Home once more

"Piper, wake up!" exclaimed someone as they shook me awake. I opened my eyes to see Jenny Thorton-Locke knelt down beside me just outside the Scarborough Faire Labyrinth.

As I slowly lifted up my head and stood up I noticed everyone was crowded around and looked at me with concern in their eyes.

"What happened?" I asked dusting myself off.

"Rob, Anna, Julian, Madelyn, Damon, Angel, Keegan and you all came out of the maze then you fainted." Kaitlyn told me.

"Freaked everyone out since nothing seemed to have caused it." Tom added.

Nothing?! I just won a Game against one of the top ranked Shadow baddies and Tom says nothing??

"Maybe we should get back to Purgatory and have some cake and ice cream." Gabe suggested. Everyone agreed and we teleported back to the empty pub.

Back in California, Purgatory was decorated with pink and white streamers in the wooden rafters. The music in the background was the haunting melodies of Broadway. At the bar was a stack of presents wrapped in pink wrapping paper, half of them the size of a quarter. When I entered with my friends, a collective gasp was uttered.

"What is this?" I asked astonished.

Just then Loki came out from the back carrying a two tiered cake and sat it on a near by table.

"What are you doing here?" Julian exclaimed then remembered his manners and bowed his head, "My lord."

Loki chuckled, "I happen to own this place." He then addressed me, "Everyone you befriended in Niflheim sent you presents. The wisps, the Sirens, Ezren, even the Queen of Hearts sent you something."

"Did we miss something?" Tom asked no one in particular.

"Just that in the Labyrinth we got sent to my world, forced face out desires and fears, faced off against one nasty bad guy and found out Keegan is a demi-god." Damon said with a shrug.

Stefan shot his brother a dirty look.

"You own Purgatory?" I asked Loki in disbelief. "How?"

"When Ariel died, I ordered my daughter Hella to never let her soul into the netherworld or into Anaheim, leaving Ariel's soul no other choice than to stay in Niflheim where I could keep her forever." Loki sighed, "But when I manipulated Baldor's death so long ago, I cursed myself to an existence of suffering. When Odin discovered what I had done, he imprisoned me here on earth, stripped of my powers."

"When I built Purgatory, I set out to right a few wrongs in this prison of mine. Julian was punished for his love and Madelyn was suffering because of her knowledge. So I lured them here. Angela was trapped in an abusive home with no knowledge of Keegan, while Damon was a hero that never got the girl in the end. So I set up everything where they would meet."

"You played cupid with us?" Julian exclaimed. "Why Salvatore and me?"

"Yes, trickster. Why did you set Jules and me up to meet Maddy and Angel." Damon inquired quietly with a dangerous gleam in his eyes.

Loki smiled, "I loved Angela as much as I love Keegan. She did not deserve the treatment she was receiving from her in-laws. When I saw you with Julian, I knew you and Angel would be perfect together."

"And me? Why was I manipulated?" Julian asked.

"Not manipulated, Julian. Rewarded." Loki corrected. "Raziel told me how you watched over Jenny when she was a child. Ezrin often said it was stupid and silly of you but Keegan saw something else in you."

"I created creatures of hate and evil but ended up with one that had goodness and love in him. I never expected that out of something I made since I too was evil. What does that say to you?"

"That if you can create a creature with light, you must have light inside you." Julian responded quietly.

Loki smiled, "And so as a reward to you for pointing that out, Keegan and I manipulated the circumstances that would bring you to Madelyn."

"And what about me?" Rob asked. "Did you manipulate anything with me?"

"You had what you needed." Loki replied as Anna hugged Rob. "There was no need for me to interfere."

"Enough introspect," Elena said without warning "Let's have some cake and open some presents!"

Loki handed out plates and sliced cake while I sat down and began opening presents. The Queen of Hearts gave me an outfit that was an exact copy of the one she wore. The Sirens gave me a CD player and a CD of their singing, something that I was forced to turn off immediately. Ezrin gave me a bag of bloodstones with gold runes inscribed on the stone and a few spells I could do with them. Each of the wisps little packages contained something different. One contained a pair of lapis earrings. Another contained a pink tiny rose. A third was locks of my hair, I figured they wanted to give it back.

By the time everyone finished their cake, ice cream and drinks, I was down to the final two gifts. One red, one white.

"Who's this one from?" Madelyn asked as I examined the small red box in front of me and found the card.

