[A/N]: So, after a long time (am I in my schedule?) I have finished another chapter of Jin today. I was busy with school and not writing when my consciousness in the form of TTigerz kicked in and told me to finish a new chapter. So here you go. Remember, F is for Facades. [A/N]
All of Meridian was celebrating. A festival was held to honour the chief figures of the rebellion for their deeds during Phobos' reign. Elyon was giving a speech, with Blunk, who was standing beside her, held the medals of Meridian in a box.
"And so," Elyon finished her speech, "for leading the rebellion to liberate our world, I award the medal of Meridian too…"
She waved her hand for the honoured persons to come to her.
"Pick Blunk, pick Blunk, pick Blunk, pick Blunk! Pleaaase!" Blunk silently begged, out of Elyon's range of hearing.
"Drake, Julian, Aldarn and Caleb!" Elyon exclaimed as they entered the stage, waving at the people who had gathered to see the inauguration of the Rebel leaders into the Order of Meridian.
"Nobody ever pick Blunk…" Blunk said, sounding sad.
W.I.T.C.H. and Jin had a seat of honour, even though Jin hadn't done anything in the times of the rebellion they didn't want to leave her out, and were clapping for the four. Well, all of them besides Cornelia, that is, who was just staring at Caleb.
Elyon snapped her fingers and the medals placed themselves around their necks.
"I have to get back to my post," Aldarn whispered to Caleb, "I'm supposed to be on duty!"
He then walked away, faintly hearing Caleb say: "Wish I was, this is embarrassing!"
"Look at medal boy," Cornelia said, "he's just loving this."
*outside the castle*
Aldarn walked down the stairs to return to his post, looking at his medal and sighing.
"Quite an honour, eh Aldarn?" A familiar voice said from behind his back.
"Raythor!" Aldarn replied, "I arrest you in name of the Queen!"
He quickly turned around and tried to slash at Raythor, but was intercepted by Sandpit, who entangled him in his body.
"Yes," Raythor said calmly, "You could take me in. But perhaps we could take you."
"NO!" Aldarn screamed, struggling to break free, "Stop! Caleb!"
"Have no fear," Raythor said smugly with a small smile on his face, "your fellow rebels will join you soon enough!"
With that, everything went black for Aldarn.
…(W.I.T.C.H. opening, if you want to listen to it)…
After the honouring, the Mage came to Julian. "You must be very proud, Julian."
"I am." He replied. "Caleb has grown into a fine young man."
"He has a fine father." The Mage replied.
"And a fine mother as well." Julian said, raising his eyebrows, receiving a smile from the Mage.
"Very stylish!" Cornelia said as she looked at the medal around Drake's neck. However, her response wasn't as nice when she looked at Caleb's one.
"Yours isn't so shiny. Must be a reflection of its owner."
She then walked away, not waiting for any response. W.I.T.H. and Jin sighed.
"Will she ever stop?" Jin silently asked herself.
"Let's hope she will. Better late than never." Will silently responded.
"I prefer option C, soon." Irma whispered back.
Hay-Lin looked at a dumbfound and clearly distressed Caleb, as he walked away from them and after Cornelia.
"Poor guy, he can save a world but he can't save himself."
"Cornelia! Stop it! You can't still be mad at me? Just because I choose to place my duty to my Queen first does not mean…" Caleb started, but he was interrupted by a clearly still mad Cornelia.
"What's Elyon's favourite non-evil fighting activity?"
"Drawing," Caleb immediately replied, "why?"
"What's mine?" Cornelia asked.
Caleb's mind fell open as to say something, but he then had to think.
"Eeeeeeeeeeeeehm, spelunking?"
Cornelia whipped her hair into Caleb's face as to say he was wrong and didn't care enough for her to actually want to know. Caleb spit out a leaf that had come into his mouth.
"Tell me! I want to know!"
Cornelia stopped and sighed. "Ice skating! I love ice skating!"
"No, seriously, what is it?" Caleb asked, as Jin came closer.
Cornelia gave the two of them an annoyed face, Caleb for thinking she was joking and Jin for trying to intervene in her personal affairs. Caleb rose his eyebrows.
"You're kidding, right? Going in circles on a frozen pond? I mean, I can't think of anything duller!"
