Irma : Okay, seriously, why do I get a bad feeling about the previous chapter?
Me : Maybe you should find out in my upcoming chapters.
Will : Why can't you ever tell us straight.
Me : Then I will ruin a great story.
Will : Oh, right.
Me : Now, for the disclaimer.
Irma : storyLover does not own W.I.T.C.H., or any part of the cartoon.
Me : Now on with the story...
Chapter 4 : The Artifact
The girls were in one of the room near the prison, with them was the guard from another world which he claimed that Irma was his king's maid. Will was interrogating the guard while the other four girls were standing beside her. 'We ask you a question, why are you guards wants her so badly?' Will asked as she was getting impatient.
'I already told you, she is the king's maid. I was only following orders,' the guard replied the same answer as before.
'Will, try to ak him another question,' Taranee stated.
'Fine,' Will said before looking back down on the guard. 'Why can't your king find another maid?' Will asked, which caught the guard out of surprised by the question.
'I don't know, he never told us the reason. He didn't even want us to know his name, he told us to just call him the king, nothing else. Our king is very mysterious,' the guard explained. The girls looked at each other, wondering who was the king.
'Alright, guards,' Will called out before the door to the room was opened to reveal two palace guards. 'Take him back to the cell,' Will said as the two guards nodded. They then held the prisoner off of his seat and out of the room, leaving the five girls alone in the room.
'So, that was a dead end,' Will stated out of disappointment.
'Well, at least I'm still here,' Irma said, trying to cheer up Will.
'Hurray,' Cornelia cheered sarcastically. Irma then glare at her before soaking her hair, which freak her out.
'All I want to know is why everything has to be this complicated,' Will stated.
'Maybe it is how it is,' Taranee replied.
'Or maybe it is our so call job. Man, one of these days, I might ask the Oracle to pay us for these kind of jobs,' Irma said sarcastically. The other girls just ignored her joke as they continued their discussion.
'Well, time to continue our search for Zarla, and with Irma here, we will find her even faster,' Will stated as the four girls nodded. Will then opened a fold back into the forest before they all went through it. Once in the forest, the girls split up before continuing their search for Zarla, before Zarla have her revenge on them.
While the girls were searching the forest, Zarla on the other hand was in some barren wasteland. The place was dead with trees without any leaves still standing, destroyed buildings and houses, and a big fog that was very thick, the world almost looks like a horror movie. And in the barren wasteland stood a broken tower, still standing. In the tower, Zarla will finally found what she has came for.
As she was walking across the field, she could sense some threat was coming her way. So she got ready to defend herself, even though her powers over her magic was getting weak, she has no other choices. Suddenly, a beast just jumped right in front of her, blocking her path. 'Get out of my way, you beast!' Zarla yelled as she shot some fireballs at the beast. It then dodge it, but soon it was hit by the fireballs.
The beast was hit by the barrage of fireballs until it was unconscious, which satisfy Zarla. 'Nothing will stand in my way in order to have my vengeance on the guardians,' she said as she continued her journey towards the tower.
On Medimn, the king was still waiting in his thrown hall for any news from his guards. He was getting pretty impatient as he wants his maid back to his palace right now. 'Guards!' he called out. Two guards later entered the hall before they bow down to the king.
'Yes, your highness,' the guard said.
'Go and track the guards that are chasing my maid, before reporting back to me,' the king ordered them. The guards later leave the hall, before the king took out the Heart of Medimn. But the heart won't follow his command as he concentrate on it, but to no avail.
'I will claim the heart's power, no matter what,' the king said. The heart was glowing a bright violet colour after the king place it back under his robe.
While the king was waiting for any news about his guards, under his kingdom, a group of people with their swords were walking through a tunnel that was dug by them. 'Quick, we need some food supplies for the people,' one of them said.
'We also need to be careful not to be caught by any of the palace guards,' the other one stated.
'I wonder who is the true heir to the thrown. The kingdom is falling apart,' the other one stated.
'Quiet, or they will hear us,' one of them said softly. They then climb up a ladder that was stuck onto the wall. The one who opened the cover takes a look around for any guards. Fortunately, the coast was clear as there was no sight of the palace guards.
'Quick, the faster we take the food, the faster we can get out of here,' one of them said.
'Saldern, we need to get some water for the kids too,' the other one said.
'I know, that's why we are the rebellion, we will not allow the king to lead the kingdom anymore,' Saldern stated while the last one has finally came out of the hole. They later cover it back up, avoiding their secret tunnel being reveal.
Saldern took a look around the corner and noticed that the hallway to the food storage was guarded by two palace guards. Saldern then looked back at the rest of the group. 'We have two guards up ahead. Can you find a way through them, Feldern?' Saldern asked.
'Don't worry, and I know a perfect way to pass them,' Feldern stated. He then took out grenade like out of his pocket before pulling the pin off. He then tossed at the guards who were standing guard at the storage room.
The two guards looked at it, wondering what was it. The next thing happened was surprising, the grenade has just released some smoke, before the guards felt dizzy. They both later fell down, before falling asleep.
The rebellion later hurried to the storage room while holding their noses preventing them from smelling the smoke that was emitted from the grenade. 'What is that?' Saldern asked.
'My sleeping smoke, pretty affective. You can be asleep for almost half a day when you have breath it in enough,' Feldern stated. They then entered the storage room before they quickly closed it.
