Prue

Voices… so many voices…

"Aunt Phoebe, we need your help…"

"Phoebe, we need your help…"

"I saw children… my child…"

"Prue is dead."

"He took Piper. Voldemort has her."

"The Power of Three is gone. Paige is dead. Prue and Piper are the only ones left."

"Chris is Wyatt's little brother."

"Phoebe is still the Queen of the Underworld. There's nothing we can do about it."

"Paige, Chris is your son."

"Evil has won. No one can stop Voldemort."

"The Source has risen again."

"We didn't achieve our destiny. The Source has triumphed over the Power of Four."

"We can't…"

"We can't…"

I sat up, feeling dizzy and disorientated. What was that all about? I was used to weird dreams, but there was something especially odd about that dream. I hadn't seen anything. I had only heard the voices. Just one more odd thing to add to the list. I got up, trying to clear my mind.

"Prue."

I turned to see Phoebe. But she wasn't Phoebe. She looked more like a spirit… but how was that possible?

"Phoebe, what happened to you?" I asked.

"Nothing," she answered. "What happened to you? Are you astral projecting?"

"No." I looked down. I was indeed solid.

"I see what you mean, Pheebs. Maybe we should call Leo," a shadowy Piper said.

"You're not real." I backed away from them.

"What are you talking about, Prue?" Piper asked.

"You're the one who seems to be disappearing," Phoebe said.

"But you're not real!"

"Prue?" Paige opened the door. The apparitions vanished. "Whom are you talking to?"

"Did you… did you see them?"

"See who?" Paige asked.

"Uh… no one."

"You sounded awfully panicked. More weird stuff?"

"Yes," I said. "I saw something. Two things, actually."

"What?"

"I saw apparitions of Phoebe and Piper."

"But they're fine. I just passed Phoebe in the hall."

"I don't think that it was them."

"What could it have been?"

"It might have been Morrigan," I said. "She did mess with my telepathy. Maybe she's messing around with my astral projection."

"Did you go into Morrigan mode?"

"No. I didn't have the emotion necessary."

"Well maybe she's just trying to get your attention. She did that to me."

"I guess."

"Well, we should get down there. The new parents are having a lot of fun with Nick."

"Yeah, I'll be down in a minute." I'm either going crazy or this is Morrigan's sign. I wish that she would just come out and say whatever she wants to say… But it doesn't work like that, unfortunately. Ancient spirits can't just appear. Everything always has to be so complicated.

"You'll get used to this eventually. It's going to even out," Piper was telling Phoebe when I walked into the kitchen.

"I hope so. I thought pregnancy was bad. This is exhausting. But I love my little boy. Morning, Prue."

"Morning." I started to make some coffee. I really need a pick up.

"Leo, will you take Chris and Wyatt to Magic School?" I heard Piper ask.

Say what? I turned back towards them. Apparition Piper was back, along with an apparition Leo and apparition Phoebe.

"Whoa," apparition Piper said. "Leo, what's wrong with Prue?"

"She must be astral projecting."

"I'm not astral projecting," I said. "We went through this."

The real Piper and Phoebe looked at me. "What did you say?"

"Don't you see them?" I motioned towards the apparitions.

"No…"

"Prue, what are you talking about?" apparition Piper asked.

"You're not real."

"You're acting really weird," real Phoebe said.

I closed my eyes. When I opened them, the apparitions were not only still there, more had joined them. There was another Piper apparition and a Paige apparition.

"Prue?" they all chorused.

"Okay, everyone just stop. Leo!"

"Leo's right here, Prue," the first apparition of Piper said.

"None of you can see… yourselves, can you?" I questioned.

"Of course not."

"Okay…" I wasn't sure what I had to do.

"What's going on?"

Two apparitions of myself appeared. The other apparitions looked from me to their own Prue. My sisters just stared at me, clearly confused.

"I don't think that's Prue…" apparition Phoebe said.

"Morrigan, I have no idea what you're trying to tell me," I said, confusing everyone.

"Who's Morrigan?" most of the apparitions questioned.

They promptly disappeared.

"Prue, do you care to explain?" Piper asked.

"I will as soon as I figure this out."

"Where did everyone go?" I asked Paige that evening. It seemed that we were quite alone.

"They're checking out a magical daycare."

"They found a magical daycare?"

"Yes. Leo found it for Piper. It'll be perfect for the kids."