"I can!" Cornelia retorted as she disappeared behind the curtains.
Jin took Caleb's arm, making Caleb look at her. "Apply water to the burned area."
Caleb looked at the place Cornelia had just disappeared. "Besides, it's spring! All the ice has melted! HA!"
There was no reply and Caleb facepalmed, thinking how stupid and immature that sounded.
"Great comeback, Caleb." Jin said.
"You don't have to rub it in, Jin!" Caleb replied.
"Just pointing that out. But, maybe…" Jin said, pondering.
She then walked away.
"Hey, don't leave me!" Caleb replied, walking after her.
*Hideout of the Knights of Vengeance*
Aldarn was sitting on a rock instead of the given chair, out of protest. He seemed angry and threw the chair against the entrance, which was sealed off by a giant immovable rock.
"Your days are numbered, Knights!" He spat out, "Queen Elyon will see to that!"
"Queen Elyon, Queen Elyon, Queen Elyon," Frost said mockingly, "I can't believe she gave this to the likes of him."
He then threw the medal to the ground.
"I can't believe you took a prisoner without consulting your precious Nerissa first." Miranda said to Raythor, Frost and sandpit.
"Was I to stand and look as those four trashbags?" Raythor said, almost mad, "And besides, THIS is Vengeance! Nerissa cannot help us with this scheme."
*Earth, Cornelia's apartment*
"Come on, Cornelia!" Taranee said, "we're just trying to cheer you up!"
"I don't need cheering up! Go away!" Cornelia retorted.
"I can show you my latest power, it's all about the clothes." Irma said, hoping the word clothes would create a spark of interest.
Cornelia immediately looked at her and Irma smiled. She snapped her fingers and her clothes changed to the colour pink.
"You can change the colour of your outfit?" Cornelia asked, deeply impressed. However, she then added: "And still be so last season! Everybody knows black and white is the new pink!"
Irma's mouth fell open as she pointed to Cornelia's woollen ice skating outfit.
"I'm last season? You're wearing wool in the spring!"
"How many times do I have to tell you?" Cornelia asked. "It's better to look good than feel good."
Lillian appeared in the door. "She's going out. She just dressed warm because she's going skating."
Lillian too was dressed in warm clothes, seemingly ready to go skating.
"What?" Cornelia asked, putting up a very bad poker face. "I am not!"
"You are! You said so to that boy on the phone!" Lillian retorted.
The mouths of everybody in the room fell open. Immediately, W.I.T.H. stormed towards Cornelia.
"You've got a date?" Hay-Lin asked.
"A non-Caleb date?" Will asked, her eyebrows raised.
"You are soooo not going with me!" Cornelia said to Lillian, who seemed saddened to hear that.
*Meridian, Elyon's palace*
Everybody was eating, but Caleb hadn't even touched his plate yet.
"My son seems to have lost his appetite without Cornelia." Julian said.
"It's got nothing to do with Cornelia! I wish I never met her." Caleb responded.
Jin, who had decided to stay on Meridian after a talk with Elyon, touched Elyon, who placed a hand on Jin's hand to tell her she understood.
"Well, I suppose I could use my magic to burn her from your memory?" Elyon said.
Caleb immediately responded: "NO!"
Everybody laughed. When the laughter had settles down, Elyon pointed a finger at Caleb.
"So you do care! And don't lie, I'm royalty!" Elyon replied.
Caleb sighed. "Maybe a little."
Blunk, who was sitting next to Jin, whispered to her: "When Caleb speak, that means a lot."
Jin smiled. "She cares a lot too. I could sense that."
Elyon nodded. "Are you really gonna give her up without a fight?"
Caleb's expression hardened. Elyon had a satisfied smile on her face as she looked at Jin.
*Cornelia's apartment*
W.I.T.H. barraged Cornelia with questions as she stormed down the staircase, trying to evade them. After every question, Cornelia replied that it was none of their business and that they had to get out. A buzzer rang, indicating the boy downstairs was growing impatient. Cornelia sighed and quickly replied she was coming.
She then gave W.I.T.H. a look and said: "Don't follow me!"
This, of course, was an invitation they couldn't refuse.
Cornelia stepped inside the elevator and as the doors closed, she made a satisfied sigh. "Safe!"
