Disclaimer: This is fanfiction. No one gave me permission (or commission) to write it and I certainly don't own the WITCH franchise. This story is free and may not be sold.
Rating: This story is rated T for Teen due to language, violence and shit like that. See, we haven't even started yet and already there is bad language!
Advanced Notes: This is a bridge story between "Unmaking the World" and Part 3. As such, I highly recommend that you read "Unmaking the World" first (and Part 3 last, if you are reading this after I have started posting part 3).
(Yes that's the last pre-note, you can now get to the story, enjoy!)
"Paths Divided"
By: Starwin
Chapter 1 - Life
Dark clouds swarmed across the sky, concealing the stars and moon behind a veil of silver. A violent wind rushed through the world, making the trees flail wildly and the window shutters rattle. It was a night that only the fool-hearty ventured into.
The streets of Heatherfield were lit by tall florescent lamps that cast pools of light onto the asphalt roads. The metal poles swayed back and forth with an eerie creaking.
And, on one particular street, one of the lamps flickered. The light struggled to stay on before finally being consumed in shadows. This was not such an odd thing in and of itself, street lamps went out all the time. A moment later the lamp across the street did the same thing.
But two streetlamps going out, so close together, were nothing more than coincidence. Until a third light followed suit and died into darkness. The empty city held its breath as the wind died. The world waited as though something terrible were about to happen.
With a roar like thunder the wind returned in a gust more powerful than any so far. The invisible wall of air raced across the ground and in its wake the lights of the city were snuffed out. The dark, endless, night pressed in upon the world, devouring it whole.
Under the cover of shadows, a lone person moved through the darkened streets of Heatherfield. The person moved with unwavering purpose and speed. Though not running, the mysterious traveler strode at a brisk pace.
The moonlight broke through the clouds, shining down upon the city and revealing the soft features of the girl who walked the dark streets. Her hair was turned silver by the moons glow but, her cold eyes did not reflect the great white orb as she looked at it. Quickly as they had opened the clouds closed, hiding the moon as if it was frightened by the girl's stair.
The wind continued to howl as it raced across rooftops and down the streets. But for all its might the wind seemed to have little effect on the girl, save to cause her long hair to dance along behind her.
She came to a stop before a metal mesh gate. A steel chain and lock had been thread through the fence, holding the gate closed. Gently the girl lifted the lock holding it in her hand a moment before crushing it and ripping the chain away.
Without pause she pushed the gate open and strode out onto the grassy field beyond. Dark buildings stood in the distance, but she did not head towards them. Instead the girl walked to a seemingly random spot on the grass and stopped.
She put her hands out in front of her as if feeling for something invisible. As she did so the gem around her neck began to glow with a cold blue light. Her hand snagged in the air. With great care she took hold of the invisible dot with both hands and in one fierce movement ripped the air apart, as though tearing cloth.
Blue light poured out from the open wound in the fabric of reality. The girl smiled a dark, sinister smile. It was still here, just like she thought it would be. But she would have to act fast, the tear was already beginning to heal.
Moving with the grace of an ice skater the girl performed what looked like an intricate dance. The gem around her neck began to glow as powerful tendrils magic burned in the air around the girl's body. With a roar the girl sent the magical arms into the tear she had opened.
The long blue magical arms danced about loosely, their ends no longer visible as they reached out to grab something deep inside the vortex. Suddenly the tendrils of magic snapped taunt and with incredible force, they began to drag something back through the tear.
With on final pull a white haired, middle aged, man was yanked through the rift. The man lay on the ground before the girl, his breathing labored and his body ridged.
"How dare you!" the man snarled as he pushed himself up. "Do you have any idea who…" his eyes went wide as he saw the face of the girl revealed in the rift light. "You…" he growled.
"Yes, Prince Phobos," said the girl coldly. "I know exactly who you are."
In an instant the tear sealed once more, leaving the two in the darkness of the night.
"Taranee, honey, time to get up," the woman's voice was accompanied by a loud knock. And then the small, dark room was silent again as its lone occupant remained motionless in her bed. "Taranee?" the woman called again.
