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Chapter Two

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The Reactions

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“Hello mother.”

The words seemed to echo throughout the room and in their heads.

It took several minutes for Phoebe to process those words through her mind and she found herself feeling a bit faint. In fact, she was sure she was hyperventilating. Was this what Piper had felt during their trip to the future and discovered her daughter? That little girl had been only around five, but this one looked to be in her late teens or early twenties. Instant grown up children were a bit hard to wrap your mind around.

Chris closed his eyes with a small winch. He felt like his carefully thought out plan just flew out of the window. His cousin hadn’t been here for… what? More then ten minutes and she’d already revealed her identity? Funny, because she was the person he’d likely turn to with a secret. She was nothing like Phoebe when it came to secrets – but he couldn’t blame her for this. It wasn’t Phoenicia’s fault that she was… volatile.

“… Excuse me?” breathed out Phoebe finally, staring at the young woman whose critical gaze never wavered as it was settled unblinkingly on her nervous form. How could one girl make her want to inch away and rush forward to hug her at the same time like that? It wasn’t natural, but then again, when was anything in their lives natural?

“I said hello,” repeated Phoenicia, pausing a bit and looking towards Chris. “Is that wrong?”

“No,” he smiled at her, a genuine smile that lit up his face in a way Leo and the sisters had never seen before. “Hello is the proper way to greet someone,” the dark haired man verified. Phoenicia nodded and gripped his hand tighter. She sighed and looked around the house she’d grown up in, not in the least bit concerned with the four people who were still in shock and wanting answers.

Everything was… different. Wrong. That child’s playpen should have been up stairs in the attic, collecting dust. That sofa had been replaced when she was eight years old where they moved it to the basement, which had been renovated into two sections – Chris and Wyatt’s room. But then Wyatt had made this place into a museum, hadn’t he? She recalled all of the costumes when she’d been through here. But, where were they? With a careless wave of her hand, the room morphed into what it should have been, with the costumes, the gift shop, the probes that scanned people. Chris flinched at the change, wondering if she added the hologram systems as well. He touched her shoulder and she looked at him, then back at the room.

“It was wrong,” she said. “Had to fix it.”

“Mia,” he sighed, glancing at his family’s horrified reaction at what she’d just done to their home. “This isn’t how it’s supposed to be. This is how it will be, but right now you need to change it back.” She eyed him strangely, so he elaborated, “We’re in the past Mia, 2003. So can you change it back? Please? For me…?" A longsuffering sigh and a wave of her hand later, the playpen and the sofa were back. He smiled at her in thanks and tried to ignore the sputtering sounds everyone else was making. This was actually kind of amusing. It wasn’t everyday that you could shock a Charmed One and an Elder into utter silence.

To bad silence never lasts long enough.

“Will someone please tell me what the hell is going on here?” demanded Piper, her rich dark eyes going between the two time travelers. The girl claimed to be family, and frankly, she could see it. She had a mix of Prue and Phoebe in her face, the dark hair, the slim figure… she was obviously magical as well.

“Well, since she already said it,” muttered Chris with a hint of annoyance, though his lips twitched showing more amusement then anything. He smiled a bit and introduced, “I’d like you all to meet Phoenicia,” Saying her name drew her attention, though not for very long before she was gazing about again. “Phoenicia Naomi… Halliwell.” He made sure to leave off the Turner, no point in giving Phoebe anymore of a shock then they already had.

“Born October 1st, 2004, twelve hours, zero minutes, zero seconds; five pounds, seven ounces,” added Phoenicia automatically at his introduction. “In the Tween Hour; the night of the Chimera Flight Festival in Valhalla and the Elemental Fall Rites the Nether Realms.” They all stared at her in shock, unable to form thoughts, let alone words. “Chrissie,” she said, turning to him. “Demons.” As the words passed her lips, two demons appeared, looking ready to fight. However, thanks to Phoenicia’s absent-minded warning, they reacted a bit quicker then they would have otherwise. Piper blew the first one up easily, and Chris sent the other flying into the antique clock, winching as he heard it smash.

Piper’s going to kill me, he thought with a sour face, preparing to attack the demon again. The damned thing shimmered out before he had the chance and Chris immediately looked to where his Twin had been. She was still standing there with a mild interested look on her face but seemed not to care about what was going on around her. Piper scowled as she got control of herself.

