I do not own W.I.T.C.H. I know a lot of, episodes/books/shows/games/whatever, carry the same name of the episode, but it's just the episode name so I'm going to use it too, even if it is a little cliché.
Episode 10 (The Power Within)
"Mom, I'm going to the pool!" Will called. She wasn't sure her mother had heard her, but she wanted to get in some practice before the swim season started. She pulled the Heart of Candracar carefully from her neck and sat it down on her dresser. She wasn't going to take it to the pool; she didn't trust any of the little kids that ran around there when their parents weren't looking. Will grabbed her bag and left the house.
Mrs. Vandom stepped out of her bedroom and saw the front door close. She continued to tidy up the house. Will's room was the last place yet to be cleaned. Placing a foot inside the room, she first checked under the bed looking for Mel.
"Where is that cat?" Susan frowned. Her original motive for cleaning the house had been to locate that cat, but even after she had searched the whole house, Melissa was nowhere to be found. Sighing and surveying the room, Susan began by making Will's bed.
Normally, Mrs. Vandom never did these types of things for Will, but she felt like being lenient today, and fixed up the room. She folded clothes which had found their way onto the floor, closed the closet doors, and tidied up Will's dresser. On the dresser Susan found the Heart of Candracar resting on a folded shirt Will had neglected to put away. Picking the crystal up, she wondered where her daughter had gotten such a beautiful jewel. She tucked it away in Will's forgotten jewelry box in her top drawer and continued her mission.
Will walked home from the pool, swinging her bag back and forth, thinking about her swimming that day. She unlocked her front door and tossed her things on the couch, hurrying into her room to return the heart to its home around her neck. Will opened her bedroom door and blinked a few times, her room was spotless. She panicked and rushed over to the dresser where she had laid the heart before she left. It was gone.
"No!" Will mumbled, her voice had left her. She tried to think of where her mother would put it. Would she have thrown it out? Was her first mental question, but she knew the answer was no. She dug through her drawers and dove to the floor to check under her bed. The heart wasn't there. Will checked her closet and her desk, but she couldn't find it. She tapped her alarm clock and gathered her voice.
"Where did my mom put the heart?" she questioned.
"The what?" asked her clock.
"The Heart of Candracar, my necklace!" Will explained.
"I haven't seen any-" Will stomped off and ignored the clock. She wondered how she would ever find it. Every time she took the heart off, Will felt incomplete, she knew it was because the Heart of Candracar was a part of her, but now it was missing. She remembered suddenly when the girls and her had faced Nerissa; how she could always make her hearts come to her.
Willing the heart to her hand, Will waited, focusing on the crystal. Nothing happened. She walked out of the room discouraged, but did not give up. She searched the entire house, finally collapsing on the couch from fatigue. In the silence she heard ringing coming from her room. Will got to her feet and followed the noise to her old, jewelry box. She opened it and the heart zipped out, floating in front of her face. Relief swept over Will like a wave at the beach as she slipped the chain over her neck and felt the heart return to its home.
--- ---
"You should have been more careful Will, what if your mother had thrown it out," Cornelia said at lunch.
"She wouldn't have thrown it out," Will replied.
"But still, why did you leave it out? Don't you normally take it to the pool with you?" asked Irma.
"Yes, but there are tons of little kids there now, I'm worried that one of them might see it and run off with it," Will explained, toying with the macaroni on her plate, "and when I tried calling it, the heart didn't come."
"You did say you found it in a box, maybe it couldn't get out of-" Hay Lin said.
"But when ever Nerissa called the hearts she had to her, they always came back. Even if they were in someone's grasp, like my hands or even in Kadma's staff," Will sighed.
"Maybe recalling the Heart of Candracar is like using our powers," Taranee whispered, eyeing the table next to theirs, "maybe you have to learn how to do it."
"Maybe, but who would teach me?" Will asked, "Even if we knew where Nerissa was, I wouldn't ask her."
"My grandma had the heart, she gave it us. Maybe she would know how!" Hay Lin smiled.
"But she was only given the heart to hold when Nerissa killed Cassidy," Taranee responded, "what about Cassidy, the Oracle said she had the heart for a while."
"Or what about the Oracle and the others in Candracar!" exclaimed Will, "They would know, right?"
"And if they didn't, they'd have to know someone who would know," Irma added.
"Another field trip to Candracar?" asked Cornelia.
"Definitely," said Will.
The girls met after school in the parking lot behind the school. It was void of cars and people so Will pulled out the heart, the source of their questions.
