The Life and Times Part 1: Magic in the air Chapter 1
"To expostulate why day is day, night night, and time is time, |
"We are such stuff
As dreams are made on and our little life
Is rounded with a sleep..."
--From The Tempest (IV, i, 156-157).
It was a moonlight night late in February. Near the Greek town of Delphi, despite the temperature being below freezing, the ex-demon Guardian, Arturo sat on the balcony of his house nestled in the cypress glades that towered high above the Corinthian Gulf. As he sipped expensive brandy in the moonlight he was able to see snow falling on the cypress trees on the higher reaches of the surrounding hills and watch the lights of the small villages nestled in the hills above the gulf and even across the gulf on the opposite Peloponnesian side. He could also see the ships moving through toward the canal that gave them access to the Aegean Sea.
From where he sat looking over the gulf Arturo could see not only the ships but a few lights in the old ruins of Delphi itself. Arturo had settled in this place in the magic nexus of Delphi, more than 600 years ago after the passing of the demon Guardian Evald, who had until that time been the guardian called to offer the choice of an eternity of penance the demons who tried to cross to the side of good and honour the choices of those who would not accept. Evald had also been the guardian who held to account ,the great powers, the leaders and rulers of Good and Evil, and defended the great Plan. Arturo had found steeping into Evad's role difficult and painful. He had valued, relied on Evald as a mentor and friend and his passing had only reinforced Arturo's fear of eternity alone. Tired and weary of the long road he walked he had needed a place to hide.
Before he had come to Delphi, Arturo had been struggling with his calling. It was not that he had been in danger of giving into temptation or evil. He had then been a guardian for nearly 500 years but in that time never had he felt the weight of his burdens, and the guilt of his former life so strongly. He had been lost in a sense of futility, and failure and doubt and was overcome by a strong sense of loss of his witch wife, Jeanne Marie. Francesca, the guardian's whitelighter, had tried to talk to him, guide him, but Francesca had been to familiar a presence, her wisdom was not what he wanted to know, truthful though it was.
Arturo had not wanted to hear of the value and responsibility of his calling. He knew it and it was knowing this that was responsible for his pain. At that time the core of his magic soul, which as a demon had craved power had craved peace. And for many years the craving went unsatisfied. The magic nexus of Delphi the home of ancient oracles, of magic and premonitions for thousands years, and the protected time fold Arturo found, near it and where Arturo had built his house, had in many ways healed him.
Delphi with its magic core, and its history and its promise had soothed his soul and helped him find the strength to continue with his destiny when nothing else was left to encourage it. So for six hundred years Arturo had watched the lights of the ships and the unchanging landscape and ruins of the once great centre of the realm. And found something very nearly like peace.
Arturo looked at the stars and turned to the seemingly empty space beside "It never fails does it?" he asked "when my peace deserts me I watch the ships and the sky and you come to me." He raised his glass. And said as he had said so many times "Je t'aime, Marie Jeanne. I love you."
He had barely said the words when he heard the sound of orbs and the whitelighter Francesca materialised beside him. "Tell Marie Jeanne, I love her too " Francesca said dryly. She and Arturo had walked a very long path together, for over a thousand years and it was because of her friendship and love for Arturo's wife, Marie Jeanne, Francesca Rinaldi had chosen her calling as whitelighter and advisor to the five demon Guardians of the earth realms.
"She knows that my dear" Arturo commented unperturbed. "I feel nothing untoward in the spirit winds, merely Africa and its problems and some hyperactive warlock activity. Nothing of concern. To what do I owe the pleasure?"
Francesca smiled, her face, twisted and marked from injury and disease. The face she showed as a whitelighter was the one she had worn in her long and difficult mortal life as peasant in Charlemagne's Italy. She seated herself beside him. Arturo stood up and went inside returning with another brandy. As he handed it to her, she said, "I came to remind you that the time of the eclipse of the realms is nearly on us."
"Really, the eclipse already" said Arturo straight faced "Have five hundred and four years passed so quickly."
