Chapter Seventeen
By: Sokai
Disclaimer: I, Sokai, do not claim ownership to the workings of W.I.T.C.H. -- I leave that honor up to Elisabetta Gnone. However, I can and DO claim to own this story and its inspired ideas FROM said series, as well as the original character, Sitara Vandom/Amandella Ember.
Note: Um...yeah. LoL Forgot to say, "Hay Lin, Air!" too at the end of sixteen. Sorry. But yeah, Will did say it; I just didn't write it. LoL Uh...what else...Glad you liked it. I'm surprised. I hated it. LoL Anyway, I already wrote the epilogue last night before passing out, and I'm happy with THAT, at least. LoL Anyway, just read this flipping chapter, wouldja? LoL Enjoy.
P.S. Just finished watching a very kick arse episode of "Charmed" while I was finishing this up, and the very end with the scene between Paige and Piper made me think of Will and Cornelia. Y'know, how Will feels betrayed by Sitara for killing Susan, etc, and Cornelia doesn't want the five of them to kill Sitara but Will does. That's how Piper feels now: thinking of vanquishing Billie and Christie and Paige doesn't want to because Billie's her charge, etc. Yep. Got me emotional watching the end of tonight's episode. LoL SPEAKING of "Charmed," I'm debating whether or not to debut the "Charmed" based story I've been working on, on and off. I dunno. Hmm. -- LoL
Warning: Again, mild cursing (forgot to warn about it in the other chapter, sorry), and dealings with the sensitive, unfortunate subject of physical abuse (so, sorry to those I might offend, as again, I am in NO way condoning it or making light of the topic. So, once more, do not bother flaming me about it or picking a fight because, as I've said before, you will lose).
This chapter was written/created in April 2006.
All six women watched as Wilhelmina's mystical medallion began to hover higher into the air and away from her outstretched hand, and the glass sphere that was its center appeared to abstract into five, palpitating, tear-shaped rockets . . . Something that had become more than a familiar, welcoming sight to the quintet in the last few years and generally instilled great endurance within them -- however, at that moment did anything but for them all save the red headed Keeper.
The first tear crystal had, at that moment, become fluid and ripply as it hovered before an unconscious Irma and then began to lace its way around her bruised body, as if it were surrounding her in some sort of protective wrapping.
In the meanwhile, next to her, the same thing was occurring to the equally knocked out Hay Lin, with the exception that the teardrop designated for her was more or less like a silvery puff of air that was all aglitter. Unlike the continuously violent winds that only seemed eager to tear her apart, this newly formed air gently whisked her still, fragile form from off of the moist ground and instantly enclosed her in a willowy wind, thereafter eclipsing her from view.
A sudden explosion of green light, accompanied by a caressing fragrance of fresh grass and earth, connected with Cornelia's regrettable body and effortlessly wrapped her in a magical cocoon.
The following mystical teardrop was satiated with an orange-red vortex that gaily pranced within it, much like how the candle flame that Taranee had lit for scrying back in Wilhelmina's loft did, as it ironically blazed toward her hunched over form and ostensibly ignited her entire body.
Finally came the former leader's shocking pink colored teardrop, as it pulsated before her brown eyes like a beating heart.
Behind her, she could hear Hay Lin stir awake and gasped (out of joy or fear, she could not tell) as she threw her terribly skinny arms over her head, resembling an extremely light feather. Her disheveled ebony short hair came free from her already loose, single ponytail, gently and repeatedly caressed her gaunt visage, as though feverishly attempting to wipe away her fatigue.
Irma's own hair swam up from her injured scalp, and her sensual, turquoise eyes briefly came alive, while her drenched clothes melted away and lime green, dragonfly like feathers unfurled from her bare back.
Both Cornelia and Taranee closed their eyes a bit sadly as they conceded the transformation. They, like the others, felt their arms and legs infusing with a bit of renewed strength, as their current hairstyles (Cornelia's shortened, now uncurled blonde hair, and Taranee's flattening raven hued updo due to the ongoing rain) remained the same this time around, instead of growing longer or unfurling into several long, braided tendrils.
Wilhelmina glared and smirked defiantly at her vaguely intrigued twin sister before she was unable to see her or anything else, as she was then going through her own familiar transformation. Back arched and body quaking, Wilhelmina felt a motion of heat careen throughout her entire being as the energy she'd felt coursing through her veins caused her to immediately hunch forward and hug her knees.
