Destinies Toll Is Ending
Arch One
Chapter One
(Christopher Michael Halliwell narrating in italics)
What does one do to complete their Destiny? Is anyone's Destiny ever finished? The Charmed Ones thought their Destiny was finished multiple times. The Source, The Ultimate Power. It wasn't until The First Witch came back to wipe the Charmed Ones out of the world that they realized their Destiny wasn't over. I don't understand why I became Charmed. It's suppose to a Chick Thing, right? At least that's my brother always said. Maybe he was right, or maybe he just didn't understand the whole picture. I had heard many stories about my ancestors. Melinda Warren, Prudence Warren, P. Baxter, Phoebe Bowen. My family grew up with women, that is, until my father was born. Wyatt Matthew Halliwell was the first male Warren witch to be born and raised by my grandmother, a Charmed One, Piper. Why did she have a son when she went traveled to the future and saw that little girl? Was it the same reason Phoebe Halliwell didn't burn at the stake in two thousand nine? Why was I chosen out of all my ancestors when there was already three sisters to become Charmed? Not that Sarah would ever want to become a Charmed One. Is there a bigger picture out there, and I just don't realize it yet? Will I ever see my brothers again? Is this our new Destiny, to be separated forever?
What was that pounding, and what am I feeling? Stirring slowly, the male opened his eyes, and looked around the place he didn't feel familiar with. He moaned softly as he realized that he was feeling pain coming from his head. "Oh God," he tried to shake his head, but the pain was so horrible, "what the Hell did I drink?" Lifting his head up, he was finally able to view his surroundings. He was laying on a couch, he realized, and to his left was a miniature kitchen. A small table with three chairs served as the places dining room. As he looked over to his right, a television stood on its stand. It didn't look sturdy, but whatever its condition may have been, it probably worked for whoever owned it.
The male, a boy of nineteen, stood up slowly on the hard floor. He could feel instant cool touch his feet. Looking down, Christopher Halliwell saw that he was barefoot. It struck him as strange, for he did not remember taking his socks or shoes off. As he ventured around the tiny apartment, Chris slowly walked his way over to the kitchen area. His feet, his legs, and his arms were so sore. At first, he wanted to go lay back down and just sleep, but then he realized he was quite thirsty. Touching his throat, he felt it was so fucking sore. Hopefully there was water or something in the fridge to drink. Maybe even a beer. Chris opened the fridge, and immediately frowned. There wasn't much in there, but when he looked in one of the fridges cabinets, his face lit up. Ah ha! He opened the little storage bin and took out a nice, cold bottle of Budweiser beer. "Score!" Popping open the cap, he started to guzzle the cold beverage down. As he felt it flow, his tongue reacted negatively to the taste, but he didn't mind it. His throat on the other hand, thanked the boy for such a refreshing drink. "Ah."
Chris shut the fridge, and made his way over to the little table and chairs and sat down. As he was almost lost in his own world, he heard another pounding. "What the..." Chris looked behind him, realizing there was someone else in this place with him. Well, that was the be expected, wasn't it? Chris knew he didn't just waltz in here on his own, so of course there was someone else here. Still, he was cautious when he stood up and started making his way down the hall. Someone was in one of the back rooms, shuffling what sounded like papers around. Trying to carefully not make a sound, Chris inched his way towards the back, hoping the floor wouldn't creak and expose him. As he reached his destination, Chris carefully peered into the room.
It was a bedroom. There was a bed and a nightstand on the left. A closet just next to that. A window could be seen, but the blinds covering it was closed so the young Charmed One couldn't look out, which was a shame. Piled all over the floor were books, papers, paper plates, and other assortment of junk. Chris wanted to know who lived here and who he was with, but he also wasn't really sure if he wanted to. The Charmed One was so busy checking out the room, that he didn't notice a man standing straight and tall now, looking at him. "Well, it's about time you woke up." Chris jumped in fright, his heart beating so hard. It didn't come quick, but realization soon told him who the man was.
"Aaron." Chris could feel himself run over and wrap his arms around the older man. Aaron Thompson was a long time friend to the Halliwell's, and knew of the families secret. Chris remembered that every time Aaron would visit, he would bring gifts and spoil the hell out of him and his brothers, much to his parents disapproval. Aaron didn't care however, and kept doing it. That is, until some times when Chris got older, Aaron just stopped coming around. He always wondered if his parents had something to do with that. It was possible, knowing Wyatt and Kira. The two shared a hug for a couple seconds before it was broken off. Chris got a good look at the man, and noted that he was definitely older. Older and very worn out, Chris thought.
