Piper Halliwell walked into the living room drying her hand on a
dishtowel. Already in there were her two sisters, Paige and Phoebe,
looking through a book of baby names.
"How about Palti?" Phoebe laughed.
Paige smiled and raised her eyebrows.
"Palti?!" Piper gave her sisters an "Are you crazy?" look and stifled a giggle. She went down the page of "P" names and looked to where Phoebe's finger was pointed.
She read the meaning out loud, "My Escape, Deliverance." Piper laughed and rolled her eyes.
"The meaning certainly fits the little guy," Paige giggled.
Piper sighed and smiled, "He won't survive one day at school with that name."
"I think even the demons would stop and laugh," Phoebe added.
"We could always resort to Peter," Paige said.
"No, I already told you," Piper said, "My son will not be named Peter!"
"OK, OK," Paige said defensively. "What does it mean anyway?"
Phoebe flipped through the book that someone had given to Piper at her baby shower. When she found the name she announced with little enthusiasm, "A Rock."
"All righty then, I'm going to bring this towel to the Kitchen," Piper got up, "I'll be back." The baby monitor that Paige held started making noises. They heard the baby crying, ".after I check on the baby." Piper walked out of the room, Paige and Phoebe smiled at the thought of their day old nephew.
"That kid is so cute!" Paige exclaimed.
"He's a Halliwell, what'd you expect." Phoebe explained with confidence. Paige shook her head and hit Phoebe lightly in the arm.
Meanwhile, upstairs in Piper's bedroom, Piper tried to calm her crying son down. She tried rocking him, feeding him, he didn't want his pacifier and his diaper was clean.
Back downstairs, Paige and Phoebe continued to look through the book of names, waiting for Piper to come downstairs again. All of a sudden, out of nowhere, Phoebe saw an energy ball fly over their heads, missing them by less than an inch.
"What the.?" Phoebe screamed, "Paige," Paige gasped and quickly orbed away with Phoebe and landed behind the thing that was attacking them. It looked like a regular person but had claws and large teeth. It was dressed in white, had light blue eyes and a soft face.
Piper could hear shouting from downstairs, "What's going on?" she asked herself. She continued to rock the baby who was still crying. "Leo," Piper called.
Leo appeared next to the bed where Piper was sitting. He ran over to Piper and his crying son, "Honey, is he okay?"
I don't know. He started crying and he won't stop," Piper handed her son to Leo, "But." They heard a scream from downstairs. Leo looked up, confused. Piper continued, "But I have to go help my sisters. Orb the baby to a safe place," Piper looked worried, "please."
Leo orbed out with their son, still wailing, in his arms. Piper ran as quickly as she could down the stairs. She was just in time to see Phoebe and Paige appear behind the creature that had been attacking them.
Piper was on the landing between the two flights of stairs as another creature, this one definitely a demon, shimmered in. She quickly waved her arms and the room froze. Paige and Phoebe turned around after seeing the room had frozen. They saw Piper coming down the stairs.
"Piper, the baby!" Phoebe said concerned.
"He's with Leo," Piper said reassuringly, "What's going on down here?"
Before either one of them could explain, the room unfroze. The weird looking person-like thing threw an energy ball at the demon. Piper ran down the rest of the stairs to her sisters. The energy ball hit the demon head-on and the demon burned up in a column of flames. The thing looked around the room, rather confused, and then disappeared in a pattern of lights.
"What was that?" Paige asked.
"That's what I would like to know," Piper shot back. She didn't want any demon attacking unexpectedly, risking the life of her child.
Phoebe was also stunned. She said, "I think we should go check in the Book of Shadows." Phoebe thought for a second, "Why would the first demon kill the other one?"
"Phoebe, I don't think that was a demon. He disappeared in white lights." Paige responded.
"Yes, but he did have energy balls. No "good" has energy ball power." Phoebe tried.
"You had fire throwing once." Paige mentioned.
"No, that was my evil baby's power," Phoebe said. Piper gave Paige a small nudge in her side. Phoebe gave a small, awkward smile. Paige got the hint and shut up.
