A/N: I'm back! And I brought chapter 6 with me. Thank you so much to everyone for the continued support. A special thank you to M. 5 for following this story!

I want to apologize for waiting so long to post this chapter! School has been crazy lately. Yesterday was registration, the day before was signing up with housing groups, and we were celebrating birthdays and anniversaries. Between all of that, it was midterms week! I have one midterm next week, but the rest were taken care of this week, so this long wait won't be a regular thing.

That's all I have to say, so I'll just get on with the shout-outs and the story!

SilvenArrow: Thank you so much, I'm so glad you like it. Gabi's family story is definitely my favorite. I played with the idea of having Gabi's birth the thing that killed her mother and have her family resent/blame her, but then I wanted her to have a little brother, and I wrote her story differently. Good observation with Caty. I would say it does matter and you should hold on to that thought. Yes, your guess about Ellie's mother in your PM was right, and it wasn't too far a leap. At least I hope not. Otherwise, my foreshadowing skills leave something to be desired. And yes, we will get to see more of the guardians, in more than just video form. Finally, your question about Nigel will be answered in this chapter. Enjoy!

Taylor: Hmm, that is weird. But at least your name shows up now! I'm glad you like the story. Thanks for dropping a review, and enjoy this chapter!

Emily: Caty is sort of being a whiny brat (like Stephen Daedalus lol), but every adopted kid must feel the way Caty does at some point. Like in Just As Long As We're Together. And before you remind me, I know Alison was 13 in that book, not 16, but still. See you later! You can beta this chapter before we go tonight.

WaterAmulet: Yes, we did get to see more of Jason. I think he'll be a bigger character than I originally thought. Yes, Gabi's powers are developing fast, but the other girls' powers are developing fast too, which you'll see in the next chapter. Water has always been my favorite element, I always wanted to control water like Irma (or Katara in the ATLA series, if you watch that). There's a reason for that. Caty has darker undertones to her character, which will develop into a plot point. As for what happens between Alyssa and Taranee, I just wrote where the writing took me. I didn't set any rules, just wrote what came to my mind. Hope you like what I came up with. I really like the friendship between Alyssa and Rae too, which surprised me. I was afraid their friendship would be random and awkward when I first planned it out, but when I actually wrote about it, it seemed natural and I really like the way it developed. Hope you like this chapter!

Shay: I agree with you there! Longer chapters make the wait bearable. I actually wrote most of this chapter in a couple of days (I had the first part pre-written and wrote most of it pretty fast), but I had to study for midterms, so I had to take a break from writing for a while. I liked writing about Hay Lin explaining all of the Heart stuff, so I'm glad it didn't bore you. I like how the video scene worked out, a lot more than I thought I would. You'll learn how Rae knows Cornelia in this chapter. Thanks for the review and enjoy!

Misa: I'm sorry about the wait, but I'm glad you liked it, and it's okay you waited to review, since this chapter wasn't up yet. I was registering for classes, settling housing groups, and studying for midterms this week, so I was slow finishing this chapter. Hopefully the wait for future chapters will be better. Yes, you will find out more about Rae, somewhat soon. And you'll find out more about the other characters too. Caty hating Lili and Ellie not being a great student aren't really important, but everything else is. You'll find out more about Ellie's parents soon-ish, but no, they're not divorced. You will learn more about the old guardians in the next chapter, but for now, enjoy this one!

G.R.A.C.E. G.R.A.C.E. G.R.A.C.E.

Monday started out the same way as always. Alyssa and Rae were accompanied to their every destination by Jake, who was hell bent on getting to know Rae better (and Alyssa too, in order to win Rae's favor).

As usual, at lunch time, he went over to sit by Gabi and the other cheerleaders, and as usual, the guys from the lacrosse team joined him.

Before Rae and Alyssa could find an empty table, Caty walked up to them. "Okay, so you don't want to join my group," she said. "But at least sit with us at lunch. Both of you. We have more in common now than brains."

Rae and Alyssa looked at each other and shrugged. Caty was right. They weren't really friends, but the guardian thing would work out better if they got along. Especially once the battles Hay Lin and the Oracle had told them about yesterday started.

Six faces looked up when Caty arrived at her usual table with Alyssa and Rae.

The girls smiled immediately. One had long black hair in soft waves, dark eyes, and brown skin. She wore a wolf hat. The other girl had shoulder length black hair and chocolate brown eyes.

"Hi," the girl with the wolf hat said. "I'm Misha."

"And I'm Nina," the other girl said.

Rae smiled and they sat down. The girls introduced the boys at their table. Brian, his best friend Travis, and their other friends Nick and Will.

"Those two girls are part of Caty's group," Alyssa whispered so only Rae could hear. "And the boys are friends with them, although Brian and Caty pretty much hate each other, and they are in different nerd groups."

Rae snickered. She couldn't understand how at this school, even the cliques were divided amongst each other into sub-cliques. This was definitely different from her old school.

"What do you think of the new book we were assigned in lit?" Misha asked, trying to make conversation.

"Things Fall Apart? I've read it already," Alyssa said. "It's actually one of my favorite books."

"It seems really rich," Nina said.

"It is. You could answer any expository essay question with it," Alyssa replied.

"Good," Misha said. "Because I always use Heart of Darkness to help me on essays and I need a new source of information."

