Disclaimer: I do not own W.I.T.C.H.
Chapter 10: The Final Battle
"Ready?" Queen Elyon Brown asked Phobos concerned. She didn't know if he even heard her enter his chambers. He looked as if he held up the entire world upon his thin shoulders. Maybe they were all asking too much of him.
He looked up her and smiled. "Yes Dearest," he said, his eyes betraying his intense thoughts. The smile did not fool her for one minute.
"You have been acting kind of weird," Queen Elyon admitted taking the chair beside him. "Can you face him? Because if you cannot, I will do so alone."
"I am not afraid of him anymore," he replied resting his hand over hers. "Being introduced to such evil and knowing that I was its source crippled me for a time, but I am stronger now."
"He is the source," Queen Elyon declared, "not you."
"We are one in the same Sister."
"You are nothing like him!"
"Except for the fact that we have the same DNA," Phobos pointed out gently. "And we share the worse fashion sense this side of the veil, or so Irma warns me." He smiled causing her to smile.
"Lets go."
Phobos used the staff to reverse the girls' transformation. They fell from the skies. Cornelia Hale's telekinesis and Hay Lin's mastery of air brought them all safely to the ground.
"Water!" Irma Lair called firing a blast of water from her extended palms at Phobos. Taranee Cook put her hand on Irma's shoulder; the water became scolding hot as it hit its target.
Cornelia used her telekinesis to pick up discarded weapons to use against him. Hay Lin used her air powers to enhance Cornelia's abilities.
Hay Lin tried not to think about Matt Olsen, who was glaringly missing. He was supposed to be firing arrows at enemies at her back. Lei Lin was also missing. Fate would not be so cruel to take away four people she loved in the same day.
"Concentrate!" Cornelia commanded as some of the weapons went off course, almost beheading Irma and Taranee, who had the good sense to duck.
"I'm trying!"
"Try harder!"
"Right."
"Protect the Guardians!" Aldarn commanded as he in the Meridian Royal Guard fought their way through Phobos's henchmen toward the girls. The girls were in trouble. He had witnessed Phobos use the staff to undo their Guardian forms. They were at half strength and now at Phobos's mercy.
Aldarn and his men could not get to them. Phobos's enchanted army was mighty indeed. He hooted in joy when the rest of the Meridian Royal Guard rode on the scene. He renewed his efforts in trying to reach the Guardians.
"I tire of this ridiculous battle," Phobos said, sighing.
"Why?" He growled when he heard the enchanting voice of his nightmares. Where is she? he thought angrily. "For the battle is only just beginning, Brother." His face distorted into a look of disgusted displeasure as Elyon and his cowardly other half materialized on the scene. They stood between him and the guardians.
The two tried to look menacingly at him, but it only served for his amusement. The mystical arts were wasted on two so pure. All of that power should be his. He would use it to make the universe his very own personal chest board.
Young Will Vandom allowed Blunk to give her a tour of the castle. Not so much that she actually cared the castle existed but to extract information from him about the Will Vandom that seemed to have so many fans. Being Blunk, he was totally oblivious to read between the lines of her questions.
"Blunk glad you home," he said, as they entered the library. "We missed you."
"Did the other me not come and visit at all?" Will asked curiously.
"Not enough," he said in a condemning tone that sounded suspiciously like another Cornelia rebuff.
"Why was Caleb so mean in there?" she asked. "Why didn't he want me to head into battle with the other guardians?"
"Caleb loves Will," he said solemnly.
"Why?" she asked perplexed.
"Why not?" he asked curiously.
"Because stuff like that only happens in the twilight zone," Will replied. Blunk, who adored Twilight Zone, looked at her blankly. "Never mind." The future was weird indeed.
They finally made it to the old bridge. "Here," Will commanded. She was hitching a ride on Lei's back. Matt Olsen stood close by his side. They looked down over the edge of the bridge were the railing was broken. It had to be where Will had fallen.
"Any suggestions?" Lei Lin asked no one in particular.
"I would suggest us jumping over the edge and praying that the portal opens," Matt muttered. "If I wasn't afraid of heights and pretty much a shoe in for drowning."
"Maybe I can get the Heart to open another red portal," Will said trying to summon up some energy to move. "I don't know how the portal was opened but maybe it does."
"Can you stand on your own?" Lei Lin asked her gently.
