ACT IV
INT. MANOR, PARLOR, SAME NIGHT
Paige paced frantically as Phoebe flipped the pages of the BoS. Leo had orbed Up There to ask the Elders if They knew of a solution, but Phoebe and Paige had a feeling that the Elders would leave it all to them. Sure enough, Leo orbed back in a while later, saying that who or whatever had Melinda and Piper was blocking themselves against detection with powerful magic. Suddenly, a page in the Book caught Phoebe's eye, and she gave a triumphant cheer, causing Paige to jump in surprise.
"We can use this spell to find her!" Phoebe said, pointing to the page. The words at the top of the page read To Call a Lost Witch. Paige gasped. Piper had tried the spell in hopes of bringing Prue back, but instead, she'd unknowingly led them to Paige.
"That's a really good idea," Paige said.
"We'll just modify it," Phoebe said, grabbing a pad and pen that lay nearby, "So it'll take us to her." Leo nodded in agreement as did Paige, and Paige went in search of the ingredients and items they needed for the spell while Phoebe made the adjustments...
INT. DEMONIC UNDERGROUND, ETERNAL NIGHT
"AAHH!" Piper screamed, as the two ugly creatures that had kidnapped her took her to a dark place. She hated dark places. Two others her age were tied and gagged, and one looked strangely familiar.
"Shut up, witch!" one of the demons said, and Piper started to cry. The demons tied her up just as the others were, and left, laughing evilly. Piper heard a voice speak suddenly, but it wasn't aloud, it was... it was in her mind!
"Don't be afraid, okay?" the voice said, and she turned to the others to see if they'd heard it too. The girl closest to her, the one who'd seemed familiar, was looking at her, seemingly staring, and she realized that the girl was the one who'd spoken in her head. This caused her to utter a scream, muffled by the tape over her mouth.
INT. MANOR, PARLOR, NIGHT
"Powers of the sisters rise, course unseen across the skies. In this slowly passing hour, we call upon our Charming power. Our powers and blood will lead the way, to find the ones who were taken away. We call upon the power of three, to vanquish the demons and set our loved ones free."
Phoebe and Paige recited the spell, and they felt a surge of energy course through them as they disappeared, not knowing where they'd be transported to or what they'd encounter when they got there.
INT. DEMONIC UNDERGROUND, ETERNAL NIGHT
Phoebe and Paige appeared in a dark and dreary place, which they immediately realized was the underworld. A sound from nearby caught their attention, and they went in the direction of it. They found themselves in a large cavern, lit only by a few candles.
"HELP!!"
"Did you hear that?" Paige asked, alarmed.
"Yeah, I think it came from over there," Phoebe said, pointing to their right. The two took off through a nearby entryway in the direction of the sound, both of them extremely worried. They found themselves suddenly in a smaller cavern, and Phoebe gasped at the sight they met.
Melinda, Piper, and another girl were bound and gagged, and a gruesome demon stood over Piper, a gleaming athame in his hand. Piper's eyes were wide in terror, and the demon had a strong grip on one of her arms, which had a huge slash mark on it, but it didn't seem to be bleeding.
"Get your filthy hands off of our sister!" Paige shouted, and gestured to the athame in his hand. "Athame!" The athame disappeared in a cloud of orbs and reappeared in Paige's hand. The demon gave a look of surprise, which quickly turned to a sinister smirk, and he was about to blink out but Paige threw the first potion vial at him, vanquishing him.
"Whoo! Now THAT was a vanquish!" Paige said, then noticed the two girls still tied up.
"Oh my goshes!" Phoebe shouted, running with Paige towards the girls. But suddenly, the demon was in front of Paige. No, wait... this was a new demon, probably the second one in Phoebe's vision. He shot an energy ball at her, and she instinctively orbed out to avoid it, orbing back in behind him.
"Hey, demon-guy, I'm over here now!" she shouted, and he whipped around to face her, growling. "Oohhh, such a temper!"
He went to punch her, but she blocked it. She kicked out her leg and tripped him, then kicked him to knock him out cold.
"Ha! I showed him!" Paige said, sticking her tongue out at the unconscious demon. Then she threw the potion vial at him, and he was vanquished.
