I took a deep breath and cleared my mind. At least, I tried to. My thoughts were relentless. Whenever I cleared one, another popped up. Leo was having us do a meditation to help us find our third power. Paige, as anyone could see, was rather annoyed with herself. She had officially lost the ability to orb things. Leo assured her that she wasn't meant to have that power, but she was still beating herself up about it. Phoebe told me that she was feeling jealous of us because we had more power. I couldn't say I hadn't expected that. Paige was the baby of the family and didn't precisely fit in.
"Ohm… Ohm…" Phoebe said loudly.
I heard Piper giggle.
"Shh!" Paige hissed.
Leo had already figured out exactly what we were like. He knew that Phoebe was the troublemaker, I was the leader, Piper was the obedient one, and Paige was… What was Paige? Maybe she was the lone wolf. That didn't really make sense. The Charmed Ones had to be connected. Was Paige truly a Charmed One? I shushed that thought. Leo wouldn't be teaching her if she weren't a Charmed One, I told myself.
"Leo, why do I have to do this? I already know my powers," Phoebe complained.
"You have to learn to control them, especially the empathy. If you want to lead a normal life, you have to be able to separate your feelings from the feelings of others."
"A normal life? I think we've established that we're not going to get that. We've got this huge magical destiny to fulfill," Phoebe pointed out. She didn't sound annoyed at all. Instead, she was quite jovial. Ever since she and Sirius had gotten back together, she had returned to her normal self, the happy and fun loving Phoebe. Sirius too was happier. James was glad to know that the premonition could be prevented, and Remus was more relaxed now that he and Piper had realized their feelings. It was an astonishing change.
"You won't have a magic-free life," Leo said, "but you will have to make your way in the world. You each have a destiny that involves more than just magic."
He always had an answer. Leo was a nice man. We had all taken a liking to him. It was not hard to see why he had been assigned to us. He slid into our hearts so easily. He isn't bad on the eyes either, I thought with a grin. I opened my eyes slightly to glance at my sisters.
"Whoa, I'm having a revelation. Our powers are all connected by one element. That element is the key to our powers." Paige opened her eyes and looked to Leo. "Is that right?"
"Yes. What you four have to do is to find that element. Then you will know your power."
I closed my eyes again, more confident now that I had that clue.
"Since I only have orbing as a clue, I'm going to guess that my powers have to do with my whitelighter genes. Do I assume correctly?"
"I am only your guide, Paige," Leo responded. "You have to confirm this matter yourself."
"He has all the mysteriousness of Grams," I heard Phoebe say.
"Don't be silly, Phoebe. Grams is way more mystifying," I said to her.
"What are you talking about, Prue? I didn't say anything," she replied. "For once," she added.
I opened my eyes. "Ha ha. I heard you say that Leo has the mysteriousness of Grams."
"She didn't say that," Piper spoke up.
"Are you saying that I just imagined that?"
"No. I thought that. Looks like you read my mind," Phoebe said as if this was a normal occurrence.
"Give me a break," I said. "I can read minds?"
Great. Another sister has found her powers. I'm left in the dust.
I had been staring right at Paige. She hadn't moved her lips, yet I had heard her voice clearly.
"Telepathy. That is your third power," Leo said, but I ignored him.
"Paige, you're not being left in the dust. You'll find your powers eventually."
"You read my mind?" She sounded annoyed.
"I didn't mean to," I said. "It just came to me. You have to remember that you're a great witch, Paige. Your powers are probably just building up."
I'm sure.
"I'm just trying to help," I said, a little hurt. Out of nowhere, thoughts began to swirl in my head.
How can there be a connection between her powers?
Paige is feeling awfully unsure of herself.
Paige's powers haven't been triggered yet.
What's the element of my powers?
Ugh, I hate the feeling of other people's insecurity. It's so irritating. Of course, that could be somebody else's feeling. I have no idea what I'm feeling.
"Stop thinking!" I cried, clapping my hands over my ears.
My goodness, she certainly seems overwhelmed.
I wonder if she's feeling like I am.
What's wrong with me? Why won't my powers work?
"Leo, how can I stop all this?" I groaned, a headache quickly developing.
"You can't. You can only gain control over your power and learn to block it as much as possible."
Now my head hurts! I hate being an empath.
"This is the only time I can do this. I'll put a block around you, but only long enough for you to hear about your power." Leo stretched out his hand and the thoughts stopped.
