Charmed Again: Spellbound
ii (two): Game of (fairy) Thrones
Last time on Charmed Again: Spellbound: Piper, Phoebe, and Paige have their perfect lives; made up for just them. They have the perfect amounts of magic to their liking in their lives and their children are happy and healthy. Wyatt and Chris have taken over Charmed duties while Melinda tries to attend college like a normal mortal. We're introduced to Winnie Turner, a witch (but also secretly a half demon) who has become Wyatt's new charge. She meets the Halliwell brothers on a chase for a demon that attacked the three of them. Later on we find out that none other than Cole Turner, is Winnie's father.
Winnie was sitting on her living room couch, her legs tucked under her as she rested her head on her hand. Her elbow was resting on the back of the couch for support. "Okay..." she shook her head. "I know you were a demon when you were alive. That's how I'm a demon. Well, at least half demon," she shrugged. "But I'm still confused," her eyebrows were furrowed.
"With what?" Cole asked as he sat next to her.
"So you went from a demon, to a mortal, then the Source possessed you through the void that was left in you when the demon you was killed," her brows furrowed. "Then you were vanquished but your human soul stuck around in the demonic wasteland and stole powers, and gained enough powers to resurface, and that's when you were with Mom to create me, then you were an avatar, then you died," her eyes widened. "And then you were made to be stuck in the cosmic void for your sins, which brings us to present day. Do I have that right?" Her head pounded in confusion over the complicated timeline.
"More or less," he chuckled amusedly as he saw his daughter rub her temples.
Winnie shook her head. "I still feel like you're leaving some things out, Dad." She looked at him with her eyebrows knitted together.
Cole let out a deep sigh and grabbed her daughter, holding her in his arms. He nudged her head over slightly to rest it in the crook of his neck. "I am leaving some things out, but it's just some things I'm not ready to talk about yet." He kissed her head. "But to answer your question, yes. Belthazor was me once upon a time. How did you find this out?" He lifted his head to look at her, his eyes scanning her caramel complexion.
"I saw it in someone's Book of Shadows," Winnie told him nonchalantly, not sending her father's sudden nervousness. She felt at home in her father's arms. Like nothing could get her.
Cole looked worriedly at his daughter, his head tilting in the same way that Winnie's does. "Whose Book of Shadows, sweetie?" His heart sped up, hoping beyond hope that it wasn't who he knew it was.
"It belongs to the family of these two witches I met while vanquishing a demon. Wyatt and Chris Halliwell," Winnie shrugged and then jumped slightly as she remembered something. "Did you know they're the sons of a Ch-"
"Charmed One," Cole finished and sighed. "Yeah, I know," he closed his eyes in defeat.
Winnie looked at her dad in surprise as she tilted her head. "Dad..." she trailed off, trying to pull herself from her father's arms.
Cole shook his head, tightening his hold on his daughter. "Not something I'm ready to talk about with you. At least not yet. Give me some time," he gave her a look begging her not to ask about it again.
"Fine," Winnie relented, feeling her father tense up underneath her. "But I have a question." She laughed at his incredulous face. She tucked her head in the crook of his neck again. "A non Charmed related question. Relax, Dad." She patted his chest.
The tension left Cole's body after she said that her question wasn't Charmed related. "Hit me," he told his daughter.
"I know they," she pointed up to the sky. "Trapped your soul in the cosmic void because of your demonic crimes, but how were you able to corporealize and be able to spend time with me as a solid entity? I mean you're able to go between the void and this...universe all the time. If they punished you, why are they rewarding you with...this?" She hugged her dad tighter, showing him what she meant. She was confused.
Cole smiled and held his daughter tighter, kissing her on the head again. "Because of you, Winnie," he told her. "You were, and are, quite literally my savior." He smiled down on her.
Winnie sighed. "Still confused," she laughed.
"I know," Cole's eyes twinkled with pride and amusement for his daughter. "At the time of your...conception, your mom was a very powerful witch and I was probably the most powerful demon. Ever," he shrugged in shame. "In turn, you turned out to be an extremely powerful magical creature. Half demon, half witch," his head tilted from side to side for emphasis. "You were prophesied to do great things and help towards the cause of either the great agreement between good and evil and thus the downfall of evil or a contributor to the downfall of good," he squinted. "I'm not exactly sure which. But anyways, they," his eyes shifted around to the ceilings in humorous way. "Decided to reward me." He shrugged.
