Visions
Author's Disclaimer: The only thing I own are the ideas, characters, and concepts not cannon to the original Charmed series. Everything belongs to the producers, creators, and other persons entitled by law.
Author's Note: I began this story several years and I never saw it to fruition. I found myself recently attracted back to it with the 20th anniversary of Charmed just occurring. I hope you enjoy this story.
Summary: The children of The Charmed Ones face the trials and tribulations of adulthood, magic, and a new threat on the horizon.
Sorry for the long delay in this chapter. With the holidays and some changing family things, I lost track of time. I hope you enjoy.
Chapter 7: Cold Light of Day
It has been two weeks since the attack at the Manor left Katharine Mitchell fighting for her life. She had suffered serious injuries and was placed in a medically induced coma by the doctors of the very hospital she worked. She laid peacefully as her physical wounds started to recede and heal. Her brown hair framed her angelic face as she slept; her eyes twitching ever so lightly.
Henry Mitchell sat next to his sister as he had every day since her admittance. He and his sister Tamora would rotate often with their mother and father but the silence was almost deafening as no one knew what to expect. Henry sat quietly with his journal propped open on his knees as he sat with his feet up on the corner of the hospital bed.
He was writing aimlessly making connections between things that may not even be connected but he had to keep his mind busy. He barely noticed that Nate had entered the room and kept writing.
"How's it going?" Nate asked quietly, placing his hand on Henry's shoulder. Henry smiled and grabbed his hand in his. Nate perched downwards and gave Henry a quick kiss on the cheek.
"No change," Henry lamented. It had been the same ever since she was formally admitted to the hospital two weeks earlier. No change.
"She will come through once she heals," Nate replied optimistically. Henry didn't believe him.
"Wyatt tried to heal her and nothing. There is something not right," Henry said as he continued to stare down as his messy notes.
"Maybe she isn't meant to be healed?" Nate countered. Henry glared at him and felt annoyance rising in his chest. Nate was continually trying to understand magic and the so-called Grand Design but his lack of knowledge in this area was large and his optimism was grating.
"That's not how it works. Something is blocking the healing from working. I am starting to wonder if the demon that attacked us cursed her in some way."
"Have you encountered anything like that before?" Nate asked curiously as he took a seat opposite Henry.
"No. Mom and my Aunts are also at a loss. In fact, Mom is near catatonic with worry and grief. You know she continually screams at me and Tamora for not calling sooner?"
"I didn't know that."
"Yeah. Plus Aunt Phoebe is fawning over PJ and the baby, which is understandable but she's not helping and Aunt Piper said she has no further information. This is what happens more regularly now; now that we are older and in command of our powers they have taken a back seat to many of the demonic issues which I get and support but Tamora, Chris and I are driving ourselves mad trying to figure out what happened. Wyatt is on a continual special assignment by the Elders. Melinda and Peyton are trying to keep the businesses afloat and maintain a semblance of normalcy while helping us and Parker is on permanent baby duty with PJ because Greg is travelling again," Henry said quickly and without hesitation.
"What can I do?" Nate asked honestly.
"Honestly? Nothing. You're mortal, and I don't mean to sound rude or unsupportive, but there is actually very little you can do in this situation," Henry said to Nate, whose face contorted into a sullen expression.
"I understand," Nate replied quietly. The two fell into a silence.
"I can't take it anymore!" PJ screamed as her baby son wailed loudly. It was going on for the last twenty minutes and she was at a loss as to how to quiet her crying child. PJ was sitting on the couch rocking Patrick Halliwell Tyree back and forth. Her hair was disheveled and dark circles were under eyes from lack of sleep.
Parker was sitting opposite her in the living room of PJ and Greg's financial district loft apartment. "He will simmer down eventually." PJ glared at her as if to say "you're no help!"
"PJ, he's a two week old baby. He can't communicate with us and he will stop fussing. You have to be patient," She offered in an attempt to acquiesce her sister.
"Well, he needs to stop it now because I have a headache," PJ countered among the screams.
PJ was not taking motherhood well. She thought that she would be a loving, and maternal mother figure but her annoyance was proving to best her in every aspect. "I thought being half-cupid meant that I was predisposed to love but right now I am predisposed to casting a silencing spell on this little demon."
Parker rolled her eyes. "You can't use magic on the baby. The Book of Shadows even says so. Remember? Sometimes you just have to let a baby cry?"
