Chapter 6: Family Reunion
Hey everyone! It's me, sakuraphoenix, and I'm back with a new chapter! I know, I'm late with the updates? Well, the good news is, I'm going back to the U.S. soon, meaning my vacation in China is almost over! That's the good news, but now it's disclaimer time.
Disclaimer: Keybladeauraofpie and I do not own W.I.T.C.H. We only own our respective OC's.
Enjoy!
It was in the middle of the afternoon, and Rene was on her computer doing some homework when she got a request to video call with someone under the name Reiko Parker. Rene smiled as she accepted the request. A new window opened up, and a Japanese woman smiled as she saw Rene.
"Mom! How are you?" asked Rene
"Rene! It's been a while. I'm sorry I couldn't chat sooner, but I've been busy. Anything new happen in your life?" asked Rene's mother
"Well, we had three new students arrive in Sheffield." Said Rene
"Really?" asked Rene's mother
"Yeah. I can introduce you to two of them right now." Said Rene
"How?" asked Rene's mother
Rene went into the other room and grabbed Naomi and McKenna, the former was dying her hair with pink hair dye, and did not look happy to be pulled away at that particular moment.
"Mom, this is McKenna." Rene said as she motioned one of her hands towards McKenna
"Hey." Said McKenna
"And this is Naomi, pardon the bad dye job." Rene said as she motioned her other hand to Naomi
"Hey! You'd get a bad dye job too if you were pulled away from the middle of working on your hair!" exclaimed Naomi
"Sorry. Just be grateful you're not in the hospital like what happened the other day." Said Rene
"Wait, what happened the other day?" asked Rene's mother
"Remember Stacy?" asked Rene
"The girl with attitude problems?" Rene's mom asked while having a grim face
"Same one. Naomi here, stood up to her for a friend of mine, she got pissed, and in retaliation, she rigged Naomi's locker to spray her smelly perfume on her, and she nearly died." Said Rene
"Yeah, from asphyxiation. I have asthma, and perfume plus asthma equals attack." Said Naomi
"Yikes. I'm glad you're okay." Said Rene's mother
"Yeah, me too. Thankfully Principal Vandom's husband was in the music room when I passed out from all of that fish-reeking perfume. Man, she's got bad taste. I can come up with one hundred air fresheners that smell better than her perfume." Said Naomi
Surprisingly, that got Rene's mother to laugh as the others did.
"So, when will you be coming home?" asked Rene
"Not for a while. I'm really sorry Rene. I'll come home as soon as I can, but, until then, you know." Said Rene's mother
"Yeah, I understand. I have to go; I have some homework to finish. Bye mom." Rene said sadly
"Bye Rene." Said Rene's mom
She hung up on the video call, leaving an air of silence around the three.
"All of a sudden, I feel like my hair is the last thing I want to take care of." Said Naomi
"Is that a good thing?" asked McKenna
"You two can take care of Naomi's hair. I really need to be alone." Said Rene
"Hey, what's wrong?" asked Naomi
"Mom's always overseas working." Said Rene
"What about your dad?" asked McKenna
"He's not around, literally and figuratively. He died while fighting a fire." Said Rene
"He was a firefighter?! Cool." Said Naomi
"Can you two please leave my room?" asked Rene
"Uh, sure. Come on McKenna." Naomi said as she dragged McKenna out of the room
Rene just played around with the locket around her neck, and opened it to reveal a photo of her father as tears began to fill her eyes. She quickly finished her homework before locking her door and crying herself to sleep.
In Meridian…
Cornelia saw the whole thing from her room, and what a coincidence, a portal just opened in the palace courtyard.
"Cornelia? I swear, you're becoming obsessed with the guardians." Said her mother
"Mother, I'm not becoming obsessed. I have an idea that will work this time, and what better way than to get close to the guardian with the Heart of Kandrakar." Said Cornelia
"Cornelia, you must know that…" started her mother
"That the Heart of any world cannot be taken by force. It must be given up willingly. I know that! I'm planning on tricking her into giving it, and I think I'll just make an Altermere." Said Cornelia
"Cornelia, you need something that once belonged to the person, or at least something with their genetic code." Said Cornelia's mother
"Yeah, yeah, I know. Don't worry about it mom. I got this covered." Said Cornelia
After Cornelia got what she needed, she used her magic, and a figure began to form.