"So, what could it be?" Piper mused. Paige shrugged. Phoebe shook her head.
"Ok then, I'll go get the Book," Piper walked up the stairs.
"And we'll start cleaning up," Paige added looking around the room. The first energy ball had hit a light that hung off the wall. There was glass on the floor. From the second energy ball, there were some ashes left on the floor from the vanquished demon.
Piper made her way into the attic. She grabbed the Book of Shadows off of its stand. "Leo, you can come back now," she said.
He orbed in, a smile on his face, the baby quiet in his arms. They heard two shrill screams. "Or not." Piper gasped.
"Let me help," Leo offered.
"No! Go before the baby is hurt!" Piper said angrily. Leo orbed out. Piper dropped the Book of Shadows and ran downstairs. As she ran she yelled, "Paige, Phoebe?" There was no answer. Piper went into the Living Room, where she had left her sisters before. She looked around but everything was silent. There was a dustpan thrown across the area rug and its contents had been scattered around, making the room look even messier than it was.
Piper's eyes got big and she gasped. "What happened?" she thought to herself. "Oh my gosh, Leo!" Piper screamed frantically. Leo orbed in, their son asleep against his chest.
Leo could see that Piper was quite upset, "Honey what's wrong?"
"Phoebe and Paige are gone," she hit her hands to her side, "Can you sense them?" she asked hopefully.
Leo readjusted the baby and closed his eyes, concentrating.
Impatiently Piper asked, "Well?"
Leo looked concerned, "No, I can't sense either one of them."
Piper held her forehead in her hands and then reached out to her baby. She lifted him carefully and held him tightly as to comfort herself, "Leo what if whatever took them wants our baby too?" Piper said, tears of worry in her voice.
Leo reached out his hand and moved a lock of hair that was in Piper's face, "Everything will be fine, I promise." *~*~*~*~*~*
Paige and Phoebe fell to the ground after being snatched from the manor and taken through an obscure looking tunnel. It was gray and the walls had seemed to swirl around. A hand had been tightly grasping their wrists the whole time so that they couldn't get away. They wouldn't have been able to get out anyway, the tunnel provided no sound nor were they able to speak.
Paige got up, rubbing her wrists and looked around. She saw she was wearing a dark colored shirt and dark sweats. "Phoebe, where are we?" Paige asked in disgust. They were in some kind of run down building. The air was thick with a putrid odor and cobwebs hung from the ceiling. Phoebe hadn't responded yet. Paige looked down at her sister. Phoebe was laying face down and her eyes were closed. She was wearing a pair of black sports pants and a black tank top. "Phoebe?!" Paige yelled. She bent down and turned Phoebe over and gasped. There was a small puddle of fresh blood under what looked like a bullet wound.
"Did you get it out yet?" Paige heard Piper's voice in a harsh tone.
Paige got up and turned around, "Piper?" she asked, baffled. She was 100 percent sure that Piper had been upstairs when they were taken by. "Wait, what did take us?" Paige thought to her self, "It was the same thing that first attacked us."
"Well, did you?" Piper persisted. Paige was taken from her thoughts. She thought her eyes were playing tricks on her. But Piper was standing there, in the flesh. Paige blinked once or twice. When she opened them again she still saw her sister, fully dressed in a black sweater and a dark pair of jeans.
"Get what out?" Paige hesitated.
"The bullet, Paige! The bullet!" Piper yelled.
Paige bent down to Phoebe's wound. She laid out her hand, "Bullet," she called hesitantly. Paige expected the bullet to appear in her hand in blue and white orbs. Instead, it appeared in her hand in a small column of flames. Phoebe grunted as the bullet was extracted from her side.
"Say this," Piper instructed. Paige looked down at the piece of paper that Piper held in front of her face. It was a small phrase written in Latin. Paige uncertainly said the ancient Latin. She expected to say it all wrong. When she read it simultaneously with Piper though, it sounded perfect, accent and all.
Phoebe's wound healed and she slowly opened her eyes.
