Legacy 107: Soul Searching

Part 3

Xxx

As Julian was about to leave, Phoebe fell silent as she searched for the right words to say. This was the first time he had reached out to her, even if it was out of desperation, and she did not want him to leave. She wanted to get to know him. She knew she could never make up for the time lost, but she could at least be there now. She reached out to him, but before she could, the door opened and Prue and Penny stumbled in laughing. Everyone stood frozen, caught in the awkward moment.

"What the hell?" Penny called out accusingly. "What is he doing here?"

"I should get going." Julian remarked.

"No, wait!" Phoebe said as she grabbed him arm. "Please."

Phoebe tapped into her empathic power and felt the emotions of everyone in the room. It was nearly overwhelming, but she held on to them. There was a lot of confusion and anger in the room, as well as hurt feelings and resentment. She could feel how difficult the situation was for everyone, so Phoebe did what she felt was the right thing to do. She focused on the negative emotions, channeling their raw energy through her and dispelling like a dark cloud into the air. The process was draining and she collapsed on the floor.

"Phoebe!" Coop called out as he ran over to her.

"What happened?" Prue asked confused.

"She did something. I feel different." Julian said confused. "What did she do to me?"

As he held his wife and helped her to her feet, Coop raised his hand and his ring glowed in a pink light as he waved it over her.

"She took all the negative emotions in and sent them away." Coop explained.

"What? Why would she do that?" Penny asked.

"Because…" Phoebe said weakly. "Anger and arguments are not going to solve anything. There were too much unresolved emotions. Right now, we need to work together."

"Why? What is going on?" Penny asked confused.

"It is the Wraith." Julian explained as he turned to her. "You saw it when Elizabeth summoned it. It has not given up."

"And now it is after all of us." Phoebe added. "Or at least after me."

"Are you okay?" Coop asked concerned.

Phoebe wanted to say she was fine, but she felt incredibly weak. She had manipulated emotions before, but not this much conflict at the same time. It had taken both a physical and emotional toll on her. However, it was worth it if her family could at least talk.

"I will be fine." Phoebe replied. "What is important now is that we find a way to stop the Wraith."

"Why? I am sure he led it here." Prue said.

"She is right. Why should we help him?" Penny added. "He made it pretty clear he wants nothing to do with us."

"Because I am asking you to help him." Phoebe said. "Whether or not you are willing to accept it, we're in this together. Julian is part of this family."

"Some family." Prue remarked as she walked to the bathroom and slammed the door behind her.

"Are you okay?" Phoebe asked as she turned to Julian.

"What did you do to me?" Julian asked accusingly as he looked at his hands. "The anger, the pain. I don't feel it anymore."

"I can use my empathy to take away the bad stuff." Phoebe explained.

"So you're manipulating me?" Julian asked angrily. "You think that you can play with my emotions and that everything will be alright? It won't."

"I know." Phoebe replied. "That was never my intention. I would never try to control you like that. I just wanted us to be able to work together. Your feelings are still your own."

"You're just like Elizabeth, trying to make me into something I am not." Julian said bitterly.

Before she could reply, Julian disappeared through flames. Phoebe stepped forward, but nearly collapsed again due to her weakened state. Coop helped her to the bed and she sat down. As her father went to get some water, Penny sat down next to her mother.

"Mom, what were you thinking?" Penny asked.

"I felt like I had no choice." Phoebe said. "I don't expect you to understand."

"I want to understand, but it's really difficult." Penny replied. "You see something in him that we can't. He is a stranger, and just a few months ago, he was the Source of All Evil. How are we supposed to understand?"

"He is your brother." Phoebe replied. "You could at least try to see the good that I see."

"Fine, maybe you're right. I guess we haven't really tried." Penny admitted after a moment. "He couldn't have gone far. I will go find him, but only to solve this Wraith mess."

"Thank you." Phoebe said softly as she took her daughter's hands in hers. "I guess there is something of a middle sister in you after all."

"Well, don't get used to it." Penny remarked.

