The pages from Chris's journal were spread out across the floor in order, but were unread. Chris was sitting across from Charlie and she could feel his eyes on her but she wouldn't look up. Too much information was reeling over in her head. Who was she? Had she been evil? Every new question brought a wave of anxiety through her body to curl in the pit of her stomach and bring a sickness she couldn't shake.

"I think this might be a lot more complicated than we first believed." Chris said quietly, his eyes drifting to the many pages of his own handwriting on the hardwood floor.

"You think?"

Chris really didn't blame Charlie for what she was feeling. All of the information overloading her brain was probably driving her crazy. Chris reached for the first few missing pages and re-read them for what had to be the fifteenth time since their discovery. The words on the page never yielded any more information than they already had, but it didn't stop him from trying. Charlotte had potentially been part of the Resistance. Or she and Wyatt had been adversaries and he was after her and her position with them meant Wyatt would tear the world apart to try and destroy her. That or she had been one of Wyatt's confidants and had possibly been trying to kill Chris and destroy the Resistance. He hated the thought, but he knew it couldn't be true. He felt it. He knew why Charlotte was hesitant to read the pages; if they contained information she couldn't forget, how could she live with herself?

"I don't think you were evil," Chris admitted, "There's no way. You said I talked about a miracle in my journal, that I found what might help me. What if you were the miracle? We need to read the pages…"

"I'm not stopping you." She said quietly, her eyes still glued to the floor. Chris bit his lip and let his eyes slide to the clock, knowing he only had an hour at best before he would have to leave. One hour to convince Charlotte not to panic and leave him hanging. This wasn't just about him and his flashbacks anymore; this was about them and the Resistance and their history.

"Charlie, we're going to figure this out together, okay? Do you want to keep reading?"

"…you can do it."

Chris found the next page and settled down beside the brunette, setting it on their propped legs and beginning to read aloud.

"Charlotte was unconscious for another few days. We unbound her and let her sleep properly, but I still have people guarding her. She's been talking in her sleep but nobody can understand what she is saying. Lucas says there has been sand by her bedside when they check on her and I don't know what it means. I know The Book cover to cover and there are very few beings that are connected with sand and she does not fit the description of any of them. Greta can read auras and she says Charlotte has no bad intentions or energy but I don't know what to believe. I have been tricked before and this is not the time to be letting strangers into the Resistance. I know the Elders say she could be of use but they refused to save innocents; I watched them let people be murdered by Wyatt. I want to hope that this could be the cavalry, but I think I am beyond hope now."

"…sand."

Chris looked up and tilted his head; Charlotte was now sitting upright, the paper caught between both her hands.

"The sand," she said again, "I.. there's been sand all over my room for a few days. I thought Cookie was tracking it in but maybe it was me? It was how I found the page where you talked about hiding your journal… "

Chris sat up on his knees, "You mean you think you're using magic without knowing it?"

"Maybe?"

This was too much; Chris was going to explode if this continued. There were so many unanswered questions, so much he needed to know. Charlotte had the papers in her hands, slowly working her way through each page in a slow pace.

"What's a Time Keeper?"

Chris frowned and gently took the offered pages, scanning through the handwriting and murmuring under his breath, "I talked with her today, just the two of us. She says she's a Time Keeper, but her powers are fresh and she doesn't know much else. She was taken by the Elders and Leo told her she was a gift to me to try and stop Wyatt. She doesn't fully understand what they have done to her, or how her powers work, but she does know the Elders didn't get a chance to finish what they wanted to do. I don't know what to believe. Time Keepers are for children and fairytales. I don't have time for blind hope and grasping at straws. I cannot trust her. Not yet."

Charlotte was watching him expectantly, but Chris had no answer for her. Clearly, his future self had more knowledge than he did in this moment. He admitted it to Charlotte with a sheepish shrug and she continued to flick through the pages. "So am I a Time Keeper, whatever that is? It says that the Elders did that to me and I haven't had any encounters with them, so.."

"I'll figure it out." Chris promised, "I'll go to Magic School and do some research. This isn't just about me anymore, Charlie. This is about us. Your powers and my past self aren't two different issues now; we're obviously connected and I swear, I'm going to find out how."

Chris could see the pale dawn light spiling through Charlotte's bedroom window, signalling his time to leave. Charlotte must have known where his gaze had wandered, and she gathered the pages of his journal in one hand.

"You need to leave. I'll call you if I find anything."

Chris resisted the urge to stay, knowing that if he wasn't in his bed at the manor at some point soon, there would be hell to pay. He offered Charlotte a sad smile that she half-heartedly returned, before orbing away.

