W.I.T.C.H.Dreams ofLusteria
By Galistar07water
Disclaimer: W.I.T.C.H. is owned and copyrighted by the Walt Disney Company Italia and is in no way affiliated with the fictional works of Galistar07water.
Author's note: If you would like to see drawings of W.I.T.C.H. Dreams of Lusteria, please visit my page and click the "W.I.T.C.H. Dreams of Lusteria" folder in the gallery section.
Author's 2nd note: The first part of this chapter has been revised at the end. Please re-read it before you read part II.
Chapter 01: The New Guardians pt. II
Unfortunately for the five Guardians, the day wasn't over yet. Without another word, everything around the Guardians turned a blinding white as they zipped through space in a matter of seconds. It has been a while since they've used the Heart of Kandrakar to get to the Fortress of Light. Ever since they received their new powers, they were able to travel between Kandrakar and Heatherfield on their own. Like always, they were expecting to arrive in a familiar heavenly garden where Oracle Yan Lin would greet them in her familiar light green robe.
Imagined their surprised when they arrived in the center of an unfamiliar, huge, and white room being surrounded by tall square-shaped columns. Once the luminous light of the Heart died down, the Guardians saw that these weren't columns. Rather, they were thrones. They were not built at the same level. Some were taller or shorter than the others and each were occupied by a man or a woman in light green robes with embroiders designs on the hems of their sleeves and colors. Taranee noticed that these people looked…young. Instead of the usual silver locks from old age like the other Elders of Kandrakar, these people still have some pigments in their hair. Irma did a quick head count and founded eleven pairs of eyes staring down at them.
"Um…Will?" Irma spoke up, not realizing that her quiet whisper was bouncing off the round walls, enabling everyone to hear her clearly. "I thought you said that you'll take us to Kandrakar, not the inside of my brother's video game!"
Feeling eleven pairs of condescending eyes scrutinizing them, Will instinctively kicked Irma to silence her. Irma gasped and swallowed her swearing. Cornelia and the others gave her a warning look to not say anything further.
"I assure you, Irma," said a familiar voice. "This is no game."
The Guardians instantly tried to look for the source of Yan Lin's voice, but she wasn't one of the twelve members on the thrones. Hay Lin was the first to spot her coming from a huge space between two thrones. Accompanying her was a young, blonde man, but she only had eyes on the elderly woman who gave Hay Lin and her friends so much guidance.
"Grandma!" Hay Lin cried, flinging herself into her grandmother's embracing arms.
After the girls exchanged a quick greeting, Will decided to get straight to the point. She and the others each took turn telling what happened to them in the park.
"Luckily, we've sent Kandor away with the kids," said Taranee. "If they had stayed, things would have probably turned out worse."
"The kids!" Cornelia realized. "Where are they right now?"
"Relax, Cornelia," Yan Lin reassured her gently. "Kandor contacted me a while ago. Your magical students and their families are safe and sound."
The Guardians breathed a sigh of relief. It was then that the blonde man spoke.
"While your concern for your magical pupils is touching, I believe we have more important matters to discuss."
At the sound of his voice, only then did the Guardians turned their full attention on him. They all gasped and readied themselves in defensive positions.
"Cedric! What are you doing here?!" Will demanded. "You're dead!"
"Yeah, we saw you died in Ludmoore's book!" Irma demanded.
"Explain, or else!" Cornelia threatened.
"Grandma, get away from him!" Hay Lin warned.
"Girls, please!" Yan Lin insisted. "Show some respect. This is not Lord Cedric."
The girls seemed unconvinced at first, but upon a closer inspection, they realized that the Oracle was right. This man was not who they thought he was.
"If he's not that two-timing snake Cedric, then why does he look like him?" Irma demanded.
"Would you rather I'd look like this?" said the flaxen haired man as the tiny mirror on his robe glowed. The next thing they knew, the man now has short, brown hair with glasses over an elongated face. It was none other than the dreaded face of their math teacher…
"Ah! It's Horse-Face Horseberg!" Irma gulped nervously.
"So, does this look now suit you?" Mr. Horseberg demanded with a mischievous glimmer in his eyes. "Or should I assign you all some extra homework on the quadratic equation?"
"NO!" All five girls screamed in a panic for it felt as if the real Mr. Horseberg was reprimanding them for passing notes during his lecture.
"NO! THE FIRST LOOK WORKS FOR YOU!" Irma insisted.
Mr. Horseberg smiled as the eleven men and women on their thrones laughed at the situation. Even Yan Lin couldn't help but smiled to herself, despite the coming threat of the Darkness at their doorsteps.
"Oh, stop it, Lord Araël, you're scaring them," said Yan Lin.
The Dream Seer smirked and reverted back to his original appearance.
"Lord Araël?" Will asked.
"Girls, I've asked the Heart of Kandrakar to bring you here after saving you from the ushi-oni," Yan Lin explained simply. She spread her arms wide to indicate the entire circular hall and said, "Welcome to Halls of the Gemini Council. It is a separate branch of power here in Kandrakar, governed by its twelve members. And this is Lord Araël, the Dream Seer and the current leader of this council."
"Kandrakar has a separate political branch?" Taranee questioned, clearly annoyed that Kandrakar have decided to hide something from them again. "Why weren't we told of this before?!"
"There was no need for you to know of our existence then," said one of the women sitting on the tall thrones.
"Our business is of no concern for you," said a man to her right.
"Until now…" Lord Araël reminded them darkly.
"What do you mean?" Cornelia asked. "Does it have something to do with that portal in the sky?"
