Author's Note: Hey guys. I absolutely loved this chapter when I finally got around to writing it. We're really close to the end now. I can't see it being more than one or two chapters after this, so enjoy! Thank you for all of your WONDERFUL support!
"Leo!" Phoebe tried again.
The Elder finally orbed into the room with a handful of collar with a guilty-looking boy attached.
"Jordan!" he exclaimed, seeing the unconscious White Lighter.
"That's what I was trying to tell you," the boy protested. "She's okay now; I healed her. But, um, they know about her now. And me."
"And that's why I didn't let you finish telling me."
"What the hell is this all about?" Wyatt demanded, looking from his mother to his father and back and forth.
"Well, Wyatt," Paige tried to smile, "This is your little brother Chris."
"Hey, big bro."
Wyatt paused for a moment. "Has anything you guys've ever told me in life been true?! How do I have a little brother?"
"Now that's a long story," Phoebe started.
"Mom?" Wyatt asked of Piper, looking to her with a furrowed brow. "Why doesn't he live with us?"
"It's complicated, Wyatt," Leo began.
"Think of it as a divorce with a custody case, except this one was decided by the other Elders and not a judge," Chris explained, trying to seem as smooth as possible while being nearly lifted off the ground by the nape of his neck. "Dad got to raise me Up There because the Elders decided it was best for you to be raised down here."
"Why?"
"Because you're special, Wyatt. You have a destiny," Jordan's voice interjected into the conversation.
They all turned to see her propping herself up on her elbows.
"Hey, take it easy," Chris warned, wrestling from his father's grip and reaching a hand out to steady her. She used her grip on his arm to pull herself to her feet.
"Don't mother me," she scolded, taking a deep breath. "I'm a lot older than you."
Chris shot her an annoyed look, but let her continue to walk towards Wyatt. When they were close enough, she gently took Wyatt's hand in hers.
"Let me show you something," she whispered, her green eyes searching for contact with his blue gaze.
He fought it. Every inch of him fought it. She had lied to him and... betrayed him. But she held too much power over him. Just being close to her overpowered every rational, reasonable thought process and brought every cell in his body to full awareness of her.
"Jordan, don't do this," Leo warned. "He's not ready."
"How would you know?" she asked, eyes still locked with Wyatt's, her voice still soft and commanding. "You've observed, but you don't know him yet."
"Jordan, I thought we had to wait," Chris started, eyes widening as he realized what she was about to do.
"He knows half of it. He should know it all." She paused and shut the rest of them out, focused solely on Wyatt. "Will you let me show you?"
"Show me what?"
"Your future. Your destiny."
He closed his eyes and squeezed her hand.
"You have to trust me, Wy. I know you don't have any reason to. I know I've hurt you so much, Wyatt. But I promise this is for the best." Her voice dropped even lower, for his ears only. "I love you, Wy."
He took a deep breath, memorizing her words, imprinting this moment into his memory.
"Show me." He opened his eyes.
The corners of her mouth quirked up slightly and she orbed them away.
They materialized in a world of lush green, rolling hills and idyllic forests. Before them there was a stone with a sword thrust into its heart. Around the stone, three little men rested on small staffs and hummed merrily.
"Ay, Jordan, good to see you. Who's the lad?" the tallest one asked. He came barely past Wyatt's knee. The twice-blessed teenager recognized the men as leprechauns.
"This is Wyatt Halliwell, Finnegan."
The little men stood bolt upright at attention, and then bowed lowly before him.
"Forgive us, Milord. We've not seen you since you were but a babe," the one on the right said quickly.
"Jordan…" Wyatt started, feeling even more confused than before.
"Guys, get up. He doesn't know yet."
"Nay, lassie. We can't get up in the presence of the Heir to Excalibur. Not until he say it."
"Heir to Excalibur?! What are we talking about?"
"Give us a moment, guys." She pulled Wyatt off to the side.
"Jordan, what the hell is going on?"
"Do you remember Phoebe reading the King Arthur story to you when you were little?"
"Yes, and it's freaky that you do, too."
"I know," she said with remorse. "But that's for later. Do you remember what she told you about his sword?"
"Excalibur… He was destined to draw the sword out of a stone and become the next king of Camelot."
Jordan nodded towards the stone. "Feeling strong today?"
"But… Camelot and Arthur are just myths!"
"To the mortal world, yes. To the magical world, they're history. And history has a way of repeating itself."
Wyatt stared at the glimmering sword in its boulder and tried desperately to process all of this.
"He called me the Heir to Excalibur."
"Which means you're also the Heir to Camelot. It is your job to rebuild it. It's why these leprechauns guard the sword and the wood nymphs wove a magical spell around it to hide it from evil. If you draw that sword, like you are destined to, every magical being will bow to you."
"Every?"
