Chapter 8: The Heart of Nimbus
"Shadows mutter, mist replies; darkness purrs as midnight sighs."
- Rusty Fischer
Heatherfield...
The Halloween carnival looked approximately the same as it had ten years ago. Ten years ago, when that ghastly prince had stolen her seal from her in front of everyone. Oh, the humiliation... The festive grounds hadn't been changed too much. It all looked the same. Heatherfield wasn't all that big on modernization, but it was kind of what made it special.
This year, however, everything was different. This year she was here with her son and that automatically erased all the trauma linked to the carnival and all the events that had taken place at it in the past.
"Did I win a prize, maa?"
The white prize balls hit her painlessly, yet nerve-racking, as Caleb saved the Familliar from her spells. His smile was magnificent, even when militant, yet he had chosen to stand against her, so she had to get him out of the way. Up until her perfect Universe was achieved and he could join her at her throne, of course.
"Baby needs a spanking!"- Nerissa growled and aimed forward, purposely blasting at the booth behind her son and the passling, instead of at him. She could never hurt him, of course, she just wanted to get him out of the way for his own good...
"So. Should we try this again?"- Caleb spoke next to her as if having read her mind. Of course, he remembered their little 'bonding' moment from years ago too. Sometimes she could forget that he, not less than her, had suffered during all these years when he had been left. When they had been divided. Even if he had been hiding it well.
"Let me win a prize for my mom."
"I already have the prize which I wanted."- Nerissa smiled at him as she leaned on his arm. "That's you, my son."
"Still, mom. Come on, this place is way too emotional for both of us. Let's at least try to make it endurable, or we won't be able to spend the whole evening here and will just ruin Halloween for everyone else."
Nerissa smiled. Caleb had knocked down all the, stacked in a pyramid, bottles, with his first throw. She took the big prize teddy bear from the vender.
"Good."- Caleb grinned. His last-minute Indiana Jones costume wasn't anything special, but it did look damn good on him. "Now let's find the others. A few are the nights when we can all forget about Phobos and the angst his freedom creates."
Very soon, Caleb. Very soon that angst will be a thing of the past. When I am once again able to protect you, your father and my grandson, Phobos will be history. I'll make him disgorge blood on his audacious threats towards you.
Nerissa looked at her watch. It was already almost 10 PM. When was Cornelia going to finally arrive? Surely it didn't take that surfer ages to make her and Taranee move on, did it? Unbelievable.
"Caleb."- she began. "I don't have much time-"
"Okay, Maleficent, I see you."- Irma commented as she approached the mother and son duo in her Blossom from the ''Powerpuff girls'' costume. Will, who came behind her, had her hair spray-dyed in black for the night, getting under Buttercup's skin to the last detail. "That look you definitely pull off perfectly, I'll give you that."
"Don't I always?"- the ex-guardian purred and tossed her straight hair to the back. "Besides, one must work with what nature gave them."- she added, sliding her manicured finger against her sizzling cheekbones.
Irma raised a sly meaningful brow but didn't get the chance to reply. Will had been quicker:
"You don't have time? For what, you don't plan on performing a Halloween skit for the school competition, do you?"
"I might as well. After my skit was ruined the last time."- the sorceress snorted at the detestable memory. "But, no, it is not that. I am simply expected elsewhere. I have to discuss several important manners with our architect on Meridian."
Caleb looked convinced. The Water guardian was also contended with what she had heard. Not that she had cared much, to begin with- they both walked away to greet a group of friends. Her replacement, on the other hand, took another minute to look at her in her interrogative way. She wasn't fooled this time. Oh, brother, Nerissa thought with annoyance as the warm amber-brown eyes finally moved away from her. Her conviction was in doubt. The little guardian had become smarter, that couldn't be denied.
But soon, that will not matter, Will. Even your distrust can't stop me from doing the only right thing to ensure my family's wellbeing. You will not be able to sabotage my plan on time.
"I soo can't believe this."- Cornelia's bitter tone echoed in the car which speeded down the main road. "You're done messed up, Taranee. Of all the twisted, sneaky tricks...
"For the last time, Cornelia: I'm SORRY for what happened! But this- this wasn't an idea of mine."- Taranee fired back. "If you can't forgive me, please don't add more to the list of accusations. This time I've done nothing, I swear!"