"It says To the one greatest light and what might have been." With a frown I opened the box. I gasped as I peered inside and pulled out a pure white rose and a feather.

"It's from Raziel." I whispered.

"He told me to tell you thank you for the mercy you've given him." Loki told me. "And that all the purple plants inside the Labyrinth are now like that rose you now have."

I gently placed the feather and rose back in the box and took up my final present. On top of the box was a large envelope, almost completely hidden from the eye. I opened it and read aloud the note inside.

"Dearest and brightest Piper, I am honored to have known of your precious gifts of hope and kindness. May my gift give you the same that you have given others. Love, Ariel Taliesin, Lady of Niflheim."

I opened the box and found nothing inside.

That's a gyp, Angel said with a snort. May my gift give you the same that you have given others.

"I wonder what she was trying to say?" Anna asked herself as Madelyn puzzled over the note.

"Maybe she was saying that Piper already has her actual gift." Rob said. "Ariel might have been psychic."

"My mother wasn't psychic, Rob!" Keegan exclaimed. "The present is supposed to give her hope and kindness."

"It sounds like your mother is as tricky as you are, Mr. Taliesin." A very familiar voice snapped behind me.

I dreaded the sight I was going to see when I turned around. They were going to be very upset and sure enough I were.

My mother and father were standing there, looking down upon me with disgust. Amelia Riley's harsh gray eyes pierced my soul and made me numb with dread. Her perfectly styled brown hair in small disarray so angry she was. Baxter Riley's brown eyes bore into me while his own blond hair was still neat. Their chic clothes were the slightest bit wrinkled, signs that they had rushed back home on the closest flight back home and got in second class seats in their rush.

"Could you please tell me, Mr. Taliesin, why our daughter is here with her friends instead of in Hawaii meeting her fiancé?" my father demanded.

"Took a wrong turn at Albuquerque?" Keegan replied innocently. "I can never get the hang of maps here. Is Hawaii north or south of California."

"It's neither!" my mother exclaimed angrily.

"Amelia, calm yourself." My father told his wife calmly and turned back to Keegan. "You understand we were very concerned about Piper's welfare when she didn't meet us as we planned."

"You planned, sir." Keegan corrected. "Piper wanted to have a small party with her friends with cake and ice cream and presents. No fiancé, no Hawaii, nada."

My father took a deep cleansing breath, "And you took it upon yourself to give her that small party and not tell us, correct?"

"I didn't wish to upset your business plans and I understood you are very busy individuals but if you check your voice mails, you'll discover I left you a message telling you exactly when and where Piper and I would be all day."

Mother flipped open her cell phone and listened to her voice mail. One message was from her Swede manicurist and the last was from Keegan informing her that I was going to be at Scarborough faire at eight AM and then would be at Purgatory around six PM. He also informed her that she was a prune and hung up.

"If you weren't so useful—"My mother threatened as her face turned purple with rage as my friends and I tried not to giggle

"Whatever, pruney." Keegan said and rolled his eyes when Loki discreetly cleared his throat.

"Keegan, pack up Piper's gifts and let's all leave for the estate." My father ordered.

"But—"I argued before my mother cut me off.

"We're leaving." She hissed and stormed off.

With a sigh, I said goodbye to everyone as Keegan packed up my gifts and left.

Once I was home and Keegan was off unloading my presents in my room, my parents tore into me. They told me that because of my "reckless" behavior my fiancé no longer wished to marry me and now they had to accept a "second rate billion dollar CEO" as a son-in-law. My mother was in tears with that announcement.

"Furthermore Piper," my father said pacing before me, "Your mother and I feel that it would be wise for you to not continue your friendship with that strange group of yours. They lack the social—status that you require in the future. I trust you can at least do that correctly."

"Yes father." I replied calmly despite the fact that my world was crumbling apart.

"Good night then." He ordered.

I walked to my room in a daze and when I shut the door behind me I found my room oddly empty. It looked the same, but not. My bed was by the cathedral window, the comforter was pink as was the sheets and pillows. My computer and desk sat in one corner while my dressers and wardrobe sat in another. At one end was my vanity and at the other near my bed was the door to the bathroom.

It was then I noticed what was missing. The doorway to my sanctuary, to beloved Anaheim where Keegan would hold me and sing to me, was gone.

I collapsed to the floor and began to cry.

Keegan was gone.