5Recap:
In Meridian, Elyon learns that Miriadel never really knew much about Weira, and that Weira was probably not as glorious as most people thought. Caleb takes a short break from his duties but Aldarn helps him list down questions for the interrogation of Vaal. The Prison of Infinite City gets a new prisoner named Marietta, Miranda's cousin, while Cedric tries to get through being the butt of the joke by thinking of how to shame Orube into making an alliance with him.
In Heatherfield, Will's father takes another step further with Serena and Serena's family, prompting Will to feel even more stressed. Kandrakar calls for the guardians to remove the astral drops, award Hay Lin the Breath of Time, and warn the guardians about their constant failures in their mission. As a result, the girls become more distant from each other, and Hay Lin feels betrayed by her grandmother(s) and everything she believed in.
Orube too is called to Kandrakar, and feels threatened at the prospect of going back to Basiliade when she is no longer needed. She takes it out on the trees in a Heatherfield park.
Meanwhile, Interpol Executive Jeffrey Brooke and his team, under which Sylla and Riddle work for, gathered enough initial evidence regarding the guardians' magic. However, Nora Frieder have caught wind of Brooke and co's suspicious activities, and tasked Agents Maria Medina and Joel McTiennan, who previously worked with the guardians, to keep an eye on Sylla and investigate their colleague.
In Arkhanta, Ari peeks on the guardians' lives and hints that he will rid of them the next time they come. Yua calls for an acquaintance to help her not kill anyone.
Warning: Depictions of self-harm in this chapter (with Orube...again...).
Chapter 07: A Recipe for Disaster
One week.
It had already been a week since Caleb went back to Meridian and Orube was added to the team, but Will felt as if a month had already passed.
She sluggishly lifted herself off the bed and almost crawled to the bathroom.
…fuck. Will lied to her mom about last night, and somehow, lying about her own father seemed graver than lying about magic. Ugh, what use was comparing her father to the affairs of the Infinite Dimensions, when she already rejected the Heart?
Oh, crud, that was just...! She rejected the Heart!
"…so, like, does that mean I failed my last chance at the exam even without taking it? Just like that?"
Will laughed to herself. This was fine. She lost her astral drop and lost the Heart. She had no more obligation to Kandrakar. She might still have powers – and Quintessence danced on her trembling hand – but she had no obligation to the world anymore. She was a kid, and she had problems. This was much better than being called on-duty while attending to important personal matters.
Right, right.
Will put on a jolly face in front of Susan and headed to school. Ex-Keeper of the Heart, present, and not late, and wouldn't suddenly disappear in the middle of class, or the rest of school year.
Yes. She should've just done this before. She was missing out on some of the most important days for… what? The sake of the universe she didn't know shit about?
Ha ha. Ha, ha, ha. Ha. Ha. Hah…
Will smiled. She no longer had to pretend to smile. The action came off as so natural and pleasing to her. Hee hee. It felt nice to laugh like this. Ha, ha, ha.
-o0o-
Caleb got up early to ensure he had enough time to do some questioning, err, interrogation. He finished off a few papers before getting up at the appointed time with the compiled list of questions in hand.
Today would be a productive day, darn it. And nobody would be in his way to ruin any of his plans. (No, the cell containing Cedric was stable, almost indestructible, yes, and so were the other cells. Elyon fortified it with her magic rather angrily the other day. Caleb didn't know where she got the idea or why she'd been so upset, but it was good she channeled her fury in a more… productive way.)
Caleb read through the questions again. He might've memorized them, but it wouldn't hurt if he made sure his memory hadn't tricked him. He was due to ask Vaal about Phobos, the bandits, and perhaps, Vaal's position too when Queen Weira was still on the throne. While the primary concern was (and still was, as it should be) the case of the bandit raids, Aldarn suggested that the surviving enemies of Queen Weira herself should be given due proceedings as the laws of Meridian commanded.
Caleb pocketed the piece of paper and smiled his most confident smile.
"Alright!" He announced when he arrived in the interrogation room. "Let's get to business!"
On the other end of the room, there sat Vaal on a chair too low, it made him seem as if he was a child. Caleb fought the urge to laugh in the prisoner's already very funny face.
"Vaal the Useless," Caleb said.
"Yes." Vaal's green head bobbed in response. His fats made his flesh look so gelatinous.
"Ahem. How would the likes of you, who hid out in this very beautiful and quiet cottage on the farther edge of town, relate to the tyrant Phobos?"
Vaal made motions to speak – "Actually, I—" – but he started coughing and hacking and wheezing. Eventually, he fell off the chair.
"Dude, buddy!" Caleb said as the other men in the room helped Vaal back on the seat. "I just asked you if you served Phobos!"
"Y... yes... ugh!" Vaal's face was rather grim. "And no."
What kind of an answer was that? Caleb frowned. "Prince Phobos of the Escanor line. You worked for him, did you not?"
"...yes."
"Oh, good!" Caleb forced himself to smile. This couldn't be boding well. "In that case, would you happen to know who else like you is out there, trying to hide from the law and their supposed new queen?"
"No."
Rats. "Well, what do you know about the case of the bandit raids? Is there a missing factor we're not seeing and you've been hiding? Is there someone behind this movement?"
Vaal paled, but he didn't answer.
Oh, good. Caleb shared disappointed eyes with the other guards. This was even worse than interrogating someone who tried to deny everything.
-o0o-
Birds chirped in the distance as Ilse set out to do her lineup of tasks for the morning. Earlier when the sun still wasn't up, she helped the adults prepare breakfast. After breakfast, she and the adults tended to their land, diligently checking their crops for pests and weeds.
She allowed herself half an hour of rest, and now, she had a class to teach.
An infant cousin rested against her shoulder, as she taught medicine to the kids. This class would only last for a while; she had something more important to do.
"While there are many plants that aid and supplement our health," she said, "You should understand that each and every of them have side-effects effects too. There are always drawbacks, and the most dangerous one is when you use medicines that, together, trigger bad side-effects."
"But sis!" Figo raised his hand. "If they are bad for us, why do we still take them?"
"Because the good outbalance the bad, simple as that. This is why we don't eat medicinal plants every day. This is also why, sometimes, we prescribe different medicines for the same illness."
"Can't we just use magic to heal people?"
"As much as I'd like that to happen, not all of us are born with healing magic." Ilse smiled at Figo.
"Big sis! Big sis!" said Figo's brother, "Tell us more about healing magic!"
"Err, well. Most of our clan is born with the healing magic. A few aren't." Ilse's lips pointed and made elliptical motions. "Oh, well, that's for a more advanced class anyway."
"But this is sooo boring!"
The other children cheered in agreement. Ilse sighed and shook her head. "Oh, you kids."
"I'll take it from here," a gruff voice said. It was Elder Dai, and when Elder Dai hosted classes, the kids hated it. They moaned in dismay as the old woman stood next to Ilse. "See, Ilse here is busy."
Ilse nodded and gave the infant to her grandmother. "I'm sorry. I'll be back as soon as possible," Ilse whispered.
"Lodi will help you get there. Be careful."
"I will."
Ilse left the hut and prepared for her journey. She grabbed a cape and a reed hat, and she met Lodi by the entrance of their little town. He too wore a similar cape and reed hat. Heh. The sun was really too hot at this time of the year, and it was getting worse. And Big Dick King, also known as Ari, was of no help at all.
"I'm sorry; this is all I can do to help," Lodi said as he helped Ilse up his mare. "I wish I could do more."
"Me too, but… if this is our fate, then it will be our fate. At the least, we can spare a few lives from… well… haha…" Ilse's voice trailed off, despite forcing herself to smile.
