Water dripped from the ceiling onto a rather high pile of ashes in the dark cave in the underworld. Of course, Wyatt usually lived in an apartment in San Francisco, which had everything he could ever wish for, or conjure in his case, but when he visited the underworld, this was his preferred place of residence. He had chosen this cave because of its discreet location, and the fact that it was naturally shielded from both demons and witches. An important point when you tend to make enemies very easily.
Wyatt loved his family, and up until now had never hurt them. He was especially fond of his little brother, Chris, and that is why he had never tried to kill him, even though he knew it would guarantee him finally having complete power over Excalibur. The power he felt during the short time he was able to use Excalibur, before his Dad and the other Elders realised it was really meant for Chris and took it away from him, was like nothing he had ever experienced in his life. He had decided to be patient. He knew Chris was destined to die at the same age Future Chris had been stabbed by Gideon all those years ago. He was not quite two years old, but his memories of that day, and of the person he now knows was Chris, dying whilst trying to save him were still very vivid. Maybe that was why he couldn't bring himself to hurt Chris, although he couldn't bring himself to try to save him either, knowing that his death would lead to his ultimate destiny in claiming Excalibur and finally ruling the underworld and ultimately the world. He was the most powerful being ever created after all, and he couldn't understand why his family didn't see what was so obvious to him.
Wyatt removed the telekinetic grip he had on the young girl's throat, and she dropped to the ground gasping for breath.
"Tell me what I want to know now, Seer, or you will join that pile of ashes over there," Wyatt demanded.
The terrified girl looked up at him. "If I tell you what I have seen, you will still kill me. That is what I have seen."
"If you don't tell me, I will kill you anyway. Have you seen that as well?" Wyatt asked her in a mocking tone.
"Yes," she replied, realising her fate was sealed no matter what she said.
"Then tell me. How long before my brother dies and I become master of Excalibur?" Wyatt asked as he walked closer to her and reached out and grabbed her throat with his hands, lifting her up off the ground.
"Your brother has been saved," the seer managed to whisper in between gasps of breath.
Wyatt immediately released his grip, surprised by this news. "What do you mean he has been saved?"
The Seer, now able to talk more loudly continued, "he has been saved, tonight, by the Charmed Ones and the Elders. The magic that cursed him has been reversed, he is still the true ruler of Excalibur."
"How is that possible?" he asked himself as he turned his back on the Seer and walked towards the other side of the cave. "This was my destiny, I know this was my destiny. How could they do this to me?"
While Wyatt was preoccupied with the information she had just given him, the Seer took the opportunity to try to escape. Without even turning around, Wyatt put his hand out and stopped her by freezing her. A handy power he had inherited from his Mother later in his life, and one he had used mainly to amuse himself by half freezing and then torturing demons.
Casually he walked over to the Seer, frozen in mid stride in her futile attempt to escape. He looked at her, shaking his head, and then unfroze her. "Why did you run, you silly girl, surely you were able to see what I would do?"
Wyatt, in his arrogance, did not wait for her to answer, but started to walk away and with a quick flick of his wrist, which looked like an after thought, the frightened girl was engulfed by flames, her screams only lasting for mere seconds before her ashes fell nice and neatly next to the big pile already near the entrance to the cave.
The Seer already forgotten, Wyatt began to carefully plan his next move.
The Halliwell family had gathered in the kitchen. The mood was light and happy as the girls discussed the impending nuptials.
"So, I suppose it's full steam ahead for the wedding plans, now," Phoebe asked to no one in particular.
Jeni looked at Chris as she answered, "That's if Chris still wants to marry me."
Everyone stopped what they were doing, surprised by Jeni's response. All eyes were on Chris as he said, "Why would I not want to marry you?"
Jeni, embarrassed by the sudden attention, nevertheless continued, "well, I thought now that the other Chris is a part of you, maybe you needed some time to sort things out. I mean, the other Chris was also engaged, wasn't he? Maybe you still have feelings for her."
"Oh, I'd forgotten about her," said Piper.
"I can't even remember her name," said Paige.
"Didn't it start with a B?" Phoebe asked.
"Bianca. Her name was Bianca," Chris said giving his aunts a look which said 'but out', then he continued, "and, no, I don't still have feelings for her. To be honest, I barely remember her. It happened, what, about a year before I was born? It's going to take me a while to sort through all the memories, they're a little mixed up at the moment." He turned to look back at Jeni, "my feelings for you haven't changed, and I'm still the same person you fell in love with. I have more memories now, but I can assure you there has only ever been one of me. The Chris who died in the past and me are the same person, it's just like I've lived two lives. I don't even know what happened to Bianca, I've never even met her this time around."
"We do," said Phoebe suddenly.
"Phoebe!" Chastised Piper.
"What? I think he's old enough to know the truth. It's not like we did anything wrong. She was a demon after all." Phoebe said in her defence.
"Mum, what's Phoebe talking about?" Chris asked, now very curious.
Piper looked at Leo for support.
"We wanted to make sure you didn't make the same mistake again, as you did the first time around," Leo started to say.
"Okay, so what did you do?" Chris asked, wondering where this was leading.
"We tracked her down to check out what she was doing," Piper continued.
"And we weren't happy with what we found," Paige cut in.
"She was really evil, Chris, far worse than the first time we met her," Phoebe said trying to sound convincing.
"I suppose without your good influence she didn't have any hope," Piper said.
"Mum, just tell me what you did," Chris demanded, frustrated.
"She saw us, attacked us, and we," she took a breath, preparing herself, "we vanquished her," she finally said.
"How long ago?" Chris asked, surprised by this little revelation.
"Oh, maybe, about 5 years ago, I think." Piper said looking around at her sisters and Leo for confirmation. They all nodded.
"We were only trying to protect you Chris," Leo said trying to justify their actions.
"I know, Dad, but why didn't you tell me?" He asked.
"You didn't even know Bianca. We didn't see any reason to upset you." Piper said.
"I didn't know who she was, but I knew the other Chris was engaged, because you told me the stories of what happened when he was," Chris paused, then corrected himself, "when I was here the first time. It would have been nice to know that she had died."
Chris looked at his family, who all didn't really know what to say. He then looked at Jeni and noticed she seemed uncomfortable with this conversation.
"But, I do understand you had my best interests at heart," he said as he looked around at them all, "as you always have, so I think we'll just leave it at that. As I said before, I barely remember her anyway, and now I've found Jeni, it all doesn't matter anyway."
"So where did you two meet?" Phoebe asked, trying to change the subject.
"At Magic School," Jeni answered.
"Have you worked there long?" Phoebe asked, Jeni.
"I've lived there nearly all my life," she answered.
"Jeni's parents were killed when she was just a baby. Her father was considering becoming a teacher there, but had decided not to take the position when they were caught in the crossfire of some sort of supernatural battle. We found Jeni unharmed, and took her in. She was the first magical orphan at the school." Paige explained.
"Wow. I'm so sorry about your parents," Phoebe sympathised.
"I believe that things happen for a reason," Jeni said. "I would never have met Chris if my parents hadn't died, because my father had decided not to take the job at Magic School and we were going to move to London. My life would have been very different."
They were all thinking about what Jeni had just said when the oven bell went off. "Why don't you and Chris go and set the table, while we finish off in here," Piper suggested to Leo. "Dinner won't be long."
Leo agreed and he and Chris headed into the dining room as instructed.