Disclaimer: I do not own Charmed
Timeless Mistakes
"Quickly!" Neena encouraged the group following her as smoke rose into the sky.
With Scott taking point, the group hurried across the battle scarred square, rubble and bodies littering the entire area. Smoke was belching into the dark sky as searchlights roamed everywhere, looking for a very particular sort of prey. The clanking of the machines of death of the new regime echoed across the entire city, almost deserted now due to the events of the last several months. The world had gone dark. Now, people lived in cities that had been made into fortresses while the instruments of the new regime hunted down every last iota of opposition.
Making the break across the square, Scott was looking around worriedly, fearing for any signs that they had been spotted or had been followed, Liam following him loyally as always as the First Witch led her small group of survivors to the sewer entrance, and quickly jimmied the manhole cover, allowing them to slip down off the streets and into the marginally more safe vicinity of the sewers.
"Am I the only one getting supremely pissed off with all this?" Faith, the last Slayer in existence, asked with a scowl, and Trubel, the last Grimm, nodded her agreement.
"She's right, you're the First Witch Neena, why don't we use your power to end this?" she demanded angrily as Neena rubbed her head.
"Because, as I have explained to you countless times, killing Pratt will achieve nothing. He has too much support now, killing him will only serve to convince people that his stance on magic users is right, and the few of us that remain will be hunted down and killed too." She explained tiredly as they trudged wearily through the sewers, on the lookout for any nasty remnants of Wyatt's reign, or for any surprised Pratt might have left for them.
Dean snorted derisively, and despite looking as young as he had at the height of his and his brother's career, looked weary, like a man who had very little reason to go on in the world anymore, and was somehow managing to show his true age.
"And here we thought killing Wyatt would make the world a better place." He complained, and Cole shrugged.
"Well, technically it did. For a while at least. And then, with Prue gone…we didn't stand a chance." He recounted and Neena heaved a forlorn sigh.
The Battle of San Francisco had seen an end to the long war that had ravaged the world for years, which many normal people had seen as simply a pissing contest between Wyatt, the all powerful big brother who had usurped the world order and had proclaimed himself emperor, and Chris, the younger brother who was determined to stop his brother from going any further down the path he had chosen. The rebellion had been triumphant, the Source of All Evil had been vanquished, as had any potential demonic heir to the throne, Wyatt was left dead and for the first time in years, the world was free of the evil empire which had destroyed so many lives, and for the first time in many years, with millions of deaths plaguing the world, the world had a tiny little bit of hope flutter back into it.
And then Nathaniel Pratt, who everyone had passed off as a petty bureaucrat and a middle level one at that, had suddenly found the platform he needed: a world that was totally fed up of the endless battle between good and evil, of magic forces black and white battling with the world as their battleground and mortals getting caught in the middle. Whipping the people into a frenzy, he had then performed his master stroke, and, armed with an army of elite humans, had then staged a coup, seizing command of the empire and forcing Neena on the run, allowing him to wrest control of the empire away from her and the entire magic line. Not condemned as a traitor but instead worshipped as a hero, the people flocked to his banner as his Twilight Legion marched across the globe, and, citing them as a threat to the security of his new empire, ordered the capture of all magical beings, for the greater good, which he also used as his publicity campaign slogan.
The Twilight Legion marched unchecked, as it soon became clear just how long he had been planning this. No sooner had the announcement been made than the Twilight Legion was appearing over the world, proving Neena's suspicions that he had been planning this long before the death of the Source, than the various magical beings started marshalling together, trying to resist the enforced imprisonment. For months, Pratt had appeared to try to negotiate with magical leaders, but with the Charmed One missing and the First Witch on the run as she was suspicious of his intentions, he had found no one to parlay with until Elijah, one of the Original vampires, had emerged from hiding in Australia and had agreed to meet with Pratt.
And Pratt had then plunged the White Oak Stake into his heart on live tv, proclaiming that magic had no place in his new world order.
And as one, his Twilight Legion had massacred the hundreds of magical beings that they had arrested while their orders changed from capture to kill in an instant. Thousands of magical beings across the globe, witches, demons, vampires, slayers, werewolves, fairies, leprechauns, trolls, Grimms, all of them had been massacred as the Twilight Legion advanced across the globe, slaughtering all magic users in their path. The realms, which had been opened up by the power of the Charmed Ones visiting from the past, were now wide open and vulnerable, and the Twilight Legion had entered the various subrealms, destroying all in their path, driving the leprechauns, among others, into extinction. Streaks of flame had fallen from the sky as the angels were massacred in their halls, warlocks and demons were forced up from the underworld as they found entrance there also, and the death toll quickly rose into that of millions…and not one person batted an eye, as Pratt, the new emperor, told the people that this was for their own protection and they were foolish enough to believe him, standing idly by, even encouraging the massacre of those who had destroyed the world.
The endangered magical species met at Stonehenge, an ancient seat of power, and the devastated survivors of the war and of the purge met and agreed to make one last stand, one last attempt to try and save the world, to try and turn the tide, or to at the very least, ensure their own survival.
And then the Battle of Lichtenstein had happened.
The magical forces, and their allies, including even some hunters who disagreed with the perverse methods used by Pratt and his empire, and those humans who were sympathetic to their cause, marshalled to the small country, to make their final stand. And it was there that the vast majority of the remnants of the magical community had been massacred as the full extent of Pratt's plan were finally revealed to the world at large.
The Twilight Legion was not entirely human. Being fed with both witch and demon blood, the soldiers became supernaturally enhanced, and given a small dose of the same virus that had once ravaged the magical world after government experimentation had gone wrong, they used every enhanced ability to slaughter all magic users in the country. Supernaturally enhanced, and then further fiddled with in order to make them the epitome of strength, the Twilight Legion were made into an army of supernatural-being killing machines, and as one, the legion had laid the supernatural community to waste.
With the battle an obvious rout, with barely one hundred magic users escaping out of the thousands who had fought together to try and stop Pratt's forces, the end of magic looked to be near. As Pratt tightened his grip, the Twilight Legion spread like a plague across the globe, hunting down all magic users and their allies, anyone who was remotely connected to magic was rounded up and executed by Pratt as he sought to purge magic from the world. Whipping the world into a fearful frenzy, Pratt encouraged the people to persecute and turn in all magic users, as his Legion slaughtered magic users across the world, using even more outrageous tactics and measures to hunt down the few magic users that remain.
The final straw had come with the Nexus Bomb. Pratt, seeking to destroy the most powerful magic users and their allies that remained, had ordered the creation of a superweapon that, in theory, would destroy all remaining magic users. When Davina, the young witch who was part of the Original clan, was captured and sold them out to save her own skin (only to be killed by a furious Klaus and Kol when she was set loose), had revealed where the most powerful of the remaining magic users would be, he authorised the use of the bomb on a town called Alloa in Scotland, in a final effort to destroy all powerful magic users. In his mind it was an acceptable risk. If he succeeded, he would destroy the First Witch, the Last Slayer, the Last Grimm, the three remaining Original siblings, the final Elder, the Dark One, the Winchesters, the Blood King and the True Alpha in one fell swoop.