Francesca's crooked face took on a severe expression "That Arturo " she told him "is unworthy."
"Belthezor seems to find some peace behaving like a brat. I thought I would try " Arturo said with a smile.
Francesca narrowed her eyes and frowned. Arturo smiled. It was rare that she gave him the schoolmarm stare.
"Do you know Francesca, I believe you are almost excited by the prospect of the eclipse" Arturo commented.
She smiled a little embarrassed. "There is always something, something I can learn and feel." Doesn't it excite you?" she asked.
"No, my dear it does not " Arturo shook his head "Its not that I do not know there is more to feel and see. I believe I have tired of wanting to."
Francesca nodded "I do understand" she said. "After last time."
"Yes" said Arturo because during the last eclipse Francesca and he had exchanged lives and thoughts and they knew to much about each other and what their callings had cost them.
"What are you going to do this time, then?" Francesca asked.
"What am I going to do?" Arturo answered "I am going to stay securely hidden in my time fold away from all other magic and hope the eclipse passes me by. I have no desire to share my past or any-one else's." said Arturo.
"That would appear unlikely Arturo " Francesca said, "It needs to be a creature of similar power or emotion. Is there one of either?"
"I hope for its sakes no" Arturo replied.
"What of the future?" she asked. "It is always possible you will only see the future" Francesca said "meet yourself." Arturo eyed her with a closed expression. "Arturo there is nothing to fear" Francesca told him gently.
"My dear, I have no desire to know my future or meet myself there." Arturo said.
"Nothing that you learned last time was anything to fear" Francesca persisted "and some was of great comfort."
"It is knowing I have a future that I fear " Arturo replied softly. "And you" he said as she nodded with some sympathy "You have no fear of meeting yourself in the future, of knowing something of your future."
Francesca laughed "After the last time, she said "So little in the future is already written, I find a certain amusement in the prospect because the visions granted were always so out of context with how it all eventually occurred, that even knowing what would happen left me surprised."
"True my dear " replied Arturo "And you have no fear of some-one sharing your past, finding your deepest and most emotional moments, your darkest secrets?"
"Arturo" she
said with her golden laugh "I have no dark secrets.
My life is an open book. What is Proctor or Therold going to find out,
that I don't like demon guardians. What will they discover in my past. That I
once nearly fell to evil because of my hatred of demons and I learned the hard
way not to hate. This I have never hidden. My life is an open book." Arturo smiled "What
about demons you do not hate? What about the ones you love? Would you like them
to know? Are you sure want to risk Belthezor knowing how much you care about
him, love him?" Arturo who had been a demon asked almost slyly. Francesca sucked her
lips together, unperturbed, "Of course I love him dearly" she said with
laugh "But I have no desire or interest other than I care for him.
Seriously she said, "I am no rival to Phoebe for his affection in any
way" and then she smiled almost shyly "When I stopped hating,"
she explained "I learned to love unconditionally and not put a price on
affection or demand it is returned." She looked at Arturo intently
"This is perhaps the greatest wisdom I have learned. Those who are loved
are not responsible for that love." Then she shook her head "I do not
believe the great love that you and Cole have, that Marie Jeanne and Phoebe
won, is my destiny or even desire. Especially after all the time I have
lived" she said. "I seem to recall a
certain Giovanni Rinaldi" Arturo smiled "I even recall a whitelighter
who was willing to walk away from callings and the greater realm of magic for an
innkeeper in Firenze some 600 years ago." "Giovanni"
Francesca said he eyes softening "I loved him and not a day goes by without
me thinking of the gift he gave me, but " she sighed " it was a, I
loved him and he loved me, but it was
oh respect and caring and
companionship." she sighed. "We were not children when we
married." Arturo's smiled
cryptically, "So you really have no secrets in your life, Francesca." "Well if you want
to know a secret of mine there are times " Francesca said :"I envy you
your love. The fact of being loved, the romance of it. It is unworthy I know
" she sighed " I sometimes even envy Phoebe not her love but her
romance ." And then she stood up
practical, her crooked misshapen face taking on a firm school marm expression
" I know my virtues and my failings and I am not the heroine of romance. I am
not " she said with a self depreciative laugh " I am not the stuff of
legends and dreams and great passion" But she smiled "even I was a
little girl once and we can all dream. I must be gone. Be well Arturo " she
nodded and orbed. Arturo looked wryly the spot
where she orbed "As you say my dear" he said," You still have
things to learn and discoveries and future. I envy you," and he turned back
to with the white ships of the Corinthian Gulf. "I do envy her at
times" he said to the space beside him."
