Confessions of an Earth Guardian

By: Sokai

Disclaimer: I, Sokai, do not claim ownership to the workings of W.I.T.C.H. - I leave that honor up to Elisabetta Gnone. Nor do I own Meg Cabot's "The Princess Diaries" series (even though this 'side story' of sorts isn't even really related to the series. Just don't want to hear law suit claims, so thought I'd mention it once within this disclaimer LoL). However, I can and DO claim to own this story and its inspired ideas FROM said series.

Note: Yayyyyyyy, Cornelia's turn, again (story update, wise)! =) Sorry for the hugely late update, but, as always for me lately, busy, busy, busy, sadly. =(

Still, I really hope you enjoy this 11-pager, as I hope you enjoyed the recent update to "The Royal Guardian!"

This chapter was created in April 2012, and revised/completed in March 2014.

"Audio Entry Number Seven: Monday, November 6th, 4:15 P.M.:

Holy Goddd, Elyon!

Sorry, but absolutely no time for the 'Dears,' here! I'm having a major shock overload sort of meltdown at the moment!

You see? I'm even rambling like a sugar-infused dingbat, l-like Hay Lin, now! So you know for sure that something epic has just occurred if I'm no longer coherent and in control, like always!

What am I carrying on about, you're wondering? How about the fact that I now know yet another princess within my personal life!

Someone who is, once again, not me!

Who is it, then? I'll give you a hint!

What's red, sloppy, and insecure all over?

WILL!

How the hell does this happen? I mean, tell me please, because I'm dying to know!

Because first, she's somehow the chosen leader of a would be, should be elite squad of magically embodied teenagers - At least, they would have been had I been in charge, seeing as I'm still infinitely more qualified!

A-And now, she's the unexpected, and most probably unwanted pri . . . princess of a country she probably thought only existed within the movies, or something!

Which country, do you ask? Marsily, the poor country.

Well, not poor as in economical standings or anything like that. But, you know . . . poor, as in, 'How in the Hell will they continue to exist, period, now that they have Will Vandom of all people as its newest monarch?'

I just - Ugh! I'm sorry . . . I know you'd probably tell me to calm down, and definitely tone down the harsh, verbal beatings regarding one of my old friends, and you're right.

When you're right, you're right. But, it's just . . . I mean, my God!

It's Will, Elle!

Will!

I'm like, so sure she's any happier about this than I am right now, anyway, being the furthest thing from 'Royal Pedigree' and what have you, you know?

You know her pretty much as well as I do, here, so we can probably both safely agree, and assume that right now, wherever she is as I record this, she's probably freaking the hell out and planning to go into hiding over all of this . . . and I mean, honestly?

Sitting here, right now, flipping through the channels and seeing consistent 'Breaking News' alerts concerning this is . . . it's a bit much, even for me to handle at the moment.

I should record some of these reports and send it to you somehow, along with this audio, Elyon, it's really that difficult to believe. . . .

Argh! I can't even think straight right now, I'm getting too off track and disorganized!

See?

Will's only been a p . . . princess - Publicly, at least - for about an hour or so, now, and already her new status is wreaking havoc upon my own personal life!

L-Let me just . . . j-just try to start at the beginning of my day, well just the keynotes, all right, before I get to how, not just when, I personally found out Will's secret. . . .

So, okay. I don't know if I mentioned it yet, but my coach has been pushing me really hard, I mean, brutally, these last few years, especially, to the point where he's helped me reach Senior level, which I did sort of mention.

But I mean . . . Senior, Elle.

Or Gold level.

Doesn't matter which way you refer to it, it still illustrates how hard I've worked all these years to even make it to this point at all.

I know you, like the others, don't really know too too much about figure skating, but let me break it down for you this way:

Basically, even though there are like, thirty to forty thousand tests taken per year in this country, for example, at the varying levels, right? Only about, like, a thousand plus of my fellow figure skaters make it to senior, or gold level like me.

That's how freaking awesome I am, really, not to toot my own horn.

I mean, come on, that's a really huge thing! And I really wish you were here to help me properly celebrate all of my accomplishments . . . but maybe you still can?

Because I'm also participating within the 'Graduating Seniors Program' later this year, although as of right now, it seems at the Gold level rather than Platinum, seeing as I'd only just passed my MITF, or 'Moves in the Field' test for Senior level, and haven't been able to really compete actively in that level yet.