"Or why our powers are weaker?" Taranee asked.
"Or why I'm feeling all of this dark vibe in the air?" Hay Lin demanded.
Yan Lin looked down for a moment sorrowfully before answering, "I'm afraid it has to do with everything, girls. Lord Araël has something to show you."
The Dream Seer nodded and held out one palm of his hand face-up towards the central ceiling (if the circular really does have one as it seems to go on forever). The next thing they knew, a holographic three dimensional image of the giant scale from the other hall appeared. The Guardians saw one side contained a white sphere, illuminating a weak glow of light while the other contained a black sphere with a powerful shadow mist suffocating it.
"This scale shows us the Balance between Light and Darkness which exists in all things of the universe," Yan Lin explained. "It is the Gemini Council's duty to ensure that no side outweighs the other to the point of chaos. As you Guardians can see, this new threat of Darkness somehow got stronger, outweighing the Light. This would explain why your magic is weaker during your battle against the ushi-oni earlier."
"The what again?" Irma asked in confusion.
"You mean that ox-demon, Grandma?" Hay Lin asked. Yan Lin nodded.
"Unfortunately, your powers are not the only ones affected," Yan Lin continued solemnly. "Elyon's powers have also been weakened. Any planet with a magical leader, guardians, and warriors will notice the change sooner or later."
Suddenly, Will realized something horrible. "Wait! Does this mean that anyone with dark magical powers won't be affected?" Will interrupted.
"Worse, like the ushi-oni you've fought today, their powers will increase tenfold from the look of this scale while yours, as well as mine, will continue to diminished," Yan Lin replied gravely.
"Wait! What about the Heart of Kandrakar?" Cornelia noted. "When you sent it to us, our powers became stronger as they once were and we were able to defeat that beast!"
"The Heart of Kandrakar is a mystical and powerful object," Yan Lin replied. "Its source of power came from the Four Dragons and the Nymph Xin Jing. Because she was one of the Five Great Nymphs who created Kandrakar themselves, any remnants of her power is strong enough to withstand this growing Darkness. As such, the Heart contains her essence as well as the Four Dragons; it was able to increase your weakened magic when you needed it most."
The girls looked at each other with a small amount of relief.
"Don't be too quick to celebrate, Guardians," Lord Araël warned. "Soon, nothing will be able to withstand the might of the growing Darkness at this rate, not even the Heart of Kandrakar. You'll have to find a way to double its power."
"Alright, we get it," Irma groaned. "Because of this new growing threat that's overbalancing the Light, our powers over light and good are growing weaker while the bad guys' will grow stronger."
"The question is what is causing all of this and where is it coming from?" Will asked.
Lord Araël turned to face the second tallest throne positioned next to his empty seat. "Lady Verlona, would you care to show Yan Lin's Guardians of your discovery?"
Will had expected to see the woman jumping off of her throne at first, but instead, she magically appeared by the Dream Seer's side in a blink of an eye. Like everyone else in this room, Verlona's hair wasn't silver and her face bore no lines from age like Yan Lin. Rather, she had short brunette locks with green alien eyes and pointy ears like an elf. One of them was pierced and had a dangling earring in the shape of a crescent moon and a cloud. With one hand, she swiftly manifested a staff with what appeared to be astrological mechanism at one end. Some of the Guardians wondered how she could have held that heavy thing, but from the looks of it, it must be as light as a feather, regardless of its appearance.
"This is Lady Verlona, the Luna Masquerade and my second-in-command," Lord Araël declared.
Lady Verlona said nothing as she held out her astrological staff. The mechanism began to spin and click as a burst of tiny lights emitted from it. Instantly, the room darkened and the Guardians gasped for they were now floating in space. For one second, the Guardians suddenly remember what it felt like when they were inside of Eric Lyndon's grandfather's planetarium. Instead of plastic planet models being suspended on strings, they were surrounded by magical holographic models.
"Wait, that's Earth right there, isn't it?" Taranee cried, pointing to a familiar image of the little blue and green planet.
Taranee didn't have time to touch it when the entire universe began to move. The Guardians watched in amazement as stars and planets few past them. When a giant planet passed through Cornelia, the holographic model of it burst into tiny, glittering sparkles before reassembling themselves back into the shape of a planet again. Finally the space stopped moving around them as they approach a planet.
"This is Lusteria, one of the few major planets under the Gemini Council's constant watch," Lady Verlona stated. She relaxed her staff and held up her free hand. Like a computer, the holographic planet zoomed and several holographic interface screens appeared, revealing some of the planet's faunas and floras.
"Wow, fancy," Irma whistled impressively. Learning over to Cornelia, she whispered, "Seriously, why can't the rest of Kandrakar's bigwigs get into all of this fancy high-tech magic?"
Cornelia shot her cold glare. "Will you shut up and pay attention?" she whispered back. If Verlona or Araël had heard them, they didn't show it.
"While trying to contact our some of our liaisons about our current predicament, we've discovered the main source of this growing Darkness is coming from somewhere on Lusteria," said the Luna Masquerade. "It appears that some negative forces are fueling the Darkness. Someone or something is pulling the string." Looking up at one of the interfaces, she continued, "We've been trying to contact our..." she paused slightly, "…representatives from Lusteria for days, but they never answered our summons. We fear the worse has happened to them."
"Let me guess, you want us to do your dirty work, is that right?" Irma accused, crossing her arms.
"Watch your tongue, Guardian of Water!" one of the men on the thrones warned her.
