The Queen of Shadows - World of Winx rewrite S.1

Chapter 19: Shadows on The Snow

Snow, snow, and more snow... This country reminded Stella of Domino, the cold planet they had once visited in search of the dragon flame. There was no sunlight, no warmth, and no signs of life. But this time, they weren't searching for the dragon flame; they were searching for Bloom.

Why had she been so naive? Why hadn't she reacted sooner that day in Paris? Now her best friend might be in trouble again.

"In this snowstorm, I don't know if we'll ever reach the watchmaker's tower before the sun goes down," Tecna exclaimed, leading the way.

"What sun? I haven't seen any since we arrived here," Stella muttered, shivering in the cold. She had always hated places without sunlight and warmth, and she felt her dislike for snow and cold surpass even Bloom's. Shades, she even had her birthday in December, the season of winter... almost comical.

"Are you okay, Stella?" Flora's calm voice cut through the wind.

"Yeah," Stella simply answered. "But I feel a bit low on energy because I've been using all my magic to keep us warm."

"We can take a break to regain our energy," Flora suggested.

"N-no, we have to keep going..."

"I'm with Flora; we should take a break. There's a cave nearby where we can rest," Tecna interrupted, pointing to a black hole in the mountain.

Stella wanted to protest and continue, but Tecna grabbed her arm and dragged her along.

***

Bloom never let her guard down. The shadow creatures could attack at any moment. Despite the storm in the Alps, she didn't think it would stop them from following their Queen's orders. One thought had been circling through her head: why had she gone alone with Jim and not taken the rest of the girls with her? Musa was right to grow suspicious of Jim. They had just met him and...

'Stop overthinking...'  the voice whispered inside her head.

"I'm not over—" A sharp pain inside her head interrupted her. It was like someone was trying to control her mind again, something that had been happening since they were in Paris. All her memories were still blurry, but she knew for sure it had to do with the Queen of Shadows. Perhaps one of her spies was watching them in the cave.

Bloom groaned in pain and halted. She put one hand on her head and the other against the ice wall. Her eyes shut tightly, and she began breathing heavily, trying to alleviate the pain.

Jim seemed to notice. He turned around with a worried expression and placed his cold hand on her shoulder.

"Are you okay?" he asked.

Bloom tried to reply, but the pain was too much to handle.

Flashes of memories came back from her second year at Alfea. The anger that had been building up since her first meeting with Professor Avalon, the burning feelings inside her, her complicated relationship with Sky, and the day they were on vacation on Earth. She remembered bumping into a girl with green hair before meeting up with Stella at one of the clothing stores. The green-haired girl had tried to start a conversation with her, but Bloom had snapped at her for leaving her alone, thinking the girl had stalked her for knowing her name.

The sound of footsteps from the cave's entrance snapped Bloom out of her memories. She looked at her reflection on the ice wall. Her eyes were glowing red, and behind her and Jim, she saw Dark Bloom standing there. She gasped in surprise and almost fell to her knees, but Jim caught her before she hit the cold ground.

"We have to move on. Someone is coming," he whispered.

Bloom nodded, trying to ignore what she had seen in the reflection. She got help from Jim towards a tight passage, only enough space for one person at a time. Jim was about to go first when Bloom stopped him. She channeled her heat and aimed it towards the ice, melting it. The passage grew bigger, enough space for both of them to go through now.

"Oh... I had almost forgotten about your special abilities," Jim murmured beside her, observing the last melting ice. The passage was still pretty dark, and a cold wind blew in their faces, sending chills down Bloom's spine. Sometimes she imagined that Icy was behind all this ice and snow.

"Come on... I'll lead the way," Bloom finally said, creating a flame in her palm to illuminate the passage. Jim looked behind them as the voices grew stronger and nodded.

***

Aisha hated waiting. At this point, she would have already been at the tower. Why was it taking Stella and the rest of the girls so long? What if they were in trouble and they weren't there to help? She looked up at the snow-covered mountains, trying to distract herself.

