WITCH'S: Guardian of Shadows

by crocgirl9219

Serena has been floating through life ever since her parent's real estate company took off and they left her behind to run it. The arrival of a new girl at school sets incredible events in motion and reveals a previously unknown magic. Serena finds new a new purpose in the Rebellion and in a certain rebel leader. Pretty much the only CalebxOc in existence.

2. Chapter 2 It Resumes

Walking into the school courtyard the next morning, the dark bags under her eyes were still puffy despite the layers of concealer she used to try to cover them. Luckily, her screams hadn't woken Bromwell. This time. She hated thinking about how much sleep he must have been losing as a result of her issues. She tried her best to keep the extent of her nightmares under wraps, but it was like fighting a losing battle. It was kind of difficult to keep from screaming in the middle of the night if she didn't know she was screaming in the first place. Her only clue in was the soreness of her throat when she woke up.

She rubbed her eyes to make the bleariness go away and spotted Taranee and Hay Lin sitting in the shade of one of the outdoor corridors.

"You look tired," Hay Lin stated when Serena dropped her book bag and slid down the wall next to her. She closed her eyes and leaned back, resting her head against the bricks.

"You're telling me you got a full night's sleep after yesterday?" Serena rebutted, her voice still rough with sleep.

"Well no, not exactly," Hay Lin admitted, shrugging her shoulders sheepishly.

"Well there you go."

"You guys look like death," Irma chirped as she and Cornelia walked up and joined them.

Serena didn't even bother to open her eyes. "We've already established that."

"Just making sure."

From then on, the rest of the conversation went in one ear and out the other. All of her energy was being dedicated solely to keeping her head from drooping too much while still allowing her to rest comfortably. Her eyelids were so heavy they felt like they were glued shut. She hoped they weren't, eye boogers were gross. In all honesty, she could probably just sag into a heap if she let herself. It wasn't as though the thought wasn't appealing, a horizontal surface had to be easier to sleep on, even if it was concrete. On the other hand, going from bricks to concrete might not be much of an upgrade.

"Hey guys."

Serena peeled open her eyes, blinking against the light at the sound of Will's voice. She forced herself to sit up straighter. "Hey."

Will's steps faltered as five pairs of eyes turned to her. "So... how's everyone doing?"

Cornelia crossed her arms as a cruel sneer distorted her face. "You mean aside from being attacked by a giant snake monster or just in general?"

Will's shoulders hunched at Cornelia's harsh words. "Uh... both?"

"Last night sucked," Irma said bluntly. "We have all these magic powers and we couldn't even stop one bad guy."

"How were we supposed to fight it?" Serena countered, turning to face Irma from her seated position. "We'd only gotten our powers like two hours before!"

"It's my fault" Will looked away sadly, her hands folding in front of her. "If I had closed the portal sooner, we could have stopped him."

"It's not your fault," Taranee reassured, placing a hand on Will's shoulder. "None of us knew what we were doing." She looked pointedly at Cornelia who just rolled her eyes.

"Hey, how'd you even close the portal anyways?" Hay Lin asked Will. "I was so scared I had my eyes closed."

"I don't know," she admitted, pulling the Heart out from under her denim vest. "I just pulled out the Heart and then there was a bunch of lightning and the next thing I knew, the portal was closing.

"Well the portal was producing lightning too remember?" Taranee pointed out. "Maybe the lightning from the Heart cancelled it out, making it close."

Will shrugged. "Maybe. You're guess is as good as mine.

"Probably better," Irma said, leaning into Cornelia. "So, what do we do now?"

"What do you expect us to do?" Cornelia gestured to the six of them. "We don't even know what's on the other side of that portal."

"Well we can't just sit here and do nothing!" Irma gestured widely as her voice raised.

Cornelia sneered, ready to fire off but before they could argue further, the bell rang.

"Talk about saved by the bell," Serena muttered pulling herself up with groan as she stretched her back. "We can figure all that out at lunch," she decided. "Right now, I've got to go tape my eyelids open for Mrs. Rudolph's algebra class."

"Ugh," Cornelia groaned. "You had to remind me. Who thought math for first period was a good idea?"

"Not me." Serena grabbed her backpack and moved to stand next her and Will. They were in the same block together, so they mostly had the same classes. "When I got my schedule at open house I almost cried."

"Good luck," Irma wished them as she, Taranee and Hay Lin headed off for their English class. They were in the same block as well but a grade below them.

"Thanks, I'm going to need it," Will waved before following Cornelia and Serena into the STEM wing of the building. Algebra 1 was on the second floor.

"Good morning class!" Mrs. Rudolph greeted as they walked into the door. Mrs. Rudolph was a kind, heavy set woman who wore large, purple tinted glasses. She taught math classes at several levels which meant Serena would have her throughout her time at Sheffield.

Serena and Cornelia took the seats they'd chosen yesterday and pulled out their supplies. Will managed to find an empty desk beside Serena and took it before anyone else could. They sat towards the back of the class by the windows that overlooked the courtyard below.

"Your five minute warmup is on the board," Mrs. Rudolph announced as she jiggled her mouse, booting up her desktop computer.

Serena took one look at the incomprehensible stream of letters and numbers on the board and her forehead hit her desk with a thump.

—

Four agonizingly brain numbing hours later, the lunch bell finally rang. Serena practically bolted out of English 1, hurriedly exchanging her English textbook for her lunch bag. Slamming her locker door shut, she joined the throngs of students walking down the halls to their next period. Despite the large number of people crowding the hallways, everyone kept to an unspoken rule, you walk on the right side of the hallway. Given that Sheffield accommodated grades 6-12, this made hall traffic at least somewhat manageable.

It was warm outside today so most of the kids in her lunch period were eating in the courtyard. Living on the coast meant it rained all the time so sunny days with clear skies were a bit of a rarity. She briefly held the door open for the next person behind her and stepped out of the overwhelming A/C into the warm sunlight.

She spotted Irma lounging in the grass against a tree next to one of the double sided concrete benches that were scattered throughout the courtyard. Taranee and Hay Lin sat next to her, actually using the bench. She saw Will sit down on the other side just as Cornelia climbed up and perched herself on the backrest, always having to be the center of attention.

She rolled her eyes and walked over to join them, sitting in the empty space on the bench beside Cornelia's legs. Said blonde was in the middle of a tirade on the importance of color coordination at the expense of Will who was busy sipping on her soda and ignoring her. Who knows what she had said to get Cornelia started. Probably nothing, Cornelia loved to give out unsolicited fashion advice usually intermixed with insults and petty comments. It was one of the many reasons she doesn't go shopping with Cornelia unless it was in a group.

She caught Will's eye and gave her a wink in solidarity before tuning out Cornelia as well. It was Tuesday which meant today was a sandwich day. She pulled out a pb&j sandwich with its crust diligently cut off by Bromwell. She took a bite, content to just sit in the moment and people watch before getting down to business.

Groups of students had sprawled all over the courtyard. Some sat on the double benches like they were, but others lounged on picnic blankets spread out over the grass. Serena felt a bit more secure in the knowledge that with so many people around, they'd be safe to have their less than normal conversation. With everyone else busy with their own conversations, not to mention the city natural ambient, the likelihood of anyone overhearing them was slim. Even then, it's not like eavesdroppers would have a clue what they were talking about anyways. To an outsider it would probably sound like they were talking about a movie. Or they might think they were in one of those weirds fantasy board game groups. She knew Martin was a part of an after school club that played those kinds of rpg games. Man, she certainly hoped nobody thought they were with them, that would be humiliating.

The sudden lack of conversation milling around Serena tuned her back into her own friend group. For a few moments all that was to be heard was the sound of chewing, sipping and the crinkling of plastic wrappers. It seemed like no one wanted to be the one to broach the topic they had met for.

Serena decided to break the silence herself, speaking up about something that had been weighing on her mind since the portal fight. "So, what are we going to do about the boy Lord Cedric caught?"

Will pulled a granola bar out of her brown paper bag, looking at it dejectedly. "That poor boy," she said lowly. "I wonder who he was?"

Hay Lin lowered her banana before saying what they were all thinking. "I wonder what that thing did to him?"

"It's what it could have done to us that worries me," admitted Taranee in between bites of her sub. "I mean that's what we're supposed to fight with our so called powers?"

'Taranee was right,' Serena thought. Their powers had had no effect on the snake creature. They most they had done was muss up his hair from the wind caused by the Heart's energy. The energy they had pulled together didn't even attack the monster. All it had done was close the portal, sending them flying back instead of Cedric. Maybe if they had concentrated on attacking instead of closing the portal, they might have gotten to the boy in time. They had been completely caught off guard and as a result that boy was probably dead. She didn't even know that random monsters were something they would have to deal with.

She turned and braced her arm on the backrest to face the others. "Ok does anyone actually remember Yan Lin saying anything about fighting evil creatures because I'm almost sure that bit got lost in the fine print."

"She did say that Meridian had been taken over by an evil prince bent on taking over the universe so maybe that counted?" Irma suggested, shrugging nonchalantly.

"Well I don't know about you but I'd rather 'risk of getting eaten' not be in the job description," Serena huffed. "Plus, couldn't she have given us like a bestiary or something? Or maybe an introductory pamphlet like 'Welcome to Guardianhood, here's how to battle LITERAL MONSTERS!" She threw her hands in the air incredulously. Seeing a few people's eyes turn at her outburst, she sat back in her seat demurely.

"Yeah no way am I going to fight mutant lizards from the twilight zone," Cornelia nodded from above. "I'm sorry but I am far too pretty to end up as snake poo." She flipped her gold hair from emphasis.

Despite her frustration, Serena couldn't help herself. "Is there another kind of poo you're better suited for?"

Cornelia scoffed, outraged at the suggestion while the other girls laughed.

"So, about the guy," Irma reiterated after they'd sobered up. "We can't just leave him to the hands of that Cedric thing. I still say we should rescue him."

"How do we even know he needs rescued?" Taranee questioned, eating a spoonful of yogurt. "We don't know why Lizard Man was after him in the first place. What if he's a criminal or something?"

"Are you kidding me?" Irma exclaimed, sitting up off the tree. "That thing was totally going to eat us if he hadn't found the guy first. I don't know about you but roaring in someone's face doesn't exactly scream 'good guy'."

"Irma's right," said Hay Lin, gesturing to her with her candy bar. "We're Guardians, we're like heroes now. It's our duty to help those in need."

"Hey, I already have to donate a portion of my allowance to charity," Cornelia argued. "Even if we could rescue this guy, which I highly doubt, we have no idea where to even find him."

"Ooh I got it!" Irma jumped up, pounding her fist into her palm. "We can do a recon mission!"

"A what mission?" asked Will, scrunching up her granola wrapper.

"It's this thing people do in heist movies," she explained, pacing excitedly in front of them. "Before they go in to steal the goods, they always scope out the place. Y'know check entrances and exits and stuff. Basically, they make sure they know the lay of the land before they start planning."

"That's a great idea!" Hay Lin cheered.

"I don't know guys," Taranee hesitated, her eyebrows furrowed nervously. "It could be dangerous."

"I think it could work," Will chimed in. "I mean it always works in the movies. How hard could it be? We just sneak around and look at stuff and decide from there. No fighting and no monsters," she nodded reassuringly at Taranee.

Irma extended her hand. "Are you in?" she asked Serena and Cornelia who hadn't yet voiced their opinion.

Serena looked to the side, thinking carefully. On the one hand she was not eager to encounter anything like Cedric any time soon. The planet of Metamoor could be full of horrible creatures like that waiting to snatch them up. On the other hand, Will, Irma and Hay Lin seemed pretty in favor of the idea. Plus, it sounded like the logical first step which is something Taranee would approve of. Not to mention she felt guilty that they hadn't been able to get a grip on their powers soon enough to stop Cedric. It was technically their fault the guy had been captured. If he died it would be on them.

