Disclaimer: I do not own Charmed, Buffyverse or Supernatural.
Halliwell Manor
They materialized in the living room as Phoebe looked outside. "We have to go back for Piper."
"I know. But it's too dangerous. She is too dangerous." Leo said.
"OK, before we figure out who she is, would you like to explain who are you and why did you help us? You said that you're a Slayer and hunters. Like a Vampire Slayer and supernatural hunters?" Paige asked.
"So you've heard of us." Buffy said.
"Look, not that we don't appreciate that you were trying to help but why?" Phoebe asked.
"Honestly, we knew something big was happening and we wanted to lend a hand." Sam said before introducing themselves. "I'm Sam Winchester, this is my brother Dean and our friends, Buffy Summers, the Vampire Slayer and Willow Rosenberg, a fellow witch. Wicca, technically."
"I know who you are and I've heard of you." Leo said as he shot them a mix of a glare and appreciative look. "I guess we could use all the help we could get against Neena."
"OK, now that the introductions are over, what's going on, Leo? You acted like you knew her." Piper said, turning to her husband.
"Yeah, who is she? What kind of evil lunatic are we dealing with now?" Paige asked.
"She's obviously a witch." Dean noted with a hint of venom in his tone.
"Excuse me, we are witches too." Phoebe said, offended as Dean gave her an apologetic look.
"Sorry, it's just that my brother has some biases against witches and most of those we've encountered have hurt people, badly and everytime we've had to put them down but we know you're not bad." Sam said and that seemed to help Phoebe soften a bit.
"That witch that you just saw wasn't any ordinary witch. And she wasn't always evil, she used to be a good witch." Leo said darkly. "She's actually the first witch."
Everyone's eyes widened.
"The first witch? Like the first Slayer?" Paige asked.
"Not really…" Leo admitted, looking on edge.
Elsewhere
"Hello?" Piper called out, walking down some plains until she noticed a withered tree with a fresh apple hanging off its branch and took it off, when it withered suddenly.
"I wouldn't eat it if I were you."
Piper turned to face a dark-skinned woman in a white robe. "I wasn't going to. But an Angel of Destiny would know if I was."
"Nothing in this place is destined. We are beyond the Grand Design." The Angel of Destiny said.
"What is this place, exactly?" Piper asked, looking around.
"A place that's not supposed to exist. A mistake. A magical construct built in an attempt to recreate something lost." The Angel of Destiny explained.
"Doesn't really clear it up for me." Piper said.
"As for how I got here, it was the same way as you, more or less. But how we get out of here is the real question." The Angel of Destiny said as she started throwing the apple up, only to catch and throw it again. "Only the magic that brought us here can allow is to leave."
"You mean that woman? The one that dropped me into the swirly light?" Piper asked, confused as the Angel of Destiny eyed her.
"You really have no idea what you're up against, do you, Charmed One?" The Angel of Destiny asked.
"Maybe it would help if you told me." Piper said.
Halliwell Manor
"She was born before names." Leo said.
"How about you cut to the chase and tell us exactly who are we dealing with." Dean said impatiently.
"Is she a warlock? An evil witch?" Phoebe asked.
"What is she up to?" Willow asked.
"Honestly, I wish I knew. Her tale begins many years ago." Leo said.
"Don't they all." Buffy said dryly.
"Look, we don't have time for storytelling, Piper could be dead or dying." Phoebe said frantically.
"The Book of Shadows!" Paige yelled, orbing the book to her hand as Buffy's, Willow's, Dean's and Sam's eyes widened. They had seen strange things before but this was a new one for them.
"You won't find your answers in there." Leo said.
"Leo, Piper could be dying, if she's not dead already." Phoebe said.
"I don't believe she would do it. She wouldn't kill Piper." Leo assured.
"Didn't she skewer one of the robed dudes earlier?" Sam reminded as Paige looked saddened upon watching Kyle die twice.
"Technically, Kyle was already dead, he's only moved on." Leo corrected.
"Dead. Moved on. What difference does this make?" Willow asked.
"All the difference in the world." Leo said as he sighed before sitting down tiredly. "Look, first you need to understand who and what are you dealing with exactly before you rush in half-cocked with no plan. Trust me, until you know about her, confronting her is suicide, she's too powerful and dangerous." He took a breath as everyone sat down, listening patiently.