When the jingling orbs around Chris's body had disappeared, Charlotte rose to her feet and let the pages drop to her coffee table, untouched. Her bed beckoned to her, but the adrenaline coursing through her veins screamed that she needed to do something. Get out of her head. The phone in her hand chimed out a tone as she tapped out the number, the dial tone ominous in her ear.

"Hello?"

Charlotte's next breath ripped the words from her mouth and left only an uncomfortable silence on her end. Amy Perry sighed heavily and clicked her tongue. "If this is someone trying to sell me something, I'm telling you I'm not interested."

Charlotte ended the call and threw her phone to the bed before climbing under the covers, still fully dressed. Her exciting discovery of the night had now turned to a sour feeling that gnawed away in her gut. She ignored the screaming protest of her adrenaline and buried herself further down, eyes screwed shut as she prayed that maybe she would wake up ad this would all have been a dream.


Breakfast at the Halliwell-Wyatt manor wasn't usually an extravagant affair, unless it was a whole family breakfast; where the entirety of the Halliwell-Wyatt-Matthews-Cupid brood squashed themselves around the too-small table and made noisy chit-chat between stuffing their faces. Today, however, was a rare occasion where Piper was not buried up to her elbows in pasta sauce for the dinner special and instead had been graced with a day off. Chris slid into his usual seat and poured himself a tall glass of juice before clearing his throat.

"Hey, dad?"

Leo looked up from the newspaper and sipped from his coffee mug; gesturing for Chris to continue as his eyes went back to the headline "Mysterious Sand Storms Across San Francisco".

"How do you help someone tap into their powers?"

Leo frowned and set down the newspaper, eyes lighting up as Piper set a large plate of pancakes on the table. Wyatt seized one between his thumb and forefinger, hissing at the temperature before tossing it down on his plate.

"It depends on the person, son. Magic is similar to any other kind of learning and development. Not everyone moves at the same pace, or benefits from the same learning skills. Why?"

Chris took his own pancake and shrugged nonchalantly, "I was just thinking about maybe getting more in touch with my whitelighter side. Guiding innocents, helping them find their true potential. Since I can't actually heal yet, I figured I should focus a little more on the other whitelighter duties. "

It wasn't a boldfaced lie. In his journey of self-discovery, Chris had spent a lot of time unearthing information about both sides of his heritage. Even though Wyatt had gained the obvious whitelighter powers with his healing abilities, Chris had found a comfort in the idea of assisting witches in their own journeys. Wyatt, however, had followed a far more magical route, and Chris knew his father had been disappointed that his own life experiences seemed moot in the face of two witch-inclined children. It almost hurt to see the way his father's eyes lit up when Chris spoke of his whitelighter heritage.

Piper settled into her seat and took the Arts and Leisure section from Leo's paper with ease. Leo shook his head and poured syrup onto his breakfast. "Well, son, if you're really thinking about it, I could give you some places to look? There's a few Whitelighter journals in the Magic School library if you needed more information."

"That would be great, dad. Really."

Chris drenched his pancakes in syrup before stuffing them down; pointedly ignoring the side-eye he was being given by his mother. If he could help Charlotte tap into her powers just a little more, they might be able to get even further than they could with the new journal pages. She had already used them once; he now had no doubt about it. All she needed was a spark; some true guidance in the right direction. If his gut feeling was right, Charlotte had been someone important to him. Important to the Resistance. Why would the Elders have taken her? Why was she his 'gift'?

There was something about Charlotte Perry; and he needed to know what.


Nobody cleaned this area of the library, it seemed. Chris unstuck cobwebs from between his fingers as he absently browsed the shelves, adding a few books to his stack as he urged his levitating pile along in front of him. The Magic School collection was extensive, especially concerning whitelighters. He had a feeling it had been his father and aunts doing, but he wouldn't complain. Despite this massive collection, however, it was becoming harder and harder to find things about the Time Keepers. There were several passages in some tomes that briefly mentioned them, or referenced them in jest; but Chris was yet to come across a book that actually told him anything about them. The Whitelighter journals were already weighing down his arms as he scanned the oldest sections of the library, desperate to find even one book that could help him. If him learning more about Time Keepers would help Charlotte, it couldn't really be considered personal gain, right?

"Time Keeper books." He whispered as he gestured his hand at no particular angle. Three books appeared in his hands and nearly dropped them in happiness. Two were slim, battered paperbacks with faded covers, but one was thick and leatherbound, stamped with the title in embossed ink.

