The Prophecy

Chapter 1

Another Day, Another Adventure

Bianca Pearson had seen a lot in her lifetime. She’d seen memories of a world that no longer existed, a world filled with fear and destruction. She had witnessed countless deaths in that life. However, she had also seen things strange and mystical. As a witch, Bianca had met all types of magical creatures, fairies, nymphs, trolls, whitelighters, and demons. Also, magic had created some fairly bizarre situations for the young woman. A fiancee with no memory of his life, going to the past and seeing her mother only a few years older than herself, and worst of all, dying and remembering it. However, the situation she currently was in, was entirely new, and perhaps right on top of the list as far as strange occurrences went.

A witch, an elder and the Source of All Evil were in her living room, sitting on her couch and watching television. It was like some sort of strange joke. One that Bianca was hoping didn’t have a horrible punch line coming up any time soon.

The unexpected visitors from the future had arrived the night before and had been hit with a wave of fatigue that had caused all three to collapse into a deep sleep on the tan sofa with the promise for some explanations in the morning. Bianca, not wanting to antagonize them before finding out what they wanted with Chris and Wyatt, had let them sleep undisturbed until morning.

Now, in hopes of getting on their good side today, she had turned on the television and offered them some breakfast and refreshments, which they had taken with more grace than they had shown her previously, especially the witch.

Bianca could have sworn she had seen that witch somewhere before. She looked so painstakingly familiar. And the venom the teenager had for her also felt familiar to her. It was almost like deja vu.

“What is this show?” The Elder asked, breaking the long period of silence that had preceded. “It’s funny. I really like it.”

The witch rolled her green eyes to the ceiling. “Good grief. We didn’t come here to be entertained. As soon as we get our strength back, we’re outta here, so don’t get too comfy.”

“Who died and made you the leader?” The Source growled turning his hooded face to look at the young woman.

“You know the answer to that,” the girl answered, her voice sharp but her eyes soft with sadness.

“Yeah, like I take orders from him.”

The witch held her hands up, looking like she was going to strangle the dark cloaked figure, but the Elder with the bright white sneakers grabbed her hands and pulled them back down before she could do anything to the third member of their party. “Stop it, both of you. Fighting is not going to get us anywhere. You two agreed to try to get along for the sake of the mission.” He turned to look at the Source, “You have just as much to lose if this goes badly as we do. And remember who you’re trying to save. You can’t do that without us.”

“I could try,” the other snarked.

The witch shook her head, “Fine. Then go. We don’t need you, you two timing son of a-”

“– Please, don’t finish that sentence,” the Elder begged.

The witch glared at the white hooded teen sitting between her and the Source. “Fine. I’ll play nice. Just keep him the hell away from me. If you can’t manage that could you at least get him to keep his mouth shut?”

Bianca watched the interaction in complete fascination. An Elder playing peace keeper between a witch and the Source. This really was some sort of weird cosmic joke.

“So, you three are here to save someone?” the Phoenix questioned as she sat down in the recliner across from them. “Who? And what does it have to do with the Halliwell brothers? Is it one of them?”

The source scoffed at that.

The Elder smacked him in the arm while the witch glared.

“We can’t answer that,” The Elder answered after a moment. “We really can’t risk saying too much about our mission. This is supposed to be a surgical strike in order to save the future from falling to darkness and despair.”

“I’m here on personal reasons,” The Source cut in. “One that has nothing to do with stopping any sort of darkness. I’m all for that. No, I’m here on my own business. I just couldn’t get here without these two imbeciles.”

Bianca frowned, “How do you mean?”

The witch grinned, “He wasn’t powerful enough to open the portal on his own.” She cast a wicked glance at the demon, “Were you, hot shot?”

“Shut up.”

“Ok, if you can’t tell me why you’re here, can you at least tell me what it has to do with the Halliwells?”

The witch sighed, “We need their power to stop it. Simple as that.”

“Nothing about coming to the past to change the future is simple,” the Elder muttered under his breath.

Bianca nodded, “I see.”

She glanced at each of them in turn, still confused as to why three such different beings were traveling together to save the future. It didn’t make any sense. All of them played for different teams. One or all of them was bound to betray the others. Surely they knew that. So why risk it? Why would the other Elders even agree to this sort of arrangement? Three teenagers out to save the world? The future seemed pretty screwed.

“We should be going,” the witch said, rising from her place on the sofa. “It’s time to pay the Halliwells a visit.”

“Wait, maybe I should take you over there,” Bianca offered, “they don’t take well to strangers. They’d be more receptive of you if I was there.”

