Chapter 5: A Guardian in the Wind
Hey everyone! It's me, sakuraphoenix, and I'm back with a new chapter! I know, what's with the late update? Well, I've been busy with a lot of stuff. You should be hearing more from me since I just graduated high school. Anyway, disclaimer time.
Disclaimer: Keybladeauraofpie and I do not own W.I.T.C.H. We only own our respective OC's.
Enjoy!
A new school day was beginning in Heatherfield, with the guardians and second-in-command of the resistance of Meridian talking in the courtyard about how Rene had handled Stacy, along with Naomi checking on her lab report which was due that very day and had made sure that there wasn't a single error in the charts, or graphs, or abstract.
"Still, you were amazing yesterday." Said Mei-Xing
"Thanks Mei-Xing. Did you finish your art project?" asked Rene
"Yeah, yesterday in class. I just hope it's still there." Said Mei-Xing
"What do you mean?" asked McKenna
"Every time we have an art project due, it somehow goes missing all the time when she leaves it at school. As a result, Mei-Xing has to stay after to make a new art project." Explained Tina
"So why not just take it home?" asked Naomi
"Because most of my art projects are paintings. I keep it there overnight to let it dry." Said Mei-Xing
"Ah. Anyways, I'll meet you in class. I'm going to ditch my stuff for gym in my locker." Said Naomi
"Where is your locker?" asked Rene
"Near the music classroom." Said Naomi
"Lucky!" Tina, Rene, and Mei-Xing exclaimed in unison
"Why?" asked Naomi
"Did you know that Principal… I mean Will is married?" asked Rene
"No, why?" asked Naomi
"Because her husband is the hot music teacher." Said Tina
"He's one lucky guy then. I'll see you in biology." Naomi said before walking away
As Naomi was walking through the halls and towards her locker, she smelled some of Stacy's perfume in the area. She quickly ducked into a nearby bathroom and took her inhaler.
"Well, I just need to ditch my stuff, and get out." Said Naomi
She had just approached her locker and entered in the combination and opened it, when she was bombarded with at least a gallon of Stacy's perfume before she started coughing and wheezing. She just passed out from asphyxiation as Matt Olsen, the music teacher at Sheffield, opened the door to his classroom to see what the sound was when he saw Naomi on the floor. He quickly moved her into the classroom and called 911.
"911, what's your emergency?" asked the operator
"I need to request an ambulance. I have a student at Sheffield Institute who's just passed out and is turning blue. I don't know what to do!" exclaimed Matt
With the others…
Class was going to begin in two minutes, and the guardians were wondering where Naomi was.
"Where is she?" asked Harmony
"She's never late to class, not even fashionably late. Something must've happened." Said McKenna
The sound of an ambulance filled the air as the students moved for the windows to see what was going on. They saw paramedics rush into the school, past the classroom, and then as soon as they had passed, they quickly came back to the ambulance, with the guardians and Harmony having shocked looks on their faces. It was Naomi being loaded into the back of the ambulance, and Matt was accompanying her to the hospital.
"What happened?" asked Rene
The whole classroom was suddenly talking about what could've happened, with Stacy being surprisingly quiet, and Rene was the only one to notice.
"You know something, don't you?" Rene asked as she walked up to Stacy
"What are you talking about?" asked Stacy
"Will Stacy St. Beaumont please come to Principal Vandom's office? Again, will Stacy St. Beaumont come to Principal Vandom's office?" asked the voice on the intercom
"Later loser." Stacy said as she left the classroom
Rene looked at the others, whom all had the exact same look on their faces, which said 'Let's follow her.' They followed her, and as she got into the Principal's Office, Harmony used her powers to help her hear what was going on inside.
"Okay, why are the cops here?" asked Stacy
"I'm very disappointed with you young lady." Said Will
"Did I do something wrong?" asked Stacy
They heard a fist slam on a desk. Uh-oh, Will was steaming mad.
