AN: Well here is chapter 4. Once again we can thank Knight for take the time to help polish my writing up and also…I don't own W.I.T.C.H.!
Specail Note: You might notice Will's Guardian strength is higher then normal. This is for two things, one is for a bit of comedy and second is to give Will some fighting power until her real powers awakens. Once that happens her strength will go back down.
Chapter 4: Returning the Key and Meeting the Prince
The next day in Meridian, Queen Susan was going over what happened yesterday after the battle or to be more precise, what did not happen, do to Will's sudden discovery of telatransporting.
"Well Vathek, this puts you in a difficult spot I would think" Susan said with a hint of annoyance at this turn of events. "Yes your highness." Vathek said knowing he had to agree. His position was now threatened do to the Guardians unexpected escape method but like the Queen he was still glad they found a way.
You see Vathek was more valuable to the Queen than most people realized. Though he may seem like a simple warden to most prisoners in the dungeon; or a spy for the rebels, he something much more important. He was actually a double agent who had helped achieve many small victories for his Queen.
Vathek fed enough information to the rebel forces to be able to hear about some of their plans thus aloud the Queen to minimize the damage of some of the rebels' raids and small scale attacks with out any one questioning Vathek's loyalty to the rebellion.
To insure this facade, Vathek gave the key to Caleb's manacles so the boy could at least try to escape. In the end it proved even more useful since later on Susan had put Will in the cell to help the girl with her investigation.
Susan knew that by joining forces with the rebels the girl had much better odds of finding the proof that would prove Phobos' was behind the uprising twelve years ago. But the young girl's sudden use of the advanced telatransport skill had made it impossible for the rebel leader to leave the key in the planned hiding spot.
That meant to maintain Vathek's cover, Susan needed to make it look like the big blue man was a suspect in the key's 'disappearance.' Or at least he will be until the rebels and possibly the Guardians can return the key fast enough to make it look like it was just misplaced. If the could do it fast enough that is.
"I guess that means I should ordere a castle-wide search for the key. The rebels know we don't ever look little facts like a restrained prisoner suddenly being free and the only key to their bonds is missing." Raythor said, getting nod from Susan to issue the order. They needed to maintain appearances after all.
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Back in Heatherfield, at the Silver Dragon the newly dubbed W.I.T.C.H. and Caleb were facing the same problem. Of course before they could return the key then needed to get over one 'minor' obstacle. Since they clearly lacked the ability to open portals they needed to find one and even with magic map Yan Lin gave them it was proving difficult.
"Great! We got the 'Close says-a-me' trick but someone forgot to give the glowing rock the 'Open says me' trick while they were at it." Irma said sarcastically as Will held the Heart over the map.
"Stop kidding around, Irma! Right now we need to be serious because if we mess this up that witch queen could seriously hurt the rebellion!" Cornelia yelled at the comedian of the group.
"You got enough of that for the both of us, Corny, if I started acting serious the balance of the universe would be thrown out of whack." Irma shot back and that made it seem like another argument was about to start.
"Both of you, knock it off. We don't know when actual customers are going to come in here." Will said as she kept her eyes on the map.
Will did not want them having another argument about who the real up riser was. It did not help them in any way and since Will had the same opinion that Irma and Hay Lin had, she did not want to hear any bad mouthing of Queen Susan. Will of course kept her opinion secret from Taranee, Cornelia and Caleb. It would make it easier for her to keep a close eye on Phobos without someone suspecting her; unlike Irma and Hay Lin whose opinion was openly known.
Caleb, getting restless, grumbled as he faced Yan Lin. "Are you sure that this thing points out portals? I am all for not having to pay Blunk to sniff one out for us but we need one fast!"
Yan Lin just stood there calmly as she listened to the young man rant. Once he was done she pointed out, "The Veil may be weaker than it used to be but not so weak that portals are opening left and right. You would think the leader of the rebellion would have more patience than this. Were you just recently appointed by chance?"