And so, with the most wanted members of the magical community in Alloa, Pratt had ordered the Nexus Bomb to be released, and the results had been disastrous.
While the bomb had hit, after being alerted by Klaus, Neena had managed to open a portal, allowing her current group to escape the effects of the bomb. However, given so little warning and with an attack by the Twilight Legion to delay them, the bomb had led to the deaths of Kol (riling Klaus into a murderous fury), Sandra, Trick and Rumpelstiltskin with the blast, along with many more of their remaining allies. But with Neena gone with the remnants of her group, the bomb hadn't done its intended job. That however was the least of their worries, as the bomb had affected something about the planet itself.
First of all, the bomb had fallen in the centre of the town, opening a massive crater equal to that which had swallowed the Hellmouth, sending the entire town tumbling into oblivion. The shockwave had followed, covering the surrounding area, scorching the land until there was nothing left at all, with the shockwave decimating the surrounding area and flattening several other local towns and even damaging the closest city. The bomb had let out a massive cloud of dark magic which had rippled across the globe, plunging the planet into an eternal darkness as the black cloud started to block out all light. While the world still functioned, the skies were eternally dark, filled with storms as displaced magical energy tried to function in a world that no longer wanted it.
However, as a result of the bomb and the efforts of Pratt to wipe out all magical life, people started to rebel against him and his government, resulting in the deployment of more Nexus Bombs, which had quickly destroyed all remaining resistance. Now, Pratt and his supporters lived in the cities which had now become fortresses, sealed off from the world, where newly appointed Inquisitors searched high and low for the merest hint of sedition, which if found would result in death. Those opposed to Pratt were now either dead, on the run or imprisoned, though some had banded together with the last few magic creatures in the world in their settlements in the badlands between cities. The Legion continued to hunt all those remotely connected with the supernatural, murdering without mercy as Pratt wiped out every last trace of magic he could find as his iron grip choked the supernatural out of the world while his society became steadily more corrupt, his Legions became more powerful and all magic kind approached extinction.
And that was what had brought them to this state of affairs. The world was now in a worse state than it had been with Wyatt as emperor, as the very thing they needed to repair it, which was magic, was now gone from the world, or very nearly at least. The last few powerful magical beings were on the run, hunted mercilessly, as Pratt's Legion General, Eventide, led the manhunt for the last of those who had the power to fix the world. However, such was their zeal that anyone who broke a law in any way, even by missing curfew even by a few seconds, was hunted down and slaughtered for daring to disobey any of Emperor Pratt's directives.
"So, what exactly are we doing here Neena?" Hope asked, her father standing right behind her, his Hybrid eyes alert for any sign of danger.
Neena smiled at the daughter of a werewolf and a Hybrid vampire, who was virtually the only reason many vampires had rallied to their cause originally
"Well you see my dear, this country is the birthplace of Merlin, you remember me telling you about him?" she asked, and Hope, along with Liam, nodded.
"Yeah, the first wizard that you considered worthy of matching you. He was King Arthur's protector." The twelve year old girl responded eagerly, as when this had all started, she and her protector (Liam had become sort of like a protector big brother to her similar to how Scott was to him) had been enthralled to hear Neena's stories, just as Chris had when the resistance had begun.
"He was indeed. As such, Wales contains a large concentration of magical energy, leftovers from the time of Merlin, of magic and dragons, and priestesses and prophecies. We need that energy if we are to achieve our goal." She told the young girl, and Scott looked at her curiously.
"Which is what exactly? You've dragged us through portals all over the world, but you still haven't told us what it is we're doing." The young Alpha questioned her, and judging by the looks on the faces of the others, she wasn't going to get out of this without answering their well-founded questions.
She sighed, and braced herself for the inevitable explosion.
"We're going to San Francisco." She explained, and the reaction to that was immediate.
Scott growled angrily, while Klaus bared his fangs angrily, Rebekah placing a calming hand on his shoulder. The Winchesters twitched their guns slightly while Faith's grip tightened around the scythe, whereas Cole, looking supremely unimpressed, just sighed.
"Have you been sipping the sewer water while we weren't looking love? We can't go to the sodding capital!" Spike roared, and Neena held up a hand, quieting her disparate group.
"Why Neena, why on earth would we need to go to the capital? Pratt's there, and the Legion is a million strong there, providing we can somehow access the city and get through it without some bounty hunter or do gooder tipping them off!" Sam exclaimed, and Neena shot him a vexed look.
"Don't you think I'm aware of that? Sam. I have lived for millions of years…and these last few have been the worst I've ever seen. Our world is ending. I have seen my entire line, my entire legacy virtually, all of them wiped out by hatred. I have seen the rise and fall of the Source, and all I've seen is how it's all of us who are continually screwed over. Something happened, changed and destroyed the future that we were all promised. That's why we need to go to San Francisco…because we need to change it." She explained sadly, and Liam looked at her curiously, his eyes sad.
"Isn't that why Chris went back to the past in the first place?" he asked softly, and Neena nodded.
"Yes. All of this stems from whatever happened to Wyatt…and it's that which we must fix. But at the same time, there's no telling that this didn't come from something else. Yes, Pratt needed the empire, but what if he was planning this for years? Decades? What if the government is behind it, or some insidious force that we don't know of? San Francisco is the genesis of all of this, and it is there that we must go if we have any chance of stopping what happened." She explained, and Cole exchanged with her a significant glance, he alone knew of what she planned, and she had a sneaking suspicion claws, blood and bullets were about to start flying around.
"But why? You already said you wouldn't kill Pratt because his government is just as bad as he is, so why does going back to the capital help us?" Trubel demanded, hands on her hips, though Faith was looking at the First Witch with suspicion, her mind beginning to figure it out.
"Because that's where Wyatt is buried." Neena said, bracing herself for the inevitable fallout.
As predicted, it came from Dean first, whose face turned to one of abject fury and brought his gun to bear against her. Rolling her eyes, she turned his gun into a teddy bear with a flick of his finger while Scott's eyes flashed crimson and Liam's went blue as they both prepared to pounce on her. Trubel raised her crossbow, but Spike stopped her and Faith from rushing the witch while Hope looked around in trepidation.
Sam scowled at Dean and made him back off before turning his glare onto Neena.
"Let me get this straight…you want to take us back to San Francisco, the city that rounded up dozens of innocents, survivors from Knox Academy, kids from Magic School, and various friends of ours, including Tyler, and burned them all at the stake? You want to stroll into the most heavily fortified city in the world, where Pratt is strongest and you can't move for the Legions, where everybody wants us dead, just so you can resurrect the megalomaniac who got us into this mess in the first place?" he demanded while the others seethed behind him.
