Chapter 1
Loud voices could be heard. Mostly male but from time to time there were soft voices of women who were trying to calm the angry men, too. A little vird that had just found himself a nice sunny place in a large tree flew away, as the sounds of a fight rise.
Right before the two fighters could really put the show on, a young brunette man reformed out of blue and white lights between them.
"Whoa, hey, have you lost your mind? I can hear you screaming through the whole forest. What´s going on here?" His voice sounded calm but icy. Definetley the voice of a person who commands respect. Therefore everyone got quiet at once.
"Well, has anyone something to say?"
"This is none of your concern, witch. We find solutions for our problems on our own," replied a little man with short black hair. He wore dark green trousers and a white shirt with a black waistcoat.
"I should have known that you a part of this, Patric. It seems like you are everywhere where trouble appears. So once more, what is the problem?"The young man bent down so he now is on eye level with the small creatures around him.
"It's the dwarfs," Patric answered angrily.
"That's a lie, you little pest," replied another man with brown clothing and an axe in one hand. He was still small but a bit taller than Patric. "You leprechauns are the troublemakers here."
"Both of you are causing trouble. Just look around you. Everywhere you go the grass turns brown, flowers are snapped off," said a young woman with blond hair that is so long that it almost reaches her knees. She wore green robes.
"We have to get our gold somehow, haven't we?" another leprechaun answered. "Without gold there's no luck for the people and without luck…"
"But without nature the world will get dark with or without your gold," the nymph argued.
"And what about us? You sound like we are useless trash," an annoyed dwarf yelled. This turned into another wave of insults.
"Okay, okay," the young witch interrupted. He rises his voice to get the attention of everyone. "Now listen up, you all are really important not only for the magical but the human world as well. And you all have your tasks to do. But there´s another task you have. Namely, living together in peace, helping each other out and not fighting about who may be more important. Just imagine, the ogres and fairies and even whitelighters would start as well. That would become an never ending story."
"But…"
"No, no buts. I want you all to sit down and more important calm down. Everyone who wants to speak can speak without being interrupted and then we'll work out some rules. And this in less than two hours, there's a family dinner I have to attend."
"Mum, I'm here!" Wyatt Halliwell shouted. "And look what I've found."
Behind him stood an older man, surely in his seventies already, with grey hair and an expensive looking suit. It was Victor Bennett.
Piper Halliwell left it to her husband, Leo, to set the rest of the dishes and walked into the hallway to greet them. Her oldest son wore a light blue shirt and blue jeans and had his patented grin plasted on his face.
"Oh, Dad! For once you two are the first ones to arrive." Piper smiled at two of the four most important man in here life.
Their cheeks turned into a light shade of red. It is true normally Wyatt and Victor were at least 10 minutes late for family dinners.
"Believe me, mum, if I hadn't spot grandpa at the red light he would not have arrived here in hours."
"Hey, what is that supposed to mean, kid?"
"Well. You were walking so slow, it's unbelievable you made it out of your apartment without getting up early that morning."
"Are you calling me old?"
Befor Wyatt is able to answer his mother asked:"You were walking? What's wrong with your car? Did you have an accident?"
"No, sweety. The car needs a check up that's all," Victor reassured his daughter.
"But why didn't you call? Someone could have picked you up."
"I'm old not dead. I don't need your help all the time," Victor answerd stubbornly.
Piper sighted in defeat. She knew about her father's stubborness. She had to deal with two other bloody-minded men all the time. Her husband Leo and her younger son Chris both had thick skulls.
"Don't worry, mum, I found grandpa just in time before the bus hit him," Wyatt said.
Piper's eyes widened.
"That was a joke. I met him in front of the flower shop next to the petrol station."
Piper took a deep breath. "Okay, go and sit in the dining room."
Leo greeted his son and father in law with a warm smile and hug.
Short time later, Phoebe, her husband Coop, the cupid, and her three girls entered the Manor. Followed by her younger sister Paige and her familiy, her husband Henry, her son and the twins.
As all of the family members were seated at the dining room praising Piper's beautiful decorated table, blue orbs appear and a in mud covered Chris Halliwell arrived to join his familiy.
"Am I late?" he asked quickly avoiding his mother angry stare.
