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.
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.