Post by Matriarch Goddess on Dec 29, 2009 6:42:45 GMT -5
The Shadow Knows
“Honey, are you ready to go? We’re going to be late.”
“Just about!” Piper’s voice floated from upstairs.
Leo checked his watch and sighed. At this rate they were never going to get up to Tahoe and have a little alone time. He loved his kids, but just this once he was envisioning how amazing a weekend without them would be. “Piper, what’s taking you so long? I have all the bags, we packed them last night, and we’re just going away for the weekend. What could possibly be taking you?”
“I don’t know why you’re so impatient.” Piper said as she came down the stairs. “We can’t leave until Dad gets here anyway.”
“Yes, but it would be nice to walk out the door and get in the car the minute he comes.”
Piper shot him an annoyed look. “Without a hello? I thought you liked Dad.”
“I do Piper, but I don’t even see why he needs to be here. Wyatt’s nineteen; he can take care of things. And Melinda and Chris are plenty capable of taking care of themselves.”
“Yeah, we’ll leave Wyatt in charge. It’s not like he’ll throw a wild party or anything.” Piper remarked sarcastically. “For heaven’s sake Leo, he’s only nineteen. He’d invite half the college over for a night of wild festivities, Chris and Bianca would have sex in Chris’s bedroom, and Melinda would…actually, Melinda would probably just go to a friend’s house.”
Leo grimaced. “Piper, it worries me that you have such low opinions of our kids. Sure, Wyatt would invite a few people over, but it would hardly be a kegger; and Chris would invite Bianca over, but I doubt he’d sleep with her.”
Piper rolled her eyes. “Leo, they’re teenage boys. All they want is sex, beer, and parties. Being magical doesn’t change that.”
Leo sighed inwardly. This weekend was supposed to fortify their marriage and get the romance back into it. He didn’t want to fight now and wreck the entire trip, especially about something like this.
Piper saw the look on Leo’s face and decided to drop the subject. She didn’t want to fight either, and Victor was coming at any rate, so what use was a fight anyway? Instead, she wrapped her arms around Leo, who kissed the top of her head and put his arms around her. She lifted her face to his and they kissed.
“Okay, gross, progeny coming through.” Melinda shielded her eyes as she walked downstairs. Piper and Leo looked up at her just in time.
“Don’t tr…” It was too late, Melinda fell, but before she could hurt herself, she orbed out and reappeared on the ground floor in front of her parents.
She dusted herself off while saying, “Look, as much as I love having ‘destined to be lovers’ for parents, I don’t need to be reminded of that fact. In fact I think that the sooner you two leave for your romantic getaway, the better.”
Piper and Leo laughed. “Damn, you’ve figured out our evil plan.” Piper joked. “You figured out that we’re trying to make you not miss us.”
Melinda laughed and opened the door as the bell sounded. “Hey Grandpa,” she said, and then turned to yell upstairs, “Wyatt! Chris! Grandpa’s here!”
“Grandpa! Awesome!” Chris said as he orbed down stairs with his brother close behind him.
“Wyatt, don’t do that!” Piper berated her son as his orbs slid down the banister and landed on the floor as he appeared.
Wyatt grinned as he dusted himself off. “Mom, don’t knock it until you try it. That gives you a wicked rush.”
Piper just shook her head ruefully. While she was glad that Wyatt finally had his old mischievous ways back after a year of depression, she couldn’t help but wonder if his transition had been too abrupt. Nevertheless, Wyatt was old enough to take care of himself. “Hey Dad, sorry to rush out like this, but we’ve got to run. Emergency numbers are on the fridge, Phoebe and Paige will be home if you need any help, Chris’s curfew is eleven on weekends, Melinda’s is ten-thirty, and we prefer Wyatt home by midnight. None of the kids is allowed to have members of the opposite sex in their rooms…” she gave Chris a pointed look. “…and there are prepared meals in the freezer with reheating instructions…”
Victor Bennett smiled at his daughter. “Piper, I’ve been watching your kids since they were babies. I think I can handle this.”
“Yes, but Dad…”
“Piper, I know you’re worried that if something magical happens, I won’t be able to handle it. But I’ve got all three kids here to help, Phoebe and Paige don’t live far, and you and Leo will be just an orb away. Go, honey. Have fun. You two deserve it.”
Piper rolled her eyes, but she knew her father was right. She reached for her children, speaking to each in turn. “Wyatt, I expect you to be responsible. If you expect me to trust you with more responsibility and be able to go live in student housing next semester, you need to show me you can handle it. Chris, for the love of all that is holy, please keep your…time with Bianca to PG, maybe PG-13, but no more. Melinda, please, don’t kill Wyatt. And I want the house to look the same as it does now when I get back.”
