I DON'T OWN W.I.T.C.H OR ANYTHING TO DO WITH THE STORY! PLEASE DON'T SUE ME! ALSO, THIS IS GONNA BE SLIGHTLY AU, BUT AS I SAID BEFORE: I DON'T OWN W.I.T.C.H! THIS IS AN IRMA/PHOBOS PAIRING STORY! EXPLAINS THE AU STORY, BUT I DON'T OWN W.I.T.C.H! PLEASE REVIEW!
TORN
CHAPTER 10: THE STONE OF THREBE:
Hay Lin grinned over at Caleb as he walked past, "Thanks for helping out tonight, Caleb!" Caleb just smiled, shrugged his shoulders while attempting to balance a couple plates of Chinese food in his hands, "Hey, what are friends for? I am getting paid, right?" Suddenly, he fell over backwards, breaking the plates he'd been carrying. Hay Lin winced, looking at him as he got up from his spot on the wet floor, "Uh...I don't think that that order was to-go."
As Hay Lin began taking down another tables's order, the woman at the table said loudly, "I'll have the chicken!"
"I'm pretty sure we're all out of the chicken a ca-ew!" Hay Lin gagged, placing her hand quickly over her mouth. Various customers began to complain about the smell. "What's that smell?!"
"It smells like something died!" Hay Lin glanced over at Caleb expectantly, "No, it smells like something died, came back to life, fell in a vat of old cheese, then died again!" She smiled at the customers, and laughed nervously, "H-Hi."
Caleb's eyes narrowed, "I know that smell! It's dirty, it's vile..." Caleb slammed open the back door to the kitchen of the restaurant to reveal Blunk rooting through the dumpster of a nearby alleyway, "It's Blunk!" Blunk suddenly appeared from the pile of garbage, smiling widely, "Blunk new pad! Groovy, huh?" Hay Lin wrinkled her nose at him in disgust. "I think you mean gravy! You smell disgusting!"
"Thank you. Blunk tries. Flip-top tongue-scraper!" Blunk licked a thrown-away cell-phone. Hay Lin sighed in frustration, crossing her arms at Blunk, "Blunk, you're driving our customers away! You need a bath!" Blunk's eyes widened in terror at this newsflash. "Bath bad!" He then dove back down into the garbage pile to hide. Caleb put his hands on his hips. "No, soapy bath water good! Stinky stink bad! Come on, Stinkmeister, this won't hurt a bit!" Caleb said as he attempted to tug Blunk out of the dumpster. "Let Blunk go!" Blunk draped a sausage link around Caleb's neck, "Give Caleb treasure! Meat necklace!" Caleb yelped, throwing the sausage link off of himself, releasing Blunk in the process.
The next day at school, Will turned to look at the other Guardians, "Hey, don't forget, girls, practice today by the river!" Hay Lin sighed, looking around at all of them, "Before we have practice, I need your help!"
"With your hair, makeup, and fashion sense?!" Cornelia laughed at this, "I was beginning to think that you'd never ask!" Hay Lin winced, "Blunk's traveling around in a garbage dumpster, stinking up the neighborhood, and my mom and dad have the health inspector coming, so we need to give him a bath!" Taranee arched an eyebrow skeptically at this, "He's willing to take a bath?" Hay Lin bit her lip, "Well...not exactly, no."
Will grinned, "Okay. We'll do it before practice!" Cornelia sighed in annoyance, clenching her fists, "Ugh! Why can't we have regular problems!? Like, are my shoes so retro they're not cool? Just plain old? No! We've gotta give a sponge-bath to a barf-toad!"
Phobos closely surveyed the Star of Threbe, which he had finally found, and smirked, "The Star of Threbe." Cedric narrowed his eyes, unsure of this latest discovery, "Are you certain?"
"Seven points, as the Lord of Meridian describes it. One thousand years of searching. This Star will bring my sister to me!"
All five girls wrinkled their noses when they came across Blunk in the alleyway. Almost immediately, Blunk dove for cover behind a dumpster. "Ugh, smells bad!"
