Title: Shadow
Author: Zeria
Rating: T
Disclaimer: I only own the ones you've never heard of.
Summary: Chris meets a special dog that could be his and his family's only hope when an all powerful demon is released from hell.
Soooo sorry this took forever to get out. The demon known as college has completely zapped me of all free time. It should get better now, though (keep your fingers crossed). P.s. I tried to make this one extra good to make up for it. Thanks to those of you still reading--you keep me trying to update.
CHAPTER 10
The Truth
As soon as the fighters reappeared in their home after their victorious battle against Ryak, they were met with the worried faces of those family members left behind. Namely, Phoebe's daughters Melinda and Prue, as well as Henry, who had stopped by right after work, having received a message from Paige that there was a family emergency of the magical type. He was holding their little girl, Prairie, who immediately reached out for her mother as soon as she saw Paige.
Paige smiled widely and plucked her daughter from her husband's arms, "Aw, did you miss me, Sweetie?"
"Mom-my," the little girl whined, "hungy."
The youngest Charmed One pouted, "Great, I'm just a tool."
"I love you," Henry offered, giving her chaste kiss. Turning to the rest of the group, "Everything ok? It's not the end of the world again, is it?"
Paige shook her head, "Nope. Just your run of the mill nearly unstoppable demon that needed to be vanquished by Excaliber, which we thought could only be used by Wyatt, who did vanquish the bad guy, but then he turned evil because the sword corrupted him, which happened because Chris is actually Arthur. So, you know, no big."
Henry shot his wife a confused look.
"These things do just sort of happen," Phoebe added with a little shrug.
Melinda shot a look at her younger cousin, just as he orbed the sword back to the stone up in the attic. "You're King Arthur?"
The sixteen year old didn't answer. With a tired, sad look in his eyes that Melinda had never seen in them before, Chris orbed away.
Phoebe's oldest daughter immediately turned to look at the others to see if they knew what was wrong with Chris. She would have thought he would be elated to be King Arthur. He was always complaining that he was so much less powerful than Wyatt. Having possession of Excaliber would even things out a bit more. Why wasn't he bragging? Why wasn't he being the cocky, smart mouth she knew and loved?
"What was that about?" she voiced her concern.
Prue looked up at her mother, "Yeah, what's wrong with Chris?"
"I don't know, angel," Phoebe answered, shooting a look at Paige who was for whatever reason staring at the dog who was currently running up the stairs toward the bedrooms.
"Where did Chris go?" Piper asked her older son.
"Just his room," Wyatt answered, easily sensing his brother's presence.
The Eldest Charmed One immediately started heading up the stairs, but was stopped by a hand on her arm. She turned to find Leo shaking his head at her. She pulled out of his grasp. "He's obviously upset, Leo, I am not just going to stand here and do nothing."
"He just needs some time, Piper," the former angel argued. "He's got a lot of thinking to do with everything that he's found out."
"Yeah, and exactly how did he find out about it?" Piper questioned, the tears starting to form in her eyes again. "How could he know about. . .you know."
Wyatt shared a look with his cousins, their curiosities peaked at the vagueness of their respective mother and aunt. Just as the eldest was about to pose the question on all their minds, Phoebe stepped in, "Come on you guys, let's go into the kitchen and get some dinner."
"Are you cooking?" Melinda asked, pulling a face.
Prue looked slightly frightened.
"Hey, you two, I can cook."
The sisters shared dubious looks.
"I can. . .sometimes. . ." Phoebe sighed, "I'll order pizza ok?"
The two girls shot each other questioning glances before both nodding in agreement.
Melinda licked her lips, "Nothing like a big ooey-gooey cheese pizza."
"Cheese?" the younger sibling asked wrinkling up her nose. "Pepperoni is way better."
"Nu-huh."
"Uh-huh."
"Nu-huh."
"Yeah-huh."
Melinda grinned mischievously, turning to her mother, "Hey, Mom, if you wanna stay out here and do the whole grown up talk thing, I can order the pizza."
Phoebe, not realizing the true reasons for her daughter's offer, her mind on other things, smiled, "Thanks, Ladybug."
