Sword and the City Rewrite (Part V)
Disclaimer: I don't own Charmed or any of the characters… although, I really wish I did own at least a certain slightly neurotic, but charmingly adorable future Whitelighter. Unfortunately they belong to someone else. So does the episode Sword and the City.
Author's Note: This was a little wild hare of mine… and I just had to get it out. The episode Sword and the City originally ran in Season 6 of Charmed… one of only two episodes that season that didn't have Chris in it. I figured, there must have been some reason for it, right? Anyway, here's my altered version… and to the request of those that have been reviewing my first posted fan-fic ever… this next segment has just what you were asking for: more Chris!
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When Chris left the Manor, he hadn't had any set place in mind for where he was going to go. He just knew he needed to get out of there. He had a desperate need to think and clear his head in an effort to sort out what had just happened. If he had stayed a moment longer, his cover would have been shattered beyond repair. He had nearly called Piper 'mom' as it was. Survival instinct told him to keep her separate in his mind from the woman he had grown up with. The woman who had died in his past, but who was still very much alive now that he had traveled back even before his very own birth.
The glimmering trail of orbs coalesces into the dark-haired young man as he appears in an all too familiar park. The next King Arthur. Excalibur had come out into his hands. "Is this someone's idea of a great cosmic joke?!" Chris shouts to no one. His voice stirs a roosting pigeon from atop the stone angel statue.
Sinking down onto the bench, Chris starts to cover his face with his hands, noticing as he raises them towards his face that they are shaking. Pull yourself together Chris, he tells himself silently, it was just a mistake. The sword belongs to Wyatt.
As much as Chris would have liked to have taken that symbol of Wyatt's rule and thrown it back into whatever lake it had emerged from, there was no way he could actually do that. It would risk changing too much to take Excalibur away from Wyatt.
But you already did that, didn't you? Chris's inner dialogue continues. This time his hands do make it to his face, rubbing across his features and continuing upwards to rake through his dark hair. You drew the sword from the stone. He can't help wondering what the sisters must be thinking. What must Leo be thinking? Especially after his hasty flight away from the Manor. He couldn't help it. That wasn't supposed to happen, he argues with himself, Wyatt took Excalibur after Mom died… it belongs to him, not to me. Yeah? Well, then why did it slide out of the sword when you grabbed it? Explain that one.
"I don't have time to be the next King Arthur," Chris mumbles into his hands. He needs to concentrate on saving Wyatt. But the sword had sung when he had drawn it. He had heard the musical notes of the blade ringing in his ears, could still hear them even now that he had moved away from it. And it had glowed. He couldn't remember it doing that when Wyatt had pulled it from the stone the first time, but with so many other painful memories clouding his thoughts of that day, it's hardly a detail that Chris thinks he would have considered important enough to remember.
Chris sits there on the bench like that, unmoving for what feels like an eternity. He is almost afraid to move. It feels to him like someone has poured cement around him and it was slowly solidifying. "…a shame there isn't going to be anyone around to pull me out of the stone before I drown in the bottom of the damn lake," he grumbles, feeling even worse for the fact that now he was actually talking to himself. He has to think this through. He really has to think this through.
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Elsewhere, while the son that she had yet to conceive was dealing with an inner struggle over the ownership of the sword, Piper had changed into more suitable attire for the powerful wielder of Excalibur. With Mordaunt at her side, the eldest Charmed sister stood inside the cave looking at the round table before them.
"It doesn't look like much of a kingdom," Piper says.
"This is just where it begins. Where you form your inner circle," Mordaunt explains.
"Let me guess. The knights of the round table?" Piper asks with a hint of skeptical sarcasm.
Mordaunt moves behind Piper, placing himself close enough to her that his next words are almost a whispered purr into her ears. "The knights of your round table. You're on a new path now, a new destiny."
Piper smiles, leaning back just a hair towards the man's whispering voice, "That's good because I was getting a little bored of the old one."
"A world of adventure awaits you. Warfare, conquest. Camelot."
"And what exactly is Camelot?" Piper asks, turning around to face him.
"Whatever you want it to be. It's your kingdom to make," Mordaunt states.