Neena shot him an unimpressed look.
"Yes Sam, for the simple reason that we need Wyatt. I'm not so foolish to think you will all put aside your grievances with him, but if I am to try and save the situation, we need Wyatt. And more importantly, Chris needs Wyatt, something which I think you two in particular would sympathise with." She told him frankly, and Sam sighed, scowling at her, but he did go quiet.
"Neena…" Faith moaned in dismay, and the witch twirled on the Slayer.
"Faith, look at the state of the world! Think! How long was the Source in power? The Master? Azazel? Over a thousand years combined of evil having the upper hand between the various enemies we've all fought over the years. But then, finally, the tide started to turn. Buffy. The Charmed Ones. The Winchesters. The Unaligned Succubus. The True Alpha. The Saviour. Them, and so many others, all began to fight back, and then the powerful evils of the world started to be vanquished. The Master, Glorificus, the First. The Triad, the Source, Zankou. Azazel, Lilith, Lucifer himself for crying out loud! Our side started to win again, and the epoch of evil was finally at an end…and within thirty years, all of the past champions are dead, evil has risen again and the world is going to hell in a handbasket. This was not the future that was meant to occur. This was not the future that we had been promised. Something, simply by affecting Wyatt, twisted all of our futures, and destroyed the very future all of us, all those friends we've lost, have been fighting for all these years! Something got to Wyatt, and by so doing, destroyed everything for which we all fought so hard for. Even vanquishing Wyatt didn't help us much, because Pratt simply usurped the throne and made the world an even worse state than it already was! Magic is becoming extinct, and the world is dying with it. I know this is a long shot, but if I am to help Chris fix all of this, then I need Wyatt. Chris needs Wyatt. And if we can fix Wyatt, then we could perhaps undo all of this and prevent it from ever happening in the first place. And then, everyone we've lost need not have died." She said, looking around all of them before reinforcing her point as she looked at each of them in turn, "Piper. Phoebe. Paige. Castiel. Jody. Charlie. Gadreel. Buffy. Xander. Dawn. Angel. Bo. Kenzie. Dyson. Tamzin. Emma. Snow White. Charming. Henry. Stiles. Isaac. Derek. Lydia. If there is a chance, however small it might be, to prevent those deaths and so many more, to save the world from the tyranny of empire, from the despair of exposure, from the loss of the world…then we must do it. Even if the steps to do so are most unsavoury. Considering how I feel about Wyatt, the worst legacy of all my descendants, my one descendant who I truly despise…if I can see the way forward and see the need for him to be resurrected, then surely all of you can too? Well, except you Dean but you have a law that only applies to yourself anyway." Neena teased with a small smile, gaining her a small grin from Sam, and Dean, while he glared at her, did smirk slightly.
"This is still a bad idea." Cole warned, and Neena shot him an unimpressed look.
"Says the one who turned back time and warped reality to try and win back his wife." She said cattily, while the others sniggered.
While Cole rolled his eyes, Neena was about to get the group moving again when Rebekah suddenly lurched backwards, a white stake thrusting through her chest. She gave a faint scream as she burst into flames, her body collapsing into dust as Klaus screamed in denial as he watched his last sibling die before his very eyes.
The culprit stood triumphantly behind what was left of Rebekah, one of the Twilight Legion, and to Neena's horror, more of them started to emerge from the sewer water, and to her dismay, as they emerged she saw the dead body of Ariel beneath the sewage as well. She must have fled down here in order to escape the Legion, but had been caught down here just as they had been.
Built like a tank, the Legionnaire was clad in red and black samurai like armour, with a large horned helmet protecting their heads. A sword was at their waist, as was one of the rifles they used to nullify magic, but it was the various other additions, the artificially grown white oak stake, the angel blade built into the arm of the Legionnaire, and the mountain ash bombs that were part of what made them so dangerous. And their eyes, their sunken, lifeless eyes gazing out from beneath their helmet as they carried out their master's will in order to destroy all magical life everywhere.
Scott and Liam roared leaping at one of them in unison, their claws going right for the throat while a furious Klaus tackled one into the dirty water, allowing Cole to push Hope to safety. Neena gestured, sending two of them crashing into the wall, allowing Cole to throw an energy ball and a fireball into them in quick succession, overriding their resistance and destroying them. Spike and Faith worked together, Faith cleaving the head off of one of them while Spike ripped one's head back and he sunk his teeth into his neck.
"Spike, no!" Klaus yelled, as Spike staggered back, black blood pouring from his mouth as he gave Neena a helpless look before he disintegrated into dust.
"Spike!" Faith cried as he died before her eyes, and Neena closed her eyes in dismay. The Legionnaires had been tampered with so much that they now had blood of witches, vampires and wolves running through their veins: in other words, they were toxic to anyone biting them for any reason.
Neena gestured, her fingers glowing, opening a swirling portal as Cole struggled to protect Hope from the oncoming onslaught as the Legionnaires opened fire. While Sam and Dean gave them covering fire, he shoved Klaus' daughter through the portal, her screaming in protest as she did so.
"Little wolf, go and look after her!" Klaus barked as he leapt into the air, wrenching the head off of one Legionnaire.
Liam looked uncertainly at Scott, who nodded, making sure that his last remaining pack member jumped through the portal safely, narrowly avoiding a flashbang going off right in front of him as a Legionnaire emerged from the water to try and kill him, only to be shot in the head by Dean.
"Hurry!" Neena yelled as another group of Legionnaires approached from the other end of the sewer.
Cole snarled angrily and conjured a massive energy ball, which he then threw at the oncoming group of soldiers, scattering them out of the way and allowing Trubel to leap through the portal, which Neena knew she was going to have to close soon before they were overcome.
Dean then took Sam's shoulder and the two of them entered the portal, and with a simple gesture, Neena blasted Scott and Klaus into the portal as well as the Legionnaires surrounded them, going in for the kill.
Faith was fury personified, her scythe cleaving her attackers into pieces as she struggled towards Neena, who had ensnared several soldiers in massive tendrils of concrete while Cole made good his escape. That left only her and Faith, and the two groups of Legionnaires.
"Faith, hurry!" Neena yelled, crushing one soldier with telekinesis, but she knew that the others would soon be on her.
Faith looked at her desperately as she cleaved another one in half, looking in panic at the Legionnaires which were now surrounding her and it dawned on her: she wasn't getting out of here alive. She was going to die in a sewer. Ah well, at least she wasn't drunk like everyone told her she'd die.
"Faith!" Neena cried, sending fireballs at the oncoming soldiers, trying to delay them, but she didn't have much chance against them, and even the First Witch was going to struggle to survive any longer, and besides, she had to shut the portal, otherwise the others would all be killed because they would soon be able to break into the portal.
Faith looked at her sadly as she killed another Legionnaire, knowing that her time was short. She looked at Neena, desperately trying to hold them off, and she knew what she had to do. And with a final swing of her scythe, killing another one of her attacker's, she threw the blade through the air, and a startled Neena caught it, her eyes wide.