“How did she know that?” she demanded, hands on her hips. Chris hesitated. If he answered that, it could cause a butt load of trouble he didn’t want to face right now. Unfortunately, or thankfully depending on how one looks at it, he didn’t have to answer. Phoenicia decided right then to sober up and started talking normally… for her anyway.

“How does one know anything?” she asked lightly, settling her unsettling gaze on her would-be aunt. “How do you know what substances to add to a cake or a sauce or a potion?” She turned to Paige. “How do you know what to add to your artwork to make it look realistic or see the Signs in your Calling? Or what about what you write in your column?” she asked her mother. “How do you know what people need to hear?”

“… Instinct?” the shorthaired woman answered, though it was more of a question.

Phoenicia studied her and then nodded slowly. “Just as you Feel emotions, I Feel things as well.” Chris had to hold in his breath of relief when she didn’t add anything else. Certain phrases would have tipped Leo off, which would have had the Elders crawling all over their asses, and that was not something he wanted to happen. Not that they could do anything, but it would waste valuable time.

“She’s handy to have around,” commented Paige, trying her hand at humor. The teenage girl frowned at her. She obviously hadn’t been handy enough when she was younger, had she? Chris, either sensing the direction of thought by the look on her face or somehow reading her mind even with her shields up, redirected the conversation.

“Okay, now I know you have questions,” he said, getting looks from all of them that basically shouted ‘duh!’ at him. “Right. I do too, so I think we should all sit down for this.” Piper nodded and rushed towards the kitchen. The others followed a bit more slowly, Phoebe trying to get a closer look at her daughter (ooh, just thinking that word made her grin), whom was being led around by Chris.

Inside the kitchen, Piper was bustling around trying to make tea for everyone. Five minutes later, all six of them had a steaming mug of chamomile in their hands, waiting for someone to break of the awkward silence. It didn’t bother Phoenicia and Chris, who had played the Silent Game for years, but the other four were obviously uncomfortable in their chairs.

“… So,” began Phoebe brightly, smiling at her daughter. “How old are you?”

“Eighteen years, one month, fifteen days, sixteen hours, forty-eight seconds… forty-nine… fifty…” she kept counting the seconds under her breath, unaware of the strange looks she was getting as she zoned out. Chris felt his heart constrict painfully as her eyes glazed over, completely unseeing. The only thing that told them she was still alive was the soft rise and fall of her chest and the breezed words she spoke of time. Phoebe didn’t know what to think and looked at Chris imploringly.

“What’s wrong with her?”

For the longest time, he didn’t answer, merely stared at his Twin with pained eyes. She shouldn’t be like this. Part of him resented his family, and always would, for what they did to her. She wouldn’t have been discovered as a witch so soon, if at all, if she hadn’t been in that institution, she wouldn’t have been hurt so young. But he couldn’t tell them about that. As much as he may have resented them, he loved them too much to hurt them like that.

“… This is what happens to witches in my time,” he finally answered, the sadness in his voice not missed by anyone. He reached over and took the dazed girls hand, squeezing it lightly. She flinched away automatically and turned to him fearfully. “It’s just me.” She relaxed after looking directly into his eyes, seeing the silver band around his pupil. Chris could tell they wanted more of an answer then that, but he could also tell that they weren’t too sure they wanted to ask in fear of the answer he would give them. So, they left it alone for now. He was grateful fore that much at least.

“Uh, what was up with those wings?” asked Paige. “And how did you heal her like that?”

“Oh, the wings are part of her Esper form,” he answered, turning to the girl. “She can turn into a kind of… griffin. Only instead of a lion, it’s a white panther, also known as a Sabyl. She got hurt because she only let her wings loose and human bodies don’t do well with partial transformations like that – as for the healing: that’s an easy one. I didn’t.”

“If you didn’t heal her,” mused Leo, frowning at the boy with a searching look. “What did you do?”

Chris shrugged nonchalantly, “Mia’s an Air Elemental,” he told them, and Leo nearly fell of his seat at the news, even though he had already suspected this. An Elemental! But there hadn’t been a known one for thousands of years! A single Elemental could have as much, if not more, power then all the Elders combined. And she was his niece. Did that mean her father was an Elemental or had she just been Chosen for the Gift?

