When it All Goes Down in Flames

[wickedamazon]

*hey people what's up? it has been a while since i have written a fan fic so....here it goes. THis is a brand new series that i have planned. All of which leads up to Chris going back to the future. So, as always, i hope that you enjoy this story and all comments good or bad are welcomed*
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The Dream: Chapter One

She had nowhere to run. The cold breeze snipped at her cheeks and bit at her lips but still she ran despite the terrible frosty climate. She had no choice but to run. It was do or die.

Her feet pounded hard into the earth as every step she took was in hopes of escaping the terrible fate that lay behind her. The sharp rocks, and broken branches cut into the delicate flesh of her feet, leaving blood droplets in a trail behind her.

She looked back behind her and saw nothing but wasn't stupid so she kept on running. she ran with all her might. her heart thumping hard and fast inside her chest. The cold air stinging her lungs with every frantic inhale she took. But without warning she was on the cold, frost covered ground.

She struggled to get up but the thick root had twisted her ankle badly. suddenly a hand grabbed her firmly by the hair and jerked her up to her knees. The girl let out a scream and tried to pull away but the tall man was too strong for her already weak and exhausted body.

"Parting is such sweet sorrow," he whispered in her ear and slid the blade of an atheme across her throat.

The girl's eyes opened widely locking onto the man who was right in front of her off in the distance.


Chris woke up with a start in a cold sweat. He blinked a few times as his eyes adjusted to the darkness of his room. THe silver moonlight shined through the crackes in the venacian blinds.

He glanced at the clock: 2:30 am. Great. Another sleepless night. As usual.
**********
Chris sighed as he got himself up out of his bed. Attempting to fall asleep again was useless. This dream had been occuring all week long and he had no idea whatsoever as to what it meant. Every night the dream began and ended the same way only, each night, he could smell the damp air filled with the scent of old moss and trees; feel the chilling cold that caused your bones to ache.

As Chris made his way down the stair case in the large and dark famous Halliwell manor, he kept thinking to himself that he shouldn't be worried over a dream. After all, a dream wasn't real. Or was it? His aunt Phoebe- beautiful in her days- had once told him that sometimes, dreams were more than just dreams, that your sub-conscious was trying to tell you something by projecting different symbols. Mix that with magic and you'll get a whirl wind rush from the premonition. But hey, that was only with those who harness that power.

The kitchen floor was cold beneath the bareness of his feet as he walked over to the fridge to find a snack. He jumped at the sudden touch of a hand on his shoulder and whipped around lightning fast, half scared it was the person he didn't want to see the most and half ready to end that person's life.......

"Lana," Chris said at the sight of the small greying woman who was standing at him with a blank expression. "I could've hurt you."

"You could've tried," she said with brevity. "We have a problem."

Chris sighed. "Tell me something new."

Lana gave him a curt stern look which made Chris feel like he was a child again even though he was twenty one.

"WHat's the problem?" he asked trying to get her to be on a subject other than how he shouldn't be a brat-- one subject he knew was waiting on the tip of her tongue.

"Ever heard of Bringers?" she asked as she placed her hands on her hips in a mild professional manner.

Chris nodded with a vague sense of recognition. "Yeah, they're a higher form of bounty hunters. No big deal; why?"

"No big deal?" Lana said aghast. "Why, Christopher Victor Halliwell, you shouln't take anything for granted for--"

"The consequences of that could be enormous, fatal and so on," Chris finished tiredly for her. Like her hadn't heard that before.

Again Lana looked at him with that sharp stern look. "Aside from your naivity, it seems that they have struck in the Black Forest. A young girl was found by your father."

CHris rolled his eyes at the word Father. If anything, Leo Wyatt had been nothing but.....

"We're wasting time," Lana said and took his hand, whisping them away in the night.

[wickedamazon]

The Hostile was bustling full of witches, fairies, leprechauns, trolls, and other magical beings who had sided with the Resistance against the new order that had come to power in the recent years.

