Hope you liked the first chapter. Thanks so much to those who reviewed.
The next chapter of my other story will hopefully be up by next weekend.
Any suggestions how to continue that story (Family, previously Brother
against Brother) are much appreciated!
The Traveler Chapter 2
He walked down the alley, taking care to spy his target who was supposed to be in the area on this night. Not a moment later he saw a woman with blonde curls in a dress showing her place in high society. She smoothly walked into the bar, apparently unaware she would be greatly out of place in the rowdy atmosphere. Chris followed soon after.
HALLIWELL MANOR...PRESENT
"Where's Chris?" Piper asked urgently as she walked into the kitchen, where Phoebe and Paige were staring hypnotically into their cups of coffee. They didn't answer immediately.
Piper, frustrated, tried a different tactic, "Hey Pheebs, don't you have work today? Won't you be late?"
"Wha? Work? But...it's...SATURDAY! I was trying to sleep Piper! That was uncalled for!" Phoebe gave Piper the evil eye and nudged Paige awake so as to prevent her coffee from spilling on the floor. Piper smiled at her plan's success and regained her sisters' attention by asking again, "Has anyone seen Chris around?" Phoebe and Paige both shook their heads, having no idea where their nephew had orbed off to...or into.
"You two would not believe what I found out about him..." Piper continued.
"Don't we already know who he really is? Why are we still on this topic of discussion?" Phoebe wondered, still reeling from the "Chris is Piper's son" secret she had to keep when she wasn't the best secret-keeper for the task.
"Yes, but that's only WHO he is. I discovered WHAT he is...his true nature. We all have to face the fact that Chris is no ordinary witch. Even extraordinary isn't the right word for it..."
Phoebe and Paige both gave her a "What are you talking about?" look, and were both very impatient waiting for Piper's discovery to make a modicum of sense.
Piper wrung her hands, anxious to tell them, but unsure if they could handle the truth. She herself had a real hard time wrapping her mind around the idea of her son dealing with powers beyond anyone's imaginings. It was too awesome to comprehend.
"Attic. Check the BoS for The Traveler. You'll find more there." Piper clarified simply, feeling the entry would enlighten them better.
She left the kitchen; crossing her fingers that Chris would come when she called for him.
BACK IN THE PAST...
The bar seemed more chaotic than usual as a fight was heading towards its climax, and that was never good. The woman with the blonde curls smiled appreciatively as the one who had incited the fight kept up his efforts to beat down anyone who dared come his way.
"He's not much in the day." The person next to her mentioned offhandedly.
"That won't be a problem."
Chris watched the exchange from a nearby table while also looking closely for some clue to take action.
"What may you like, miss?" A round-faced, red-cheeked dumpy sort of waitress asked politely of the woman.
At that instant, Chris shot out his hands and with a flick of both hands, froze the bar.
And the only one left unfrozen besides Chris, was the waitress, who stared with mock horror at the sight of him.
Back at Halliwell Manor...
"Chris! Get your orbing self down here! I'm your mother damnit!" Piper tried again after her previous failed attempts. She was getting more worried by the minute, and hoped he wasn't on some traveler business that would put him in more danger than was necessary.
Phoebe and Paige appeared before her in a flurry of orbs, looking immensely excited about something.
"What is it?" Piper asked exasperatedly, feeling defeated.
"Well we read the entry on The Traveler and we've both found a way to get more info about this whole traveler thing." Phoebe responded ecstatically.
Piper continued to stare at them in a gesture that told them they should elaborate.
"Phoebe wrote a summoning spell...you know to summon someone from one of the councils...or someone connected to the councils, travelers...whatever." Paige informed Piper.
"Honey, Chris obviously is not coming down any time soon. We should really do this spell. Maybe you'll feel better with more knowledge about it all? What do you say?" Phoebe said, understanding why Piper felt so worried. She had become an expert at realizing how a person truly was feeling just by looking at their facial expressions. This allowed her to grasp the fact that her empathic power was more innate intuition rather than something that could be stripped away as punishment. And she felt she was better for it.
