A/N: Sorry for the wait :S but I hope that this makes up for it :) please R/R! :D
Discalimer: I don't own W.I.T.C.H or any of its characters apart from my OCs
Irma groaned when she felt some soft probing coming from behind her eyes, she rolled over in her bed in hopes that ignoring it will make it go away. Soon after this however, the probing became much more prominent, actually making the girl wince. She pulled her pillow over her head, trying to block it out.
Guardian!
She yelped at the sudden deep voice, jumping out her bed in shock and landing on the cool floor with a thud.
What the Hell Taranee?! She thought to the voice.
Hey, it wasn't me!
Yeah, we all just got as rudely awakened as you Irma.
Oh… shut it Corny.
Don't call me Corny!
Guys, waayy too early for this… Irma had to hold in a snort at her best friend's thoughts, knowing just how much that girl treasured sleep as though it were a pile of diamonds.
I am sorry for the rude awakening Guardians.
Irma yelped again at the voice.
Seriously Irma?
It shocked me, okay?!
What is it you wanted Oracle? Taranee asked, thankfully breaking the growing fight between the blonde and brunette.
I need the four of you to come to Candracar right now, which includes the Rebel leader as well.
Wait, four? What about Will?
You will find out soon enough.
Wait, so she's not even going with us to Candracar now?
Don't tell me, you're on a 'Hate Will' campaign as well?
Enough Earth Guardian, come to Candracar, and all will be revealed.
With that the connection was broken and Irma sighed, slowly dragging herself off the floor and pulling on some clothes from her closet. When she was dressed Irma glanced at the clock by her bed, whimpering when the red lights read 3:38 AM.
"Stupid Candracar… Stupid Oracle… Stupid mornings…" she grumbled to herself, suppressing a yawn and shuffling towards the bedroom door, stopping to stare at her bed longingly, and then quickly closing the door. She lightly ran down the stairs and out into the street, all without waking the house. Her cry of annoyance almost did though, when a sudden rain pour decided to show up.
"This had better be important…" she growled darkly, pulling up her hood for show, and using her powers to keep the water off of her, stomping down the street with a murderous intent.
~Ax~
After using their own mini crystals in the Silver Dragon, the four girls, one boy and one ex Guardian walked through the portal that led to Candracar. It took a moment for their eyes to adjust to the bright white light that seemed to glow in Candracar, and when they did they all took in the sight of the unusually empty room. There were no other creatures sat around the hall, only having four figures stood in a line, staring solemnly at them. Halinor smiled slightly at Yan Lin.
"Yan Lin, it has been quite a while."
"Yes that it has, if only it could have been on such a nicer occasion.
"Indeed, the Oracle has informed us of our little… problem." Luba spoke, her eyes scanning over the five teenagers who looked on in confusion.
"Luba, I doubt this would be classified as a 'little problem', need I remind you what happened last time?" Tibor grumbled, the guardians noticed that as he said this, both Halinor and Yan Lin seemed to flinch subconsciously.
"Care to share with the rest of the class?" Irma asked, trying to break the awkward tension that had settled in the room.
"Yes, but first, let us tell you of some past history, something that we all wish to have forgotten."
As the Oracle said this, a transparent circular orb seemed to appear out of nowhere, spinning a few times before slowly coming to a stop. Its form was filled with colour that soon resembled that of a girl, her hair was a flowing black that went just to the middle of her back. the faded image around her slowly misted out, revealing four other people with her, their arms all draped over each other as they walked, all looking very cheerful and happy.
"The girl that you see with the black hair was once a guardian like yourselves, a guardian of Quintessence. She was named Nerissa. She was one of the best leaders we've had; she had a great mind, always using the tactical solution, protecting others, very powerful, and such a great thirst for knowledge. That generation of Guardians were one of the best to ever exist."
This time the image changed to a slightly older looking version of all the girls, in their Guardian forms and fighting off some giant centipede looking creatures, when the leader with the black hair destroyed one of the creatures she was stood in front of a cave. They watched as she turned, as though her name had been called, and then slowly walk into the cave, the other guardians were none the wiser of her disappearance, until she screamed. The image faded when they dragged the irresponsive woman out of the cave, calling her name loudly and trying to rouse the girl.
