Chapter 36: A Knight to Remember Part 3

October 11, 2002 – Friday

Halliwell Manor

"Well..." Grams chimed in, "...that was very successful. Well done girl," she praised sarcastically.

Phoebe rolled her eyes and Piper balled her hands into fists.

Dawn gritted her teeth together, "Ooh!" she seethed as Piper closed the door. "I am going to kill Aunt Paige!"

Buffy shook her head while Piper nodded hers. "No, Dawn," she said.

"Hey, I'm all for it," Piper said with a grin as Dawn chuckled.

"The home also features a spacious kitchen, complete with granite countertops and state of the art convention oven."

Buffy, Dawn, Faith, Piper and Phoebe froze, looked at one another, then ran, Dawn slower than the others because of the gown, into the living room. "The VCR?" Piper questioned confused. "Who set it too record?" She walked towards it just as the tape shot out closely followed by the Shocker demon.

Phoebe froze, squeezing her eyes closed and tensing up her body waiting for the shock to hit. Piper threw up her hands but missed the demon and got the TV instead.

"OH!" Buffy cried in surprise grabbing Piper's hands and yanking them down.

"Look out!" Faith cried as the Shocker demon raced by their feet and out into the hall rising to its full height.

"Uh-oh." Phoebe muttered before it sent a bolt of electricity at Buffy sending her soaring backwards into the set of thin shelves in front of the back window, landing behind the overstuffed chair.

"Oh no," Dawn cried and as fast as the gown allowed, she ran to her sister.

Phoebe levitated into the air and kicked the demons head, unfortunately all that did was electrocute her.

Piper's eyes widened as she watched her younger sister convulse in the air. "Oh, crap!" she cursed and ran through the dining room, she was heading for a coat hanger when Faith grabbed it first.

Faith pushed the coat hanger through the middle of the Shocker demon, releasing Phoebe from its hold as Piper blasted it back into the wall socket.

"AH!" Phoebe yelped as she hit the ground hard.

Faith sighed and dropped the coat rack, blowing a stray hair from her face as she raced after her sister-in-law to Buffy.

"Ow." Buffy gasped as Dawn and Faith helped her to her feet.

Piper went to Phoebe and hauled her sister up.

"Ow! Ow! Ow!" Phoebe moaned loudly as she regained her balance.

Buffy rolled her neck and heard numerous cracking sounds.

"That can't be good, can it?" Dawn asked heaving heard the cracking sounds.

Piper smiled wryly at her sister and nieces. "Well, that was fun!" she exclaimed with a false chipper.

"Are you okay, Phoebe?" Faith asked.

"I'm okay...I think," she replied.

"What about you?" Faith asked looking at her wife.

"Slayer, remember?" Buffy answered. "I'll live," she assured her.

Dawn looked at her aunts, sister and sister-in-law. "Not only can I not have a birthday party dressed like this," she waved her hand at the gown, "but I can't have a birthday party with a Shocker demon in the house," she pointed out and Phoebe's eyes widened in panic.

"We've got to convince Paige to move in with us soon, before there's nobody left to move in with." Piper also pointed out with a frown.

"You can't force her to do something that she isn't ready to do, Piper," Patty reminded her daughter gently.

"Oh really?" Piper countered; eyebrows raised. "Watch me."

"Guess we need a new TV," Buffy added, ending the impending argument before it could really begin.

Dawn gasped. "Oh no!" she winced her eyes darting towards the kitchen.

Piper and Phoebe followed her gaze and gasped too. "The Prince!" they exclaimed at the same time then made a run for the kitchen.

"He's gone?" Phoebe asked uncertainly as she glanced around the kitchen, "What? Did he go back to fairytale land?"

"No such luck," Buffy replied looking at her sister. "Or Dawn would be back to normal."

"That and the back door is wide open," Dawn added, fidgeting with her gown. "So, he probably went after Paige."

