a fanatic heart;
❛ BRINGER OF DEATH ❜ ↷ fate
❝ we are in this together ❞

▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬

"Bloom has been in there for a long time." Terra spoke up, her words cutting through the tense silence in the tunnel. Bloom insisted on going to see Rosalind alone and they were all currently waiting for her to come out. "What could they be talking about?"

"I once heard you talk about 𝘥𝘪𝘳𝘵 for two hours." Stella deadpanned, "𝘋𝘪𝘳𝘵. 𝘛𝘸𝘰 𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘴."

Terra frowned, "It was soil. We just left Beatrix lying there in Miss Dowling's office." Musa flinched when she noticed Sabrina stiffening at the mention of the air fairy while Terra was completely oblivious to it and kept rambling. "I just want to make sure she's not awake, fashioning five shivs."

"Don't be ridiculous." Musa glared at her, her voice monotone, "It will be one shiv five times. Stab, stab, stab, stab, stab."

Tecna rolled her eyes and nudged their elbows together, "Tact, please."

"Can we just go and check, please?" Terra pleaded, causing Stella to scowl in annoyance.

"Fine." the Princess gave in, "But you are overreacting."

Sabrina huffed in annoyance but allowed Tecna to link their elbows together and followed her roommates back to Dowling's office. When they did arrive there, Beatrix was no longer lying across the floor. She was not even in the office which made it clear that she gained full consciousness a long time ago.

"Ah, look at that." Terra sighed as she nervously shifted on her feet, "She's gone. I'd like my apology via a scented handwritten note after we find her."

Musa's eyes glowed purple and widened a second later. "It gets worse."

Sabrina followed her gaze towards the closed door of the office just as they slammed open and Dowling came barging into the room with Professor Harvey . . . and Aisha right behind her.

"You have no idea of the trouble you've caused." The Headmistress snapped.

"We were just trying to ── "

"Not another word." Harvey cut his daughter off. "Come with me."

The five fairies slowly walked after him towards the exit of the office. Stella only halted in her step to throw a snide comment Aisha's way. "I hope the brownie points you get from this will keep you company when you have no friends."

Aisha kept her gaze on the floor, refusing to meet the eyes of her roommates. Was she ashamed? Guilty? Sabrina really hoped that she was.

-

"Insubordination, breaking and entering, endangering the lives of your classmates, and releasing Rosalind?" Harvey listed all the ways the group of fairies broke the school rules that day. All while they sat in front of him in complete silence. "Do you have any idea what you have done? I'd say I was disappointed in you, but this goes way beyond that."

Terra shook her head and surprised everyone when she stood up and yelled, "You lied again."

Her father stopped by the doorway and turned around to narrow his eyes at her. "Excuse me?"

"About Rosalind." Terra said firmly, her face hot from anger. "About Aster Dell. About everything. And you're angry with me? You can't punish me for not knowing something that you didn't tell me. It doesn't make any logical sense."

Harvey's jaw clenched, "Well, I suggest you all cool down."

He didn't give his own daughter a good response and simply turned on his heel again to make his way out of their dorm. Sabrina huffed and quickly got to her feet to make her way toward the doors. She pushed the doorknob down but it didn't budge. She blinked and furrowed her eyebrows, then pushed the doors harder. "He did not just lock us in. Fuck!" She angrily kicked the door with her fist and then rested her head against it.

"He must have used his magic to seal the doors." Terra sighed from behind her and placed a hand on her forearm. "There is no use in trying to break the seal. I caught him in a logic total, and he used his magic to ground us."

"That means you won." Stella said in an attempt to comfort her without getting sentimental. It was something she did a lot these days.

"He's overwhelmed." Musa noted, her eyes focused on the floor.

"Uh, where do you think you're going?" Stella's loud words made all of them look at Aisha who was making an attempt at sneaking away to her room while they were not paying attention to her. "I always knew that you were a teacher's pet. I just didn't realize that pet was a rat."

"I was planning on de-escalating the situation by removing myself from it." Aisha said, not even bothering to properly defend herself. She did not even look guilty. "But if you want to escalate ── "

"Can we just take a minute and cool off, please?" Tecna chimed in, rushing to stand between the two before things could escalate.

Musa nodded, already walking to her room while adding, "At least let me get my headphones."

The second that the mind fairy was out of the room and Tecna followed her, Stella continued the argument and glared at Aisha. "You always think you know what's best."

