Disclaimer: Don't own W.I.T.C.H, never will.

Wow, this chapter is looooong, all I have to say is, no offence, but don't criticize me on my betaing, after reading something this long, you don't always have the time to go over it a couple more times just to make sure you didn't miss anything, I also have homework like other people too. Please do not criticize me on my betaing.

Sorry this took so long this chapter ended up being longer than expected but I didn't want to cut it down. Well lets' cut to the chase, Matt still needs to learn about…

Chapter 3: Earth Magic

After finally getting out of school, and ditching Professor Sylla, Matt and the girls made their final plans for the evening. Cornelia, who now had a replacement baby-sitter, was saying how she needed a new outfit for the occasion. "I can't wear just anything I have to look perfect. Oh, I saw the cutest outfit in that boutique on Spring street last week, I hope it's still there."

"Spring street?" Said Matt remembering his encounter with Captain Loone and the crazy flock of pigeons. "Ah Cornelia you might want to avoid that street tonight or at least bring an umbrella." But the blond was too excited to really listen to what Matt was saying.

"Don't worry the weather man said it would be sunny out for the rest of the week."

"That's not what I-" Matt started but was cut off.

"Oh don't forget, be at my place by 6:00. My parents just want to make sure you don't have a criminal record or something."

The boy's eyes widened. "A criminal what?!"

"See you guys later." and with that she vanished from sight. Will glanced up at her boyfriend a little confused.

"Why would she need an umbrella on Spring street?" Will asked dropping a blue notebook out of her hands.

"Let's just say it's something a little birdie told me." Matt said as he reached to pick up the fallen notebook. But the book had opened to a random page and he saw the familiar W.I.T.C.H. logo at the top. "What's this Will?"

Will blushed and looked a bit embarrassed as she snatched the book from her boyfriends hands. "I-it's just something I've been working on in my spare time."

"But why does it have the W.I.T.C.H. logo on it? Is it guardian business?" At this new bit of information the rest of the group gathered around the redhead to get a better look.

"Will!" said Taranee surprised she would be writing down evidence about their adventures when they were trying to keep it quiet. "What are you thinking? If Sylla ever saw this…" She pulled the book out of Will's hands as Hay Lin got a better look.

"It's like a fantasy story about us with some of the names and faces changed." she said more amused than worried.

"Why is my name changed to Ive? Couldn't you have thought of a prettier name?" Commented Irma as Will grabbed the book back.

"Ok OK, I've been writing a story about US but not US."

"What?" They all said together.

"Look, I'm not stupid I know Sylla is looking for something on us maybe magical. I thought I could used the story as a cover."

Hay Lin's eyes widened. "You mean like if he catches us talking about W.I.T.C.H. we could say we were talking about a story you're writing?"

"Exactly, I used my friends and family for inspiration and wrote them into a fantasy story. This way if anything is overheard we can blame it in the story and now we have a written copy to back it up."

"It's so simple it's brilliant." Remarked Irma as Taranee nervously bit her lip.

"I still think it's a bit risky."

"I was careful not to put anything too reveling or that anything that could be used against us." Will assured her. "It won't help if we're seen using our powers but I think it's better than hiding everything. That'll just make people more suspicious." The group had essentially decided it was a good backup plan for the moment. Right now they still had to finalize plans for tonight's movie.

"You sure you can't come with me Matt?" Matt cringed but held his ground.

"Come on Will, I'm not asking you to stop listening to him or to stop liking him this is just one thing where we have difference of opinion."

"So you'd rather spend the evening with a little girl?" she said, small sparks flying around her.

"Oh come on that's not fair. I still have a headache from all of these stupid animals. At this point I need to talk to Napoleon before I go crazy." Will's face softened.

"I'm sorry, you're right we don't have to do everything together. Go talk to Napoleon and feel better OK?"

"Thanks Will." He was about to leave when she grabbed his arm.

"Stop by the Silver Dragon before you go to Cornelia's place alright."

"Sure thing, see you later." And with that Matt went home to tell Huggles the change of plans while Hay Lin frowned at Will.

"I still don't see why you wanted him to come so badly Will, you know he hates Vance."

Irma nodded in agreement. "Hay Hay's right, plus it did look like someone was playing a drum solo on his head."

"I know, I know you're right. I don't know I just want to be with him as much as possible." Will sighed.

