. Yes!” He seemed to bob excitedly. “That sounds positively, perfect—”

“Will.” A woman appeared from a huddle of soldiers and strode over, her face cloaked. She was muscular and wore a set of gear that was adorned with knives and a heavy gun was strapped to her back. “We do not have time for conversation —Oh. Celine.” The woman slowed to stand next to William and lowered her veil. She did not smile. Her face was rugged and a heavy scar ran down the length of her jaw. She wore her auburn hair pinned back and clasped in a tight bun. She spoke dryly, “It's a pleasure.”
Celine nodded to her and smiled softly. “Verna. I can say the same.” 

“The headmistress was just inviting us to dinner.” Will grinned.

Verna sighed and looked at Stella. “Princess. I assume you’ll be attending.”

“Yes.” Stella said with a polite smile.

Verna nodded in resignation. “I see. Then we will be joining you once we have arranged all of this mess.” She waved distractedly at the trucks full of people as if they were little more than a menial chore and not actual people who they had just ripped from whatever homes they had and locked them into magically electrified chains. 

Bloom was happy for once that she had been passed over. As much as she tried to control her expression, she was sure that whatever words she was asked to give in that moment would be less than pleasant.

Stella seemed to have noticed, because her eyes lingered on her.

“I’m happy to hear it.” Stella said. “Headmistress, would you mind accepting my debrief later? I believe that Bloom here could use a bit of space to cool off before dinner.” Bloom wasn’t sure how she felt about being referred to like one would a large dog who had been cooped up inside for too long; but she swallowed any retort she might have spit out in fear of the odd company. 

“Of course Stella.” Celine smiled at her and Bloom. “Enjoy the evening. I expect you at dinner.”

“Yes headmistress.” Stella nodded and tapped Bloom’s arm to signal her to follow. “Have a good evening.” She tossed politely at the strange pair.

“Have a good evening.” Bloom mimicked between clenched teeth before turning to follow.

She could feel Verna’s cold eyes on her as she followed Stella towards the edge of the clearing.

Their voices picked up again, more hushed now, and Bloom willed herself not to listen. She was done, and Stella was right; she needed to cool off.

Chapter Text

Without the lights of the trucks, the forest became a haunting place. 

The thick trees blocked out the stars and the forest dampened the night’s sounds and left the crunch of their footsteps to resound like gunshots. The thinnest slivers of moonlight lent a sense of silvery, undisturbed peace to it all. A chill wrapped in an eery fog across the forest floor, biting at Bloom’s ankles and sending a shiver through her. She wrapped her arms around herself to ward off the chill, and something more. Despite the silence and the fact that she and Stella were very obviously alone, she felt oddly vulnerable in the night; as if someone was watching, expecting something. Maybe it was just the cold and the breeze that rustled the pine trees, but she feared that the chill on her neck felt oddly like fingers, trailing down her skin, and waiting to grip her tight. She did her best to shake it off and marched on, intent on putting space between herself and the horrors of the evening. 

Bloom led on through the crunching grass and bed of pine needles until they came upon the thin, jagged, fence line of the graveyard. 

“Does this work?” Bloom asked gruffly, half surprised at where she’d brought them and glancing over her crossed arms at the familiar rows of tombstones.

“Yeah. In here ought to be good.” Stella said softly. She picked her way down the path with precision, as if afraid that if she made too much noise she might wake the dead here. “Everyone agrees that it’s got a bad feeling about it. I don’t think we’ll be overheard.”

“Great.” Bloom said dryly, just as her eyes found the spot where Rosalind had stood the night that Bloom had ended her life. 

Her pile of ash was gone now. —Of course it was, months had passed. But the sight of it was seared into her mind. Had the wind scattered it? Had someone come to collect Rosalind’s ashes? Had there been anyone left to care? If Beatrix had still been alive, would she have wanted to put Rosalind to rest? Bloom swallowed hard. Would Beatrix hate her if she wasn’t buried here, in this very graveyard? She tore her eyes away and spoke against her clenched teeth. —Thinking about this was pointless. She had more pressing, current, problems to deal with. 

“So you’ll answer my questions now?”

“Yes.” Stella closed her eyes and let out a deep breath, bracing herself. 

