Hey everybody! Wow I was really happy with all the reviews I got for last chapter & the story in general. Thanks guys! Ya'll just got yourselves and update! So here's Chapter 7 for you!
Hay Lin: Okay, now it's MY turn to complain! You couldn't have just stuck with tormenting Irma, huh?
Nope! Now, could you please just read the disclaimer?
Hay Lin: Okay, okay: KaNdRaKaRgrl does not own us or the books or the show…you get the idea. If she did, we'd have a five season contract and be ready to sign for season six.
Well, it's true. Enjoy!
Chapter 7
Flying Through the Rain AKA Reconciliation?
It had been exactly twenty-four hours since Hay Lin had blindly run home bawling from The Golden, twenty-four hours since three of the guardians had voiced their image of her as traitorous and dangerous, and only one of them had stood up and said that the whole thing should just be forgotten. Only your best friend would do something like that for you, and Hay Lin's did.
But now, as she was perched on the roof of her house/restaurant, her stick-like legs dangling over the edge, she couldn't but feel betrayed by Irma, too. She had spent the whole of last night having a staring contest with her phone instead of her paper, waiting for Irma to call her up and tell her that they were going to try and go up to Candracar the next day to figure out what was going on with their powers. But the phone hadn't rung all night, all morning. They had said they would let her know. They also said they considered her their sister. Well,
So before she could fall further into a tornado of depression and do something she would later regret, Hay Lin stood up on the edge of the rooftop, looked down onto the street below, and jumped.
(Meanwhile with Irma & the others…)
Irma took her place among the circle on the grass and clasped Cornelia & Taranee's hands, squeezing them until her knuckles turned paper-white. Will stood in the center of them, the mystical Heart of Candracar hovering above her palm.
"Ready?" The other three girls nodded their heads, and Will signaled them to close their eyes. "HEART OF CANDRACAR!" she boomed. "TAKE US THERE!"
And as the familiar pink aura enveloped their bodies, Irma sent a silent little plea to the Oracle: If you help us to understand, I promise I will be the guardian you want me to be. I'll do anything, I'll give up my powers, my life here on Earth…if you'll just let us help our friend…
And up in Candracar, the Oracle nodded in recognition of Irma's words, and with a rush of neon pink they vanished from Earth and into the world of Candracar, the world of their parallel home. But as they went, all of the girls couldn't help but feel that they'd forgotten something…
Hay Lin let herself hurtle toward the concrete splayed below her, and before her head could crash down onto it, she soared up toward the clouds, like a little pencil of a rocket just launching into flight. And for reasons she would never be able to explain, she twirled around in the air and flew off toward the cemetery, letting the wind take her where it would.
Irma opened her eyes to the towering pearly columns of the magnificent halls of Candracar. Her eyes swept the room for the Oracle, but he was nowhere to be seen. "HELLO?" Irma called, her cry bouncing off the walls and back. But none of the great sages came scurrying to where they stood, expectantly. Guess this is just one of those missions we have to figure out for ourselves. So without one word to the others, Irma took off straight down the nearest hallway, Will and the others burning tile at her heels. Room after room after room whipped right on past her until finally, she stopped, Cornelia slamming into her back, Will and Taranee into hers like a big long row of dominos. Irma squinted into the room, for a midnight black draped its entire interior. Something was wrong; Candracar wasn't supposed to have any dark rooms. Hell, Irma wasn't even sure night fell up there.
"Taranee, give us some light?" Flames began to lick the dark away moments after Irma had voiced her request. She ventured into the empty space, the fire following close behind, circling round her head. After a little way she stopped, feeling that she was in the center of the room. Irma just waited there, waited for someone to come to her, something to happen, something to make her understand…
…and all too soon it did. Feeling her body leave the floor, Irma's eyes, still struggling to adjust to the dimming light, tried to fall upon her friends again, but they couldn't. Why? Because her friends weren't there anymore.
"WILL!" she cried as she rose on invisible air. "TARANEE! CORNELIA! SOMEBODY!" But not even the flames were there to keep her company anymore. The poor girl was all alone, and as she whirled her arms like she was trying to swim back down to solid ground, gravity froze, leaving her untouched, still flapping her arms aimlessly now. She knew someone was watching her. She knew that someone knew what she had come to Candracar for in the first place. So why aren't they helping me! she snarled to herself. But instead of becoming consumed by her impatience, Irma just listened to the silence, hoping it would yield her answers rather than another clue to a question.
As if on some invisible cue, a beautiful silver orb glistened into view, right in front of the stunned water girl's face. It was a mesmerizing thing, ripples of pure, free vibe bounced around the room like a little girl skipping off to nowhere, like Hay Lin did all the time…
Of course, Irma thought. It's one of those auramere things, the ones that hold the essence of our powers…and I'll bet you anything this is Hay Lin's. The symbol of the air etched itself into the metallic surface, almost like it was winking at the princess of the sea. For a reason only Irma knew, she smiled back to it, lifted up her hand, and let her fingers close around the perfect sphere.
