Landon was waiting for Mara on the Manor stoop that morning. He was told by Piper that she was out but should be back soon and sure enough she was. While Mara parked her yellow Bug, Landon got up from the stoop and went over to greet her. "Good morning."
Mara closed the car door behind her. "Morning. What's up?"
"Well I was wondering if you could help me with something. There's a new magic trick I want to show Jenny but I haven't quite worked out the kinks. Care to be my assistant?" Landon wanted a bit more than that but he'd start there.
Mara rolled her eyes a bit as she headed up to the Manor. "I told you, I'm not into the whole Magic thing."
"Now see I don't believe you. If you weren't into the whole magic thing then why would you be at the Occult shop at least once a week?" Landon figured he had her there.
Mara stopped walking and scoffed a bit loudly. "Are you stalking me or something?"
Landon held his hands up in innocence. "It's nothing like that I swear. I know Deacon who works there and he's mentioned you."
Now that was a name Mara recognized from the Sisters' trip to the future. But it couldn't be the same Deacon, could it? The next time Mara decided to go to the Shop she'd have to bring either Prue or Piper with her to find out. "Just because I like their products doesn't mean I'm into it." Finally Mara just came right out with what she'd been wondering for awhile now. "What are you trying to be anyway? A magician or a Witch?"
Landon simply shrugged in reply with an expression that told her he'd take what he could get. "I've seen some weird stuff and on top of what my parents have come across in their travels who's to say that real magic doesn't exist? I mean, can you imagine having powers? That'd be a dream come true."
"Or it could be a curse," Mara countered.
"Let me guess, next you're going to tell me that with great power comes great responsibility?" Landon was most definitely teasing her there. "Look, all I'm trying to say is I think you believe in more than you claim and I would like your help."
Mara crossed her arms because she wasn't really sure where this was going and it was unsettling. To try and test the waters, so to speak, she spoke casually, "Okay, hypothetically speaking, let's say that I do believe that magic and Witches are real. What would you do with that information?"
Landon followed her lead and answered accordingly. "I would ask if you were one – a Witch that is. Hypothetically speaking." He gestured to the pendant around her neck. "In every book I've read about Witchcraft that symbol has appeared at least once. It represents the oldest known Coven in the world and…"
Mara cut him off there to try and throw him the scent. "Or I could just happen to like the symbol? Ever think of that?" She laughed at his behavior. "Seriously, Landon, what you're thinking is way out there. Why don't you go talk to Jenny about this. She seem more susceptible to believing it than me." She turned around to head into the Manor but stopped at his next words,
"So you're saying that magic isn't real and you're not a Witch? That's your final answer?"
She turned around to face him and nodded affirmatively. "Final answer."
Landon put his hands in his pockets and nodded in an 'alright then' manner. "Too bad. It would have been fun casting real spells with you. I haven't had another Witch to practice with since I've moved here."
Mara was momentarily taken aback by that statement then laughed. "You're insane, Landon. Your stories change at the drop of the hat and they're honestly giving me whiplash. I don't know who you think you are, but this conversation is over." She turned around and gasped when she saw a bolt of lightning appeared in front of her with Landon constituting within it.
"Not quite yet." Landon grabbed hold of Mara then bolts of lightning surrounded them before they disappeared and reappeared in a secluded area of a park.
"Whoa!" Mara cried out as she stumbled away from him then shot her hands up. "What the hell was that?!"
"What I've been trying to tell you," Landon replied in a way that made it clear he hoped she'd see reason and not hold what he just did against her. "When I moved here I did some scrying for other Witches and the crystal dropped right next door. At first I thought it was the Sisters but then I saw you and your non-boyfriend at the Shop and call it a gut instinct but I knew it was you. I've tried to be subtle about it but I'm impatient by nature, so here you go."
Mara didn't lower her hands in case all of this was an act. "So you're standing there telling me that you, Dan, and Jenny are Witches or something?" She'd never seen teleportation like that before so she wasn't quite sure if Landon was telling her he was a Witch.
