Guardians of Elpis
By Sokai and Evilness321
Disclaimer: Never will the series, W.I.T.C.H., ever be claimed to be owned by us - because then we'd just end up in jail and could no longer write for you nice people. However, where the NEW plot, characters (including one new one/'replacement' of sorts)/attacks/anything else that doesn't seem familiar to the original series are concerned, we DO own - so back off. LoL.
Dual Note (from Sokai and Evilness321): Not too bad a start with the renewed attention; we thank you. Enjoy this slightly familiar first chapter.
This story was first created on May 6, 2006, and 'canceled' within mid-2011. It has been revamped November 2011.
Chapter One: Prelude to Destiny, and Mystical Beginnings
She was surrounded by nothingness, clouds blocking her vision entirely. The harder she tried to look out beyond the overcast, the thicker they seemed to become, and when she tried to reach out toward them to touch, she could not.
It had taken her several moments to realize that she was hovering, floating, without anything to support her!
She wasn't falling, nor rising, nor moving in any direction at all. It was almost as though she were trapped by some invisible force. . . .
'Where am I?' she thought with a small, but growing palpitation of her heart, still looking around as the enshrouded surroundings brought on by the thick, unrelenting clouds pressed down on her like an unforgiving, dark blanket.
She didn't want to think about it, wherever this place was, and would could possibly be out there. She didn't even want to be here, period, and wished desperately to be back in her own bed, dreaming of whatever fancied her mind that night.
Something safe.
Something normal.
For this was clearly anything but.
This just had to be a nightmare.
It had to be.
She had to get out here!
Just then, an idea sprung forth into her mind. If she were floating, then perhaps she could 'swim,' or propel her way through the rampant cage of clouds. And so she began to kick out ferociously, but had not even gotten that far within her progress when she suddenly collided, hard, into something.
Something that strangely felt a lot like glass. . . .
Rubbing at the top of her head to help soothe her abrupt onset of pain, she looked up, expecting to finally see something, anything.
Yet, nothing was there, nothing in front of her, nor around her, or behind her.
Feeling increasingly frustrated, she turned and went in another direction . . . only to suddenly be met be another glass, apparently invisible barrier. Groaning out in renewed pain and aggravation, she immediately 'swam' towards the last remaining directions, hoping to at last regain her freedom . . . but was, once again met by the same, impenetrable glass wall.
Positively terrified, she stared wildly about for a few moments more before it suddenly, and horrifically dawn on her. . . .
She was somehow encased within crystal! An enormous, diamond shaped crystal!
Was this to be her fate? A twisted, horrid fate, trapped inside of a crystal, surrounded by swirling, increasingly violent and stormy clouds forever?
"Help me!" she screamed, crying out to her family, friends, anyone who would be able to hear her. To help her get out of this.
Her voice eerily echoed, almost mockingly, back off against the crystal walls that continually trapped her quite efficiently.
"Help!" she tried again, fruitlessly. Her voice sounded quite odd in this unknown place, almost as though it were no longer her own, the more she continued to cry out.
Her desperation and panic mounted greatly.
She was now banging on the crystal walls.
She was alone.
More alone than she'd ever thought she possibly could be in her entire life. And with seemingly no way out, she could no longer properly fathom what precisely to do next, or if it would even matter. . . .
Suddenly, another sound, one not made by her, rang out into the isolated atmosphere, startling her, as she was pressing her hands against the crystal wall in front of her and trying to force her way out.
She looked up. It was beginning to rain, and hard. Surely, she would no doubt drown if she couldn't somehow break free from her mysterious prison!
The clouds were churning faster, darkening even more to an inky black, as though a storm were brewing. She was positively terrified of storms normally, and would have been for this one on the rise, as well . . . yet it seemed different, somehow.
Despite all of the impending danger all around her now, without question, she was suddenly entranced, entranced by this falling storm, almost to the point of near hypnotism for a few moments.
And then, yet another sound quickly reached her ears.
Crack.
Crackle.
Crack, again, rapidly like the sound of something giving way or crumbling, like bubble wrap being popped, or . . . breaking glass.
She immediately backed away, looking up and around her, before then seeing that the crystal walls that so effortlessly encased her were now threatening to shatter, and shower her in a sea of undoubtedly painful shards.