"I'm totally in," she said finally, walking around the bench to her clasp her hand in Irma's. She then turned to Cornelia, looking at her imploringly.

Cornelia looked back and forth at her friends pleading faces before getting to her feet with a groan. "Fine," she sighed, crossing her arms.

The girls cheered but their celebration was cut short by the bell, signaling the end of lunch period. They threw their garbage into the trash can beside the bench and headed inside. Now that they had a plan in motion, they just had to find a portal. Things were looking up.

"It's class picture day tomorrow," Will brought up as they walked through the doors. "Do you guys get dressed up?"

"What?" "No!" "Of course not!" The other five girls denied adamantly.

"Nobody even cares about picture day," Serena waved off the idea.

"Except Cornelia," Irma interjected. "She started shopping for it in kindergarten," Irma grinned cheekily, earning her a dirty look from Cornelia.

"No really," Serena leaned into Will. "She plans all her outfits like a week in advance. She's got pictures taped to a Calendar."

"I wonder where that boy is now?" mused Hay Lin back to the subject of their previous conversation.

"Hopefully somewhere we can get to him easily," Serena answered somberly as they broke apart and headed to their respective afternoon classes.

—-

They met up again after school to walk home together as usual. Serena had spent her free period skateboarding around the block with the guys. Now she cradled it under her arm as she walked beside Irma and Cornelia. When her parents first hired Bromwell after Moore Industries took off, he offered to pick her up from school as well as drop her off. She politely declined the offer, though it took some time for Bromwell to accept it, in favor of walking with her friends.

Today was the first day Will had joined them on the walk home. Thankfully, she was way more talkative compared to yesterday's walk to the Silver Dragon. She actually participated in the conversation which was nice. Serena was glad she felt included. Since her parents left, she had made a conscious effort to not let anyone feel left out. After all, she of all people knew how much that could hurt.

They turned the corner onto Brisky St. when Hay Lin jumped in front of them and started skipping backwards. "So, when do we go on the recon mission huh? Tonight?" she asked eagerly.

"Woah slow down Tinkerbell," Cornelia instructed. "We can rescue this rebel leader after picture day, right?"

"Call me a whimp," said Taranee. "But in the school yearbook I'd like to still have a face.

Irma rolled her eyes at the two of them. "Forget picture day," she chastised. "I don't care what I look like, I care about who I am. Let's go kick some Meridian butt!" she cheered, punching her fist in the air. "Maybe there'll be some cute evil boys over there like the one that... snake thing caught."

Serena's eyebrows furrowed as she turned to her confused. "Wait how do you know he was cute?"

Irma shrugged casually. "I have a sense for these kinds of things."

Serena raised an eyebrow. "Oh really?"

Will shook her head. "I don't think we should go so soon," she confessed. "I mean I get that time is of the essence and all, but I don't know how much help we'll be in a rescue attempt by soaking him and covering him with garbage. Let's practice again tomorrow and then we can go."

As much as Serena wanted to move as quickly as possible, Will did make sense. They could barely fly, with the exception of Hay Lin and their powers were shoddy at best. Even if they did rescue the boy, if they ran into Cedric again or something worse, they'd be toast. Actually, they'd probably be the jam on the toast because Cedric would squash them like bugs.

When they reached the intersection of Brisky and Fifth Will went to turn down her street but stopped when she noticed Taranee still walking ahead with the rest of the group. She could have sworn they lived in the same direction. "Taranee don't you go this way?"

Taranee laughed breathily and turned around. "My dad's cooking tonight, I'm going to Irma's place. See you tomorrow Will," she waved.

"Oh ok. Bye guys," Will waved back, watching forlornly as the tight knit group walked on without her.

"Catch you later," Serena called back before turning back to the other girls.

"So, you really aren't getting dressed up for your picture?" Hay Lin asked Cornelia, surprised.

Irma laughed. "Yeah right. Like there's going to be any clothes or makeup left in the world after Cornelia's finished. Hello?"

"Got to get camera ready," Serena added, grinning as Cornelia's eyebrow started to tick.

"Whatever," Cornelia hissed, crossing her arms.

The girls laughed at Cornelia's characteristic response. Irma satisfied with her contribution mercifully switched the topic from an aggravated Cornelia to the latest Boyzilla CD that had just come out. Allegedly this album had a track that had been recorded when Zack was still with the band. No one knew if it was true or not since he had left halfway through recording. Hay Lin was explaining her latest theory as to why Zack left the band, the last one being that he was secretly dating Harrison's little sister which had caused fighting between the two band mates. She was halfway into a story about how she saw a grainy picture of Zack with a shadow over his face that could have been a black eye when they reached Cornelia and Serena's turn. They hurriedly made their goodbyes as Hay Lin tried to pull them back, talking quickly about how the photo was actually connected to a previous story about Nicki's pet pigeon he'd snuck on the tour bus. The two blondes ducked out as quickly as they could, waving apologetically to a pleading Taranee and Irma.

They walked in silence for several minutes. Cornelia was one of those friends a person was only friends with because you've known them for so long and you happen to spend so much time together. Serena would like to think there was a time when they were younger that they might have been real friends. Most of Serena's fonder memories of Cornelia were from when they were in elementary school or when they were hanging with the other girls as a group.

Serena was trying to make up her mind about whether she should try and start a conversation when they passed an entertainment shop. There was a poster of Vance Michael Justin in the window and as soon as Cornelia spotted it her eyes got wide and her mouth dropped in a silent scream.

"What?" Serena asked. She looked at Cornelia, following her gaze to the window before her face fell. "Oh."

"Vance Michael Justin," Cornelia breathed, approaching the window in a daze.

"Cornelia come on," Serena groaned as Cornelia pressed her face against the glass, gazing into VMJ'S paper eyes. When she didn't respond Serena rolled her eyes and grabbed a hold of her arm. "Cornelia let's go!" She pulled on her arm, trying to get her to move away from the poster. Cornelia pressed her other hand against the glass and tried to pull herself away from Serena, her eyes never leaving the poster. "Cornelia this is ridiculous!" Serena grabbed her with both hands and tugged hard, making Cornelia jolt. She took advantage of her unbalance to start walking away with her. Cornelia stumbled as Serena dragged her away from the poster.

"No! Vance Michael!" Cornelia cried, reaching back to the poster desperately.

Serena kept a firm hold on her as she dragged her kicking and screaming away from the store. She could have sworn she saw the shop owner sticking her head out the door, staring after them. Serena blushed as she gave the two of them a weird look before going back inside. Stupid Cornelia and her stupid crush.

Cornelia didn't stop struggling until she had pulled her around the corner and out of view of the poster. She let her arm go limp, but Serena held on for several more steps, ready to tighten her grip in case she made a run for it. Cornelia just scowled at her before jerking her arm out of Serena's grasp and crossing them in front of her chest, pouting. Serena watched her face closely but eventually dubbed her no longer a flight risk. Cornelia gave her the silent treatment for the next two blocks before she suddenly gasped. Serena whipped around, frantically trying to spot the VMJ memorabilia that must have caught her attention again.

"Did you know Vance is making a new Corilian Chronicles movie?" Cornelia asked, bouncing on the balls of her feet.

"Uh yeah," Serena answered hesitantly, ready for another fan girl meltdown. "I saw the trailer the other day."

"Wasn't it amazing?" Cornelia sighed dreamily. "Of course, I found all the Easter eggs. The emblem on the hilt of the Sword of Fire was obviously the same one from the..."

Serena deadpanned and kept walking. Unfortunately, Cornelia followed her, still yammering about the trailer. If there was one thing Cornelia could out nerd Taranee at it was VMJ trivia. Not that she didn't love VMJ as well, she had a couple cutouts of him from magazines tapped to her wall. She also had all five of his CDs next to her speaker. But Cornelia' crush was next level. If she were old enough to drive, she would probably stalk him in person as well as online. Both she and Irma went cuckoo for Cocoa Puffs over him. It was one of the few things they could actually agree on.

Serena breathed a sigh of relief when they turned a corner and she spotted Gardenza Plaza down the block. Just a few more minutes and she could finally ditch Crazy Corny. As soon as they made it in front of the entrance to Cornelia's apartment building Serena said a quick "bye!" and speed walked down the sidewalk. Cornelia was still going off behind her, so she increased her pace to a slight jog. She finally stopped when she reached the front door of Silver Plaza, panting slightly as she looked back to see if she had made a clean get away. She spotted Cornelia's blonde hair just as she went into her building. She let out a deep breath and headed for her doorway.

"Long day Serena?" Rob the doorman asked as he held the door open for her.

"You have no idea," she said, thanking him politely as she walked into the lobby. As soon as she entered, she was hit by a blast cold air. Compared to the hot and muggy August air, it felt like walking into a wall.

Riding the elevator to floor fifteen she walked out into the open foyer of her family's penthouse apartment. For the most part, the entire right side of the apartment was a line of continuous glass windows overlooking the Heatherfield skyline. She walked down the hallway, passing the living room in its grey and white color scheme. The interior wall was made entirely of black marble with an electric fireplace in the middle. When they first moved in here a couple months ago, her parents were adamant about keeping the modern style colors and fixtures. She wasn't allowed to paint her room, so she had to make do with colorful posters and magazine clippings. She made a beeline passed the opulent dining room to the interior hallway where the bedrooms were located.

Once she made it to her room, she plopped down into her desk chair, letting it spin briefly before rummaging through her backpack. She pulled out her school folders and her planner. Flipping to today's date she ran down the list of homework assignments, mentally calculating how long she could wait before doing them. At the bottom of the page in bright red ink was the words 'PICTURE DAY' underlined and circled. She stared at the note before leaning back and looking at her closet. One of the doors was slid back just a few inches, revealing a series of shirts hung in two rows. Looking back at her planner, she thought back to their conversation on the walk home.

She glanced back at her closet. A familiar bright blue shirt stood out surrounded by darker t-shirts, its silver embroidery sparkling in the light.

Well...

—

"You hypocrite!" Cornelia hissed, placing her hands on her hips.

"What?" Irma asked incredulously.

"What do you mean 'what?' 'Oh, I don't care what I look like, I care about who I am," she parroted, imitating Irma's previous statement in a nasally voice. She raised her eyebrow pointedly at Irma's red off the shoulder crop top, studded belt, and hoop earrings.

Then she turned her judgment on Hay Lin. "Nice shoes," she sneered referring to Hay Lin's purple Mary Janes with yellow stars that matched her dress. "Are you going to the land of Oz after school?"

"Lay off her Cornelia," Serena growled, giving her a warning look.

Cornelia whirled around and narrowed her eyes at her. "Oh, don't think I've forgotten about you Little Miss 'nobody even cares about picture day.' I see you broke out the Bloomingdales."

Serena bristled. "It's only the shirt!" she protested, crossing an arm over the blue thick strap crop top self-consciously. The denim vest and skirt had come from Aeropostale. "And don't you start, you're practically rolling in designer!"

"Well what did you expect? We all knew I was lying." She flipped her hair and tugged up her low rise jeans. She had a Gucci belt on the outside of the belt loops, but it was for decoration only. Everyone knew you never wore a belt for its intended purpose. "Oh! And here comes Miss. 'I get dizzy in high heels," she mocked as Taranee came running towards them wearing a yellow tunic and platform sandals. She skidded to a stop in front of them and bent over to catch her breath before holding up a faded green backpack.

"Is that for your cape and tiara?" Cornelia smiled condescendingly.

"It's Will's backpack," Taranee explained hurriedly. "I found it lying on the sidewalk, the crystal's still in it!"

"Well maybe she just dropped it?" Hay Lin suggested hopefully, looking worriedly at the backpack.

"And didn't notice?" Taranee stressed. "Get real, her science textbook alone must way twenty pounds." She reached into the backpack's side pocket and pulled out the Heart of Kandrakar in all its shining and musical glory.

