A/note: Alright, I just wanted to thank the people who helped me make my way to my 200th review and it's got even better since then. You guys have no idea how much I appreciate you for stopping to give me comments as opposed to reading and leaving me in the dark about it. So this chapter is dedicated to those who have consistently reviewed this series. Credit: Ross (RJF) also created most of the Phoenix background used in the first Cameron scene, so credit to him.
Chapter 15- Witchmas
Synopsis: The Demon of Grouchiness plots to rob Christmas, feeding off the disappointment of children. It's up to Paige to take in the power of Santa Claus to deliver the presents to the children all around the world with Whitelighters to assist her with the orbing around. Will Christmas be saved or gone from the world forever? (If you'd like to adopt this story-line, you're either younger than ten or stupid.)
Disclaimer: For those who don't know the truth about Santa... don't read any further.
December 25th, 2006
Young Peter's eyes slowly fluttered open. He was under the covers of Paige and Henry's bed, right in-between his foster parents. They were still sound asleep, but Peter slowly began to drift back to sleep until he remembered what day it was. His body jolted forward and slid out from under the covers. The rapid motion caused Paige and Henry to stir in their sleep and Peter jumped twice and shouted, "It's Christmas!"
His high voice woke up his parents and he continued to bounce to wake them up. His brown bangs flapped with him and Paige and Henry looked at him, smiling. They too realized what day it was.
"Can we goes open presents?" Peter asked.
"Hold on there, tiger," his foster mother said. "We gotta go and brush those little teeth first."
"Come on, Paige," Henry said. "It's Christmas. Can't his teeth wait until after we clean the wrapping paper from the floor?"
The Witchlighter surrendered, "I suppose." She looked Peter in the eyes and said, "Don't run going down the stairs. Hold the railing."
Peter smiled and jumped onto the edge of the bed, landing on his behind and bounced once in the air. The bounce didn't plop him back onto the bed, but instead dropped him to the floor on his hands and knees. The little mortal didn't care though. He quickly rubbed his hands together and proceeded with running to the stairs.
"Aren't we going with him?" Henry asked.
"Yeah, but of course he's going to run ahead of us, so I had to throw in that stairs precaution," Paige explained, pulling the covers off of them. She picked up her aqua blue robe from the floor and slipped in, waiting for her husband to walk down with her.
Henry threw on a brown fleece and walked over to his wife. "Merry Christmas, Paige." This was their first Christmas together and they originally didn't think they'd be sharing it with a child. The two embraced in a passionate kiss and remembered they had a child down there.
"Let's hurry before Speedy down there leaves a mess without leaving us the memories of it," Paige rambled.
"Stop rambling," Henry joked, giving her a quick kiss on the lips before taking her hand. The two walked out of their bedroom and to the steps where they didn't hear presents being opened. They reached the bottom floor where they saw Peter patiently sitting by the tree.
The Christmas tree was only about four feet tall. The expenses were running low in the Mitchell-Matthews home and the little oak tree was all they could afford. The golden star on the top was put on by Peter with Henry's help and the silver trimming that was spiraling around the tree was picked out by Peter. All the red and gold ornaments were hung on by Paige and Peter and their tree was made.
Under the tree were several presents, but nothing too big. Everything was very budgeted this Christmas. This only made Paige want to search for a job even more. This time next year, they would be buying presents for three children. Henry's salary wasn't going to be enough for rent, weekly needs, and all other expenses that come with three children. Those worries would have to wait until tomorrow. It was Christmas today.
"What's wrong, buddy?" Henry asked. "You don't want to open the presents?" He walked over to the tree and scooped up a small present that was wrapped in a green sheet with a yellow ribbon. "We can always take them all back to the store."
"No, no, no! I was just waiting for you guys!" Peter exclaimed. "Can I haves it back?"
"Thanks for waiting. This present is for Paigey though," Henry said, turning to his wife. "You can go open your presents now."
Peter saw a present with his name on the label and savagely tore the wrapping paper off.
Paige smirked at Henry and asked, "So whatcha got there?"
Henry handed it to her and replied, "Why not open it and see for yourself?"
Paige willingly took the present and slowly pulled apart the ribbon. She was never a huge fan of Christmas, but did like it to be another excuse to get the family together. Especially since life had been as hectic as it was lately. Paige was forced to go on sabbatical with her charge duties ever since coming into the care of Peter and growing with the twins.
She dropped the ribbon to the floor and watched as it waved back and forth while descending. She finished teasing her husband and unwrapped the present quickly. She was now holding a black suede box and looked up at her husband, "Jewelry. You're brilliant. Considering I'm going to be enormous, I won't be able to fit in any sexy clothes, but jewelry will always remain loyal to me. Enormous or not." She opened the box and saw a pair of sterling silver earrings with a matching necklace.
The Witchlighter smiled, "Henry, you didn't have to do all of this. This must've cost a fortune." She blushed, stunned at such an unexpectedly great present.
"I went all out for you. Your present cost the most, but you are the one I care the greatest deal for," Henry explained. "This is our first Christmas together and you're going to be the mother of my daughters and you're already a fantastic mother to Peter. You also save the world when you're able, so my present to you is small compared to what you should be getting."
Paige was about to go over and kiss her generous husband when their adoptive son interrupted, "Paigey saves the world? Like a super hero?"
Henry and Paige looked at each other awkwardly. Paige blushed on that matter now and said, "Just like a super hero." She turned to Henry and said under her breath, "Except without the lame costume."
The mortal laughed and said, "When are you going to tell him about the creatures that run loose at night?"
"I wish it was just at night. Those creatures don't discriminate with the sun or moon. Unless they need it for a ritual, of course," she noticed she was going off-topic. "My point is that I can't just tell him the good stuff, can I? I would have to warn him about all the dark things and I don't want his knowledge to endanger him or frighten him."
"This is your secret so you're going to have to think on this. You don't want someone to pop in one day and have Peter clueless. We would have to teach him what to do in that sort of situation," Henry explained. He turned back at his foster son and said, "That can wait until later. For now, let's just watch him."