"Well ask him on a date after the Movie night I'm sure you'd both like a little alone time more than Matt tagging along with the girls." Taranee suggested.

Will's eyes lit up with an idea. "You know, you're right. I think I'll go see Halloween with him after all."

"But I though you hated Rob Zombie." Hay Lin said with a smile ribbing Will gently in the side.

"I can put up with it for a few hours. It'll make Matt feel guilty plus he likes to cuddle when he thinks I'm scared." The others rolled their eyes as they each headed home to get ready.

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On his way home Matt was trying to distract himself from the noise in any way possible. After several stray thoughts he found himself wondering about his role as Regent of Earth. He had recently started to remember some strange dreams he had before accepting the role as Lillian's protector. It was strange at first but it almost seemed like someone was encouraging him to be in the right place at the right time. Was it really by chance that all this happened or was there something more going on that he just didn't understand?

What made him follow Will into that strange glowing vortex over a year ago that started this whole adventure? At first he thought it was because he was worried about her. But thinking back it didn't make a lot of sense. At the time he had a crush on her and there was something about the redhead that intrigued him, like he was drawn to her. But it wasn't like him to just run screaming into a hole in space not knowing what was on the other side. He admitted he was a little shaken up by landing in another world, almost getting eaten by a giant snake, and seeing his girlfriend and friends transform into magical fairy warriors. He just smiled and nodded when Will tried to explain everything to him. A normal guy wouldn't want anything to do a crazy situation like that but he just couldn't stay away.

Again and again he jumped head first into dangerous situations even if he was hindering more then helping. All to protect her, but it was plain to see that she was the stronger one in this relationship and didn't need him to protect her. But now with power of the Heart of Earth under his protection, he felt a sense of righteousness, like this was meant to be somehow. He really couldn't explain it, and now he had this new power that wasn't connected to the Heart. But where did it come from, Nerissa? That didn't seem right. While it was unusual it didn't feel bad or invasive like it had with Shagon. His thoughts were interrupted for as soon as he opened his front door. A small gray fur-ball leapt out and onto his head.

"YOU'RE HOME!" squealed Huggles as Matt tried to peel the overly excited dormouse off of his face.

"Huggles, would you please calm down?" As he closed the door he sighed in relief. Despite being an animal lover the Olsen household didn't have any household pets besides Huggles. Occasionally his Grandfather would bring home an injured or sick animal that needed to be cared for. Matt himself had brought home a few injured birds and cats with his mother's insistence that they would go to a new home once they were well enough. Huggles was one of the few animals that had been allowed a permanent home here. But right now he was glad there were no other animals other then Huggles within hearing range. Now if he could just get him to calm down.

"Huggles listen I have to tell you something."

The dormouse blinked but stayed still for a moment. "Sure, what do you want to tell me?"

Now that Huggles had calmed down Matt could too. "Remember when I asked if it was you or me when we discovered we could talk to each other?"

He blinked again. "Yes?"

"Well it seems like it's me. I can hear and talk to every animal I'm close to, not just you." The little dormouse looked disappointed.

"You mean it's not just us?"

Matt rubbed his head still fighting off his headache. "I wish it was, believe me."

"Aw man, I thought this was something special between us." The dormouse said hopping up and down.

"Oh come here you." He picked up Huggles and looked him in the eye. "As far as I'm concerned it is. Now, I'm going over to Lillian's tonight to baby-sit and talk to Napoleon about this."

Huggles tilted his head getting a better look at his master. "Are you feeling OK?"

"Just a little headache brought on by a few too many animals in my head." Huggles nuzzled his head on Matt's chin trying to comfort him.

"Can I go with you?"

"It shouldn't be a problem. Until then we can have a nice little talk if you like."

"Yeah!" Then the phone rang. "Ah, Nuts."

Matt picked up the phone to hear his mother's voice on the other end. "Hi Mom, good thing you called I wanted to let you know I was going out tonight."

"To the Hales to baby-sit their daughter Lillian?"

Matt blinked in surprise. "How'd you know?"

"Elizabeth Hale just called me at the office. Any reason why, I know the pet shop's been a little slow lately but-"

"No it's nothing like that." Matt assured her. "I'm just doing a favor for Cornelia and getting out of the VMJ movie tonight."

"Ah, that makes more sense." She was well aware of her son's extreme dislike of the famous pop singer.

"Why'd they call you though?" Matt asked. "My cell was on."

