Chapter 14
Bringing on the Ice
HuiLing yawned. It was early in the morning, and someone was knocking on her bedroom door. She had not yet braided her hair, and it hung down to her knees sticking out randomly.
"Yes?" She said groggily, opening her bedroom door a crack. She saw her great grandmother smiling up at her.
"Hurry up, great granddaughter. You said you were going out with your friends today, yes?" Replied YanLin.
"That's right! By the way, where's mom?" HuiLing scrambled to get dressed.
"Mom is at work. She sent me here to make sure you're awake." YanLin blinked when she noticed that HuiLing was no longer visible. "Great Granddaughter, where did you run off to?"
"What are you talking about, Grandma?" HuiLing's voice sounded somewhere near her dresser drawer and mirror. "I'm right here!"
"All I can see is your undies floating in mid air." Replied YanLin.
"Huh?" HuiLing gave an unseen blink, and looked at the mirror. "Wow! I'm invisible?" She exclaimed in her surprise, reappearing half dressed.
"Hurry up and put your clothes on, Great Granddaughter. You can't go around town half naked." YanLin closed HuiLing's door behind her.
"Wakey-wakey, Wanda!" Came an electronic-sounding male voice that she didn't recognize. She grunted, pulling her covers over her head.
"Come on, morning's aren't that bad!" Came another female voice from the direction of her iPod.
"Yeah, you can play with me in mornings, remember?" Came a voice from the area around her Nintendo Wii.
"Ugh... FINE!" Wanda sat up so suddenly that her cat went flying from the pillow she'd been curled up on. The cat growled at her, her fur rising up in irritation at the sudden movement. "Seriously... can you guys chill?"
She plugged the iPod in to her iHome stereo.
"How about some nice jPop music today to wake you up?" Asked the female voice from the iPod.
"Sounds great... just nothing that will wake up my grandparents ok?" Grumbled Wanda as she dressed herself in her purple shirt, blue jeans, purple socks, and blue jean jacket.
"Oh, and by the way, my real name is Ai." Snapped the iPod.
"And I am Jack." Replied the lamp.
"Nice to meet you." Sighed Wanda, sitting on her bed as the cat jumped down finally.
"Wanda, what are you doing up so early?" Will poked her head in to her daughters' room.
"My iPod and lamp wouldn't shut up." Retorted Wanda.
"Come on, the early bird catches the worm!" Replied Ai's voice.
"For one thing, I'm not a bird. And another, I hate worms." Snapped Wanda at the iPod. "Mom, is there anything about my Powers that you neglected to mention?"
"Ah... you're already at the talking appliances stage?" Smiled Will rather nervously. "Well, being the Guardian of Quintessence, that means anything with an electrical current, AC or DC, means... Basically..."
"We have the ability to communicate with our everyday appliances? Lovely." Grumbled Wanda as Matt came in to check on Will and Wanda.
Ingrid was busy in her kitchen later that morning. She waved goodbye to her father as he left for work for the day, and she then turned her concentration on her own breakfast. She grabbed a glass, and put it under the faucet. An idea struck her and she decided to try and get water out of it without turning the tap. She put the glass under the faucet, focused her attention on getting the water, and in the next moment she was soaked in it as water came bursting out. She jumped back.
"Uh... MOM!" She screeched.
Irma came running in to see the growing mess in the kitchen.
"Ingrid, what in heaven's name happened?"
"I dunno Mom, all I wanted to do was see if I could make some water come out without using the taps, and Niagra Falls decided to make our kitchen in to a pool instead." Replied Ingrid, hiding behind her mother.
"Well... if you can summon Niagra Falls, then you can surely stop it." Smiled Irma, and Ingrid stared up at her mother as though she were insane. "Having the ability to use Guardian powers means you can't abuse it, you know."
"Yeah, yeah." Blinked Ingrid at the growing pool of water. She stood back in front of her mother and focussed on the water, raising her hands with the palms flat, and closing her eyes.
Irma remained silent while she watched her daughter try and focus. After several moments of silence, the water finally stopped.
"Great job, now you can clean up this mess before you go hang out with your friends." Irma put a hand on Ingrid's shoulder. "WITHOUT using your powers."
Ingrid glared up at her mother, and went to find the mop and broom.
Cerella yawned. She needed to get dressed, sitting all day in her flowery night gown would do her nothing for her complexion or hair. Looking at herself in the mirror, she realized she was having a bad hair morning and went in search of her hair brush. Before she had a chance to actually find it, the hair brush came floating from her nightstand to her right hand.
