(Sorry this part took a little longer. I had Chapters 3 and 4 written but
decided to go in a completely different direction so I had to start from
scratch. Hope you like.)
Piper was dumbfounded, "Wha-wha-what was that?"
Meika looked at her. "'That' was my brother. He must have found out that I had come back in time to change things and was trying to stop me." At Piper's perplexed look, she continued. "We have a very.. complex relationship. He may be an instrument of evil and I one of good but he is still my brother and I am still his sister. A part of me will always care about and look out for him."
Phoebe, Paige, and Leo stood up from behind the couch. Piper broadly smiled at them, "Hey! You guys missed the party."
Phoebe looked around confused, "Where'd he go?"
Piper filled all of them in on what had happened.
Paige looked at her thoughtfully, "So let me get this straight, your powers don't work on him." Piper nodded.
"That's bad," Phoebe stated in a small voice.
Paige continued, "And he has really powerful attacks." Piper nodded again.
"That's really bad," Phoebe declared quietly again.
"And, as of now, the only person who we know could possibly vanquish him is his sister who is unwilling to hurt him." Piper nodded a third time.
"And that just sucks," Phoebe sighed under her breath. She furrowed her brow. "What powers do you have anyway?"
Meika looked over at her, counting off on her clawed fingers as she listed them. "I can heal and orb like a whitelighter. Umm. I also have telekinesis, can manipulate time, and can astral project."
Phoebe gave her an approving look. "Wow, impressive."
Meika smiled at her, almost shyly. "Thanks."
"Out of curiosity," Piper interrupted, "If you have all those powers, why didn't you use them earlier? Like when I went to blow you up? All you did was back off and ask me not to. Why not freeze time, move to another part of the room and start it up again? Or astral project your ass out of here?"
Meika gave her a wry, knowing grin. She opened her mouth to say something, then abruptly closed it and Piper could tell that she wasn't going to say what she'd originally intended on. "Well, I didn't want to freak you guys out too bad." She explained. "I mean, I fall through your ceiling with no warning plus the fact that I look like this." Meika gestured to her wings and body. "Now tell me, if I had come in immediately doing magic right and left, would you really have trusted me?"
The sisters glanced at each other knowing that the Chimera had a point.
"Alright, I get that." Paige announced, "But you've got to answer a couple of questions before we go any further."
"I second that." Phoebe proclaimed, holding up her hands. "I'm really confused. And," she couldn't stifle her yawn, "completely exhausted. Could we maybe move this to the kitchen or something? It's kind of messy in here anyway." She added, casting a glance at the dead coffee table and beat up walls.
Piper and Paige both nodded eagerly at the mention of coffee. Phoebe looked over to their guest. "Meika? That ok with you?"
"That sounds great." The Chimera smiled gratefully at them. Phoebe turned to the kitchen, Paige at her heels. Meika followed them, folding her wings tightly to her sides to get through the doorway. Piper fell into step behind her and Leo, who had held back as the others left the room, placed a concerned hand on his wife's arm. She looked up into his worried gaze and smiled tightly. He returned the gesture and let his hand fall from her arm. But as she passed, he protectively placed his hand lightly on the small of her back and trailed her to the kitchen.
Meika stood near the table, looking skeptically at Paige's offered chair. She smiled at the youngest sister. "Sorry, but I'm going to have to decline. It's the tail, ya know? Makes sitting in chairs a little... uncomfortable." Paige smiled understandingly and turned the chair over to her pregnant sister instead. Piper accepted it gratefully, glad to be able to get off of her feet. Leo remained standing, leaning on the side of the open doorway.
Meika prowled over to the counter and Phoebe, standing closest to her finally noticed how odd she walked. Even though she was up on the balls on her feet, the reason that she wasn't very tall was that she walked with her knees slightly bent, probably to more fully support her cumbersome upper body. And she also walked stooped at a forward angle. Phoebe assumed that it was to compensate for the extra weight of her wings in the back. Meika reached out a hand and poked idly at some of the random bottles strewn across the countertop, tell-tale evidence of the earlier potion attempts. She raised her hands and the surface was instantly clear.
"Hey!" Piper cried indignantly, "Where'd all of our herbs go?"
Meika motioned towards the cabinets, "Back where they belong."
Phoebe's mouth hung open as she looked back and forth between the counter and cabinets several times. "How'd you do that?"
Meika winked at her, "Magic."
Phoebe tried to glare at her, only partially succeeding as her amused grin gave her away. "Well, thanks. I guess. But why'd you do that?"
Meika raised an eyebrow at her. "So I could do this." She opened her wings and lightly leapt up to the countertop. Landing, she wrapped her feet over the edge and perched there, looking over at the table where Piper and Paige sat. Her tail trailed lazily across the top to dangle over the other end and her wings were slightly opened to give her the balance she needed. She smiled. "Much better."
"Whoa." Phoebe said quietly.
"Alright, down to business," Paige stated, trying to take command of the situation. She gave the other girl a once over. "So, where.. Or actually, when did you come from and how old are you?"
"I'm nineteen, almost twenty." The girl replied, ignoring the first question altogether.
Piper murmured, almost to herself. "So if what the book says is true.." She trailed off.
