Drunkard's Walk Forums

Disclaimer - The W.I.T.C.H. comic book was created by Elisabetta Gnone, Alessandro Barbucci and Barbara Canepa and published by Disney Italia. No infringement of the copyright is intended.

Author's Notes: This story is based on the comic continuity - although I hope it is still clear for anyone only familiar with the cartoon, there are some rather significant differences in the plot (for one thing, don't expect to see Caleb for a while). Astral Drops were first seen in episode 8 of the cartoon's first season and the end of issue #3 of the comic. It was only after starting this that I watched episode 8 of the second season and issue #23 of the comic, where Will's astral drop becomes a character in her own right. This story diverges from issue #4 of the comic.

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An Astral Drop in Heatherfield

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My first memory is of a cave by the sea.

I didn't know who I was, or where I came from but I was facing a redheaded girl and surrounded by several others. All of them except the girl I was facing were in pairs, exactly alike in appearance and clothes. It took me a few moments to realise that I was paired with the redhead.

Her copy. An astral drop, she called me.

There were memories, but they were a thin shadow of those that the others had: the other three like me each appeared to have the full memory and mannerisms of their originals.

"Complete idiot!" one of the 'real girls' shouted. "Why did you make something like that? She's useless!"

My original hung her head. "I... when I was making her I was afraid that..."

"...that your astral drop would take your place in Heatherfield?" asked a blonde girl. I should have known her name then (it's Cornelia, I learned later).

"Well it's only a little mistake. Will can make another one," the first girl suggested. I couldn't help but feel a bit wounded at that. I was just going to be discarded? Then again, what else would one do with something that was useless? I wrapped my arms around myself, trying to crush the hollow feeling I felt at the idea.

Cornelia shook her head. "I don't think she can, Irma."

"Cornelia's right," the redhead agreed. "This is my problem and I want to solve it myself." She opened a knapsack and pulled out paper and a pen. "Look I'll write everything you need to do on this piece of paper. Can you read?"

I was relieved to realize that I did at least know that. "Of course. Er... just one question?"

She nodded. "Sure."

"Who's Will?"

There were groans from the other girls.

"I am," she told me. "But you have to pretend to be me."

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"One more time, from the beginning," asked Will as we left the cave.

"Okay." I consulted the schedule she'd made out for me, feeling more comfortable with the idea with something concrete to guide me. And more comfortable with myself that Will was trusting me. "Seven AM, wake up. Seven-fifteen, shower. Seven-fifty-five, kiss for mom, breakfast and..."

Will nodded and picked out her bike for me. Riding it... yes! I knew how to ride a bike! Good! "Alright," she reminded me. "Follow the instructions so you won't make mistakes. And remember..."

"To learn the things I'm not allowed to do?"

She nodded again.

"Got it!" I assured her and mounted the bike.

It didn't take long to get out of sight of the cave but I couldn't help but look around in wonder. The whole world was new to me and the fact that it was dark anywhere not lit by streetlights really didn't matter. I pedaled until my legs grew tired, having completely forgotten about following the directions I'd been given to get back to Will's apartment.

Looking around I didn't recognise any landmarks except the river. My directions hadn't said anything about it, but I knew I'd crossed it so I headed for a bridge and stopped on the sidewalk there, checking the student ID in my pocket to get the name of the street. Maybe I could ask directions... otherwise I'd have to ride around checking street names until I got lucky.

No sooner had I put my - Will's? no, she'd not given me hers, so it must be mine - purse away than I saw a car with blue and red lights on the roof cruising past me. I wasn't sure what it was at first, but the word POLICE on the side gave it away.

I'd mounted the bike and was pedaling slowly (what do you want, I'd been riding for at least an hour, I was tired!) off the bridge when I saw the police car stop and then reverse slightly. There didn't seem to be anyone else around so I guessed that they must be doing it because of me - which was kind of scary because the police car was waaaay bigger than me and the bike combined.

(If I forgot to mention it, Will was thirteen and kind of short. So I was the same size, even if I was only a few hours old).

Fortunately the car came to a halt and the driver poked his head out of his window. "Hey, I thought it was you. Isn't it a bit late for you to be out?"

"...uh..." Will hadn't mentioned any men I should be aware of, much less any policemen!

He took off his hat so I could see him more clearly. "I'm Irma's dad, remember?"

Irma... oh, hey, that was the loud girl from earlier. "Uh... I'm kinda lost," I admitted sheepishly.

He rolled his eyes. "You kids... okay, where do you live?"

I told him. I mean, he was a policeman and he was Irma's dad. That was probably okay? Will could have mentioned that to me. Then again, she did give me directions to go straight home so maybe she didn't expect it to come up. I'd have to check my instructions as soon as I could.

Irma's dad whistled. "You really are lost." He reached into the car for a moment and the trunk popped open. "We'd better get you a ride home. Do you think that your bike will fit in the trunk?"

It did - mostly - although I needed his help to lift it in. Being short is definitely not my favourite thing.

Much to my chagrin, the first thing he did when we strapped into the seats (I was riding in the back) was turn around and go back across the bridge. I guess I must have crossed the river without realising it at some point.

"So do you have a boyfriend?" he asked, looking back over his shoulder. "'Cause Irma's got this boy Martin from her class who keeps dropping by and asking her out."

I felt my cheeks get hot for some reason.

"Heh. You kids grow up so fast."

Hey! I didn't say anything. What sort of conversation was he having anyway?

After a few minutes he pulled up outside a tall apartment building. "Okay, here you are. Want me to walk you up?"

I shrugged. "If you don't think I can make it that far. I'm gonna need your help getting my bike out of the back though."

"You're welcome."

I flushed again. "And thanks for giving me a ride."

"My pleasure," he assured me and got out of the car.

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I was able to figure out locking up my - er, Will's - bike onto the rack without too much trouble and I even found her apartment on the first try. (Let's not talk about how many of the keys in her pocket it took before I figured out the right combination to open the apartment door.)

Now I meant to scout out the apartment and find which room was which before I went to bed...

Except that I was kind of tired, and the couch looked really comfortable...

The next thing I knew there was sunlight on my face and I discovered that somehow a blanket had found its way to cover me while I was sleeping.

Oh man! My instructions said I should sleep in Will's bed! I was messing this up all over the place.

"Well good morning, sleepy-head," a woman greeted me with amusement in her voice. Then she sneezed.

I thought quickly (okay, what passes for quickly when you're just barely awake). Will had mentioned a Mom, and she hadn't said anything about anyone else in the apartment. Then again, she'd not mentioned Irma's dad either. "Mom?" I rubbed my eyes and pretended to still be half-asleep. Instead of, you know, a quarter-asleep.

"Of course, silly." She reached down and tousled my hair. "You looked so adorable asleep on the couch I couldn't bear to move you. Were you..." Achtoo! "...sorry, were you waiting up for me?"

I nodded. I was obviously going to have to get used to this lying thing in a hurry.

"I'm sorry I was late," she said apologetically. "But I'm going to call in sick because of this cold so I'll be home all day today."

"Okay." I thought about my instructions. "I'll... come straight home from school?"

I got a big hug. There was something... oh yeah, I was supposed to kiss Mom! I think that was later but I couldn't see a clock or my instructions so I winged it and gave her a kiss on the cheek.

"Are you sure?" Mom asked. "I know you want to spend time with your friends."

My friends? Ah, Will's friends: Cornelia, Irma and... who was the other girl in the cave? Oh, but they were off on a Magical Girl adventure to rescue their other friend. So it would be their astral drops at school and after school, who'd all know each other because they had their proper memories and weren't defective like me. I sniffled a bit into Mom's shoulder.

"Oh Will... did you fall out with them?"

I mumbled something and let her draw her own conclusions.

"Oh honey. I'm sure they feel just as bad about it as you do. I'll put some extra cookies in your lunch. I'm sure that will help patch things up."

"Cookies?"

"Uh-huh!" She let go of me. "Now hadn't you better go shower and get dressed?"

With wonderful precision timing I was in the shower when the doorbell rang.

"Willll! It's for you!" Mom called from the door.

I spent a minute trying to figure out how to wrap myself in a towel and settled for scrubbing myself as I ran back into Will's room and pulled on the pajamas still laid out to wear for last night.

"Will!"

"Coming!" I called back and scurried for the door. Mom was waiting with a tall, long-haired boy wearing a hat and cradling a small rodent. I wasn't sure if I was expected to scream in terror or coo in delight so I settled for an awkward wave of the hand. "Hi."

"Um, hi Will." I think he would have waved back but his arms were fully engaged with a suddenly hyper little critter. "I brought the dormouse back. I know it's only..." He checked his watch. "Um... ten to eight..."

I accepted the little creature without protest - largely because I was mentally castigating Will as best I could. She didn't mention a pet, she didn't mention this boy... What else had she forgotten!?

(Okay, in retrospect, I was being unfair. Will had had perhaps fifteen minutes to write my instructions down. They could never have been good enough. Bear in mind, I had maybe twelve hours of life experience to judge by at this point, more than half of which I'd been asleep for).

"Thank you," I said politely, letting the dormouse (whatever that was) scramble up onto my shoulder and trying not to flinch as its claws dug in a bit through the pajama top. "I hope you didn't have too much trouble."

Matt gave me an awkward look. "I don't think my parents were terribly happy about him making noise all night. Particularly on such short notice." That was a little bit pointed.

Will! "I'm really really sorry. Yesterday was really crazy and everything came apart all at once." And I really really hope I can tell a convincing lie. "Please can you tell them I'm sorry?"

"Uh, sure. Is... everything okay now?"

I gave him a smile. "It's better. Thank you."

"Uh, any time."

Something over my shoulder seemed to give him qualms. "Er, I'll see you at school then?"

"Sure!"

Once the door was closed I turned around. Mom gave me a peculiar look. "Will, I know I rushed you, but you really could have finished buttoning your pajama top."

I looked down and saw that while I had covered the essentials, the boy must have seen my midriff where the top was gaping due to mis-aligned buttons. "oooo." My face was going red again.

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I get the distinct impression I was running late when I reached Sheffield Institute. Something about the grounds being deserted as I locked up Will's bike and dashed inside.

Fortunately I the corridors weren't empty yet, so I was able to slip into the class room my directions from Will led to just ahead of the bell. I spotted Cornelia - or at least her astral drop - sitting a row back from where I wound up so I couldn't even look to her for guidance.

I had to focus: I'd slipped up earlier and had to do some pretty fancy footwork to get out of it. But I couldn't count on being that lucky again. I'd read and re-read the schedule until I practically had it memorised.

First class was Mathematics. How hard could it be?

Of course, it would help if I had any memories of any past classes. The teacher didn't ask me anything so I wasn't obviously ignorant, but that was just because he was new and gave everyone a test to see how good we are at maths. I took my best guess but the only part I was sure I got right was when I scribbled Will's name at the top. And even that was a lie.

"You're looking depressed," 'Cornelia' told me as she subtly guided me to the next class. Hopefully English would be easier.

"I think I flunked that test pretty badly."

She laughed. "Maths has never been your subject, 'Will'," she assured me. "We'll still have to think of a forfeit for you though. Maybe you should ask Professor Collins for tutoring."

"Professor Collins?" I dug into my bag and pulled out the class schedule. "But he teaches history, not maths... doesn't he?"

"Hmm... you really don't remember anything do you?"

I gave her a confused look. "What? You know I don't. Oh. Quick question. That guy in our class, long hair - two seats to my right..."

"Matt?"

"Okay. Are he and... you know, friends?"

"What, no!" She shook her head. "At least I don't think you are. Elyon had a crush on him though."

"Who?"

'Cornelia' gave me a pained look. "I'll tell you later," she promised as we went into the classroom.

English actually was better: we were supposed to read out from a play. Well I can read okay, or at least I thought I could. This was in some sort of old English (how that differs from normal English I'm not sure) with lots of words that I didn't know or that didn't mean what I expected them to mean.

Still it was better than Maths.

"You're really getting into this," 'Cornelia' muttered - I'd managed to snag a seat next to her this time.

"Well it's fun," I replied quietly. "Er... Shouldn't I enjoy it?"

'Cornelia' shrugged slightly. "Will's kind of shy at times."

"Oh." Another blunder.

"Well it's too late now," she advised. "Just keep going."

And that's what I did all the way to lunch.

The five of us gathered at what they told me was our regular table in the cafeteria.

"So you don't remember anything?" 'Irma' asked. "That's really weird. Dad said he had to drive you home last night after he found you roaming the streets late at night."

"I got lost," I mumbled around one of the cookies that Mom had packed for my lunch.

'Hay Lin' nodded. "It must be hard not to have Will's memories to guide you. But I'm sure they'll be back soon and everything will be alright."

The other four astral drops all nodded their heads, 'Taranee' being the most vigorous. Her original had been missing for days now, captured by Cedric when they had strayed through a portal into Metamoor: the world beyond. If the other four couldn't rescue her... Who knew what might be happening to her?

"But... what if they aren't?" I asked nervously. There was an ugly feeling in my chest. I wanted Will to come back so I didn't have to keep up this deception any more... but at the same time, the idea of her return frightened me.

'Cornelia' flicked her long hair. "Don't worry about it. I'm far too beautiful to be stopped by some monster from Metamoor."

"So what are we doing after school?" 'Irma' asked. "Want to go to the mall, Cornelia?"

"Sounds great," the blonde agreed. "Do you want to come along, Will?"

I shook my head. "No, I'm going to go straight home. It's on my schedule."

They giggled at that. I guess it must have seemed very silly to them that I had to follow a plan instead of having the information to decide what to do on my own.

