Disclaimer: I don't own Charmed. I'm going away for a week tomorrow, so I won't update until I come back.
Chapter Three
The Time Shift
Apartment 16A: Cayden's Way, San Francisco. June 12th (11:23), 2026
Liz ran her brush through her hair automatically, staring at the mirror but not seeing her reflection. Although Catoptromancy, the ability to see what was currently happening in other places using reflections was one of her powers, that was not what she was doing right then.
She was brooding, and she knew it. Memories of a life that had never happened intruded on her mind. She knew that some of her family didn't really understand why they affected her so much. After all, she had changed everything about that timeline. The two worlds and the people in them were unrecognizable when compared against each other. And Liz might have had memories of a life growing up hunted first by Meta the Titan and Witch Hunters and later by the Source, but she also had memories of a relatively peaceful childhood too.
But it wasn't as easy as simply dismissing the memories. In the past, her mission had distracted her from her PTSD, and whenever she had a flashback she simply went demon hunting to vent her grief and anger. Nowadays, she had to fill her time with work for P3 and Charmed, as well as the various projects she did, to cope. Sometimes, though, it simply wasn't enough.
The feeling of dread that had been haunting her for the past day and a half was bringing back memories of her original life, reminding her of the days that had blurred into weeks, months and years of fear. She had spent that entire life looking over her shoulder, waiting for an attack. More often than not, it had come. Heartbreakingly, it had frequently come from people she had once trusted, who had traded her in for themselves and their family.
"Liz," Niko's low, smooth voice broke into her increasingly dark thoughts. He waited until she met his gaze in the surface of the mirror to reach out and rest his hand on her shoulder. They rarely wrapped each other in embraces, and only tolerated short hugs from their family. Being restrained in any fashion brought back dark recollections that the people of this world, who had grown in comfort and safety, would never be able to comprehend.
They were both broken, but their jagged edges fit each other well enough that Liz couldn't bring herself to care.
"We'll work this out," he told her simply. No "it's alright" or "everything's gonna be fine". Both of them only got annoyed at that sort of false assurances.
She nodded slowly back at him. "Yeah," she agreed. "I'll just braid my hair, then I'll come to bed."
He leaned in to press a kiss to her cheek before heading into the bathroom to brush his teeth. Liz, meanwhile, finished pulling her hair into a plait and climbed into the bed, picking up the book on her bedside table.
In order to keep from dwelling on past mistakes and events that had never occurred, both Liz and Niko had a surplus of hobbies they used to distract themselves. One of Liz's was picking a historical figure or era, and investigating any magical impact on their lives and the results of that impact.
Currently she was researching Elizabeth I of England and Elizabeth's advisor, Doctor John Dee. From Liz's studies, she suspected he might have been an actual witch. If so, she was impressed by how daringly obvious he had been about his magic. Had the queen's favour turned against him, his enemies would have easily used his open interest in sorcery to bring him down. She thought, if she was right about Dee being a witch, that he might have used magic to help his queen defeat the Spanish Armada.
Despite her fascination with the subject, Liz still couldn't bring herself to focus. She stared at her page unseeingly for several minutes, her only reaction to Niko crawling into the bed beside her a quiet nod.
"Go to sleep, Liz," Niko urged her softly. "When we wake up, we can work on this thing. We'll figure it out, but we need sleep to focus properly."
"Fine," the Halliwell witch grudgingly gave in to her husband's pleas, knowing that he was correct. She snapped her book shut and placed it to the side, lying down and curling up against Niko's firm form. He rested his chin on top of her head, and she sighed. The calm, steady thrum of his heartbeat lulled her to sleep.
But her sleep was troubled, disturbed by dreams she couldn't remember after they ended.
Apartment 15B: Westbury Heights, San Francisco. June 12th (11:23), 2026
In contrast to his younger sister, Wyatt was much more relaxed after his conversation with Leo and Liz. He orbed home with his wife, informing her of the discussion and Leo's suggestion of the cause of his and Liz's unrest while they got ready for bed.
"Well, I'm certainly glad that Leo doesn't think that there's anything to worry about," Emily told him as she buttoned her nightshirt down over her heavily swollen stomach. "Having a new baby on the way is enough to deal with, without adding demons or spells to the mix."
"That's what I said to Dad and Lizzie," Wyatt agreed as he put his toothbrush back in its holder. "Speaking of, how's Little Mattie doing this fine night?"
"Pippa is doing just fine, thank you," Emily countered primly.
Wyatt grimaced. "C'mon Em," he groaned, though there was no heat in his tone of voice. "You gotta stop calling our son Pippa. It'll give him a complex. Say it with me: Matthew Philip Halliwell."
"Philomena Elizabeth Halliwell," Emily retorted without missing a beat. "And it's you who's going to give her a complex. She'll end up a complete tomboy if you keep calling her a boy."
The couple stopped arguing and smiled at each other. They had been playing this game for months now, having decided from the onset that they wanted their baby's gender to be a surprise. Wyatt insisted they would have a boy, while Emily was adamant that the Warren penchant for girls would produce yet another daughter for the line.
"Well, if he's a girly boy or a boyish girl, we'll love 'em anyway," Emily declared, rubbing her baby bump gently. Wyatt reached out to press his hand against her belly, smiling in awe as he felt the baby kick in response.
"Completely," he vowed. There was nothing he would not do, no lengths he wouldn't go to in order to keep his wife and child safe.