"Sounded like she was doing a little background check. I took the liberty of leaving out that questionable person you still refuse to tell me about."

Matt looked a little ashamed even if his Mother couldn't see it. "Yeah, thanks."

"I think it'll be good for you. Be safe and keep your cell on. Any problems just call me or your grandfather."

"Got it, see you tonight."

"Love you, sweetie."

And to Huggles relief Matt finally hung up the phone. "Now, where were we?"

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Lillian Hale was showing her mother some of her drawings when her sister stormed into the apartment. "I am going to KILL Matt!" The both looked up to see the elder Hale sister covered in white bird crap clutching a shopping bag protectively in her arms. While Lillian just laughed. Her mother raised an eyebrow.

"And how exactly is Matt responsible for your…sticky situation."

"Uh…" she hesitated. She couldn't exactly tell her that Matt could talk to animals and failed to warn her about the rouge pigeon flock attacking innocent shoppers. "Oh, I'm just taking my frustrations out on him because he's an animal lover and says to respect all living creatures. Those birds were lucky I didn't have a shotgun handy." Elizabeth Hale smirked at her poor daughter.

"I think you should get cleaned up if you want to make it to your movie on time."

"That sounds like the best idea I've heard in ages."

Lillian grabbed some of her drawings and tried to show them to her sister. "I just got my drawings back from school, some were hanging up in the class room wanna see?"

"Fine if you want me to get bird poop all over them"

"Ewe, never mind. Go shower first." Cornelia nearly ran to the bathroom anxious to get all of the horrible mess cleaned off. Mrs. Hale was now getting ready for her dinner leaving Lillian alone with no one to talk to except Napoleon. "I can't wait until Matt gets here. He'd want to see my drawings, right Napoleon?"

The black cat purred contently glancing at the young girl's artwork. He nearly yelped at what he saw.

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At the Silver Dragon in their basement clubhouse, the other girls were already there, having a snack before the movie. But there were other things on the mind of one of them. When Irma asked what she was thinking Taranee just chewed on the end on her pencil thoughtfully. "I was just thinking about Matt." the girls collectively raised eyebrows.

"I'd be careful if I were you Tara, Will shocked the last girl who had her eyes on her little Dark Angel." Irma said pointing towards Will looking more confused than jealous.

Taranee glared at the Water Guardian. "That's not what I mean!" She sighed and collected herself. "Doesn't it seem a little weird that Nerissa took Matt, turned him into Shagon, but didn't use him to his full potential?"

Hay Lin looked up from her sketchbook. "He seemed to do a pretty good job, hunting down our families and making Will think he was holding her boyfriend hostage." She happened to see Will looking in her direction looking down. "All under an evil spell of course." she said hastily as Taranee pushed her glasses back up her nose.

"But why go to all the trouble of kidnapping Matt, and using hate to turn him into Shagon when his love was more likely to fight off her influence. Why not just take some random person with no connection to us who would be easier to control?"

Will thought for a moment before answering. "Maybe because he knew about us; Where we live, who our loved ones were?"

"She could have someone spy on us and got the same result." Taranee said. "But think about it. We didn't know Shagon was really Matt until he started to break free. But what if he had revealed who he really was to us, too Will."

"I know how hard it was to fight my Grandma." Hay Lin thought putting her book down. "Do you think you could have fought him if you knew Will?"

"I…I'd like to say yes but…I don't know. Shagon made it damn easy though." Now that the redhead thought about it, it didn't make sense. "Why didn't Nerissa want me to know it was really Matt? If you think about it, I'd probably spent more time trying to free him leaving Nerissa free to do as she wished."

"Maybe if you did somehow figure out how to free him then you might have been able to free the old Guardians as well." Subjected Irma but Taranee frowned

"But that just brings us back to the same question: why Matt?"

"And what was with that strange pet name?" Will said as some tiny sparks flew just from the memory.

Hay Lin looked up. "What pet name?"

"That…name she called him when she thought Shagon had come back to her. Dear Heart."

Irma looked thoughtful. "Well he did just gain the powers of the Heart of Earth."

Will shook her head. "But Matt said she called him that a number of times including the night she took him."

"Maybe it's a coincidence." Thought Hay Lin but Taranee disagreed.

"There are a lot of coincidences lately."

Hay Lin's head shot up as a thought came to her head. "Maybe Matt really is a Guardian."

