Kendall's POV:
"See?" Jo smiled up at me, her hair slicked back out of her face from the hot water of the shower we were currently occupying, the steam causing all the mirrors to fog. "I told you we could find a place to be alone."
I smirked. "Oh, yeah, sure. Now we just have to move the bed in here, along with all our things…" I pretended to muse, laughing quietly as she lightly smacked my arm.
Being married was everything I had expected it to be, everything I had hoped for really. Save for the days Jo was gone to look after her other charges or was needed Up There, she was here, with me. There was no greater feeling than getting to wake up with her in my arms, it was almost perfect. I grinned and pulled her into a deep kiss, allowing my hands to wander south...
Keyword almost. A shrill knock grabbed both of our attention, and so did that voice. "I'm not looking at anything! I see nothing!" James cried, rushing into the bathroom with his hands over his eyes. "No one's looking at nothing! Not looking at anything! Just need my lucky comb!"
"James!" I yelped, facepalming as Jo tried to hide herself behind me.
"Sorry, sorry!" James turned back to us and peeked through his fingers. "You guys weren't…Never mind! Ew!"
"No!" I grumbled. "Not yet at least…James, would you just get out of here!" I shouted.
"Got it! I got it! Leaving, leaving now!" James announced, holding up his lucky comb and walking out of the bathroom with his hand still over his eyes. I groaned when James walked right into the towel rack. "Ow! I'm fine, I'm fine!" James reassured loudly. "Just, you know, go back to whatever it was you were doing!" He exited the bathroom, pulling the door shut behind him.
"Oh, the joys of roommates." Jo mumbled sarcastically. I snorted.
End Kendall's POV:
Luckily, the next time they were barged in on, they weren't fully naked. Unluckily, it was about five minutes after the James incident. Kendall had just finished tying off the belt of his robe when there was a sharp knock on the newlyweds' bedroom door, followed by Logan walking in with a thoughtful frown on his face. "Hi, Logan." Kendall deadpanned, crossing his arms.
"Hey, guys." Logan searched the top of the dresser. "Um, you haven't seen my Sociology textbook, have you?"
"Nope." Kendall popped the p. "But I do see an intruder."
Logan lifted his chocolate eyes, floundering for a second. "I-I knocked." He reminded his older brother, pointing back at the door.
"Yeah, but you didn't wait for an answer." Kendall pointed out with a strained grin.
"Oh, oh, okay. Uh, sorry." Logan blanched. "I-I'll, I'll just go." Kendall nodded as his younger brother backtracked and left the room, and sighed as a pair of arms slid around his waist, his wife resting her head in the space between his shoulder blades.
"Well, we did know what we were getting into." Jo pointed out softly.
Kendall sighed again, turning around and putting his arms around the blonde whitelighter. "True." He agreed. "But, what if it was time to get out of it?"
Jo glanced up at him, her brown eyes full of confusion. "What do you mean?"
Kendall bit his lip and guided his wife over to the bed, sitting them both down. "You've gotta admit that it's getting kinda crowded, even in this big manor." He began slowly. "The guys and I are really close but I'm starting to feel a little claustrophobic with the lack of personal space. So, I went looking, and I think I found a really good apartment for us that's not far off."
Jo gaped at him. "Uh, wow. Are, are you sure?"
"Rent's a little steep but I think we'll be able to manage." Kendall nodded.
"That's not what I meant. I meant, are you sure you're ready to leave your brothers?" Jo asked gently, taking his hands. "You guys have always lived in close proximity since you were in diapers, and for the past three years you've all lived together. First at the Palm Woods and then here at the manor."
"We gotta go separate some time. Why not now?" Kendall shrugged. "We can't keep living here together forever. Eventually, someone's gotta get up and go."
"Okay, but what about the Power of Four?" Jo asked. "You're all the most connected here, and the demon battles are easier when you're all under one roof."
"It's not like we'll be moving far, just a couple of blocks away." Kendall replied. "Look, if you don't want to do it then we won't. It, it just seems like a good idea. When do we stop thinking of our Charmed lives and about our married life? Maybe this apartment is the first step to that." Kendall shrugged again. "But, like I said, if you don't want to-," He was silenced by his wife climbing onto his lap and pulling him into a deep kiss.
"I would love to." Jo informed him with a smile. Kendall grinned and reconnected their lips.
But pulled away with a thoughtful frown on his face. Jo raised her eyebrows at him. "What are the chances that we pull this off before another demon attacks?" He asked her with a bushy eyebrow quirked. Jo pursed her lips in thought.
BTC
Across the city, in a single bedroom and bathroom apartment with the curtains drawn, sat a woman, her legs folded neatly underneath her as the candles circled around her provided her with the light she needed. Decorating the wall behind her were shelves of ornate glass bottles and vials. Her eyes were closed, her posture relaxed as she repeated the words of an old chant. A moment of chanting, and the candles around her began to rise without any outside help. Still, she continued to chant.
Until she was startled by a thing with fur landing in her lap. The candles shook and then fell, thankfully landing on their bottoms and not their sides. "Shadow!" She scolded the black cat. "You scared me! You should know better than to interrupt me during ritual. Now go on. Off with you." She shooed the cat away and forced herself to relax, and began chanting once again.
Only to be distracted by the sound of glass shattering behind her. "Shadow! What are you-," She turned around just in time to see the black cat push another vial off the shelf, right on top of the first one. Horror settled in her features. "Shadow," She began slowly, as if she were trying to appease the feline. The cat snarled at her, baring its teeth. "Please." She begged. "Don't do this."
But the cat seemed intent on its cause. It pushed another vial off the shelf, and it shattered where the first two fell. "No!" The witch cried as her cat hopped down from the shelf and sat down in the mixture of potions. Immediately a white vapor formed from the mix of potions, enveloping the cat and transforming it into a portly man with greasy brown hair and beady eyes.
