Chapter 28- D is for Delusory

It was seven thirty in the morning, and HuiLing was still asleep in her bed. But she wasn't sleeping well. That was evident by the fact that her bed covers were tangled, nearly off the bed entirely, and her limbs kept twitching as she turned over in her sleep. For sleep, HuiLing usually unbraided her hair which hung in well trained curls past her waist. But this morning, it stuck out at odd ends from all her tossing and turning.

Within her dreams, things were dark and frightening. Everything was black as she flew from some faceless terror in her Guardian form. A cold laughter followed her, becoming so loud that she had to put her hands over her ears to try and shut out the noise while hovering in mid-air.

"Stop it!" She shouted. Surprisingly, the laughter stopped, and she was able to look around. Trying to pick out anything in the darkness. Something to explain what was happening.

She saw someone standing nearby, their back turned to her. But she thought she recognized that silhouette, even in complete darkness. Standing up and racing to the figure, she put a hand on her left shoulder to turn the girl around. When she reached the girl, she had the same long brown locks that Wanda had.

"Thank goodness it's you!" She cried out in relief. "I-I..." She stopped when Wanda turned around to face her.

It was Wanda, yet not Wanda. It wasn't the Wanda she'd known her whole life, but rather the Wanda that she'd known when she'd been under Phobos' dark enchantments.

HuiLing stumbled backwards a couple of steps. Before she could say anything, Wanda raised her right hand in silence, sending a blast of lightning right at her chest. She let out a scream before collapsing.

Gasping for breath, clutching at her chest, HuiLing struggled to stare up at the person that attacked her in disbelief. But the person was no longer Wanda. She had changed into none other than...

"Stevie? What?" She reached out for him with her free hand, he however stepped back, looking at her like she was the most revolting thing he'd ever seen.

"Why would I help some weakling like you?" He asked, causing her to blink as tears formed in her eyes at his unwillingness to help her the way she knew him to before. "It's time you knew the truth, it's time to wake up-"

Back in reality, YanLin was trying to wake up her great granddaughter, now shaking her shoulders. Finally HuiLing woke, but slowly. It took her a moment to realize what was reality and what had been a nightmare.

"Wake up!" YanLin was saying. Then when she saw that HuiLing was finally awake, she looked relieved. "Oh, thank goodness, great granddaughter." YanLin said as HuiLing sat up, not looking like herself at all. She looked pale and groggy, not at all perky and cheerful like her normal self. "I thought I might have to bring down a bucket of ice water on your head if you didn't wake soon."

"Grandma?" Blinked HuiLing groggily, her head was still pounding. "I was having a nightmare."

"It's okay, great granddaughter." YanLin put a comforting hand on her shoulders. "Try not to dwell on it too long or it will affect your test taking abilities today."

"Test taking...?" Blinked HuiLing, vaguely aware of what her great grandmother was saying. Then it hit her like a bag of bricks. "No! It's midterms today!" She shrieked. She'd heard on the news before going to bed the previous morning that school was back on today. She stared at her clock, then shot up out of bed as quick as a flash- before tumbling to the ground with a loud thud because she got her legs entangled in the blankets as YanLin stepped out from the room.

"I can't believe we were nearly beaten by those old guardians!" Tress sighed as she walked with Ingrid to meet the others outside the school. They passed a group of working men, using a truck to pull a heavy, ancient looking tree out of the road way.

It was the very next morning. Unfortunately, the storm had blown itself out overnight, only to leave a lot of damage behind. Many roads were blocked off from fallen trees or mudslides, but that didn't mean school was still closed. They still had mid-terms to tackle that day, then it would be freedom until Friday, when it was Carreer Day.

"We'll have to make sure and get them good next time," Grumbled Ingrid. Her ego was still sore from nearly loosing the fight against Galena.

"At least next week we have something fun to look forward to-" Tress reminded Ingrid.

"Oh yeah!" In her bad temper she'd nearly forgotten about that trip to Disney World they'd all be taking in a few days. This thought helped cheer her up considerably by the time they reached the school. They saw Cerella, Wanda and Derek waiting for them, having a discussion of their own while they waited.

"Hey you," Smiled Tress as they hurried to greet their friends.

"Hey you," Cerella grinned.

"And you flipped it on me why?" Blinked Tress.

"Because I could." Cerella flipped her hair around as she said this.