She looked at the brush, then her nightstand with an amused look on her face.
"Wow... sweet." She brushed her hair before getting herself dressed, and she tried the power again, watching with a smile on her face as her clothes floated in midair before she put them on.
Tress was waiting for her friends at HuiLing's place before heading over to check on Wanda. Her morning had gone on as usual, except for the added ability of telepathy. She found out she could read her mother's mind while doing her morning routine. Her mother explained that was one of the powers that she herself had while being a Guardian. She was thrilled to have some new powers to work with.
Apparently HuiLing was already up and about, according to her parents, and HuiLing had gone in search of their friend, Wandas' parents.
HuiLing did not notice she had gone invisible again when she found Wanda's mother and father discussing something with curious expressions on their faces.
"Wanda's going to be fifteen next week on the fifteenth... Hard to believe, isn't it?" Will was saying.
"Yeah, but she doesn't like big birthday parties full of tons of people, so what should we do?" Asked Matt.
HuiLing smiled in spite of herself, and then ran off before actually talking to Wanda's mother and father.
"Hey, guess who's birthday it is in a week?" Said HuiLing to Cerella, Tress and Ingrid.
"Albert Einstein's?" Asked Ingrid, not really in the mood for guessing games.
"NO, genius. It's Wanda's. I overheard her mom and dad talking about it being on the fifteenth of January, and that's just a week away!"
"Oh! We should do something for her!" Said Tress, suddenly exited.
"But what? She hates big gatherings of people." Replied Ingrid.
"How about a small party at her home?" Asked Cerella. "I can handle the decorations if HuiLing or Derek keeps her from her home for a day."
"That sounds great! And I'll ask my Mom and Grandma to do the cooking." HuiLing practically bounced on the spot.
"Ingrid and I will handle the gifts." Smiled Tress, a devious look in her eyes.
"Hey, guys, sorry I'm late." Wanda came up on the group. They were gathered at the park again. "Grandma wouldn't stop talking today." She smiled, holding up her picnic basket full of the food she had promised for their lunch.
"Not a problem girly." HuiLing skipped over to her friend and grabbed the basket.
"Hey, is Derek going to be here today?" Blinked Ingrid, looking around as though expecting him to pop up out of nowhere.
"No, he had some work to do for the Queen back in Meridian." Sighed Cerella as she grabbed one of the Honey-crisp apples that Wanda brought for the group. "Mmmm... I love Heatherfield's produce!" She exclaimed.
"I miss the sour dough bread from San Francisco though." Sighed Wanda as she looked at her sandwich rather woefully.
"Honestly, the way you and your family ate back there I'm surprised you haven't all turned in to blimps." Smiled Cerella.
"Hey, I exercised plenty. Nintendo Wii, and the walks Mom and I take in the morning are great for my figure." Snapped Wanda.
"All the metabolism used to avoid the boys seeking your hand for a date on Valentine's Day is helpful too I imagine." Muttered Ingrid, and HuiLing giggled madly as she was eating her Chinese food with chopsticks for her lunch.
Wanda shot Ingrid a glare as she started eating her own sandwich.
"All right... now that we're fed and watered... how bout some training? Derek looked like he was going to throttle us when we said we were just going to play all day." Wanda stood up after they put their empty food packages in the picnic basket.
"Ugh... fine. No work and no play makes Jack a dull boy I guess." Ingrid rolled her eyes, standing up.
"Guardians Unite!" Called out Wanda before Cerella could protest.
When the group reemerged from the spheres of light emitted from the Heart of Kandrikar.
"So what are we doing? Just getting a better feel of our powers today, or what?" Asked Tress.
"Where's HuiLing?" Blinked Cerella, looking around. In the next second, she had let out a yell as HuiLing grabbed her shoulders, appearing out of nowhere.
"See what I can do now?" Smirked HuiLing.
"Make yourself invisible and be the next prankster ghost?" Said Ingrid even though she was grinning and fighting the mad desire to laugh at Cerella's reation.
"That too... but I found out earlier today I can make myself invisible! Still working out the kinks in that though..."
"Apparently." Cerella grumbled. "Look what I can do." She flew up in to the air, and directed her right hand at the picnic blanket on the ground. It was folded up in to a neat square as though by invisible hands, and placed on top of the basket.