She then 'transformed', alias, she became slightly taller.
W.I.T.H. quickly stopped the doors from shutting and looked at her.
"Oh, my." Taranee exclaimed.
"Not safe." Cornelia responded as she pulled her hat over her face.
"Can you transform without the Heart?" Will asked.
"Not exactly transform, but…" Cornelia responded as she lift her hat again.
"When did you learn to do that?" Taranee asked in amazement.
"Since Kandrakar, but I don't have…"
"No wings?" Hay-Lin asked.
"I don't have any Guardian powers." Cornelia responded.
"Who's the guy?" Irma asked.
"I don't suppose you'll stay into this elevator with your backs turned forever, will you?"
Cornelia pointed at the Afro-American guy waiting for her. The girls turned around and saw Peter.
"I didn't think so." Cornelia whispered.
"Hey Lillian." Peter said.
"Lillian?" W.I.T.H. said simultaneously.
"Oh, hi sis!" Peter said as he noticed Taranee.
"Hi…sis." Taranee awkwardly responded.
"Hey Peter!" Irma said, cheerily, too cheerily for Irma's doing, "we were just wondering, how long have you and 'Lillian' been dating.
She made really obvious signs when she said 'Lillian', but Peter didn't see it, because he was looking at Cornelia.
"A few weeks," Peter responded, "You were all there when we met! You know, at the park!"
"Wow, memories!" Cornelia responded, quickly running towards Peter, "okay, we better go before all the good ice is taken."
She then took Peter under the arm and they quickly walked off after Peter had waved goodbye to W.I.T.H.
"We're following, right?" Hay-Lin asked, already expecting the answer.
"Oh yeah." Taranee replied, her eyes half-closed at the sight of her brother dating 'Lillian'.
*Meridian castle*
Drake and Julian were looking over some battle plans.
"We'll redeploy Aldarn's men. Where is he anyways?"
A bat entered through the window, foreshadowing problems. Gargoyle hit through the wall, punching Drake and Julian to the ground. Miranda and the Tracker crept through the hole in the wall and approached them. Drake and Julian quickly got up, raising their swords. The Tracker took out his mace and when Drake and Julian charged him, broke their swords in two, leaving them baffled. Miranda then shot web at the two of them and encased them with it, rendering them unable to move. Gargoyle then took them and the Knights immediately fled the scène again. Guards saw them leaving and tried to stop them from taking Drake and Julian. Frost, who had been in hiding up to that point, jumped at the Guards, knocking them down the edge and onto the staircases and the floor, leaving them severely injured. Gargoyle then jumped off of the outer wall and into the water surrounding the castle.
Frost commanded the Tracker and Miranda to jump too and was about to jump himself, when the Mage arrived.
"Stop, you fools? What do you think you're doing?"
"Our jobs!" Miranda responded and she quickly encased the Mage in some web.
The Mage then shot energy from her eyes, incapacitating Miranda. The Tracker tried to help her, but Frost commanded him not to, on Raythor's orders. They then left the scène.
…
Cornelia was skating with Peter, showing of her ice skating skills in an attempt to impress him. Which wasn't that hard to do.
"Is that all you've got?" Peter asked, although his face and voice expressed awe.
"What have you got?" Cornelia asked smugly.
Peter then started a game of tag while skating.
Will, Irma, Taranee and Hay-Lin had followed them.
"Dating my brother!" Taranee said, clearly angry, "My brother! With a phoney name and an even phonier body? OOOH, she got some nerves!"
Hay-Lin wanted to say something, but then she saw familiar persons in the hall.
"Oh my. She's gonna need it."
Caleb, Elyon and Lillian appeared.
"This is a trainwreck…" Will said, sounding annoyed.
"Good! 'Lillian' deserves a kick in the…" Taranee started, but she was interrupted by Irma.
"Can I be the one to tell Cornelia? Oh please oh please oh please?"
They approached the three and they heard Caleb muttering to himself.
"I have nothing to worry about. How good can she be?"
Lillian heard it and responded. "Well, she used to skate in competitions and stuff. But don't worry, only nine of her ten medals are gold."
"I'm doomed." Caleb said, as he lowered his head.
"Caleb!" Will said, causing him to pay attention to her. "Great to see you! Let's go rent you some skates."