"What's the matter?" The former feline hissed at the witch as the white smoke drifted over to her. "Cat got your tongue?" He mocked.
The witch screamed as the vapor surrounded her, and she imploded, the smoke vanishing from sight. The former cat smirked.
BTC
"Flakes?" James asked, his magazine hiding his face from view. Jo, distracted by her own section of the newspaper, grabbed the box of cereal and passed it the witch. Breakfast was going as it normally did. Jo had her newspaper, Logan his textbook, James his magazine, and Carlos his cookbook. Only Kendall didn't have his book in front of him, he was staring nervously across the table as Jo didn't have to finish asking for the sugar to her Rice Krispies, Logan was already sliding it to her.
"Jo and I are moving out!" Kendall blurted. Two heavy books and a magazine hit the table, and Jo's paper crinkled as she pulled it down. All four having expressions of surprise. "Milk?" He offered, sliding the carton to the middle of the table.
"Excuse me?" Logan sputtered.
"Wait a minute!" James cried. "Life-altering plans cannot be introduced between 'Who at the Reese's?' and 'Who drank all the coffee?'"
"When did you decide this?" Carlos demanded.
"Last night." Jo admitted.
"And you didn't think to call family meeting?" James demanded incredulously.
"Okay, look." Kendall began, gaining the table's attention. "We all knew that this would happen sooner or later, and it's just sooner. Or, later, rather, seeing as I've been married for over a month and I'm still sharing a bathroom with my little brother."
"Yeah, the little brother that you save the world with on a weekly basis along with your other little brothers." Logan pointed out.
"One time. One time I walk in on you and Jo, and it was an emergency!" James groaned.
"Kendall, you know that we don't just live together because we can't go out on our own." Logan reasoned. "We all could move out. We live here together because we're the strongest here."
"Power of Four? Great-grandmother's manor?" Carlos reminded him.
"Yeah, yeah, I know. Little help here?" Kendall glanced pointedly at his wife.
"You guys have handled things on your own before, without Kendall here, right?" Jo reasoned.
"Yeah, like when I took Katie and Mom to Disney World." Kendall reminded them. "And you guys dealt fine."
"Can I kick him?" James asked Logan and Carlos in annoyance.
"I drank a potion that stopped my heart to vanquish a ghost." Carlos deadpanned. "You qualify that as 'fine'?"
"Look, Kendall, like it or not, the Power of Four is just that!" Logan informed him. "Four!"
"And it would still be four." Jo reassured him. "We're not going far."
"It's just a couple of blocks. That's all." Kendall agreed. "Just far enough to have our own lives. We all knew this would happen, I'm just saying it first. We can't all live together forever."
"Right, but we can't just ignore the responsibilities that come with living together, too." Logan replied. "Or did you forget the last time that happened? You guys called off your wedding because Astral Carlos decided it was time to take a hike?"
Carlos slapped the back of his head. "Cheap shot."
"Explanation." Logan corrected. "Our responsibilities come from our family, and we can't turn our back on that."
"Yeah, but now I have two families to look after." Kendall pointed out. "Besides, Mr. I Wanna Be Famous," Kendall shot a pointed look at James. "Wasn't it you that we followed all the way up here to LA?"
"That doesn't count!" James cried, slightly offended. "How was I supposed to know that our parents' magical books would all combine into one and we'd get the Charmed talk?"
"Yeah, but they did, and we've been demon fighting ever since." Carlos reminded him. "When all under one roof!" He added pointedly. "What would our parents say right now if they heard this?"
Flashback
"Oh, nice job redecorating, boys." Brooke Diamond approved, her eyes light with excitement as she walked into the newly remolded Apartment 2J followed by the boys, Katie, Sylvia Garcia, Jennifer Knight, and Joanna Mitchell.
"The swirly slide was my idea." Carlos declared, raising his hand excitedly. Sylvia kissed his cheek.
"I still can't believe that my baby boy is moving out." Joanna sighed sadly. "Are you sure you can handle all of them by yourself, Jen? Maybe I should stay with you." She offered.
"No, Mom!" Logan cried. Joanna shot him a look. "I mean, Aunt Jen is perfectly capable of handling all of us, promise. Plus, you've got your business back in Minnesota. You can't just pull up stake and come to LA." He chuckled nervously and Joanna pinched his cheek.
"Alright. But call me every other day." Joanna commanded.
"Got it. Call you once a month." Logan agreed, ducking behind Kendall before his mother could get ahold of him.
"This is gonna be great!" Katie tossed herself on the sofa. "What could be better than living in LA?"
"How about being safe?" Brooke muttered. All heads turned to her.
"Brooke." Sylvia warned.
"What do you mean, Mom?" James demanded. "We'll be fine. Why wouldn't we be?"
"Maybe because you're four young witches that are about to be thrust into the spotlight." Brooke snapped.
"She has a point." Joanna sighed. "It'll be way too easy for demons to find you now. What, with your names and faces going on everything imaginable."
"Which is why," Sylvia walked over to the kitchen counter, where a few boxes had been placed until they could be unpacked. "We've all decided to trust you with these." She turned around and revealed a medium-sized green leather tome with a sharp oval pointing down on the cover in her hands. Jennifer, Brooke, and Joanna all reached into the box and pulled out their own green leather books, each with a different symbol of a sharp point oval pointing into a different direction. Up, right, left, and down.
"But, those are-," Logan gasped.
"The most prized possessions of our family." Joanna agreed. "The Warren Line Book of Shadows, each one separate part."
"We've kept them safe and turned to them for guidance since they were passed down to us by our parents, your grandparents." Sylvia continued, walking into the living room. Katie scooted down to the end of the couch to make room for the line of women, and Sylvia smiled at her son. "And now it's our turn to pass them down to you." One by one, Sylvia, Jennifer, Brooke, and Joanna placed their own sections of the Book on the coffee table.
