BLURB: The unlikely
Witches Alliance must carry on the fight against evil alone when the Charmed
Ones mysteriously disappear and demonic terrorists take over the city. Rated
PG.
Disappearing Act
First in the "Keepers of Hope" series
By
Ayla123
The Keepers of Hope series chronicles the
experiences of the regular witches who have watched and waited throughout time
for the advent of the "Charmed Ones". Dating back farther than even Melinda Warren, the ancestor of the
Charmed line, these "Keepers of Hope" are the witches that have protected
innocents and fended off dark forces for centuries, helping to maintain
equilibrium until the arrival of the prophesied sisters.
CHAPTER ONE - The Alliance
It was one of those dark and foggy San Francisco nights. Most days were sunny and pleasant, but when
the sun went down and the fog rolled in, the temperature dipped and the winds
gusted. Lately the wind had been
particularly bad, day and night, and when the sun went down everyone was
especially careful to stay inside. Down
this particular stretch of street the wind whipped cruelly around unlit street
corners, and sighed in and out of long abandoned cars and buildings.
Scurrying down the street,
making furtive glances around her as she went, a young dark-haired woman
clutched the hand of a younger boy as she pulled her coat around her more
tightly. "Come on Jonathan, we're almost there." She whispered hoarsely as she tugged the boy along. Jonathan, with his eyes wide and his ears
straining for the slightest noise, swallowed and clutched his hand tighter
inside his pocket as he was pulled along in the older woman's wake.
Avoiding fallen timbers
and other debris that littered the walkway to the large house, she almost dared
to breathe a sigh of relief as they ran the last few steps and pounded on the
door. The place had once been a
beautiful and stately manor, with evidence of its former glory still remaining,
but most of its windows were boarded over and a gaping hole in the roof
revealed the attic to a darkened sky.
After a moment, the door
opened a crack, and another woman with dark eyes and hair looked out at the
pair, and then quickly swept the street for signs of movement. "Did you have any trouble on the way?" She
asked curtly as she bustled them through the doorway.
"No, you were right, with
just the two of us, we made it through without being noticed. We were able to get to the bridge through
the underground passages, then we got the talisman and got out." Celia smiled down at the small boy and
continued as she unwrapped her scarf, "Jonathan was able to pinpoint the exact location and bring it up to the
surface without a problem."
Barring the old door shut
and heaving a sigh of relief, the second woman turned to address the pair. "Good job Celia, with you there to 'Shield'
Jonathan, I knew you would be successful." Pausing to catch Jonathan up in her
arms in a hug big enough to smother the small boy, she held him tight for a
moment. He squirmed slightly, but held
onto her for just as long. When she
pulled back and squeezed his shoulders gently, asking if he was alright, his
small nod and timid but brave smile almost made her break down in tears. Standing up, she continued briskly, "Come on upstairs then. Paul and the others
have been waiting for your return."
* * *
As the three ascended the
broken down staircase, skirting missing or broken steps, Sarta glanced down at
her 6 year-old son and gave a quick shake of her head in wonderment. Sarta herself had no special powers, though
she was deeply involved in the inner circle of the Witches Alliance. Of course they dared not to speak of the existence
of the Alliance in public, as the City of San Francisco was barely holding on
as it was. Ever since the suspicious
disappearances and unsolved murders of prominent public figures had begun more
than 8 months ago, the city had been on the brink of pandemonium.
The secret members of the
Witches Alliance knew that demons were behind the whole thing, but their
previous attempts to vanquish them without revealing themselves had been
unsuccessful. The only reason total
chaos had not already erupted was due to the fact that it pleased the demons--now
masquerading as government officials--to play with their newfound power and
manipulate events subtly until they could expand across the country with
ease. The famous Golden Gate Bridge had
been closed down after a fatal accident claimed the lives of hundreds of
commuters; factory accidents were suddenly in the papers every day; rental
property prices had skyrocketed; and parts of the city were periodically
blacked out, with the power inexplicably restored days later according to their
destructive whims, which they blamed on "policy".