Now curled into a ball alongside her fellow Guardians, Wilhelmina felt a jerking upon her back as she instinctively knew that she herself was growing wings, just as Irma and the others had around her.
Almost simultaneously did all five women burst out of their coiled positions from within their mystical gems, their slight boost of strength sustaining them.
Sitara, throughout all of this, merely smirked, undaunted by the five magically infused beings before her, taking in their similar purple and eggplant colored ensembles and feathery, fluttering iridescent wings.
". . . Is this supposed to intimidate me, or impress me? I guess magic apparently runs in the family, huh, Willie? Including Mommy's vanishing act," she remarked, enjoying the embittered reaction from her twin, who looked as though she was about to retaliate verbally when suddenly she and the other girls behind her sank to their knees in pain.
"Oh! I . . . I can't do this, you guys! It's excruciating!" cried Taranee as she wrapped her arms around her abdomen in feeble attempts to cease her anguish.
"I-I know! It's like . . . now that we're in our Guardian forms, although we've gotten a little power and strength perk, the pain we'd been feeling before is tenfold!" exclaimed Irma, she and Hay Lin benefiting the most from their supposed increase in strength as they now were at least conscious and vaguely functional.
"I . . . I told you it was a bad . . . idea to transform, Will! We're feeling this pain -- especially now . . . because we're connected to the elements! Irma a-and Hay Lin nearly . . . nearly passed out before because the wind and rain are completely out of control! T . . . that's why we're all feeling so drained and why our scrying had turned on us! It's . . . it's slowly but surely killing us!" revealed Cornelia, at last understanding everything as she struggled to keep her eyes open.
"W . . . what are you . . . t-talking about, Cornelia? That can't b --"
"-- It is! Cornelia's right! I-I'm sure of it! And because I'm positive she's right, then . . . then that means you, although you're the strongest, are going to feel the pain the most! We have to . . . to change back! Now!" pleaded Taranee as she buried her head into the ground while screaming into it.
Wilhelmina groaned in her own agony right on cue as she looked upon her suffering comrades. Could it be true? Were they really dying? It certainly would explain all of the weird events that had occurred in only the last few hours . . . However, despite the ongoing, searing pain they were feeling, she knew that she -- none of them -- would stand a right chance against Sitara if the five of them didn't remain within their Guardian forms.
". . . I can't . . . we can't . . . T-the . . . longer we argue about this . . . the quicker we'll be . . . kaput! We . . . We have to try!" she hissed, slowly making her way to her feet as the others began to do the same with great difficulty.
If I have to go down swinging to avenge Mom's death, then so be it, thought Wilhelmina in slightly selfish determination, as she was well aware that it would also mean that the girls would have to ultimately go down with her as a result . . .
"This is it, Sitara! You killed our mother; my stepfather -- you probably killed Dad for all I know! You're a horrible person, a-and even if it requires the very last of breath to do so, I will stop you!" gushed Wilhelmina heatedly at her sister, who suddenly looked taken aback a moment by her unknown older twin's harsh words.
". . . If that's how you feel, then give it your best shot . . ." she replied tonelessly, slowly raising an arm to provokingly beckon them all towards her, as her hallow eyes traveled over to focus themselves upon Cornelia before continuing,
". . . It will be my immense pleasure to be at last rid of my pain . . ."
Cornelia's blue eyes filled with pleading, hurtful tears at this, desperate to be free of both her ongoing physical pain due to her magical link to her earthy element, as well as her guilt for indirectly creating the out of control monster within her friend. It was like dèja vu all over again with when Elyon had briefly become her enemy and thought ill of her.
Cornelia had barely gotten through that ordeal, after nearly losing someone so close to her, that she wasn't honestly sure that she had it within her to make it through this equally trying instance. Nor was she confident of how the quintet would honestly fair against someone so powerful -- far more powerful than Elyon had been -- or that they'd even survive long enough to find out.
Regardless, since it was clear that neither twin was about to back down, Cornelia knew that she could not as well. She had to stop both sides from destroying the other . . . somehow.
"S . . . Sitara, please! I know that you think that I've betrayed you, but I didn't! I was only trying to help! Please believe me!" she invoked as she, a clammy hand clutching at her fiery chest, took a shaky step forward towards the hovering, black aura engrossed young woman.
