“Aha! The power of my abyssal energy is amplifying her abilities by a factor of three!” the shadowed figure exclaimed while waving her hands around, black ethereal tendrils crackling around her. 

Bloom had to fight to maintain her concentration. She was so tempted to lose herself in the moment, but she was strong and disciplined enough to not give in. There was no way she could fail now and let this hard work go to waste.

The five toppled trees levitated in the air at the same time, and slowly rotated to an upright position. Once they were roughly in the same location, Bloom used another burst of magic to form a more reinforced tree stump, one that should keep the trees more resistant against the wind in the future. 

With a little more flair and a wave of her hand, Bloom caused all the fallen leaves around her to dissipate, and subsequently regenerate on the fallen trees themselves. They looked even more lush than they had before. 

“Haha! Bloom has done it again, with the help of the magnificent DARQUE WITCH!” Bloom’s girlfriend cackled, while using her hidden magical device to make a bunch of glowing black lights appear around her. The lights didn’t actually do anything, they just looked cool.

Bloom finally succumbed to the temptation. A couple small giggles crept out of her, which escalated to an eruption of laughter as she fell on the grass, clutching her sides. Darque Witch could only fold her arms and pout, and walked a few paces toward Bloom, with a rather threatening and powerful posture.

The intimidating aura was slightly marred by one of Darque Witch’s heels catching on some dirt, resulting in Darque Witch tumbling to the ground. Bloom stopped laughing and moved toward her girlfriend. Once Bloom saw the smile on Darque Witch’s face, Bloom relaxed and leaned in to whisper in Darque Witch’s ear.

“I told you not to wear heels on rough terrain!” Bloom hissed.

“But they look so badass!” Darque Witch protested. Indeed, Bloom noted, the deep purple hue of the multiple-inch-high stilettos definitely contributed in a positive way to Darque Witch’s outfit. Though Bloom better not get herself distracted.

“Well, get up. Lying on the grass together doesn’t project the right image.” Bloom said, and stood up, hoisting Darque Witch with her.

“You started it by laughing.” Darque Witch grumbled.

“That’s because you screamed as loud as you could in a clearing with nobody here!” Bloom protested.

“It helps me stay in the mood!” Darque Witch said defensively. “We’re doing really well together, anyway. This is definitely the reason why we are.”

“Your backstory definitely helped.” Bloom admitted. “I saved you from falling off a cliff, right? Now you consider yourself indebted to me? Never get tired of that.”

Darque Witch cackled again. “I wouldn’t call it a debt, per se…more of a reciprocation for services rendered.”

Bloom was about to unleash a sarcastic reply, but at that moment she noticed another figure standing in the clearing, clad in turquoise, scaled power armor.

“Mertillery? What are you doing here?” Bloom asked. Darque Witch stood at attention, eying the armored superhero cautiously.

“Well, this is the last area for you to fix after that storm. Figured I might as well drop in and say hello. Nice costume upgrade, by the way. Very elegant.” Mertillery’s helmet bobbed up and down in approval.

Bloom had on a green domino mask now, in the same shade as her lips and nails. A deep forest green top gave her a more mature aura compared to the tank top she had before. Bloom’s hair was wrapped up in a ponytail, tied together with a cute little bow that matched her top. Long and thin black yoga pants completed the ensemble, along with her sneakers. 

“Thanks,” Bloom said curtly.

“You’re welcome,” Mertillery said, pausing for a moment. “By the way, your website is nice. You can hardly tell it was made by someone new to web design.” 

Darque Witch moved in front of Bloom. “Alright, I request that you leave this place and my mistress alone,” she snarled, getting into a defensive stance.

Mertillery shuffled and walked back a couple paces. “Well, in that case, I was going to offer you both to go get some drinks with me, but I see this conversation didn’t go in its intended direction.”

“I wouldn’t go anyway,” Bloom said. “Drinking with you hero types isn’t my idea of a good time. Sorry.” 

“Fair,” Mertillery said, and got into a position that indicated she was about to take off flying. “For what it’s worth, I think you have a bright future, kid.” Without waiting for a reply, Mertillery launched herself into the air.

Bloom wordlessly started walking to where their car was stashed, with some of her thoughts drifting to how the hell Mertillery would actually ingest drinks while wearing power armor. Meanwhile, Darque Witch followed Bloom’s lead while trying very hard not to stumble.

Once they reached the parking garage and got in the car, another giggle fit erupted out of Josie. “You called me ‘Mistress’!” She exclaimed while gasping for air.

Lindsay put her face in her hands, rubbing her palm against her forehead. “It seemed like a good idea at the time, but I’m definitely not using that one again.”

“Don’t want to give the wrong idea about our personas.” Josie giggled.

“Well, it wouldn’t be accurate, either. I mean, I’m actually your mistress, whenever the subject comes up--” Lindsay started, but Josie interrupted her by punching Lindsay’s shoulder a few times while blushing furiously. This evolved into Josie laying her head on Lindsay for a precious few minutes.

The year since first becoming Bloom had been a very exciting one. Josie had gone from not even knowing her very identity, to having a very solid idea of the place she held in the world. Every day was a joy to live now, and it didn’t even matter what costume Josie wore at any time, she was still herself, no matter what name or clothing she wore. Josie now allowed herself to just live as she pleased.

The progress she’d made in the last few months, especially since becoming Lindsay’s girlfriend...had been extraordinary. Now whenever both of them got home, they would cuddle and watch TV together. Though sometimes, they would just stare at each other, basking in their beauty. This wasn’t very productive, but it didn’t have to be.

They were together, and that’s what mattered.

MystiCarly

And we're done, for real this time!

Thank you so much for reading! I've got more stories in the works, so stay tuned!