Disclaimer: I don't own W.I.T.C.H. Elizabetta Gnone and Disney does. Good thing I don't either because the casualty rates in my W.I.T.C.H fanfics are disturbingly high. Oh and if I haven't said this to you yet, to everyone who reviewed Cornelia's Penance thank you.
AN: Like Hay Lins Swansong, this was originally a footnote in a work in progress, but it grew really fast into this. It's not as action packed as normal for me but the sequel should make up for this I hope.
Miranda's children
Elyon Brown frowned. Normally she found the legal petitions of Meridian dull, but in this case she had personal reasons to be interested in this particular case. A tall woman with long dark hair was standing in front of her, chains on her wrists and ankles. Yes, she had good reason to interested in THIS particular case.
"Your majesty" began healer Jarele "I have run every test available on both Earth and Meridian. Miranda is undoubtedly pregnant." He paused for a moment. "She is approximately two months pregnant."
Elyon sighed. It had been five years since Miranda had been arrested and truth be told there had been talk of an amnesty to some of the less dangerous criminals and giving the former knights of vengeance a greater degree of freedom as part of the royal wedding celebrations. Of course, the escape of Prince Phobos and a number of his allies had pretty much destroyed these plans.
"Miranda" she began in an intensely hostile voice "Why should I grant you your request? If I set you free on Earth, I've no doubt that you can and will cause trouble for the guardians. Not to mention the help you will no doubt give to my brother and his forces. It would be madness. And why Earth? Why not Meridian, your homeworld?"
Miranda took a deep breath. "Your majesty, I can understand your concerns. In answer to your question why Earth, I want my child to grow up in a world where they don't have the sins of their parents overshadowing them. I am therefore willing to propose a deal for you. I will help you find your brother and his allies. I will remain your prisoner, under whatever conditions you deem necessary. When Prince Phobos and his allies are defeated and no longer a threat, you will send me to Earth and I will swear eternal loyalty to you and Meridian."
Elyon brought her hand to her chin. While she had no doubts about the guardian's ability to neutralise the threat posed by her brother, it would be easier with the help of someone who knew her brother's mind better than Elyon. Miranda would also have good reason to ensure a quick end to hostilities. The middle of a civil war was no place to have a child. On the other hand, if Mirada was determined to hinder her or turn on her, then the guardians and Elyon would have an extra threat to worry about and the war would be longer. No, she had to ask her friends. It would be they who would feel the effects of this decision, be they good or bad. Clearing her throat, she looked at Miranda.
"I will consider your proposal and will tell you my decision after I have consulted the guardian's."
Miranda gave her a sad look. "That is all I can ask of you, your majesty." And with that, she was lead away.
"No. Absolutely no way." Cornelia said in a firm voice. "She'd turn on us at the slightest opportunity, without a moments hesitation." Irma looked at Elyon. "Much as I hate to admit, I agree with Corny here." She paused for a moment. "Much as I'd like to believe that she's the real deal, there's way to much history there for me to trust her."
Taranee sat in a corner, quietly fiddling with a pen. Pushing her glasses up her nose, she added her piece to the debate. "What kind of conditions do you have in mind?" Which earned her yells of "Taranee!" from Irma and Cornelia. The dark skinned guardian looked at her friends. "Look I don't trust her any more than you do, but she is pregnant and she may genuinely want to give her child a chance. Besides, if she is planning something, at least we can let her think she's got us fooled until she reveals herself. Remember, this is Miranda we're talking about and she must have an organised plan if she's working against us that involves her getting out in one piece."
A heavily pregnant redhead at the end of the table nodded. "It may just be my hormones talking here, but I agree with Taranee. Besides I want this problem dealt with before my baby is born." Secretly Will was worried that Phobos and his allies would do something that would cause her to lose her baby.
Turning to the diminutive air guardian Elyon opened her mouth to speak, but Hay Lin spoke first "I'm not sure which side to take here so I'll trust Will. She's lead us through thick and thin and I trust her judgement. I'll back Wills decision, regardless of what she decides."
"I guess the decision is made then. Let us hope that it's the right one." Elyon said. Turning to Will she said with a smile, "I guess I'd better talk to Caleb about these conditions then. I hope you don't mind me borrowing your husband for tonight?" Will merely smiled at her. "Just bring him back in one piece. That's all I ask"
Six months later
The five guardians clustered around the map table, listening to Mirada explain what Prince Phobos was likely to do next. Miranda's advice and knowledge had proved to be invaluable in defeating Phobos and his allies. She had shown them the tunnels in the cells in which she had been able to conduct her affair with Lord Cedric and had often provided a reasonably accurate analysis of Prince Phobos's tactics and strategies. "Prince Phobos is probably aware by now about the cause of his difficulties in this war by now. The way I see it, he has two options. He can either change his strategies and hope to confuse us long enough for him to regain the upper hand or for you to distrust me enough to discard me. The other option would be to eliminate the cause of his crushing defeats."
There was a brief moment of silence as the people around the map table realised what Miranda was saying. They all knew how rigidly Prince Phobos's basic strategies were. "In other words, he'll try to kill you. Presumably in an attack against the palace." Will said in a subdued voice. "That's what I'd do in his position. Of course he'll probably guess that we're expecting him and will probably attack in a few weeks time." Miranda said in a blasé voice. Holding up her finger she continued "That weapons dump you destroyed earlier this week was only known to a few people. I am the only one who isn't with Phobos."
