Disclaimer: I'm flattered that you think I'm good enough to field something as good as W.I.T.C.H, but alas I'm not that good yet.
Captain Raymond Reed sat down and looked at the lines of prisoners in front of him. Having just finished a tour of duty on the frontlines against the lurdens, he was looking forward to a period of rest doing prison warden duties, before going on leave for a week.
Boom! A sudden explosion rocked the prison and with reflexes honed by months of combat, he grabbed his axe and charged to the source of the disturbance. The prison shook again and he was knocked off his feet as the main gate to the prison was blasted away. As the dust cleared, two figures walked in through the now wide-open gate. Although he didn't recognise the black winged woman wearing a golden mask, he certainly recognised the girl walking in on her left-hand side.
"Miranda!" he spat out vehemently at her.
"My dear captain, we're here to pick up our allies of course." Miranda said almost conversationally.
"Not on my watch you don't." He snapped back. Miranda merely raised her eyebrows, before grinning evilly.
"Oh I think we will." She purred. "Shagon, deal with all the guards in here."
Shagon's wings flapped and she took to the air. As she blasted aside the two guards approaching from either side of Miranda, Raymond let out a howl of anger and charged at her, axe swinging to deliver a fatal blow. But before it could connect, Shagon blasted him into a wall. His last thought before he lost consciousness was that he had to tell the queen about Miranda's latest ally.
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"I'm sorry Anna, but I've got to go back in tonight. There's a girl about Irma's age missing and we need as many people as we can spare to search the area." Tom told his wife Anna.
"My God!" Anna exclaimed, shocked. "I hope she's not been hurt, I really do."
"Who is it dad?" Irma asked, as she felt her stomach sink.
"A friend of yours. A girl called Alchemie Jones." Her dad replied and Irma felt a shiver run down her spine as her suspicions were confirmed. While Irma had no real reason to suspect that Alchemy's disappearance had anything to do with her guardian duties, she had a feeling that it was.
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"He's awake!" Raymond heard a voice call out as he groggily opened his eyes. He sat up and groaned. Looking around him, he saw Queen Elyon and her advisor Caleb gathering around his bed. And then the Queen looked him in the eyes and asked.
"Rest easy Captain. What happened?"
"We were attacked your majesty. Attacked by something I don't think we've ever seen before." He answered firmly.
"Do you think you could describe this new enemy?" Caleb asked, a worried expression on his face.
"Yes. It's a…" Raymond stopped as Caleb held up his hand for him to stop.
"Save it for the guardians. I don't want you to have to tell us what happened twice." Caleb said calmly. "They'll be here tonight."
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By the next day, the whole school was buzzing with the news of Alchemy's disappearance. Rumours about her running away or being abducted by strange men flew around the school like wildfire. Naturally, the Grumper's were revelling in it all, with a fascination that bordered on morbid. Principal Knickerbocker had asked the school assembly for anyone with any information to come forward and there was talk about a television appeal from Alchemy's parents.
"Honestly, the way everyone's talking about her, you'd think they'd found her corpse instead of merely missing." Cornelia moaned as she sat down with her friends. "Sheesh, what is wrong with the idea that she's not been horribly murdered?"
"I keep hearing all these rumours about how some old perverts supposed to have kidnapped her and is subjecting her to his evil desires." Hay Lin added with disgust. "Some of the things people are saying really sickens me."
"Besides, we're needed in Meridian. There's been a massive breakout from Cavigor, including none other than our old friend Prince Phobos. We need to get over there tonight and start rounding them up." Will pointed out.
"I'm also willing to bet that Alchemy is caught up in all of this. I don't know why, but I've got a feeling that Alchemy's mixed up in this." Irma finished, determinedly not looking at Cornelia. Ever since her feelings for the blonde girl had come out, Irma had been resolutely avoiding interacting with Cornelia any more than she had to. None of the others had any idea how to help Irma either and so things had become awkward between the two girls.
"I agree." Will replied firmly. "As soon as schools over, we'll meet up at the gates."
As the bell for afternoon classes rang and they went their separate ways, Irma felt a slight twinge of fear for her missing friend and wondered to herself. Where are you Alchemie? Where are you?
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"Please my Prince, I came for you as soon as I possibly could!" Miranda begged Prince Phobos as she cowered in the corner, her arm raised to protect herself.
As Phobos raised his arm once more, Cedric, who placed his hand on Phobos's arm, stopped him.
"My lord" he hissed quietly "She is responsible for our freedom. A little clemency is in order I think."
Phobos glared at Cedric and Miranda felt a rush of gratitude towards Cedric for stopping Phobos's beating.