"How come she gets to have a block? Every day I have to deal with other people's feelings," Phoebe whined.
"You've had your power for a while. You should be learning how to control it on your own." He turned to me. "From now on, you will be able to hear what people are thinking. The desire to keep something secret may stop a person from transmitting his or her thoughts, but if you really want to know what they're thinking, you'll be able to hear it. Often you'll learn things that you might not want to know. You'll have to figure out when to say something and when to keep quiet.
"There is a way to psychically block other people's thoughts. However, you will still hear some thoughts. Psychic energies aren't as strong as spells, not that you could use a spell to block your power. In order to create a block, you have to close your eyes and clear your mind. See within your mind's eye the psychic energies that surround all of us. Imagine a white light engulfing your entire body. Know that it will block out the thoughts of others."
"Hey Yoda, can I use this method too?" Phoebe questioned.
"Yes."
I did as he said.
"I'm taking off the block now."
I hope this does something. Paige's negativity is killing me.
"I heard that, Phoebe. It didn't work."
"It didn't work for me either. I can still feel Paige."
"It's not a complete block. You will hear and feel far less, but you still are empaths and telepaths."
I waited for more thoughts, but none came. "He's right."
Leo looked up. "I'm being called. Practice meditation and those psychic blocks." He orbed out.
This is pointless! I'm never going to get more powers. I might as well give up now.
"Get confident. I hate feeling like this," Phoebe said.
"I heard that," I said at the same moment.
"You two make a creepy team," Piper commented and stood up. Blowing up things and stopping time have nothing in common. What could my third power possibly be?
I thought. "Both concern particles. If you think about it, stopping time is all about particles. Time isn't real, so you can't be stopping it. You must be slowing the particles down so much that they're unable to move. When you blow up things, you speed up the particles, making them unstable." I paused, working it out. "Slowing down molecules, speeding them up, what could be left?"
"Did you just grab that out of the air?" Phoebe asked.
"I grabbed it out of her head. Sorry, Piper."
"She's only a little annoyed."
"Pheebs, no offense, but let me tell her how I'm feeling."
"Sorry."
"Well, at least you figured out the connection," Piper said. "Wish it made sense."
"I think you have to turn to science for the answer," I said.
A whole research project? It'll be challenging. I'd better get started.
"Good idea, but I don't see how that could be fun."
Piper didn't even bother to say anything; she just left.
"How can she be eager about research?" Phoebe wondered aloud.
I need some time alone, Paige thought.
"I—"
"We understand."
"Disturbing." She started to orb, then stopped. "I feel like following the rules." She chose to walk.
"Is it just me, or do we have the weirdest sisters ever?" Phoebe asked, shaking her head.
"You're warning me that everyone is going to have a bout of the sillies?" I asked, trying to be serious.
"Sillinsusa is due to go around. It's a wizard disease. The contagiousness is like a cold," Piper said.
"How do you even know this?" Phoebe asked.
"I came across it during my research. I looked at a few charts, and it's going to go around soon."
"Why does this even matter?"
"It will explain if you start finding everything amusing for no reason," Piper replied. "We're all probably going to catch the sillies."
Phoebe laughed.
"See? You've already caught it."
"I don't think that's why she's laughing," I said. "It's just that the idea is so ridiculous."
"It can cause some minor problems. You might laugh at inappropriate times or be unable to do anything because you're laughing too often."
"So how long do the sillies last?" I asked.
"It varies. If you've been needing a release, they'll last longer."
"We'll keep our guard up," Phoebe said.
Piper threw her a look. "Where's Paige?"
"I don't know. I think she's trying to force her powers to work."
Oh no! I forgot to study for that test!
Is she looking at me? Of course not.
How dare she say something like that!
"Shush!" I said, making Piper jump.
"Too much thinking?"
"All these people, constantly thinking. Thinking, thinking, thinking! It's going to drive me crazy!"
"Do you feel like you don't know what you're thinking?" Phoebe asked seriously.
"Yeah. Is it the same with you?"
She nodded. "I'm getting better at that blocking thing, though."
Piper gulped down the last bit of orange juice in her cup. "We should get to classes now."
"You can stop time," Phoebe said. "You don't have to worry about that."
"We were told not to use our powers when we're not around Leo. I—"
"Like the rules," I finished.
"Just get going."
