Chapter 11: The Decision
"What exactly is this council?" Piper asked as Chris led them down another long hallway. The difference, however, was that there were no doors along this corridor. It was just a long, white, hallway. At the end of the hall were two large oaken French Doors.
"It's a group of seven beings that meet weekly to decide how best to organize the resistance. Right now, only six of the beings are in. The council is comprised of a demon, a witch, a whitelighter, a wood-nyph, a valkyrie, and a dwarf," Chris explained, still walking briskly down the hall and not looking back.
"You work with demons?" Leo asked, incredulous. "I know you occasionally made deals with them in the future, but you actually have him on your council?"
"Yes. Many demons want Wyatt out of power as much as we do. He's put a real tight leash on his demons. It's caused a huge revolution. 'The enemy of my enemy...'"
"I still don't like it," Piper muttered. "So who's the seventh member?"
"Andy," Justine filled in. "She's the chairperson of the council. She actually set the whole thing up." The sisters could tell from the awe in Justine's voice, that she really looked up to Andrea.
"Alright, Justine, I want you to take them back to their room, and you stay out of the council's way. I have to go in and talk to the counsel. I'll see you tomorrow."
"No, we're coming in," said Leo.
"Yeah, we came to help, so we have to know what's going on. End of story." From the look on Piper's face, Chris knew he wasn't going to win this argument.
"Fine, but you have to stay in the back and be quiet. Justine, you can't come in. I need you to send out an alert and order squadrons twenty through eighty to suit up for battle. Have the rest of the squads on alert, but keep one through five on rest. They're still off rotation from the last battle. I also want all the squad leaders in my office by five. Go." Chris took a deep breath and walked through the large oaken doors, into the conference room.
The room itself was large and imposing. There was a long oak table that filled the room. It had three chairs on either side, six of which were filled, and one chair at the end. Chris took his seat at the head of the table, and asked that four chairs be put beside the far wall for Leo and the Charmed Ones.
"Chris," greeted a man at the far corner, Leo recognized him to be a witch. "Have a seat. Due to the fact that the first Councilman is unable to make this meeting, I will be chairing."
"First councilman?" whispered Phoebe to Paige.
"That must be Andy," Paige whispered back, but soon desisted after a look from Chris.
"Our first order of business is a recent message from Andrea. She sent us a message this morning from Wyatt's fortress. We have a copy of the transmission." With a wave of the man's hand, a hologram of Andy appeared at the end of the table.
"Greetings to the Council, I haven't much time. I am sending this transmission to warn you that Wyatt knows where the compound is. He has stationed ten Warlock's at the entrance. So far they haven't been able to find the code, but are still a threat. He plans on attacking tomorrow night, if he finds the code. I suggest organizing all the squadrons, except for the first five. We'll need a few squads as home security, a few protecting the block, as well as some to attack. Make sure to send out a bulletin to the witches not safe in the compound." After this last statement, footsteps could be heard in the background. Andrea straightened her back, and prepared for a confrontation. "Out," she stated before ending the transmission.
"What is your suggestion?" the council's chair asked.
"I agree with Andrea. The first thing is we need to send out some of the reconnaissance squad to warn all of the witches still away from the compound. They should all be brought here for safety. At present we have eighty squads of twenty fighters. I believe ten squads will be enough to protect all of the families in the compound. The next twenty squads can easily cover the immediate area around our hideout. The last of the squads should prepare to make an offensive. We need this offensive to distract Wyatt enough to make him pull away from his offensive. I also agree with her about the first five squadrons. We had to use them to take back the island of Valhalla. We lost five men on that mission, and have fifteen injured. I'm sure the council needs time to discuss this operation, but I must remind you that time is of the essence. I have all the squad leaders prepared for a meeting in an two hours." Chris leaned back in his chair sizing up the council. He could tell that they were worried about the possibility of a full assault.
"And Wyatt's fate?" one of the other councilmen asked. He was dressed all in black, and due to the fact that he kept playing with fireballs, the sisters realized that he was the demon of the council. "Life or death?"
"We try to capture him alive, but, if need be, death is a possibility," Chris said coldly.
"Christopher Perry Halliwell," Piper said, angrily jumping from her seat and striding over to Chris. "You are not going to send out a death warrant on your brother!"
"Mom," Chris whispered harshly in Piper's ear, "you need to have a seat. I'm handling this. Sorry," he apologized to the council.
"Piper, you need to sit down," Leo said pulling her back into her chair. "We'll talk about it later."
"The council will recess until a decision is made. We'll reconvene in half an hour." Then all the members of the council vanished.
After the council had left, Chris let out a long sigh, and his body relaxed noticeably. "They won't kill him," he said, not looking at Piper. "They won't be able to."
"What do you mean?" Phoebe asked.
"He's too powerful," Chris stated as he stood up. "They've tried to kill him before, but it never works. Most likely they'll just leave him to me. I won't kill him mom, I promise." Chris looked deeply into his mother's eyes, and kneeled down at her feet. She looked up and he could see she had been crying.
"I know he's evil, but he's still my son," Piper was sobbing openly now. "I can't loose him!"
"It'll be ok. You have to realize though, I'm responsible for all of these people. There are over a hundred families here. I have to save them. That's all there is to it."
"We're back," the Acting Head Councilman said as all the beings reentered the room. "We've also made our decision. We agree with your proposed plan. It is now your responsibility to organize the attack."
"I accept," Chris bowed, moving out of the room. He walked briskly down the hallway, back towards his office, completely ignoring his family behind him. His mind was reeling from the council. He'd promised himself years ago, that if it came to it, he would kill his brother. Now he wasn't so sure.
Hey, this is the next chapter. If y'all have any ideas as to how to summarize my story, I'd be grateful