"What did you do?!" Those are words shook Mara out of the feeling of love and relief and belonging that seeing her mother standing in front of her – alive – had given her.
"I – I brought you back," Mara stammered in reply.
Eva couldn't believe her daughter could be so reckless. "You resurrected me! What were you thinking?!"
Her mother kept asking her that and Mara had enough of it. "Stop asking me that! I was thinking I wanted my mom! Is that so wrong?!"
Eva looked at her daughter, really looked at her, and saw how grown up she was now – how much she looked like her but certainly had parts of her father. Despite wanting to right to Mara and hug her tight, her motherly feelings would have to wait.
"Mara," she said gently, "spells like this come with a price." Mara must have known that – right?
Mara shook her head and retorted, "Immortal Witches are neutral. Personal gain doesn't apply to us – there are no consequences!" After a moment she asked with a breaking voice, "Aren't you glad to be back?"
Eva walked over and took Mara's hands in hers. She had to make her understand. "Spells such as this always come with a price, even with us. When you resurrect someone you love, someone else you love will die. It may not be today or tomorrow but one day, someone you love will die. That's the price – there has to be a balance between life and death. Not even we can escape that consequence."
Mara started to shake when this information set in. "Are you telling me that I just signed someone's death sentence?" Upon seeing her mother's nod, she cried, "Oh my god!"
Eva hugged her daughter tightly in that moment, smoothing her hair down to comfort her like she did as a child. "It's alright, Dove, we'll figure this out. I'm back and you're never going to be alone again."
The next morning, Mara knew she was going to have to tell P3 what had happened. She picked at her fingernails nervously as she walked into the kitchen where the three sisters were present. "I need to tell you something…"
The tone of worry and seriousness in her voice made them all stop what they were doing and turn to face her. "What is it?" Piper asked first, walking over to her.
"I cast a spell last night," Mara admitted. "I – I brought my mom back from the dead."
Prue couldn't believe this. "You did what?"
"I got the spell from another Witch who knew my mom and it only works on Immortal Witches," Mara was speaking a mile a minute as she explained. "I know I should have talked to you guys first but…" she swallowed back her tears, "I wanted my mom."
Prue was seething because this kind of magic wasn't something to be messed with. "Where is she?"
As if on cue, Eva walked into the kitchen and gasped at the sight of the three sisters. "Oh my gosh! You're all so beautiful! I haven't seen you girls since you were tiny little things." She went right over to Phoebe and cupped her face, "It's lovely to meet you, Phoebe. Your mother was pregnant with you the last time we crossed paths."
The sisters looked at Eva like she was a crazy person, then it was Prue who took the lead by asking, "So you're back from the dead?" She could have put it better, but she was still wrapping her head around it.
"Don't be upset with Mara," Eva pleaded, going over to her daughter, placing her hands on her shoulders. "She knows the cost of this spell and I assure you that she will be much more careful with her magic now."
Piper and Phoebe exchanged looks with each other before Phoebe came right out and said, "How can we trust that you're Mara's real mom? That you're not some Warlock in disguise or something?"
"Because Mara's blood called to mine," Eva explained. "It was a spell from mother to daughter. I'm the only one it could resurrect."
Prue didn't like the sound of any of this but she was late for work. "I have to get to Buckland's, but Mara, we are having a family meeting later." She was pretty firm about that and once she saw Mara nod in reply, she grabbed her things and left the house.
Eva made a dramatic 'okay then' face. "She's a prickly thing, ain't she?" Not waiting for an answer, she turned to Piper and Phoebe with a grin on her face. "So, who wants to catch me up on the past decade or so? I've clearly missed a lot."
Eva laid on her side on Mara's bed as she went through the contents of the box she spelled for her. "Looks like you found just about everything I left for you. I see there are a few things that haven't revealed themselves yet." She pointed at her daughter, saying, "Don't ask me what they are. You'll find out when you need them."
"I was actually going to ask about my father," Mara replied, taking the box away from her because it was hers now. "You two come over on the Mayflower together?"
Eva looked at her like she was a nuts for a moment then clicked, "Did you have a vision of us in that crystal ball of yours? Must have. No, your father and I did not come over on the Mayflower together. When we met, I couldn't stand him, but he grew on me."
