Disclaimer: I don't own W.I.T.C.H or Battlebeasts or Kamira the Sky Village.

AN: The inspiration for this fic came from Heart of Demons. This fic borrows heavily from the book Kamira the Sky Village, so there will be similarities to one of XV-Dragons fics that he's discussing on one of his forums. These similarities are more chance than intended, so my apologies XV.

The crowds began to fill the arena and the buzz of excitement could be felt in the air. The spectators waited with anticipation for the games to begin. Or at least most of them were here for the games. As always, with crowded events like these, there was a criminal element of pickpockets and various other criminals. They all sought to take advantage of the milling crowds to make a profit.

One such individual was waiting just inside one of the side gates, subtly watching the crowd file in. Wearing a hooded cloak to avoid standing out, the young redhead named Will knew very well that the richest targets came in through the side gates to avoid unwanted attention.

A young guard walked in through the gate and immediately caught Will's attention. Only nobles had bodyguards and you could tell he was a trained bodyguard by the way he moved. In fact, he was pretty cute, with his messy brown hair and sad green eyes. As far as Will was concerned though, he was the enemy. She needed to eat and stealing was the only way she'd get the money.

When the young mans patron walked in, Will's eyes widened in disbelief. Her clothes were clearly rich, but it was in the details that marked her out. Although her white robe was simple, the buttons were carved dragonbone, making her buttons worth at least three times more than an average citizen would earn in a year. Her earrings at first glance were simple gold studs, but Will could see the dwarven carvings on them, meaning that they were dwarf made, which made them five times as valuable as a normal human made stud.

In short, this girl was seriously rich, but she didn't seem to want to flaunt her wealth. That made her something of an oddity in Meridian, nobles tended to demonstrate their wealth in the way they dressed, not least because it made the social standing of the wearer immediately clear to all around them. So this girl was definitely an oddity. Will however had no time to ponder mysteries. With great subtlety, Will followed the girl.

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Elyon sat down in the chair beside her brother, King Phobos. Standing to her right was her bodyguard Caleb. Despite the fact that Elyon was more than capable of looking after herself, her brother insisted she had a bodyguard. The fact that said bodyguard would probably need her to protect him in the event they were attacked only served to irk Elyon further. She didn't like attending these games either, but it was another thing her brother had insisted upon, claiming that it would make her strong enough to rule the Meridian empire.

Meridian itself had grown under her brother's rule, starting as a small city-state and growing to encompass a huge empire. But at a great cost, both in lives and in terms of human suffering.

Elyon saw her brother's face assume a pained expression when he saw her. Her refusal to flaunt her wealth and connections was a constant source of annoyance to him.

"Elyon my dear, surely you can do better than that?" he moaned. Elyon grinned.

"I find such clothes to be gaudy, my dear Phobos. I prefer the subtle approach." Elyon replied, with a slight hint of sarcasm.

Phobos sighed once more. "Fortunately, dear sister, I have good news. The city-state of Heatherfield has finally fallen to our armies."

Elyon's head snapped up. "Really? But what of the sorceress Yan Lin? Her power has always held you back before. What changed?"

Phobos gave her a look of false sincerity that hadn't fooled Elyon in years. "Oh I forgot. You knew her and her family, didn't you?" He asked with mock sympathy. "Unfortunately she passed away in her sleep. I guess the strain of keeping our forces back proved to be too much for her frail body."

Elyon turned away determined not to let her brother see her cry. Yan Lin's granddaughter, Hay Lin had befriended her when she was at school in Heatherfield. This had been a couple of years ago, before her brother had ascended the throne. It hadn't just been Hay Lin either. Hay Lin's oldest friend Irma was a part of their little group as well. Finally there was Cornelia, her closest friend and Irma's constant sparring partner. It was Yan Lin who had given her a second home in the Silver Dragon.

It was the Silver Dragon, which had puzzled Elyon the most when she first came to Heatherfield. A sorceress of Yan Lin's power could have lived anywhere she wanted, never doing manual work. It was Yan Lin who taught her the value of simplicity and hard work and Yan Lin was family to her, far more so than her brother or even for that matter her real parents.

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Will watched her target carefully. The girl was about her age, with straw blonde hair. She seemed to be upset about something, silent tears falling from her face.

Will found herself sympathising with the girl. Although she had no way of knowing for sure, Will had a strong sense of empathy and right now it was telling her that the girl in front of her was grieving the loss of someone very dear to her. Still it made Will's task a lot easier. People don't see as well when they're crying and that makes them easier to rob. Crouching down, she slowly approached the girl in front of her.

