Chapter 21

Days passed. Several rebels were growing tired of the training they were going through. It had been nothing but training and moving the camp. It seemed that Hay-Lin had restarted the search parties of the Infinite City and they'd encountered two groups of Lurdens over the days. More and more rebels were warming up to Irma and Cornelia, though there was a large group who still despised them. Not only because most of these rebels lost their homes or families thanks to those two, but also because Irma and Cornelia seemed to have all the luck in the world. The Oracle was on their side, they still had their family, one was engaged and next to the fact that they had magical powers they were also very good assassins. Perfect. That was maybe what irked the rebels the most. That they had a perfect life for today's standards and yet they were still complaining.

The Guardians, however, were no big part of this group. Although they were still scared of Irma and Cornelia they seemed to have warmed up after what Ehren and Edeline told them about their encounter. This didn't mean that Ehren and Edeline were accepting any training from them. They were still extremely wary of the two women, though they weren't trembling anymore whenever one of the two was near.

Angelo had been several times to Earth, checking up on rebels and his family. Everything seemed rather stable there. While in the Infinite City, Angelo either trained with his fellow Warriors, Edeline or Cornelia. He had told Edeline once again that she needed to advance in her use of the Earth element before she could learn the armor coating trick. With Cornelia he trained mostly alone, after she was done with Irma and Taranee.

Today, they had trained again. Now they were standing opposite of each other while Angelo dispatched his armor.

'You can do that with everything?' Cornelia asked curiously.

Angelo nodded.

'As long as it is a non-living material I can use it as an armor.' he said.

'So it would work with earth as well?' Cornelia asked.

'Sure.' Angelo said. 'Watch.'

With that he placed his hand on the floor and immediately he was coated in the light blue stone of the floor. Cornelia had raised her eyebrows in amusement. Angelo turned to her.

'Do you want to learn it?' he asked her.

'What?' Cornelia said surprised.

'Do you want to learn it?' Angelo said again.

Cornelia eyed him critically. She knocked a couple of times on his chest and then nodded.

'It seems pretty tough, the armor I mean.' she said.

She then shrugged.

'Ah, why not? It would be better for me to walk in an armor of my own element then to walk in those metal like things Ari and Maqi are making for the rebels.' she said.

Angelo grinned and started explaining how to coat yourself in earth. What neither of them knew was that a certain girl was standing behind a pillar. Edeline had been watching the training between Taranee, Irma and Cornelia together with Ehren, but when Irma left, Ehren left. They had decided to look at those trainings in the hope of copying any moves but so far nothing had worked. Now she was looking with increasing jealousy how Angelo taught Cornelia how to coat herself in earth. She got even more annoyed when she saw how easily Cornelia managed to do it.

'Great job Cornelia!' Angelo said impressed.

He, himself, had practiced at least a week to cover him completely in earth but Cornelia managed to do it on her fourth try. Somewhere he assumed she'd either done it before or that she was a talent. Either way, she was a fast learner. He smiled at her.

'Now let's see how good you are with moving and fighting in it.' he said as he opened the attack.

He grabbed some of his shields on his belt and threw them at her. Cornelia crossed her arms in front of her and all shields collided with her armor, but the armor stayed strong.

'Sneak attack huh?' she said with a smile of her own. 'Let's see what you can do against this!'

With that several vines shot up from the ground and wrapped around Angelo's legs. Angelo placed his hand on the floor and covered himself in an earth armor as well. He then reformed his hand in a sword and cut himself loose.

'Tada.' he said before jumping at her.

Cornelia rolled out of the way and face palmed herself.

'I forgot. You can make weapons in this state.'

'You can do it too!' Angelo said. 'Just focus.'

He then noticed that Cornelia already knew this. In fact, while he'd spoken she had already moved behind him. As he turned around he saw that her hand was also transformed into a sword and she slashed at his armor. The force of the blow was stopped but Angelo could feel Cornelia's magic seep in his armor from the tip of her sword. His armor fell apart and her sword ripped through his shirt. He jumped away, creating distance.

'Foul play!' he said with a smile.

Cornelia dispatched her armor and flipped her hair.

'I do not know what you're talking about.' she said ignorant. 'I'm just acting on the best of my ability.'

Angelo grinned as he ripped the rest of his shirt away. It would only stop his movements. He again went into a fighting stance when he noticed that Cornelia's eyes were wide with shock. She placed her hands before her mouth and gasped.

'Please. Please tell me that I wasn't the one who did that!' she said.

