From the Hidden City of Kandrakar, the Oracle looks down into the water of time, and he sees a young girl hiding in a corner, locked in a bedroom. She has wrapped her arms around her knees and lays in a fetal position. She has wept so much, she can weep no more. He wishes to comfort her, but he cannot. This battle she must fight alone. Not even her closest friends and allies can help her try though they might; not unless she lets them. Decisions are made alone, and the only one who can change a decision is the one who made it.

Now, five of her friends, her mother, her history teacher, and her stepmother are terribly worried about her. Indeed, however much they loved her, they could not be as concerned as the Oracle, who can see the fate of the universe situated on a knife's edge.

"So that's what happened, huh?" said Irma. "And Will hasn't come down once?"

Cornelia shook her head sadly.

"Wow," said Taranee, "this is so messed up. So Will's just a copy?"

Cornelia said, "I refuse to believe that. The Alchemist talked like some kind of James Bond villain."

Hay Lin said, "Right, after all. All we really are is who we believe we can be."

Irma said, "Lady Confucius strikes again."

"The problem is, what does Will believe? How's Elyon?"

Cornelia said, "Sleeping. I think she'll be okay. She said that Phobos ignored her. A servant kept her fed. Mostly, he had her on display."

They all took turns over the course of the day trying to coax Will into opening the door. Cornelia, Irma, Hay Lin, and Taranee all pleaded and begged with Will. Susan tried, returned to the apartment to assess the damage, and then came back to continue the efforts in extracting Will from the bedroom. Susan offered to cook the girls dinner, but found only junk food. "How do you survive?" After grocery shopping, she cooked a fried chicken dinner for everyone.

"Will." Susan knocked on the door. "I cooked fried chicken. Are you hungry?" There was no answer. "Will, please let us help."

"Mrs. Vandom?" Elyon had appeared out of the room next to the one Will was using. She looked mostly tired, but otherwise fine.

"Oh, Elyon, how are you?"

Elyon smiled and said, "I've been better." Elyon went over and knocked on the door. "Wilhelmina Vandom, lest my memory fails me, you swore an oath to Metamoor and its people. Queen Elyon beckons you. Open this door right now!"

The door handle rattled and the door swung open. Will was standing there, her eyes red from tears, and her hair horrendously tangled. She looked at Elyon, her expression one of misery. "I'm sorry, El—Your Highness."

Elyon ignored her. "What is your name?"

"I'm sorry?"

"Who are you?"

"I'm-I'm Will."

"Then what is it that confuses you?"

Will didn't know how to answer that. The answer was so involved it might take hours to explain what she felt.

"Rule of thumb: if you can't answer a question in a single sentence, then you're probably overthinking it."

Will looked down in shame.

"No! You don't have the luxury for shame. You don't have the luxury for self-pity. You hold the Heart of Kandrakar. You are the leader of the Guardians. Your team needs you, but they are more than your team. They are your friends and you need them just as much. Never make the mistake of thinking you can deal with something like this by yourself. Will," she took Will's hand, "I'm not your queen right now. I'm your friend." Elyon pulled Will into a hug. Will started to cry again, and when Elyon released her, she said, "Your mother has something she wants to say to you before you go down to dinner."

Susan said, "And how do you know that?"

Elyon raised her hands melodramatically and put her fingers to her temples. "I am the Light of Meridian! I see with more than just eyes!" Will laughed. Elyon smiled. "Well, it looks we're making progress. She's all yours, Mrs. Vandom, and don't let her forget that she's every bit the Will we've always known. Now, I believe I was enticed with the promise of fried chicken."

Susan laughed and said, "It's on the table. Get some before the rest of the girls beat you to it."

As Elyon walked to the stairs, Susan led Will back into the bedroom. She took note of the untouched bed, still perfectly made, and probably unused for years. "Here, sit down next to me." Susan sat on the bed and patted the section next to her.

She drew Will towards her and held her in her arms. "Will, do you remember when we lived in Fadden Hills? You never had any friends. You never got along with anyone. You told me that you knew what they were thinking. They felt sorry for you because your parents were divorced. Do you remember what I told you?"

Will, her voice unsteady and tearful, "You told me that I was a wonderful person and if they couldn't see that then it was their loss."

"You remember that. I think that only the real Will would have remembered that. That was just between you and me, remember?" Susan kissed Will on top of the head. "I've always believed you were special."

Will sat up and said, "I thought every parent was supposed believe that."

Susan ruffled Will's hair and said, "Absolutely. It's in the rulebook, you know."

