Thank you all for the comments. I wanted to try and get this posted before the weekend cause I have a lot of plans this weekend and of course I'm sure we're all busy on the fourth of July (well, those of us in the states). As mentioned once before, Chris is very slowly starting to accept magic and maybe once he uses it to help a few people/beings he will become a little more accepting of it. You'll just have to read to find out.
Disclaimer: I do not own Charmed.
Piper and her boys listened with their father as each creature in the manor explained the demon attacks that had been happening as of lately. One demon nearly burned down a forest where a group of the nymphs were living and killed a few of them in the process. It seemed that the same demon had ravaged through the fairy community, killing many fairies with his power. He had attacked others as well, causing most creatures in the Enchanted Realm to run and hide in fear. They all prayed for a force strong enough to save them and thought that Wyatt and Chris were the answer to those prayers.
"You expect me to write a spell?" Wyatt asked his mother as they stood in the attic. "You've seen my school essays. I'm a horrible writer."
Chris finished writing something down from the book of shadows. "At least you don't have to try and make a potion." He said.
"But you like to cook, Peanut." Piper replied to Chris.
"Yeah, edible food. I've never made potions before." He said back.
"Don't worry, I'll be in the kitchen to help you." Piper glanced at the paper Wyatt was writing on, or the paper she thought he was writing on. It was blank. "You couldn't come up with anything?"
"Uh...I might need a little more time here." Wyatt replied in frustration. He was supposed to be writing a vanquishing spell, but his mind was drawing a blank. All he could think of was some old nursery rhymes.
"Alright, well maybe you can flip through the book for inspiration." She suggested. "We're going to head down to the kitchen."
Wyatt signed as he looked down at his blank paper and then glanced over at the book sitting across the table from him. He walked over to it and began to flip through. He read to himself a vanquishing spell for something called a Chameleon demon. He read a spell to vanquish a dark priestess. Even after reading a few more spells, he was at a loss at what to write for his own spell. He had never vanquished a demon before, at least not that he had known.
Chris stood over a brewing potion in the kitchen. His father had gone out to get some ingredients for the potion and now Chris was tasked with making it. It wasn't like cooking at all. With food, he could taste test it and add more ingredients as needed. He couldn't taste test a potion though. He didn't know if a pinch or a dash of an ingredient was the same amount in a potion as it was if say he were making a casserole. He reached for the beetle toe and dropped a spoonful into the brew.
Piper turned to Chris at the stove. "Now you don't want to add too much..." Bam, an explosion of smoke, shards of the pan flying in all directions. Chris was forced back a few steps, but luckily was unharmed by the flying shards. "...Beetle Toe."
"Oops." Was all Chris had to say as he waved away the cloud of smoke.
Leo ran into the room. "What's going on in here?" He asked.
"Too much beetle toe." Piper exclaimed.
Chris reached into a lower cabinet, grabbing another pan. "Cooking a casserole I can do, making a potion I can not do." He said in frustration.
"You just need practice." Leo replied. "Your mother's first potion wasn't perfect either."
"Yeah I guess." Chris said back. He focused on the potion again, hoping this time it would not end in disaster. "So how exactly are we supposed to find this demon anyways? And what about the one that tried to kill me?"
"We could use one of the Leprechauns or Dwarfs as bait to lure the demon out in the Enchanted Realm." Piper suggested. "As for the other demon, if he really is the Source, I don't think you boys are ready to take him on. The Source is typically the most powerful demon in the Underworld, the one who rules down there. Usually it's a demon with great power or one who's managed to obtain great power through various means."
"Your mother and aunts have defeated multiple Sources." Leo added in.
"Before he tried to kill me, he said he needed my blood for something." Chris informed them.
"For what?" Leo asked with worry.
"He didn't say. He's the one that cut my hand." Chris answered.
Be'lakor smiled fiendishly in the Underworld. He scrapped the dried blood of Christopher Halliwell off of his athame and into a mortar. He mixed in a few other ingredients and reached for a scrying crystal. After dipping the end of the crystal in to the mortar, he held it over a map of the mortal world. "Blood to blood I seek to find, that which has been hidden from demons eyes, this crystal here I do now bind, with the power to seek in this place and time, that which has been cloaked with words and rhyme." He chanted. The crystal started to sway violently over the map and after a few seconds it landed somewhere in the center of the Andes Mountains.
Enson walked over to Be'lakor. "Have you finally found it?" He asked.
Be'lakor looked up from the map. "Yes. It's in the Andes Mountains, but even if we go to this exact location, the book is probably protected from evil." He answered.
"Yes, but I always thought the book was protected from good magic?" Enson asked.