"What are you doing?" Buffy asked her sister.

"This damn thing won't come off! I'm stuck in it!" Dawn groaned.

"Much like my wig on Halloween didn't come off till after the spell was ended," Buffy said remembering her stint in a gown like Dawn's. "Once the spell is reversed it should come off or revert back to your normal clothes."

"Hopefully," Dawn said with a sigh.

"Wait, so he left..." Phoebe turned to get a bottle of water out of the fridge, "And he's just wondering around in chain mail?"

"It's San Francisco. Nobody will notice." Piper said with a shrug.

"Well, sooner or later, someone's going to notice," Buffy insisted. "Not everyone dismisses what isn't in their worldview."

"And the medieval trail is going to lead them right back to us." Piper finished with a sigh.

Phoebe nodded her head vigorously as she unscrewed the bottle of water.

"Alright." Piper nodded, "Phoebe, Buffy, you two try scrying for him and if that doesn't work, I'll have Leo orb Paige back here and hopefully the Prince will follow," she suggested with a hopeful shrug. She turned to Dawn. "And, Dawn, you look through the book to see if there's some type of reversal for whatever your under."

"And what would that be?" Dawn asked.

Piper shrugged. "I don't know. That's why I told you to look."

"Uh...maybe we should try a different approach with Paige," Faith suggested.

Piper shook her head. "She is not going to come back here voluntarily."

"Not about that," Faith retorted. "About getting her to move in."

"I think Faith is right," Phoebe agreed. "Maybe...it's too soon for her too."

Year 1350

Draydon Keep, England

"I have one question." Lady Julia spoke up from her place behind her prison bars. "If good magic rescued my Prince from you, what makes you think he'll return?" she asked with a knowing glint in her eye.

The Evil Enchantress stood up slowly. "I don't," she answered simply. "That's why I plan on following his footsteps and bringing him back, after I destroy the good magic that intervened of course," she added with an evil smirk.

Lady Julia bit back a scoff. "And what makes you think you can?"

"Oh...I don't know," the Evil Enchantress replied walking towards her and with the wave of her hand raised the bars. "Because I'm petty and evil and vindictive." As she toyed with an athame, the blade sharp and twisted. "But most of all...I'm determined," she concluded resting the tip of the blade against the Maiden's throat.

"I am the object of his true love," Lady Julia reminded her smugly. "Your spell only appropriated it. Kill me and you break the spell."

The Evil Enchantress smiled sweetly at her. "I know. I know." And swiftly cut a lock of hair. "That's why I needed this for my potion to work," she explained gesturing to the lock of hair. She then abruptly spun around and with a wave of her hand dropped the bars back down before Lady Julia could even attempt to escape.

"You cannot do this!" Lady Julia cried angrily, walking forwards and glaring hatefully at the Enchantress.

The Evil Enchantress turned her head slowly, "One thing you need to know about me, Lady Julia." She stared stoically at her. "Nobody tells me what to do," she spat her features darkening.

Lady Julia sighed and the Enchantress smirked dropping the hair into the potion and relishing in the small explosion it created.

October 11, 2002 – Friday

South Bay Social Services

"Nobody tells me what to do Leo," Paige informed him strongly as she moved around the copy machine room. "And besides, I'm still mad at you for watching over me. I deserve better than that, especially from you."

"Well, I'm a guardian Paige. It's what I do," he replied with a frown. "Especially during times like this when it's dangerous for you to be alone."

Paige frowned quizzically. "It's a fairytale, not a horror movie."

Leo repressed the urge to roll his eyes. "I was talking about the Shocker demon," he corrected her swiftly.

Paige paused for a second then shrugged. "Yeah, well, he's not half as scary as Prince Charming coming after me."

Leo brightened at that. "All the more reason you should be staying with Buffy, Dawn, Faith, Piper and Phoebe," he pointed out.