"I'm up, I'm up," the girl under the covers shouted, her tone irritated. The sound of footsteps reverberated through the floor as the person outside her room moved away and the girl under the covers let her eyes close again.
A moment later the alarm clock erupted with an earsplitting racket. A sleepy arm poked out from under the covers missing the snooze button and knocking the clock off the desk. It small alarm devices fell to the floor, where it continued to beep, in its high pitched wail.
"Alright!" the girl under the covers shouted, throwing the blankets off herself and sitting up. She looked a mess, dark circles were heavy under her eyes and her short black hair, that was usually braided, was a tangle around her face. "I'm up! Stop it already!"
But the alarm clock did not hear her words, it was just a machine. Such a device had only one purpose, to wake someone on time. It could not comprehend the anger its owner was currently showing it. It could not understand the turmoil that tumbled in this girls mind. And it could not possibly imagine the nightmares that plagued her when she closed her eyes.
With a crash Taranee smashed the alarm clock with her foot. The alarm continued. Taranee stomped the clock again and again. Its incessant beeping slowly becoming more drawn-out with each strike until at last it sat silent on the floor.
The girl stood next to it. Breathing hard, her chest rising and falling as she looked at the thing she had smashed. With its final ounce of strength the alarm beeped one last time. With a scream of rage the girl stomped as hard as she could on the clock.
As she did so, something amazing happened. Fire, colored a brilliant red and gold enveloped her bare foot. With incredible force her foot cut the clock in two and its beeping was silenced forever.
The girl stood there shaking uncontrollably for a moment. Her breathing came in gasps. Wrapping her arms around her as if her room were freezing the girl closed her eyes for a moment and let her breathing calm.
Once her breath had returned to normal Taranee opened her eyes. She continued to look strait ahead in the shadowy light of her room. The curtains were drawn shut, but the light beyond them was still dim as though the sun had not yet risen.
Still dressed in her pajamas, Taranee turned towards her door and began to inch towards it. Her hands were stretched out in front of her as if feeling for obstacles. Her foot snagged on a pile of clothing and she stumbled forward, catching herself on the edge of her bed.
Carefully Taranee worked her way back to her feet. She continued moving slowly towards her door until at last her fingers touched the cool wood. Her hand groped for the knob, finding it quickly and opening the door with a click.
Her eyes half closed, Taranee moved out into the hallway, keeping one hand on the wall as she walked. At last her hand touched the metal of another door knob. But there was already someone else's hand there.
"Woah, you look terrible sis!" said the boy attached to the hand. The girl looked up, there was a flash of fire in her eyes and the boy jumped backwards, letting go of the door. Without a word the girl opened the door and quickly moved inside, before locking it behind her. "Hey, no fair I was here first!"
The girl ignored his knocking. Taranee did not bother to turn on the lights, instead she began to strip off her sweat stained pajamas. Still in semi darkness she felt for, and found, the knob for hot water in the shower. Her older brother continued to complain outside the door, but she ignored him. With slow deliberate steps she climbed into the falling water, and sat down, pulling her knees to her chest and closing her eyes.
Heatherfield Park was much like any other large park. Around its semi circular edge was a dirt path, where early morning joggers often ran. A large open grass field was at its heart where children could play. And separating the two areas was a thick wall of trees, creating secluded areas where teenagers could sneak away from prying eyes.
However in the early morning light the park seemed empty. There were no joggers running the dirt path that encircled the park. There were no kids playing on the field. And if anyone was hiding in the foliage they would be almost invisible anyhow.
The trees danced in the wind and the clouds circled in an ever shifting blanket of gray. Leafs raced through all areas of the park in an endless chase of one another, oblivious to the stormy chaos that whirled above them. And sitting in the middle of all this, hidden by the trees, was a girl with long blond hair.
She looked to be around fourteen, although she was tall for her age. A long white dress flapped around her knees in the wind, while a heavy white jacket was pulled tightly around her upper body.