"The book itself is." Be'lakor explained. "The whitelighter couldn't protect the book itself from evil, all he could do was protect the location. That's why we've been unable to find it's location until now. Finding the location and retrieving the actual book are two different tasks. Once we get to the book, there could be any number of spells placed on the location to try and keep us from the book."
"So how do we figure out what kind of magic has been used at the location, what spells or enchantments?" Enson then asked.
"We send some of our minions there to retrieve the book. We have hundreds, thousands of demons at our disposal." He replied. "Their sacrifices will be greatly appreciated."
"I'll round up a few demons than." Enson said. Not even a moment later, he had shimmered out in search of a few demons, ones who supported Be'lakor and would do anything for him. He managed to round up three demons and went straight to the location in hopes of finally retrieving the book.
Wyatt walked into the kitchen with a small piece of paper in his hands. "I think I have a spell." He said. He saw Chris filling a vial with some kind of liquid, assuming it was a potion of some sort.
Both Piper and Leo turned to Wyatt. "Chris just finished the potion." Piper replied.
"Any chance we can get some sleep before we go demon hunting?" Wyatt asked with a yawn. He had noticed the time in green numbers on the microwave. It was almost three in the morning. Only a few more hours and the sun would be up.
"Better to take care of things as soon as possible." Leo said.
Piper walked over to Wyatt. "Let me take a look at that spell." She reached for the paper in his hand and read it to herself. "It's not bad for your first vanquishing spell. I think it will work."
"Why do we need a spell and a potion?" Chris asked curiously.
"Some demons are just stronger than others and require both." Piper replied. "All we really know about this demon is that he can control fire. So it's better to be prepared in case one doesn't work."
"The Nymphs are willing to work as a decoy to bring out the demon. They're going to rebuild the forest he burned down." Leo explained. "That should be enough to lure him out."
"Ok." Piper replied. She looked at her boys. "Do you think one of you can orb again? It'd be faster than driving."
Wyatt and Chris both rolled their eyes and reached for their mother. Both tried to concentrate on orbing for several moments. Nothing happened.
"You boys both just need to calm yourselves and focus." Leo said to them.
Slowly, the blue light began to form around them until they were no longer visible, but a moment later, they reformed. Chris looked around, wondering why they were still in the manor. "Why didn't we go anywhere?" He asked curiously.
"You must not have been focused enough." Leo replied. "Just concentrate on letting yourself drift away and focus on where you're trying to go."
"One of you managed to orb us home from the Underworld, so I know you can do it." Piper added in, trying to give her boys a little encouragement.
Chris took a deep breath, his chest and shoulders heaving up and down once as he did so. He closed his eyes and concentrated, trying to focus on letting himself just fade away. He concentrated on forming at the location and envisioned what was left of the forest forming around them, the smell of fresh grass filling their noses. A moment later, orbs carried the three of them to the forest where some Nymphs had been busy rebuilding and regrowing the trees and homes for many of the forest animals. They each took cover behind a fallen tree trunk and waited for the demon to show itself.
The Nymphs worked in front of them and they watched as burnt trees re-sprouted from the ground up. Flowers bloomed in the ground around them. Slowly the sun started to rise, but it remained unseen over the treeline. The Halliwells sat for a few hours, waiting for the demon to finally attack.
Wyatt was kind of anxious to fight the demon. He wanted to kick some ass. He was also anxious to fight the demon so he could get to bed. He was drained physically and needed sleep.
Chris wasn't very excited about fighting the demon. He was fairly terrified of the thought, but he knew that those people or creatures that were in the manor needed help and they seemed to think that he and Wyatt were some sort of saviors. His mother had said that this is what he and his brother were originally destined to do and he was trying to accept that. He wondered if being a demon hunter and witch was ever something a person would get used to, if it was ever something he would get used to.
Piper didn't really have too many thoughts on her mind. She sat quietly in between her boys and waited for the demon. It was starting to get lighter outside and easier to see what was going on around them. There weren't too many clouds in the early morning sky and a breeze whisked passed them through the trees. The demon faded in with the breeze. He gazed at the freshly grown trees and opened his mouth, fire spitting out of it much like a dragon. Piper had never seen a demon shoot fire like that before. She tried to freeze him so her boys could throw the potion at it, but the demon broke through her power and the fire from his mouth hit the trees, erupting them in flames. All the work the Nymphs had done was for nothing.
Wyatt saw his mother gesturing with her hands at the demon and when nothing happened, he did the same motion to trigger his own power. An explosion hit the demon and caused him to falter, but he found his ground quickly and aimed at them, fire releasing in their direction. Chris took a deep breath and swiftly moved his hand out, almost smiling at the fact that he had triggered his power. With his telekinesis the demon flew into a tree behind him. Piper froze the fire at the same time and they stepped around it.