Irma raised an eyebrow. "Hay Lin you gotta stop writing with sharpies."

"Well, think about it. His new powers, talking to animals. Doesn't it sound like an elemental power?" Now that she had said it out loud she thought it was a great idea.

"Do animals count as an element?" Will thought out loud as Hay Lin Continued.

"Maybe not a main one, but who says our five elements are the only ones. Matt said he could talk to birds, reptiles and mammals, and what does Shagon have in common with all three?" She waited for what she thought was an obvious response but when no one answered she did. "Wings, a tail and claws."

Will didn't seem too convinced. "I don't know, we're kind of stretching it a bit."

Taranee nodded in agreement. "I think we need to talk to Napoleon and maybe the Oracle."

"Oh not the Oracle." Complained Irma. "No offence but every time we see the guy we leave with more questions then when we came."

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Finally, all clean and with her new outfit on Cornelia Hale was ready to take on the world, or at least a movie. She was almost to the door when her sister stopped her.

"NOW do you want to see my drawings?" She groaned and made no attempt to hide it.

"Lillian I have to leave, I'm meeting the others and-Ouch!" She cried out as Napoleon nipped at her ankle and gestured to the pictures in her sister's hand. Not wanting a bloody ankle she gave in. "OK, OK just make it quick." One by one Lillian showed her sister her artworks she had worked so hard on for most of the fall. She smiled and nodded but was still eager to get out the door. Why did Napoleon want her to see this? They were just kid drawings of her family, her friends, school, Shagon, flowers, bugs and-

"Whoa! Back up!" She flipped though the pages and sure enough she found a picture of Shagon drawn in crayon. Even if it was childish there was no mistaking those black wings and gold mask.

"You like that one? That's Princess Lillian's Guardian Angel." She tried to calm herself. After all, Shagon did appear outside of her window and she was probably drawing something from her 'nightmare'. Until she saw the date on the bottom. She blink, but this means…

"Um, yeah this one's really creative. I've never seen an Angle like this." The child beamed at the unexpected praise. "But I think you got the date wrong. This date is before you had that nightmare remember."

"Oh, this isn't from my nightmare this is from the first time I had a dream about him. In this one he was protecting Princess Lillian but in my nightmare I dreamed he was under an evil spell." Cornelia glanced at Napoleon who was looking a little pale for a cat.

"You know what, this one is so good I think I'll show it to my friends."

"But I wanted to show it to Matt tonight."

"Don't worry he's going to meet us before he comes tonight I'll have him bring it back with him. See you later bye!" And with that she ran out the door before anyone could stop her.

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Matt and Mr. Huggles arrived at the Silver Dragon to say 'hi' to Will and the others before heading off to the Hales' place. Will hugged her boyfriend and kissed him on the cheek. "I'm sorry about earlier, I shouldn't have tried to force Vance down your throat like that. How's your headache?"

"It's getting better but I think the Silver Dragon's got rats." At this Hay Lin jumped up.

"What? Rats where? Don't tell my Grandma she might call an exterminator." She said in a panic.

Huggles chirped something into Matt's ear. "Mind if Huggles has a try?" She looked hesitant but nodded her head.

"OK just make sure no customers see him or they'll be a new item on tomorrows menu." Matt nodded to the little dormouse. He leapt off of Matt's shoulder and scampered into a small hole in the wall.

Irma smiled at the sight. "I think your dormouse thinks he's a Chasseur Cat." They all had a nice laugh when suddenly Cornelia burst into the room panting.

"Guys…you're all…here!" she said in between breaths. Will took her hand and led her to a chair.

"Take it easy Cornelia, what's wrong." The blond held up a shaking hand holding a piece of paper.

"Lillian…drew this…wanted to show…Matt." Will raised an eyebrow as she took the paper from her friends hand.

"But he's just about to go over to your place, why'd you …WHAO!" At their leader's reaction everyone gathered around the drawing. Matt's mouth fell open as he stared at Shagon drawn in crayon.

"Cornelia, did Lillian remember that 'dream' she had of Shagon flying out her window?" Taranee asked as the elder Hale sister finally caught her breath.

"That's what I thought too but look at the date!" Matt took a closer look and realized with a jolt what that date meant.

"Th-that's the night Nerissa grabbed me. I didn't become Shagon until the next morning. Cornelia are you sure this date is right."

