Well, here we are yet again with the final chapter of one of my stories. It has been so long since I started writing this story and I can still remember that day as clear as when I first wrote Whispers. I am very happy with my reviews and I have to say that you guys are the best! Once again, you're encouragement, anxiety for the next chapter, and the occasional accusation of me being insane has made me happy enough to continue writing, what I love to do best! Thanks you guys!
Hugs reviewers and hands out chocolate
Here we go! The 18th chapter of Through Different Worlds!
Chapter 18: The New Guardians
The Oracle's POV
The Oracle took calming breaths at the scene playing out before him. Will was glaring at him angrily with confusement as the other Guardians crouded around her with faces of deep bewilderment. He knew the question that was burning in the Keeper of the Heart's mind, but he was almost afraid to answer. He erased those thoughts from his mind and they disappeared into the ethenal clouds. There was no time for worrying, and the Oracle shouldn't worry about what he knew was to come. He turned back to the Guardians calmly right as Will couldn't hold it in any longer.
"Why didn't you tell me that the Heart could make a double of itself! And why, why-"
The Oracle held out his hand and she fell silent.
"It is true. The Heart of Candracar did in fact double itself with the help of all it's power and from the stars coming from the heavens above."
"What! Are you kidding me? Why in the world would it do that?" Irma exclaimed. The girls looked at each other but Will stared straight into the Oracle's eyes. He willed for the answer to go into the Keeper's mind. He felt the energy vibrating from her heart and her thoughts turning to a realization. Her eyes opened up a little wider and she quickly looked down with a whisper of a name, one name.
"Phoebe."
"Huh? Are you telling me that-"
"Irma, Phoebe has the other Heart of Candracar." Will responded quietly. Irma stopped abruptly and shut her mouth. Hay Lin and Taranee glanced at each other quickly while Cornelia stormed up beside Will.
"Why? Does that mean that they are new Guardians? Are we being replaced or something?" she demanded.
"If you girls were being replaced right now, we would have found more suitable girls than them." The Oracle heard Luba sniff. He banished the horrid sentence that had come to his ears and listened contently to the Guardians. This was their way of figuring it out. They wouldn't understand though if he didn't help.
"You are not being replaced. You girls do your job very well," The Oracle started with a short glance at Luba.
"But, is Phoebe the new Keeper of the Heart of Candracar?" Hay Lin asked softly. The Oracle sighed. It was time to remind them of earlier events.
"I told you that I had made a pact for Amelia's first daughter to control her mirror and ring, the magicial objects infused with the power to open up the universe to doorways that which even I can't control, and that Phoebe has this ring and mirror right now."
The girls nodded, that meant that they understood him so far.
"But there was more to that promise. It was made between me, Luba, Amelia, and a former air Guardian, Kiari. It happened long ago when Amelia returned to Heatherfield after being in your new friends' world for five years. Upon her return, she faced Lord Cedric and closed Carver Caves, and lost her life along the way." The Oracle explained. He heard Taranee asking inwardly what the rest of the promise was. He nodded and decided to continue.
"I made the promise that Phoebe could get the Ring of Secrets when the time was right, but there was something else. She worried that Cedric or Prince Phobos might possibly be able to harm that world and the rest of the unknown universe since they knew about the mirror."
"And so?" Cornelia asked, wanting to get right to the point.
"And so I agreed with her. New Guardians were to be appointed to protect those worlds the recent Guardians couldn't protect because they can't reach them without the mirror. That is, they'd be appointed if and when evil passed through the mirror. And it has come to that, I'm afraid." The Oracle admitted. He saw the thoughts spinning through the girls' heads as they tried to understand the information he had just brought upon them.
"So, when Cedric went through the mirror into the bookstore to meet Irma, Rachel, Eva, Wei, and I..." Will started aloud. The Oracle confirmed this with a nod.
"The deal was set. There are now many evil creatues, including Lord Cedric, moving and hiding in those girls' city. New Guardians are appointed, and they will learn, as you have, about their destiny!" he declared.
" 'But when evil crosses through the glass, then new Chosen Ones there shall be.' " Will whispered.
The Oracle cut himself away from them and walked near the mirror and listened to the Guardians talking quietly among themselves.
"So, Phoebe has the Heart of Candracar." Will said. "Would that mean that her other friends would be Guardians too?"
"Must be, doesn't it? The Guardians have to have a close bond." Taranee answered. "Hey, wait a second! Where the elements meet their twin, right? Would that by any chance mean since Phoebe and Will were connected by both getting the Heart, what if Ona-"
"Oh my gosh! You're right Taranee!" Irma exclaimed. "Ona is so much like me too, you think she'll have the power over water?"