"Telekinesis? Nice!" Replied Wanda.
"That is nothing... I can read people's minds." Tress retorted. "And I heard that." She looked at Ingrid as she thought "show off".
"Well, at least all your powers are useful..." Sighed Wanda. "All I've got is the ability to talk with any kind of electrical device."
"That sounds cool, though!" HuiLing's voice came from Wanda's right even though she was not visible, making Wanda jump and send lightning at Cerella who screeched and ducked.
"You singed my HAIR!" Cerella bellowed at Wanda as HuiLing giggled again. "It's bad ENOUGH that I woke up with bad hair in the morning, but now I've gotta go home looking like I'm fresh from a lightning storm? UGH!" She stomped her foot, causing the Earth to shake violently.
"Like you'll be seeing anybody that matters at home." Growled Wanda, her hands over her ears to try and block out the din.
"Ohhh... Cerella got herself a haircut today." Ingrid giggled. "What a tragedy."
"Um... Cerel', would you mind hitting the off on Earthquake Mode?" Asked Tress, who was forced to take flight.
Cerella looked at the ground and managed to stop the ground from shaking.
"Well, the news will be full of new reports tonight." Said Ingrid sarcastically. She looked at the lake near the park and grinned. "Watch this..." She told the group.
A giant sphere of water appeared as Ingrid shaped her hands around an invisible ball, or so it seemed.
"Wow, a giant ball of water." Grumbled Cerella.
Ingrid looked at Cerella, and the sphere of water.
"Oh no..." Blinked Wanda, knowing what kind of revenge was coming next.
HuiLing, Ingrid and Tress all closed there eyes as Ingrid sent the sphere of water over Cerella.
"Don't... you... DARE..." Cerella stared up at the water.
SPLASH.
Cerella was looking like she was going to scream, and scream she did.
"Whoops... I must have misjudged where to land it. I was going for the less extreme of Lake Egotistical." Said Ingrid.
"Wanda, are we done yet? I'm tired of playing target practice for you guys." Snapped Cerella.
"How bout a steam dry?" Asked Tress, a ball of fire appearing in her hands.
"Oh no... no, no no no no no!" Cerella retorted, as HuiLing took to the air to practice her flying.
"Relax, I was only joking." Shrugged Tress.
"Wow... Tress with a sense of humor." Blinked Ingrid.
"Ok... I think we've destroyed enough of Heatherfield for one day..." Wanda pulled out the Heart of Kandrikor from underneath her shirt neck. There was a flash of light, and the four girls were returned back to their civilian forms.
"Where's HuiLing?" Asked Tress, looking around.
Moments later, they heard HuiLing screaming from the sky as she fell and landed in the lake. She surfaced from the water, spitting it out of her mouth as she swam to shore.
"Sorry bout that." Wanda pulled HuiLing out of the lake.
"I wonder how high the earthquake will read on the geologists end." Said Tress as she picked up the basket.
"Let's just go shopping... Ok?" Sighed Cerella, not wanting to think about it.
Derek was in the swamps of Meridian, on his own except for the Passling, Blunk, who still had the Tooth to make folds in space to travel.
"You sure this is where Phobos is hiding?" Asked Derek.
"Un-huh." Nodded Blunk. "Blunk smell Phobos miles away. Blunk knows smell better than own."
"Nice... I imagine that's not hard to do. Let's get in closer, see if we can see him anywhere. If I need to, I'll have to have you make a portal to get back to the castle or Earth." Derek instructed. "At least the swamp makes your scent bearable. Don't know how mom and dad ever managed to be around you so much back then."
Blunk gave a throaty laugh.
"But you HAVE to be quiet." Snapped Derek. "Otherwise you'll get a bath the moment we get back to Earth."
Blunk's eyes went wide in fear at the mention of a bath, then followed in silence as well as he could.
"How is your investigation, Ice?" Phobos was asking his spy.
Derek blinked from the shadows, hiding behind several thick swamp trees. Derek blinked at the woman. He had never seen her before.
She had long wavy white hair that was kept in a pony tail. She wore a black cloak over her shoulders that hid her white gown. Her blue eyes gleamed in the darkness as she looked up at Phobos, her pale skin glowing in the shadow.
"It appears that the Guardian leaders' birthday is in one week. My spy tells me this directly from the home of the leader. However... The Guardians are each getting stronger by the day. Soon they will be strong enough to destroy us unless we are careful." Ice replied.