Practices of magical potions, anti-hexes, shields and spells were being crafted and perfected to the touch as Chris passed by.

"Do you think it's true?" a leprechaun said as Chris walked by.

"I didn't think they still existed," a witch with flaming red hair said. "But apparently that's what she is."

"Yer not fallin fer dat load o' rubbish!" an elder witch said as he braced himself with an ebony cane that twisted about like the roots of a tree. "Dat is an old tale...if ya tell me, dat girl is noting but a phony!"

"Oh Borris! Have you not heard a word that the elders have said?" the witch with red hair exclaimed.

"Don' get me started on de elders. Dem too are da ones in part responsible for....."

Their voices trailed off as Lana led Chris deeper and deeper in the the underground tunnels of the hostile.

The hostile was built underground with nothing but magical shields protecting itself from being found or sensed by the order. It had taken years to get people to join the resistance and even longer to convince them that it would bring back the world that once existed.

Ever since the Titans had come full force, the world that once was slowly slid into oblivion. Choas broke in every city as black outs, disease, disaster and death seeped through the very air that was breathed in. Nobody trusted no one, more like, no one was worth trusting any more. Honest men lied, cheated and steeled; corruption filtrated through the government causing people to become even more afraid than before.

The world of the non-magical soon collided with the world of magic. No longer were the tales of witches and demons just tales of folklore and myth, but in fact they were reality.

This type of choatic world seemed to be spinning faster and faster towards complete destruction until a very unlikely team was formed.

The powers of both good and evil arose to the occasion and settled on the fact that they either fight the threat of the Titans or perish at the hands of a foreign power. And so, evil and good joined in the Great Army to defend the world that they both lived and wished to dominate in. The sides that were seen as neutral, now joined their forces and The Great War began.

The War lasted what seemed like an eternity. Thousands of witches, wizards, demons and even the non-magic people fell during the battle. Soon, the Titans were brought down, vanquished by the very magical beings that had been among their bloodlines; vanquished by the evils in which they lived for; vanquished by a power that had never been used at all. For, the powers of both good and evil found to be just what the Titans could not handle.

Chris glanced at the few people and beings that walked by. He knew that these creatures of magic had some doubts in the Resistance. After all, the Order had already made it clear that any such uprise would be put to a permanent stop. Several members had already died. He knew that he was responsible for them even though his Grandfather had told him he wasn't. But they were his responsibility since it was his blood that was killing him. He had watched his parents fight off evil longer than he could remember. The constant drilling that good always prevailed was scarred deep inside of him; apparently not for his other half.

"Here we are," Lana said suddenly as the two stopped in front of a dark wooden door. She twisted the brass door knob slowly and the door creaked open.

She led the way into the darkly dim litted room where a few people stood crowding over a bed in the back of the room.

Chris glanced over the people who stood there; the golden robes gave away the last people he wished to see and the dirty blonde hair and height of one man gave away the last person he'd ever want to see.

"Ahem," Lana cleared her throat as if to make clear that they were now present in the room.

Leo turned and looked at Lana then at his own son. He walked up towards them and led them back out of the room. As he did, Chris glanced once more at the elders who were now clearing the way so he could just see the bed. The silky brown hair and the soft tanned skin, the perfectly arched full eyebrows and the nose......all made him gulp. How could it be that she....the very girl from his dream...how could she be real?

[anglomaltese]

Hmm...intriguing, where's Wyatt in all this - good or evil?? Update soon!

[sweet8]

It's a great story; so far! Please write more.

[wickedamazon]

Chapter Three: A Lesson in History

Chris barely had time to grasp the fact that the girl from his dreams was now in fact, in that room…in his reality, before his thoughts were interrupted by the sound of his father’s voice.

“Lana, thanks for getting him,” Leo said with a small smile then directed his eyes onto his son. “You’re probably wondering why I brought you here.”

