Disclaimer: What are you expecting me to say? Of course I don't own W.I.T.C.H

"Boy, am I glad to see you guys!" Anzu exclaimed excitedly as she saw Alice, Sarah and Hannah enter the tent.

"Anzu!" Sarah cried out as she embraced her best friend in a powerful hug. "Are you ok?"

Anzu smiled. "Better, now you guys are here. Cornelia saved my life out there."

"Yeah we heard." Alice replied with a smile on her face.

"I hate to break up this happy little reunion, but we still have the problem of us getting to Meridian." Caleb said pointedly. The girls turned to face him. "What, it's a fact. With Blunk and the Heart of Candracar destroyed, we're short on ways to open portals."

"What about Lillian?" Anzu asked curiously. Caleb frowned.

"No. Lillian is far to busy keeping Earth safe from Lord Shail. I will not risk my home to further invasion. The only reason that Lord Shail and his magical minions haven't come to Earth is because Lillian is stopping them, but it's drawing on her power all the time and she has none to spare on something like this."

"But if we pull this off, she won't need to draw on her power. If we fix the timeline, then this'll never happen." Alice snapped at him, the fire guardians temper rising.

"IF is the operative word. What happens if we fail? We'll have left Earth defenceless against Lord Shail's magic. It's not worth the risk."

"Perhaps I could get time/space to open a fold for us." Thomas suggested, having been uncharacteristically quiet throughout the conversation. All eyes turned towards him. "What? It's worth a try."

"Try it. If that doesn't work, then we'll try and find another way." Caleb said.

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"Does anyone have any idea as to how we're going to get into the castle?" Will asked as she looked at the castle. "I doubt Phobos will let us just stroll in."

"I've got an idea." Caleb suggested. All eyes turned to him, with the exception of Melinda. "I'm guessing you remember this ploy, but as the story hasn't happened yet, the others won't."

"Guess not" Melinda replied, a grin forming on her face.

"Are you going to tell us, or do we need to wait all day!" Will snapped at them. Melinda may have been her adopted daughter, but right now her smug attitude was annoying Will.

"Well firstly we'll have to contact the rebels." Caleb said, determined to stop a full-blown argument. "Then we…"

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Lord Shail looked hard at Rebecca. "What makes you think these girls are a threat to us?" he asked aggressively.

Rebecca raised her head to answer her lord. "Yes my Lord. The guardians…"

"The guardians are dead!" Lord Shail bellowed at her. "They are no longer a threat to us!"

"Yes my Lord. These are the guardians of another timeline. Do you remember the Phoenix initiative, my Lord?" Rebecca asked.

He nodded.

"Well my liege, it's now in effect. Those were the guardians who defeated you. Fortunately, with Candracar destroyed and their leader lost in the vortex of time, they will be powerless and easy for us to destroy." Rebecca finished.

"Very well. I am going to Meridian to head off any possibility of them getting to the Phoenix device there. You will go into the past and ensure that nobody in the past decides to get it." He told her.

"Yes my liege. It will be as you command." She answered, her head bowed. As she left, Lord Shail let out a cruel laugh. There was no way he could ever be defeated, he thought to himself. He planned for every contingency. Even a supposedly total defeat could become a victory under the right circumstances and the right planning.

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Thomas closed his eyes and focused on contacting time/space.

"What is it, Thomas Vandom?" a familiar voice asked.

"Umm… We need a spatial fold to Meridian to get there. Can you help us out with that?" Thomas asked, his usual cockiness gone.

The voice sighed. "Thomas Vandom." It began "As my agent amongst the world of mortals, YOU can open spatial folds. All you have to do is focus your mind on where you wish to go and draw your finger in a slashing motion. A spatial fold will appear."

"Thanks" Thomas replied.

"You know I'm sure I mentioned this when I sent you." Time/space said as he left.

"No you didn't!" Thomas snapped back, his unease swept aside by his annoyance.

"Oh wait, I'm sorry. I told you at 850 words per second. I forgot that you mortals can't talk that fast. My mistake." Time/space replied and Thomas could've sworn he heard the thing chuckle.

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"This stuff is itchy." Cornelia moaned as they peeked out of the straw they were hiding in.

"Quit moaning Corny!" Irma snapped back. "If it gets us in, we can tolerate a little itchiness. Or would you rather try charging in and getting eaten by that snake thing."

"Lord Cedric." Melinda added coldly.

"I'm going to be pulling this stuff outta my hair for a week." Cornelia moaned.

"Quiet guys, we need to get in." Will snapped at them.

"Sorry." They both whispered simultaneously, causing the others to stare. Irma and Cornelia glared in response, but decided to stay silent.

"Hay for Prince Phobos's horses!" Caleb called out to the castle guards. They waved him through, Will peering nervously out of the hay.

"We're inside!" Caleb hissed when they pulled into the castle stables.

"About time!" Cornelia grumbled as she unceremoniously fell out of the haystack. Hay Lin's head poked out of the top.

"It's kinda fun!" she exclaimed cheerfully, before recoiling under Caleb's stare. "Or it would be if we weren't on a secret mission to save the world an all."

"Hay, only you would see the bright side in creeping into a castle full of monsters." Irma commented sardonically.

"Come on, this way!" Caleb ordered, gesturing towards the dungeons.

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Thomas opened his eyes to see Caleb and the others looking at him.

"I guess you weren't able to get your boss to open a spatial fold for us." Caleb said, to which Thomas grinned.

"Actually" Thomas began and slashed his finger in mid air to create a spatial fold "I didn't need to."

Without further ado, they walked through to Meridian.

AN: To those of you wondering where Elyon is in this fic, you'll find out in the next chapter.