But I'm still really really excited about this! They've only just started the program just a few years ago, actually, and it's basically to honor qualifying high school graduates for all of our hard earning achievements by way of a certificate, during a totally posh recognition opportunity event, of course!

I don't know all of the deets yet, seeing as Coach was only really beginning to unveil the rest of it within the last week or so, anyway, sort of as a surprise, but I am so pumped!

And you'd better be there, or else you'll make me cry! . . . . Just a bit of guilt tripping, there, for you. HeHeHe.

Oh, Elles . . . is there anything skating can't fix? Because I'm already starting to recover from this insane nightmare of sorts about Will. . . .

Well, I was, until I just actively made myself recall it once more . . . that and . . . oh, wow!

That is not a very flattering way to debut yourself to the whole world as a . . . princess, is that, Will?

Sorry, Elyon, but I'm still flipping the channels now, and one of them just showed Will falling, super gracelessly, I have to say, into the Rec Center's swimming pool during her swim meet she had today . . . the same one her . . . turns out, her uncle, The King Elisud exposed her as 'Princess Wilhelmina!', at the top of his lungs in front of everyone there.

I mean, I am the history buff, as we know, but I will admit that I don't know absolutely everything about the country of Marsily, over which he governs, much about The King, himself, for that matter . . . but I can still strongly bet that half of Heatherfield, by comparison, is currently scratching their heads over this event, and who he might be . . . and not just over the hullabaloo with Will, either.

People are just utterly moronic, especially over important things like our past, after all. . . .

Still!

All of this is just way too weird to keep thinking about, let alone say! We're just going to have to refer to all of this as speculation, I'm sorry, because there is just no way it can be for real!

I-I . . . sorry, sorry. I'm doing it, again, aren't I?

The claws have come back out, and I'm still not explaining much of anything. . . .

All right . . . just breathe, Cornelia, and take it from the top. . . . . Probably should turn off the television in the meantime, as well, lest I keep getting so distracted like this. . . .

Okay! Much better, already!

So, as I was telling you, now, and within my other audio, I wasn't really having a grand week because of my marks for my gold test, right? That is, by comparison to two of . . . what I guess you can refer to as my personal rivals, I will freely admit to you, and you only. . . . Amara Crewe, and Li Guillory . . . God, I can't stand those two . . . wenches!

I know! 'Healthy competition never hurt anyone, Cornelia,' as I'm sure you'd tell me right about now.

But you don't know these girls the way I do!

They are just manipulative, two faced little trolls who just have to do everything I do!

They basically steal all of my moves during competitions, a-and clearly want so hard to be me, I don't know how it isn't even illegal yet!

So I just know they're enjoying the fact that, again, by comparison, they'd somehow managed to do . . . 'better' than I did. . . . Ugh, can barely say it. . . .

Needless to say, I was incredibly steamed, and on the warpath for the rest of the week.

And even though said week was finally over, I wasn't feeling that much better, except for when I was making these recordings to you, of course, and when I'd gotten the chance to speak with my boyfriend . . . that is, if either of our families weren't constantly trying to interrupt us from doing so, anyway.

But right when I was ready to begin a new week, still feeling a bit on the 'Blech' side, I get this really wonderful email from Caleb last night. . . .

Remember when I told you I was going to check it before I went to sleep in my previous audio? Well, I'm definitely glad I did!

Best sleep, and dreams I've had in practically ages, feels like!

Here, let me pull it up, again . . . I'd printed it out and brought it to school this morning to read to the girls before class, actually, as well, but seeing it here within my Inbox is just ten times better. HeHeHe.

Okay, so, here's what it says:

'To My Great Guardian. Hey, You have no idea how worried I am about you. I mean, first the Halloween Ball, and now this. Someone as wonderful as you doesn't deserve to have things like this happen. . . .

And I have to apologize that I haven't really been there for you. There's no excuse for it, because you mean a lot to me. I should tell you that everyday . . . but you know how I am. Expressing emotions other than anger or whatever isn't something I'm very good at. . . .

But I just wanted to let you know now that I am here for you and always will be. . . .

Much love, Caleb .'

Just . . . ohhh, do I love this man of mine, you know?

He just always seems to 'get it,' and right at the most perfect of times! I totally needed that pick-me-up, I mean first, thanks to Will wearing the same costume gown as me at Eddie's Halloween Ball as I'd told you, already, and now because of those two sea-cows. . . .

