W.I.T.C.H. doesn't belong to me. I'm just doing this for fun.
Many thanks to Aesop for his help in editing and consulting with ideas!
Set shortly after the end of Season 2.
0000000000
Meridian; Infinite City:
"Say what?!" Irma exclaimed, blinking in shock.
"If you think we'll believe that load of…" Cornelia started to say, but Nerissa was quicker.
"How did I know that your sister was adopted, or that she was supposedly from some distant relatives of yours?" Nerissa asked her.
"How do you usually go about getting information?" she sneered. "You probably just posed as one of us, listened in on some conversations and got all the info you needed."
"If that were true then how would I know about the locket?"
Cornelia froze. "Wha…?"
"The gold locket that came with Lillian when she was adopted?" Nerissa sneered back. "I assume your parents told you about it?"
Cornelia stared at her. "How did you…?" She hadn't told anyone about the locket, not even her friends or the Oracle. Hell, she hadn't even told Elyon whom she was closest to.
"I know because I was the one who gave it to her," Nerissa explained slowly, as though talking to a child. "Incidentally, the woman in the photograph, inside the locket…that was my grandmother, Carmen Sanchez. She got the locket from her husband, as an engagement present. She passed it onto her daughter, my mother, who then passed it down to me. I, in turn, gave it to Lillian when she was born."
Cornelia did nothing for a few moments, as she just stood where she was, her mouth opening and shutting like a goldfish. The others were just as bad, particularly Caleb.
"Lillian…is…." He tried to speak.
"Your baby sister," his mother answered with the hint of a smirk. "Ironic that your girlfriend's sister happens to be your sister, too, isn't it."
"How the hell is this possible?!" Cornelia suddenly shouted, glaring daggers at her.
Nerissa scoffed. "Don't tell me you were absent the day your school discussed reproduction, child. Because, frankly, I think you're a little old to be having The Talk."
Cornelia felt like making the earth shudder beneath her, but she controlled herself, taking deep breaths. "How…can you…be Lillian's birth mother?!" she demanded.
The dark haired woman sighed, rubbing her eyes as if tired. "Hexin," she simply replied.
Everyone's eyes widened.
"Hexin is Lillian's father?" Irma exclaimed.
Nerissa gave a loud scoff then, and glared at the water Guardian. "I may have once served Hexin as his agent, but never anything more than that!" she declared. "No, Hexin is not Lillian's father! She doesn't…" She paused, looking uncomfortable. "Lillian…has no father."
"What do you mean?"
"Was this when you and dad were still together?" Caleb demanded, looking straight at her.
Nerissa sighed. "I was not unfaithful to your father, if that's what you are thinking, Caleb. Besides a few boys I knew at High School, your father is the only man I have ever truly been with."
"Then how can Lillian be your daughter?!" He wanted desperately to know, but he also saw how hard Cornelia was taking all this, as her eyes blazed in denial, but she kept silent.
Nerissa stayed silent for a few moments more, and then…she spoke. "It was about 9 to 10 years ago. At that time, I had made two separate lives for myself, posing as both the Mage and the castle-servant Trill. While as Trill, I spent much time exploring the castle, trying to find out any of Phobos' secrets that I could. Eventually, my search led me to Phobos' library, where I discovered a certain book…"
"The Gateway?" Hay Lin asked, remembering the portal in the old bookstore that they had once gone through, leading straight to Meridian, in Phobos' castle.
Nerissa gave her a hard look, but nodded. "Yes. I had always suspected that there might be more than one Gateway between Meridian and Earth. I had sealed the first one I came through, and did not want to take any risks with this second. So I decided to take steps."
"Steps?" Will enquired.
"I had to seal the second Gateway as well, but I couldn't do it like I did the first, by simply pulling the building down around it, not without Phobos and his forces finding out about it, thus risking my cover. The only other way was for me to seal it on the other side, on earth. The only good fortune I had at that time was that Phobos had already applied a mystic book, which acted as a channel to open the gate and allow me to cross over to earth. Unfortunately, he hadn't yet put another one on the other side, so the trip to earth would have been one way."
"So that would have trapped you on earth," Taranee said, confused. "But then, how did you get back?"
Nerissa just smirked. "I had my own methods to get back."
"That pendant of yours?"
She shook her head. "I didn't know of the pendant back then, but…I do have other resources at my disposal, don't forget." Before anyone could ask what she meant, she continued with her story. "I went through the Gateway while no one was looking. I had intended to seal it and then be back home before anyone spotted me. But unfortunately…" She grimaced. "Someone was waiting for me on the other side!"
0000000000
Earth; Heatherfield;
9 Years Ago;
In an abandoned store in downtown Heatherfield, it was the thick of night. No one was about, save from the odd homeless person who walked the streets at night, looking for a safe and warm place to sleep.
The store was fairly new, yet had not been occupied for several months since its construction. It had gone through two owners so far, both of who had decided to leave. They had each had problems with the building, claiming that they could hear noises coming from nowhere, odd lights and such, much like another building in D.C. had done.
The building now sat seemingly unoccupied, its walls completely bare. Inside, its farthest wall stood unimpressive until…
[FLASH!]
A powerful beam of light flashed out of the wall, and a second later a form materialised seemingly out of nowhere.
Nerissa breathed heavily, as she got her bearings back. She had only gone through a mystical Gateway once before, and the experience hadn't improved. She looked around her, viewing her surroundings. The building was just like that of the one where she had gone through the original Gateway in Washington.
'I wonder if all those haunted houses I heard about as a kid are actually places where Gateways are?' she thought. It would certainly explain the number of creepy houses left abandoned in the world.
She moaned, as she rubbed her armour-covered arm. Despite all the years passed, she had never gotten used to the pain that her quintessence now brought her. She could only be grateful that the mystical armour took away most of the pain, otherwise she would be in complete agony every moment of her life.
She reached into her bag, pulling out the items she had brought with her. Among the items were two talons, which were actually the clippings of the tooth of a Tonga. She had found them among the Mage's belongings. The clippings could do two things, such as transport her back to Meridian once she was finished, but they could only do that once.
The teeth were not whole, just mere clippings of a single tooth, so they didn't have the full power of a Tonga. They could transport someone to another world, but only once. After that, their power was spent, and they were no more than mere clippings.
But there was another trick that they could do. Nerissa had learned, during her studies, that the power of a Tooth of a Tonga, even a fraction of one, could be utilised to seal a portal.
She placed each of the two clippings on either side of the Gateway, preparing to do the spell. This all seemed like such a lot of fuss for a portal, which could easily be one of many from earth to Meridian, but she knew she had no choice. She couldn't take the chance that Hexin might find it and learn of a way to get to her. She now had a lot more to lose than just her life, especially if Hexin came and found out about Caleb and Julian.
