First off guys, I am so sorry for the neglect. As I'm sure you all know things have been really tough lately thanks to COVID-19. Add me trying to get an original work out there that I've been working on for several years and this is what happens. But I haven't forgotten about you guys in the least. Here's the latest chapter in The Lost One. Enjoy.
One would have expected the flow of portal production to slow down; for Heatherfield to awaken and smell the fumes of smoke originating from their imminent future shall they continue down this path of playing God. Yet they remain and continue to make more. It was as if the promising future of a technologically advanced human society were more important than their species' survival.
The Guardians swarmed the beaches, the cities, the towns, anywhere a portal stood or was detected by Will or Hay-Lin, they were destroyed, no matter how far, low, or high. But the question still remained: Where were they originating from?
Once again, this meeting was taken on the road to the local McDonald's that used to serve as the home of the Lin family. Each time they saw it, a pang of guilt ran through Will's heart. If she hadn't succumbed to the darkness that clouded her heart, the Silver Dragon would still be here and not this abomination. But the past couldn't be undone. Only give way for a brighter future.
But Melissa was there to give her hand that reassuring squeeze. It was easy to read Will these days. It took less than a glance to figure her out. Hopefully one day she'll let it go. But today was not that day.
After reading the report Taranee had written out and going over the evidence once and again, Hay-Lin rolled it back up and slapped it in the middle of their table with a snarl.
"But this makes no sense!" She quietly scolded. "We're onto this guy, he should be giving up! Even the Government's telling him to stop. Why are there more appearing?"
None of them could answer. Not Taranee, not Irma or Cornelia, or even Melissa. For someone to be that resilient implied that they held ulterior motives. But Will was snuggled up into her side brainstorming. Coming up with ideas, reasons, and answers.
She popped a straw she was chewing on from her mouth and asked, "Do these new portals work? Maybe he's using them as distractions."
A plausible excuse. "Maybe," Hay-Lin agreed. "But why? What's the point? There's a bigger picture here we're not seeing."
That was the question of the year and there seemed to be no explanation. If everything continues being destroyed, why continue building them? Not only was it a waste of money, but also a waste of time. An endless cycle of hardwork and destruction. It made no sense.
There was only one way to find out and discover the truth. Melissa agitatedly crossed her arms across and stated, "We have to get into that tower. Those are where our answers are."
At the mention of TechCom, they turned their attention to the shining glass beacon in the sky. Past all the rooftops, flying birds, and clear skies was the source of all of this. Everything they needed to learn was right there. But how exactly were they going to get in?
The Guardians faced the table and each other, gazes filled with determination and strength. They were the Guardians of the Veil, they would figure it out. But time was still of the essence.
Hay-Lin quickly shifted her eyes to Will. "So we know you're flying in there, but what's next?"
Will sighed and leaned back in her seat. "I'm not sure. We know our answers are in there, but where exactly? The entire building is an office, it'll take hours just to search."
Taranee suggested, "Maybe you can get into their database and quickly get some information. You have the ability to get into tech, right? Just get into the building and gather the schematics."
"In one night?" Will deadpanned. "No way, if I do that it'll have to be done in the daytime. It takes a while, depending on the size. The tower's booming during those hours."
"Then there's only one thing to do." Hay-Lin pointed to Will. "You have to get in during the day and get those schematics. The alarms are down, security's less than uptight, and you can blend in easily as just another person."
"I highly doubt they're just going to let me inside like this." Will gestured to her height and stature. She was an adult in a child's body. Her life had reset, putting her back in the form of a freshman less than the average height.
"I have an idea." All eyes turned to Cornelia, who was strangely quiet this entire time. She slurped up the remaining beverage in her cup and set it down on the table. "But I'm not sure you're going to enjoy it."
Will already wasn't liking it. Cornelia had the look that only originates from amusement that they all recognized. She was envisioning something she wouldn't enjoy. Will was sure it was going to be the last thing she would ever do.