All three kids nodded, but when her mother’s back was turned, Melinda rolled her eyes. She knew that her brothers would ignore all of her mother’s instructions except for the last one. The house would not be permanently harmed. Melinda also knew that no one would get into trouble for any of it. Chris was Victor’s favorite, so Victor would turn a blind eye to Chris’s transgressions, and Wyatt was Piper’s favorite, so Piper would just sigh and let him off the hook.
Still, Melinda smiled as her father scooped her into a hug and whispered, “I’m not worried. You’ll be fine, and Victor will keep an eye on the boys. I’ll miss you all.” Then Leo took Piper’s arm and escorted her out the door.
Chris immediately grabbed the car keys off the hook. “I’m going to Bianca’s, ‘kay?” He left without waiting for an answer.
Wyatt flopped onto the couch and flipped on the TV, grabbing a video game controller with his other hand. Victor looked at Melinda. “Well, guess it’s just you and me, kid.” Melinda gave him a small smile.
“Um, Grandpa, I think I’m going to go upstairs and study. I’ll be down for dinner.”
“Pizza all right?”
“Just don’t tell Mom.” Melinda smiled again, and then walked upstairs. Victor pulled out a newspaper and began to read it. Neither noticed when Wyatt stopped playing the game and orbed out.
Hours later, Melinda tapped Victor on the shoulder. He looked up from the novel he had switched to and took off his reading glasses. “Pizza time already? What do you all like on it?”
“Either plain or veggie is fine for me, but Wyatt usually wants sausage or pepperoni. I guess I should go ask him. Is he in his room?”
Victor looked puzzled. “Isn’t he in the living room?”
“No, and I haven’t seen him since I went upstairs. Come to think of it, the door to his room was open. I should have seen him. Unless…”
Both of them reached the same conclusion at the same time. Victor took the stairs two at a time while Melinda orbed out, reaching the basement first. Wyatt was sitting on the floor, Excalibur in his hands. Before Melinda could scream, he drove the sword into the concrete floor.
With a small cry, Melinda grabbed Victor and orbed to the attic. She started paging through the Book of Shadows, obviously looking for a specific page.
“I don’t understand.” Victor said. “Didn’t your mom and aunts destroy the spiritual whatever that was down there before you were born? I thought that was the time they changed their identities and got into all that hot water with the Feds. So what are you worried about?”
“The Nexus may be gone, but that doesn’t mean that there’s nothing under the basement. It’s still a convergence of power, and we’re still a powerful family, Wyatt being the most powerful magical being ever to live. And that sword is none other than the mythical Excalibur, making my moronic older brother the next King Arthur.” She looked up at her grandfather. “Or the next Mordred.” She went back to the Book.
“I still don’t get it. What’s there to turn him evil? The sword itself can’t be evil, and the Nexus is gone. There has to be a catalyst to turn him, Melinda, he’d never choose to be evil.”
Melinda stopped turning pages and jabbed her finger onto the one in front of her. “You want a catalyst? This is like catalyst times ten.” She read aloud from the Book. “‘When a great body of unadulterated power is destroyed, there becomes a magical residue, taking on the powers the original body had and the affiliation of the last one to wield said power. The residue is harmless unless called upon by a magical being, upon which time the residue will possess the being and attempt to make the being do the residue’s bidding. It cannot be vanquished by the one or ones who vanquished it before; a strong, new power must do it.’”
“So in English that means?”
“Wyatt’s being possessed basically by the Nexus, except that it’s got Zankou’s evilness. Oh yeah, and neither Mom nor my aunts can get us out of this one.”
“So what now?”
“Now we get Chris before Wyatt gets out of the basement. Then he and I will figure out how to vanquish this residue thing. Chris! Chris, get your ass over here or I will personally feed you to the swamp trolls!” Victor looked at her in shock. “Yeah, you heard me, swamp trolls. Hungry ones!” she directed at the ceiling.
“All right, all right, stop giving me a headache.” said Chris acerbically as he orbed in. “What do you want that’s so important?”
Melinda explained what had happened to Wyatt. “So I figure that we need both the spells to banish the Shadow and to destroy the Nexus. Maybe both together will get rid of the damn residue.”
“But won’t the spell to destroy the Nexus kill us?”
“It shouldn’t in this case, but if it does, than either way we’re dead, so we might as well go down fighting.”
