Chapter 10 is finally here and it's got some great stuff you all have been waiting for.
But before we begin I would like to thanks Knight for betaing this story and would like to thank Wilhelmina Vandom, Mirai No Dinurs, Lisifa, and Diamond-baby94 for reviewing.
Disclaimer: Don't own W.I.T.C.H. we would have third season by now if I did or at least still have it on the bloody air! (You hear that Family Channel! Put my show back on! Either that or put out some DVDs out in Canada already!) Okay enough with my ranting, on with the chapter!
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Chapter 10: Explanations and Truths
There was moment of silence as both Queen Susan and Raythor glared hatefully at the Oracle, who had appeared in the throne room by the use of a strange purple portal. The Oracle had not said a thing since he arrived and seemed to be waiting patiently for something.
Raythor, not caring what that could be, charged forward in a rage, his sword raised to strike. "You dare show your face here after every thing you've done!" the powerful warrior roared as he tried to strike the Oracle down with a single blow.
But just as Raythor brought his sword down to strike at the Oracle, his blade struck an invisible barrier that surrounded the ruler of Candracar. The barrier then seemed to absorb the force of the blow and sent it back at Raythor in the form of an energy wave that sent the warrior flaying back.
"Raythor!" Susan screamed, as her second in command's body slid across floor and stopped right next to her. Susan had to breathe a sigh of relief when she heard him groan and watched him slowly get back to his feet.
"I'm alright, your highness. A little sore but other than that I'm alright," Raythor groaned out as he made himself stand up right, using his sword to steady himself. As he got ready to charge again, Susan signalled Raythor to stop.
"That will do no good Raythor; let's find out why the Oracle is here first," Susan instructed, as she glared at the Oracle and her hands once again crackled with electricity. This made it very clear that if the Oracle did not have a good reason to be on Meridian, the Queen would make sure the man left very quickly.
The Oracle calmly held his hands in front of him, signalling he was no threat as he spoke, "I have simply come to clarify the council's motives, retrieve that last of the former Keeper's powers and provide at least some minor compensation for services rendered by your daughter."
The electricity in Susan's hands dissipated, but her face remained hard and cold. She would not lower her guard until this man left her world. "You have a lot to answer for, Oracle. You chose my daughter to be the Keeper of the Heart, allowed her to suffer under the torment of those monsters for years and did not do a thing to help her from what I can tell. There better a good explanation for all this," Susan demanded, anger clearly evident in her tone and expression.
The Oracle remained unfazed by the Queen's anger, at least on the surface anyway. Deep down, he was a bit worried, since if a fight did break out between him and the Queen, things would get ugly really fast.
It was not a matter of if the Oracle could win the fight; it was a matter of how much of the castle would be left standing after the battle was over. The Oracle was one of the few beings alive that could match the Queen of Meridian's power, but being a man who preferred peaceful solutions over force of arms, he did not wish to fight anyone. Plus he did not want to fight a very angry mother; only a fool would try to do that.
"You and I both know that I alone do not choose the Guardians, especially the Keeper of the Heart. The Heart and the Aurameres had searched for a long time to find a complete set of Guardians and your daughter was the one the Heart chose to complete the current group. I was tempted to force the Heart to choose another, but then realized it would not only help Candracar deal with Phobos, but also keep you daughter safe from his sights until you found her." Oracle explained.
"If you knew it was my nephew who started this war, why did you not say so or at least tell the Guardians who it was, instead of giving them the mission of finding out the hard way?!" Susan growled out, already starting losing what little patience she had with the Oracle.
"Candracar knows many things that could solve a great deal of problems in the universe, but as you know full well if we did that then all worlds in existence would just turn to us for an easy answer, instead of facing the challenge themselves. Of course we could not just sit idly by while your world was torn apart by this war, so by leaving the Guardians ignorant of the real culprit we hoped they could help you but at the same time allow you to solve your problems on your own," The Oracle responded, hoping that answer would satisfy the Queen.
Susan, though still furious with the Oracle, understood what he meant. She just hated how the Council of Candracar had to be so darn cryptic! As Susan marched away she barked out, "I'll escort you to Wilhelmina's room, get what you came for and leave!"
---
Lucia was surprised to say the least by the accommodations the Queen had prepared for Will. True the healer would be less surprised if she knew she was actually tending to the Queen's daughter, but that obviously not the case.
The room was spacious; red tapestries lined the walls and a large pair of window-like doors led to a balcony that overlooked the royal gardens below. There where three pieces of furniture in the in the room: a large dresser, a desk with a large mirror and a Queen-sized four post bed.
'It's a room fit for royalty. If this is how the Queen is going to treat a guest, how is she going to treat her daughter when she is found?' Lucia thought to herself as she and the servants finished treating Will's injuries and were now slipping the still unconscious girl into a white silk nightgown.
As they were tucking Will under the blanket and silk sheets, Lucia heard a knock at the door. Lucia walked over to the door and opened it to reveal the queen, Raythor and a bald man she did not recognized. Lucia could tell though the man was not well liked by the other two, that was for sure.
