I do not own W.I.T.C.H.

Chapter beta-ed by XVDragon.

25. Rest in peace

There was a moment of silence which lasted the time of an instant. Then the guardians' rushed steps resonated through the crypt.

"WILL!"

The reached her. Will wasn't moving or breathing. Her heart was not beating and she was pale. She looked like she was…

"No…" Cornelia cried as her hands feverishly travelled on her friend's chest, "No, it can't be… wake up, Will, WAKE UP!"

"You can't do this to us!" Irma yelled, "Please, open your eyes!"

Himerish gently moved them and took Will from Matt' arms. The boy was shocked and paler than Will. He was staring at her without really seeing her. Himerish gently lay Will down to feel her pulse. He remained silent for a long time.

"So what?" Taranee asked impatiently.

"No pulse." Himerish's answer was barely audible.

"We killed her!" Hay Lin cried with her eyes full of horror, "She's dead… and it's our fault."

"What's happening?" a voice suddenly resounded. All the heads turned at the same time and saw that Lord Elyos was slowly coming toward them.

His presence among them meant that he had won his battle. But the Element looked tired and drained, his light was weaker and barely visible. The group let him pass and Elyos saw Will's body. He abruptly stopped and everyone clearly felt a wave of terror and pain crossing their hearts: Elyos' fear was so strong to dominate their own feelings.

Elyos kneeled next to the girl and put a hand on her forehead and one on her chest. He closed his eyes and focused on Will. Nobody dared to speak, or even to breathe. After what seemed an eternity the Element spoke: "She is not dead yet. She will survive, thanks to my power."

"B-but she's not breathing!" Irma stammered. "Will you revive her?"

"She is not dead. The previous efforts had stopped her heart and lungs, but her soul hasn't left her body yet. I can wake her up."

Those were probably the most wonderful words ever heard by the girls and Matt. They began to laugh and cry, and hugged.

"She's alive!"

That's great!"

"What about Thanathos, my Lord?" Endarno asked. The group stopped rejoicing and stared at Elyos. The Element's expression darkened.

"Thanathos felt that Will's darker desires were becoming weaker, and his bound with her fading. Rage has taken over him and he tried to destroy her, but by doing this he lowered his guard. I managed to assimilate him in my body and to put an end to the fight. Now he is inside me, trapped, and waits to be released."

"What!" Cornelia suddenly exclaimed, "Released? That guy can't be released! He's crazy!"

"Cornelia's right," Hay Lin added, "if you let him go he will start again to haunt Will!"

Elyos didn't raise his eyes from Will. His hands lit up and so the girl's body. After a few instants her chest started to move again, a sign that Will was breathing again. Only then Elyos answered the girl:

"Don't get me wrong, Guardians. Thanathos will be punished by us Elements. He will be judged. But he can't be kept trapped for too long, because in that way the worlds' balance could fall. The Elements don't feel any physical pain, so it would be useless to harm him."

"What are you going to do then?" Irma asked.

"I can't talk for my brothers too. But I will ask for sending Thanathos back to his domain of Chaos, and to keep an eye on him. And if ever in the future a new Energy Child will born, the gates between the Chaos world and your world will be closed for the period of that life, so Thanathos will never be tempted to personally intervene. Even if he will be able to influence the mortal lives as the rules have settled."

"This doesn't sound as a great punishment." Taranee pointed out.

"The more someone is important, the harder is to asking a fair punishment for his mistakes, girls." Himerish said. "Don't worry about Thanathos anymore, there will be the Elements to deal with him."

"So can we take Will to Kandrakar now?" Matt asked. He had never stopped watching her.

"Brave Matt, she will be taken to the Fortress soon. But now I dare to ask you to be patient and to leave for the Fortress without her."

"What? Why?" Hay Lin asked.

"Before leaving this Universe and to return to my world," Elyos whispered, "I wish to remain alone with her."