“How comforting.” Chris said. “Now I feel fulfilled.”
“I’m glad to hear it.” Melinda said, handing him a piece of paper. “This is the spell to destroy the Nexus. You say it at the same time as I say the one to banish the Shadow.”
“Why do I get the killer spell?”
“Because you’re older and you’re supposed to protect your little sister. Now move! I hear him downstairs.” As Victor started to follow, Melinda stopped him. “You don’t have any powers, so you’re completely vulnerable. Stay here.” Then she and Chris orbed out.
When they appeared downstairs, Wyatt was stomping though the foyer. His eyes were a glassy black and his usual smile was replaced by a look of rage. Melinda ducked as Wyatt came at her with Excalibur. Luckily, he hadn’t had any practice wielding it yet. Melinda looked down at the scrap of paper in her hand. “Now Chris!” she yelled as she began to read. “‘I am light, I am one too strong to fight, Return to dark where shadows dwell You cannot have this Halliwell. Go away and leave my sight And take with you this endless night.’”
She heard Chris finish his spell “‘… for this power can no longer be.’”
Nothing happened. Wyatt was still right in front of her, his eyes still glassy black. As he came at her again with Excalibur, she threw up her hands in desperation.
Time stopped. Chris was still moving towards his sister, and so was Wyatt, except that his eyes were no longer black, and he seemed to be moved only by inertia, not his own desire. He threw his arm sharply to the left as Melinda feinted right, letting go of Excalibur as he did so, while man, sword and sister all fell to the floor. Melinda looked up, anticipating a next parry, but none came. All she saw was a black, wispy mass frozen in front of her, with a trail of black behind it on the floor. Chris came then, gripping her arm and saying something unintelligible. Melinda just looked over at her oldest brother who was staring in horror at the sword next to him and at the sister he’d just tried to kill. Chris grabbed his brother’s arm as well, twisting it as he pulled it towards him, not loosening his grip on Melinda.
Melinda’s world spun. She saw the foyer she was laying in, but on a different night, one twenty-one years ago. She saw her mother and aunts holding hands as a bright light washed over them, while Leo and a man she recognized only from a single picture--Cole Turner--watched. Then her world spun again and she shifted back to the present.
Now her brothers were both holding her, shaking her. She held both of them as she whispered the only spell that could save them. “‘Hear now the words of the witches, The secrets we hid in the night, The oldest of Gods are invoked here Great work of magic is sought. In this night and in this hour, I call upon the ancient power Bring your powers to we siblings three We want the power, give us the power.’”
As soon as she finished the spell, the same bright light that she had seen shone over the three of them and a female voice said, “Blessed be, my darlings.”
Then, before her freeze could wear off, Melinda began reciting her spell. “‘I am light, I am one too strong to fight, Return to dark where shadows dwell You cannot have this Halliwell. Go away and leave my sight And take with you this endless night.’”
The black mist began to spin and amass together as Melinda recited the spell again. This time Chris seemed to awaken and he said his spell while Wyatt held on to the banister for dear life as the buckling black wisp pulled him in. Suddenly there was a popping sound and the wisps disappeared, leaving only smoke.
“Kids, are you all right? I know I’m supposed to wait for my own good but…” Victor stopped in the middle of the staircase, waving smoke out of his face. It was lucky that he was doing so, because otherwise he would have seen an unbelievable sight. Excalibur lay under a table, forgotten, while Wyatt, Chris, and Melinda sat on the floor, arms around each other, expressions of happiness and confusion on their faces.
Just then, the doorbell rang. Victor hurried down the stairs, stepped over the kids, and answered the door. “Dude, you order a pizza?”
“So explain to me exactly what happened to you again.” Victor said over dinner. “I understand that you think you became the next Charmed Ones, but one, I thought there was only one of those, and that was your aunts, and two, if Melinda gets both the power of premonition and the power to freeze, then do you and Chris share the telekinesis?”
“No,” Wyatt swallowed his pizza and responded, “We all have the powers we always had, just now we can use each other to make ourselves stronger the way Mom, Phoebe, and Paige do. We don’t know yet if we have new or expanded powers or if that vision was just sent to Melinda by someone who thought she needed it.”
“Like Great-Grams.” Melinda chimed in.
“Exactly.” Chris added. “Most of what we said is speculation. We’ll have to see what happens as time goes on.”
“So are you going to tell your parents yourselves, or is that my job?” Victor asked.
“No, we’ll tell them.” Melinda said.