"It is alright, Lord Gaël," Lady Verlona said, holding up a hand to calm him and the other members down. Turning her attention back to the Guardians and answered, "Yes, we want you to investigate this problem."
Oracle Yan Lin stepped forward. "Girls, you must go to Lusteria and find out what is causing this Darkness to grow and find out what has happened to the missing Lusterian representatives. But be warned, Lusteria is a world unlike you've ever been to before. It is a world filled with demons and spirits."
"So while we're on Lusteria, we still won't know if we'll be attack by those monsters like that ushi-oni, Grandma?" Hay Lin asked, clearly afraid to relive the humiliating battle in the park.
Yan Lin didn't answer her. Instead, someone else did.
"You should know that to serve as a Guardian means to face the unknown, although sometime facing the familiar can be just as harrowing."
All five girls gasped and spun around to face the owner of the familiar voice. They stared in shock. Standing no more than ten feet away from them, clad in a red outfit with golden flame embroider, was their old warrior friend from Basilíade…
"Orube!" cried all five Guardians.
Everything inside Will screamed with joy as she tried to fight back the tears in her eyes. She hadn't expected to see their feline warrior friend in the halls of the Gemini Council of all places. Their last mission together did not result without a cost. Although they had saved Will's boyfriend, Matt Olsen, from the clutches of Ludmoore while in the world of his book, they had lost Cedric who sacrificed himself to save Orube's life. Devastated, Orube left the Guardians for Basilíade with Ludmoore's book, for it contained the remnants of Cedric as ink. Will and her friends haven't seen nor heard from her since until now.
Irma wanted to say something more. She wanted to say something snarky as her way of greeting an old friend but cursed herself when no words came out. Dammit! Now I'm the one whose cat got her tongue! Irma thought.
"It seems you girls have gotten some upgrades with your powers since we parted ways," Orube said, noting their new Guardian outfits.
"We could say the same thing about you, Orube!" Cornelia laughed as she took in Orube's new red warrior outfit. "You look so different now."
"I feel different," Orube replied. "But my heart hasn't changed for you, my friends."
"What are you doing here? We all thought you went back to Basilíade," Hay Lin asked.
"I summoned her here," said Yan Lin with a gentle smile. "Traveling through Lusteria will be dangerous, even with the Heart of Kandrakar. Orube have been to Lusteria before and is familiar with its danger."
"So she can help us with our mission," Taranee noted.
"Yes! This is great!" Irma cheered. "A cat's sense can always come in handy in situations like this!"
"I'll take that as a compliment," Orube smirked. Turning to face Lady Verlona, Orube switched to formality and bowed. "Which Kingdom will you send us to?"
The Guardians gave each other quizzical looks. "Kingdom?" Irma whispered.
Lady Verlona waved her hand and the interface screens zoomed into a large Lusterian continent located in the far eastern hemisphere. A few dots appeared, but one was blinking close to a mountainous area.
"Our last scanners picked up a few rifts from the south. They were heading towards the Eastern Air Kingdom of Nihon where they suddenly dispersed a few moments ago," said Lady Verlona. "Our missing Lusterian representatives are natives to Nihon."
"You Guardians will start in that area where you will begin your search," Lord Araël ordered.
"Take the Heart of Kandrakar with you," advised Yan Lin. "It can help you find the source of the growing Darkness…if you ask of it."
All at once, the six of them nodded, and Will stepped forward.
"We are ready, Oracle," Will started confidently. "We will find the source of this Darkness and find your missing representatives."
Lord Araël nodded and held up one hand. The Guardians and Orube are enveloped in a column of light as he began to send them through space. "Then go," he said. "I wished you all a safe journey."
The column of light dissolved and then they were gone.
The mountainous region of the Eastern Air Kingdom of Nihon stood at a towering height, and was even more impressive up close in person. Upon seeing it, the Guardians stopped in their tracks with wide eyes as they took in the scenery in amazement. Based from its name, Hay Lin could only guess that Nihon was like Earth's version of Japan, but more…magical. Most parts of the mountains were taller than the eyes could see; their towering peaks passed the misty clouds. To their surprises, some parts of the mountains were floating in the air with waterfalls pouring into the rivers of the forested valley below! The Guardians have seen many beautiful worlds before, but the scene in front of them was truly breath-taking. It felt as if they were all in a dream.
Orube can't help but smiled. "Welcome to Lusteria, Guardians."
"It's beautiful," Cornelia voiced in wonders. "I've never seen such a natural beauty like this before."
"How could the approaching Darkness come from a world this stunning?" Taranee questioned.
"Do not judge everything by what you see here, Taranee," Orube warned. "Lusteria is not only magical, but it is one of the most spiritual planets in the universe. It is filled with some of the most dangerous and hostile spirits and demons imaginable, therefore the perfect place to train under the disciplinary arts. Nothing is as it seems here at times." The others nodded in agreement.
Irma turned to Will and voiced the question that was on everyone's mind: "So where to now, Will?"
Will materialized the Heart of and Kandrakar and mentally sent her thoughts into it, hoping that it will still remember the bond they both shared. Please help us find the Dark source and the Gemini Council's missing representatives, Will thought.
The Heart glowed brilliantly, illuminating the mountain they were standing on before sending a beam of light as a trail down into the valley. The girls' eyes followed it until it disappeared into what appeared to be a thick, dark forest located at the base of the mountain pass.
"The Azure Dragon Pass," Orube indicated solemnly. "It seems we must cross that forest down there first to follow the Heart's trail."
"Okay, great," Irma agreed. "Let's all fly down there and see if we can find whatever we need."
