Thanks for all of your wonderful reviews! I apologize for the long wait . . .my computer's hard drive completely crashed, so I had to wait for a very long time for the hard drive to come in, get installed, etc. Hopefully this chapter will make up for it.This chapter is somewhat shorter than my usual length, but that's because it ties in with chapter six. They'retwo parters, thus the possibly confusing cliffhanger at the end. (evil grin) I can't wait to see what people think is going to happen next. Enjoy!
"So can you fix him?"
Gideon blinked at the youngest Halliwell sister's blunt request. But then, Paige Matthews always was straightforward. He scrutinized the young witch-whitelighter carefully, amused at the way Chris Perry shifted uncomfortably under his gaze. The boy had been nothing but guarded and cold in their previous meetings.
The Elder sighed. If he was to keep their trust long enough o get to baby Wyatt, he would have to at least try to help.
"Amnesia is a very delicate condition, Paige," Gideon began.
But she interrupted him. "Can't you do anything?"
Gideon huffed indignitly. Paige was being very rude. "As I was saying, you can't just wave a wand and expect memories to be restored. The mind is fragile, and if you tried to magically toy with it too much, you could . . ."
"'Wave a wand'? Being a little stereotypical, aren't you? I mean, I haven't seen any witches use wands yet." Paige interrupted yet again, sarcasm dripping from her voice.
Chris's mouth twitched into a slight smile.
Gideon bit his tongue. For being part of a trio of the most powerful witches in the world, she sure was immature. But just as his patience was waning, he could see the irritation in her eyes as well. It seems that their whitelighter's abrupt loss of memory has caused them more problems than he originally thought. Gideon had gotten lucky; the timing of that random warlock's attack couldn't have been better. He silently thanked the Powers.
He mused over his options. He didn't want Chris to get his memories back so soon–a little more turmoil couldn't hurt. Then, Gideon remembered that he had a Native American shaman in Magic School. A vision quest. Perfect. No doubt it'd reveal something, thought Gideon doubted it would be enough to restore the boy's complete memory. It was a risk, but at this point, Gideon would take it.
"I've got it!" Gideon exclaimed, forcing enthusiasm into his voice, "Chris can take a vision quest!"
"The what?" Both Paige and Chris asked, glancing at each other in confusion.
"Native American tradition. It may help."
Paige caught Chris's eye. "What do you think?"
He shrugged. "Let's try it. What have I got to lose? More memory?"
Paige's bright red lips curled into a smile. "And start the whole 'Who the hell am I' thing again? I think not."
Chris nodded in agreement. "Okay, so where do I go?"
The Headmaster of Magic School closed his eyes and sensed for Enola, the shaman. When he located her magical aura, he sent a telepathic message, alerting her of Chris's coming. There was a warm sensation of acceptance. Enola would be waiting for Chris.
"Just take a stroll down the hall and follow your instincts." Gideon instructed, telekinetically opening the door to his office.
Chris looked confused, but obediently did as he was told. He continued to walk down the seemingly endless corridor until a hawk came swooping out of nowhere, the velvet tips of its wings gently brushing Chris's cheek.
"What the–"
The hawk cried a mournful call, and began flying away.
Well, he told me to follow my instincts, he mused, jogging after the hawk. He came to a stop as the hawk led him into a cave-like surrounding. While its sharp yellow eyes stared directly through Chris, he watched the eye change into a more human shape, the yellow darkening to brown.
"I supposed you're Chris?" she asked, politely, as if she already knew the answer.
"Yeah," Chris replied warily, "and you are?"
She looked up from her work. She had been stirring something in a small pot over a fire. "Enola. I'm a shaman." Enola then dipped a metal dipper into the pot, scooping up some of the contents. "Drink this."
"Why?" Chris asked warily. In the past few days, he's been attacked enough to be suspicious of everyone. Honestly, the demon disguised as the mailman was freaky, and a little much. It was because of all those incidents that Piper decided that Chris needed around the clock protection. She knew he was the weak link, someone vulnerable enough that someone could use to get to her kids.
