Hello everyone, thank you so much for your comments on the last chapter. Here's comes the update. Have fun with it.

Thanks to Chris' Adorer

Chapter 37

Chris opened the glass door to the store and was hit by a very obtrusive odor. He assumed it was sandal wood. The bell over the door announced his entry. He heard the ruffling of the curtains, hanging in the door frame behind the counter, when a young woman came from the back room to serve the customer.

Melli looked at him surprised. "Hi, should I get my father?"

"Oh no, please." Chris refused at once. He realized how blatant that sounded and added: "Don't bother him, I'm just looking around." He really didn't want to start a conversation with her father, the shop owner, who saw his chance to make some money through the Halliwells. It was, of course, his right as a business man, but Chris didn't like it when people were praising their own goods too enthusiastically. After all, if he needed advice, he'd ask. He didn't need anyone to sell him something, he didn't need or want.

"Do you want to go to the other shop?" she asked. "I mean where the real wiccan stuff is."

"No, thanks. I will stay here."

"Okay." She shrugged and went back behind the curtains. Chris thought, she would call her father nevertheless, but she returned at once with a large box. She opened the box and took a thick red candle out of it; with an electric price label machine she stuck a price tag on it.

Chris decided to check out the "gift shop" as he secretly called the store. There were a lot of candles and candle holders in gold, brass, silver, incense sticks with decorative holders; jewelry of wood or metal, with and without gems and pearls; and plenty of bibelot: little statues of fairies, dragons, dwarfs and other mythical creatures.

On one wall was a ceiling high cupboard with large metal boxes containing teas and herbs. Next to it on a small shelf you could find tea dishes, mortars and a tiny selection of preciously looking athames. But the largest part of the store was offering books. Paperbacks or very thick and large leather bound copies, simple hard cover books as well as colorful notepads and fountain pens.

Chris turned around to Melli, who was watching him. She quickly returned to label the candles.

"You have a lot of stuff," he said.

"Why are you here, anyway? Just to check out our assortment, I don't think so."

Chris simply replied: "I'll take four thick white candles and four ounces of chamomile."

"Sure." She came out from behind the counter and went to the shelf with herbs and teas. She took one of the boxes out of the shelf and opened it. She measured the dried herbs on an electric scales, spooning it into a little paper bag.

"Thanks for the potion, by the way," Chris said.

"You're welcome."

"Almost got me killed," he added.

The woman stopped in her action and frowned at him. "I surely never said you shall drink it yourself."

"Right, my mistake."

She shrugged and closed the bag with a tape stripe, then went to another shelf with candles. "So, what happened?" she asked curiously. She doubted, that her father's potion had failed on a demon. But there was always a chance. After all, they hadn't tried it on that many demons.

"Honestly, the potion worked fine. It was an unexpected complication and my fault."

"I thought so," she said self-confident.

"I'm curious. What was in that potion?"

"It's a secret family recipe, I told you."

"Can you give me another vial, maybe?"

"Nope, sorry. It was a gift, we don't sell that potion."

"Too bad. You really could make money out of that."

"Some things are not for sale; no matter to what price."

Melli took her place behind the counter and typed some numbers into the cash box.

As he and Brandon had nothing left of the versatile potion, they probably wouldn't find out the ingredients. But Chris had enough of his own potion recipes.

They heard a door being closed heavily.

"My mother is back," Melli said. "If you don't want to be tied up in a monologue, you shouldn't stay much longer."

"Thanks for the warning." Chris took the brown paper back with his shopping, after he had paid.

"My parents are so excited." Melli said rolling her eyes. "They think you are now my whitelighter. I told them you weren't. I mean, it was pure coincidence, that you helped me with the demon."