Lodi then sat behind Ilse and steered the horse out of the seemingly dark forest. They would still pass through seven rivers and forests before they could reach the closest town, and they had to win against time. After that, Ilse only needed to bet against people's personal beliefs.
Tch. They were incredibly tough barriers to break. Right… sis?
-o0o-
The school bell rang in Sheffield Institute, and kids came running out of their classrooms towards the lame, unchanging cornucopia of the cafeteria. A thankful Irma headed for the water fountain to drink and quench her thirst. For some reason, today gave her an almost unbearable thirst. It was probably the effect of yesterday's rather disappointing news, though was it so bad to have a temporary vacation with some limitations?
Irma didn't share everybody's opinions. She'd like to have a break, too. Besides, they were too young to spend their time dancing around in the danger pits of various alien planets in the cosmos.
Irma wiped water from her mouth and dragged her feet away. She bumped into someone, and she smiled as she looked up to him.
"Woah, there, Ms. Lair!"
"Oh, Mr. Sylla! Hi!" she greeted, her voice rather raspy. Ugh, he shouldn't see her like this. "Um... I gotta go..."
"You don't look so good." Sylla angled his head several times, observing her face. She couldn't be blushing, please oh please great guardians of the past let her not blush right now, please. "Maybe you should go to the school nurse later."
"D-don't worry about it! I'm fine!"
"Ms. Lair, you can't keep attending class looking like you're out of sleep. Are you having trouble after class? I can take you to the counselor later."
Oh, geez! Irma would love to take to opportunity, but not right now! "M-maybe. Um. I should really... go. Yeah." She nodded and began to walk away. "Gotta eat first! Haha!"
"Ms. Lair?"
The Water Guardian felt so, so thirsty. And with her object of affection coming around, her body temperature rose. Just what the hell was going on with her body right now?
"Probably hungry..." Irma told herself, but she remembered they discussed in Biology class that eating food causes heat to the body. This couldn't be... natural.
Irma kept licking her dry lips as she grabbed onto her food tray and walked towards their usual table. She half-expected Taranee and Cornelia to be there, but they were on the other side of the hall. Interesting.
At the least, Matt, Hay Lin, and Will were still at the usual table. Will was giggling about something, and those giggles were creepy, very creepy as fuck. Hay Lin, like she had been in the past few hours, was a little shaky, and she was breathing a little too hard. Probably cold, Irma thought, but it's difficult to ask when she herself had a problem.
"Uh, you girls okay?" Matt asked. See? Even Matt could see things! "Will?"
"Yeah, yeah," Will said and looked up. Geez. She looked way worse than Irma herself did, with those dark rings under her eyes. "I was just thinking... you guys wanna get milkshake later?"
"Uh, sure? I mean, if we have time, I guess?"
"Thanks, Matt. Love ya."
"C-can't... breathe..." Hay Lin began coughing. Irma stood from her seat to pat Hay Lin's back and hopefully relieve her of the pain.
"Geez, Will!" Irma complained - ugh, her voice was shit and hoarse! - "Why are you thinking of cold drinks when we clearly need something a little... warmer?"
Will laughed. Irma thought it was a little too similar with Nerissa's, but it had to be the unquenchable thirst. "Who cares?"
"And, may I so graciously remind you how we need to be in Kandrakar later?"
"Who cares! I already threw out the Heart!"
Irma could've choked on air, but it was Hay Lin who did, while Matt almost choked on his food.
"I got rid of the thing that caused us problems!"
Irma slammed a fist against the table. "On one hand, that's very brave of you! On the other, what the hell are you throwing it out for, when we've risked neck and leg to keep it within our reach for the past two years?!"
"Are you angry? You should be amazed at my genius!"
Arrrggghhh! "Both!" Irma yelled with what voice she had, and stormed off to gulp down water. Dammit, this talk was making her thirstier and thirstier, and Hay Lin, she was coughing and coughing and gasping for air—
Hay Lin was out of air.
Irma herself was thirsty.
Will didn't have the Heart of Kandrakar.
Oh no. Oh no no no no no no.
Now that Irma thought of it, Taranee was kinda shivering in class earlier! She was cold, because her element was rebelling against her!
"Will, wait!" Irma struggled to go back to Will's side. Sheesh. Will looked like shit, and Irma was sure she wasn't hallucinating the miasma forming around Will right now. "I think... I think something's wrong!"
"Who cares?!" Will shoved her aside and walked over to Cornelia and Taranee.
"WAIT!"
The two were having lunch rather... peacefully. Cornelia's face was wrapped in a scarf, but her hands weren't gloved. Irma could see how her skin... dried out, like she aged so fast. The opposite of regeneration and growth, no doubt the ability of plants.
"Holy shit..." Irma gasped.
"What's up, ladies..." Will slurred and giggled rather creepily. "I. Got. Rid. Of. The. Heart."
Cornelia's eyes almost bulged out of their sockets; Taranee said things so quickly. Holy shit.
Irma looked back to the other table and shared shocked gazes with Matt. 'Please,' Irma mouthed, fearing that people would start staring.
An invisibility spell fell upon the guardians, but Matt fell to the floor. Instantly, Will snapped out of her daze and ran to Matt's side.
"Matt! Matt!" she screamed, over and over. Nobody came to her side.
The other guardians struggled to come over to her, and Hay Lin was almost crawling in pain. Irma held her up for support.
"Will, you absolute shithead!" Irma croaked out, "I'd love to use my powers, but in case you can't see, our powers are going against us!"
"W-what?!" Their surprised leader only froze, holding a weak Matt to her chest. "What do you mean?!"
"It means, do something! I'm thirsty! Hay Lin can't breathe! Cornelia's aged so badly! Taranee's too cold!"
"D-did you try using your powers yet?"
"Yesyesyesyesyes!" Taranee answered, "Nnononouse!"
"We have to go to—"
Kandrakar again, wasn't it?! At the almost-mention of the oh-so-holier-than-thou governing body of space and time and whatever they can't understand in the world, the guardians' faces soured immediately.
"I hate to admit it, Will, but you're damn right," Cornelia said, her voice so deep and old.
"How do we do that, exactly?" Irma asked, "This ingenious babe threw the thing out!"
"I left it in a restaurant bathroom!" Will gasped. "Oh no, what if they threw it out?!"
Irma frowned along with the others. "I'm tired of this shit, Will. Just try something! Do your guardians unite thing!"
"But the Heart—"
"Just try it! Before Matt's power runs out and reveals us!"
Will gritted her teeth and looked at her pained boyfriend. In a small voice, she whispered, "Guardians... unite..."
A familiar bright light enveloped them and then—
Ah! How refreshing it was to be with water again! Irma glided across the cool water as her parched throat finally found relief. She laughed, frolicking about, swimming like a mermaid among bubbles and waves and—
Irma faced the cafeteria toned in black and white like old movies. Holy. Crap. She approached a table and nudged it. It gained color and moved with her hand, but as soon as she released it, it stopped in motion, frozen in its state of imbalance.
"What happened?" she asked nobody in particular.
"I can't believe I'm so happy to be a guardian again," Cornelia shrieked, her youth back.
"Me neither!" Taranee agreed, still rubbing her shoulders for warmth, "But now I'm not very happy without my element. I'd hate to be that cold ever again!"
"I can breathe!" Hay Lin announced, and it was a good time for her to be loud. Irma's eyes widened when she noticed the pendant hung from her friend's neck, shining brightly...
"The Breath of Time!" The girls gasped out.
"You're a savior, buddy." Irma flicked a finger at the hourglass. "But I don't like the mechanics for activating you."
"Matt, Matt!"
Another loud voice took everyone's attention. Will gave soft slaps to Matt's cheeks to keep him awake, but his eyelids kept drooping.
