A Charmed Story - Part Ten:
An Elder's Tale
Chapter 9

"Where do you have that from?" Michael had asked, looking amazed at Lancelot's neck, and the medal that hung from it. They all stopped walking for a moment. Lancelot frowned and Chris looked at them curious.
"The... the medal..." Michael insisted with a trembling voice. He could not believe that the jewel was the same. That was not possible... Was it?
"This token?" Lancelot asked, wrapping the medal in his fist softly and lovingly. Suddenly his eyes brightened in a weird way, but Chris was unable to understand why, so he just kept looking from one to another. What was up with that medal?
"She gave it to me, as a reward for having saved her," he explained shortly.
"She? Her? Who are we talking about?" Chris asked, confused, and for a moment forgetting about what had brought them there.
But his questions gained him a warning look by Lancelot. There was something new in his countenance, in his whole body. He had tensed and somehow, he had gone to the defensive position, but Chris had no clue why. However, Michael had gone paler, and he seemed to understand everything very well.
"It's just the prize a knight gets when he rescues his... a dame, I mean... She was kidnapped, that's all. But I saved her and that's the end of the story. Sir Mike, can I ask why are you so interested in this object?" Lancelot asked coldly. Chris was shocked by his attitude, and looked at Michael wonderingly, but he had lowered his eyes.
"I just... Well, I gave one which was exactly like that to my... my wife, " he explained. Then he raised his eyes to look in Lancelot's who was now more relaxed, but still frowning, a bit confused.
"You mean... in the future?" he asked wondering.
Michael nodded: "When I... when I wooed her. When I asked her to marry me... I pretended to be a knight and she was my Dame, and I gave it to her." Lancelot listened to him silently.
But Chris could not understand what was going on. He felt some weird attitude around, but he could not put his finger on what it was: "You said that was too old-fashioned, Mike..."
"Yeah, but it's not in this time, is it, Sir Lancelot?" he asked the knight, who was piercing him with his eyes. At this point, Chris decided to stay silent.
"We knights praise, idolise and worship dames, and we protect them too, and promise them an eternal loyalty and respect, and they give us tokens to thank us and to reward us. That is the use in this time," he answered dryly.
But Michael smiled and nodded, pretending that nothing had happened: "Oh, yeah.. I guess she should have given me that medal, and not the other way round." Lancelot looked at him curious, as well as Chris. "Ok, we should go..." he said, starting to walk with a sad feeling in his heart.
But Lancelot would not let him go like that. He stopped him grabbing his arm: "Wait. Why were you asking about the medal? I guess you did not want to know just who gave it to me... Don't you think it's weird that this medal is in your time?"
Michael shrugged: "I guess mine is a fake one, a copy. It can't be the real one."
"Why not?" Chris asked, feeling that again, the topic was inside his possibilities of discussion. "I mean... It's a big coincidence that we ended up here and then Lancelot is wearing the same medal as you gave to his wife... Don't you think? Why should it survive all this time to finally end up in your hands?"
"Are you talking about magic?" Lancelot asked.
Chris looked at him, and then shrugged. "Or destiny... I don't know... But maybe your medal was destined to belong to him and then bring us here... somehow," Chris said.
Lancelot nodded slowly: "Perhaps..."
Michael was silent now, thinking of all his conversation and cursing himself for having brought up that topic. "Anyway, I think we should hurry and carry out your plan, whatever it is."
Chris sighed and nodded: "You are right..." And he started to walk.
Lancelot was going to go behind him, when Michael took his arm. "He's your friend," he said, simply.
The knight looked at him surprised, and then turned to see how Chris was going further.
"What are you talking about?" he asked, nervously.
"You know what I am talking about. I'd never do that to Chris. You have to listen to me, Lancelot... He's your friend." Michael looked like really anxious about his warns.
Finally Lancelot nodded and smiled slightly. "I would never hurt my best friend and my lord, Michael. In any possible way. I would never betray him," he stated.
He and Mike stayed looking in each others' eyes for a while, until the latter swallowed and sighed. "I know..." he said sadly. Then he smiled back.
"Come on, what's going on there? We need to hurry!" Chris exclaimed from some distance. The two men nodded and followed him.
"Hey... take care of that medal. My wife loves it," Michael said, trying to relieve tension.
Lancelot smiled and nodded again, but there was something dark in his countenance. Some worries saddened his expression. And Mike knew what it was.
"Ok..." Chris said as they started to walk again, feeling suspicious for their secrets, but willing to finish their mission as soon as possible. "Which is exactly the plan?"
"What if we make another king Arthur out of Lancelot?" Michael suggested. "So we don't only have a second sword but also a second king... And when Gideon attacks he will not know which is the right one, hopefully... That would give us time to act, in which way ever..."
Chris grinned: "Sounds good..."
"What???" Lancelot exclaimed shocked. "You... you want me to... NO!!!... That's impossible... I can't do that!"
"What can't you do?" a familiar voice asked suddenly. Gawain had crossed their way and heard the last part of their conversation.
"Well..." Michael sighed, "Sir Lancelot shall play another King Arthur."

