Cook household
moments after Cornelia and Hay Lin vanished…
In a brilliant flash of light, Cornelia and Hay Lin reappeared; the blonde Guardian was relieved to find that she was still on her feet, her last few teletransportations having deposited her right on her backside. Unfortunately the same could not be said for Hay Lin, who had lost her grip on Cornelia and was now lying on the ground. Cornelia knelt down and, grabbing her friend by the underarms, pulled her to her feet. She took one of Hay Lin's hands and brought the Asian girl's arm around her head to rest on her shoulders and threw an arm around Hay Lin's slender waist.
The Air Guardian mumbled her thanks; Cornelia could see that Hay Lin was running out of time. Her skin was beginning to feel cool to the Earth Guardian's touch, and Cornelia could practically hear her rapid heartbeat. Despite this, Hay Lin appeared to be breathing normally; but Cornelia knew that they needed to have Taranee cauterize the wound as quickly as possible. Hopefully, after the bleeding had been stopped, rest would be enough to revitalize Hay Lin until they could find something more permanent. Cornelia began to guide her friend up the path towards the house, calling out telepathically for Taranee as she did so.
The door opened as they approached it and Taranee raced out, one hand holding a hand towel. She reached the two Guardians in record time, stopping just short of them. Cornelia gave her a curious look; as Taranee explained her plan, her curiosity turned into confusing.
"Listen, Cornelia, I've been doing some thinking; anytime you're burning flesh, it's a pretty smelly business. Is it possible that we could do it out here?"
Cornelia gestured around herself. "Are you crazy? What would your neighbors think if they looked out and saw us?"
But Taranee had a plan for that as well. "We go invisible."
"Fine, but what about noise?"
"Yeah…I hadn't really thought of that."
"Ok, so let's go inside and turn your stereo on super loud. Hay Lin can 'air' out your house when we're done."
"Alright, but it looks like we're going to have to carry her."
Both girls cast their gaze on Hay Lin, who was all but hanging off of Cornelia; Taranee walked over and put her hand on Hay Lin's shoulder. The Air Guardian gave Taranee a weak smile, which was hesitantly returned.
"Listen, Hay Lin; we're going to take you inside. I know that you're anxious to get this over with, but there are two things you need to understand."
Hay Lin nodded; Taranee could see that the girl was struggling to keep her eyes open.
"Depending on how deep those cuts are, this might cause some tissue damage."
Again, Hay Lin nodded.
"And what's the other thing, Tara?"
Taranee gave her friend's shoulder a squeeze.
"Well, this is going to hurt. Alot."
With a nod to Cornelia, Taranee bent down and lifted Hay Lin's legs; the two girls began to slowly carry their friend into the house. Hay Lin's only job during this procedure was to pressed the towel, which Taranee had given her, to her shoulder, really for the sole purpose of keeping blood from dripping onto Taranee's floor. Taranee led the way to the bathroom on the first floor; the two teenagers gently deposited their friend in the bathtub. Taranee nodded before turning to Cornelia.
"Ok Cornelia, I need to you get in with her and hold her down."
Cornelia gulped.
"Hold…hold her down?"
Taranee sighed.
"Listen; I'm going to be burning her blood vessels shut. She's going to be trying to squirm and twist her way out of it; even if she doesn't want to, her body is going to do it anyway."
Cornelia nodded. "Got it."
"Good. Now, could you wet a towel? I need to wash her wound so there isn't a lot of dried blood when I'm done. Are you wearing anything under that, Hay Lin?"
Hay Lin nodded. "A tank top."
Taranee nodded and motioned for Hay Lin to remove her sweater. Hay Lin began to gingerly pull the garment off; it was slow going because she could only use one arm, her other one was stuck in place because there was already so much dried blood soaked into the sleeve of her sweater. Taranee helped the Sir Guardian pull the first half of it over her head, and then she gently began to pull the other side down over Hay Lin's injured arm. Hay Lin let out little squeaks of discomfort as the sweater was pulled from her skin; when it was finally off, Taranee took the towel from Cornelia and began to wipe Hay Lin's arm, which was covered in dried blood and pieces of her sweater that had stuck fast in the coagulating liquid.
