A/N: Eva - This story is one of my favorites so far. I am so proud of it! It could be because it is based on my favorite TV show, or my favorite book, but I think that the fact that I'm working on it with Bridget is the main reason this is turning out so well. She's an amazing co-author, and I love her to death!
Sentiments aside, I hope you all enjoy it thoroughly. Don't be afraid to speak your mind…criticism is what makes a story better. This is taking longer than usual, since Bridget and I live across the country from each other, but keep on reviewing, and things might go a little faster.
Bless and Blessed Be!
A/N: Bridget- Ah, this will be the biggest and longest and complicated Charmed story you'll ever read. Be afraid ;P Seriously, I am deliriously happy that I get to co-write with Eva here. We had tons of fun together as we wrote this fic and I hope that you'll get as much enjoyment out of this as we did, or are actually since we're not done yet. ::laughs:: So sit back, relax, and let us take over. When you're done, please drop off any reviews that you have in your pockets.
Thank you! ::rolls the fic film::
"The Mists of Akasha" is based on "Charmed" and "The Mists of Avalon".
The Mists of Akasha
Before time swept the forces of the Goddess away, magick was present in everyday life. All creatures embraced it, and utilized this power for the betterment of their world. Whitelighters, demons, Witches, and humans all lived in the land of Astrael in harmony with the energies of Nature. As time went on, however, the humans grew to acquire an enormous amount of strength, and banished each magickal race into the mysteries of Akasha, forgetting them in the process. Christianity was beginning to gain a stronghold in Astrael, twisting the concept of magick, making it out to be the work of the Devil, and the Goddess was dismissed as a pagan lie. Followers of the Old Way were rounded up, tortured, and executed because of their beliefs. Many were converted, either by force or from fear of death.
Despite the horrors and dangers that came with the Way of the Witches, several still chose to follow this path in secret. They lived in solitude and safety on Akasha, protected by the mists that cloaked the Island, making it invisible to the outside world. The island itself was an enigma: no one knew when or how it came to be, only that it was filled with magick, down to the tiniest pebble. Mysteries lurked in its hills and forests that had yet to be discovered, even by the inhabitants who had lived there for centuries. Humans feared these things, the unknown power, and mystical forces. This is what barred them from the Island. Witches, however, flourished there, practicing their magick and celebrating the beauty of life and the Ancient Ones, growing stronger in their faith, relatively unknown. There were stories told by humans of fairies and mythical creatures that lived on a far off land, but these were dismissed as tall tales and were never truly believed. Indeed, fairies and trolls did call Akasha home, but secluded themselves from even the Witches, for centuries of hatred and death had made them cautious even around followers of the Goddess. This is the way things would have remained for eternity had it not been for the ambitions of three sister Witches from a powerful family line. The Warren Witches had always held an especially strong control over the magick of the Island, and the oldest living Warren, Penelope was her name, was the Lady of the Lake; the Goddess's chosen one. It was she who trained young Witches to become priestesses, she who held authority even over the powerful Whitelighters, and it was her granddaughters who would alter the course of history with a collective vision: a vision to unite the worlds of magick and humans. The works of these sisters would not only expose Akasha and it's inhabitants, but they served to change the perceptions and treatment of the magickal kingdom forever.
Witches were by far the ones who hated the isolation and exile that the humans wrought upon them the most. They were kin, if one dared to search hundreds of generations ago, and the loneliness was almost too much to bear. Each year brought fewer and fewer Witch births and Penelope feared that her kind would be wiped out. Sure, some Witches were allowed to leave Akasha to couple with a human so they could have a child to raise on the Island, but it just wasn't enough. The Whitelighter, however, were perfectly happy with the exile. They were never very social with humans to begin with, and thought them beneath their standings. Demons also did not care for humans. They wanted to seek revenge against them, to destroy every last one. The granddaughters of the Lady of the Lake: Prudence, Piper, and Phoebe differed in their view of Astrael. The sisters did not want the humans to perish. On the contrary, they wanted Witches to live and coexist with humans. So with the blessings of their mother Patricia and their grandmother Penelope, they set about to change the human-Witch relations, one person at a time.