"I asked Lillian the same question and she said that this was from the first night she dreamt about 'Princess Lillian's Angel' she said she had a nightmare later about her angel being under an evil spell." Matt looked at the girls and Will knowing they all had the same question on their minds. 'What does this all mean?' Without further delay he gathered his coat and called for Mr. Huggles.

"I've got to talk to Napoleon, come by after the movie and we'll see what we can find out."

"Are you sure, maybe we should skip it." Will suggested.

"No, you girls enjoy the show. Besides if Cornelia isn't going there's no reason for me to baby-sit tonight." Mr. Huggles climbed back onto his shoulder with a satisfied look on his face.

"The rats are all gone and I don't think they'll be coming back no matter how good the food is."

Matt gave the dormouse a questioning look. "What did you do exactly? You didn't transform into Kor did you?"

"Don't worry I'm not stupid. I just used a glamour. You should have seen their faces when they saw an army of zombie cats heading their way." Matt made a weird face but assured Hay Lin not rat were harmed, not physically anyway.

"See you girls tonight!"

"By Matt, good luck!" Said Will as he walked out the door.

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Matt's interrogation with Mr. and Mrs. Hale was not as bad as he expected. It probably help that Lillian seemed so excited to see him. After assuring them he had all of the emergency numbers and that he knew the Heimlich maneuver as well as CPR they finally left.

"Finally." Said the excited little girl. "Do you want to see my drawings Matt? After that we can have a tea party, and then-" It was pretty clear she had the whole evening planed out which was fine with Matt. He wouldn't be able to talk to Napoleon until she was asleep and if she tired herself out the easier it would be to get her to bed.

"Sounds good, let's see some artwork, oh." He pulled out the Shagon picture out of his bag and handed it back to Lillian. "I thought this one was rather…illuminating." Huggles, who had been hiding in Matt's bag chirped in agreement. "Huggles agrees as well." The child laughed as the little dormouse jumped onto her shoulders and tickled her nose with his tail. Suddenly his head stopped hurting all together, like it had never happened. He glanced around and saw Napoleon with an unmistakable grin on his face.

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After a long night of games with the eight year old, which included a mock art show, a tea party, dress-up (thankfully in men's clothes) and few video games, Lillian couldn't stifle her yawning anymore. After a small protest Matt promised her a story. She made a weird face but went to go change. Matt took this opportunity to ask the black cat a question.

"What's going to happen when she gets older?"

"She'll get her powers back of course."

"I mean are we going to keep everything from her until she's…just how old should she be before she come of age?" He asked.

"Thirteen, and believe me I've been trying to think of a solution. Imagine a thirteen year old teenager coming into her power and finding out she was lied to for the last five years."

Matt grimaced. "I'd rather not. There has to be a way to prepare her without spilling all of out secretes or totally freaking her out."

"Well if you've got any bright idea's I'm all-Meow." Matt whipped his head around to see Lillian peaking her head out her bedroom door.

"I'm ready for my story now! Just try not to make the story too outrageous. And no Super Growth Power."

He laughed more relieved that she didn't appear to have heard Napoleon. "OK, OK, no Super Growth Power."

"Good!" and with that she scampered back into her room.

"And no Dragons either." He said under his breath and he pulled a book of stories from his back. But as he did he noticed Will's W.I.T.C.H. notebook fell out as well. He had been looking at it before Cornelia had shown up, and he must have thrown it into his bag without realizing it. As he picked it up he was struck by a crazy idea. Brilliant, but crazy. "That's it!"

"What's it?" Matt showed Napoleon the notebook and told the cat his plan. He would read Lillian the story of W.I.T.C.H. as a fairytale. That way she would be told the truth but not know it was all real. "It's a risky plan Mac, but I do think it's better than having her find out from someone else somewhere down the line."

"OK then, looks like it's story time."

"Matt, you coming or what?" cried Lillian getting inpatient.

"Coming Princess. I've got a real treat for you tonight."

"Did you write it?"

"Ah, no Will did."

"Good, no offence but your not the best at making things up on the spot."

"None taken." He said taking a seat on the chair by her bed. "Now you know all about Princess Lillian and her Guardian protectors but did you know they were once regular girls from Earth?" Seeing he now had her interested, he pulled out the book and began to read. "This is the stories of five friends whose destiny was written in the stars long ago. Wendy, Ive, Teresa, Cordelia and Hanna"

"Did Will change all the names?"