"Guardians Unite!"
"Water,"
"Fire,"
"Earth,"
"Air,"
"Quintessence." A fold was opened and the guardians entered the castle, finding the Oracle and Helinor in the main, circular room.
"Welcome girls," smiled Helinor. The Oracle nodded his greetings.
"Oracle, I have a question," Will began. He nodded for her to continue. "I was wondering if you could teach me to call back the Heart of Candracar."
"The heart will always come back to its keeper," explained the Oracle, "you just need practice."
"So, she can just call it like a dog?" questioned Irma.
"No, the heart wants to be with the keeper. If the two are separated, you must show the heart the way back to you, calling to it mentally, willing it to returned," the Oracle stated.
"So, how do I do it?" asked Will, taking the heart off her neck and holding it in the air.
"The oracle will show you," Helinor smiled. Cornelia, Irma, Taranee, and Hay Lin walked with Helinor over to the stonewall surrounding the fountian, taking a seat.
"How long do you think it will take Will to learn this?" asked Taranee.
"It is unknown how long anyone has worked with the heart to recall it," Helinor sighed, "we never knew that Nerissa even attempted it, until she was parted from it in one of our fights and it zipped back to her hand immediately."
"Wow," muttered Hay Lin.
"They are starting," Helinor said, pointing to the Oracle and Will. Will had placed the heart on the ground a foot from her hand. The Oracle was instructing her, the girls could not hear his words, but they knew Will was listening; she was entirely focused on the new task ahead of her. The four girls sat with Helinor on the side of the room, only guessing what Will was hearing in the form of instructions from the Oracle.
After what seemed like hours of silent watching, the girls had to work harder to fake their patience. Will seemed to be no closer to calling the heart back then she was in the beginning, but at least she had something to do. Helinor noticed the girl's fidgeting and called a halt to the practice, claiming Will must need a break.
"Will, how did it go?" asked Irma, looping her arm over her friend's shoulder.
"You saw how it went," Will sighed, "terrible."
"It's ok," Hay Lin said, "it might just take a while."
"You'll get it," smiled Taranee.
"Yeah, but first, can you fold us home?" asked Cornelia.
"Oh yeah, sure. This must be really boring for you guys, just watching me," Will smiled. She picked up the heart from the ground, slashed it across the air, and opened a fold. The girls stepped through; changing back into their normal clothes, watching the fold seal itself up behind them.
"How long do you think Will will be there?" Taranee asked.
"Don't know, what time is it anyway, I'm hungry," Irma said, holding a hand to her growling stomach. Taranee checked her watch.
"Its ten after twelve," she answered.
"When did you start wearing a watch?" asked Hay Lin.
"Hay Lin, can we go grab something to eat upstairs?" asked Irma.
"Sure, why don't we eat in the restaurant for a change, instead of running off with whatever we get," suggested Hay Lin.
"Sounds good, it's starting to get cold outside this time of year anyway," Cornelia said. They walked up the stairs and Hay Lin led them to a booth by the window. Hay Lin's grandmother walked over after seeing the girls enter.
"Where's Will?" she asked, seeing only four of the five guardians.
"She's in Candracar," answered Taranee.
"Learning to call back the heart," responded Irma, checking the menu for lunch.
"Oh, I was starting to wonder when she'd wonder how to do that," Yan Lin sighed.
"Did you ever know how to recall it?" asked Hay Lin, "you did have the heart; you're the one who told us about our powers."
"I only held it for safekeeping, it was never mine. After Cassidy was killed, and Nerissa was banished, our group was done, three guardians could never protect the world on their own," Yan Lin explained.
"Oh," sighed Hay Lin, sorry she asked.
"What about Nerissa?" asked Cornelia, "how did she get so good?"
"She never told us anything about the heart," Hay Lin's grandmother started to say.
"Yeah, Helinor told us," Taranee replied.
"She discovered the power in a fight on Meridian," Yan Lin, "even she was surprised, but after that, and a few weeks, or was it months? Of practice, she was able to call it back even if there was no danger."
Yan Lin left the girls to digest what they had just learned. They ordered a small lunch and finished eating just soon after, yet there was still was no sign Will had returned. After they ate, the topic of guardians and hearts seemed to have dissolved, and they moved on to more earthly matters.
"Are you guys going to the Thanksgiving Day parade this year?" asked Hay Lin.
"The what?" Taranee asked, sipping her tea and dunking in a bit of fortune cookie.