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Someone had trashed the bike shed (again, from Cornelia's comments). I will not name names (because I don't know the names) but I suspect the four boys who departed sniggering just as we got there. Just a guess. 'Cornelia' waved her hand as if that would straighten things out and looked notably put out when it didn't. I guess it would have worked for the real Cornelia.

"So, Elyon?" I asked quietly as we untangled our bikes from the pile.

"She's my best friend. We've been in the same class since we were little." Her face was expressionless. "The night after the Halloween party, Elyon lured 'you', Irma and Hay Lin into the gym and almost got you captured by two monsters from Metamoor. Then when we lost Taranee she was there with them."

"Oh."

"Yeah." With a grimace, the blonde examined her bicycle. "So why were you asking about Matt?"

"He visited me - Will - before school to return her pet dormouse. I didn't even know she had one!"

"That must of been awkward," she agreed.

I blushed at the memory.

"What's this?" 'Cornelia' gave me an amused look. "Oh, is Elyon not the only one with a crush on him?"

"It's not like that," I protested. "I just had a little... clothing malfunction."

She gasped. "Oooh! You're so bold! I never would have guessed! Irma and Hay Lin have to hear this. Tell me all the juicy details!"

"There are no juicy details." My voice may have risen just a little as I scrambled onto my own bike.

"Of course not," my fellow astral drop agreed with a sly grin. "He's really cute though, isn't he?"

I declined to comment and she waved after me. "See you tomorrow."

"Only if they don't come back," I whispered.

I paid very close attention to my route on the way back. Getting lost a second time would be really dumb. And it gave me something else to think about... whether our originals would return.

Don't get me wrong. I didn't want them to fail or for any of them to come to harm. Well, maybe Irma, but even then I only mean a little harm. Something to give her a scare or something. But...

Yes, but. Because when they come back, we all go away.

That's the whole point of us. To take their places until they return. After that they won't need us and we'll... disappear?

I honestly wasn't sure of the... magical mechanics and I hadn't thought to ask the other astral drops if they did. But surely our originals wouldn't want us to be around once they were here again. So that would be it. All the life I would have was what I had until Will came back.

(Okay, maybe concentrating on not getting lost wasn't doing a very good job of distracting me from thinking about this.)

It wasn't until I cycled into the yard outside the apartment building that I remembered what Will and Cornelia (the real ones had said) in the cave when I was created. She'd been afraid that I would replace her.

Could I do that?

I didn't so much dismount my - her - bicycle as fall off it. Everything I'd eaten at lunch came boiling up out of me and spattered across the ground and my shoes.

The idea terrified me with the power that it had over my imagination. The chance to wake up every morning for breakfast with Mom... to go to school and have my own grades and my own favorite classes and teachers... to be friends with Cornelia and Matt and Hay Lin and Taranee...

I wiped my mouth with the back of my sleeve and locked up the bike in a daze.

They wouldn't be my friends, I reminded myself. Not if I'd stolen away the life of their friend Will.

Could I pretend to be her?

What was I even thinking? I shuddered. She would hardly let me do that, it was her own nightmare. And I didn't know anything much about her life really. Anyone suspicious would only have to ask a few questions to know that I was an imposter.

It could never work.

And even to try would be to betray her.

Betray the girl who'd given me life, given me everything I had.

But only as a loan. Only until she takes it away from you, a treacherous voice whispered inside of me. Including your life.

My forehead collided with the apartment door. "Ugh." I leant against it, fumbling in my jacket pockets until I found the keys. Getting them into the correct keyholes was as bad as the night before. It might have helped if I could keep my eyes open without tears forming.

After a moment I gave up. I couldn't go in like this, Mom would know that something was up. I had to get myself together first.

I turned around and sat down in the hallway, back against the door. Okay, let's try to look at this logically.

If I was to take Will's place I'd have to make her disappear somehow, I realised. She'd never stand for it... and I'd be doing to her exactly what I was afraid of her doing to me.

Do it to her before she did it to me? That wouldn't make it right. And besides, like I'd thought earlier, I couldn't keep up the pretense forever. Maybe one of the other astral drops might have been able to, but I couldn't.

So I couldn't, shouldn't and wouldn't try to get rid of Will to take over her life. If she came back, when she came back... her life would be hers again.

I wasn't her and I wasn't going to try to be her. However much I wanted to have Will's life, I wouldn't give up who I was for it. I wanted my own life not a cheap copy of hers.

Making that decision didn't make my situation any better, but the hollow feeling that I'd been having ever since the cave began to fade away. Perhaps it was because I made the right decision... or perhaps it was because I had made that decision, not Will. I was going to take charge of my life and not surrender it to her.

Okay. I might not know yet what I was going to do, but I knew what I wasn't going to. It was a start. Fishing into my pocket I pulled out a hankie and blew my nose before mopping at my face. Okay, now to face Will's Mom before she wondered if I'd changed my mind about coming straight home from school.

This time I managed to get the door open on only my third attempt.

"Welcome home," Mom greeted me from the couch. She lifted the TV remote and muted whatever it was she was watching. Then she frowned. "Have you been crying?"

Well so much for my hasty face cleaning. "I'm feeling kind of sick. I sorta... tossed my cookies outside."

"Oh Will!" She jumped up and I got dragged into a hug. "Did you have a bad day at school?"

"It was... okay. There was a Maths test. I didn't feel ill until I was riding home."

She let me loose and then pulled a thermometer out of the various things she'd stacked on the table by the couch. (I think she'd just holed up there all day). "Do you think you'll be sick again?"

"I don't think so," I admitted uncertainly.

She stuck the thermometer into my mouth.

"Mmmm mmm mm?"

"Don't take it out for couple of seconds," she told me. "You might be coming down with something."

I sat obediently with it in my mouth until Mom was satisfied and checked the result. "Well you don't have a temperature." She gave me a little push. "Why don't you have a shower, put on your pajamas and we can curl up here until we feel better?"

"That sounds... really good."

"I'll order pizza," she offered. "Do you want the usual?"

What was pizza? Still, 'the usual' was probably safe. I nodded and headed for my bedroom to get the pajamas.

"And then we can talk about that boy, Matt."

Erk. That's pretty much the sound I made.

Mom gave me a little wave to get moving. "And remember to button your top properly."

It took me about ten minutes to get back into the lounge, having spent a good five of them in the shower. The hot water just seemed to wash everything away.

Mom was putting down the phone when I got back. "I didn't get to tell you this morning, but I was going to have a guest for dinner," she told me. "It's probably a good thing he couldn't make it with us both unwell."

"He?" Who had she invited? Not Matt, surely? Will's father perhaps? He hadn't been in evidence this morning and she hadn't mentioned him in the instructions.

"Mr. Collins." She waited a moment for a reaction that I evidently failed to get. "Your history teacher?"

"Oh! Professor Collins!" Why, oh why, hadn't I asked 'Cornelia' what she meant about him. "Why was he coming for dinner?"

That got a sigh. "I know it's difficult for you with him being your teacher, but Dean's a nice man. He's a friend, a good friend..."

"Just friends?"

"Maybe more than that," Mom conceded. "Would it really be so bad if I started dating again?"

Oh, this is just great. If I get this wrong... "I'm not... keen on that, Mom. But I can't actually think of a reason you shouldn't..."

"Thank you dear."

"I do think you could do better."

"Oh?" She arched her back girlishly and for a moment I was actually jealous. "Should I steal Matt away from you?"

"It's not like that, Mom," I whined.

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Later I lay on Will's bed and looked up at the ceiling.

Her Mom had decided to have a nap after the pizza (which was apparently food and very tasty food at that). If I was lucky that 'nap' would last all night - having a cold must be tiring because she looked much sleepier than I felt and she hadn't had to go to school.

Of course that still left me with what to do about Will.

It seemed to me that there were two possibilities: either she would come back or she wouldn't. There was nothing I could do to influence that. And there was no way of knowing how long it would take before she could get back. If she took too long then I'd probably be found out before she got back.

That meant...

I rolled over on the bed and closed my eyes.

Okay, two plans. One for her coming back and one for when I decided she wasn't likely to come back. No, that was wrong. I'd need three plans: the third one for if someone figured out I wasn't really Will.

A nasty thought crossed my mind. Will had created me through magic. What if... 'something' happening to her in Metamoor would make me vanish? Could I exist without her?

There was no way for me to know. I'd have to ask the others at school tomorrow, see if they had any idea. I shivered at the thought. I could just... vanish. Without warning. Without even knowing I was in danger.

I wish I knew how dangerous Metamoor was for her!

So I need three plans. Ummmm... Run away? Sounded good, but where too?

And when should I give up on Will coming back?

I opened my eyes and saw the folded piece of paper with Will's instructions on it. They just covered one day. Did that mean I should expect her sometime tonight? Or just that I should try to follow them every day until she got back?

I didn't think there was school every day. I'd have to ask Cornelia tomorrow. I could probably keep up the pretense for another few days at school. I really ought to make a list of questions to ask her.

Climbing out of bed I rifled through Will's desk until I found a notebook I could write in. Oh! I could use this to write down what's happened so far, I realised. That way Will doesn't get caught out at anything she missed without her having to absorb me!

I was scribbling down about being ill when I got back from school - I didn't think I needed to tell Will exactly why I'd felt ill. She'd probably not be very happy with me. Well, more unhappy than she was probably going to be anyway - when there was a noise against the window.

I gave it a puzzled look - this was on the third floor! - and saw something small bounce off it. What? Was someone throwing something at my - at Will's - bedroom window? I scrambled over and unlatched it just in time for the next projectile to bounce off my forehead. "Ow!" I caught it and realised it was just a fleck of gravel. Still - it could have hit me in the eye or something.

Looking down I was about to give whoever was down there a piece of my mind when I recognised who it was.

Will!

The fears I had had for her dropped away - she was there, not missing any obvious bits and not acting like one of her friends had died. They'd made it!

Then reality sank it. It meant that I was going to have to run now. And she was between me and the way out.

I leant out of the window, pointed at the bike shelter, then at myself and down at the bike shelter. Hopefully she'd understand that I meant I would go down to meet her there.

With that done I closed the window, scrawled another few lines onto the 'list of things Will should know' and chucked the 'questions for Cornelia' list into the bin. I wasn't going to have any chance to ask them.

Two minutes later I had pulled the clothes I'd worn the day out of before out of the laundry heap (there was a basket, it was overflowing) and hastily dragged them on. Then I took a deep breath...

And wandered out into the apartment's hall. I didn't check Mom's room - although I was very tempted -  instead I walked into the kitchen and replaced the bin bag. If Mom suddenly emerged, either on my departure or Will's return, my reason for being out was taking the trash down. The pizza box along was large enough to justify not keeping it in the kitchen longer than necessary.

Will was waiting for me by the bicycle rack. I stopped halfway there and dropped the bag.

"What's the matter?" she asked and started walking towards me.

I raised my hand for her to halt and then gestured to the bag. "If Mom asks why you stepped out, you were taking out the trash."

"Good idea. You don't have to explain though. I'll remember everything when I absorb you." She took another step forwards.

I took a step back. "I'm not going to let you do that."

"What?"

I pulled out the list and dropped it on the ground. "This should explain." Then I turned and ran out of the yard and onto the street.

"Wait!" I couldn't see Will chase me, but from the sound of feet hitting the tarmac that's what she was doing. "Come back!"

I rounded a corner and got out of her line of sight. I only had to get half a block before there was an alleyway I could get into and hopefully she was tired from her adventure and wouldn't be able to keep running as long as I could. Once I was a couple of corners ahead, she wouldn't know where I was going.

Of course...

...nor did I.

W.I.T.C.H. - W.I.T.C.H. - W.I.T.C.H. - W.I.T.C.H. - W.I.T.C.H.

The cave hadn't changed since last night: an opening in the cliffs behind one of what I guessed was probably one of several small beaches along Heatherfield's coast. The water was a little higher than I recalled but still a good distance from the entrance.

It was cold and it had taken a good bit longer than I'd expected for me to walk here. I hadn't appreciated just how much faster it was to ride a bicycle. And it would probably have been faster to come straight here from home - from Will's home - than to get lost a couple of times.

I hadn't thought of this cave when I ran away. Not until I was halfway across Heatherfield and pretty much lost.

Will and her friends might well come looking for me, but they'd look in Heatherfield first. It was the only place I knew and while I'm sure there are other towns and cities I'm not sure how to get to them. And I knew that except for Taranee and Will they'd lived in Heatherfield their whole lives. They knew it far better than I.

But if I could get through a portal to Metamoor... well I had no idea what I might find there, but how was I worse off than here? And they wouldn't have much if any better idea about it than I did.

Don't get me wrong, I had some idea that it was dangerous in Metamoor. But what were the risks compared to Will getting hold of me? Would they kill me twice?

There were, I found, just a couple of problems. What does a portal look like and how do you use it?

I'd combed the cave, which wasn't actually all that deep, from end to end without finding anything like another way out. The closest I'd found had been various carvings into the stone walls but most were simply pairs of names - invariably a boy's name and a girl's name together. A couple were more esoteric - there was one set of symbolised flames that had me excited for a few minutes - but nothing I could do to them produced any reaction.

"We closed the portal," a soft voice told me.

I swear, I must have jumped a clear foot off the ground. I'd thought I was alone!

For a second I thought that it was Will, but no. Too tall, too... mature. Will and I were barely out of the stage where we could be called little girls, but this girl hovered on the brink of womanhood with a cool confidence in her eyes. I think I envied her that the most.

Her clothes looked like they belonged in a disco or a party: a tight, belly-baring purple top with flowing sleeves that widened dramatically from her elbows to her wrists, a short skirt, knee high boots - and between boots and skirt striped tights covered her legs.