"Heart of Darkness is like my favorite book ever," Rae said.

"I hated it!" Misha cried. "I just use it because it works. The Scarlet Letter is my favorite."

"She spends every rainy Saturday reading that book," Nina joked. She smiled at Rae. "Heart of Darkness is my favorite too."

"What's your favorite book Caty?" Alyssa asked, genuinely curious.

"The Awakening."

"I thought that was really dry," Rae said.

"Me too," Misha agreed.

"It's perfectly exemplifies every aspect of romanticism."

"And that's good thing?" Rae challenged.

"Yes!" Caty insisted. "Romanticism is my favorite literary movement."

"Even over transcendentalism?" Alyssa asked.

"You liked transcendentalism?" Misha asked, appalled.

"No," Alyssa giggled. "That was a joke."

The other girls laughed and the five began to talk about other literary movements. At one point Nina and Misha got into a heated debate about the Gothic period, and Alyssa took that opportunity to ask Rae about Cornelia.

"Yesterday, you seemed to know who Cornelia Hale was even though the rest of didn't. How do you know her?"

Caty, who was listening to her friends debate, turned to them. "You know Cornelia?" she asked frowning.

"Not really. Not personally anyway," Rae replied. "She and my mother met in college. I mean, my mother didn't actually go to college, but she met Cornelia while Cornelia was attending college. Lyssa, remember when your mother said she and her friends didn't keep in touch once they started college, but one girl went to California for college and she and another one of your mother's friends stayed friends?"

Alyssa nodded wondering where Rae was going with this.

"Cornelia's best friend was Elyon."

"As in….Queen Elyon?" Caty asked.

"I'm guessing," Rae said. "Elyon went to college in California and Cornelia went to F.I.T., where my mother would've gone if she hadn't decided to forego college. Anyway, Cornelia helped my mother out by modeling her clothes the summer before college, and my mother earned that job at the fashion company she worked at before starting her own company. She, Elyon, and Cornelia still talk all the time."

"So your mother had a connection to a guardian and the queen of Meridian," Caty murmured. "Wait, your mother has her own company?"

Rae grimaced. "Yeah, my mom is Silena Shane. Don't tell anyone though."

Caty's eyes grew wide. "I won't, but wow…my cousin really wants an internship with her this summer. You know that internship your mother has for the four college kids and one high school student? Lili wants to be that high school student. You'd think with a dream like that, she'd understand why the D.C. internship I'm applying for is so important to me, but Lili is too self-centered for that."

"If we're talking self-centered, it's Lana Oller," Alyssa said. "I swear, she's worse than Gabi."

"Who's actually not that bad. I mean, she hasn't been as mean as I expected her to be in the last two days," Caty commented.

The other girls nodded. Caty was right.

"Alyssa, did you ever talk to your mother about being a guardian?"

"No, Rae is going to come over tonight so I can," Alyssa said. "Um…do you want to come?"

"I can't, Jake called a student council meeting tonight," Caty said, rolling her eyes. "What he wants to discuss I don't know. Stupid Jake Saunders."

When the bell rang, the girls walked to APUSH together. Nina and Misha walked ahead of the other three.

"So did you tell Nina and Misha we were going to join you beforehand?" Alyssa asked Caty.

Caty nodded.

"They didn't seem too bothered by "Classless-a Klutzcroft" sitting with them," Rae said. "So why didn't you invite Alyssa before?" She had a knowing smile on her face.

Caty flushed. "I'm sorry Alyssa," she said. "You're the number one ranked in school, and I'm tied as number three with Brian and I was afraid that if we brought you in, I'd be overshadowed. I've already been fighting with Brian for the spotlight since first grade! But you'd easily outrank both of us and I need the leadership positions if I'm going to get into Yale for law."

Alyssa's mouth dropped open. "Rae and I want to go to Yale too, but not for law. Yale law is so hard to get into!"

"I know!"

"It's okay you didn't invite me. But I don't want to join any of the clubs you're in. I'm already busy enough, and I can't play sports, but you're really good at soccer."

"Speaking of clubs, how do you think we're going to keep up if we have guardian training every day after school?" Caty asked.

"I don't know, but this is seriously going to cut into my studying time," Alyssa groaned. "I'm only half way done with our English essay."

"The one due in two weeks?" Rae asked.

"I always get my assignments in early," Alyssa said. "Just like my mom. And I'm behind on studying for the biology test."

"The one two months from now?" Caty asked.

"I always study before exam dates are even set," Alyssa said. "Also just like my mom."

"Doesn't that stress you out?" Caty asked.

"Why should it? Studying and essays are so much fun!"

Caty looked at Alyssa like she was crazy. "I'm neurotic about my grades, but even I don't like studying."

"I love school. School work relaxes me, and it was something that distracted me from Gabi and the cheerleaders teasing me all the time."

"Hey, why'd you leave without me?" Jake asked, catching up with Alyssa and Rae.

"Why would anyone wait for you?" Caty replied nastily.

"They'd be more likely to wait for me than you."

"Well Alyssa and Rae are obviously intelligent girls who know your company is less than desirable."

"Look who's talking. You're the one who makes me want to pull my hair out every time you speak."

"And you're the one who makes me wish I were deaf every time you speak!"

"Caty!" Misha's yell made every head turn. Misha blushed and lowered her voice considerably. "Um, just, you don't want to get into an unnecessary fight, and anyway, class is gonna start soon."

