Disclaimer: I do not own W.I.T.C.H. This is a work of fan fiction.
Season Three Episode Eighteen: "M.A.C.E., Part One" Chapter Five
At the predetermined time, Judas opened a fold from the Zambala side and Bess and Courtney returned from earth, their arms filled with stolen goods. "Wow," Uriah said, "You two don't mess around. That's a lot of stuff."
"It's mostly food and clothes." Bess said. "At least in my bag. Court went for the higher ticket items."
Judas laughed. "Of course she did. That's secondary though. How'd it go with the Guardians? Did you get to fight any of them?"
Courtney answered "Kind of. We actually took down Will and Cornelia with a sneak attack. But then that older redhead they were with on Meridian did some kind of power thing herself to save them. It was more than we were ready for, so we had to run."
"Is there anyone around Sheffield who's not hiding powers of one kind or another?" Sandra wondered.
Judas put an arm around her waist. "I'm starting to wonder the same thing." he said. "But it doesn't matter. Next time, we'll hit them all at once again. We just need a good plan…" The Dominators gathered around to lay their plans…
After a long afternoon of gardening work, The Ethel's were relaxing on their back patio. Little had been said about Alchemy's earlier feat of reviving a dead bird, but it was front and center in all three minds. "So…" Alchemy said, "I know we've been avoiding it, but we really can't do that. We need to discuss what happened. What I did."
Paula agreed, "Yes, we do. You've had awhile to think it over now. Have you reached any conclusions about how you did it, where it came from?"
"No, none. All I know is, that I was standing there, looking down at the bird, and then all the sudden I had this feeling… almost like an instinct. I knew what I needed to do, though until I did it I didn't have a clue why I needed to do it or what would happen. I just had to touch the bird."
"Have you given any more thought to telling your friends about this?" Arthur asked.
"Hmmm. Maybe I should call Elyon." Alchemy said. She dialed the number and Elyon answered on the third ring.
"Hey Al, I'm glad you called. I've got a question for you." the Queen said.
"I've got one for you first. Can you come over, I really need to tell you about something that happened to me today. Something really weird."
"I'll be right there." Elyon answered. She hung up and teleported directly to the Ethel home, startling Paula since she arrived right in front of them in the back yard. "Oops. Sorry, you didn't say you were outside. I was gonna knock on the back door."
Composing herself, Paula said "It's alright. I'm just glad you came."
"Me too." Alchemy said. She then told Elyon about what she had done.
Arthur watched Elyon's reactions as Alchemy told her story. When she was finished, he said "You don't seem surprised at all by what Al's just told you."
"I'm not." Elyon admitted. "Al, when you called I said I had something to ask you about. This is a part of that." She then told the Ethels about her plans…
Cassidy and Miranda were watching 'North by Northwest'. Reaching for a handful of popcorn, Miranda said "He's making a mistake."
"Huh? How do you mean?" Cassidy asked.
"He thinks the woman is an enemy. She's actually undercover police or something, maybe a spy. He's gonna get her caught the way he's acting."
Cassidy stared at the younger girl. "How do you do that? I put in a film you've never seen and you always see the big plot twists before they can happen. Seriously, how do you manage it?"
"Dunno. It just seemed kind of obvious to me." Miranda replied.
Cassidy grinned. "Remind me to never play poker with you."
The phone rang. Cassidy answered. "Oh hey Elyon! What? Sure, c'mon over." As Cassidy hung up, Elyon did just that, appearing in the room with them, Alchemy by her side.
"Can you guys come to Meridian with us?" she asked. " I need to tell you about something very important."
Cassidy and Miranda exchanged a glance, decided to have a little fun. "Oh, I don't know…" Cassidy said. "I'm really getting into this movie."
"Me too. I told you two before, you incur Cass's wrath if you interrupt movie night." Miranda said.
"This is true, I really want to see how this ends."
Exasperated, Elyon said "It's a DVD, you can push pause. As if Cass doesn't already know how it ends, she was probably in the theater for the original release."
"Was that a dig at my age?" Cassidy asked.
Miranda answered "I think it was. And push pause? Why on earth would we do something like that?"
"Good Lord, they're rubbing off on each other." Elyon said. "This is a nightmare." She then opened a fold and through her laughter demanded "Through. Now."
"Oh alright. It's not like Miranda hasn't already figured out the ending anyway." Cassidy said while pausing the film. Together, the four girls walked through the fold to Meridian. Once there, Elyon told Cassidy and Miranda about what she had been up to, as she had previously explained to Alchemy.
"And the Guardians don't know about this?" Cassidy asked.
Elyon answered "Well, Will knows. And Matt. They agreed to keep quiet until we knew if it was going to work. After all, I didn't want to raise up hopes and then have it not work out. But now, it's time. All that's left is the last test, which means it's time to bring everyone up to speed."
"I for one am excited by this." Alchemy said. "Even my parents were okay with it, though that's mostly my mom's being afraid for me and liking the idea of me being able to protect myself better."
Miranda said "It's a really good idea Elyon. I'm happy for Al and Cass. But I don't think it would work out for me. You should probably pick someone else." She turned and walked away, leaving Elyon wondering how to proceed…