Paige turned to Peter to see what her husband was talking about. Peter was opening up his second present and smiled at the white fire truck in his possession. He pulled it out the box and with the press of one button, the fire truck mimicked the noise of a siren and its headlights were blinking red. The one year old was amazed and began to make his own siren noise to play along with that of the fire truck.
Henry wrapped his arm around Paige's shoulders and pulled her closer. The two just watched without saying another word, captured in this sight of a little boy who was inserting himself in another world.
(X)
In an ancient realm, Billie and her mercenary ally Cameron were camping out in a forest. There was nothing special about the environment as it mirrored the ordinary forests in their home world. A gray tent was folded up a few feet from Billie and Cameron and the two were sitting by a campfire that was surrounded by small boulders to prevent a forest fire.
"Its risky having any fire out," Cameron reminded Billie for the second time this evening.
Billie rubbed her hands over the fire, welcoming the desired warmth. "I know, I know. I don't see you blowing it out though."
The risk with having the exposed fire was that firestarters could locate them by sensing the element. Billie and Cameron had been attempting to successfully retrieve Christy's tracking stone for over a month now with no success. Each time they grew closer, but the security tightened ever since. They were also on the run now and this spot was the latest of many.
"It's cold at night and you need the heat," Cameron considerably replied. "I'm perfectly capable to survive this cold, but you're not."
"No kidding," Billie said, now hugging her navy blue jacket around her body. "This happens to be the coldest of nights. I wish I trained myself to be able to brave this cold like you."
"I didn't train myself. We Pho-," Cameron stopped.
"What? What is it? Just tell me already," Billie said. "Is it such a sin to tell me what the hell you are? Telling me you were a mercenary was such a baby step, but let's start walking already. What are you?"
Cameron rolled his eyes and gave in. Billie had been harassing him since they left their home realm to come clean with what he truly is, "It's nothing too spectacular. I'm a Phoenix. That's why I'm not really that cold. My body temperature is three times what yours is. Now add that info with everything else you've dragged out of me and you can build the puzzle that is Cameron Hawke."
"I've read about Phoenixes. I can't believe I didn't put that together sooner," Billie commented. "At least you're one of the good ones. Paige told me how she had a run in with one a few years ago and it wasn't pretty."
"Some Phoenixes grow corrupt. They tend to lean towards one side. We're initiated at a young age and become trained assassins," Cameron explained. "I can't say it's a lifestyle I would've ever chosen for myself, but I've grown really accustomed to it. There are plenty of perks as well."
"Such as what?"
"Treasures and respect," the mercenary answered. "I have a vault with little treasures I've received as payments. The payments really vary; some could be standard gold tokens, others are weapons and I have plenty of things that are from old wars."
"That's awesome!" Billie exclaimed. "Would you mind if you show me your phoenix tattoo? I've only seen the illustration in the Book of Shadows and it would be great if you'd show me yours."
"Only if you share something about yourself. And I want to hear about something other than your sister for once," Cameron said. "I know you love her, but it gets old."
The young witch looked offended, but found his complaint to be rational. All she did was rant about saving Christy, being with Christy and the all-time famous killing Christy. "What do you want to know?"
Cameron thought for a second and said, "How in the hell did you get the Charmed Ones to take you under their care? I can only imagine how much harassment they went through with you, knowing everything they know about magic. You're highly curious about... everything."
"Uh, I'll take that as a compliment," Billie said. "My early days as a witch were pretty embarrassing. I came into my powers weeks before meeting the sisters after my father called me one afternoon. He was pissed that he was paying all this tuition for school and I was failing metaphysics. My anger got the best of me and a couple of things began to move by themselves around the room."
"I bet you were just surprised to have your powers come across so late," Cameron guessed. "You have some pretty latent genes."
"No, I wasn't just surprised to have my powers come late, I was surprised to have them come at all!" She rubbed her hands together some more, silently pleading for the freezing weather to cease. "Anyways, my power started occurring more and more frequently. At first I thought I was just bugging out, but nope. It was me, obviously. I began to test it and noticed it didn't only happen when I was angry. But whenever I wanted."
"I have no clue how you claimed control so easily," Cameron said. "A power like telekinesis isn't something you should be wielding so easily. It should take great practice."
Billie shrugged her shoulders, "It beats the hell out of me. I went to a couple of occult shops after and it just wasn't good for my image to be seen in there. A couple of people on campus started rumors that quickly faded and went ignored. They didn't have proof-"
"As nice as it is to hear about your little gossip wars, perhaps you can entertain me with that another time," Cameron said.
"Right. Sorry about that, I tend to get off-topic," Billie apologized. "So... I read through the books, taught myself a few things and eventually came across my first demon. I figured that witches needed to be concealed, otherwise I'd know more about them, so I thought the best solution to that was to wear a costume."
Cameron snickered, "You wore a costume? Let me guess; conical hat and carried around a broom?"
She blushed, "No. Worst." She looked down, embarrassed and said, "A black wig, shades and matching tights."
The mercenary couldn't contain his laughter any further. "Weren't people on the street laughing at you?"
"Sure they were. I got laughs, confused looks, whistles, and even a Pepsi thrown at me," Billie answered, chuckling slightly at how she actually wore that costume. "Moving along, I met the sisters and they had this identity spell up originally, but they dulled the effects of the enchantment on me with another spell."
Cameron stopped laughing and pulled up his sleeve, "That qualifies as a story for me." He held out the crimson bird emblazoned on his right wrist for Billie to see. She walked over and sat down next to him, eyeing the tattoo.
"It's beautiful," she commented.
"It's my blood," he replied, shocking her. "When we're born, they use the blood of our birth to paint the tattoos. It's our way of being able to prove that we are Phoenixes."
"Why would you need to prove it?"
"Many reasons. We have a charter that we follow and one of the rules is that we're to call off a hit if we run into another Phoenix," Cameron answered. "Cowards would just claim they were Phoenixes to save their own asses, so this method was introduced to us all."
"What other rules do you have?" Billie asked, fascinated.
"I've shared enough, Billie. I say you just get some rest. We'll be charging the castle at dawn to avoid any Night Fiends," Cameron said. "I'm going to go high up and monitor the area of any incoming attacks."
