Disclaimer: I do not own W.I.T.C.H.
Summary:Eventual Caleb/Will -because I like this pairing, but no Cornelia bashingCornelia isn't acting her normal self and Will is determined to find out why. If not from Corny, then from the next best person, Caleb. However, Caleb knows nothing. When they discover what's going on, they realize that transforming into their guardian forms just won't cut it. This requires the Queen of Meridian's help and hell of a lot more power than they ever dreamed of possessing. New relationships will be formed as old ones are developed further andall this while trying to be normal teenagers. Life shouldn't be this exciting.
Waking Dreams
By: Zadien
Prologue
The world was ending.
In Irma Lair's humble opinion, when Cornelia Hale showed up in clothes that were less than impeccable, something was definitely wrong. This was exactly what she voiced to her best friend Will Vandom when she dropped into her designated seat in front of the pretty, red head.
Will lifted her head and frowned. "Hmm, something to do with Caleb, me thinks."
Irma rolled her blue eyes. "Well duh, even I sussed that much. But what did he do?" she wondered. "He's been in Meridian since… well since we defeated Phobos, or Elyon defeated him."
"We all kicked that egomaniac's butt. We may not have been named Queen of the land, but hey, we still contributed big time to the ass whooping of the century."
"Hell, yeah. But we haven't seen him since then! No visits, no calls, no Blunk with messages… though there's been lots of Blunk without messages." she added on a side note with a furrowed brow.
Will's nose wrinkled but her eyes softened. "Yeah, Blunk has been popping up more than ever. Something to do with the ease that he can sell earth goods as opposed to Meridian stock that everyone recognizes."
"Like the sunglasses he decided to call a fold up chair." Irma snickered.
The red haired leader of the Guardians of the Veil -quite a long and impressive title- shook her head with a soft laugh. "Yeah, he's a quirky character alright. Has he ever mentioned Caleb to you?"
Irma shook her head. "I never see him. He never strays far from the back alley at the Silver Dragon."
Will nodded her confirmation of that statement. Blunk did stay close to Hay Lin's family restaurant. He had once been chased by a couple of rowdy (not to mention very drunk) teens who believed him to be a fairy and that he could grant their wishes (naturally for gold so he was more a leprechaun than a fairy) and the poor Passling had never quite gotten over it.
"Wait, when do you see him?"
Will snapped out of her thoughts and blinked. "Oh, Blunk? I sometimes see him hovering outside my window at night."
"Strange."
"No kidding. And when I ask him why he's out there, he simply does a Blunk shrug and offers me one of his imaginative items that sounds really handy only turning out to be something ridiculous, like a dustbin lid or something like that." The red head wrinkled her nose.
Irma chuckled. "Blunk is so weird."
"I know. And my mom thinks I'm strange enough with my frog fixation! But when she once heard me talking to Blunk, God was that awkward."
"My parents think I've outgrown my weird rushing-off-without-any-explanation phase. They don't understand that I was weird before becoming a guardian, it just enhanced it," the Brunette stated nonchalantly with a wave of her hand.
"Mom's still trying to get me to be more girly though. She keeps asking why I can't be more like that Cornelia Hale. 'She seems like such a nice girl, dear," Will mimicked her mom's voice perfectly. "'I bet she has a lot of boyfriends and she must be in a lot of extracurricular activities.' Or the dreaded, 'She's very popular honey, and you're her friend, so why don't you go out more often?' I hate that one most of all."
"Ha, Cornelia's current track record with boys is close to nonexistent since Caleb left."
"She and Caleb weren't even going out properly, were they?." Will asked; then she made a face and sighed. "I know they were heading in that direction, I think it's part of the reason he hasn't popped back ever since Meridian was saved."
"That or he's really busy."
"Hmm, but not busy enough to not say hello. Even Elyon comes for a visit or uses that Mirror thing of hers for girly talks to Corny and she's going to be queen of the new world."
"Right class, settle down." Miss Taylor, their English teacher, entered the classroom calling for their attention. She immediately set her books down on the table and began to wipe the remnants of the previous class notes from the board.
Will pulled out her textbook and flipped it open. "So where's Hay Lin?" she questioned softly.
Irma stretched back and tilted her head to view her friend. "Dentist, I think."
"Oh…" she whispered softly.
"Right, is there anyone missing?" Miss Taylor asked, preferring to ask that instead of bothering to go through the entire roll book.
"Hay Lin's at the dentist, she'll be in later."
Miss Taylor nodded to the ocean-eyed girl in the second row and quickly scribbled down the name after sweeping the room for the Asian girl that usually added such quirky comments into any debates that ensued in the class.
A few other students were listed as also missing and then class officially began. Will turned the page to find the passage they were going to read. As Miss Taylor asked someone to read, she found her mind wandering. Why was Cornelia in such a distressed mood? She may not be showing any distress, but her wrinkled clothes were a clear clue that something was wrong with the blonde guardian of earth.