Trying to think about something else, Aisha watched other people snowboarding. The Earthlings called it a 'snowboard.' Some of them were competing live right now. Ace had told them they might find a new talent.

This 'snowboard' looked something like surfing on water, but instead of using water, they used compacted snow. It looked fun, Aisha thought.

"Have you heard anything from them?" Musa asked.

Aisha shook her head.

"No," Aisha sighed.

Musa sat down on a wooden bench and crossed her arms. Aisha heard her humming to herself, as if she were listening to the wind.

Roxy, on the other hand, was outside in the woods, probably talking to some animals.

"We all should have gone with them," Musa finally said.

Aisha joined Musa on the bench, nodding. She could see her best friend lost in thought. Musa's facial expression showed guilt and uncertainty. Aisha put her arm around Musa's shoulder as they both sat in silence.

"I should have noticed something was wrong... and now it might be too late to help her," Musa mumbled.

"There's nothing to blame yourself for. How could you have possibly known?" Aisha comforted, stroking Musa's arm.

"I... I just... I felt something was wrong with Bloom's inner music after the Fashion Week, but I couldn't have imagined it was as bad as it is," Musa continued.

Aisha felt bad for Musa. Since they had graduated from Alfea, Musa had been on edge and stressed, never able to relax. After becoming the guardian fairy of Melody, her powers had gotten a boost. She could constantly hear what other people's hearts said and how they felt – stress, love, sadness, and happiness.

Aisha could never imagine how overwhelming it must be for her best friend. Never being able to rest. It was already enough with responsibilities in her own life, not to mention her duties as a queen.

"Musa, relax. It's not your fault. Flora also sensed something, but no one reacted. I guess we tried to deny something we didn't want to happen again," Aisha reassured. "I should perhaps tell you what happened backstage when you were with Madelyn."

Aisha recounted the story to Musa, who listened carefully to every detail. This seemed to make Musa feel a little less guilty – that not only she had noticed something was wrong but hadn't reacted in time. They had all made mistakes a second time.

"So... shall we try to find the next talent?" Aisha said, changing the subject.

Musa smiled and shrugged.

"I already know who it is. She's over there," she said, pointing at a girl with short, gold hair tied into two pigtails, brown eyes, and wearing a red and white ski jacket.

Aisha rose up and approached the girl. She introduced herself, and they learned the girl's name was Silke. The camera drones whirred to life and circled around them, zooming in on Silke.

"Oh... you two are from the TV show Wow! I've watched all episodes since the start," Silke exclaimed, clearly excited.

"Then I assume you know why we're here," Musa replied with a smile.

"Yeah, to find talent," Silke nodded. She tried to catch her spinning snowboard in a cool way, but instead of catching it, she dropped it, splashing snow in her face. Then, she placed her right foot on the board, which started to slide down the hill. Silke tripped and fell with the board, and the cameras followed her all the way down until she crashed into a big snow pile.

Aisha and Musa exchanged confused looks.

"Are you sure she's the right talent?" Aisha asked.

"Um... I got that Dreamix feeling?" Musa replied awkwardly.

"Let's help this new talent achieve her dreams, then," Aisha said, unsure how to react to the situation. This first impression must have been a mistake, because their powers were never wrong about who the next talent was, right?

***

"Those two again?" Bloom mumbled to herself.

She recognized the detectives instantly. Had they been following them to Switzerland? Couldn't those two stupid detectives just get out of her way? She had thought that from last time, Jim had scared them away. But apparently not.

Their voices grew louder with each passing second. Bloom could hear how the male detective talked about how they should go skiing in the Alps after their mission is done. The female detective did not seem as amused and convinced. She rather sounded irritated. Not that Bloom could not relate. Having to stand out with someone as that partner must be painful.

Jim had his hook out, holding it tightly. As they sped up their speed, Bloom halted as she saw a blue glowing symbol on the wall. The symbol looked like a sort of octopus with red glowing eyes. Just staring at this symbol made Bloom shiver. This symbol screamed dark magic.

