The Alchemist and the Altamere

by T. R. Myers

Based on the comic book. Posting here as there is no readership there. Partial rewrite. Will disappears for two months that she can't remember, an enemy reveals her secret to her mother, and to top it all off, the new villian in her life...is her. Can Will come to terms with the idea that her secret is revealed and she may not even be the real Will? The universe depends on it.

4. Evidence

Hay Lin listened to the sounds of the gentle rain upon the grass field of the city park, and she heard the distant sounds of people through the centuries; a man proposing to a woman on another rainy day so many years, a homeless man living his life trying to stay dry on days like this, a man who felt lost and alone after the death of his wife, this park having been her favorite place. All these things Hay Lin heard as the rain splashed against the pavement, for the power of the wind gave her the power to hear all of the secrets hidden in things whenever they made a sound.

From the fountain, she heard the sounds of children playing, oblivious to the rain that threatened to cause cold. They danced on the edge of the fountain, chased each other around it. Everything Hay Lin heard happened some time ago, perhaps even years ago, but she heard it as if it was happening now. Now, as Hay Lin walked to the edge of the park, the sound of footfall could be heard upon the pavement leading into the police and heard a cacophony through the years. It would be tough to filter through.

She had to learn to ignore the sounds of the many convicts, robbers, shoplifters, peace disturbers, the rightly and wrongly accused, and the police, both good and corrupt. For a fleeting moment, she heard Taranee's outrage at her unjust arrest. She heard Mr. Lair standing on the steps and taking his oath when he was first accepted into the force. Then, she heard what she was hoping to hear.

"Jorge, seriously, man, all I remember was an explosion." That was the voice of Detective Stevens, and it wasn't in the past. It was happening now, and his voice brought another explosion of memories that Hay Lin sifted through and ultimately dismissed.

"Good, one," said Alvarez. "An explosion, a gas explosion, and half the people in the room disappear without a trace. I smell BS. We're going to see how this went down."

With that, Hay Lin turned invisible and followed the two detectives into the station. If you've ever been invisible, then you know that walking around a crowded room is a bit like a game of Operation. The game requires one to remove game pieces from the game board, a cartoon man with red nose. You must do this without touching the edges of the hole the piece is in, otherwise, you risk lighting up the nose, waking up the patient. Hay Lin was following detectives Stevens and Alvarez trying to avoid brushing up against anyone else. It could lead to some uncomfortable questions, or possibly a panic. She thought she had been made when she accidently bumped into a handcuffed man. He made a commotion, but fortunately, the police thought he was simply acting up.

"I'm telling you guys, this place is haunted. You can't keep me here!" he shouted.

"Quit your whining, Moose," said one of the officers leading him off. "We'll put you in a nice, ghost free room."

Hay Lin managed to slip into an office behind Alvarez and Stevens. Alvarez pulled out an SD card and inserted it into a computer tower. "Alright, now let's see what really happened." He plugged in what looked like a tape recorder, but there was no compartment for a cassette. "Make an external file for the records." He clicked on a program that Hay Lin couldn't identify, "And copy file to the hard drive. Let's see what we've got."

The file played. It was clear from the screen that the camera was under Alvarez's collar. There was a clear shot of everyone's face each time Alvarez greeted someone. After that, the camera rarely left Will or the rest of them. When Davira confessed her role in Will's disappearance and attacked, the screen went blue with an error message that said "File Corrupted."

Hay Lin breathed a sigh of relief. All of the magic flying around the room must have interfered with the device. The video did cause another problem, though. It was clear that the physical evidence supported Alvarez's version of events...and Alvarez remembered everything, which meant, sooner or later, Jorge Alvarez was going to want to speak with Irma, Hay Lin, and Taranee, and probably sooner than later. The last thing the Guardians needed was another government investigation digging into their lives.

"Why do we always have to do this?" said Irma, later that day at Golden's. "Is it so much to ask that we can be the saviors of the universe and just keep everyone at home blissfully unaware?"