"Good and evil yield to the power of the sword. Evil will not join you, but they will not oppose you, either."
"You're telling me that I'm the next King Arthur?" He sat on a nearby stone (this one was sword-less) and put his head in his hands.
"You feel it, don't you?" she asked quietly, hand on his shoulder. "The truth, the destiny. The ache to draw it. You've always known you were the Twice-Blessed Child. You just were never told what that completely meant."
"So what am I supposed to do, Jordan? Draw the sword and become king? Forget about my normal life? Forget about my friends and school and rule the magical world?"
"You can. Or you can deny this and let the sword wait for the next Heir while the world yearns for her king. Or you can draw the sword, finish high school, and rebuild Camelot."
"At the same time?"
"Your mother is a Charmed One and a human being, Wyatt. Yes, eventually, you will have to give up the normal life as you have known it. But not now. Reconstruction takes time."
"And my mom and aunts have known about this all along?"
"Since you were an infant."
"And you've known?"
"It's why I was sent to watch over you. It's why you're my only charge."
"Everyone I trust has known and not told me."
"Well, Casey didn't know," she tried.
He cast her a glance that said her attempt at humor didn't help.
"Look, Wy, I'm gonna cut the White Lighter crap and be honest with you, as your best friend and hopefully still more. This is a lot to handle and it is all very quick. This is why the Elders chose to have you raised with the sisters, so that you could know what it was like to be human and hopefully bring that experience with you to your reign. Letting Leo keep Chris Up There was the only fair trade."
"Do you know the whole story?"
"Yes. I was Up There the whole time. I'd become a White Lighter just a couple years before you were born. I was singled out to be the Twice-Blessed Child's guardian. But until the time when I was allowed to come down to you, I was set with the charge of helping to raise your younger brother."
She gave him a sidelong glance with her pale green eyes. He sighed. "Why did my parents split? And why did they tell me the Chris from the future was evil and vanquished?"
"So that you didn't have to know about the future he came from," she said quietly, turning away from him.
He grabbed her arm. "Jordan, tell me the whole story."
Jordan took a deep breath. "The world the future Chris came from was dark and bleak. The Charmed Ones were dead and one person ruled over everything with an iron hand and Excalibur at his side."
Wyatt loosened his grip on her and turned away.
"You were turned evil in that future, Wyatt. As a toddler you were kidnapped by a fallen Elder named Gideon. This happened in both our current future and the one Chris came to change. Except in Chris's, you were there for months, instinctively fighting off Gideon's attempts on your life, and in ours you were gone for not even an entire day. Your time in captivity scarred you and this reared its ugly head in your teens. Your dad was never around and, as the final straw, your mother was killed when you were fifteen. Life was bleak and you turned."
"But they changed that future. How?"
"Your father rescued you from Gideon. Future Chris was killed on the day your younger brother was born. It looked as if everything was going to turn out happily ever after and that your father was leaving the Elders. But you just can't walk away from being an Elder, no matter how much you want to. It's a calling without a choice. Your parents' reconciliation was genuine, but brief. The Elders decided to throw Leo a bone and let him keep his younger son when they recalled him."
"How in the world did Mom ever agree to that?"
"There is very little denying the Elders."
"So, my brother… is he a good kid?"
"The best. A lot like his big brother. He really looks up to you."
"The power of Excalibur, Jordan, will it tempt me to become what I was in the other future?"
"Of course," Jordan said simply, "But you have a loving mother, father, brother, aunts, and cousin who are going to do their best to support and guide you. And I, as your White Lighter, am here for that exact reason."
"What about as my girlfriend?"
Jordan looked up from staring at the beautiful landscape.
"I'll be reassigned. I was supposed to end it tonight. But I'm willing to clip my wings…"
Wyatt then fully understood how much he loved her. Here she was standing before him and seeking redemption. She was willing to sacrifice who she was to be with him. He couldn't let her do that.
"So these Elders," he grinned slightly, "When I pull that sword out of the stone, they will listen to me, too?"
"Of course," she answered, the beginnings of a grin on her face as well.
"So if I, the king of Camelot, want to be romantically involved with my White Lighter, I can be."
"I guess so."
His smile turned genuine. "Then what are we waiting for?"
"Wait," she grabbed his arm as he turned towards the stone. "You can't draw that sword for me. It has to be for you. You have to want it, to feel it, to understand that you will eventually lose your normalcy."
"Will you be there when the normalcy is gone?"
"I'm your White Lighter; you're stuck with me. Forever."
"Then I want, feel, and understand. This is my calling, Jordan. You were right. I can feel it in me. It's calling."
"Are you ready?"
He grabbed her hand and kissed her cheek. "Now I am."
Wyatt Matthew Halliwell, the Twice-Blessed Child and Heir to Excalibur and Camelot, held his love's hand with his left, placed his right hand on the hilt of the sword, and tugged.