The other girls, with the exception of Will, giggled at Yan Lin's last comment. Will on the other hand tried to stand up for him. "Mrs. Lin, I am sure Caleb's just worried about a friend and ally that s all."
This caught everyone's attention as Yan Lin let out a happy sigh. "Young love is such a wonderful thing." The old woman then headed to the kitchen leaving the poor red head to the vultures that were her friends.
"So Will, got your eye on a certain rebel, huh? You got good tastes but he's not my type personally." Irma said as she teased the Keeper of the Heart.
"It's not like that!" Will said frantically to Irma then turned to Hay Lin. "I'm so getting your grandmother for this." Will said with a glare as Hay Lin grinned at the red heads expense.
Just then the Heart started glowing and a red X appeared on the map. "Eye, me hearty! X marks the spot!" Irma said in pirate accent making everyone but Will and Caleb laugh. Caleb did not laugh because he did not get the joke. Will did not laugh because she was too busy being thankful that the portal opened up in time to save her from the torment...or it did until Irma spoke again.
"Don't worry, Will, you go have some alone time with your man. Meet up with us when you two are done." This made the two blush a deep red though it was hard to tell if it was from anger or embarrassment.
Will, finally finding her voice, again yelled out, "Watch it, Irma or I might mysteriously forget how to transform you, or accidentally leave you behind the next time we telatransport!"
"If you don't like him then whatare you getting so defensive about?" Hay Lin asked, joining the make fun of Will contest. This was also followed by grin fromTaranee who was enjoying the show while Cornelia just smirked.
This was when Will let out a growl and stated, "You guys are so lucky my powers are limited to transforming and transporting you guys, because if I had some attack power you would be so much trouble right now!"
While the girls left in a fit of laughter at Will's statement, Caleb watched on with a confused expression on his face. Did Will really like him or was she just defending him as a friend? Not that they had known each other long enough to call themselves friends or anything but connections can form rather quickly in war; or so he had been told.
Caleb put these thought aside for now so he could catch up with the girls since they knew where the portal was. Besides he was fighting a war, the last thing he needed to worry about durring a war was a girlfriend.
---
It did not take them long to find the portal since it was practically at the Silver Dragon's doorstep. Well more like under the doorstep since it was in the sewers but girls couldn't complain…much.
As they exited the portal, Taranee let a loud "Eeeewwww!" while Cornelia was saying, "Gross, gross, gross, gross!" in rapid succession.
Will, Irma and Hay Lin were equally disturbed by the event but were silent in their suffering while Caleb just rolled his eyes and grumbled, "Girls"
Caleb ignored the glares they sent him as he led the way to the city. They needed disguises, especially the girls. They stood out in their Guardian forms so they needed something to hide their obvious status as Guardians of the Veil when they tried to sneak into the castle.
They ran into Blunk who was trying to barter Earth items (while saying they did things that they were not meant for) for things at the stand. The owner did not want the obviously useless items. He already had soaked firewood taking up space and the last thing he needed was more useless stuff taking up space.
Will hearing this, asked that if they could dry out the wood for him, would he give them some cloaks. The owner of course agreed but did not see how they could do it until Taranee heated things up a bit.
The only thing they needed now was something for Caleb. Unless they could get him something that could help them sneak in to the castle they would never be able to return the key in time.
They debated about telatransporting in, but they were worried that Queen Susan would sense it. As they walked the city streets trying to find something that could help them a guard came around a corner and spotted Caleb.
"Rebel scum! I am taking you in!" The Guard yelled as he charged at Caleb.
"Wonder what his shoe size is?" Caleb said absent minded as he sidestepped the charging guard's attack. As the guard turned to face Caleb to attack, something tapped the guard on the shoulder.
"WHAT?" The guard demanded as he turned around only to have his face meet with Will's fist. The guard was sent flying way too far for Will to have had normal human strength in the blow to make the others stare in shock.
Will was stunned as well until she realized she had super strength in her Guardian form. This meant she did have a combat-based trick up her sleeve. It was only a close-range skill but it was a welcomed improvement from nothing at all.
