Chapter Text
One did not trap the strongest wizard in the Magical Dimension for an eternity. Who did the Company of Light think they were? No, no, who did they think he was? Such absolute and misguided pride to freeze him alone with nobody guarding him but a bunch of brainless snakes.
Valtor would laugh out loud at the sheer idiocy of the very thought if he had the energy to do so. But alas, he did not.
The wizard thanked his lucky stars not for the first time for his lack of companions. The amount of times he'd stumbled onto the snow covered ice or was forced to lean against an icy cocoon or wall to regain his breath was utterly embarrassing.
Omega was like one brig frosty parasite, chipping away and devouring up any strength and warmth its unfortunate prey could offer it. For a lesser being, it would be a successful prison indeed—but Valtor was anything but a lesser being and his escape (even if it had taken Magix knows how long) further proved this.
As Valtor dragged his feet and frostbite gnawed at his flesh, a slow smirk spread across his lips.
He certainly hoped it hadn't taken him too long to get out of that horrible ice cocoon—he hoped Faragonda, Griffin, and Saladin were alive for, oh how he yearned to see the looks on their faces when he—
Valtor paused, inhaling sharply before his head snapped over his shoulder; the ground had begun to shudder beneath him.
There, slithering from behind a cliff was the culprit — one of those blasted snakes. The obnoxious thing took one look at him before opening its mouth and spitting a ball of magic at him.
Valtor stumbled out of the way and rolled to the ground with a grunt as the spell slammed into the ground where he'd just been standing. The ice beneath it cracked and Valtor scrambled to his feet to dodge another blast.
Gritting his teeth, Valtor held out his hand, ready to shoot a spell of his own before he stopped himself.
He needed his magic for the portal—he couldn't afford to waste it.
Cursing, he spun on his heel and forced his weary legs into a shameful mockery of a run.
Bloom's eyelids fluttered open to the glaring beams of sunshine pouring from her window. A balmy breeze fluttered the curtains, and birds sang a cheerful wake up call.
The girl winced and squinted through the sun rays before slowly sitting up with a yawn and stretching her arms. What a nice dream, she hadn't had—
"Fell asleep reading again, did you?" An amused voice stated, surprising Bloom and causing her to jump and yelp in surprise. This ruined her graceful wake up and sent her teetering and crashing to her messy bedroom floor.
Scowling as light laughter filled the room and her comforter slid off the mattress to fall over her, Bloom huffed and stood. "Mom? What are you even doing here?"
Vanessa smiled at her daughter and slammed the book in her hands shut. "I was afraid you'd wake up late due to your fairy reading hobby again."
Bloom blushed and looked away as Vanessa continued, "And turns out I was right! I suppose you'll be missing the school bus then?"
The flush disappeared as Bloom's eyes snapped to her still amused mother. "What?!" School! She'd completely forgot!
Kicking away the blankets tangled around her legs, Bloom ran to her dresser and started digging for clothes. Oh no, no, no, no, no, no! How could she forget!? Mr. Bronwyn had threatened that if she came to class late one more time she'd get deten—!
As Bloom jerked her head up with crumbled crop top in hand, she noticed the calendar pinned to the wall.
Not only was it Sunday, it was June 1st. Summer break had started two weeks ago.
Bloom turned and gave her laughing mother a halfhearted glare over her shoulder. "Not cool, Mom."
"Oh, I'm sorry sweetie," Vanessa chuckled before giving the red-head a kiss on the brow. "But you did wake up late."
"What do I need to wake up early for?" Bloom frowned up at her. "It's summer break."
"A perfect time for my flower shop business," Vanessa smiled and Bloom's shoulders slumped.
"Mom..."
"Now, now. You didn't think you'd be drawing and reading about fairies, wizards and warlocks all summer did you?"
Bloom shrugged lamely as Vanessa patted her head. "Hurry and get dressed; we're leaving right after breakfast."
Bloom huffed a sigh as Vanessa left. In all fairness, she guessed her mom was right; what else was she going to be doing all summer?
