I DON'T OWN W.I.T.C.H OR ANYTHING TO DO WITH THE STORY! PLEASE DON'T SUE ME! ALSO, THIS IS GONNA BE SLIGHTLY AU, BUT AS I SAID BEFORE: I DON'T OWN W.I.T.C.H! THIS IS AN IRMA/PHOBOS PAIRING STORY! EXPLAINS THE AU STORY, BUT I DON'T OWN W.I.T.C.H! PLEASE REVIEW!

TORN

CHAPTER 6: DIVIDE AND CONQUER:

Phobos frowned, looking out the window down at the village below. "One of the villagers must know what happened to my sister 12 years ago!" He turned to Cedric. "I hear that they are hungry. Try trading flour for information."

Cedric frowned. "And the other problem, my Prince?" Phobos scowled, thinking hard on Irma, but Cedric clearly thought he was thinking about Will. "In my guise as the bookseller, I can locate and remove them."

"You tried that! They have thwarted you at every turn! Strength is not enough! We must attack when they are vulnerable...when they are separated from the one with the red hair."

"Yes, my Lord."

"Our own Mt. Heatherfield. Site of this weekend's ski trip, sits atop a volcano that's been dormant for years and years..." As the teacher droned on and on, Matt glanced over at Will, and as she looked back at him, he blushed, staring down at his desk.

Will leaned over to Cornelia because of this. "I think Matt likes me!"

"What makes you think that?!"

"He's not looking at me!" Will blushed, and Cornelia groaned.

"Oh, you guys don't know what you're missing! The food at the ski chalet tastes better than this!" Hay Lin said, pointing at the food on her tray.

"Hay Lin, the table we're eating off of tastes better than this."

"Weren't we supposed to get that new student from Switzerland today?" Will asked the others.

Elyon frowned, "Well, maybe she's and we just didn't notice?" Just then, the cafeteria doors burst open, and an insanely hot girl strolled through the cafeteria, fluttering her eyelashes at practically every attractive boy in the room. All of the guys in the cafeteria were transfixed with her. Taranee scowled, crossing her arms. "No, my guess is, that's her."

Hay Lin paced back and forth, clearly furious over all this. "She says she makes her own clothes, that her sweater's made from 'kazmere, from under 'ze chin of my grandmuzzer's goat in 'ze Alps!"

Cornelia crossed her arms. "No way that's a real accent!"

Elyon scowled. "Yeah, I'll bet that she just watched 20 'Heidi' movies before she came here!"

Taranee frowned, seething over all this. "Excuse me for not reading 'War and Peace' in 'ze original Russian! I'd like to feed her the entire book in 'ze original Russian!"

Irma simply sighed, looking up at the clouds, thinking back on that fateful kiss she'd had with Phobos. Man, it's too bad he's practically the evil enemy we have to fight, 'cause he's really attractive...and...man, does that one know how to kiss or what?!

Two boys walked by. "Dude, did you know Sondra's going skiing!?"

"Awesome! 'Scuse me, guys!" Cornelia lifted an eyebrow at them as they passed. "Guys!? Do we look like guys to you!?" Will grinned as Matt came out of a nearby classroom, but her smile soon disappeared as Sondra followed him out, talking to him. Will glared daggers at Sondra. "Ladies, we are going on the ski trip!"

"Uh, Will, you don't like skiing!" Hay Lin said as it began to snow.

"I found something else I dislike even more!"

"I can't believe we're all going!" Cornelia exclaimed, and Cedric handed her the change. Elyon shrugged. "I dunno. It should be interesting. Will says she can barely sit on a toboggan without falling over!"

"Um, if you're holding one in each hand, how do you fix your hair?" Caleb frowned at all of them. "So...you don't like skiing."

"Right."

"...And you don't like this girl."

"Right."

"So...you're going skiing...with this girl?" They all nodded in the affirmative, and he grabbed a wooden ski, then grinned. "These would make fine longbows! Instead, you're going to stand on them and fall down the outside of a volcano?!" Irma smirked at him. "It's a little something called 'fun'."