The girl finished her sentence for her. "Then I still have time to convince my brother to change sides."
"So why did you go back in time then?" Leo questioned. "I mean, is Talyn even alive yet? Are you? Shouldn't you be in your present trying to convince him?"
She shook her head, "No, I've tried everything. None of it works, he won't listen to reason. So I decided to come back to the past to see if I could stop everything at the point where it went wrong. Trust me, this was my absolute last choice. I've tried everything else but there is no other way and I'm running out of time. Just to check, the date today is January 12th right?" Phoebe nodded and Meika blew a sigh of relief. "Whew! I was hoping that after all of this I had actually come back to the right date." She looked at them self-consciously. "I'm still working on getting my powers to work just the way that I want them to."
Piper looked up at her with a start. "Wait, you mean that YOU made the vortex?"
Meika nodded in response. "I told you that I can manipulate time. Basic manipulations focus on the speed of molecules, like freezing or blowing things up. More advanced powers can bend actual time, either forwards or backwards. I can essentially time travel to whenever I want. But, of course, time travel does have its repercussions which are why it's not wise to really use that power." Meika added under her breath, "And I probably really pissed off the Elders too with this one." Piper had to smile as she overheard the girl's comment. The Elders really seemed to have a penchant for being really anal about the rules. Meika sighed darkly, "Unfortunately, the ability to travel through time is one power that Talyn and I share. This would have been so much easier if he had just stayed put."
Piper squirmed uneasily in her seat. Something had been tugging at her mind ever since they had moved into the kitchen. It just seemed too strange to her that this girl had so many abilities similar to that of the Charmed Ones. Plus, she had the ability to orb and heal. Leo had told her once that only whitelighters were supposed to have the ability to do those things. So would that make her part whitelighter? And if she WAS part whitelighter AND had powers like the Charmed Ones, could that make her.. Piper inconspicuously glanced down at her stomach.
"Speaking of powers," she said pointedly, "How exactly is it that you can orb? I thought that those are powers that only whitelighters are supposed to have. Are you part whitelighter or something?" She tried to tack the last question on as nonchalantly as possible.
Meika cocked her head and looked at Piper thoughtfully. Looking into the girl's eyes, Piper could see.. something, she wasn't sure what. What she did know was that it was taking the Chimera far too long to answer such a simple question. The girl opened her mouth uncertainly to answer the question, but before she could, Leo interrupted.
"Actually, all Chimeras (or good ones, anyway) have the ability to orb. Because they are so powerful and are generally considered to be guardians, they are sometimes called on to guard places Up There."
Piper kept her eyes on the Chimera the whole time and when Leo was finished talking, the girl quickly nodded in agreement. Piper swore that she saw something along the lines of relief flash through her eyes.
Paige looked at Meika thoughtfully, "So does that mean that Talyn can orb too? Should we be worried about him going Up There and doing stuff?"
Meika quickly shook her head. "Talyn used to have the power to orb. He was originally born good and therefore had it in him. But when he was turned evil, the Elders managed to strip it away from him. Actually, I don't think that you have to worry about him at all. He didn't come here with a specific plan in mind like I did. He's only here because he followed me. Right now, he's either snooping around for Jakkin or spying on us to see what we're up to. I've got bigger problems to worry about."
"WE'VE got bigger problems to worry about." Phoebe quickly corrected her. Piper and Paige nodded their agreement. "You came to us for help. You're one of the good guys. And you seem pretty innocent to me.. innocent enough anyway. NO way are we going to let you do this on your own." A quick glance at her sisters confirmed her resolution. "So, who's this Jakkin guy you keep talking about?"
Meika took a deep breath, preparing herself, before she began. "Jakkin is the one behind this whole problem. He's an upper level demon. Somehow (I'm not sure how), he found out about my mother carrying The Gemini Prophecy. He kidnapped her on January 13th, 2003 and took her down to the underworld. That's why I've come back today. Hopefully I can stop things before they transpire tomorrow."
"Well, why'd he take just her? Why not grab you and your brother and leave your mom behind?" Phoebe questioned.
Meika looked over at her, "Because we weren't born yet. The most effective way to poison a child's mind is before it's even out of the womb."
Piper unconsciously placed one of her hands protectively on her pregnant stomach, not even wanting to imagine the terror that the woman must have felt as her children were stripped away from her very insides. Leo must have sensed her discomfort because he moved closer next to her and put a reassuring hand on her shoulder, relaxing her slightly. "So this guy must be pretty powerful to be able to do something like that huh? Last time that happened it was the Seer and she was a pretty important person." At Meika's confirming nod, Piper continued, "Why haven't we ever heard of this demon before?"
"Well, he was exiled by the Source." Meika stated. "He plotted an uprising against the Source but was found out and imprisoned for eternity in Source's personal dungeon. Like the Portal Being that the Seer released not too long ago." Paige threw her a questioning look, wondering how she knew about that. "And you have just recently vanquished the Source right?" Phoebe held up three fingers and mouthed the words 'Three times' silently. "Well, with no current leader, the underworld is in an uproar. Everyone wants to be Numero Uno. So, several got the idea that releasing those who were powerful enough to oppose the Old Source might give them leverage in attaining a higher position in the new hierarchy. They went through and released all the prisoners."
