A/N: I hope this doesn't get confusing... but the general message is passed on okay!
Chapter Six: Farewell Charmed Ones
The three solemn sisters stood in the attic. It had been a long day since Leo left them to make their decision. Much discussion had gone on, amongst other things. And since their transfer to the side of evil was pretty much irreversible, the only to get out, to save innocents, to save themselves, was to say the spell to relinquish their powers.
Paige had fought most strongly against the idea, which was surprising since she'd told them countless times she didn't want to be a witch. Maybe it was because she hadn't had as long a run as they had. They'd all fought against it, of course they had! But in the end their morality won. They couldn't keep their powers if they were going to be using them for evil!
They'd already gone through a phase of almost bargaining with Leo to get The Elders to do something about it, a stage Phoebe recognised as the fourth stage of receiving a heavy shock - thanks to her Psychology class she'd taken years before. They offered him everything - Piper had even offered him sexual favours until he exploded (something Leo turned down somewhat reluctantly)! But all was in vain, for there was nothing Leo, or the Elders, could do.
And now they were in the fifth and final stage - acceptance. Paige had been brought back via 'Leo Airways', told the situation, and they'd gone from there.
The scary thing was dark thoughts had already began to cross Piper's mind. Not big things, just little ideas of how to amuse herself. Practical jokes were a big one. She had thought about pulling stunts like freezing parts of people and seeing how they reacted. Her worst thought so far had been 'it'd be so funny if I froze someone and moved them in front of a bus.' She'd caught herself thinking this, however, and knew there and then that her powers had to go.
For Phoebe, it was as hard admitting to herself that she could feel herself changing as it would be to others. She knew she felt it, but she couldn't bring herself to confront it, not even in her thoughts. She didn't want to not be a Charmed One anymore. Hadn't they lost enough already? First their sister, and a matter of months later, their powers.
"Are we really gonna do this?" she asked, her voice shaking as she stared at the floor. The Book of Shadows was useless - they'd destroyed the spell years ago. But it was embedded in Piper and Phoebe's minds.
"There's nothing else to do," Piper replied and stepped forward. "We have to."
Paige's heart leapt to her throat. She had to stop this! But how? They wouldn't listen to her though... deep down she knew that what they were doing was right, but she couldn't help feeling she had to protect her powers. The Charmed Ones were not meant to die, not now.
"Wait," she protested, a sudden idea hitting her. "What about The Source? What about all the, demons and warlocks who're after you - us... as soon as we do this, do you realise how helpless we'll be?"
Mouth slightly open, Piper thought of a way to contend with this. "Well," she said, "Um, I dunno... maybe once we become normal again we'll be taken off the evil radar? I mean, Leo wouldn't have suggested it if he didn't know it was safe, right?"
What else could they believe?
Looking down sadly, Paige accepted this. Subtley, her lips began to move, silently reciting a spell. She was panicked, she was scared. And she was begging for this to work.
But she didn't even know she was doing it.
In the awkward silence that enveloped them, Paige managed to repeat the new spell thrice. Both Piper and Phoebe saw her lips moving, and at the back of their minds they knew what she was doing. But something made them stay silent. It was a deep hope embedded in their thoughts that Paige might succeed and stop this. They didn't notice that their lips were oving too, chanting silently the same spell Paige was.
Taking in a shuddering breath, Piper faced her sisters. "Let's do it."
She held out her hands for them to take, to join them. Phoebe took her hand and thrust out her other one for Paige to grasp. Paige looked on, tryng to forget what was happening. But she could feel her sisters watch her expectantly.
"Paige, we have to," Piper pleaded, wishing it was just over.
Grudgingly, Paige pressed her hands into theirs. Piper smiled wanely at her, her eyes shiny with tears. Phoebe sniffed.
"Ready?" she whispered.
No one spoke. They simply stood, hand in hand, staring at the ground, in silence. Nobody wanted to start it.
Piper forced herself to be strong. "From whence they came, return them now," her voice was already begininning to crack. "Vanish the words, vanish our powers." It was as if she was uttering some sort of sexist, racist, ageist, anything that was socially unacceptable rhyme. Whatever it was, it felt wrong.
Phoebe took a deep breath and her voice joined Piper's. "From whence they came, return them now. Vanish the words, vanish our powers." Her eyes were streaming. "Come on Paige," she muttered weakly, glancing at the stony face of her new sister. A sister she was probably going to lose as soon as she'd been found.
There was a long pause where they readied themselves. Piper looked at Paige, who was staring back at her. Phoebe glanced up too. They apologised to each other with thier eyes. Paige nodded. She was ready.
"From whence they came, return them now," Piper and Phoebe were sobbing their words out. Paige could feal tears travelling down her cheeks, and her voice began to quiver. "Vanish the words, vanish our powers."