"No," she replied honestly. She took the Heart from around her neck, and held if out over his shoulder, with her right hand. "Please work."
The Heart started to glow dimly. Will found herself slipping out of Lei's grasp as she turned into a pink orb of light. Lei soon changed into a brown light and Matt turned into a blue one. "Uh-oh."
"What the hell?" the brown light, Lei, muttered.
"This is new," the blue orb, Matt, declared.
The heart levitated in the air, near the three orbs. It absorbed the mystified three and soon it too, disappeared.
Young Will and Blunk noticed the Heart glowing a vibrant pink. She took it from around her neck and held it out. Three small orbs of light, escaped from it. "What in the world is going on?" Will whispered, more than a little freaked out.
"Hello Will," the pink orb of light said.
"Uh, hi."
"I need your help."
"And you would be?" Will asked blankly.
"You," Will's eyes widened in disbelief, "and I really need your assistance."
"I'd say," the brown and blue orbs muttered.
"Okay," Will replied slowly.
The Meridian Guard were effectively destroying Phobos's army. The excitement of victory was short lived, because the fact became apparent that each time one of the enemy fell, the energy from the creature returned back to the staff.
This fact was not helping Queen Elyon, Bos, and the girls who were using their combined energy to stave off an energy attack from the evil Phobos. As the power of the staff grew, the forces of good were slowly being overpowered.
Since Irma, Taranee, Cornelia, and Hay Lin were not in Guardian form, they were soon thrown backwards out of the fray, their energy overwhelmed.
Phobos decided that it was the perfect time to get rid of them for good. He guided Irma and Cornelia toward the Meridian Lake of Lava. He guided Hay Lin toward jagged edges of rock and Taranee toward the Meridian Lake.
A large portal opened up above the scene. Hay Lin, Irma, and Cornelia screamed in horror, inches from being killed. Taranee was trying desperately to break Phobos's hold on her. "Guardians Unite!" Caleb looked up, his eyes narrowing in anger as he saw her. At Will, the Guardian of Energy's, command the girls changed back into their Guardian forms, just before meeting really horrible endings.
Their wings flapped frantically as they rose in the air. "Will!" The Guardians flew to her side.
Great, Phobos thought bitterly.
"I thought we told you to stay at the castle," Irma declared smirking.
"Thanks for the save," Hay Lin said happily.
"What's with the lights?" Cornelia asked. A pink glow surrounded Will and two orbs one blue and the other brown orbited around her.
"You must destroy the staff!" This command came from the blue orb, which flew over to circle the other guardians.
"Did that orb just speak to us?" Taranee said surprised.
"Matt," Hay Lin said her eyes narrowed.
"Yeah that is Matt and I am Lei," the brown orb said. "Hello and good afternoon. You must destroy the staff if you want to see the Will from our time alive."
"What?" The Guardians said together in shock.
"Destroy the staff or she dies," Lei commanded.
"Destroy the staff, save the Will," Will said quickly. "Are you guys with me?" The Guardians nodded. "Matt! Lei! Give Caleb the run down before he charges forward and tries to drag me back to the castle."
"We'll do," Lei replied. As the Guardians flew toward Phobos, they scanned the battlefield for Caleb. "There he is!" The brown orb hurried toward Caleb with the blue one following him.
"You did not tell them that destroying the staff will destroy Phobos," Matt said.
"They'll thank me later," Lei replied. "Besides you didn't either."
The Guardians landed beside Elyon and Bos. "I thought I commanded you to stay at the castle," Queen Elyon said, her concentration focused on stopping Phobos's attack.
"What can I say," Will replied shrugging. "I am a rebel." She turned her attention to their enemy and yelled, "Ready for Round Two?"
"Why will you not die?" he muttered in anger.
"Us Will Vandoms are like roaches," Will replied, forming a ball of energy in her hands. "We keep coming back for the simple pleasure of making your life Hell, Queen Phobos." She raised her hands high in the air, pink energy glowing around them. "Lightning!"
Why you, Phobos thought in anger, as she unleashed her massive attack. It mingled with the energy of Queen Elyon and Bos's. The other Guardians called on their elements and lent their energy to his most hated enemies.
The wave of powerful pure energy overpowered Phobos, striking him with enough force to knock him off his feet. The guardians' cheered.
"Is it just me or are we stronger?" Irma asked, smiling in triumphant.