Serena started to get worried and kicked off the wall. "Is her phone in it?" she asked, rummaging through the pockets. She eventually found it in a front pocket and flipped it open, but the screen remained dark. "Dead," she said gravely, snapping it shut.

"What are we going to do?" Irma's voice hitched as she joined them, all of them crowding around the backpack as if protecting this one piece of Will.

"Should we call the police?" Cornelia asked, starting to look concerned.

Just then the Heart shook and started to chime loudly. Serena flinched and peaked around Irma's head to see if anyone had noticed. Taranee stuffed the Heart into Will's backpack but it's chiming was only muffled.

"Can't you put that thing on vibrate?" Cornelia snapped, lowering her voice.

Taranee looked at her in disbelief. "I don't know how it works," she hissed back.

"Guys people are going to see!" Hay Lin whispered, putting a hand over her mouth to shield her words from would be eavesdroppers.

The girls started to shift nervously, looking around anxiously for prying eyes while frantically trying to figure out what to do about Will. Serena shifted her weight, unconsciously. Readjusting her foot put her slightly in front of Taranee and shielded the backpack from view as she scanned the courtyard.

"I know a place," said Irma looking from the people in the courtyard to the front door which still had students pouring through it. "Follow me." She led them into the building through a side door at the end of one of the outdoor corridors. As they speed walked down the hall, Serena's eyes darted towards the other students hanging around at the lockers. She studied their faces for any sign that they were onto them. Taranee clutched the jingling backpack to her chest, slightly hunched over it as if she could muffle it with her body. Irma lead them up the stairs to a hallway on the second floor of the liberal arts wing.

She walked up to a classroom door and peered through the tiny window. Apparently, it was empty because she then turned the handle and opened the door. "In here." She beckoned them into the classroom, doing a double check of the hallway before closing the door behind her.

"I feel like I should be concerned with the number of hiding places you know of," Serena remarked.

They congregated in the center of the room, away from the door and windows before Hay Lin pulled out the Heart. It was still chiming. Suddenly a particularly bright ring of light rippled across its surface and an image appeared within the crystal. Serena squinted against the pink light, peering closer. When she made out the picture she gasped and jerked back. It was Will! Still dressed in yesterday's clothes and struggling against rosy vines that restrained her.

"We've got to go get her!" Hay Lin insisted, looking mournfully at the tears rolling down Will's face.

"You're serious? You wanna skip school on picture day?" Cornelia looked at her like she was crazy.

"What does picture day have to do with anything?" Serena exclaimed incredulously. "Cornelia she's been kidnapped."

"We don't know that!" Cornelia reached, her eyes looking sheepishly off to the side.

"Are you kidding me? She's literally tied up right now!" Serena gestured to Will's trembling form in the Heart. "What the heck is wrong with you?" She glared daggers at her. She couldn't believe Cornelia was being so selfish that she'd risk someone's life over school picture day.

Cornelia, though thoroughly chastised, crossed her arms defensively and looked down her nose at Serena. "Well what's your plan huh? We don't even know how to find her."

"Um we may not know," Hay Lin interrupted. "But this thing seems to have an idea." The Heart was pulling against her grasp, extending its chain like an arrow. She stood up and walked towards the other end of the room. The Heart adjusted its angle so that it continued to pull in the same direction.

"It's like a homing beacon," Taranee gasped, snapping her fingers. "It could lead us to Will."

They headed to the door. Taranee stuck her head out, looking down the hallway in both directions before giving the all clear. Hay Lin walked out first with the Heart and it immediately changed directions, pointing towards the stairwell. They followed the Heart as it led them down the stairs and through the school back towards the courtyard. The exited through the same side door Irma had shown them so as to avoid anyone spotting them. They crouched low as they snuck past the windows of classes still in session. The Heart guided them to a maintenance door on the side of the building. Hay Lin tried turning the doorknob, but it was locked.

"What are we going to do know?" Taranee asked. "The janitor is the only one with a key."

Hay Lin held the Heart up to Serena. "Hold this."

Serena took the Heart's chain and a shock travelled up her arm. She winced but tightened her fist around the chain. It was hot to the touch, almost to the point where it burned her fingers. Tingles races down her spine as goosebumps rose on her arms and the hair on the back of her neck shifted. She stared at the Heart in awe. Every time the Heart rippled with light, she felt a wave of energy rush through her. This thing held immense power, no doubt about that. It coursed through her veins, filling Serena to the brim with energy, making her feel lighter than air. She was almost sure that if she willed it, she could take off into the sky right now. She felt like she could do anything.

Hay Lin knelt down in front of the doorknob and reached into her hair, pulling out two bobby-pins. She pulled and bent them into a different shape before inserting them into the keyhole. She jiggled them around for a few seconds before there was an audible click and she reached up and turned the knob. The door unlocked and swung open.

"Ok we're good now." She stood and brushed the dirt off her knees. She looked up to see all of them gaping at her. "What?"

"How did you do that?" Cornelia finally voiced.

"Oh," Hay Lin smiled bashfully. "I found a YouTube tutorial."

"Wicked." Irma breathed in awe.

Serena blinked. She had forgotten what was happening around her. She could hear her friend's voices but couldn't make out the worlds. She felt like her head was underwater, seeing and hearing things at a distance, unaffected by the world around her as she floated serenely in a haze and warmth and energy.

Hay Lin plucked the Heart's chain out of Serena's hand. "Thank you."

Serena gasped as the ocean of energy rushed out of her. She shifted, trying to regain her balance and her breath. Her lungs felt sore as she took in gulps of air greedily. Had she forgotten to breath? Placing a hand over her chest to try and restrain her pounding heart, she glanced around to see if any of her friends had noticed her reaction. Their eyes were all on Hay Lin as she held the door open. Serena surveyed Hay Lin for a hint that she was feeling the same rush of power that she had but Hay Lin didn't look at all effected by reclaiming the Heart. She moved through the door and started walking down the stairs as if nothing had changed. Serena started dumbly as Irma, Taranee and Cornelia passed her, following Hay Lin. She shook her head, doing her best to snap out of it before following, closing the door slowly behind her in an effort to be extra quiet.

She jogged to catch up with her friends as they descend a flight of stairs into the underbelly of the school. The Heart was the only light source when they reached the bottom. Its meager glow barley illuminating the stairwell.

"I can't see a thing down here," Taranee complained.

Serena looked around the wall space and barely managed to make out a dark box with what looked like a series of switches on it. "Hold on, I think I might have found a light switch." She flipped a switch, hoping it was in fact a light and not something more technical. She didn't want to accidentally turn something on or off down here. Industrial lightbulbs flickered to life above them casting a dull orange glow over their surroundings. Pipes, wires, and fuse boxes lined the walls and ceiling with cobwebs stretching between them. Flies buzzed around the light bulbs which cast long dancing shadows down the hallway.

"You know, I think I liked it better when I couldn't see," said Taranee glancing nervously at the shadows and backing up into Cornelia, accidentally stepping on her shoe.

"Oww! Would you move it?" She ordered, pushing Taranee off of her.

The Heart chimed and gave another insistent tug on its chain, demanding they keep moving. As they walked down the hallways their footsteps stirred up dust from the floor which floated hazily around them.

Irma coughed, trying to clear her airways only to be met with more musty air. "So, this is where they store all the world's dust," she choked out

"It's a good thing none of us have asthma," Serena remarked, swiping a hand in front of her face to try and clear the space.

The Heart lead them down the end of a long hallway. As she looked ahead, Serena realized that the end of the hall was bathed in blue light. A buzzing sound filled the air as they got closer to the light. They turned the corner and gasped at the sight of a portal on the other side. It pulsed, swirling around in a circle with blue lightning crackling menacingly at its edges just like the one at the bridge.

"Will's on the other side of that?" Irma gulped, eyeballing the lightning that sparked against the floor just feet away from them.

"This is crazy! Until she puts that on, we don't have any powers," Cornelia reminded them pointedly. "We're taking the word of what, some jewelry to save a person we hardly know."

"Who cares if we don't know her that well?" Serena exclaimed, turning to face Cornelia with her hands on her hips. "She's still in danger and she's still a Guardian. We can't just leave her there!"

"Yeah last year I was the new girl," Taranee added. "You didn't even know who I was until a month into the semester."

Serena winced guiltily, having forgotten about that. "Sorry about that," she apologized.

"Look," Hay Lin sighed. "You don't have to come if you don't want to."

Cornelia groaned, her shoulders slumping dejectedly. "Okay, guilt me why don't you. But no way I'm going first."

Hay Lin and Taranee cautiously approached the portal, doing their best to avoid the lightning that shot out at random intervals. Hay Lin stopped in front of it, staring into its swirling blue depths before crying out as the Heart suddenly pulled her through the portal. Taranee whimpered, looking back at them fearfully before carefully sticking her hand through the portal. When nothing happened, she stuck her head in as well before finally walking through completely. The portal sent out shower of lightning that fizzled into nothingness as they entered it.

After the portal settled back down the other three carefully shuffled closer. Cornelia leaned forward hesitantly but shrieked and jumped back when the portal crackled again. "If I go last, I'll just chicken out," she announced.

"Well I won't," Irma reassured, pressing her hands against Cornelia's back to keep her front backing into her. "I'll go last."

Cornelia turned her head and looked back at Irma. "Then you have to do something for me."

"What do I have to do?"

"Push me," Cornelia requested, glancing nervously back that the portal.

"My pleasure," Irma growled, grinning triumphantly.

Serena had been busy examining the portal and the lightning that bounced off of it, trying to determine a pattern so as not to get hit. She had no idea if portal lightning could have the same damaging effects as real lightning. But at Cornelia's words all the trepidation that had slowly been building was washed away by morbid glee. This was a once in a lifetime opportunity. She might never feast her eyes on this beautiful sight ever again. "Oh, I have to see this."

Cornelia glared at her but edged closer to the portal, looking up at it anxiously. The portal crackled again, and she shook her head rapidly, backing away. "You know I was wrong; I should go last."

"No, you were right, I should push you," said Irma with a vicious grin who proceeded to do just that.

Cornelia screamed as she fell forward through the portal in another burst of lightning.

Serena stared after Cornelia for a few seconds before slowly turning to Irma, worried that if she looked away from the portal, the vision she had been blessed with would disappear from her memory. "I am living though you so hard right now," said Serena gazing at Irma in awe.

"Finally got to cross that off my bucket list," Irma smirked. "Ok you're up."

"Wait what?" Serena snapped out of her daze, glancing between Irma and the portal.

Irma held up her hands, wiggling her fingers threateningly. "Do you want the same treatment?"

"No!" She jumped away from Irma. She looked at Irma's hands warily before turning to the portal. She approached it slowly, flinching whenever a spark of lightning got to close. Stopping mere inches from its surface, she waited with bated breath, taking in its swirling center. Upon closer inspection, she saw that the portal itself appeared to be made out of a blue mist. It sent off little wisps which vanished a few inches out. With the lightning sparking around the edges, the portal reminded her of a storm cloud.

"Hurry up!" Irma yelled behind her.

Serena jumped like five feet in the air, whirling around to glare at Irma and her smug smirk. "I am," she hissed before turning back to the portal.

She stuck a single foot into the blue mist, like she was dipping her toes in a pool and waited. Her foot disappeared but she didn't feel anything. No pain, no electric shocks, nothing. Taking a deep breath to steel her nerves she stepped into the portal, letting the mist envelope her completely.

White engulfed her vision and the air thickened around her. The pressure began to build and push against her chest making it difficult to breathe. She couldn't see anything beyond the white light and her chest was getting tight from the lack of air. She couldn't feel her limbs. She couldn't see her limbs. All she could do was hope she was moving forward as was her intention.

Just when the pressure turned to pain, she erupted through the other side of the portal, fresh air hitting her face and filling her lungs with a gasp. Said lungs suddenly seized again when instead of stepping onto solid ground, her foot was met with thin air. Her foot dropped along with the rest of her body as she fell from the portal.