"Please," I asked her, almost begging. "Can't you open it? I have to get away!"

She folded her arms under her bust and looked me over. "I'm a Guardian of the Veil. It's my job to stop people from going through portals, not to help them." Then she lowered her face slightly. "Still... I can't say I've never used them when I really had to. Tell me, why should I make an exception for you?"

"Because I want to live." The words tore out of me. "I... I'm not a real girl," I confessed. "The others say I'm an astral drop. I was supposed to take someone's place - one of the girls who used this yesterday to go to Metamoor - so that no one noticed she was missing. And I did that! But now... now she wants to destroy me. She doesn't need me anymore."

"I know about astral drops," the Guardian told me. She paused. "They... they're not supposed to be more than reflections of the original."

I hung my head. "I'm... different. Defective, they said. I shouldn't be this way, but I am. I'm not her! I'm not Will and if she forces me back into herself... I'll be gone forever."

Her eyes went wide. "You're afraid?"

Jerkily I nodded my agreement and a moment later I felt her arms around me. It was like the morning before, with Will's Mom.

"You shouldn't have to be afraid. I'm sorry."

There was something in her voice that I didn't understand. "It's not your fault, but please! Let me go through!"

"It's too dangerous," she said regretfully. "For you as much as anyone. But I promise you, you won't be harmed."

"You can't be sure of that!"

"I can." There was total confidence in her voice. "You're right. You are different. It would be wrong of me to take away your life."

I wanted to believe that, to believe in her. But Will had powers I didn't understand, as did her friends. Could this Guardian really protect me from them? I blame these fears for not realising what was odd about her words until a moment later.

"After all," she added, "We're practically sisters."

Light swelled around her, leaving me blinking... and in the embrace of someone closer to my size. Identical in fact.

"Will!?" I choked, terror rising. She had me!

But the dissolution I feared didn't take place. Instead she just rested her forehead against mine. "I'm sorry," she whispered. "This is my fault. I never meant to do this to you."

"I never thought you did. Like Irma said, I'm a mistake."

Will's head moved against mine and I realised she was shaking it. "You're more than that. You're a living person."

"Y-you mean it? You're not going to..."

"No!" Her arms tightened around me. "If you had my memories you'd know I'd never do that. But I guess if you did, you wouldn't be you, would you?"

She started to say more but broke off as I started to sob with relief. Through my tears all I could manage to tell her in explanation was a mumbled: "Thank you."

Thank you for not killing me.

Thank you for believing in me.

Thank you for accepting me.

Thank you for being a far better person than I had imagined.
D for Drakensis

You're only young once, but immaturity is forever.

I enjoyed this a good deal.

Builds a fairly strong picture, complete with emotions.

I don't know very much about W.I.T.C.H. and it works for me. (I knew Italian magical girl series, starting with five girls, and that is about it.)

End somehow feels quick. Dunno exactly why, because this otherwise works as a satisfactory conclusion. Is there going to be any more?

Might be able to figure it out better if it weren't for last night's insomnia.

I guess part of what makes me think of more, besides my interest in seeing more of your writing, is two things. One is that there is strong imagery earlier in the story, building up the problem, vomiting and so forth, that does not quite seem to match the strength of the imagery at the end. Unless maybe there is something there, perhaps a bit personal, that I'm not getting. The other is the whole unfair to Will/fifteen minutes/twelve hours alive bit. That kind of implies that she eventually gains a great deal more perspective.

Couple questions. Is Will a planner? Is Collins okay? Maybe its not knowing the setting, or maybe I'm paranoid, but I'm kinda hoping he is a decent person.

I like the imperfect duplicate of Will.

I only really looked at W.I.T.C.H. lately but I'm quite enjoying it, thus this fic. There is more story to come, Will's astral drop is going to have more time to grow and develop.

I may look into extending the 'fleeing from Will' section, since it does shift to resolution relatively sharply. Perhaps too much tell and not enough show there.

As regards your questions, Will is certainly capable of coming up with plans, but more for getting out of trouble than for avoiding it, if that answers your question. As for Collins... well... I don't want to spoil anything. Episode 5 of the cartoon features him quite a bit, it's available on youtube.
D for Drakensis

You're only young once, but immaturity is forever.

D'awww. I agree that it does need a bit more in the running awy segment, maybe at first she pauses to catch her breath somewhere, only to see a couple of the girls approaching and take off again? One of the not-in-on-the-magic characters could even be there, ask 'Will' what's wrong, and as she's fumbling for a reply she spots the pursuit coming... just something to give that section equal weight with the 'trying to pass' part.
--
"Anko, what you do in your free time is your own choice. Use it wisely. And if you do not use it wisely, make sure you thoroughly enjoy whatever unwise thing you are doing." - HymnOfRagnorok as Orochimaru at SpaceBattles
woot Med. Eng., verb, 1st & 3rd pers. prsnt. sg. know, knows

Here's a revision of the last part with an additional scene - something of an interlude between the first part and the second part of the story, as a bonus.

Later I lay on Will's bed and looked up at the ceiling.

Her Mom had decided to have a nap after the pizza (which was apparently food and very tasty food at that). If I was lucky that 'nap' would last all night - having a cold must be tiring because she looked much sleepier than I felt and she hadn't had to go to school.

Of course that still left me with what to do about Will.

It seemed to me that there were two possibilities: either she would come back or she wouldn't. There was nothing I could do to influence that. And there was no way of knowing how long it would take before she could get back. If she took too long then I'd probably be found out before she got back.

That meant...

I rolled over on the bed and closed my eyes.

Okay, two plans. One for her coming back and one for when I decided she wasn't likely to come back. No, that was wrong. I'd need three plans: the third one for if someone figured out I wasn't really Will.

A nasty thought crossed my mind. Will had created me through magic. What if... 'something' happening to her in Metamoor would make me vanish? Could I exist without her?

There was no way for me to know. I'd have to ask the others at school tomorrow, see if they had any idea. I shivered at the thought. I could just... vanish. Without warning. Without even knowing I was in danger.

I wish I knew how dangerous Metamoor was for her!

So I need three plans. Ummmm... Run away? Sounded good, but where too?

And when should I give up on Will coming back?

I opened my eyes and saw the folded piece of paper with Will's instructions on it. They just covered one day. Did that mean I should expect her sometime tonight? Or just that I should try to follow them every day until she got back?

I didn't think there was school every day. I'd have to ask Cornelia tomorrow. I could probably keep up the pretense for another few days at school. I really ought to make a list of questions to ask her.

Climbing out of bed I rifled through Will's desk until I found a notebook I could write in. Oh! I could use this to write down what's happened so far, I realised. That way Will doesn't get caught out at anything she missed without her having to absorb me!

I was scribbling down about being ill when I got back from school - I didn't think I needed to tell Will exactly why I'd felt ill. She'd probably not be very happy with me. Well, more unhappy than she was probably going to be anyway - when there was a noise against the window.

I gave it a puzzled look - this was on the third floor! - and saw something small bounce off it. What? Was someone throwing something at my - at Will's - bedroom window? I scrambled over and unlatched it just in time for the next projectile to bounce off my forehead. "Ow!" I caught it and realised it was just a fleck of gravel. Still - it could have hit me in the eye or something.

Looking down I was about to give whoever was down there a piece of my mind when I recognised who it was.

Will!

The fears I had had for her dropped away - she was there, not missing any obvious bits and not acting like one of her friends had died. They'd made it!

Then reality sank it. It meant that I was going to have to run now. And she was between me and the way out.

I leant out of the window, pointed at the bike shelter, then at myself and down at the bike shelter. Hopefully she'd understand that I meant I would go down to meet her there.

With that done I closed the window, scrawled another few lines onto the 'list of things Will should know' and chucked the 'questions for Cornelia' list into the bin. I wasn't going to have any chance to ask them.

Two minutes later I had pulled the clothes I'd worn the day out of before out of the laundry heap (there was a basket, it was overflowing) and hastily dragged them on. Then I took a deep breath...

And wandered out into the apartment's hall. I didn't check Mom's room - although I was very tempted - instead I walked into the kitchen and replaced the bin bag. If Mom suddenly emerged, either on my departure or Will's return, my reason for being out was taking the trash down. The pizza box along was large enough to justify not keeping it in the kitchen longer than necessary.

Will was waiting for me by the bicycle rack. I stopped halfway there and dropped the bag.

"What's the matter?" she asked and started walking towards me.

I raised my hand for her to halt and then gestured to the bag. "If Mom asks why you stepped out, you were taking out the trash."

"Good idea. You don't have to explain though. I'll remember everything when I absorb you." She took another step forwards.

I took a step back. "I'm not going to let you do that."

"What?"

I pulled out the list and dropped it on the ground. "This should explain." Then I turned and ran out of the yard and onto the street.

"Wait!" I couldn't see Will chase me, but from the sound of feet hitting the tarmac that's what she was doing. "Come back!"

I rounded a corner and got out of her line of sight. I only had to get half a block before there was an alleyway I could get into and hopefully she was tired from her adventure and wouldn't be able to keep running as long as I could. Once I was a couple of corners ahead, she wouldn't know where I was going.

Of course...

...nor did I.

I ducked and weaved through the streets, hoping I wouldn't run myself into a dead end. After a few blocks I ducked behind a car to catch my breath and listened out for any sounds of pursuit.

Nothing.

"Lost her," I muttered, slumping against the car.

"Lost who?"

"Mwaaaah!" I tried to jump up, lost my balance and fell over, knocking my head against the car.

Don't get me wrong, I didn't hurt myself or anything, it was just a little knock. The only serious damage was to my dignity.

"Whoa, that looked awkward," Matt said and crouched to offer me his hand. "Are you okay?"

"I think I'll live," I sighed. "I'm just having an... interesting day." I took his hand and he pulled me upright.

He grinned. "I know the feeling. Is your dormouse getting along okay?"

"He seems to be settling back in. Probably gearing up for another night time rampage."

"You mean he's like that every night?" the boy asked. "How do you get any sleep?"

"That doesn't seem to be a problem, just picking up after him in the morning." Hopefully I wasn't straying too far from the truth. "Mom says I'm a bit of a heavy sleeper."

"I guess he's the perfect pet for you them." Matt looked at our hands and I realised I hadn't let go after he helped me up.

"hehehe. Sorry." I loosened my fingers and let our hands part. What the heck is wrong with me?

"It's fine. So, who are you hiding from?"

"Just someone I didn't want to speak to right now," I hedged.

"One of those conversations you'd rather put off forever?"

"Exactly!"

He laughed. "I've had a few of those myself. If you don't mind some advice, it can be easier just to get them over with."

Well, I guess it was too much to expect him to understand. "Not this sort thing, believe me." I dusted off my pants. "I'd probably better get home before Mom starts worrying. Nice to see you again, Matt."

"Sure." I got a few paces and then he called: "Will? Don't you live sort of..." I turned and saw him pointing off in the other direction. "This way?"

"I'm... going round a couple of blocks. Just to avoid that conversation, you know?"

"Well, okay. See you at school tomorrow!"

"Sure!" That actually sounded rather nice. It was a shame that it wouldn't be happening.

I turned another corner and found myself on a busier street. Well this should make me harder to spot - there weren't many kids my age going in and out of the restaurants along here so everyone was taller than me. I pulled up the hood of my coat and hid my red hair, which might be kind of distinctive.

Okay, I'd gotten away from Will. But I still needed to figure out where to go.

A burst of noise as one door opened caught my attention and I saw that it came from a place called the Silver Dragon. Through the windows it looked warm and hospitable, quite different from the streets. More like the apartment.

Well, there was no going back. And I couldn't go in - I'd need money and I didn't have any.

I was just giving the Silver Dragon one last look when a familiar face caught my eye.

Unfortunately, she'd spotted me too. Hay Lin was wearing an apron and had just delivered a tray of food to one of the window table. She brightened - her face almost literally lightened - and gave me a wave.

Somewhat hesitantly I waved back and then forced a smile onto my face. I don't think that it was very convincing because she tilted her head quizzically and then said something to the couple at the table before scurrying in the direction of the door.

Oops. I turned and ran for the next corner.

I couldn't risk drifting around here any longer. Who knew who I'd run into next? Irma out for a drive with her dad?

I needed a destination, but for now, away would have to do.

W.I.T.C.H. - W.I.T.C.H. - W.I.T.C.H. - W.I.T.C.H. - W.I.T.C.H.

The cave hadn't changed since last night: an opening in the cliffs behind one of what I guessed was probably one of several small beaches along Heatherfield's coast. The water was a little higher than I recalled but still a good distance from the entrance.

It was cold and it had taken a good bit longer than I'd expected for me to walk here. I hadn't appreciated just how much faster it was to ride a bicycle. And it would probably have been faster to come straight here from home - from Will's home - than to get lost a couple of times.

I hadn't thought of this cave when I ran away. Not until I was halfway across Heatherfield and pretty much lost.

Will and her friends might well come looking for me, but they'd look in Heatherfield first. It was the only place I knew and while I'm sure there are other towns and cities I'm not sure how to get to them. And I knew that except for Taranee and Will they'd lived in Heatherfield their whole lives. They knew it far better than I.

But if I could get through a portal to Metamoor... well I had no idea what I might find there, but how was I worse off than here? And they wouldn't have much if any better idea about it than I did.

Don't get me wrong, I had some idea that it was dangerous in Metamoor. But what were the risks compared to Will getting hold of me? Would they kill me twice?

There were, I found, just a couple of problems. What does a portal look like and how do you use it?

I'd combed the cave, which wasn't actually all that deep, from end to end without finding anything like another way out. The closest I'd found had been various carvings into the stone walls but most were simply pairs of names - invariably a boy's name and a girl's name together. A couple were more esoteric - there was one set of symbolised flames that had me excited for a few minutes - but nothing I could do to them produced any reaction.