Will shook her head. "Don't be too hard on him, Irma. He doesn't have fun in his world."

"I know what fun is! I have it all the time!"

Cornelia lifted an eyebrow in disbelief at him. "Oh, really? So, what is that you do to get down and get crazy? Plan a military attack in a red nose and clown shoes?" She placed a kitten hat on his head, and he frowned.

The girls walked towards the bus, glaring at Sondra, who was having her stuff carried by multiple boys. Cornelia scowled. "Come on, girls! Let's get our petite garcons back!" Will groaned as she made her way onto the bus just in time to see Sondra sit down next to Matt, laughing at something he had said to her.

Blunk, however, was attempting to remove the bumper, when he was thrown into the luggage container.

Will looked around, waiting for Matt to get off of the bus. "Matt! Imagine you being here! Er...do you ski!? I mean...of course, you ski! So, would you like to ski down me!?" Her face turned as red as her hair. "I-I mean...with me?"

He grinned at her. "I'd love to."

"R-Really!?" Will stared at him in disbelief.

"Um...later, though, okay? I kinda promised I'd help Sondra with her boots." Sondra walked over at that point. "Oh, 'zere you are, Matthew! Who eez your leetle friend?"

"It's Will, Sondra! We're in the same History class, Math class, Science class-"

Sondra laughed at Will mockingly. "Well, I can't remember every face. Surely you don't ski on those tiny leetle legs."

Will crossed her arms at Sondra in challenge. "As surely as you can talk with that tiny little brain!"

"WHOA!" Everyone around them turned to look at the two girls, and Sondra was so furious, she dropped her hot cocoa. "What are you saying?!"

"I'm saying that I can ski the homemade goat pants right off of you!"

Sondra put her hands on her hips. "Well, 'zen, we have to have a leetle race! Winner 'seets with Matt on 'ze bus ride back!"

"Fine by me!"

Matt held up his hands in protest. "Um, girls-"

"STAY OUTTA THIS!"

Principal Knickerbocker looked around at the students, already perched on her own skis. "Remember, children, stay on the north side of the mountain, and keep away from Deadman's Trail!"

"GANGWAY!" Just then, Hay Lin came screaming towards Knickerbocker, who's eyes widened. "No, no, no, Hay Lin-" Hay Lin smashed Knickerbocker off of her feet. Taranee grinned at the sight. "I admire Hay Lin. She doesn't care about boys, or what people think of her..." She observed Hay Lin, who was clearly out of control. "Or if she ever walks again..."

That night, at the chateau, Will was blowing on her hot chocolate to cool it down when Hay Lin ran over. "Will! I need your scarf, your hat, and your sweater, and do you have any extra gloves!?"

Will wrapped her scarf around the freezing Blunk. "Just keep that around your face. We don't want to start a panic. No offense." Blunk's teeth were chattering, he was still that cold. "Need...cocoa!" They looked over as Yan Lin drove up in her Jeep. "Grandma! What are you doing here!?" Yan Lin pointed over at Caleb. "He made me drive him up just to prove some silly point!"

"I'm no fun, huh? Well, tell that to my skis!"

Will arched an eyebrow, and Hay Lin tried hard to hold back her laughter, but eventually, the uncontrollable giggles of laughter burst through. Will stared at him. "You're kidding! Those things look like they came from the deck planks of the Titanic!"

Yan Lin grinned up at Will. "Those babies served me well back in China!" Once Hay Lin had finally managed to stop giggling, she said, "They look like they served Genghis Khan back in China!"

Yan Lin smirked at them. "I got new skis now! I'm gonna carve me up some powder, dudes!" Blunk turned around to see Cedric standing there, in his snake form, and Blunk let out a huge scream of terror.

"You're insane to race Sondra! She's, like, total Swiss, okay? They're born on skis!" Cornelia said to Will the next morning as they rode up in a ski lift.

