Leo and Phoebe materialized in the living room of the house, and
rushed over to the couch to join Piper and Paige in gazing at the boy. He
lay sleeping, his face a little pale.
"Who is he?" Phoebe asked. Paige and Piper both shook their heads.
"No clue, but we think he's the "witch" we're after. Did the Elders
say anything about his power?" Piper asked Leo.
The white-lighter nodded. "'He shall have the magical shield, which
he shall throw upon his enemies.' In any case, he can block magic-and
physical-attacks."
"He didn't seem to know he had them." Paige touched her arm. "And
it hurts!"
"You saw him use them?" Leo asked.
"Yeah, she ran into them," Piper answered. "So, now that we've got
him, what do we do with him? Keep him until we vanquish Melphius?"
Before Leo answered, the boy stirred, and opened his eyes. They
became wide as he saw the people around him. "Who.who are you people?"
"It's all right," Paige soothed. "We're the good guys. I'm Paige,
and these are my sisters, Piper and Phoebe. That's Leo."
The boy stared at them all anxiously, but then slowly said," I'm
Marty. Marty Baywell. Do you know what's wrong with me?"
Phoebe laid a hand on his shoulder. "It's not a curse. It's a gift.
You are a witch, like us. You have a power to help defeat evil."
Marty stared at her as if her nose had turned red and a purple wig
sprouted from her head. "Witches? As in, magic? Powers? What's really
going on?"
The Charmed Ones and Leo looked at each other for a minute, as if
they were telepathically talking. After a minute or two, they broke up,
and turned back to Marty.
Piper spoke. "I know this is hard to digest, but it is true. How
can we prove it to you?"
"You could show me your own 'powers'," Marty suggested jokingly.
"I'm sure if you flew around on a broom, I'd be a believer."
Paige was about to comment, but Piper stopped her. Instead, Paige
orbed. As her body turned to a magnificent blue-white, Marty's face turned
from smugness to shock. When the youngest sister materialized again, she
held a smile on her face.
"Oh my." Marty trailed off. Looking at his hands, he started again.
"I.I thought I was dreaming at first. Or that something else was
happening. I never thought."
"It's okay, honey," Phoebe soothed. "Some people are born with the
ability to gain these gifts. We acquired ours after our grandmother's
death. Do you know how you maybe acquired yours?"
Marty seemed to think hard, squinting to add more concentration. "My
aunt.Nanny.she died.she was burned."
"Burned?" Leo asked, as if it brought some faint memory. "It's
probably demon related. Marty, what's your aunt's last name?"
"Vernhill. Doris Vernhill. She's my mom's sister."
Leo then realized it. "I know his aunt. Another white-lighter asked
me to help him keep an eye on her. He said that there was some kind of
demon activity that had to do with her powers. Power of Stopping, or
Shield, or something."
"Marty, were you and your aunt close?" Piper asked. Marty nodded.
"Did she have an old-looking book, or anything of that sort?"
"She.the night she died.she took me into her attic.she made me read
from her recipe book.that's what she called it." Marty trailed off.
Phoebe nodded in understanding. Knowing she was going to die, and not
wanting her powers to be given to demons, she had her nephew say the spell
for the powers to be transferred. Similar to the Power of Three spell, she
thought.
"I want to kill that.that.that thing," Marty finally said. "I want to kill
the demon that killed my aunt. That killed my mom, my dad, my uncle. I
want to learn how to be a witch.like you."
The Charmed Ones looked at each other. They had gained an ally in the
fight against evil, but an unstable one.