And it was extra special and cute, because we weren't even able to see each other this weekend, and kept missing each other, phone call wise, so him still finding the time to do this for me was just really sweet. . . .

So sweet that I couldn't wait until school today to let him know! HeHeHe.

I did feel bad waking him up after he'd finally picked up his cellphone, but I just had to let him know how truly touched I was by this 'simple,' yet highly effective gesture!

Frankly, though, I'm surprised he'd managed to answer it at all, given that the reason it had taken him a little while to send me this email was because he was feeling 'overwhelmed' by his family's computer, again!

Too freaking cute, I swear!

He's been living on Earth for years, now, and still gets befuddled every now and then by our many creations . . . awww!

But . . . anyway! This was all just too . . . romantically perfect to keep just between us, that I couldn't resist letting the girls know. You know me!

And of course Irma had to go and be her usual . . . Irma-ness self, which I mostly let slide this time, I was that happy.

It surprised me, too, I know.

But here's what was really weird, though.

I mean, I guess it makes more sense to me now, given all that's currently going on, but . . . of everyone I would have expected to make a scene and possibly ruin the moment for me this morning, I didn't expect it to be Will.

Like, we already ruled out Irma, like I said, but Will just . . . out of nowhere flips out! I mean, she goes all . . . Tarzan on us, and lets out this banshee-like scream! And even Irma was like, 'Whoa, hey, hold on, here. It's not that big a deal on the gross factor,' or whatever she said concerning Caleb's email to me.

So you know it was totally unwarranted if even the resident lunatic thought so.

We're all just staring at her, waiting for her to explain, and I go, 'Yeah! What's your dilemma? Now that I've gotten my fantastic news out of the way, we can finally get down to what's been your drama for ages once and for all,' because like I was telling you before, she's been acting pretty off, lately.

She even came to school today super dressed up for some reason, I don't know, and although I did admit she was looking pretty decent for a change, it was still curious to me.

I did think that maybe she was just getting tired of looking so . . . tomboyish, I guess, all the time, that she wanted to spice things up, finally, you know?

Or maybe she had some place important to be right after school and wouldn't have time to change beforehand, like a family thing or something, with that so called cousin of hers, Sprita, and . . . Oh!

Oh, wow! Do you think that my suspicions were right, Elle? I-I mean about Sprita, and how it just seemed odd to me that she just randomly pops up like this, and is all 'Cousin Will, Cousin Will' on us, like they're 'The Parsnip Family,' or something?

I bet they're not related at all, or l-like . . . oh! Maybe she's a part of this whole royalty . . . scandal!

Maybe she's her long lost royal sister, instead, or . . . I-I don't know!

But I do know she so has to be connected, somehow, because she was way too clingy with Will. . . .

Maybe The King sent her over here to be like, Will's pr . . . ugh . . . so hard to keep saying that word in relation to Will, I'm sorry. . . .

Anyway, her . . . princess tutor or whatever, I was trying to say, or maybe she was the one who revealed this epic family secret to Will in the first place. . . .

I cannot wait to see them both, again, so I can fully get to the bottom of absolutely everything!

But, yeah, so like I said, Will just loses it, the rest of her marbles, seemed like to me, and just rudely rails into me!

I mean, she just lets out this torrent of harshness my way, just because I wanted to know what was her deal lately!

Totally!

She says to me, all snooty like, too, 'You wanna know what my "drama" is, Cornelia? Okay! I'll tell you! I am so damned sick and tired of all of the nosy questions I keep getting - From everyone! I get enough of them from my mother, and now my annoying uncle, and so I don't need them from you!Especially not from you!'

And oh, no, she didn't want to stop just there, either!

Before anyone could have even taken another breath, let alone, speak, she dives right back in with the whole sympathy angle!

I'm like, I'm so sure that after suddenly breathing fire toward one of your friends, who was only concerned about your unusual behavior as of late, that people are going to be all, 'Aww, it's okay, Will! Poor baby!'

Think again, there!

But she still tried to lay it on thick, anyway, by whining, like, 'My life is so unbelievably chaotic and unrecognizable right now that I don't need to constantly be bombarded by your damned inquiries any time you see me in person, or online! Like it's such a freaking crime, as you'd put it, to behave differently!'