She sprinkled some magnetic sand on the clippings, and was about to start chanting when…
[CRASH!]
The windows suddenly shattered!
Nerissa had less than the fraction of a second to turn and look, before someone crashed into her, knocking her of her feet and into the wall. The talismans skidded across the floor when she was struck. Where they went to, she had no idea.
She slid to the floor, her head swimming. She almost didn't make out the polished shoes of the two feet coming towards her.
"A pleasure to see you again, my dear Nerissa," Hexin's smooth voice said to her, as she slowly passed out.
0000000000
Nerissa moaned, as she slowly came to.
"Good morning," a most unwelcome voice greeted her, as she awoke.
She sprang up, now fully awake, but got no further up than a few centimetres before she was roughly pulled back down by the restraints on her arms.
"Restless night?" he said mockingly, while she glared at him in return.
"How?!" was all she could say.
He laughed. "I have been scouring the earth for centuries, Nerissa. Did you really think I would not already know about the second Gateway here in Heatherfield? I knew it was only a matter of time before you would come back, so I placed my agents at each one of the Gateway portals, patiently awaiting your eventual return."
She cursed loudly, earning only another sly smirk from her captor. "It was only by pure chance and luck that I happened to be in Heatherfield tonight. You can imagine my surprise when I was checking in on the guards at the Gateway that you suddenly turned up. Fate does work wonders, does it not?"
"What do you want with me?" she asked.
He smiled. "Well, in light of all that I have done for you in the past…releasing you from your cell on Mt. Thanatos, freedom, giving you a place as one of my higher agents, a new home, a chance for revenge on your enemies. I don't see any problem in me asking you for a return on my good graces."
She gave a bitter laugh. "You wouldn't know grace even if it jumped up and bit you on the nose," she remarked.
"Sticks and stones, my dear," he simple replied, and then clicked his fingers. A short moment later, the doors opened to reveal two men dressed in white coats, like doctors, walking in.
"What are you doing?!" she demanded, as they came up to her, seemingly checking her vitals.
"Claiming my debt, of course," Hexin explained. "You see, you're going to help me get what I want, by bringing back the Heart of Earth."
Nerissa stared at him in disbelief. "But that's impossible!" she insisted. "The Heart of Earth is gone! I remember reading your files all those years ago, about how the last one died without an heir and everything. No one made a claim to her power, and with that one now gone, there's no one left with any claim on it."
"Sad but true," Hexin admitted, almost sadly. "But since there is no one left with any claim to the Heart's magic, then the only other option…is to make one!"
"Make one?"
He chuckled. "Human science has made many great strides in the last century, Nerissa, most of which many governments or private companies, such as my own, do not see fit to share with the rest of the world yet. In fact, the power of science has reached such heights that it could rival any known sorcery."
"What's that got to do with anything?!"
"Human science is the key to the rebirth of the Heart of Earth, which you yourself will now play a part in."
"What do you mean?" He wasn't making any sense.
Hexin signalled one of the doctors, who then opened a small case lying on one of the tables near her, pulling out a huge syringe. Nerissa eyed the large needle fearfully.
"Remember the last Heart of Earth?" he asked conversationally. "The one who met an unseemly end from the bullet of a Nazi?"
Nerissa could only nod, still gazing in fear at the enormous syringe.
"As you may remember, we recovered Miss Serce's body just prior to your…departure. With her remains, I had my scientists start working on a way to resurrect her. "
"You can't bring the dead back to life," Nerissa said scornfully.
"Oh, you'd be amazed at what you can do, my dear," he added. "Many sorcerers in the past have attempted resurrection, and believe it or not, some have succeeded!"
His words gave pause to her, but soon he was talking again.
"We could not bring Miss Serce back to life unfortunately, not with her body being the way it was, and even then I could not be certain that she would willingly help me in my mission to reclaim my heart. So I decided to create a new Heart to replace her!"
She gasped. "How?"
"Tell me, have you ever heard of cloning?"
She frowned. "Yeah, from old comic-books. Cloning is what they did to make a copy of someone."
"Simple yet effective."
"You intend to clone Beata Serce?!"
"Not exactly," he explained. "There weren't enough of Serce's remains to grow a clone, but just enough for the next best thing."
"Which is?"
"Utilising what there was of Beata Serce's DNA, I planned to have my scientists use it to fertilise a woman's ovum. The result will cause the egg to divide and grow just as well as any ovum would, if fertilised by a man's sperm."
She stared in disbelief at him. "Wha…?"
"The egg would then be planted back inside the woman's womb, where it would continue to grow, and then 9 months later…Voila! The Heart of Earth is reborn."
She stuttered. "You intend to create a child out of a woman's corpse?!"
He shrugged. "It's a lot more effective than it sounds, believe me. And it was certainly a lot more complicated than that, but I won't bore you with all the scientific details."
Nerissa froze. "What do you want with me?" she asked quietly, though she already knew the answer.
He shrugged again. "We have Miss Serce's DNA… Now, all we need is the surrogate mother. Does that answer your question?"
One of the doctors came up to her with the syringe.
"You can't do this?!" she screamed, pulling in vain at her bonds.
"Actually," Hexin replied, sounding bored. "So long as you're here and tied down, I can."
Nerissa screamed, as the second doctor came and cut some of her clothing away, exposing her belly, while he held her down.
"Take good care of her, men," he instructed his agents. "After all the years spent underground, we were only able to scrape up enough of Miss Serce's DNA for one infusion. If you mess this up, don't bother writing up the reports, as I'd do it myself…in your own blood!"
The men froze, as they stared at him in fear, but knew that he was not kidding. Hexin never kid!
"As for you," Hexin then added, looking back on her. "Look on the bright side… Congratulations are soon to be in order. You're going to be a mother!"
She screamed the next of many screams that night, as the doctor lowered the needle into her.
0000000000
9 Months Later:
Nerissa bit her lower lip, tasting the flow of blood in her mouth, as she bore the pain of childbirth. The pain was equal to that of the first time she had done it.
'Whoever said the second time was easier obviously didn't know what the hell he was talking about!' she thought, and added only half-seriously, 'Had to be a man.'
She gripped the sides of the bed she was being held on, but still she refused to scream. Despite the agony she was suffering, she refused to give Hexin or his people any satisfaction.
"All right now, one final push!" the doctor tending her instructed, making Nerissa wish she could empty all her quintessence into him, frying him to a crisp. Unfortunately, Hexin had all his men well prepared, as all of them were clothed in insulated suits, protecting them from her electrical powers.
She gave one last push, resisting the urge to scream the house down. As she pushed, she felt a small body pass between her legs and fall into the hands of her appointed doctor and jailer.