Angelo looked confused at her until he remembered. His scar was now clearly visible. He quickly placed a hand over it while he waved hastily with the other.

'No. No. No!' Angelo said quickly. 'No! An assassin with a Japanese accent did this! You didn't do anything!'

Cornelia seemed to relax a bit and Angelo walked to her to calm her completely down. He hugged her and felt how her heavy breathing went through her body. He then felt how she placed her hand on his scar. He felt how the magic ran over it and he quickly separated from her. He saw that her hand was glowing green.

'Cornelia..What are you…?' he started.

'I…I try to heal it.' she said. 'You don't…You don't have to walk with that. It's torture.'

Angelo gently took Cornelia's glowing hand and Cornelia stopped her magic flow. He looked her in the eyes and saw that there was more than just concern.

'Don't.' he said. 'I know it's more meant to torture me. To mock my family. But I accepted it. It helps me to keep going.'

'That's not it.' Cornelia mumbled.

'Pardon?' Angelo said.

Tears sprung in her eyes as she turned away from him. Before Angelo could say something she spoke.

'I…When I look at it….It makes me regret myself. That I hadn't foreseen this.' she said.

Angelo looked a bit helpless at Cornelia. A small laugh escaped her, making him wonder if she was going insane.

'Kinda sad isn't it?' she said. 'I was fussing about my own mark while you've got it worse.'

She turned her head and looked at him. Angelo raised his eyebrow, not immediately knowing what she was talking about.

'When Irma and I were enthralled…Hay-Lin placed a tattoo on our backs…' Cornelia started.

Angelo's eyes lit up with recognition and he placed a hand on her shoulder.

'I know. Will told me about it.' he said softly.

'Both of us are marked. And both by Hay-Lin.' Cornelia said softly. 'Only when someone sees my back, they will know who I am…'

She stopped there and took his hand off her shoulder. Angelo wondered what was wrong but said nothing.

'I'm sorry.' she said. 'But I've got to go. I…need to do something.'

With that Cornelia took off. Angelo was standing still, wondering what was wrong with Cornelia. Whatever it was, it was hard. A small sigh escaped him. He was close in telling her. Although he was still not sure about it. He just hoped that Cornelia liked him too. He placed his hands in his pockets and slowly walked to camp.

Edeline came from behind her pillar. The things weren't adding up. Everything she, and the other girls had seen from Cornelia when the latter was still working for Hay-Lin had given them a image of Cornelia and Irma. The image that they were evil, not caring, vile and dangerous. But ever since they arrived here at the rebel base they were acting completely different. More human like. Natasha and Georgi were actually already trying to get a sort of bond with the two, apparently not afraid or at least hiding it. Ilana stayed on the side lines, first observing then acting. But Ehren and Edeline both didn't want to socialize with them. They were still evil, though the more Edeline saw of Cornelia and Irma, the more she started to doubt. Maybe they weren't that bad.

Several more days passed and Angelo returned with the news that Christmas was nearing. Many rebels were happy to hear it until Taranee and Caleb had to pull the plug out of it. They couldn't prepare for the feast because that would occupy too many rebels at once, making them vulnerable. This discussion was being held in the dinner tent during dinner, since all the rebels were there.

'I'm sorry, but we simply cannot celebrate Christmas. It could end disastrous.' Taranee said clearly, getting a lot of boos and mumblings back.

'I bet that if those two killers weren't here, we would have celebrated it.' one of the rebels said a little too loud.

Irma and Cornelia both heard the comment and Irma got up, staring angrily at the man.

'Are you implying something?' she asked him with a growl.

The man, unfazed by her attitude, got up as well.

'Oh yes I do!' he said. 'Everything went fine until you monsters came! Now we're training like idiots for a battle that will never come because you're postponing it!'

This statement created an uproar. Several rebels sided with the man, yelling things about how monstrous Cornelia and Irma were and that it was their fault things went wrong, while others (mainly their families and friends) sided with Irma and Cornelia, claiming that the rebels were blinded with hatred and that they were just looking for a black sheep. The last group remained silent, not seeing the point of yelling or simply not having a real opinion on the matter. Taranee and Caleb tried with all their might to silence the rebels but their voices couldn't reach them. While Taranee was contemplating how bad it would be if she shot some fire at the rebels, she noticed that Will got up. The grim look on Will's face told her enough to know that Will was not happy with the current topic. She went to stand next to Taranee and turned to the rebels.

'SILENCE!'

The word was pronounced with such power and authority that the people just fell silent out of shock. They all stared at Will, who was looking a bit ticked off.