It would have worked great if it wasn't annoying the hell out of everyone. Piper had been trying to pin Paige and Phoebe with babysitting Chris duty, much to their irritation and Chris's. He was in his twenties for Christ's sake!
"You have to drink it if you want your vision quest."
Chris closely examined her face. He couldn't see any deceit, so he took the dipper and drank it. Immediately he felt the same yanking sensation he felt when he recovered a memory.
He wasn't in the shaman's cave anymore. He was in the Manor, with the Charmed Ones in front of him.
"You're useless, Chris!" Phoebe snarled angrily, acting unlike herself.
"A sarcastic, manipulative, lying jackass too," Paige jeered.
"You're a disgrace, a disappointment." Piper finished, her words hitting home.
Chris felt every insult like a stab in the heart. But he was also confused. What kind of a vision quest was this? Was this just showing how much the sisters despised him?
Suddenly, he felt himself being blown backwards into the rear wall behind him. Piper's hands were outstretched, her hands being the source of the explosion of power.
Paige orbed the table over to him, pinning him to the wall. Chris grunted, trying to shove the table out of the way. When he finally pushed it aside, he found Phoebe's foot connecting with his face.
Thank god she wasn't wearing heels.
Chris knew he was getting the crap kicked out of him, and knew he had to fight back. Once he returned the favor for Phoebe, Piper blew him into oblivion.
He landed with a loud thud back onto the cave floor, rubbing his aching muscles.
"I thought visions weren't supposed to hurt!" he complained to Enola. But she merely extended the dipper back towards Chris. "Try again."
Reluctantly accepting the dipper, he asked, "Isn't there a hint you can give me?"
Enola hesitated, but decided to cut him some slack. "Just remember that you should only be concerned with reaching your quest."
"Wait, aren't I already in my quest?"
Enola nodded. "Yes, but in order to fully embrace it, you have to cleanse your aura of the barriers that are blocking your way to progress." At the blank look on Chris's face, Enola added simply, "Clear your mind."
"Right, clear my mind," Chris inhaled deeply, and pressed the bitter potion against his lips. Once again, he was yanked into the vision quest.
There were the sisters again. He tried to clear his mind, but they weren't going away. Chris blocked out their voices, not letting them get to him. As Phoebe's shoes flew at his face, Chris winced and shut his eyes tightly. Phoebe sailed clean through him, as if she–or Chris–was transparent.
Sighing in relief at making it past the first barrier, he continued on, the Charmed Ones fading behind him. Someone else materialized in front of him, much to his displeasure.
Leo, his mouth hard, blue eyes piercing, had his arms crossed as he glared down at Chris. Leo seemed to have grown about three feet taller, and Chris felt significantly smaller.
Well, he can definitely kick my butt now, Chris thought. But he's just an illusion, get over it.
As he proceeded to walk past Leo, the Elder placed a hand against Chris's chest, topping him in his tracks. A chill of fear went up Chris's spine.
"Going somewhere?" Leo asked coldly.
Gathering any remaining courage, Chris met Leo's eyes, his expression defiant.
"I'm not afraid of you," he replied, his voice surprisingly steady and controlled, the ice in his voice matching Leo's. As Chris brushed past Leo casually, a reminiscent of the old, emotionally controlled Chris surfaced. In that moment, he didn't feel like some fragile antique that could break any second. He felt more empowered, as if no one could push him around.
But that addicting feeling lasted only until he reached his next obstacle. In front of him was complete and utter darkness. Chris couldn't see a thing beyond the haze, and he couldn't see any other place to go. He could either go back in failure, or go forward into the unknown.
Chris had to admit, he was scared. He wanted to know what was beyond the darkness . . . after all, that was the point in him taking the vision quest in the first place. All the same, though, he didn't want to know. Just staring into the darkness gave him bad vibes. As he took a step forward, a rush of cold air made him stumble backwards.
But he knew he had to do it. So Chris shut his eyes tightly and walked through the darkness.
Suddenly, the ground underneath his feet collapsed, and Chris plunged down through the darkness and back into Enola's cave. A loud, head splitting laugh echoed throughout the cave.