The doctor and his colleague had been assigned to her the instant Hexin had captured and brought her to…wherever she was now. She had only been in two rooms since her capture. Aside from when they had transported her between rooms, through the corridors, she hadn't seen anything but her own cell and the examination room where she was now.
When she had escaped from her cell on Mt. Thanatos, she had had fears about being trapped back in her prison again. It was one of her worst nightmares. But now…now she would welcome back the solitude of her cave, if only to escape the constant propping and examining done to her and her unborn baby by the doctors.
She didn't even who they were, or even their names. Neither of them had talked to her, except for the odd question when asking her about her health.
The sound of a baby's cries soon filled the room, and she looked over to where the first doctor was even now handling her baby, carrying it over to a small table where he examined her.
She tried desperately to raise herself up on her arms, to gain a better look at her daughter. She knew it had to be a girl since it could be nothing else. It had no father, thus no male chromosomes.
"Let me see it," she said breathlessly. "Let me see my baby!"
The doctors looked at each other for a while, as they seemed to consider this amongst themselves, until finally the first man just shrugged and nodded. The second man took the baby from him and carried her over to her mother.
First thing Nerissa noticed about her was her eyes… Unlike usual newborn babies, this one's eyes were wide open and a brilliant blue. They stared out at Nerissa in curious wonder. Her skin was a golden white, and upon her head she had a small crop of blonde hair, something which she obviously must have gotten from her second mother, Beata Serce. She was the most beautiful baby Nerissa had ever seen, even more so than Caleb had been.
Unfortunately, she didn't have long to admire her beauty, for soon the door to the room opened, and Hexin walked in.
"Any problems?" he asked the doctors.
"We have yet to run a full diagnosis, but everything seems in order," the first doctor reported, talking as though he were describing machine maintenance. "There were no complications during birth, and the infant appears in good health."
"Excellent," Hexin smiled, looking down on the baby in the doctor's arms. He held out his hands for her.
"Don't touch her!" she hissed, wanting to scream but lacking the strength. The birth had taken a lot out of her.
Hexin ignored her as if she weren't even there, and took the baby from his follower. "Marvellous work, doctors," he complemented them. "You have successfully recreated the Heart of Earth." He gave the baby in his arms a dark smile. "Seems almost a pity that all that hard work will have to be undone when the Heart is sacrificed, but…oh well!"
Nerissa futilely tried to break free of her bonds, but finally her strength completely ran out, and she passed out, the last noise she heard being her tormentor's laughter.
0000000000
She didn't know how long she had been unconscious. Her eyelids slowly fluttered open, as she came to.
Nerissa moaned, as she reached up her arm to hold her head… That was the moment when she realised that she was no longer bound to her bed. She looked around, and found herself back in her usual cell. But there was no sign of the baby.
She forced herself up on her arms. There didn't seem to be anything too dreadfully wrong with her, aside from the pain in her lower regions, and the feeling that she had been stretched out like a rubber band. Her thoughts, however, on her own discomfort were far from her mind.
She remembered all too well why Hexin wanted her baby, the Heart of Earth. So she had no time to waste! But thinking that and doing that were two entirely different things. Hexin had made triple sure that her cell was secure, the inside of it padded with rubber insulation to prevent her from using her powers to escape.
She snarled deep within her mind, but could find nothing to aid her. Not that she had really expected to, since she had spent nearly a year now trapped there, and had found no way out.
The sound of the lock on her cell-door suddenly reached her, as it was unlocked. The door opened, revealing one of the doctors coming in, carrying her meal. Hexin had probably not wanted to risk having more people involved in the Heart of Earth's resurrection than was necessary, so he had the doctors do manual labour as well as the scientific research.
"Where is my baby?!" she demanded, raising herself up.
The doctor merely sneered at her. "Your part in your child's creation is fulfilled, woman. She is no longer any of your concern." From the way he spoke and acted, it was clear he thought the job of delivering food was beneath him.
Nerissa glared at him, wanting to scream and shout, demanding that he tell her where her child was, but knew it would lead to nothing.
He put the tray of food down on a table and prepared to leave.
That was the moment when she did the unthinkable!
During her studies with the Mage's mystical books and scrolls, she had learned many things. Quite a few of them were to do with dark magic, something that she had always been curious of. After all, if the Mage had been a good and divine sorceress of wisdom, then what was she doing with so much knowledge of black sorcery?
One of the spells she had discovered had been one of the darkest ever recorded. It was a spell of control, with which one could not only bend another's will to their own, but take possession of their souls as well. It was a spell of the purest black magic, which had been hidden so deep within the Mage's deepest catacombs that she had almost missed it.
The spell had frightened her when she had first found it. So much so that her first instinct had been to put it back in its box and forget she had ever found it. But her thirst for knowledge had overcome her fear, and she had read the details of the magic. She had only read it once, but once was enough, as the spell was fairly simple and easy enough to cast.
"You do realise Hexin is going to kill her?" she asked the doctor before he could leave. "He's going to kill that helpless innocent baby! And when he does, he'll use all the power to conquer and destroy everything in existence."
He simply turned around, giving her a short look. "My life is dedicated to my master and his cause, as my fathers was before me," he told her.
She thinned her eyes at him. "So, you would be willing to perform any act, no matter how heinous, all in service to your master, a man you know to be pure evil?"
He shrugged. "Service is its own reward."
"Sounds more to me like you're afraid of what he might do to you if you ever disobeyed him. Not to mention how much power you might get if he succeeds, and decides to reward you for your faithful duty."
He glared at her. "You do not have the right to judge me so, not when you yourself once served him!"
She closed her eyes briefly, summoning any strength she had left in her. "Fear and ambition are powerful things," she said quietly, "especially when they fuel desire and acts of evil! The need to do anything, to save your own skin, and to satisfy your hunger for power, no matter how heinous the act, is the chink in the armour of your soul… " She opened her eyes, now burning with energy, but not that of her quintessence. "…And all I need to make you mine!"
She felt the energy that was not that of her own power, but of the darkness that the spell she was casting originated from, leave her and enter the doctor. The man looked startled for a moment, and then his eyes clouded.
Nerissa hissed, as she felt the man's consciousness fight to take back control of his own mind. Although the spell was supposed to be the ultimate power of control, there was one small problem…and that was the energy source needed for it.
The spell required massive amounts of power to fuel it, which meant that the only thing capable of sustaining it was that of a mystic Heart. Anything else was simply too weak. But with the exception of her newborn daughter, who had yet to tap into her power, Nerissa had no Heart to fuel her spell, which meant she only had her own life force to rely on. And her life force was already weak from the years of constantly using her quintessence, so she didn't have much to rely on.
Without a Heart, she didn't have enough energy to give full power to the spell, which meant she couldn't completely take command over his mind and soul. She could still bend his will to her own, but she had to keep her own mind focused and concentrate fully, otherwise the spell would weaken and break.