“Why would you be willing to help us? You don’t even know us,” the girl questioned, folding her arms over her chest.

In that moment, Bianca was struck with an image of Chris, standing in front of her, a doubtful look on his face, both arms folded over his chest and his head tilted slightly to the side just as the girl’s was now. That’s when she realized why the girl looked so familiar. She was a little older than before, but not by much. It was her though. It was the same girl that had traveled back through time to save her parents almost ten years ago. The one that had eventually ruined her marriage to Chris.

“Oh my God, Carly?” Bianca whispered.

The Elder turned to look at his companion, “Carly?”

The witch shrugged, “Beats me.”

The former assassin shook her head, staring in wonder at the young woman before her, seeing her in an entirely different way now. How could she have not recognized her immediately? Well, she was more mature in appearance. Her face was thinner, but she still had that same heart shaped quality that her mother’s face did. Her chestnut hair was longer, almost as long as Piper’s had been back in the day. Her figure was fuller, the curves much more noticeable. But those eyes...how could she not have recognized those eyes? They were all but exact duplicates of her father’s emerald pair.

“Listen, Bianca,” ‘Carly’ started, “I don’t know who you think I am, but I’m not this Carly person. As for you taking us over to the manor, well, that’s not necessary. We can take care of ourselves. The Halliwells are the least of our concerns.”

“Piper,” Bianca tried. “It is you, isn’t it?”

This time the witch started in surprise.

The Elder whipped his head around to look at her, “How’d she know?”

“Easy, the Piper of this time is probably old enough that they look alike. I told her she should have hid her face,” The Source commented.

Piper Anne Halliwell shook her head, “We have to go. Now.” And without another word, the woman orbed out of the apartment.

The Source flamed out after her without so much as word.

The Elder sighed, shaking his hooded head. “I’m sorry for the intrusion, Mrs. Pearson. Hope we didn’t cause too much trouble.” He looked down at his sneakers, “I really liked breakfast and t.v. Thank you.”

“No problem,” Bianca replied, still reeling from the situation.

“Well, I should go get to them before they vanquish one another,” he said, as though apologizing for having to leave. He sighed, “It was nice seeing you again. Goodbye.”

Before the witch could even return the goodbye, the elder went up in a column of lights and disappeared. And just like that, the three visitors were gone as fast as they had come, leaving behind them a wake of confusion.

Bianca shook her head to clear it. Moving purposefully to the phone, she picked it up and dialed a number she had called a thousand times before. “Hey, Chris, we have a situation...”

0000000000

Paige wrinkled her nose as the potion she was working on blew up again, the contents turning a dark black-brown instead of the light yellow it was supposed to be. She looked up at her sister. “I can’t get this to work. It’s like if I even put so much as one itsy-bitsy bit more or less of anything into the potion the whole thing is ruined.”

The older sister glanced up from the book she was reading and sighed, “You have to keep trying, Paige. That potion is the best shot we have at saving Chris. It will stop him from getting any new powers, but allow him to keep the ones he has.”

“I don’t think it would work even if Paige did finally get it right,” Cole responded from his spot on the sofa in the attic. “You can’t stop destiny. Chris was meant to be the Keeper and with that destiny comes power.”

“Power that is going to kill my nephew, Cole,” Phoebe snapped. “We are not going to just sit here and do nothing while that happens.” Her voice grew soft. “We have to try something.”

The former Source sighed and nodded. “I know. I just think the best option would be to tell Chris and Wyatt. They have more power than you two do now that Piper is gone.”

Paige let out a frustrated breath. “We are still the adults around here. We are supposed to protect them. And we will.”

She moved to grab more ingredients from the shelf, ready to give the potion another go around.

Cole shook his head, “I’m telling you, it won’t work. We need to prepare them for this. They’ll resent it if you keep this from them.”

“They have enough to deal with as it is,” Phoebe argued. “Besides, we agreed– all of us– agreed that we would tell them as a last resort. We still have time.”

“Not much time,” the demon muttered.

000

Courtney was heading to her studio to work on her latest project when she heard someone getting sick in the bathroom. She paused outside the door. Again, the sound of heaving. She frowned in concern and lightly tapped on the door. “Hey, you okay in there?”

The toilet flushed and a moment later, Emily came out looking the worse for wear. She answered tiredly, “Yup. Peachy.”

“What’s going on? You have the flu?” the half-demon questioned in concern.