And then she just . . . screeches again, before storming off to class before any of us could have stopped her, although it's not like I personally would have, anyway.

Can you believe that girl?

And here I was feeling worried about her, like the rest of us, because she's just been . . . off, lately, not really hanging out with us too much and more on the quiet side again, more than ever, the last few weeks, and wham!

She finally decides to snap out of it, just in time to bite my head clean off!

Well, that's the last time I attempt to reach out to anyone . . . okay, so maybe not really, since I'm not heartless, after all.

But it will definitely be a while before I warm up to Will like that, anyway, even if it turns out that all of this is the reason for her rude behavior. . . .

So, after that psychotic display, my recently returned good mood was completely shot the rest of the day, with poor Caleb doing his best to cheer me up all over again, but to no avail.

You know how I am about disrespect, Elyon, and that was some major disrespect floated my way, for absolutely no reason at all . . . and yeah, I can admit it to you, I was hurt by it. . . . I was.

But there was zero chance of me letting it show, no way!

So I just ended up handling it the way I usually do.

Yep, you guessed right: My 'Super Freeze.'

Since we all usually sit at lunch together, I made absolutely sure that no seats were left for Will once she showed up at lunchtime later on in the day, which Taranee hadn't been too thrilled about and let me know . . . but I didn't see her rushing to be at her Bestie's side, either.

So, clearly, I wasn't the only one feeling complete and utter shock over our 'fearless leader's' earlier antics.

Even Caleb, too, though, ended up giving me a bit of hard time for icing Will like that, which really caught me off guard and made me feel even more lousy. . . .

I mean, she yells at me, and I'm getting grief for it, even from my boyfriend, now, who was, just four periods earlier, doing the complete opposite?

This is just further proof that there is absolutely no justice in this world!

Because he's like, '. . . . Okay, babe, I think you've made your point, now,' after he, Taranee, and I all caught Will looking over at us and our conveniently full table with such desperation in her eyes, especially when she saw she had no choice but to plunk herself down within the 'unpopular corner' of the cafeteria . . . or 'The Point of No Return,' as the more popular people such as myself officially call it.

Served her right, as far as I was concerned, and I more or less let both Caleb and Taranee know this, but still, my formerly charming boyfriend carried on with the needless guilt!

He said, 'Yeah, so you think, I guess, but maybe . . . maybe she really is just going through some major stuff, and . . . and doesn't know how to deal with it, yet. I know that I sometimes just want to be left alone to think about things . . . things I might not want to handle, without anyone hassling me about it,' which made me feel like a complete ass to hear, of course. . . .

He may not be one for many words a lot of the time, but my guy is pretty insightful, all the same, you know?

So, naturally I was immediately starting to consider his possible point, all the while also beginning to feel super paranoid that something might be up with him, now.

And I did ask him afterward, too, after lunch so that we'd have a bit more privacy, since I know he can get pretty embarrassed with my want to be openly mushy at times.

But he said that no, there wasn't anything going on, 'nothing which matters anymore, anyway,' and that he was mainly just trying to make a point, like I said. . . .

But . . . I don't know, Elle.

I know what he said, but I also know him, or so I like to believe, you know?

What if . . . what if something really is the matter, and for whatever reason, he feels he can't confide within me?

I mean, I did wonder to myself why he'd left for school this morning so early for a change, according to Hay Lin when I called their house to see if he wouldn't want to ride over with me, instead. . . .

And then when I do find him on campus, he's sat with Will, talking about God knows what, before I interrupted them. . . .

Maybe that's why he was trying to convince me to lay off her? Maybe she was in the middle of telling him about what's been her damage the past several weeks.

But since when have those two been buddy-buddy, anyway, if that was the case?

If anything, they're barely friends, really, when I think about it, which I do have to wonder about, as well.

Like, do you think you're too good to get to know someone as wonderful as my Caleb, Will?

Pfft! Not even!

Well, whatever. . . .

Caleb did manage to make me feel a smidgen upset about lunchtime, but beyond that I wasn't budging.

If no one was going to care about my feelings, then I wasn't going to care about hers! . . . . At least, not for now, anyway.

Ask me, again . . . in a month or so.

So, then, after school comes, and I was honestly ready to just go straight home and privately sulk a bit, and skip Will's big swim meet, altogether.

I mean, you shriek at me, and then expect me to still come and support you?

Chyeah! Right!