"S... sorry..." he murmured, before completely passing out.
Will cried out, but Cornelia pushed her out of the way and checked on Matt's vitals. "He's good, don't worry."
"Since when were you a doctor?!" Will asked, but Taranee got between them.
"Okay, cut it out," Taranee said, "We know the deal. We need to go to Kandrakar… as much as I hate that."
"And we need to know how we're able to transform even without the Heart," Irma added. "But I sure hope they give us a free ride, because as you can see, we don't have the Heart to open a fold!"
Hay Lin placed the Breath of Time on their table and covered it with a napkin for... good measure? "Let's just hope that when we get there, they actually answer us."
"Crossing fingers for luck." For good measure it was.
Then, a fold opened in their mid. It was, no wonder, from Kandrakar. The girls frowned; no wonder they would be scolded once they got there.
Cornelia lifted Matt's body with telekinesis, and she followed the other girls inside with Matt in tow.
Geez. How long had it been since they fucked up this badly?
"Guardians, welcome back."
Himerish's voice was neither welcoming nor scornful. However, the guardians did arrive to a crowd of elders with scornful faces. The girls gave each other the same panicked looks they'd put on when they knew they failed a test altogether. Heck, they'd even involved Matt!
"I can explain; this was all my fault!" Will admitted, "But please, help Matt—"
"It's good to know you know you were at fault." Himerish produced the glowing Heart from his sleeve. "And it's also good that we have elders tracking where the Heart of Kandrakar is last left."
Will stepped forward to receive it. "I'm sorry. I didn't know this would happen."
But Himerish did not give the Heart to her. "I will return this to you when you finish your business on Arkhanta."
Will took a few steps back and joined the girls. A wordless conversation took place in their eyes - fear, guilt, cowardice. It seemed like nobody was in the mood to argue and rebel. Irma couldn't even think of a joke to lighten things up.
"Tibor," Himerish said, "Please take Matthew Olsen to the Cosmos of Abeyance."
Tibor and two other elders took the Matt away and disappeared into the halls of Kandrakar. That Cosmos of Abeyance sounded scary for Irma; she didn't even know what those words or letters really meant put together!
"Will he be all right?" Will asked.
The Oracle nodded. "He will be."
"O-okay... um, we're gonna... head to Arkhanta now."
"No, you will not."
The girls gasped, astonished. After calling them here, he just—
"You are missing one of your teammates."
Oh. OH.
Orube. Orube was still in Heatherfield, but, wouldn't that mean the Pussycat too was frozen in time?
"Don't worry, I will call for her now."
Himerish opened a fold, and in a minute, Orube stepped out.
"Sir," she greeted with a bow, and took her place next to the guardians.
Irma stared at the bandages up and down Orube's fists and legs. Geez. She didn't have to crank that all out for the aesthetic.
"Now, you may go."
Himerish opened yet another fold, and wordlessly, the guardians went through.
-o0o-
Arkhanta was the same as ever – the simple people, the warm weather, the hill upon which the Citadel stood…
Will thought that it was so lucky. What was this deal about the land dying, again? Who said that? Arkhanta looked mighty fine! Just hot, but, fine! Everything looked nice! A little dry thanks to the hot weather, but fine nonetheless!
She and her group flew up the hill with Orube following on foot way behind them. They would make quick work of this – they either persuade Ari or not. Will only wanted this to be over, for fuck's sake. The fighting, the situation with her parents, the views of the Elders – Will dreaded snapping in front of her friends and ruining their friendship for good just because of this tremendous stress that decided to bother her. Had it been any time other than now, then maybe things wouldn't… arrive to this.
Cornelia and Taranee, as usual, stuck next to each other.
Hay Lin stayed close to Irma, who was more or less sick of what's happening and would rather go home and flirt with their teacher. (Ugh.)
And then, there's her. Will Vandom. She still had a situation at home; she was stuck between her parents, and she wanted nothing more but to have some sort of break from Kandrakar so she could focus on getting her dad ready for marriage and keeping her mom's wrath at bay.
…right, there was Orube, who mysteriously showed up with more bandages. Great. Whatever she was doing in her free time, Will wasn't there to supervise her, and it's not like the others could be bothered to do so. Not with their little rift.
Needless to say, they all stayed silent. They were going to fail anyway. Her co-guardians weren't as active as they once were on other tasks and missions… or united.
Will missed those days.
In mere minutes, they were in the Scarlet Citadel once more. Mysteriously, there were no guards, and Will lead the team inside.
"Knock, knock, anybody home?" Irma asked in a loud voice, "Come on, Ari, come out and tell us to go home so we can go back to Kandrakar now!"
"T-that's not what we are here to do!" Orube protested, but she earned glares from the guardians.
Huh, that's weird. Even Hay Lin was frowning at her.
Will immediately spoke up. "Thanks, but I don't think we'll appreciate your words right now." It was the politest she could muster up right now, but upon seeing Orube's disheartened face, guilt thrusted into the Keeper's heart. Will did her best to ignore it.
The further the group walked inside the Citadel, the more Will became agitated. Where was everyone? Was Ari in the throne room? Or had he anticipated them somehow? Chills went up Will's spine as she remembered the last time she encountered him – he just opened a view-fold into Kandrakar using the banshee's power!
Just as Will thought of the banshee, the ground rumbled.
"Wow, that was quick!" Irma said, voice dripping with sarcasm. "Cornelia, do something!"
Cornelia huffed as she slid down the shaky floor. "I'm on it already, you buffoon!" She placed her hands on the ground and green energy pooled around her hands. "Earth!"
However, the girls began to sink into the floor.
"What the…?!"
"Hey, I didn't say you could make it worse!" Irma complained as she tried to fly and resist in vain.
"I don't understand!" Cornelia whined, "How could the Earth not respond to me?!"
"I guess you don't control it anymore," Will retorted, but she immediately regretted it.
"So what?! You're gonna rub it in my face, just because you know that we're going to fail no matter what?!"
"Fuck you." Will really, really regretted that.
"Fuck you too, Wilhelmina."
Will barely dodged a piece of the wall that Cornelia hurled at her.
"FIRE!" Taranee yelled, but the ground did not melt under her power. "Oh, no!"
"Don't look at me, guys!" Hay Lin informed, "I don't think air can help much here!"
Irma groaned. "Someone think of something!"
"Don't expect me to!" Cornelia growled back. "I can't control the damn thing and I've only made it worse!"
"Ugh! Anyone, anyone at all! If you have any idea on how to stop us from sinking, that'd be great!"
As Will tried to think, half her body sunken into the ground, she found Orube sinking way faster than all of them were. Will shouted and reached a hand to her.
"Give me your hand, Orube!"
"I-I can't!"
The ground finally swallowed Orube's head. Cold chills went up Will's spine.
Oh, shit. Ari was serious about getting rid of them this time, and Will hoped that she would still wake up, if this was just a very bad nightmare.
-o0o-
Meanwhile with the inquisitive Queen of the Meridian, every person in the castle wondered at young Elyon's persistence. How would they not; she spent her time asking everyone personally if they knew something about the late Queen!
"Hey, excuse me, would you happen to know something about Queen Weira, my mother?" she'd ask.
And her servants and guards would answer, "No, I never met her…" or, "All I know is that it was peaceful back in her time!" or, "She was a good queen. I don't think she had enemies of any sort."
Every time, Elyon would feel disappointed. Had there been no one who ever knew her mother, at all?
She turned to Julian.
"I… I was preoccupied with… the Mage," he admitted, cheeks a little flushed, "Who was, ahem, Nerissa. However, I do know that she asked to be granted audience with the Queen, but the Queen always turned her away due to health problems. Consort Zanden was said to be preoccupied with his hobbies, but he attended to his official functions very promptly… except the audience."
