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A Charmed Story - Fourteen:
Ashon: Re-Evolution (Freaky Friday 2)
Chapter 1

In the future...
"Hey I've found it!" Chris exclaimed as he walked from the living room into the dining room. "Here... burdock root was used as well..."
"Great!" Jim exclaimed with the same excitement, "so let's start brewing then."
The Elder-witch nodded as he went over to the pile of ingredients they already had gathered. He opened the book where they had marked it earlier and checked which step would be the first one.
Jim meanwhile lit up the little gas-heater beneath the caldron.
"Tell me again," the Elder-witch asked, "why are we doing this in the dining room?"
"Because Aunt Piper occupied the kitchen while, Cole is teaching Matthew how to control his energy balls in the attic and your older self would kill us if we damage the living room," Jim replied with a smirk.
Chris nodded grinning. "Right... I knew there was a reason..." And at this both started to laugh.
Then they started the first steps following the recipe. First they put some lavender oil into the caldron, followed by some water and an egg. Then they added all kids of herbs, all the while checking with the book if they were still on the right way.
"Well if this thing works then..." Jim said.
But Chris interrupted them: "Then you really have something to be proud of... this will really give us a great advantage." And Jim nodded in agreement.
Meanwhile on the stairs the older Chris stood, leaning on the banister, watching the scene from the distance.
"It's a good thing, right?" he suddenly heard a very familiar voice. So he turned around to look directly into Wyatt's eyes who stood right behind him.
"What do you mean?" he asked.
"Them," his brother answered gesturing over to Chris and Jim, "it's good for Jim to have a chance to spend time with him. And they really had been doing that a lot in the past week."
Chris now nodded thoughtful: "You're right. But it was also a nice experience for me... Jim is a good kid. And he dreamt of this chance since the day you came back from the past and told all those nice stories about me."
"Yeah..." Wyatt grinned, thinking back to that time. Then he went on: "He's a lot like you, you know? Magic is the air he breathes."
Now Chris smirked: "Yeah..." But then he looked at his brother frowning: "Am I really that bad?"
"I never said that," Wyatt replied smiling. They both did. And for a while they just looked at each other that way...
But then Wyatt suddenly turned serious. "I'm sorry," he said.
Now Chris frowned, looking at the man in front of him. "For what?" he asked.
"I know you have a reason to act like you do, and I do know that you support me and Julia..." Wyatt replied. His whole appearances now seemed to be sad, but he wasn't done yet. "It's just sometimes hard to remember when you... You know, when you so openly take Michael's side."
Chris sighed at those words and pulled his brother into a tight hug. "I'm sorry," he said, "I didn't mean to hurt you. But be sure, soon this will all be solved on its own."
Wyatt separated himself from his brother to look into his eyes. Then he nodded smiling.
But right the next second the moment was destroyed when they heard something explode in the dining room.
"Shit!" Wyatt exclaimed and orbed down to see what had happened, Chris following instantly.
They orbed into the dinning room only to find it filled with smoke. They heard some coughing, and also footsteps coming from the direction of the kitchen.
"What happened?" Piper asked, even though Wyatt could hardly see her through the smoke. There was a lot of coughing before the smoke cleared enough to see young Chris and Jim standing over a cauldron, covered in whatever they had been brewing.
"Too much..." Chris started, still coughing and trying to fan the smoke away with a hand. "Too much burdock root." A few more coughs followed. The smoke had finally cleared enough now, for them to see Piper, standing nearby, hands on her hips, shaking her head. She turned around then and went back into the kitchen, since there was no danger.
"Why didn't you warn them about that?" Wyatt asked the older Chris, crossing his arms in front of his chest.
"What? Am I supposed to remember every single little detail of what happens to me at any given time?" Chris said, defensively.
Wyatt exchanged looks with young Chris and Jim, then all three turned to old Chris. "Yes!" they all said in unison, and everyone burst out laughing.

