A/N: I would like to say thank you for the follows and the review! So here is the next chapter, a little bit shorter than the first one. The chapters that follow will be longer. I don't want to take too long with updates that's why the chapters aren't too long. That being said, it is still a work in progress and while I have a few chapters ready, I only post a new chapter when I have worked far enough ahead with the rest of the story. Well, enjoy!
The blinding shockwave barely registered for Chris. As soon as the grimlock had released his hold of him, the young Halliwell had let him fall onto his side and then rolled over to his back. With his eyes scrunched closed Chris could only focus on getting as much air in his lungs as possible, while his brother attacked the demons. He did feel the magic wash over him. It was a combination of Wyatt's powerful witchlighter magic and the grimlock's portal magic. It was an odd combination to feel, unnatural even. After sucking in a few breaths, Chris carefully opened his eyes to a grey-ish world. They were still in the attic of the manor, but everything was less vibrant. He was unsure if the ringing in his ears belonged to this world or if it was a result of nearly being strangled to death.
Wyatt stood near his brother and had been shielding his eyes with his arm. Upon hearing the hasty breathing of his brother, he had lowered his arm. But before he dared to check up on Chris, his eyes snapped to where he remembered the grimlocks to be. The two demons had turned away from the portal as well but they recovered quickly as they too remembered having an opponent to face.
One of the grimlocks quickly extended his hand towards Wyatt. The twice-blessed reacted a moment too late and expected to feel the strangling pressure on his throat. Surprisingly enough, that feeling never came and the grimlock looked just as surprised as Wyatt. Not thinking twice, Wyatt quickly threw out both his hands to launch an attack of his own. Again nothing happened.
"What the..." Wyatt said and Chris looked at his brother in equal confusion. The latter tried to get up and help but felt neither his arms nor his legs held enough strength to do so.
The second grimlock didn't attempt to activate his magic. Instead he quickly moved over towards the portal, deciding he would rather live to see another day. The moment the grimlock tried to step through the portal, it started to shine brightly and a surge of electricity knocked the demon away, crashing straight in to Wyatt.
The two fell onto the attic floor and the other grimlock saw his chance. He ran towards the attic door, grabbing his companion in his dash. They successfully got passed the two Halliwell brothers and disappeared from view by the time Wyatt managed to pick himself up.
"Ugh..." The older brother mumbled, rubbing his right side which took the brunt of his crash. "What just happened?"
Chris had dropped back to lying on his back after he realized the demons simply tried to escape rather than try and attack the two of them again. "No... idea..." He rasped, his voice sounding raw from the earlier treatment.
"Are you okay?" Wyatt helped Chris getting up and quickly noticed that his brother needed to be supported. After helping him sit down against one of the empty walls of the attic, he quickly glanced over his little brother's frame to see if there was any lasting injury.
"Yeah, no. I'm okay." Chris replied hoarsely, rubbing softly at his throat. "Sore throat... and pretty much drained but it'll be all right."
Wyatt pulled away his brother's hand and winced as he saw the skin underneath it. Red marks covered his throat from left to right. "No difficulties breathing? I don't want you to drop out on me."
Chris gave a heavy sigh, wincing as he tried to swallow a bit. "Not anymore. It's all sore Wyatt... nothing you wouldn't expect. Just... like a massive strep throat..."
"It's going to leave a mark for a while if I can't use my magic to heal it... You better pick a date who is into turtlenecks."
"Yeah great." Even though he wouldn't admit it, the little bit of banter from Wyatt was welcome.
After sitting down beside Chris, Wyatt looked at the portal that was still in the middle of the attic. "So what do you figure just happened?"
Chris dropped his head back against the wall. "Well, something backfired. I don't really understand how... but your magic vanquishing the grimlock and the portal magic apparently don't go together well." The younger Halliwell paused, thinking about what else he noticed. "I'm pretty sure we're not in our world... This grey-ish hue... Somehow it feels a bit familiar but aside from Up-There and Down-There, I haven't really been anywhere else."
"Anywhere else as in ... another plane?"
"Yeah most likely. There are a few planes that we know of. It can't be the astral plane because I can see on my watch that time is still moving forward. Neither your powers, nor the powers of the grimlock worked so it's safe to say Limbo is out of the question as well. Thank God... Other than that, I don't believe we can actually get stuck in the Neutral plane. It might be the world between Good and Evil but while your power might be strong enough to breach that world... The grimlock's shouldn't be enough by far."
Wyatt nodded as he listened to his brother explaining. He was glad that Chris tended to be such a magic nerd as Wyatt would put it. "Okay, okay. So any more possibilities?"