"Oh…yeah."

The group entered their APUSH classroom. As usual, Misha and Nina took seats in the front, one table empty between them for Caty. The three always took seats in the front. Alyssa did too, usually, but since she became friends with Rae, she started sitting in the back in every class because Rae liked sitting in the back. It made her feel more invisible, and Rae liked feeling invisible. She hated when attention was focused on her, which is what made her more antsy and nervous around Jake, although she did a good job of hiding it.

Alyssa, Rae, and Jake took their usual seats in the back. Caty made a move to sit in her usual desk, then decided against it and joined Alyssa and Rae in the back. Sure Jake was with them and she'd much rather sit with her best friends than her worst enemy and two girls she had to get along with because it was necessary, but she liked what she saw of Alyssa and Rae so far, and everything about the guardians would be easier if she got along with them because she wanted to, not because she had to.

Jake didn't look pleased at Caty's change of seat, but Alyssa and Rae both smiled at her as she took a seat in front of new girl.

Caty wondered when everything with Jake had gone so wrong. They used to be really good friends when they were both freshman and moved up to the high school building of Sheffield. They were the only two freshman to join student council, so they were automatically made General Assembly members. Caty wasn't sure what possessed Jake Saunders, who was always kind of mean, especially to the people classified as nerds, like Caty herself, to be friendly towards her, but he flashed her a smile, made a few jokes, and Caty decided Jake Saunders wasn't as bad as everyone thought.

She soon discovered he was very smart. Ninth grade was when the students got their class rank, and Jake constantly challenged Caty, making her work harder to beat Jake for the number 2 rank (which she hadn't done yet). He helped her practice soccer so she could make the JV team as a freshman, always cheered her up when she was feeling down, helped her to beat Brian whenever the two had a rivalry, and he knew she was adopted. Not even Nina or Misha knew that.

Sophomore year had only brought them closer, until the last quarter of the school year when they realized they were both running for junior class president. Caty tried to explain she wanted a career in either law or politics, and if she went the politics route, being class president would be immensely helpful. He told her he understood, but he also wanted to be class president and he wasn't going to drop out of the race. At that point, instead of admitting Jake was being number 2 in class rank, she began to feel jealous, and when he won the election, she knew it was because he was the most popular boy in school. Jake didn't even bother to deny it when she accused him of winning on popularity alone. And all summer she had to work with him to plan some of the beginning of the year events such as the first day assembly and that Halloween dance and even though they used to be two peas in a pod, they couldn't seem to agree on anything anymore.

All of this wouldn't have been so bad, if Jake hadn't decided to fight dirty during the presidential race. This caused Caty to retaliate and they were so concentrated on the race that Jake was almost kicked off the soccer team and didn't get his History honors society application in on time, and Caty's chemistry grade dropped, meaning Brian beat her, and she was completely blindsided by her parents' announcement of the baby.

Caty and Jake pretty much blamed each other for all these events and couldn't forgive each other. Caty had to admit, at times she missed Jake. But most of the time, he just infuriated her.

G.R.A.C.E. G.R.A.C.E. G.R.A.C.E.

Alyssa paced around her room nervously as she waited for her mother to call her down for dinner.

"Lyssa, you're making me dizzy," Rae complained from her spot on Alyssa's bed.

"Then don't watch me pace," Alyssa snapped.

"If you're really this nervous, then let's do something to occupy ourselves."

"Like what? We already did all our homework and you won't let me study for our biology test anymore."

"Because it's two months from now. And by occupy ourselves, I didn't mean schoolwork. Why don't you paint something?"

"What?"

"You love art. Paint something."

Alyssa nodded and got out her art supplies. She had a huge easel set up by her window at all times. She squirted acrylic paint onto her palette and began work, using different brushes for different parts of the painting. Rae grabbed a book from Alyssa's shelf and began reading.

"What are you working on?" Rae asked after half an hour.

"Come here, let me show you," Alyssa said.

Rae stood next to her. Alyssa lifted her still wet painting and showed her the painting underneath it. It was beautiful peach castle with sea green tower tops, white flags, and flower garlands wrapped around the whole structure. It was atop a lushous green hill. In the corner was a photograph of the exact same castle. Rae figured that's what Alyssa was copying.

"It's pretty. What is it?" Rae asked, though she had an idea.

"This is Queen Elyon's castle. I asked Hay Lin for a picture yesterday and painted it last night," Alyssa explained. Then she showed Rae the painting she was currently castle. "This is also Queen Elyon's castle. At least, I'm pretty sure it is."

"If it is, I can't tell," Rae replied. The peach was replaced by black, the sea green was replaced by gray, the white was replaced with a murky brown. The flower garlands were now chains and the hill was black and droopy.

"I dreamt about Elyon's castle," Alyssa explained. "This version though, not the beautiful version. I have a feeling this is her castle looks now, since she's dethroned and an evil ruler took over. And in the dreams, we were there. The guardians I mean, even you, even though I hadn't met you before."

"Is that why you looked like you saw a ghost when you saw me in the cafeteria on Thursday?" Rae asked, looking relieved.

"Yeah."

"Good, because I thought there was something wrong with me! And you know, you're not the only one. Ellie looked at me like that as well when she first saw me at The Silver Dragon. I was so self-conscious!"