"BLUNK BAD!" Will held up her mop, and yelled, "DUNK THE BLUNK!" The girls pushed the dumpster out of the way, soaking him with water and soap, but when he came back up, Blunk was wearing a wet-suit, and grinning from ear-to-ear. Blunk then ran towards the trash truck. "He's heading for the river!"
Hay Lin clutched her head in anger, "We'll never catch him!"
"Not in human form!" Will pulled out the Heart of Kandrakar, looking around at the others, "Okay, this is only supposed to be used for fighting evil, but that smell is as close to evil as I wanna get! Guardians, Unite!"
Cedric entered YE OLDE BOOKSHOP, and clipped the Star of Threbe to a display hanging in his bookstore's window.
Suddenly, Elyon gasped, clutching at her chest across the street, and stumbled over to walk across the street to make her way into YE OLDE BOOKSHOP.
Blunk smiled widely, digging through a garbage bin. "Snack hat. Yum!" Just then, the Guardians landed around him, scowling deeply at him. "Bath time!" Hay Lin used her powers over air to float him into the air. "NO!"
Will crossed her arms, "I want you dry!"
Cornelia shrugged, "Oh, why waste our powers? Let's just throw him in the river!" Hay Lin went along with this plan, and Blunk came up for air, spitting out water, "Wet."
"Okay, when he swims to shore, then we'll give him a proper scrubbing." At that moment, a garbage barge floated past, and Blunk hopped onto it. "Oh, no!"
Elyon went into the bookstore, saw the Star of Threbe, took it, and left. As Cedric watched all this proceed from behind a bookshelf, he smirked, "So, the sister of Phobos is finally identified. Now, it's only a matter of time."
Will sighed, looking down at the garbage barge, "Oh, well. At least we can still swoop down and give him a good scrubbing!" She looked around to see a butterfly-catcher watching them, and her eyes widened, "We've got company! Wings in!" All of a sudden, they just fell out of the sky into the river, and the butterfly-catcher sighed, "I think I'm gonna need a bigger net."
"Great! We're muddy! And trust me, muddy is never it!"
"I vote that we don't give butterfly-collector the biggest discovery of his life!"
Elyon placed the Star of Threbe around her neck and green energy emitted from the Star, affecting the Heart's powers.
"I guess...Let's just forget Blunk for now, and head back." Will took out the Heart of Kandrakar, "Change back!" Nothing happened, and Irma bit her lip, "Uh...you might wanna check the old batteries in the Heart of Kandrakar there, 'cause we didn't change back!"
Will sighed, "Huh. Okay...well, let's just fly outta here before that guy sees us." Will turned to look at the butterfly-catcher, who was still gazing into the bushes. They ran for the river and attempted to fly, but just fell back into the river, causing Blunk to laugh hysterically at that. "Blunk dry! Girls bath!" Will simply ignored him, and turned to face Irma, "Irma, could you clear us a path to shore?" Irma tried, but nothing happened, "Nothing's happening! Will, we've lost our powers!"
"Tell me. Tell me that the Star of Threbe has located the girl!"
Cedric nodded at Phobos's question, "She took it and placed it around her neck." Phobos smirked at this, "Soon, all the power of Meridian shall be mine!"
As the girls dashed about Heatherfield, trying not to be seen, Will finally spoke, "Clear." Cornelia shook her head, "You guys, this way! We can cut behind the mall, then follow the railroad tracks to the Silver Dragon!"
Irma sighed, looking around, "Why do I feel like I'm in a prison-break film? Oh, look, Blunk's weekend place." Taranee shuddered, "Can you actually imagine getting in one of those things?" She cringed, "Ugh...the germs!" Will suddenly stopped, and groaned, "Ugh...the Grumper sisters!"
"Did you see the dresses in the window at Deliza's?!"
"Yeah! They looked like something Cornelia Hale would wear!" The two girls giggled, "No duh! Have you seen her! 'Look at me, look at me!' She's so pleased with everything she wears!"
