Author's notes: Hi everyone! Sorry this too long, but I was really struggling with this one trying to get it to be what I imagined since the beginning. Then the weirdest thing happened and the document got locked, it wouldn't open, get edited or anything and I wouldn't be able to ever write again, somehow thankfully I managed to make a copy of it and save it in a new document and it worked.
This is the last chapter of the story (minding the epilogue). I'm kinda sad yet excited at the same time, this story took long to finish but there's this sense of accomplishment that accompanies posting this chapter.
As always, thanks to those who read the last chapters, and big thanks who left a review!.
Disclaimer: I don't own Charmed, or any of its original characters/story lines, but I do, however, own this story, with all of the new characters and dialogue (unless I mention otherwise).
P.S. Words in italics are either thought, dreams or premonitions.
Previously:
Piper pushed Paige back into the couch right before the arrow would hit her, having no time to get out of the way herself, the arrow pierced through her heart. Piper's mouth was held open in a silent scream of agony as she dropped to her knees, then to the ground... dead.
Josephine: You came here originally knowing that Piper's death isn't something you can change, yet you turned your whole mission around trying to save : You said Wyatt was kidnapped and you had no idea who returned him. Mass brought Wyatt back with no one seeing him, because Mass got what he wanted.
Phoebe: ...Mass tricked him somehow, made him think that the innocent was him. Wyatt knew Mass harmed his mother, so he wanted to vanquish him, but instead he killed the innocent.
Phoebe (sympathetically): Jo... You have nightmares about people dying all the time, and I am guessing Piper's death in the future really affected you.
Piper: Honey, it's just a weird sense of Deja vu coupled with a bad nightmare, okay?
Jo: I don't. I am repeating the day, I couldn't have possibly known that any other way, damn it I should've trusted my instincts! Which means that this is a trap to delay us, so the demons could attack the sisters at home!
Jo: That's right Barbas... Game Over!
Jericho (trying to remember something): I asked Wyatt about it and he said he changed something, or added something. I'm not sure what though.
Jo: Well this doesn't help! We'll have to depend on the spell, if that doesn't work then we'll just have to attack him with everything we've got and hope it's enough to injure him and make him retreat.
Piper: And if that doesn't work?
Jo: Then we're really screwed, because not only will we probably die, but also Wyatt will grow up to be evil.
-Underworld: Cave where Barbas was trapped-
The cave was empty except for the cage that lied in the middle that had Barbas's ashes in it, proof of his final demise. Jo was lining potion vials in a circle around the cave while Jericho was nowhere to be seen at the moment.
Jo then aligned some potions around the cage that once held Barbas. That was when Jericho came running out of breath.
Jericho: They're alert alright!
Jo: Okay, good, now line the crystals quickly!
Jericho took a bag of crystals and started placing them in the gaps in the potion circle. Jo started doing the same but with the potion circle around the cage.
At the end Jo and Jericho, each were left with one crystal.
Jo (sensing the demons coming close): Position!
Jericho didn't need to be told twice, he shimmered inside the cage, stood beside the last empty gap in the circle, then went invisible.
Jo, on the other hand stood at the other end of the cave, yet completely visible to any demon who might come in. What they wouldn't see however, is that she was standing outside the circle of potions, right next to a gap.
The air in the cave seemed to shimmer, then a dozen demon appeared at the main entrance of the cave. Jo looked around to see the other exits but dozens of demons stood in front of every single one. In a matter of seconds, about a hundred demons were standing in the cave. Surprisingly enough, Jo smiled.
Jo (sarcastically): Oh there you are, I've been waiting for you. I was starting to think you weren't coming.
The demons were surprised that Jo expected them, but they were instructed not to be shocked by anything she did because she had a lot of tricks up her sleeve.
Warlock: Well witch, the wait is over.
The demons started advancing towards Jo, at which she suppressed a grin.
Jo: Oh come on, how is this a fair fight when it's a 100 against one?
Some of the demons were starting to get suspicious because they were told there was two of them, and a demon shimmered in to their meeting room and informed them of two intruders in the northern caves.
Darklighter (loading his crossbow): Oh I think this is fair enough, future knowledge and all.
Jo (yelling): NOW!
Jo took a step back and put the crystal on the floor in the gap, while Jericho -even though still invisible- did the same.
As the crystal cage got activated, the electric circuit started blowing up the potion vials in a domino effect. Jo was holding both her arms out in front of her, telekinetically sending the potion vials content towards the demons.
While at the same time, potion vials that surrounded the cage, also shattered and their contents were sent towards the demons.
Screams and shouts filled the cave as one by one the demons were being vanquished. Those who tried shimmering out found that they were trapped by the crystal cage and had no time to think of a way out because they were vanquished too.
