A/N: I'm so happy to find that everyone has forgiven my long time to update! Thank you! I've replied to the signed reviews, but this is where I'll reply to the guest reviews:
erica1992: I don't recall Cornelia having any special powers that activate when Caleb gets hurt, but I'm pretty sure it makes her stronger and more determined, which in turn probably taps deeper into her powers. Thanks for the review.
sexy chic: Thank you so much! That means a lot.
blow1996: Thank you, I'm glad you liked it.
dixipixi: Thank you! CoCa is fave I think, too. I'm glad you'll keep reading and reviewing.
I'm sorry to anyone else I've missed, but thank you for your reviews! And also, thanks to TheFirstLostGirl1987 for helping me with Cornelia's dream and quite a few other aspects.
Cornelia and Elyon had been in Elyon's room talking for two hours now and Cornelia yawned.
"Cornelia, why didn't you tell me you were tired?" Elyon teasingly reprimanded her best friends.
"Because I just realized I was now, Mom," Cornelia immediately teased back.
"Will you girls go to sleep already!" Matt yelled from his and Caleb's room across the hall.
Elyon and Cornelia were silent for a moment before they burst out laughing.
"Maybe we should get to sleep. It's getting late, after all," Elyon suggested, still giggling.
"Yeah, I guess you're right," Cornelia agreed as she laid down and pulled the soft covers over her. Elyon turned the lamp off with a click.
"Good night, Cornelia," Elyon said to her friend.
"Good night, Elyon," Cornelia replied with a smile before turning on her side in the bed.
Nerissa's Hideout
"All, of them are asleep, including Phobos over here," Ember told Nerissa as Tridart pointed at Phobos, who was snoring in his tent.
"Ugh, I don't know how he kept control over Meridian for even that long," Nerissa sighed. "Perfect," she added evilly as she picked up her scepter and whispered an incantation.
Castle
Cornelia was sleeping peacefully as she dreamed about Caleb being a hero. Suddenly, her dream took a scary turn.
Cornelia entered the strange cave that appeared in her dream and froze at the entrance. Her heart hammered against her chest as she saw Caleb curled up in a cage large cage, his back to her. She knew it was him. She would recognize him anywhere. She tried to step forward, but it was like she was rooted to the ground. She tried to call to him, but her voice seemed to be stuck in her throat and she couldn't speak.
Suddenly, a noise made both Cornelia and Caleb look up, and Cornelia silently gasped at the sight of Caleb's face. It was bruised and cut. There was a large, nasty-looking cut on his cheek, his lip was split in two places, and there were dark circles under his eyes.
Cornelia watched in horror as Phobos appeared from the shadows. The source of the noise had been Frost, who appeared by Caleb's cage. Frost reached in and Caleb shuffled back, trying to get away from him, but it was no use. Frost grabbed a tight fistful of Caleb's hair and yanked, pulling him out of the cage, and forcefully threw him at Phobos's feet.
Caleb put his hands out to steady the fall and a sickening crack echoed across the cave, followed quickly by Caleb's scream of agony as the force snapped his wrist in two. Cornelia fought as hard as she could to get to him, but it was as if the shadows themselves were holding her feet to the ground.
Phobos laughed as Caleb turned his pain-filled green eyes to glare angrily at him. This didn't please Phobos, who brought back his hand and forcefully backhanded Caleb across the face, causing the cut on his cheek to reopen and his lip to split once more.
"You have been a thorn in my side since the beginning rebel," Phobos spat. Caleb coughed and spat out the blood from his split lip, which had filled his mouth, at Phobos's feet. Something seemed to snap in Phobos as he grabbed Caleb by his hair and pulled his head back, leaning down so they were eye-to-eye.
"You're nothing but a pathetic, weak little boy," Phobos sneered and threw Caleb away from him like he was a poisonous snake.
"And you're nothing but a traitor, a tyrant, who is too scared to face his own battles," Caleb yelled back. Phobos looked furious; he had gone white with rage.
"Perhaps I should cut out that tongue of yours boy, then we'll see who is the one afraid to fight his own battles and who is the meek little boy whose friends won't be able to save him. Perhaps I'll be generous and leave them your body, or I might be cruel and burn it. I'll burn you, rebel, before the night is over with and no one will be here to hear you scream," Phobos whispered menacingly, close to Caleb's ear, but still audible to Cornelia.