Landon was quick with his clarifying reply. "No, no, no, just me. I'm the only one. My mom's side, which includes Dan, isn't the magical one. It's my father's side. Jenny and I only share a mother and they don't know I'm a Witch."
Mara found that very hard to believe. "Sure." She put her hands out further in front of her. "How do I know you're not some – some Demon who's trying to find a way to kill me kill me?"
"My mom is the only one who knows I'm a Witch. I'm not supposed to use my powers but sometimes I do. They're a part of me, how could I not?" Landon exhaled deeply. "Do you believe me?"
Mara lowered her hands a bit, raised them again, then lowered them completely. "For the moment. What kind of teleporting was that?"
"The electrical kind?" Landon wasn't too sure himself. "My weather magic just sort of turned into that a couple years ago. My bio-dad isn't in the picture, so I've pretty much been figuring this magic stuff out on my own. Most of the other Witches I've met were just believers and not actual Witches. So I was kinda hoping we could bond over our magic."
Mara still wasn't too sure that she believed him. "What if I told you that you screwed up big time and I'm not a Witch?"
Landon's face turned serious as he held up a hand that sparked. "Some electro-shock therapy to make you forget." He wasn't really being serious but Mara didn't catch that. The next thing he knew Mara's hand shot up and threw him pretty far away from her.
When Landon landed on the ground with a heavy thud, he laughed and groaned, "I was kidding! I was kidding!" He pushed himself to his knees then feet with another groan before smiling, "At least now I know you really are a Witch."
Mara felt like she was getting hit with an overload of information, emotions, and revelation and everything else in between. Finally she threw up her hands and screamed, "Why can't anything ever be normal?! Not even the cute boy next door can just be normal!"
Landon could understand her mini meltdown, but to try and alleviate some of the situation, he smiles wide, "You think I'm cute?" When Mara's face hardened and she started charging at him he backed up laughing, "I'm sorry! I'm sorry!"
Mara stopped in her tracks and shouted at him, "What am I supposed to do with this information?!"
Landon hadn't gotten much further than telling her and hoping they'd practice magic together. "Make me your new Witchy buddy?"
Mara was not amused. "Take me back to the Manor right now."
Landon would quit while he was ahead, even though he didn't think he was that far ahead, and approached Mara with caution. "Hand, please?"
Mara narrowed her eyes at him. "Only because I have to."
"And not because you think I'm cute?" Landon didn't give her a chance to respond to that before taking her hand and electrically teleporting with her to the Manor's back door.
Landon didn't stick around after 'dropping Mara off' and she wasn't surprised in the least. He just dumped all his Witchy information on her and left her to process it all. "Jerk!" Mara shouted as she stormed through the empty kitchen and headed upstairs to the Attic. She didn't get further than the landing because of Sebastian Orbing in front of her.
"Whatever it is I want nothing to do with it!" Mara dropped her face in her hands and groaned loudly before saying in a calmer manner, "I didn't mean to shout."
"How did you get here to fast?" Bash was about to Orb to her previous location when suddenly she was back at the Manor.
"You mean from whatever park I was just in? Yeah, you can thank Landon for that!" Mara went down the stairs and into the sitting room.
"Landon? What – He teleported you?" Bash had a feeling he wasn't going to like the answer that came next.
"Oh, yeah, he's apparently a weather Witch or something." Mara plopped herself down on the sofa. "His biological father is a Witch, so that explains why Dan and Jenny aren't and get this – When he moved here he scryed for Witches and the result was right here. Landon was going to approach P3 until he saw us at the Occult Shop and figured I was the Witch instead."
Bash was right, he didn't like the answer. He sat down on the sofa's arm next to Mara as he thought this over. "I'm not sure what to do with this information. I'm gonna have to have a chat with the Elders. They not once mentioned another Witch would be moving in next door."
"Before you disappear to do that, do you know where P3 are? I should probably tell them about Landon." Mara hadn't been home long but hadn't seen nor heard anyone else since she got back.