“Well I can rule out the whole father-son bonding thing,” Chris replied cheekily.

Leo paused for a beat then continued in the authorative tone he always used when he explained the mysteries of what went on. “We found this girl-”

“In the Black Forest, attacked by Bringers,” Chris cut off impatiently. “Yeah, I know.”

“Well then you must also know that we’re up against something that-”

“Could prove to be something that Wyatt has conjured up as one of his latest new plans,” Chris finished boardly.

“Cut the smart behind remarks Chris,” Leo said firmly then looked at Lana. “Could you excuse us?”

Lana gave Chris a sharp glare then looked back at Leo. “What that boy needs is some good ol’ fashion discipline Leo. But, you are the boy’s father, so you figure out what to do with him.” With that she walked away, slowly as if hoping to catch what the two were going to talk about.

Leo then turned back to Chris. He was about to chew him out but decided against that. “This girl was in bad shape when the Centaurs found her. She barely made. She’s still unconscious. It’s only a matter of time before we find out what exactly happened out there.”

“Some demon must’ve wanted her dead,” Chris reasoned. “Why else would bounty hunters attack?”

“That’s the thing,” Leo said as he looked around to make sure that no one was listening to their conversation. He lowered his voice to a whisper. “If they were collecting bounty, why not bring her back with them? Something’s not right here. Aside from that, there’s been a lot of suspicious activity in the forest lately.”

“There’s a lot of suspicious activity everywhere,” Chris corrected, folding his arms across his chest.

Silence.

Chris looked around the hall then back at Leo. “Is it possible that one of the members of our family could’ve inherited Aunt Phoebe’s power of premonition?” he asked all of a sudden.

Leo glanced at his son with a curious expression. “It’s possible. But Evie hasn’t shown any signs of-”

“I had a dream about that girl,” Chris blurted.

“What? You mean, you think you had a premonition?”

“I-I don’t know, all I know is that she was there. She was dressed in the same white dress that she’s in now.”

Leo thought about what Chris had said for a moment. His mother was a very powerful witch and he, a very powerful elder. With their older son’s capable of…..it could be possible that Chris was in fact coming into a new power, but the line of inheritance was wrong. If someone had to come into the power of premonition, it would be Phoebe’s daughter Evie; her only child.

“What exactly did you see?” Leo asked after a while. “Be specific.”

Chris let out a sigh. “I saw her running…fast. She seemed to be afraid, as if she were trying to run away from something. She, she fell and that’s when he got her.”

“Who? A Bringer?”

Chris shrugged. “I don’t know Leo, possibly.”

Leo frowned. “When did you have this dream?”

“More like I’ve been having it for the past week,” Chris replied annoyed. This dream had been way too real and had cost him plenty of sleep. Let alone the fact that he couldn’t stop thinking about the girl. Who was she? Why was he dreaming of her? What was she running from? Why?

Chris’ thoughts were again interrupted by the sound of Leo’s voice.

“Are you sure that it was her?” Leo questioned.

“Positive,” Chris said matter of fact like. He then looked at his father. “Why is she so special? I mean, I heard the other’s making a big fuss over her. What the deal?”

Leo glanced around once more to ensure their privacy then turned back to his son. “Ever heard of the Atari clan?”

Chris shook his head.
“It’s said that the clan was one of the first tribes of magic; derived right from the Ancient Ronan,” his father explained. “You know that the Ancients were the first beings of magic…you learn that in first year history at magic school; anyways, this clan, the Ataries, are said to harvest the greatest and most ancient powers. The blood line is corrupt as well as powerful.”

“So they’re like mega-witches?”

Leo shook his head. “In a way and then no. They’re not pure blood. See, Ronan had fallen for Imara, another ancient, together they had several children. Now while they wanted the line to be pure in blood so as to not weaken their powers, a few of the children strayed, marrying lesser witches, wizards; some even married warlocks and demons and procreated with them.”

