A Charmed Story - Part Eleven:
Enemy In My Mind
Chapter 11

"Jesus, I guess you have a lot to explain!"
Belthazor had remained staring at Cole after he had said this, somehow amused. It was funny to see his other half so distressed, but soon he discovered, or better, he remembered, that Cole was as impatient as himself.
"Are you gonna tell me why all this parody??" The witch folded his arms in front of his chest: "I guess you have three minutes. Two and a half now, to explain yourself."
Belthazor raised his eyebrow, amused: "Ok... Three minutes... so no time, brother. I am sorry." But he saw how Cole was opening his mouth again to speak, so he went on: "Ok, ok... It's just there's not much to say. As we said before, I don't wanna hurt anyone, nor even myself, and these chains will prevent me from that..."
Cole finally sighed, feeling defeated, and sat down on the edge of the bed, not knowing what to say. Belthazor followed him with his eyes: "You're worried."
"No," was the dry answer of the witch.
But Belthazor smiled: "You are, man, I can see it."
"Well, for Chris. He's my nephew." Cole was still staring at the nothingness and couldn't see Belthazor's weird smile.
"Oh, yeah, of course..." the source said, shrugging, "whatever..."
"Well, a little," Cole added suddenly, looking at him out of the corner of his eyes. Then he turned his entire head to the red demon who was listening to him attentively. "It's just... I don't know why I worry about you! I mean... You're... the source... I don't understand many things..." Cole rubbed his temples. He had thought about that so many times since he had started to receive the e-mails, and since the very day he had asked them not to kill Belthazor... Belthazor was evil, he was the source of the underworld and they were witches. Witches kill demons, as simple as that. And the Charmed Ones must kill the source!!
But Belthazor smiled as if he had listened to his thoughts. Then he shrugged: "Well, Cole... Things are not that simple. That's why we call this life!"
Cole turned to him, looking shocked and surprised: "Wow, man... Since when are you a philosopher?" His look was sad. He knew his other half was right, and also he hated seeing him chained. It was as if he himself was chained. It had been him and somehow it was still him.
But Belthazor burst into laughter at his question: "Since you left me and turned me into a weak red thing!"
Cole smirked, naughtily: "You mean I was the strong part of us??"
At those words, Belthazor stared at him with a grave expression on his face: "Of course you were. All the strong will was in you. That's why you could beat me, Cole. When we fell in love with a Charmed One, and we had to decide between good and evil... It was your strong will that guided us, not the evil nature in me..."
There was silence for some seconds, as the statement sank in Cole's mind with all its heaviness. Finally the witch sighed: "Maybe I was the strong will of us. But also the good side in you."
Belthazor smirked again, staring at him. "Maybe... maybe you still are..." he said after a while, but immediately he added, "and maybe... you should read that spell, Cole. The three minutes are over." The witch kept his eyes on him for a while, and then nodded slightly, unfolding the paper Chris had given to him.

& & & & &

Chris took a deep breath when they appeared out in the fresh air... or as fresh as possible in the backyard of a seemingly small and dirty restaurant. He sighed: "And now?"
Julian shrugged, but Bianca took him by the hand: "Let's have a walk."
They left the backyard and went down the street. But nothing happened. If Julian wouldn't have been by their side, Chris could have almost forgotten why he was doing this. For a moment he just enjoyed the freedom. But that should change quickly.
When the three turned around the next corner, they bumped into a man.
"Oh I'm sorry," he said so fast, that it was hard to understand him.
"Never mind," Chris said and was about to move on.
But the man suddenly looked at him scared. "You... you.." he stuttered and backed away.
Then another person spotted them. "Oh my God... it's the demon!"
Bianca looked around warily while Chris sighed rolling his eyes: "Guess my little performance yesterday gained a lot of attention." His voice was bitter. Then he turned to the demonic-witch, shaking his head: "Demon?"
Julian shrugged. "Ok," he said then, "we'd better go..."
But before the could leave, Chris suddenly rose his hands to his temples, rubbing them.
"Chris are you ok?" Bianca asked worried, but when she turned to him, he saw that his eyes had turned dark.
"No," Chris whispered almost inaudible. The next second he broke down crying in agony.

