Alright, a new reader (or at least new reviewer!) joins the mix!
CanadianHalliwell: Thanx a lot for keepin' up with the stories! Believe it; now that you bring it up I find it hard to believe myself that it's been over 2 years since this whole thing started!
"Her name's Shelina," Benjamin Keating explained to James, Wesley, and Jordan as he paced back and forth in the living room, "Shelina Walker. We dated for a while and I thought that things were going great, but obviously I was taken for a fool."
"People still do it at that age?" Wesley asked, trying to lighten the mood. Everyone shot him an annoyed stare. "Sorry!"
"So you're a witch," James clarified, "and she's a warlock. But you didn't know that she knew anything about you being a witch?"
"C'mon, Jimmy," Wesley said, shaking his head. "Don't get too judgmental."
"We need to get to the bottom of this," James said, pointing to Jordan, who was unconscious again on the couch. "And now that the big secret's out, I'm betting that he is gonna tell us everything we need to know."
"What's your power?" Wesley asked Benjamin. "I mean, it's gotta be pretty strong for that chick to want you so bad."
"It's something called power mimicry," Benjamin explained. "It's kind of like copycat, but not as powerful. It means I can channel the powers of anyone else around me into myself."
"So you can use any of our powers right now?" Wesley asked.
"Yes," Benjamin said.
"So," James thought out loud, "if that's your power, and if she steals it, then she'd be pretty strong."
"As if she wasn't already," Wesley said, sighing. "I think this one's too much for us. We're screwed."
"And without Sam," James said softly, looking at Jordan, "we can't heal him."
Minutes of silence passed between the three witches as they all absorbed and processed the information that they had just exchanged with each other. In the in between moments, they all paused to look at Jordan's barely alive body, wondering what exactly he was doing here. He had been pretty cryptic thus far with everything he said, and the two brothers knew that whatever he was hiding could potentially put all of the pieces of this puzzle together.
The slight creaking of the front door interrupted the silence between the three as Matthew walked in, panting as if had run from the Arts Center. Preliminary stares went across the room, Matthew to James and Wesley, James to Matthew, Wesley to Benjamin, Benjamin to the three brothers, everyone to Jordan. Matthew swallowed his guilt and joined everyone in the living room.
"This is Matt," Wesley said to Benjamin. "He's the smart one."
Sam knelt before the nine Superiors who had summoned her back into their presence. After having discussed the situation, they reemerged to find that she had disobeyed their orders and left to help James. Now, she was at their mercy and she knew it.
"Samantha," Alpha said in a disappointed tone, "you have deliberately disobeyed our orders to wait here for our decision."
"I know," Sam said, "and I can't apologize enough. But surely you can understand why I had to leave. They aren't ready for all of this. They don't have the experience to do this. They need help in the worst way! As a Guardian, their Guardian, I couldn't just stand here and let anything happen to them!"
"Your reasons may be just," Epsilon said, "but it does not change the fact that you broke our rules."
"Our decision, therefore," Beta informed her, with nods of consent from the other Superiors, "is to relieve you of your assignment. You will no longer be allowed to see or interact with the Complete."
"They will be left alone to handle their situation," Delta continued. "Considering their situation, and taking into account their lack of experience, we will allow them to retain their memories of all that has happened thus far."
"Only," Gamma continued, "until the ordeal is over. Their memories, yours as well, will be modified and none of them will have any memory of ever having met you at all, nor you them. They will be assigned a different Guardian and neither you nor the eldest brother will ever see each other again."
"But that's not fair!" Sam pleaded to the Superiors. "With all due respect, this is crazy! Just because I left to help them doesn't mean that you have to separate…"
"Our decision is final," Alpha stated powerfully, stopping Sam in mid speech. "We are not being arbitrary in this. This is the way things shall be. Any further insubordination on your part will result in complete removal of your powers, rendering you completely mortal."
Those final words hit Sam so hard she almost fell over. She had been dealt a terrible hand, with the only options ending the same way, in loss. She loved being a Guardian, even if lately her performance had been slipping. On the other hand, she had grown very close to James, and could very well see herself being with him, especially considering that this future gave them a son together.
She hung her head low and exited the presence of the nine Superiors, who only looked on in consternation. Once out of their sight, she broke down into tears, knowing that some of her happiest memories would soon be completely wiped out. That there was nothing she could do to prevent it only made her cry harder. Other Guardians passed her, hovering on top of sparkling white lights. They all felt sorry for her; Guardians possessed a certain degree of empathy, the ability to sense and sometimes feel others' emotions.