Chris didn't comment her choice of words, although he had done more than helping her. He also kept it to himself, that he didn't believe in coincidences. "Anytime. But I'm no one's whitelighter. Frankly, I'm not even a whitelighter. I'm half –" He stopped, but the word was clearly in his mind. He was half Elder. Sure, he had always known that. Leo had been an Elder when he had fathered Chris. After all, Chris had been right there. He had even sped things up to turn Leo an Elder.

Wyatt sometimes jokingly called him an 'Elder', when Chris said something very prosaic. Now, here in this tiny overloaded store of unnecessary items, the realization hit him totally unprepared. He was half-Elder, not half-whitelighter like his aunt, his brother and cousins. How important was the difference, anyway? Half-Elder, half-whitelighter – the most important thing was being a witch. And he was a witch through and through. He never wanted to be half-Elder at all. It was an unplanned change, that he had maintained himself, when he had been in the past.

However, maybe it had something to do with the changes, he was feeling for a while, but ignored consequently.

"Ehm, you are half what?" Melli asked.

Chris snapped out of his thoughts. The way she was looking at him, told him, he must have been zoomed out for a bit.

"Nothing. Sorry, I was in thoughts. Well, thanks, I have to go."

He quickly left the store, leaving her wondering.

The hallway of Magic School was only dim lit, when Chris rematerialized. All doors on each side of the walls were closed. It was very quiet. Unusually quiet for a school. Magic School, like every other school, had of course summer break now. But there were students that took courses over the summer. Young witches that visited "normal" high schools or elementary schools the rest of the year. Or magical kids whose parents couldn't take holiday with them. Moreover, Magic School also was a home for children and teenagers, who had lost their parents and had no family to look after them. Basically, Magic School was never empty or closed for one day. Every witch, not only children, but grown-ups could always come to the school to use the huge library or talk to teachers or just enjoy a place where everyone was like them: magical.

When Chris and Wyatt had been younger and Leo would spend most of his time here – especially after Piper's death – Chris had often felt their father was kind of hiding here from the reality at home. He had been jealous of the students of Magic School, thinking Leo liked to spend time with them more than with his sons. He hated Magic School for a long time. A hate that was probably grounded by the events in the past by the Elder Guideon who had betrayed them, and had killed Chris.

Later, when he was older he had started to understand that his father had indeed hidden from something, but not from his sons, that was only a side effect, he had kept busy to hold it together after losing his wife. The Manor without Piper was a cold place for Leo. Being alone in their bedroom at night, not being able to turn to her for advice or talk about the events of the previous day in private, he must have felt lonely and his home became uncomfortable.

Chris knew this by now and even understood, at least a bit. For him it was different. The Manor was the place, he felt most connected to his mother. She had made that house a home for him more than once. The best memories of childhood, of being loved and cared for were in this house. Those memories overlapped the bad that had happened there and made it appear less important.

Chris turned around to a rustling sound behind him but only saw a shadow, vanishing around the corner.

"Seriously?" he scoffed. "Was it a dog? You've got to be kidding me."

Slightly violet orbs appeared in front of him.

"If you follow, you will find out," Kevin said. The facial expression he got was all too clear. "No?" The Elder also wore a black teacher's robe, but casually unbuttoned over blue jeans and a plain white shirt.

"Thanks. A vision provided by a potion is too risky. You never know what possible interdependency, I could suffer."

"Maybe I don't know, but you do. So, how high is the risk?" Kevin smirked.

"To make it clear, I am not following a dog or whatever, into the depths of Magic School, just because someone thinks I might want to see something that will happen or not. I only wanted to visit my father." Chris started walking down the hall. Kevin accompanied him.

"Leo is still in a lecture," the Elder said. "Which, with your powers, you know as well."

"I will wait, can't take forever. But don't worry, I'm not here to cause any of your pals troubles. Magic School is not my favorite place."

"I see. The betrayal and hurt you and your family experienced, does not equal with the school and its purpose."

"Whatever you may mean. I don't like schools in general." Chris stopped in front of a heavy wooden door sensing his father behind it.