"Wait dad," Winnie blinked, shaking her head. "Downfall of good? That doesn't sound like me…" her voice trailed off as fear seeped into her bloodstream. Her body suddenly got cold as her head got hot, a result of the fear paralyzing her body and the anxiety filling her brain. She'd already had fears of being evil, to hear that it might be a possibility frightened her. Her teeth shattered unconsciously.
Cole sighed as he felt his daughter tense up. He regretted telling her that as soon as it slipped from his mouth. When the Elders, Angels of Destiny, and the Tribunal grouped together to decide his fate and told him Winnie's prophecy, he hated it. He wanted to spare her the internal fight that he'd had towards the later part of his then physical life. But he couldn't change what was meant to be. "It's not. I know it's not you. But that's what was prophesied. But you can't be evil; you don't have an evil bone in your body." He reassured his daughter.
"But it's prophesied, Dad," Winnie whimpered, hugging her father closer.
"It's also prophesied that you are part of the great agreement between good and evil which sounds pretty damn good to me," Cole pointed out, pushing his daughter's hair back rhythmically. Her mother had told him this relaxation method when she died, going into the Cosmic Void because Winnie's mother held on to her.
Winnie sighed and nodded. She kissed her teeth. "Still doesn't really explain why they rewarded you though, Dad."
"Hold your horses, I'm getting there," Cole told his daughter, laughing. "With your mom raising you, they didn't see a reason to corporealize me. They just allowed me to visit you in spirit form and interact with you by having you feel my touch. That initially was their gift to me for contributing to your conception. I was able to watch you grow up. But when your mom died," his eyes shut as he felt his daughter tense up. He rubbed his daughter's back and shoulders as he kissed her head a few times to console her. "They wanted to send you to a foster home. I objected. I screamed and fought with them to let me corporealize you so I can take care of you. I told them that they didn't need to give me powers, they didn't need to make me immortal. I just wanted to raise you and be with you. They argued back," he laughed.
"Of course they did," Winnie rolled her eyes.
Cole smiled. "So I hit them with my best shot," he shrugged. "I told them that because of my thorough knowledge of magic; between being a demon and knowing the Charmed Ones so closely," with his daughter's lifting of the head at the mention of knowing the Charmed Ones, he continued quickly. "I told them that I could help you with your magic. Help you become good," he told her.
Winnie's eyebrows met in the middle. "Weren't they scared you'd influence me to be evil?" She asked, thinking about the prophecy surrounding her.
Cole thought a bit and nodded. "Yeah, but that's where I begged them to not give me any powers besides dusting. I even suggested they set up magical protection charms all around the house as a precaution against demons, but as a precaution against me. So that there would be no chance of me turning evil again and therefore turning you evil," he poked his daughter's nose. "And somehow...they agreed. I don't know how, but I'd like to think your mother had a hand in it," he rested his chin on her head.
Winnie smiled and closed her eyes in remembrance of her mother.
Cole went silent, paying his own respects to his daughter's mother. "They even came up with a cover so that you could be sent back home. I'm pretty sure they spread some memory dust or something to let it happen. For all intents and purposes, you were an orphan at six, living alone, yet somehow you were put back into this house with not one checkup from social services."
Winnie slowly took in a deep breath as she began to remember. "Oh yeah," she nodded. "That two week period after Mom died, I was staying with a social worker and then suddenly everything was fixed pretty rapidly and I was sent back home and you were here," she smiled at her father.
Cole nodded. "Mhm," he continued to rub her back in circles.
"Well...thank you...all of you up there," Winnie looked up and smiled at the ceiling. "Thank you for trusting my dad to watch over me. I know he didn't let you down," she laughed softly as she hugged her dad tighter.
The house lights twinkled on and off as small yellow, blue, and white orbs filled the room. Winnie and Cole watched them with a smile.
Winnie gave her dad a toothy smile. "Looks like they agree with me. You're on your way to redemption, Daddy." She kissed his cheek.
"And I couldn't have done it without you. Like I said...you are my one and only savior, Winnie Zenith Turner," Cole smiled at his daughter and kissed the top of her head.
"Mmm, Lopez-Turner," Winnie teased her father. Lopez was her mother's last name.
"Mmm," Cole playfully frowned. "That's not what your birth certificate says. Besides, you're a Turner, through and through," he smiled.
