The ChildrenIIof Light
Chapter One: Equinox
The thunder cracked and lightning flashed illuminating the sky, all the while wind whips the night and rain pours down to cleanse the city below. As the storm rages on a young woman walks towards her home. She opens the large oak doors and steps into the brownstone to see her mother waiting for her there.
"Well it's about time missy!" Her mother said from the kitchen.
"I'm so sorry I'm late Mom! See Rebecca was having problems with her boyfriend, I kinda lost track of time." The young woman said as she tossed her leather coat onto the sofa and walked into the kitchen.
Her mother looked at her daughter and sighed. She couldn't help but worry about her daughter, especially tonight of all nights. But she kept her composure and gave her daughter a good look over, and this intern caused her to grin from ear to ear. Her daughter's once smooth and sleek black hair was now soaking wet and frizzing, while her blue cashmere sweater and trendy jeans remained unaffected.
"Are you seriously laughing at me now?" Her daughter asked while heading to the refrigerator.
Her mother gave one last chuckle and then cleared her throat. "Well you can hardly blame me; I mean it looks like your head was dunked in a bucket of water." After a second she remembered what she was going to say before seeing the state of her 'drowned' daughter. "You know better than this Laura. If you are heading over to a friend's house you need to call me first. I didn't know what to think, for all I knew a demon could have attacked you."
Laura groaned and looked to her mother, looking into the same large brown eyes as her owns. "Mom, I think that if a demon were to attack me I could handle myself."
"Oh really, and how would you do that? You leave the house without any potions, and you don't have an active power." Her mother regretted the words as soon as she said them. Laura not having an active power was always a sore spot.
"No, I don't!" Laura half shouted and then she shook her head, "Look sorry. I know that I'm an easier target because of not having an active power. But if a demon did attack I'd orb-out and come right home."
She looked at her daughter and said, "Look honey I'm sorry. I'm just a little jumpy right now, and I'm not sure why. I just want to make sure you kids are careful. You all are growing up so fast it's a little too much for an old lady like me."
Laura chuckled and said, "Mom, you're but old. And besides I know that if I did die you'd summon me up and 'kick my transparent ass' as Aunt Piper likes to say."
"Yeah, that sister of mine is very subtle." She looked at the clock and saw that it read a quarter to seven. "Speaking of Piper we'd better go. Last time Phoebe was late to dinner because of a 'family emergency' she nearly cancelled the night. Go fix yourself up and then get back her missy."
Laura didn't argue, she knew full well that Piper put a lot of effort into the family dinners. It was one of the few times that the entire Halliwell family got together. Within five minutes she was back I the kitchen, her hair now dry and smooth. "Ok, so are we driving there or orbing?" She asked her mother.
Her mother thought about it for a moment and then said, "We orb, don't want to risk the wrath of Piper. Follow me." She gave her daughter a smile before she was enveloped in a cloud of blue and white lights, and a second later she had disappeared from sight.
Laura shrugged her shoulders and followed her mother in the same way, the lights taking her away to her Aunt Piper's. A few seconds later in another part of town materialized two clouds of blue and white lights, which faded into Laura and her mother.
"Paige there you are!" Called out a strong voice behind the two women.
Both women turned around and saw a woman in her late 40s walking towards them. She wore a pair of black trousers, a violet silk blouse and lots of silver jewelry. Her long brown hair framed her face perfectly and the few streaks of grey gave her distinction, not age.
"So sorry Piper, but Laura was late coming home. I wanted to make sure she was alright." Paige said walking up to her sister and giving her a loving hug.
Laura gave a half smile and said, "Hi Aunt Piper. Yeah I got tied up with a friend and lost track of time, sorry."
Piper looked at her niece and said, "Hmm don't worry about it. Dinner is just about to be served so you are right on time guys. Everyone is in the dinning room already." She paused and looked to Paige; it was in that moment that she saw just how much her sister and her niece looked alike with the same build, pale skin, black hair; the only difference was the eyes. "Julie and Henry are here too Paige." She added as she walked towards the kitchen.
Laura looked at her mother and said, "Why were you all paranoid about only me?"
Paige narrowed her eyes at her daughter and said, "Because they were on time and Julie orbed over here half an hour ago with Henry." Paige then pushed her daughter towards the dinning room and to the entire extended Halliwell family.
Sitting across the large table were the other fourteen members of their family. From the head of the table sat Piper and then to her left was her husband Leo, He sat by his wife's side and held her hand on top of the table. To Leo's left were their three children; Wyatt, Chris and Grace. Wyatt was talking to Chris about this latest charge, a young witch from Spain with the power of mimicry (the ability to use/generate the power of another magical creature for a short time, usually through physical contact.) and Chris listened to his older brother with great interest. Then there was Grace, the spitting image of Piper whom was finishing a sip of her apple cider. She was now twenty years old and seeming to find her way, not so bitter about not being a 'special' kinda witch.
