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It was just Stella’s luck that the attack managed to break a giant magic no-no: Number One No-No, in fact, as Stella hadn’t thought it was possible to break the magical borders preventing travel to Earth.

Stella’s preferred method of travel had always been tunneling. It was slower than teleportation, but it required less energy. She’d never had much luck with big magic unless she was in direct sunlight, and she did not want to pass out on the front lawn of Alfea on her first day. (Well. Second first day. But who was counting last year?) But the primary flaw of tunneling was that anyone could intercept—and intercept Big Ugly had.

Stella landed on the grass face-first and grunted, scrambling to her feet. “How

dare

you?” she demanded. Normally, she would have been too tired from tunneling to transform. Thankfully, she had agreed to one of her parents’ demands for traveling without an escort—she’d brought the Scepter of Solaria. Currently disguised as a small ring, she slid it off her finger and tossed it into the air. The scepter caught the sunlight and amplified the beams, which sunk into Stella’s skin. Ah, great power. She

loved

sunshine.

Crossing her arms over her chest, Stella focused on channeling the magic into her transformation.

“The Princess of Solaria,” the ogre grunted. “I’ll be taking that scepter now.”

“Uh, no,” Stella said. She fluttered her wings to gain a little ground. “You’re making me late for school, and you don’t want to see a pretty girl get mad!”

The ogre didn’t care, and she knew that. Still, it was worth a shot to make him go away. Stella raised a hand, preparing one of her basic attacks. At least she’d had a

little

training at Alfea before she’d been sent home last year. Unfortunately, he had one thing on her: ghouls. Oh, Stella hated ghouls.

She screamed.

Episode 1

Crash Landings

Only three weeks before school started. Bloom was absolutely

thrilled.

Okay, definitely not. School starting meant a few things: Less time at Mom’s flower shop, which meant less money in her pocket. More time with Mitzi, who had decided that she was vastly above Selina and Bloom and intended to show it all the time. And of course homework.

“You always get your homework done quickly. You’re a smart girl. I don’t know why you’re complaining,” her mom said. She was pruning the newest shipment of flowers on the counter, the summer sunshine still bright enough to warm the front room when the streets were clear of traffic, as they were now.

“It’s the principle of the thing,” Bloom countered, drumming her fingers along the register. “But… you know, I do think school might be a little more bearable

if—”

“We’re not getting you a car,” her mom replied.

“I just want to be able to drive to school,” Bloom argued. “So you don’t have to wait to open the shop until you drop me off!”

Tall, thin, and dark-headed, Bloom’s mother looked little like her. Bloom wondered sometimes if life would have been easier if she’d resembled her parents more. She wouldn’t have changed being adopted for anything, but Mitzi wouldn’t have had such easy fodder. Instead, Bloom was short and curvy with fiery red hair that only ever did what it wanted to, never what Bloom wanted it to do. Bloom knew the drill: She shouldn’t let what Mitzi said bother her. If it didn’t matter, why did Bloom care? Mitzi was only jealous that Bloom was so pretty. (Yeah, right, Mom. The girl who had a dermatologist-approved skin care plan so she never got zits was jealous of Bloom Peters.)

Her mom’s eyes softened, more amused than sympathetic. “Don’t worry about me, honey. Aunt Morgan is going to help me out this year.”

“She is?” Bloom faltered.

“Mm-hm,” her mom replied. “Since Roxy is in middle school now, she was looking for something to do during the day. She’ll be opening the shop in the mornings and working until she needs to pick Roxy up. So I can take

you

to school.”

“I’m sixteen, Mom,” Bloom said. Always good to go for reasoning. “I’m a junior now. I

need

a car. It won’t be long until I go off to college.”

Her mom was thoroughly unimpressed with her line of thinking. “We’ll talk about this again when you’re going to college then,” she said. “Why don’t you go get us some lunch? I think that little food truck is supposed to be at the park today.”

Bloom huffed, but she took the cash her mother proffered and moved to the front door. “I’ll be back soon!”

The bike ride to the park wasn’t bad. The food truck, however, was crowded.

“Great,” Bloom grumbled as she slowed, counting the people in line. Would she be better off to go back and order takeout? No, her mom was expecting this. It didn’t matter if it took a while, did it? She rode past the food truck line down the side path to the bike rack. No sooner than she’d clipped her lock was she interrupted by a scream. It was faint, deeper into the woods. But… that was a scream. A woman. A girl? She couldn’t be sure.

Bloom froze. She looked up the hill. There didn’t seem to be anyone close enough to have heard. Maybe she should go back up, try to get help from the people in line.

Or maybe she’d let someone get hurt in the meantime.

“Lunch will just have to wait,” she said. She grabbed her backpack, tugging out her pepper spray, before she took off into the trees.

Bloom had expected a few things. Muggers, mainly. Maybe a boyfriend taking it out on his defenseless girlfriend. What she saw… was completely different.

The girl, for one, wasn’t a defenseless young woman. She was dressed in strange clothes—something sort of orange or yellow, almost like sunlight had been woven into cloth, draped over her chest and flowing down her hips until it disappeared. Her golden hair was pulled back in two low pigtails that rested on her shoulders. On her back, three pairs of thin, silvery wings fluttered.

A fairy?

No. This had to be something else. A… Renaissance Faire, maybe? Some sort of LARP? That would explain the other person. He seemed to be a big guy, even under… whatever sort of monster suit he was wearing, with leathery yellow skin.

“Ew, ew, ew. Not ghouls. Why ghouls? Why ghouls?” the girl said. She was floating midair, her knees drawn to her chest. Small, red… creatures were jumping up at her, climbing over each other in a sort of pile Bloom imagined she’d be seeing in her nightmares. Bloom looked up. The cables had to be around there somewhere.

The other guy made a sinister cackle. “I’ve got you now, princess. Hand over that scepter!”

“Um,” Bloom said. “Great show, guys. But—” What was she doing interrupting? “If you’re filming a movie, you may want to move

away

from the crowds.”

The girl and the guy both turned to look. The girl’s eyes grew wide. “Oh, no. No, you need to get out of here.”

The guy only shook his head. “I guess I don’t need

all

the ghouls to attack you. Take care of her.”

The red creatures split into two piles. One came rumbling towards Bloom.

“Run!” the girl yelled.

Bloom froze.

“Run,” she repeated. “Get out of here, girl!”

The creatures continued to grow closer. Their faces were small and beady, nasty teeth and sharp eyes. They reached out with claws—

Bloom raised her hands in front of her face and closed her eyes. Heat flooded her body, then through her hands and arms. It dissipated suddenly.

“Oh,” someone said. Bloom peeked one eye open. The creatures were gone. The girl had lowered her legs, though she was still hovering in the air, her wings flapping rapidly behind her, looking between Bloom and the space the creatures had once been. “That was— That was magic.”

The guy beside her looked stunned. The girl glanced at him.

“Mm, and with that, I think I need to get out of here. Let’s

not

stay in touch, friend. The scepter is mine, end of story.” The girl waved the silver staff in her hands until a hazy, almost glittery, tunnel opened up. She dove inside and disappeared.

The guy looked at Bloom for a moment. “I think… they’ll want to hear about this,” he said, squinting in her direction. In a flash of light, he disappeared too.

Bloom felt her pepper spray slip from her hands. She knelt down to grab it. The grass felt real. She wasn’t dreaming. And there was… nothing there. Nothing to see. Nothing to say.

She chalked it up to a momentary crazy. Turning on her heels, she headed back towards the food truck, wondering if she’d have a decent explanation for why she’d been gone so long.
         
Flora had said goodbye to her mother and Miele in Magix at breakfast. She wished now she hadn’t.

She understood very well the rules of Alfea: Only students, staff, and a

very

select group of invited guests were ever allowed on school grounds. This was a necessity, as the bulk of Alfea’s students were from royal or high noble families. The fewer who had access to the school, the safer the students were. This meant that all students were required to move into the school alone. But Flora could have used her family as she stepped into the check-in line.

What had she been thinking? This was crazy. She wasn’t

that

powerful. Not enough to become a guardian fairy. Not even to be

here.

And the cost— If she lost her scholarship, there was no way her family could ever repay her tuition.

“I hope the rooms are as nice as the front lawn.”

Flora broke free from her thoughts. She turned to look at the girl who spoke. The girl smiled. She had dark hair tied in two small pigtails and narrow eyes framed by excessive eyeliner.

“I’m Musa,” she said. “You look as lost as I feel. I’ve

never

seen a place this nice.”

“Me either,” Flora admitted. They stepped forward as the line moved. Flora clutched her suitcase a little closer. She hoped she’d done the packing spell right. She couldn’t imagine any of the clothes in Magix would be cheap.

“Let me guess. You’re from Lynphea?” Musa said, throwing one finger in the air as she hazarded her answer. “You’ve got the whole… nature vibe going on.”

Flora nodded, smoothing down the petals of her dress.

“I’m from Melody,” Musa said. “I remember reading there was another scholarship student coming from Lynphea. It’s nice to meet you.”

“Scholarships,” someone ahead of them grumbled. Flora ducked her head, but Musa looked unbothered.

“Don’t know what she’s laughing at,” Musa said in a slightly lower tone, glancing at Flora. “There are plenty of royal families who refuse to send their kids here now. I’ve looked at the stats. Twenty-five percent of future guardian fairies aren’t royal anymore, and it’s rising.”

“Most of them are probably still noble,” Flora said.

Musa shrugged. “Doesn’t make them more powerful. I think that was the problem in the first place—”

“Next!” the woman at the head of the line called. She was tall and gangly, with a pinched face and a mousy brown bob. Flora was terrified of her. “Name?” she said, tapping her pen against her clipboard.

“Um. Flora Igarra. Of Lynphea,” she added belatedly. Her face grew pink, but she did her utmost best to tune out the giggles around her.

“You will be in Room 128-2. That is, Suite 128, Room 2. Here is your key. Next,” the woman said. She didn’t bother to wait until Flora had stumbled forward before speaking to Musa. “Room 128-3. That is, Suite 128, Room 3. Next.”

“So we’re in the same suite!” Musa said brightly. “Man, I’m glad. I know

no one

here. Too bad we’re not roommates though.”

“Yeah,” Flora said. “Too bad.”

“I

know

my room number, Griselda. I still remember! Nothing’s changed.”

“Except the potions lab,” the woman who had checked them in said. Flora and Musa both turned around. The woman—who must have been the assistant headmistress, Grizelda, or so they now knew—was speaking to a tall girl in a tight green sundress. “Which has currently been relocated—”

“I know, I know. It will be

all

fixed up soon though. So Suite 128, Room 1. There’s my key, and

thank you,”

the girl said, snatching the key from Grizelda’s hand before she turned around. “If I heard right, you two are also in Suite 128? Perfect! We’ll all be the best of friends.”

“Um,” Flora said.

“I’m Stella,” their new friend spoke as she walked, gesturing for the two of them to follow her. Flora opted to go along. She at least seemed to know where their room was located, which was more than Flora could say. “Princess of Solaria, blah, blah, but Stella’s fine. My room is the big one in the middle, no roommate. I do have nice clothes, and I’m happy to share if we wear the same size—” She paused and looked at Flora, short and plump, and Musa, short and skinny. “—which I don’t think we do, but if there is something that you’d like to try, just let me know. Same thing goes for accessories. Do not knock before the sun is high in the sky. I am a late sleeper.”

“Oh, great,” Musa said. She tossed Flora what was likely meant to be a commiserative look, but it was hard to appreciate when Flora felt like she was going to faint. There was no way she was going to survive this.

“Oh, you—Room 2?” Stella said as they reached the large arched doors to their suite. Musa had been right. It seemed the interior of Alfea was just as nice as the exterior. Flora had heard that Magix was relatively untouched by the war, but she hadn’t realized how many of the old fancy buildings were still in this sort of condition.

She faltered as she realized Stella was speaking to her. “Oh. Um… yes?”

“I think your roommate was supposed to be Varanda? But she decided not to come,” Stella said. “So you’ll be flying solo, I suppose.”

“Wait, that means I’m the only one with a roommate?” Musa said. She pushed on the right door to the common area.

“Not the

only

one,” a voice said from inside the room. Their final suitemate stood with a trio of bags. She was tall as well with a figure mostly obscured by the loose clothing she wore, which covered her from head to toe. “Pleasure to meet you all. I’m Tecna. I’m going to be setting up some of my computers out here. It should be out of the way, but be careful of the wires.”

“Fine by me,” Stella said. She continued walking to the door in the center of the room before turning back with a quick grin. “Nice to meet you, girls! I’m going to unpack now! Bye!”

“Bye,” Flora said softly. She felt the handle of her luggage begin to slip. Oh, no, her hands were sweating.

“Why doesn’t this go… in the bedroom?” Musa said.

“I’ve already set up quite a bit inside the bedroom,” Tecna replied. “This requires more space.”

“How much is quite a bit? I need space too. I have instruments!” Musa said. She stepped into her bedroom, and Tecna swiftly followed. Flora let out a breath of air and turned around. Room 2 stood alone. Her name was printed neatly on the door, right above her absent non-roommate.

“At least I have some space for my plants,” Flora said. She opened the door and prepared to unpack.
         
“You didn’t get the ring,” Icy said.

Knut didn’t like the tone of her voice. Of the three witches, Icy was the calmest. That did not make her the most lenient. “I did not,” he admitted, keeping his head bowed.