The guardians looked at each other. The weapons dump in question had only recently become a viable target. Prince Phobos's most important supply of weapons had been there. It was originally too well protected by his magic, but as he suffered defeat after defeat, he had been forced to draw magic away from it, confident in its secrecy.
"What form do you think this attack will…" Cornelia began, but was interrupted by an ear-shattering explosion that shook the palace. "Something like that I imagine." Miranda said with a grim smile. While she was still an untrustworthy person, Miranda had a set of inhibitor chains on, which prevented her from using magic or being violent. So, when the guardians headed towards the sounds of battle, Miranda and Elyon headed to Elyons tower, a new weapon in the palace's arsenal. This weapon made Elyons power more focused and it was from this tower that Elyon fired the first shot of their counter-attack.
The response was deadly fast. Two lurdens riding on top of dragons of some kind swooped in and hit the tower with a blast of magic. The tower survived and Elyon targeted her brother, who was fighting no fewer than three guardians at the same time, apparently without difficulty. A beam of blue-white energy shot towards him. Shattering his shields, Taranee, Cornelia and Irma hit him with their powers. Realising he was facing defeat and imprisonment, he ordered a retreat. Lord Cedric shot a stare of disgust at Hay Lin, who he had been fighting and fled. Meanwhile Will had captured Frost and Phobos was forced to leave with one ally less.
"It looks like Elyons tower works then." Irma commented dryly as everyone gathered in the map room to discuss what to do next and rest after the battle.
Hay Lin however was frowning. "What worries me is those dragons we saw the lurdens riding. Those creatures are something new additions to the Phobos's forces and I don't like it."
Will nodded. "I had to fight a couple myself. They're extremely resilient. I had to hit one with no fewer than three bolts of electricity before he went down. Between them and Frost I was forced to leave Cedric to Hay Lin." She said, before turning to Hay Lin "Sorry Hay."
Hay Lin merely smiled at her. An impressive set of bruises covered her arms and on her face was a massive black eye. "That's ok. I could take him anyway." She said with a smile. Will smiled back. They both knew that Hay Lin had had a very lucky escape.
Suddenly a beam of black magic shot out towards Elyon. Before anyone could respond, Miranda threw herself at Queen Elyon and knocked her out of harms way. The beam instead hit Miranda firmly in the back. As she slowly blacked out, her head looking over her shoulder, she saw the figure of Lord Cedric come under attack by all five of the guardians.
Will paced backwards and forwards as Miranda hovered between life and death in the healers wing. Despite the fact that Miranda was an old enemy and generally not a good person to work with, she had found that underneath her constant plotting and animosity to the world, Miranda had become a friend of sorts.
Oh they were never going to be close, but she had found her to be a great comfort after her miscarriage almost four months ago. While everyone else had been sympathetic and asking her to take a break from her guardian duties, Miranda had told her on no uncertain terms that she needed to hold herself together until the end of the war. Then she could have her breakdown, not now when she was needed. Funnily enough that helped her stay focused on the task at hand.
The first thing Miranda saw when she opened her eyes was Queen Elyon standing at the foot of the bed with a smile on her face. With a slight groan she asked "And what are you doing here?"
"Well I could hardly let the woman who saved my life wake up and not thank her. That would be" She paused for a moment "Inappropriate." She finished.
"You can thank my hormones for that" Miranda growled "By the dark gods of Metamoor it's the only explanation for my stupidity. So how come I'm still alive?"
"Because the spell was meant for me and not you, it was marginally less effective than what it was meant to be."
It was then that she noticed her flat stomach. She started screaming hysterically "My baby, my baby, what's happened to my baby?"
"Babies" Came a voice from her right side. Sitting there was Will Vandom. "Twins as it so happens. You are now the mother of a boy and a girl."
They could probably hear her scream of delight in Candracar.
One month later
Liam O'Mally sat in his car waiting for his target. He needed to make this look like an accident. That's what his client had asked for and that was what he was going to get. Liam after all had a reputation to uphold after all.
Miranda and Will walked across the road together. Miranda was in a good mood and she felt like she was walking on air. Today was the day she could finally take her children home. She had named them Melinda and Thomas. Will said she'd thought that they sounded to old fashioned, but Miranda had waved her objections aside, they were her children after all. Besides she liked the names.
Liam saw the two women walk into the road. Slamming his foot on the accelerator, he headed towards his target.
When the car hit them, Will and Miranda were thrown into the air and landed with a sickening thud.
When the ambulance arrived they found an injured Will and a dead Miranda.
Looking in his rear-view mirror, Liam smiled. Mission accomplished he thought to himself.
Will and Caleb adopted Miranda's children as their own. Not only because they wanted to keep an eye on them, but also because they wanted to ensure Miranda's children went to a good home. Will had had a lucky escape when the car hit her and Miranda. She only had a couple of broken legs and a broken arm.
AN: Ok not my best work I'll admit. Miranda's not moved out of character so much as simply thrown into a situation that requires her to act differently. And yes I severely doubt that Miranda would save Elyon like that but it suits the purposes of the sequel. Liam O-Mally and his client will have more to do with the sequel to this.