"Cam-"
The mercenary looked up to the frightening black sky and shot up into the air in a stream of black molecules. The molecules that made up Cameron couldn't be seen at this time of night. He'd be free to roam around undetected for the entire night if it wasn't for the buzzing that accompanied him in his teleportation form.
Billie gave in and decided that Cameron was right. Although he was dismissive, he did share enough and she was forced to be grateful for that. She crawled into her tent and placed a crystal in front of the opening. A light ejected from the crystal and connected with four others just like it, protecting Billie while she slept. She was aware that if the firestarters attacked, it wouldn't be enough to hold them off, but it would allow her enough time to plot a proper defense. No worries for tonight though. Tonight she'd sleep.
(X)
"Check out this snow!"
Everyone turned around to see what Phoebe was shouting about and saw pure white snow falling from the sky. They all rushed to sunroom and watched as the numerous snowflakes showered down slowly. This was the first time it snowed all season and the entire Halliwell family were present in the Mitchell-Matthews home to experience it.
Piper looked down at her boys and suggested, "Why don't you two go put on your coats, gloves and hats? Then you can go outside."
Wyatt and Chris were about to run off until Wyatt stopped his little brother. He looked up at Piper and asked, "Mommy, can Peter come too?"
Piper turned to Paige and back at her sons, "You would have to ask Aunty Paige and Uncle Henry."
Henry and Paige joined together, waiting for the eldest Halliwell child to request permission for their best friend and now cousin.
The blond boy walked over to his aunt and uncle and asked, "Can Peter play with us in the snow?"
Peter ran over to his foster parents at tugged at their shirts, "Pwease, cans I pway?! Pwease, Henny! Pwease, Paigey!"
"What do you think, Henny?" Paige asked.
"That'd be fine with me, Paigey," Henry replied, snickering at the nicknames.
Peter jumped in excitement and the three boys ran together to get dressed.
Phoebe walked over to Coop who was sitting on the wicker couch and sat on his lap. She threw her arms around his neck and said, "So when are we going to make one of those kids?"
"How about we make one of our own and not one of those," Coop jokingly replied. "I'm not sure if I'm ready yet, but I can't wait so we can give each other nicknames."
Paige rolled her eyes and turned her attention to Piper, "So why exactly did you give the kids permission to play in snow that hasn't fully fallen yet?"
"Oh, Paige. You're such a rookie at this parenting gig," Piper joked and turned to Leo who just came behind her, wrapping his arms around her waist. "Would you like to answer that one, honey?"
Leo kissed Piper on the cheek and turned to Paige and Henry, "By the time they manage to get their coats on, then fight their way into their gloves, and slip their hats on, the snow will be layered all around the ground."
"And then Chris is going to have to use the bathroom so the others will wait for him to undress, use the bathroom, get dressed again and then even more snow will be on the ground," Piper continued. "It's a really beautiful cycle."
"Piper, I think I would've preferred a Parenting Guidebook, personally written by you and Leo, as opposed to the extra maternity clothes," Paige said. "Despite how beautiful they all are."
"Hey, it was necessary. Phoebe bought you shirts when she thought you were having one child, but now you're locked and loaded with two kids," Piper quipped. "That's seriously packing."
Paige smiled and looked down at her four month old stomach. The twin girls inside her were growing and Paige feared she wouldn't be able to walk properly soon enough. She was dreading the idea of having to sit in bed all day. There's no adventure in that. "Maybe if I had Phoebe's power to levitate, things would be easier for me when these two get huge."
"Ha!" Phoebe shot out a sarcastic laugh, "Phoebe doesn't have her power of levitation, so you're sure as hell not getting it. I think having my powers back would've been the perfect gift today."
"Even better than the new camera I got you?" Coop asked. Being a cupid didn't pay any money, so Henry had considerably given Coop some money to buy his fiance a gift. That was more money out of his wallet.
Phoebe smiled at him and placed her hand on his face, "Yes." Her fiance frowned, but it was no longer visible as the psychic witch placed her lips on his, kissing him.
Piper covered Leo's eyes with a chuckle, "Alright, get on upstairs and stop checking my sister out." They all laughed at her humor and she continued with, "Those kids aren't going out there alone." She felt her husband of many years untie his arms from around her and followed her order.
Phoebe stopped kissing her fiance and asked her younger sister, "Paige, are you going out there? If not, I can always watch little Peter for you."
"Thanks, Pheebs. I appreciate that. I'm not sure if I should risk heading on outside," Paige said. "I'm just in the first month of my second trimester and I have an increase in cramps and nausea. I'm not trying to have either happen while out there." She held out her hand and gently commanded, "Camcorder."
The video camera orbed on top of her open palm and she quickly clasped it with both hands. "But I will use your very generous gift to remember this as Peter's first Christmas with us." She looked around at everyone else, "You all aren't excused though unless you're carrying twins. So go and get dressed."
"Yes, General Matthews," Phoebe obeyed, saluting before getting off of her fiancé's lap. She walked through one of the sunroom's entrances to get her outer wear.
Coop rose to his feet and said, "Sorry I can't play along. I have work to do." He vanished in a pink flash that was accompanied with a bolder pink shaped heart.
Piper and the Mitchells were the last ones in the sunroom and she folded her arms over her chest, "So how are you two doing? Are you adjusting as parents?"
"Yeah, we're doing fine," Henry answered. "It took me a while to get used to diapers, but I got the hang of it. I didn't even think one year olds still wore diapers."
"Sure they do. Peter is highly likely to be wearing diapers. He hasn't exactly had that safe environment home where he would have time to be potty trained. Even kids that are potty trained are often stuck in diapers until age three," Piper explained to the newbie parents. "You guys are doing fine though. He seems to really love you guys already."
"We love him already," Paige said. "This kid has us laughing and entertained through each day."
"And how's he handling his parents' death?" Piper questioned. This was a concern she had for Peter ever since Paige and Henry took him in. She feared the deaths would scar him for good.
"He tends to have nightmares. Though they are happening less and less lately and he even told us that we were in a dream with him this week," Henry explained to his sister-in-law. "We're making a positive impact on him."