"I'm pretty sure she did."

"Couldn't she come up with a better name than Ive?"

"I have a feeling she's gonna change it." And by the end of the first chapter Lillian was nodding off with a content smile on her face.

"Good story, (yawn) but what happens next?"

"That's for another night Princess." She didn't even protest, she could barely keep her eyes open.

"Thanks for coming over Matt (yawn) it was fun."

"Any time Princess." he said quietly and handed her, her Teddy Bear Winston. "Anytime." And left the room. He had almost forgotten his real reason for coming but looking at her innocent face he felt a little guilty. He was her Regent after all.

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He closed the door behind him and saw Napoleon and Huggles waiting for him in the living room.

"The kid asleep?" asked the cat making himself comfortable on the couch while Huggles took his normal spot on top of Matt's shoulder.

"Out like a light." He sat down as well facing Napoleon. "I have so many questions. I woke up this morning with this new power. I can't see how this could be very useful while fighting evil though. All it's done is prevent me from having to change clothes after a pigeon attack and give me a pounding headache."

"How's your head now?" The cat said with that same smirk from earlier.

"That's another thing. I walked in with a bearable headache but a moment later it vanished. And something tells me you know all about it." Matt said narrowing his eyes but Napoleon just smiled again.

"Mattie my boy, what you just experienced was one of the crown jewels of the Heart of Earth. It's the only power that can't be taken or given away from the true heart. The gift of Healing. Lillian may not have realized it but she healed you."

Matt was confused. "But I never even said I had a headache."

"But you are her Regent. That title means more that simply holding and protecting her power. While she may not have her power at the moment she's still a heart and her natural magic can sense things about her Regents. We're all connected through that magic. That's how I knew about your headache and Lillian subconsciously felt it and healed it for you." Matt thought about it for a moment. He knew this was a serious responsibility he had volunteered for but this was a little unnerving. How far did this 'bond' go and what would happen when Lillian really did regain her powers? But he had a feeling it wasn't something that could be explained in words or in a single evening. He did have another question though.

"You said earlier that you might know something about this new power of mine. If it isn't from the Heart of Earth that where did it come from?"

Napoleon looked at the boy with an unreadable expression on his face. "I had a hunch when you first told me over the phone, but when I saw those pictures Lillian drew…let's just say that hunch is now more of a plausible theory."

"A theory? Is that it?"

"Magic isn't something you can just look up on the Internet Mac. Very few people know very much about Earth Magic."

"Earth Magic?"

"Every world has some type of Magic but unlike Meridian where magic is common and a part of everyday life, Earth's magic has almost gone underground. In the past it was as common as it is in Meridian but over time normal people began to fear it because they couldn't understand it. Magical beings may be powerful but not invincible. They were simply outnumbered then, even more so now. Many went into hiding or stopped practicing all together. Many lived in fear and in an attempt to be normal; they intermarried with non magical people. Their descendents could go generations and not have a single magic user in the family. There are also many others who have the potential to become magic user only it never gets released."

"Wait, are you saying the power is coming from me?"

"Not all magic users had power as mighty as Elyon and Lillian, some had specific powers like powers like the Guardian have over elements. Or over animals like you for example."

"But I can't control them, I can just talk to them."

"You're still young, it wouldn't surprise me if this was just the first step. It could get even stronger as you get older."

"But I can barely control it now!" Matt said almost in a panic.

"So you'll have to get use to it. Find a way to channel all this excess energy. If I were you I'd find someone to be a sort of a magical mentor. I'd do it myself but I don't think you could convince the Hales to let you baby-sit that much."

"But-"

"Best deal with it on your own kid, this isn't something you can totally shut off, it's a part of you." Matt sighed; this wasn't the answer he was hoping for. He happened to glance at the wall where Lillian had hung up her artwork. He stared into the eyes of the golden mask almost transfixed. It was only then he noticed one difference between the drawing and the original. Nerissa's seal on Shagon's belt was missing. Her mark on him was still there even after she was imprisoned . He never could find a way to remove it when he transformed. He wasn't sure if Will or the others noticed but if they did, no one said anything. He saw Napoleon was still watching him which made him realize there was something he needed to get off his chest.

"You…you are aware of what Nerissa did to me right? How she was the one who turned me into Shagon and bewitched be into doing her bidding?" Matt was nervous because the cat didn't say anything at first. But he never took his eyes off the boy.

