The New Guardians

Chapter Ten

Same Enemy, Different Plan – Part One

Valkyrie jumped down from the tree branch and leaned against the trunk. She closed her eyes and focused on her old friend's faded mental voice. 'How much of that did you hear?' She asked, keeping her 'voice' light. She didn't like it when someone invaded her thoughts, but she wouldn't let Nerissa know that.

'I caught all of that.' Nerissa said. 'I always wondered if someone had noticed how I was changing… Nothing gets past you huh?' Her 'voice' was dry when she asked that, almost daring Valkyrie to answer her wrongly.

'I… I am very observant.' After a second, Valkyrie sighed. She felt like she had dodged a bullet. 'What can I do for you?'

'Ah, always the same now-a-days. Right down to business. Good, good. It's time.'

Valkyrie gulped. She had been anxious while waiting for this day to come. Part of her, a part long dead, couldn't wait to see her old friend. The other part was wary; she knew all that Nerissa desired now was power, and in her quest to get it she would waste anyone. Even an old friend… Or her girlfriend. Valkyrie shuddered, snapping herself out of those thoughts. Last thing she needed was to go back to that day. 'Okay. I'll see you soon.'

'You better.'

Earth. Irma and Will's house

"Come on, girls! We made breakfast!" Will called upstairs to the new guardians.

Irma wiped her eyes with her hands and took another drink of her coffee. "Stop yelling. It's too early to yell." She mumbled.

Will came up from behind her and hugged her, making Irma have a sleepy smile. "It's ten darling…"

"See?" Irma replied. "Too early. Way too early."

Will laughed and shook her head, letting go of her wife to take care of the food that was currently cooking.

Meanwhile, upstairs Madeline was trying to wake everybody up. She got up and gazed lazily around the room and stifled a laugh. She and Payden had decided to sleep on the futon that they had brought up while Brianna, Autumn, and Hannah had decided to sleep on the guest bed in the room. They had done it like this to prevent Hannah and Brianna from keeping them up all night while doing…private things. They had sworn they wouldn't, but still Autumn had slept in between them. Well, now Autumn lay half off the bed and Hannah was asleep in Brianna's arms. Madeline shook her head, sad that she may never know how in the world that happened. Madeline reached out and shook Payden awake.

"Wha…" Payden groaned as she got up. Madeline shushed her then pointed to the bed.

"I'll push off Autumn if you push of Hannah and Brianna." Madeline whispered, smiling. She had given Payden the bigger target because she had her powers to help. That, and Madeline just wanted to mess with Autumn herself. Payden nodded, smiling and they both climbed on the bed, stopping in the middle. "3… 2… 1…" Madeline mumbled. On one, they both pushed and screamed at the same time, "WAKE UP!"

Irma and Will looked up worriedly at the ceiling when they heard the thud. Then they looked at each other. Will shrugged and Irma laughed a little. "I'll check on them if they aren't downstairs in five minutes…"

Autumn groaned, and glared up at her friend through sleepy eyes. "I officially might hate you. I dunno, it's too early to tell." Madeline's smile grew and she laughed as she helped her friend get up.

Hannah fell to the floor, Brianna on top of her. "Guys… I might have broken the short person…" Payden said, turning to Madeline and Autumn.

Brianna opened her eyes slowly, groggy from the sleep still. Suddenly, her eyes widened, taking in that she was laying on Hannah and she might have accidentally squished her. "Hannah!" She asked, jumping up. "Are you okay?"

Hannah groaned, sitting up. "I'd feel better if I went back to sleep. Oh, yeah, and if I didn't have friends who pushed me out of bed. That might help."

Autumn and Madeline walked around the bed and took in the sight of their friends. Payden was sitting on the bed, looking down at Hannah and Brianna. Brianna sat on her knees while Hannah laid on the ground, barely sitting up. As soon as Autumn caught sight of Hannah's hair, she bit her lip to stop the laughter from coming out, but her body shook with it. "Hannah… Your hair…"

Hannah looked up worriedly, wishing suddenly that she could see the mirror on the wall. "She's right…" Brianna said. "You kind of have some decent bedhead." As she spoke, she ruffled Hannah's already messed up hair.

