A Charmed Story - Part Four:
Marriage with Obstacles
Chapter 8
"Don't you worry... You don't have to worry... This is happening because this is the way it has to be. Destiny? No... This is just the way it is, that's all. Don't question it anymore. You had to come down here, whatever the reasons are. You have to save Paige... And you'll have to undergo a lot, perhaps. But everything will be fine at the end. Just go along with it..." Chris was repeating that to himself as he walked through the dark cold and narrow passages of the Underworld.
From time to time, he stopped in some hidden place and closed his eyes to try to sense Paige. And little by little, he was approaching the place... Little by little, his heart's speed augmented.
Suddenly, he heard a voice. "You're not going to get anything from them. You're stupid if you think so..."
"Paige..." he muttered.
But at the same moment, a strong hand grabbed his shoulder and pushed him rudely towards the entrance from where Paige's voice came.
"Master... I think this is the one."
A smart and self-confident demon, with a very clean-shaved beard, turned to see him, and smiled at him kindly. Behind him, chained to a wall, was Paige.
°°°°°°°°°°
Paige had been unconscious for a while when she finally got over and woke up. She looked around. Her head hurt a lot, and she felt that a viscous liquid was wetting her neck.
"Damn it..." she cursed. She had just realised she was chained to a wall. It took her some minutes to focus her sight and see the ones surrounding her.
"Welcome to life, Paige..." Zankou said.
The girl narrowed her eyes: "Who the hell are you, bastard?"
He clicked his tongue in disapproval. "I'm a very sensitive man, honey..." He cupped her chin pressing so strongly that he hurt her. "You shouldn't insult me."
Paige spatted at Zankou's face, and gathering all her strength, tried to orb away, but it didn't work. Her look was one of shock and fear.
Zankou simply wiped the saliva and smirked: "Don't even try to escape. You can't orb... The chains are magical, sweetie..."
Then she noticed there was another demon in the room, hidden in the shadows. He was chuckling.
"Listen to me..." Zankou continued. "I don't even want you. Not this time, at least... I only need you for someone else to come here."
Paige felt her heart sink. She knew what he meant: "Why do you want to kill him exactly? The prophecy?"
Zankou laughed: "You're a little wise witch, you know that? No... Actually, I want another thing from them both." He whispered: "THEY want them dead, both of them. I might kill him anyway, when he's useless, and also your sister and the baby... but just for distraction."
Paige wanted to cry and kick and kill that man, but she calmed down as much as she could: "So you want them because of their power?"
"You got the prize!" Zankou clapped his hands. "But hush..." he whispered again. "Those men there.. " he pointed up behind himself, and Paige could see that there were more than one demon there, all of them skinny, greenish and with funny tattoos on their arms. "Those men there are so afraid of them that they want them dead."
Paige shivered. This man was playing games with her...
"Well, I'll get their power, and then, I'll give the useless prisoners to them, so that they can do whatever they like..."
"And how are you supposed to get their powers?"
"They'll give them to me, don't worry about that. A little sweet drink, and that's all. If they co-operate, they'll still be their whole selves by when my friends get them."
Paige felt nausea at his sight. She wished she could do something else but... "You're not going to get anything from them. You're stupid if you think so..."
Zankou stared at her angrily, but suddenly, a noise came from outside, and after that, one of his men appeared pushing Chris: "Master... I think this is the one."
Zankou turned to face him, and smiled, relaxed and satisfied at his sight: "Welcome to my humble lair, Chris... Maybe we won't need Paige anymore."
°°°°°°°°°°
Prue frowned when she saw Tom coming back with Phoebe and Nicki.
"Is everything o.k.?" she asked suspiciously.
"Oh... They're looking at all the books in search for information."
"The books?" Prue stopped scrying, if she had really been doing so, to stare at them.
"Yes the books.." Phoebe smiled as kindly as she could, "and where are Leo and Steve?"
"They're down there in the kitchen... They were bored of this scrying thingy..." she said bored.
"So you didn't find her?" Tom asked.
Prue shook her head tiredly: "But I did find this..." She took a note from her pocket.