"Where…is…my baby?!" she demanded again, frowning as she struggled to maintain her control of the doctor.
"Hexin…took her…" the man slowly replied.
"Where?! Take me!"
0000000000
Hexin's agent guided her through the floor's vast corridors. For some reason, she noticed, there appeared to be no other staff or guards.
"Where's the rest of Hexin's people?" she asked.
The doctor answered slowly, his gaze still clouded from the spell. "There…are no others…Hexin did not want…to risk having more people…than he needed…" Although he was still powerless to disobey her, she could feel his mind resisting her control.
They approached a door at the end of the corridor. On it was a symbol of some kind, like a cross with an arrow through it, the likes of which Nerissa had never seen before. "What is this?" she asked.
"I don't know…but…only I, Hexin…and my colleague…are allowed to enter…"
Nerissa paused, as she considered this. The symbol could be magic, to keep her and any intruders out, which meant that she couldn't go inside.
'I probably can't,' she thought, but then suddenly realised. 'But he can.'
She stared hard at the doctor who had her personal tormentor for 9 months. "Open the door!" she commanded. He obeyed, and she watched him as he entered the room.
The room was as bare as her cell, with a few machines making beeping sounds, and a crib located in the centre. Although she couldn't see her, she could hear her daughter's breathing clearly. "Bring her to me!"
He made his way over to the crib, and reached down to pick the baby up.
Nerissa held her breath, as he made his way back over to her, carrying the small infant gently in his arms. He was less than a foot away form her when…
"Nicely done, Nerissa."
Her heart leaped in her chest, as she spun around and found Hexin standing a few feet away from her, the second doctor behind him, together with a few guards.
"A spell of control I see," Hexin remarked, eyeing the first doctor behind her. "Rather dark magic, too, I sense. I'm impressed, Nerissa. I always knew you had a dark side to you, but even I never imagined you would go so far as to use this kind of enchantment."
Nerissa glared at him, her face filled with hatred. "You'd be amazed at what lengths a mother will go to protect her children," she promised. "Remember that, Hexin!"
He just smiled at her, with that loathsome smile she had come to detest. "My complements on the spell by the way," he remarked. "Such a one is usually powered by nothing less than a mystic Heart, but you seem to be doing quite well on your own. It is, however, quite wasted on my staff here."
"What?"
He shrugged. "I have many agents, Nerissa, but only a few elite who are my most loyal and trusted followers. When they…join me, I make them swear their allegiance to my power, thereby committing themselves to me, body and soul!" He paused then, and took a look at the man whom she had enslaved, and a second later…
"Huh?!" the doctor stuttered, as he came out of the spell, gazing around in shock. "What happened?"
"Nice try though," Hexin said. "But next time, try snaring the soul of someone who has not already sold his to me."
Nerissa had no time to think, so she relied only on instinct and action to save her…as well as her baby.
"QUINTESSENCE!" she yelled, summoning all the energy she had in her, as she grabbed the baby from her once humble servant.
The effect was instant, as the small machines inside what had been her daughter's room quickly came alive and went mad, rushing out and attacking everything in sight.
"Get these blasted machines under control!" Hexin ordered, as he high-kicked one of them into pieces. "You underestimate me if you think these glorified…" he started to say.
The lights all over the building suddenly went haywire, as they flashed and exploded, sending bursts of glass over the floors, and plunging the rooms into darkness,
Hexin gave a small hiss of pain, as some of the glass from the light bulbs embedded in his skin. "Get her!" he shouted, but all his men could so was to continue fighting in the dark against the small but challenging machines.
"Where's the blasted emergency lighting?!" he ordered. Not even he could see in the dark.
"Master, Nerissa controls all energy, don't forget," one of his men replied. "Depending on how massive her spell was, she could have taken control of all the machinery and energy systems in this complex."
"Then use your torches!"
A few seconds later, the almost whimpering voice of what was supposed to be one of his elite sounded. "They're not working, sir. Nerissa must have got them under her..." He didn't get to finish his last sentence, as something suddenly slammed into his chest, bringing the pumping of his heart to an end.
"Get the lights back on and find them!" Hexin demanded, clenching his sticky hand.
0000000000
The second the lights had gone out, Nerissa had limped quickly down the corridor, carrying her newborn daughter with her. She didn't know the building they were in, but she could remember which way the male doctor had brought her, and she only needed to get a short way away.
She hissed in pain, as the ramifications of using so much of her power flowed through her. The armour on her arm had soaked up most of the pain, but the rest of her was still aching fiercely, as she limped on with her baby in her arms. Luckily, the infant had remained quiet, not alerting the men to their position. She was awake, she could tell that, but did not seem frightened by the total blackness around her.
Either way, Nerissa was not going to question her silence, as right now they needed all the luck they could get.
She could still hear Hexin's men in the distance, so they had not gone far yet, which made their situation all the more trickier. She was relying solely on her memory now, but she had only gone this way once, even if it was just a few minutes ago, so she couldn't be certain how accurate her memory was being.
Knowing she had to take a chance, she switched her baby to her other arm and summoned up a small spark of electricity from her hand, to act as a small torch.
Once she got her bearings, she extinguished the light and moved forward again, passing through a few more corridors until she came to the elevator shaft they had passed on their way to the baby.
Aside from the energy she had used to bring the machines to life, she had soaked up all the electricity there was in this place, like a sponge, to leave Hexin and his men defenceless. Hence there would be no energy to power the elevator, unless she supplied some.
The voices of Hexin's men were still close by, meaning they were still looking for her, and they knew this area far better than she. It would not be long before they found her.
"Quintessence," she said quietly, bringing the elevator back to life, which opened up to her touch. She hurried inside, and commanded the lift to take her out of there…wherever there was. Fortunately, there seemed to be only one way for the lift to go…up.
The elevator powered up and quickly started to lift. It rose for a few minutes, indicating that this complex had to have been buried deep beneath ground, until finally it came to a stop. When the doors opened, Nerissa took a cautious step forward, peeking at her surroundings.
There were no lights on, but whether this was because of her spell or that someone had just left the lights off was uncertain. Fortunately, there were enough lights coming from the windows, revealing to her where she was.
'Hexin's mansion,' she thought, slightly surprised. She supposed it shouldn't come across as a big shock to her, as Hexin would no doubt want to keep as big a project as this close to him at all times.
Unfortunately, this also presented a problem, as since she was in Hexin's home then that meant that his mansion would be well guarded. This also explained why he had never had any other guards down in the complex below, since he would have more than enough up top, and the elevator was the only way out.
Pushing these thoughts to the side, she hurried on. Since she was out of the underground complex, her spell of quintessence should have ended long before now.