"No, right in time," his father replied.
"What happened to you, Chris?" His big brother wondered. The younger girls couldn't hold their giggles and even the rest of the familiy had difficulties with staying serious, exept for Piper, who always took familiy dinners really sternly.
"A nymph shoved me into the mud in the forest while I tried to mediate between the dwarfs and the leprechauns."
The table fell into silence.
"Oh, I see. You should change your clothes then. We can wait," Leo told his son.
Chris nods and hurried upstairs.
"A nymph?" Paige asked surprised.
"That's what makes you wonder, Paige?" Piper replied. "I really do not understand my son anymore. Always bending over the damn Book of Shadows and spending time with God knows what magical creatures."
They all knew about Chris' new passion about the wiccan life. Since almost two years now, he didn't seem to have any other interests than vanquishing demons or learning all about magic not only from books but from meetings with oracles, seers and fortune tellers. And these were only the things the family knew about. Sometimes Piper's and Leo's youngest was nowhere to be found for days. God only knows where he spent his time. And Piper got more worried everyday. She could understand that not every witch wants to live a normal life like she always did. Her sister Paige was a great example for this. She was all the time keen in learning about magic and still today she was working as a full time whitelighter and giving courses at magic school. But she still enjoyed to be "normal" from time to time. Of course, her husband Henry, who was a mortal, could be the main reason why the normal things in Paige's life still had a grand position in her life. But with Chris it was different. Piper couldn't remember the last time her son had just spent a evening with friends, let alone had been on a date with a girl.
The whole family knew about Piper's worry but none of them dared to stand on either hers or Chris' side.
Piper turned to her husband, who still tried to convince his wife that Chris was only going through another phase, like it was normal for every young adult.
"Leo, you have to talk to him! Medating between the dwarfs and the nymphes? This is not a life for a young man!"
"Piper, relax! We want to enjoy this evening. You can scold Chris later," said Phoebe after joining a quick glance with her youngest sister.
Piper seemed to think about this for a second but before she could voice her opinion, Chris came back down, taking the seat between his grandfather and brother.
The sisters got up to serve the food. When everyone was comfortable seated and provided with enough food for a whole school class, Chris turned to his grandfather.
"Oh, grandpa, I'm so sorry I couldn't be there on time to give you a lift. Did Wyatt bring you here?"
"Ehm…yes!" Both Wyatt and Victor answered simultanously, hoping that Piper didn't pay attention, but of course Piper Halliwell's ears were everywhere.
"You were supposed to bring dad here?"
Chris looked at his mother in surprise. He really didn't understand why she got so worked up about something he had organized with his grandfather.
"Your grandfather had to walk here."
"What? But I told him, that I would not be able to orb him here punctually. I said he shall call Wy."
"Yes that's true, he did. But I didn't want to bother Wyatt. I knew he has a lot of stress at work." Victor tried to explain and calm his daughter once more this evening.
"But you could have bothered me!" Wyatt said. He really had a lot to do at the newspaper. His boss gave him only one more chance if he couldn't write the article until a new placed dead line. But he would have brought his grandfather to the family dinner of course. He didn't knew that Chris and Victor had planned something.
"Yes, or anyone else of us," Coop told his father in law.
"Or Chris could have stayed with his promise," Piper said.
Everyone stared at her with blank impressions. No one could stop Piper from scolding her son now. She was already too worked up. "This seems to become a habit of you, Christopher. Breaking promises, never being around for family matters. This is not how we raised you boys. We always made sure you knew where your responsibilities lie. And your responsibility is your family most of all. "
"And school," added Leo.
"Yeah, about school. There's something you should know." Chris began slowly, looking at his plate. Wyatt gave his brother a light shove to stop him from revealing any more news. He could see that his mother already had to pull herself together. But Chris just looked at him and Wyatt knew that the quiet evening is over.
"What about school, Chris?" asked his father.
"Well, I dropped out."
"You did what?" Everyone at the table looks at Chris in shock. No Halliwell has ever left school without a completed education. Even Phoebe who was always rebellious attented college.