"He even prays at night that he hopes his parents are okay in Heaven," Paige informed. "I'm just glad that he's able to get through the day and just have fun. That's all we can ask of him right now." She then turned to Henry and patted him on the chest, "Aren't you supposed to be getting your coat on?"
"I'm going," the mortal surrendered and left to do so.
"I think I'm going to go and get my coat as well before you hit me," Piper grinned and left the sunroom, leaving Paige alone.
Paige was left with the camcorder and inspected it, "Now how the hell do I turn this damn thing on?"
(X)
"Get up."
Billie's green eyes opened once before sliding back down. She adjusted herself on her pillow and ignored the voice.
"Get up," Cameron repeated, this time pushing Billie's leg with his palm. "It's dawn. We gotta move now."
The witch jolted up and rubbed her eyes with her fists. "I'm up, I'm up." She looked over at the mercenary who was crouched down besides her and pushed her covers off, glad to know that the intense cold finally passed. She looked back at Cameron and asked, "Did you catch any sleep last night?"
"I've done enough sleeping for a lifetime," Cameron informed, earning a puzzled look from Billie. "Besides, we gotta make sure these guys aren't following us. If both of us are knocked out sleeping, we'd be waking up at noon with fireballs hovering over us."
Billie rubbed her face and slapped her cheeks three consecutive times. The mercenary glared at her and she simply stated, "It's necessary. Back up."
Cameron crawled out of the tent with Billie following. She stretched her arms out and bent over, touching the damp ground. She resumed proper stature and asked him, "Did it rain last night?"
"Yeah, I don't see how you could've slept through all of it," Cameron said. "It rained about ten minutes after I left you and I must say that it was an enormous pain in the ass to fly through."
"Fly?" Billie asked. Her eyes widened in realization, "Oh, that teleportation thing you do." She looked at all her camp settings and asked him, "Should I project it away?"
"No," Cameron said. "I have a plan that might take some of the guards away from the castle. If you're hungry, I suggest you project a hot-pocket into your hand because we're out of here in two minutes."
"I'm not hungry," Billie lied, wanting to get a move in with infiltrating the castle. "Do what you have to do."
Cameron held out his hand to Billie who receptively took it. With his free hand, he generated a neon blue energy ball that crackled through the silent forest. With a soft thrust, he released it from his possession and it made instant contact with the gray tent. The low voltage energy ball ignited the tent and the flames quickly spread around, burning it entirely.
The mercenary kneeled down and handed Billie a brown leather book bag of hers, "Here. I packed your crystals." He cast one final glance at the burning tent and said, "The firestarters should track a fire this great."
Both Cameron and Billie vanished in a large cloud of black molecules that flew away from the campsite, making their way to the castle that was home to deadly traps and fierce firestarters.
(X)
In the Mitchell-Matthews backyard, Peter and Chris were currently making their best attempt to build a snowman. It wasn't going well to construct the base out of snow. They had trouble molding the curves and whenever they did an acceptable job, Wyatt would accidentally crash into it when fleeing Leo and Henry's snowballs.
Piper and Phoebe were currently on their knees, molding up as many snowballs as they could in anticipation of a snowball fight they were planning with the kids. Phoebe was competing with Piper to have a bigger pile and whenever her older sister turned around to collect more snow, she would sneakily take a couple of hers and added them to her pile. Piper had yet to catch on, but Paige had been watching the entire thing from inside the sunroom.
She felt old rocking back and forth in her chair, but ignored it as time passed. It was a soothing feeling to feel that most gentle of wind pass by you with every rock. The camcorder was on her lap and she was saving the film for the coming snowball fight, but managed to record a clip of Phoebe stealing Piper's snowballs to show her eldest sister later. The entire family would be bound to have a great laugh after watching it.
"Time out," Piper said to her younger sister. "I gotta go run inside real quick and check on Paige." The eldest rose from her knees and headed towards the sunroom doors where Paige had already anticipated, hearing the discussion.
"Hey," Paige greeted, observing Piper's rosy cheeks from the cold.
"How are you feeling?" Piper asked, embracing the warmth of the conservatory.
"Just thinking," she answered. She saw Piper shoot her a questionable look and she continued, "What do you think on me introducing magic to Peter? He can't be living in the dark forever."
Piper sat down on the wicker bench diagonally across from Paige and said, "You bring a valid point. He also trusts you guys and you don't want to risk him going off the edge after being shocked with demons hurling around fireballs. He wouldn't know how to handle it. The huge risk is that he knows death well. It robbed both his mother and father from him, so he's alert that it can happen any day. And the more he grows attached to you guys..."
"The more he's going to fear for us," Paige finished. "But maybe he'll feel safer knowing that I have powers to protect myself, as well as him and Henry." She looked outside and saw Peter laughing hysterically at the snow on Wyatt's head, placed on him by his father. "I think before I go scaring him though, I should show him that magic can be fun and entertaining."
"Paige, magic isn't for fun," Piper stated. "You don't have the power to orb to go wherever you want, you have it because..."
"I know, I know," Paige interrupted. "But he's just a one year old and doesn't have magic of his own. Wyatt and Chris both grew up with powers of their own and understood it naturally. Peter didn't have that going for him and maybe if I start off showing him how fun my powers are, he'll ease into it and then I can teach him about the dangers of them as well."
Piper nodded, "Its worth a shot. Better now than later though. I just hope he accepts it easily."
The redhead rose from her rocking chair with minimum difficulty and passed the camcorder to Piper. She then held out her arms and said, "Coat!" She skillfully orbed her green coat from the closet and the orbs slid by her arms and down her back, ultimately putting the coat on Paige.
"Personal gain," Piper reminded in a sing-song voice.
Paige shrugged, "I really don't care at the moment." She reached into her pockets, grabbed her gloves and put them on. She bounced her shoulders and sung, "Hat!" A hat orbed directly onto Paige's head and she tightened it. She looked at Piper and said, "We're good to go."
"I'm not so sure you should be teaching Peter about magic when you purposely ignore a golden rule," Piper said with a smirk.