& & & & &

At the same time at magic school's library, Nicki sat still by Steve's side, holding his hand tightly. She... they both had thought, when Elenia had said that Steve's father was vanquished, that this was the end of the story. Non of them had thought that there still was a whole clan behind that.
"I'm sorry," he suddenly said caressing her hand.
"For what?"
"For putting you in so much danger... maybe it's better when I..." he said sighing.
But Nicki interrupted him: "No, honey... Don't go there... There is nothing you have to be sorry for. I love you... You are a great man!"
"You're like a brother," Tom added.
"A great friend," Veronica agreed.
Elenia looked from one to the other, happy for her son, that he had such good friends, who still stood by his side.
"You are all I ever dreamed of and more," Nicki said and kissed him.
Steve, who was forced to silence by that kiss, smiled into her lips. He loved her so much, but still he felt guilty that she was attacked.
As if she had guessed his thoughts, she added then: "Don't worry... If they want to fight, then they shall come... we will kick their fat butts right to hell..." Veronica and Tom nodded energetically.
Steve sighed: "Ok... But be careful, all of you!"
At that moment, Wyatt, who was playing in a corner by that time, began to cry. Seconds later his shield went up around him and Christopher and Hope, who were sleeping on a blanket near by.
Silas sighed: "Seems like the show had begun."

& & & & &

Yuri was levitating about five inches above the table in the living room, her legs crossed, her hands softly rested on her knees and her eyes closed. She was trying to track down Veenosh but this was actually harder than they had thought it would be.
Meanwhile Piper and Phoebe were pacing around nervously in the hallway, careful not to disturb the Elder, while Paige observed her with interest.
"What takes her so long?" Piper more stated then asked. She was just worried about Chris and what he might do at that moment. A minute ago the Elder had announced that she felt a presence in Chris mind... One minute... Chris could destroy half of San Francisco in a minute if he wanted to...
"Piper," Phoebe said annoyed. Her sister was so nervous that she could feel it, even through her sister HAD taken that empathy-blocking-potion. "Your son won't hurt anyone... and Bianca and Julian are there, too... they will take care of him!"
The oldest Charmed One nodded: "I know... I'm just... I'm his mother, damned, I'm allowed to worry!"
"Shhhhhh..." Paige hissed from the living room.
Piper sighed shaking her head, then she went over to the kitchen.
"Piper..." Phoebe said frowning, following her with her eyes. "Piper?? What are you doing??" She ran after her just to find her sister at the sink, cleaning the dishes. "Oh Piper," she said softly, went over to her and hugged her.
"It's ok, Phoebe," she said, "I'm fine... but I need to do something... so as long as I can't kill that demon, I can kill some dirt..."

& & & & &

Darryl drove the car down the long lifeless road to that old factory. He felt a little uncomfortable, or better... he was afraid. He had no idea what was awaiting them there. A demon? A coven of demons? Someone who would love to kill them?
Again he looked over at his young colleague and was amazed about how relaxed he seemed. Well, he was worried, yes, Darryl knew that. But more about what could happen to Chris... and to Paige. He seemed to be not afraid of what was waiting for them in that building. But was that real or just a facade? Could love do that to someone, making someone so fearless? Or was he believing so deeply in all of them that he just didn't care, that he was sure Leo and the other would not let anything happen to them... He sighed.
"Are you ok?" Leo asked.
Darryl nodded: "Sure..."
"And you Kyle?" the Elder asked while Darryl slowly stopped the car a few yards away from their destination.
The young officer looked into the back-mirror of the car. "They are still behind us," he remarked instead of answering Leo's question.
"Kyle," the Elder tried again, while the car finally stopped.
The young man turned around to him: "Don't worry about me... I'm fine. And yeah, I am careful, because I want to spend at least one night with Paige before I die... So don't worry." Darryl couldn't help chuckling at this comment, while Leo blushed.
"What?" Kyle asked amused, despite the seriousness of this situation.
"I don't think that's the right topic to discuss at the moment..." Darryl said still smiling.
"Right," Leo said looking at Kyle, now smiling too, "and I think we should just leave this car and go over there to find out what's going on... The sooner we do this, the sooner you can return to your love..."

& & & & &

Michael had returned to his wife. When she saw him coming down the hallway, she ran to him and jumped to his arms. They kissed each other lovingly, which gained them some whistles from the students.
"Anything new?" Angela asked then.
"They are doing it," Michael said, loud enough for the others to hear him too. "If nothing else happened, Chris should be out there now..."
"So we should go and find him... to help him!" one of the kids said.
"No, we can't," Drew said, looking at the adults, "am I right?"
Michael nodded: "We did all we could, now we can only wait."
Some of the older kids sighed while the younger ones just sat down again, trying to keep silent.
Angela hugged her husband closer: "Don't worry, they will save him." Michael smiled at her and nodded.

