Okay guys, Laur and I are back with chapter two and we're hoping that you like it. Sorry it took so long, but a certain Scottish chick never got back to me... Lol, we love you Laur. We're finally revealing the big secret (dun dun dun!) Who is the new Whitelighter? You've probably already guessed it, and if you haven't, then I'm sure you'll be kicking yourself for not guessing it once you find out who it is! Okay, so without further ado… (P.S. This chapter title is my worthless attempt at a play on the movie Sleepless in Seattle)
Carry on the Heritage: The Next Generation of Halliwells
Chapter Two: Clueless in San Francisco
"Oh my god!" Percy repeated, a little louder this time. She couldn't believe it. None of them could. It had to be a trick, a glamour, a sick joke that the Elders were playing on them. But no, there was no mistaking it. The soft brown eyes, the warm friendly smile, the long brown hair, the gorgeous features. Though very unexpectedly, this person was most certainly…
"Kelsey," Preston choked out. She smiled politely at him, but there was a hint of confusion in her eyes.
"I can't believe it's you," Patience whispered. At the same time, all three of them looked at the one person who had yet to say anything. They expected him to be yelling, screaming, crying, laughing, hell even puking would do; anything but just sitting there completely unfazed by this and extremely confused.
"Have you guys met?" Parker asked curiously. His cousins gawked at him.
"What? Are you kidding me? Did you really just ask that?" Percy asked, completely dumbfounded by this display of what she hoped was denial. The expression on his face told her that he was absolutely serious though and a glance at Kelsey told her that she had no idea what was going on either. It was as if both of their memories had completely been erased of any knowledge of each other's existence.
"Oden," Patience growled. "We'd like to speak to you in private please… now!" The four of them exited the white room, leaving Kelsey and Parker in an awkward silence by themselves. "What did you do?" Patience demanded as soon as the huge oak doors had creaked shut.
"We did only what was necessary to make sure that everything went smoothly," Oden replied. Though he managed to keep a calm façade, it was hard even for him not to crack under Patience's fiery glare.
"You call this smooth? Parker and Kelsey don't even know each other!" Percy exploded, causing several other Elders and Whitelighters to glance disapprovingly in their direction.
"Exactly. Did you think that we could just have those two working together after all that happened? It would jeopardize everything!" Oden countered.
"You do realize that Kelsey is the love of his life, right? She is the one person that he felt so strongly about that he killed his own son to avenge her death. Can you even begin to grasp that concept?" Patience asked furiously.
"Yes, I can and that is exactly why this had to be done. You must understand that we wouldn't have done this if we didn't think it were crucial to everything that the four of you must do. Kelsey has been training for this assignment since the day she died. She is fully prepared. Do you honestly think that she would be able to do this if she had all of her memories?" Oden asked.
"You people are fucking ridiculous!" Preston boomed.
"That is quite enough! Now, do not make me regret my decision to exclude the three of you from the memory spell. I expect you to be reasonable and mature enough to handle this situation. We all know that memory spells are delicate and should you do or say anything to purposely provoke their memories to return, Kelsey will be reassigned and you will receive a new Whitelighter. Do you understand?"
"Perfectly," Patience snarled as she ripped the doors open. "And don't worry, we won't have to say anything. Your stupid little plan will fall apart all on its own."
"What about the anointing ceremony?" Oden called after them.
"Screw the ceremony, we've already completed your tests. We're anointed enough," Preston replied.
"Is everything okay guys?" Parker asked in concern as the three of them stormed back into the white room, leaving Oden on the outside.
"It's fine," Percy lied. "Come on, let's go see our parents." Just as they were about to orb out, Parker looked back at Kelsey.
"You're welcome to come with," he offered. Kelsey smiled.
"That's okay, I have to make rounds and check to make sure that all of the soldiers got in okay. You guys might want to grab your stuff while you're there. You have to move into your new homes soon," she reminded them. They nodded and left for home.
xxxxx
Piper Halliwell took a long sip from her coffee and blinked her eyes to try to get some of the moisture back into them. She had slept a total of about five hours over the last three days and she was pretty sure that if she didn't get some substantial sleep soon, she would go insane. But it was no use trying to do that when she was this worried. Her son and his cousins had gone 'Up There' three days ago, and hadn't come back yet. They wouldn't answer her calls, Leo and Paige couldn't get a read on them, and the Elders wouldn't tell them anything. So as far as Piper was concerned, she had a reason to be worried. She didn't even look up when she heard the sound of orbs fill the room. It was probably just Leo or Paige and not that she didn't love them or anything, but they weren't who she wanted to see.