The next day in Heatherfield…
It was family day at Sheffield, and Rene looked really bummed that her parents weren't there, but Naomi and McKenna were more bummed, despite Naomi wearing a smile on her face, while Harmony was nowhere to be seen.
"Rene! Naomi! McKenna!" exclaimed Mei-Xing
Mei-Xing was running towards the trio with her mother following her.
"Hey." Said Mei-Xing
"Oh, hey Mei-Xing." Said Rene
"Oh no. I know that look. Your mom or your monthly?" asked Mei-Xing
"Cut it out! It was mom. I video chatted with her last night. She's gonna be overseas for a while." Rene said sadly
"Man. That sucks. Sorry, I didn't know." Said Mei-Xing
"It's cool. Grandma's coming though, so it's not 100 percent bad." Said Rene
"By the way, has anyone seen Harmony?" asked McKenna
"She said she had some resistance stuff to take care of." Said Naomi
"So that's why we didn't see her this morning. I wonder what she could be taking care of." Said McKenna
To answer that question, let's check in Meridian. Harmony was in the palace courtyard, thanks to a portal, and was trying to get some grain for the resistance, when she saw Cornelia doing something. When she finished, a man that looked like Rene's father, but had a crystal necklace around his neck appeared.
"Where am I?" asked the man
"Patience, Aldrin Parker." Said Cornelia
"How do you know my name? Who are you?" asked the man
"All in good time, but I need to ask you for a favor. Your daughter, Rene, had something of value that I need. I need you to retrieve it for me. You don't have a choice in the matter." Cornelia said as the crystal around his neck began to glow
His eyes seemed to become distant while looking like he was aware of what he was doing at the same time. He immediately bowed to Cornelia.
"I will do as you wish, Princess." Said the man
He then noticed Harmony, and threw a rock at the window, causing Harmony to slide down the rope, and into the courtyard where guards were waiting.
"Well, well, well. What do we have here? If it isn't the resistance's second-in-command. It must be faith that you were brought here. Take her to the dungeons!" exclaimed Cornelia
"You're gonna have to catch me first." Said Harmony
Harmony then used a smoke bomb to blind the other guards and made a break for the portal, and successfully made it through while hiding from the Altermere of Rene's father.
"Rene… it's been so long since I last saw you. I'm happy to see you again." Rene's father said as he walked out of the alley towards the school
"That was close, but I gotta warn the girls." Said Harmony
Another portal opened up behind her, and Blunk fell on top of her.
"Blunk, where did you come from?" Harmony asked annoyed
"From swamp. Helping papa and mama find things for trade." Said Blunk
"Listen, the girls are in trouble. I saw Cornelia make a copy of some man who seems to know Rene, meaning she's made an avatar of that guy, who's living, breathing, and has memories to use against her. If Cornelia gets the Heart of Kandrakar, we're all in trouble. Get to their school." Harmony said before bursting out of her hiding spot
"Where Harmony go?" asked Blunk
"To Taranee's house. I want to figure out who that man is before something bad happens. She gave me a spare key in case she wasn't around." Harmony said before she ran down the street.
Before Blunk could move, he had to hide again from Prince Caleb, who just emerged from the portal.
"Looks like the coast is clear, for now. I better help out the girls." Caleb said before putting on a mask that was familiar to Blunk
As Caleb walked out of the alley with his hood on, Blunk made a startling discovery.
"Prince Caleb is Phantom?!" exclaimed Blunk
Back at the school…
Everyone was getting ready for the family day events that were to follow while the guardians were waiting in the parking lot of the school as Mei-Xing's parents and Tina's father were discussing something together while Taranee was with the girls.