"Don't play innocent with me young lady! Mr. Olsen told me what had happened. Her locker had sprayed perfume on her, the same perfume that you wear, and the worst part of it all was that she nearly died today!" exclaimed Will
"Who?" asked Stacy
"Naomi Jones, the new transfer student. She's fine for the moment, but if it weren't for my husband, you know what kind of report I would be filling out right now instead of the ones I am filling out?!" exclaimed Will
"I have no idea." Stacy said in a calm demeanor
"In that case, I will tell you what I am filling out. The first report, assault charges. Congratulations Stacy, you have a criminal record." Said Will
"No, no, no, no, no. You… you can't be serious." Said Stacy
"I am, and the second, a suspension slip, starting from the end of school today, you will be suspended from school and all related activities until the next school year!" exclaimed Will
"What?! But what about homecoming? And cheerleading? And prom? I can't miss all of those!" Stacy exclaimed with panic in her voice
"I am the principal of this institution, and be grateful I am not expelling you. And you are barred from all future school activities until you hear from me, that includes cheerleading practice, homecoming dance, football games, and concerts." Said Will
"But you can't do this!" exclaimed Stacy
"As I said, be grateful I'm not signing you up for expulsion or having Officer Lair and Officer Williams arrest you." Said Will
"But…" started Stacy
"There is a price to being suspended young lady. Think of these two are your parole officers. You are to come nowhere near school grounds for the duration of your suspension, and all of your homework assignments will be e-mailed to you." Said Will
"This is outrageous! Wait until my father hears about this!" exclaimed Krystal
"He has heard about it. Prior to calling you here, I called both of your parents, and they are both disappointed in you. Stacy St. Beaumont, until further notice, consider yourself suspended from Sheffield Institute." Said Will
"Fine! Be that way!" exclaimed Stacy
"Let's go. You have to get through the rest of the school day first." Said a female voice
The guardians quickly panicked, and hid in a nearby hallway, in the opposite direction of where Krystal was going. They saw the two officers, Officer Lair being a female in her late 50's and Officer Williams being in his early 30's. Officer Lair then saw them, and winked, much to their confusion. At that moment, Will stepped out of her office and saw the girls.
"You wanted to know what happened, didn't you?" asked Will
"Yeah. Is Naomi going to be okay?" asked Rene
"Yes. She will be. Thankfully, she had an inhaler on her, so the paramedics immediately figured she had an asthma attack, a very serious one at that. She's gonna be in the hospital for a while." Said Will
"And who was the officer? Was she a friend of yours or something?" asked Mei-Xing
"Officer? You mean Irma? She used to be the Water Guardian before you McKenna." Said Will
"Suddenly, I feel a sort of respect for police officers now." Said McKenna
In the hospital…
Naomi was out like a light, with a respirator over her nose and mouth to help her breath with a female doctor checking her status.
"Well, her lungs seem to be back to normal, she's breathing normally again. But still, what is that smell? It smells like cheap kid perfume." The doctor said as she walked out of the room
At that moment in Meridian, Cornelia saw a weak, unconscious Naomi on the respirator in the hospital.
"What are you doing Cornelia?" asked the queen
"Mom, look. That's the Guardian of the Earth, but look at her, so weak and frail. In her usual condition, for me to try and cast this spell on her would prove difficult, but in her condition now, it would be child's play." Said Cornelia
She extended her hand, and wisps of light blue magic circled around her hand and moved to Naomi. They traveled through the seeing stone to the hospital, where the wisps circled around her and created a choker with a red stone around her neck. She quickly opened her eyes for a moment, but soon became distant, falling into a trance.
"Listen to my every command Guardian of the Earth, and you will be richly rewarded. Do you understand me?" asked Cornelia
"I understand." Naomi said in a monotone voice
"Good. The other guardians are not your friends. They are your enemies." Said Cornelia
"They are not my friends. They are my enemies." Naomi said in the same monotone voice
"I am your friend, your only friend." Said Cornelia
"You are my only friend." Said Naomi
"Now listen to me. I have a plan to get rid of the guardians, and you will help me. When the next portal opens, lure them to the dungeons of the palace, and there the Guardians will be done for, with you the very last one." Said Cornelia
"With all due respect Your Highness, the guardians are not stupid. They will not go to the dungeons without a reason." Said Naomi
"Hmm… good point. In that case, I'll find someone and put them into the dungeons, probably someone most likely to be working with the resistance. When I am in need of you again, I will activate the choker, and bring you into the state you are in now. Until then, your future actions will be influenced by me." Said Cornelia
"Yes, Your Highness." Said Naomi
Cornelia waved her hand in front of the stone, cutting off the image, causing Naomi to fall unconscious once again.
Back at Sheffield…
What had happened in the Principal's Office had gone through the school like wildfire, and it wasn't just the guardians who knew that Stacy was suspended from school. It was finally lunch time at Sheffield, and everyone was getting lunch when Stacy strode into the cafeteria acting like nothing had happened.
"Watch out, here comes Queen of the Perfume." Said one of the football players
"If we get her mad, she'll spray us like a skunk." Said one of his friends
Stacy had gotten her lunch, and sat with the other cheerleaders. Once they noticed her, they quickly stopped talking. Stacy was confused until she saw that the Guardian's table had a lot more people around them instead of the cheerleader's table.
"Excuse me for a second girls." Said Stacy
She walked over to the table to see what was going on, and saw that practically everyone was signing a 'Get Well Soon' card for Naomi.
