NINETEEN
"Chris, are you okay?" asked Leo, holding him to keep him falling to the
floor.
"Yeah, I think so," said Chris as the unpleasant sensations began to
abate. "For a minute I thought Tempus had tricked us. I thought I might be a
goner."
"Tempus?" Chris heard Piper question. "Did you hit your head or
something?"
Chris looked up and found Piper, Phoebe, and Paige standing near him. Leo
was holding his arm in an obvious support stance. Everyone looked different.
The girls' hair was different and all of them, with the exception of Chris were
dressed differently. Chris looked around the cellar and saw the opening where
the Woogie had escaped once again sealed over."
"What?" Chris questions. "What happened?"
"That's what we'd like to know," said Paige. "One minute we're upstairs
talking in the kitchen, the next we hear you screaming down here like someone
was trying to kill you."
"As for Tempus," said Piper, "his sorry butt was vanquished about three
years ago. What's the matter, future boy? Did that little tidbit of
information escape your attention?"
"What about Prue?" Chris asked. "And Cole and Andy? They aren't here?"
"Are you sure you're okay?" Leo asked, noticing that Piper and Phoebe had
become noticeably uncomfortable at the mention of the three names. "Are you
hurt?"
"Oh, hey, I'm sorry," said Chris, suddenly realizing how Piper and Phoebe
must be reacting to what he was saying. "I didn't mean to dredge up any bad
memories. Honestly, I didn't. But it's been one hell of ride the past few
days, let me tell you."
"Why don't you?" Piper asked. "I for one would like to know why you
should suddenly mention those three names. Especially considering the memories
attached to them. This had better be good."
"I'll try," said Chris.
Together, the five went up to the kitchen.
* * *
"That's certainly an interesting story," said Piper when Chris had
finished talking.
"You're telling me," said Chris. "At first, I didn't know what was going
on. I thought I might be going crazy."
Chris has conveniently left out certain parts of the story. Parts that he
felt sure would only be a detriment. Such as Phoebe's special connection to the
Nexus. Apparently Tempus' magic had worked. The time changes had all been
corrected and everything was back to its normal condition.
"I remember Tiffany Morgan," said Leo. "She was supposed to have been one
of my charges about ten years ago. Unfortunately, her husband left her when she
started developing her powers. Her life just fell apart. She ended up taking
her own life one night and I didn't get back in time to save her."
"She said something like that," said Chris. "I'm sorry."
"Thanks," said Leo.
"So, traveling in time can actually alter it?" questioned Phoebe.
"Not exactly," said Chris. "It wasn't the time travel itself. It was
because I've been in the past for so long. And apparently there are things
about time travel that not even the Elders are aware of."
"Well, no one has ever remained in the past for so long," said Leo.
"There's never been any problem before. We've never had any reason to suspect
there would be."
"It looks like you'd better rethink that," said Paige. "If Tempus is
right, it could happen again."
"Not with me," said Chris. "His magic helps compensate for my being here.
There shouldn't be any more repeats of what happened. But if someone else moves
through time, there could be a problem."
"I'll let the other Elders know about it right away," said Leo. "Chris,
you need to come up there and explain everything you can remember about it.
They'll need all the information they can get to look into it."
"Okay," said Chris.
"One think I don't understand," said Piper. "Tempus was vanquished.
Won't that cause his magic to become undone as well? Won't that just start the
whole cycle all over again?"
"No," said Leo. "It was his magic that set up the safeguards to allow
Chris to remain in the past. But once those safeguards are in place, they
should remain that way. Think of it this way. Paige uses her orbing ability to
orb something from one table to another. Even if Paige should subsequently die,
the item doesn't automatically return to where it was in the first place."
"I think I understand," said Phoebe. "So you're sure this isn't going to
happen again? You're sure Tempus corrected whatever it was that was wrong?"
"Not completely, no," said Chris. "You can never be sure when you're
dealing with demons, you should know that. But both he and the Seer were both
convinced that if Tempus didn't correct things, we'd all be destroyed. She even
vanquished to Source to help us correct things. But I'm pretty sure Tempus
couldn't do anything but correct the changes."
"I wonder if he would have done it if he had known he wouldn't be around?"
asked Piper.
"Interesting question," said Leo. "Well, I need to get up there. Chris,
I'll see you in a bit."
"Sure," said Chris. "Just give me a few minutes to get myself together."
Leo orbed out of the manor.
"Okay, I'm not clear on something," said Paige. "If the Book of Shadows
was in the cellar the whole time, how come not even the Elders knew where it
was? Wouldn't they have been able to sense it or something?"
"Normally, yes," said Chris. "But the power of the Nexus must have masked
it somehow. You know how powerful the Nexus can be. With the book so close to
it it would have been difficult to sense it. I'm just glad you held onto it.
There's no telling what might have happened if you had gotten rid of it."
"Well, I think you need to get some rest," said Piper. "Once you check in
with the Elders, you're going to take it easy for a couple of days. You seem to
have been through a lot."
"I can't argue with that," said Chris. "It's been very taxing."
As Chris orbed to the Elders to fill them in he noticed Phoebe looking at
him with a strange look on her face. A look that suggested she had something on
her mind but hadn't said anything. Chris wondered what it was.