The dark haired woman swayed on her feet, and Courtney had to rush to steady her. Once Emily had regained her balance, her sister-in-law gently guided her to the closest room, which happened to be the girls’ room.

Piper Anne looked up from the book on the history of baseball she was reading, “What’s wrong with Aunt Emily?”

“Is she sick?” Parker asked, putting down her colored pencil on the sketch pad she was doodling in. “Should I get Uncle Wyatt?”

Courtney shook her head, “She’s just a little dizzy and needs to lay down a bit.”

Persephone blinked back tears from her big blue eyes, “Is it a tumor?”

Piper rolled her eyes, “It’s not a tumor, Stupid.”

“Don’t call my sister stupid, Stupid,” Peyton yelled.

Parker sighed and went back to doodling in her sketch pad. She knew that once a fight between Piper and Peyton broke out it was best to just keep your mouth shut.

Before it could get any further though, Courtney’s voice cut them off, “Enough. Both of you apologize. You do not speak that way to anyone, especially family.”

“Sorry, Perse.”

“Sorry, Piper.”

“Good,” Courtney said, helping Emily sit down on the bottom bunk of one of the beds. “Now, could you guys go and get some water for Emily?”

Parker and Persephone both immediately jumped up, wanting to help. They raced each other out the door and down the stairs.

Courtney smiled at Peyton, “Honey, could you go too?”

“Why? It’s just a glass of water. Do you really think it’ll take three people to get it?”

Piper rolled her eyes and grabbed her cousin by the arm, “They want to do grown up talk. It’s mom’s way of telling us to get out and mind our own bee’s wax.”

Peyton nodded, “Oh. Then why didn’t she just say so?”

“Grown ups think we’re too stupid to understand, so they think they have to make up stuff for us to do.”

“Those grown ups, always underestimating us kids,” Peyton shook her head, following her cousin out of the room.

Courtney and Emily shared a look before breaking out into laughter about their two girls. Once the amusement had subsided, Courtney took a seat on the bed next to her sister-in-law. “So, what’s going on with you?”

The other woman sighed, brushing her black hair behind her ear. “I’m pregnant, Court.”

“Oh wow, Em, that’s great,” She started to congratulate her friend, but stopped short at the worried look on the other woman’s face. She frowned, “Not great?”

Emily sighed, “It’s not that I don’t want this baby. I love him or her already, but the timing couldn’t be worse. Something happened to Wyatt. . .we didn’t want to worry you guys, so we didn’t say anything, but. . .he saw the Angel of Death a while back. The Angel said he wasn’t there for Wyatt, but if Wyatt didn’t change his need to save everyone, he would be back.”

“No,” Courtney swallowed, the news hard to hear. She shook her head, “We won’t let that happen, Em. We won’t.”

“I know, I know, and Wyatt did learn his lesson. The warning really scared him. But, I still can’t help but worry.”

“I don’t blame you. I couldn’t imagine what I’d do if Chris saw the Angel of Death,” Courtney frowned, “Again.”

Emily smiled at her friend, “Your husband does have a knack for getting himself into trouble doesn’t he?”

“Yeah. I think Clarence has us on speed dial by now.” Courtney shook her head. “But, enough about that. What I really want to know is what else has you upset because I know you well enough to know that there’s more to the story than you’re letting on.”

The other woman sighed, nodding. “You’re right. You see, Wyatt didn’t really want anymore kids. We have our hands full enough with just the girls, and he’s so busy at the hospital right now, trying to get that attending position...it just...it’s horrible timing.” She looked up with tears in her eyes, “I didn’t really want anymore either. I’m tired all the time as it is. I just...I don’t know how you and Chris do it, the club, restaurant, your paintings and three magical kids. I can’t do it. I just can’t. I don’t have the energy for a new baby. The late night feedings and diaper changes, the screaming...” A tear slipped down her face, “I’m so tired, Courtney.”

Wrapping her arms around the woman as she started to cry harder, the strawberry-blonde rubbed circles onto Emily’s back. “Hey, it’s going to be ok. Shhhh. It’s ok, Em. Everything is going to be fine. It will.”

The brunette pulled away, wiping at her eyes, “I don’t know what to do.”

“Get a nanny,” Courtney suggested. “Someone to help you out once and while so you can take a breather and have some time to yourself. You and Wyatt definitely make enough money to afford one, and I’m sure there’s a young witch or magical being that can handle the girls and the new baby.”

“How is it that you can do it all, and I can’t?”