"He that knows nothing learns all too easily," said Hay Lin.

"So sayeth, Hay Lin, the Amazing Human Fortune Cookie."

Taranee stirred her shake thoughtfully. It obviously hadn't occurred to Irma that Alvarez not only witnessed their pitched battle with Davira, but also saw all five girls using their powers to resist Davira. The only thing they had going for them was the fact that Davira obviously started it. "Hay Lin's right. To humans, magic isn't real. People here know nothing about it. If they see something they can't deny, or explain, they're going to notice."

Irma said, "So? Alvarez is the only one who remembers. We can convince him he's overreacting."

"Except," said Hay Lin, "you already tried to wipe the incident from their memories, and you succeeded with Stevens. Stevens only remembers a gas explosion, and the video shows much more. So Stevens knows that his memory is faulty and that Alvarez has clearer perception. Plus, you told Stevens exactly what he remembered. Alvarez knows we're lying."

There was a soft thud as Irma's forehead hit the tabletop. "Why can't anything ever be easy?"

Taranee said, "Irma, we have to deal with this."

"Don't you get it? This is my last year at Sheffield. You're the only one that has another year ahead of her. Hay Lin, Will, Cornelia and," Irma indicated herself with a flourish; "yours truly start college in four months. We don't need this. We are constantly exhausted. We are constantly ducking our families, or Interpol, or British Intelligence, or the CIA. You know what I think? Will's mom knows about us now. She has to. This would be a whole lot easier if W. I. T. C. H. came out of the broom closet, once and for all."

"The Oracle would never let that happen."

Hay Lin said, "Maybe it's us. Maybe we just don't hide as well as the past Guardians."

"I'll tell you what it is. You can't fart in public without it being caught on camera. YouTube, LiveWire, DailyMotion, and enemies crawling out of the woodwork, now attacking us in front of Heatherfield's finest. It's an impossible combination. There's no way to hide in this environment. So my suggestion is that we give up trying." Irma crossed her arms and sat back. "It'll make life a whole lot less complicated."

Taranee said, "And suppose someone decides to capture and study us?"

"Ha! I'd like to see them try! Besides, we're the good guys. If we came out and someone pulled a stunt like that, what do you think would happen? We're superheroes! Save a falling plane and some babies from some burning buildings, anybody would have to be nuts to touch us. You know, do the whole Superman routine."

Hay Lin said, "You know, Taranee, Irma may have a point. Everyone's always had the courtesy to attack out of sight before. What if our enemies are starting to realize that that's our weakness? Irma's idea may be our only way to get rid of that weakness."

Irma said, "It was just a thought. I mean, we can't just come out and say and demonstrate a few tricks. What would people think?"

Taranee said, "Don't you guys realize? There's a reason we're a secret. If everyone on Earth learns about Kandrakar and the Infinite Realms, that is something that will definitely upset the balance they are trying to observe, especially once they have absolute confirmation that it is possible to travel between worlds and alternate realities."

"Okay, but I don't know how long we can keep it up. I'm telling you, the time is coming when we are going to be on the front page of Newsweek, wings and all, whether we want to be or not, and you know Cornelia will have a fit when she sees those blurry pictures they take of her trying to prove she's not a UFO. Any picture that makes her look bad is unacceptable."

"Maybe you're right, but I still don't think we should just come out and reveal ourselves."

"Nah. Let's wait 'til we're evacuating an earthquake zone."

While three Guardians are telling jokes over milkshakes, an entire city watches the situation unfold, its mood grave. In the center of the universe, in a place where there is no time, a fortress that both exists and doesn't exist houses a council that is bound not to act, even when the universe is in its greatest peril.