& & & & &

In the present...
Veronica walked into the library at Magic School. It seemed to be a habit these days. Actually, it seemed like she spent more time in the library then anywhere else. Just like everyone else did. They were all here. The Elders, Silas, Odin, and Elenia were looking through the bookcases. The Charmed Ones, Leo, and Cole were sitting at the table looking through book after book. Bianca was sitting by the window watching little Wyatt, baby Christopher, and Hope. Christopher was pacing back and forth, looking really stressed. And Tom, who must have just come back from a coffee run, was handing out cups to everyone.
Phoebe looked up then, feeling Veronica's worry. "How is she, Sweetie?" she asked, concerned for Nicki. They all knew that's where Veronica had been, checking up on the young witch.
"Same as yesterday, and the day before that. She still hasn't come out of her room. I'm not even sure if she's eaten anything. At least she hasn't touched the food I put outside her door." Veronica said, downcast, as she came over and sat down next to Phoebe.
Nicki had practically gone into shock after what had happened to Steve a week ago, and hasn't left her room since. Christopher had suggested to extend the holidays for the school, and everyone had agreed. There was no way one of them could teach a class in this situation anyway. They all, including some of the Elders, had started looking in every book they could find to see if they could find a way to save Steve, while Julian had returned to the Underworld to look for answers there.
"After what she's been through, I wouldn't blame her if she never came out of her room again." Phoebe said, patting Veronica's hand. She glanced at Cole, who was sitting across from her, remembering the time she'd had to vanquish him when he was the Source, and how much that had hurt her.
"I just hope we can find an answer to all this, so she'll have a reason to come out of her room," Paige said, slamming another book shut. No one even flinched. She had been doing that for the past four days, and no one noticed it anymore.
She reached for another book from the we-haven't-checked-in-here-yet pile. Christopher walked by right in front of her then. "Will you stop that?! You are driving me nuts!" Paige said, annoyed, as she slammed the book down in front of her.
"Like that's not bothering anyone?" Christopher said about the books she kept slamming.
"No. Not like your incessant pacing!" she shot back, glaring at him.
"Christopher," Piper spoke up then. Though the answer she got was not the one she had expected, for Baby Christopher giggled then, clearly recognizing his name. Everyone turned to see the little boy sitting between his brother and niece and looking at his mother. Piper couldn't help but smile.
"Yes, mom?" Christopher answered after a moment, letting his mother enjoy the look on his younger self's face.
"You're from the future. You must know how we can help Steve," she finally dared to ask. The look she gave him almost ripped his heart out. He wanted to help, he really did.
"You know I can't tell you anything," he replied, feeling really bad.
"Yeah, yeah, future consequences. You know, you sound like Chris," Phoebe said, somewhat sarcastically.
"Yeah. You're just as neurotic, too," Paige added, much more sarcastically. With everyone's attention on Christopher, no one noticed the smile forming on Bianca's face as she remembered how Chris was before he had saved Wyatt.
Christopher, meanwhile, wasn't sure if he should take that as a compliment, since he admired Chris, or as an insult. "That's not the point. I couldn't tell you, even if I wanted to," he said defensively.
"That's a cop out!" Paige said, still in a sarcastic mood, while flipping pages in the book.
"What do you mean?" Leo asked curiously, looking up at his grown up son.
"I mean, I don't know what happened to Steve," he replied, discouraged.
"How can you not know? There must be some record, one way or the other," Piper said, confused.
Christopher lowered his head, feeling a little ashamed for not knowing how to help. He looked over at his little self, wondering why no one had told him. "No one told me what happened to Steve. I only know the destination. Not the journey." He tried to explain.
Everyone looked at Odin then. Feeling the eyes on him, he slowly turned to look at the Halliwells. "What?" he asked confused, looking at each in turn.
"You taught him that, didn't you?!" Piper accused her son's Godfather.
Odin was at a complete loss as to what to answer, since he hadn't even taught Christopher how to recite spells, let alone teach him anything about journeys and destinations.
"What do you mean, no one told you?" Cole spoke up this time.