"We closed the portal," a soft voice told me.

I swear, I must have jumped a clear foot off the ground. I'd thought I was alone!

For a second I thought that it was Will, but no. Too tall, too... mature. Will and I were barely out of the stage where we could be called little girls, but this girl hovered on the brink of womanhood with a cool confidence in her eyes. I think I envied her that the most.

Her clothes looked like they belonged in a disco or a party: a tight, belly-baring purple top with flowing sleeves that widened dramatically from her elbows to her wrists, a short skirt, knee high boots - and between boots and skirt striped tights covered her legs.

"Please," I asked her, almost begging. "Can't you open it? I have to get away!"

She folded her arms under her bust and looked me over. "I'm a Guardian of the Veil. It's my job to stop people from going through portals, not to help them." Then she lowered her face slightly. "Still... I can't say I've never used them when I really had to. Tell me, why should I make an exception for you?"

"Because I want to live." The words tore out of me. "I... I'm not a real girl," I confessed. "The others say I'm an astral drop. I was supposed to take someone's place - one of the girls who used this yesterday to go to Metamoor - so that no one noticed she was missing. And I did that! But now... now she wants to destroy me. She doesn't need me anymore."

"I know about astral drops," the Guardian told me. She paused. "They... they're not supposed to be more than reflections of the original."

I hung my head. "I'm... different. Defective, they said. I shouldn't be this way, but I am. I'm not her! I'm not Will and if she forces me back into herself... I'll be gone forever."

Her eyes went wide. "You're afraid?"

Jerkily I nodded my agreement and a moment later I felt her arms around me. It was like the morning before, with Will's Mom.

"You shouldn't have to be afraid. I'm sorry."

There was something in her voice that I didn't understand. "It's not your fault, but please! Let me go through!"

"It's too dangerous," she said regretfully. "For you as much as anyone. But I promise you, you won't be harmed."

"You can't be sure of that!"

"I can." There was total confidence in her voice. "You're right. You are different. It would be wrong of me to take away your life."

I wanted to believe that, to believe in her. But Will had powers I didn't understand, as did her friends. Could this Guardian really protect me from them? I blame these fears for not realising what was odd about her words until a moment later.

"After all," she added, "We're practically sisters."

Light swelled around her, leaving me blinking... and in the embrace of someone closer to my size. Identical in fact.

"Will!?" I choked, terror rising. She had me!

But the dissolution I feared didn't take place. Instead she just rested her forehead against mine. "I'm sorry," she whispered. "This is my fault. I never meant to do this to you."

"I never thought you did. Like Irma said, I'm a mistake."

Will's head moved against mine and I realised she was shaking it. "You're more than that. You're a living person."

"Y-you mean it? You're not going to..."

"No!" Her arms tightened around me. "If you had my memories you'd know I'd never do that. But I guess if you did, you wouldn't be you, would you?"

She started to say more but broke off as I started to sob with relief. Through my tears all I could manage to tell her in explanation was a mumbled: "Thank you."

Thank you for not killing me.

Thank you for believing in me.

Thank you for accepting me.

Thank you for being a far better person than I had imagined.

W.I.T.C.H. - W.I.T.C.H. - W.I.T.C.H. - W.I.T.C.H. - W.I.T.C.H.

The door of the apartment opened and I heard the unmistakeable sound of several teenage girls entering.

"So who is it that you want us to meet Will?" asked Irma.

"It's not Elyon, is it?"

"Oh! Oh!" exclaimed Hay Lin. "It must be Miss Rudolph! She came back from Metamoor!"

"Hello! That wouldn't be good news! She's our Math teacher! Vive la revolution!"

"Sorry Cornelia, it's not Elyon. And it's not Miss Rudolph either."

"So who is it, Will?"

Well if that wasn't a cue, I didn't know what was. I should probably come out and introduce myself.

Sure.

Any moment now.

"I'll just go get her," Will promised them and opened the door to her - now our - bedroom. "Hey, did you fall asleep?"

Honestly, once she'd gone to school and Mom had left for work, I had - hey, I'd been up all night and no guilt over the fact that so had Will was going to keep me awake. But that had been hours ago. Since lunch I'd been reading some of Will's books. After all the big thing I was missing from my life right know was knowing things. I was so ignorant that even last year's school books were a step up.

Well that was the theory. Actually having read about half of her seventh grade history book I felt dumber than ever but it was better than being bored.

"Come on." She grabbed my wrist and pulled me out into the apartment. "Ta da!"

There was a moment's silence and then...

"Wiiiiilllll!" Irma pointed an accusing finger at me. "You sent your astral drop to school! You can't do that!"

"It is kind of cheating," agreed Cornelia.

"Oh who cares about that," her friend told her. "You can't trust them. Mine agreed to a date with Martin. How do you know she wouldn't start making moves on... on... on... Uriah!"

There was a collective "Eww," from all five of the rest of us.

"Wait, you have to date Martin?" Cornelia brushed a long of blonde hair behind one ear. "Does anyone have a camera I can borrow? This is the sort of memory you'll want to treasure forever..."

"Try it and die, Cornie," Irma groused.

Will's hands formed fists at her sides, but I don't think she was seriously upset. "Guys, I'm the real Will."

Taranee giggled. "You would have done that if you'd thought of it, wouldn't you?"

"Maybe, but that's not the point."

"Then what is the point?"

"The point is that I goofed when I created her. She's not like the others..." A disturbed look crossed Will's face. "You aren't right? I mean... the other astral drops weren't afraid of us, were they?"

"I don't think so."

"Okay, that's good." She - my sister - paused. "Where was I?"

"You goofed." Cornelia raised an eyebrow. "Could you narrow that down for us a bit?"

"ikindofcreatedapersonandifiabsorbheritdbelikekillingher."

The other four girls looked at each other. "What?" "Huh?" "Will?" "oooohhhh!" Hay Lin seemed to be the only one who got it.

"I'm not a copy of Will," I translated. "I'm my own person."

"But... you're not a real person," protested Irma, cementing her status as my least favourite of them.

Will shook her head. "You're wrong, Irma. She is real. I know she is. And that means I can't reabsorb her. I'd be killing her."

Taranee and Irma gave her an 'are you nuts' look, but Cornelia nodded her head thoughtfully. "That makes sense. She got a B on yesterday's Math test. You'd never do that, Will, so her being a different person makes sense."

"I got a B?" She had to be kidding. "Really?"

Will rolled her eyes. "It figures you'd do better guessing answers at random than I would really trying."

I'd have responded to that but I was a bit distracted by Hay Lin's face. Given that it was about three inches from mine. "You must be the Will I saw last night outside the Silver Dragon," she deduced. "Nice to meet you properly... Oh! What's your name?"

"My... name?"

"Yeah, you're not Will, so who are you?"

I blinked. Huh. I honestly hadn't considered that. "I'm... still trying to figure that out."

Taranee pulled at Will's sleeve nervously. "Uhm, what are you going to tell your Mom, Will? I think she might notice if there are two of you."

"Only if she sees us both together!" Will explained. "She's at work a lot and we're working on a way into the loft - that way one of us can hide up there when she's at home. Or I'll be off with you on Guardian business and she can cover for me."

"Or I might go out in the evenings."

"But no sneaking out to Discos," warned Cornelia.

Except for Irma the girls giggled, she just went red. "One time, just one time."

"Uh, I think I'm missing a story...?" I said.

"Irma used her transformation to sneak into that disco in town," Cornelia explained smugly. "She managed to get the attention she wanted from a boy but then she panicked and turned him into a toad."

"We turned him back!" Irma protested.

"After, like, four days," clarified Hay Lin.

Will cleared her throat. "That reminds me. I don't think we should create astral drops again."

"What! But that means if we have to go away, you're the only one that doesn't get in trouble when we get back!"

"That does seem unfair," agreed Taranee. "Why should our families have to worry about us?"

"I don't want them to worry! But..."

"But what if you wind up with astral drops like me? How many of us can there be before someone catches on? You're creating life!"

Irma made a face. "This sounds a lot like health class."

"Let's not ever talk about this like that again," Will offered with her face paler than usual.

"Agreed!" Taranee almost shouted. "My mom would freak!"

"That's not what it's like at all," insisted Cornelia.

"And you totally wouldn't mind having another sister, would you?" Irma asked slyly.

The blonde tossed her hair. "Whose side are you on, anyway?"

"Don't fight," Hay Lin scolded them. She turned back to me and beamed. "I'd kind of like a sister sometimes. Do you think my astral drop would mind if I called her up sometimes just to be a sister?"

...what? "I think you'd be better asking her."

I gave Will an appealing look and she shrugged helplessly. "Look, just be careful, okay? We're responsible for anything they do - and I don't just mean in the 'Mom's going to blame me for anything she does' way."

"I'm right here you know."

"And I was standing right there when she started teasing me about Matt," Will reminded me with her cheeks burning. So were mine.

Irma cackled, apparently forgetting her romantic troubles. "Oooh. You both like him. So who gets him, or will you share?"

"Irma!"
D for Drakensis

You're only young once, but immaturity is forever.

Oh, very nice! Much more satisfying. There are a couple of odd phrasings I noticed this time through-

"reality sank it" - probably should be "in"

"nor did I" - okay as is, but might be better with "neither"

It reminds me of that creepy game console tech demo with the robot girl who wakes up for QA while being assembled, or a shortfic I saw once from the perspective of a kagebunshin. Only, you know, not creepy. Being the first contact I've ever had with the fandom makes it easy to connect with Ms. MC.
--
"Anko, what you do in your free time is your own choice. Use it wisely. And if you do not use it wisely, make sure you thoroughly enjoy whatever unwise thing you are doing." - HymnOfRagnorok as Orochimaru at SpaceBattles
woot Med. Eng., verb, 1st & 3rd pers. prsnt. sg. know, knows

I had a thing about how if we are getting the problems and other stuff stuff paid off in installments rather than all at once, the balance of the final bit to the rest is significantly less of a concern. She thinks of her issues in terms of 'Will is gonna kill me', which is dealt with, but there is evidence that she might be conflating other issues with that.

Then decided I didn't know how much sense I was making, deleted it, and went to sleep. (Rest and time to think has done me some good. First paragraph has fewer words.)

I like the new version better. I think it ties things up better. I look forward to more.

And wandered out into the apartment's hall. I didn't check Mom's room - although I was very tempted - instead I walked into the kitchen and replaced the bin bag. If Mom suddenly emerged, either on my departure or Will's return, my reason for being out was taking the trash down. The pizza box along was large enough to justify not keeping it in the kitchen longer than necessary.

along might work better as alone

For some reason, just seeing the name Cornelia reminds me of where it came from. Roman women tended to be named the feminine of their 'clan' name. Cornelius was the family that produced, among others, the famous Gaius Julius Caesar's first wife.

Thanks for the corrections both of you (although I prefer nor to neither in this case CD).

When I first encountered Cornelia it took me a while not to substitute Cordelia (as in Chase). While they're not quite the same, there are some notable similarities.

Given how the rest of the story is shaping up, I think that the last scene might actually work best in the second part than the first. And yes there are quite a few other problems that are hovering around impatiently waiting to be unleashed on the MC.
D for Drakensis

You're only young once, but immaturity is forever.

All part of the service! But yeah, any time your plan relies on no one seeing two people, living in the same place as the one they want to decieve, at the same time, you know it is doomed. Doomed to a doomy doom of doom. Doomed like the last slice of pizza at a sleepover. It has theme music: the Imperial March - doom doom doom doom da-doom, doom da-doom...
--
"Anko, what you do in your free time is your own choice. Use it wisely. And if you do not use it wisely, make sure you thoroughly enjoy whatever unwise thing you are doing." - HymnOfRagnorok as Orochimaru at SpaceBattles
woot Med. Eng., verb, 1st & 3rd pers. prsnt. sg. know, knows

I'm rather looking forward to writing that.

And now, on with the show.

W.I.T.C.H. - W.I.T.C.H. - W.I.T.C.H. - W.I.T.C.H. - W.I.T.C.H.

"Oh no!"

I heard that worried squeal from below and rolled over on my improvised bed (in lieu of an actual mattress we'd managed to smuggle half a dozen old cushions up into the loft) to lift the little hatch set into the floor of my room. "What's the matter?" I asked poking my head down into Will's room below (hopefully it wouldn't occur to Mom to wonder at that hatch appearing after more than a week in the apartment - Cornelia's power over wood and stone was enviable now that she had had some practise).

"It's my dormouse," Will explained, looking up from the usually lively pet. "I think he's sick!"

"Do you want me to get the mop?" I offered, reaching for the knotted rope that I used to get up and down.

She lifted him up in both hands. "Not that sort of sick. Ill! He got into our jar of cookies."

"Are you sure he's not just sleepy?"

"I offered him the last one and he refused!"

"That sounds pretty conclusive," I agreed and scrambled down the rope. "So what do we do?"

Will gave me a panicked look. "I don't know! Mom's not home, who can..."

"Matt," we concluded in unison.

I picked up the dormouse out of Will's arms. "You're not dressed for going out," I told her. (Which was true, she was schlepping around a baggy sweatshirt and slippers, not exactly suitable for the cold, windy streets). "I'll call his house while you get dressed."

"Why do you get to call him?"

I rolled my eyes. "Because you get to go see him? I've no idea where he lives and if this is serious we can't risk me getting lost on the way there."

"Okay?" She gave her pet (one thing we did not share was a fondness for the voracious little critter - I guess I'm not an animal person) a scratch behind the ears before turning to what was now our wardrobe.

