Secrets Within
Chapter Four: Enter Four Strange Girls
Phoebe was still a bit peeved that her future daughter that she had seen in her vision wouldn't be a Charmed One, and that it would be Paige's daughter. She was still acting a little strange every time she walked past Chris, Wyatt, or Paige. It was almost as if she envied that one day they would be the Charmed Ones instead of her, or in Paige's case, her daughter instead of her daughter.
Piper, on the other hand, was grouchy. She was getting a little fatter, and was at the stage where she was puking every morning. Chris was hardly ever there anymore, he was either out fighting a demon, or sleeping. He hardly ever stopped for a chat, and his diet was defiantly not balanced. In fact, it was more of a case of what diet, as he wasn't eating. Paige, being the only one fit do something about it, decided to track him down.
First, as she knew there was no point in trying to sense him, she got out her scrying crystal. Then, she conjured a map of the underworld, and of earth, and of the solar system. She laid them all in a straight line. Then she went to Piper. "Piper, can I have something of Chris's?"
"Why" she demanded, obviously annoyed about something.'
"um…" she said thinking correctly that Piper would tell her to leave her son alone if she told her that she was scrying for him. "Don't worry about it…" She orbed out of the room before Piper could stop her. As soon as she was in the kitchen, she called Leo "LEO"
Leo orbed in. "Paige, what seems to be the problem that is corrupting your aura?"
"Oh, shut up and act normal." She said quickly "do you have anything of Chris's?"
Leo nodded. "Can I have it?" Said Paige. Leo nodded again. He orbed out. Seconds later he orbed in again, holding a dirty piece of cloth. Paige grabbed it, and ran to the attic, where she had been scrying. She held the cloth above the scrying crystal. Waving it around, she started getting exasperated. "Show me where you are, damnit" Suddenly, it stopped, right on the moon, of all places. She narrowed her eyes.
"I can't orb that far damnit; I'll need Leo's help"
She orbed into the kitchen.
"Leo, you're coming with me."
"Where?"
"The moon"
"Why the moon?"
"That's where Chris is"
"And why do I have to come?"
"I can't orb that far yet, I need you"
"Are you sure you need me, why not Piper?"
"She's not coming. You are" Leo raised his eyebrows, but didn't argue back. They orbed out of the kitchen, not a moment too soon.
Piper walked in just a second after they had left. "I need a coffee! Phoebe, come and make me a coffee!" she commanded, as Phoebe came zooming past, hoping not to be caught. Phoebe groaned.
"Do I have to?"
"Yes"
"No"
"YES!" Phoebe, resigned to her fate, moved toward the coffee jar. Then, all of a sudden, a cup of steaming hot coffee, just the way Piper liked it, appeared in front of her. "Thanks Chris, that's nice" she said, drinking the coffee. Phoebe turned around, having finished making the coffee.
"Why'd you ask if you already had one?"
'I didn't, Chris made it for me" Phoebe raised he eyebrows so high that they blended into her hair. She drank the coffee herself.
Leo and Paige appeared on the moon. Paige was gasping for breath. "I can't breathe" she choked. Leo was choking, but not as badly.
"Chris" they both said in unison.
Chris appeared in front of them. "Here, hold this" he said, giving them a small rock. They touched it, and immediately were covered in a forcefeild, which apparently had oxygen in it. Then Chris was covered again, blending in with his surroundings. They could feel that they were invisible. Chris darted. A fireball exploded, and a battle raged. The demon was losing by miles. Chris dodged a fireball, and Paige, and Leo could see the drops of sweat forming on his face. A bolt of lightning hit right next to the demon, and several smaller ones scattered around it. The demons eyes glowed red in the blackness, and sent a shiver down Paige's spine. "Burr" she said. Leo could only watch as Chris battled the demon. Chris threw up his hands. The demon froze.
"Dad, Aunty Paige!" He said, calmly, "What are you doing?" Paige answered.
"It wasn't Leo's fault. I said to come and look for you, and he came along" Chris nodded "Okay. Here's the plan. You guys go down, don't let go of the rock. Then you bring up the potion, and we vanquish him"
"What demon is it?"
"Kalithax" Paige nodded, and Leo and her orbed out. Chris sat down to wait. Two hours later they reappeared.
"Sorry to make you fight him for so long," she whispered.
"I didn't, I kept freezing him" Paige gaped at him. "Just give me the vanquishing potion, okay" Paige handed a blue bottle with a black liquid in it to Chris. He stood really far back "I don't want to get burnt; explosions are always bigger in space" He explained. Then the vial lifted off the ground slowly. It zoomed over to the demon. Then it exploded. Chris flicked his hands the moment that the vial hit the demon. Energy balls appeared from his fingers, and he threw them, at the same time he was using telekinesis, invisibility, oxygen creation (One of the new powers there was no name for) elemental control, and getting ready to orb. Only one bead of sweat escaped him, even from this huge working of powers. Then he orbed them all back to GGB.
Paige shouted at him "What the hell do you think you were doing! Fighting a high level demon like that on your own, on the moon, of all places!" Chris listened to her rant and rave, until she had finished.