.. In the caverns of the
realm of evil, in the great Halls and chambers of the Source since time
immemorial demons hastened to the bidding of the new Source, the demon who had
once been the time lord Tempus. They plotted and planned for his favour and fell
to the ground in terror at his glance and knelt to earn his approval. All except
the Great Lore Masters because these demons alone could stand in the presence of
the Source, because they guarded the wisdom and knowledge of the Source and
recorded it in the Grimoire, and he could not rule without them or the dark
Book. The lore master
speaking, a tall red robed priest, towered over the anointed Source, the
one-time Time lord Tempus. This did not please his master who could have used
magic to alter the situation but knew that to show a dissatisfaction with his
stature was to admit a weakness, a failing, a lack of strength and demons
worshipped strength. Tempus who had been the time lord knew that there would be
time for revenge and in the meantime he had a need of this lore master. Tempus
had found when he finally retrieved the Grimoire for his coronation it lacked
much of the wisdom attributed to the old Source, to his consternation, and most
of the living wisdom of lore masters and priests had been lost in the Great
Immolation of the Seer's demise. So he needed those he had and there would be
time for retribution for slights and plots. "And when will the
eclipse of realms take place?" Tempus asked the lore master. "In five cycles
"the lore master answered with a deference that Tempus in no way believed
"there is no danger my lord," it added with just a hint of mockery in
its voice, knowing that Tempus needed it to rule. "The only exchanges of
the past happen with cre..beings of equal power and what crea..being exists of
equal power to the Source of all Evil" it smirked. "None" replied
Tempus a little to hastily "and the future?" "You will see that
which is written and that which cannot alter and that alone" replied the
lore master who knew that 500 or so earth years ago at the last eclipse the Old
Source had seen his demise at the hands of the Charmed Ones. "The last time I
saw my destiny," said Tempus" I saw myself as the anointed
Source" This was not true. What Tempus had seen was himself breaking his
time mirror in frustration when he could not locate the Grimoire. The vision of
him as the anointed Source had been that of the Seer. The lore master hid a
smirk. It knew this. "Then this time I am certain you will see the
greatness of your reign, your eternal reign, my lord " it said bowing as it
left without being dismissed, as the lower lore masters who stood with them
exchanged glances. Tempus did not take his glare from its retreating back until
he became aware of a minion kneeling waiting behind him. "What?" he
snarled. "The request for
information on the warlock who aspires to
" and the minion swallowed
nervously "challenge, create a faction, aspires my lord, only
aspires" it whimpered. Tempus contemplated the
minion's fate "Who is it?" he asked. "We hear tell of a
warlock called Willem, proclaiming itself king " whimpered the minion but
still managing a demonic sneer at the word warlock, which if Tempus had not
being feeling aggrieved at the lore master may have saved it. He flicked his
fingers and blasted the minion to the wasteland and then turned to the lower
lore masters. "Who is
Willem?" he asked "I have no recall" which was safe to admit
because recalling the names of warlocks was not the province of the Source of
all Evil. One of the lore masters
flicked its hand and a great dark book appeared. It flicked though the pages,
not missing Tempus' impatience. Finally it read, "A warlock of the clan
Friedrich, son of Enrick, brother of Fleischer, a family that craves power but lacks the means to
achieve. It has not been successful in stealing power for many years, according
to the Book of Deeds. It has some powers of mind, stolen 300 hundred years ago
and some Power of Electric energy from a witch who had almost demonic power
about 250 years ago" explained the lore master, carefully holding the Book
of Deeds in front of it because it knew if Tempus could do without a lore master
he could not do without the Book of Deeds. "A warlock does not
aspire to kingship with only the power of 2 long dead witches" Tempus
snapped "Find out what it has and where it got them" and he shimmered
away with the red flame of the Source leaving the lore masters to contemplate
how the coming eclipse of the realms and the ascension of warlock called Willem
to kingship could enhance their power and chances of survival.