Here, the Oracle watches events unfold. He sees three Guardians losing faith in their abilities. Perhaps Irma is right, or perhaps she is wrong. The situation would be dealt with if it arose. What concerned the Oracle more deeply, was the Keeper of the Heart. She faced a task that could destroy the mightiest of warriors. Juggernaut was the least of her concerns. In her future was sorrow and suffering unlike any she had ever known. For she did not realized that the Heart of Kandrakar and the Star of Cassidy were no longer one, thus she could not know what that portended, and she could not foresee the crushing sorrow that awaited her. What awaited her was knowledge of such a nature that knowing could destroy her, and through her, the Guardians. It is true, the Oracle could help her, but now he wept, for it was not his place to do so, and it seemed impossible for any to overcome what she now rushed to meet.

For now, Will believed her greatest concerns were the Juggernaut and Wisp. It became immediately apparent that the combined powers of Will, Cornelia, and Orube were useless against the Juggernaut or Wisp. Juggernaut ripped apart the sewer walls, coming ever closer to the hidden village. Men had come to help, but Will warned them off.

"Will, he's just shrugging off our attacks," said Cornelia. She leapt out of the way of a flying boulder just in time.

Orube jumped from the ceiling and struck the monster with her sword. "Worse, he seems to be feeding on our attacks."

Will has having no better luck with Wisp. She had been struck twice by his electrical blasts, nearly paralyzing her with pain. Wisp, on the other hand, seemed to like it when Will's blasts hit him. Now, Cornelia pushed Will out of the way just in time to save her from another electrical blast. Seeing Juggernaut bearing down on them, she fired a charge into him, and briefly connected to the creature. Will was mortified by what she saw.

"Cornelia, Orube, we have to be careful not to kill Juggernaut. There's a child imprisoned inside him."

Cornelia gasped in horror, then she used all of her might to trap the creature in tree roots, stone, whatever she could think of to imprison it so they could think of a way to free it from Phobos' spell. Cornelia was startled to see that the creature was absorbing everything she threw at him.

"Will!" said Cornelia, "He's like Anteaus, the Greek legend of the son of Poseidon and Gaea. Gaea was Mother Earth. As long as Anteaus was in touch with the ground, he couldn't be defeated, but Hercules held him above the ground and he disintegrated."

Will said, "Oh, well. If anyone here can lift half a ton and put him in the air, we should be fine."

"If Cornelia is right, his weakness is air. We could use Hay Lin, but perhaps there is a way without her," said Orube. She rolled between Juggernaut's legs and fired one of her disintegrating blasts into his leg, destroying it. It merely grew back. "Cornelia can use her power over the vines to catapult the monster into the air. Will and I can then attack it and free the prisoner within."

"Worth a shot," said Cornelia. "What about Wisp?"

Will said, "It's just one of Phobos' Whisperers. There's nothing we do can help it. It'll just return to the Abyss of shadows" and speaking of Wisp, it attacked while everyone was distracted with Juggernaut.

Cornelia's efforts to expose the tunnel to open air exposed a spring, causing a waterfall to cascade into the sewer sludge. Will threw Wisp into the waterfall, and the combination of bioelectric energy and water was enough to short Wisp out. It reverted to a Whisperer, alive, but no longer Wisp. Falling rock caused a seesaw beneath Juggernaut's feet and as the roof gave way to sky, Juggernaut was hurled high into the air. Will used all of the power at her disposal to tear away the metal and the rock from the innocent inside. The child, free of Juggernaut, gently landed at her feet unharmed, but unconscious.

"Oh, come on," said Will, "that can't have been Phobos' worse."

Davira emerged with a shriek. "Now that the servants of Phobos are no more, I can redeem myself by capturing you." Davira then fell unconscious when Orube karate chopped her in the back of the neck.

"Wow," said Cornelia, "they just don't make bad guys like they used to."

Will said, "The Juggernaut and Wisp could have been nasty customers if their weaknesses hadn't been so obvious."