“Okay.” Bloom sucked in a breath. “So, what the fuck Stella?” Her words cut through the silence like a knife. Stella’s eyes snapped open and she blinked in surprise. “When I left, Sebastian was dead! The blood witches were contained. This was over!" She threw her hands in the air. "And I’ve been back for far too long to have not heard about this. I mean, no one thought to tell me that we’ve been at war this whole time!” She threw her hands wide. “When I was told that Celine was recruiting a task force, I thought that it was just going to be finding some straggler terrorists, but this is about a hair’s breath short of genocide!”

“Oh Bloom.” Stella sank down onto a bench, running her hands over face. 

“Don’t ‘Oh Bloom’ me!” She waved in outrage, faintly aware that sparks lit the air in her fingers’ wake but not much caring. “You said that I caused this, but you didn’t deign to tell me about it?”

“I was busy.” Stella hissed weakly.

“Bullshit!” Bloom threw her hands in the air. “What you did tonight, Stella, that was fucking insane! Look at what you’ve done to those poor people!”

“They’re witches.” Stella scoffed, “They’re dangerous.”

“We’re dangerous!” Bloom motioned between the two of them. Stella glared at her. The sparks from her fingers fell to the grass. Bloom stomped them out and began to pace. “No one should be treated like that! Especially not innocent people. —There were children there Stella! Children! You can’t tell me that kids are dangerous enough to warrant magical cuffs and being transported in a fucking truck.” She pushed her hair out of her face. Suddenly she wished that it was tied back. “This is so many kinds of fucked up!”

“You have no idea what you’re talking about.” Stella hissed, low and cold. Bloom spun around to face her, but her friend cut her off before she could start again. “You were gone Bloom! —You didn’t hear your friends cry themselves to sleep. Or have to drag your friends to rehabilitation. Or hear a body hit the floor before they closed off the roof. Or see a cafeteria full of people flinch when someone so much as dropped a spoon!” Stella was standing now and her words burned. Bloom reeled back a step. “The queen wants a war and we will give her a war. And we will make sure that Sebastion Valtor never happens again!”

Stella was breathing hard. Bloom had to practically swallow air. 

They stood there for a moment, staring each other down, until the silence grew thick.

Bloom stepped back a few paces to try and diffuse some tension. “Okay. I get it.” Stella looked at her pointedly. Bloom held up her hands insistently. “I do. You’re angry and you’re scared.”

“I’m not scared.” Stella hissed.

“Okay. Fine.” Bloom said slowly. “But you feel like this is necessary.” Stella eyed her, but nodded in begrudging agreement. “So why did you hesitate today? Why hide the elderly from the headmistress?”

Stella blinked and then frowned. “Celine is…” She sighed. “Things are complicated.”

“You said that already. Give me all the details.” Bloom circled her and took a seat on the bench. She looked up at her friend stubbornly. “I want to understand.” They had switched places. She wanted to listen. Stella must have noticed because she crossed her arms, sucked in a breath, and began picking at a rough edge of a nail pensively. 

She swallowed hard and pressed her lips. “To start with, Celine is technically a duchess, on my father’s side. Which is to say that she’s my aunt.” Stella's gaze slid aside and she wet her lips, suddenly nervous. She began to pace, her feet carrying her up the overgrown path between the graves. “I’ve known her for as long as I can remember, and I’ve never met anyone quite as … ambitious. She’s always talked about it being our responsibility to leave a mark on history." Stella ran a finger over the top of a stone. "And I think that she’s set herself on a mission to collect some ancient magic. I’m not sure what for —yet. But I’m working at her." She tilted her head, her eyes scanning the rows of entombed men and women. "She’s come to trust me a bit and I feel like I’m close." Her face twisted with frustration, creasing her brow and wrinkling her nose so that she practically spat the words. "Just so close!” She seemed to remember herself and fixed her shoulders; sucking in a breath and letting it out in a sigh. A thoughtful frown returned to her face. She shook her head and resumed her pacing. “No. I need to back up. Celine was assigned as headmistress for one reason: to recruit loyal students to the war. The queen knew just how many students would want to be involved once the war started. And after Sebastian's attack— Well Celine had lots of volunteers. And you’ve seen what her training yields.” Bloom shuddered. So Celine was actively encouraging all of that animosity, riling everyone up? Stella wrapped her arms around herself, suddenly eyeing the ground with uncertainty, as if it might drop out from under her at any moment. Her voice was withdrawn, almost too quiet to hear. “We’ve rounded up dozens of those witches. And I’m sleeping better now. Which is to say that I’m getting any sleep at all... Celine says that she’s close to fixing everything. That she just needs more tomes. I just don’t…” Stella sighed and there was a shake to it. For a moment she just pressed her fingers to her brow as if working away a headache.

