FIVE
"This is crazy," said Piper on the verge of tears. "If you're his brother - if you're my son as you claim - how can you sit there and calmly talk about murdering your own brother? He's just a baby."
"Piper," said Chris, "mom, you have to understand. Life with Wyatt in charge is no life at all. Hundreds of thousands have died simply because they displeased him. There's no one powerful enough to oppose him. It's why I came back to the past. To prevent everything he's done."
"You can't change the past," said Leo.
"Not directly," said Chris. "But I can give it a nudge in the right direction. Little things can be changed. Like what shirt you wore on a particular day. Or where you ate lunch. I may not be able to change major events but if I can alter enough of the smaller events, it just might make the bigger ones have a different outcome."
"I'm not sure that's possible," said Kiethran. "Leo's right. The past can't be changed. If this is your past, nothing you do can change it."
"No, but it's your future," said Chris. "And that can be changed. Take you, for example. Wyatt didn't learn about you for several years. But he learned about you tonight. That's changed. It's a very small change, granted, but it's a change. Change enough of the small events and the bigger ones will have to change. It's why I insist that you three do the work instead of me doing it. I can't change my past but you can change your future."
"I still think the major events will happen no matter what you do," said Leo.
"Do you hear yourselves?" Phoebe asked. "You're sitting here calmly talking about what can be changed and what can't be changed and Chris said we may have to vanquish Wyatt. Doesn't that register with any of you?"
"Of course it does," said Leo. "But we aren't going to vanquish Wyatt. That would be a major change. Even Chris admits that can't be done. If he wasn't vanquished before, we can't do it now."
"There's nothing to stop me," said Chris, looking over at young Wyatt playing ignorantly in his playpen. "It would be quite easy to simply vanquish him right now."
"Not without going through me first," demanded Piper. "You can't seriously be considering vanquishing your own brother. What kind of heartless monster are you? He's just a baby? And I refuse to believe that that person who was here a few minutes ago is my baby all grown up."
"That doesn't change anything," said Chris. "I've told you the truth. All of it. There's more, of course. A lot more. Like how Wyatt vanquished all of the demonic leadership in the underworld. How he has the lesser powerful demons working for him now. How the few Elders and White Lighters that still exist are in fear of their lives because he might decide to vanquish them at any minute. And how he's vanquished one witch after another who displeased him or stood in his way. Vanquished them without a second thought about what he was doing."
"That's hard to accept," said Leo. "Wyatt is half White Lighter. Which means he's partially a pacifist. There's not even any guarantee he'll develop any offensive powers. Look at Paige. She's a lot older than he is and so far her powers aren't offensive in nature."
"She's not infused with the essence of a demon either," said Chris. "She's also not the child of a Charmed One. That magnifies Wyatt's power. And the demonic essence has intensified those powers even more. Why do you think I came back to stop him? You think I'd risk all this if there were any other way to do it? I'm taking a hell of a risk here. For all I know he might decide to...."
He suddenly stopped talking as if he had said too much. He looked at the others with the strangest look on his face.
"Decide to do what?" asked Piper. "Chris, what is it you haven't told us. You said you'd tell us the whole truth. What could be so bad that you'd hesitate now?"
"It's another reason I came back," said Chris. "Why my name is Perry and not Halliwell or Wyatt. A couple named Perry raised me. They gave me their name. That's why my name is Chris Perry."
"Why would you be raised by someone else?" asked Leo. "If we're your parents, why wouldn't we be...."
This time Leo's voice trailed off as he realized what the implications were.
"I was raised by foster parents because none of your were around," said Chris hesitantly. "In order for Wyatt to bring his idea of the perfect order to the world, he couldn't have anyone around powerful enough to challenge him. So the first thing he did was to vanquish the four of you."
Leo and the girls stared at Chris in near total disbelief.
'You're crazy," said Piper. "Wyatt would never do that."
"He did," said Chris. "First, he exposed you to the world. He showed the world that witches did exist. And that so did demons. When people found out about you, they became frightened. Your powers scared them. It gave Wyatt the excuse he needed to hunt down witches and vanquish them."
"The Cleaners would have stopped that," said Leo. "Remember what happened when Wyatt conjured the dragon? He exposed magic to the world. The Cleaners had to clean it up, remember."
"Yes, and so did Wyatt," said Chris. "When he exposed them to the world, the Cleaners showed up to correct things. He was ready for them. He vanquished them almost as soon as they materialized. It was such a sudden attack they weren't prepared for it."
"That's impossible," said Leo. "No one could vanquish the Cleaners."
"That's what I've been trying to tell you," said Chris. "Wyatt is no ordinary witch. His power will be unbelievable. You said the same thing when he did it. That it wasn't possible. That no one could vanquish them. But he did it. I watched him."