Piper lifts her brows, "Could you be a little more specific?"
"There will be no one above you, no one to challenge you. You will have free reign to reshape the way things are. To create a world of your dreams. All will bow down before you," Mordaunt says as he caresses her cheek, "All will serve your every desire."
Piper leans into the caresses, smiling at him, "Including you?"
"Especially me, my queen," Mordaunt says, bending forward to press his lips against Piper's. His hand out stretches towards the sword, but the weapon slides across the table away from him. Mordaunt pulls back from Piper and steps further away.
Piper tilts her head, watching him move away from her, "What is it?"
"Well," Mordaunt says, "we must build your kingdom first, and to do that we need to fill your round table with knights."
"Very well," Piper says, "I have a few ideas."
Mordaunt places a hand on her arm, smiling, "No. Let me be your council. I know best who will serve you well. But they will not come easily. You must challenge them on fields of battle. Force them to join you."
Piper picks up Excalibur, looking at the gleaming blade. A confident smile spreads over her features, "I think I can do that."
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Paige, Phoebe, and Leo stand in the Manor's conservatory. Paige is dedicatedly trying to scry for Piper without any success.
"Anything," Leo asks.
Paige shakes her head, sighing in frustration, "I wish you had found Chris. I don't know how we're going to get the sword away from her otherwise." Paige leans back against the couch in momentary defeat, "Nope, can't find Piper anywhere."
"Well, keep looking, she's bound to show up somewhere," Leo says.
Paige makes a face, "Yeah, to do what?"
Phoebe paces, "I don't understand. If she wasn't supposed to pull the sword out of the stone, then why was she able to?"
Leo answers patiently, "Because according to the other Elders, she was only meant to pass it on to whom ever it was really meant for. She was meant to leave it in the stone until the next owner was ready for it. Which, by what happened this morning with Chris… my guess is that she was supposed to guard it until he was ready to take it in this timeline, but since his future self was there, the sword recognized him anyway."
"Yeah, but Phoebe said he was scared to death when the sword came out for him," Paige says, "If it was meant for him in the future, don't you think he would have known that it was? I mean, I know the guy is big on keeping secrets, but being the next King Arthur--"
Phoebe interrupts Paige, "So, Piper's not the next King Arthur but she is the new Lady of the Lake. And our neurotic whitelighter from the future is the new King Arthur?"
Leo thinks that's a more simplified down version of it all. Leo nods, "Basically, yeah."
"Well, why is it turning her evil?" Phoebe asks.
"Because only the ultimate power on earth can handle Excalibur. Only the one that it is truly meant for can use it without being corrupted. That's why the Lady stayed in the lake to insulate herself from the power of the sword," Leo answers. Okay, so he was paraphrasing what the other Elders had said about the Sword. They hadn't said 'the ultimate power', those were his words, because he couldn't bring himself to call Chris 'powerful and noble-hearted', the boy is the complete opposite of that in his mind.
Paige crosses her arms over her chest, "Okay, so we should find Piper and then drown her." At the look received from Leo, Paige adds, "Oh, I'm just kidding Leo."
"It's no joke," Leo says seriously, "It might be the only way to keep the power from consuming her, destroying her."
"Still, what does Mordaunt want with Piper?" Phoebe asks, "I mean, he's tricky, but he's hardly the ultimate power on earth."
"But he can use Piper to become that power," Leo says.
The crystal Paige has been scrying with finally lands on a point on the map. Paige nods, satisfied that her diligence has paid off, "Guess who just surfaced."
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Author's Note: Poor overwhelmed Chris. :) He's so cute when he's stressing out. Thank you all who have reviewed!
insanechildfanfic: Glad you think it's great!
Aerohead1980: Read on and find out, but yes, the sword was meant for Chris.
Kitty-Witty-Kate: I'll be updating real soon, promise!
Belladona-Isabella: Yep, more Chris… and he says he's fine. You know F.I.N.E. Freaked out. Insecure. Neurotic. And Emotional. Thanks for the review.
Plutobaby494: It makes me happy that you're enjoying it.
bstant: I'll update as soon as I can.
Harm Marie: Heehee, I enjoyed writing it, I'm glad that you enjoyed reading it.