"Anyone seen HuiLing yet?" Ingrid asked as Stevie joined their group.

As though in answer to that question, a voice shouted at them from the corner of the street.

"Here I am!" Panted HuiLing, looking as though she'd ran the whole distance.

HuiLing saw right away that Wanda had her back turned to her just like in the nightmare. She blinked, but then Wanda turned and was smiling.

"You should join the track team sometime, with that energy you've got." Stevie commented as HuiLing reached them. She put a hand on his shoulder while she gasped for breath.

"No thanks-" She panted. "I hate-Running." She stated. The image of Stevie from her nightmare flashed before her eyes and she looked up. He too was smiling at her, which came as a relief.

"Time to go face an evil of a different kind-" Tress looked up at the school clock.

"No time like the present." Grumbled Cerella. Though she got decent enough grades, she still hated exams of all forms.

In the halls of the school, HuiLing was grabbing her books and pens that she would need for the tests that day from her locker. She found herself staring for a long moment at a picture in her locker taken of the group of girls just before Wanda had been separated from them.

But perhaps no one was dreading the tests more than Wanda, who'd been absent from the school for chunks of the year at a time, or had to fight with Phobos and/or his minions of some sort at random intervals during the day. Even with Derek's help, she struggled with her concentration because of the constant interruptions. She joined HuiLing after Derek kissed her on the forehead and left for his first tests in the morning.

"You ok?" Wanda asked, seeing HuiLing staring into her locker.

HuiLing blinked and jumped, glancing over to see her concerned best friend. Perhaps she was just being a little weird from that nightmare she had the previous night.

"Just fine," HuiLing plastered her usual smile over her face. No need to worry her friend, because then everyone would gang up on her till she had no choice but to cheer up. They joined the Que. for their first and least favorite class- math, where Ingrid, Cerella and Tress were also waiting.

By the time their history tests came along, HuiLing was already more tired than usual. She stared absentmindedly at her test paper that she was supposed to be answering questions on as Wanda's grandfather stood at the front of the class watching them all in silence. She had to force herself to write down everything she remembered, even when all that filled her brain was a loud buzzing noise, or the sound of the pencils from her classmates scratching on their own papers. She blinked when Tress said to their teacher she was done with fifteen minutes to spare. And HuiLing barely managed to finish the last answer before the final bell for that period rang.

Wanda, during her test taking, glanced at her friend in concern every now and again. HuiLing was normally quite studios, not usually the one to drift off into space so much. But, she figured, maybe HuiLing had been as tired and sore as the rest of them after nearly getting their butts handed to them by their new enemies in Meridian the previous day. She knew she had half the answers wrong on her test, but she didn't really care at this point as she handed her paper to her grandfather, said her farewells to him, and headed out the door to the suddenly overly crowded hallway to put her stuff in her locker and head to the lunch line where Cerella saved them all spots as usual.

"How'd it go?" Cerella asked, looking as though her brain too had been through the ringer.

Wanda raised an eyebrow at her.

"You're asking that on exam day?" Ingrid asked, suddenly appearing behind Wanda with Tress and HuiLing.

"Ok, ok. Stupid question." Cerella admitted with a shrug as the line moved forward a bit.

"At least it's pizza day," Wanda said when they reached the lunch lady- who wore the usual hair net and white apron- though her t-shirt to day was brightly colored, with a Hawaiian style flower pattern.

"Here you go, sugar." The lunch lady said in her heavy deep southern Texas accent.

"Thanks Ms. Della." Wanda commented casually, moving down the line for the rest of the food.

"Let's hurry or the good table will be taken," Tress- who was taller than any of them could see the table they liked to sit at best was available so they all rushed over before the popular click of kids sat there. Stevie came over a minute later to sit next to HuiLing, and Derek joined them shortly after to sit next to Wanda.

They all looked at each other for a long moment, before starting on their food. It was amazing that after yesterday, they could still have perfectly normal moments like this in there lives. Even with everything that was going on around them, especially in Meridian.

"Ugh, my brain feels like it's been through the cleaners." Complained Ingrid after they were well into their food.

"Well buck up girl, because we've got four more tests to tackle." Tress said encouragingly.

"Did you have to remind me about that?" Ingrid shot a nasty look at Tress, who grinned with a mouth full of pizza and thousand island.