"I just know they're not here." Bash placed a gentle hand on Mara's shoulder, saying, "Just breathe, Sweetheart," before Orbing away.
Mara did as he suggested and took a deep breath before falling sideways into a laying position onto the sofa with a loud groan.
Mara puttered around the Manor doing odds and ends until P3 got home. When they did she went straight to them and started saying everything that had happened with Landon and how he was a Witch but Dan and Jenny weren't and all that jazz, but her words just seemed to fall upon deaf ears.
"Are you alright? What happened?" Mara was worried about them because they clearly were not themselves. Even those questions weren't answered as the Sisters walked right past her like she wasn't even there and went upstairs to their bedrooms. She didn't like this at all and went upstairs as well to go straight to the Doorway for help.
"I think there's something wrong with P3," Mara instantly announced as she entered Eva's Loft but there wasn't anyone there. "You've got to be kidding me," she said to herself before calling out, "Anybody home?!"
Felix came out of his bedroom, finishing up pulling down his shirt as he did. He had to change his shirt after a potion didn't 'poof' the way it should have. That'd be the last time he tried to make that one from memory. "Just your favorite uncle. Eva's dealing with Coven business." He could clearly see the look of concern on Mara's face and got a little more serious. "Mara, what's wrong?"
"I think there's something wrong with P3. They came back from wherever they went to and it's like they were in a trance or something. They all went straight to their bedrooms. Can you tell what happened to them?"
Felix already had a feeling of what happened to them but he needed to be sure. "Sounds like they were given a magic mickey." He went to the bookshelf and voiced the spell to reveal the magic stuff that was hidden, grabbed a bottle dropper with a pink liquid inside and returned the bookshelf to its normal state before leading Mara back through the doorway.
"A magic mickey? Those exist?" Mara didn't like the sound of that whatsoever.
"It's a crude way of describing the powder but it's basically that. It's used as a sort of mild mind control and the side effect is sleeping." Felix stopped at the Phoebe's closed door and gestured to Mara. "You first."
Mara took her cue and knocked on the door but when there was no answer she opened it and found Phoebe sound asleep in bed. Just to be sure, Mara checked on Prue and Piper and it confirmed all three were sound asleep. "Do the test."
Felix nodded and went into Phoebe's room since hers was the closest to where he stood. "Forgive the intrusion." He removed the bottle dropped and dripped one drop of the pink liquid on the side of Phoebe's head. An almost golden glow resonated from where the potion was dropped and that just confirmed what he already believed. "Just like I thought."
Mara returned to the hall with Felix and closed Phoebe's door behind them. "What can we do? Can we reverse it?"
Felix slipped the potion bottle into his pants pocket. "Afraid not. They'll sleep until tomorrow. The only thing to do is wait for them to wake up and try to get them to remember the events of today."
Mara didn't feel like that was going to help anything. "How can I do that if I don't know what happened?"
Felix chuckled at the question, he couldn't help it. "My sweet, oblivious niece. What have you done before when you wanted the answer to something?"
Mara thought for a second then had a facepalm moment. "Checked with the crystal ball."
Felix placed his hands on her shoulders to turn her around in the direction of the Attic and walked along with her. "Exactly."
A lot of learning happened during Mara's conference with the crystal ball. She learned that P3 were at the lake when some guy blasted them with the powder to make them forget the events of that day. Of course Mara had no idea who he was, but Felix did. He informed Mara that the guy was named Sam and was Patty Halliwell's Whitelighter. Felix knew quite a bit more than what he shared but it wasn't his story to tell.
What Mara learned was enough to hopefully get the Sisters to remember in the morning so she in turn told Felix about her day's 'adventure'. Mara told him about Landon and his big Witchy revelation and how Sebastian went to speak with the Elders about it because he had no idea another Witch was so close by.
Felix shook his head incredulously at the end of all what Mara told him. "Those sneaky bastards."
Mara's brow furrowed a bit because she wasn't sure if he was talking about Landon or not. "Who exactly are you talking about here?"