The girls paused. After all the Element had saved Will's life. He cared for her. But it seemed that the only times he could stay with her were when Will was wounded or unconscious. The other girls had spoken to him, they'd had this possibility, unlike Will. And yet they couldn't even imagine the bond that connected him and Will. They nodded, "Will you bring her back?" they asked him. "You are not going to take her away as Thanathos wanted to, aren't you?"

"Don't worry. Your friend is safe with me. Endarno, please, lead the girl and young Matt to Kandrakar. Himerish, please, stay."

Endarno opened a fold and led the group into the light that brought to Kandrakar. Himerish and Elyos remained alone with Will in the silent dim light of the crypt.

"Why am I here?" Himerish asked. The Element sighed.

"You are here to witness. To tell Yan Lin what is going to happen now. You are here because you will be one of the few to remember, because you have been Will's guardian."

Himerish frowned, "Remember? What does it mean?"

"Tomorrow nobody will remember the facts happened in the last hours. Will's abduction by Thanathos, what Thanathos did to Will and the last battles, they are all going to be forgotten by everyone, Will included. Everyone except the Oracle Yan Lin, Endarno and you, my friend. Endarno and you have been Will's guardians so I can't deny you the truth. And the Oracle too must know, to keep in her heart what has happened."

"So all the others will forget?"

"Yes. These last hours are going to be erased from their memory. They have never fought against her friend and they have never seen her fall. All their wounds will disappear along with their memories.

"What about Will?"

"She will forget too. She will forget her encounter with Thanathos and her conversation with him, she will forget she has almost killed her friends and her loved one. She will forget what I'm going to tell her now."

Himerish sat next to Will. Will had been very brave to have fought and won against the hatred that Thanathos had fuelled. She had defeated her darkness. But he understood Elyos' decision: everything happened was simply too much for a teenage girl; in the long run the guilt for her actions would destroyed her. It was better for her to forget the last hours, better for everyone.

"I'm going to wake her up now. I want to say farewell to her until the right time comes. Step back, Himerish." Elyos said.

The warrior walked away from Will and Elyos gracefully brushed the fainted girl's eyes. After a few instants Will began to move weakly and slowly opened her eyes.

Himerish held his breath when he saw that Will's eyes where no longer brown or red. They were a clear bright blue color and they were strangely dull. Will looked around with those strange eyes and then finally looked at Elyos.

"What's the meaning of this?" Himerish asked.

"I made her heart beating again, but her life is still in danger. Her weakness is so great that it could kill her. Will is walking between life and death now, and what you're seeing now it's a half-way between a Scion and a human being, a Scion that still maintains its body. But she won't stay like this for long, she will turn back to her life soon and the Scion which reside in her will fall asleep."

Himerish had never seen a Scion even when he was Oracle. But now he realized how much a Scion was similar to its Element. Will's skin was glowing with a pale light just like Elyos and radiated a strange and foreign grace even if she was not doing anything. But suddenly she spoke, and she did it with a voice that was different from hers.

"Father?" she asked. Himerish winced when he felt her voice directly in his mind. Elyos smile to her:

"Yes. I so longed for our meeting, daughter." He told her. A tiny smile hovered on Will's lips.

"Now we are united." She said.

"Yes. But it's not the time yet. Soon we'll have to say goodbye to each other."

For the first time since she had been woken up Will openly showed her discomfort. She struggled and grabbed the Element's vest looking at him straight in his eyes.

"I don't want to." She said. A sad Elyos shook his head.

"You still have another life to live."

"I don't care. I want to stay with you." Will said again and tightened her grip. He hugged her and gently stroked her red hair.

"Can you see, Himerish, how much wonderful, irrational and dangerous a Scion Child is? Can you feel the power? Can you feel her desires? Simply, pure and selfish like those of an infant?" Elyos asked Himerish as he embraced the girl clung to him, oblivious of everything.