"So, what are you guys hoping to get for Career Day?" Cerella asked quickly, sensing that the last thing they wanted to talk about was the tests ahead of them.

"I dunno... It'd be neat if I could get into the zoo." Wanda was the first to talk after a thoughtful minute or two passed between them. "You know, work behind the scenes."

"You mean cleaning cages and giving shots? No thank you," Shuddered Cerella at the thought of her precious fashionable wardrobe getting covered in dirt, grime and other less than sanitary conditions.

"Well, what do you wanna be? Wait... hold that... let me guess, fashionista?" Said a bemused Ingrid.

"Exactly. Just like my mom!" Cerella flipped her golden hair.

"What about you, Tress?" Ingrid looked over.

"I dunno... It'd be cool if I could get into something like running my own local business or whatever. So... maybe store assistant or something?" Tress thought for a bit. She'd like to be able to sell her own homemade things when she got out of school. If she wasn't too busy fighting off evil, that is.

"HuiLing?" Wanda looked across the table at her friend.

"Probably something to do with continuing my great grandma's restaurant. I mean, it's been in the family as far back as I can remember. So if there's something about that kind of business, I wouldn't say no." She admitted before taking a long drink of her energy juice drink that she got from the beverage vending machine. "Stevie, what would you try for for Career Day?" She asked.

"I have no idea what's going to be available, since I'll be taking my football into college most likely. So I guess whatever strikes me as interesting?" He shrugged before shoving his face full of pizza. He looked inquiringly at Derek.

"Same here, don't know what I wanna do. Just gonna wing it." He knew what he'd like to do after getting out of school, but the others didn't need to know that right away. He didn't even like to think about what Wanda would or wouldn't say if she knew. Especially since some of what he did was inspired by her.

When the final bell for school rang at three o'clock, everyone was too tired to say much. Even HuiLing was yawning and looking forward to some reenergizing snacks before working a bit at the restaurant and going to bed. Compared to yesterday her day had been completely ordinary, apart from the bizarre nightmare she'd had. She waved goodbye to her friends as they parted ways outside the school. Stevie had to stay after school for football practice if he wanted to keep his position as line backer on the team, so she went home on her own.

She walked past the school yard where the football team was being put through their paces by their coach. She spotted Stevie who was so busy with drills he couldn't wave or acknowledge her. But after she felt sure he'd spotted her watching from afar, she decided it was time to head home. She couldn't explain the strange feelings she'd been having that day. And she doubted that it was from the tests she'd just been taking.

At the Silver Dragon, HayLin was busy serving customers when her daughter came through the door, looking particularly bedraggled today.

"Hey sweetie," HayLin smiled after she finished serving her plates. "How was exam day?"

"One of the worst." Grumbled HuiLing uncharacteristically with a yawn. "I feel like I've been put through the wringer."

"You're just tired," HayLin hugged her daughter. "Go into the kitchen, your great grandmother put out some snacks for you. Then go straight to your room."

"Thanks mom," HuiLing hugged her mother back, before doing as she was told. She didn't feel herself that evening, though HuiLing wasn't sure that it was because of the exams she just plowed through. She munched on her favorite snacks of pot stickers and green tea donuts before going to her room like she'd been told to.

She sat at her desk, which had papers strewn all over from the previous night. Instead of drawing, she pulled a favorite book out of her single book shelf since reading felt much more relaxing tonight instead of drawing. She jumped when her cell phone rang from her school bag, which was on the floor next to her bedroom door. She dug it out from the very bottom, in time to see it was a text from Wanda. Glad for once that she wasn't being asked to verbally communicate, she texted back before going back to her reading and spent the evening texting with each of her friends in turn when she didn't have her nose in the book.

The strange ominous feeling kept growing as night fell. What if she had that nightmare again? Should she tell her mom and great grandma about the dream? What kind of ancient wisdom would they provide to help her, though? It had been hard enough to concentrate during her tests that day, her mind kept drifting when normally it was Ingrid who was the one that spaced out in class. The image of Wanda attacking her kept popping into her mind, then there was Stevie's hateful glare right after.

What bothered HuiLing most, was that Wanda had attacked her in the past. Back when she'd been under the control of Phobos. Why was she only having nightmares about that now? She'd been so happy at the time to have her best friend back, it never crossed her mind that she'd been so dark and evil while controlled. But now things were better. It had been weeks since Wanda was brought back. They were nearly close to the vacation of a lifetime, and the Stevie she'd seen in the nightmare didn't have a mean bone in his body as far as her mother was concerned. Her great grandma certainly wouldn't approve of him if he was anything like the Stevie in her nightmare.

