The Alchemist had wanted her mother to know that she had raised a daughter destined for greatness. She had wanted her father to feel her disappointment. She wanted a wounded detective to see that even in the darkest recesses, light could shine. As for Matt, she wanted him to understand, to know what she wanted, and most of all to forgive her for what she needed to do. She took him to the beach, far away from anyone they knew, the beach that Matt, Peter, Joel, and Nigel would surf at. At this hour, the only people that would be there would be star-crossed lovers, wandering drunks, and people like the Alchemist and Matt, trying to find a grip on life.

She had promised to keep no secrets from Matt, and she intended to keep that promise. "Remember a few months ago, Phobos had pretended to be Endarno and we had to fight him again to save Kandrakar? Phobos came back. Time is different in the Infinite Void, and Phobos fell, literally for centuries as he drew power from the void around him. Eventually, he became so powerful that he was able to reach out of the void and find solid ground. He returned to the place he knew, Meridian. It was where he was born and raised."

It was a journey that began in a bathroom, and who knew where it would end? Phobos had found a new servant and Will had been drawn by Elyon's cry of distress. Caleb had fled to Earth and then returned to Meridian in hopes of opening the castle to Elyon once again, but thus far, his efforts were in vain, and the Light of Meridian remained on Earth. Orube was forced to return to Earth, though her heartbreak at the death of Cedric had driven her to Kandrakar. Now, after the defeat of John Ludmoore, there would be days before the marriage of Dean Collins to Susan Vandom.

A terrible occurrence had wreathed sorrow over that happy occasion, because when Will was drawn to Meridian, she didn't return. It had been a wakeup call, and when Will had returned with no answers to her absence and the sudden strange behavior of her four friends, it had been a wake-up call for the community. What were these five girls up to? What were they doing that was so dangerous, one of them could disappear and reappear two months later, badly hurt and with no memory, and then all of them keep secrets from the police?

Will had been in Meridian, hopelessly stuck. A bolt had struck her on the back of the head, causing dreadful injury and grievous pain. Yes, Phobos had promised he would take great pleasure in breaking her. When she woke, she was dressed in the clothes she had worn from school. She was lying in mud and had a horrible headache. The back of her head was numb. She reached behind her and felt tender flesh where hair should have been. She winced in pain, feeling the sickly, gooey sensation of the natural secretions that protected open wounds. Looking at her fingers, she saw the viscous substance on her fingers, the pinkish coloring suggesting that blood was mixed with it.

Will looked around. She was in the same prison that Elyon had destroyed those many years ago, when Will and the other Guardians were still learning to understand their powers. She started to get up, to better take in her surroundings. A heavy, spiked object struck her hard across the shoulders. Numbing pain shot down her arm. Her arm wasn't broken, but she was sure her shoulder was.

"Who told you that you could get up, huh?" It was a gruff voice, thick and with a rural accent, with an uneducated slowness to it. Will pictured a bigger, meaner looking Uriah. Looking up, Will saw a guard carrying a mace. It was basically a glorified club. It was shaped like a baseball bat and had a long steel sleeve over it covered with ball shaped spikes. The guard, as it happened, was prettier than Uriah, which wasn't much of a compliment. He was still ugly.

Will said, "A real tough guy, huh? You can't handle a little girl without your club."

The guard dropped the mace, and kicked Will hard so that she was lying on her back. He then stomped her stomach hard, so hard that she spit up blood, and a chunk of something she was pretty sure was supposed to stay inside. She laid there in such pain that she couldn't move. She simply kept coughing up blood. It was an hour before she stopped, and the pain subsided. She thought she would die. Finally, a guard hoisted her to her feet and she threw up. There were walnuts and multicolored sprinkles in her vomitus.

She was carried to a cell where she was violently hurled in. She hit the wall, hard, bounced off the bench and slammed into the floor. She knew she had several broken bones, yet when she stood, everything seemed to work. She could hear the broken bones twisting and moving against each and when she raised her arms, her right arm didn't seem to want to go as high as the other. Indeed, her shoulder was broken.