Christopher was starting to get nervous with all eyes on him. "Just that. No one told me," he said, now starting to feel helpless on top of everything else. It had been bad enough that night when they had gotten home and everyone had found out who he was. To him, at the time, it seemed like they thought of him as just another problem to solve. So they pushed the thought out of their heads, and dove head first into the biggest problem at hand: How to save Steve.
"But why wouldn't we tell you?" Phoebe asked, perplexed.
"Isn't it obvious?" Silas said from his perch on top of a ladder. He looked down at everyone, finding a slightly wobbly position on the ladder, and hoping he wouldn't fall. All eyes turned to him now, letting Christopher off the hook for the time being.
"Obvious?" Paige asked, feeling like nothing was obvious right now.
"In the future we must have known he'd come back to the past. And by then we must also have figured out his role in the coming events. His reason for being here. And they must be tied together, otherwise we would have told him what happened to Steve." Everyone just looked at Silas like he'd grown a second head, not completely sure they understood him.
"Or maybe whatever happened didn't seem important to us anymore, when they were old enough for those stories... Or what happened to Steve was so horrible, that we didn't want to tell the children at all," Odin said, glancing over at the little ones then, feeling bad for even thinking that. Elenia's head dropped at the thought.
"Don't say that! We'll get Steve back. I promise."
Everyone turned to the new voice. Standing by the door was Nicki. Eyes red from crying, hair disheveled, clothes that looked like she had slept in them. But what caught them most was the look in her eyes. The look of pure determination to save the man she loved.
"Nicki!" Tom exclaimed. He was the closest to the door and hugged his friend now, glad to have her back from her isolation. Nicki returned the hug but then separated herself from him quickly again.
She stepped forward until she stood right in front of Christopher. She had thought about all this when she was alone. First, she was desperately sad, she felt like someone had ripped her in two. But then she realized that crying wouldn't help her or her finance... And she was sure that Steve was not lost, somehow she was deadly sure about that. So she replayed the events in her mind again and again, trying to find a clue. But while doing that she came up with more and more questions and now was the time to get some of them answered. And Christopher would be her first victim.
"So... Christopher, right?" she asked, her eyes fixed on him in a way that made his blood froze... almost as if he was back in school sitting in one of her classes without homework. But before he had a chance to say anything she went on: "If you are here, then tell me, why didn't you know that this would happen?"
The witch-Elder sighed: "Nicki we already had that discussion... I didn't know this would happen. How could I? I'm a little baby right now! And when I grew up no one ever told me about it."
But the woman just shook her head: "I don't mean that... But - correct me if I'm wrong - if Steve turned into an Ashon, and before he was human... than I suspect he is both... You should have known that he can transform into a demon completely!"
Now Christopher lowered his eyes and then nodded.
"Then why didn't you tell us?" Nicki asked.
"Honey, please," Veronica said, putting an arm around her friend, "for him it was a normal thing, I guess. How could he have known that this is a thing to worry about?" And at this Christopher looked at her again and nodded eagerly.
Nicki narrowed her eyes at him, and asked: "So... in the future you come from, Steve is really able to switch between human and demon?" Christopher nodded lowering his head again. "And he's fine with that?" Again he nodded. "Does he still love me?"
Christopher rose his eyes at this to look into hers and said, his voice low but serious: "He loves you more than anything else in the world."
Nicki nodded and smiled slightly, thankful for that little bit of information, knowing he already said too much about the future. And she also knew that with him being in the past, there was no guarantee that things would still go this way... But she still had hope.
Now she turned to the next person she wanted some answers from: Elenia. "And you," she said, addressing her, "he is your son, you knew who his father was. Have you never thought this might happen?" But before the Elder could answer Nicki turned to Phoebe: "And you... you yourself told me about what it is like to love a half-demon..." Then she turned to Cole with a look mixed of anger and disbelief: "And you once were half-human half-demon, too. How could you not know this would happen to him? You were like him once, so how could you not know??????"