"Jim, what's— " Before she could finish, a blinding light illuminated the tunnel. A strong force pushed Bloom back and she flew into the ice wall. All her air left her lungs, and she felt like she was going to pass out. The roof started shaking, and sharp icicles fell from the ceiling, almost burying Jim. This reminded Bloom of something Icy would do in a fight.

"Did you hear that, Gómez?!" the woman exclaimed.

A few blinks later, Bloom could see a black object pointing at her. She saw Detective Evans pointing a gun at point-blank range. Her eyes were determined, and Bloom could see her own reflection in her eyes. But not in her warm blue racket, rather Dark Bloom. She was laughing and smiling ear to ear.

Bloom could not see Jim, like he had vanished from the place. Detective Gómez seemed to clear the area.

"Hands up and don't try to make any stupid moves," Detective Evans commanded, still holding her finger over the trigger. The parallel since their first meeting, when Bloom had almost killed the detective, floated through her mind. She hoped that Evans doesn't remember anything from that day. Probably her worst day ever at the job.

"I just said hands up..." Evans repeated, with her Italian English accent, sounding like she was out of patience and ready to pull the trigger at any moment.

Bloom did as she was told.

"Per favore, Possiamo semplicemente parlare?" Bloom said, trying to sound as calm as she could. Asking someone to 'just talk' without starting a fight, when they are pointing a gun at someone was not easy. It was all a matter of time before everything could go wrong.

"You speak Italian?" Evans asked, looking surprised.

"SÌ," Bloom nodded.

"Then what are you doing here in the Alps? Do you take all your kidnapped talents to Switzerland?"

"Well I-I..." Bloom was uncertain what to say. They wouldn't believe her even if she told them the truth. About the Queen, World of Dreams, the talent thief, nor about her powers. And it looked like Evans was not in the mood for playing around. The only thing that left her mouth was, 'no'.

A second later, she felt metal digging into her wrists and her hands being put on her back. Gómez put on some handcuffs which were very uncomfortable. But Bloom was too tired to even fight back. Her head was still spinning. She hoped that Jim would help her anyways from this situation.

Gómez then had a grip around one of Bloom's arms. Evans lowered the gun and put it into her holster.

"Did you come alone?" she asked, now with a calmer voice.

Bloom scanned the area, watching the broken icicles lying shattered on the ground. She could not see Jim anywhere. But she had the feeling she could still feel his presence. He must be using some kind of invisible spell.

"Uh... yes," Bloom lied.

"Okay..." Evans simply answered. "Come on Gómez let's leave this cold cavern."

Detective Gómez nodded and followed Evans. When Evans was about to go back from where they had been coming from, the passage seemed to be blocked by snow.

"Merda," Evans cursed. She turned to Gómez, who seemed surprised.

"The only way out is that way, I think," Bloom pointed out, nodding towards the dark passage leading somewhere. Gómez twisted her arm painfully, which made her yelp in surprise.

"Stop talking, miss," he ordered.

Bloom felt her mind twist and take a turn. It urged her to take them both down. She could still use her powers and could easily incapacitate them. But she resisted those thoughts, knowing they led to violence.

'Burn them!' the voice whispered inside her head.

She shut her eyes, trying to silence the voice.

'Burn them and their lives... They deserve it!'

"...no!" Bloom exclaimed, clenching her fist. She felt pain in her arm as Gómez twisted it again. She realized her mind had urged her body to strike him.

"Will you stop resisting?!" he demanded.

"Sorry..." Bloom muttered, feeling her emotions shift suddenly. Anger boiled inside her, her body screaming for revenge.

Gómez forced her to move forward into the dark passage, following Evans. With each step, Bloom felt her emotions darken.

***

Roxy walked through the forest, feeling the cold hit her skin. Despite the cold here up in the mountains, she could still feel some connection to the animals. They lived in peace here in this forest, away from the humans who came skiing very often during the winter months.