Paige smiled and said, "Yeah, well, this is very minor magic. I'm just glad that we don't have to go around the world chasing some demon trying to steal Christmas? How lame would that have been?"
Piper smirked, "Pretty lame."
The two sisters stepped outside and everyone smiled to see Paige come out.
"Paigey!" Peter exclaimed. He ran over to his foster mother and bent down before her, picking up snow. He had trouble forming it into a perfect snowball, but threw it at her stomach. "I hits the babies too!"
"Yes you did, cutey," Paige laughed. "Be careful though, they're very sensitive."
"What inspired the change?" Henry asked from across the snowy garden, helping Chris make his snowman.
"I kinda have to talk to Peter about something," Paige said. "Remember when we had that talk?"
Henry nodded and stopped molding the base of the snowman. "Are you sure?"
"As sure as I'm ever going to be. I took my chances with you, but now I have to take my chances with him," Paige said. "Are you okay with that?" The decision was just as much his as it was hers. He nodded in acceptance.
Paige turned over her shoulder and asked Piper, "Mind telling Phoebe what's going on here? Maybe put up some sort of protection so no one can see us?"
Understanding, Piper moved over to Phoebe where she would tell her about Paige's plan and try to form a concealment spell.
To the best of her ability, Paige crouched down and got on her knees. She held Peter's hand and just came out with, "Peter, do you believe in magic?"
"Yeah," Peter answered. "Like, 'specially in stowies and movies."
"I mean magic in real life," Paige said. "You don't believe in that?" He shrugged his shoulders. "Wouldn't it be really cool to see some magic?" The boy nodded up and down in excitement, and this was a huge step for Paige. She now had an opening, she turned around to Phoebe and asked, "Are we good?"
The middle sister nodded with her hands folded before her, "Good luck, honey."
Paige turned back to her foster son and held her hand out to him. "There's nothing on my hand, right?"
Peter nodded, "Nope."
Paige smiled, feeling like an actual magician, "Do you think I can get snow in my hand without picking it up?"
"No."
"Watch," she said with a smile. "Snowball." A snowball, purposely taken from Phoebe's overstocked pile, vanished in a small flurry of dazzling white and blue orbs and reappeared in Paige's welcoming palm in the same fashion.
"Wow!" Peter exclaimed. "That's magic?"
"It sure is, little dude," Paige answered. "Want to see some more?"
"Yeah!" Peter shouted. "Can you teach me to do it?"
That struck Paige in the heart because she now knew she had to break his. "I actually can't, sweetie. Magic's not for everyone. Henry doesn't have magic, Leo doesn't have magic and they're okay. Aunt Piper and Phoebe have magic though."
Peter turned to them and back at Paige, "Only the girls has magic?"
"Not exactly," Paige said. "Wyatt and Chris both have magic too because Piper gave birth to them. We're all good witches, but that's because it's in our blood."
"I'ms not in your blood?" Peter asked. He was well aware that Paige and Henry weren't his birth parents, but the concept of a bloodline isn't something he was ever taught about.
"No, you're from your parents' blood," Paige explained. "I can explain that to you later, but it doesn't mean that you can't have fun just because you don't have magic of your own. I just wanted to be honest with you. Are you okay with me being a witch?"
Peter nodded, "Yeah, I'm okays with it. Can we throws snowballs?"
Paige chuckled, "Yeah, we can. Go get some." He ran off and Paige's sisters approached her, "I guess it was easy considering he's a little boy. He must be stuck in that fantasy stage."
"That may be it," Piper said, raising the camcorder, "But now we can have our snowball fight. Let's make teams!" She moved over to the corner of the garden and turned the camcorder on and letting it out of her hands. With a quick swirl of her finger, she froze the camcorder and suspended it within the air to record down the first family snowball fight.
Paige turned to Phoebe and said, "I think I want to team up with Phoebe. And I'm taking my husband and son naturally."
Piper looked at Leo and her boys, "Let's go!" Her immediate family charged to her. They were outnumbered by adults, but they had more witches on their team. And she knew that Leo was a good shot.
The two teams collected their snowballs and brought them to their sides. Everyone picked one up and waited for Piper to start the fight.
"Ready..." Piper rolled up her snowball some more. "Set..." She stared at Phoebe, her first target. "Go!" She released the snowball at her younger sister.
Having been trained to dodge deadlier shots, Phoebe moved to the side and allowed it to fly by her. Like a potion, Phoebe launched her snowball at defenseless Leo and laughed when it hit him in his chest.
Peter was throwing his second snowball, but they never went far enough. He picked up a third and tossed it. This snowball shouldn't have gone any further than two feet, but due to some assistance with Paige's telekinetic abilities, the snowball sped towards Wyatt and hit him in the shoulder. Peter clapped insanely and bent over, not being able to contain his laughter.
Paige smiled and saw a snowball coming right for her. She extended her hand out and shouted, "Snowball!" The balled up snow shone within sparkling orbs and reversed direction. It was heading back to Piper who threw her up hands, freezing it.
"You wanna play like that, Paige?" Piper shouted with a playful smile. She looked down at Wyatt and said, "Throw it back."
Doing more than his mother asked, Wyatt held out his arms before him and four snowballs flew towards the opposing team in rapid orbs. One hit Phoebe in her shoulder and she exaggeratedly fell on her back, screaming, "I've been hit! I've been hit!" Two snowballs flew towards Peter who was still laughing. Being a hero, Henry dived in the way and allowed the snowballs to fly out of orbs and explode against his chest.
Peter saw Henry fall before him and had no idea why, but nonetheless, it entertained him further and he broke into a new chorus of laughter.
Forgetting about the one last snowball as she watched the laughter of her foster son, Paige was the next one hit. The snowball hit her stomach, but since the snow was still fresh, it wasn't anything to risk severe damage to the girls growing inside of her.
The Halliwells on the other side were all giving each other congratulatory high fives. Henry stared at them and turned to his wife, "Go all out, Paige."
"My pleasure," she said. She held out her hands and used her standard telekinesis to launch all the snowballs on their side. Unintentionally, she began to pick some snow off of the ground, giving it a blizzard feeling.