& & & & &

Cole was pacing around, scared and helpless at the same time. A short while after he had cast that damned spell, his ex-other-half started to scream furiously. He couldn't even imagine how much pain Belthazor had to go through at this moment.
He had to help him in some way... but Cole didn't know how.
Belthazor was screaming in pain, trying to break free from his chains. He was screaming at some imaginary enemy that he would kill him. But there was no one there...
When Cole turned his eyes back to the demon he saw his usually shining eyes dark and foggy. He felt so much pity and worry that moment, that his own feelings nearly overwhelmed him. How could he have such feelings for the evil ruler of the underworld...
But was he that? The ruler? Evil? Except the first time they met, when Belthazor had forced him to reunited with him, there had been nothing he did directly against the Halliwells. No, he had even helped them. He was always there when especially Chris needed help. He was worried about Chris... Since when was a demon worried about a witch and Elder...??
"No," Cole voiced his thoughts, "you aren't evil!" Then he stepped closer to the demon and looked him in the eyes. He wasn't sure if he could see him, but he hoped he would at least hear him: "B.? Hey buddy listen to me... Don't believe your eyes, ok? Those things aren't real!"
For a moment it seemed to Cole that the demon would relax but then he started struggling against the chains again. Belthazor yelled as if someone would torture him.
Cole closed his eyes and took a deep breath. Then he grabbed the huge red hand of the source, holding it strongly. Belthazor returned the grasp, making Cole almost cry out in pain, when he felt some bones in his hand breaking... but he didn't. Instead he focused on the demons eyes saying with a calm voice: "You are not alone brother, you are not alone!"

& & & & &

Chris lied on the street, curled like a foetus, screaming in pain. Bianca knelt next to him, trying to calm him down, while Julian made sure that none of the innocents came too close to them.
Some of the people around where screaming for the police or the ambulance... the man, Chris had run into earlier and who - as it seems - had been there the first time, too, was sending prayers to God and screaming at the other people to stay away from 'that devil'.
The air was filled with a mess of screaming voices, which didn't made it easier for the young Elder-witch, the owner of Excalibur, who now was just like a vulnerable little boy, screaming for his mommy.
Bianca felt her heart break, while seeing Chris like that. She wished she could help him, but she couldn't. And with all the screamings, Chris became more and more uneasy.
"We have to bring him away!" she yelled at Julian.
The demonic witch shook his head: "We can't!"
"BUT..."
Julian knelt down next to her and whispered: "We shouldn't expose magic again. When we get through this without our powers, we have a better position against the Cleaners!"
Bianca looked at him, furious that he let her husband suffer willingly. But on the other hand she knew he was right.
Chris felt like his head was about to explode. His vision was dizzy and everything seemed to have a strange kind of yellow colour. He knew that what he saw wasn't real. But the pain was, and it felt like it would kill him sooner or later.
He knew why he did this. He knew why he let that demon hurt him. He knew for which reason he had to suffer at this moment. He knew that all this was fake, he knew he was out there, with people watching him. But the longer the pain last the more difficult was it for him to keep the contact to the reality. He could feel how he slowly lost it...
And then he saw it... them... Bianca with Hope in her arms. She hold her lovingly and smiled at him, with her beautiful warm smile.
But what was that? There was a demon behind her. Chris screamed for her to watch her back, but it seemed she couldn't hear him.
Bianca felt tears streaming down her face. She couldn't see him suffer, she never could. She had put her arms around him, holding him close, trying to calm him down. She whispered loving words into his ear, hoping he would hear them. But then she heard a crackle and when she looked at his hand she saw some tiny electric discharges.
Without thinking she grasped his hands, hoping that this would stop him from burning another hole into something, or someone...
Chris meanwhile saw how the demon pulled out an athame. He wanted to vanquish him with his Elder-powers but it didn't work. His hands were like frozen, like something was holding him back. Then he saw how the demon cut Bianca's throat. He had to see the evil grin on the demon's face while his wife broke down... dead... and the demon took his little girl and shimmered away.
"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" Chris yelled fighting against the grip of his wife. But Bianca was strong like all Phoenixes, she wouldn't let him go.

