Raise the roof…new chapter coming up! Thanks to K.K for letting me know you like the humor…I haven't received any feedback on my attempts at wit, so thanks for the encouragement Milady. Another thank you goes to the LordofDarkness2099 (muwahaha) for noticing that Will is indeed pissed and for continuing as a faithful reader. Thanks also to Visigoth29527 for catching my spelling and grammatical errors…I appreciate your objectivity sir/ma'am. Also, you have very good insight and that's all I'm going to say about that. Finally to Irma Rokz (WOOT) for her usual presence on the review board: (author bows deeply) all my heartfelt appreciation. Cookies for everyone. HOO-RAH! Now, on with the story chaps…
Chapter 11
Everything was dark and cramped. Dust floated in the air, choking all unfortunate enough to breathe it in. At the moment, three young women coughed and sputtered, waving hands in front of their noses to clear the air. A light gust of wind appeared to blow the dust particles away; unfortunately, in such a small space the wind was largely ineffective. Still, it did serve to clear the air a little; enough for everyone to breathe a little easier anyway. Soon after a small fireball ascended, bathing the cramped area in light. Three pairs of eyes regarded each other nervously. Cornelia was the first to speak.
"Of all the rude…will you just look at my hair?" the beauty queen wailed.
Taranee couldn't help grinning at Cornelia's "distress." She shifted her load to a more comfortable position and checked to see if said load was awake yet. Will slumbered on, and Taranee sighed. The Fire Guardian pressed harder on Will's bleeding head wound, hoping to staunch the flow. The redhead had been struck by a falling rock during their mad scramble to escape the deadly cave-in. Taranee looked to Hay Lin; the Air Guardian had thrown Irma into the space Cornelia's powers had created and then dived on top of her best friend. Now she was sitting next to Irma after having tried to blow away the dust particles, one hand resting protectively on the Water Guardian's hip. Taranee raised an eyebrow and Hay Lin flashed her a thumbs-up. Taranee nodded and looked to Cornelia. The Earth Guardian was raking her fingers through her long blonde hair, no doubt cursing the filth that surrounded her. Taranee hid a laugh behind her hand as Cornelia glared at her. If Cornelia was this worried about her hair, then Taranee figured the rest of her was just fine. She turned her attention back to Will; the bleeding had slowed somewhat. Taranee turned back to Hay Lin.
"How's Irma?"
"Well, she's breathing…that has to count for something I guess," Hay Lin replied. She took hold of Irma's wrist to check for a pulse. "And she has a pulse…barely." Hay Lin's fingers came away sticky with the Water Guardian's blood. Those manacles, Hay Lin raged silently. If I ever get my hands on that evil old hag I'll………I'll………I have absolutely no idea but I'm sure it will be messy. Hay Lin saw Taranee raise her eyebrows; the Air Guardian merely turned her attention back to her unconscious friend. Hay Lin wasn't sure where to start or how to help. She was no doctor, and she was afraid that anything she did might make Irma's condition worse. In fact, Hay Lin had already managed to make things worse for her best friend when she had tossed her into this small space. Hay Lin's intention by covering Irma was to protect her; but she had nearly thrown up when she had heard the cracking of Irma's bones as she threw herself over her friend's broken body. Hay Lin didn't think anyone else had heard it and she was grateful for that…Cornelia would never let her live it down. Still, Hay Lin kicked herself for causing her friend further damage.
Don't worry about it Hay Lin; you meant well.
Hay Lin jumped as Taranee's voice interrupted her self-scolding. Geez, warn a girl would ya?
Sorry...but I really think Irma will understand. No need to beat yourself up.
Cute choice of words there Taranee…
You know what I mean…
Yeah I do…how's Will?
Still unconscious, but I think I finally got the bleeding stopped.
Well that's a bonus. I hope she wakes up soon so we can fold out of here.
Yeah me too.
Taranee cut the telepathic link and looked at Cornelia.
"Say Corny, we might need a Plan B in case Will doesn't wake up any time soon. And ideas?"
"Yeah, how about we stop calling me Corny…and we stop by my hairdresser on our way home."
Hay Lin giggled. Cornelia flexed her fingers and placed her hand against the rocky wall. She closed her eyes and stood still. Hay Lin knew she was listening to……something only she could hear. Presently, the Earth Guardian opened her eyes and sighed.
"Good news and bad news. The Good news is the network of caves is fairly stable as long as Gargoyle's not swinging his big ol' club around. The bad news: We're a good couple of miles underground, under some very thick rock."
"A couple of miles?" Taranee gasped. It sure didn't feel like a couple of miles.
