55Chapter Eighteen
"No, it can't be," Chris whispered, staring at his dying brother on the ground. After all they had gone through, this couldn't be happening again. It just wasn't possible! Chris felt his world crashing down around him. It was his fault that Wyatt was dying right now. If he hadn't lost his memories to the Collectors, he wouldn't have been tricked by Jezebel into leaving with her, and Wyatt wouldn't have had to trade himself for his brother.
The Seer grinned, sensing what was going through the younger man's mind. "I can assure you, it is happening," she said, nudging the Twice-Blessed witch with her toe. He groaned slightly, and with a savage kick she turned him over, allowing pained blue eyes to stare into guilty green ones. She'd miscalculated, however, because as soon as Chris saw how badly his brother was mistreated, his face hardened and he flung his arm out at the Seer. Her mouth opened in a little 'o' of surprise as her feet left the ground and she flew through the air to crash against a wall. She slid down, leaving some blood marking the place where she'd hit, and lay on the ground unmoving.
Chris knelt next to Wyatt, lifting his older brother's torso to cradle it in his arms. "Don't worry, Wy, you're going to be ok," he cried, not wholly believing his statement. He clumsily pulled the paper his mother had given him out of his pocket, and held it out. "You can get your powers back and heal yourself," he murmured, his hand shaking slightly as Wyatt's hand didn't lift to take it. "Come on, Wy, you need to read the spell."
"Chris," a quiet gasp reached his ear. "You know that healing doesn't work like that. I can only heal others, not myself." Wyatt's eyes began to close. He felt oddly tired, and he could no longer feel the sharp stabbing pain in his chest. It was surprising how easy it would be to simply close his eyes and leave it all behind. Death was just one step away.
"I'll take you to Aunt Paige, she'll be able to help you," Chris said fervently, struggling to lift his brother slightly off the ground, but stopping as he realized that Wyatt's hand was now clutching at his arm.
"It's too far, I won't make it," Wyatt said, knowing that even while orbing, the journey would take too long and he would probably die halfway through the trip.
"There has to be some way," Chris begged of his older brother. "I can't lose you, Wy. Who will bother me endlessly if you die?"
Wyatt grinned at that, his laughter turning into harsh coughing. A bubble of blood formed between his lips, before running down his chin. Chris's face paled, and he lifted his head and began to yell. "Paige! Aunt Paige! Somebody!" His voice broke as he realized that no one was coming. "Anybody," he asked, hoping against all hope that his family would appear.
Wyatt's breath began to slow, and his eyes to droop once more. "Don't die, Wyatt," Chris begged, lying his hand on his brother's chest. "Don't." A soft glow began to emanate from the young witch's hand as he sobbed into the dirty shirt. The skin under his fingers began to knit together as the healing power found its way into the Twice-Blessed's body.
Unnoticed, Jezebel stood behind him. Her face was running with blood from the head wound that her crash against the cavern wall had inflicted, and yet she was lucid enough to notice what was going on. Using her demonic strength, she tore the younger Charmed boy away from her prey. She pressed him against the wall, the athame in her hand. "You always ruin everything," she spat in his face, "but no more." The Seer pulled her hand back, her face forming a wordless snarl as she prepared to plunge the knife into Chris's body.
Suddenly, she gasped and turned. Her back was smoking slightly, having suffered an energy ball hitting her right on her spinal cord. Behind her, Wyatt was standing, the hole in his chest healed. One of his hands was raised in an attack position, the other was holding the spell Chris had dropped. "I wish I could say that this was fun, but…" he said, throwing the Seer's words back at her. He formed another energy ball in his hand and launched it, hitting the woman right in her beautiful face.
The Seer screamed, clutching at her burning flesh. This was the scene she'd witnessed in her mirror over and over again. It was because of seeing this very moment that she'd turned to evil, to protect herself from the Twice-Blessed. And yet, her plans had been thwarted over and over again, until her vision finally took place.
Jezebel's body twisted as it was engulfed by flames. It took no more than a few seconds, but to her, it was like an eternity. Finally, the flames reached her core, and with a final shriek of pain, she exploded. In the next room, a small hand mirror shattered, its shards flying out and landing on the floor, briefly showing flames on their dark surface before turning into smoke. The Seer was gone.