"Nooo," Prue shook her head furiously, tearing after her big sister as the older sibling ran off into the kitchen to order the pizza.
Phoebe noticed Wyatt wasn't moving, but rather staring at her. She smiled nervously, "Wyatt, don't you want to go with them to order the pizza?"
"No, I wanna know why everyone is acting so strangely." He shot a pointed look to his parents who were already in heavy, though quiet, discussion with each other about whatever it was that had his mother so upset regarding Chris.
Paige, who had overheard Wyatt's curiosity being peaked came over, Prairie still on her hip. "Big bad just has everyone a little shook up. I mean, he tried to kill Chris twice, you turned evil, and now we all find out that your little brother is actually the true heir to Excaliber. Your parents are just worried about you two that's all."
The Twice Blessed folded his arms over his chest a knowing look in his eyes, "Then why did Mom say that Chris found out about something that happened before. And then there was the whole scene before we even left to fight Ryak, Mom nearly in tears when Chris said nothing was going to happen to him. I've never seen her so overprotective of him before. She's easier on him since Dad is always so worried. Which is weird too, since Dad doesn't worry about me to that extent, and more demons come after me than Chris."
His Aunts exchanged looks mixed in guilt and concern. Prairie orbed away to the kitchen, both hoping someone would feed her some pizza and completely bored with the conversation.
Piper and Leo, finished with their discussion, came over to deal with their son upon hearing his last remarks. Leo was the one to find the words first. "Wyatt, we have something to tell you."
Paige and Phoebe frowned at Piper, wondering what on earth they were planning on telling the young man. Their big sister had always sworn that she would never tell either of the boys about the other Chris. She didn't want them to know the kinds of lives they had lived before for fear of the effects the knowledge that one of them was evil and the other murdered would have on them. However, it was obvious that somehow Chris had found out, so perhaps the parents felt this was the only way to deal with it?
Henry joined the little group after checking on Prairie to make sure she was behaving. When he saw the serious faces on each of the Halliwell's faces he looked to his wife for answers. When she merely bit her lip, big brown eyes growing teary, he put his arm around her, pulling her into his side as though he could shield her from whatever was causing her pain.
The middle sister saw the gesture and smiled sadly.
The eldest Charmed One let out a weary breath, taking her oldest son's hand in hers as she began the tale. "Wyatt, you were too young to remember this but when you were a baby your father became an Elder, and he had to leave us."
"What?"
"I didn't want to," Leo defended himself. "It just happened."
"Anyway, that's not really the point," Piper continued. "The point is that right before it happened a young man came from the future to help us fight the Titans."
Wyatt frowned, "I remember that story. You never mentioned any future boy before."
"We didn't want you or your brother to know until now," Leo answered softly.
"Why?"
Phoebe put a hand on the upset teen's shoulder, "Just let them tell their story, sweetie."
When Wyatt nodded, his mother went on with her tale. "Anyway, when the threat was over, the Elders decided to make him our new whitelighter since your father had become an Elder. As it turns out, it was the young man's true goal all along, getting your father out of the way so he could become our whitelighter, I mean. He did this so he could protect you."
"Protect me from what?"
It was at this point that Leo and Piper shared a look with Paige and Phoebe. A look that told them to keep their mouths shut. Reluctantly, Leo then answered, "From being killed by evil."
"You see," Piper took up the story, "he would have done anything to keep you safe because his future was a very dark place, the whole world was consumed by evil. And because he loved you very very much. So much that in the end. . ." the mother struggled to keep her composure, "he died trying to save you."
Paige wiped at her eyes and clung to her husband.
Phoebe wrapped her arms around her big sister, knowing this was impossibly hard for Piper to even think about needless to say talk about. Neither she nor Leo had ever really gotten over it.
"Oh my God," Wyatt shook his head, completely horrified. After a moment to absorb this information his blue eyes narrowed, and with a tinge of anger asked, "Why didn't you tell me about him? He gave his life for me, and you've pretended like he doesn't even exist. How could you not tell me before now?"
"Because," Piper answered, tears slipping from her soft brown eyes, "that young man was Chris."