While thankful for the information about her father, Elyon wanted information about her mother. She then looked around in the castle and asked Vathek.
"I'm not really sure! Julian and I may be in a similar age group, but I never really saw the late Queen personally, or even knew her personal life. I do know she had advisers, but I think Phobos got rid of them already. From what I know about Phobos, he really just hates associating himself with your mother."
Elyon tried to look for Galgheitta. However, Drake caught the young Queen as she tried to sneak out of the castle.
"HEY!" she yelled, struggling against Drake's hold, "What're you doing?!"
"Your Majesty!" Drake said as he chuckled, "Where are you going? Have you looked into the reports we submitted lately?"
"I…" Elyon flushed in embarrassment. "…admittedly, I was a little… Um. It's not in my priorities right now."
"Well, can I get you to put those among your priorities? Some villages are still struggling in this winter, and they're not sure they'll last until summer."
"I…!"
Of course! While it was important to know about her mother, it was also important to care after her kingdom!
"Your Majesty?"
"I got a little distracted, that's all," Elyon lied, "I was just trying to…"
"Yes, I've heard. You've been trying to learn about your mother all this time." Drake shrugged. "I guess that's all right."
Remembering Caesar and her own naivety, Elyon frowned. "It isn't. I can't be a good queen if I put my personal life before my people."
"I… guess?"
"Thanks for reminding me, though. I should go."
Elyon turned back and headed to her office with a heavy heart, even as her adoptive parents greeted her. As she sat on her desk, she pulled out a doodle of the so-called Queen Weira that Nerissa once presented to her. A woman with a stern face, similar to Phobos'.
Hm. Had Nerissa never seen Queen Weira up and personal? What if the real Queen looked different? Wouldn't there be paintings of her? But then, Vathek said Phobos hated being associated with their mother, which might mean that the paintings would've been burned.
Elyon found it difficult to focus on the reports. She had to do something about this lack of information!
She stood from her desk and called for Alborn and Miriadel.
"Yes, honey?" Miriadel said.
"I want you to lead a team to look around in the castle, for…" Elyon took a deep breath. She couldn't let her emotions take the better of her. "I mean, please try to look around for anything that relates to Queen Weira. Paintings, jewelry, clothes, anything. Please."
Her mother stared at her for a moment with confused eyes, but eventually beamed up. "Of course. We'll try our best, honey."
Elyon smiled back and hugged her mother. "Thanks, Mom!"
As Miriadel followed her husband out the door, Elyon remembered how the last time they had a talk about Queen Weira, things had… escalated, for the lack of a better term.
"Mom!"
Elyon ran and hugged Miriadel from behind.
"Oh, honey. You're so sweet." Miriadel squeezed her hands.
"Um… I'm sorry about yesterday. Will you forgive me for… getting mad at you?"
"Of course, honey, you're forgiven!"
They hugged once more.
In some way, Elyon wondered why she was even looking for her real mother, when this woman who took care of her for practically all her life was, in all ways other than biological, her real mother.
-o0o-
In the heart of the hill overlooking Urdath and many other towns in Arkhanta, Yua stood before the unconscious Kandrakarian warrior and next to a triumphant Ari. The banshee stared at her victim, frowning with regretful eyes.
"Do it, Yua," Ari commanded.
"I-if it… if my magic… kills her…" Yua whimpered.
Ari tugged on her bindings and reached for her neck. "Then she received it as a warning from us to Kandrakar. Yua, if you want Maqi to remain safe, if you want Arkhanta to remain safe, do it to this warrior. One casualty is forgivable. Kandrakar abandoned me and my son – there are two of us, and only one of these girls you'll have to use your magic on." He let go of the banshee. "Now, do it. It's for the greater good."
The banshee, though coughing and hacking, nodded. She loomed over the young warrior.
My dear, where are you? Please. I don't want to kill.
Just as the thought of her accomplice entered the banshee's head, the warrior gained consciousness and sent Yua flying across the cave. Ari gasped.
"YUA!"
"It's over for you, fiends!" the warrior roared, and Yua feared.
Yua feared having Ari killed by a hand of Kandrakar. Only Ari had the power to defend Maqi from anything.
Yua feared having Maqi taken away by Kandrakar. Or worse, he could be killed!
Yua feared not her death, but for Maqi.
She wailed and sent a beam of energy towards the arrogant warrior. "Leave him alone!"
The warrior struggled to stand, and Yua immediately helped Ari phase up to the throne room. There. She fixed it. If the warrior dies from the spell, it'd be the warrior's fault and only the warrior's.
Yua swallowed. "L-little girl… please… don't fight back…"
The warrior took her stance and growled. "Prepare yourself, monster!" She lunged in, but Yua lifted herself into the air.
"…be… my guest…"
Yua's forehead geodes glowed, and she shot a beam of black energy at the warrior. The warrior screamed and writhed in the air, trying to resist the nether magic.
Resisting nether magic had more consequences than resisting aether magic. Yua once again said, "Please… don't fight… I don't want… to kill you. Please, forget. Forget who you are. Come… to me."
The warrior eventually stopped resisting, and Yua felt her mind connect into the poor girl's.
AAAAARRRGH!
Yua dropped to the ground as the warrior dropped into the pond. The weight of this girl's pain! The weight of her burden! What sorrow filled this girl's mind… an ambition never realized… a society that looked down upon her dream…
Yua screeched. She wanted no more of this! This pain was too excruciating for her to bear! But if she let go of the spell, then she would lose the chance to get rid of Kandrakar, once and for all!
She struggled to reach the pond and teleported the warrior into the empty halls of the citadel. Yua then looked into the murky water of her artificial swamp and tried to locate her accomplice. Fortunately for her, the accomplice had arrived and was now looking to save the other girls.
Please. Hurry!
-o0o-
Meanwhile, the guardians woke up in a prison with no doors. It was just pure wall, floor, and ceiling, and, of course, the group.
Could they still be called a group if they could not even agree with each other? At the least, Will was thankful she woke up – but she was still in a nightmare.
"Ugh, I feel like I've been spun inside a blender!" Irma complained. "Where are we, even?"
"How do we get out of here?" Hay Lin wondered, examining the walls.
Will did a mental headcount. Huh. That's strange. "Where's Orube?"
"We have three questions, and no answers!" Taranee announced, then turned to Cornelia, who also examined the walls. "Any luck, Cornelia?"
"I don't know!" Cornelia answered, "The walls feel very strange!"
"In that case, we can just use transposition, I guess?"
…right! They still had the power to teleport themselves within a world!
"Back to the citadel, girls!" Will commanded and closed her eyes.
Energy enveloped them, and in a flash, they were standing before the seemingly empty Scarlet Citadel once more.
The emptiness irked Will so much. "There's something wrong here," she said, "I just can't put my finger to it."
They entered, but they came upon a different hallway. Fountains cascaded down the walls, while the floor had beautiful engravings.
"This is a trap," Taranee whispered to Will. "We can't go here."
"I don't want to go back, either!" Will whispered back, but when they looked behind them, the door had disappeared, the hallway was cut off, and their only way out was marked by the engravings. "…oh shit. This is worse than I thought."
"I don't want to go there!" Cornelia whined.
"We have no other choice!"
Though reluctant, they followed the engravings and the fountains, but the more they walked through the halls, the more it became clear that the pathway would be never-ending.
"We should've never left that room!" Irma said and pulled Hay Lin away from the rest. "I say we stay here and figure out where the hell we are, first!"
"No, we're not!" Cornelia marched towards Irma. "I'm sick of this world, and I'm sick of that man who calls himself King! I'm so, so sick of this place and I wouldn't think about this place if I could!"
