Title: Underground
Word Count: 3,799
Summary: "Trust me when I say people can feel love even when most of their hearts are consumed by darkness." I looked back at Baltor, still standing there. "Don't kill Ogron. You'll regret it."
Pairings: Sparxshipping, Roxy/Ogron (which from here on out I'm calling 'Oxygen'; ship name accomplished!)
Part of: The Bowie Trilogy. This is story #3. It is preceded by As the World Falls Down (published 7.22.12) and Magic Dance (published 2.14.14).
Suggested Listening: Best Day of My Life by American Authors for the Fruity Music Bar scene.
A/N: At this point, reading the first two will probably help you, since there's a bit of set-up for Roxy & Ogron and the Sparxshipping elements. And it'll make the ending much more worthwhile. Speaking of endings; no, I will not write anything extra for this trilogy. All threats to do so should be addressed to my work and preferably should include snacks.

The Omega Dimension was no different from the freezing Hell I'd encountered a year ago. In fact the only difference was the people; Morgana and her fairies (who were finally on our side), and Nebula and Layla (who were definitely not on our side).

And of course, the little third-party problem.

"Roxy with me!" I yelled over my shoulder, taking a sharp right into a smaller cavern. "We need to split up if we want to find Ogron and the Fairy Hunters before Nebula!"

"Bloom -" Flora started, glancing back at the large group we were now a part of.

"No time!" I shouted back. "Keep going through the main caverns! I'll send Roxy back if we find them!"

I expected more of an argument, but to my surprise Morgana jumped to my aid. "Bloom is right. If Nebula finds Ogron before we do, things may turn ugly. Splitting up is our best plan." She looked right at me. "Keep my daughter safe."

"I will."

Before anyone could say anything else, I flew off into the smaller cavern. I heard Roxy follow after a few seconds, desperate to catch up with me. "Bloom!" she yelled, her voice a mixture of panic and confusion.

Flames were licking my fingers, and it almost seemed like red was dancing at the corners of my eyes. I was angry, more angry than I'd ever been. I knew, I knew trusting Ogron for even a minute was nothing but trouble. But no, I'd let it go. My doubt had faded the moment I knew something was going on between him and Roxy. Because for that single moment I believed that maybe there was a chance. A chance I'd never had at loving and being loved in return by someone. I wanted Roxy to have the chance I'd never had with Baltor.

And now look what it'd accomplished.

"Bloom! Slow down, please!"

Abruptly, my wings halted. I turned to face Roxy, the young fairy almost ramming into me. "Your boyfriend better have a really wonderful explanation for this."

Roxy's cheeks reddened. "Ogron didn't -"

"Ogron didn't what? Know? Roxy, it's his fault Nabu's dead."

She opened her mouth, but no sound came out. "There has to be a reason he's acting like this."

"I don't have time for reasoning; half the people in this cave want his head on a platter. If he tries to shoot at me it won't end well."

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Roxy's eyes widen. "Are you going to kill him?"

My anger seemed to stall at the look on her face. "Not if I don't have to."

Roxy looked like she wanted to say something, but I flew off before she could. I heard an irritated sigh as she took off after me. "I know you're mad at him - "

"Are you defending him?" I asked in pure disbelief. "After you watched him murder Nabu? God, I knew this was a bad idea! I should have never agreed to help you; I should've seen it was a lie!"

"How do you know he's lying?" Roxy shot back from behind me. It was the first time I'd heard her even a little angry.

"Because that's how it works, Roxy! They manipulate you into thinking they care and then when you least expect it, they turn on you. That's exactly what Ogron's done, and if we don't stop it it's going to get worse!" Nabu's death was still fresh in my mind, but other memories floated in; watching Layla become blinded on Tides, thinking for weeks that we'd lost Tecna, thinking for years I'd lost my birth parents… "I won't let what happened to me happen to you, Roxy!"

"That's not fair and you know it!" she shouted back.

"This isn't about fairness, Roxy. It's about keeping you safe!"

"Ogron isn't Baltor!"

We'd entered a larger cavern area, at least a hundred feet deep. Ice lined the walls and giant stalagmites rose up from the ground. On the far side there was deep gorge, maybe eight feet wide that led into another cavern. I looked around, trying to sense anything out of the ordinary. "This has nothing to do with Baltor," I finally said.

"You're scared what happened between you two is going to happen to me."

"Minus the makeout sessions, It's exactly the same!"

"Baltor and Ogron are two completely different people! I know he hurt you, and trust me I feel pretty shitty right now. I'm not asking you to overlook what he did. I'm asking you to help me find out why."