°°°°°°°°°°

Odin frowned... He read the text over and over again, while Silas was again pacing in front of him. "Please tell me that I'm wrong," he said then, and stopped. He looked at his friend who was still submerged in the text. "Are you really sure that it's not like this? Because I'm still afraid it is..." he asked again.
Odin looked up, then he shrugged. "No, I'm not sure... How could I? This legend is very old, and the more older they are the more easily you can read them in the wrong way..."
Silas sighed: "Then it could be him, right?"
Odin looked at the book again and then back to his friend, before he slightly nodded.
Silas sighed again and let himself fall back into another chair. "That's not good," he muttered.
Odin first nodded. Then, thinking things through he frowned: "Why not?"
"Because... hasn't he already enough things to do... What about him being an Elder... and more important, being a father...?"
Odin smiled, understanding his friend: "Don't worry, Silas... you know what the oracle said... things will go their way and we can't do nothing else then let them do so... In that case we are not able to do anything else..." Silas nodded, even if that thought made him feel uncomfortable.

°°°°°°°°°°

"What?" Amy asked, when she saw the look of astonishment on the young knight's face.
He blushed a little: "Well... I never saw a lady eating that much... I'm sorry."
Amy looked down to her plate. She had eaten nearly the complete chicken. "Well," she said felling embarrassed, "I haven't eaten much in the past four days since I'm here.
Gareth nodded: "As I said, my lady, I'm sorry for being that rude... I'm not used to this kind of conversation." He looked down to his hands feeling a weird insecurity in front of that young woman. He couldn't understand it... himself... But in front of her he just felt kind of weak and embarrassed.
"Oh no, you weren't rude," Amy replied smiling at him. "No, to be honest, you are a very fine man."
"Thank you," he muttered shyly. Then they kept silent for a while, both unsure what to do next.
"Thanks for the chicken, it was delicious," Amy said then, feeling that she had to behave like that, not only because she was in the past.
"Well... I'm sorry that it wasn't a more noble meal," Gareth smiled at her sadly.
The young woman smiled back at him: "Don't worry. I love chicken." Then they laughed. For a moment they were both kind of relaxed for the first time.
"Well..." he started then, again feeling unsure under her beautiful gaze, "if you have a moment... there is something I would like to show you."
"Of course," Amy said. The young knight nodded, stood up and offered her his arm. Amy took it and he led her out of the door.

°°°°°°°°°°

Finally the four man reached the blacksmith, still discussing. "I will not do it," Lancelot said, again. Then he gestured to them to wait and went over to the old looking man. But actually that blacksmith wasn't that old, he was only drawn by his hard work.
Meanwhile the others stood behind. "Then I'll do it, if he don't want to... I would love to hit that Gideon..." Gawain said still angry when he thought about that 'man'.
Chris looked at him from head to toe: "No, I'm sorry... Lancelot would be a better candidate, according to your outer appearance. It's easier to change him into Arthur than you..." Then he turned to Michael: "By the way, do you have any idea about the 'acting' you've mentioned? I've no idea how to stop Gideon, really I haven't... And I guess we will gain not much time from our little show..."
"Can't we just kill him?" Gawain asked.
Chris looked at him in horror: "NO... we can't kill him, whatever happens..."
"But why?" the knight asked confused. Because that would be the easiest way.
"If we do, I wouldn't exist... my whole future would be gone," Chris explained, "And more important... The fact that I'm here and will be here when we kill him, can make the whole world collapse. It would just not be right anymore... like if you would go to the past to kill your own father before you're born."
Gawain nodded, even if he didn't understood those things at all. He had just decided that this man would know what he was doing.
"But how can we convince him, that destroying Excalibur isn't the solution he wants to have?" Michael asked understanding Chris's dilemma.
"I really have no idea," the Elder-witch admitted frustrated. That whole situation was frustrating. That whole thing felt so wrong. And then that weird legend... He sighed, wishing his adult brother would be there with him. He would probably know what to do...
At that moment Lancelot returned from his discussion with the blacksmith. "He will do it," he said, "but he will need at least three days."
"What?" Chris and Michael exclaimed in union. "That's too long."