"That doesn't mean," began Piper.
"That was just the beginning," interrupted Chris. "No one believed me when I told them what had happened. No one could believe Wyatt could have done it. After that, Wyatt began to discredit you. He formed allegiances with some demons. Informed them of your plans. One thing after another fell apart for you. Pretty soon the entire world was convinced you were evil."
"Why?" Phoebe asked. "Why would he do such a thing?"
"For power," said Chris. "Wyatt became convinced that the fight between good and evil wasn't important. Power was important. He became obsessed with gaining more power. He often talked about a new world order. An order free of chaos and anarchy. And those who fought in the good versus evil war were only perpetuating that chaos and anarchy. And you three, being the champions for good, were the leading causes for that chaos.
"After a while, he had grown powerful enough to challenge even you. But he knew with Leo around, there would always be the chance you might be saved from any harm he did you. So he lured Leo to a secluded spot and had him killed by a Dark Lighter. Oh, he was very careful to make it look like he hadn't done it. He was busy fighting demons at the time. And he had witnesses who could attest that he had done everything he could to protect his father.
"But Leo was dead all the same. And with the Elder council all but powerless, there were no more White Lighters to replace him. So you were left without your White Lighter and vulnerable to any damage you might take from demonic attacks. Just like he planned."
"I don't believe this," said Phoebe. "Wyatt would never kill his own father. Leo loves him. He's risked his life for him any number of times. Why would he do that?"
"Because of the demonic infusion," said Chris. "You still don't understand. The Wyatt who attacked here just a little while ago isn't the same Wyatt in that playpen over there. He's twisted and subverted. He's not your little boy any more."
"I can't accept that," said Leo. "No matter what might have happened, Wyatt has to know I love him. That I would die before I let anything bad happen to him."
"You said almost the same thing to me when I tried to warn you," said Chris. "Just before he murdered you. That you couldn't believe Wyatt would do something like that. No one would believe me. Why should they? After all, Wyatt was only ten years old at the time."
"What?" Piper questioned.
"Everything I've told you so far," Chris said, "is supposed to happen in the next few years. That's why Wyatt was able to do what he did. No one believed he was capable of it. He was only ten at the time. And I was only about eight. So no one would believe me when I tried to warn them."
"This is crazy," said Piper on the verge of tears. "If you're his brother - if you're my son as you claim - how can you sit there and calmly talk about murdering your own brother? He's just a baby."
"Piper," said Chris, "mom, you have to understand. Life with Wyatt in charge is no life at all. Hundreds of thousands have died simply because they displeased him. There's no one powerful enough to oppose him. It's why I came back to the past. To prevent everything he's done."
"You can't change the past," said Leo.
"Not directly," said Chris. "But I can give it a nudge in the right direction. Little things can be changed. Like what shirt you wore on a particular day. Or where you ate lunch. I may not be able to change major events but if I can alter enough of the smaller events, it just might make the bigger ones have a different outcome."
"I'm not sure that's possible," said Kiethran. "Leo's right. The past can't be changed. If this is your past, nothing you do can change it."
"No, but it's your future," said Chris. "And that can be changed. Take you, for example. Wyatt didn't learn about you for several years. But he learned about you tonight. That's changed. It's a very small change, granted, but it's a change. Change enough of the small events and the bigger ones will have to change. It's why I insist that you three do the work instead of me doing it. I can't change my past but you can change your future."
"I still think the major events will happen no matter what you do," said Leo.
"Do you hear yourselves?" Phoebe asked. "You're sitting here calmly talking about what can be changed and what can't be changed and Chris said we may have to vanquish Wyatt. Doesn't that register with any of you?"
"Of course it does," said Leo. "But we aren't going to vanquish Wyatt. That would be a major change. Even Chris admits that can't be done. If he wasn't vanquished before, we can't do it now."
"There's nothing to stop me," said Chris, looking over at young Wyatt playing ignorantly in his playpen. "It would be quite easy to simply vanquish him right now."
"Not without going through me first," demanded Piper. "You can't seriously be considering vanquishing your own brother. What kind of heartless monster are you? He's just a baby? And I refuse to believe that that person who was here a few minutes ago is my baby all grown up."
"That doesn't change anything," said Chris. "I've told you the truth. All of it. There's more, of course. A lot more. Like how Wyatt vanquished all of the demonic leadership in the underworld. How he has the lesser powerful demons working for him now. How the few Elders and White Lighters that still exist are in fear of their lives because he might decide to vanquish them at any minute. And how he's vanquished one witch after another who displeased him or stood in his way. Vanquished them without a second thought about what he was doing."
