A New Beginning
Chapter 4

Previously: "Awww shucks! Look at what you've done now Grandma. You've scared her away!" Hay-Lin said to Yan-Lin.

"Hmmm, I have a feeling this is about something else. Something magical" said Yan-Lin. "Oh no. Please don't start your magical talk now Grandma."

Will ran home. She didn't want to think about what had just happened now, and the only way to do that, was to be in some water.

"Damn….Where could she be?" asked Irma. They had been walking around Heatherfield for ages now, and they still had no clue about where she could be.

"She's new to Heatherfield, she wouldn't know where to go, apart from her home, but we've already been there" Cornelia stated.

"We already know that much Corny" Irma said, clearly emphasizing the Corny bit. "Don't. Call. Me. That" Growled Cornelia, quietly, but loud enough for Irma to hear.

"Guys! Stop arguing. We have a new friend who is now roaming through a town, and she doesn't have a clue where she's going!" Said Taranee, feeling concerned for her new friend.

"Taranee's right! We need to think about what places stand out…" Said Hay-Lin

"The café…"

"The Silver dragon…"

"The swimming pool…"

"The museum…

"The park…"

"The cinema…"

"Alright then. As a group, we'll go and check out all those places, agreed?" Said Irma, taking charge. The girls replied with a nod of their heads.

Will was enjoying a nice dip in the pool. It was something that she would usually do. It always helped her clear her mind. She had been swimming since she was very young and she never stopped. It had always amazed her, the way the water flowed, and she wanted to flow with it. She was the only one here at the pool, and that was the way she liked it. But then from behind her, the door opened, revealing for other girls, with a worried look on their faces. Cornelia's looked a lot more annoyed than worried though.

"Oh my gosh! There you are. We've been looking all over for you" Said Hay-Lin.

"Oh. Hi" Said Will coming out from under the water.

"By the way, Grandma wants to talk to us again, together, so you have to come with us." Will took a deep breath and dived into the water and back up again, then she got out and got a towel.

"I'll just change…" She said before disappearing behind the changing rooms.

"Damn. Did you see her?" Irma asked.

"IRMA?!" shouted the other girls.

"What? I mean admit it, you all thought the same."

It was true though. Will was skinny, but she kept in shape, and was fit, believe it or not. She had all the curves at the right places and it seemed as though she worked out. It turned out that she hid her body really well, beneath her baggy clothes. When Will came out, fully dressed, Hay-Lin immediately jumped to her side.

"Let's go!"

Once again, the girls were walking down to The Silver Dragon. Hay-Lin led them all down to the basement for the first time ever. When they walked in, there was a harsh, bright light, but when it faded Will gasped in surprise. There was no mistake in who was in front of them. It was none other than the Rebel Leader himself…

"Will?"

"Caleb…?" His expression was absolutely priceless. There was annoyance, irritation and astonishment.

"So…I take it that you two know one another?" Taranee asked, feeling curious.

Then, it was Yan-Lin who spoke up next, "The Mage of Meridian sent him to us. His name is Caleb, and he is the Rebel Leader. Will and him know each other because Will got kidnapped yesterday, and he told me everything. It has become clear to me, that you are the new Guardians of the Veil." And with that, she left the room.

Caleb's eyes wandered around the girls. He looked at then strangely, thinking that there was no possible way for them to be Guardians; they looked so weak and feeble. And the idea of Will becoming one almost made him laugh. Then he thought back, and to why Phobos wanted her captured, and it did make sense.

When Cornelia felt Caleb's gaze on her, she straightened her hair, stood up straight and almost melted when she saw them emerald eyes. He was by far, the most gorgeous boy that she had ever met in her lifetime, and she couldn't compare him to anyone else. She felt as though this was heaven, but it slowly became hell when his eyes landed on Will and stayed there. It was then that she felt an enormous amount of jealousy go towards the redhead.

Inside Irma's head, there were lots of things going on. Firstly, she thought about how handsome this boy was. Secondly, she knew that around about now, Cornelia was having a major crush on him, and even though it would be mean to Cornelia, she thought that he and Will would make an ideal couple and that it would be cute if the pair got together. It shouldn't matter that much, Cornelia almost always got the boy she desired. Now it was time for a change.

Yan-Lin had just come back now, but this time, she was carrying a rather long case with her. She beckoned everyone to go back to the restaurant itself and followed then as well. The girls chose the seats that they were in before Will had left. Caleb stood behind Will and next to Yan-Lin, his arms folded. It seemed as though he was irritated, and that this was just a waste of time.