"Faith…" she gasped, as Faith kicked one attacker away from her.
"You need power don't you? Which means you need that more than me. Fix it!" she urged, as a stake plunged through her chest, and her lifeless body flopped into the sewer water.
"NO!" Neena screamed, and with a gesture, she brought tons of bedrock and street level masonry down into the sewer tunnel, crushing the Legionnaires as she finally made her escape, the portal slamming shut behind her and allowing her to make her escape.
XX
"But with Faith gone…" Cole whispered darkly as they darted through the deserted city streets.
Neena closed her eyes as she remembered the death of so many of them, just trying to leave Wales. They were now in San Francisco, rushing through the curfewed streets, desperately trying to avoid patrols of Legionnaires, searchlights, low flying spy aircraft and the little drones that Wyatt had been so fond of using.
"Faith gave us the scythe. She knows that I don't have the power anymore to do a spell of such strength without a boost. Too much magic has gone out of the world, and with the Warren magic denied to us, even fairytale magic few and far between now, I have little choice but to use the scythe to act as a conduit." She said remorsefully, and Scott looked at her nervously.
"Yeah, but Neena, we're now in the capital with thousands of soldiers looking for us, and no way to even fight them off now, there's just not enough of us. And, well, we just lost Rebekah, Spike and Faith. There's so few of us left. And even if you can bring back Wyatt…what do we do then?" he asked, looking protectively at Liam, who was sticking close by Hope, who was looking at her brooding father with tears in her eyes.
Neena looked at the massive searchlights tracking all movement through the city, the neon lights and screens demanding people turn in any and all members of the supernatural.
"We hope to hell that I can fix this." She muttered, her mind whirling as they progressed through the city.
XX
"Emperor Pratt!" Cal Greene, the Emperor's Grand Vizier, called as he entered the long throne room that Nathaniel Pratt had made his lair upon seizing control of the Empire after the disappearance of Prue Halliwell.
A former baseball player, Cal Greene had retired and had become the human administrator of sport, reporting to the various demons and warlocks that Wyatt used as their superiors. As such, he had been a natural ally of Pratt when he had revealed what he had been doing all those years, and he only had one price: he made sure that his murder of Elise Rothman, a friend of the Charmed Ones and one of the most outspoken newspaper editors against the empire, went unpunished in the post war world when those why would reward his action, ie Wyatt, were no longer those in power. In exchange for his help, Pratt had been more than willing to help him with his problem and ever since he had been invaluable, even helping calm the populace by massacring the largest protest in Times Square after Alloa backfired.
"What is it?" Pratt asked as he looked out at his neon lit capital, watching as drones, Legionnaires, searchlights and bounty hunters searched high and low for any hint of the supernatural.
"I have a report. The Last Slayer is dead. A group of Legionnaires encountered the group of the First Witch in Wales, and killed Faith, Spike and Rebekah. The rest escaped, but now they will find no quarter." Greene reported, and Pratt allowed himself a sinister smile.
Neena was the main problem of course. As the only one with any sort of links to the Halliwell family (as he had executed all of Chris Halliwell's commanders when he had taken the throne, they were too dangerous otherwise) Neena was the only one who could legitimately challenge his claim to the throne. And now, with total victory in his grasp, with the end of the supernatural hovering just beyond his reach, the only thing he now needed was to destroy the First Witch, the True Alpha, and the final Original, and the ever annoying Winchesters, and at long last, the supernatural would be struck a death blow, and with that he would be able to shape the world in his image…one without the supernatural.
"Where are they?" Pratt asked, tapping his teeth with his fingers.
"We don't know, they escaped through a portal, they could be anywhere in any realm by now." Greene said grimly, and Pratt sighed, but then, a curious thought struck him.
The Battle of San Francisco had ended the war, and had seen the deaths of Wyatt, the Source, Zankou and various other members of the old empire. The rebels had been desperate, desperate enough that they didn't care about the odds, and had instead launched an all out attack on the capital which had, amazingly, paid off.
And weren't Neena and her friends that desperate now, with the very existence of their supernatural filth depending upon their survival?
"They're here…triple the garrison. Kill anyone out of bounds. Deploy all drones, planes and Legionnaires. And move the navy and the fleet into position. This war with magic…ends today." Pratt purred, and Greene smiled as he bowed, visualising the firestorm that would be unleashed as soon as they found Neena and her remaining companions.
XX
"You buried him in the park?" Dean asked sceptically, and Neena shot him a bemused look.
"Asks the man who was buried off the side of the road." She pointed out, and Sam had to admit, that was a fair point.
"And considering what he did, if you buried him in a proper cemetery, his body would be defiled anyway." Liam pointed out as they gathered around Neena.
"Neena…" Klaus called in the darkness, Sam and Dean both pointing their guns at him before realising who it was.
"What is it?" she asked, and Cole pointed to the sky.
"There's about eight Sky Annihilators patrolling the air above the city, the drones and planes are out in force, and it looks like the full garrison has been let off its leash." He informed her, and Trubel looked at Neena in alarm.
"They know we're here!" she gasped, but Neena shook her head.
"They don't know. They only heavily suspect, which gives us a slight advantage. Hopefully in the time it takes to do this and escape, we will just avoid them knowing that we're here." She said, and Klaus looked suspiciously back the way he had came.
"The navy is in blockade position as well. I think they plan to open fire as soon as they get confirmation we're here." He said darkly, pulling Hope to him protectively.
"Great, another problem, must be Tuesday. Neena, you realise that when you use your magic to resurrect him, it will bring every damn person in this city who wants us dead down on our head?" Dean asked, and she gave him a cold smile.
"All I intend to do is acquire his body here. The resurrection will take place elsewhere." She informed them, and Hope looked at her curiously.
"Where?"
"The Nexus of the All. The last refuge of the supernatural. We will head there, and hopefully ally with whoever else has made it there. There, the world's magic is strongest, meaning I will need to be there in order to resurrect Wyatt and achieve my spell to try and fix all of this." She told them as the cold wind stirred around them.
"Neena, if we go there…" Sam said worriedly, and Neena shot him a helpless look.
"I know. Pratt will know where we are, where the last refuge of magic is. But we don't have a choice Sam. We're playing, not for all the marbles, but to even just own one marble again. This is our most desperate hour. Now, we're here." She said grimly, standing above the small grave Chris and Piper had made for Wyatt after his death.
The park was pitch black, but the searchlights and the forces in the sky made it more than obvious that they were on the run, and that they didn't have much time. And what was more, as soon as Neena used any magic, the drones would be on them, and the Empire's forces not much further behind that.
"Hurry." Cole told her, and she turned her palms skyward, concentrating as she searched for her quarry, and began to slowly raise her hands, the ground starting to crack beneath them as she raised the body of their greatest enemy in the hope that he would prove to be their greatest saviour.