But before their sons could take what was supposed to be their section of the Book, the insignias on the covers began to glow. "Um, Mom?" Kendall demanded, his voice laced with uncertainty as the books began to each glow with a brilliant white light. They all watched in amazement at the lights shot to the center of the table, taking the books with them. With a flash of bright light, they all gasped.
"Whoa." Carlos and Katie breathed. Instead of four medium-sized Books of Shadows lying on the table, now there was just one giant green leather bound tome, with a four-point circle star insignia in the middle of the front cover.
"What was that?!" Logan squeaked fearfully. "What just happened?!"
Their mothers all shared looks of stunned amazement and shock. "It's time." Joanna breathed.
"Time?" James repeated shrilly. "Time for what?"
End Flashback.
"Now is the time!" James rolled his eyes at the advertiser as he walked down the street toward the grocery store. It was his turn to pick up the food that would go in the kitchen, since Kendall and Jo were going to pick up boxes for the move, Carlos was attending another cooking competition, and Logan was in class. Not that he minded. It meant that he could grab extra man spray and other products that he needed without the guys knowing, even on a limited budget.
"We seriously need to start thinking about some small part time jobs to pay the bills." James mumbled to himself, then paused and let out a groan. "God, I'm growing old and responsible!" He whined with a shudder.
"Such a bad thing, huh witch?" A voice snarled lowly behind James. The pretty witch gasped and whirled around, backing away from the portly man with greasy brown hair. The portly warlock with the greasy brown hair and glowing red eyes.
"I'll show you bad!" James snapped his wrist forward, but the warlock caught his punch easily and twisted his wrist, shoving him into the wall of a building. "Okay, that's it!" James growled, picking up a broken piece of wood with a splintered end and throwing it at the warlock. It impaled dead center in the forehead, and the warlock jerked before exploding to bits. "Ha!" James cried victoriously.
BTC
"I think we got too many boxes." Kendall informed Jo as they left the store and headed to the van, both toting armfuls of cardboard boxes.
"No, we didn't." Jo replied calmly.
"Says the whitelighter who's only living here part time." Kendall snorted. "There is no way in hell that we need all these boxes just for me."
"Yes, there is." Jo smiled at him.
Kendall raised an eyebrow at her. "Are you saying I have too much stuff?"
"Yes, yes I am." Jo confirmed. Kendall, very childishly, stuck his tongue out at her.
"You do realize that the only reason you're getting away with that is because you're the only one batting for me right now, right?" Kendall informed her.
"Yes, I do." Jo nodded, stuffing the boxes into the back of the van. "Just give them some time to process. We did kind of spring this on them."
"You would prefer what?" Kendall retorted. "Waiting for them to ask 'Hey, why are you packing all your stuff?' or 'Hey, why's your room full of boxes?' All I'm saying is a little support would be nice. This is a big deal for me, too." The blonde witch turned to get in the drivers' seat when a portly man with greasy brown hair appeared right in his personal space. "Wha-Hey!" Kendall shouted, the man raising him several feet in the air without touching him. "You stoned ass!" Kendall roared, waving his arms and transforming the warlock, his wife, and everyone else within ten feet of him into stone statues of themselves. He'd forgotten that the un-rocked warlock was the only thing keeping him from falling, and he harshly landed on his backside on the asphalt. "Jo! Little help!" Kendall yelped, waving his hand at his wife just as the warlock was beginning to move and transforming her back.
"Uh, here!" Jo tossed him a hockey stick from the back of the van.
"What the hell am I supposed to do with this?!" Kendall exclaimed, scrambling to his feet as the warlock's skin turned from stony to yellowish pink. Jo mimed a swing and Kendall copied her, but with much more force. The butt of the hockey stick collided with the temple of the warlock, and with a grunt of pain, the warlock exploded into black dust.
"Are you okay?" Jo demanded, rushing over to check on her husband with worry in her brown eyes.
Kendall held up the stick and groaned. The head had snapped under the force. "I'm-,"
Flashback
"Great! Just great!" Brooke fumed, pacing the apartment floor in front of the television.
"What pissed you off?" The ghostly form of Kevin Knight demanded, his arms crossed in front of his chest. After the merging of the Book, Joanna, Sylvia, Jennifer, and Brooke had sent the boys and Katie away from the apartment to talk. And to call on their late cousin/husband for his input on this.
"You really wanna go there, Knight?" Brooke growled at him.
"What are you gonna do? One, I'm already dead, and two, you have no powers, Miss Estate Lauder." Kevin rolled his green eyes.
"That's enough, you two." Joanna rolled her eyes.
"Looks like death really doesn't change a relationship." Sylvia whispered to Jennifer.
"Look, Brooke, the Books were separate when we took them out of the box, and they were separate when we put them on the table. They joined the second we passed them onto the boys." Joanna reminded her. "I may not like it any more than you do, but we can't ignore that. We can't ignore their destiny."
"Why can't we?" Brooke demanded shrilly. "We've averted Destiny before! We've changed the outcome of the future, haven't we? Why can't we do it again?"
"Because if we do then people could get hurt, even killed." Kevin pointed out. "People that our children were meant to save and protect! And who was it that said Destiny always gets its own way?"
"James is my baby! It's bad enough he has the power of premonition, why should he have to endure the hardships of being a Charmed One?" Brooke cried.
"James will always be your baby, Brooke." Sylvia replied soothingly, standing and pulling her friend into a hug. "Just like Carlos will always be mine and Logan and Kendall will always be Joanna's and Jennifer's. Those are our babies." Sylvia smiled comfortingly as tears filled Brooke's eyes. She sighed. "But they're not babies anymore. They're young men, and like it or not, this is their destiny. And you know that as well as the rest of us that there's no avoiding this. We tried that, remember? Didn't work."
"The calling is a gift, Brooke. Not a curse like you think." Kevin added, his voice tender. "Called by Melinda Warren herself, the start of the family line. You've all done so well with the boys. Raised them to be great young men." He shot a smile at his wife. "But now, it's time to step back and let them become great witches."