Cornelia glared at her again, yet she couldn't find any distinctive signs of untruthfulness on the other woman's pallid face. Taranee wasn't a good liar, and she was usually sincere- just like she now was, to the blonde's distaste. She preferred to have her friend do stupid shit to her, that way she could continue being angry at her and it would be justified. After what she had said to her, almost two weeks ago, Cornelia was furious, but as always, with time, her anger was slowly fading away. Taranee's miserable appearance, the lack of any makeup on her face, the dark circles under her eyes, and the fact that after the incident she had done nothing but apologize, tolerating all of Cornelia's rude words and actions, did not help at all either.
But tonight's occurrence had awakened her vengeful side again. Cornelia had just gotten ready to attend the Halloween carnival next to Sheffield, decked in her fiery red devil costume, consisting of an exquisite red crop top sweater, a long airy red skirt, and a pair of high boots to match, when she had suddenly been dragged to a car by none other than Peter. In the car- Taranee was already waiting with a gloom look.
"Oh, sure you did nothing, Taranee. Nothing at all."- the Earth guardian said scornfully. "You just acted all depressed and sad until everyone felt sorry for you and stepped in to fix your mess! First, your mom went to talk to mine, now Peter! How old are you, 10?"
Taranee stared at her in astonishment. Obviously, she didn't know anything about that either. Elizabeth Landon Hale had briefly mentioned it to her daughter in the morning, but Cornelia had only gotten angry over it. Were their mothers insane? They hadn't even done that while they had been teenagers, what gave them the idea that they could interfere in their relations now? She hated how everyone had blown everything out of proportion and now she was shamefaced, even though she had done nothing wrong.
"Enough you two."- the man called from the driver's seat. He glanced at them in the rearview mirror. "I got you angry with each other, I'm the one who's gonna help you sort this all out."
How had he gotten himself in all this, Peter would never know. But he did feel partly responsible for everything that had happened, even though they had been the ones to hide things from him for over ten years. Things as important as being magical guardians with extraordinary powers and responsibilities. Yet he could understand why his sister and her friends had done it. Such a thing wasn't easily digestible. And when Nerissa, his girlfriend's old friend and also ex-guardian and future mother-in-law of Cornelia (bizarre list of jurisdictions), had come to talk to him about it, she had managed to get him to act. Peter sighed heavily. If only everything wasn't such a big, complicated mess:
"Your mother loses sleep over this situation which occurred between your sister and Cornelia, Peter. And I think that you, as a man, should step in and put things into place. For everyone's sake."- Nerissa had said upon showing up at the school gym. "Theresa is worried sick, and so is Taranee, who makes mistake after mistake these days. It's a shame really, how she loses points in everyone's mark books due to her unchanneled emotions."
"But what am I to do? I mean, I'm not cool with their argument, but I don't see how I can convince Cornelia to forgive my sis's insult. As a matter of fact, I think that-"- Peter wasn't a kinky man, to begin with, but he could not not appreciate the beauty of a female body when shoved up in his face, which was exactly what Nerissa had done. She was towering him with the lowest cut blouse he had ever seen someone wear as an everyday garment, while he lay, lifting weights. "- that...Taranee kind of deserves it, you know? After what she said. -"- he had finished as he had got over the distraction.
"Oh, there's no doubt about it."- Nerissa had waved her hand. "But restoring their friendship is important due to the current circumstances. And there definitely is much that you can do, my dear surfer boy. You managed to stay friends with Cornelia even after your romantic relationship came to an end, right? Then you can surely influence her."
"Look, Riss. You and your son are cool and all, but I don't think that you know Cornelia that well. To deny her the opinion that she thinks is right is a very..."
"By all means, Peter, trust me that I know just how pestiferous her stubbornness can be. But I also know that she's a sucker for attention and understanding. I know that her opinion can be easily altered if done the right way. But enough about me. I gave you the hint. Your turn, sweetie."
The young man returned back from his own flashback and stopped the car. No, he wasn't going to try to trick his ex into forgiving his sister. He was going to do things his way. They had made it to the outskirts of Heatherfield.
