Chapter Three- Old Enough
2027
Leo had orbed his sons to a tiny house in a small Georgia town. The neon sign in the front window simply said, "Fortunes Told." Which was enough to make most passersby smile with a feeling of superiority as they laughed at the superstitions of others. For the Halliwells it meant exactly what it said- if the fortune teller was legit. Wyatt and Chris assumed whoever lived there must have been for their father to take them so far from home, and when Leo evaded their questions it made them wonder what was going on. They were met by a petite, dark featured woman at the front door and soon found themselves hurried into the living room and left. Leo and the strange fortune teller told them to wait and exited the room. For a while Wyatt and Chris could hear a quiet but serious sounding conversation going on down the hall, but as time dragged by their patience wore thin.
Wyatt was restless. Chris had a headache. Neither of them wanted to be there. Wyatt stood up from the couch and started pacing the tiny living room. It was cluttered with strange objects lining shelves all along the walls. Wyatt picked up a tiny bone knife from one of the nearest shelves and put it back almost immediately, disinterested. He let out a loud sigh. "Could you just, not?" Chris buried his face in his hands, cringing from the shooting pain behind his eyes.
"Sorry." He muttered in frustration. Chris' headaches were the only time when he had ever felt powerless. No healing seemed to help them. He paced around the room for a few seconds before crossing his arms and rolling his head back, "What is taking them so long?"
"I don't know, man. Just chill out, would you?" Chris' voice came out muffled from behind his hands.
"You've been hanging out with Aunt Paige too much, next you're going to start saying "dude" all the time." Wyatt replied, and it made Chris look up for a moment and smile through the pain before covering his eyes again. Wyatt went back to the couch and sat down. The front door closed down the hall and the dark haired woman walked into the room. Wyatt jumped up again, but she kept walking, straight over to the rocking chair that faced the couch.
"Your brother is right, Wyatt. You really should calm down. Patience is a virtue." She laced her hands together and leaned forward in her chair. It was unclear if she was mocking him, or being serious. Chris looked up again, and Wyatt sat back down looking a little petulant. "Do you two know who I am?" She smiled, her dark eyes sparkling mischievously behind her glasses.
The two brothers looked at each other, but didn't answer. She smiled again, "Maybe if you weren't so distracted." She stood up and walked over to Chris, placing her hands over his ears and whispered what sounded like a chant at his forehead. When she backed away, Chris blinked hard several times.
"It's gone." He sounded shocked, then he grinned from ear to ear.
"How'd you do that?" Wyatt stared at the woman in awe.
"Sorry, but I asked you a question first. Do you know who I am? I'll give you a hint, I'm not a demon, but I made it into the Book of Shadows. Think about the first few pages or so."
They both thought hard for a moment, staring at her. Finally Chris answered, "You're Thalia." He spoke quietly. She looked just like her sketch in the book.
"We have a winner. And what does your book say about me?" She laughed quietly.
Chris and Wyatt shared a look. Wyatt spoke first, "You're immortal, you see the future."
"But not just what's going to happen, you see every possible future, and you know how each could come true."
"Very good. Gold stars for everyone. Does it say anything else?"
"It says when you talk, we should listen." Wyatt's voice was low, all restlessness gone.
"Good advice." She paused for a moment, rocking her chair slowly, "Alright. We've gotten through the preliminaries. It's time to get down to business. Your parents brought you here today out of necessity. I like to keep to myself, but your family has done too much good in the world for me to ignore them in their time of need." Wyatt and Chris looked confused, but said nothing, "You are here, in essence, to learn and I am here to help the two of you through these next few months because I can promise you they will be the hardest times of you lives." She sounded sad, but Wyatt smiled.
"So you're going to show us how to be better fighters? Help us stop some big, bad demon uprising?" He enjoyed stopping evil, it really was what he was best at.
"No." Thalia arched one brow and Wyatt shut up. Chris covered his mouth to hide a chuckle. Wyatt smacked him on the shoulder playfully.
"This is serious, boys. It's time we begin." The Halliwell brothers stood up, and Thalia waved them back down, "When you started Magic School, did you start with practical application or was it lectures?" her new students' faces fell in disappointment, but Thalia smiled. "I know, you believe you're too old for the basics, twenty-five and Chris you're only a month away from twenty-three, right?" Something about her tone held special significance when she said that, "But we have to start with an understanding of the situation, and for that I have to tell you a story. Don't give me that look, this is important. In a way, this story is from my past, but it exists outside of time." This statement got their attention. So Thalia spoke, and they listened.