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Chapter 4Paige had explained the whole situation to Phoebe before orbing back and had warned her that neither Chris nor Wyatt knew of what had happened the year before.
But as Phoebe laid eyes on Chris and the man who was standing next to him, who she knew had to be Wyatt, she couldn't help but go over to them and pull them both into a hug.
When she released them she had a good look at them both.
"Look at you two!" Phoebe said with a hint of pride in her voice as she saw her two nephews side-by-side and all grown up. Tear s were threatening to spill but Phoebe suppressed them. She was just so happy to have Chris back again and to have Wyatt at his side. She had always regretted ignoring Chris for the last couple of days that he was in the past, and then she had hurried into saying goodbye to him…
"So what are you two up to in the future?" Phoebe asked them hopefully. She knew that if this Chris was anything like the Chris she had known, she wouldn't get an answer in a million years, but it was worth a shot.
Chris and Wyatt looked at each other.
"We can't tell you that." Chris answered. "Anything we say could change the future."
Yep. That sure sounded familiar to Phoebe. Some things never change.
Wyatt looked at the disappointment on his parents and aunts´ faces and thought about what he had said earlier. Things could have already changed.
And then he had an idea. This way both his family would be happy and the timeline wouldn't alter.
"Maybe we can tell them, Chris"
Chris thought that Wyatt had lost it. Had he not heard anything of what their parents had told them over the years?
"But what about the timeline?" Chris asked him.
"Well, I've been thinking about that. The problem is that we may have already altered the timeline and there is only one way to change it back." Wyatt said.
"Well, how?" Paige asked him curiously.
"We'll make you a deal." Wyatt said as he looked at his parents and aunts. "We'll tell you anything you want to know about us if you promise to erase your memories of today when we return to our time."
"No, no, no. We are not erasing our memories! That's happened before and nothing good has ever come of it." Piper said dismissing the idea.
"Well then the future's screwed!" Chris said as he slumped back into the couch.
Paige had a major déjà vu and smiled slightly as she noticed that maybe Chris wasn't that different after all.
"Please, mom. This is the only way to keep the future from changing," Wyatt said "Please, do this for us."
Piper realized that she had no choice. It was ironic that now they were trying to preserve the future when the last time they had been trying so hard to change it.
Piper sighed and nodded her head.
Her sisters and husband nodded their agreement.
Wyatt let out the breath that he had been holding. One problem solved, about a thousand left to go.
"Ok. Let's go to the attic and check the book to see if we can find the demon that sent us here." Wyatt said getting back to business.
As he walked towards the stairs he felt the hairs on the back of his neck stand up.
They were being watched.
"Mom, freeze the room."
Piper did as she was told. She raised her hands and everything stayed the same except that Leo and Chris were frozen.
Piper unfroze them.
"Why didn't you freeze?" Paige asked Wyatt.
"He never freezes." Chris said grumpily.
"Why?"
"Because he's Wyatt" Chris said with a hint of jealousy in his voice.
Wyatt started to walk through the room, inspecting different objects until he stopped in front of a low cabinet.
"Is this yours?" He asked.
Phoebe walked towards it.
"No it's not." She answered.
"To help us solve this mystery,
show us so that we may see,
your true form you will take,
as to avoid a mistake." Wyatt chanted
The cabinet slowly shifted into the form of a man dressed in demonic black. He was still frozen.
"How did you know…?" Phoebe asked him in awe.
"He's a messenger. Probably sent by the demon we're looking for to see if we've arrived in this time." Wyatt said.
At that moment the demon burst in to flames.
"Did you do that?" Piper asked her eldest son.
"No, I didn't. I don't have my powers, remember?" Wyatt replied, "They must have known that we'd found him out."
"But now that they know that we're here," Chris said, "They'll start their attack."
"We need to get you two to Magic School." Piper said while she started to get worried for her two boys´ safety.
"No mom, we're not running away from this." Wyatt said as he looked at her. "We need to stay here to figure this out."
"But without your powers you could get hurt." Piper said in protest.
"I've been thinking about that." Chris said.
"About what?" Paige asked him curiously.
"About our powers." Chris continued.
"The younger versions of you have got them Chris. Remember the time-travel rule." Phoebe said as she sighed.
"Yes, I do remember the rule. It states that only one version of you can have your powers in the same time," Chris said " But it never said which version." Chris said with a slight smile on his face.
"What do you mean?" Leo asked him.
"What he means," Wyatt said, catching on to Chris´ idea, "is that we could borrow our powers from our younger selves to help us vanquish the demon we're after, and then return them when we go back to our time."
"But what about your younger selves. They would be left unprotected." Paige stated.
"Take them to Magic School." Chris said, "They'll… we'll be safe there."
"No way." Piper said, "That's too much of a risk." Piper said to Wyatt and Chris.
"And it's our risk to take." Wyatt told his mother with a voice of authority. "We have to be prepared. This isn't just any demon we're dealing with here. He must have a lot of power to pull off a stunt like this."
Piper knew that he was right and that if they ran away from their problems, they would only get worse. But she was still worried about her sons´ safety. All four of them.
"So what do you plan on doing?" Piper asked them.
"I was thinking of a power switching spell." Chris said, "There should be one in the book."
"No. You are not using that one." Piper said. "The last time we used that one it switched all our powers and got us into a huge mess."
"But it also saved dad's life." Chris said knowingly.
"It wouldn't work, Chris." Wyatt told his brother, "The spell is made to switch powers, but we don't have any powers to switch with, only our little selves do."
Everyone thought about what Wyatt had said.
"But couldn't we tweak the spell? Change it so that it will lend us our powers?" Chris stated.
"I guess…." Wyatt admitted.
"So what are we waiting for?" Paige asked jollily, "Let's get this show on the road!" She had kind of missed the excitement that revolved around magic. Although she was head of Magic School, she had been overworking and had needed a break.
She started up the stairs and the rest followed.
TBC