Piper gave a small, satisfied smile. She walked out of the room. "I have a Council Meeting to attend. Meet me at the alley on Elm and Chestnut. I'll be there at eleven tonight. Don't be late!" she said firmly.
Phoebe sat up quickly. "Paige, is Piper okay? She seemed kind of. different." Phoebe looked around and down at her clothes. "What's going on?"
Paige shrugged, " I wish I knew." She reached out her hand to help Phoebe up.
Phoebe took it and jumped up and wiped the dirt from the floor off her clothes, "Well. We're going to find out." Phoebe sighed. *~*~*~*~*~*~*
Piper sat on the Living Room couch, her baby asleep in her arms. Leo was getting the Book of Shadows from the Attic. They were going to look for some clues on who or what took her sisters. The familiar lights of Leo's orbs caught Piper's eyes. She turned her head as Leo fully appeared. He was not only holding the Book but a baby carrier too. Leo laid the carrier down to the left of Piper and she placed the baby down into it after giving him a kiss on the forehead.
Leo gave a reassuring smile, "Do you remember what it looked like?"
Piper held her chin and than laid her head down on Leo's shoulder. "It looked like a regular human but it had claws and big teeth. I think. I think it had blue eyes. I'm not sure though. It only faced me for a second. Oh yeah, it was dressed in some sort of white robe." She said.
"Like mine?" Leo asked.
Piper couldn't help but laugh. The traditional whitelighter robe was a hilarious sight.
"No, not like yours," Piper stated, "It was a more of a white cape and I'm not sure what was under it."
"Well it sounds unique enough. It shouldn't be that hard to find," Leo said.
"I hope not," Piper added weakly. Leo gave Piper a kiss on her head and opened the Book. They flipped through the pages, each page giving them no clues whatsoever.
"Nothing!" Piper announced meekly.
"Maybe we missed something," Leo offered, "Let's look again."
Piper and Leo flipped through the old Book again; still there were no clues to what the creature was or what it planned to do next.
"Leo?" Piper thought for a second and then asked, "Do you think maybe we should put a protective charm on our baby?" She looked over to their baby who was now awake. "Hi little guy," Piper cooed, "Feeling better?" She smiled, forgetting for a second about the trouble that her sisters were in and the potential danger that she and the rest of her family were in. Piper reached out to her son and gave a little tickle on its belly. The baby squealed with laughter and kicked its tiny legs.
"We should decide on a name," Leo said, admiring his baby boy.
"I promised Paige and Phoebe, I wouldn't name him without them," Piper started. Leo put his arm around his wife. Piper continued sadly, "But now they're not here."
"Let me check with the Elders," Leo stated, "Maybe they have an idea of what's going on. Piper gave a weak smile. Leo almost always came through for her.
"I guess I'll cast that protective charm," Piper decided.
"Okay," Leo stood up and gave Piper a kiss on the cheek. He bent over to his son and gave him a light peck on the stomach. Soon, he disappeared in orbs. Piper grabbed the Book of Shadows and put it on her lap.
"Protective charm, protective charm," she repeated quietly out loud as she flipped through the pages. She finally found a page labeled "Charms to Protect Ones Self or Others"
"Here we go," she said aloud. Piper looked at he page. On it were four different incantations to recite for different kinds of protection. She scrolled her eyes down the page and decided that the "To Protect From Supernatural Harm" charm would be the most appropriate.
Piper read the incantation out loud, substituting some words to make it suitable for a baby,
"The power of good, I call you here, To protect this child, Who stays where evil is near. Please protect him, From all evil and harm. Keep him safe and sound With the help of this charm."
Piper looked up from the book and towards her baby. A shiny, white light seemed to appear from nowhere and surrounded the baby boy. The baby looked up, dazzled by the shiny, white lights. Soon the light dissipated and Piper knew that her baby was now safe. Instantly she felt half of her worries disappear. Piper felt more at ease now that she didn't have to worry so much about the safety of her baby.
Piper relaxed herself on the couch taking in the short moment of peace that she had until Leo came back with, hopefully, information about where her sisters were. The baby was lying in its carrier, quietly looking at the mini mobile that hung from the side of the handle. Piper cherished this moment of peace and was glad that her child wasn't in a crying frenzy like before.
