I DECIDED TO MAKE AN AU VERSION OF W.I.T.C.H, SO BE WARNED THAT CHARACTERS WILL ACT REALLY OOC A LOT OF THE TIME. THE GUARDIANS WILL BE SLIGHTLY OLDER (WILL, IRMA, TARANEE, HAY LIN BEING AGE 16-17; CORNELIA, ELYON AGED 17-18). ALSO, THERE WILL ONLY BE A THREE-TO-FOUR YEAR AGE GAP BETWEEN CORNELIA AND LILLIAN, SO LILLIAN IS THEREFORE AGED 14-15. THIS WILL INVOLVE LILLIAN HEAVILY IN COMING CHAPTERS. (THEY SERIOUSLY NEED TO ADD A LILLIAN CHARACTER SELECTION THINGY TO THE W.I.T.C.H ARCHIVES!)

BTW, I RENAMED QUEEN WIERA. HER NAME IS NOW QUEEN ERIS. IF YOU HAVE ANY QUESTIONS, PLEASE REVIEW! ALSO, I DON'T SHIP CORNELIA/CALEB, SO I'M DOING THIS IRMA/CALEB. PLEASE DON'T KILL ME! THE VOICES IN MY HEAD TELL ME WHAT TO DO! BLAME THEM! THEY ARE ON CRACK!

HEART OF EARTH

CHAPTER ONE: IT BEGINS...AND IT RESUMES

A man dropped silently down into the castle's armory, quickly followed by another man. A girl with short black hair looked down at them from the open skylight. "Hurry up, you two. We don't have much time before the soldiers wake up." They grinned up at her, and she glared back at them. Rolling her eyes, she slid out of sight, and they crept over to a chest. One of them drew a lock pick while the other watched. "You know, Raythor, it's kind of repetitive."

"What are you talking about now, Frost?"

"We steal weapons, Queen Eris takes them back, we steal them again, she takes them back again-"

"I get it! Now shut up! I have to focus!" Frost shrugged, and turned to the bows and arrows. Frost tripped, and the guard woke up. "Huh-HEY! STOP! INTRUDERS!" Raythor whirled on him. "You idiot!"

"It's not my fault!"

"Come on!" Raythor snatched a barrel of gunpowder, set it on fire, and threw it at the guards as they lept out the window. Miranda was waiting for them outside the gates. "You screwed it up again!"

"It was-"

"I DON'T CARE!"

"MIRANDA, LOOK OUT!" Miranda whirled around as a huge snake reared out of the moat. Raythor threw a spear at it, and they ran as arrows were shot at them. "I told you to hurry, but did you listen? NO!"

"You say a lot of things, Spidergirl, most of which we don't-AAGH!" Raythor stopped dead as they reached the edge of a cliff. Frost swore, and Miranda scowled. "For the record, I blame you two! AND DON'T CALL ME SPIDERGIRL!" They whirled around, seeing Queen Eris' army approaching fast. Miranda lept to the next rock, followed by the two men. "Try to keep up, boys!" Frost growled. "Women should know their place!" Raythor laughed. "You honestly think Miranda qualifies as a 'woman'?"

"I HEARD THAT! NOW KEEP UP!"

"...Annoying little brat!" Miranda scowled at him as Frost whistled, and Crimson came trotting up. The three lept down, landing on Crimson. Frost burst into laughter. "SO LONG, SUCKERS! OW!" Miranda had smacked him. "That's for insulting my feminity-"

"What feminity? OW!" Raythor laughed, until Miranda hit him too. "And THAT'S for calling me 'Spidergirl'!"

Will, Irma, Taranee, Cornelia and Hay Lin looked up as Hay Lin's grandmother entered the room, carrying a box. "What's in the box, Grandma?"

"Let me tell you girls a story that I believe will have a special meaning."

"Grandma, they really don't want-"

"Shh!" Her grandmother touched the air, and a vision of the planets materalized out of thin air. "The universe was once a single kingdom, ruled by good. But evil began to take root. A Veil was created, to isolate the evil kingdom of Meridian from all other worlds. Without the protection of this Veil, every world, including Earth, is in terrible danger. Meridian is being threatened by a powerful entity named Phobos. He is attempting to overthrow his mother, the Queen of Meridian. The true Heir to the throne is somewhere on Earth." Irma gulped. "Um, I'd like to wake up now." Yan Lin continued talking. "But portals have begun to open in the Veil; doorways through which evil can cross between worlds. There are people called Guardians, whose job it is to close these portals, using their powers." She snapped her fingers, and the image faded.

"I became a Guardian when I was your age. But now the duty is passing to your generation." Cornelia stood up. "Well, thanks for the snacks!"

