A Charmed Story - Part Two:
Brothers Love Through The Times
Chapter 9

"Magic school?" Paige asked confused.
"Yeah, but it's just a theory..." Cole fudged.
Piper rolled her eyes: "We had this discussion before. I think he can foretell Belthazor's next moves or at least he understands him…just like Belthazor used Cole's memories to break into Magic school. So why can't this be so!"
Everyone listened to the oldest of the sisters.
"I mean, you would never ever start your search at magic school, would you?"
Everyone nodded.
"So. What would you do?"
"Underworld," Wyatt told his mom simply.
"Exactly. But if Cole's right about the place we are then it's possible that..."
"...that he set a trap in the Underworld," Cole finished her sentence. Again.
"Yeah. Maybe he caged us and is now setting a trap for the others. Phoebe is still the one with the weakest power..."
Tom sat down and looked around, while Piper went on talking. "We're caged. At least that's what he's thinking if..."
"...it wasn't a trap too," Cole finished.
Paige looked at the two pointing her fingers at them: "You two and the sentence ending thingy. Scary. Just scary."
"Alright, but how could Belthazor now about that place?" Piper asked then.
Cole just shrugged: "Maybe he found it by accident."
'All this different stuff…' Tom looked at a small shiny ball. 'What the hell is that?' The curious boy, who always got into trouble for his unstoppable curiosity reached out for the ball. 'Curiosity kills the cat, Tom.' He heard the voice of his friend Nicki in his mind.
Before he touched the ball he heard a yell. "NO!" Wyatt grabbed his arm.
The heads of the three adults turned. Wyatt was lying on the floor, Tom on top of him. Cole grinned.
"What the heck is going on? Wyatt?" Piper asked.
"He reached out for the ball mom."
Piper and Paige took a closer look, while Cole was still chuckling about the picture of the two boys.
"Man, stop that," Wyatt said embarrassed.
"What is that?"
"Don't touch it Paige!" he commanded quickly.
Both women took a step backwards.
"I really don't know what it is, but I saw it in my memories. The bad ones... it was horrible..." His voice broke. "So much destructive force..."

°°°°°°°°°°

Leo faced his son: "But how?"
"Guys?" Nicki asked, but her voice was too quiet.
"Leo. Make some potions and I'll try to scry for them..." Chris commanded.
"Guys?" the young witch asked again.
"You heard that?" Bianca asked her fiance.
Chris frowned: "What?"
"Someone yelled no... "
Both went to the door and looked out to the hallway. Phoebe was still panicking and Leo tried to calm her down.
Meanwhile Nicki gave Steve a desperate look. Then she screamed: "GUYS!"
Everyone winced.
"I know where they are," she explained.
"What?"
"Where?"
"Oh my God."
"What did you see?" Everyone was talking, yelling and asking.
"They are here," she said slowly.
"Here?" Leo asked.
Nicki was getting nervous again.
Chris knelt down to her, looking her in the eyes. "Where exactly do you mean?" he asked her.
Nicki calmed down and took a deep breath. Then she answered: "They are here, down in the cellar."
"But there is no cellar," Leo remarked.
"Dad, if she says that there is a cellar, there must be one," Chris helped her, noticing that she was going to lose her self-confidence again.
She smiled a bit embarrassed, then she went on: "There is one, but not many know about that. It's a place Gideon created to punish kids who did fooleries."
Leo rose an eyebrow: "What?"
Nicki looked at him with a little bit of fear.
"It's unbelievable that nowhere there is a hint about that in his papers or wherever..." Phoebe remarked.
"Why did you know that, have you ever been there?" Chris asked the girl with a worried voice.
She shook her head: "No, not me, but a friend... she told me about it. It's a bad place..."
She started to cry and Chris hugged her with a sigh. She was so thankful for his help, for being there, for letting her feel better. He was the best head teacher they could have got, she thought. The best one in the world.
"Does Tom know anything about that place," Chris asked then.
She shook her head. Chris turned to Steve. "I don't think so, not even I did know that..." the boy said.
"O.k.," Bianca went closer to the girl, too, "do you know where the entrance to the cellar is?"
Nicki looked at her, then at Chris, and then at Bianca again: "I only know that it is somewhere in Gideon's old office, and that it's hidden by magic."
Leo sighed: "That means it will be hard to find."