As the evening wore on, she found herself drifting off more and more in her pouffy bean bag chair that she sat in to read and text. Finally, she fell asleep entirely.

HayLin came by to tell her daughter that dinner was ready when she saw the girl snoring loudly, phone on the floor, book laying open in her lap. With a smile, HayLin pulled the girl's favorite blanket from the bed and wrapped her in it before turning off the lights in her room thinking she was just tired from the last couple of days of events. Nearly being beaten by the enemy, then having to still take mid term exams would be enough to wear out even the most energetic of people. So she would come back later to see if HuiLing was ready for dinner.

HuiLing was trying to save someone. Someone important to her. They were counting on her too. Flying as fast and hard as she could through the army Phobos had amassed since he kidnapped them, she shot lightning at them. It wasn't her own power, which was strange enough as it was.

Finally after flying for what seemed like ages, dodging arrows, flaming arrows, spears and various other attacks from the creatures Phobos controlled, she found the darkest, deepest part of the underground castle. The dungeons were near, she could hear people talking. People who were scared, frightened that Phobos would come back to torture them for information on the Guardians. Some who were talking were scared what their granddaughter had been involved in after all this time, never knowing until it was too late to change anything. While her mother's voice could be heard reassuring them that all would be well soon.

"Mom! Dad! Everyone!" She called when she saw her family in the cell.

"Careful, Great Granddaughter!" YanLin said warningly.

A great, terrible beast came slithering from the other end of the dark, cavernous hall right at her. She dodged a swipe of the tail, then another. A massive clawed arm and hand came crashing in her direction as Cedric attacked...

HuiLing woke with a start and a sneeze, sending her now closed book and warm blanket flying off her. Rubbing her nose on the back of her wrist, she looked around for a long moment. It was barely light out, and judging by her clock at her desk, it was just after nine o'clock. But the twilight outside was so absolute that it was hard to tell if it was evening or barely morning.

Still feeling groggy, she put on her favorite blue night robe to walk to the family kitchen. She saw her mother there, as well as someone else whose appearance startled her.

"Grandma Joan!" She said, blinking. "You're back from your trip across the country?"

"Just for a few days." Smiled her Grandmother. "Your mom was just telling me about how well you've been doing in school."

"School?" Blinked HuiLing, tilting her head- she had even forgotten to braid her hair that morning. "Wait... So it's morning?" She panicked.

"Don't worry, I called in ahead to say you were ill today. Stevie and your friends will be here after school with your homework if there is any." HayLin smiled, pouring some soup into a blue willow bowl. It wasn't often her daughter missed school, but with everything that happened lately, HayLin figured it had finally caught up with HuiLing.

"You were in such a deep sleep when I came early this morning, you wouldn't even budge." Said Grandma Joan with a look of concern. "Not like you at all."

"Here, I made your favorite soup. Eat it before it turns cold," HayLin said.

"Broccoli and cheddar!" HuiLing took in a big whiff before grabbing the soup and going to the dining table.

It was extremely peaceful, sitting there that morning without anything to worry about. It was hard to feel concerned about anything, from finding a way to get Eva back, and freeing the other former guardians from Phobos' spell, to Phobos himself in moments like this. It wasn't like she could talk to her mother about her nightmares she'd been having in front of Grandma Joan, who remained blissfully ignorant of the entire magical dimension beyond the veil.

No one was around in the throne room, as night had fallen and all were resting. Except for one solitary figure standing near his sand mirror. The mirror was replaying the images of Stevie cutting into his staff, of HuiLing as the two were enjoying their afternoon like nothing had happened. He knew the pair worked together with the other Guardians. It was why he'd been poisoning the girl's dreams, turning them into nightmares. An act he hadn't told his own Guardians about, feeling this was between himself and those two little pests from Earth.

"Let's see what thoughts I can corrupt today..." He muttered.

HuiLing had been happy to see her friends come over after school. They were talking once more about Career Day and avoiding talking about the dismal exam results they were all sure to be getting.

"Then maybe once we're past all this, we can go back to Meridian to check on things before our Florida trip next week!" Suggested Tress excitedly.