“So you’re saying that that girl in there….she’s some kind of threat because of her lineage?”

Leo nodded in confirmation. “The Atari clan is notorious for turning towards the side of evil. As a matter of fact, some had even joined the league of the Source. But there’s no record of the clan after the First War. The whole entire clan was supposedly wiped out by the Source.”

“And you’re thinking that this girl is part of the Atari lineage?” Chris said skeptically. “How the hell do you know that?”

“The mark on her left wrist: the raven. That was the mark of the Ataries.”

“It could just be a tattoo.”

“It’s not; we performed the tests and it’s legit,” Leo answered briefly. “Look, I have to do some errands. Seeing as you had this dream about her…she could be a charge of yours. You should look after her and inform me when she wakes.”

Before Chris could put in a word, blue orbs engulfed Leo as he dematerialized out of the hall.

[wickedamazon]

Chapter Four: Curiosity Killed the Cat…almost

‘As usual Leo always found a way to leave,’ Chris thought as he slowly made his way down the halls that twisted and turned in a snake-like fashion through out the Hostile, leading to different rooms and wings of the underground lair. How is it that Leo could expect him to do something just because he said it? He had no hold over Chris- biological father or not.

“Think fast!” a voice shouted out.

Chris barely blinked as the brown object came swirling in a big blur towards him. Upon reflex, he held up his hands and caught the football perfectly right in front of his face. He smirked and looked over at the young man who had thrown it.

“Nice try Artemis,” Chris said with a laugh as he tossed the ball back to his friend.

Artemis caught the ball and flashed a charming grin. “Well, I try,” he said as he ran a hand through his jet black hair.

Artemis McFadden had been Chris’ longtime pal from childhood. Mrs. McFadden had met Piper in the hospital on the day she had gone into labor with Chris. The two had complained together about the pains, how they naively thought they could handle it since it was their second child and how the hospital food was the most disgusting trash they had ever eaten. Although Kelly McFadden gave birth to Artemis the following night, she and Piper had formed an attachment. Seeing as the two were both witches and longing to raise their children in as normal of a world as possible, the two instantly hit it off.

Chris and Artemis had entered into the same pre-school as each other and were an inseparable mischievous duo.

The two were like brothers, but with very distinct characters. Chris was the good one who only got into trouble because he followed what Artemis said and thought was cool. He maintained his good grades throughout school and had steady relationships with girls. He took after his mother in the culinary skills and regular academics yet fell short when it came to magic. He had to work twice as hard as the other kids in school.

Artemis on the other hand, was the opposite. He had average grades in his school career and magic came to him as if it were right up there with breathing. He was a gifted conjurer…yet the power allowed him to create mischief and had gotten him into plenty of trouble. He was seen as the rebellious one. He listened to hard rock, dressed like a rock star with his jet black hair and piercing eyes and good looks; he was always dating a new girl a week it seemed like and sometimes juggling two at a time. The girls loved him. Why wouldn’t they? He was charming, good humored and very outgoing. He was the real life of the party.

“So have you heard about the hottie that the Centaurs found in the woods?” Artemis asked. As usual, girls were the first things on his mind.

Chris shook his head. “And how do you know she’s a hottie? Have you seen her yet?”

Artemis grinned, “That’s what I was just on my way to do,” he said as he held up a blue blanket. “If I get stopped I’ll just say that I thought she could use an extra blanket.”

“What a good Samaritan you are,” Chris replied rolling his eyes. “I’ll save you the trouble.”

“Ah-ah,” Artemis said shaking his head. “Sorry dude, got first dibs.”

“Dibs? She’s not desert Artemis,” Chris said with a laugh. He grinned mischievously. “Besides, I already saw her.”

Artemis’ green eyes flickered with curiosity. “Details; is she hot or what?”

Chris shrugged.
“Halliwell!” Artemis said exasperated. “I thought you saw her.”

“I did; I saw her in my dreams.”