& & & & &

Suddenly Piper and Phoebe heard a dumb sound from the living room. Afraid of any attack they ran over to see what happened.
But when they entered the room, they saw how Paige helped the Elder to stand.
"What happened?" Piper asked.
"She suddenly fell down." Paige explained.
Yuri shook her head then looked at Piper: "I've found him!"
There was no other word needed. Within a nano-second the sisters where, with potion in hand, ready to orb. "So where do we have to go?" Piper asked.
Yuri smiled and grabbed the fourth potion. "Long time ago, that I was on a demon-hunt," she said. Then she grasped Piper's hand with her free one, while Paige and Phoebe grabbed Piper's shoulders. There was a silent understanding, no one complained that the Elder wanted to come with them. So Yuri orbed them out.

& & & & &

Odin, Andrew and Jeremiah were watching the situation from above the sky. They were standing around a kind of window to the world underneath them. From there they watched how Chris broke down crying, how he was suffering.
"I can't believe that we can't do anything..." Andrew said calmly.
Meanwhile Jeremiah exclaimed angry: "THAT SUCKS!"
Odin patted his friend's shoulder, understanding him perfectly, while some other Elders started mumbling about Jeremiah's outburst. Everyone knew that he and Chris had been everything else than friends at the beginning... but since the Elder-witch had rescued them all, Jeremiah saw the young man differently... And it was clear that he got used to some of Chris behaviors.
"Well... what if we let him drive into unconsciousness? Then he wouldn't feel what's going on anymore." Andrew suggested.
But Jeremiah shook his head, and Odin said: "No... we can't. If Chris doesn't fight back anymore, Veenosh will be able to control him and his powers completely. Then he'll be even able to come up here..."
The young Elder sighed and they all turned back to the window...

& & & & &

"Ok, I'll go first. Kyle, you watch our back," Darryl commanded as they approached the door to the factory.
"Shouldn't I go first?" Leo asked.
"No... well... at least it shall look like an ordinary police-operation..." Darryl answered moving his head into the direction of the FBI-car. The Elder nodded.
Then Darryl rose his hand to the door, but stopped. "Shouldn't we wait till the others call us?"
Leo shook his head: "Things are already going... Veenosh isn't here, that's what Yuri checked first and then contacted me..."
"Contacted? How??"
"Alright... can we stop talking now?" Kyle asked impatient.
Darryl didn't answer, instead he moved the door knob. Slowly the small door opened, revealing a large dark fabric-hall. It seemed empty and abandoned, but who knew... Darryl took a deep breath, then he entered. Leo did the same and Kyle followed them after he had once again, looked around. But except that FBI-car, there was no one else to see.
They walked into the room, which was lighted by the small bits of light which came through the dirty windows. There was nobody there... all they could see was dust and dirt, and all they could hear were some rats seeking for food.
"Seems like a dead end..." Kyle muttered disappointed. Leo nodded.
Then they heard steps from outside. A few seconds later, the two agents from the FBI entered with questioning looks on their faces.

& & & & &

The sisters and Yuri materialised in a dark tunnel somewhere in the underworld.
"What?" Piper asked confused. "Where are we?"
"Didn't you say you can track him?" Paige asked.
Yuri nodded: "But it's more difficult when he's in the underworld, so... relax and give me a few more seconds, then I'll have him..."
Piper and Phoebe sighed in frustration while Yuri fell back in that mentally calm state, she used to have before.
"Great... Now we are stuck here while my son is suffering up there... we are just standing here and wait..." Piper ranted
"Hey... calm down, ok?" Phoebe complained. "You're making me nervous!"
"Got him!" Yuri announced suddenly.
All heads turned to her. "That fast??" Paige asked.
Yuri nodded: "It's not far from here, I think we better walk, maybe his cave is protected from orbing in..." The sisters agreed and so the Elder led them down the tunnel...
A few moments later they reached the entrance of a liar. There he stood. Veenosh. A huge and ugly creature. His skin was dark reddish brown, his clothes... well, he had a kind of towel around his hips, that was all. If that being would have been a well built man, this could have been a nice picture, but this guy was only fat and disgusting. And he was smelling... so much that the sisters had a hard time not to vomit, even if they where still about two yards away from him.
Veenosh stood, bend over a huge bowl, with some smoking liquid in it. He was whispering some words, the four women didn't understand.
Piper finally couldn't hold back any longer. "HEY!" she yelled as she stepped forward and let the bowl explode.
The demon cursed loudly as he turned around to face the intruder. But when he saw the sisters he laughed.
Piper moved her wrist in order to blow him up but nothing happened. Instead Veenosh threw a fireball at the sisters.
"FIREBALL!" Paige screamed and sent the burning object right back to his sender. But the demon redirected it at Phoebe.
The empath tried to avoid the impact but he was too fast, so she got hit in the shoulder.
"PHOEBE" Piper and Paige yelled at the same time.
But the middle sister was already back on her feet: "I'm alright."
"You really think you can harm me?" Veenosh teased them. "Then you are more stupid then I thought!" He laughed again, an evil laugh full of hatred but still filled with amusement.
But then Yuri threw her potion vial to his feet. And then followed a second one, hitting him in the chest. Another one hit his leg. And finally the last one, which Piper threw right at his head, made Veenosh cry in agony as he was vanquished by the flames of hell.
"Who's now laughing, Bastard!" Piper yelled at the pile of ashes which was all that was left behind.