"Yeah, probably 'cause she finally managed to do up the buttons by herself!" The two Grumper sisters laughed loudly at this when a rotten tomato suddenly hit Bess right in the back, and the two girls ran for it. Cornelia then emerged from the garbage heap with the other Guardians, clenching her fists in anger, "I have never been so insulted!" Hay Lin smiled at her, "Or filthy!"
The Guardians knocked on the back door to the kitchen of the Silver Dragon, and Yan Lin looked up, "Just a minute!" She then set down the knife she was slicing cucumber with, and walked over to the back door, pulling it open. Her eyes widened when she saw them there in their Guardian forms. "Girls! I've told you never to appear in public in Guardian form..." Yan Lin then cautiously sniffed the air, "...or smelling like that!"
Will held up the Heart of Kandrakar, "Mrs. Lin, we can't change back!" Yan Lin's eyes widened, "Oh, dear. Quickly, inside!"
As Yan Lin placed some Chinese robes over their uniforms for disguises, Will spoke, "I mean, I tried 10 times! Nothing! None of us has any powers at all!"
"Thanks for the tea, Mrs. Lin!" Taranee nodded, "It takes the chill off of my wings!" Yan Lin 'shush'ed her, "Quiet! The only wings he knows about are on the chicken!"
"Can't you help us change back?"
"Yeah, don't you have like a spell, or a cream, or, like, a roll-on, or something!?"
Yan Lin frowned, setting down her teapot, "Hmm...you've lost your powers and we know Phobos is searching for someone. There's a story of a long-lost stone: Back when Meridian was a peaceful, happy place, a young girl, Weira, heir to the throne, wandered from her parents and was lost. Weira's parents were frantic and beseeched the Mage for help. The Mage used the Heart of Kandrakar to create a locator stone, a seven-pointed star. But, if activated, the Star could never be destroyed and might one day serve their enemies. Weira was drawn to the Star, and it guided her safely back to her family. Her father threw the Star into the Volcano of Threbe, hoping to destroy it. If Phobos found it, this explains the loss of your powers. The Guardians are attempting to prevent his sister from returning home."
Hay Lin frowned at her, puzzled, "So, how long will we be like this?"
"Oh, it could be an hour."
The girls smiled at each other, "Oh, that's not bad!"
"Or it could be forever."
"WHAT!?"
"Worse than that, I'm afraid, is the possibility that with the Star's help, Phobos has finally found the one he's seeking."
Caleb smirked at the five Guardians, "So, you came to me for help. How smart. Real smart." Cornelia cast him a stony glare, "Yeah, now if only you were smart. Real smart." Will stepped in between them, "Hey, lovebirds, knock it off! We need all the help we can get!" Caleb pointed at the Meridian map, "So, there I was, mining a project at Threbe. I remember because I saved the beautiful daughter of the Threbian lord." Cornelia narrowed her eyes to slits dangerously, "Focus."
"Right. While Lurdans were digging in the mine-shafts below the old volcano, I thought Phobos was digging for Threbite. It's a fuel. But there was always the legend."
Yan Lin turned to look at the girls, "They could be powerless until the Star passes to a new owner." Will groaned, "Oh, that's just wonderful! Who wants to date a 95-pound-moth!?"
Cedric came into Phobos's private chambers. "Our passling slaves have discovered a new portal." He pointed at a blinking red dot on the map with his tail, and spoke again, "It is outside the Earth town, within solid rock."
"If the Star has chosen correctly, the Guardians are powerless, even with human lives at stake." Phobos yanked up a Venus Flytrap plant by its roots, "Put this through the portal."
Blunk ceased in rooting around in the garbage, and peeked around the corner to see a giant Venus Flytrap plant entangle itself around the train tracks. "Not good."
Cornelia inspected herself in the mirror. "Maybe older boys will like me like this!" The cook rolled his eyes at this, and suddenly Will sniffed the air, "Wait a minute."
"He's back! Blunk!"
"Big bad thing! Important!"
"What, you stole a truckload of stuff that collects between peoples's toes!?"