"How did you know…?"
"Women's intuition." Will responded, dragging Caleb off.
"I got my own skates." Lillian said, "I'm ready to go."
Elyon smiled encouragingly, but Hay-Lin stepped in. "You come with me Lillian. You can't skate on an empty stomach!"
They then left, Lillian seemingly being baffled and murmuring something about swimming on a full stomach and how stupid some rules were. Elyon laughed and Irma got close.
"What is Caleb doing here?" she whispered.
"Jin and I made him swallow his pride. He wants her back and we went to her house, but she already left. Lillian told us where she was, but she wanted to come along." Elyon responded.
"Boy, is he about to be full. He won't be swimming for a year!"
Taranee had already put on her skates and was on the ice. She looked angry, but knew she had to hide that in front of her brother. She quickly put a happy face on and skated towards Peter. She wasn't going to let Cornelia take her brother so easily. She got behind him and started pushing him away from Cornelia.
"Snake! Snake everybody!"
A group of six people quickly joined her, and Cornelia looked annoyed. She wanted to go after them, but she was then intercepted by two other familiar faces.
"Let go of me!" Cornelia said to Elyon and Irma.
"Your worlds are SO about to collide!" Irma said, leaving Cornelia baffled.
"Caleb is here." Elyon explained.
Cornelia's eyes widened and she quickly looked to the skating field. And there he was, trying to keep standing and constantly falling. His face had 'embarrassment' written on it.
"Is he humiliating himself…for me?"
Caleb saw her face and she quickly hid herself.
"He can't see me like this!" she said, as she made herself shorter again.
She was still wearing her black and white skating suit though. Suddenly they turned pink. Cornelia was astonished and Irma winked at her. Cornelia was about to make a fashion related comment, when Caleb crashed into the wall right next of her.
"Oh, hi. I didn't see you there. You look nice."
"Hi…Caleb. Thanks."
Over Caleb's shoulder, she saw Peter and she got a terrified expression on her face. She quickly hid it and pulled Caleb up.
"Let's skate!"
Peter noticed her and came to her. "Hey Cornelia. Everyone's here today it seems. Hey, have you seen your sister? She sort of vanished on me."
"No, haven't seen her. But she must be around here somewhere."
"I'm right here!" Lillian said, as she came skating by.
Cornelia oddly smiled at her and then quickly skated away from Peter. All but two of the lights then went out. Peter was in one of them, Caleb in the other.
Cornelia kept skating in between them, with Irma constantly changing her outfit and Cornelia changing her height. This way, they could hide Cornelia's deception until Cornelia broke up with Peter. Then all the lights went back on, and she hit Caleb.
"Cornelia, I'm really trying! I've got the black and blue marks to prove it, too!"
"Give me five minutes and I'll meet you outside." Cornelia said with a smile.
Caleb seemed delighted. "Ok. Then I'm going to turn in these shoes of death."
Caleb left for the return desk and saw Cornelia on the security monitor. Cornelia had decided to break up with Peter and regained her height and black suit. Caleb saw it happening right in front of his eyes. He remembered he saw someone like that skate with Peter and he immediately put one and one together. He looked to the skating course and was just in time to see Peter going in for a kiss with Cornelia. Cornelia looked stunned as it happened. She saw Caleb in the corner of her eyes. She knew now how much she had screwed up. Peter was nothing like Caleb. It took her to the moment of it all being blown to bits to realize, but she knew now, that she never wanted anybody else than Caleb. She quickly went to Caleb, who was talking to Blunk, who had appeared just now.
"Your daddy be in big trouble!" Blunk said, getting a nod from Caleb.
Caleb saw Cornelia in the corner of his eye, but ignored her.
"Caleb, please." Cornelia tried, but Caleb ignored her.
She had, however, heard Blunk's message and the least she could do to make things right was help him get his father back.
"Wait here." Cornelia said as she skated back to Peter.
"Hey, Peter, could you do me a favour and watch my younger cousin who also happens to be called Lillian?"
"Oh, she's your cousin!" Peter said, as he looked for Lillian. "Sure, but where are you…"
She had already vanished.
The Guardians quickly assembled in a secluded spot and Will transformed them into their Guardian forms.
"Let's go. My father needs me."
