Thank you for all the comments. This update starts the finale portion of my rewrite. I'm not sure how many updates it will take to complete it. The way I write though, it will probably take quite a few...lol. Anyways, please enjoy. I do not own Charmed.
Days had passed since some of the Halliwells had thought Gideon had been vanquished. It wasn't a term any of them had thought they would be using when speaking of an Elder, a supposed being of good magic, but somewhere along the line he had switched sides. Either that or something had messed with his sense of morality. He used to be good, so what had happened to make it seem other wise?
Chris wasn't all too convinced that Gideon had died. His mother was the one who said it seemed a bit too easy of a vanquish, which is why he suspected the Elder to still be alive. He began to wonder himself what could have happened to change Gideon. He was a being of good who fought for his parents to get married. Why would he turn against them once they had a child? Surely, Gideon must have thought they would try to have children at some point. Maybe Bellock had something to do with it. He could manipulate thoughts, at least that is what Ethanial had said to him. How or why would Bellock be close enough to manipulate his thoughts though?
Chris didn't know about Gideon falling for a charge, he didn't know about her death and the words that had passed between Gideon and Bellock. If Bellock was involved though, it would make sense of why he suddenly wanted to rid the world of baby Wyatt. If he wanted to rid the world of baby Wyatt though, why was Wyatt evil in the future? As Christ continued his thoughts, more and more questions were arising. So, he put an end to his thoughts and orbed back to the manor.
He had been in the Underworld searching for any leads on Gideon and Bellock. It seemed even Bellock was on the run now. He knew they were all on to him. He also had Wyatt, Paige, and Phoebe searching both the Underworld and the mortal world for them. Wyatt didn't like Chris bossing him around, but he wanted to make sure Gideon and Bellock were killed just as much as Chris did. Paige and Phoebe were just exhausted. They didn't really miss the old Chris who sent them after demons every other minute, but it seemed he was back and they really did understand the reasoning behind his ways. He was protecting the future, protecting his family, or trying to anyways.
Chris appeared in the kitchen, where his mother was sitting at the table with a half eaten peanut butter and pickle sandwich. "Hey Peanut." She said greeting him. "Find any demons?"
"Yeah, but not the right ones." He replied. "Is that a pickle sandwich?"
"Pickle and peanut butter." She informed. "I'd finish it, but thanks to you I have this horrible indigestion."
"Eww, sorry." He made a face at her choice in sandwich. Unbeknownst to Piper though, tomorrow was his birthday. She could go into labor at any moment. He wasn't about to tell her though. He didn't want to panic her or anything. In other words, her indigestion would be short lived.
"Well I restocked the potion ingredients. Your dad got them actually, I just organized them." Piper explained.
"Where are Paige and Phoebe?" He asked.
"Phoebe's in the shower." Piper replied. "They vanquished some demon and she ended up covered in goo. Paige was looking in the book of shadows last I checked."
Leo walked into the kitchen with little Wyatt in his arms. The boy looked tired and sleepy. He was overdue for his afternoon nap. "We're back." He said, not realizing Chris was even in the room.
"Hey, Dad." Chris said to get his attention.
"Oh hey, just got back from the Elders." He replied to Chris.
"What did they have to say?" Piper asked.
"They couldn't sense Gideon anywhere. Either he's really dead or he's using evil magic to cloak himself." Leo explained.
"I'm leaning towards the second explanation." Chris replied. He still wasn't ready to think that Gideon was dead. Deep down, his parents didn't really believe it either.
"They also said that if they finally get a lead on him, they will alert us immediately." Leo added in.
"You mean they're not going to deal with him themselves?" She asked.
"They didn't say specifically what they were or were not going to do, just that they would let us know when the got a lead on him." Leo answered.
Gideon had cloaked himself with evil magic. That was the only way to be certain that even the Elders would not be able to find him. He tried his best to stay free of magic school since the Halliwells had been onto him, but now he needed a distraction, something he could only get by going into the school. He knew it would put him at risk. The Elders would certainly sense his presence at magic school whether he was cloaked or not, but it was something he was willing to do.
He appeared in the school and contemplated the best route to his office. There weren't too many students lurking in the hall, but there were some teachers walking about. He made himself invisible so he could navigate the halls without being seen and started on his way.