W~I~T~C~H
She was right. She was so right. The plan was unanimously voted on but that didn't mean Will was on board entirely. It was late in the evening before Will and Marissa finally returned home. Street lamps and bright lights were casting down onto the world below them. Night walkers stalked through the streets doing what they do best while the innocent lied indoors, a culture of the unknown.
Will opened a portal into the living room and stepped in on Susan, Dean and William watching TV. Well they weren't watching it anymore. The swirling blue in the middle of the room and the little girl who just walked out of it was a lot more interesting.
When the portal closed, William teased, "How's it going, squirt?"
Squirt? Did he just call her squirt? When Will walked past, she grabbed the remote from the table and bashed it into the side of his knee. No one calls her squirt, teenager, Gen Z, whatever they call themselves these days.
William yanked his knee up to his chest seething in pain. "Ow! Jesus christ, Will!"
Susan sighed and snatched the remote from Will's hand. "Stop hitting your brother," she ordered.
"Fine." Will blew a childish raspberry at William then jumped into the seat next to Susan. "What are you guys looking at?"
Dean sighed and gestured to the TV with his finger, trying to come up with an answer. "It's some family movie your mother wanted us to watch."
"The Grinch," Susan clarified. She wrapped an arm around Will's shoulders and pulled her close. "It's a classic. How was work?"
It was no longer a mystery that the family knew of Will's unique involvement in supernatural parties. Those parties were now involved in their world and attracting some international attention. She was the main key variable in the entire equation. Or so they suspected.
Will answered, "We've been trying to figure out why more portals continue appearing around the state, despite our efforts to destroy them every single day. We're aware that they could be transporting them outside of the city so we've been doing a pretty good job of keeping them contained. But the problem is that they keep making more and we have no idea why. So we're investigating that right now."
"Sounds rather productive."
"Sort of." The only one speaking was the Grinch on the screen. It wasn't even christmas, not even close, and it was already playing?
William queried, "We're not involved, are we? Like, the family?"
"As long as you guys don't talk about it, I suppose." Will glanced up to Susan then back to the TV. Now would be the perfect time to ask her. There was no better time than now. "Mom, I need to talk to you about something."
Susan turned her head in her daughter's direction. Jeez, she hasn't seen Will like this in over a decade. "Yeah, what is it?"
"We need your help. Not everyone's, just yours."
Susan shared a glance with Dean before referring back to Will. "Okay. What is it?"
Will sighed and burst from the gate. "I need you to get me into TechCom."
Susan's arm slid off Will's back. Her entire attention was turned to her. "What?"
"The girls and I theorize that whatever is going on is originating from TechCom. Somewhere in that building are the answers we need."
"Will, I could lose my job if you're seen," Susan pointed out. "I don't think that's happening. You have to find another way. I thought we weren't involved."
"You're not. I just need to get into the building without being detected."
But Susan was undeterred. "I'm sorry, but the answer's no."
Will had a feeling she wouldn't go for it. Better deliver the news to the girls. The goal was to get in without any possible timer, where they blended in. Looks like they had to resort to Plan B.
"Besides…" Will glanced up to her mother. "We still have to talk about . . . what happened that day."
Right. Then there was that. The mood in the room seemed to drop. The temperature itself seemed to grow colder and time ground to a halt. There was no time like the present.
Will stood up and softly pulled her mother to her feet by the hand. Then lead her out of the living area to the backyard. This conversation has sat dormant long enough.
W~I~T~C~H
The stars in the night sky were an accessory to the mood. The crickets chirped their way into their ears before Will and Susan took a seat in the backyard, lying back on the grass and staring up to the moon, refusing eye contact. It was time they had this talk.
Susan took a deep breath and sighed loudly. "I regret everything I said that day. You were . . . I was scared, Will. I didn't know what else to do. All I wanted was to protect my son and my family. I didn't want this to hurt me, to hurt William, to hurt my family. Things turned rather disastrous."
Will turned over and faced her with a blank expression. "I guess we both acted out of fear," she considered. "The only difference is that I took it out on entire worlds."
Susan said nothing. Will sat up and leaned back on her hands. "After you denounced me, and the girls and I finally agreed to live it out on Meridian, Elyon tasked me as a sort of . . . mentor."