'First off, I could be wrong but I was under the impression that we were having a peaceful dinner.' she started. 'Yelling and accusing the other is not a way to dine peacefully. Secondly, accusing and judging Irma or Cornelia for their past crimes is something you cannot and should not do. You do not know the full extent of the problem. Thirdly, if Taranee and Caleb say that you guys can't prepare for Christmas, then so be it!'

The rebels, who were against Cornelia and Irma, were actually scowling at Will, while the others were smiling appreciatively at her. Taranee and Caleb glared at the group. Will was about to go back to her seat when the man who started the riot shouted again.

'You're one heck of an Oracle. You let your personal opinion cloud your judgment. Everyone here agrees with me that those two are monsters!'

Before a riot could start over again, Caleb had his sword pointed at the man's neck. Nobody had seen him pull out his sword or even seen him move, but no one dared to get close. Will sighed a bit. If it weren't for Caleb she would have probably lost her cool. Before anyone could speak Irma and Cornelia got up.

'Will, don't mind if I take your training spot.' Irma said rather harshly before pushing out of the tent.

'Taranee, I'll take our spot.' Cornelia declared before storming out after Irma.

G.E.N.I.E. who were sitting at the entrance of the tent, had noticed that both women had tears running down their face as they left. Wondering why, the five secretly snuck out.

Will, nor any of the other rebels, missed the smirk on the man's face.

'They would have killed me right here if their precious Oracle wasn't near.' he scoffed.

He felt how the tip of Caleb's sword was pushing deeper in his throat.

'Mister Thomas. It would be wise for you to shut up.' Taranee said coldly. 'This is called insubordination. And the only fitting punishment would be abandonment. But, seeing that you know too much of our base, we will find another way to punish you…'

'You don't need to.'

Everyone looked up at Will and saw that she was still holding her cold look.

'His anger is only polluting his thoughts. He will see that he's wrong.' she said. 'But, if you Mister Thomas, ever dare to pronounce these sort of things again, you can be sure that Caleb, Angelo, Andrew, Taranee, Mr. and Mrs. Hale, Mr. and Mrs. Lair, Chris, Lilian or me will happily cut off your tongue. I hope I'm clear.'

Thomas' face paled under the threat and slowly nodded. Caleb, resisting the urge to cut his tongue now, took away his sword and Thomas sat down. Slowly everyone resumed their dinner. Before Will sat down she tapped Angelo and Cassidy on their shoulders.

'Could you two take a look at Irma and Cornelia for me? They need some help.' she said softly.

Both nodded with a sad smile and quickly went out of the tent.

'I'll take Irma. You Cornelia, okay?' Cassidy said with a grin.

Angelo raised an eyebrow but nodded. When they arrived at the training grounds they quickly parted ways. Will's training ground lay a whole lot further away from the camp while Irma's, Cornelia's and Taranee's lay a bit closer. As Angelo neared he noticed several statues that resembled Hay-Lin. Before he could admire how much they looked like her he saw something big approaching in a high speed. He used his own super speed to move out of the way and saw how a giant boulder squashed several statues. He looked to where the boulder came from and he saw Cornelia. She was encircled by several stones while her hands glowed green. A set of rocks shot at a couple of more statues but somewhere in the middle of the route the stones grumbled, creating small bullets of earth that penetrated the statues. Angelo was quite sure that this was Cornelia's way of venting her anger.

'Cornelia!' he said, gaining her attention.

Cornelia looked at Angelo and mumbled something incoherent before throwing another rock at a statue. Then, without a warning, she collapsed to the ground with her hands in front of her face. Angelo hurried over and crouched beside her. He could hear her crying. He gently placed his hand on top of her back.

'Cornelia? Are you alright?' he asked.

Cornelia didn't answer. Instead she pulled him closer and continued to cry on his chest. Angelo slowly placed his arms around her and held her. He could feel her pain and was wishing she didn't feel it.

'Why can't they just accept us?'

Angelo looked at her and saw her still crying form. He knew that she wasn't crying out of sadness, but out of anger.

'It…It's difficult.' he said.

Another laugh came from Cornelia.

'It's funny.' she said. 'Years ago, when we first received our powers, I thought of myself as a monster.'

She released herself from his grip and looked sadly around. The rubble was spread everywhere.

'That was before I figured out that we were doing it to help people. We were heroes, Angelo. Heroes. But then…this happened…And now not only I, but everyone else sees me for who I really am. A monster.' she said as she made her hand glow green.