The pain in her abdomen persisted and pervaded her body. It came in waves and when it happened, a weakness washed over her. She sat and held her arms across her stomach, convinced that the piece she had coughed up was something she couldn't survive without. That had to be what the weakness was. It was an important piece of her insides and the weakness was her impending death. She could feel certain finality in the draining of her limbs. That guard had seriously injured her. It was just as well. She refused to let Phobos have the Heart and if she was going to die the first day, then she was certain she could hold out for that long.

Then to her surprise, Phobos came. "Dear Will, I wanted to see how you were settling in. I am going to leave you to the tender ministrations of our guards for the next few weeks, and then we will see if you are a more compliant guest." He paused taking in her appearance. "Guards, can you not see that this woman is dying? I need her alive. Do not do so much damage." Phobos held his hand out, and Will felt the pain her stomach subside. That horrible weakness left her, but her strength did not return. Phobos did just enough to keep her alive. "I am leaving her to your care. Cause her as much suffering as you might, but if you kill her, I will see to you personally."

Will experienced the worst beatings of her life in those weeks. Fingers had been broken and healed. She had been burnt by fire. She had even been experimentally skewered on blades from time to time. They would usually let her injuries take her to brink of death, and then a healer would see to it that her bones mended and her life-threatening wounds healed so that there was no permanent injury, but never enough to end the pain.

Then came the new arrival. He was Vargas. He had been a wizard from a distant part of Metamoor that had lost his powers, but he had knowledge of the oldest magicks ever devised, which was why Phobos didn't kill him outright. At first, Will thought it had been the prison, for Phobos had cast a spell over it that prevented even the Heart of Kandrakar from performing anything but the most obscure magic. Then Vargas explained to Will. "Honored Guardian, you were born with magic. You have had powers since you could remember. The Heart of Kandrakar was drawn to you for this very reason. You will always have the magic. Even if you lose the Heart, the magic can never be taken from you. True, without the Heart you won't be as powerful. Your power will be dependent upon the might of planet your magic comes from. Still, you will always have your power. Me, I was born mundane, with no power of my own. I had to cultivate it, take it into me.

"In a way, I am a superior magician to you because I had to learn every mechanic and theory from the most basic to the most advanced. You, on the other hand, with new powers cropping up every day, could get away with muddling your way through, and often had no choice but to do just that. The other side of the coin is that you are superior in that you are, and even at your most mundane always will be, more powerful than I could ever hope to be. For me, the danger will always be that I can overdo a spell and break the magic inside of me, and I did just that, trying to rescue Meridian from Phobos. I had done it once before with the same results. I knew I would fail this time, but for the sake of Metamoor, I had to try."

Will had been surprised to hear that. "So you can find the magic in you again, after you've broken it?"

Vargas shook his head. "It's uncommon. It takes dedication bordering on obsession. After breaking his powers, a wizard is almost never able to recover them again. I had the necessary obsession to protect my family, but I doubt I'll be able to do it a third time. That would be without precedent."

"Can you teach me?"

Vargas seemed to consider. "I doubt I would have enough time to teach you any of a real wizard's secrets. I suppose I could teach you a few and if it's possible, maybe teach you a few big ones that you might be able to use to break out of this place. Why not? It would be an honor to be a teacher of a Guardian of Kandrakar."

The first thing he taught her was how to subvert Phobos' magical dampening field. Since his spell forbade all magic that could affect the world, Vargas showed her how magic which didn't change reality could avoid detection. With this, she was able to go into a secret place inside herself. There, she would meet Vargas in an imaginary realm of her creation. She would not even feel the beatings the guards gave her unless they became immediately life-threatening.

"This place," said Vargas, "is in the imagination, so we can stretch time to some extent. In here, we may be able to turn a week into a month, but there is a limit. Remember that when you daydream, time may also tend to speed by."

It was here, Will learned the secrets of this wizard's trade. Vargas' particular specialty was alchemy, since it was so devoted to the five elements.

"Here," said Vargas, "are the secrets to your powers. You see, you are always taught that there are only four elements; earth, air, water, and fire. This is true enough. There are only four. I know from your mind that there is a science in your realm that knows of many more elements, so try to forget about that for these lessons. There are only four elements. Where the fifth one comes in, is that these four elements must combine to create the world and the things in it. For example: earth. Wood and trees are distinctly different from dirt and rock, and yet they are both earth. Water must combine with dirt and rock to make the trees, and so must air in order to cast the light that the trees need, and so does fire to make the light. The dirt is earth, but the tree requires all four elements to exist. This is how you see the fifth element. It is spirit. You can't see it, but it is in the trees. This spirit is visible in nature, but not in ordinary places.