"You've got . . . got it all wrong! Your mother loved you! Every day of your life, it seemed, from how she told us the story after you'd left! She . . . she didn't have a choice when she left you to your father! She --"
"-- Stop it! Lies! All of it! She did have a choice, and she made it! She left me to be abused repeatedly by my asshole of a father!" Sitara bellowed, the weather surrounding them taking on a greater turn for the worse as slight flooding began due to the increase of heavy rain, while several, sudden bolts of lightning rocketed from the funereal sky and connected with several trees behind them and effortlessly knocked them over.
At this, Hay Lin, Irma, and Cornelia instantly collapsed to their feet and cried out in increased agony, as Wilhelmina nearly toppled over as well but managed to remain vaguely erect, with Taranee's weakening help.
"You have no idea what I had to endure every, single day of my life because of that rat bastard! Belts; coat hangers -- wire or plastic, he didn't discriminate; rulers -- even small fires to induce burns and light scarring! You name it, he'd use it against me to punish me if I didn't cook dinner on time, or cleaned the house well enough for him!
Even if how I'd comb my hair wasn't to his liking, I'd get my ass kicked for that! Nothing I did ever made him happy! And being the high-profile, prestigious man he'd become over the years, even if anyone had become suspicious of his treatment of me, they didn't do a thing, for fear of getting driven down to the ground by him and the power he had backing him! I was trapped!" the enraged young gentlewoman continued as she at last revealed her heart-wrenching past, sinking deeper and deeper into a fit of fury in the process that not only were the five Guardians of the Veil paying for, but the entire world as well.
". . . I remember once, when I was six, when I'd actually bothered to show the idiotic affection I still had for him by making him a Father's Day card, using uncooked macaroni and glitter to spell the words out . . . he nearly blinded me with one of those powdered kitchen cleansers by pouring some in my eye, telling me that it wouldn't matter if he had, since I already had to be blind if I could spell the word 'father' wrong, taking it more than personal!" she screamed, her pale visage growing darker and darker with unbridled anger and vague insanity.
Wilhelmina couldn't even begin to believe what she was hearing as she bent over the excessively moist ground and was continuously racked with pain. Was it for real? Did her father -- their father truly do all of those horrible things? And to one who was a part of him?
"N-now you're the one who's lying, Sitara! Dad wasn't a great guy, true, but he would never d -- ahh!"
"How dare you? You weren't there! You didn't even know him! And you're lucky! I would just love to see you, 'Miss-Goody-Two-Shoes,' try to survive one day under his roof!" shrieked Sitara as she silenced her unbelieving sister both verbally and physically the moment she'd hurled a large bolt of black energy from out of her extended hand towards her.
She watched with minute satisfaction as it connected with Wilhelmina's body, greatly injuring her, until she herself suddenly felt her own great pain that caused her to faintly hunch over in the process.
Cornelia reached out a weak hand towards Wilhelmina as she and the other girls mustered up some of their lasting strength to gather in a small, protective circle around the red head.
"W-Will . . . no more . . . please don't . . . Don't agitate her anymore . . . You were right all along: what's happening across the entire planet is because of Sitara . . . I . . . I think it's how her powers work! Her emotions trigger them, just like ours do . . . A-and remember what Irma had said about Sitara telling her about her powers of Empathy . . ." she trailed off, gasping for breath and strength as Taranee managed to continue for her.
". . . Irma said that Sitara feels millions of different emotions -- possibly the world's . . . I . . . It's obvious that she's feeling crazy rage right now to the point of boiling over . . . I felt the same way right before breaking out of Elyon's glass prison when I'd gotten captured by her . . .
The power boost I felt was immeasurable . . . like nothing or no one -- no matter how strong -- could stop me . . . I'm pretty sure that that's how Sitara feels right now . . ." she breathed weakly, unable to finish her point.
Wilhelmina shook her head wearily as she brushed Cornelia's hand from off of her shoulder.
"There's . . . no time for talking, I told you . . . It's only obvious we're greatly outmatched, but . . . but we still have to give it a shot! On the count of three, we'll all attack at the same time!" she ordered, not at all confident that it would make even a dent within Sitara, but was still determined to try.
Sensing the great, collected weakness within them, Wilhelmina sealed her eyes shut as the others did the same, summoning the very last of their energy to create a combined attack that would, at the very least, temporarily diminish Sitara's strength if not entirely.
All five bodies began to glow their respected colors of pink, blue, orange-red, green, and silver as each woman struggled to tap into their craft they'd taken for granted over the years.
