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!
Note: This is the second last chapter of "Anguished Soul." I'm not sure whether or not a sequel will be in store. Your feedback and any ideas that you may have will definitely be appreciated!
* * * * * * * * * * * *
Anguished Soul - Chapter 32
Meanwhile, back at the manor:
Chris concentrated his powers and obliterated the magical cage that he was trapped in. The use of his little remaining powers sent pain shooting up his body, but he ignored it the best that he could. He was too close to completing his plan to let anything stop him now. He walked into the nursery and picked Wyatt up from his crib. Thankfully, Wyatt did not put his shield up. Over the past few months, Chris had worked so hard to gain Wyatt's trust, just for this moment. He breathed a sigh of relief as this part of his plan fell into place. Moving quickly, he descended down the stairs and moved into the living room. The young Whitelighter set Wyatt down in his playpen carefully and surveyed the room as he replayed his plan in his head.
"You be a good boy, Wyatt," Chris whispered as the young infant smiled at him. "Everything's going to be okay," he added before moving to the next phase of his plan.
* * * * * * * * * * * *
At the cave:
"We need to get back to the manor fast," Piper stated as she began to panic. A thousand scary thoughts crossed her mind as she could only imagine what Chris was doing with Wyatt.
Paige tried to orb them back to the city but somehow her powers were blocked. She tried again and again but the end result was the same - they were stuck in the cave. "This is all my fault!" she cried as she tried to understand how she could have fallen for Chris in the first place.
Piper walked over to Paige and hugged her. "This isn't your fault, honey. You couldn't have known."
"You tried to warn me but I wouldn't listen," Paige argued as her guilt overwhelmed her.
"Let's just focus on trying to get back to the manor. Wyatt needs us," Phoebe cut in as she reminded them of their desperate situation.
"Paige, you've got to trying orbing us again. It's our only hope."
* * * * * * * * * * * *
Back at the manor:
Chris tried to calm himself down as he replayed his plan for the fiftieth time. He knew every detail of his plan but he couldn't stop himself from getting increasingly nervous. "Get a grip, Chris," he scolded himself. He turned to look at the family photos that lined the coffee table. He picked up a photo of Paige and stared at it for several minutes. He wiped the lone tear that fell onto the photo before setting it back down. He was about to pick up another photo when a massive wind blew into the manor, knocking Chris from the couch.
Chris got up from the floor and immediately stood in front of Wyatt's playpen. He held on to the playpen for support as he felt his body began to tremble. Chris felt a sensation that was so foreign to him. Fear. For one of the few times in his life, Chris Perry was afraid.
"Well, I must say that the past few months have been rather fun," the intruder greeted.
Chris put on a brave face as he faced his foe. "I aim to please," he quipped cockily.
"Yes, the trademark cockiness. I must say that you have impressed me on numerous occasions. Unfortunately, the game ends tonight."
"Or so you think," Chris shot back.
"You do realize that your false bravado can only carry you so far."
"I think it's more than enough to deal with you, Arkon."
The demon laughed. "You amuse me, Christopher. But I wouldn't exactly call your grand plan a success. After all, what exactly have you accomplished? You've lost your powers. You've lost the trust of your charges. Your true love feels betrayed. And in a few moments, you'll lose everything else."
"If you think that you can just walk in here and do as you please, you're sorely mistaken."
"Oh really?" Arkon laughed. He flicked his fingers and hurled Chris against the wall, causing the young Whitelighter to cry out in pain. "This is going to be fun," the demon laughed.
* * * * * * * * * * * *
Paige shut her eyes and concentrated all her powers. She knew that she had to make this situation right. Finally, she managed to orb them out of the cave and back to the manor. When they reformed, the Charmed Ones found themselves on the sidewalk outside the manor. They quickly ran up the stairs and tried to open the front door. To their horror, it was locked and they could not get in.
Despite trying to blow up the door or to orb into the manor, the three witches remained stranded outside. None of their powers worked and they could feel their panic increase even more.
"Someone must be using their powers to keep us out of the house," Piper stated after a moment of thought. "And I have a feeling I know who that someone is."
"Impossible," Phoebe replied. "Chris lost his powers, remember?"
"Or so we were led to believe," Piper replied bitterly. "I knew that he was up to no good."