"Was he Immortal, too?" Mara asked, sitting beside her mother.
Eva was sitting up by now and she sighed, moving some of Mara's hair behind her ear. "Oh, my Dove, there is a lot that I still can't tell you – things about my past. And that includes some things about your father."
"That's bullshit!" Mara exclaimed, getting to her feet. "How can you sit there and say you can't tell me anything?!"
Eva stood as well and used her hands as she spoke. "I didn't say I couldn't tell you anything – I said that there was a lot I can't tell you. You don't understand, Mara, and I can't explain it. I'm not going to risk anything by telling you something you can't know yet. I'm sorry, but I'm not going to do it."
Eva was about to say more but gasped when she saw a black cat come into the bedroom and pounce on the bed. "You little devil!" she scooped him up and nuzzled against him as he purred.
"How could you possibly know Felix? He was a stray." Things just keep getting weirder and weirder.
"He's hardly a stray, but we'll get into that later." Eva cooed at the cat, "Won't we, Felix?" She set him down with a laugh then got serious as she said, "I'm sorry about Grams – she was like family."
"She was my family!" Mara shot back. She crossed her arms and forced herself to get back to what she wanted to know. "Can you at least tell me how you died so I know what to avoid?"
Eva shook her head. "No, Dove, I can't do that. I remember asking you not to look into my death in the letter and I'm sticking to that. Ignorance is bliss when it comes to my true death. I'm not going to alter how you live your life." She backed out of the room saying, "I'm guessing you're starting to realize where you get your pigheadedness from." Evan grinned at her daughter and went downstairs, leaving a fuming Mara in her wake.
Eva went into the kitchen while Piper and Phoebe were in the living room talking about dates or something. There were a pair of legs sticking out from under the sink and a voice that asked, "Hey, Piper, can you hand me the ratchet extender?"
Eva froze when she heard the voice then crouched down to see if it was who she thought it was. "Leo!" she exclaimed in a 'you've got to be fucking kidding me!' way.
Leo shot up when he saw her there and hit his head on the pipe with a groan before getting out from under the sink. "Eva? How – how are you alive?"
"What, the Elders didn't tell you that Mara resurrected me and I was back?" Eva asked, crossing her arms with a raised brow.
"Shh!" Leo pleaded. "They don't know who I am."
Eva stared at him blankly then shouted at him in hushed tones, "They don't know that you're their bloody Whitelighter?!"
"No, and I'm to keep it that way." Leo made himself very clear.
Eva was about to say something then asked, "Wait…if the sisters have you then…did they send someone for Mara and please tell me it's a woman." When Leo didn't answer and didn't even look at her, Eva gasped before seething, "Leo, no. Tell me the Elders do not plan to do with her Whitelighter what they did with my Lincoln."
Leo didn't know how to answer that but it was clear that she expected something. "I don't know, Eva, I swear."
Eva grabbed Leo by the shirt and pulled him close. "If they mess with my kid then they'll have to answer to me. I will not let them set my daughter up to die."
When Prue came home she brought her sisters and Mara up to the attic to tell them what happened when she opened a locket at Buckland's. When she opened it, a Warlock from the 17th century was released from it, stole her power, and jumped out the 12th story window to land perfectly on his feet.
"What did he say his name was?" Piper asked and was answered by Eva from the doorway, "Matthew Tate."
"You know him?" Prue wanted to know.
Eva didn't answer that part, only said, "Your ancestor, Melinda Warren, trapped him in that locket after he betrayed her."
"Wait, you were alive when Melinda Warren was alive? How old are you?" Phoebe didn't care if that was offensive or not.
"Older than I look but probably not as old as you're thinking," Eva answered then got back on track, "Did you use your power on him?"
"Yes," Prue answered. "And he knows that I don't have the other two."
"Can I see the locket?" Phoebe asked and took it. Once she opened the locket, she gasped at having a premonition. Phoebe saw Melinda put Matthew into the locket. "Eva's telling the truth. I just saw Melinda put Matthew into the locket."
Eva smiled at her, "You saw the past? Means your powers are growing – good."
Phoebe groaned, "Yeah, well, somehow I thought I was gonna get to fly."
Eva chuckled at that and couldn't help but say, "You will. Trust me."