Wyatt looked like he had been visibly slapped. He shook his head, his eyes misting over as fear and grief filled him. "N-no. Not Chris. He can't...I mean he won't. . .will he?"
"We don't know for sure," Leo answered. "I've talked to some of the Elders about it, and they don't think it will happen again because that time line has already been altered, but with time travel it's hard to have any certainties. Chris created a paradox when he went back. He saved you, which means he wouldn't have to go to the past in this time line, but if he doesn't go back, then you won't be saved."
Henry shook his head, "I can't believe this."
"And Chris knows about this?" Wyatt asked.
Leo sighed, "We think so."
"How?"
"No idea," his mother replied. "It's something I'd sure as hell like to find out though."
Wyatt held up his hands, "Wait, so you were never gonna tell us? What if all the sudden because of this I disappeared, or Chris did? We would have had no clue what was going on. Not to mention that Chris is a hero and doesn't even know it. No wonder he's Arthur considering what he did before. It was incredibly brave. How could you keep something so monumental from us?"
"We didn't want you to have to deal with the consequences of a life you've never lived and hopefully never will have to live," Leo answered.
The Twice Blessed headed for the stairs.
"Where are you going?"
"I'm gonna go to my room and think. I just need to be alone for a bit, sort out my thoughts."
Leo nodded understanding, "Ok, son, but if you need us or you have any questions, we'll be here."
The son didn't answer. He just kept walking.
Henry whistled, "Wow, and just when a guy thinks he's getting used to this whole magic thing everything gets turned upside down. I mean, Chris is gonna be ok, isn't he?"
As Leo, Piper and Phoebe all shared an unknowing, fearful look, Paige took the opportunity to slip out of the room unnoticed. After all, she had something important to ask Chris that couldn't wait a moment longer.
000
Chris reappeared in his room and sat down on the edge of his bed. Shaking his head he closed his eyes trying not to think about everything that he had found out in the course of the day. He knew that if he thought about it all, he'd drive himself crazy. It was just too much. All of it was just to damn much.
He put his head in his hands groaning. How could he be King Arthur? He was a gnat compared to Wyatt. A nobody. Just your slightly more powerful than average Witch. Excaliber was supposed to go to the most powerful being and that was definitely his older brother. This whole thing had to be some sort of mix up. He wasn't Arthur. But the sword. . .he couldn't deny that something had happened when he held it. Shit. He didn't want to be Arthur. He had too much else to deal with. Like dying young.
Just as he was about to start obsessing about his own future demise, Chris sensed Cole shimmer into the room. Without lifting his head, "Go away."
Not gonna happen. The dog moved to sit on the floor in front of his owner. Not till you tell me what's gotten into you. You're acting like it's the end of the world.
The teen looked up to scowl at his pet. "Leave me alone."
Is this about the King Arthur thing?
"No." Half a beat. "Fine, yeah it is, but you know what, I don't need the former Source telling me to buck up, ok? I just wanna be alone for a while, so get out of my room."
I may look like your pet, but I'm not about to start taking orders from you. So you are going to shut up and pay attention to what I have to say. I understand that you are overwhelmed with all that you've learned. It's not easy to hear that you once were killed. It's confusing and terrifying. I understand that you don't want the responsibility of being the future king of magic. But tough. This is your fate, Chris. You can't run from it. You can't hide from it. So all you can do is face it head on and deal with it. You may or may not die young again. You can't dwell on it. Just live your life to the fullest. And you were always meant to be King, Chris. Leading is what you were born to do. In the other life, you led demons, witches and mortals alike, and everyone, while they may not have always liked you, never once lost respect for you. You can do it. That is so long as you stop feeling sorry for yourself and act as the man I know you'll become.
Chris blushed both at the compliment and in shame for how he was behaving. This wasn't like him. Running off and hiding from problems wasn't his style. "You're right. I am just feeling sorry for myself. It's just. . ."
Scary?
The teen nodded. "I feel out of control. Like I don't have a say in my own life anymore, and I think that's what freaks me out the most."
You've been given a path, Chris. What you do with it is all up to you.
"Now who sounds like a whitelighter?"
Shut up.
Chris smiled down at the dog. "I do feel better, though. Thanks for the bode of confidence, Cole."