At the same time, a flash of silver caught her attention from within the corner of her eye and slightly behind her, and she whirled around as a bit more of her unyielding surroundings vaguely revealed a bit more of itself to her.
What looked like silvery strips of shiny metal framed the crystal she was trapped within. Her heart hammered against her chest at the sight. Surely, this really wasn't a dream, after all, if she could feel it beating so ferociously in her undeniable terror.
Just then, an unfamiliar, disembodied and lilting female voice calmly, yet imposingly called out to her in the darkness.
"Ellie. . . . Ellie . . . the time has come. . . . Your time . . . is now. . . ."
She did not even have any sort of time to react to the unexpected voice now ringing about the disintegrating atmosphere, or how it, how she, frighteningly knew her name. The sides of the diamond shaped crystal were then starting to rattle, and she knew that sharp gusts of wind was rushing against it.
That, combined with the rain, and the formerly sound, diamond shaped crystal that was now beginning to shatter violently.
There was no doubt in her mind that she would fall now, fall to her doom once the 'floor' also gave way, as well. She reached out in vain, stretching both arms out in front of her in order to try and perhaps somehow grab onto the silvery frame in time before she fell, and. . . .
With a sharp gasp of alarm, twenty-one-year old Janelle "Ellie" Milleret abruptly bolted upright within her bed, chocolate brown eyes wide within shock.
Looking wildly about her shadowed bedroom, with her wavy and disheveled, medium length, dark chocolate and mahogany colored hair lightly whipping at her caramel cheeks, she let out a relieved sigh when she saw that she was still within the safety of her haven, her home.
Despite the natural darkness which nighttime induced, Ellie could still see her familiar pale blue painted walls, with various anime, manga, and other television specific posters hanging against them, in addition to the large, painted ceiling mural she had spent the better part of the last year and a half completing, courtesy of her innate artistic abilities.
Set upon her ivory tinted nightstand, to the right of her queen size bed, was a black radio alarm clock which deplorably read 'twelve AM' within bold, green illumination. Clutching the thick, random frog-printed comforter of her bed with clammy palms, Ellie swallowed hard as she wiped a fresh bead of sweat from off of her forehead.
Inhaling deeply several times in order to calm herself, Ellie glanced out her bedroom window within the slight distance before her, the shades half opened with the royal blue curtains drawn slightly. She could vaguely make out the peaceful sight of rain glowing and shimmering against the neighborhood streetlights and cascading down onto the ground, as she then simultaneously heard a contrasting, commanding wind howl around the house's exterior, which was soon after accompanied by a low rumble of thunder.
. . . . Well, no wonder I had that crazy dream, Ellie mused with a slight shiver, lightly rubbing at her bare, slender arms within comfort before slowly drawing up her knees against her chest. I wouldn't be surprised to hear that I wasn't the only one to experience such discomfort on a night like this. I just hope that the weather will improve later on, in time for my scheduled plans. . . .
Suddenly, as though within response to the continually dazed young woman's pondering, a deafening clamor of renewed thunder reverberated within the night sky, penetrating through the clouds and straight into Ellie's bedroom, giving her the strong impression that the walls would give at any moment.
Despite her best efforts to remain as collected as possible, Ellie could not help herself, as she immediately began to shudder violently as a chilling feeling washed over her, making her mind muddled and her heart absolutely palpitate.
She thoroughly disliked thunderstorms, ever since one evening she was unexpectedly caught within a truly vicious one two years earlier, while on her way home from a friend's get together. She especially detested the way each and every one of them quite normally temporarily crippled her, such as it was within that particular moment.
It was an unfortunate debilitation that she generally did not let anyone know about, nor bear witness to (except perhaps with or around her older sister, Bree, with whom she had always shared a rich and trusting rapport), as her sometimes overbearing pride would have none of it.
It had taken more than just a few moments for Ellie to thoroughly decompress, as she both silently and repeatedly reminded herself that it was only a storm, one which could not harm her, and one which would soon pass.
Taking one final, deep draw of breath, the formerly flustered young woman slowly lowered herself back onto her bed, and pulled her thick comforter all the way up to her ears.
