Legacy 103: The Source of All Fear

Chapter 7

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As the beings from their nightmares bashed against the attic door, Henry Jr. continued to stack furniture and other heavy objects against the door to prevent them from getting in. Behind the door, he heard Slappy laugh and it sent a cold chill down his spine. He really hated that clown, not to mention it freaked him out more than anything. When he ran out of objects to barricade the door with, Henry turned to his cousin Payton, who was rapidly flipping through the pages of the Book of Shadows in a slight panic.

"Anything?" Henry asked.

"I am not sure." Payton said. "All I found is this on Barbas' page, listen. A witch's only defence is to identify and then release her greatest fears. Do not rely on your wicca powers for defence, for in the face of your greatest fear, those powers are paralyzed. To let go of your fear, trust in the greatest of all powers."

"What the hell is that supposed to mean?" Henry called out.

"I don't know!" Payton snapped back at him. "You figure it out!"

"We already faced out fear, we already beat them once." Henry said. "So why didn't it work?"

There was a sudden loud noise and both cousins jumped. A chair that was stacked against the door had fallen over and the door was pushed open slightly. An arm clutching a knife appeared through the crack of the door and swung around.

"Oh god." Payton whispered as she backed up.

The knife was drawn back and a long shaped balloon was pushed through the door. When it hit the floor, it exploded and Slappy appeared in a blast of confetti. Henry froze as the clown looked at him with his demonic eyes and a smile filled with razor sharp claws. He then started removing the furniture from the door. Henry and Payton backed up until they found themselves at the back of the attic, in front of the large window. When Slappy had removed all furniture, he opened the door and took a bow. Cinderhella came walking in with her knife playfully swinging around her hand.

"Any last words before I cut you open?" Cinderhella asked.

"Henry, do something." Payton whispered.

"Like what, my powers aren't working." Henry replied.

When their worst fears came closer, Henry realized it was over. They had run out of options. Payton cried and grabbed him arms. Slappy grinned at him as he conjured a chainsaw out of thin air and it started buzzing as he violently swung it around. With only a few feet away, the monsters suddenly screamed out in pain as they were engulfed in a blast of pink energy and fell to their knees. Behind them, Prue had appeared in the attic door.

"Prue!" Payton called out in tears. "Help!"

"I can't. They are your fears. Only you can defeat them." Prue replied. "You have to conquer your fear by trusting in yourself and others."

"We already tried that!" Payton called out.

"Actually, we didn't." Henry replied as he suddenly realized something. "We did not beat our own fears, we beat each other's fears. You stopped Slappy and I stopped Cinderhella. If we want to defeat them, we have to do it ourselves."

"How?" Payton asked.

"The book, what did it say?" Henry asked. "Trust in the greatest of all powers?"

"The greatest of all powers." Payton repeated softly as she looked at her sister, who smiled and nodded at her. A confident smile appeared on Payton's lips. "Love, the greatest of all powers is love. That is how we beat them."

"What?" Henry asked.

"Trust me." Payton said. "We need to trust in ourselves. We're all family and we love each other, right? If we stand together, they cannot beat us."

"Are you kidding me?" Henry remarked skeptically.

"Oh, get over yourself." Payton said. "Stop acting like a guy and just admit your feelings. You love your family and you trust us."

"Okay fine." Henry replied. "As long we don't have to hold hands and sing about it."

Henry stepped forward and faced Slappy as he crawled up and faced him with his chainsaw raised. Henry looked at his worst fear and focussed on love instead of fear. He remembered his family as they grew up together, like Wyatt and Chris teasing him with the Slappy doll and his mother comforting him afterwards and making them apologize. He remembered them saying it was just a stupid doll and Henry realized that that was all Slappy was, a stupid ugly clown doll. He was not a little kid anymore, so why should he still be scared of it?

"You don't scare me anymore, Slappy." Henry said. "Clowns are just annoying as hell."

Slappy screamed angrily as charge forward with the chainsaw, but Henry remained standing and faced his fear. The clown dissolved in dust before the saw could hit him. All that remained of Slappy was the doll, which fell on the floor.

"I can't believe that worked." Henry remarked.

"I told you, idiot." Payton said as she stepped forward and faced her own fear, the horribly disfigured serial killer in the prom dress.

"You cannot defeat me. I will have my revenge." Cinderhella called out. "The crown is mine."

"Oh shut up, you're not in your stupid movie anymore." Payton said. "You're not even real, just some fictional, pathetic freak. And you don't scare me."

Cinderhella screamed and flung her knife, which Payton avoided by moving her head and it became stuck in the wooden wall before it dissolved. Cinderhella looked in horror and started to run away, though she tripped over her own dress and fell on the floor. Her prom crown fell over her head and rolled over to Payton. As Cinderhella looked up, Payton smiled confidently and stepped on the crown, smashing it. The serial killer screamed out in fury as she dissolved into dust.

"Oh my god." Payton said as she took a sigh of relief. "We did it."