& & & & &

Victor was sitting on the sofa in the manor's living room, reading the newspaper. Since six days he was occupying one of the guest rooms again. When he had left and went back to LA on January 10th, he had never guessed that he would be back just about a month later. But then Piper had called him, asking if he could come over to them again. She said they had a little problem to deal with and would be glad if he could help them watching the kids. Well of course he agreed immediately. And after everything at work was cleared up, he packed his things and let himself be orbed over by Leo. That was six days ago...
By now he knew what was going on... He knew about Christopher being not Chris. Phoebe's suspicions about the new Senator - and he was glad that he didn't vote for that guy - but that problem stood on the very end of the list... And he knew about Steve, the main problem.
Right now his whole family was at magic school, searching for a way to fix things, while he had a moment to relax. Normally he would have gone with them since he didn't really like to be alone in that huge house, but... Paige was waiting for a mail - some kind of magic thing she had ordered online - and he offered to stay behind and pick it up.
Right then orbs appeared in front of him, forming into his thee grand- and great-grandkids, the oldest of the tree holding onto the other two.
"Wyatt? What are you doing here?" Victor asked worried.
The boy grinned: "We're bored..."
"But what about your mom and aunts?" he asked, knowing that they took the kids with them that day, because they wanted and needed to spend some time with them.
Wyatt meanwhile had let go of his younger brother and cousin and went over to sit down by his grandfather as he explained: "Nicki came and was not in a good mood. So I asked Aunt Anka if we could go to you and she said it was ok..."
Victor sighed at this, through he knew it were good news that Nicki came out of her room again.
"So..." he said then, "what do we wanna play?" he was about to stand up to make sure that Christopher and Hope wouldn't crawl through the manor on their own (since both became really fast at this lately) when suddenly he heard Christopher's cute little voice saying "Kiki". Looking up he saw a picture that made the older man smile. On the other side of the table stood Christopher on unsteady legs, looking with his nose right over the table, holding himself upright with his hands clawed to the wood of the table.
"Oh my, Wyatt look... Your brother's first attempt to stand!" the man exclaimed proudly. The blond 3-year-old boy looked at his brother smiling, through not really understanding what was so special about that. But it was special, since the boy was just 8 month old. But with Wyatt being around him all the time, he picked things up quite fast from his big brother.
Victor was meanwhile about to stand up again to get Kiki, Christopher's fluffy cat he had gotten for Christmas when another pair of small hands, which appeared on the table besides Christopher's, made him sit down again. And a moment later another head (or better half of it) appeared next to the boy, showing the sparkling and curious eyes of Hope. The girl was a little smaller than the boy and was just barely able to look over the table but this really was a cute sight.
"I can't believe it," Victor said, "you're standing up, too!" That was indeed a huge surprise since she was even younger than Christopher, but Hope always tried to do what Christopher did, so of course she did so this time, too. "Oh, Chris will be so sad that he can't see you right now..." Victor muttered.
Hearing those words, Wyatt tucked on his grandfather's sleeve saying: "No problem." And when the man turned to him the boy orbed Cole's really expensive digital camera, which of course he wasn't allowed to take, to his hands.
Victor smiled at his clever grandson, took the camera and a few seconds later the cute picture in front of him was safely stored on the memory card inside the camera. Not a second later Hope fell back on her butt with a small thud, still giggling happily, but not able to hold herself upright any longer.
Smiling Victor took the camera down, right when the front door opened.
"Anybody home?" he heard a by now familiar voice.
Meanwhile Christopher also had enough of peering over the table and fell back down on his butt as well.
"Living room!" Victor called and a moment later Kyle stepped through the doorway.
"Hey," he greeted, smiling and then went over to the kids to ruffle their hairs to say hello, too.
Victor smiled at the man. "Nice to see you again," he said, since he had last seen him during breakfast this very same day. "Paige is at the school, as you probably can guess..."
The man nodded and sat down besides him. "Did Wyatt play with Cole's camera again?" he then asked.
Victor laughed shaking his head. "No, this is my fault," he explained taking the camera again to show the man the picture he made.
Kyle smiled when he saw it. It was really a cute shot... "Isn't hope a little too young for a stunt like this?" he then asked surprised.
"I'm surprised as well... I guess it's Christopher's and Wyatt's influence... But then again... What is normal in this family?" At this both men laughed.
"Can we play now?" Wyatt asked then, feeling a little left out.
Victor nodded: "Of course we will... We both will go to the sunroom and play with your cars, what do you think?" At this Wyatt nodded eagerly. "And I'm sure I've seen Kiki sitting in the playpen, too... Uncle Kyle," he went on looking at the man, "will relax a little and then he'll follow us, right?"
"Right," the man agreed smiling, always enjoying it to spend time with the kids...

