Summer Break One: A and Z

by KievaLynn

'Kieva Lynn's Season Three' sequel. 'Guardians of the Multiverse' prequel. Alchemy meets a strange boy from another world, who has no memories. Who is he, how did he get to Earth, and what do Gandalf the Grey and the group known as T.E.M.P.U.S. have to do with this?

Standard Disclaimer: I do not own W.I.T.C.H., Final Fantasy, or any of their related characters/concepts, nor any other properties whose characters/concepts appear in this story. This is a work of fan fiction.

Author's Note One: This is the first in a series of one-shots which take place after the events of "Kieva Lynn's Season Three" and before the events of my next major W.I.T.C.H. story, the Final Fantasy Seven crossover "Guardians of the Multiverse." These tales will all take place in the summer break between the guardians' eighth and ninth grade, and will serve to fill loose ends left over from the previous story and provide foreshadowing for the next. In this chapter, Alchemy meets an unusual boy with a mysterious past…

Author's Note Two: Check 'Courage to Change the Things You Can,' chapter thirty, for the introduction of the group known as 'T.E.M.P.U.S.'

Summer Break One: "A and Z"

Logically, you wouldn't expect to find much of interest at the end of time. After all, what could possibly be left in a dying universe worn down by quadrillions of years of entropy, in which even the longest-lived stars had long since gone cold and dark? And indeed, a time traveller reaching such a point in time wouldn't encounter more than the ruins of a once thriving reality now on the verge of collapse… Unless…

At one particular location in the vastness, locked into the final moment of linear time, is the complex known as Vanishing Point. Created through a mixing of super-science and ancient magics, Vanishing Point serves as the headquarters for T.E.M.P.U.S., an alliance of wizards and wise men, time travellers and heroes, who protect the infinite worlds of the multiverse from cosmic threats.

As we look in on one particular day we find the group's founder, the Guardian Ganthet, walking along a wide hall in animated conversation with two other members of Tempus, and a guest who has bought to them troubling news…

"I do not understand why this troubles you so greatly Lady Minerva." Ganthet said to his guest. "The event involves but a single young man who was destined to die anyway. If anything, I would expect you to be happy that one of your charges will now live longer than anticipated. But, it is inconsequential to our work."

"Inconsequential!?" Gandalf exclaimed. "Surely you jest Ganthet! Look at what Minerva has just told us; A young man has been ripped away from Gaia and dropped unceremoniously on a version of Earth, de-aged and with his memories muddled, and none of us knew it! I would consider that very consequential indeed." The wizard glanced down to the small white dog walking at his feet. "You agree?"

"But of course." Mr. Peabody said. "This counsel exists to preserve time, police the multiverse. We should look into this at once."

"Perhaps we should gather the entire counsel." Gandalf mused.

The dog differed with him this time. "I see little point in that. You know as well as I that both the Doctor, and probably Nebogibfel as well, would side with Ganthet."

"Yes… Yes, the Doctor would babble on about 'balls of time' and our Morlock friend would discuss only 'quantum uncertainty' and the odds of this event occurring randomly and without cause." Gandalf agreed. To Ganthet he said "I must insist though, that we at least keep this under observation…"

"Very well. If you feel this strongly by all means contact Kandrakar and inform the Oracle of what is happening." Ganthet said.

Nodding, Gandalf said "Thank you. I will see to it at once…"

WWWWWWW

Earth. Present day. Alchemy Ethel, Guardian of Faith, was hiking through the forests just outside Heatherfield, looking for an isolated, private location to practice the use of her new powers. She knew that she could've practiced at home, but even with their support she suspected that her parents were still at least a little freaked out by what she could do now. And so here she was, wandering the wilds. At first the girl explored at random, but in time she felt a draw to a particular location.

As she made her way to her destination, Alchemy twice encountered injured animals alongside the path. In both cases, she paused long enough to heal their wounds and send them on their way. Smiling at the thought of such wild creatures trusting her, she made her way over a ridge and into a shallow valley. "This is it." She knew. "This is where I felt the need to be…" Looking about, Alchemy saw nothing out of the ordinary and wondered why she had felt drawn to this particular spot. "Oh well," she decided. "I needed a quiet place to practice and this is surely that, if nothing else… Guess I'll get to work."

