Disclaimers:
Gundam Wing is not mine. Charmed is
owned by Spelling Production Group(uh...I think, but one of its
producers is Aaron Spelling, so there) , Warner Brothers, and all
associated parties.No copyright infringement intended. I am not making
money out of this. Original part of the fiction is the property and is
copyrighted to the author.
Category: shounen ai/yaoi implications, angst, action
Rating: R overall
Pairings: 1x2x1, 3x4, various
Warnings: language, sap, violence, death
Finished: May 17, 2000
Author's Notes: This series is a fusion of Gundam Wing and Charmed. Some
history, and a bit of Magic and Mayhem thrown in. It's weird, and this part's
pretty long. Hope you love it!
Title: The
Bewitched Chronicles, Entry #1: The Incantation
Author: AJ Maxwell ( webmaster@weluvduo.zzn.com
)
And so the foreign conquerors sailed in their ships, looking for a land for their cross and flag to claim. In the darkness, in the middle of the sea, fire was seen, the island ablaze in its fiery glory. There they named it, Isla del Fuego...Island of Fire.
And this is how the story begins.
Isla del Fuego, as it was called since the 1500's by the Spaniards, had always been a source of mystical power. It had earned its name because of the countless fireflies that had graced the small island every night, which made it look like a great burning land...scary, but enchanting from afar.
It was. Enchanting beyond imagination.
It was where witch doctors, medicine men, and flesh-eating monsters dwelled at that time, and in the 20th century, it also became popular to people from far away lands, seeking the mystery of the unknown.
The Island of Fire established its own city in the decades that came, which was called Fire City.
Now, to strangers, the name of the city made the impression that it was a city of chaos, of destruction, of grief and utter pain, but this was not so. Peaceful, yes, and full of warm and friendly people.
But for all the quietness and the seemingly perfect way of living in the city--in the whole island itself, there still lay its own mysteries, mysteries that were kept hidden to mere humans. After all, they might not understand.
It might be better for the secret to be kept.
And the keepers of this secret? They are the secret themselves.
Witches, warlocks, immortals, even angels, and other beings that keep themselves in the dark, and will remain unnamed.
Of course, the secret is not complete without the Halliwells, and the Peacecrafts.
Families of power, of good and evil, always in a mystical war, and their battleground is here, in the heart of the burning city.
Ciudad del Fuego. City of Fire.
It was Trowa Halliwell's fifteenth birthday.
"Kisama! Hurry up, Trowa! We're going to be late," Wufei scolded his youngest brother, hurrying his steps.
Trowa just kept silent, while Heero kept up with their eldest brother easily.
It's my birthday, isn't it? But why is it that no one seems to remember?
The green-eyed teenager's steps slowed, which his older brother Heero noticed. "You wouldn't want Wufei to be on your case again, Trowa. Hurry up."
He nodded. At least Heero's not scolding me, too.
The brothers arrived just in time for their first class, which was World History. They seated themselves and prepared for their class, even if the rest of their classmates were still chatting around and busily goofing off.
Wufei Halliwell read his textbook with analytical obsidian eyes, his hair tied back tightly behind him. Always the dutiful, diligent scholar, which made the blonde girl beside him admire him so much.
Dorothy Catalonia, the seemingly young, normal teenage girl. Very pretty, even with her exotic eyebrows, with her thick and lengthy blond hair that reached past her knees, that she always held back with a headband, and clear blue eyes that spoke a quiet intelligence, even for her age...
Her age--based on how she looked.
Giving the black-haired boy beside her a sidelong glance, she smiled to herself, then went back to pretending reading the damn book.
I know all this already. I've lived through every single day.
Heero Halliwell just skimmed the notes that he made the past night, after he finished reading the chapter that they were going to discuss that day. A bit sleepy from getting too engrossed in reading about Japanese culture, he blinked his cobalt-blue eyes, then returned to reviewing himself.
Trowa Halliwell, the birthday boy, read through the chapter, almost a bit frantically, but nothing showed in his actions.
I hope the teacher won't call on me this time.
The bell rang. Time for class.
Milliard Peacecraft gritted his teeth in frustration.
"Zechs, dear, what's bothering you?" Treize asked, concerned, and yes, a trifle nervous about his lover's actions.
The longhaired man sighed heavily, and took to pacing around his personal office. "Aries and Leo haven't returned from their search. I'm really getting impatient."