But, besides having 'Little Miss Bright Side' Hay Lin catch me before final period, and guilt trip me over how 'Will probably just has a lot on her mind right now, Cornelia. Today is her meet, after all . . . and I know you can understand how it feels, being fellow athletes, and everything' on me,I did also promise I'd go to support a few of my other friends who were competing today, as well.

See how much of a saint I truly am? God. . . .

I'd given Taranee and Hay Lin a ride over, which . . . I don't know what the hell I was thinking doing that, since that whole drive over was like having two little versions of me on each shoulder, one good and one bad.

Except, instead of that being the case, it was the two of them, and both sides were pimping the halo, harp, and set of wings big time on me over getting me to let Will's outburst slide.

This is precisely why I keep telling everyone that Will will never be as emotionally sturdy, or resilient as me, for example, because we all just seem to want to make excuses for her, and coddle her!

And somehow, she's still our leader. . . .

I just told them that, right now, the only thing I cared about was getting to the Rec Center, finding good seats, and showing my full support for the team, and that they could take that however way they wished.

Seemed to work or whatever, because they both dropped it after that, and still sat with me - And Irma, once she showed up with a few of her own friends - once we all got there.

Matty-Boy was there, too, I saw, which surprised me, but only because I don't think I saw him at all today at school, and I usually do at least once per day.

The guy's just everywhere, seems like.

But, even though he was there, he didn't really seemed too concerned with Will and her overall progress during the meet, I did pick up on.

Like, he seemed as though maybe he might have been miffed at her, as well, for whatever could have been his reason. . . .

I would catch her peering up toward the bleachers from time to time toward us, of course, I guess to see if we were still even there, and then look his way, two rows ahead, right?

But he always seemed conveniently too enthralled with whatever conversation his friends were giving, or looking within the direction of the other competing teams at just the right moments.

And I thought I could be harsh.

It's a good thing those two have called it quits ages ago, or else it'd definitely be trouble in paradise right about now, huh?

Well, whatever she said or did to him, I hope Will would have an apology letter waiting for Matt soon, or else that'll be two friends she's lost. . . . Mmm, all right, so maybe not to that extreme, since neither Matt nor I ever stay mad at her for too long, anyway, but still.

U-Ugh!

Just listen to me, getting all soft and forgiving about her, again!

I am so not done holding my grudge, thank you!

I still have about . . . another year or so left, maybe!

A-Anyway, Elyon!

Here comes the super juicy part, so pay close attention. . . .

I think we'd reached the . . . yeah, it was the 'One Hundred Yard Medley Relay' that Will was about to compete in, right, and . . . she had just finished taking her place at the starting platform.

A-And then . . . I mean, it was honestly like something straight out of a lame soap opera, Elle . . . really.

Because we're all sitting there, watching the competing swimmers take their mark, and were about to dive into the pool and start the race, when out of nowhere, in comes The King, a-and somehow manages to blare out at the top of his lungs, 'PRINCESS WILHELMINA! YOU WILL GET DOWN FROM THERE AT ONCE!'

I'm sorry for shouting there, and if I startled you, but that's seriously how loud the man was!

Impressive set of lungs, I'm telling you, because I'm pretty sure everyone there heard him, no problem, even through the overall, natural commotion of the meet!

And like, even though this is happening, naturally, the girls and I - Well, me, anyway, I wasn't immediately thinking, 'Yeah, okay, he's totally referring to my childhood friend, the goofy redhead down there!'

There were hundreds of people in that recreational center, thanks, and any one of them could have also been named 'Wilhelmina.'

But, like, sure, a lot, if not all of us there were obviously looking his way, now, after that crazed explosion, but W-Will. . . .?

I couldn't see her face, since she was hunched over like the rest of the competing swimmers on the platform, that and also she naturally had her goggles on, but man if her overall reaction didn't totally give it away!

She immediately snaps at attention, and manages to look over at The King for like, two seconds, before crashing into the swimming pool!

If I wasn't feeling, at the very least, leery, I guess you could call it, by then . . . seeing Will's mom standing right beside the man like they're the best of friends, or something, just basically sealed the deal!

After that, geez . . . it was just absolute chaos after that! The meet was postponed, swimmers were looking confused and understandably pissed off, and everyone else were just starting to freak out and act like there was a bomb in the building, if you'll forgive me, from the way they started to scatter like ants!