She summoned whatever strength she had left again, getting ready to use her power when needed. She was still feeling drained and exhausted from the birth, and her last spell hadn't helped, so she would try and avoid a direct confrontation, using the same old tricks by disguising herself until she was able to escape.
'Let's just hope you stay nice and quiet until after we're out of here, my little darling,' she thought to her daughter, who still remained blissfully silent, her eyes blinking at the sudden light around her, and the curious surroundings.
0000000000
Present; Meridian:
"Obviously we escaped," Nerissa told them, as she took in the unbelieving looks of her son Caleb, the Regent Matt and the Guardians. "A few guards came, but I simply camouflaged myself and Lillian, and avoided their detection. After that, we escaped Hexin's mansion once again, and went on the run."
"I don't believe this…" Cornelia silently whispered, but said nothing else.
Caleb was also finding his mother's words hard to believe, but then that was nothing new, as she rarely said anything that was completely honest. But then there was still the small matter of how she was able to know about that locket. Cornelia had not told anyone else about that. How had Nerissa known of the locket that had come with Lillian?
"What happened next?" he asked.
His mother shrugged. "Once we departed Hexin's home, I took Lillian and fled Washington again. Since the first Gate was obviously blocked, I had to do it the old fashioned way…by simply running and hitchhiking."
"All the way back to Heatherfield?" Hay Lin asked in wonder.
"No, of course not!" Nerissa snapped, scolding her like a child. "That would have been the first place where Hexin would have looked for me! I didn't have anywhere specific in mind to go, so I just hopped the first bus I came upon and travelled it to the end."
"And where was that?" Will asked; angry at Nerissa's treatment of her friend, but also more interested in Nerissa's story.
"California…"
0000000000
8 Years Ago; California:
A middle-aged African-American woman, carrying a Yorkshire terrier with her, stepped off a bus, gazing at the sight around her. The dog made a few whimpering noises, which gained in volume and sounded like it was almost crying. Except these cries were not that of a dog, but seemed more like that of a human baby.
A few passers gave her and the odd mutt a strange look, while the woman just smiled nervously at them and hurried on, telling her "schnukins" to relax and be quiet.
She passed by into a small alley, and as soon as she was clear of any onlookers… Nerissa dropped her glamour and sighed.
"I suppose I should have just glamour-fied you as another baby," she mused. "Having a dog cry like a human baby is something that's bound to get noticed before long."
Her daughter looked up at her with her baby blue eyes, giggling shortly.
Nerissa gave her a small smile back, but she was not happy. She had thought about her next course of action all the way from Heatherfield…and so far she could only think of one way left open to her, and it was not an option she liked.
She had considered bringing her daughter back to Meridian with her, but soon decided against that. Meridian was not a happy place right now, what with Phobos and all the monsters he was allowing to run riot all over the place. She had let her son remain there because in him she saw the potential to be the greatest leader the rebels had ever known, and that was vital to her plans. Overthrowing Phobos was critical if she was to claim the Heart of Meridian's power, and add it to her own to help battle against Hexin.
That being the case, she knew she had to get back to Meridian as soon as possible. Caleb would need all the help he could get if he was to fight Phobos, so she couldn't stay on earth.
And her daughter could not come to Meridian with her, which meant…
Nerissa felt her heart breaking, as she looked down into her daughter's eyes, knowing that for the good of everyone, her child especially, they would have to separate. She would have to leave her here on earth, and hopefully come back for her when the time was right.
'But I can't just leave her here alone, and I can't leave her with just anyone,' she thought. She needed to find someone who was not just ideal to take her in, but also someone who would be ideal to hide her from Hexin.
She smiled, as a plan came into place. All she would need to do was to find a suitable family, one who resembled her so no one would think her/their child was adopted, and who wouldn't reveal it to anyone.
Nerissa frowned. Finding a common resemblance should be easy enough, as she was in California, and so far she had counted nearly a hundred blue-eyed blondes everywhere…but which one?
"Mommy!" a youngster's voice shrieked. "Mommy, can I have an ice cream?!"
Disturbed from her thoughts, she looked out of the alley to see a little boy, about 5-6 years old, pulling at his mother's hand, as they passed by.
"Not yet, sweetie," his mother replied gently. "I'll get you one as soon as we're at the park."
'Park!' Nerissa suddenly realised, as an idea came to her.
0000000000
Disguised as an Asian-American woman, this time a younger woman of about 30, with a baby boy curled up in her arms, Nerissa made her way to the nearest park she could find.
She watched all the kids, as they swung on the swings, jumping on the climbing frames, laughing and playing, and couldn't help but feel the tug on her heart as she did so. She thought about Caleb growing up on Meridian, how he rarely had any time to play because he and his father were usually dodging Phobos's forces, or training to one day be the great rebel leader she knew he was destined to be.
She had never had any regrets or second thoughts about what she had planned for her son. With him they could defeat Phobos, and through his defeat she could lay claim to the Heart of Meridian and begin her quest of bringing the scourge of Hexin to an end. But now…
Looking at all the children playing, without any care in the world, she couldn't help but feel a twinge of regret for the life she had put her son in. He would never be able to play kids' games because he would forever be running for his life.
Nerissa mentally shook herself. 'I do what I have to do!' she told herself. 'Hexin has to be stopped, and to do that I need power, plain and simple.'
She thought about the council of Kandrakar, wondering for what seemed like the millionth time if she should ask them for help, but in an instant her thoughts turned dark and enraged. When she thought of them, all she remembered was her cell on Mount Thanatos and all the years she spent rotting in it.
"One day," she swore silently. "I will make them all…"
A little girl squealed next to her, as a small boy spilled some sand down her neck, making her run after him, bringing her out of her thoughts. She shook herself again, and carried on with what she had originally come there to do.
She stared hard at all the children on the playground. There were a good number of them there today, which was lucky for her, as she had a larger selection to choose from. She stared at all the children, noting some for their freckles, the tan of their skin, the colour of their eyes. A lot of them were blonde and blue eyed, but didn't resemble her daughter much.
'Then again' she thought. 'She is only a baby. Chances are her face will…'
"Again, daddy, again!" a little girl's voice squealed from behind her. Nerissa turned around and saw a small child being twirled around in her father's arms, a woman laughing behind them.
Nerissa stopped and stared at the family. They were all blonde and blue eyed, especially the child, but she… The little girl looked almost exactly like a younger version of Beata Serce, from the photo she had seen once of her!
She looked down at her daughter once again, comparing the face and the eyes to that of the older child, and found them to be uncanny. The resemblance was amazing.
"Perfect!" she said, smiling.
0000000000
Present; Meridian:
"The rest was simple," Nerissa explained, looking to Cornelia. "I simply followed you and your parents home, to your old house in California, and then returned, posing as a woman from social services…"
The familiar circle of energy suddenly rose above and around Nerissa, altering her form, as done many times before. When it dissipated, it left behind an elderly woman with a bun of grey hair, a thin nose and rimmed glasses starring at them.
