Eight women stood in the Fortress of Light, before the Council of Kandrakar. One of them, under ordinary circumstances, shouldn't belong there, but a special exception had been made. Once again, the Guardians had acquitted themselves beyond the Council's highest expectations. Whatever anyone said of these young girls, they were the most accomplished and successful group of Guardians that had ever served Kandrakar. Even the mightiest of Guardians before them would have faltered had they faced challenges the likes which these girls had encountered. The girls looked up to see the Oracle, Endarno, and Yan Lin all beaming at them.

The Oracle said, "Guardians, the darkest hour in your history was the darkest hour in all of Kandrakar. Never had we faced such danger. It concerns me that I am saying that so often, but we cannot dwell upon that. The future must bring what it will and we must face it as our wisdom instructs us. You have all made me more proud than you can imagine. You deduced correctly that Belial, after Xin Jing's sacrifice was the first to possess the Heart of Kandrakar."

Will said, "He was also controlling the Alchemist."

The Alchemist said, "No, he wasn't controlling me."

"Come on, you heard what he said."

The Oracle said, "The Alchemist is correct. Belial was not controlling her. He was influencing her. There is a difference. He may have been manipulating her, guiding her, instructing her, but in the end, she could always have chosen to ignore him. Belial, upon regaining full strength would likely have destroyed her. He very nearly did. Will, you are correct in the belief that Belial was lying to you. There is truly no way he could know which of you is which, could not have manipulated you so, and likely, he merely said what he did in a final effort to break the Alchemist's spirit. He knew he was losing, so he lashed out at the one he could hurt the most.

"Congratulations are in order. You stopped the Seventh Heart from destroying the universe. You saved the Alchemist from herself and from Belial. You stopped Belial from returning to power. Even Phobos will now return to where he belongs. Orube, bring me the sword."

Orube did as she was instructed. When she returned to her position, the Oracle pointed the sword at the speaking area, and Phobos appeared before the Guardians. He looked around, frightened and uncertain, but his arrogance was no less diminished, and when he composed himself, he looked at the Guardians, and the Council with nothing but contempt. The Guardians gave him stony expressions. Susan and the Alchemist had different reactions. The Alchemist recalled the months of torment and at first, she felt fear but anger quickly took its place, a rage she didn't realize she was capable of. She dug her fingernails into her mother's arm, drawing blood.

Ordinarily, Susan might have said something, but she didn't notice the pressure from the Alchemist's closed fist. She was too focused on Phobos. For the first time, she was meeting the man who had caused her daughter so much suffering, and it was taking all of her restraint to keep from clawing his eyes out. The look on her face said as much.

The Oracle said, "I see that there is no love lost between any of you and Phobos. I can hardly blame you. I certainly will not be underestimating him again. He will return to the Tower of Mist and the keeper of the tower shall never enter his cell. He may only look to ensure Phobos is still there." Phobos was led off by the Heralds of Kandrakar. "Whoever the players in this drama may have been, Phobos was undoubtedly the cause of these events." He waved his hand, and the crystal in the sword pommel became six gems. The Oracle held up a bright red one. "Orube, I charge you to return to Basiliade and return this to its rightful place. I trust you know where that is."

Orube bowed and said, "I will take it directly to the Temple of the Crimson Dawn." She accepted the Heart of Basiliade and then turned to the Guardians. "This is goodbye once again. When I am finished with my mission, I will resume my duties here as the Guardian of your aurameres."

Will stepped forward to shake her hand, then changed her mind and hugged Orube. Orube smiled and returned Will's embrace.

Irma shouted, "Group hug!" and all five Guardians were practically crushing Orube.

When they released her, Orube approached Susan and the Alchemist. Orube bowed respectfully before Susan. "Have no fear," said Orube, "you've raised an amazing daughter." Then, she pulled the Alchemist into a hug. After that, she was gone.

The Oracle said, "The Shadow Heart shall return to the Heart of Kandrakar from whence it came." The Shadow Heart approached Will and bonded with the Heart of Kandrakar. "The Light of Meridian shall be returned to Queen Elyon." The Crown of Light formed from one of the crystals and was also put in Will's possession. "The Heralds shall deal with the Hearts of Zambala, Eridea, and Ulnra. Now, to the matter of Will and the Alchemist. Many choices stretch before you."

