"Lord Wyatt has managed to imprison three more witches this evening after a police raided a so called apothecary that was, in fact, dispensing ingredients to practitioners of magic. This brings the number captured to almost one hundred, and Lord Wyatt's forces are working around the clock to capture even more. We can all sleep a little easier tonight with the knowledge that Lord Wyatt shows no signs of relenting. And, as the Christmas season approaches…"
The man switched off his television and gave a loud yawn. It had been a long day and, although it was only eight o'clock, he was just about ready for bed.
The reporter had been right; he was going to sleep a little better tonight, knowing that Lord Wyatt was out there protecting the city. He had always been a man who believed in order and regulation; and those were two things which Wyatt had provided. He was slowly getting rid of the witches which threatened the well being of all regular people- and along the way, he had won the hearts and minds of many.
The thing that was somewhat bothersome was the fact that Lord Wyatt himself possessed the magic which he was claiming to purge the city of. In a series of interviews, he had explained that he was the son of an angel and 'a charmed one'…which sounded suspiciously like a witch. But he had also stated that his mother and her two sisters were the most powerful beings in existence- who had secretly fought to protect all innocents…a job which Lord Wyatt had now inherited. They may have been similar to witches, but they, like him, had fought for good…fought against the evil, dark witches who desired nothing more than power over all those weaker than themselves. That evening a fortnight ago had show how despicable most witches really were, and if Lord Wyatt had not arrived, San Francisco would probably be in chaos right now.
The man gave another loud sigh. He had personally witnessed some terrifying events that night. He had been taking an after dinner stroll in the park when a crazed witch had begun firing off blue balls of energy at everyone in the area. Luckily, he had managed to take refuge behind a tree to avoid injury, but the confusion and fear had welled up inside of him as it never had before. The situation had become even more bizarre when another figure arrived on the scene- a young man- who had disappeared into blue lights and managed to put a stop to the witch.
He had summoned up all of his courage and questioned the young man…
And the young man had claimed to be a 'guardian angel' before urging them all to return home.
He had taken the young mans advice, too confused to do other wise…and as he sat at home for the next few day, watching all of the news coverage, there was no doubt in his mind that the strange young man had not been lying to them. Lord Wyatt said that the blue light thing was the way in which angels traveled…but he had also said that he was the only one left…that the rest had been brutally murdered by witches…
That explanation did not seem to add up…the boy in the park had been an angel too…maybe Lord Wyatt had been lying…maybe everything he said was a lie….
No, that couldn't be…he had done so much good, he had protected them all. It was possible that he just didn't know about the other young man.
"John, are you coming to bed?" His wife's voice called, breaking him away from his thoughts.
"Yes honey, I'll be right up." He replied, turning off the lights in the living room and making his way up the stairs.
Despite his questions, he trusted Lord Wyatt. He had established order; he seemed genuinely concerned for their well being.
He was the king Arthur of the 21st century.
And because of him, the citizens of San Francisco could sleep easy tonight.
XXXXXXXXXXXX
"What do you think?" Bianca asked, holing up both a red and a green Christmas garland.
Chris looked briefly up from his book and gave a small shrug. "Don't care…red I guess."
She smiled. "Excellent, red is my favourite colour." The girl placed the green garland back in the box and proceeded to drape the red one around the small plastic tree she had found in her storage room. It had been years since she had actually decorated for Christmas…and years since she had spent it with anyone else. Despite everything that was going on around them, she hoped that she would be given one day just to enjoy the company of the man she loved.
They had had a hectic two weeks and this was one of the first afternoons they had managed to get some time alone…and even now, Chris continued to work. They were yet to formulate a sure way to rescue the witches that Wyatt had taken- but the contacts they had established in the underworld had assured them that most were still alive. Wyatt seemed to enjoy keeping them locked up- only making examples of them when absolutely necessary. There was still a chance that they could all be saved…and they knew that the sooner they came up with a plan the better.