"I dropped out last week." Chris repeated. "Before you all begin to yell at me, I thought about this for a long time and I decided that I'm not made as a student. The courses were boring and I got only bad grades. So from now on, I will be a full time witch and whitelighter. I already talked to the Elders about it and they were all for it."
The whole table fell into a deadly silence waiting for Piper Halliwell to react in some way to the news. Leo was the first to find his voice back: "You talked to the Elders?"
"Yes, I went up there and they said that they could need someone to hunt the demons."
"Hunt demons? Chris, we do not hunt demons. We vanquish demons when they get near us or innocents but we do not hunt them."Phoebe said with a gasp.
"Yes, but think about this. If I vanquish the demons before they get near you than you do not even have to worry about them."
"I think there's nothing wrong with being a full time whitelighter and witch, but what about money," Victor tried to interfere. He was no magical being so he guessed it was okay if he asked about the mundane stuff.
"The Elders promised to provide me with everything I need."
Victor shook his head in disbelief but reminds quiet. He didn't even knew that this was possible. Leo never had been paid by the Elders.
e H
"Have you thought about this proberly, honey? I mean, maybe if you go back to school you'll find something that interests you. I think you would be good as a doctor or teacher or psychologist. I don't know. Something where you can help others would fit just perfectly."
"But that's exactly what I'll do! Help innocents and you. I mean the Charmed Ones retired and Wyatt is busy with combining a magical and normal life. But I have time and I want to do it."
"But isn't that dangerous?" asked Henry.
"Not more than being attacked by a demon like we are now." Chris says calmly. He recognized that his mother hadn't said anything yet. "Mum?"
Piper takes a deep breath. "Well, Chris, I heard what you said and I think it's total rubbish!" Her voice gets louder with every word. "You can not go around hunting demons or dealing with magical creatures all the time. What about this world? The human world.There are so many things you haven't even tried out. And the Elders out of everyone else, you are going to work for the Elders. You won't have a day in peace. They will send you behind demons all the time. You won't have any spare time to spend with your friends."
"Mum, I already work for the Elders. Who do you think send me to the dwarfs and leprechauns? I found a great position in the magical world. Everyone knows my name. That's exactly what I want. I don't care about mortals!"
"What? What was that? Have you lost your mind?"
"Well, I didn't mean it like that. Of course, I care about mortals I will do everythink to save them from demonic influence. Don't worry!"
Piper looked at Leo with the same concern she saw in his eyes.
"Chris. Did you really think about this intensive enough? I mean, it's not only the danger this decision will put you in. What about the things you'll miss and the friends you may loose."
"Good thing I don't have any friends. At least not in this world."
Leo decided to leave it like this. Piper sighted frantically while all the other family members tried to look busy with their food.
"And you knew about this?" Piper asked her older son.
Wyatt looks at his little brother and then at his mother and father. "Well, not about all of this. I knew he dropped out of school but I didn't knew about the other plans."
Chris opened his mouth. It wasn't his intention to make everyone feel uncomfortable. All he wanted was to spend an evening with his family. The last week was really hectic. He went to the valkyries to train his fighting abilities, then he stayed with an oracle for a while to learn everything about astrology and charts and stuff like that. Moreover he went after several demons the Elders told him about. And then there were a lot of other magical beings who needed his help plus his four charges. Chris wouldn't admit it but he was already tired. He was still motivated to go on fighting, though. Right as he wanted to argue further with his mother, a rainbow appeared and a leprechaun with red hair, equally dressed as the other leprechauns back in the forest.
He coughed to draw everyone's attention. "Christopher Halliwell? We have a problem."
Chris sighted. He once more looked at his mother with an apologetically smile and stood up leaving the dinner table in a swirl of orbs.
"I'm sorry to bother you while eating. But the dwarfs don't stick with the rules and now even the ogres are agains us. Christopher told us to visit him whenever there's a problem," the small man explained before he leaves on his rainbow.
