Title: Infinite Possibilities
Author: Johanney
Keywords: A/U
Rating: PG-13
Disclaimer: I don't own anyone except Pryce. In fact, with the way that the girls have been acting lately, I'm glad I don't own them: They're all up for a good punch in the face.
Author's Note: Please read/review. Let me know if I should keep going!!
Summary: We're picking up where we left off; in fact, it's the next morning!
Infinite Possibilities Chapter 2: A Warm Breeze
The next morning dawned rather uneventfully for Pryce. The only changes she noted was that the power was back on, evident from the blinking 12:00 on her alarm clock, and the chill that had come over the house following the rain. She hated cold mornings, and therefore had a difficult time getting out of the cocoon of warm blankets she'd created during the night.
At least it was Saturday, she told herself as she pulled a sweatshirt on over her pajamas and pulled her long, light brown hair into a ponytail. Saturdays usually meant that Prue and Piper were both at work and she got the house to herself to watch cartoons, eat junk food and lie around all day in her pajamas.
Now that she thought about it, things may be a little different this week, seeing as how Phoebe was back. She hoped that her older sister, like herself, was chalking the events of last night up to freaky coincidence and wouldn't want to mention it, especially around Prue.
Their eldest sister would freak if she found out that both of them had been exploring in the attic, and Pryce really didn't want to deal with any more conflict. As she walked downstairs to head for the kitchen, she remembered how tense things had been at the Manor between her sisters, and the events preceding and following Grams' death. She prayed that her sisters would come to some sort of reconciliation, given the effects that the big fights used to have on the family, especially her.
Though she hated to admit it, every time things got emotionally charged around her, Pryce got horrible dizzy spells that she hated more than anything. Her counselor, the only person she ever admitted these to, reassured her that they were from the mixture of complicated situations in her life and had taught her some deep breathing exercises to try to work around them.
When she entered the kitchen, she was surprised to find Piper there, cleaning up the breakfast dishes and humming a nervous tune. Upon hearing Pryce entering, she turned and offered the girl a smile.
"Hey, Sleepyhead, I was starting to wonder when you were going to drag yourself out of bed. What were you doing up so late, anyway?"
"Oh," Pryce attempted to be casual; she was a terrible liar and didn't want what she'd really been doing to get back to her other sisters, that is, until Phoebe spilled the beans, which she would probably do.
"Not too much of anything," she mumbled, reaching into the refrigerator for the carton of milk and walking to the center island to pour a glass. "Just catching up on some reading for English class."
As she began to pour, one of her dizzy spells gripped her, and she held onto the counter for support as she put down the carton and tried to focus on breathing. As she did, something hit her, it almost sounded like Piper's voice, but she was looking at her, she wasn't speaking. Instead, it seemed to skip her ears and go directly to her brain, it was a thought, a little bit of doubt, disbelief, her sister didn't really think she'd been reading, and it wasn't really a verbal thought, it was a feeling, one that ebbed against her like a warm summer breeze and gave her a headache.
Now she was holding the countertop with both hands and leaning into it, closing her eyes and focusing only on 'in through the nose, out through the mouth' like Lynda, her counselor, had said. The feeling that someone had kicked over a hornet's nest in her head and they were all buzzing around inside would not quit, so she simply held on and breathed as she felt concern wash over her. Piper was worried about her. She was scared that Pryce was reverting back to when the fights were bad, and she didn't know what to do, and Pryce didn't know how she knew this, or how to reassure her sister because she was terrified as well.
"Just . . . just a bad headache," she managed between her deep breaths. "Shouldn't have been reading by a flashlight for so long, I guess." She forced herself to sit at one of the kitchen chairs and take a sip of her milk. "I'm okay."
"Are you sure?" Piper was coming closer, and as she did, she felt/heard more and the buzzing increased. She needed to keep her sister at a distance, it seemed to help. "You're really pale, let me take your temperature." She put out her hand but Pryce shook her head. She was going to work through this, she had to.
"I'm okay, really, I didn't sleep enough and used the flashlight too long. I need a new contact lens prescription, that's all."
"You don't look okay to me, Pryce. You could be really sick."
"I'm fine, and I'll be even better when you stop worrying so much and finish up what you need to do."
Finally, to Pryce's relief, Piper shrugged and headed back over to the sink. Her thoughts/feelings didn't completely go away, but they faded a bit the further she went.
"Where's everyone else?" She did what she thought was best: Keep breathing, keep up the chitchat, and it would pass, just like always.
"Prue's at Buckland's, as usual. Phoebe should be home soon, she went to do some paperwork at the University."
Piper dried her hands on a dishtowel and turned to face her little sister again, disbelief in her eyes.
"You're sure you're okay?"
"Yeah." Pryce managed a nod as she continued to fight both the headache and the wave of nausea that was beginning. "I'm gonna go up and take a nap." She willed herself to stand and force a smile. This was by far her worst attack ever.
Piper nodded. "That sounds like a good idea. I've got to get to my tryout. Make sure everyone knows they're on their own for dinner tonight."
"Jeremy again?" Pryce asked, sticking out her tongue. Piper had been dating Jeremy for a few weeks now, and there was something about him that she just didn't like. It was one of those feelings that you couldn't put a finger on, but it was always there, nagging away.