“And why didn’t you get the ring?” Darcy asked. Her voice was sweeter, but Knut knew very well that the sweeter she sounded, the meaner she was prepared to behave.

“The fairy escaped,” he said.

“She escaped?” Stormy demanded. Her sisters hushed her. Knut could hear her adjusting in her seat, probably crossing her arms and pouting.

“Another fairy intervened.”

“What do you mean another fairy intervened?” Stormy asked. “We gave you a spell to take the fairy out on

Earth.

There are no fairies on Earth.”

“Well, there must be one,” Knut said. He lifted his head just enough to protest. “She obliterated all the ghouls. And… and then the other fairy got away.”

“Was it Faragonda? Or some other old master?” Darcy suggested. Knut knew she wasn’t talking to him, but he shook his head anyway.

“No! It was a young girl. And— and it was different. It felt different. Her spell was all— warm and— it was… special.” Knut lifted his head to look at the three mistresses. “I’ve never seen magic like it. I thought you’d want to know.”

“Why would we want to know about some

stupid—?”

Icy raised a finger to silence her sister. She cocked her head to the side, her silvery hair falling in a fatal swoop. “This magic touched you?” she asked. When Knut nodded, she held her hands out. “Sisters, take my hands. We’ll search for the source of this magic. Perhaps… we no longer need the Ring of Solaria.”
         
Musa wanted to like her suitemates. From what she’d read, it was pretty rare to be reassigned rooms in the three years they’d spend at Alfea, and it would be best to get along. Flora seemed sweet enough, even if she was painfully, painfully shy. Stella was loud and overbearing but friendly. As for her roommate…

Musa would need a little longer to get used to her. It was fine. Musa was an only child, and Tecna clearly wasn’t used to sharing space either. She was nice. She meant well.

In the first few weeks at Alfea, they’d settled into something of a routine. Tecna was an early riser. She’d wake first and start tapping away at her computer. Musa had asked once what she was doing, and she’d explained something about a local group chat for computer geeks and her new online friend

tsonnen.

Musa had lost the plot after that and turned the covers back over her head. Musa would wake up just in time for breakfast, which they’d grab with Stella and Flora, before they all separated for their classes. Musa took their bedroom over during the afternoon break for her instrument practice. Evenings were spent on homework. That much, Tecna and Musa easily agreed on.

It was just the boundaries.

“We should probably leave at 6:50,” Tecna reasoned on the night of the Back-to-School dance. Per Stella, it was an Alfea staple, but she’d forgotten about it in the haze of new classes. Instead of explaining her thoughts, she screeched and rushed into her room to get ready. “The dance starts at 7:00, but I think we’ll need more time to get down there.”

“I don’t think it’s a hard and fast arrival time,” Musa said, setting aside her homework for the evening.

Tecna had already changed into some sort of lavender bodysuit, with a darker overdress which met in a sort of mesh corset tie in the middle.

“Great. Dance time,” Musa said. She’d altered one of her mother’s cheongsam for the dance, but she had a bad feeling it wouldn’t live up to the levels some of the other girls were bound to boast. Tecna hadn’t taken much time on her outfit, but the details indicated it was haute couture.

“You look great,” Tecna said.

“You do too,” Musa offered. “I’ve never seen fashion from Zenith before.”

“It’s very different,” Tecna agreed. “Most people who’ve never been off Zenith are shocked when they realize most people don’t cover their whole bodies.”

“How did that start anyway?” Musa asked as she opened the door to the living room.

“Zenith is cold. It’s just practical,” Tecna explained. “Most people would call the environment harsh. But it works best, considering the heat technology gives off. We require—”

“Yes! We have

just

enough time for accessories,” Stella yelled as she ran out of her bedroom. She nearly tripped over the tulle at the bottom of her skirt, throwing her heels onto the couch as she clutched a large jewelry box. “Okay, Tecna, I had to look up fashion from Zenith—needed to figure out what would go well with your outfit. You can stick this pin in your headscarf—yes, perfect—”

As Stella fussed over Tecna, Flora slunk out of her room. Musa felt some tension drain from her shoulders when she saw that Flora’s dress wasn’t nearly so elaborate either. Still, the mouse didn’t quite meet her eyes.

“Musa, here. I’d totally forgotten I had these earrings. Music notes might be a little on the nose, but no harm in letting people know who you are on the first day!” Stella said as she turned to Musa now, brandishing silver dangly earrings with small eighth notes. “Don’t worry, they’re clean. Oh, and Flora! I love that dress. The heart neckline totally works for you. So let’s dress up that collarbone of yours—”

“She’s really passionate about fashion,” Tecna said. She adjusted the pin Stella had given her.

“I am!” Stella practically sang. She laid a chandelier necklace on Flora’s shoulders, delicately framing the soft chestnut locks of Flora’s hair around it. “It’s fun to dress people up. Unfortunately, sharing clothes is way harder than sharing accessories. Hence the giant box. I’ve collected all of these over the years just for this purpose. Besides, we all need to make a good impression tonight. You know there will be some Red Fountain students there.”

“Red Fountain?” Flora piped up.

“Mm-hm,” Stella hummed. She stepped back just enough to reach for her heels, plopping onto the couch to slide them on. “You know, local warrior school? Full of strapping young specialists?”

“Oh,” Flora said.

“Of course, the Cloudtower witches will also be there, but you know. Big magic school rivalry,” Stella said. She made quick work of placing her hair in a fishtail braid. “Still, if that’s your type—”

“Ladies—” a voice echoed over the intercom. “—please make your way to the main hall, if you have not yet left your rooms.”

“Do you think they spy on us in here?” Musa wondered.

“Oh, yeah, I totally believe it,” Stella said. “Alright, follow me!”

There were some benefits to Stella’s superior knowledge, it seemed. She knew some of the side paths, leading the way to the Back-to-School Dance. The main hall of Alfea had been a stop on their tour earlier in the afternoon, but it had been completely transformed. Gone were the tables and chairs. The chandeliers hung in low glowing beams. The glass ceiling hung over their heads, but the lights outshone the stars. Swarths of students both in dresses and suits and the simple Red Fountain uniforms filled the hall.

“Now, let’s see—ah, there he is,” Stella said. “If you girls will come here, I can introduce you to a few nice guys from Red Fountain.”

“When did you have a chance to meet anyone yet?” Tecna asked as the group weaved their way through the crowds.

“Oh, I knew them last year. Red Fountain is four years, you know?” Stella replied. She gestured at a group of four boys ahead of them. The first was tall and broad-shouldered, with short dark hair. The boy to his left was slightly shorter with dirty blond hair to his shoulders. On his other side stood a dark-haired boy with crossed arms and a sour expression. The final boy was thin with light hair and red glasses. “Prince Sky, how do you do?”

“Princess Stella,” said the first boy with a smile as he turned. “And friends. Pleasure to meet you.” The prince made a bow.

“Meet my suitemates this year. This is Tecna, Musa, and Flora,” Stella said, gesturing at each of them.

“Don’t you ladies look lovely,” said Sky with a bright smile. “Let me introduce you to my friends. This is my page, Brandon. And our squadmates Riven and Timmy.”

“Nice to meet you,” Timmy piped up.

Brandon made a bow as well. “Nice to meet you,” he agreed.

Riven only nodded. Musa felt her lips pinch together. Great. What a nice guy.

The music in the room kicked on, a jarring thrum through the air and floor. Musa scanned the room. “Aw, no live band?” she said.

“They never do,” Riven grunted. “That would at least make it a bit bearable.”

“No kidding,” Musa said. She glanced up at him. He was kind of cute, a sort of plum tint to his hair, sharp eyes. Maybe she’d been a bit too hasty. “Are you from Melody, by chance?” Wouldn’t it be nice to meet someone else from home?

“I grew up in Magix,” Riven replied. “I just have taste in music.”

“Then you might know some of the better music stores around here,” Musa prodded.

In the background, Musa could hear Sky ask Stella to dance. They both disappeared onto the dance floor. Tecna had zeroed in on some gadget Timmy was holding, leaving only Brandon and Flora behind with them.

“There aren’t any,” Riven said in a deliberate dour tone. He crossed his arms tighter.

“Please excuse him,” Brandon said. “He wasn’t born with manners.”

“Neither was I, but I had to learn them,” Musa snapped back.

Riven snorted. “I don’t like dances,” he said.

“But you like music?” she prodded.

“Who doesn’t like music?” Riven asked.

“I can’t imagine anyone,” Brandon said. He eyed Riven and Musa for a moment, before he turned to Flora. “Would you like to dance?” Flora nodded, and they both quickly abandoned them.

“I think you’d change your mind about dancing,” Musa challenged, “if you heard what I can play.”
         
The back-to-school dinner was a staple of the Peters. Bloom’s parents would invite Uncle Klaus, Aunt Morgan, and Roxy over, and both of the Peters girls would have to recount their days. It had been a lot more fun when Bloom had been little. Now, she dreaded having to find some way to describe her day other than, “Oh, same old, same old. Selina and I lamented the few classes we have together. I tried to avoid Andy since he told me he liked me. And Mitzi was a bitch.” That wouldn’t have flown too well with her parents, especially in front of Roxy.

Thankfully, Bloom had had a little extra time to prepare, since her mom had forgotten to buy milk. Yes, Bloom was happy to do a quick store run. The gas station wasn’t far. It was

no

big deal. So Bloom would talk a lot about her English class and very little about anything else that had happened at school. That was easy enough. Clutching the jug of milk in one hand and the receipt in the other, she took one deep breath before she opened the front door.

“I’m ho—”

Bloom froze. Normally, her parents were either in the living room or the kitchen with her aunt and uncle. Normally, Roxy was at least there, sitting with her dog. The living room was empty.

“Hello?” she called.

Footsteps clamored against the steps. Aunt Morgan came running down the stairs. “Bloom,” she breathed. She snagged Bloom by the wrist, fingers pressing into her bone. “Come on. We don’t have time.”

“Don’t have time for what?” Bloom demanded. She tried to pull back, but Aunt Morgan was stronger than she looked. She dragged her up the stairs. Something crashed down in the kitchen. Bloom turned her head to look, but Aunt Morgan only pulled harder. “What—? Where’s Mom—?”

“Just breathe,” Aunt Morgan said. She turned into Bloom’s bedroom, where a suitcase had somehow been thrown on the floor, a few of Bloom’s clothes haphazardly tossed inside. “There’s no time to explain anything. I promise your parents are fine.”

“But—”

A chill filled the air. Bloom’s skin prickled.

“Up here?” an unfamiliar voice said.

“There is no time,” Aunt Morgan repeated. “I can’t maintain this spell for long.”

“Spell?” Bloom said.

Aunt Morgan raised a hand. A swirl of green fog sunk into the floor. The bookshelf began to rattle, and the book Bloom had left on her bed fluttered as though it was about to open. Something made Bloom think of a few weeks before—the strange girl in the park and the way she’d disappeared.

“Go,” Aunt Morgan said. She snapped the suitcase shut and pressed it into Bloom’s hands before she pushed her into the hole.

Bloom shrieked. The hole above closed, and Aunt Morgan was gone. Around her, Bloom could see nothing but a haze.

“Bloom?” a soft voice—low and delicate, almost ethereal—called.

Bloom closed her eyes. She drew her arms and legs to her chest. The suitcase banged against her thighs. She hoped it would fall open. What would it matter if it did?

With a thump, she hit the end of the tunnel—or… not. Head and heart pounding, she tried to ignore the ache from the fall. Bloom opened her eyes. She was no longer in the swirling fog. Above her, a dozen faces peered down, all dressed to the nines. A large glass window hung above—a ceiling, rather.

“What was that?”

“It seems we have a late arrival,” someone said. Bloom’s head turned. Standing on a breezeway, there was an old woman with a sharp smile. “Don’t worry, everyone. A little tunneling mishap. I’ll take my new student to my office now.”

“New student?” That voice was familiar. Bloom turned her head. A blonde with a braid wearing an orange dress hung onto the arm of a young man—the girl from the park! She met Bloom’s eyes and faltered. “Oh. New student.”

The crowd was gawking. Bloom could understand why. Whatever she’d interrupted looked a lot fancier than where she’d come from. She pushed herself onto her knees. Someone took her hand and helped her to her feet. Bloom glanced up, only to see a boy with a short ponytail and a cape and a look of concern. That was humiliating. She looked away, face red.

“Well?” said the old woman, suddenly standing in front of her. “Pick up your luggage. I believe we have a lot to discuss.”

----- CHAPTER BREAK -----

The old woman was named Faragonda. She was the headmistress of a school called Alfea, which trained fairies. Bloom had somehow landed in the middle of a dance, explaining the many eyes that had been on her as she picked up her bag and followed Faragonda up the stairs into a small office, where another woman promptly served a pot of tea.

Bloom would have laughed if the situation didn’t seem entirely too real.

“I wasn’t expecting another student this year,” Faragonda said. She sipped at her cup delicately. Bloom did the same, hoping that something about the taste would make this situation more real. She still felt like her body was floating. “I suppose it’s fortunate we do have a vacant room.”

“Vacant… room,” Bloom echoed.

“I must imagine you will be staying,” Faragonda said. “With your luggage as such.”

Bloom looked back down at her suitcase. She’d parked it beside the chair she’d been given across from Faragonda’s desk. “My aunt packed that,” she said dumbly.

“Mm-hm,” Faragonda said. “And what’s your name?”

Bloom paused. She looked at Faragonda again. “Bloom,” she said. “Bloom Peters.”