Orube gave her a confused look. "Fly? I thought you said only Hay Lin could fly."
"Oh, right," Irma palmed her forehead with a small laugh. "Yeah, ever since we got our new powers, we can all fly now, Orube."
"But wait a minute," Hay Lin interrupted. "What about Orube? She can't fly? How can she get down into that valley with us?"
"Simple," Cornelia said, holding a hand out as she commanded a pocket of earth beneath their feet to break away. All five Guardians spread their wings while Orube remained where she was, comfortably positioned on the floating boulder. "I can carry her," Cornelia winked and magically used her earth spell to levitate the boulder beside her with Orube on it.
As they travel downward, the Guardians began to tell Orube what has been happening to them since she left. In turn, she told them some of her adventures on Basilíade, but none as grand as theirs. After a while, Will and her friends became more curious and asked Orube about Lusteria. As a child training one day, her former master, Luba, have decided to take her to Lusteria to continue her training in order to become stronger. They had stayed with a family tribe who called themselves the Kinomoto clan. Orube explained how she trained with some of their members rigorously every day from mediation to learning how to go up against powerful demons and spirits of the land. Hay Lin asked her if she had made any friends, but Orube shook her head. The closest companions she met were a pair of fraternal twins who had trained alongside her during most of her time on their world. She hasn't seen nor heard from them since she left.
"Maybe you'll see them again while we're here," Hay Lin suggested.
"Girls, we're getting close," Will interrupted, holding out the Heart as it led them to the middle of the forest below. Unfortunately, the Heart led them to the dark side of the forest that was covered in black mist.
"Wow, nice place they got here," Irma said ironically.
Cornelia lowered the boulder to allow Orube to jump off. Immediately, Orube's sense kicked in as she instinctively grabbed her sword. "I don't like this at all. This is the Dark Forest Continent," Orube warned. Glancing at Will, she demanded, "Why have you brought us here of all places? This is the most dangerous forest region on the planet!"
"I'm sorry, but the Heart is pointing us in this direction," Will stated, holding out the Heart as it illuminated another tiny beam of light in front of them. "It's leading us this way," said Will. "We have to follow the Heart. It's the only way we'll find a clue to all of this mess."
"Yeah, and if anything happens, we have the Heart to help boost our powers," Irma added confidently. "No sweat."
Orube remained unconvinced, but did not object. "Very well, but I must warn you that this forest is full of negative energies. Some of Nihon's most dangerous and demonic spirits lurk behind every tree. Be on your guards."
They began to walk for several minutes in silence. True enough, the light from the sky above didn't even pierced through the dark mist, plunging the entire forest ground into an everlasting night. Hay Lin could hear the faint sounds of what appeared to be nocturnal animals…or something else. Taranee yelped a lot whenever she felt something brushed against her legs, causing Orube to constantly hush her. Cornelia could smell the fresh air and the fragrant flowers, but despite the pleasantry, it felt wrong somehow.
"I don't like this place one bit," Will admitted to herself. "It reeks of fear. But I think we're getting close to the Azure Dragon Pass."
"Good, my feet are sore," Cornelia complained. "Why can't Lord Araël send us to the mountain pass in the first place?"
"They didn't even know specifically where in Nihon the clues will be located and furthermore—" Orube stopped suddenly, hearing something. "Incoming!"
Hay Lin immediately pulled a wind current over them like a spinning dome of air as tiny swords and fire came down on them from the trees. Sparks danced around them as Hay Lin's air current dome deflected the attacks.
"Feather Daggers!"
In a split-second, a volley of black feathers rained down on them. Surprisingly they were sharp as knives. Once they mixed in with Hay Lin's shield, they swirled around with the current and slipped through by riding the air. Some of them scratched Hay Lin and her friends. Hay Lin winced and was forced to drop her shield, leaving them prone to another wave of attack.
"Feather Daggers!" cried the attacker again.
"Get behind me!" Taranee cried as she summoned a wall of fire. The flying feathered-daggers burned upon contact with the flame.
"Foolish humans," said a voice. Will thought she saw a quick movement to her left but it was too fast for her to see it clearly. "No one passes through my mountains!"
"You don't scare us," Irma spat, hurling her water pillars at the flashing movement in front of her. She missed. "Show yourself!"
"Foolish humans," the voice repeated, the threatening tone remained unchanged. "You know not what you're dealing with."
Will took her chance to fire several bolts of lightning and pink energy when she notice some movements coming behind her. She managed to hit their attacker. He stumbled a bit from the attack but spun around and landed on his feet. He spread his black wings and the Guardians could see that he was a crossed between a bird and a man with a very long beak-liked nose.
"A tengu!" Orube seethed.
"Impressive, human," said the demon. "But your little magic is still not as fast as my blades!"
He pounced at the Guardians with both swords in his claws. Will had never seen anyone so fast as she and her friends tried to jump out of the way. Taranee winced and saw that the tengu managed to knick her at the arm. Cornelia seethed as a few strands of her hair were cut. Hay Lin yelped as she tried to dodge the tengu's next swords swing by getting airborne. To her surprise, the tengu disappeared and instantly reappeared behind her. Like an eagle, he grabbed her by the back with his clawed-feet and swung his sword for her head. Cornelia aimed at him the floating rock she was using to carry Orube earlier. The tengu recoiled back instinctively and his blade sliced through the stone instead, sparing Hay Lin's neck. Sadly, he managed to shred her wings with his clawed-feet as she fell. Cornelia immediately summoned one of the trees to catch her. Shocked from the pain and her bleeding back, Hay Lin reverted back to her human form.