To hell with the "magic conservation" mindset.
The Omega snake roared and reared it his head as Valtor shot it with a blast of dark energy. Its head slammed against a nearby cliff, causing it to rain ice as it collapsed.
Valtor tried and failed to stop himself from gasping for the bitter icy air of the Dimension. Pathetic. One measly blast and he was already winded!
Oh, he couldn't wait to get his full magic back and then some...
Quickly turning away and briskly running onwards, Valtor continued in search of the Andros portal, knowing that that beast would start chasing him again.
Speak of the devil, the thing was moving again, its serpentine body unfurling itself and its scales scratching against the snowy ice.
Valtor huffed heavily in annoyance as he put on more speed. It had been a weak spell after all—
Wait a moment, there!
Just in the distance and surrounded by a swirl of crumbling stone was the portal leading out of this abhorrent Dimension.
Stumbling swiftly from ledge to ledge, Valtor soon found himself at the centre. The wizard then wasted no time blasting it open with all his might.
Behind him, the snake slithered closer, forked tongue lapping at its eye as it opened its mouth once more.
Valtor cursed his weakness, gritting his teeth as he poured more magic into his attack. But he was quickly loosing strength, and if that thing hit him and froze him all over again, trapping him in that terrible, terrible limbo once more—
Valtor shook his head and rid his mind of those thoughts, forcing even more magic into his blast as a bead of sweat slid from his brow and promptly froze on his already chilled face.
He wasn't going back. He wasn't. But damn it all the portal wouldn't open!
The snake was right behind him now, jaw opened wide, power building up...
An idea momentarily warmed his bitter, (mildly, mildly) trepidatious mind and he turned back to the snake with a smirk.
At the last moment, Valtor rolled out of the way of the newest blast, crouching nearby before sending his magic at the snake's beam, merging his magic with it and watching as the combined energy slammed into the portal dead on. Excitement bubbled within him as the portal quivered and gleamed slightly.
"Perfect," he muttered under his breath as the idiot snake finally stopped firing. The snake's eyes flashed and it hissed in what Valtor felt was perhaps anger.
"I'm afraid you have nobody to blame but yourself," Valtor drawled as he quickly staggered back atop the portal and pressed his glove palm against it, activating it with his magic.
The snake unfortunately was far more persistent than Valtor gave it credit for, and just as he stood while the portal's light surrounded him and gave a mock salute to the beast, it lunged sharply forwards and sank its fangs into his arm.
As the portal dragged them both atop the Andros side of the portal, Valtor roared in pain and blasted the damned thing away. His head thrummed with disorientation as he fell to his knees and clutched at his sleeve, blood darkening it quickly.
He grunted and rolled to the side as the snake sent a blast of magic at him once more before staggering dizzily to his feet.
Valtor's vision swam as whatever venom it injecting into him dispersed throughout his body—it felt almost like liquid ice.
Around him he heard panicked voices, no doubt mermaid guards seeing a snake had broken free, and there was no way Valtor could fight them all in this state if they realized he had broken free also.
But he was not going back to Omega.
So that meant he needed to retreat somewhere. Somewhere where he could lay low for a few hours and regain his strength without anyone recognizing him.
Somewhere like Earth.
Valtor held up a quick and shaky shield that kept the snake at bay before concentrating all his magic into making a portal to the magic-less planet. He hoped had enough magic left—yes!
A glowing red portal tore through the sky and as Valtor jumped in, the snake shattered the weak barrier he had put up and followed in hot pursuit.
"Thank you for all your help, Bloom," Vanessa smiled as Bloom exited the shop and her mother flipped the OPEN sign to CLOSED.
"No problem, it actually wasn't as bad as I thought it would be," Bloom admitted with a shrug and a twin smile of her own. "Do you think I can get a foxglove for my room? They're super pretty!"
Vanessa tapped Bloom's nose as she fished the car keys from her pocket. "Only if you can pay for it, Missy."