"That's right, we finally get to see what Disney World looks like!" Cerella said as though she were genuinely just now realizing this fact. It was something they'd been looking forward to and saving their allowance money for the last few months ever since they were told what they were doing for Spring Break. It had taken the parents a lot of planning and saving on their own just to be able to afford everything, but luckily the parents were splitting the bills five ways.

"We know what it looks like, Ella." Ingrid reminded her, using the old nickname for the blonde that they used to use all the time. "All those programs we see on TV and everything."

"But that's not the same as seeing it up close in person." HuiLing said at once, perking up.

"We'll be having such a good time we won't even have a chance to be miserable about Phobos and whatever wrotten schemes he's cooking up." Nodded Tress. "Mom said the resort we're staying in is within the park so we'll have easy access to everything."

Derek and Stevie looked at each other as the girls' gabbing about what the park would be like turned then to what they were most likely to spend their money on.

The talk only died away when HayLin came in to tell them it was time to go home. HuiLing looked downcast at the thought of her friends leaving.

The pause before goodbyes wasn't lost on Wanda. She saw the look on HuiLing's face.

"What's wrong?" She asked.

HuiLing pondered for a moment as her friends looked back. But again, Grandma Joan was nearby and she couldn't say anything about it in front of her.

"It's ok. I just hope with the exams finally over I can get a decent night's sleep." She said. The others looked at each other. The girls gave each other a last hug, knowing it was code for something that Joan didn't really understand. But because of Joan they couldn't go into it any farther than acting like the exams had been giving their friend nights of bad sleep lately. "I'll call you later." She assured Wanda, who looked worried. Wanda of all people appreciated what it was like having nightmares about things that they couldn't control.

Behind HuiLing's back, Wanda gave a significant look to HayLin and YanLin and the three stepped outside with HuiLing promising she'd be going up to her room and Grandma Joan making sure it would happen.

"What's been going on with HuiLing?" Asked Wanda once the door was closed. Derek stood nearby with Stevie and his sister, and Ingrid and Tress hung around too. "First she misses school, then I see her spacing off way more than she usually does at school when normally it's just me spacing off like that. She missed a few key points in her art Home Economics class even. Nearly set her little stove on fire if Ingrid hadn't caught it." Wanda reeled off a few of the more important moments where HuiLing had not been herself the last couple of days.

"Well..." Sighed HayLin. "She's not been sleeping well. She's been having these nightmares. I thought at first it was just because of the exams, but now that you're telling me all of this, I think there might be something more to it than that."

"What do you mean?" Asked Stevie, suddenly looking worried.

HayLin then recalled the time when she was their age and so were their parents. Nerissa the witch was using a creature to invade their dreams, making it over time so that they didn't have the strength to fight. The strength to focus on anything, which then impeded their judgement. The only way to free themselves from the psychic hold on their minds was to fight from within in the dreams.

"An unusual power, but one that comes in handy during these kinds of situations." Said YanLin at the end of HayLin's tale.

"It took a little bit of practice, but we eventually got the hang of it. It's also a key to being one with our elements. I'll go call your parents and say what's going on as best I can, boys, sorry but this will be a girl's only kind of fight."

"Sorry bout this." Wanda glanced back at Derek. She knew he'd been wanting to go out on that date that got cancelled. HayLin went off to make the phone calls and get out the sleeping bags.

"It's ok." He replied, feeling a little annoyed at how things were going. But he knew she felt responsible for what happened, how she fought with HuiLing while under Phobos' spells. And knew that Wanda felt like she still needed to make up for what happened regardless of what she said or didn't say.

"I guess in the mean time, we could hang out a bit." Shrugged Stevie.

That gave Derek an idea.

"Yeah, we need to brush up on some of your combat training skills." He commented.

Stevie looked crestfallen.

"Training, great."

"Combat training skills?" Asked Joan, coming back from making sure HuiLing went to her room.

"Uh... you know, for football. If the guy wants to get into College level football he's gotta work a lot. Apart from keeping up with his studies. Some players refer to training and such as combat training." Lied Derek with a straight face. "I may not be the best trainer, but I know a thing or two about football that could help him."

"Oh I see, well that makes sense. HayLin says she got out the sleeping bags and the five of you will be in HuiLing's room, by the way."

"Hey Grandma," HayLin peeked around the corner. "Why don't you go in and tell them some of your old stories? It might be entertaining for them."