"Cornelia, take Hay Lin to safety!" Will ordered. "We'll handle this creep!"
While Cornelia carried Hay Lin away into a hollow tree for cover, the others unleashed a barrage of their attacks on the opponent. Irma tried to weaken the tengu with her volley of ice shards before hurling a wave from a river nearby at him. With controlled aims, Taranee fired bullets of sparks and flames, followed by a breathing a fire dragon at him. To top it off, Will used the Heart to make all of their attacks more powerful and fired a lightning bolt at the tengu.
For a while, it seemed like they were winning. The tengu was taking hard hits, and it encouraged the three Guardians to keep at it. But then, just as Irma was about to launch another wave of ice shards at him, it all changed. The tengu swiftly leapt over their heads with great agility and speed when he anticipated their moves. As he fell back to the ground behind Irma, he swung his left leg beneath her and she fell. He dodged Taranee's fire balls, and swung one of his swords at Taranee. The Guardian of Fire saw how fast the blade was coming at her and was forced to stop her attack and dodged. With his remaining sword, the tengu charged at Will and was about to bring his sword down on her head when he suddenly crossed-swords with Orube.
"Leave my friends alone, demon!" Orube warned, trying her hardest to push the tengu back with her own blade.
Undaunted by her dangerous tone, the tengu scoffed. "I am Karaten, the protector of the Azure Dragon Mountains! Those who trespass through my region shall suffer my wrath!"
"You're no protector!" Orube spat. "You judged us too quickly before decided whether or not we're a threat to your home!"
"Fools! What business do you have in my forest?" Karaten demanded. "Many humans have come to my mountains and claimed the same as you do. Lies! They do nothing but destroy the trees for their selfish reasons! You shall rue your words, young warrior! The toll to pass through my mountains is now death, should you not be able to give up your most treasured soul!"
"Soul?! What do you mean soul?" Will demanded.
"Don't listen to him, Will!" Orube warned, pushing Karaten's blade to one side and managed to disarm him. Before she could slice through him, the tengu flew and landed on top of a tree, looking down on them condescendingly. Orube pointed her sword at him accusingly, "He wants the Heart, Will. No doubt he must have sensed its raw power when you used it to guide us here."
Karaten laughed maniacally and pulled out another sword from under his wings. Its blade was bathed in red mist similar to the ushi-oni's breath. He pointed its menacing glow at Orube and Will and they both readied themselves. To their surprise, Karaten swung it at Irma and Taranee instead who didn't see it coming. They didn't have time to dodge the red mist as the two of them accidentally inhaled a breath each.
"Irma! Taranee! Are you girls alright?" Will asked.
"Urgh, how can I be when I'm working with a useless hothead here?!" Irma demanded, pushing Taranee roughly to the ground as she tries to aim her next attack at Karaten. "Get out of my way, Taranee! You're a hindrance!"
"Hey! I'm a hindrance?! Speak for yourself, Irma!" Taranee snapped, firing a small fireball behind Irma's back and knocked her aside. "Your constant impatient is what's making us lose!"
"Ouch! I do not, you ungrateful egghead!" Irma winced and ordered streams of water tentacles to grab Taranee by the leg and dangle her up-side-down.
"Girls! What are you doing?" Will demanded, but Irma and Taranee continued to ignore her as they try to fight each other with a mixture of ice and fire attacks. Shooting a poisonous glare at Karaten, Will said, "What the hell did you do to my friends, you monster?!"
"Since you've refused to hand over your magical amulet, it is your comrades who would suffer my wrath," Karaten replied coldly as he landed in front of her without fear. "Last chance, human," he said, holding out his clawed hand. "If you wish to save your friends before they kill each other, hand over your magic pendent, if you please."
"And if we don't, please?!" Orube mocked him as she jumped and tried to land a blow.
"Hmph! Weak!" He grabbed her sword and with his strong momentum, Karaten threw Orube against a tree and pinned her down with her own sword against the fabric on her shoulder.
Furious, Will siphoned her anger into an attack and fired a lightning bolt at him. "Let her go, or else!"
To her surprise, the tengu was unscathed from her attack. Instead, his sword absorbed her energy, its blade charged with electrical impulses.
"That's not possible!" Will gasped. I put everything into that attack!
"By refusing to commit to my demands, you shall suffer my wrath!" cried Karaten. He fired Will's attack back at her. When it made contact, Will could feel the rage she had put into it before being mixed with the wrath of the tengu.
"Will!" Cornelia cried from her hiding place as she cradled Hay Lin's head on her lap. "Will, get up!"
But Will couldn't move as her body bended over from the wrath-filled electrical pain pulsing throughout her entire body. Will recoiled and dropped the Heart. She tried to use its energy to help herself, but her frustration and anger at the demon prevented such help. She could feel Karaten getting closer and closer and he looked down on her with raging eyes. Once the attack dissolved, Will felt as if all of her energy was drained from her body and slumped back on her knees. She felt the tengu's cold blade bush against the back of her neck.
"This is the end for you, human," Karaten gloated with satisfaction and brought the blade down on her neck. "Now I shall claim your head and your precious soul!"
Before his blade could make contact with Will's exposed neck, a burst of light flew forward and blinded him. At that moment, Will suddenly felt a little bit more energized. At first, Will thought it was the Heart finally protecting and rejuvenating her strength. To her surprise, the Heart remained on the grass in front of her. Before anyone could react, a beam of light from behind her blasted the tengu back, followed by what appeared to be glowing, white arrows as they pinned the demon down.
