Chapter Six:

Plot, String and Marionette

"Your friends did not stop the Guardians." Cedric hissed at Phobos.

"And neither did you." He retorted with a frown.

"They are proving to be just as tiresome as their parents were." Miranda stated, standing in her spider form next to Cedric. "Their strength is in their teamwork... perhaps if we separated them we could take them all one by one."

"Yes... And let's send our new friends after them." Agreed Phobos.

"New... friends...?" Cedric blinked.

"Abrade, Fusagu, Moonshine, Rhea, Adamant..." He reeled off the names, and as each name was spoken, figures appeared beside Cedric and Miranda. "And Scar."

"Why six, My Lord?" Asked Miranda.

"Because that boy of the traitor will be bound to give us trouble." Snapped Phobos.

Abrade was a woman with fluffy blue hair and a matching blue rose as a clip to hold it back. She wore a black shoulder-less top, dark navy blue skirt, black high heels, and a cloak as dark as night.

Fusagu was small in stature, about the height of a ten year old child. His eyes were steely gray, his hair short and spiky all over was just as pale as his eyes. He wore long robes of black and silver.

Moonshine held a round mirror in her hands that reflected everything perfectly no matter which way she moved. Her hair was long and the shade of the moon when it shone its silver light on a clear night. Her robes were long and elegant, flowing down to the floor, and her face was impassive.

Rhea was as different from the others as she could be. Her long black hair was tied back into a knot at the nape of her neck, her eyes were currently black, which meant that she was calm. If they turned silver, that told those who knew her that she was mad and to get out of her way. She wore a black shirt, pants and boots that fit her tightly. On her waist was tied a sword. Over the lower part of her face was a mask that covered her true identity.

Scar lived up to his name just by his appearance. The scar on his face was in the shape of an 'X', and was on his upper right cheek under his eye. There was an obvious blood lust in his eyes, even as he watched the Prince his hands twitched beneath his robes that fell to the floor. His hair was shoulder length and a straight dark blue.

Adamant wore a Japanese robe that was open loosely at the top. The color he chose to wear was red, which made him stand out amongst his peers. He wore glasses, and his long blond hair was kept back in a low pony tail.

Cedric's eyes narrowed in dislike as he surveyed this group. How Phobos came to gain these as his servants was even beyond him.

"You... are to attack the Guardians. Separate them and kill them one by one... but bring their leader to me. They have something of great value I desire." Phobos instructed.

"What is that, My Lord?" Came Moonshine's silky voice.

"The Heart of Kandrikor." Replied Phobos. "That is why I will need you to go after their leader, Moonshine. You can delve deep into the girls' heart and break her apart from within."

She bowed her elegant head.

"The rest of you choose whichever Guardian to attack, including the boy." He looked at the others, they bowed as well. Rhea merely inclined her head in a jerk-like manner. "Now go."

The group vanished in their own fashions. Moonshine seemed to melt away, then her mirror turned in circles before disappearing as well as its owner. Abrade faded into nothingness as though something from below was ripping away at her like she was a sheet of paper. Fusagu looked like he was consumed by the very air around him, Adamant was surrounded by black feathers before vanishing and Rhea simply jumped into the air and was gone in the blink of an eye.

The reappeared above the group of Guardians and their guide, who were moving steadily towards Phobos' hideout.

HuiLing felt something different in the air and looked around, stopping abruptly and causing Wanda to crash right in to her.

"What?" Demanded a very irritated Wanda as the others stopped as well.

"Look!" HuiLing pointed at the group of their would-be attackers that were staring down on them from high up above them.

"Moonshine..." Rhea said sharply, and she nodded.

Her mirror began to glimmer, then it glowed a black light.

Cerella acted quickly and grabbed her brother from the ground as it turned into what looked like black mud. But the mud-like substance shot from the ground at them all. They flew higher, but the black substance shot towards them as though it was a missile locked onto its target. While it knocked most of the girls away, Wanda zoomed and swerved in the air as it whipped towards them.

"It's after Wanda...!" HuiLing exclaimed.

"That girl with the mirror must be controlling it." Ingrid watched the group of people, wondering why the others weren't attacking yet.

HuiLing spun around on the spot, directing her hands at the black mud. It reformed instantly when the wind hit it and cut it apart like a knife.