"She never did tell us what happened in that cave," the Oracle sighed, a frown working its way over his brow, "but what we do know was that she had changed."
Now he turned to look at the girls, staring them each in the eye as he spoke.
"We do not know exactly what happened in there, but we do know, she was not herself anymore, she was someone else entirely."
The other four adults in the room hung their heads.
"She became obsessed with power, she craved it. It wasn't until Luba," he gestured to the cat woman who nodded in acknowledgment, "noticed something odd about her Auramere, that we began to realise what had happened."
As he said this, the image shifted once more to that of the Auramere of Quintessence, although this one didn't glow its normal pink colour, it looked darker, as though someone had smudged some purple into it.
"As soon as I was told this, I came to the realisation that she was becoming corrupted, so with much regret, I took the Heart away from her, and this seemed to send her insane. She attacked the Guardian of Water, who I had bestowed the Heart onto; in an attempt to steal back the Heart. The following fight ended in the Water Guardian's untimely death. She seemed to realise what she had done and fled before any one could come and take her prisoner. She has not been seen or heard of since then."
The Guardians were all silent, their eyes widened in shock at the new information.
"Why are you telling us this Sir?" Caleb choked out, staring at the Oracle.
"Because Caleb, this is Will's Auramere."
A circular hole opened in the floor in between them, a round shape floating out of it.
The newcomer's eyes widened, their mouths dropping and hanging loosely.
Will's Auramere, its normal colour was a bright pink. But this Auramere, it most certainly was not.
Instead, it was a dark menacing purple, only a few traces of pink still swirling around in its dark mass.
"What does this mean Oracle?" Cornelia asked, taking in a shocked breath of air when some of the pick, what little there was remaining of it, sparked out of existence, immediately being replaced by the darker colour.
"It means what I said earlier Earth Guardian, she is not Will anymore," all heads in the room snapped to look at him, some in disbelief, others in anger.
"Well what does that mean? That she's gone? That she's dead!" Caleb shouted, his fists clenching at his sides.
The Oracle did not reply.
"No, it means that she is still fighting." Halinor answered, still looking at the ground.
"Yes, she is strong, I will give her that." Tibor commented.
"This is what you must do guardians, you need to find her and bring her here before it is too late. If the Auramere becomes completely dark then I am afraid we have lost her." The Oracle told them.
"I will not let that happen."
"Neither will we." Hay Lin agreed with Caleb, the others nodding with them.
"Very well, this may be of some use," he held out his palm and a clear circular shaped crystal appeared in his hand, with a gentle push it floated over to Yan Lin, softly landing in her outstretched hand.
"It was used on Xanderbious the Executioner; it shall absorb quite a lot of the darkness in her as it did to him, temporarily freezing her long enough for you to capture and bring her back to Candracar."
"Thank you Oracle," Yan Lin bowed her head a little.
"But this you must remember, the person you shall be confronting, it will not be Will. It is someone else entirely. Do not let it deceive you."
He gave them all another hard stare, moving onto the next person when they nodded to him.
"Good now, be on your way. Please guardians, be safe."
They all nodded again and left the white hall through the portal that had once again re opened.
~Ax~
Susan sighed when someone knocked on the door, rushing over to it as she tried to calm herself down a little. She was a little surprised to see the group of five teenagers standing crowded around her door, but not as much as she first had been when moving to Heatherfeild. Susan gave them a quick smile, in her hurried state not able to acknowledge the sober look on their faces.
"What can I do for you kids today then?"
"We were just wondering if Will was here?" asked Cornelia.
"Oh, she said she had to go out but will be back in time for the barbeque."
"Wait, barbeque?" Irma questioned.
"Where have you been these past few days?" Susan teased, "Your father invited everyone round for some dinner."
Irma blushed lightly and stammered out an excuse about school being overly distracting.
"Wait, so where has Will gone?" Hay Lin asked again, a frown of confusion on her brow.
"Oh I don't know, she said that she was going to her happy place, where she goes to think." Susan answered with a shake of her hand.
A light seemed to go off in Caleb's head and he now seemed eager to leave the apartment.
"Thank you anyways, I can't wait to see you tonight Miss Vandom, you look stunning." He smiled roguishly at her, making the older woman smile.
"Why thank you, it was very nice meeting all of you too."
The others said their farewells and left the apartment building, waiting until they were outside to question Caleb.