Payden scoffed. "Like you can talk." She was joking, Brianna's hair was only slightly messed up, nothing like Hannah's. In fact, the only two people with horrendous hair where Hannah and Autumn.

Brianna laughed, and joked, "Like you can talk."

"Psh, my hair's perfect." As she said this, she shook her hand through her brown hair and flipped it over her shoulder. Just like Cornelia, leaves came out of nowhere and fell from her hair. "Huh… Neat…"

Madeline stood there, laughing softly. "Come on guys, they made breakfast for us." Instantly, the group was aware of their hunger. They got up and filled out of the room, Autumn first and Hannah last.

Autumn, Madeline, and Payden practically raced down the stairs in their quest for food. Brianna almost followed, but she noticed how Hannah was staring at a picture. Brianna walked up and looked over Hannah's shoulder at the picture. The picture was of Irma hugging Will from behind. Both of them were smiling at the camera, and it looked like they almost fell over.

"We can tell them. You know they'll be fine with it." Brianna whispered into Hannah's ear, misreading her anxiety and worry. She thought that Hannah was worried about her parents accepting her.

Hannah turned her head slightly and rolled her eyes at Brianna. "That's not it." She said, sticking her tongue out at Brianna. "I was just wondering if I was ever going to have that…"

Brianna laughed and hugged Hannah, much like the picture. Then, without thinking about, she picked Hannah up and tried to swing her around. She was trying to do this in an effort to make Hannah smile, which she already was, but she had forgotten one little thing; they were on the stairs. Brianna lost her footing and sent them falling down the stairs, laughing.

They landed at the bottom, barely hurting and still laughing. Everyone rushed over and looked at them confused. "What'd you do? Get lost on the way down?" Payden asked.

"I… Just… She…" Hannah tried to explain, but she couldn't get the words out. "Never mind." She was trying to calm down as she got to her feet and helped pull up Brianna.

"Oookay then…" Will said, looking at them like they were crazy and lead everyone back into the dining room.

"Aw, Autumn. You should wear your hair like that more often." Brianna joked as she walked behind her friend. Autumn stuck her tongue out at Brianna for about half a second, then dug into her pancakes.

Will set two drinks down for Brianna and Hannah, and then everyone dug in to the pancakes. After a second, Madeline accidentally knocked her glass cup off the table. Without thinking, Hannah reached out and grabbed it before it could hit the ground. "How the crap did you do that?" Madeline asked, staring almost wide eyed at her short friend.

"Cat-like reflexes?" Brianna joked.

"Like you can talk, twitchy." Payden joked back, elbowing Brianna.

Meridian.

"So wait, we're doing what?" Ash asked. He had heard Valkyrie perfectly, but he thought he must have heard her wrong. "You think we should go out and attack Julian, whose son is not only a member of the Great Knights, the father of the princess."

"Yup." Valkyrie nodded, as if it were no big thing.

"Wow, little kid. Your ambitions sure have grown since last time I've seen you." Valkyrie jumped, not knowing that someone had been in the tree behind Ash.

Ash had heard their visitor, so he didn't jump at all. Instead, he sighed. "Kasper."

"Aw, you remember me." Kasper said, landing next to Ash. Kasper looked just like your average definition of a vampire. He was pale, wore long black clothing, and had menacing red eyes, with an evil look in them. "Now, of course I'd glad to help you."

"We don't need your help." Valkyrie grumbled, not liking Kasper from the start.

Kasper scoffed. "Really? I think Nerissa would disagree."

Ash shook his head as he saw Valkyrie's shocked expression. "He's probably been watching you for a while. He does that." Then he glared at Valkyrie. "This is about your stupid friend? Really?"