Chris pulled out the potion from his pocket and lunged it at the demon, his hand twinging as he did so. He had almost forgot about the cut across his palm. The small glass vial shattered at the demon's feet. A black cloud of smoke swirled around him, but the demon was fighting through it. It wasn't enough to kill him. "The spell, read the spell." Piper said as she froze a stream of fire once more. The smoke was dissipating slowly as the demon fought through it. Wyatt pulled out the paper from his pocket with the spell on it. Piper added in. "Both of you."
Chris stepped closer to Wyatt so he could see the paper and read aloud his first spell with his brother. "His own fire will thee inflame, this demon that is held at blame, no longer will he make others cower in shame, the pain he's dealt, he'll now feel the same." They both chanted. The black smoke around the demon turned into red hot flames that slowly engulfed him. Wyatt and Chris watched as the demon screamed in pain and struggled against his own flames before finally turning to ash on the forest floor. The fire continued to blaze in the trees before them and Chris wondered what they were supposed to do about the fire.
A few Nymphs appeared before them and stared at the trees with tears in their eyes. Their own creations were burning before them. If something wasn't done soon, the flames would spread and the fire would claim a good portion of the forest again. "What are we to do?" One asked.
Chris stepped forward and closed his eyes for a moment, thinking of a way to help. He wasn't sure what kind of creatures existed in the magical world, but in the mortal world, he liked to think that there was a Mother of the Earth, one who cared for the growth and birth of all life and creation on the planet, almost like a mother of nature. "Ancient mother of the earth," He called out to her. "Who cares for nature, brings new birth, save the trees from these flames, this forest they will not claim."
Piper looked at Chris surprised that he had come up with a spell so quickly, but before she could say anything, torrential down pour came from the skies. Gray clouds seemed to manifest out of thin air. In moments, they were all soaked. The Nymphs rejoiced in the rain, happy that it was putting out the fire. "We don't know how to thank you." Another one of them said to Piper and both brothers.
Chris had a feeling inside of him that he had never felt before, not in this life anyways. He had helped someone, something and he had made a difference. Of course, his mother and best friend were there to help him and it made him feel really good inside. He had never helped anyone like this before and it felt really good.
"You don't have to thank us." Wyatt replied to the Nymphs with a small smile. He looked at his Mom. "Can we go to bed now?" He yawned. He was tired, but he too felt really good about what they had just done. It felt so natural to him, helping others and using his powers.
"I'm exhausted." Chris thought to himself. He fought off a yawn.
"Me too." Wyatt said out loud.
"Me too what?" Piper asked, which was exactly what Chris was wondering.
He gave her a funny look. "Chris just said he was exhausted. I was agreeing with him." He answered.
Chris returned the funny look. "I didn't say that." He said.
"Yeah, I heard you clear as day." Wyatt replied.
"Any chance we can argue at home?" Piper asked as the rain continued. Both boys smiled and reached out to her, orbing back to the manor.
Leo couldn't believe the weather he was seeing outside when only a few minutes earlier, the sun had begun to rise in the sky. Piper and the boys formed in front of him, but the boys didn't stick around to explain anything. They were both too tired and headed straight upstairs. It didn't surprise Piper at all. She stayed to explain everything to Leo.
A sopping wet Wyatt and Chris trudged up the stairs. "How did you hear what I was thinking?" Chris asked.
"I have no idea, but it sounded to me like you were speaking." Wyatt replied.
"I hope this isn't some weird power, because I don't think I want you in my head like that." He said back. "I know we're close, but that's just too close for comfort."
"I might have to agree with you on that." Wyatt eyed the bathroom. "I gotta get to the shower first."
"I don't think so." Chris replied. They both bolted for the bathroom, fighting to get in first.
"Yeah, I'm not sure I like you in my thoughts." Wyatt said. He stepped aside and let Chris in the bathroom. "You win this battle, can you just pass me a towel so I can dry off?"
Chris handed over a towel before closing the door for privacy. Not soon after, both brothers had gotten showers in and settled into their beds, sleeping away for the rest of the morning and most of the afternoon, as the rain continued to pour outside.
Had to write a few spells for this update. Chris got to use his powers to help someone and felt really good doing so. Someone mentioned something about the brotherly bond in one of the older comments I think and well, it's really taking hold now. Be'lakor knows where the book is and you'll see if he gets it soon. We're getting to the latter half of this story, so I'm not sure how many updates will be left. Please let me know your thoughts.