"Every year the town has a big Thanksgiving Day parade, it runs right past Will's house too," added Cornelia, "you've never gone to see it?"
"No, my parents aren't the parade type," Taranee replied.
"Well, you'll have to go see it then," Irma smiled.
"Hey, doesn't that look like Will's cat, Mel?" asked Cornelia, pointing outside to the feline sitting on the windowsill a few tables down, looking in towards the restaurant at them.
"It does, we have to get her," Hay Lin answered. The girls all scooted out of the booth and rushed outside. They saw the cat leap from the windowsill and land on the sidewalk, racing away from them.
"Hurry!" called Taranee. The girls rushed after the chocolate cat, weaving around people and causing drivers to step on their car's brakes as they rushed through intersections. The tiger striped cat darted around a bus and into an alley between two businesses.
"She went that way!" pointed Irma. The girls hurried into the alley and stopped. A tall, chain-link fence barred their way to the other side. A dumpster and several bags of garbage were piled on one side of the alley, while the other supported a fractured, decaying wooden box and several cans of paint.
"Where could she had gone?" muttered Cornelia. A shadow moved from behind the dumpster, Cornelia took a step forward, but stood still in shock when they saw it wasn't Mel. The person smiled.
"You can't, it isn't-" Irma muttered.
"You were in the jewel-" Hay Lin stuttered.
"How did you get out?!" questioned Cornelia.
"Girls, that's not much of a welcome, is it," Nerissa sneered. The girls hesitated for a second before blasting her with each of their powers. Without the heart they weren't very powerful, but they still tried. With the agility of someone much younger then she looked, Nerissa whipped out a brilliant, blood red crystal and the elements scattered.
"How did she do that?" asked Taranee. The girls each knew they needed Will's help, only together they would be able to find out what secrets had kept Nerissa alive and standing before them now. Taranee mentally called out to Will, trying to get through to her through all the mental static. Nerissa aimed the crystal at the fire guardian and sent a swirling jet of water at her. Taranee blasted fire at it, but it only heated the water before it surrounded her in a watery cocoon, her message for help never reaching its target.
"Taranee!" screamed Hay Lin, she whipped her hands around and sent a strong gust of wind at Nerissa. Waving the winds around her, Nerissa pushed her hands forward, and the guardian of air found herself inside a box of rock. She tried to summon more air to push the rock away but none would come to her aid.
Cornelia and Irma both directed their powers at Nerissa, hoping to catch her off-guard. Nerissa watched both the earth and water guardians send their elements at her. Again she used the crystal and the water flew into the air, raining down on them in icy splinters. The vines Cornelia had used were forced towards Irma, tightening around her body.
"Cornelia!" Irma complained, "stop them!"
"I'm trying!" shouted Cornelia, attempting to stop the vines from squeezing the life out of Irma. As she worked Nerissa sent a snake of fire at her, surrounding her in its coils.
--- ---
"Why won't it work?" Will shouted. She vented her frustration on the water in the fountain. The heart was unmoved, still sitting on the floor, waiting for her to try again.
"It will take much practice to call the Heart of Candracar to you," the Oracle explained.
"I just thought I'd be able to stick out my hand in the direction the heart was," Will replied, she turned and faced the object of her fury and reached out to it, mentally calling to it again, "Call to it, and it would come to me!" The heart levitated in the air and zipped into her hand. Will blinked and closed her hand around the jewel.
"Why did it-" but the Heart interrupted her by showing her an image of her friends. They were each trapped within the element that bettered their own, "I have to go; my friends need me, goodbye!" The Oracle and Helinor both nodded and watched Will fold away. She stepped into the alley and shivered. She had forgotten how cold it was and she was still in her guardian outfit, not the best protection from the wind.
"Will!" called Irma, struggling with the vines.
"Better late than never," scoffed Cornelia, trying to free herself from her prison of fire.
"Cornelia, why do you always have to be on my case!" Will shouted, her pent up anger jumped across her hair in the form of electricity.
"You really do need to control that temper of yours," jeered Nerissa. Will stepped back and saw her.
"Nerissa! How did you get here!" Will asked.
"You don't need to know," Nerissa responded, shooting a few bolts of electricity at Will. Ducking and dodging, Will found herself face to face with the last bolt. Hoping luck was with her, she reached out and grabbed for it, ready to throw it back at the former guardian. The bolt exploded in her palm and shot her backwards. She hit a brick wall and landed in the pile of garbage bags near the dumpster.
"Will!" exclaimed Irma, trying to get free and help her. Nerissa laughed and slowly made her way over to Will, she was trying to free herself from the shifting pile of trash.