“And where are you from?” Faragonda prompted.

Bloom was quiet. “Gardenia,” she said. When Faragonda didn’t reply, she continued. “California? …The United States?”

Faragonda’s face didn’t change, only a slight pinch of her brow to show she was perplexed.

“What planet is that?” Faragonda asked.

Bloom’s lips parted. She snapped her jaw shut, then opened it again. “Uh… Earth?”

“Earth,” Faragonda repeated.

“Am I… not on Earth?” Bloom asked. She felt the sort of tightness in the back of her neck she normally got when she had a migraine from stress. That was usually from tests. Now…

Faragonda looked at her a moment longer before seeming to brush the matter aside. “Very well. Let’s discuss your enrollment, Miss Peters. It’s clear you have some magical power, making it past the forcefield like that. I can’t imagine a better place for you to learn it all…”

Episode 2

From the School to the Swamp

Bloom had been placed in the single open bed in Alfea. She shared a room with a soft-spoken girl named Flora, who had apologized for letting her plants overtake the entire room. “I hadn’t expected to have a roommate,” she explained as she slowly dragged her plants back to her side of the room.

“That’s fine. I don’t have much, and… I kind of like the plants. My mom owns a flower shop,” Bloom replied. The plants were the most familiar part of this strange place she’d found herself in. Granted, these plants weren’t much like the small flowers and house plants her mother sold. Flora’s plants were large with creeping vines. Some even almost spoke. But when Bloom could turn onto her side in the middle of the night and see pots about the room, she could almost pretend she’d fallen asleep on the couch at home.

But that wasn’t true. Bloom was far, far from home, in a place where Earth was almost a myth—a place forbidden to all by interplanetary decrees. Even if someone were willing to help her get home, it seemed no one knew

how

to get to Earth. As far as the rest of the world knew, she had been recruited from Earth by Ms. Faragonda, and if she were to return home, it would be at the end of the year, as “planned.” She’d insisted that she would find a way to help Bloom, but without revealing the truth, which had been out of the question, Bloom wasn’t sure it was possible.

(Bloom had asked the girl she’d seen on Earth how she’d bypassed the decrees, but Stella had admitted she didn’t even know how she’d ended up there. “I’m lucky no one noticed. Not sure Daddy could have bought my way out of that one,” she’d said before she tried to pawn off a pair of shoes onto Bloom to make more room in her closet.)

“We’ll work on a way to get you home,” Faragonda had promised Bloom at their first meeting. “But in the meantime, you’ll attend classes. I sense great magical potential in you.”

That sounded only slightly less crazy than the rest of the situation Bloom had found herself in.

She mostly wanted to stay in bed and cry all day, but with the amount of girls in close proximity, that option was too humiliating to consider. She’d opted for Faragonda’s plan instead. Going to school was almost like being back home, except in place of math and English and chemistry, Bloom had metamorphosis and magilinguistics and potionology. Easy-peasy.

“We— We welcome our new student. Miss Bloom Peters,” the professor said. He was a tall, thin man with pointed ears and long, golden brown hair, wringing his hands as though he were nervous to stand in front of a classroom of teenage girls. She could understand that. The look the other girls were giving her was kind of terrifying, save for Stella and Flora, who also shared this class. Bloom tried not to stare, though it was another revelation to realize that there were people other than humans around. (Did fairies count as humans? If they did, did this man too? Would it have been wrong to ask?) “I am Professor Palladium. If you’ll take a seat by Miss Flora.”

Bloom nodded and clutched the notebook she’d been given to her chest. Flora sat in the second row, and she waved, as though Bloom didn’t know her by now.

“He’s new this year,” Stella whispered from her seat behind Bloom. “And I’m not sure he’s going to make it.”

“That’s not very nice,” Flora whispered back. “He’s trying. He’s just nervous.”

“He looks like a chihuahua,” Bloom admitted.

“What’s a chihuahua?” Stella asked.

Professor Palladium looked stricken by their conversation but did nothing to stop them. A girl in the first row, however, cleared her throat.

“Excuse me. Some of us worked hard to get here and intend to

learn

during our time at Alfea,” she said, tossing her bob back dramatically as she leveled the three of them with a stare.

Stella rolled her eyes. Flora piped down, fussing with her notebook. The girl didn’t look away. Bloom furrowed her brow. But Professor Palladium began to speak, so Bloom set that aside. Even in another dimension, she wasn’t able to escape homework, and it seemed like she had a lot to catch up on.

“Who was that?” Bloom asked when she and Stella were walking to their next class: the history of magic.

“Who?” Stella asked. She was reapplying her lipgloss, sort of a coral color, and certainly not watching where she was walking.

“The girl. In class. Who was glaring at us?” Bloom prompted.

Stella paused. She looked up just long enough to steer Bloom down another hallway, though they had to dodge students coming the opposite way. “Oh, her? That’s Amaryl. She’s just a bitch.”

“Right,” Bloom said.

“Don’t worry about her,” Stella assured. “Really. Some people are just curious about… why you’re here.”

“So am I,” Bloom admitted. It was clear that Alfea wasn’t any ordinary school, even if she took out the magic aspect.

“Ms. Faragonda said you should be here. Isn’t that reason enough?” Stella shrugged. “But either way, you’re a fairy from

Earth.

No one’s heard of any magic on Earth in like… five hundred years.”

Bloom furrowed her brow. “There was magic on Earth?” she asked.

“Uh, yeah? Every planet has magic,” Stella said. She paused and nudged Bloom into another room. “That’s… pretty basic.”

“It’s news to me,” Bloom replied. From the back, Musa waved at them to join her at a semicircular table that sat five.

“I guess it would be. No one on Earth knows about this stuff anymore,” Stella admitted. She took her seat on the second to the end, setting her bag down on the last chair. Bloom sat down on the opposite end.

“Knows about what?” Musa asked.

Bloom said, “Magic.”

Musa pursed her lips. “Right. Well. No better time to dive straight into it,” she said. “Edelrosa is about to start.”

Professor Edelrosa was very descriptive, even if Bloom could barely follow the subject, since she’d never heard of any of these events before. She tried to take notes, as fast as her cramping hand could manage. She (helpfully?) dropped a stack of books on the table before Bloom could escape.

“You ought to review these. Most students have some level of background knowledge,” she said.

Musa and Stella eyed her sympathetically before they departed, leaving Bloom to shove the books into her backpack, ignoring the stares from her fellow classmates.
         
“What exactly is the difference between fairies and other magic users?” Bloom asked her suitemates at dinner. Alfea had a few perks, and one was certainly the meals. Bloom didn’t recognize all of the food they served, but it looked nice, smelled nice, and tasted nice. That was enough for her. They all sat at long tables, with a far fancier setting than Bloom had ever seen. It felt like something straight out of a book, which was pretty cool. At least there were some good things about this situation.

Tecna lit up at the opportunity to explain something. “It’s all about magical energy and how you channel it. Some magic users find it much easier to access magic than others. It requires less effort to be powerful. Those magic users can transform into what we call the fairy form. Others require precise spells or objects to channel magic for them. It’s a highly debated subject, which form of magic is superior—”

“Oh,” Bloom said. “So… transformation.”

“Everyone transforms,” Stella said, mouth full.

“I cannot believe you’re a princess,” Musa said, head cocked to the side.

Stella shrugged as she shoved another bite in her mouth.

“How exactly do you do that?” Bloom asked.

The other girls paused. “It… takes a lot of practice,” Flora said finally. “But the way I’ve always pictured it is taking the magical energy you feel within you and bringing it to your core.”

“That’s more or less accurate,” Tecna confirmed. She set her silverware down on her plate and raised her hands. “Most fairies use some physical stimuli to generate their energy prior to initiating the transforming. That can vary. Either way, you need to generate enough magical energy in your hands to initiate the transformation. The easiest way to do that is to create a circle—” She paused and raised her hands, holding her first two fingers out on both hands in front of her chest, crossing them over. “ —like this.”

“Is that necessary?” Bloom asked, mimicking the movement.

“No,” Tecna said. “Though it is pretty standard. After all, transforming takes a lot of practice.”

Bloom pursed her lips. She pressed her fork through some soft purple vegetable which looked vaguely like a carrot.

“Hey, I’m sure you’ll get a chance to practice,” Musa said. “I mean, you’ve only just started learning about being a fairy. No one can expect you to know how to do it all so fast.”

“Could expect an Alfea student to transform,” another girl muttered down the line.

Bloom reached for her cup of water, determined to ignore her.

The water tasted a little different in Magix. She wasn’t sure why.
         
Where most students had a study period every Wednesday afternoon, Faragonda had arranged for Bloom to receive personal lessons.

“I’m sure you’re well aware by now that you are behind your classmates in experience,” she told Bloom when she called her to her office.

“No kidding,” Bloom muttered.

Faragonda gave her an unimpressed look. “I sense great power in you, Bloom,” she said. “But great power alone isn’t enough to become a great fairy. I know this is all new to you, but with a little effort, you’ll see. It will come more naturally.”

Hesitantly, Bloom nodded. She sat up a little straighter.

“I’m sure you’ve heard by now that every fairy accesses their power through their planetary power source. If you have any magical ability at all, you should feel this innately. When you reach deep inside yourself, you take control,” Faragonda explained. She stepped up, her heels clicking softly against the teal carpet. “Close your eyes.”

Bloom did as she said.

“Focus only on the power burning inside of you. You have magic. You must feel it, whether you’ve learned what it is or not.”

Did she? Bloom wondered. In her short opportunities to practice in class, she’d had minimal success. Wizgiz had assured Bloom that she’d managed to make her hair slightly lighter, but she hadn’t noticed a difference.

“Focus,” Faragonda repeated, voice sharp.

Bloom thought back. She remembered seeing Stella in the park back in Gardenia. Stella had said she was a fairy then, even though Bloom hadn’t understood what happened. But… she remembered that feeling. She remembered the heat in her chest, the way it slid through her arms, like she could barely hold it back.

“Good,” Faragonda said.

Bloom cracked her eyes open. There was a sort of haze about her, crackling in the air, which faded immediately. “Oh,” she said. She should have gone for it. If she’d tried to transform, maybe she would have understood the process better. If only—

Faragonda paused. She gave a soft smile, pushing her glasses up her nose. “That was a good start. You can’t expect to learn this so easily. We’ll continue our practice next week. For now, you should focus on your studies. First years have no need to transform for any of their classes. You can continue developing your skills outside of class.”

“No need at all. Right.” Bloom could only hope that she’d manage to get through the year in the first place.
         
“This,” said Professor Palladium, “is the Black Mud Swamp.”

It certainly was a swamp. Stella had never seen anything like it. The water levels fluctuated as they walked, but they frequently rose up to their ankles, making the Alfea standard outing uniform very comforting in its boots—plus they were cute. She just hoped they didn’t step into any water high enough to wet her socks. Nothing was worse than wet socks.

“Blah, blah,” Stella whispered to the girls standing in front of her, “no magic powers, find your way out. It’s the same every year.”

“You would know,” Amaryl snapped.

Ugh. Stella couldn’t stand her. She was just like her sister.

“So no magic powers? What’s the point?” Bloom asked.

Stella liked Bloom. She was sweet, for this insane situation she’d been thrown into, and she had a lot of questions, most of which Stella was happy to answer. The other girls had settled into Alfea more easily, and they’d hardly needed her 3 months’ previous expertise. Things weren’t quite so easy for Bloom.

“I’m glad you asked,” Professor Palladium said to Bloom, his face brightening up. In the few weeks she’d been here, Bloom had already become one of his favorites. Probably because Bloom let him talk without looking bored. “It’s very easy for fairies to become… reliant on your great magical strength. When you have a spell for that, why would you need anything else? And yes, Miss Tecna, I’m well aware that Zenith has multiple spells and devices for navigation.”

Tecna clicked her mouth shut. Stella craned her head to see the pin she’d used to attach her scarf today. Pins would make a great gift for her. She filed that away.

“The— The reason you need these skills is all about the limitations of your powers. You

can

exhaust your magical energy, and what will you be left with?” Palladium asked.

The group didn’t answer, so his co-chaperone for the field trip piped up. “Nothing but your wits!” Professor Wizgiz continued. “You must learn to listen to what’s around you. And so we’ve split you girls into groups of five. You will meet us at the entrance of the swamp by 3:00 this afternoon. If not, we will be forced to transport you out. Remember—

no

powers.” He grinned before he transformed into a fox, darting off into the bushes.

Likewise, Palladium was gone in a snap, leaving the class alone in the swamp.

“At my old school, we were never left alone on field trips,” Bloom said.

“We’re not at your old school, Bloom. This is Alfea!” Stella adjusted her very stylish hat.

“It’s still just a normal field trip,” Flora assured. “I can’t imagine it’s that different from what they’d do on Earth.”

“With the Wizgiz? No way. I feel like there’s some sort of trap,” Musa said.

Stella rolled her eyes. “Well, ladies? Which way are we heading?”

Flora, Tecna, and Musa each exchanged looks. After a moment, Tecna and Musa seemed to decide on looking to Flora.

“Me?” she exclaimed.

“You are a nature fairy,” Musa reasoned.

“That’s true,” Stella agreed. “If anyone can help us get out of this swamp, it’s Flora.”

“I mean… realistically, shouldn’t we just head back the way we came?” Tecna asked.

Flora shook her head immediately. “Oh, no. This is the sort of swamp where the plants move based on the time of day,” she said. “Going the way we came wouldn’t be possible.”