"Mrs Jenkins at your service," Nerissa introduced her old form, bowing shortly before them all. None were impressed.
"I told them a fake story about Lillian's birth parents being distant relatives of theirs, who had died tragically." Nerissa went on, as she changed back. "Lillian was their only child, and the Hales were her closest family. It took some convincing, but as it turned out your parents were softhearted people, especially when I brought Lillian in to see them. I knew from the moment they saw her, they were hooked."
Cornelia didn't like the way Nerissa spoke about her parents, almost gloating about how easily they had been conned. She was still trying to come to terms with everything the witch had told them so far.
"But…the papers!" she said. "My parents had papers from social services, which they had to sign. I saw them!"
Nerissa shrugged. "I didn't bring Lillian to see them right away. I spent the next few days going in and out of an office building for an adoption agency. I was able to get all the papers I needed from them, gave them to your parents to sign so if anyone asked where Lillian came from, all they would have to do was show them. No one ever suspected."
"What if Hexin had found out, like he's done already?!" Cornelia fumed. "What if he had found out like 5 years ago?! Did you ever consider what might happen then, you witch?!"
"Hey! That's our nickname, remember?" Irma interrupted.
Nerissa just met Cornelia's stern glare with one of her own. "I took precautions."
"Oh yeah! Like what?!"
0000000000
8 Years Ago; Heatherfield:
"I think you'll find this shop to your liking, Miss Smith," the realtor told her, as he unlocked the doors to the empty store, showing her in.
Nerissa paid little attention to what he was saying, as she had no desire to buy or rent the store. She simply needed to get in and find those talismans she had brought with her from Meridian, but she knew that Hexin would no doubt have the place watched, in case she returned, since this was the only known other Gateway.
The safest way she could think of to get into the store, without Hexin going after her, was if she went in broad daylight, with plenty of people around, and with the official realtor.
"May I have a look around?" she asked, not waiting to see if he agreed or not, and starting searching the floor of the store.
She walked near to the bookcase, which she remembered materialising out of when she came through from Meridian. She turned around to see Mr Rogers, the realtor, handling some paperwork, so she quickly scooped down to inspect the floor.
Running her fingers under the bookcase, she soon found what she was looking for…or half anyway.
She pulled one of the Tonga clippings out, with the magnetic sand still on it no less, resisting the urge to squeal in delight, but her joy was short-lived when she pushed her hand back underneath, and found no sign of the second clipping.
She swore, and tried to continue looking, but the thing in her arms was making it difficult, as it squirmed and…
"It's fairly new, so everything is in splendid condition," the realtor continued, making her jump from the floor, as he explained about the store, seemingly eager for her to make an offer. "I'm certain it would make a perfect little place to start a business. Just the thing for you and your little bundle there."
He made a brief smile and a ridiculous face at the baby in her arms. "Oh, she is a sweetie!" he said. "How old is she?"
Nerissa looked down to the baby girl. "Just over a week," she replied.
"What's her name?"
Nerissa paused at that for a few moments. "Lillian," she simply said.
It wouldn't have been her first choice for a name, but in all her planning and setting everything up with the Hales, she had neglected to consider a name for her daughter. She had just told the Hales that the child's parents had died before choosing a name for her, so they got to choose, deciding to name her Lillian.
It was a pretty little name, she supposed, though she would have preferred something like Esmeralda, Francesca or Carmen.
"Is there anything wrong with this store, Mr Rogers?" she suddenly asked, wanting to get away from this topic, and she couldn't resist asking this question, while smiling inwardly.
He paled a little, as though he had been caught out. "Err…no-no, of course not! The store is a charming little…"
"I had heard some stories about…problems from the other tenants?" she went on, smiling at his discomfort. Clearly, he wanted this sale to go through, if only to get rid of the store. "They were having some difficulties with the building, such as strange noises, lights going on and off by themselves… This place doesn't have rats, does it?"
The realtor gulped, which made Nerissa want to laugh.
Just then, the door barged open.
Nerissa clenched her fists, guessing who it was immediately, as she turned around.
"Excuse me!" the realtor demanded. "What do you think you are…"
A sound of something whizzing through the air soon followed, and a second later Mr Rogers fell to the floor unconscious.
"Never could stand realtors," Hexin remarked, and then looked over to his former agent. "Hello, Nerissa. Had a nice run this week?"
She shrugged, as her glamour illusion faded, revealing her true form. "It gave me a good workout."
"I'm sure it did, but now your running has come to an end." Hexin took a step closer to her. "I wasn't certain you would come back to this place, but I know that if you had any desire to return to that other world you would. I must say I'm delighted you prove me right."
"Always a pleasure to help you in a few things," she said, sneering.
Hexin did not smile. "I want that baby, Nerissa," he said plainly and simply. "My people and I put a lot of time and effort into her creation, and now we want to see our work fulfilled."
"You mean the work where you sacrifice her, so that you can get your blasted Heart back and rule the universe!" she shot back.
He shrugged. "In a nutshell…yes!"
Nerissa scoffed. "Well, let me put this to you in as plain as words as I can… " she began, and then… "Oculus de mundus, aperire aput meum imperium!" (Eye of the universe, open at my command!)
With those words, she threw the single clipping at the bookcase. The instant it touched the shelves…
[WHOOSH!]
The bookshelf seemed to turn in on itself, as a portal opened from out of nowhere.
"It seems my marathon is going to carry on for a little bit longer!" she shouted at him, not caring (or having the time) to look back on him, as she held the now crying baby close to her chest, and raced through the portal.
"NOOOOOOOOOO!" Hexin's enraged cry echoed throughout the store, and followed her into Meridian.
Hexin ran to the portal, but it had already closed the second Nerissa had entered it.
"Find them!" he said, turning to his agents and commanding them. "I don't care what it takes, just find them!"
0000000000
On Meridian, in one of the few last plentiful places that were left since Phobos had begun draining the planet's life force for his own…
The peace and quiet of the scenery was shattered, as a portal raged open and dropped Nerissa right into a mud-puddle, scaring all the indigenous wildlife away.
"Urgh!" she moaned, as she stood up, slapping her hands at the mud on her dress. "I hate portals!" she swore.
The baby lay on the ground crying, but Nerissa did not even kneel down to pick it up. "Oh, put a sock in it!" she told it, and clicked her fingers.
A second later, the circle of her energy power rose up and over the small infant, revealing the human baby to be…a Persian cat!
"Off you go now!" she told the feline. "Scat!" The cat gave a whine and a meow, and then ran off.