She felt bad for the animals that had to move from their past homes after humans had felled forests to build large ski slopes. Some animals had to move further up in the mountains, while others hid in the remaining forest.

Roxy whistled to herself, and some small Arctic foxes stuck out from a couple of bushes nearby. Their white fur looked thick and smooth, fitting for the winter. These looked like fox cubs. Their cute brown eyes almost made Roxy's heart melt. She crouched down, trying to get the cubs to come closer. Their noses stuck in the air, smelling the surroundings. At first, they hesitated, but one of them slowly approached her.

She stuck out her hand towards the cub that was closest to her. It sniffed her hand before cuddling its head against her hand. Roxy petted it and stroked its soft fur. It almost felt like a stuffed animal her father had given her when she was younger, but this fur felt more natural and smoother.

"You are so cute," Roxy smiled. The Arctic fox came even closer to her. With her powers, she sensed that it wanted to be picked up. This was one of the most amazing things about her newfound abilities; she could communicate with animals. It was hard for her to describe what it sounded like, but she guessed it was something similar to when Flora talked to her plants.

The peaceful moment suddenly got interrupted when a blast of cold snow blew into Roxy's face. She could hear the Arctic foxes call for their mother in horror. She ran, still holding the cub, towards the rest of the small cubs, protecting them from the sudden snowstorm.

"It's okay," she tried to calm them as they kept calling for their mother. All of them cuddled up together, trying to keep warm. Roxy felt herself shaking from the cold, almost feeling like ice was creeping up her skin. She gritted her teeth and hoped this would be over soon. The small amount of warmth she got from the cuddled-up cubs was not enough. Her feet got numb, and her thick gloves felt like they were freezing to ice.

She tried to call for help with her Winx watch, but the signals did not get through. It was like the storm was interfering with the signals between their watches. Something was wrong. Tecna had told her that these watches were not connected to a regular mobile network but were driven by magic.

Roxy felt like someone was watching her. She looked up, squinting as she tried to see through the storm. A tall figure with fur, glowing blue eyes, sharp teeth, and an oblong nose stood further away, staring at her. She thought she could hear it howl like a wolf, but this creature did not look like a normal wolf; it looked more like a werewolf. Blood dripped from its big mouth.

"What on earth...?" Roxy gasped.

A second later, she felt something grab onto her wrist. The Arctic foxes called after her as she got dragged on the ground by something, dropping the Arctic fox she had been holding. She tried to get free from whatever had grabbed her, but its grip was too hard.

"Let me go!" she exclaimed. As she looked down at her wrist, she saw sharp claws digging into her leg, making her realize that the werewolf was only a projection. It was, in fact, a shadow creature. This werewolf was black as coal, a mixture of shadow and real wolf. Had the shadow creature melted into a real wolf and sort of possessed it?

This felt like a real horror movie. The creature still dragged her on the ground, and the pain spread through her leg. A trail of blood now painted the white snow. The injury on her leg made Roxy almost faint. She channeled her powers, ready to blast the creature when it let go of her. It growled in pain as something bit it on its tail. The Arctic foxes' mother had appeared and flanked the creature.

"Thanks," she said to the Arctic fox, which looked like it was smiling for a second before running to their cubs. Roxy closed her eyes, channeling her powers fully. A golden chain appeared and lunged right at the creature, restraining it to the ground, and it whined in pain. She then created a golden sphere and struck it into its chest. "The Wrath of the Eagles."

The creature howled in pain as three red marks were left on its skin. Roxy hated hearing this, but she knew she had to do it. A black shadow left the werewolf's body as it started shaking. The werewolf turned back into a normal wolf and looked unharmed. The red marks glowed yellow and healed.

The shadow creatures stared deathly into her eyes and showed their sharp teeth. It looked like they were about to attack, but instead, one of them spoke with a cold tone, "Where is the next talent?"