"Paige! Get over here, we gotta get them back to the manor so Leo can heal them!" Phoebe shouted, gesturing hurriedly. Suddenly, she noticed something peculiar, and they both gasped in awe: Piper had transformed back into her adult self! she was still bruised, of course, but Leo could fix that.
Paige rushed over to Phoebe and grasped her hand, then grasped one of Piper's weakened hands while Phoebe took one of Melinda's. Then she orbed them all back to the Manor, where Leo could heal the two bruised girls.
INT. MANOR, PARLOR, NIGHT
Leo was pacing back and forth worriedly when they orbed in. He looked from Paige, to Phoebe, to Piper, a look of deep concern and anguish on his face.
"Don't just stand there, dammit, heal them!" Paige said, to which he rushed over and placed a hand over each of them. Both hands glowed a golden color, and Paige knew that he was healing them. After a minute or so, Melinda stirred, followed by Piper.
"Daddy? What happened?" Melinda asked groggily.
"Shhh, don't worry, you need rest, I'll help you upstairs," Phoebe said, helping her to her feet gently. Meanwhile, Paige helped Piper over to the couch and sat her down slowly. Then they told her everything that had happened...
INT. MANOR, PARLOR, THAT NIGHT
Piper knocked on Melinda's door and leaned against the doorframe. Melinda was leaning her head into her closet, looking for something to wear to school the next day. Not noticing Piper there, she grabbed a shirt and skirt out of her closet and went over to her mirror, holding them up to her and glancing decisively. She suddenly noticed Piper's reflection in the mirror and glared at it.
"That's a nice outfit," Piper said encouragingly, smiling.
"Thanks," Melinda said, then the room was filled with an uneasy silence.
"Um, listen, Melinda," Piper started, easing into the room. "I didn't mean to be so harsh on you. But I did have my reasons, and, um," Piper sighed. "I think you should hear them."
"Just go away, mom! I don't wanna hear it!" Melinda yelled, turning to face her mother.
"You could have exposed yourself, or for that matter all of us! You used your powers in plain sight, and you used them for personal gain!"
"But I didn't get us exposed, so take a chill pill!" Melinda shouted back, putting her hands on her hips defensively.
"You're lucky you didn't, Melinda! Trust me, I know!"
"Yeah, right!" Melinda shouted back, standing up. "How would you know?!"
"Your Aunt Prue died because of us being exposed!"
At that, the room went silent again, until Melinda quietly said, "Oh."
Piper's eyes grew teary at the sudden memory of her elder sister, but she raised her head confidently and started to tell the story: "We were... we were, um, trying to save the latest innocent, Dr. Griffiths, from a demon named Shax. Phoebe had gone to the attic for a vanquishing spell, and Shax burst through the door and blasted Prue and me through a wall. He tried to kill Dr. Griffiths, but Phoebe chanted her spell just in time, making Shax disappear. Then she summoned Leo to heal us. Prue felt that Shax was still alive, so she and I went off in search of him. He attacked us in the street, but I used my new power to blow him up... But we didn't know that a news reporter caught the scene on tape. We went back and told Phoebe what happened, and convinced Dr. Griffiths to keep our secret. Meanwhile, Phoebe decided that she wanted to use a potion on Cole to destroy his evil side and she asked us to send her to him...."
As Piper told more and more of the story, Melinda's eyes grew teary with the realization that maybe Piper did know the threat of exposure...
"Shax came into the house and attacked us, just like the first time, but Phoebe wasn't there to send Shax away or to call Leo to heal Prue and me. Shax then killed Dr. Griffiths, and left us there, unconscious... to die..."
Melinda started to cry, and she wrapped her arms around Piper in a comforting hug. "I'm sorry, mommy, I'm sorry I doubted you!"
Piper looked at her daughter for a beat, then kissed her on the forehead. "I forgive you. I love you, Melinda. I love you more than anyone in the world, even my sisters. Don't you ever forget that."
Piper checked her watch, "You'd better to sleep, you've gotta get up for school in the morning." She helped Melinda get into bed and pulled the bedcovers up to her chin, to keep Melinda warm. Then she kissed Melinda goodnight, walked to the doorway, and put her hand on the light switch. "Good night, my dear, and blessed be."
With that, she turned off the light and closed Melinda's bedroom door, smiling contentedly.
THE END