Betrayal of the Heart
By: FunahoMisaki
(A/N: I own nothing.)
Halinor was in a daze as she went to fetch the elemental hearts. Her body moved on autopilot but even still seemed to sway slightly to a breeze that wasn't there. Her mind was clouded with grief and soul crushing despair.
She was gone. Will was gone. Will, her Will, was gone from the universe. No longer there. No longer going to pop up in Kandrakar for tea with Halinor when things were slow, no longer going to shyly ask for help with her math homework. No longer going to be there to fetch Halinor and bring her to Earth, back to Heatherfield of all places, to have regular meet ups with Yan-lin, Cassidy, and Kadma.
There was no more Will. No more Will to talk to about different aspects of the girls growing powers that Nerissa wasn't around to tell her about. No more Will to confide some of the stupid things her colleagues on the council had done over the years. No more Will who brought her games and books from Earth to help keep her entertained after an off hand comment about how there was often nothing to do here in the palace.
No Will…no more of her other half. The other half of her very soul was just gone.
There would be no more after school meetups to just talk and have tea or help the younger girl study or listen to her vent about her friends when they did something stupid or funny at the most inopportune moment. No more bonding over books that Will brought for her or games that Will let her borrow in order to try, even if it had taken almost an hour for Will to show her how to work some of the gaming systems that were completely new to her. After all she had left Earth in the fifties. None of those types of games had been invented yet.
No more Will to walk her through a card game that her friends didn't seem to care for but Halinor was fascinated by, if only for how happy and excited Will had gotten when Halinor asked her to explain it. There would be no more Will who sometimes dragged Halinor, and occasionally one of the others under a glamour, to the movie theaters to show them the latest movie that she thought they might like.
Halinor was still in a daze but she gave a small sad smile as she considered how Luba must be feeling. The cat woman was the closest one to Will on the council aside from Halinor herself, having taken the red head under her paws as a sort of protégé. Halinor had spent several afternoons enjoying tea while watching Luba give Will some training in sword play or martial arts, the girls enhanced strength needing some refining and tempering after she had accidentally punched a hole through a solid marble pillar.
Halinor wouldn't claim to be the closest to Luba, they were friends sure but not quite close…but even she had seen how Luba seemed to have taken to Will as if the girl was a stray kitten that needed guidance and perhaps a firm hand at times.
Now though….now Will was gone. Gone forever. There was no more thoughts in the blonds mind that weren't her own, the muttering and sometimes rambled thoughts belonging to the red head quiet. Halinor would no longer hear some rather creative descriptions or curses or plans in the back of her mind while she had nothing to do but wander the fortress. She would no longer have to bite the inside of her lip or her tongue to keep from laughing during a serious council meeting or even just a serious talk due to the red heads thoughts taking a funny turn.
No longer would she have to avoid laughing at the very sight of the Oracle after she had heard a half awake Will's thoughts on how the council robes looked like dresses…along with a mental picture of the Oracle waring a blue and white sundress. Halinor wasn't even sure that Will remembered that thought, after all the girl had been half awake half asleep due to the apparent early hour.
No longer would she have the red head popping up at random or staying the night on Halinors couch at random after she got into an argument with her mother for some reason or another. No longer would Halinor be able to whisper quiet soothing thoughts into the girls mind when she needed to keep a level head or was just having a bad day. No longer would she be able to just feel the girls presence.
She wouldn't hear another joke from the girl, from the other half of her very existence.
She would no longer try to keep a straight face while the girl was whispering jokes in her mind or aloud out of the corner of her mouth. No more would she see confused faces of the other council members like when during a meeting the Oracle had said it was time to get down to business and Will, completely straight faced, had immediately replied with 'to defeat the huns'. The younger guardians had all cracked up in their own ways, as had Yan-lin and Cassidy and even Luba while Halinor tried to keep from giggling.
Seeing Wills completely straight face while the rest of the Council and Kadma had looked baffled had broken her into a full on laugh however. Had made her laugh harder and more than she had since Cassidy died.
There was no more Will, would be no more of those fun happy times. No more sweet but feisty red head to sooth the cracks and broken pieces of Halinor and give her courage when she had thought she had none. She would no longer be there to heal the fractured and shattered pieces of the younger girl and give her not just advice but also a warm hand, more level head, and unconditional acceptance.