"Wait…do you think Ellie had the same dream as me?"

"Or at least something similar. That explains why she seemed scared of me when we ran into each other Saturday. And that explains why you randomly talked to me when you told me you're really shy. But why'd you have the dream in the first place?"

"Maybe it's a fire guardian power to have visions?" Alyssa asked, surprised that Rae figured out and didn't seem bothered by the fact that at first, Alyssa only talked to her because of the dream.

"You think it was a vision?"

"I dreamt about a person I never met before. I read somewhere that means the dream is a vision."

Before Rae could respond, Mrs. Ashcroft called them down for dinner.

"So, now you know why I approached you that day. Because of my dream. Are you mad?" Alyssa asked.

"What? No! You dreamt about me because we're connected, meant to come together and be friends, if only because we're both destined to be guardians. Like the Oracle said. And I don't really care why you approached me. Whatever the reason, I'm glad you did. I think if things are meant to be, they will be. We were meant to be friends, so who cares if you had a dream about me? If anything, the dream made us friends faster, and what's wrong with that?"

Alyssa smiled. Yup, she picked the best best friend ever!

When the girls got downstairs, they exchanged nervous smiles. "She doesn't looked much like a fighter," Rae commented.

"Well, she was a guardian when she was a teenager. Hay Lin said they got their powers when they were thirteen. It was a long time ago."

"So," Taranee said when everyone had food in front of the. "What did you want to talk about?" She ad Nigel looked at Alyssa expectantly. She'd told them that morning she had something important to discuss with them, something she wanted Rae to be present for, but something she didn't want John to be around for. Taranee asked if it could wait, and Alyssa said no, so even though she was reluctant to do so, Taranee let John have dinner and sleepover with a friend, although it was a school night.

Alyssa took a deep breath, unsure how to start. She looked at Rae for help.

Rae placed her hand on the piece of twine that held the Heart. As per Hay Lin's advice, Rae wore the Heart around her neck at all times, keeping the jewel hidden under her shirt. Surprisingly enough, the large jewel did not bulge under her shirt.

Alyssa understood. Start with the powers.

"Over the past couple of days, I learned I can do something amazing. Something almost unreal. And it's come to my attention Mom, that you have this ability as well."

Taranee and Nigel exchanged nervous looks, but decided to let Alyssa finish, in case they were wrong about what they thought she was referring to. Of course everyone should know by now Taranee was never wrong.

Taranee and Nigel looked at Alyssa, allowing her to go on. Alyssa sighed. She hoped they wouldn't play dumb. She got up and got out one of her mother's scented candles. She put it on the table, pointed her finger and concentrated. Rae got ready with her water glass in case the flame Alyssa wanted to conjure didn't hit its mark.

Alyssa took a deep breath and willed the candle to light. Just as it had Saturday at The Silver Dragon, it worked. Alyssa smiled and looked at Taranee, who looked nervous.

"So, you do continue the lineage," she sighed.

"You knew?"

"No, but I suspected. Yan Lin told us that the lineage would continue with either the fire or water guardian."

"Yan Lin…is that Hay Lin's grandmother, the old…er, even older, air guardian?" Rae asked.

"You know Hay Lin?" Nigel asked, surprised.

"She owns The Silver Dragon now," Taranee said. "But I haven't seen her in years."

"But she was working Friday, when you guys were there."

"That was the first time in years," Taranee said. "She never worked when we went there, which admittedly wasn't much."

"We usually order in from The Silver Dragon, and Chris is their delivery boy," Alyssa explained.

"So those friends you were talking about Mrs. Ashcroft," Rae said. "Those were the other guardians?"

"Yes."

"And Elyon too, right?" Alyssa asked.

"Why…yes. How much do you girls know?"

Alyssa told Taranee and Nigel everything Hay Lin had told them. At the end, Taranee looked outraged.

"What right did she have, telling you all of that?!" she cried, startling both girls.

"Taranee, calm down," Nigel cautioned.

"Calm down?! Nigel, she went behind our backs and told our daughter all about Meridian without our permission!"

"They had to know!" Nigel said. "Remember what Yan Lin said? If the Heart doesn't find the new guardians within sixteen years of the new Keeper being born, it will blow itself up and there will be no more guardians. Ever."

Taranee sighed, knowing her husband was right. "And I suppose you're a guardian too?" she asked Rae.

Rae showed Taranee the Heart.

"Of course. The first day I met you, you reminded me of Will. A little of Irma too, with your sarcasm, but mostly Will. It only makes sense."

"A lot of the new guardians are like the old ones," Alyssa piped up. "I knew I was always like you, but Rae is like Will, the new air guardian is like Hay Lin, and the new Earth guardian is like Cornelia. But Hay Lin says the new water guardian is almost the opposite of Irma."

"Which I could tell thanks to the video," Rae said.

"Video?" Taranee asked.

"Is that the video we made after you, Irma, and Hay Lin told us the secret?" Nigel asked. "The one where we all introduced ourselves?"

"You were in it too?" Alyssa asked.

Nigel nodded. "All the guardians were dating someone then, so we were all in it."

"Hay Lin said she'd show it to us in chunks, as we need it. So we only saw the old guardians introducing themselves," Rae said. "But we heard a boy, Matt I think his name was, getting excited as Mrs. Ashcroft introduced herself because after her, he could go on camera."