"Roxy you need to…" I trailed off as I heard the sound of crunching ice, and across the gorge in the other cavern, three figures came around the corner, all male. Gantlos, Anagan, and Ogron stopped short. My eyes met Ogron's, and for a moment I saw a look of sheer panic come over his face. But then my gaze shifted to the right, and I just saw Anagan launch a blast of energy into the air. Gantlos followed suit, and both of the balls combined and headed right for us.

"Roxy get down!" I shoved her below me and launched a shield, magic wrapping around us. I had a faint hope I could do something, but my shield wasn't strong enough as the magic blast went right through it.

"No!" I heard Ogron yell, and anything else was drowned out as the blast engulfed part of Roxy and myself. Everything was happening so fast, and then it suddenly slowed down and the world went black.

"Well you've certainly made an interesting bunch of friends and acquaintances while I was gone."

The back of my head was pounding, but cleared slightly at the deep, sarcastic voice that reached my ears. I managed to pry my eyes open, blinking away the haze and small ice pieces that had settled on my eyelashes. The first thing I noticed was that I was partially encased in a block of ice, much like the rest of the prisoners. My hands and lower body were completely encased, my back supported by a giant stalagmite. Instinctively, I started creating fireballs in my hands to melt the ice and get free.

"Now, now, you'll have plenty of time for that."

I snapped my head around. There was a man sitting on a block of ice a few feet from me. His long red blonde hair hanging over one shoulder, looking exactly like the dreams I'd been having over the last few months. His golden eyes were fixed on me, shining with mischief. I tried to keep calm, but I still took a sharp intake of breath, the cold air filling my chest and snapping me awake.

Baltor smirked. "Hello, darling."

It was quiet for a few moments as we took each other in. It was as though nothing about him had changed. Everything was the same down to the dark gloves on his hands. There was a short amount of time where I felt a sense of relief that he'd somehow survived everything, but then I remembered the trek into Sybilla's forest and the dreams I had, and my stomach dropped again. "You aren't real."

"That's funny, I feel perfectly -"

"Don't," I cut off. "I don't have time for this. You're nothing more than a figment of my imagination. Just like Sybilla's test." He raised an eyebrow at that comment, but I didn't pay attention as I started taking a better look around. "Where's Roxy?"

"The pink-haired one?" Baltor nodded to the right, and I followed his line of sight to the other cavern across the gorge. I could clearly see Roxy, standing on the edge of the cavern near the gaping hole that must've gone down for miles. Rings of magic were around her, and they appeared to be draining her fairy form. Gantlos and Anagan were several feet from her, equally close to falling to their death. In fact the only person who was safely away from the edge of the cliff was Ogron, looking at Roxy with poorly masked fear. "She's having a few problems."

I stared at them for another moment. "They aren't moving."

"Nothing is."

"So this is a dream."

Baltor's smirk faded. "For the sake of avoiding argument, let's say it is; you're still listening to me."

I didn't respond.

"Of course I may have just siphoned power off you to put you in temporary state of suspended animation; our combined powers would really have been something…" My eyes narrowed, and Baltor trailed off. "Right, this isn't supposed to be real. But that still begs the question, Bloom; why bring me here?"

My gaze shifted back to Ogron and Roxy. "Would I be correct in assuming Gantlos and Anagan are waiting for Ogron to kill Roxy?"

"You would be. His friends seem to be getting rather impatient."

I turned back to Baltor. "He doesn't want to kill her, does he?"

"I would agree based on what I saw. Interesting though, considering he's supposed to be killing her."

Regardless if Baltor was real or not, I rolled my eyes. "They're in love, you idiot."

He raised an eyebrow. "Are they? That certainly...complicates things."

I looked back at Roxy, her eyes alight with pain. "God, why did I even tell her this was a good idea?"

There was a chuckle. "You, love, would seem like the very last person to support such a relationship."

"I wanted her to have a chance at what I couldn't have!" I snapped, glaring daggers at Baltor. "I thought Orgon would be better than a petty villain, and better than you were. I wasn't about to sacrifice her happiness just because the rest of the girls wanted to see her go off to Alfea like the rest of the fairies of the world. Not when he looked at her..." the words died off on my tongue, but they didn't need to be said. Just like the way you looked at me.

It was as though I'd slapped the smirk off his face. "You could have told me." he said after a moment.

I laughed bitterly. "And what? We would have gone off together? Would you have given up everything for me?"

"I have nothing now." he shot back.

"You're also a dream." Baltor opened his mouth like he was going to start yelling, but I turned away. "And her dream is a nightmare. And I plan on ending it."

Baltor laughed. "It seems the only way you know how to end relationships like these is to kill one of the two people."

My eyes narrowed. "That's the plan."

Baltor blinked. "Bloom."

"There's nothing good in him. He killed Nabu; he almost killed Morgana. I'm not letting anyone else die on my watch, especially not Roxy. There's...there's no way he can really love her."

It was silent for a few moments. "Trust me when I say people can feel love even when most of their hearts are consumed by darkness."