She was gone and Halinor could feel her heart shattering in her chest still. The pieces of the heart that had broken as soon as she heard the news breaking further and further with every step she took. The walls of the fortress had seemed to be so bright this morning when she woke up to hear Will's thoughts already going a mile a minute about different school work she needed or had to do and then about the attack of the leftover Lurdens.
The walls and world around her had seemed so bright, she had felt so happy and light as a feather in a way she hadn't since she lost her Guardian wings…but then…then those thoughts had gone silent and she had feared that perhaps the girl was hurt. She had thought that Will had fallen unconscious and had been ready to go as soon as she saw the fold open in front of her and her old friends. She had been so worried when she had returned to Kandrakar and hadn't seen the red head but only the dirtied and distraught forms of the other four.
Everything was so dark now to her eyes. So dark and gloomy without the younger girl. Without the muttered thoughts in her mind that went down ten different rabbit trails an hour it seemed. With the knowledge that the second half of her soul was gone and not coming back. Gone like Cassidy had been all those years ago. Gone like Nerissa may as well be now.
This morning everything was so bright and light but now…now it was all dark and heavy. As if something had stolen all the color and brightness from her vision and an invisible weight was pressing down on her from all sides. Her light was gone.
Her light. Her Will. It was gone. She was gone. She was gone and Halinor hadn't even felt it.
Why didn't she feel it?
"We will try to find whoever has merged with the Heart of Kandrakar…however with them being the Heart of this world then that means that whoever it is…they can shield themselves from our sight." She heard the Oracle talking to the girls when she returned, the four pendants in her hand which was just dangling at her side.
"So we're being left in the dark again." Cornelia summed up and she didn't sound happy about it. Not that anyone could blame her. Usually everyone was sure that the Heart would chose a worthy pure hearted wielder, Nerissa having been chosen by the Oracle instead of the Heart itself as Halinor had learned over the years, but this time there was no way to know who had merged with the Heart. After all what kind of person merges with the Heart of Kandrakar? How strong would they have to be to wield that kind of power?
Not that Halinor cared. She might have before…she might have this morning…but now. Halinor found she didn't really care what happened to her or about anything at all really.
"I'm truly sorry but we know as much as you do. If young Will had still been alive-"And those words sent a sharp piercing stab of pain through Halinor and her mind let out a cry of anguish and sorrow. The younger guardians fell to their knees again, and Halinor noticed how the others had winced visibly. Even the Oracle had flinched badly.
They all turned and noticed her standing there now as she slowly walked into the room. Her body still swaying unsteadily and her steps unsure as she walked towards them.
"You're broadcasting Hallie." Cassidy said softly and Halinor frowned for a second. She hadn't felt any drain on her life force to indicate any usage of her powers. She'd probably feel it later then…not that she cared how much it drained her.
"My apologies." Halinor's voice was dead and emotionless even to her own ears, and she did her best to lock down all of her thoughts and her mind again behind her mental shields that had a little over forty years of strength and experience put into them.
"The Elemental hearts sir." Halinor said holding the pendants out to the Oracle who nodded to her with a kind worried smile and took them from her hand which then fell limply back to her side.
Halinor didn't pay any attention as he gave them to the girls who immediately put them on.
She didn't stick around to watch as they transformed though. There should be five girls transforming and exclaiming in joy over their powers and wings…instead there was four and the missing fifth one left a hole as big as the Grand Canyon in Halinors mind and stood out to her like a neon sign on a dark night.
She didn't even look at anyone else as she turned and stumbled from the room, just needing to get away from them. Will should be there. But if she was there then this meeting wouldn't be happening. But she should still be there! Will shouldn't be gone. Shouldn't be in the dark and cold and dying on another world.
She should be here with Halinor. Should have been stumbling her way into the reunion and flopping down on the seat that was left empty for her and faceplanting on the table. Should have them all watching amused as she took a minute before she, not for the first time, looked up at them and clearly told them that they weren't going to believe what her dumbass friends did this time.
She shouldn't be gone where Halinor couldn't reach. She should be here. They should all be back at the Silver Dragon laughing and eating and drinking tea and just enjoying the moment.
But she was gone. Gone. Gone. The noise in her mind was gone. The muttering thoughts of Will were gone. The light was gone.
Will was gone…and Halinor felt as if she had died as well.