"There's a rulebook, huh?"

"Hey, it looks like you're smiling."

Will got up and went with her mother downstairs. As soon as the other Guardians saw her, they ran up to her and tackled her in a group hug. Orube sat at the table with Elyon and Dean, while Susan refereed the girls. "You know, she needs air." As light-hearted as Susan was, she was hiding her own terror. The tale the girls had told her of another Will, a Will who had lost her mind and who had turned to the Dark Side, frightened Susan to her core. Here was one Will in front of her, a good, kind, sensitive person. Was that same darkness lurking inside her, or did this other Will have it cultivated in her by whatever had happened during those two months.

As all of the girls did their best to boost Will's self-esteem, thoughts of darkness flitted through Susan's mind. What was her daughter a part of? It could be described, but there was no way to really understand, and what evil had she been exposed to, day after day, year after year? What else had Susan failed to notice about her daughter? What was this fantastical destiny her daughter had before her and why was it necessary to put her in such danger? Was it necessary that she face such great evil? Why couldn't it be a trained soldier, or a policeman, or any other person more qualified than a group of teenage girls more inclined to talk about boys than the fate of the universe?

Dean noticed her distress and went with her to the living room. He brought her plate and his own and they ate at the coffee table. "Susan?"

"Dean, I'm scared. I mean, I'm really scared. Two months ago, I lost her. I lost her, Dean, she was gone, and now it really looks like there's a part of her that didn't come back. Dean, she's wounded in her very soul. She's a seventeen-year-old girl, and this started when she was thirteen, Dean. Thirteen! She's the only daughter I have. I don't want to lose her again."

Dean looked at his mashed potatoes as if he was trying to discern the meaning of life from them. "Susan, Alexander the Great earned that title when he was fourteen. Did you know that? Hardened soldiers were following a fourteen-year-old man, not child, man into battle. Tutankhamen was the King of Egypt at the age of eight. Cleopatra took Egypt from Julius Caesar's willing hand at the age of twelve. Mozart wrote his first piano concerto when he was five."

"Just fifteen minutes ago, she was up there holed up in a room feeling overwhelmed by everything that had happened."

"And do you think the people I just mentioned didn't?"

"I can't help but notice that everyone you mentioned died before they made it to their thirties. Tut didn't even make it to his twenties. Two of them committed suicide."

"Right; Alexander the Great killed himself at 24 and Cleopatra drank poison rather than be captured by Rome. Mozart's death was the result of poor health."

"And Tut was murdered."

"Right, people like these lead dangerous and stressful lives. Susan, you can't lock her in her room. You can't stop her from experiencing life, the best and the worst. We don't live very long anyway, but it doesn't matter if we hide from the world, because then we don't live at all."

"But she's in so much pain. She still is. She's trying to get over it, but right now, she's just putting on a brave face. I can feel it, I can see it. I can't stand it. How can I just stand by while she's suffering?"

"Don't. Give her the comfort she needs. It's the only salve for her wounds that there is, but Susan, when you live a life of grand experience, the feelings are stronger. The joy is higher, and the pain is more acute. Stop and think about this, though. Aren't you proud of her? She faces this danger in spite of her own fears and her own uncertainties, and she saves the lives of innocent people. Didn't you feel like you had the best daughter in the world when she and Cornelia and that other girl-what was her name? Orube?-rescued that child?"

Susan smiled at the thought. He was right.

"And seriously, there has to be some part of you thinks this is pretty cool. Your daughter is a superhero."

At this, Susan laughed. She leaned over and kissed Dean. "You know, I was worried about how I was going to help Will, and I turned out needing help myself."

Dean nodded, "I know, but you can't worry about her. All that it will do is make you a nervous wreck. All you can do is be there when she needs you. I'll be there, too, okay?"

At the table, Hay Lin held chicken drumsticks up to her ears. Cornelia and Irma sat on either side of Will and put an arm around her shoulders. Elyon, Taranee, and Orube sat together on the other side of the table, each of them observing Will, closely.

"You really had us scared," said Taranee. "Will, there is nothing you can't talk us about."

Will looked down. "Am I 'Will'?"

"You stop that, now!" said Hay Lin. "If what Cornelia says is true, that other girl took a new name. You're Will and you're the only Will we need. Did you feel like someone else before?"

Will thought about that. "No."

"So why should you feel like that now?"

Elyon said, "Exactly what I tried to tell you."

Will said, "But she created me. Of everything I lost, I remember that!"