She closed her eyes, hoping that her sisters were safe. But all good things must come to end. Piper had learned that way too well after being a Charmed One for five years. Suddenly the baby started whimpering. Piper opened her eyes and reached over to her son.
She lifted him to her chest and held him close, "What's wrong baby?" she asked lightly. She rocked him, hoping that he would stop whimpering. Soon the whimpering erupted into loud wails. Piper carefully got up off the couch and walked back and forth, hoping the movement would quiet the crying boy.
"Please stop crying," she begged. The baby continued to cry and Piper made her way upstairs to her bedroom. When she got to her bedroom she walked into the small nursery and laid her baby gently into its crib. She turned around to get a diaper, hoping that he was just crying because of a wet diaper. Piper walked back into the main bedroom and bent down under the bed to retrieve the diaper.
Behind her, a bearded demon shimmered in on the other side of the room. In the nursery, the baby was crying louder than ever. Piper sighed and got up, diaper in hand. She turned around. The demon smirked and prepared an energy ball. Piper gasped. She dropped the diaper and waved her arms. The demon blew up into millions of tiny pieces and disappeared. Instantly the baby stopped crying. Piper picked up the diaper that was lying on the floor.
She stood up, a confused look on her face, "That's odd." She shrugged it off and went to get her baby. She placed him on the changing table and started to take off his flannel, blue outfit.
Leo orbed into the room. "I got the information." He walked over to Piper and the baby.
"And." Piper encouraged, undoing the baby's diaper.
Leo began, ".Well, the good news is, is that our baby isn't in any more danger than it needs to be."
Piper smiled as she opened up the baby's diaper. Finding that it was dirty, she figured that that was the reason the baby had been crying. "I'm guessing there's bad news?" she asked even though she knew the answer.
"Well. it might be hard to get your sisters back." Leo continued, unsure of how Piper would react.
Piper swallowed slowly, "Go on."
"The Elders didn't know much, but." Leo said as he tried not to lock eyes with his wife,
"Your sisters are actually on a parallel universe." He cringed as he waited for a sharp response from Piper. When none came he continued, "They were taken by something called a Quantumite. Quantumites are magical beings that jump from parallel universe to parallel universe, making sure good and evil is balanced out and equal. The Quantumites live in the vacuum that lies between each Universe. "
Piper continued to change her baby's diaper, silently as she listened to Leo.
Leo continued, "In the universe parallel to this one, everything is opposite. Good is evil and evil is good," Leo explained, "So, you and your sisters, in our parallel universe are actually on the side of evil."
"Does that mean that in the parallel universe, my sisters are dead? Is that why this Quantumite took them?" Piper asked, confused. She placed a clean diaper on and began to re-clothe her child.
"Actually, that's what the Elders are confused about. There has never, ever been anything like this. No time in history has a Quantumite actually taken anything to another Universe, because that can cause an unbalance."
Piper was now holding her baby, rocking him. She said, "I guess that's why they weren't in the Book of Shadows, this never happened before. But that still doesn't explain whether my sister are dead or not."
Leo walked closer to Piper and continued on, "That can't be the case. The Elders told me that Paige and Phoebe, when they landed in the parallel universe, kept their soul but landed in parallel Paige and Phoebe's bodies. Otherwise the Elders are very confused and said that we are on our own for this one."
"That's just great!" Piper said sarcastically. Her baby was now asleep on her shoulder. She walked into the nursery and placed him in the crib. Leo still stood in the main bedroom, a sympathetic look on his face. Piper walked past her husband, her hands on her hips and walked out of the room.
"Piper, where are you going?" Leo shouted.
Piper sharply walked upstairs to the Attic, "If everything works out right, to my evil side!"
Leo followed, unsure of what Piper was about to do, "Excuse me?" he asked.
"You stay here with the baby," Piper said sweetly.
Leo didn't fall for her sweetness, "Piper what are you planning to do?"