The room suddenly filled with shaking and the house lights flashed furiously.
"Looks like Mom disagrees with you," Winnie let out a jubilant cackle.
Cole pretended to pout, but eventually joined the laughter of his daughter.
Henry Jr sat in his father's old car, outside of his twin sisters' university. He was supposed to pick them and his cousins, Melinda and PJ (or Prudence Johanna to her mother) up for a giant family dinner at Halliwell's. They had family dinners like this once a month, or they tried to. Sometimes life, or in Wyatt and Chris' world, demons, got in the way and not all of the family showed up. His thumbs tapped on the steering wheel to the small beat in the music that was vibrating through the car.
"Boo!" Kat whispered in his ear.
Henry Jr jumped in his seat, accidentally honking the horn and startling him and the pedestrians around him. He spun around seeing his older sister laughing at him. "Did you orb into the car? Are you crazy? Someone could've seen you!" He looked around at the surroundings of the car, making sure no mortals saw his sister's magic.
"Oh, don't be like Mom," Kat rolled her eyes. She placed her feet up on the small space next to her brother's headrest, wiggling her toes in his face. "No one saw me, I double checked before I orbed."
"It doesn't matter, someone could've been watching you from their dorm window or something like that," the only male Matthews-Mitchell pushed his sister's feet away from his face, and down onto the middle armrest. "You have to be careful, Kat."
"You have to be careful, Kat," the reddish brown haired girl mocked her brother. "Yeah, yeah, yeah, next time I won't orb," she rolled her eyes.
"Yeah, but that doesn't mean Tamora won't," Melinda laughed as she climbed into the passenger seat next to Henry Jr. "Sup Cuz," she smiled at him.
Henry Jr greeted Melinda with a hug and then groaned. "Yeah, that's the worst part about having your sisters be twins. When one isn't doing something bad, the other is." He looked in his rear view window. "Where's Tamora and PJ?"
Melinda gave Kat a sneaky smile. "Tamora's being PJ's wingwoman," she smirked. "One of the football boys wants to ask PJ out, but he's too scared to ask her alone."
Kat giggled. "Tell me Phil isn't asking PJ out on a group date," she leaned into the middle armrest, her head in between her brother and cousin.
"He is," Melinda laughed. "Luckily Zach has been wanting to ask out Tamora for a while. He's pretending to be annoyed by it, but really he's so excited," the eldest Halliwell female told her cousins.
"Zach?" Henry Jr frowned. "Zach who? What does he look like?" He looked out of the window, his eyes narrowing at every guy who walked in the nearby vicinity of the car. His over-protectiveness for his sisters standing out.
Melinda and Kat looked at each other and laughed. "Brothers," they cackled in unison.
A few days, Winnie was again sitting in her living room couch in her pajamas as she listened to her dad experiment in the kitchen. Now that he was mortal and could gain satisfaction from food, he'd quickly become the house chef.
She bit her lip in thought as she flipped through channels absentmindedly. She'd made three cycles through the vast library of channels and was quickly working through a fourth. "Hey dad!" She called out. She bit the nail on her thumb in nervousness.
Cole walked in with a comical looking pink and blue apron on and held spices in one hand and a knife in the other. "What's up sweetie?" He asked.
Winnie sighed and picked at a wayward string from the bottoms of her cotton shorts. "Chris and Wyatt said something...about something. ...And offered me something." She shrugged.
Cole's eyebrows lifted as he pursed his lips. "That's a lot of somethings...," he chuckled a bit. "You wanna elaborate on that? Preferably before my chicken burns in the oven," his feet shuffled nervously as he looked back into the kitchen.
"Magic school," she said simply.
Cole's jaw dropped. "Uh, um...magic school? T-th," he sighed. "Okay, um," he shook his head. "I thought I taught you well?" He tilted his head.
Winnie jumped up from the couch. "Oh no! Not to learn magic, Dad," she consoled him. "Just for little things. Even Chris and Wyatt could tell I was a powerful witch. It's more for like strength training, and spell writing. I mean, let's face it, Daddy. You suck at spells," she laughed.
"Rhyming was never my thing!" Cole defended himself.
Winnie smiled, shaking her head at her father. "Anyways," she playfully rolled her eyes. "I can use it for enhancements. And if I'm really too good, then I can help them teach a few things," she explained and shrugged. She sniffed the air and got up, walking past her father.
"Where are you going?" Cole called out.