Susan slowly turned her head to shoot Will a bewildered expression. "You were a teacher?"
"In a sense. Elyon had a single charge. Her name's Sarah. We had a little rough start but eventually I came to adopt her as my own daughter. Of course I knew she wasn't, but that didn't mean the feeling wasn't there. I raised her whenever Elyon couldn't. I taught her, I was her surrogate mother. And throughout the years, I realized that if her goal wasn't to be a warrior, I would keep her away from this lifestyle. I would keep her away from wars, battles, all of that. I wanted to protect her. Just like how you wanted to protect William."
Susan sat up and gently pulled Will into a side hug. It's been years since she's held her this way. Years, since she's held her daughter"I'm sorry, Little Wings," she whispered.
The name put a small smile on her face. Will turned her whole body and pulled her in. "I'm sorry too, mommy. I love you."
"I love you too." Susan placed a soft gentle kiss on her face. "I'll do whatever I can to make it right."
"You already have." Will parted from Susan's embrace and stood on her feet. "It was me who was wrong. But I now know what I have to do. It was wrong to ask you to sneak us in. We can do it ourselves. Or I can do it myself."
Susan sat up urgently. "Is that even safe?"
"We don't know, it's never stopped us before. But we need to hurry. There's a release date for these GU Portals, and we have to stop them now."
Will walked floated into the air before Susan grabbed her leg. "Where are you going?"
"I need to talk to Melissa and the rest of the girls. I have a plan, but I'm sure they're not going to like it."
Understatement. The second Will brought it up in her bedroom with Melissa she shook her head and blared, "Hell no. Will, there's no way you're going in there alone." Before Will could say anything else, Melissa stood up and crossed her arms. "We were just talking about starting a family. And we can't do that if something happens to you inside there."
"I know, I know." Will stood from Melissa's bedside. "I don't want to either, but we all know that I'm the greatest chance of getting information from the inside-out. I have access to all of the powers in a smaller package."
Melissa suddenly grabbed her biceps, pinning Will under her fearful gaze. "But what if you don't?!" She asked. Her eyes were scared, quivering in contempt and already witnessing disaster. "What if something happens to you, what if you don't make it out?!"
Star sighed and answered, "It's part of the job, Melissa. It's what happens as Guardians of the Veil. It's what we do to protect other people. It's why we're back on Earth. I have to do this Melissa."
"But . . . " Will pressed a finger against her mouth, ceasing any retort. Then reached down to her hand and pulled off the most important thing Melissa had ever given her.
She grabbed Melissa's hand and placed it in her palm, then curled her fingers around it. "I'll be coming back for this. I promise."
"I'm going with you."
"No. If something happens to me in there, then there needs to be someone out here to take action. Only I can go in."
"But Will . . ."
Will stood on the tips of her toes and softly kissed Melissa. It felt strange to kiss someone who appeared younger. But she could never mistake the feeling of the woman behind the passion.
She pulled back an inch to whisper against her lips. "This is what we do as Guardians of the Veil. We give up our personal lives to ensure everyone else can live theirs."
She pecked Melissa once more before slipping out of her arms. "Tell the others, I'm getting that information to all of you. And I'll be coming back for that ring."
Before Marissa could stop her, Will opened a new portal behind her and bounced through to the otherside. It was quickly closed, leaving Star standing outside of the source of all of their problems.
Across the street of this tall tower was a small business, dwarfed by the magnificence of TechCom's skyscraper. A majority of the lights were on, and a few more people were getting off. A few who didn't have anything better to do at home.
Star quickly transformed into Starfire, albeit a much smaller version. But none would mistake her for someone else, for all knew her name, especially the person behind the camera trained on her from above.
Samuel Matthews' lair lied in darkness, filled only by the light originating from the multiple monitors decorating the space and a single red button lying dormant before him. He watched Star jump from the room and glide to the entrance of the building.
Perfect.
"Yes," he said to himself. "Come to me, Lost One."
Once Star landed before the door, he reached down and gently pressed the button.
"Come to me."