Jo watched as flames engulfed the demons, warlocks and darklighters and felt no remorse for killing a huge chunk of the underworld.
As the potions finished, Jericho started throwing energy balls at any remaining demon, while Jo was throwing lightening bolts left and right. The godly reserved power seemed to be beautiful yet destructive at the same time.
Soon enough, not a single demon or any other evil creature was left in the cave.
Jo: Jericho you still alive in there?
Jericho (becoming visible outside the cave): Yes, the crystals protected me!
Jo (sighing): Good.
Jericho: Can I just say that was intense? Who would've thought we can kill all those demons without a single wound. That plan was brilliant!
Jo (blushing): Just the same old surround and surprise plan. Glad you enjoyed that, because now the real fighting begins.
Jericho (beaming with energy): Bring it on!
Jo: Okay Mr. Tough guy, to the manor!
-Manor: Attic-
The fight at the manor was more leveled because even though the sisters knew about the demons coming, they only prepared with potions and weapons, no extensive traps like the one Jo planned for the underworld fight.
Everyone was quiet surprised at how accurate Jo's description of the battle, from the numbers and powers of demons to what groups will come when. Phoebe guessed that since that battle always haunted Jo, she never really forgot any detail about it.
While Phoebe would get into a physical battle every once in a while, Jo instructed her not to waste the time and just use a vanquishing potion or at least a stunt potion to distract the demon until she finds a way to vanquish him.
Piper was doing her normal signature gesture of flicking her wrist, but this time it was reserved for blowing up demons only, not freezing them. Piper's targets were the lower leveled demons who would easily be vanquished by her powers.
Paige, who was standing behind Piper, took the mission of having everyone's back -in other words, she had to make sure no fireball, energy ball, or arrow hit any of them. It wasn't a job easily done considering her pregnant state, but so far she has been doing a great job with it.
Jo orbed in near the windows, while Jericho shimmered in near the door. But even though Jo was mentally prepared for the battle, it shocked her a little bit to be in this position again. Jo didn't dwell on it any longer as she saw Jericho happily diving into the battle by assailing the demons with energy balls, then doing his pace back for one second strategy that made 'copies' of him everywhere.
Billie was using her powers of projection to distract demons long enough to hit them with a potion, or snap their necks with telekinesis. Billie was specifically ordered to get rid of the darklighters because a single arrow -hitting Jo or Paige- can ruin all their plans to win this battle.
Jo started using any offensive powers she had to vanquish the demons, warlocks, darklighters and any other evil creature that was in the room. She threw lightening bolts, orb waves, even surprised everyone by flicking her wrists to blow up demons.
Phoebe was engaged in a hand-in-hand combat with an upper leveled demon when another demon decided to take advantage of her involvement and sneaked up on her. Jo noticing the demons attempt, surprised everyone by conjuring a fireball and throwing it at the demon, vanquishing him. Phoebe gasped as she saw how close that was and gave Jo a grateful smile, but Jo was already back in the battle.
As much as everyone -except Jericho- wanted to ask Jo about the power display, they knew this wasn't the time or place for it, but it was something to look forward to. Today has been the only day that Jo and Jericho shared future knowledge and battle tactics with them without muttering the words "Future Consequences"; they got more out of the Half witch/half whitelighter and apparently the half demon/ half witch today than they have got since they both arrived.
Even though the fight was still on, it was obvious that this time the good guys had the upper hand. Just knowing about the battle that is going to happen gave the Halliwells a huge advantage. When they were taken by surprise before, they weren't ready with potions, or battle tactics, but this time it was very different. Jo was glad that she was able to warn them about it; however, she has been able to figure out how it has become that she's repeating the day.
She didn't cast any spells to take her back in time, and it wasn't even a normal case of time traveling because there wasn't a past self for her that was present this day. Even if she's from the future, she would've had a past self. She and Jericho discussed this when they had a couple of free minutes, but they didn't really come up with anything useful. They knew two things though: 1)While it's in Jo's hand to change anything now, somethings aren't meant to be changed, and 2) This had to be related to Wyatt turning evil, something happening this day affects Jo's mission.
Jo was pulled out of her thoughts when she heard Billie's cry of pain. Jo looked over to see Phoebe throwing a potion at the demon vanquishing him, then running to Billie's side to heal her. Jo turned back to continue fighting, when everything suddenly clicked, as if someone turned on a light bulb above her head.
Jo turned back quickly and threw a lightening bolt in Phoebe's direction. The lightening bolt hit a demon who was about to knock Phoebe out, vanquishing him. Jo didn't notice the demon advancing on her until he threw an athame at Jo, which embedded itself in her thigh. Jo let out a scream of pain as her leg gave out and she fell to one knee.
Paige: Piper GO! I can handle this!