"The Elders," Felix replied as he began to pace about the Attic. "You were crushing on Landon, correct?" When Mara nodded in reply, he continued on with his conspiracy. "I knew it. Going the Whitelighter route didn't work so now the Elders put a Witch in your path instead."
Now Mara was picking up on what he was saying. "Wait, wait, wait – You're saying you think the Elders are trying to set me up with Landon like they tried to do with Jasper?"
Felix nodded in a 'duh' manner in reply. "The plan with Jasper failed, Bash is a fifty-fifty chance at best, so why not throw in a teenage Witch who understands what it means to be magical? The Elders are covering their bases."
Mara rubbed her temples because this was giving her a headache. "I refuse to believe that every guy I'm remotely attracted to is deliberately sent to me as a way to ensure my True Death in the future."
Felix shouldn't have put all that on her, that was his fault and he knew it. "I'm sorry, Mara. I want you to live your life and love, I do, I just also want you to be careful."
"Is there something I can enchant to make sure I never marry? Because I'd wear that all day everyday if it'd give me a sense of peace." Mara even picked up the Tome from the table and started flipping through it.
Felix didn't let her get far and put the Tome back where it was. "I only know of one type of spell like that and trust me, you wouldn't like it."
Mara didn't know what spell her uncle was talking about but decided to trust his word on it. "Then what? What am I supposed to do, join a convent?"
"Maybe I should magically mickey you so you'd forget this conversation." A feline grin spread across his face to show her he wasn't really serious. "You're not going to dwell on this are you?"
"I'll start dwelling if I hear the distant sound of wedding bells. Until then I'm just going to do whatever the hell I feel like." Mara got to her feet in determination.
"And what would that be?" Felix inquired since he wasn't quite sure where her head was presently at.
"Ordering a pizza." Mara nodded affirmatively and left the Attic to go downstairs and do just that.
Out of all the things he thought Mara was going to say that wasn't anywhere on the list but he went with it. Felix followed after Mara and called out to her, "Anchovies on my half!," as he went.
Mara awoke before the Sisters the next morning and waited for them to come downstairs before springing the whole 'you've been mickeyed by your mom's ex-Whitelighter' thing on them.
When the Sisters finally came downstairs in their pajamas looking as if they were hungover, she darted straight to them. They barely made it to the landing before Mara jut got right to it. "This is going to sound insane but you three were given a magical mickey by a guy named Sam yesterday at the lake. Sam was your mom's Whitelighter and for some reason he wanted you to forget what happened yesterday."
Prue rubbed her forehead because she had a splitting headache. "You're right, it does sound insane. I need coffee."
A high-pitched incredulous squeak escaped Mara as the Sisters walked right past her towards the kitchen. "You don't want to believe me? Fine, we'll get back to that but you have to listen to this. Dan's nephew Landon is a Witch who can control the weather." Now that got the Sisters' attention and they all slowly turned to face her.
Mara could see the shock on Piper's face and made sure to add in, "Dan and Jenny aren't Witches if that's what you're thinking. Landon's bio-father is the magical one. And, no, Dan and Jenny don't know about Magic."
Piper was struggling to process this bit of information. "How – how did you find this out?"
"Landon teleported me with lightning somewhere yesterday and told me the whole story." Now that that was settled, she went back to the first order of business. "Now are you willing to hear me out about the magical mickey the Sam guy gave you?"
Just then there was a knock at the door so Piper went to go answer it while Phoebe and Prue went to the kitchen for coffee.
Mara looked back and forth between them before following the majority into the kitchen. "I'm not making this up! You have got to believe me."
Feline Felix ran into the kitchen at that moment and hopped onto the stool before turning back to his human self. "Do they remember yet?"
Since Felix also seemed to know what Mara was talking about, Phoebe and Prue exchanged looks with each other before Phoebe asked, "Wait…Someone did slip us a magical mickey and this isn't one of Mara's pranks?"
"You used to play them a lot when you were younger," Prue pointed out to explain their hesitation to buy into what she was saying.
