Forbidden Fruit

Chapter 23: Sleepless Night

I get back to my room after spending more time in Palladium's office. If it was up to me, I'd stay there longer, but one of the students wanted to ask him about one of his classes. She did give us some weird looks, like she was suspecting something... Or maybe it's just my paranoia...

I take a deep breath to calm my beating heart before heading to my dorm room. The sun is setting outside. When I open the door to my room, I find Stella brushing her hair at her vanity.

"Oh! Onyx, you're back! Where were you?"

"Um... I was asking some questions to one of our teachers..."

I hope I didn't sound too suspicious... Stella seems to be eyeing me. I try to avoid her eyes. I feel like she would be able to read me too easily if she looked into them.

"Really now... That teacher wouldn't happen to be professor Palladium by any chance?"

"Huh? No! It's not! Anyway, I'm a bit tired so I'm going to sleep!"

Oh no... I panicked... Now I look even more suspicious. I go to my bed and lie down there, covering my face with the sheets. I head Stella snicker. After a bit, she also goes to bed. I can't seem to fall asleep, though. I get out of bed and head to the bathroom. On my way there, I spot Bloom quietly going out of the dorm. What is she doing out so late? I hope she's not going to get herself in trouble.

She's been acting really weird recently. She's been so down. I have a feeling it's about her origins. I feel like I should tell her, but Headmistress Faragonda told me not to say anything to keep Bloom safe. If the witches find out that she really does have the power of the dragon flame, they will target her with everything they have.

I go back to my room, feeling restless. After a few hours of tossing and turning around, I finally get up, frustrated from my lack of sleep.

To be honest with myself, I am worried about Bloom. I should go out and try to find her. But where do I even start looking? No, I shouldn't just wander around blindly. It's almost morning, anyway. I should wait until the girls wake up so that we could look for her together.

When morning came, Flora and Stella were the first to wake up.

"Good morning, Onyx..."

Stella says as she yawns.

"Good morning, Stella."

I haven't had a single hour of sleep. I'm starting to feel tired just thinking about it. After everyone wakes up, Flora starts asking if anyone's seen Bloom.

"That's what I wanted to talk to everyone about."

The girls all look at me, intrigued.

"Do you know something about it, Onyx?"

Tecna asks. I nod.

"Last night I saw her sneak out in the middle of the night. I have no idea where she could've gone, though."

"Wait, I'll ask Sky if he knows anything. Maybe her and Brandon went out on a late date or something."

Stella says as she takes out her phone. After a quick phone call, she comes back to us with a worried expression.

"Bloom and Brandon went to Cloud Tower last night. I don't know what happened between them, but it seems like, after they got out of there, Brandon dropped Bloom off at Alfea."

What? Cloud Tower? On her own? She could've asked me to come with her! She can be so reckless sometimes...

"We have to find her! She could be in danger if the witches find out she trespassed in Cloud Tower."

Musa retorts. We all agree and start taking action. Tecna uses her technology magic to locate Bloom's phone and we all head to the location indicated.

"It seems like she's somewhere in the forest, not too far from Alfea."

Tecna informs us.

"I guess she was on her way back but something stopped from doing so?"

Flora expresses her thoughts on the situation. After we get out of Alfea and out of sight, we transform to make our search easier.

"I'm sensing dark magic. It's getting stronger the more we travel towards Bloom's phone signal."

I tell everyone.

"Let's pick up the pace then!"

Stella says and hurries ahead. We all follow her closely, as to not get separated. We all then spot three silhouettes in the distance, shooting magic below.

"The witches!"

Stella exclaims and flies as fast as she can towards them. She then fires at them with her magic, disorienting them. We look down to where they were attacking, and find Bloom and someone else frozen in a block of ice that Stella didn't waste time in melting.

"You pesky little...!"

Icy screams at us. Stormy conjures tornadoes that come to envelop us. I easily slash through them after coating my arm with my own magic.

"The Ankelon is here too!"

Stormy exclaims.

"Damn it! We can't stay here, then!"

Darcy says to the other witches.

"Stop your whining. We can't just run away like cowards."

Icy reprimands her. The girl who was with Bloom then summons a big monster that screams violently and startles the witches, catching them off guard.

"That's it! I've had it with your meddling!"

Darcy then casts a spell on the girl, transforming her into a pumpkin. Damn it! I was too far to interfere! Well now they'll get it...

Before I could do anything, however, Bloom gets enveloped in the dragon flame, unleashing an incredible amount of power that sends the witches flying. She then falls to the ground, completely drained.

We all go back to Alfea, taking the girl with us. Bloom tells us that her name is Mirta and that she's actually a witch. We get back and Flora takes Mirta with her in hopes of curing her state. Bloom then tells us everything that went on.

"After finding out that my parents back on Earth are not actually my birth parents, I had so many questions and insecurities about my powers and origins. I couldn't find anything here, so I thought I'd be able to find some useful information in the Cloud Tower archives. Brandon helped me out in getting there and infiltrating the school without getting spotted, but the three witches were somehow aware of me being there and trapped me into believing I was actually a reincarnation of the three Ancestral Witches. I couldn't come back knowing that I was a threat to you all... But thankfully, Mirta had overheard the three witches' plans and reassured me that I wasn't in fact the reincarnation of the three Ancestral Witches. And then we were attacked... And they did such a horrible thing to Mirta... I just feel like it's all my fault."

We all sigh.

"Don't say that sweetie. I'll try my best to cure her, I promise."

Flora reassures Bloom. It's a good thing Flora's here since I'm not really good at comforting people.

I'm having a bad migraine, though. It's probably because I didn't sleep at all last night. It's far from nightfall, though, and I still have a class to go to. Potionology will not go well if I'm not fully alert. I hope Palladium doesn't notice it. He'll probably get worried and tell me to go rest instead of staying in class. It would look like favouritism... And the other fairies will not shut up about it. Rumours will spread... I don't even want to think about it. I should just get there and try to be as invisible as possible.