"Pardon me dearies, but did you just say you've time traveled?"
This unexpected outburst disrupted the sisters' argument. They whipped their heads around to stare at the older man leaning against the back corner who had spoken. Thus far, he'd been silent, his only activity listening intently and fidgeting absentmindedly with the cane he carried. The women only blushed, too embarrassed that they'd been arguing like children in front of total strangers to reply. Eventually, it was Paige who spoke.
"Sure. It doesn't happen often, but when it does we usually have a pretty big mess to deal with. Like when I put on a pair of our Grams' old Go-Go boots and got transported to the '60s." Paige paused to laugh "Ended up screwing with the timeline a bit before fixing it. We changed events so our grandfather wouldn't be killed by a demon, but that just made Grams go all soft. His death is what caused her to be a bad-ass demon hunter. But we fixed it, and she was back to her old self just in time to help kick some major ass before returning to the afterlife." The youngest sister smiled at the memory before wincing in pain and under the heat of her sisters' glares. She didn't exactly have the tightest lips under normal circumstances, but add in a head injury and she was simply spouting secrets left and right.
The room was once again dead silent as the Storybrookers outright stared at the Charmed Ones. Regina was the first to recover, stepping foreword to address the sisters with a hard look on her face.
"What exactly do you mean by 'returning to the afterlife'?" She asked, her voice falsely light. Paige, oblivious to the other woman's menacing demeanor, simply shrugged as she responded casually.
"Our Grams died a few years before I met my sisters. They summoned her from the afterlife to help sort out the mess she created with the little 'return to owner' spell she placed on her boots that caused me to time travel in the first place." Paige rolled her eyes wondering how her grandmother had thought that that spell wouldn't be considered personal gain.
"S-so you can summon the dead?" questioned Regina further, her mind racing with possibilities. Her heart fluttered at the thought of seeing Daniel again, for real this time.
Piper shot her sister a warning look, but the witchlighter paid her no heed. "Sure, for the occasional visit. But only if you're ready to see them and vice versa. You can't see someone if you don't accept their death. That's why we weren't able to see Prue."
Regina deflated slightly, but she was still struck by the kind of power these women possessed. At first she'd deemed them nothing but a minor annoyance, a threat barely worthy of her time. Now, though, she was beginning to see them in another light. These witches' magic operated on a completely different system than what she had learned. Their powers seemed to be innate, part of the fabric of their very beings. That thought stopped Regina dead in her tracks: wasn't this supposed to be a land without magic? 'Then again' thought the dark witch silently 'their magic seems unlike any I've ever encountered.' Things deemed impossible by Enchanted Forest magical standards seemed to come easily to these women, even occurring accidentally. The amount of raw power to do that, well… Regina frowned deeply and cast a sidelong glance at Gold, sensing a headache building behind her eyes. A new element to their power struggle was the last thing she (or anybody for that matter) needed.
"Enough!" snapped Piper, freezing the room. She was really over Paige's blabbing mouth. They still had no idea who these people were or if they could be trusted. Sharing all their secrets could mean suicide. "Are you insane?!" Piper snapped, wheeling around to glare full-on at Paige. "We have no idea what's going on here, and you feel the need to spill your guts to /i/ strangers /i/? Haven't you-" Piper's angry rant was interrupted by an outburst from Emma.
"What the hell?!" screeched the blonde, waving her hand franticly in front of the face of a frozen brunette. Mildly annoyed, the older witch turned to address her sister's new charge.
"Don't worry, I just froze her in time for a bit. She'll be fine."
"Oh is that all?" snarled the blonde, her body tense. It was at that moment Regina chose to make her move. She placed a soothing hand on the Savior's arm. "Don't." she warned quietly enough for only Emma to hear. Then, with all the regality of a queen, re turned her attention to the three witches before her. "Why freeze them and not us?"
Piper seemed to scowl slightly before answering. "Oh believe me I tried, but my power doesn't work on other good witches."
At that Regina blinked. "I- you mean I'm a good witch?"
Piper nodded, a skeptical and unimpressed look on her face. "Um yeah. Even powerful evil beings freeze for a second before they break out. So congrats on not being a demon." Piper then tilted her head and shot her youngest sister an expectant look. Though Phoebe's earlier premonition had set her slightly at ease, this undeniable fact of the woman's current goodness enabled Piper to fully invest her trust in both witches before her. Ant now that she knew they were trustworthy, it was only fair that her younger sister offered up an apology for her earlier rash behavior. Catching the glint in Piper's eye that showed she meant business, Paige sighed before slowly raising her gaze to meet Regina's.
"Sorry for thinking you were evil and trying to vanquish you."
All the former queen could do was nod dumbly. For so long she had been trying to redeem herself and make up for her dark past. Now, it seemed, she had concrete proof of her success. Somehow, she'd made the transition from Evil Queen to good witch. A grin spread across her face. She couldn't wait to tell Henry.