"Now, let me tell you all about your powers:

Irma, you have the gift of Water" Irma then almost spat out the drink of water that Yan-Lin had given he. She looked down on her glass and played around with it using her straw. To her amazement, it followed her command and intentions.

"Taranee, you are the mistress of Fire" Taranee awkwardly pointed her finger out and imagined fire in her head. In a split second, the end of a banana caught fire, but luckily Irma doused it with her water.

"Cornelia, you are like Mother Earth" Yan-Lin said while placing a minute pot in front of Cornelia, who hovered her hand above it. Magically, a plant could be seen emerging from the soil, and growing so big, its roots managed to break the pot and was randomly flying out.

"My dear, little Hay-Lin, you are the empress of air" the old and aging women held out a Chinese lantern in one hand, and with one blow of cool air, it flew up to the ceiling.

Yan-Lin opened the case and took out a sword. It had a golden hilt, which had lots of beautiful carvings on it, and in the centre, there was a strangle symbol which looked a bit like the ying-yan sign. The blade was smooth and looked sharp. Yan-Lin let go of it, and it hovered in mid-air.

"This is the Sword of Candracar. It can choose it's Keeper, and that person will be your leader. This person has a pure heart and they have the ability to transform you and let you use your full Guardian abilities."

A bright light came from the sword as it rose up into the air. It passed each one of the girls until it finally rested in front of Will, who unconsciously gripped the hilt and moved it closer to her. He light began to fade.

"You, Wilhelmina Ashley Vandom, are the new Keeper of the sword of Candracar." Yan-Lin said with a smile that could challenge Hay-Lin's.

"WHAT?!" Yelled Caleb, "She can't be the new Keeper, let alone a Guardian. She's only a little girl. You can't expect her to fight off Phobos. She's as weak as it is!"

"HEY! I am not a little girl!" Will said standing up.

"She's right Caleb; otherwise, the sword wouldn't have chosen her to be the one. Now, there is somewhere I would like to take you all."

"Are you sure that this is where you wanted to take us?" Taranee asked, looking around. They had now appeared in a large, abandoned field, which was completely deserted.

"Well, what I want to know is how you know about all of this, Yannie?" Irma said, looking at Yan-Lin with curiosity.

"Ah, Irma, you always were the one who questions everything. Well, I know because, before all of you, I was once a Guardian when I was at your age. Oh, the memories!" Yan-Lin said.

"Wait, that means that you once worked with my father in the Rebellion!" Caleb said, quite startled, while Yan-Lin nodded, grinning.

"Yes, I did work with Julian. Now, let's do what we came here to do. Will I want you to repeat after me, 'Guardians Unite' –"

"– I'm telling you, this won't work. I mean, look at her, she's only a little kid!"

"I'll show you who the little kid is" Will muttered under her breath. She clutched the Sword of Candracar in one hand and looked down at the ground.

"Guardians Unite!"

With that, five orbs appeared out from the sword, one pink, one blue, one orange, one green and one a pale bluish, sliver colour and grew into the size of the girls and enveloped them. A bright, white light appeared and after a while, the girls reappeared. They seemed to have a change in wardrobe.

Hay-Lin wore a small, teal coloured cropped top, whose sleeves curled around her shoulders. She had a pale pink skirt, which was knee-length, and had slits going up both sides of her legs. There was a beaded cord tied around the waistband, and she had a pair of green and turquoise striped tights. On her feet there was a pair of flat, purple Mary Janes, and along her arms, there were teal coloured bands. Her hair had grown slightly longer and part of it was styled into two, identical, Chinese buns.

Cornelia had a teal coloured cropped top, with long sleeves that covered the whole of her hand. She had a long, pale pink skirt, with one slit going up her left leg, and underneath you could see there were green and turquoise stripy tights. She had below the knee, flat, purple boots. Her hairstyle remained the same, though over the process of the transformation, it had grown a tiny bit longer.

Taranee wore a short, turtleneck cropped top, with light, teal coloured shorts. Underneath them, there were green and turquoise striped tights. On her feet, there were some flat, purple ankle boots. Her hair was styled into braids around her head, and the glasses had manages to stay during the transformation.

