Okay, I'm going to try to start posting these chapters once a week, preferably Fridays or Saturdays, but I couldn't get this one out of my head and it's all written anyways.
Disclaimer: If I owned W.I.T.C.H., then Elyon would be a heckuva lot smarter in the first season of the show. I mean, seriously. No offense to any Elyon-lovers out there, but it always bugged me how oblivious she was to the fact that her friends-her FRIENDS-were the ones trying to help her and her brother was the one who was trying to kill her. She wouldn't even let them friggin' talk!
Woah. Sorry about that rant, guys.
Anyways, this chapter is a belated New Year's gift.
Enjoy!
On Tuesday afternoon, Will and I were walking dowtown discussing Meridian. I figured I might as well learn what I was dealing with since I was already in on it.
"Okay, so snake man can actually change into a human?" I asked as we passed a tattoo parlor where I could just see a boy with piercings on his nose and ears and lip and God-knows-where-else through the window.
"Yeah. That's how Phobos first got Elyon to trust him. He sent Cedric to Earth to work in a bookstore to find out who she was. We didn't suspect a thing until it was too late..." Will ducked her head.
I put a hand on her shoulder. "Hey, you didn't know. It wasn't your fault. Don't be so hard on yourself."
She looked at the sidewalk ahead of us solemnly. "Our job is to know, Nina." Her voice had taken on a hard edge. "You saw Phobos. And Cedric. You understand what thay can do if we don't do our job right."
"Will, look on the bright side for just a minute, will you? You guys have friggin' powers and can transform into people with wings that actually allow you to fly. It's pretty cool when you think about it." I put a hand on my chest dramatically. "All I am is a lowly artist who can barely last a whole five seconds in fights with her older sister. Give yourself some credit, Couz."
Will looked at me and smiled. "You haven't changed a bit."
"And I don't plan to." I said, grinning back.
She went back to looking ahead of her, a small smile on her lips, until she suddenly stopped cold. Her eyes widened in alarm, and she took a step back.
"Will?" I asked. I followed her gaze to an old, run-down bookstore on the corner.
"Why would he...?" She muttered. She seemed to get over the shock and quickly started running towards the little shop.
"Will, what are you doing?" Iasked, breathless, as I struggled to keep up with her. She stopped outside the door, and I almost collided with her. The sign hanging on the inside of the glass said OPEN.
Will cautiously put a hand on the knob and twisted. She looked like she was trying to disarm a bomb. Inside the shop, it was nice and cozy, but I could see that shelves stretched a lot farther than I thought they would. It seemed bright and happy enough, but Will looked around, as if scanning the room for danger.
A man with dark brown hair and deep cocoa eyes came out from the back of the store. "Welcome! Is there anything you would like help finding?"
Will cocked her head at him, then realized he was asking a question one of us was supposed to be answering. "Oh, uh, no. Just checking this place out. I'm really glad it got opened back up." The look on her face showed that she was anything but. "We were just leaving."
The man looked at me when she said "we", as if noticing me for the first time. He smiled a friendly smile, but I couldn't help but notice that his fists were clenched.
Will cleared her throat. "Right, Nina?"
I smiled at Will sheepishly. "Um, actually, I kind of wanted to look around." Looking back to the man, I asked, "Do you have any of the new Windy City novels?"
He frowned, but only slightly. "I'm afraid I'm not exactly organized at the moment. Feel free to look around, though."
"Thanks." I glanced at Will to see if she was coming with me, then walked between the rows of shelves without waiting for her. Stopping at a random bookcase, I saw that she had. "Why didn't you tell me there was a book store?"
"It was closed last time I checked." She threw a look back over her shoulder to where the man had been, but he must have gone somewhere else. She leaned in closer and whispered, "This was Cedric's bookstore."
I gulped. "Oh."
Will shrugged. "I'm suspicious, but he doesn't look like he could do any damage. Except to Cornelia and Caleb's relationship."
I laughed. I hadn't really realized that the man had actually been a little cute.
"So...how's your dad?" I asked, then bit my lip. I knew it was a touchy subject for Will. The last thing I had ever heard about my uncle was that he and Susan had gotten divorced. And that was a long time ago.