"Sorry, you have to actually be visible to have a point of view."

"Oh, you are not going there." Stella scoffed spitefully, "You don't snitch. Everyone over the age of five knows that. Even Terra knows that."

"Even I managed to push my loyalty towards Dowling aside in order to help my friends." Sabrina chimed in and crossed her arms over her chest, "Because I have my priorities in order, unlike you. I would not have told them anything even if they strapped me to a chair and tortured me as they did with Beatrix."

Aisha raised an unimpressed eyebrow, "Because you are better than me?"

"Exactly."

"There are Burned Ones outside the barrier." Aisha stated, making all of them fall silent. "Bloom is being selfish. The last thing that Miss Dowling needs is to be worried about Rosalind."

"Bloom is your friend." Sabrina said coldly. "You have no right to tell her when she is being selfish and when she isn't. Especially not when she is doing something to find out who she actually is. A real friend would help her and not put her in even deeper shit."

The Jackson girl shook her head to herself and made her way towards her room, harshly bumping shoulders with Aisha in the process.

-

Half an hour later, Sabrina was forced to leave her room when all of the lights in the dorm room started flickering, on and off.

"Are we having a power outage?" She heard Stella say when she and all of her roommates ❪ plus Terra's brother, Musa's boyfriend, and Sabrina's classmate, Sam ❫ walked out of their rooms.

"How does that even happen here?" Aisha asked with a confused frown on her face.

"That's the thing." Sabrina sighed, "It shouldn't. The electricity runs on Alfea's magic. Which means that something went wrong outside of the barrier."

"I'm going to check it out." Sam said and walked straight through the doors that were sealed shut.

Musa watched him leave with a look of unease on her face and Sabrina was quick to give her shoulder a comforting squeeze. "Relax. He will be fine."

Two minutes later, Terra's rambling about the school's electricity system was cut off by her brother being thrown back into the room through the doors. He fell face-first onto the floor and then trashed across the ground while yelling in pain.

"Sam!" Terra yelled and they didn't hesitate to rush to his side.

He wanted and through a pained groan, managed to say, "There is a Burned One in the school!"

Shit.

-

The wound on the side of Sam's stomach made Sabrina want to throw up. Blood was all getting everywhere; the floor, his entire stomach, and Musa's hands whenever she made a hesitant move to touch him.

"The infection is going to spread soon." Terra said hurriedly, her eyes wide as she stared down at her brother. Her words seemed to trigger something in Musa because her breath hitched and her eyes glowed.

"Musa? Are you okay?" Tecna asked her softly.

The Asian girl only snapped out of it a few seconds later and when she did, she ignored Tecna's concerned look and exclaimed. "Somebody do something."

"I've lost signal." Stella hesitantly announced from the other side of the room, her words making Sabrina's face fall. Sam was getting worse by the second and they couldn't do anything if they were locked inside their dorm room.

"He will get erratic without Zanbaq." Terra rushed out, "We need to get out."

Sabrina followed Stella and Terra toward the doors, ready to do whatever it took to open them. However, they all froze in front of it when something slammed against it. Repeatedly.

"Fuck. Fuck. Fuck." Sabrina chanted under her breath and followed Stella and Terra's movements by lifting her hands in the air. She did not care if she lost control as long as they got out.

She blinked in surprise when the doors opened and what was waiting for them on the other side was not a Burned One but Bloom, Brandon, and Sky.

"Hi." Sky awkwardly said, his eyes glued to his girlfriend.

Relief washed over Stella's face as she stared between him and Brandon. "Hey."

Sam's panting cut their reunion short and Terra quickly said, "We have to get help."

"Oh shit." Brandon's eyes widened when they fell onto the wound on Sam's stomach, while Bloom and Sky gaped at him in shock.

"He said there's a Burned One in the school." Musa told Bloom and the two specialists, her voice still full of panic no matter how hard Rain tried to calm her down.

"We need to get him to the courtyard." Sky said while he and Brandon lifted him off of the floor. "They're barricading it off. We'll be safe there."

-

No one was left behind in the dorm room and all the girls trailed behind Sky and Brandon while they settled Sam onto one of the tables in the courtyard.

"I need Zanbaq, now!" Harvey called over his shoulder, his panicked eyes completely glued on his son as his screams of pain filled the room. "There is so much blood. Why didn't you bring him immediately?"