She landed face first in several feet of water with a splash. The impact sent water rushing up her nose which had her coughing and sputtering in disgust as she resurfaced. She blinked rapidly, wiping the water from her face as she tried to get her bearings.

She had crash landed in a swamp of some kind. They water she knelt in was a murky green color and upon getting to her feet, she found that it only came up to just over her knees. There were enormous thorny vines everywhere, contorted into twists and spirals, they creeped along the swamp in all direction. Where they ended or began was impossible to tell because a thick mist hovered over the swamp making it difficult to see more than twenty feet in front of her. Swamp grass and the occasional flower rose above the water on small mounds of soggy wet earth. It was dark out, but Serena couldn't tell if it was due to the time of day or the black billowing clouds that blanketed the sky. She swatted at the insects that buzzed about her, desperately wishing for some bug spray. She hated bugs.

Swiping her dripping hair back from her face she looked over her friends. "Is everyone okay?"

"I think we're fine." Hay Lin looked around to verify with the others before nodding in confirmation.

Everyone was soaked and covered in mud to varying degrees. Taranee was only soaked up to her waist. She must have been able to catch herself when she fell through the portal. 'Lucky,' Serena thought as she peeled her plastered shirt off her chest. She was sopping wet, and the air was already starting to chill her, making goosebumps raise on her skin as water dripped down her arms.

"Wahoo!"

Serena turned around just as Irma jumped through the portal, cannon balling into the water beside her and sending up spray in all directions. Serena ducked to the side as quickly as possible, but her front still got hit by Irma's splash, drenching her again.

Irma gasped when she resurfaced. "Well that certainly wakes up your underwear."

"Oh gosh can we not talk about that?" Serena pleaded, her face screwing up in a grimace. She did not want to think about the fact that she was covered head to toe in dirty swamp water with who knows what in it. She shuddered in disgust. "This is so gross."

Hay Lin laughed at Serena's plight but was nearly jerked off her feet when the Heart gave a particularly hard tug.

"We must be getting closer," said Taranee, bring them all back to the present. Serena had briefly forgotten as to why they had come through the portal in the first place. Now the danger of the situation was coming back to her, making her stomach turn.

"Closer to what though?" she asked gravely, sharing a worried look with Taranee.

No one had the courage to answer so they waded further into the swamp in silence. Serena cringed with every step as her shoes sunk into the squishy mud. She scanned the swamp nervously for a threat. This fog was putting her on edge. If anything were out there, they wouldn't be able to see it until it was too late. A dark shadow appeared from within the gloom and Serena's heart skipped a beat. It was just another one of the humongous vines. They stretched out beyond the five of them into the unknown. The more she studied them, the more they reminded her of something. She racked her brain but couldn't remember where she had seen these vines before.

"Cornelia don't look down," said Hay Lin, looking over her shoulder.

"That's for heights you dimwit," Cornelia hissed back.

"I know," Hay Lin continued, ignoring Cornelia's attitude. "But if you see your reflection you'll like completely freak."

Serena couldn't help but chuckle quietly. Trust Cornelia being to butt of a joke to make her feel a little less unease. The mist began to thin around them until they came upon a body of open water. On the other side was a massive hunk of stone and root. It stretched up and up for several miles and at the top sat a castle.

Serena gasped and stopped dead in her tracks, her blood running cold at the sight.

"What? What is it?" Irma turned looking around wildly before she settled on Serena's petrified figure. She was white as a sheet and her wide eyes stared up at the castle, unblinking.

"I know this place." Serena's voice was weak as she continued to gaze up at castle. "From my dream." The castle, the thorns, everything was just like her nightmare from the first day of school.

Hay Lin looked between her friend frozen in fear and the castle which loomed in front of them. If she had seen that in her dreams, she would have classified it as a nightmare. This thing was beyond creepy. Who needed a castle with so many spikes? The Heart was still pulling directly towards it so Will had to be inside. She approached the edge of the moat and crouched down to get a judge of how deep it was.

Taranee's eyes fell on the water beyond Hay Lin as it suddenly got darker. The shadow began to move across the moat, heading straight towards her. "Uh Hay Lin? I think there's something in the water," she warned.

Not a second later a giant eel burst through the water's surface, it reared high above them, water droplets spraying down on them as it roared, bearing hundreds of huge, razor sharp teeth.

"Hay Lin!" Irma screamed, running up to her and snatching her arm, frantically pulling her away from the monster.

Serena screamed as they ran from the water's edge, ducking behind one of the giant thorny covered vines for cover. She hunched into a ball, sitting as still as she could as and braced herself for whatever happened next. Her ears were trained on the sound of the sea serpent thing, listening for movement. She waited, barely breathing, until she heard a large splash, hopefully signally it had submerged. She strained her ears for a few more seconds, and when she heard nothing but chattering insects and the water rippling did, she dare open eyes and look up. Irma was sitting next to her half crouched over Hay Lin who had her eyes scrunched shut and her hands over her ears. Uncurling slightly, she spotted Cornelia over the two of them pressing her front against the side of the thorny vine like she wished she could disappear inside it.

Irma opened her eyes and met Serena's before she started to straighten. She gently shook Hay Lin who opened her eyes and did the same. Serena in tandem with Irma turned to face the vine. Now she could see Taranee on her other side who was looking at the two of them fearfully. Serena gestured for her to stay down as she slowly rose to her feet.

"No!" Taranee hissed as she grabbed her ankle, trying to pull her back down.

Serena's heart jumped into her throat at Taranee's voice and she quickly shushed her, kicking her hand off. She froze and listened for a sign the monster had heard them. When she didn't hear anything, she cautiously peaked her head over the top of the vine.

Ripples radiated across the water's surface from where the serpent had been but there was no sign of it. It must have gone back under water. Looking down at her friends she waved them up before turning back to the moat. Rustling signaled the girls getting to their feet as they joined her in looking over the water.

"Okay, we're not swimming across," breathed Irma, her voice shaky as she tried to get her breathing back under control.

Cornelia looked across the water to one of the small towers that jutted out of the castle wall above them. "Well I have sort of an idea."

They all broke their wary gaze from the moat to stare at her in shock.

"Oh, don't be so surprised," she grumbled. She heaved herself to the top of the vine they were hiding behind and extended her arm out towards the castle.

At first nothing happened but just as Serena began to wonder if she'd gone crazy, a vine creeping up the stone bricks of a guard tower detached itself and swung neatly into Cornelia's outstretched hand.

"Wow!"

"That was so cool!"

They rushed to scale the vine to join Cornelia. They used the thorns sticking out from the vine as hand and footholds as they climbed though Serena nearly fell when her foot slipped against the damp bark. When they got to the top, they all reached out to grab the vine, but it resulted in them being jumbled up and nearly falling off.

Cornelia rolled her eyes and jerked the vine out of their hands. "We can't all hang on to the same place. Climb up the vine while I keep it steady."

"Can someone give me a boost?" asked Irma, grabbing ahold of the vine securely.

Serena knelt down and put her hands over her knee. Irma put one foot into her open hands and pushed off when Serena stood from under her. She managed to get about five feet higher on the vine. She brought her feet together and managed to shimmy up another few feet before her foot slipped and she was left dangling. She tried to get her feet back up, but they kept slipping. "This is a far as I go," she called down.

"Ooo me next!" Hay Lin rushing over to Serena. She heaved the small Asian girl up and she grabbed ahold of the vine just under Irma's knees. "It's like a rope swing!" she said giddily. "You're turn Taranee."

Taranee flinched when her name was called, tugging on the vine, testing its strength.

"Come on," Serena beckoned. "The sooner you get on the sooner it's over with."

Taranee whimpered, eyeballing the thin vine and placed her foot in Serena's hands. "Don't push me to hard," she said quickly, grabbing ahold of Serena's shoulder for balance.

"Ok on three, ready?"

Taranee shook her head. "Uh, uh."

Serena rolled her eyes. "One, two-" On two she pushed up without warning. Taranee cried out in alarm, nearly toppling over but managed to grab the vine in both hands before she fell back down. She twirled an arm and leg around the vine for extra support.

"Now was that so hard?" Serena grinned up at her.

"Just hurry up already," Cornelia barked. Her feet digging into the bark beneath as she leaned all her weight backwards, trying to keep the vine in her grasp.

"Ok you hold on and I'm going to jump." Serena started backing up to get a running start.

"Don't you dare-" Cornelia's protest was interrupted as Serena sprinted to the vine and leaned into the air, catching the vine just below Taranee. Unfortunately, her momentum proved too much for Cornelia and it pulled her off her feet. The vine started swinging back to the castle with the five girls in tow.

"Yeehaw!" Irma shouted in delight from the top as they swung over the moat towards the guard tower.

They hit the guard tower hard, the vine crashing into the wall. At the impact, the girls lost their grip on the vine and tumbled onto the walkway of the tower. Serena landed on her shoulder and rolled a few times before sliding to a stop. She hissed, clenching her teeth as pain radiated down her back and arm.

"Alright who's not dead? Sound off." She heard Irma croak from somewhere behind her.

Obliging her, Serena let out a groan as she rolled onto her stomach, the others following suit. She hauled herself to her feet and looked down. Her knees and shins were skinned, and she had a stinging scrape on her elbow that was bleeding. Aside from her shoulder, nothing seemed to be in too much pain to handle. She cradled her arm close to try and minimize the pain.

"Um hello?!" Cornelia's voice called out. "Can somebody pull me up?"

Serena looked around but she didn't see her anywhere. Turning in the direction of her voice she found two hands clutching to the edge of the tower wall for dear life. She walked over, her knees burning as she along with the others grabbed Cornelia's arms and heaved her over the battlements. She had to bite her tongue to keep from crying out in pain as the movement pulled at her shoulder.

"How much further?" Taranee groaned, hands braced on her knees. Serena checked her over, but she didn't have any visible injuries thanks to her long sleeves and pants.

"I don't know but this thing is really starting to pull," Hay Lin wheezed. She had the chain clenched in both firsts now and was leaning back in an effort to hold on. The Heart was dragging her towards the doorway of the tower. Inside was a dark spiral staircase leading down.

They tiptoed down the stairs following the pull of the Heart. There were no windows, only the occasional torch on the wall provided light. They were weird torches too. They didn't have visible fire and glowed with an eerie green light. The stairwell connected to several hallways as they traveled down. Thankfully, they're were all empty as they walked past. The staircase seemed to go on forever until they finally reached the bottom where it connected to a long dark tunnel. There were no torches, so the only light came from the Heart which cast everything in a pink hue. The tunnel was made from roughly hewn stone interlocked haphazardly. Like the school basement, cobwebs stretched across corners and empty spaces in the wall where a stone or two had fallen. However, if the school basement had been bad, this place made it look like a five star resort.

Cornelia, glancing around at her decrepit surroundings unknowingly walked headfirst into a cobweb that stretched across the tunnel. She sputtered and swiped at the web to bring it down and off her face. "Ugh eww! And on picture day," she whined.

As they travelled down the tunnel, cells blocked off by huge iron bars appeared on either side of them. Some of the cell doors were heavily rusted and hung precariously on their hinges. It didn't look like they had been used in a long time. They were in the castle dungeon, Serena realized, peering into one of the cells as they passed. She flinched back when she saw the Heart's light bounce off something long and white. She swallowed hard and forced herself to look forward.

The tunnel eventually came to an end and opened up into a huge cone shaped cavern nearly as wide as their gymnasium. The ceiling rose high above them and various spiked iron cages and chains hung from it. The walls above had wooden doors which connected to open staircases that hugged the walls as they came to the floor. In the center of the cavern were several circular pits.

"Talk about nightmare fuel," Serena commented under her breath.

The Heart yanked Hay Lin forward towards the edge of one of the pits. It extended deep into the ground and was so dark they couldn't see the bottom. They had no idea how far down it truly went.

The Heart started to ring and chime, it's ripples of light flashing erratically.