Jo panicked when she heard this remembering what happened in the past when she said those words.
Jo (yelling as she pulled out the athame): I'M FINE!
Piper heard Jo at the same time that she saw an unknown demon and Mass holding up what looked like a darklighter's crossbow aimed towards Paige who was focused on other demons and haven't seen him.
Phoebe: PAIGE WATCH OUT!
This time Piper wasn't too far away from Paige and easily made her way back before Mass could release the arrow. Piper threw the special potion that she had in her pocket towards Mass, but it only affected his right hand man, vanquishing him.
Mass laughed evilly as he pulled the trigger, releasing the arrow. Paige heard the unmistakable sound of the arrow and potion vial breaking, but as she commanded the arrow to orb away, the arrow kept on going in her direction.
Jo was about to jump right into action and destroy the arrow before it could kill Piper, who stood protectively in front of Paige, when everything suddenly froze except for her. The demons, the arrow, the fireballs, even a demon in mid vanquish... everything froze.
Jo (knowing that even Piper didn't have the power to do this): Who did this?
A ball of light appeared in the middle of the room, and got shaped into an African American woman in light blue robes.
Jo: The Angel of Destiny...
Angel of Destiny: Glad to see you remember me.
Jo (confused): Not that I'm glad that you stopped time, but why are you here?
Angel of Destiny: I've come to explain to you why you're repeating the day.
Jo: You did that? (then remembering it wasn't the time or place) Now? I'm kinda in the middle of something, couldn't this have waited until after the battle?
Angel of Destiny: Now is the perfect time, since you seem to not have understood the lesson.
Jo: If this is about the whole fate thing, I get it. But I'm not going to stand by and watch my sister get killed when I know there's something I can do about it.
Angel of Destiny: Then you haven't "gotten" it.
Jo: Then why else am I repeating the day? Nothing else significant happens today.
Angel of Destiny: Nothing significant happened today in the times that you experienced it, but you're repeating the day because something needs to happen today. There's something you need to make sure happens today otherwise...
Jo: Otherwise what?
Angel of Destiny: Wyatt remains evil.
Jo used her hand to pull back all the hair that has fallen to her face subconsciously, hoping that this will help her understand. But of course the single gesture wouldn't do that, so she started pacing up and down the attic.
Jo: Well I can't think about Wyatt turning evil when I'm in the middle of a battle, when this is over I'll think about what "needs" to happen.
Angel of Destiny (slightly disappointed): The thing is, you already know what needs to happen.
Jo (confused): I do?
Angel of Destiny (nodding): Yes. Deep inside you know what needs to happen.
Jo: This isn't about Piper dying, is it? Because I will not stand idly and watch her die!
Angel of Destiny: That arrow is meant to kill a charmed one. Even if you stop it now, it will still kill a charmed one.
Jo (repeating herself): I will not watch her die!
Angel of Destiny: You need to forget your obsession with saving your sister and realize the truth that is right in front of you. (pointing unconsciously towards Mass which wasn't a gesture Jo missed.)
Jo took the special potion Paige brewed out of her pocket and looked at it thoughtfully. She already saw Piper trying to vanquish Mass with it but it didn't work. It's missing something, but she just doesn't know what.
Angel of Destiny: I'm afraid I can't help you any more, but...
The Angel of Destiny stopped as she noticed Jo was too focused on the potion and wasn't listening. Jo was moving the vial unconsciously when she noticed a really tiny sliver of light. If she hadn't been staring at the potion she wouldn't have noticed it. Jo twisted flipped the potion in her hand one more time, and noticed the dark blue liquid shone a little again. That was when Jo laughed while shaking her head.
Jo: Saving Wyatt will happen if I vanquish Mass because then Mass wouldn't trick Wyatt into killing that innocent. I had no way of doing that before but now... (laughing again) How could I have missed that? GOD! It was simple basic magic 101.
Angel of Destiny: Glad you had an epiphany, now I am sure you'll do the right thing.
Jo's pacing led her to be standing right next to Piper now, who she looked sadly upon.
Angel of Destiny: Doing the right thing is never easy, but I'm sure you know the cost of not doing it.
Jo: Why can't I just incinerate the arrow and vanquish Mass? Why does it have to be one thing or the other?
Angel of Destiny: Because you simply don't have the time. Remember, time isn't supposed to be stopped right now, but I interfered to give you the minute that you would have need to realize what you should do. I've seen you down where this road would lead, you stop the arrow, but Mass was prepared for that, it was what he expected... he wasn't shocked.
Jo (understanding): He didn't pause for the couple of seconds that would take me to vanquish him.
Angel of Destiny: And save the future.
Jo: I don't understand why you're helping me. You're supposed to be neutral.