For nearly an hour, Alchemy worked steadily, practicing every aspect of her power that could be done in human form. After awhile, she started to consider teletransporting back to the city and asking Will to power her up. She decided against for the simple reason that teleporting still wasn't her favorite thing to do on her own. "Maybe that's what I should practice next." She decided. "Just back and forth across this little area."

Before she had a chance to begin, though, Alchemy realized she wasn't alone anymore when a loud scream echoed across the forest. She turned to see a familiar creature running straight towards her. "Blunk!? What are you doing way out here?" She asked as the Passling ran around behind her legs.

"Blunk make big mistake!" he answered. "See, Blunk try to make money by using folds to deliver livestock to Meridian marketplace… Open one fold from Meridian fields to Earth, then in front of it another from Earth to market…"

"That actually sounds like a good plan… What's the mistake?"

Blunk pointed around Alchemy's legs. "That!" he exclaimed.

Looking to where Blunk was pointing, Alchemy at first saw nothing. Then the bushes trembled and a large creature rushed out, clearly angry and charging directly at where they stood. "Here goes nothing!" Alchemy thought, and teleported herself and Blunk across the valley, out of the creature's way just in time. "Okay Blunk, what is that thing?" she asked once they were safe.

"Meridian Rhinox." He explained. "Ran through first fold by mistake, missed the second."

Across the field, the Rhinox stumbled to a stop, oriented itself on their new location, and charged again. "Here it comes." Alchemy said. "Open another fold already, send it back!"

"Good plan… But not working." Blunk said. He held up the chain he carried his Tonga Tooth on. The tooth was missing. "Rhinox horn snare tooth. See? Still stuck on horn now."

Alchemy looked closer and saw that the tooth was indeed dangling from the creature's horn. "Great… Just great…"

WWWWWWW

The boy awoke with a mild headache. He was lying on his back, looking up through a dense canopy of tree branches to a brightly sunlit sky. Rising slowly to his feet, he rubbed the back of his head and tried to think. The last thing he could remember was… Odd. The last thing he could remember was nothing at all. No memories were coming to him whatsoever. He stood perfectly still for a time, trying even harder to think, hoping for some kind of memory, even a flash that would tell him how he ended up in his current situation.

He knew his name, at least. And at the outer edges of his consciousness flickered brief flashes of remembrance, though he failed to hold onto any of them. He began to do squats while standing in place, hoping to clear his head. He didn't actually remember it, but something told him he did this quite a lot.

After awhile, he became aware of the sound of rushing water not too far away. Thirsty, he followed the sound to a small but swift-moving stream. Kneeling to drink, he caught sight of his reflection and reeled back involuntarily, falling backwards onto his rear. "What the hell…?" he wondered. Peering into the waters again, the boy confirmed that he had indeed seen what he thought he had seen; The reflection was his, but his as a teenager. "Wasn't I, like, twenty five or something?" he thought, and then cheered at the realization that a bit of memory had come to him. "Then again, how could it be a memory if I'm not really that old yet?"

He drank, then returned to the spot where he had woke up. A large sword was laying on the ground. "You look familiar…" He mused. Reaching down, he picked up the blade. Tested the weight of it in his hands. "Feel familiar too…" He took a pair of practice swings and found that it was smooth and easy to do so, as if he had fought with this weapon many times before.

Then, before he could think further on how to proceed, the sound of a shout, a female voice, high pitched and young-sounding, reached his ears. It sounded like she was in trouble, and the boy was running towards the sound before he even knew it…

WWWWWW

"Maybe call other Guardians?" Blunk asked as the rhinox approached again.

"Only if I have to." Alchemy answered, shaking her head. She didn't want the more experienced girls to think she wasn't able to handle herself. Especially since they were all more experienced at this than she was. Even Miranda, who received her Guardian powers simultaneous with Alchemy, had been fighting for some time prior. Fortunately, she did in fact have an idea. "The animals I helped trusted me… Of course, they weren't angry like this guy, but maybe…"

Focusing, Alchemy held up her right hand and fired a burst of energy which swirled all around the charging rhinox. The creature slowed, then stopped a few feet short of the girl. It stared at her, calm and peaceful. "Good boy." Alchemy said with a slight giggle. "Okay Blunk, let's get your little toy back."

"Sounds good to Blunk." The Passling answered.