Myths of the Magick

Chris skimmed his eyes down the page of contents, breezing past the Yeti and Bigfoot until he saw the words inked low at the bottom. The Time Keepers. He turned the heavy pages to the chapter and settled down in his chair, the book weighty in his lap.

Time Keepers are one of the oldest myths in magic history, tracing back to the very beginnings of magic and the magic war of power. Good and Evil Magic were caught in a battle for dominance over the Magical world. In a final attempt at triumphing over evil magic, the Time Keepers were forged from the oldest known Magics, and were the ultimate reason for the Good Magic conquering the war. Time Keepers were created from the very sands of time, bestowing those who were chosen with the power of Sight.

Also known as "Children of the Hourglass", Time Keepers are said to have otherworldly knowledge no other could possess, yet oral history of these beings suggests that these powers were earned, not inherently given. A Time Keeper, once they had unlocked their powers, would not have access to their full power spectrum for an unknown amount of time. When fully in control of their powers, an accomplished Time Keeper would possess knowledge of past, present, future and alternative dimensions. They would be capable of time manipulation and travel at their own desires, and be able to alter timelines as the need arose. This level of power was unexpected by their creators and it would be this unexpected occurrence that resulted in the decimation of Time Keepers at the end of the Magic Wars.

Once Good Magic had seized control of the Magic world, it became apparent that the power of the Time Keepers was too broad and would result in extreme imbalance to the magical world. Furthermore, the powers were so intense that many who had been bestowed with the power were suffering slow and painful deaths at the hands of their own minds; becoming caught between time streams or driven into eventual insanity.

To keep the Time Keepers under control, Good Magic systematically removed the beings from the planes, yet contained one for their own purpose. To stop the magic gene from being passed down the generational line and activating unexpectedly, the Good Magics created a failsafe in which the powers would not activate in a blessed being if there was not a bestowing of the power by the reigning Time Keeper. Legend states that the Time Keeper kept for Good Magics purposes was passed to the highest reigning source of Good Magic throughout history, with strict instructions that it was not to be consulted for any purpose unless the fate of the Magical World was under direct threat.

Time Keepers have no distinguishing features when not actively using their powers, though legend states that the eyes of a Time Keeper become portals through the sands of time when their powers are in use. Their power of Sight is channeled differently through each vessel, though over time and adaptation to the powers can it be controlled however the Time Keeper sees fit. The full extent of a Time Keepers power has never been documented and only legend remains.

This mythical being of magic is one of the few not directly acknowledged by the mortal community. The closest known counterpart to the Time Keepers is the mortal being known colloquially as "Father Time". In the magical community, Time Keepers are widely regarded as mythical creatures created as a distraction from the true horrors the Good Magics took part in during the fight in order to triumph. No such power exists, or ever has existed; making the Time Keepers one of the most prominent mythical powers in magical history.

Chris slumped back into his chair and ran a hand through his hair, eyes wide with the knowledge he had just discovered.

"Oh my God… Charlie."


Whoever was banging on her door was going to die a slow and painful death. Charlotte poked her head out from beneath the blanket and pillow fort she had fashioned before sleep had finally overtaken her. Cookie was lounging in the sun by the window and his eyes shone as Charlotte stumbled out of bed.

"Don't even look at me, you fleabag. You knew this whole time, didn't you?"

Cookie bared his tiny fangs as he yawned and Charlotte shuffled across her apartment to crack open the door and peeking through the tiny gap.

"Charlie, finally!"

He flung the door back and stumbled in, weighed down by the dozens of books in his backpack and arms. They dumped across her floor but Chris paid them no mind, instead running a hand through his hair and grinning wildly in Charlotte's direction.

"You're a Time Keeper."

"…yes? We established that this morning. Are you okay?"

Chris breathed out an excited laugh and gestured for Charlotte to sit before he launched into his explanation about everything he had read, all his theories and concerns. Charlotte stayed motionless on the couch as he spoke, eyes following his manic gesticulations and rapid-fire babble before he finally stopped to gasp in a breath.

"So?"

"…So I don't quite get it." She admitted quietly. She understood the bulk of what he had said. Time Keepers, Magic War, too much power, giant mistake. Technically a myth but here she was. But that didn't explain why she was here, why Chris' spell had brought her to him. She didn't have her powers.