& & & & &

Suddenly Chris relaxed, the pressure in his mind had disappeared and Bianca's dead body was gone. Then slowly he began to hear some noises around him and he felt cold as he, step by step, came back to reality.
Bianca noticed the change, and pulled Chris close into her arms. "Shhhhh baby... it's ok... I'm here... it's alright..." she whispered to his ear softly, lovingly. His body was slightly trembling, his clothes were soaked with sweat.
"Bianca?" Chris asked feeling still weird, but slowly realising that what he saw hadn't been the truth, that nothing happened to her, that she was fine.
"I'm here. It's over..." she whispered. 'I hope,' she added in her thoughts.
"Chris can you stand up?" Julian asked. Then he turned to Bianca to explain: "I guess we should better leave this place."
Chris looked at Julian, his eyes still unfocused, but he nodded.
He struggled to stand up and get himself into a steady position. Bianca supported him. Smiling relieved, she pulled a streak out of his face. "Where's Hope?" he asked confused, turning his face to her.
"At the school," Bianca whispered.
Chris nodded, then he looked around. Lots of people were staring at him, mumbling something. Some of them were still calling for help for that 'poor man'. Others were looking at him with fear.
"We should really go, what if it isn't over yet?" Julian voiced what Bianca had thought earlier.
But Chris shook his head. "No," he said, his voice still weak but clear, "it is... I felt it, when they..." He didn't want to say it out loud with all the people around, but his friends understood him.
Bianca started to cry, overwhelmed by her emotions, when suddenly everything froze around them, every person, yes every fly was put on hold. A moment later a Cleaner with a slightly swollen nose, appeared in front of them. Bianca and Julian immediately stepped in front of Chris in a protecting way. "You won't get him," the Phoenix hissed.
But the Cleaner just smiled back at her. Then he turned to Chris who was still struggling not to fall down again. "You're stronger than we had thought..." he said. "They won't remember the flash you've thrown, we made sure of that... But be careful from now on, next time you may not be that lucky." With this words the Cleaner disappeared and the world started to move again.
The man, who Chris had ran into, and who was scared to death by the Elder-witch before, came now closer and asked friendly: "Are you sure that you're alright? I could drive you to a hospital..."
Chris smiled still a little confused: "No... thanks, I'm fine."
The man nodded and then went back to his business same as the others around.
Bianca had watched all that with suspicion. But now she threw her arms around Chris, almost knocking him down again and kissed him passionately. "I'm... so... happy..." she said between her kisses.
He just smiled onto her lips, still not getting the whole extent of the events. At that moment he just wanted to go home. And that's what they did...

& & & & &

Suddenly the source had stopped yelling and hung now weakly in his chains, breathing heavily.
"Hey," Cole asked softly, "are you alright?"
Belthazor nodded: "It's over."
The witch, who's hand was still held by the demon, frowned: "Are you sure?... I mean... that this isn't just a break or something?"
"He's dead, I felt it... I felt him burn before he left my mind," he replied with a deep sigh. And when he looked up, Cole knew it was true. The darkness had faded away from the demon's eyes.
"Free me, please," the source said with an almost pleading voice. Cole nodded and Belthazor let go off his hand.
The witch winced, feeling suddenly a strong pain from his broken hand.
"What?... Oh my..." the source exclaimed, "did I...?"
Cole smiled weakly: "Don't worry, we have some pretty good healers at home." Then he opened the chains around the demon's feet and then those around his arms.
Belthazor, as soon as he had lost this support, broke down to his knees exhausted, almost pulling Cole with him. "Wow... easy brother..." the witch said. He helped the demon to sit on the bed. "Are you sure, you're fine?"
The source nodded. Then he looked at Cole's hand: "I'm really sorry for that..."
"Don't be," Cole replied. It was weird, but... he really cared about Belthazor and that he was fine was more important to him than his broken bones.
"Thanks," the demon said after a moment of silence. "Thanks for being here... for me."
Cole nodded: "That's what family is for."