But just as Alchemy was reaching for the Tonga Tooth, the underbrush shuddered, and with a mighty yell a strange boy leapt high into the air, wielding a massive sword, diving down towards the rhinox. Not wishing to see the creature harmed, Alchemy used the same power she had calmed it with to send a message of danger into it's mind. With a roar of alarm, the rhinox turned and ran. Half a moment later, the boy crashed into the ground where it had been.

As the great beast disappeared into the forest, the boy stood. "Not too bad!" he declared. "No need to thank me miss, just doing my job."

"Thank you!?" Alchemy exclaimed. "You dope! Now we've gotta catch up to it again! And I doubt I'll be able to calm him back down after your little stunt! What in the world do you think you were doing anyway!?"

"Look lady, I heard you scream for help!"

"What you heard was… Oh never mind! Come on Blunk!" Alchemy stomped off in the direction the rhinox had gone and the Passling followed.

Chasing along behind Alchemy, the boy said "Look! Hold up! Okay, I'm sorry if I messed up. Really… But, c'mon, give me a little credit, right? I heard a scream, or thought I did, and found a young girl face to face with a giant creature with a huge freakin' horn on it's nose… What was I supposed to think?"

Alchemy stopped and turned to face him. "Alright. I guess thanks for meaning well. Though, you're not really one to talk about the size of it's horn. I have to assume a sword that big is compensating for something…"

The boy blushed, but said "Yeah, well, if that's how it works I feel really bad for the General."

"What General?"

An odd expression crossed the boy's face. "I don't know… Look, can I level with you miss? I woke up about ten minutes ago with no memory of how I got here, or anything other than my name… I don't even know where on Gaia I am."

"Amnesia? Wow, I thought that only happened in bad soap operas." Alchemy said. Then a though occurred to her. "Hey, what did you mean by not knowing where on 'Gaia' you are? What's Gaia?"

"Um, the planet? You know, Gaia?"

"The planet's called Earth you big dip…" She paused. "Uh-oh."

"Uh-oh what?"

"I'll explain later. First things first, we've got to catch that rhinox. See, it's from another world and we need to get it back home. But the thing Blunk here needs to open a fold to do so is stuck on it's horn, so…"

The boy rubbed the back of his head. "Well, another world you say? That's a lot to take in but I guess with all the other strangeness today I can deal with it… Look, why don't I just cut the horn off? It won't really hurt it, and you'll get your whatever back."

"And then how will it protect itself in the wilds?" Alchemy asked. "No, we've got to get it back without hurting the big guy. Somehow."

They were silent for awhile, then the boy said "So… other worlds. And you said this was 'Earth' and not 'Gaia' which means…"

"Sorry. But don't worry. Once we take care of the Rhinox, I'll call my friends. We can take you to someone who can probably help out, maybe even get you back to this 'Gaia.'"

"That'd be great… Thanks. Believe me, there's nothing more disorienting than not knowing anything but your name."

Alchemy smiled. "It's cool. I'm sorry we got off on the wrong foot. And, speaking of names, I'm Alchemy. Alchemy Ethel."

The boy held out a hand. "Zach Fair." He said.

WWWWWWW

And so Alchemy, Zach, and Blunk put their heads together and hammered out a plan for recapturing the rhinox and sending it home unharmed. "Maybe wait for it to go to sleep?" Blunk suggested.

"And how long will that take?" Alchemy countered. "Not to mention that wild animals tend to sleep lightly… It'd wake up the second you got anywhere near it."

"I don't suppose you've got access to any sleep spells?" Zach asked.

"Well that corners the fact that you're not from earth." Alchemy answered. "There's not much magic here, at least in the general population. No one from here would ask that right off the bat."

"But you do have materia, right?" Zach asked. Seeing the confused look on Alchemy's face he explained "On Gaia, to use magic you have to cast through little crystals with spells in them… In fact, now that I think about it, I should have…" He looked his sword over. Pulled a pair of small crystals from the blade and tossed one to Alchemy.

"This looks kind of like the Ivalice gems Prince Garix used…" she mused. "How do you know what spells each one can cast?"

"I think you just get a feel for it." Zach answered. "Lemme see…" He concentrated on the crystal he still held. "Yeah… Yeah, this one is Blizzard. Gimme that one back… Oh wow! Jackpot! This one's got Sleep on it!"

"Nice." Alchemy smiled. "Now we've just got to track the rhinox down, knock him out, get the tooth, and we're done!"

"Tracking not a problem." Blunk said. "Look!" With a rumble the creature returned, crashing out of the forest and running straight for them.