Cornelia gasped from her perfect vantage point at the cave entrance as she watched Frost come up behind Caleb. She tried to warn him, but her voice was still gone. She watched helplessly as Frost grabbed the rebel leader from behind and threw him against the stone cave wall. Caleb flinched at the impact and all Cornelia could do was watch.
As Cornelia tossed and turned in her sleep, her dream kept getting worse.
Suddenly, as quickly as the cave and everyone in it vanished, Cornelia found herself in Phobos's castle.
Cornelia watched as Caleb was dragged from the cage by his hair. His face was stone-like, but his eyes had tears of pain clouding them. She wanted to run and help him, but she couldn't move. All Cornelia could do was watch as Phobos circled the love of her life.
"You've been too much trouble rebel," Phobos spat and clenched his fist, conjuring a fist of black flames round his hand and he slammed his black flaming fist into Caleb's chest.
Cornelia tried to scream, to move, to do anything but she couldn't reach him. Caleb had fallen backward onto his back. The only sound was a large crack as the spell broke six of his ribs. Cornelia silently cried as Phobos slammed another black flamed fist into Caleb's leg, snapping the bone and causing both Cornelia and Caleb to scream. Caleb turned to look at her for the first time.
"Cornelia, help me… Please," He begged. Cornelia tried to move but found that she couldn't move her legs at all now.
"She's not going to help you, rebel. No one can save you now," Phobos whispered close to Caleb's ear, but was somehow still audible to Cornelia.
"Perhaps I should end your misery. Crush you like the insect you are," Phobos said and Cornelia screamed as Phobos slammed another fistful of black flames directly into Caleb's heart.
Cornelia let out a terrified scream and opened to find that she had fallen out of her bed. Elyon was by her side in an instant after turning the light on.
"Cornelia, what's wrong? Are you alright?" Elyon asked her blond-haired friend as she used her powers to lift Cornelia back into her bed before sitting down next to her.
Cornelia began sobbing as Elyon hugged her and tried to decipher the words she kept mumbling.
"Cornelia, please tell me what happened. I can't help you unless you tell me," Elyon begged her best friend, not wanting to see her cry.
"Phobos…Caleb…dead," Cornelia managed to choke out between sobs. Elyon clenched her fist at the sound of her evil brother's name and continued to console Cornelia while sending a message to Caleb, telling him what happened.
"Cornelia, please calm down. It's ok. Caleb is fine, I promise," Elyon tried to get Cornelia to believe her, but the girl was inconsolable.
Elyon heard a soft knock on her door and yelled a soft "Come in." Caleb obeyed and walked into the room, still half asleep, but worried all the same.
"Cornelia," Caleb said softly as he sat down on the other side of his girlfriend's bed. Elyon smiled as Cornelia looked up at the sound of Caleb's voice.
As soon as Cornelia's baby blue eyes landed on the young rebel leader in front of her, she threw her arms around him and cried into his chest. Caleb looked over at Elyon confusedly as he lightly rubbed Cornelia's back, but Elyon just smiled and nodded at him. Caleb sighed quietly as he thought back at the dream he had just had.
"Cornelia, help me… Please," he begged. He was begging her to help him get away from Phobos as he felt pain a million times worse than he ever had shoot through his body. Every time he had begged her to help, she had turned her back on him and said he wasn't worth it as Phobos landed another shot on his body, causing him more pain besides the fact that his heart was breaking in two because the girl he loved wouldn't help him.
"No, why should I?" Cornelia responded to him this time as she took a step toward the castle entrance.
Caleb shook his head as Cornelia muttered something.
"Caleb, I'm so glad you're okay. I wanted to help you, but I couldn't move," Cornelia said as she wrapped her arms around him as tightly as she could.
"Shh, Cornelia, it's okay," Caleb whispered into her hair. He knew that dream had to have had something evil in it if she didn't help him because she thought he had died in a dream and she was torn up about it. He looked over to see Elyon sitting awkwardly on the other side of Cornelia and motioned for her to join the hug, turning it into a group hug when she did.
Cornelia smiled though her tears and she felt Elyon's arms around her as well.
Meanwhile, Will was becoming very restless…
A/N: Thanks again for all the reviews I've gotten! I am going to be working on two new stories as well, so please review this one!