"Lucia, how is she doing and can we see her?" Queen Susan asked, a look of concern and sadness replacing the look of anger that was on it a moment ago. Lucia gave a nod of her head and moved out of the way to allow every one to enter.
"The Keeper is going to be alright, with enough rest she will be back on her feet in no time. The fever worries me though; it seems to be something more then a simple illness, more like some kind of magic. Of course my knowledge of that sort of thing is somewhat limited but I'm certain that the fever is not natural," Lucia explained as the group of three entered the room.
The Oracle went over to Will's bedside. He raised his hand over her and it started glow with white light. Slowly, pink energy started flowing out of Will and into the Oracle's glowing hand. By the time it was over he had a small orb of pink energy in his in palm. "That should do it. Now one last thing and I'll be done," The Oracle said and with his other hand and sent a gentle wave of white energy over Will.
Once that task was completed he turned to Susan and waved his hand. A small brown bag along with a letter appears in front of the Queen. Susan grabbed on to and looked to the Oracle for an explanation of what the items are.
"The compensation I spoke of, it they won't be of much use just yet, but I'm sure you'll know what to do with them when the time arrives. I also alerted the seal on the former Keeper's powers, it will break down more smoothly and the fever will fade as it does. To make the process easier on her I placed her in a Healing Sleep until she is well again," The Oracle explained and started to leave the room.
As he did, Susan said, "Raythor, escort the Oracle back to his portal, and then go gather the men you will need for retrieving the Vandoms, bring Sandpit with you when you go."
Raythor bowed his head in response and left with the Oracle, while Lucia's jaw dropped at hearing the man's name. "That was…why was he here and what did he do?" Lucia asked in shock.
Susan held her hand up to signal the healer to wait and then looked at the three servants present. "Please leave us, I need to speak with Lucia in private," The Queen ordered and the three women left after giving their Queen a quick bow.
Once they were gone, Susan used her powers of the air to create a barrier to make sure no one could overhear the long explanation that was to come. After that task was complete, Susan looked at Lucia and said, "You may want to sit down Lucia. There is much to explain."
---
Back on Earth, every one was at the Silver Dragon, under the pretense of having some dinner after they were finished with Parent's Night. It was a good thing they were all in the basement when Caleb told them he saw Queen Susan in the gym because the other girls freaked.
"Why did you wait until now to tell us she had been there?!" Cornelia yelled at the rebel leader in a rage. Cornelia along with rest of what remained of W.I.T.C.H. and Elyon were all a bit upset with Caleb at the moment.
"I-I don't know! For some reason when she looked right at me I suddenly lost interest she was even there!" Caleb said in his defense. Even he was angry with himself for waiting until now to tell the girls anything.
After a moment of thinking over what Caleb said, Elyon spoke up. "Well my aunt does have a lot of powers and you guy did say you once heard her say she has the power to read minds. Perhaps she can influence them as well so it's not really Caleb's fault he did not tell us sooner," Elyon explained, as she told every one her theory.
This seemed to take some of the pressure off Caleb, much to said rebel leader's relief. But this did not solve the other problem they had, why was Susan at the school to begin with?
"She has to be after Will. That's the only thing I can think of that would explain why the Queen would bother coming to Earth, but for what reason does she want Will now? She already has Will under her control." Caleb asked aloud making everyone think it over, until Cornelia spoke up again.
"I think we should go get Will, even if it means we have to expose our secret. If we don't get Will fast, the Queen might take her back to Meridian and do who knows what to her," This had everyone in agreement and they got up to headed for the Vandom apartment.
---
At the Vandom apartment, Tony and Serena had just gotten back and were heading for Will's room. "Alright you good for nothing brat! I hope you're ready to go back in the closet because you're going back in for another week!" Tony yelled as he headed for his 'daughter's' room.
Tony did not pay attention to the fact that the door was already wide open as he stormed in and found nothing. As he came back he growled out, "She is not in there!"
Serena quickly went into their room to see if the red head was hiding while Tony went out into the front room and kitchen to check them as well. "Where is that good for nothing brat?!" the man demanded as his wife came out of their room.
"I don't know, maybe she finally tried running away. What should we do? Call the police or just abandon the worthless thing and get out of town before someone finds her?" Serna asked, only caring because they could not afford to loose the girl. Afterall, somebody had to pay for the crimes its mother committed over the last thirteen years and since the older one would probably be put to death the daughter would have to suffer in the 'Queen's' place.
"Neither, we go out and track the brat down ourselves. Then we break her legs so she learns not to run away again!" Tony exclaimed as he started to leave. Just as Tony made it into the hallway though, he hears a strange sound behind him, followed by his wife stuttering out in horror, "T-T-Tony!"
Tony turns around to see portal just finishing opening up, striking fear into his heart as well. "Serena...run!" Tony yelled, but it was too late.
Just as the couple turned to flee Sandpit dove through the portal as a mass of sand and wrapped around the Vandoms before they could move an inch. The only part of their bodies still visible to Raythor as he came through the portal was their heads. The Queen's second in command was tempted to order Sandpit to engulf even those parts and let them suffocate to death but knew better, his Queen would want to...talk to them before anyone else dealt with them.