I gulped.

"If anything you just said was true, then you know killing him isn't the right thing to do."

That caused me to laugh. "Playing my conscience now?"

"According to you, I'm not even real. Which is really wasting my time."

"Then leave!"

"That's the plan." His smirk came back, and he stood up, brushing ice from his jacket. He hit something with his foot, and I saw a name plate hit the ground. My eyes widened; I knew the written language used in the Omega Dimension, and had read enough history textbooks to recognize Baltor's name. "But before I do go, let me leave you with this."

He snapped his fingers, and the ice around me started to melt. Surprised, I added my own magic, stopping when there was nothing but a thin layer around my boots. I looked back at Baltor, still standing there. "Don't kill him. You'll regret it."

"Hmph," I huffed. "And how do you know that?"

"Because what if we were standing there, and there was a woman about to kill me?" I didn't respond, but I felt a tug at my chest. Baltor smiled knowingly. "He's not dead, you know."

"What?"

"Ophir. Nabu. Whatever the hell his name is; he's not dead. Not technically."

With that, he started to fade away. I watched until the wind started to pick up again, forcing me to turn my head. When I did, my eyes surprisingly locked with Orgon's, apparently unfrozen. His jaw was open slightly, and when I turned back there was the faintest outline of a man where Baltor used to be. A clump of snowflakes blew past, and when they did the space was empty. But Baltor's name plaque was still on the ground.

"What are you waiting for; do it Ogron! Before I do!" I turned back when Gantlos started yelling. Ogron's eyes were still on me, and I knew he had seen the outline of...whatever it was that had talked to me. Finally, Gantolos and Anagan turned to look in the direction Ogron was. Roxy followed suit.

I knew I had only moments to do something. I said the first thing that came into my mind. "Is Nabu alive?" I yelled. "Would closing the abyss really be enough to kill someone?"

Ogron seemed surprised. He glanced at the other two wizards, then back to me. "It's enough to drain a man's power for years. But Morgana told you the truth; he's not dead."

And that was all it took. I broke the ice around my feet and took to the air, fireballs forming in my hands. I nodded at Ogron, and I knew he understood me. At the same time, we both launched our magic, purple and red combining. It came together, turning into dark looking ice…

That promptly flew towards Gantlos and Anagan.

I saw Anagan try to make a break for it, but it was too late. Ice encased both of them in a matter of seconds, leaving nothing but ice statues. I launched another blast of my own magic, encasing them in double layer of magic protection. Ogron stomped his foot, and purple magic shot out to the edge of cliff, cracking it around the two. And in the next moment they plunged into the abyss, silence falling over the caverns again.

"Roxy, are you alright?" Almost as a second thought, I shot my hand out, and the bands of magic around her dissipated, her fairy form flickering back to life.

She nodded at me once, then turned and without a second thought ran for Ogron. He met her halfway and wrapped his arms around her, holding her tight against his chest. I watched him alternate between whispering in her ear and kissing her forehead, her cheek, anywhere his lips could reach. Her shoulder were shaking with silent sobs, her fingers digging into the fabric of his shirt. Finally Roxy raised her head, and when she did Ogron leaned down and met her lips.

Slowly, I floated back to the ground, snow crunching under my feet. The plaque was still there, snow already starting to bury it. On an instinct, I picked it up, brushing the ice away until I could read it. The name on it didn't change. I looked down at the large heap of ice it'd been propped up next to, and instinctively I reached out and ran my hand across it.

Maybe it was my imagination, but it felt warm.

The last night of performances at the Fruity Music, Bar were insane, to say the least. Between the Winx final show, Faragonda showing up, and the goodbyes that were being said, it was well past midnight when the girls and I walked off the stage.

"You know, I'm really gonna miss this," Stella said, propping her guitar up on the stage.

"Speak for yourself," Muse smirked, "I'm already writing songs for our comeback tour."

We laughed, and soon the boys were gathering around, making small talk. Sky came up next to me, smiling but not reaching out to kiss me or hold my hand. Instinctively, I wondered if Roxy had said something to him. Or maybe he'd figured it out himself. "It sucks you guys have to spend your last night here working." I said, offering a small smile.

He returned it. "It's the least we can do. It's going to be hard going back to royal life after this."

"No kidding. When are you all leaving?"

"Late tomorrow morning. Or today I guess." We both laughed. "Goodbyes have all been said, even to your insufferable ex."

"Love you too, Sky!" I heard Andy yell from somewhere in the crowd.

I snorted, trying (and failing) not to laugh. "And Roxy?"

"And Roxy," Sky agreed. "Speaking of which, have you seen her?"

"No...why? Is something wrong?" My heart stopped for a moment, then started beating rapidly.

"She was holding out on us!" Riven said, sounding equally annoyed and impressed.

