A Charmed Story - Part Four:
Marriage with Obstacles
Chapter 6
Zankou was pacing through his cave. 'Damn!' he thought. The return of the oldest sister was a real problem for his plans. The sisters could still establish the power of three, even if he took the pregnant one. "Damn!" he yelled.
In that moment, a demon shimmered in. He looked like a human but his eyes were purple and his skin was light-green. He was very thin and small.
"How dare you enter this place?" Zankou exclaimed and was about to kill the intruder.
"Stop, stop, stop!" the demon yelled, "let me explain first, Zankou, you need me!"
The tall demon lowered his hands: "Five seconds!"
The small demon nodded: "I'm Gabriel, I'm from the order of Sorix. Our aim of life is to protect the world from the two lives that will collide!"
Zankou narrowed his eyes: "And?"
"And, I know that you are after that same target. So... we should work together, I think."
Zankou laughed loudly: "How can a small stupid powerless demon be useful for me?"
"I'm more useful, than the one you've sent to the manor of the Charmed Ones!" Gabriel replied with an evil smile.
Zankou looked up: "How do you..."
"...know that?" Gabriel ended his question smiling. "Well... I was there too. You know... when the sisters called for some help from the past I used one of my minor powers and distract the soul of that dead sister... And... I took over her place," he explained with a very evil smile.
Zankou looked at him with suspicion, but then he smiled and slapped on his back: "You're a great guy... You really should start to work for me!"
Gabriel smiled: "So we have a deal?"
Zankou nodded: "Deal!"
And the two demons shook hands.
°°°°°°°°°°
A few minutes later Paige returned with two cups of chocolate. But when she reached the attic it was empty.
"Prue?" she called when she went in, but there was no response and nobody was seen. "Prue?" she called again and put the cups on the table.
"Seeking me?"
A little scared Paige turned around. Prue was standing behind her, smiling. "Don't scare me that way," the witch-whitelighter said, "Where were you?"
"Oh sorry," Prue answered, "I was in the corner behind the door, seeking for some... memories." Paige sighed and nodded.
°°°°°°°°°°
Piper was shaking her head slightly, and struggled to get up, as tears ran down her cheeks.
Victor was not able to bear the sight of his daughter suffering, and tried to reach her, but Cole and Steve grabbed his shoulders and pushed him down to a sitting position again.
Meanwhile, Nicki was soothing the woman, caressing her arms, making her feel comfortable, so that she sat down quietly and co-operated. "Listen, Piper... it's o.k... you're safe..."
"My baby..." she moaned.
Victor's heart sank at her suffering, but Cole noticed and smiled at him reassuringly: "It's o.k... she'll be fine when she wakes up, you know? She's a very strong woman... and she'll do whatever is necessary for her children, but she'll get over it, as she always does."
Victor nodded, grateful. Little by little, he was starting to trust and like that man. After all, Phoebe was very lucky to have him in her life... Really lucky.
At the same time, Nicki spoke soft words to Piper: "What do you see, Piper? What's up with your baby?"
"No! You won't have him!" she cried.
Tom stood up and went to Nicki, worriedly: "Hey, shouldn't we wake her up?"
Nicki shook her head and went on: "No, they won't... I promise... But you have to tell me who they are, please..."
"I don't know... I don't know..." Piper whined desperately. "They have Chris... they have me... And they want to take the baby away from me... from my womb! - No, I won't allow you to do that!"
"Where are you, Piper?" Nicki went on, ignoring the worried and scared looks of the rest in the room.
"Don't know..." she weeped inconsolably, "I won't drink that... I won't give you my baby, Zankou..."
All the eyes fixed on her at a time, even though Nicki kept impassive.
"Zankou?" she asked, "who's Zankou?" Then she turned to the others and made a sign that they should have a look at the book.
"He's with them..." Piper said. Sometimes she spoke as if she was being only a witness, and other times she was the main character of the action in her own vision... "He's collaborating with them... He has Chris..." she whined. "No! Don't do that to him, I'll drink, I promise..."