"And Jakkin knew exactly what he had to do to regain his authority." Piper supplied.
Meika looked at her grimly. "Exactly."
Leo jumped in, "But they vanquished the Source awhile ago. Why is Jakkin just coming around now?"
"Well, he wasn't freed until a couple days ago. But the main reason that he waited was because he needs the power of tomorrow to be able to do the ceremony correctly." Phoebe opened her mouth to ask another question but Meika continued before she could get a word in. "Tomorrow is the mid- point of the pregnancy. That, coupled with the fact that it's a full moon tomorrow night, lends strength to Jakkin's powers."
"Soooo, we need to stop him before tomorrow night." Piper's comment came out as a statement, not a question. She stood up, locking her fingers together and stretching them in front of her. She flexed them open and closed a couple of times. "Alright, let's get down to business. First things first. We'll need to protect your mother. Where's she at?"
Meika shifted slightly on her perch, looking around uncomfortably. "Umm.. that's not really necessary right now. Jakkin won't go after her right away. And I've already messed with the past so much, it's probably better if I get less people involved. The more I reveal about what comes to pass, the more the future changes - either for the good or for the bad."
Leo nodded approvingly, "She's right. The less people in this, the better."
Piper looked back and forth between them. "My, my. Aren't we jumping to her side a little quickly? You're starting to remind me of a Boggle- Head Doll with all the nodding in concurrence that you keep doing with her."
"Piiiper." Leo pleaded. "There are no 'sides' in situations like this. Please, just trust me?"
Piper gave him a small, warm smile. "You know I do. And sorry," she added, "I've got the hormone thing going on again." He bent down to give her a small kiss on the lips.
"Awww.. How cute," Phoebe sighed mockingly, placing a hand over her heart and fluttering her eyelashes, "Now if THAT isn't a Hallmark moment, I don't know what is."
Paige and Meika both giggled as Piper turned and stuck out her tongue at her younger sibling. Phoebe returned the gesture playfully.
"Alright, enough you two." Paige declared with a grin. "Focus." Still grinning happily, the other two turned to look at her. Paige looked over to Meika again. "I know that you don't want us to go after your mother, but how can you be sure that Jakkin won't?"
Meika thought for a moment before replying. "Well, to do the ceremony he has to take her down to the underworld in the Ceremonial Chamber. It's where all big events must be performed, like the Coronation of the Source for example.."
Piper interrupted her, "Been there, done that. We've orbed there before. Paige, do you think you could get us there again?"
"I'm pretty sure I can." Paige replied.
"No, you don't understand." Meika interjected quickly. "Since what happened the last time that good went there - where you got rid of the Source, the Seer, and most upper level demons - the underworld has put new protection spells on that place. It's to assure that ONLY evil can enter. No good, even if brought there by evil, can get in. That way there cannot be a repeat of what happened before."
"So then how does Jakkin plan on getting good in?" Paige asked, once again confused.
"He's going to need help. Even his powers cannot override the protection of the underworld spells. He'll need to use the Staff of Hermes to get her into the Chamber with him."
"Staff of Herpes?" Paige questioned skeptically. "Now that does NOT sound very promising." She heard a snort from across the table as Piper unsuccessfully tried to contain her laughter. Leo and Phoebe were also both struggling to keep straight faces.
Phoebe couldn't help herself, "Oh great, we're battling the God of Venereal Disease. Paige should have the most expertise in this one."
"HEY!!" Paige cried huffily. She held out her hand and called for the ice cubes that were sitting next to the sink. Suddenly, Phoebe found herself with them down the front and back of her shirt.
"Ahhh!!" She tried to reach her hands up her back to pull them out as she hopped around the room. "Cold, cold, cold, cold.."
Meika chuckled as Phoebe danced beside the counter. "HERMES was the messenger god in Greek mythology. He was the only one allowed to go in and out of the underworld at will with his business. The bearer of the staff will be able to pass into and out of the underworld with their 'business'-a witch, in Jakkin's case."
"So where is this Staff?"
"It's at the Smithsonian in DC," Meika replied, "which is both good and bad. Good because it will be easy for us to access it, but bad because it will be just as easy for Jakkin to get to it." Her claws tightened on the countertop as she thought about the demon.
The sisters glanced at one another, knowing that time was of the essence. Piper decided to take charge. "Ok, Leo and I will orb in to the security room and freeze the guards. We'll take care of any cameras from there. With the east coast being..." she trailed off thoughtfully.
"Four hours," Leo whispered in her ear.
"Ah, yes. Thank you. With them being four hours ahead of us, the museum should just be closing. Hopefully we won't have to worry about any innocents getting in the way if Jakkin decides to get nasty. Phoebe and Paige will orb into the... Meika?"
"Ancient Greece section," Meika supplied helpfully.
Piper picked up where she had left off, dropping into a drill sergeant tone. "And from there you will go for the staff. If he hasn't gotten there yet Paige can call for it and you two get out of there ASAP. However if Jakkin IS there," she glanced over at Phoebe, "it'll be time to kick some demon ass." Phoebe nodded determinedly, standing rigidly in a soldier stance. Paige rolled her eyes at the two of them.
