Chapter 10- A Tear in Time

It was 2 o' clock a.m. in San Francisco and Paige took a sip of her coffee that was freshly brewed. She wasn't a stranger to long nights of demon duty, but with the added grief of her sister's death, it was hard to stay up and just call it night. Paige sat at the kitchen table as she heard the door open and seconds later close. She got up and entered the dining room and walked into Piper who had red eyes.

"Crying some more?" Paige asked.

"Of course," Piper said with a half-cocked smile. "I, um, met with Coop and told him about our Miasma attempt and unfortunately, my temper got the best of me and I yelled at him to straighten him out. Then I didn't know what to do, but driving seemed to be the only thing that was cooling me off, so I stuck to that for a while," Piper said as she pulled out a seat from the dining room table and sat down.

"Well, Henry and all six kids are asleep and Wyatt was the last one down. He didn't want to go to sleep without seeing you come home safely and ended up falling asleep on the couch and I orbed him into bed," Paige said.

"Thanks, Paige. Any word on Billie yet?" Piper asked.

"No, but you know Billie, updates isn't how she operates. Never has," Paige joked as she took a seat next to her sister at the table.

Both Piper and Paige turned to the staircase as they heard footsteps coming down and weren't surprised to see Leo turn the corner. "Hey," he said as he stuck his hands in his back pockets.

"Hey," Piper replied softly.

"Where were you, Piper?" her husband asked.

"Out and about, driving around town, however you want to put it," she answered.

"I knew you were okay. Something told me not to worry," Leo said with a smirk on his face.

Piper ran her fingers through her hair, rolled her eyes and replied, "And would that be a little birdie named Paige and her sensing powers?"

Leo put on a small smile and walked over to Piper and gave her a quick kiss. "How did it go with Coop?" He asked.

"Things went off and by 'things', I mean fireworks and by 'fireworks' I mean I yelled at him," Piper answered.

"Why?"

"Honey, I honestly don't want to get into it right now. I'm exhausted and repeating myself isn't in my schedule. Finding Miasma and killing her is," Piper declared. She got up and helped Paige get up from the chair and together they left Leo in the dining room and made their way slowly up the steps. When they reached the attic, they saw a cloud of smoke rise from the floor and once it cleared, revealed an expected Billie.

"I got some news," Billie quickly said.

"Is the Demon of Sleep coming for us?" Paige asked. "I only ask because that is the only demon I won't fight off right now," Paige joked.

"No, I was transporting all around and meeting with different shamans and trying to get a basic answer and they all said that dry tears are so rare. The shamans can't find the tears themselves and have even taken notice of upper level demons sending bounty hunters out to look for it," Billie explained. "Well, since your Grams said that the dry tears were from a shaman on her dying day and she was offering them, I figured that I would project back to that time and collect one of two," Billie carried on.

"Sounds good," Piper said. "One question; do you know when that time is?" She asked.

"Yeah, the shamans informed me," Billie answered. "It's actually only ninety-nine years back," Billie added.

"Only ninety-nine years back?" Paige asked and expected that much of Billie. "That's almost an entire century, Billie!" Paige exclaimed.

"I know, but I have to do this. It may be our only chance at getting these tears," Billie replied.

"Go for it, Billie," Piper said.

"Yay, a mission. We don't get to work much with each other anymore," Billie said. "I'm so glad that we get to do this, unfortunately under these conditions."

"Yeah, unfortunately," Piper said.

"Billie, if you could, please try not to come back for an hour or two. I'm tired and I want to nap, especially if we're taking on Miasma again," Paige said.

"I'll have to agree with you, Paige, but the way time travel works, you may get two minutes sleep by the time Billie returns," Piper said as she placed an arm around her sister's right shoulder, placed her head on her left shoulder and they walked out of the attic together.

"Off I go," Billie said as she stood standing and took in deep breaths. She envisioned the shaman as described to her and pictured the long brown hair; hazel eyes and from the stories, appeared to be a famous blue silk gown. She pictured the shaman on her deathbed in a tall tent as described to her filled with candles and posted everywhere. The final image she took in was the crowd; although she hadn't seen anything or anyone, the descriptions given to her were enough to carry her through space and when she pictured the grievers in white robes and candles in their hands, and projected the image of her wearing the same white robe. Soon she felt a cool familiar breeze go by as she moved through time.

x

Ninety-nine years back in the year 1917, a resting and dying shaman is in her bed and is surrounded by many family members, patients and people of the community who have appreciated her work. She resides in a tall tent on a small island, whereabouts unknown and the tent is tan with white doves circling around it. The shaman's life was soon to be over, but she stood brave as she watched those she loved grieve for her. Everyone in the tent is wearing a white robe in honor of the shaman. Whenever she would practice her craft and realized Death was going to be knocking on one's door, she'd go to that person and explain to them what they should expect in their afterlife, and she did it in her white robe. In honor of her, they are all wearing white robes to get ready to send her into the afterlife and the only thing excluded is an explanation of the afterlife. Not that she needs one, considering she has been telling people for countless years.

"Don't mourn me," the shaman spoke softly. "Celebrate my death. The end of this life is the beginning of my next life," she said with a smile. In the present time, these words would be viewed as meaningless, but in this time, for all those who have witnessed the magic the shaman has performed, her words were taken seriously.

"You've been so great to us. We can't help but miss you as you drift away into the afterlife," one man in the crowd said.

"You helped me save my relationship with my son. If you didn't assist me with that vision quest, I would still be lost and clueless to the troubles happening with my son," a mother said.

Billie soon appeared in the crowd with a white robe on. She made her way through the crowd as everyone was shouting their thanks and speaking of all the great deeds the shaman has brought to them.

The shaman's eyes that were filled with foresight and wisdom began to tear and she spoke. "Attention, please," she requested and everyone fell silent. "I want you to know something. These tears that are following from my eyes are tears of strength and power. They will magnify all the potions and remedies created for healing and will add great strength to any magic used on. I am a woman of strength and always have been, but I will do my best to drop as many tears as possible for you to collect. As my last breath is taken and I take my next step in life, these tears will turn into crystals and the magic shall take off from there. Use them wisely, my children. Don't be shy to take one," the shaman calmly said.

Billie approached the shaman with a tissue in her hand and a tear fell out of the shaman's hazel eye, rolled down her pale cheeks and Billie gently wiped the tear off of her face. Billie took a good look at the shaman and said, "Thank you. You have no idea how much this means to me."

"Actually I do, Billie," she said to Billie's surprise. "And I hope you get that demoness," the shaman said. "Good luck."

Billie smiled and quickly ran out of the tent to begin the process of projecting back to the present.

Authors Note: Guys, the year isn't important. If there is a glitch forgive me. By the way, thanks to everyone for all your great feedback. It definitely makes me dish out the other chapters when I see tons of reviews. It's my first and I'm glad it's a success; I'll always remember that. This story will end at chapter 12. Enjoy the rest!