Even though it's over and gone now . . . it still was the strangest dream I can recall ever having, Ellie tiredly thought, reflecting upon the disturbing nightmare one final time as she began to thankfully drift back into sleep. Everything was just so . . . vivid . . . almost like I was really there. And . . . And that haunting voice . . . what did it want from me?
Being an extremely avid animal lover, one would surmise that working at a veterinary clinic would be a true joy; however, unfortunately for Ellie, it had merely added to the stress of what was shaping out to be a rather lousy week.
Fitting her house key into the front door's lock to the two-story, beige colored house that she occupied with her parents, Manny and Jeanne (who were thankfully running errands and so would not be able to bombard her with "What's the matter?" questions that she was not within any mood to respond to), the great agitation flowing from her body like a steady fountain could almost be seen emitting from her, the way she practically shoved the metal device through the keyhole.
God, I can't wait for my extended vacation next week,was the following thought of the lithe, caramel cream skinned, recent, early college graduate as she practically slammed the white colored door blindly behind her and marched straight up the stairs directly before her, which would lead her into the hallway and towards her bedroom.
After a long, rotten (although thankfully now rain free) day of PMS-riddled co-workers, uncouth clients, and restless animals that just would not cooperate, Ellie was very much tempted to simply fall unconscious and call it a day (even though she had plans to go to a concert in a bit) the moment her usually vibrant, now weary chocolate colored orbs rested upon her cushy queen sized bed.
It was sort of funny to her that, even though it had been her old bed that had frequently given her sleeping problems, she still unfortunately found herself unable to slumber so well upon this new one.
Maybe it's not so 'comfy,' after all,Ellie tiredly mused, carelessly plopping herself onto her inviting bedspread, at the same time that she frivolously tossed her car keys and black handbag onto the empty, small lime green egg chair placed within the corner of the room.
Or . . . maybe her renewed and regrettable lack of sleep (which also contributed to her feral irritability for the majority of her day), even on this brand new mattress, had something to do with the superbly bizarre dream she'd had earlier that morning . . . or would it have been more accurate to refer to it as a nightmare?
In either sense, it still didn't make much sense to the extremely analytical young female, the more she'd tried to piece it together.
However, like most of her dreams (whenever Ellie reflected upon them repetitively and the more time that elapsed since having first experienced it), this one had already become increasingly muddled and hard to decipher even further.
"But I guess it's just as well," said Ellie aloud to herself while thoughtfully gazing up at her thankfully finished painted mural upon her ceiling, much as she had earlier that same morning, and indeed, every morning since its completion. "Dreams are just that: Dreams. Nothing more, and nothing less. It was probably just something I'd eaten that caused me to have such a crazy one in the first place. . . ."
She then lazily rolled onto her side, as she closed her tired eyes for an intended moment before carrying on within her single conversation.
"Besides, like anyone would believe me if I told them about it - Especially not Jules. She'd probably laugh heartily within my face, right before having me committed . . . Speaking of Julia, though, I'd better . . . get ready . . . for the concert . . . before she gets mad at me for . . . being late. . . ." Ellie trailed off lightly, as the satisfying and comforting feel of sleep unexpectedly then blanketed her fatigued body and senses. . . .
"Whoa! Looking hot there, Hon! Planning on snagging a few hot guys' attention while we're here? Maybe even of the famous super hotties who will be performing today while you're at it? Doing so, of course, will blow my chances of doing the same, since I look like complete shit by comparison - All thanks to you and your great outfit. . . . But, anyway, I'm actually surprised that you'd managed to throw something that sizzling together so fast, let alone get here before I did, since I live closer, and didn't just get off from work like you had. How did you do it, E?" Ellie heard her caring, very outspoken, straightforward and sometimes sensitive friend, Julia Brunello, say to her direct right, within her usually cheerful, New York accent which was far more thick than her own.
"Huh? Oh, I, uh . . . I don't know, actually . . . I guess . . . I'm just faster than I thought. . . ." she replied within a slight daze, posing more of a question of her own rather than a secure answer.
How had Ellie been able to get ready so fast, and arrive at the concert site before her friend, apparently? The details, as well as answer, continued to be out of her reach, as her mind frantically tried to find both while her eyes at last focused upon her new surroundings.