& & & & &

Unholy sounds could be heard from throughout the Underworld, warning off all but the bravest... or the truly evil, and not to mention the very foolish. But not everyone down here was all that. In a disguised cave, away from prying demonic eyes, lived a strange pair. A human and a demon. Now, they definitely weren't foolish, but you could call them brave. As for being evil, well, maybe they weren't as evil as they should have been. Especially the demon, who was the Source of all Evil. Though you'd definitely think he was at this very moment.
"Julian, where the Hell are you going this time?!" Belthazor yelled angrily at his friend.
"Out. The same as yesterday... And the day before that," Julian said, exasperated. He'd been saying the same thing every day for the last week. He knew why Belthazor was angry, but it was still taking a toll on him. Belthazor moved around to intercept him.
"No. You are not going out again. Have you lost your mind?" The big red demon said, standing over the witch. His face would have been red with anger, if he'd been human and not already red. Julian looked up at him, forcing himself to stay calm. Belthazor was just looking out for him, trying to protect him. He repeated that to himself like a mantra, wishing his friend knew a better way to deal with his emotions then blowing up like this all the time.
'He's a demon! Why do I keep thinking he can change?' Julian thought. "I'm going. With or without your approval. And I'm going to get the information we need. Now get out of my way," he told the big red demon in front of him.
If anyone else had been standing there looking up at the Source, they would be shaking with fear. But not Julian. He knew Belthazor would never hurt him. They were too good of friends.
"We can't interfere. I can't get involved. And neither should you," Belthazor said angrily, not wanting to give in, but trying to be reasonable at the same time. Ever since that night, when he watched Julian get hurt, it had driven him insane that he couldn't help. And now Julian was hell bent on helping the Halliwells to save Steve. But for him, it wasn't that easy, he had an image to uphold as the Source. He couldn't go around helping witches to vanquish demons. Even if he wanted to help. Which he did! And it was unbelievably frustrating for him to not be able to help.
"Steve saved my life! I have to help!" Julian replied, his voice rising a little, the anger and frustration at Belthazor's fathering starting to get to him. He matched the demon's stare, glare for glare.
"And what if the Ashon capture you? You know I won't be able to bail you out. It's already known that you have ties to the Halliwells. If they connect you to me..."
"Right. Make this all about you! Forget that Steve is out there, going through ceremonies that will make him a full Ashon in a matter of days. Never to be human again. We still know far too less about what they do to him," Julian cut him off, the anger taking over. But neither backed down.
"This isn't about me! If they find out about our connection, the demons of the Underworld will mutiny! They will kill us both and go after the Charmed Ones and their family. Then they'll seek out every last witch on the planet and destroy them! I can't help the sisters if I'm dead. And neither can you!" Belthazor bellowed, but Julian didn't flinch. They'd known each other for too long, and been through too much.
"You're a demon! You're not supposed to be helping witches!" He yelled back, shoving Belthazor away from him. "Now let me pass."
"If they catch you..." the Source started.
"They can't catch what they can't see." Julian turned invisible then and left the cave, effectively ending the conversation.
The whole past week had gone pretty much the same. Belthazor would try to stop Julian from leaving, then they'd get in a fight. Then Julian would turn invisible and leave, leaving Belthazor to worry about him for hours. Then Julian would return and tell him everything he'd learned, even if it was just some small nugget of information, like if Steve was alright, to something big, like the ceremonies Steve had to go through. But it always left Belthazor with a feeling of helplessness, since he couldn't freely go out and help himself. And he truly wanted to help. Never before, since their separation, had he wished for the days when he and Cole had been one. Back then, he could walk freely among his enemies, and they would never know what he really was. It was like he had a secret identity, like Superman or Batman. Well, more like The Green Goblin or Two Face. But at least he was free to go where he wished. Now as the Source, and without his human half, he was watched by Underworld factions, just waiting for him to show he wasn't loyal to them. If they found out what his true intentions were, they'd kill Julian first, then go after the Halliwells. And the Halliwells and their friends had been becoming like family to him. Losing them or Julian, they were his weakness. That, he couldn't afford for anyone to find out. And Julian's constant desire to put himself in harms way lately, just made things harder for him. How was he supposed to save his friend, if he was always running around getting into trouble?
The frustration he'd been feeling spilled over, and he picked up a wood and metal bookshelf and threw it across the room. The wood splintered as it hit the cave wall, sending shrapnel and books everywhere. It was times like these, he was glad the cave was sound proof. And at least now he had something to focus on other than how Julian was. So he walked over to the broken shelf, the frustration gone out of him now, and started to pick up the books.
As he did so, he realized he must have thrown the shelf harder than he thought, since part of the wall had been busted and a book had lodged itself in the hole. After fighting with the book for a few minutes, he finally pulled it out. Looking at the cover, he sensed something wasn't right. First, he didn't recognize the book. And he knew all the books they had down here. He should, he spent months reading them. But then, where did this one come from? He looked over where the bookcase had been, then to the wall where he had thrown it. His gaze fell to the hole where he had found the book. Leaning down to take a closer look, he realized the book hadn't lodged in there, but had been hidden there. He leaned back and picked the book back up, taking a closer look at the cover. Frowning he thought: 'This book shouldn't even be in the Underworld. So what is it doing here?'