"That's hard to accept," said Leo. "Wyatt is half White Lighter. Which means he's partially a pacifist. There's not even any guarantee he'll develop any offensive powers. Look at Paige. She's a lot older than he is and so far her powers aren't offensive in nature."
"She's not infused with the essence of a demon either," said Chris. "She's also not the child of a Charmed One. That magnifies Wyatt's power. And the demonic essence has intensified those powers even more. Why do you think I came back to stop him? You think I'd risk all this if there were any other way to do it? I'm taking a hell of a risk here. For all I know he might decide to...."
He suddenly stopped talking as if he had said too much. He looked at the others with the strangest look on his face.
"Decide to do what?" asked Piper. "Chris, what is it you haven't told us. You said you'd tell us the whole truth. What could be so bad that you'd hesitate now?"
"It's another reason I came back," said Chris. "Why my name is Perry and not Halliwell or Wyatt. A couple named Perry raised me. They gave me their name. That's why my name is Chris Perry."
"Why would you be raised by someone else?" asked Leo. "If we're your parents, why wouldn't we be...."
This time Leo's voice trailed off as he realized what the implications were.
"I was raised by foster parents because none of your were around," said Chris hesitantly. "In order for Wyatt to bring his idea of the perfect order to the world, he couldn't have anyone around powerful enough to challenge him. So the first thing he did was to vanquish the four of you."
Leo and the girls stared at Chris in near total disbelief.
'You're crazy," said Piper. "Wyatt would never do that."
"He did," said Chris. "First, he exposed you to the world. He showed the world that witches did exist. And that so did demons. When people found out about you, they became frightened. Your powers scared them. It gave Wyatt the excuse he needed to hunt down witches and vanquish them."
"The Cleaners would have stopped that," said Leo. "Remember what happened when Wyatt conjured the dragon? He exposed magic to the world. The Cleaners had to clean it up, remember."
"Yes, and so did Wyatt," said Chris. "When he exposed them to the world, the Cleaners showed up to correct things. He was ready for them. He vanquished them almost as soon as they materialized. It was such a sudden attack they weren't prepared for it."
"That's impossible," said Leo. "No one could vanquish the Cleaners."
"That's what I've been trying to tell you," said Chris. "Wyatt is no ordinary witch. His power will be unbelievable. You said the same thing when he did it. That it wasn't possible. That no one could vanquish them. But he did it. I watched him."
"That doesn't mean," began Piper.
"That was just the beginning," interrupted Chris. "No one believed me when I told them what had happened. No one could believe Wyatt could have done it. After that, Wyatt began to discredit you. He formed allegiances with some demons. Informed them of your plans. One thing after another fell apart for you. Pretty soon the entire world was convinced you were evil."
"Why?" Phoebe asked. "Why would he do such a thing?"
"For power," said Chris. "Wyatt became convinced that the fight between good and evil wasn't important. Power was important. He became obsessed with gaining more power. He often talked about a new world order. An order free of chaos and anarchy. And those who fought in the good versus evil war were only perpetuating that chaos and anarchy. And you three, being the champions for good, were the leading causes for that chaos.
"After a while, he had grown powerful enough to challenge even you. But he knew with Leo around, there would always be the chance you might be saved from any harm he did you. So he lured Leo to a secluded spot and had him killed by a Dark Lighter. Oh, he was very careful to make it look like he hadn't done it. He was busy fighting demons at the time. And he had witnesses who could attest that he had done everything he could to protect his father.
"But Leo was dead all the same. And with the Elder council all but powerless, there were no more White Lighters to replace him. So you were left without your White Lighter and vulnerable to any damage you might take from demonic attacks. Just like he planned."
"I don't believe this," said Phoebe. "Wyatt would never kill his own father. Leo loves him. He's risked his life for him any number of times. Why would he do that?"
"Because of the demonic infusion," said Chris. "You still don't understand. The Wyatt who attacked here just a little while ago isn't the same Wyatt in that playpen over there. He's twisted and subverted. He's not your little boy any more."
"I can't accept that," said Leo. "No matter what might have happened, Wyatt has to know I love him. That I would die before I let anything bad happen to him."
"You said almost the same thing to me when I tried to warn you," said Chris. "Just before he murdered you. That you couldn't believe Wyatt would do something like that. No one would believe me. Why should they? After all, Wyatt was only ten years old at the time."
"What?" Piper questioned.
"Everything I've told you so far," Chris said, "is supposed to happen in the next few years. That's why Wyatt was able to do what he did. No one believed he was capable of it. He was only ten at the time. And I was only about eight. So no one would believe me when I tried to warn them."