Taranee nodded at this. "And you said yourself that you're a lousy skier!" Will smirked at this. "Yeah, but I'm a terrific Guardian, and the winner gets to sit next to Matt!" Cornelia and Taranee exchanged glances at this. "We're supposed to use our powers to fight evil, not snobby foreigners!" Will narrowed her eyes at this. "Trust me. She's evil."

"All right, I'm ready to have fun!" Caleb adjusted his ski goggles, and fell down the slope, screaming as the skis fell apart. Cornelia slapped herself in the face, and Irma simply laughed at Caleb's antics. "Well, they held up better than I thought."

Another boy on a snowboard came over, planting a second snowboard next to Caleb in the snow. "Whoa, dude! Skis are for losers!" He pointed at the snowboard. "You want this!" Caleb grabbed the snowboard, grinning. "Ha! A mummerboard! You didn't tell me you liked mummerboarding!" Caleb slid down the slope, clearly talented at snowboarding.

Cedric went into the cave, dragging Blunk in behind him. "H-Hi. L-Looking good."

"Tell me about the girl with red hair!"

"Cedric mean Ethel? Sorry, she went Denmark. I love cheese." Cedric grabbed Blunk, and roared in frustration.

Will paced back and forth, explaining the plan to Hay Lin, who clearly wasn't listening. "Just fly above me, and use your powers to keep me upright!"

"Isn't this kinda cheating a bit?"

"Let's hope so! 'Cause there's no way I can beat her fair and square!" Will took out the Heart of Kandrakar. "Look, this may not seem noble, but you don't know her!"

Cedric watched Will and Hay Lin transform into their Guardian form and fly off, then looked down at Blunk, dropping him. "Seems I do not need your information after all."

Sondra began preparing for the race, and looked over at Matt. "Where's your foolish leetle friend?"

Caleb sped by, dumping snow on Cornelia, Taranee, and Irma. Taranee tilted her head in confusion. "Um...where'd he learn to do that?!"

"Mumboarding! You do it on mumboards!" Yan Lin skied over just then. "Will can't ski. How's she supposed to win a race!? And where is Hay Lin?!"

Will came over, transformed, using a coat and hat to cover it up. "Will, is that you?"

"I'm ready! So, what's the course?"

Sondra smirked. "You lead, I'll follow...until right before 'ze finish!"

Hay Lin flew overhead, giving Will the thumbs-up.

Matt bit his lip in protest. "Look, you don't have to have this stupid race. I'll sit with both of you on the way back!" They just ignored him. "Just say go!"

Matt sighed, resigning himself to his fate. "Go."

The two girls took off, and Will sped off, shrieking, followed by Sondra. "See you on 'ze bus, Matt!" At that moment, Hay Lin took over. Sondra's eyes narrowed, and she sped up to catch up to Will. Hay Lin got distracted by a fox chasing a small rabbit. "Hey, Mr. Bunny! No rabbit stew for you tonight, Mr. Fox!"

"AAGH!" Will's yells got her back to attention, just as she went into Deadman's Trail. Hay Lin's eyes widened, and she gasped. "Oh, no! Will!"

Sondra slid to a stop, staring after Will.

The others watched Will slide down Deadman's Trail in horror. "No! What's she doing?!"

"Sondra, don't follow her!" Sondra ignored this, and took off. "Oh, no!"

Hay Lin bit her lip, looking around desperately. "Will, I can't see you!"

"AAGH!"

Cedric chose that moment to start an avalanche on the mountain. Principal Knickerbocker's eyes widened. "Back! Everyone, back!" Caleb, Yan Lin, Cornelia, Irma, and Taranee were trapped. They were knocked off of the side of the cliff.

Will fell off of her skis and slid to a stop. Hay Lin landed right next to her. "Will, are you all right?! There was this cute bunny, and this big and mean fox-" They stared at Cedric in horror as he rose out of the snow. "-but not that big and mean."