The two boys tried not to laugh at the looks of utter dread on the girls' faces while YanLin knew exactly what her daughter was really intending.

"That sounds like fun. Come, young ladies, why don't we go and surprise HuiLing with out plans." And Grandma YanLin led the way.

"Bye," The girls waved at Derek and Stevie. Then Derek dragged Stevie away.

"Training will be an excellent distraction for you while the girls work on figuring out how to keep HuiLing from being targeted." He explained once they were out of earshot.

Stevie didn't enjoy training quite as much as he thought he would in the past, it was brutal and often unforgiving the way Derek taught. But he was technically a football player and knew how to take a hit already. Derek commented once in a while how some of the skills Stevie learned on Earth as a Football player seem to give him at least a bit of an edge where endurance was concerned. Though when he was in combat on Earth the last time, Derek had seen improvement in the boy and how he handled himself in a fight. So that was why he wanted to keep at it when they could.

In HuiLing's room, the girls were all in their night clothes in a circle, on top of their sleeping bags.

"Now girls, this is a difficult task ahead of you." YanLin said, walking into the middle of the circle. They all looked up at her.

HayLin was standing by the door, watching nervously. She knew she was able to overcome Phobos' taunting about her being the weakest link years ago. She knew her own daughter had it in her. She only hoped HuiLing would be able to regain control of her dreams before things really started going south for her.

"You must work together." Continued YanLin. "I know you have had... Issues in the past, even though you have been victorious in the end. But if you wish to continue with your vacation plans here in a few days, we need to crash course this lesson."

"We can do it, Great Gandma Lin." Said HuiLing, there was a familiar determination that Wanda and the others recognized. "I don't want to be the reason our plans are canceled, and I don't want to be the reason that we loose in battle."

YanLin smiled at her great granddaughter as the others copied the gesture.

"We can beat Phobos back." Wanda said fiercly.

"We're gonna knock him so hard onto his butt it'll take him a month to get back up!" Ingrid declared.

HuiLing didn't miss the wording of 'we'. It made her heart swell up so much she felt like she was about to float again, as when Stevie told her he loved her. Only this time it was because her friends were right beside her, backing her up instead of yelling at her for not telling them sooner or backing away in fear that her nightmares would become theirs.

"Very well then. This may take time." Warned YanLin. "You might not get it on the first try." She paused as they listened raptly. "Lay down in your bags." She waited for the sound of shuffling and zippers being zipped up to continue. "Close your eyes... Listen to my voice as the connection between you is forged..."

Phobos frowned. So they thought they could take him on with barely any psychic training? He formed the dark cloud around HuiLing's mind the moment he saw she was asleep, before the other guardians had a chance to break through.

It certainly wasn't as easy as they'd hoped it was. For some, falling asleep was harder than others. Particularly with HuiLing's loud snorring.

"See? This is why we five rarely have sleepovers..." Ingrid grumbled, with one of her hands over her right ear as she pointed at HuiLing, who's mouth was wide open as she gave a loud snorting snore.

"Keep trying. We can't give up." Sighed Cerella.

"Close your eyes again," YanLin instructed after a frustrated look at the group. Ingrid gave the sleeping HuiLing a frustrated glare before sighing, laying flat on her back and closing her eyes as instructed.

Ingrid was amazed at how soundly Tress and Wanda were sleeping.

It was a big, dark expanse. This dream world felt strangely empty and foreboding. Wanda looked around. As she turned she could see memories of the silver haired woman with the circular glass mirror that brought out her own worst nightmares. She turned away from this image, looking for HuiLing. Instead she found herself face to face with... none other than her evil self transformed and staring her down.

"People think HuiLing is pathetic and weak? She was the strong one, taking over for you while we were going nuts on an evil rampage." The Dark Wanda said. "We managed to hurt her deeper than anyone else could then. The others know it too." She sneered with her arms on her hips. "Who's to say I won't break out my evilness again and hurt them? It's only in our nature. Sure we made up with mom and dad, but who's to say the others forgave us? It was fun getting to rampage-"

"The goofball, the one who's only talent is making jokes and water magic." Ingrid was face to face with what she could only assume was her own dark self. "I mean, when it comes down to it, what do you really think could happen between you and anyone? Sure you can put up a good fight, but that's not any good really. You're pathetic. Weak. Lame!"