"The greatest witches the world will ever know." Joanna added.
"The Power of Four." Brooke finished with a heartbroken smile. "We, um, we don't have to step completely back, do we?" She asked in a hopeful croak.
"Oh, no." Sylvia disagreed.
"Like we'll ever stop watching out for our boys." Joanna snorted.
"And you better believe that I'll coming running back down here should they ever need me." Kevin added. He frowned. "Or, flying. I don't know, you know what I mean!" He and the women all cracked up in small giggles.
"So now all we have to do is tell them." Jennifer sighed.
"Who wants to bet that Logan will go into complete denial?" Brooke asked, smiling as Joanna slapped her arm with a smile.
End Flashback
"Okay, hey!" James hollered, kicking the manor's front door shut. Logan walked into the foyer out of the living room with the Wii remote in his hands and Carlos on his heels.
"What happened to going to get groceries?" Logan demanded, gesturing to James's empty hands.
"Well, you can thank the-," James began.
"Warlock!" Kendall announced, walking in from the kitchen. "Warlock attacked, had to kick his ass with a damn hockey stick!"
"Hold up, you too?" James demanded, his eyebrows shooting up into his hairline.
"Uh, us three!" Carlos declared, raising his and Logan's hands. "Warlock attacked us in the kitchen after you guys left."
"Did we miss a convention?" James demanded. "And I got the fatso of the litter! Pot belly, ugly face-,"
"Greasy hair?" Kendall interrupted, his emerald eyes widening.
"Bad breath?" Carlos added.
"You guys know him?" James furrowed his brow.
"Yeah, I think Jo and I killed him." Kendall agreed.
"Care to try again?" A snivelly voice sneered, the warlock appearing against the wall. He raised his hand and Logan yelped as he was sent flying into the air and held up against the wall over the landing. James let out a battle cry and levitated into the air, judo kicking the warlock in the face and sending him tumbling into the grandfather clock.
"Really? We really can't afford to keep fixing that thing!" Kendall scolded. Carlos formed a fireball and threw it at the warlock, both the fireball and the warlock exploding into black dust upon impact. Logan screeched as he was dropped harshly onto the landing.
"Okay. Well, that's that." James bit his lip.
"Again." Logan huffed, hobbling down the stairs. "Did anyone else find that really weird?"
"Yeah, like he wasn't even trying." Carlos nodded.
"Like he wasn't even interested." Kendall mused with a thoughtful frown. "What do you think he was up to?"
"Or is up to." Logan corrected. "We killed him four times now and he's come back three. How do we know he's really gone this time?"
"Almost as if he's impossible to vanquish." Carlos mumbled.
BTC
"I've been working on a vanquish…" Carlos sang quietly, standing next to Logan in front of the Book while Kendall and James paced the floor in front of them. "All the live long-whoa!" He yelped, the pages suddenly moving on their own.
"Gotta love our ancestors." Logan muttered with a smirk, peering down at the page. "To Perform a Séance?" He read. "We're trying to vanquish a warlock here, not call on the dead!" He called up to the ceiling.
"Yeah, and the guy that we're dealing with won't die, so that's no help." Kendall added.
"You think Uncle Kevin and Grams have spent a little too much time up there?" James asked him with a smirk.
"They must be getting a little on the confused side." Carlos hummed, closing the Book. Logan yelped when it flipped back open forcefully, causing the standard to wobble a bit.
"And very testy!" Logan squeaked.
"I take back what I said!" James called apologetically. Kendall snorted.
"Okay, so, a séance. How do we do it?" Kendall asked expectantly.
"Uhh, we need six candles, three white and three purple." Carlos read. "Burning cinnamon, sandalwood, and frankincense."
"Kendall, you wanna grab the white cloth out of the trunk?" Logan asked, walking over to the shelf next to the window and grabbing the jar of sandalwood. The blonde witch nodded and peered at the mentioned trunk.
"You know, this would be kinda cool to have in the apartment." Kendall mused, opening the lid.
"You're kidding, right?" Carlos snorted. "As cool as my foot up your ass. You are not taking that-it's got all our ritual stuff in it, okay?"
"Okay, okay, jeez." Kendall raised his hands in surrender and threw the cloth at him. "I just want to have some stuff to remember this place by."
"Wouldn't need to take all the stuff that belongs to, oh yeah, all of us if you and Jo just stayed here." Logan hummed. "Next thing we know you'll claim oldest and married status and try to take the Book with you." Kendall snorted and opened his mouth to retort.
"Not getting into this now; we have a dead spirit to summon." James interrupted, placing the candles on the table in a circle.
"I second that." Carlos raised his hand and lit his fingers with flames, firing them at the candle wicks and lighting the candles.
"Who needs a lighter when we have Fire Boy?" James tousled Carlos's hair with a grin. All four took a spot around the table and began to chant.
"Beloved unknown spirit,
We seek your guidance.
We ask that you commune with us,
And move among us.
Beloved unknown spirit,
We seek your-,"
Their chant was cut short by a flurry of bright white lights swirling behind them, and they turned just as they revealed a transparent woman in a deep blue robe. "Pardon me, but why-?" She began in confusion.
"We're not completely sure." Kendall admitted.
"We were told through a loop that you would be able to help us." Logan explained.
"You are all witches?" The woman asked curiously. The boys all nodded. "You're all the four witches, the descendants of Melinda Warren? The Charmed Ones?"
"That would be us." James confirmed with a small smile.
"And you're a witch, too?" Carlos assumed questioningly.
"I-," She hesitated. "I...was." She bit her lip. "I'm sorry." She apologized. "This is so new. I don't have it all figured out just yet."
"We think that we're up against an evil that can't be killed." Kendall informed her, cutting right to the chase. "We've all killed him four times, but he just keeps coming back."
"And since you were the one to answer our call…" James gestured to her helplessly.