Piper sat down on an old couch with a pad and pencil. She said while jotting down some words, "I'm going to summon some Quantumite butt!"
"How about Palti?" Phoebe laughed.
Paige smiled and raised her eyebrows.
"Palti?!" Piper gave her sisters an "Are you crazy?" look and stifled a giggle. She went down the page of "P" names and looked to where Phoebe's finger was pointed.
She read the meaning out loud, "My Escape, Deliverance." Piper laughed and rolled her eyes.
"The meaning certainly fits the little guy," Paige giggled.
Piper sighed and smiled, "He won't survive one day at school with that name."
"I think even the demons would stop and laugh," Phoebe added.
"We could always resort to Peter," Paige said.
"No, I already told you," Piper said, "My son will not be named Peter!"
"OK, OK," Paige said defensively. "What does it mean anyway?"
Phoebe flipped through the book that someone had given to Piper at her baby shower. When she found the name she announced with little enthusiasm, "A Rock."
"All righty then, I'm going to bring this towel to the Kitchen," Piper got up, "I'll be back." The baby monitor that Paige held started making noises. They heard the baby crying, ".after I check on the baby." Piper walked out of the room, Paige and Phoebe smiled at the thought of their day old nephew.
"That kid is so cute!" Paige exclaimed.
"He's a Halliwell, what'd you expect." Phoebe explained with confidence. Paige shook her head and hit Phoebe lightly in the arm.
Meanwhile, upstairs in Piper's bedroom, Piper tried to calm her crying son down. She tried rocking him, feeding him, he didn't want his pacifier and his diaper was clean.
Back downstairs, Paige and Phoebe continued to look through the book of names, waiting for Piper to come downstairs again. All of a sudden, out of nowhere, Phoebe saw an energy ball fly over their heads, missing them by less than an inch.
"What the.?" Phoebe screamed, "Paige," Paige gasped and quickly orbed away with Phoebe and landed behind the thing that was attacking them. It looked like a regular person but had claws and large teeth. It was dressed in white, had light blue eyes and a soft face.
Piper could hear shouting from downstairs, "What's going on?" she asked herself. She continued to rock the baby who was still crying. "Leo," Piper called.
Leo appeared next to the bed where Piper was sitting. He ran over to Piper and his crying son, "Honey, is he okay?"
I don't know. He started crying and he won't stop," Piper handed her son to Leo, "But." They heard a scream from downstairs. Leo looked up, confused. Piper continued, "But I have to go help my sisters. Orb the baby to a safe place," Piper looked worried, "please."
Leo orbed out with their son, still wailing, in his arms. Piper ran as quickly as she could down the stairs. She was just in time to see Phoebe and Paige appear behind the creature that had been attacking them.
Piper was on the landing between the two flights of stairs as another creature, this one definitely a demon, shimmered in. She quickly waved her arms and the room froze. Paige and Phoebe turned around after seeing the room had frozen. They saw Piper coming down the stairs.
"Piper, the baby!" Phoebe said concerned.
"He's with Leo," Piper said reassuringly, "What's going on down here?"
Before either one of them could explain, the room unfroze. The weird looking person-like thing threw an energy ball at the demon. Piper ran down the rest of the stairs to her sisters. The energy ball hit the demon head-on and the demon burned up in a column of flames. The thing looked around the room, rather confused, and then disappeared in a pattern of lights.
"What was that?" Paige asked.
"That's what I would like to know," Piper shot back. She didn't want any demon attacking unexpectedly, risking the life of her child.
Phoebe was also stunned. She said, "I think we should go check in the Book of Shadows." Phoebe thought for a second, "Why would the first demon kill the other one?"
"Phoebe, I don't think that was a demon. He disappeared in white lights." Paige responded.
"Yes, but he did have energy balls. No "good" has energy ball power." Phoebe tried.
"You had fire throwing once." Paige mentioned.
"No, that was my evil baby's power," Phoebe said. Piper gave Paige a small nudge in her side. Phoebe gave a small, awkward smile. Paige got the hint and shut up.
"So, what could it be?" Piper mused. Paige shrugged. Phoebe shook her head.