Will turned to look at her friends with a sweet smile on her face that made the girls suddenly very nervous. "About those wise cracks earlier..." Will said as she started cracking her knuckles.
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After Caleb got changed into the guard's uniform (and convinced Will to not hurt the girls with her newfound power) they found a hay wagon and used it to give them cover to use to enter the castle.
With the girls hidden among the hay, Caleb got them in by saying he was delivering hay for Queen Susan's horses. It worked like a charm and got them past the main gate and into the castle.
Once it was safe for the girls to come out, they entered the castle. They needed to find Vathek and ask him if there was a possible spot they could plant the key to make it look it had been misplaced.
Unfortunately it seems as they passed what seemed to be the mess hall for the castle guards, some of then noticed the bit of the Guardian uniforms sticking out from underneath the cloaks and yelled out, "Intruders!"
After a short battle that was quickly wrapped up with an Irma and Hay Lin combo, they froze the guards so they could move on. They needed to finish up fast so they could get out of the castle in case the Queen sensed their presence.
They eventually made their way to the dungeons thinking that's where they would find Vathek. In a situation like when a guard's loyalty is in question they placed the guard in a cell while the investigation to see if they were innocent or not was being done.
It did not take long to find him since he was being kept in atemporary holding cell, which was close to the entrance to the dungeon. Once they first saw Vathek, Hay Lin blurted out, "You don't look like a good guy."
Will tried to swat the Asian girl upside the head for the comment but Irma stopped her…by wrapping her whole body around the red head's arm like a small child would wrap around their mother or father's leg so they could 'ride' it.
For the three girls and Caleb who were watching this found it a bit amusing as well a bit frightening while Vathek found it amazing. Most would be since Irma's whole body was hanging on her limb while Will was just standing there holding the Water Guardian up with ease.
"Irma, what are you doing?" Will said as she stared at the girl hanging on her arm. Irma looked the Keeper in the eye and joked, "Will, I'm wrapped around your arm like I have it in a death lock and yet you're still standing there like I was about as heavy as a feather. What would happen if I let you smack Hay Lin in the back of the head? You really want to explain to Yan Lin why her granddaughter does not have a head anymore?"
Will blushed as she realized this as she said, "Um…oops?" This made the other girls giggle while Caleb got annoyed. "Can we focus for a moment on what we came here to do?" Caleb said gruffly.
Vathek just shook his knowing it was too late. Raythor came to tell him earlier it would take a real good and well-timed plan to make it look like the key had been misplaced now. "It is too late; they have searched the whole castle. It would be better is we just escaped before…" Vathek started to say until a guard came running up.
"What's going on…the Guardians?!" The guard exclaimed and was about to yell for help when Will threw herself (and Irma) at him. The Water Guardian barely let go in time as Will swung the arm Irma had been latched onto and KOed her second guard for the day.
'Okay, let this be lesson for me, never latch onto Will's arm or else I get used as a club.' Irma thought to herself as she watched Will drag the guard over to the front of Vathek's cell.
"Quick give me the key." Will ordered and Caleb handed it to her. Caleb was confused as he watched the red head plant the key on the guard's body then turned to Vathek. "Quick call out an alarm." Will said to the big blue spy.
"What?" Vathek asked getting confused for moment. Will not sure if they called it something, else explained further, "You know call out something like, 'Guardians in the castle!'"
Vathek and the others quickly caught onto Will's plan and thought it might just work. Vathek quickly did as Will said and the rest of them quickly telatransported out of the castle. In less then a minute, Raythor and Sandpit along with eight more guards came running up.
The guard that Will had knocked and planted the key was starting to get up and was nursing a black eye from Will's punch. "It was the Guardians, Sir. The must have come for this traitor." the guard said only to get picked up by the collar of his uniform by Raythor.
"Then why did they leave him behind and why was it him who called the alarm!" Raythor demanded. He secretly prayed that this was part of a bigger and more impressive plan but Raythor so far did not see how the Guardians expected this to help Vathek.
