Story: Remember me
Plot: A battle with Phobos proves to be difficult and life threatening, as a certain guardian is affected the most. Will the rest of W.I.T.C.H and the rebels be able to bring her back?
Chapter 11: The Battle (Part 2)
"He who passively accepts evil is as much involved in it as he who helps to perpetrate it. He who accepts evil without protesting against it is really cooperating with it." – Martin Luther King, Jr.
They made their way into a large room, closer to the back of the hideout. More rebels – including Caleb – were in there, along with the rest of the guardians. They saw Hay Lin and Irma entering the room and smiled in relief. They fought with the guards until Cedric appeared. He had an expression of shock and disbelief plastered across his face. The girls immediately stopped fighting against the guards, and instead the rebels took their place. Their main target was Cedric, at this point. Cornelia flew first, and slammed her fist to the ground.
"Earth!" her long, blonde hair flew up as the floor cracked in two directions. It eventually reached around Cedric and she lifted his scaly figure up into the air, and threw it across and into the wall. He shrieked and crashed on to the other side of the building – a large cave. The rock crushed on top of him and he slammed his tail on the ground, which made the stones travel across the air and towards the guardians. Cornelia was about to get hit by a large rock, before Caleb grabbed her hand and pulled her out of the way. The boulder flew across the room and knocked down the wall. If it had hit Cornelia, the impact would have been a lot worse. She gasped and looked over at Caleb, who was busy fighting a few guards.
She thanked him in her mind, before flying up towards the guardians. Taranee flew across the room and behind Cedric, who was too busy being attacked by Irma and Hay Lin from the front.
"Fire!" Taranee's eyes were gleaming as she clasped her hands together and shot them at Cedric. She created a circle of fire around him, which made him yell in pain. He jumped out of the ring of fire, and ran towards the guardians. They flew out of the way just in time, and Cedric slammed against the wall.
Will sent a mind message to the girls. Girls, its time. You know what to do!
The guardians looked at each other, before exiting the room swiftly. They flew outside through the doors they had come from, leaving Will with Cedric, and the rebels with his guards.
"This one's especially for you, snake boy!" She faced the Heart of Candracar towards him, as a beam of light shot across the Heart. "Quintessence!" The beam hit Cedric and he collapsed 10 feet away from the scene. He showed no sign of life, and Will sighed in relief before she also exited the building.
She made her way outside to find Cornelia had already created a few dozen boulders from the ground, and that the other guardians were also there. Cornelia grunted in pain as she created a final boulder from the ground. She fell to the ground for a few seconds, before she shook it off. Will smiled at her and they stood waiting for the rebels, who arrived in a matter of seconds.
"Now!" Will yelled at Cornelia and Hay Lin who threw the boulders inside the hideout – Cornelia using her telekinesis and Hay Lin using air to blow them across. They heard screams from inside, and then it died out. Irma then flew with Hay Lin to the other side of the hideout, and she flooded the entire place. Hay Lin attacked a few guards, which made them run into the building that was being flooded by Irma.
The guardians and rebels stood further away from the hideout, after an hour of searching for any guards that might have almost escaped. There was no sign of Cedric, which seemed like a good thing. They heard almost half of the mountain collapse – meaning that it could have destroyed anything inside it. Will went to see if any rebels or guardians were missing or hurt.
"That's great. Everyone's here...was Caleb with you, Cornelia?" Will looked at the blonde, whose head suddenly shot up in disbelief. What? No...Oh gosh, no...
"No...I-I th-thought h-he was with you..." Cornelia's eyes began to water. Caleb was missing. He had saved her life a countless number of times in the past few years, and suddenly, he was nowhere in sight. Cornelia felt her heart sink to the ground.
Will's eyes widened and she opened her mouth in disbelief. She shook her thoughts and assumed back her position as the leader. "I-we need to keep searching. H-he could still be here. Go!" she ordered the girls and rebels that stood watching, firmly and in a strict tone.
They quickly fanned out among the land that was almost destroyed. Cornelia tried to fight back her tears, but it was no use. Caleb was somewhere out there. She had to find him – no matter what. She turned back to see the other guardians looking through the other caves and surroundings, along with the rebels. They took the situation a lot calmer than Cornelia was. She was now weeping silently, and the tears blurred her vision. Her attention turned to the hideout which was almost fully collapsed. She saw the rocks dangling down, and the small entrance that could easily be accessed. She flew towards the entrance – without giving it a second thought – and looked back one more time, before entering.
Will caught her sight before she stepped through, and yelled her name. "Cornelia! No! You can't go there! It's not safe – it'll collapse any second!"
Cornelia only glanced at her and shook her head. "I'm sorry. I have to." The others heard Will shouting at Cornelia, with tears pouring down her cheeks.
Irma flew towards the building. "Corny! Get back here now! Don't be stupid!" She was about to go and pull Cornelia back, when the blonde ran through the building. Irma screamed in horror at the thought of losing her. She was also about to follow to bring her back, when Will's arms dragged her as far away from the destruction as much as possible. Irma struggled to get out of her grip, but failed. The others soon followed, and the girls cried silently for their friend. Only Irma screamed in pain, and let her emotions flow without any other care in the world.
"It's not safe...we can't go after her..." Will hung her head in distress and broke down into tears. She held her face in her hands, and Taranee sat by her side.
Suddenly, they all heard a sharp ringing noise from below. The guardians looked down to see that Phobos had appeared from a strange looking portal. It was green and yellow – not the typical blue colour. He had a guard with him that was carrying a still body. Long blonde hair covered her face, but the others immediately recognised it as none other than their friend.
"Cornelia!" Will gasped at her body, and then glared at Phobos with tears in her eyes. "What did you do to her? You...You monster!"
She shot a beam of quintessence at him, but Phobos chuckled and used his long staff to create a barrier between them. The others all joined him, trying to take him down – but it were no use. Taranee tried to use her element to catch him off guard, as did Irma and Hay Lin, but nothing happened. He surrounded himself, along with Cornelia's body in a large golden ball before exiting the odd looking portal and closing it behind him. The rebels and guardians stared in disbelief at each other, after witnessing the agonising scene in front of them. A strange silence took over.
A few minutes passed, until they heard a large noise coming close from the building. Hay Lin was the first to notice it. The other rebels and the other guardians didn't notice until Hay Lin flew up in the sky and looked around close to the building.
Taranee looked up at the air guardian who inspected the site. "Hay Lin, get back! It's not safe!"
"Guys...I-I think I h-hear something!" Hay Lin exclaimed, and the other guardians quickly flew up near her and saw the rocks moving. They went towards it and started pulling away the boulder with all their might. They didn't use their magic, because it might have caused a downfall on whoever was stuck there. The four guardians lifted the rock, with only one intention in mind, and grunted while throwing it down the cliff. They started picking out smaller ones, which still was a difficult task. They finally were able to discover the person that was stuck under it all – Caleb.