"That's what I said," Cornelia replied. "I could probably dig us out eventually, but it will take me a while…"
"Can't you just tell the rocks to remove themselves or something?" Hay Lin asked.
"As if," Cornelia sniffed. "No, I have to physically move them myself, and with rock this thick and this old…I'm getting tired just thinking about it."
"What if you just dig us back out the way we came in?" Hay Lin suggested.
"Same diff shorty…Gargoyle collapsed everything on his way in. Honestly, it would take the same amount of time either way, and I'd rather not run into Gargoyle or something else just as ugly…so, I think we should dig the other way."
"Well hopefully we won't need it. I'm gonna see if I can contact Will telepathically." Taranee said.
"And I may as well start digging…just in case." Cornelia muttered.
The Earth Guardian stepped over Irma and Hay Lin and spread her arms wide apart. Taking a deep breath, she muttered, "Earth." The wall directly in front of her started to rumble; Cornelia crossed her hands over her chest, her right palm resting on her left shoulder, and her left palm resting on her right shoulder. Then she closed her eyes and bowed her head. She waited like that for several seconds. Then she abruptly brought her head up; her eyes flew open, and her left hand disengaged from her shoulder, her first two fingers pointing at the wall. A loud crack, like a gunshot, sounded and a two-foot hole appeared in the wall. Cornelia cocked her head and glared at her handiwork.
"Well that sucked," she glowered. "I was hoping for a little more than that."
"It's alright Corny, just keep trying; you'll get it." Hay Lin encouraged brightly.
Cornelia was about to scold Hay Lin for calling her Corny, when Will began to stir. All eyes shifted to the Guardian Leader.
"Ooooohhhhhh," Will moaned, her hand going to her head. Groggily, she opened her eyes and blinked.
"Will?" Taranee tried tentatively. "Will, can you hear me?"
"You don't have to yell, I'm right here." Will complained.
Taranee's brows knit in worry; she had spoken softly, yet Will had called it yelling. "Um……what's my name?"
"Lady, if you don't know your own name, how do you expect me to know it?" Will snapped.
"What's the name of your pet?" Taranee tried again.
Will wracked her brain…I should know this she thought. A name popped into her throbbing head. "Vance Michael Justin?" she asked.
"Oh boy," Taranee sighed, "Houston, we have a problem…"
"She has amnesia?" Hay Lin asked.
"Probably more like a concussion," Taranee corrected. "Let's see if she can still use the Heart to fold us outta here."
Taranee leaned closer to Will. "Um, Will? Think you could maybe fold us out of here?"
"Fold? How do you fold a person?" Will wondered.
"No big, I can talk you through it. First you need to pull out the Heart; it's a little pink jewel you always carry with you. Just fold your hands over your heart and think about it really hard."
Will looked at Taranee skeptically, but folded her hands over her heart, nonetheless. Nothing happened.
"What exactly does this little jewel look like?" she asked.
"Well, um….it's pink and…"
Another loud "gunshot" interrupted Taranee's explanation. Will scrambled away from Taranee and cowered by the wall. "Holy son of a…. what was that?!" she screamed.
"It's okay; it's just Cornelia with Plan B. She's trying to dig us out." said Taranee gently. She crawled towards Will to comfort her. Will's eyes grew huge and she extended her right arm towards Taranee.
"Stay Back! I don't who you are or what you want, but I don't want any part of it!"
Taranee stopped and tried not to let the frustration show on her face. "Will, I'm Taranee…your friend. I won't hurt you. I just need you to summon the Heart so we can get out of here."
When Will continued to look frightened, Taranee continued. "Come on Will; part of you knows it's the right thing to do because you didn't question me when I asked you to summon the Heart the first time."
"Look, I don't even know what this Heart-thingy is, so give it up. Meanwhile, Miss Dynamite over there is trying to kill us all with her blasting!" Will screeched.
"She's not trying to ki…" Taranee shook her head and sighed. "Why do I even bother?" She crawled back over to Hay Lin and Cornelia. "Looks like Plan B just became Plan A."
"Terrific," Cornelia muttered, as she cleared away more rock. She had managed to clear away enough space so they could stretch out a bit.
Taranee looked at Hay Lin. "Is this a bad time to tell you I'm afraid of small spaces?" she asked quietly.
Hay Lin just looked at her friend. "So, you're gonna start losing it here in a bit aren't you…"
Taranee nodded slowly. "Yeah, I think I might…" she moaned.