As Raythor glared at the two kidnappers, the twelve men he had chosen for the mission came through portal, making him turn his focus to them for a moment. "You four, go grab the Keeper's belongings, the rest of you bind them!" Raythor ordered.
The first four guards headed off towards Will's old room while the other guards who were carrying shackles and chains, advanced on the Vandom couple, who were still frozen in fear as they were grabbed by the guards.
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Meanwhile, the girls and Caleb were fast approaching the Vandoms' apartment hoping they were not too late. Just as they reached the door, Caleb heard an all too familiar voice growl out, "You thought you could get away with it, didn't you? Well guess again!"
"That was Raythor's voice!" Caleb growled and kicked the door in. The first thing they saw was the Vandoms, being dragged towards a portal with several guards holding them at sword point.
The guards and the Vandoms stopped moving the second they heard the door burst open and looked over to the group that had just came in. Sandpit was the first to act and moved to block the path so the Guardians, Caleb and Elyon could not in interfere with the arrest.
Once Sandpit had blocked the only way into the room, Raythor spoke out, "I'm sorry, but if you wish to speak with these…people you'll have to wait your turn. Not that there will be much left after her highness is done with them of course."
"The Vandoms are not going anywhere, Raythor! Guardians Unite!" Cornelia declared, and got out the Heart of Candracar and tried to transform the other Guardians and herself.
The Heart started to glow brightly for a few seconds but it then died down leaving the girls still very human and almost powerless. "Um…okay, when we get Will back, she is giving us a crash course on how changing the batteries in that thing!" Irma said sarcastically, as the others looked at the crystal in shock.
---
Raythor let out a silent breath of relief, knowing that at least for the moment the Guardians were of no threat. That would leave Princess Wilhelmina time to both recover from her injuries and adjust to the changes in her life before confronting her friends again…hopefully.
Just then the four guards returned and only two returned with anything in hand. "Sir, there was hardly anything in there. Just a few clothes and some things we found in the closet, that's all," one of the guards reported, while the two holding something like the sack that each carried to prove the other guard's report.
"It's more then the brat deserves," Tony grumbled under his breath, finally recovering from the shock and fear of what just happened. Unfortunately for Tony though, Raythor and the other guards heard what he said and all had their weapons pointed at his throat.
"If I were you, I would remain silent or you will loose the ability to speak…permanently," Raythor said in cold tone.
After Raythor was sure Tony would keep his mouth shut gave the final order to the guards. "We have what we came for so we are to head back. Sandpit, watch our backs until we are all through, we don't want the Guardians following us."
With that, all the guards started filing through the portal; after everyone was safely through, Sandpit backed away slowly so to hold the Guardians back in case they tried anything.
The girls could do nothing though; with only minimal power they stood no chance against the regular guards let alone Raythor and Sandpit. As they watched the last of the Queen's followers slip through portal, it closed behind them - cutting off any possible pursuit.
Caleb punched the wall in anger thinking he had failed Will by not being able to save her or her parents, while the rest of the Guardians felt like they let their friend down by not being able even try and fight.
"We…we need to head for the Infinite City tomorrow. Phobos will need to know what happened and maybe he can figure out why the Heart could not transform you as well," Elyon suggested as she tried to hold back her tears. Elyon more the any thought she had failed everyone, since she thought she had allowed Meridian's greatest enemy to get hold of both Will and her family.
Everyone else nodded their heads in agreement and slowly left the apartment and back to their respective homes with sadness and regret in their hearts.
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Back on Meridian, the Vandoms stood before a furious Susan who sat on her throne glaring down on the two who were shaking in fear. They knew full well how powerful the Queen was and knew that if she wanted to could unleash it upon them at a moment's notice.
"Before I deal with these two, Raythor, I want to be sure if we can trust these men with the knowledge they are about to hear," Susan said in a cold tone that only filled the Vandoms with greater terror.
"I assure you, your highness, these men are completely trustworthy. I picked them to not only to retrieve these two but to also stand guard over her as well," Raythor responded. He avoided to address the princess in any manner, not wanting to reveal the secret just yet. He wanted that honor to be the Queen's.
Susan nodded her head in acceptance to this and then fixed her gaze back on the Vandoms. "I going to make this quick, because I have more important matters to attended to than dealing with you. I want to know why you took my daughter from me, then for who knows how long thought you had the right harm her!" Susan roared in a furry.
The guards present were shocked to hear that, though only for short time, had taken arms up against their princess. The twelve guards had all been part of the battle in the dungeon a few months back and were now very glad they had not been able to fight the Guardians that day.
While the guards recovered from the shock, the Vandoms were answering the Queen's demand and they had regained some of their defiance. This was proven when Tony yelled back, "You brought it on her yourself! You expect killing your own sister to have no consequences!"
"That's right! Someone had to pay for your crimes and since you refused to, that thing you call a daughter paid in your place!" Serena added..