"To save your chicken!" Winnie retorted.
"Oh, my chicken!" Cole jumped and rushed back into the kitchen.
Winnie smiled as she leaned against the side of the counter, next to the oven. She watched as her father took the chicken out of the oven and he added his spices and turned the poultry over. "So Dad," she grabbed a banana from the counter and opened it, ripping the banana to bite sized pieces. "Magic school. What do you think?" She asked his opinion.
Cole shrugged, placing the chicken back into the oven. "If it's for enhancement over your powers, then I'm all for it. Whatever helps to protect you better," he crossed his arms over his chest and leaned against the counter, facing his daughter.
They looked identical (minus her small height, tan skin, and long curly blonde-brown hair and his dark eyes, and her violet eyes) father and daughter. They had the same inquisitive look on their face, their eyes each ablaze with excitement and nervousness. Their arms were also the same, their right hands placed on top of their left arm and their left hands tucked into the crook of their right arms. It was comical, their similarities, if someone else were watching.
"You're not working, you finished school. You have the time to do it, so why not?" Cole shrugged. "If it helps your destiny, I want you to do it," he nodded. "As long as I still get to see you," he chuckled.
Winnie laughed and threw her banana peel out. "It's not a dorm situation, dad. It's probably just a few hours a day and that's it. I don't even know where it is or how to get there," she looked at her dad hopefully.
"Well don't look at me!" Cole chuckled. "I don't know where it's at either, I was never allowed there," he sniffed melodramatically. He walked over to the cabinets above the oven and shuffled through different spices and herbs. He grabbed a jar filled with dried herbs. "Honey, magic herbs or food herbs?"
"Both, but edible herbs," she told her father. "I bought two of each for magical/edible herbs so that I can put one here and one in the altar room to keep them separate." She hopped up on the counter and sat down, watching her father start to make rice. "So I'm gonna call Chris and Wyatt so I can tell them my decision about magic school." She played with the frayed strings of her cotton shorts again.
Cole nodded, his hands busy with making food. "So what do they look like? Blonde haired, brown eyed men?" He paused in his chef work, pursing his lips in speculation. "I've always wondered what Piper's son would look like. I'm guessing she was pregnant with Wyatt when I last saw her as a human," he thoughtlessly said. "As a spirit in the cosmic void, she'd already had both Wyatt and Chris, but I didn't get to see them. My job was to help Piper."
Winnie blinked, shaking her head incredulously. "So you knew Piper personally?" She opened the opportunity to ask.
Cole dropped his slotted spoon. He'd opened up too much. "Um..."
Winnie sighed and took a minute to mull some things through. "You don't have to tell me everything right now but...can you answer something for me?" She asked.
Cole looked at his daughter carefully. "I can try." He offered.
"You were involved with one of the sisters, right?" Winnie asked. "Not Piper cuz I met her and she's not in the pictures with you," she shrugged knowingly. "But one of the other two. The one actually in the pictures with you...in their Book of Shadows." She closed her eyes and took in a deep breath. "She looks a lot like mom." She said softly, nervously biting her lip for her father's response.
Cole shut his eyes like his daughter. He closed the top of his rice cooker. "Honey..."
Winnie opened her eyes and smiled sadly. "That's okay…" She looked up at her father. "...because Uncle Jesse looks a lot like you," she nonchalantly shrugged. "Look, I get it," she sighed and gave her father a slight smile. "I'm a grown woman. I know how things - and heartbreak - work. You don't have to tell me anything right now." She shook her head gently. "I just hope that one day you'll tell me what happened." She looked up at him.
Cole walked to his daughter, picked her up and placed her back on the ground. He hugged her as he placed the side of his face on the top of her head. "I will. I promise. It's just hard for me to reconcile with my demon past. I did a lot of bad things," he shuddered. "And I paid for it. I'm still paying for it and will continue to pay for it. No one will ever trust me again and that's understandable."
"I trust you," Winnie offered.
Cole smiled slightly. "You're my daughter; you're supposed to trust me."
Winnie shook her head, still in her father's arms. "You've given me no reason to not trust you."
"No offense, honey but you didn't know me when I was evil," Cole said.
"Dad," Winnie began. "I know what I know. You could've had the chance to turn me evil, to get back to the power you once had. But you didn't. You couldn't. Because you're good. That demon side is dead now. All gone," she hugged him tighter. "People will trust you again. Just have faith." She let go of him and kissed his cheek. "I'm gonna go get changed." She started to walk off.