"Oh, so you are looking for the talent?" Roxy deadpanned, feeling disgusted by how the shadow creature had used a poor living creature to gain information from her. The shadow creature seemed to have gotten triggered by her reaction, swinging its claws towards her. She dodged by creating a turtle shell in front of her. Its claws stuck into the shell, and it growled. Roxy threw the shell, with the shadow creature following. It hit the ground and got covered under snow.

The storm hadn't stopped, but it seemed a little bit calmer than before. At least now she was not freezing as much as before.

Roxy winced at the pain in her leg as she tried to walk on it. She was about to open her Winx watch when she heard someone screaming. It was a scream reminiscent of someone riding a roller coaster. She turned her head to the left and saw a girl with orange hair, wearing a red ski jacket, red finger gloves, black ski pants, and gray snowboard boots.

Roxy did not have time to get out of the way before the girl crashed into her. They rolled in the snow and got tangled up. A few seconds later, Roxy could hear two familiar voices coming closer towards them.

"Silke, Roxy! Are you guys okay?!" Aisha's voice exclaimed.

Roxy gritted her teeth, trying to ignore the pain that now flared even worse in her leg. The girl that laid on top of her brushed off some snow from her clothes. She looked after her snowboard as she helped Roxy up from the ground.

"I'm so sorry... I haven't really learned how to break with this thing and — " The girl stopped as her eyes narrowed on Roxy's leg. "— hey, you are bleeding!"

"Roxy, what happened?" Musa asked, examining the injury. Roxy felt her pain slowly decrease. She assumed it must be Musa using her magic to alleviate some of the pain.

"They are here and are looking for..." Musa yelped as a red beam hit her back. She was sent flying into a tree. Snow from the leaves fell over her, burying her in the snow. Aisha exclaimed her name and was about to run towards her when a red-looking chain grabbed her by the arm. She got yanked and thrown into a pile of snow.

The talent looked horrified, her eyes widened, and she almost hyperventilated. Roxy felt all her pain return, and she felt her vision go blurry. She tried to call for help from the animals in the forest, but there was no response.

"W-what's happening?!" the talent asked, hugging herself and looking at Aisha, who was lying unconscious in the pile of snow. "W-why are we getting attacked...?"

Roxy heard voices whispering behind her. She turned around and saw dozens of shadow creatures now approaching them. Before she had any time to answer the talent's question, she transformed.

"Stay behind me..." Roxy said before all the creatures lunged towards them.

***

They had finally found their way out of the cold cave. Both detectives seemed relieved. Bloom was now staring out over the landscape. A large lake, frozen to ice, lay ahead of them. Detective Gómez looked like he was going to faint from the height.

"Oh... that's really far down..." he mumbled.

"Are you scared?" Bloom chuckled, but stopped as he twisted her arm once again. She rolled her eyes, wondering why she was not allowed to talk. First, they wanted her to plead guilty for something she hadn't done, but she had decided not to respond. And now they didn't even want her to say anything?

"Let's climb then..." Detective Evans said, peering down from the edge of the cliff. Bloom glanced over the edge, seeing small platforms they could jump on to get down fast. It wouldn't be easy, but hopefully the detectives had practiced their parkour skills.

"Um... Evans," Gómez interrupted, gesturing with his other hand. "Am I supposed to carry our suspect or what?"

Detective Evans rolled her eyes. She approached and took keys from her jacket.

"We'll let her climb. She cannot escape, anyway. Well, if she doesn't want to fall to her death," Evans explained as she was about to unlock the handcuffs. But suddenly someone grabbed her by the collar and threw her over the edge. Bloom watched as the detective grabbed the edge and hung there. Her eyes widened in terror, calling for her partner to help her.

Gómez was about to help her when Jim appeared in front of him. He pushed him into the stone wall, rendering him unconscious. Bloom stared into Detective Evans's eyes, who pleaded for her help. Jim disarmed Gómez, who now blinked a few times, mumbling something.