"The spirits must think I know what you're up against." The former witch nodded.
"Do you?" Logan asked, furrowing his brow.
"Maybe. You say you killed him four times? And he keeps coming back to you?" The witch clarified.
"Yeah, it's almost as if he-," Carlos began.
"Wants to die." She finished.
"Exactly." Kendall nodded. "Do you know who he is?"
"He was my familiar." She confessed. "A black cat I called Shadow. He's a warlock now, what a familiar becomes when they betray their witch."
"Which explains why he keeps coming back. The whole nine lives thing." Logan realized.
"So, what? We kill him five more times and we're good?" James asked.
"No." The ghost shook her head. "Killing him five more times will only get him what he wants."
"And that is?" Carlos demanded.
"Once a familiar becomes a warlock, it has until the next new moon to purge itself of its old life." She explained. "If it succeeds, it becomes immortal. If it fails, it returns to its familiar form for eternity. Shadow was a cat. So, in order to become immortal, he has to shed each of his nine lives."
"And we've helped him do it four times. Fabulous." Logan groaned.
"So why come to us?" James demanded. "Why not just jump off nine buildings?"
"Because that's not strong enough to kill him. We are." Kendall realized.
"And he knew exactly where to find us. We must be in the demon's guide to Los Angeles." James muttered.
"Okay, so, this should be easy right?" Carlos demanded. "All we have to do is not kill him before the new moon. He transforms back into a miserable cat for a miserable eternity."
"That's two days from now. Simple enough." Kendall replied.
"Sorry. This must seem so rude." Logan apologized to the witch. "You just died and we're treating you like a textbook." His brothers had matching expressions of guilt on their faces.
But the witch smiled at them. "It's perfectly fine. I'm at peace now, and I'm happy to help however I can. It's just, my friends and family-," She sighed. "When death comes so suddenly, there is no time for goodbyes."
Kendall licked his lips. "Something we're all too familiar with." He admitted.
"Evil, at its very center, only exists for one reason." She explained. "To create loss. Be careful not to lose one another." She warned. "Take caution and care. Blessed be." In a second flurry of white lights, she was gone. Logan sighed and leaned over, blowing out one of the candles.
Flashback.
"What if we're wrong?" Sylvia sighed. "I-I mean, what if we tell them this and they're not ready?" Brooke demanded, pacing the living room. "What if it blows up in their faces?"
"It won't." Sylvia reassured her friend. "The boys are strong. Look at who they came from. They're more than capable."
"It's not the comefrom part I'm worried about Sylvia!" Brooke retorted. The two women were alone in the apartment, Jennifer and Joanna going to track down the boys and Katie and bring them back to the apartment to talk. "It's the going part that scares me!"
"They're Warrens, Brooke." Sylvia reminded her. "This is who they are. If anyone can handle their destiny, they can. I know telling you to stop worrying is telling you not to breathe, but the boys will be fine. If any of us believed that they couldn't do this we would have stripped them of their powers, not just bound them." Brooke opened her mouth to retort, but was stopped by the door opening and Kendall, James, Carlos, and Logan walking back into the apartment, followed by Katie, Joanna, and Jennifer.
"Are you finally going to tell us what is going on now?" Kendall demanded.
"Katie, honey, maybe you should go wait in your room." Jennifer suggested.
"What? Why?" Katie protested.
"No, Jen. She'll hear it from the boys anyway." Joanna sighed. "Let her stay if she wants to." Katie fist-pumped and sat down on the couch, the boys taking the seats next to her and giving their parents expectant looks. Their parents shared looks of their own and placed the Book of Shadows on the table.
"You all know who Melinda Warren is, correct?" Brooke began unwillingly. She really didn't want to do this. But all the boys and Katie nodded.
"She was the start of our family line." Logan answered. "The strongest force of good magic to be born in the New World."
"Exactly." Joanna agreed. "And you know that she was killed in the Salem Witch Trials?"
"She burned at the stake." Katie piped up.
"Yes, but, before she burned…" Suddenly, the Book flipped itself open the pages began turning on their own, finally landing on a page titled The Charmed Ones. Sylvia sighed and pushed the Book closer to the boys. "Before she burned, she spoke a prophecy. She said that there wouldn't be an end to her family line, that it wouldn't deteriorate, but grow stronger and stronger with time, and eventually cultivate the arrival of four witches. These four witches would not only inherit her powers and her magic, but would have magic stronger than the world has ever seen, vanquish tons of evil, and be known as the Charmed Ones."
"Her powers included shapeshifting, telekinesis, premonitions, and pyromancy." Jennifer added, watching as each boy's head shot up one by one as she listed off Melinda's powers. Their powers.
"You don't seriously think…" Logan squeaked, his voice high-pitched and shrill.
"Not at first, honey. Not for several years." Joanna reassured him quietly. "When Kevin died, and your powers were unbound, we just thought you inherited your powers from us, and that you were strong because of who you were born to. It wasn't until the Book combined into one that we knew who you were destined to be. The greatest witches the world has ever known." She finished with a small smile.
"What does that Book combining have to do with anything?!" Logan whined, pointing to the Book of Shadows.
"Logan, honey," Sylvia squatted down in front of him and held his hands. "The Power of Four, the Charmed Ones are born from a brotherhood so tightly bound together that it creates the greatest magic ever thought possible. The Book could only be brought together when such a bond is in existence. Such a bond that the four of you have."
"In other words, the guys are so gay for each other that it makes them pretty much invincible." Katie snorted.
"Katie!" Jennifer scolded shrilly.
"What?" Katie snarked back.
"The four of you may not be related by blood, but you're brothers in spirit. It's that bond that unified the Book, and it's that bond that makes you the four of Melinda's prophecy." Joanna explained with a pointed look at the youngest Knight.
"This is who you are." Jennifer said with a small smile. "This is your destiny."
End Flashback.
