Chapter 3
Hay-Lin was pacing around in her room. Yesterday Irma returned, badly injured. After asking she found out that it was Will who injured her, with just 1 attack.
*How can she be this powerful?* she thought annoyed. *Not even her Quintessence power should be capable of doing this with one attack. Not if Irma defended.*
'That's it! That girl has been nothing but trouble. If you want to play rough, let's play rough.' Hay-Lin muttered as she looked at the window.
*Cornelia! Irma! Report now!* she said telepathically.
Immediately Cornelia and Irma appeared. Irma still had a bruise on her arm but other than that looked unharmed. Both bowed down for Hay-Lin.
'Mistress?' they said.
'We're going to increase our army. After what happened to Irma I'm in need for some powerhouses or better yet, Hearts.' she said.
What Hay-Lin didn't know, was that she was being watched by someone. Will had once again, involuntarily, stepped out of her body and was watching Hay-Lin closely. Hay-Lin called for Matt and Matt walked through the door. He was dressed in a white suit with a black shirt and black shoes while holding a golden, with gems decorated box. She took the Tonga Tooth out of it and created a fold.
'First stop, Zamballa.' she said.
Will looked shocked at Hay-Lin as the four of them went through the portal. They arrived on Zamballa. To be precise, they arrived at the temple. Ironwood was there and seemed surprised by their sudden appearance, even though he couldn't see Will.
'Guardians! What is your purpose of appearing here?' Ironwood questioned. It was obvious that he didn't know about the coup on Kandrakar.
Hay-Lin scowled at him. She noticed that he wasn't holding the Heart of Zamballa and attacked him without warning. Ironwood was blown against the wall of the temple.
'Why?' he questioned confused. 'Why are you doing this and where is the Fire Guardian and your leader?'
Hay-Lin's look darkened even more at the mentioning of Will and Taranee. An evil glimmer flickered in her eyes.
'Do never mention the words "Guardian", "Fire Guardian" or "leader" in front of me! I'm my own leader and I'm here to claim the Heart of Zamballa.' Hay-Lin growled at him.
Ironwood looked at her in disbelieve. He had never thought that the Air Guardian would go rogue. Nor that the Earth and Water Guardian would join her.
'So here's the deal.' Hay-Lin said, snapping Ironwood out of his train of thoughts. 'You give me the Heart of Zamballa willingly and pledge to be my pawn and I won't order Cornelia and Irma to destroy the forests.'
Ironwood was shocked. He would never do such a thing, but his forests would be destroyed if he denied.
'Never!' he said.
Hay-Lin smiled evilly.
'Very well.' she said. 'Irma, Cornelia bind this tree to the wall and create a big enough opening to see the forests. Then go and destroy them.'
Irma and Cornelia did as they were told. Once Ironwood was tight up they started to thrash the forests. Will and Ironwood looked at the destruction, feeling utterly helpless. After an hour of destruction Ironwood finally gave in.
'Okay! Please stop this senseless slaughter!' he begged as he watched one of his brethren going into their defensive status.
Hay-Lin signaled Irma and Cornelia to stop as she looked at Ironwood with glee.
'So you will give me the Heart of Zamballa and pledge your loyalty?' she said.
'Yes.' Ironwood said as he hung his head.
'Good. Tell me where is the Heart?'
'I will take you there.' Ironwood said.
Will saw his plan but unfortunately for him, so did Hay-Lin.
'No, you'll tell me where it is or Irma and Cornelia will continue their attacks.' she threatened.
'Fine.' Ironwood said, knowing that he was defeated. 'You'll find it in the throne room.'
Will looked helplessly as Hay-Lin walked away and returned with the staff. She laughed evilly.
'Now Ironwood, pledge your loyalty to me.' she demanded.
Ironwood wasn't listening to her. He was trying to break free from his bonds. Hay-Lin noticed and narrowed her eyes.
'You are planning to either escape or attack me?' she questioned. 'So be it!'
She aimed the staff at Ironwood and shot a beam out of it. It hit Ironwood and he disintegrated on the spot. Hay-Lin laughed maniacally before going to the hole Irma and Cornelia created.
'Now, Heart of Zamballa, make everyone who inhibits this planet my slave!' Hay-Lin said as she waved the staff through the air.
The Heart of Zamballa released an energy wave that washed over the planet. Seconds later the forest moved and thousands of trees came to the temple. All bowed down in front of it.
