Legacy: Pieces of Eight

by Lady Dawson

Chapter One: Stolen Amulets

Chris Halliwell stifled a yawn behind his hand as he scribbled down notes during his history lecture, trying not to appear exhausted and failing miserably. It probably would've been a good idea to skip classes and get some sleep after an all-nighter demon hunt, but considering he could only have two unexplained absences, he decided that it wasn't worth it.

After the last incident with his girlfriend Susan Dawson's father, Peter Connelly, things had been relatively quiet, just a few stray demons that had no connection whatsoever with their archenemy. Whether or not this was a good sign, Chris didn't know, but they hadn't really had any new sightings of the dark witch. Bobby had even contacted them once and said that they were lying low for awhile, after they had stopped the demon from taking over Neverland and Bianca, Chris's demonic ex-girlfriend, hadn't returned.

Personally, Chris didn't think she was out of the picture just yet, but she definitely wasn't getting out of that dimension they'd sent her to anytime soon, so he wasn't going to worry about it for awhile.

Glancing up as the lecture ended, Chris gathered up his belongings and silently cursed himself for taking all morning classes as he slung his bag onto his shoulder, heading out onto campus towards the parking lot to head back to the apartment. Undoubtedly, there was probably some new demon to be taken care of.

"Hey, Chris." Susan appeared from behind him, her blue eyes sparkling as she grinned up at him, slipping her arm around his. "You look about as tired as I feel," she commented, glancing up at him as Chris grinned at her. "Why is it that demons have no respect for our schedules? Don't they realise that we have lives to live, too?"

"I doubt it," Chris said, laughing as they walked together. "See any new ones hanging around?"

"None whatsoever, but your big brother and my best friend are currently in the apartment 'together,'" she said, air quoting the last word. "So I'd say that we'd better stay clear of there for the time being. I really don't want to have to listen to that again."

"How do you know that—"

"Because Brooke was not in the last lecture and when I called my apartment to see if she was running late, Wyatt answered the phone and said that she was a little busy with something," Susan answered, rolling her eyes. "And he had that tone in his voice whenever they do something dirty."

"Get your mind out of the gutter, missy," Chris reprimanded with a shudder. "Well, that throws going home and getting some sleep out of the window. Want to go grab something to eat?"

"Sure." Susan shook her head as he took her books out of her hand. "Where did you learn how to be such a gentleman, anyway?"

"Mom," Chris said with a grin. "Being raised around a mother, two aunts, and five girl cousins pretty much makes a guy act like a gentleman when he's around beautiful girls." Susan chuckled just as a motorcycle pulled onto the curb next to them and the driver glanced towards her.

"Right, because they pretty much put you in your place and taught you everything that you need to know to be around us women," Susan said, still laughing. "Remind me to send them a thank you card." Chris shook his head as the driver of the motorcycle climbed off and turned towards them.

"Hey," he called. Chris glanced at him and Susan turned around, frowning slightly as she glanced at Chris, but she seemed to realise that his attention was focused on her, even though they couldn't see the driver with his dark helmet covering his face.

"Hi," she said uneasily, her hands drifting towards her pocket, where potions were usually stored.

"Oh, you really don't need any of those, Susie," he commented. Chris cocked an eyebrow at the use of the detested nickname, glancing towards his girlfriend, whose eyes were narrowed as he pulled off his helmet, revealing a guy a couple of years older than they were, probably around Wyatt's age.

"Alex!" Susan exclaimed, looking thrilled to see him as she ran over to him. The guy grinned and scooped her up into a tight hug as she laughed. "What are you doing here?"

"Well, I'm here to see my baby cousin," Alex said, grinning at her. "And to see how your new life is going. Seems like it's doing pretty good," he added, glancing towards Chris. "Hi, I'm Alex Dawson."

Susan looked to Chris and waved him over. "Relax, he's my cousin, Chris," Susan said, still looking thrilled to see him. She looked towards Alex. "This is my boyfriend Chris Halliwell."

"Pleasure to meet you," Chris said, shaking Alex's hand as he gave his cousin a dubious look.

"Yeah, you too," Alex said before looking towards his cousin, giving her an incredulous look, eyebrows raised. "Boyfriend?" he echoed and Susan smiled weakly. "Well, I guess that means that I lost that bet with Marie. I was sure that you weren't gonna meet a guy until you were, like, thirty or something."

"My own cousins were betting on how my love life turned out?" Susan demanded. "You guys really need to find a new hobby." She shook her head. "How is Marie, anyway? How are Uncle Teddy and Mark?"

"They're good." Alex glanced sideways at Chris before returning his attention to his cousin. "So . . . can we talk openly in present company?"

"Yeah, it's fine," Susan told him as Chris blinked in confusion. "He's a witch, too, don't worry."