Raythor then saw a metal object drop from the guard's pocket and realized it was the key. 'A good plan. Pin the blame on someone else by planting the key on him thus making everyone think it was some guard's scheme to make Vathek look bad.' Raythor thought to himself as the guard started to claim his innocence.
"Sandpit, take him to her highness, she will wish to speak with this traitor herself." Raythor ordered as he threw the guard to his partner. Sandpit would have most likely clued in on the Guardians' plan as well so it would explain the situation to their Queen.
Susan would then most likely explain what was going on to the guard then put him under a fake sentence to act as cover then put him at new post somewhere for a while. Either that, or just have the innocent guard go into hiding for a while.
As Sandpit and the other guards left, Raythor opened the cell and asked Vathek, "Who came up with that plan?"
Vathek grinned as he responded, "The Keeper of the Heart. You might want to avoid fighting that girl Raythor, it seems she has a new power apparently." This perked Raythor's curiosity. "And what would that be?"
"Lets just say don't let her punch or kick you, if she does and you live then your lucky. She was probably holding back when she gave that guard his black eye," Vathek said with a grin.
Raythor realized what Vathek was implying and said gravely, "Clever and strong, plus she has telatransporting…hope she does not get deceived by Phobos or we are in big trouble"
Vathek laughed at this as he responded, "I think she is a little too clever to be tricked so easily Raythor." This brought a grin to the other man's face as he nodded his head. "You're right, Vathek. Now we better report back to her highness. She will most likely wish to hear a report from you about what happened."
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Meanwhile, the girls appeared near the portal that brought them to Meridian. Before anyone could go through, Caleb asked them to wait. The girls were confused at his request and especially when he signaled them to follow him.
After a short trip they came to a rock face were Caleb pressed a hidden switch to reveal a secret passage. The W.I.T.C.H. were surprised to say the least, even more so when Caleb said, "Get ready to meet the rest of the rebellion."
Caleb then led the girls down a long flight of stone stairs until they reached some kind of underground city. "Welcome to the Infinite City and were we hide the bulk of the rebel forces," Caleb said with hint of pride in his voice.
Since the Infinite City was only a myth to most people it made an ideal place to hide the majority of the rebels' forces, supplies and equipment. It also allowed the five most powerful members of the rebellion a safe haven between battles.
Caleb led W.I.T.C.H. through the underground city to a place that looked like large camp. Three guards on watch stood up ready to use their spears until they recognized Caleb. "Sir, your back! When we heard you were…wait are those the…" One guard started asking until Caleb nodded his to answer the question.
The youngest of the guards, who was no older then the girls were in their human forms which was about thirteen, ran into the camp yelling, "Caleb is back and he's brought the Guardians!"
This had the whole rebel base riled up. Many were flocking to see their leader and the Guardians of the Veil. Many hoped that this would mean the Council of Candracar would finally send its Guardians to put down the false Queen.
As the rebels welcomed back their leader and the families of rebels celebrated the arrival of the of the five Guardians, a young girl about five years old come up to them and asked, "Are you hear to make sure my daddy does not need to fight no more?"
Cornelia, much to Will, Irma and Hay Lin's dismay was the one to answer the question. "Of course, sweety. We are here to take down that woman who calls herself the Queen and put the rightful heir on the throne."
This had the whole rebel camp in an excited uproar as they celebrated the Earth Guardian's words while Irma grumbled under her breath, "Leave it to Cornelia to make promises we can't keep." This was said just loud enough for Will and Hay Lin to make out and both silently agreed.
But they kept a friendly smile on their faces knowing for the sake of the mission, they needed to keep their opinions to themselves for now. This was when regal voice spoke out. "What is all this commotion about?"
Like the red sea parted for Mosses so did the crowd of people part for a young man with long blonde hair and cold blue eyes, he was dressed in long black robes and easily recognized as the one called Prince Phobos.
Flanking the prince was a man with short blonde hair, blue eyes and wearing a green robe. Next to him was a young girl with shoulder length black hair and blue eyes wearing a white skirt and green shirt.