Piper managed to destroy two with her offensive power, while Wyatt and Chris began to orb some back. Young Chris only orbed one at a time, still coming into his powers. Snowballs began to orb back and forth with Paige deflecting the ones that came back her way. Piper, Leo, Phoebe, Henry, and Peter continued to throw snowballs all around and it was just a beautiful sighting that was concealed by Phoebe's spell.
As the orbs flew back and forth, mixed with the path of ordinary snowballs, Paige stopped to think that Wyatt and Chris might be having fun, but were getting good practice out of this. And who knows? Maybe Peter had the potential to be trained himself later in life.
(X)
Billie and Cameron turned the corner of the profound castle after having to fight their way through. They entered as soon as they saw a group of firestarters and demons leave the castle to chase after the fire and flew in unnoticed. Until they reformed. A dozen demonic henchmen were guarding the front and immediately released attacks that the mercenary and witch fought off. The killings of the past weren't as important as the creeping in the present.
Cameron took lead and so far hadn't sensed any other presences near by. Billie held onto the straps of the brown leather bag on her back, looking for any enemies on the ceilings or in the walls. "I don't like this..."
"Me either," Billie answered. "Those Magmata demons should've been attacking us by now. Do you think they planned something different since we always seem to..."
A chameleon demon that both Billie and Cameron could've never detected popped out from the walls and enclosed his arms around Billie from the back. She struggled to get loose, but the grip only tightened.
"Cameron!"
The mercenary turned around, alerted by the danger and didn't see anyone holding Billie. He just saw Billie struggling to get free, but no one was wrapped around her. The torches on the dark gothic walls released a soft orange glow on her face, but he was able to tell the difference from the overwhelming red on her cheeks. He held out his arm, preparing to save her until someone took hold of it.
Like Billie's attacker, Cameron couldn't spot his enemy. But the Chameleon made a mistake. He touched him.
The mercenary used his free arm to grab the cloaked hand of the Chameleon and stared at him, although he couldn't see him. His stare was intense and the longer he gazed, the more he saw his foe. Cameron ripped his trapped hand free and swung it immediately at the Chameleon, making contact with his right temple. The fact that he was that high up with his blow concerned Cameron that he almost missed completely.
Still holding onto the Chameleon's left arm, Cameron twisted it around and flipped him over his shoulder. He stepped him on him with his right foot and conjured an energy ball. "Never tease me," were the final words the Chameleon ever heard before the energy ball rolled off of Cameron's hand and ignited him. For a few seconds, the Phoenix was able to see his opponent's face within the blazing flames, but that didn't matter to him. Billie was still in trouble.
While sharply turning around, Cameron held out his hand and a pale yellow glow appeared as he summoned a weapon. Not waiting for it to fully form as he saw Billie losing the color in her cheeks, he tossed it and watched it soar through the distance between them.
Midway, the pale glow materialized into a metallic black sai dagger. The knuckle of the dagger wasn't anything spectacular; just a black base with gold trimming. The hilt had numerous ridges and never flew out of Cameron's hand unless he released it on his own will. The small weapon was similar to a trident, with the two end blades often used to defend the young mercenary. It was a formidable weapon that fought well against swords having the extra two prongs to trap not only the sword, but the one wielding it. The center blade was the one that was famous for capturing the lives of his targets and the well camouflaged Chameleon was no exception. Cameron's blade had a mind of its own.
Billie was too busy losing consciousness to see the lethal weapon making her way to her and Cameron preferred it this way. She had a habit of freaking out when weapons were thrown her way. The sai finally made contact and Cameron knew this because it stopped moving without having seen it collide with anything. He just saw it plunged in the air until the cloak of the Chameleon finally fell through.
His grip around Billie was weakened and she fell right out of his arms and onto the dark gray marble floor, weakly rolling to her side. Flames seemed to surge all around the demon and his eyes were frozen open as the blade was revealed to have hit him in-between the eyes. Green blood began to slide out the corners of his eyes, but the final flames caught up with him and consumed him completely.
The sai dagger survived and dropped onto the floor, clattering. Its owner rushed to Billie's side and slid onto his knees. "Are you alright?"
She coughed violently and rubbed her throat, "I'll... be fine." She stared at his sai, "Nice shot. How is it that it survives through all those burning vanquishes?"
Cameron chuckled, "No way in hell those demons are strong enough to blow it up." Truth was, Cameron had enchanted the sai along with its twin blade that made several appearances in previous fights, with charms to protect it from being swallowed by flames.
The mercenary rose to his feet and extended his hand to Billie, "We gotta get away from here. The Lords of this place are going to get word of this soon enough." He helped her up and mentally summoned his sai into his palm with his minor telekinetic abilities.
Two large doors at the end of the hall slammed open and a pack of Golem demons walked out. Their mud-like skin was gray and they had the posture of a zombie with various scars around their bodies due to poor craftsmanship. They marched towards the mercenary and witch who looked at each other.
"What are those?" Billie asked, having never fought anything like them before in this castle.
"Golems," Cameron answered and paid close attention to their skin. "Fresh out the oven as well. The Lords must've just finished making them."
"They don't seem very dangerous," Billie observed. "Let's blow them up and charge right through."
"If only it was that simple," Cameron commented. "Those doors didn't exactly fly open themselves, so it looks like they've been imbued with power."
"We have powers too," Billie said. "I'll fling them around and you'll blow 'em up."
"I have a better idea to avoid fighting them. Follow me," Cameron said, running into another hallway with Billie quickly following behind.
Angered by their attempt to flea, the Golems picked up as much speed as possible.
(X)
The Halliwells were finally resting in the living room watching the snowball fight from earlier. Peter was under a blanket and sat in-between his foster parents laughing at the video. Wyatt was sitting with his Aunt Phoebe and Uncle Coop, pointing and laughing at his uncle at the footage of him returning and instantly getting nailed by Phoebe's snowball. Chris was worn out and sleeping on his mother's lap while Piper relaxed her head on Leo's shoulder.
"So this is definitely going down as a favorite Christmas," Paige said. "And why wouldn't it? We had the greatest snowball fight."