"Because you locked us in our dorm." Sabrina couldn't help but snap, her words laced with disbelief. Harvey's mouth snapped shut and he only stared at her for a couple of seconds before he looked back at Sam.

"As I'm sure that you are aware," Dowling's voice made all of the students in the courtyard turn their attention towards her "Burned Ones have infiltrated the barrier and the school. For some reason, the magical energy wells which power everything at the school have failed. I managed to speak with Queen Luna before they did. She understands the gravity of what's happening here and the Solarian troops are on their way." Sabrina would be lying if she said that that announcement didn't make her much more relieved. "We are barricading all entrances to the courtyard. We are safe for now but we must prepare for the reality; that the Burned Ones may infiltrate the space before they arrive. This is what we've been training for. Be cautious, but be brave. Let magic guide you, and let's show them what it means to be Alfeans. Prepare the barricade."

All of the fairies in the room scattered away at her words and Sabrina immediately turned to look between Brandon and Sky. "Where the hell is Riven?"

"Last time I saw him he was with the other specialists." Brandon told her, "I'm sure that he's fine."

"He better be." Sabrina muttered to herself with a frown on her face, her eyes falling on Bloom following after Dowling over Brandon's shoulder. "I should probably help . . . somehow."

"Yeah." Brandon sighed and stopped her from walking away by grabbing her wrist. "I'm sorry about what I said at training. I was just angry and now ── "

"Now Stella is back and you feel like you can breathe again?" She raised a knowing eyebrow. "Trust me. I get it."

He let out a relieved breath, "Thanks."

-

Musa, Terra, and Tecna were with Sam and Sabrina saw Bloom and Sky talking behind a corner so she made her way toward Stella.

"I broke up with him." Stella said before the dark-haired girl could even open her mouth. "We were toxic for each other before Bloom was even in the picture. It was only a matter of time and I'm not sad about it." Her smile faltered for a split second. "Well, not too sad."

Sabrina nodded and wrapped her arms around her shoulders to give her a side hug, "I'm happy for you. Letting him go is step one of realizing that you both deserve better than a relationship where you hold each other back."

"Yeah." Stella's smile became more genuine at her words but then her face formed a grimace. "Now I just have to face Solaria again. I always have run away from it but it just keeps following me."

"Don't worry, I'll hide you."

Stella leaned into the hug just as Aisha walked over to them.

"I know Bloom." She said the second she was close enough, "She won't just sit around and do nothing. Especially if she thinks that this is all her fault."

Stella gave her a bitter smile, "If only her friend hadn't turned on her."

Aisha scoffed in disbelief, "Really? You're still doing this? I feel bad, okay? Is that what you want me to say?"

"It would be nice if you meant it." Sabrina shot back with a blank look on her face.

"I do." Aisha pushed, "I figured the fact that I'm coming to you two of all people would tell you that I do. What more do you want?"

Sabrina relaxed against the fall behind her and stayed quiet in defeat while Stella looked around them to make sure that Dowling was nowhere in sight. Then, she asked, "So what do you think she's gonna do?"

All three girls were startled when Bloom appeared around the corner and announced, "Probably something reckless and crazy, but for once, I'm not going to do it alone. Come on."

-

The four fairies made their way into the hospital wing and through a secret passage in the floor there. Sabrina had no idea that it was even there and wanted to question how Bloom knew that but chose not to. The secret passage led towards the graveyard outside of the barrier which was cool and all but Sabrina wanted to get the hell out of there as soon as possible.

"Come on." Bloom called over her shoulder, "We have to make sure that the Burned Ones are following me."

Yes. That was Bloom's reckless plan. The Burned Ones were only at the school because they were after Bloom and the second she left it and got outside of the barrier, they would follow after her.

"My mom is going to be here soon with an actual army." Stella told them.

Bloom shook her head, "They won't be here in time, Stella. The Burned Ones are after me. They have always been after me." A Burned One's snarl in the distance made them all stop. "Rosalind taught me how to stop them but I have to draw more magic than I ever have before and . . . I don't know what's gonna happen when I do."

"It's okay." Aisha assured her, "I'll make sure we are safe and that you are too. I can surround you with water in case the flames get too big."

"You won't see us but we will be right here." Stella added.

"You will have to surround Sabrina too." Bloom told Aisha and then looked at said girl, "You know that I can't do this without you, right?"