He wasn't sure, when class would be over. He hoped not too long to give the Elder enough time to bother him with creepy profound innuendos. Maybe, he should just go into the classroom and wait there. But he had already once crashed his father's class.

Leo had taught his very bored looking pupils about the history of Magic School and the status and meaning of the Elders within the magical world, as well as their proceeding to decide on behalf of the magical community. Chris couldn't remember, why he had come to see Leo anyway. It was shortly after he had moved back to the Manor with Wyatt and his now ex-girlfriend Noelle. He had probably been annoyed by one of them and simply wanted to get out.

Actually, Chris had not disturbed his father literally. At some point Leo had asked, if there were any questions. That was the point when Chris had done, what he had always done in school after teachers had given one of their monologues teaching their opinion: he had risen his hand and queried "how" and "why", saying "yes, but" to every answer he got. This usually turned the last 5 to 10 minutes of a class into a discussion with the respective teacher. Chris never simply accepted a teacher's point of view. He felt they only wanted to convince him of their opinion and not let him make up his own mind. He had to give credits to his father. Unlike other teachers, Leo had kept calm, hadn't shown any annoyance and answered his son's questions. In high school most teachers openly said that he shouldn't interrupt their class – they probably assumed he behaved like this only to cut the class short. It had happened that teachers just ignored him. There had been some more motivated ones who asked to discuss further after class, but always got out of the room quickly. In his studies later in art school it was different. Most classes were about interpretations and discussions.

At the end of the class after all students had hastily left for their lunch break, Chris apologized to his father for the disturbing, but Leo had only smiled saying, he finally understood the issues some of Chris' former teachers had told him about.

"It's more work when a student does not accept everything you say. It makes you slightly insecure and it also is challenging. As teachers, we tend to be in nothing but our subject too rigid."

"Have you been waiting for me?" the young man asked.

"You really are one suspicious guy," Kevin muttered, louder he said: "Not directly. I expected you to come eventually. You have questions and this is a place to find answers."

"Thanks, but I don't have questions. But if I had, I'd ask someone else," Chris replied. It was rude, he knew that. He didn't feel comfortable around Elders that acted like they knew all about him. It gave him the feeling he needed to justify himself.

"In that case, I will of course not bother you." Keven started to walk away. "By the way, the class only just started. So, you will have to wait at least 40 minutes."

Talking about bad timing. Chris sighed. He should just leave. If he didn't, it might appear as if he was interested in what the Elder had to say after all – which he wasn't.

"Alright. You want to say something, just say it. I give you the honor to lecture me in good Elder nature." The young man went away from the class room door towards Kevin, who had turned around.

"Is it really that difficult to believe that we might be on your side?"

"Yes."

The Elder frowned as they walked next to each other in silence. Eventually, he answered: "I wonder, if it is us who have to change or you."

"As I know the Elders, it must be me. After all, you are the wise men and women."

"Wisdom does not exclude changes. Maybe we all have to do our part, trying to approach each other and overcome our mistrust."

"Sorry, I'm a bit resentful towards people that kill me."

"That is understandable. However, when we start mixing up the timelines, I could question why we should lose our mistrust towards someone that manipulated events in his favor and claimed to be someone he wasn't."

"Yes, I only thought about myself when I came to stop my brother form turning evil, I'm so selfish." Chris replied. "And I didn't claim to be anyone. Phoebe assumed I was a whitelighter. I took it from there."

"We know what you did and we appreciate it, and we are sorry for the price that was paid."

They entered the Great Hall. Mainly younger children were there, playing. A little girl with blonde locks sat by herself on a pile of fluffy pillows, talking to her doll.

"Nothing can be achieved without someone paying for it," Chris shrugged. "At least it worked out."

"That's true. Now, that the groundwork is done, you make sure it stays that way." Kevin sat down and pointed to a chair opposite. "With what you know and who you are, you have the power to do that."