Angelo didn't like it how Cornelia was talking about herself.

'Cornelia, no…' he said as he walked to her.

'Yes.' she said somberly. 'The only thing I've done with my powers since I got them back was hurting people.'

'But it wasn't you who did that!' Angelo said. 'You were enthralled. No one should blame you for that.'

Cornelia gave him a small smile. Angelo decided he should continue.

'A monster wouldn't feel like this.' he said. 'That only proves you're human. You're no monster.'

Cornelia smiled a little at him. A sudden urge washed over Angelo to kiss her slowly. He took her hand and moved slowly to her. But Cornelia stopped him by taking her hand back and turning away.

'I just wish that the others would see it the same way you did.' she said sadly.

'There might be a way.'

Both Cornelia as Angelo jumped up. They turned around and saw Will walking at them with a smile.

'Will! Would you never do that again!' Cornelia said as she clutched her heart.

Will giggled a bit.

'Don't worry Corny, this will happen more often.' she said with a smile.

'You said you knew how to make the others see that Cornelia is not a monster?' Angelo asked interested.

Will smiled at him. Both Cornelia and Angelo recognized the smile and smiled on their own.

'All we need is a pine cone from Earth, some decorations and some of Irma's never melting ice sculptures.' she said.

'I see where you're going.' Cornelia said with a smile. 'That could work. We just need to keep it silent from Caleb and Taranee.'

'I'm sure you will.' Will said. 'Now excuse me but I've got to speak with Irma. Oh! If anyone asks, I have not given you any idea.'

Angelo and Cornelia grinned as Will walked further.

'She hasn't changed much huh?' Cornelia asked with a smile.

'Nah, you know her. She goes with the flow.' Angelo replied.

The two walked slowly away, both feeling happier with the plan that was forming. When they were out of sight Edeline and Ilana came from their hiding place behind the pillar. Both looked surprised at each other.

'Wow…She's pretty…humane…' Ilana said softly.

Edeline nodded as she looked at the rubble. She noticed that there was still one statue remaining. She focused and managed to throw a small stone at it. The statue resisted the blow, only an arm fell off.

'I think you should ask her.'

Edeline turned around and saw Ilana looking pensive at the statue.

'Are you serious?' Edeline asked, still not wanting to ask training from Cornelia.

Ilana threw a fairly sized fireball at the statue, destroying it.

'Yes.' she said. 'Natasha, Georgi and I have been talking. It's better if you and Ehren asked for training. You're just slowing us down now.'

Edeline crossed her arms stubbornly and turned her back to Ilana. Ilana couldn't see how Edeline's eyes were watering. The truth was that Edeline wanted to go more than anything in the world to Cornelia to ask for training, but she couldn't. Not only was she a bit scared of what Ehren would say about it, she was also afraid that Cornelia would say no. Or worse.

'I see.' Edeline said.

She wiped her tears away and turned around to give Ilana a fake smile.

'I shall see, okay?' she said. 'Let's see how the others are doing.'

Ilana saw that the smile was fake but smiled back. At least Edeline was going to try. Together they walked to Will's training field, hoping to get some more information on Will's plan.

A little further away and some minutes ago, on Will's personal training ground:

Irma was roaring in anger. Several ice statues of Hay-Lin were standing around her while even more splinters of ice were littering the ground. Again she shot a pillar of water from her hands, breaking a lot of statues. It didn't help. She was feeling terrible. She didn't show it but it hurt. The way several rebels looked at her. How her parents and little brother looked at her. They all saw her as she felt. A monster in human skin. Tears ran from her cheeks. It was all her fault. Will had warned her to keep everyone close. It had been her duty, left by Will. But she was the first to reduce contact, thinking everything would stay the same. If she'd been there for Hay-Lin, especially after…

Irma shook her head annoyed. It wasn't just her fault, though she had to admit that she thought that Hay-Lin was stronger…

'Irma?'

Irma stopped in mid attack and looked up. She saw one of the new Guardians, Ehren she assumed, standing a few feet away, quivering a bit. Irma quickly and roughly rubbed her tears away and faked a smile at her. Ehren replied with the same smile, though hers was even quivering.

'What are you doing here, Ehren?' Irma asked, trying to keep her anger hidden.