"You five have grown as guardians." Said Taranee
"Yeah, so far, but so is Cornelia. Unless we find a way to stop her soon, I'm gonna be fearing the worst." Said Naomi
"Chill, her real crown is safe in my house, under lock and key, so even if she's got the ceremony, she doesn't have the crown." Said Mei-Xing
"Mei-Xing, this is serious. If Cornelia ever found out her crown was a fake, we'd all be in trouble. If the crown doesn't glow, it won't recognize her as the true leader of Meridian, plus if there's no magic in it, her mother will hunt you down like a dog to a piece of meat." Said Taranee
"Thanks for the creepy mental image. So didn't need that first thing in the morning." Said Naomi
"Well, look what we have here." Said a familiar voice
"Don't tell me that's who I think it is." Groaned Naomi
Out of the corner of her eye, Stacy was standing behind them.
"Oy, Sissy, can't you take a hint. You're suspended, and you're not supposed to be on school grounds, so why the hell are you here?" asked Naomi
"It's Stacy! Not Sissy! Where did you get that loser name from?" asked Stacy
"Code Lyoko." Replied Naomi
Stacy had a look of shock while the others began laughing.
"Losers." Said Stacy
"But seriously, back off. You're in this mess because you rigged my locker to spray your cheap kid perfume." Said Naomi
"It's not cheap! It's Chanel!" exclaimed Stacy
"Claire's sells better perfume than your stock." Naomi said with a bored look on her face
That really ticked off Stacy and she marched up to Naomi while grabbing her denim jacket pocket, and pulling it towards herself, and got shocked by the replica Heart of Kandrakar reacting negatively to her. Stacy rubbed the hand she had used to grab her pocket.
"You're gonna wish someday that you never came to this town!" Stacy exclaimed before storming away
"That's it? I thought she was gonna murder me or something." Naomi said jokingly
That caused the group to laugh. As for Harmony, she was searching in an old locked room in Taranee's house where she found a photo of Rene with her mom and dad, and there was another one that looked like a photo from a memorial.
"Aldrin Parker. A loyal friend, father, and hero. No way. This is Rene's father. Then that means… Cornelia's using him to get to the heart. Blunk, I hope you can get to them in time." Harmony said in worry
As for him, he was too busy trailing Caleb in his phantom guise, whom was looking for Harmony to tell her about the Altermere when Blunk lost him.
"Great, Blunk lose prince. What Blunk supposed to do again? Oh right! Find girls." Blunk said he ran through the back alleys to the school
The school day was finally over, and everyone and their parents were heading home, while Rene was cleaning up the school chemistry lab.
"You've grown so much Rene. When was the last time I saw you?" asked a voice familiar to Rene
She turned around and saw her father.
"Dad?" asked Rene
"Yes, it's me." Said her father
"Oh, dad!" Rene exclaimed as she hugged him while crying tears of joy
"There now, please, don't be sad." Rene's father said as he was stroking her hair
With the other girls, they were finishing up cleaning the cafeteria and the stage for the last performance of the night.
"Where's Rene?" asked Taranee
"She said she was cleaning up the chemistry lab. I'll go and check on her." Said Naomi
"We'll come with you." Said Tina
"Thanks you guys." Said Naomi
Everyone, even Taranee began walking towards the chemistry lab, when they heard a scream, and Blunk had a bucket on his head, and crashed into a wall.
"Help! Can't see! Blunk blind!" exclaimed Blunk
Naomi lifted the bucket off his head, and he saw everyone except for Rene.
"Leader girl in trouble! Cornelia send man after her! Look like this!" Blunk exclaimed with a drawing of Rene's father
"That's Aldrin." Taranee said in shock
"You know him?" everyone else asked
"Yes. He was Rene's father. He died years ago fighting a fire." Said Taranee
"Yeah. That fire… was how Rene and I met." Tina said uncomfortably
"Cornelia plan on man take heart from leader girl!" exclaimed Blunk
"Oh no! Not the Heart of Kandrakar!" exclaimed Taranee
"What can we do? We can't leave the school!" exclaimed Mei-Xing
Just then, Naomi's replica heart began pulling her towards Rene.