I on the other hand went to the telephone and leafed through the piles of contact details under it until I found Matt's number. "Someone really ought to organise these," I muttered quietly, realising that that 'someone' was probably going to be me.

I don't think Will was intentionally loading me down with her chores but it was just more practical for me to be the one doing them: I hadn't gone to school again so far, so I had much more time on my hands for things in the house. Besides, these were all things that I really ought to know how to do.

"Hi," I greeted the woman who picked up the phone. "Is Matt home?"

"Not at the moment," she replied. "Who's calling?"

"I'm..." I recalled that Matt's parents hadn't been too impressed at the dormouse's antics when Will dumped the pet on him before the mission to rescue Taranee. "...a friend of his from school. My pet's ill and I wanted to ask his advice. Do you know when he'll be back?"

"Not for a while I'm afraid," she told me. "But if it's an animal problem, he's working in my father-in-law's pet shop. It's Olsen's - on Almond Street - do you know where that is?"

"I'm not sure." I picked up the pen and paper that we kept handy for this sort of thing. "Could you give me directions?" She did and I scribbled away industriously. "Thank you very much."

"Thank you," Will said when I put the phon down. She was dressed warmly now and holding a towel which she used to wrap her pet up against the cold weather. "I'm going to dash, just in case it's something serious."

"Yeah, probably best," I agreed. "I guess you get to put off showing me more Maths."

"I don't see why you're so eager," Will told me, heading for the door. "It was just luck you got a good grade. There's no reason to think you're actually good at it."

"Well it's worth a try. You have the magic, maybe I get maths as compensation."

She laughed as she went out the door.

I watched her cycle away from the window and then went to the closet to get one of her spare jackets and another set of keys. After a few days cooped up here I really could do with getting out. As long as I stayed away from Almond Street, it should be safe enough. Just to be even saver though, I added a ball-cap from her closet and scraped my hair back into a short pony-tail. It was barely long enough to stay back but with a bit of luck I wouldn't be recognised if anyone who only knew WIll casually happened to cross my path.

As I walked out of the yard my mind went back to Hay Lin's question a few days ago. Well, to one of the bubbly girl's questions.

What was my name?

Part of it I knew. Will had chosen to declare me her sister and perhaps one day Mom might know who I was and accept me too. So I was one of the Vandom family, even if only one of them knew it. I still felt warm at that fact.

But my own name, that was something I hadn't decided. I didn't even have an idea yet that I liked.

(Irma had suggested 'Bill'. If I wasn't sure that she'd enjoy the experience, I'd have drowned her in the bathtub for that.)

I looked at shop signs as I passed them, looking for inspiration. Not that I was going to call myself 'Pharmacist' or 'Ye Olde Bookstore' but...

Ooooh. Bookstore.

Will, I would have to admit, was not the most literary of girls. While she had a few books other than school texts, most of them had were obviously from when she was (a lot) younger and I'd read through all of them already, when school books got too dull.

Yeah, I'd had quite a bit of time on my hands over the last few days and school books are evidently written to be as boring as possible.

Anyway, perhaps I could get a better book here. I had a little money - Will had split her allowance with me in case I needed some money for an emergency - and it couldn't hurt to look even if I didn't buy anything.

There was a little bell thing that rang as I pushed the door open. The show was shadowy inside and it took a moment for me to realise that the leather-covered volumes on the shelves were actually books! They looked nothing like the bright and colourful children's books and cheap cardboard-covered school books I'd seen so far.

For a moment I thought that I was alone in the shop but then I heard the sound of footsteps and a man stepped out from behind one of the bookshelves. He was tall and thin with blond hair slicked back into a pony-tail. "Can I help you, Miss...?"

"Uh, I'm just... seeing if something catches my eye?"

"Of course." He bowed slightly. "If you need help, just call."

I nodded and started scanning along the shelves, picking out the titles that were embossed into the spines, sometimes in gilt. It took me all of a minute to realise I was way over my head. Some of the titles didn't seem to be in English at all and once I reached the third shelf I realised that some of the letters didn't seem to be from the alphabet.

"What the..."

There was a giggle from behind me and I turned to see a girl around my own age leaning against bookshelf opposite, hands clasped behind her.

For a moment I froze, looking at her. My face must have been quite the picture because she giggled again. It was, to be honest, a pretty nice laugh and I turned around and sat down with my back to the shelf, chuckling at my own plight. "Okay, I confess! I don't have a clue what I'm looking at."

"I think that shelf is Russian... or maybe Greek," she told me, then looked at me somewhat expectantly.

"Sorry, am I supposed to pretend I can speak those?" I asked after a couple of moments.

She grinned. "I think we can skip that bit if you want. There's some stuff in the back that might be a bit easier to get into."

"Sounds good." I scrambled to my feet. "I'm not really looking for anything particular, just something a bit more interesting than everyday life." Standing I found that I was a little taller than her which was an almost new experience for me. She had mousy brown hair about the same length as mine except for two thin braids that hung down in front of her shoulders.

"I know how that feels," she assured me and waved her hand towards the back of the store. "Over this way."

"Thank you."

I'll be honest, the books in this part of the store didn't look all that different. In fact, some of the scripts seemed even stranger... "I'm not sure that this exactly what I'm looking for."

"I guess they really didn't tell you anything," the girl said sweetly.

I looked back and saw her clothes change to a long green dress with a blue tabard over it. A silver circlet appeared in her hair and two silver ornamental rings capped her braids.

Ohhhh dear. This could be bad. Still.... maybe she was friendly. "You would appear to have the advantage of me."

"Looks like I do," she nodded. "I'm surprised the Guardians are letting a loose end like you run around."

"I appealed to their better nature." Did this place have a back door. A window? Well, another window - the one that I could see was a mosaic of coloured glass in the shape of a peacock and I rather doubted I'd be able to get out of it.

"So that's how you convinced them to put up with you, faker." She put her hands on her hips. "Well don't think I miss what you are. I've been watching you for a while. And I have the power to stop you."

"Stop me? I don't know what you mean. I don't even know who you are!" I darted away from her, trying to get away from her by going around the other end of the bookcase. I had almost reached the corner when the bookstore owner stepped into my path. Except he was also changing shape, changing into something that wasn't even human.

I recoiled, almost losing my balance.

"You're not going anywhere," the girl told me and thrust her hands forwards. A bubble of force formed around me, suspending me in mid-air. "You've done enough already, pretending to be friends with Cornelia and flashing your belly at Matt."

What? I flushed. How could she know that!? And why would it even matter to her? Unless...

Cornelia. Matt.

She'd told me that her friend Elyon had a crush on him. And later that she'd vanished, perhaps into Metamoor.

"Elyon?"

She curtseyed. "Elyon Brown," she confirmed. "Except that's not who I really am."

"Indeed," the towering snake man agreed, slithering around her. "You're far more than that, Elyon."

I crossed my arms. She had magic, evidently, and I didn't. I wasn't going to be able to fight her like that, so I'd have to find another way.

"So if you're not really Elyon Brown, does that make you a fake too?"

Her eyes narrowed angrily. "No, it makes my so-called parents fakes. After my real parents died, they stole me away from my brother and took me away from Meridian to Heatherfield. They pretended to be my family, the same way that you're pretending to be Will's sister."

"You shut your mouth!"

My hand hurt and I realised I'd slapped it against the bubble as hard as I could. As if it had been her face.

"I may not know your family, Elyon. But I do know mine. And don't you ever dare suggest that I don't love them."

Elyon walked forwards and looked me right in the eye. "And what are you going to do about it? You're nothing but an illusion and soon you won't even be that!"

"Now let's not be hasty," her companion suggested. "Remember the plan, Elyon. Our guest could be very useful to us, as long as she considers the consequences if she proves... uncooperative."

Elyon lowered her head submissively. "Of course, Cedric. You can trust me."

I have no idea how she took any reassurance from his toothy grin but once he had slipped away behind the bookcases, she took a deep breath and then eyed me up again. "You don't have any future in Heatherfield. All you are is a construct of magic. Once we defeat the Guardians you'd simply fade away. But Cedric and my brother want to give you a chance. We can give you a real body, and a new life in Meridian."

"That sounds like a sweet deal," I agreed warily. Something told me that it wouldn't be a simple as that. They would want something from me and they'd take measures to keep me to whatever they asked for. And what if they decided not to keep their word? I didn't like the look of Cedric - maybe I'm a little suspicious by nature - and Elyon hadn't been exactly trustworthy, luring me into this.

"And if you don't agree I'll simply make this bubble smaller and smaller until your body is destroyed. My magic is stronger than any of the Guardians. Stronger than all of them combined!"

"I don't think I'd enjoy that." I had to get out of the bubble. It already felt as if it might be getting smaller. I eyed its margins and I think it really was. That suggested that just by thinking about it Elyon was making it happen. "So what do you get out of this? We both know that I'll do what I have to in order to survive."

Elyon smiled. "The Guardians need the Heart of Kandrakar to fully master their powers. Without it, they can't keep closing the portals and trapping my people in Metamoor. I think they'd be a lot more reasonable - maybe we could even be friends again - if you were to bring the Heart here."

The thought of the bubble shrinking had been enough for that to start happening and I didn't think Elyon had actually intended to do that. I hoped not, because the ideas beginning to form in my mind rather counted upon my being right.

I needed to keep her talking while I put it together. "And what if I were to agree, and then go tell the Guardians about this shop? I imagine you'd know, and wouldn't get caught but there's got be a portal around here. Not to talk myself out of this deal, but I imagine you want some kind of safeguard?"

Magic seemed highly dependent upon intent and perhaps upon focus. If I could break hers, then perhaps it would break the spell.

Elyon gestured and the oily surface of the bubble faded away athough I could still feel it against my hand. "No one needs to know that this is around you, but I won't be taking it away until we have the Heart."

"What stops you from clenching it down on me if I chat with Matt?" I asked innocently.

She scowled at me. "Maybe you'd better not."

"But surely you're over him, now that Cedric is in your life. Why should I mess up Will's chances with him?"

There was colour in her cheeks. "You don't understand!"

"A lot of things, no. I think you're being a real fool about your parents. But your brother?" I changed by tone of voice. "That, I do understand."

"W-what?"

"You chose him over everything. Your friends, even the world you knew?"

Elyon nodded. "Yes."

"Then you know why I won't betray my sister."

"But you aren't really her sister! You said you'd do anything to survive."

I could see doubt and confusion in her eyes and I seized upon it. "If I took your deal then I wouldn't survive. Something might be left wouldn't be me. Because I'd never betray Will. That's who I am."

My ears popped as the bubble closed around me. Under that crushing power I was forced into a crouch and then into a fetal postion. Somehow I twisted to keep my eyes on Elyon. Her hand was steady... but her lower lip was trembling.

The pressure forced a gasp of pain with the last air in my lungs, but I kept looking at her.

Looking her in eyes.

Making her watch me die.

Magic was will.

And I had to shake hers.

The last thing I thought before red overtook my vision was that there was a pun in there somewhere.
D for Drakensis

You're only young once, but immaturity is forever.

(barely resists pony-based smartarsery)

Well, that's a pickle. I'm assumibg you do in fact have a name in mind or at least aren't soliciting suggestions?
--
"Anko, what you do in your free time is your own choice. Use it wisely. And if you do not use it wisely, make sure you thoroughly enjoy whatever unwise thing you are doing." - HymnOfRagnorok as Orochimaru at SpaceBattles
woot Med. Eng., verb, 1st & 3rd pers. prsnt. sg. know, knows

I have a couple of names in mind but feel free to suggest them. Even if they don't get picked, they may get suggested to her.
D for Drakensis

You're only young once, but immaturity is forever.

Atalanta, Illemina (ill eh mee na)(close to Wilhelmina, which may be good or bad)/Illumina (ill oo min eh)/Luminous, and Miranda/Amanda/Sally Amanda aka "Salamanda" are my standard girl name suggestions. Given her origin Galatea or Athena/Minerva would also fit, depending on the status of the Dodekatheon in 'verse. Atalanta gets an asterisk due to the amount of running in her life so far. If you want to stick with germanic names the only other one I know is Birgit.
--
"Anko, what you do in your free time is your own choice. Use it wisely. And if you do not use it wisely, make sure you thoroughly enjoy whatever unwise thing you are doing." - HymnOfRagnorok as Orochimaru at SpaceBattles
woot Med. Eng., verb, 1st & 3rd pers. prsnt. sg. know, knows

When I woke up I was somewhere I had never been before.

Okay, that doesn't narrow it down very much, does it? It wasn't Heatherfield though. If anything, it looked like a picture from one of Will's history books, depicting the Middle Ages. I was sitting on a bench at the edge of a market square. Above the square reared up a magnificent cathedral.

"Is this... Metamoor?"

There was a giggle. One I'd heard before.

"No," Elyon told me. "This is Dahl's Eternal Summer."

"What?" I scrambled to my feet, looking for a way to escape. I couldn't feel the bubble.

The other girl declined to meet my eyes. "I decided not to kill you. You'll do just as well as bait for the Guardians. They'll be joining you here, soon." She offered me a cup of something frothy. "This will help you feel better."

I accepted the mug. It wasn't as if she couldn't have poured it into me while I was unconcious if she wanted to. "I don't understand. Who is Dahl?"

"He was a painter. I've brought you into his last picture."

"You can do that?"

She curtseyed. "I told you. I have more power than the Guardians. You won't be seperated from your sister for very much longer."

"No offense, but I'd prefer it if she drove you off with your tail between your legs."

Elyon looked surprised and then shook her head. "It's too bad you're on the wrong side."

"Funny, I could say the same for you." I drank from the cup and found the contents spicy and reviving. When I looked up at Elyon she was giving me an impish look. "Alright, what am I drinking?"