"Ok then, I'll go get the Book," Piper walked up the stairs.
"And we'll start cleaning up," Paige added looking around the room. The first energy ball had hit a light that hung off the wall. There was glass on the floor. From the second energy ball, there were some ashes left on the floor from the vanquished demon.
Piper made her way into the attic. She grabbed the Book of Shadows off of its stand. "Leo, you can come back now," she said.
He orbed in, a smile on his face, the baby quiet in his arms. They heard two shrill screams. "Or not." Piper gasped.
"Let me help," Leo offered.
"No! Go before the baby is hurt!" Piper said angrily. Leo orbed out. Piper dropped the Book of Shadows and ran downstairs. As she ran she yelled, "Paige, Phoebe?" There was no answer. Piper went into the Living Room, where she had left her sisters before. She looked around but everything was silent. There was a dustpan thrown across the area rug and its contents had been scattered around, making the room look even messier than it was.
Piper's eyes got big and she gasped. "What happened?" she thought to herself. "Oh my gosh, Leo!" Piper screamed frantically. Leo orbed in, their son asleep against his chest.
Leo could see that Piper was quite upset, "Honey what's wrong?"
"Phoebe and Paige are gone," she hit her hands to her side, "Can you sense them?" she asked hopefully.
Leo readjusted the baby and closed his eyes, concentrating.
Impatiently Piper asked, "Well?"
Leo looked concerned, "No, I can't sense either one of them."
Piper held her forehead in her hands and then reached out to her baby. She lifted him carefully and held him tightly as to comfort herself, "Leo what if whatever took them wants our baby too?" Piper said, tears of worry in her voice.
Leo reached out his hand and moved a lock of hair that was in Piper's face, "Everything will be fine, I promise." *~*~*~*~*~*
Paige and Phoebe fell to the ground after being snatched from the manor and taken through an obscure looking tunnel. It was gray and the walls had seemed to swirl around. A hand had been tightly grasping their wrists the whole time so that they couldn't get away. They wouldn't have been able to get out anyway, the tunnel provided no sound nor were they able to speak.
Paige got up, rubbing her wrists and looked around. She saw she was wearing a dark colored shirt and dark sweats. "Phoebe, where are we?" Paige asked in disgust. They were in some kind of run down building. The air was thick with a putrid odor and cobwebs hung from the ceiling. Phoebe hadn't responded yet. Paige looked down at her sister. Phoebe was laying face down and her eyes were closed. She was wearing a pair of black sports pants and a black tank top. "Phoebe?!" Paige yelled. She bent down and turned Phoebe over and gasped. There was a small puddle of fresh blood under what looked like a bullet wound.
"Did you get it out yet?" Paige heard Piper's voice in a harsh tone.
Paige got up and turned around, "Piper?" she asked, baffled. She was 100 percent sure that Piper had been upstairs when they were taken by. "Wait, what did take us?" Paige thought to her self, "It was the same thing that first attacked us."
"Well, did you?" Piper persisted. Paige was taken from her thoughts. She thought her eyes were playing tricks on her. But Piper was standing there, in the flesh. Paige blinked once or twice. When she opened them again she still saw her sister, fully dressed in a black sweater and a dark pair of jeans.
"Get what out?" Paige hesitated.
"The bullet, Paige! The bullet!" Piper yelled.
Paige bent down to Phoebe's wound. She laid out her hand, "Bullet," she called hesitantly. Paige expected the bullet to appear in her hand in blue and white orbs. Instead, it appeared in her hand in a small column of flames. Phoebe grunted as the bullet was extracted from her side.
"Say this," Piper instructed. Paige looked down at the piece of paper that Piper held in front of her face. It was a small phrase written in Latin. Paige uncertainly said the ancient Latin. She expected to say it all wrong. When she read it simultaneously with Piper though, it sounded perfect, accent and all.
Phoebe's wound healed and she slowly opened her eyes.
Piper gave a small, satisfied smile. She walked out of the room. "I have a Council Meeting to attend. Meet me at the alley on Elm and Chestnut. I'll be there at eleven tonight. Don't be late!" she said firmly.