Piper concluded, "Get it?" Phoebe nodded. "Got it?" Paige nodded as well. "Good." Piper smiled good-naturedly.
As she stepped to her husband and Phoebe moved towards Paige, preparing to orb, Meika interrupted, "Hey! What am I supposed to do?"
Piper looked at her, "You wait here."
"Like hell I will," Meika answered, pouncing to the floor and straightening up to her full height. "I didn't come all this way just to sit back and twiddle my thumbs while everything goes on. I've come this far. No way am I going to risk messing this one up."
Piper glared at her and Meika hurriedly continued. "And I'm the ONLY one here who knows what Jakkin looks like and what he's capable of. Not to mention what the Staff looks like."
Leo looked at his wife uncertainly before agreeing with the Chimera once again, "Uhhh, she DOES have a point." He smiled wryly at her glare.
Piper looked over at her other sisters. "What do you think?"
Phoebe looked at her broodingly, "I think that it can't hurt to have her along."
"Ditto," Paige agreed.
Piper threw up her hands in frustration and the others couldn't help but flinch slightly. In her mood, her powers could easily get out of hand. Fortunately for them however, nothing around them blew up and they all quickly relaxed. She blew out deep breath to calm down and calmly stated, "Ok, fine. But how are you going to go there looking. well, looking like THAT?" She gestured towards to Chimera's reptilian body.
"Wait, can't you shape-shift or something?" Phoebe asked.
"Yea," the girl replied. "My Chimera form is far more powerful and I would have an easier time if I had to battle Jakkin. But I do also have powers in my regular human form. If we orb in, I can stay human so that if anyone spots us, we won't raise any more suspicion that necessary. But if Jakkin shows up, I can still change into Chimera form."
"Sweet." Piper answered. "Go for it."
Meika closed her eyes to concentrate and she almost immediately began to change. Her scales all faded into human flesh. The wings and tail were folded up and absorbed into her. Her talented feet and clawed hands changed into normal five-digited appendages. And suddenly standing before them was a normal nineteen-year-old girl. Her long, dark brown hair was pulled up into a ponytail, elegant in its simplicity. Clothes had formed to replace the strappy, leather halter top and bottoms that the Chimera had worn. She now donned a plain black tank top along with a tight, yet relaxing, pair of jeans.
The girl almost laughed at the stunned expressions of the whitelighter and witches before her. When she smiled, they also noticed that her teeth, which had been sharp and canine before, made a beautiful, straight grin.
Phoebe was latched onto the sight of the girl's boots. "Whoa! Me likey. Where'd you get those from?"
The girl picked up her pant leg to admire the black leather boots. "Penny's. $49.99 on sale from $119.99."
"Ohhh, are they real lea."
"Excuse me!" Phoebe was interrupted by Leo. "Work first, girl talk later please."
"Right, sorry." Phoebe apologized. The girl mumbled one of her own. "Alright, so Meika, Paige, and I will all go together."
The girl looked up at Phoebe, "That's not my name."
"Huh?" Paige inquired. "And by that you mean.?"
The girl hurried to correct herself. "Well, that kind of is my name but not really." At the confused looks of three witches and a whitelighter, she continued, "That's my name when I'm in my Chimera form. Talyn is the same way. When we're in human form, we go by our real names."
"Like Cole and Belthazor.." Phoebe noted softly.
"Exactly." She replied. "Meika is a completely separate aspect of me."
Phoebe cast her skeptical glance. "But can you still control her?"
"Oh yes," the girl reassured her. "It's not like completely separate personalities. It's more like a partnership."
Phoebe nodded, "I see."
Piper tilted her head questioningly, "So then what's your name in human form?"
The Chimera hesitated slightly before answering, "Angela." She glanced around her uncertainly, noting that none of them seemed to notice her pause.
Phoebe smiled at her. "Ok, Angela. Let's go."
"Wait, wait, and wait. Quick question before we do this? How the hell do you know so much?" Paige asked Angela. "You knew about what happened in the Ceremonial Chamber, you knew what I was talking about with the Portal Demon, and now you know about the Cole/Belthazor thing. How do you know all of this stuff?"
"Well," Angela began hesitantly, "You're the Charmed Ones. In the future everyone knows about what you've done." She added slyly with a wink, "I know more than you can imagine."
"Alright," Piper said, "You know that freaking out thing that you were trying NOT to do to us when you first got here? Well, you're doing it now. Let's just go get this thing. We'll worry about the rest later."
The others nodded to her. Leo grabbed his wife around the waist and pulled her towards him as he orbed them both out. Phoebe and Paige linked arms. Paige held out her other hand to Angela, but the girl shook her head. "It's easier for you to do one, rather than two. I can still orb in this form. If we don't all arrive together, it might give us the element of surprise over Jakkin." Paige nodded understandingly and orbed her and Phoebe out.
Angela looked upwards, praying for the Elders to watch over them. If they didn't get the Staff now, the rules of the game would become extremely more complicated. She didn't want to think about what they would have to go through then. She hoped that this would be as far as Jakkin got.
Taking a deep breath to prepare herself, Angela let the blue lights surround her and the manor was silent once again.