"Mead," she told me. "It's a little bit alcoholic. And it's replacing some of the magic that you're made of. Everything you eat will do that from now on. Eventually you'll have a perfectly normal human body."

The mug hit the ground. "Really?"

She nodded. "It was more difficult than I thought, but one day you'll be a real girl, Pinocchiolina."

"Pinocchiolina?" I rolled the name around my lips as I retrieved the cup from the ground. When I looked up, Elyon was gone. I was alone and out of place in this little celebration. Setting the empty cup down on the bench I slipped away into the gap between two buildings and hid myself behind a barrel.

Curling up on myself I wondered how today could get any worse. I'd blundered right into Will's enemies, almost been killed and now I was being used as bait to lure her into a trap. "If I get out of this I'm never leaving the apartment again without letting someone know where I'm going," I vowed. "Please be alright, Will. If you get hurt then I'll never forgive her."

My cheeks felt wet and I realised I was crying. How foolish I was to be saying I wouldn't forgive Elyon when she didn't need to to worry about me at all. She had her magic and she had me trapped. And a part of me didn't want to hate her even with this. She had spared me - more, if she was to be believed then she had given me a chance at a real life, of one day being more than just a magical shell that thought for herself.

Could I really hate her when she was giving me life almost as much as Will had?

I think that I could. Not for what she had done to me and for me. Those, at least I could call us square over. But if she followed through and sent Will and the others here... I wouldn't be alone, but all of them would lose their families. Mom would be alone, never knowing what had happened to Will.

That I thought I could hate her for, if it happened.

I don't know how long I sat there, trying to get hold of my feelings, but eventually I had cried myself out. With a sigh I took off my cap, tidied up my hair again, and scrubbed away the tear-stains with a hankie before I put the hat back on.

Maybe the Guardians wouldn't be captured at all. Perhaps they'd even rescue me without any trouble.

But if they were captured then I owed it to them to do everything I could to help. Right now that meant finding out everything I could about this place, this prison. Elyon had left so there must be some way out. I might not have the magic to use it, but if Will was here she'd have the Heart of Kandrakar, so that shouldn't be a problem.

So where was I? I poked my head out above the barrel and looked out at the market square. It didn't look so terrible - in fact there was festival atmophere. Men in fancy clothes that looked nothing like anything I'd seen in Heatherfield were carrying tall banners through the crowds of more plainly but still oddly dressed people moving baskets of food and barrels that I presumed to contain drinks. In some parts of the square partying seemed to have broken out already - a couple were dancing (not the sort of dancing I'd seen Will do to music on the television but dancing nonetheless) and a juggler was keeping five apples in the air at once, which was pretty cool I had to admit. The fat merchant watching certainly seemed to agree with me.

"What are you doing there? Up to mischief?" a gruff voice demanded.

I eeped and spun around to see a plump man with a stained apron giving me an amused look. "Mischief? Me? Uh-uh!"

He gave me a searching look. "Hmm. You're not from around here. Eying the food I'll bet."

"ehh..." I rubbed the back of my head nervously. Better to let him think he was right.

"Well there'll be plenty of food for everyone later, as long as they earn their keep." He folded his thick arms across the apron. "And since my usual assistant is off juggling I could do with another pair of hands."

I bit my lip. I really ought to to find out more about this place... but where would I even start? At least if I was doing something for this man I'd not have to come up with an explanation for who was or why I was here. I nodded my acquiesence. "What do you want me to do?"

As it turned out, the man was an innkeeper and what he wanted me to do was wait tables. Before you start thinking that it was easy, you have to remember that I'm not very large and I had to carry food and drinks around on heavy wooden platters. There weren't any lightweight metal and plastic trays so I struggled quite a bit.

"I don't think you'd better try to lift this one," the innkeeper told me, balancing six heavy tankards onto one such platter. It wasn't quite large enough for them so one tankard was stacked on top of three others. He jerked his head towards a rack of bottles. "Take one of those over to Master Van Dahl. And be polite. He's an important man!"

I pulled one of the bottles off the rack and held it up for inspection. "Uh, who's Master Van Dahl?" Hadn't Elyon mentioned someone called Dahl?

The innkeeper nodded towards a corner of the room, near the window. I could just about see a man at the table there, wrapped in a long cloak.

Even the bottle was surprisingly heavy, so I held it in both hands as I walked over to him. "Master Van Dahl?" I extended the bottle.

"Ah, thank you." He accepted it with one hand and set it on the table without looking up. "Please bring me..." He looked up and I saw a thin, sad face beneath shaggy brown hair. "I don't know you."

"Um... should you?"

"I know everyone here," he said confidently. "What did someone your age do that Phobos would punish you? Stare at him? Take one step too close to him?"

"Ah... I'm not sure who Phobos is. I got sent here by a girl called Elyon."

Van Dahl rose to his feet and bowed slightly. "I'm forgetting my manners. It has been far too long since I spoke to another living soul. Elias Van Dahl at your service."

"I'm..." I hesitated. "Uhm... Miss Vandom."

He gave me a sceptical look.

"I don't actually have a name," I explained. "It's a long story."

"Young lady, I have nothing but time. I don't even know how long it has been since Cedric trapped me here."

"Cedric? I thought that you said Phobos...?"

Van Dahl sighed. "Cedric is Phobos' right-hand man. Like yours, it is a long story." He gestured to the chair facing him. "Please, take a seat and we can exchange our tales."

I complied. If the innkeeper protested, well he had told me to be polite. And besides, it seemed I'd stumbled on the one person that could tell me all about this place. "Cedric, I've run into. Assuming we mean tall, blond and turns into a snake. He and Elyon are working together."

"I see. Tell me, have you ever heard of Meridian?"

"Elyon said something about it, that it was their home. I'm guessing that it's something to do with Metamoor?"

"Yes," he agreed. "Metamoor is another world from the Earth and Meridian is the great city that covers it. Long ago, or so my teachers claim, Metamoor was one of the brightest of all the worlds but by my time it had become a world of darkness, lit only by the Light of Meridian. To protect other worlds, a veil was drawn between the worlds, cutting Metamoor off from the rest of the universe. And then... the Light failed."

"I was a court painter, the most famous artist of all of Meridian, when it happened. The queen and her consort vanished mysteriously. Her daughter, the heir, was no more than a child and so the crown passed to her brother: Phobos. Life had never been easy in Metamoor, but under his rule it became unbearable. His sister also vanished mysteriously, and Phobos withdrew into the shadows. He didn't want to talk to anyone, showing himself only to his loyal whisperers. Orders went out to destroy every statue, every portrait, any image of him in all of Meridian."

"You'd painted him, I take it?"

He nodded. "I had; and as a skilled portraitist I could easily paint more. I decided to run away away from him. There were people I knew, people who were afraid of what Phobos would do. They helped me to escape from Metamoor to another world, a place and time where an artist would be respected."

I blinked. "I take it that you don't mean here."

Van Dahl smiled sadly. "No. You'd know it as Europe. By your calendar, the year was 1700."

"Um... Master Van Dahl..."

"I've been here a long time, haven't I?" he said resignedly.

"Three hundred years," I confessed. "I'm sorry."

He sank in on himself. "I knew it was possible, but... I'm sorry, I need a moment."

I needed a little time myself. Three hundred years? This had been going on that long? But Will said that she had been chosen as a Guardian just in the last few weeks. Of course, they had been picked by Hay Lin's grandmother, who died only a little later so there had been no chance for anyone to ask questions about the history of the Guardians. But surely someone would know, if I could only find them.

Someone cleared their throat and I looked up to see the innkeeper. "Is everything alright, Master Van Dahl?"

"Merely sober thoughts," Van Dahl assured him. "I gather my young companion has been assisting you? I'm afraid you'll have to get along without her for a while." He pulled himself to his feet, towering over me, and dropped a handful of oddly cut silver coins onto the table. "Come along, Miss Vandom. We should talk more privately."

The innkeeper wasn't as tall as Van Dahl, but he was probably twice as broad. Nonetheless I saw his face pale as he stepped aside.

"That man was afraid of you," I accused Van Dahl in a low voice as I followed him out. Yes, I followed him. Quite honestly, he was too important for me back away from just because he seemed a little sinister all of a sudden.

He hunched his shoulders. "I imagine some of them do, yes," he agreed. "This is my painting, I created it and I created them as well. I don't usually throw my weight around, but they aren't exactly inclined to argue with me."

"You created this?" I gestured around us. "All of this?"

"Well, that wasn't my intention."

"This sounds horribly familiar." He'd created them? The way Will had created me?

Van Dahl's eyebrows arched. "I look forward to hearing your story. But I'm skipping ahead of mine. I'd fled Metamoor and made a new life for myself. I could paint, dream, wish... and like others, I could love. But I had not truly escaped. Phobos send Cedric after me to make sure I was punished. He found me and - whether it was Phobos' instructions or his own inspiration, he bound me to my latest work."

"The painting was supposed to be named 'The Last Tear'. A village where no one has cried in a long time. The last tear is in a crystal bottle in the cathedral and the life of the village is just joy. An eternal summer... Cedric told me that he'd always heard that artists put themselves into their work. He created a portal into it and forced me through it."

"Then this place has been for hundreds of years?" I asked. "Don't the people here notice?"

He shook his head. "It's like a play. They're caught in a few moments and no matter what I do, they revert to those actions unless I'm right there with them and sometimes even then. I've lost count of how often it happens."

I followed him up a narrow stair into a loft overlooking the square. "And they don't remember anything?" The room's furniture was barren except for dozens of incomplete paintings.

"Oh, they do but it doesn't really matter to them. As far as they're concerned this is normal. They don't know what it's like to be hungry, or thirsty or tired. I've almost forgotten them myself, this place just isn't real enough for them to matter."

"But you were drinking whatever it was in that bottle."

"The wine wasn't for sustenance," he told me wryly. "I guess you're not old enough to understand. Lucky girl."

"You don't look three hundred years old. I may not get any older." I looked around at the pictures. "I see you've been keeping busy."

Van Dahl sighed. "I tried to at first, but I can't finish any of them. Without colours, it's useless even to try."

"Without colours...?"

"It's all an illusion. When I try..." He gestured impatiently. "See for yourself. Letting me take my paint and canvases was Cedric's idea of a cruel joke. He took away my ability to paint and then left it dangling in front of me all this time."

Looking closer I saw that the pictures were washed out and felt... hollow, incomplete. The colours were scarcely more than hinted at. "That's cruel."

"There is no end to Phobos' cruelty," he said. "So what is your story?"

I found myself a seat against the window sill, looking down over the market. "Have you ever heard of the Guardians of the Veil?"
D for Drakensis

You're only young once, but immaturity is forever.

"Yo dog, I heard you like painting so I put paint in your painting so you can paint while you're paint!"

Sadly, it seems to work as well as a gun that shoots guns so you can shoot when you're shot.

It is a very interesting way to contrast MC's situation, an artficial human meeting the only natural human in an artificial world. (Note, by "created by artifice" I do not mean "fake," but then I have a strong transhuman bias)
--
"Anko, what you do in your free time is your own choice. Use it wisely. And if you do not use it wisely, make sure you thoroughly enjoy whatever unwise thing you are doing." - HymnOfRagnorok as Orochimaru at SpaceBattles
woot Med. Eng., verb, 1st & 3rd pers. prsnt. sg. know, knows

Still enjoying this, just having a combination of computer access issues, and insomnia sapping my usable sense.

Things seem to be coming along well. Action is picking up. I do hope this hasn't put her off books. I also hope she comes to enjoy math.

Names: I've been internally using not-Will and Lliw, both of which are fairly bad. (Well, I find them imperfect enough that the most concise thing I like to use, mentally, that isn't 'her' or 'she' is 'the entity partly patterned off Will'.) Lliw has the variations of Lew, Lews, Lou, Louise and so forth.

Deimos, if there isn't already a Deimos in setting. Bia, Nike, Eris. Sophia.

I guess also Mars, Mavors, Martia, Mavora, Mara, and so forth.

Pallas Aeneas *Laughs*

When I heard Vandom, I came up with some really silly suggestions. Mistress Vandom. (Hint: Add a space) Gundam Vandom. Baron or Doctor. (Vandom said Van Doom or Van Dooom!)

Questions: Are the Vandoms any relation of Van Dahl? Is Van Dahl any relation of Roald Dahl? What was marriageable age and such in Van Dahl's time and place? I guess this takes place on Earth. Europe, United States, elsewhere?

Edit:
I like Pharmacist.
I think girls are sometimes named after virtues?  Active, Inexorable, or Fierce.
Also I just noticed 'Ye Olde Bookstore'.  It says something about her that she fell for this.  It fairly screams trap.  Either that, or maybe not a very good bookstore.  Unless they used an actual thorn on their sign. 

I heard that worried squeal from below and rolled over on my improvised bed (in lieu of an actual mattress we'd managed to smuggle half a dozen old cushions up into the loft) to lift the little hatch set into the floor of my room. "What's the matter?" I asked poking my head down into Will's room below (hopefully it wouldn't occur to Mom to wonder at that hatch appearing after more than a week in the apartment - Cornelia's power over wood and stone was enviable now that she had had some practise).

Isn't it practice?

"Thank you," Will said when I put the phon down. She was dressed warmly now and holding a towel which she used to wrap her pet up against the cold weather. "I'm going to dash, just in case it's something serious."

phone

I watched her cycle away from the window and then went to the closet to get one of her spare jackets and another set of keys. After a few days cooped up here I really could do with getting out. As long as I stayed away from Almond Street, it should be safe enough. Just to be even saver though, I added a ball-cap from her closet and scraped my hair back into a short pony-tail. It was barely long enough to stay back but with a bit of luck I wouldn't be recognised if anyone who only knew WIll casually happened to cross my path.

safer, and Will without the I
Edit again:  I misspelled Bia, perhaps due to getting her confused with Zelus.  I'm more and more thinking of Will's name as being for the quality, as opposed to being short for William and other such names.  If so, her sister's name also ought to be such a quality.