"There is a process that we can use to extract the fifth element from the other four. Do you know of any spirits that exist in the world?"

Will shook her head no.

Vargas scoffed. "Of course you do. Why, one of them is a common bane of society. Beer, whisky, rum, wine; why do you think they're called spirits? Perfume is a spirit. I should think that any girl would know something about perfume. Spirit has a name: quintessence. Do you know what that means?"

Will shook her head again.

"It means, 'perfect form.'"

Will asked, "So how were the five elements formed?"

Vargas said, "I do not have time to give you a formal explanation. There are many texts on this, so you will have to read them. I have a great deal to teach you in a very short period of time. I'm afraid your education won't be a very good one, but it will be better than nothing. I will be brief on this. The first element is water. It is the most important element. It is the most perfect element. When light came down from heaven and struck water, it created the other four elements. This water and this light are represented by two triangles."

He drew triangles in the air. The one on the bottom, the tip of the triangle pointing up, represented water. The triangle of light pointed downward. "When they join together to create the other elements, they are represented thus." He drew the triangles again, this time overlapping so that they formed a six-pointed star. "So, your Guardians of Water and Air represent the creation of the other elements."

Will shrieked in pain, and her imaginary world was lost in blood and horrible pain. A guard, the same guard with the mace who had once forced her to cough up something important, laughed horribly. "I see you're awake now, little girl."

There was a terrible cramp in her back, and she looked down and saw the point of a blade poking out of her abdomen on the right side. She felt sickening sweep of pain as it pulled out and back was free of the intrusion. Healers were instantly there to ensure she did not die of the injury. The healers then said something to guards that made Will sigh with relief. "She must have two day's rest."

"Fine," said the guard, "we'll thrash her while she sleeps."

"You don't understand. We almost couldn't save her. If she doesn't have a reprieve from your torture, she will die and you remember what Prince Phobos said. Her food portions are to be doubled for the next two days. Only fresh water is to be allowed and her allowance is to be doubled as well, and she must not be abused."

The memory of Phobos' promise was more than enough to make the guards obey. Will wasn't bothered for two whole days, and she got the food and fresh water that had been ordered. She and Vargas took full advantage of that unexpected blessing. She didn't sleep, for the magic that took her to her secret place where she could learn from Vargas provided all of the benefits of sleep. She learned more from Vargas than she ever expected to in those two days.

Another week passed. The guards were a bit more careful not to overdo it, but she was still ragged. Chunks of flesh hung down from behind her clothing and she looked like a creature from a horror film. This could not be allowed to last. "Vargas, the division; you said it could be done even with Phobos' dampening field."

"Yes, you do not change reality, simply create a new one."

Vargas did everything he could to dissuade her of her plan, but she would not relent. She had to save the Heart, and she had to get back to the Guardians. It was the only chance to defeat Phobos. Two months had passed and the guards promised that Phobos was coming.

"Honored Guardian, I ask again that you reconsider your plan."

"Why?" said Will, defiant and full of brass.

"You said yourself that you already created an astral drop. You cannot create another. What you must create will be literally you in every way, down to the last detail. She won't be a copy. She would be you."

"Why are you so concerned? You told me about the magic."

"Yes, but it remains that you may not possess the magic needed. You're not making a copy. You are literally dividing reality. After this there will always be two of you, and if you are not strong enough, it will destroy you. I merely say this because there can be no happy ending for you. If you succeed, then you will be responsible for the pain and suffering of two people, and if you fail then you shall cease to exist."

"But it's my only choice. The Guardians need a Keeper to lead them, and if I don't do something now, Phobos will possess the Heart. I can feel it, Vargas. He's getting to me. I promised him he'd never break me, but now I'm not sure I can keep that promise."

"Very well, then. Choose the point in time where you will make your separation. The other you will remember everything up until that point."

Will closed her eyes and envisioned it very carefully. "I choose the moment before my capture. I wish her to have no memory of this nightmare."

"You will leave her with a mystery, for she will bear all of your wounds."