There was a grave silence in the car, but they would finally be able to talk. Peter turned back with one of his dazzling smiles and asked:
"So, who is going to suggest a name for my baby first?"
Meanwhile...
"Where the hell is the darned portal?!"- Phobos burst out, shaking the young woman by the shoulders. "You said that it was here, in the rebel leader's house! Why do I see absolutely no portal?! Answer me, you foolish girl!"
"It was here!"- she defended herself as she pushed his hands away and looked around the darkened basement with angry, indigo blue eyes. "It was in this underground room when the guardians passed us through, for the engagement. I heard them very well, saying that the Meridian portal was here, guarded by spells. I saw it with my eyes, it was here!"
"Well, it certainly isn't here now!"- Phobos raged. "I never should've trusted your judgment. I told you that the veil will only hinder our plans, but you had to lie to me, assuring that it will work to our advantage!"
"It will once it traps your sweet sister and Andan there...don't make me repeat myself. You never have patience for anything, this is why you f..."
"Don't you dare say that, you blond nonentity."- the prince hissed, shoving his long finger in the woman's face, getting dangerously close to her. "Don't you ever say that I've failed, or you'll know the worst of me! Now tell me why would the guardians close the portal to Meridian after they decided to keep it as a durable passage. Tell me!"
"They didn't close it...they must've moved it. She moved it!"- the sudden realization had the woman gasp in terror, but Phobos was just bewildered.
"What are you talking about?! Who moved the portal, Wilhelmina? She's too stupid to..."
"No, not her! That woman...The Mage."- the young woman narrowed her eyelids. "She must've moved it, because she suspected me. She suspected that Arzu has something to do with Cedric's escape."
"What?! I told you to be careful with the sorceress! I thought you knew all about her!"- Phobos's voice boomed. "It's a desperate cry to rely on you to show sensibility. From now on, you shall listen to me instead of doing such moronic things like lying to me about the darned Golden Spring!"
This is all your fault, the woman wanted to say. You wanted that useless shapeshifter and hence Nerissa suspected me! I never should have underestimated her... If I do again, history will repeat itself and everything will have been pointless.
But instead of confronting the prince, the woman just snuggled in him. To Phobos's dismay, she just kissed him and then whispered in his ear:
"Forgive me, my love. But we might be in the middle of a trap. We must flee at once, but first, we should make sure that no spell or contraption will be able to denounce our coming here. The house is now empty, but everything in this space holds magical memory. We ought to erase our tracks!"
Phobos didn't lose time to argue. He just nodded before lifting his hand up. The wave of his dark magic blurred the whole room, destroying every little piece of manna around them. Nothing would be able to betray them anymore. He snorted in disgust as he saw a small widget fall from the ceiling- a camera, as far as he knew. This appliance was used to take photographs and was in Wilhelmina's style. But did the witch think it would be so easy to expose them?
He and his mistress teletransported instantly as if they had never set foot in the basement of the rebel leader.
Will groaned in frustration. It was almost midnight, and her fears could've already come true for all she knew. She had 20 more minutes to try to prevent what she thought was about to happen, but her mother had no intention to let her do that.
She and William, her little half-brother, had glued themselves to the young redhead. Professor Collins was tightly behind them, here to oblige, while his son expressed his wishes to play every game and win a toy from each game as well.
"Will, it's Halloween. At least tonight you can spend some time with your brother."- Susan eyed her strictly. "And not huff and puff as if you're plowing a field!"
Will looked at her family with irritation. Their 'Adams' family costumes were a little over the top for her taste, but she knew that her mother always had to be extra on holidays.
"If you had told me that you were coming to the carnival, I would've given you a more suitable costume."- Susan had said. "You could've been a part of the Adams family as well."
"Gee, I guess Nerissa forgot to mention the need of me to match your costumes."- the redhead had snapped. "That she forgot, of course, since she only cared to busy me-"
"What's your problem, Will?"- Susan wasn't happy with her reply. " You act as if we've ruined your night by deciding to spend Halloween together, and I can't even see Matt around? Your friends are with their boyfriends and I think that you can be with us for once! Stop acting like a child!"
My problem is, that Nerissa deliberately did all this so that I couldn't go after her, Will thought enraged. As if I don't know that it's Halloween and what that means for Heart keepers, especially the indirect ones. Some things just never change...