“I don’t get it,” stated Phoebe, scrunching up her nose in confusion.

“… Let me put it this way,” chuckled Chris, leaning back in his chair and taking a sip of his tea. “If she was an inch from death and the only thing I could do with her was attack her with a blow-dryer or rush her to the hospital, I’d use the blow-dryer.” The sister’s balked at him and he snickered at the scandalized looks on their faces. “Don’t you get it? Air Elemental – the blow dryer would heal her; the air would heal her. She absorbs air, she is air.”

“Ohhhh.” the three woman nodded slowly.

“Christopher Robin?”

The young man cringed at he nickname and looked at Phoenicia. She looked at him; her eyes clear at the moment. A delicate hand reached out and cupped his cheek. Her eyebrows pinched together in a frown and she traced her thumb around the soft spot under his eyes, touching the bluish skin. Chris didn’t flinch as her finger came in such close contact with his eyes; he only smiled at the concern in her own eyes.

“I know,” he said with a smiled, reaching up slowly to capture her wrist. “I need to sleep more, right?”

“Yes,” she answered without hesitation, her frown intensifying. Her strange eyes ran up and down his form, half hidden behind the countertop but she saw enough to know she didn’t like what she saw. Pursing her lips, she pulled her hand away from him and held it above the table – a slice of large slice of pizza appeared. “Eat.”

Amused by the order, he took the pizza and picked the pepperonis off, eating them first. “Thank you,” he smiled at her after swallowing. He continued to eat, the rest of them all watching the two feeling like outsiders. They were so… in tune with each other. Leo knew it had to do with the Bond Chris had gone through. It had to have been her appearance.

The girl was Soul Bonded to Chris.

Leo could only assume that due to the fact that they had been in different Times that their Bond had, if not been disconnected, then had been severely damaged. It would explain why Chris had been in so much pain when the Bond was restored. Soul Bonds were not meant to be broken and most Bonded people couldn’t leave their other half cross-country, let alone in a different Time.

“Skinny boy,” muttered Phoenicia, watching him intently to make sure he ate it all. She blinked as she finally let things sink in, her mind clearing up. Sometimes this happened. She could think straight. And she hated it because she knew that it wouldn’t last long and then she’d be back talking in riddles only her muddled mind could understand. Annoyed, she conjured him a slice of lemon cake as dessert. “Eat.”

Chris only nodded, smiling at her gratefully before obeying.

“I was recaptured,” she told him softly in her moment of coherency and he looked up at her sharply, dropping his fork onto the plate with a clatter. He stared at her imploringly. Phoenicia took a deep breath, trying to hold on to the moment and spoke, “You disappeared – I couldn’t find you… Wyatt’s army had just been in a scrimmage with Mortals and he was hurt and no one could get to him. I heard him calling so I went… I conjured a tank of water around him and forced his shield up. I couldn’t get out before Mortals found me.”

Phoenicia raised her arms, showing him the bands around her wrist, and pointing out the one on her neck. Chris’ hands went to them immediately, not caring if the damned things had no effect on her – he wanted them off. She could feel his magic work them loose, mixing his power over heat and his Telekinesis together to tear the shackles off.

Soon, they fell to the floor with a clatter, but Chris didn’t seem to notice as he inspected her neck and wrists for any lasting damage. He blew on a single cut on her left wrist, which had been made by the Sealing Bracelet that had been cutting into her delicate skin. She felt it close over as she absorbed the air. It would have healed by morning now that oxygen could touch it without the sealer blocking it, anyway.

“Missed you,” she smiled at him, her lucid period fading just as fast as it came. Chris watched her moment diminish, the absent look returning to her face as she stared at him unblinkingly. He smiled at her, though it was a pitiful smile. He had to find a way to fix this. He would too. Screw the world, the Mortals – what had they ever done for him? Wyatt could have his Empire if it meant Mia would be all right.

Besides, he wouldn’t loose his brother, not really.