"So who are the other new guardians?" Taranee asked dully.

"Ellie is one," Alyssa said, hoping the mention of her "best friend" would make Taranee happy. She clearly was not thrilled by the news of Alyssa being a guardian. "Air."

"Who else?"

"Um, Gabi Shay is Earth, and Caty Lewis is water."

"Caty Lewis is that uptight girl on the honor roll you're always complaining about, right?" Nigel asked. "I thought the water guardian had to be loose and laidback. Irma had that attitude down."

"And have you guys trained yet?"

"Saturday we worked on flying. I hate heights, so you can imagine how that went," Alyssa said dryly. "Rae was no better. She kept crashing and bleeding and Hay Lin had to patch her up like four or five times. Gabi kept getting woozy the higher off the ground she got and Caty is too careful and uptight too fast. But Ellie had a really easy time of it. She could go really high and really fast and do tricks."

"And today?"

"We trained with our elemental powers a little," Alyssa said. "Caty worked on getting water to obey her, Ellie tried to use air as if it were telekinesis, Gabi tested the limits of her powers, I practiced conjuring flames and controlling them, which I'll admit I was reluctant about, because I'm afraid of fire too. And after she transformed us, Rae tried to find out all the secrets and powers of the Heart."

"So far I was able to make astral drops, and I found out the Heart can track the Keeper," Rae said.

"What about opening and closing portals?" Nigel wondered.

"I didn't practice that, but I know it can do that," Rae said. "We know about portals and folds and the differences between them. We actually went through a fold yesterday. We went to Kandrakar."

Taranee and Nigel's mouths dropped open.

"Did you meet the Oracle? What did he say?" Taranee asked.

Rae and Alyssa told the Ashcrofts what happened at Kandrakar.

Taranee, finally able to digest the information got up and looked at Alyssa. "The Heart needs to find it's keeper within a certain amount of time, or else, like Nigel said, it will blow itself up, taking the legacy of the guardians with it. And the world needs the guardians. It always has. But I refuse to allow you to take part in this."

"What? Mom!"

"Taranee," Nigel protested.

"No, listen. What the Oracle has said about what you have to face sounds worse than Phobos, Nerissa, and all our old enemies combined. I do not want any child of mine to have to face anyone on par with our enemies, and I definitely don't want them to face someone more powerful. I will not allow you to fight and put yourself in danger and get hurt."

"But Mom, you always said you had these amazing experiences in school because of your friends, and I always thought I didn't think it was the friends that gave you the experiences, but the experiences that made you so close with your friends, and I was right. The reason you and the other girls were so close was because of the whole guardian thing. So how can you deny me the same opportunity?"

"Alyssa-"

"Mom, you want to know why Ellie and Adam haven't come over in six years? It's not because we go to Adam's house after school. Every time I don't have a meeting for something, I'm in the art studio, not at Adam's house. Ellie and Adam dropped me. El and I had a huge fight in fifth grade, and I got tired of trying to make up with her. I spend the entire summer trying to get her to talk to me. And you know how much pull Ellie has on Adam, so he would greet me all the time in the halls and talk to me in class, but he didn't hang out with me because Ellie didn't. Then, half way through the year, Gabi Shay humiliated me in the cafeteria and I got these terrible nicknames and Adam, who was already made fun of by Gabi enough, stopped talking to me completely, and that was the end of my friendship with both of them. I didn't have any friend at all. Chris and I talked, sure, but we didn't really hang out either. Rae is the only person who has been my friend, and now, because of the guardians thing, Caty invited us to be part of her group, Ellie and I actually had a conversation…I doubt Gabi and I will ever be friends, but I'm finally part of something again. I need this!"

Taranee and Nigel looked shocked and heartbroken. They had no idea their daughter had suffered so much. Why had she hid it from them?

"Honey, I'm so sorry," Taranee said sincerely, "but I'm sure Rae will still be your friend, even if you don't continue to be a guardian."

"Continue? I've barely been a guardian!" Alyssa cried. "How can you deny me the same experiences you cherished so much?"

"I cherished the closeness my friends and I had. The experiences I could've done without!" Taranee cried.

"Well without those experiences, you wouldn't have had the closeness and I won't have that without these experiences either!"

"You shouldn't need or have to put your life at risk for friends! If you had told us what Gabi did to you, we could've transferred you to another school!"

"I liked this school!" Alyssa cried. Sheffield was one of the most prestigious private schools in the country and the place you'd want to be if you wanted to go to an Ivy League. Most schools only took one or two students for various Ivy Leagues. They took up to four students for each Ivy when it came to Sheffield because it was so hard to be ranked in the top 10.

"I'm not going to let you do this."

"You can't tell me what to do!"

"As long as you live under my roof, I can. And I say no way. This is all over Alyssa. You will have nothing to do with Hay Lin or the guardians any longer," Taranee said firmly. "And I will contact Hay Lin to let her know of my decision."

"No Mom, that's humiliating!" Alyssa cried.

"Can I trust you?"

"Of course!"

"Then tell Hay Lin you're done and don't ever go into guardian mode again. Promise me that and I won't call her."

Alyssa opened her mouth to retort, then saw there was no changing her mother's mind. Her mouth set in a hard line.

"Fine," she muttered, stalking up the stairs, Rae following after her.