"Will?!" Hay Lin guessed, calling down. Her voice echoing off the stone walls.

"Hay Lin!" Serena heard Will yell back with relief. "I'm down here!"

"Catch!" Hay Lin released the Heart's chain and it floated down into the pit to Will.

All was silent for a few moments. Hay Lin strained her eyes, peering down into the pit. "Do you think she got it," Hay Lin asked, turning towards them.

Serena knelt down beside her and carefully crawled on her stomach to look over the edge. "I can't tell."

Suddenly, a beam of pink light shot straight towards them, making Serena flinch back. For a split second she was expecting to be hit by something but when the familiar warmth enveloped her, she recognized the light for what it was. She let her body go loose as it drew up naturally into a fetal position. As she expected, the coolness rushed through her and the light faded. She blinked open her eyes and saw that sure enough, she and the other girls were in their Guardian forms.

Irma walked over and looked down into the pit. Despite the light of the transformation, they still hadn't been able to get a good look at Will or her condition. "Taranee, a little light?" she requested.

With a twirl of the wrist, Taranee summoned a small red fireball. She managed to keep it flickering in her hand for a few moments before her control slipped. Instead of hovering above their heads as a light source, the fireball bounced out of her hand and fell into the pit below. "Whoops, sorry."

As the fireball fell it illuminated the stone walls of the pit. A familiar head of red head lit up briefly in the firelight as it passed. Will flew up and over the edge of the pit and landed gently beside the girls as they cheered. "You came for me," she breathed in disbelief. "You really are my friends.

Cornelia smiled, her eyes flickering to the other four girls. "Well of course silly."

Serena's smile faltered. She was tempted to remind Cornelia that she hadn't wanted to come in the first place and was perfectly happy to leave Will to her fate. But she held back for Will's sake, she didn't want to spoil the moment. Her eyes scanned Will, searching for any blood or bruises. Thankfully, she seemed to be okay, or at least there was nothing outwardly wrong with her. "It's good to see you in one piece," she joked, nudging Will's arm.

"Yeah." Will's eyebrows rose like she was just as surprised as Serena was at that fact.

A bang echoed throughout the cavern, cutting through the celebration. Serena froze as another one sounded above her head. She looked up in time to see one of the wooden doors burst open and dozens of humanoid beasts pour through. The creatures looked like someone had taken lumps of play dough, squished them into a vaguely human form and then gave them sharp teeth and yellow, milky eyes. They carried crudely formed axes, clubs, and swords; the metal dull in the torchlight. They raised their weapons and came charging down the stairs with a roar.

"Is this place monster central or something?" Serena growled, her fists clenching as she faced the oncoming hoards. She looked around frantically for an escape route or some kind of weapon when a male voice called up from the pit Will had come from.

"What are you doing up there?"

"Is there someone else down there?" Serena briefly took her eyes off the swarming creatures to look at Will confused.

"Yeah, believe it or not it's the rebel leader," she shrugged.

"The guy from the portal?" Irma asked, her eyebrows rose in surprise. "Huh. Guess we don't need that recon mission after all."

"Hello?!" The rebel leader shouted.

"Right." Will shook her head focusing. "Cornelia, Taranee, Serena block the stairs. Hay Lin find us an exit," she directed.

Serena nodded and zoomed into the air. Flying was a lot easier compared to last time. Later she'd think back and wonder if it was because her mind was focused on the monsters and not consciously trying to control her wings. She flew to the center of the room and assessed the two streams of beasts coming from the doors on either side of the room.

Taranee flew into position on her left and yelled "Fire," summoning another fireball. This one was big and burned a bright yellow. She flung it at the staircase in front of the monsters, breaking through the stone and leaving a wide gap. Several of the misshapen creatures tried to stop but their momentum pushed them forward. They fell through the gap to the stone floor below and laid still.

To Serena's right, Cornelia thrust her hands towards the opposite staircase where monsters were still coming down. "Earth!" Vines like those that had surrounded the castle burst from the stone, creating a woven wall blocking off the stairs. One of the creatures jumped to a hanging chain and took a swipe at Cornelia who just laughed at its pathetic attempt and flew out of its way. Other beasts followed its lead and leapt from the blocked off staircases and onto the chains hanging from the ceiling. They started climbing down in an effort to reach the floor unscathed.

Serene looked around. Cornelia was busy on her staircase with some of the creatures attempting to cut through her barrier using their axes and swords. Taranee was also busy on the other side. The creatures on her staircase had taken to trying to jump the gap by getting a running start. Guess this new problem was up to her.

"Shadow!" Serena felt the rush of coolness travel down her arms as two balls of flickering shadows appeared in her palms. She took aim and flung them at two of the creatures shimming down the chains. Instead of throwing them off like she had hoped, the shadows just knocked them around. Their grip was strong enough to keep them from falling as the rattling chains swung in the air. She brought her hands together and sent a cohesive blast at another monster. This time it managed to break the grip of one of its hands as it slammed into the creature's side. The force pushed the monster and its chain to the side where it collided with another monster. The force of the impact jostled the creatures enough that they lost their grip and fell to the floor fifty feet below.

That gave Serena an idea. Raising her arms in a circle, she summonsed a ring of shadows. Twirling her arm in the air, the ring began to grow. Once she deemed it big enough, she thrust it towards the chains. With her arms wide, she directed it to spin faster and faster. The shadows caught the chains and forced them and their riders to spin. The chains began to wind around each other in a giant knot until the beasts collided together before falling to the floor.

But no matter how many creatures she, Taranee, or Cornelia knocked back, more just kept coming. Plus, whatever these things were, they were tough because the ones on the ground were starting to pick themselves up. Will and Irma were too busy helping the rebel leader out of the pit, now full of water, to see the danger.

"Crap," Serena muttered. She flew down to the group and stood with her back to them, arms out ready to face the incoming threat. "Hey guys," she called back. "Whatever these things are they can take a hit. We need to get out of here."

One of the beasts had gotten to its feet and charged towards them with a snarl, its hole ridden blade held high. Serena punched forward and a mass of shadows surged forward, hitting the creature square in the chest. It pushed the monster back into the wall where it slumped to the floor with a groan.

Cornelia landed next to her in time to block another one who had rushed Serena's blind spot. She summoned a stone block from the floor and flung it into the creature. The stone hit its head and it fell backward with a thud. "I blocked the stairs but it's not going to hold for very long. What is that?"

At Cornelia's disgusted voice, Serena turned and followed her pointed finger. Standing in front of Irma, Will and Taranee was what looked like some sort of goblin creature. It barely came up to her knees, had green leathery skin and a hog's nose. It was dressed in a filthy tattered red tunic and its shoes were so worn that its feet stuck through the ends, revealing long, nasty looking toenails. Even from where Serena was standing, she could smell it. It stunk like rotten cabbages and what she imaged a skunk would smell like.

Growling from behind made them all turn to see three of the lumpy ogre like creatures running towards them. Before any of the girls could defend themselves, Hay Lin suddenly appeared behind the creatures and with a strong gust of wind, sent them flying into the air and into one of the empty pits. "There's a billion halls down here," she reported, landing beside the girls. "It's like this really cool maze. I mean cool if weren't like y'know trapped in here and everything."

"Take Blunk, Blunk knows tunnel," the goblin spoke surprising Serena with the fact. He grabbed Hay Lin's hands pleadingly. "Secret way out."

"He's kind cute," Hay Lin admitted, smiling weakly down at the disgusting creature.

The sound of clinking drew Serena's attention upwards. The beasts had grabbed onto the chains again and were lowering themselves towards her and the others.

"We've got company!" she shouted in warning.

"Time to go!" Will affirmed and they all took off running to one of the passageways branching off from the cavern. The goblin thing... Blunk... took the lead, running on all fours. Behind them the monsters had reached the floor and started chasing after them in hot pursuit.

"They just keep coming," Irma said hopelessly, looking over her shoulder.

They turned a corner and passed through an open iron gate into another passageway when Cornelia stopped short.

"Cornelia what are you doing?" Serena yelled, skidding to a stop.

Cornelia ignored her and pressed her hands together, "Earth!" Following the motion, the gate slammed shut and thick vines sprouted from beneath it, growing and intwining around the bars to create a thick barrier just as the hoard of monsters slammed into it. Serena flinched, expecting the creatures to break through but the barrier held.

"Don't just stand there," Cornelia snapped, grabbing Serena's hand as she flew past.

Serena yelped as she was pulled of her feet and wobbled in the air before she got her wings working again. They flew after the group, catching up with them just as Blunk stopped in front of one of the cells lining the passage. It's wrought iron door had been partially ripped off its hinges and its mangled form rested against the wall.

"Tunnel yes, under moat!" Blunk exclaimed, recognizing the destruction. He crawled into the cell and lifted a plank of wood leaning against the back wall. Behind the plank was a narrow tunnel but bars covered with mold blocked it off. "Bars, no!" Blunk cried, gripping the bars, and pulling desperately, his yellow eyes watering.

A roar, louder and deeper than the guttural ones of the creatures from the cavern echoed through the tunnels. Shudders ran down Serena's spine at the sound. They were running out of time.

"Stand back," Taranee ordered, pushing her way to the bars as they crowded into the cramped cell. She snapped her fingers, a single jet of flame burst from the end of her fingertip. She pointed it at the bars and used it like a blowtorch to melt through them. It was slow going though. There were three bars and each one was as thick as Serena's wrist. At this rate they'd all be captured and strung up like sausages in no time.

"That's what you get for trusting a smuggler," the rebel leader hissed, glaring down at Blunk. He had led them from one corner to the next and with the Guardians as his soon to be cell mates, there would be no one to keep Phobos in check and lead the Rebellion. Escape would be impossible this time. Assuming Phobos let them live long enough to even make an attempt.

Now that they were not being actively attacked -for the time being, she reminded herself- Serena took the opportunity to study the rebel leader. He was about two heads taller than her although he didn't look much older. His brown hair hung messily in his eyes and he wore a medieval style coat over a loose white shirt and brown pants. He was seriously cute, but his face was hard as he glared daggers at Blunk. However, there was also a hint of wariness to him in the dark shadows under his eyes.

Cornelia gave her own appraisal of their escape companion, noting his striking dark green eyes and lean shoulders. She was tall for her age, so she definitely appreciated any guy who was taller than her. "Who are you again?"

"He's the rebel leader," Will reminded her.

"You're the rebel leader?" parroted Cornelia, sounding very much impressed.

The roar rippled down the hall again, this time sounding much closer. It was so loud, the creator could have been right outside the cell.

"I'll hold them off as long as I can." The rebel jumped up, rushing to the cell entrance.

"No!" Will protested, reaching after him. "You don't have any powers."

"Guarding the Veil is more important than one rebel fighter," he said determinedly. "Oh, by the way, my name's Caleb," he smirked before running out into the open passage.

"Wow," Serena breathed, her eyes sparkling as she stared after him.

"I told you he was cute," Irma mumbled, making Hay Lin giggle.

"Hey snake face!" Caleb taunted down the hallway before turning and running out of sight.

Serena's brows furrowed. Snake face... Could he mean-? Her breath hitched when sure enough, Lord Cedric slithered in front of the cell door after Caleb. She froze but thankfully he didn't see them as he passed. Soon after she heard Caleb's screams echo down the passageway.

"I've got it!" Taranee announced. She extinguished her flame and kicked in the last bar, breaking it off at the weld point. Without hesitation, Blunk was first into the tunnel and one by one the girls followed him. Serena turned back to the cell door, staring out into the empty space of the passageway. A part of her wanted to risk going after Caleb to try and bring him safely back with them. The other side wanted to take what may be the only chance at a clean escape. It made her feel horrible but as much as she had wanted to save Caleb, she also didn't want to take his place. After an internal debate she crawled into the tunnel after Will, trying to ignore the guilt clenching her stomach.

