Disclaimer: I do not own any characters from the television show Charmed.
All characters belong to Spelling Television, and The WB.
This is my first Charmed fic. I apologize if I get any of the show's details wrong. I'd love to get feedback! Thanks to everyone who has reviewed the story so far. Please continue to review the story or e-mail me at jeff_langdon@hotmail.com!
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Anguished Soul - Chapter 19
Piper picked up a chair and threw it at the demon as Phoebe and Paige headed to the fire escape door. To their dismay, the door was locked tight and despite their efforts, the door refused to budge. Soon, they found themselves cornered as the demon advanced on them.
"Chris!" Phoebe called out as a last resort, praying that their Whitelighter would come to their assistance.
Blue lights appeared as Chris orbed in. "You girls alright?"
"Won't be for much longer if you don't do something about that beast!" Piper commented as the demon moved closer.
Chris turned around and faced the demon. Their eyes widened as they stared at each other and it seemed as if time suddenly froze. Then, as quickly as that moment came, the hesitation disappeared. With a swipe of his hand, the young Whitelighter sent an energy ball towards the demon, instantly incinerating him.
"Looks like I got here just in time," Chris remarked with his trademark smirk. "You aren't telling me that the three of you couldn't handle that demon, right?"
"Well, it's kind of hard to kill a demon when we can't use our powers," Phoebe answered.
Chris narrowed his eyes as he looked at the Charmed Ones. "What do you mean you can't use your powers?"
"Someone or something appears to be preventing us from using our powers. Nothing works," Paige answered.
"You know what, let's get back to the manor first. Then we can try to find out just what is happening."
* * * * * * * * * * * *
"This just doesn't make sense," Chris thought aloud to himself. "You can't just suddenly lose your powers without something or someone to trigger it."
"Everything was fine up until this morning," Paige added.
"We should have known something was wrong when that potion didn't work," Phoebe lamented.
"What potion?" Chris asked, suddenly curious.
"Some demon-melting potion," Paige answered.
"Well, I don't think we'll have an answer to this tonight. Why don't you all get some rest?" Chris suggested.
Phoebe sighed loudly as she got up from the sofa. "I suppose you're right. I might as well get some sleep."
"You think you can stay here tonight until we figure what is going on? I mean, since we don't have any powers right now," Paige suggested with a hopeful tone.
"Sure," Chris answered. "I'll just stay here on the couch, just in case anything happens."
"Oh, Paige can sleep in my room," Phoebe offered. "Then you can have Paige's room instead of sleeping on the couch."
"I'll be fine," the Whitelighter assured the sisters.
"Okay, if you say so," Phoebe replied. "Goodnight, Chris."
"Goodnight."
Once Phoebe had gone upstairs, Paige leaned in to give Chris a good night kiss. "Thanks for staying over."
"No problem," he answered with a smile. "Can I ask you a question?"
"Of course."
"Is Piper mad at me for some reason?"
"No," Paige answered with surprise. "Why would you say that?"
"Well, she hasn't said a word to me since we came back from P3. I thought we had gone past this already but it seems like we're back to square one again."
"I think she's just tired, that's all," Paige said, trying to reassure Chris. "Plus, the mess left at P3 by tonight's events is probably giving her headaches."
"I hope so," Chris answered, still not entirely convinced. "Well, you better head up to bed."
* * * * * * * * * * * *
Chris rubbed the sleep from his eyes as sunlight flooded the room. Taking a moment to clear his head, he walked into the kitchen to make a cup of coffee. As he entered, he found Piper sitting at the breakfast table, reading the newspaper.
"Morning, Piper."
"Morning," she replied half-heartedly, her eyes still on the newspaper.
Chris sighed and sat down on the table across from Piper. "Have I done something to upset you?"
Finally, Piper looked up from the paper. "No, where did you get such an idea?" Piper asked coolly.
"Well, let's just say you're not too good at masking your feelings."
"Maybe you're just being overly-sensitive."
"Am I?" Chris challenged, refusing to back down. "You've been giving me the cold shoulder ever since last night. If I've done something wrong or if I've upset you, it would help if you could let me know."
Piper stared at the young Whitelighter defiantly, refusing to be intimidated by Chris. "Fine, if you want the truth so much, then I think I deserve the truth as well. What exactly are you and why are you here?"
Chris groaned as he heard Piper's question. "Why are we going through this again? I thought we've gone past this already."
"Well, if you had been honest right from the beginning, we wouldn't have to go through this again now, would we?"
"I told you, I came back to change certain things so that the future won't be so messed up again. And in case you haven't noticed, I'm a Whitelighter."