Since the family dinner almost three weeks ago Wyatt Halliwell had only spoken with his baby brother when Chris needed to be healed. Most of the time they didn't even speak to each other. Wyatt had to concentrate on fixing his brother and Chris took advantage of these moments to rest a bit. He spend all his time orbing from one innocent – human, magical or anything in between - , making potions or hanging over the Book of Shadows for research. He hasn't seen his family since this evening of revelation. He spoke to his father a few days ago, when Chris choked down a sandwich at two o'clock in the morning. Leo was shocked to see his youngest son like this. His hair messy and with dirt in it. His cloth disrupted and way to large for his slender frame. A large bloody wound could be seen on his thight. But Chris refused to call his brother at this time of the night but promised to do so in the morning (Leo knew that this promise would not be hold). Leo tried to learn what kind of work his son was doing at the moment but didn't get an answer. Then he persuaded Chris to sit down with him for a second while eating. He got his wish. For one moment. Then Chris hurriedly orbed away. That was the last time Leo saw his son and now he felt just as helpless and concerned as his wife.
Wyatt often went to help his brother fighting a demon when he felt that Chris was in a bade shape but most of the time Chris put up a strong barrier to avoid being sensed by his brother. They both fought for themselves now, even though Wyatt knew that together they worked best. Truth be told, Wyatt was rarely attacked by demons the last weeks but one day he had big trouble getting rid of a demon that seemed to know everyplace Wyatt went to and therefore was able to attack him several times. Of course, he couldn't do much damage to the twice blessed witch but for Wyatt it is just annoying. So he decided to consult the Book of Shadows that still had its home on a podium in the attic of the Halliwell Manor. When Wyatt got there, he saw his brother lying outstretched on the old sofa. An athame in one hand. He looked horrible. A large dark blue bruise hid the left side of Chris face. His hair needed a cut and his shabby cloths let him appear more like a demon than a witch. Wyatt went over to Chris slowly to heal the bruise. He tried to be as calm as possible not to wake him up. Just as Wyatt settled his hand an inch above Chris sore face, the younger witch woke up, though, startled and the next thing Wyatt knew, was him flying through the attic and landing in the hallway with a thump. He groand slightly as he moves to sit up. He heard his mother calling an running up the stairs. While Chris hurried at his side as well, now fully awake and alerted.
"Wy, are you okay? I'm so sorry. I really am," Chris said helping his brother to stand up.
"What happened?" Piper asked as she arrived at the top of the stairs looking back and forth between her two sons.
"Nothing much, mum," Wyatt explained. "I just woke Chris by accident and scared him."
"I wasn't scared,"Chris pouted but seeing his mother's face he hurried to apologize once more. "I'm really sorry, Wy. You are not hurt or anything, are you?"
"It's just, I waited for the vortex demon, who is trying to get to the book. And I must have fallen asleep," Chris told his brother.
"No wonder you fell asleep! Have you looked into a mirror in the last time? You look like shit!- Sorry mum."
But his mum didn't care right now about a bad language. She cared about her youngest son using his powers against his older brother. "We do not use our powers against each other," she scolded.
"I know that. I'm truly sorry."
"You better are."
Wyatt turned and walked back into the attic leaving his brother and mother behind.
"Chris, you can not go on like this. Look at you! You'll make yourselfe sick. We all are worried about you. You need a rest. Please, stop this. Go back to school and live like a young man your age should."
"You can not tell me what to do, mum. I'm 21 years old. I can make my own decisions."
"As long as you live under over roof you are not allowed to do everything that comes to your mind."
Wyatt could hear the desperation in his mother's voice.
"Chris!" he called."You want me to heal your bruise?"
Chris nodded and went to his brohters side. Wyatt held his hands over Chris face and the blue bruise disappeared. "Maybe you should go to bed for a while. Sleep a bit," Wyatt spokes in a soft voice trying to reach his brothers common sense. "I could wait for the vortex demon. I have to search for something in the book anyway."
Chris seemed to consider this proposition. Then he nodded. "Yeah, that would be great. I have to go to the elves anyway. They have problems with a wicked witch."
"No, Chris, I want you to lay down and relax for a few hours." Wyatt disagreed.
"I don't have time, Wy. But thanks for taking care of the vortex." Chris said and orbed out.
Piper looks at her older son. "This can not go on."
Wyatt had to agree with his mother.
When Chris Halliwell got back to the Manor it was already dark again. There was light in the sitting room. Chris went inside and saw his father and brother sitting on the two armchairs and his mother and aunts – the Charmed Ones – on the sofa.
