Disclaimer: I do not own W.I.T.C.H. This is a work of fan fiction.

Season Three Episode Twenty-One: "War on Three Fronts" Chapter One

Heatherfield. The Silver Dragon. When the Hales entered the front doors, Cornelia winked at her mother and said "I think Mom and Dad need to clean up a little more. C'mon Lil, let's find a table."

"Alone with YOU?" Lillian exclaimed.

"That's right brat, and you'd better behave if you know what's good for you. Now c'mon. already will you?" Cornelia dragged Lillian towards her favorite table.

Watching the spectacle, Harold couldn't help but chuckle. "All that power and they still act like normal kids. I'm not sure if that should relieve me or terrify me."

Elizabeth answered "I'm leaning towards 'relieve.' Anyway, let's see if we can find Yan Lin before Lillian starts wondering where we are."

Following a hallway leading towards the kitchen, the Hales were soon intercepted by a familiar, black, furry friend. "Mrs. Lin's downstairs if you need her." Napoleon said.

After joining the cat at the top of the basement stairs, Elizabeth knelt down and asked "How in the world did you get here?"

"Teletransport's not just for Guardians." He answered. "I'm Lillian's Regent, there's no way I'm leaving her unguarded. Anyway, like I said Mrs. Lin's down here." The cat turned and headed down the stairs. Both Hales shrugged and followed.

Meanwhile, upstairs, Cornelia had her hands full dealing with her little sister. Lillian was bouncy and energetic, going on and on about how cool the day's events had been. "They drove right by the school!" Lillian was saying. "They had tanks and everything!"

"Yeah. That's like, SO not even on my radar."

"Oh come on Cornelia! You know the kids this weird stuff has happened to! You've gotta care a little!" Lillian insisted. "I mean, what if the army guys, like, blow them up or something?"

"It'd make my job easier, that's for sure." Cornelia murmured under her breath.

Moments later, the front doors opened again, admitting Hay Lin, Elyon, and Eric. Seeing Cornelia, they headed to her table and slid into empty seats. "Wow. Never thought I'd see you bring Lillian anywhere on your own." Elyon said.

"She didn't." Lillian said. "Mom and Dad are here somewhere." Standing up in her seat, the younger sister scanned the room looking for her parents. "Where'd they go anyway?"

"Please keep her occupied." Cornelia thought to her teammates. She then said "Lil, I'm gonna go find them. Can I trust you to behave for my friends?"

"Sure. I LIKE them."

"Why you little… Oh never mind, stay here I'll be right back." Cornelia hurried away.

Swiftly, silently, virtually undetectably, a fleet of Predator reconnaissance drones flew over the hills and valleys south and west of Heatherfield, following an advanced search algorithm designed to cover the most territory in the least time. Their intended mission was to locate any signs of the Dominators, or Prince Garix and his own troops. Telemetry from the drones was fed back to analysts and observers at Fort Wyvern, where General Stanrych waited with his own troops, eager to finish what he had started earlier in the day.

A knock came at the office door, and Stanrych called out for the visitor to enter. He recognized the thin man who entered as one of the best data analysts in his division. "What have you got?" Stanrych asked.

"Good news General. Predator A5-996 just hit pay dirt near Hectate Canyon. The being identified as 'Prince Garix' and his entourage of soldiers, emerging from some kind of spatial anomaly identical to the one you described them as disappearing into."

"Excellent work." Stanrych said. "I'll be deploying against them immediately. Meanwhile, you get back down to data feed and keep me up to date on what you're seeing."

"Yes sir." The man saluted and walked away. Stanrych telephoned Captain Ananias and told him to have his men ready to move out in five minutes. He then rushed to join them.

Cornelia rushed down into the basement, where she caught up with Harold and Elizabeth just as they were being welcomed by Yan Lin, who sat with Napoleon in her lap. "Cornelia? Who's with your sister?" Harold asked.

"El and Hay Lin showed up." Cornelia explained. "I asked them to keep an eye on her."

"That's settled then." Yan Lin said. "So, what brings you here?"

Harold began, "It's about Lillian. We're just worried about how to raise someone who's going to inherit as much power as you all tell us she's going to have someday. How can we be sure we're making the right choices for Lillian when she's… when she's…"

"The Heart of Earth." Elizabeth finished.

Yan Lin smiled. "I understand your concerns. But I think you're worried for nothing. Aren't you raising Lillian the same way you raised Cornelia? She's turned out alright hasn't she?"

"Aside from nine hundred dollars missing from her college fund for a set of Armani scarfs, I'd say so." Elizabeth said.

Cornelia threw up her hands. 'Hold on, I've got a good explanation for that!" She exclaimed. "I was gonna tell you before you saw it, and besides, when you get the next invoice you'll see they've been returned."

"Well… Alright, but even so that had better be a danged good explanation." Elizabeth said. She turned back to Yan Lin. "So, you're saying, what? That we should just raise her normally and try not to worry?"

"You'll worry. I worry about Hay Lin every day. But yes, you have to try."

Okay… But, what about telling her? When will she be old enough to know?" Harold asked.

"I know it's your choice now that you know." Cornelia said, "But for what it's worth, the girls and I had planned on telling her when she reached the same age we were when we first got our powers, like twelve or thirteen."

"There is wisdom in this." Yan Lin said. "In the end, you want to strike a balance between Lillian being, on the one hand, old enough to use her power responsibly, and on the other hand, young enough to adapt to it with a minimum of difficulty. Twelve or thirteen is the prime age range for that balance."

"She won't be alone either." Napoleon said. "She'll have the Regents and the Guardians. Not to mention that Elyon has already said she'll help Lillian. You can't beat one Heart teaching another."

Cornelia then heard a call for help in her mind. "Um, we better step this up folks. Hay Lin just sent an s.o.s. about Lil getting VERY curious about what's taking us so long."

"Sounds like our call." Elizabeth said. "Yan Lin, thank you."

"Of course dear."