***Sorry if the last chapter's dialogue was confusing. I was trying to
make it a lighthearted, fun, two young people in their 20s conversation.
If you didn't understand, let me know and I'll try to straighten you out.
~abs
Leo walked into the room at the Magic School where Piper and Wyatt were staying. He watched Wyatt sleep as his chest rose up and down, up and down. He leaned in closer and rested his arms on the edge of the crib, "I don't know how anyone so sweet, and born of so much good, can be such a threat?" he asked as if hoping Wyatt would turn over and give him an answer. Piper stirred in her bed. Leo walked over, sat next to her, and then kissed his beloved on the forehead.
"I knew it was you," she whispered, opening one eye.
"Oh yeah?" he beamed.
"C'mon, let's go out in the hall and chat. I had a hard time getting Wyatt to sleep tonight." The couple walked out in the hall, Leo helping Piper to walk. "What did you and Chris find out about Chloe?"
"Batterak followed her here. And I don't think she knew that. She was under the impression that she followed him back. But our source said otherwise."
"Was it a reliable source?" Piper questioned.
"He's a demon. They don't get more unreliable. But I really think he was telling us the truth, just from the fear in his voice," Leo gave a small smile, "Are you sure Chris is mine? There was nothing passive about the way he handled that demon."
"I'm sure he's yours," Piper hit Leo on the arm, "He must get his aggressiveness from me."
"Damn straight," Leo hugged Piper.
"So you believe Chloe is who she says she is?"
Leo was afraid to answer. Chloe had confessed her identity to him in confidence, and as a white lighter and elder, he couldn't betray that... not even to Piper. "I believe her. And so does Paige."
"Well, if the three most important men in my life and my baby sister trust her, than I'm going to have to also, aren't I?" Piper asked rhetorically. "I don't blame you. There's just something about her that brings out more of my maternal instincts," she shook her head, "Now if we can only get Phoebe to join us." Leo shuddered and turned to look in the empty room where Wyatt lay sleeping, "What is it?" Piper asked.
"I felt something. Like someone walking by me," Leo responded distrustfully.
"Ghosts?" Piper offered, "This is a Magic School."
"Yeah, maybe," Leo mumbled resuming hugging his wife.
A hundred yards down the endless hall a figure took shape as Gideon turned back to look at Leo and Piper standing in the doorway to her room, then he vanished around a corner.
Chloe shimmered Chris into Piper's bedroom. He had been sleeping there since she and Wyatt had temporarily moved to the Magic School. She helped him to the bed where he was content to fall over and fall asleep in his clothes. She rolled her eyes, "Men," and grabbed a blanket out of the closet to cover him up. She was still in the pajamas she had borrowed from Paige, but felt she needed to rewash her face. Creeping down the hall, she peaked into Paige's room first, to make sure she was asleep, and then Phoebe's. *They're both sleeping so well. I wonder if they knew... how that would change things.*
Phoebe had offered to let Chloe borrow a spell book. Chloe quietly walked further in Phoebe's room, careful not to run into anything and wake her up. She opened the top drawer of Phoebe's lingerie chest, knowing that's where she kept personal things, and saw a tattered old journal, *Must be it* she thought. She picked up the journal and placed it on top of the dresser. Beneath the camisoles and other undergarments she saw light reflecting off something like glass. She dug a little deeper and found a picture. Picking it up, she closed her eyes, and saw Phoebe with a tall man on a beach. Phoebe was wearing a long white jersey knit skirt, with a cropped blue and white stripped tee. She looked relaxed. She looked beautiful. The couple was enjoying a bottle of wine and laughing—Chloe could sense how deeply in love the two were. The man leaned over and gave Phoebe a very passionate, albeit wet, kiss. The image made Chloe blush. Just as the man was about to turn into view, the vision ended. "Must have been my dad," Chloe whispered. Phoebe stirred and groaned in the bed. Chloe put the picture down, shut the drawer, grabbed the journal, and quickly shimmered out before Phoebe could open her eyes.
Chloe shimmered back to the living room. She cradled the book and walked over to her make-shift bed on the sofa. She cuddled up in the blanket, flipped on a small lamp on the sofa table, and began to read. Phoebe had written a lot of spells—some of them used, some not. *If you have vanquished him three times, surely you have written a spell to bring him back somewhere. I know you loved him at one point.* Chloe became so engrossed in the spells she was reading that she didn't notice the time and eventually fell asleep. She felt herself swept into a memory—Paige's. She saw Paige, Phoebe, Piper and Leo in a very different reality. Paige was dead. Piper was a demon-killing vigilante. Leo was a washed-up white lighter. And Phoebe...Phoebe was married to Chloe's father—Cole—but life was anything but happily ever after. They were both having affairs, the manor was overrun by demons, and the seer was Cole's advisor. Chloe felt out of place in the vision. She knew it wasn't the reality that Paige had been used to. What had happened? How did Paige get there?
As the dream progressed Chloe realized that Cole had somehow orchestrated the change in order to win Phoebe back—to have the life that he had always imagined for himself and his beloved. As she watched him, her father, she saw a side of him she had never witnessed—a disheveled, erratic, and insane man clinging to a future that did not exist. But that was the least of Chloe's shocks.