"What is this?!" Karaten demanded. His only response was a blinding glow of pure, white sphere bathing the black-misted forest in a warm embrace. "What is this hideous source of light?!"
Will looked down at the Heart and saw it glowing pink as if it were overjoyed to see an old friend again. The Heart's power, combined with the sphere of light's magic began to heal everyone's wounds. Cornelia gasped when Hay Lin opened her eyes and involuntary transformed. Irma and Taranee gasped in shock when they finally stopped attacking each other. Orube came over to Will's side with the tengu's sword in one hand.
With confidence, Will nodded. "Converge now!" And like their battle against the ushi-oni, the five Guardians united their magic into one big sphere. Orube noticed Karaten trying his best to break free and quickly threw the two swords in her hands to hold him down. She turned her attention back to her friends and conjured up her purple chi blast to combine it with the others.
"NO! I will not be defeated by humans!" Karaten cried as he tried to break free again.
The sphere embittered a stream of light from above them and extended it forward to pin him down like a giant hand. That was when Will gave the order to release their combined magic. When the attack hit Karaten, it dug itself into his inner core and consumed him on the inside.
"Everyone duck!" Will gave the order as the others braced for impact. Karaten gave one last futile cry as he coiled back, fumes of red mist poured out of his mouth before a small shockwave emitted from him as he exploded. All that remained was dust and Orube's sword. Like the ox-demon, there was a mist, but red, evaporating. Before anyone could say anything, the glowing sphere of light above them suddenly recoiled back its hand-liked structure before manifesting into a dome construct around Orube and the Guardians. They were trapped.
"What the hell is this?" Irma demanded as she banged her fists against the transparent wall. "First, this thing helped us, and now it's keeping us prisoners?!"
"Let us out!" Cornelia cried with frustration as she tried to use her earth power to break through the dome. The boulders only broke into smaller pieces upon impact.
A new voice spoke behind them.
"Hmph! If the six of you can't even handle a tengu like that in the first place, then you must all be more pathetic than I thought."
They turned around to see a figure in a black cloak with a hood. The glowing sphere prevented any one of them from seeing the newcomer's face but from the tone of her voice, they could tell it was a female. It seemed she was the one who trapped them.
"Who are you?" Orube glared. "Release us! You do not know who you're dealing with, Lusterian!"
The cloaked figure held up a palm of her hand and clenched it. To their horrors, the dome construct around them began to shrink, threatening to smother them.
"Wrong, strangers. You do not know who you're dealing with! I'll be the one asking the questions here!" the newcomer informed. She gesture the dome to stop shrinking in order to continue her interrogation. "Now who are you and what are you doing here? Lie and I will not hesitate to hurt you."
"You're a Lusterian, aren't you?" Taranee asked cautiously. "We're looking for the Gemini Council's representatives of Lusteria who haven't answered their calls."
"You're talking to her," the newcomer informed darkly. Holding out her other hand, she manifested a light construct in the shape of a bow and arrow and aimed it at her prisoners. "I won't warn you again. Answer my questions, you lily-livers, and I won't have to hurt you!"
Orube gasped when she heard the keyword "lily-livers". Something about that word reminded her of something…or someone. There was only one person who would use that designation to insult people…but who?
"If you must know, we're W.I.T.C.H., also known as the Guardians of Kandrakar and—" Will said but then the newcomer shot her a venomous look and aimed her arrow at Will's heart.
"Liar!" she spat. "There are no other Guardians here on Lusteria!"
"But we're not from here!" Hay Lin tried to explain. "Look! If you really know about us Guardians, then you should recognize us by our attires and wings, right?"
The newcomer gave her a disdainful look. "Do you take me for a simpleton? For all I know, you nothing more than imposters and you're up to something. If you're the ones who are responsible for his disappearance, I will kill you!"
"Hay Lin's telling the truth, you dope!" Irma insisted. "We were sent here from the Gemini Council to look for the representatives of Lusteria and whatever's causing the Darkness to grow throughout the universe."
"Likely story, lily-liver. I know who the Guardians are and they are not imposters like you weaklings who can't even handle a tengu," the newcomer spat venomously. She mentally released her hold on the dome and it shrank some more, leaving the six girls with no room to conjure up their own magical defense. "Since you've refused to tell me the truth, I have no choice but to consider you as a threat to my world. Sorry, I'm going to have to kill you now." It was obvious that she didn't sound sorry as she aimed her arrow. "Sayonara, lily-livers—"
Orube finally remembered that person's name and called out, "Kimi, wait!"
The newcomer stopped suddenly and stared at the warrior from Basilíade with shock. Will and her friends stared at Orube with confused looks, unsure of what just happened.
Ignoring the others, Orube cried, "Kimi, is that you?"
"How did you know my name?" said the newcomer, whose name appeared to be Kimi. "Are you a mind reader?"
Orube laughed and replied, "It's me, Orube! Don't you remember me?"
Kimi didn't react at first, but stepped closer cautiously for a good look. Her manifested bow and arrow light construct dissolved as she used her free hand to pull back her hood. The Guardians could see that the girl was quite pretty. She had blue, wavy hair and was yellow skin-colored like Hay Lin. But despite her complexion, the girl's piercing blue eyes were ice cold and anything but friendly.
"Orube-nee-chan?" Kimi said, "What are you doing here on Lusteria? And why are you accompanying these Guardians imposters?" Kimi shot the other five a daggered look.