Just when Phoebe was about to ask for details, they heard the doorbell. Eva was quick to say, "I'll get it," and practically skipped out of the Attic to do it.
Eva answered the front door and grinned when she saw the detective standing there. "Well, hello, handsome. What can I do for you?"
Andy didn't recognize this woman so said, "I'm looking for Prue, and you are?"
"Eva – friend of the family." She leaned against the closed half of the double doors, putting her hand up as she did. "And before I answer your question, who are you?"
"Detective Andy Trudeau." Andy showed her his badge and asked again, "Where's Prue?"
Eva shrugged. "Don't know, she must still be at work."
"No," Andy countered, "she's not."
She smiled prettily at him, "Well, I don't know where she is then because she's not here."
Andy didn't believe her for a second. "I think you're lying so why don't you just tell me where she is?"
Eva wasn't playing any games now. "Andy Taylor, was it? I've told you I don't know where Prue is and if you ask me again the only answer you'll get out of me is 'where's your warrant?'. Capisce?" Without another word, she stepped out of the doorway and closed the door on his face.
Meanwhile, up in the Attic, the sisters were talking to Mara about Eva. "I still don't like what you've done." Prue made that abundantly clear to Mara as she paced a little.
"I know," Mara sighed, sitting down on the arm of the sofa. "I'm sorry, okay? I should have been more open with you three but…I've always been adjacent, you know? Just outside of this family and not really a part of it. I know you guys love me and I love you all so much, but no matter how much I want to be the reality is…we're not family."
"Blood doesn't make you family," Phoebe said softly to her. "You don't need to share our name to be one of us."
"We're in this together," Piper added on, hating that she didn't see what Mara was going through since Grams died – that none of them truly saw it.
Prue sighed and went over to Mara. "I'm sorry you never really felt like a member of this family, and I know that I've been a big part of that, and I wish I could change it but I can't. What I can do is give you my word that I will never make you feel out of place again."
Eva walked in at that moment and realized she clearly walked into a family moment. "Sorry," she said to the room, "but there's some detective looking for you, Prue. I told him you weren't here."
"Ancient Warlocks and the police hunting for you?" Mara teased, "Well, no one said you lived a quiet life."
Prue looked at her with a little smile accompanied with a 'shut up' look, then turned back to Eva. "Since you know more about this Warlock than we do, how do we kill him?"
"We've never really been up against anything like him before," Piper added in.
"I have, but Matthew can take any power used against him – Immortality included if he kills an Immortal Witch," Eva replied. "Something he has done in the past, so we can't vanquish him. We have to trap him in the locket like Melinda did. Unfortunately, I don't know the curse – it was of Melinda's own creation. She's the only one who can replicate it."
Prue scoffed incredulously. "What do you expect us to do? Go back in time and pull her out to say we need her help?"
Phoebe thought that was an amazing idea. "That's exactly what we'll do and I know exactly how to do it." She looked between her sisters to say, "As long as you don't mind losing a little blood."
After getting the spell prepped, Piper asked Phoebe, "Isn't this the same thing Mara did with Eva?"
"No," Phoebe answered. "It's similar, but this spell is temporary. Yes, she'll come back as a real live person with her powers, but she's not back to life permanently. Unlike Eva. Mara and I compared the spell she used with the one in the Book and while they are similar, there are big differences."
"The big one," Eva interjected, handing Phoebe the knife for the spell, "there aren't any consequences."
"How many times are you going to throw that in my face!" Mara shouted at her then stormed out of the Attic.
"Do the spell," Eva said to the sisters and went after her. She caught up with Mara in the hall, saying, "I am hard on you about this because you were reckless. You can't be that way again with your magic."
"I may have been reckless, but I was also heartbroken!" Mara waved her hand towards the way of the Attic. "When Grams died P3 had each other, but I felt so alone. You weren't here, Grams was my mom. I knew I could never get her back so when I found out I could get you, I took the chance. And I know how this is going to sound but even if I knew the consequence, I still would have cast the spell. You know why? Because I would risk anything for my family!"
Eva let out a deep breath as she looked at her little girl. Now she could clearly see the pain behind her blue eyes and the fractures in her soul. "I never meant to break you," she said quietly with regret, knowing that was exactly what she did.