It'd taken a few minutes to do so (especially with the calamitous odds steadily stacking against them, with each of their elements having now become the enemy), however the Guardians at last received results. Wilhelmina extended both hands out in front of her as a stream of bright pink energy shot from out of them and towards her sister to keep her at bay, while in the meantime Cornelia rested a glowing green hand upon the soggy ground, causing several large, cracked bits and pieces of earth to rise into the sky.
At the same moment, several balls of fire were mystically conjured from out of Taranee's raised, orange-red, Ventriloquist like hands as she guided them over to Cornelia's hovering broken earth to momentarily whirl around it, drying it out as a result.
Curious as to how her flames hadn't been extinguished within the ongoing rain, Taranee briefly averted her attention from her flames to a sweating Irma, who was then in the middle of not only forming a great swirling, pelter of water from out of the collected drops of rain with one hand, but was also willing the rest of the rain that would have drenched Taranee's fireballs as well as Cornelia's jagged earth pieces to fall elsewhere, creating a magical, rain-parting curtain in the process.
Hay Lin slowly and lightly began to hover above the ground behind the girls, as she wearily tapped into her power over Air, becoming eye-level with Sitara. Arms extended on either side of her while taking a deep breath and holding it in a moment, she too began to magically hold the violent winds surrounding all of them at bay as she abruptly exhaled and her breath came out in a strong gust of silver-white air and blasted their ominous foe in her chest alongside Wilhelmina's continued energy attack.
Finally, with a weak nod from the Keeper of the Heart of Candracar as her signal did the others send their magical onslaught towards a seemingly affected Sitara, who'd raised her arms in front of her above her face as though to act as a shield.
Cornelia sadly sent her earthy attack flying towards her dangerous friend, as at the same moment did one of Taranee's menacing fireballs ignite it while the remaining flames continued to swirl around it until the instant both attacks collided with Sitara's raised arms and upper body.
Irma's miniature typhoon weaved itself around Hay Lin's strong, battering ram current of air, creating a far more chilling effect than they were separately as it began to then freeze the malevolent woman's body over.
"I . . . I think we've done it, you guys!" shouted Wilhelmina over the chaos, the Guardians watching in surprise as her twin's black aura covered body had become encased in ice.
A collected gasp emitted into the atmosphere as the five of them gawked in shocking horror as the brief, icy prison suddenly exploded right then, sending large chunks of ice every which way as Sitara emerged from the combined attack, unscathed.
About the only thing that the quintet had managed to achieve was not only increase the girl's choler, but also completely deplete the remainder of their strength as a result.
"T . . . this can't be . . . I . . . it's over," whispered Wilhelmina decrepitly before she and her fellow Guardians promptly lost consciousness, Sitara's sneering, angered self now moving towards them the last thing she saw . . .
-- End of Chapter Seventeen
(A.N. Again, if I missed editing crap, please don't point it out to me as I'm sure I'll catch it later on. It's close to 5 a.m. right now, and I am EXHAUSTED. I was going to call it quits earlier on the editing, but I wanted to get this chapter out before I took my break from the story.
Anyway, ANOTHER freaking cliffhanger? Not my intention. Well, it would've had one, I'm sure, but I didn't plan on making it THAT one, no. LoL Pfft. I could do better than that and have. LoL No, no. It was pure laziness and frustration with this stupid chapter, is all. I hate this one more than . . . what number was it? Sixteen? Five? Who CARES, I hate them all. LoL Oh, and sorry again if Sitara's talking about what Tom did to her growing up disturbed anyone. I wanted it to, at the very least, captivate your attention and move you in the sense that your heart goes out to her. And if some of the punishments, like the beating with a wire hanger sounded familiar, I sort of got inspired by that movie "Mommy Dearest." Never seen it? DO. It's great. Seen it? Then you know what I'm talking about.
ANYway times two! LoL I can't WAIT to finish this story! It's taking over my free time that I barely had enough of to begin with. LoL PLUS, the longer it's taking me to finish the story, the more muddled my ideas for ending it are becoming, and that worries me. Because, THEN, when I DO write it out, it might not be what I had in my head, and then I'll NEVER hear the end of it from you guys. LoL
Right! So, I'm off to take a two day break or so from this story! Mwa! LoL
P.S. Please DO go to my forum for this story -- click the "my forums" link in my profile to find it -- as I'm going to begin reveal some spoiler stuff about the story. Well, spoiler if you haven't read this far. If you have, you're safe. LoL)