"From what I've pieced together, it begins in the early days of humanity, back when the world was a dark and tumultuous place, after the birth of Seed of Wonder on Earth, it left behind spiritual energy that runs through everything, becoming the heart of magic. Neither good nor evil, it's part of the Earth. Part of us. The air. Everything. The Elders refer to it as 'The All'. The Nexus under the manor barely compares to the Nexus of the All."
"Wait, Nexus under the manor?" Dean interrupted, confused.
"Long story. It's a source of incredible amount of magical power. Over the years some evil beings have tried to take control of it but we've always stopped them." Phoebe said.
"Like I said, it's nothing compared to the Nexus of the All." Leo said, getting back to the topic at hand. "Thousands upon thousands of years ago, a woman came across that Nexus and she alerted her mate to what she had found." He took a breath and leaned back. "At first, they were too afraid to go near it. Even at a distance, they could feel its power. But she pushed past that fear, tapped into this power and was infused with more of the All than any human was intended to possess."
"I think I know where this is going." Willow said and Buffy, Dean and Sam nodded.
"The woman was Neena, wasn't she?" Dean said what everyone was thinking and Leo nodded.
"She shared that power with her mate. And it changed them. Made them both immortal. Invulnerable. Bonded forever to one another and the All, creating a state of consciousness beyond the known physical universe." Leo said. "After Neena and her mate had become bonded, they created a state of consciousness beyond the known physical universe. The Higher Realm. A place of pure and utter bliss that they shared with the All but their presence affected the Earth and their magical bond contained the All in the Higher Realm and the world started to die. The only way to save it was to separate the powers to allow the power of the All to flow freely again."
"And let me guess, the woman and the man were kicked out of the Higher Realm and they could never go back." Buffy said sarcastically.
"You know, this story is starting to sound very familiar." Phoebe said dryly.
"You think?" Paige snapped as Leo shrugged.
"Many religions grew out of the same source material." Leo said.
"She must be the one that killed most of the innocent we've saved." Phoebe realized.
"You mean like a half a dozen mysterious deaths in two weeks?" Sam asked dryly.
"Summoning a golem using the blood of the innocent and channeling the Source's essence takes a lot of power and I doubt Brendan would do it. It must've been either a very powerful warlock or Neena was behind it." Leo said.
"OK, so we got the gist, the first witch is very powerful." Sam said as everyone got up.
"And she's not like us." Paige said.
"OK, so how do we find your sister—" Buffy started.
"Not so fast, the story isn't over." Leo interrupted. "Once back on Earth, the woman gave birth to a pair of children that were conceived while she was in the Higher Realm. The first child had powers like her mother, just not as strong, it's from her that most natural witches descend." His eyes turned dark, as if he was narrating a horror story. "The second was born with the same abilities but he twisted them for darker purposes and gave rise to warlocks."
Elsewhere
"So, you're telling me that the first witch is behind all this? Whatever this place is?" Piper asked, gesturing around.
"In an attempt to recreate the Higher Realm, unsuccessfully." The Angel of Destiny said sadly.
"Why didn't you stop her? Isn't that what you do?" Piper demanded.
"I… misunderstood her intentions and even if I had known, there are some beings I cannot touch." The Angel of Destiny said before they heard rumbling and felt tremors as the Angel of Destiny began to panic and the ground began to break into cracks. "On that note, move!"
Piper did as ordered as she and the Angel of Destiny ran off to escape the earthquake.
Halliwell Manor
"Wait, aren't warlocks just witches turned evil?" Phoebe asked, confused.
"They are but some are born that way, too." Leo said.
"But some of the children may not have any powers at all but as their descendants some of them could tap into the magic as witches." Sam realized and Leo nodded.
"Yeah, we've seen our share of… such individuals with these gifts, who had demon blood in them." Dean said, him, Buffy and Willow trying not to look at Sam.
"In very rare cases, the non-magical descendants can give birth to a full witch but this can upset the Grand Design." Leo explained as he gave Willow and the sisters a significant look. "Some are born into magic, some learn it, but all of them are a part of Neena's bloodline. Like the Warren line. Your family is part of her bloodline."
Elsewhere
Piper and the Angel of Destiny began to run until they stopped at a valley.
"What the hell happened back there?" Piper demanded.