Nerissa sighed deeply. She had found the cat living on the streets, just shortly before she had arrived at the store, and had managed to coax it to her with some food, after which she had simply disguised it with her glamour powers, giving it the form of her daughter, now named Lillian.
Her thoughts went back to her daughter, whom she had left behind in California with her new family, the Hales, a few days ago. Nerissa knew Lillian would be safer with them, and if Hexin believed that the baby had come with her to Meridian, he would never think to look for her on earth. It had all been a simply matter of changing something into her daughter's form, which was where the cat had come in.
She knew she was taking a big risk, but there was no choice. Lillian, as the Heart of Earth, would be in even more danger here on Meridian than she would be on Earth. For if Phobos were to discover her, he would surely drain her power as he intended to drain his own sisters'. Even if he didn't find her, Meridian was certainly no happy place for a child to grow up in, not as long as Phobos was in control. And she couldn't make time for her and Caleb, not while posing as both the Mage and the castle-servant Trill.
"It's all part of the plan!" she insisted to herself. "That's all that matters. The plan…defeat Phobos, return his sister to Meridian, drain her power, and then…"
'And then what?' she suddenly realised. Even if she did get the Heart of Meridian's power for her own, would that be enough for her to stop Hexin?
Hexin had spent aeons planning for his return to power, and as a result had almost endless resources at his disposal. Suppose one mere Heart wasn't enough? But even if that were so, what could she do about it?
Nerissa thought long and hard, and then suddenly her face took on a dark look. "I'll just have to get more power," she deduced. "And if need be, I'll track down all my former friends and convince them to help me also!"
She thought back on the spell of control she had used on one of Hexin's doctors. When she had first used it, it had repulsed her, knowing what dark magic it held, and even now the thought of using it again was like poison to her. Yet…it was the safest, fastest and most secure way to enlist loyal soldiers to her cause.
"For the plan," she repeated. "To stop Hexin, to save the universe…!"
0000000000
Present; Meridian:
Nerissa ended her tale a long sigh. "And that's pretty much it," she explained. "The rest you know… I spent the next few years continuing to pose as Trill and the Mage, until eventually Phobos was defeated and Elyon returned to Meridian."
"Yeah, and we all know what happened next," Irma grumbled, earning a short glare from her enemy, but who said nothing else.
"I don't believe any of this!" Cornelia finally stated. "This is all just another trick of yours!"
Nerissa snorted, giving the girl a disdainful look. "You are a hard one to convince, aren't you? All right, how about this… The locket that came with Lillian, which I have already said came from me, handed down from my grandmother. It also has some Spanish writing on it, which says… A todas mis hijas, que esto les traiga suerte en el mas feliz de sus dias."
Cornelia paused.
"Which translates into... To All My Daughters, May This Bring You Luck On Your Happiest Of Days." She shrugged. "Like I said, it was an engagement present from her husband."
Will turned to look at her friend, and saw that Cornelia was struggling again with Nerissa's revelation, but there was no denying it now. Nerissa had admitted knowing about the locket, which Cornelia hadn't told even they, and now she had revealed knowing about the engraving on it as well.
She placed a hand on her friend's shoulder, to comfort her, but Cornelia didn't even acknowledge it.
"You went after your own daughter's power," Caleb suddenly noted, referring to when she went after Lillian when she first manifested her power.
Nerissa just sighed. "As I explained to your girlfriend here… I didn't have a choice. When Lillian's power revealed itself, I knew it was only a matter of time before Hexin located her. I planned to take her power to protect her."
"I can understand that," Taranee suddenly spoke up, making everyone turn in amazement at her.
She shrugged. "Hey, it makes sense. If Lillian hadn't gotten her powers under control, Hexin would have found her a lot sooner. We would have probably done the same if we had known about him, and we did more or less got her to lose her powers, even if only temporarily."
Nerissa smirked at the rest of them, but Taranee was not yet finished…
"But maybe you'd like to explain to us why you went after her powers the second time?!" Taranee then asked, looking at her dangerously.
Nerissa stared at her, her face frozen at a seemingly loss for words.
"Like I said," Taranee explained, "I can understand why you went after Lillian's powers the first time. We probably would have done the same thing, if we had known a madman like Hexin was after her, but…what about when you went after her on Halloween? Her powers weren't going out of control then, Hexin didn't have a clue about her…you had no reason to go after her, so why did you?"
Nerissa seemed to stutter for a few seconds. "I…Well, I…"
"We're waiting, Nerissa," Will simply said, her arms folded and her eyes thinned at her.
"I-I decided…her powers would be safer…with me."
At that last word, Will suddenly brought up a bark of laughter. "Safe with you? HA!" She laughed. "Is that really the best excuse you can come up with, Rissy?!" She used Cassidy's old nickname for her, making Nerissa want to glare daggers, but Will just kept on talking.
Cassidy had long since moved back in with her mother, since her resurrection, thanks to Nerissa, which she was loathed to admit she was grateful to her for. Although Cassidy was a gently and compassionate person, even she had her limits, considering how Nerissa had enslaved her mind and spirit, using her to attack innocents and then imprisoning her in that damn Seal of hers. She had said that she would be more than happy if she never spoke or saw Nerissa again.
Explaining to her mother how she was suddenly alive again had been more than tricky. Not to mention the fact that Cassidy was as young now as she had been when she had died over 40 years ago. But her mother had been simply so ecstatic over the miraculous return of her daughter that she hadn't even cared to ask. Whether that would remain so was yet to be seen, so the Guardians had decided to simply deal with the problem when and if it eventually came.
"I did what I…" Nerissa began.
"What you had to, yeah-yeah," Irma muttered loudly. "Listen, sister…you're starting to sound like an broken record. Truth is, you stopped doing what was best for Lillian long before Halloween."
"She's right," Hay Lin added. "Maybe you did go after her powers to save her the first time, but on the second…"
"It was for her power, plain and simple," Caleb finished. "Because that's all you cared for!"
Nerissa stared at her son, as though he had taken his sword and stabbed her through her heart. "Caleb…"
"Don't bother denying it, because you know it's true!" he retorted. "Maybe you started out fighting the good fight, mom, but somewhere along the line you lost your way! You didn't need to trap the council, you didn't need to steal everyone's mystic Hearts, and you certainly didn't need to enslave anyone's mind! You could have just told them about Hexin and they would've helped, and don't you dare try saying they wouldn't have believed you because you know the Oracle better than that!"
He gave her a hard glare, on his last sentence, making her keep her mouth shut.
"Fact is, you got greedy! The more power you got, the more you wanted! You would've kept on getting more and more, until finally you were so obsessed with getting it, you would've forgotten all about Hexin, and maybe even me, dad and Lillian, too."