She gently laid a delicate finger on the spine of a book at her eye level. "He's fine, I guess. He's dating a girl named Serena."
I nodded slowly. "And are you okay with that?"
"Yeah. She's pretty and nice. If Dad's happy, I'm happy."
"That's good."
"What about Jackie? Anything going on with her?"
I pulled a novel out at random and studied the cover. "She's in college, and has a really sweet boyfriend. Nothing much has changed since we were twelve."
Will's smile from earlier returned. "You know, I missed my favorite cousin."
"I know. I miss Amanda." Will and I both hated our second cousin Amanda, a typical popular girl with the looks of a supermodel and the brains of a gnat. Will playfully punched me in the shoulder. "Just kidding. I missed you, too."
A few bookcases down...
Cedric shelved the last book on his cart as he listened to the girls' conversation. It was definitely the same girl he had put in the dungeon, as she wore the exact ring that had opened th fold. He walked back out to the main room just as the two came out from their place in the maze of books.
"Did you find anything you like?" He asked them.
The Guardian leader shook her head, while the one with red-tinted blonde hair, Nina, smiled politely and said, "No, but thanks."
They walked out the door together, talking and laughing, as only family would. Cedric watched them with a twinkle in his eyes.
"Interesting..."
An hour later...
Phobos tilted his head to the side as Cedric finished his report. "So, the girl is the Guardian leader's cousin. This information could be of use. For now, just listen for attack plans if you can. And throw Tynar, that traitorous guard, in the dungeon."
Cedric nodded. "Yes, my lord." With that, he left the throne room.
Phobos reclined back in his throne. The image of the girl appeared on the floor. She looked to be with the Guardians, and the rebellion...
In Meridian.
A horn blared somewhere in the distance, signaling that the castle was being attacked. A plan hatched itself in the Prince's mind, and he chuckled darkly.
"Let the games begin, Nina."
Nina's POV
As soon as Will and I got back to her apartment, we saw that her friends were all gathered there in the living room.
"It's about time." Irma said, standing up from her seat on the couch and stretching.
"What are you guys doing here?" Will asked.
Taranee turned off the TV while Caleb leaned forward so his elbows were on his knees. "Tynar's locked up and the rebels and I need your help with a raid."
"Wait, Tynar as in the guy who helped me?" I asked.
Will nodded to me and then looked back to Caleb. "How long will it take? When do we have to leave? Our moms get back from the movies in about three hours."
"The rescue might be a little tricky, but if everything goes right, that and the raid should only take about two hours, tops. And preferably now."
"Right." Will turned to me. "Nina..."
I shook my head. "No. I'm in on this. You didn't turn Matt away, and you're not turning me away, either. I can always flash my way out of there if I have to." I showed her my ring to remind her.
"But-" Will began.
Matt cut her off. "She's right, Will. Besides, I can help her."
Caleb watched our exchange curiously. "She is really good at hitting things with pipes..." he mused. "I could give you a sword."
"Sweet!" I could barely contain my enthuisiasm as I pumped my fist triumphantly like a little kid who just got free cookies. Hay Lin laughed.
Matt stood. "Cool. Let's go, then."
We slid into a dark alley, and Will looked from side to side before whispering, "Guardians, unite." Again I got to witness their transformation. The Heart rose in the air, along with Will, and each of the girls was encircled in a cocoon that corresponded with their elements. They emerged dressed in Guardian getup, and I felt a pang of jealousy that my cousin got to have powers and could fly, but that was quickly replaced by nervousness and excitement that I was getting to see the rebellion of Meridian for the first time and even helping with a raid.
Matt turned into his warrior form, with the mask and dreads. He glanced at Will, and they had some sort of silent conversation before he held a hand out to me. The gesture reminded me of Andrew Hornby a little bit, but I shook the thought out of my head and took his hand.
"I'm going to carry you, because we never know if we'll end up on the ground or in the air."
I wanted to point out that Caleb couln't fly, either, but I saw that Cornelia had already took him by the jacket and they were hovering a few feet in the air.