“Ok, dude, I don’t want to know about your little wet fantasies.”

“Shut up,” Chris said. “Not that kind of dream. I saw her get attacked.”

“Like a premonition?” Artemis wondered. “Can you get a premonition off me right now? Do I have a chance with the lovely lady?”

“What poor soul needs to be saved from a dog like you?” a girl’s voice said from behind Artemis.

Artemis turned around and smiled as he looked the girl up and down. “Nice to see ya Evelyn,” he said with a grin.

Chris smiled at the sight of his cousin. She looked exactly like his Aunt Phoebe, only a little taller and the fact that she had Jason’s eyes. “Evie, what are you doing here?”

“Nice to see you too Chris,” Evie said as she pushed her dark sunglasses back on top of her head.

“Yeah, ditto; are you here to stay are or are you going to leave for months at a time again?” Chris asked coolly.
Artemis looked from Evie to Chris. “I’m going to go now. Nice seeing ya Evie.”

Evie watched as Artemis left then looked back at her cousin. “You know, it wouldn’t kill you to be nice to me.”

“Just like it wouldn’t kill you to actually stay this time.”
“You know I can’t.”

“Is it that you can’t or that you don’t want to?” Chris asked coldly.

Evie narrowed her eyes at her cousin and accosted him. “Don’t you try to act like the righteous one with me Chris. You know exactly why I don’t want to stay.”

Chris shook his head. “That’s a lame excuse Evie.”

“No it isn’t. Don’t tell me that it’s a lame excuse,” she said in an angry whisper. “You weren’t there when my parents died. You didn’t see it but I did.” She shook her head at him. “Don’t try to tell me that what I’m doing is just an excuse. I’m not going to be stupid like her.”

“Aunt Phoebe wasn’t stupid,” Chris said growing angry with his cousin by the moment.

“Wasn’t she?” Evie demanded. “She knew that fighting for the greater good would get herself six feet under. I knew it, she knew it, even my father knew it. But did she listen to us? No. Now look where she’s at.”

“The greater good is something she believed in; our whole family believed in.”

“Screw the greater good!” Evie hissed. “It wasn’t worth Aunt Paige’s death or my mom’s or Aunt Piper’s death. It wasn’t worth my father’s either…he wasn’t even a part of it! Besides, if good was so great, why is Wyatt the way he is?”

Chris’ jaw stiffened. “Don’t talk about things you don’t know about.”

“I know plenty Chris. More than you think.”
“Meaning what?”

Evie sighed with frustration. “Meaning that my cousin has also been making my life a living hell, not just yours. Ok? He’s even scared my fiancé into reconsidering our engagement.”

The anger from Chris’ face washed away at this remark. “You’re engaged?”

Evie nodded. “You don’t know him.”

“Well, what’s his name?”

“Zach,” she replied as she tucked her brown hair behind her ear. “Look, I’m only here because Uncle Leo asked me to come. Sounds like the elders don’t know what their dealing with, seeing as this girl is big news.”

“You know?” Chris asked curiously.

“The whole magical world knows,” Evie replied tiredly. “Look, Lana has been on my case since I arrived and I am so not going to stay at the Hostile with her watching me 24/7. Can I stay in the manor with you?”

Chris nodded. “Your room’s still there.”

“Good to know. I’ll see you later.” With that she left Chris alone in the hall. He let out a sigh. Things were going to get very hectic around here.
*******

When Chris opened the door to the room where the mysterious sleeping girl had been, he found to his surprise that she was no longer asleep but wide awake; smiling satisfactorily at Artemis who was in a panic frenzy, running around the room like a chicken whose head had been cut off. He was, it seemed, trying to force open his mouth, only, every time he tried to do it with his hands or let out a sound, he winced out in pain. The girl laughed.

“What the hell did you do?” Chris demanded as he ran over to his friend.

The girl ignored him and continued to laugh hysterically.
Chris glared at the girl and yanked her up off of the bed by her arm. “Whatever you did to him, reverse it. Now!”