"Constantly overshadowed by an older brother your parents love more than you." Cerella's own dark form was glaring her down. "Your own mother is a known healer and way more talented at fashion designing than you are. Particularly in Meridian. Compared to Tress, your powers are lackluster at best. You try to be funny, but are always out shined by Ingrid. And when HuiLing is around, you are constantly on the back-burner for attention. What's the point of being a part of this lame group thing anyways? Like Wanda said, we didn't have a choice in the matter. We can always give it up. Find a boyfriend and live happily ever after. Let someone else do the fighting for Queen Elyon."

"You can't be serious? How could you ever hope to become anything special? The Crystal of Cepheus is nothing more than a glorified piece of jewelry, just like the Heart of Kandrikar." Tress' dark form had her cornered in the vast expanse of the dream world. "You're not funny like Ingrid, you're untalented and totally boring. Sooner or later the true keeper of the Crystal of Cepheus will come around, and you will be doomed to obscurity and all alone."

"Stop!" Shouted Wanda. Her Dark Self blinked. "You're wrong. I'll never go down that path again. And even if something were to happen if I did, then I know they've got my back." Derek's image flashed through her mind momentarily. She looked around, as her Dark Self still remained.

"You won't win. There's no way to truly defeat Phobos. If your parents couldn't do it, what makes you think you're any better? You can't even protect your dearest friends from him." Taunted Dark Wanda.

Wanda's head snapped over to look at Dark Wanda.

"Yes I can." She closed her eyes. She felt the glow of the Heart of Kandrikar. Even in the frightening dream world, it was still a part of her. She knew better than to give in to her own negative thinking anymore.

"Everyone..." She called out. YanLin had been right, this wasn't an easy task to find HuiLing within the fog Phobos was causing. She kept at it as hard as she could as the glow of the Heart of Kandrikar became brighter with each try. Soon it was like a glowing red star in the darkness. Opening her eyes, she could see the glows of her other guardians as well.

"What?" Cerella turned when she saw the red glow. She knew that from anywhere. "That's right, I don't have time to mess around with the likes of you." She said to Dark Cerella.

"Yeah... "I've got a friend who's sanity needs saving." Ingrid had been about to loose it with her own Dark Self.

"And she is more important than your pathetic taunts, Phobos." Tress snapped.

HuiLing felt as though she'd been trapped in the fog, her darkest fears on the verge of being realized when she too saw the red glow of the Heart of Kandrikar breaking through Phobos' illusions.

"Remember what YanLin said... As we fell asleep... This is the dream world. Here we can be as strong as we want to be." Wanda said, and her voice could be heard by all of the Guardians. "And now, we need to be strong enough to hold back Phobos' attacks! Guardians Unite!" She called out in her most commanding voice yet.

In the flash of their transformations, they could see where Phobos had HuiLing cornered. In a giant black fog. The flash of light around each guardian was so powerful it forced their Dark Selves away from them.

A form began to appear over the Guardians in the dream world. Slowly taking the menacing shape of Phobos' head and shoulders directly after they transformed. Their Dark Selves attacked from behind, then grabbed their arms, to hold them back.

"You cannot win. I control all that transpires here, I control everything!" Phobos' voice boomed loudly. Lightning shot out from the form, striking the Guardians. "Now... Hand over the Heart of Kandrikar or loose your friend to a madness that will never cease."

HuiLing was hunched over, her hands over her hears to attempt to break out the taunts and jeers of her nightmares which only seemed to grow louder.

"Don't do it, Wanda! Don't let him win!" She shouted over the jeering taunts and laughter at her. "This may be a nightmare he created, but you are still in control!"

Wanda slowly reached out her right hand. All of her friends thought for a moment, through the haze of lightning and pain, that she was going in. Even Phobos looked as though he were finally triumphant. But instead, a second later it became clear what she was doing. The pain ceased, the lightning was being redirected to her hand and augmented.

"HuiLing's right. You might have created this nightmare Phobos, but WE can control the outcome! You're never getting your hands on the Heart of Kandrikar!" She shouted. "Guardians!"

As Phobos' attack increased in his rage, the three Guardians with Wanda aimed their attacks up at him.

"Water!"

"Fire!"

"Earth!

"Quintessence!" Wanda redirected her collected lightning at his image. There was a scream that echoed all around from Phobos, but they kept at it.