"Yeah, but it'll be better if people don't steal my snowballs next time," Piper commented, turning to her guilty sister after seeing the footage on tape.
"Come on, Piper, once everyone started using their powers, it wasn't exactly a fair game anyway," Phoebe replied, hoping to redeem herself.
"Yeah, yeah."
Paige looked at her watch and said, "You guys know you are more than welcome to stay. Billie's still gone and her room is available, so there's a free bed right there."
Phoebe rose to her feet and said, "I actually have to go home and work." Her sisters glared. "Well, I'm not working tonight, but tomorrow morning. I got a ton of responses I want to get to." She looked at her fiance. "And we have to go home and celebrate our first Christmas together." She posed a lustful smile and poorly winked.
"Eww, gross," Paige said.
"Paige, how did you get those babies?" Phoebe asked.
Paige looked down at her foster son and back at her sister, "The stork brought him, of course." She glared and said, "And also the stork is a better winker!"
Phoebe chuckled and Coop stood up beside her. "Good night, guys." Everyone waved and replied and the two vanished in a pink flash.
Peter was stunned by the way they vanished, but also admired it. He continued to think on it along with the other magic he witnessed today. And whenever he did think about it, he was never scared of it. He was still in the dark about demons though. He would learn soon enough.
The tape ended and Paige turned to Henry, "Can you put Peter to bed?"
"Sure, I can," Henry said, getting to his feet. "Come on, buddy." Peter gave his foster mother a hug and kiss on the cheek before going with his foster father.
The Witchlighter turned to her sister and asked, "Do you guys want to stay? Maybe get up a little extra early and cook breakfast, Piper?"
A wide grin stretched across Piper's face and she said, "We didn't really bring pajamas."
Paige lowered her head, "I have clothes for you and Henry has clothes for Leo. To top it all off, Henry and I bought your little charmed sons some pajamas. Can't say 'no' now, can ya?"
"I guess not," Leo commented. "We'll be happy to stay. We all deserve a peaceful night after inviting Santa over last night."
Paige clapped in excitement, "Exactly! Sleep over tonight and bacon in the morning! I'll go and get you guys some covers." In her sitting position, she bounced her shoulders rhythmically and orbed away. Her family hanging out helped make this Christmas night even better. She shared it with her husband and foster son for the first time, played hostess in her house, and most importantly, came clean about her magic to Peter. While that conversation wasn't done yet, they were off to a good start.
(X)
Billie and Cameron were both hiding behind pillars on opposite sides in the castle. The Golems were approaching them and Billie nodded for Cameron to move.
The mercenary smirked and stepped out from behind his pillar. "Come and get me, you ugly bastards!"
The Golems tried to run, but only managed a totter, but their speed was in sync. They looked straight away, not anticipating any traps. Once they stepped past Billie, she quickly ran behind them and dropped a crystal to the floor. Five white lights ejected from the crystals and trapped the Golems.
The six soldiers continued to try and break free, but the charged shield would only shock them.
"We got you," Billie sang from behind. They all looked at her and Billie blew a kiss at them. "We'll be back for our crystals later." She ran to Cameron's side and said, "Nice going. Simple, but effective. What's our next move?"
Cameron thought for a second. "We can't teleport because they'll instantly know where we are, so I say we just try and make our way pass everyone until we can reach the Fire Lords. We never had a chance to fight them before, but we know there are two in there."
"Two real bad asses," Billie elaborated. "That heat in front of the door alone is really overwhelming. Are you sure my power is going to be enough to rebound the attacks?"
Cameron nodded. He honestly wasn't sure, but didn't want to doubt her at the risk of making her scared. "We're closing in on them though and we're so close to finally getting this damn thing. As soon as we grab it, we're free to just shimmer back into our world." The Golems continued to shout, but he ignored them. "And let me warn you now; if you get the opportunity to grab the stone and I'm in battle, just get yourself out of here. If I see you escape, I'll know to shimmer away."
"I can't just leave you here, I have to..."
"Get out of here. I'm more than trained to handle myself," Cameron stated. "Let's just go." He walked past her and she followed him.
The two didn't talk as they walked through the labyrinth of halls. In that time, they encountered many foes...
Cameron and Billie were fighting a clan of Salamander demons. The opponents had oily black skin with yellow eyes and were constantly breathing fire at the intruders. The four Salamander demons breathed streams of fire at once and Billie telekinetically deflected them all, vanquishing their enemies...
Two Core demons with their molten-like bodies charged after Billie and Cameron who were running through the halls, knowing through weeks of attempts, they had no means of defeating them. In this castle were many traps, meant to trap Billie and Cameron and other intruders, but the two had learned the tricks of this castle already. They both dived over a part of the floor that seemed to shimmer and rolled onto the opposite side. The Core demons tried to jump over, but were too heavy. Their weight brought them to the floor and they landed on the trap. The shimmering field encased the two demons with a destructive ring and vanquished them...
Archers opposed them at the end of the hallway, keeping their distance. But it didn't matter. Cameron's energy balls decimated the arrows as well as the demonic archers...
Billie and Cameron collected their breath when they finally reached the door, immediately feeling a wave of heat making more sweat slide down their skin. This was the last door of the castle. The room they've been striving to collect the stone from.
"Are you ready?"
"More than you know," Billie replied. "Those hall monitors did do a good number on me though." She was worn out and ready to collapse. They had been finding their way through this maze of a castle for nearly two hours and battling clans in nearly every hall. This was it though. If they didn't do it now, the Fire Lords would only regroup and set new traps for the two. "Let's just get this right."
Both Cameron and Billie pushed one of the large doors and slipped in. The grand room was different from the rest of the castle's interior. It had that Underworld image with several stalagmites, boulders, and stalactites all around. Outcroppings with ash all around them sat in front of the two large beings.
The Fire Lords were sitting in their bronze thrones, staring at the two intruders who entered. Their skin was as black as ash and their eyes burned with their eternal flames. Normally men of their power wore robes to symbolize their profoundness, but not them. All that could be see were their burnt bodies, no doubt from embracing their firestarter form daily.