"Yeah, and we keep going around in circles, Blondie!"
"Listen here, you dumb brunette, the sooner we leave this place, the better!"
Taranee pushed them away from each other. "Okay, cut it out! I understand how Cornelia feels, but I think Irma's right. We need to calm down and figure this out, okay? I didn't even want to meet Kandrakar in the first place!"
Kandrakar! The Heart! Will suggested, "I could use the Heart—" but she remembered she left the Heart with Himerish, or rather, Himerish confiscated the Heart from her. "…transposition?"
"I don't want to risk it," Hay Lin confessed, "I can't even think of where to go!"
"Not even outside the citadel?"
"No. I really want to go home… I can't take this anymore!"
Hay Lin ran back to where they came from. Irma shouted her name and followed her friend. Meanwhile, Cornelia pulled a hesitant Taranee towards the other direction.
"Guys! We can't split up! It's too dangerous!" Will yelled. Who would she try to follow first?
She tried to use transposition and go after Hay Lin and Irma. But, when Will opened her eyes, she was in front of a fork connected to a similar hallway filled with flowing water and engravings.
"This is a trap. This is a trap!"
Will closed her eyes and called for Taranee mentally, but she couldn't connect. Distraught, Will ran towards one of the forked pathways.
"Guys! Where are you?!" she called, "Irma! Hay Lin! Cornelia! Taranee! Somebody, please, answer!"
The halls seemed never-ending!
"…somebody… please…!"
Will fell to her knees. She didn't sign up for this. She wanted nothing more but to go home and rest. Kandrakar could impose anything on them if they wanted to, but she was tired of doing its bidding. She was tired of being caught up in problems she didn't start. She wanted some sort of peace.
"Please…" she pleaded.
Just then, one of the fountains gave way and a hallway revealed itself. The despaired guardian stared at it, curious and eager to see if it would lead outside.
'It's alright,' a voice said. It was a voice belonging to a person she knew nothing about, but Will was more than thankful to know that there was someone else out there, trying to look after her welfare.
Slowly, she forced her shaky legs to stand, and she wiped her tears. "Can I… really…?"
'Don't hesitate. Just follow this path. And don't look back.'
Having the voice around soothed Will. Whoever this stranger was, they were a kind soul.
The new pathway was easier to follow, and the more she followed it, the brighter her surroundings became.
Light! She was going towards the light!
Eventually, she heard footsteps following her. Will turned around, and for the first time in a few days, she was so happy to see her teammates with her.
"Guys!" she greeted them.
"I don't know who this person is," Irma said, "But I think I can trust them!"
Excited, the girls ran towards the exit, towards the bright light at the end—
And found themselves waking up in the room they started with. The room without walls – except now, there was a door carved on one side. Will ran out and observed she was on a cliff overlooking the many towns in Arkhanta. This must be a place on the hill…
"How are you?"
Will flinched, but it was only the voice from earlier. She turned around to thank the stranger, but she found a red-haired girl wearing a faded cloak, a reed(?) hat, and an exasperated face, staring at her.
"I-I'm fine," Will answered, unsure to why the other girl looked at her like that. "Are we really… out of that place? That… maze?"
The other girls came out just as the stranger answered, "Yes. You're good. You better retrieve your sixth companion and take her back."
Will and her teammates gasped.
"Orube?!" Will took the stranger by the shoulders. "You saw Orube?!"
"…I didn't see your friend. I felt her." The other girl shoved Will's hands away. "She's in the citadel's entrance hall. Now, take her and go back to where you came from. Lest you want yourselves killed. Please."
"Hey, Girlie!" Irma called. "Who are you?!"
"And why don't you try helping us tell Ari to stop his madness and release the banshee?!" added Cornelia.
The stranger began to walk away. Cornelia raised thorns around the other girl in an attempt to stop her.
"Please," Will said, "Answer us. It would help if you—"
"That girl," interrupted the stranger in a lecturing voice, "Is dying by the second. Lest you want yet another casualty to your failure of a task, take, her, back. Now."
The guardians shifted, but Cornelia did not release the thorns. "…it would be easier if you just answered us. You look like you know so much about this whole ordeal. Who is Ari? Who is the banshee? Why are they making things difficult for Kandrakar?"
The strange girl turned around. "True, I can answer those. But your companion will die. So, what will it be?"
Will bit the insides of her cheeks. Know the truth about Arkhanta and have Orube killed in the time they'd talk… or take Orube back and leave Arkhanta for later.
And Will was going to be blamed for either consequence, no matter which one she chose.
She turned to Cornelia. "…please let her go."
"But why?!" Cornelia yelled, "Why should I let her go?! She might be the answer to all of our questions about Ari!"
"Didn't you hear what she said?! Orube is dying by the second! By, the, second! We need to go back to Kandrakar and assess this!"
"Will, I don't really care about her, and we don't even know if this girl right here is telling the truth!"
"HEY!"
Hay Lin's voice alerted Cornelia, and the Earth Guardian shrieked when she saw that her thorns wilted. The stranger ran away!
"I should—"
"No, Hay Lin!" Will held Hay Lin back. "We should go back to the citadel now!"
"You let her get away!" Cornelia accused, but Taranee held her back.
Yeah. This was a mess. Their last chance had been a mess! But it would be a bigger mess if someone fucking died because they neglected her!
Cornelia was still giving very heated glares at her when Will walked into the citadel once more and found Orube unconscious. Will tried to ignore the pressure of the glare as she gave soft slaps to Orube in an attempt to wake her up.
"Orube, Orube! Can you hear me?! Orube!" Will called, "Answer me, please!"
Orube's eyes fluttered open, and Will sighed in relief.
"The banshee…" muttered the warrior. "I saw her… she…" Orube's eyes widened and she forced herself to sit up. "Aaahh! She did something to me!"
Will helped her up.
"What's wrong with her?" Irma asked.
"Let's do what the girl said and just go back to Kandrakar," Will suggested.
"No!" Orube wailed, "You can't do that! Please just stop the banshee! And, and Ari, he…! He was…!" She reached for Will's hands. "I can't go back! The banshee did something to me and then I…!"
Then the warrior's eyes rolled back, and her body fell against Will's arms.
Maybe the stranger had been right. They needed to go back to Kandrakar, and fast!
Just in time, a fold opened in front of the guardians. Wordlessly (and very awkwardly), they walked in. Will hoped that they could shove away all this talk about worthiness and Ari's arrogance, because Orube felt really cold in her arms…
-o0o-
The more Caleb tried to proceed with the interrogation, the more he got irritated. Meridian's winter did not do anything to cool his head.
Vaal only replied to questions answerable by yes or no. Caleb was a smart man, though. He tried to phrase his questions so that they should be answerable by yes or no…
Except that it was getting tiring.
Rephrasing things meant that he had to cite specific examples. The challenge joggled his mind and turned it into meatball soup that contained mysterious ingredients of shady origins. He felt the urge to throw Vaal down a pit while singing magical folk songs in the most stoic way possible, for being this difficult.
At the very least, Caleb was able to extract the following information:
Vaal witnessed Phobos grow up as a boy, since infanthood. Phobos was, undoubtedly, very selfish, but also, he had deeper motives to his many actions, one of which was… doing it for the attention. Phobos did embezzle funds to furbish a few towns to his liking, and there were towns he didn't tamper with to appease his wealthy supporters. However, the townspeople in there worked for said wealthy supporters, who were, predictably, cruel to the lower class. Taxes, tributes, harems, the people offered everything they could to save themselves, so when Phobos was dethroned and his wealthy supporters scattered about, the towns were more than happy to be rid of them.
Townspeople raided mansions and it had been chaotic. Civilians were caught in the ruckus as they fought over the possessions that once rightfully belonged to them. Incidents went unreported as they were, after all, only settling a dispute started so long ago by Phobos' supporters.