Sarta's husband was a
witch and had been an Anthropology professor at Stanford until the recent round
of layoffs had rocked the unsuspecting campus. Up until that point their lives had been simple, if only a bit unusual
with Sarta running a small mystic bookstore and herbarium, and Paul being a
practicing witch. Since she was mortal,
they hadn't known if their son Jonathan would be one too until he had started
to show a magical inclination at a young age. Jonathan was a 'Seeker', he could sense lost objects and seek them out,
particularly antiques or items of great value. An innocent trip to the Natural History museum when Jonathan was in his
"terrible twos" had alerted them to the fact, and had quickly turned disastrous
besides. Now still only 6 years old,
Jonathan had just been out on a mission with Celia, who had the power to
'Shield' herself and others from the forces of evil, in order to gain a relic
to help them in their quest.
Arriving at the second
floor sitting room that had been hastily converted into command central for the
Alliance; Sarta, Celia and Jonathan entered to the buzzing sounds of heated
conversation.
A large man with a bushy
beard and a slightly red face was standing in one corner of the room with a
paper cup crumpled in his hand. "But I
told you that something like this just can't be pulled off with the resources
we currently have avail--"
"Would you please let us
get started before you go off all half-cocked!" interrupted an equally as large
woman with glaring eyes and a shrewish voice. "I swear, sometimes you make me
wonder if we're related at all."
"Well if there were even
an iota of sense in just-" He grumbled, and then looked strangled as he was cut
off again, but this time by a soft calm voice from the far end of the room.
"Enough."
The bickering between
brother and sister suddenly ceased, and all eyes shifted as one to look at the
pale-haired woman who was seated at the end of the room near the boarded up bay
windows.
The room fell silent as
each person turned to consider Claudia, the woman who had sought each of them
out and enlisted their aid after the Charmed Ones had disappeared a year
ago.
Claudia was the only one
among them who had actually met the Halliwell sisters, now famed in Wiccan
circles. Prior to their disappearance,
no one had really known who they were, or how powerful they had been. No one had realized the level of protection
they had afforded the rest of the world thanks to their calling and diligent
acts. Very few had even realized that
they actually lived in the era of the fabled Charmed Ones, or knew the level of
evil ready to burst into their world at a moment's notice. But standing there today, everyone knew how
important and necessary they had been, now that Prue, Piper, and Phoebe Halliwell
were gone.
Claudia herself was a High
Priestess who had been a friend of the sister's grandmother, Penelope Johnson,
often meeting with Penny at this very same manor when the Charmed girls were
growing up. Now the place seemed like
an abandoned shell, with all the windows boarded up and what furniture that
hadn't been sold at auction covered over with dusty tarps. Still, the place had a presence about it,
since it had been built on a spot of great magical power. It was because of that power that Claudia
had come as soon as the Halliwell sisters were declared missing. The forces of evil wanted control over this
source of power very badly, and it was only her immediate occupancy as a force
for good that had kept them from encroaching. Even Celia's 'Shielding' wards were very necessary for meetings of this
sort when the members of the Witches Alliance met in secret.
"Enough of this unrest my
friends, I know that we are all incredibly strained, constantly keeping spells
in motion to thwart our enemies, but we cannot fight them and fight with each
other at the same time." Claudia rose and strode to the middle of the room so
she could turn and look at each person in turn.
"For months now we have
been working in scattered groups, achieving small victories where we could, but
now it is time to combine our power as one. I thank you for coming here tonight, I know that it is not easy for all
of you to get away quietly. There have
been new developments since last we spoke." Then, noting Celia and Jonathan's return with a small nod of her head,
she continued to address the assembled witches.
"As you know, I have long
been a scholar of the Charmed Ones, and have kept close watch over them since
they came into their powers. I can't
say that I fully agreed with Penny when she bound their abilities when they
were young, and unfortunately that caused problems between the two of us…Now I
realize that I was wrong…But that is neither here nor there. I could not fully turn my back on my dear
childhood friend, so when the girls came into their own I vowed that I would
keep watch over them in her absence. Now that the girls have suddenly vanished, I am especially
distraught. Not only has the world lost
the Charmed Ones, but I have lost my dear friend's granddaughters." Claudia paused for a moment to take a breath
and stand in silence. Then with renewed
determination, she finished. "I WILL see
this made right."