"Oh." Alex looked at him and comprehension dawned on him. "OH! You mean he's that Halliwell?" Susan nodded once and Chris grinned, noticing the similarity between the cousins. "Okay, well, I am here to see you, but I'm also here because one of my charges is in trouble."

"You have charges?" Chris asked, incredulous. He had been under the impression that the Dawsons weren't exactly the most Whitelighter-friendly. It had taken Susan awhile to accept Brandon as her Whitelighter, in any case.

"Alex is my mom's older brother's kid," Susan explained. "So, he got the Whitelighter gig, just not the witch one."

"Lucky me," Alex mumbled and Chris chuckled. "I think that Marie had the smart idea with telling the Elders to go—"

"Alexander Theodore Dawson!" Susan said sharply, looking appalled.

"What?" Alex grinned at her. "All right, all right, I'll get to the point. One of my charges is here in San Francisco. You remember Candace?"

"Candace . . . Candace . . ." Susan frowned slightly, her face pensive. "Um . . . wasn't she the witch with the power to shape-shift into animals?" Alex nodded. "Right, you had trouble with her because she grew up in foster homes and all of sudden she became a super-powerful witch who was supposed to guard some amulet or something."

"Exactly," Alex said, looking towards Chris now. "Candace was one of eight guardians, meant to protect one of eight different amulets. Well, she contacted me yesterday to tell me that one of the other guardians, Natasha, was killed two days ago. And apparently the amulet was taken from her."

Chris looked at Alex quickly before turning his attention to Susan, whose face was transfixed on her cousin. When she looked at him, she said in a relatively calm voice, "Survey says . . .?"

"Demons," Chris answered with a nod.

--

Peter Connelly stared down at the glittering amulet in his hand as it radiated blue lights from where it hung. Standing up, he retrieved the key to his safe, opening it up and pulling out a velvet box, laying it on his desk carefully as he opened it up.

Four amulets, almost identical to the one that he now held, lay in the box, gleaming indigo, red, yellow, and green lights respectively. Looking down at the five amulets, Peter placed the blue one in its proper place in the box. "Five down," he murmured softly, "and two to go."

Lifting the box back into the safe, Peter locked the safe securely just as the door opened and his wife Deidre entered, her short blonde hair pinned up as she pulled her evening coat off.

"Here you go," she said sharply, tossing a file onto his desk. Peter glanced at it, then at her, eyebrows raised and she sighed impatiently. "It's all there, husband. Everything that you need to find out what you want. But I have to say that you probably aren't going to be getting any information from them. The Oracles are very fickle on who they give out information to."

"Don't worry about me, wife," Peter said carelessly. "If they don't want to give me what I want, then I'll have to find other means of persuasion." He took a swig from his drink as he picked up the file, glancing at its contents half-heartedly. "Although, that would be fun in itself. Don't wait up," he added, looking at her sideways as he picked up his coat and left.

Deidre sighed as she looked towards her husband, shaking her head as she turned and jumped, startled to find her son standing in the doorway. "Bobby, you have got to stop sneaking around in the shadows," she scolded, though she knew that he wouldn't. The boy was seventeen years old, not a child any longer. Maybe not quite a man, but no longer a mere child.

"Sorry," he said quietly as he shoved his hands into his pockets. "What's Dad going to the Oracles for?"

"It doesn't matter," she said indifferently. "It doesn't concern you, sweetheart, you don't need to worry about it."

Bobby lifted his head to stare at her and she looked away from him, unable to hold her son's gaze. How she and Peter were able to create such a son was beyond her. Peter was the paragon of everything that was corrupted and evil. Deirdre was the poster woman of weakness, helplessness, and fear. And Bobby . . . he was so good and pure and innocent . . . she didn't know what she would do if he became corrupted life his father.

"Mom, it does matter," he said firmly, "because if this is something that is going to affect my sister . . ." She looked up as he said those two words. " . . . then I need to know." His eyes, focused on hers, were filled with pleading and determination. He wouldn't find out one way or another and without would only put his life in danger . . . and Susan's.

Deirdre stared at her son for a long moment before she began to tell him. Bobby's eyes became wider with every word and by the time that she was done, he had already left, doubtlessly to warn his sister of the impending doom that was now upon them.

"The frightening part about all of this is," she murmured, with no one to overhear her. "Everything does depend on him, for better or worse." It was terrifying to her that, depending on the choices he made, her son would either doom them all . . . or be their salvation.

--Opening Credits--

Title song: "Chariot" by Gavin Degraw

Drew Fuller as Chris Halliwell

Wes Ramsey as Wyatt Halliwell

Michelle Trachtenberg as Susan Dawson

Anne Hathaway as Brooke Murphy

Hayden Christensen as Brandon James

and Shawn Ashmore as Bobby Connelly