For the last three months, the Charmed Ones enjoyed a life free of demons. Piper Halliwell, the oldest of the sisters was in the midst of owning her own restaurant. Her husband, Leo, had continued to work at magic school and was preparing to start the new year. Pheobe Halliwell started on writing a book and married her husband Coop, who took the surname Love. Paige Mathews and her husband Henry were expecting children after being married for almost five months. All seemed to be normal with their lives, until fate spat in their faces once again.
It was a Monday morning and Piper stood in the kitchen with her sons as she cooked breakfast. Leo came in carrying a briefcase. "Hi, Daddy!" cried Wyatt.
"Hey, Buddy," Leo said as he gave his son a kiss on the forehead. He moved over to Chris and gave him a kiss. Chris then gave his daddy some of the Cheerios he had on his high chair tray. He set the briefcase on the counter and went to get him some coffee.
"What do you want for breakfast, Hon?" Piper asked as she wiped her hands on the apron she was wearing.
"Oh that's ok, I'll get something at magic school," Leo said as he took his coffee and moved over to Wyatt. "Hey, Buddy," he said on a gentle voice, "could you take Daddy to work?" Wyatt then grabbed Leo's hand and in a swirl of orbs Leo was gone. Billie then came running down the stairs with her backpack slung over her shoulder. She went into the kitchen and grabbed a piece of toast. "Hi Auntie Billie," Wyatt said to his surrogate aunt. Billie smiled at Wyatt and leaned back in the chair.
"Billie, are you alright?" Piper asked the witch.
"Yeah," she said simply.
"Ya know, I know what it's like to lose a sister," Piper said as she sat in the chair next to Billie.
"Yeah but you weren't the one that killed her," Billie said almost sharply.
"You'll get over it eventually," Piper said trying to comfort her, "it's not like the whole world's gonna come apart." Just then the whole house began to shake. Dishes fell on the floor and shattered. "Wyatt!" Piper cried as she and Billie climbed under the table. Wyatt and Chris then orbed under the table with them and activated his shield. Finally the earthquake stopped. They all got out from underneath the table and Piper turned on the television. News reported on the quake that shook San Francisco.
"You were saying," Billie said smugly.
Meanwhile across town in an old church, no one noticed a small crack in a tomb with a green light shinning through.
Paige cleaned up the debris in the apartment from the earthquake that morning. Henry walked in with his coat slung over his shoulder and walked over to his wife. "Paige, I have to go to the office for a while, will you be alright?" he asked.
"Yeah, I'll be fine, just go and do what you have to do and I'll clean up here," She said. She gave him a peck on the cheek and he walked out. Paige grabbed a broom and started to sweep when she heard the jingling call of the Elders. She sighed as she threw the broom down. "Now what?" She breathed as she orbed out.
Paige rematerialized before the Elders and stood there waiting for them to speak. "Paige," said the Elder Sandra, "in light of your pregnancy we the Elders have decided to grant you a temporary leave of absence."
"But what about my charges," Paige asked, "What about my sisters?"
"We have decided to appoint you and your charges a new whitelighter," said another Elder.
"No offense, but the last whitelighter you assigned us ended up dead," Paige said.
"Don't worry," Sandra said with a smirk on her face, "we think you'll be pleased with our choice." Just then a swirl of orbs formed next to Paige and began to form into a figure.
"Oh my God…"
Leo sat at his desk at magic school looking over some papers. Just then there was a knock at his door and Ms. Donovan walked in. "Excuse me, Leo," she said, "there are some students out here that require your attention."
"On the fist day?" Leo sighed heavily as he stood and straightened his robes. He followed Ms. Donovan toward two boys who looked to be about fifteen in fact they were the same boy. "Ronnie, what's going on?" Leo asked one of the boys.
"Seems that Ronnie made a multiplying potion and used in on himself so that he could cut classes," Ms. Donovan stated.
"Well, take Ronnie and his duplicate to Professor Gummer and see if we can't get them back together," Leo told Ms. Donovan. He then turned to the boys, "As for you, detention for two weeks."
"But Tony Masters only got one week for cutting classes!" the boy protested.
"Yes but there was only one of him," Leo explained sternly. The boy moaned as Ms. Donovan grabbed him and his duplicate and headed off. Just then, a swirl of orbs formed in front in Leo and formed into one of the Elders.
"Hello, Leo," he said.
"Come to check up on me?" Leo asked sarcastically.
"No, I've come to warn you."
"Warn me about what?"
"We're not sure, but we do know that the demons are up to something. They're desperate for leadership and we believe that they're trying to resurrect someone."
"The Source?"
"We're not sure, but we think that the sisters should be on their toes."
Across town at the church, the cracked tomb continued to glow. The glow then began to fade in and out like a heartbeat.