Orube nodded as she continued her full attention on Kimi. "Like the others said, we were sent here by Oracle Yan Lin and the Gemini Council of Kandrakar," Orube explained patiently. "Kimi, if you're really one of Lord Araël's Lusterian representatives, you should know that the power of Darkness is growing and the Universe is in danger."
"I know that much!" Kimi frowned. "You think you're the only one whose powers have been weakened by it?!"
"Then why didn't you answer Lord Araël's summon?" Orube asked. "The Gemini Council thought something horrible has happened to you."
"Hmph! I can take care of myself, unlike your useless friends," Kimi replied rudely.
"Hey! Who are you calling useless?" Irma demanded, shooting the blue-haired girl a disdainful look. "Let me out and I'll show you who's useless!"
Ignoring Irma's empty threat, Kimi continued her conversation with Orube. "I have more important things to take care of than running another errand for those big shots on their high thrones."
Orube was glad to see someone familiar, but she was getting annoyed with Kimi's bad attitude. "While I would love to hear more about it, Kimi, but would you mind letting me and my friends out first?" Orube requested. "I promised you that Will and her friends aren't lying and they mean you no harm either."
"Yeah, right," Irma whispered under her breath. Cornelia kicked her in the shin.
"I trust you, Orube-nee-chan," Kimi replied, but glared at the Guardians. "I don't trust these lily-livers!"
"Kimi, I've known them for a while and they're telling the truth," Orube insisted. "Will and her friends are the five Guardians of Kandakar. I lived with them when I was stationed on Earth and have seen their capabilities; they have the hearts of true warriors."
"Look, Kimi," Will said, holding out the Heart of Kandrakar. "The Heart of Kandrakar should be enough proof to you of who we are."
Kimi stared at the Heart in Will's hand and noticed its warm glow. She looked up at her sphere of light which was holding the dome in place with disbelief, for both objects where generating glows in harmony with one another. She glanced back at the Guardians and studied them. With her piercing blue eyes scrutinizing them, Hay Lin felt naked and wished she would stop.
After a while, Kimi sighed with frustration and muttered to herself. "Those rotten bastards on their high thrones are going to have some explaining to do once I'm done with them." She snapped her fingers and the dome dissolved. The Guardians fell to their knees as they struggle to gasp for some fresh air. The sphere of light floated towards Kimi's outstretch palm and disappeared into it. Once they've recovered, Orube introduced Kimi to Will and her friends, and explained that Kimi and her sibling were the pair of fraternal twins whom she trained with during her stay in the Kingdom of Nihon.
"This chick really needs to get out more," Irma whispered. Hay Lin ignored her and went over to the spot where the tengu died to grab Orube's sword.
"Kimi, why didn't you answer the Gemini Council's summon?" Orube crossed her arms as if reprimanding a younger sibling. "If you had something more important to do, then couldn't you have asked Kyochi to take care of it while you…" Orube noticed how Kimi looked away when she said that person's name. "Kimi…where is Kyochi?"
"I was hoping you've seen him on your way here," Kimi admitted sadly.
"Kyochi's missing?" Orube asked with concern. "Did something happen to him?"
"I don't know," Kimi seethed and clenched her fists in frustration. "I've been searching for him in these woods for days. When I sensed some auras around here, I found you fighting with the tengu. What happened? It's not like you to be thrashed about by a mountain spirit like that."
"Karaten was stronger than I had anticipated," Orube admitted with defeat. "It was as if he was possessed by something."
"I wouldn't be surprised since tengu are also experts in martial arts," Kimi scoffed. "Then again, the evil spirits around here are getting more powerful. I've been avoiding most of them lately."
"Wait, maybe we can help each other." Will suggested. "We're looking for the source that's causing the Darkness to grow. Do you know anything about it?"
"Do I look like someone who does?" Kimi replied rudely. "Haven't you been listening? I've been wandering around these woods for days trying to look for my twin. Without him, I'm just…just…"
"Just what?"
Kimi sighed. "I doesn't matter. Now if you'll excuse me, I'll be resuming my search."
"Hey, girls! Over here!" Hay Lin yelled as she ran back to them. With one hand, she gave Orube back her sword and showed the girls her find with the other. "I think it's a medallion. There's some sort of symbol on it but I don't know what it means."
"Kimi, wait!" Orube called, snatching the mysterious medallion from Hay Lin's fingers and ran to catch the girl. "Can you read this?" said the Basilíadian warrior as she handed the medallion to her.
Kimi sighed with annoyance and scrutinized it with great intensity. "Wrath," she said finally.
"What do you mean?" Orube asked. "Is that what it says?"
Kimi shook her head. "No, the Kanji may have been worn off from the blast and I can barely decipher it. It's the negative aura."
"Aura?" Will asked.
"I can read and sense auras," Kimi replied as a matter-of-factly. "And this medallion you've found," she gestured at Hay Lin, "it reeks of the negative energy of hatred and fury. In other words, it still has the red aura of wrath from that tengu you've just fought."
"Wrath…" Taranee paused to think. "Wait! That was what I've felt when Irma and I started to fight each other!"
"That's it! Wrath must be the source!" Irma said.
"But wait, that can't be right," Will insisted. "When we fought against that demon in the park, I didn't feel its wrath when it induced that blue mist on me. Whatever it was, it made me feel sleepy."
"But then what was it?"
"I don't know, but if we don't find out soon, we're going to—Hey! What are you doing?" Will cried when Kimi grabbed her wrist and stared at her with intensity. Kimi's eyes began to glow white and Will felt as if she was being examined under a microscope.