As the trio walked towards the girls, Caleb and the other rebels along with their families kneeled in the prince's presence. "Your highness, I have returned and as you can see I brought the Guardians of the Veil as well." Caleb said to Phobos, as the prince got close.
"So it seems, now stand my friend remember and you're the leader of the rebellion. I'm the second in command at best." Phobos did not really mean any of what he was saying but he lied so easily and convincingly that it was impossible to tell he was doing so.
To Phobos, he second to no one. Not this boy he pretended to call friend or any of these other pathetic fools. To him they were mere tools to help him gain control over Meridian and nothing more. Once he took over Meridian he would wipe out what was left of the rebellion and since he knew all their secret hiding places it would be a simple task.
These Guardians concerned him though. They seemed to be unaware of his true intention, if that was true then they would be most useful pawns indeed. Of course they could be working secretly for his aunt so he would have just keep a close eye on them for until he was sure.
Caleb then stood up as he was requested to do. "I believe introductions are in order. Girls, this is His Highness, Prince Phobos; the ones behind him are Lord Cedric and Lady Miranda. They are two of our most powerful allies." Caleb explained as he gestured to the three in front of them.
After that, Caleb introduced the girls to Phobos and his two warriors. Once all the introductions were out of way Phobos led the group into the camp saying he wished to discuss something with them.
Once they reached a large wooden shelter that looked like it was meant be taken apart quickly in case it needed to be moved, Phobos gestured for them to enter. Inside the structure there was a large wooden table with map of Meridian on it and several chairs surrounding it.
As they all sat down, Phobos asked, "If don't mind me asking, why are you here in Meridian?"
Will was the one to answer for the group. "We are here to help with the war, but since the Queen is on the watch for us we need to be discrete. So we can't help you much when it comes to large battles but we can help gather the proof needed to prove who really started this war."
Phobos did not show it but he was not happy with this bit of information. Not once did the Keeper of the Heart say who she believed was the culprit. That ether meant she was neutral in her opinion or she did not want to reveal whom she believed yet.
'From what I can tell, the Earth and Fire Guardians might be on my side. The Water and Air Guardians don't seem to like me but they hide it well, not that they have the skill to deceive me. The Keeper is the most worrisome since she is impossible to read. How can someone this young be so skilled at hiding her intentions?' Phobos thought to himself as he tried figure out where he stood with the Guardians.
Knowing he needed to keep with his act, Phobos just smiled and said, "Of course, after all my aunt would want to deal with her more powerful enemies herself. That is why I am unable to help much despite having magic myself."
This caught the Guardians' interest; Taranee and Cornelia thought it meant they had help against Queen Susan. Will, Irma and Hay Lin on the other hand know so far that it supports Susan's story since she told Will about Phobos 'magic'.
"How powerful are you, your highness? Compared to your aunt, I mean?" Cornelia asked hoping he was close to the Queen's power. Phobos gave the blonde Guardian a fake sad smile as he answered, "Alas, I'm at half your combined strength and for me to defeat an opponent with magic I need at least twice their power to stand a chance."
The Guardians were confused at why someone would need to be far stronger than some to stand a chance. This was when Caleb cleared his throat to get every ones attention. "If I may, your highness, I'll explain."
With a nodded a confirmation from the prince, Caleb continued. "You see Prince Phobos can't use magic in the traditional sense. He needs to use life force as his source of energy, but since using his own life force as energy would ether shorten or end his highness' life, we gather power from other sources."
Each of the girls took this differently depending on what they believed. Cornelia and Taranee looked worried since they did not like the sound of this life force stuff. Irma and Hay Lin were starting to distrust the prince even more, if that was possible. Will on the other hand was filing this information under possible sign of the Prince being guilty. Will was going to honor Susan's request to be as objective as possible even is she was leaning towards believing the Queen at this point.
Seeing the look on the Guardians' faces, Caleb started to explain further when Phobos raised his hand to silence the rebel leader so he could speak. "I assure you the only life force I gather is from things such as livestock. In rare a case I do use spies and war prisoners but that is so they will tell us information quickly so to spare themselves from being drained too much. It is not something I use often which is why I am not that powerful."