The Alchemist said, "I had no doubt you would make me go to the Tower of Mist."

"And why would I do that?" When no answer was forthcoming, the Oracle said, "The purpose of the Tower of Mist is not to punish. It is there to contain evil. The people who are there are only there because if they were not, they would be spreading evil. The decisions you have made were decisions that would have had evil results, yet in the end, you made the conscious decision to turn away from that path and correct your mistakes. Again, nobody made that choice for you. Now you come here, prepared to face the consequences of your actions. The Tower of Mists forces people to confront their own evil. I fear that it would not hold you, as you are not evil." The Oracle smiled wryly.

The Alchemist looked down, somewhat bemused, "Then…"

"You have many paths before you, but I suspect that you have already chosen one. You have already correctly deduced that the Star of Cassidy can never be taken from you. You are no longer the Keeper of the Heart of Kandrakar, but you still have the power to do great good, and have an excellent plan to put it to use. You are a good person, and the next time someone like Belial fuels your doubts, I suggest you listen to the people who care about you."

The Oracle turned his gaze back to the Guardians. "Will, what was your opinion of Belial?"

Will said, "Sir, he was the most horrible thing I ever met. He thrived on the pain and misery of others. The worst of people made him stronger."

"And when you fought him?"

"Sir, he was so strong, I was kind of surprised he went down so easy."

Irma said, "You call that easy? I've got aches in places I didn't know existed."

Hay Lin said, "Cornelia was the smart one. She held back and let her powers do the work."

Taranee said, "I would have been hamburger if Will hadn't…I'm still not sure what she did."

Yan Lin said, "Will has discovered the elemental secret of her powers. Will, you must refrain using your power in that manner. It can be extremely destructive and dangerous. Taranee could have ceased to exist. If you find yourself in the position of having to use that ability again, be extremely cautious."

The Oracle said, "It is extremely rare for a Guardian to discover the full depths of her power. Understand that the powers you possess are abilities that the occultists of your world spend their lives studying and hoping to discover. You have no such education, and Guardian's rarely do. To be fair, the Alchemist learned this science from one such man of learning. Enough of that subject though. We were speaking of Belial."

Will nodded and said, "We didn't defeat him, did we?"

"Unfortunately, you did not. I fear that Belial has been attempting this for some time. He belongs to a race of beings that we call the Profane Ones. They were the first beings to discover magic and they used it for their own selfish ends. Belial was the mightiest of them and he sought the destruction of everything. He was born on Earth but he was defeated in the Infinite Void. His entire race, whose evil was such that they were beyond redemption were cast in with him. It was when Phobos accomplished the impossible and escaped the Infinite Void that Belial was awakened. I fear that he has no intention of returning to his slumber.

"The only reason you defeated him so quickly was because he hadn't finished his regeneration when the Alchemist cut him off from the Seventh Heart. His existence in your dimension was tenuous at best, but he is awakened now, and he has regained some of his power. He is the oldest being in the universe and he possesses the virtue of patience. It may be that because of your actions, he will not be a threat to the Infinite Realms in a long time, but make no mistake; he is awake now, regaining his power, and biding his time. If you have any question of his character, know that his name means 'Worthless One'."

The Guardians, the Alchemist, and Susan were returned to Mrs. Rudolph's house to find Elyon, Dean, and Matt waiting, each of them nervous and concerned. Susan hugged Dean. Matt, upon seeing both Will and Alchemist, inhaled sharply, unsure of what he should do. Together, they all set to the arduous task of restoring a semblance of normalcy. Will gave Elyon the Crown of Light.

Relieved, Elyon placed the circlet upon her head and said, "I should be going home then, now that I have my power restored. I suspect there is a great deal of damage control to be done."

Susan said, "Umm…could you stay for dinner?"

Elyon recalled the fried chicken and said, "Okay, but I can't stay longer."

Matt sat between Will and the Alchemist when the roast beef dinner was served. Nobody talked about what happened. Susan was still hoping it had all been a horrible dream, and nobody thought that Dean or Matt needed to know the details. Of course, the question of Will and the Alchemist came up eventually.