"I see... and it appears we have another spy in our midst..." Phobos glanced in Derek's direction without moving his head.
"I shall tend to him." Ice bowed her head, and vanished.
Derek blinked in alarm when she appeared before him. He unsheathed his sword, but he barely had the chance for a swing when he saw the sword turning in to ice, then his hand, arm, finally his body.
Blunk was nearby, and blinked several times before letting out a muffled yell, slicing the tooth through the air, and vanishing from Meridian.
Phobos glared in the direction that he heard the portal.
"I smell Passling meat." Cedric hissed, emerging from the castle.
The five girls emerged from the book store. Wanda held several comic books, Tress held a few thick textbooks on sculpting, Cerella several fashion magazines and design books, Ingrid carried some books on music and water sports, and HuiLing carried some books about gardening and garden home designs.
"Well, at least today wasn't a total disaster." Cerella was already thumbing through one of the bigger books on fashion and fashion design she had. "I've been eyeballing this for ages."
"Hey, how bout we go to the restaurant for lunch?" Suggested HuiLing.
"Good idea... I've been wanting to go there for ages." Agreed Ingrid.
"Yeah... since last week?" Tress put out before she could stop herself.
"Hey, at least because of our relations we get free food there." Smiled Cerella.
At the restaurant, the girls had their books on the ground, and had just ordered.
"So, guess what? I saw Stevie at the park on our way out... I think he actually looked my way!" HuiLing exclaimed.
"Oh wow, call the press." Grumbled Cerella.
"Someone's still moody from earlier today." Grinned Ingrid.
"Please... let's not rain on her parade now." Cerella sighed.
At that moment, a smell reached the restaurant that made every customer gag.
"Ugh... what smells like rotted cheese mixed with old egg?" Cerella covered her nose with her hands.
"I just lost my appetite for Egg Foo Young." Tress grabbed her stomach.
Wanda looked around and saw the source of the smell was coming from the basement.
"Come on." She said to the group.
"Ugh... maybe great grandma let in the dumpster." HuiLing groaned as they stepped nearer to the basement.
"Well we'd better hurry or else the stink will drive everyone out." Tress pointed to the customers who were starting to rise from their seats in revulsion.
"Ok... here goes..." Wanda opened the door and they saw Blunk racing up the stairs and nearly tumbling in to the main restaurant.
"Blunk!" HayLin had heard and smelled the commotion, bending over and picking up the small Passling.
"Smiley girl Guardian!" Exclaimed Blunk.
"What are you doing here?" Asked HayLin, leading the group to the basement, closing the door.
"Serious boy Derek in trouble!" Burst out Blunk. "Turned in to ice by strange girl before Blunk could get Derek out of it."
"Derek's in trouble?" Blinked Wanda and Cerella, Wanda's mind racing.
Tress looked at Wanda with a knowing smirk on her face.
"Not a word." Wanda glared at Tress, who looked up at the ceiling as though she hadn't read Wanda's mind or seen the reaction.
"You guys go on ahead, I'll call your parents and let them know. Good luck!" HayLin bounced out of the basement.
"That's reassuring." Sighed Wanda as she pulled out the Heart of Kandrikor from underneath her shirt neckline. "Guardians unite!"
There was a flash of light, and the girls reemerged as the Guardians of Meridian once again.
"Ok, Blunk, take us to where you last saw Derek." Wanda looked down at the Passling, who was looking rather reluctant at the mention of going back.
"Blunk not going back there!" He exclaimed. "Swamp castle place dark and scary."
"If you DON'T help us, you get a bath." Ingrid threatened, a sphere of water appearing in her hands as she directed her palms at Blunk.
Blunk's eyes went wide.
"Funny girl know how to bargain good deal! Blunk take you back to spot where he last saw Derek!" Blunk said quickly, pulling the Tooth out and slicing through the air.
"Way to go, Ingrid." Tress was grinning in spite of herself at Blunk's reaction to the mere mention of a bath.
The six reemerged in Meridian where Derek has last been seen. Only to be assaulted by a giant lizard tail the moment the portal closed.
"Welcome back to Meridian, Guardians." Cedric hissed as the group scattered. HuiLing carried Blunk by his hands.
"Ugh... you know, maybe a bath wouldn't hurt you..." She mumbled.
"But Guardians promised!" Blunk said in panic.
"Gotta find Derek and make sure he doesn't get struck." Wanda was looking around.
