Chapter Six

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. However, I can and DO claim to own this story and its inspired ideas FROM said series (with continued credit going to JayxKay for the initial idea).

Note: I really am not fond of the "merry, merry month of May" this year (which is a first, considering it always signifies the end of yet another long semester for me, to which I'm usually elated over). First, my bro and sis have their unfortunate car accident two weeks ago (mainly unfortunate -- and thank God for it -- for the car, as they are just fine now); my father then nearly collapses one morning, later finding out he has diabetes; and now my recent and unexpected personal drama. "Plus side," all this drama has inspired me to write again, so yeah. And not to sound like a drama queen or anything here, but: May, if you were an actual tangible thing, I'd slug you.

Enjoy! LoL

This chapter was written/created in May 2006.

"I knew it! You little -- !" Cornelia shouted as she quickly dodged Irma's fumbling body and violently lunged for it to presumptively throttle.

"Cornelia, don't!" exclaimed the three remaining girls simultaneously, as both Will and Hay Lin immediately moved to pry the seething blonde from off of the gasping and startled brunette.

"I didn't realize what I was doing or saying, all right? I was half asleep when I'd made the wish!" fumed Irma in vague defense, despite the keen awareness that it was futile.

Will let out a low, regrettable groan at this.

". . . Irma . . . how could you? You know that our wishes -- a Guardian's wish -- is extra . . . well, 'special!'" she scolded heavily, although her molasses gems grew soft as they'd begun to shine with great sympathy, concern and understanding.

She (all of them, in fact) knew better than anyone of how it felt to deal with the great temptation to utilize the multitude of powers and abilities awarded as a prestigious Guardian of the Veil. It seemed almost cruel and twisted that the five of them had been given this task -- this sometimes unwanted destiny, and would never be allowed to divulge its immensely unique wonderment to the world . . that is, until now.

"Look, I said I was sorry, okay, Will? Okay, so I didn't actually say so until just now, but you get it. Anyway, I already feel awful about it, in addition to feeling like a complete and certified screw up -- thanks to 'Miss Nurturing and Kind' over there . . ." lamented Irma bitterly as she and Cornelia continuously glared daggers at one another.

"Cornelia does not think you're a 'screw up,' Irma -- none of us do. Stop that," soothed Hay Lin reassuringly, gently resting a hand upon her best friend's shoulder. "It's just . . . we're all on edge here because we're unsure of how to handle this . . ."

"How do we handle this? We can't hide in this bathroom forever -- class starts in ten minutes . . ." murmured Taranee with a bit of foreign aggression, her nerves clearly continuing to be shot.

Pausing a moment, trying to calm herself down for the sake of the group as a whole, if not for Irma or even herself, Cornelia was the first to respond to the universal inquiry.

". . . Well, why doesn't Irma try 'unwishing' it?" she suggested, a broad frown caressing her fair visage, while her arms gingerly folded across her chest. "You know, make another wish that will effectively cancel out the first one."

Irma's eyes widened in surprise at this (as did everyone else's), causing the eldest girl to readily and uncharacteristically blush in embarrassment as a result. They knew that, if Cornelia of all people, was suggesting that they willingly delve into more magic (a fact that she was still battling to cope with) to undo magic, then the situation must be a desperate and dire one at that.

Trying to wrap her mind around the proposal for an instant, Will slowly nodded in agreement.

". . . It's worth a shot, I'd say . . . We've nothing else to try at the moment," she complied, her bright red eyebrows furrowed in deep contemplation as well as resignation to the ongoing predicament. "Irma, whatever you said the first time -- and don't repeat it now, or else it might make things doubly worse -- just now wish for everything to go back to normal."

Nodding slowly in understanding, Irma took a deep breath and closed her turquoise eyes in concentration.

". . . I wish that everything would go back to normal . . ." she breathed with a hint of remorse riddled within her voice as she did so.

Anxiously waiting a few moments to allow the wish to credibly take effect, Will looked from comrade to comrade and received a gathered look of consensus in return.

". . . M-maybe someone should check to see if it worked," she said with an uneasy air, at the same instant that Hay Lin had suddenly and playfully shoved a startled Cornelia towards the door.

"H-hey! You could have just asked, you know, Hay Lin! You hang around Irma too much, I swear! Yeesh!" the blonde spat, looking back at the grinning, petite and flighty girl with resentful indignation while blindly walking to the locked bathroom door.