Suddenly, Leo and Phoebe orbed straight to the room, and Cole, who had the book, raised his eyes to them suddenly.
"Cole! Is Wyatt fine? The book?" Leo asked, nervously, "Is everything alright?"
Cole and Victor hurried to make him stop talking, but it was too late.
The newly arrived couple turned to look behind them, just to face a frustrated-looking Nicki and a shocked and sweating Piper, who jumped on her seat, her heart beating as if it was going to get out of her body in a moment.
"What is that?" Leo asked. Then he stared at Nicki angrily. "What were you doing?" He ran to his wife, who suddenly hugged him.
"They took Chris..." she broke down. "They're hurting him because they want me to drink that potion..."
"What?" Leo and Phoebe looked at the others wonderingly.
"It's o.k., Leo... I just hypnotised her, but she's fine, and Chris is with Bianca in the library. Don't you worry," Nicki explained as fast as she could. "Piper..." she added, "They're fine, I promise, you're mixing your vision with the reality, because you were rudely awaken..."
Piper looked confused at all the people in the room, then at Leo. "They're gonna take us both. They're gonna take us, because they want Chris and my baby... because of that prophecy. They'll hurt Chris, maybe, but they won't kill him, I know..."
Cole frowned, and Victor held his breath back "What do you mean?" Phoebe asked.
"The others... I think they want them dead, the two Chrises... But the one called Zankou... he wants something else."
Cole and Leo took the book again. They needed to find Zankou...
°°°°°°°°°°
"This is crazy... There are mountains of books that talk about prophecies..." Chris said, letting another heavy volume drop on the pile they had formed in the middle of the library. He was on the top of the stairs, and had already taken all the books about prophecies and visions that he had found in the lower shelves.
Bianca was sitting next to those books, looking for something that could be of interest for them. "Look... Nostradamus. He predicted the end of the world!" she said, smiling.
Chris sighed, getting downstairs: "Yeah... the problem is that we never understood when it was supposed to be... Now, let's focus on demonic prophecies... there must be something!"
Bianca shook her head: "All the prophecy books here have to do with ancient ones; all of them have already taken place... Look at this..." she stopped at one page.
"When three planets burn as one over a sky of dancing light, and magic will rest for a holy day to welcome a twice blessed child."
"This one must be familiar to you," she added.
Chris smiled: "Yeah... I think I know that one by heart. Well... Let's focus, Bianca... if we really want to... you know... finish with this on time."
°°°°°°°°°°
"So... they now know about that prophecy..." he kept pensive for a while.
Then summoned the demon that had failed in his previous mission, who came instantly before him. "I was thinking about killing you... But it seems that we have new allies, and this was... his work." He meant the fact that nor the Charmed One or her son were in the manor. "They must be hiding in the only place where we can't set foot, so... we'll need them to get out," he smirked.
"Try to figure out a way to bring those two back home... Oh... Maybe you'd be interested in the help of one of them... In the manor, look for the eldest, Prue, the one who died," Zankou added.
The demon nodded.
"She's our ally."
The demon then bowed and shimmered out, relieved that he was still alive, and willing to fulfil his mission, although he didn't understand why that so-called Prue would help them.
°°°°°°°°°°
Chris was walking around among all the books on the floor, frustrated and a little angry, when Piper and the rest of the family went in.
"Oh sweetie," Piper exclaimed, and hugged her son tightly.
Chris was a little scared by that action. "Mom... What's wrong?" he asked.
"I've seen you, I've seen us, imprisoned, and they'll make you suffer, because I have to drink a potion that would kill your little one," explained his mother as fast as she could, still scared on her own.
Bianca went pale by her words. Chris swallowed. "But this will not happen, you're safe hear," the Phoenix then said.
"I've seen it... Zankou will get us..." Piper replied.
"Zankou?" Bianca asked.