Phoebe sat up quickly. "Paige, is Piper okay? She seemed kind of. different." Phoebe looked around and down at her clothes. "What's going on?"
Paige shrugged, " I wish I knew." She reached out her hand to help Phoebe up.
Phoebe took it and jumped up and wiped the dirt from the floor off her clothes, "Well. We're going to find out." Phoebe sighed. *~*~*~*~*~*~*
Piper sat on the Living Room couch, her baby asleep in her arms. Leo was getting the Book of Shadows from the Attic. They were going to look for some clues on who or what took her sisters. The familiar lights of Leo's orbs caught Piper's eyes. She turned her head as Leo fully appeared. He was not only holding the Book but a baby carrier too. Leo laid the carrier down to the left of Piper and she placed the baby down into it after giving him a kiss on the forehead.
Leo gave a reassuring smile, "Do you remember what it looked like?"
Piper held her chin and than laid her head down on Leo's shoulder. "It looked like a regular human but it had claws and big teeth. I think. I think it had blue eyes. I'm not sure though. It only faced me for a second. Oh yeah, it was dressed in some sort of white robe." She said.
"Like mine?" Leo asked.
Piper couldn't help but laugh. The traditional whitelighter robe was a hilarious sight.
"No, not like yours," Piper stated, "It was a more of a white cape and I'm not sure what was under it."
"Well it sounds unique enough. It shouldn't be that hard to find," Leo said.
"I hope not," Piper added weakly. Leo gave Piper a kiss on her head and opened the Book. They flipped through the pages, each page giving them no clues whatsoever.
"Nothing!" Piper announced meekly.
"Maybe we missed something," Leo offered, "Let's look again."
Piper and Leo flipped through the old Book again; still there were no clues to what the creature was or what it planned to do next.
"Leo?" Piper thought for a second and then asked, "Do you think maybe we should put a protective charm on our baby?" She looked over to their baby who was now awake. "Hi little guy," Piper cooed, "Feeling better?" She smiled, forgetting for a second about the trouble that her sisters were in and the potential danger that she and the rest of her family were in. Piper reached out to her son and gave a little tickle on its belly. The baby squealed with laughter and kicked its tiny legs.
"We should decide on a name," Leo said, admiring his baby boy.
"I promised Paige and Phoebe, I wouldn't name him without them," Piper started. Leo put his arm around his wife. Piper continued sadly, "But now they're not here."
"Let me check with the Elders," Leo stated, "Maybe they have an idea of what's going on. Piper gave a weak smile. Leo almost always came through for her.
"I guess I'll cast that protective charm," Piper decided.
"Okay," Leo stood up and gave Piper a kiss on the cheek. He bent over to his son and gave him a light peck on the stomach. Soon, he disappeared in orbs. Piper grabbed the Book of Shadows and put it on her lap.
"Protective charm, protective charm," she repeated quietly out loud as she flipped through the pages. She finally found a page labeled "Charms to Protect Ones Self or Others"
"Here we go," she said aloud. Piper looked at he page. On it were four different incantations to recite for different kinds of protection. She scrolled her eyes down the page and decided that the "To Protect From Supernatural Harm" charm would be the most appropriate.
Piper read the incantation out loud, substituting some words to make it suitable for a baby,
"The power of good, I call you here, To protect this child, Who stays where evil is near. Please protect him, From all evil and harm. Keep him safe and sound With the help of this charm."
Piper looked up from the book and towards her baby. A shiny, white light seemed to appear from nowhere and surrounded the baby boy. The baby looked up, dazzled by the shiny, white lights. Soon the light dissipated and Piper knew that her baby was now safe. Instantly she felt half of her worries disappear. Piper felt more at ease now that she didn't have to worry so much about the safety of her baby.
Piper relaxed herself on the couch taking in the short moment of peace that she had until Leo came back with, hopefully, information about where her sisters were. The baby was lying in its carrier, quietly looking at the mini mobile that hung from the side of the handle. Piper cherished this moment of peace and was glad that her child wasn't in a crying frenzy like before.
