Chapter Two ~Empty Threats~

(AN: Ok, I'll post once a week, because I have one other fanfic that is going, and I'll do the same with that one. I got all of my information from a site about this mystery ship, to let you all know. *Charmed is not mine*)

(P.S: Sorry, but for right now, I'm portraying Paige as a snotty sort of person, but it wasn't intended. She'll change, trust me. ^_^)

The days passed slowly after that. Laughter rang out less often and arguments broke out. Prue was getting restless. This was not an easy trip to endure. Almost every night after the night Paige tried to confront her, arguments drifting from her grandmother's room was constantly about why her mother let her children have powers, and about Paige.
Paige seemed at the bottom of every argument lately. Two days after that night, Piper got in a heated row with Prue over Piper's new boyfriend, who wasn't even there. An hour later, both apologized grudgingly, as neither knew how it got started.
As for the carefree Halliwell… no one really knew. Phoebe stayed in her room almost all hours and only came out for meals and sometimes to watch the ocean move above the serenity of the life below itself. Today was one of those days.
Deciding that it was better to go up than be down today, Prue went upstairs on deck. Finding her sister, she went for a little chat.

"Hey Phoebs."

"Hi." Phoebe said sullenly.

"Phoebe, what's wrong?" "I…" Phoebe shuddered in the mist. It had been nothing but stormy and sulky weather as of yet. "I keep getting the same premonition."

"Phoebe…" Prue groaned, "We're a team, the three of us! You need to tell us this, really. We're Charmed together, never alone."

"I know, and I'm sorry, but it's really disturbing…"

"Spill." Prue said firmly.

"We're on another ship… We all sort of look different, really, like we're older, grown women. Only…"

"Only what? C'mon, Phoebs." Piper came up.

"Sneak." Prue said, smiling.

Piper returned the smile, "Like I heard you say, we're Charmed together, never alone."

Phoebe turned from the railing to embrace her sisters. "It's ok Phoebe, why are you crying?"

"Because…my premonition!" She wailed quietly.

"Phoebe, exactly, what is it you saw?" Piper asked.

"It was you, me and… and… Paige." Phoebe said.

"Paige?" Prue asked sharply.

"You called?" Paige was standing on the topmost stair, and was wearing Prue's shirt.

"No, we did not." Prue said.

"It's about the Charmed Ones, right?" She asked.

"No…" Piper said.

"What…what gave you that idea?" Phoebe sniffed.

"Don't lie to your sister, girls. Now, Phoebe, baby girl, what did you see?" Patty came above as well, wearing her maternal smile and taking Phoebe into another embrace.

"It was me, Piper, and Paige, on a different boat. Piper said something about Prue… I can't remember. But we looked… different. Older, somehow."

"How old did Piper look?" Paige asked.

Prue threw Paige a dirty look, and Piper stepped forward, "What was different about me?"

Phoebe threw her a glance, and said, "Your hair… something about your hair. It was still long… but…"

"Her bangs… I bet they were gone." Patty said.

"Yeah! Wait, mom how did you know?" Phoebe asked, astonished.

"Girls, come with me." Patty sighed.

"Even me?" Paige asked, excited.

"Yes, Paige."

Patty walked below, the four sisters trailing behind her. What no one noticed, not even them, was that Piper, Phoebe, and Prue were all holding hands, and trying to walk side-by-side.

********

Grams was freshening up, adding a bit of make-up on her old, softly wrinkled grandmother features. She looked up as her daughter and granddaughters entered. To her, she saw them give off a briefly surreal blue-white glow of a whitelighter orb.

"My girls." She smiled and chuckled, "What is it?"

Patty answered, "Mary Celeste."

"Who is she?" Phoebe asked.

"It's not a who… it's a what." Prue said silently.

"Prue, while I speak to your Grams, why don't you inform the girls all about the Mary Celeste, alright? We'll be just inside here if you need us." Patty said, gesturing to a door to their right, leading to her mother and Sam's shared bedroom.

"Ok…" Prue said wearily, and sank to sit on Grams' bed. "Prue, what's the Mary Celestial whatever, and what does it have to do with us?" Piper asked, sitting beside her. Phoebe sat on the other side, but Paige remained standing.