Aaron lead Chris back into the living room, where the two sat down and immediately struck up a conversation. As they discussed the events of what was going on, Chris' memory jogged back into place. Everything quickly ran through his mind: Medilyn, his brothers, Demortica, Athulak, becoming a Charmed One. Aaron revealed he didn't even know what was going on. One minute there was a freak rain storm, and then the next everything just went calm. It wasn't until ten or so minutes later that everything went to total Hell, and the city went to shit.
"Seriously, meteors struck the city, dude. Lightning strikes were everywhere, and there were even tidal waves!" Aaron, who watched as Chris began to freak out, quickly assured him that before they could hit San Francisco, they were forced back into the Pacific.
So they were still in San Francisco. That was a good thing, right? At least they weren't trapped in some twisted old vortex. Chris quickly moved on to the next and a very important subject: His brothers. He recalled his experience with Tyler, Andrew and Demortica on top of Golden Gate Bridge. "Last I knew, I was on my back. I couldn't see anything, except for blurs. I thought I saw something or someone move, but before I could find out who it is..." Aaron informed Chris that that was actually him. He couldn't explain it, but something told him he needed to go to the Bridge. So, he took a potion he learned from the Halliwell's, a simple transportation potion, focused where he wanted to go, and that was when he found Chris between the conscious and unconscious. Well, that made sense. It definitely explained how he got here.
"Aaron," Chris' eyes lowered to the floor as he thought of his next question. He knew he already knew the answer, but he was going to ask it anyway, "did you by any chance see my brothers? Maybe a glimpse or..." When he saw Aaron shake his head, he decided to go quiet. Were his brothers alive? He'd surely feel if they were dead, wouldn't he? It was no secret that everything they went through together, they formed a very powerful bond not only as brothers, but also as the Charmed Ones.
Aaron encouraged Chris to not give up hope. If his brothers were alive, then Chris would find them. He was happy when that made Chris smile. He offered his help, but he wasn't really sure where to begin. The young Halliwell went over their options, suggesting many spells that could be used to help find his brothers. He was feeling hopeful and decided to remain positive. 'I will find my brothers. I will find my brothers.' Suddenly, he remembered something! There was a spell in the Book of Shadows that would be able to help a witch call on another witch, or if he subbed out a few words, his brothers! He was so excited, but it quickly faded as he remembered that everything he needed was back at the Manor. Was the ancient home even still there? What if it wasn't, and when he orbbed over, he would land into an empty lot? Well, there was only one way to find out, wasn't there?
Looking at Aaron, he stretched out his hand, offering it to the older gentleman. After asking where they were going, Chris explained his plan and hopefully that would help him find his brothers. Aaron took Chris' hand, but the two did not orb out right away. There was a pounding knock on the front door. "Now who could that be? If it's your family, they'd just orb in here right?" Without waiting for an answer, Aaron walked over to the door, but Chris stayed put. Something wasn't right about this, he could feel it. When the witch made his way over to the door, Aaron was looking out the peephole. On the other side of the door, he saw a man in a police officer uniform standing out there. "Now what does he want?" Chris was curious what Aaron was talking about, but before he could ask who it was, Aaron opened the door for the cop.
"Hello there, Officer. How may I help you?" After hearing who it was, Chris felt relieved. It was just an officer. Maybe he knew his Great Uncle, Henry! The officer introduced himself as Officer Mick Kowski. It was odd, because Chris didn't recall any officer named that. He knew the Police Force pretty well thanks to Henry Sr., plus there were many law enforcement officers who had helped the Halliwell's from time to time.
Mick wanted to know if everything in the home was alright, and asked to come in to inspect the place. Aaron noticed Chris giving him a cautious glare, but he let the man in anyway. What the hell was Aaron doing? After the man walked through, he started to look around the place. "Nice home you got here." Aaron thanked the cop kindly as Mick stepped forward some. Chris was feeling even more cautious, and decided to let his presence known.
"Is there anything you're looking for, Sir?" Mick jumped at the sound of Chris' voice, and smiled kindly at the boy. Mick warned Chris it wasn't right to scare a cop like that; he could have done something to hurt the young boy. Chris tilted his head, but apologized to the man. He watched closely as Mick turned around and walked even further into the apartment. "A lot of bad shit is happening out there. You're both really lucky to have survived the event." As the cop continued to the explain what had happened to the city, Chris just kept getting more and more suspicious. The Event? Is that what you call the end of the world? A fucking event?Something just wasn't right here, he knew it. He let the Officer continue to look around, curious to see what he was going to do.
"I can't say this enough, but you're lucky you and your son survived this stuff." Chris and Aaron looked at each other. Chris nodded, so Aaron went through with the officer's thought process. He told Mick and he and his son were about to sit down to a nice little dinner when everything outside started going insane. Chris, joining in on his charade, told Mick, "Yeah, Dad wouldn't let me go outside. I begged and begged, but he just threatened to ground me from my shit." Mick chuckled, saying it was probably for Chris' own good he did not go outside. Turning to face the Charmed One now, he gave him what seemed to be a genuine smile.