"You know him?" Leo was the one who had asked now.
Bianca nodded: "Met him one time. We wanted to ask him to fight with us, but he betrayed us... he is evil, very evil." Piper turned pale. That description fitted perfect to her vision.
Victor looked to Cole who had his arm around Phoebe's back, trying to give her some support, some strength. He sighed. "Don't worry," Tom, who was standing on his other side, whispered. Victor nodded but couldn't stop worrying at all.
Chris was frowning, and looking to the ground. Then he grasped the shoulders of Piper and looked her into the eyes very deeply.
"Mom, I want you to listen to me carefully, and do exactly as I say, alright?" he asked. She nodded a little afraid of his behaviour. "Don't worry about what will ever happen to me," Chris went on, "even if they kill me... Don't let them kill the little one, got it? Swear to me that you won't let them kill my little self, even if they kill me... alright? Just bring my body back home, but don't let them kill the baby!"
"But Chris..." Piper didn't know what to say. She was shocked by his words, same as the others.
"Swear it!" Chris yelled.
"I... I do... I swear," Piper said, even if she wasn't sure if she could hold on it.
Chris smiled: "I love you, don't disappoint me."
Piper had tears in her eyes. 'How could he do that?' she thought.
Chris left her and went to the door, ignoring all the other worried faces. He took Cole's arm: "We have to talk." He pulled the man with him, out of the room, leaving the other behind.
They went a few steps away, so that the other couldn't hear them.
"What's wrong?" Cole asked then.
"I have to tell you something, something that no one else knows by now," Chris explained.
Cole sighed: "You really think that you will not get through this, right?"
Chris nodded: "I don't know... A few hours ago I had a feeling like... like everything will go on as it should, you know... And now..." He looked at his watch: "It's already my weddingday... and I'm not sure if I will live long enough to be there on time." He smiled, while Cole was looking at him scared.
"But anyway, that's not the point," Chris added.
"And what is the point?" Cole couldn't believe that his nephew was about to give up this time.
Chris smiled: "If I die, you have to save me!"
"WHAT?" Cole yelled. "HOW AM I SUPPOSED TO DO THAT?"
"Hush... not so loud," Chris said. Then he began to explain with a low voice: "Not you exactly uncle... You know, I believe that Wyatt is able to save people from death, to give them their life back as long as they are not on the list of the angel of death."
"What?" Cole asked again, but this time a little more quiet.
"You know... He did it... the adult one, when he was here. He brought me back to life when we were trapped in that cave."
Cole was looking into Chris's eyes. He couldn't believe what he was hearing. "How?" he asked.
Chris sighed: "I don't know. It was the first time he did it, he said."
"Oh man," Cole replied, "how is the little boy going to bring you back to life when even the old one didn't know how?"
Chris sighed again: "I don't know... maybe with a little Elder-help from dad... I have no idea... But if I die down there... that will be my only chance... So I just want someone to know what happened... Alright?"
°°°°°°°°°°
At the same time Paige and Prue were sitting in the attic waiting for the others to return.
"How was it. when you heard that you were a witch?" Prue asked.
"Wow... It was like... Wow!... and scaring, really scaring."
Prue nodded.
Suddenly, the air in front of them began to wave. Paige jumped up as the demon shimmered in.
He attacked the witch with a crossbow.
"Arrow!" Paige screamed to summon it and throw it back to the intruder. But instead, she felt a strong hit on the back of her head, before she lost her consciousness.
The demon smiled, looking at the other witch. Prue was standing behind Paige, with a big and heavy book in her hands.
Then her look changed and she turned to be Gabriel...
The demon looked surprised, but then nodded.
"Take her to Zankou," Gabriel commanded, "but she must not be hurt... she will be our bait!" The demon nodded again; then he took Paige and shimmered out.
Gabriel smiled and turned to the shape of Prue again. Then she called for Leo.