"Will, stop staring at nothing and come help me. I want to get the ring around the pin!"- Morticia-Susan broke her daughter off her thoughts.
Will made a face and took the little hoop from her mother's hands, aiming for the pin. She missed. These games were just impossible!
"Will throws like a grandma!"- William giggled.
"Son. Be nice."- his father warned.
"Yes, William."- Susan agreed. "Don't talk like that to your sister. Even if it's true."- she added satirically, making Will's jaw hang.
"So, basically you now know all about it... About everything... About the guardians, Kandrakar, Meridian..."- Caleb summarized, still astounded by the last events.
Not only had his girlfriend come to him with Taranee, having left all their arguments behind, but now this guy was here. Peter, smiling at him, explaining the situation to him, against the background of the noisy carnival.
"I'm still catching up on some things, but yeah, bro. Pretty much I now know it all."- he beamed. "And I had to know, after all, Cass is having my baby. Meridian, that's where you from, right? You're from another planet, that explains how you bested me."- Peter winked at the bewildered rebel leader, winning himself a shove from his sister.
"I'm kiddin, bro. So, that being said, the girls are friends again and we're cool, right?"
"Yeah..."- Caleb nodded, still somewhat open-mouthed. "Cool."
"Great, bro."- Peter just smiled all the time, Caleb decided. His white teeth could blind people at certain lights. "Tell Riss that everything's under control, I'll tell my mom. Mothers. They just always stress out-"
"What?"- Caleb asked, perhaps a bit too harshly. "Why should I tell my mother any...she told you about Cornelia and Taranee fighting?"
"Well, I already knew, but she put me on the trail."- Peter explained. "Look bro, we've been living in the same town for so much time now, I hope that we can be friends. Especially now that I'm also willfully or not, a part of this whole enchanted world thing. So, can I count on you that whatever has been in the past we leave in the past and that we can be friends from now on?"
The rebel leader was finally able to smile in response:
"Fine by me, bud. As Matt likes to say, welcome abroad."
"We've got to hand it to Nerissa, this time she did a pretty decent job."- Taranee noted as she and Cornelia watched the two men shake their hands from afar. "And I probably owe her an apology as well. I thought that she'll screw me over the entire time, when in fact she actually really helped Peter a lot... I'll always be ashamed of myself for acting so irrational lately, Cornelia."
"Don't be."- Cornelia sighed with arms crossed on her chest. "At least for you, being irrational was a new thing. With me, it's constant. I also have to apologize to Nerissa, after all the shit I said to her in my anger...I told her that she's a guest in the house and whatnot. But she still got my ex-boyfriend and boyfriend to be friends. Can you imagine?"
Taranee shook her head:
"We're just still not mature enough, I guess. We'll become better versions of ourselves with time."
"Don't be so generous on the apologies to Nerissa, you geese."- a familiar voice behind them intervened.
Taranee and Cornelia turned around in wonder, seeing Irma with a bag of candy in her hands and a sour expression on her face:
"Irma?"
"As happy as I am to see you two on good terms again, we have new problems."- she snorted. "Because your precious Nerissa, did screw us all over. Again."
"What?!"- both guardians gasped in unison. "But why? What did she..."
"I just talked to Will."- Irma snapped. "Mrs. Power-Psycho purposely kept everyone busy in order to take advantage of Halloween's law-bending and steal a new mystic Heart. Which she did, no surprise there. We should all head to Mrs. Rudolph's old house now. We'll tip Hay on the go."
Galgheita Rudolph's house, 12:20 AM
"You shouldn't have done this, Nerissa!"- Will yelled in the older woman's smug face. "Don't you understand that by stealing a new heart you're just going backward whilst proving to be hell of untrustworthy?!"
"Yeah, besides, last time you deprived a realm of its power source, you almost had it destroyed!"- Taranee reminded. "Which poor world did you rob this time? Don't you ever think of the consequences of your actions before it's too late?"
Nerissa didn't seem impressed at all and Will knew why. Each time she claimed a new great power, her smugness, confidence, and insolence reached excess levels at the expense of her humanity and ability to reason. The process of corruption could begin any moment after such a power theft, and that was what utterly terrified the young redhead. The last thing which they needed was a crazed Nerissa as their enemy, now, when they had to deal with Phobos and all of his evil philistinism.
