The previous occupants of Wyatt's underworld cave screamed as they disappeared in a ball of flames, ashes falling into a neat pile near the entrance.
"Now this place feels more like home," Wyatt said to himself as he looked around.
Wyatt's first instinct had been to take refuge in the familiar surroundings of this cave and he was relieved to have been able to locate it so easily. Here he could clear his mind and think about his next move. When he thought back to the events following his arrival, he cursed himself, and he cursed Chris. He was angry at himself for threatening the baby version of his younger brother, before he had thought through all the possible consequences. Chris had been right, Wyatt wouldn't be alive today without him so killing him as a baby would have only resulted in both of them ceasing to exist.
Even though he knew he was more powerful than Chris, he also knew that on occasion, he was more impulsive. Chris had always been the voice of reason as they were growing up, which had both saved Wyatt, and annoyed him. Chris seemed to revel in playing the role of Wyatt's conscience, always telling him right from wrong when it was obvious Wyatt was so past that. The power of Excalibur was all that mattered to him now, and that was what he had to focus all his energy on. Unfortunately his family would now be prepared for him, so he had to plan his next move very carefully. He was sure that Chris would foolishly start training with Excalibur soon, but that would only alert him as he still felt its power. Now he needed to rest, and then he would gain some demonic support for his attack. Timing was everything. This time he would think everything through very carefully.
"I know it's around here somewhere," Piper said as she looked behind some boxes in the attic. "Maybe we should be asking Paige, as she was the one who orbed it up here."
Leo and Chris were also rummaging around searching for Excalibur.
"I can't believe you don't know where it is!" Chris said, exasperated.
"There's been a lot going on lately," Leo explained, trying to justify.
"Besides," Piper added, "We didn't think Wyatt would be using it for a long time. Sharp objects and children do not mix well."
After saying that, she had a thought and then voiced it.
"Maybe Paige orbed it up high so Wyatt couldn't reach it," she said moving a box to stand on.
"Mum, that doesn't make any sense, Wyatt can orb," Chris said sounding increasingly frustrated.
"Maybe it doesn't make sense, Chris" she agreed, "But," she said pointing to an object covered by a blanket right at the back on top of the cupboard, "There it is."
She then turned to Leo, "Leo, could you please," Piper started to ask, but Chris interrupted.
"I'll get it down," he said as he motioned toward it and the object disappeared in a cloud of orbs, reappearing a second later in front of him.
Chris immediately removed the blanket, and unfortunately, a huge cloud of dust came with it. He coughed, and then using both hands tried to fan the dust away.
"You weren't kidding when you said you hadn't touched it, or dusted it, since it was orbed up here!" He choked out.
"You try raising two kids, running a nightclub and fighting evil everyday!" Piper snapped at Chris. "Dusting a freakin' sword in a rock on top of a cupboard in the attic is not on top of my list of priorities." She added losing her patience.
"Stone, Piper," Leo corrected her.
Piper turned to look at Leo, not believing what he had just said.
"Rock? Stone? Whatever!" She yelled back at him. Leo, wisely, remained silent.
"Anyway," she continued. "We've found it. Now what are we going to do with it?"
"Maybe Chris should start training," Leo suggested.
"As soon as I pull the sword free from the stone, Wyatt will sense it," Chris warned.
"He'll be coming after it anyway, it would be better if you were prepared," Leo advised.
"Okay, good point, but who would train me?" Chris asked. Leo looked to Piper.
"Me?" She exclaimed. "No way! I'm not going anywhere near that thing, you know what happened last time."
"Piper, you're the only one who has had any experience using Excalibur. You don't have to touch it, just teach Chris everything you were taught," Leo reasoned with her, then he turned to Chris, "She was a natural, you know."
Before Chris could answer, Piper cut in, "You think so?"
"Definitely," Leo answered confidently, and then added, "I was very impressed with the way you handled it, oh, except for the part where you wanted to kill us all and take over the world."
"I would have loved to have been here, it was a shame you had me out looking for more demons after Wyatt," Chris said.
"She probably would have just tried to kill you too," Leo said to Chris while looking at Piper out of the corner of his eye waiting for a reaction. Piper wasn't taking the bait; however, she just looked at him and half smiled.
"Okay, enough reminiscing. I suppose if there's no one else who can train you then we don't have much choice." Piper conceded. "It's getting late, so we'll start tomorrow."
"Fine," Chris agreed.
"Great, now everything has been worked out, I'll get the boys from Magic School and get them ready for dinner." Leo said.
"Great and I'll get dinner started. Phoebe and Paige have a lot of catching up to do." Piper said as she starting walking toward the door.
"Wait," Chris called out to her. "I don't suppose you kept any of my clothes; I would really like to have a shower and get changed."
Piper turned to him, "Sure, they are still in the box we packed at P3 before we thought we were sending you home."
"Thanks, I'll be back soon," Chris said before he orbed out.
"But," Piper started to say, but it was too late, Chris had already gone.