This caused a flurry of outraged responses from all those present. Raythor and the guards had redrawn their weapons and Sandpit and Gargoyle were advancing on the two Vandoms. They were all prepared to tear the two limb from limb, and then feed the remains to Gargoyle, but Susan intervened.
"STOP!" Susan roared making gusts wind and sounds of thunder fill the room. This made the Queen's loyal followers stop in their tracks and destroyed the Vandoms' newfound bravado.
Susan then stood up and made her way down to the throne room floor, jolts of electricity radiating from her with each step she took. As she reached them, Susan unleashed a blast of lighting at them, making the two kidnappers drop to their knees in pain.
After a few moments of putting them through this agonizing torture, Susan forced herself to stop. She desired the satisfaction of making the Vandoms pay for what they had done, but at the same time knew she could not let herself sink to that level or she would become the monster the rebels falsely accused her of being.
"You're lucky I can't kill you, because if I did I would only make you right about me and I refuse to give you that satisfaction." Susan growled at the pair, who were still on the ground in a great deal of pain from the Queen's attacks.
Susan then turned to Raythor and said, "Take them to the underwater mines. I never want to see them nor have them near my daughter ever again. I'm certain that place will ensure that and the labour should teach them their lesson quite nicely."
Raythor could not help but agree, plus despite being a prison, there were many…residents who would probably make the two pay for their crimes as well. There many rebels there and they might help the couple, but there were also many who others who were regular criminals serving their time. Those criminals would be less then happy with the Vandoms, especially since harming a child was a serious crime on Meridian.
"I'll make the arrangements right away, your highness, by this time tomorrow they will be getting…acquainted with their new home," Raythor responded, and then he and the guards left so to secure the Vandoms in the palace dungeon until they could have them sent to the mines.
As Susan watched the Vandoms get taken away, she silently prayed that karma would strike when those two entered the mines. It would be the closest thing to revenge the queen would get but it would have to do.
---
The next day in the Infinite City, the Guardians had come to tell Prince Phobos what had happened last night. While Phobos wore a mask of sympathy and concern towards the girls' plight, in reality he was outraged. The Guardians were absolutely useless to him if they could not transform!
"This news is most troubling. With the loss of the Keeper to my aunt and your inability to transform and gain your full power, we are at a serious disadvantage. All we can do now is hope that, either we find a way to get the Heart to work or an opportunity to save the Keeper presents itself soon." Phobos said with a sad and worried expression on his face.
This was not what the Guardians wanted to hear and were now feeling even more helpless than ever. "So we…just sit back and do nothing?" Hay Lin said through her tears. Both she and Irma were starting to believe Queen Susan was the real enemy after all that happened last night, they still had their doubts but their faith was shaken after the Vandoms' abduction.
"I'm afraid so, Air Guardian, I think it's best you all head home for now and…" Phobos started to say when a purple portal opened up in the room. This had all the warriors and Guardians standing ready in case something happened.
Shortly after the portal stabilized, the Oracle made his second appearance. He personally wished he could expose the prince right here and now, but that would go against Candracar's way, so he would have to just hope the evil prince made a mistake that made the Guardians realize the truth.
"Who are you and how did find this place!" Caleb demanded, as he went to draw his sword but was stopped by a signal from Phobos. "It's alright, Caleb. He is not here to do battle, it is not the Oracle's or the council's way," Phobos explained, making those who knew of the Oracle instantly lower their guard, much to Elyon's and the Guardians' confusion.
"Oracle? Council? What are you talking about?!" Irma demanded, while the other girls waited for a response to the question.
"Patience, Water Guardian, all will be explained in due time," Oracle answered for Phobos, giving Irma a serene smile that seemed to calm her desire for answers.
The Oracle then turned to Phobos and said, "My apologizes for coming unannounced, but with the Keeper of the Heart now having new…responsibilities, Council thought it best to have her step down from her post and I had come to inform the remaining Guardians of this devolvement."
"You mean Will is not a Guardian anymore!? Why!?" Hay Lin practically screamed with tears starting to swell up in her eyes. The other Guardians as well as Elyon also looked angered and saddened by this news.
Caleb on the hand looked furious, he wanted to know what the Queen had done that made the Oracle decide that he needed to strip Will of her powers and status as a Guardian. "Oracle, with all due respect…you better have a good explanation of what you have done," Caleb stated in a cold tone that sent shivers down everyone's spine. The only one visibly unaffected by this was the Oracle himself, but only because his position demanded he have certain level of control over his emotions at all times.
After taking a moment to reassure he could maintain his composure, the Oracle answered Caleb's demand. "While I can only allow time to answer your question Caleb, I assure you the answer will come soon. Telling you now would only cause…certain members of the rebellion to act rather rashly, something I am sure the former Keeper would not approve."
The Oracle had made it clear he was referring to Caleb and it looked like said rebel was about to do something stupid, mainly attack the Oracle, so Aldarn and Drake promptly grabbed him before Caleb could act.
While Caleb tried to pull free of his two friends' grasp, the Oracle turned back to the Guardians. "Since there is no replacement for the Keeper or any of you for that matter, the council has decided to take an unusual course of action to assist you," The Oracle explained as he held out his hand towards Cornelia.
