Disclaimer: Neither W.I.T.C.H. Nor Sailor Moon nor anything else that might pop up belong to the writer of this story.

Chapter IV: Beginnings, Part 4

A thump sounded out from behind her and Will turned to it, finding a girl with some familiar hair stumbling out from beneath the end table opposite the one Chibiusa had been hiding in. "Hotaru?" "Hotaru!" Two voices sounded at once, one surprised, and uncertain, the other surprised and annoyed.

"I-ite... Sorry, Chibiusa." The girl looked up revealing an extremely familiar pair of purple eyes.

Disused Room, Tomoe Mansion (Hotaru)

"Please don't be too hard on Chibiusa-chan... I'm the one who was afraid of meeting you." Hotaru spoke, standing up.

"You... Yeah, sorry." Will replied, stepping back. "I'll be going now..." Will wasn't sure what possessed her to leave. Hotaru's eyes were missing something. A sort of light that had always been there. They weren't dead by any means, just... incomplete.

At the door, she paused, "You should search your room more thoroughly, Taru."

And then she left, quickly, before either Hotaru or Chibiusa could make a sound, leaving the two to stare at each other in confusion. "What did she mean by that?" Hotaru asked.

"It means..." Chibiusa spoke, relaxing now that Will was gone, "That she found something we didn't."

"Like what?" Hotaru asked.

"Let's find out." Her strawberry-blond friend replied, setting off for Hotaru's room.

"Let's see..." She spoke as the pair entered the room, "Where haven't we searched?"

"Well... we searched the drawers, the desk, and the closet. Did you find everything under the bed?" Hotaru mused.

"Ah... No, now that I think about it. Just as I pulled up the covers you called my attention to the scrap book." Chibiusa replied, walking over to the bed and pulling up the cover to reveal the box Will had found earlier.

"Will's Stuff." Chibiusa read aloud, picking it up and placing it on the bed, Hotaru walking over to her side to see what lay within. "...Letters. They're all addressed to you, and, let's see." Chibiusa sifted through them, handing them off to Hotaru, "They date back five years."

"They're written in katakana. 'Dear Taru,'" Hotaru flipped through them, and they all began the same way. "Dear Taru."

'Today was my first day of school in the US. Communicating with everyone's not as hard as I thought it would be, thanks to mom's insistence I learn the language while I was still there over with you. I haven't made any new friends yet, but I haven't made any new enemies either. Best of luck.

Will.'

Hotaru continued, flipping to a random letter. "Dear Taru..."

'I moved again, this time away from Faddon Hills. Some stuff happened, nothing to worry about, though. Just mom being a bit over-protective... I look forward to seeing you over summer vacation. We've been saving up.

Will.

PS, The new city's name is Heatherfield.'

"...I remember this letter... The one we mailed Will was meant as its reply... It was never finished because... Something happened. Why can't I remember what happened, Chibiusa-chan?" Hotaru spoke, tears starting to form up.

Chibiusa looked over to the side slightly, "Well... I don't know, really. You should have remembered everything but..." She shrugged helplessly. "Maybe... you didn't want to remember what happened?"

"But... I had stored these letters so carefully. I don't think I would've wanted to forget her." Hotaru countered.

"What if you didn't want to forget her... but something that had to do with her? What if forgetting that trapped the memories you have of her with it?" Chibiusa hypothesized.

"Maybe... I feel like I've done something unforgivable. Will's probably hurting right now... I'm going to read all of these letters and try to remember." Hotaru spoke, sorting the letters by date.

Chibiusa sat down next to her, "You think it'll help?"

"It's better than doing nothing." Hotaru replied.

A Thousand Dreams, Yan Lin's Room (Objective)

While Yan Lin and Will were setting out from the Tomoe Mansion, something was shaking inside of the elderly woman's drawer. With a great crack, the drawer shot open, the lock breaking. A chest within the drawer continued shaking, wrapped in chains and bound by a padlock. It shook violently, tumbling out of the drawer, before the top began to splinter. It didn't open, bound as it was, but it did break. And through the crack shot something small and surrounded by a pink glow. Breaking a hole in the window as it went, it rocketed off into the city to parts unknown.