& & & & &

Meanwhile in the future...
After the older Chris had went to the kitchen to see if he could help Piper, Wyatt looked into the caldron, before turning to the younger Chris and Jim, asking: "What are you doing here anyway?"
"We try to invent a new potion!" Jim said proudly.
Wyatt looked at him frowning, then said: "Yeah sure..." He was about to turn and leave for his room when his cousin hold him back.
"No, really," he said, "we try to make a potion that counters the dimension-shift-effect of the Monk-demons."
At this Wyatt raised an eye-brow. And Chris added: "Yeah, it's supposed to work at contact make them vulnerable against our powers again. Jim found a potion in a book that we hope to be able to modify..."
Wyatt tilted his head: "If that would work..."
"Exactly!" Jim said, smiling proudly again. Chris had to grin and his cousin's attitude, but he could perfectly understand it. They were already pretty close to the solution and if they would get it to work...
But then Wyatt frowned again: "Ok... but let's just say you make this work, then why does our Chris not use the potion already?" Jim looked at Chris who looked back at his cousin and shrugged. "So..." Wyatt then said, "maybe you should not waste your time like all the others before you did... Not even the Elders found a solution so for..."
"But..." Chris said, shaking his head. "No, Wyatt... You are wrong."
"Really?" both Wyatt and Jim now said, looking at Chris confused.
The Elder-witch just sighed: "Even if we will get this to work, and I'm sure we will... I couldn't use it until now because it was Jim's idea and even if I would want to I wouldn't use the potion before he invents it... Future Consequences." The last thing he added with a shrug.
"Really? I mean, you really would keep that a secret?" Jim asked.
"Of course I will... like everything else I witness here. I can't tell anyone about it..." Chris replied, now getting sad. Because he actually wanted to tell them, especially Bianca, how amazing the future is. But he also knew if he would tell them he'd probably change it.
"Now I know why no one is worried about you being here," Wyatt said. Then he patted Jim's and Chris' shoulder whishing them good luck with the potion before he left through the door to the basement.
Jim stared at Chris for a moment then asked: "Shall we start new? With less burdock root this time?" Chris nodded with a smile and so they did, again starting with the lavender oil...
After a couple of minutes Chris suddenly asked: "I... I don't want to be noisy, but... Do you know why your dad isn't at the police anymore?"
"That one really surprised you, huh?"
Chris nodded at this. He had always thought that Kyle loved his job, but he had to find out that in the future he worked as private investigator instead.
"Well," Jim said, "I don't know everything, I mean he gave up his job before I was born... But as far as I know it was because of us. I guess it's not easy to be a cop when you are in love with a witch. And now he's working with Cole and doesn't have to write official reports anymore..."
"Yeah I guess that's a real advantage..." Chris said laughing. Then he asked: "And you? What will you do with your life?"
At this Jim shrugged: "I'm not sure. I like to be a witch-whitelighter, you know... But of course I know I need to do something... Through I'm not sure what that could be just yet. I only know that I want to help people, you know..."
Chris nodded at this. Then he said: "Well you still have time. I'm sure you'll make your way..."
Jim smiled and nodded as he added - this time less - burdock root to the mixture in the caldron...