“Wait, what? Did Professor Palladium really just strand us here?” Bloom’s eyes grew wide, and she brushed her bangs out of her face.

“He did say they’d transport us out if we don’t make it in time,” Tecna said. She checked her watch. “It’s 9:00 now. We have hours to get out.”

Stella looked around. The other girls had already started off in different directions, though she didn’t know which. To one end of the clearing, there was a mess of bubbly water. To the other, there were more trees along a dampened path. “Seems obvious that we’d start over there,” she said, pointing.

Flora looked around the area before shaking her head. “No. Watch,” she said. The group fell quiet as the dampened path grew wetter and wetter. “It’s flooding. That way will be uncrossable.”

“So which way

is?”

Musa asked, crossing her arms over her chest.

They looked around again. In the shifting of the paths, the way that had been full of water to begin with had started to bubble, popping in noxious blue gases. Okay, Stella was on Team

Not

That Way. Who knew what that blue stuff would do to her hair?

“I think I see a small clearing this way,” Flora said after a few moments pause, raising one finger to point between a small bundling of trees.

“Seems as good a place to start as any,” Musa agreed with a sigh.

Tecna and Bloom both hesitated, but they eventually followed in the same direction.

“Wait for me!” Stella called. She trailed after them. Maybe she

should

have worn the standard boots. Having a bit of a heel made it a tiny bit difficult to move quickly.
         
In an ideal world, Tecna could use her tablet to navigate out of this swamp.

A tablet wasn’t magic. It was technology. Not even tech magic; it was made entirely by nonmagical hands and machinery. Well, okay, Tecna couldn’t

verify

that, but it was the principle of the subject. The point of the assignment was to use means other than magic to navigate. Technology wasn’t magic.

“I don’t think that’s the point of the assignment,” Musa told her, voice dry, but Musa could be a bit… analogue. She had strong opinions about the impact of technology on sound waves, after all.

“It’s the principle of it,” Tecna repeated.

Perhaps, Tecna wasn’t solely focused on the assignment. Though she and Musa had settled into a better routine Tecna liked her roommate, for her snarky comments and good study habits—in her earliest days, she’d grown close to a few of the tech chat members, especially

tsonnen.

She would have liked to read more about his perspective on the mainframes they sold in Magix City’s biggest computer store, but they’d had to wake far too early for her to stop and check her messages.

“Hush,” Flora said. She knelt in the long grass, curling her fingers into an almost plum-colored vine that stretched out from off in the distance. The vine jerked suddenly before settling down, curling the tip around Flora’s hand. Then, slowly, it relaxed. She lowered it back to the ground before dropping her voice even further. “These vines come from the

quietus carnivorus.

It’s a plant that uses noise to track its prey.”

“Noise?” Stella exclaimed. “It can’t be that bad!”

The vine Flora had been holding moved once more. It wrapped around Stella’s calf, yanking her up into the air. Her hat tumbled off, falling into the moist ground around their feet, and her hair dangled over her shoulders.

“Ah! Help!” Stella shrieked.

“Shh,” Flora said again, holding one finger to her lips. She frowned, focusing her green eyes on the way the vine held Stella. “Just stay quiet. And it will calm down. If it can’t find you, it won’t waste the energy in looking.”

Stella huffed, eyes wide, but as the tips of her hair started to pick up the mud, she bit her tongue, arms crossed over her chest. The vine kept a tight grip.

Flora continued to give Stella a firm look. Musa and Bloom were both biting their lips. Tecna pressed her lips together.

The vine let go, and Stella tumbled back to the ground with a splash. “Puh!” She spit mud away from her mouth, a fire alight in her eyes.

Flora shook her head sternly. Stella, reluctant, rose back to her feet, as the group started to follow Flora back into the woods.

“Help!”

They turned back to Stella. She shook her head, mouth zipped.

“I think it came from that way,” Musa said, pointing to the east. They shifted their steps to follow the path. The vine that had grabbed Stella—

quietus carnivorus,

Flora had called it—had multiplied, large crawling limbs around the trees and their feet.

“Help us!” the same voice screamed—taut and shrill.

“Someone doesn’t know the rules,” Musa droned, glancing at Flora, who furrowed her brows.

“Be careful. The closer we get, the more they can hear,” she warned in a low tone. Footsteps light, she carefully maneuvered through the maze of vines. Tecna followed her path until they reached another clearing. The vines originated from a large bundle of plants with bulbous heads. Tecna had heard of carnivorous plants, but plant life was very limited on Zenith, especially in the urban area she was from. Nothing like this would have grown there.

Dangling high in the air were four Red Fountain students. Tecna recognized them after a moment. There was Stella’s boyfriend, Sky, along with his page, Brandon, and their squadmates. Timmy was the one who’d had the newest watch attachments, though he’d stuttered his way through his explanation to her before making excuses to run off. The other was Riven. Tecna had heard Musa rant about how rude he was. The vines held each of them at odd angles, and Timmy’s glasses looked near to falling off.

“Oh!” Sky said when he caught sight of them, eyes flicking around until he found Stella. “Hey, good-look—”

Stella shushed him, then gestured madly at Flora. Flora flushed pink from the attention. In a low tone, she said, “Be quiet. They react to noise.”

“That’s ri—diculous,” Riven squeaked as the vine grasping him tightened.

Sky and Brandon both immediately fell silent. Timmy seemed to be hyperventilating, but as Sky and Brandon were unceremoniously deposited on the ground, he forced himself to calm down. Riven’s face was contorted as he also piped down.

“Come on, baby,” Stella said as she offered her hand to Sky.

Flora reached for Brandon, so Tecna offered her hand to Timmy, who stumbled over a root and knocked both of them back to the ground.

“Timmy,” Riven grunted, ignoring Musa’s outstretched hand.

Sky yanked Timmy up by the neck of his cape, as Bloom slid her arm underneath Tecna’s shoulders.

“Let’s get out of here,” Flora whispered. “The plants are hungry from expelling all that energy. We don’t want to be their next meal.”

The Red Fountain students led them to where their ship had crashed, a little away. The red hull was mostly intact, save for a large gaping hole in one side.

“We were on a transport mission,” Sky explained. “And something took out one of our engines.”

“Which doesn’t make sense. They were in perfect condition when we left,” Timmy said. He stepped up to the back of the ship, where a large hole appeared to have burst.

“You didn’t do a great job checking them,” Riven snapped. He crossed his arms over his chest.

Musa crossed her arms back. “There’s no need to be rude. These things happen sometimes, don’t they?”

“It is strange,” Tecna agreed. She followed Timmy up to the ship. These sorts of vehicles weren’t her area of expertise—she much preferred handheld devices—but she knew enough to see that the damage to the exterior of the craft didn’t make sense for the internal malfunction. “It’s almost like it was sabotaged.”

“What, you think one of the other squadrons sabotaged us? No way. Red Fountain students don’t do that,” Brandon protested.

Sky made a face that suggested he thought it was more than possible.

“Excuse me, what’s Red Fountain?” Bloom piped up. She’d lingered to the back of the group, enough so that Tecna had forgotten that she wouldn’t follow that line of conversation.

“Oh!” Stella popped off of Sky’s side and stepped over to Bloom instead. “You boys haven’t met Bloom yet, have you?”

“I don’t think we’ve… formally met,” said Brandon. He smiled politely. “Hi. I, uh… helped you up, I think.”

“Hi,” Bloom replied, arms stiff at her sides.

“Hi,” Brandon repeated. He looked at her before reaching for her hand again, giving it a swift shake, Bloom’s arm still limp. Tecna furrowed her brow at the sight. Then Brandon released her abruptly, almost leaping back. “Nice to meet you.”

“You’re the girl who fell into the dance?” Riven said. He snorted, noticeably not offering to shake her hand. “At least that made the night somewhat entertaining.”

“Riven,” Brandon said, voice hinting at a warning.

“Bloom is a new student at Alfea. She’s special. She’s from Earth,” Stella said.

“Stella, you can’t just tell anyone—” Flora protested.

“Oh, come on, it’s Sky and his squad. We’re friends! Anyway, Bloom, meet Prince Sky—my boyfriend,” Stella said. “Brandon. Timmy. And Riven.”

“Right. And they go to Red Fountain?” Bloom asked, eyes flickering between Stella and the boys.

“We do. It’s a school for future Specialists,” Brandon said. He took pity at Bloom’s blank look, raising a hand to gesture as he spoke. “We do sort of… magical containment and transportation. Dealing with magical threats.”

“It’s a school for people who want to fight but don’t have strong magical abilities,” Stella said. She paused at the look the Specialists gave her. “What? It’s true. No offense! Technology works wonders.”

“That’s enough of that,” Riven cut in. He glanced at Boom derisively. “We don’t have time to explain everything. We’re supposed to be getting this device to Alfea.”

Musa pursed her lips and rocked up on her toes as though she could look at the device through the hole. “You’re delivering something to Alfea?”

“We were supposed to be,” Sky sighed. “Unfortunately, I don’t know what we’ll do now. We were looking for the edge of the swamp, to get some signal to call Red Fountain.”

“You were heading in the wrong direction,” Tecna said. “By my calculations, we should be closer to the edge here.”

Flora craned her head. “That’s true. I think if we head that way, we might be out. Maybe we could push the ship in that direction.”

“Perhaps you could, Miss Flora,” Professor Wizgiz said. He popped up from the bushes, changing from a rabbit into his normal form. “But, alas, this exercise has been cancelled. Red Fountain informed us of the boys’ crash. That’s upset the delicate ecosystem.”

“Aw,” Flora said.

“Do we have to do this again?” Tecna asked. She feared she would have been more use on a mission like this—she thought she could fix the ship, given a little time.

Wizgiz shook his head. “No, our schedule is set for the year. Consider this a learning experience, if nothing else. Now, boys, get on the ship. Codatorta told me they’re sending a Hawk to collect you and complete the delivery. And if I may make a suggestion—perhaps Red Fountain ought to consider a similar exercise. Our girls did manage to navigate their way out, after all.”

“We did?” Bloom said. She glanced at Tecna before mouthing, “Where is the exit?”

Tecna could only shrug. She watched as the boys stepped back onto the ship, eyes locked onto Timmy.

Perhaps next time she could ask him a little more about the ships. It never hurt to learn something new.
          
The study grind at Alfea didn’t let up. Aside from the field exercises and tests, Bloom had to contend with actual, practical demonstrations of magic. Theory, that was actually easy. Once Bloom got the hang of it, she could make it through. But the details were tricky, as was history, still her worst subject.

“You just need to give it time,” Musa assured her during one of their suitemate study sessions. “Most people don’t know the history that well. Not unless you plan to go into magic, like we do.”

Bloom appreciated the thought, but even Musa’s words made it clear. The other students at Alfea had ambitions for their magic. Bloom was just there. It was… incredible, in some ways. How many books had Bloom read as a child about escaping to another world, a magical world? How many times had she pretended that she could make the flame of a candle burn a little bit brighter? How many times had she and Selina tried silly fake spells to change their eye colors? But that had all been pretend. It was a fantasy, one she’d had safely at home.

“It just takes time,” Faragonda continued to tell her.

Bloom wanted to believe that. Maybe she would have if she could get a good night’s sleep. But every dream she had seemed to disappear when she woke, leaving her cold and restless, alone in a bed galaxies away from her home.

----- CHAPTER BREAK -----

Bloom walked down the hall. The tile floors gleamed under dim candlelight from the sconces lining the walls, burgundies and umbers, all dark but warm. The light grew brighter until it was nearly glowing under her feet.

“Bloom,” a voice called, gone as quickly as it came.

“Hello?” Bloom called back. The voice had no reply. The light under her feet flickered.

She turned down the first hall she saw. The tiles were gone. Bloom’s feet sunk into the wet sand at the shoreline, dampening the hem of her gray sweats. She stepped forward, spreading her toes as she neared the water's edge, a lake with twinkling lights cast over each wave.

“Bloom,” the voice called again.

She turned around. The lake was around her now, and she fell sank back the water. Above her, a woman stood tall, golden gown floating around her. Her face was obscured by the halo of light behind her head.

“Bloom,” she said, mouth moving but no other words coming out.

Bloom shot up in bed. Her braids hit her back from the force of sitting up, and she panted to catch her breath. On the other side of the room, Flora groaned and turned over. Bloom bit her tongue. No need to wake and worry her. It was just a strange dream.

A dream was all it was.

Episode 3

How the Rose Blooms

“Alright, you’ve had enough of those books,” Stella declared, pushing Bloom’s textbooks off the small table in the living room she’d claimed for her studies.

“Hey!” Bloom protested. Flora and Musa looked up from their places on the couch, while Tecna turned from her living room computer. None of them got

their

notes pushed away from them. Granted, if Stella pushed Tecna’s computer over, there would probably be a murder. But still!

“Look, girls. It’s Saturday. We have all weekend to study. And you know what’s going on right now? The Festival of Roses!” Stella threw her hands in the air for emphasis. Her long hair was tied back in a loose ribbon, flowing over her shoulders.

“That’s today?” Tecna said, turning off her computer. Arms braced on the headrest of her computer chair, she raised her brows.

“Oh, I forgot about that,” Musa said. She pulled her headphones off.

“What’s the Festival of Roses?” Bloom asked. Time had given her new resilience: she’d best get used to asking a million questions.

The other girls exchanged looks, a habit they’d developed to figure out who would be the best to explain whatever new thing Bloom encountered.