'All hail Miss Lin!' they chorused.
Will looked in horror at what was happening. The balance of the universe was being thrown of whack and that all by Hay-Lin. Hay-Lin laughed maniacally and then motioned Irma and Cornelia to come to her. She then took the Tonga Tooth and opened a new fold. She went through it and Will managed again to go with her. This time they ended on Metamoor. To be precise, they landed in Elyon's castle. Elyon was waiting there like a zombie.
'Elyon, go and fetch the crystal with Nerissa in it for me.' Hay-Lin commanded.
Elyon bowed and walked away while Hay-Lin went to the throne room. Will followed quietly and saw that Hay-Lin was sitting in the throne with Cornelia and Irma next to her. Elyon came into the room and hurried to Hay-Lin. She bowed down and handed Hay-Lin the crystal.
*She isn't planning to… She is!* Will thought in shock as she watched Hay-Lin carefully.
Hay-Lin smiled and touched the crystal with the crystal in her staff. The blue crystal lit up and a figure of light came out of it. The figure became solid and it appeared to be an elderly woman. She had a hand of iron and she was holding a staff. A scar ran over her right eye.
'Nerissa!' Will whispered in shock.
She noticed something weird. She felt to different emotions coming from Nerissa. One that felt evil and the other felt like confusion. Will focused on Nerissa and saw that a shadow was looming over her.
'Nerissa.' Hay-Lin said with a cold voice.
Nerissa looked up and saw Hay-Lin sitting on the throne. The old woman didn't seem surprised and cackled loudly.
'So, Hay-Lin has joined the dark side as well?' she questioned as she looked at Hay-Lin. 'and you've already got the Heart of Zamballa.'
Hay-Lin smiled at Nerissa.
'Oh yes. I almost have Earth under control as well and Metamoor is already under my control.' she said.
Nerissa seemed impressed.
'Now let me guess.' she said. 'Seeing that you freed me of my prison you want me to help or join you am I right? I guess someone is crossing your plans and you don't like that. My guesses are that it concerns a certain Guardian leader…'
'Do not speak of her in my presence!' Hay-Lin demanded.
Nerissa laughed softly.
'Kukukukuku. So I am right. Tell me, why would I join you? The way I see it, I can better join up with your enemy and steal your power at the end of the ride.'
Now it was Hay-Lin's turn to smile.
'That may be true, but if you join me now I'll rid you of your body. I know that you're a virus that nestled inside of Nerissa, poisoning her thoughts and actions. If you join me, I'll give you a new body, an ageless one. With more powers than you've ever imagined.'
Both Nerissa as Will looked surprised. Will never knew this while Nerissa was impressed by Hay-Lin's knowledge.
'So you know.' Nerissa said. 'I admit, living in this body since her 25th year has worn it out. Your offer sounds good.'
Will paled as Nerissa bowed to Hay-Lin.
'I'll join you if my body goes along my expectations.'
Hay-Lin smiled.
'Power, if used right, is a beautiful thing to have. Yet your lust for power is what makes you weak and that is the chink in the armor of your soul. And all I need to make you mine!'
Nerissa's eyes widened as she figured out that she'd been tricked but is was far too late. A beam shot out of Hay-Lin's staff and it hit Nerissa. Nerissa screamed and a shadow came from her. The shadow landed next to the still screaming Nerissa. Out of the shadow a woman appeared. She had, just like Nerissa, jet black hair, but that was where the resemblance ended. Her eyes where green with her pupils that resembled those of snakes. She was dressed in a short-sleeved, black battle dress which was trimmed with golden symbols on the ends. While this person was slowly testing her new body, Nerissa had stopped screaming. To Hay-Lin's and Will's surprise Nerissa had reverted back to her 25 year old self while she was still wearing the old brown dress and she still had the iron claw-like hand. Nerissa fainted on the spot while Hay-Lin inspected her.
'Hmmm. It seems that it was the virus who aged her. Now that it's gone, she reverted back to the age of when she got infected with it. But the replaced body parts stayed the same… Interesting.' she said.
Will looked from Nerissa to the other woman. The woman was still testing her body until Hay-Lin attracted her attention.
'Good.' she said. 'I see that you're comfortable in your new body. Now, since you don't have a name on your own, I'll call you Vertex.'
Vertex bowed before Hay-Lin.