Elyon created a fold, and they passed through it, landing in Elyon's palace. There, they saw Miranda in a cage of energy, and the mage standing right next of it.
"Well, it seems the gang is all here." Miranda said.
"Tell us where you've taken Julian and Drake!" Jin said, as she was up to date with the developments in the castle.
"What's going on?" Elyon asked. The Mage quickly explained what had happened.
"And Aldarn. Don't forget Aldarn!" Miranda taunted.
"You little…!" Caleb said, grabbing his sword.
"Caleb, don't!" Cornelia said.
"That's right Caleb. Don't. Not if you ever want to see them again!" Miranda said, with a smug smile on her face. She knew they had no power over her. They had to listen to her would they have a chance to get the others back. "This is how it'll go. Release me, and I'll go with Caleb."
"No! You…" Cornelia started.
"No-one asked your opinion, Cornelia." Caleb retorted.
The tone in his voice was clearly audible and Cornelia looked hurt.
"I'm prepared, my Queen."
Elyon then let the cage dissolve and Miranda took Caleb's hand.
"Isn't it nice when we all get along?"
The two of them then left the castle.
"We're following them, right?" Jin asked.
"Oh yeah." Will responded, "Blunk, lead the way."
Blunk quickly ran off. Cornelia took Jin and they flew after Blunk.
"Blunk close! Very close!" he shouted upwards, making the Guardians aware of the proximity. Suddenly, he stopped. "Or not so close."
The Guardians landed on the ground.
"Oh, that's not good." Hay-Lin said.
Cornelia placed Jin on the ground and Jin immediately ripped open the ground into a direction. The Tracker quickly jumped aside.
"They're all here, I can feel them."
Frost quickly charged at them while the Guardians were not yet prepared. They quickly dodged, but Will, Irma and Taranee walked right into Sandpit's punch. Taranee and Will quickly flew away to dodge it, but Irma hit the ground. Sandpit tried to engulf Irma, but Hay-Lin quickly created a small hurricane to blow him away.
"Oh yeah, hurricane Hay-Lin." Hay-Lin said with a smile, right before she got entangled by the Tracker's mace. She got thrown into a tree. The Tracker readied his mace again, but he got encased in stone. The Tracker used his strength to get out, while his dog attacked Jin, who defended by raising a stone wall. Cornelia flew towards Hay-Lin.
"Are you all right?"
"My head hurts and I've been degraded to a tropical depression. Other than that I'm fine."
The Tracker's dog recovered and saw his target: Blunk. He quickly made a run for it and grabbed him, shaking him around. Jin shot small rocks at him, but due to the shaking Blunk's tonga tooth flew off and blocked them. When the broken rocks fell on the ground with the Tonga tooth, which she had lost track of, Jin put one and one together.
"Well, that's unfortunate."
"We got what we want, let's go!" Frost commanded.
Sandpit quickly created a sandstorm and when it lifted, the Knights of Vengeance had disappeared.
"Caleb…" Cornelia whispered.
…
Caleb was in a cave, together with his father, Aldarn and Drake. Gargoyle opened the cave by lifting a rock and Blunk was thrown in as well.
"This all big mistake! Blunk never got medal."
The Knights then started to discuss how to kill the four of them.
"Quick and nasty." Miranda said, getting a nod from the Tracker, but Frost shook his head.
"Slow and painful."
"That is Nerissa's decision." Raythor said.
"WHAT?" Miranda said, clearly outraged. "These aren't her prey!"
"Fools! Without her, you'd be in cages!" Raythor retorted.
"Or worse!" It suddenly sounded through the cave. Even in the secluded area for the prisoners her voice was still somewhat audible.
"Who's that?" Caleb asked, getting baffled looks from the four others. "It's not a Knight. So who is that voice belonging to?"
"How DARE you act without consulting me!" Nerissa screamed, clearly angry and unpleased.
"But, mistress," Raythor started, "Vengeance is the mission you gave us!"
Nerissa's eyes widened. "Yes, that is true. Very true."
She seemed to think for a while. "The best way to solve this is to…divide the spoils!"
She bursted open the cave with the prisoners with lightning, causing said prisoners to fall unconscious at the same time, due to small electric shocks. She then entered the cave and teletransported away with two of the prisoners.