"Talk already before we get old." Paige snapped suddenly.

For once, Prue heeded without argument, "The Mary Celeste is a ship… It was found around December in 1872. No one was on board, and when they found the log entry, it didn't tell them much of anything that had any importance." Prue was saying slowly as if thinking on it herself, "Benjamin Briggs was captain, but none of the crew, not even his wife and daughter was ever found."

"And why is it so famous?" Piper asked.

"It was found floating along, like nothing at all, with its sails up, nothing was visibly wrong with it, but as to where it was, was impossible by the way their sails were up." Prue was staring at the floor in wonderment about the history of the ship, "They did find alcohol below deck, and some suggest that it had fumes and that's why there's a lifeboat missing… because the crew was planning to come back after the fumes left. But that's not right either, because obviously, no one came back."

"Duh." Paige sneered.

Piper threw her a look to silence her this time, "Then it must be- what? A ghost ship?"

Prue looked at Piper, then they both looked at Phoebe.

"There weren't any ghosts there if that's what you're wondering. I didn't see any, anyway."

"You wouldn't."

"Paige, we are trying to figure something out, for once, keep quiet!" Prue snapped.

"Now…" Piper breathed, "Was there anything else found on that ship?" "A log book… The last entry was in the end of November… The ship that found it believed it was floating for a week and a half before they found it." Prue said, looking at Piper.

"Right, now Phoebe, can you tell us where you think we were?"

"If we were on another ship, and Mom thinks it's the Mary Celeste… I think we were below somewhere… the… I don't know ships very well." Phoebe said, sounding exasperated as her own extensive knowledge on this subject.

"Well, it's good, we were below deck." Prue said.

"How do you know?" Paige asked, angrily.

"I know because she said so."

"How do you know it's a good thing? We could be trapped!" She shouted.

Just as Prue was getting up to hit Paige, Patty and Grams came back in.

"Girls, calm down!" Patty said, clearly astonished at their behavior.

"Fine." Prue snapped, and sat back down to the relief of Piper and Phoebe.

Grams snorted in the corner, "I doubt you'll ever calm down."

"Mother!" Patty scolded.

At that, Grams had to laugh, and she sat down next to Phoebe, wrapping her arms around them, "My darling girls! How perceptive you are!"

"What do you mean?" Piper asked suspiciously.

"Your mother and I heard a bit of your conversation, and I think that your emotional bond is starting to show."

"Emotional bond?" Paige asked.

"Girls, you are connected by more than just your sisterhood!" Grams said, still laughing.

"Well, well, all the Halliwell women. My witches!" Sam said, coming in.

"I'm not a witch…" Paige skulked.

"And my little girl!" Sam said, and hugged Paige to him. "Paige, how could you say such a thing?" Patty asked.

"I don't have any powers of my own, how am I a witch?" Paige asked, clearly on the brink of tears.

"Let's deal with that later, and Phoebe's premonition now." Grams said, "Ok- ."

"Premonition? What premonition, and whose had it?" Asked Victor, coming inside, looking around wildly.

"I had it, and it wasn't a premonition really, more like it was inside of a dream." Phoebe said fearfully.

"That's nothing to worry about, it was a premonition all the same." Patty said, "Now, let's get to the bottom of this!"

Victor and Sam pulled up chairs to listen, while Piper, Phoebe, and Prue hadn't moved, but Paige leaned against Sam's chair on the floor to listen. Grams stood up next to Patty.

"What have you three found out about this ship?" Patty asked.

"Everything about its history… As to that, we can't quite figure out where that vision took place." Prue said.

"Right… Well, we should tell you what we know." Grams said.

"I was afraid of this." Sam said quietly, and Victor snorted, but said nothing. Paige looked confused below them.

"The Mary Celeste… she has an interesting place among the sea…" Patty struggled to start.

"What do you mean, 'has'? It was found and anchored, wasn't it?" Prue asked.

"Not exactly… You see, she was found and anchored. However that wasn't the end of her. Every time someone takes her out, they never come back." Grams sighed.

"What happens to the ship?" Victor asked.

"They find it, eventually." Sam included.