The first class was History of Magic. Professor Binns was a boring man. He had a talent at sucking the energy out of the room. In my boredom, I decided to read some minds. A little voice, which sounded remarkably like Piper's, nagged that I was invading their privacy and breaking the rules. I ignored it. I chose to read Katy's mind. Katy was a shy girl with a talent for charms. I didn't know much about her.
He's so cute. Mark will never notice me. No one does. They wouldn't even want to. I'm not pretty; I'm not smart. I've got nothing going for me. He's looking at me. I'll bet he thinks that I'm weird.
That wasn't what Mark was thinking.
I wonder if Katy would talk to me. No, she wouldn't. She doesn't talk to anyone. She sure is pretty.
It appeared that my power might be handy after all.
Paige
"Book!" I called again. I scowled as it just sat there. "Quill!" I swore when it remained stationary. "Fine then. I'll try to orb to a different plane."
I was able to orb, but I only ended up back in the room. I had tried every power possible, and I was still left only with the ability to orb. I seized the quill and snapped it in half. For a while, I took out my anger on the things near me. In the end, the room was quite a wreck. Books and papers were everywhere. Almost everything was covered in ink. A bit of magic couldn't hurt…
I brought out my wand and swished it around. Everything went back to its place. With a great sigh, I sat and picked up the broken quill.
As soon as I touched it, the two pieces came together seamlessly. I blinked. What had just happened? I broke the quill again, and, my hand quivering, I touched the two pieces. The result was the same.
From there, I ripped up papers, tore open my bag along the seams, and broke everything in sight. One by one, they all mended themselves as I touched them.
When I grew bored of this, I decided to see if I could heal wounds. Cringing, I gave myself a small paper cut. I touched it and it healed. Only then did the full realization of what this was hit me. I could heal. I finally had my second power! I whooped and ran to tell my sisters.
"So remember, the sillies are going around."
I mentally rolled my eyes. "Will do, Piper."
"No one has shown any signs of the sillies. Are you sure about this?" Phoebe asked.
"Positive. Someone is going to get the sillies. I'd bet my life on it."
I giggled. My sisters stared at me.
"What's so funny?"
That just made me laugh harder. "What's so funny? That's classic, Prue!"
Phoebe seemed to pick up on the joke. "I get it!" she howled with laughter.
Now Prue caught on. "What's so funny… I get it!" she said, choking with laughter.
"I told you! The sillies are going…" Piper stopped. Her lips pulled into a smile. Soon she was laughing as hard as we were. Once or twice, we almost stopped. Then we would look at each other and start laughing again.
I felt all my frustrations floating away. Who cared about those things? Life was hilarious!
"That was great," Piper said, wiping a tear away.
"And now," I struck a pose, "onto classes!"
We dragged ourselves to classes laughing like crazy.
We weren't the only ones to catch the sillies. Even the strictest teachers caught it. If you walked down any hall, you would find a group of students or teachers roaring with laughter. Nobody was bothered by it except for those who didn't catch it. It seemed that if you didn't have a sense of humor, you couldn't catch the sillies.
After a while, classes were cancelled for a week because the teachers thought it would be funny. Leo found it impossible to teach us anything because whenever he said something, we would burst out laughing.
"Your powers are based on three things: the mind, the body, and the spirit. Prue, your power element is movement. The mind's power is telepathy. The body's power is telekinesis. The spirit's power is astral projection."
We all burst out laughing. "Good one, Leo! Tell us another."
He continued, trying to ignore the fact that we were all gasping for breath as we laughed. "Phoebe, your powers are based on breaking rules."
"She does like to break rules!" Another round of laughs was set off.
"Your mind power is premonition. Your body power is levitation. Your spirit power is empathy."
"How about me? Hey, that rhymes with Phoebe!" I said.
"Your spirit power is healing. Your body power is orbing. You still have to find your mind power. Piper, you have to find your body power," Leo said loudly over our mirth.
We clutched our sides.
"That is it! I'll come back when you're over the sillies."
"Bye Leo!" we snorted with laughter.
It didn't take too long for the sillies to disperse. Piper was one of the last ones to get over them. She was probably making up for years of seriousness.
"You know, a case of the sillies was probably the best thing for me. I've never felt so uninhibited. From now on, I'm going to be more fun-loving. I won't care about what other people think of me, and I'm going to love life," she told us. She then went up to Remus and kissed him in front of everyone.
"Wow. She's never shown affection in front of other people before," Prue commented.
"Aw, our little Piper is growing out of her shell," Phoebe said with a reminiscent smile.
"It's about time."