"Ah-ah-ah!" Cornelia sank back into her chair as Yan Lin opened the box, taking out a necklace. "This is the Heart of Candracar, which contains the elementary forces of nature. In the last few days, you have all had unusual experiences, am I right?"

"Not counting this one?"

"All five of you are starting to notice extraordinary abilities. Irma, you will have noticed any water near you behaving strangely." Irma's water floated out of her glass, and she gasped. "Whoa!" It splashed back onto the table. "Okay..."

"Taranee, I believe you've always been afraid of fire. But focus now on the candle." The banana suddenly caught fire, and Irma put it out.

"My little Hay Lin, this morning, you noticed your power over air." Hay Lin blew, and the paper lamp in her grandmother's hand inflated.

"To you, Cornelia, is given the power over earth." The plant sitting in front of her bloomed rapidly into a flower. "All five of you will get better with your powers. I hope."

"Uh, did you say five?" They all turned to look at Will. "Um...Hate to disappoint you, but I can't even do that trick where it looks like your thumb comes apart. But if I ever have a party, you guys are definitely the entertainment."

"One of the five binds the others, and with the Heart of Candracar, unites them, summoning and magnifying their powers." The Heart floated towards Will. Taranee stood up. "Uh...recap? We've gotta protect the world from evil by repairing holes in some kind of veil?"

"This doesn't involve sewing, does it?"

"This is so COOL! When can we start!"

"You already have."

"Why are you telling us all this now, Grandma?"

"I fear a dark and difficult time is coming. Many good people will need your help. You have been chosen as the new Guardians of the Veil." Will took off the Heart. "Sorry! It's too wierd! I can't!"

Miranda slid off Crimson. "The Infinite City is still an hour away, you guys. We'd better hurry before it gets any darker." She stopped, as if listening to something. "Uh huh. Gotcha. Thanks, Ced." She turned to face the others. "Big news. Phobos' sister is alive. On Earth."

"Earth?"

"That girl could be a threat. But on the other hand..."

"-She might be able to help us, if only she hasn't been brainwashed already."

"Question is, what's the Heir doing on Earth?"

Meanwhile, Caleb and Drake, two soldiers of Eris' army, were also talking about the Heir. "I have to locate the Heir before Phobos and his army does. I'll see you soon, Drake." Caleb then began climbing a ledge while Drake ran back to the castle. Caleb spotted a portal, and lept through it.

"Yes! A perfect place to practice our powers!"

"You know, I still don't believe ANY of this stuff. No offense to your grandma or anything, but she's, like, completely deluded. Probably not enough vitamin D."

"What about the flower that grew when you just LOOKED at it? And the water in Irma's glass? AND that picture Mrs. Lin drew IN THE AIR?"

"Magic tricks! Ten bucks on the Internet!" Will put on the Heart, and it glowed, lifting her up into the air. "GUARDIANS UNITE!" They landed on the ground, transformed. "HOLY COW!" Irma pointed at Hay Lin. "Ya know, somehow, I can't see your grandma wearing that."

"We have wings!"

"No way! If they were wings, then when we went like this, they'd-AAGH!" Will screamed as she lifted into the air. Hay Lin shot straight up, and flew around the city. "THIS TOTALLY ROCKS! You do something, Taranee!" Taranee winced, and a fire bolt shot from her finger, and headed for Cornelia, who shrieked as she dove out of the way. "IRMA! You're water! Put it out!" She shrieked again as the water splashed her. "There isn't any soil here! I can't do my thing! Like, 'rise towards me', or whatever!" The ground began shaking. "Huh? AAH!" Cornelia was knocked off her feet by a giant...cactus? Suddenly, a worm crawled on her hand. "AGGGGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHH!" She ran away, and was knocked to the ground by Will.

"It's getting late. We've destroyed enough of Heatherfield for today." Will transformed them back, and they looked around. "Where's Hay Lin?"

"AAGH!" CRASH!

"Found her!" As Hay Lin began righting herself, the air next to her began glowing. "G-Guys?"

"Come on, Hay Lin! You can lie in garbage anytime!"

"I really think you ought to check this out!"

"Check what out!" They turned around, and stared at the portal. "AAGH!" A boy came tumbling out, landing next to Hay Lin. "LOOK!" They screamed as they saw a giant snake thingy came through the portal, reaching for the boy. "WILL, HURRY!"

"FIRE!"

"Me?"

"EVERYBODY!"

"CLOSE IT! CLOSE THE PORTAL!"

"HOW?"

"THE THINGY! USE THE CRYSTAL!" The portal closed just as the boy was dragged back through the portal by the snake. "YOU LOST HIM! THAT-THING GOT HIM!"