Irma had a slightly off-the shoulder, teal coloured, long sleeved top, that had a triangle shape across the back of her hand and she wore a light pink mini skirt which had slits up both sides of it. She also had green and turquoise stripy tights, with high-heeled ankle boots. Throughout the transformation, her hair had grown a little longer, and had now become slightly curlier.

Will wore a pink coloured midriff, cropped top with long, bell-shaped sleeves which reached her mid-arm, and she had long, black, fingerless gloves. She had a blue mini skirt, which also had two slits going up both sides, and turquoise and green striped tights. On her feet, there was a pair of knee high, high heeled, purple boots. Her hair had grown longer and now fell past her shoulders.

On top of all that, all the girls seemed to actually have wing. Wings!

Everyone was stunned. Yan-Lin stood there beside them with a wide grin on her face, and she seemed to be very proud. The girls themselves were completely and utterly speechless. Will kept on running her fingers through her hair, not believing that it could actually be long. Caleb's jaw even fell open in surprise! He obviously wasn't taking defeat to well.

"Now you are all transformed, and you can use your full powers," She then turned to Caleb. "Now you listen to me carefully, I want you to teach this girl everything you know about using a sword, planning tactics, and the other things that you warriors do, is that understood?" Yan-Lin said sternly, while glaring at Caleb, who nodded.

"Then I will teach her everything I know," He said with a bow to Yan-Lin, and then he turned to Will giving her a suspicious look, "But you'd better listen to every word I say."

"Will, let me tell you something. There are lots of people who will try to get their hands on that sword of yours. You must try your best to keep it safe, and keep it protected. The sword trusts you, and that is why you are it's Keeper. As you know, it isn't easy to keep it hidden while it's like this, so that's why you can change it to any form you want it to take, and that's how it will stay until your time as Keeper is over. Though when in battle, you can change it back to it's original form as a sword. Go on, change it"

"Urmm…How?" Will asked, and from the corner of her eye she saw Caleb face-palm himself and Yan-Lin glare at him.

"Just focus on what you want it to look like, and then imagine the sword changing into it." And so Will did. She focused on one image, and slowly saw the sword changing it's shape.

Once again, a light appeared, but not as bright as the ones before. The sword started to shrink, and soon it became a small, pink, rounded pendant.

"There you go. I must say, not a bad choice. Cassidy had one exactly the same, though hers was blue, she called it the Heart," Yan-Lin said with a chuckle "Time to test your powers."

"Water" While saying this, Irma shot out a small jet of water, which knocked her over, and the water landed all over Will, who only scowled.

"Fire" Taranee aimlessly shot fire which flew around before landing on the ground.

"Earth" Cornelia said while placing her hand on the grass. A few cactus came out, but then a worm came and Cornelia ran around screaming.

"Air" Hay-Lin blew a gust of air towards Will, and managed to knock her over completely. "Sorry Will!" She said. "No problem, Hay-Lin" Will said sweetly, through gritted teeth, that it was almost scary.

"Ah, well, it seems that we're going to need a lot more practise. Though we can't do it now. I think that even with one attack from each element, we've destroyed enough of the town as it is." Yan-Lin said smiling.

The next day Will went to the Silver Dragon. She knocked several times until a young lady opened, and she didn't seem very happy.

"Excuse me young lady, do you what time it is?"

"Urmm….yes."

"And you do know that we're not open yet?"

"Yes."

"Then what are you doing here?"

"I'm a….urmm….friend of Hay-Lin and Yan-Lin. I'm new here. My name's Will."

"Oh, hello there sweetie. Please, come in. I'm Hay-Lin's mother. Call me Joan-Lin." Joan-Lin said with a smile of her own, her mood completely changing from annoyance to happy. Will went in and went towards the cellar. In there she found Yan-Lin and Caleb having a chat.

"Ok. So I want you to take her to Meridian and tell her what they need to do, understood?" Yan-Lin said, while Caleb nodded.

"Take who to Meridian?" Will said, startling the pair.

"You." Said Caleb."You know it's mean to eavesdrop on people's conversations, right?" He asked arrogantly.

"You know, it's mean to talk about people behind their backs, right?" Will replied mimicking him.

"Touché" Caleb said with a smirk.

"Why do I have to go?" Complained Will. "I don't like that hell-place."

"That's my home, I'll have you know!"

Behind him, there was another one of the blue, swirly portals, which was humming quietly. "Now get in" he said sternly.

"Well, I don't want to go, and so I won't." Just then, Hay-Lin came in.