"She's a nutjob and that is that!"- Irma declared as she sat on one of Mrs. Rudolph's couches, comforting her anger with the candy she had brought back from trick or treating with the kids. "Therefore, explaining to her is like talking to the wall. I don't see the point of it, Will babe. Nerissa just has to ruin things all the time, especially Halloween, as it seems to be her favorite day to be chaotic! No holidays matter to her. What's next, Nerissa? You'll conjure a giant plague for Thanksgiving? Hunt the Oracle for Christmas?"
The ex-guardian tossed her head back, laughing at that last part. That only further annoyed Will. She glared at her again. Nerissa took her time to flaunt around Galgheita's old living room before she finally stopped and looked at them with haughty pride:
"If you're all quite finished, I'd like to finally say a word or two in my defense."- she began with a miffy smirk.
"I just don't know."- Cornelia, who hadn't spoken up until now, shook her head from the bottom of the room. "What should I tell Caleb this time-"
"Don't you worry about that, Cornelia."- Nerissa interrupted her coldly, not a trace left from her glee. "I'll explain everything to my son. If I wanted a detailed, blown out of proportion tale, I'd ask you to deliver it. But frankly, I don't, so keep it to yourself. I've had just enough of your dramatic utterances during this past month, and I will not endure any of your attempts to play havoc with my relationship with Caleb. Not you, not any of you. I sincerely hope that I stand clear."
Cornelia lowered her head, even though she felt the anger scald her, she knew when she was demilitarized by her own words and actions. But nothing could stop Irma, who had already stood up:
"In case you haven't noticed, we've never tried to do that, we've only helped you, you hag! It's in your shitty nature to bring people apart!"
"Irma just calm down!"- Taranee urged her from the other end of the room. "We don't need this right now!"
"I can't! Where's Hay Lin! I'm going mad around here! And is all this woman's fault!"
"I'm done wasting my time on you."- Nerissa declared and started gathering her things. "I'm leaving and I suggest you do too. It is diabolical and dangerous to sit in the house of a recently deceased."
"Stop, Nerissa."- Will got in her way and sighed. She had to keep her cool in order to do this right. "First of all..."
"Mrs. Rudolph AIN'T DEAD!"- Irma yelled from the couch where Taranee, already onto Will's idea, was struggling to get the Latina to shut up. Cornelia just crossed her arms and isolated herself in the corner.
"...You said you'd defend yourself. And I would like to hear that."- Will went on, looking at the green eyes in front of herself. "Even though I was almost sure that you'll be doing something like this, especially after you spurred my mother to come after me and keep me busy, I still want to give you the chance to talk about it."
"See, Nerissa, we know that you did it with good intentions."- Taranee joined. "We just fear that you might've chosen a bad way again. I learned something over the last weeks, and except the apology which I obviously owe you, I learned to give people more time to justify themselves and their actions. You were right about that."
"And just like you've never stood between me and Caleb, I wouldn't think of standing between you and him either."- Cornelia said from the back. "Even if you're radical at times, I'm still sorry. For being a pain in the ass of a daughter-in-law. It's just what I can often be. It isn't cute, I know."
Nerissa examined them thoroughly and, in the end, rolled her eyes. They were still a bunch of good for nothing, little girls in a need of guidance when it came to matters like these. Will watched her, as she levitated above the old TV and crossed her legs in a prim manner.
"Fine. Let's say that you came to your senses. More or less. Getting to my point, we all have the same goal now, don't we, guardians. You're guardians and I'm Mage, we ought to eliminate Phobos once and for all because he is a major threat to the Universe."
The guardians could only nod hesitantly.
"Well, yes indeed, but after raising the veil and a few other magic-draining things which I had to do, and after I lost the Heart of Aridia, keeping up with my responsibilities was no longer possible. Not in an effective manner, at least."- the ex-guardian continued. "To be able to protect Meridian, my son, grandson and Julian, I needed more power. To protect those who that disgusting pig openly threatened, I needed a new Heart. A stronger Heart. Which is why I planned this all along, ever since opening that portal in our basement-"
"Hold it."- Taranee interrupted her. "If the veil isolates Earth, and you didn't capture Elyon a second time, how did you manage to cross into another realm?"