Then she groaned in frustration and turned on her heel, towards Bloom, throwing the fog dancing around her feet. Her eyes were sharp now, decisive. “You asked me about the elderly and the sick. I just don’t think that they were a threat. The kids… I couldn’t avoid those. I don’t agree with everything —I don’t want to kill anyone. I just want to stop seeing things in the dark! I want to stop feeling eyes from the shadowy corners of the castle! I want to stop looking over my shoulder at night! I want to stop flinching whenever someone touches me. I just want to stop everything.” Stella’s lips trembled. “And you know the worst part? I have it easy. I didn’t even get taken. I didn’t have my magic ripped from me. Or my body puppeted against my will! —Flora spent weeks crying and going through those awful mood swings! She’s been marked and I don’t think that she’ll ever be the same. —I mean its only been a few days since she started using her magic again! Did you know that?” Bloom shuddered. She wanted to offer her friend solace, but something kept her rooted to the bench. Guilt. She had been gone. In some ways she had caused this. In some ways she could fix this. A distant memory bubbled up in her mind. A voice, warm and kind, in the darkness. I can fix that for you. The words were so clear, as if they had been seared into her mind, such that now they were clear and ready to spill from Bloom’s lips. The fingers crawled up the back of her neck, as if the vague memory had summoned them, and Bloom's shoulders locked up against them. Stella shook her head and continued on, unaware. “Bloom, I know that this all seems harsh from the outside. But we have the power to end this. And you’ve met Verna and William. They’re in charge of the behind the scenes on this whole thing. They won’t hurt anyone. They just want to put the witches away so that they’ll be safe. And so will we.”

Bloom tried to ground herself. The chill of those fingers dug into her back and trailed up her neck. It was more than just the memory. The longer she spent in the graveyard the stronger the feeling became. She tried to ignore it. She shook her head and set her mind on her friend. 
“But what do you mean by putting them away? Where did those trucks take those people Stella? What’s going to happen to them?”

“It's just a camp; more regulated than where they were living, probably. It’ll have running water, food, and actual shelter. We’re doing them a favor if anything.”

Horror rolled in Bloom’s gut. History classes from back in the first world ran through her mind. No one who had ever said those words had turned out to be doing anyone a favor. She thought back to something Celine had said just before the raid, she’d mentioned interrogations. She pictured those rabid specialists and fairies circled around in the warehouse. If she set them on a defenseless witch, what would they do? She shook her head. 

“Stella, have you actually seen these camps for yourself? Can you say with certainty that things are better for them there? Have you spoken to any of them?”

Stella sputtered for a moment and then scoffed. “No. Of course not.” She tensed, ready to rebuke more accusations.

But as much Bloom wanted to press, the fingers on her neck were becoming less of a chill and more of an ache. It gripped her and sent her thoughts scattering. It had never been this bad. Suddenly Bloom was certain that something was coming. 

“I hear you. I believe you. This is complicated. It's hard to know exactly what’s real…” She said distractedly. Whatever was coming on, Stella couldn’t be here to see it. She needed to get her away. “I think that I’ll need to sleep on it.”

“Please.” Stella sagged in relief. “We’re not bad people Bloom.” She squeezed her shoulder as if to reassure Bloom just as much as herself. 

That grounded her enough to lie. “Hey.” She looked up at Stella, grabbed her hand, gave it a squeeze, and smiled. “I need some time alone. I don’t think that I’ll make it to dinner. Would you mind relaying my apologies to everyone?”

Stella searched her eyes. A flicker of confusion crossed her face. But then she sighed, nodded, and smiled in understanding. “Okay. William will be bummed and Celine will have questions. But I’ll cover for you.” Bloom smiled and nodded in thanks. Stella looked up at the sky and pressed her lips, thinking. Eventually she sighed. “Guess that I should get going then. They’ll be expecting me at dinner soon.”

“Yeah.”

“Goodnight then.” Stella said awkwardly, trying to catch Bloom’s gaze, but it had drifted off to stare into the distance.

“Goodnight.” Her voice came out hollow, defeated.

Stella opened her mouth as if to say something more, but she turned away instead to pick across the graveyard until she faded off into the shadows of the tree line. Bloom watched her go in equal parts relief and dread. Without Stella to hold her attention the ice on the back of her neck reached through her head, and cracked through her brain. It faded and the darkness swallowed her vision.

