Chapter 4
Whenever a witch received a premonition, the Elders would as well, meaning that they knew all about the one Chris had received on Monday afternoon from the history book. A short while after Chris received the one of the blonde woman in the Old West delivering her new son, two Elders called an emergency meeting, inviting a large group of Senior Whitelighters and Nathan.
The Elders suspected something was wrong, as the prophesied witch wasn't supposed to receive premonitions of ancestors - those could somehow lead to him discovering the prophecy too soon. The Elders had long ago agreed that the brothers would only be told of the prophecy when their group was complete, and they were all over eighteen. No brother would be told sooner than that. Nathan knew because he was a Whitelighter and could have easily read about the prophecy at the heavens' library if he hadn't been told of it first.
The Elders had an outside meeting area in the heavens where they simply sat on the ground or stood up when they were assembled there. Trees grew all the way around the perimeter of the area, closing it off to uninvited angels.
Once everyone was assembled for the meeting, the most senior Elder present, Marcus, who was a tall and well-built African-American angel, addressed them. "I am concerned by Chris Larabee's most recent vision. It came from the history book that Gloria Potter borrowed from their local library."
The second most senior Elder there, who was known only as Orion, although it wasn't his real name, spoke from where he stood beside Marcus. "No one was watching Gloria then, so we don't know why she took that book. It seems very suspicious that she seemingly borrowed a book by accident that contained information about the town and residents in the same place as the Prophesier lived. There are a lot of books about the Old West in that library, and she just happened to take the one that contains pictures of all the prophesied group's ancestors - except for you, Nathan, of course. You're the only one of the prophesied group whose picture is in there since you were alive back then."
Nathan nodded to confirm what Orion had said.
Then Marcus spoke again. "Terri Greer, we have decided that you will go to the Underworld and find out if anyone evil made sure Gloria took that book. They all know that telling the witches of the prophecy too soon could play havoc with their lives, besides it being against our wishes for them to be told yet."
The female Senior Whitelighter nodded. "I haven't been there for quite a while, so I'll be delighted to pay a visit again and see what I can overhear." Whitelighters and evil beings weren't on talking terms, so when Whitelighters visited the Underworld, they orbed there and usually remained invisible; a power they didn't use often. The angelic beings could also use a special power to stop them being sensed by anyone - so they could remain undetected while they were spying on their enemies.
"You must go there immediately, before any harm can be done due to the premonition."
Terri orbed immediately out of the meeting place.
Orion then voiced his idea. "Someone with knowledge of Evil's plans could have planted those premonitions in the book to forewarn the Potters, and then forced Gloria to borrow it. Planting premonitions isn't something many magic beings can do, so some of you should investigate anyone with that ability. If we find someone who did that, we can find out if something sinister is being planned." Orion smiled as several Senior Whitelighters volunteered to help track down magical beings with premonition planting abilities. "Good, with all of you on that mission it won't take too long to investigate all the possessors of that power."
Marcus looked at Orion then turned back to the angelic assembly and spoke. "There is nothing else we can do for now except wait for any findings and see if Chris receives more premonitions involving the prophesied group's ancestors. This meeting is officially over."
Whitelighters and Elders started to orb away.
Nathan stood from where he had remained sat on the ground close to and facing the two Elders. He'd been given that spot, since the meeting concerned him as much as the prophesied witches. "Chris does sometimes receive premonitions for no reason, so that could be what this is. We could be makin' mountains out of molehills over this."
Orion explained to Nathan why he thought they weren't making a big deal without reason. "That premonition showed that the Old West Chris Larabee had a son also named Chris - indication to the witch Chris that his name was passed down through his family line. This alone wouldn't seem important, but a "Nathan" who looked and sounded almost the same as you delivered his ancestor. That doesn't seem like a meaningless vision to me, and the other Elders all agree that the premonition must have a significant meaning. Let me tell you of an experience one of my past charges had. Please sit down; this will take some time to recount."
Nathan sat back down on his chosen spot of ground; it was still warm from his presence there during the assembly.
Orion began to recount an event in his past when he'd been a Whitelighter.
One of his charges back then was Brianna Potter: a red-haired female witch with the power of premonition. One day she received a premonition after touching an old painting of her mother, who'd been burnt at the stake after her town had discovered she was a witch. After the witch trial, Brianna had been spirited away by her aunt, who had then bought her up to embrace her witch side. As an adult, Brianna had saved many innocents from evil and earned a very good reputation in the Wicca world.
In the vision she saw a large gray demon (as her premonitions were only in black and white) watching her mother being burned. Then he looked at Brianna and strode toward her. That was when the vision ended.
Brianna knew that there hadn't been a demon there when she was a little girl, so she guessed someone could've sent him there from the present. The witch then sent her Whitelighter, Orion, to the Underworld to find out if anyone there was behind a plot to change her family's past. Demons usually had someone giving them orders, so it was likely that someone evil had a reason for sending him back - perhaps someone who Brianna had upset in some way.
Orion soon returned from his mission and revealed that a warlock wanted to stop Brianna growing up to be the witch who vanquished his best friend, another warlock. He'd sent a demon back to when Brianna had lost her mother, to stop her being taken to safety by her aunt. As a day in the past would move at the same speed as a day in the present, it meant Brianna had some time left before her past self would be put to death for being a witch's daughter.
