Disclaimer: I don't own W.I.T.C.H. So don't please, please, please don't sue ok.
When W.I.T.C.H reached the Silver Dragon, they found no signs of struggle, nothing to indicate Miranda's escape. Encountering Miranda in Meridian had been something of a shock to them, especially as they were certain that she was their prisoner on Earth.
They charged into the basement of the Silver Dragon to find their prisoner where they left her and Joan Lin sitting there with a small box.
"Ah there you are girls," she said in a calm voice. "Hay Lin, call your grandmother down please, she should be here for this and I don't want to explain myself twice."
The five girls and Caleb looked at her with puzzled expressions on their faces.
"Hay Lin I told you to get your grandma." She said with a slight growl this time.
Hay Lin charged upstairs and a few minutes later returned with Yan Lin. They joined Joan in the basement. She looked around at them all and made a silent prayer to any deity, who would care to listen, that they didn't hate her for what she was about to tell them. Especially not her dear Hay Lin. She could live with the scorn of the others, but her daughter meant the world to her.
"I…" she started "Yan Lin you're not the only one with secrets in your past." Reaching down to the box, she withdrew a blood red crystal ball. Yan Lin let out a curse.
"That's a Falintra." She exclaimed and turned to face Joan. "What. Are. You. Doing. With. That. Thing of black magic?"
Joan sighed and leant back. "It's a part of my past that I'm not proud of. It all started twenty years ago, when I lived in Hutchville…"
Flashback
Twenty years ago.
A sixteen-year-old Chinese girl ran through the snow-covered streets of Heatherfield. She was very late for school. Again. To be fair, it wasn't entirely her fault. After all, getting her little sister ready in the morning, preparing her pack lunch, getting her moms wages off her before she drank them all away and a thousand other things that needed doing before she left made getting to school on time an almost impossible task. And people wondered why she preferred fictional worlds.
Walking into her history class, everyone turned to look at her and she felt her cheeks warm up. She really didn't like being the centre of attention, it tended to lead to awkward questions and Joan was too proud to accept charity.
"Sorry I'm late sir" she said to Professor Goldsmith and prayed that he was in a good mood. If he was in a good mood she might just avoid serious trouble. If he was in a bad mood he would-.
"So glad you could join us Miss Chang. Especially on the day of a pop quiz."
-do that. Her best friend Chen Lin whispered a small "good luck" to her as she passed. Luck it seems wasn't with her and she flunked the test. It wasn't that Joan was stupid. She just didn't have much opportunity to study. The rest of the day went by in a similar fashion and so by the end of the day Joan Chang felt thoroughly drained.
Things seemed to brighten up when she got to work at the Golden Diner. There she met their newest member of staff.
"Joan Chang this is Jonathan Trask. I want you to show him the ropes around here" Her manager told her. "Jonathan has just joined us and needs to know how to do his job"
Joan looked at him and thought to herself that perhaps today wasn't completely bad after all. With his short blonde hair, dark eyes and strong chin, he looked like an angel. But his eyes had a certain playful daring behind them.
A few days later they began to date. Things picked up at school as he started giving her lifts to school, ensuring that her punctuality improved dramatically. The only fly in the ointment was Chen. Chen had taken against Jonathan big time and their friendship suffered as a result. Joan loved the fact that unlike some of the boys at school, he treated her like a person and not some cheap tart.
"Joan" started Jonathan "there's something I'd like to share with you."
Joan looked at him curiously. "What is it?" she asked.
He reached into his bag and pulled out a blood red card. Beckoning her closer, he pricked his finger with a needle and squeezed a drop of blood onto it. On the card, writing began to appear.
Joan Chang, it read, I love you. Joan blushed.
"Joan Chang, I want to teach you how to use your magic. At first I was unsure if you even could, but now I'm certain. But only if you want to. Are you willing?" he asked.
"Yes" she replied without hesitation. For Joan, who often found herself wishing to be someone else or somewhere else, the lure of magic was very strong.
Over the next few weeks, Joan learned blood magic. One Friday morning however, Chen confronted her.