Once he made it into the library, a student with a stack of books walked right into him. The books went crashing and the student looked around confused. Gideon kept walking though. He wasn't concerned with anyone aside from himself at the moment and the eldest Halliwell boy.
Leo, Paige, and Chris walked into magic school. The Elders had alerted Leo of what they thought was Gideon's presence in the school. They weren't one hundred percent sure it was him, but they did suspect it to be him. Once in the school, Leo felt his presence and tried to follow his trail.
"Over there." Chris said. They suspected Gideon to be using his invisibility shield, but Chris had seen Gideon's office door open and close. He didn't see anyone actually walk through the door though. "That's his office isn't it?"
"Well, it was. Another Elder has been working in there since Gideon's been awol." Leo explained. He glanced at Paige. "It could be your office you know."
"Wait, what?" Chris asked curiously.
"They offered me Gideon's job, I just didn't think it was the right time to take it." Paige replied.
Slowly, Leo opened the door to the office and they each stepped inside. "We know you're in here Gideon." He said. After standing for a moment without a response, he realized the Elder was no longer in the room. "I can't sense him anymore."
Paige walked over to a big mirror on one wall in the office. "Look at this mirror. I don't have a reflection." She said. Leo and Chris walked over to her. "I just saw Gideon in the mirror, leaving his office."
"What?" Chris looked into the mirror and saw nothing, not his reflection nor Gideon.
"It could be a portal." Leo said.
"To what?" Paige asked.
"To a parallel world. A world that mirrors ours with the same beings and people, but they have a reversed morality." He explained.
"What do you mean?" Paige asked. "What's good is evil there and what's evil is good?"
"Yeah." Leo said. "I'm not certain that's what it is, but I don't know where else he would go or why."
Chris touched the mirror and his hand went right through. "I think we know how he entered the world." He added in.
"Should we go after him?" Paige wondered.
"I'm not sure. If we aren't careful we can throw off the balance between the worlds, making one world too good or too bad." Leo explained.
Phoebe walked into the office and stopped them before they could make a decision on whether to go after Gideon or not. "We have a situation at the manor." She informed them.
"What is it?" Leo asked.
"Piper's water broke and she needs to get to the hospital." Phoebe explained. "Wyatt's there with her and little Wyatt, but I think you should be the one to take her to the hospital. You are the father after all."
"No, of course. Can you guys handle this?" Leo asked.
"Yeah, just go Dad." Chris replied.
"Wait." Phoebe said. "I should go stay with little Wyatt. I'll send Wyatt in to help you guys."
Phoebe left with Leo. He orbed them back to the manor and not even two minutes later, Wyatt had orbed in. Even though little Wyatt was essentially him, he had no idea what to do with the little guy. He had no idea how to occupy himself basically. He was relieved to be after the sons of bitches that were out to get his family.
"Phoebe said you were about to go somewhere." Wyatt said.
"Through the looking glass." Chris replied. He put his hand into the mirror.
"What?" Wyatt asked in confusion.
"The Lewis Carroll book, we had to read it in Junior High." Chris explained with a role of his eyes.
"We're going into the mirror." Paige said. "A parallel world or something."
They each fumbled their way into the mirror, landing in what looked to be the same office they were already in.
Gideon's orbs formed in the Underworld of the parallel world. Instead of it being full of dark caverns and catacombs, it was bright and cheery. Where he had been staying in his own world, was a meadow in this world. Under a big tree was where his counterpart had been hiding out. His counterpart jumped up in a panic, surprised to be seeing Gideon.
"What are you doing here?" He asked.
"I'm here hoping to create a little chaos, maybe a distraction." Gideon replied. "I'm sure the Charmed Ones will be following me."
"No, you can't be here." Counterpart Gideon argued. "Two of us in the same world will throw off the cosmic balance."
"That is what I'm hoping for." Gideon replied. "Once that happens I can go back and try to go after the boy."
"Well, your Charmed Ones can't come here. Unless...no, you didn't leave the portal open did you?" He asked with concern.
"Yes and I'm sure they're here by now, so I best be getting back." Gideon said before orbing out.
Paige, Chris, and Wyatt orbed into the mortal world and it was drastically different from their world. Their street was littered with garbage. Most homes were run down and had bars on their windows to keep anyone out.
Paige thought she saw Phoebe walking towards the neighbors house. Mrs. Noble had been complaining about Phoebe blocking her driveway with her car. This Phoebe had spiked hair though and she was dressed in black from head to toe. "I think that's Phoebe, should we approach her?" She asked her nephews.