.. Cole Turner entered the
front door of the manor, pulling his tie loose. He called out hey, not Phoebe's
name which he usually did when she was in the house. He already knew she was
still at work. He tossed his briefcase onto the hall table and more carefully
put his laptop down. He glanced at the chandelier and thought how little the
entry to the house had changed in the five years plus he had lived in the manor
on and off and that was all he had time for because he was hit by the blond
haired, going darker, green eyed tornado that was in some incarnations known as
Piper and Leo's daughter, Melinda. Melinda always
precocious in her development had reached the hopping skipping jumping stage and
made no effort to walk calmly despite all attempts from her parents to
occasionally slow her down. She hit Cole full force babbling madly. Melinda
spoke like she did everything else, at twice the rate necessary. Cole,
sometimes, was the only one in the family who could grasp what she was saying
when she took off which had greatly impressed everyone else until Phoebe
caught him slowing time down to understand her. He picked her up while
she babbled to him about her day and tightly clutched his jacket collar. He
walked through the dining room and made it with experienced timing into the
kitchen passage as his son Whosit Patrick who had just started to walk was
making his way to the doorway. Cole put Melinda down with a quick cuddle and
scooped Whosit Patrick up while Melinda made sure she was not lost by holding
onto his jacket. Cole held Whosit above his head while Whosit muttered dada and
enjoyed the aeroplane. "Good catch"
Piper said as Cole walked into the kitchen with both children. She was sitting
on a kitchen chair breast-feeding 4 month old Wyatt. She looked a little thin
and tired as she held the baby. "Its all in the
timing " Cole answered sitting down "Leo home? " he asked
managing the neat trick of playing bounce baby with Whosit and horse rides with
Melinda. Piper smiled wryly "Its all in the timing " he said. "Leo
is 'up there' visiting the Elder's " Piper said "It seems
they need his advice " she added facetiously. "On warlock conspiracy
and the unusually acute activity lately." "Hmm" Cole
snorted. "Hmm " said
Melinda. "Blah" said
Whosit Patrick. "Exactly" said
Piper. "Phoebe's not home" she added. "Got called into an
emergency meeting" Cole said. "Go I can manage" he said. "Unca Cole, watcha
bring me?" demanded Melinda. "Just wait
a minute " Cole told her. Melinda stamped her foot
and her going green eyes flashed. "Whatcha got me
" she demanded. "Guess?" he
said grinning. She put her hands in his
pockets and finally in the pocket on the left side of his jacket she found her
favourite chocolate. "Cole don't
encourage her to be wilful," Piper ordered him. Melinda was showing every
indication of passionate nature that reminded Piper of her sister Prue. "Half of that is
for Whosit " Cole told her firmly "I mean it Melinda" he added as
she eyed him balefully then carefully broke it into 2/3 and 1/3 and smiled
smugly as Cole put Whosit Patrick down. She sat beside Patsy on the floor and
all good girl gave the smaller part of the chocolate to him before eating hers. "Cole" said
Piper. "Chocolate is good
for them " he said "Ask Phoebe."Piper turned her nose up
"You get any sleep?" he asked seriously. "Yeah all
afternoon" Piper said. "Leo has been home most of the day." She
finished feeding Wyatt and held him over her shoulder. "You know its damned
inconvenient of Reggie to go and get married and want a honeymoon too." "I'd say it was
damned amazing of Reggie to get married " Cole said of the absent manager
of P3 "and knock the bride up too." "Cole do you know
how many laws you just broke, making fun of an employee's sexuality" Piper
muttered. "I'm a lawyer of
course I know," he said. Piper felt Wyatt
"He'll need changing soon" she said putting him in his pram. "I can manage
" Cole said and stood up "you go get ready. I'll change and take care of
him." With Reggie away on a
three week honeymoon some-one had to be at the P3 club every night, which meant
complicated babysitting arrangements. Piper said it was her club and with all
the problems they had had with P3 over the last months insisted it was her
responsibility. Which left her family doing everything they could to make her
think she was managing but keep her resting. Piper had had a