Treize blinked, then said, "How about Taurus and Cancer's search? Haven't they reported yet?"
Zechs paced faster. "No. Those bunch of imbeciles! When I get my hands on them--"
His lover's rant was lost on the ginger-haired man. He truly wondered why the four best henchmen of his lover have not yet reported back from their latest mission. The four knew their master's impatience very well, but they still haven't returned. They better come back with something, Treize thought to himself. Or Zechs will electrocute them again, maybe worse.
The door slammed open, admitting a blond teenage girl. "Dear brother," Relena began, "I felt your footsteps two floors down. What's the matter?"
Treize winced. The girl's voice grated his sensitive ear drums.
The leader of the Peacecraft hissed, annoyed, "Shut up. Why is it that you still can't control your powers?"
Relena scoffed, pride slightly wounded. "I just came to check on what's bothering you. What's wrong with being concerned?" she said, her voice getting louder at every word, and small cracks appeared on the walls.
There was an audible moan of pain, and Zechs looked up to find his Treize scowling and trying his best not to cover his ears. He glared at his sister. "Stop it, Relena. You're hurting him with your voice," he commanded, making his way towards his lover.
"Are you okay?" he asked Treize.
"It's always Treize this and--"
A bolt of lightning crashed next to the girl's foot, but before she could scream in shock, Milliard Peacecraft raised a fist, a pose threatening on its own.
The younger Peacecraft did not want her newly purchased dress burned, nor did she want her hair to go up in flames, like the last time.
Throwing dagger looks at his older brother's lover, she wordlessly walked out of the room.
Distracted from his previous worry, aqua eyes gazed at Treize lovingly. "I'm sorry you have to endure all this, and to think you're only human."
Treize smiled reassuringly at Zechs, his hand going up to stroke the fine platinum blond tresses. "It's okay. I'm getting used to her voice."
Zechs snorted. "Don't tell me that. I shouldn't have let her live here with us."
"She's your sister, Zechs. Besides, she's not used to living on her own, because she's always lived with you for...what? Fifty years?"
"Ninety-eight, actually."
Sighing, Treize pulled his warlock lover close for a kiss.
Trowa had no idea how he did it, but it happened.
Mr. Nelsen, a strict middle-aged man, called on him to state what was on page 362.
Not being able to read page 362 the night before, much less any page of the book, he had no idea about the answer.
He still kept his calm, though inside he was chanting to himself, I wish I know the answer. I wish you could just tell me. I really wish--
Then it happened.
If his eyes could widen further, they would. He suddenly knew the answer.
He was just saved from being sent to detention.
The whole class went on as usual.
Heero, who knew that his brother did not do his homework the night before, raised an eyebrow, then shrugged off his curiosity. Hn. Something might have seeped in his brain at the last minute.
Wufei, on the other hand, was very proud of his brother. He knew Trowa could do it, if only he would just do his homework and focus on important things, like his studies. This is a good change. My little brother has grown up, he thought, then he scowled. His 'little brother' was almost a head taller than him--a fact that didn't bother him at all. No. No bother at all...not really.
The bell finally rang, and the class rushed out of the door for lunch.
In the cafeteria...
Wufei sat down facing Trowa, and nudged his noodles with his chopsticks. A second before he was going to eat it, however, he suddenly remembered that something was missing.
He heard Heero snort beside him. "You forgot to add more soy sauce again."
He scowled. He had to line up and wait so long and he had to stand up again. Letting out an annoyed huff, he looked over at the condiments stand, and glared at the bottle of soy sauce...when it suddenly flew so fast towards him, nearly smacking him in the face and staining his pristine wardrobe.
The always calm and serious Wufei was a very shocked Wufei.
He would have thrown a fit just because of the brown stain on his white shirt, but the fact of how it was stained rendered him speechless.
What happened?
"Wufei? Wufei, are you all right?" asked Trowa. The green-eyed boy had seen the same thing, as well as Heero, who had his eyes narrowed in disbelief.
Amazing, they both thought.
Heero was the one who collected himself first, then cautiously looked around if anyone had also seen the phenomenon. "It seems that no one has seen it. You're safe," he told his eldest brother.
"What happened? What did I do?" Wufei asked, confused.
Trowa blinked, unused to seeing his brother distraught, because he had always seen Wufei strong, level-headed, and the one who always knew the answer to everything. He thought about telling his brothers about what happened during World History class, but decided that right then was not the time and place.