"Hey Mom! God, you look terrible. Is everything okay?" Piper's head snapped up and she winced at the instant headache that formed from it. But she didn't mind because standing in front of her was Parker, Preston, Patience, and Percy. She hurried over and threw her arms around Parker's neck, smothering him with kisses.
"I'm so glad you're back! We were worried sick," she said, on the verge of tears.
"We've only been gone for a few hours, Aunt Piper," Patience said, stumbling backwards a little as Piper gave her a hug as well.
"A few hours? You've been gone for three days! The Elders wouldn't tell us anything, just that you were in their hands, which, coming from the Elders can mean any damn thing," Piper told them.
"Three days!" Percy exclaimed, a look of pure annoyance on her face that was so reminiscent of Paige it was scary. Before anything else could be said though, Phoebe's head popped out from around the corner.
"Preston? Preston, you're back!" she exclaimed.
"On no," Preston mumbled, bracing himself for another bone breaking hug.
"Preston?" a voice called from the living room. "Are the kids here?" Within seconds, Prue and Paige were rushing into the kitchen.
"Patience," Prue said happily, giving her a warm smile and a hug.
"Hey," Patience said unenthusiastically, stiffening a little. Prue gave her a confused look.
"Are you guys okay?" she asked cautiously.
"Yeah, fine," Patience replied coldly, averting her eyes. Prue frowned, wondering what she'd done, but shrugged it off for now. Who knew what they'd gone through 'Up There'.
"What have you guys been doing?" Phoebe asked, still not letting got of her son.
"Well, we had to be assigned our very own Whitelighter, but we had to prove that we deserved it first. Apparently saving people's lives everyday just doesn't cut it anymore," Percy said bitterly.
"What do you mean?" Paige asked.
"You guys had better sit down, this one's gonna piss you off a little," Preston warned. After the four of them had been seated, the Archers got to explaining the three tasks. This took quite a while due to the constant interjections of profanity from the Charmed Ones, and they had to keep restarting as Leo, Cole, Frisco, and Andy showed up one by one and were all very happy to see their children as well. Mysteriously enough, none of them couldn't exactly remember what happened during the third task, though Parker was the only one being sincere about it. When they were finally finished, there was only one question to be asked…
"What the hell is wrong with the Elders?" Piper asked angrily.
"So who's-" Leo got nowhere near finishing his question, because a geyser of water hit him in the face. Everyone turned to Patience, who' cheeks very pink.
"Oops, sorry! A little jumpy I guess," she said apologetically. Leo coughed and looked up angrily, a little less than pleased with the situation.
"Uh, Parker, how about you go get him some towels," Percy suggested. Parker nodded, glaring at Patience on the way out. "That was spectacular way to handle the situation!" Percy burst as soon as he'd left.
"Well I had to do something, and it got him out of the room, didn't it?" Patience pointed out.
"What are you guys talking about?" Prue asked suspiciously. Percy and Patience sighed.
"We have a problem," they said together.
"That's an understatement," Preston said.
"Kelsey is our new Whitelighter," Percy said sadly.
"What? That's great!" Phoebe said excitedly. Patience, Percy, and Preston all had a look of foreboding on their faces. "That's not great?"
"The Elders pulled a disappearing act on Parker and Kelsey's memories. Parker remembers nothing about Kelsey and Kelsey doesn't know that she ever knew any of us," Patience explained. The look of furiousness that suddenly came across Piper's features was almost terrifying.
"Paige," she said in a quiet, dangerous voice. "Orb me 'Up There' right now."
"Piper-" Prue started.
"Paige!" Piper yelled. Paige grasped Piper's arm in fear.
"No Aunt Piper, you can't!" Percy protested.
"Why the hell not?" Piper screamed. "I'll be goddamned if I'm going to let some Whitelighters with overactive egos erase my son's memory! Not after everything he's been through, no way!"
"Piper, believe me, we know how you feel. We've already discussed it with the Elders though and they said that if we do or say anything to make either of them remember, then Kelsey will be reassigned and the two of them will be forced to remember it all but never see each other again. We can't do that to Parker, and I'm not even sure that we'd want to let them remember anyways," Patience said.
"Why not?" Piper asked, still breathing heavily.