Ehren gulped as she walked forward. She couldn't believe she let herself get talked over by Cassidy, Georgi and Natasha. The last two would feel her wrath for this. She saw how Irma was looking at her with a surprised look. She had to admit, Irma was no monster. It was more that her past experiences were causing her fear for the woman. Why she'd changed her mind? It was already coming when Irma was scolded by Cornelia for scaring her and Edeline. Irma seemed kinda fun and nice, even though what she said was kinda harsh. Ehren knew herself that she had to be braver. And when she'd seen Irma cry she looked so vulnerable. Ehren had seen how both Georgi and Ilana were when they joined at first and she could see both of them in Irma. She felt bad for her and even guilty that she too, saw her as a monster.

'You…I….' Ehren started.

She quickly looked away and motioned at the ice sculptures

'Pretty cool.' she mumbled.

Irma grinned. Taranee and Angelo were right. She did look like her and Cassidy. Irma silently wondered if that was something that went through the generations of Guardians. The water being the funny, the fire the smart one, the air the most creative, the earth being the most stubborn and the leader…Well, she wasn't sure about the last seeing that she didn't know a thing of Nerissa or Natasha.

'Yeah, it's ice.' Irma replied with a grin.

Ehren snickered a bit and then looked surprised. It seemed as if she hadn't thought she would laugh.

'I'm sorry.'

Irma raised an eyebrow and saw that Ehren looked sadly down.

'Sorry for what?' Irma asked, though already having a faint feeling why.

Ehren turned her gaze to the ground.

'For seeing you as a monster.' she mumbled quickly.

Sadly Irma had heard it. Her smile faltered and she frowned.

'Stop looking like that.'

Ehren looked up, hearing that Irma's voice was filled with anger. She had to force herself to stop herself from crouching and going defensive. She looked in the eyes of Irma and saw an anger swimming in them. Why was she angry at her?

'You're not the only one who sees me for what Hay-Lin created me to be.' Irma said annoyed.

Ehren then understood that Irma wasn't angry at her, but at Hay-Lin. She couldn't blame her. It was Hay-Lin who started this. It was Hay-Lin who robbed her from her happy family.

'My…my family…Hay-Lin killed them…' Ehren suddenly confessed.

She didn't know why, but Irma made her feel strange. As if she was talking to an older sister, or something like that. and she had the urge to tell her certain things. She noticed that Irma's eyes had widened in surprise and she then thought she saw a flicker of guilt? Irma turned her head and looked away.

'I'm sorry.' she said.

Ehren shook her head.

'No! I didn't mean you did it! I hadn't seen you back then!' Ehren defended. 'And I…I don't care any longer…Will said that things happen for a reason and we'll always find a better life after it.'

At this Irma had to laugh.

'She's sounding more like the old bigwig than she knows.' she heard Irma grumble. 'I just wished I was more attentive. Then this could have been stopped and you would have your family.'

Ehren was now completely sure, Irma was no monster.

'You're no monster.'

Irma looked at the little girl who said that. Confusion flushed over her. First she came to tell her she thought she was a monster and now she contradicted herself.

'Excuse me?' Irma said, not sure if she'd heard right.

'I…I don't think you're a monster anymore… You're nice…' Ehren said awkwardly.

A grin spread on Irma's face. Okay, it was nice to hear your family and friends say that they never blamed you but hearing this from a kid that had done nothing else but quiver whenever she was near made her feel even better.

'Thanks kiddo.' she said. 'You're not bad yourself.'

Ehren smiled at Irma and started to fidget again. Irma raised an eyebrow.

'Something wrong?' she asked.

'Well…' Ehren said meaningfully while eyeing the ice statues.

Irma recognized the sound of Ehren's voice and grinned. It was weird to hear herself.

'Could you help me with my training? I want to coat myself in ice like Cassidy, but I can't seem to get my powers under control.' she asked with a big smile.

'You mean this?' Irma said as she coated herself in ice.

Ehren's eyes became bigger when she saw it and nodded eagerly. Irma brushed nonchalantly over her arms.

'This? This is an old trick. I taught it Cassidy.' she bragged.

'Really?' Ehren asked in awe.

'Strange. I really thought that I was the one who gave you the idea of creating ice on your own and coating yourself with it.'

Both Irma and Ehren turned around to see Cassidy standing with her arms crossed but a big smirk on her lips.

'Hey Cass!' Irma said with a smile. 'Sure you gave me the idea, but I did it.'

'Oh so modest.' Cassidy said as she rolled her eyes.

'You know me, I'm modesty itself.' Irma said with a grin.

Cassidy smiled too and nodded at Ehren.

'So…everything clear?'

Ehren saluted.

'Everything is clear, ma'am. Target is nothing more than a big mouse!' Ehren said in a soldier kind of way.