"Holding out?" Tecna raised an eyebrow. "About what?"

"You won't believe it," Brandon said, "but her boyfriend's here."

Flora's jaw dropped. "What? No!"

"Never mind what, who?" Stella demanded.

"Some brunette guy from the North Shore. He's been away half the summer as a camp counselor. Over there," Helia jerked his head, and we all turned towards the bar. Roxy was talking to someone, their back facing us.

"This demands immediate investigation!" Stella said, pushing her sleeves up.

"Oh no you don't," Layla said, grabbing her arm. "What he needs is a friendly greeting, not an interrogation. From one person."

"I'll go," I volunteered. "I need a drink anyway."

"You're the favorite anyway," Stella winked. "Bring back all the details!"

"As if I wouldn't!" I said. I gave Sky's shoulder a friendly squeeze, and headed off to the bar. Roxy saw me coming, smiled, and waved. The man with her turned around, setting his drink down on the bar.

"I'm impressed," I remarked as I approached. "The disguise spell really does suit you."

Ogron chuckled, wrapping his free hand around Roxy's waist to pull her close. "Just tell me I don't look anything like one of these ridiculous surfer bums and I'll live."

I glanced over the longish brown hair (pulled into a ponytail at the base of his neck), dark blue shirt, black jeans, and sandals. "Not too bad. You still manage to look like a complete ass, though."

He smirked. "I'm glad I could impress you."

"Yes, I'm sure that's very high on your list." I took a sip of my drink. "So what's the plan? I take it you aren't going to Alfea?"

Roxy shook her head. "No. Not yet, anyway. I'm going to take the rest of the summer off. Travel the world, and maybe try to get a better handle on my powers. Word on the street is I've acquired an excellent tutor."

Ogron chuckled and kissed her forehead.

My lips quirked. "Do your parents know?"

"Klaus does. He's...well, keeping most of his opinions to himself, which I really appreciate. He's told Morgana I'm going away on a school trip for the rest of the summer. If anyone asks, I've been planning it since before I met you."

"That's probably for the best."

"We think so too." Roxy smiled. "And what about you? Any big plans?"

"Pack up the house, I guess. Faragonda wants us back at Alfea by the start of the new term. Until then, we have nothing planned. Layla might go back home for her cousin's coronation as the next King of Andros."

Ogron's smile faded slightly. "I wish I could tell you what'll happen to Nabu. It maybe be days before he wakes up again. It may be years."

Slowly, I nodded. "You didn't mean to."

"That doesn't excuse it."

"I know. But the fact that he has a chance...that's something we can all look forward to."

Ogron gave a small smile.

I shoved my hands into the pockets of my dress. "Well, I don't want to keep you guys from your grand world tour. I just came to say goodbye. Roxy...thank you for all your help. You made us all stronger."

Roxy smiled and hugged me. "Thank you for giving us a chance."

"Thank you for listening to me." I turned to Ogron. "And you. If you ever hurt her, I'll murder you in your sleep."

"I would expect nothing else." He reached out and shook my hand. "Thank you, Bloom."

"It was my pleasure. Now go! The boys can handle the tables here."

I turned and started heading back to the stage, my heart feeling heavier and lighter at the same time. Through all of the craziness, popularity, and battles that had emitted over the last few months, it seemed as though things had finally calmed down. And those battles weren't without casualties; that much was certain. But it did end with one less threat to the universe, and a very good friend who had found a person to love.

Maybe that was all I could ask for, really.

"Bloom!" I swiveled my head back around. Roxy was walking towards me, a beer in her hand. "I almost forgot; Andy and the boys volunteered to play the next set. You don't need to be back up there tonight."

"Free from singing? This truly is a celebration!" I smirked.

Roxy's lip quirked. "Yeah well, before you start celebrating, do me a favor." She handed me the beer. "That goes to table 16; the guy there is kind of a regular client. Would you run that to him?"

I raised an eyebrow. "Why not one of the guys? Or your parents?"

"It's a madhouse tonight. Plus, I once had an interesting conversation with the guy; I think you'd really like him."

"...Are you playing matchmaker, Roxy?"

She just smirked and headed back for Ogron. "You'll just have to see!"

Shaking my head, I watched her head out towards the beach, Ogron's arm going around her shoulders. I glanced around the bar, from Sky busting tables to Stella and the other girls on the dancefloor. Finally, my eyes rested on the table Roxy had told me to drop the beer off at. It was obstructed by a pillar, and I could just make out a hand tapping away on the table next to a brown leather book. Whoever was there looked to be either impatient or nervous. For a moment I feared Roxy had told him I would be the one bringing the drink over. I was sure Sky or Brandon wouldn't mind running it if I truly didn't want to…

Still. It was the least I could do for her.

I grabbed a bottle opener and headed for the table.