"Is that so?" Piper asked skeptically.
"And what is that supposed to mean?" Chris shot back.
"What that means is that I don't think you're telling the truth. Not the whole truth anyways."
"So you think I'm lying. After all this, you still think I'm lying," Chris answered, practically shouting now. "You are totally unbelievable, you know that?"
"Well, you aren't helping the situation by your use of deception," Piper countered, refusing to retract her statements.
"What is going on here?" Phoebe exclaimed as she walked into the kitchen. "It's nine o'clock on a Saturday morning!"
"Sorry Phoebe, but you sister here seems to think I'm some fraud Whitelighter."
Paige joined everyone in the kitchen. "Why are we going through this again?"
"Because we don't even know who or what we are dealing with here, that's why," Piper answered sharply.
"Piper, Chris is here to help us. I think he's proven that enough times," Phoebe answered as she defended the young Whitelighter.
"Don't you think he has proven that he is a good guy by now?" Paige joined in the questioning.
"Okay, Chris," Piper began. "Answer this question. Why did you destroy the demon at P3 yesterday?"
"Because he was about to turn you into demon food, if I remember correctly," Chris answered sarcastically.
"Or maybe it's because you wanted to shut him up before he revealed any of your dark secrets?"
"Piper!" Phoebe exclaimed. "Where are you getting all of these theories from?"
"You knew that demon yesterday, Chris, didn't you? And he knew you as well," Piper continued, ignoring Phoebe's comment.
"Is that supposed to be surprising? In the future where I came from, there were demons everywhere. You kind of get to know them after a while, you know."
"Well, the method you chose to vanquish him was very interesting, to say the least," Piper continued.
"Where are you going with this?" Paige sighed, her patience wearing thin.
"Chris," Piper began, "when you vanquished the demon with your energy yesterday, he exploded."
Chris scoffed at the observation. "Tell us something that we don't know Piper."
"I wasn't finished, Chris. Well you see, the demon exploded inwards, as if it was sucked into the energy ball before being incinerated."
"And?" Phoebe asked, also wondering where Piper was heading with these questions.
"Well, according to the Book of Shadows, Whitelighters who use energy balls to vanquish demons cause them to explode - outwards. The only type of magic that can cause demons to explode inwards is black magic. And real Whitelighters don't use black magic, do they, Chris?"
~ to be continued ~
This is my first Charmed fic. I apologize if I get any of the show's details wrong. I'd love to get feedback! Thanks to everyone who has reviewed the story so far. Please continue to review the story or e-mail me at jeff_langdon@hotmail.com!
* * * * * * * * * * * *
Anguished Soul - Chapter 19
Piper picked up a chair and threw it at the demon as Phoebe and Paige headed to the fire escape door. To their dismay, the door was locked tight and despite their efforts, the door refused to budge. Soon, they found themselves cornered as the demon advanced on them.
"Chris!" Phoebe called out as a last resort, praying that their Whitelighter would come to their assistance.
Blue lights appeared as Chris orbed in. "You girls alright?"
"Won't be for much longer if you don't do something about that beast!" Piper commented as the demon moved closer.
Chris turned around and faced the demon. Their eyes widened as they stared at each other and it seemed as if time suddenly froze. Then, as quickly as that moment came, the hesitation disappeared. With a swipe of his hand, the young Whitelighter sent an energy ball towards the demon, instantly incinerating him.
"Looks like I got here just in time," Chris remarked with his trademark smirk. "You aren't telling me that the three of you couldn't handle that demon, right?"
"Well, it's kind of hard to kill a demon when we can't use our powers," Phoebe answered.
Chris narrowed his eyes as he looked at the Charmed Ones. "What do you mean you can't use your powers?"
"Someone or something appears to be preventing us from using our powers. Nothing works," Paige answered.
"You know what, let's get back to the manor first. Then we can try to find out just what is happening."
* * * * * * * * * * * *
"This just doesn't make sense," Chris thought aloud to himself. "You can't just suddenly lose your powers without something or someone to trigger it."
"Everything was fine up until this morning," Paige added.
"We should have known something was wrong when that potion didn't work," Phoebe lamented.
"What potion?" Chris asked, suddenly curious.
"Some demon-melting potion," Paige answered.
"Well, I don't think we'll have an answer to this tonight. Why don't you all get some rest?" Chris suggested.
Phoebe sighed loudly as she got up from the sofa. "I suppose you're right. I might as well get some sleep."
"You think you can stay here tonight until we figure what is going on? I mean, since we don't have any powers right now," Paige suggested with a hopeful tone.