The girl had been sitting on the green metal bench for almost an hour. Her head was tilted back and her face pointed upwards. She was watching the dark storm clouds high above dance in and out of view as the tops of the trees opened and closed in the wind.
The sky had been that way for over a month now. The clouds did not rain, and the sun did not shine. There was no blue anymore, just an endless gray mass, whirling and churning and waiting.
The weathermen tried dismiss the odd phenomenon as normal weather for this time of year. But the fact remained that the storm had settled over the city of Heatherfield. And traveling just outside of the city limit revealed blue sky and sunshine.
And no one seemed to be able to explain why the clouds wouldn't go away. But the girl who sat on the bench and watched the clouds knew why.
She knew something of magic and this storm was magical in nature. For behind her calm exterior was the strength of a warrior. A warrior who had given everything to save her friend and who had paid greatly for it.
The girl let her memories slide back into the past. Back to a place called Kandrakar and a man named the Oracle. Back to the day that her friend, who she had risked everything to save, had declared that they would no longer be Guardians of Kandrakar.
And since that day the five friends, who had once been inseparable, had grown further and further apart. And the storm in the sky had grown larger and larger.
Movement out of the corner of her eye alerted the girl to someone's approach. But before she could turn to see who it was a voice spoke and told her.
"Hello Cornelia," said the person. A hand took the edge of the bench and the person who had spoken move carefully around it before sitting next to Cornelia. The dark skinned girl was dressed in a large, furry, jacket and dark kaki pants. A hood was pulled up over her head and she wasn't looking at Cornelia.
"Taranee, you aren't wearing your glasses?" Cornelia asked as she saw her friend's face. Taranee turned away.
"I don't need them anymore," Taranee said. "I can see fine."
"It's… it's getting worse, isn't it?" Cornelia asked, genuine concern in her voice.
"I said I'm…" Taranee repeated angrily.
"No, you're not fine!" Cornelia shouted back. "If I hadn't lost my powers maybe I could have healed you!" Tears burned at the edge of Cornelia's eyes. "If Will hadn't made us leave Kandrakar maybe the Oracle could have…"
"Stop it Cornelia," said Taranee as she turned to face her friend. The white areas of Taranee's eyes swirled with a black murky shadow that danced around her pupils. "Every time… Every time we see each other we go down this road.
"It isn't your fault this happened to me. It isn't your fault you can't fix it!" said Taranee. Cornelia looked away. They sat in silence for a long while. The wind continued to rush around them.
From where they sat the two of them could see that the rest of the park was empty. Concealed by the trees this spot was the perfect place for what they needed. Normally, Shell Cave would have been the place of choice. But, with this storm, the waves at the beach front were dangerous and the cave was likely to be flooded.
Besides, Shell Cave had too many painful memories.
"This will be the first time," Taranee's words made Cornelia jump as the blond haired girl was pulled from her thoughts.
"The first time for what?" Cornelia asked confused.
"The first time we've all been together since we left Kandrakar," said Taranee quietly. Cornelia felt a shiver of surprise and realization. Taranee was right. For the last month they had been avoiding one another.
"Except Will and Irma seem to be getting along just fine," Cornelia mumbled under her breath, voicing her thoughts aloud.
"Speaking of which, here they come," said Taranee pointing into the distance. Cornelia looked down the dirt path where Taranee was pointing, but there was no one there.
"Uh, Taranee…" Cornelia started to say, but just as she was about to tell her friend that she was pointing at nothing, the heads of two girls appeared. They were jogging up over a hill in the path.
Cornelia instantly felt a strong dislike wash over her as she watched the two jogging towards them. Will was a girl, but she always dressed like she was a boy. Her bright red hair was very short, like a boys. She wore blue overalls, like a boy. And her choice of clothing colors, blue overalls and a pink shirt, were the horrible choices a boy would make.
Cornelia's eyes moved to the girl running along side Will and found her dislike increase tenfold. Irma Lair, the other tomboy in the group. She was dressed much like Will was, in blue overalls. Her shoulder length brown hair had been tied back in two pig tails. And although she wore baggy clothing, Cornelia knew that Irma was still pudgy underneath.