Wyatt grinned. “But only after they return from vacation. Relaxed parents are better parents to spring big news on.”
“Honey, are you ready to go? We’re going to be late.”
“Just about!” Piper’s voice floated from upstairs.
Leo checked his watch and sighed. At this rate they were never going to get up to Tahoe and have a little alone time. He loved his kids, but just this once he was envisioning how amazing a weekend without them would be. “Piper, what’s taking you so long? I have all the bags, we packed them last night, and we’re just going away for the weekend. What could possibly be taking you?”
“I don’t know why you’re so impatient.” Piper said as she came down the stairs. “We can’t leave until Dad gets here anyway.”
“Yes, but it would be nice to walk out the door and get in the car the minute he comes.”
Piper shot him an annoyed look. “Without a hello? I thought you liked Dad.”
“I do Piper, but I don’t even see why he needs to be here. Wyatt’s nineteen; he can take care of things. And Melinda and Chris are plenty capable of taking care of themselves.”
“Yeah, we’ll leave Wyatt in charge. It’s not like he’ll throw a wild party or anything.” Piper remarked sarcastically. “For heaven’s sake Leo, he’s only nineteen. He’d invite half the college over for a night of wild festivities, Chris and Bianca would have sex in Chris’s bedroom, and Melinda would…actually, Melinda would probably just go to a friend’s house.”
Leo grimaced. “Piper, it worries me that you have such low opinions of our kids. Sure, Wyatt would invite a few people over, but it would hardly be a kegger; and Chris would invite Bianca over, but I doubt he’d sleep with her.”
Piper rolled her eyes. “Leo, they’re teenage boys. All they want is sex, beer, and parties. Being magical doesn’t change that.”
Leo sighed inwardly. This weekend was supposed to fortify their marriage and get the romance back into it. He didn’t want to fight now and wreck the entire trip, especially about something like this.
Piper saw the look on Leo’s face and decided to drop the subject. She didn’t want to fight either, and Victor was coming at any rate, so what use was a fight anyway? Instead, she wrapped her arms around Leo, who kissed the top of her head and put his arms around her. She lifted her face to his and they kissed.
“Okay, gross, progeny coming through.” Melinda shielded her eyes as she walked downstairs. Piper and Leo looked up at her just in time.
“Don’t tr…” It was too late, Melinda fell, but before she could hurt herself, she orbed out and reappeared on the ground floor in front of her parents.
She dusted herself off while saying, “Look, as much as I love having ‘destined to be lovers’ for parents, I don’t need to be reminded of that fact. In fact I think that the sooner you two leave for your romantic getaway, the better.”
Piper and Leo laughed. “Damn, you’ve figured out our evil plan.” Piper joked. “You figured out that we’re trying to make you not miss us.”
Melinda laughed and opened the door as the bell sounded. “Hey Grandpa,” she said, and then turned to yell upstairs, “Wyatt! Chris! Grandpa’s here!”
“Grandpa! Awesome!” Chris said as he orbed down stairs with his brother close behind him.
“Wyatt, don’t do that!” Piper berated her son as his orbs slid down the banister and landed on the floor as he appeared.
Wyatt grinned as he dusted himself off. “Mom, don’t knock it until you try it. That gives you a wicked rush.”
Piper just shook her head ruefully. While she was glad that Wyatt finally had his old mischievous ways back after a year of depression, she couldn’t help but wonder if his transition had been too abrupt. Nevertheless, Wyatt was old enough to take care of himself. “Hey Dad, sorry to rush out like this, but we’ve got to run. Emergency numbers are on the fridge, Phoebe and Paige will be home if you need any help, Chris’s curfew is eleven on weekends, Melinda’s is ten-thirty, and we prefer Wyatt home by midnight. None of the kids is allowed to have members of the opposite sex in their rooms…” she gave Chris a pointed look. “…and there are prepared meals in the freezer with reheating instructions…”
Victor Bennett smiled at his daughter. “Piper, I’ve been watching your kids since they were babies. I think I can handle this.”
“Yes, but Dad…”
“Piper, I know you’re worried that if something magical happens, I won’t be able to handle it. But I’ve got all three kids here to help, Phoebe and Paige don’t live far, and you and Leo will be just an orb away. Go, honey. Have fun. You two deserve it.”
Piper rolled her eyes, but she knew her father was right. She reached for her children, speaking to each in turn. “Wyatt, I expect you to be responsible. If you expect me to trust you with more responsibility and be able to go live in student housing next semester, you need to show me you can handle it. Chris, for the love of all that is holy, please keep your…time with Bianca to PG, maybe PG-13, but no more. Melinda, please, don’t kill Wyatt. And I want the house to look the same as it does now when I get back.”