"What the hell?" Chris muttered.
That's when he saw her.
Enola's body was sprawled on the cave floor, lifeless. A pool of blood lay underneath her head, soaking the tips of her hair. A brutal gash was sliced across her throat, disfiguring her.
Chris felt like he was going to puke. The vision quest had failed, he was sent back to the cave, and someone had murdered the shaman. Or maybe her death ended the vision quest. Chris didn't know, nor did he care. All he could see was her dull eyes and the trickle of blood down the side of her mouth.
Goosebumps rose up all over his arm as dread froze his heart. The sisters. They must know who did this. Chris focused on the Manor and orbed.
What he saw was not pretty. Chris absorbed the scene, with Paige and Phoebe sprawled on the ground, not moving. He looked up sharply as he heard a muffled scream.
"Chris! Help!" Piper managed to screech before her captor orbed her out, the black orbs enveloping her and taking her away. Damn, Chrishadn't gottena good look at the captor.
"Leo!" he called loudly, "I need you now!"
The Elder orbed down in front of Chris, his voice slightly irritated, "I was in an important meeting Chris. What is it?"
"Them," Chris answered quickly, gesturing at Paige and Phoebe.
Leo's eyes widened and he quickly worked on healing them, asking Chris at the same time, "What happened?"
"I don't know. I orbed in and–they were like this," he finished lamely.
Slowly, but steadily, Leo worked his magic and both sisters got up, moaning and clutching their foreheads.
"Aw, man, what happened?" Paige mumbled, gently rubbing her temples with her fingers.
"Piper was kidnapped," Leo replied calmly. How he knew that, Chris didn't know, maybe it was that married couple connection or something. All Chris knew was that despite Leo's calm demeanor, he was worried, and hurting. He could see the tempest in Leo's eyes. Surprisingly, Chris felt sorry for the guy.
But only a little.
Before he realized what was going on, he felt that nagging sensation of somebody orbing him away. Chris's eyes widened as he watched himself be engulfed by black orbs.
"Leo!" he managed to call out before his body completely dematerialized.
As his vision cleared, Chris could see that he had arrived in a dank, dark cave. Yes, another cave. What is up with people and creepy caves? He wondered.
"Confused, Chris?"
He spun around quickly towards the direction of the strangely familiar voice. As he took in the appearance of Piper's captor, his brain froze with utter shock.
Why the hell was Peter the bartender kidnapping Piper? Chris groaned inwardly. First the mailman and now P3's bartender? What's next, the little old lady crossing the street?
Chris really wanted to just orb out of there, but he couldn't bring himself to leave Piper. And curiosity. He wanted to know what Peter had to gain from this. Chris felt really stupid now; how could he have fallen for his trick? But then, who expects some random bartender to be a demon?
Peter smiled, his lips curling in amusement. He was enjoying every second of this, Chris could tell. But why?
"Oh, I'mno demon, Chris. No, I'm far above them. I'm the Twice Blessed Witch, the heir to King Arthur's Excalibur, the first born son of one of the most powerful witches in magical history."
Peter's eyes stayed trained on Chris's, and he knew that the bravado was all for Chris's sake. He was testing him, seeing if any of those titles were familiar to the witch-whitelighter. They weren't; what perplexed Chris the most were the implications that Peter was a witch. Chris couldn't see it before, but he felt a dark aura radiating off of Peter. He could have kicked himself for not catching it before, because now, Piper was in trouble.
Chuckling lightly, Peter shook his head and raised his dull blue eyes from Chris's face to the ceiling.
"Man, I never thought I'd see the day . . ." Peter muttered to himself, still shaking his head.
"What are you talking about?" Chris asked, utterly confused. "Do I know you from before?"
Peter unexpectedly started laughing as if what Chris had just said was the funniest thing in the world.
"Are you kidding?" Peter asked, incredulous. "It's been a couple weeks since I last talked to you in P3. You're telling me that you still don't know who I am? That you don't recognize me, eventhough I'm dropping you some telltale hints?"
"No . . ."
He smiled cruelly, his eyes glinting with malicious inspiration. "Maybe some trauma will help the memory loss."