It was done. The three of them felt themselves physically weaken as their powers left their bodies. Then a feeling of emptiness.
"Oh, God!" Phoebe cried and buried her head in Piper's shoulders. They clutched at each other, shaking weakly in their horror and misery.
Piper saw Paige standing alone and grabbed her arm, pulling her into the embrace. At first Paige felt tense, then she relaxed into it and curled her arms around her sisters, sobbing and crying.
The first one to pull away was Phoebe, and she picked up a book from one of the old tables. Looking meaningfully at Piper, she dropped it.
Piper flicked her hands up, intending to freeze the book. Blow it up. Do anything to it, as long as it was something! But it thudded to the floor, the noise loud and booming. She looked down, a feeling of uselessness coming over her.
"I can't," she said sadly, "I can't freeze." She sniffed and padded over to the podium where the Book of Shadows rested. This was the worst part.
Taking a deep breath, she lifted the cover open. The first page was blank. So was the next. And the next. Flicking through the Book, every page she looked upon was the same yellowed emptiness. Except for the splashes of water which were falling from her eyes and onto the pages. All the history, all the knowledge, generations of Halliwell witchcraft, was now erased. Forever. The line of witches had ended with them. They'd failed their ancestors, pure and simple. The Charmed Ones, they were gone.
Paige bit her lip anxiously as she watched Piper. Neither she nor Phoebe could see the pages of the Book. They awaited Piper's verdict. She wouldn't know if her spells had worked until the time came. Not like she even knew she'd cast them.
It was as if she'd been possessed! Piper and Phoebe too. Only mere hours ago had they frantically performed magic rites of old and spells to protect themselves. They'd known the ritual, known the words... they'd even known the phase of the moon! Paige as High Priestess of the ritual, chanting and working ancient magic which simply sprang forth into her mind as if it was common knowledge she'd been familiar with since birth. Not that she knew it now - she couldn't remember doing it. Banished from her memories had been the bloodied, frenzied magic she had worked. Banished from Piper and Phoebe's memories also. Phoebe had cast the cloaking spell so The Elders wouldn't see.
Even the all-seeing 'Them', at this moment, had no idea any of it had happened.
Nobody knew. Not even the people who'd cast it...
"It's blank," Piper said finally. "Everything is gone."
Solemnly, Phoebe and Paige joined her sides.
"The Charmed Ones are dead," Piper concluded sadly.
Chapter Six: Farewell Charmed Ones
The three solemn sisters stood in the attic. It had been a long day since Leo left them to make their decision. Much discussion had gone on, amongst other things. And since their transfer to the side of evil was pretty much irreversible, the only to get out, to save innocents, to save themselves, was to say the spell to relinquish their powers.
Paige had fought most strongly against the idea, which was surprising since she'd told them countless times she didn't want to be a witch. Maybe it was because she hadn't had as long a run as they had. They'd all fought against it, of course they had! But in the end their morality won. They couldn't keep their powers if they were going to be using them for evil!
They'd already gone through a phase of almost bargaining with Leo to get The Elders to do something about it, a stage Phoebe recognised as the fourth stage of receiving a heavy shock - thanks to her Psychology class she'd taken years before. They offered him everything - Piper had even offered him sexual favours until he exploded (something Leo turned down somewhat reluctantly)! But all was in vain, for there was nothing Leo, or the Elders, could do.
And now they were in the fifth and final stage - acceptance. Paige had been brought back via 'Leo Airways', told the situation, and they'd gone from there.
The scary thing was dark thoughts had already began to cross Piper's mind. Not big things, just little ideas of how to amuse herself. Practical jokes were a big one. She had thought about pulling stunts like freezing parts of people and seeing how they reacted. Her worst thought so far had been 'it'd be so funny if I froze someone and moved them in front of a bus.' She'd caught herself thinking this, however, and knew there and then that her powers had to go.
For Phoebe, it was as hard admitting to herself that she could feel herself changing as it would be to others. She knew she felt it, but she couldn't bring herself to confront it, not even in her thoughts. She didn't want to not be a Charmed One anymore. Hadn't they lost enough already? First their sister, and a matter of months later, their powers.
"Are we really gonna do this?" she asked, her voice shaking as she stared at the floor. The Book of Shadows was useless - they'd destroyed the spell years ago. But it was embedded in Piper and Phoebe's minds.
"There's nothing else to do," Piper replied and stepped forward. "We have to."
Paige's heart leapt to her throat. She had to stop this! But how? They wouldn't listen to her though... deep down she knew that what they were doing was right, but she couldn't help feeling she had to protect her powers. The Charmed Ones were not meant to die, not now.