Irma's mouth fell open as she dropped her ice cover.

'Mouse?' she said. 'Mouse? I'm going to show you mouse!'

With that she formed a handful of water and started to splash it in Ehren's face. Ehren shrieked a bit and tried to dodge it but everytime the water hit its mark. Cassidy laughed and Irma and Ehren smiled.

'And who's going to clean this up?'

The three women stopped and looked at Will, who was shaking her head.

'I had just managed to tidy the place and now you two are thrashing it again!' she moaned a bit.

'You're exaggerating.' Irma said. 'You like water, so what's the fuss?'

'The fuss is that I prefer water in a pool and not on the floor.' Will replied.

'So? Wave your hands and it'll disappear!' Cassidy said.

A smile formed on Will's face.

'Ehren, I think Natasha and Georgi are waiting for you.' she said, indicating that Ehren had to leave.

Ehren got the hint and ran as fast as she could away. Cassidy and Irma backed away as they saw Will's smile.

'Uhmm…Whatever you're planning it's her fault!' Irma said as she pointed at Cassidy.

'What? You started!' Cassidy said as she pointed back at Irma. 'I haven't done a thing!'

Will waved her hands and two mops appeared, one in Irma's hands and one in Cassidy's hands.

'Now, let's see how quick you guys are with cleaning.' she said with a smile.

'No fair!' Cassidy moaned. 'I did nothing!'

'But you didn't stop Irma either.' Will countered with a smirk.

'As if you would.' Cassidy muttered. 'Besides, what would stop us from using our magic?'

Will smiled again at them, scaring them a bit.

'You can try it.' she said. 'I just don't recommend it.'

The two looked at each other and then nodded. Irma waved her hands and the water evaporated. A smile crossed her face as she looked at Will.

'All done.' she said.

'Oh really?' Will said as she raised an eyebrow. she then pointed at something behind Irma and Cassidy. 'And what about that?'

Irma and Cassidy turned around and saw a small tidal wave wash over them, wetting the floor again. Will laughed as she saw the two glaring at her.

'Come on you two. Where's your sense of humor?' she teased.

'I think it just flushed away.' Cassidy said as she squeezed some water out of her hair.

The two then started mopping, grudgingly and already planning a revenge. Will smiled as she looked at them work.

'Why are you still here, other than gloating?' Irma said annoyed.

'Well…Next to the fact that you managed to make up with Ehren, congrats on that by the way. I really thought she would be more stubborn. But anyway, there are still a lot of rebels who see you as a monster.' Will said matter-of-factly.

Irma's face fell as she started to move the mop roughly over the floor. Cassidy looked at Will with a look of disbelief.

'Are you just here to crush our spirits?' she asked her.

Will shook her head.

'On the contrary. I'm here to raise them.' she replied.

'You're doing a lousy job at it then.' Irma replied somberly.

'What if I said that I know how to make them at least appreciate you?' Will said with a smile.

Both Cassidy and Irma stopped mopping and looked up. They saw a glimmer in Will's eyes and both knew Will had a plan.

'I'm listening.' Irma said as Cassidy nodded.

'We need a pine cone, Cornelia and your ice sculpture abilities.' Will said with a nod to Irma. 'And maybe the Warriors are willing to help. I need someone to keep Taranee and Caleb in the dark. You can tell Nerissa about this too.'

Both first looked confused at Will, not knowing what she was talking about. Will sighed as she placed a hand on her forehead.

'Jingle bells. Does that ring a bell?' she said.

Both Cassidy and Irma perked and smiled at Will.

'I see what you did there.' Irma said with a smile.

'Maybe some decorations from Earth.' Cassidy said. 'That would increase the feeling.'

'And if we can do some background checks, then my ice sculptures would really brighten up people's day!' Irma said enthusiastically. 'Will, your plan is great!'

Will raised an eyebrow and looked confused.

'Plan?' she said confused. 'I do not know what you're talking about.'

Irma and Cassidy looked confused at Will but then saw a grin form on Will's lips.

'I hope you two finish mopping soon. Maybe you can get some food from the kitchen.' she said before walking away.

Irma and Cassidy looked at Will's retreating back and snickered. Leave it to Will to think of something like that.

[A/N] That was the chapter. I was planning on putting Christmas into this one too, but that would make it messy…And it is already a messy chapter. But anyway, next chapter will contain fluff, a set date for the final battle (thank God!) and some Hay-Lin.

Reviews make me happy. After reviewing, there will be cake!