Paige turned to him abruptly. "What if I don't want too?" she asked finding this reoccurring argument to be quite exhausting. "What if I want to..." she shrugged, "...climb a mountain or...go dive the Great Barrier Reef, huh?"

Leo looked at her quizzically. "What?" he asked completely confused.

Paige rolled her eyes and made a dismissive gesture with her hand. "Never mind. Look, I've had a blast being a witch. I like the spells, like the potions. I'm even getting used to orbing," she listed off the pros then turned negative. "But god! I've just had enough." And she barged past him.

Leo sighed, feeling sorry for her and seeing her point but knowing that it really didn't matter. "Well, there is no enough, Paige. This is who you are now," he explained. "You know that. Why are you running from it?" he asked and Paige faltered.

Paige looked up at him with a 'well duh' look on her face. "Oh gee, I don't know. Being hunted by the Source, ducking the Furies and being shrunk by a psycho demon, not to mention being chased after by my bedtime stories. Then there is the stories Buffy and Dawn have told me about their lives from before they moved in with Piper and Phoebe. I don't know why I wouldn't want the rest of my life to be just like all of that."

Leo smiled sympathetically. "You're not alone anymore. You have sisters and nieces now."

Paige scoffed. "Yeah sisters and nieces who are pressuring me to move in with them for all the wrong reasons."

"What is that supposed to mean?" Leo asked, confused again.

Paige closed her eyes and shook her head. "Nothing," she said sadly. "Forget about it."

Leo refused to let it go that easily and stared her down until she relented and opened up to him.

Paige sighed heavily and looked to the floor. "I don't know. Sometimes I feel like they want me to be Prue, super witch and I just...can't do that," she admitted sadly. "I'm just me and, and asking me to move in just because it's the most convenient way to vanquish a demon..." she trailed off and shrugged. "...don't make me go back there Leo," she begged and he sighed looking her over carefully. "Not just yet okay?" she continued looking him on the eye again, "I just need some time," she concluded with a sigh then turned around and left the room calling over her shoulder. "I'll call you if I need you."

Halliwell Manor

Phoebe and Buffy sat on the couch with a map and a crystal, Phoebe dangling it above hoping to locate the Prince. Grams sat on the chair to their right while Patty perched on the arm.

"That is hopeless," Grams cried pointing to the map and crystal. "There's no way you're going to find him in a city this big."

"Yeah, thanks Grams," Phoebe muttered frustration evident in her voice.

Buffy sighed and rubbed her aunt's back soothingly.

"Okay there's nothing in here about spontaneously combusting into a medieval woman," Dawn closed the Charmed Ones' book, having already checked Buffy's. "I don't know what the hell's going on."

"Darryl. Darryl? Darryl!" Piper exclaimed walking back into the living room, phone pressed to her ear and a frown firmly in place. "Slow down okay? Carjackings happen all the time," she pointed out walking to the couch where Buffy and Phoebe sat. "Why are you calling us?" she asked confusion evident in both her voice and on her face. She paused before she sat. "A garbage truck?" she questioned with a disgusted expression. "At sword point!" she repeated loudly as she sank down next to Buffy, causing Faith, Dawn, Buffy and Phoebe to turn to her sharply, "We'll get back to ya," she sighed.

"Please don't tell me that the police found him?" Phoebe begged turning to her sister.

"Not yet," Piper replied. "How bout you?" she asked nodding at the map.

"HA!" Grams threw in from her place in the chair.

Phoebe mock glared at her while Piper attempted not to laugh. "Nothing. I mean, he's not a witch, and he's not a demon so..."

"Okay..." Piper took a deep breath. "Dawn, you get anything on your... problem?"

"No. Other than a migraine from all the hair..." Dawn frowned. "I can't find anything."

"Oh, honey," Patty said. She stood up and moved beside Dawn and kissed her head. "We'll fix it, don't worry."

Piper sighed, "Alright. LE—" but stopped as her husband orbed into the room, "—O! Hi." She smiled at him.