Peter suddenly tossed Piper aside as if she were a rag doll, gesturing with his hands and holding her up against the wall. Piper's eyes widened as one hand clutched her round belly and the other scratched at her throat, trying to ward off the invisible force choking her. Her fingers twitched, clearly attempting to blow Peter away, but he had control over her fingers as well, keeping them still and bound, not allowing her to activate her power.
Anger pumped through Chris's veins. Piper was pregnant, how could Peter, a witch, try to suffocate her? With an uncontrolled scream, Chris lunged at Peter, effectively knocking him down.
With enormous power, Peter sent Chris flying backwards into the wall. Chris moaned as he impacted the wall, rubbing his bruised shoulder tenderly. That's when his sense of place started kicking back in. He remembered that he, too, was a witch. Using his instinct, he gestured with his arm, sending Peter flying away from Piper.
"So . . ." Peter commented, calmly getting up from the floor, not a scratch on him, "you haven't forgotten everything."
A spike of fear froze Chris in his place. His powers hadn't had any effect on Peter. If he kept this up, all he could do is throw him around and tire him. Although Chris had the feeling that Peter wouldn't let him off the hook for long.
Peter gestured with his hands, and Chris's throat felt like it was going to collapse. In that suffocating moment, Chris couldn't breathe. No sound came out of his throat, and his head began to spin, the lack of oxygen starting to make his vision blurry.
But suddenly, there was an explosion, and Chris felt that invisible force release him. He fell to the ground, gasping and gagging. As he looked up, he found Piper's hand outstretched and Peter on the ground, his face contorted in anger.
Chris gave Piper a grateful look, to which she responded as pointing frantically at Peter, who was just starting to get up.
He glanced from Chris to Piper, his eyes glazed as if he were deep in thought. Suddenly, he gestured to Piper, who was unwillingly slid over to him. Peter sighed, and Chris could see turmoil in his eyes. He was confused. Why would Peter be feeling regret?
"My name's not Peter, by the way." he added, catching Chris's puzzled gaze.
No kidding. Chris had guessed that long ago.
"It's Wyatt. Wyatt Halliwell." He waited for the impact to sink in, watched the stunned look on Chris's face fade into disgust.
Wyatt restrained his mother's arms, not allowing her any chance for escape. Then he raised his eyes and gazed into Chris's.
"This hurts me more than it hurts you, believe me," Wyatt stated coldly, "After all, you won't be around to feel anything."
Chris was confused. Why wouldn't he be around? What was going on? Wyatt clearly saw the unspoken question in his stormy green eyes, and answered it.
"If Mommy doesn't push, little baby Chris doesn't get to breathe." Wyatt's eyes sparkled, smiling at his own brilliance, allowing Chris to interpret his slightly cryptic words.
Chris was shocked. He wasn'table to wrap his mind around what Wyatt was telling him. Was he being serious? Did he hear him right? Was Piper his . . . mother? Was the woman who was clearly exasperated with him twenty-four-seven and whose feelings for him bordered on hate . . . his mother?
Deciding that Chris had enough time to dwell on that thought, Wyatt turned to stare at Piper's betrayed eyes, staring up widely at him in blazing anger, confusion, and . . . guilt. Before, when he was still clinging to that feeble idea of good and evil, when he was still weak, Wyatt might not have been able to go through it. But he was stronger now, and had worked hard to attain his power. If killing his mother and making his beloved baby brother's existence cease would help him keep that power, he would do it. He kept on telling himself that it was okay. After all, he had offered Chris and the rest of his family a chance to join him numerous of times. And they still chose to oppose him, until one by one they all died, save for Chris and Melinda.
"Say goodbye, Chris,"
Chris's brain froze. What was he doing? Then it dawned on him. He was going to kill Piper. Wyatt was going to kill his own mother! Chris's mother. Chris felt his legs instinctively running towards mother and son, desperately hoping that he could stop her death. His death.
But he wasn't fast enough.
With a sharp crack and the blur of twisting hands, Piper Halliwell crumpled to the floor.