Irma and Cornelia had never exactly seen eye to eye, even before the happenings in Kandrakar. But now, they downright couldn't stand one another.
While Cornelia was lost in her thoughts the two late arrivals came to a stop in front of where she and Taranee were sitting. Both Will and Irma looked like they were out of breath, Irma more so than Will.
"Sorry… we're… late…" Irma said between gasps. She was clutching a stitch in her side. "We… were…" Irma tried to explain.
"I don't really want to know," said Cornelia coldly crossing her arms, a bad mood overtaking her face. "We're just missing Hay Lin, than we can go and get this over with." Irma tried to glare back at Cornelia, but she still hadn't caught her breath.
"That's what Irma was trying to tell you," said Will. The redheaded girl was in better shape than Irma and she had already recovered from their run. Irma on the other hand, had just lain down in the grass. "We were just at Hay Lin's house. She isn't coming."
"What?" Cornelia said surprised. "But we were all invited. How can she just blow this off?"
"She hasn't left her house for weeks," said Irma, at last sitting up and grabbing her knees. "She wouldn't even open her door to see us."
"But I saw Hay Lin in class yesterday," said Taranee. "Sort of…" Taranee looked sadly away. "Although… now that I think about it she was acting a little odd…"
"Actually…" said Will, her face turning a little red. "That's… that's her astral drop." Both Cornelia and Taranee looked at Will surprised. But Irma just rubbed her arm uncomfortably.
"You mean you knew she was sending an astral drop to school and you didn't think it was important enough to tell us?" shouted Cornelia.
"Well, it was her business, if she wanted to tell you, she would have!" Will shouted back. "I'm not her keeper, I don't tell her what to do!"
"But you are her leader!" Cornelia screamed, standing from the bench and getting in Will's face. "Although lately you don't really seem to care about anyone except yourself!" Her eyes flicked towards Irma. "And your little bit…"
"Stop it!" Taranee shouted, cutting off Cornelia's insult. Everyone turned towards Taranee. "Look at us, we used to be the best of friends…" The other girls looked away uneasily. "Now we can barely stand each other. Did we go through Hell for nothing?
"For the last month we have all been avoiding each other. For the last month we have been pretending like nothing changed. We've been thinking that if we don't talk about it, everything will go back to the way it was!
"But it's different now. We all came back different people. And if we don't work together we are just going to drift further and further apart, until we are so different that we don't even recognize one another." There was silence once more, disrupted only by the wind and the dancing leafs.
"Or maybe it's too late," Taranee whispered quietly to herself, letting her eyes fall from her friends.
"I'm sorry," said Will at last. "I let you all down. I know… I know I made a decision none of you agree with. But it was my decision to make and I made it. After today, if we no longer want to be friends than I'll understand…"
"Will…" Irma tried to interrupt but Will continued.
"Some things we can never undo. Some things we can never make up for. This will be the last mission for Guardians," said Will. Will pulled a small pink gem from around her neck and held it high in the air. The gem began to glow and in a flash it whisked the girls away.
Authors Notes:
Bam, chapter 1. Wow, it's been a while, like three-ish months (that wasn't really too bad of a wait, was it?). I have to say I am still kind of drained from the last major story. Don't quiet have my "fire" back yet.
Currently I have multiple stories doing battle in my head, each one trying to fight its way out and get some page time. But I can only do one story at a time. So this is the lucky story, (after all I did promise it that it would be next).
Anyhow, this is, for those that don't know, the second part of this story. The first part is "Unmaking the World", which, if you didn't read the disclaimer at the top, you should have read first. If not, sorry, this is not a stand alone piece. Not reading the first part might leave you a little lost.
All that being said, like my first story (in this series) there is a release schedule for this one too. A new chapter will go up on the first day of each month for five (well 4 now) months. I am unsure of the start date for part 3 but I already have most of part three worked out, so hopefully not long.
Ok, rambling…
Thank you everyone for reading. Please feel free to leave a review if it pleases you.
Starwin out.