Found in Magic

By: Kyree Winx

Chapter 1- Loss and Disbanding

Sky was fighting off demon after demon. But the damn things kept getting back up. He glanced toward the limp body of his beloved. A fierceness crept into his heart and he fought voraciously. Every demon and the damn woman Lilith would pay for the hell Bloom had been put through. Sky stabbed and lunged with his weapon, when he heard Lilith scream. Sky turned and saw Bloom and Lilith wrestling. He saw a look of determination in Bloom's eyes, as they kept glancing at the death portal. Sky felt a sudden fear. Bloom wouldn't, Sky thought to himself. No.

Bloom grappled and somehow had maneuvered the fight near the portal. Then Bloom threw herself and Lilith into the portal. Lilith struggled and screamed, but Bloom held fast. As they fell the portal closed suddenly. Sky ran and fought past the demons toward the portal, but he knew it was no use. Bloom was dead and gone. Angst and sorrow ripped his heart and soul to shreds as he fell to his knees. Bloom was gone.

Sky woke up, gasping and sweating. He sat up and held his head in his hands. Then he looked at his clock. It read three a.m. "Shit." Sky closed his eyes tight as he felt tears coming. Today was the funeral for her. Bloom. It had been three weeks since the final battle with Lilith. Ever since Bloom went through the portal, Sky had been replaying the memory in his head, over and over. As much as he knew there had been nothing they could do, he felt he should've done something. "I shouldn't have agreed to let her go back to Sparks." Sky murmured.

Sky dragged himself out of bed and walked into his bathroom. He had a funeral to prepare for and a kingdom to run. He had no time for regret at that moment.

Miriam bustled about, busying herself with the…preparations. She tried not to think that this event would mark the funeral of her second child. No. if she did, she'd fall into an inconsolable state, as she'd been for the last two weeks.

"Your highness. These flowers just came in. They're from the Solarian court." The servant held a vase with beautiful sunflowers in it.

"Just…just set them over in the thrown room." Miriam forced the words out.

"Yes your majesty." The maid hurried away. Miriam turned and rushed outside. She needed fresh air. Once outside, she made her way to the garden. There she let it all out. She sobbed and cried.

"I killed my child." Miriam sobbed.

"Miriam." Oritel's voice sounded from behind her. Miriam hugged herself and turned toward him. He strode over and held her and Miriam just cried and let him hold her. "It wasn't our fault. Bloom threw herself into that portal."

"But we blamed her for Daphne's death! Oritel! If we hadn't done that…"

"There's no excuse for what we did." Oritel's tone was dark and filled with guilt and shame. "We condemned our own child. We should've known. But Bloom wouldn't want us, you, like this at all. Bloom was forgiving in everything that happened against her, and she wouldn't have blamed us in the end. She knew and understood our distress over Daphne. She knew, Miriam."

Miriam lay her head against Oritel's chest. She hadn't seen him cry over this once. Not once. But she knew he cried. She knew he'd loved Bloom dearly, though they'd missed much of her life. Oritel wouldn't cry in front of her. He felt the need to be strong for her, for the universe, and once upon a time for his children. Miriam loved him for that. It was that need for strength Bloom had inherited from her father. It was that need for strength that had made Bloom want to go to the Prima. In the end, that need to be strong forced Bloom to sacrifice herself for everyone. The universe, her parents, and her friends.

"The funeral will start soon." Oritel whispered the words gently. Miriam nodded and pulled away from her husband. Oritel leaned down and kissed her gently, then turned to finish his part of the preparations.

"Oritel." Miriam called. Oritel turned toward her. "Things will never be the same. I'll forever live with this regret." Oritel said nothing and turned back to do his duties.

Stella stood outside as people were giving King Oritel and Queen Miriam their condolences. She had cried all through the Ceremony of Extinguishment. The Winx all sat with her and they too cried profusely. Their best friend had strove once again to save the universe, and she paid with her life.

Stella felt a hand on her shoulder and turned to find Brandon. "Hey." Brandon pulled her close and Stella hugged him tight. Glancing over Brandon's shoulder, Stella spotted Layla standing alone. Stella hugged Brandon tighter; thinking about Layla and how alone she would feel now made Stella want to cry more.

Stella pulled away from Brandon's embrace and walked outside. She felt a presence next to her and saw Layla. Layla's eyes, like each of the girls', were tinted red after so much crying. They walked out and met up with the other girls under a tree on the palace grounds. They all stood in uncomfortable silence. Flora was still crying, tears streaming down her face. Roxy hugged her. Musa stood stoically, her arms crossed in an attempt to make them think she'd kept her cool. Tecna had been silent since the day Bloom had died. She stood and stared at the ground.

Stella finally spoke. "We've come because we have business to attend to." The Winx all looked at her in surprise. "The Winx Club was instituted and led by Bloom for five years now. Bloom is dead. We have no leader and we aren't strong enough to take on the evil of the universe ourselves."

"What are you saying?" Roxy looked at Stella, frowning. The others looked at Stella with looks of confusion and sadness.

"We could never defeat evils stronger than Lilith. Bloom's always fought the worst of the evils and she's taken them down every time. Now she's gone and we're all that's left." Stella bit her lip to keep herself from having another outburst of tears.

"So. Now what?" Musa asked quietly.

"We disband the Winx Club." Stella whispered. All the Winx girls looked at her. Flora began to sob, and Roxy began to console her. They fell into the uncomfortable silence again, with the only sound being the moans and sniffles of Flora. Finally, Tecna spoke for the first time in three weeks.

"She's correct. It is both proper and necessary to dissolve the faction that we called the Winx Club. We'll never be capable of defeating evils worse than Lilith." Tecna turned her back on the Winx girls. "I'll suppose this is the termination of our group. I'll say it first. Goodbye." With that said, Tecna was the first to break away from the Winx Club. Musa just turned and walked in another direction, no goodbye or anything. Flora pulled away from Roxy and ran off. Roxy looked at the ground and strode off. Layla gave Stella a long sad look and waved. Then she too walked off.

Stella felt her lip trembling. She wanted to cry out, to tell her friends to come back. But she knew that the Winx Club was over. She fell to her knees and sat there in the grass, until Brandon finally found her.

"Stella. Let me take you home." Brandon gently helped Stella to her feet. Stella stopped and turned back to the tree. From her purse she pulled out a small pouch. She opened it and dumped the contents onto the grass before her. Shards of the Scepter of Solaris fell into the grass. Stella stared at them for a minute.

"Goodbye, Bloom." Stella whispered. Then she turned back to Brandon and together they headed back to the palace of Sparks.