°°°°°°°°°°

"What do you mean with 'so much destructive force'?" Piper asked.
"I'm not sure..."
"Wy-att?" Piper wanted an answer.
Wyatt knew that kind of tone very well. "I'm not sure... There are only pieces of pictures that I remember from what Phoebe has shown to me. But..."
"But?" also Paige asked.
"This thing has enough power to destroy the whole California! It's more powerful than an A-bomb!"
Tom turned pale thinking about that.
Piper let out some air: "Man, if you're right and we are at the magic school... How does something like that come here?"
"Maybe it belonged to that Elder... Gideon," Cole remarked, "maybe it was his last option for his... plan!"
"Oh my God," Paige murmured. Piper was speechless.
"Is there a way to disarm that thing?" Cole asked.
"I don't know," Wyatt answered with sorrow.
"O.k., as long as we don't get too close to this we'll be save... I hope." Piper said. Her son nodded.
"And now?" Cole asked.
"If we are really still in the school, there must be a way out of here," Tom remarked.
Paige smiled at him: "Right!"
Cole sighed: "So let's start searching!"

°°°°°°°°°°

The whole group was standing in Gideon's office.
Nicki and Steve stood close to each other, just like the whole time. Since she had overworked her powers she felt weaker and smaller and Steve gave her strength. He took care of her and prevented her from falling on the floor several times.
Phoebe and Chris were looking through the papers and the room, while Bianca was standing in the middle of it, thinking about every protection spell she remembered.
Leo thought about questioning the Elders about that room, but decided that they wouldn't know anything about that either. He was standing in front of a curtain.
"You have something?" Phoebe asked after she looked at Chris's happy face.
"No. But I found some interesting spells..."
"We don't need spells," his aunt answered peevish, "go on."
"Yes mom," he grinned but then kept on searching.
Bianca tried some "uncovering" spells to uncover the protection of the place, but nothing worked. "Damn it."
"Is there an echo here?" asked Nicki looking at Steve.
He shrugged and then tried a 'hello', then he agreed: "Yeah."
Leo looked closer at the curtain and then ripped it off. The man stood in front of a giant mirror. But he didn't see himself, well, he saw himself but like a different version. He looked darker and his hair was spiked.
"What the hell?" both Leos said.
"There it is, your echo Nicki," Steve said, not sure if this was good or bad.
Everyone thronged before the mirror and everyone widened his eyes when they saw their twins.
"What the hell is this?" Chris and his evil twin said at the same time.
"I don't know son." Leo watched his twin doing every single move like he did.
"Who are you?" Didn't work. Both said it at the same time.
The good Leo started again: "What is this?"
"A mirror world?"
"I think so."
"That means you guys are loo..."
"...ooking for Piper and Cole as you are..."
"...are doing that."
Both Leos finished the sentences and thoughts.
"Creepy," both Nickis said and looked at each other in fear.
"You have any idea what this is for?" the Phoebes asked.
The bad Leo took over control: "I think Gideon used it. You know what he was after and what he tried to do. Maybe he used his good twin."
The four adults looked terrified and the two youngsters didn't know what was going on.
"You have any idea where the entrance might be?" Leo asked the bad Phoebe.
"No. No clue."
"Actually I might have an idea," the evil twin of Chris interrupted.
All eyes - actually 22 - were on him.

°°°°°°°°°°

Piper, Paige, Cole, Tom and Wyatt were searching in the room, as the others were searching in Gideon's office, at the same time.
Piper looked through the different and sometimes disgusting stuff, while Cole was thinking about Belthazor's possible next move.
Paige tried, like Bianca, some spells, but nothing worked.
"If this is Gideon's room, what did he need it for?" Paige thought out loud. "What did he do there…if we can figure that out, maybe we can figure out how he got in and out…Too bad we vanquished him."
Piper, who listened a little bit to the conversation of her sister with herself, gave her a mad look, when she heard the last sentence.
Wyatt was staring at the ball and Tom looked over the room on the other side only not to come too close to that thing he nearly touched.
"You're right!" Cole yelled out.
"What?" Piper asked.
Paige didn't even hear that, she was too busy talking to herself.
"We have to conjure Gideon or his memories or something," he became excited like a little boy. "Come on! You're the two charmed ones, damn it. You're strong, beautiful and powerful!"
Piper looked at Cole, shocked. "You ok, honey!"
"Yeah absolutely!"