"Come on, let's keep going," Jim said behind Bloom. A click echoed through the silence as he used his hook to break the handcuffs. Bloom narrowed her eyes, alternating her gaze between Jim and Evans, who was still hanging by the edge.

"Leave her, there," Jim said with a cold voice. "If they are not alive they won't follow us anymore."

"P-please help..." Evans pleaded, now tears in her eyes.

Bloom watched as Jim now started to jump down and climb down the mountain. She glanced one more time into Evans eyes. The tears streaming down her face now froze to ice. Something inside Bloom told her to help, but at the same time she wanted to see her enemy suffer.

'Leave her...' the voice whispered.

"I-I... I remember you now," Evans stuttered. This made Bloom snap out from her thoughts. "It's you who tried to kill me... at the alley in Gardenia."

Bloom hoped that Evans had forgot the event like her father. But it seemed like Evans's memories had come back. Did this mean her father also remembers everything? She was afraid to find out the answer.

"I..."

"Just do it... go ahead. Finish me off," Evans said and looked like she had given up.

Before Bloom could say anything further, she felt as though a hundred needles were attacking her skin. It was like being struck by lightning. A burning sensation spread across her body, and her muscles twitched. Memories flashed back to the day in Gardenia when Trix had followed her back to Earth and attacked her.

—

Her parents were tied up in a ring of energy. Both of them looked terrified as they were hovered above the endless hole, ready to end her parents for good. Bloom couldn't let it happen, feeling how her anger boiled inside her. But as much as she tried to channel her strongest attack, it got suppressed and weakened. 

"Give us what's rightfully ours and we let you and your parents live," Icy said with her cold voice. Bloom clenched her fist trying to create a fireball. But all her energy got drained as she tried to do it. 

"I..." uncertain what to retort, the next thing she felt was a burning sensation in her chest. Her skin felt sore and was burning. The lightning bolt had struck her right in the square and she now felt all of her muscles twitching. Her fingers and toes felt numb. The strength of Stormy's attack had sent her flying into the bookshelf. The smell of burned flesh was horrifying. 

Books hit Bloom's head as they fell from the shelves. Her head was spinning, before Darcy shot purple waves, making her scream in agony. It was like her mind was being ripped apart inside her head.

The next thing she felt cold ice spread across her body. The ice pinned her against the bookshelf, only her head was free. The rest of her body was encased in cold ice. Bloom shivered, each breath felt heavy. Tears streamed down her face as she begged the Trix to leave her, and her parents, alone. She narrowed her eyes for a second over to her parents who desperately tried to get free from the energy ring. Despite their gags covering their mouths, she could hear their muffled screams, screaming her name in panic.

"W-what do you want?" Bloom stuttered, feeling how exhaustion had taken over her whole body. She had never felt so tired in her life before. She struggled to hold her head up to look into the Trixs' eyes.

"Oh, Bloom. I thought Faragonda had already told you that you possess the most powerful magic in the magical dimension," Icy said with a mocking tone. One of her sharp nails scratched Bloom's chin, making her wince. Small drops of blood colored Icy's nail. "You have the Dragon Flame inside you."

"The d-dragon fire?" Bloom asked, not understanding what Icy was talking about.

"Stupid Earthling! Don't you get it?" Darcy rolled her eyes. "You are the lost Princess and the last heir to the throne of Domino. The kingdom that is now covered under a curse and erased from existence."

"I-I what..." Bloom couldn't finish as she felt the cold was too much to handle. Her head dropped in exhaustion and stared down at the green carpet on the ground. She heard the Trix cackling in the background.

"Look sisters. Our little history class made her fall asleep," Stormy said. Bloom felt another wave of pain spread through her muscles as she groaned.

Before she had time to fall unconscious, she felt Icy's cold hand grip her jaw. The grip was tight and almost painful.

"Never forget who we are and who defeated you. Greet your parents from us, the Trix, and from the ancestral witches," Icy said before everything turned dark.

—