For it was at that moment that Ellie properly realized that both she and Julia were indeed standing within the very crowded parking lot of the gargantuan Dutch Stadium, where the "Music Fest 12" concert that planned to showcase the extraordinary talents of various music artists of today in just a little while.
Looking down at the rather large rain puddle in which she'd found her favorite pair of beaded, blue thong sandals, Ellie could then see firsthand what her slightly older friend had been generously complementing her over.
Her medium length, raven and dark brown colored tresses were now neatly styled into generous curls, which delicately fell and curved around her smooth visage that currently harbored a light amount of makeup.
Gasping, Ellie flashed herself a stunned gaze at the rest of her appearance. A white, lace bust tank top perfectly hugged the upper half of her slender body, while a sky blue, mirroring white lace stretch skirt, with a decorative crystal heart shaped buckle flattered her bottom half, as well as the overall ensemble.
Despite the continued shock of having such an outfit on (primarily due to the fact that it was one she did not personally own, the last time she'd checked, and only saw it within passing while at the mall earlier that week), Ellie couldn't help but to smile lightly and internally agree with the short, Italian-American brunette standing a bit impatiently beside her: She did look pretty glamorous.
Before the thought could further sink in and undoubtedly make her blush out of embarrassment in the process, Ellie suddenly felt Julia lightly hit her side with her silver handbag.
"Earth to E! You still with us? You can check yourself out more later. Right now, let's just get inside for the pre-show, before the rest of the pack tramples us," she joked, referring to the steady flow of people walking past them and continuing on toward the stadium's entrance, as a small but growing smirk formed upon her tawny hued countenance, looking at the surprised girl next to her.
". . . . Y-Yeah . . . coming. . . ." murmured Ellie, allowing Julia to begin walking ahead of her, suddenly feeling a bit woozy and disoriented as a faint, but growing ringing began to sound within her head.
And then, without warning, the surroundings of the stadium's parking lot and stadium itself melted away as she felt the sensation of being uncontrollably and violently yanked away.
"Ah!" Ellie cried out in shock as her eyes flew open, before blankly staring at her brown closet door within the distance.
Curiously feeling even more wiped out than she had when she'd first arrived home, Ellie slowly sat up and groggily looked about her "new" environment . . . before realizing that she was mysteriously back inside of her bedroom, as though she had never even left for the concert. . . .
"But . . . I couldn't have, could I? I mean, there's no way that I could have gotten there and back again so quickly. . . . And I'm still wearing my work clothes - Not to mention that my hair's also a complete mess . . . So it had to have been a dream . . . right?" she shakily asked herself after looking down at her far less than spectacular apparel and blindly examining her disheveled locks.
It was then that she at last focused upon the same ringing she'd heard within her supposed "dream" as it grew louder and louder, threatening to damage her eardrums. Looking to the right towards her nightstand, Ellie finally realized that it was her cell phone which had been calling out for her in all that time - Or, more specifically and coincidentally, Julia.. . .
"H . . . Hello?" Ellie said hesitantly after answering the phone, well before having raised it to her ear.
"E? Where'd you go? Did I lose you within the crowd or something?" said Julia over the other end, sounding greatly frantic, as well as nettled.
"W-What? 'Lose me within the crowd?' I don't understand," said Ellie, although the sinking feeling of discomfort that was currently beginning to churn within her stomach was letting her know that she might be beginning to . . . in addition to what her friend might possibly say next.
Sure enough, Julia feverishly gushed, "Hello? The concert! You know, you and me, walking inside of the stadium together - At least we were, about two seconds ago, until you vanished on me . . . What gives?"
Feeling her body turn rigid upon hearing this, Ellie immediately dropped the phone to the floor within dismay, suddenly faced within the large possibility that what had just occurred was truly anything but a dream. . . .
- To Be Continued. . . .
(A.N. from Sokai and Evilness321: Annnd, there you have it. The re-posting of the old Eos intro, in terms of Ellie's debut and one of her many powers manifesting, that is. Some things changed here and there, but mostly the same. Really only the very very beginning with that vision/dream she'd experienced was entirely changed.
Next up, the debut of Evilness's character, 'Sandra,' the replacement for 'Gina,' and HER overall debut, as well as powers. We hope you'll all stay tuned!)