TBC
I LIVE on feedback!!! Let me know! Happy New Year all!!!
Feedback is a necessary evil.
Piper was dumbfounded, "Wha-wha-what was that?"
Meika looked at her. "'That' was my brother. He must have found out that I had come back in time to change things and was trying to stop me." At Piper's perplexed look, she continued. "We have a very.. complex relationship. He may be an instrument of evil and I one of good but he is still my brother and I am still his sister. A part of me will always care about and look out for him."
Phoebe, Paige, and Leo stood up from behind the couch. Piper broadly smiled at them, "Hey! You guys missed the party."
Phoebe looked around confused, "Where'd he go?"
Piper filled all of them in on what had happened.
Paige looked at her thoughtfully, "So let me get this straight, your powers don't work on him." Piper nodded.
"That's bad," Phoebe stated in a small voice.
Paige continued, "And he has really powerful attacks." Piper nodded again.
"That's really bad," Phoebe declared quietly again.
"And, as of now, the only person who we know could possibly vanquish him is his sister who is unwilling to hurt him." Piper nodded a third time.
"And that just sucks," Phoebe sighed under her breath. She furrowed her brow. "What powers do you have anyway?"
Meika looked over at her, counting off on her clawed fingers as she listed them. "I can heal and orb like a whitelighter. Umm. I also have telekinesis, can manipulate time, and can astral project."
Phoebe gave her an approving look. "Wow, impressive."
Meika smiled at her, almost shyly. "Thanks."
"Out of curiosity," Piper interrupted, "If you have all those powers, why didn't you use them earlier? Like when I went to blow you up? All you did was back off and ask me not to. Why not freeze time, move to another part of the room and start it up again? Or astral project your ass out of here?"
Meika gave her a wry, knowing grin. She opened her mouth to say something, then abruptly closed it and Piper could tell that she wasn't going to say what she'd originally intended on. "Well, I didn't want to freak you guys out too bad." She explained. "I mean, I fall through your ceiling with no warning plus the fact that I look like this." Meika gestured to her wings and body. "Now tell me, if I had come in immediately doing magic right and left, would you really have trusted me?"
The sisters glanced at each other knowing that the Chimera had a point.
"Alright, I get that." Paige announced, "But you've got to answer a couple of questions before we go any further."
"I second that." Phoebe proclaimed, holding up her hands. "I'm really confused. And," she couldn't stifle her yawn, "completely exhausted. Could we maybe move this to the kitchen or something? It's kind of messy in here anyway." She added, casting a glance at the dead coffee table and beat up walls.
Piper and Paige both nodded eagerly at the mention of coffee. Phoebe looked over to their guest. "Meika? That ok with you?"
"That sounds great." The Chimera smiled gratefully at them. Phoebe turned to the kitchen, Paige at her heels. Meika followed them, folding her wings tightly to her sides to get through the doorway. Piper fell into step behind her and Leo, who had held back as the others left the room, placed a concerned hand on his wife's arm. She looked up into his worried gaze and smiled tightly. He returned the gesture and let his hand fall from her arm. But as she passed, he protectively placed his hand lightly on the small of her back and trailed her to the kitchen.
Meika stood near the table, looking skeptically at Paige's offered chair. She smiled at the youngest sister. "Sorry, but I'm going to have to decline. It's the tail, ya know? Makes sitting in chairs a little... uncomfortable." Paige smiled understandingly and turned the chair over to her pregnant sister instead. Piper accepted it gratefully, glad to be able to get off of her feet. Leo remained standing, leaning on the side of the open doorway.
Meika prowled over to the counter and Phoebe, standing closest to her finally noticed how odd she walked. Even though she was up on the balls on her feet, the reason that she wasn't very tall was that she walked with her knees slightly bent, probably to more fully support her cumbersome upper body. And she also walked stooped at a forward angle. Phoebe assumed that it was to compensate for the extra weight of her wings in the back. Meika reached out a hand and poked idly at some of the random bottles strewn across the countertop, tell-tale evidence of the earlier potion attempts. She raised her hands and the surface was instantly clear.
"Hey!" Piper cried indignantly, "Where'd all of our herbs go?"
Meika motioned towards the cabinets, "Back where they belong."
Phoebe's mouth hung open as she looked back and forth between the counter and cabinets several times. "How'd you do that?"
Meika winked at her, "Magic."
Phoebe tried to glare at her, only partially succeeding as her amused grin gave her away. "Well, thanks. I guess. But why'd you do that?"
Meika raised an eyebrow at her. "So I could do this." She opened her wings and lightly leapt up to the countertop. Landing, she wrapped her feet over the edge and perched there, looking over at the table where Piper and Paige sat. Her tail trailed lazily across the top to dangle over the other end and her wings were slightly opened to give her the balance she needed. She smiled. "Much better."
"Whoa." Phoebe said quietly.
"Alright, down to business," Paige stated, trying to take command of the situation. She gave the other girl a once over. "So, where.. Or actually, when did you come from and how old are you?"
"I'm nineteen, almost twenty." The girl replied, ignoring the first question altogether.
Piper murmured, almost to herself. "So if what the book says is true.." She trailed off.