"Bring Chris and Piper or else your sister dies."
Phoebe raised her eyes surprised: "Haven't you showed it to Leo? But how the hell did this get here? Are you fine?"
Prue nodded. "It just appeared..." she was lying, evidently... "Anyway, don't worry about me, sister... I'm already a ghost."
"Of course..." Phoebe frowned.
°°°°°°°°°°
Belthazor was staring at the screen, avidly.
Julian kept looking at him out of the corner of his eyes. "It's because of his memories, isn't it?" he asked. He was really curious about this so-called 'source of all evil' that was now helping the supreme good ones.
"Huh?" Belthazor was distracted.
"You're helping them because you still have that part of Cole? Those memories together with his powers. You got the good and the bad... The memories you needed to know everything about the school... but also the ones that make you feel so worried and bad. Those that make Cole love them so much..."
"Shut up!" Belthazor exclaimed in a cutting tone.
"I'm sorry..." Julian smiled. He got him... Besides, he wouldn't hurt him at all. Belthazor wasn't the same since the last time he had seen the Halliwells and his other self. Since that boy had decided not to kill him... The screen illuminated and the blip sound filled the room: "You've got a message."
Belthazor groaned: "I told them not to reply!"
"Do you want to read it?" Julian asked.
Belthazor was silent for a moment. Julian knew that behaviour... the source was thinking hard.
Finally, the red demon nodded and Julian opened the massage.
"Whoever you are, thanks for your help. But I thought you might like to know that I'm now going to help my aunt Paige - Chris"
Belthazor screamed furious. "That boy is such a stubborn idiot, DAMN!"
Julian frowned: "What should we do now?"
"You go and help him!" Belthazor commanded.
The witch looked at him scared: "Me?"
°°°°°°°°°°
Bianca sat on the floor with a book on her lap. Suddenly she felt something. It was as... as if something was wrong. She looked to Piper who just raised her eyes from a book too, and frowned.
'Oh my God,' the Phoenix thought. "CHRIS!" she exclaimed.
"What?" Cole asked surprised.
Bianca jumped up and ran out of the door. Cole followed her scared.
Victor looked at his daughter: "What was that?"
"He's gone," Piper said a little absent.
"WHAT?"
She turned her head slowly to his father: "He's gone to save Paige."
Victor sighed and put his arms around her. Piper started to cry while Wyatt was playing on the ground.
°°°°°°°°°°
Bianca ran to Gideon's office. It was empty. Afraid and desperate she was pacing through the room, when Cole arrived.
He sighed. There was no Chris. 'Damn it!' he thought. 'He promised me he'd do nothing stupid. That freaky little... Why does he have to be such a damned stubborn!' But Cole needed to keep in his mind. 'No time to freak out, you have to help that girl,' he thought.
He went over to Bianca and hugged her tightly. She started to cry. She cried so hardly that Cole really had to fight his own tears.
"It'll be alright... I'm sure he's fine," he whispered to her.
Then he noticed that the computer was still on, and that there was a message. Cole opened it.
"I'm sorry. But I feel I have to do this. Mom: Whatever happens, stick to your oath! Dad: Don't let her go! Cole: Never forget what I told you! And Bianca: My love, I'll be there on time and you'll be Mrs. Halliwell! - I'm sorry. Chris"
After they had read the lines, Bianca began to cry stronger. Cole sighed. He knew what this message meant, which Chris's plan was... He swallowed. He was sure: Chris wanted to give his life for Paige and for his mom. And he, Cole, should make sure that Wyatt would bring him back from wherever.
He hugged Bianca again. She was crying on his shoulder so badly that it hurt him deep inside his soul. "He will come back," he whispered, "I'm sure he will."
Then, another message arrived. From the witchhelp address. Cole opened it, still holding Bianca with his other arm.
"DON'T DO IT CHRIS! DON'T! They want not only your life... Zankou wants your powers!"
"Oh God," Cole muttered. 'That's something you didn't know, Chris. Something that could spoil your plan!' he thought.
