Angst

A W.i.t.c.h. Fanfiction by: A J

Disclaimer: Don't own; don't sue. The O.C.'s Steph and Gen are mine, as is the plot.

Summary: Zenith was NOT the end of the story, even if it WAS the end of W.i.t.c.h. …

Chapter 9

"What do you think the Oracle will do, Halinor?" The former Fire Guardian looked up and around for the source of the unfamiliar mental voice. After a few seconds, she spotted her successor looking back her way from around the remains of a cracked marbled pillar.

"I honestly can't answer that, Taranee. We've been so busy here, none of us have been back to Candracar to appraise them of our problem." Halinor hung her head again, then, remembering their current objective, started looking under the nearby rubble for anything pink and glowing.

The anxious group of teens, parents, and elder Guardians spent the last hours before daybreak looking for any signs of the fallen four or, increasingly as the night progressed to day, the Heart of Candracar. Several times during the search, a small group would gather together, pool their energy, and mount a different kind of search.

Cassidy was the one who thought of it, when she remembered a similar hunt for a wounded Nerissa many years before. Calling Kadma, Taranee and Yan Lin over to where she was sifting rubble with Matt, (who, along with Nigel, had stayed behind to keep looking while the others dealt with the parents after the battle,) she proposed her idea.

With a wielder of each element together, each with ties to the four missing girls, Cassidy had them call on their inner energy, and use it together to call to Will, Irma, Cornelia and Hay Lin. It was her hope that the elemental boost would bring them luck, either to find a sign of what had happened to the girls, or – worst come to worst, their final resting places. It was all to no avail, and Taranee stated her dispersion theory again quietly after the second failed attempt.

Later, as despair started to set in anew for the parents, Elyon decided they better try the same kind of hunt for the Heart of Candracar. Gathering Taranee, Cassidy and Matt again, she led them over to Kadma, who was leaning heavily on the Staff of Zamballa. Putting her diadem carefully back on, Elyon bade each of them concentrate on the Heart that empowered them, and linked them together as a living Heart-detector.

There was a brief surge of hope shortly, as they detected not one, but two nearby signals. Their spirits quickly fell when the two turned out to be Napoleon (who was spending an equal amount of time searching the rubble and hiding from Elizabeth Hale,) and Will's dormouse, Mister Huggles (who had fallen asleep 'guarding' Susan's purse.) The only other sign the five could sense was a faint flicker of power from the direction of the Vandoms' apartment. They dismissed it out of hand, due to the weak level of energy, as just a residual trace from the many times Will had used the Heart at home. It didn't occur to them until later that neither the Silver Dragon nor Sheffield Institute had registered as Heart 'hot-spots'.

They found only one set of remains. Where the Queen and the former Guardians had reappeared from Nerissa's imprisonment, they found the crumpled body of Phobos, surrounded by the seared, exploded and crushed leftovers of Cedric's demise. With a vicious sweep of her hands, Taranee burned away those last remainders of her friends' final serpentine foe to ash, then crumpled against Nigel with a hoarse wail of despair.

Elyon stared down at her dead brother's body for several moments, saddened by the choices he'd made that had led him to this finale'. With a slow gesture of her own, she transmuted his once-fine robes to beggar's rags, and walked away. At Matt's questioning glance, she shook her ringed braids. "Let him be buried here anonymously. Meridian need never fear him again." Napoleon gave her an approving nod before he went back to the search.

Head hung in sorrow, Elyon performed one last task at Taranee's bidding. As a contingency plan, the searchers had agreed to add to the Regents' account of the girls rescuing the late night workers. But now they had to leave signs of their fallen heroes, and they had to wait for just the right time. As soon as the parents started trickling away in exhausted pairs back to the line of cars, Napoleon and Matt quietly brought Taranee and Elyon four dead rats found throughout the wreckage.

"Isn't this illegal? Like counterfeiting evidence?" Elyon shuddered as she asked, transforming the first rat. She gulped when she noticed that Taranee was only giving each of her gruesome works the briefest of glances, to confirm their visage's accuracy.