Chris shrugged his shoulders. "I guess."
They walked up just as Phoebe was letting out a few lines of what sounded like a spell. "Evil spirits far and wide, come fourth now from where you hide. Take this woman's very breath, sentenced is her new found death." A spiral of spirits swirled around Mrs. Noble, choking her. She struggled for breath and a few moments later, she collapsed to the ground.
"What the hell?" Paige shouted at Phoebe.
Phoebe turned to face her. "Paige, what did you do to your hair? What happened your clothes?" She asked. "You almost look cheerful."
Before Paige could respond, it felt almost as if the world had stopped for a moment. The afternoon breeze halted and the sun set quickly, putting the world in darkness.
"What is going on here?" Chris asked.
"You just killed someone." Paige said to Phoebe.
"I think someone put you under a spell and Wyatt, Chris. You're all so different." Phoebe replied. She assumed they were all under some sort of spell, because they were so different from the ones she knew. Her Paige wouldn't wear such cheery colors. Her Wyatt didn't have such long hair. Her Chris didn't have such tamed hair and he typically wore all black. "Undo this spell cast unto thee, anul this magic and set them free." She tried a spell to counteract whatever one they could have been under, but nothing happened to them.
"We aren't under any spell." Chris said. "We came here through a mirror in Magic School from I guess a parallel world."
"One that seems to be the opposite of your world." Wyatt added in.
"Why should I trust you?" Phoebe asked.
"Because we aren't trying to kill you." Paige replied.
Wyatt's counterpart orbed in behind Phoebe. "Did Piper get to the hospital?" He asked. His face contorted in confusion when he noticed himself standing there in front of Phoebe, only he seemed to be a darker version of himself, perhaps an evil version."What in the heck is going on here?"
Chris stared in shock at Wyatt's counterpart. He had shorter hair and he was dressed in blue jeans with a white t-shirt and gray zip up over it. He was dressed the way his Wyatt used to dress before he started on his path to destruction.
"They claim to be from a parallel world." Phoebe explained. "As soon as I get back in to you or little you, Piper and Leo are taking off to the hospital. Why aren't you with Chris and Paige?"
"I wanted to check on Piper. Also, Chris and Paige are too trigger happy, killing anything and everything before we can even question them about Gideon or Bellock." He explained.
"Wait, your upset that...?" Chris asked in surprise. His Wyatt could have cared less who was getting killed, much less why.
"Who are you? You look like Chris, but..." He trailed off as he took notice of the night sky. "Why is it dark? What happened to the afternoon sun?"
Out of nowhere it seemed the neighbors were all in conflict. Yelling across yards and throwing things. A few started physically fighting each other, which was even unusual for this evil parallel world. "I don't know." Phoebe said. "This is all getting a little too strange."
"You don't think we could have tipped the balance or anything do you?" Wyatt asked.
"What do you mean?" Paige asked.
"All of a sudden it's dark and..." Wyatt trailed off as gun fired nearby. They all turned in search of whomever had the weapon and a neighbor went running down the street away from them, gun in hand.
"Ok, the neighbors aren't usually that bad." Phoebe said. "Though I wouldn't mind killing a few more people myself."
"We need to find Gideon and get back to our world fast." Chris replied.
Paige and Chris' counterparts orbed next to Phoebe. "Something strange just happened." Chris' counterpart said. He gazed around. "What in the Source's name is going on here?" Why was it dark in the middle of the day? He took note of both Wyatt's. There was another Paige too, even someone that looked like him. His eyes widened in confusion.
"We don't have time to go through this again." Paige said. Her counterpart looked at her curiously, moving her eyes from head to toe. "We're all after the same thing, Gideon."
"We actually found two Gideons in the Underworld." Counterpart Chris explained. Chris couldn't get over how long and scraggly his counterpart looked. "I went after one, but I don't think he knew I was onto him. He went into Magic School and just disappeared."
"Great, he must have went back." Wyatt assumed. "I think it was his plane to come here and throw off the balance. We need to get back now."
I hope it wasn't too confusing with the counterparts involved. They won't be around much longer though, as I was merely just hoping to shift the balance for the purpose of the rest of my story. I keep mentioning Bellock, but he's rarely been in the story lately. That's about to change. Anyways...feel free to review and send me your comments. Thanks!