En Route to A Thousand Dreams, Several Blocks Away from the Tomoe Mansion (Will)

Will was walking alongside Yan Lin, who was trying unsuccessfully to cheer her, when she noticed something, glowing against the backdrop of the sky faintly... and growing more vibrant at a rapid pace. "What is that?" She asked, and Yan Lin paused, looking toward it, before palming her forehead and sighing.

"Destiny." The elderly woman replied, exasperated.

Before Will could respond, the light grew much more pronounced before hitting her like a commit, knocking her backwards. When she regained her sense an dopened her eyes, there was an odd, crystal-like pendant floating iin front of her, surrounded by a pink glow. "Um... Miss Lin...?"

In response, Yan Lin shrugged, to herself, looking up at the sky, before turning to Will. "Put it on, tuck it under your shirt... No need to draw any unnecessary attention."

Of course, even though Yan Lin said that, the street was oddly bereft of traffic anyway, on car or on foot, other than themselves. Will took it hesitantly, placing it around her neck at Yan Lin's encouragement. "Come on now, we'd better hurry home... I've got a story to tell if I'm right about all of you girls..."

Tomoe Mansion, Hotaru's Room (Hotaru)

Hotaru's head snapped up, looking out her window, surprising Chibiusa who was looking through the photo album Hotaru had found. "What is it, Taru?" Her best friend asked.

"I just felt... Something. I don't know what." Hotaru responded. "Like someone looking over my shoulder..."

Tokyo (Objective)

Likewise, Michiru, Rei, and Setsuna all felt something similar. They could all tell something had just happened. No one could tell what, though.

A Thousand Dreams, the Girls' Room (Will)

The pendent, which had shone so brightly surely half the city had seen it, now glowed only dimly, hidden away beneath Will's shirt, fastened onto the same chain that held the half an amulet she'd retrieved from Hotaru's room. It gave the impression the small, pink tear had a wing, and was missing one. As a result, the pair consisting of herself and Yan Lin attracted no more than the cursory inspection Will's red hair had acquired them the first time around. They made good time and had found their way to the inn without incident. When the girls had entered the room, shutting the door behind them, the pendent shone like the sun once more, lifting out of Will's shirt, the wing hanging behind, and blinding those present momentarily before dimming.

Yan Lin nodded, having confirmed something. Cornelia, however, was the first to speak.

"Um... Will, what is that?"

In response, Will shrugged. Yan Lin answered instead, "This, young Cornelia, is the Heart of Kandrakar... A very special amulet, and one you'll be seeing often in the future, I expect."

"Wha'cha mean by that?" Irma asked.

"Would you like to hear a story?" The elderly woman asked, smiling knowingly. Hesitantly, all involved nodded, and were left with the distinct feeling they hadn't had much a choice.

"Once, countless years ago, there was a kingdom besieged by forces outside its control. The princess of that kingdom went to meet with each of the five great dragons which plagued the land to ask for aid against these unknown forces. She had determined the dragons had no real malicious intent, but rather were confident humans would be able to survive their actions, and perhaps grow better for it. The dragons agreed to help the kingdom, as it was their home as well. One by one they pledged their power to the princess, who acted absorbed their power, acting as a conduit for their actions as the people would never accept the help of the dragons... The power was too much for her to control alone, and so she went out into the land to find five champions to split the power among. As each champion wielded the dragons' power, the princess acted as a conduit to allow them to wield that power. In the end, it was not enough, and the kingdom was destroyed. The princess, blessed by the dragons, survived. She gathered the spirits of all those who had once lived there into herself, and transformed into a small gem which was sent into the hands of one who would know what to do with it..."

The elderly woman paused, catching her breath, "That kingdom's name was Kandracar. The heart has been used since its creation to prevent those forces outside the veil from acting in this world, or any other. Since the very first, the Heart has chosen its own wielder and its own champions. I believe that now, it has chosen you."

There were a few brief moments of silence before it was broken, "You're kidding, right?" Irma quipped.