Anytime, Kid.
"Wait a minute," Chris narrowed his green eyes at the animal. "You knew all along I was gonna be Arthur. Why didn't you say something sooner?"
The Elders didn't want me to. They said to protect you, but under no uncertain terms was I to tell you why it was vital to protect you.
"The Elders didn't want me to know?" The witchlighter rolled his eyes. "Figures. They always make things more complicated. Did they say why I couldn't know?"
The black lab tilted his head to one side as though thinking it over. After a moment, he shook his furry head in the negative.
Chris was about to ask another question when his bedroom door swung open to reveal his Aunt Paige. The young man instantly felt a knot grow in his stomach. After all, his aunt had claimed to know what he was hiding. Now, she was finally confronting him on it. He could tell by the way she was eyeing Cole.
"So, how you holding up?" Paige asked, tearing her gaze from the animal, who scampered to hide under the bed.
The teen grinned and thought Coward.
She vanquished me. . .twice. I'd say my fear is justified. Hell is not called the place of eternal torment because they give you ice cream and let you watch t.v. all day. Limbo wasn't exactly a barrel of laughs either. So, forgive me for not wanting to go die again.
"Chris?" Paige questioned, noticing her nephew's faraway look.
"Sorry, just thinking. I'm ok, Aunt Paige. Just kinda tired. Long day what with almost being killed by both a demon and my older brother and then the whole finding out I'm Arthur thing."
"And learning about your past?"
Chris shrugged, "I guess. I'm not really sure about some of it."
"You don't remember it all?"
"No." Chris couldn't tell her Cole had told him what little he knew, so he lied. "Just sorta remember bits and pieces." After it had come out of his mouth, it didn't feel like a lie. He felt like he was remembering something, but it just hadn't come to the surface yet. After all, he knew all that stuff about Cole without having met him before.
"Well, your parents just told Wyatt the whole story."
"What? No, they wouldn't. He shouldn't have to deal with that kind of truth," Chris spat out without even thinking. He frowned. Okay, maybe he hadn't lied after all because while it had been his voice that came out of his mouth, the voice that had spurred those words in his mind had been different. . .older. Creepy.
Paige frowned, "Don't worry they didn't tell him the whole truth."
"Oh, good."
"Anyway, I think when you and I are done talking you should go see them. They're worried about you."
Chris sighed. "I didn't mean to worry them, but in a way this is their fault. They should have told us before."
"I know, I know, but they're only human; they make mistakes. Besides, they thought what they were doing was for the best." She gave her nephew a hopeful puppy dog look, "So you gonna talk to them?"
"Yeah, fine. I guess I have some questions I need answered anyway, and I have a feeling they're the only ones who are gonna give me the answers. Though, don't expect me to just stop being mad at them for keeping this from me all these years over night."
"Fair enough. Now, the second reason I came to talk to one of my two favorite nephews is about that dog of yours. . ."
"Oh?" Chris asked, his mouth suddenly inexplicably dry.
". . .why not just come clean, Chris? I know that's not just any dog."
"It's not?" he replied feigning ignorance.
Paige raised an eyebrow, "Come on, Chris, you really think that a house full of magical beings wouldn't notice? That dog is not normal. Now, I'm gonna give you one shot at telling me what's going on with your new pet, or I sic your parents on you."
"Come on, Aunt Paige," Chris tried to reason, "it's not that big of a deal. He's just a really really smart dog."
"Yeah, and I'm the Queen of America."
Chris opted for the guilt trip next. "I'm so scared and confused. I can't believe that I'm King Arthur. It's so much responsibility, and I'm not sure I can do it. Not to mention the horrible life I apparently led once. You know I died to save the world. Died. It sucks."
"Chris, I'm so sorry. I know it's hard, and I just– " Paige stopped half-way, realizing what he had pulled. She narrowed her eyes at him. "Very sneaky Mister, playing the sympathy card, but it's not gonna work. So spill it or I orb down to your mom and dad right now."
"Fine, fine, I'll tell you."
What? Have you lost your mind?
"Just trust me will you?"
"Shadow is actually Belthazor."
You son of a–
tbc. . .