G.R.A.C.E. G.R.A.C.E. G.R.A.C.E.

At lunch time on Tuesday, Ellie saw something that made her blood boil. As usual, Rae and Alyssa walked into the cafeteria with Jake. As usual, Jake had brought money and the girls had brought their lunch. Jake got on the lunch line and Alyssa and Rae looked around uncertainly. Their eyes fell on Caty's table. Feeling their stare, she turned to look at them and waved them over. They smiled and sat down and Caty's friends Nina and Misha immediately greeted them.

Ellie saw them sitting at Caty's lunch table yesterday, but she thought that was just a one day thing. First Rae was stealing her best friend, and now Caty?

Ellie knew it wasn't fair to be possessive of the girl she hadn't spoken to in over six years, but she couldn't help it. Alyssa wasn't just her best friend, but the best friend she's ever had. She did all the work to figure out what Ellie was hiding and tried to convince her to get help. She'd spent half a school year and an entire summer trying to get Ellie back when they stopped talking.

The last thing Alyssa had said to Ellie was, "I'm going to miss you El, more than you know. But that's okay. I'm walking away because of the promise you made and I'm not going to be selfish and demand your friendship as long as you keep that promise."

Alyssa was never selfish. She was such a good friend. And now she made Rae her best friend. It was only fitting. Rae was as good of a friend as Alyssa was. They deserved to have each other in their corner.

Caty turned her head and locked eyes with Ellie. Caty gave her a tentative smile and Ellie smiled back.

Ellie looked at her table. She was sitting with a bunch of drama kids, with her best friends close to her. Adam was next to her, Jade was across from her, and Milly was across from Adam. Jade and Milly were debating about something. This was common. The four had been a group for nearly five years, but Jade and Milly were friends since kindergarten, like Ellie and Adam, so the foursome often broke off into pairs.

"Guys," Ellie said, making Jade and Milly look up. "I'm going to go sit with Caty today."

"Caty…Lewis?" Adam asked.

Ellie nodded. "I need her help with my homework," she lied.

"Oh. Okay," Jade shrugged and went back to her conversation with Milly.

Adam gave her a ,'What are you really doing?' look, but Ellie just gave him a weak smile and left the table. Being an actress helped to fool Jade and Milly, but Adam could always tell when she was lying. She felt bad for lying to Adam. After all, lies were the reason she lost Alyssa. But what was she supposed so say? I'm sitting with Caty because she and I have elemental powers? Oh, and also she's stealing my best friend who I haven't talked to for six and a half years?

"Hey," she said when she reached Caty. "Can I sit here?"

Nina and Misha looked at Ellie, surprised, but Caty just shrugged. "Sure," she said. "But you may get bored."

Before Ellie could ask what that meant, Caty looked at Rae and said, "We list the elements in order and the loser is the first one to mess up or forget. Hesitation is allowed."

"Sounds good to me," Rae replied.

"The elements? Aren't there only four?" Ellie asked, sitting down. "And I didn't know there was an order."

Misha and Nina looked at her incredulously.

"Um, not the elements that make up the world. The scientific elements," Caty explained. "You know, like Hydrogen and Helium."

"Oh," Ellie said, feeling stupid. She was way out of her league here. She, Jade, and Milly were never in any honors classes and they were C-average students. Adam was in honors math and science classes and he was an A-average student in everything. That's probably why he and Alyssa got along so well. If he wasn't in love with her, he may have stuck by Alyssa after her fight with Ellie.

"You got this Caty. Your class rank is higher than hers," Travis said.

Oh, so Brian and his friends were interested too?

"Only because the year just started. You're going to be a chemistry major Rae, there's no way you can lose," Alyssa said.

"Alright," Brian said. "Let's do this. Go!"

Caty started.

"Hydrogen."

"Helium."

"Lithium."

"Beryllium."

"Boron."

"Carbon."

"Nitrogen."

"Oxygen."

This went on for a quite a while and Ellie was bored. She daydreamed, but tuned in just in time to hear Caty say, "Fermium."

Rae and Alyssa smiled and high fived as each other.

"Wrong!" Brian said, but he didn't seem as happy as he usually was when Caty got something wrong. "Einsteinium is after Californium. Then it's Fermium."

"Well, you didn't win yet," Caty said. "Not unless you can tell me what's after Fermium."

"Easy. Mendelevium. Then it's Nobelium, Lawrencium-"

"Okay, okay, you're a chemistry genius. I get it," Caty snapped.

Everyone else laughed until Rae gasped.

"What is it?" Alyssa asked.

Rae fingered the twine that held the Heart. "I…need to go to the nurse?" Rae was clearly a terrible liar.

"You do look a little green," Ellie backed up to make her story more believable. "Alyssa, maybe you should go with her. And I'll come too."

"And I need to use the bathroom," Caty said. The four girls rushed out of the cafeteria.

"What's wrong?" Alyssa asked once they entered the hallway.

"Remember what the Oracle said about the portals yesterday?" Rae asked.

Ellie recalled their entire trip to Kandrakar.

Hay Lin just told them about portals and folds, the differences between them, and how she and the other guardians had to close portals in their time. She'd also told them there was a fold in her bedroom leading to Kandrakar and they had to go and meet the Oracle.