"You've got a lot to learn, too bad you never will," laughed Nerissa. She held up the jewel, calling a last lightning bolt to her. Will braced for impact, but it never came, instead she saw the electricity fade in Nerissa's hands. Will took the opportunity to free herself and send one of her own at Nerissa. It hit the distracted ex-guardian and sent her flying towards the fence. Nerissa quickly got to her feet and swiped the red jewel through the air. A fold appeared and she disappeared through it. The elemental prisons vanished when their creator did, and released the others.
"What happened?" asked Will, transforming out of her guardian outfit.
"Let's go to the Silver Dragon and talk about it," Hay Lin said, happy to have fresh air around her once more. They walked to the Silver Dragon where they found the restaurant empty, aside from Yan Lin trying to complete the paper's crossword puzzle. They sat down next to her and explained.
"So?" asked Will again.
"Grandma, Nerissa's back," Hay Lin said.
"What!" Yan Lin exclaimed, double checking no one was around.
"And she had all of our powers!" Cornelia explained.
"What happened?" asked Hay Lin's grandmother.
"We found Nerissa in an alley, and she used the power of the elements against us," Hay Lin explained.
"She had a red crystal too, could she have found another heart? Her power seemed to come from inside the jewel," Irma said. Hay Lin grabbed a pen and pulled a napkin towards her, sketching out a picture.
"It looked like this grandma," Hay Lin said when she completed her drawing. She handed the napkin to her grandmother to study it.
"I've never heard of a red heart, but it is possible. What you've drawn doesn't really look like a heart though," Yan Lin responded.
"I don't think it was a heart," Taranee said.
"What do you think it was, Taranee?" asked Cornelia, "what magical objects other then hearts carry power?"
"I don't know what it was, but I really don't think it was a heart," Taranee said again.
"I agree, Nerissa didn't use it like a heart either," Will said, "she didn't direct the other hearts at her target when she used their powers."
"True," Yan Lin added. Silence enveloped them.
"This is all my fault," frowned Will, "If only I could have learned to call the heart back to me faster this never would have happened!"
"So you got it?" asked Irma happily.
"No, at least I don't think I did," Will sighed, "I called it and the heart came, but it showed me you were in trouble."
"Just like when it showed us where to find you, when you were captured by Phobos," remembered Taranee.
"So I didn't call it, it called me?" Will frowned.
"Will, the heart will come more easily to you when there is danger for it or the guardians," Yan Lin explained, "that is how Nerissa first learned of the special power." Will thought about what she said for a second.
"Why did Nerissa leave?" wondered Taranee aloud.
"It looked like her power was malfunctioning," Cornelia said.
"What do you mean, I was getting strangled!" Irma pointed out.
"Not with the elements we control, but with her own power, energy," Cornelia explained.
"Why would her own ability give her trouble?" wondered Yan Lin.
"It looked like she ran out of it," Will added, "right when she was about to toast me."
"And we didn't even find Mel," Hay Lin signed.
"You found Melissa!" smiled Will, "my mom will be so happy!"
"We'll, we didn't catch her," frowned Cornelia.
"Mel stands for Melissa?" asked Taranee, "it makes sense now!"
"What makes sense?" asked Irma.
"Remember how we followed Mel and found Nerissa?" asked Taranee.
"Yeah, so?" asked Cornelia.
"Melissa… Nerissa," Taranee continued, "coincidence?"
"But Taranee, my mom named her," Will frowned, "could Nerissa have gotten into my mom's mind and made her name her something more like her own name?"
"No, only Cassidy and Irma can do things like that," responded Yan Lin, "that power is the water guardians' alone."
"Oh," sighed Will.
"And the worst part is she was with us the whole time!" Taranee said.
"But how could she be a cat one second and a person the next?" asked Irma.
"Glamour power," Hay Lin stated. Yan Lin nodded her agreement.
"That would seem to be the way."
"But she did things only a cat would do, I thought glamouring only made it appear you were something else, I didn't think it really made you the thing you wanted to be," wondered Will.
"It doesn't, you're right Will, it only hides the true nature of something with a cover," Yan Lin explained. The bell to the eatery rang as the door opened. The door parted only slightly allowing room for the small, black furry body of Napoleon to dart through.
"Napoleon get out! I told you you couldn't stay here," Hay Lin ordered. The cat sat up and turned to Cornelia.
"Something's going to happen," he told her, panting heavily.