Pacing the room, she went
on. "In my lifelong research, there
have never been any portents or prophecies regarding a sudden disappearance of
the Charmed Ones. This simply should
not have happened. I feel sure of
that. I had hoped to find the Halliwell
Book of Shadows here, but it seems to have either been destroyed or has
disappeared right along with the sisters. My own family's grimoire has been useful though, and that combined with
Paul and Sarta's collection of rare books, has served us well." Turning to Paul, who had by then crossed the
room to stand by his wife and little son, she gestured for him to continue.
Paul was a tall, thin man
with curly hair and a slightly rumpled demeanor. His eyes were fiercely intelligent but kind, and he
absentmindedly ruffled the top of his son's head as he spoke. "Yes, well we have been able to conclude that
the Halliwell sisters did not disappear from any sort of time loop or
discontinuity bubble. Nor have they
been cut off at the root of their lineage, ceasing to exist or some such thing. There have been no re-appearances of any of
the demons that they vanquished; the good that they did is still intact. The very fact that we can still remember and
recognize their deeds supports this."
Clearing his throat, he
paused to look around the room at the assembled witches looking back at him,
each with enough talent and bravery to have challenged high level demons on
their own, with varying degrees of success, but still with true courage and
honor. Unsure how this band of unlikely
heroes would take the news, he cleared his throat once again and went on apprehensively, "Rather, we have come to believe that Prue,
Piper and Phoebe Halliwell voluntarily gave up their powers and agreed to be
spirited off to a distant plane never to return again."
The assembled crowd gave a
slight gasp, and mutterings of denial started up almost immediately. The big bearded man named Mikel got even
redder in the face, and another young woman named Annie dropped her jaw in
disbelief.
"How?"
"Why?
"I don't believe this!"
"We're fighting the battle
they just gave up on…?"
"So, they just run off,
and we…"
"But they are the CHARMED
ONES! They just can't walk away from their duty…!"
"How can they do that?
They CAN'T do that! …CAN they do that?"
Looking a bit flummoxed,
Paul stammered against the rising tide of voices, a chorus of shocked
incredulity, anger, and dissent. But
yet again, it was Claudia's clear strong voice that rang through the tumult
like a bell and quieted the restless assemblage.
"We understand this is
distressing, but there is more to the story. We believe that the Charmed Ones gave up their powers and agreed to be
imprisoned in another dimension because they felt it was the only way to save
the world."
Against more muttering,
Paul forged ahead, "As near as we can figure out from my resources at the University
Library, and Sarta's rare books collection; there is a dream dimension that
parallels our own. We are not typically
aware of this dimension because as a human race, our dreams are discrete,
individual. We dream separate things at
different times, and dreaming is the one moment during the day of our complex
interactions with others that we are truly alone with ourselves and our
subconscious. But I have a theory that
all of our individual dreams "meet up" in this "dream dimension" and create a
world of their own. It's quite
interesting you see, because if the human race DID in fact dream collectively,
we would be able to visit and explore this new communal creation…we could guide
and learn…" He cut off and stuttered as he took in the stares of the crowd
before him.
"Well, I, I" He stammered,
"I guess I should digress. The point is
this; the sisters are most likely living out their lives in this dream
dimension now, although we are not sure of the how or why. We don't know what choice they were faced
with to cause them to make such a drastic decision, but it must have been
dire. What we DO know is that the lost
artifact retrieved tonight from the waters of the Bay near the site of the
Golden Gate Bridge collapse is the key. The demons that we have been facing must have something to do with it,
but whether they initiated the disappearance of the Charmed Ones, or are simply
taking advantage of the situation, I don't know. However we do know that in the course of looking for the talisman
now in our possession, they demolished the bridge. Luckily they did not know what they were looking for, and my
Jonathan here has a knack for finding valuable lost items."
Beaming down at the boy,
who grinned brightly back up at his father, Paul produced a small square block
with rounded edges. It was rather
flattened in shape and glittered like smooth obsidian, but was rough to the
touch like limestone.
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