& & & & &

"Detective Morris? What's going on here?" one of the agents asked.
"Emm... well..." Darryl looked from Leo to Kyle, who shrugged. Then he turned to the man from the FBI again: "Well... we're following a trace to the latest robberies... those monster-stories... We had a hint that..." He was suddenly interrupted by a kind of light that washed over them and froze the FBI agents right in the spot.
"What's going on here?" Kyle asked warily looking around, same as Darryl.
Leo checked their surroundings and then shook his head: "I don't know."
The next moment a light appeared in front of them and changed into two men, dressed completely in white.
"Are those...?" Darryl asked.
Leo nodded: "The Cleaners."
"Congratulations Leo," one of the two men said without paying attention to the others, "your son is a very special and strong person."
"So you let him go?" Leo asked, trying not to show his anger.
The Cleaners both nodded. Then the second one waved his hand and another light washed over the whole place. When it was gone, a couple of yards away suddenly stood a table with a golden rope, a mask and some stuff from the robberies on it, and a chair on which a human-looking demon was chained. "His fingerprints are everywhere on all this stuff... The FBI won't doubt it was him..."
"Thanks." Leo said.
"Wait, who is this?" Darryl asked.
The first Cleaner turned around to him: "That's the robber." Darryl wanted to ask back if it was really the one, or if he was just someone, the Cleaner used to cover things up... actually he believed more in his second thought, from what he had heard about those guys.
But that moment the Cleaners disappeared and the world around them started moving again.
"So? You did what?" the FBI agent asked, pulling Darryl out of his thoughts..
He looked at the agent a little unsure, then he said: "We caught the robber."

& & & & &

Also around the manor, things had changed. The reporters and the curious neighbours where gone, and so was the rest of the FBI-team. All was quiet as usual.
When Chris and Bianca shimmered home, the sisters where already back. They immediately ran over and hugged them tightly, so relieved to see them save and healthy. Then Piper noticed that her son was still a little weak from exhaustion and forced Chris to lay down on the sofa.
Chris hadn't the chance to complain, because his aunts started fuzzing around him, like he was a sick child. And to top it all, a few moments later Piper arrived with a small bowl of her famous chicken soup. Bianca couldn't help but chuckle, while her husband rolled his eyes. But inside Chris felt so happy and relieved that actually he didn't really care that his mom was treating him like a baby...
Another moment later Silas orbed in with Michael, Angela and the kids. Yuri had informed them, that it was done... The Elder had Hope in his arms and gave the girl to her father. Chris smiled down at her with watery eyes, while Wyatt jumped on the sofa by his side. "You're fine?" he asked.
Chris looked at his brother smiling, then nodded. Wyatt smiled too and put his small arms around one of Chris's while they both watched the small girl.
Piper meanwhile was calming down Christopher who started to scream soon after they had arrived. "I guess he needs a new diaper," she excused herself and went up to the nursery.
While Angela sat down next to Bianca - hugging her, relieved that they were back, Michael went over to Chris, too. Standing behind the sofa he smiled down at him and said: "Don't dare to scare me like that again, alright?"
Chris nodded: "Thanks for everything, Mike."
Michael nodded: "Oh and... greetings from 'the quartet'. Usually they would have come on their own, but they have some family things to deal with... Don't know what exactly." Chris just nodded.
That moment Odin orbed in. Of course he wanted to check if Chris was fine, on his own. He smiled at the young man and patted his shoulder. Then Piper returned and Odin beamed when she asked him, if he wanted to take care of Christopher a little.

