I have received a lot of PMs and reviews asking about the pairings in this story. Let it be known that I left the pairings options off and have avoided mentioning couples in this story because I don't want to ruin the fun for you readers. Half the fun of reading is not knowing what's on the next page, and mentioning couples would spoil all the fun of watching them form.

From Charcoal to Diamond

3. Let the Flames Begin

Bloom felt a chill run down her spine at the sound of that familiar voice. Then again, it could also be a result of the dramatic temperature drop. She stared up and to her right, taking in the battle-ready forms of the three Trix witches. They must have teleported in without triggering the alarms, though she didn't know how.

"Looks like our little pixie has already moved on with her love life." Icy mused, glaring down at the pair of fairies. Bloom didn't like that gleam in the Ice witch's eyes one bit.

"Wanna bet she's even more pathetic than that loser prince?" Stormy sneered, electricity crackling around her. A faint feeling of triumph swelled in Bloom's chest. If she could get them to attack, the alarms would trigger and the faculty would come running.

"Oh, she's more than capable of putting up a fight." She returned, refusing to look at the blonde princess. "Back for round two so soon?"

"Only for what should be ours." Icy summoned her magic to her fingertips and letting it launch at the girls' feet. It immediately sprang into action, freezing Bloom's feet, legs, and arms in a thick slab of ice. Diaspro, as well, had her feet frozen to the floor. Icy's eyes briefly glanced over the open books on the table. "So, you finally figured it out?"

"With a little help." The redhead shrugged, putting on her best defiant face as Icy came closer. Three crystalline phials appeared in the air in front of the Trix. "Why do you want the Dragon's Flame?"

"To finish what our ancestors started." The silver-haired woman crowed. "It was our parents and relatives who laid siege to Domino. The ancestral witches—our ancestors—laid it to waste searching for the ultimate power. It's time to finally put an end to this game."

"Freeze their puny little wings off!" Stormy cheered gleefully as Darcy frowned in contemplation. Bloom could see the cogs turning in the Dark Witch's mind, trying to place Diaspro's face with a name.

"After we get what we came for." Icy barked, sending her sister witches a glare. They each grabbed a crystal phial and began chanting.

That was all the distraction Diaspro needed. Ice and crystal weren't exactly gemstones, but most gemstones were composed of a similar latticework of molecules. Bloom felt the ice holding her feet crack as the blonde fairy closed her eyes and focused her power. The redhead wished she could help, but the spell cast by the witches was causing her powers to flare up in ways she couldn't control. It burned, consuming her energy as it fought the pull of the crystal vacuums. One of the phials cracked, and now provided with an escape route, the fire within it exploded violently outward, hurtling back into her body. Having her power ripped out hurt, but having it violently return didn't rate high on her list of things to do again either. Sirens sounded throughout the room, but she didn't take time to dwell on why the alarms were going off. She was too busy trying not to pass out.

"You!" Icy snarled, whirling to face Diaspro. "How dare you shatter the Whisperian crystals and prevent us from taking what should be ours! Who do you think you are, little fairy?" Snowflakes danced angrily around the witch's fingertips as Bloom watched the exchange with a perverted fascination.

Diaspro stood tall, shoulders back and chin high, as her golden eyes swept over Icy's pale form. "I am Diaspro, Crown Princess of Isis, Fairy of Gemstones, and the woman who has ensured your capture."

"Capture?" Stormy's roar shook Bloom out of her tired state for a moment as violent gusts ripped through the library and lightning arced off the youngest Trix's body. "You couldn't catch a cold, let alone us!"

As Bloom's vision faded to black, she saw a confident smirk cross Diaspro's ruby lips. "I said I would ensure it, not that I would do it myself."

Diaspro now held a grudging respect for the professors here at Alfea. The headmistress and head of discipline had power to spare and the wisdom to know how best to utilize it, while the Elfin magic the one male professor kept throwing around seemed to confuse the hell out of the Trix. A silver-haired woman Diaspro recognized as a former adviser to Queen Luna of Solaria conjured glowing metal chains and restrained the three troublesome witches once Faragonda and her other staff members got through with them. Red Fountain and the Magix Law Enforcement Office were called out to deal with the confined witches.