“It’s a festival they hold every year in Magix,” Flora explained. “There’s a story about the Nymphs of Magix: Nine great fairies from nine different worlds came together to face a great evil. So they could come to each other’s aid more quickly, they created Lake Roccaluce—a great lake that connects all magical realms. One of the nymphs was injured by this great evil, and though the others responded quickly, she succumbed to her wounds here on Magix. Her blood dyed the roses red. So every year, Magix honors her sacrifice.”

“That’s the background,” Stella agreed. “But the fun part is the festival. Food and races. And shopping!”

Musa tapped her pen against her notebook. “Aren’t most of the shops closed?” she asked.

“Not the ones on the main strip. Too much foot traffic. And we will be part of that, if you only get your butts up and get dressed!” Stella said. She gestured at her body. “I’m ready. Now you girls need to hop to it. Sky called me earlier, and he says that Brandon and Riven are competing in a wind rider race. It will be fun to watch.”

“I’m in,” Musa said, snapping her books shut. “I think my brain will explode if I try to read another word anyway.”

Tecna rose from her seat as well. “They do say your brain needs rest in between periods of work. This is the perfect opportunity for a break.”

“Well… alright,” Flora agreed. She stood as well, leaving Bloom as the sole holdout.

“I… guess I’ll go,” Bloom agreed. If nothing else, it would at least get her away from studying, and considering that Bloom was starting to feel like she did nothing else, that seemed first priority. First straightening the books Stella had pushed aside, she followed Flora into their room and began to search through her closet.

The clothes Aunt Morgan had picked out weren’t horrible, but Bloom didn’t have the variety she would have liked. The summer heat was fading into a cooler autumn, and Bloom may have had jeans and a few jackets but very little to make a variety of outfits. Not that it really mattered, she told herself. She was just waiting until Faragonda could find a way to send her home. Jeans and and a t-shirt would have to do.

“Holidays must be pretty different on Earth,” Flora piped up. Bloom turned. Her roommate had changed into a long pink dress, tying her hair into a low bun. “You’ve had a big learning curve.”

“No kidding,” Bloom said. She slipped on a pair of sneakers and stepped in front of the mirror, trying to figure out if she could do anything with her hair. It never seemed to do what she wanted it to. Leaving it down was probably easier.

“Do you have any festivals like this on Earth?” Flora asked.

Bloom paused. “Not quite. At least, not where I live,” she said. “I mean, we have parades sometimes. Like homecoming parades.”

Flora pursed her lips. “Like for soldiers?” she asked.

“Oh, no. It’s a school dance thing. For… football,” Bloom said.

That only seemed to perplex Flora more.

“Never mind.” Bloom opened the door once more, where the other girls had gathered to wait. They took the bus into downtown Magix, where the crowds had already started to gather. Bloom huddled closer to the other girls. She hadn’t been in a city much before.

“I see Sky over there! Good thing he’s tall,” Stella winked. She waved her hand for the others to follow her, and they weaved their way through the throngs of people until they reached the opposite side of the square, closer to the set-up for the race Stella had mentioned other.

If Bloom understood it all correctly, Sky was Stella’s boyfriend and the prince of a planet called Eraklyon. Because Stella was a princess, and that was a normal thing in their universe. (Bloom supposed she had to consider herself lucky that only one of her new friends was actual royalty, though she sometimes wondered when she saw the items Tecna had.) His other friends were all classmates at some fancy warrior school. Bloom had only met them the one time, but… it was nice to get out of Alfea for a change.

“There you are! Shame you aren’t competing. I could have been your cheerleader,” Stella teased, her hands braced on Sky’s shoulders to peck his cheek.

“Ah, I’m not as good with the wind riders as Brandon and Riven. I don’t want to get in the way of

that,”

Sky said pointedly, gesturing with his eyes to the two boys dressed in what looked to be biker outfits.

If Bloom strained her ears, their voices just carried over. “I’m telling you now that I’m going to

win.

And Codatorta can make his decision about who should be the leader based on

that.”

“Being a leader is about more than just wind riders.”

“Says a slow rider.”

“Oh, boy,” Musa said, crossing her arms over her chest with a distinctly unimpressed grimace.

“Yeah, it’s been like that all day,” Sky said. “Brandon’s right though. Codatorta isn’t going to make one of us squad leader because they win in a race today.”

Stella, who had shifted to hold Sky’s bicep, leaned her head in. “It will probably be you, then, with all your princely leadership skills.”

Sky raised a hand to ruffle the back of his head. “Ah… I don’t know about that.”

“What about you, Timmy?” Tecna said, looking at the boy in the glasses, who flushed and spluttered something incoherent.

“Wait, when did girls get here?”

The two boys who had been arguing turned to see their growing group and slowly made their way back over.

“We’re here to go shopping,” Stella said brightly.

“Or… here to cheer on my friends,” Sky half-joked.

Stella shrugged. “Sure. As long as we can go shopping too.”

Riven’s eye twitched, which seemed to amuse Musa, as she raised a hand to hide her mouth.

“It’s nice of you all to come,” Brandon said more diplomatically.

“You two are in the race?” Bloom asked. “How many people are competing?”

Brandon and Riven seemed to exchange a look. “About… twenty?” Brandon said.

“I’d say thirty,” Riven corrected.

“Wow. And what’s the prize?” Bloom wondered.

Riven cocked his head to the side as he looked her over. “Dinner for two at a local restaurant. How about you go with me?”

Bloom scrunched her nose. “Excuse me?”

“You haven’t even won yet,” Brandon protested.

“But I will,” Riven said. “And this makes it interesting. The winner takes this fairy on a date.”

“Woah, no,” Bloom said, holding up one hand. “No one gets to decide if I go on a date.”

“She’s right. Let it go,” Brandon intervened.

Riven glanced at the two of them. “I was just joking,” he grumbled.

“Yeah, very funny,” Musa grumbled, her face contorted into a scowl as she kicked a scuffed sneaker toe against the sidewalk.

Flora cleared her throat. “So what time does the race start?” she asked. Bloom peered up at the large clock tower in the middle of the square. It was just past ten.

“This afternoon. One o’clock,” Brandon said. “We still have plenty of time, if you girls want to look around.”

“Of course we do! There’s nothing like shopping,” Stella said. She lifted her head to see over the crowd, pressing her cherry-red lips together. “I’ve been wanting to check out that boutique over there. Sky, come on. Any of you girls want to join?”

“No thanks,” Bloom said. She didn’t have any money, and the only thing worse than window shopping without money was window shopping without an opportunity to

get

money later.

“I’ll come,” Musa said, “if we can stop at that music shop next door.” She opened the small clutch she was carrying as though to check how much she had available.

“I think I’m going to check out the computer shops,” Tecna said, tapping her tablet to pull up the local map.

Sky nudged Timmy with his free elbow. “Hey, you should go with her. Weren’t you wanting to pick up something?”

Tecna looked up. Timmy flushed pink, his glasses slipping down his nose.

“Well, uh…” he said, taking a step backwards. He stumbled over the curb, crashing down onto a row of parked bikes.

“Oh, no,” Tecna said. She cocked her head to the side.

“Bloom, you said your mom owns a flower shop?” Flora said in pity to draw attention away from Timmy’s tumble. “Do you want to look at some flowers with me?”

That wouldn’t be so bad. Bloom had a feeling Flora would be stocking up their room either way. “Sure,” she agreed.

“Mind if I tag along?” Brandon asked. He glanced back at the others. “I don’t want to head too far from the square, but I think it might be good to get some space before the race.”

Bloom followed his gaze to where Riven was still standing. Though she hardly knew him, it was becoming pretty clear that every group of Specialists had one bad egg. Granted, Bloom only knew one group, but if this were representative of them all, she’d stand by that.

“Sure,” Flora said. “We’re just going to Herbs and Essences. It’s just down the block.”

“Sounds nice. Have you been there before?” Brandon asked. The three started down the path, Flora leading the way to a small shop, which she found so easily that it was easy to conclude, yes, she had been there before. The shop smelled strongly of incense, a small billow of smoke originating from a flower-shaped container sitting on the counter, where a teenage girl was flipping through a magazine. Flowers and large plants filled the room, leaving only small walkways formed by natural gaps between the leaves and limbs outstretched at every angle.

“It’s a bit crowded,” Flora warned, though she maneuvered her way through easily. Bloom and Brandon followed behind. “I’m looking for a vanity flytrap. It’s sort of a large flower with vines. It feeds off of reflected light.”

“We can look too,” Bloom volunteered.

“Thank you! I’ll go check the back,” Flora said, “if you two want to stay here? It’s even more crowded there, and I don’t want you to fall.”

“I can’t imagine this place being

more

crowded,” Brandon said. He gently pushed a long green limb out of the way with his toe, and the limb swatted at his ankle instead. “Ow!”

Bloom cracked a smile. “I haven’t been here long, but living with Flora has taught me that these plants have a lot of personality.”

“No kidding,” Brandon said. He paused and pushed his hair behind her ear before he managed a smile. “I didn’t realize these sorts of plants could be raised inside.”

“You don’t know much about plants then,” Bloom replied. She stepped closer to a small collection of yellow blossoms, which looked a lot like daisies, though smaller and with a pink center. It was pretty, not that she could afford it. Maybe she could convince Flora—no, that wasn’t right. Flora already had enough on her plate with the plants she did keep in their room and whatever new ones she was looking to add to her collection.

Brandon shrugged. “I’ll admit it’s a weak point for me,” he said.

Bloom hummed in response. “I suppose I won’t try you for your crimes. For now.”

Brandon snorted, then flinched. His gaze dropped down, and Bloom followed it. A small furry creature had crawled over his foot.

“Tell me that’s not a plant,” Brandon said.

Bloom laughed. “Of course it’s not a plant,” she said. She crouched down and held her hands towards the little one. Always better to be cautious, though she had to imagine whatever it was, it was tame, in this environment. The creature leaped into her arms, and she reeled back with the force. On closer examination, it looked a lot like a rabbit—though its fur was blue. She stroked its back. “Aw. Look at it.”

“Oh, that’s Kiko,” the girl at the counter said. “He’s a blue moon rabbit. Last of his species. From Domino. He’s for sale. They always say blue moon rabbits are good luck.”

“For sale?” Bloom repeated. She cradled the rabbit—Kiko—closer to her. He looked up with big brown eyes. She’d never had a pet growing up. Her dad’s allergies had prevented that. Kiko tilted his head, his big ears flopping to the side. Scratching one ear, Bloom cradled him a little closer.

“We just don’t have space for him,” the girl admitted. “He’d do better somewhere he can get more attention.”

Kiko snuggled into Bloom’s chest, and she cooed. “Oh, so sweet…” But… Bloom still didn’t have any money, whether she wanted to buy flowers or a rabbit. “Too bad I can’t buy him. I bet he’ll go to a good home.”

“Hopefully,” the worker said.

Bloom lowered the bunny back to the ground, and he lingered, staring up at her. “...I’m going to have to wait outside. I can’t take those bunny eyes,” she told Brandon.

“I’ll tell Flora,” he assured. “Hopefully she’s found that flower.”
         
Herbs and Essences had an incredible collection. Flora thought she could live there. Sadly, that was never to be, nor was she ever likely to have enough space to house all these plants. She’d have to settle for taking one at a time. Cornflowers, gladiolus, singing orchids… All gorgeous, but not what she was looking for. Squatting to look at the bottom shelf, Flora looked around. No mirrors, no vanity flytrap.

“Excuse me,” a raspy voice said. Flora jumped to her feet. “Oh, sorry. I just wanted to grab a singing orchid.”

Flora’s face flushed pink. The girl before her was smiling, her freckled cheeks dimpled, framed by a magenta bob with a few colored streaks. Her clothes were dark but neat—a lot like the strict Cloud Tower dress code, with a burgundy cardigan over her button-up and a small pumpkin pin on her chest. “Oh. Excuse me,” she mumbled, stepping out of the way.

“Don’t worry about it,” the girl assured. “You go to Alfea?” When Flora didn’t respond immediately, she continued, “I mean, I assumed. Mostly plants good for magic back here, so I figured since I didn’t recognize you…”

“Yes,” Flora replied. “I mean, I do. Go to Alfea.”

The girl laughed, light and twinkling. “I’m Mirta,” she said. “I go to Cloud Tower. You know, they always say fairies don’t put a lot of forethought into their magic.”

“Well, that’s just not true. Especially for nature fairies,” Flora said, bristling. Perhaps Mirta wasn’t completely off. She knew quite a few fairies at Alfea who lamented learning anything about the structure of magic or using resources to increase the magical power, but that certainly wasn’t all fairies. There was a reason those subjects were a part of Alfea’s curriculum after all.

“That’s good to know,” Mirta said. “Even though it’s why I decided to become a witch instead. I just love how neatly spells come together.”

“You can still do that as a fairy. It’s just less planning, more… improvisation,” Flora explained. “But it still takes skill, knowledge, to know what you have around you and how you can use it.”

Mirta’s smile grew a little wider. “That makes sense. So what were you looking for?”

Oh. The vanity flytrap. Flora had forgotten about that. She looked around the shelves again. “A vanity flytrap,” she explained.

“Oh, I saw one over here in the corner! Hold this. I’ll grab it for you,” Mirta offered as she dropped the orchid in Flora’s waiting palms. She climbed over the shelves, stretching her arms down into the sort of hole amidst the plants, emerging with a pot filled with a single vanity flytrap. “Ah-ha.”