& & & & &

Belthazor looked up at his eyes surprised, when Cole called him family. He hadn't expect to hear those words from him. But before he could say something Julian shimmered in.
"God B.! Are you alright?" he asked, his voice filled with worry. The source nodded, looking at him as if he would see a ghost but then pulled the demonic witch into a strong hug.
And when Julian hugged him back, he muttered: "It's good to see that he didn't hurt you..."
"Where is Chris?" Cole asked then. As much as he was relieved that Belthazor was fine, and as much as this scene in front of him amused him, he needed to know.
Julian feed himself from the hug and smiled at him: "At home... Come one, I'll take you there."

& & & & &

Short after that Cole found himself in the manor's hallway. Turning around he noticed that Julian was already gone again, probably to make sure that B. was fine. So he entered the living room. And when Cole saw Chris sitting on the sofa, he ran over to him and hugged him tightly. He had been so scared to lose his nephew.
"Ok... Uncle... I'm fine... Please... let me breath..." Chris said chuckling.
Cole pulled away to look the man in his eyes: "Are you sure you're fine?" Chris nodded smiling.
But then Cole again winced in pain, when he made a wrong move with his hand. Chris looked at him, and then placed his hands over his to heal him. Seriously he asked: "How's B.?"
Cole grinned: "He's fine..." But before he could say more a pair of hands pulled him away from Chris and into a close hug.
"Oh I missed you so much," Phoebe said and kissed him.
A little while later, the doorbell rang. And when Paige opened the door, some arms were thrown around her tightly. "Hey sweetie," Kyle said smiling.
Paige smiled back and gave him a kiss on his nose. "Where is Darryl?" she asked then.
"At the station, writing the report," he answered. Then they followed Leo, who had already entered.
When the Elder stepped into the living room, he immediately went to Chris. He knelt down next to him and hugged him with teary eyes. Chris was overwhelmed by so much attention, but hugged his father back tightly.
It felt good to be back at home. It felt good to have a family who loved him so much.

& & & & &

A few hours later Julian and Belthazor sat in their lair in silence.
"Are you sure you're alright?" the demonic witch asked, and from his voice you could tell that he was truly worried.
But Belthazor just sighed. To his own surprise he missed the noise, the kids had made while they had been down there, but else he was fine. "How often do you want to ask me that, until you believe that I'm fine, Julian?" he asked finally trying to sound a little annoyed. But inside it felt good to know that he had people who cared so much for him, even if he would never admit it.
Julian sighed, again thinking about what had happened to him, when they couldn't have vanquished that demon. Because even if everyone had been worried about Chris, Belthazor had been in a hell of a danger, too. "I guess..." he said, "I'll ask as long as you..."
He was interrupted by a knock on the door. The two friends looked at each other wonderingly. Then Julian went over and asked: "What's the password?"
"Well... I didn't know that the man who owns Excalibur, needs a password to enter here..." they heard a chuckling voice from the other side. Seconds later Julian opened the door to let Chris in.
The Elder-witch stood in the middle of the room for a moment, unsure how to start.
"Well, what do you want?" the source asked.
Chris shrugged: "I wanted to thank you. Without you I would be 'cleaned' by now... I owe you my life. And actually you saved my ass more than one time before." He felt the eyes of the others lie on him, watching him with suspicion. So he took a deep breath and went on to get this done quickly. "Well, I'm here, because I think it's time to pay some of that back... " And with those words he gave Belthazor a little red, silky bag.
The source nodded and opened it. He pulled out an amulet. It was made of silver, in the shape of a pentacle, with a green crystal in the middle.
Belthazor and Julian looked at their guest surprised. "What...?" the first one tried to ask.
But Chris interrupted him: "This is a magical amulet. It protects those, who have a good soul, from any kind of witch magic... as long as your intentions are good, no witch will be able to harm you."
Julian let out the breath he had been holding, while Belthazor turned that amulet around in his hand, deep in thoughts. Then he looked back at Chris, his eyes a little glassy. He smiled and said: "Thanks."
Chris smiled back, feeling vindicated by the emotional reaction of the 'source of all evil'. "No need to thank me, " he said, "you did much more than that..."
Julian smiled. He felt happy for his friend. That amulet was an amazing gift.
Belthazor stood up and shook Chris's hand: "Well... I hope we'll meet again."
Chris nodded: "Me, too." Then he orbed back home.

(Chapter 11 written by Belén and Chrissy.W.x)

So much for Part Eleven of our series. we hope you all enjoyed reading it! And we finished "A Charmed Story - Part Twelve" on time so that the first chapter will be up on Friday, June 20th... Thanks to everyone for the support. And... stay tuned!