Betrayal of the Heart

By: FunahoMisaki

(A/N: I own nothing.)

"Is that possible?" Tibor asked stunned, in all his years he had never heard of anything like that happening before.

"It seems so." The Oracle said looking a bit torn on how to react to this but he was seemingly leaning more towards the distraught side of the spectrum.

"But…it's the Heart of Kandrakar! Who could hold that much power inside of them?" Alfor seemed similarly stunned at hearing this. After all the Heart of Kandrakar was the last known relic of the nymph and princess Xin Jing! It was one of the strongest things in the known universe!

"This isn't the first time nor will it be the last that the Heart of a world is within a living person." The Oracle reminded as he glanced over at Elyon rather pointedly. The Heart of Meriddean was known for being passed down the royal family, mother to daughter.

There were also some other worlds where the Hearts were in living things, the world of dust and rocks where the Heart was in a Golem for instance. There was also Avalon whose royal family had the Heart passed down it as well, although not strictly to either gender.

"But those aren't the Heart of Kandrakar! Yes they are powerful, being the Heart of a world requires that, but they do not also contain the remnants of the Nymph Xin Jing's powers!" Tibor said and his eyes were stunned and showed slight fear. Such power in the hands of one person. It sent a chill down his spine.

"Unfortunately, it doesn't contain just the remains of her powers." Luba said grimly as she stood there tense and clenching her fists. She was one of the only two who knew the truth of that, it had been a very well-kept secret between her and the Oracle. After all it had been deemed to be far too dangerous to let the knowledge slip to anyone else as long as the Heart remained. But now that it was in the hands, and body, of someone else.

"It was one of the best kept secrets. That the jewel not just contained the Heart and the remains of her powers…but it also carried with it part of Xin Jings' soul." Oracle said nodding and knowing that he couldn't keep it a secret anymore. Not when the Heart was in someone else's hands, someone who he didn't know and wasn't in his sphere of influence.

"So now someone is wandering around with the powers of a Heart, including our elements, and with the soul of a Nymph in him or her?" Cornelia asked and she was clenching her fists. Her powers were gone. They were gone. She couldn't feel anything, not even a small connection that she usually had with any nearby plants.

She was as powerless as she had been before Will had come along to Heatherfield…and it was pissing her off!

"In a word? Yes." Oracle said nodding to her and he seemed to understand how much this was effecting the girls.

"What does this mean for both the universe and the girls?" Yan-lin asked looking worried as she glanced at her granddaughter who was staring around confused and mildly alarmed. She couldn't hear the wind. She wasn't able to hear the wind or hear anything that she usually could with her enhanced hearing. It was gone.

The wind was gone!

"The girls will be alright. We have elemental hearts that they can use. It is similar to the Heart of Kandrakar in that it will connect them to an auramere and allow them to transform. They won't be as strong as they were initially with the Heart since they're connected to the backup Aurameres which are merely copies of the true ones…however if they train it enough then they'll be able to regain their former abilities and levels of powers." Oracle said and Luba snorted slightly under her breath.

"Given how lazy most of the girls were with training their powers before…I don't hold out hope that they'll be able to do anything of worth with the elemental hearts." Luba muttered to Tibor and Alfor who winced. It was true after all.

Cornelia had always been too proud, thinking it would come to her naturally. Irma had been too much of a joker, not really interested in being serious about it and just skating by on what she could get to come naturally. Taranee had been scared of her powers for a while and even after she got over that fear she was more into reading about the tactics and getting the most use and effect out of her powers for the least amount of effort.

Ironically it was the rather air-headed Hay-lin who had been one of the ones to train the hardest with her powers, wanting to hone her enhanced hearing so that it didn't overwhelm her anymore and having loved the feeling of flying.

It was left unsaid that Will had put in the most work in trying to master her powers when they showed up, working on her enhanced strength and speed that came from her powers being internalized since they weren't strong enough to manifest externally until after the Veil was lowered.

"Halinor…I know that you are grieving your bonded…but do you mind gathering the elemental hearts for the girls?" The Oracle asked kindly and the former guardians all looked stunned and horrified.

"…" Halinor said nothing as she merely turned and walked from the room, swaying slightly as if she were in shock as she left the room.

"She and Will were…" Cassidy was heartbroken as she stared after her old friend. She knew what happened when one of the bonded pair died.

"They were going to make it a familial bond…they were working towards that after Halinor was freed from Nerissa. They hadn't managed to get there fully though, that's why she didn't sense Will's passing. Since the bond wasn't complete there is a…a chance that she won't…" Luba trailed off as she looked worriedly at where Halinor had gone.

"Bonded?" Irma was confused as she looked between the ones who apparently knew what that meant.

"Soul bonded…I believe on Earth most people call them soul mates? That can be both romantic and familial. It's usually up to the pair and the circumstances. Due to the age difference between them Halinor and Will agreed that it would be a family bond." Tibor said explaining it a bit to the girls who looked stunned at that as well. Will…and Halinor?

"They were working towards solidifying their family bond after Nerissa was taken care of…they weren't fully bonded before her death, that's why Halinor couldn't sense Will's demise like most bonded could." Alfor said sadly, he knew what usually happened when one of a pair of bonded died.

"Most bonded do not live long without their other bonded. The longest case was when one part of a romantically paired bonded died and the other was pregnant with their child…it was only the baby that kept the other bonded going…when she miscarried…that was it. She lost the will to live and just wilted away." The Oracle said looking pained as he recalled that, he had known them after all.

"So then…Halinor will…" Taranee looked distraught at hearing what was going to happen to Halinor.

Luba was the one to give them a helpless uncertain look as she answered the unasked question.

"We are…unsure. They weren't fully bonded. It's possible that the bond not being complete will let Halinor hang on to her life but…we will have to watch her closely to make sure she doesn't waste away or take her own life."