"Nice work." Prue complimented them as she stepped into the attic. "It shows that love and trust really is the most powerful force in this world."

"How did you figure it out?" Payton asked

"Oh, I had a little help." Prue replied with a smile.

In streams of white wisps, the spirit of a young man appeared next to her and they smiled at each other before fading away once more.

"Something you want to tell us?" henry asked with a frown.

"Later." Prue replied. "This is still far from over. We need to get downstairs and wake up Wyatt and Chris. Penny is still with them."

The three cousins left the attic and headed downstairs. As they left, Henry took one last look at the Slappy doll still lying in the floor. The thing still creeped him out and he was getting rid of it as soon as he could, but at least he was no longer scared of it like he used to be. The power of love, he was embarrassed to admit it had actually worked. He closed the attic door and followed his cousins. Like Prue said, it was far from over.

Xxx

With a powerful force, Penny Halliwell was thrown across the attic in the dream world and crashed into the large standing mirror. A moment later, she heard Chris scream as he was thrown on the floor next to her and crashed into a chair. They exchanged looks and crawled up as Wyatt came walking at them with an Energy Ball in each hand. Chris raised his arms defensively, but Penny grabbed them and put them down.

"Wyatt stop this." Penny called out. "Stop letting Barbas manipulate you, you're not evil. What happened in the past doesn't matter you're not that person."

"The potential is still there, and I decided to embrace it." Wyatt stated. "Join me and kneel or I will destroy you."

"We're never going to bow down to you, Wyatt. Not in this world or the real one." Chris replied.

"Not helping." Penny whispered to him before turning to Wyatt. "I saw everything that happened in your mind. The only reason you turned evil was because you were too powerful. All that power was bound to corrupt you. But now that power is gone."

"But the evil remained." Wyatt replied.

"That is just your fear talking." Penny said. "You know better. You're a good person and your family loves you. Don't give that up."

"I offered you to join me. Chris will never give in, but you and the others still could." Wyatt said as he let the Energy Balls dissipate. "We will be powerful, unstoppable, I can keep all of you safe, you can all be happy."

"We can never truly be happy like that, Wyatt." Penny said. "Our parents raised us better than that, they raised us to be good. You are good."

"So you reject me as well." Wyatt stated bitterly. "If you are not with me, you are against me."

Wyatt raised his arm and clutched his fist. Penny felt a force around her throat starting to choke her. She fell to her knees as she grabbed her throat and gasped for air. Chris yelled at Wyatt and charged at him, but he thrown against the wall. Penny felt her air running and panicked, as she knew that dying inside a dream world would kill you in real life as well.

"Chris." Penny called out telepathically. "You're the only one who can bring the good Wyatt back. Whatever happened, whatever was said, you need to believe in him. Do not fall for Barbas' manipulation. Wyatt is your brother, you need to love him and bring him back. Do not give up!"

Penny desperately hoped that Chris understood and message. Time was running out. She was running out of air, so she did the only thing she could think out. She focussed on the connection between their minds and severed it. A wave of bright light engulfed her as she thrown out of the dream world and back into reality.

With a gasp for air, Penny woke up in her real body and coughed as she sat up. She looked up and saw the concerned faces of Prue, Payton and Henry around her. She tried to speak, but all she could do was cough. It all depended on Chris now.

Xxx

Chris stumbled down the stairs of the manor and tried to make it to the front door. The words Penny had spoken to him telepathically still echoed in his mind. She had told him he could not give up on Wyatt, that he was good and that he needed to believe in him and bring him back. However, Chris was not convinced that he could. Part of him was bitter that Wyatt had kept such a secret from him all these years. However, he was more conflicted about Bianca. Although he did not truly know her, her death had affected him somehow. Wyatt had killed her for being in the way, just like he had tried to kill Penny only moments ago for refusing to join him. How could he believe in someone with that much potential for evil?

Just as Chris reached the front door, an Energy Ball flew past him and combusted as it hit the door, sending him flying back into the main hall. Wyatt stepped down the stairs and faced his younger brother lying on the floor and groaning in pain.

"You can't escape me, Chris." Wyatt said.

"Wyatt." Chris whispered in pain. "Why are you doing this?"

"Like I explained before, this evil was inside me. I merely gave in." Wyatt said. "I offered you a place at my side and you refused. You're too big of a risk."

"So kill me!" Chris called out angrily. "If you're really that evil, if you really don't care, then kill me!"

"Very well, you give me no choice." Wyatt said.

As his older brother towered over him, he raised his hand and an Energy Ball formed. Wyatt looked down on his brother while Chris returned his stare. Wyatt still seemed pure evil, though for a moment, Chris noticed a shimmer of doubt in his eyes. Perhaps Wyatt was not as lost as he believed. What if despite everything, he still could not really kill his own brother? Penny's words echoed through his head, the only thing that could beat fear was love. And Chris knew that Wyatt loved his family more than anyone.

"Go on, what are you waiting for?!" Chris called out.