"Only in the sense that we're creating an answer in order to keep away a whole lot of other unanswerable questions," Matt returned, as she worked the last spell, and he had to turn away. Taranee had broken into sobs, and he had to fight back his own for a little longer. He nodded glumly at Peter Cook before the high-school basketball star slowly escorted his sister away.

Busying himself with the Regents' part of their last unpleasant task, he glamoured the area around Elyon, himself, Napoleon, and Huggles invisible while the black cat transformed the trio into their warrior forms. Then the three lifted a large nearby chunk of the fallen building. Matt nodded miserably to Elyon, and the Queen of Meridian levitated the four transformed bodies into the exposed space. Tears streaming down her cheeks, she ran after Taranee from the hellish scene.

Earth's Regents, eyes averted, let the slab drop back down with a sickening wet crash. Then, dropping the glamour, all three teletransported out of the demolished building, each with heavy hearts. Matt would never be able to walk past that area, even after it had been rebuilt, without seeing in his mind's eye the last image of Cornelia, Hay, Irma and Will's still bodies laying below him before he and the others dropped that slab. It was a necessary evil he would carry till the end of his days.

angst

Reconvened at the Hale residence, the parents of the fallen teens were railing against the remaining young heroes and the elder Guardians. Mostly they were decrying about the secrecy, but Harold and Joan stabbed the weight out of that argument with the larger issue of mere children having to risk their lives in this insane fighting. Anna, Chen and Susan added their voices to that effort, and the former Guardians could only counter that the Champions of Candracar were ever chosen from among the young and resilient, as their bodies could more easily adapt to wielding the magic. Dean stopped trying to mitigate further at that point, while Cassidy, who'd been silent throughout, just hung her head. She'd been one of Candracar's young victims, too.

"Look, this is getting us nowhere," Tom Lair said, with a quelling glance around the room and a significant look down the hallway where Chris and Lillian were still asleep. He hoped. Lord knew all the screeching had probably woke the two kids up, by now. "Let's just … table this for now, gang. Everybody go home, get some rest, and we'll continue this on Saturday." He grasped Dean Collins' shoulder for a second as the mustached man passed him.

"I want to say thanks, Dean. You didn't have to jump into the middle of this, but you did anyway. And I like to think you've kept a better perspective of the situation than some of us have. It isn't gonna be easy to deal with, especially with Susan's new guest in residence." Tom took a deep breath. "Do her … do them both a favor, okay? Try to keep Sue from falling off either side of the line with … with …" He looked at Dean helplessly.

"Her name's Stephanie, Tom. Don't worry, I'm gonna stick close to Susan. She'll need both of us to pull through; Will was her whole world, and I'll be the first to admit I always felt like an intruder. Stephanie's as good as family to Sue and Will, and I'm gonna try to help them both get through this." Dean looked worriedly over at Susan Vandom, who was sobbing quietly into one of Elizabeth's expensive throw pillows, the too-young former Water Guardian trying to console her. Something about the redhead kept nagging at him, but he left it for later. "I'll try to get her home in one piece, for now. That should be enough of an accomplishment for one night."

Taranee watched from across the room as their history teacher cajoled Will's mom up and out the door. She knew their relationship was stronger than Will had ever wanted to acknowledge, but she wondered if it would survive this. Peter came back with her requested glass of water, and she gulped it down without stopping. Her throat hurt after all the crying she'd done, and she knew she wasn't finished. But she was determined to save her true breakdown for home, where she could wallow in a good long grief-fest without her parents - or anyone else's – checking up on her for a little while. She just hoped she could keep her overprotective brother at bay.

A quiet knock at the door got everyone's attention, and Taranee gasped in shock when Thomas and Eleanor Brown, the two Meridian natives who had posed as Elyon's parents while the three hid here on Earth, walked in. As far as she had known, the two were still in Meridian, organizing the resistance to Phobos' latest (now failed) power-grab. If they were here already, it must mean …

"Mom! Dad! What are you doing here?" Elyon's thoughts had taken the same thread as Taranee's.