"What exactly are you two up too? I've hardly seen you these past few weeks and you're always sporting new cuts every time I do."
Joan felt a rush of anger course through her. "What I do is none of your business Chen Lin!" she snapped and stormed off. They spent the rest of the day avoiding one another.
Jonathan was waiting for her outside school in his car.
"There's a special occasion tonight and I want you there. You'll love it, trust me. I'll need to pick you up straight after school, but trust me, it'll be well worth it." Was all he had told her that morning. As she wasn't working that night, she agreed.
They drove to a big house in an isolated part of Heatherfield and walked in. Joan was a little uncertain about this, but Jonathan assured her that they were expected. As they walked into the main ballroom, she was grabbed from behind by two men and pinned to the ground. She let out a scream and Jonathan turned towards her and let out a small laugh.
"My dear Joan" he began with a cruel smile on his face "Whatever made you think that you could ever be anything more than trash? The only reason I taught you what I did was to bring out your magic that resides in your blood. You know, it's pretty rare to find someone with your potential."
"But-but you said you loved me!" She stuttered, as tears began to fall from her eyes.
"Why would anyone love someone like you?" He sneered.
She felt the chains being attached to her arms and legs and was hauled up onto the wall. Shortly afterwards, others arrived wearing hooded robes. It looked like a scene from a bad horror movie, but it was all too real and Joan felt a surge of fear. Chen had been right, Jonathan was bad news. She regretted her argument with him earlier. He was her best friend with his impressive sense of compassion, his wise advice and his beautiful eyes. No, he meant far more than a best friend, she loved him. She just wished she could tell him before she died. After all, she was unlikely to survive whatever these people had planned.
"Good evening ladies and gentlemen of the Circle." Jonathan called out to the crowd in front of him. Tonight, we harvest the blood of one whose blood has more power then anybody in this town. Blood powerful enough to resurrect Bayell himself. And when Bayell returns, our rightful place in this world will finally be ours." Raising a knife, he held it high. The people gave him a huge cheer. A robed man forced her throat towards a stone basin in the centre of the room.
But as Jonathan approached her, the man hit him in the face. In the confusion that followed, the mysterious man ran and grabbed an axe from the wall, broke her chains and dragged her out. On their way out, someone knocked one of the burning torches over and the building began to burn. When they reached the outer gates, Joan and her rescuer turned to look back. In it they could see Jonathan Trask standing amongst the flames, laughing maniacally. They called the fire brigade, but by the time they arrived, the building was an inferno. She turned to face her rescuer and smiled.
"Thank you Chen. Thanks for saving me from them and myself."
"How did you know it was me?" he asked as he lowered his hood.
"You're the only person who would do that for me. How did you know how to find me?" she replied.
"When I saw him waiting for you, I had a feeling that something was wrong. So I followed you on my bike. I ran into one of them when I sneaked in and was able to steal his robes" He paused. "Joan Chang I…" but he didn't have a chance to go any further as she kissed him with a passion.
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"That's when Chen and I started dating and I've never regretted it" finished Joan. Looking at the group gathered in front of her, she saw them looking at her with awe-struck expressions.
"Why didn't they just kill you at the beginning?" Asked Irma.
"They needed her blood to be as strong as possible for it to succeed. For that you need someone who is using magic." Answered Yan Lin with an odd expression on her face.
"Which brings us to this." Finished Joan. "The Falintra allows three people to share their thoughts and feelings completely. No secrets, no lies, nothing at all can be hidden. It's very draining and can leave you completely stunned. Even Jonathan couldn't hide anything from me, which is why Jonathan used someone else to teach me it. So I need someone to volunteer to be the third person."
"I'll do it." Caleb volunteered. "After all, the guardians are far more important."
They couldn't fault his reasoning. First Joan pricked her finger with a needle and squeezed a drop of blood onto the crystal. She then did the same to Caleb and Melinda. They then placed their hands onto the crystal and the memories of all three began to flow through them.
AN: Have you ever had a story that goes off into an entirely unexpected direction? When I started this fic, Joan Lin was never meant to play such a major role, or have any secret past, but here we are. Hope you like it anyway. As always, read and review.