°°°°°°°°°°
Cole and Chris stared at each other with glassy eyes for a short while. Cole wanted to tell him many things, that he wouldn't die, that everything would be right and that he would be there on time for his wedding... and he wanted to ask him not to do any stupid thing, because he could almost read his mind... But finally he just mumbled: "O.k., but..."
He was interrupted by a gesture of Chris who raised his hand to hush him: "It's aunt Prue... she's calling dad..."
He started to orb, but Cole grabbed his arm tightly. Chris rematerialised before him with an angry countenance: "What are you doing? She's in danger, I..."
"This school is full of witches and whitelighters right now, and she's calling Leo, not you. You shouldn't go, Chris, after what we know..."
"But... "
Cole shook his head: "Let's go back to the others."
°°°°°°°°°°
In the library, Piper had sat down and was weeping. Phoebe was by her, as well as Leo, trying to give some comfort to the desperate mother.
"Listen, Piper... I know a lot about this stuff. That was a vision... a premonition. But I know by experience that when you get one, it's because it can be changed. So this doesn't have to happen, o.k.?"
Piper shook her head: "I know this will. Chris knows; he knows somehow. I saw that in his eyes... That weird feeling I got before, when he just came here without fighting... He's not fighting Phoebe! Can't you see that?" Leo sighed. He had also thought that his attitude was weird. "He's accepting the premonition as his fate... He's not gonna fight! And I don't know if I'll be able to see how they..." she broke down.
Leo hugged her tightly: "That won't happen."
"So... why did he want to talk to Cole in private, huh?" she asked.
Phoebe and Leo exchanged their looks. They knew that Cole and Chris had that sort of affinity. They kept some secrets they wouldn't tell anyone, and they told each other the things that really mattered, those that scared them, those that were so bad, that no one else should know... Phoebe knew that well, because sometimes she felt what they felt in those moments, even if they were not in the same room... Their emotions were sometimes so overwhelming that she could feel them, even if they had taken that blocking potion... And Phoebe felt how Cole was feeling at that very moment, and she had to hold back her tears.
Meanwhile, Bianca was leaning against the pile of books, feeling how her heart beat to death. She wished she could cry too, but she couldn't. She was so terrified that tears didn't dare to go out... Victor was by her side, pressing her hand tenderly without knowing himself what was going on exactly.
Nicki, Steve and Tom observed the scenes from the distance, their looks somber and worried. Nick knew that the two boys were speaking with their telepathy, so that they wouldn't scare her.
'Do you know that Zankou?' Tom asked.
'The name's familiar... But I think he was on those obsolate books about extinguished, defeated and vanquished demons...' Steve answered.
Tom just nodded. Then he asked again: 'Do you think Chris is going to...'
'Or Piper...' Steve completed.
'Naaah, they're the Charmed Ones, man... They'll get through this as they always do' said Tom as an afterthought.
Suddenly, Phoebe's eyes rose to meet theirs. She didn't say anything but her look showed them that she had heard the whole conversation. They didn't understand why she was able to do that... Maybe that was a growth of her powers, since they all had to do with the mind.
But Leo's voice stopped their thoughts: "It's Prue, she's calling me... something's wrong down there..."
"We need to go..." Piper said, starting to stand up.
But Phoebe kept her down: "No, girl, you'll stay."
Chris and Cole got back at the same time as she said that. "I heard it, dad. Prue..." the Elder-witch said.
Leo nodded: "I'll go.. You and your mother will stay here. Come what may, got it?"
Chris and Piper nodded really unwillingly, but Cole patted his shoulder reassuringly.
"I'll also go..." Phoebe said.
Piper stood up again: "You don't have active powers, Phoebe... And who knows if Leo's are enough..."
"I can go," Bianca intervened in a cold tone, "No one is spoiling my wedding and running away with it."
Chris turned to look at her scared: "No way... You're pregnant. You won't move from here. We'll both stay..." He went to hug her: "I promise honey, I will stay. But you need to stay too."