"What?" Bloom asked, smile becoming teasing as she crossed her arms and rose an eyebrow. "No fair, Mom I'm your daughter!"
"Mhm, and I'm a store owner," Vanessa responded with an equally teasing smile. "Can't give away my merchandise for free now can I?"
"How about for my birthday?" Bloom asked as she slipped into the front passenger seat of the car and took the AC off. It had been needed in the late morning, but now in the late, summer evening, it was a bit too cold.
"If you feel so strongly for it, we'll see. All though speaking of gifts..." Vanessa gave Bloom a sly look from the corner of her eye as they pulled out of the street parking lot and headed for home.
Bloom gasped excitedly and clasped her hands together, eyes glittering with excitement. "You got me something?"
"Well, your father and I decided you're becoming a grown young lady now and figured you'd like your own form of transportation," Vanessa said as Bloom grinned brightly, excitement shooting through the roof.
Finally, finally she'd gotten a car! She could take her drivers' lessons and go anywhere she wanted!
Ha! Take that Mitsy!
Bloom unbuckled just before the car was driving into the driveway and practically threw herself out the door. Half breathless, she spun around in search of her brand new car.
"Where is it?" Bloom asked excitedly as Vanessa exited the car as well. "Is it in the garage?"
"Take it easy sweetie!" Vanessa said through light laughter. "Don't you want to have dinner first?"
Bloom emphatically shook her head. "Dinner? Not when I'm so AH!"
"Ooooh I hear an excited daughter out there!" A familiar voice called in a sing-song-voice. Both mother and daughter turned to see their husband and father respectively exit the house with a huge smile on his face.
"Dad!" Bloom cried gleefully as she ran up to him and hugged him tightly. The man let out a surprised grunt at the constricting squeeze he was in before his daughter released him. "Thank you so much! I can't believe you and Mom would surprise me like this!"
"Aha! Knew you'd love it! Your Mom thought I was crazy!" Mike beamed as he stood beside his wife and draped an arm over her.
"Well, actually I didn't show her yet," Vanessa said.
"Well what the heck are you waiting for? Let's not leave our little girl in suspense!" Mike responded and Bloom couldn't have agreed more.
Taking the car keys from Vanessa, he flicked through them until reaching the garage key. Bloom squealed in anticipation as he unlocked the handle and pushed it upwards with a grunt.
Bloom dashed forwards, eyes wide and hopeful. But slowly her smile faded into a confused frown as she turned to Mike. "Um...where is it?"
"Right in front of you, of course!" Mike said proudly, gesturing to...a bike.
It was a bike. Not a car, but a bike. A bike with petals and a basket, and without a motor. A bike that Mitsy would totally laugh at once she found out about it.
"Voila! Charming, isn't it?"
Disappointment weighed heavy on Bloom's shoulders and she frowned solemnly before she could mask it.
"Not...what you were expecting?" Vanessa questioned hesitantly as she stepped forward and placed a hand on one of Bloom's slumped shoulders.
"Erm..." Bloom shuffled her feet awkwardly and hugged herself, not daring to look at her no doubt hurt and confused dad.
"Is there—is something wrong with it?" Mike asked dejectedly, a complete 180 from his sunny attitude a second ago.
"No! No!" Bloom said quickly and forced a bright smile as she turned back to Mike. "It's super cute. And it's in a nice colour! A-and the basket is...wow. I can put that foxglove I wanted in there, right Mom?"
Vanessa too forced an awkward smile and nodded. "Of course sweetie!"
Bloom turned to her still unconvinced father before hugging him once more and planting a kiss on his forehead. "Thanks, Dad. Really. I'll take it for a ride right now and I'll tell you how it is, okay?"
As Bloom kicked the stand up and rolled her bike out of he garage, she heard Vanessa mutter to Mike, "I told you she wanted a car, Mike."
"Oh, I know but wouldn't it be safer her for her on a bike? You know, until she's a bit older?"
Bloom sighed softly to herself and mounted the bike before peddling off. Sixteen-years-old and her parents still thought she was a little girl. But then again, how could she blame them?