°°°°°°°°°°

"Piper, you have to trust me, ok?" It was Cole's voice. After she had stood up and left, Leo was ready to follow her, but Cole had stopped him and gone after the oldest of the Charmed Ones.
"No, it's not. I can't... I just can't do as you say... stay here, looking at your faces and talking as if everything was fine, because it's not," she said, at the verge of tears.
Cole took her hand softly: "I need you to trust me. I believe in Chris and I know he'll make it. He'll be back. I know that in the past you and I had our problems, but now I know you trust me, Piper. And you know how much I love your son, and how much I owe him. I would not leave him alone, but this time... This time he has to face this on his own, ok?" Piper shook her head and tried to get rid of him, but he grasped her arms firmly, though softly.
"Cole, this is not right. I don't mind what Wyatt said. This is not right..."
"Listen." Cole helped her sit on a chair and sat by her side afterwards. "Wyatt is in the future. If something had gone wrong, he would..."
"He would have told us, I know," she said, resigned. "But that's no reason to stay behind and do nothing!"
Cole smiled at her, and tried to comfort her: "That's a point, but remember that Wyatt said we should do nothing... You need to trust him, Piper, and trust Chris... he needs to be trusted."
Piper frowned. "Of course I trust him, he's my son, what do you mean by that?" she asked, a little bit angry.
Cole, however, was still smiling: "I know you trust him, in a way... But you worry about him too much. He's not a child anymore, remember? He's an Elder, he's even more powerful than you. What he needs is that his mother believes that he's able to do this, to make it back home."
Piper looked him in the eyes, with hers welling up with tears: "But..."
"He'll be fine. I promise."
"How can you know?" she sobbed.
Cole pressed her hand comfortingly: "Because I know him. He always makes it, Piper. He's a Halliwell, he's the son of his mother." He paused, letting his words work. Piper was still silent, assimilating what he was saying. "I always admired you: As a Charmed One, as a woman, as a wife and now as a mother. You're amazing. You took care of your sisters before and after Prue died, and you never gave up. Your son, Piper, is exactly like you. When I see him, I can see you in his face. He's resolute, brave and stubborn. And he's compassionate, and caring. He loves his family above all, Piper, he'd give his life for them..." he said.
Piper startled at that: "That's what I am afraid of, Cole. He would die for us and..."
"But he would not abandon us either." Cole cupped her chin and raised her face so that she looked him in the eyes: "He loves you and all of us so much that he would come from death if necessary, just like you. Piper, he'll be back. He knows you all need him so much. Everything's gonna be fine..."
"But..." she sobbed again. "what if he can't...?"
"He will."