"Hey, who turned out the lights?" James demanded, walking into the pitch-black kitchen and immediately starting the search for the light switch. The lights flickered to life and James let out a startled cry at the warlock in the middle of the kitchen.
"Hello, witch!" He snarled, making a grab for James. But the pretty witch spun on his heel and kicked him back into the stove, where the warlock convulsed and exploded into a plume of black dust. James groaned at the sight of the bloody meat fork sitting on the edge of the stove.
"Hey! What happened? Are you okay?" Logan and Kendall raced into the kitchen just as James picked up the meat fork.
"I, uh," James winced. "I think I accidentally killed our neighborhood warlock. Again."
"James!" Both his older brother groaned in exasperation.
"I didn't mean to!" James defended himself. "All I did was kick him back into the stove! The fork was pre-placed or something!"
"So, that's five down four to go." Logan groaned. "Great." All three boys left the kitchen and walked into the foyer, where Carlos was coming down the stairs.
"What happened?" He demanded. "I heard yelling." James winced and held up the bloody fork.
"Whoopsie?" He offered.
"James!" Carlos scolded. "We're supposed to keep him alive to the new moon!"
"First time we'll ever use that phrase with a warlock." Logan muttered.
"You know, I've been thinking." Carlos admitted. "What are the chances he'll actually hurt us?"
"Pretty high, I'd say." James replied, tossing the fork onto the coffee table. He'd wash it later. And bleach it.
"Are we so sure? I mean, he needs us to keep killing him. What use are we to him if we're all dead?" Carlos pointed out. "So, worst case scenario, he kills one of us, the Power of Four is forever broken, we no longer have the power to keep killing him, and we watch him take an eternity long cat nap."
"If he's smart enough to know this." Kendall added.
"Yeah, but what if he isn't?" Logan was beginning to see where his baby brother was going with this. "What if he isn't smart enough to know that he shouldn't kill us? And we just sit there and watch it happen?"
"But do we have another choice?" James pointed out. "Four more times and he comes back for real, and that time for blood. Most likely ours, and with no way to stop him. Either way we lose."
"I vote for not losing at all." Carlos announced.
"Hmm." James hummed, wandering over to the side of the staircase where all of Kendall's boxes have found a temporary home.
"Oh, yeah. I'll get that moved here soon, I just-," Kendall began to excuse himself.
"You're really doing this?" Logan asked softly.
"Yeah." Kendall nodded slowly. "I mean, its not like we haven't lived apart before."
"We were all kids, Kendall. And that was before the Charmed Ones thing." Carlos pointed out. "It's different now."
"Can we just talk this through before you go?" Logan requested quietly. "That way we can all know and understand what the consequences are gonna be for all of us?"
Kendall glanced at the faces of his younger brothers, and damn it he could never deny them anything. "Yeah, yeah, okay. We'll talk." Kendall sighed, going and opening the front door to let Kit out.
BTC
"You know, just because I'm moving out doesn't mean we can't still do this." Kendall pointed out the next morning. The brothers had decided to have breakfast and talk at a small restaurant in downtown LA.
"And what would this be, exactly?" James asked sassily. "Biding our time and waiting for the next warlock appearance." Kendall threw his napkin at him.
"I meant hang out. We'll still be brothers." Kendall explained. "I don't want to be one of those married guys that never leaves the house or anything. I can still have fun."
"By going antique shopping and picking up the wife's dry cleaning?" Carlos hummed around his cup of coffee. Kendall stuck his tongue out at him.
"You know it's not the life changes that we're so worried about, Kendall." Logan pointed out. "It's the supernatural ones that have us concerned."
"We get ambushed separately all the time." Kendall reminded him. "Like Carlos and his little friend the Dream Sorceress? Only went after him and we came together and sorted it out after. Or me and the Wendigo? Or Logan and that empath demon? Why would this be any different?"
Before any of his brothers could retort, someone else interrupted. "Sure is getting harder and harder to find you boys." The familiar voice of the warlock sneered. They turned around and spotted him seated at the table behind him. "I'm beginning to think that you boys are trying to hide from me."
"Wow, a warlock that thinks. That's a new one." James snorted.
"Pretty catty of you, James." Carlos informed him.
"Is this the part that I go 'Oh no, they did their research!' and run away?" The warlock droned.
"Tail between your legs?" Logan offered. "Might be your smartest decision."
"And what'll you do if I don't? Kill me?" The Warlock shot back.
"No, actually. We'll do much worse." Kendall informed him with a dark smirk. "We won't lay a finger on you."
"Oh, lookie here. The witches think they have this all figured out." The warlock sneered. "Well, let me remind you of something." He stood and grabbed a woman that was passing by, holding up a silver knife. "Don't play the game if you don't know the rules!" He hissed, and plunged the knife into the woman.
"Kendall!" Logan shrieked, but his brother was already acting, waving his arms and transforming everyone in the area into stone statues of themselves. The warlock was already transforming back when James raced over and stabbed him with the knife off their table. He smirked before exploding into black dust. Everyone transformed back and Kendall, Logan, and Carlos knelt beside the woman who'd been stabbed, Logan propping her up and pressing his hand into the wound. "Someone call 911!" He yelled.
BTC
"That poor woman." James moaned, placing his head in his hands. The guys were back in the manor, back in the kitchen, with Carlos at the stove, Kendall leaning against the counter, and Logan and James at the table. "There was no reason at all for that. I'm so used to there being a reason."
"There was a reason, James." Kendall pointed out softly. "He wanted to send us a message."
"And we got it, loud and clear." Logan sighed, raking a hand through his hair. Carlos scowled and tossed a few pinches of salt into the pot on the stove on the island. "But there's nothing that we can do that we haven't already done."
"So, what? He keeps killing until we kill him?" James demanded.
"Hence the rules of the game." Kendall sighed. "Hey, what are you doing? Making a potion?" He asked his baby brother with a furrow of his brow.