She then looked up the demon in her magic book, identifying him from his picture, and found out he was the Time-changer demon, who'd never been successfully vanquished. Brianna created her own recipe for the vanquishing potion along with a vanquishing spell that would ensure the demon was really vanquished. Then she used a spell from her book to travel back in time to the demon and vanquish him before he ruined her past. The potion and spell worked perfectly, and Brianna added the vanquishing information to her magic book for future generations, as there would be more Time-changer demons in the future.
In conclusion, Brianna's premonition of her mother involving a demon who hadn't been there originally, had alerted her to the possibility that evil could upset her present by poisoning her past, so the premonition had been sent to warn her.
After finishing his story, Orion looked seriously as Nathan. "Brianna Potter is related to Terrence Potter, although very distantly, and it is possible that history could be repeating itself which is why Chris received that premonition. If that's true, Terri will return with evidence to back it up."
"How many Earth days might it take Terri to find this out?" asked Nathan. He knew that the Underworld was a very big place and it could be ages before Terri found any evidence to prove a Time-changer demon was going to attempt to ruin the Potter sons' present.
"Terri should find out by Wednesday," said Orion, sounding very sure of his answer.
"I just hope somethin' bad doesn't happen before she gets back." Wednesday was days away on the Earth plane, and there was plenty of time for evil to wreak havoc - if Chris's premonition was a warning. Nathan still thought it was just a meaningless vision though - otherwise there would have been a demon or something else evil in Chris's vision. Brianna had just been lucky in her guess when she'd suspected her premonition was a warning.
CH7P - CH7P - CH7P - CH7P - CH7P - CH7P - CH7P
On Wednesday, in the late afternoon, Terri finally returned from the Underworld, having narrowly avoided being killed by a Darklighter who'd somehow managed to detect her. The poison in his arrows would have killed her Whitelighter form, meaning she wouldn't exist on any plane unless her spirit was quickly found and magically transformed into a ghost. Luckily, Terri had quickly orbed away before the poison arrow struck her.
She told Orion of her findings from the Underworld, then orbed to the Spirit plane where she could take a break from working, while spending some time with her parents, who were both ghosts.
Orion orbed to a fairly small, round white structure that resembled a summerhouse, and then he sat on the bench inside which was attached all around to the walls. Then he telepathically called his Elder friend, named Julius. Orion wanted to share Terri's news with him before he told the other Elders.
Julius arrived shortly after he'd been called, and sat down on the bench beside his friend. Both Elders had the appearances of men in their mid-thirties with shoulder-length, wavy blond hair.
"Terri has finally returned with news," revealed Orion, his voice not giving away how he felt.
"News? Good or bad news?" asked Julius impatiently.
"It is bad news as suspected, my friend," announced Orion to Julius.
"There is no good news to come out of the Underworld," replied Julius, retaining a blank expression mirroring that of his friend. It wouldn't help if they let any emotions interfere. "What news has Terri returned with?"
Orion put his hand to his eye and wiped away a tear that he couldn't keep away, upon remembering the Whitelighter's grim news. "Twin-brother warlocks are planning to prevent at least several, if not all, of the seven from being born. We cannot do anything to stop them without revealing the prophecy - and you know it is forbidden to tell them. It would put them in even more danger if they knew."
Julius draped an arm over his friend's shoulders. "I'm quite certain we can resolve this without needing to reveal the truth to the witches." He was about to say that Nathan would know what to do, when that particular Whitelighter appeared in the small shelter.
"I sensed despair, and wondered if it had anything to do with Chris's past premonitions," said Nathan, having the distinctive feeling that the Elder's despair wasn't about anything else.
"Twin male warlocks are planning an attempt to prevent the prophecy's completion," informed Julius, hoping that Nathan would have an idea how they could stop history from being altered without needing to disclose the prophecy to the Potter witches.
Nathan gave the Elders a confident grin, shocking both the Elders with his positive expression. "Then someone will just have to stop them."
"As I suspected, a demon has been sent back in time to alter the lives of at least some of the prophesied witches' ancestors," revealed Orion. "Elder law prevents us from altering the past to undo all changes evil makes. We can only do that once it is known that the changes made to the past are effecting the present."
"Sometimes I really hate the Elders' rules! You're sayin' that somethin' bad has to happen in the present before we're allowed to repair any tampered with past events?" Nathan let his anger show in his voice and face.
"Yes, Nathan, I'm afraid so," answered Orion sadly, "but the law is there for the world's safety. Every time history is changed, it also alters the present - we can't risk a chain reaction that could ruin the future for the prophesied group."
Julius rubbed his friend's back comfortingly, feeling his despair. "Nathan, something has to be done by the witches - the rule of not re-changing history until the effects of the previous change are known doesn't apply to them."
Orion then revealed what the female Whitelighter had confirmed. "Terri reports that it is indeed a Time-changer demon being sent back to change history. So the witches need to vanquish him before he causes any damage to their present."
Orion's sadness and despair were hurting Nathan, and the Whitelighter had to get out of there before he allowed himself to get too upset by his superior's condition. All full Whitelighters and Elders had a strong connection to other Whitelighters and Elders, meaning that if one of them was hurt or upset, it would upset any others nearby.
"Chris and Ezra are already starting to suspect there's a reason for those visions - I'll just have to make up an explanation that doesn't involve the prophecy. If Chris has any premonitions of evil things happening to his ancestors, I'll explain it by saying that evil wants to get rid of his powerful family. Farewell for now." Then Nathan orbed out before Orion's hopelessness got to him even more.
To be continued...