The Earth Guardian instinctively knew he was gesturing for the Heart and handed it to the Oracle. The Oracle's hand start to glow and the Heart responded to and gently unleash four pink rays of light towards each of the Guardians.
The rays hit each Guardian in the chest, right where there heart would be and they then felt a surge of energy flow through them making them glow pink for moment. After the light dissipated, the Oracle handed the Heart back to Cornelia and explained what happened.
"I have just diverted the raw mystic energy that normally would transfer the Keeper's power to each of you. You will not gain any of the Keeper's powers but your own powers will be a bit stronger now, since the energy was divided equally amongst you all," The Oracle told the Guardians.
"Does this mean we can transform again?" Taranee asked, hoping that if they could transform they could save Will and her parents.
The Oracle gave the Fire Guardian a sad smile as he replied, "Yes the Heart will transform you once again, but I'm afraid both you and the rebellion will have to wait for Queen Susan to make her next move before you do anything."
"B-b-but why? If we wait too long who knows what my aunt will do to Will and her parents!" Elyon stuttered out in shock. Elyon could not think of a reason why this man would suggest such a thing but waited for his answer before judging him.
"I don't think you'll be too worried about them, once Queen Susan makes her reasons clear. For now it's best you wait. You have been through much and need the time rest and recover from the recent events and prepare for the future ones," The Oracle explained, and then headed back towards the purple portal.
After the Oracle had left, Cornelia took out the Heart and said, "Guardians Unite!" With those two words the Heart lit up and once again transformed the girls into their Guardian forms.
Once the light receded they were once again in their transformed state, which made the girls very relieved. "Well I say that little test was a success," Cornelia said proudly, before changing everyone back to their human forms.
After the second flash of pink light from the heart was gone, Irma asked, "So now what do we do? The bald guy with tattoos on his head said we should stay put. What are we supposed to do until Queen Susan makes her move?"
Elyon was the first to answer Irma's question. "We get some more firepower," Elyon stated then turned to her brother and asked, "Do I have access to even a little magic? We are going to need everything we got to bring our aunt down."
Phobos contemplated on how to answer his sister's question. It was true he did not want his sister to get too much power or she might become a threat to his plans, but with Elyon taking part in the actual battles, it would increase the morale of the rebels while weakening his aunt's forces.
It was a gamble but it was just too tempting to pass up, so Phobos answered, "Yes. You do have some magic still at your disposal. I'm sure our aunt only sought to strip you of the magic related to being the Heart, so she let you keep the magic you were born with. It is only enough to make you equal to a normal Guardian in terms of power but it's still a lot."
This confused the rebels, Elyon and the Guardians who were trying to figure out what Phobos meant by Elyon being equal to a normal Guardian. "What are you saying exactly? That our powers are not at as good as past ones or something?" Taranee asked.
Phobos nodded his head, with a grave look on his face as he replied, "Unfortunately that is exactly what I'm saying. I did not wish to tell you this, but with my sister joining the battle I think its time I did so, so Elyon knows what to expect if and when she confronts our aunt."
Phobos gestured for everyone to sit down once again, since this was going to be a long explanation. Phobos then called on a small bit of his stored up energy reserves to provide some minor visual aids to help things along.
Normally Phobos did not like wasting his extremely limited reserves on such a task, but he wanted to make this explanation as easy and quick as possible so he opted to make an exception in this case.
Phobos' finger started to glow blue and he then started drawing a half circle, a whole circle and another whole circle that was twice the size of the first one. After Phobos completed this task he began to explain what these shapes meant.
"The half circle resents your current power limits, Guardians. Due to the Veil, you're at only at half your real strength. This is because the Council of Candracar most likely diverted a portion of the power of the Aurameres to help create the Veil. The Aurameres are your real source of magic, the Heart is merely the way you call on their power to attain your Guardian forms and summon your full power," Phobos explained to those present.
This news floored everyone, especially Guardians. They had been fighting all this time and were at only half of their real strength! Taranee then looked at each shape and realized what the last two meant.
The smaller whole circle represented the power of a single Heart, the power they would have normally if not for the Veil, while the larger circle represented the Queen's power. Taranee remembered the Queen once saying she had power equal to two Hearts. This made the Fire Guardian come to one very simple conclusion. "But that means even with Elyon's help we can't match the Queen's power. So how do we even the odds?" Taranee asked Phobos, hoping he had a plan.
"It is actually very simple, in theory any way. All you five have to do is follow the rebellion's example and do hit and run tactics until I can either gather enough life force to defeat my aunt or we find a another source of power. Now I suggest you all head home, but come back in two weeks time, I should have the preparations to awaken Elyon's power by then,' Phobos said, ending the meeting.
After the girls and rebels left, Phobos turned to Cedric and said, "Go see if you can have a few castle guards captured or at least some wild beasts. Awakening my sister's powers is going to take a bit of energy and I don't want to loose too much of my reserves doing so."
With an evil smile, Cedric bowed and left to go gather what the Prince requested. He always did enjoy a good hunt.
