A/N: Thanks again to everyone who reviewed. They really are appreciated, and help me SO much in determining where to take my stories.
Nevair- I'm so happy I almost made you cry. Well, not happy exactly. Well- you know what I mean : )
Prissy-lady () – Hmmm… that's an avenue I hadn't thought of… but I like it! Thanks!
Altaira- I'm glad you like the story. I like Evil Chris too.
Good Witch ()- Maybe you'll like this ending a little better. I think it's an improvement over the last one.
Obulet-dragon-Fury & hiding from you ()- Thanks so much. I appreciate the reviews!
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"Uncle Leo! I need that goat's horn like yesterday!" Phyra screamed to the ceiling. Sometimes it was great having family that could hear you even across oceans.
"Phyra! I told you, I'd be back as soon as I could. I'm still working on the elfin hair, but here's your goat's horn." Leo handed her the horn crankily, orbing in at her call. "I'll be back soon with the hair."
"Hurry dad. Chris isn't in the best of shape right now. We've got him in the cage, but mentally…he's starting to sound lost." Wyatt worried aloud.
"What do you mean lost?"
"Dad, he wanted me to promise to vanquish him if we couldn't fix this soon. I refused, of course, but…he wasn't happy." Wyatt's voice was serious and solemn.
Leo closed his eyes against the pain of Wyatt's words. "Then we can't let that happen, can we? I'll be back in five minutes with elfin hair. Hopefully, the potion will work." Leo orbed out without another word.
Wyatt glanced over at Phyra. "C'mon kiddo. Let's start that potion. Dad will be here soon with the elfin hair."
"Wy, I've never seen Chris like that. Do you really think I can make a potion strong enough to reverse this?" Phyra asked nervously.
"Phy, if anyone can make a potion to fix this, then you can. If the potion doesn't work, we'll just try something else, that's all. Don't worry, kid. I'm not giving up, not ever." Wyatt ruffled her hair, and got down the large pot they always made potions in. "Let's get started, ok?"
Phyra nodded and grabbed a few jars of herbs from the cabinet. "Well, I didn't really know what to use. But I thought that mulberry root is a purgative, so maybe that's the potions base." She poured a large amount of reddish brown powder in the bottom of the pot. She handed Wyatt the goat's horn. "I need this ground up. Can you crush it for me?" Wyatt nodded, and set the horn on the floor on a dish cloth. He conjured a sledge hammer, and brought it down hard on the horn, shattering it. He hit it again, mostly just to show off. He carefully picked up the towel with the disintegrated horn on it, and gave it to his cousin. She measured it carefully and dumped it into the pot. "Can you get the orange juice, please?"
Wyatt gave her a funny look, but grabbed pulled the gallon sized juice from the refrigerator. "What does orange juice do for a potion?" he asked curiously. Phyra gave him an exasperated look.
"Wy, how do you think I've improved on the potions' taste lately? A cup of orange juice mixed with a quarter cup of apple juice. It cuts all the nasty tastes in the potions, and sometimes can work to super power the formula too."
"Well, I noticed they weren't as hard to swallow lately, but I thought I was just finally getting used to the taste. Cool improvement, kiddo."
"Yeah, well, I got sick of that metallic, dead body taste in my mouth. Ick." She shuddered, remembering the noxious taste of the potions before she'd improved on them.
Leo orbed in to the kitchen with a grin on his face. "I got it!"
"Great, I'm ready for it now, Uncle Leo. Just toss it in." Leo dropped the hair into the pot, and instantly a plume of purple smoke rose from the pot and started to sizzle.
"Phyra! What are you doing? You have homework to do, young lady!" Paige's voice interrupted the potion making.
"Aunt Paige, Phy's helping me with something. It's more important than homework."
"Wyatt Matthew Halliwell, just because you've always been brilliant and graduated from high school and college early, doesn't automatically make you in charge of academics in this family. Phyra has homework, and you know the rule as well as she does. No magic until the homework is finished. Phyra, get to you room, right now." Paige didn't know about Chris yet. She'd just gotten back from a long day teaching at magic school, and wasn't in the mood for any lip from her daughter.
"Paige, relax. Phyra is helping us to make a potion to save Chris." Leo interjected.
"I don't care who she's trying to sa…. Did you say she's trying to save Chris?" Paige's voice immediately softened.
"Yeah, mom. He's been infected by Juklay, a demon that mutates witches' personalities. He's the one that Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde is based on. Wy and Uncle Leo asked me to make a potion to reverse the effects of the poison." Phyra explained, happy to see her mom had calmed down some.
"Well, what are you waiting for? Fill the potion bottles, we have to save Chris!" Paige exclaimed hurriedly, homework completely forgotten.
Phyra hugged her mother quickly. "Thanks, mom."
