Title: And Then There Were Three
Author: the weeping willow
Chapter: 2— "And So They Meet"
Rating: PG (possibly to change) for swearing, violence, etc.
Spoilers: Up until end of season 4
Setting: Season 5 AU
Disclaimer: I do not own Charmed or any of its associates, etc. This is just a fanfic, please don't sue me. :)
Description: The Warrens and the Halliwells learn more about each other's pasts and presents in order to decide for sure what to do about their situation.
Distribution: Not without asking, please. Get permission first, or put a link to this page.
Contact: queenofthebandgeeks@hotmail.com
Author's Notes: I just realized, one note: Piper's not pregnant in this story. ;) I have selective memory, I suppose. I thank you for all the reviews; I love getting feedback (positive or negative). :) And, so far everybody's been really supportive! I think the only thing left before I go on to the story is the note again about how Paige's crazed mix of orbing and telekinesis is "tele-orbing", kay? :) All right! Enjoy!
And Then There Were Three
Chapter Two: "And So They Meet"
"What?!" the Halliwells cried in unison.
"You haven't heard of us?" the oldest-looking one, a blonde, inquired thoughtfully.
"All right. Just one minute," Piper muttered as she tried to freeze them. Nothing happened. She tried again, without success. "What—" she exclaimed. "Why isn't it working?"
"Oh, cute!" the blue-haired one remarked. "Your power is to freeze time!" She grinned, and stepped forward. "I'm Alex Warren, the youngest of us three. My oldest sister Maple is that blonde one over there, and Felicity's that redhead who hasn't talked yet. She's rather shy." As she spoke, Alex pointed to a girl, about eighteen or so, standing in the shadows timidly, away from the light. Her flaming red hair hung over her shoulders in waves, reaching down to her waist.
"And who are you? Fighting demons is dangerous, you know," Maple commented.
Piper seethed inside. "Piper, Phoebe, and Paige Halliwell," she muttered, pointing to each of them in turn.
"Awww, matching names!" Alex clapped with glee.
"All right, this isn't funny," Phoebe said angrily. "Are you guys demons or something? Because you're like 13—"
"16," Alex broke in.
"—and who set you up to this, anyways? We're the Charmed Ones! I read the invocation myself!"
"Yeah, what she said." Paige thought for a moment. "Are you guys demons?"
Alex began giggling, in spite of herself. "Okay, 40-year old women playing pretend. Creepy, don't you think? I don't know why you guys are pretending to be us, or how you even thought of it in the first place, but honestly. It's getting old. Give it up!"
"Alex…" Felicity murmured softly in a sweet English accent. It was enough to stop Alex mid-rant. "It's obvious that both parties here believe they are the Chosen Ones, and I can assure you that nobody here at the moment is a demon. We should go somewhere and discuss this in a calm, reasonable, and civilized manner."
That's how they all (though almost all reluctantly) ended up in Felicity's house, which was temporarily home to all three of the Warren witches. It was open, cozy, and well lit: extremely different from the Halliwell manor. Felicity made tea (like a true British person) while the other five settled themselves on the various couches and chairs set up in her living room. The Halliwells made a point to seat themselves as far away as possible from Maple and Alex.
As Felicity brought the tray into the room, she said in her lilting British accent, "Now then, let's hear your side of the story, shall we?"
Piper dutifully took over and recalled all that had happened to them, ever since Phoebe had read from the Book of Shadows and invoked their powers on that fateful stormy night five years ago.
When she was finished, Felicity nodded to Maple. "Now, you go ahead." Sighing, Maple fell into the Warrens' tale…
"It's all Alex's fault, really," she started, her voice showing no hint of her childhood in France. "I was 19, two years ago, and I go an email from her. Turns out she was part of my birth family. She said that we had another sister too, who'd been shipped off to England. Alex wanted to meet up after a couple emails and phone calls— and I ended up paying airfare," Maple added as an afterthought, glaring at Alex.
"So we flew to the U.S., and I met Felicity in L.A. Then we had to chase Alex all over the city until we found her— at some sleazy bar making out with a guy, no less!"
"So?" shrugged Alex casually. "He was cute." She winked at the others, who stared at her in shock (even Phoebe and Paige).
"Anyways, once we tore her away from the guy she told her about the coven that'd been training her, ever since she'd run away from Boston. They told her that she and her sisters, us, were the Charmed Ones: the most powerful witches that ever were or would ever be. So we're supposed to be Charmed and all that. Thanks to her." Maple gestured towards Alex.
Felicity nodded thoughtfully. "It sounds to me, Miss Piper Halliwell, Miss Phoebe Halliwell, Miss Paige Halliwell, that you could not possibly be the true Charmed Ones. If you look at the evidence— four sisters instead of three, for example— it seems highly unlikely compared to our case. What prophecy exactly are you basing your opinion on?"
"The Book of Shadows told us about our ancestor, Melinda Warren. She could move objects with her mind, see the future and stop time. Before Melinda was burned at the stake, she vowed that each generation of Warren witches would become stronger and stronger, culminating in the arrival of three sisters. These sisters would be the most powerful witches the world has ever known," Phoebe explained.
"Three. Three witches. I think you were quite mistaken…" murmured Felicity, almost to herself.
Piper was getting fed up of the discussion. "You know what? LEO!" she shouted, startling the others.
Almost immediately a mist of blue sparkling orbs appeared and Leo appeared in the room. He did a double take at the sight of the Warren sisters. "What?" he inquired, confused.
Paige pointed to Alex, Maple, and Felicity. "Are they the Charmed Ones?" she asked simply. Confused, Leo stared at the three Warrens, who stared right back.
"You still have a whitelighter? We ditched ours a long time ago," commented Alex, rather smugly.
"We had one?" Maple questioned her. "I thought it was just a myth!"
Alex grinned. "That's partially why I went to L.A.: to escape the little bugger. The coven helped me write an awesome spell to get rid of her and keep her from sensing us. What was her name again? Norah— no, Natalie. Dumpy little lady, she was."
Felicity gasped in horror. "That was awful! How could you?! What if we'd been hurt, or—" She stopped, too horrified to continue.
"If they didn't have a whitelighter, then that would explain how we didn't know anything about this," Leo suggested.
"I thought the Elders were all-knowing," Paige grumbled.
"Yeah, well they didn't know about you, did they?" Piper snapped right back.
Felicity hastily intervened before the fight began to escalate. "I—It's all right. Mr…" she trailed off, looking at Leo expectantly.
"Wyatt," he supplied.
"Mr. Wyatt, do you know of a way to determine this? A spell, something that would be present in one group but not the other?"
Before he could say a word in response, they all suddenly found themselves standing in a strange room of marble and cloud, with about 30 people, seated at the long stone table stretched out in front of them throughout the entire room, all staring straight at them. The Elders.