"Let's try the windows," Paige suggested, trying to relieve her guilt by helping to save Wyatt. Again, the Charmed Ones' powers had no effects on the windows; the power shielding the house was far too great.
Phoebe looked through the window, trying to see if Wyatt was safe. Her gasp of horror immediately alerted Paige and Piper. "Oh my God!!" she exclaimed.
The sight greeting the witches was not for the faint-hearted. The whole manor was being turned upside-down as an epic battle raged on. Wyatt had put up his protective shield in his playpen while Chris fought for his life against an unknown demon.
"What is that thing?" Phoebe cried out.
"Well, we can't really find out without the Book of Shadows," Piper pointed out.
An idea popped into Paige's head as she tried to orb the Book of Shadows to her, but to her dismay, the shield around the house prevented the orb from taking place.
"What exactly is going on?" Phoebe asked as she tried to sort out the puzzling sequence of events.
"I have no idea," Piper muttered as she tried to find a way to get into the manor.
* * * * * * * * * * * *
Inside the manor:
"You're even weaker than I had expected, Christopher," Arkon sneered as he threw Chris against the wall for the umpteenth time. This time, Chris heard a crack and he was sure that one of his bones was broken.
"You haven't won yet," Chris muttered, trying to put on a brave face. Deep down, however, he knew that he had already lost. There was no way that he could defeat Arkon. Even with his powers, his chances of victory were mediocre at best. Without his powers, he was no match for this demon. The young Whitelighter cried out in agony as Arkon jolted him with another bolt of electricity.
Arkon laughed like a crazed being as he slowly destroyed Chris. He had waited far too long for this day to come. He was finally going to avenge his son's death. As he stopped the electricity bolts, he watched with glee as Chris' body slumped to the floor and remained almost motionless. It was only a matter of time before the young Whitelighter would be no more. Smiling, Arkon walked over to the playpen and fired an energy ball at Wyatt. Immediately, the infant put up his shield once again.
"You think that shield will protect you, young one?" Arkon whispered. "Well, you better think again. It won't help you for long," he laughed as he fired a continuous bolt of energy at the shield. Chris could only look on in horror as Arkon attacked the shield. He knew that it was only a matter of time before Arkon's power would break through the shield, and there was nothing that Chris could do to stop Arkon. He struggled to get on his knees only to have Arkon knock him back down with his arms.
"You're useless, Christopher. What good were your powers anyways?" Arkon taunted. "You thought you had the most brilliant plan to change history? You thought you could stop me from destroying this infant? Well, you were stupid, to say the least, trying to work against me!"
Chris tried to move but he was too battered to do much. There was nothing that he could do. He had failed. The young Whitelighter resigned himself to his fate as Arkon continued the assault.
Outside, the Charmed Ones looked on with panic as they noticed Wyatt's shield beginning to weaken. "We have to get inside now!!" Piper screamed as she desperately thought of a way to get inside.
Chris could hear Piper's screams, but he prayed that they could not come into the manor. If they did, not only would they fail to save Wyatt, but they too would be destroyed. Trying once again, Chris struggled to his feet. He tried to summon an energy ball but as had been the case recently, he was unable to do so.
"You're a total failure, Christopher. Your family was killed because of your uselessness. And now, this infant will die because of your stupidity!"
"No!" Chris shouted. "I didn't kill my family. It wasn't me!!"
"Oh you bet it was. If you hadn't been so stupid as to orb out of the cave, they wouldn't have died."
"NO!!! You're lying!! It was you. You killed my family!!" Chris shot back angrily. In his anger, he summoned a massive energy ball and hurled it at Arkon, sending him flying against the wall.
"You fool!" Arkon yelled angrily as he got back on his feet. The two began to fire energy balls at one another, both determined to destroy the other. Arkon fired a purple beam of energy towards Chris, who countered with a blue beam of energy. The two energy beams met each other and caused a stalemate. Both sides fought for supremacy, but neither side could gain the upper hand.
* * * * * * * * * * * *
"Okay, let's hope this works," Piper prayed as the three witches concentrated their powers on battering down the shield surrounding the manor. To their delight and surprise, their power broke through the shield and the Charmed Ones quickly ran into the manor.