'As you wish, mistress.' she said in a high-pitched yet devilish tone.
It was evident to Will that Vertex, even if she was enthralled by Hay-Lin, was extremely evil.
'Now to test your powers.' Hay-Lin said. 'Be a doll and destroy your former host. She's useless now and may end up becoming an annoying pain in the ass.'
Vertes bowed again before turning to the unconscious Nerissa. She pointed her hand at Nerissa. Will knew that Nerissa would die if she didn't do something. But if she did, she would give her position away. A part of her was seriously telling her to let Nerissa die. It was her own fault anyways. Will saw that Vertex was charging an attack and it became crystal clear to her. She had to save Nerissa, even though a part of her wanted to let her die for her crimes, cause it wasn't her who did them.
She acted quickly. The moment Vertex shot the blast, Will jumped in front of Nerissa. She then created a magical shield to keep Nerissa safe and was prepared to take the attack head on, hoping that it would go through her projection. The blast kept going and when it was about to hit Will, Will knew that she had walked right into a trap. She quickly hid her Oracle mark with her magic as she felt that the blast was turning into a sort of magical cage. Hay-Lin cackled evilly.
'So it was you who has been tailing me.' she said as she got up from the throne and walked to Will.
Will ignored Hay-Lin as she tried to get out of the magical cage. Even though she was nothing more than a ghost, she couldn't phase through the magical wall.
'Don't try to escape, it 's all wasted energy.' Hay-Lin said as she watched Will struggle. 'This cage drains your magical energy.'
Will stopped struggling. She knew Hay-Lin was right. She could feel her magic being drained. Luckily for her, the cage chose to drain her magical source of Quintessence energy first, so her Oracle power was still safe. Though she wasn't sure for how long. She glared at Hay-Lin.
'How did you know?' she asked.
'Hay-Lin laughed coldly.
'After I had a little talk with my grandma, she told me that there was someone who eavesdropped on us. I immediately assumed it was you. Who else could be so annoying? Anyway, grandma told me that I was hallucinating. Who's hallucinating now?' she said with a evil smirk.
Will had stopped paying attention after Hay-Lin said that her grandmother had mentioned that someone had eavesdropped on them. She was now thinking of a way to warn the rebels and maybe find some help.
*If this keeps up, the spell that keeps the rebels from being seen by Yan-Lin and the barrier that keeps Nerissa safe from Vertex will disappear!* she thought concerned.
'Now tell me, how did you get here?' Hay-Lin asked coldly.
Will suddenly got an idea.
*Now let's hope that Alchemy or someone else is near my actual body.* she thought.
She concentrated her thoughts on her body, which was still laying in her tent at the rebel base, while ignoring Hay-Lin's demands. She then glared at Hay-Lin and interrupted her rant.
'Hay-Lin.' she said with a cold, firm tone. 'I don't know why you're here in Meridian castle or why you diverted Nerissa's evil into a new body, purging her from evil. I don't know why you captured me in the throne room but I know that you're trying to increase your forces and that someone will save me!'
Hay-Lin looked temporarily confused at Will before turning around, searching for something or someone. She held the Heart of Zamballa up high.
'Heart of Zamballa! Tell me if someone is eavesdropping!' she said.
The Heart of Zamballa shined brightly before turning dim again. Nothing else happened. Hay-Lin looked furiously at Will.
'I don't know why you interrupted me or why you said that but it's useless! There is no-one here who can help you!' she said.
Will smirked at Hay-Lin, infuriating her a little more.
'Who said that it was meant for someone here?' she said mysteriously.
At the rebel base.
Alchemy and Taranee looked pale while they looked at Will's sleeping figure. Her body had just shined and they had heard something they wish they hadn't.
'Did she just say…' Alchemy started.
'That Hay-Lin captured her and used Nerissa?' Taranee finished.
The two looked at each other. Taranee gulped.
'I think so…' she said.
And that was chapter 3! Will's spirit has been captured by Hay-Lin while she tried to save Nerissa. Now Will is being drained and that could also mean that the rebels could be in trouble. Will they be able to save her? Or do they think that Will was talking in her sleep? You will find out in the next chapter…
Oh yeah! Since I'm worthless in thinking of outfits I'm going to ask you, my loyal readers, to give me ideas for the Guardian outfits of G.E.N.I.E. cause I'm clueless.
Review and tell me what you think so far and any ideas for Guardian outfits!