XX
"Admiral Khan!" one crewmember called, and the Admiral, dressed in black military uniform, a neat cap over his curly hair, turned away from the screen displaying this flagship, the Vengeance and turned his attention to the young man.
"Yes lieutenant?" he asked, and the young man smiled eagerly.
"Sir, the drones have detected a magic user in Golden Gate Park, and now that they're scanning the area, they've picked up a few more. Shall we move to intercept?" he asked excitedly, and Khan gave him a predatory smile.
"By all means lieutenant." He told him, the fleet moving towards the position and alerting the rest of the air force and the navy, along with any and all ground forces, to head the same way.
As the full might of the empire headed to crush their last opposition, Khan sent a message to the emperor.
"My lord…we have them."
XX
With a final crack, the ground broke, and Neena used her magic to reveal the remains of Wyatt Halliwell. Panting heavily, she bent over to try and get her breath back, allowing Hope to pat her back as she felt a little winded.
"That should never have drained you this much." Cole said darkly and Neena responded with a tired nod.
"I know. Magic is dying, and I fear that I may well die with it. But, we have what we came for. Now, all I need is a second to get my breath back…and then we can get the hell out of dodge." She explained wearily, rubbing her eyes in exhaustion.
Dean looked at the decomposing body Neena had just raised from the ground in distaste. His skin had mostly decomposed, but there were still some tattered remains of that and of his hair. Bones were exposed in other places, among the destroyed remains of his clothes. Even now, looking at his body, the kid that Piper had once been daft enough to let him and Sammy babysit (she was short on time and options), he couldn't help but feel a wave of disgust at what the kid had become, what he had done to his brother, what he had done to the world, and how many good people had died because of his thirst for power.
He considered kicking the body, but as he raised his foot, there was a bang. Strange, he hadn't actually kicked the body, why was there a noise? And why was there suddenly something wet running down his chest?
"DEAN!" Sam screamed, catching his brother as he fell, a bullet having blasted right through his chest.
"No." Scott moaned as lights blared on everywhere, making him and Liam scream in pain as the harsh lights affected their eyes as the Empire's forces surrounded them, Sky Annihilators looming ahead as fighters swept through the air, buzzing their position as tanks and armoured cars ploughed through the park, Legionnaires at the ready.
"This is your emperor! These people are the last remnants of the old world order. Wipe them out, all of them." Pratt's voice boomed across the city as his forces moved to destroy them all as bullets started to fly as they moved to destroy them once and for all.
"Protect the body! Neena, get us out of here!" Cole ordered, conjuring a massive energy ball and destroying a plane that was swooping too low.
Missiles started streaking down, blasting into the earth, setting the entire park aflame as the Legionnaires advanced, none of them caring about their own side, only caring that they killed their targets. Sonic blasts hammered into the earth, sending Hope and Trubel onto their backs as Neena hastily erected wards around Wyatt as the enemy advanced, blasts of energy hammering down on them as they pursued their extinction.
"Dean, no, please!" Sam begged with tears in his eyes, and Dean, his eyes unfocused, patted Sam's cheek with his bloody hand before he went still in his arms.
"NO!" Sam screamed as his brother died in his arms.
Trubel was in the thick of it, using Faith's scythe to kill any Legionnaire that came too close while Klaus, Scott and Liam were forming a wall of defence around Hope, who was snarling herself, her claws growing as she tackled one who had managed to get around her guardians and ripped his throat out. Cole was throwing energy balls and fire balls with reckless abandon, scattering their enemies and occasionally catching a plane which sent them crashing with a roar into the ground, the explosions washing heat over them. The Sky Annihilators continued to rain fire down on them, turning the entire park into an inferno as rockets and machine gun rounds zoomed around them, determined to snuff them out.
"Neena, we need to leave, hurry!" Trubel urged as she decapitated one of their attackers, just before a bullet burst through her head.
Her body swayed a little and then the final Grimm fell to the ground, blood trickling from the wound as the scythe clattered to the dirt beside her.
"Trubel!" Liam cried in dismay as they watched her die, and Neena beckoned the scythe to her before a blast from a Sky Annihilator damaged it.
Cole watched as Neena caught the blade, and using it to amplify her power, gestured, opening a portal right beside her, and with another, she sent Wyatt's decomposing body through it as she beckoned, opening massive holes in the ground and sending dozens of enemy soldiers screaming to their deaths while Cole blasted another plane out of the sky.
"Sam, leave him!" Scott urged, tears in his eyes, he could understand Sam trying to save his brother's body, he had tried to bring Isaac's body with them when he had been killed, to try and give his boyfriend a decent burial since he'd been unable to do it for Stiles, but he had to be realistic.
"Sam, go!" Neena yelled furiously, and flicked his protesting body into the portal just as a rocket from a tank incinerated where he had been a second before, taking Dean with it.
"Liam, take Hope and get out of here!" Cole yelled as he destroyed a missile from a Sky Annihilator that was about to slaughter them all.
Liam then hoisted the young hybrid over his shoulder and he leapt into the portal just as a bomb of mountain ash exploded in front of Scott, stopping the Alpha escaping. Coughing up black blood, he shuddered, looking weakly at Liam crying his name, tears streaming from the last pack member he had's eyes as he watched a Legionnaire appear behind Scott, grab his chin and twist his head around, shattering his neck, dropping his sightless body to the ground.
"Scott!" Liam cried as Cole sprang into the portal, dragging Liam with him before he did anything stupid.
"Klaus, we're leaving!" Neena yelled sticking one foot into the portal just in time to watch as the last Original was blown apart by a missile from a Sky Annihilator. Closing her eyes in despair, she fled, the portal slamming shut behind her just as the entire glade was obliterated by the combined firepower available to the empire.
XX
The weary remnants of Neena's group had been trekking through the desert for hours. Sam had said nothing, simply dragging Wyatt's body with his head down, trying to keep the sand from blowing into his eyes. Hope was holding Liam's hand, she mourning her father, while he mourned his Alpha, the mix between father, brother, friend and whatever else he might have been to him. Neena had the scythe in hand as they traipsed through the desert, but she dared not use any magic. Yes they were far from civilisation but she didn't know how far drone searches reached out here. And yes, the Nexus of All was hidden, but the longer it remained that way the better for all of them.
"How much further?" Cole asked darkly, seeing Hope in particular was parched as they climbed up another dune, smacking their lips in the intense heat, despite the sun being blocked out.
"Not far. I'd risk another portal, or I'd have brought us out closer, but I couldn't risk them getting through after us and alerting Pratt. He'll be furious that we escaped again." She said with grim satisfaction, and Cole bit his lip, thinking the same thing she was.
They didn't have many places left to escape from.
"Neena?" Hope piped up behind them, and she turned to the teary eyed young girl.
"Yes honey?" she asked softly, and she looked pleadingly at the First Witch.