"Try the beach." Phoebe said.

"Okay." Penny replied with a frown. "I will let you know when I find him."

Penny got and left the hotel room. Phoebe hoped she would able to convince Julian to come back. They needed each other to stop the Wraith, and she was not willing to let him go this quickly again. He needed to know that she was not like Elizabeth, that there was a family that would accept him. Now she had another one of her children to deal with. She slowly got up, headed to the bathroom and knocked. When there was no response, she opened the door and saw it was empty.

Xxx

In a column of bright blue orbs, Prue appeared by the fountain in the park with Noah's hands wrapped around her. When things had gotten too confrontational in the hotel room, she had called him from the bathroom to orb her away. When they materialized, Prue freed herself from his hold and sat down on the edge of the fountain.

"Want to tell me what is going on?" Noah asked.

"Family drama." Prue replied. "Julian is here."

"You're brother?" Noah asked.

"Don't call him that." Prue said.

"Why not?" Noah asked. "That is what he is, isn't it? Whether you like it or not, he is a part of your life now."

"I know." Prue replied distantly as she let her hands run through the water.

"So aside from the obvious shock after you discovered his existence, what is this really about?" Noah asked with a frown. "Why the resentment?"

"Because… I don't know." Prue replied hesitantly.

"Yes, you do." Noah insisted. "You can tell me."

"Okay." Prue replied with a sigh. "You know my mother is not the only empath in the family. I am one too."

"What does that have to do with anything?" Noah asked.

"I can't stand seeing my family hurt, because I share their pain. I feel it." Prue explained. "So far, Julian has brought nothing but pain, to everyone. He caused conflict between my mom and us, he is causing conflict between my mother and father. I just don't want him to break this family apart."

"So you're trying to protect your family." Noah said.

"What if we accept Julian as part of the family and he suddenly turns evil?" Prue said. "That would destroy my mother, it could destroy my entire family."

"But Julian is a part of that family." Noah said. "He might be half-demon, but he is also human. And yeah, people can make mistakes. You don't need to be demonic for that. Look at me, I have made a lot of mistakes."

"That is not the same." Prue replied.

"Isn't it?" Noah remarked. "I think it's exactly the same."

"So what am I supposed to do?" Prue asked.

"I think you owe it to Julian to give him a chance." Noah replied. "He did not ask for this any more than you did. You're so focused on your differences that you forget to look at all the things you share. He is your brother. So how about worrying about the evil part of him, you focus on the good that is part of you both?"

"Am I really that judgmental?" Prue asked shocked.

"I think you're just being protective, not judgmental." Noah replied.

"Thank you." Prue said with a smile.

"For what?" Noah asked.

"For being my Whitelighter, for being here." Prue replied. "I probably would have run off if it wasn't for you, so thank you."

"I'm happy to help." Noah said.

Prue smiled and grabbed his shirt to pull him closer. She kissed him and realized he was right. Things were never going to change unless she was willing to give it a chance. She had almost forgotten that she had been mad with him just a few hours ago. All of that didn't really seem to matter, though a small part of her was still wondering. Now was not the time to bring it up.

"So what does this mean for us?" Noah asked when they stopped kissing.

"Can we please worry about that another time?" Prue asked.

"Okay." Noah said as he kissed her again. "You should probably go check on your family."

"I know, just a minute." Prue replied as she wrapped her hands around his waist and continued kissing him.

Xxx

As the waves crashed into the beams below him, Julian stood on a pier overlooking the ocean. It was quiet and deserted, just the way he preferred it. Watching the waves always had a calming effect, but he was not feeling angry right now. That feeling had been taken away from him. It felt like a violation, since the anger was everything he got. His anger was what kept him going after years of possession. Without it, he just felt lost and hopeless. She had no right to take it.

"Nice view." A familiar voice said.

Julian looked over his shoulder and saw Penny standing behind him with her arms crossed.

"What are you doing here?" Julian asked.

"I came to find you." Penny replied.

"Why? So you can yell at me some more?" Julian remarked as he turned his back to her.