Taranee activated her fireball, trying to melt the snow. "I can melt a little more snow, but without Will transforming me, it's not going to be enough to get us out!" She sighed. "I hope the others are okay..."

Caleb looked over at Irma, who was also clearly having trouble with her powers. "Make it wider!"

"I can't! Without transforming, my power over water isn't strong enough!" Yan Lin sat beside the two of them, listening to them argue.

Hay Lin and Will dodged out of the way as Cedric attacked. "It is as Phobos said. Apart, you are all weaker!"

Cornelia and Taranee looked up as a foul stench entered their part of the cave. "What the-?"

"Blunk here." Cornelia scowled at him. "Where were you!?"

"Big snake trap Blunk!" Blunk imitated Cedric as best he could, which clearly wasn't very good. "'Tell about girls!'" Then Blunk imitated himself. "'Oh, no!'"

Blunk groaned. "Then trap Blunk in cave! Big cave!"

Taranee frowned. "But this is solid rock!"

Cornelia gasped. "It's the volcano! They have side vents, tunnels to the surface!" Cornelia turned back to Blunk. "Find Irma and the others!"

Caleb grunted as he whacked at the snow with Yan Lin's skis, then turned to Irma. "Don't you have any secret spells or snow-melting potions?

Irma glared at him. "We're. Not. Witches. It's just our initials!" Blunk showed up just then. "Dig. Dig." Blunk yelped as Taranee pushed him through the tunnel so she could stick her head through. "Everybody okay in here?"

Cedric threw Hay Lin into a tree, and Will took a running leap, wrapping her arms around Cedric's neck. Unfortunately, Will was thrown down beside Hay Lin.

"Stand on my skis, and don't forget to turn when I turn!" Irma instructed Taranee.

"I can't! I'll fall off!" Taranee whimpered.

"Well, if you do, roll to where Will is!"

Will released a blinding light from the Heart of Kandrakar, and Hay Lin hit Cedric with a spinning-kick in midair. Just then, the other Guardians showed up. "Guardians, Unite!" The girls all transformed, and Caleb hit Cedric in the face with his snowboard. "Irma, let's give Snakeboy a cold shower!" Taranee smirked. Taranee melted the snow around Cedric, and Irma doused him in it. Hay Lin sent a small hurricane to surround Cedric. Cornelia used some vines to restrain Cedric.

"Nice net. Do you do hammocks?"

"Well...now what do we do with him?"

"I vote that we put him in Sondra's luggage." Cedric snapped the vines holding him, and fell to the ground, then sped off.

"OW! Careful, you dupes! That hurts!" Everybody gasped, because Sondra's accent had mysteriously disappeared. "What the-?"

"She-?"

"Did you guys hear that!?"

"Huh! Your ankle's only sprained, but I think that your accent's broken!"

Hay Lin examined Sondra's sweater. "'Dry clean only', huh!? Grandma's goat hair, huh!?"

"Yeah, we should get you to-" Taranee spoke a word in Russian.

"And what is that supposed to mean?"

"'Hospital'! You said you spoke Russian! Oh, by the way, there aren't any cashmere goats in Switzerland. Unless you're from the Himalayas as well!?" Taranee smirked at her.

Sondra rolled her eyes. "Oh, who cares! As soon as I reach my parents, I'm switching schools!" Matt turned to look at Will. "So...the front of the bus...or the back?" Everybody began to walk away from Sondra. "So I don't have some dumb accent! So what!"

Elyon shook her head at Sondra, glaring at her. "What a total loser!"

"No duh! Pretending to be Ms. Fascinating Swiss Person!"

Later that night, the Guardians and Caleb examined the map. "No new portals!"

"That means that he didn't return to Meridian." Will crossed her arms, thinking hard over this. "So...where did he go?"

Cedric lept out of the sewers, and transformed back into his human form, then unlocked YE OLDE BOOKSHOP, walking inside.