"What's this then? Huh? A card? How lame." Said Stacy
To her surprise, everyone who had either signed the card, or was about to glared at her.
"What?" asked Stacy
"Don't play dumb Stacy. We know what happened to Naomi." Said a Japanese-American girl
"Now who's sprouting rumors Setsuna Miki?" asked Stacy
"They're not rumors. I saw you. I saw you rig Naomi's locker to spray a gallon of your perfume at her when she opened it. You broke into it, and set it up, so when she'd open it, she'd pass out from the fumes." Said Ian
"That's low Stacy. And didn't you even notice that everyone suddenly got quiet when you arrived in the cafeteria?" asked Tina
"Uh, no. I tend to have that effect on everyone." Said Stacy
She saw a couple of cute boys head her way, and she immediately flipped her hair, hoping to get their attention. She got their attention alright, but not in the way she wanted.
"Hey, it's the loser cheerleader." Said boy number one
"What are you doing here? At least everyone else here has a heart and is worried about a fellow classmate. Unless you're here to sign the card, in case you haven't noticed, no one likes you, and no one ever will, not after what happened." Said the second boy
A traumatized Stacy ran out of the cafeteria in tears, and everyone began cheering that she was gone.
"Sorry, was that much?" asked the second boy
"As much as I like to say 'yes, it was,' she actually deserved it." Said Rene
"So, is she going to make a good recovery?" asked the first boy
"Yeah. She just had a severe asthma attack. She'll be up and running in no time." Said McKenna
"Awesome! Tell her that the whole school's rooting for her." The second boy said as he signed the card
"Don't worry. That's on the list." Said Mei-Xing
In Meridian…
It was a calm day in the market, and it felt like nothing could go wrong, until Cornelia's guard showed up, and saw a girl with brown hair.
"Miss?" asked one of the guards
"Uh, may I help you?" asked the girl
"You are under arrest for suspicions of working with the resistance against your princess, Cornelia." The guard said while grabbing the girl
The girl struggled against the guard's grip, but was unaware that a certain passling had seen the whole scene unfold. He sniffed the air and found a portal near the castle. He jumped through, and found himself in a closet.
"Let Blunk out! Let Blunk out!" exclaimed Blunk
The closet door suddenly opened, and the passling fell out, and found himself in the hospital room with Naomi and the girls.
"Blunk, what are you doing here?!" exclaimed Harmony
"Bad news, very bad." Said Blunk
"What kind of bad are we talking about here?" asked Naomi
Blunk looked at Naomi, and began to drool smelling Stacy's perfume.
"Pink girl smell nice." Said Blunk
"Okay, you are not going anywhere near me like that Blunk, not unless you want a bath." Said Naomi
Blunk panicked and headed back over to Harmony.
"What's wrong?" asked Harmony
"Alyssa taken by guard. Cornelia catch her. Think she resistance! Help!" exclaimed Blunk
"Alyssa?! She's our communications expert!" Harmony exclaimed in shock
"Communications expert?" everyone asked in unison
"We're always worried if Cornelia manages to get our messages, so if she intercepts them, they'll look like gibberish to her. Alyssa was the one who came up with the code. If she forces her to tell her the code to our messages, then the resistance is done for!" exclaimed Harmony
"We have to help her!" exclaimed Tina
"I can't help right now. Until the guy says I can go, I'm stuck here in the hospital." Said Naomi
"We'll keep this portal open for you then. You'll be able to follow us into Meridian. Let's go." Said Tina
As the girls closed the closet behind them, a doctor came into the room.
"How are we doing?" asked the male doctor
"Better than this morning." Said Naomi
"Well, your breathing seems to be back to normal, no lingering signs of an asthma attack. I'd say you're free to go. There won't be a bill." Said the doctor
"But, this morning, after I woke up, one of the nurses said there was going to be one." Said Naomi
"It was paid for by the St. Beaumont family. They rarely pay for treatment for a stranger. Consider yourself lucky. Mr. St. Beaumont seemed to be in a slightly bad mood when he paid for your treatment." The doctor said as he exited the room
The moment he did, Naomi gripped her head in pain as the choker activated, and she opened her eyes, revealing to be distant.
"The guardians are on the move. Make sure you follow them to the castle dungeons. I'm counting on you." Said Cornelia
"Yes, Your Highness. I'll see to it." Naomi said in a monotone voice
At that moment, Cornelia cut off the spell, and Naomi hid inside the bathroom to change clothes, when the replica Heart of Kandrakar began to act up.
"What's wrong with you?" wondered Naomi
It fired a blast of green-colored energy at the choker, immediately destroying it. Naomi gripped her head in pain as the memories from her time under Cornelia's control came back to her.
