Back again! Well, I must say, this week without school has been great, I'm not looking forward to going back, after all, I've had so much time to type fics, but…well, gotta do what I gotta do, right? On with the chapter, and I do not own W.i.t.c.h.

Chapter 23- Lost

She wandered along, scared and confused. All she could hear was Cornelia. Right now, I hate you. And she had every right to, didn't she? The others would never admit the way Cornelia had, but she had ruined their lives. They had been fine without her. Maybe leaving could change that. She looked at her watch. Her mom would be home by now, she would have found the note. What would her reaction be? She wondered if her friends knew, or cared. She wondered if she even cared.

She didn't really sleep that night. She rested against a tree, but never really slept. All she could think about was what was happening in Heatherfield. Again, she found herself wondering if they even cared she was gone.

"Nothing?" Hay Lin asked Irma sadly.

"Nada", Irma replied, "We went over every square inch of this town, didn't find hide nor hair of her. I'm worried"

"My mom went over her house earlier", Hay Lin said, "Her mom is ballistic, feels like it's her fault Will left…"

"Well how can we say it isn't, without making it seem like we know what happened?" Irma asked, "'Sorry Mrs. Vandom, your daughter ran away because Cornelia made her feel like it was her fault we were chosen to be the guardians of some mystical Veil, and Will believed her'? Or how about, 'Will cracked under the pressures of being the leader of the worlds only hope for survival'? Maybe that would go over better?"

"I get it, I get it", Hay Lin said, "I just wish we knew where Will was…"

Will blinked blearily. She was exhausted, but she stood up anyway and kept walking. Even she was sure of where she was going. She just hoped she got there soon.

"The leader", Elyon said unconcernedly, "So?"
"Why is she off on her own?" Phobos asked.

"Does it matter?"
"Yes", Phobos said, "This is the chance I've been waiting for. We could finally get the chance we've been waiting for. This could be the chance we need to get the Heart of Candracar. Cedric!" he snapped, "You know what to do"
"Yes, my prince"

"Look at her!" Luba was in a rage, "Off on her own! Leaving the other guardians! How much of a fool could she be!"

"She will be fine", The Oracle said in an annoyingly calm voice, "She can do what she feels is right"
"She is in danger", Yan Lin pointed out, "Luba is correct, she should not be off on her own…"

"I realize her decision was rash", The Oracle said in the same, calm voice, "But she must do what she thinks is right"
Yan Lin and Luba exchanged a look. It wasn't often they agreed on something. It was just one of the many signs of the seriousness of the situation. They turned back to look at Will through the looking stone. She was trudging through a wooded area, alone, and vulnerable. Phobos would make his move as soon as he got the chance. And Will would not be ready when he did.

Hay Lin sighed and looked around her wearily. It was late, she really should have been home. But her parents had given her permission to take one more look around town to see if she could find Will. Even she knew it was a lost cause, looking, but that didn't stop her. All she wanted was to know her friend was safe.

Ring-Ring

Sh sighed and grabbed her cell phone, "Yea?"
"Any luck?" Irma's voice came over the line.

"I wish", she said with a sigh, "I'd better get home, talk to you later Irma"

"Bye", she hung up feeling worse than ever. She walked back towards the Silver Dragon, her hands deep in her pockets. She walked along, looking at the sidewalk.

"Hey", she stooped down and grabbed a penny off the ground, "Find a penny pick it up, all day long you'll have good luck. If there's one thing I need right now, it's luck"

The penny slipped from her hands and landed on the ground with a weird sounding tling. And then her whole world changed.

She was no longer standing on the sidewalk. She was floating somewhere above it. It was daytime instead of night, and the streets were filled with people. And in the middle of the crowd, Hay Lin saw her. Short. Baggy clothes. Red hair. It looked like she was heading out of town, towards a patch of woods. She saw a penny slip out of the girl's pocket. The same penny she'd just found.

Hay Lin grinned as she slid back into the present. She bent down and grabbed the penny. Maybe she was going to get a little luck after all.

Two notes: 1) Sorry it took me so long to update, I've been busy. 2) Sorry the chapter was short, and sorry not much happened, I think I'm going to be wrapping this one up soon, I'm running out of ideas for it. I'm already planning out a sequel for it though, but I might just not do a sequel and keep it in this one fic. Not sure yet. Okay, review