"She'll heal and she'll have none of the sorrow to go with them."

Vargas said, "Then do this, Guardian. Concentrate on the Heart. Will it to become part of you and will it to divide its essence to the very core."

"Divide the Heart?"

"She will carry the Heart of Kandrakar, and you will carry that part of it that remains with all Keepers of the Heart."

Will did as she was instructed. A mirror image faded into existence. Its posture and its silhouette were identical to Will. It wasn't born like an astral drop, and she got the sense that it came from a very long way away, a place so distant, it was unreachable by any means except by the enchanted wish of a desperate woman. She solidified and standing on either side of the cell doors were exact twins of Will Vandom.

The new Will looked up and observed her surroundings with panic. "What's going on. Who…" she got a look at herself. "You're me."

"Not anymore. Now you're me."

Will narrowed her eyes and said, "I have to save you. I have to get you out of here."

"You can't. Phobos is preventing the Heart from helping us escape. We can't go together. You have to go alone. Take the Heart of Kandrakar and lead the Guardians. Stop Phobos." There was the clang of a door off in the distance. "Go now. I'm just a memory."

"But…"

Vargas said, "Do as she says, child or this will all be for naught."

Will took one more look at the Heart in her hands and left. The Will who remained behind waited for her captors to come. Surely, they did, and Phobos was right behind them. Four guards escorted him and he stood before Will's cell, a look of pure evil on his face. "Will," he said, "have you had a change of heart yet?"

"No, and judging by the smell, I can tell you haven't had a change of bath soap, either."

Phobos smiled, seemed even amused by the wisecrack. He held out his hand, and bolts of electrical flew out and struck Will. Rather than fly against the wall, she stood, and she could move, held by the electrical voltage as she grounded against a mud floor. She shuddered and Phobos held her there. With her eyes rolling up, seemingly unseeing, she looked like a corpse suspended in place. Her ears blackened and blood came out of them. There was a ringing and the sensation of turning inside out. She felt as if she were preparing to vomit her insides. After what seemed an eternity, Phobos released her, and she fell to the floor, shuddering, smoke rising from her body.

Phobos stepped through the door, as if it wasn't there, or as if he wasn't there, and he approached Will. He kneeled beside her and said, "You can end this, you know. Just give me the Heart of Kandrakar."

Will continued to writhe upon the floor, still able to feel the electrical arcing. It was as though a thousand red hot knives were stabbing her all over the body. She said, "Daoo taat ubun. Ah…ah…"

"I didn't catch that?"

It took an effort, but Will said, "I said, 'Do…that…again.'" She coughed and could speak more clearly. "I got a charge out of it."

Phobos smiled and said, "It seems you intend that your jokes should be the end of you." He laid both hands upon her and she shuddered with electrical arcing again. He didn't force her to endure it for nearly as long, and she was grateful for the end. "That's enough of that."

Will smiled and said, "Shocking."

Phobos stood and screamed, "Blast you, girl! Give me the Heart! Have I not promised you an end to this? Have I not promised you riches? Have I not promised you anything you desired, if only you would give me that damned crystal?"

Will reached up and she gave him the Heart. Phobos took it greedily. "Finally, you've come to your senses, but…what's this?" He looked at the Heart and his fury became tangible. "It has all of the power of the Heart of Kandrakar, but it is useless to me! It is a copy. It can only be used by a true Keeper." He rounded on her and hurled the jewel at her. It struck her in the head leaving a gash. "Where is the Heart?"

"It's the only one I have."

"I can always rip out the one in your chest."

Will smiled. Yes, Phobos was prepared to lose the Heart. To have her heart torn from her chest wouldn't be nearly as painful as all she had endured thus far. She was scared. She didn't want to die, and she wanted the pain to stop. More than anything, though she didn't want to die.

"You could, or you could make a deal with me."

"What can you offer me?"

"I may only carry the Star of Cassidy, but it's still the Heart of Kandrakar. You have two Hearts. I have one. We would need four more. I would have to possess three and you an additional one. Once we each carry three Hearts, I can use the Star of Cassidy to create the Seventh Heart."

Phobos spun around, his rage now replaced by glee and he hauled the Guardian to his feet. "You can do this?"

"It's still the Heart of Kandrakar. It can do the job."