The half-demon was thrown for a loop by that question. She blinked in surprise. “What? Em, I don’t. I don’t do it on my own. Chris has managers for the club and restaurant, so he can pretty much be home when he wants to be, and that gives me a breather. Not to mention I can work on my paintings here. It’s not always easy, but I guess we’re just a good team.”

“Wyatt’s gone a lot,” Emily muttered. She looked up at her friend, surprised by her own bitterness. “I didn’t mean it like that. I mean, he’s a doctor. A surgeon. Sometimes he works 120 hour weeks on top of his wiccan obligations. He can’t help it. He’s a healer, and it was what he was born to do. I just...”

“Sometimes feel like he leaves you to pick up the slack at home,” Courtney finished. “It’s ok to feel that way. You’ve been stuck at home with the kids for a long time, and I know that’s not what you wanted for yourself.”

“No, it’s really not,” Emily agreed. “I had a lot of dreams about my future. I always wanted to be a wife and mother, but not at the expense of who I am. I gave some of that up when I married Wyatt because I knew he needed the stability of someone taking care of the home front. You’re right, though. I need a break.”

“So take one. Tell Wyatt about the baby, and that you need a vacation. Some time for yourself to recharge. Then when you get back, I’ll help you find the best nanny you could possibly find, ok?”

Emily smiled softly, “Thanks, Courtney.”

Courtney smiled back, hugging her friend one more time for good measure. “Hey, that’s what I’m here for.”

000

“I hate my life.”

Chris Halliwell glanced up from his inventory sheets to see his older brother with his head in his hands. He raised an eyebrow, “Wy?”

“Because it stinks.”

The younger brother rolled his eyes at the miscommunication. Setting his paper work down for the moment, he turned on his chair in the observatory to face his brother who was seated on the love seat next to him. “Ok, why does it stink?”

“Emily is mad at me, but she won’t talk about it, which means that I can’t fix whatever it is I did wrong.”

“Are you sure she’s mad?”

Wyatt nodded, “She’s been snapping at me about every little thing, and it’s like one minute she’s fine and the next I’m enemy number one.”

“That doesn’t sound like Em.”

“It’s not. What’s worse is every time I ask her what’s wrong, she tells me it’s nothing.” He shook his head, “Don’t you hate when people do that? When there is something bugging them and it’s so easy to see, but they still go ‘nothing, I’m fine’. Drives me so crazy.”

Chris smiled at his sibling’s rant, “Yeah, me too, but if you want to get to the bottom of whatever it is that’s wrong, you’ve got two options. One is to push for the answer, which will probably just make her madder. Or two, you can wait for her to come to you, which knowing Em, won’t be too long.”

Chris was about to continue with his brotherly advice when his youngest son came flying into the room looking as though he was being chased by the Source himself. Perry was going to head right past his father and into the kitchen, but his father was faster and grabbed him around the middle, pausing him in his tracks. “Hey, where’s the fire?”

“In my bedroom,” Perry answered, his green eyes wide. “I gotta get Piper so she can freeze it. All my toys are gonna melt.”

Chris’ eyebrows shot up, “What?”

Piper orbed into the room in that moment, a frustrated look on her face, “I can’t believe Preston did it again. That’s the second time in three hours.” She looked up at her father, “I heard the boys panicking about the fire through our link, so I iced it already, Dad. It’s just all smoky in their room now.”

“It was an accident,” Perry explained. “He didn’t mean to do it, honest.”

Wyatt frowned, “How did Preston start a fire?”

“He got a new power today,” Chris monotoned. “He can shoot fire out of his hands.”

The Twice Blessed winced, “Oh.”

“Where’s your brother now?” The father of the two children asked, his tone tired.

“He’s in the basement,” Piper answered. “I tried to tell him it was ok, and that he’d get the hang of it, but he wouldn’t listen.”

Chris sighed, “Ok, I’ll go talk to him. You two...play with Uncle Wyatt till I get back. He’s having a rough day. Why don’t you sing that song he loves so much?”

Wyatt glared at his sibling.

“This is the song that never ends,” Perry started, completely unaware that he was being used as a pawn.

Piper, completely aware of what her father was doing, joined in any way, “Yes it goes on and on my friends.”

The Twice Blessed sighed and forced a smile to his face for the children’s sake, all the while plotting his revenge.

Meanwhile, in the basement. . .

Preston was curled up on himself, his legs pulled into his chest as he cried onto his arms. He was dangerous. He had almost gotten Perry really hurt. If that fire had hit his little brother, he never would have forgiven himself.