The girl finished her sentence for her. "Then I still have time to convince my brother to change sides."
"So why did you go back in time then?" Leo questioned. "I mean, is Talyn even alive yet? Are you? Shouldn't you be in your present trying to convince him?"
She shook her head, "No, I've tried everything. None of it works, he won't listen to reason. So I decided to come back to the past to see if I could stop everything at the point where it went wrong. Trust me, this was my absolute last choice. I've tried everything else but there is no other way and I'm running out of time. Just to check, the date today is January 12th right?" Phoebe nodded and Meika blew a sigh of relief. "Whew! I was hoping that after all of this I had actually come back to the right date." She looked at them self-consciously. "I'm still working on getting my powers to work just the way that I want them to."
Piper looked up at her with a start. "Wait, you mean that YOU made the vortex?"
Meika nodded in response. "I told you that I can manipulate time. Basic manipulations focus on the speed of molecules, like freezing or blowing things up. More advanced powers can bend actual time, either forwards or backwards. I can essentially time travel to whenever I want. But, of course, time travel does have its repercussions which are why it's not wise to really use that power." Meika added under her breath, "And I probably really pissed off the Elders too with this one." Piper had to smile as she overheard the girl's comment. The Elders really seemed to have a penchant for being really anal about the rules. Meika sighed darkly, "Unfortunately, the ability to travel through time is one power that Talyn and I share. This would have been so much easier if he had just stayed put."
Piper squirmed uneasily in her seat. Something had been tugging at her mind ever since they had moved into the kitchen. It just seemed too strange to her that this girl had so many abilities similar to that of the Charmed Ones. Plus, she had the ability to orb and heal. Leo had told her once that only whitelighters were supposed to have the ability to do those things. So would that make her part whitelighter? And if she WAS part whitelighter AND had powers like the Charmed Ones, could that make her.. Piper inconspicuously glanced down at her stomach.
"Speaking of powers," she said pointedly, "How exactly is it that you can orb? I thought that those are powers that only whitelighters are supposed to have. Are you part whitelighter or something?" She tried to tack the last question on as nonchalantly as possible.
Meika cocked her head and looked at Piper thoughtfully. Looking into the girl's eyes, Piper could see.. something, she wasn't sure what. What she did know was that it was taking the Chimera far too long to answer such a simple question. The girl opened her mouth uncertainly to answer the question, but before she could, Leo interrupted.
"Actually, all Chimeras (or good ones, anyway) have the ability to orb. Because they are so powerful and are generally considered to be guardians, they are sometimes called on to guard places Up There."
Piper kept her eyes on the Chimera the whole time and when Leo was finished talking, the girl quickly nodded in agreement. Piper swore that she saw something along the lines of relief flash through her eyes.
Paige looked at Meika thoughtfully, "So does that mean that Talyn can orb too? Should we be worried about him going Up There and doing stuff?"
Meika quickly shook her head. "Talyn used to have the power to orb. He was originally born good and therefore had it in him. But when he was turned evil, the Elders managed to strip it away from him. Actually, I don't think that you have to worry about him at all. He didn't come here with a specific plan in mind like I did. He's only here because he followed me. Right now, he's either snooping around for Jakkin or spying on us to see what we're up to. I've got bigger problems to worry about."
"WE'VE got bigger problems to worry about." Phoebe quickly corrected her. Piper and Paige nodded their agreement. "You came to us for help. You're one of the good guys. And you seem pretty innocent to me.. innocent enough anyway. NO way are we going to let you do this on your own." A quick glance at her sisters confirmed her resolution. "So, who's this Jakkin guy you keep talking about?"
Meika took a deep breath, preparing herself, before she began. "Jakkin is the one behind this whole problem. He's an upper level demon. Somehow (I'm not sure how), he found out about my mother carrying The Gemini Prophecy. He kidnapped her on January 13th, 2003 and took her down to the underworld. That's why I've come back today. Hopefully I can stop things before they transpire tomorrow."
"Well, why'd he take just her? Why not grab you and your brother and leave your mom behind?" Phoebe questioned.
Meika looked over at her, "Because we weren't born yet. The most effective way to poison a child's mind is before it's even out of the womb."
Piper unconsciously placed one of her hands protectively on her pregnant stomach, not even wanting to imagine the terror that the woman must have felt as her children were stripped away from her very insides. Leo must have sensed her discomfort because he moved closer next to her and put a reassuring hand on her shoulder, relaxing her slightly. "So this guy must be pretty powerful to be able to do something like that huh? Last time that happened it was the Seer and she was a pretty important person." At Meika's confirming nod, Piper continued, "Why haven't we ever heard of this demon before?"
"Well, he was exiled by the Source." Meika stated. "He plotted an uprising against the Source but was found out and imprisoned for eternity in Source's personal dungeon. Like the Portal Being that the Seer released not too long ago." Paige threw her a questioning look, wondering how she knew about that. "And you have just recently vanquished the Source right?" Phoebe held up three fingers and mouthed the words 'Three times' silently. "Well, with no current leader, the underworld is in an uproar. Everyone wants to be Numero Uno. So, several got the idea that releasing those who were powerful enough to oppose the Old Source might give them leverage in attaining a higher position in the new hierarchy. They went through and released all the prisoners."