"No, I am not." The old woman said, "Tell me, has anything unusual happened to you within the past year or so?"

"Last week Corny here managed to grow a plant, does that count?" The girl responded.

"I sneezed a few days ago and it trashed me room." Hay-Lin inserted brightly.

"Both signs that your powers are awakening... The final proof is the Heart itself, choosing Will as its keeper after all these years... Though never has it been known to react so... vehemently to its bearer."

"But... That only counts for three of us. What about the Irma and I?" Taranee asked.

"Well, Taranee..." Yan Lin spoke as she gathered a candle, "Why don't you focus on this candle?"

Taranee did as requested, staring at the candle, which spontaneously burst into flame as Yan Lin placed a glass of water next to it. "And Irma..."

Without needing to be told, Irma did the same, and a small stream of water came out of the glass before shooting over and splashing Cornelia in the face, prompting the blond to let out an indignant, "Hey!"

"Sorry Corny." Irma spoke, though her face pointed to the contrary.

Will on the other hand, looked to be thinking, "What about the fifth?" She asked. "I've got the Heart, so it's not me, right?"

Yan Lin's smiling face soured, "You are correct, Will... The fifth guardian of the heart has not been chosen for a long, long time. Not since the very first bearer of the Heart."

"Why?" The girl asked inquisitively.

Yan Lin sighed, "It's a story better left untold, but I will relate it anyway, as it was related to me..."

The aging woman waved her hand over the heart, conjuring forth an image of a castle on a plateau overlooking a surreal, violet hued forest. Around the castle and in the distance were cities of towering spires that reached almost to the heights of the castle's door, which was several hundred feet above the ground. "This was her home." Yan Lin spoke, waving her hand again. The image shimmered and changed into the image of a small garden enclosed by large, gray stone walls. Inside it, tending a bush covered in small flowers, was a girl in a black dress with matching hair, her face overshadowed. All that could be seen were her eyes, more expressive than any face the girls viewing had ever seen. "...And this was her," Yan Lin continued, "alone in the garden, with no one her age for company... No company at all, save a token guard around the edge, and the occasional visit from her mother. Even that was gone by the time she met the other guardians and the first bearer of the heart." The image seemed to lose its color, everything save for the eyes of the girl in the garden fading into gray, and then black, until event he eyes were gone as they closed.

The image then changed into a view of the forest from the ground. The trees so high and ancient the blocked out the sky, the ground lacking any foliage save short grass and fungus. The girl was here again, carving something into one of the trees with a small stone. Soon, however, another girl came across her and spoke to her, though the words were not audible tot he viewers. "It was here she first met the bearer of the heart. The fifth guardian would always come back here, continuing her carving of the tree, and the first keeper of the heart would always come by to see if the fifth would be there again. Eventually, they became friends." The image shifted to show the fifth returning and, instead of carving in the tree, waiting on the other to arrive. When she did, they began to play games. Simple things such as tag, hide and seek, and similar. "They grew closer, and eventually the fifth was taken to meet the other guardians, though none of them knew it yet." The scene rippled like water and changed once more, showing a group of six girls, faces all either blurry and indistinct, shadowed over, or just plain impossible to see from this angle. "And then they received the heart..." The scene rippled again, the same as before, but with the inclusion of the heart floating in the midst of them. "There was not much activity from beyond the veil in that time, for whatever reason. The five of them simply met as friends, occasionally having to deal with something minor together, but most of the time just living as normal girls should... with the exception of the fifth."

The image changed once more, to show the fifth standing by herself in a shadowed corner as others laughed and made merry at a table. "This is where the true tragedy of the story begins to unfold... The fifth had no other friends than the other guardians. No other company. She was treated like a pariah... Like a volatile bomb. The fifth had other responsibilities than those of a guardian, it seemed. Other powers. Only her mother ever showed her any attention at home. Only the guardians provided her the friendship a girl her age needed. Aside from these brief spans of time, she was alone in her high castle, always trying to stay out of sight and mind of those within." The color surrounding the fifth once again began to fade away into nothingness until it seemed she was standing alone in a spotlight in the middle of a vast sea of darkness. "And then her mother died, and she stopped visiting the garden. Stopped visiting the guardians. She isolated herself in her grief." The image changed once more, showing the garden from before, overgrown. A petal fell off one of the flowers there, and the image faded into black. "And then... She broke."