The girl smiled up at him smugly. “Why? I’m teaching him a lesson.” She glanced at Artemis with satisfaction. “He thinks he can do whatever because I’m “weak and vulnerable” this with serve him right.”

Chris tightened his grasp on her arm. “Reverse it. I’m not asking.”

The girl sighed and mumbled something under her breath in a language that he couldn’t recognize. Artemis let out a cry of pain and glared at the girl. “Stupid B!tch!”

The girl narrowed her eyes at him and made to advance him.
“Artemis go,” Chris said as he angrily stopped the girl.
“NO problem; I’m out of here,” Artemis said and slammed the door behind him.

“You can let of me now champ,” the girl said looking up at Chris.

“Why should I? Seeing as what you did to my friend I don’t see the reason to,” he replied through his teeth.

“It was a simple jaw lock jinx,” the girl replied then smiled seductively at him. “Now let go…or are you planning on teaching me a lesson too?” Before Chris opened his mouth, she shoved him away from her with great strength, knocking him against the old oak dresser that was in the room. “Not much of a champ,” she said in triumph.

Chris glared at her as he picked himself up and for some reason, he used his telekinesis on her, causing her to fly into the bed post. Chris smiled smugly down at her but suddenly lost sight of her as a blur came towards him and someone grabbed him from behind and pinned him against the wall.

“Now that wasn’t very nice,” she said in a mocking pouting tone. Her grasp tightened on his arms. “What’s wrong Champ? Can’t muster up the energy to fight a girl?” she whispered in his ear.

Anger pumped through Chris’ veins and he was able to turn and maneuver himself towards where he pinned her to the wall by the wrists and pressed her into the wall.

The girl gasped in pain yet smiled. “Not bad,” she taunted. “Of course, force can be good,” she said with a smile. “Of course, I usually don’t go for this unless I know the other person’s name. Call me old fashioned.”

Chris glared at her. “If you lay a hand on my friend again….or anyone else for that matter I’ll-”

“You’ll what?” the girl demanded playful. “Use your tk on me again?”

“Am I interrupting something?” Leo asked curiously as he entered the room.

“Nope, just teaching champ that this hold can make him vulnerable.” She quickly twisted out of his grasp and slammed him into the ground. “See? Your dead then,” she smiled. She then turned to Leo. “You must be the elder that the jerk was talking about.”

“Chris mentioned me to you?” Leo said shocked.
“So that’s what the Champ’s name is?” she said and shook her head. “No, the other one. The guy with the mouth---Artemis?”

Leo laughed. “So you met Arty huh?”
“It was my pleasure,” she replied and smoothed out her wavy brown hair. “Thank you for your hospitality. I’m Cecilia by the way. Cecilia Moretti,” she said as she stepped over Chris who was trying to figure out what the hell just happened.

Leo shook her hand. “Leo. We have some discussing to do.”
“I thought so. Can we do so over dinner?”
“Breakfast,” Leo corrected. He smiled warmly. “Sure. I’ll see you later Chris.”
With that they left.

[wickedamazon]

Chris rolled his eyes at his cousin as the three walked down the long hall way towards the large room at the end of the Hostile that was used as a meeting room for everyone and creature in the Resistance. "Shut up Evie," he mumbled grumpily.

Evie smiled, trying hard not to laugh. "I didn't say anything Chris; you're the one assuming what's on my mind."

Artemis glared at Evie. "It's not funny."

With that Evie let out a slight laugh. "What? Does it hinder your ego, hurt your masculinity to know that a girl....I repeat, a girl, was able to kick your ass in more ways than one?" she began to giggle.

Chris shook his head. "At least one of us finds it amusing," he replied tiredly.

It was the next day now and he had yet to get much rest. After the incident with that girl- Cecilia- Leo and Lana had him running errands all night.