"What's your name, Son?" Mmmhm. Chris knew this was about to happen. It was all happening so suddenly. The world goes through its apocalypse, and a cop just so happened to show up to "inspect" the place? Yeah right. Chris just shrugged at the officer, crossing his arms now. He was going to go through with this charade until it was time to deal with Mick or whoever he was. "Michael. Michael Thompson." He decided a long time ago, probably when he first started hunting demons(with Patience, of course) that his cover name would always be his own middle name, Michael. He had no idea how his parents came up with it, but was pretty happy with it. It wasn't long or anything like that. Just plain and simple. The way he liked it.
"It's nice to meet you, Mike." Mick nodded, then turned his attention to Aaron. At first, Chris saw the policeman flinch, but then his expression went back to its cool, calm and collective look. He asked Aaron if it was alright if he looked through the whole place. Aaron raised his eyebrow now. He knew Chris wanted to keep this going, but seriously? Did the police officer really need to go through his entire apartment? This was just getting pretty ridiculous now. As he opened the front door again, he told the officer that everything was just fine and that all he wanted to do was to feed his son. Mick raised his hands in surrender and apologized to the other adult while going to exit the apartment. At first, the two thought they were in the clear. Chris began to think it really was an officer, until the man stopped at the door frame. Chris heard the officer chuckle, "Do you really think you can keep fooling me?"
Mick turned around immediately and flung his hand at Aaron, causing him to fly across the room. He made body contact with his coffee table, which busted all over the floor. Aaron groaned in pain while Chris kept eyes on who he knew was a demon, "Who the fuck are you?" Mick looked at Chris with a grin. He rubbed his hands together while stepping close to the boy. "You are truly my lifesaver, Chris. A job well done." He reached his hand to touch Chris, but the Halliwell growled and raised his hand to produce a fire ball. Mick busted up laughing, which to Chris sounded like a wart hog or something. He asked if Chris could really hurt his number one fan. Wait, what? Why would a demon be a Charmed Ones "number one fan"? This demon was clearly insane or something. Chris was about to throw the fireball, but Mick shimmered out in time. Looking defeated, Chris extinguished his fire power, but was surprised when he was grabbed from behind.
Mick had his hand over Chris' mouth, and threatened that if he tried anything both he and Aaron were going to die. Chris wondered why Mick wasn't attempting to kill him, but quite frankly he wasn't in the mood nor the position even to ask. On immediate instinct, Chris bit hard onto Mick's hand, who yelled out in pain and let go of Chris. The Charmed One ran up a couple steps before turning to face the demon. "I swear to the God and Goddess if you do not tell me who the fuck you are, I am going to kill you!" Mick didn't pay Chris any attention. He was more preoccupied on his hand. He saw his own blood trickle down, and complained how hard Chris had bit him.
"You stupid witch! Did you have to bite so fucking hard?" Chris just laughed, and kicked the demon right in his gut. Mick was pushed against the wall and he groaned as he felt the pain all through his stomach. Why were the Halliwell witches so damn tough? As he looked at Chris, he promised he was going to regret what he just did. Chris, with a smirk on his face, told the demon that he was not going to listen to the "police" anymore. For all he knew, the whole demonic race was in charge of the Police Force now. Which, when he thought about it, was definitely not a good thing.
The demon looked back at his hand, sent death glares at Chris, and shimmered out. Sighing, Chris shook his head. If the demons were in charge of the police now, what else were they in charge of?
The youngest Halliwell almost forgot about Aaron until he heard him groaning from the pain he was in. Quickly, Chris ran to Aaron, asking where he was hurt. Aaron assured he did not need any healing, and was completely fine. "A little bruised maybe, but other than that Star Shine, I'll be alright." Chris scrunched up his face in confusion until he remembered that that was always what Aaron called him when he was little. When he asked why Aaron did so, the man shrugged. "I always thought you were a bright young boy. You know, like the stars." Aaron rubbed his neck to work out the kinks before going on, "I always knew you were a bright boy, but I didn't know you'd ever become a Charmed One." Confused, Chris wondered how Aaron knew he was a Charmed One, but didn't press on it. It wasn't really that important, or so he thought. After Chris helped Aaron up, he ushered the adult to the couch and hurried to get a glass of water. "Boy, I'm telling you I am fine!" Chris didn't listen, and a couple minutes later, Aaron was gulping down a glass of iced water. "Okay, maybe that helped. Just a little."