Cornelia said, "Will, you said it yourself. What the Alchemist was telling us was something the real Will Vandom would never, ever say. She's the one who isn't who she used to be. If she would have come home instead of you, I would have felt like I lost my friend. You're here, and you are the friend I've always known."

"But what if I really am like her?"

Elyon said, "Oh, trust me, you're not." Everyone looked at her. There was something in her voice that told them that this was more than just encouragement. This was actual insight into the Alchemist. "You can never be like her. She's gone through things you've never experienced. You were never broken by Phobos or his guards. She was."

Irma said, "Okay, when you say 'broken', what you really mean is like when the victim finally gives in."

"Exactly, but the Alchemist had already created a duplicate, not an astral drop. This was different. This was as if, she divided and one became two, but there was a distinct original. The duplicate managed to escape with the Heart of Kandrakar, while the Alchemist waited for her interrogator's to return. She must have known she couldn't hold out, that she was going to give Phobos what he wanted. So when Phobos himself came down, she realized that she had the Star of Cassidy. Feeling that she had failed, she made a deal with him, which you know all about."

All of the girls looked at each other. Strangely, this was restoring Will's confidence. It did nothing to assuage her doubts, but it made her feel as if she could step into the real Will's shoes and finish what she started.

Hay Lin said, "So she's turned totally megalomaniac and is going to destroy the universe. Easy-peasy."

Elyon said, "Just don't be angry with her. She had to make some very hard choices. She knew she was giving up her identity forever when she made her double. She knew she couldn't go back."

"Alright," said Irma, "When we're kicking her butt, we'll say nice things to her."

"No," said Will with such force that everyone, including her mother and Dean, turned to her. "We have to help her."

"What?" asked Cornelia.

"You know who we're fighting. It isn't just what she is, it's what she was. We have to save her."

Orube said, "She's right. The Alchemist's whole speech was about ending suffering. It wouldn't be so important to her if she wasn't already suffering."

Will said, "Imagine if it was one of you. You've been tortured and now you've been forced to give up the life you know. You've seen your entire world turned upside down. You're all alone and you're no longer welcome in a world that you only ever tried to help. And then the people you were closest to come and it's as though there was no history between you. You're just Nerissa all over again. She's hurt, and she's lost, and she's alone. We have to save her."

Irma, looking forlorn, said, "Jeez, when you put it that way…"

Cornelia said, "That's great, but how exactly are we going to save a depressed, abandoned megalomaniac with a talisman so powerful it can reshape the laws of nature?"

Will said, "We certainly can't fight her. What's left?"

Hay Lin said, "When you fight fire with fire, you burn a forest, Cornelia."

Cornelia said, "Why are you telling me? Taranee's the human torch."

"Flame on," Taranee muttered.

Hay Lin said, "Because you are the one who suggests fighting fire with fire. The Alchemist is full of anger if she is ready to destroy the balance, so you suggest an angry response."

"Well, she's so powerful she can zap by accident just because she sneezed, so duh. I don't exactly see how we're going to resolve this peacefully."

Will said, "Love is stronger than hate."

Irma said, "Oh, good grief. Hay Lin, you're contagious!"

"Irma, this Alchemist, is more than just an alternate me. She is me. She's as good as my sister, and if I have always been your friend, then you can't say that she hasn't been. Can you really abandon her like this?"

Irma said, "No."

Cornelia said, "God, lay on the guilt trip." She smiled and said, "I'm ashamed I even thought of it. It's still Will, and she needs us, now more than ever."

Taranee said, "I'd never forgive myself if I didn't try to help her, but there's no way we're going to avoid a fight with her, and you know it."

When they were done with dinner, they all sat and talked, even Susan and Dean, and against all odds, Will was feeling better, and was feeling a sense of purpose again. Many of Susan's doubts had disappeared as well. She said, "Will, I've been really scared. You are in a really dangerous situation, one that I don't think you should be in, but I can't put a stop to it. I'm helpless. I feel as overwhelmed as you did today. Then you came down and told everyone that you had to save the Alchemist, no matter what. I couldn't help but feel that everything was going to be okay, and I couldn't believe how strong you are."

Hay Lin said, "People who make you feel weak only pretend to be strong. The truly strong makes everyone around her feel strong."

Irma said, "Hay Lin, you are hiding a bag of fortune cookies, I know it! All of these little proverbs! She's been doing it since yesterday!"

Cornelia said, "She's always done it. Oriental wisdom, you know."