He looked at her. "Tell me I'm wrong! You look me in the eye, and tell me that when you were going after Lillian's Familiar, Napoleon, you were doing it solely for the good of your daughter and the rest of the universe! That you weren't even thinking a smidge about just getting more power for yourself!"
His mother stared at him, her eyes full of tears, probably the first in a long time, but she said nothing.
"How'd she even get her powers so young anyway, if all mystic Hearts aren't supposed to get theirs until their teens?" Hay Lin then wondered aloud.
Taranee shrugged. "How many Hearts are born in a laboratory through science?" she questioned back. "Maybe the whole resurrection of the Heart of Earth caused Lillian to get her powers early…or maybe Hexin planned it that way. We'll never know for sure."
"Either way, we've got bigger problems now," Will realised. "Hexin now knows about Lillian! He knows she's the Heart of Earth, and he knows where she lives. And if he gets his hands on her… Well, we all know what he has planned for her, don't we."
Everyone shuddered as they recalled Nerissa's story of Hexin's plan to sacrifice Lillian to re-obtain the Heart of Kandrakar for himself.
"Well, we're safe for now anyway," Irma said hopefully. "After all, Lillian's here on Meridian and Hexin can't cross to other worlds, right?"
0000000000
Earth; Heatherfield:
Napoleon coughed, his throat hot and dry, as the large man carried him in a carrier. Unlike most cat carriers, this one didn't have a window or anything for him to look out of, so he had no idea where he was or where he was going.
"I don't suppose you'd tell me where you're taking me?" he called out hoarsely, not even bothering to remain quiet to keep his secret. These men already knew about him, as they were the lackeys of this guy Hexin.
He had met Hexin not too long after he regained consciousness again. At first, Napoleon had continued playing the dumb but lovable kitty, but this dude Hexin was wise to his tricks, and knew a lot more than most guys. Somehow, he knew that Lillian was the Heart of Earth, and because of that he knew that Napoleon had to be her Familiar, since all Hearts of Earth had a guardian spirit.
When Napoleon still refused to talk, Hexin had rewarded him with a few taser shocks until at last his voice betrayed him, as he cried out in pain. Worse yet, he found that he couldn't transport himself out of there! While he had been out of it, they had strapped some kind of mystical collar on him, which somehow drained him of his powers, making him as helpless as a regular cat.
Hexin had questioned him for a while, demanding answers about Lillian and her sister. Napoleon managed to tough it out for a few hours, refusing to answer anything, but gradually the electric shocks and drug they kept pumping into him loosened his tongue.
Strangely enough, Hexin did not ask that many questions about the Guardians, which was partly what Napoleon had been expecting. He did, however, ask a lot about Lillian, but nothing about her power, which again was a bit of a surprise. He seemed more interested for some reason in her family, and more oddly…in Nerissa?
Hexin seemed to be under the impression that Nerissa played some sort of role in Lillian's life. Napoleon didn't know who had been more confused when he told the guy that the only role Nerissa had played with his charge was when she had tried to steal her power a couple of times.
After that, he had asked more questions, but this time about her sister Cornelia. Eventually, in his delirium, Napoleon mentioned Meridian, where Nerissa had lived most of her life.
That seemed to be the one answer Hexin had been looking for, as immediately he had ordered his men to bring Napoleon with them. Beyond that, Napoleon didn't know anything else, as the carrier he was in had nothing for him to spy out of, and the damn collar restrained his powers!
The hallucinogenic drugs they had been giving him did not seem to last long, but they left him feeling sick and dizzy, and his throat feeling like a litterbin.
"Worse service ever!" he yelled out. "Tell your manager I won't be staying in this hotel again!"
Suddenly, the carrier was dropped down on the floor, and Napoleon heard the locks outside it being undone. He valiantly tried to prepare himself to jump out and make a run for it, but the drug's affects were still too strong for him to even stand properly.
The carrier opened, and a large hand reached in to grab him.
Napoleon may not be strong enough to escape, but he did manage to get at least one up on these guys.
"MEOW!" he hissed, and sank his sharp teeth into the guy's hand, tearing out a good chunk of it.
"YEOW!" the man cried out, retreating his hand instantly, where even now a good drop of blood was beginning to ooze out of it.
"Ha...ha…" Napoleon laughed weakly.
His victory was short-lived, however, when another hand quickly reached in and grabbed him. He tried biting this one as before, but this second guy was clever, as he had grabbed Napoleon by the head first, clamming his mouth shut, and then lifting him with his second hand.
Napoleon didn't need to look at him to know who the second man was. "Nice to see you again, champ," he said, his voice muffled with Hexin's hand over his face.
Hexin made no reply, and instead carried the small cat over to a large machine set in the middle of the room.
As they locked him in place with some small chains and holders, and attached him to the device via a number of wires and clips, Napoleon looked around to see where he was. He found, to his surprise, that he was at the old bookstore. It was still nighttime, the shutters on the windows had been drawn and the doors locked. Clearly, Hexin wanted no interruptions.
The last time he had been here was when they had tried trapping Nerissa on Halloween. So far, the place hadn't changed much, with the exception of the large machine standing in the centre of it. It looked like something of a huge laser from one of those old sci-fi films.
"If you wanted me to play a role in your sci-fi flick, you coulda just asked," he said, as Hexin removed his hand from him, once the final wire had been pushed into the feline's skin.
Hexin smiled. "You're playing a major role tonight, my little Familiar," he said, but told him nothing else, as he looked to the rest of his staff in the store. "Activate it!" he commanded.
One of the men threw a switch on the laser, and at once Napoleon felt something like a thousand volts go through his entire body. He screamed and meowed louder than he had ever done before, wanting to grasp at the wires and yank them out, but being unable to.
At first, the volts felt like your typical electric shock, but then it was as if they were draining the life right out of him. His body felt like it was aging a year a second.
Hexin watched, as the lights from the machine passed through the cat Familiar and into the second half of the device. The laser had a large funnel at the end, which glowed brighter and brighter with each second, seemingly filling it with the energy taken from the cat.
A few seconds later, a red light shone on the control board, and one of the technicians deactivated the device.
Napoleon felt the machine power down, and his body heaved a huge sigh of relief, as his body slummed down in sheer exhaustion, quivering in pain and fear.
"It's ready," the technician reported.
Hexin nodded. "Then do it!"
The technician punched some instructions onto the keyboard, and a short time later the laser at the end realigned itself, taking aim on the lone bookcase near the back of the room. "By your command," he said, holding his hand over a single red button.
"Now!"
He pushed the button, and a second later a loud hum seemed to shudder through the whole machine, and a beam shot out of the end, striking the bookcase. The instant it did, the bookcase seemed to fold in on itself, as a portal opened up out of nowhere.
Hexin smiled. "Very good," he said, seemingly impressed. "Now, we can really get down to business."
To Be Continued…