"Chris, are you okay?" asked Leo, holding him to keep him falling to the
floor.
"Yeah, I think so," said Chris as the unpleasant sensations began to
abate. "For a minute I thought Tempus had tricked us. I thought I might be a
goner."
"Tempus?" Chris heard Piper question. "Did you hit your head or
something?"
Chris looked up and found Piper, Phoebe, and Paige standing near him. Leo
was holding his arm in an obvious support stance. Everyone looked different.
The girls' hair was different and all of them, with the exception of Chris were
dressed differently. Chris looked around the cellar and saw the opening where
the Woogie had escaped once again sealed over."
"What?" Chris questions. "What happened?"
"That's what we'd like to know," said Paige. "One minute we're upstairs
talking in the kitchen, the next we hear you screaming down here like someone
was trying to kill you."
"As for Tempus," said Piper, "his sorry butt was vanquished about three
years ago. What's the matter, future boy? Did that little tidbit of
information escape your attention?"
"What about Prue?" Chris asked. "And Cole and Andy? They aren't here?"
"Are you sure you're okay?" Leo asked, noticing that Piper and Phoebe had
become noticeably uncomfortable at the mention of the three names. "Are you
hurt?"
"Oh, hey, I'm sorry," said Chris, suddenly realizing how Piper and Phoebe
must be reacting to what he was saying. "I didn't mean to dredge up any bad
memories. Honestly, I didn't. But it's been one hell of ride the past few
days, let me tell you."
"Why don't you?" Piper asked. "I for one would like to know why you
should suddenly mention those three names. Especially considering the memories
attached to them. This had better be good."
"I'll try," said Chris.
Together, the five went up to the kitchen.
* * *
"That's certainly an interesting story," said Piper when Chris had
finished talking.
"You're telling me," said Chris. "At first, I didn't know what was going
on. I thought I might be going crazy."
Chris has conveniently left out certain parts of the story. Parts that he
felt sure would only be a detriment. Such as Phoebe's special connection to the
Nexus. Apparently Tempus' magic had worked. The time changes had all been
corrected and everything was back to its normal condition.
"I remember Tiffany Morgan," said Leo. "She was supposed to have been one
of my charges about ten years ago. Unfortunately, her husband left her when she
started developing her powers. Her life just fell apart. She ended up taking
her own life one night and I didn't get back in time to save her."
"She said something like that," said Chris. "I'm sorry."
"Thanks," said Leo.
"So, traveling in time can actually alter it?" questioned Phoebe.
"Not exactly," said Chris. "It wasn't the time travel itself. It was
because I've been in the past for so long. And apparently there are things
about time travel that not even the Elders are aware of."
"Well, no one has ever remained in the past for so long," said Leo.
"There's never been any problem before. We've never had any reason to suspect
there would be."
"It looks like you'd better rethink that," said Paige. "If Tempus is
right, it could happen again."
"Not with me," said Chris. "His magic helps compensate for my being here.
There shouldn't be any more repeats of what happened. But if someone else moves
through time, there could be a problem."
"I'll let the other Elders know about it right away," said Leo. "Chris,
you need to come up there and explain everything you can remember about it.
They'll need all the information they can get to look into it."
"Okay," said Chris.
"One think I don't understand," said Piper. "Tempus was vanquished.
Won't that cause his magic to become undone as well? Won't that just start the
whole cycle all over again?"
"No," said Leo. "It was his magic that set up the safeguards to allow
Chris to remain in the past. But once those safeguards are in place, they
should remain that way. Think of it this way. Paige uses her orbing ability to
orb something from one table to another. Even if Paige should subsequently die,
the item doesn't automatically return to where it was in the first place."
"I think I understand," said Phoebe. "So you're sure this isn't going to
happen again? You're sure Tempus corrected whatever it was that was wrong?"
"Not completely, no," said Chris. "You can never be sure when you're
dealing with demons, you should know that. But both he and the Seer were both
convinced that if Tempus didn't correct things, we'd all be destroyed. She even
vanquished to Source to help us correct things. But I'm pretty sure Tempus
couldn't do anything but correct the changes."
"I wonder if he would have done it if he had known he wouldn't be around?"
asked Piper.
"Interesting question," said Leo. "Well, I need to get up there. Chris,
I'll see you in a bit."
"Sure," said Chris. "Just give me a few minutes to get myself together."
Leo orbed out of the manor.
"Okay, I'm not clear on something," said Paige. "If the Book of Shadows
was in the cellar the whole time, how come not even the Elders knew where it
was? Wouldn't they have been able to sense it or something?"
"Normally, yes," said Chris. "But the power of the Nexus must have masked
it somehow. You know how powerful the Nexus can be. With the book so close to
it it would have been difficult to sense it. I'm just glad you held onto it.
There's no telling what might have happened if you had gotten rid of it."
"Well, I think you need to get some rest," said Piper. "Once you check in
with the Elders, you're going to take it easy for a couple of days. You seem to
have been through a lot."
"I can't argue with that," said Chris. "It's been very taxing."
As Chris orbed to the Elders to fill them in he noticed Phoebe looking at
him with a strange look on her face. A look that suggested she had something on
her mind but hadn't said anything. Chris wondered what it was.