"We can go," Nicki suggested. Tom and Steve, who were still submerged in their telepathic conversation, turned their looks at her. "We've got active powers... some," she looked at the two boys, "we want to see our headmaster and headmistress married tomorrow." She smiled and the boys nodded, unsure.
"O.k..." Leo said, feeling it was important, "Give me your hands".
Tom smirked, grabbed his two friends' hands and shimmered with them to the manor before Leo himself could orb.
"Damn it..." he took Phoebe's arm and orbed away.
Victor went to his daughter and caressed her hair: "You'll get out of this sweetie..."
Chris and Bianca were still hugging. Bianca's eyes finally welled up in tears.
Chris smiled at her: "Don't cry, sweetie, please."
She nodded, but then she leaned her head on his shoulder, sobbing into his shirt. Chris hugged her tightly. He took her head in his hands and kissed her tears away. "Don't worry, everything will be alright." Bianca nodded, still sobbing a little.
Cole was observing them. Slightly, he shook his head. He couldn't understand what was going on with him. He thought he would know Chris very well, but this time...? Why was he giving up? There must have been a reason for all that, but... he couldn't find it. He sighed: "Chris, come... we have to talk again!"
Chris looked up. He looked into the sad eyes of his uncle and nodded. "I'll be right back," he said to Bianca. Then the two men left the room again.
Bianca hid her face in her hands and cried again.
Victor sighed: "Come over here, Bianca." He offered her his shoulder.
She smiled weakly and sat down next to him. Victor hugged both women, one with each arm. "Everything will be fine... I know that," he said softly, "Chris is a Halliwell, right?" The others didn't answer. "But... I have a little question. Why is Prue calling for Leo... Did you... bring her back?"
Piper smiled a little.
°°°°°°°°°°
Meanwhile the others reached the attic. Prue was sitting on the ground, and she was holding her head with one hand.
"What's wrong?" Leo asked.
The teens were a little confused by that sight. They have heard a lot of stories about Prue, but seeing her now was weird.
Prue sighed: "They've got Paige."
"WHAT? WHO?" Phoebe yelled, went over to her and hugged her.
"I don't know," Prue explained. "There were four. They were talking about Zankou... who-, what- or wherever that is. And they said they wanted Chris and Piper."
"Why didn't they take you?" Leo asked.
Prue sighed again: "Don't know, I haven't asked...They just beat me down, took her and shimmered away."
"Maybe," Nicki rose to speak, "we should bring her to the school? It's safer there. And then we have to find that Zankou and free Paige." Leo nodded.
"No..." Prue suddenly exclaimed, "I will not go to the school!" When she saw the confused looks of the others, especially Leo and Phoebe, she knew she had gone a little too far. She was about to spoil her cover on her own, but if they tried to take her to the school, they would now anyway... So she added: "There is no time, we have to do something."
°°°°°°°°°°
Darryl was still sitting in his office. It was already past midnight. The last morning he had promised his wife to come home early, but at lunchtime he had called her, and told her that he will be late again... too much work those days.
She was not very happy when he told her that. "You should come home, you have to go to a marriage tomorrow," she had said. 'Yeah, Chris will marry tomorrow...today,' he thought with a smile. He still didn't understand all that about him, but he was happy for him and his girl. He liked them.
He sighed and rubbed his tired eyes.
Suddenly a little window popped up on his computer. "You have received an e-mail," he read. He sighed again and opened the window. He looked at the sender address... he looked at the subject... none. He shook his head. 'Seems like the sisters already arrived in the 21st century, too,' he thought. He opened the mail and read it. Then he opened his eyes widely. That wasn't from the sisters. He read it again.
"The oldest sister is still gone; actually she has never come."
That was all.
Darryl frowned. Then he printed this massage out, took the paper and his jacket and left his office. He didn't know what that was about, but he had the feeling that he should show that to the Halliwells.
(Chapter 6 written by Chrissy.W.x and Belén)