"Because while they may be assholes, they do have power and they will do what they say they're going to. And besides, having them remember might put them through more pain than having them forget. Can you imagine those two having to work together after all of that? It would be torture for both of them, Parker especially. How can he ever be expected to face Kelsey after everything that's happened, after his own son that he didn't even have with her came back and killed her? It would be excruciating for them both and I personally don't want to see him hurt like that again. Now believe me, I'm not a fan of this destiny system, but if those two are meant to be together, then they will be, memory spell or not. Even the Elders can't beat fate and they certainly can't beat love. You of all people should know that," Preston pointed out. There was a long moment of silence where only the hot and heavy breathing of Piper could be heard as she contemplated all of this. Paige still had her hand firmly grasped around Piper's arm and her nails were starting to dig in.
"Hey Dad, I found some towels. Sorry it took so long, but I couldn't find any in the linen closet, so I had to check in the attic," Parker's voice broke through. He stopped and looked around curiously at the scene. His cousins were standing close to one another and Paige and his mom were standing about two feet away from them. His mom looked very angry and the rest of the room looked a little scared.
"Thanks, Parker," Leo finally said, taking the small green cloth from him.
"Is everything okay?" Parker asked. No one said anything, but all heads turned towards Piper. She stood there for a few seconds before answering.
"Yeah, honey. Everything's fine," she lied, turning to give him a false smile. Parker looked at her skeptically.
"Oh gosh! I just remembered that I have to go see Atli!" Percy burst out suddenly.
"Oh, you're right! I have to go see Kyle. Will you give me a lift?" Patience asked. Percy raised her eyebrow.
"Uh, squishy, water power now, remember?" she reminded her cousin.
"Oh yeah… bye!" With that, Patience 'swished' out, with Percy flaming out right behind her.
"Yeah, I have to talk to Leah, too," Preston said. Just as he was about to 'crumble' out, he turned to Parker. "Did you want to go with?"
"No man, I'm okay. I think I'm gonna do what Kelsey said and go start packing my things to settle in at… what am I gonna call that place?" Parker asked, referring to his island. Preston shrugged.
"Maybe it already has a name. Kelsey might know," Preston suggested, receiving a glare from Piper.
"You're right. Anyways, I'm gonna go get settled in," Parker said, completely oblivious to the exchange going on between Preston and his mother.
"Okay, I'll see you later," Preston said.
"Yeah, see you."
"Bye honey," Phoebe said, giving Preston a tight squeeze. Preston grinned.
"Mom, it's okay. I promise I won't be gone for three days again this time," he assured her. Phoebe nodded, looking as though she might tear up at any moment.
"I know sweetie," she sniffed. Preston rolled his eyes and crumbled out. "Oh, they're growing up so fast."
"Wow, I'm going to pack now," Parker said, shaking his head as he walked out.
xxxxx
Preston hadn't even fully formed before he was being knocked backwards by something, or rather someone. His head cracked against the wall, sending an instant wash of pain over it. He was about to protest this attack, but then he looked up into the clear blue eyes that could only belong to his girlfriend. They were on the verge of tears and before anything could be said, Leah's lips were smashing into his. Someone cleared their throat behind them, but they ignored it.
"Um, excuse me for breaking this up, but the rest of us would rather not watch the two of you get busy on the living room floor." Preston pulled away from Leah for long enough to look over her shoulder. He raised an eyebrow when he saw who it was.
"What the hell are you doing here? I thought you were going to find Atli," he said. Percy grinned.
"I did!" she said. Atli came into view beside Percy and Preston managed to get Leah off of him so that he could stand up and look around. Blue couch, white carpet, matching walls… this was definitely not Leah's house.
"Where the hell are we?" Preston asked.
"My house," Kyle replied, coming in from the kitchen with some drinks, Patience practically attached to his hip.
"We were so worried about you guys the past three days that we just kind of stuck around each other," Leah explained. "I'm so glad to see you, by the way." Preston smiled.
"I'm glad to see you too, babe," he said, giving her another kiss. Now that he could finally see her, it did seem like forever since he'd last gotten the chance to.
"So now that you're all here, do you care to share what went on?" Atli asked. Percy sighed.
"Let's just say that you guys are gonna be shocked as hell when you see our new Whitelighter," she told them.
"Why, who is it?" Leah asked curiously. Preston, Percy, and Patience all turned to look at each other, as if trying to persuade each other to say it.
"Kelsey," they said at the same time. The other three's eyes seemed to pop out of their heads.
"What? How?" Kyle asked, being the first one to gather his wit. Patience shrugged.
"The only thing I can guess is that she earned her wings when she saved Parker's life," she said.
"Well how does Parker feel about this?" Leah asked in concern.
"He feels like he's never met Kelsey in his entire life," Preston replied.
"What do you mean?" Leah questioned, turning to face him.