"But she's been doing it, like, every fifteen minutes."

Hay Lin said, "It's not my fault your ancestors didn't impart you with wisdom."

Cornelia said, "Hay Lin, they need to impart her with a brain before they can impart her with wisdom."

Will said, "Guys, can we not argue with each other?" The Heart appeared before her and glowed, the Oracle's voice filling the room, and this time, Susan and Dean heard it too.

They were standing on marble, surrounded by Corinthian pillars. There was mist all around, and there was a deep, penetrating sense of calm. Susan said, "Are we in heaven?"

"Good guess," said Will, "Kandrakar actually, but heaven is close enough."

The Guardians appeared in their Guardian form, along with Orube. They all turned and bowed to the Oracle. Susan and Dean clumsily turned and followed suit. Elyon was absent.

"The Guardians grace these halls quite often as there is always a threat to the tenuous balance of the universe. Now, they arrive bearing a burden upon their hearts. It is not just any burden; it is the greatest of all burdens. They bear the burden of truth, and today it takes many forms. Truth weighs heavily on all of your minds. Irma, Taranee, and Hay Lin struggle with the concept of duality, the truth of a defender that must play many roles in life. For Will and her family, truth goes deeper and raises the question of identity. Cornelia has proven to be the most stalwart of all of the Guardians, and even now, is determined to give comfort and strength to the rest.

"Truth can be the greatest burden, but if you are willing to accept it, it can become your most valuable asset, a tool that can fashion a solution to your greatest problems and be a mighty weapon in your darkest hour, and this hour is dark indeed. Of course, no matter how dark the hour becomes, one need only shine a light and the solution becomes clear.

"Orube, you have been trapped outside of Kandrakar and away from your duties, but I sense the Guardians will need you very soon. Will you continue with them as you once did?"

Orube said, "As long as I am needed, my service is theirs."

"You do Luba great credit. Guardians, welcome back. Will, you should notice that you have been accompanied by those who have recently discovered your secret. Their knowledge creates an undue hardship for you. They will worry for you continually and you will bear the burden their strife."

Will said, "Oracle, if I may, I would very much prefer to keep my secret, but this is my family, and whether I like it or not, they found out. We have the right to work this out on our own terms. I humbly request that you not intervene. I trust them, and they must be able to trust me."

"I am pleased to hear it, Will. I have complete faith in you. You have even overcome the shadow in your heart, a shadow that even the strongest warriors in history would have fallen before. Know that even though you have vanquished the shadow, you cannot destroy it. It is still there and it will make your coming task that much more difficult."

"I am prepared. If I can't destroy the shadow, then perhaps I should accept it for what it is: a part of me."

The Oracle smiled. "No doubt you have heard this before, but you are the greatest Keeper of the Heart we have ever known." His expression became grave. "Will, what has happened to you saddens me, but with your words and deeds, you have proven yourself even mightier than I had dared hope, but I wonder what the outcome would be in such a confrontation with your other self."

"Do you believe we are wrong to try to save her?"

"No. I do not believe your conscience would allow you to do otherwise. Whatever you choose, you must prevent her from achieving her goals at any cost. If there is any hope in saving her at all, know that it lies with Susan Vandom."

"With me?" said Susan, stunned to be so addressed.

"Humans are among the most magical creatures there are, and there are many kinds of magic, none so strong as the bond between mother and child. Remember that, and there may be hope." Again, addressing the Guardians, he said, "The Alchemist disappeared from my vision, which is an ill portent, but I have seen that she has the power to shape the universe to her whims. I cannot see how."

Will stepped forward, "Sir, what is the Seventh Heart?"

The Oracle's face darkened, "A legend. It is said that seven sages once each possessed a cosmic Heart. One day, one of them died, and then one of them had two Hearts. With those two Hearts, he enslaved the other sages, and he caused chaos, shaping the universe to his whims. Devastation swept the Infinite Realms and the people were at the evil sage's mercy. Then, one sage came to his senses and broke the bonds of the evil one's control. He took the seven Hearts for himself and created Kandrakar so that such a catastrophe could never happen again. He then threw six of the Hearts into the Infinite Void, scattering them to the Infinite Realms. The last heart, he divided into six; five aurameres and the crystal, the Heart of Kandrakar. He became the first Oracle. The Heart of Kandrakar chose the first Guardians to guard against the chaos that the Seventh Heart once brought. So you see, this cannot be the device that the Alchemist possesses. It requires the Heart of Kandrakar to function."