On the other hand, Caleb had been gone quite a long time, almost four years. He had never reappeared since Elyon had officially come to power without any opposition. She knew that Elyon had anointed him as captain of the guards and a royal advisor on palace security. This was a good idea, Will supposed, as who would have more experience breaking into the castle than the rebel leader… and at fifteen. That fact still continued to amaze her. Especially after seeing everything he did, he just didn't seem as young as he'd once claimed to be to her.
She sighed. If she were being honest, then she could admit that she missed him too. He had been fun to be around. Sometimes a little on the serious side and other times he acted as though he was their personal babysitter and she'd always been a bit snippy with him at the beginning, but she had never really had a male friend.
Especially not one that looked like or acted like Caleb. The only boys she'd ever had experience with had been that prick of a bully who had made her life hell at the beginning of the school year and who'd tried to sabotage her birthday party. Uriah (rhymes with winner, yeah right). There was that geeky boy Martin who had a crush on Irma, oh and then there had been Matt… She sighed softly again. Matt, her first boyfriend, had been perfect. For a first boyfriend, no girl could have chosen a better guy. He was patient and easy going, never demanding anything she wasn't willing to give.
Although, despite her initial attitude to Caleb, she'd found him to be a good friend. One she missed dearly when he'd chosen to remain in Meridian. Of course, she didn't miss him half as much as Cornelia clearly did. She'd believed him to be her soul mate, which was a big deal for a girl who hadn't claimed to believe in such idealistic views. They just weren't cool enough for her. However, she'd fallen hard for the rebel leader. He'd been everything no other guy could be. After all, was Irma's geeky admirer running around trying to save the world from a magical Prince who had no qualms with killing his enemies or sliding up the body of a big snake dude? Hardly.
"Hey… do you think Caleb and Corny have been having a secret relationship?" Irma suddenly asked, as she turned around; taking advantage of the fact that Miss Taylor was berating another pupil for doing Math homework in her class. She frowned as she took in Will's glazed cinnamon eyes. "Ah, hey, Will, you still in there? Or do you need a little wet wake up call? Because me being the guardian of water, I am all over that."
Will snapped out of her thoughts and blinked in a startled manner. "Did you say something?"
"I was just wondering if Hay Lin's theory's right. Maybe Caleb has been sneaking back to see Corny, or vice versa and maybe… maybe he broke up with her because it's like a long distance relationship!" She nodded her head as her enthusiasm for the idea grew.
Will raised a brow. "I don't think so Irma. For one thing there are no portals anymore, Elyon's portal hopper idea hasn't been fixed up yet, and she'd need the Heart to activate it if Elyon got it set up."
"Blunk could open one for her, ok, maybe not." Irma muttered. There was no way that Corny would voluntarily spend time with Blunk… but for Caleb, there might be a chance. "What about Elyon herself?"
"Hmm, maybe, but I don't think so. Corny isn't acting depressed as such. She's just been tired."
"But maybe she was seeing him instead of getting sleep."
"Moonlight meetings?" Will said dryly, arching a brow. "I don't think so. Corny hates losing sleep; it makes her even more irate."
"Maybe."
"You're being incredibly idealistic. You sure you're not Hay Lin?"
Irma rolled her eyes at the jibe. "Jeez, I indulge in my girly side just once and you accuse me of being an air head."
"I did not. I just asked if you and Hay Lin switched bodies."
"Same thing." Irma muttered, turning around to doodle in her notebook.
Will shrugged and turned her gaze towards the window as Miss Taylor began to explain their homework. Maybe Irma was right, she honestly needed to talk to Cornelia and figure out what was going on. If Caleb was sneaking to earth to see Corny, why didn't he just pop around and see the rest of them. Hay Lin looked up to him; he'd been like an older brother to her, if not that, at least he'd been a fun model. Taranee had liked having Caleb around since her brother had been at college all the time and she rarely saw him. In fact, all four of the other guardians had looked up to him as an older brother figure. And, she'd figured he felt something similar, so why hadn't he bothered to just pop in occasionally to the Silver Dragon and say hello? A simple hello wouldn't kill him, she thought furiously as she glared out the window. It wouldn't even take that long. Why the secrecy? Moreover, what had he done to hurt Corny so much that she'd wear crumpled clothes that she'd probably pulled on in the dark? That wasn't Corny, even when Phobos had captured Elyon; she'd still managed to keep up her appearance.
Scowling, she grabbed up her pen and began to scribble down the notes from the board. Caleb had better have a good answer for this, Will decided; otherwise, he was going to be in a world of hurt! No one hurt one of her friends and got away with it! And no one, certainly not an egomaniac rebel leader, was going to get away with hurting all of her guardians! With that vowed, she cleared up her work and shoving it into her bag, she leapt to her feet when the bell went and strode purposely out the classroom door.
Taranee groaned and hit her head off the locker. "This is wrong, this is so wrong!"