"What about a portal?" Chris muttered, flipping through the pages of the old book he had borrowed from magic school. "We find someone who can open a portal directly into the prison and send them all to safety before Wyatt has time to react."
Bianca turned to face him. He looked exhausted and pale, and she wished that there was something she could do to stop him from over working himself. She knew, however, that it was simply in Chris' stubborn nature not to relax until he had done all that he could. "I don't know if a portal will work." She replied. "We could try, but I'm guessing that he's anticipated it."
Chris sighed. "Yes, you're right. He's probably thought of everything." He moved the book aside and placed his head in his hands. "I don't know what to do Bianca, we've all been researching for two weeks, non stop, and everything we've come up with had failed. And everyday Wyatt is winning more and more support…even if we do rescue the witches they'll be hunted down by the authorities. Everyone is convinced that Wyatt is good and witches are evil."
He was right; after magic had been exposed, Wyatt had managed to charm people into thinking that he was their rightful protector. There were still sceptics, but in general, the people absorbed his every word.
The girl placed down the ornament she was holding and moved over to Chris' side. "You can't beat yourself up over this Chris." She began, placing an arm around his back. "We'll find a way…but you do need to take a break every so often or you'll wear yourself out."
There was a pause as Chris thought over what she had said. As much as he wanted to keep researching, he was reaching a point when the words on the page were making no sense.
"Fine." He replied, closing the book. "I'll take the night off. But I'm getting up early tomorrow to meet with dad; he says he has something to discuss with me…maybe he's come up with something."
Bianca could not suppress her happiness; Chris was actually taking her advice for once. "Great!" She exclaimed, getting up and heading back towards the tree. "You can help me decorate."
He gave her a weak smile and followed her across the room. "I can't remember the last time I decorated a Christmas tree." He stated, lacing his arm around Bianca's waist.
"Me neither."
They both stared ahead in silence as they tried to recall happy memories of their childhoods. There were few to be found.
"My mother hated holidays." Bianca began quietly. "She said they were a senseless waste of time and energy. We once went over to my grandmother's house- she had gone soft in her old age- I remember her house being pretty, and full of lights." She paused and gazed distantly out the window. "I still miss my mother though, around the holidays. She may not have been good at the parenting thing…but she did love me, I know that. She died just before Christmas- if I had been older, I would have tacked down whoever did it…but I was twelve…I still don't know what happened."
Chris nodded and gave her a sympathetic look. "When we're done dealing with Wyatt, we'll figure it out who did it Bianca. We'll figure out what happened…"
"I'd like that." She muttered, before cutting him off with a deep kiss. "So what about you? What do you remember about Christmas?"
Chris smiled. "We'd usually summon my Grams and Great Grams on Christmas Day. But the holidays were never really that happy- some sort of demon would take my mother and aunts away from the celebrations- and even when it was a quiet year, my mother would get depressed and sit for hours, calling for my father to come. She missed him so much, and she always hoped that he would be able to take a few hours off to visit his family for Christmas."
"Did he?"
"Once. It's kind of hard to remember, I was only five. He came on Christmas morning and mom was thrilled. He even brought presents. That was defiantly my best Christmas."
Bianca smiled and gave him a light kiss on the cheek. Even though Chris still denied it, it was evident that he loved his father- no matter what he had– or hadn't- done.
"I'll never let that happen Bianca." He whispered, placing a gentle hand on her stomach. "Daddy will always be there for you, little guy." He said, addressing her torso with a slight smirk.
Bianca gave a small giggle. "I know that Chris. You'd never leave us."
He nodded in agreement. "Never."
He had only known that Bianca was pregnant for two weeks, but he already felt a strong sense of protectiveness over the child. The knowledge that they had created something so wonderful, as a symbol of their love, filled him with such joy even in these dark times. By this time next year he would be the proud father of a precious little baby, and he would do everything in his power to keep him or her safe.
"All of the lights are broken." Bianca stated with a sigh as she bent down and unplugged the last faulty strand. "I guess we'll have a pretty boring tree."