"Look!" Cerella glanced at the area where HuiLing was trapped. "The more we attack Phobos directly, the weaker the barrier gets."

HuiLing noticed this too. The Nightmares seemed to be fading like a hologram. She closed her eyes. If they could fight in this dream world, she could as well. She wasn't going to let herself be ruled by her nightmares anymore.

"Air!" She shouted with her eyes still closed.

The Dark Guardians were all forced back as a powerful blast of air came seemingly out of nowhere.

"HuiLing!" Shouted the girls. She'd finally managed to force herself to break free once the barrier had been weakened enough.

The girls all embraced.

"No!" Growled Phobos in ill suppressed rage.

"Now to finish this." HuiLing turned around.

They directed their attacks once more and were shocked to find their attacks were many colored beams of pure energy reflecting the colors of their elements.

"Just like my friends, Phobos, I am a lot stronger than I look." HuiLing declared as finally, the projection of Phobos' image finally vanished with a last, painful scream. The shadows from the nightmares vanished, bring back the light and calm of pleasant dreams.

The girls woke up.

"We did it!" Shouted Tress, causing YanLin to smile.

"Thanks guys. I wish I could've told you sooner. But circumstances weren't allowing for it." Smiled HuiLing.

"What matters is we managed to take care of it before anything too severe happened from lacking judgement as a result of lacking sleep." HayLin hugged her daughter, who looked highly flustered.

Though it was their first venture into the dream world, later the girls would agree that even though they were victorious towards the end it was not a fun adventure like they'd hoped.

He'd been flung back by the energy blast that was directed at him by the Guardians. So far back he was nearly against the opposite end of the room. His robes were disheveled, his hair also looked worse for wear as he scrambled to his feet after recovering from a moment of shock. He nearly had it, the Heart of Kandrikar.

"My Lord!" Tuula called out in alarm, seeing him in such a disheveled state. She flew over to make sure he was ok until he shot her a warning look not to come near and she stopped in mid-air, hovering.

"I am all right." He steadied himself. "This just showed me I need another method for gaining possession of the Heart of Kandrikar. Nothing more." He added as her fellows appeared by her side.

At school the next day, before the first bell rang the group was all outside in the front grounds.

"So it really was Phobos who was attacking you?" Asked Stevie to HuiLing when they explained how they eventually managed to win that particular battle.

"Yeah. It's so crazy. I think it's because of what you did to his staff." Nodded HuiLing.

"Well at least you're safe now. As is your sanity." Cerella smiled at her like she was a little sister.

"What sanity you had, anyways." Ingrid couldn't help herself with the comment.

"Hey!" HuiLing shouted in a mocked offended tone of voice and the others were chuckling.

Author's Comments:

Whoo, did it take me a while to get back in the swing of things. But with a sprained ankle and suddenly more time to write again as it heals, I decided to dust off my old W.I.T.C.H.- The Next Generation story. I've had a few requests to get it going again in the last couple of years. But things kept getting away. I. dad getting sick from stage four brain cancer and early onset Parkinson's', then passing away after an 18 month battle. That was 2 ½ years ago. It's been a struggle to get back into my old hobbies and writing.

I was also working on my original book which is now being edited. I'm not going into too much detail, but for those who know my writing from here on will probably be able to recognize it when it's been published. I'll talk more about it then. All I'll say for now is that it will be a series. I'm just not sure how long it's going to be. Of course, you can try and ask. But I'm not saying much till it's out or closer to being out. I've been working on this story since I was 15 (I'm now 30) so it's very near and dear to my heart.

Another note, I'm glad to finally feel like I can return to writing fanfictions again. At least while my first book is going through the editing phase. Which is going to take a while.

Things are looking up for me again. It's just been really hard after my dad passed away since he was one of my closest friends next to my mom, apart from being my dad. My mom and I are planning a getaway later this year to California so there will be a solid week where I won't be able to write at all. So I'll be trying to do as much as I can between now and then.

I hope your guys' summer holidays/vacations are going well this year. It's not been nearly so hot for me as it was last year knock on wood. On to the next chapter :)

P.S. Delusory- deceptive, deceiving, or misleading. AKA fancy word for those three meanings. HuiLing was being unintentionally delusory in this chapter, due to her circumstances with family over or regular people who didn't need to know about their secret lives being around. (Just for anyone wondering what Delusory meant).