"A person can't create an alternate plane of existence without some side effects, which is something that occurs that isn't destined." The Angel of Destiny said as she gave Piper a pointed look. "You see, the first witch exists outside of the Grand Design and Angels of Destiny have very little control over her. We are only witnesses to her actions, preferably from afar." She held Piper by her cheek. "I'm sorry to do this for you."
Piper suddenly realized what the Angel of Destiny was about to do. "Hey, wait—" The Angel of Destiny bit the apple and suddenly she vanished in a flash of light
Halliwell Manor
"Putting the distant cousin things aside, the logical way to stop her is to find her mate, right?" Sam said.
"Where is he?" Phoebe asked as Leo shifted uncomfortably.
"You're not going to…"
"…like the answer, got it, now spit it out, Sparkles." Dean said dryly.
"He returned to the Higher Realm without Neena." Leo revealed as everyone stared in disbelief.
"Are you kidding me? He just abandoned her?" Buffy demanded.
"OK, anyone who's on Neena's side suddenly, raise their hands." Paige said as she and Phoebe raised their hands and Buffy, Willow, Dean and Sam couldn't help themselves but side with Neena too.
"He didn't abandon her. Not by choice." Leo explained. "Every time a new witch is born into this world, Neena takes a tiny piece of the All, not much but enough to channel into an active power and with every new descendant, the All began to weaken, it was spread too thin and it needed to reclaim some of the magic it had lost. One of them had to come back. One day he just… disappeared… and she was alone for the first time in eternity. They had no control over what happened to them and his return to the Higher Realm had become a part of the Grand Design. The Elders were forced to make a choice and they chose him. And you don't mess with the Grand Design."
"Ugh, don't give me that 'part of the plan' crap." Dean said with a groan as he rolled his eyes. "Me and Sammy were supposed to be vessels for Michael and Lucifer to stop the Apocalypse, fight each other and kill each other, but we didn't. We locked the archangel and the Devil in the cages in Hell, so 'it's written in the stone' doesn't work with me."
"True. She was never able to find a way to reunite with her love until you destroyed the Seed of Wonder." Leo said as he turned to Buffy, who blinked and tensed and closed her eyes, reliving possessed Angel snapping Giles's neck.
"You what?" Piper demanded, her, Paige and Phoebe turning to Buffy with wide eyes.
"I did it to stop Twilight from unleashing the Apocalypse and save my friend." Buffy explained and the sisters' expressions softened. While they at first assumed Buffy was being reckless, clearly there was more to it, considering the pained look in her eyes.
"Wait, if you destroyed the heart of magic, then why…" Paige gestured around. "No magic, like before Wyatt's birth?"
"That's because Neena stole the shards of Seed of Wonder and managed to gather enough to access the All herself. She's powerful enough to tear the whole universe apart." Leo said.
"Not if we can help it." Dean said.
"If there's something I've learned over the years is that there's always a way to change your fate." Buffy added.
"Look, not that we disagree with you but finding a loophole always has a cost." Phoebe said. "And if this is so big…"
"…what is it going to cost us this time?" Paige asked worriedly.
"Whatever it is, we're going to help. You don't have to do this alone and besides, we ourselves have dealt with our share of Big Bads too, right?" Buffy said, looking at everyone.
"Yeah." Dean nodded.
"Look, some of us might not have magical powers but we can help. What do you say?" Willow said as she, Buffy, Dean and Sam offered their hands. "Partners?"
Phoebe and Paige considered before shaking their hands. "Partners."
"Now, first things first, if we're gonna beat Neena, then we have to find your sister." Dean said as he turned to Phoebe and Paige.
"And I'm gonna call whoever I can get to help." Buffy said, pulling out her phone and dialing Xander.
Elsewhere
Piper groaned and sighed, not wanting to be trapped in another limbo. "Damn it."
"I didn't think that the next time we'd meet, you'd be trapped in another void again."
Piper felt a chill sent down her spine as she recognized the voice and whirled around to face a man with brown hair, wearing a suit.
"Cole?" Piper demanded.
Well, looks like Piper is in for it with Cole again.
Hope my explanation on the magic here makes sense, I might have to play a bit with Charmed, Supernatural and Buffyverse lore to fit into the story.
So, what do you guys think about it?
Please review and let me know if you are enjoying this so far and want for me to continue.