In other words, they wanted to cherish their freedom and didn't want tampering from the castle and its officials.
This was all nice to know, but this wouldn't help in the bandits case at all. Or would it?
Maybe, maybe they weren't looking at an organized group of bandits, but rather, unsatisfied townspeople fighting against each other for resources? Caleb needed to read the documents again.
"…so would you say that the current bandit raids are, well, the townspeople rebelling on themselves?"
Vaal shrugged. "Yes and no?"
"Or, are there people organizing a few movements?"
Vaal shrugged.
Temptation and frustration took over Caleb, and he reached for the list of questions in his pocket.
One of the questions focused on the late Queen Weira. A change of topics might help him get his groove back. Plus, he had to make this interrogation fruitful.
"Alright. About the late Queen. Weira."
Vaal flinched. "Y-yes? About her?"
"…did you know… did you personally know her?"
"I… yes. In a way. Yes."
That's… not entirely peculiar, Caleb supposed. Vaal had to be an official in the castle for a long time, but why would he know Weira personally?
"Does that mean you served her?"
"Yes."
"For how… for many years?"
Vaal shrugged, eyes going wide. For a bit?
"Five? Ten? Twenty?"
Vaal nodded. Around that number, then? But if memory served him right, Caleb knew that Weira's rule only lasted so long. No, wait. He had to be specific.
"Around ten or twenty years serving her. Just her. Not taking the time in which you spent your days with Phobos, wherein he was a young boy."
"No."
"Ten years, then?"
"…yes. Regrettably."
How odd. Why would Vaal regret serving such a great, benevolent, and kind Queen? Vaal was old; most old men reflect on their experiences serving the Queen and find pride in fighting for her glory and her legacy in Elyon.
"…can you tell me more about her?"
Vaal nodded. "Yes. Of course. I can."
Now that was a game-changer.
Just then, knocking came from the door. One of the guards standing next to Vaal opened it and revealed Alborn.
"Hello, Caleb!" he greeted. "We just received a special order from Her Majesty. Can I borrow some of your men?"
Caleb stood from his seat and smiled. "Yes, sure. But what was it about?"
"She wants us to find anything connected to the late Queen Weira!"
"About that!" Excitement filled Caleb's heart. Things were looking up, and the interrogation had indeed been fruitful! "Please tell Her Majesty that the fugitive Vaal might have some answers to her some of her questions, but schedule their meeting for tomorrow."
But he'd allow for Elyon and Vaal to meet after this interrogation. Besides, he still had to milk out whatever else Vaal could say, and also guide Elyon on how to ask Vaal.
Things were really getting better. Maybe sooner, Caleb would finally be allowed to cross to Heatherfield again and spend some time with Cornelia. Sooner.
-o0o-
When they crossed over to Kandrakar, Luba shoved the guardians away from her student. She took Orube into her arms and led the girls, the Oracle, and a few other elders into a room filled with incense. Will would've asked about Matt, but Tibor wasn't around, and she didn't want to get lost in Kandrakar.
Will covered her nose at the intense smell of the room. At least this was telling her she wasn't dreaming. She tried to direct her senses to mostly sight only – the engravings on the white walls, the mark of history and architecture, the golden incense holders with smoke rising from the incense…
"Can anything be done, Oracle?" Luba asked. Now that Will looked at the elders, the other ones whose names she'd missed were in deep concentration, perhaps assisting with some sort of healing process.
"…this is peculiar," Himerish said, "It's as though Orube isn't even here! She's… strange!"
Irma leaned next to Will and whispered. "She was never that normal in the first place either—"
Will jabbed her friend in the elbow.
"OUCH!"
"Something wrong, guardians?" One of the elders in concentration opened their eye to look at the girls.
Will waved them off. "Don't worry about it! Please do as… you need to."
The events went through Will's head as she waited for the elders to do their healing.
So the guardians went and arrived in an almost empty citadel. Almost was the keyword – this had surely been a trap laid out for them. They went in, and in confusion, they stepped right into the trap, got sucked into a room, and was separated from Orube… or, Orube was separated from them. Will reckoned that the older girl would've known what to do as a warrior trained by Basiliade and granted such honors by Kandrakar personally to serve them… but she said she met Yua. While Orube dealt with Yua, Will and the others woke up to another trap that had been totally freaky.
That one was something meant to drive them insane and hopeless.
Will found it weird. Through the power of the banshee, Ari confused them, separated Orube from them, and played with their minds. Had this been any other mission, this would've been easy to solve – no, it still wouldn't, not with their lack of unity and harmony.
…Ari found their weakness and struck right there.
How?!
"O-Oracle… she's stirring!"
Luba's shrieking snapped Will away from her thoughts, and the Keeper's eyes widened when Orube jumped to her feet and struck at the Oracle with a beam of energy.
"What are you doing?!"
Now it was all of them shrieking and yelling and panicking!
In a moment of confusion, Orube knocked the other elders down, and Luba only succeeded in shoving the guardians out into the hallway, before a portion of the room fell to Orube's might.
"She's strong!" Irma yelled, before getting pulled by Luba away from Orube's kick.
"And fast!" added the elder.
"Orube, you bitch, are you crazy?!" Cornelia manipulated Earth into her hands and built a wall using Kandrakar's marbled flooring. "You just attacked the elders of Kandrakar! You just attacked the Oracle!"
With a fist, Orube tore the wall down so easily. The girls only backed away – Will could tell they were all shivering before Orube's might. Luba asserted a pose in front of the guardians. The warrior raised her hands and—
"…no… not them…" she said, fists pooling with raw energy, and sprinted down the other way.
"The Oracle!" The terrified Luba followed her student, prompting the guardians to follow too.
But, when they did arrive back in the incensed room, Luba had fallen right next to the Oracle. Irma summoned her element and blasted it at Orube.
"Stay back, Pussycat!"
Now that Will could look at Orube properly, the warrior's eyes were sheet white. It reminded Will of the Horn of Hypnos and how people would stare on blankly and simply be… not themselves!
Stunned at the realization, Will didn't notice how her teammates all fell before Orube, until the warrior took her by the neck.
"S-stop…" Will croaked, taking hold of Orube's wrists. "Stop, please… It's just us… W-we mean no harm!"
But Orube answered in a voice that wasn't entirely hers. "If you want to save yourselves, you won't stand between me and the Oracle." It sounded like three different people were speaking – Orube, a man, and another woman.
Orube. Ari. And Yua.
Will allowed her limbs to fall in pretense of giving up, and Orube let go of her. Around them, the other guardians struggled to get up. In front of them, Luba still lay unconscious. Orube stood before the Oracle and drew her sword.
"Alone at last, Oracle," she declared, and raised her blade.
Then Will raised her voice. "Guardians! Attack her!"
"Water!" "Fire!" "Earth!" "Air!"
"Quintessence!"
With a shriek, Will summoned what willpower was left in her to direct her quintessence against Orube. Her teammates followed suit in the same shock and worry she felt – and she felt it. She felt that thrum of energy connecting them and urging them to save the stupid, secretive Oracle from their obviously hypnotized teammate.
And as Orube received their attacks, she screamed and writhed about, body seemingly rejecting something—
Then a silhouette of the banshee removed itself from the warrior. The silhouette made screaming motions as it dissipated into the air. Orube fell limp onto the floor, right next to the rubble she – her body – created.
She was so terrifying, hypnotized or not. Her power was so terrifying, and Will was thankful Orube hadn't done anything to them at all. Heck, maybe she even took care not to show this power just yet! All this superhuman strength, packed into that lithe, toned body…
As the other elders came to investigate the fuss, Will curled up on the floor. She wanted to go back to Heatherfield, lock herself in her room, and never wake up anymore.