"There!" Cerella pointed at what appeared to be an ice sculpture of her older brother in the midst of drawing his sword and taking a swing of something.
Cedric made for Derek as well as the Guardians, letting out a roar that shook the swamp land.
"Tress, can you Ingrid and HuiLing thaw him? We'll keep lizard boy busy." Wanda looked at Cerella.
"No problem. He must have found out something he shouldn't have to have been caught like this." Tress nodded, and the two started, Tress sending a pillar of fire at the ice sculpture while HuiLing and Ingrid sent hot air and water at the fire so that he would not get burned.
"Not so fast, Guardians..." Hissed Cedric.
Wanda and Cerella stood in front of the three as they continued their work of thawing Derek.
"And I say it's time to hang around... NO one messes with my big brother like that." Cerella glared. She raised her hands, and giant tree roots sprang up from the ground and wrapped around the giant lizard.
"Nice one..." Smiled Wanda.
"Or... not." Cerella had to fly backwards to avoid being struck as the tail of the giant lizard came crashing down.
"Easy!" HuiLing exclaimed as the ground shook around them.
A ball of water wrapped around Cedric, and Wanda blinked.
"Ingrid, I thought you were helping with Derek!" Cerella shouted before Wanda could.
"Hey don't look at me, I've been busy here!" Ingrid protested.
"Then that must mean..." Wanda looked, and sure enough, it was Fusagu.
"Hello Cedric, didja miss me?" Fusagu grinned as the sphere of water was complete, leaving only the lizard's giant head exposed.
"Fusagu... You traitor!" Roared the giant lizard.
"Glad we got that cleared up finally." Fusagu smiled even broader.
"You know what they say, Cedric," Wanda rose up in to the air, lighting starting to spark around her at seemingly random points. "Never play with electricity and water at the same time!"
She pointed the palms of her hands right at Cedric, who let out a loud and furious screech of pain as the ball of water soon encompassed the lightning Wanda sent at it. Light flashed all around and what sounded like a thousand tiny birds calling out at random intervals yet all at once filled the air.
"Lesson of the day- never piss off Cerella or Wanda." Ingrid smiled as finally Derek fell in to the muddy swamp water with a gasp of fresh air at last.
"Ugh... what happened?" Derek stood up with the help of HuiLing and Tress.
"That." Ingrid pointed as Cedric was forced back in to his human form, looking the worse for wear in his encounter with the Guardians and Fusagu.
"I think lizard boy must be a little rusty." HuiLing couldn't help but giggle as Cerella wrapped the now human Cedric in several giant roots from the earth below.
"And for the final touch, I think he should add a more feminine ensemble to his look." Her eyes narrowed as she focussed harder than ever. A bud appeared at the tips of the roots as they converged on the spot and rose up above the struggling Cedric. Moments later, a large blue rose blossomed that stood out spectacularly in the swamp land.
"Nice, blue suits lizard boy well." Ingrid said with a smile.
"That's my thought... great minds think alike." Cerella flipped her hair in a style that made her look like a clone of her mother.
"Let's get out of here." Wanda blinked seeing Cedric starting to break free.
"Right." The group all agreed, and Wanda created a veil for the group to travel through, just as Cedric broke free of the make shift prison.
He reached the veil just as it vanished, and let out a frustrated growl, spinning around on the spot.
"Doing all right?" Cerella asked her older brother as he sat down, still shivering.
"Yeah, but I think Phobos might be planning something." He said as the Guardians returned to their civilian forms once again.
"Planning something?" Blinked Wanda as YanLin came in to the basement of the restaurant with a blanket
Derek thanked her before returning his attention to the five girls.
"He's got this new spy who's at Wanda's house apparently... They've already learned your birthday and the last thing I remember hearing before becoming a human popsicle was that they had started planing something for that day." He said.
"A spy? But how's that possible? It's just mom, dad, my grandparents and me living there." Wanda blinked.
"Well, while we figure out how they're spying on you, Derek, you should've seen Wanda when she heard you were in trouble!" HuiLing put in randomly with a grin.
Derek blinked at HuiLing, then looked at Wanda who was turned away in plain defiance.
"Yeah, that look on her face was priceless." Tress agreed, following HuiLing's lead.
"Well, at least I'M not the target this time." Cerella huffed as she handed her brother a cup of tea.
"Don't make us change our minds." Ingrid warned, earning another glare from Cerella.