Wyatt wasn’t completely evil – only half of him was. And the good half was hidden away at a secret place in New Avalon where no one could touch him. He still didn’t know what had happened this far into the past that had split his mind in half, but Wyatt had been sure that fixing it would put him back together. Literally. It was like Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde with a magical twist – Jekyll-Wyatt ran the world and Hyde-Wyatt hid from it, keeping the Wards of the Stronghold up and running. Of course, only a select few knew about that, especially since Chris had this theory that if Hyde-Wyatt was to die, then so would his evil counterpart. If someone else came up with a similar theory, then he would loose his brother, both versions of him.

A few feet away from him, with absolutely no clue as to what Chris was thinking, the Charmed One’s all had identical frowns on their faces as they observed the two. Phoenicia had spoken to Chris with such familiarity and a loving tone that she had yet to use when she spoke to them. They knew she was family. They knew that it was true, they could see it, feel it.

So why did she seem to care more about Chris then them? Leo had his own theories – after all, he was the only one who knew what Soul Bonds were and all that they entailed other then Chris and Phoenicia. It would also explain Chris’s relation to Wyatt and why he wanted to save him so badly. How he knew so much about them and how he knew his way around the Manor.

Chris was Phoenicia’s Soulmate.

Of course, if Chris knew what his estranged father was thinking, he might have passed out in a fit of laughter. He loved his cousin, his Twin, but not in the way Leo was thinking. It was possible to have two completely different Soul Bonds, rare yes, but not unheard of. Mia was his Twin… Bianca hadn’t been his Soulmate but he’d loved her all the same. His true Soulmate died years ago, when the Trials had first started.

Phoenicia sensed her other cousin seek her out and smiled, absentmindedly noting that Chris had finished most of his cake. It had been her fault he had stopped eating it, so she merely banished what was left since he clearly wasn’t about to finish it. She could hear Chris begin a somewhat diminutive explanation about the Trials and what she went through. He didn’t go into detail. She didn’t care if they knew the extent of what they had done to her, or that they even knew if they were responsible.

The only thing the teenage girl cared about was the small tug at her mind. It wasn’t strong, not like Chris or even her mother. It couldn’t have been Luke because he was still in a Hell Dimension, and wouldn’t be back on Earth until she was six. It had to be Wyatt. Her eyes narrowed as she sensed for him. People underestimated babies. Wyatt was probably smarter then your average toddler, but he already knew how to talk, not that anyone would have noticed. However, Phoenicia was probably the only person who could have heard him.

After all, she could speak to the Book of Shadows, which most people wouldn’t believe possible, but they seemed to forget that magic happened in the most mysterious ways. The Book protected itself, didn’t it? And not all those times the pages turned on their own was Grams’ doing. The Book was a sentient being, a bit primitive, but it knew words. After all, it was a book, wasn’t it? But right now, she didn’t want to talk to the Book.

‘Hello,’ she sent to her older baby cousin.

‘… Hello.’ he sent back in return, a bit shyly. ‘Are you the girl?’

‘Yes,’ she confirmed. ‘I am Mia.’

‘You came to help Chris save me?’ he asked curiously.

‘No,’ she thought back. ‘I came to find my Chris. He was missing and I wanted him. So I followed him.’

‘… You wont hurt him?’

‘He’s my Chris,’ she told him. ‘I would never hurt my Chris.’

‘Okay. He’s my Chris too, but mommy says to share with others, so he can be yours too.’ the toddler said, breaking the connection. Not a moment later did a scatter of orbs form directly in front of her, hovering a bit. She observed them for a moment, wondering what he was waiting for. It hit her after a second and she held her arms out. Wyatt formed, settling himself, and smiled up at her.

“Mia.” he said, his voice slurring a bit with his babyish voice as he stared at her happily. The other occupants in the room were both startled by Wyatt’s sudden appearance and the fact that he seemed to know her name and be able to say it considering he’d only said his first word just a few weeks ago. Chris was not as shocked as he could have been, but it was still a bit strange. After all, Phoenicia could connect to a plant, a book, even a big ball of energy, so why not a baby?

“Play?” the young woman asked, unaware of their bafflement. Wyatt nodded and she stood up with him sitting contently in her arms as she walked back into the parlor and sat down on the floor in front of the playpen. The others joined them, watching from the door. She paid them no mind and conjured a few building blocks, and began to play with her little/big cousin.

Chris shook his head at the sight… things were certainly going to be different around here.

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End

Chapter

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