Chris informed Aaron that the demon could be back at any moment. The man agreed, and asked when. Chris just thought it was rhetorical question, so he started to pace the living room. Everything that had happened in the past year or so was rushing through the young witches head. He had faced Medilyn and Athulak, whom of which were both partners. Why were they partners? It didn't really matter now since Medilyn was dead, but what had happened to Athulak? Next on his mind was Demortica. He believed the Second Witch was dead now, which was a good thing, but from was the demon told him and Aaron, the world was in utter chaos, or something like that. Was that Demortica's plan all along? To kill the Charmed Ones, which she obviously failed at, and cause the apocalypse? "Doesn't the apocalypse technically mean the end of the world?"
Chris was surprised and almost jumped out of his skin when Aaron answered his question. "Not if it's by zombies or anything." When Chris gave him a "What the hell are you talking about" type look, Aaron sighed and went on to explain, "What most people think of an apocalypse, they think of the world blowing up, right?" When Chris nodded slowly, he continued, "But what if the "apocalypse" means something else in this situation? It could mean the end of all witches," he flinched when he saw Chris immediately glare at him, "Or... it could mean the take over of demons so that they could rule over witches and other good beings, understand?" Chris' eyes lowered to the floor as he was analyzing and taking in the answer. Aaron did have a point, at least he thought. The term apocalypse was used loosely most of the time, wasn't it?
The two males sat down next to each other to talk further and discuss future action plans. Chris stated that he really needed to find his brothers, which Aaron agreed to. He, Chris, also suggested that maybe it'd be a good idea to go outside to check things out. At first, Aaron disapproved of the idea, but after some given thought, he nodded and consented. Maybe it was a good idea to go out and see what they were dealing with. Chris also brought up that they needed to go to the Manor as soon as possible. "I'm not sure what to expect, but I need to know if my home is still there. Plus, I need to look in the Book of Shadows and see what I need for the spell I need to cast." Aaron thought that before Chris went back home and wasted herbs, he should at least try to call out for Tyler, Andrew, even his aunt, uncle and parents. Shrugging, Chris looked up at the ceiling and inhaled deeply, "Dad! Ty! Jason? Chris? Andrew?" After a couple seconds of waiting, Chris looked back at Aaron, who looked a little guilty. "Don't worry about it, Aaron. It was worth a shot."
Before the two left, Aaron told Chris he wanted to pack things for their trip. He explained that if the world really was destroyed and the apocalypse had really happened, they needed to stock up on as many things as they possible could. Luckily, Aaron had a couple weapons with him such as guns and other various things. After getting up to go pack, Chris realized he had a very important mission ahead of him. Since Aaron was a mortal, he couldn't use supernatural powers against the demons who might be going to go after the two. Which meant that Aaron was Chris' unofficial charge from here on out. He knew that the Elders, as horrible and stupid as they were, would want the Charmed One to protect the innocent even in this catastrophic event.
Aaron was still in his bedroom packing, so Chris decided to sit back and just stare into an empty space.
So, Aaron Thompson was alive and well. At least I have an ally now, right? It was pretty impressive that I knew Mick was a demon. I've seen enough of them to tell who was a demon or an innocent...
Chris peered into the hallway since the scuffle from Aaron's bedroom had stopped, but after it continued, Chris looked back into the empty space,
I know what I have to do. I know my brother's aren't dead. Let's face it, if they were, I would have been able to feel it. I can't explain it, but it's like after we bonded so much, we gained a sixth sense with each other. We could tell when something was bothering us. I admit, I was very hesitant with them to reveal how I felt. Maybe it was time to change that? The only way we can fully become close and bond as brothers was to be honest and truthful, yes? So much pain had flown through my body and soul. Take Jacob's death for example. I was so torn, so hurt, that my late fiancee had died and went on to his afterlife. But after he intercepted my mind quite recently, he lifted my barrier so I could continue to love. To be able to feel love was a very positive and powerful thing. Perhaps I moved too quickly when I kissed Jason on the Golden Gate Bridge. It's not like I was going to propose to him so fast. Jacob and I knew each other for years before he proposed to me. So if I were to find Jason again, which I know what you're thinking, it's so ironic his name also begins with a J, right? Trust me, I know, I would show him how much I love him. I will never stop loving him. And if Jason can hear me now, within my thoughts, I ask you, my Love, help me find you. And help me find my brothers.
Aaron came back into the living room with a sports bag packed with unknown items to Chris. Aaron, as if he could read Chris' mind, shrugged and chuckled. "Clothes, weapons, books. I need to pack some food, so when we're done we'll be off to your home, okay?" Chris nodded as Aaron walked over to the kitchen and opened the cabinets. The Charmed One smiled softly as he looked towards the ground,
Jason, wherever you are, please protect and watch over my brothers. Please, don't be harmed.
Thank you for reading the first chapter(and the prologue) of Destinies Toll Is Ending!
Please, review and I hope to see everyone really soon! 3
-ADarkenedSoul