Nothing more could be exchanged between them because a glowing light from the Attic went into the hall, bringing Eva and Mara back there. When the light dissipated, a blonde woman wearing a colonial peasant dress breathed deeply before saying, "Blessed be."
The woman – Melinda Warren – saw Eva standing near the doorway and she smiled with such love in her expression. "Hello, my friend."
Eva went right over to Melinda and hugged her. "Hello, my friend," she repeated then smiled at her. "Blessed be."
"Why have I..." Melinda started to ask as she looked at those present, then gasped at the sight of Mara standing nearby. "This must be your daughter."
Eva smiled proudly, "Indeed."
Melina laughed, "She bears your resemblance greatly. However, I do see Lincoln within her. Where is he?"
Eva looked down before answering, "He died."
Melinda didn't understand. "How can that be? You are alive."
"That's not important right now, Melinda," Eva was quick to say. "You need to speak to these three women here. They will tell you what is going on and why you are here."
She walked away from Melinda and guided Mara out of the Attic saying, "This is Warren business." At the look on Mara's face, she said, "What? You think you're the only Sibley who's been adjacent to the Warren Witches?" She scoffed at the thought and went downstairs with her speechless daughter.
While Melinda was talking to the sisters in the dining room, Mara and Eva had tea at the kitchen table. "How did you know Melinda?"
"I knew her mother first," Eva answered, not going into great detail. "I watched Melinda grow into a beautiful woman and a powerful witch. When Matthew told the town council that she was a Witch, they burned her at the stake. It killed me to see that happen, but she made me swear not to stop it. Melinda had a daughter – Prudence – I swore to take care of her and protect her, which I did until she was old enough to live on her own. And since then I have been a part of the Warren family's lives. All the way to Grams." She sipped her tea, "And now, thanks to you, I'll be a part of the Charmed Ones lives. Though that honor should have been yours alone."
Mara didn't even touch that subject and asked, "You said Matthew took Immortality by killing an Immortal Witch."
"I should have said copied," Eva sighed. "Matthew can copy a good Witch's power once it's used on him and when he has it, it has no effect upon him."
"Did he kill you?" Mara asked, wondering where he got the power from.
Eva shook her head slightly. "No." And left it at that. She wasn't about to tell her daughter she had lied about just how Matthew was an Immortal Witch.
Mara narrowed her eyes at her, "I know that face. I make that face when I'm lying. What aren't you spilling?"
Eva winced a bit then said, "Matthew didn't copy that power he – he was born with it." At Mara's questioning look, she said, "Matthew Tate is my brother."
As if on cue, Prue, with the others in tow, stormed into the kitchen and demanded to know, "When were you planning on telling us that Matthew is your brother?"
"I thought they knew," Melinda said innocently and looked at her friend apologetically.
"Matthew is downright evil," Mara emphasized. "How can he be an Immortal Witch? We're neutral."
"You do not understand that term, Mara," Eva answered in mild frustration. "Being neutral – at least for our kind – doesn't mean we can't be one or the other. It means we're neither and both. Matthew is on the darker end of the spectrum, and my mother followed a similar path. Neutral beings are to be feared because you never know what they have up their sleeve or whose side they are on."
"Is that a warning for us?" Prue asked, crossing her arms and not trusting Eva again.
Eva looked at her seriously and answered with, "Yes. Yes, it is."
Melinda remembered the ingredients for the curse to put Matthew back into the locket but there were some ingredients that they didn't have. Phoebe and Piper went to Quake to get the spices they needed and Prue found the spotted owl feather at the museum where she used to work so she went there to get it, leaving Eva, Mara, and Melinda at the Manor.
Mara was up in the Attic looking through the Book and her Tome to see if there was something in there to keep evil away and while she was doing this, Melinda spoke with Eva. "I do not understand, Eva. If Lincoln is dead how are you alive?"
"Mara brought me back," Eva answered and hated it.
"By the Goddess," Melinda gasped. "Does she not know what the means? Someone she loves will die to take your place."
"She didn't know it then," Eva sighed and leaned back in her seat on the sofa. "I don't know what I feel about this, Melinda. I truly don't. I have a second chance with my daughter but Lincoln is gone and I – I feel like half of me is missing."
"Half of you is missing," Melinda softly reasoned. "You need time, my friend. I am certain we both know you have plenty of that."