This isn't my element, she thought as she held it. I shouldn't be doing this. Who knows what kind of otherworldly disaster I could cause? But this could be my ticket to helping Hay Lin… So Irma let the auramere hover in her loose grip, assuring herself over and over and over again: Nothing bad will happen, nothing bad will happen, nothing bad will happe-
And then something bad happened. The brilliant auramere clouded over, and Irma could feel every ounce of breath and air she had stored up inside her being sucked from her frail form, feeding the orb of power in front of her. Her fingers became lost inside of the sea of growing silver, then her arm, traveling up to her shoulder and spreading on and on. The gray veneer was just freezing her eye over when out of the corner of her eye she saw her own auramere, a deep sapphire orb, cowering over in a corner of the room. Come to me, Irma thought desperately as her left eye's stare became a permanent one. Help me…please…
And through the silver shielding her face, Irma could see the circle of blue zipping…away from her? NO NO NO! Irma thought. WRONG WAY! Please…come back…I'll never, EVER misuse you ever again…just help me…
But it didn't come back, and Irma was now a statue, a silver statue, home to the auramere of the air.
"IRMA!" She heard Cornelia's scream echoing behind her. "WILL, USE THE HEART! NOW!"
A sound like a bomb going off rang throughout the entirety of Candrcar, even the Oracle and Tibor's ears perked up at the noise from their delving, deep meditation. The last thing Irma felt was the cool, cleansing feel as the silver world around her melted and she fell from the air, breath stealing into her lungs once again.
Cornelia rushed forward and caught Irma's numbing form out of the air. "IRMA! Can you hear me! IRMA!"
Irma cracked open her eyes and stood up wearily. "Yeah Corny, I hear you."
"What the hell happened?" Will said. "You were there and then you disappeared and then you were the living statue!"
"You guys were the ones who disappeared!" Irma retaliated, her voice ceasing to fail her.
"Whatever," Taranee said, stepping forward. "Just tell us everything that happened."
So Irma recalled the whole sordid scene. When she was finished, every single one of her friend's jaws was this close to hitting the floor.
"Something is seriously wrong up here," Will said. "But before we go interrogate the Oracle, let me ask you a question: why did your auramere run away from you?"
"Well Will, I don't think aurameres really have legs," Irma said, returning to her old demeanor. "But I…don't know. I know I've misused my powers before…but I really thought that all had been forgiven…"
Cornelia put a hand on Irma's shoulder. "Let's just go find the Oracle," she whispered.
But before any of them could take one step forward, the Oracle gave a wave of his hand, and the four girls were sent plummeting back down, down, down to Earth.
Hay Lin knelt by her grandmother's gravestone, praying to the old woman for guidance. When she had dried up all of her tears, the girl caressed the grass around the headstone lovingly, picked herself up, and shot back into the air, feeling her grandmother's hand guiding her all the way to destination number two.
"I think I've had enough world-hopping for one day," Taranee grumbled. "I don't think we're exactly welcome up there at the moment."
"No kidding," Cornelia agreed. "I don't know about you guys, but I have to get going. Call you tomorrow?"
"You know it," Will answered. "See you later."
The two girls left, and it was just Will and Irma left.
"Irma…are you all right?"
Irma faced Will, giving her the trademark smile she practically had patented. "I'm fine," she said. "We've been through worse, right?"
"Right," Will said slowly. "Well, unless you want me grounded, I have to get home. I'll call you tomorrow."
Irma laughed. "Okay. See you later." Waving goodbye to Will's retreating figure, Irma set off for her own house, taking the long way to enjoy the blanket of storm clouds covering the sky.
Hay Lin was about four blocks from home when it began to rain. Ice-cold raindrops whipped her wherever they could reach, pelting her so hard her whole being began to sting viciously…until they disappeared, that is.
For about a foot around her entire figure, no rain fell, just clear, waterless air. Hay Lin, sighed, knowing she was defeated. "Where are you, Irma?" she whispered.
Irma emerged from the shadows, allowing herself to bathe in her own power. She looked up into Hay Lin's face that was staring down at her, keeping her right hand steady to keep the rain from falling on her friend's sunshine anymore.
"Irma…just let the rain fall. I don't deserve…this. I don't deserve…I don't deserve you. I damn near killed you," Hay Lin said through gritted teeth. She descended to the concrete below, her self-hatred overtaking her, and in a flurry of emotion that cascaded just as fast as the rain that could not touch her, fell to her knees, digging her sufficiently long nails into her pale white skin and holding them there until she saw beads of crimson popping up from around them.
Irma ran over, yanked Hay Lin's hand from her arm, and gripped her wrist harder than she thought she even could. "HAY LIN YOU ARE MY BEST FRIEND! IF ANYONE DESERVES NOTHING IT'S ME! IT WAS ALL JUST ONE BIG MISTAKE, CAN'T YOU SEE THAT? I WILL NEVER STOP BEING YOUR FRIEND! I WILL NEVER LEAVE YOUR SIDE! You will never be alone…as long as I am here to say anything about it."
Hay Lin looked up into her friend's face, streaked with rain and tears. "But I don't deserve a friend like you," Hay Lin protested.
"But you have one," Irma replied. Hay Lin smiled, taking Irma's outstretched hand.
"Friends?"
Irma smiled. "When did we ever stop?"
And they walked off through the rain, hand in hand, so blind to the danger that was standing right next to each of them…
Okay guys I'm sorry to say I'm going to be taking a SHORT hiatus on this story, just until Saturday when Thanksgiving madness has blown over. But I promise you a nice long chapter when I'm back! R&R as always!