Title: Infinitie Possibilities Chapter Four: Veritas

Author: Johanney

Keywords: A/U

Rating: PG-13

Disclaimer: I'm on chapter four now, and I haven't gotten any money yet. I think I've figured it out.

Summary: A direct pick-up from chapter three, Natalis. If you're confused, click back to that first.

Author's Note: Finally! Chapter four! I hope everyone who has liked this story so far will remember it so I can get some more encouragement whether or not to go on. I swear, my updates will be more regular once school is over. It's killing me!!

The look on Pryce's face was akin to horror. She had seen some decidedly strange things in the last four weeks, but this by far took the cake. A flame had come out of her, out of her finger, out of her body, and it had obviously happened because she'd been unable to control her emotions.

Curling up more tightly, she scooted into a corner of the attic and looked at her sisters with haunted eyes.

Piper had taken the yellowed spell away from Prue and was trying to read it; she had yet to see the offending article. Prue made her way to her baby sister.

"Stay away, Prue," Pryce warned, her voice trembling. "I'm dangerous. You guys all need to stay away from me. I can't control myself. I'm no better than a demon."

"No, that's not true." Prue took another confident step. It was clear to her that, just like the rest of them, Pryce's powers were governed by her emotions, and in a matter of time, they would find a way to use this latest development as an asset. "You were angry." Another step. "You just need to learn how to control this. It's just another power."

"That's not what the book said," she answered, sniffling back tears. "The book said that I could succumb to the temptation of evil."

"Honey, that's true about anyone," Phoebe joined in, stepping next to Prue. "Magical or not, any person can be tempted by evil, right, Piper?" She looked over her shoulder to her other sister for support, but Piper was busying herself with some task, reading the spell page as she went.

"Piper, what're you doing over there?" Phoebe was confused. "That spell's not even complete."

"It is now," she answered distractedly, arranging candles in a cleared space on the floor before continuing. "Maybe it's just one of those power of the witches things. Maybe we all had to touch it to get the whole thing."

"Why would Grams do that to me?" Pryce asked from her corner. "Why didn't she just leave a complete spell, or my adoption papers, or even a letter?" In that instant, her eyes widened. She'd just had a realization. If a book could turn its own pages as it chose, if words could appear on paper, maybe there was an explanation for the blank letter in her sock drawer.

In a flash, she was on her feet, and the first thought that went through her mind was that of going to look at the letter to check for new developments, but she was hit by Piper's intrigue with the spell she was trying to concoct. For a moment, she simply stood and let her sister's thoughts/feelings wash over her.

Despite her impatience to check the letter again for new developments, she lingered in the attic, deciding to go along with her sisters and perform the spell. After all, maybe the spell would conjure the words on the papers, or maybe something or someone would appear to finally tell her the truth.

"Pryce?" Prue said apprehensively, looking her sister over, clearly confused by her change in attitude. A moment ago, she'd been crouched on the floor in terror of herself, and now she was standing in front of her, looking inspired. "What are you thinking?"

"We should give this spell a shot," she breathed, tired from having her mind race so quickly. "Maybe it is a letter from Grams."

"That's the spirit," Piper called from her spot near her completed candle arrangement. "Now, come on, all of you, get your butts over here. Let's get down to this." She beckoned with her hand, but it was not necessary as the other three complied quickly.

Following Piper's lead, the four sisters joined hands and repeated the spell she dictated, line for line. At the end, they waited breathlessly and were rewarded with a slight breeze that ruffled their hair. They chanted again, and again, and again, growing more intense each time until finally, finally, a swirl of glittering gold and white light appeared, along with a wind that extinguished the candles and blew dust from various items into the sisters' eyes.

After the wind settled and they opened their eyes, they were stunned into silence.

"M . . .Mom?" Prue finally stammered, quickly surveying the woman at the center of the circle.

It was, in fact, the late Patty Halliwell, and it seemed to Prue and Piper, the sisters that remembered her, she had not changed one bit in appearance since the day she died. That is, except for the fact that she was slightly transparent. It seemed not to bother her as her shiny eyes surveyed her three daughters head to foot and then turned her attention to Pryce. There was a look on her ghostly face that Pryce would later describe as "love-struck."

"Why did our spell summon you?" Prue asked. She seemed the only one to have regained the power to speak as yet.

Patty's gaze continued to linger on Pryce for another moment before she turned to her eldest daughter.

"Your Grams and I have been planning for today for over twenty years," she began with a sigh that sent a chill through the four sisters. "But now that I'm here, with all of you again, I can't even remember what we'd decided to say."

"Planning twenty years for what?" Phoebe asked in surprise. It was hard to take her eyes off of her mother, being that she'd been very young when Patty had died, but when she could, she was exchanging puzzled looks with her sisters.

Patty sighed again. "Girls, what happened to Sam after I died?"

"Sam the Whitelighter? He came around once, he seemed really depressed, and we never saw him again." Piper answered, unsure of what her mother's Whitelighter boyfriend had to do with her visit on Pryce's birthday. "It broke his heart when you died."

Patty nodded. "Yes, that broke his heart, but what destroyed him was that he knew what was going to happen to our daughter once I got 'up there.'"

"Daughter?" Prue was astonished. "I never thought I'd say this to you, let alone see you again, Mom, but can you please cut to the chase?"

Patty sighed again, and gave a faint smile. Her eldest had always wanted the straight facts, even as a tiny child.

"All right, then. You see, girls, when I died, I was pregnant with Sam's child. Our relationship alone broke every rule about witches and their Whitelighters, and now that I had to go up there, there was no way to hide the child." Her gaze dropped to the floor for a moment, ashamed. "If I'd have been here on earth, I could have hidden her, given her up for adoption, kept her a secret from the Elders so that they wouldn't punish any of you.

"It's pretty obvious by the way I look, girls, time stands still up there. I spent nearly two years with a baby inside of me, a baby which neither grew nor withered because she was in a state of limbo, just like me, while I begged the Elders to have mercy on my girls, to let them fulfill their destinies."

It was obvious to the sisters where Patty's story was going. Prue, Piper and Phoebe all turned to Pryce, whose face was contorted in a mask of pain and confusion. Her eyes were narrow slits, they bore intense hatred, her body was locked in its' spot and she kept watching Patty as the story continued.

"Finally, they came to a decision. Our child could still be a powerful witch, at a price. She would only have powers when the Charmed Ones were intact, and could grow up with them, be raised by my own mother, so long as she acted as if this child were an anonymous baby left on her doorstep until the day she died."

Patty turned to her youngest daughter and it was clear there were tears shimmering on her transparent face.

"I chose your name. I wanted the world to know, and my mother to remember, that saving you and giving you a life with your sisters was worth the cost."

All of this was too much for Pryce. Hadn't the last month been enough for her? Hadn't most of her life been filled with difficulty, confusion, and to top it off, the feeling that she never truly fit in, only to find out she did?!

She didn't even have the energy or passion to scream, or make any sound at all. She simply wrenched her hands from those of her sisters and ran for the door, four sets of confused eyes following her.