°°°°°°°°°°

"Well I don't think that there is anything helpful hiding under this hair," Bianca said in consideration of the hairstyle of the twin of her love. His hair was much longer and much dirtier... And... was that a ring in his eyebrow?"
"Hey!" the other Bianca yelled, "look at your boyfriend he is so cute... that really makes me vomit!"
"Hey girls, calm down," both Leos said.
The whole time Chris had been observing his twin, and where he was looking at. Then he noticed the same thing: "I think he is right."
The other Chris smiled: "Well, it seems we have a lot in common."
Now our Chris smiled too, in a weird way, he thought that version of him wasn't so different...
"So would you be so kind to explain your thoughts to us?" Phoebe said.
"Look!" Chris pointed to the mirror, same as his twin. "There is..."
"... a group of books..."
"... in that shelf..."
"... they are not looking like the opposite..."
"... in the mirror-world, they are looking like..."
"... the same..."
They finished their explanation together.
The Leos turned around: "Hey, it must be that!"
"O.k.," Phoebe now rose to speak, "let's destroy that mirror and end this double game. You're scaring me... And anyway I think that kind of window to another world isn't good!"
The other Phoebe agreed.
"No!" both Chris yelled, and everyone looked surprised at their version.
"We don't know what'll happen if we destroy this... At first we should close the curtain for now... later we will have enough time to think about that," our Chris explained, and his twin agreed.
"Alright," Leo said, "see you later."
While he was closing the curtain, the twin of Chris winked at our Chris who gently nodded, not noticed by the others.
Our Chris couldn't explain why, but his twin was fascinating him, in a way. He wanted to know more about him. But he knew he had to be careful - that window WAS, as his aunt said, a GREAT danger!
Leo turned to Phoebe: "So let's have a look at these books"
A few moments later, you could hear strange noises and heavily breathing... "Push!" Chris's breath was erratic. "Come on Leo. Push it!"
He and Leo were standing in front of the shelf and leaning against it, hoping that it would move.
Bianca, Phoebe and Nicki were looking at them in disbelief.
"You can't be serious," the Phoenix said with a smile
"Can they?" Nicki asked, not sure how to react to the weird behavior of her idol.
Steve cleared his throat: "Guys."
Nothing happened.
"Guys! Step aside," he rolled up his shirt like a professional. He waved his hands to show them that they should move: "Let me do this."
"Oh boy, another hormone controlled freak." Bianca and Phoebe looked at Nicki. "True isn't it?"
The women laughed and embraced her both.
Phoebe whispered. "Don't let them know that."
Steve stepped to the books and looked at them. He started to pull out one after another. Everyone was looking at him.
"This is like in a bad novel." The arms of Chris were skeptically crossed.
Steve went on doing this. And after having pushed a hundred of books and when he was about to capitulate, it finally worked.
"Call me Steve - The Great!"
Nicki stepped forward, her face with a loving expression. Steve looked at her, surprised.
"My hero," she leaned forward, as if she wanted to kiss him, but then, suddenly, she smacked his head. "Moron!"
"Ouch!"
"You've helped the Charmed Ones and now you're the big star! Typical..." she shook her head and Steve looked dejected to the floor.
The others laughed. Especially Bianca and Chris, who looked at each other, knowing what the other one was thinking.
Chris went to her and huged her. "They like each other." he whispered in her ear, making Bianca smile, while Phoebe, Leo and Steve were looking at the shelf. It was moving. Then they both looked at the action, too.
The shelf kept on moving and then stopped. There was a corridor, leading into darkness.