"Parker, you have no idea what he is like when you're not here. I am going to kill Greg if he doesn't stop traveling for work and makes an attempt at being a god damn father," PJ barked. It was true. In the two weeks since Patrick was born, Greg had been gone nine of the fourteen days because of his job. He was back and forth to Tokyo, Japan for a business merger and while the money was much needed, PJ was finding it hard to not lose her mind.
"Let's change the subject, any update on Kat?" PJ stated annoyed.
Parker nodded her head, "No, Henry and Nate are with her now but there has been no change. I know Chris and Tamora have been scouring every magical text at the School but they've come up with nothing to explain why the healing didn't work and she won't wake up."
"It has to be something demonic at this point," PJ remarked as Patrick started to calm down a bit. PJ started to look relieved.
"I am sure it is but there is nothing to go on. Peyton said that she is calm and at peace in her coma."
"Have we tried to have Mom use her powers to connect to Kat's mind and see what is happening in there?" Phoebe was able to use her empathy to mind-link to another human being and see inside their head through an emotional connection.
"She tried, according to Peyton, but she couldn't make a clear connection. I think Mom deduced it was because she was in a medical coma so the medications might be interfering," Parker remarked.
"Has Wyatt been around lately? Did he get some answers form the Elders at all?"
"Nothing. Maggie said that he has barely been home because of a special assignment from them and she has little details but he rarely talks about work with her let alone anyone else."
PJ furrowed her brow, "Have you or Peyton tried your empathy to see if it can help?"
Parker again nodded her head, "No, Peyton said that if Mom's won't work than hers definitely would not and my power is not as advanced as either of theirs." Parker had developed the power of empathy only two years earlier.
PJ let out a large sigh as the baby finally drifted off into sleep, "Well, look at us, a family of nine powerful witches with no answers and a crying baby."
Tamora Mitchell was hunched over a large magical tome in the library of Magic School. She could feel the slight ache in her upper back from being in a standing-hunched position. Her eyes scanning the words of the centuries old text for any answer to what was happening to her sister. She could sense Chris sitting in a large chair examining his own book.
"This book has nothing to help us," She exclaimed annoyingly as she slammed it shut and with a wave of her hand moved in a swirl of orbs from the table she was working at back to the shelf it came from. Chris looked up from his book.
"Tam-," he started but was quickly cut of by his high strung cousin.
"If you say to calm down, I will orb you into a volcano," she glared. Chris stopped talking.
"Tamora, maybe Kat just needs to heal on her own? We have been doing this for weeks and have come up with nothing. Aunt Phoebe tried to mink-link, Henry has tried to call for premonitions, and Wyatt tried to heal her. We just may need to be patient," Chris offered logically.
Tamora looked defeated, "She is my twin sister, Chris. I need her back."
Chris smiled weakly. He knew that if it was Wyatt or Melinda in this situation he would feel the same exact way. There is helplessness to not being able to use magic to solve their problems and very few times before have they found themselves in this particular scenario.
"You have barely slept in two weeks. I think you should go and get some sleep. I can brew you a sleeping potion to help you," Chris offered. Tamora smiled and nodded her head.
"You're probably right. I just need to rest. Has anyone checked on Alex?"
"I think Aunt Paige was with him yesterday to see if he needed anything," Chris said closing his book and placing it on the table adjacent to his chair. "Now come on, I will get that potion going for you. I should head home soon anyways." He stood up.
She put her hand up in a halting position, "I will brew it. Your potions suck." Chris flipped her the middle finger. She smiled even more so and the two walked side by side out of the library.
Chris Halliwell was exhausted. He arrived home after helping Tamora get some rest to find his wife, Bianca, sitting at the kitchen table reading a book. He smiled weakly and gave her a kiss on her head. "How is Tamora doing?"
Chris let out a healthy sigh, "She is as good as expected that is for sure. She is stressed beyond belief. We brewed a sleeping potion so she could try and get some rest."
"That's good. The sleep will help her for sure," Bianca replied kindly. She always enjoyed Tamora the most of the extended family. It was her practicality and drive that Bianca always respected.
"What are you reading?" Chris asked noticing for the first time that it was not a traditional book.
"The Grimoire," Bianca answered. The Grimoire was her family's version of the Book of Shadows. It contained a detailed demonology, dark magic and spells, and Chris was always uneasy around the book.
"Why do you have it out?" Chris asked; his voice shaking.
"I was thinking about everything happening with Kat and I got an idea and wanted to check it out more," she replied.
"And dark magic is the answer?" She glared at him.