"That's because Phobos lacks imagination," said a voice from the darkness. "When Nerissa made her Knights of Vengeance, she made sure their weaknesses weren't also their Achilles Heels." With bright light above their heads, the darkness of the sewer was darker still, and that much harder to see, but the owner of the mysterious, and unsettlingly familiar voice emerged, not that it made a difference. She wore robes of white and red, with a hood and a mask, like one might see a ninja wear, a cowl.

"Who are you?" asked Will. "What do you want from us?"

"You can call me the Alchemist. As for what I want; I don't want anything from you. I just wanted to see how you dealt with Phobos' creations."

"Are you a friend of Phobos?" asked Cornelia.

"I wouldn't go that far. You might call us business associates. I've agreed to help him acquire more power than he knows what to do with, so long as I get equal shares."

Orube stepped forward. "So you're helping him." Her stance was menacing, but there was something abortive about it. Something about the Alchemist was giving her second thoughts.

"No, I'm not helping him. He's helping me. He only thinks I'm helping him."

Will said, "What do mean by that?"

"Come on, Will. We all figured out a long time ago that Phobos has a big problem abiding by the terms of a contract." The Alchemist tilted her head. "By the way, you'll never get back to Earth unless you rescue Elyon. I guarantee that." With that, the Alchemist vanished, transpositioning herself to who knew where.

The Whisperer and Davira vanished. Cornelia cursed, realizing that the Alchemist was distracting them while the Whisperer and Davira could slip away unseen. That Orube was duped as well was alarming. Will carried the boy with her as they made their way back to the village. Cornelia and Orube were walking ahead. Orube was saying something that Will couldn't hear. Cornelia looked back at Will in alarm and said, "Really? Are you sure?"

Orube said, "My nose doesn't lie. I know what I smelled, and I know what I heard when she spoke."

Cornelia said, "Could it be an astral drop?"

"What?" said Will. "Could what be an astral drop?" Orube and Cornelia let her catch up.

Cornelia said, "Will, Orube and I think that the Alchemist might be…umm…mimicking you."

Orube gave Cornelia a sharp look but said nothing.

"Mimicking me?" asked Will.

"You know, to create confusion and maybe she's thinking of becoming an imposter. She obviously knows about Orube's senses."

Orube said, "She sounds and smells like Will. That would be very difficult to fake, though not impossible, and if she has scientific talents to match her name, she just might be capable of it." Orube didn't sound sure of anything she said, and Will suspected that it was Cornelia that had come up with this imposter theory. Orube very obviously had something else in mind. "Best to solve this riddle later."

For the first time since her reappearance with her injuries and her missing memories, Will took out the Heart of Kandrakar and examined it, really examined it. The Star of Cassidy was more than just a copy of the Heart of Kandrakar; it was an element of that part of the Heart that the Keeper would always keep in her heart. Yet, when it joined with the Heart of Kandrakar, the Heart should have been whole again. The Star of Cassidy wasn't an additional heart, after all. It was merely that part of the Heart that remained with Cassidy, fused with the part that remained with Will.

Now, Will could see something that wasn't there before; evidence of a crack that had been healed in the crystal. For years, now, the existence of Kandrakar had made Will consider the true nature of things. Now she could see that while there was one Heart of Kandrakar, there were many Keepers throughout history. The Star of Cassidy was gone. Will got a sickening feeling in the pit of her stomach. Why would the Alchemist be so much like her? Why was she so worried about it? Then it occurred to her, the appearance of the Alchemist had unlocked something. There had been a flash of memory. For a moment, it seemed that she could reach out and reclaim her two missing months. Still, why was she concerned about the Heart of Kandrakar? Why would the Alchemist be related?

It had been what Cornelia and Orube had said, and Will felt like less of a person. She felt the way her astral drop must have felt. That was why. Then she remembered something, and she pushed the memory as far away as she could. She didn't want to remember that. What she remembered frightened her.