Cornelia said, "Okay, I have an idea. We can say that she was living with her father and came to stay in Heatherfield with her sister. After all, they're twins right?"

Irma said, "What about her name? We can't call her the Alchemist. How would that look on school records?"

The Alchemist said, "Guys, none of that is going to be a problem. I'm not staying."

Silence fell across the table. Then Hay Lin said, "What? You can't leave. This is your home."

"That's right. Home is where one of us goes back to the way things always were before while the other one has to assume a completely new identity, make a completely new life, and figure out her place in the world from scratch."

"But, Will," said Taranee, "it's not from scratch. We're still your friends. That hasn't changed."

"And I hope it never will. It might not be obvious but you guys saved my soul. I'll never stop loving you guys, but there is somewhere else I need to be now. There is something else for me to do. I've made my choice. I'm going to Meridian. I'm going to keep being the Alchemist. I am going to keep protecting people who can't protect themselves. There's just the thing," the Alchemist looked down, unsure how to say it, "I was hoping that, we…you know…would stay in touch."

Cornelia, who was to the immediate left of the Alchemist, grasped her around the shoulders. "You don't have to worry about that. I'm not letting you forget who your friends are."

Dinner had been over for an hour. Elyon had already left, though reluctant to leave the Alchemist behind after that statement. The Alchemist had assured her that there was more she had to do but she would be in Meridian soon. After all, Caleb was waiting for his queen. Now, she sat upon the roof of Mrs. Rudolph's house, looking out into a landscape that she had no intention of ever being a part of again. She would miss it, but there were more important things to do, more important places to be.

"You're sure about this?" came Matt's voice. How did he know she was out here?

"Matt, I am a cosmic fifth wheel, and you remember that man I told you about; Vargas? I'm going to be his apprentice. I'm going to learn from him. He told me that if I should ever come to my senses, he would be happy to teach me."

Matt smiled at the idea of Will being a real sorceress. "Never the quiet life for you."

"Belial is still out there. I know the Oracle said he may be down for a long time, but I'm not going to take a chance. Phobos nearly destroyed my body, but Belial nearly destroyed my humanity. I can't forgive that."

Matt put a hand up to her cheek and the Alchemist leaned into his touch, longing for so much more. She wanted to be held, to be taken to a quiet world with Matt where she would never have to worry again. She opened her eyes and looked into Matt's. "Your song woke me up, Matt. Mom, and the girls, they were there, reminding me of what I was leaving behind. I couldn't say no to Mom, but Matt, your song woke me up."

"Will, you can stay, you know."

"And what about her? She loves you as much as I do. No, it's better this way. There'd be too much confusion any other way. What does she do if you choose me? What do I do if you choose her? How do you feel about that? There was one Will when this started and that's the way it has to stay. Nothing else is fair to any of us."

"Don't you deserve love?"

"I'm sure I do, but something tells me I won't have time for it. I'm choosing the scholar's life, remember?"

Later that day…

Alvarez sat in his office throwing a foam basketball into a Fisher-Price hoop stuck to the wall. He had Will's file on his computer screen, the enigma troubling him. Had he dreamed all of that? He didn't think so. He never remembered a dream that clearly. Then was the question of magic. Had anything he seen been real? Will had come to him at the end and told him to wait in his office, that she had a gift for him and that it would soon arrive. If it had all been a dream, why was here, waiting patiently?

He was thinking of closing the investigation completely. No matter how deep he investigated, the questions kept being strange and the answers kept being stranger. To make matters worse, he was coming across references to Kandrakar in Interpol files and on the internet. He had searched all of the words he had heard the girls use and came up with incredible information, including a Chinese legend about four dragons and a nymph named Xin Jing. On a hunch, he had searched for the Guardians but came up with nothing except a few security companies, a document file share website, an anti-virus offer, and a website for guitar amplifiers.

Any of his searches for the five elements gave him alchemy, Wicca, and Golden Dawn websites up the nose. He had learned everything about magic from how to attract love to how to cure earwax. He didn't learn what he wanted to know and then he remembered something else the girls had said about portals and the veil. "Veil" brought up more New Age crap, but "portal" was interesting. True, he had to sift through useless information, such as a card game called Magic: the Gathering, and a video game on PS3 and Xbox, but he finally got hits on Meridian, and many of the other things he had heard, including "Phobos", "Frost", and "Elyon". It was true that these website blog posts were written by people who claimed to have stumbled upon these things by accidents, and whose credibility was suspect, but Alvarez believed them. After all he had been through, he had to believe them.