difficult pregnancy with Wyatt. Realising all the problems Melinda had cause her
with super powers she had strongly resisted Wyatt's efforts to control her magic
and endow her with a sense of reckless invincibility. While she had not fallen
under the trap of evil convincing her of her own importance and power the effort
had drained her. She took a long time recovering from the birth, and sometimes
the effort of being a witch, a Charmed One and a mother, left her looking pale
and thin and fragile. Leo worried and fussed
her and annoyed the hell out of her during the pregnancy and had to fight
himself not to fuss after the birth. Paige and Phoebe had had a long hard talk
with him, explaining upsetting Piper and fussing her was not helping her, so
reluctantly he had joined the family conspiracy to convince her she was managing
and still make her rest. He took over most of the
secondary management of P3, as well as being whitelighter to the the Guardian Durand
because Francesca Rinaldi had after nearly 700 years decided she could no longer
deal with Durand's crudity, bluntness and insensitivity to the feelings of those
around him. Leo also managed, just, to find time to study philosophy follow his
calling to understand the lore of the realm . Fortunately most of the staff at P3 and Reggie cared enough about
Piper to play the game and deal with Leo for most smaller problems but not tell
Piper, even if they could not protect her from the big ones, such as Reggie
getting his girlfriend pregnant and wanting a honeymoon when they got married. Piper insisted on
managing P3 in Reggie's absence so most nights Cole and Phoebe or Paige stayed
home with children and Leo went with her to the club. Or Cole and Phoebe looked
after the club, while Paige baby sat and Leo did his best to get Piper to rest.
To the whole family's great relief they only had to survive to this weekend and
Reggie would be back on duty when P3 opened again on Tuesday. Cole followed Piper
upstairs carrying Whosit and chased by Melinda who hated him being out of her
sight. Cole put Whosit down on the floor. He pulled on very old jeans and
sweater and scooped Whosit up wiping chocolate off his face. With Melinda still
skipping ahead using up energy that Cole hoped would send her to sleep when she
got to bed, he carried Whosit back downstairs and put him in the play pen,
surrounded by his favourite toys, all things he could happily pull apart or put
in his mouth without
to much danger. Wyatt needed a change and Cole had only
just finished when Leo orbed back. "Dad " said
Melinda jumping up " what ya got me?" she asked coyly as Leo smiled in
delight. "They both just had
chocolate." Cole said. Leo put his hand out and
threw orbs in the air. This amused Melinda for quite some time as she chased
them around the kitchen while they hovered just above her head. Leo bent and
picked up Whosit Patrick then held him in the air. Whosit said wah. Leo sometimes wondered
if the kids had the slightest understanding of who their parents were..or cared. "Piper's upstairs
getting ready to go to P3. Paige and Phoebe aren't home," Cole said handing
Wyatt over to Leo. "We won't be home
until 3" Leo said "Can you make sure Wyatt gets a night feed if he
wakes. Piper is going to need to get some sleep?" "Sure" Cole
replied. "It would have been
all right I those damned warlocks had not turned up the other night " Leo
said. "You know she just got to sleep and bang." "I can make sure
that won't happen tonight." Cole said. "Put a magic zapper on the
place. Don't orb." "Isn't
that
" Leo said. "No"
said Cole "it straight personal gain." Piper and Leo arrive at
P3 just before the change of shifts when the staff who stayed right though until
the early morning closure were arriving. Leo went to check on the upstairs
renovations because they were hoping they could lease it as a restaurant and
maybe take some of the pressure of P3 to pay the mortgage. "Get the key don't
orb" Piper ordered. "Yes dear"
said Leo straight faced. Piper settled herself
down to check accounts, check booze suppliers matched delivery requests and
invoices and juggle staff rosters. Leo had sorted out a confusion over who was
rostered on late and early shifts while she slept that afternoon but he did not
tell her. Over the last six months
P3 had been a massive headache. Piper blamed it on the fact that two months
before Wyatt was born the family celebrated finally paying off the mortgage on