"Picking you up to take you home, young lady. A friend told us you'd been stranded here all night." Eleanor leaned over and petted Napoleon, who gave a falsely hearty 'meow' before walking down the hall and butting his way into the room Elyon knew Lillian was in.

"Was he outside again?" Harold asked, pointing after the sable tom. Thomas Brown just nodded his head after a second with a small grin. "I swear that cat was Houdini in a former life. I find him in some of the darndest places." Elyon and Taranee shared a brief glance, and had to hide their tremulous grins.

None of them had mentioned the true identity of Earth's Heart, yet, and they were determined to keep it that way for as long as they could. Elyon especially didn't want Elizabeth and Harold Hale to know that their younger daughter was at just as much mystical risk as Cornelia had been.

"You ready, sis?" Taranee looked up to see Peter holding her jacket out to her. Hanging her head, she nodded miserably.

"Not really, but …" She stood and pulled her oversized coat back on, then shuffled back towards the door. With a final sad wave to Elyon and the elder Guardians, she followed her brother back out to his used subcompact.

Elizabeth meanwhile had brought the Browns up to date about the fate of the other Guardians, fleshing out the bare-bones version Napoleon had told them back in Meridian before he'd brought them back to Earth. Eleanor broke down crying, and Thomas pulled his adopted daughter into a protective hug as her own tears threatened again. Tugging her slowly back towards the couch Cassidy and Susan had vacated, he settled them both down, and waited for Elyon to regain a semblance of control.

Once her breathing was (almost) back to normal, Elyon looked up at her father and Captain of her Royal Guard. "So what happened in Meridian, Dad?"

"Well," Thomas started, only to become conscious of the large number of people in the room suddenly paying attention to them. 'Ahem!' "Once Cedric took Phobos out of the picture and charged off to fight the Guardians, the remaining Knights of Vengeance were all taken down in short order. Well, almost all: Gargoyle is kind of habitating the old quarry-grounds now, and since he seems pretty content to live and let live if left to his own devices, we've all decided to just leave him be. I did warn him that you would take it personally if he caused any more trouble." Father and daughter traded smiles briefly.

"The Lurden army fell apart pretty quickly without any higher leadership," he continued. "Most of them just stopped fighting after Cedric left anyway, and the only holdouts at the end were Frost and Miranda." He paused for a moment, his expression suddenly serious. "Honey, we need you to come back. Frost and Vathek practically killed each other, and even our best healers aren't strong enough to heal their wounds. Galghieta thinks that if you heal Frost, he'll be more amenable to switching sides. Or at least surrendering without any more problems." He grimaced, and Elyon noticed him holding a hand to his left side. At her worried expression, he just shook his head. "Just a flesh wound, honey, and it was easy enough to heal. It's just a little tender still, that's all."

"What about Miranda?" Elyon finally asked, knowing something must have happened with the were-spider, as well. Thomas looked over at Eleanor questioningly, as she'd been leading Elyon's loyal forces while he had been dealing with the two severely wounded blue men.

Coming over to the couch finally as well, Eleanor sat down on the other side of Elyon. "Miranda and I were about evenly matched for the longest time, once she got separated from Cedric. The Lurdens following her had their hands full with Drake, Aldarn, his father, and Julian. When she switched forms and took off for the Red Forest, I chased after her, but … she got away, honey. Not to worry, though, everybody knows who she is now, and I doubt she'll find shelter anywhere on Meridian." She gave her daughter a reassuring hug, and stood back up. "Are you ready to return, Your Majesty?" she asked, overly formal all of a sudden, and seeming very out of place in the Hales' living room.

"Sh-sure," Elyon responded, remembering her father's news about Vathek. The others backed away as the Browns all stood, and Elyon gave Elizabeth a reassuring smile. "Don't worry, Missus Hale, we'll be back. And we won't give up. The others are out there somewhere, and we'll find them."