"Look out below!" Shouted Tress.

But too late. The black mud-like substance had engulfed Ingrid before she had a chance to act, then it did the same for Derek and Cerella. Tress and HuiLing flew in front of Wanda before sending a ball of fire and air at it. The strange black thing just dodged it before taking them. Wanda reached forward with both hands trying to get her friends back. She barely grabbed hold of Tress and HuiLing before they were sucked from her grasp.

Wanda flew as quick as she could to attempt escape from this thing, but she felt it wrap around her ankle like a slimy snake before reaching her torso, wrapping around her arms and pulling her towards it no matter how hard she struggled. It felt as though her very breath were being sucked from her lungs, and the last thing she saw was the girl with the black mirror looking down on her with a faint smile.

"Now you can attack the others." Moonshine said. "The Black Mist has done its work. Just leave the leader to me."

"This'll be fun." Said Fusagu with a smirk on his face.

"Let's just get this done." Sighed Abrade as though she was already bored...

There was nothing but darkness that surrounded her, and she could not even tell if the others were nearby or far away.

"Wanda! Tress! Ingrid! HuiLing!" Cerella called out. "Derek!"

"No one can hear you, child." Came the voice of a man she did not recognize.

She turned around, her long golden blond hair whipping about her as she did so.

"Who are you?" She demanded. "What have you done with the others?"

"The real question is, who are you?" Asked the voice in a taunting manner.

"I'm not here to play games with you I can tell you that much, now show yourself!" Cerella demanded, stomping her foot on what she hoped was earth.

It was. She could see the man with a scar on his face in her minds eye clearly the moment she stepped down. If she kept her feet on the ground, perhaps she had a chance at fighting this man. Whoever he was.

A dagger suddenly whipped through the air and slammed in to her right shoulder sending her flying backward. Searing pain ripped through her body. She put the palm of her left hand on the floor, and several thick roots rose up into the air in front of her, shooting in the direction that she remembered the man being. She could hear sounds of movement as he must have been dodging her attacks.

This gave Cerella time to struggle to her feet. She could feel blood dripping down her arm as she moved.

"I'll ask you again... Who are you?" She said in her fiercest voice.

"You can call me... Scar." The man replied from a distance.

This time she heard the sound of the daggers being sent at her and raised up more roots from the surface to act as a shield.

Ingrid felt as though she had been run over by a truck. Her head was spinning when she came to, and she realized she was laying on something cold and flat.

"So you're finally awake." Fusagu said when he saw the Guardian stirring.

"Where am I?" She asked as she stood up.

Fusagu smiled, and the surroundings were flooded with light to reveal she was standing on a large lake of pure water.

"I thought this would suit our abilities." He said.

"How is this possible?" She looked around aghast at what she saw.

"Never mind that now." Fusagu was still smiling. "It's time to kill you. But I wanted to give you a fair chance at survival seeing as we both have similar abilities."

A burst of water shot from the lake below his feet and he brought his arms up to bring it in Ingrid's direction. She acted as quickly as she could, and brought up a pillar of water to act as a shield seconds before the wave made contact with her.

"Care to tell me your name kid?" She asked.

"Call me Fusagu." He replied simply. "And your name, Guardian?"

"Ingrid." She spread her arms out and the water beneath her surged into the form of a Chinese dragon.

"Impressive." Muttered Fusagu. He imitated her movements and a Chinese water dragon appeared as well.

The dragons raced towards each other, and collided in mid air with such a force that it sent great waves of water in every direction. Ingrid had no choice but to take to the air temporarily before landing several feet away once the water was calm again...

Tress had already lit a ball of fire in her hands and was staring around in all directions. Adamant appeared before her.

"Hello Guardian." He said. "Prepare to die. My firepower is much stronger than yours."

"I wouldn't count on it." Muttered Tress, and the ball of fire grew instantly in her hands.

Adamant spread out his arms to either side of him and became engulfed in swirling flames that cast an eerie glow about him. Tress did not wait to see what was coming, she raised her hands, and several balls of fire appeared around her as well as the giant sphere held above her head.

"You wouldn't attack a girl with glasses, now would you?" She asked as the spheres grew larger and larger.