Himerish could feel it. He felt that Will's power was expanding like Elyos' one. And he felt that she couldn't control it. It was only Elyos' presence that was preventing the power from going wild. Will's magic was so strong that was creeping into Himerish's body and soul and was communicating her feelings to him. It was hard to bear such a power. A power of that kind, in a child's hands. There was nothing purer, nothing more dangerous.

"We will meet again, little one." Elyos told Will, "We'll see each other again. But I must leave now, even if it seems hard to accept. I promise that we will be together again."

A sudden wave of sadness coming from Will ran over Himerish, who had to appeal to all his willpower to keep his cool. He closed his eyes without knowing for how long he could keep like that.

"You… you don't want me?" Will asked. She shut her eyes and the air around them started to vibrate. Himerish's heart was pounding wildly in his chest as the power attacked his mind.

"Calm down, Will…" Elyos told her, but she didn't stop. She was getting angry and she didn't want to listen to anyone, just like a child during a fuss. "It's enough now!" Elyos repeated in a firmer tone. The magical vibration stopped abruptly and Will stood silent, occasionally shaken by a quiet crying.

"I'd want you with me," the Element gently told him, "You must never doubt it. But you still have a lot of people who loves you in this world. Your friends and Matt have risked their lives to take you bake, do you remember?" Elyos wiped away her tears and Will lowered her gaze.

"Do you remember?"

"…Yes."

"Do you really want to leave them and your family?"

Will shook her head, sighed and bit her lower lip. For an instant she looked like the normal Will as she tried to take a decision.

"…No, I don't want to leave them." She finally said. She looked at Elyos, begging him with her gaze. He nodded.

"It's the right choice. I'm proud of you. But you must not be sad, I assure you that we'll meet again, one day. And we'll be together forever."

"Is this a promise?" She asked him. Elyos too was feeling her sadness and leaving her was tearing his heart apart. But it was not the time to take her with him, it wasn't fair for Will, for her family, for her friends, for Matt. He couldn't take her away from her home only for a selfish wish. What would have been the difference between him and Thanathos then?"

"Yes daughter, it's a promise." He told her. "Now sleep and rest, forget you pain and let peace watch over you. Sleep in peace, Will."

Will's eyelids started to become heavier and to close as the Element spoke. When Elyos paused Will was sleeping deeply. He gently put his hands on her temples and began to erase her memories. Himerish, during the process, remained silent. He felt like an intruder in that situation, even if he had the right to stay there.

"When we arrive at Kandrakar I'll erase everyone else's memories." Elyos whispered. "I have even sealed the powers that Rifel had prematurely awoken in Will. So she can return to be a guardian and a normal girl. I trust all of you my friend, protect and watch over her."

Himerish realized that it was time to go. He stood up and walked toward Elyos. The Element handed him Will like he had done that day during the Kandhran, and he took her. Now he wasn't feeling any aura of power coming from her. She was back to her normal self.

"So she's going back to Basiliade with me?" Himerish asked. Elyos, who was about to enter the fold, stopped and turned back:

"Yes. You'll continue to be her guardian until you'll judge her ready to return to her life on Earth. The other girl can visit her whenever they want. After all before Thanathos directly intervened they had started to forgive themselves. And she will forgive Matt too, I know it. Her love is strong. Don't worry my friend, Things will go well."

Himerish nodded. He thought of the just passed battle, of the acts of courage that everyone had done and that soon would have been forgotten. But not by him. And neither by Endarno or Yan Lin. They would have remembered. And who knows, maybe one day, when the right time would have come, they could hand those memories back to their rightful owners. But that was not the time. Himerish entered the fold after Elyos and was wrapped by a blinding light. He glanced a last time at the sleeping girl in his arms who was sleeping peacefully and nodded to himself. Everything would have been all right.

Sorry if this took so long guys. And also sorry if this chapter was a little shorter than the last ones and 'quiet'. But, hey, the story is almost finished! Only one chapter left!

I'm curious guys, how would you have punished Thanathos? It was hard to find something logical for him.

So, see ya next time with the last chapter: Epilogue.