"Sure," Chris answered. "I'll just stay here on the couch, just in case anything happens."
"Oh, Paige can sleep in my room," Phoebe offered. "Then you can have Paige's room instead of sleeping on the couch."
"I'll be fine," the Whitelighter assured the sisters.
"Okay, if you say so," Phoebe replied. "Goodnight, Chris."
"Goodnight."
Once Phoebe had gone upstairs, Paige leaned in to give Chris a good night kiss. "Thanks for staying over."
"No problem," he answered with a smile. "Can I ask you a question?"
"Of course."
"Is Piper mad at me for some reason?"
"No," Paige answered with surprise. "Why would you say that?"
"Well, she hasn't said a word to me since we came back from P3. I thought we had gone past this already but it seems like we're back to square one again."
"I think she's just tired, that's all," Paige said, trying to reassure Chris. "Plus, the mess left at P3 by tonight's events is probably giving her headaches."
"I hope so," Chris answered, still not entirely convinced. "Well, you better head up to bed."
* * * * * * * * * * * *
Chris rubbed the sleep from his eyes as sunlight flooded the room. Taking a moment to clear his head, he walked into the kitchen to make a cup of coffee. As he entered, he found Piper sitting at the breakfast table, reading the newspaper.
"Morning, Piper."
"Morning," she replied half-heartedly, her eyes still on the newspaper.
Chris sighed and sat down on the table across from Piper. "Have I done something to upset you?"
Finally, Piper looked up from the paper. "No, where did you get such an idea?" Piper asked coolly.
"Well, let's just say you're not too good at masking your feelings."
"Maybe you're just being overly-sensitive."
"Am I?" Chris challenged, refusing to back down. "You've been giving me the cold shoulder ever since last night. If I've done something wrong or if I've upset you, it would help if you could let me know."
Piper stared at the young Whitelighter defiantly, refusing to be intimidated by Chris. "Fine, if you want the truth so much, then I think I deserve the truth as well. What exactly are you and why are you here?"
Chris groaned as he heard Piper's question. "Why are we going through this again? I thought we've gone past this already."
"Well, if you had been honest right from the beginning, we wouldn't have to go through this again now, would we?"
"I told you, I came back to change certain things so that the future won't be so messed up again. And in case you haven't noticed, I'm a Whitelighter."
"Is that so?" Piper asked skeptically.
"And what is that supposed to mean?" Chris shot back.
"What that means is that I don't think you're telling the truth. Not the whole truth anyways."
"So you think I'm lying. After all this, you still think I'm lying," Chris answered, practically shouting now. "You are totally unbelievable, you know that?"
"Well, you aren't helping the situation by your use of deception," Piper countered, refusing to retract her statements.
"What is going on here?" Phoebe exclaimed as she walked into the kitchen. "It's nine o'clock on a Saturday morning!"
"Sorry Phoebe, but you sister here seems to think I'm some fraud Whitelighter."
Paige joined everyone in the kitchen. "Why are we going through this again?"
"Because we don't even know who or what we are dealing with here, that's why," Piper answered sharply.
"Piper, Chris is here to help us. I think he's proven that enough times," Phoebe answered as she defended the young Whitelighter.
"Don't you think he has proven that he is a good guy by now?" Paige joined in the questioning.
"Okay, Chris," Piper began. "Answer this question. Why did you destroy the demon at P3 yesterday?"
"Because he was about to turn you into demon food, if I remember correctly," Chris answered sarcastically.
"Or maybe it's because you wanted to shut him up before he revealed any of your dark secrets?"
"Piper!" Phoebe exclaimed. "Where are you getting all of these theories from?"
"You knew that demon yesterday, Chris, didn't you? And he knew you as well," Piper continued, ignoring Phoebe's comment.
"Is that supposed to be surprising? In the future where I came from, there were demons everywhere. You kind of get to know them after a while, you know."
"Well, the method you chose to vanquish him was very interesting, to say the least," Piper continued.
"Where are you going with this?" Paige sighed, her patience wearing thin.
"Chris," Piper began, "when you vanquished the demon with your energy yesterday, he exploded."
Chris scoffed at the observation. "Tell us something that we don't know Piper."
"I wasn't finished, Chris. Well you see, the demon exploded inwards, as if it was sucked into the energy ball before being incinerated."
"And?" Phoebe asked, also wondering where Piper was heading with these questions.
"Well, according to the Book of Shadows, Whitelighters who use energy balls to vanquish demons cause them to explode - outwards. The only type of magic that can cause demons to explode inwards is black magic. And real Whitelighters don't use black magic, do they, Chris?"
~ to be continued ~