At the moment the Charmed Ones broke the shield, Chris felt a sharp pain to his body, causing him to convulse. The three witches ran into the living room just in time to witness Chris coughing up blood. In his weakened state, Chris' knees had buckled so that he was now on one knee. The purple beam had the clear advantage as it pushed Chris' blue beam back.
Chris turned to see the witches standing in the room. "Get out," he gasped. "You are no match for him."
Ignoring him, Piper tried to freeze Arkon to no avail. Arkon, in return, flicked his hands and sent Piper flying against the wall. Seeing the events unfold, Chris renewed his determination to push the purple beam back towards Arkon.
"Phoebe, take Wyatt and get out of here," he begged. "Hurry!"
Phoebe hesitated, giving Arkon enough time to through an energy ball towards her. Phoebe moved away just in time, but not before the energy ball grazed her neck.
"Wyatt, go to your mom!" Chris called out. Immediately, Wyatt orbed himself into Piper's arms. Chris then flicked fingers as a gust of wind blew the Charmed Ones and Wyatt out into the hall. With another flick, Chris shielded the living room from the rest of the manor, in effect trapping himself in the room with Arkon.
"That was a really stupid thing to do, Christopher."
"Whatever," he replied as he struggled to fight off the advancing purple beam. He could feel his energy draining as Arkon began to dominate the fight. The young Whitelighter's eyes widened in horror as he saw Arkon pull out a black sword - the sword of Hades.
Taking the sword, Arkon easily pierced through the shield that Chris had created. Chris cried out in agony as the shield disintegrated. The Charmed Ones tried to move to help Chris but the young Whitelighter held them back with another shield. "I have to keep them out of the room," he told himself as the pain and agony overwhelmed him.
Again, Arkon sliced through the shield with the sword of evil. Chris looked on in dismay as Arkon aimed the sword at Wyatt and the Charmed Ones. "No!!!!" he yelled as he tried a last ditch attempt to save his charges. Summoning two poison arrows, Chris ran and pushed the witches out of the way. Grabbing the poison arrows, he stabbed Arkon in the body, causing the demon to cry out in shock and agony.
Chris felt indescribable pain slice through his own body. His vision blurred and his knees buckled. The last thing that he remembered was the sword of Hades piercing through his body.
~ 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!
Note: This is the second last chapter of "Anguished Soul." I'm not sure whether or not a sequel will be in store. Your feedback and any ideas that you may have will definitely be appreciated!
* * * * * * * * * * * *
Anguished Soul - Chapter 32
Meanwhile, back at the manor:
Chris concentrated his powers and obliterated the magical cage that he was trapped in. The use of his little remaining powers sent pain shooting up his body, but he ignored it the best that he could. He was too close to completing his plan to let anything stop him now. He walked into the nursery and picked Wyatt up from his crib. Thankfully, Wyatt did not put his shield up. Over the past few months, Chris had worked so hard to gain Wyatt's trust, just for this moment. He breathed a sigh of relief as this part of his plan fell into place. Moving quickly, he descended down the stairs and moved into the living room. The young Whitelighter set Wyatt down in his playpen carefully and surveyed the room as he replayed his plan in his head.
"You be a good boy, Wyatt," Chris whispered as the young infant smiled at him. "Everything's going to be okay," he added before moving to the next phase of his plan.
* * * * * * * * * * * *
At the cave:
"We need to get back to the manor fast," Piper stated as she began to panic. A thousand scary thoughts crossed her mind as she could only imagine what Chris was doing with Wyatt.
Paige tried to orb them back to the city but somehow her powers were blocked. She tried again and again but the end result was the same - they were stuck in the cave. "This is all my fault!" she cried as she tried to understand how she could have fallen for Chris in the first place.
Piper walked over to Paige and hugged her. "This isn't your fault, honey. You couldn't have known."
"You tried to warn me but I wouldn't listen," Paige argued as her guilt overwhelmed her.
"Let's just focus on trying to get back to the manor. Wyatt needs us," Phoebe cut in as she reminded them of their desperate situation.
"Paige, you've got to trying orbing us again. It's our only hope."
* * * * * * * * * * * *
Back at the manor:
Chris tried to calm himself down as he replayed his plan for the fiftieth time. He knew every detail of his plan but he couldn't stop himself from getting increasingly nervous. "Get a grip, Chris," he scolded himself. He turned to look at the family photos that lined the coffee table. He picked up a photo of Paige and stared at it for several minutes. He wiped the lone tear that fell onto the photo before setting it back down. He was about to pick up another photo when a massive wind blew into the manor, knocking Chris from the couch.