At first, the fold looked intimidating. Hay Lin stepped in without hesitation. The other girls all looked at Rae. She was the leader for a reason. Rae took a deep breath, then stepped into the fold as well. Alyssa immediately went in after her. The other three stared at each other until Gabi followed. Ellie went in after, and Caty came through last.

In front of them student several people in pale blue robes.

"Which one do you think is the Oracle?" Ellie whispered to the other girls as Hay Lin greeted everyone.

"Probably the old one," Gabi replied, rolling her eyes.

"Does that lady have…whiskers?" Alyssa asked.

"And cat ears," Caty confirmed.

"Girls, come on!" Hay Lin cried, ushering them forward. "This is the Oracle."

The Oracle was not old as Gabi had said. That man turned out to be named Endarno. The Oracle was young looking man with a kind face, but Ellie had a feeling he was thousands of years old and could be very scary when he needed to be.

"So if you're an oracle…does that mean you can see the future?" Gabi asked.

"Yes, it is among my talents," the Oracle confirmed.

"So did you call us here to tell us our future?" Ellie squealed in excitement.

The Oracle laughed kindly before answering, "No. I am not supposed to tell anyone of their futures. Just give them hints in order to prevent a disastrous one."

"Aren't people not supposed to mess with time?" Rae asked. "Like, aren't we not supposed to do anything to change the future?"

"That's what you may have been told, but that's not actually true. As the Oracle of all worlds, I don't just see one outcome. I see all possible outcomes, and it is my job to lead people on the path of the best possible outcome."

"Is that why we're here today?" Alyssa asked.

"No. The reason you are here today is to familiarize yourselves with the world that provides you with your powers."

"Right. Because our powers come from the Heart of Kandrakar," Rae said. "Every world has a Heart, and that's the source of the world's power. So why does the Heart of Kandrakar reside on Earth?"

"We have no use for it here. Kandrakar's powers are that of the guardians, and since the guardians don't reside here, neither does the Heart," the Oracle explained.

"Excuse me Oracle," the cat like woman interrupted, "but I really do need to get back. Maybe explain the rest by my post."

"Of course. Guardians, if you will follow me," the Oracle said as he followed the cat lady.

The girls looked back at Hay Lin who smiled at them encouragingly before turning back to talk to the rest of the Council.

When the cat woman and the Oracle stopped, they were at a podium. Above the podium floated five colorful spheres. They were green, orange, blue, pink, and gray. The same shades as the glows surrounding the girls in Ellie's dreams.

"These are the aurameres, the source of your powers," the Oracle said, motioning to the spheres. "A guardian borrows power from her life force when she uses her powers. The aurameres were created so that the guardians would not use up their life force by using their powers. However, the aurameres only exist for the current guardians."

"So that means…?" Gabi asked.

"When a previous guardian, like Hay Lin, uses her powers, she'll drain her life force," Alyssa said.

"Exactly. However, a previous guardian can borrow life force from a current guardian in order to provide the previous guardian with strength. The current guardian will feel extremely tired, but she will not suffer permanent damage."

"Why would we need to give up our life force to a previous guardian?" Caty asked.

"The old guardians reached their peak many years ago, meaning they have powers you cannot even imagine, such as teletransporting. Should you need such a power before you learn it, you will need a previous guardian."

"Teletransporting?" Rae asked.

"Not an important issue right now," the Oracle said. "I'd like to introduce you to Luba."

The cat woman-Luba-nodded at the guardians before going back to stare at the aurameres.

"Luba guards and protects the aurameres to you may continue to draw your powers from them and not your life force."

Hay Lin joined them at that moment. "The aurameres symbolize your powers. Do you notice anything about them?"

"Each sphere has a symbol inside," Rae said.

"That's right. Each of your elements has a symbol. You'll need to know these symbols eventually."

"How will we remember them?" Alyssa asked.

"Why don't you draw them Lyssa?" Rae suggested.

"Oooh, good idea!" Ellie agreed. "You're an amazing artist Lyss!"

Alyssa beamed. "Okay." She took out her phone. "I can take a picture and paint a larger picture later. We can hang it up at The Silver Dragon basement." She snapped a picture.

"Now that that's out of the way," the Oracle said, "I need you girls to show me your powers."

The girls exchanged looks. After Hay Lin told the girls about the Hearts, she'd had them practice flying for a little while, then had them practice with their elements. After that, she explained to them about portals, and took them to Kandrakar. They weren't very good with their powers, but they followed the Oracle outside. Kandrakar was a truly a beautiful place.

"Go ahead Keeper," the Oracle said, looking at Rae.

Rae nodded, pulled out the Heart, and yelled, "Guardians, unite!"

As usual, Ellie felt a surge of power and the girls all yelled out their powers.

"The Heart!"

"Water!"

"Fire!"

"Earth!"

"Air!"

After that, the girls demonstrated their powers for the Oracle. Rae couldn't really do much, so she demonstrated creating astral drops for the Oracle. The Oracle talked with Hay Lin about their progress and though Ellie tried to use her enhanced hearing, she couldn't hear much. She heart the Oracle say the words prophecy, important, all worlds, and make or break. She heard Hay Lin say the words too soon, not powerful, too much at once and I can't find it. However, not knowing what any of this meant, Ellie figured she'd just keep this information to herself.

When Hay Lin told the girls to come back down, the Oracle gave Rae a map.