He'll know soon enough. I wonder if Heero can do something strange, too.
Sitting in a table not far away, Dorothy Catalonia dropped her dessert spoon, her mouth agape. She blinked once, twice, then rubbed her eyes. No. She wasn't just imagining things. She had seen something similar through the years...was it telekinesis? No, something similar, but...she shook her head, as if to clear it, then fell into deep thinking.
Finally, school was finished for the day. Though their school mates were having fun and hanging out at every possible place, either in the school parking lot or garden, or in the handful of fastfood restaurants in the city, the Halliwell brothers were quiet, and eager to go home.
The eldest Halliwell, Wufei, was walking much faster, his black eyebrows slanted down in an occupied V, as well as his younger brothers. That's why they didn't hear the girl who was calling them.
"Wufei! Wait! Wait up!"
Heero was the one who noticed, then turned. "Dorothy?"
His two brothers stopped, then turned, their frowns still not leaving their faces.
They were far outside the school's gate already, and no one was near. Finally, the girl whispered, "I saw you move that bottle at lunch today."
The Halliwell brothers' eyes went wide, then someone growled, "Omae o korosu."
Dorothy just smirked, then replied, "I'll watch you try."
"Heero, that's enough," the black-haired Halliwell said, his mouth in a tight line. "Dorothy, you will not say anything to anyone about what you saw."
She raised her eyebrows. "Of course. Why would I?"
"Dorothy, we're going home and we have a lot to do," Trowa said.
"I'll walk with you."
"Kisama..."
She just couldn't help it. She giggled, "You look so cute when you do that."
Wufei blushed furiously.
Heero couldn't decide if he'd be amused, irritated, or if he should just make good on his threat and kill the girl and smack his eldest brother on the head while he was at it.
"Wufei, Heero, we need to go home," Trowa reminded them again. Turning to Dorothy, he said, "You have a car, don't you?"
The blond girl just tilted her head, not answering.
Finding his wits at last, Wufei swallowed, then said to Dorothy, "We have to go now. I'll see you tomorrow."
They left, and thankfully Dorothy stopped insisting further that she would go with them.
The brothers reached an intersection filled with speeding vehicles. They waited for the cars to stop, then crossed the pedestrian lane. They reached the other side of the avenue, then turned right, heading to their manor located at Springer Drive, corner North Street.
It had been quite a long day, but they had a feeling that things were just about to start.
It was Heero's turn to cook.
Hn. I have so much to do, plus the assignment in English, Calculus, Physics and Music. Maybe I'll just use Trowa's secret cookware, just this once. Ninmu ryoukai.
The cobalt blue-eyed boy took out the 9-quart cookware that cooks by itself without direct heat, and vigorously rinsed it. When he finished, he turned to place it on the table, then he accidentally nudged a bowl that nearly went crashing on the tiled floor.
No!
Nearly, because it froze just before it broke.
Wufei came in to help, then stopped in midstep, his mouth hanging open. "Masaka..." he gasped. Not a few moments later, Trowa came in. "What the--?"
Still in a daze, Heero bent to pick up the floating bowl, and replaced it in the sink, before it would hit the floor. What did I just do?
The Halliwells were confused, and they were never used to being so off-balanced.
Just then, something soft and furry brushed Heero's ankle. Looking down, he found a strange cat, with black fur that had streaks of something purplish, and blue eyes. Heero looked questioningly at his brothers, then asked, "Did any one of you bring this cat in here?"
The two shook their heads in negation.
The feline purred, and brushed its tail against the back of Heero's right knee.
He didn't have much patience with pets. Deciding on getting rid of the cat, Heero picked it up, and walked towards the kitchen door leading to the living room, and their main door. He was about to open it, when the cat suddenly jumped out of his arm, and strode towards the foot of the stairs.
"Dammit," he hissed. He had to cook something for their special dinner, and he didn't have the time to chase the stupid cat. He calmly walked towards the cat.
The neko ran up the stairs, up to their attic.
Heero was getting annoyed, and when he got to the top floor, he found their attic door open. Strange. That door has always been locked ever since mother left ten years ago.
Wufei and Trowa heard their brother's footsteps going up the attic, and went after him curiously. When they reached Heero, they all gasped at what they saw.
Their mother was sitting on a chair, in the attic, a gentle smile on her lips.