& & & & &

Back in our time...
The underworld was not as dark as one would think. Sure, parts were so dark that you couldn't see the hand in front of your eyes. But others were not.
So there was, for example, a cave which was pretty large. It was round and in the middle were a couple of columns making sure the ceiling wouldn't crash down on those living there. There were several bright fires burning, lighting up the place, giving it a somehow welcoming atmosphere. All around the walls were little holes beaten into the stone, like alcoves one would say. Inside, on the floor, hay was laid out, just enough to give someone a place where he could have a good night of sleep. In some of those holes there even were blankets made of fur or leather. There, where there was no hole, you could find paintings on the walls, telling stories of life, of surviving, of victory...
This cave was not empty. No... In fact there were lots of beings running around in a busy way, doing what they always did on any other day. Talking, getting water to drink from a spring in the back of the cave, getting something to eat, taking care of kids playing around the bright fires, chatting with others... Yes those beings were busy with the all day life as usual. If it wouldn't have been for their appearance one would have seen no difference between them and humans.
Yeah their appearance was quite different. Those beings had grey skin, with bumps here and there. Those bumps were a sign of the age as it seems, because the kids had almost none while those who were some decades or even centuries old had quite a lot. They were wearing simple clothes made of leather, some were even wearing human clothes, probably from a witch they had killed, which made them look even more normal, in a weird way.
Well, apart from being grey and having bumps and having those red eyes, they were as different in their appearance as humans, just to compare them again. There were large ones and small ones, fat ones and thin ones, and the hair had colors from blond to red to brown to black... Yes, that's what they were like - the Ashon.
In one of those alcoves mentioned before, was sitting an Ashon of still a young age, through he was by far no kid anymore. He was wearing - through torn and dirty - the clothes of a human. A jeans and a shirt. He was sitting there, on the hay, a leather blanket around his shoulders, hugging his bend knees, staring at the other side of the wall, without really seeing it. But he did notice that someone was approaching him, through he didn't move or even blink.
"Tevaal?" the female Ashon asked to get his attention, her voice surprisingly soft. She was probably a few years older than him, with long brown hair. "What are you doing here, all alone, Tevaal?" she asked, because he still didn't react to her presence.
"I don't think you should call me like this," he said, without turning to her.
"But it's your name, isn't it?" she asked with a frown.
"No, it's not... It's the name you and the others gave me, but I have another name." At this the Ashon lowered his eyes to his hands.
The female one nodded at this. Then she asked: "So, young one... what is your name then?"
Tevaal shook his head, then turned to her, distress written all over his face. He sighed: "I can't remember, Meehan. I... I just know that I had another name... And..."
"And?" Meehan asked, worried about him. The oldest of her clan had said he would adapt soon to his new life, and they had given her the task to take care of him while he got used to their ways. But the female Ashon knew that this was harder for the young one then they thought.
Tevaal had buried his face in his hands for a moment, thinking, trying to find words for what's going on inside of him. Then he turned to Meehan again, who had become a friend for him, here in this place. She always cared for him and he knew he could talk to her freely. "I'm not sure..." he said therefore, "I just remember some feelings, some pictures... but it seems all so far away. I feel so like I'm missing something... something important. And that worries me."
Meehan nodded. Then she climbed into the alcove beside him and made him rest his head on her lap. She caressed his head, trying to calm him down in the process. She knew those memories from his past life were strong, and that was good. But it surely would take some time until they would all come back to him completely. So for now all she could do was offer him support... "It's ok..." she whispered to him, "everything is going to be alright. Just try to sleep a little..."
"Will you stay here? Make sure I won't have a nightmare again?" he asked, remembering that other time, when he had woken up filled with panic, but unable to recall his dream.
Meehan smiled at this request, glad that he trusted her. "Of course I'll stay. Just sleep, I'll protect you." And so Tevaal closed his eyes and slowly drifted off to sleep.

& & & & &

Everyday Julian came here looking for answers. And somehow he always got some. Though what he found out today was not what he had expected. He crouched nearby, invisible, listening intently. He heard every word Tevaal had said to Meehan. And he couldn't believe his ears.
'He knows he has another name and there's something else he has forgotten! I have to tell the others,' Julian thought and quickly but quietly got up to leave the immense cave. As soon as he thought he was far enough from the Ashon's den, he shimmered back to his friend.

(Chapter 1 written by Chrissy.W.x and Kirianna Ledräen)