"No problem. Potion bottles!" she called out, orbing the familiar glass bottles to the stove. They carefully poured the purple potion into the bottle.
It was ready to try on Chris.
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When they reached the attic, Piper was sitting beside the cage, watching Chris.
"How's he doing?" Leo asked quietly, watching his wife with pain filled eyes.
"As good as can be expected, I suppose. He's been out of it since you guys left to make the potion. I can tell he's trying to fight the poison though. You can tell." Piper said softly.
"How can you do that? How do you tell?" Wyatt asked, kneeling down next to Piper.
"A mom always knows, Wyatt. But even if I wasn't his mom, you can tell because every ten minutes or so he gets really quiet, and just lays on the floor of the cage like this. It's the only time he's relaxed enough to lay silently."
Wyatt just stared into the cage. "Chris, Chris come back. We've got a potion to try, alright, buddy? "
Chris stared at Wyatt with bleary green eyes. "Uh huh" was the only phrase he could utter.
"Phy, orb one of the crystals away. I'm going in to give him the potion." Wyatt said softly.
"Be careful, Wy. If he mutates while you're in there, he won't take the potion." Phyra warned as she orbed one of the crystals to deactivate the cage.
Wyatt nodded, and gripped the potion bottle in one hand as he stepped into the cage. He gently lifted Chris' head to help him sit up.
"Wy… can't do this much more." Chris gasped out. He'd never felt so tired before. It took so much power just to crawl out of the mutated shell that he could barely stand.
"Don't worry buddy. You won't have to after this. Phy's potion's gonna fix you right up, ok?" Wyatt unconsciously started talking to Chris in the soft whisper they only used late at night when they wanted to talk and didn't want anyone to hear them. "Come on. I need you to sit up for me and drink the potion."
Chris wet his dry lips. "Is it going to taste as bad as mom's potion to cure chicken pox?" he joked weakly.
Wyatt shuddered with the memory of that particular potion. "Ugh… Chris please, don't remind me of that. I had nightmares for 2 weeks over what had been in that to make it taste so bad. This one should be good. Phyra's been putting juice in them to help with the taste."
"Smart…kid." Chris rasped out, struggling to sit upright.
"You better believe it. She was taught by the best." Wyatt uncorked the bottle.
"Yeah, we did good, huh?" Chris chuckled hoarsely.
"Hey! I think I had something to do with that, you know!" Paige said exasperated.
Wyatt and Chris looked at each other, and both silently shook their heads in amusement. Wyatt raised the bottle to Chris' lips.
"Wy…if it doesn't work…promise me, ok?"
Wyatt knew immediately what Chris was asking. "No, Chris. I already told you. I'm not vanquishing you. Not ever, no matter what."
"Then I'm not taking the potion." Chris drew what little strength he had left and pushed the bottle away.
"Chris! Quit being such a damn baby. Take the potion! It's going to reverse the mutation, so a promise isn't necessary." Wyatt pushed the potion back towards Chris.
Chris grabbed Wyatt's wrist, stopping the potion again. "If you're so sure it's going to work, then promise me. When the potion works, we'll just forget about the promise. Please, just say it to make me feel better, alright?"
"All right, all right. I promise." Both of them knew Wyatt was lying.
"No, promise for real, Wy. I need to know that on the off chance it doesn't work, you won't let me stay evil." Chris' voice was pleading.
Wyatt swallowed hard, hating every syllable of his words. "Ok, Chris. I promise you. If you turn evil for good, I…I will v…vanquish you."
"Thanks, Wy." Chris released his grip on Wyatt's wrist, allowing Wyatt to bring the potion to his lips. He swallowed the potion easily.
"Mmmm… good potion, Phy." Chris grinned.
"So… do you feel any different? Did it work?" Wyatt asked curiously.
Chris rolled his head, cracking his neck. He grinned, and his eyes turned grey. "Yeah… I feel great. No more pesky conscience to ruin my day." He swung his hands out, and knocked Wyatt out onto the attic floor.
Phyra gasped, and orbed the crystal back into place. Chris saw her, and froze her orb before it could replace the crystal. Phyra called for a ring of fire to encircle Chris and hold him.
"PEYTON!" She screamed her sister's name. Peyton immediately appeared in a wash of orbs. "Quick freeze him in ice. Hurry!"
Peyton didn't ask questions, instead just shot water from her hands, dousing Phyra's fire, then instantly froze it in a block around Chris. His orbs didn't work from inside the ice.
Wyatt jumped back to his feet, moving the block of ice back inside the cage. "Where'd the crystal go?" He yelled, searching.
"Got it!" Paige held it up triumphantly, orbing it back into place in the triquetra just as Chris melted the ice around him with elder bolts.
The cage walls rose up around him as he screamed in denial.