"Bianca," he said to her, "I know that's hard, but you have to go back to the library and find that demon in the books... We need to!" Cole commanded. Bianca swallowed still sobbing. Cole looked into her sad eyes: "Girl, we need to!"
She nodded and went slowly out of the room. Cole replied to the last e-mail.
"He's gone. We need your help; we need it so badly... PLEASE HELP HIM! Cole."
°°°°°°°°°°
"CHRIS!" yelled Paige with anger and fear.
Chris didn't pay attention to his aunt. He looked into the eyes of the demon. "Nice to meet you again, Zankou," he said.
The demon narrowed his eyes. Chris noticed that and smiled: "Oh, I forgot, you can't remember... But therefore... maybe I should warn you... in about 20 years I will save your ass from being burnt by my older brother... I don't know what will happen to him and to you when you kill me..." That was a lie. That demon had never been so stupid to step into Wyatt's way, but if he believed him...
Zankou frowned and then he smiled: "I don't want to kill you; I only want your powers and those from the unborn child. I will take them inside, so that the greater power which will appear when he's born, appears in me!" He laughed loudly.
Chris swallowed. That was really not part of his plan. And suddenly he remembered Wyatt's words again. "Never go alone" and "he will take your powers". Is it all that starting now just a little earlier? Will this be his end?
"No, you have to kill him; he and his unborn version are too dangerous!" one of the other demons yelled.
Chris noticed them for the first time. "Seems you have something to discuss with your little helpers," he replied to the demon, trying to look still strong, even if he wasn't anymore.
But Zankou was completely unimpressed. He just waved his hand and all the little green demons ended up in ashes.
"And now to you," he said and went a little closer to Chris.
"Let Paige go," Chris said back.
Zankou smiled and waved his hand again. Paige disappeared. "She's home," he said and put out a little potion-bottle. "Drink this," he ordered.
"Never" Chris replied. And the next thing he noticed was that he had crashed against the wall.
°°°°°°°°°°
Bianca went into the library; she looked very pale, too pale. Her eyes were red, she was still crying. Victor rose to offer her his hand. But she just looked at them, at Piper. "He's gone... Zankou will kill him if we don't find any..." she whispered. Then she broke down. She fall down into Victor's arms unconscious.
"Oh my God," he said while placing her softly on the ground. "LEO!" he yelled, while Piper was too shocked to move.
°°°°°°°°°°
'LEO!' He stopped mixing ingredients in the kitchen, and raised his head, alerted: "Victor's calling, something's wrong in the school."
Steve looked at him worried. "Should I go with you?" he asked.
The Elder shook his head: "No, you go to the attic with that demon, keep an eye on her... or him. I'll see what's happening in the school."
Steve nodded as he saw Leo's orbs. And just after that, he heard a noise upstairs. And a yell. The young witch hastened to go upstairs again.
°°°°°°°°°°
"O.k..." Phoebe had said after taking a short glance at the sheet of paper with the short note. "How did it get here anyway? Didn't any demon bring it? And how did you find it?"
Tom didn't wait for Prue's answer, but he tried to shimmer down, in search for Steve and Leo, when a strong hand grabbed his neck.
Prue had disappeared and reappeared just behind the boy and now she was not a Halliwell anymore. On the contrary, Phoebe and Nicki could see the skinny and pale green demon he really was.
"Fine, sister..." he said mockingly, with his real voice, "I see you don't trust me now... What a pity. We could have got on very well, but..." He suddenly noticed the intentions of Nicki, who was about to grab an athame from the table next to her: "No... don't try, or he'll die." From his wrist, a pointed piece of metal emerged, threatening with cutting the boy's neck.
Phoebe and Nicki stared at them nervously, pondering what to do. Should they call Leo or Steve? No way. Whatever they did, it'd only gain a cut on Tom's neck.
'Damn it, Tom, shimmer!' thought Nicki, wishing she had that sort of connection that Steve had with him. But she didn't...
The demon smirked: "Maybe I can take this little witch to Zankou... Together with Paige he'll make a great bait for Chris and Piper."