"Too late, we already got attacked by your girlfriend, who by the way is Nerissa," smiled Cornelia.
"Too late?" wondered Napoleon, "oh and someone from the building is looking for you."
"Who?" asked Irma.
"I think I know," Cornelia gulped. The door opened again, letting Kadma enter the room. She spotted all the girls, Yan Lin, and Napoleon, and marched over.
"Whatever Lillian told you, I haven't done it, I was with the girls all day! Just ask them," Cornelia stated. Kadma opened her mouth to speak, then paused.
"Well, we should go," Irma said. She got up and said goodbye to the others. Taranee followed her and then Cornelia slipped out, Kadma watching her like a hawk. Will stayed seated even after Napoleon took off after Cornelia.
"What's wrong Will?" asked Hay Lin.
"It's the heart," Will responded, "what if I never get it?"
"You're learning how to recall the Heart of Candracar?" asked Kadma.
"I'm trying, but I can't get it," sighed Will.
"How long have you been working at it?" asked Kadma.
"For a few hours," replied Will.
"That's it? You might not get results for weeks, at least really good results," Kadma frowned, "take it from someone who knows about hearts."
"You?" asked Will, "oh right, the Heart of Zambala."
"Yes, and I can help you if you want," Kadma smiled.
"Please do," Will begged. Yan Lin directed them downstairs where they could work without being disrupted by the dinner crowd. Hay Lin went upstairs and waited to hear the news later. Will sat down and placed the heart on the table, waiting for Kadma's instructions.
"You have to find the heart," Kadma instructed.
"But its right there," Will said.
"No, you have to find it's force, it's being. Once you find it, you won't ever lose it again," Kadma explained. Will closed her eyes and imagined drifting through a misty space trying to locate the heart's energy. After sifting through white mist for an hour Will stopped and took a small break.
"Will?" asked a voice in Will's mind.
"Taranee?" asked Will mentally.
"Yeah, Hay Lin said you're working with Kadma on recalling the heart, how's that working out?" asked Taranee.
"Ok. Kadma's got me doing different things then the Oracle," Will replied.
"The others want you to figure it out Will," said Taranee.
"The others?" asked Will.
"Listen," Taranee answered.
"Good luck Will," said Hay Lin's voice.
"I know you can do it," said Irma.
"Come on Will, you know you've got it," Cornelia's voice encouraged her.
"They all know? And they all want me to get it?" asked Will.
"Yeah, so good luck. No pressure, you'll get it when you do," Taranee said.
"Thanks girls," smiled Will.
"You're welcome," they all answered. Will closed her eyes once more and focused on the heart's energy. After half an hour of searching, she finally saw something different in the misty, cloudy world of her mind's eye. A shapeless mass of pink light waited for her around the next cloud, Will smiled and ran towards it. Instead of catching it, it leaped away and hid behind another cloud. This time she could feel it though, it would never be able to hide from her now, not that it wanted to, she could tell it wanted to return to her.
The next time she found it, she called it to her instead of coming to it. It inched towards her, and in her mind's eye the light surrounded her being. Will opened her eyes to find the heart touching her finger.
"Well done," Kadma smiled.
"But it was only an inch from my finger, did it really move, or did I move to it?" asked Will.
"The heart moved towards you, I saw it. That was good from your first time Will," Kadma said.
"Thanks for that Kadma, but I have to get going now, my mom will be worried about me," Will replied. Will picked up the heart and returned it to her neck. She bounded up the stairs, out the door, and down the street, recounting the tale to her friends via Taranee's telepathy.
"Mom, I'm home!" called Will. She stopped when she heard talking. Her mother was talking on the phone, staring at a vase full of roses. She was looking at the card hanging off the vase.
"-hang on, Will, thank you for finding Mel," smiled Mrs. Vandom. Will looked up at her mother and saw Mel curled around her legs.
"Yeah, you're welcome," Will sighed.
"And nice choice on the ribbon too," added Susan, she turned back to her phone conversation. Will headed into her room and closed the door, but not before the cat slipped in after her. Mel sat Will's pillow and watched her through her gold, cat eyes.
"I know you're really Nerissa," said Will, her eyes locked on the red crystal which hung around the cat's neck. Mel opened her mouth, smiling.
"I know Will, but it doesn't really matter now, does it?" she asked, smiling an evil smile. As she turned her head, the red jewel caught the light and sparkled.
Episode 10 done! Up next is Episode 11 (A Red lit Past) How is the story coming people? Remember to keep Reading and Review! I love good reviews!