Chris materialized a few seconds later in his mother's office at the back of her nightclub, P3. He paused for a minute looking around at what had been his home for nearly two years. Everything he was going through just seemed so surreal to him at the moment. Unfortunately, he did not have the luxury of analyzing his feelings; he just had to get on with the job at hand. He looked around the room and spied the box still in the same corner where he and his mother had placed it after packing. Chris smiled as he remembered that day with his mum helping him pack up all the clothes he had accumulated during his unexpectedly long stay. She had stood next to him, very pregnant and teary eyed, folding up his clothes and placing them neatly in the box, promising to give it away to some charity after his departure. Obviously she either hadn't gotten around to doing it yet, or she couldn't bring herself to, considering how he ended up leaving. Suddenly his thoughts were interrupted as the door to the office was flung open. Chris jumped at the unexpected intrusion which resulted in Paige, who was the person walking through the door, jumping also in a startled response.
"Oh! Chris!" She exclaimed. "My god, you scared me. I didn't know you were going to be here," she said to him.
"Sorry," he apologized, trying to regain his composure, "I just came for some of my old clothes. I won't be long."
"No, that's fine. I'm just doing some Magic School stuff. Actually, it's good that you're here, I need to go back to Magic School for a few minutes to pick up some paperwork, but I'm expecting some people to arrive any minute. Could you look out for them for me?" She asked.
"No problem," Chris said.
"Great, I'll be back soon, thanks." Paige said and then orbed out.
Chris turned his attention back to the box and started going through the clothes. He'd pulled out a few things when he heard someone call out. He walked over to the door and could see a young couple walking down the stairs to the club.
"Hi, can I help you?" Chris asked, making sure they were the people Paige was waiting for.
"Yes, we're looking for Paige Matthews. I hope we have the right address, we're supposed to be meeting her at five o'clock," said the man.
"Yes, you're in the right place," Chris said as he noticed for the first time the woman was holding a baby seat. "She's just popped out for a moment, she won't be long."
The woman started to thank him, but Chris was not paying attention as two demons had just materialized behind the young couple.
"Look out!" He shouted as he pushed both of them to the floor, the baby seat, with a small baby inside, being flung across the room in the process. Two fireballs just missed the fleeing group, hitting the wall behind them.
Chris recovered quickly and used his telekinetic powers to fling one of the demons across the room, hitting a wall heavily and falling unconscious to the floor. The second demon was about to attack again when Paige appeared and immediately seeing the danger she orbed a knife that had been left on the bar into him, vanquishing him instantly. The first demon had now regained consciousness, but chose to shimmer out before either Chris or Paige could dispose of him.
"What happened?" Paige asked as she helped them up.
"My baby," was all the concerned woman could say as she ran to the baby seat still upright on the floor.
Her husband immediately joined her, "Is she okay?" he frantically asked.
The baby, still securely strapped into her seat, was not even crying.
"Oh, thank god, she seems fine," the incredibly relieved woman uttered.
"He saved our life, that's what happened," the man said, finally answering Paige's question. "Thank you, so much," he added.
"I was happy to help, and I'm glad your baby's okay," Chris said.
"Do you know who or why you were attacked?" Paige asked.
"That's part of what we came here to say," the man started to explain. "It appears we are being pursued by a demonic clan, and I don't know why. The answers apparently lie in London with some historical family documents, so I am moving my family there to live, in hope of finally resolving everything. I'm sorry if we wasted your time, but I won't be able to take the job you offered me at Magic School."
"Wait," Chris interrupted, "you were going to work at Magic School?"
"Possibly," the man answered.
"That's what I thought today's interview was all about," Paige added. "I'm sorry that circumstances are preventing you from joining our school, I'm sure you…"
Before Paige could finish, Chris interrupted again, this time more urgently and sounding like he was starting to panic. "No, you don't understand, I need to know a few things. You were going to have an interview about being a teacher at Magic School," he said looking at the man.
"Yes, that's right," the man agreed.
"Chris, what's going on?" Paige asked.
"And you were attacked by demons, and your daughter was pushed clear and her name is Jeni, isn't it?" He asked, almost dreading the answer.
"Yes, it is, but how did you know that?" Asked the woman.
Chris put his hands up to his forehead and cursed, "I don't believe this, I don't believe this," he said incredulously. "This can't be happening!"
"Chris, what is going on?" Paige asked frustrated at his lack of response.
Chris ignored Paige, instead turning all his attention to the parents of his future fiancé.
"Please, you have to listen to me, this is very important; you have to take that job in Magic School. My future and her future," he said pointing to the baby the woman was now holding, "depend on it."
The man looked at him and then looked at Paige, "What is he talking about?" he asked perplexed.
"I have no idea," Paige answered.
Chris looked at the three of them staring at him in stunned disbelief and tried desperately to think of a way of explaining that by him saving their lives he had just prevented his baby self from ever growing up and meeting Jeni, the love of his life.
Finally the man said, "We are very grateful that you saved our lives, but unfortunately, as I have explained we cannot possible stay here any longer, our very lives are at stake as you have just witnessed."
"But," Chris started to say.
"I'm sorry," the man repeated and then turned to Paige, "I would be forever grateful if you could orb us directly back to our apartment where we have arranged magical transportation to London this evening."
"Absolutely, it's the least I can do," Paige replied.
"Please," Chris pleaded, "Consider my request, or at least consider coming back in the future when everything is sorted out." As he spoke he looked down at the baby happy and content in her seat and thought of his fiancé in the future.
"Thank you, once again" the woman said to Chris
The man did not acknowledge Chris' request, but just nodded toward him as they all disappeared in a cloud of orbs.
"What have I done?" Chris asked himself solemnly.
And then in an over exaggerated arm movement, he telekinetically threw a stool from near the bar at high speed to the opposite wall, smashing it into tiny pieces.