Suddenly, a voice interrupted them, even before the shape of its owner was made evident in the middle of white bluish orbs: "You bitch! She's not Prue, or she's betrayed us!" The demon turned his head surprised.
"Paige!" exclaimed Nicki and Phoebe at the same time.
At that very moment, a very scared Tom reacted and shimmered away from the grisp of his captor.
Paige rematerialised behind the demon. "Ooops, I see you've already been informed..." she said, seeing how Phoebe kicked him.
Steve appeared at the door just to see the demon fall backwards. Paige looked around in search for something to end with his life, but she couldn't find anything.
The demon stood up slowly and started to shimmer, maybe to get any of them again. But suddenly, Steve threw a potion at him. They all thought he had been killed, but the demon was only surrounded by a strong light for a couple of seconds, and then he regained his normal presence. He smiled.
"You don't know how to vanquish me... how did you even try?" he asked.
Phoebe, Paige, Tom and Nicki stepped backwards, looking from the demon to Steve very confused, but Steve just smiled back at the ex-faked Prue.
Suddenly he tried to get his pointed artefact from the wrist, but nothing happened. Then, he turned confused to the others, and tried to shimmer... Nothing again.
"Yep, you're right, buddy..." Steve said in a casual tone, approaching him, "Leo and I didn't know how to vanquish you... But we knew how to take your powers away." He hit him on the face, and the demon fell down. "And now you're gonna tell us where Zankou is..."
The others in the attic jumped out of happiness. That meant they were all safe!
But Paige kept silent and somber.
"What's up, baby? You're safe, we're gonna win the war!" Phoebe exclaimed. But before her sister could answer, she realised that something was wrong: "How did you escape, Paige?"
She shook her head: "Chris... he traded himself... for me." The demon on the floor was the only one smiling out of happiness this time.
°°°°°°°°°°
Chris stood up, in a lot of pain, and made the attempt to orb away. That was a silly thing to do... He just crashed his body against a forcefield that Zankou had just raised in the entire cave.
"Good try, man... But this is also very clever isn't it? A forcefield made by myself... You can orb in, but not out. And I can shimmer in and out. Like a big dreamcatcher; only that in this case, the cobweb traps whitelighters, and lets demons pass through the feathers..." He approached his victim, smirking: "Now, drink."
"I won't..." Chris repeated, "I won't give you my powers..."
Zankou grabbed his neck strongly: "As you like... I can force you to drink this." He pushed his body against the wall, and pressed his jaws, to oblige him open his mouth.
But Chris kept it clenched tightly, and struggled to breathe through the nose or escape his grip. Finally he orbed to another part in the cave, and started to breathe heavily.
Zankou laughed: "Come on... Don't make me chain you as I did with your aunt! You whitelighters and Elders can be really bothering..."
"You'll not get anything from me, you need both of us, but you won't get the baby. Without him... there's nothing you can do."
"Oh... don't worry about that, boy... All in good time. I'll get your mommy too. Meanwhile..." he started to pace around him, "I was thinking about having a stag party here, to kill time... Your last night as a bachelor... Oops, almost day, soon, and you didn't have your party? Come on, let's drink a toast, you first." He squatted by Chris's side, and stretched his arm to give him the drink, kindly. "Here's to the bride and groom... " he recited.
Chris cast a glance filled with hatred at him: "You won't get what you want, I swear."
And he hit his hand, making the potion fall on the floor. With a little soft clink the little bottle broke into pieces and the liquid was spread around on the ground. Chris smiled.
Zankou was really angry now and beat th Elder-witch in his face making him fly backwards to the ground.
Chris tried to get up again. His jaw hurt. He tasted blood. 'Fight, you have to fight,' he thought. As soon he rose to a sitting position, Zankou hit him again. And then the demon threw him through the cave.
Chris yelled in pain. But he knew he wasn't allowed to give up.
Somehow he managed to get back on his feet. In the same second he threw out a flash of energy to Zankou. But the demon just caught it with his hand as he was absorbing it. Chris looked at him shocked. Orbing didn't work, flashes didn't work... what should he do now?