"And Jakkin knew exactly what he had to do to regain his authority." Piper supplied.
Meika looked at her grimly. "Exactly."
Leo jumped in, "But they vanquished the Source awhile ago. Why is Jakkin just coming around now?"
"Well, he wasn't freed until a couple days ago. But the main reason that he waited was because he needs the power of tomorrow to be able to do the ceremony correctly." Phoebe opened her mouth to ask another question but Meika continued before she could get a word in. "Tomorrow is the mid- point of the pregnancy. That, coupled with the fact that it's a full moon tomorrow night, lends strength to Jakkin's powers."
"Soooo, we need to stop him before tomorrow night." Piper's comment came out as a statement, not a question. She stood up, locking her fingers together and stretching them in front of her. She flexed them open and closed a couple of times. "Alright, let's get down to business. First things first. We'll need to protect your mother. Where's she at?"
Meika shifted slightly on her perch, looking around uncomfortably. "Umm.. that's not really necessary right now. Jakkin won't go after her right away. And I've already messed with the past so much, it's probably better if I get less people involved. The more I reveal about what comes to pass, the more the future changes - either for the good or for the bad."
Leo nodded approvingly, "She's right. The less people in this, the better."
Piper looked back and forth between them. "My, my. Aren't we jumping to her side a little quickly? You're starting to remind me of a Boggle- Head Doll with all the nodding in concurrence that you keep doing with her."
"Piiiper." Leo pleaded. "There are no 'sides' in situations like this. Please, just trust me?"
Piper gave him a small, warm smile. "You know I do. And sorry," she added, "I've got the hormone thing going on again." He bent down to give her a small kiss on the lips.
"Awww.. How cute," Phoebe sighed mockingly, placing a hand over her heart and fluttering her eyelashes, "Now if THAT isn't a Hallmark moment, I don't know what is."
Paige and Meika both giggled as Piper turned and stuck out her tongue at her younger sibling. Phoebe returned the gesture playfully.
"Alright, enough you two." Paige declared with a grin. "Focus." Still grinning happily, the other two turned to look at her. Paige looked over to Meika again. "I know that you don't want us to go after your mother, but how can you be sure that Jakkin won't?"
Meika thought for a moment before replying. "Well, to do the ceremony he has to take her down to the underworld in the Ceremonial Chamber. It's where all big events must be performed, like the Coronation of the Source for example.."
Piper interrupted her, "Been there, done that. We've orbed there before. Paige, do you think you could get us there again?"
"I'm pretty sure I can." Paige replied.
"No, you don't understand." Meika interjected quickly. "Since what happened the last time that good went there - where you got rid of the Source, the Seer, and most upper level demons - the underworld has put new protection spells on that place. It's to assure that ONLY evil can enter. No good, even if brought there by evil, can get in. That way there cannot be a repeat of what happened before."
"So then how does Jakkin plan on getting good in?" Paige asked, once again confused.
"He's going to need help. Even his powers cannot override the protection of the underworld spells. He'll need to use the Staff of Hermes to get her into the Chamber with him."
"Staff of Herpes?" Paige questioned skeptically. "Now that does NOT sound very promising." She heard a snort from across the table as Piper unsuccessfully tried to contain her laughter. Leo and Phoebe were also both struggling to keep straight faces.
Phoebe couldn't help herself, "Oh great, we're battling the God of Venereal Disease. Paige should have the most expertise in this one."
"HEY!!" Paige cried huffily. She held out her hand and called for the ice cubes that were sitting next to the sink. Suddenly, Phoebe found herself with them down the front and back of her shirt.
"Ahhh!!" She tried to reach her hands up her back to pull them out as she hopped around the room. "Cold, cold, cold, cold.."
Meika chuckled as Phoebe danced beside the counter. "HERMES was the messenger god in Greek mythology. He was the only one allowed to go in and out of the underworld at will with his business. The bearer of the staff will be able to pass into and out of the underworld with their 'business'-a witch, in Jakkin's case."
"So where is this Staff?"
"It's at the Smithsonian in DC," Meika replied, "which is both good and bad. Good because it will be easy for us to access it, but bad because it will be just as easy for Jakkin to get to it." Her claws tightened on the countertop as she thought about the demon.
The sisters glanced at one another, knowing that time was of the essence. Piper decided to take charge. "Ok, Leo and I will orb in to the security room and freeze the guards. We'll take care of any cameras from there. With the east coast being..." she trailed off thoughtfully.
"Four hours," Leo whispered in her ear.
"Ah, yes. Thank you. With them being four hours ahead of us, the museum should just be closing. Hopefully we won't have to worry about any innocents getting in the way if Jakkin decides to get nasty. Phoebe and Paige will orb into the... Meika?"
"Ancient Greece section," Meika supplied helpfully.
Piper picked up where she had left off, dropping into a drill sergeant tone. "And from there you will go for the staff. If he hasn't gotten there yet Paige can call for it and you two get out of there ASAP. However if Jakkin IS there," she glanced over at Phoebe, "it'll be time to kick some demon ass." Phoebe nodded determinedly, standing rigidly in a soldier stance. Paige rolled her eyes at the two of them.