-o0o-
"What happened, Ilse?"
The young girl frowned at Lodi when he spoke those ill words. She just came back from the hill; were these appropriate words for a greeting? He knew this issue was more personal than—
Nevertheless, she decided to be a little more professional. She calmly took her reed hat and set it upon her head.
"Well," she said, "We were a little too late. Just a little. But we managed to save them albeit with a few... complications. Don't worry. They're more or less safe."
Lodi mirrored her frown. "I'm sorry. I should've went with you—"
"And risk losing one day's worth of profit and try stretching the budget again." Ilse stared into the distance, remembering exactly how well that went. Everyone could only do so little thanks to their bodies exhausting themselves, starved of the food they should've received from the profit that did not come. It was only a miracle - and perhaps, their nature - that saved them.
She added, "This is a time when none of us can afford to be too sick or too preoccupied. When we're down by one member, the others have to share the burden of making up for the loss of one day's worth of work."
Lodi turned away, ashamed.
"But, thank you." Ilse gave his mare a few strokes along its withers. "Without her, I might've not really gotten here in time." She released a heavy sigh. "It's just that, without you... we're going to lose all source of profit. And without profit..."
"You can't trade with Teong for the sea meat he always gets us," Lodi finished for her, smiling.
Ilse smiled back and playfully tugged on Lodi's own hat. "I can't keep my debt with him, you know. The guy works way too hard."
She and Lodi shared a few laughs and they started to make their way back.
"Say, Ilse. You and Elder Dai always say that the land is dying. If so, why are we still worrying about these little things?"
Ilse's eyes widened at the innocent question. Indeed. Why worry about such mundane things when the world's end was just on the horizon?
As she opened her mouth to speak, dark clouds started forming in the middle of a bright, sunny day. In such a weather, going forth and crossing rivers would be perilous.
"Let's find shelter first," Ilse said, and she led Lodi and the mare towards a deep part of the nearby forest.
Like many other Arkhantans, the Urdians were terrified of the darkness that the trees provided. These people believed that convoluted roots concealed the greedy, selfish fae who guarded over their homes and treasures, and would prank a poor human soul who dared cross into their territory.
Lodi was like those many other Urdians. He spoke the words of invitation - I'm sorry, dear mighty fae; please let me by, I pray - as they crossed through the forest and sought shelter in an old tree with roots as tall as a grown man. Its branches were so stout that when the rain fell, he and Ilse and the mare were protected from the droplets. Once again, Lodi made a prayer - I thank you, dear fae; I will not forget your kindness on the way.
Ilse was the other kind of person. Coming here calmed her, similarly to the comfort she'd feel when she was back home.
"Aren't you going to make a prayer, Ilse?" Lodi asked.
"Oh, give up." Ilse touched the large root next to her - this one was thousands of years old. "You've been asking me that for the past three years, starting when you moved in with my uncle." Old habits die hard; that's all!
Lodi tried to look angry, but he was stifling his laughter. "I'm just making sure! It won't hurt to make sure." He knew, but it still irked him.
"Yeah. Most of the time." Ilse leaned against a gigantic root, and Lodi, though a little reluctant, copied her.
The minutes flew by, and the humidity allowed for a bit of mist to form. Ilse smiled as she saw the hazy figures in the distance. She always loved seeing those beautiful forms.
"Lodi. Look at that."
The sleepy man lazily opened his eye. "What?"
"The fae... they're here, Lodi."
"...Ilse, could you not joke like that?"
"It's them."
Ilse closed her eyes and listened. Rain pitter pattering. Dew drops glistening and sliding down. Frogs croaking. A small stream going down and babbling.
"Lodi," she called in an almost-whisper, "Do you want to know why we still care about such little matters, even when faced with this world's destruction?"
Her companion did not answer. He had snoozed away, lulled to sleep by the weather and the fae's magic.
"It's because..." Ilse let the sunny memories of a certain someone pass through her mind, and a grin made way to her lips. "I don't want to die being this miserable... the way she did."
Somewhere else in Arkhanta, perhaps right around Urdath or maybe Dugnit, there would be a heavy downpour. A heavy downpour that would take away houses and harvest. A heavy downpour that might take lives with it.
But not in this forest, not when the fae were protecting it. In delight, Ilse watched them dance around and pass by...
Until she laid her eyes upon a peculiar ripple in the water. By instinct, Ilse knew what it was, and knowing what it was soured her mood. She forced herself up from her resting place and went over to the water puddle. Focusing energy onto her hand, she controlled the visage and received the fold-call.
"Hello," she greeted, all delight and restfulness gone.
"Did... they make... it?" asked the person on the other side.
Ilse nodded. "I'd like to think so."
"...thank—"
"Why don't you want to leave that place?"
The other person flinched.
"You should just take him and leave. We'll take care of you here." Even if their resources were already stretched. "You can't keep living like this. You already... you already know the consequences of your stay, and now we all suffer from that!"
The other person did not reply. It only fueled Ilse's frustration.
"You can talk, can't you?! Just tell me! Tell me what I and everyone else have to do for you to leave!"
After an eternity, the other person only said, "...nothing. I... I cannot. I will not... leave... at all. I think... I—!"
"Shut up."
Ilse dismissed the fold-call and curled up against a huge root. Why did that person not want to leave when it was clear it was bad for her?!
Ilse took a deep breath. No. She would not die miserable. She was better than this. Things like this fold-call annoyed her to no end, but she would not die miserable. She wouldn't die with regrets.
Or rather, she shouldn't.
She hoped.
-o0o-
When the guardians went home to Heatherfield and back in the middle of lunchtime, everything just... fucking sucked.
Santabor or whatever was his name brought Matt back and he was mostly fine. However, Will was just quietly sobbing and agonizing. It was most likely because her boyfriend had overexerted himself and it was mostly her fault; also likely because of... the aftermath of Mission: Ari is a Big Ass and Yua is a Big Bitch. And now here the Guardian Leader was, distancing herself from her boyfriend, telling him to go to band practice later and to not look for her anymore, then running away to sob somewhere in the school.
Taranee didn't feel like talking to them and so did Cornelia. The two just left so wordlessly, no wonder preoccupied with their own thing.
And Hay Lin... Hay Lin was of no help at all, despite being that so-called best friend from kindergarten. What use was being given some sort of lame responsibility like "Keeper of the Breath of Time"? She could barely speak!
Irma stomped away and ran into Sylla again.
"Hey, you guys finished with lunch?" he asked.
Irma wrapped her arms around him and cried.
"We're finished!" she announced in tears, caring little about how she would look like to any passerby, even if they were the Grumpers. "Everything's just... falling apart and I hate it!"
Sylla gave her a few pats on the back and gently pushed her away. He offered a handkerchief to her.
"I'm sure the school counselor can help you. But, are you all right? Earlier, you looked so pale."
"I don't know!"
"I can take you to the counselor. Or the nurse. Maybe the nurse first? Irma?"
Irma nodded as she wiped tears and snot again and again.
Being magical was. Not. Fun. Magic could never heal this sort of wounds, and going to the nurse wouldn't soothe the pain at all. But, it wasn't like she had any other choice, and she was too tired to argue.
-o0o-
Hay Lin sat in class of about 20 students, and how she never felt more alone! She tried talking to Taranee but Taranee politely declined any sort of discussion! Then Irma disappeared.
Why was everything falling apart? It was more than important to stay united right now, more than ever! What about Will? She was understandably upset, but Hay Lin needed support from her, the leader! Why was Will turning her back now, too, when Yan Lin and Meera Lin were no longer trustworthy?
