Once again, sorry for the wait on the update, I'm up to my eyeballs here in work. Anyway, new chapter starts right now! (Sorry, couldn't resist). And by the way, just like I promised, I will introduce Scottgrubbs idea in this chapter, this time for real. Unfortunately, it will be a sort of short chapter, but the idea will get into it, I promise. Ok, on with the chapter!

Chapter 18- An Unknown Twist

Cornelias POV

Cornelia sighed as the girls walked along the Meridian streets. What was she doing with them? She should have been at home, protecting Caleb, after all. But she had left Napoleon there, so she could only hope…

"Are we almost there?" Irma broke through Cornelias thoughts whining.

"Do you have a hot date tonight?" Cornelia snapped.

"Haha", Irma said sarcastically, "You think, just because your-"

"One day", Will cut her off, "One day of peace is all I ask, is that too much for you two? Evidently it is, because all you two ever seem to do is bicker and bicker and-"

"We left Astral Drops behind in case this took too long", Hay Lin said, "If Irma has a date, her Astral Drop will cover for her"

"I never said-"

"Save it!"

The girls walked along in a huffy sort of silence. Before long, Phobos' castle came into view, looming over the darkened city, which had changed so much since their last visit.

They had just restored Elyon to the throne. Everything had been so bright and joyous. Now it looked the same as it had before Elyon was restored to the throne. Kind of creepy.

"Are you guys sure about this?" Cornelia said suddenly, looking over at the others. The four girls gave each other a surprised look.

"Cornelia", Will said slowly, "This was your idea!"

"I know", Cornelia said, "But, I dunno, something about this I just don't…I don't like…"

"There is something a little weird about this", Hay Lin said, "It's just too easy, if you ask me. Nothing ever goes this easy"

"You have a point", Will admitted, "But we got this far, right? So, we can just…I dunno…we have to keep going"

That last part came out so strong, that even Cornelia faltered. Will had never wanted her position as a leader, and Cornelia had never thought she would fit the job. But it worked out okay, and Cornelia has gained a little respect for Will, who had learned to grow into her leader roll. The girls moved on, still apprehensive about what they were getting themselves into.

"This is just too easy", Taranee said a little while later, "Doesn't anyone else think so?"

"Keep going", Will said firmly. They'd somehow made into the castle, and were now moving quickly. How they'd gotten this far without someone catching them was way above anyone's heads, but they had, so that had to mean something. Probably that they were being lured into a trap. Of course, though, no one wanted to think like that. "Keep going", Will repeated as Cornelia came to halt.

"No", Cornelia said quietly, "Listen…"

The girls became very quiet, their ears straining to hear whatever it was Cornelia was hearing.

"I hear something", Hay Lin said, "Sounds like someone's talking…"

"It's coming from up ahead", Irma said, pointing, "Call me crazy-"

"Gladly"

"But one of the voices sounds like Elyon!" Irma finished as though Cornelia had never said anything.

Will looked up ahead, "Lets go", she said after a minute.

"Will", Taranee said quietly, "I', not so sure about this-"
"Do you have a better idea?" Will snapped. Taranee cringed, but didn't answer. Will started walking away, and the others moved quickly to keep up.

"What's with Will?" Cornelia said quietly to Hay Lin as they walked, "She seems kind of…off today"

"I don't know", Hay Lin said, shrugging, "She's been a little weird for awhile, but it hasn't exactly been a normal week"

"Good point", Cornelia said, "You don't think-"

"Are you two gonna talk all day?" Will snapped suddenly, looking over at the Asian and blonde girls, "Or are you gonna keep up?"
"Sorry", Hay Lin said quickly. As she jogged ahead of Cornelia, though, the earth guardian was sure she heard Hay Lin mutter, "Drill sergeant Will"

Cornelia suppressed a giggle, and moved to keep up with the group.

"The throne room", Will said, coming to halt after a few minutes of walking. There were voices coming from inside. Irma pushed her ear against the door, and tried to listen.

"Well?" Hay Lin said.

"Door's too thick", Irma said, pulling her ear away, "definitely sounds like Elyon is in there though"

"So what, do we bust down the door, or sit here and hope it opens?" Cornelia asked.

"Too bad there inst a way to…"

"Way to what?" Irma asked Will. She'd started to say something, but never finished. Cornelia hated it when people did that, it just led to more questions.

"Will?" Hay Lin asked. Will shook her head like she was trying to clear the fog out of her brain or something.

"Sorry", she apologized, "I was just thinking, too bad there isn't a way for us to get in there without being noticed"

"There isn't", Cornelia said, "Is there?"