Next to her sat Paige's other sister, the middle sister Phoebe Halliwell. She looked nearly the same as she had an odd twenty years ago. To her left was her husband Coop, the man of her dreams. Across the table from Piper and to Coop's left sat Prue, the first born daughter of Phoebe and Coop. She was talking to her parents about her college classes and she was sounding a little stressed. On the other side of Prue was her younger sister Patty, the girl looked so much like the late Prue Halliwell that is was uncanny. She was talking to the youngest of Phoebe's children and her sister Penny. The two were discussing some demon who attacked Patty the day before; needless to say he was vanquished.
And finally to the left of Penny were Laura's twin sister and their younger brother Henry. Julie and Laura looked similar but the eyes gave them away. While Julie had her mother's brown eyes, Laura had inherited a rather odd grayish blue color for her eyes. This usually gave away as to which twin was which, well that along with the powers. Julie slapped her younger brother's hand as he tried to grab a roll from the basket. As the youngest in his own family and in the entire Halliwell clan Henry was usually being pushed around. However this time he was wrong and knew better than to start eating before everyone arrived, especially this night.
"Well come on guys, some of us are starving here!" Henry said to his mother and sister.
"Henry, you are always hungry." Laura said sitting down next to him.
As Paige made her way to her seat she said to the table, "That's my growing boy."
At this Henry moaned and said, "MOM! I'm not a baby, I'm sixteen."
"Hey, in this family that means nothing." Wyatt said catching onto the conversation. He laughed and said, "I'm twenty-five and still need to let my mom know what part of the world I'm in on a daily basis."
"Yeah well that's because you used to orb yourself halfway across the globe when you hade a tantrum." Leo said to his eldest son.
"Remember when he was three and orbed Chris outta the basinet? He came flying down into Dad's arms, all the way across town!" Phoebe said laughing.
Piper cleared her throat and said, "Now that we're all here we can celebrate the Equinox together. So dig in guys."
Without another word being spoken everyone just went right into the food. They passed everything around without being asked for, just like every other time during a family dinner. After about ten minutes of prepping their plates the Halliwell family started eating the feast and continuing small talk.
"So Aunt Piper why is this Sabbat feast so much more important than any others?" Penny asked as dinner was winding down.
Piper looked to her youngest niece and smiled, "Actually that's something for your Aunt Paige here to explain to you."
"Gee thanks Piper." Paige said to her eldest sister. She looked across the table and saw her family, a strong family held together by love and magic. And then she looked to her right and saw her three children; her two precious girls and her baby boy. Oh how she missed her husband at times like this. "So this Equinox is very special because not only is it the Vernal Equinox but because there is a full moon outside as well."
"Yeah but there have been full moons on Sabbats before Aunt Paige." Chris said from across the table.
Paige smiled a little and said, "Yes Chris but not like this. This is a golden harvest moon, which falls onto the Vernal Equinox. The moon represents the greatest light shinning through the night, and the Equinox is for spring and thus a time of new beginnings." She paused and sat up from the table. She held out her hands and in a swirl of blue and white orbs came a large indigo blue leather book. As she turned back to the table the book was not only indigo in color but also it looked heavy with pages filled with knowledge. Upon the cover of the book there was a symbol in silver, it looked like the sign of Gemini in astrology.
"Mom, why did you bring your Book of Shadows here?" Henry asked his mother.
She gave her shoulders a slight shrug and said, "Well see Henry that's just the thing. It's not only my book now; it belongs to you, Julie and Laura."
The table was silent. Everyone knew that things like this didn't just happen, getting a Book of Shadows means that you are taking up the mantle of power. Chris and Wyatt have no need for the original book of shadows, and Grace had turned it down just earlier this year. So soon the Wiccan Book of Shadows will belong to Phoebe and her daughters.
"Is there a demon mom? What's with the Book of Shadows?" Julie asked her. Everyone knew that Julie loved being a witchlighter and was always up for some god ass kicking.
Paige chuckled and said, "No sweetie today is a very special day for you, for all of you." She finished looking at her other daughter and her son.
"Oh for heaven's sake would you just tell them already so I can go back to living my afterlife!" Said a disembodied voice, then suddenly a swirl of golden lights appeared and there stood Penny Halliwell, also know as Grams.
"Gee Grams; we didn't summon you to crash the party." Piper said from her seat at the table.
Grams looked to her and said, "Yes I know dear. However you need a high priestess here for the ceremony. Besides I can't just sit back and watch as my legacy is in jeopardy."
"Excuse me mother?" And within a moment another shower of golden light appeared within the dinning room and there stood Patty Halliwell.
"Hi mom, thanks." Paige said.
"Listen mom, these are Paige's children. It's up to her to talk to them, not either of us about the inheritance." Patty said to Grams.
"Ok people slow down! What the hell is going on here?" Laura asked the living and dead members of her family.