Chris sat down. He understood Kevin mostly meant keeping Wyatt on the right path. There was always a chance he could be turned, like everyone else. But the Elder probably also referred to the rest of the family and keeping them safe. "Really? I don't know. Lately, I don't feel powerful at all."

"You don't have faith in yourself. Others already see the good in you clearly. They feel your sincerity and trust you with their secrets and worries. Haven't you noticed that? You are what you are and it is obvious for others although they probably can't put it in words."

"I am half Elder, that's what you want to say."

"You have many sides."

"Whatever. The thing is, what the hell is wrong with my powers? Do you have a philosophical explanation to that?"

Kevin looked at him intensely, not answering.

Suddenly a colorful plastic ball came flying right at Chris' face. He raised his hand and the ball lingered in the air, slightly moving up and down.

"Hey, that's my ball!" a young boy screamed. Chris turned around and received a dark glare from the child. With a wave of his hand the ball flew back to the boy in medium speed, so he could catch it easily. Happily, he hopped back to his friends.

"Seems like your powers are fine," Kevin commented.

"Pretty evil of an Elder to steal a ball from a little boy." Chris leant back against the high back rest of the chair. He was frustrated. Sure now his powers were as always. Even they betrayed him making him look like a fool in front of an Elder. "Try with a fire or energy ball, we'll see then," he muttered.

"Not inside Magic School. The alarm makes a terrible noise. What about your other powers, are they all affected?"

"No, the orbing works fine."

"Okay, and the rest? Healing, sensing, the passive powers: spell casting, scrying; and the thought projection."

"It's okay, I guess. I mean, I never use the thought projection," Chris said. "To fight," he added quietly.

"What a waste! It's a good versatile and strong power. It can be used for attack and defense. I understand you never received training on it, but neither did you with any of your other powers."

"It wasn't meant for me, though."

"Not you chose your powers, they chose you."

"Yes, but it is an Elder power and I influenced the situation by making dad an Elder before his time and with that me as well."

"If it hadn't been your destiny, it would have happened. Why do you focus on this so much?"

"I didn't. Just lately. It is the only explanation I have for…whatever is going on with me."

Out of the corner of his eyes, he saw two boys picking on the blonde little girl with her doll. They tried to snatch the toy away from her. Chris turned to them and narrowed his eyes at the scene. "Hey," he said to the boys. "Leave her alone."

The two boys looked back at him. One of them obviously considered to talk back, but stopped himself, grabbing his friend at the sleeve of his shirt, dragging him along.

The girl happily hugged her doll and whispered something in its ear, then took the doll's arm and made her wave at Chris, who waved back before turning towards Kevin again.

"Is there no teacher looking after those kids?"

"No, not at the moment, but you did. But you wanted to talk about your powers before you got distracted. Do you really want to know what I think? Although it might not be what you want to hear."

Chris shrugged. He never heard what he wanted from Elders.

"Okay, I suggest, you start to take care of yourself. Listen to your mind, heart and body to understand what you need to feel strong. Start to pay attention to yourself. Do what is good for you. Don't pressure yourself. You have such high expectations in yourself. Accept what is and what will be. Don't seek so much for a higher meaning in everything. You will understand one day."

"You wouldn't happen to have any concrete information on something?" Chris asked.

"I'm only an Elder. I can't foresee the future. There are hints for us to realize and to conclude possibilities, but we do not steer world affairs. We are not that powerful."

Chris stood up. He knew he wouldn't learn anymore from Kevin even if he had any information. It wasn't the Elders' style to give a straight answer. For some reason, they always thought it was important that you'd experienced everything yourself or come to your own conclusions. Sometimes, Chris thought, they wanted to see someone fail or make a wrong decision only to say "Told you so" in the end.

"Well, thanks," Chris said. "I'll have to go now."

"I thought you wanted to visit Leo."

"I changed my mind. I rather visit him at home and invite myself for dinner."

"Good start."