Will slashed the Heart across the air to open a tear, and she motioned for us to follow her through. Matt grabbed me under my arms and rose into the air, me closing my eyes out of instinct as we entered the blue brightness of the portal.
We emerged about a yard off the ground in some kind of forest. Matt lowered me to the leaf-covered dirt and landed beside me. Caleb, who had begun talking to the men in the group that was there, jabbed a thumb at me. One of them stepped towards me with a sword in his hand. "For you." He said.
"Thanks," I said, taking it from him. It was a little heavier than I expected, but after a few minutes, my arms adjusted to the weight. It was made of some kind of steel with a simple, copper-plated hilt. Holding a sharp weapon of death, I felt powerful.
Caleb turned back to the Guardians, Matt, and I. "Okay, here's the plan."
Fifteen minutes later...
Matt, Will, and I crouched behind a pile of barrels just outside the castle gates. Everyone else prepared to jump out and ambush the next guards that came out. Once the guards were taken down, their keys to the castle would be stolen and the rebels would sneak to the storage rooms, a few at a time, and steal supplies. I hadn't really listened to the part about getting the supplies out, because I wasn't participating in that section. The Guardians, Matt, and I were rescuing Tynar once all the attention was on the rebellion.
Two guards strolled out lazily, both huge and super-ugly. Across the path, I saw Caleb in the bushes signaling for the attack. Rebels swarmed out and overcame the surprised guards. Someone unhooked one of the guards' key rings from their belt. The first part had been over with in under a minute, and I sighed in relief. Maybe this wasn't going to be so hard.
The rebels broke into groups that went into the castle one at at a time. Screams and shouts came from the guards inside, and a horn blared in the distance, probably to alert the rest of the castle that we were attacking.
I heard Will mutter a curse under her breath. "That's not supposed to happen." She whispered. I peeked back around the barrels again and saw that the last group of rebels was entering the castle.
Matt poked Will in the side. "Come on. It's now or never."
Will nodded. She looked up to the trees lining the path and gestured for the other Guardians to come out.
Matt took me under the arms again, and we flew to a different entrance, this one much closer to the ground and resembling a sewer. Bars protected it, but with Taranee's fire, we got through that barrier in a matter of seconds. Matt and I went in after Will, and the rest followed behind us.
The small, cramped tunnel led to a roughly-stoned, dimly-lit hallway - which I immediately recognized as the dungeon. Will turned to us. "Okay. Irma, Hay Lin, and Taranee, you go to the left. Cornelia, Nina, Matt, and I will go to the right. We meet back here in thirty minutes, and if we have Tynar, then great, but if we don't, then we'll just have to find another way." Everyone nodded and followed her directions.
It took about five minutes for us to find the cells on our side, and we freed numerous rebels before we found Tynar. He was sitting slumped in the corner of his cell, leaning against the earthy wall and rocking back and forth slowly. His face was hidden from us.
I knew something wasn't right. Tynar didn't seem like the cower-in-the-corner type, no matter where he was.
Cornelia used her power over earth to open the door. Will walked towards him slowly.
"Will..." I said uneasily. Fear clutched my stomach like a giant fist - squeezing until I felt actual pain. "Will, I don't think..."
Will touched Tynar's shoulder. "Tynar?"
The body stopped rocking, and the head twisted to face her slowly, like in those horror movies when the little kid suddenly looks at their parents and-
The face, not Tynar's, morphed into something that would haunt my nightmares for many weeks to come, and screamed at Will. She stumbled backwards, holding her ears. Cornelia and I covered our ears as well against the shrieking, and Matt, acting on instinct, sent laser beams at the figure. It dissipated into black smoke that formed a new profile. This one was more human, shrinking until it was still a tall male, but with flowing robes and hair. The smoke curled away until none other than Phobos stood before us, smirking.
"Hello, Guardians, friend, and cousin."
Dun Dun Dunn...
No matter HOW hard I tried to focus on other things, I just could NOT get this chapter out of my head, so naturally I just had to write it. I promise that more action will come next chapter!
Hope you liked it and don't forget to review or follow or even favorite if you want :)