And then, none of us even got a chance to get anywhere near Will - Yes, even me - before she was . . . f-fished out of the pool, and all these guys dressed in black swarmed her - And her mother, now that I remember it - and rushed them, and The King the hell out of there!

I-I mean . . . now that I'm giving myself the chance to relive the entire moment, Elyon, it . . . it seriously was pretty freaky, and totally unbelievable!

Everyone else may have been naturally startled and confused, sure, but the girls and I, and even Caleb, possibly, were on high alert for completely different reasons.

I mean, w-we could only just sit, well, stand, by that point, and watch helplessly while our fellow Guardian - Our friend, and her mother just got carded away for God only knows what reason!

Irma started to complain that we should have just gone ahead and used our powers to stop them, that I should have used my powers to stop them, and next you know, we're all arguing amongst ourselves over 'Shoulda, coulda, woulda's' before both Caleb, and Matt had to calm all of us down, and reminded us that there were too many people around to risk anything, anyway.

By then, we'd all rushed out of the Rec Center, and were scrambling toward the nearest car of ours we could get to to all pile in and try to track Will and her mom down, with me 'thanking' Irma for immediately laying the blame all on me that 'some random, government looking nut jobs just kidnapped our friend,' when Matt abruptly stops us and says that she wasn't kidnapped.

And, of course, we're all like, 'Come again? Were you not in there just now, and saw what happened?,' because we're pretty sure that half the town of Heatherfield just saw that!

'And everyone else during the five o'clock news, soon, since you know that every sporting event for our school's always video taped to later be recounted during the video morning announcements the following school day! No way that this isn't going to be passed onto every local news station available!' Hay Lin went ahead and pointed out, in between freaking.

But Matt was still telling us to 'relax,' and 'don't worry about her current safety, because right now Will's in the hands of one of the most well protected people on the planet. . . .'

At that time, I was tired of being jerked around and not getting any solid answers, so I . . . sort of pinned Matt to the side of Irma's car. . . .

H-Hey! I was feeling very emotionally charged in that moment, silently beating myself up for not doing something back there, but also for already caring about Will again, despite her having lashed out at me this morning!

And then, I started to feel bad for consciously using my Telekinetic powers against a fellow friend, a non-magical one, at that, for technically no reason!

That, and everyone's immediately like, 'Cornelia, no! Ohhh, my God, let him go!', blah blah, on me about it . . . I'm like, 'Well, what? Do you want to get to the bottom of all of this, or not?' . . . Irma's mainly whinging about how 'it just had to be my car you'd use to do this' . . . and then Matt's groaning in so called pain and pleading for me to let him go.

I'm so sure I'd ever use excessive force upon the guy, or anyone else I actually liked, thanks!

But I let him have his crybaby fest, anyway, and let him go before apologizing, and Taranee begged him to tell us what he knew.

And, after rubbing at his chest and back for a bit, giving me a big ol' frown of disapproval, like that was going to do something to me, he goes, 'The reason Will and her mom got . . . taken, I guess, was because that dude who'd done so was . . . was King Elisud of Marsily. . . . Turns out that he's Will's mom's kid brother, or something like that, and that . . . well, both she and Will are princesses for it. . . .'

I honestly felt my knees go weak, then, Elyon.

No, really.

At first, I didn't want to believe him.

In a normal life, who would?

But then, I'm thinking to myself, 'When, in the last three and a half years has your life ever been normal, Cornelia?', and I found myself remembering how I felt when I first found out that you were also a princess. . . .

A princess from another realm.

I mean, I know it was virtually impossible for any of us to have known in all that time, of course, but for me?

I was, I-I am your best friend, and I didn't have a clue.

And now, again, I find myself not having a clue about another one of my close friends!

It was, it still is pretty overwhelming to think about . . . but then, the more I thought about it at that moment, the more angry I became.

Why?

Because!

At least with you, neither one of us knew anything about it!

But there was no way that Will couldn't have known even one little tidbit about it!

I'm so sure her mom wouldn't have passed mention to her 'rich uncle' over the years, o-or that Will wouldn't have come across some old photographs of Miss Vandom dressed as a so called princess, through the wondrous powers of the Internet!

I totally let Matt have it after that.

Well, I let Will have it, but through Matt, since he was the closest thing I had at that time to getting at her about all of this.