She waited until the Trix were secured by the Specialists and out of the castle boundaries before allowing her composure to loose. The witches failed to get what they came for this night but little stood in their way should they try it again in more devious form, especially if they managed to lure Bloom away from Alfea. With the rest of her dorm-mates at her back, the redhead stood a fighting chance, but by herself? The witches would drain her dry and then kill her.

Diaspro refused to let that happen.

"Is she all right?" She asked the blonde nurse currently bent over the redhead's prone form.

"She's magically exhausted, but there shouldn't be any lasting damage." The older fairy answered. "Had those women succeeded, she would have been both drained and powerless, resulting in a longer recovery period. Why did they want her powers in the first place? To my knowledge, she was just a fire fairy."

Diaspro shook her head. "No, she isn't!" She glanced at Headmistress Faragonda this time. "Did you know that Bloom's earth parents adopted her? That her father, a fireman, found her as an infant in a burning building—crying but unaffected by the smoke or flames?" She asked. The headmistress frowned as the nurse levitated unconscious student out of the room.

"I did not." Faragonda responded. "What else have you learned?"

"Bloom told me that earlier in the semester, she and Prince Sky of Eraklyon found her book in the Cloud Tower library; it turned out to be spelled to make her believe she was a witch, but it listed her as the last fairy of Domino—fairy of the Dragon's Flame." Diaspro explained. "We were here tonight trying to find photos and news clippings of the Dominoan royal family just before the planet fell; Princess Helena would be Bloom's age had she survived."

"I see." Faragonda held her gaze, dark blue eyes studying the young princess. "Did you find what you were looking for?"

"See for yourself." Diaspro said, briefly turning around to fetch the open book and worn photograph lying on the table. "This is a picture of the royal family, featuring young Helena, in full color." She handed the book to Faragonda and her head of discipline and gave them a moment to study it. "And this is a photograph of Bloom, taken shortly after the Peters' adopted her." She passed them the photo as the school nurse levitated Bloom toward the hospital wing. "Notice anything similar?"

"By the great Dragon." The brunette head of discipline (whose name Diaspro could not recall) breathed. "It's the same girl!"

"This changes everything." Faragonda murmured. "It was bad enough when those girls thought that the Scepter of Solaria held the power they needed, but this… I can raise the wards and put the school on high alert, but I fear that Bloom will never be safe."

"Certainly not with that attitude." Diaspro harrumphed. "As soon as she is recovered, my guards will arrive and escort us into Magix City to speak to whoever is in charge of their records department and get this whole inheritance business sorted out. I will also be speaking to Princess Stella to negotiate a guard rotation for Bloom should she need to leave the school for an extended time period. Over the summer, she will spend time with me on Isis to get her caught up on the training that a woman of her station should have received by now. With any luck, Bloom will be able to look after herself next year if the Trix manage to get loose again."

A small, amused smile formed on the headmistress's lips. "You seem to care a great deal about Bloom, especially considering the way you two first met."

"That was a…misunderstanding perpetrated by my ex-fiancé, albeit a rather violent one." The princess's eyes narrowed. She wasn't sure she liked what the older fairy insinuated, mostly because it sounded awful close to a truth she wanted to hide. "We—the two of us—have since worked out our frustrations and started speaking civilly toward one another."

The woman nodded amiably, though Diaspro felt certain the white-haired fairy suspected more than what she let on. "Friendships do tend to form out of the most unlikely scenarios. I take it you wish to stay here until Bloom recovers?" Diaspro nodded mutely. "Very well. Once Ofelia allows visitors in the infirmary, you may stay with her. You will have to share her bedside with her dorm-mates, however."

"I can deal with other people, Headmistress." She answered. "Let me know when visitors are allowed in; I have to discuss these developments with my security chief and the captain of the Isis royal guard."

"Do what you must, Princess. My staff and I will keep you apprised to all status changes in this situation."