Wyatt sighed in relief as the woman who had nearly killed him disappeared. His eyes then turned to his younger brother, who was still pressed against the wall. Chris's face was full of relief and confusion, not knowing how his older brother was currently standing. Wyatt smiled, before placing his hand on his chest, indicating how the skin was whole once more.
Chris's eyes widened as he noticed the gesture. "W-what-?" he stuttered, unable to complete the sentence that he'd begun to form with his lips.
"Looks like you've finally found your healing power, little bro," Wyatt said, walking over to Chris and giving him a friendly punch on the shoulder. "And about time too, I was starting to think that I was just going to die there," he joked, trying not to think about how close he had actually been to death.
Chris couldn't believe that he'd finally developed his healing abilities. He'd thought it would take many years before they finally arrived, at least as long as it had taken his Aunt Paige to find them. It had just been another thing in which Wyatt was superior to him, but now, they were evenly matched in that department. He could heal!
Chris grinned and turned to say something at his older brother when he was interrupted by a woman's voice. "Are we too late again?" it was asking, frustrated. Both brothers turned to look at PJ and Piper as they materialized into the dark cavern.
As soon as she was solid, Piper ran to her sons and enveloped them both in a big hug. "You boys are so grounded," she said as she clutched them tightly to her. The young men protested both their punishment and the fact that they could not breathe because of the strength of Piper's hugs. After a moment, their mother finally released them. She looked around the cavern, noticing the dark smudge where the Seer had finally met her demise and the red one where Wyatt had nearly died. "So what happened?" she asked them.
Wyatt smiled slightly before saying, "How about I tell you back at the Manor? I would like to get out of the place I nearly died at as soon as possible."
Piper's gasp of horror and PJ's frustrated huff at being excluded of yet another thrilling vanquish were lost as Wyatt orbed back to the surface. Both women turned to look at his younger brother, who merely shrugged. "Hey, don't look at me. I just saved his ass," he said, before vanishing as well.
Unable to do anything else, PJ grabbed her aunt's arm and followed her cousins to the Halliwell Manor. She would get the whole story from them, if it was the last thing she did! And when her sisters returned, she would tell them what had happened, after embellishing it a little bit, that is. They would be so jealous of not being here! PJ's smile vanished in a pink light as she imagined her sisters' reactions. Who knew that a few days with her cousins could be so much fun?
(A/N) Ta da! The end! Of this story... Anyway, did you guys enjoy that little insight into the Seer? I thought it was ironic, how she turned evil to save herself, but it was what caused Wyatt to vanquish her. Ah, fate. That just goes to show that you can rarely escape your destiny, as is mentioned so many times in the Charmed universe. Oh, and Chris got his healing powers! I decided to even the playing field a bit, you know, and make Chris feel more equal to his big brother. Instead of having him be in Wyatt's shadow, he has to learn that he is great enough himself, and hopefully that will happen with the little series of stories that I've planned. Speaking of series, I have chosen among the many names that the wonderful Fanycharmed gave me. This series is now going to be called "League of Brothers". Although, trust me, you can expect appearances from other characters. Fanycharmed will obviously get a prize, in thanks for all the help in finding a good name for the series. Haven't decided the prize yet, but it's going to be awesome!
As usual, thanks to all the people who added this to their Favorites or Alerts. I was also extremely flattered by the reception I got for the last chapter. You guys made my holiday even better! Thanks to my wonderful reviewers: Fanycharmed (of course!), Eaglewind13 (thank you so much for your review, and I'm glad you've liked my story so much!), Kokoro E. Junnaya, milkchocolatehot64, crystalzap, and Flaming Man of Iron.
So, anyway, the next story in this series is called "Halloween Spirits", unless I change the title suddenly. I should be posting it either next week or the week after that. As usual, you guys are so awesome for having stuck around and read this story, I was so happy with the reception it got. Thank you so much for all your support and reviews, since knowing that you were enjoying it made me more eager to post this! Anyway, I hope to see you soon, in my next story, and stay tuned for more in the series "League of Brother". Love you and thanks!