"She is not stupid!" Valkyrie hissed at Ash.

"Really? So all the smart people go and get themselves locked in some crystal?" He remarked dryly. "Whatever. But I'm watching my back, and my back only. Got it?"

Valkyrie glared back at Ash, but nodded. She wouldn't admit it, but she was happy to have help. Even if help was an unwilling Ash and an annoying Kasper.

Later, still on Meridian

Julian hummed, walking through the forest by his house. He had grown quite old, but he was still a fighter. In fact, he was going hunting with his son, Caleb, soon. He kept one hand on his sword, but his thoughts wandered as he walked. Even with his thoughts somewhere else, he should've seen the person he ran into. He instantly knew that this person wasn't there a second before, and he knew that this person was up to no good.

"Oh good job." Kasper joked, grinning and showing his fangs. "What tipped you off? The clothes? Maybe my eyes?"

Julian pulled out his sword and glared at Kasper, keeping his other senses on the lookout for someone else. "Who are you and what do you want?"

"Eh. I'm Kasper." Kasper shrugged, barely moving. "I honestly don't want anything." Suddenly, Julian's throat was being held. "But I can't say the same for my friend…"

"We're hardly friends." Valkyrie muttered. She stood behind Ash, who was now holding Julian. Kasper, moving unseeingly fast, grabbed Julian's sword from his own hands. Ash turned around, making Julian face her. "Look, it's simple. You'll go through a lot less pain if you just hand over your necklace."

Julian spit at Valkyrie. "Never." He hoped that his son had shown up early, as he often did, and yelled. "CALEB! HELP!"

"Shit." Ash hissed, dropping Julian and turning around. Caleb had heard and was now running towards them. "Hurry up."

Kasper shook his head. "Could've been a lot easier." As he said that, he threw down the sword, centimeters in front of Julian's nose. "I'll be sure to lop off your nose next time, don't worry." He grinned, picked up Julian, ripped off the necklace that was Nerissa's prison and threw it to Valkyrie. Then, he bit into Julian's neck.

"Catch up when you're done palling with your food." Valkyrie said, then ran off with Ash.

Caleb burst into the clearing. "Dad!" Kasper released Julian, then turned around and winked at Caleb. Before Caleb could move another muscle, Kasper disappeared. "Dad…" Caleb said, walking up and leaning next to his father. "I'll get you to Elyon. She'll make you better."

Earth

Hannah and Will sat on the couch together, watching some random TV show. Irma and the others were off, probably up to no good, but at the moment, neither of them really cared. Timidly, Hannah spoke up. "How'd you know that mom was right for you?"

Will laughed and looked down at her daughter. "It's a funny story, how we got together. My boyfriend, Matt, had recently broken up with me. Being the dork that she is, Irma knew she had to cheer me up. At the same time, she had an annoying guy chasing after her, Martin. So, she killed two birds with one stone. She told him that she was lesbian. He asked for proof, and she said me. She told him that I was her girlfriend." Now, Will was looking up, lost in memory. "Sure enough, he ran off and told everyone else. But, I wasn't just about to sell her out. So I went along with it. We acted as if we were dating… And soon enough, it wasn't an act…

"Matt was mad… He thought I tricked him into breaking up with me just so I could date Irma…" Will shook her head, snapping out of the memory. "Anyways, I knew she was right for me by the way she made me laugh, the way she made me feel. And when we kiss, I feel… Like a special white, pure light is wrapping around us, binding us together."

Hannah gasped. She knew that feeling, heck she had just experienced that feeling yesterday, seeing how today was Sunday. Will smiled down at Hannah. "This is about Brianna, isn't it?" Seeing Hannah's shocked expression, she laughed. "I'm not blind darling."

"… It is." Hannah said. "I just wasn't sure how to tell you… We're together."

"Aw…" Irma joked, leaning against the doorframe, smiling. "Now was that so hard to say?" The rest of the new guardians were behind her, smiling.