Soon the only part of Hay Lin's arm that was not its original color was her shoulder, which continued to pump out blood at a fairly steady rate. Taranee motioned for a fresh towel and pressed it against the cuts and then grabbed Hay Lin's hand and set it on the towel, telling her to apply constant pressure.
"Ok, now here's what's going to happen: I need you to sit up so I can get behind you, Hay Lin. You're going to lean back into me and Cornelia is going to get on top of you and hold your arms."
Both girls nodded and began to move. Hay Lin sat up, Taranee slipped into behind her and Hay Lin scooted back until her back was resting against Taranee's chest. Taranee suddenly held up her hand as Cornelia began to move.
"I'm sorry, Corny, but I need you to do two things. Well, three things; I need to you open the window and go to my room and get my stereo."
Cornelia nodded and left the room; she returned minutes later with Taranee's old Samsung stereo. She set it on the counter and walked over to the window, which she opened as far as it would go. She walked back over to the two in the tub and waited for more instructions from Taranee.
"Alright Cornelia, the last thing I need is for you to open the medicine cabinet and grab my toothbrush."
Cornelia was confused, but she did as she was told. She handed the toothbrush to Taranee, who in turn handed it to Hay Lin.
"Listen to me, Hay Lin. I want you to bite down as hard as you can on this; it's to…to keep you from screaming."
Hay Lin nodded, trying to act brave even though her eyes betrayed her. Taranee squeezed her shoulder a she gave final instructions to both girls.
"Cornelia, I need you to turn that stereo on and go full volume; there's a Karmilla CD in there already, or you can switch it to the radio. It's your call. And when you're done, get in here and hold Hay Lin's arms."
The blonde nodded; soon rock music was blaring throughout the house; Taranee had to raise her voice to address Hay Lin even though the Asian girl's ear was inches from her mouth.
"Here's what's going to happen, Hay Lin; you're going to remove that towel and let Cornelia hold you arms down. When she's ready, she's going to signal me, and I'll count to three; at three, I'm going to cauterize your shoulder, ok?"
Hay Lin nodded, the combination of fear and blood loss making her feel weak. Cornelia kneeled down in front of Hay Lin and gently grabbed her forearms and pressed them into the Air Guardians stomach; she then leaned forward, putting most of her weight on them. Cornelia nodded at Taranee, who raised her hand and began to concentrate…he hand began to shake…and then began to steam…and finally burst into flame…
The sight of her friend's flaming appendage seemed to stress the gravity of the situation to her better than any of the words that her friends could have said. Hay Lin's eyes grew wide and she began to squirm under Cornelia, moans of distress sounding from around the toothbrush which was clamped in her mouth. Her eyes were glued to Taranee's fiery hand; Cornelia cleared her throat loudly.
"Hay Lin, look at me!" Hay Lin reluctantly did so. "Don't look at her hand, Hay Hay. Keep looking at me."
Hay Lin took a deep breath and nodded to Taranee, her eyes still fixed on the blonde. Taranee drew in a deep breath of her own, held it and then let it go.
"One."
Hay Lin's breathing began to get shallower and faster…
"Two."
Cornelia blinked back tears; the sight of Hay Lin so distressed nearly broke her heart. Taranee took one last breath, the fire on her hand beginning to take on a bluish tint.
"Three."
As the Fire Guardian pressed her conflagrant extremity to her friend's shoulder, several things happened at once: Hay Lin's back arched and her feet began to kick against the back of the bathtub; her eyes bugged out as she bit down as hard as she could on the toothbrush. Cornelia could hear the Air Guardian's screams of agony even over the blaring music; the toothbrush clenched in her teeth doing little to muffle her howls. A fowl stench was rapidly filling the bathroom, causing Cornelia to gag and almost loosen her grip on her friend; and perhaps the worst of all was the lurid sound of Hay Lin's skin sizzling under the torrid heat of the Fire Guardian's grasp.