"Winnie." Cole called out.
She turned around, curiosity in her eyes. "Yeah dad?"
Cole smiled. "I love you."
Winnie's eyes softened as she smiled softly. "I love you too, dad." She sniffed the air and raised her eyebrow. "Your chicken's burning."
Cole's face dropped as he spun around to get his chicken.
Winnie's loud laughter echoed through the house.
After a very delicious dinner, Cole dusted away to the cosmic void, his help needed for someone stuck in limbo. Winnie sat in her living room, clothes changed, her right knee jumping up and down in nervousness. Her hand fiddled with the two small charms on her necklace. One a moon, and the other the sun; both representing her dad and mom respectively. She could feel sun charm warm up. If she see the necklace, she would see a yellow glow surrounding the sun charm. She felt a sudden breeze of relaxation and she smiled slightly as she squeezed the sun charm in her hand. "Thanks mom," she whispered. She took in a deep breath and relaxed her shoulders. "Chris!" She called out. "Wyatt!"
Blue and white lights swirled into the room as the two eldest male Halliwells orbed in. Wyatt gave a Winnie a giant toothy smile while Chris gave her a small smirk.
Winnie smiled at the sight of Chris and bit her lip. She giggled when Chris smiled and looked down, presumably blushing a tad.
Wyatt smiled as he looked between his younger brother and his potential paramour. "You rang?" He raised his eyebrow teasingly.
Winnie rolled her eyes at his carefreeness and sighed. "Take me to magic school," she said, in a fake tone that sounded like she didn't want to go.
Wyatt smiled, his face lighting up. "We convinced you, huh?"
Winnie shook her head, smiling. "If that idea makes you feel better, then yes."
Chris chuckled, making his first noise since orbing in. "We just have to finish up some things up with Wyatt first."
Winnie furrowed her brow.
"The Queen of the Faeries was killed a while ago," Wyatt began sadly.
"Oh no," Winnie breathed deeply. She shook her head. "I'm so sorry...uh, I-what happened?" She asked.
"Some demon trying to take her powers for whatever reason demons have to do so," Wyatt nodded, his face full of grief.
"We killed the demon that got her," Chris' eyes were cold.
"Good." Winnie told them darkly, angry that something so evil could kill something so pure.
Wyatt nodded, his shoulders falling as he felt grief. "They're trying to decide a new Queen but they're having trouble. They've asked me to decide it, but I won't make a decision they won't agree with." He shook his head. "The problem is that they keep...competing with one another to prove they're worth it. They're befriending more and more children and helping them be wiley pranksters with the help of fairy dust. I need to tell them to cut it out and just make the choice." He told the young witch.
Winnie was confused. "Don't the fairies have a royal family and therefore a monarchy?"
"Therein lies the problem," Wyatt sighed, bouncing onto the comfy couch, sitting next to her. "The fairy that is supposed to be next in line, doesn't want the job. She'd have to deal with royal issues and such. She just wants to be around mortal children." He shut his eyes and leaned his head back on the couch.
Winnie shook her head. "Still confused."
Chris sat on the couch's arm rest next to Winnie, looking down at her. "That's what is causing the problem," he said. "Since she wants to shirk her royal obligations, the rest of the fairy world has taken that as an opportunity to prove their worth to try to become the new royal family."
"Doesn't the princess have other family?" At the nods of the men's heads, she continued. "She can pass royal duties onto that family member." Winnie suggested.
Wyatt opened one eye and looked at her. "I...didn't even think of that," he admitted, then looked to Chris. "Think it could work, Lancelot?" He joked.
Chris gave his brother a dark look. "Don't call me Lancelot," he sneered playfully.
Winnie laughed, not getting it. "Okay what's with the medieval reference? And just why does Wyatt have to deal with these issues?" She arched a brow.
Chris shook his head. "Oh, there's a reason for it," he sighed heavily.
Wyatt turned to Winnie, a giant smile on his face. "You know the legend of King Arthur, right?" He gestured for her to tell him what she thought was the story.
Winnie turned to Chris, puzzled. She let out a small laugh as he rolled his eyes and nodded to encourage her to go on. "Okay, well um...Arthur was raised by Merlin. Arthur was proven to be the true born king of Britain after he pulled Excalibur from the stone...Uh," she struggled to remember the rest. "Something happened and there was a war...Arthur was almost fatally injured and he left to Avalon where he is said to be nursing his wounds until he returns to his rightful place on the throne."