She closed her eyes, hoping that her sisters were safe. But all good things must come to end. Piper had learned that way too well after being a Charmed One for five years. Suddenly the baby started whimpering. Piper opened her eyes and reached over to her son.
She lifted him to her chest and held him close, "What's wrong baby?" she asked lightly. She rocked him, hoping that he would stop whimpering. Soon the whimpering erupted into loud wails. Piper carefully got up off the couch and walked back and forth, hoping the movement would quiet the crying boy.
"Please stop crying," she begged. The baby continued to cry and Piper made her way upstairs to her bedroom. When she got to her bedroom she walked into the small nursery and laid her baby gently into its crib. She turned around to get a diaper, hoping that he was just crying because of a wet diaper. Piper walked back into the main bedroom and bent down under the bed to retrieve the diaper.
Behind her, a bearded demon shimmered in on the other side of the room. In the nursery, the baby was crying louder than ever. Piper sighed and got up, diaper in hand. She turned around. The demon smirked and prepared an energy ball. Piper gasped. She dropped the diaper and waved her arms. The demon blew up into millions of tiny pieces and disappeared. Instantly the baby stopped crying. Piper picked up the diaper that was lying on the floor.
She stood up, a confused look on her face, "That's odd." She shrugged it off and went to get her baby. She placed him on the changing table and started to take off his flannel, blue outfit.
Leo orbed into the room. "I got the information." He walked over to Piper and the baby.
"And." Piper encouraged, undoing the baby's diaper.
Leo began, ".Well, the good news is, is that our baby isn't in any more danger than it needs to be."
Piper smiled as she opened up the baby's diaper. Finding that it was dirty, she figured that that was the reason the baby had been crying. "I'm guessing there's bad news?" she asked even though she knew the answer.
"Well. it might be hard to get your sisters back." Leo continued, unsure of how Piper would react.
Piper swallowed slowly, "Go on."
"The Elders didn't know much, but." Leo said as he tried not to lock eyes with his wife,
"Your sisters are actually on a parallel universe." He cringed as he waited for a sharp response from Piper. When none came he continued, "They were taken by something called a Quantumite. Quantumites are magical beings that jump from parallel universe to parallel universe, making sure good and evil is balanced out and equal. The Quantumites live in the vacuum that lies between each Universe. "
Piper continued to change her baby's diaper, silently as she listened to Leo.
Leo continued, "In the universe parallel to this one, everything is opposite. Good is evil and evil is good," Leo explained, "So, you and your sisters, in our parallel universe are actually on the side of evil."
"Does that mean that in the parallel universe, my sisters are dead? Is that why this Quantumite took them?" Piper asked, confused. She placed a clean diaper on and began to re-clothe her child.
"Actually, that's what the Elders are confused about. There has never, ever been anything like this. No time in history has a Quantumite actually taken anything to another Universe, because that can cause an unbalance."
Piper was now holding her baby, rocking him. She said, "I guess that's why they weren't in the Book of Shadows, this never happened before. But that still doesn't explain whether my sister are dead or not."
Leo walked closer to Piper and continued on, "That can't be the case. The Elders told me that Paige and Phoebe, when they landed in the parallel universe, kept their soul but landed in parallel Paige and Phoebe's bodies. Otherwise the Elders are very confused and said that we are on our own for this one."
"That's just great!" Piper said sarcastically. Her baby was now asleep on her shoulder. She walked into the nursery and placed him in the crib. Leo still stood in the main bedroom, a sympathetic look on his face. Piper walked past her husband, her hands on her hips and walked out of the room.
"Piper, where are you going?" Leo shouted.
Piper sharply walked upstairs to the Attic, "If everything works out right, to my evil side!"
Leo followed, unsure of what Piper was about to do, "Excuse me?" he asked.
"You stay here with the baby," Piper said sweetly.
Leo didn't fall for her sweetness, "Piper what are you planning to do?"
Piper sat down on an old couch with a pad and pencil. She said while jotting down some words, "I'm going to summon some Quantumite butt!"