"Are we sure that she didn't trick Elyon again?"- Irma interjected sarcastically. "Cuz that girl has been pretty stupid lately and I wouldn't be surprised."
But Nerissa's mysterious, smug smile that had returned on her red lips, spoke for itself.
"Folding inside a portal."- she said proudly. "I must say, I had never tried it before, but I decided it was worth the risk. And it did work, to my advantage. Because less than a week after losing the Heart of Aridia, I already had a clear idea of which realm would suit my new needs most perfectly. Namely, a planet far away from here knows as Nimbus-"
"Nimbus*..."- Will repeated thoughtfully. And then she suddenly knew why the name sounded so familiar. "Danny."- she murmured. "The Salamander who almost stole the Heart-"
"So, you've been to Nimbus?"- Nerissa looked slightly surprised for a moment. "Well, then you surely know of what gruesome pests magic salamanders can be."
"Oh, yeah, that's right."- Irma grunted. "Danny the dickhead who stole the Heart from Will was a salamander-"
"Anyways."- Nerissa continued her story. "Eons ago, due to the original sin of the locals, the skies of this dimension were cursed by the ever-burning storms, lightnings, and heavenly fires that would turn the life of the Nimbus folk into true hell under the sky. The lifeblood of these bewitched storms was locked in the heart of Nimbus- an ancient mystical necklace that, as you already imagine, girls, is a powerful weapon in the hands of those who control the powers of the ancient nymph. Me, in this case. As lightning is one of Quintessence's wielding powers, this heart has made my magic many times more powerful than any previous one, even the power of my seal fades before the Nimbus energy that is now mine!"
"Well, we knew nothing of this realm's history."- Taranee murmured under her nose. "Then again, going there was just mandatory and for a short time-"
"Wait, what is going to happen to the salamanders if there are no more storms in the skies of Nimbus?"- Will demanded, remembering Danny once again. She had even found him cute all these years ago. Ugh. Her life story was depressing at times. "They feed off lightnings, without them they can't survive."
She noticed Nerissa purse her lips in annoyance, but give her a reply:
"If you're so concerned about these pests, then you should know that they can travel through the dimensions on their own. I'm certain that this Danny you speak of, and all of his kind, will find what to eat, they'll not face starvation, do not worry."
"But what was the Heart of Nimbus stored in?"- Cornelia asked, remembering how greedy the salamanders could be, going after each and every power source they saw. "And how did you find it, it can't have been out in the open, otherwise those filthy salamanders would've long gone after it."
"You're right, Cornelia. But that's the best part. The Heart was hidden there where the salamanders would never think to look for it. "- Nerissa stated contentedly. "On Halloween, universal laws and rules can be bypassed. It was time for me to have success after that failure from Halloween ten years ago. And I did because tonight the caretakers of the Nimbus heart had no other choice but to give it to me willingly. Ahh, it makes one love holidays like these, Irma."
"Willingly?"- Will repeated. "Does this mean that no one was harmed in the course of this claim?"
"Well."- the black-haired woman put on a catty smile. "If I had wanted to hurt someone, I wouldn't have waited until Halloween, don't you think, Will?"
Will kept silent. She and Taranee exchanged quick glances. One thing was for sure, and it was that whatever Nerissa had done in order to obtain this new great power couldn't be considered righteous. But it wasn't the time to judge or discuss that.
Irma, who had finally managed to calm down, powerless before the fact that Halloween was over, watched the ex-guardian take her phone out with a critical eye.
"Oh, now what, Nerissa. You'll post a Twitter update? #iJustSuccessfullyClaimedaNewHeart; #yayMe?"
But Nerissa remained deaf for her mockery. She scrolled through something on her phone's screen before growling with frustration.
"What is it?"- Taranee wanted to know.
"My success is not complete."- the ex-guardian admitted reluctantly. "I did so many things right tonight, yet that blasted enchantress cursed the hidden camera in the basement and her image remains unfamiliar."
"Whaat?!"