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Elyon cried silently, her face turned away from her brother. As the games began she felt a slight twinge as someone grabbed her purse. In a sudden fit of uncharacteristic anger she span round and magically bound the person concerned to the wall.

"Thief!" she yelled angrily.

Her brother turned to see the person she'd caught, an angry expression on his face. Nobody stole from the royal family and lived to tell the tale as far as he was concerned.

Pulling down the persons hood, she saw a mass of short red hair and she realised that the thief wasn't that much older than she was. In fact, if she was to hazard a guess, this girl was roughly the same age as her old friends from Heatherfield.

"What's your name, little girl?" she asked as she felt her anger drain away.

"W-W-Will miss. Will Vandom." Will replied nervously.

"It doesn't matter what her name is." Phobos snarled, "execute her."

"Wait!" Elyon interjected. "I'm the one she was stealing from, should I not have a say in her punishment?"

Phobos raised an eyebrow at this. Elyon decided to press her point.

"I am the next heir to the throne, if you don't have any children. Surely I at least have the right to plead for a little leniency?" she asked.

Phobos smiled and Will felt a shiver go down her spine. She didn't need to know Phobos to know that smile meant trouble.

"Very well, little sister, I will grant her mercy. Instead of being executed, she will be given the chance to earn her freedom in the arena." He said with some amusement.

Will let out a gasp of surprise and horror. So did Elyon. And for good reason. People seldom died in the arena. (In fact the last time someone was killed there had been before Will had even been born.) People lost their minds in the arena, the summoning and controlling of a battlebeast could shred a persons mind. There were those who were able to keep coming, but a lot of people didn't last beyond their first two or three fights.

"Brother," she began, but Phobos cut her off.

"My dear Elyon, I have spared her life. Do not presume to test my patience." Phobos growled.

Elyon bowed her head. "Of course brother." She murmured.

"I'm sorry" Elyon whispered as Will was dragged away.

"Yeah, well next time you feel like helping me, don't" Will snapped back.

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Hay Lin looked up from her sketchbook as the new arrivals were dragged in. Deciding that it would probably be a good idea for her to welcome the new arrivals, she got up and headed towards them.

"Hi there!" she said in a cheerful voice as she stuck out her hand to a dark-skinned girl wearing glasses "I'm Hay Lin."

"T-T-T-Taranee Cook." The girl the girl stuttered nervously as she took Hay Lin's hand.

"Will Vandom." The other girl answered.

"Well Will and Taranee, welcome to the arena." Hay Lin paused for a moment and Will and Taranee looked at each other with mildly bemused expressions.

"Sheesh Hay, we don't want to scare the hell out of them." A brunette girl commented as she came over and shook hands with Will. "Hi, I'm Irma and the blonde bint coming up behind me is Corny."

"It's Cornelia." The blond girl growled. "And who are you calling bint? You always did get lower grades than me in school." Turning to face Taranee and Will, "I'm Cornelia Hale. Don't worry about Hay Lin, she's not crazy, just…" Cornelia paused for a moment as she tried to think of a way to explain Hay Lin to a couple of people who didn't know Hay Lin. "Hay Lin's got plenty of bounce, that's all."

"So where're you guys from?" Hay Lin asked as she bounced around the group.

"Sesamo" Taranee replied.

"Meridian." Will answered after a short pause. The others looked at her in surprise.

"Then how did you end up here?" Cornelia asked pointedly.

Will shook her head.

"I'd rather not talk about it."

"Ok then. We're all from Heatherfield." Hay Lin said as she continued to bounce on her toes. Cornelia rolled her eyes.

"Don't worry about Hay, she's a little psyched to be meeting someone new." Cornelia said.

"Yeah, I think all that ink she's absorbed from writing on her hands has managed to poison her" Irma added.

"Hey, guess what our initials spell!" Hay Lin cut in excitedly. She held out her hand, palm up.

Will and Taranee raised their eyebrows in surprise. Cornelia and Irma on the other hand merely rolled their eyes.

"That's really great Hay." Irma commented sardonically.

"You want to call us W.I.T.C.H?" Cornelia asked with some scepticism.

"That's an excellent idea!" exclaimed a voice behind them. They all turned to face the person who'd spoken. A woman with long brown-black hair and tanned skin looked over Will and Taranee critically.

"Let's hope we can keep it that way. I'm Serena your new master."