Cole was Balthazar. He wasn't an Avatar. He wasn't a hodge-podge of demonic powers. He was Balthazar—someone Chloe had never known. And he was also insane—psychotic even. Phoebe didn't love him. The marriage was one of convenience and security because it provided an assurance that the demonic underworld would not try to kill Piper. There was a plan devise to vanquish Cole—and her aunt Paige was the one leading the charge on bringing about his death. Paige convinced Piper and Leo that she really was a long- lost-sister even though they had never met her. Having tried to vanquish Balthazar before, Piper knew how to make the proper potion, and they did. When Phoebe, Piper, and Paige were reunited under the chandelier, the power of three was reconstituted and Phoebe actually threw the potion at Cole—vanquishing him. Phoebe had ultimately vanquished her beloved, soul mate, and father of her daughter.
The dream flash forwarded to the recent past. Chris was flipping through the Book of Shadows and saw the picture of Balthazar with the vanquish date. Puzzled, he approached Paige for the details. She told him about the vanquish in detail in the alternate reality. But when she had returned to her life, real life, Cole truly was vanquished. Paige told Chris that it was a gift to Phoebe. Cole had ultimately gone insane in his struggle to win back his bride and was near driving Phoebe to the same place. "It was in everyone's best interest if he were dead," Paige had commented to him. Chris vaguely nodded his head. Chloe could read the confusion and panic in his eyes. But he never said anything more to anyone about the conversation—especially not Chloe.
Chloe awoke from the dream in a cold sweat. She sat upright on the sofa and pinched herself, *Am I really awake? Did that just happen?* She doubled over and cried. It was true. Her father was vanquished. Yes, she had seen his soul in the Hall of Lost Souls floating weightlessly next to that of her grandfather's. Yes, she had seen a vanquish date written next to his picture in the Book of Shadows. But now, now it was real and she wept. She was at a loss for what to do. How to approach this? How to insure her own existence?
She couldn't just lie on the sofa. Chloe got up and began to pace. *I need water,* she thought and walked to the kitchen. On the kitchen counter were three vials of the potion that could turn Chris visible or invisible. She glanced at them without a first thought and proceeded to get a glass of water. Standing at the sink and glancing back, she began to think, *The key to that potion is blood. Whose ever blood is in it, and anyone who genetically linked to that person, will become visible or invisible. Blood... my blood... my powers...* The proverbial light bulb lit up in Chloe's head. That was it! She quickly shimmered up to the attic and the book and began to read. "I think I can do this," she mumbled and smiled.
Leo walked into the room at the Magic School where Piper and Wyatt were staying. He watched Wyatt sleep as his chest rose up and down, up and down. He leaned in closer and rested his arms on the edge of the crib, "I don't know how anyone so sweet, and born of so much good, can be such a threat?" he asked as if hoping Wyatt would turn over and give him an answer. Piper stirred in her bed. Leo walked over, sat next to her, and then kissed his beloved on the forehead.
"I knew it was you," she whispered, opening one eye.
"Oh yeah?" he beamed.
"C'mon, let's go out in the hall and chat. I had a hard time getting Wyatt to sleep tonight." The couple walked out in the hall, Leo helping Piper to walk. "What did you and Chris find out about Chloe?"
"Batterak followed her here. And I don't think she knew that. She was under the impression that she followed him back. But our source said otherwise."
"Was it a reliable source?" Piper questioned.
"He's a demon. They don't get more unreliable. But I really think he was telling us the truth, just from the fear in his voice," Leo gave a small smile, "Are you sure Chris is mine? There was nothing passive about the way he handled that demon."
"I'm sure he's yours," Piper hit Leo on the arm, "He must get his aggressiveness from me."
"Damn straight," Leo hugged Piper.
"So you believe Chloe is who she says she is?"
Leo was afraid to answer. Chloe had confessed her identity to him in confidence, and as a white lighter and elder, he couldn't betray that... not even to Piper. "I believe her. And so does Paige."
"Well, if the three most important men in my life and my baby sister trust her, than I'm going to have to also, aren't I?" Piper asked rhetorically. "I don't blame you. There's just something about her that brings out more of my maternal instincts," she shook her head, "Now if we can only get Phoebe to join us." Leo shuddered and turned to look in the empty room where Wyatt lay sleeping, "What is it?" Piper asked.
"I felt something. Like someone walking by me," Leo responded distrustfully.
"Ghosts?" Piper offered, "This is a Magic School."
"Yeah, maybe," Leo mumbled resuming hugging his wife.
A hundred yards down the endless hall a figure took shape as Gideon turned back to look at Leo and Piper standing in the doorway to her room, then he vanished around a corner.