“Poor dear. You look a little bit wilted,” Flora cooed as she took the plant from Mirta’s hands. She only smiled, a sort of crooked thing, a little wicked. “Thank you.”

“Any time,” Mirta said. “Hey, actually, you said you’re a nature fairy, right?”

Flora nodded, her tongue dry, stuck to the roof of her mouth.

“I’d love to hear more about your thoughts on nature spells. Can I get your number?”

Flora’s mouth had completely stopped working. Somehow, Mirta stepped out of the room, her phone now holding a contact with Flora’s name, though Flora wasn’t sure she’d said a word. She slowly walked back to the main room to pay for her new plant. Brandon was standing at the counter with a bundle of blue fluff in a cage.

“Hey,” Brandon said as he finished signing on the screen.

“What did you buy?” Flora asked.

“Oh, this is for Bloom,” Brandon said. “They, uh… They were selling this rabbit, and she… looks like she needs something to perk her up right now. I hope you don’t mind. You two are roommates, right?”

Oh, that was sweet. Though Bloom never spoke about it, her melancholy sunk in the evenings. Having a little friend in the room might be just the cure. Brandon shuffled off to the side, an awkward smile on his lips.

“She’ll love it,” she assured. “And I’m sure he’ll be no trouble, as long as we feed him. My plants can fight back if he tries to take a nibble.”

“Oh. Good,” Brandon breathed. “She’s, uh, she’s outside. I’m going to go give him to her.” He tumbled out of the door quickly, as Flora set her plant on the counter for the worker to ring up.

“That’s adorable,” the worker mused as they both watched through the large window pane. Brandon’s face was flushed, though Bloom didn’t seem to notice, too enthralled by accepting the small cage. She stuck her fingers in the bars, tickling the rabbit’s side with a grin. Brandon’s eyes softened as he watched her.

Flora smiled and pulled out her wallet to pay.
        
“All participants in the wind rider race, report to the main square!” The announcement was shrill over the intercom. Even in a place like Magix, intercom systems weren’t without their kinks. Bloom winced.

“Oh,” Brandon said, looking up. “I better go...” He peered down the streets, the crowds only growing thicker. It would probably take a few moments to work through.

“Thank you,” Bloom said again. She cradled the cage tighter. The right thing to do would have been to refuse. This rabbit had to have cost quite a bit. But with the way the worker at Herbs and Essences had said they had to sell him, Bloom could hardly send him back. And Brandon kept insisting the rabbit hadn’t cost much.

“It’s nothing. They mostly wanted him to go to a good home, so had to get food and stuff. It should be delivered to your room,” Brandon assured. “I just… I would have struggled last year, if my parents hadn’t sent Lady. My dog.”

“You have a dog?” Bloom asked.

Brandon smiled. He pulled out his phone and flashed a picture of an animal that did look like… some sort of dog. Maybe somewhere between a golden retriever and a greyhound. “This is my girl. You’ll have to meet her sometime. As long as you don't mind getting fur all over you. She loves new people.”

“I’d love to,” Bloom said. “But… the race?”

He paused as he remembered the announcement. His face flushed pink. “Right. I should go. Right. Uh. Bye!” Brandon waved before turning on his heels, just as the door to Herbs and Essences opened.

“It looks like there’s still time before the race starts. Do you want to look around a little more?” Flora asked. The plant she’d bought was covered in some sort of drape.

“Yeah,” Bloom said. She flashed the cage. “Look at what Brandon gave me! This is Kiko.”

Flora smiled. “Hi, sweetie,” she said, bending down to look at Bloom’s new pet. “I’ve never seen a rabbit like that.”

“Apparently he’s the last of his kind. From Domino?” Bloom recounted what the girl in the shop had told her.

“Oh.” Flora’s eyes grew a little misty as she peered down at Kiko in the cage. “I suppose that makes sense… A lot of species were lost.”

“Lost?” Bloom prodded.

Flora turned to walk down the path. Most people were heading towards the square, so pushing through required a little maneuvering. Bloom did her best to follow behind, still balancing Kiko’s cage. “When Domino was destroyed,” she said.

“Am I supposed to know that for a test?” Bloom asked.

Flora shook her head. “No. They don’t really… teach much about that,” she said.

Bloom paused. “It sounds like something everyone knows.”

“But no one talks about it,” Flora said. “It was just… a nasty part of the war.”

“The war,” Bloom repeated. “The war? What war?”

Her voice drew a few strange looks from passersby. Flora chewed on her bottom lip as she glanced over her shoulder at Bloom. “Let’s talk about this later, okay, sweetie? It’s a heavy subject. And I think it would take too much time to explain.”

Bloom didn’t like that answer. There were always too many questions to ask—too many to remember to ask. But Flora’s brows were knit tight, and her shoulders had grown tense. Asking felt cruel.

“Right. Okay,” she said.

“Oh! Look. They’re doing a dance tribute to the nymphs,” Flora said. “Remember, I told you about them this morning?”

Bloom’s eyes lit with recognition. “Right, the one who died!” she said.

“That’s it! Let’s stop here to watch.” Flora pointed to a small opening, just big enough for both of them if they crowded together.

Beyond two barriers, nine dancers moved around in a slow circle. Each wore a metallic, shimmering gown with long, flowing skirts and capes that moved when they stretched out their arms.

“Each nymph is from a different realm,” Flora whispered, leaning in close so she didn’t interrupt the performance around them. “The one in turquoise is from Andros. The one in green is from Zenith. Blue is Hoggar. Silver is Solaria. Pink is Lynphea. Red is Melody. Purple is Callisto. Copper is Magix. And the gold is Domino.”

Domino again. Bloom opened her mouth to ask more, but Flora shot her a look.

The dance appeared to portray the story Flora had described earlier. The nymph of Magix was gravely injured, and the others responded to her call, though it was too late. They all rose and turned, dancing to the edge. The dancer in the golden dress turned, her cape fanned out like feathers. She smiled at Bloom, and her head glowed with a halo of light.

“Bloom!”

Bloom blinked.

“Bloom?” Flora repeated.

“Huh?” Bloom looked away from the dancer, who was no longer glowing.

“You… zoned out,” Flora said. “Are you feeling alright?”

Bloom turned back to the dancer. Nothing seemed out of place. “I… I’m fine. I’m fine,” she insisted.

Flora frowned but didn’t argue. “...Let’s head back to the square. The others are probably waiting for us there.”

“Yes,” Bloom agreed, drawing away from the dancers. Something about the scene set her on edge now. Going back to watch the race sounded much better.
         
“Nice bike.”

Riven looked up from his final touches of polish to the girl standing above him. She was pretty, in a nice, subtle way. No excessive makeup, no loud colors, nothing to draw attention. She didn’t need to. She had wavy hair loose over her shoulders, wearing a button-up and a sweater with an almost dizzying pattern. Her eyes were sharp, though hidden slightly behind square glasses.

Riven didn’t often see girls his type. Most of them were too immature, too flighty. Or just rude, like that dumb new fairy. He was actually glad there were so few girls at Red Fountain, and the ones that were at least had reasonable interests, like wind riders and swords. But this girl wasn’t a Red Fountain student. Definitely not an Alfea student.

“Thanks,” he said, pushing himself to his feet.

“Are you racing today?” she asked. “Maybe I’ll cheer for you.”

“You don’t look like the cheerleader type,” Riven said. He tossed his rag to the side, satisfied with the state of his wind rider. Take that, Brandon. Riven was totally going to win.

The girl smiled. “I’m not. But maybe I’d make an exception for you. I’m Darcy,” she said.

Riven paused. “Riven,” he said.

“Guess I’m lucky that girl sent me over here,” Darcy mused. She held out a small bracelet, a golden chain with a microscopic red crystal. “This girl—uh, Bloom, I think—she said she wanted to apologize for embarrassing you earlier. But she was too embarrassed to come up herself. She bought this for you. A good luck charm.”

Riven paused. “Oh. Uh. I’ll have to… thank her,” he said.

“Let me put this on for you,” Darcy offered, her long fingers ginger on Riven’s wrist as she clasped the small chain. “That’s good luck from her, but… will you take some good luck from me too?”

“How could I refuse?” Riven said.

Darcy smiled. She tapped the small stone on the bracelet. “I’ll wait to see you at the end of the race, yeah? Maybe you’ll find a good use for that dinner.”

Riven grinned. “I bet I will.”
         
Stella stretched on her toes, as though she weren’t already the tallest and in heels. “Where are they?”

“Over there,” Sky said, his arm around her shoulders. Flora and Bloom leaned against the fence to find the two he’d indicated amid the line of wind riders. “Oh, Riven has a cool helmet.”

“How can you see that from here?” Musa asked.

“That reminds me! Timmy and I found some parts to upgrade the cameras on our tablets. We can view the whole race from right here,” Tecna said, pulling her tablet out. Bloom saw no changes, but she’d never been much for tech anyway. She rearranged their gatherings, Kiko in his cage on top, to brace the tablet in the middle of the entire group, they had a fantastic view of the line of racers. Tecna touched a few things on the screen, and the image moved to focus on the two riders they were rooting for.

“That is a nice helmet,” Timmy mused. “I wonder where he got it from.”

Stella shushed the crowd, flapping her arms a bit like a bird. “Quiet! It looks like they’re about to start.”

The crowd fell to a hush. On command, a bell rang out, and the racers took off. Bloom stretched her head closer to watch. The racers rushed past them at the fence faster than they could see. Tecna and Timmy’s camera setup must have been better than their eyes, as it kept Brandon and Riven in their views.

“The picture quality isn’t quite as good as I’d hoped,” Timmy said. He frowned and crossed his arms over his chest.

“I think it’s a motion artifact. Maybe if we—” Tecna started.

“Not now!” Musa interrupted. The racers were coming around for a second lap. “Go, Riven!”

“Riven?” Bloom questioned.

“Hey, someone has to cheer for him,” Musa said. Cheeks pink, a little defensive. The lady doth protest too much, Bloom thought.

“Go, Brandon!” Stella cheered. Sky whooped beside her.

“Go, Brandon!” Bloom echoed. Kiko jumped in his cage, shaking the image. She supposed she owed Brandon a little loyalty, for buying her new friend.

Timmy and Tecna were too absorbed in adjusting the tablet to cheer. Flora offered a half-hearted cheer for Riven to even things out.

“What’s happening?” Musa asked. She leaned in. “Riven’s bike is starting to wobble.”

“What?” Sky dropped his arm away from Stella, stepping closer so he could view the screen in full detail. “That’s not good. It doesn’t look mechanical… Timmy?”

“No, it’s nothing with the bike. It’s like… he’s about to pass out,” Timmy said. He frowned. They all looked up to the track just as Riven came to an abrupt stop, tumbling off of his wind rider. His biceps skid along the pavement. Bloom winced.

“Riven, are you okay?” Musa asked, pressing into the fence. Festival officials were rushing over to help him up, which Bloom thought was the only thing keeping Musa from climbing over the railing.

“I’m

fine,”

Riven spit. He lifted his head and yanked his helmet off, scanning the crowd until his eyes locked on Bloom.

“You

did this!”

Bloom faltered. She raised her hand slowly, one finger delicately pointed to her chest.

“Yes, you! Don’t play innocent. You thought you’d dress it up as an apology? Ha!” The officials helped Riven to his feet, though he yanked his arms away the moment he was able to stand upright. Sky stepped in front of Bloom.

“Hey, you need to calm down. Bloom didn’t do anything to you. He must be confused,” Sky spoke to the officials, as Brandon had circled back.

“What happened?” he asked. He set his helmet on the back of his bike. “Riven, are you—?”

“Was this some sort of collusion? She helps you win the race, you take her to dinner?” Riven demanded.

“What the hell is your problem?” Musa demanded. She gripped the edge of the fence in tight fists. “Bloom has been hanging out with the rest of us this whole time. She’s done

nothing.”

Riven scoffed. “You all would say that. I’m done. Congratulations on your win, Brandon. Maybe you’ll have another career option, aside from page.”

Brandon’s expression didn’t change, distinctly unimpressed as Riven stormed off.

“What’s wrong with him?” Bloom asked.

“He’s just… He’s Riven. He’ll cool off in a few days. Don’t worry about it,” Brandon assured her. “Though… I hate to use this dinner, when I won by default. Riven should have won.”

“You could always give it to him,” Musa suggested.

Sky barked out a laugh and ran a hand through his dark hair. “He won’t take it. He’s proud like that,” he said.

“We’ll take it,” Stella said.

Sky gave her a look.

“Maybe,” Brandon agreed noncommittally. Bloom noticed he didn’t bother to invite her.

Silly. Why would he invite her? He’d already done enough.

“Congratulations on the win anyway,” she said.

Brandon smiled. “Seems like that rabbit did bring me luck,” he said.

Bloom frowned. She started to ask more, but the crowd descended on the winner at that moment, Brandon rushed away to finish the festival.

Domino, the rabbit, the nymphs… And here she thought she was starting to get a handle on things.
         
The pendant swung above her head, in slow and deliberate motions, almost like a pendulum. Swaths of flames followed in its wake. A woman with long dark curls sang a low song.

Giggles. Fiery red curls appeared at her side, tied in two pigtails at her shoulders. “Bloom,” the figure called, as she melted into waves. Her golden dress fluttered about her, the feathery cape waving in the wind.

“Bloom?”

Bloom’s eyes flickered open.