"The lake, she showed me once. There's this small lake not far from here hidden by a small wood, she used to go there to think."
They all nodded, quickening their pace and letting Caleb guide them.
~Ax~
It was silent as the small group of teenagers trudged through the dark mass of trees, following after Caleb who still had a disbelieving frown on his face. they all had varying thoughts, some from sadness, some feeling hopeful that it was all untrue, and others boiling in anger at the accusations made towards a certain red head.
"Guys?" Hay Lin asked timidly, not likening the fact that she was the one to break the silence, "What are we gonna do?"
"What do ya mean Hay?"
"I mean, if this is all true and will is, you know… not herself anymore… then what are we gonna do?"
"Well… we would…" Irma trailed off, for once not having an answer.
"Then we will have to do what the Oracle told us to do, we will need to capture her and take her back to Candracar, like we would normally do." Cornelia said.
"Yeah but this isn't like before is it?" Caleb stopped in his tracks, ignoring when Hay Lin bumped into his back at the sudden stop, and face the other girls, fire blazing in his eyes, "This wouldn't be like a normal animal hunt that we do for the creatures from Meridian. We wouldn't be attacking a stranger, Will is our friend and she is still somewhere inside. Hell, for all we know she is still normal, and her Auramere is just acting up."
"But Caleb, the Aurameres have been around for centuries, I doubt they will have malfunctioned."
Caleb growled dangerously at Taranee, unwilling to accept the more probable truth. He turned sharply on his heel and marched away, the girls quickening their pace to follow him.
They continued to walk for quite some time, weaving in and out between branches and tree roots, the only sound being that of their grunts of discomfort and footsteps on the ground.
But then they all heard something else.
They all froze in place, staring in front of them at the slight opening in between the trees. The trees were arched naturally, leaving a small hole to walk under; when they looked through the hole they saw quite a lovely sight. The grass was greener than the rest of the forest floor, surrounding the body of water in the centre of the clearing. Not far from the entrance of the clearing was a large tree that towered over all the rest, casting a shadow around its base. But this was not what caught their attention, it was the teenage girl with crimson locks sitting cross legged by the tree, carefully stroking the duck which was sat obediently on her lap. And there was another peculiar thing with this image; the girl seemed to be singing to the small duck.
"What is she doing?" Taranee whispered, blinking rapidly as though the scene would change back to a more… natural one.
"She's singing to the widdle birdie! Aww…" Hay Lin whispered back, able to hear through the wind currents before all the other teenagers, smiling widely. The others strained their ears also, trying to listen. As if floating on the winds, Will's voice carried over to them
"One little duck went out one day," Will began, singing in a haunting voice as she slowly stroked the ducks back.
"Over the hills and far away," she began to smile menacingly.
"Mama duck said, 'Quack, quack, quack, quack,'" As she sang this the teenagers noticed how a chill seemed to settle, making Hay Lin's smile fade away and the others quickly become weary.
"But no little ducks came waddling back…" Will stopped stroking its back, her eyes shifting and teeth sharpening, her grip on the animal tightening as she let loose a powerful electrical current on the defenceless animal. She watched as like before with the other ducks lying lifeless on the ground next to her, the animal stayed perfectly still, her influence not allowing it to move in the slightest. After a few seconds she cut off her power, making the animal slump in her grip without the electrical charge to keep it staying up. She chuckled to her self, bringing her hands up to snap its neck, for good measure.
A gasp from the entrance of the clearing brought her attention away from her fun, standing up and spinning around, to come face to face with her former self's friends. Her eyes had reverted back to their original brown colour and she looked at them with wide eyes.
"What are you guys doing here?" she asked in a strong voice, although on the inside nervousness began to settle in, she couldn't fail her Master, not now.
"How about what are you doing here?" Cornelia asked her, the blonde's eyes wide as she stared at what her friend had done.
Will followed her gaze to the pile of dead ducks and she subtly knocked them to the side, "They were like this when I got here!" she shouted in her own defence, her hands raised in a surrender fashion.
"We saw what you did Will." Caleb told her, although he kept his gaze to the ground, his fists clenching tightly at his sides.
"I didn't do anything-." Will scoffed.
"Yes, but your not very good at acting either." Taranee cut in.