…
The Guardians, meanwhile, were flying around, trying to find them. They had been too far away for Jin to sense them, but she knew in which direction they had run, so now they were flying that way.
"We're running out of time!" Cornelia said.
"Assuming there is any time left…" Irma said. "Ehm, which there is. Definitely!"
"Don't worry, we'll find them. Alive." Will reassured them.
Jin, however, seemed a lot less certain about that. "We don't know where they are. They can do whatever they want with them. They might even be skinning them alive at this very moment."
"Oh no!" Cornelia said.
"Way to be a mood kill, Jin." Taranee said, as Cornelia sobbed and Jin realized her mistake.
"Wait!" Will said, suddenly, flying away. "I felt something. Like, a charge?"
"WILL!" Cornelia shouted.
"This way!" Will responded.
"So now we're following Will, because she randomly 'felt something'. This is most likely one of the most retarded plans I have heard in my life." Jin commented, although nobody seemed to pay attention to her.
"There! Gargoyle!" Will said.
"I stand corrected." Jin said.
"I'm going to drop you on this ledge, ok?" Cornelia asked her, getting a nod.
Cornelia then just let go, letting her fall.
"Whoa, I can't see! How am I going to land safely?" She said, as she hit the rockbed. "Ouch, my hip!"
Cornelia split the ground under Gargoyle, letting him fall in a pit. Frost and the Tracker came out of the cave, clearly having heard the noise.
"I have to get past them!" Cornelia said.
"We're on it!" Irma and Hay-Lin said, but before they could do anything, Jin came skating by on two humps of moving earth. She went straight for Frost and the Tracker and shot the earth beneath them up, launching them in the air and causing them to fall in the same pit as Gargoyle. To be more precise, they fell on his head as he tried to climb out.
Gargoyle roared and Frost and Tracker were shot up from the pit. Irma and Hay-Lin quickly froze the earth leading into the cave, allowing Cornelia to skate into the cave. Frost and the Tracker then landed on top of the ice and, after a little struggle, got a good footing. Cornelia and Jin had went into the cave, but W.I.T.H. was being blocked out.
"Seems we've got to force our way through!" Taranee said, as she shot a fireball.
Jin was in a deadlock with Miranda and Raythor when Cornelia came skating in. Raythor saw her and came charging for Cornelia, who used telekinesis to have his sword shoot towards Miranda, breaking up the deadlock between her and Jin. Miranda shot web at Cornelia and Jin shot a rock at it, catching the web mid-air. Cornelia then used telekinesis to shoot it at Raythor.
"Thanks Jin, nice teamwork." Cornelia said, getting a thumbs up from Jin.
Blunk saw the two of them and waved. "Earth girls!"
Cornelia saw him and went flying towards him. Sandpit created a sand tornado and went for Cornelia.
"Be careful, Cornelia, something very loose just left the ground!" Jin shouted.
"Sandpit!" Cornelia said, as he turned around. She then got engulfed by Sandpit.
"Okay, something loose on the ground is Sandpit, got it." Jin murmured to herself.
She then felt something else rising from the earth. "Gargoyle!"
W.I.T.H., who had just finished dealing with Frost and the Tracker, were about to fly in, when Gargoyle rose from the earth and hit Hay-Lin and Taranee to the ground. Irma and Will flew past him and Irma shot water at Sandpit to free Cornelia. Gargoyle roared and pounded the ground. The vibrations caused the already fragile earth in the cave to move, and certain pillars fell down. The cave was collapsing. Gargoyle quickly took out Raythor and Miranda, while Sandpit wrapped himself around his arm. Raythor made a salute you would make to honour a dead comrade.
They saw Blunk, Drake and Aldarn and quickly grabbed them, as they attempted to fly away from the cave. Jin held it up for as long as she could, until Will came along and grabbed her from her feet. They dodged the falling debris and got outside, but just barely, one second later and they would have been buried.
They laid the three prisoners on the ground and woke them up.
"Wha…?" Drake asked as he woke up.
"Where's Caleb?" Cornelia asked.
"Also, where's Will and Jin?" Irma suddenly asked.
They looked around, but they were nowhere to be seen.
"Oh no…" Taranee said. "You don't think they were still inside?"