So, it was all real. All of this information bounced through his head as he threw the basketball into its hoop over and over. So what would he do with this information? It was true that nobody would believe it, but would he tell any of the crackpots that would believe him? Wouldn't that make him a crackpot? Yes, they'd assume he was a crackpot with a crack pipe.

There was a knock at the office door. "Come in."

A young girl came in, probably sixteen or seventeen. She was small, with long black hair down her back. She had olive skin and dark eyes. She was Hispanic and dressed like a typical teenager with blue jeans and a Hello Kitty tee-shirt. She also looked very familiar, like his wife used to look when they she had been a kid.

"Can I help you, Miss?"

"I'm sorry, I was just…I'm looking for Jorge Alvarez."

"You've found him."

The girl's eyes widened and she said, "Umm, I don't know how to start."

"Usually, at the beginning. Trust me, it works every time."

"Okay, here goes; I'm adopted…I mean…not exactly. I don't remember very well. I had had a concussion when I was six so I remember a little, but everything is all…jumbly. My mom, I mean, not my real mom, she told me I fell…and…"

Alvarez put his hands out and said, "Look, why don't you sit down, calm down, and just think about what you're trying to say."

She looked down at the folder she had in her hand. "Well, she gave me a different name and I don't really remember my old name. She said my parents gave me up, but I never believed it. Then this girl calls me and tells me what my real name is, and I find out that I'm a missing person. Anyway, I'm your daughter."

Alvarez's eyes widened. She certainly looked like she could be. She was the right age, she looked like his wife. She looked just like her mother. "My daughter is presumed dead."

"I know, but they had this picture of her," she opened her folder and pulled a sheet of paper, "and it looks just like the pictures of me as a kid." She handed it to Alvarez, who was now standing.

He read parts of the article aloud. "Rosa Alvarez…" "…Missing on Tuesday, October 17, 2002…" "…Subject is six-years-old…" "…police have no leads…" He handed the sheet back to her. "You know, after you disappeared, I became a cop and I always thought I'd find you."

There was a moment in which they simply looked at one another, uncertain of what should happen next. A gift; that's what this was, a gift, and Alvarez was happy to accept. "I'm Rosa," she said, tears streaming down her face and her voice uneven. They both moved at the same time and hugged each other. All of Alvarez's previous worries had been driven from his mind, but one thing remained: Will Vandom. He could never forget what she had done for him.

At Golden…

This place had many fond, and many not so fond memories for the Guardians. Dates had been made and hearts had been broken in here. They couldn't count all of the cheap, oversized hamburgers consumed, or the stale fries that Irma had hogged. They couldn't forget the time that their astral drops had left them with an enormous tab and didn't tell them.

Irma said, "So what do you think; a full spread cover of the Guardians on Time?"

"On time for what?" asked Cornelia, a sardonic smile on her face.

"For when the world finally knows our secret!"

"And why would that happen?" asked Will.

"Because…it is bound to happen sooner or later and you know it!"

Will shook her head. "We've managed to keep it pretty well until now. One boyfriend and one family know the truth. That's a pretty good record after five years."

"Don't forget one Jorge Alvarez," said Irma.

"I'm not, but I'm still sure we can keep our secret."

"You are in denial. We are having close calls on a daily basis. We were talking about it while you and Cornelia took your mom and soon to be step-father on a tour of Meridian with Orube. Hay Lin and Taranee said I had some very good points."

Taranee said, "That doesn't mean we agree with them."

Hay Lin worked diligently on a chocolate sundae as she said, "We either get discovered or we don't. I say we keep the secret and let everyone else work to find it out."

Irma looked from Taranee to Hay Lin. "Oh, come on. Taranee may have been completely unwilling to commit, but Hay Lin, you totally had my back."

Hay Lin said, "No, I just expressed the opinion that your argument had some merit and was worth some thought. Well, I thought about it, and I think that you're right when you say that sooner or later, the world's going to find out. It's so hard to hide from the internet, but I think you're wrong when you say we should come out of the broom closet. If the people of Earth really want to know about us, let them find out the hard way."