"Two Hearts are better than one," Will replied all smiles. "We are stronger. Thanks to her . . . me or whatever."
"Two Hearts?" The Queen, her brother, and the other Guardians exclaimed.
"Yep," Will replied seriously. "We won't defeat him until we separate him from that dumb staff. Cornelia, Hay Lin I am counting on you to do that."
"Lets end this battle Cornelia," Hay Lin said smiling. Both guardians rose in the air. "We cannot let him suspect us."
"We can cover ourselves by helping the Meridian Guard fight those ugly green henchmen," Cornelia quietly suggested.
Phobos got to his feet, his normally pale face, burning in either anger or embarrassment. "None of you will leave this battlefield alive," he said icily.
"You messed with the wrong girl!" Will yelled, with eyes narrowed, her hands started to channel more pink energy. "Let's take him down!"
Phobos smirked evilly. Did they not realize that, by standing together they were making it easier for him to destroy them? He briefly searched the area for the Earth and Air Guardians. They were helping the Meridian Army. His eyes turned white as he powered up. All that he wanted was within his grasp. He just needed a little more patience.
Unbeknownst to him, Cornelia and Hay Lin were plotting his demise. Under Hay Lin's command, the air around him started to dissipate. Vines deep underground, under where Phobos stood, were posed to grab the staff at the moment he started to show weakness.
The brown orb started to circle Cornelia. "Sorry that I am late."
"And as a ball of light no less," she replied using her telekinesis to pull two of the green henchmen off of a Meridian soldier.
"He used Matt and I as instruments to assassinate Will," he revealed, his angry evident in his tone. "If we do not destroy that staff, she will die and it will be my fault."
"Don't worry Lin," Cornelia replied. "I am working on it." She smirked evilly. "You know, I think you look better as a ball of light."
"Funny," he muttered in a bored tone.
"Where is Will?"
"She is the light surrounding her younger half," he replied. "I do not know how long she will be able to hold that form before . . . ."
"Please do not say it," Cornelia commanded. "We'll destroy that staff long before that happens."
"I am so sorry Caleb," Matt muttered again.
"Stop saying that," Caleb commanded. "The Guardians will save her." They have to.
"We do not have much time," Matt declared. "She's really sick."
Caleb parried an attack with his sword from an enemy, sending the creature into a spin. He bent and swept-kicked the creature's legs out from under it. It landed on its head; Caleb punctured the creature's abdomen with his sword. It turned to a black mist that floated toward the staff. "Have faith in the girls," he muttered. He rushed to his father's aid, who was surrounded by the enemy.
"Abandon him. He is the enemy. He does not deserve our gift of life." The air slowly fled further away from Phobos.
Phobos was having a war of energy against Elyon, Elyon's abomination of a brother, and the Guardians of Energy, Fire, and Water.
He did not notice the air had thinned around him, until it was gone. Revenge was swift, as a bolt of lightning descended from the skies and struck Hay Lin. "Hay Lin!" Her friends, family, and loved ones called as she fell from the sky.
Caleb rushed toward her, as she fell, his father and Aldarn covering his flank. He caught her, before she could crash to the ground. "Hay Lin," he whispered.
Matt orbited them worried. "Is she okay?" Their relationship had just really started. She became his best friend and closes confident when Will dumped him. She was right there when he decided to train to be an archer after he lost the ability to turn to Shagon. She decided to learn archery too, and he did know which one of them was worse at it at first. Love came much later. "Please tell me she'll be okay."
"I don't know," Caleb answered quietly. "I don't know."
Cornelia's arm rose, her blue eyes snapping with anger. The vines pierced through the ground, one snaking its way around Phobos, coiling around his body, and stopping in a vice like grip around his neck. The other vine coiled around the staff, and started yanking downward.
Phobos, already short of breath, gasped for air, only making the vine tighten its hold on him. He tried to hold on to the staff, breath, and continue his onslaught against the forces of good. Cornelia balled her hand into a tight fist; the vines tightened their holds.
Queen Elyon, Bos, and three very pissed Guardians energy levels became more powerful as their mounting hatred and fear over Hay Lin grew.
Phobos's hands released the staff for only a moment, but that was all it took for the forces of good to overpower him. Their energy blast seared off his clothes and his skin. His feet left the ground. He landed on his stomach with a thud.
Queen Elyon used her magic to dissipate the energy ball.