An arm slipped around his shoulder and pulled him close against a strong chest. He looked up to find his father smiling sympathetically at him. He sniffled, embarrassed about having been caught crying. He looked away ashamed.

Chris gently guided his son’s head back to face him, “Hey, it’s ok to cry. I’ve cried before. Sometimes it helps.”

“Really? You’ve cried?” Preston questioned doubtfully.

The young father nodded, “Sure. About important things.”

Preston lowered his head, “I guess this means you know what happened, huh?”

Chris sighed, “Why didn’t you say you were having so much trouble controlling it? I’m sure your mom would be able to teach you how to. You got it from her after all.”

“I did?” the little boy questioned, his eyes finally meeting his father’s, a small smile forming.

“Yeah, but she doesn’t use it often because it’s dangerous,” the adult confirmed. “Which,” he continued, “is something you seem to have figured out already.”

Preston nodded, “Yeah. I almost hit Perry by accident. He orbed away though. I was really really scared. I don’t want to hurt anybody. Ever.”

Chris gave his son a gentle squeeze. “You won’t. You’ll get the hang of this. It just takes time. Every new power is a little different, and some of them can be dangerous, but I promise you, you wouldn’t have gotten anything you couldn’t handle.”

“No one else seems to have trouble.”

“Sure they do,” Chris replied. “Want to hear a story about your grandma?”

“Yeah,” The black haired youth answered excitedly. All the kids loved hearing about their legendary Grandma Piper.

Chris chuckled at the enthusiasm, remembering how he and Wyatt had been the same way when it came to hearing stories about their mother and aunt’s glory days. “Well, back when your grandma first got her explosion power she didn’t know how to control it. Every time she tried to freeze something, it’d blow up. Well, all of the sudden, your great aunt Pheobe and aunt Prue heard a squeal coming from the kitchen, so they ran in there to see what was wrong, and your grandma was covered in this red juice. They asked her if it was a demon, and she said,” and here Chris cleared his throat to do a very good impersonation of his mother, “No, it was watermelon.”

Preston started laughing, both at the story and his father’s attempt to mimic his grandmother. He shook his head, “I can’t believe she blew up a watermelon all over herself. That’s so funny.”

“Yeah,” Chris nodded, feeling a small pang of loss. He sighed, “You would have adored your grandma. She was sweet, and soft spoken, but hard as nails when she needed to be.”

The little boy squeezed his father’s hand, “I’m sorry you miss her so much, Dad.”

“Thank you,” the father answered, touched by the gesture. He let out a breath, “But, the point of that little story was that even your grandma, the all powerful Charmed One, struggled with her powers at first, so there is absolutely nothing to feel bad about, kay?”

Preston nodded, “Kay.”

Chris was about to stand up again when he noticed his son still looking a little down. He frowned, “What?”

“I’m glad I got this power from mom,” Preston said, staring at his hands. “Because I don’t wanna be like him. I don’t wanna have anything the same as him.”

It took Chris a moment to figure out who Preston was referring to, but then it hit him like a ton of bricks. He was talking about Robbie. So that was what this was really about. Ever since Preston had found out Chris wasn’t his biological father he had acted a little differently. He and Courtney had thought he was okay with it. He hadn’t seemed terribly upset when they had gotten done explaining everything to him, and how it didn’t change the fact that Chris loved him just the same as his siblings. Apparently, they had been wrong.

Chris sat back down, “Hey, you aren’t anything like him. You never will be.”

“I orb like him,” Preston muttered.

“I orb too, and your orbs are the same color as mine, not his,” Chris argued. “They represent the goodness in you. Only if you were evil would your orbs turn black like his. So, in that way, your orbs make you like me.”

Preston smiled, having never thought of it that way. “Yeah, yeah like you and Piper and Perry.”

“Exactly.” Chris put his hand on his son’s shoulder, “But even if you do inherit a power from him, I want you to know that it doesn’t make you even a little bit like him. It’s how you use them that defines who you are, and I know that you’re going to use them to help people, not hurt them.”

Preston nodded, his eyes lighting up, “Cuz I’m a Halliwell, like you.”

“You, Preston, are a Halliwell through and through. Just like me.” Chris answered with a wink.

The cell phone in his pocket started ringing. Chris rolled his eyes. He was planning on ignoring it in favor of making certain his son was okay, but Preston pulled it out of his pocket and handed it to him before orbing off. Chris took a moment to sense where he went and was relieved to find him in the observatory with his siblings.

“Halliwell here.”

“Hey, Chris, we have a situation...”