"That's good," I said. "It's going to be hard for us to watch three magical kids all the time."

"Yeah. What the heck is this?" Paige held up a bottle of wine. "Where did this come from?"

"I don't know. We're not exactly big drinkers." I looked it over. "Looks fine to me. You want to try some?"

"No thanks. I'm doing some paperwork and I need a clear mind. Those muggles have to complicate everything."

"They just can't handle magic." A little bit of wine won't kill me… I poured myself a glass as Paige disappeared into the other room. I took a long sip, enjoying it. This stuff is pretty good. What brand is this? "Dionysus's Brew." Never heard of it. I took another sip. It was around then that I started to feel odd. My vision started to become blurry. What's going on? I took a few unsteady steps and fell to the ground. "Pa-Pai—" I drew in a ragged breath.

A white light flashed before my eyes… Then everything was okay. I stood up and looked down at myself. I was wearing a torn dress. My feet were bare. My hair was tangled in rough braids, though most of it was left unbraided. This was right. I had to sing. The song was in my heart. "O Bacchanals come, oh come. Sing Dionysus, sing to the timbrel, the deep-voiced timbrel. Joyfully praise him, him who brings joy. Holy, all holy music is calling. To the hills, to the hills, fly, O Bacchanal swift of foot. On, O joyful, be fleet."

"Prue, what's…" Paige looked me up and down. "What happened to you?"

I placed an ivy wreath on her head. "Come, sister, and drink to Dionysus."

"Prue, what's up with you? What did you do to your hair? What happened to your clothes?"

"I have become one with nature. It is a great joy. Join me."

"Phoebe! Piper!"

I laughed. "They cannot help you. No one can." A frenzied ecstasy overtook me. I jumped onto her, wanting to taste her blood. She orbed away. "I can still sense you, Paige! You'll be back." Someone grabbed me. "I don't think so!" I got out of the person's grip and whirled around.

Phoebe, Piper, and Paige were standing in front of me. "Are you going to tell us what's happening to you?"

"Why should I tell you anything?" I spat.

"Because you look like a wild woman," Piper said. She then spotted the wine bottle. "Where did that come from?"

"Dionysus."

"Still not going to talk?" Phoebe asked.

"I told you the truth. Drink it. Taste of the wonders of Dionysus."

"Dionysus?" Piper said. "Not more Greek mythology."

"It would seem that we're a magnet for that stuff," Phoebe said. "So this has to do with Greek mythology. Love of Dionysus… Insanity… Weird appearance…"

"Of course," Paige said suddenly. "I can't believe I didn't see it before."

"What?"

"She's a maenad."

"Maenad?"

"It's a woman who's frenzied by wine," Paige said. "They would run through the forests, tearing apart any wildlife… or humans."

The delicate sense of control began to disappear again. I attacked them, but this time they were able to knock me out with a spell. I wasn't out long. I woke up to find that I was pinned against the floor.

"Tie her down," Phoebe ordered. Paige obeyed.

"You can't do this to me," I hissed. "I'm more powerful than you."

"Not anymore," Paige said. "I bound your powers when you were out."

"Bitch," I spat.

"Oh, I know you don't mean that."

"But I do. I will kill you and the other two… maybe even those children."

"I must say, Voldemort is quite creative. Turning you into a maenad is something we wouldn't have expected."

"My lord is far greater than you."

"Who is your lord?" Phoebe idly asked. "Dionysus or Voldemort?"

"They are the same."

"Ah. Well, don't fret, my dear. We'll take care of this."

"Ha! I will taste your blood before you can try anything."

Phoebe blew a kiss to me and left.

Sirius orbed in with Remus and the kids.

"I smell fresh blood! Let me go!" I struggled.

"Calm down, missy," Paige said. "You're not getting out of there anytime soon."

"What's wrong with her?" Sirius asked.

"She's been turned into a maenad," Piper answered.

"Voldemort?"

"Yes. He just won't give up. We'll have to watch her carefully. Paige, do you mind taking watching her while we look for the spell?"

"Not at all."

They left.

"You will pay for this," I promised.

"Could you drop that attitude?" Paige said.

"Why should I? You're keeping me here against my will."

"So sad. Just don't start singing that ridiculous song."

I smirked and started to sing. "O Bacchanals come, oh come. Sing Dionysus—"

"Stop or I shall erase that song from your mind."