It was the twitter of birds that woke her. The shadows of the swaying trees fell against the back of her eyelids. The morning breeze was cold against her skin, barely a sting before the power underneath melted it away. 

She blinked slowly against the light and rolled onto her side to find her fingers digging into soft, freshly turned, soil. The smell of it was rich in her nose and cool against her skin. She buried her other palm and hoisted herself to her feet. She looked down at her hands and noticed the dirt and the… something else. It was dark, cracked, and caked into the creases of her palms and thick under her nails. Blood.

Bloom gasped as if drawing her first breath, suddenly aware of herself. And immediately she was sent choking on the smell; something sweet and foul. Something dead.

“Fuck! Fuck! Fuck!” She tried to wipe the mess off on her pants, but found them already covered in thick patches of blood and clumped with equal parts dirt and something thicker and more matted. Flesh. Hair.

What was all of this? —What if someone saw?

Bloom’s wide eyes found the tree line shadowy and empty. The grass was clear. The graveyard was still. 

Bloom was alone. She looked down at her feet, at where she’d slept, at the source of the awful smell. She stood before a pit. An empty grave amongst mounds of freshly turned dirt. Had she... Had she done this? Who else could have? She was alone and covered in things that she didn't want to think about. The last night was hazy, but Bloom was sure that she’d come back from that awful mission and then had an argument with Stella… and then she’d had that strange sensation again. Like the cold fingers had gone beyond her skin, as if they had been reaching through her mind. Then it was blank. Bloom shuddered and wrapped her arms around herself. Why didn’t she remember?

The hole before her beckoned. Bloom peered in. A casket sat at the bottom, the lid was raised and the pale white lining was sprinkled with fresh dirt. There was no body. At least that wasn’t the source of the smell. 

Lovely. Bloom swallowed dryly. Why had she wanted to dig up a body? She shot a glance around the graveyard. There was no corpse in sight. Lots of dirt, a handful of trees, and lots of undisturbed graves. She choked against the smell again, the saliva in her mouth went sour and she couldn’t bring herself to swallow it. She spit it out. 

Just who had she dug up?

She looked around for a gravestone and she found it half buried under the fresh dirt. She brushed it off with her sleeve and paused. 

Beatrix. 

No last name. No inscription. No loving message. No mournful goodbyes.

No body.

What had happened with her corpse? Would there even be anything left but bones after 5 and a half months? What could Bloom have possibly wanted with a bunch of bones?

Now she was certain that something had died, judging by the smell. As Bloom covered her nose and craned down to try and get fresher air, she saw the state of the grass at her feet. Or rather the lack of it. One great ring of charred dirt and ash surrounded the grave. 

This was too much.

Had she done magic? Had she hurt someone? Panic filled her, sending her heart hammering in her throat. If anyone saw her here, in this state, they would want answers. And she didn’t have answers.

She needed to move.

Bloom didn’t even bother climbing down and closing the casket, and instead she located the shovel that she must have used the night before, and began to shovel dirt back into place. While she shoveled she quite literally stumbled across the source of the smell. A dozen small animals, each small corpse half buried and so charred that they were nearly unrecognizable as the small forest life that they were; a handful of squirrels and birds and bats. Bloom apologized to each as she found them and threw them into the hole, burying them with the evidence of the deed. Then there were the body parts. Those were the real source of the smell. Organs and hoofed limbs; not human by the looks of it, but nonetheless concerning in their size. Then she found it. A half melted deer’s head was buried like all the rest. It looked to have been severed from the body by extreme heat and force, as if the bones and flesh had liquified, and its eyes were gone as if they had been pushed out from within. Her stomach gave a lurch. Bloom spun back to the grave just in time to hurl into the half filled pit. 

She sat for a minute, dry heaving and staring in horror at what she’d done. —Had she really done this? Just how could she have done something so gruesome? 

When the heaving stopped and Bloom sat there, breathing hard and staring at the mass grave, she forced herself to stand straight and take up the shovel again. She just needed to shovel enough earth to bury what was left of the deer. By the time the task was done, she was sweating and the sun was casting proper shadows across the clearing. 

The morning was getting along and she had class. People would be expecting her. She stared at her goreish hands and they began to shake. She could not appear before her friends like this. Her breath trembled against her lips. 

She was alone in this. No one could know. 

What should she do now? What could she do?

She had to get cleaned up. She couldn't go back to the dorms. Only one place came to mind. And so she began her trek, leaving behind her the freshly turned dirt and a ring of singed earth.