“Sorry to wake you, sweetie,” Flora said with a yawn. “You were talking in your sleep. I thought you were having a bad dream.”

“Oh,” Bloom said.

“Was it?” Flora asked. The moon was still hanging high out their window. It was the middle of the night.

“No,” Bloom said. “I don’t remember anything.”

----- CHAPTER BREAK -----

“Good job, Knut,” Stormy said as they stepped into their dorm room. She tossed the remainder of her pretzel from the parade towards the closet. It landed on the floor. One large yellow hand slipped through the doors to pick it up. “Your information was actually useful. For once.”

“You found her?” Knut asked from behind the door.

“Come out,” Icy sighed. She did not have time for this nonsense. “No one’s around. You don’t need to hide.”

Knut slunk out in slow, laborious motions, limbs stiff from being cramped inside for the hours they were out.

“You saw the girl then. The one from Earth,” Knut said.

“Mm-hm. She’s with a group of fairies from Alfea. That must have been why we couldn’t track her. Alfea’s barriers,” Darcy mused. She sat on the edge of her bed, tapping her nails against her arm.

“She can’t always stay within the borders of Alfea though. She was out today,” Stormy said. “We should have taken her there.”

Icy rolled her eyes. Her sisters were short-sighted, especially Stormy. But at least they understood the gist of their situation. “With the Solarian princess, three other fairies, and a group of Specialists? Don’t be stupid. No. We need to get her alone.”

“I doubt she goes out alone,” Darcy said.

Icy hummed. “...I’m assuming it’s pretty close to midterms for Alfea too. We

were

just planning to sabotage their little virtual reality system. But now… perhaps we can arrange a special little test for the Earth girl. You did make contact with her little friend, didn’t you, Darcy?”

Episode 4

Trying Times

“That’s a nice drawing,” Flora said as she peered over Bloom’s shoulder.

Bloom started. She was a bit jumpy, Flora had noticed, though having Kiko around had eased that. Maybe because Kiko was even jumpier. Spread across Bloom’s desk were a combination of her notes and doodles, a flowing dress next to the formula for a basic levitation spell, loose curls spilling over the list of most common potion ingredients and various names, and the jutting towers of some sort of building sitting at the very top of her essay for defense magic. But the most obvious of her drawings was the one sitting alone in a sketchbook.

The woman in that picture seemed to glow, despite being drawn only in pencil. The light behind her obscured her face, but the form was familiar, like many drawings of the Nymphs of Magix, with the long dress and flowing cape.

“That show made a big impression,” Flora said.

Bloom pressed her lips together before tucking a strand of hair behind her ear. She turned the cover of the sketchbook over, closing off the image of the woman. “I suppose so,” she said, effectively ending that conversation.

Flora’s stomach twisted. Perhaps she shouldn’t have said anything.

“I was trying to study for midterms,” Bloom said after a moment. “But I couldn’t focus. I can’t sleep.”

Flora had noticed. Bloom wasn’t loud, and Flora wasn’t a light sleeper, but there had been enough nights where Bloom had woken, which always seemed to wake Kiko, who in turn made plenty of noise hopping around the room. Bloom normally took him out onto the balcony, and Flora would fall back asleep. It didn’t seem fair to ask what was troubling her. Bloom seemed to thrive off of the distraction that Alfea’s studies provided, and even the slightest mention of Earth and how she’d come to Magix seemed to deflate her spirits. It was hard enough to willingly travel away from home.

“Midterms are coming soon,” Flora agreed. She took a seat on her bed, crossing her legs as she lifted her own notes. “You want to study together?”

Bloom reached down to scoop Kiko off of the floor. He climbed over her neck, and the tension drained from her shoulders. “Sure,” she agreed. “That would be nice.”

“I’ll check if the others are studying too,” Flora offered. She poked her head through the seafoam green door to their room. Musa and Tecna were both at work in the living room, and she assumed Stella was doing something in her room. “Bloom and I were going to study for midterms.”

Musa groaned loudly. “Don’t remind me.”

“They’ll come whether we remind you or not,” Tecna said.

“Yeah, but I don’t want to think about it,” Musa huffed. Flora wondered if she were worried for the same reason—it would be far too easy to lose a scholarship to Alfea. Flora knew she’d have to go home if she lost hers.

“Are they that tough?” Bloom wondered. She brushed past Flora, Kiko still resting on her shoulders, as she carried her pile of study aids to the living room. “We had something similar in my high school, but they usually weren’t that bad. We didn’t even have to take them if we scored highly enough in class.”

“If only,” Musa sighed. She opened her own notes. “Nah, I’m really only worried about the simulator.”

“Yeah, that does sound pretty tough,” Tecna agreed. She shut down her large computer and grabbed a laptop to join them around the table instead.

Kiko hopped off of Bloom and onto the table, curling up like he was going to take a nap.

“I thought it was broken,” Bloom said, legs folded underneath her so she could sit at the coffee table.

“Mm-mm. I heard they fixed it,” Musa replied. She shifted to let Flora sit on the other end of the couch.

Tecna sighed. “Which means we have to make the big first year choice: countering spells by witches or renewing a barren environment.”

“Tough choice,” Musa said. “But I know my choice.”

“Me too. It should be pretty easy for me,” Flora admitted. At least she had that much on her side. She wasn’t the most powerful fairy, but she knew her barren environments.

“Counterspells are pretty easy,” Tecna agreed.

Bloom was quiet, save for her pencil tapping against the table.

“Bloom?” Flora prompted softly. “Do you know what you’ll choose?”

“You’re… supposed to transform in the simulator, aren’t you?” Bloom stated.

The girls fell quiet. No one had asked, but Flora imagined that if Bloom had managed to transform in her tutoring sessions with Faragonda, they would have all heard about it by now. It was such a big moment. Flora still remembered the first time she’d done it, and she’d tried to fly straight home to her mom and Miele—only to end up flying into a tree. She worried she would miss Miele’s first time at Alfea.

“I’m sure Professor Palladium won’t count off for that. After all, you’re one of his favorite students,” Tecna assured.

“Doesn’t mean the other students won’t care,” Bloom grumbled. She seemed to regret speaking almost immediately and clamped her mouth shut. “It doesn’t matter. I need to figure out how to do one of those two things anyway.”

Musa and Tecna exchanged mutual looks of reluctance. “Counterspells are pretty hard if you don’t transform,” Musa said. “I mean, I know witches do it, but they normally prepare charms and stuff to make it easier to do on a beat.”

“Which isn’t exactly something you can do for the simulator,” Tecna reasoned. “It’s going to adjust for whatever you bring in. The goal of this assignment is to rely on your magical abilities.”

“I can teach you how to handle a barren environment,” Flora offered. Bloom’s face looked too dismal to let lie. “It’s pretty simple if you know the right spells. These are some of the first we learn on Lynphea.”

“That makes sense. Since it’s a planet with a nature core, right?” Bloom said.

Flora hummed. That was mostly right, but she wasn’t in the mood to recount all of that.

“Put your study plans on hold, girls,” Stella said, sweeping out of her room. She looked like she could fly without wings. “Sky just called. He and the boys are going out for dinner. Who wants to go? Bloom, it’s my treat.”

“I’m in,” Musa said. “Anything to stop thinking about midterms.”

“And yet, I bet you’ll complain the entire time,” Tecna said. Musa lightly shoved her to the floor.
         
There were a lot of cool things about Alfea. Bloom had dreamed for years about fairies and magic and being swept away to a magical school, complete with a magical library. She wasn’t disappointed in that regard. The library was large, with curved nooks of bookshelves lining the walls, while long freestanding shelves lined the majority of the room. If Bloom looked around, she could find a few plain tables, but there was little else to see but the books—and the front desk.

“Is there like a card catalogue?” Bloom asked the librarian, a small woman with bright plum hair and coke bottle glasses named Miss Barbatea. She might just have Bloom’s dream job.

“A what?” Miss Barbatea asked. She didn’t bother to look up from her seat at the desk where she seemed to be placing magical labels on new arrivals which quickly disappeared into the book when she moved her fingers. “Have you ever been to a library before?”

Bloom opened her mouth before deciding that wasn’t worth the argument. So many things weren’t. She was still mourning the loss of anyone getting her Buffy references… though she had become enthralled by the concept of lying. Yes, there was no magic on Earth, but of course there were vampires!

“How do I look up something?” Bloom said, already hosting a mental funeral for the Dewey Decimal System.

Miss Barbatea sighed. Rising from the desk, she gestured for Bloom to follow her. Deep into the shelves, they approached a small stand shaped like two fairy wings. (Great. Even the library had wings.) “This is the research lectern. You step up to the stand and state your search term. The library will find its best suggestion for your reading. For example… mildew removal spells.”

A book flew past Bloom’s hair, leaving her hair flapping in its tailwind as it placed itself on the stand, opening to a random page. “Oh. So it’s like… Google?” Bloom asked.

“I don’t know what that means. Mm, good. I can use this,” Miss Barbatea said. She plucked the book off of the stand to wander back to her station and leave Bloom alone with all the knowledge of the universe, or at least this library. The stand awaited, alone, intimidating.

“Okay. You’re not Google, but that’s fine. I’m not that great with computers anyway,” Bloom said. She exhaled before placing her hands on the ends of the stand. “Nymphs. Of Magix. Nymphs of Magix.”

Another book flew through the air. Bloom barely caught the title—

History of Magix—

before the book opened to a chapter recounting the same story Flora had summarized for her. That wasn’t helpful. She needed more. Specifics.

“Okay, um. Nymphs of Magix… in color?” Bloom tried again. The book didn’t move, instead flipping to the back, where full glossy pictures of a reenactment were featured. Bloom skimmed through the list, remembering what Flora had said. The colors meant something. In her dreams, the woman was always wearing gold. Which meant… “Right. Okay. Domino!”

She waited. No books came. She waited longer. Nada.

Maybe she hadn’t been specific enough. She tried again. “Nymph of Domino,” she said.

Nothing.

Bloom tried a few more options. Whatever she could remember of the little she’d heard from her friends, none of it successful. She trailed back up to the front desk. “Miss Barbatea?”

“What now?” she asked, flipping through the mildew spell book.

“I tried to look up Domino, but—”

Miss Barbeatea’s head shot up. The look she gave was enough to leave Bloom speechless. She shut her mouth. “We don’t have any books on Domino,” she said. “And you don’t need to read about it. Is this for a school project?”

“Well… no,” Bloom said. “But—”

“Then out! I need to cast an anti-mildew spell, and I can have no students inside the library while I do this. Out, out.”

Bloom was out the door before she could think.

“Oh, there you are."

Bloom looked down the hall. Stella had dressed up again, in a short blue dress and heels. “Perfect timing. I’m meeting Sky at Sagia’s, and I think he’s bringing his friends. I figured I’d grab the girls too. Are you hungry?”

“Oh,” Bloom said. Her stomach growled, but she thought about how many times they’d been to Sagia’s lately. She wasn’t totally sure about the currency they used, but she couldn’t imagine it was cheap. “I can just… eat in the cafeteria.”

“Nonsense. I can pay. Come on,” Stella said, waving her hand in the air. “What were you doing in the library?”

Bloom hesitated. Something in her told her that she wouldn’t find an answer outside of the library either. But it was Stella. Stella had always been eager to share. “Looking up Domino.”

Stella fell silent. Bloom bit her tongue. 
         
“If I have to hear Wizgiz call his midterm the Wizquiz one more time, I’m going to eat his hat,” Musa said as she plopped into the black metal chair in the back of the small cafe they’d come to frequent. Sagia’s catered to the student bodies of all three major schools, which meant it was usually crowded. They were lucky to snag that table.

She suspected it was more than luck though. Stella and Sky had gone up to the counter, so Musa could only assume royal titles carried some weight. She wasn’t about to complain at the moment though.

“I think it’s kind of funny,” Bloom said. She had crammed into the corner of the booth side of their table, her backpack resting on the windowsill so Kiko could stick his head out and feast on their salad leftovers. Brandon slid in next to her before Flora had a chance, so Musa filed that away to tease Bloom about later, though she suspected Bloom hadn’t even noticed the amount of attention Brandon paid to her.

She decided to hold her tongue when Riven sat to her right. She couldn’t play a melody on a contrabass.

“It’s better than hearing Palladium stutter through a lecture,” Stella huffed. She leaned forward to rest her head on her hand, which meant Sky’s arm braced on the back of her chair was useless. He looked perplexed by that.

“He can’t help stuttering,” Tecna said. She crammed in beside Flora to allow Timmy to snag a seat, considering the table was meant to be an eight-top. “And… I think I’m with Musa. Wizquiz is…”

“Terrible,” Riven said. “And I thought our professors were bad.”

“Tell me about it. I’d take practicals with Codatorta any day,” Sky said. He waved at the waitress with an empty cup, and she nodded. Musa was starting to think they came here too often if the waitstaff knew their drink orders when they arrived.

“Don’t make me think about tests right now,” Brandon groaned.

Bloom drew her hand over Kiko’s back in attempts to delicately shove him back in her backpack before he hopped out. “Are your tests that bad?”

“Not really,” Riven said at the same time Timmy said, “Kinda.”

They glanced at each other before Riven continued.

“The practicals are hard if you’re not physically up to it,” he said, giving a derisive glance at his classmate. Musa bit her tongue. Terrible attitude, great taste in music. She may have a problem. “The written parts aren’t as big of a deal, since they don’t go into account for the tournament.”