"Mother?" Wufei gasped, for the second time that hour. He couldn't help but run towards his mother, and embrace her fiercely. "Mother...you've come back."
Une Halliwell bid her two sons nearer. "Come in. The time has come."
Heero strode towards his mother, confusion written in his cobalt-blue eyes, while Trowa struggled to remember how his mother looked like the last time he saw her. He nearly forgot.
"My sons, look at how you've grown," Une said softly in their ears, her blue eyes misty with unshed tears. "I've missed you all."
"Why did you have to go, Mother?" Wufei asked, his words muffled against her neck.
Une held him tighter. "My son, Wufei. I'm so sorry...I had to."
"But why?" Heero's tone was accusing, bordering on angry. He never understood why Une Halliwell had to leave them, when Wufei was only seven and his youngest brother merely five years old. Sure, their mother left them money, and he was sure that someone had been taking care of their education, but Heero felt betrayed when their mother bid them farewell, without any explanation. "You never told us, you never explained. Why now?" he growled.
"Don't you dare talk to our mother like that!" Wufei hissed angrily at Heero.
"I want you to explain, Mother," Trowa said, finally speaking up. "I want to know why you had to leave."
Heero and Trowa had already pulled away from Une's embrace. Only Wufei stayed, still holding his mother close.
"I've missed you, Mother," he whispered, sniffling very faintly, his face buried in Une's long brown hair. "You don't know how hard it's been for the last ten years. I thought I was going to fail you, and my brothers. I'm so glad that you've finally come back."
"Wufei. I've hurt you so much. If only I could--"
Heero bristled at the sight. He almost forgot how it had always been between his mother and his eldest brother, Wufei. He's always been the favorite, and Trowa and I are always just cast aside.
Quickly, Une looked up at him, then said, "That's not true, Heero. I love all of you equally."
Cobalt-blue eyes narrowed at that. He had almost forgotten that his mother had an uncanny way of knowing everything that they thought of, too.
That's weird. Mother knew what Heero was thinking about...like me, Trowa thought. Then Une smiled at him. Trowa, I always knew you'll have this power. Happy Birthday, my dear son.
Power?
"That is why I came back," Une said aloud in reply to her youngest son's query. "Trowa has turned fifteen, and all of you have discovered the powers that you've always had."
"Powers?" Heero asked, dumbfounded.
Wufei looked up. "You mean, when I moved the soy sauce bottle with just...willing it to come to me?"
Une nodded. "Precisely. And you Heero, when you saved that bowl from the floor earlier."
"I have that power...?"
"And you Trowa," their mother chided him, "that was a naughty trick you did back in Mr. Nelsen's class."
Wufei looked at Trowa suspiciously. "What does Mother mean, Trowa?"
"Masaka...I knew something was wrong earlier," Heero said, glaring at Trowa. "What the hell did you do?"
Trowa managed to look sheepish, then bowed his head, his bangs falling softly to hide his face. "I read Mr. Nelsen's mind, but it was an accident! I swear!"
"The three of you must know," their mother began, "that to have such powers comes responsibility. You can't use them for personal gain, like what Trowa had done, because when you do, there's always a consequence. Your powers are within you only to be used to protect the innocent, and punish the guilty."
When Wufei was about to rant on Trowa, Une held up a hand, then continued, "You, too, Wufei, and the most important rule is not use your powers in public. What would you have done, Wufei, if someone saw you aside from your brothers?"
The eldest son was nodding slowly, realizing his grave mistake.
"Actually, someone did see him, Mother," Trowa said.
Une raised an eyebrow. Who?
Trowa was about to answer back in his mind, when Heero had beat him to it. "It was Dorothy."
"Dorothy Catalonia?"
Heero nodded.
The eldest witch's tinkling laugh filled the attic. "She's still around?"
The three brothers looked at their mother quizzically, confused with what their mother had meant.
"Why, Mother?" Heero was the one who spoke first. "Do you know her?"
Still laughing, Une answered, "Know her? She was one of my best friends when I was in high school!"
"But she's still in the same school..." Wufei trailed, befuddled with the unexpected information.
Une shook her head, a small smile on her lips. "She owns the school, Wufei, and other numerous establishments around the island. She's very rich, you know, and still very pretty."
"But she still looks like...well, like a high school girl," Trowa said.
"She's immortal, Trowa, and she doesn't age."