The remaining Guardians' parents watched in renewed amazement as Elyon created a fold in the center of the Hales' living room, and the Browns departed through it back to Metamoor. The fold stayed open for several seconds after they were gone, then popped out of existence, and Elizabeth gasped. Where the tear in reality had been was another painting. This one was in a cherry-wood frame, and featured Cornelia in her Guardian form holding one of the blue crystal flowers Caleb was fond of gifting her with.

"H-Harold? Harold, honey … could … would you … please?" Correctly interpreting her unfinished request and her vague, nervous gestures, Harold Hale gingerly picked up the priceless picture … to reveal the two that were underneath it.

Framed by driftwood, Irma Lair's smiling face shone out of a simple oval portrait. Tom picked it up mutely, and gave a startled snort of laughter, tears springing to his eyes as he read the inscription Elyon had filigreed in what looked to be real gold leaf. Everyone else asked him what was up, and all he could do was pass the painting around. Inscribed like a necklace under Irma's carefully-rendered chin was the simple legend: 'Irma Lair. Caution, actual size, but larger than life.' And under her picture …

Yan and Mira sank to their knees at the sight of the amazing tribute Elyon had bequeathed to honor Hay Lin. The Air Guardian's vivacious image was centered in a diamond-shaped frame of woven black bamboo. She was rendered in her uniform, her wings, hair and dress all flowing behind her in a perpetual windswept image. In each corner of the diamond were the faces of her fellow Guardians, all smiling towards their youngest, most vibrant teammate.

Cassidy, who'd once held a similar distinction amongst her own team, sank down crying beside her onetime best friend, who was now suddenly one of a mystical pair of twins. The three women wept unashamedly. Halinor and Kadma joined Chen and his wife around them, and were soon followed by Tom, Harold, Anna and Elizabeth, the last two clinging to the portraits of their lost girls for dear life as they sobbed.

"Hey, why's everybody crying?" a child's whiny voice asked, jolting the distraught group out of their wallowing. It was Lillian, with Chris trailing close behind.

"Remember the cover story, Officer Lair," a quiet voice said at Tom's elbow. He gave a brief glance that way, to see the red-eyed elderly woman with blonde hair. (Tom thought her name was Helen, or something like it.) She gave him a nod, and nudged him towards the pair of bleary-eyed kids in the hall. Lillian had her arms wrapped under Napoleon's front legs, holding him tight against her tiny body, and Halinor could read the resigned patience in the much-put-upon familiar's eyes without having to resort to her telepathy.

Tom looked down at his sleep-creased son, standing next to his tow-headed agemate, and still wrapped up in his jean jacket from the night before. (It had been the first thing Anna had grabbed from the closet when they'd left their house last night, and Chris had fought them too much in his sleepiness when they'd arrived at the Hales' to bother pulling it back off of him.) Dropping his uniform hat on a nearby coffee table, Patrolman Lair knelt down in front of the two six-year-olds and set a gentle hand on a shoulder of each one. He'd hoped never to be the officer delegated to deliver this kind of news, and especially not to someone he knew. Now …

"Chris, Lillian, I've got something I have to tell you. There's been an … accident. A terrible accident. Your sisters and their friends … they … well, they're … dead." Chris gaped at him, and Lillian turned pale as a ghost. Her grip on Napoleon tightened until Yan was afraid he would start yelling and blow his 'cover' as a normal housecat. To her relief, he just gasped and gave an aggrieved 'mrow'.

"What happened?" Chris asked, suddenly the braver of the two, instead of the sly one.

"A fire," the blonde elder Guardian started. "In a building near the Silver Dragon. They saved a bunch of people, but the girls didn't make it out." She stepped towards them as well, her eyes haunted. Cassidy knew it was because Halinor had been the one to tell Cass' family of her untimely demise those many years ago. She'd often wondered how they had taken the news.

She knew that her mother Emily had stayed in Heatherfield all these years, whether from a desire to be close to the memory of her fallen daughter, or apathy. Her sister Daphne however, older by a decade and already married to her uptight suitor Donald, had moved to Middleton with a son named … Cassidy's eyes snapped up to glare at Yan Lin. Her best friend before and during her time as a Guardian, Yan was the only one who could have known that Dean Collins, Susan's oh-so-solicitous Dean, … was Cassidy's nephew!