"Nah. I wouldn't know where to start with one of those." Carlos shook his head. "I'm antsy, so I'm keeping my hands busy. Something Mama taught me to do." He grabbed a spoon and started stirring. "But all I've got is mud." He made a face as some of the brown gunk dripped off the spoon and back into the pan. "Not my best cooking."
"Well, how do we kill a warlock that we shouldn't kill?" Logan demanded.
"We've only got another three chances to figure it out." Kendall answered. Carlos sprinkled some mustard seed into his muddy concoction.
BTC
"Ugh, it's on our couch!" Carlos's disgusted cry triggered his brother's entry into the living room, where he was found glaring at the sofa where the warlock was sitting.
"The Charmed Ones." The warlock purred. The boys glared at him. "What does a fella have to do to get murdered around here?"
"In this house, not much." James muttered. "But not going to happen." He added, more loudly.
"Well, I suppose I could just, um," The warlock mused, pushing himself to a standing position. "Sever a head?"
"Don't even think about it!" Kendall snarled, waving his hand at the warlock, who immediately turned into a statue. Kendall jolted as if realizing something. "Wait, this is it! I can just keep him transformed until midnight! Problem solved!" He cried.
But the warlock-statue let out a groan before returning to the original warlock. "Oh, I'll just keep getting better and better at this." He hummed, motioning the boys to follow him as he walked into the foyer.
"Good idea while it lasted!" Logan yelped, racing into the foyer behind his brothers.
"Come on now, we're burning daylight!" The warlock beckoned like he was calling his dogs. He leaned against the door. "You know I'll just keep killing." He informed them with a smirk. "And the next one won't be so painless. The next one I'll enjoy. Is that what you want? How many more people have to die before you do as I ask?"
"None!" Kendall roared, shapeshifting into a cheetah and pouncing on the warlock. His teeth easily found the throat and with a small gurgle, the cheetah was alone by the door. "Bleh!" Kendall gagged, spitting out red. "I'll never get the taste out of my mouth!" He smiled sheepishly at his brothers. "Sorry, I just-,"
"You had to." Logan sighed.
"I would have but you beat me to it." Carlos added.
"Okay, so he's only got two lives left, and we're down to one option." James pointed out.
"We've already looked in the Book." Carlos reminded him.
"We look again." Kendall decided. "And no pussyfooting around this time."
BTC
The warlock let out a scream as he exploded into dust, the iron poker dropping to the floor. "Well, that's number eight." Logan announced.
"I know they say that life isn't fair, but this sucks." Carlos complained.
"Death isn't supposed to be brief, it's permanent, and this guy can cheat it not once, but nine times?" Kendall agreed, pouting slightly at the unfairness. "What happened to cheaters never prosper?"
"You know, if he had any idea what death was really like, he wouldn't be so eager for it." James pointed out.
"Yeah, James, the real thing. Not this abridged version that he gets to worm his way through." Logan reminded him.
"So, what if we showed him?" James suggested. "I mean, he has to feel pain every time he dies, right?"
"Yeah, but only for a split second." Carlos agreed, not seeing where this was going.
"But what if we could, somehow, catch him in that second?" James was beginning to grin. "That instant moment of true death, and we magnify it times nine?"
"Then he…feels the pain of nine deaths and it just might be enough to kill him." Logan realized. "Ooh, James, you're a genius!" He cheered.
"Remember, we only have one shot at this." Kendall reminded them. "Do we have any other ideas?" There were three synchronized head shakes. "Okay, let's do it."
Flashback.
"Hey, has anyone seen Logan?" Carlos asked, bouncing up to Kendall with a hockey stick in his hands and his pads on. "I wanted to play some outdoor hockey." He explained.
Kendall shook his head. "I haven't seen him since Aunt Joanna, Sylvia, and Brooke left." He admitted.
"Yeah, he's taking the Charmed One thing kinda hard." Carlos nodded.
"And you're not?" Both boys whirled around to find their best friend leaning against the kitchen counter.
"It's our destiny, Loges. I mean, we get to be the greatest good witches known to man. It's like we're superheroes or something!" Carlos finished with a smile.
"Yeah, but at what cost?" The smart boy muttered. "We'll never get a normal life, or a normal family, or a normal anything because a demon is always going to be after us per our dead ancestor! I don't know how we're planning on keeping up the band! Shit, we might as well quit now and go back home!" His voice was high-pitched and squeaking by the last word.
"We can't do that, Logan. You know James would be crushed, this is his dream!" Kendall reminded his younger friend.
"Well, apparently, destiny says screw that dream. You might never play professional hockey, I might never become a doctor, Carlos won't get to do whatever the hell he wants to do!" Logan was close to shouting. He wasn't sure if he wanted to shout or cry. He kind of felt like doing both.
"I'm hearing a lot of 'might's." Kendall pointed out with a soft smile.
"So?" Logan shot back.
"So, those are 'might's, not 'will be's." Kendall replied gently, guiding Logan over to the sofa and sitting down next to him. "Yes, those things 'might not' happen. It doesn't mean that they won't. You could still become a doctor. James could still get famous. I could still play hockey, and Litos could still do whatever the hell he wants to do." He grinned as Logan cracked a small smile.
"We've known our entire lives that we were witches." Carlos pointed out. "Today we learned just how powerful we could be. Melinda's prophecy said that we would become the greatest good witches ever. It didn't necessarily say how we do it. So why can't we do it our way?"
"I just want to be normal." Logan whispered.
Carlos grinned his goofy grin. "Who would want to be normal when we can be special? Normal's boring."
"Yeah, well, I'd say our lives aren't ever going to be boring." Kendall pointed out. "Don't stress yourself over what hasn't happened yet, Loges." He smirked. "That's James' job." Logan snorted.
"What's my job?" James asked cluelessly, poking his head out of his and Kendall's shared bedroom. The three on the sofa cracked up in laughter.
End Flashback.
"Spell?" Kendall called.