But at least I wasn't the only one to feel complete and utter shock over the supposed revelation, so no one really gave me too much grief about my rants . . . well, except the occasional, buffering words from Hay Lin and Taranee, of course.

Still.

Each of us were honestly taking the denial route concerning all of this, even though, yeah, fine, having The King show up, at some random high school's swim meet, out of the blue and all was a bit much to readily dismiss.

And, of course, specifically going after Will and Will's mom, thereafter.

So we all were asking the smart, righteous questions of 'how long?', 'Since when?', 'Why didn't Will tell us anything about it?' and, one of my personal favorites, 'How is it that you know about this before any one of us did?' to a now completely flabbergasted Matt.

And even though he really did do his best to try to answer as many of our inquiries as he could, it was clear, by the end of it, that he really didn't know all that much more than we had by that point.

He said he could only tell us what he, himself, had learned, which was only a few days ago, actually, at least.

He said that the only reason he knew at all, and before us, was because he had gone to check on Will while she was still sick with her cold the other day, and had missed school for it.

'I went to her loft to drop off her homework, and when I got inside, there were a bunch of . . . well, you guys just saw them, really. Those big dudes in the suits, the bodyguards. Oh, but there was also a female there, too, and . . . n-never mind. It was just this really big commotion there, like I was trespassing, or something, and everyone calling Will '"Your Royal Highness" that . . . well, it was pretty hard for her to try to sweep this one under the rug - And trust me, that's precisely what she would have done, and was going to do for the rest of you. That is, until I managed to convince her to do otherwise.'

And, of course, none of that still sat well for us, because Matt basically exposed Will's . . . treachery even more!

She wasn't even planning on letting us, her closest friends know about this!

Not even Taranee, her super super close friend, from the sound of things!

But Matt, and now, Hay Lin, are both harping again about how clearly, it was a lot for Will to take in, and that we can't be too mad at her about it.

Again with the making excuses and wanting to baby Will!

Enough is enough, you know?

I can't stand it. . . .

. . . . A-Anyway, though, Matt finished telling us all that he personally knew, or remembered about the matter.

About how he truly wanted, right from the beginning, for Will to come clean about it with us, and that he'd at least stressed to her the impact keeping secrets might have upon us all as Guardians, not just friends.

Clearly he was the one with the brains during their romantic relationship.

In between each taking turns feverishly text-messaging Will's cellphone and also leaving voice messages, we also learned that King Elisud was currently sticking around Heatherfield in order to . . . royally 'groom' Will, I suppose you could call it, within the ways of Royalty . . . and that he's also here because he plans to, get this, pass on the throne to her one day!

So, not only is Will, of all people, suddenly sporting blue blood, but she may one day tell an entire country what to do?

Will?

I-I can't handle this, anymore!

It's just . . . I mean, come on, here!

And no, I am so not jealous, or something like that!

I'm not!

It's just too surreal that this is happening again, that's all.

I think I'm going to . . . yeah, I think I'm going to quit this here, make a few phone calls to the others, and see if I can't find out more about all of this.

Because this one is definitely for the history books.

Hands down. . . .

Love You, While Utterly Dismayed,

Cor - Oh, wait a sec!

I totally just realized something!

Sprita!

She's the 'female' Matt was going on about!

Has to be!

Duh, Cornelia, come on!

Which means like . . . then maybe she's probably actually Will's new guardian, o-or bodyguard or somebody important like that, like those men at the meet!

That's why she suddenly popped up out of nowhere like that, and followed Will wherever she went!

Ohh, it so makes much more sense! Well . . . about as much sense something like this can make right now, anyway.

O-Okay, now I'm going, going to gather more information, make those billions of phone calls, and then get back to you with a much more informed update!

Still Love You, While Still Utterly Dismayed,

Cornelia."

- End of Chapter Seven

(A.N. Chaos has ensued within Cornelia's life, now, yay! Game on. LoL I'm still rather enjoying 'ping-ponging' between Will's perspective about all of this, and now, Cornelia's, as well. I wonder what 'insightful' moments we'd get for Hay Lin and the others, though? Well, I know I'm not writing that one. Getting to be tough trying to finish these two, as it is. LoL =/

Anyway! Hope you enjoyed the beginning of Corny's brain melting, before we continue 'watching' it happen within her next audio update! HeHe Please to be reviewing and, of course, as always, thankies for the ongoing support, My Lovelies!)