"What's going on in your pocket?" asked Tina
"Can you keep a secret?" asked Naomi
"Sure!" Tina and Mei-Xing exclaimed in unison
"I've… had this for a while now." Naomi said while revealing her replica heart to the girl
"That looks like the Heart of Kandrakar!" exclaimed Tina
"It's not. It only looks like the Heart." Said Naomi
"Hmm… I have an idea. Naomi, say 'Spord Lartsa'." Said Taranee
"Uh, Spord Lartsa. What's that gonna do?" asked Naomi
Astral Drops of the four girls appeared.
"These are copies of yourselves. All you need to do is say the words I just said, but well, in forwards." Said Taranee
"Thank you so much. Come on, let's save Rene." Tina said as they all ran off
"Except they don't know how to act like yourselves." Taranee said, despite being out of earshot
With Rene…
She and her father were near the portals to Meridian.
"Dad, can I ask you something?" asked Rene
"Of course." Said Rene's father
"How did you die that day? The last day I saw you before today." Said Rene
Rene's father didn't know how to answer the question, and that was when she noticed the crystal around his neck, but reflected in the crystal was Cornelia's face.
"You're not my dad!" exclaimed Rene
"Rene, what are you talking about?" asked Rene's father
"Don't lie to me! My real father died when I was a kid. He'd at least answer a question like that!" exclaimed Rene
Cornelia became furious, and began changing her father's Altermere into a monster. The Altermere gripped his head in pain, and ran into the second portal. Rene closed the first one and ran after him, the same time the girls saw Rene jump into the second portal. They jumped after him, and found themselves in a swamp.
"Guardians, Unite!" exclaimed Rene
Magic surrounded the girls as they began to transform.
"Water!" exclaimed McKenna
"Fire!" exclaimed Tina
"Earth!" exclaimed Naomi
"Air!" exclaimed Mei-Xing
"Quintessence." Said Rene
All five girls just watched as the Altermere of Rene's father turned into some kind of lava monster.
"Don't worry Rene, we got your back." Said McKenna
"No, stay out of this. This is my fight." Said Rene
As the now-lava monster and Rene began to fight, she began to dodge the attacks, but couldn't really do anything herself, until she was tossed into a really wet part of the swamp, giving her the idea to lead the monster to her end. When she finally did, the monster roared before weakly turning back into her father as the crystal was beginning to shatter.
"Dad!" exclaimed Rene
"I'm so sorry I hesitated back there. When I was created, I held back some of my memories so that woman couldn't use me against you. I'm proud of you Rene." Said her father
"Dad… will you please tell me now how you died?" asked Rene
"In a fire. I saved the life of a girl. Her name was Tina Burke. I managed to get her out of the building in time, but I didn't. The entrance collapsed on me. I tried to find another way out, but my oxygen tank ran out, and I started inhaling smoke. Another piece of the house collapsed onto me, and I couldn't move. I died in that burning building, but my last thoughts were about you Rene. I'm proud of my little girl. You've made your father proud." Said Rene's dad
The crystal around his neck shattered, and he disappeared, but not before leaving a part of himself in Rene's locket, which seemed to shine brighter as she touched it before crying.
"Come on, let's go home." Said Tina
They exited the alley, and closed the portal, and quickly headed back to the school, where Taranee was waiting near the doors while Naomi brought out her replica heart.
"Astral Drops." Naomi said as the Astral Drops disappeared back into the replica heart
"How did you do that?" asked Rene
"Long story, now get back inside. My excuse isn't going to work much longer." Taranee said while panicking
They hurried inside, where Mei-Xing's parents and Tina's dad saw them.
"Ah, Tina. Feeling better?" asked her dad
"Uh, yeah." Said Tina
"Same here. Don't worry about us." Said Mei-Xing
Rene then headed off to the flower shop and bought a bouquet of flowers and went to the cemetery. She placed it in front of her father's tombstone, and had a solemn look on her face. As the wind blew, she could've sworn she heard her father's voice saying 'I'm proud of you'. Smiling, Rene went back home, as the light of the setting sun shone on the bouquet of her father's favorite flowers, Japanese Honeysuckles.
Done and done! Whew, this one took me a while, but I'm finally finished! Please review, and until next time, I'm sakuraphoenix, saying I heart you, signing off for now. Kan dao ni!