Zankou smiled evilly. Then he waved his hand and threw the energy flash back to Chris. It hit him on his chest taking his breath away. Chris struggled and fell down to the ground again.
There he lay, breathing heavily now, having only one thing in mind... The most important thing he had to fight for. "Bianca," he whispered. At this moment he wished he had never left her.
°°°°°°°°°°
Leo had orbed to the schoollibrary, where he found Victor sitting by Bianca who was still unconscious. "What happened?" he asked while he knelt down next to her.
"She broke down," Victor just said. Then he looked at his son-in-law while he was trying to heal her. "Chris is gone," he said slowly.
"What?" Leo exclaimed. For a moment he stopped the healing and just looked at him. Victor just nodded.
Leo went on with the healing, but it didn't work. "She isn't hurt or something," he explained, "I can't help her. I think it's from her pregnancy and the sorrow. She just needs a rest."
Victor nodded again. Then he pointed at Piper: "Maybe you can help her."
Leo went over to his wife. She was sitting on the sofa just looking into the nothingness.
"Piper?" the Elder asked while he sat down next to her.
"He's gone," she muttered.
Leo put his arm around her, watching how Victor put a pillow under Bianca's head while little Wyatt was playing with his toys. Then he turned to Piper again.
"He's alright, I'm sure... you know him. And we'll find a way to help him," he whispered softly.
"He's gone," Piper muttered again and then she started to cry.
Leo tried to make her calm down, but it seemed to be impossible.
Victor sighed: "Don't worry about them... all the trouble... and then the hormone-thing... As you said, it's all a little too much for them."
Leo nodded, but he felt sorrow anyway.
"Chris, I'm here," Bianca whispered suddenly.
°°°°°°°°°°
Cole sat still in the office, staring at the screen. There was no reply, no answer. He sighed and stood up. He was about to leave the room, but then he heard the "new-message-beep" and went back.
There it was: an e-mail from the witchhelp-adress. He opened it and read.
"One of my agents is on the way to do all he can do to save him. We know that the world needs him. We do everything we can... B."
"B?" Cole asked himself. His mind was working hard. Then an idea crossed his thoughts. 'Could that be possible?' Could it be that a demon would help a witch... 'Sure,' he answered himself. He, on his own, had helped the sisters a lot of times, he had even been a demon.
"Belthazor," he whispered.
He looked at the message again. Then he deleted it. After that was finished he sent an e-mail back.
"Hello brother. Your secret is safe, I will not tell them who you are. But please, help Chris quickly as I would do!"
He pressed the send button, shut down the computer and went back to the library.
°°°°°°°°°°
Chris hit the wall again. Like a wet towel, he was sliding down to the ground. He saw how Zankou pulled another potion-bottle out of a pocket of his jacket. Smiling he went a little closer.
"Bianca," Chris whispered again, running out of energy.
"Chris, I'm here," he heard her sweet voice. But that couldn't be true, she was at the school.
"I'm here, honey." Chris looked into the direction from where the voice came.
There she was, it was really her. Or better... it was a kind of ghost. Chris could see her shape, her eyes, her smile, but he could also see through her. She wasn't real but she was there. "I'm going to lose my mind," Chris said suddenly and laughed.
Zankou looked at him confused. 'What was going on?' he thought. But then he decided to ignore it... 'Surely just a human behaviour.'
"Chris, you have to fight!" Bianca went on. He looked at her again. "You have to fight for me," she went on, "for us...!" With those last words she opened her right hand and a light appeared. And the light turned to the shape of a small body... the body of a girl of maybe five years. She was cute. She looked like Bianca in a way. But her skin was lighter and her eyes were green.
"Hope?" Chris whispered with a sad smile.
The little girl waved his hand to him.
Zankou was now right in front of him. "Will you now drink?" he asked, while he offered him a new little bottle.
Chris looked at the bottle. Then he narrowed his eyes. "Never!" he yelled and threw Zankou telekinetically through his cave.
(Chapter 8 written by Belén and Chrissy.W.x)