The tunnel ceiling was low to the point that her wings scraped against it no matter how tight she pulled them to her back. The tunnel should have been pitch black, there was no torch or light source to speak of. And yet, she could see Will and Irma in front of her, fumbling their way forward and bathed in shades of grey and blue. Will kept bumping her right shoulder into the wall so many times that Serena finally realized she was doing it on purpose.

As they trudged forward on their hands and knees, her tights quickly became soaked at the knees from crawling through unknown sludge. If she didn't know better, she would almost guess it was some kind of drainage tunnel they were crawling through. She quickly abandoned that thought as it immediately led to what kind of drainage system it was a part of. Her stomach flipped unpleasantly as her hands squished into what she hoped was just soft mud. The lack of smell had to mean something though, right?

Serena didn't know how long they crawled in that dank, dirty tunnel. She had no clue as to how deep in the castle they had been in the first place. They crawled in silence and her mind kept going back to Caleb and his sacrifice. She wondered if he had found another way out of the castle. Or if he'd been recaptured... or worse. She felt terrible but she also knew they hadn't had much choice. If Caleb hadn't gotten their attention there was a good chance that Cedric and his hoard of monsters would have searched the passageways until they found them. Given how close Cedric had been when Caleb ran, she figured it wouldn't have been long. That didn't stop her from feeling sick with guilt or imaging horrible what if scenarios. As much as it pained her to admit it, if he got captured again, she doubted they would have a chance to rescue him. Cedric would probably have him killed to prevent the possibility.

"I see a light!" yelled Irma from in front. Now that she mentioned it, Serena noticed that she was starting to pick up more colors than just grey and blue. She could see Will's red hair and the pink of her shirt. The dim light grew until she saw the opening of the tunnel. Once she was out of the tunnel she got to her feet, wincing. Her muscles were tight as she stretched her back and flexed her wrists which were sore from crawling for so long. The tunnel emptied out into a drain bed in front of the moat.

"Uh guys... Where's the portal?" Will asked, scanning the horizon.

Irma looked around but all she could see was misty swampland. "Uh..."

"The portal gives off light, right?" Taranee asked rhetorically. "If we fly above the fog, we should be able to spot the portal."

Will nodded and they took to the air, flying over the moat. Serena searched the water's depths for a dark mass as they crossed just in case the sea serpent decided to make a reappearance. But the water's surface remained undisturbed. Blunk climbed an overhanging vine, using it as a makeshift bridge before jumping off and running alongside the Guardians.

"I see it!" yelled Hay Lin, pointing in the distance. Serena flew higher to get a better vantage point, following the line of Hay Lin's hand. Taranee had been right, she could just make out the blue glow of the portal through the mist about a two hundred yards in front of them.

"Thank goodness," Cornelia grumbled. "Let's get out of here."

They dived towards the portal but Will suddenly stopped short, her face screwing up as she looked back at the castle. "I'm going back for Caleb," she said solemnly. Something in Serena's stomach tightened at the words. The guilt that has been hanging over her shoulders had started to lift but she didn't like the idea of Will going alone. Especially since she had just been rescued and the fact that she didn't have any defensive powers if she were to get in trouble again.

"No!" Hay Lin protested, flying to hover in front of her. "I fly better than you, actually chickens fly better than you."

"And I'm going with you," Serena volunteered, flying to her side. The idea of going back into that creepy castle made her nerves buzz but there was no way she was letting sweet Hay Lin go in alone. "You're gonna need someone to watch your back while you carry him."

Will looked at as if she were about to argue but her eyes hardened when she saw the steady resolve in theirs. She rushed forward to wrap her arms around the two girls in a grateful hug. "Be careful," she told them as she pulled away.

"We will," Serena swore, placing her hand on Will's shoulder and giving it a reassuring squeeze.

Hay Lin gave Will a cheeky wink before they both flew off back towards the castle, their forms quickly disappearing in the mist.

As they flew, a troubling thought came to Serena's mind. "Um Hay Lin, how do we find him?"

Hay Lin pulled up, looking at her worriedly. "I didn't think of that," she confessed. The two shared a nervous glance but continued forward. After flying over the moat, they tried to find the drain from before. Unfortunately, there was a whole line of them coming out of the wall and they weren't sure which one they had come out of.

"Let's try this." Hay Lin pointed to a crack in the castle wall. Some of the stone blocks had started to crumble leaving a small gap. Peering through the opening, Serena could see a corridor inside that looked similar to the ones they were running down in the dungeons.

"Are you sure?" Serena asked. She could barely see the opposite wall of the hallway let alone anything that might be lurking inside.

Hay Lin shrugged. "Do you have a better idea?"

Serena shook her head and watched as Hay Lin wiggled into the hole. The gap itself was tiny, barely as wide as Serena herself. It was going to be a tight fit; she'd have to go in sideways. Hay Lin managed to squeeze through okay but then again, she was as skinny as a twig. Serena had a bit more muscle tone especially in her legs thanks to skateboarding all the time. Once Hay Lin was through Serena quickly began her attempt, not wanting to be caught out in the open. The crack was about five feet higher than she was, so she had to fly to even access it. She brought her arms up and flew directly at the gap in a diving position. Once she got her shoulders through, she had to stop flapping her wings. The thick stone supported some of her weight, but her feet were still scrambling against the outside of the wall for a foothold.

"Pull me through." She outstretched her arms to Hay Lin who grabbed onto her wrists and pulled, flapping hard.

"Ow, ow, ow!" Her wings scraped against the stone as she was pulled forward. Once her wings were free enough to start flapping again, she supported her weight through flight and pushed back on the stone with her hands to wiggle her hips and legs through. Once she was free the two of them sped down the passageway, their eyes, and ears keen for any sign that might indicate the presence of Caleb or an enemy.

The corridor suddenly switch from stone blocks to a tunnel of roughly carved red rock. At the end of the tunnel there was an enormous cavern with a huge drop off. Serena searched hard but couldn't see the bottom, it just kept going. Above, tunnels like the one they had come from branched off the cavern in all different directions.

"Come on." Serena whirled around at the sound of Caleb's voice, but she couldn't see him anywhere.

"I'll make a purse out of you," he taunted. "What side do you want the zipper on?" His voiced echoed throughout the cavern, seeming to come from every direction at once and making it impossible to figure out which tunnel he was in.

A roar bounced off the walls in response, sounding louder and closer than Caleb's voice had a few seconds ago.

"They're coming!" Hay Lin hissed, grabbing Serena's arm, and pulling her into one of the tunnels. They hovered anxiously near the entrance as the echo of running footsteps slowly got louder. Below them, Caleb emerged from a different tunnel skidding to a stop at the edge of the cliff face. A few rocks tumbled off the ledge and into the endless abyss below.

Serena's breath hitched as Cedric appeared behind him, hissing in fury and raised his thick green tail. He slammed it into Caleb and sent him over the edge of the cliff, screaming.

Serena gasped and went to fly after him, but Hay Lin jerked her back, shaking her head. Serena struggled, pulling at the arm in Hay Lin's grasp as her head swiveled from her friend to Caleb's shrinking figure.

Cedric roared in triumph as he watched the rebel leader fall to his death before turning and slithering back into the tunnel.

After a moment Hay Lin released Serena and she took off like a shot into the gorge with Hay Lin close on her heels. She could hear Caleb screaming below her, but she couldn't see him, he was too far down. She grit her teeth and pushed her wings to go faster. Soon a flailing dark brown blob appeared in her vision, slowly morphing into Caleb's terrified form. When she got close enough to see his face she reached out, pushing past the wind resistance, and called down to him. "Caleb! Take my hand!"

She wasn't sure if her could hear her over the rush of wind, but he opened his eyes and met hers. His screams turned into garbled shouts of frustration as he twisted wildly against nothing, trying to turn himself towards them. He couldn't do much beyond extending his arms towards them, but it was enough for Serena to grab his coat sleeve. She immediately forced her wings into reverse, trying to stop their free fall. However, the sudden stop caused them to jerk and his coat slipped out of her hands. His eyes widened as he fell another few feet but Hay Lin managed to grab the collar of his jacket and keep him from falling further. They both grunted from the resulting jolt, but Hay Lin frantically flapped her wings to steady them. Serena swooped down and locked her hand around his forearm, Caleb doing the same. She winced as his fingers dug into her arms but ignored the pain and beat her wings in time with Hay Lin. Together, they managed to stop their descent and maintain a strained hover.

"Hold on," Hay Lin said to the two of them as she let go of Caleb's jacket. He immediately swung his other arm to grab ahold of Serena but the sudden difference in weight distribution caused her to dip in the air. Hay Lin quickly grabbed his other arm and after securing her grip, turned to Serena. "Ok let's go."

The two girls flapped their wings in unison and the three of them slowly began to rise. They picked up steam as they went until they flew up and out the gorge. Caleb's boot clipped the wall as they flew, jostling Hay Lin. "Wow," she huffed, readjusting her grip. "You're heavy."

Caleb tried to respond but his voice was lost as he sucked in air greedily. His head was spinning, he could barely focus on the walls around him without feeling sick. "There's - there's a - hallway - at the - top," he eventually gasped, nodding upwards, before slumping in their grip.

Serena and Hay Lin put on the pressure and they zoomed upwards. A ceiling soon came into view as did the opening of another corridor. It was bigger than the tunnels they had past and was completely made from stone blocks instead of bare rock. As they flew down it, it eventually started to widen. Torches began to appear on the walls and the roughly hewn blocks began to transition into smoothly carved bricks. Light from a large window spilled onto the floor in front of them and they ducked through it without a second thought.

Flying in the open air back to the portal, Hay Lin glanced down at Caleb, who admittedly looked a little dazed, and then Serena who was determinedly looking forward. "So, do you have a girlfriend by any chance? Asking for a friend."

Serena's jaw dropped as she turned to look at her friend in horror. To make it worse, Hay Lin had the audacity to smirk and wink at her. Her eyes widened as she stared at her in shock. She couldn't believe Hay Lin had just said that.

"What?" Caleb breathed, his head rolling back to look up at them.

"Nothing!" Serena blurted. At Caleb's furrowed brows she frantically looked around for something to distract him and ended up spotting the other Guardians hovering by the portal. "Hey look there's the portal!"

Thankfully, he looked away as she and Hay Lin changed angles and swooped down. They started to pull up as they got closer to the portal, but they underestimated their momentum and Caleb slipped from their grasp. Serena went to snatch at his hand, but his fingers barely grazed hers as he fell. Luckily for him they weren't that high up, so he ended up only falling a short distance before splash landing in front of the portal.

"Sorry!" Hay Lin called down as he resurfaced, shaking his hair out.

Caleb spat out swamp water and scowled up at her when the ground under him started to shake. He cried out in surprise as he was thrown off his feet when a fifty foot tall gargoyle rose up from beneath him. It was massive and towered above them and the portal. It had a single giant red eye like a cyclops and huge pointy teeth too big for its mouth. Hair the color of dried moss hung in matted strands from its boulder for a head. On its right side it had a muscular arm and a twig like leg while on its other side it had a skinny arm and a thick leg.

Its roar ripped a scream from Serena's throat as she pinwheeled in the air, trying to turn away as fast as possible. The other Guardians took flight and together they flew around the monster in circles, trying to keep its attention distracted. Serena's stomach dropped when the monster decided to take a swipe at her with its meatier hand. She managed to covert her trajectory into a backflip just as the hand closed around the space she had just been.

"Water!" Irma brought her hands together and shot a jet of water straight for its head. It swirled through the air before hitting the gargoyle in the face, blinding it. It snarled furiously and brought its smaller arm up to wipe its eye.

While it was disorientated, Hay Lin blew a large gust of wind against its back. The blustering wind pushed up waves and threw the gargoyle off balance, sending it careening backwards.

Serena saw her chance and flew towards it from behind. "Shadow!" It flailed its mismatched arms, trying to regain its balance but Serena send a torrent of shadows at the back of its knees. The force of the impact cause its knees to buckle and it fell backward into the swamp sending huge waves and chunks of mud surging outwards.