"Those are the facts, yes," Wyatt nodded.
Winnie arched an eyebrow. "And you would know otherwise?"
"Well..." Wyatt shrugged. "Yeah."
Winnie gave him a disbelieving look as she turned to Chris. She faltered as a sneaky smile grew onto his face.
"Do it," the younger Halliwell told his brother, his eyes suddenly alit with mischief.
Wyatt grinned. "Excalibur," he called out. The famed sword suddenly flashed into his hand. He laughed as he saw Winnie jump up and point to the sword, stammering. "You're looking at the reincarnation of King Arthur," he told her.
Winnie's jaw was still agape as she tried to catch her breath. She stammered over her words before she took a deep breath in to contain herself and build up a comeback. She arched her brow again. "You don't expect me to bow, do you?"
"No," Wyatt smiled. He held his hand out. "But you can kiss the hand."
Winnie kissed her teeth and slapped his hand away. She sat back down. "So you're really King Arthur, then?"
Wyatt shrugged. "I prefer King Wyatt, but that's the idea, yeah." He joked.
"Wow...that's unreal," She out-of-characterly said. "So then the original King Arthur succumbed to his wounds then?" She asked.
Chris and Wyatt looked to each other, befuddlement on their faces.
The younger Halliwell shrugged. "I guess so," he said. "Had to have because you're the reincarnation of him." He spoke to his brother.
"So why aren't you ruling over Britain?" Winnie asked.
"Because at the time, what we and the stories thought was Britain was actually the magical world," Wyatt shrugged. "They just used Britain to have it be the mortal equivalent."
Winnie nodded, accepting it. "So you have to basically deal with problems that can't be solved on their own in the magical world?" She asked. "And protect the magical world if things go left?"
Wyatt sighed and nodded. "Yeah."
Winnie scrunched up her nose. "Sounds like a lot of pressure that you didn't ask for on top of your normal Wiccan duties. I'm sorry," she told him sincerely.
Wyatt looked down at her from his seat beside her. He nodded. "Thank you," his voice was dry. No one had ever considered how hard his position was. They just assumed he loved the title and responsibility because he was the most powerful magical creature. No one ever knew how much he just wanted to give up his title as King. He saw Winnie with new eyes. Not just viewing her as just a cute girl that his brother was into, or someone who he had an easier time talking to than his sister, but a woman who was considerate, understanding, and compassionate. Chris was going to be a lucky man. And if Wyatt weren't so in love with Rachel, he might consider talking up Winnie. But he knew that he and Rachel were meant to be, just like he had a strong feeling that Chris and Winnie were meant to be. He made a split decision. "Come with us. To inform the faeries of my choice."
Chris wasn't sure what was going on with his brother but he wasn't complaining. Especially if it was going to give him the chance to talk to Winnie more and be around her. "Yeah. See his royal highness in all his glory," he teased.
Winnie rolled her eyes and smacked Chris' chest with her hand. "Be nice. It can't be easy ruling over the magical world while also dealing with everyday demon responsibilities. And that's not to mention dealing with normal life too." She leaned her head back to rest on Chris' thigh as he still sat on the arm of the couch.
Chris' eyes widened he felt her head on his lap. He blinked as her violet eyes looked up at his own jade green. His mouth dried up and fell open as her eyes seemed to look into his very soul. He could see her very emotions change with the expression coming through her eyes. At first they were playful, then turning more serious as they could both feel...something...a connection. Her eyes showed mischief, then happiness as she smiled at him, causing the corners of his lips to lift. Looking back, this would be the moment that he recalled as the moment he fell in love with her. He just didn't know it yet.
Wyatt watched the two have their moment and for once didn't come up with a sly teasing remark. He smiled as he could practically feel them connecting in the air. He cleared his throat to break the silence. He laughed as the two looked up in a daze, as if they forgot he was there. "We have a kingdom to save from possible overthrow," he reminded them.
The faerie world was very similar to the nymph world. Plants and flowers and trees all around. Streams could be heard trickling their water down to waterfalls or ponds. Birds were chirping as butterflies flew silently through the air. The sun shone brilliantly through the plant life. It was beautiful.