---
Three days after the capture of the Vandoms, Will still laid asleep in her new room. The Healing Sleep that the Oracle had placed Will in was doing an excellent job of healing the red head's wounds, even past scars were fading away.
Lucia had been keeping a close eye on Will's recovery and was certain the princess would be waking any day now. The healer had been right because around noon on this day, Will let out a small moan as she started to come to.
She was only partially awake and had yet to even open her eyes while she cuddled the warm blanket, silky sheets and soft pillow. "Please don't let me wake up, I like this dream," Will mumbled sleepily.
After a few minutes, Will finally opened her eyes, fully ready to find herself probably laying on her bedroom floor or hanging in the closet and allowing this wonderful dream to vanish.
Once Will's eyes opened up and found she was not in dream, she quickly sat up and looked around surprised where she was and what she was wearing. Will was so confused at her current predicament, that she did not hear the door to the room and see Lucia enter. The healer was glad to see the red headed girl awake. Lucia knew the Queen was eagerly and nervously waiting for the time tell the child the news of her true heritage.
"I'm glad to see you're finally awake, my dear. You have had us all quite worried with that fever of yours," Lucia said, which made Will jump at the sudden noise and had the old woman chuckling at the princess' expense.
"L-Lucia? Where are we? How did I get here? The last thing I remember, I…" Will started to sputter out, but Lucia's hand signalled the red head to stop.
"Calm down your…Will. You're in the Meridian palace, you were brought here when her highness, Queen Susan found out about your… parents' child raising methods. From what I heard, you'll never have to worry about them ever again," Lucian explained, hoping to calm the princess down.
Lucia had mentally scolded herself though, since she almost addressed Will as your highness, which would have made the Queen a bit upset. Susan wanted to explain everything to her daughter herself, so everyone who knew the princess' secret had to keep their mouths shut until then.
"You mean…Queen Susan saved me?" Will asked, as Lucia came over and gently pushed Will back down and tucked her in again. "Yes. Her highness was most upset at finding out how they treated you. Personally, I think they got off easy with only a single blast of lighting and being sentenced to life in the underwater mines, but at least they can't hurt you anymore," Lucia answered.
Will looked stunned at this news, her parents had been arrested and the queen even hurt them for what they had done. Why would Queen Susan even care what happened to her anyway? The Queen should be furious with her since she practically handed Meridian to Phobos on a silver platter.
"So what happens to me now?" Will asked; starting to feel a bit scared. If she went back to Earth, some one was going to find out her parents were missing and Will knew that meant she would put in a home or an orphanage.
Even if she could avoid that problem, there were her friends to worry about as well. What if Phobos had completely turned them against her? That would mean she could live with them and the rebels defiantly not an option because they would be against her as well.
Lucia gave Will a sad smile, knowing the young one had many things to worry about right now. Lucia knew it was good thing that the princess was going to find out about her true family very soon, the child was going to need all the support she could get.
"Well I should go inform her highness you are awake. I'm certain she will be paying a visit some time today and will be able to answer your question better then I can," the old healer answered, then headed for the door, leaving Will to thoughts of thinking she was completetly alone in the world now.
If only the red head knew how wrong she was.
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Lucia made her way down the castle corridors towards the throne room. As she got with in sight of the twin doors that lead to where she was going, the two guards present immediately began opening them. They had orders to allow Lucia to enter immediately, unless an important meeting was being held.
"Lucia, what brings you here? Does this mean she is…" Susan started to ask the second she saw woman enter the chamber, with a hopeful look on her face, but stopped mid sentence when she saw Lucia giving her a nod with a smile on her face.
"Oh thank goodness!" Susan said, as she let a happy sigh. Susan glad hear her little girl had finally woken up. Susan kept hoping every time the aging healer had come to report to her it would to say that Wilhelmina awaken. Now all that was left, was arrange to time for this evening to talk to her daughter in private. This was of course assuming Lucia believed Wilhelmina was well enough to be out of bed of course.
"Lucia is my daughter confined to her bed or can she join me for dinner this evening?" Susan asked, hoping the healer did not think Wilhelmina needed more rest. The Queen wanted to have nice quiet evening with daughter, in a relaxed setting and tell her daughter the truth about herself.
"I don't see why she can't join you tonight…do you wish for me arrange some servants to get her ready in a few hours?" Lucia asked, knowing the Queen would probably be planning a special night.
Susan gave the healer a small nod of her head as she responds, "Yes please do. I'll have something…special sent up for her to wear. I'm sure she will love it, despite being a bit of a tomboy."
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Back in her room, Will was once again curled up in the blankets and sheets trying to get her mind off her worries. But no matter how hard she tried she could not stop thinking of what her future would be.
Would she be sent back to Earth soon and eventually be placed in the system, hoping some one would adopt her? Would she get lucky and one of her friends would still believe in her enough to convince their family to take Will in? Maybe she would be really lucky and the Queen will offer her a job somewhere in the castle.
'That would be unlikely, Queen Susan will probably send me back through the next portal the second she gets down to it,' Will thinks sadly to herself as she burried her head under the covers.