"You can't Taranee…we need you!" Hay Lin hissed. "Um…try thinking of nice wide open spaces, with birds, and clouds and lots of sunshine!"
"It's not working…" Taranee's lower lip started to tremble, her "claustrophobia" starting to set in. She rolled onto her side and clutched her knees to her chest. She began to hyperventilate. "I can't breathe…!"
Hay Lin put her hands on Taranee's shaking shoulders and rolled her over so she could see the Fire Guardian's face. "Ease up Taranee, you're okay. You can breathe just fine, I promise." Hay Lin created a light cool breeze to blow in Taranee's face. "See? Doesn't that remind you of the great outdoors? And look…it's so sunny in here." she said, pointing to Taranee's fireball.
"Just relax and slow your breathing," Hay Lin continued. "Here like this…follow what I do." Hay Lin began taking slow, deep breaths, deliberately exaggerating each one for Taranee's benefit. Gradually, Taranee's breathing slowed, and she seemed to relax a little. Hay Lin smiled at her friend and hugged her. "See? It's okay."
Taranee closed her eyes and shook her head. "We so need to get out of here…"
Just then, Irma stirred and moaned. Hay Lin moved back to Irma's side and took her hand. Irma winced sharply. Hay Lin gasped and took a closer look at her friend's hand. All the fingers were badly twisted and most likely broken. Hay Lin felt rage begin to build, and she fought to suppress it. She had to think clearly now; she had to help Irma and Taranee. Hay Lin gingerly placed her friend's hand back on the ground and placed her own hand gently on Irma's chest, over her heart in what she hoped was a comforting manner.
"Irma?" she whispered.
Irma slowly turned her head towards Hay Lin's voice and gradually opened her left eye. Hay Lin's whole face lit up. She squealed and instinctively grabbed her friend in a hug.
Irma gasped and grunted in pain, but she didn't struggle. Immediately Hay Lin realized what she had done, and gently let her friend go. She eased Irma back to the ground and mumbled an apology. Irma grunted and closed her eye.
"Irma? You still awake?"
"Y-you….t-tell…me…"
Irma's words were slow and slurred. Her swollen lips barely moved, and even with her powers to assist, Hay Lin had to strain to hear her.
Irma inhaled sharply as a spasm seized her body. Her muscles clenched and her back arched painfully. Her breath caught in her throat and she could do naught but gasp between clenched teeth until the spasm passed. When it finally did, Irma collapsed to the ground, shaking and gasping. Hay Lin wanted to comfort Irma, but she was afraid to touch her. Her eyes welled up with tears, and she laid a hand gently on Irma's chest. Irma tried to grin, but didn't quite manage it.
"It's….o-o-okay……….Hay-Hay………"
"Yeah you look it," Hay Lin retorted. "I haven't seen you look this bad since school picture day…"
Irma's slight giggle turned into a violent coughing fit. Hay Lin rolled her onto her side as the Water Guardian coughed up blood. Again on her back, Irma lay breathing shallowly and painfully. Hay Lin placed her hand on Irma's forehead, her brows furrowed with concern.
Another loud bang and Irma's eye shot open.
"It's okay," Hay Lin explained. "It's just Cornelia trying to dig us out of a cave-in."
Irma coughed some more, but gasped out, "I…..th-th-ought…….C-C-Corny….was……g-g-g-get…….ting….a…….b-b-bikini………wax…"
Hay Lin giggled, relieved that her friend was still cracking jokes.
"I heard that Irma Lair," Cornelia retorted. "You watch your tongue girly, or I'll show Martin your naked baby pictures."
Irma winced, though from pain or from Cornelia's threat, Hay Lin couldn't tell. She looked back down at Irma, and cringed inwardly; Irma's face really was a mess. "Are you warm enough?"
Irma nodded as best she could, her eye still closed.
"What can I do?" Hay Lin asked.
Irma shook her head and opened her eye. Hay Lin moved her hand down to Irma's left cheek. Irma turned her face into her best friend's hand. "Y-you're……h-here……………….th-that's……..e…..nough."
Hay Lin smiled sadly at her friend and pushed back Irma's blood-soaked hair. Irma's eye closed and her head dropped a little to the side; Hay Lin knew she was again unconscious. The Air Guardian sprawled out next to her best friend and laid her head on Irma's shoulder. She gazed at her friend, watching for the slightest change. Gradually, she too closed her eyes and fell asleep.
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Taranee crawled back over to where Will was sitting. The redhead was cheerfully making shadow puppets on the wall. Currently, she had formed her hand into the shape of a dog and was barking and growling softly. Taranee sat next to Will and just watched the show. Will turned to look at Taranee, and lowered her hand, a sheepish look on her face.