"I've got this." Zach announced. He popped the materia back into his sword, faced the rhinox, and began casting. "Sleep!" he exclaimed. Green energy flashed around the rhinox… and did nothing. "Heh… Okay, starting to remember that it's not a hundred percent effective."

"You don't say?" Alchemy retorted. "Get ready to try again." She grabbed Zach's arm and teleported them directly behind the rhinox.

"How did you!?"

"Answers later, cast already!"

"Oh, right! Sleep!" This time the spell took hold. "Nothing to it." Zach grinned.

"Whatever." Alchemy said shaking her head. She removed the tooth from the creature's horn and returned it to Blunk. "Open us a fold."

"Right!" Blunk agreed. As he leapt up and sliced the tooth through thin air, a fold appeared in it's wake. Zach stared at it in awe.

"Do you remember seeing anything like this?" Alchemy asked him.

"No, I sure don't." Zach answered. "So, how do we convince the rhinox to walk through it?"

"The simple way is the easiest." Alchemy answered. Noting that the fold was directly in front of the animal's head, she walked around behind it and gave it a swift kick in the rear. Awakening, in charged directly into the fold, which Blunk quickly closed.

"Alright!" Zach exclaimed.

"Yeah. Now let's see about getting you some help…" Alchemy said, while thinking to herself "Professional help." She contacted Taranee's mental link and called in the other Guardians…

WWWWWWW

Soon, Alchemy and Zach were joined by Will, Cornelia, and Taranee. Irma was stuck at a family wedding, Hay Lin on a date, and Elyon, Miranda, and Cassidy were in Meridian. "So, this guy's from another world?" Will asked.

"Gaia, he says." Alchemy answered. "And I've seen enough to believe him."

"Never heard of Gaia." Cornelia said.

Taranee replied "No, but that doesn't mean anything. After all if the worlds are infinite then there's an infinite number we've never heard of… So, Zach, you don't remember anything but your name?"

"Pretty much." Zach answered. "Though, there was one weird thing… How old do I look to you?"

"Around our age." Will said. "Fifteen… maybe sixteen… No more. Why?"

"Because, when I saw my reflection in the stream, it freaked me out big time… I swear, I think I remember being older, like in my twenties…"

"Weird." Cornelia admitted.

"So, Kandrakar?" Alchemy asked.

"Kandrakar." Will agreed. "Let's see if the Oracle knows what's going on here." She opened a fold and they coaxed Zach through before following…

WWWWWWW

Kandrakar. Zach looked about in awe of the wondrous structure. "Nice!" He exclaimed. "This place is sweet!"

"I am glad you approve." Said a male voice. Zach and the Guardians looked to see the Oracle approaching, accompanied by a tall man in grey robes and a tall pointed hat.

"You see Himerish? It is as I told you." Gandalf said.

"Indeed. Welcome to Kandrakar, Zachary Fair."

"Wait… You know about this?" Will asked.

Himerish nodded. "Master Gandalf bought me word of these events today… Though as to how this has happened or who is responsible, we cannot yet say."

"So what do I do then?" Zach asked. "Can you return my memories? Get me back home to Gaia? Can you help?"

"As regards your memory, I fear there is nothing we can do without knowing how it was taken." Gandalf answered. "But, in all probability they will return on their own in time."

Himerish added "And as for returning you to Gaia… I could indeed do so. But, it would be unwise at this juncture."

Zach answered "Yeah… I guess going back would be dumb when I don't even remember anything… So what, do I stay on Earth then? And where?"

"We could find a way to set Zach up…" Will said, "But I'm thinking of how hard a time Caleb had at first and wondering if it's the best idea…"

"Hey! Why doesn't Zach stay here?" Alchemy asked. "He could stay here, see, and we could set him up at Sheffield during the day to get used to Earth!"

A pained expression crossed the Oracle's face, but he said "Unorthodox… But acceptable in the short term, I suppose."

"Alright!" Alchemy said. "C'mon girls, let's give Zach the grand tour."

As they teens walked away, Himerish and Gandalf stood in silence, watching them go. Once they were safely out of earshot, the wizard said "I am surprised that you agreed to his living here…"

Himerish sighed. "He needs to live somewhere… Would you rather we put him up with Mister Baggins?"

A look of horror crossed Gandalf's face. "I doubt the Shire itself would survive that…"

"Precisely." Himerish smiled. "Precisely…"