"I had to" he said simply.
Paige stared at him disbelievingly. "You. Had. To?"
"I had to" he repeated.
"Why. Did you. Have to?"
"Because I did" Paige rolled her eyes.
"Leo, can you make your son tell us why he had to kill that demon"
"Why should he?" Chris smiled gratefully at his father
"Thanks, Dad"
"And why did you have to throw energy balls at him?"
Chris looked at her, a look of concentration blowing across his face. He pushed out his bottom lip, pulling it over his top lip, which he was chewing, and blew. Breathing deeply he closed his eyes, as if trying to banish annoyance. "I had to" he said stiffly "Because otherwise he wouldn't have vanquished fully."
"But the Book of Shadows said that it only needed a vanquish potion"
"Well" he said, gritting his teeth. "He came from the future, to stop me being born, to stop me from saving Wyatt, and in the future, he's changed a bit, and needs energy balls" his words were sharp, as if he were in pain. Paige looked at him, as if she didn't quite believe him, but seemed to accept his excuse, as she shrugged at him and looked to Leo for approval. Leo looked at her, having seen the way she looked at Chris. His eyes seemed to tell her a story. He didn't want her to be mean, or disbelieve in his son.
"Bye Paige," said Lee, feeling that Chris was about to do something.
"What do you mean, goodbye!" She demanded, even as Chris orbed her out. They could see her shaking their fists at them. "You can't do this to me! I can just orb right back, you know! I am coming back! You'd better believe it!" They were rolling on the air with laughter; Paige looked so funny when she was so angry.
Paige appeared into the kitchen. She looked extremely angry. Piper was drinking her coffee. "Paige, would you like a coffee?" Paige looked at her strangely. She didn't really care about one measly little coffee.
"Do you know what your son just did to me?" she asked, fuming.
"No, why don't we sit down, have a coffee and you can tell me" Paige looked at the un-naturally serene Piper.
"Did someone give you pacifying pills?" she asked
"No, just a coffee. So sit down and drink."
"How, may I ask, am I supposed to drink without anything to drink?"
Piper pointed at the table. There was an empty, perfectly clean mug sitting there. She screwed her eyes up in concentration. Her forehead creased. A hot brown liquid began to pour from her finger. It filled the cup quickly. Then, from the same finger came a white froth. It covered the top of the coffee, and stopped. Piper opened her eyes. She smiled, satisfied. "Like that"
Paige sat down. "You have some explaining to do, missy!" She said to her sister. Piper explained Chris's new power, while Paige sipped her drink.
Phoebe levitated above the GGB. Chris and Leo couldn't see her there. She could feel something wrong in the air though. She lowered herself. She was resting on a bar above their heads. A premonition hit her.
Flash Forward
Chris was sitting on the GGB. He was flying, as Phoebe had seen him do before. He flew to the edge, rather suddenly. Then all of a sudden, there was a sound that sounded rather familiar. The picture whirled. She could see a man, with blonde hair, down to his shoulders. The man grinned evilly. Chris still hadn't noticed. Demons, thousands of them shimmered in.
The man executed a command. "Go" he said. Chris heard that. He whirled around. A look of fear met his face. The man was standing directly behind him. Phoebe's vision zoomed in. The man's eyes were blue. In fact they were like a replicate of Wyatt's eyes. Phoebe realised then that the man was Wyatt. Fear crossed her own features in this moment of recognition. Chris faced his brother. The demons threw fireballs at him. Instead of deflecting them like she knew full well he could, he orbed. They all missed him. He reappeared in exactly the same place.
"Wyatt, can't we at least talk?" Said Chris dodging another fireball. Wyatt laughed at him. He called his hit men off, 'just for a while' he said. "So like you my brother, wanting to resolve this peacefully. You know that you will die. You will die because I will kill you the same way I killed mum, and Aunt Phoebe, and Aunt Paige. I will kill you like I killed your precious Penelope."
Phoebe could hear Chris's gasp of shock. "You killed Penny?"
Wyatt laughed evilly. "Of course I did. You didn't really think that I would let a Charmed one live? That's why I came to get you"
Chris looked at him in a daze. Phoebe could see the flash of enlightenment in his eyes, and so did Wyatt, though Wyatt thought it was defiance. "You're lying!" said Chris.
"Oh, I wish I was Chris, but I'm not. Have I ever lied to you?" There was a glint of evil in his eyes. The demons were milling around Chris, each of them hoping to be the one to finish him off.
"Master" said one" May I kill him?"
"NO!" said Wyatt. "I must do it. I must kill him. I am the only one. He will die. I am the only one who can kill him. It must be I, as he is far too powerful for you all. Do not be so foolish!" The demon backed off.
"Yes, Master"
"Yes, Master", intoned all the other demons.
Chris had closed his eyes, and a look of complete despair was passing over his face. It was fleeting, but Wyatt caught it, and played on it.