Thanks for the corrections.

So far as I am aware Van Dahl has no blood kinships with the rest of the cast, he's just part of of Metamoor's modest human population. Metamoor probably has a marriageable age similar to that of the 17th century Europe he ended up in (14 IIRC my history correctly, which would put our protagonist as just below that age (at least at this point in the series all but one of the Guardians are 13, with Cornelia having recently turned 14))

Heatherfield's location is never actually specified, however given that the Vandom family car is right-hand-drive in the comics, I am going to work on the basis of it being in the UK should it ever become relevant. (It's left-hand drive in the cartoon though).

Will's despised proper first name is Wilma or Wilhemina (depending on version). It's interesting however that during at least one transformation sequence when the other Guardians called out their elements, she simply called out her own name.

Some interesting suggestions being made for the name. The ideas I've had: Astra (in the novels the astral drop calls herself Astral Will or A.W.), Cassidy (although the person being honoured is unlikely to be mentioned before a name choice becomes necessary) and Hope (for reasons that will be seen shortly). I don't think she'd want a variant on Will's name because while they are sisters, she is her own person.
D for Drakensis

You're only young once, but immaturity is forever.

Hope works for me, and kinda fits the quality/virtue naming scheme. It can also be seen in some of her earlier actions. She seems active, forward thinking, a planner and a survivor. I get the impression that her formative experiences have shaped her in this way. Being so young, I expect these are still ongoing.

I forgot or neglected to note that I liked her little meditation on whether she can hate the other girl. I do think there is something to be said for striving one's hardest to hinder an opponent, even without hatred.

The own person thing is why I don't like the not-Will and Lliw schemes.

Is there a Deimos in setting? Because I'm still somewhat liking that, Bia, and Martia, even if I really doubt there is any chance of her getting enough information about those before naming happens.

I'm also suggesting Enyo and Alala.

Nomen Nescio is Latin for 'I don't know the name', and an idiom. Nemo, of course, is 'nobody'.

English words that would be in her vocabulary are probably the most probable choice.

Abiding, Determination, Endurance, Perseverance, Persistence, Resolution, Staunchness, Steadfastness, Vigor, Relentlessness, Haste, Indefatigability, Industriousness, Indomitability, Intrepidity, Dauntless, Foresight, Heed, Responsibility, Judiciousness, Discernment, Forethought, Readiness, and lastly Dread for more Deimos fun.

Likewise Hope, which probably works better than most of these.

I have sillier names that I won't even pretend could be appropriate girl. McTen or MacTen. Since girls can be named after virtues, how about 'Manliness' or 'Manly Firmness'.

With names, I like acronym play. Easiest here is simply a first name that starts with a consonant, and a middle name that starts with a vowel. LAV might be particularly amusing. Or HARV.



I'll try not to mentally assign her a name before you finalize things, but Hope Alala Resolution Vandom is really tickling my sense of funny and appropriate, even if it doesn't strike me as being as plausible and feasible as Hope alone.

It might be that I couldn't grow tired here, but I guess it must take a while to kick in because explaining my history really took it out of me.

Van Dahl gallantly offered me the use of his bed. I'm not sure he'd used it in decades so I didn't complain about the rather lumpy mattress. Mind you, I also didn't actually get under the covers or undress. That'd be just a bit icky under the circumstances.

It seemed I'd barely put my head on the pillow when my shoulder was shaken.

"Whu?"

"There's a disturbance outside," Van Dahl told me sharply. "That hasn't happened before, so I think someone else has come through the portal."

I sat up and reached for my sneakers. "Who?"

"Well that's the question, isn't it?" He slung his cloak around his shoulders, making it flare dramatically.

I was glad that my sneakers were velcro-fasten becase I really wasn't inclined to take the time to tie laces before scrambling down the stairs.

"What's going on?" Van Dahl demanded of the first person to cross his path.

The woman squeaked in surprise. "Oh! Master Van Dahl! It's witches! Five witches!"

I slapped my face.

"I see. And where are these 'witches' now?"

"They ran away!" She pointed in the direction of some houses across the square. "Captain Von Schliese is after them!"

Shading my eyes against the late afternoon sun, I saw girls scrambling on the rooftops. The colour of their clothes was distinctive and by squinting I thought I could see a head of unruly red hair. "That's my sister."

"The good captain is somewhat short-tempered, we'd better hurry before he does something rash." Van Dahl started running across the square, leaving me to trail in his wake. His longer legs widened that gap quite a bit and after a moment I also had to deal with another problem: people might get out of Master Van Dahl's way, but they weren't so considerate for a young girl.

The Guardians vanished from sight behind a roof as I ran. It seemed strange: I knew they had powers over the elements, so if they were threatened, why weren't they using those powers to protect themselves? I doubted that a handful of town guards could really threaten them...

Something was wrong, badly wrong.

Besides, the more obvious problem that I'd been used as bait to lure them into a trap.

"You hear him, monkey!" I heard Irma shout. "Get your sweaty hands off me or I'll bite!"

"Can I lock her away at least?" the mustachioed soldier holding her protested as I came into view of them. "She's hardly sweet." The Guardians were surrounded by the soldiers, Irma and Cornelia physically restrained. Judging by the fact that Hay Lin was on the ground - the girl loved to fly - I was going to go with the theory that she couldn't.

Also, all five of them were unfairly gorgeous.

I kind of knew that about Will already, but the rest of them?

About the only consolation was that I had a theory that this was what they'd look like in a few years, so there was a good chance I'd look like Will did now by then. If so then I had a lot to look forwards to.

(And if their parents ever saw the Guardian's uniforms then they'd be grounded until they that old for real. I'm not surprised they started a riot.)

"Captain, these girls are my guests and I am sure that this is nothing more than a simple misunderstanding."

"But -!"

I pushed past the guards, who were't expecting someone to do that, breaking my pace slightly to kick the guard restraining Cornelia in the ankle. "Will!"

She caught me in a hug. "Are you alright? Did Elyon hurt you?"

"I'm okay." I decided it wasn't the moment to let her know about the almost-crushed-to-death bit.

When we parted the guards had relaxed (except for the guard I'd kicked, but at least he wasn't holding Cornelia any more).

"As you can see, they were simply concerned for their companion," Van Dahl explained. "You can tell his lordship that I will take responsibility for them."

Captain von Schliese nodded sharply. "Very well, Master Van Dahl. But please keep them out of trouble."

Irma glared at their backs and then nudged Van Dahl under the ribs. "Wow, you must be important to be ordering them around."

"I have a certain influence," he conceded. "Miss Vandom tells me that you are the Guardians."

"I'm not sure how much help that will be," Taranee admitted. "We can't seem to use our powers."

Van Dahl nodded. "I can't say that I'm surprised, although I hoped otherwise. If the legends are true then your powers are over the elements, but we are trapped in an illusion: there's nothing real here for them to work upon."

"Elyon was able to leave, so there has to be a way that we can."

"I've looked, believe me."

Cornelia ignored Van Dahl's depressed face. "How did Elyon get hold of you anyway?"

"Believe it or not, I ran into her in a book store," I explained with a shrug. "I didn't know who she was until it was too late."

"Did she... say anything?"

"Yes, she did." I looked at Van Dahl, who was retelling his story to the other Guardians. "I guess we're not in any hurry."

"What happened?" It was odd just how... solid... the willowy blonde could appear at times. Well-rooted, down-to-earth... she was well suited to her powers.

"She lured me in, trapped me and offered a deal she - or at least Cedric - thought I couldn't refuse."

I got an aristocratically arched eyebrow.

"She wanted me to steal the Heart of Kandrakar for her. If I agreed, she'd arrange for me to have a new life in Metamoor. If I didn't... well she thought I was some sort of fake person, preying on your better natures. She thought that you would be well rid of me."

"Elyon would never do that!" protested Cornelia. "She's shy and gentle, she'd never kill someone!"

"But she would destroy a rogue astral drop."

Cornelia's eyes flicked away with me.

I reached over and took her hands. "Thank you."

"What for?"

"You said someone, not something. I think that that's why Elyon didn't go through with it when I turned her down. She could have killed something that threatened you, but not someone protecting their sister. I hope that that's true."

Cornelia met my eyes again, shifting her hands so that one covered mine. "No one doubts you're Will's sister. Although we really need to choose a name for you."

"Speaking of names, do you know why she'd call me 'Pinocchiolina'?"

Cornelia laughed. "Pinocchio is from a Disney movie: it's about a puppet that came to life and wanted to be a real boy."

"And Pinocchiolina?"

"I suppose she invented a female version to name you. Will that be your name now?"

I considered and then shook my head. "No, it seems a little too fancy for little old me."

"And your nose isn't big enough."

I put my hands on my hips. "There's nothing wrong with my nose."

"Pinocchio's nose grew every time he told a lie." She gestured to indicate a nose at least as long as her arm. "I guess you must be telling the truth since yours still looks like Will's."

I stuck out my tongue.

"Or maybe it's your tongue that gets longer," Cornelia corrected herself and we both giggled. "I don't understand why Elyon would run off like this though."

"She told me that she was from Metamoor her whole time. Her real parents died when she was very young and the people she thought were her parents fled here with her." I shrugged. "It sounds a lot like Master Van Dahl's story, to be honest, except that she claims that they kidnapped her from her brother."

"So who is her brother? That snake guy Cedric?"

I frowned. "I don't think so. I'm pretty sure she said something about Cedric and her brother. Plus she seemed to have some sort of crush on Cedric which would be pretty weird if he is her brother. How did she manage to capture you?"

Cornelia shook her head, flipping her long blonde hair from side to side. "It was Cedric. Irma saw some sort of lizard in the museum and we thought it might be connected to you disappearing - no offense, but Will said it might be the sort of borning place you'd like..."

"What's a museum?"

"You'll see when we get out of here. I spotted you in the picture and when we were all clustered around it... bam! He opened a portal and it sucked us through."

"Elyon said they were going to use me as bait when she left me here," I agreed. "I suppose it worked."

"So what do we do now?" Taranee asked from where the others were. "We don't have our powers... we can't even change back to our normal selves. Does anyone have any ideas for getting out of here?"

"You said that this is a world that never changes." Will looked over at Van Dahl. "Like living in a moment that doesn't move. Maybe that's the trap: as long as the picture doesn't change, we can't change the fact that we're in it. But if we were to change the situation..."

"Well how do we do that?" asked Irma.

"Well it's a painting." I looked over at Van Dahl. "You're the painter: how do you change a painting?"

"You paint over it." He looked hopefully for a moment but then shook his head. "But I don't have any paints, remember?"

"What do you need to make paints? Assume I don't know anything."

"She usually doesn't," added Irma.

Someone - I shall not name names - slapped their hand over Irma's mouth to shut her up.

"It depends what colours you want," Van Dahl explained. "It's a little complicated, but I keep the basic pigments as oils. When I need some I pour a little out and mix it with water to get the right consistency before I use it."

"Did you bring your pigments with you or did you mix them here?"

"Cedric threw them to me," he explained. "Do you think that he did something to them?"

"I'm hoping that he didn't."

I got some confused looks from the others.

"When you used the pigments before, where did you get the water from?"

"I... from the well." He paled slightly. "You mean all this time... I was that close?"

I spread my hands. "I don't know what we can use instead but..."

"It's a worth a try," Will agreed. "Good thinking little sister. And I have an idea what to try."

"What?"

"I'll show you." She started to walk away and the rest of us fell in behind her. After a moment Van Dahl moved up alongside her and offered reassurances to the townsfolk we passed, most of whom didn't seem too fond of the Guardians. Way to make a first impression girls.

To Van Dahl's obvious surprise, she led us to the doors of the Cathedral. "What do you have in mind."

"You said that this picture was supposed to be named for the Last Tear, which is inside the Cathedral. What if you tried mixing your paints with that?"

He raked his hand through his hair. "I don't know. But it can't hurt to try. I've never even been inside here."

"Really?" Taranee asked in surprise. "I would have thought... well, this era was very religious."

"I know. But I'm from Metamoor," he reminded her. "Christianity doesn't really mean very much to me, one way or the other."

Irma tried the door. "It's locked!"

We exchanged glances. Maybe it was nothing, but it certainly felt as if someone didn't want us to go in. And that might mean that we were onto something.

"If I had my powers I could open this in an instant," Cornelia proclaimed.

Irma was more constructive. "Is there another way in?"

"If there is then it's probably locked too." I exchanged looks with Will. "Do you think we could break the lock?"

Van Dahl stepped away slightly and called out to two men setting up a trestle table. "Hey, you there! Come to help us a little." He threw his cloak aside as the pair approached us. "Where's there's life there's hope, right?"

"Exactly, Elias. Maybe nothing will happen if we try..."

"...but we can be sure it won't if we don't!" I finished.

With three sturdy shoulders against it, the door was soon shaking, but it was a while before one of the hinges gave way. Without that to brace it, the rest of the door began to twist and eventually one of the boards cracked with a sharp retort and the men were able to kick the rest of it down.

A solemn air came over us as we went through the door. The success at opening it had left me giggling with triumph (however small) but the inside of the cathedral took my breath away.

"This is amazing," Irma whispered reverently. The interior was tall and airy, lit by rainbow streamers of light through the stained-glass windows at the far end. The columns supporting the vast, many arched roof were decorated with lavish frescoes picked out in gold that glittered in the light.