"Hey, what's wrong?" Chris demanded.
"Take a seat, sweety. You look tired and we have to talk to you."
Chris knew what was about to come. But he sat down anyway.
"Chris, we all are worried about you and therefore we talked to the Elders and we came to a decision."
"And what would that be?" Chris got kind of nervous. He had a bad feeling, even more so when he looked into the serious faces of his family.
"Your brother will bind your powers."
"What?" Chris stood up with a yank. He looks wide eyed at his brother. Wyatt did not feel absolutley convinced about the plan but he would try everything to help his brother.
"We could do it with the power of three but your Aunt Paige refuses to speak the spell with us," his mother explained.
"And therefore you will do it, Wy? I don't understand that."
"It seems to us that you rely on your powers way too much. You lost focus," his father said. "You are not part of this world anymore."
"But I'm an important part of the magical world."
"We all know that. And the Elders told us how proud and thankful they are. But they agreed that you need a rest and maybe build up a normal life as well," Phoebe said.
"I don't want to build up a normal life. Seamus!" Chris yelled looking up the ceiling.
A grey haired Elder appears in the Halliwell's living room. "It's like your family explained you," Seamus raspy voice sound through the room, having a calming effect on every family member. "Your brother will bind your powers. All your powers. The active and none active ones. You won't be able to cast spells or mix potions. The Book of Shadow will protect itself from you. You won't be able to get access to magic school. No orbing, no sensing. No magic at all."
Chris already pale face lost even the least bit of colour and his eyes got as large as soucers. No magic?
"But what about my duties? And more important, my charges!"
"Your Aunt Paige agreed to take care of your charges and your brother will handle some of your duties. The rest will be shared between other witches. You won't and can't do anything regarding magic. But you will try to become part of the mortal world. When you succeed you will gain your powers back. You are not only half witch and whitelighter but also a human. You can only operate if you find a balance between these three aspects. Your brother will be your whitelighter. And you can keep the athame, so if you should be attacked you will not be absolutely defenceless."
Chris could not believe what he was hearing. Becoming part of the mortal world? No magic? Wyatt his whitelighter? They've got to be kidding him. They could not take away his powers. If they take away his powers then they take his whole life, his whole identity.
Wyatt watched his brother slumping his shoulders in defeat and taken deep breaths to calm himself. Seamus shifted his attention towards Wyatt. "You can go ahead." Then he said to Chris. "You need to find your place in both worlds. And don't forget to accept the help of your family. You are not alone. In neither world." Seamus smiled and orbed out.
Wyatt stood up. "I'm sorry, really. But it won't be too bad. We can do all the stuff brothers too- you know apart from vanquishing demons- like watching a movie or go to the beach, it's summer for all means. I'm pretty sure you'll enjoy the time." Wyatt knew it was a bad attemp to cheer his little brother up. He knew for Chris it was like punishment to loose his powers. But he would do everything to make the time as a normal person as great as he could for his baby brother.
Chris avoids Wyatt's gaze and Wyatt was glad about it. He didn't want to see the lost look in his brother's eyes and the unshed tears. "Ready?" It was a rethorical question and all present family knew it.
"Maybe you should sit down," Leo said. "You will feel pretty weak when Wyatt is done."
Chris shoot his father an angry stare but sat down anyway. Wyatt began to read the spell, his mum had written.
Pretty weak was an understatement. As soon as his powers stopped operating, Chris felt dizzy and nauseous for a second. He tried to stand up but only wavered and sat back down.
"You okay?" Paige asked concerned. She was absolutly against this plan. It was ridiculous to bind Chris powers to make him see the good things in life. How can he see when his mind is blind with rage?
"Yeah fine." Chris whispered. "I'm just exhausted."
"Then you should go to bed," his Aunt Phoebe said gently.
Chris nodded and tried to stand up again. This time the dizziness was even worse and he was sure he would collapse right in front of the stairs. As he walked past his brother he tuck his sleeve like he did when they were children and Chris would tell Wyatt a big secret. "Maybe you could help me upstairs," he whisperes clinging to his brother's arm. Wyatt shot a worried glance towards his mother and then orbed Chris and himself upstairs into the bedroom.