Chris glanced at the rather pathetic plastic pine. It was crooked, bent, and quite obviously fake. The ornaments she had put on were all a bit worn and dusty.
It was sad tree indeed.
He smiled as he was struck by a sudden idea. "I think a little magical help may be necessary." He said, shooting Bianca a mischievous look.
"Chris-" she began in a warning tone. The last thing they needed was the backlash of magic used for personal gain.
"Don't worry Bianca." He cut in.
Holding his hands out in front of him he concentrated, and several seconds later a mass of beautiful blue orbs appeared- sparkling like stars in the night sky. With another gesture of his hands, they were sent flying into the tree, and dispersed themselves among the branches.
"It's beautiful." Bianca whispered, taking a step back to admire his work. In only a minute the tree had gone from plain to heavenly. The orbs glimmered brightly, drawing her eye away from everything else on it. "Perfect."
He gave a slight chuckle. "Thanks. And don't worry about the personal gain…that only applies to Wiccan powers."
"Good to know…" She paused and an impish glint flashed in her eyes. "So, since you've decided to take a break this evening, why don't we make the most of it…?"
Chris grinned widely as he realized what she was implying. "I think that's a brilliant idea." He replied, wrapping his arms around her and preparing to orb them out.
They had just started to dissolve when a loud thump from across the room caused them to rematerialize.
"Grandpa?" Chris gasped as he caught sight of the bloodied figure that had made the noise. Victor had appeared, grievously injured, on the living room floor, his eyes clouded over in pain.
"Wy..Wyatt." He groaned, rolling over onto his side.
With out hesitation, Chris rushed over to his grandfather and desperately began to heal him with a golden glow. For several seconds nothing appeared to be happening, but thankfully the power eventually began to take effect. The various wounds on the old mans body began to close, and he was soon as good as new.
Chris gave a sigh of relief, and both he and Bianca helped the man sit up.
"What happened?" Chris asked, searching his grandfathers eyes for some indication of what had gone wrong.
"Wyatt." He replied, sombrely looking down at the floor. "He orbed into the manor just as I was finishing up dinner, and he and his demon lackeys demanded that I get out. I told them that it was my house now, so they bashed me around for a little bit before Wyatt ordered them to stop and orbed me away. It's lucky that I landed here."
Bianca placed a comforting hand on the man's shoulder; it was evident from his voice that he had been badly shaken by the experience.
Chris had gone deathly pale and he stood up abruptly, pacing the room in anger.
"I'm gonna kill that bastard!" he exclaimed, his usually gentle eyes flashing with rage. "How dare he hurt his own grandfather. How dare he…"
"Chris," Victor cut in, worried for his youngest grandson's sanity. "You have to calm down, please don't do anything stupid…I'm okay, thanks to you, that's what matters."
"But he hurt you!" Chris shouted, his anger making him incapable of rational thought. His grandfather meant so much to him…the thought of loosing him was almost too much to handle.
He should have been there.
He should have stopped it.
"I can't let him get away with this!"
Bianca did not know how to react. She had seen Chris get angry…but she had never seen it get this bad. It was as if he was possessed by his own rage. Small bolts of blue lightening were crackling in his fingers- she could almost feel the magical tension he was emitting.
He had been pushed too far.
"IT ENDS HERE!" he roared, over come with emotion.
With that, he orbed out of the room before Victor or Bianca could stop him- set on taking his revenge on Wyatt.
XXXXXXXXXXX
Chris orbed into the manor. He could sense that his brother was still there.
There was only one thought echoing in his head.
'Kill Wyatt.' It screamed. 'Kill him for what he did.'
Somewhere in the back of his mind he knew that he was being stupid; he was no match for the twice blessed. But he had to try…no one hurt his grandfather and got away with it…not even his brother.
A demon shimmered into the room, knife in hand, poised to attack. "Who the hell are you?" he asked in a low raspy voice.