°°°°°°°°°°

"No Cole," Piper said, "We will not try to bring Gideon back, in any kind of way... never! Did you understand? NEVER!"
Cole rose his hands in defense: "O.k., just a thought!"
Suddenly they heard a noise. It sounded like wood scratching on a stone.
"What's that?" Tom asked fearful, and went closer to Paige.
The witch looked at her student and couldn't help smiling. She embraced him softly and said: "I think something's moving."
"What could that have been?" her sister asked.
"The entrance. What else?" Cole said laxly.
Wyatt was still sitting in front of the ball. He couldn't help it, but it fascinated him in a strange way. He didn't react to the noise. He tried to clear his mind and catch his memories. He felt that there was more about it, than just the knowledge of it's power... but he couldn't catch it.

°°°°°°°°°°

"Ok... here we are..." muttered Leo, still surprised, staring at the long dark corridor...
"So, guys... Who'll be the first one?" asked Phoebe, smirking.
"I'll go..." answered Chris, clenching one of his fists, and grabbing tightly Bianca's hand with his other.
"Wait... Being the oldest, apart from the Elder..." Leo tried to make fun of the moment.
"Hey, I'm an Elder too!" yelled Chris, annoyed at his attitude.
"Ok, son, but you're much younger. Technically, you haven't been born yet, so... let's see. ME being the oldest here, and an Elder too, I think I should go first. Besides... Just in case something happens, I guess some of you should stay. We don't know yet what we're gonna find there, right? What about the smoke and Belthazor? So... The kids will stay here, with Phoebe, and the rest of us will go."
The ones who were chosen to go nodded satisfied, but Phoebe and the teens complained.
"We're not kids!" they said, including Phoebe.
Leo sniggered: "Right, but we need some extra forces here. You'll be very helpful if you stay behind, ok?"
Phoebe sighed: "Ok..." The teens rolled their eyes: "As you say, Mister..."
Chris and Bianca chuckled. Then, they followed Leo into the corridor.
They walked a few steps, and suddenly Chris felt he had stepped on something. A 'click' sounded.
"Hey!" were Phoebe's and the teens' cry. The last thing they heard.
After that, the shelves had closed again and they were trapped, in a dark corridor.
"Damn it..." whispered Chris. "I'm sorry..."
"It's ok, let's go on. It opened before, it'll open again, right? That's why they had to stay behind" said Leo.
"I guess... The shelves won't open that easily next time," muttered Bianca.
But what could they do? They just followed Leo.

°°°°°°°°°°

Wyatt was still staring at the ball, pensive. He didn't realize the others were again searching for an exit in the direction the noise had come. They went back to the other room.
Suddenly a new noise reached to their ears. It was stronger than before...
Piper turned to Cole wonderingly, and the ex-demon shrugged. "If the one before was the entrance, this is also the entrance... closing."
Paige sighed, disappointed.
"What do we do now...?" whined Tom.
"Go on looking for something." answered Piper, determined.

°°°°°°°°°°

"Damn it. Shit. Oh no, no, no, no..." Nicki was walking through the room. Hectically and panicky, nearly hyperventilating.
Steve grabbed her arm and stopped her: "Stop it!"
She was crying. The whole day was too much for her. 'And the Charmed Ones experience a day like this so much more often...' she thought admired. 'Chris, Bianca and Leo are in that creepy corridor. Alone. Oh my god... what if something happens to them...'
Steve couldn't bear seeing her crying. He caressed her face and whipped away her tears. "Shh... it's gonna be ok." he hugged her gently.
Phoebe stood in front of the door, trying to concentrate. She pulled the same book that opened the mechanism and triggered everything but nothing happened.
"Why am I not surprised?"

°°°°°°°°°°

"Ouch. Watch your feet Halliwell."
"Sorry future - Mrs. Halliwell," Chris said into the dark.
"We don't have time for this," but the voice of Leo wasn't nearly as harsh as his words.
He loved listening to his son, who had been rejecting him from the beginning and he had never been able to listen to his relaxed voice. Not even since they had saved Wyatt from turning. He was happy that Chris had finally forgiven him whatever he had done in his timeline.
Leo heard Bianca and Chris snorting with laughter. "What are you doing?"
The answer to Leo's question was innocent: "Nothing."

(Chapter 9 written by Dark Angel, Chrissy.W.x and Belén)