She was about to pull Yan up to start interrogating her when the sound of Christopher and Lillian both sniffling brought her back to their present predicament. 'The children,' Cassidy thought in horror, remembering how Nerissa had thought to guile her with her old desire of becoming a pediatric nurse.

She was kneeling next to Tom in a heartbeat, gathering the two teary-eyed first-graders into her arms before Lillian had time to do more than say "They're … dead?" Her muffled voice continued piteously from behind Cassidy's shoulder. "All … 'gulp' … all of them?"

"Not all, Lillian," Tom said gently. "Taranee made it out. And she saved Elyon!"

"She saved me, too," Cassidy hastily added, for the benefit of the two kids. If they were going to have to rewrite her life, they might as well start now. "I'm Cassidy, you guys. I was Irma's tutor in science class. I worked for the company that the girls saved everybody from last night, too. Hay Lin was bringing me my dinner from the Silver Dragon, and I was meeting the other girls for the first time tonight. Then the fire broke out, and everybody started running for the exits, and Elyon twisted her ankle. Cornelia and Irma got Elyon and me out, and then went in to help others. They were still looking for lost people inside when the big pillar in the middle of the building, the one that holds the whole thing up, broke in the heat, and it all collapsed. Taranee was holding the door for the last two people as they made it outside, but Cornelia, Hay, Irma and Will …" Her own sobs mixed with those of the other parents and the two kids.

Chris eventually pushed out of her grip, defiant glare following the eyes of his parents as they looked from him to Lillian to each other and back. "Well, Taranee always was the smart one; it makes sense she got out."

"Cornelia was just as smart!" Lillian cried, whipping around to face him. Cassidy fell back from the two angry kids, dumbfounded. "T-T'ranee was just luckier!" She stomped her tiny foot on Tom Lair's uniform shoe. "And they're NOT dead! They can't be! I know it!" She took off for her room again, and yelled even louder, "I KNOW it!" Napoleon gave the elder Guardians a plaintive, hapless 'mew?' as she carried him away and slammed her door behind her.

"Well. That could have gone better," Elizabeth voiced hollowly.

"In both their defense, I don't think right after they woke up was the best time to tell them," Anna gently told her husband. Tom shook his head sadly, then set his hand on his son's shoulder.

"Come on, buddy, let's go home for now. There'll be plenty of time to deal with the rest of this later." He looked up glumly at the other gathered former Guardians and parents. "What do you all say to meeting at the Silver Dragon tonight for a late dinner, say … nine-ish? We can talk about this after we've all caught up on some sleep. Well, those of us who can sleep …" He waited to see the assent or refusals from each of them, then gently guided his wife and Chris out the door.

"Chen, Joan, don't worry about tomorrow night. We'll take care of everything," Elizabeth said, looking worriedly at the Chinese family as they huddled miserably in front of the doorway as well, needing to get home and rest after their harrowing evening, but loath to go and admit the finality of it all. Yan and Mira looked tiredly back at 'their' old teammates, the now-'twin' Air Guardians seemingly shrunken by the years they'd endured in this one night.

Halinor nodded back reassuringly, helping Kadma to stand again and pulling Cassidy to her. "We'll get out of your hair till tomorrow then, Harold, Elizabeth. Thank you for your hospitality." The three former Guardians followed the Lins out slowly, only to pause in the hallway outside the door.

"What now, Halli? I can't go home yet. Aside from everything else, it's only five in the morning." Cassidy's whisper was loud and harsh in the otherwise silent building.

"Back to Candracar for the three of us, dear." Halinor opened a fold, then sagged noticeably against the other two's shoulders.

"You should have let me take care of that," Kadma admonished. "At least until I take this back," she added, tapping the Staff of Zamballa on the carpeted floor. The women passed through to Candracar, as unsure of their welcome 'home' as they had been at the Hales'.