At that moment the phone rang and Eva got up to answer it. It was Phoebe saying that Matthew was at Quake, took her power, and was on his way to the Manor. "I'll handle it," Eva assured and ended the call. She quickly went over to Melinda who was starting to look worried.
"What's going on?" Melinda asked, walking towards her.
Eva spoke quickly but made it clear there was no time to argue, "You need to go upstairs to the Attic with Mara and stay there. Matthew is coming."
Melinda started to object, "Eva…"
"Now!" Eva shouted and watched as Melinda ran up the stairs. Moments later, the front doors flew open and there Matthew stood.
"Hello, sister," he greeted. "We meet again."
"And I still wish you were dead," Eva answered, standing her ground with him. "You should be in hell where you belong."
"Where is Melinda?" Matthew asked, walking further into the room. "Tell me and I shall let you live."
"Empty threats, brother," Eva shot back.
"Are they? I simply need to find that husband of yours and your end will come," Matthew looked smugly at her before demanding to know, "Now where is Melinda?"
"Away from you," Eva replied, with no intention of telling him.
In the blink of an eye, he was right in front of Eva with his hand to her throat. Once he touched her, got the a vision of Prue handing Melinda a feather for the curse. "So that is why they brought her back. She intends to curse me again." His grip tightened around her throat. "I will deal with Melinda later. Where is the one with the feather? There is no point in lying to me, sister. I know when you lie."
Eva glared at him to no end as she gasped, "The zoo," she lied. "She's at the zoo." This was indeed a lie but Eva had gotten quite skilled at doing just that over the years and not even he could tell.
"Then that is where I shall kill her," Matthew answered "And then I will be back for all the other Warren Witches, so you can watch them die and I can watch you suffer. The precious family you chose over your own will cease to exist and I will be ever so pleased." He grinned wickedly before walking away and disappearing in the blink of an eye.
"He's gone," Eva called up the stairs and moments later, Mara and Melinda came down.
"What happened?" Mara asked, wishing she'd been there but Melinda emphasized that it was best she stayed away because he didn't know of her existence.
"I sent him to the zoo," Eva answered, walking towards the kitchen, then said, "Melinda, you get started at that curse. We are sending him back to that locket hell where he belongs."
Piper and Phoebe came back with the spices and they all prepped the curse to the point where all they needed was the feather. "One of us should have gone with her," Mara said worriedly as she paced. "She's taking too long."
"She's probably stuck in traffic," Phoebe calmly answered. "Don't worry, she'll be here soon."
Melinda interjected there. "Once Prue returns with the feather, we will seek out Matthew."
"You think he'll be hard to find?" Piper asked and was answered by Matthew walking into the kitchen.
"Hello, ladies," he greeted then saw Mara standing with Eva protectively in front of her. "It seems I have a niece? I cannot wait to show her my ways. But first, the Warren Witches must die."
"This is our battle, Matthew!" Melinda shouted. "You leave them alone!"
"I have other plans in mind," he replied and using his telekinesis, he brought Piper too him and demanded, "Save yourself. Freeze me."
"Never," Piper answered firmly.
Matthew then pulled a modern age gun from his pocket and demanded, "Freeze me! Save yourself!"
Mara shot out her hand and shouted, "Piper!", using her magic. In result, Piper was pulled from Matthew's grasp and brought safely back over to them.
Matthew turned the gun on them now but Prue walked into the kitchen through the back way and saw what was happening. She used her power on the gun to throw it from his reach then used it to throw a chair at Matthew that knocked him to the floor.
Prue quickly gave Melinda the feather and she put it into the pouch before dropping it into the pot. "Now, Piper!"
"No!" Matthew exclaimed as Piper froze him. Now Melinda could do the spell. She opened the locket and said,
"Outside of time, outside of gain.
Know only sorrow.
Know only pain!"
Just then, Matthew unfroze and the spell swirled around him like a vortex that sent him back into the locket. When the locket shut, Eva took it from Melinda and said to Matthew within – whether or not he could hear her – "I chose right, brother. I chose right."
No one, not even Melinda, knew what that was all about but a word wasn't said about it because…it was clearly something that needed to be said. In that assumption, they were right.
End Season 1 Episode 9