The fire that surrounded Adamant turned into nine whips that he controlled with movements from his hands.

"I'll take that as a yes..." She grumbled, sending the spheres of fire at him in one swift stroke. A sound like gunshot echoed around him as his whips blocked off each of her attacks.

She jumped into the air, did a back flip to avoid a whip of fire, and a small sphere of fire formed in her hands as she moved, and soon turned into a bow. The whips told her that she would have to use stealth in order to get anywhere near this man, and she formed an arrow with her right hand. She shot round after round of fire arrows at him in strategic spots. He managed to block almost every one of the fire arrows, but there was a window of opportunity Tress saw and while he blocked, she loaded the bow with three fire arrows at once before sending them off in the split second of time that she had.

Adamant fell back upon impact, and the whips of fire subsided as the fire engulfed his left arm and side...

HuiLing could see the movements in the air waves that surrounded her. Turning around and around as the figure circled her like a hawk hunting its prey. When she felt that the person was too close for comfort, she spun around on the spot sending a tornado in all directions forcing her opponent to crash to the ground.

She heard the sound of daggers being sent in her direction, and dodged the blades just in time. She directed the palms of her hands in the directions that the daggers came from while inching ever nearer to the assailant.

At first Rhea wondered how on earth HuiLing could know where she was, then she realized that she must be facing the Guardian who controlled air. It was time for a new tactic. She closed her eyes, and the darkness vanished to reveal their surroundings.

"You are the most dangerous of the Guardians, Guardian of Air." Rhea said, standing up. "Because your element is everywhere you go... however I am the most dangerous of my group..." She opened her eyes, which had turned silver now, "Because of my ability."

She raised her hand, and several needles were revealed. Then she raised her left hand with needles in it as well. HuiLing flew backwards at the sight: She hated needles. Rhea gave an unseen smile beneath her mask before, quick as lightning, she sent the needles right at HuiLing.

Derek was awake and in a kneeling position, looking around in every direction. He dodged an attack from above right of him, rolling over before standing upright again.

Abrade's bored face loomed in on him and he glared at her. She had said nothing, but chose to attack with her black lightning right off the bat. Finally she spoke.

"I can see in your heart, boy... You worry about your leader when you should worry about your own life." She said, raising her hands and sending several pillars of black lightning down on him.

He spotted hanging around her neck a choker with a black stone that seemed to glow whenever she summoned her lightning, if he got near enough maybe he might have a chance at destroying it. He brought his arms over his head as the lightning engulfed him temporarily in sharp, searing pain. When the lightning was gone, he stood up, shaking slightly from the after-effects of the attack, and looked at her.

She stared back rather curiously at what this meant. He appeared not to have heard her.

If he could keep watch on that stone and pay attention to when it glowed and the direction of her hands, he could dodge the attacks and make his way to her.

"There's more than one way to pluck a birds' wings." He said to her, remembering the fact that she had black eagle like wings when she flew.

Wanda lay unconscious on the ground, her hair sprawled all over her shoulders and around her like she had been dumped on the ground like a rag doll. Moonshine floated above her, her mirror still held in her hands. It reflected Wanda's head, then glowed a bright white light.

"Let's see what lies beneath that stubborn persona you put out child... what fears are locked in your heart..." Moonshine closed her eyes and saw in her mind as though she was watching a movie, Wanda's memories, and used her power to warp them.

Wanda stirred slightly, but did not wake up as the memories began to surge inside her.

She was five years old, her parents had taken her to Heatherfield for a reunion with their friends and family.

Her hair at the time was short like her mother's, and she was shy and quiet. Hiding behind her father's legs as the other girls came over to meet their new friend for the first time.

"Why is she hiding?" Asked a little HuiLing, bounding forward.

"She's just shy, that's all." Smiled Will. She knelt down to be eye level with Wanda. "Come on, they're your friends, remember?"

Wanda did not remember the last time she saw the girls, as it had been a few years since their last visit.

Cerella huffed. Already she was looking like a clone of her mother.

"She's so weird." She said bluntly. "Look at her outfit."

The image faded and warped to a new scene, a new memory.

"I don't want to go!" Wanda half-shouted in protest. She was a few years older now, her hair shoulder length.

"It's just a dance party, it'll be fun." Will said. "And the girls will be there too."