"I may be a cat but I'm still a familiar. I could feel Shagon's aura when he was outside Lillian's window. The boy with the rodent on his shoulder had none of that dark energy Shagon did. If you did, I wouldn't let you any where near Lillian, believe me."

Matt should have felt a little better about this but Napoleon's response seem a little too thought out. Like he was telling the truth but leaving something out. What it was Matt had no idea, and he didn't even know what to ask.

Matt flopped down on the couch and let out an exasperated sigh. "Why me?"

"Because it was meant to be." Napoleon said randomly

"And what's that suppose to mean?"

"I'm pretty opened minded kid, I believe in a lot of things but coincidence isn't one of them. You expect me to believe that you, a hidden magic user, just happened to find out about the guardians, just happened to befriend Lillian before her own familiar showed up, and just happened to be in the right place at the right time to become her Regent? I don't believe that for a minute and I'm sure you don't either."

"You're right I…I have been questioning that lately. But I still don't know what it all means."

"What you have to understand about magic is that some things have a life of their own. Lillian was very young when her sister became a Guardian and began fighting for Meridian. She was too young then, and not ready now, to fully grasp what she is capable of or the danger she faces as the Heart of Earth. People with power that strong often need guidance and protection even before they reach full power. Elyon was even younger when she bonded with Cornelia not consciously knowing she was making a powerful ally."

"And you're saying the magic itself was seeking out a protector and picked me?"

"It happens more often than you think. Sometimes the magic can see something in someone that they themselves never knew. You didn't bond with Lillian when you became her Regent; the magic chose you long ago. The bond was made when you reached out to her on Will's Birthday. That's what drew you to her when she was in danger."

"OK I think I understand. I can't pretend I didn't feel something was wrong before knowing Lillian was the Heart of Earth. But where does Huggles fit in?"

They both turned to the unusually quite dormouse, which had been watching them the whole time. Napoleon sighed breaking eye contact with the rodent. "As much as I hate to admit it, he's a part of this too. He was never meant to stay with Will and before he returned to you he found his way here, and again, to Lillian. Since he is a bit too young he sought you out as a fellow Regent even if he didn't understand why."

Huggles hopped off Matt's shoulder so he could look his master in the eye. "I-I don't know why but I knew I was supposed to stay by your side. I never really thought to question it before since you were so nice and I felt safe around you."

"If I'm some kind of magic user like you say could Huggles be my familiar?" Napoleon huffed indignantly.

"Don't insult me! Not every animal is a familiar we're a very rare and select chosen few. Like I said he's young and is looking to you for guidance. But everything that happened between the three of us and Lillian was, is, and will be fated. Even if you never met the Guardians you would have found your way here."

At those words a disturbing thought crossed Matt's head. Was it really him that fell in love with Will or was all some kind of bigger plan at work? 'That,' Matt thought. 'Is what scares me most of all.'

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Matt, who never voiced his concern to Napoleon, was a little afraid of the answers. The girls came back later that night all raving about the movie. Will admitted later on that it wasn't worth the price of admission but didn't tell Cornelia. Matt went over briefly what he had learned with them before the Hales' came back. They thanked him, gave him some money for his services and drove him home. The poor boy had so much on his mind he barely got any sleep. Unfortunately his cell phone went off a good 15 minutes before his alarm was set for.

"This had better be good." He grumbled to himself as checked to see who was calling. "Cornelia? What's she calling me this early for?"

He had a bad feeling about this, and he was right. Before he could even say, 'Hello?' Cornelia's voice shouted at him from the other end. "MATTHEW OLSEN!" He jerked the phone away from his ear with a start. "WHAT HAVE YOU BEEN TELLING LILLIAN?" Matt gulped. In all the confusion last night he forgot to tell the girls about his bedtime story plan. What's worse he still had Will's W.I.T.C.H notebook with him. She was probably in a panic trying to find it. Sure enough his call waiting went off 4 times while he was trying to deal with Cornelia. She must have panicked and sent a mental message to Taranee who had passed it to everyone else. He couldn't get a word in while trying to talk to Cornelia and he knew the other four weren't going to be much better.

"Why me?" This was shaping out to be a very long day.

To be continued…

Next time: "Dear Heart" Did Nerissa know something about Matt that no one else did? Caleb makes a surprising discovery and tries to get Matt to help him write a song for Cornelia.