Witnessing the mass confusion that her words had provoked, Nerissa saw herself forced to give at least partial explanations:
"The culprit, the woman who is helping Phobos. She was on Meridian on the day of the engagement. She was posing as that Coronian maid, I was almost sure of it when I saw her reaction upon hearing that there is evidence. She dropped the tray to the floor and then, when the evidence magically disappeared from Raythor's pockets, I was even more convinced than before. Arzu is, in fact, the blonde who released Cedric and caused all the muddles on Meridian...The one who has been helping Phobos from day one of his escape, if not even earlier!"
"Why didn't you say any of this stuff earlier?!"- Irma demanded. "If you knew that Arzu is a fake, you should've told us and..."
"The situation required a little more planning than that, guardian."- Nerissa replied up in arms.
"No, she's right. Elyon and the Meridian royal court would've only been further defamed if a drama of this sort took place in Magana's presence. After all that had already happened. "- Will said. "Without secure evidence, such an accusation would've been too much."
"Well, yes..."- Nerissa tossed her hair to the back. "That and the fact that I wanted to use the enchantress to get to Phobos. At the moment when I pulled her scarf down, I secretly took a hair from her head. I needed but a few days to make a deglamouring potion and I was right- the red hair turned blonde."
"So, the enchantress had changed her appearance to be able to follow her plan on Meridian."- Taranee pondered out loud. "She has even fooled Queen Magana and the Coronian royals so that she could join their carefully chosen entourage. We were her ticket to Meridian!"
"That's how she was able to free the prisoners and Cedric while distracting us at the same time, in spite of the veil."- Cornelia gasped. "But who is she? Why is she siding with Phobos?"
"That is what I wanted to uncover."- Nerissa shook her head grimly. "But this bitch is sharper than I expected. I foresaw her coming to use my portal again, that was why I moved it. I hid the portal in this house."- she answered to Will's raised eyebrows. "Galgheita's old house which I provided for her back in the day when I helped her, Alborn and Miriadel escape to Earth with their precious princess. But anyways... I even foresaw that the enchantress will come back on Halloween, when she knows that my protection spells around the house are weaker-"
"She has been to our house. That...that wacko who helps Phobos!"- Cornelia clenched her fists. "I swear, had she done something to my son..."
"Don't even say that."- Nerissa cut her off. "I wittingly sent Julian and Killian to the Infinite City this afternoon. The house was completely empty, but unfortunately, the enchantress fled before I could return from Nimbus and confront her. She has some prudence; I'll give her that. Regardless, now that I am strong as I merit to be, she will not be able to hide from me for much longer."
"Maybe that won't be needed."- Will said after a long musing. "You said that there was a hidden camera in Caleb and Cornelia's basement, didn't you? Let's go and give it a look."
"I can't believe that Phobos dared to come to my house and I wasn't here to slice his throat!"- Caleb raged half an hour later as he looked around the now-empty basement. "I loathe that man. He'll pay for all his sins."
The Hale/Crossnic house was full, despite the late hour. Upstairs in the living room, Martin was working on the broken camera, surrounded by the guardians. Julian and his grandson had returned from Meridian and even Cassidy had shown up.
Caleb was still in the basement, glowering at the place where Phobos had stood hours ago. Peter, who was constantly by his side, ever since the carnival, turned on the lights:
"Take it easy, Caleb."- he began reassuringly. "Giving way to your anger or negative in emotions in general will never solve your problems. Trust me, it's my personal experience."
The brown-haired man looked at the other guy a little bit annoyed, yet he was quick to sigh. Peter was right. Even if, as opposed to him, Taranee's brother was a tad too calm and restful, he was actually a decent guy.
"I know, Peter. But you haven't met Phobos. You don't know him like I do. When that bastard is in question, nothing but negative emotions can be provoked."
"I have put up new, sustainable magical defenses around the entire house as well as around Galgheita's house. No outsider will be able to set foot in without my approval."- Nerissa announced as she came back in the living room upstairs.
"Good job, Rissy."- Cassidy patted her back reassuringly. "And now that next Halloween is a year away, you won't have to worry as much."
"I wish, Cassidy."- the other woman sighed grimly and approached the group in the living room. She had disrobed her costume completely by now, leaving just a plain black knee-length dress over her remarkable body.