"Hi," Leo smiled back rocking back and forth on his feet nervously.

Phoebe looked up and around. "Where's Paige?" she asked him.

"Paige? She didn't want to come," Leo replied simply.

Piper laughed a little. "She what? Did you explain the situation to her?" she asked expectantly.

"Yes," Leo nodded.

Piper squinted. "And she still refused to come?" she asked and Leo, once again nodded.

"You have got to be kidding me," Dawn muttered.

"Leo! We are up to our pointy little hats in demonic problems here!" Piper cried incredulously. "We need her."

Leo nodded again. "She knows that."

"How..." Buffy cried looking at him, "...can you possibly be so calm? My sister is stuck in that gown because of Aunt Paige!"

Phoebe placed a hand on Buffy's arm. "I don't understand. Piper and I are her sisters and Buffy and Dawn are her nieces."

Leo nodded once more.

"Oh, enough with the nodding already!" Dawn snapped suddenly as Faith, who had remained silent till now, wrapped an arm around her sister-in-law in comfort.

"Yeah...but that's not the reason you all need her," Leo continued on calmly.

Piper watched him carefully. "Is there more to that or are you just going to leave us hangin'?" she asked knowing her husband wasn't telling them the whole story.

"Look, I don't want to get in the middle of this. This is between you guys," Leo insisted. "But I will tell you that just wanting her to battle demons with you isn't enough of a reason to get her to move in."

"It's a pressing reason!" Piper snapped this time.

"But for you and Phoebe it's not a sisterly one," Faith countered. "And for Buffy and Dawn it's not an auntly one."

"In the meantime," Leo said. "You need to find the Prince before he exposes you. So, I suggest you check with the Book of Shadows and get up to speed on Paige's fairytale." He suggested forcefully, "And I will check with the Elders and see what they know about," he added waving at Dawn to indicate her predicament as he began to orb out.

South Bay Social Services

The Prince stormed through the building, weaving in and out of the desks in search of his beloved causing quite a stir.

Paige was back in the copy room when she heard the commotion outside and went to the door to investigate. She peered out the window and gasped at the sight of the chain mail clad Prince striding towards her.

"At last, I found you." He smiled when he reached her.

"How?" Paige asked incredulously.

"I followed your heart, my love," the Prince replied lovingly.

Paige sighed in frustration and pulled him into the room, closing the door behind them. "You can't be here. You need to leave before security comes," she insisted slightly panicked.

The Prince shook his head. "I will not leave until you are with child."

Paige took a step back and held up one finger. "Okay, a) I always use protection and b) you're a fairytale."

The Prince reached out to touch her and Paige jerked away. "I won't harm you," he assured her kindly.

Paige held up a hand as she was backed into one of the copy machines. "Just keep that sword of yours sheathed, pal," she ordered.

Suddenly Paige received a sharp shock from the machine and jumped forward the Prince pulling her away from it too. She watched with wide eyes as the Shocker demon exited the copy machine and lunged at her.

The Prince jumped back in fear as the demon began electrocuting Paige.

The Prince pulled out his sword and sliced it through the middle of the demon releasing Paige who slumped to the ground with a 'thud'. Paige watched as it retreated into a light socket and sighed. She looked up to find the Prince standing above her, hand held out for her to take, which she did hesitantly and he pulled her to her feet.

"Fear not." He smiled. "I have slain the beast, my love."

Paige smiled at him, entranced and replied, "You most certainly have."

"Hey Paige," Mr. Cowan called through the locked door. "You all right in there?"

"I will stay forever by your side," the Prince told her sweetly caressing her cheek. "Every moment of every day, you will know you are protected, desired, loved."

Paige looked deep into his eyes and grinned. "That's so sweet."

"Paige! PAIGE!" her boss yelled as the security guards broke open the door. "Paige, what the hell is going on? Who is this guy?"

