Winx Club: The Journey Begins

Chapter 5B: The Enchanted Capital

[A/N: It might be confusing but this is the first 'Chapter 5'. The 'B' is for 'Bloom'.]

"Magix station! End of the line!" The bus driver announced as the vehicle came to a halt. The group disembarked, and I looked around, feeling a bit disappointed, "You said Magix is a magical place."

Stella grinned, "Sure! What else were you expecting?"

"It's so... normal! How can the enchanted capital of our universe look like Earth? Where are the dragons, gnomes, wizards, shops full of magic wands..."

Stella chuckled. "But that's fairytale stuff. This is the real world. Here everything lives off its own magical energy. Magic is everywhere."

Just then, a nearby driver uses magic to create an extra parking spot for his car, leaving me dumbfounded. Stella smirks knowingly, "Get it now?"

"Goodness," I murmured, wide-eyed.

"If you want to see it, you just gotta look. Now let's go eat!"

We wandered through streets lined with shops filled with enchanted items and foods unlike anything on Earth. After a delightful lunch at a charming, nature-themed café, I tried to call my parents with my new phone, but it wouldn't work. Frustrated, I turned to Astra. "Is yours working?"

Astra frowned, testing her own phone with no success. "Nope."

Tecna, ever curious about technology, offered to help. "Let me take a look. I'm pretty good with electronics."

Inspecting the phones, Tecna couldn't hide her surprise. "These devices are quite primitive. Where did you get them?"

I bristled. "Hey! It's a gift from our father! And it's brand new!"

"It's an antique! It's of no use here in Magix but it's fine as a collector's item..."

Highly annoyed now, I storm off to find a payphone, muttering to myself. "Oh, you conceited little know-it-all! One more second and I'd have made you eat the phone!"

Stella hurried after me. "Bloom, are you alright? Pay no attention to Tecna. I don't think she meant to upset you."

I scoff, "I'm sure.."

Stella pulls out a device, "If you really want to call your parents, use my phone. C'mon, take it! It works fine!"

"No, no. It's fine. I can manage. But... my parents can receive my calls, can't they?"

"Sure! You can call anywhere in the universe from Magix!" Stella turns to walk away as I start dialing my home number into the payphone, my school-funded card already in the slot. "Take your time! We'll settle the bill and wait for you in the square near the fountain, okay?"

"At the fountain- okay!"

It doesn't take long for mom to answer the phone, 

"Hello?"

Her voice brings a smile to my face, "Hi, mom! It's me!"

"Bloom? Sweetheart, is that really you? How are you doing? How's Astra?"

"Everything's fantastic here, mom! We're with Stella and some other really nice girls. The school's an amazing place! Classes start tomorrow."

"Let me know how that goes?"

"Sure, I'll tell you all about it..." I glance out the window and spot a familiar ogre.

"Bloom? Is everything okay?"

"Uh, yeah, my friends are calling me. I got to go. Say hello to daddy for me, bye!" I quickly hung up, not paying attention to what mom was saying. Curious as to what the ogre is doing, I follow him.

—

Stella is looking for Bloom when an ogre ambushes her, knocking her unconscious as she tries to transform her ring into her scepter. He swiped the scepter and fled, meeting with three mysterious women waiting nearby.

—

I lost sight of him and started wandering around, peaking into alleyways, trying to spot him. "How does one lose a big yellow ogre in a city??"

As I'm passing yet another alley, I spot him. Oddly, there are three girls talking to him. My eyes widen when I register what the ogre has in his hands. Fueled by determination (and perhaps a bit of naivety), I march up to them. "You have to give that scepter back! It doesn't belong to you!"

All four figures look at me shocked. I firmly place my fists on my hips, "Good thing I followed that beast!"

Icy-blue eyes glare at me. "And why should we listen to you?"

Before I could respond, the one with long brown hair reaching down her knees stepped forward, her tone dripping with sarcasm. "Oh, look, Stormy, we have a little girl trying to play hero."

Stormy, the one with frizzy dark purple hair shaped like a cloud, cracked a malicious grin. "How dare you speak to us like that."

I can feel my legs start to tremble, "ehm... whoever you are... I'm not afraid of you!" I put my fists up, 'Shit, what do I do??'

The pale-skinned one scoffs, "Alone against three witches? You must be really something - or you're really stupid." A bolt of ice comes shooting at me. I'm just barely able to dodge out of the way.

The one with the lilac-colored top steps forward, her dark gold cat-like eyes narrowing. "Let's see how brave you really are." She raises her hands and a shimmering wave of energy pulses toward me. The ghostly figures seemed so real, their cold fingers brushing against my skin, made me shiver with fear.

I notice Stormy's venomous cackles too late. She summons a powerful wind, pushing me into the trashcans in the alley.

The blue-themed witch laughs as they all walk up to me. "I think she's done!"

I struggle to speak and raise my hand, "I can do this.." but all that comes out are sparks.

"That's it?" The lilac-themed witch laughs, "Boy, I'm really scared now!"

The Ice witch takes Stella's scepter from the ogre and looks distastefully down at me. "Let's get out of here. We've wasted too much time." They all turn away.

Struggling to my feet, I gather my strength and lung at her, "It's not over yet!" My arms wrap around her waist, surprising her enough to drop the scepter.

I reach out for it but I'm too slow, Stormy snatches the scepter right as my fingers brush it.

Angry, the ice witch focuses a heavy stream of magic my way. Completely enveloping me in ice...