For once there was no arguement from Cornelia over Irma's statement: "Beautiful," she agreed.

"I wish I could paint this," Van Dahl sighed. "I had no idea it was like this."

"Well maybe you can." Will led us to a large stone table (she later used the word altar) and pointed out a small glass bottle lying on a pink bottle. "This has to be the Last Tear. Take it with you and mix the colours with it."

"I wouldn't do that if I were you, Van Dahl!"

The voice echoed through the cathedral and the seven of us looked around for the source. There didn't appear to be anyone but us there...

Will groaned and for a moment I thought she would collapse, but when I caught her arm she straightened. "A portal!"

Silver mist formed in the middle of the aisle, coiling into a circular pattern.

"Something's coming through!" warned Hay Lin.

She was right. A few seconds later a large, blue-skinned man rode through the portal. Rode, I say, because he was mounted on... I don't have the words. Irma later described it as a riding-rhino and I suppose that's as good a term as any.

"Frost the Hunter!" Will yelped.

"You're doomed!" the rider - Frost, I presume, unless WIll meant the riding-rhino for some reason - proclaimed. "There is no hope of escape!"

"Uh... if there wasn't you really wouldn't be here," I pointed out and then ducked for cover as he drew a sword that looked to be about as long as I was tall.

"She's right! Elias, this proves that we can undo the curse. Otherwise Cedric wouldn't need to send him."

"But..."

Van Dahl had to cut off his protests as the angry Frost spurred his steed forwards. We scattered left and right around the fast but not especially agile creature.

"Go!" Irma shouted to Van Dahl, pushing him towards the door. "Mix your paints! We'll deal with Frost."

"Good joke, Irma," complained Cornelia. "We don't have our powers, remember?"

The brunette shrugged. "So we improvise. Don't be so negative."

"The painter can wait," Frost snarled, bringing his riding-rhino around. Incongrously this placed him directly in the pool of light cast by the sun through the stained glass window. "Last time you ran away..."

"No offense, but we thought we'd try that again!" Hay Lin said cheekily and the five of them turned and dashed for the door. Will caught my arm and all but dragged me, which was a mixed blessing - it certainly helped me keep up with her longer legs but at the cost of slowing her down.

"You're not getting away this time!"

"Get out," Will called out. "Let him follow you!"

"Let him?" Cornelia asked incredulously, looking back and seeing that we were falling behind.

The thunder of the riding-rhino's hooves was barely behind the two of us as the others ran out of the door. Suddenly will used her grip on my arm to spin me to one side and released her hold sharply. She went one way and I went the other each of us colliding with the wall - in my case with a side order of pain to the shoulder that took the brunt.

Frost's triumphant cry was cut short as he turnd his head to watch Will and missed the fact that the arch of the door was considerably lower than his shoulders while mounted. He rebounded and from that height hitting the stone floor probably hurt almost as much as hitting the arch had.

"Come on!" Will scrambled up and grabbed me - still dazed - yanking me out of the door after the riding-rhino, which had slowed to an amble now that the burly hunter wasn't in the saddle. I'm morally certain Will was grinning manically as she scrambled up into the saddle, dragging me with her.

"Do you know how to ride?" I asked.

"Only horses!" She snared the reins and twitched them lightly. To my complete surprise it worked and the riding rhino started to obediently walk after the other girls.

"Urrr..." Frost staggered out of the catherdral, sword in hand. He caught sight of us and his face turned purple. "You'll pay for this, Guardians!"

"Not until you explain what you're doing here!" came a shout and I saw Captain Von Schliese at the head of a crowd including two of his soldiers and a considerable number of the men from the market. "Riding that thing in our cathedral, chasing after Master Van Dahl's guests... you've got a lot to answer for!"

The towering Metamoorian's jaw dropped. "Are you threatening me? Do you know who I am?"

"No, and I don't care." Von Schliese drew his own sword and the crowd produced various long, heavy tools. "This is our summer festival and you are invited to leave!"

Frost raised his sword, apparently not overly concerned by the numbers against him. The confrontation was interrupted however by a gleeful shout from one of the windows overlooking the square: Van Dahl's window. "It works! It works!"

We turned and I saw him leaning out of the window, waving a scrap of canvas. It was too high for me to make out details... but we didn't need to: it was almost dripping with paint. Rich, vibrant colours!

"It works, girls. The tear mixed the colours! I can paint again."

"Phobos's curse is broken!" Will shouted and raised her free hand, the Heart of Kandrakar alight in it. I'd seen it before but this was different. Then it had seemed a simple glass sphere, held in a simple but elegant silver setting. Now it pulsed with a pink light and and she raised it tear drops of magic hurtled away from it towards the other guardians.

"Air!" cried out Hay Lin as silver light engulfed her and she lifted off the ground, long pony-tails flapping in a wind.

Irma's magic was blue and at her call of "Water!" the contents of the nearby well rushed up at her command.

"Earth!" "Fire!"

The ground cracked beneath Cornelia's hand, a fissure forming and extending towards the suddenly paling Hunter, and Taranee grinned broadly as a fireball crackled into existence between her hands.

"This isn't your lucky day," Will proclaimed. "Now get out of here or you'll regret it."

W.I.T.C.H. - W.I.T.C.H. - W.I.T.C.H. - W.I.T.C.H. - W.I.T.C.H.

A few minutes later the summer festival - delayed some three hundred years - was getting started. The seven of us had a table to ourselves: officially because we were the guests of honour, unofficially because the locals still weren't sure what to make of us.

Frost had fled the square back into the cathedral and presumably through the portal, since the search organised by Von Schliese hadn't found him. He'd left his riding-rhino behind and my animal-loving sister had already needed reminding twice that there was no way we could hide a large green rhino in Heatherfield, no matter how tame he was around her.

"Can you feel the wind blowing?" Van Dahl asked from the head of the table, watching bright banners flying around the square and a flurry of flower petals blown across our table. "I'd almost forgotten what it was like..."

"It's great, isn't it!" agreed Hay Lin. "And I didn't have to do anything!"

Even the townsfolk, for whom this was a genuinely new experience, seemed to be enjoying the new weather.

"What will you do now?" Van Dahl asked us.

"We'll - don't even think about it!" Will added, seeing me sneak a hand around a cup of mead.

I gave her an innocent look. "But it's really tasty."

"It's alcoholic! Mom would throw a fit if she though I was drinking!"

"What's alcohol?"

Irma laughed and leant over to ruffle my hair. "Your sister's a bad bad girl, Will. Flirting with Matt and now wanting to drink alcohol!"

"Get off!"

"It's bad for you." Will turned back to Van Dahl. "We'll return to Earth, but we'll leave the portal open for you."

The painter looked surprised. "But isn't it your job to close portals like this."

"Yes," she admitted. "But this one is the only way you'll ever be able to go home."

"This is my home now," Van Dahl announced, somewhat wistfully. "There is no one waiting for me now, not in Meridian or on Earth. Now that I can paint again it will be a good place. I can't wait to get started doing a painting of the inside of the cathedral."

"But if we close the portal, what if this all becomes nothing but a picture. You could..."

He shook his head to cut Cornelia short. "Then I'll never know, will I? There's nowhere else for me, Guardians. Not on Earth and not on Meridian. I'm asking for a favour: close the portal, so that Phobos and his followers can never trouble me again."

"Alright then."

"Will!" I protested.

"It's alright Miss Vandom," Van Dahl told me. "This is what I want. Please, give me the same freedom that your sister gave you."

"I... okay." I hung my head and thus as caught by surprise as he pressed something into my hands. "What?"

He shrugged, somewhat embarassed. "I did a little sketch earlier. I haven't had time to actually add any paint but I want you to have this."

I unrolled the parchment and saw a simple charcoal drawing... simple, but so perfect I skipped straight to wondering when he'd seen Will sleeping.

Then the clothes he'd drawn sank in and I coloured (according to the usually reliable Hay Lin) all the way to my ears.

"Ooooo!" Hay Lin exclaimed, looking over my shoulder (yes, even she is taller than I am, particularly when she's in Guardian form). "That's beautiful."

"Thank you," I mumbled.

He gave me a quick hug around the shoulders. "No. Thank you." Then he let go and took a step away. "Goodbye girls."

We chorused awkward farewells of our own and then: "Heart of Kandrakar," Will chanted. "Take us home."

Everything went pink.

When light faded we were in a large dark room I'd never seen before. "Where are we?"

"The museum," Cornelia told me. She turned me around and through the shadows I could see a large picture. Most of the details I couldn't make out in the darkness, but I could see a marketsquare and a cathedral.

"Is that..."

Will took my hand. "That's right. Dahl's Eternal Summer." She raised the Heart towards it and a beam of energy lashed out to the portrait, drawing out grey streamers of magic from the canvas.

I looked down at the drawing in my hand. "Why did he thank me? All I did was get captured and you all had to come and rescue me."

Taranee adjusted her glasses. "Maybe because you gave him something he'd been missing for a long time."

"What? Someone to paint?"

The last of the grey streamers dissipated in the light of the Heart and before it dimmed once again, I saw the picture clearly (if someone pink-shaded). In one corner of the square, outside his home, Van Dahl stood in front of his easel, smiling as he worked.

"No," Taranee told me softly. "You gave him hope."
D for Drakensis

You're only young once, but immaturity is forever.

Was that from canon? Because water in your oil paints just seems like a bad idea, and from what little I know of art history, unmixed pigments would be kept dry as powder, then mixed with egg white and a dash of oil for smoothness... Of course, that messes with the whole "Last Tear" thing. Could be a watercolor instead of done in oils, though, that would work.
--
"Anko, what you do in your free time is your own choice. Use it wisely. And if you do not use it wisely, make sure you thoroughly enjoy whatever unwise thing you are doing." - HymnOfRagnorok as Orochimaru at SpaceBattles
woot Med. Eng., verb, 1st & 3rd pers. prsnt. sg. know, knows

It's canonical that water needs to be mixed into Van Dahl's paints and he's specifically stated to be painting with oils. On the flip side, I know little or nothing about how oil painting actually works.
D for Drakensis

You're only young once, but immaturity is forever.

Hmm... looking in various places on google's first couple of pages for "mix oil paints," linseed or safflower oil, powdered pigments, a small quantity of beeswax, and (historically) white lead for brightness are the only things I see mentioned, along with warnings that water soluble paints are not compatible with oils and at best will lead to streaks and bubbles rather than a smooth color. So, it looks like $creator was telling a good story without letting pesky reality interfere. Because magic!
--
"Anko, what you do in your free time is your own choice. Use it wisely. And if you do not use it wisely, make sure you thoroughly enjoy whatever unwise thing you are doing." - HymnOfRagnorok as Orochimaru at SpaceBattles
woot Med. Eng., verb, 1st & 3rd pers. prsnt. sg. know, knows

I've had some criticism of the last couple of lines, saying that the MC didn't really give Van Dahl hope. What do you think?
D for Drakensis

You're only young once, but immaturity is forever.

Hope is a fuzzy concept, really, so it's hard to say. It's sure his ennui was broken and (for however long his paints and a SINGLE BOTTLED TEAR last) he can now live happily, painting to his heart's content. Does this count as hope? Is it just, "I hope nothing goes wrong," or "I hope to paint a full world into being," or what? Joy or fulfillment, certainly, but hope implies something yet to be overcome, whereas Van Dahl just surpassed the only obstacle shown for him. So... a long winded "maybe." Sorry.
--
"Anko, what you do in your free time is your own choice. Use it wisely. And if you do not use it wisely, make sure you thoroughly enjoy whatever unwise thing you are doing." - HymnOfRagnorok as Orochimaru at SpaceBattles
woot Med. Eng., verb, 1st & 3rd pers. prsnt. sg. know, knows

Oil and water separate, because the one is nonpolar and the other is polar. Polar pulls on polar, which tends to separate them.

There are chemicals to get the two to mix. Detergents, for one. Another example is emulsifiers. I want to ramble about what cell walls/membranes are made of, but I don't recall the exact bit. Egg white has water in it, and IIRC, an emulsifier. It should be possible to mix in a little extra water, if that is what he is used to. (Maybe he is a magic painter, and uses a slightly different procedure, or maybe he thickens his egg whites for some reason.)

Water colors should not mix with oil paints because you want similar chemistry for the solvents in the paint. (Or otherwise you gotta put some effort into making the chemistry compatible.) This is a different thing from slightly modifying the chemistry of the solvent for all the paint.

A lighter note. Van Dahl says that he will stay after Will's 'No Alcohol' statement. Perhaps he didn't want to give up drinking, and thought he would have to.

The whole different mores about alcohol, especially youth consumption, reminds me of the changes those went through in America, as technology, distribution and other things changed over time. Especially as I'd delivered a concise lecture on the subject yesterday, in between complaining about how stupid I was from lack of sleep. (This relates to a passion of mine, that I've studied, and have a tendency to rant about.)

So, new name suggestion for Will's sister. Jane Honeycomb, by analogy with John Barleycorn.

Last post, when I was using the thesaurus to look up other words for qualities, I'd seen Hope for either forward thinking or planning.

I've a minor essay on Hope in this latest episode, but I've been sitting frustrated while circumstances prevented me from working for an hour, so I'll need to call it off for tomorrow.

(And if their parents ever saw the Guardian's uniforms then they'd be grounded until they that old for real. I'm not surprised they started a riot.)

until they were that old

The thunder of the riding-rhino's hooves was barely behind the two of us as the others ran out of the door. Suddenly will used her grip on my arm to spin me to one side and released her hold sharply. She went one way and I went the other each of us colliding with the wall - in my case with a side order of pain to the shoulder that took the brunt.

Suddenly Will