"Shut up!" Wyatt screamed at him in frustration and he took a step back. "Why do you have to be such a stubborn fool?!"

"You can't do it, can you?" Chris said as he crawled up to his feet. "You can't kill me. Because you know this isn't you. This is just a fear."

"Enough!" Wyatt screamed as he threw the Energy Ball, which flew past Chris by a feet and blasted the wall instead.

"You missed." Chris remarked. "At this range? I am right in front of you. If you truly wanted to kill me, you could have."

"I don't want to kill you! Don't you get that?" Wyatt replied.

"I do." Chris said. "But you have to make a choice, Wyatt. Either you give into your fear and end up alone, or be brave and face your fear. If you give in, you will lose everything you care about, but if you're brave enough, your family will be there to love and support you. So which will it be?"

Wyatt looked at his brother for a moment and turned away, though Chris saw the conflict in his eyes. He had done all he could, not it was up to Wyatt himself to decide if he could beat his fear. Wyatt began to scream and energy started surging from his body as he fell to his knees. Like dark cloud, the evil washed out of him and he returned to his old self, the darkness disappeared. Wyatt then stopped screaming and remained staring at the floor. Chris stood frozen for a while, unsure of what to do or say, but knew he had to say something.

"Wyatt?" Chris asked concerned.

"I am okay." Wyatt said softly as he wiped his eyes with his sleeve. "I just need a minute."

Suddenly a scream filled the fake manor in the dream world and Barbas appeared in a cloud of smoke. He looked drained and weakened, and Chris realized that Wyatt beating his fear had cost Barbas his power.

"You fool, you could have had unlimited power." Barbas hissed at Wyatt.

"Not at the cost of everyone I love." Wyatt replied as he rose to his feet. "Your games are over, Barbas. Now get out of my mind!"

"Oh, oh." Barbas laughed. "You think you have won, don't you? You think that concerning your fears has somehow defeated me? I am the demon of Fear, I can never be defeated."

"At least your hold on us has been broken." Chris said. "We're no longer yours to manipulate and pit against each other."

"I don't need to." Barbas replied. "The damage has already been done. Can you honestly look your brother in the eyes and say that you trust him? That there is not a small part in either of you that still doubts if he could ever turn evil again?"

Chris fell silent as he felt Wyatt looked at him. As much as he loved his brother and wanted to deny it, he would be lying to himself if he sad he was truly at peace. Apparently, Wyatt felt his hesitation as he turned away.

"So you think you've won?" Chris asked. "You tried to kill us and you failed. We will get past this, but you won't be around much longer."

"Oh, but I already got what I wanted." Barbas said. "You see, I could not have returned from purgatory on my own. I needed a little power boost, so I sought out someone who could help me get what I needed. All he asked was that I used this borrowed power to take you out."

"But you failed." Wyatt replied.

"Did I?" Barbas asked. "Seems to me I got you right where I wanted. I never intended to kill you myself, but merely soften you up a bit."

"So who is this mysterious friend of yours?" Wyatt asked.

"Boys, do you really need to ask?" Barbas remarked with a fiendish smile.

"The Source." Chris concluded. "It's always him."

"Well, now that we got that little twist out of the way, I think it is time for me to take my leave." Barbas said as he took a bow. "I'll be seeing you in your nightmares."

Barbas started to laugh and it echoed through the dream world and he disappeared in streams of black smoke. Chris looked at his brother, but Wyatt refused to look at him. He wondered if he was ashamed at himself or angry at Chris, or possibly both. Chris wanted to say something, but suddenly the entire dream world started to shake. Furniture started to disappear and the walls started to crumble down as the entire world became engulfed in white light. Chris felt himself getting pulled from this world and being thrust back into reality.

Xxx

The following morning, everyone had gathered around the dining room table after spending the night in the manor, since everyone was too exhausted and beat down to do anything else. There was an awkward silence in the room as everyone avoided looking at each other. They had all shared their personal fears and encounters, though everyone had been shocked by the revelation about Wyatt and the secrets he and their parents had been keeping from them for years. Nobody quite knew how to handle it or even talk about it. Eventually it was Henry Jr. who broke the silence.

"So that happened." Henry remarked dryly. "What is going to happen now?"

"I think we all need some time to process." Prue said. "I think we all need some time to recharge and figure out how we go from here."

"Shouldn't we at least discuss the biggest issue here?" Penny asked.

"Do you mean the fact that I might be evil or the fact that I've lied to all of you all these years." Wyatt asked as he stared at the table.

"Both, I guess." Penny said uncomfortably.

"We'll have time for that later." Chris suddenly said determined as he slammed his fist on the table and stood up. "We need to focus on the bigger threat here."

"You mean Barbas?" Payton asked.

"No, not Barbas. He merely played his part in something much bigger." Chris said. "Ever since that dinner party at Les Trios, there has been one constant factor in all our problems. Something that seems determined to destroy our family and make us suffer as much as possible. And I say it is time to end it. I say it is time we go after the Source of All Evil directly."

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One more chapter coming up, please review!