Chris gave him no answer and with a bolt of lightening, fuelled by his immense rage, he blasted the creature into oblivion. Stepping over the smoking pile of ash, he began to walk towards the stairs.
He could sense Wyatt.
He was in the attic.
Four more demons shimmered into the room; blocking his path and causing more anger to bubble up inside of him. Wyatt knew he was here- he would be able to sense it…
"Come and face me Wyatt" Chris shouted, looking up towards the ceiling.
"No one gets to Lord Wyatt without getting through us first." The largest of the demons stated, taking a step towards the young man and peering down at him menacingly. "Who are you and what do you want?"
He gave a slight smirk. "Christopher Halliwell, and I want all of you dead."
Chris took advantage of their shock and managed to vanquish two of the four with more lightening bolts. Their screams of pain gave him great satisfaction; they deserved what they got after harming his grandfather. "Tell Wyatt his brother wishes to speak with him." He said coolly, advancing on the other two.
To his surprise they did not back down; demons may have been evil, but they usually fled when they realized that their death was near. They merely crossed their arms across their chests and continued to stare him down. "Fine, don't tell him." Chris muttered, telekinetically sending a knife one of the others had dropped into the demon on the right- causing him to burst into yellow flames.
The remaining demon looked fearfully down at his comrade and powered up a fireball. Chris orbed out of its path and appeared behind the brute, finishing him off with a blast of energy.
Drawing several deep breaths, he looked down at the scorch marks on the floor. It had felt good to take out some of his pain and anger. He had been holding so much of it in for so long.
Now, it was time to move on to his ultimate goal…
The sound of a single person clapping suddenly echoed from the stairwell.
"Very good Chris." A familiar voice stated. "I can see that you've been practicing."
Chris turned around abruptly and found himself face to face with Wyatt- the man who had been the cause of all of his rage.
He could hardly breathe.
This was it.
One of them was going to meet their death tonight.
"I always had you pegged as a weakling, Christopher. You used to hate vanquishes, and I was ever so disappointed when you chose to take on whitelighter duties…but I see now that you can kill when you have too. You're very good at it…mom would be proud."
"Don't you dare bring her into this." Chris spit back, not taking his green eyes off Wyatt's grey ones. "The only person I will take pleasure in killing is you."
Wyatt gave a small flinch, but he managed to keep his cool. "I'm sorry to hear that." He stated evenly. "I still love you Chris…I'm still willing to let you join me."
"Join you?" he scoffed. "After what you did to grandpa?"
"The demons did that…I stopped them…I sent him to you."
Chris was in no mood to hear his brother's excuses. "What kind of person throws an old man out of his house? His own grandfather? Do you even feel human emotion anymore, Wyatt?"
"It's my house. It always has been. I'm the oldest; it went to me…I've just been letting him stay in it. But now, I need it back."
"Why?" Chris asked heatedly "So you can set up your new evil head quarters?"
Wyatt gave a small laugh and took a few steps away from his brother, glancing around their old ancestral home. "No, Chris." He began slowly. "I am going to make it into a museum."
The younger brother was taken aback- this had certainly not been the answer he was expecting. "A…a museum?" he stuttered. "Why?"
"It will help solidify my power. It will be a tribute to the charmed ones- and humans from all over can visit it- reminding them all of the power from which I was born…from which we were born."
Chris' eyes darted around the room as he tried to imagine his childhood home as a tourist attraction.
"We're both special Chris." Wyatt continued, approaching him once more. "Our family is unlike any other…it is only right that we rule over those less powerful then us…"
"There is no 'us' Wyatt!" Chris exclaimed. "I refuse to get involved in your sick little plans for world domination. I don't know how many times I have to tell you that…. just because you have enough power to vanquish anything you want does not mean that you have the right to control people's lives."
"Yes Chris, it does." Wyatt countered his tone still steady. "And we both have that power." He gestured silently to the four marks on the floor that had once been demons. "We are the same Chris, and there are no others like us. It is…"
"That's enough!" The younger brother roared. Wyatt's last comment had pushed him too far; he wasn't like Wyatt…he never would be…
With a wave of his hand he sent Wyatt flying into a near by wall; the force of the mans body breaking the old grandfather clock upon impact.