°°°°°°°°°°

Gareth had led Amy through the castle again and then upwards a long and dark stairway which seemed to have no end. Finally Amy saw a little light and then they stepped out to the fresh air.
Looking around Amy saw that she was on the highest tower of the castle. There was a knight, on patrol as it seemed, but Gareth asked him to leave for a moment. When he was gone, he turned to the young woman - the lady - next to him: "Do you like it?"
Amy walked a little closer to the edge and looked around. She could see the whole city and the woods and fields beyond. It was an amazing view. "It's great," she whispered, "really breathtaking."
Gareth smiled still looking at her. Amy fascinated him in a way no one else did before. It felt so weird, but it made him happy that she liked it up there. "Well... I like it here too... Sometimes I come up here just to think," he explained.
Amy just nodded looking around amazed by all the things she could see from that spot. Even the hills where... where the cave was she had used as shelter. She sighed.
"What's wrong?" Gareth asked, noticing that her look saddened.
"Nothing," Amy said, "it's just that I did so much wrong the last days... Just because I thought I could find my parents..." She turned around to him, her eyes welling up with tears: "But they are dead... I knew it long before I came, but here... it was so weird and I let that Elder - the one you saw at the stables - blind me with faked hope... But now I know I was wrong... and I hope that it's not to late."
Gareth had listen to her attentively, and he could hardly understand all that. But what was clear for him, was that she had lost her family and therefore he felt pity. "I'm sorry for your loss," he said.
"Thanks," she said holding back her tears. She wouldn't cry, she had done that a lot of times before. Now was not the time for that. She wanted to enjoy the moment... that moment with him. She smiled and then she wrapped her arms around him and hugged him tightly. And lying her head on his chest, she muttered again: "Thank you very much for everything."
The young knight was frozen in shock. He had never been so close to a lady before... maybe to his mother when he was a small boy, but... He was surprised that she put herself so close to him. That was so unusual. He couldn't help feeling a little scared by the feeling of her warm body next to his own. But still it felt good.
Amy had noticed his tension and was short before regretting what she had done. 'What must he think about me now,' she thought. But then she felt his arms around her, his hands on her back, holding her softly. And she could hear his heart beating faster with every second. Slowly she looked up to let her eyes meet his. "I guess, that's not what ladies do in this place, right?" she asked.
He nodded smiling shyly. But still his arms were around her, he wouldn't let her go.
"I'm sorry," she said as shy as he was.
Gareth still smiled: "Don't feel like that, my lady... I understood that you come from a place far away... and actually, even if it's confusing... I... I..." he didn't know how to describe how he felt. It was just weird.
But the next moment, everything should become clear. Because Amy grabbed his neck and pulled him a little down to her. Then, tiptoeing, she gave him a soft kiss on his lips. And that second, Gareth was suffused by such a warm feeling of joy and excitement, like he had never felt it before. 'That must be love,' he thought while he kissed her back softly.
Amy felt weird when he started to return the kiss. Actually she had thought he would back away from her but he didn't. And that feeling he gave her was just overwhelming. And right then she wished this moment would last forever.
But then she sensed something. Scared she pulled away and looked down to the place before the castle.
"I'm sorry... I," Gareth said, feeling that he had done something wrong. But then he noticed her look and stepped closer to see what it was that scared her so much. And then he saw him... that person from the stables. He was down there, among the people of Camelot, like he was one of them. He turned to Amy to say something just in the second she summoned her crossbow to her hand. The knight was frozen in shock when he saw that. That was something he definitely hadn't expected. For a moment he even forgot how to think.
Amy meanwhile targeted the Elder carefully. But then she put the weapon down. "I can't," she said, "I just can't..."
Gareth shook his head to pull himself back to reality: "What... what can't you?"
"Kill him," she said. "I just can't do that..." And then she let the crossbow disappear again. Gareth looked from her to the man down on the place, and then back to Amy. "What does he want from you?" he asked.
"He doesn't want me... he wants Excalibur," Amy said desperate.
"What?" the knight exclaimed. "Then we have to warn the king..." With this he pulled her back to the stairs.
But Amy stopped him. "I know, that's all difficult to understand," she said, "but you've seen him before. He can be in front of the king within a second if he wants..."
"And what shall we do?"
"Do you believe me when I say that I would never ever hurt you, because... because I'm actually falling in love with you?" she said feeling the desperation grow inside her.
Gareth just nodded, even if he wasn't so sure about all that. He felt Amy grabbing his hand. "Trust me," she said and then... then he felt like fainting, while Amy orbed them to the first place that came to her mind.
The next moment they heard the voice of Merlin: "What... why are you entering here that way???"
When Gareth looked around, still feeling a little dizzy, he was in the room of the round table. How did he get there? He didn't know. But still... "We saw the man who was after Lady Amy," he announced.
Meanwhile Amy yelled: "CHRIS! HE'S HERE!!!!