Back in the village, people came to take the child and care for it. Will went and found her mother and Dean. They had found another man, frightening in appearance, but Will knew him to be a great warrior and a gentle giant. Will couldn't help herself, and she rushed, leapt and threw her arms around his neck. "Vathek!"

"Will," he shouted, "it is so good to see you after all of this time!"

Will let go, dropping to the ground. "I see you've met my mom."

"I arrived just as Phobos' minions attacked. I was told that your family had accompanied and I thought it would be a fine thing if they were left unguarded during an attack so I came to protect them, just in case!"

Will said, "Tell me, the rest of resistance; are they organizing again?"

Vathek shook his head sadly. "Phobos took no chances this time. He rounded them up before we even realized that he had returned. I was the only one that escaped. It is only sheer fortune that Caleb was able to escape to Earth with you and the other Guardians when it happened. Where is he now?"

"Still on Earth. So are three of the Guardians. Cornelia and I are stuck here with Orube, my mom and Professor Collins."

"Will," said Susan, nervously, "I don't suppose you're going to introduce us to the…gentleman?"

"Oh, sorry. Mom, this is Vathek. He helped us defeat Phobos the first time. Vathek, this is my mom, Susan…"

"I can see that Will's charm runs in the family, Susan," said Vathek.

"…and her fiancé, Dean Collins." Now Will turned to Vathek in earnest and said, "I need a safe place for them."

Vathek bowed his head, regret etched upon his face. "I'm sure you've been told, but there is no safe place. There are only places where they might be hidden for a while, but Phobos is rooting out all of our bolt holes. What do you plan to do?"

"We need to free Queen Elyon."

"Phobos possesses her, the Crown of Light, and the Heart of Meridian. Any battle with him would be hopeless. If we had the greatest army ever assembled, we would never be able to stand against him."

"Then we'll have to do it quietly."

Vathek looked nervous. "I do not recall you haven't much talent for being quiet."

Susan snorted and Dean said, "Certainly not in my class."

"Fine," said Cornelia, "we'll do you one better." With this statement, she vanished. "We can turn invisible."

Will smiled triumphantly.

Vathek said, "That would certainly help. What about you, Orube, can you turn invisible?"

"Of course, but as a seasoned and skilled hunter, I have no need for such tricks. These two, however can use all of the help they can get."

Cornelia reappeared in a blink, her face so red, everyone expected to see steam come off the top of her head. Both she and Will said, "What's that supposed to mean?"

"Alright, smarty-pants," said Will, "if you're so great, you can take point!"

Orube said, "Excellent! I was wondering when you'd make a sensible decision."

Cornelia stomped her foot and said, "Oh, go play with your catnip!"

Orube's eyes widened and she said, "I would never touch a mind-altering substance, no matter how intoxicating! A hunter must have all of her senses about her!"

Arrangements were made to leave at nightfall. For much of the day, Will sat alone with her mother. She had reverted to her human form. They didn't talk for a long time, and Susan finally said, "Will, what's wrong? You're not usually this quiet."

Will turned away, not wanting her mother to see her crying. "Everything's going to change, now. I can't stop being what I am and now I'm someone you don't know."

Susan put her arms around her daughter and drew her close, and Will began crying in earnest. Susan said, "No, honey. You're always going to be my daughter. I'll be honest; I don't like this one bit. I feel powerless, helpless, like I can't protect you, but Will, I'm proud of you. I'm very proud of you."

Will said, "No, I'm not the person you think I am."

"Will, I've seen a brave, courageous girl that I couldn't be more proud to know."

Will said nothing. Her mother couldn't possibly know that she was thinking of one tiny memory that, though small, would haunt her for the rest of her life, however long that might be. For a time though, she savored this moment, and her mother had managed to give her some comfort. She didn't want to let go of this moment that she now knew didn't belong to her. "I love you, mom."