Sabrina put her hand in hers, "And you won't have to. We are in this together."

"Rosalind wants me to believe that she is the person I need to get through this." Bloom said shakily, "She's not."

The Jackson girl gave her a small smile and they took a few steps away from Stella and Aisha when the sound of Burned Ones got too loud. Their hands were still holding when Bloom's eyes started glowing red and Sabrina's became all black. Bloom's flame made it so much easier for Sabrina to channel the fear around her and the shadows instantly started surrounding both of them. Bloom's fire soon did the same.

Aisha's water wall surrounded them but Bloom's fire didn't seem like it needed taming. It shifted into huge wings that adored her back. A shocked laugh left Bloom's lips when her eyes fell on the girl next to her and she smiled in amazement at the fact that black wings made out of shadows were on Sabrina's back too.

When the two fell back on the ground, they let go of each other's hands but it was obvious that they were still anchoring each other because Sabrina has never felt stronger. Bloom burned half of the Burned Ones while Sabrina absorbed them with her shadows.

It was the most satisfying thing that she has ever seen.

When Sabrina got a closer look at the fallen Burned Ones, she was surprised to see that they looked human. "What the hell?" She muttered with wide eyes.

Dowling came jogging towards the two fairies before they got a chance to question the scene before them further. She looked relieved that both of them were okay. "Well done, girls."

"Yeah . . . " Sabrina trailed off, feeling the energy she got off of Bloom disappear as quickly as it got there. She clung to Bloom's wrist but it did not help much because the redhead was as weak as she was. Dowling rushed to keep them from falling down just as Aisha and Stella ran up to them.

"What's wrong?" The former asked with wide eyes full of concern.

"They are okay." Dowling assured her, "They are just weak. Maybe you girls want to help take her back to your room?"

Sabrina's vision was blurry and so were the words coming out of Dowling's mouth but she allowed Stella to slip one of her arms around her shoulders in order to help her back to the school.

"We did it." Bloom whispered with a small smile gracing her lips.

Sabrina let out a shaky chuckle, "Yeah, we did."

-

The following morning, Sabrina and Bloom were immediately invited to Dowling's office. And while Sabrina was pretty tired, she would be lying if she said she didn't have a good night's sleep after she and Bloom were the first two fairies in decades to fully transform.

"How are you feeling?" Dowling asked them with a warm smile that was a huge contrast from the disappointed scowl that she was wearing for the last two weeks.

Bloom shrugged, "A bit rough, but, you know, I'll survive."

"I'm fine too." Sabrina said with a small strained smile on her face, "I just . . . feel different?" Her eyebrows furrowed thoughtfully before she shook her head. "I don't even know how I feel, actually. It's all confusing."

Dowling nodded in understanding. "Well, you drew on a great deal of magic last night. You two are bound to feel trained for a day or two ── "

"I've been a brat." Bloom cut her off, making Sabrina's eyes widen, "I can't stop thinking about what I said to you last night. You've . . . you've been incredible to me. You found me when I was lost, brought me to a safe place, and gave me guidance. You . . . surrounded me with amazing people. And I've just been ── "

"It's forgiven." Dowling was the one to cut her off this time, the smile on her face genuine.

"Do you, um," Bloom stuttered, "Can we . . . hug?"

Sabrina chuckled and watched as Dowling got to her feet and pulled the fire fairy in for a hug. The Headmistress looked at Sabrina over Bloom's shoulder and said, "Come here."

Sabrina's smile softened and she only hesitated for a second before she got up too and allowed Dowling to pull her into a group hug. ❪ She and Bloom seemed to be doing a lot of those in these last few days. ❫ The three of them pulled away after a few seconds and Dowling cleared her throat before she said, "When I became Headmistress I made a decision to become a figurehead. To project strength. It's what students your age need. Admitting mistakes invites uncertainty. But not admitting them means people you care about have to ask you if you hug. I should have been more honest with you early on, Bloom."

"I mean . . . maybe, but maybe I needed time." Bloom admitted, "I can't keep ignoring my life back home and lying to my parents. They deserve to know what I am and what happened to their real daughter. The truth."

a/n: guess who was an idiot that was convinced season 1 had 7 episodes instead of 6? me.

anyways, first chapter of season 2 might come out tomorrow and it might come sometime next week but before that, I have one more chapter of season 1 that I have to post