Brandon lifted his head, blue eyes narrowed. “The tournament isn’t the most important thing.”

“Just about is,” Riven said with a shrug.

“It is pretty big,” Sky admitted. He moved his arm from the back of Stella’s chair to gesture as he spoke. “I mean, when else do we actually get to show off what we’ve learned?”

“On missions. Through our grades,” Timmy reasoned.

Riven scoffed.

“I think the tournaments are the fun part,” a raspy voice said.

The chatter at the table stopped. The girl who spoke looked to be a couple of years older than them. Her dark hair hung loose over her shoulders, an eye-twitchingly complicated pattern to her sweater vest. Behind her stood two other girls, one wearing a plain white polo and a blue plaid skirt with knee-high socks, and the other in a maroon turtleneck with a short black skirt. All likely Cloud Tower students, considering the strict dress code.

“Hey, Darcy,” Riven said with a grin. Musa’s heart chipped, a glass to the soprano.

“Hey,” she said. “Too bad about the race. I was cheering for you.”

Riven’s face soured. Musa had thought he was over it, but he shot Bloom and Brandon, chatting in the corner, a cool look. “Always next time,” he said.

“Of course,” Darcy said. “Have you met my sisters? This is Icy and Stormy.”

“Pleasure,” Icy said, her silvery hair flooding to one side as she turned her head. Her voice was cool and distant. “We should go, girls. There’s clearly no room to sit in this place.”

Riven glanced around, like he could magically whip up another set of chairs. What a joke, considering they’d already had to sneak Timmy in. “I know another place down the block,” he said. “Come on, I’ll show you.” He hopped up from the chair, reaching for Darcy’s hand as he walked the trio straight to the door.

“Wow,” Sky said. “Not even a goodbye.”

“That’s Riven for you,” Timmy said. He glanced at the door like he expected Riven to run back in and yell, before he slid out of the booth side and took Riven’s seat instead.

“He’s been like that since he met that girl,” Sky said.

“What girl?” Stella’s eyes lit up the way she always did when she was ready to sink her claws into some gossip.

“Darcy. His girlfriend. She goes to Cloud Tower,” Sky explained. “I don’t know much about her. He doesn’t really bring her around.”

“You’re useless to me,” Stella told her boyfriend. She reached across the table and tapped Tecna’s arm three times. “Look her up! No, wait, give me—”

“Absolutely not.” Tecna held her hand up to block Stella from grabbing her tablet. Flora added her arms in for further interference. “Alright, let’s see… Darcy isn’t an uncommon name…”

“I’ve already looked her up,” Timmy said through a mouthful of table chips. “Darcy Chandler. Not much out there. She and her sisters are always on the honor roll. They’re seniors.”

“Ooh, an older woman,” Stella said.

“Technically, Stell, you’re an older woman—” Sky said. She dug her elbow into his ribs.

Musa fell quiet and leaned back in her chair. She didn’t want to hear any more about Riven’s girlfriend. She wasn’t stupid. It was clear that she wasn’t his type. It would have been easier if his type was something… girlier, like Stella or Flora. But no. Neither Bloom nor Darcy were especially feminine. They were just… what? Curvier? Brighter?

Whatever it was they had, Musa clearly lacked it. She avoided Flora’s pitying gaze and reached for a chip. The conversation settled into a diminuendo.

“What’s Domino?” Bloom asked, thereby thoroughly ensuring that all conversation came to a complete halt.

Musa’s shoulders tightened. No one talked about Domino on Melody. No one spoke about the war at all. She’d assumed it was the same for most worlds.

“No one wants to talk about it,” Musa said. “I mean… it’s not like it matters, right?”

“I… guess,” Brandon said. He shifted in his seat as well. Musa wondered what his stake in the war had been—or his losses, rather.

“Seems like it matters a lot if they don’t have any books in the Alfea library,” Bloom cut in, still filling her mouth even as she spoke. Musa knew that she didn’t understand what had happened, but it stung to see someone speak so cavalierly over what had caused her mother’s death.

“Yeah. Because they basically outlawed it,” Stella said. When eyes turned to her, she only shrugged. “What? It’s true.”

“They outlawed it?” Bloom prodded.

“It’s… complicated,” Flora admitted. “Most people… know.”

Bloom waited. Her gaze was intense and unavoidable. Musa didn’t volunteer an answer. Neither did Flora, who looked just as eager for the subject to end. Tecna and Timmy were exchanging glances, like they weren’t sure if they could speak without offending the others. Stella only looked bored of the subject.

“Alright, let’s just… summarize it,” Brandon finally said. “About… twenty years ago, there was a war. Three witches decided to attack Magix. No one knew where they got their power from, but… their goal was to steal the Dragon Flame from the princess of Domino.”

Bloom reached for a napkin to wipe her fingers. “The Dragon Flame?” she asked eagerly.

“Domino has a magical core of fire,” Brandon said. “And the Dragon Flame was this… great power that a member of the royal family could wield. Somehow, they seemed to get part of it. Enough to create a dark version of the Dragon Flame. And a wizard to serve them.”

Flora flinched. Brandon looked at her with softer eyes, bobbing his head to ask if he needed to stop. “I’m fine,” Flora assured.

“His name was Valtor,” Brandon continued. “With the power he had, he… conquered many planets. The ones who didn’t succumb tried to create an army to oppose him. It… helped a little. But the witches and the wizard couldn’t pose a threat to Domino. Not with the princess around. Then one day, the witches managed to kill her. And without the Dragon Flame, they destroyed Domino.”

“What happened to Valtor?” Bloom asked. “I mean, he probably didn’t just… stop. Because the witches died. Right?”

“No one knows,” Tecna piped up. Musa vaguely remembered that Zenith had held strong, since invading such a cold planet never turned out well. “The king and queen of Domino weren’t on the planet when it happened. People think they all died together. One final battle.”

“Or they’re in hiding,” Timmy suggested. “My dad is from Domino. He always said no one could defeat King Oritel.”

“No one knows,” Brandon echoed. He shrugged. “Anyway, the war sort of just… stopped. Valtor and the witches disappeared. So eventually… everyone stopped talking about it.”

Bloom was quiet. “That’s stupid,” she said finally. “Why would you just stop talking about it? Something had to happen, right? They couldn’t just disappear for no reason. What if they come back? Did they get the Dragon Flame?”

“Bloom,” Musa said, holding back tears as her throat burned,  “I know you’re curious, but can we please stop talking about this?”

Bloom was ready to argue her point, but when she looked at Musa’s face, she faltered. At least she backed down occasionally, Musa mentally gruumbled. “Okay,” Bloom agreed softly.

The silence lingered though, a mixture of pensive and miserable looks about the table. Bloom swallowed. “How about that Wizquiz?”
         
“Very nice job, Miss Flora!” Palladium beamed as Flora stepped out of the simulator. “Brilliant use of your innate powers.”

Flora beamed. Bloom’s stomach twisted. Flora had followed through in her promise to teach Bloom some simple spells to revitalize barren soil, but it was clear that the spells were easy for Flora because of her power set. And she could transform too, as she stood there in a dress made out of pink flower petals, creating a bodice and skirt, as well as loose sleeves hugging her arms. She looked like something straight from Bloom’s favorite books.

Bloom wished she could look like that.

“Now, who’s next?” Professor Palladium asked, looking through the remaining crowd of students eagerly.

Bloom had done a very good job hiding early on, but as the troops had dwindled, she had only a few she could hide behind. And Palladium’s eyes were sharp and pleading. He reminded Bloom a lot of the guy who owned the book shop next to her mother’s. There was a reason her book collection had always been huge, and it wasn’t solely because she loved to read. He always needed a sale.

Ugh. She might as well get it over with.

“I can go,” she volunteered.

Palladium’s face lit up. “Marvelous. Step right this way. Down this path… and wait.” He guided Bloom onto the platform which moved her into the large domed room of the simulator. It was one thing to watch the test from the screening room alongside her classmates. The interior was… surprisingly unrealistic. Bloom felt like she was on a sci-fi show, ready to tumble off the edge into the abyss.

“Your choice was barren landscape, yes?” Palladium asked through the intercom. “You have time to transform before you… Oh. Yes. Um. Well. Let’s begin, shall we?”

Bloom’s face burned pink. She couldn’t hear anything from her classmates as she stood on the platform, but she could imagine what they were saying.

It was stupid that she couldn’t transform. It was stupid that she couldn’t figure out how to use magic consistently. It was stupid that when she practiced she either nearly turned the entire room to Jell-O or she couldn’t make a single spoon move. It was stupid that Aunt Morgan had shoved her into a magic portal, and Bloom didn’t even know what had happened to her family.

Her neck was hot. She bowed her head and waited for the environment to finish loading.

When Bloom looked up, she wasn’t on the platform anymore. She was somewhere else entirely. The barren landscape Flora had faced was a razed forest, with very few usable seeds in the charred remains of the soil. Bloom had expected something similar. Instead, she was surrounded by long-dead willowy limbs of trees covered in a thick layer of powdery snow.

“This is actually cold!” Bloom wrapped her arms around her chest, wishing she’d worn a sweatshirt instead of a t-shirt. At least she had her jeans.

It was fine. She’d do what she needed to do.

“Hi, little fairy.”

Bloom turned around at the sound of the voice. In identical dark robes, three figures loomed overhead in the silvery sky.

“Can we call her a fairy if she can’t transform?” a different voice asked.

“A fairy is fairy. Can’t call her a witch if she can’t do spells either.”

“Professor Palladium?” Bloom called. “I didn’t… I didn’t want this one!”

The trio made a cacophony of cackles. Something deep in Bloom’s chest twisted.

She hadn’t studied for this. The girls had been pretty clear that doing a counterspell without transforming was nigh impossible. Bloom hadn’t bothered. It was hard enough to learn the spells Flora had taught.

Right. Spells. Maybe it was just a glitch. It was a computer after all. Bloom would ignore them, and she’d be fine.

“Barren landscape. Gotta find… seeds. Seeds.” She dropped to her knees. The simulation was pretty damn real, considering the way the snow seemed to soak through the knees of her jeans.  Ignore the sting. Dig. She shoved her hands into the snow, digging down through the layers until her fingertips were tingling, numb and cold.

“What is she doing?” a third voice asked.

“Playing the fool. Let’s go, sisters.”

It was cold. Bloom knew it was cold. But that wasn’t what left her shivering. She froze, hands deep in the snowpile. The white of the ground burned at her eyes, but the three shadows above her were no relief. She crossed her arms over her face again. She was back in Gardenia, trying to hide from the creatures that were jumping at her. Her arms were hot. The heat flooded through her.

“Oof!”

Bloom grunted as she landed on the ground.

The ground?

Cracking her eyes open, Bloom stared down. The snow was gone. At least… it was for about twenty feet. Past that, hills of snow rose into the air, like Bloom had made a giant hole. The ground was there though, plain soil with dead grasses and limbs scattered about.

“Seems like we were right,” one of the shadows—cloaked figures, whatever—said. Come on, they were still there!

“We were,” the first voice said. “Now, all we need to do is—”

“Stop interrupting my test!” Bloom screamed. “Can’t the computer do its job? One assignment at a time, right? I can’t do both!” She raised a leg and kicked blindly in the air. Okay, that was a dumb move, but it’s what she’d done to the computers in the computer lab at school when they didn’t work. Tecna wouldn’t approve, but Bloom thought she was justified.

There was no computer tower to catch her. Bloom tumbled forward. Instead of the tower, she stumbled, her foot landing smoothly on the ground. Underneath her feet, heat spread once more. The grass grew plush and green. Small flowers began to sprout.

Great! She’d done it. She wasn’t sure how, but she’d done it!

“Professor? Can I come out now?” Bloom yelled.

“What is she doing?” one of the shadows asked again.

“Why are you still here?” Bloom asked. “I finished the test.”

The cackles resumed. Bloom’s body chilled.

“You don’t get it, do you?” the voices asked, almost in unison. “We have plans. We—”

“Fine. Both parts. I have to do both. Why not?” Bloom demanded. She raised her hands, waiting for the witches to make their spell. One way or another, she’d counter them.

The witches paused. They seemed to shrug before they chanted, precise and slow. Bloom could almost see some sort of rune float in the air.

She didn’t know how to read runes. She didn’t particularly care. She raised her hands and focused on the heat she’d felt in her bones, letting the bright orange haze of the magic she’d come to know flow through her.

The lines of the simulator appeared over Bloom’s head. The witches were gone. Bloom was standing in the middle of the simulator, on the platform.

“Bloom! Oh, thank goodness.” Palladium came rushing across the platform, straightening his sage green vest. “You’re alright. That never should have happened. We didn’t even have that location on the simulator.”

“What?” Bloom asked. She blinked. Something about being in such a small space was dizzying now. “I… did I pass?”

“Yes, yes, of course. You did brilliantly, for trying to revitalize Domino.”

Bloom stopped dead. “Domino?”

Palladium clamped his lips shut. “Ah… well, never mind. You’re well. Let me take you back to your room. We’ll resume tests for the other girls tomorrow. You ought to rest. You expelled quite a lot of energy, especially since you weren’t transformed. You must be exhausted.

Exhausted? No. Not at all. Bloom felt… great actually. Like she’d had a good night’s sleep for the first time in a long time. But Palladium looked panicked, and Bloom could only imagine what the others had thought when they’d realized she ended up on Domino.

She could let it lie for now. As long as she got an A.