"I wouldn't put it past her." Cornelia said.
"But, what about the other girls. What were they like Will?" Hay Lin asked.
"Well, Eva and Wei definitely reminded me of Cornelia, though Wei wouldn't believe us because she had a fixed belief from all of the books she had read. Rachel believed us easily and was really sweet and perky while Eva tried to deny everything we told her." Will explained. Irma started jumping up excitedly.
"But remember that Eva was sick and her flowers grew so huge! And Rachel could hear us from the other side of the bookstore..."
The Oracle tuned them out for a moment. He had more important things to settle. It was time to bring back an old friend. He had made another promise seven years ago, and the time had finally come for the youngest member who served Candracar to come back again.
"Erika!" the Oracle yelled into the mirror. There was swirling and rapid commotion coming from inside it. The Oracle could feel the Guardians turning toward the mirror with curriosity.
A figure suddenly fell out of the mirror near the Oracle's feet. He looked at her and smiled as she got up and bowed to him.
"Welcome back." he said to her.
The girl lifted up her head and her true features were revealed. She was a lot like the Oracle had remembered, except she had grown older and more mature from the seven year old he had known. Her very long dirty blonde hair was held back with clips and her brown eyes stared at him as she too smiled.
"Oh my gosh!" Irma exclaimed.
"It's you!" Will yelled.
And it was.
"Hi Will, hi Irma, remember me?" Erika confirmed with a smile. The girls stood there, baffled as Erika turned back to the Oracle.
"You called for me?" The Oracle cleared his throat.
"Yes. Your help is greatly needed young Protector. There are new Guardians you must watch. Look after them and help them, while I can't from Candracar." Erika looked astonished at the news, but then guilty.
"I know. I could feel it somehow. My powers have been expanding as I have protected them and used them wisely all these years. But who are the Guardians I am to be protecting?"
"Powers! You have powers too?" Irma exclaimed.
"Why are you here? This day keeps getting weirder and weirder..."
The Oracle held out his hand and a photograph appeared out of thin air and flew into his hand. He looked at the six girls in the picture for a moment and then slowly handed the picture to the girl. She took it and glanced at it only briefly before gasping with her eyes open and dropping the photo to the ground with a step backward.
"N, no! You've got to be kidding me!" Erika whispered with fear. "I can't spy on my best friends!" The Oracle put a comforting hand on her shoulder and led her back towards the mirror.
"Go now, Protector. The mirror will be closing soon, it can't hold out for long. Be careful and take care of the new Guardians. It will be up to you to explain everything to them when the time is right. And that time is very soon."
Erika nodded. She glanced up again at the Guardians and stepped through, disappearing into her own world.
"Oracle! Are you ever going to tell us what's going on?" Will said through gritted teeth. The Oracle winced for a moment and held a hand to his heart. He could feel her pain, all of them, and their confusion.
"I will, but that time is not now. I will call you Guardians again when the time for more answers has come." he said.
"What! But why can't you-"
"Grandma!" Hay Lin shouted. Yan Lin was waving goodbye to her grandaughter as was the Oracle as the Guardians started shimmering out of existence in the Temple of Candracar. They were going back to Heatherfield, where they would be safe until a new mission was brought to them, for they wouldn't find danger in their future tasks. Danger would find them.
But unfortunately, some other five girls needed to embrace a destiny they are not very aware about. For them, a more dangerous mission is awaiting them right now.
The Guardians were now gone and the Oracle walked forward slowly. Two council members were guiding a frustrated Prince Phobos to the middle of the congregation. The Oracle raised his hands to quiet all the commotion. Phobos seethed and stared at the Oracle with a menacing smile.
"You fool! I will not be kept in that tower! I have fooled you before and set myself free, and I can and willdo it again!" Phobos yelled, his mouth twitching furiously.
"Are you questioning the power of Candracar?" the Oracle said quietly to Phobos. "You will be away from all that is good until you erase all the evil that has shaped your black heart!"
Suddenly, some more noises were heard. The Oracle glanced over to the mirror which was sparking in restraint to stay open, and then he was hearing a loud yelling from someone. It seemed like a young man.
"I will not go! Let go of me you idiots! You can't turn me good so stop trying!"
The Oracle breathed in deeply and turned to where a few other council members were holding tightly to a thrashing boy. The boy was enraged at being held captive and was determined to single the Oracle out.
"You! Get me out of here! Take me back to Meridian, I can't stand it here!" the boy cried. The Oracle shook his head. What impudence! Instead, he spoke quietly to the council members holding him that seemed tired quite frankly. Everyone was wondering what to do.