Wyatt slowly stood back up and squared his shoulders- "I can not tolerate this behaviour Christopher." He warned, advancing towards him.
The boy ignored the comment and sent a bolt of lightening at his brother's chest.
Unfortunately, Wyatt was prepared his time and he managed to block the attack with his shield. "That is enough." He stated, and with a wave of his own hand, Chris was sent hurling back into the coffee table.
Chris could feel the blood seeping down his back; the wood had splintered under his weight and pierced his skin painfully.
"You can't defeat me." Wyatt said with annoyance as he walked over to his brother. "Your attempts grow tiresome."
Chris tried to sit up and look him in the eye, but a burning pain shot through him when he moved.
"This was your last chance." The older brother continued. "I can no longer guarantee that I will not hurt those you love most."
A sickening fear rushed through Chris' body and the consequences of his actions suddenly hit him.
In his rage he had come here to face Wyatt.
And now he had put others in danger.
His grandfather…his father…Bianca…
At least Wyatt didn't know about the baby, there was no doubt that the child would be the first to go.
With a cool expression, Wyatt bent down and slowly healed his brother. "Leave now Chris. Leave now and I won't hurt you."
Wordlessly Chris stood up, knowing that of he stayed any longer he would only be risking more pain. He had been foolish to think that he could stand up to Wyatt alone.
Chris began to orb out, but was stopped suddenly by an invisible force.
Wyatt had pulled him back; a small smirk was now playing across his face.
"Before you go, I just wanted to tell you to wish Bianca good luck with the pregnancy. I hear that the morning sickness is really bad in the third month…"
Released form his bothers hold, Chris instantly left the manor; a deep fear growing inside of him.
Wyatt knew…
XXXXXXXXXXX
Later that evening, Wyatt stood up in the attic flipping through the book of shadows. He was enjoying his time, reminiscing as he looked through the old magical tome that had been in his family for generations.
He was still reeling from his encounter with Chris, and he felt regret over what had happened to Victor- not because he was concerned for the old man's well being, but because it had pushed Chris farther away from him.
There was no doubt that he would have to resort to the plan he had formulated…the plan which involved manipulating both Chris and Bianca until they had cracked beyond repair....
Something caught his eye as he continued to flip the dusty pages.
Something that would be of some use.
'Phoenix' the title of the page said in large black letters.
He began to read the entry, which turned out to contain facts he already knew from talking with Elizabeth; the leader of the coven….but the bottom of the page contained things that he had not been aware of.
He recognised his mother's neat script and he scanned the list that she had written many years ago. It seemed that the sisters had vanquished quite a few members of the coven back in 2014, and had recorded the names of those they had eliminated.
Wyatt read over the first ten names, all of which were completely meaningless to him…
But as read the eleventh and final name, his heart to almost stop beating.
"Lynn Perry." His mother had written in tiny scrawl, and next to the name she had continued with "Chris' first vanquish."
Wyatt began to laugh quietly as he realized what this meant.
Lynn Perry was Bianca's mother…
…and Chris had been the one to vanquish her.
It was all too perfect.
This little tidbit of information would undoubtedly work to his advantage…
His victory suddenly felt very near.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
A/N That's one of the big surprises I've hinted to earlier, muhahaha, evil twist, I know.
Hope you like it, I think this is my longest chapter yet. Oh, and if it wasn't clear, the first part of this chapter were the thoughts of the man who questioned Chris at the park the night magic was exposed…I just wanted to give some insight into how an average person was viewing Wyatt's uprising.
PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE REVIEW!
phoebe turner- thanks, happy to know that you are still reading after all this time.
Quillsandbolts- So glad that you enjoyed the last chapter! Yes, Leo, Chris, Bianca and Katie are certainly the base of the resistance…and you'll have to wait and see how long magic school lasts. Thanks for reading!