"Earth!" Cornelia circled the downed monster and stretching her arms out, summoned the mud and sludge out from under it. The soggy earth of the swamp rose up around the gargoyle, gathering into a dripping ball above its head. She snapped her fingers with a smirk and the ball of mud dropped onto the gargoyle, covering it head to toe in mud, creating a sticky prison under all that weight.

"Fire!" Taranee slung a white hot fireball at the mass of mud and monster. It circled the creature, its intense heat baking the mud and making it hard as rock. By the time the fireball extinguished, the gargoyle was trapped under a solid casing of earth.

With the monster down and out, they regrouped in front of the portal. Serena landed cautiously in the water, watching the mound with narrowed eyes for movement. The hunk of earth was still but only for a moment before a deep growling came from within. It began to tremble as cracks appeared in the earth lining and the gargoyle burst forth in a shower of dirt and rocks with an infuriated roar.

"Time to go!" yelled little Blunk from beside the girls before he took off, scrambling for the portal.

The others followed him, everyone racing towards the portal and to safety. The gargoyle stomped after them, each step sending tremors through the ground. Caleb and Blunk reached the portal first and ran through without any hesitation. One by one the girls flew through the portal in a shower of blue lightning, landing in the school basement on the other side. Serena flew into the portal at full speed and had to swerve hard when she nearly flew face first into a boiler on the other side.

Irma was the last through the portal and just as she emerged on the other side, the gargoyle reached in after her, encasing her in its giant hand. It started to drag her back through the portal just like Cedric had with Caleb.

"Will!" she screamed, writhing fiercely to try and get loose.

Unlike last time, Will reacted immediately, summoning the Heart, and brandishing it at the portal. Pink lightning erupted from the Heart, meeting the blue lightning of the portal. It flashed and swirled to a close around the monster's hand, severing it at the wrist. The stone fist crashed to the ground and shattered, releasing Irma from its grasp. The girls rushed forward as one to envelope Irma in a group hug, overcome with joy that their friend hadn't been taken.

"That was way too close," Serena said, stepping back and placing a hand over her racing heart.

"You think?" said Irma. Serena let out a wheezy laugh as she panted, trying to catch her breath. She took a few steps back before dropping to the floor with a huff, leaning against the broken down boiler.

Hay Lin looked at the busted pieces of stone surrounding them. It looked like a giant sculpture had been accidentally dropped. Scattered along the floor were recognizable stone fingers as thick and round as the A/C units rumbling above their head. "Uh Will, how do we get rid of all this?"

"Oh uh..." she looked over the damage before glancing at Cornelia hopefully. "Cornelia do you think you could-"

"Please," she waved Will off. She outstretched her hand before clenching it into a fist and drawing it back. The enormous pieces of stone shook before cracking apart into smaller and smaller pieces. "Hay Lin?" she beckoned.

Hay Lin took a deep breath and blew, sending the now tiny particles of dirt floating down the hallway to join the rest of the dust.

Irma's eyebrows rose, impressed. "Wow. Talk about burying the evidence."

Will held up the Heart and sent out a wave of pink energy, reverting the girls back to their human forms. And back to their picture day outfits which had been thoroughly wrecked by the swamp. Serena suddenly became aware of the state of her body when her shoulder started throbbing again. Mottled bruises were starting to develop on her knees. The scrape on her elbow the still red but no long bleeding. Her white denim vest was stained with mud and she felt a crustiness on her skin which could only come from a layer of dried dirt. She probably looked like she had been hit by a bus, she felt like it too.

"Can you believe we did that?" Cornelia asked incredulously, brushing down her arms and pant legs.

"That was so unreal," Irma agreed, unsticking her shirt from her skin. "Talk about teamwork."

"What happened to your face," Will asked Cornelia, gesturing to her chin.

Cornelia rubbed at the blue and purple bruise forming on her jawline as Hay Lin jumped in to explain. "When we swung across the moat Cornelia George of the Jungled into the wall. Wham!" she said, pounding her fist.

Blunk suddenly hissed making Serena, who had forgotten he was there, jump. He raced past Cornelia who screamed, thinking he was coming for her. He climbed up the pipes on the wall and disappeared around a corner.

"Crap, we have to catch him before somebody sees him!" Serena jumped up ran to the corner of the hallway. She searched the equipment covered walls and ceiling, but he had disappeared.

"We'll never find him down there," Taranee said hopelessly, moving to stand next to her, looking down the empty hall.

"Don't bother," said Caleb. "Passlings are famous for being slippery thieves. You're not going to catch him unless he wants to be found. So.." he looked around, scanning the metal pipes, hinges and other machines. "What dangers are in this place?"

"Well, there's the cafeteria food," Taranee quipped making Serena roll her eyes, nudging her in the side.

"Uh hey guys?" Hay Lin raised her hand. "What do we do with him?" she asked jerking her thumb towards Caleb.

"Did Yan Lin mention ever say anything about a Guardian safe house for inter-dimensional travelers?" Irma asked her.

Hay Lin shook her head.

"Well I don't know about you guys, but my mom has a strict 'no boys at sleepovers' rule," said Will, tapping her foot nervously.

"He has to go somewhere," Cornelia insisted.

"Uh he is still here," Caleb reminded them with a frown. "And I don't need a babysitter."

"Oh yeah?" Serena said before she could stop herself. "How do you plan on surviving in a world you know nothing about? For all you know our air could be poisonous."

Caleb's eyes widened, and he looked around nervously.

"Don't worry it's not," she amended quickly, feeling bad for teasing him. The guy had just left his entire planet behind after being on the run from a snake monster and imprisoned in a pit. They should probably cut him some slack.

He narrowed his eyes at her, making her look away. 'Great first impression Serena,' she chastised herself.

"Ugh, let's just take him to Yan Lin and let her deal with him," Cornelia groaned. "I need at least an hour long soak in the master bath." She itched at a flaky spot on her shoulder, grimacing in disgust at the flecks of grime that peeled off.

"Yeah we should probably get out of here before someone sees us," said Will. Then she stopped and looked around. "Um, where are we?"

"The school basement," Taranee answered nonchalantly.

Will's eyes widened. "The portal was at the school?!"

"Hey, we don't have any control over them, remember?" Cornelia sneered.

Will sighed resignedly. "How do we get out of here?"

"There should be a stairwell at the end of this hallway. We came in through a maintenance door on a higher level," Taranee answered, beckoning them to follow her as she headed off in that direction. As they walked down the hallway they had to repeatedly stop and reach back for Caleb who kept getting distracted by all of the machines and technology around him. When they had climbed to the top of the stairwell, Taranee slowly turned to doorknob, opening the door just a crack to peak outside. As far as she could see, the school courtyard was empty. She looked up at the clock tower above the school entrance, its ornately twisted metal hands read 11:27. They had been gone for three hours!

"Ok, classes are still in session," said Taranee, turning around to face the group. "But the first lunch period is about to start so there's a chance we might run into people."

"So, besides the fact that we all look like a hot mess, how conspicuous are we?" asked Will.

Simultaneously the six girls all turned to look at Caleb. A new face at school didn't necessarily mean anything but his clothes were another story.

"Maybe we can pretend he's from the theatre class?" Hay Lin suggested.

"Oh yeah," Irma rolled her eyes. "Because it's the third day of school and they're already on dress rehearsals."

"Look just stay here and we'll run in, grab our stuff and meet you here," Will told Caleb who crossed his arms at the idea of told what to do. "If you see anyone coming just run and hide and we'll find you."

"I know what to do, I'm not an idiot," he snapped, glaring at her.

"Okay..." Will drawled, once again sick of his attitude. She peaked out the door. "Alright, ready? Now!" She yanked the door open and the girls ran through as fast as they could without tripping over each other. Caleb caught the door and crouched down, letting it slide almost complete closed but leaving a sliver for him to see through.

"Ok everybody act casual," said Irma placing her hands in her pockets.

"Easy for you to say," Taranee whispered, eyes darting around nervously.

They hunched over as they passed the windows looking into the courtyard classes, crossing their fingers that nobody looked out as they passed. Once they got into the building they immediately split up and speed walked as fast as they dared to their respective lockers. Serena messed up the combination for her padlock the first time she tried to open it due to nerves. There wasn't anyone in the hallway, but she still felt like she was being watched. She got the combo right the second time and pulled out her backpack, shoving her lunchbox and folders inside.

The lunch bell rang, making her squeak as she nearly jumped out of her skin. She looked around to see if anybody had noticed but the students flooding the hallway didn't give her a second glance. Breathing a sigh of relief, she swung her backpack over her shoulder and headed for the courtyard. She found Hay Lin and Irma already waiting for her when she realized their mistake.

Kids who had packed their lunches were already starting to sprawl throughout the courtyard to eat. She kept her head down as she joined Irma and Hay Lin, standing off to the side. "What are we going to do?" she whispered.

"Don't look at me, Taranee's the smart one," Irma hissed back. "Let's just wait for the others."

Not long after, Cornelia, Taranee and Will walked out the doors, their eyes roving over the growing mass of students in the courtyard, coming to the same realization Serena had.

"Now what?" Cornelia asked quietly, as they clustered together in a tight bunch.

"He can't just walk out of here, everyone will see him!" said Hay Lin, gesturing to the growing populace.

"What if he got rid of his coat?" Taranee suggested. "I know he's not wearing jeans but they're not that much different from our clothes."

"But what is he going to do with the jacket?" Will countered.

Serena pondered for a moment before her face lit up. "I've got it," she announced, zipping open her backpack. "Here hold these." She pulled out her lunchbox and a couple notebooks and folders, handing them to Irma. "Do you think it will fit?" she asked, holding up the backpack to show its main compartment.

"It might work," Will said cautiously, trying to mentally gage how big Caleb's coat was.

"What do you want me to do with these?" Irma asked, readjusting Serena's stuff in her arms.

"Just put them in your backpack," she called back as she started walking towards the maintenance door. "I'll meet you guys at the gate." She crossed the courtyard, eyes searching the heads of munching students for anyone watching her. When she got to the door, she saw movement through the crack as Caleb stood to his feet. She met his eyes though the slit and motioned subtly with her hand to hold on. She leaned casually against the brick wall, scanning the crowd once more to make sure no one was looking. Her heart started to race with adrenaline, and she had to hold herself back from simply bolting through the door. Once she deemed it safe enough, she grabbed the knob and opened the door, calmly slipping through.

Caleb stepped back as she entered and watched as she pulled the door almost to a close, double checking through the crack before turning and pulling off a strange looking satchel from her back. The movement pushed the door open a little, but she let it swing shut, catching it at the last minute with her hips to make it close silently.

"Put your coat or cloak or whatever it is in here." She tugged on what looked like a metal string and her satchel parted seamlessly at the top.

"What is that?" He asked, eyes roving over the rough fabric and countless metal strings.

"A backpack now hurry!" she hissed, jerking the satchel at him.

"Why do I have to take my coat off?" He asked but nevertheless starting to pull his arms through the sleeves.

"So, you don't look like a total weirdo," she snapped nervously. She took his coat from his hands and bundled it up into a ball before shoving it into the backpack. She zipped it closed and turned around opening the door just a smidge to peak out. As she turned, the inflated backpack swung with her and Caleb had to take a step back to avoid being hit.

"Ok, when we go out don't make eye contact with anyone," she told him, still looking through the door. "Just follow me and it'll look like we're just going off campus for lunch.

"I know, this isn't my first time sneaking out," Caleb growled, getting irritated with being treated like a child.

"Ok well put your subtlety skills to good use because here we go."

At that Serena opened the door, reaching back and pulling Caleb out on her heels. He yanked his arm out of her grasp, meeting her frantic glare with one of his own before doing what she said resignedly. He kept his head lowered as he followed her, keeping in line with her back. But that didn't stop him from checking out his surroundings from the corner of his eyes.