"Okay, okay. Let's get it over with." Piper conceded, letting Paige orb her and Phoebe up to the attic.
"Here's the spell. We all have to read it, okay?" Phoebe explained.
"But shouldn't there be a setup like a circle of crystals?" Piper questioned, skeptical that all that was needed was a simple summoning spell.
"I don't think it will make much of a difference." Paige said, only half sure, but her eagerness prevented her from contemplating the deceptive simplicity of it all.
Phoebe quickly beckoned Paige and Piper to read the spell with her before all of them could start questioning the wrongness of what they were doing.
//Council of the Old Ones/ Council of the Dark Lords/ Bring to us/ The one we seek/ To enlighten us/ Of the Charmed traveler/ We beseech of you//
And with that, a dirty worn cloak dropped unceremoniously from what appeared to be a swirling portal that had formed on the attic ceiling. The portal disappeared soon after relieving itself of its deposit, and the sisters cautiously neared the cloak. They jumped back in shock as they cloak revealed itself to be covering a bitter old and little man, who glared wildly at them and at nothing in particular at the same time. "They threw me down. Again. They THREW me down AGAIN!" He whined with great aggravation.
[Following from The Dark is Rising by Susan Cooper]
////"No power of the Dark or of the Light can make a man more than a man, once any supernatural role he may have had to play comes to an end. But no power of the Dark or the Light may take away his rights as a man, either. If the Black Rider told you so, he lied."
//The twisted face gazed up at him in agonized near-belief. "I may have rest? There can be an end, and rest, if I choose?"//
"All your choices have been your own," ////
"Does this look like my choice to you? I swear if this is some cruel joke on a dead man, I'm NOT laughing!" He accused of the attic ceiling.
Before the three could begin to comprehend what the hell he was going on about, the portal reappeared on the attic ceiling, and took back the cloaked man.
In his place, stood Will, who surveyed the Charmed Ones curiously, his expression inexplicably calm. Even Phoebe was at a loss.
The Traveler Chapter 2
He walked down the alley, taking care to spy his target who was supposed to be in the area on this night. Not a moment later he saw a woman with blonde curls in a dress showing her place in high society. She smoothly walked into the bar, apparently unaware she would be greatly out of place in the rowdy atmosphere. Chris followed soon after.
HALLIWELL MANOR...PRESENT
"Where's Chris?" Piper asked urgently as she walked into the kitchen, where Phoebe and Paige were staring hypnotically into their cups of coffee. They didn't answer immediately.
Piper, frustrated, tried a different tactic, "Hey Pheebs, don't you have work today? Won't you be late?"
"Wha? Work? But...it's...SATURDAY! I was trying to sleep Piper! That was uncalled for!" Phoebe gave Piper the evil eye and nudged Paige awake so as to prevent her coffee from spilling on the floor. Piper smiled at her plan's success and regained her sisters' attention by asking again, "Has anyone seen Chris around?" Phoebe and Paige both shook their heads, having no idea where their nephew had orbed off to...or into.
"You two would not believe what I found out about him..." Piper continued.
"Don't we already know who he really is? Why are we still on this topic of discussion?" Phoebe wondered, still reeling from the "Chris is Piper's son" secret she had to keep when she wasn't the best secret-keeper for the task.
"Yes, but that's only WHO he is. I discovered WHAT he is...his true nature. We all have to face the fact that Chris is no ordinary witch. Even extraordinary isn't the right word for it..."
Phoebe and Paige both gave her a "What are you talking about?" look, and were both very impatient waiting for Piper's discovery to make a modicum of sense.
Piper wrung her hands, anxious to tell them, but unsure if they could handle the truth. She herself had a real hard time wrapping her mind around the idea of her son dealing with powers beyond anyone's imaginings. It was too awesome to comprehend.