"I would never joke about magic." Mara was mildly offended to think they thought she would.
Piper came into the kitchen with Leo in tow. Leo asked directly asked the Sisters, "Why aren't you up at the lake? No one shut down the camp, so the kids are on their way there now." Leo could see the confusion on the Sisters' faces. "He did it, didn't he? Used a powder on you, sort of like a magical mickey."
"I told you!" Mara declared with a wave of her hands. "Are you going to believe me now? That Sam guy, your mom's ex-Whitelighter did this to you."
Prue was starting to remember now. "Mom…"
"Ooo, it's starting." Felix turned around on the stool to face her. "Focus on what's starting to seep through. It's like remembering a dream."
Leo added in some details from there. "Remember the kids, the lake, the Demon, Sam."
Piper remembered now, too. "Sam? Why would he do this to us?" She turned to Mara, "Sorry for not listening earlier but you did used to play pranks on us." She gave her a quick smile then turned back to Leo for answers.
Leo looked at the Sisters as he answered, "To keep history from repeating itself."
Now this is something Mara didn't know. "What do you mean to keep history from repeating? What history?"
Phoebe looked down because she remembered that part. "The Demon that Sam was trying to make us forget is the same one that killed our mom."
Mara's eyes widened a bit in shock and it also gave her a little understanding about why Sam gave P3 the magical mickey in the first place. It's not like she agreed with his methods but could understand his reasons. "Well we're not going to let that happen to you. How do we defeat this thing?"
"We don't know," Prue answered then turned her attention to Piper. "Since you're coated in poison ivy, you're going to stay home and look through the Book to find the Demon's Achille's Heel. The rest of us are going back up to the lake and make sure none of the kids get into the water." She looked at Felix to ask, "You in?"
"If anyone else asked me to fight a Demon near a body of water I'd say hell no, but since it's you asking of course I'm going." Felix slid off the stool and headed out the back door, saying, "I'll meet you at the car."
"Because it's you asking," Phoebe mocked before making a gagging sound as she went upstairs to change with Piper heading up right behind her.
Before Prue left to do the same, Mara asked her, "What do we do about Landon?"
Prue's answer was simple and straight to the point. "Right now, nothing. Demons first, mystery Witch boy later."
When they arrived at the lake the plan was to use the powder that Sam used on P3 to make them temporarily forget that they wanted to go into the water. To keep the rounded up campers busy Phoebe, Mara, and Felix brought them into the Mess Hall and distracted them as best they could while Prue went to talk Sam.
Felix's not really magical magic tricks only kept them content for so long and then it turned into a back and forth of suggestions and shut downs. Finally Phoebe, Mara, and Felix moved off to the side to try and discuss a game plan because what they were doing wasn't working.
They were in the middle of their discussion when one of the more rowdy kids came over and spoke with sass. "This sucks. We want to go in the water."
Mara held a hand out towards them and with a flick of a wrist she said, "If only I could whisk away their desire to go into the water." As soon as she said that, a glowing ball-orb-thing left the kid and went into Mara's palm. Her eyes went wide at this. "What the hell is that?!"
"I'm guessing it's their desire to go into the water," Felix surmised. "Your powers are growing, it seems."
"I don't want it!" Mara pushed her hand forward, "Go back!" And it did. The orb of desire returned to the confused looking kid.
"Whoa," they said with laughter. "Now that's a magic trick."
Phoebe guided them back to the group, saying, "If you and your friends behave there will be more where that came from." Once the kid was back with the others, she went over to Mara. "What?"
"It's not like I meant to." Mara didn't even know she was capable of doing something like that. She'd only ever Called and Pushed objects, nothing like that.
They'd have to figure it out later because Prue and Sam joined them in the Mess Hall with the pouch of powder to use on the kids.
Sam spotted Felix and nodded towards him in greeting because he wasn't sure how much the Sisters knew then saw Mara. It didn't take him long to figure out she was a Sibley – it was in the eyes. This wasn't the time for reunions or more introductions, so he handed the powder to a reluctant Phoebe while Prue went outside to take a call.
