Chapter Three

Professor Avalon instantly crouched down next to Bloom, his expression full of concern. Will couldn't help vaguely noticing that Bloom's outfit consisted of jeans and a blue T-shirt with yellow sleeves while her shoes were like platform sandals or something—not the type of clothing one would wear in the winter.

So, that most likely meant that wherever she was now, either they didn't have winter (or if they did, the climate here was really mild) or were at a different point in the school semester. Which reminded her: She had to find out the time difference between this planet and Earth. Her mom still thought she was out on a walk; her friends were all at the Karmilla concert back at the Heatherfield stadium.

As soon as the blonde girl had shown up, Musa and Layla had made themselves scarce. Will briefly swept her gaze over the newcomer—something about the girl reminded her of Cornelia—before turning her attention to Bloom.

"I really don't know what happened, Professor," she said, looking downcast. She removed her hand from her cheek, looked over at him with upset blue eyes. "I felt kinda like I was possessed, as if someone else was talking through me. It was horrible!"

The professor was holding her right hand in his; his left came up to rest on the top of her head. Bloom smiled at the contact, and Will's eyes narrowed. Looks like someone has a crush on the professor.

"I think Lockette's right," Professor Avalon said. "You seem to have picked up a mischievous shadow virus while traveling." His left hand cupped his chin in thought. "I can whip up a special spell to remove it before it gets any worse," he said, standing.

"I'm going back to Red Fountain," Timmy said. He turned to leave. "And if you happen to see Techna," he said to Bloom, "could you tell her I was looking for her?"

"Sure thing," Bloom said with a smile as she picked herself up off the floor. "And I'm sorry about that levitation and stuff."

"H-hey, no problem," Timmy said as he ran a hand through his hair to dislodge some of the leaves. He waved good-bye. "See you girls later."

"Bye, Timmy!" Bloom and the blonde called after him.

"Do you think you can keep Bloom out of trouble until I return?" Professor Avalon asked the blonde girl.

"Don't worry, Professor," she said with a smile. "I won't let it happen again. And luckily I know of an absolute sure-fire way to keep the shadows at bay." She flashed a grin and a finger gun. "It's total makeover time!"

Will rolled her eyes. "I don't think that's going to help," she commented.

The professor, blonde, and Bloom all turned to stare at her as if noticing her for the first time. "Who're you?" the blonde asked suspiciously, her golden-brown eyes narrowing.

Will sighed. "Will. I don't suppose you could tell me who you are and where I am? I jumped through a space-time fold after these three girls attacked me back on Earth and ended up here."

"Stella, Princess of Solaria and the Fairy of the Sun and Moon. This is the Alfea College for Fairies in the Magix dimension. Now, if you don't mind—"

Bloom's blue gaze was suddenly alert. "Three girls attacked you?" she asked. "What were their names?"

"Stormy, Icy, and uh… Darcy."

"And you survived?"

Why did she sound so surprised? "Yeah. As you can see, I've got some magic of my own. But as for that shadow virus…" Will stepped closer to Bloom. "I can sense dark magic. You were definitely under some influence—and your eyes…"

"What about my eyes?" Bloom sounded defensive.

"They were gold, snakelike. Reminded me a bit of this snake guy from Meridian I've fought in the past. You're sure you've never met a guy called Lord Cedric?"

Now Bloom looked confused, flustered. "No. I mean, no, I haven't."

Stella glared at Will and put an arm around her friend. "C'mon, Bloom. Let's go see if we can make you feel better with a makeover."

Will just rolled her eyes as the two fairies walked off and turned to Professor Avalon—only to find that the professor was already gone.

Oh, great. With a sigh, Will took to the air again. At the very least, while the other girls were keeping Bloom occupied, she could take a look around this place—Alfea College, wasn't it?—and see if she could find someone who would actually talk to her. Maybe that professor, for starters…

-x-

The makeover session seemed to go on for hours. Bloom and Lockette, after being treated to who knew how many skin and hair treatments (there may have been a hot bath in there at some point) had finally been forced into a soft cushy robes with towels tying up their hair so it wouldn't be in the way of the makeup and powder brushes. Bloom's hands and feet were being treated to a manicure and pedicure, respectively—though both Lockette and her coughed due to powdery clouds at one point, she found she didn't really mind.

Besides, it was sort of fun and relaxing…

Once her nails and makeup were done and her hair was dry, the rest of the Winx Club encouraged her to try on several different outfits—with Stella being the main voice of approval, of course.

At last the girls decided on a pale pink tank top, bellbottom jeans with flower designs, and retro-style shades with Bloom's mass of red hair done up in a fancy bun. Stella, after pretending to be stunned by Bloom's radiance, suggested that now the girls move on to giving her a makeover when Bloom suddenly grimaced and clasped both her hands to her head in pain.

Techna, Musa, Flora, Layla, Stella, and the girls' bonded pixies gasped and stared in a mixture of astonishment and fear as Bloom flickered back and forth between her human and fairy forms. Her fairy form stayed after a few seconds, and she angrily removed the glasses and shook out her hair. "I've had enough of these stupid dress-up games!" Bloom snarled. She stalked forward, pushing the others out of the way—and letting them have a good look at her golden eyes. "Get out of my way! I have important business to attend to!"

"It's that shadow virus Professor Avalon was talking about!" Lockette told the others in her high-pitched voice. She flew after Bloom before the other pixies could stop her.

-x-

On a far-away throne in Shadowhaunt, the skeletal figure of Lord Darkar the Shadow Phoenix smiled as he watched Bloom with his magic. "It's so wonderful when the light finally sees the darkness." An evil laugh left his throat. "Go, my little puppet!"

-x-

After twenty or so minutes (it might have been longer) of flying around the school and not finding anyone willing to talk to her, Will had decided to head back to Bloom's dormitory. She was rather suspicious of the fairy, if she admitted it to herself.

So Will wasn't all that surprised when she spotted Bloom walking quickly down one of the hallways with her pixie trailing after her.

Curious, the Guardian followed the redheaded fairy, flying far enough back and ahead that Bloom wouldn't notice her but she could hear any conversation.

"Go away, Lockette. I'm not in the mood to hear you squeak and whimper right now."

"Why don't we go back to your room with your friends," Lockette suggested, "instead of going wherever it is you're going?" The little pixie looked dejected as Bloom ignored her and kept right on walking.

"You're the pixie of portals and passageways and all that. Shouldn't you already know where I'm going?"

The hallway narrowed, the ceiling lowered, and Will was forced to fly closer to Bloom and Lockette. Apparently the pixie recognized their location. "Oh no," she squeaked.

"That's right," Bloom said with a dark laugh. She paused in front of a painting, studied it for a second, then turned to the blank wall opposite and reached out. "Here it is." Her hand curled around an invisible doorknob, and she pushed the door open and stepped inside.

"The invisible door!" Lockette cried.

"The formerly secret archives of Alfea," Bloom confirmed. "We're here to steal the codex!"