"Actually, I came to apologize." Penny admitted, though she sounded reluctant. "I guess I was blaming you for this messed up situation, while you can't help it any more than we can."

"I never asked for any of this." Julian said.

"I know." Penny replied as she leaned against the railing next to him. "There is no point in avoiding it, we're a part of each other's lives, whether we chose it or not. I guess that's the deal with family."

"I wouldn't know." Julian remarked. "I never had one."

"Well, you can have one now." Penny said. "I know my mom, I mean our mom, wants to get to know you better. Give her a chance."

"She should have thought of that before she messed with my head." Julian said.

"She was only trying to help, you know." Penny said. "And she was right. Do you think we would be able to have this conversation if she had not taken away the negative emotions?"

"I guess not." Julian admitted. "I would have been too stubborn to listen."

"And I would have been too stubborn to even come here." Penny said. She looked at him and suddenly he heard her voice inside his head. "See how we already have things in common?"

"I don't like people inside of my head." Julian replied telepathically and pushed her out of his thoughts. "Why are you being like this?" He asked.

"Like this? You mean nice?" Penny asked with a frown. "I don't know, I figured I'd give it a shot."

"Why?" Julian asked.

"Seriously? You're not the easiest guy to talk to, are you?" Penny remarked. "Look, I get this is weird for both of us, but we have to find a way to work together if we want to stop this Wraith thing."

"So that is all you care about?" Julian asked. "Just stopping the Wraith?"

Julian turned and started to walk away. For a moment, he actually started to believe she was interested in getting to know him, but he guessed all she cared about was stopping the Wraith. Once it was defeated, they would probably turn their backs on him again. Like a piece of trash. Normally his anger would take over, but now he felt something else, something worse. He wasn't quite sure how to describe it, but it actually hurt. He just knew he needed to get away.

"You're wrong." Penny said telepathically. "It's not just about the Wraith."

"I told you to stay out of my head!" Julian snapped at her.

In a flash of rage, Julian turned around and held out his hand, telekinetically grasping Penny by the throat. However, he quickly snapped to his senses and let go. Penny fell on her knees and coughed.

"I'm sorry." Julian said ashamed. "I never should have done that."

"It's okay. I'm fine." Penny said as she carefully got up. "I guess your anger is not completely gone."

"I guess you're right." Julian replied. "So you're not scared of me?"

"No, I don't think so." Penny said. "I know you didn't mean to. It happened, let's move on."

"Thank you." Julian said.

"Let's just forget it." Penny replied. "Next time, I'm going to kick your ass, though. Now come on, we should head back and try to figure this out."

"Okay." Julian said with a faint smile.

Just as they were about the leave, the pier suddenly echoed with a high-pitched scream. Julian looked around and saw the Wraith rising up from below. A strong wind started to blow as soon as it appeared and the waves became more violent.

"Run!" Julian yelled.

With the Wraith behind them, Julian and Penny started to run to the beach. The wind grew stronger and pieces of wood were torn from the pier, disappearing into the violent waves. Julian suddenly heard Penny scream. He turned around and saw she was holding on to the pier, almost being pulled away by the wind while the Wraith come closer.

Without hesitation, Julian ran back and threw a stream of fire from his hands. However, the wind was too strong and the flames faded before they reached the demon. He tried again, but again the wind was too strong. The Wraith extended its arm and a pale beam of light hit Penny as it started to extract her soul.

"No!" Julian screamed as he telekinetically grabbed hold of Penny and pulled her toward him.

Penny crashed into Julian and they collapsed onto the pier. The Wraith screeched angrily and flew at them, though Julian quickly flamed them out of there. They reappeared on the floor of the hotel and Julian gasped for air as Penny fell on top of him.

"Thanks." Penny said.

"You're welcome." Julian replied while trying to catch a breath.

As Penny rolled of him and got up, Julian realized he had actually been scared back there. Not for himself, but for her. He did not want her to get hurt. It felt strange, but could he actually start to care about these people? His family?

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