Vargas shouted, "No Guardian! You don't know what you're doing! You're promising the greatest destructive force in all of the Infinite Realms!"

There was a manic glee in Phobos' eye. Vargas had just confirmed what Will was saying. "Silence him," said Phobos.

"Don't kill him," said Will.

"Very well. Don't kill him, just shut him up. We can make a deal here and now."

"I don't trust you. If you'll swear on the Hearts you carry now, I'll keep the deal."

"Trust is a mere technicality. I swear to all of your terms on the Heart of Ulnra and the Light of Meridian."

"I swear to keep my word on the Heart of Kandrakar and the Star of Cassidy."

Phobos smiled and said, "Welcome to my service, Will."

"No, I'm the Alchemist, and we've made a deal. We'll have more power than those girls can ever dream of."

Phobos growled. "I want the Heart of Kandrakar."

"Trust me, the Star of Cassidy and the Heart of Kandrakar will equal one Heart too many. I know what I'm doing."

"You had better." Phobos ordered the Healers to see to her. From that point on, the Alchemist spent her time in the palace. She had arranged for Vargas to come with her. Once she explained to him what she planned to do with Phobos, he agreed to continue teaching. They kept going to that secret place so that they could extend their perception of time and she could learn more. Through him, she learned of the Shadow Heart, a dark Heart that embodied the dark nature of Kandrakar. She also learned that some planets, deep within their core, formed crystals that contained all five elements and the power of the world, while other worlds, kept their power on in one bloodline of the inhabitants. These were also Hearts and the Alchemist found another on the forest planet of Zambala. Then the time came when Will returned with Cornelia, and surprisingly, Orube.

She defeated Phobos and took Davira as her servant, as she had promised Vargas, but she had no intention of giving up this power, and intended to use it to make the universe a place she wished it to be.

"Don't you see what I can do, Vargas? I can keep people like Phobos from ever hurting anyone again."

Vargas nodded sadly. "You have great power. I fear you are not wise enough to use it. You are a good woman, but I will not teach you as long as you use your power for this. I would have thought you might have learned something from Nerissa. When you've come to your senses, come see me then." He left and the Alchemist did nothing to stop him.

"Come Davira, we're going to Earth."

Matt sat and regarded the Alchemist for a long time. She didn't bear the scars of her story, but he knew she told the truth, for he had seen the injuries on the other Will.

"Well," said the Alchemist, "say something."

Matt continued to regard her and said, "That Vargas sounds like one smart dude. You should listen to him."

Anger flashed behind the Alchemist's eyes. "You don't understand at all."

"I understand a lot better than you think. Did you even listen to half of what you told me? Someone who's been through what you've been through needs some love more than anyone. Will, you're forgetting who your friends are. Making them your enemies is not the answer, and I doubt they'll let you."

The Alchemist stood and said, "I've said what I've come to say."

Matt jumped up and grabbed the Alchemist under the arm and spun her around to face him. "Will, what are you thinking? Why on Earth would ever imagine that I would just give up on you, even if you asked me to?"

"Matt, there's something important that I have to do. People are suffering and dying."

"People suffer and die every day. Try imagining a world without death for a second. Think of all of those people for millions of years just hanging around."

"I don't mean to stop death. I just want to put an end to the suffering and misery. I want an end to despair. I want no more pain."

Pain was as essential to the world as joy, but Matt could think of no way to say that to someone who'd suffered as much pain as the Alchemist had. She had gone through too much, far too much; so much that could no longer see how essential it was. She felt she had something to do, and until she could recover that part of her soul that Phobos had taken from her, she wouldn't stop. Matt was convinced that that missing part of her soul could be found in the love her friends and family could give her and he told her as much.

"Matt, I want so desperately to believe that love can solve all of the problems of the universe, but it can't. There's only one solution, and I have it, and I'm going to use it. Children have a right to grow up safe. Mothers have a right not to be afraid. You have a right to a happiness that I just can't give you anymore." The conversation was over, and she vanished in a burst of light.

Now, Matt realized that being too selfless could be a very bad, very selfish thing. The Alchemist was being selfish and he couldn't figure out how to make her see it. He certainly didn't want to say it to someone so emotionally scarred. Still, he now knew what drove her, and now he could save her. He was sure of it.