"Say what now?" Will asked sceptically, eyebrow rising.
"Well first off you have been acting nothing like Will has, not as caring or kind; you act false in everything you do. You would sneak off at random times and just seemed to love it when any of us got into trouble. The Will we know would look out for us and protect us, and she would not go head first into a battle like the one in Meridian without a plan all for a personnel vendetta. And the final thing, besides from this right here, which really put the nail in your coffin, was the fact that Our Will is completely and unconditionally in love with Caleb from the day they first met." Taranee was breathing deeply, her own anger at the creature that had inhabited her friend's body making the area several degrees hotter.
Will looked from person to person, all of which looked back at her with different stages of anger, and she sighed.
"Ohh well, it was fun while it lasted." She said, stretching her arms over her head. She put her arms down and re opened her eyes, the others all had to hold in another gasp as black and violet eyes bore into each of theirs. Will smirked, the corner of her mouth rising to reveal a sharpened fang like tooth as she appraised them.
"Despite it was fun to mess with all of you, make you enemies one moment and friends the next, it was all starting to get a little… tedious, and, shall I say, rather boring." Then she laughed, echoing across the clearing which had started to wilt, the grass going brown and the water murky.
"What have you done to Will?!" Caleb shouted over the sudden gust of wind that had entered the area, flicking Will's hair around her head as she continued to smirk at them.
"Oh now is not the time to chat I'm afraid, I have things to do, you see. And I am feeling quite peckish, perhaps I should stop off at all of our family's little get together, hum?"
"Don't you dare go anywhere near our families! How about you just let Will go and hand yourself in!" Irma shouted to Will.
"Now, did you really think that was going to work?" with that the shadow from below the tree ripped up from the ground in strips, spinning around Will's form with powerful speed, making the others all fall to the ground at the wind being blasted their way. Caleb managed to look up and lock eyes with Will's black and violet, she winked mockingly at him, and then with a final slam of wind, she and the darkness that was surrounding her, disappeared, leaving nothing but destruction in the small clearing, and despair in the hearts of those she left behind.
"What do we do now?" Hay Lin muttered, her eyes scanning over the upturned roots from the tree which looked to be clawing and the ground.
"We go to Irma's place and confront her, that's what."
"What if our parents see us?" Cornelia asked Taranee.
"Then we take them to Candracar, they could wipe their minds and make them forget or something mystical like that." Irma muttered.
"Then what are we waiting for? We gotta go!"
And with that the four girls and one boy all turned tail and sprinted out of the destroyed clearing.
~Ax~
"Mom? Dad? You guys here?"
"We're out in the back yard Irma! Where've you guys been?" came the reply as the teenagers piled into the house, slamming through the French doors at the back of the house, breathing a sigh of relief at the normal setting of their parents, the women sitting on deck chairs and the men all hanging around by the barbeque, crowding the small garden.
Yan Lin sat up from her chair and walked over to the teenagers, her happy expression turning grim the closer she got to them.
"I take it that the Oracle was correct?"
They nodded solemnly; Yan Lin sighed and glanced over her shoulder.
"Will has not shown up yet, I fear it might not be long however."
As soon as the Ex Air Guardian finished speaking, the women all got a little louder as they greeted someone. The all looked up, not surprised at what they saw.
Will was leant down, hugging her mother tightly who was laughing at something her daughter had said. The red-head looked up at them after breaking out of her mother's hug, smirking and giving them a mocking salute before confidently walking to them. They all took a few steps back instinctively as with her came a dark eerie feeling that made them all shudder, not realising that this had effectively hidden them in a corner away from their families' line of sight.
"Why hello once again my, what does she keep calling you? Friends?"
She laughed at their glares.
"This isn't you Will, you have to fight it!" Hay Lin looked into the brown eyes of her friend, thinking to herself how they looked so different from when she first came to Heatherfield, darker and angrier.
"And what would it be that I would need to fight?" Will asked, a lazy grin creeping onto her face.
"Whatever the Hell that's corrupted you that's what!" Irma yelled.
"Well I guess you could say it's a… new tradition for the Keeper, don't you?"
"W-wait, what?" Taranee questioned, her eyes widening a little as she slowly processed the new information.
"Oh, I've said too much." She smiled mockingly at them all again, failing to notice as Yan Lin slowly snuck up behind her.