'Look at all of those crates,' one of them said as he looked at the amount of food was in the crates.
'Hinard, we don't have time for sight-seeing. Let's grab about five crates of food, and two barrels of water,' Saldern ordered. The rest of the group did as they were told before they have took five crates of food, each with different kinds. Two of it was fill with fruits, the other two was vegetables and the fifth was rice. The two barrels was later rolled next to the crates of food. Both it was filled with ordinary water.
'Okay, let's go before they know we are here,' Saldern stated as the rest of the group nodded. He then opened a small gap at the door, looking out and making sure that there was no guards. The coast was clear, apart from the two sleeping guards who were on the floor. Saldern signalled them that the coast was clear and they were safe.
As they moved the crates and the barrels out of the strage room, Saldern made sure that the guards would not suspect that they have came into the palace through a secret passage. After the rebels was finally in the tunnel, Saldern made sure the cover was unnotice as a crate of sand just dropped on it, with some of the sand seeping through the gap of the cover. Saldern later went down the ladder, satisfy that their tracks was cleared.
'Now that was easy,' one of the rebels said.
'Quiet, Meagin,' Saldern whispered. 'They can still hear us,' he stated as he pointed up.
'I know that you are the rebel leader, but you don't have to be that worried. We are a about twenty feet deep under the palace, what makes you think that they can hear our voice,' Meagin said.
'Maybe you're right, I should stop worrying about it,,' Saldern stated. They then continued back to their base, delivering the supplies to the other rebels.
Meanwhile in Meridian's forest, the guardians was still searching for Zarla. Will and Cornelia has regroup as both of them bumped into each other. 'We won't be able to find her like this, we need another way,' Cornelia stated.
'I know, I know, I'm thinking,' Will said out of annoyance.
They were resting on some rocks as Will was thinking up a way for them to search for Zarla much more easier. Then she heard Taranee's voice in her head. 'Will, you better have a look at this,' Taranee said telepathically.
'Got it, we're coming,' Will said before looking at Cornelia. 'Taranee just told me that she has found something,' Will said.
'Finally, let's go,' Cornelia said before getting up. Will then got up before flying towards the direction that Taranee was a Cornelia followed her.
Back at the wasteland, Zarla was in the tower, walking up the broken stairs. The stairs looks like it could give way anytime as Zarla continued to head up the stairs. She could hear some rocks falling under the weight of her body. 'Just a few more flight of stairs, then I will find what I have been searching for,' Zarla stated as she carefully walked up the stairs.
All of a sudden, one of the steps she was walking on gave way, making a hole under her. But she manage to grab the ledge of the stairs. She later pulled herself up onto the stairs before she continued her journey up the dangerous flight of stairs.
It took her about half an hour before she has finally reach the last step of the stairs. She took in some air before she went into the room. The whole room was really dark, with the furniture being covered with white cloths, and the corners was filled with spider webs. Zarla made some fire on her hand as she slowly walked through the room, looking for the artifact she was looking for.
As she went passed some dirt covered furniture, she spotted something in the corner of the room. She went to have a closer look before she smiled. She has finally found what she was looking for. Even though it was covered in the white cloths, Zarla could tell it was the mirror, the artifact she ha been searching for in the barren wasteland.
The mirror has a very special magic in it. It has the ability to make a replica of the person staring at the mirror at a period of time. But instead of the direct replica, the copy will be the opposite of what the victim was when he or she look at the mirror. Like when the victim was in the good side, the copy from the mirror would have the opposite of that, it will be on the bad side. The copy even has the powers over the one who looked through the mirror, like when the victim has a heart or a power, the copy will have either both it.
Zarla wouldn't take the cover off, cause the mirror only can make a copy once. Afterward, the mirror will disappear into thin air before reappearing in another barren world. Zarla could use the mirror to her advantage, making a replica of the guardian, any one of them. But Zarla hopes it would be the leader of the group, cause she has the Heart of Kandrakar, or maybe her favourite, the water guardian.
Zarla doesn't know who was the water guardian, and how does she looked. She doesn't even know that the water guardian even wields a heart, which would be a big trouble to the guardians if the girl looked through the mirror. But Zarla just wants the water guardian's power, before having her vengeance on the guardians.
In Meridian, Will and Cornelia has just arrived at the spot where Taranee called them. 'I found some footprints on the ground that leads into this cave,' Taranee said as she pointed out the footprints that was barely visible heading into the cave.
'Let's wait for the rest of the girls. We need to be ready if we face Zarla, if she is in the cave,' Will said as she looked into the cave.
'Good point,' Taranee stated.
Zarla has finally found what she was looking for, a mirror which has the ability to make a copy of the person looking at it with an opposite personality on them. The guardians hope that they have finally found Zarla hiding spot. The king was getting impatient as he sent two of his trackers to search for his palace guards and his maid. And there was a rebellion under the palace, which they were against the ruler of the kingdom. They found out that the king wasn't the rightful ruler of the kingdom, but somebody else. Who could it be? Everything will be answered in the rest of the story.
Well, it took me a while, but I am finally with the flow with the story, as this was an easy chapter. Anyway, this is almost like the time where Meridian was under the rule of Phobos, with rebellions against him, the rightful heir to the thrown was unknown till later and some adventures, like in the first season. Okay, now for those reviews please.