"When Hay Lin was a guardian, her grandmother gave her and the others a similar map. Whenever a veil is put up, there are rips in the veil called portals. I assume Hay Lin told you about them?"

The girls nodded.

"Well, it is your job as guardians to find and close these portals. What you should do is hold the Heart over the map and red X marks will appear on the map indicating where an open portal is. Once you find it, you must hold up the Heart and will the portal to close. Now, any of you can close a portal, but the Keeper has an easier time closing it than the rest of you. And only the Keeper can use the Heart to open a portal. As for folds, only the Keeper can open and close them."

The girls nodded again.

"I have one more thing I can do for. May I have the Heart for a minute?"

Rae looked at Hay Lin who smiled and nodded encouragingly. Rae turned to girls back to normal and gave the Oracle the Heart and he closed his hand around it. It didn't look like he did much, but when he gave it back to Rae, he said, "Now the Heart will vibrate every time a portal opens when it's not supposed to. You don't have to constantly check the map like the old guardians had to."

Rae smiled and put the Heart around her neck again. Then the girls left. When they got back to Hay Lin's bedroom, she suggested Rae close the fold instead of waiting for the Oracle to do it on the other side. She agreed and even though it took her a good five minutes, she was finally able to close the fold. After that, Hay Lin sent them home, telling them they had to meet in The Silver Dragon basement every day after school and the same time on weekends for guardian training. Their light hearted and fun teacher said this so sternly and seriously, not one of the girls, even Gabi, complained. Alyssa reminded Hay Lin they all had obligations after school, so Hay Lin said to come directly after that.

"So there's an open portal?" Alyssa asked.

Rae nodded and took out the map. She held the Heart up over it. A red X marked a spot not far from the school.

"How far away is that?" she asked.

"About a five minute walk," Alyssa replied.

Rae checked her watch. "Okay, we still have twenty minutes left of lunch. Three of us will go to close the portal. One of us should stay here. If we're not back in twelve minutes, tell Gabi and come look for us at this spot."

"Who will stay?" Ellie asked.

"Well I'm the Keeper so I have to go. Who wants to come?"

"I'll come," Alyssa shrugged.

"I definitely want to!" Ellie volunteered. Rae wasn't her favorite person in the world but she really wanted to see a portal up close. Besides, in her dream, the blue light she, Rae, and Alyssa were engulfed in was in the same spot marked on the map. Maybe the light was a portal and she should follow her dream.

"I don't mind staying," Caty shrugged when Rae looked at her. "But you transform when you get close in case a monster comes out like Hay Lin said it could.

"I will. Okay, let's go," Rae said.

Four minutes into the walk, the girls hid in an alley and transformed.

"Guardians, unite!"

Ellie felt the familiar surge of power she loved.

"The Heart!"

"Fire!"

"Air!"

"You think we were far away enough that Caty and Gabi didn't transform?" Alyssa asked.

"I hope so. I have a feeling spontaneously sprouting wings won't go over too well with the Sheffield student body," Rae replied sarcastically, making Ellie laugh.

The girls took alleyways to the portal's location to avoid being spotted in their guardians form. When they got to the portal, Rae looked at the girls. "You know, Mrs. Taylor said she was going to give us a free period in APUSH. What do you have next Ellie?"

"Study hall."

"Do you guys want to, I don't know, go through the portal? It leads to Meridian, right? And we have to go there a lot to help the rebels and dispel evil. We may as well case the area and know our surroundings. It may help us in battle."

'Thinking like a leader already,' Ellie thought.

"Are you sure that's a good idea Rae?" Alyssa asked.

"It'll be fine. We'll stay close."

"But what if Caty and Gabi come looking for us?" Ellie asked.

"I'll just text Caty. We should be back before our next class. Caty shares all our classes, so if she doesn't see us in biology, she'll know something is wrong," Rae replied. "I forgot my phone. Could one of you do it?"

"You have to change us back."

Rae, who'd been practicing with the Heart, managed to just change Alyssa back. She pulled out her phone and texted Caty. Ellie wondered why she had Caty's number, but hadn't asked for Ellie's. When she was done, Rae said, "Guardians…uh guardian…Alyssa, unite!"

"Fire!"

The girls looked at each other. Rae went through the portal without hesitation and Alyssa followed immediately, just as a good best friend should. Ellie, who was super excited to finally see Meridian, followed her fellow guardians. Spending time in Meridian would be way more productive and probably more exciting than spending an hour passing notes with Milly and Jade while pretending to do homework while Adam rolled his eyes at the girls and actually studied. She was expecting adventure. She wasn't expecting to have to fight for her life

G.R.A.C.E. G.R.A.C.E. G.R.A.C.E.

That's it guys! So what do you think? I only had half of this chapter pre-written and this was the last chapter that was pre-written. I do have part of a future chapter written, but I have no idea what chapter it will be a part of. That means the updates will be a little slower from now on because I have to start from scratch on the rest of the story. All my courses this semester are computer programming languages, so between schoolwork and all the clubs I'm e-board of, I won't have a lot of time to write, but I'll try to update as fast as possible, especially on the weekends. The upside to programming classes is not a lot of homework! And since midterms are over, updates should be faster than it was this time. Anyway, please keep reviewing guys! Favoriting and following are great, but it's the reviews that help me make the story better and encourage me to keep going, not to mention each one brightens up my day a little.