As his sister and the Guardians rushed to Hay Lin, Bos approached his evil half. He was visibly shaking, for this was his greatest fear. This moment was his nightmare. As his feet brought him closer to the grounded figure, he held out his right hand for the staff.
The vine that separated Phobos from the staff had not been able to hold on to it, as it descended back into the ground. The staff had fallen on the ground a few inches away from what was left of Phobos.
As Will flew toward Hay Lin, behind the other guardians, she started to fill lightheaded. "What's happening?"
"I cannot hold on anymore," her older self said telepathically to her. "Tell the others that I love them and that I am very sorry."
At Bos's silent command, the staff levitated off the ground and then hurried to his outstretched hand. He gracefully caught it.
"But we beat him," Will said her eyes filling with tears. "I won't let it end this way." She made a u-turn in the air and hurried back toward Phobos and the staff. She saw the staff fly through the air toward Phobos "The Good." When his hands touched the staff, the two Wills separated, both falling from the sky and landing hard on the sandy ground.
Caleb, who had moved aside to let Cornelia try to heal Hay Lin, saw them separate and rushed toward them, dodging some of Phobos's men to get to her side. For some reason the creatures had stopped attacking and was standing around looking lost.
The monster of Bos's nightmares' head snapped up, to glare at him. Bos found him even more menacing, because of the burnt flesh. His attire, hair, and skin were gone. His eyes still shone a vibrant blue evil. "Give that back," he commanded rising to his haunches.
"I-I cannot," Bos replied. "I-I shall destroy it." he cringed at the fear that was evident in his tone.
Will finally got a chance to see her older self. Neither girl was in their Guardian form anymore. They lay only a few feet away from each other. She had on a dress that Will didn't think she would be caught dead in. She had long red hair. I look like my Mom. Funny, I never noticed it before. Will thought her mom the most beautiful person she had ever seen. "Please get up." She reached out her hand and grabbed the cold limp hand of the young woman she would grow up to be. "Please don't die." Tears fell down her cheeks.
Caleb suddenly appeared, dropping to his knees, and wrapped the fallen Will in his arms. "Not you too," he whispered.
"I will not ask you again," Phobos replied. "Bring it to me."
"My sister and the Guardians should have destroyed you long ago," Bos said softly. "You do not deserve life and I shall take it away."
"You are a ridiculous coward," Phobos declared, baring his teeth in a wicked grin. "You do not have the nerve. Now return that staff to me or face my wrath."
"Big brothers are supposed to protect their little sisters," Bos said his voice gaining strength with his confidence. "You are the coward!" He pointed at Phobos with the staff. This part was not a part of his nightmare. The nightmare that always ended with him meekly walking over and giving the staff back to Phobos. In his mounting anger he deviated from the dream, surprising both him and Phobos.
"Give me back my staff!" Phobos ranted.
Will released the hand of her older self, determined to make her body move so she could drop that evil staff in the lake of fire where it belonged. This is not over yet. She glanced over at Caleb and then got to her feet.
"Malin, our pact is undone," Bos started. I can do this. I must do this.
"Be quiet!" The shout caught Will's attention. She could not hear the words from the Phobos that was on their side, but they were obviously upsetting Evil Phobos. "Don't you say another word!" He shouted, sounding almost crazed.
"Be quiet!" Phobos yelled.
"I do not accept your terms," Bos said. "Do with me what you will."
"Do not say another word!" Phobos shouted trying to get to his feet, even though every single part of him ached.
"I release you," Bos whispered. The staff turned to dust in his hands. "It is done."
"You fool!" Phobos screeched.
"Takes one to know one," Bos whispered. They both started to fade away along with what was left of the soldiers. "This fool . . . this coward . . . has the last laugh."
"We're both dust," Phobos muttered. "Neither one of us has the last laugh you cowardly idiot."
"Then all is right in this world," was Bos's final words as they both faded away. Where he once stood, a white rose lay on the ground. Where Phobos once was, a black rose lay in the sand.
A/N: This chapter will probably be confusing with all the jumping around that occurred in it. I have to give this spoiler because things look so bleak. There is only one character that will die and it is not one of the current Guardians. If you are wondering where the other guardians are, Cornelia and Elyon are trying to heal Hay Lin. It isn't working and Irma and Taranee are lending their energy hoping to elevate Cornelia and Elyon's healing powers.