"The Elders made them both forget everything that happened. They said that if they remembered, it would be worse and that if we did anything purposely to make them remember, then they'd reassign Kelsey and Parker would never be allowed to see her again," Percy explained. Atli's jaw clenched.
"Am I the only one here who wants to kill the Elders right now?" he asked. Everyone else in the room raised their hands. "Good, it's not just me then."
"So what are we gonna do?" Kyle asked.
"Just let them go. If they're meant to remember, then we know damn well that a little memory dust isn't going to stop them from doing it, with or without our help," Patience said.
"I hate this," Leah complained.
"You're not the only one, LC," Percy said. Preston looked down at his watch.
"We need to pack," he announced sullenly.
"Pack?" Kyle asked, looking worried. "For what?"
"We have to embark upon our destinies and part of that is living on those islands," Patience explained. Kyle groaned.
"You have to?" he asked. They nodded sadly.
"You can't come with us right away, but once we get settled in and have everything under control, you're more than welcome to come check it out. All you have to do is call for us, and we'll be there," Percy told them.
"Promise to keep in touch," Leah said, almost in an orderly tone. Preston nodded, his eyes showing honesty and regret for having to leave. They said their goodbyes and left to pack, leaving their boyfriends and girlfriend exactly as they had been found: sad and worried.
xxxxx
Parker sighed as he fitted his last shirt into the suitcase he had laying on his bed. He had already packed the rest of his belongings, from trinkets and books, to his toothbrush. He had saved his clothes for last. He looked around his room, the one that he had been in for all eighteen years of his life. This would be the last time it would ever belong to him again. He didn't know what his parents were planning to do with it once he had left. Piper would probably keep it as it was for a while before Leo finally persuaded her to change it into something useful. It would be strange not to sleep in it tonight, or any night for the first couple of weeks until he got used to his new home.
He looked down at the sheets and thought how nothing very interesting had happened in them, when suddenly something flashed through his mind. It was a flicker, like lightning across a heat-swelled sky in the summer time. He was going to pass it off as his imagination, but as he looked at his pillow, it happened again, slightly longer and more defined this time. Darkness, heat, a sigh of pleasure…
"Parker?" Parker's head snapped up and he looked around at his door. "Sweetie, are you in there?" It was his mother.
"Yeah, come in Mom," he called. The door opened slowly and Piper came in, cautiously.
"Wow, so you're all packed up, huh?" she commented, looking around his room. The sadness was evident in her eyes. She missed him already.
"Yeah," Parker said distractedly. Piper quirked an eyebrow.
"Are you okay?" she questioned. Parker was staring at his bed as if expecting it to grow a mouth and start talking. Even in the Halliwell household, that would be a little much. "Honey?"
"Huh? Oh, yeah. I'm fine. Just… memories," he lied. Piper nodded.
"Yeah, this house is full of them. Seems crazy that we've come this far," she said. The two of them sat on the bed in silence for a few minutes before Piper turned to her son, tears welling in the corner of her eyes. "Do you have to go?" She sounded almost like a little girl again, begging her father not to leave. Parker sighed.
"The Elders said," he answered.
"Yeah, but since when do we listen to them?" Piper asked, attempting a chuckle. Parker just looked at her, the sorrow mirrored in his eyes. Piper threw herself at him, holding him as tightly as she could. "Promise me you'll be careful. I can't lose you."
"I promise, Mom. I'll be okay," he assured her, trying his hardest to fight off his own tears. "Have Dad bring you over in a few days to visit."
"I will. I'll miss you, sweetie."
"I'll miss you too, Mom. I love you." Before it got too much more emotional, Parker left. He didn't go straight to his island, but to a deserted P4 instead. Something told him that he should go there, and after about an hour and a half of waiting, his cousins joined him one by one, Percy coming in last.
"Are we ready for this?" Percy asked after minutes of silence. She had voiced the question that all of them had been wanting to ask.
"We'll be ready. We have to be," Patience answered.
"Dinner at my place tonight?" Preston asked, trying to lighten the mood.
"God, is that all you ever think about?" Percy asked. Preston grinned.
"Well, if you must know…"
"Ew, gross! I don't want to know what goes through your head!" Percy squealed. Good as it was for taking their minds off of the situation at hand for a few seconds, the room was suddenly encased in silence again.