the house and having P3 in the black. Or at least the overdraught down to
realistic proportions. It seemed like they had not put the glasses down but it
was really two days later that the agent called to tell Piper that the family
trust which owned the old warehouse P3 occupied had received an offer for the
building and would probably accept it. Piper seriously
considered winding the club up, and decided against it. She and Leo had no other
means of income that would allow them the freedom to pursue magic lives, and they
all relied on P3 to keep the manor from falling down in a heap around them, and
repair the never ending list of trashed furniture, demonic blood acid stains and
scorch marks. Leo one Sunday night calculated how many drinks they had to sell
to pay for the front door every time it was smashed to the horror of the
witches. It started a long and sobering tradition of calculating demon damage
against drinks sales. Another, non-magical, reason for keeping the club going
was that closing it meant Piper came out of the 7 years she had run the club
with nothing to show, as all her investment was tied up in the club's good will.
They seriously considered shifting the location, but could not find anything. With much discussion
with Phoebe about all the reasons she had originally set up the club, with Leo
saying do what you want and Cole saying you'll do what you want regardless of
what I say, Piper finally came to the somewhat nervous decision to buy the
building. With some trepidation Phoebe asked Cole about using the money he had
earned when he first came back from the wasteland after the Source was
vanquished and had put in trust for her when he had finally accepted she did not
want him and he was better off vanquished. Cole looked surprised
"Its yours" he said "if it makes you happy to help Piper, help
Piper." So with the trust fund
and another mortgage on the manor, they scrapped up enough for a reasonable
deposit and took another mortgage on the warehouse. Piper nervously signed
the mortgage on the building a few days before Wyatt was born. She shook her
head after signing and told Leo " You know I sometimes used to just wish I
was rich, wish I had this much money but never thought I would get it. Now I'm a
success, I owe this much money." When the implications of
the debt hit, Paige who had already lived one life where she had parted with
everything and the security of a home was very apprehensive about the mortgage.
Even through Phoebe assured her they would be all right and that she trusted
Piper to keep P3 working and Piper had done it the past, Paige had the memory of
herself clearing out her bedroom in her parents home, when she sold the house
after her parents death. She had the memory of
saying goodbye to her childhood home as she handed it over to strangers.
She had memories the first night she had spent alone in her lonely little loft,
that was a place to live and never a home. Phoebe and Piper became
somewhat exasperated at her concerns, probably because they were worried
themselves. As Paige became quieter and quieter about what was happening at P3,
Cole took her out to lunch and told her to stop worrying. "I'm frightened
" Paige told him. "I've lost so much. Phoebe and Piper, they lost Prue
I know and Mom but they kept the house and the Charmed Ones and you and Leo
" she said bitterly. "I'm scared, it won't be the same if the house
went..if.." "Paige " Cole
told her "they won't lose the house and you won't lose the family. You
think if we didn't all Iive....together..I know the Charmed Ones would go on,
don't you." "That's witch's
business" said Paige "Its not a home and family. You and Phoebe have a
family and so do Piper and Leo, even if you don't live together. I don't. So
even if the Charmed Ones stay together, I won't live with a family." "It isn't being a
Charmed One that make you a sister, Phoebe and Piper's sister and mine and
Leo's. It's being a sister that make you a sister. You wouldn't stop being a
sister if the family lost the manor. And " Cole told her " you're not
going to lose the Manor because I'm not going to let it happen. Regardless of
all possible disasters, financial crisis, changing fashions in the nightclub
industry, San Francisco earthquakes, rat demon attacks, demon Brotherhood
schemes and lousy bank managers." "That sort of
personal gain really worries " she said nervously. "Especially when
you are doing it for.. me."