It was then that the Oracle noticed Phobos staring at the boy with disbelieving eyes. By the time the boy's eyes wandered, he seemed to have given up and slumped in their grip, until his eyes settled on Phobos.
"You!" Phobos said.
"Father?"
The Oracle's mind was spinning. Another one?
The boy looked back at his captors with an evil smile. The events that happened next were so sudden, that the Oracle could not prevent them. The boy twisted his arms and flipped over his captors where he banged their heads together and they slumped to the floor. The Council went up in a roar of commotion as every member went down to help. The boy ran over and punched the members holding Phobos, who let go immediately.
"Somebody stop them!"
"Hurry!"
The Oracle glanced at the mirror cackling with the last of its power and looked back in alarm. He finally understood their destination.
The two stormed a short distnace across the room where the mirror was giving way. They looked determined and ever so decidely evil!
"No! You will stop!" the Oracle commanded. His words took no meaning on them as the boy jumped through the mirror with Phobos after him, his last words ringing in the Temple.
"THE UNIVERSE IS MINE!"
The mirror closed with a pop before the Councils' powers had even reached them. Some caught their breath and stared at the empty space with horrified expressions.
And only silence.
"Oh my..." Yan Lin started. The rest were looking up at the Oracle. The events that had just happened were not planned and were going to be very well disasterous for those in the new world. Amelia looked at him expectantly.
"And now what, Oracle?"
The hushed whispers, the defeated silence, it was all too much for him to bear.
"We have hope, faith, and courage as the new Guardians face a challenge that Will, Irma, Taranee, Cornelia, and Hay Lin were never to face head off in the start. If he contains power there, it will not be long before he gains control of other worlds and then tries to take over Candracar, Meridian, and Earth, where he will even be much too powerful for our five Guardians of Heatherfield." The Oracle paused dramatically.
"Our only faith that the universe through the mirror is not destoyed lies in the hands of those five girls now."
The Council nodded, Luba sniffed, Amelia and Kiari looked at each other with hopeful eyes, and Yan Lin and Tibor put a knowing hand on his shoulders. They are with me, he thought. We are all ready for the impact that those girls will hold over the universe, our fate.
A square photgraph was on the ground near his feet. He picked it up in his hand and recognized it as the picture he had shown Erika: the picture of the new Guardians.
A blonde-haired short girl with bright, blue eyes was in the middle wearing a pink party hat. Next to her was an African girl with straight, dark brown hair with highlites and on the other side, a girl with long, wavy, golden brown hair and hazel green eyes. The two pulled into the edges of the picture were a girl with red, tightly curled hair and turquiose eyes and an Asian girl with very long black hair that was pulled into a high pontail. The one crouching down in the middle was her, Erika, her long dirty blonde hair pulled into two braids and her brown eyes staring ahead with excitement with her arms outstretched. They all had their own individual styles that brightened up the picture along with the balloons and streamers that were flying everywhere.
They are very close, the Oracle noticed as their arms were around their shoulders to show that they were best friends having a good time. He looked up at their smiling faces, their laughter, and felt guilty that everything they knew about their lives had changed, that that they were going to face a dangerous mission, and that they could, not, fail! The Oracle looked toward the aurameres hovering and glanced up into the councils' eyes.
"It is time for the Guardians to know who they are!" he announced. Raising his arms, it was time to begin.
"Onalia! Water!" Yan Lin cried.
"Wei! Fire!" Tibor said.
"Eva! Earth!" Luba grumbled out of respect.
"And Rachel! Air!" Kiari yelled gleefully.
"And Phoebe...will unite them with all of the forces and powerful elements contained in the Heart of Candracar!" Amelia called out. The Oracle nodded and spread out his arms.
"Phoebe, Onalia, Wei, Eva, and Rachel!" the Oracle declared.
"The new Guardians of the Veil!"
Well, that's it then for this story! I hoped you liked it as much as I enjoyed writing it! Please send reviews if you are so kind and I'll give out extra chocolate, yay! Bye bye for now and I'll see you guys later as I continue writing P.o.w.e.r. and two other stories, one connecting to P.o.w.e.r., and maybe Harry Potter. See ya!
Phoebe: But wait! There's a surprise gift that Amanda hasn't given yet!
Ona: Oh yeah, that's right. Do you think they know the story is not over?
Wei: Maybe we should be the ones to tell them since Amanda is clearly gone.
Eva: Alright, yeah, I think we should. Take it Rachel.
Rachel: (inhales deeply) If you ant to read the rest of our story, check out the sequel, P.o.w.e.r., a story about us being the new Guardians of the Veil! It's gonna be really great! And the next chapter that's coming that you have been waiting for, you will be able to read...
P.o.w.e.r.: Now!