"Well, I guess we should get going then," Parker suggested. The others nodded and left the club to start a new part of their lives.
xxxxx
Prue, Piper, Phoebe, and Paige all sat on the couch in the living room of Piper's house- a house that used to belong to them all. They had a feeling of emptiness in their hearts, as though they'd all lost something dear. They sat there for comfort, remembering back to that first day that had started it all, that day when they were attacked by Largos. It seemed so very far off, yet it was so fresh in their minds as though it were only yesterday.
"It's not like we'll never see them again," Prue pointed out, trying to make them all feel better.
"It feels like we'll never see them again," Phoebe pouted.
"We can visit, though, right. I mean, it's not like they're isolated from the rest of the world," Paige offered.
"I wouldn't be surprised if they were, knowing the Elders. I can't believe they did that to Parker and Kelsey! As if they hadn't already been through enough," Piper fumed.
"It'll be okay, Piper. Everything will work itself out," Phoebe assured her.
"You're always so worry free, Pheebs. I wish I could be like that," Piper commented.
"You just have to believe that everything happens for a reason and that magic knows how to right itself when things have gone wrong. It's never failed in the past," Phoebe told her. The others nodded in agreement. None of them had noticed the warlock that had shimmered in behind them. He launched a fireball at Paige, but it missed and hit the arm of the couch instead. Paige jumped up and turned to face the warlock, the others so as well. Piper made to blow him up, but he dodged the blow. He couldn't, however, stop Prue from flinging him halfway across the room and into the wall. He gave them one last look before shimmering out.
"What in the hell was that about?" Piper asked.
"I think that was just your everyday average warlock," Paige said, checking her arm where the fireball had scorched her a little.
"Are you okay, sweetie?" Phoebe asked, looking over it for her.
"Yeah, I'm fine. My sweater took most of the hit, unfortunately. I'll never be able to wear this again," Paige said bitterly.
"You can buy a new one at the store. On the other hand, you can't find extra arms in the dress department in Learner," Prue reminded her.
"Do you think we should call the kids?" Piper asked, referring to the demon crisis.
"No, they just left! God, you act like you're an eighty-year-old woman who needs to call her son to change a light bulb. We're doing this the old fashioned way, with a map, a crystal, and the Book of Shadows," Prue said.
"It looks like a little bit of his robe got snagged on this key hook when you threw him, Prue," Phoebe commented, bringing it over to show them.
"Perfect! Let's get started," Paige suggested.
xxxxx
About an hour later, they were ready to go after him. The crystal had pointed them to an old warehouse down by the docks and they had identified him using the book easily. They had a potion ready and everything. Paige orbed them all out and they appeared where they were supposed to be. As promised, their warlock was there. Unfortunately, so were six others.
"Okay, this wasn't part of the deal," Paige said as they looked around at them all. The warlocks looked up in surprise.
"A minor setback, but nothing we can't handle," Prue promised.
"You," the warlock hissed, forming a fireball in his hand.
"Us," Paige agreed smugly, throwing the potion at him. It was only a matter of seconds after he burst into flames before the others were launching their own fireballs at them. Piper dodged one and blew up its sender, turning quickly to attack another. Phoebe was in hand to hand with one and she currently had him on the floor. He was quick, though, and swept her feet out from under her. She cried out for help as he towered over her, an evil grin on his face and an athame in hand. Paige, who had just finished orbing a fireball back at her warlock, orbed a rusted metal bar that had been sitting unused in a corner into his chest.
"Thanks," Phoebe said gratefully as her sister helped her up. Just as a warlock was about to launch a fireball at Prue, she astral projected behind him, confusing him long enough to let Piper blow him up just after finishing off her third warlock. Prue grinned at her before returning back to her body.
"That was kick ass!" she said excitedly. "The Power of Four still has it!"
"Yes, exciting," Piper said sarcastically. Paige rolled her eyes and orbed the four of them home, flopping down on the couch.
"We're getting too damn old for this."
Gasp! Kelsey's back! Yay! I never would have guessed… I told you it wasn't the end for our favorite couple. Unfortunately, we have a little roadblock here. Hm… Anyways, just wanted to put a little kick ass by the Charmed Ones in here, show that they're still working it when it comes to demons. So we'll leave you with that and get started on the next chapter, but remember that this story can't live without your reviews to feed on! So start cooking and we'll get back to you. By the by, for those of you who read it (and for those of you who didn't, because you should have) Laur has finally posted the sequel to A Life of Magic: The Third Child Prophecy, called A Life of Magic: Will It Set Them Free?, so all of you need to go to The-Cheese-Fairy's profile page and check it out if you haven't already. For those of you new to the series, you'll have to read the first one before you can skip to the sequel. I know, I know, damn us and our ongoing series! Til next time…
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