"Like I said, we know the Heavens and the underworld. We also know about Purgatory and thanks to Aunt Phoebe's tales about Cole we know about the Demonic Wasteland. I think we would know if we were ghosts... Or at least I would know so the spiritual plane seems unlikely either since we ought to be vengeful spirits for that. So that leaves the possibility of the Ghostly plane." Chris concluded with a frown.
Wyatt wasn't convinced. "The Ghostly plane? But... like you said we're not ghosts? To go there we would have to die... just the same as how someone could end up in the spiritual plane."
"Do you remember that story of mom and dad being chased in the ghostly plane by some darklighter?"
"Were they? I don't remember."
"They told us about it only one time. For some reason it always stuck with me. It was a trap; the darklighter had someone helping him, creating a portal here as mom tried to kill him. They ended up in the Ghostly plane, alive. No powers, grey-ish world, no other people around except for the darklighter and an occasional spirit crossing over. In the end our aunts got them out. Aunt Phoebe said something about it being a new beginning for mom and dad's relationship as well."
Wyatt mimicked his brother in resting his head back against the wall. He released a long exaggerated sigh. "Okay so let's assume we are in the Ghostly plane. There are two powerless grimlocks running around, a portal that electrocutes you when you try to use it and nobody back home knowing we're here..." He looked over at his brother, keeping a close eye on him to make sure he wouldn't pass out or anything.
Chris, meanwhile, had closed his eyes for a moment. Almost giving in to his exhaustion. At his brother's words he glanced back at Wyatt.
"Ah... we'll think of something. Just... I need some more energy." The young brunette sighed. "I can't... focus on forming a plan right now."
Wyatt got up from the floor. "You should sleep. Recharge. I'll go through the house and see if I can find stuff we can use. Maybe some ingredients for a potion, who knows. Stay here, if anything happens to the portal you'll most likely notice and you can warn me. I'll keep an eye out for the grimlocks as well but I doubt they'll return soon."
Chris looked blearily at his brother and nodded. He didn't have the energy to argue about wanting to be useful as well. In his current state he knew that was a lost cause. "Don't confront them on your own. You don't want to face them two to one when you don't have your powers."
"Don't worry bro. I'll wake you. Now go get some rest." Wyatt waited with leaving the attic until Chris had made his jacket into a pillow and lay down on his side.
As he walked down the stairs Wyatt pulled his hand through his hair, wondering how they would get out of this mess and hoping that he could keep his brother in one piece. Before he could get lost in his thoughts however, several bright lights started to swirl around him. He felt himself being pulled away, leaving Chris alone in the empty manor.
"Yours is a unique situation, Chris."
Chris startled awake, slightly disorientated. After having a moment to fully wake up, he looked around the attic.
"Wy? Was that you?"
Confusion crept on his face as he got up. Where was his brother? Chris looked at his watch and saw he had slept for pretty much an hour. He didn't think Wyatt would take that long to find ingredients for a potion or anything else that might help.
He slowly made his way down the stairs, making sure to listen for anything that might tell him he wasn't alone. After looking around in the bedrooms and not finding his brother there either, Chris continued downstairs.
At least the sleep had been refreshing; he could feel his energy was pretty much restored. While it wouldn't be odd for Wyatt to give him more time to recover, there was still the part of his brother that just wasn't all that good at waiting. Wyatt would want to get back to their own dimension as soon as they could. Chris was on the same page as his brother.
Downstairs turned out to be empty as well. After having taken a look in the kitchen Chris doubted that his brother even went there. Knowing his brother, there would have been at least one cupboard still open if he went through them.
Damn it Wyatt, where are you?
Chris placed his hands on his hips, thinking of what to do now without his brother before coming to the conclusion that searching ingredients would still be a good idea. The brunette rummaged through the kitchen, but everything was empty. He closed one of the lower cupboards harshly, frustrated at the situation.
There was nothing in the manor that could help him. Neither with locating his brother nor with finding a way to get out of the ghostly plane. What happened? Had his brother been caught by the grimlocks? But wouldn't they have come for him as well then? He had been an easy target, asleep on the attic floor. Maybe he needed to look around outside... Maybe Wyatt was looking for herbs and other ingredients that grew in one of the parks. Chris looked sceptic for a moment; his brother probably wouldn't think that far without asking him for his idea first. But who knows, Wyatt could still surprise him at times.
Chris made his way to the front door and stopped abruptly when he saw someone standing on the porch as he opened the door. A dark-skinned, middle-aged man dressed in a janitor's uniform gave him a calm nod.
"Hello Chris."