Bloom still read fairy tales and middle grade novels about goblins and angles, and telekinetic gifted kids. She still had Sailor Moon VHS sets under the TV and went to every release party for Harry Potter and she still daydreamed about going to magical realms herself.
Who was she kidding? She couldn't handle a car, she couldn't even clean her room properly! And she certainly wasn't mature enough.
"Bloom!"
The red-head blinked out of her despondent musing to glance over at a familiar restaurant owner waving from the doorstop. "Say hello to your mother for me!"
Bloom smiled and waved back. "Will do, Mr. Ginero!" She called back before rounding a bend.
This wasn't so bad; the wind streaming through her hair, the feeling of freedom she felt as she peddled faster and faster.
Bloom smiled softly to herself, hesitating before letting go of the handlebars and spreading her arms spread eagle. She immediately stopped after two seconds when she teetered too far to the left.
"I think I'm going to enjoy you," Bloom told the bike as she patted the handlebars as if it were a horse. When she got home, she'd give her parents a far more sincere thank you.
When finally reaching her favorite park in Gardenia, she slowed down, seizing her peddling and gripping the handle breaks.
As the bike came to a halt, she dismounted and wheeled it into the cooler shade of the woods, leaning it against the nearest tree and sitting down with a little shiver. She probably should've brought a sweater, evening shade was pretty chill—
A moment later, Bloom was blinded by a vivid glow of red. She groaned and shaded her eyes with a palm. What on Earth was that?
Just as soon as it appeared, the light disappeared. The sound of a pained grunt and THUD that shook the ground followed immediately after.
"What the..." Bloom muttered, confusion pinching her brow as she stood slowly.
"You're a persistent beast, aren't you?" A distant voice snarled as Bloom walked gingerly forwards. What the heck was going on?
She fought an internal battle with apprehension and curiosity before curiosity won out and Bloom found her feet carrying her deeper into the forest. She stopped and gripped a tree trunk as another thud shook the ground and an unfamiliar hiss filled the air.
Mounting apprehension tugged Bloom backwards once more, but once again mounting curiosity won and pulled her forwards towards the strange noises. This time, a dull violet light flashed through the darkness of the looming evergreens followed by another hiss, another flash of bright light—this time green—and the toppling of a nearby tree.
Bloom gasped and jumped out of the pitching tree's path, falling with an "oomph!" as she landed hard on her stomach. However, Bloom was beginning to think she had also hit her head in the fall, because just before her in a clearing lined with uprooted trees stood a man and—a big snake.
No, big was an understatement. It was huge, enormous! The size of a small building!
Bloom's eyes bugged out of her head as she scrambled to her feet and darted behind a still standing tree. This was insane! What the heck was going on here?!
She rubbed her eyes and smacked the side of her head before peeping from behind the tree.
Okay. That made the hallucinations worse because now that Big Snake was shooting a green laser thing at a man and he was shooting a dull purple one right back!
Bloom pulled her head back again and sank to the ground, wincing every time a tree fell with a thud due to a blast of...of that—whatever they were firing!
'Magic.' Her mind supplied but she shook her head no. That was ridiculous! There was no way there was magic, or giant snakes!
But then...what was she looking at? Projectors didn't knock down trees, neither did fireworks, but maybe giant snakes and guys with magic did.
"Get a hold of yourself, Bloom!" The teen smacked one of her cheeks and hissed to herself. "Do you know how crazy you—?!"
Bloom clamped a hand over her mouth to stop the shriek of surprise from escaping as she heard the man hit the other side of her hideout tree with a pained cry.
"B-blast," Bloom heard the man mutter to himself as she stood and peaked once more. The giant snake was rearing its head, opening its mouth to let a giant ball of green magic (nope, stop it, Bloom! not magic) from within it.
The man struggled to stand but failed miserably, cursing under his breath as he clutched his maroon sleeved arm.
Logic told Bloom to run. Run, run, run and pretend this situation never happened.