The image changed, showing a picture of what could only be described as hell. The city and forests were all aflame. People were frozen in pictures of terror, stone as the rock of the castle walls. At the highest point of the castle stood the fifth, watching everything burn, even as the tower she stood on did as well. And then... A ferocious wind spread from h er, conjuring up enormous walls of dust and ash. It spread across the land like a great tsunami, and in its wake it left nothing but dust. The sky above grew stormy and ruinous. All that remained was the castle, an island in a sea of chaos and destruction. All within it was now gone, nothing left save the fifth as she stood atop it. "She destroyed everything. There was nothing left but the castle she had grown in, and then, perhaps, only by fluke. But the worst of the story has yet to come... The other guardians confronted her."

"This isn't going to end well at all..." Will spoke quietly, garnering nods of agreement.

"It didn't." Yan Lin confirmed. The image changed again, showing the fifth and the keeper of the heart facing each other. All around them were strewn the bodies of the other guardians. "She killed them. Only the keeper of the heart remained now, and she would have no doubt been lost as well were it not for the Oracle pulling her from the palace." The image was slowly consumed with flames. "The fifth slept then, a fitful, unnatural sleep that no one could explain or even desired to. Years later... the first keeper of the heart returned, convinced that she could somehow save or redeem her friend... She died trying to reach her, the planet had grown so hazardous. The fifth was never seen or heard from again."

Yan Lin took a deep breath and let it out, "For whatever reason, the Heart has yet to pick a fifth guardian again..."

"So..." Cornelia spoke as the Heart dimmed, "What set her off... I mean... she couldn't have just done all that for no reason, right?"

The elderly woman the question was directed at just shrugged in response, "Nobody knows for sure. This happened countless years ago, after all."

"Supernatural stories aside, we haven't told each other what we discovered." Irma announced, breaking the tense air of the room.

"Well," Taranee said, "It seems the Sailor Senshi are local heroes... or heroines, since all of the senshi are girls. According to Gorou and several magazines they're a magical vigilante group. They deal with a variety of supernatural things like demons and monsters that prey on innocent civilians." She gestured to Cornelia and the others.

"The Heart-Snatchers were their last enemies. They allegedly stole people's 'pure heart crystals,' hence their name. The senshi are apparently the only ones that know much more than that."

"In other words," Irmo spoke, "We've learned next to nothing. What about you, Will?"

"...I met Hotaru." Will spoke after a brief moment of silence.

Yan Lin stilled the oncoming tide of questions as Will continued, "We didn't really speak much at all... I kind of just ditched when she showed up. She said she was afraid of meeting me... Her eyes were almost dead. There was only the barest hint of anything close to recognition there... I checked her room; she took extreme care of the letters I sent her and a few of my things, but the chest was dusty and under her bed – it hadn't been touched for a long time."

"So... she really didn't remember you?" Hay Lin asked, and Will simply nodded in response.

"Think these 'Heart-Snatchers' have anything to do with it?" Taranee proposed.

"Wouldn't even consider it normally but, given what just happened a few minutes ago," Will replied, gesturing to Yan Lin and the Heart as she did so, "and the fact that the proposed final battle took place in, and leveled most of, her school... I'd say they, or something they did, had a definite hand in it."

"So... What can we do about it?" Cornelia inquired, "I mean, sure, we could keep pressing her or whatever, but what if that doesn't work or she takes it badly?"

"Well..." Yan Lin spoke, "There's not much you can do that you haven't done already." The aging woman placed her hands on Will's shoulders, "the process has begun, we can only hope it will come full circle. In the mean time, you girls need to learn how to use your powers. I don't think garnering the senshi's attention right now would be too wise, so I'll just verbally instruct you on the matter..."