Chris got up from the floor and immediately stood in front of Wyatt's playpen. He held on to the playpen for support as he felt his body began to tremble. Chris felt a sensation that was so foreign to him. Fear. For one of the few times in his life, Chris Perry was afraid.
"Well, I must say that the past few months have been rather fun," the intruder greeted.
Chris put on a brave face as he faced his foe. "I aim to please," he quipped cockily.
"Yes, the trademark cockiness. I must say that you have impressed me on numerous occasions. Unfortunately, the game ends tonight."
"Or so you think," Chris shot back.
"You do realize that your false bravado can only carry you so far."
"I think it's more than enough to deal with you, Arkon."
The demon laughed. "You amuse me, Christopher. But I wouldn't exactly call your grand plan a success. After all, what exactly have you accomplished? You've lost your powers. You've lost the trust of your charges. Your true love feels betrayed. And in a few moments, you'll lose everything else."
"If you think that you can just walk in here and do as you please, you're sorely mistaken."
"Oh really?" Arkon laughed. He flicked his fingers and hurled Chris against the wall, causing the young Whitelighter to cry out in pain. "This is going to be fun," the demon laughed.
* * * * * * * * * * * *
Paige shut her eyes and concentrated all her powers. She knew that she had to make this situation right. Finally, she managed to orb them out of the cave and back to the manor. When they reformed, the Charmed Ones found themselves on the sidewalk outside the manor. They quickly ran up the stairs and tried to open the front door. To their horror, it was locked and they could not get in.
Despite trying to blow up the door or to orb into the manor, the three witches remained stranded outside. None of their powers worked and they could feel their panic increase even more.
"Someone must be using their powers to keep us out of the house," Piper stated after a moment of thought. "And I have a feeling I know who that someone is."
"Impossible," Phoebe replied. "Chris lost his powers, remember?"
"Or so we were led to believe," Piper replied bitterly. "I knew that he was up to no good."
"Let's try the windows," Paige suggested, trying to relieve her guilt by helping to save Wyatt. Again, the Charmed Ones' powers had no effects on the windows; the power shielding the house was far too great.
Phoebe looked through the window, trying to see if Wyatt was safe. Her gasp of horror immediately alerted Paige and Piper. "Oh my God!!" she exclaimed.
The sight greeting the witches was not for the faint-hearted. The whole manor was being turned upside-down as an epic battle raged on. Wyatt had put up his protective shield in his playpen while Chris fought for his life against an unknown demon.
"What is that thing?" Phoebe cried out.
"Well, we can't really find out without the Book of Shadows," Piper pointed out.
An idea popped into Paige's head as she tried to orb the Book of Shadows to her, but to her dismay, the shield around the house prevented the orb from taking place.
"What exactly is going on?" Phoebe asked as she tried to sort out the puzzling sequence of events.
"I have no idea," Piper muttered as she tried to find a way to get into the manor.
* * * * * * * * * * * *
Inside the manor:
"You're even weaker than I had expected, Christopher," Arkon sneered as he threw Chris against the wall for the umpteenth time. This time, Chris heard a crack and he was sure that one of his bones was broken.
"You haven't won yet," Chris muttered, trying to put on a brave face. Deep down, however, he knew that he had already lost. There was no way that he could defeat Arkon. Even with his powers, his chances of victory were mediocre at best. Without his powers, he was no match for this demon. The young Whitelighter cried out in agony as Arkon jolted him with another bolt of electricity.
Arkon laughed like a crazed being as he slowly destroyed Chris. He had waited far too long for this day to come. He was finally going to avenge his son's death. As he stopped the electricity bolts, he watched with glee as Chris' body slumped to the floor and remained almost motionless. It was only a matter of time before the young Whitelighter would be no more. Smiling, Arkon walked over to the playpen and fired an energy ball at Wyatt. Immediately, the infant put up his shield once again.
"You think that shield will protect you, young one?" Arkon whispered. "Well, you better think again. It won't help you for long," he laughed as he fired a continuous bolt of energy at the shield. Chris could only look on in horror as Arkon attacked the shield. He knew that it was only a matter of time before Arkon's power would break through the shield, and there was nothing that Chris could do to stop Arkon. He struggled to get on his knees only to have Arkon knock him back down with his arms.