"Don't you get it, Charlie? You're how I got into the past. This Time Keeper thing… you were the reason I was able to change the past without serious consequence. When you go into the past you'e not ever supposed to change anything and I always thought I'd just found some kind of loophole because I messed around so much and barely anything bad happened but maybe it was you? You did some…thing and how I got into the past was different somehow? I don't have all the pieces yet but this is huge breakthrough. You weren't evil, Charlie. You helped me save the world. This is why I was worried someone would find out how I got back! Your powers are rare and important. You're not even supposed to be real. If you were at full strength, there's no telling what you could be used for. I think that's even why the Elders gave you to me. Everyone thought you were a myth, including Wyatt. He would never have suspected that I could go back and time and change anything!"

"Why can't I access my power then? Why is there this block?"

Chris held up a hand, unable to contain his excitement, "Because the Time Keeper power was stopped from continuing into the next generation until the previous Time Keeper had died. Good Magics kept one in case they needed it for something and I think they've still got it… you can't get your powers because the Time Keeper in this timeline isn't dead. The magic the Elders were putting into you that I wrote about in my journal- they were activating your powers. I don't know why the Time Keeper couldn't do it himself or what happened to him- I haven't gotten that far but Charlie… you're how I got into the past. You're what I was trying to protect. Magic brought me to you because it knew you could figure it out."

Charlie shook her head and paced the floor, unable to process the wealth of information flooding her mind, "But I'm useless, Chris. When I was in the old timeline, I had power, but I don't now. I don't know anything about you, or the past, or anything of any value. You don't need me, you need… other me."

Chris was still smiling, which Charlie knew could only mean he had some kind of plan. And she wasn't sure she was going to like it.

"I have a plan for that too. We have all these questions and so little answers but think about it, Charlie. How do you think the Elders even got the power to put into you? The book says Good Magic has been passing the Time Keeper they kept to the highest power of Good Magic since the end of the Magic War. So… right now, Up There, there's a Time Keeper with powers. Probably great ones, who knows so much more than we could even dream,"

Chris fished around in his pockets and slapped a crumbled gum wrapper with his handwriting onto the bench.

"And we're going to bring him here."


A pulse rippled across the magical planes, jostling the weak and almost dying from their unreachable slumber. The blond man smirked to himself and rose from the desk, his eyes finding the brighter-burning torches; the crisper air and the fog that had been almost lifted. His heavy boots slammed into the hard floor of the Underworld as he marched through the halls, delighting in the way demons jumped from his path in raw fear. The doors in front of him burst open and he dismissed the sudden attack by the guards.

He could hear screams of agony and the smell of burning human flesh invaded his sense. He gestured a hand and water rained down on the flames. The woman tied to the pyre whimpered in relief, free from the agony for the briefest moment. Her eyes found the source of the saving grace and her jaw clenched.

"I'm never telling you anything. I would have thought a man," the word dripped with sarcasm, "such as yourself would be smart enough to know when he's fighting a losing battle."

The blond was undeterred as he headed for the pyre with a spring in his step, climbing the kindling to come face to face with the woman.

"You don't have to, just look around. The veil is collapsing in on itself and it's because no matter what timeline he exists in, Christopher Halliwell cannot stay away from dangerous things. Once the veil is crippled, not even you and your magic will be able to keep him safe. Not this time."

The woman gritted her teeth and screwed her eyes shut, letting her head hang. A heavy hand seized her jaw and pulled it up so their eyes met again.

"Eighteen years of stubbornness was entirely wasted. No matter what you do, the veil will fall and I will get what was taken away from me. This isn't an interrogation anymore… this is a warning that you had best decide whose side you want to be on when this all comes down. "

The woman's defiant gaze held for a long time before the blond sneered and shoved her back against the stake. His hand twitched at the base of the pyre and a small cluster of embers burst alight, eating their way up the kindling inch by inch.

"I think this time we'll go a little slower," the man murmured as he backed away from the stake. "I think you need more time to consider your answer."

"I'm not going to change my mind."

She already knew there was no hope of keeping the veil together. She had known far longer than he had. But this was no longer a case of trying to prevent them breaking into the new timeline; this was making sure that Chris would have a fighting chance. The veil between worlds was weakened and cracked from the moment the new timeline had been forged; but those who had been swept up in the wake of the old world being torn apart at the seams did not need to know that. They thought they were winning, they thought they had the upper hand.

The flames caught a sturdy piece of wood and growled hungrily as they climbed higher. The woman closed her eyes as heat burned along her feet, but she did not waver. The man was leant casually against a wall; watching the fire advance with twisted fascination.

"You've made your bed, Charlotte. I hope you can sleep in it."

Charlotte held her head high and offered her captor a calm, sad smile.

"And I hope you're prepared to be taken down for good this time, Wyatt."