Will must have fallen asleep again, because later she felt some gently shaking her and heard a soft voice say, "My Lady, you need to wake up."
Will slowly pulled herself out from under the covers to see four women in the room, each holding what looked like bathing supplies or at least the Meridian equivalent of them.
"Healer Lucia instructed us to help you get cleaned up. From what we were told, the Queen has scheduled an audience with you for this evening so we best get you ready right away," the woman who woke Will explained.
Before Will could respond, the four women gently got the still confused red head out of the bed and lead her down the hall. They eventually came to a room that looked similar to a hot spring and once inside and the door was closed, the four servants gently removed Will's nightgown and helped her into the hot water.
Will blushed a little at being naked in front other people and it did not help that foursome made sure to give the poor girl a good scrub down. By the time they were done, Will was glad to be clean again after not being able to wash up for so long, was also glad she could escape the rather rough scrubbing of the four women. Not that Will could blame them for being so rough, being locked in a closet for a week and then being asleep for three days, anyone would a bit filthy.
The servants then covered Will with a bathrobe and wrapped a towel around her still drying hair, before heading back towards Will's room. Once there Will was surprised to see her dress was there, laid out on the bed, waiting for her.
'But my parents destroyed it while they were punishing me. How did anyone here manage to repair it?' Will thought in shock, as she moved over to touch the dress only find out it was made of different material than she remembered. It was it made of…silk?
'It's not my old dress; it's a new one that looks just like it!' Will once again thought in shock. Will was snapped out of her thoughts when one of the servants said, "My Lady, we should finish up getting you ready. Dinner should be ready in another half hour."
The word dinner made Will's stomach rumble, causing her to blush in embarrassment. The servants just giggled at this and helped Will into the dress and gave her hair a quick brushing before leading the now fully prepared red head back into the castle corridors.
---
In a small private dining room, Susan waited patiently for her daughter to arrive. This room was where Susan liked to hold small private meals with individual nobles, who had come to discuss minor business concerning the kingdom.
It made the ideal place for Susan to sit Will down and have tell her everything. The room provided complete privacy and that was just what Wilhelmina needed, since Susan knew there could several reactions to the news, some of them rather loud and possibly violent.
Susan did not think Will was would do somthing that extreme, but it was still a possibility Susan had to consider just in case. As Susan once again contemplated her daughter's other possible reactions, there was a knock at the door.
"Enter," Susan answered, knowing it must be her daughter. As Will entered the room, Susan noted the red head was looking a bit scared and nervous which Susan had been expecting since Lucia had warned the Queen of her daughter's concerns.
"G-good evening y-your highness" Will greeted the Queen, clearly a little uncomfortable at the moment. Will was nervous for several reasons. One being the fact she failed the Queen in find proof of Phobos' guilt. The second was the fact she almost killed the Queen back in the last battle, when she punched through the Queen's barrier. The third and final reason for Will's discomfort was just the plain simple fact she was having dinner with a Queen who wouldn't be nervous at that!
Susan just gave Will a kind smile and said, "No need to be so formal Will, please come sit down dinner should be here any minute now." Will could not help but feel a bit relaxed by the Queen's gentle tone.
Will then went over to a seat that Susan gestured to at a small round table with white cloth covering. Two lit candles where at the center of the table helped to provide a bit more light, since the only other source came from a fire place on the other side of the room.
They were just sitting down when a servant brought in two bowls of a steaming substance. When they were placed down, Will found it was some kind of creamy soup with what Will assumed were Meridian's equivalent to mushrooms. After the bowls were placed down in front to Will and Susan, the servant poured some red liquid into two silver goblets and placed them placed next to each bowl.
As the servant left, Susan explained it was just fruit juice, since Will seemed to be reluctant to reach for the goblet ever since it was put down. Will let out a sigh of relief thinking it had been wine or something, which Susan giggled at.
The two ate in silence, which Will for some reason enjoyed. She did want to know what be in store for her, now that her parents had been arrested, but the longer the Queen put off telling her the better. Will did not think it was possible anything good could be in store for her, so she was not in a complete rush to find out just yet.
Just as they finished their soup, a tray was wheeled in, carrying two large plates that had a large slice of Meridian's version of prime rib, something similar to green beans and mashed potatoes.
Will was confused at first as to why there was more food being brought, but was secretly glad there was more being brought in. She was still very hungry not surprising since the last 'meal' she ate was when her mother stuffed some scraps down her throat while Will was still in the closet.
Susan could tell Will was enjoying the meal do to the fast but still reasonable pace she was eating at. Susan was pleased to see this since her daughter looked much thinner then she remembered her being when in her normal human form.
'Or has she always been that way and did not notice it until after I saved her and saw her almost naked? She did seem to always wear shirts with long sleeves and sweaters and liked to keep her jacket on when ever possible," Susan thought sadly (and a bit angrily) at her oversight. The poor girl before her had been suffering for so long and it took finding out Will was her daughter to even see it
Once they were finished with the main course, Susan stood up and gestured over to the fireplace, where there were two very comfortable looking chairs and a coffee table in front of it.