"Check!" James replied, hurrying down the stairs with a folded paper in his hand. "Potion?"
"Check!" Carlos exclaimed, holding up a green vial and running in from the kitchen. "Pointy hurtful object?"
Logan walked in from the sun room and smirked deviously, an iron crowbar in his hands. "Check." He agreed.
"Good choice." James approved.
"Why thank you." Logan replied with a grin. "I am so going to enjoy this." He purred. Kendall snickered, just as the front door blasted open and the warlock waltzed in.
"Hello, boys." He sneered. "Ready for me?"
"Only if you are." James retorted.
"Oh, I love the smell of defeated witch in the evening." The Warlock purred.
"Can we just get this over with now?" Carlos interjected harshly.
"How rude." The Warlock chided. "When you have coffee it's alright, but when I want to exchange pleasantries its' not. Where are your manners?"
"With the woman you murdered." Logan snapped.
"And whose fault was that?" The warlock shot back.
He's kidding, right? Logan shook his head and prepared to throw the crowbar. "Hold on." The Warlock commanded. "Do you really think I'm stupid?"
"Do you really want us to answer that?" Kendall retorted patronizingly.
"You have something up your sleeve." The Warlock informed them. "You do realize that the moment you kill me, I'll be back to mangle your handsome little selves."
"Do you want us to kill you or not?" Logan interjected impatiently.
The Warlock smirked, and raised his arms. "Be my guest." He invited.
Logan, using his telekinesis to steer-like he had that good of an arm-, threw the crowbar at the warlock and lodged it in the center of his chest, into his heart. "Kendall, now!" James yelled. Kendall flicked his hand at the warlock, transforming him for the umpteenth time into a statue. Carlos threw the potion at him just as James unfolded the paper, and all four began to chant:
"Nine times this evil's cheated death,
Felt no pain and kept its breath,
This warlock standing in our midst,
Let him feel what he has missed."
The reaction was instantaneous. The warlock un-statued and eight other silhouettes rose from the floor, flying around the warlock, who began to scream. "No! Noo!" He shrieked as the silhouettes entered his body, and the warlock began to glow before exploding with a flash of bright flames.
"M-kay, was that for good this time?" James demanded.
"If it's not, he's going to be missing his finger, cause it's over there on the floor." Carlos pointed out. Each of the boys shuddered. "Nine times the charm. That was totally different, he's gone."
"And yet we're all still here. Still together." Kendall muttered.
Logan glanced at him. His chocolate eyes were sad. "Not for long."
"So, is there anything special you wanna do?" James asked him. "Your choice."
"I could make dinner." Carlos offered. "And you could call Jo. Last night in the manor party."
"Sure. I guess." Kendall shrugged. "Why don't you guys get started on that? I'll be there in a second." Catching the hint, Logan, James, and Carlos nodded and left the oldest alone in the foyer, who sighed and wandered over to the boxes that were still stacked against the staircase. He pulled out a silver picture frame. Inside was the photo that Brooke had insisted on taking the day that the boys moved into the Palm Woods three years ago. Kendall stood in the middle, his arms slung around Logan and James' shoulders while Carlos squatted down in front and pointed back to them, each with large smiles on their faces. It was just a couple hours before they were told the Warren prophecy.
Kendall put the picture down and sighed.
BTC
Kendall walked outside the next morning to the driveway, where Jo was stuffing the last of the boxes into the back of the van. She frowned at him. "You okay?"
"I'm not that obvious!" Kendall protested, and paused. "Wait, am I?" Jo just smirked at him and sat down on the tailgate, patting the space next to her. "Jo, I…" He began uncertainly.
"You're not ready to move away from your brothers." She finished with a warm smile.
"So I am that obvious." Kendall decided. "I don't know, it's just that…We've never lived that far apart before. And I know that this has to happen eventually, it's just…"
"You don't want to do it today." Jo finished again. Kendall nodded slowly.
"What if we're too far away and they need me?" Kendall asked what he was secretly fearing. "What if some demon busts in and I can't get to them in time? Logan was right, this is not only where we're the strongest, we're the most protected here, because we're all here together. I don't want to be the reason that my brothers get hurt." Kendall uneasily peeked at his wife. "You hate me?"
Jo smirked. "Not if we can hire movers to move everything back in." She snarked. Kendall snorted and kissed her.
BTC
"Hey! Hey!" Logan bellowed at Kendall from the living room sofa, Carlos and James squeezed in on either side of him.
"Yeah?" Kendall raised a bushy eyebrow.
"We're calling a family meeting! Get your ass in here!" James commanded teasingly. Kendall rolled his eyes but flopped onto the nearest armchair. "Okay, look, we are more than excited that you and Jo decided to move back in…"
"But now we kinda need you to move back out." Logan confessed with a wince.
"What?! But you-!" Kendall sputtered.
"And into my room." Logan interrupted with a large smile. "I need your out of your room and in mine. Mine's double the size and now that you're double the people-hey!" Logan grunted as Kendall tackled him into a hug. "Yeah, yeah, I know." He patted Kendall's back awkwardly.
"Hey, where's the love for the brother that's giving you your own bathroom?" James demanded with a grin. "I'm moving my stuff out and into Logan's bathroom."
"You said you were going to Carlos's bathroom!" Logan protested.
"But yours is bigger." James retorted. "So, we're sharing. That way it's just like having your own place-,"
"Except your brothers are right down the hall if you need us." Carlos finished with a smile.
"You guys are awesome." Kendall beamed.
"And we know and understand that we can't all live together forever," Logan began.
"But it's nice that forever isn't today." Kendall finished, pulling all his brothers into a hug.
And so, the magical journey continues…
So, you are looking at the new adopter and writer for Big Time Charmed! Aahh! I'm so excited, you guys have like no idea! Don't worry, I have Magiccatprincess's express permission and she is very much a part of the writing and planning process and will continue to be.
So, let's get started, shall we?