Angel of Destiny: I am neutral, and it is in everyone's best interest for Wyatt not to turn evil. Wyatt abuses his powers, he doesn't just turn evil, he becomes so obsessed with powers that he does anything to get more of them. He kills the elders, the tribunal, all the angels and magical creatures that maintain the balance in the world. Now I've stopped the time more than necessary. I trust you will do the right thing now, even if it's not in your best interest.
Jo looked at the arrow that would pierce Piper's heart as soon as time resumes. She moved her fingers softly across the arrow knowing that it wouldn't move until the Angel of Destiny allowed it to.
Jo (while looking at the arrow): You're right. The arrow is meant to kill a charmed one to distract Mass long enough for him to get vanquished.
The angel of Destiny smiled as she sensed that she has accomplished her job. She turned around as to start teleporting away and time was slowly starting to resume.
Jo (taking a deep breath): Just... Just not the Charmed One you had in mind.
The words registered slower than the Angel of Destiny can react. The Angel of Destiny turned around just in time to see time resume and the arrow embedding itself in Jo's chest. Shock registered on everyone's faces, including the Angel of Destiny.
Jericho: NOOO!
As Jo dropped backwards, Piper caught her and slid with her to the floor, hand immediately going to the Jo's wound, while Jo's hand were holding the arrow in pain.
Piper (panicking): Oh God, Oh God...
Jo (in a voice lower than a whisper): Th-e pot...ion.
Piper (hearing her sister because everyone was silent): It doesn't work! I already tried it.
Jo: Blo-ood.
Piper: I know honey, there's too much blood but Paige will heal you. Just stay with me.
Paige dropped to her knees beside Jo and Piper, but knew there was no way she can heal her future counterpart. The arrow was stuck right next to the heart, and to heal her she'd have to move the arrow, which would kill her instantly.
Jo (shook her head): Blood...
Piper: Try not to talk honey, save your energy. Paige heal her!
It suddenly clicked in Paige's mind what Jo was trying to say. Paige reached out her hand and took Jo's. That seemed to snap everyone back into reality. The demon cheered in triumph and happiness, make the sisters, Billie and Jericho only angrier than possible.
When Mass was watching in disbelief as the life slowly left Jo little by little. He didn't expect the first arrow he'd fire to kill one of the Charmed Ones, granted not the one he was after, but she still was a charmed one.
No one noticed Paige taking the potion vial that was covered in blood from Jo's hand, and certainly no one realized what was happening as Paige threw the potion vial towards Mass. When the potion vial crashed at Mass's foot he laughed at the witch's pathetic attempt, but soon his laughter seized as fire erupted from where the potion hit the ground and started engulfing the half darklighter/half demon and sending him to oblivion.
Jericho and Billie took the chance of seeing all the demons shocked at their leader's demise. Billie started throwing potions everywhere, knowing that they were bound to hit some one. Jericho started conjuring energy balls and throwing them at the demons, his strength restoring from all the pain and despair in the room.
Jo glanced at the Angel of Destiny with the slightest hint of a smirk at the Angel's expression of shock and impression. But as the Angel of Destiny disappeared Jo found herself shielding her eyes from a bright light that filled the room, yet only visible to her. Jo's eyes widened and even though she was really weak, a smile spread on her face, reaching her eyes for the first time in years.
Paige felt pain register as she felt her future counterpart's soul slip away.
Phoebe felt something she couldn't understand fill her before Jo's soul slipped away. Phoebe smiled sadly as she realized Jo has finally found the thing she has been looking for all these years, it just cost her life.
Piper was crying for the loss of her future sister, but the grin that was on Jo's face took some of the pain away.
Jericho didn't cry, even though losing Jo hurt him She died doing the one thing she hoped she could've done all her life. And he wasn't about to feel sorry for that.
Billie wiped the tears away as Jo's body just faded away out of existence. Billie watched as Phoebe held a crying Piper, but Phoebe herself wasn't crying. Billie realized the same truth Phoebe and Jericho reached, Jo... Paige finally found peace.
Author's notes: Alas, it's the end. I know somethings need to be cleared, even though you might of understood them from the contents of this chapter. So the Epilogue (which I will start working on right now) will be up soon to officially end the story. I hope you enjoyed this chapter, and the entire story. Those of you who stuck to the end: Thank you very much!
I know this took 3 years to write and finish, but it's finished now. Which it a relief, because 1) I don't like starting things and not finishing them, 2) I hated that this was in script format, because I started writing other stories (not yet-posted) in normal story format, and it isn't easy to switch back.
Interesting facts about the writing of this story is: that it was actually written in 3 Countries and 6 different cities :D
Let me know what you think of this chapter as an ending... love it? hate it? Didn't expect it?
Thank you for reading, stay tuned for the epilogue.