The Power of Six

Summary: AU, fic. Six cousins, Carolyn (Prue's daughter), Mark (Piper's son), Camille, Julianne (Piper's daughters), Greggory (Phoebe's son), and Khrystalia (Paige's daughter) discover their magical heritage, ten years after Piper, Phoebe, and Paige's deaths. Carolyn was a baby when Prue died, and was raised by Piper, Phoebe, and Paige, hence the AU. They find the Book of Shadows and everything that goes with it - the power, and the responsibilty. Can they handle it?

Disclaimer: All the Charmed characters belong to Spelling, but Carri, Cammie, Julie, Mark, Greg, and Khrys are mine.

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"Carri? Yo, Carri." 26-year-old Mark Wyatt called to his cousin. He waved a hand in front of her face, trying to get her attention.

28-year-old Carolyn Halliwell gasped and jerked suddenly, as if coming out of a trance. She smiled at her cousin, as if just noticing he was there. "Oh, hi Mark. Sorry, you were saying?"

"I was saying, what do you think we should do for the girls' birthday?"

"Oh." Carolyn thought for a moment. "Something special. It is their Sweet Sixteen, after all." Mark's twin sisters, Camille and Julianne, were turning 16 in a few weeks.

"You want to close the club for a night?" Mark suggested.

"Sure," Carolyn agreed slowly. 'We can afford to lose the income for one night,' she thought, 'especially since it's a Wednesday.' Carolyn had inherited the popular nightclub P3 from her Aunt Piper about a decade ago. Carri had been young, just out of high school, but she managed it well. Of course, she'd had help. She had hired Daniel, a kind, older man, to be the manager. He was still working there, but once Carri had turned 21 and legally able to deal with the more hands-on aspects of club ownership - such as ordering and selling alchohol - his job had become increasingly trivial. Now, he mostly did odd jobs around the club - fixing things, helping Carolyn with the paperwork, filling in whenever an employee called out sick. Over the years, he'd become like a father to Carri and her cousins.

Carolyn blinked hard, realizing she'd just zoned out again. Thankfully, Mark didn't seem to notice. "Hey, Mark, do we have any coffee?"

He nodded. "Daniel made some, it's in the office."

She left and returned with two mugs of coffee, one with cream and sugar, one without. She set the mug without down in front of her cousin, and wrinkled her nose as he took he sip. "I don't know how you can drink your coffee black." she remarked, then made a face as he joyfully drank some more.

"Mark, you aren't teasing Carri again, are you?" came a preteen girl's mock-stern voice. Mark and Carolyn looked up to see their youngest cousin, 11-year-old Khrystalia Matthews-Belland.

"Khrys, when are you going to learn?" Mark asked. "I'm always teasing Carri!"

Carolyn smiled and nodded her agreement. Aside from being her best friend, Mark was her biggest antagonist. The two of them were constantly at each other's throats, driving each other crazy with practical jokes and verbal sparring matches.

"How was school, Khrys?" Carri asked her baby cousin.

Khrystalia shrugged, hopping up on the bar stool across from her cousins. "The usual."

Carolyn and Mark exchanged glances. "Meaning you slept through it again?" Mark asked severely.

"Not all of it!" Khrys said defensively. "I stayed awake through Art. And lunch, and recess."

Carolyn sighed. She knew her cousin was smart, and she could be doing very well, if she would apply herself. "Khryssi," she began wearily, "you know what the principal said. If your grades don't start improving, you'll have to go to summer school. Trust me, it's not fun."

Khrystalia looked up, her eyes wide, a smile forming on her lips. "You mean to tell me that my perfect eldest cousin went to summer school?!?"

Carolyn blushed. She liked to pretend she was flawless. Her aunts had always said she'd gotten her pride from her mother. She'd also inherited Prue's wild streak, when she was 17. Of course, it hadn't lasted long. A year later, when her aunts and uncle died, Carri had to become the responsible one, looking after her younger cousins. Because her Aunt Paige had been a social worker, Carolyn had been able to get custody of the others, but she still had to work hard to make sure they weren't put into foster homes.

"Once." Carri said firmly. "I went to summer school once." Khrys giggled. "Oh, go study." Carolyn snapped.

"It's Friday. I don't have homework." Khrys pointed out.

"Go study anyway." Carolyn said.

Khrys made a face, then looking imploringly at Mark.

"Oh, come on, Carolyn. It's the weekend. Don't be such a hardass." he intervened.

"Fine." she conceded. "But come Monday..." she began warningly.

"Yeah, yeah, I know." Khrys sighed.

Mark glanced at his watch and did a double take. "We'd better get home," he said, "Greg and the girls are probably wondering where we are."

Carolyn gulped down the last of her coffee, and Mark took the mugs back to the kitchen, coming back with both of their jackets in hand. He handed one to Carolyn, and they pulled them on quickly, yelling good-bye to Daniel as they rushed out the door.

After the three cousins were gone, a graying, kind-looking man came out from the back room. Daniel closed up the club, and then, in a swirl of bright, white lights, he disappeared.

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A/N: Didja like it? Even if you didn't, please, review. Flame or no, just tell me something! BTW - I've written up to chapter 4, so the more reviews I get, the faster I'll update.