Irma pursed her lips and looked at Taranee, "What about you? Have you thought about it?"

Taranee said, "I think I really don't want my picture on Newsweek."

Cornelia said, "Maybe Vogue or Vanity Fair."

Hay Lin said, "Maybe my own Chinese cook book! Chef Hay Lin Presents!"

Irma said, "Is anybody going to hear me out?"

Will said, "We heard you, Irma. I just think that telling the world our secret is going too far. For one thing, we don't need to. Hay Lin's right; if the world finds out then good for the world. I for one, would rather go about business as usual."

Cornelia said, "And I believe that first on the agenda is Mr. Horsberg's big math test tomorrow."

Irma said, "Wait a minute! Which would you rather have: one of Mr. Horsberg's tests from the pits of evil, or an interview on 60 minutes about W. I. T. C. H.?"

Cornelia said, "Oh, please. Nobody watches TV anymore. Why bother when you can watch everything online?"

"Oh, so you'd rather have an article on Yahoo! News?"

Will said, "What, and take a risk on being interviewed by Chris Chase?"

Hay Lin said, "A man with bad Karma if there ever was one. I think he'd make a good clown, though."

Cornelia said, "He is a clown."

Will said, "Come on, the math test tomorrow. I don't know about any of you, but I think I'm going to spend the rest of the night cramming."

Taranee said, "Will, given all the time you've been gone, he might let you out of it."

"You mean Mr. 'Nobody Escapes My Tests' Horsberg?"

"I'll help you tonight."

Irma said, "Come on, guys. I had this whole public relations thing planned out."

Will said, "Well, if the world should find out, you'll be ready, won't you?"

Irma sighed and returned to her shake. "I guess you're right. Still, a spread in Time would be nice."

On Metamoor…

Vargas' home village had been destroyed by Phobos and he had been forced to find a new home. Meridian had enough room for him on the outskirts. The city was vast, easy to get lost in, and easy to avoid people, which Vargas liked. Back when he had his magic, he had visited many cities on many worlds. Still, no matter what he witnessed, he always came home. He was born here and he would die here.

He may not have had his magic, but he could still do his magical workings. He had a furnace and a lab and he was sure his potions would come out much the same as they always had. The quest for knowledge never ended. Vargas may have lost his magic, but he had all of his talent. His greatest talent was knowing people. He could read their very souls. Of course, he could be wrong about a person, but he never was.

It was because of this that he wasn't surprised when the white and red robed girl appeared on his doorstep. Her physical wounds had healed, but the mental wounds she would probably bear for the rest of her life. Still, she didn't present herself as a wounded woman. She was a woman who was healing.

"Honored Guardian," he said.

"No, just Will. I'm not a Guardian anymore."

Vargas smiled and said, "Your honor is no less for it. I see that you could not go through with your plan. I knew you wouldn't. You're too good."

"I almost did."

"Of that I have no doubt." Vargas turned aside and invited her in. "Now, where were we in our lessons?"

The Alchemist stepped inside to learn the secrets of her namesake and to find her new life. Vargas would be only too happy to guide her on her journey. Still, at the back of his mind there was a doubt. If only Vargas knew how dangerous doubt could be, and the evil it could invite. Doubt could bring the mightiest to their knees. After all, it defeated the Alchemist.

However, just as doubt can save a soul, it can bring with it uncertainty and discord; appetizers at the feast of Belial.

(And here we are at the finish. For some reason, whenever I read the fight between the Guardians and Belial, I start hearing the song, "Ballroom Blitz". Okay, moving right along. I have readers to thank and I do thank them from the bottom of my heart. They are AshleySwift13, purplewaterfalls567, SilverBullet, Hufflepuffxlulux, Nightmaster000, and Drakensis, thank you one and all. I have a couple of Doctor Who fics I'm neglecting, and a Harry Potter fic I'm taking my dear sweet time on. Then again, I really should do something productive, like finish the book I'm writing. Still, there's something about the fanfiction hobby I can't stay away from. As for my future writing W. I. T. C. H., the Alchemist isn't done with me. I can feel it. Thank you all again, support means everything to finishing a fic.)