"I hate dance parties. Can't you tell them I don't want to come?" She retorted stubbornly. "They all think I'm weird... You heard the blond girl."

Will looked up at Matt.

Later, Wanda walked by the kitchen and over heard them talking.

"I don't know where we went wrong with that girl... She doesn't like anything social and always shuts herself up in her room to read or whatever..." Will was saying.

"I dunno... maybe we spoiled her too much..." Matt sighed.

Moonshine smiled.

"They ignored you when you were around them..." She said to Wanda in her thoughts, her voice echoing.

"You just stood to the side and watched, while they had all the fun not even thinking of you. All people ever wanted to know about were your parents. Your famous parents... Your daddy the rock star, and mom the swimmer." She continued.

Wanda stirred again, her eyes moving as though she was fighting to block out Moonshine's voice.

"Don't you remember asking to join and they wouldn't let you in on their fun? Then they go and say stuff like how weird you are behind your back." Moonshine continued to drill deeper in her memories.

Wanda's hand twitched.

Then another voice burst into her mind.

"Wanda! Don't listen to her!" Will's voice surged fiercely, clearly angry but also clearly determined.

"Mom...?" She said.

"Yes, sweetie. Don't listen to her... Remember your true purpose, your real self. You are not shut off from everyone..." Will said. She had felt her daughter was in turmoil, and managed to reach her in her mind with the help of her friends. "You are the leader of the new Guardians of Meridian. If you do not defeat that woman, then you and your friends will be lost forever... Remember who you are and your true memories will flourish."

"Remember who I am...?"

The images of HuiLing bounding forward and dragging Wanda from behind her father's legs shot into her mind. Later that day they had gone to the gardens and played games together. A few years later, Wanda went to a dance at Heatherfield with her friends and parents and had lots of fun just being with them.

"That's right..." She muttered.

"NO!" Screeched Moonshine.

"Happy memories carry our real strength and potential..." Wanda could feel herself waking up...

Her eyes snapped open and a blast of red light erupted from the Heart of Kandrikor kept in front of her heart, revealing the surroundings at once. She saw the others in fierce fights of their own, and everyone seemed to go into shock at being able to find one another again.

Wanda sat up, then stood on her feet, lightning flickering around her hands as she stared up at Moonshine.

"You try to delve into my mind to my private memories..." She glared up at the woman with the mirror. "And try to warm my friends into people they are not."

Lightning rose from her feet and swirled around her whole body.

"What do you plan to do?" Asked Moonshine, taken aback by the show of pure rage from Wanda. "If you destroy this mirror, then your memories will be lost to you forever!" Her voice was full of panic.

"I'll take that chance." Growled Wanda as she took to the air and brought her right hand into a fist, which cracked and sparked with white lightning.

Black beams of light erupted from the mirror, aiming right at Wanda who dodged each one of them. She reached Moonshine, and slammed her fist into the mirror. It shattered into shards of glass that went everywhere upon contact with the lightning. Her hand then reached Moonshine's stomach, and she quickly became engulfed by white lightning.

"You keep out of my memories." Wanda hissed as Moonshine's screeches of sheer pain brought their friends to the realization that they could be seen by all of the Guardians now.

The other Guardians and Derek all looked over at the source of the screams that filled the air. They stared in shock and wonder at the sight of Moonshine as she was consumed by lightning from Wanda's hands.

When Wanda pulled away, Moonshine collapsed on the ground with a dull thud.

"Moonshine!" Shouted Fusagu. His spell vanished at once as he vanished and reappeared at her side.

Ingrid blinked, soaking wet, at the spot where he was about to make his next move.

"We'd better get out of here." Muttered Abrade.

"We'll be back, Guardians." Said Adamant.

Fusagu picked Moonshine's limp form up and vanished. The others followed his example.

Wanda stayed where she was, floating in mid air, her cloak flapping about her and her hair disheveled. She was panting heavily as though her attack had cost much on her part with both energy.

"That was awesome!" HuiLing appeared at her side, with many cuts on her arms and face.

Wanda smiled at her as the others zoomed over.

"Let's get going." She said once she got her arms to stop shaking. She privately thanked her mother for giving her the courage she needed to fight back as Derek took the lead.