"Whoa," Winnie's breath caught in her throat, much like it did when she first walked into the Halliwell manor. "I want to live in this place and stay here forever," she commented to Chris who was standing by her side. She watched as Wyatt walked ahead, presumably to the royal house. "Where does the royal family live?" She asked the jade eyed man next to her.
Chris put his hands on her shoulders and turned her slightly. He pointed in the distance. "There. The biggest tree here."
The 'royal tree' was about twice the size of the rest of the trees. The branches of the trees were spiraled together. Each branch had its own partner, twirling and braiding together. Some branches had more than one partner joining their dance, other branches were solitary, functioning just fine alone. Placed sporadically in the coverage of the tree were small houses. Some large, some small. The biggest house was at the very top of the tree, it seemed more like a mansion. A faery sized mansion for court meetings and such.
Winnie was again awed by the intricacies of the faerie world. Then something dawned upon her. "How are we supposed to get in there?" She asked Chris.
"We don't," Chris told her. "At least not today. When and if the coronation happens, they'll use their faerie dust or Wyatt can use his projection to shrink us to attend the ceremony." He smiled as he watched Winnie be amazed by the scenery. "If you think this is good, you should see the things the nymphs bring about when they're around."
"I've just..." Winnie smiled as she still looked around with wide eyes. "I've never seen anything like this before," she admitted.
Chris furrowed his brows. "Ever?"
"Never ever," Winnie confirmed. "I was a bit magically sheltered as a child," she shrugged. "It was just my dad teaching me magic and me learning things on my own. I never got to meet any good or neutral magical creatures. I'm used to demons because once I'd turned 18, they came after me. It's just nice to see good magic live and work beautifully." She smiled.
Chris smiled back and wrapped an arm around her shoulders, feeling a need to just hold her close. "So you never heard of faeries before?"
Winnie shook her head and leaned into his touch. "No, I have. They're in my book of shadows. I've just never had the pleasure of being around them before. They're so..." she smiled.
"Sneaky?" Chris glared at a particular faerie who was jokingly holding faerie dust over Winnie's head.
"No...joyous." Winnie giggled as she watched the young faerie and witchlighter have a battle of wits. She smiled as the young faerie flew in front of her and gave her butterfly kisses with her wings. "Thank you," she told the winged girl.
The faerie giggled and flew away.
"The princess loved the idea," Wyatt was telling Winnie and Chris as they walked in the manor. "She has a cousin that's been preparing for it. Apparently they've spoken about this when they were growing up." He set his brown jacket on the hook.
"So she had it all planned out beforehand and didn't tell you?" Winnie smiled at Chris in thanks as he took her jacket for her.
Wyatt laughed. "Basically. In her grief and panic, she completely forgot," he waved his hand across the stairwell.
A large ornate door appeared in the break of the stairway in the manor with a large thud.
"Wyatt? Chris?" Piper's voice rang through the manor. "You guys home so soon?" She walked through the dining room. "Winnie, hi!" She smiled and gave the small girl a tight hug.
"Hi Piper," Winnie returned the hug. "You okay? You have some..." Winnie gestured to her eyebrow.
Piper frowned and wiped her eyebrow, seeing a pinkish sauce residue on her fingers. "Oh I was working on a new recipe for the restaurant and must have gotten it on me," she laughed.
"Restaurant?" Winnie asked, then paused as remembrance dawned on her. "You guys are obviously the Halliwells in Halliwell's," she smiled, naming the popular food establishment.
"You're a bit slow on the uptake, huh?" Wyatt joked as he wrapped a friendly arm around her shoulder.
"Shush," Winnie rolled her eyes, moving her torso so his arm fell off. "In my defense, I didn't get out much before. I was so focused on filling up my time with school and extracurriculars. I only went there once with to celebrate my high school graduation."
"You've been there before?" Chris questioned.
Winnie smiled, her eyebrows furrowing in confusion. "Yeah. Just the once though."
Chris looked puzzled. Like he was trying to figure something out. His eyebrows were knitted together. Then he smiled.
Winnie's eyes widened in expectance as she traded similar glances with Wyatt and Piper. "What?"
"Don't worry about it," Chris shook his head as he smiled. "Let's go to magic school," he grinned.
so sorry for the late response! i've been busy with real life. but i have the next five chapters written out and i'll be posting them on here shortly! please let me know what you think and your feedback! the chapters may be less detailed than the first because i'm still trying to find a balance between too much and too little. let me know which style you prefer!