The three were shocked to know that such existed.
"And the three of you, my dear sons, are the Charmed Ones."
Trowa frowned. "Charmed...Ones?"
"Traditionally, the Charmed Ones, who has the Power of Three, is only for females. The three of you weren't supposed to have inherited any power from the Halliwells, because you are males. However, your generation was the one to produce the Charmed Ones, and you're all males."
"I remember Aunt Sally," Wufei began. "Doesn't she have daughters?"
Une sighed heavily. "Your Aunt Sally does have a daughter, Wufei, but she's the only female, and she's...well--"
A loud meowl was heard, and their attention turned to the blue-eyed cat perched beside the foot of a book stand, that held a huge, ancient-looking book.
"I forgot all about the cat," Heero mumbled.
"Wufei, Heero, Trowa," Une presented, "meet Hilde, your cousin."
The cat blinked, then meowled louder.
"Cousin?!" they chorused.
"B-b-but she's--" Wufei stuttered.
Heero scowled. "Mother, are you mad?"
Trowa, surprising everyone, came towards his cousin, and picked her up. The cat nuzzled his neck with its ear.
"Hilde was cursed when she was just a year old," Une said, not without sadness. "Heero was only seven months old at that time, when your Aunt Sally helped her best friend Noin, but it got her into trouble with Milliard Peacecraft, the leader of the Peacecraft Family of Warlocks."
Heero was curious. "What happened?"
"Lucrezia Noin was another witch, from a different family of witches that is not prominent, but she was very powerful, too. One day she got into a battle with Milliard, and he won." Une paused to calm herself, feeling anger at the memory. "The warlock forced himself on her, and she bore a son. She was so scared that Milliard was going to take her baby away, that he would raise the child as one of the Peacecrafts, for, you see, the baby was the sole heir to the Peacecraft power. That's why she sought Sally's help. Noin asked Sally to hide the baby, and she did."
"Then what?" Trowa asked.
"Milliard found out. He persuaded Sally to reveal where the baby was, but it was no use. The warlock's henchmen couldn't break through her thoughts, so he cursed Sally's only child." She waited a beat. "Hilde was cursed to live in the form of a cat, and she could only experience her true form every full moon of a leap year."
"That's horrible," said Wufei.
"But what could Noin do?" Heero inquired.
Une blinked. "Ah. She could heal, and she could manipulate water--turn it to ice, steam, snow, whatever she could think of."
"And Milliard?" Trowa asked. "What could he do?"
"He has full control over the weather, and he uses fire as a weapon."
Wufei's black eyes were wide with amazement.
"They have different powers," Heero observed, "while the rest of us only has one each."
Une shook her head. "You'll discover your other powers soon enough, when the time is right."
"But Mother," Trowa began, "what powers do you have?"
"I can read minds, like you, Trowa, and I can move things," she answered.
Wufei nodded. "Like me."
"That's why I had to leave," she started to explain, "because Milliard Peacecraft was really angry at Noin and Sally. He knew that Sally's my sister, and he knew that I was also a witch. I was afraid that he would hurt the three of you because of that, and that he would think that the three of you are the Charmed Ones."
"He's going to kill us once he finds out," Heero stated. He perfectly understood.
Trowa walked nearer to Une, then kissed her cheek. "We understand."
Heero just grunted in reply.
Une looked at each of her sons. "Another reason is that your Aunt Sally saw the future ten years ago, and what she saw scared the two of us."
Wufei gazed thoughtfully at their mother. "What did she see?"
"Trouble," she replied. "We decided that the two of us should strengthen our powers by dwelling in different Places of Power. Our powers increase through time, but if Sally saw that we couldn't handle it, even with the development of our powers within ten years, then we needed to seek desperate measures, and that is to seek a Place of Power. I don't know where she is, but I know that she's fine. We had to prepare, and so does the three of you."
Finally, Une Halliwell stood up. "I have to leave once again, my sons, but I will come back. We have time."
Wufei protested. "But everything's still so new to us! We couldn't possibly--"
"Hush, Wufei. Your White Lighter will be here soon."
"White Lighter?" Trowa asked. "What's that?"
"Oh, and before I forget, take care of Hilde!"
"Mother, I--" I'm sorry for what I did earlier.
Une smiled. "I know, Heero."
"Wind, swift and strong, carry me back to where I came from!"
Then Une Halliwell disappeared.
tbc