Later, they told Yan Lin about the boy and the snake thing. "I see. What did he look like?"

"I don't know! He was just a boy! It happened so fast!"

"Don't blame yourselves."

"I don't! I blame her! She totally blew it!" Will's eyes widened, and Irma smacked Cornelia. "Hey, take it easy, Corny!" '

"No, YOU take it easy, Irmy!"

"GUYS!"

"It looked like this!" Hay Lin held up the sketchbook, and Yan Lin stared. "Lord Cedric."

"Lord? They got pretty low standards for knighthood over there."

"Cedric is a follower of Phobos. He is not always in this form."

"Well, that's good news for his wife."

"Irma, this is serious!"

"I know! You think I'm not scared?"

"Don't fight! You only have each other, and you've begun an adventure which I'm afraid you will need all of your talents and strength just to survive."

Phobos looked up as Lord Cedric entered. "Report." Cedric transformed, changing into his human form. "We have one of the military leaders, but I was ambushed at the portal by the Guardians."

"The Guardians are old women, Cedric!"

"Not so, my prince. They are now young women."

"So, the crystal has passed to a new generation. This could complicate the search for my sister. Finding her is essential if I'm to free Meridian!" At that moment, Caleb was dragged in by Frost, Raythor and Miranda. "The trouble-maker, Prince Phobos."

"You will tell us the names of your fellow lackeys of my mother."

"You'll learn nothing from me!" Phobos lifted Caleb off his feet. "You won't be so obstinant after we've killed you!" He turned to Miranda as Caleb was dragged out of the room. "Well?"

"We obtained some weapons, Prince Phobos. However, thanks to these two-" Miranda shot a nasty look at Frost and Raythor, "-We had to flee due to their not sticking to the plan."

"Sticking to the PLAN!"

"There was no plan, except 'Hurry up'!"

"THAT WAS MY POINT!" Phobos rolled his eyes as they continued arguing. "CHILDREN! ENOUGH!" They looked up. "Save your arguments for when you're not in my presence." They nodded, and left with Cedric. Phobos groaned, and put his head in his hands. "One of these days, I'm going to go insane from this place."

"GUYS!"

"What's up?"

"It's Will's backpack!" They found a portal. "Will's on the other side of THAT?"

"This is crazy! Until she puts that on, we don't have any powers! We're taking the word of what, some jewelry, to save a person we hardly know?"

"Cornelia, her name is Will, and she's in horrible danger!"

"Ugh! Okay! But no way I'm going first!" Taranee and Hay Lin stepped through the portal. "I'm not going last, I'll chicken out."

"Okay, I'll go last."

"Then you have to do something."

"What?"

"Push me."

"My pleasure."

Caleb and Blunk looked up as a cage was lowered into the pit, and a girl fell out. Caleb caught her, and she stared at him. "You're that kid from yesterday!"

"You're not one of the Guardians I saw!" Will rolled her eyes. "You're really thick, you know that?"

"Just activate the crystal and fly us outta here!"

"I didn't exactly bring it."

"YOU DIDN'T EXACTLY BRING IT!" Blunk walked over. "Why catch her, not catch Blunk?"

"AAGGH!"

"He's harmless. I think. He's just a smuggler."

"Um, maybe I should go last."

"No, you're right. I should push you." Irma shoved Cornelia through the Veil, and she landed in a swamp. "EW! GROSS, GROSS, GROSS, GROSS!"

"With your eyes bugged out like that, you look just like a frog!"

"Uh, you might wanna move away from-"

"WOO-HOO!" Irma dove into the swamp, splashing Cornelia. "That certainly wakes you up!"

"Look, it's simple! You stand on my shoulders, then he stands on your shoulders!"

"Not until he's had a nine-month bath, he doesn't!"

"I need a rope, some kind of weapon, and what do I get? Short redhead with attitude problem!"

"Hey! I'm a Guardian of the Veil, buddy! You're just some guy at the bottom of a hole!"

Will watched as Caleb slid down the wall. Again. "Will?"

"Hay Lin! I'm down here!"

"Catch!"

"GUARDIANS, UNITE! Stay here!" Will shrieked, dodging Taranee's flame. "This is a rescue? I was safer as a prisioner!"

Will landed next to them. "You came for me! You really are my friends." The door broke down, and soldiers rushed through. "Cornelia, Taranee, block the stairs! Hay Lin, find an exit! Irma, soldier dude's down there! He's too heavy to lift out. His mouth alone must be 200 pounds."

"We don't have to lift him." Irma flooded the hole, lifting him and Blunk out. She gasped as Blunk hopped off of Caleb's head. "Hey, it's him! But what's that?"