"You'll save daddy right? And my aunt? My uncles? Everyone?" she pleaded, and Neena gave her a tired smile.
"I'll certainly try young one. Now quickly, we don't have far to go." She urged as they descended down another dune, and it was only then that Neena hesitated, raising a hand to stop them before they went any further.
"What is it?" Sam asked, fingering his gun as dozens of people erupted from the sand around them, all of them wielding spears or crossbows, and strangely, all of them with vastly different colours of skin, some of them green, some blue.
"Automatons. Guardians of the Nexus of All. Which means…how does it go again? Oh yes.
When you find your way is blocked
All you have to do, is knock." She recited, and knocked in thin air.
There was a resounding gong and rather than threatening them, the automatons then bowed and flanked them as a shimmering purple dome appeared before them, a massive sort of snowglobe in the middle of the desert.
"Cool." Liam commented as the dome towered above them, and a door suddenly opened, revealing a being dressed in red and black leather.
"A Legionnaire!" Sam exclaimed, but Neena forced his hand down as the warrior removed their helmet.
"No dear, the red and black armour notwithstanding, she isn't a Legionnaire. She is Mulan, who Pratt captured during Wyatt's reign. He based the Legionnaire armour design off of hers. Hello child. May we come in?" she asked, and Mulan gave her a tired smile.
"Of course. Regina is expecting you. Welcome home." She said, leading them into the massive globe, which when the last of the automatons was inside, slammed shut behind them.
XX
"Have you been drinking?" Regina demanded in the very centre of the Nexus.
As Neena had predicted, there was various remnants of the magical order, hundreds of displaced refugees, all cloistered together in the Nexus. When Regina had arrived with the last few survivors of the destruction of Storybrooke, she had fallen into the role of queen as she always had in the past, this time without the evil, and had made the Nexus a travelling refuge for all those who had been displaced by the ongoing genocide against all supernatural creatures. Guarded by Mulan, who wanted to fulfil her promise to Robin Hood, who had asked her to protect the woman he loved, and joined by Belle, Regina had assumed command of the devastated remains of the magical world clustering in the dome for protection, and now, the Nexus was always on the move in order to try and stop Pratt finding it.
Upon arrival, Regina had whisked them to the fortress she had made at the centre of the dome, where the various levels were inhabited by refugees. She was on the top levels, with Mulan and the remains of the Merry Men, Belle, and the Dalmatian, Pongo, the only other survivors of Storybrooke. Ezekiel, an angel once imprisoned by Metatron who had his identity stolen by Gadreel (he had since reclaimed his identity and his vessel), who had helped the Winchesters despite his loyalty to Metatron, had been relieved to see Sam and had acted with him much as Cas had always done with Dean. Glynnis, the magical weapons smith, was also there, as was Jackson, part of Scott's pack, who had see the upset, younger Liam and had most uncharacteristically hugged the young Beta. Josh and Aiden, a couple who had lived in New Orleans when Klaus had returned, were also present, and had immediately taken Hope to a room, while Aiden breathed a sigh of relief since his husband had avoided dying with the rest of Klaus' line due to being protected by the All.
"Unfortunately not, I'm afraid. Regina, Wyatt is the only one who can help us fix this. We need his help. I know how it sounds, and believe me, I wish we didn't have to do it, but we have no choice. If we can help Chris save Wyatt, we can prevent the creation of the empire. By so doing, we stop Pratt ever becoming a threat and prevent the genocide of the supernatural. But for that we need Wyatt, and we need him good and whole. I know it's a gamble, but we don't really have much of a choice." Neena said in despair, and Regina looked furious, until Belle laid a hand on her shoulder.
"She's right Regina. Wyatt turning is the key. If we can help Chris fix it, no matter how we do it, we can end this timelines, and everything can go back to normal." She insisted, and Regina looked at Neena, her eyes flaring with defiance.
"And how do you know we won't be resurrecting the Source, right in the middle of the Nexus of All?" she challenged, and Neena shook her head.
"Wyatt died good. The Source is gone, forever. Wyatt will be good when he is resurrected, which is what gives us the chance that we need to do this." She told her and Regina looked as though she was thinking of another argument against this before she sighed, scowling.
"You need my help don't you?" she demanded, and Neena nodded, looking very old suddenly.
"Yes. Magic is dying, and my power along with it. I'm not strong enough to do this alone. Please Regina. By doing this, we can save magic. We can save us all. We can save Robin. And most of all…we can stop this foul future from ever coming true." Neena wheedled, and Regina gave Mulan a helpless look, who shrugged, and the queen nodded.
"Alright. I'm all for a good redemption story. I've done it, Cole did it…but Wyatt was on a different league on a different planet than us." She reminded, and Neena smiled softly.
"Once upon a time, people thought that about you my friend. And see how far you've come since then." She reminded with a small smile, which Regina reluctantly shared as she gave her consent.
XX
The catacombs of the fortress were blocked off to most of the inhabitants of the Nexus. Regina, Ezekiel and Belle were the only ones who had the key, which was fortunate, for, as Sam rightly said, if anyone found out they were resurrecting the former emperor in the bowels of the fortress, there would be panic.
Two interlinked pentagrams marked the floor, embossed with the triquetra on top of it, and it was in the centre of these symbols that Neena now sat, Regina facing her, Wyatt's body in the middle.
"I don't like this." Regina insisted, and Neena rolled her eyes.
"So you have told me. Numerous times I might add. He won't resurrect immediately. That would be unwise. It will be gradual. It will be your job to protect him though and ensure the process is completed before Pratt inevitably finds the Nexus. And only when he is fully resurrected, give him that spell I gave you to send him back to Chris." Neena instructed, and Regina chewed her gum thoughtfully.
"What if the other so called bodyguards decide it'll be easier to stop the spell and finish the job?" she questioned, and Neena shook her head.
"They won't. Whatever Wyatt was…he is now the best chance of having their loved ones return to them. Of fixing this catastrophe. That will stay their hands." She assured her counterpart, who sighed and nodded.
"Alright then. But I don't understand what you plan to do." She told her, and Neena allowed herself a small smile.
"I will leave defending Wyatt and the last vestiges of magical kind to you, Sam, and the others. Meanwhile, I shall go to the past, to alter the present and change the future." She told her enigmatically, and Regina gave her a small smile.
"Alright keep your secrets and let's resurrect the greatest evil in existence." She told her cattily, and Neena smiled, holding hands with Regina above the skeleton that was Wyatt, the scythe hovering above the body to act as a conduit.
"Magic forces black and white,
Converge here at this sacred site,
Hear we witches, hear our call,
We seek to reverse a warrior's fall.
Sew flesh, mind restore, body do mend,
So that the former Source can make amends
Combine the powers of Scythe, Witch and Nexus All
Resurrect Wyatt, the Hope for us all!"