Jin and Will were indeed still inside, but they were close to the exit. Jin had quickly created a ball of stones as she noticed they were falling, which she didn't think was supposed to happen. It was now the only thing keeping them from dying a horrible death by being crushed by rocks. Jin tried feeling through the pebbles, to see where their entrapment would stop. The place the pebbles didn't go too far, that was the place to go. It was the outside. Jin felt and felt, but it got harder with every breath. The oxygen was running lower and lower, which caused her to lose focus. Then, she felt it. But she wasn't sure if she could make it now. Will was not doing anything, yet still draining oxygen, so Jin had to be quick. Jin pushed the rocks behind her to the exit and her hand got through. She then lost consciousness and the rocks started falling down on top of her and Will.
Cornelia noticed the hand and quickly rose the stones around it, thinking of how big two bodies were. She just hoped her estimation was correct. Irma and Taranee started pulling away the rocks, revealing Jin and Will. They quickly pulled them out and placed them right next of Aldarn. Cornelia then let the entire cave collapse.
"Oh, thank god." Irma said, as she quickly did a check up on both of them. "Will's only got a sore left foot and they will both be fine after a lot of air. There was nearly no oxygen left in there. Thank god you can estimate, Cornelia."
Cornelia sighed. Aldarn placed a hand on her shoulder. "Caleb and Julian…they're gone…"
Cornelia then broke down in tears. "I should have never let him go away…I should have went with him! IT SHOULD HAVE BEEN ME!"
W.I.T.H. then sat next to her and held her hands. Cornelia went to the ground, silently sobbing. "I didn't even give him a second chance…"
As if some mystical force had heard her, a fold opened a few meters away from them and Caleb and Julian fell out. Cornelia looked up and saw Caleb. She immediately ran towards him and hugged him.
"Where have you been?" Will asked. "What happened?"
"I don't know." Julian answered. "We heard a voice in the cave. It didn't belong to one of the Knights. It said to divide the spoils and then our cage broke open and we were unconscious."
"But how did you get back here?" Will asked.
"I have no idea. I'm not even sure why we're still alive. Maybe that person helped us?"
Cornelia wanted to grab Caleb's hand, but he quickly retreated.
"Caleb, wait." Cornelia asked.
"For you? Not anymore." Caleb retorted.
"I deserve that. But listen, when I thought you were…gone…all I could think about was…"
"That other guy?" Caleb asked, angrily.
"No! After you decided to make a fool out of yourself, for me, I decided to break up with him. And when I thought you were gone, I thought of how stupid I had been to let someone like you, so honourable, so great pass by for some other person who isn't half the man you are." Cornelia said, sweetly.
Caleb didn't seem very fond of his 'praise', but his body language told a whole different story.
"Let's go back to the castle." Will said.
…
The next day, Cornelia broke up with Peter. After Taranee had asked him if he was alright, Peter had told her he was about to break up with her, but then she already did. Hearing this, she had decided to tell Caleb, but not anyone else. Caleb seemed rather fond to have heard it.
…
The Oracle was meditating as Lubor entered. "The mage is here."
"Let her in." The Oracle said.
The mage entered the room. "Ah, my dear old friend." She gave him a hug, which he awkwardly accepted.
"And? How is the training of the young avatar coming along?" the Oracle asked.
"She shows great skill in her powers over Earth, but the Guardians have not yet found out a way to teach her the other elements." The mage responded.
"Do not worry, my friend. The Guardians are smart enough to figure something out."
"Is it wise to have the Avatar team up with the Guardians in such perilous times? After all, the Guardians have been troubled by the Knights of Vengeance lately and today they nearly lost Caleb and his father, Julian." The mage asked.
"Jin will surely be an asset for them in these perilous times and she will be an even bigger asset if she learns more."
The mage was silent for a while.
"And from which dimension exactly did the Avatar come from?" she asked with a small smile.
[A/N] So Jin and Will were nearly crushed and Cornelia, after screwing up big time, has made up with Caleb, it seems. So all is good. Except they still have no idea who this Nerissa is. It does, however, seem that Will can feel Nerissa's powers. Maybe this can help the Guardians teach Jin how to use the elements. As the mage said, they're not really getting far with teaching her. See you next time! [A/N]