"I blocked them, but it's not gonna hold for very long. What is THAT?" Blunk grinned, drooling as he looked around. "There's a million halls down there! It's like this really cool maze! I mean, cool if we weren't, like, you know, trapped in here and everything. Hey! You didn't get eaten by that thing!" Caleb shrugged as Blunk walked over to Hay Lin. "Take Blunk! Blunk knows secret way out!"

"He's...kinda cute..."

They ran as more soldiers came. Cornelia turned around, barring the gates behind them. "Tunnel! Yes! Under moat!" Blunk's face fell as he saw bars covering the hole. Taranee snapped her fingers, trying to break through the bars. Irma smiled. "So, who are you anyway?"

"I'm a Captain in Queen Eris' guard." They heard a roar, and Caleb turned to them. "I'll hold them off as long as I can!"

"NO! You don't have any powers!"

"Stopping them is more important to me. Oh, by the way, my name's Caleb." He sprinted out into the open.

Will paused. "I have to go back for Caleb."

"No!" Hay Lin flew over. "I fly better than you! Actually, chickens fly better than you..."

"Be careful."

Caleb screamed as Cedric knocked him off the edge, and was caught by Hay Lin. "Surprise! Oh, man, you're heavy! So, do you have a girlfriend? Because I think Irma likes you."

"Where's Hay Lin?" Caleb fell into the swamp in front of them. "Sorry!" A huge rocklike thing rose out of the swamp, and Irma threw water at it. Hay Lin then proceeded to knock it over with an air-breath; Cornelia doused it in mud; and Taranee threw a fire bolt at it, but it busted free. They flew through the portal, and it grabbed Irma, dragging her back through. "WILL!" Will closed the portal, and Irma and the thing's hand fell to the ground. "Ow..." They transformed back, and immediately began talking. "Could you believe what we just did?"

"That was so unreal! Talk about teamwork!" Will turned to Cornelia. "What happened to your face?"

"When we swung across the moat, Cornelia George-of-the-Jungle'd into the wall! WHAM!" Cornelia grinned, but then shrieked as Blunk sped past her, disappearing into the pipes. "What dangers are in this place?"

"Just the cafeteria food."

"It was so cool! We fought, and we flew, and the slimo-creepo thing escaped into the pipes!"

"You think he'll be okay in there?"

"If he comes up under the girl's locker room, I'm changing schools." Hay Lin stood up. "Look what I figured out our initials spell!"

"The main thing is, the bad guy didn't get our new best friend."

"Oh, Prince Phobos didn't want Will."

"WHAT?"

"Only her power. I fear he wants another, whose battle is yet to come."

The thunder flashed across the sky, illuminating the Hale's living room briefly. The door swung open, and a 14-year-old girl stood in the doorway, hair and clothes soaked. She attempted to sneak quietly to her room, but a lamp was turned on, and she whirled around. Her elder sister sat in the chair, scowling. "Mom and Dad aren't gonna be happy you stayed out so late."

"I bet you'd just love to see me get in trouble again, huh, Cornelia?"

"Lillian, it's eight in the evening!"

"Really? I thought it was five in the morning!" The two glared at each other. "Besides, you're hardly one to talk. You look like you just got home half an hour ago! And why are your clothes all muddy!" Their parent's bedroom door opened, and their mother charged down the stairs. "WHERE HAVE YOU TWO BEEN!" Cornelia opened her mouth. "Well, I was-"

"I WAS ABOUT TO CALL THE COPS! DO YOU REALIZE HOW WORRIED YOU TWO MADE ME!"

"Mom-"

"DON'T INTERRUPT ME! NOW, WHAT POSSESSED YOU TO STAY OUT SO LATE!" Cornelia spoke first. "I was studying with friends. Sorry I didn't call you." Lillian rolled her eyes. "I was hanging out with some friends, and we must have stayed out longer than I thought."

"Both of you are grounded!"

"What for!"

"For worrying me! No phone, TV, or computer for either of you!"

"For how long!"

"Two months!" Their parents returned to their room, and Lillian whirled on her sister. "This is all your fault!"

"What? How is it my fault!"

"If it wasn't for you getting all up in my business, this wouldn't have happened!" Lillian stalked to her room, as she heard her sister pleading with her mother. She began playing with her pillow. Knowing Cornelia, she'd no longer be grounded by morning. Lillian scowled. Her mother had always shown favoritism for her perfect elder daughter. But she'd always harp on Lillian about every little thing: Her hair, her clothes, the music she listened to...Lillian threw her pillow against the wall. "One of these days, I will show them! I'll show them all!"