Winx Club - Eternal Spark

Chapter 1: Troubled nights

Bloom had been dreaming about Valtor every night since the day he disappeared. Every night, in her dreams, she would see a weakened Valtor struggling to his feet a few meters away from her, only to disappear behind a cloud of black smoke with a smug smile on his face. The dream always ended the same way, even though she desperately wished for a different ending, one where she'd defeat him. Her brain was stubbornly refusing to allow her to imagine this scenario, even for one night.

But things had just changed. Tonight, for the first time in what felt like an eternity, she hadn't dreamed of Valtor. If she'd expected to dream of something nice for a change - like cute rabbits and butterflies - she didn't. The new dream was much worse than its predecessors, actually. So bad that it almost made her regret Valtor. At least, he was kind of nice to look at, but she couldn't say the same for Erendor.

His crabby face had appeared to her the moment she had closed her eyes. She had to relive the entirety of his little broadcast despite her desperate attempts to wake up. Apparently, pinching yourself only worked in Alice in Wonderland.

The hardest part of all this wasn't so much Erendor - who she never even liked to begin with (and the feeling was mutual) - but the fact that Sky stood by his side. More than his presence, it was his silence that was unbearable. He just stood there, straight-faced, and complacent, while his father basically told the whole magical dimension that her and her friends were a bunch of duffers who were responsible for all that was wrong in the world. The king had also completely forgotten to mention that the specialists - which included his precious son - had also been part of the mission, and that they were equally responsible for its failure, and yet...Sky said absolutely nothing to set the record straight.

After dreaming the scene for the tenth time, Bloom finally woke up, covered in sweat, her body shaking with anger. She stood up in a huff and looked at her glistening body. It was uncomfortably hot, as if her powers had been acting out while she was sleeping. She remained still for a few minutes before eventually deciding to go outside get some fresh air.

She'd rather not sleep, really.

The room around her was pitch black. She glanced at her alarm clock, the only thing glowing in the darkness of the room. It was two in the morning. Only an hour more than when she had gone to sleep. She had barely slept for forty minutes... Well, actually she had been listening to Erendor's babbling for forty minutes.

She materialized a spark that shone a faint orange light into the darkened room, just enough for her to see. Careful not to wake Flora, she left her bed and tiptoed to the entrance of the room. Opening the door with the utmost delicacy, she stepped out into the hallway before stopping dead in her tracks, her eyes naturally wandering to Flora's bed. She couldn't help but check on Flora every time she got up at night, it was a habit she had developed after living with her for so long. Most of the time, Flora would be in a deep sleep. On the rare occasions when she wasn't asleep, she would be writing in her diary, illuminated by a magical sphere of light. Since there was no light in the room, Bloom had assumed she was sleeping.

Well, that wasn't the case.

The fairy of nature was sitting on her bed, her knees pressed tightly to her chest, completely absent-minded as she gazed into oblivion. It seemed as if she hadn't even noticed Bloom's presence at the door. Bloom's heart leapt into her chest. It was as if she'd just seen a ghost.

"Flo... Flora! Are you alright? You scared me!"

Flora shivered, as if Bloom's voice had just jolted her out of her catatonic state. Bags had formed under her tired eyes.

"...I can't seem to fall asleep," she admitted in a weak voice. "I just can't stop thinking about everything that happened today and it makes me feel restless. I've tried everything to calm myself down, but it's no use..."