A column of shining white light beamed down from the ceiling, crashing into the scythe, which seemed to make a strange, scraping sound as energy flooded into it, and the scythe then glowed red as energy from both witches, red and purple, combined, powering the scythe as the symbols on the floor glowed a shining blue, before the magic blasted into the remains of Wyatt's body, making the skeleton shine golden as a protective bubble formed around it, golden dust falling from the top onto the body, restoring it almost imperceptibly.
Regina keeled over, panting as the rain of dust continued to fall on Wyatt's corpse as an exhausted Neena got to her feet.
"That was it?" she asked weakly, and Neena nodded, looking exhausted.
"Yes. Thank you. When the globe runs clear, Wyatt will awake. Only then give him the spell to bring him to Chris. You realise, Pratt will know where to find the Nexus now, he'll be on his way." She warned, and Regina gave her a sardonic smile.
"Let him come. We'll protect ourselves, protect Wyatt, as long as we can. If it's our last stand, then so be it. But we'll make it one worth remembering. But what will you do now?" she asked Neena, who winked.
"I'm going to take a little trip down memory lane…and then we shall see…" she said, gesturing and a swirling aqua coloured portal opened before her, Regina's eyes widening in shock as she saw the time portal.
"If the future is truly set." Neena whispered, and waved goodbye to Regina before stepping into the portal and heading into the past, leaving a bewildered Regina sitting beside Wyatt's slowly repairing body, wondering just what the First Witch had in mind.
XX
The time tunnel swirled around Neena as she took a step into the past. Never before had she had to do something like this, never before had she wanted to go so far back in time, nor for so important a purpose (though she had went back to get some new shoes in a sale once which she had seen and hadn't bought at the time). Being a being such as she was, she had always been very reluctant to affect time in any way. After all, time was not something to be meddled with. Yet here she was, harnessing the power of the Nexus of All in order to head back in time, the furthest and longest she had ever gone, to make the most drastic alteration that she had ever done.
Ironic really. When she had usurped control of the empire by banishing Prue through time, she had originally planned to take the fight to Destiny, to dismantle the Grand Design, and end the endless cycle of death and destruction that plagued her and every single one of her descendants. And now, all magic was endangered, and rather than taking action to undo Destiny, she was taking action to save the world. Yet again.
But deep down, all of this, Wyatt turning, the death of the Charmed Ones, the depletion of the Slayers, the rise of the empire and now the genocide of the supernatural that Pratt was enforcing with such vigour, it all linked back to one place: the Angels of Destiny. They had allowed this to happen, they, the Elders, every single one of their arrogant friends who called the shots, they had allowed the world to go to hell, only to find out that Wyatt was far too strong for them to control. They had allowed the perversion of the future, warped what was meant to be the greatest force of good the world had ever known into the worst evil, and had allowed magic to become exposed and now, magic was verging on extinction.
But it was that which she was going to change.
She hurtled through time and space, various images flashing around her as she could feel herself getting stronger as she got further and further away from the extinction of magic. The war flashed before her eyes before she hurtled further back through the past, seeing the rise of the True Alpha and the expansion of his pack, the fall of the angels from heaven (the first one), the arrival of the Unaligned Succubus, the recreation of the Charmed Ones, the constitution of the Charmed Ones, the birth of Buffy and back she went, various important images of events, both natural and supernatural passing her by as she travelled. She went back further, passing by the fields of World War Two, the rise of Hitler, World War One, she passed the Titanic (mercifully without the soundtrack which she hadn't heard at any time she was on it she might add), Napoleon as he conquered Europe, the start of the Industrial Revolution, and back further still, to the American Civil War (not a John Wayne in sight), and further back still, seeing Ichabod Crane during the War of Independence and back further still until she finally came to a stop, landing in a cold plain, a chill winter wind blowing around her and she pulled her cloak tight around herself to shelter her a bit from the cold.
She looked around, a nostalgic smile on her face as she felt magic surge through her once again, restoring her health. She was just outside the gnarled wood that had once marked the entrance to her home. She was back, back before her greatest line of descendants had begun.
In fact, it had begun tonight.
And it was that which she was here to change.
No more destiny. No more Grand Design. No more screwed up future.
No, from now on, whatever happened, happened. No more angels or Elders or demons or anything dictating to her or her descendants. The game was going to be played by their rules from now on.
Finally.
She had little time. Very soon, a woman, pregnant without the means to cope with the baby, would soon be coming through the forest, seeking her counsel. And that would be the spark which began it all.
She swept up towards her house, smiling fondly. She had enjoyed this little house, it had been nice and homey enough at the time. She'd come back a few hundred years later and built another house here, but back then, the little house in the middle of nowhere, guarded by the gnarled wood, well it had added to her mystique, something which she had enjoyed.
Now all that remained was to convince her past self she meant no harm.
She knocked on the door and entered, immediately raising a hand to deflect the oncoming jet of fire, while blowing a stream of ice from the other hand (god it was nice to have her powers back). Her past self created a shield to ward off the attack, and in the split second it took her to consider her next move, she finally truly saw her intruder.
"That's not possible…" she gasped, and Neena shrugged.
"I'm afraid it is. Now, I have little time, so I will assure you that I'm not a demon, a shapeshifter, a doppleganger, or any other such sort of nonsense. I am you, I am the First Witch, I am Neena…just as right now, you, well me, well I, we, well you know I mean, are Isabel." Neena said, striding into her old house, realising she was having one of the weeks when she didn't dust the house.
"This is impossible." Isabel protested haughtily, and Neena smiled.
"Really? Right now, you are preparing for a woman to come to you, seeking aid for an abortion. And if memory serves…you recently defeated a demon by the name of Astaroth and put him back to hell where he belonged. He comes back, but fortunately he isn't our problem by then." She informed her, and Isabel looked at her in shock.
"How do you know of my fight with Astaroth?" she demanded, and Neena sighed.
"For I am you. I am the same you, just four hundred years or so, give or take a decade, into the future. And I have come back to you now, in order to turn the tide." She told her past self, settling herself down into her chair while Isabel looked at her curiously.
"How do I really know you are who say you are?" she asked, though it was clear that her past self was indeed mostly convinced, and Neena smiled.
"Greece. The height of the Trojan War. Agamemnon was away, Clytemnestra had a party…you know what happened after that." She reminded her and Isabel went scarlet.
"I've never told anyone that." She gasped, and Neena smiled.
"Nor have I, since we decided it was something we would take to our graves. Now that you believe me…let us never speak of that night again." She advised, and Isabel nodded and sat down beside her, looking curiously at her future self, cocking her head slightly.
"We don't change much do we?" she asked, and Neena smiled.
"Not really, the sixties aside. Oh, and word to the wise, there are a pair of green platform heels which we think are wonderful. They are not, do not buy them, or suffer bunions and blisters for the better part of two decades." She advised grimly, and Isabel nodded, and Neena, satisfied, leaned back in her chair.
"So what would bring my future self all the way back here, on a cold night like this?" Isabel asked, and Neena looked at her past self frankly.