All three kids nodded, but when her mother’s back was turned, Melinda rolled her eyes. She knew that her brothers would ignore all of her mother’s instructions except for the last one. The house would not be permanently harmed. Melinda also knew that no one would get into trouble for any of it. Chris was Victor’s favorite, so Victor would turn a blind eye to Chris’s transgressions, and Wyatt was Piper’s favorite, so Piper would just sigh and let him off the hook.
Still, Melinda smiled as her father scooped her into a hug and whispered, “I’m not worried. You’ll be fine, and Victor will keep an eye on the boys. I’ll miss you all.” Then Leo took Piper’s arm and escorted her out the door.
Chris immediately grabbed the car keys off the hook. “I’m going to Bianca’s, ‘kay?” He left without waiting for an answer.
Wyatt flopped onto the couch and flipped on the TV, grabbing a video game controller with his other hand. Victor looked at Melinda. “Well, guess it’s just you and me, kid.” Melinda gave him a small smile.
“Um, Grandpa, I think I’m going to go upstairs and study. I’ll be down for dinner.”
“Pizza all right?”
“Just don’t tell Mom.” Melinda smiled again, and then walked upstairs. Victor pulled out a newspaper and began to read it. Neither noticed when Wyatt stopped playing the game and orbed out.
Hours later, Melinda tapped Victor on the shoulder. He looked up from the novel he had switched to and took off his reading glasses. “Pizza time already? What do you all like on it?”
“Either plain or veggie is fine for me, but Wyatt usually wants sausage or pepperoni. I guess I should go ask him. Is he in his room?”
Victor looked puzzled. “Isn’t he in the living room?”
“No, and I haven’t seen him since I went upstairs. Come to think of it, the door to his room was open. I should have seen him. Unless…”
Both of them reached the same conclusion at the same time. Victor took the stairs two at a time while Melinda orbed out, reaching the basement first. Wyatt was sitting on the floor, Excalibur in his hands. Before Melinda could scream, he drove the sword into the concrete floor.
With a small cry, Melinda grabbed Victor and orbed to the attic. She started paging through the Book of Shadows, obviously looking for a specific page.
“I don’t understand.” Victor said. “Didn’t your mom and aunts destroy the spiritual whatever that was down there before you were born? I thought that was the time they changed their identities and got into all that hot water with the Feds. So what are you worried about?”
“The Nexus may be gone, but that doesn’t mean that there’s nothing under the basement. It’s still a convergence of power, and we’re still a powerful family, Wyatt being the most powerful magical being ever to live. And that sword is none other than the mythical Excalibur, making my moronic older brother the next King Arthur.” She looked up at her grandfather. “Or the next Mordred.” She went back to the Book.
“I still don’t get it. What’s there to turn him evil? The sword itself can’t be evil, and the Nexus is gone. There has to be a catalyst to turn him, Melinda, he’d never choose to be evil.”
Melinda stopped turning pages and jabbed her finger onto the one in front of her. “You want a catalyst? This is like catalyst times ten.” She read aloud from the Book. “‘When a great body of unadulterated power is destroyed, there becomes a magical residue, taking on the powers the original body had and the affiliation of the last one to wield said power. The residue is harmless unless called upon by a magical being, upon which time the residue will possess the being and attempt to make the being do the residue’s bidding. It cannot be vanquished by the one or ones who vanquished it before; a strong, new power must do it.’”
“So in English that means?”
“Wyatt’s being possessed basically by the Nexus, except that it’s got Zankou’s evilness. Oh yeah, and neither Mom nor my aunts can get us out of this one.”
“So what now?”
“Now we get Chris before Wyatt gets out of the basement. Then he and I will figure out how to vanquish this residue thing. Chris! Chris, get your ass over here or I will personally feed you to the swamp trolls!” Victor looked at her in shock. “Yeah, you heard me, swamp trolls. Hungry ones!” she directed at the ceiling.
“All right, all right, stop giving me a headache.” said Chris acerbically as he orbed in. “What do you want that’s so important?”
Melinda explained what had happened to Wyatt. “So I figure that we need both the spells to banish the Shadow and to destroy the Nexus. Maybe both together will get rid of the damn residue.”
“But won’t the spell to destroy the Nexus kill us?”
“It shouldn’t in this case, but if it does, than either way we’re dead, so we might as well go down fighting.”
“How comforting.” Chris said. “Now I feel fulfilled.”