"Attic. Check the BoS for The Traveler. You'll find more there." Piper clarified simply, feeling the entry would enlighten them better.
She left the kitchen; crossing her fingers that Chris would come when she called for him.
BACK IN THE PAST...
The bar seemed more chaotic than usual as a fight was heading towards its climax, and that was never good. The woman with the blonde curls smiled appreciatively as the one who had incited the fight kept up his efforts to beat down anyone who dared come his way.
"He's not much in the day." The person next to her mentioned offhandedly.
"That won't be a problem."
Chris watched the exchange from a nearby table while also looking closely for some clue to take action.
"What may you like, miss?" A round-faced, red-cheeked dumpy sort of waitress asked politely of the woman.
At that instant, Chris shot out his hands and with a flick of both hands, froze the bar.
And the only one left unfrozen besides Chris, was the waitress, who stared with mock horror at the sight of him.
Back at Halliwell Manor...
"Chris! Get your orbing self down here! I'm your mother damnit!" Piper tried again after her previous failed attempts. She was getting more worried by the minute, and hoped he wasn't on some traveler business that would put him in more danger than was necessary.
Phoebe and Paige appeared before her in a flurry of orbs, looking immensely excited about something.
"What is it?" Piper asked exasperatedly, feeling defeated.
"Well we read the entry on The Traveler and we've both found a way to get more info about this whole traveler thing." Phoebe responded ecstatically.
Piper continued to stare at them in a gesture that told them they should elaborate.
"Phoebe wrote a summoning spell...you know to summon someone from one of the councils...or someone connected to the councils, travelers...whatever." Paige informed Piper.
"Honey, Chris obviously is not coming down any time soon. We should really do this spell. Maybe you'll feel better with more knowledge about it all? What do you say?" Phoebe said, understanding why Piper felt so worried. She had become an expert at realizing how a person truly was feeling just by looking at their facial expressions. This allowed her to grasp the fact that her empathic power was more innate intuition rather than something that could be stripped away as punishment. And she felt she was better for it.
"Okay, okay. Let's get it over with." Piper conceded, letting Paige orb her and Phoebe up to the attic.
"Here's the spell. We all have to read it, okay?" Phoebe explained.
"But shouldn't there be a setup like a circle of crystals?" Piper questioned, skeptical that all that was needed was a simple summoning spell.
"I don't think it will make much of a difference." Paige said, only half sure, but her eagerness prevented her from contemplating the deceptive simplicity of it all.
Phoebe quickly beckoned Paige and Piper to read the spell with her before all of them could start questioning the wrongness of what they were doing.
//Council of the Old Ones/ Council of the Dark Lords/ Bring to us/ The one we seek/ To enlighten us/ Of the Charmed traveler/ We beseech of you//
And with that, a dirty worn cloak dropped unceremoniously from what appeared to be a swirling portal that had formed on the attic ceiling. The portal disappeared soon after relieving itself of its deposit, and the sisters cautiously neared the cloak. They jumped back in shock as they cloak revealed itself to be covering a bitter old and little man, who glared wildly at them and at nothing in particular at the same time. "They threw me down. Again. They THREW me down AGAIN!" He whined with great aggravation.
[Following from The Dark is Rising by Susan Cooper]
////"No power of the Dark or of the Light can make a man more than a man, once any supernatural role he may have had to play comes to an end. But no power of the Dark or the Light may take away his rights as a man, either. If the Black Rider told you so, he lied."
//The twisted face gazed up at him in agonized near-belief. "I may have rest? There can be an end, and rest, if I choose?"//
"All your choices have been your own," ////
"Does this look like my choice to you? I swear if this is some cruel joke on a dead man, I'm NOT laughing!" He accused of the attic ceiling.
Before the three could begin to comprehend what the hell he was going on about, the portal reappeared on the attic ceiling, and took back the cloaked man.
In his place, stood Will, who surveyed the Charmed Ones curiously, his expression inexplicably calm. Even Phoebe was at a loss.