The Lord on the right stood to his feet and spoke with a booming voice, but Billie didn't understand him. He spoke a dead language and then pointed at her.
"Why the hell is he pointing at me?"
"He wants to burn you," Cameron said, understanding the demonic language. "Firestarters are huge on burning witches. During the Salem Witch Trials, they used to feed off of the pyres and..."
"Really? A lesson right now?" Billie cut him off, rolling her eyes. She looked around and spotted several colorful stones hovering in the corner, "Alright, the stones are there. Let them mouth off while I go snatch one." She ran ahead and Cameron tried to call her back. She turned and saw the standing Fire Lord conjure a fireball that flew out of his hand immediately. The fireball was smaller than she expected and with a quick swipe of her arm, it was easily deflected.
She continued to charge to the stones until a searing fireball slammed into her hip. Billie flew a couple of feet before crashing onto the earthly ground and saw that the fireball tore through her pants with ease, but the burnt skin is what concerned her. She was lucky that the fireball wasn't stronger, but she was betting that they were just teasing her.
Cameron rushed to her side and turned back at the two Fire Lords. "Do your best to get over there to the stones. Use whatever magic you can to find your sister's and I'll distract them."
The mercenary ran away from Billie before they attacked them together. He fired off a series of neon blue energy balls that kept colliding into their chests, with the only result of specks of ash falling to the ground. That didn't make him stop though. Fireballs flew his way, but he would roll past them and send off another energy ball.
The Fire Lords were done playing. The constant shots insulted them and the witch crawling to their stones disgusted them. Steam began to fill the dense air around them as trails of blazing lava began to slide around their bodies. By the time they finished making their way around the firestarters, flames encased their wrists and they looked as if they were human shaped volcanos. Streams of fire flew off of their wrists and towards Cameron.
Cameron was prepared for this. He gracefully jumped into the air and artfully dodged the oncoming flames that made him sweat just by passing through. He landed back down on the ground and reached for a small pouch on his belt. He had been saving it for this encounter. He opened it and charged them. The closer he got, the hotter he did, but the intense heat wouldn't stop him.
He released the pouch and allowed the blue powder to fly out and cover the Fire Lords. The powder embedded itself within the cracks of their exterior and the mercenary held back his triumphant smile. One Fire Lord extended his hand with the intention of releasing more fire, but Cameron's plan was a success. The ice powder temporarily negated the effects of fire depending on the strength of the being. Knowing these opponents were going to be the toughest, he made sure to get a witch to make him the strongest pack possible.
"Billie!" Cameron shouted to the limping witch. "I don't know how much time this bought you, so hurry up!"
She nodded and saw a Fire Lord coming her way. She waved one hand and managed to make him stumble back. He shouted at her with a raspy voice as opposed to his partner's. She extended both hands and applied more force to her push and managed to knock him onto the ground.
Cameron found himself coming in physical combat with the other Fire Lord. He may have been lucky to sustain their pyrokinetic abilities, but if he was to launch off any energy balls, he risked destroying the effects of the powder by blasting the ice. By combat, he could select which area to hit without destroying the ice.
Billie finally made her way to the stones while clutching her burnt hip. There were stones of many colors; yellow, orange, crimson, red, and violet. Billie suspected that the violet one was Christy's because there was only one and she didn't know anything about any other firestarting witches. It was new to Cameron as well, but she had to make sure.
She placed her hands on her head, concentrating with her eyes forced shut. All she was focusing on was Christy. Cameron told her before that these crystals wouldn't be able to project out of place, but she just needed to know which one to pull. "Christy..." she whispered. "Christy... Christy..." her voice raised with each time she said her name, "Christy's stone. Reveal yourself."
A wind passed by, blowing her hair with it and easing her burning wound for a couple of seconds and when she opened them, the violet stone was bathed in a pink glow, confirming this was in fact her older sister's stone. Her projection power saved her once again. Billie grabbed the stone and the room began to tremble violently. To make matters worst, the ice on the Fire Lords finally melted.
Billie quickly limped towards Cameron who was running towards her. He turned his back to his Fire Lord and that was a mistake, unaware that their power returned to them. A blast of pure magma burned through the air and smacked into the mercenary who sensed it too late. His body tore apart and his molecules flew in different directions.
"NO!" Billie shouted, stunned by the sight. She wanted to project herself out of there, but knew this was no condition to concentrate in. With her limp, she was going to be gone for sure. She had come this far, just to die...
The molecules made their way back around and combined into the silhouette of Cameron. His entire body reformed and he turned to the Fire Lord who blew him up, "Do you know how much it hurts to have your body torn apart, you bastard?!" Cameron looked up to the rocky ceiling and saw a large stalactite hanging directly above the foe. He rocketed off a series of three energy balls to ensure it would break and by the third collision, it dropped directly down.
The stalactite crushed the Fire Lord after having drilled him through his temple. Magma began to seep around and fire began to encase his body.
Cameron exploded into a cloud of molecules that swarmed towards Billie. She clutched onto her stone as Cameron's molecules ran into her, making her body mimic the method. He tried to escape immediately, but the castle seemed to have a protection of its own. If they were going to escape this world, they would have to flee the castle first.
The fallen firestarter exploded and a great wave of fire began to chase the molecules as they charged through the halls. The walls were scorched with the passing of the intense flames and Cameron was the one steering the molecules.
He heard Billie thinking, "How did he survive that?"
"Phoenixes are reborn from their ashes," Cameron explained, mentally. While remaining in his form, him and other passengers would be able to communicate with each other telepathically if they remained teleporting for a duration such as this. He felt the flames catching up to them and he made his best efforts to go faster.
"Wait, you can hear me?"
He ignored her. He saw the opening of the castle and heard the roaring of the flames and just flew towards the daylight. Several firestarters were at the entrance and he flew right pass them. The buzzing of his molecules were cancelled out by the roaring flames, which he knew were going to destroy the firestarters now behind him. He shot up into the air and heard the screams of the firestarters and skillfully shimmered out of the dimension while maintaining his current form. They were going home...
End of Chapter.
A/Note: Thanks for reading, please review.