And, just like that, it was over; Taranee pulled her hand away from the struggling girl and motioned for Cornelia to release her, which the blonde did immediately. Now free, Hay Lin instantly slapped a hand to her burning shoulder, ignoring the intense pain that radiated outward as her appendage made contact. Her other hand was balled into a fist at her side, her knuckles rapidly turning white as she squeezed harder and harder. She spit out the toothbrush, which was nearly bitten in two, and gave a single scream of pain before she settled for clenching her jaw and shutting her eyes as tightly as she could.
After what seemed an eternity, Hay Lin cracked one eyes open and looked up at Taranee, who was cradling her head. Silent tears had left streaks down the Fire Guardian's mocha colored skin, and her dark blue eyes were full of concern. Hay Lin raised her hand and gently stroked Taranee's cheek, a gesture the caused a fresh batch of tears to fall from Taranee's eyes. Hay Lin locked gazes with her and whispered two words:
"Thank you."
-----
Metaworld
6:45 (Earth time)
Nerissa and the Knights of Destruction were having a brain-storming session…well most of them; Khor, being unable to speak, was naturally uninterested in the conversation. The topic under debate was A'k'sl; Nerissa felt that he was to be held accountable for skipping out on an unfinished task. She was the only one who held that opinion though; the remaining three members of the Knights of Destruction were glad to be rid of the Cranal. Not only did they believe that Nerissa had made a deal with him because they were failing to perform for her, but they also had resented the carefree way he had spoken to their mistress in.
The whole idea behind A'k'sl's mission…no matter what the Cranal thought, Nerissa still considered it a mission... was so that Nerissa could travel to Earth herself and be able to find the Guardians without much trouble. She wanted to know where they lived so that she could potentially use their loved ones against them. It was a cowardly act, but an effective one; but now that A'k'sl had walked out on her, she was either going to have to assign the task to another one of her Knights or do it herself.
Nerissa decided on the former, not because she was in any way incapable, but when one has underlings, why not use them? Her first choice was to send Shagon for two reasons: the first being that he was the most powerful, and thus the most dangerous, of her Knights, and the second was because he represented the hate she felt for Kandrakar, a hate that she knew A'k'sl shared, which made him the most likely to be able to persuade the Cranal to return to her service.
She briefed Shagon on his duties, which were threefold: track the young Guardians so that they could be swiftly located and attempt to appeal to A'k'sl's own deep hatred of Kandrakar with her own, which was reflected through Shagon. Unfortunately, the map with the Guardian's homes marked on it had been taken away by the insubordinate Cranal, but not before Nerissa had looked it over. Her memory was good enough to provide Shagon with a general location for three of the girls, but it was up to him to locate the remaining two.
Shagon's third task was one that Nerissa had insisted that, even if he should fail in his first two tasks, the Knight of Hate made sure that he accomplished. It was, Nerissa explained, hard to believe that someone such as A'k'sl could have failed to bring out some very basic emotions in his victims; the ones that survived, anyway.
Many years ago, when she had still been a Guardian, the elders of Kandrakar had told her and the other Guardians of the mysterious Cranalic Wars. They told the Guardians of how the race of magical shapeshifters had rose up against the proclamation of the Oracle himself, and were consequently hunted and exterminated. The elders had done their very best to educate the Guardians, telling them of a fraction of the horrors of the century long war; they made sure that the Guardians had understood that one of the most dangerous aspects of the Cranal was their seemingly magical ability to plant negative thoughts and emotions in the mind of otherwise rational people. They described it vividly, each giving examples of how the Cranal manipulated people into turning against each other…
"Taranee…" he began "A man stopped by the house today."
Although Peter wasn't to know, Taranee actually knew this already. You see, when A'k'sl had used his magic to vanish, or blink, Taranee had been able to catch a quick mental resonance. The simplest explanation for this is the fact that A'k'sl's transportation had left a slight magical sympathy, and Taranee's telepathy had picked up on a trace of it. And because he had just finished his little go round with Peter, that moment had been the ones transferred to the Fire Guardian.