"You're useless, Christopher. What good were your powers anyways?" Arkon taunted. "You thought you had the most brilliant plan to change history? You thought you could stop me from destroying this infant? Well, you were stupid, to say the least, trying to work against me!"
Chris tried to move but he was too battered to do much. There was nothing that he could do. He had failed. The young Whitelighter resigned himself to his fate as Arkon continued the assault.
Outside, the Charmed Ones looked on with panic as they noticed Wyatt's shield beginning to weaken. "We have to get inside now!!" Piper screamed as she desperately thought of a way to get inside.
Chris could hear Piper's screams, but he prayed that they could not come into the manor. If they did, not only would they fail to save Wyatt, but they too would be destroyed. Trying once again, Chris struggled to his feet. He tried to summon an energy ball but as had been the case recently, he was unable to do so.
"You're a total failure, Christopher. Your family was killed because of your uselessness. And now, this infant will die because of your stupidity!"
"No!" Chris shouted. "I didn't kill my family. It wasn't me!!"
"Oh you bet it was. If you hadn't been so stupid as to orb out of the cave, they wouldn't have died."
"NO!!! You're lying!! It was you. You killed my family!!" Chris shot back angrily. In his anger, he summoned a massive energy ball and hurled it at Arkon, sending him flying against the wall.
"You fool!" Arkon yelled angrily as he got back on his feet. The two began to fire energy balls at one another, both determined to destroy the other. Arkon fired a purple beam of energy towards Chris, who countered with a blue beam of energy. The two energy beams met each other and caused a stalemate. Both sides fought for supremacy, but neither side could gain the upper hand.
* * * * * * * * * * * *
"Okay, let's hope this works," Piper prayed as the three witches concentrated their powers on battering down the shield surrounding the manor. To their delight and surprise, their power broke through the shield and the Charmed Ones quickly ran into the manor.
At the moment the Charmed Ones broke the shield, Chris felt a sharp pain to his body, causing him to convulse. The three witches ran into the living room just in time to witness Chris coughing up blood. In his weakened state, Chris' knees had buckled so that he was now on one knee. The purple beam had the clear advantage as it pushed Chris' blue beam back.
Chris turned to see the witches standing in the room. "Get out," he gasped. "You are no match for him."
Ignoring him, Piper tried to freeze Arkon to no avail. Arkon, in return, flicked his hands and sent Piper flying against the wall. Seeing the events unfold, Chris renewed his determination to push the purple beam back towards Arkon.
"Phoebe, take Wyatt and get out of here," he begged. "Hurry!"
Phoebe hesitated, giving Arkon enough time to through an energy ball towards her. Phoebe moved away just in time, but not before the energy ball grazed her neck.
"Wyatt, go to your mom!" Chris called out. Immediately, Wyatt orbed himself into Piper's arms. Chris then flicked fingers as a gust of wind blew the Charmed Ones and Wyatt out into the hall. With another flick, Chris shielded the living room from the rest of the manor, in effect trapping himself in the room with Arkon.
"That was a really stupid thing to do, Christopher."
"Whatever," he replied as he struggled to fight off the advancing purple beam. He could feel his energy draining as Arkon began to dominate the fight. The young Whitelighter's eyes widened in horror as he saw Arkon pull out a black sword - the sword of Hades.
Taking the sword, Arkon easily pierced through the shield that Chris had created. Chris cried out in agony as the shield disintegrated. The Charmed Ones tried to move to help Chris but the young Whitelighter held them back with another shield. "I have to keep them out of the room," he told himself as the pain and agony overwhelmed him.
Again, Arkon sliced through the shield with the sword of evil. Chris looked on in dismay as Arkon aimed the sword at Wyatt and the Charmed Ones. "No!!!!" he yelled as he tried a last ditch attempt to save his charges. Summoning two poison arrows, Chris ran and pushed the witches out of the way. Grabbing the poison arrows, he stabbed Arkon in the body, causing the demon to cry out in shock and agony.
Chris felt indescribable pain slice through his own body. His vision blurred and his knees buckled. The last thing that he remembered was the sword of Hades piercing through his body.
~ to be continued ~