Paige bit her lip nervously then pointed to the Prince stating. "Renaissance Fair." Then nodded happy with her quick-thinking-cover-up. "Yeah, we're trying to score tickets for the orphanage. See ya," she concluded pulling the Prince to the door and getting the hell out of there before anything else went wrong.

Halliwell Manor

"I don't see what the big deal is." Piper voiced as she and Dawn lit some candles in the attic. "You'd think she'd want to move in here considering the dump she lives in."

"Piper," Phoebe reprimanded while Patty frowned at her daughter and Grams chuckled.

Piper ignored them and continued with her rant. "Just wait until the Shocker demon attacks her."

"Aunt Piper?" Buffy interrupted from her book but for a very different reason.

Faith made her way over to her wife.

Piper still didn't hear. "Then she might not be so resistant to the idea," she stated knowingly.

"Defiant, clever and independent," Buffy said loudly then looked up at her sister, her wife and her two aunts. "That kind of describes Aunt Paige, don't ya think?" she asked seriously.

"Me too a little bit," Dawn reminded her sister.

"And me," Faith added.

Piper snorted. "Yeah," she agreed, though more about Paige than either Faith or Dawn. "Along with stubborn, stubborn and more stubborn."

Phoebe scooted over and looked at what Buffy had found. She read the page and then nodded in understanding. "Listen to this," she instructed. "A powerful witch who came to the craft late, but learned to use it quickly."

"I'm telling you that is Aunt Paige," Buffy said as she stabbed the book for emphasis.

"What are you getting at, Buffy?" Dawn asked impatiently.

"Well, don't you think that's it's a huge coincidence that Aunt Paige's fairytale just happens to be in both Book of Shadows?" Buffy asked looking at her family. "And that the Prince just happens to show up in the twenty-first century, head over heels in love with her?"

Piper frowned. "Okay, connect the dots will ya?"

Buffy looked at Phoebe. "I seem to remember something that you guys told me and Dawn that happened to Aunt Phoebe."

"Of course," Phoebe said in realization. "What if it's not a fairytale? What if it's a memory?" she asked slowly. "Paige's memory from a past life."

Piper suppressed a chuckle. "Now you're reaching."

Buffy shook her head with a sly smile. "No. No, I don't think so," she disagreed as her sister, her wife and her aunts turned to her. "If Aunt Phoebe's past life came back to haunt her. Why not Aunt Paige's?" she asked and Piper relented.

"Think about it," Phoebe added. "What if Paige was the Evil Enchantress, once upon a time?" she smirked smugly.

"Okay what does that make me?" Dawn asked. "Why'd I go all medieval?"

"Hello, your past life must be the actual woman the Prince is supposed to be in love with," Phoebe explained to her niece.

"Uhm, I'm gay," Dawn blurted out.

Piper and Phoebe blinked in surprise. "Since when?" Piper asked.

"I realized it before mom died," Dawn said with a sigh. "I just didn't know how to tell you."

"While we tend to spend each lifetime with the same people," Patty said addressing Dawn's statement. "There can be differences. In this lifetime you prefer women, in that lifetime you obviously preferred men."

"So that makes me the reincarnation of the Lady and the Lady was likely a Witch?" Dawn mused, earning a nod from Phoebe. "Well why didn't she just use her powers and bust out?"

"Maybe her powers were bound," Faith suggested.

"Or maybe the Evil Enchantress took them from her..." Piper studied the book. "The Enchantress' power was to conjure the elements," she pointed out. "Paige can't do that."

"Sounds like my powers, actually," Faith admitted as everyone looked at her. "My witch powers had just started showing when mom bound them. Mom called it Cryokinesis."

"Very likely you inherited it from your great grandmother," Grams said. "Peyton's power was Cryokinesis."

Their conversation was interrupted by the appearance of a large portal behind Patty, who jumped and walked closer to her mother, daughters and granddaughters.