This was a complete lie of course. If the prince had the option he would be gathering the life force from every last person on the planet, but he needed to play the part of the noble prince trying to save his kingdom so he could not do such things.
Taranee then asked the question that was nagging at her since this discussion began. "Why is that you need double your opponent's power to stand a chance? With that much power you would beat some one with ease."
Phobos had to admit that was a good question but he always had a good explanation to avoid making any one ask too much into the matter. "It's very simple actually, since I'm using life force as my source of power it burns up at a very fast rate when used. If I fought my aunt with any thing less then twice her power I would not have the 'stamina' to win" Phobos explained.
Phobos could actually win at equal power but it would take every last bit to win. Since he would be exhausted after the battle in such a situation, Phobos knew he would loose his chance to steal the power of Meridian even if he won. So he needed a quick and easy victory to successfully steal his aunt's powers. So he played on the rebels' ignorance of magic to convince them this was the only way he could 'save' them.
W.I.T.C.H. still being new to magic, were also fooled by the prince's lie. This did not mean the trio who did not trust the prince believed him by any means. But he did manage to make them think that there was still the possibility that he was innocent. But with the three knowing Susan's side of the story it seemed a little too convenient that Phobos knew how to gather energy from other sources to fuel his power.
Will, knowing they had been in Meridian too long, decided it was thought it time they should head home. She wanted to speak with the prince more to see if she could find if he was lying or not but if they did not leave soon the other girls' families might wonder where they were.
Will still had a few days before her parents got back but she knew it was best to head back and do her homework while she had the time. This Guardian stuff gave her a gut feeling her already poor grades were going to suffer and then she would suffer.
Will suppressed the urge to shudder at that thought as she said, "Well we need to get going or else our families are going to wonder where we are. Should come back tomorrow and figure out how we can best help you guys without having Queen Susan coming after us?"
Phobos put on a fake sympathetic smile as he answered, "Yes that would be best. I am fully aware that every generation of Guardians tend to keep their duties a secret due to the danger involved. I will meet with the other leaders of the rebellion and see what ideas we can come up with then we can discuss them tomorrow."
With a nod of her head, Will got up and looked at Caleb. "Guess that means your staying here, Caleb?" This got her a nod from the rebel leader as he answered, "Ya, but if you can, leave the portal open. You will need a guide to get back here and since you're more used to me than any other rebel that means it's my job to do that for at least a little while."
After moments of thinking Cedric, speaks up. "That might not be necessary…if I may, your highness." Everyone but Phobos and Miranda was confused to what Cedric was asking his lord. Phobos gave a nod to allow Cedric to continue. "You see I have been given the task of locating the missing princesses. To make it easy to get back and fourth, his highness created a rift, an artificial portal in a sense, to act as my transportation. With this you can close the actual portals and you use my rift to come and go as you please."
This made Will, Irma and Hay Lin nervous to hear but made Caleb, Cornelia and Taranee happy. "That means it will make our job easier. No need to risk leaving stray portals open now, but why have I not heard of this?" Caleb asked.
Phobos was the one answer Caleb's question. "I thought it best that Cedric's mission remain a secret, if word got to my aunt that we are looking for my sister and cousin she would start searching as well. The last thing we need is my aunt finding them first and using them to gather more support. Plus if she knew I could make these rifts she might try alter the Veil to block them since that would most likely be with in her power to do so. I would rather not have that happen, they are rather difficult to make and maintain."
Will was glad to hear that Phobos could not make regular use of these rifts of his, but the mission he had his lackey doing concerned her. "Don't you think it would be best to wait until the war is over before finding them?" Will asked as she added another reason to not trust this guy. Susan wanted to wait until peace was restored before finding her missing relatives while Phobos seemed to be trying to do what Yan Lin feared, use them to strengthen his support.