Hesitating in spite of her traditionally bold self, the Earth Guardian slowly unlocked it and carefully pulled it open.

". . . The coast . . . looks clear, you guys," she stated as quietly as she could to be on the safe side, before widening the door for her friends to take a better look for themselves. "I think you actually did it, Ir --"

"-- Hey! I found them, everyone! They're over here! Please! Just one more picture and autograph, Guardians! We adore you!"

"Ahh!" screamed the five magical beings simultaneously the moment that their eyes rested upon a large fleet of fellow students (and even faculty staff, this time around) suddenly coming from around the corner and eagerly heading their way.

"So much for that!" cried Taranee as Cornelia quickly swung the door closed before any unwanted "guests" could invade their formerly undetected safe haven.

"What do we do now? Why didn't it work, Irma?" queried Cornelia in a familiar accusatory tone, her voice straining to be heard over the loud banging sounds of people frantically hammering their fists against the door.

"You heard me, Cornelia -- I did and said exactly what Will told me to! I made the 'counter-wish!' Only . . ." Irma trailed off mysteriously, eyes swiftly averting themselves from her friends' then unanimously questionable gaze.

"Only . . what, Irma? Only, what?" pressed Will in suspicion, as she and her friends advanced upon the curiously sheepish girl.

"W-well . . . You told me to wish for things to 'go back to normal,' right? Well . . . in all honesty, this -- everyone vying for my attention and all that -- would be normal for me if I had my way . . ." she meekly revealed, cringing against the back wall of the lavatory as she received a collected groan of defeat, while their only exit continued to be bombarded with excited knocks.

"Are you serious? Irma, what --"

"-- I didn't do it on purpose for the last time, Taranee! I tried to fix it, all right? It just so happens that this is what's within my heart right now . . . To be recognized for my unrecognized achievements, even when and if I didn't do anything special . . .

You guys can't really understand what that's like, what with Cornelia's ice skating and continued perfectness and popularity; Hay Lin's art and other greatly unique talents; Taranee's vast intellect; and Will's natural athleticism, people and animal skills . . .

When you get right down to it, for the most part, I've virtually nothing to offer 'special'-wise -- save my Guardian junk, and no one was even allowed to know about that 'till now . . ." sighed Irma in intermingled embarrassment and sadness, keeping her eyes downcast as the others felt genuinely surprised at her startling admission.

Even she herself couldn't help but feel a bit taken aback by her unexpected delivery, as while she had always felt a tad "inadequate" to her best friends by comparison, it was never truly that big of a deal.

Or, so she had thought . . .

A moment of uncomfortable silence elapsed into several minutes, as the four other women desperately tried to think of something to say. Eventually, however, Irma had saved them the trouble of having to do so, as she suddenly maneuvered around them and headed to the vibrating door.

"Look . . . I don't expect you guys to understand, nor do I really want you to or offer me any kind of sympathy. It's just something that I'll have to work through on my own and will. In the meantime, we'll all have to deal with this, as I'm not entirely sure that my wish can be reversed, since I'd phrased it in a way that entailed an 'ironclad' sort of verbal contract," she reflected softly in a serious, "Cornelia-like" tone that was a rarity for her.

"So, until we can fix this later -- like after school or something, when we'll have more time to do so -- let's just try to 'face the music' at least for first period . . ."

And then, without waiting for any kind of response, it was the Water Temptress's turn to bravely unlock the movable barrier and swing it open, the first to propel herself into the throng of awaiting Guardian-obsessed individuals.

-- End of Chapter Six

(A.N. Hmm. Interesting that Irma kind of got "uncharacteristically serious" and conflicted like that. Suddenly this humor/carefree-oriented story has become more like my "Requiem for a Dream" story -- whose ending IS currently being written, all you fans of it. LoL I guess it's my fault on a personal level, since my "blah attitude" kind of leaked through into the story. Sorry! But, hey: good kinda drama, right? And I personally can see Irma of them all having lamenting moments like that, so yeah. Works out. LoL

Anyhow! Hope you liked it, and stay tuned for chapter seven of this, the ending of chapter six of my "Harry Potter and the Collided Worlds" story, as well as the long awaited conclusion to my "Requiem for a Dream" story that are all being written now, as I've said. Thanx again for the continued and growing support!)