"I spent almost three MONTHS in that cell, waiting for you to free me!" Phobos snapped at Cedric.
"My Lord Phobos, we have not had a chance to free you. Until Miranda and her new ally freed us, we had no means of freeing you." Cedric growled in reply. "Talking of which, who is this Shagon creature? I thought I knew of all the magical creatures in these lands, but I've never seen or heard of her."
Rising to her feet, Miranda composed herself and launched into an explanation.
"Well you see…"
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"A young woman did you say?" Will asked Captain Raymond Reed. "Are you sure?"
Raymond sighed.
"Yes I'm sure." He replied calmly, keeping his voice level. The Guardians exchanged worried glances with each other and Will turned to face Elyon.
"Thing is Elyon, Alchemy's gone missing and Irma's got a feeling that it's something to do with this place."
Elyon, to her credit, actually stayed calm. Only the fact that her face became paler was the only indication that she was even affected by the news.
""What" Elyon paused for a moment to swallow, before continuing in the same level voice. "makes you think" she cleared her throat, determined to stay in control. "that she's mixed up in all this?"
"Well the thing is, Alchemie disappeared the day of your coronation. And she was last seen entering the bookstore not long before we arrived." Will said to Elyon calmly. Elyon sat down suddenly and Will decided to try and push her plan onto Elyon before she recovered.
"Elyon, I want you to remain at the castle, with Cornelia protecting you, while we search the area surrounding Cavigor." Will told Elyon straight out and Elyon simply nodded. Then Will's words sank in.
"Hey, wait a minute!" Elyon exclaimed, but Will and the others (with the exception of Cornelia.) had already taken off.
"Don't worry, Will isn't leaving you out of the action. Will thinks that Phobos and his allies will probably attack the palace. She wants us on hand to defend it." Cornelia said with a grin on her face. "I guess that means we have a little alone time for me to make it up to you."
Elyon grinned in reply and the two girls began kissing each other passionately.
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"Do you think this Shagon creature will fall for our little trap?" Will asked Taranee as they flew over Cavigor.
"Even if he doesn't, we've still got the Heart of Candracar." Hay Lin answered optimistically.
"That's the spirit Hay-Hay." Irma added in a patronising tone of voice, but Hay Lin simply grinned at her.
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Cornelia and Elyon were in the middle of a very passionate kiss when suddenly Shagon interrupted them blasting the doors open.
Breaking apart, the two girls faced turned to face Shagon.
"You are the one they call Shagon?" Elyon asked in an angry voice.
"Yes" Shagon replied, before continuing in a sardonic voice. "I see my reputation precedes me."
"Do you have anything to do with our missing friend Alchemie?" Cornelia asked, her breathing ragged.
"Probably." Shagon replied casually. A blast of white magic sent her flying into a wall.
"What have you done with her?" Elyon demanded and Shagon laughed. Jumping out of the pile of rubble that had formed when Elyon had blasted her into the wall, Shagon's eyes flashed and a blast of green energy sent Elyon flying into a wall and knocked her unconscious.
"I was hoping for more of a challenge." Shagon sneered, her voice riddled with contempt.
"You want a challenge!?!" Cornelia bellowed at Shagon as she felt a rush of hot anger run through her, "I'll make you wish you'd never met me! Corny smash!" she bellowed as she transformed into Corny once more, her fists slamming into Shagon so hard that Shagon was practically buried in the crater she made.
"You think you strong, but Corny stronger!" Corny bellowed at Shagon.
Suddenly Shagon shot up into the air and shook herself.
"Wow, that actually stung." She said with a slightly respectful voice. "It's a shame you're not on our side." And with that, Shagon blasted Corny across the room and across the courtyard, knocking Corny unconscious. Then she reverted to Cornelia once more.
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Six hours later.
Will let out a long yawn. Searching the countryside for Phobos and his allies had proven to be a none starter. Wherever they were, the Guardians couldn't find them. Caleb rushed up to them.
"Will, we've been attacked by Shagon! Queen Elyon and Corny were defeated by her." He told them and the group exchanged worried looks. What kind of creature could defeat both Elyon and Corny?
"Are they okay?" Will asked in a concerned voice. Caleb nodded.
"They're recovering now." He said calmly.
"Good, because I have a feeling this war just got a lot longer and a lot harder."
AN: First blood to Shagon I think. I was going to call this fic The rise of Shagon, but I thought it sounded to cliche. Also, portraying Miranda being physically abused by Phobos was an idea I didn't see coming, but hey that's the muse for you.
