Death Becomes Them

Whilst angels serve and demons fight

Humans chose between wrong and right.

A spell was cast, a choice was made,

To render sin a friend of Hades.

For each bad choice, for each transgression;

The underworld grew from man's omission.

But in the end, neither the triad nor the source

Could control the might of man and right's divorce.

In one champion, hope remains;

Self-sacrifice for the world to gain.

Tyler had heard the words from a seer. He had not copied them to the Book of Shadows. He had not taken them to Magic School or to the Elders. He had hidden them, reading them over and over to himself trying to discern the meaning. Now, two years later, Tyler found himself studying them for the first time since the battle. He thought he'd understood them that day, in the underworld. He thought that Wyatt must chose to sacrifice his life to save good. That his choice would outweigh the dark magic that called upon the evil of mankind. Wyatt had not understood the theory when Tyler told him.

'Surely demons are infinitely more evil than humans. Why is human evil so powerful to them?'

'Demons are born evil, they don't choose it. It's in their blood – they don't know anything else,' Tyler had explained. 'But humans we feel the wrong and we chose to do it anyway. That's the most potent evil there is. The Underworld has called upon it to create the most powerful weapon we have ever seen.'

'What do you mean? Like the Hollow?'

'No, The Dark Son. The Dark Son is the weapon, meant to serve the Underworld but he's ended up ruling it.' Tyler repeated the words of the prophecy, 'neither the triad npr the source could control the might of man and right's divorce.'

'And me dying; that's the only way to stop it?'

'You're the most powerful witch we have ever seen... In one champion, hope remains, self-sacrifice for the world to gain.'

'Are you sure, Tyler?' Tyler paused. He couldn't bare the responsibility. They say 'don't shoot the messenger' but Tyler's message was the bullet. Then he pulled his head up and looked his bestfriend in the eyes.

'Yes.'

Chris and Paige sat on the sofa.

'What're you doing here anyway? Shouldn't you be at home with Henry?'

'He's my husband not my keeper. Jees, Chris, anybody would think you were trying to get rid of me.'

'No. I just wish everyone wasn't so bothered about Wyatt.'

'You wish what? Are you sure you're the same Chris? The one that's been looking for him in the jungle for twelve months thinking the rest of us didn't realise where the grass stains came from? I mean, what are you talking about?'

'I wanted Wyatt back. I wanted to know what happened. But he doesn't have either of those things. He's not Wyatt, he's Milton Diggory as raised by the demon, Guinevere. He's apathetic and angry. He just wants to fight and have power. He's not the man that dissappeared in the jungle. I bet if this guy had to make the choice, he wouldn't even go into the jungle.'

Paige pursed her lips thoughtfully. She'd had similar thoughts herself. 'We can't know that Chris and we don't know what happenned in the jungle. We don't know why Wyatt was there or what he was doing. Don't be angry with him because you think he abandoned us.'

There was a scream from upstairs. Paige and Chris jumped up.

'Oh god! No!' Phoebe's voice cried out from the attic. Demon attacks were common in the Halliwell mansion. Frightened screaming was not.

Phoebe had walked into the attic to find her eldest daughter dead on the floor, her eyes staring up at the ceiling. She hunched over, cradling the dead body in her arms, 'Leo! Leo! Oh god, somebody help me.'

Paige appeared in the doorway. She saw her sister, desperately cradling the air. She saw Wyatt staring horrified into the corner of the room, 'no. No. Not them. Not my family.' Wyatt moaned, stroking his hair in anxiety.

Chris came up behind Paige on the stairs, 'Oh, Jesus. Look at all the spiders. How did all the spiders get in here?'

Paige looked into the centre of the room. A man with grey hair and a walking cane stood smiling, 'oh, look! It's the supply witch. Only good for when the world supply of Charmed Ones is running short.'

'You'll have to do a bit better than that, Barbas. We've moved on since then.'

'Yes, you're right. But the thing is, dear, it's this you're afraid of; your family in ruins; the chaos. I don't need to make you believe anything. They're terrified and there's nothing you can do about it.'

Paige's confidence wavered. She tried to fake it, 'I don't know. What can fear really do? I mean, didn't we vanquish you already?'

'Don't be silly.' Barbas began to walk towards Paige, whispering his words tauntingly, 'fear's never exorcised for long. You should know by now, it always comes creeping back.'

In the corner, Wyatt was turning an ever paler shade of white. 'I'll do anything. I'll do anything. You musn't kill them. I'll go back to the jungle. NO! DON'T KILL THEM!' Barbas' face twisted into an uncomfortable shape. 'NO!' Wyatt yelled. Barbas's body began to shake and he looked down at himself. 'NO!' Barbas exploded. The illusions disappeared. The four Halliwells looked around at each other, speechless.

Phoebe picked herself up, tears still falling from her eyes. She felt a hollow familiarity; nothing left to be afraid of but too bewildered to feel relief.

'It's alright. He's gone.' Paige said, 'Wyatt vanquished him.'

Phoebe looked at Milton, surprised.

'What?' Chris looked even more shocked than Phoebe, 'How did you do that?'

'I don't know.' Milton looked at his hands. 'It was instinctive, automatic. Isn't that what you said?'

'Your powers are attached to your emotions,' Phoebe added, 'normally fear paralyses them – that's why Barbas is so powerful. But with you… You must have needed to face your fears. Well done. You did good.'

Milton smiled. It wasn't the power rush he expected. It wasn't thrilling. It was comfortable, it felt necessary and right and it made him feel complete. For the first time, he wanted to be amongst the Halliwells, to hear their stories. He wanted to talk to his mother.

'Where are you going?' Sebastian was stood in Tyler's classroom at magic school.

'Nowhere.'

'Don't lie to me. What's going on? Why is Wyatt not at the manor?'

Tyler looked at his best friend remoarsefully, 'it's no good. The fight won't do any good. Chris and Melinda, the sisters, they're all putting themselves at risk and for nothing. Wyatt is not at the manor because there is nothing he can do there.'

'What are you talking about? His family need him. They need us.'

'No. There is only one way to defeat The Son and that is... sacrifice.' Tyler picked up his bag and walked to the door. 'I'm not coming back. I can't, not after what I've done.'

'What have you done?' One of the things that Tyler respected about Sebastian was that he was fearless but now Sebastian's eyes filled with panic. ' What have you done?'

'Here,' Tyler pulled out a school journal and took a piece of paper out of it. He handed it to Sebastian. 'The Halliwells' fight will make no difference. Only Wyatt can stop the son. His power is too strong for the rest of us.'

'We must still help the Halliwells.'

'Why?' Tyler cried, 'to die? To watch them die? There is nothing we can do! We can only hope that Wyatt meets the son before his family do