The room grew silent and her mother looked at her with those warm brown eyes. "Honey, there's something we've been meaning to tell you."
The entire Halliwell family made their way into the attic. There Paige placed her Book of Shadows on the scrying table.
"Ok so what's the deal mom? Why the big family meeting, including those of us whom are dead." Henry asked looking from his mother to grandmother and great-grandmother.
"Ok you and the girls sit down on the sofa alright." Paige said as she pulled a chair up to them. "Well you see when Henry here had his wiccaning something rather strange happened. My Book of Shadows, the one I started not long after our 'Charmed' destiny was technically fulfilled and I started my path as a Witchlighter began to flip on its own. Just like the first book did from time to time." She took a moment to pause and continued, "Well you see when the pages stopped it mentioned something called 'The Black Flame' and that only the children of the most powerful Witchlighter would be able to vanquish it."
No one in the room uttered a word as Paige spoke. She reached over to her book and flipped to the page titled 'The Black Flame'. "Here read it for yourselves."
Julie reached for the indigo book and saw the page. It was just like most of the pages in either Book of Shadows with the decorations and then the actual information. Julie read, "The Black Flame is a creature of immense power and carnage. Though his powers are many and great he does hold a secret. He only fears one thing and that is The Children of Light. These are the children of the most powerful witchlighter ever known. Each child holds one of the three keys to his destruction. The first shall mirror her mother in power and spirit, the second shall hear all thoughts to know the truth, and the third will be the ultimate shield against the Black Flame's powers.
The Children of Light will come to power on the Equinox of beginnings when the youngest is sixteen. The Black Flame can not be vanquished by witchcraft alone for he is protected by his blood. Therefore it falls upon these three, The Children of Light to fulfill their shared destiny and destroy him. Should they fail, The Black Flame will kill each of them and the destined line of witchlighters will never come to pass.
From the Shadows Comes the Light…"
Julie stopped reading as soon as she reached the end of the entry. The entire room remained silent, that is until Grams spoke up. "Well for goodness sakes somebody say something!"
"Um…do we have a choice in any of this?" Laura asked.
Patty sighed and said, "As far as I know you don't sweetie. It seems that you, like my girls have a destiny that you can't run from."
"And one they shouldn't run away from. It's their magical duty and they need to embrace it." Grams said in a slightly harsh tone.
"Grams please." Paige said to her grandmother. Then she looked to her children. "I know it's hard, believe me we know what's it's like to be charged with something you never wanted. But you're going to have to deal with it, the best way you know how; together."
Piper and Phoebe had made their way to Paige's side and Piper started to speak, "Sometimes guys there are things you have no control over. There is something about our family, all the way from Charlotte and Melinda Warren that keeps being passed down. We seem to be connected to the Higher Powers in ways most witches never dream of."
"Yeah, I mean when I read the spell from the book all those years ago I had no idea what we were getting into. You three however know all about magic and will be better prepared than Prue, Piper or I were." Phoebe said in her soothing 'middle sister' voice.
"And when I came along I had to play catch-up to Piper and Phoebe. It was a lot of mistakes and um…interesting experiences before I felt I found my place as a witch, and even longer before I found that as a whitelighter." She closed the book and looked up to her sisters and then to her children. "Look we'll be there with you every step of the way. But we can't fight this battle for you." Paige said feeling sad for her children.
Laura spoke up, "See that's what I don't understand mom! You three were 'charmed' for over twenty years. Prue, Patty and Penny are The Charmed Ones now, why us?"
"Well you see dear, whatever Power That Be wrote in your mother's Book of Shadows knew that only you three would have the power to vanquish this evil. You three are the first pure blood witchlighters in our line, every really. Your mother is one by Patty and Sam and because of that her power is very great. Her witch side is just as powerful as Piper, Phoebe and Prue's. Her whitelighter side is also very strong which is why her powers seemed to have advanced through them." She sat on the arm of the pink sofa. "Paige, Wyatt and Chris are all what one might call a hybrid witch; two lineages into one being making them very powerful. But you three were born from Paige and thus are strong, but not as strong as they were individually."
At this point Patty jumped in, "See by coming together, forming your own strong bond and trinity you three are a force unlike any other. Each of your powers are capable of great good." She saw Laura's look of disbelief. "Yes even telepathy. You seen but this threat, this 'Black Flame' is what you are meant to fight and vanquish. Only you three have the power."
Grams once again took over talking to the children, "It took generations of Warren witches to be born and their power to grow until The Charmed Ones came into being. Each of our ancestors were powerful witches, and yet that couldn't fulfill the destiny of The Charmed Ones. Piper, Phoebe and your mother fulfilled the Charmed destiny many years ago. Now for some reason there is…or will be the need to that power again and there fore Prue, Patty and Penny have taken on the mantle of power."
"But you three, my beautiful girls and my little man are blessed in a way that no other member of this family has been or ever will be. You are the first of your kind; you are The Children of Light."