Chloe shimmered Chris into Piper's bedroom. He had been sleeping there since she and Wyatt had temporarily moved to the Magic School. She helped him to the bed where he was content to fall over and fall asleep in his clothes. She rolled her eyes, "Men," and grabbed a blanket out of the closet to cover him up. She was still in the pajamas she had borrowed from Paige, but felt she needed to rewash her face. Creeping down the hall, she peaked into Paige's room first, to make sure she was asleep, and then Phoebe's. *They're both sleeping so well. I wonder if they knew... how that would change things.*
Phoebe had offered to let Chloe borrow a spell book. Chloe quietly walked further in Phoebe's room, careful not to run into anything and wake her up. She opened the top drawer of Phoebe's lingerie chest, knowing that's where she kept personal things, and saw a tattered old journal, *Must be it* she thought. She picked up the journal and placed it on top of the dresser. Beneath the camisoles and other undergarments she saw light reflecting off something like glass. She dug a little deeper and found a picture. Picking it up, she closed her eyes, and saw Phoebe with a tall man on a beach. Phoebe was wearing a long white jersey knit skirt, with a cropped blue and white stripped tee. She looked relaxed. She looked beautiful. The couple was enjoying a bottle of wine and laughing—Chloe could sense how deeply in love the two were. The man leaned over and gave Phoebe a very passionate, albeit wet, kiss. The image made Chloe blush. Just as the man was about to turn into view, the vision ended. "Must have been my dad," Chloe whispered. Phoebe stirred and groaned in the bed. Chloe put the picture down, shut the drawer, grabbed the journal, and quickly shimmered out before Phoebe could open her eyes.
Chloe shimmered back to the living room. She cradled the book and walked over to her make-shift bed on the sofa. She cuddled up in the blanket, flipped on a small lamp on the sofa table, and began to read. Phoebe had written a lot of spells—some of them used, some not. *If you have vanquished him three times, surely you have written a spell to bring him back somewhere. I know you loved him at one point.* Chloe became so engrossed in the spells she was reading that she didn't notice the time and eventually fell asleep. She felt herself swept into a memory—Paige's. She saw Paige, Phoebe, Piper and Leo in a very different reality. Paige was dead. Piper was a demon-killing vigilante. Leo was a washed-up white lighter. And Phoebe...Phoebe was married to Chloe's father—Cole—but life was anything but happily ever after. They were both having affairs, the manor was overrun by demons, and the seer was Cole's advisor. Chloe felt out of place in the vision. She knew it wasn't the reality that Paige had been used to. What had happened? How did Paige get there?
As the dream progressed Chloe realized that Cole had somehow orchestrated the change in order to win Phoebe back—to have the life that he had always imagined for himself and his beloved. As she watched him, her father, she saw a side of him she had never witnessed—a disheveled, erratic, and insane man clinging to a future that did not exist. But that was the least of Chloe's shocks.
Cole was Balthazar. He wasn't an Avatar. He wasn't a hodge-podge of demonic powers. He was Balthazar—someone Chloe had never known. And he was also insane—psychotic even. Phoebe didn't love him. The marriage was one of convenience and security because it provided an assurance that the demonic underworld would not try to kill Piper. There was a plan devise to vanquish Cole—and her aunt Paige was the one leading the charge on bringing about his death. Paige convinced Piper and Leo that she really was a long- lost-sister even though they had never met her. Having tried to vanquish Balthazar before, Piper knew how to make the proper potion, and they did. When Phoebe, Piper, and Paige were reunited under the chandelier, the power of three was reconstituted and Phoebe actually threw the potion at Cole—vanquishing him. Phoebe had ultimately vanquished her beloved, soul mate, and father of her daughter.
The dream flash forwarded to the recent past. Chris was flipping through the Book of Shadows and saw the picture of Balthazar with the vanquish date. Puzzled, he approached Paige for the details. She told him about the vanquish in detail in the alternate reality. But when she had returned to her life, real life, Cole truly was vanquished. Paige told Chris that it was a gift to Phoebe. Cole had ultimately gone insane in his struggle to win back his bride and was near driving Phoebe to the same place. "It was in everyone's best interest if he were dead," Paige had commented to him. Chris vaguely nodded his head. Chloe could read the confusion and panic in his eyes. But he never said anything more to anyone about the conversation—especially not Chloe.
Chloe awoke from the dream in a cold sweat. She sat upright on the sofa and pinched herself, *Am I really awake? Did that just happen?* She doubled over and cried. It was true. Her father was vanquished. Yes, she had seen his soul in the Hall of Lost Souls floating weightlessly next to that of her grandfather's. Yes, she had seen a vanquish date written next to his picture in the Book of Shadows. But now, now it was real and she wept. She was at a loss for what to do. How to approach this? How to insure her own existence?
She couldn't just lie on the sofa. Chloe got up and began to pace. *I need water,* she thought and walked to the kitchen. On the kitchen counter were three vials of the potion that could turn Chris visible or invisible. She glanced at them without a first thought and proceeded to get a glass of water. Standing at the sink and glancing back, she began to think, *The key to that potion is blood. Whose ever blood is in it, and anyone who genetically linked to that person, will become visible or invisible. Blood... my blood... my powers...* The proverbial light bulb lit up in Chloe's head. That was it! She quickly shimmered up to the attic and the book and began to read. "I think I can do this," she mumbled and smiled.