°°°°°°°°°°

The two Elders were still sitting, thoughtful and feeling powerless and helpless. They really needed... no, they really wanted to help Chris, but they knew there was nothing to do. Besides, there was something disturbing Odin's mind. Something on which he could not put the finger for some reason. But suddenly it came up.
The Elder jumped on the chair he was sitting on, with his eyes wide open and his heart beating fast. "Oh, my..." he muttered.
Silas startled and then looked at him confused: "What? Is there something wrong?" 'Worse than all this?' he thought to himself.
"Gideon..." Odin mumbled.
Silas leant to the front a little bit: "Sorry, I think I did not hear well..."
But Odin turned to look at him very worried: "Gideon... Gideon, he was an Elder at that time. I was one too..."
Silas understood less and less, but the mention of Gideon and at that time in which Chris was, made him thrill in fear. "You mean..."
"I mean that I know where he exactly is. And Gideon is there, chasing him."
"WHAT!!??" Now it was Silas that was truly scared, and jumped on his seat: "But how come you know that??"
Odin stood up and started to pace around the room, followed by Silas's eyes: "I was there... When the legend of the trees was the main talk everywhere. King Arthur was worried, but witches and magical beings were being chased, and only Merlin had the right to be there... And Gideon? He was obsessed by something, a witch he said. I thought it was a girl, or maybe he said it, I don't remember... It was so long ago!"
Silas stood up and went to his friend, grabbing his arm nervously to make him stop: "What are you talking about, Odin?"
His friend's eyes looked scared to his, before saying: "Gideon is there, and he's after Chris. Gideon came to me for healing and... his wounds, he must have been hit by Elder-powers... It must have been Chris who he had fought with..."
Silas went paler at these words. "Why... why didn't you tell me this before?" he stuttered.
Odin shook his head: "I barely remember. I don't know why this came to my mind. All this reading must have triggered it somehow."
"But if you remember that... You must know what happened, which is the end of this?" Silas ventured again.
Odin fixed his eyes on him pensive for a while. "I... I don't know... Don't remember," he said.
Silas swallowed. What should they do now?? Tell the Halliwells? Help Chris, somehow? Stay there and follow the Oracle's advice?

°°°°°°°°°°

They had still their mouths open, when Chris heard Amy's SOS cry in his head: "He's back. I have to go," he said.
But Michael hurried to hold his arm. "You forget again that he can't see you!" he exclaimed.
Gawain and Lancelot looked at each other expectantly. "I am going to tell him to make the sword, just in case... I'll tell him to hurry," Lancelot said, turning to go back to the blacksmith's workshop. Chris looked at his friend. He had to take Michael's appearance again... Or someone else? "I have an idea. And I'll be back," he announced. And then he orbed away leaving Michael and Gawain behind.

°°°°°°°°°°

"Merlin!" Chris exclaimed, appearing in front of the old man, who frowned at his sight. He and Arthur were walking through the long corridors of the castle. They had just left the room of the round table, and headed towards the sorcerer's chambers, to see if they could find out another way to help, when he orbed in front of them.
"Who are you??" the sorcerer asked, confused, as Arthur looked at him curious and somehow worried. In front of him was standing a young, kind-looking, blonde man, but his features contracted in nervousness. They had never seen him before.
But then suddenly he glamoured again, showing himself as Chris, that mysterious young man...
"Sir Chris..." the king muttered.
"I am sorry..." he replied and then turned to Merlin. "I need your help."
The sorcerer looked at him, in shock. "What do you need from me?" he asked, surprised that someone so powerful as him needed his help.
But Chris could not lose time. He grabbed his shoulder in a way that scared him. However, he did not mean anything bad: "I need my memories."
"Your what???" Merlin was confused now.
"My memories. Listen. I don't have time to explain, but I made a potion to forget my... other memories. I need them right now. And I need them only temporarily."
Arthur looked at him more confused than ever: "What... which memories are you talking about? How is he supposed to give them back to you?"
But Merlin was staring at him gravely: "I can help, I think... I have some memory potions... Are you sure they can help you?"
Chris nodded peremptorily: "I hope they will, but it's an emergency."
Merlin sighed and headed to his chamber followed by them. Once there, he gave him the potion and tried to explain the secondary effects and everything, but Chris didn't listen. He just took it and orbed away.
Arthur looked at him worried and then turned to Merlin: "What is that for?" he asked.
The sorcerer shrugged: "I don't know..."

°°°°°°°°°°

When Amy called for Chris, Merlin smirked slightly. Then he said calmly: "Nearer than you think, my dear..." And after saying that, he glamoured in front of the amazed look of young Gareth and Amy.
The girl opened her eyes widely. That could not be true... But before she could do anything, she felt a cold pricking pain in her stomach. She took her hands to the hilt and metal that protruded from her body and then she raised her eyes, full of pain and incomprehension, to the man that had just stabbed her: Gideon.
"NOO!!" Gareth cried, taking his own sword out of his sheath, as he saw in horror how the girl fell on her knees, gasping in pain.
Gideon laughed soundly. "My dear young knight... Don't make me kill you, please..." Gideon said, flinging him through the whole room.
Gareth fell on his back, crying in pain. But Amy... She was dying... And that caused him more pain than anything in the world.
Then Gideon looked at the young girl. "I am sorry, my Lady," he said in a mocking tone, "but you failed to fulfil your part of the deal. Go to join your family, I am sure they're waiting for you..." He said, raising his hand.


(Chapter 9 written by Belén and Chrissy.W.x)