"And?"
"Well, I…um…I think that you and I need to talk about something."
… of how they could draw out a person's basic instincts…
"Excuse me?" the sergeant asked in a soft, dangerous voice. The man across from him leaned in and spoke in a voice that was almost a hiss. "I haven't felt that alive in a long time. Say thank you to your daughter for me."
With a roar, Tom reached out and grabbed the man's collar, pulling him in close.
"If I find out you've so much as touched my daughter…"
…and of how they could make a sensible person act on impulse.
Hay Lin shook her head.
"No. No hospitals."
"What do you mean "no hospitals"? Do you think that kind of injury is something you can just ignore? I'm no doctor, but I'm fairly certain that there's a major artery in that area."
Hay Lin gave her friend a sad look.
"But if we go to a hospital, they'll ask me how this…" she indicated her shoulder "…happened. I don't know about you, but I really can't think of a lie that can explain this."
The Guardians had not known this at the time, but the Oracle had asked the elders of Kandrakar to tell the Guardians of the Cranalic Wars in hopes that they would be able to lay their eyes on, as he had, the warning signs of Nerissa's inevitable betrayal. Ultimately, of course, this had failed, and the Oracle was forced to directly intervene once again. This time he had hoped to avoid making a decision that he would regret, or would come back to haunt him, and so he decreed that Nerissa be imprisoned until she had atoned for her crimes.
"Shagon, Ember, Tridart and yourself represent three basic emotions: Hate, Pain and Despair. I believe I am right in saying that Axel has done an excellent job of stirring up at least of one these emotions in the Guardians. It is your task to determine which emotion each girl is feeling the most; once you've done so, Ember and Tridart will join you on Earth. The girl's emotions should provide you with strength enough to defeat them. I had a hunch that the Cranal would lose interest in his first task, so I indirectly invited him to complete this one."
"And he has done a magnificent job."
A/N Alright so there is chapter 8. I'm sorry it wasn't out this morning for you to read, but I didn't really have time to write last night, having to study for a midterm and shower because my first class is at like 7 AM. Anyway, I hope you guys like this.
Review responses for chapter 7:
lost prince – I try to update this quickly. And I'm glad there was no offense taken, my man. I found the beta writer link, and am considering getting one. And the secret to updating faster is to have an unchallenging college homework load and lots of free time. And orange drink ;)
glad to know that you caught on with the idea of Hay Lin burning her wound closed. I was trying to convey the idea without saying the words, and I guess it worked. I'm glad you think my Will-Susan fight is accurate.
MaJorReader619 – nice to see another review from you. The PSATs, huh? I actually never took those; I mean, the SATs are bad enough, and I took THOSE twice. I remember that I completely bombed them too. The SAT is designed for whomever can buy the specific SAT STUDY GUIDE and who spends days studying exactly what will be on the test, which is not necessarily what you were taught in school. Like they don't ask you any US history questions or anything, so why is US history a requirement to graduate?
I wish you luck, but it's not the end of the world if you don't do that well.
NIkly – glad someone shares my views on comics. And that's why I write fan fiction, because I like the characters/story people have come up with, but I just want to change the context around. So happy to hear that you liked the chapter. Yes, indeed A'k'sl is getting tired of Nerissa. It's not in his character to take orders or be on a team after so long of being alone.
get this: we were having a geography test…that was the midterm I was talking about…and I wanted to stretch my neck, so I did the deal, and then resumed the test and when I handed it in, my professor told me that he would fail me if he caught me cheating again. I mean, WTF, I was stretching my neck out a little, (it's hard to keep your head in one place when you have to fill in 100 little bubbles on a scantron) not fucking leaning over my neighbor trying to see what they put down.
Sorry, I had to vent.
XV-Dragon – thank you for using my name. names us feel less impersonal. I don't honestly know yet if I want the Heart to be able to heal people…probably not because I want to stay true to canon. I assume then that you like the part with Will and her mom? I'll keep the tension up, because even I haven't figured out a solution to will's problem ;)