Finally, Kimi let go and her glowing eyes died. "You've fought with an ushi-oni?"
Will nodded hesitantly. "H-how did you know that? I didn't tell you—"
"Your aura tells me everything," Kimi informed. "Your fight with the ushi-oni left a small remnant of its dark aura. I can still sense a bit of blue sloth mixed with your pink aura."
Everyone, including Orube stared at her in disbelief.
"Kimi, you weren't able to do that before," Orube said. "I thought your powers deal with manifesting construct from light, not sensing auras."
"Things changed when you left, Orube-nee-chan," Kimi replied. "When you become a Guardian, you're endowed with a new special ability."
"Wait, what are you talking about?" Will demanded. "Are you saying that you're a Guardian?"
Kimi smirked as she put her hands on her hips. "Look who finally caught on. Took you long enough to figure it out, lily-liver."
That was when Irma snapped. Who does this chick thinks she is? Irma thought furiously. We're the five Guardians and she called us imposters. Now she has the gall to call herself one?!
"That's impossible! We're the five Guardians of Kandrakar!" Irma insisted, pushing her way forward. To make her point, she conjured up a stream of water and ordered it to slice the tree behind Kimi like a giant knife cutting through butter. "As far as I know, there's only one Guardian of Water right now and that's me."
"And one Guardian of Fire," Taranee added. She held up a fist as it burst into flames.
"I'm the only Guardian of Earth that Kandrakar has right now," said Cornelia.
"And the positioned of the Guardian of Air has been filled," Hay Lin stated, floating on her newly healed wings.
"And my Energy resides in the Heart of Kandrakar," Will said, "As the Keeper of the Heart, I also have the power to unite them all."
"So you see, Kimi," Irma mockingly said, crossing her arms. "There are only five elements and they're all taken. Therefore, you can't be a Guardian."
"I can't believe you had the audacity to call us imposters but claimed that you're a Guardian," Cornelia frowned.
"Besides," Irma smugly pointed at Kimi's black cloak, "you don't even look like one, especially in that get-up."
If Kimi was insulted, she didn't show it. Rather, she held out her right palm again and summoned the same white sphere of light. It wasn't illuminating fiercely this time so the others were able to make out its shape. And it looked like…
"The Heart of Kandrakar?" Will gapped. She held out hers.
"There can't be two Hearts?" Irma gapped. "Can there?"
Orube shook her head. "No, that can't be the Heart of Kandrakar," Orube pointed out. "The frame is black and the crystal is white!"
"You're right, Orube-nee-chan. This isn't the Heart of Kandrakar," Kimi replied. "It's the Jewel of Life. Like your Heart, the Jewel can only be possessed by a Guardian…" with her freed hand, Kimi unclipped the badge holding her black cloak in place.
She threw back her cloak to reveal whatever it was underneath. Orube and the five Guardians gasped when they saw Kimi wearing the familiar purple and green attire of a Guardian complete with her own pairs gossamer wings. Like Hay Lin, Kimi's outfit was Asian-styled with green ribbons tied around her long, black fingerless gloves. However, while Hay Lin's style was Chinese to reflect her heritage with a winding ribbon around her waiste, Kimi's came with a Japanese obi sash and a small black and silver pin holding her long, purple skirt in place. Like all five of them, there was a symbol on Kimi's top and Hay Lin could have sworn it looked like half of the yin-yang symbol.
"That's not possible…" Cornelia whispered.
"This is wrong on so many levels," Irma complained.
"I can't believe the Oracle never told us," Taranee said in disbelief.
Will, on the other hand, couldn't find the right words describe her shocked feelings.
Kimi…you're the…" Orube started.
"Yes, Orube-nee-chan," Kimi declared as she finished Orube's sentence with the glowing Jewel of Life in her hand. "I'm Kimi Watsuki, the Guardian of Light."
To be continued…
Cultural references:
When Irma said mentioned how the meeting room of the Gemini Council looked like the inside of her little brother's video game, it was a reference to Disney's Kingdom Hearts games where the members of Organization XIII in their black, hooded outfits would sit on their tall thrones in a circular room.
Rather than 13 members like Organization XIII, the Gemini Council only has 12 main members and practically all of them were based on real fans of W.I.T.C.H. At the same time, the twelve members have different personalities from their real-life inspirations.
If you haven't read the original W.i.t.c.h. comic series, Mr. Horseberg is the girls' dreaded math teacher who replaced Mrs. Rudolph when she left Earth to return to Meridian to live with Caleb, Elyon and her adopted parents. Irma and most of the kids pretty much don't like him and the students nick-named him "Horse-face Horseberg" out of disrespect. I'd thought it be a laugh to write him in someone like this.
The Eastern Air Kingdom of Nihon is practically Lusteria's version of Earth's Japan.
Like the ushi-oni in pt. I of chapter one, the tengu is a supernatural creature found in Japanese folklore. Buddhism long held that the tengu were disruptive demons and harbingers of war and wrath, yet they are still depicted as protective and dangerous Spirits of the mountains and forests. They are also depicted as expert martial artists.
"Karaten" was actually the name of Karatenmon, the Digimon version of the tengu.
I thought it was sad when Orube left at the end of the fifth arc in the comic series and should have been the one to return in order to train the Guardians with their New Powers, not Matt. I wanted to give Orube a new, important role in this story, as well as a new warrior outfit.
Kimi Watsuki is my original character, and is the Guardian of Light. Despite her rudeness, Kimi still regards Orube like an older sister, so she calls her "nee-chan" in Japanese.