"What's wrong with him? He's a good guy," Piper defended her latest guy as Pryce walked past her to head upstairs.
"He seems like a bum," Pryce answered, moving as quickly as she could past her sister to avoid another wave of thoughts/feelings. "Have fun," she called weakly over her shoulder, heading up the stairs and curling up in her bed again, where, without any interruptions, she drifted off to sleep.
She felt them before she heard them. Pryce had dressed and was sprawled out on her bed, writing out an essay about the novel she was reading for class when she felt her sisters in the house. The dizziness hit again, but it was manageable this time, probably because she could tell from the sounds of Prue and Phoebe's voices that they were only in the foyer.
Closing her eyes, Pryce let their thoughts/feelings wash over her, just to see what would happen.
Prue was really angry. That was nothing out of the ordinary with Phoebe around, but she was also confused. Confusion and anger were a volatile mix for Prue, who didn't like being left in the dark about anything. Pryce could understand where she was coming from, maybe because she was feeling those feelings right now.
Phoebe was confused, too, but excitement and curiosity were winning out. She felt it had something to do with the book she'd dug up last night; in fact, she was convinced of that.
Pryce didn't feel as bad as she did in the morning, so she decided to test the waters and head downstairs to see just what her older sisters were yelling about.
"I think you know, Phoebe!" Prue yelled as Pryce stood hesitantly at the foot of the stairs. "You're all excited about the fact that I made a paperweight hit a door without touching it, and I want to know just what the hell's going on."
"I'm not one hundred percent sure that I know what's happening to us," Phoebe replied.
"Us?" Pryce asked breathlessly. She was still dizzy, but she was better because she was letting more of her sisters' feelings into her mind without absorbing them. "What kind of trick did you do?"
"I floated," she answered, as if it were the most normal thing in the world.
"Don't try to get out of it that easy," Prue admonished. "Tell her what else you did."
"I had a vision, like, like a movie in my brain."
"Of what?"
"Of an evil-looking guy attacking someone," Prue quickly answered for Phoebe, evidently eager to get this conversation over with as quickly as possible so they could get to the bottom of the mystery. "Do you know anything about any of this?"
"Uhm, well, something weird happened to me this morning, too."
"Like what?" Phoebe asked, her eyes growing wide with excitement at the prospect of a new "symptom."
"Well, it kinda felt like those dizzy spells I used to have when Grams died, only I felt Piper's feelings when she was in the kitchen. She was all nervous and excited about her date and her tryout, but she didn't believe me when I said that I wasn't in the attic last night."
"What about right now? Can you feel our feelings, or just Piper's?" Phoebe asked excitedly as Prue rolled her eyes.
Pryce nodded slowly. She didn't know how to explain things to her sisters, and now she was even more afraid than she'd been earlier in the day because they were experiencing strange things as well.
"Prue wants to see the book before she rips the hair out of your head, strand-by-strand." The look on Prue's face when Pryce said this told all of the sisters that something was definitely going on, and it wasn't just sisterly intuition.
The three barreled upstairs and checked Phoebe's room for the book. It wasn't where she had left it the night before, but after they peeked into the attic, they found it on a pedestal opposite the large window.
"Let's get to the bottom of this," Prue said, opening the ancient book with one sister at each shoulder, peering over as the pages began to turn themselves until it fell on an entry entitled "The Charmed Ones."
"This explains you and I, Prue," Phoebe breathed after finishing the entry. "Piper, too. Three sisters, only an incantation can break the bind on their powers. We should call Piper to see if anything's happened to her."
Before Prue could reply one way or the other, Phoebe ran past to get the phone downstairs.
"I don't understand how she can honestly be excited about this," Prue shook her head solemnly, then turned to Pryce, who was still intently reading the entry in front of them. Tears were beginning to form in her clear, brilliant blue eyes as she looked over the lines again and again.
"This does explain you guys, but what about me?" She whispered sadly. "I mean, I know that I'm adopted, but you'd think that there'd be some reason why I'd have funky things going on, too. You'd think the answers for me would be in there, too."
Prue reached to comfort her youngest sister, but just as Pryce shrugged away from the embrace, Phoebe began shouting for Prue from downstairs.
"Go ahead. Anyone else's feelings will just make me more dizzy." Her eyes lowered to the book as a tear spilled down her cheek. "I'll let you know if anything else pops up."
She turned for the door, but not before giving the teenager a sad glance that she hoped conveyed her sympathy. The look passed and turned into annoyance as she heard Phoebe call again.
"What's the deal?" Pryce whispered to no one in particular. Her tears were flowing openly now. "What's going on with me? What about me?"
As if finally ready to answer her question, the book began flipping pages again until it landed on a page entitled "The Spare Heir."
Pryce read aloud:
"An extra sister-witch, bound to the others by half-blood, The Spare is more magically gifted than The Charmed Ones, but can only retain her powers when The Charmed Ones are intact. This affliction is a punishment from the highest entities that can never be lifted. The Spare is very useful in fighting evil, as long as she does not succumb to the temptation herself."
