W.I.T.C.H

Chapter 2

Live, From Kandrakar

Kandrakar

Halinor and Minnio stood in front of the portal, waiting impatiently. Fortunately, they did not have to wait long before a familiar, brown-haired head poked through. Irma looked around and, upon seeing Halinor and Minnio, grinned sheepishly. She then once again disappeared from sight.

Heatherfield

"It's Kandrakar alright." Irma said once she brought her head back into Cornelia's room. "And they've brought out the welcome wagon."

"Told you." Cornelia said, crossing her arms. "Why don't you just believe me?"

"Experience." Irma replied. Will entered the room as Irma said this.

With Will's arrival, all five girls were now in Cornelia's room, staring at the portal in front of them.

"Is it really Kandrakar?" Will asked once she caught her breath.

"Yep." Cornelia replied.

Will looked at her skeptically.

"Don't worry Will." Irma said. "I checked too. It's Kandrakar."

"You believe Irma but not me?" Cornelia said. "Why does no one believe me?"

"Experience." Will said with a smile. "Now knock it off."

She took out the Heart.

"Guardians unite!"

Kandrakar

The five Guardians stepped through the portal and onto the front steps of the fortress of Kandrakar.

"Girls! It's wonderful to see all of you again." Halinor said, greeting them with a smile.

"It's… nice to see you too, Halinor. What's going on?" Will asked.

The girls did a quick look around the entrance of the fortress. There wasn't any damage, and there was no sign of an attack.

"I'm afraid there's no time for explanations." Halinor replied. "We must head to the council room at once."

"Well, can you at least introduce us to you friend?" Hay Lin asked, eyeing Halinor's companion.

"Of course. This is Minnio." Halinor said with some disdain.

Minnio stood only a little over 4 feet tall, and that, combined with his smooth skin and disproportionately small facial features, gave him a child like appearance. Despite this, he had long grey hair, and small, round-brimmed glasses that also gave him fell of authority. The girls weren't quite sure what to make of him.

"Minnio is pleased to meet all of you." He said, giving each of the girls a firm handshake. "Now please follow Minnio and Halinor to the council room. Quickly! Your lateness has put us all behind schedule."

The girls did as they were told, and headed towards the council room.

Meridian

Elyon rounded the corner and, seeing her prey, moved in to attack. Her prey this particular time was none other then Caleb, who was sitting at his desk, pouring over blueprints for the castle. Upon seeing the leader of the Honor Guard hard at work, Elyon decided the best course of action was to jump up, and sit on Caleb's desk. Which she promptly did. Caleb, not appreciating the distraction, glared at her.

"What'cha doin'?" She asked innocently.

"Well," Caleb said, turning back to the blueprints. "Since all of our defenses were based on your infinite power,"

"Which recently got significantly more finite," Elyon added.

"I'm having to re-create our entire defense system." Caleb finished.

"That sounds… fun?" Elyon said.

"It's not." Caleb said, still studying the prints.

"Which is why you should take a break and talk to your Queen." Elyon said.

"And why would I want to do that?" Caleb said absentmindedly. This time it was Elyon's turn to glare.

"Sorry." Caleb said, looking up. "What did you want to talk about?"

"I'm worried about you." Elyon said.

"You're worried about me?" Caleb said, lowering his pencil, "You just lost your powers. I should be worried about you."

"That's exactly what I'm worried about." Elyon replied. "You worry to much."

"You're worried about me because I worry about you?" Caleb asked. "Isn't that just going to make me worry even more?"

"Yes. Wait, no. Wait, hold on…"

Caleb rolled his eyes.

"Elyon, I'm in the middle of serious work here, so if you don't mind…"

"Ah-ha!" Elyon exclaimed. "That's exactly what I'm talking about!"

"Huh?"

"You're always in the middle of 'serious work'." Elyon said. "I never see you smile or laugh anymore. It's like everything you do now is a matter of life and death."

"Elyon," Caleb interupted. "I'm a soldier. Everything I do is life and death."

"You know what I mean." Elyon said with a sigh.

"I'm afraid I don't" Caleb said. "So if you could please get to the point."

"Lighten up."

"Elyon…"

"No, that's the point." Elyon explained. "Lighten up."

"Oh." Caleb said. "What do you mean?"

"I mean take some time to yourself. Relax, have some fun!" Elyon said. "Stop being so serious all the time."

"Well we've been so busy…" Caleb began.

"I know." Elyon said, "And I appreciate your hard work, I do. But if you can't find time to enjoy life, then what's the point of fighting for it?"

Caleb opened his mouth, but didn't say anything. He just frowned.

"Just think about it." Elyon said with a smile. Then she turned and walked away.

"Oh, and I know this might be bad timing, but we're also holding trade talks with Balsilide next week." Elyon said, turning back to face Caleb.

"What?" Caleb said. "When did this happen? What's a Balsilide?"

"Balsilide is another world." Elyon explained. "We were going to reach a trade agreement before Phobos showed up, but since we're at peace again,"

"This week, anyways." Caleb interrupted.

"See, humor. That's good." Elyon said. "Anyways, now that we're at peace again, talks are resuming."

Elyon sighed and rubbed her forehead.

"Look, I just want to work towards something positive for once, alright? Something where we can win, instead of just trying not to lose." She said.

Caleb sighed.

"I'll add it to the list."

"That's the spirit." Elyon said, a smile returning to her face. Then she turned with a wave, and walked away.

Caleb looked at his plans. Maybe she had a point; maybe he did take things to seriously. Maybe he should relax more. He turned to write something on one of the blueprints, but was stopped by the sound of his pencil snapping on the first word. He gritted his teeth. Then again…

Kandrakar

The girls, led by Minnio and Halinor, strode between the pillars and spires of Kandrakar on their way to the council room. As Will looked up at the massive celling, she realized she didn't feel the same sense of awe that usually accompanied a trip to Kandrakar. Instead, it was replaced with a feeling of contempt. As they entered the council room, however, she once again felt awe. Every seat in the large, circular, room was filled by an elder. Will had no idea there were even this many people in Kandrakar. Only a small section in the front row was left vacant, which the girls promptly filled. As she analyzed the room, she noticed a large, round container at the top of the domed roof, which had not been there in previous visits. It was filled with small, black and white dots, giving the container an overall grey appearance.

Hay Lin scanned the massive crowed, looking for her grandma. After a minute of searching, she was surprised to find not only the altermere version of Yan Lin, but the real one as well. They were both sitting across the room from her. It looked as though the Yan Lin's were trying to signal her, but she was unable to make out their message before her thoughts were interrupted.

The elders stood as two men walked into the room, and took their place in the center of the chamber. The first man Will instantly recognized as the Oracle. Will remembered that he had not looked well the last time they had seen him, and he looked no better now. His skin was wrinkled, and he stood bent over. It was as if he had aged twenty years in the last month. He wore plain white robes, as did the rest of the elders, except his had a black trim.

The second man none of the girls had ever seen before. He looked the direct opposite of the Oracle. He was young, strong, and was quite handsome. He had long, dark hair, with two grey lines running over his ears. His robe was adorned with two bright red stripes that were both trimmed with gold, as were his sleeves. Will did not have to wait long to find his name.

"Elders, Guardians, thank you for coming." Minnio said, heading into the center of the room. "Leading today's session will be the wise Endarno." Minnio said, pointing to the second man.

"The Oracle of Kandrakar will be the subject of the judgement." Minnio continued.

"And now, let us begin!"