Empathy told Bloom to do something. It didn't matter what, but if she ran away now, that magic wizard guy (STOP) would be done for.
And so, before logic could mentally berate her for being an idiot, Bloom jumped from behind the tree and stood in front of the wounded man, arms spread wide protectively.
"Stop!" She commanded sharply to the snake, eyes narrowed and brow furrowed seriously.
The snake paused, closing its mouth and tilting its head to the side.
"Fool!" The man snapped from behind Bloom, and the teen turned to look at him indignantly as he continued, "what in Magix name are you doing?"
Crap. What was she doing? She just jumped in front of a stranger to stop an angry magic (oh my God, Bloom!) snake!
Bloom's indignant frown became a sheepish smile. "Uh...you know, I'm not really sure—"
The snake hissed and lunged for Bloom quick as whip, and the girl turned back wide eyed to the giant beast. She yelled a horrified "No!" as she squeezed her eyes shut and put her hands in front of her in a stupid, useless attempt to stop her incoming death.
A flash of bright light burned her closed lids and Bloom heard the snake hiss angrily. Opening her eyes gingerly, Bloom saw the monster shaking its singed scales side to side while orange sparks colored the early night sky and her quaking hands tingled.
"Did—" Bloom turned to look at the man over her shoulder. "Did you do that?"
The man didn't answer, but probably not seeing as how is eyes were just as wide and his mouth just as dropped as hers was.
But if he didn't do it...
The snake's tail whipped around and slammed into Bloom's stomach, sending her flying to through the air and crashing to the ground with a scream. It then wrapped its giant tail around her, stopping her mid-fall before it held her up, opened its jaw, and preparing to end her life.
The more Bloom struggled, the tighter it squeezed, causing her to wheeze. Her vision blurred and unwanted tears sprung to her eyes as she choked for air and found next to nothing. The snake's magic light colored her paling face green as she gritted her teeth and writhed harder, feeling an indignant burning pooling in her chest.
"Let. GO!" Bloom screamed, and suddenly the sickly green was replaced with a burning white light emanating from her body.
The snake's eyes widened as a fiery dragon shot out of Bloom's chest and spiraled its serpentine form menacingly. Then, it slammed its flaming head against the snake's.
There was a burst of white light and the feeling of weightlessness before Bloom fell to the ground with a heavy thud.
When the only light left was the shining moon, and Bloom lay on the grass trying to regain her breath, she heard the snake fall hard with a ground shaking thud as well.
She needed to get up, she needed to stand. But her mind was reeling, swimming with questions and confusion and denials.
What was going on?
A red light like the one before lit up the sky and only then was Bloom blinked out of her daze. Slowly, she rolled onto her stomach and sat up on her knees, watching as the man she'd jumped in front of held his hand aloft and the thoroughly charred snake fell through the glowing red ground—
Bloom groaned and placed a hand her head. She was getting a headache, this was way, way too much to take in! This—this was...ridiculous!
Giant snakes, guys shooting lasers, fire dragons coming out of her chest? Those were the stuff found in the pages of a Harry Potter book, not real life! And yet here, in real life, it happened right before her very eyes.
"You."
Bloom gasped and her head snapped up, finding the man staring down at her with narrowed ice blue eyes. His long strawberry-blonde hair danced in the wind and his gloved hands were clenched at his sides, blood dripping from one of the sleeves.
He took a step towards her and Bloom fought the urge to crab crawl backwards away from him. She was absolutely certain that look in his eyes wasn't a "Hey, thanks for saving me!" gaze.
He opened his mouth to say something further when his knees buckled and he collapsed with weak gasp for breath.
"Oh!" Bloom cried as she leapt forward from her kneeling position to catch him. She grunted at the weight as she slowly lowered him to the ground, staring worriedly at his unconscious face, the shuddering rise and fall of his chest and then the bloodstain on his arm.
She needed to take him home with her—she may not have completely grasped what had happened tonight but she did know a cut bleeding that much was the opposite of safe.