"So does this mean you're convinced we're not going to hurt you?" Taranee asked.
Will glared a little at Taranee and looked down at the ground. She felt she ought to know this young woman, but she just couldn't recall why or how. In fact, she felt like she should know all of them. She wracked her brain for information, but none came. She looked back at Taranee and sighed.
"Listen…whoever you are…I don't know why, but you seem familiar to me. You don't really seem threatening, but…I'm sorry, I just don't know you."
"Yes you do Will, you know us all," Taranee replied. "You have a concussion that's making things a little fuzzy right now. But we need your help…Irma is badly hurt and needs a hospital; you're the only one who can get her there. Please try to think."
Irma? Who was Irma? Will held her head in her hands and tried to recall. Frustrated, she growled and looked at the ceiling. She blew a stray strand of red hair out of her eyes, only to have it fall right back where it was. "My head is killing me," she muttered.
Taranee looked at Will sympathetically. "I know. You tried to catch a rock with your face a while ago."
Will grimaced…that sounds painful, she thought. "Alright, tell me who you are again…"
"I'm Taranee; over there is Cornelia, Hay Lin and Irma." She pointed to each Guardian in turn. "We're your best friends and fellow Guardians."
"Fellow……what now?"
"Guardians, Will, Guardians," Taranee explained desperately. She really didn't like small spaces. "It's our job to defend Earth and Meridian from the bad guys. You're our leader and we need you to use the Heart of Candracar to teleport us all out of here."
Will's eyes grew bigger and bigger until they positively bulged. "Uh-huh…..and I thought I was the crazy one here…"
Taranee sighed and scrubbed her face with her hands. "Okay, let me start over. We are the Guardians of the Veil and we each have power over a different Element. I'm Fire, Cornelia is Earth, Hay Lin is Air, and Irma is Water. You control absolute energy and shoot lightning bolts. You're also the Keeper of the Heart of Candracar, a powerful little jewel that does………………………….stuff; lots of neat stuff."
Will was staring at Taranee blankly. Taranee groaned and dropped her face into her hand. "You're not following any of this are you?"
"Oh…sure I am. We're all some kind of superheroes who defend someone's veil. There's Kermit, Hay Ho, Corndog…and you're….Tonto?" Will watched Taranee's expression hopefully.
Taranee wanted to cry. She shook her head and gazed at Cornelia's back as the Earth Guardian continued "digging."
Will knew she must have gotten a few things wrong; she cast her eyes back to the ground. After a few minutes, Taranee turned back to Will. "If I try something, you promise you won't freak out?"
"No…"
"Come on Will…I won't hurt you."
"Why do you keep calling me Will? Will is a boy's name."
"Your name is Wilma, but you prefer Will."
"WILMA! What kind of degenerate names their kid WILMA?"
"Calm down Will; I kinda like the name…it gives you character."
"Am I married to Fred? Are my best friends Barney and Betty?"
"No; you're fourteen years-old, you're not married at all. And I already told you, we're your best friends."
Will looked down at her distinctly womanly body. "I don't look fourteen…"
"That's because you're in your Guardian form right now…look it doesn't matter. We need to get out of here before I have another panic attack."
"You're gonna have a panic attack?"
"Look, could we please just try something?"
"Like what?"
"I have the power of telepathy; I can communicate with you mentally. I think I might be able to mentally send you a picture of the Heart of Candracar. If I do that, then will you concentrate on summoning it?"
Will was seriously freaked now. Tonto was about to have a panic attack and she wanted to send some kind of mental E-Mail to Will? What if she tries to suck my brain out?
I'm not going to suck your brain out Will.
Will jumped and screamed. "What was that? Who said that?"
Calm down Will; I said that. It's just me Taranee. I'm talking to you telepathically. You can talk to me in the same way; all you have to do is think about it.
Think about what?
Whatever you want. For instance, what color are your boots?
My boots? They're purple.
Yeah, they are. See how it works? All you have to do is think and I'll hear you.
You're not some kind of psychic pervert are you?
No; now will you just pay attention please?
Alright, alright, I'm all ears…or grey matter…
Mentally, Taranee projected a picture of the Heart of Candracar. She hoped that Will would somehow instinctively understand what to do with it once she saw it. She hoped its presence would somehow jar Will's brain back into place.