Piper bit her lip. "This doesn't look good." She stated as they walked around the 'Book of Shadows.'

The Evil Enchantress stepped out and held up her hands shooting wind at the seven women and knocking them to the ground.

"Oh! Paige!" Piper barked as she sat up.

"Where is the Prince?" the Enchantress demanded coldly.

"Still think I'm reaching?" Phoebe asked as she hauled Piper to her feet.

"I don't believe this!" Piper cried in anger.

"Well believe it, Aunt Piper," Dawn retorted.

"Oh, Lady Julia..." the Enchantress's head swung over to Dawn. "Still a good witch I see. Well, not for long." She held up her left hand and shot a bolt of fire at them as they hid behind furniture.

"Oh dear!" Buffy muttered as she and Faith ushered Grams and Patty behind the same piece of furniture as Piper, Phoebe and Dawn.

The Evil Enchantress aimed again and fired as the seven women raced out of the attic and down the stairs.

0 – 0 – 0 – 0 – 0

"Crap!" Phoebe muttered as she extinguished the third small fire left behind in the wake of the Enchantress' attack. She sighed and turned to see Piper running into the kitchen with her own fire extinguisher.

"I GOT IT!" Piper yelled running to a chair and blasting the flames. "Living room is clear," she informed placing the extinguisher on the ground.

Phoebe nodded. "So is the kitchen," she added.

"Upstairs is clear also," Buffy said as she led Dawn and Faith into the kitchen.

"Why do you think she left so suddenly?" Faith questioned referring to the Enchantress.

"Yeah," Dawn agreed. "Did trashing our house become too boring for her?"

"She probably realized we don't have the Prince." Piper answered then sighed. "Great!" She threw her hands in the air. "It's not like we're having enough problems with Paige. We have to deal with her past life too?"

"Hey, at least she wasn't personally gunning for you," Dawn winked. "That's a plus."

"Oh, sweetie," Phoebe moved her so she could see the back of Dawn's arm and grimaced. "She got you pretty good."

"It's okay.," Dawn replied. "It happens. I'll just have Le—" Leo orbed in just then, "—o."

"Okay, I found out about the Prince," Leo said without any pleasantries. "What...the hell happened here?" he asked looking around.

"Aunt Paige's past life almost killed us," Dawn informed him. "And I need healing."

Leo frowned, "What?" he asked as he moved to Dawn and held his hands over her wound.

"Yeah," Piper said with a short nod. "Paige, the Evil Enchantress. Same soul, different lifetimes."

Leo looked at Buffy, Faith and Phoebe all of whom nodded their confirmation. "She came through some magical portal looking for Prince Carjack," Piper concluded with a wave of her hand as she looked at him.

Leo nodded as he finished healing Dawn. He looked at his youngest niece. "Which would make you Lady Julia."

"Yep," Dawn answered. "You guessed right, Uncle Leo."

"Okay, well you have to stop her. You can't let her find him." He stressed looking concerned. "According to the Elders, if she conceives his heir, dark magic will rule his kingdom forever." Piper, Phoebe, Buffy, Dawn and Faith gawked. "History will be rewritten. Your future—"

"Will be screwed!" Piper interrupted. "The world will plunge into darkness. Yada, yada, yada!"

"Uh...okay that's not helping," Buffy snapped looking unimpressed.

Dawn looked at her sister. "I can see why you hate celebrating your birthday, Buffy. Maybe I should just skip this one."

Phoebe turned to Dawn with a frown, "Don't say that. That is not helping. Do not say that," she scolded, saddened at the thought. "So, if we vanquish past Paige, don't we risk vanquishing our Paige too?" she asked Leo, turning back to him.

Leo nodded solemnly. "Possibly."

"Well then fine," Piper replied. "We won't vanquish her. We'll bind her powers and send her back in time, hopefully a virgin," she concluded with a smile and a nod. "Okay, let's get some candles. We have a potion to concoct."