"Yes!" Will said, her brown eyes shining with excitement. She held up her hand, and commanded, "Heart of Candracar!"

As always, the Heart popped out of her hand, and lay in her palm, glowing.

"Okay…" Irma said slowly, "And that will help us…how?"

Will smirked and said, "Heart of Candracar, make us invisible!"

Cornelia's body shimmered and disappeared, and as she looked around, she saw the same thing was happening to the others.

"Oh yea!" Irma said, "I forgot we could do that, cool, this is gonna be great!"

"Hope it works", Will said as the five girls, invisible, pushed open the door to the throne room.

"So the leader truly believes you are under a spell?" Phobos asked, his voice dripping with cruelty.

"Yes", the cruel, cold tone voice of Elyon drifted into their hearing, "She was so worried. You know, it's too bad, I kind of liked Will, liked them all, really, but, if they must try and stop us…"

Cornelia froze. She'd only heard Elyon speak like that once before, and that had been when she believed the guardians evil. Still, she was compelled to keep listening.

"They truly believe you did not know about your heritage", Phobos mocked, "Fools…"

"Yea", Elyon grinned evilly, "Good for me, though, I could keep watch on them, and not have them suspicious of me at all, and now, the girls are probably holed up in Will's room, trying to think up a way to save me…"
She laughed in a voice full of cold cruelness. Cornelia was shaking. Not Elyon, no, Elyon would never…no, it wasn't possible; Elyon had been her best friend for years, no…

"Come on", she heard Will whisper, "Lets get going"

But Cornelia was rooted to the ground. She wanted to burst into tears; she didn't care if they discovered her.

"Come on", Will repeated urgently, "Lets get out of here before they find us"

Cornelia finally pulled herself together, and ran out quietly. When they were finally far enough away from the room, Will made them visible again, and now, looking around, she could see that the others were as freaked about this whole thing as she was.

They didn't talk the whole way back to the portal, and by the time they got back to Earth and closed the portal, Cornelia wanted to scream.

"We'd better get home", Will said quietly as soon as the portal was closed. Cornelia couldn't quite believe what she was hearing. Had Will been under a rock or something the whole time? The others gave her equal looks of shock.

"Will", Hay Lin said, "Don't you think, maybe we should…I dunno, try and find a way to save Elyon-?"

Her voice faltered and died though, after a cold, cruel look from Will. "Obviously", Will said in a calm voice, "Elyon doesn't need saving. So I wouldn't worry if I were you"

"How can you say that?" Cornelia asked Will. Will may not have known Elyon for long, but to be like this about it? "She's our friend", Cornelia said, her voice a bit stronger now, "We can't just leave her! They-they must have known we were there, they set up, Elyon…"
"You can't keep making excuses!" Will snapped, "Elyon knew exactly what she was doing, she was never under a spell, and she never needed our help! For all we know, she was the one who released Phobos!"

Cornelia felt like someone had slapped her in the face. "You're wrong", she finally said, "You're wrong!"

"Sometimes, Cornelia", Will said evenly, "The truth hurts"

She turned to walk away. "Will Vandom", Cornelia said as she watched the red-head look away, "We've always been on different pages. But if you're going to be like this, if you're going to be against helping Elyon-"

"We can't help someone who doesn't want to be helped!" Will snapped, whirling around, her eyes filled with anger, "This is the way it is, Elyon's the enemy now, get over it!"

Cornelia looked at the others, and could see none of them agreed with Will. "We could", Hay Lin said quietly, "Investigate some more, maybe we missed something, maybe it was all a hoax-"

"You don't get it!" Will said, turning to Hay Lin, "It wasn't a hoax, it was real! Get over it! I'm sorry, but if Elyon wants to be the enemy, let her, you can't let some friendship stand in the way of our job!"

"Our job stinks", Irma muttered. Even she couldn't find a joke for this. Cornelia glared at Will, and for a second considered yelling some more, trying to make Will understand. But Will beat her to it.

"Whether you like it or not", she said in that same, annoyingly even voice, "This is the way it is, now for the last time: get over it"

And before anyone could stop her, she turned around and walked away, leaving four, very stunned girls in her wake.

Okay, for those who didn't pick up on it, this was Scottgrubbs idea, word for word: What if Elyon was never really on the side of good to begin with? What if she just pretended to not know about Meridian, gain the girls' trust, and then turn on them in this story? And, what if, thus, she was actually helping Phobos take over the universe?

Yes, as I said before, he is evil, and I'm worse for going along with it. I'm sorry; it was just too good to pass up! Anyway, I'll update soon, see ya around! And Scottgrubb? Thanks for the idea, like I said; I'll credit you in every place possible.