"What's so wrong about it?" Hay Lin whispered back, sweeping her tongue around her teeth that the Dentist had freshly scraped. She was sure she could taste blood somewhere… she just wasn't sure where.
"We're prying into Cornelia's private business! That is wrong! Immoral! Wrong!"
"Next she's going to be calling us evil!" Irma muttered from where she stood huddled beside their unquestionable leader.
"Be gone evil spirit!" Hay Lin sang joyfully as she began to hop around her circle of friends.
"Hay Lin! Hush up!" Will snapped softly as she dug through Cornelia's bag. "Taranee, where is she?"
Taranee pushed open the swing door of the toilet and peeked in, hoping that she wasn't caught in the wall of mirrors. Catching sight of no one, she sighed in relief. "She's still in the cubicle. Hurry up. Oh, this is sooo wrong."
"Yeah, yeah." Irma replied in a singsong tone. "So see anything?"
"If Corny's diary is in here, I can't see it." Will sighed heavily and dropped the blonde's bag. "Well, there goes that theory. I guess we'll just have to ask her."
"Oh… No! No, no, no, no, no!" Taranee shook her head, her violet braid swinging so violently, they were sure she'd poke an eye out.
Hay Lin rolled her mahogany eyes as she fiddled with her short tresses (she'd cut it into a cute bob over the summer during a heat wave). "C'mon, Taranee, aren't you the least bit curious."
"Nope."
"Of course you are."
"Honestly, I'm not. This is… Just leave Corny alone ok. I'm sure she'll talk to us when she's ready."
"Ready to do what?"
All four girls leapt the height of themselves as they heard the slow drawl of an irate blonde. Slowly turning they beamed at her. There stood Cornelia Hale, blonde bombshell of Sheffield Institute with the model good looks, slim and tall build. Cornelia was the type of girl who could wear the frumpiest of clothing and still look elegant. No wonder Caleb had crushed on her, Will thought, she was every guy's dream girl.
"Hey Corny."
"Looking good!"
"Yeah Queen C, really chic."
"How's it going?"
Cornelia Hale was anything but a fool. She knew that her friends were anything but as innocent as they were trying to look. Besides, her bag wasn't where she had left it and the cute little rose keychain she'd bought was hanging on the wrong side of the zip.
"What were you planning to find in my bag?"
"Bag? What bag?" Will asked brightly; then she wilted under her friends gaze. "Ok, we were prying in your stuff, but QC, seriously, I'm worried about you. We are all."
"I'm fine."
"Uh-huh, and that coffee stain is completely disagreeing with you. Listen to it; it's saying Corny's not ok! Corny's… not been sleeping?" Hay Lin tilted her head and frowned in a confused manner.
"Are you talking to a coffee stain? Hay Lin, this is taking you to a whole new level of dementia!" Cornelia exclaimed appalled, shrinking back.
Hay Lin shook her head. "It's the air… It's telling me that you haven't been sleeping."
"Alright, Queen C, as your leader, I'm pulling rank on you. Tell me what's up?"
"I do not have to listen to you lecturing me, Will!"
Taranee stepped forward to lay a hand on her friends shoulder. With a solemn gaze, she met her friends' eyes. "Cornelia, maybe you should accept our intervention. We care about you."
Cornelia sighed heavily. She hated this compassion gig, this whole sisterly connection they'd developed in the past couple of years since they'd all become guardians. She was used to only caring about herself. She hadn't needed to care about another before. No fourteen year old had to care about anyone but himself or herself, well not if they were normal. However, she wasn't normal and now she had… well severely weakened powers, but powers none the less. Then she had to care about more than just herself, but the world and her friends and a whole entire kingdom! And Caleb…
"Look, ok, I get that, really I do. And I'm touched that you care. But you don't have to. I'm totally fine."
"If you call totally fine, looking like you got dressed in the dark with your eyes closed!" Irma muttered under her breath.
"And god forbid I just have an off day!" Cornelia yelled in frustration, before she scooped up her bag, zipped it up and stormed down the corridor, causing students to dive out of her way in fear of being struck down by 'Hurricane Corny'.
"And even so, she still doesn't clash. You have to admire her!" Hay Lin chirped.
Will snorted, slinging her own bag over her shoulder. "Well fine, if Corny won't tell us. We go to the next best thing."
"Elyon?"
"No, the other half of love's young dream!"
"Oh, oh, you mean Caleb?" Hay Lin asked jumping around with her hand in the air.
The other four girls just stared at her.
"No she means Blunk!"
Hay Lin frowned, and then comprehension dawned. "Oh right, you need to find Blunk to find Caleb. Ok, I've got you!"
Will and Taranee exchanged a look before both girls shrugged and Irma snickered. Turning they headed down the corridor, to their next class.
Well did you enjoy? This will be an eventual Caleb/Will romance because that second episode where they were in the oubliette just wouldn't leave me. However, the overriding theme is the friendship of the guardians and the people they will become. Review please.