"Wait," she protested, a sudden idea hitting her. "What about The Source? What about all the, demons and warlocks who're after you - us... as soon as we do this, do you realise how helpless we'll be?"
Mouth slightly open, Piper thought of a way to contend with this. "Well," she said, "Um, I dunno... maybe once we become normal again we'll be taken off the evil radar? I mean, Leo wouldn't have suggested it if he didn't know it was safe, right?"
What else could they believe?
Looking down sadly, Paige accepted this. Subtley, her lips began to move, silently reciting a spell. She was panicked, she was scared. And she was begging for this to work.
But she didn't even know she was doing it.
In the awkward silence that enveloped them, Paige managed to repeat the new spell thrice. Both Piper and Phoebe saw her lips moving, and at the back of their minds they knew what she was doing. But something made them stay silent. It was a deep hope embedded in their thoughts that Paige might succeed and stop this. They didn't notice that their lips were oving too, chanting silently the same spell Paige was.
Taking in a shuddering breath, Piper faced her sisters. "Let's do it."
She held out her hands for them to take, to join them. Phoebe took her hand and thrust out her other one for Paige to grasp. Paige looked on, tryng to forget what was happening. But she could feel her sisters watch her expectantly.
"Paige, we have to," Piper pleaded, wishing it was just over.
Grudgingly, Paige pressed her hands into theirs. Piper smiled wanely at her, her eyes shiny with tears. Phoebe sniffed.
"Ready?" she whispered.
No one spoke. They simply stood, hand in hand, staring at the ground, in silence. Nobody wanted to start it.
Piper forced herself to be strong. "From whence they came, return them now," her voice was already begininning to crack. "Vanish the words, vanish our powers." It was as if she was uttering some sort of sexist, racist, ageist, anything that was socially unacceptable rhyme. Whatever it was, it felt wrong.
Phoebe took a deep breath and her voice joined Piper's. "From whence they came, return them now. Vanish the words, vanish our powers." Her eyes were streaming. "Come on Paige," she muttered weakly, glancing at the stony face of her new sister. A sister she was probably going to lose as soon as she'd been found.
There was a long pause where they readied themselves. Piper looked at Paige, who was staring back at her. Phoebe glanced up too. They apologised to each other with thier eyes. Paige nodded. She was ready.
"From whence they came, return them now," Piper and Phoebe were sobbing their words out. Paige could feal tears travelling down her cheeks, and her voice began to quiver. "Vanish the words, vanish our powers."
It was done. The three of them felt themselves physically weaken as their powers left their bodies. Then a feeling of emptiness.
"Oh, God!" Phoebe cried and buried her head in Piper's shoulders. They clutched at each other, shaking weakly in their horror and misery.
Piper saw Paige standing alone and grabbed her arm, pulling her into the embrace. At first Paige felt tense, then she relaxed into it and curled her arms around her sisters, sobbing and crying.
The first one to pull away was Phoebe, and she picked up a book from one of the old tables. Looking meaningfully at Piper, she dropped it.
Piper flicked her hands up, intending to freeze the book. Blow it up. Do anything to it, as long as it was something! But it thudded to the floor, the noise loud and booming. She looked down, a feeling of uselessness coming over her.
"I can't," she said sadly, "I can't freeze." She sniffed and padded over to the podium where the Book of Shadows rested. This was the worst part.
Taking a deep breath, she lifted the cover open. The first page was blank. So was the next. And the next. Flicking through the Book, every page she looked upon was the same yellowed emptiness. Except for the splashes of water which were falling from her eyes and onto the pages. All the history, all the knowledge, generations of Halliwell witchcraft, was now erased. Forever. The line of witches had ended with them. They'd failed their ancestors, pure and simple. The Charmed Ones, they were gone.
Paige bit her lip anxiously as she watched Piper. Neither she nor Phoebe could see the pages of the Book. They awaited Piper's verdict. She wouldn't know if her spells had worked until the time came. Not like she even knew she'd cast them.
It was as if she'd been possessed! Piper and Phoebe too. Only mere hours ago had they frantically performed magic rites of old and spells to protect themselves. They'd known the ritual, known the words... they'd even known the phase of the moon! Paige as High Priestess of the ritual, chanting and working ancient magic which simply sprang forth into her mind as if it was common knowledge she'd been familiar with since birth. Not that she knew it now - she couldn't remember doing it. Banished from her memories had been the bloodied, frenzied magic she had worked. Banished from Piper and Phoebe's memories also. Phoebe had cast the cloaking spell so The Elders wouldn't see.
Even the all-seeing 'Them', at this moment, had no idea any of it had happened.
Nobody knew. Not even the people who'd cast it...
"It's blank," Piper said finally. "Everything is gone."
Solemnly, Phoebe and Paige joined her sides.
"The Charmed Ones are dead," Piper concluded sadly.