They kissed before climbing under their duvet, curling into each other and quickly drifting to sleep.
The Heavens: June 26th (11:54), 2026
The Upper Regions, also known as the Heavens, were typically a peaceful place. A plane made of light, white clouds, marble halls and filled with a calming ambiance that could even make the legendary temper belonging to the Warren line settle down on occasion.
That night, however, it was not living up to expectations. Whitelighters sped around, delivering messages from one Elder to another, or else orbing to their charges, warning them of what was about to happen so that they would be prepared.
Of course, not all witches had Whitelighters for whatever reason, and yet it was one of those families that needed the connection to the Heavens the most.
"Why won't any of them ever answer us?" Jonnah growled. They had been urgently jiggling Paige Matthews, her twin daughters and both Wyatt and Liz Halliwell for most of the day, yet all of them had refused to answer. Most likely, the Halliwells had 'muted' their connection to the Elders in another fit of family-wide belligerence.
And with the current situation, none of the Elders dared to leave the Heavens to speak to the family personally, nor could any of the Whitelighters be spared. Anyway, the chances were high that any messenger would simply be sent away without receiving the opportunity to warn the Warren line of the coming peril. The witches were stubborn, and clung fiercely to grudges.
The most recent cause of their anger towards the Elders was that it had been the Elders who informed Liz and Wyatt of the other timeline, as well came up with the spell that had allowed Liz to complete the paradox. The family therefore blamed the Elders for Liz's current problems caused by the mental trauma of her other life, ignoring the fact that, had Liz not gone back, the paradox would have destroyed the world.
"We need to warn them," Sandra urged her peers. "They won't know what's going on. They won't know how to reverse it!"
"If it can be reversed," Odin added darkly.
"We cannot spare anyone to go and tell them," Kevin sighed. "We need every last bit of power we and the Whitelighters have if we want our plan to succeed. Not to mention the amount of time we would be wasting trying to get through all of the wards they have."
The Charmed Ones had first learned about wards from Cole Turner, during their struggle with the Seer-Source, and taken full advantage of them. Then, Liz Halliwell's counterpart had been an expert at warding, and once she had returned from the past, Halliwell Manor had gone from being the safest place in the world to being utterly impenetrable, as had the homes of Phoebe Halliwell and her family, and the Matthews-Mitchell clan, along with Liz and Wyatt's apartments.
If the Elders sent a messenger, the chances were that said messenger wouldn't even be half-way through the first ward by the time the Shift occurred. And that was the best-case scenario. Worst case, whomever was in the house would notice the attempt to breach their security and attack.
"We may be able to send them a message," Zola mused. "But after the Shift, instead of before."
The other Elders considered that thoughtfully, weighing up the pros and cons of doing such a thing. It would weaken them more, but it might give the Halliwells a fighting chance.
"It will take a great deal of power to make something from this timeline last after the Shift," Iota mused. "But we might manage it, if we didn't try to save all of the Halliwells from the Shift's effects. However, we would have to choose who not to preserve in exchange."
"We must make our decision quickly," Sandra added anxiously. She glanced around at her companions, her concern clear and shared by them all.
"All in favour of Zola's proposal?"
"Aye!" the Elders agreed. Sandra nodded and quickly moved on.
"Then whom shall we preserve?"
"Elizabeth Halliwell must retain her memories, of both timelines," Kevin insisted. "Her knowledge of time travel and alternate universes is unparalleled. It will be an invaluable asset."
The Elders nodded in agreement. In addition, while Liz didn't like them and made no secret about it, she was far more willing to be reasonable and listen to the advice and warnings of the Elders than most of her family.
"If we are saving Elizabeth, then we ought to save Wyatt as well," Jonnah reasoned. "They don't have the Power of Three, but as siblings they are stronger when they combine their power then when they are separate. In some ways, their Blessed power is even stronger than the Charmed Power of Three, given that it is more concentrated due to there only being two Blessed Ones."
The others Elders acknowledged his point. The Blessed Ones, the reincarnations of Arthur and Merlin, outstripped even their mother and aunts in terms of raw power. Combined with the allegiance owed by all magical creatures to the Heir to Excalibur and the fact that Liz and Wyatt had been raised immersed in the magical world, with knowledge of things that aided their magical development and the two siblings were certainly a force to be reckoned with.
"So we are in agreement then?" Zola checked. "We will combine our power to conserve the Blessed Ones, and use the remainder to leave them a warning of what has happened, and what they must do in order to reverse the Shift?"
"Aye," the other members of the Council all chorused in agreement.
At that moment, a strong wind began to whip through the Heavens, warning of the imminent Shift.
"Hurry!" Sandra cried. "Quickly!"
The Council rushed to clasp hands with each other, and they hovered several feet in the air, eyes closed as halos of light seemed to surround them.
Just as the clock struck midnight, the Shift, boosted by the power of the new moon, occurred.
Reality twisted and warped, changing almost beyond recognition. People who had existed were erased. Babies were born that were never supposed to live. The dead were revived, and those who had once lived suddenly disappeared. Lovers were separated, and families torn apart and remade.
In the midst of this chaos, only three people remained to recall the world as it had once been, and it was on their shoulders that the Elders placed the responsibility for restoring the world to its previous existence.
Several hours later, as the sun began to weakly shine through an overcast sky filled with grey clouds that seemed to radiate despair, Elizabeth Patricia Halliwell's eyes snapped open to an entirely different world to the one she had closed them too.