"Just give it to us straight, what do you want? What must we do to get Will back? Our Will." Cornelia ground out, her fists clenching tightly by her sides.
"Well perhaps you could-!"
Yan Lin had lunged forwards, crystal held in her palm, touching it to Will's neck. The reaction was instantaneous, Will's eyes screwed shut and her mouth opened in a silent scream. She collapsed onto one knee, her hands knotted in her hair. The teenagers moved forwards to help her as a whimper escaped her mouth but were stopped by Yan Lin's arm which had shot before them; she kept her gaze on the convulsing form on the ground as they looked to her in confusion.
"We cannot touch her yet, the crystal is still in effect and the darkness could absorb into any of you."
"But it's hurting her!" Caleb yelled just as a strangled sound emitted from Will, her hands tightening considerably.
"But it would hurt even more to be slowly crushed by the creature that has slowly been taking her over." Yan Lin bit back.
The teens all looked helplessly down at the cowering girl, their hearts breaking a little with each sound that came from her. The crystal had gone from pure white to a coal-black, vibrating heavily as it seemed to get darker.
"Something is wrong…" Yan Lin muttered.
"What do you mean Grandma?"
"It's still absorbing the darkness, it shouldn't have lasted this long." The vibrating became much more violent and with that Will's skin got paler.
With an inhuman growl from Will, the crystal suddenly shattered.
The girls all squealed a little in shock, flinching away from the shards. They all watched as the darkness seemed to hover over Will, who was still down on one knee with her head bowed and her hands in her hair, in a circle, before quickly shooting down and absorbing back into her pale form, she sighed in relief.
She slowly stood to her full height, allowing the guardians to take in her sickly looking skin, her sharpened nails which had turned black; her teeth had sharpened, pointing out from her lips a little. Two things really caught their attention however, an inch thick jagged purple line which came down from her left with a sideways triangle pointing to the left next to it. Her eyes are what really got them however, the whites had turned black, darker than anything they had ever seen before. The irises were a striking purple with blue flecks and her pupils were pin pointed.
She stared at them for a moment, her expression neither mocking nor confident, merely blank, until she spoke.
"Attacking someone from behind? Funny, how the legends about the great Air Guardian, Yan Lin, have lied so much. And that of the new guardians also, how very, disappointing." Her voice had changed, making it sound heavenly yet terrifying at the same time, making the guardians all tensed in anticipation of a fight.
"But you are not the only ones with new… tricks."
Will's eyes shifted, the pupils becoming cat like slits as hate clouded over, glaring the small group before her, and then she slowly started to clench her right hand.
Yan Lin gasped, reaching up to grasp her throat as all breath left her. She fell onto all fours, trying in desperation to gain some oxygen into her panicking lungs.
"GRANDMA!" Hay Lin shouted, lunging forwards and leaning over Yan Lin who had rolled onto her back, her heart slowing as her oxygen levels began to drop. Irma and Taranee followed after her whilst Cornelia and Caleb stood there too shocked to function. Will was stood in the same place as before, staring down disdainfully at the older woman's cowering body, her hand almost completely clenched.
"Please! Please! J-just stop! We're sorry! Please let her go, don't hurt her, please!" Hay Lin begged, tears streaming down her face as Taranee and Irma tried hopelessly to get Yan Lin to breath.
"Goodbye Yan Lin." Will spat, closing her fist completely.
"NO!" Hay Lin hollered, catching Yan Lin as she collapsed to the ground.
"Hay Lin! What's wrong?!" Hay Lin's father shouted, running around the corner of Irma's house, pausing when he saw his mother being held in his daughter's arms, who was crying painfully.
"M-mother? Mother!" he shouted, barging past Will and sliding to the ground, looking over Yan Lin in horror, "Joan! Call 911!"
During all the movement everything seemed to go into slow motion for Caleb, Irma's dad running around the corner, hysterical voices from the other parents and kids, Hay Lin and her father trying desperately to rouse Yan Lin, the ambulance sirens coming from the distance, it all faded out. He looked up to lock eyes with Will emotionless ones. Still keeping hers looking into his, Will stepped back, disappearing much more subtly into the shadow cast upon the wall.
The last thing he saw was her bringing her finger up to her lips.
"Shhh…"
A/N: Thanks for reading :)