If they could only work together again. They could still make it. They could still fix everything, right? This was just one incident. Just one. They had about a year to mend things, but maybe if they showed how cooperative they could be, Kandrakar would let them do their thing again.
Then they could go on adventures and be friends and not be so… miserable like this.
When Hay Lin finally cornered Taranee against the lockers—
"I'm busy," Taranee defended with a huge frown and slammed her locker door closed, "And can we not talk about us or any... of those things? I'm tired of being special the guardian way. And there's somewhere I need to go to later. It's important."
"Please, Taranee." Hay Lin whined. "I don't know what happened to us. Why can't we make amends with Cornelia? Is it because Caleb couldn't be in the team? Is it because Orube is in the team?"
But the more Hay Lin asked, the further Taranee got irritated. Fire burned in Taranee's eyes when she glared at Hay Lin.
"You got the Breath of Time. That's your responsibility, right? You should choose to keep your eyes on it. Actually, you could've chosen to reject it, instead of acting like your incurable optimism can solve all your problems!"
Hay Lin gasped. How could Taranee say these things?! She spat back, "Why don't you try to sit back and lie to yourself in the face of a problem?! I've been trying so hard all this time despite being so late to the news, and all I've ever seen you do is complain!"
"And I mediated between Will and Cornelia while you were so busy entertaining a grown woman like Orube!"
"That's because she's a newbie and none of you were talking to her!"
"So why did you talk to her while our own group was falling apart?!"
They amassed a crowd around them. The two girls hurled hateful words at each other, words that Hay Lin never expected herself or her (ex?) friend to say. The other students cheered them on, until someone caught sight of Hay Lin's bag emitting smoke.
"Is something burning?"
"Hay Lin! Your bag is on fire!"
One thing led to another, and after the sprinklers activated, Hay Lin and Taranee landed in the principal's office all wet and upset.
It was really good of Kandrakar to put them on probation for now. Hay Lin hated groupwork if that meant having to work with a witch like Taranee.
'You set my bag on fire.'
'You started it. Now I'm late to my audition.'
'You deserve it.'
'Go to hell.'
-o0o-
"Sir, our graphs did detect some anomalies today."
Sylla grinned as he slinked into a new shirt after another round of basketball with the local kids. "Alright. Lay it on me."
"Around Sheffield's lunchtime, there was a spike of energy. A huge scale going off the charts for one second... then everything just dropped."
"Anything else?"
"Uh. There were minimal amounts around the morning, a little higher than usual but still along the minimal levels, then it built up towards lunch. And, there was one around the afternoon. We think this would've happened in between classes. It's just a... small amount. I don't think this is useful."
"Oh no. It's useful. Thank you, Flick."
Sylla pressed the button and placed his phone down. He rubbed his wet hair with his towel as his laptop loaded a few important documents.
"Let's see... Irma Lair." She ran into him two times and she looked so different each time. The first, she was pale with cracked lips, like she dried up. The second, she was looking like a normal teenager. The two meetings must've happened in a span of 20 minutes at the most.
Bodies were not supposed to magically recover in 20 minutes. Further proof was the spike in magical activity around that time, and it was, indeed, lunchtime.
"Taranee Cook, and Hay Lin Lin", getting into a huge fight in between classes, and Ms. Lin's bag abnormally catches fire that the smoke detector activates the sprinklers.
And right now, it seemed like some rift had formed among the five girls. Will Vandom looked depressed all the time; Cornelia Hale was just selfish, plain and simple.
It would be easy to tear them apart now. The rats were distracted, and he felt good about the latest developments. He'd take care of Brooke's special request to see things for his own eyes later. Ms. Lair might be easily coaxed to show things for him.
Sylla leaned back on his couch and took a swig of canned beer. He prepared himself for this. Somewhere near the future, he'd have to ruin a teenager's life. (Or five of them.)
...so what? Once he was done with this, he wouldn't have to interact with the girls or their families anymore. There were just five of them – just five among the millions and millions of people in the world. Besides, he had much more mysteries to solve, and if he didn't work on mysteries, his name wouldn't be Raphael Sylla.
-o0o-
Orube dropped to the floor the moment Luba escorted her back to Heatherfield.
What were these memories that she did not remember making?! She fell before the banshee, and the banshee… the banshee used this spell, and when Orube woke up she was back in the citadel with a heavy weight in her body, seemingly trying to push this "her" out of it.
How horrifying! How horrifying!
Orube almost tore her sword away from her body. A knife… she needed a knife… This body was still hers, right? It was still hers, and she wanted to feel; she had to feel. Numbness, numbness and alienation overwhelmed her. No. Feeling wouldn't make it. But she wanted to feel. No noise? No noise. No noise, please. Soft. She needed something soft to bite on.
Orube crawled to grab a pillow from the furniture set and bit on it. Better. Much better. Now feeling. Feeling? Would a blade across her skin make it? Would a blade make it hurt enough, much, much enough? She dug her nails into her skin and drew blood. Yes. She needed something stronger. A blade. She needed a blade.
She let herself be controlled; she was weak, she was so fucking weak—
Orube squirmed towards her sword. That was the nearest blade available. She regretted throwing it away. Pain, pain, pain. She needed, wanted, desired, couldn't live without pain. Slice skin open. Bleed out the weakness. Look at how pretty the red seeped into the white of the bandage.
She just attacked the Oracle—
Orube sloppily drew her sword, and in the process, she cut her hand. It stung, but she deserved it. She happily deserved it. Some people would never understand the necessity of this progress, and Luba…
She attacked Luba—
Luba might have the best intentions, but there were no better options or methods. I'm sorry. Orube pressed her other arm against her blade. If she couldn't use this against the enemy, she could use it on herself. This was so she could be stronger, stronger… if she could still be strong. If she could really bleed out that imperfection residing in her.
She almost killed every single one and she tore down a sacred hall meant for healing her and she drew blood—
She was weak, so so weak, so so fucking weak and she wasn't of use to the guardians, she was trash she was useless she was absolute garbage and she should've never been fucking born and she should've never had a dream and she should've, she should've, she should've…
She would've made Father proud. She would've made Luba proud. But now, all that's left in Orube was shame, shame, shame, and nothing but weakness.
Now, her dreams would never be real. Failure meant that she would go back to Basiliade and start over. All that training, all those efforts, and all those nights in which she already let her weakness flow out of her body…
Orube wept. Why was the road to being an ambassadress still so, so far away from her grasp?
-o0o-
Yua stared into the water in dismay. She made multiple attempts to contact her acquaintance again, to no avail. The other end was not being received.
"Did you dispose of the guardians?"
Yua stirred from her pond and found Ari down her chamber. Good. He did not find her talking to her accomplice. Her estimation was still accurate. "…yes…"
"Are you sure they will not be back?"
"…yes… my Lord…"
"Good."
And now, they could all return to their normal lives once again. Yua smiled to herself as she watched her Lord leave.
The fragment of her soul which she placed in the warrior came back to her a few hours ago. She replayed its memories once more on the water. A room filled with smoky incense. Worried elders and little girls.
Even if the warrior did not succeed in taking the Oracle's life, the damage she dealt to Kandrakar should be sufficient. Ari hated repeating himself, after all, and insistence provoked his wrath.
Yua grinned. People were rather easy to read, and the guardians were in no shape to threaten Arkhanta.
She felt about for Ari's presence in Maqi's room before materializing a part of herself next to the boy. He slept soundly, clutching a favored toy in his hands, one of those that escaped Ari's wrath not too long ago. Yua's phantom caressed Maqi's hair and kissed his head.
'For you, my sweet… for you.'
A/N: From this point on, a lot of the content will not have basis in canon. Also, the first "arc" of this story is finally done. Hooray!