"Oh no! The others are walking into a trap! I gotta get there fast! But how can I, unless you can give me wings or something." Naomi said to the replica Heart of Kandrakar
The Heart flew out of the bathroom and floated near the closet where the portal was. Naomi looked around carefully and walked inside while closing the door, and entering through the portal to Meridian.
"Take me to the others, and please hurry. I don't want anything bad to happen to them." Said Naomi
The replica Heart began flying towards the other guardians, and Naomi ran as fast as she could, worried for her friends.
With the guardians…
They just snuck into the dungeons to find Harmony's friend, and came to the last cell in the dungeons, and found her.
"Alyssa!" exclaimed Harmony
"Harmony! Get me out of here!" exclaimed Alyssa
"Don't worry, I got you!" exclaimed Harmony
She blasted the lock with her powers, and at that moment, guards filled the room.
"Oh no." said Mei-Xing
"We're trapped!" exclaimed McKenna
"Not quite. There's another way out. This way." Said Alyssa
They ran through the tunnels and found themselves in some kind of arena, where some brute with a giant axe and more weapons appeared.
"I hope you like your gift Guardians of the Veil. Enjoy it, because it'll be the last one you ever receive." Said Cornelia
"How did she know we'd come here?!" exclaimed Tina
"Wait… the choker around Naomi's neck at the hospital! I've seen it around on some people in Meridian! That choker was formed by a spell Cornelia created. Naomi was being controlled!" exclaimed Harmony
"That's right. And now I can celebrate the end of the guardians." Said Cornelia
"That's what you think!" cried out a female voice
Everyone searched for the sound of the voice when they saw Naomi swinging on a vine Tarzan style, catching the brute off guard, and shocking Cornelia.
"But… but how did you break free?!" exclaimed Cornelia
"No one uses me to get to my friends, and when someone does that, they're gonna wish they never met me." Said Naomi
"Guardians, Unite!" Rene exclaimed as she raised the Heart of Kandrakar in the air
The familiar swirls of magic surrounded the girls, shocking Alyssa, as she saw the transformation.
"Water." Said McKenna
"Fire!" exclaimed Tina
"Earth!" exclaimed Naomi
"Air!" exclaimed Mei-Xing
"Quintessence." Said Rene
"Curse you guardians! Get them!" exclaimed Cornelia
"Anyone ever play Double Dutch?" asked Naomi
"Yeah." Rene, McKenna, Tina, and Mei-Xing said in unison
"What's Double Dutch?" asked Tina
"That's all I need to know. Earth!" exclaimed Naomi
Some vines appeared, and it got the brute tangled. McKenna then created a water bubble around the brute and Mei-Xing froze it. They then used the ice ball as a bowling ball to get rid of the rest of the guards. When that was said and done, they regrouped at the resistance's hideout.
"Thanks for saving me guys. I don't know what would've happened if you didn't come along." Said Alyssa
"Probably the same thing that happened to me. If I didn't break free in time, I don't know what could've happened to you guys. I'm really sorry." Naomi said with a guilty look on her face
"It's okay. We forgive you. Besides, if it wasn't because of Stacy, you would've never have ended up in the hospital." Said McKenna
"That reminds me, something strange happened today. One of the doctors told me that Stacy's dad paid for the hospital bill. I wonder why." Said Naomi
"Well, let's just say that Stacy's got a criminal record now, and her mom and dad are furious! We won't be seeing her until after summer vacation!" exclaimed Mei-Xing
"Oh yeah, how did that art project go?" asked Naomi
"Well, I finally figured out how it's been disappearing when I'm not looking. Someone keeps painting the canvas over when I'm not looking with white paint, hiding my project." Said Mei-Xing
"That's horrible!" exclaimed Naomi
"I know, but I also know that I will find whoever keeps doing it somehow." Said Mei-Xing
"Besides, you helped us in the end. Cornelia may try to split us apart, but we've got a bond no one can break, not as Guardians of the Veil, but as friends." Rene said as she extended her hand in a palm down position
"Friends." Tina said as she placed her hand on top of Rene's
"Friends." Mei-Xing said as she mimicked Tina's actions
"Friends." McKenna said while mimicking Tina's and Mei-Xing's actions
Naomi looked hesitantly at the hand pile that was forming before she smiled and said:
"Friends."
To their surprise, Harmony put her hand on top of Naomi's before saying
"Friends."
The Guardians and Resistance all began laughing at the actions the Guardians of the Veil and Harmony just took. At that moment, the Heart of Kandrakar and the replica Heart began to glow brighter, as if sensing the bond between the guardians and Harmony.
Done and done! Whew, this one took a while, but I finally finished! Please review, and until next time, I'm sakuraphoenix, saying I heart you, signing off for now. Kan dao ni!