“I’m glad to hear it.” Melinda said, handing him a piece of paper. “This is the spell to destroy the Nexus. You say it at the same time as I say the one to banish the Shadow.”
“Why do I get the killer spell?”
“Because you’re older and you’re supposed to protect your little sister. Now move! I hear him downstairs.” As Victor started to follow, Melinda stopped him. “You don’t have any powers, so you’re completely vulnerable. Stay here.” Then she and Chris orbed out.
When they appeared downstairs, Wyatt was stomping though the foyer. His eyes were a glassy black and his usual smile was replaced by a look of rage. Melinda ducked as Wyatt came at her with Excalibur. Luckily, he hadn’t had any practice wielding it yet. Melinda looked down at the scrap of paper in her hand. “Now Chris!” she yelled as she began to read. “‘I am light, I am one too strong to fight, Return to dark where shadows dwell You cannot have this Halliwell. Go away and leave my sight And take with you this endless night.’”
She heard Chris finish his spell “‘… for this power can no longer be.’”
Nothing happened. Wyatt was still right in front of her, his eyes still glassy black. As he came at her again with Excalibur, she threw up her hands in desperation.
Time stopped. Chris was still moving towards his sister, and so was Wyatt, except that his eyes were no longer black, and he seemed to be moved only by inertia, not his own desire. He threw his arm sharply to the left as Melinda feinted right, letting go of Excalibur as he did so, while man, sword and sister all fell to the floor. Melinda looked up, anticipating a next parry, but none came. All she saw was a black, wispy mass frozen in front of her, with a trail of black behind it on the floor. Chris came then, gripping her arm and saying something unintelligible. Melinda just looked over at her oldest brother who was staring in horror at the sword next to him and at the sister he’d just tried to kill. Chris grabbed his brother’s arm as well, twisting it as he pulled it towards him, not loosening his grip on Melinda.
Melinda’s world spun. She saw the foyer she was laying in, but on a different night, one twenty-one years ago. She saw her mother and aunts holding hands as a bright light washed over them, while Leo and a man she recognized only from a single picture--Cole Turner--watched. Then her world spun again and she shifted back to the present.
Now her brothers were both holding her, shaking her. She held both of them as she whispered the only spell that could save them. “‘Hear now the words of the witches, The secrets we hid in the night, The oldest of Gods are invoked here Great work of magic is sought. In this night and in this hour, I call upon the ancient power Bring your powers to we siblings three We want the power, give us the power.’”
As soon as she finished the spell, the same bright light that she had seen shone over the three of them and a female voice said, “Blessed be, my darlings.”
Then, before her freeze could wear off, Melinda began reciting her spell. “‘I am light, I am one too strong to fight, Return to dark where shadows dwell You cannot have this Halliwell. Go away and leave my sight And take with you this endless night.’”
The black mist began to spin and amass together as Melinda recited the spell again. This time Chris seemed to awaken and he said his spell while Wyatt held on to the banister for dear life as the buckling black wisp pulled him in. Suddenly there was a popping sound and the wisps disappeared, leaving only smoke.
“Kids, are you all right? I know I’m supposed to wait for my own good but…” Victor stopped in the middle of the staircase, waving smoke out of his face. It was lucky that he was doing so, because otherwise he would have seen an unbelievable sight. Excalibur lay under a table, forgotten, while Wyatt, Chris, and Melinda sat on the floor, arms around each other, expressions of happiness and confusion on their faces.
Just then, the doorbell rang. Victor hurried down the stairs, stepped over the kids, and answered the door. “Dude, you order a pizza?”
“So explain to me exactly what happened to you again.” Victor said over dinner. “I understand that you think you became the next Charmed Ones, but one, I thought there was only one of those, and that was your aunts, and two, if Melinda gets both the power of premonition and the power to freeze, then do you and Chris share the telekinesis?”
“No,” Wyatt swallowed his pizza and responded, “We all have the powers we always had, just now we can use each other to make ourselves stronger the way Mom, Phoebe, and Paige do. We don’t know yet if we have new or expanded powers or if that vision was just sent to Melinda by someone who thought she needed it.”
“Like Great-Grams.” Melinda chimed in.
“Exactly.” Chris added. “Most of what we said is speculation. We’ll have to see what happens as time goes on.”
“So are you going to tell your parents yourselves, or is that my job?” Victor asked.
“No, we’ll tell them.” Melinda said.
Wyatt grinned. “But only after they return from vacation. Relaxed parents are better parents to spring big news on.”