"Ahh, my dearest little brother is scared. He knows that he is going to die. It would be a pity to kill him quickly; he would hardly suffer that way. No. It is important that he dies slowly, a little darklighter poison perhaps, and while he is dying, I could play images in his head of me killing his loved ones. His cousins, his aunts, his mother. How does that sound Chris, how about tonight? You haven't been on a date for years. Prehaps tonight, you can have a date with and acquaintance of mine, her name is Death." The grin on his face as Chris endured torture was a mixture of pleasure and excitement. Phoebe would have been disgusted, had she not been an empath. She could feel a tinge of sadness as Wyatt watched his brother writhing. She was still disgusted though, how could he do something like that o his own brother?
Chris looked into his brother's eyes. "Wyatt, I know that you can feel it. You want to be good, stop fighting. You are good. You can be good, and you know it. You are sorry for all you have done. Why can't you see it?" Wyatt showed no emotion.
"Brother, you are far too soft."
"Don't call me brother. As far as I'm concerned, I have no brother."
"Tiny powerless Chris getting angry now is he. You know that's naughty. You have to be careful who you challenge, a little bit of orbing and telekinesis won't save you."
"Wyatt, I don't need you to save me," Chris said, and flicked his hands. Wyatt froze. He waved his hand. A golden slit appeared. "Penelope Cleaner, Pia, Patricia and Phyllis Dean" Chris whispered names into the hole.
"Chris?" She heard four wavering voices, as four girls stepped out of the hole. The first looked about a year younger that Chris. The other three were triplets, and were about twelve. "Where's mum?" The three voices asked in unison.
"Aunty Phoebe is at home. You're in the past. They don't know you guys exist yet, but I'm sure that they'll understand. You'll be safe, I promise. I need you guys to help me send Wyatt back to our time. He could do more damage here, and you can help ma save him" Then girls smiled at Chris, even Penny.
"We knew you'd help us," they said.
End Flash Forward
Phoebe opened her eyes. That had been one of the longest vision's she'd had in ages. Chris and Leo had noticed she was there, apparently sometime during her vision. "What did you see?" Asked Chris.
"I saw… you. You were fighting Wyatt. He was torturing you. Then you brought four girls from the future, while Wyatt was frozen. Their names were Penelope Cleaner, Pia, Patricia and Phyllis Dean they asked where their mum was and you said that Aunt Phoebe was at home. Then you asked them to help you sent Wyatt back to the future. Then the vision ended."
Chris nodded. "I thought so, but I couldn't be sure" He looked at Leo. "We can't tell them all about Phoebe's vision. It s inevitable, and has to come. Otherwise Penny, Pia, Patty, and Phil might die." Phoebe listened, and she nodded.
"Do you know how to do that thing; I mean bring them from the future?"
"I did, but I need a little more practise"
"Well, practise then" she said, and Leo and Chris nodded.
"I will" He orbed out, without so much as a word. Phoebe and Leo stood on top of the GGB for a while, Phoebe replaying the vision over in her head, and Leo thinking about his sons.
Piper was in the attic when Chris orbed in. "Hey Chris" she said pleasantly.
"Hi mum," he said, not looking at her. He went to a cupboard, and got out some crystals. Placing them in a circle and saying a few words over them, quickly he sat down. Piper watched utterly confused as Chris waved his hand over and over again. Once or twice in the whole hour she sat watching him, she saw whisks of pale gold that stayed for a few moments. All of a sudden, Chris froze up. His body went rigid, and he started convulsing violently.
"LEO" Piper called desperately.
Leo orbed in, and Phoebe was by his side. He looked around, and saw Chris. Without a second thought, he plunged his hand through the barrier that was protecting his magic from escaping. Apparently it wouldn't let any magic in either. Leo's arm hit the shield, penetrating it, not moments later he pulled it out. His arm was ugly and orange. There was dead skin lying on top of it, and puss was already visible. Pain that he could remember experiencing faintly revived itself in his mind. He could remember, but it bordered on his mind, a faint shadow eluding his capture. He orbed away quickly, and came back, arm as good as new. "We can't go in there," he said glumly.
Suddenly there was a blinding flash of light, as a golden slit opened fully. It held. As if in a dream, Chris put his hand through. It disappeared. Suddenly it reappeared, holding something that they couldn't see. He put it back. He was leaning over into the hole, both arms stretched fully. A smile dawned on his face. Slowly and careful, he pulled his arms to himself. Holding in them he had a child. The child was about two to three years old. It was male, and had red hair, and brown eyes. A smile played on his lips, as one did on Chris's. Both pairs of lips moved rapidly, then Chris slowly lowered the child into the golden slit, though reluctantly.
Chris was now acting okay, and as if nothing had happened. But they had all seen everything. Chris was losing concentration, and they could feel it. Soon, he gave up altogether. He broke the circle, saying nothing to the girls or Leo. He did something rather surprising, in fact. He closed his eyes, and held out his hand. Wyatt orbed at his feet. He smiled up at him, giggling. Chris hauled him up, and gave him to Piper. "You've all been ignoring him ever since you found out he was evil in the future. That won't help much, and beside, he's not going to be evil, because I'm going to save him." He orbed out, leaving a surprised and dismayed Piper holding Wyatt, nearly ready to drop him, like he was a piece of rubbish.