"For news, trade...no Blunk bath!"
"Okay, no bath...yet. Now, what's so important?!"
Caleb scowled as Blunk led them back to the train tracks. "This is a wild Blunk-chase! He's scamming you so he can stay filthy!" They gasped when they all saw the giant Venus Flytrap down below. "What's that?!"
"Blunk know!"
"What is it!?"
"Big hungry plant!"
A train whistle sounded just then, heading towards the plant. "We've gotta do something!"
Hay Lin sighed in defeat, "Like what?! I feel awful! A few hours ago, we had our powers, and we were using them!"
"Yeah, to wash a large rodent!"
"And now that we really need them..."
Caleb frowned, looking up at the plant, "People do incredible things every day who don't have special powers!" He began to start climbing the bridge support, while the train continued to head towards the plant. "If we can cut it at the base, maybe the other end will wither and die!" He looked down at Will, "Toss me one of those!" Will threw him a shovel, and then the girls and Blunk followed him up the bridge support. Cornelia gasped as one of the Venus Flytrap's heads headed towards Caleb. "Caleb, look out!"
Caleb yelled, diving off of the bridge and grabbing back onto the bridge support.
They reached the top, and began hacking away at the plant. The plant then wrapped one of its tongues around Blunk, yanking him into the air. Irma's eyes widened, "It ate Blunk!" Suddenly, the plant began hurling, and vomited Blunk back up.
Cedric looked up as Elyon entered YE OLDE BOOKSHOP. "May I help you?"
"I-I-I think I stole this jewel from your store." Cedric laughed nervously, "Oh, it's not a jewel! It's practically worthless!" Elyon bit her lip, looking down at the floor, "I don't know why I took it. I mean, it's not like me!" Elyon started to take the necklace off. "Here. It's yours."
"NO!"
All of a sudden, the girl's powers returned instantly.
"You should have kept it." Elyon shook her head, backing away from Cedric, "Uh-uh. Kinda freaks me out." She walked over to a bunch of school yearbooks. "Are those school yearbooks?"
"Yes, I believe so. I have to admit that I'm rather disorganized. I could certainly use somebody like you to help me part-time." Elyon's face lit up at that, "Really?! Now, don't laugh. Here's what I looked like last year!"
"Our powers are back!" Cornelia sent a huge boulder flying at one of the plants's heads. Irma smirked viciously, "Well, plants are 95% water..." She drained it of water. Taranee set it on fire, leaving nothing in its wake more than a burnt mass. They glanced up as the train continued heading towards the area the plant had destroyed on the train tracks. "The tracks!"
Will turned to look at Taranee, "Can you weld them!?" Taranee nodded, then flew down towards the tracks, attempting to push them back into place. Will spotted the train speeding towards her, and tackled her out of the way before the train ran her over. "Whoa! Just in time or what!?"
"Sky-fives!" All the Guardians high-fived.
Cedric knelt before Phobos in his snake-form, bowing low to him, "Your sister, the Princess." Phobos eyes glowed red, and he began laughing maniacally.
Taranee sighed, looking around at the others, "It's great to be back to normal!" Cornelia scoffed at that, "Define 'normal'."
"Okay, we'll never take our powers for granted again." Yan Lin walked over, sighing heavily and causing them to jump. "Your powers are back? The Star of Threbe has done its work. Phobos has the person he seeks." Cornelia cracked open her fortune cookie, staring down at the fortune within. "'That which smelled like an onion will soon smell like a rose.' Huh?"
They glanced out the back door to spot Blunk riding down the street in a garbage dumpster. They began chasing after him, when he went right into a car-wash.
Elyon walked into Cedric's store, biting her lower lip nervously. "Hi, again! It's Rick, right?"
"Yes...Well, uh, Cedric, actually."
"Oh...well, I like that better. So...were you serious about that part-time job thing?" Elyon jumped when she saw a streak of green lightning, and Phobos watched her from the lightning, but she was unable to spot her brother. "Was that...lightning?!"