The sun was bright, much brighter than it was in Meridian. Caleb risked a peak up at the sky. The clouds were bright here too. They were white and puffy compared to the dark ashy clouds that covered the sky back home. He was surrounded by kids, some of them younger than him, some of them older. They all wore strange clothes made from brightly colored fabrics. They didn't look like nobles, nor did they act like them, Caleb thought to himself as he saw two large boys tipping another kid into a barrel while an orange spikey haired kid laughed.

Before him was a large stone building. It looked like a bizarrely shaped cathedral. Looking through one of the enormous glass windows - this place had to be filthy rich - were more kids sitting at little tables watching a man write on a black wall. He made out the words "history" and what he assumed was the man's name. Then it hit him, this was some sort of school! It must have been one of those cathedral associated universities. It seemed a little raucous for a religious institution though.

"There they are," Serena said quietly in front of him.

He looked up to see the rest of the Guardians standing in a metal arch, watching the two of them approach nervously.

"Everything good?" Serena asked when they stopped next to them.

With her attention elsewhere, Caleb straightened up and got a better look at the enormous buildings that surrounded the university. They were covered in glass and some were even taller than Escanor castle. Earth was incredible.

"Yeah. I just called my Grandma," answered Hay Lin, snapping her flip phone closed. "She should be here any minute."

A car horn honked, and they all turned to see the Lin's cargo van parked down the street. Yan Lin waved at them from the front seat.

"Come on," Serena told Caleb. His frown deepened but he followed the Guardians to what he could only assume was some kind of horseless chariot.

Hay Lin pulled on the handles, opening the back doors, and gestured for them to climb inside. "Everybody in."

They scurried into the back of the van, sitting against the walls since there were no seats. The Lin's primarily used the van for catering and delivery.

Yan Lin turned around and leveled her eyes on Caleb, who unconsciously sat up a little straighter under her scrutiny. "So, this is the rebel leader?"

"Yeah, we'll explain everything back at the Silver Dragon," Hay Lin promised as she pulled the doors shut and took a seat next to Serena.

Yan Lin's lips pressed into a thin line as she gave Caleb a hard look before turning around and starting the van.

The vehicle sputtered and rumbled to life under Caleb. He jumped and tried to scramble to his feet, but it moved under him, throwing him back into the wall.

"It's fine," Serena assured him, raising her hand placatingly. "It's uh..." she struggled to find an analogy he might understand. She raked her brain for medieval forms of transportation but couldn't come up with anything besides a horse and wagon. She really ought to take a history class since she'll be running around a planet that was essentially stuck in the Middle Ages. "It's a magical cart- wagon- chariot thing without horses or whatever you guys use. It's called a van," she explained. She winced internally but that was all she could think of.

Caleb narrowed his eyes at her skeptically but lowered himself back on the floor, pulling his knees up and planting his hands firmly on the floor for support.

For the next few minutes, they drove in silence. Serena did her best to not just outright stare at their new acquaintance. Hay Lin on the other hand had no such qualms as she stared unabashedly at Caleb. His eyes flickered to hers a few times before looking away hurriedly. Finally, he got fed up and met her eyes head on. "What?" He snapped.

"Oh!" Hay Lin grinned. "I just wanted to say my name's Hay Lin."

Caleb looked at her incredulously. That's why she had been staring at him with an ever widening smile for the past five minutes? He nodded as politely as he could and went back to staring at the floor. From the corner over his eye he could see that the girl... Hay Lin, was still looking at him expectantly. He sighed, "Caleb," he told her quickly. He physically shifted away from her, hoping she'd get the hint but apparently, she wasn't finished.

"And this is Cornelia, Irma, Taranee and Will."

Caleb looked up and followed Hay Lin as she pointed towards the other Guardians in turn. Will. She was the Guardian leader that had been thrown into the oubliette with him. Once he finished looking them over, making sure their faces were in his head, his eyes turned to the girl who had led him through the courtyard. She remained fixated on the door handle beside her head.

When Hay Lin saw the way Serena was pointedly avoiding meeting Caleb's eyes she smiled deviously. "Oh, and this is Serena." She threw an arm around her shoulders and tugged her in close.

Serena threw Hay Lin's arm off her, glaring at her for a moment before finally looking at Caleb. "Hi," she said shyly, her cheeks tinging a light pink.

Caleb's brows furrowed when Serena averted her eyes after barely a second. She seemed determined to ignore him. Not that he was complaining, he wished all of the girls would just leave him alone and stop looking at him like he was an alien from another planet. Although technically, that's what he was. He huffed and kept his eyes glued to his shoes, pointedly ignoring the curious glances the other Guardians threw him. The rest of the ride thankfully remained silent. He only looked up when he felt the... van... stop.

Serena too finally turned away from the back door she had been leaning against when the van pulled to a halt. She risked sneaking a glance at Caleb who was watching Yan Lin step out of the driver's seat with eagle like precision. She'd noticed that he seemed to look at everything like he was analyzing it and tucking it into the back of his mind to peer at later. Of course, that could just be due to the fact that he was on another planet that happened to be like five hundred years ahead of his own. However, his piercing gaze didn't waver even when directed at one of them. It made Serena feel like he was picking them apart. It was seriously unnerving even with his pretty green eyes.

She got to her feet and pulled on the handle for the back door. The lock released and she pushed the door open, jumped down onto the pavement. They were in the cramped alley behind the Silver Dragon right in front of the kitchen's delivery entrance. The other girls filed out of the van followed by Caleb who stepped down warily, scanning his environment, eyes never resting on one spot for long.

Yan Lin unlocked the kitchen's back door and held it open. "This way." They shuffled into the kitchen and followed her into the restaurant. She led them to a corner table by the windows before returning to the kitchen. The girls took a seat at the table, but Caleb opted to stand back by the window instead of joining them. After a few minutes of awkward silence Yan Lin reemerged through the swinging doors pushing a tea cart. As she poured them all a cup of tea Serena couldn't help but be reminded of the other night when they had gathered in a similar way after the portal fight. However, this time they sat together in triumph instead of defeat.

"Now then," said Yan Lin, taking a seat and folding her hands. "Start from the beginning."

Like last time, the girls took turns telling the story, each describing their part in the impromptu rescue mission. Despite the happier tale, Serena could help noticing how Yan Lin's eyes twitched when she told her about how she stopped the monsters coming down from the chains. Although her eyes seemed to soften when Hay Lin recounted how they rescued Caleb from the gorge together.

Even Caleb chimed in to fill in some details. Apparently, the pit they had found him and Will in was called the Oubliette and the monsters they had fought were known as Lurdens. They weren't intelligent enough to hold a place in Phobos's guard, but they had enough brute strength to make up his labor force and a good portion of his army. The giant gorge the rescued him was the Abyss of Shadows. It really was bottomless so whoever was thrown in would fall forever.

Irma told Yan Lin about how they had fought the gargoyle and how she had nearly been captured. "It was so great!" she insisted, telling her part of the adventure with a dramatic flair. "We fought and we flew and then that slimo creepo thing Blunk escaped into the pipes."

"Think he'll be okay in there?" asked Hay Lin, doodling on her hand with a waiter's pen.

"If he comes up under the girl's locker room, I'm switching schools," Taranee promised. "It was pretty intense though."

Hay Lin made a couple more marks on her hand before suddenly squealing and sitting up excitedly. "And look what I figured out our initials spell!" She held up her palm which between various squiggles and flowers, had the first letters of their names arranged to spell W.I.T.C.H.'S.

"Um 'witches' is actually spelled with an 'e'," Taranee informed her, pushing up her glasses. "You've written the possessive form of a singular witch."

"Oh, who cares," Irma rolled her eyes. "The main thing is the bad guys didn't get our new best friend." Will jumped up and tackled her in a hug which the other girls quickly joined in, making it a big group hug.

Yan Lin sat the empty tea pot on the restaurant bar. "Oh, Prince Phobos didn't want Will," she corrected.

"What?!" The others gasped in shock.

"Only her power. I fear he wants another, one who's battle is yet to come," she said gravely.

As if Yan Lin's words couldn't get any more ominous, thunder rumbled above their heads as the sky darkened and it began to storm, hard.

Caleb stared out the window at the grim scene, contemplating Yan Lin's words. His thoughts were disturbed when he saw Serena approach him in the windows reflection. 'Great,' he thought, resisting the urge to sigh. He could hear the other girls whispering among themselves, pondering as to who Phobos could be searching for. He had a pretty good idea who it was though he wasn't about to share that information with the Guardians. He could tell that they barely had a handle on their powers. If he told them he was searching for the heir to the Meridian throne, they would just get in his way.

He didn't say anything to Serena as she stopped beside him, keeping his eyes fixed on the horizon. She glanced at him but quickly turned to join him in gazing out the window. They stood in silence for a few moments with Caleb wishing she would either tell him what she wanted or go away.

"Are you okay?"

At first Caleb didn't register the words she had spoken. "What?"

"Are you okay?" she repeated, finally turning to look up at him. "I mean for a guy who was imprisoned, tortured and then thrown headfirst into another world you seem to be handling it pretty well. So, are you really doing okay or...?"

He looked down at the icy blonde girl. She only came up to his shoulder but looks could be deceiving. Akora was only 5'4 and she had kicked his butt on multiple occasions. It seemed she had gotten over whatever issue she had in the van because she was actually meeting his eyes. At first, he struggled to connect her to an element but then he remembered the burst of black mist she had shot at the Gargoyle's back at the portal. From what he had seen, her powers didn't match any description of the Guardians he had read about.

Realizing he been staring at her in silence for a while he cleared his throat and straitened up, facing the window again. "I'm fine," he answered. He'd been in tougher situations than this. He could handle himself, he didn't her need concern.

"Are you sure?" she pressed, shifting closer, making him stiffen. "If you're hurt I'm sure Yan Lin has a first aid kit somewhere. I'm not really good with anything outside of standard skateboarding injuries but-"

"I said I'm fine," he snapped. From the corner of his eye, he saw her shrink into herself from his dismissal.

"Oh ok," she said in a small voice, turning to leave.

Caleb had to resist rolling his eyes. Girls and their easily hurt feelings, they had to take everything personally. However, he probably shouldn't be alienating the Guardians of the Veil of all people. Despite their inexperience they could prove useful to him. And though it pained him deeply to admit it, he would need their help to survive on Earth at least until a new portal opened. "Wait."

He blinked when she spun around quickly, looking up at him eagerly. He sighed, rubbing his face. "Look..." he searched for an excuse that wouldn't make him sound too soft. "I'm just tired."

"Oh. Sorry, yeah that makes sense," she said sheepishly. "Um Yan Lin?" she turned, calling back to the old woman. Six pairs of eyes suddenly turned to him and Caleb bristled under the sudden spotlight. "Do you have a place Caleb could stay for a while?"

Yan Lin looked at him unsure, making Caleb fight to keep from squirming under her penetrating gaze.

Hay Lin jumped up. "Ooo! Can he stay with us?"

"The guy doesn't exactly have anywhere else to go," reminded Irma, leaning back in her seat.

"It would probably be best if he stayed here," Taranee agreed, looking at Yan Lin imploringly. "That way the Guardians can keep an eye on him."

"You mean WITCH'S," Hay Lin corrected, gesturing to the acronym on her hand.

Caleb's irritation reared its ugly head. "I don't need anyone to keep-"

"Very well," Yan Lin sighed. "I believe there is a cot in the attic, we can move it to the basement. You may sleep there," she told him.

Caleb clenched his jaw but wisely decided not to argue. The old woman seemed to look through him and it made his stomach crawl. There was something unnatural about her. He didn't like not knowing everything about the people he dealt with. It made it hard to figure out who to trust.

"Yay!" Hay Lin cheered, running up to him. "It'll be like a weeklong slumber party. It'll be so much fun," she promised.

Caleb looked at the bouncing girl in front of him and began to wish he had stayed in the Oubliette. "Yeah, fun."