He was sent all over the world to contact the prestigous members of the Resistance to inform them of an emergency meeting that would be held the following day at the hostile. Everyone was to attend.

Artemis rubbed his jaw. "I'd like to know where she got that spell," he said quietly.

"What's it to you?" Evie said smugly. "You out for revenge?"

Artemis' green eyes flickered at her. "You know, I think I liked it better when you would just skip town after saying hello."

Evie raised her eyebrows. "No need to get nasty with me," she mumbled. She sighed. "So....what's this meeting about anyways?"

Chris shrugged. "Beats me. As usual, Leo wasn't specific." He opened the large, heavy door to the auditorium like room and instantly the rise in arguing voices flooded loudly, echoing off the walls.

"This is and outrage!" a woman with strawberry red hair exclaimed as she stood up from her seat, slaming her foot into the ground causing the room to shake.

"Malia, calm down," Leo said in a state of calmness which was wavering.

"Don't tell me to calm down Elder!" Malia snapped. Her beautiful facial features, contorted with anger and hatred. "This is not some charity project."

"Yeah!" a man bellowed loudly. "So you saved her; she's alive now. Turn her back!"

"She's a threat to our society....to the Resistance!" a leprechaun added in a high pitched Irish accent.

The crowd gathered there began to speak loudly at once. Each person wanting to throw in their two cents at a time.

Evie walked up to Leo who was rubbing the temples of his forehead. It was the first time she noticed how tired and completely drained he was from all of the business he had been doing with the Resistance. He face was pale and his eyes were sunken in.

No longer were his blue eyes bright and full of life, but they lacked the spark they once had and appeared to be heavy and old.

"What's going on?" EVie asked glancing at the heated crowd.

"Oh the same old good times," he replied sarcastically.

"It's time Elder to stop protecting that threat of a son of yours!" Malia shouted above all. "You know as well as any of us, those who are wanted by Wyatt will cause nothing but despair and destruction to us all."

"You don't know that," a little man with white hair and spectacles replied.

The Amazon glared at him. "How dare you question the fact!" she hissed.

Evie rolled her eyes and clapped her hands together causing the sound of thunder to boom in the room loudly.

Everyone there immediately became silent and looked at the girl who was asking for attention.

Leo smiled at his niece. "Thanks." He then turned to the rest of them. "THis girl has been the target of Wyatt, yes, I will admit to that." He glanced around the room. "What you all are failing to see is that she can be a valuable asset to us all. To the future of the Resistance."

"She's an Atari," an elder witch replied tiredly. "History has shown that they are not to be trusted."

"Then it's time that we change history," Leo replied firmly. "You all were gathered here today to join together in the ......."

Artemis looked around then at Chris. "From all this anger you'd better go check on her," he said.

Chris looked at him. "Me? Why me. YOu go."

Artemis laughed. "Thanks, but I'll pass." His eyes landed on Evie who was standing with her hands on her hips near her uncle.

Chris shook his head. "She's engaged you know," he said before leaving.

[wickedamazon]

When Chris walked into the bedroom he found that Cecilia was seated on the end of the bed and just staring at the dresser which was in front of her.

Chris hesitated before clearing his throat to make his presence known.

"So, has the council decided to vote me off the island?" she said not looking at him.

Chris fidgeted in his place and then closed the door. "Leo's talking to them," he explained as he walked up to her slowly not sure if that was a wise idea considering the previous day's events.

Cecilia nodded her head and sighed. "I don't blame them. Besides, I won't take any offense to it." she looked at him and shrugged with a superficial smile. "I'm used to it now. You'd be surprised."

Chris smiled sympathetically at her and leaned against the dresser. "So, you know Wyatt then?"

"Your brother? Yes." she smiled at Chris. "I only found out he was related to you when I talked to Leo."

Chris was silent. "How do you know him?"

Cecilia smiled at him. "So about yesterday, I'm sorry for that. NOt for Artemis, but for what I did to you in front of your father."

*to be continued*