"Lets move over to the fire, you must have many questions and I have a feeling it will take a while to explain everything so we might want to get comfortable," Susan suggested, and got a hesitant nod of acceptance from Will.
Susan could tell Will had relaxed significantly during the meal, but it would seem her daughter was still somewhat afraid. The older woman could not blame the red head for being a bit scared though, after everything Will had been through it would be completely natural to be frightened.
Once they sat down in their respective chairs, Susan awaited Will's first question. It took a while for Will to summon up the courage though, since Will was not sure where to start. Eventually Will finally chose a topic, one she wanted to get out of the way as soon as possible.
"Uh…I'm not sure if you know much about this, but…about ten days ago something happened. I overheard Phobos talking with his warriors and he caught me and was wondering if…" Will started to say before Susan cut her off.
"That if I know what Phobos did to turn your friends and the rebels against you?" Susan finished for Will, startling the red head since she had not expecting the Queen to do so. From what Will could tell, it would seem the Queen as uncomfortable with that subject as she was.
"Y-yes," Will responded, getting feeling the news was going to be worse then she had thought. Had Will bet any amount on that belief she would have won the jackpot because what the Queen was about say would some of the most painful news Will had ever had to hear.
"Phobos…said I planted a second personality in your mind, to use as assassin to kill him. He has convinced the entire rebellion you're a traitor and has even convinced the Guardians and my niece of this as well," Susan explained with sorrowful expression on her face, knowing this information would devastate Will.
Susan watched helplessly as Will's eyes quickly started to swell with tears. For the former Keeper, her whole world had been shattered into a thousand pieces. "I'm alone? Not even Irma or Hay Lin believe it's one of Phobos lies?" Will asked as she vainly fought the urge to break down and cry.
All Susan could do was use her telekinesis to pull the two chairs closer together and with a bit of transmutation merge them into single seat the length of a small sofa. The older woman then pulled her daughter into a hug and tries to comfort her as best she could.
"It's alright sweetie, everything will be alright," Susan said gently, as she rocked her daughter back and forth. The Queen's actions made Will stop crying and look at the royal woman in shock. The Queen was holding her and speaking to her so affectionately, it felt strange yet soothing.
Susan smiled fondly down at the staring girl as she let her go, knowing now was the time to tell the red head the most shocking news of all. "Will…or should I say Wilhelmina," Susan started saying, as she gently placed her hands on Will shoulders and smiled motherly at her daughter, who was now looking very confused that the last thing the Queen had called her.
"The Stone of Threbe did find my daughter that day, when you got hit by the beam of green light," The Queen explained, making Will feel like she was being torn in two inside.
One side was telling Will it was not what she thought, there was no way the Queen could not be referring to her. She was just a stupid, ugly, clumsy girl who did not deserve an thing but to be alone all her life. The other half wanted to believe it was true for some unkown reason. It was like when she learned how to telatransport. Will did not know how suddenly knew how to do it yet she was able to do it so easily like she had done it a thousand time before, now this same feeling was telling her what the Queen was saying was was the absolute truth.
"The stone did not do as it was supposed to, which was show me an image of my daughter's face," Susan started explaining again, while Will hung on her every word.
"Instead it tried to point to her, like a compass points out a direction. But a seal had been placed on her powers that also hide her from me, so the beam of light tried to destroy the seal so I could find her at long last. I would have been able to make sure my daughter had been all right after the stone's 'attack' had ended, but a certain Earth Guardian took the liberty of hitting me with a couple of bricks. I'll have to have a long 'talk' with her about that," Susan said, as she wrapped up her long explanation.
Will is completely stunned. While the Queen had not outright declared that she was her daughter, the not so subtle hints were quite clear. "Were you…happy with the person you had found?" Will asked, the worry and fear clearly evident in her eyes and tone.
Those concerns faded into oblivion as her newfound mother responded, "I found a beautiful, smart and resourceful young girl, whom only a fool would not be proud to call a daughter. And I swear if any tried to lay a finger on her ever again, they are going to find out just how powerful I really am."
It was that statement that made Will stop restraining herself and cry out, "Mom!" Will lunged at the older woman and wrapped her arms around Susan. Susan returned the hug and stroked her daughter's hair as Will cried into her chest.
Will eventually cried herself to sleep in her true mother's loving embrace, making the older woman scoop the girl up and telatransport her daughter to her room. Once there, Susan used her magic to change Will's attire back into a nightgown and tucked her in under the blankets.
Susan then took the dress and put it with away with Will's other clothes. As Susan inspected her daughter's current assortment of clothing she thought to herself, 'We are going to need expand your wardrobe Wilhelmina, I don't mind your Earth clothes but you realy do need some Meridian clothes, for at least official and formal events any way. Oh well, we can worry about that later.'
With that Susan finished putting the dress away, then went over to her daughter and her sleeping form and planted a kiss on her forehead and said, "Good night, sweetheart." With that Susan left, knowing that for now, for better and for worse, she would be by daughter's side from now on.
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Finally wrote the chapter where Will finally find out the truth about herself, hoped you all enjoyed it.