"Hi Will. Hi Caleb! Ooh, I love your outfit Will." She said hyperactively.

Will looked down at herself and scowled. She was pretty much forced to wear one of the outfits her mom had brought for her. She wore a plain white tank top, a pair of tight, dark blue jeans, and below the knee, black boots. She had the 'Heart' around her neck and tucked into her top. She hated it.

"Ok, you two. Time to go." Yan-Lin said, pointing towards the portal.

"I'm not going, and that's it."

"You are going, and what I say is final." Said Caleb. When Will didn't respond nor move, he sighed and walked over to her. With one swift movement, he hauled her over one shoulder. Will was now screaming, kicking and thrashing.

"Put me DOWN, you overgrown Neanderthal!"

"As you wish princess (!)" Caleb said sarcastically, while walking through the portal with Will.

"Aren't they just so adorable together?" Hay-Lin said to her grandmother dreamily.

"Ah, young love. Just so beautiful!" Yan-Lin replied, nodding in agreement.

Meridian….

On the other side of the portal, it was cold and raining heavily. Caleb made sure to walk further into the village before letting Will go.

"Alright, you can either, walk all the way back to the portal, or quickly find shelter and go back when the rain has gone." Will sighed in annoyance and looked at Caleb with a glare.

"Where do we need to go?" She said through gritted teeth.

"First we need to pick up my friend, and then we'll go together." Caleb said, smirking in satisfaction. The pair walked through the pouring rain, until a voice hissed behind them.

"Psst. You two. What are you doing out past the curfew?" Will and Caleb turned around, only to find a boy who was bald, with green skin, and a few scales? Will felt frightened to be in his presence and slowly stepped backwards, until she collided with Caleb's chest.

"Don't worry. He's one of us. Aldarn, phew, it's only you. Boy, you gave me a scare." Caleb said to this, Aldarn bloke.

"Caleb? Is that really you? We heard you got tossed through the Veil. How…how?" Aldarn began to stammer.

"Calm down Aldarn. I'll explain later. Let me introduce you both. Will, this is my best friend, and second-in-command at the Rebellion, Aldarn. Aldarn, this is Wilhelmina, Leader of the Guardians of the Veil."

"I've told before not to call me that." Will growled under her breath.

"Caleb, what kind of joke is this? The Guardians are old women, and this girl is far too young!" Aldarn said to Caleb in annoyance, while Will only sighed.

"Guardians….errr….Guardian Unite!" She said, and a bright light appeared, indicating that the transformation had begun. Once it had ended, Will changed the pendant back into a sword, while Aldarn was just looking at Will with wide eyes.

"You really weren't joking. She actually is a Guardian. Oh Guardian, it is an honour to meet you." Aldarn said, greeting Will with a bow.

"You too Aldarn. Tell me, how do you put up with this…this… lunatic?" She asked, emphasising the last word just to annoy him.

"My lady, I still have no idea." Aldarn replied with a smile, as he saw Caleb resisting the temptation to strangle him.

"I think we should be getting a move on about now, don't you?" He said through gritted teeth, when he saw Will and Aldarn smirking behind his back.

Will, Aldarn and Caleb carried on walking for at least an hour, and by now, all of them were completely wet and shivering.

"Why can't it ever be warm and sunny here?" Complained Aldarn.

"Aldarn, my friend, we haven't seen the sun in sixteen years now. Don't start expecting it any time soon; you'll only be disappointed." Caleb said to a now, pouting Aldarn.

"How much further? My legs are absolutely aching!" Will said from further behind them.

"Yeah, says the one who has wings. Why don't you use them?" Caleb scoffed.

"Fine then, I will." Will said, though she still wasn't quite sure on how to fly. She thought about what Yan-Lin told her in the past, if she imagined it, then she could do it. So, naturally, she imagined her wings flapping and the muscles in her back tensing.

"AAAAAARGGH!" Will screamed, as she shot up into the air, flying aimlessly like a fly. "How do I get down?" She had stopped moving round, though she was still hanging upside down in the air.

"How would I know? You're the ones with the wings, not me!" Said an irritated Caleb.

"Yeah, that's right, but who told me to fly, huh?"

"Hmm, me, that's who."

After several fail attempts to get Will down from the sky, and Aldarn being pulled up by her, they arrived outside the Rebel base camp. It looked old, and as if it were about to be demolished.