"It's not inherently dark magic," Bianca rebuked his claims. "You know that Phoenixes are morally ambiguous. We don't care either way for anything other than the payment we receive for services rendered. The Grimoire is simply a way for us to keep our family magic—our heritage—intact for future generations."
Chris took a seat at the table. He knew deep in his heart that Bianca stripping her powers for the sake of their relationship, their daughter and his family would be her dying regret one day. "What did you find?"
Bianca tucked her hair behind her ears and turned the aging book to face him. Her red painted nail pointing to the left page. "Mens Torque?" Chris read aloud.
"It's a mind chain spell. Phoenixes had used it in the past to entrap their bounties in their own minds. It propels a sense of blackness and nothingness in the mind while preserving their bodies for transport or torture. If a demon used this kind of magic on Kat, then that would explain why she could not be healed. The spell prevents any kind of magic being performed on her. She could be physically harmed by non-magical means but magic is useless," Bianca explained to Chris.
"And you knew about this the whole time?"
Bianca glared at him, "No. I have never used this kind of magic before and no Phoenix I knew did so I had no reason to know of this. I was restless and thought I could look through the Grimoire to help."
"No, I appreciate that. How does this spell work?" Chris asked pulling the book closer. His fingers felt weird as he traced down the page of the book that paled in size to the Book of Shadows.
"It is my understanding that the caster has say this incantation," Bianca started and pointing to the right side of the book, "and from there, using whatever power or weapon they chose will be cursed. If it were me, I would conjure an energy ball, say the spell, and launch it at my target."
Chris looked at her and his eyes met her, "Just like what happened to Kat."
Bianca stared back at him, "Are you implying that I did this?" She felt anger and resentment growing in her chest.
"No, of course not. My mind is just going a mile a minute in trying to process all of this."
Bianca sighed. Her brown eyes meeting her husbands. He looked at her and pursed his lips in frustration, his breathing heavy and his nostrils flaring as his processed. "Is this something myself or another witch can perform?"
She glanced down at the book once more, quickly reading the words on the yellowed page. "It is possible but again, I don't know? This is explicitly a Phoenix spell."
Chris and her stared at each other once again. Chris pressed on, "Can it be reversed?"
"Yes, I believe so," Bianca replied, "but I would bet all I believe to be true that a Phoenix would need to do it."
They both knew what this meant and neither were looking to say it. Time started to feel sluggish as minutes passed in their silent understanding. Tension was mounting slowly.
"I have to unbind my powers," Bianca spoke quietly breaking their tense silence.
Bianca bound her powers several years earlier just before her and Chris's marriage. Both were fearful that her powers and heritage would cause disruption in their lives. Bianca was especially grateful when their daughter was born because her bloodline mixed with the Charmed line would bring demons their way however it proved futile as their daughter bore the mark of a Phoenix. Though she had displayed powers yet, it was inevitable. Destiny, reason, and pure logic made it so.
"Chris, I may be our best hope in saving your cousin. Our daughter will grow to inherit some if not all of the Phoenix powers—that is a certainty. I am able to train her if I had my powers," Bianca spoke to break their continued silence.
"You've been thinking about this haven't you?"
She grimaced slightly, "It was always in the back of mind. Chris, I cannot deny her destiny as I can't deny yours. Perhaps this is my destiny."
"Demons will come seeking bounties from you," Chris said fearfully.
"Not if we cloak me from them. We have the means to protect me from that. I have the powers to protect me from harm. After all, I beat you once before," she smirked playfully.
A decade earlier when the two first met, Bianca was working for a demon that Chris and his family were hunting. Chris's scrying led him right to her and the two sparred. Chris left the fight with a broken arm and several energy ball burns. Bianca was unscathed.
"Don't remind me," he chuckled.
"Chris, this is our best shot. If it doesn't work, I will bind my powers again. We will make this work—for Kat and ourselves," Bianca conceded.
Chris was at a loss. He did not know what to do, "We bring this to the family to consider. We make the decision together."
"I can agree to that."
Chris nodded and reached into his pocket for his phone. He scrolled through and found the group text message with his cousins and wrote a message. Family meeting. Important. My house. 9:00 p.m. He quickly hit sent and prayed that another alternative would make itself known in next few hours.
As he wrote his message, Bianca flipped through her Grimoire and found the unbinding spell. She felt almost whole as she thought about her powers returning.
"We will get through this together," Chris said reaching for her hand. She smiled and nodded as she stroked his hand with her thumb.
End of Chapter 7.
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