That night, Phobos' palace shined black as it once did. The wall of black roses had been put back, though it was nowhere near as thick as it was before. Still, the Guardians took no chances. They made their way in through the sewers into the dungeons, as they always had before. It was eerily silent in here. Nothing came out to greet Will, Cornelia, or Orube, though Orube assured them that there were people, armed to the teeth, behind every door. Invisibility had its perks, but Will as almost certain that that wasn't why they had met no resistance. She could feel it. They knew they were there, but for some reason or another, had orders to watch but not interfere.

In the courtyard, the soldiers that had been frozen by Davira's curse now adorned the flora and fauna as macabre statuary. They walked down the middle of the courtyard, still relying on their invisibility, even though all three were now certain their every move was known. When they entered the throne room, Phobos, the Alchemist, and Davira stood, all looking directly at them. Will, Cornelia, and Orube dropped all pretenses and revealed themselves.

Phobos smiled, "In your defense, it was a very good trick, but sadly, I've encountered it far too often to fall for it now. I suppose you've come to challenge me."

Will said, "We wouldn't stand a chance. We've only come for Elyon."

"I'm afraid I can't allow that. You see, she has power in addition to the Heart of Meridian."

"I thought she was the Heart of Meridian."

"Oh, she is. But you see, her power has been imprisoned in the Crown of Light, which is now merged with the Heart of Ulnra. Still, she has power of her own, and that additional power is bolstering what I have."

"And of course, the Alchemist led us into a trap."

"No," said the Alchemist, "I like to experiment. I wanted to see what would happen." "I like to experiment." It was a sentence that struck Will like blows to the head. It sounded like her. It sounded like something her father had said about her.

Phobos said, "In any case, I wanted you to see my final triumph. The Alchemist and I have each collected three hearts. Davira has collected a seventh. While the Alchemist distracted you, Davira used Orube's energy to find her home of Basiliade."

"What?" said Orube, stalked forward. Will and Cornelia held her back.

"Don't worry," said Davira. "I killed them with kindness. They didn't suspect what I had done until after I had left. I'd have been a fool to attack that vicious bunch. Now, my master, I present this jewel to you."

"Why not keep it?" asked Will.

Phobos said, "Because Davira has already had a very bad experience possessing such power and has no wish to do so again." Phobos took the jewel, and removed a pendant that he was wearing. The jewel vanished, absorbed by the triple heart he wore. "Go on Alchemist. Remove your cowl and show them who you are."

The Alchemist did as she was told, and Will found herself facing her worst fear. She found that from beneath the cowl, Will Vandom stared back at her. Could it have been another astral drop? The Alchemist seemed to read her mind. "We can only make one astral drop, but I needed you badly enough that the Heart of Kandrakar found another solution. Imagine my surprise when I found I still possessed the Heart of Kandrakar and felt it leaving with you. I knew that I must have still possessed the Star of Cassidy."

Phobos laughed. "It replicated Will Vandom. It made a living altamere that can't be controlled, can't be taken back, can't be changed by outside magic. What a shock, and now we will both possess the Heart of Kandrakar."

The Alchemist turned to Phobos and said, "I beg your pardon? We had a deal."

"Let's just say that I'm renegotiating the terms." The Alchemist pulled a pendant from her shirt. It was the Star of Cassidy, but it radiated with the power of two more Hearts.

What was happening had to be stopped. Davira seemed to realize what was happening too, because she lunged in an attempt to prevent Phobos from taking the Alchemist's pendant. Will lunged too, but Orube and Cornelia pulled her back just in time. Davira was too far away, and didn't make it in time to stop what happened. Phobos now possessed all seven Hearts.

Davira shouted, "My Lord, no! She made you swear on those very Hearts that you wouldn't betray her!"

The Alchemist was on the floor, blood trickling from the top of her head. She looked at Phobos with a look of triumph. "It's too late, Davira. He's been as good as his word, which is exactly what I was hoping for."