Phoebe scooped some powder in her hand and blew it on the group of children. "Now listen here kids, one your way to bed remember – Land good, water bad. Land good, water bad."
Mara couldn't hide her amusement at how Phoebe said it like she was casting some major Witchy mojo.
Phoebe momentarily narrowed her eyes at Mara. "What?"
"I'm sorry, I just loved your whole 'woo-woo' thing." Mara wiggled her hands and fingers out in front of herself for emphasis before leaving the Mess Hall with Felix and the others.
Once they were all outside, Prue started questioning Sam. "Alright, it's time. How was she going to vanquish the Demon?"
Sam shook his head regrettably. "I don't know. I failed. I lost her. Isn't that enough?"
Leo Orbed in with Piper at that moment. Leo was fine with it, Piper got a bit woozy and needed to sit in a nearby beach chair because of it.
"What are you doing here?" Prue didn't expect either of them to be there, especially since Piper was contagious with poison ivy.
Piper pointed at Sam. "He loved her."
Phoebe instantly wanted clarification from Leo. "What? Who loved her? What is she talking about?"
Leo was going to leave that up to Sam. "Sam?" When he was silent, Leo added in, "Found the letters, Sam."
Sam looked down with a heavy sigh as he took a couple steps away from the group. "Patty and I, um…" he couldn't bring himself to tell them and because of that, Piper did.
"They fell in love."
Mara turned right to Felix upon hearing that. "Did you know that?"
Now pretty much all eyes were on him. Felix nodded, "Yeah, I did."
"And you didn't think that was something we should know?" Phoebe was a bit peeved that he didn't say something.
Felix's answer was simple and serious. "It wasn't my story to tell."
To get thing back to Sam, Leo said to him, "In the letters she told you to stay away, not to go to the lake."
Sam turned around to address them all. "But I did. I wouldn't have for anyone else. If I just followed the rules, not fallen in love, I never would have been there, I never would have distracted her, and she never would have died."
"You loved her and you blame yourself." Phoebe's voice was sympathetic.
"Well don't you blame me?" Sam certainly did. "Every day I wake up and think for just a second I think maybe it didn't happen. Yes, I blame myself."
"We have to see past our emotions to deal with this, Sam." Prue needed him to get on board with that. So do you."
Sam could get that, he really could but it didn't change anything. "Even so, it doesn't change the fact that I didn't see what happened. I tried to warn her and she froze me."
"Why?" Leo didn't understand, but Piper did,
"Because she was trying to protect him."
"Protecting was supposed to be my job." Sam's guilt ate him up all the more. "I couldn't help her. I don't know how I can help you. I didn't see what happened."
Prue hated what she was about to suggest but it had to be done. "I know somebody who can see anything."
It didn't take a genius to figure out who Prue was talking about and Felix was the first to speak up about it. "That's not fair, Prue. You can't put that on her."
Phoebe went over to Prue and addressed her before she could reply to Felix. "You tip-toe around the subject of Mom. You deny looking like her. You can't even go to the end of that dock because you're afraid to walk in her footsteps, and now you want me to relive your last moment?" Her voice cracked a bit toward the end there. "How is that fair?"
"It's not," Prue admitted. "I don't want to put this on you, Phoebe. None of this is fair; Mom's death, Sam's guilt, but I'm asking you to help me end it."
Mara stepped up to offer, "I'll see it with you. Share the vision with me, Phoebe. You don't have to do this alone."
Phoebe took a deep breath and nodded as she took Mara's hand. They went over to Sam and each took his hands with their own. Once the circle was complete they saw what happened to Patty on her last day.
Patty went down to the dock with a pair of electrical jumper cables in her hand, ready to go after the Water Demon. When Sam ran towards her shouting at her to watch out, she dropped the cables to freeze him and before she could get the cables back, the Water Demon engulfed her and drowned her from the inside out.
When the vision ended, Phoebe gasped and cried as she held onto Mara.