"I guess not…"

Meridian. Elyon's Castle

"Elyon! Come quick!" A guard yelled, snapping Elyon out of her thoughts.

She turned to her daughter. "Stay here, okay?"

"But Mom… I want to help…"

"I'll come and get you as soon as we need your help, I promise." With that, Elyon kissed her daughter's forehead and left the room, shutting the door behind her. "What is it?" She asked, walking into the Royal Chambers where some of the guards were assembled.

Caleb looked up, a frown on his face. He was in the middle of the circle of guards, his father at his feet. Elyon rushed to his side. "What happened?"

"I don't know!" Caleb sighed in frustration. "I had just gotten there when I heard him scream. When I ran up, some guy was holding him up against a tree. The guy let him go, winked at me, then disappeared."

"Okay." Elyon said, getting up. "Guards, take him to the guest chambers. I'll be there in a second." As the guards took Julian and rushed off, Caleb frowned at Elyon. "Don't worry, I'll take care of him." Elyon spoke calmly. She lightly kissed Caleb, and then rushed off to join the guards.

Elsewhere on Meridian

"You just had to bite him…" Ash mumbled, not looking at Kasper.

"Duh." Kasper said. "I couldn't just leave with an open threat. We had to show that we would do something if there was no obedience, and you guys didn't. So I had to."

"Shut up!" Valkyrie said suddenly. She had the little blue jewel in her hands, and she was immersed in it. "I'm trying to concentrate."

'Good job, Val.' Nerissa spoke.

"Oh, can I call you Val too?" Kasper asked.

"Shut up." Valkyrie repeated to Kasper, then spoke to Nerissa. "What do we need to do to get you out of the jewel?"

'Simple, get the blood and energy of the purest guardian.' Nerissa said. Honestly, it could be any guardian. She wanted to corrupt the new guardians though, mess them up. The best way to do that was through the most innocent first.

Ash stayed completely still on the outside, as to seem calm. But on the inside, he was freaking out. The purest guardian had to be… The air guardian. He would-no he couldn't-let pain come to her.

"Oh! Can I do it?" Kasper asked, like an excited school child.

"No." Ash spoke, before he could stop himself. "I'll do it." Quickly, he thought of an excuse. "Well, they don't know that we have a new friend yet. Why tip them off?"

'Good point.' Nerissa agreed. 'Well? What're you waiting for? I think I've been stuck inside here for long enough!'

The Castle

Elyon sat by Julian's bed, using her powers to heal him. "He's about to wake up." She muttered to Caleb.

Caleb sat forward in anticipation. Julian opened his eyes and looked around the room, his eyes stopping on Elyon. He grasped her arm. "Father? Are you okay?" Caleb asked, glancing down at his father's hand holding Elyon's arm.

"Yeah. I am. For now…" Julian rushed through his words. "Elyon. They took her, they took Nerissa…"

Elyon's eyes widened and she nodded. "Then I have to go to Kandrakar. Thank you, Julian."

Earth

"Sure! I'll wait for you guys back here, okay?" Madeline said, walking out the back door. She sighed, smiling. She had always loved the outdoors, but ever since becoming a guardian, the feeling was intensified.

Suddenly, she felt a strong hand wrap around her mouth. "Come with me quietly, and I won't hurt any of your friends." Ash spoke quietly in her ear, and she nodded. He let her go, and walked in the forest, waiting for her to follow. Madeline gave the house one last fleeting look, and then followed her enemy into the forest.

Author's note: I'm really sorry for the late update. Please don't kill me!

So, sadly, this chapter didn't have much of the guardians. It was a tad Meridian-centered. Oh well, I think it's a good chapter. I'm currently working on the eleventh chapter. It'll be up sometime in the next two weeks.

Also, shout out to my friend, Maddie-cakes! You've inspired me lately, so I must thank you for this. I upload this in honor of you. *overly dramatic bow*

-Phantom