Phobos laughed. "I don't know what you think you've accomplished, but now it is time for me to destroy the Keeper of the Heart once and for all." He pointed at the Will that Cornelia and Orube were trying to defend. Phobos' mouth fell open, making him look a bit dumb. "Nothing's happening."

The Alchemist stood and said, "That's because I'm the Keeper of the Seventh Heart."

"The Seventh Heart?"

"Meditate on it while you're trapped inside the Heart. You'll have plenty of time for it."

Phobos vanished, and a sleek rod appeared in the Alchemist's hand. The staff was a perfectly straight shaft of wood, lacquered white. A pendant was contained in a perfect spiral cylinder of wood at the top. It was as long as the Alchemist's forearm, from elbow to fingertip, the correct length for a magic wand. Strangely, Cornelia's only thought was how jealous Lillian would be if she saw it.

Davira screamed in rage.

The Alchemist said, "You are a stickler for the law, Davira. That's why you thought Phobos was so virtuous. He was a despot like you but you never thought he was a liar."

Davira saw the truth of it. Her rage vacated her in a deluge and she fell into tears.

"Now what?" said Will. So much power was not a good thing, but this Alchemist was Will, and Will refused to believe that she could turn evil just like that.

The Alchemist raised an eyebrow. "The Heart of any world merely gives you the power to affect nature. You can restore life, tear down buildings and regrow forests, but you can't change nature. While I was here, I realized that the true nature of the universe was suffering. It was the one constant. Even in happiness, somehow, some pain or misery is affecting us. In many cases, we can't know happiness unless we are in pain. I suffered, and the pain was unlike any that you knew. I made sure of that. As much as I wanted to change the universe, I needed someone who would protect the heart. That's why I created you. Once I've reshaped the universe, it will need its Guardians."

"Reshaped the universe?" said Cornelia.

Will shook her head. "Don't bother trying to make sense of it, Cornelia. She's lost, just like Nerissa."

"Will, this is you!"

"No, I'd never talk like this. This is the mess that was left over from what Phobos did."

The Alchemist remained calm as she said, "Idealistic, as always. You know nothing of what Phobos did to me. I made sure of that."

"Then at least you had enough sense left to make a version of you that was still sane."

"Still sane?"

"A Heart to remake the universe? There's only one word to describe a person that thinks she's a god!"

Cornelia said, "Actually, there's several. Nuts, bonkers, lunatic, nutcase, crazy, insane, Fruit Loops, loopy, loony…"

The Alchemist smiled, but there was no humor in her eyes, only fury. "That's something Irma might say. Making up for her absence, Corny?" The look did not suit Will, and she could not remember ever looking like that. "Just wait until I've started."

Will said, "What am I, anyway? I can't be an astral drop. What did you create?"

"You were born an altamere, a perfect doppleganger. That's why you have powers. That's why you can hold the Heart of Kandrakar."

"I suppose you'll want that. Well you can't have it."

"Oh, don't worry. Even merging with the Star of Cassidy, it'll still bring me up to eight, and that would ruin the combination."

"Oh, sorry. I didn't mean to threaten your godhood."

"You, of all people, you…How can you not understand what I'm trying to do? I just want the people I love to be safe, once and for all." The Alchemist raised her hand to Elyon's suspended cage and it lowered gently to the ground. "Take Elyon. It'd be a shame if you wasted a trip here. The way between worlds is open once again. Take our family back to Earth." The Alchemist threw her hand out, and Will found herself in Mrs. Rudolph's old house, with Cornelia, Orube, her mother, Professor Dean and Elyon. The guardians were back in human form, and Orube was dressed as Rebecca.

"We're back on Earth?" said Cornelia. She scanned the room and shouted, "Elyon!" She ran to her friend and put her in a more comfortable position.

Susan said, "You did it!"

Will, staring blankly at something only she could see, said, "Yes, I did it." She couldn't contain her emotions any longer. Running upstairs, she found a bedroom and locked herself in.