Mara closed her eyes tightly to try and keep the tears at bay. It was such a horrible thing to see but wouldn't have let Phoebe go through it alone.
"It – it entered her," Phoebe sobbed as she slowly moved away from Mara. "It drowned her from the inside."
Prue hated that Phoebe had to go through seeing that, but they needed to know what happened. "In the vision, what was Mom doing?"
Mara answered that because Phoebe was still recovering from seeing their mother die. "She was using a power cable down on the dock. Like she wanted to shock the Demon or something."
"Makes sense," Piper replied, doing all she could to keep her own strength up after hearing what happened. "Electricity's the only thing that separates water particles."
"There's nothing like that on the dock anymore," Sam informed them. "It was deemed a safety hazard and had to be removed."
Prue had a hand through her hair. "Now what?"
Mara had an idea about that. "Landon." At the looks from everyone present, she added in, "Hear me out. He can control lightning. We get him here, he throws a lightning bolt or whatever at the Demon and it's all over. It's either that or you let the Demon kill me and while it's still inside you electrocute me."
"You'd die a True Death that way," Sam countered. "Your Immortality wouldn't be able to protect you in that state. You wouldn't be an Immortal Witch but a possessed corpse."
"He's right. If he wasn't I would have volunteered myself." Felix shook his head, not liking this idea at all. "We're gonna have to get Landon."
Piper didn't like this either. "We're going to bring a novice Witch into this who we didn't even know was a Witch and still don't know if we can trust? What happens if he the Demon kills him?"
"I'll go with him," Prue volunteered. "We know Mom's power didn't work on the Demon, so it has to be mine at the end of that dock. I'll make sure nothing happens to him." She turned to Mara. "That is if he'd even agreed?"
"One way to find out. Leo, can you go get him and bring him here?" Mara couldn't think of another way to get Landon there quickly. "Tell him I'll be his Witchy buddy if he goes with you."
Leo had a bad feeling about this but Orbed away to do as she asked.
"Are you sure about this?" Felix wanted to trust his niece's judgment, but still he needed to hear it from her.
Mara was honest with her answer. "No, I'm not. But I don't have any other ideas. We can't use the magical mickey on those kids forever. If the drownings are to stop then the Demon needs to be vanquished today. Unless anyone else has another idea how to get a strong pulse of electricity down there, we don't really have a choice."
When no one answered with any other idea, Mara addressed Prue. "Since bringing Landon here is on me, I'll go down on the dock. You don't have to do this."
"Yes I do," Prue countered with crossed arms. "I need to face my Demons, Mara. This may be your insane idea, but I'm the one who needs to follow through with it."
At that moment, Leo Orbed in with Landon at his side. Landon wasn't nearly as fazed as Piper had been – probably because he himself could teleport – and when he saw the Sisters standing there with Mara, he pointed out and shouted, "I knew it!"
"Yeah, well, you better not tell anyone. Especially Dan." Piper couldn't make that any clearer.
"Your secret is safe with me." Landon looked around at the group because he still wasn't too sure why he was brought there. All Leo had to say was Mara needed magical assistance and he was on board. "So, what do I need to do?"
Phoebe just ripped off the Band-Aid. "Kill a Demon."
Landon laughed because he didn't think she was being serious but based upon their facial expressions he could tell they were. "Please tell me you didn't bring me here to kill a Demon."
"Have you ever done it before?" Piper enquired, still not particularly liking all of this.
"No!" Landon all but squeaked. "What am I supposed to do?"
"It's a Water Demon," Leo explained. "When it shows up shoot lightning at it."
Landon didn't think that sounded too hard. "Cool. I'm in."
Before anyone had a chance to talk him out of it or ask more questions that would make him doubt himself, Prue took a deep preparatory breath. "Let's end this."
Landon was pretty damn confident when he walked down to the dock with Prue and Sam. He was finally going to be able to use his powers to help someone and that meant the world to him. Landon not once considered what he might feel like coming face to face with his first Demon.