Will closed her eyes, preparing herself for the fear and disappointment she was about to see. "When she created me, the Heart divided into two; the Heart of Kandrakar and the Star of Cassidy. She has the Star of Cassidy, but I think either one will work."

Cries of dismay echoed through the council chambers. "No!" some simply called, while others lamented, "It cannot be!"

"Then," said the Oracle, "after having guarded against this for so long, we have failed, and it is a Guardian who brought the pieces together."

Will said, "Oracle, I am so sorry."

"You have nothing to apologize for. I do not rebuke you or the Alchemist. You are not to blame, and her pain runs deep. I merely point out the irony in the situation. Will, you and the Guardians must disperse the Seventh Heart. If she begins, all of the realms, including Earth will be thrown into a chaos that will be returned to very foundations of civilization. The first catastrophe created the Infinite Realms. Imagine what this new catastrophe will bring."

Irma turned to Cornelia and said, "So does that mean I should wait awhile before planning my tour of the Infinite Realms?"

Will said, "Oracle, we are not entirely certain how we should proceed."

The Oracle said, "Unfortunately, neither am I. Until I can perceive the Alchemist, I am powerless to advise you, however we have been speaking of truths. One truth is that we identify with that which we are most familiar. She is absent from Metamoor and she is absent from Earth, but her reappearance in each of those places is inevitable, and it is likely in one of those places that she will begin the task of unraveling reality. Will, you are the one best equipped to find her. There is one more thing you should know. I have addressed Wilhelmina Vandom in this hall for many years. I should think I would know if you were not her, and I can assure you, you are the Will I have always known. This place is not unfamiliar to you and you are not unfamiliar to me."

Hay Lin playfully pushed Will. "Yap!"

Will bowed her head, not out of reverence, but in response to the weight that was lifted off her shoulders. If the wisest being in the universe believed it, then it must be true. "Thank you, sir."

The interview had ended, and Elyon was sitting at the kitchen table sipping a Cherry Coke through a straw. "So, how's the Oracle doing?"

Irma said, "Oh, he's just fine. You know, he's got the whole 'higher plane of existence' thing going for him. I'm sorry, did you want to go too?"

"I've spent enough time in Kandrakar, thank you very much. What's the game plan?"

Cornelia said, "There isn't one."

Will said, "Apparently, the Alchemist left Metamoor shortly after ejecting us and nobody seems to know where she went, so we bide our time. Since she's me, the Oracle expects we should be able to find each other pretty easily, and he thinks that if she wants to make a new universe, she's going to start either here or Metamoor."

Susan sat down at the table. "Look girls, I don't anything about what you do, or how you do it, but I think I know my daughter pretty well. What would you do, Will?"

Will pondered that a moment. "For these past few years, it feels like we've been drawing farther apart. If I were doing this, you'd be the first one I came to. I'd want you to see what I can accomplish. I'd want to show you that I can make you proud."

Everyone turned to Will, Susan, and Dean. "Wow!" said Irma. "Insightful."

Hay Lin raised an eyebrow. "That settles it. Twenty-four hour watch on Mrs. Vandom."

Will didn't open her eyes. "My dad, too. He's the biggest disappointment in my life. She'll want him to know it. I don't believe she'd hurt him physically. I think mostly, she'd to emotionally hurt him, but I have no idea what her state of mind is, and I don't want to take the chance."

"You're sure?" asked Taranee.

"Absolutely, one-hundred-percent."

Cornelia said, "It would be safer if we could keep them together."

Susan's shoulders squared and she said, "No way."

"Can we even find him?" asked Dean.

"Kadma knows where he is," said Will.

"Who?" Dean's confusion was understandable.

Susan was the one who surprised them. "What would the Rising Star have to do with this?"

Will opened her eyes and looked at her mother. "You knew? You know Kadma?"

She shook her head. "I've never met her, but I know she's the one who convinced MacGruder to bring me to Heatherfield."

"Kadma is the previous Earth Guardian."

Susan's eyes widened. "I never would have even brought us to Heatherfield if it wasn't for her."

Will felt sorry for her mother. Susan was putting the pieces together. Orube had told her that the Guardians are always drawn to Heatherfield. Kadma was the former Earth Guardian, the founder of the Rising Star Foundation, and had made the Vandom's move to Heatherfield practical. Susan's eyes were now opened to the reality of forces involved in her life.

"We can't make my parents stay in the same place," said Will. "If you could see how he treats her, you'd understand."

Cornelia said, "I'll go with you to see Kadma."