Will studied the mental image she had received. The pink jewel seemed somehow familiar, like she should know what it was. Almost unconsciously, she reached up and covered her heart with her hands. She thought about the beautiful jewel and gasped when she felt something hard and warm in her hands. Opening her eyes she brought her hands down into her lap. She was afraid to open her hands and see what was there. She looked nervously at Taranee. The dark-skinned young woman nodded encouragingly and Will opened her hands. A glowing pink jewel floated upwards and hovered in front of Will's eyes. She cocked her head, staring intently at the jewel. Then she grinned goofily and said, "Ooooo, look how pretty…"
Taranee's eyes narrowed. "This is the Heart of Candracar," she explained. "With it, you amplify all our powers. Without the Heart, we're just normal teenage girls."
Will listened to Taranee, then reached out to touch the Heart. As her fingers made contact with the jewel, a shock of pink energy engulfed the Guardian Leader. Will cried out as the Heart's magic coursed through her body. Taranee reached for her friend, but was driven back by the pink energy. After a few seconds, the pink glow released Will and she slumped, unconscious, to the ground. Taranee crawled over and shook the Guardian Leader by the shoulders. Will remained motionless.
Not good, Taranee thought…
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Cornelia had been digging for hours. She didn't feel like she had made any significant progress. The rock was extremely thick, and she could swear it was somehow working against her. Nevertheless, it was gradually bowing to its Mistress…but not very quickly. Cornelia was getting tired; exerting this amount of magic was very taxing. But she knew they had to get Irma to a hospital fast…she might be alive now, but without help, what would she be tomorrow? Taranee wasn't doing so hot either…Cornelia hadn't known she was claustrophobic; or more accurately, just anxious about small spaces. Come to think of it, Taranee was anxious about everything. Now Will had just lost a fight with the Heart of Candracar and who knew what condition she was in; she had been unconscious for hours. Cornelia knew her leader had a concussion, and the Earth Guardian wasn't ready to concede that Will would "be back" anytime soon. So she kept digging, fighting off exhaustion with every new strike of green magic…until she couldn't fight anymore. She collapsed on the ground, panting hard. Her head was spinning and she couldn't tell up from down anymore. She felt light-headed, and woozy. She held her head in her hands and willed the world to stop spinning. When she felt a little better, she crawled over to Hay Lin and Irma. Hay Lin was awake and looking at her with concern. Cornelia grinned and plopped down beside the Air Guardian. Resting her head on her knees, Cornelia sighed.
"I can't do it anymore; I have to rest for a while."
Hay Lin nodded and summoned up a light breeze to cool the sweating Earth Guardian. Cornelia grinned gratefully at the gesture. After a while she pointed at Irma.
"How's she doing?"
"She's been in and out of consciousness most of the time," Hay Lin replied. "She's getting more and more incoherent each time she wakes up. I'm sure she's in a lot of pain, and she's starting to run a fever." Hay Lin placed her hand on Irma's sweltering forehead. Irma squirmed and mumbled incoherently. Hay Lin looked back at Cornelia.
"She needs help quick or we're going to lose her…" she whispered.
Cornelia's normally steely eyes softened as she gazed at Irma. Their fights were legendary and Cornelia often came out on the short end. But she had to admit…she had kind of missed their arguments over the past several days. Things just weren't the same if Cornelia and Irma weren't at each other's throats. She also hated to see Hay Lin, normally cheerful and care-free, so sad and worried. Hay Lin was everyone's sunshine; if they were going to get through this, they needed Sunny to be happy.
"Wake me up in a few hours, okay?" Cornelia requested. "I just need a little sleep and then I'll get back to it."
Hay Lin nodded. Cornelia settled down and was soon asleep. Hay Lin kept up the breeze, trying to add a little comfort to her friends. She couldn't sleep anyway…not anymore. She had managed a few hours, but she was too worried about Taranee, Will and Irma to sleep now. Earlier she had rolled Irma onto her side to check out her back. She had cried at what she had seen. Cruel lash marks, angry burns, myriad bruises, so much blood…………Hay Lin had cried quietly until her tears were spent. She didn't know what to do, how to help. All she could do was try to offer some comfort to her severely injured sister…but it wasn't enough. Irma barely knew what reality was anymore. Hay Lin doubted Irma even knew who she was anymore. She sighed and pushed Irma's hair out of her eyes. At that moment, the Water Guardian's left eye flew open; she stared at Hay Lin in a panic, took a long rattling breath, and closed her eye. She lay still. A little too still…………Hay Lin leaned over her friend's face and waited. Then she screamed…Irma had stopped breathing.
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Alright everyone, that's Chapter 11 for you. I'll try to get 12 up by Monday, but we'll have to see how it goes. Please, please let me know what you think. CHEERS!