Prue baited the Demon to come to the surface and it began to but suddenly something changed. She heard her sisters, Mara, and Felix all shout out at her to look out. Prue turned around and saw Felix was far ahead of the others running towards them and used her power to throw him away just before the Water Demon made its appearance.
Landon froze when he saw the massive Water Demon towering over them on the dock. He knew what he was supposed to do but wasn't able to do it.
Sam saw him freeze up and quickly moved in front of Prue and Landon to keep them safe. The Water Demon entered him but didn't kill him instantly. Sam was lasting long enough to say to Landon, "Do it!"
Landon broke out of his frozen moment and did what he was supposed to have done the first time. Landon thrust his hands out, causing lightning bolts to shoot of them, and stopped after a couple of moments. It wasn't a lot of time but it was long enough to vanquish the Demon.
If only Landon reacted quicker. "I'm sorry. I – I'm so sorry."
"Don't be," Sam said weakly. "You helped me to keep history from repeating. You did good, kid."
Landon didn't feel like he did anything good. He left Sam and the others on the dock and returned to shore. Landon was about to teleport himself away but stopped when he heard Mara speak to him.
"I'm sorry, Landon, but I didn't know what else to do. You had the power to help and I…"
Landon cut her off there to ask, "Is this what you do? Is this was being a Witch means to you and the Halliwells? You – you kill people?"
"We vanquish Demons, there's a difference," Mara firmly defended. "Sam knew what he was doing when he jumped in front of you and Prue. Hell, he probably got the idea from me – I don't know. What happened was terrible and sad and that's on me, Landon. Not you. I pulled you into a situation you weren't ready for and I'm sorry."
Landon almost left at that moment but something kept him from doing so. Instead he had a request of her. "I can't freeze up like that again. If something happens, I need to be ready for it. Will you help me?"
"You just helped vanquish the Demon that killed P3's mom. Helping you with your magic is the least I can do." Mara wasn't able to get another word out before Landon lightning-teleported himself away. Oh, she so hoped this whole thing wasn't a huge mistake because there was no going back now. The window was opened and she just pushed him through it before falling out right afterwards.
The following morning Felix was at the Loft when Prue came in through the Doorway. He didn't say anything to her which opened it up or her to speak first.
"I was wondering if we could talk. You Felined away soon after Sam passed." She wanted to check in and see how he was doing. "Are you alright?"
Felix set aside the book he was reading and got to his feet to say, "You can't do that."
Prue wasn't sure what he was referring to. "I can't ask you if you're alright?"
"You can't use your power on me like that," Felix corrected. "I don't care what the danger is. If you're in trouble then I'm going to help you no matter the consequence. I'm Immortal, Prue. You're the one who can die easily, not me."
"That's a lot of emotion from a guy who hasn't even made a move." Prue crossed her arms and looked at him for an explanation.
"I've made my move, Prue. You just haven't experienced it yet." Felix walked away with a scoff before turning back to face her. "You think this is easy for me? You think it's easy for me to not express anything? No not be able to sort out what I feel? I'm in limbo, Prue, and I'm going to be in limbo until the timelines catch up because it's not fair of me to act on anything that hasn't happened for either of you yet." He took a numerous deep breaths in the following moments. "So, yeah, I have a lot of emotions. I've had them for centuries and they're going to make me do things and say things and act a certain way because of them. I'm not trying to toy with you or Phoebe, if that's what you've ever thought. I'm just waiting for time to catch up so I don't end up taking advantage of the situation."
This wasn't where Prue had expected the conversation to go when she came over but it's where it lead and all she could bring herself to say was, "Okay." That was it. That was all she said before going back through the Doorway to the Manor.
Felix dropped onto the couch and rubbed his face with his hands. Maybe he should have stayed away until the time was closer, but he couldn't. Even if Mara wasn't part of the scenario he wouldn't have been able to stay away. If only time would hurry itself up so he could finally make sense of the feelings he's felt towards those two women for centuries…
End Season 2 Episode 8