Phobos eyed the read head carefully before answering. "Ideally that would be the best course of action, but in reality when it comes to war we must do what we can to succeed. With my sister at my side we can lead the resistance to a final victory against my aunt."
Will noticed he only said his sister and not his cousin so Will asked, "What about your cousin? You said Cedric's mission was to find both yet you just said you needed your sister at your side but have said nothing about your cousin, why?"
Phobos was starting to really dislike this particular Guardian. She seemed to be little curious for his liking. The only reason he even bothered to explain himself was so he could hopefully turn her way of thinking to something he would prefer. "I do wish to find my cousin, but she has blood ties with the greatest tyrant Meridian has ever known. I have no ill will towards her but the people of Meridian will not be so accepting. It would be best to just locate my cousin and then once the people have a chance to recover from the pain this war has caused, we will bring my cousin home."
This made the trio who did not trust Phobos really have serious doubts about him now. He was trying to usehis sister as a tool and seemed to be trying to keep his cousin out of the way. Though his tone and face kept saying, 'I'm only trying to do what best for everyone', there was something in their guts were telling them to stay on guard around this guy.
Cornelia and Taranee on the other were not getting such a warning from their instincts, either that or they were just ignoring it. "Will, perhaps we should wait until tomorrow have this discussion? Like you said we need to get home before our parents start to worry." Taranee suggested.
As Will nodded her head reluctantly that she knew her friend was right, Cedric came up and handed them a business card. "That is the location of the book shop I'm using as my cover. Please come there tomorrow and I'll show where we hide the rift." Cedric explained.
With that, Will took out the Heart and telatransported them back to the portal they used earlier so they could go home. Caleb then left saying he would go gather the other rebel leaders so they could make plans for the next day.
Once Phobos was alone with his two servants he said, "Cedric, Miranda, make sure to keep an eye on the Keeper of the Heart, tell Frost and Tracker as well. She is far to curious for her own good. If she speaks her mind like that all the time then she might start making the rebels question my orders and I will not have the brat getting in the way of my plans!"
With nods of confirmation, the two shape shifters left to tell the others about Phobos' command. Unknown to anyone something overheard the whole conversation and with great speed a Passling started running out of the camp.
"Jeek make big profit from Queen with this trade." the Passling said to itself as it snuck out of the rebel camp completely unnoticed.
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Meanwhile, Will was just closing up the portal behind them when Cornelia started yelling, "Will, how could you question the prince like that? He has a better understanding of how things are in Meridian than we do!"
Will was turning around to face the blonde but before she could speak Irma jumped in. "Back off Corny, Will was doing what she thought was best. That guy is trying to find his sister to use her to gather more support that will only make the war get worse. That was exactly what Yan Lin told us we should NOT do!"
Before the blonde could launch her counter argument, Hay Lin surprisingly added fuel to Irma's argument. "Besides Cornelia, what was with the, 'Of course, sweety. We are here to take down that woman who calls herself the Queen and put the rightful heir on the throne' bit? You know we are supposed to be neutral until we have solid proof of who started the war!"
Cornelia glared at the two as she growled her response back at them, "You are only saying that because you believe the queen is innocent and don't want to help the real victim!"
Taranee, though staying out the argument, had a look on her face the clearly said she was still backing Cornelia on this so Will once again played peacemaker. "Okay that's enough. How about we get out of the sewer and head home before we get in trouble?"
Will had intently mentioned they were in a sewer knowing it would make the girls move it as they frantically flew out to get away from…what ever it was they were standing in.
Once topside, Will changed them back to the human forms and they all headed their separate ways. Will was worried about this division that was growing between everyone because they all believed something different about this war.
Will felt powerless to try and keep the peace among her friends. Add to the fact she needed to find proof about whether or not Phobos was the one who tried overthrow his mother twelve years ago, while looking like she was the only neutral member in the group, things were looking bad for W.I.T.C.H.
'For everyone's sake, I hope we find out soon or else W.I.T.C.H. might loose a letter or two because of this divide.' Will thought to herself as she walked home.
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AN: Okay there you have it. Read and Review and let me know what you think.