Piper concluded, "Get it?" Phoebe nodded. "Got it?" Paige nodded as well. "Good." Piper smiled good-naturedly.
As she stepped to her husband and Phoebe moved towards Paige, preparing to orb, Meika interrupted, "Hey! What am I supposed to do?"
Piper looked at her, "You wait here."
"Like hell I will," Meika answered, pouncing to the floor and straightening up to her full height. "I didn't come all this way just to sit back and twiddle my thumbs while everything goes on. I've come this far. No way am I going to risk messing this one up."
Piper glared at her and Meika hurriedly continued. "And I'm the ONLY one here who knows what Jakkin looks like and what he's capable of. Not to mention what the Staff looks like."
Leo looked at his wife uncertainly before agreeing with the Chimera once again, "Uhhh, she DOES have a point." He smiled wryly at her glare.
Piper looked over at her other sisters. "What do you think?"
Phoebe looked at her broodingly, "I think that it can't hurt to have her along."
"Ditto," Paige agreed.
Piper threw up her hands in frustration and the others couldn't help but flinch slightly. In her mood, her powers could easily get out of hand. Fortunately for them however, nothing around them blew up and they all quickly relaxed. She blew out deep breath to calm down and calmly stated, "Ok, fine. But how are you going to go there looking. well, looking like THAT?" She gestured towards to Chimera's reptilian body.
"Wait, can't you shape-shift or something?" Phoebe asked.
"Yea," the girl replied. "My Chimera form is far more powerful and I would have an easier time if I had to battle Jakkin. But I do also have powers in my regular human form. If we orb in, I can stay human so that if anyone spots us, we won't raise any more suspicion that necessary. But if Jakkin shows up, I can still change into Chimera form."
"Sweet." Piper answered. "Go for it."
Meika closed her eyes to concentrate and she almost immediately began to change. Her scales all faded into human flesh. The wings and tail were folded up and absorbed into her. Her talented feet and clawed hands changed into normal five-digited appendages. And suddenly standing before them was a normal nineteen-year-old girl. Her long, dark brown hair was pulled up into a ponytail, elegant in its simplicity. Clothes had formed to replace the strappy, leather halter top and bottoms that the Chimera had worn. She now donned a plain black tank top along with a tight, yet relaxing, pair of jeans.
The girl almost laughed at the stunned expressions of the whitelighter and witches before her. When she smiled, they also noticed that her teeth, which had been sharp and canine before, made a beautiful, straight grin.
Phoebe was latched onto the sight of the girl's boots. "Whoa! Me likey. Where'd you get those from?"
The girl picked up her pant leg to admire the black leather boots. "Penny's. $49.99 on sale from $119.99."
"Ohhh, are they real lea."
"Excuse me!" Phoebe was interrupted by Leo. "Work first, girl talk later please."
"Right, sorry." Phoebe apologized. The girl mumbled one of her own. "Alright, so Meika, Paige, and I will all go together."
The girl looked up at Phoebe, "That's not my name."
"Huh?" Paige inquired. "And by that you mean.?"
The girl hurried to correct herself. "Well, that kind of is my name but not really." At the confused looks of three witches and a whitelighter, she continued, "That's my name when I'm in my Chimera form. Talyn is the same way. When we're in human form, we go by our real names."
"Like Cole and Belthazor.." Phoebe noted softly.
"Exactly." She replied. "Meika is a completely separate aspect of me."
Phoebe cast her skeptical glance. "But can you still control her?"
"Oh yes," the girl reassured her. "It's not like completely separate personalities. It's more like a partnership."
Phoebe nodded, "I see."
Piper tilted her head questioningly, "So then what's your name in human form?"
The Chimera hesitated slightly before answering, "Angela." She glanced around her uncertainly, noting that none of them seemed to notice her pause.
Phoebe smiled at her. "Ok, Angela. Let's go."
"Wait, wait, and wait. Quick question before we do this? How the hell do you know so much?" Paige asked Angela. "You knew about what happened in the Ceremonial Chamber, you knew what I was talking about with the Portal Demon, and now you know about the Cole/Belthazor thing. How do you know all of this stuff?"
"Well," Angela began hesitantly, "You're the Charmed Ones. In the future everyone knows about what you've done." She added slyly with a wink, "I know more than you can imagine."
"Alright," Piper said, "You know that freaking out thing that you were trying NOT to do to us when you first got here? Well, you're doing it now. Let's just go get this thing. We'll worry about the rest later."
The others nodded to her. Leo grabbed his wife around the waist and pulled her towards him as he orbed them both out. Phoebe and Paige linked arms. Paige held out her other hand to Angela, but the girl shook her head. "It's easier for you to do one, rather than two. I can still orb in this form. If we don't all arrive together, it might give us the element of surprise over Jakkin." Paige nodded understandingly and orbed her and Phoebe out.
Angela looked upwards, praying for the Elders to watch over them. If they didn't get the Staff now, the rules of the game would become extremely more complicated. She didn't want to think about what they would have to go through then. She hoped that this would be as far as Jakkin got.
Taking a deep breath to prepare herself, Angela let the blue lights surround her and the manor was silent once again.
TBC
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