"Why is this taking so long?"- she looked at the young man with glasses, disapprovingly.
"Ok, babe, first of all, only I spur my boyfriend."-Irma declared. "Besides, your camera is totally trashed, what do you expect?"
"Forget the camera, it appears that nothing in the basement saw Phobos or his enchantress."- Cornelia huffed. "How is that possible? I thought that our possessions had the ability to carry magical memories for a short amount of time... Memories of what has happened around them. This is why people's personal belongings are of great importance to dozens of spells..."
"Not if Phobos and that enchantress have blocked that said ability with dark magic, which they obviously have."- Nerissa emphasized. "They're clearly not as scatterbrained as I thought."
"That became clear the first time their schemes started working out."- Will said. She was also losing patience. Martin had to at least partially fix the camera for her to be able to use her powers and talk to it, as crazy as that sounded. She had her own special abilities as wielder of Quintessence, but unfortunately, she couldn't use them in this case just yet.
"After Queen's obtuse deed, you mean."- the ex-guardian didn't miss to add spitefully.
Nobody rushed to Elyon's aid this time, to Nerissa's quick-lived joy. And how could they, after all, that was happening was her fault. Of all the immature, delusional mistakes... She felt a hand on her shoulder and turned around to meet Julian's eyes. His comforting touch was the only thing that could dispel her dark thoughts at a time like this. Although her great disappointment had taken the upper hand in the next moment when she heard:
"I'm sorry, but the damage on this little guy is irreparable."- Martin put his tools down and looked at Irma apologetically. "It's not so much because of the fall, but this...this internal frequency that seems to crash the boards every time I make some progress. It's like nothing I've seen before!"
"Dark magic."- Will whispered and closed her eyes in defeat.
"It's alright, boo."- Irma assured her boyfriend. "You did all you could, but you can't fight dark magic and that is that."
"Actually, truth is, you did pretty poorly."- Nerissa interjected spitefully. "But given that it wasn't necessarily to the best of your ability, I suppose it is fine."
Martin visibly sunk in his seat, while his girlfriend rose from the couch with a glower:
"Oh, no you don't, Mrs. Power-mad. Don't you dare take it all out on Martin, he tried his best to help!"
"Irma."- Taranee tried to reason with her, but her words fell on deaf ears.
"And he failed."- Nerissa noted with arms crossed on her chest. "What does that call for? A pat on the back or the actual truth?"
"Nerissa..."
But Julian's words also didn't seem to reach and stop the feud. Having had it with the sorceress, Irma lashed out uncontrollably:
"Oh, no you're so unfair!"
"Truth is not always fair, water guardian. The sooner you learn that, the better."
"If Hay Lin was here, she'd support me, because she saw this coming! She said that you were going crazy again and she wasn't wrong!"
"And what is that supposed to mean?"
The tension in the room could be cut through with a knife at that moment. Cassidy put her hand over Peter's chest as she watched the quarrel with fret:
"It means that you've done it again, Nerissa, you chose power over rational thinking."- Irma snapped. "The others might not have the balls to tell this to your face, but I sure as hell do! If you hadn't chosen to take advantage of Nimbus tonight, maybe Phobos would've been in the Tower of Mists by now! You screwed up, babe, and you wanna know why? Because even after everything that happened, you still cherish power more than anything else. Don't give me that look, admit it to yourself, I'm not asking you to admit it in front of everyone. Be honest with yourself. I'm done with here. C'mon Martin."
Irma finished her blunt, accusing speech, by grabbing her boyfriend's hand and pulling him towards the door, leaving the setting in awkward silence.
And as she felt everyone's doubt-filled eyes on herself, yet again, Nerissa fought to swallow the insult. But it wasn't that easy. The only thing she could see was a pair of eyes. A pair of green eyes, identical to hers, that was looking at her, keyed up.
Trivia: Nimbus*- a world from the original W.I.T.C.H. book "The Heart of the Salamander". This one, I believe, was published in the USA too. (2005-2006 something like that)
A/N: Sooo, originally, this chapter was going to be up for Halloween, but we're taking things in a slower pace with this story, and the main events will not match with the actual dates/months the chapters will be published on, haha. Do share your opinions with me. See u next time :)