"As you can imagine, only the gravest of crises would bring me so far into the past. The future has been lost. Every scion of our line, the very line which is about to begin this very night, has been destroyed. The world has been lost. One of our descendants, who should have been one of our brightest lights, fell into darkness. As a result, magic was exposed, and while we defeated the tyrant, it came at great cost. The humans have risen, and now hunt us to extinction. Magic is dying. The old guard have been hunted to extinction, the prophecies dismantled, and the world has been plunged into eternal darkness. The humans, being stupid, do not realise this as a symptom of a larger problem…that the world is dying. Magic is fading from the world, and as a result, the world is dying with it." Neena explained, seeing the look of horror developing on Isabel's face.
"But that's impossible, the Angels, the Elders..." she protested in anguish, but Neena shook her head.
"All gone. Killed by the very thing they destroyed in order to control, but in their hubris, all they assured was their own destruction. Make no mistake…Destiny is the force behind all this. They feared the next generation you see. At the end of the twentieth century, we are fortunate enough to live in a time when many great prophecies come to light. While as you can imagine they were initially delighted, discovering these prophecies all coming to a head at the one time, and that the natural order would be forever changed, the Angels began to fear what would happen. They feared too great a concentration of power, something that they were justified in fearing considering what happened. However, it is their very interference in the matter that led the world to the devastation its in.
And so they took action, manipulating events so that a threat within would destroy the established order that had been created out of the ashes of the epoch of Evil, and threaten the power of Good, which has always focused on more worldly pursuits, and return the world to the jurisdiction of Evil, where Good could no longer flaunt the Grand Design, and hence pose a threat to their plans. And at first, it worked. The threat within broke the spirit of the Twice Blessed Child and made him into a force for Evil, and in his mania, his desire for control, he inflicted his tyranny on the world, slaughtering the various champions who his mother had collected into one cohesive group. In short, he slaughtered everyone who could possibly oppose him other than his poor, traumatised little brother. The Angels plans had succeeded, now that he was emperor, the Twice Blessed wouldn't go after them. The Grand Design would be assured, and no magical being after him would ever have so much power as to threaten their designs.
Until he destroyed them all, shattering their power, and plunging the world into the flames of ruin, and sending it to hell in a hand basket in the process. And now, the process he began, however unwittingly, serving merely as a pawn of fate, continues, and the world is on the brink of a knife. If action is not taken, the world will fall. And then, all life will be extinguished, and after that…well it won't really matter will it?"
Isabel got to her feet, and Neena looked at her in sympathy. She could well understand. Her future self was coming here to tell her that if action wasn't taken, within four hundred years, every single aspect of their legacy would be dead and the world along with it. When she thought about it, after hundreds of years of evil having the slightly upper hand, only for the combined forces of good to win back the world, only to lose it again within the space of thirty years, and doom the world in the process, all due to the fear of the Angels of losing their power, well…it was a lot to take in.
Isabel then turned to Neena, her eyes swimming with tears as she stood over the cauldron filled with bubbling green liquid.
"What happened?" she asked weakly, and Neena's eyes flashed menacingly.
"The same thing that happened to us…those who think they know better than us trying to prove that they do, and failing miserably, and then leaving the rest of the world caught in the shitstorm that follows."
Isabel snarled angrily as she stared into the potion she was making.
"Destiny…as always. And of course, we're left to clear up their mess." She hissed as Neena swept to her side, her eyes glimmering with anger.
"Quite so. And I don't know about you, but it is finally time. I have had it with Destiny, with Fate, with Prophecy. I've had enough of these so called higher beings deciding our fates while relying on their own petty power struggles. It is time for the lunatics to run the asylum. True free will. We are free to make our own screw-ups, without them moving the cosmic scales, keeping their insidious game of balance, playing favourites…no. It is time for an ending. It is time for a new beginning. What say you?" Neena asked, and Isabel looked at her curiously.
"Well obviously I agree with myself, I've long sought to strike at Destiny as you know, and I see why now. Their total incompetence, their continual playing of favourites and their corruption and arrogance have brought the world to ruin. And what they did to us has long deserved punishment. But…why is this Twice Blessed Child so powerful? What line does he come from, which lineage begins tonight that is so important?" she asked, and Neena smiled fondly.
"Haven't you figured it out yet? A great line of witches, the greatest of all our descendants, and the first decent male in the family? There is only one line it could be. The line of Warren Witches, each generation growing stronger until culminating in the most powerful witches the world has ever known. The Charmed Ones." Neena said fondly, and Isabel looked at her in reverence, as her eyes widened as the significance of what she had just said sunk in.
"The Charmed Ones? The three Charmed Ones? What do we do?" she asked, suddenly all business like, and Neena raised a finger.
"Not just the three Charmed Ones. All four Charmed Ones. Which brings me to why I'm here." She explained, and while Isabel looked at her curiously, Neena reached into the potion and brought out a small glowing triquetra charm.
"The Power of Three will suffice at first, but…this way, there can be something even greater. The Power of Four!"
And with a simple gesture, the glowing silver charm seemed to shiver, and while the triquetra remained in place, little ribbons of silver emerged, snaking around the charm, creating four arms like the triquetra had three, the circle interconnecting them all. And now, the triquetra was embossed upon a quadquetra, and Neena breathed in deeply as she felt the ripple spread through time.
"And with this, we shall enable our greatest descendants to function as three…but when the time comes, rather than be hampered, they shall instead thrive…as four. When Charlotte Warren comes to you, send her to Virginia. There she will deliver Melinda Warren, and the future will truly begin. Do this, for her, for her child, for every one of our children…and for the future of us all!"
And with Isabel smiling behind her, Neena, filled with triumph, conjured a time portal and stepped into it, as the future began to change around her, the ripple of what she had just done heading outward throughout the ages, throughout the realities, throughout the timelines. The invisible shockwave spread outwards as Neena swirled through time, not noticing the glowing white eyes swirling in the smoke behind her as she sped throughout time, and for the first time in an eternity...she felt that the future was finally going her way.
Its been a long time coming, but here we finally are with the final part of the Past Mistakes Series! My apologies for how long it took to get to this point, but I assure you, I intend to finish this story, and even though I've had about two years off...(hangs head in shame) im now back and intend to finish the tale once and for all
So, despite Wyatt being vanquished, the future is in an even worse state than it was beforehand, and magic is dying out, and with it, the world. Neena has taken bold action, but just who was watching her as she travelled through time? And despite being dead in the future, I cant imagine the Angels are happy with what she has planned...which is what exactly?
And next time we are back in the present, with the girls and Chris, still reeling from their trip to the future as they search for whoever threatens Wyatt, as the effects of Neena's actions begin to echo through time, events which can only lead one way...
Anyway, glad to be back, apologies again for the long hiatus (blame zenescope for taking so long on the comic front) and I'd love to hear from you as we start this final story, so please read and review!