"So, this is where you both live?" Will asked, with a hint of pity in her voice.

"Yes, we have been here since we were little children." Replied Aldarn, and Will could see that he had always wanted a nice, proper home, instead of this…dump?

"It's a… urmm ...nice….nice place, you've got here…." Said Will, trying to overlook the awkwardness of the situation.

"Huh, yeah. You just keep on fooling yourself. We don't need pity; we need hope and maybe a little bit of luck." Caleb said, though admittedly, he knew that he wanted the same as Aldarn, even if it was a bit selfish.

He opened to door, or at least what was used to be one, and led them the three of them inside. It was actually quite a surprise for Will, who had now returned to her normal self.

On the outside, it was a crumbling building, but on the inside, it was almost like a hotel. There were lots of stairs, lots of doors, which probably lead to bedrooms. The only difference was that this wasn't some posh place, in fact, it was such a poor place, the walls looked like they were so thin, that the slightest movement could make it crumble to the ground.

"This way." Aldarn said, leading Will and Caleb up a flight of stairs. They went higher and higher, past many floors until they were at the top. An arch shaped, wooden door loomed above them, and as they opened it, the sound of loud chattering faded into silence. Inside, there was a huge room, filled with men, women and children, their eyes widened with fear, until they saw Caleb and Aldarn, which slowly changed to confusion as they encountered Will.

"Shhh! You people need to remain quieter than that, or else Phobos' men will hear us from the castle" Caleb said to everybody.

"Caleb, who's your little friend, eh?" A young man nodded his head to Will once the noise of chattering returned, though this time, quieter.

"Again with the word 'little'" Will growled to herself, though Caleb and Aldarn were still able to hear her, and they felt themselves smirking.

"You'll find out in just a second." Aldarn replied for Caleb, as he took Will by the wrist, and led her up to a stage.

Caleb cleared his throat, as once again, everybody had turned away from what they were currently doing, and looked at Caleb. "Each day brings us new hope, and with that, we WILL defeat Phobos. Especially now, with the help of the Guardians of the Veil. May I present you, Wilhelmina Vandom, Keeper of the Sword of Candracar." He took Will, who was still scowling from the use of her full name, by the shoulders and moved her forwards, giving her a nod which indicated that she should transform again. Will sighed.

"Guardian Unite!" Will said, as the entire Rebellion watched as she changed from a small, little child, into a gorgeous, tall woman. When the transformation ended, Will saw the men and women smiling at her with hope and kindness, and the children looked at her with their mouth in an 'o', and continued to stare at her in awe.

After a few quick introductions, Will now knew that the main fighters in the Rebellion were Vathek, Drake, Tynar, Raythor, Alayas, and Aketon.

"Would you like to return to Earth now?" Caleb asked Will, almost sounding disappointed, keyword being almost. When Will nodded, he reached for his coat, which he had taken off earlier and led Will out of the hideout.

The rain hadn't stopped. In fact…it had gotten worse over the short period of time. Harsh winds were brushing harshly past their faces, and almost making it hard to breathe. It was pouring heavily, and their clothes – which had slightly dried over time – were dripping. Caleb pulled his coat tightly around himself, and forced himself up a hill where the portal was, while Will was blindly trying to catch up with him.

At long last Caleb arrived to where the portal was, or at least where it should have been. His eyes widened in horror as a sudden jolt of realisation hit him. Behind him, he could hear Will coming closer to him. Uh oh!

"Ah…Wilhelmina…. What would you do if I told you that the portal was gone?" He asked awkwardly, silently thanking the darkness that she wouldn't see him worried.

"First, I'd do something that would remind you not to call me that name. If the portal was actually gone, I'd give you such a long and painful death, you'd scream so loud that even the people on the other side of the veil would hear you, you moron!" She replied coldly.

Caleb grinned. If anyone else had said that to him, he would have been slightly worried, but coming from Will, it just sounded like a little kid messing around. Even so, he couldn't help but think that she was serious.

"Ah, well …in that case…it's disappeared" He said quickly, making sure to avoid her gaze.

"WHAT?!" She screamed so loud that he actually winced, and it was a miracle that Phobos hadn't sent his guards to capture them.

"Let's go back to the base, shall we?" Caleb asked. By now, Will was absolutely fuming, and he was glad there was freezing rain to cool her down, because she seemed as though she was about to erupt with anger

With a look of apology, Caleb turned around and led the pair of them back to the Rebel hideout.