"I may not have my powers, but I am still a maenad. I'm still… tricky." I slipped my hand out of the ropes.

"What are you—hey!" She hit me with a spell. "I still have a wand."

"Fine," I said. After a long silence, I told her, "They aren't going to find a spell."

"What makes you say that?"

"Because I'm no ordinary maenad. I'm still a Charmed One. The usual spell won't work."

"I don't trust you. Why would you want me to know?" Paige inquired.

"Because you can't stop me. You can only let me go."

"We will turn you back. There are tons of spells in the world. There's bound to be one that will turn you back."

"This spell was created by the Dark Lord."

"La de da," she said in a bored voice.

"He's found a way to break up the Power of Four." Suddenly, something changed. "Help me, Paige," I whimpered. "Shut up!"

"Prue?"

"The spell won't work. No!"

"Prue, you have to overcome this."

"We have the spell," Piper announced. "The Power of Four would be best, but Prue obviously won't cooperate."

"Let's try it. Restore this soul back to herself, bring her back from wine's call, free her from Dionysus, let this not be her downfall." She watched me anxiously.

"I'm afraid you're going to try harder." I gasped as a pain griped me.

"What's wrong with her?" Paige asked.

"She's going onto the next step," Piper said.

"But that's total control," Phoebe gasped.

I screamed in agony. "To bring me back…"

"What does that mean?"

Piper knew. "The sisterhood spell!"

"Bring back this one to me, bring her back to her sisters three, bring her here, bring her near!"

"You may have won this time," I growled in a voice that wasn't mine. "But I will win. She can hear my thoughts… I can use that… I will use her…" I shuddered and morphed into myself. I could still feel him in me. He had left a lasting impression.

"Prue, are you all right?"

"He's still in me." I felt so hollow… yet at the same time, I was full of his darkness. I took in shallow, heaving breaths. My eyes rolled back into my head.

"Leo!"

But her voice was fading fast.

Piper

"I don't understand this. What's wrong?" I asked Leo. Prue was completely unconnected with the world. We couldn't reach her at all.

"It seems like her mind is trying to recover from the ordeal. She suffered a lot of spiritual damage. She needs to recuperate."

"Leo, it's never that simple in our family."

"That isn't simple."

"What do you mean?" I asked.

"I don't know how long it's going to take her to wake up," Leo answered. "It could be a day or it could be forever."

"You mean to tell me that she may never wake up?"

"It's possible."

"But she's a Charmed One. She's Prue, for God's sake." I shook my head. "She'll take this challenge and kick its ass. That's what she does."

"She probably will wake up, but even then she may not be the Prue that you know now. She could wake up to be the child Prue."

"That won't happen. That can't happen."

"It can happen. I hope that it won't, but anything's possible right now. She's lost within herself. We can't reach her."

"What are we going to do? We need the Power of Four. I need my big sister," I said.

"There's nothing that we can do right now. Just be patient."

"Patient?" I exclaimed. "I don't know what's going to happen to Prue. I can't be patient."

"You'll have to try. Keep me updated."

"I will."

He disappeared up there. I turned to my children. I wanted them to know their aunt. I wanted them to be protected by the Power of Four. Prue will get through this. She's a fighter. But what if she wakes up as a child? We could handle it, but it would complicate things. And what if a demon attacks her while she's in that state? Damn Voldemort. That's probably his plan. He always has to cook up some complicated plot. He's a tricky bastard. A tear formed.

"She's going to get through this," Remus said.

"Hey, honey," I said, wiping the tear quickly away. "I didn't hear you come in."

"Prue is far too determined and strong to let this take control of her."

"I hope so, but there's still that possibility…"

"Piper, you know that she can overcome this. You four have gone through so much before. She's still there. She's going to come back."

"Are you sure that isn't just false hope? Voldemort is—"

"—not as strong as the Power of Four. Voldemort won't succeed. You have far too much power."

"We still have so many other challenges before us. We have to master Morrigan's power. We have to make sure that Voldemort is defeated. And Wyatt… We have to save him. You and Sirius are getting caught up in this. What if you get hurt?"

"You're my wife, Piper," Remus said. "I love you, and I will be with you through the good times and the bad. I want to help you with this, and I will."

I smiled. "That's why I love you. You always know what to say." He wrapped his arms around me and brought me close. I knew that everything would be okay as long as he was there. He meant so much to me. I smiled even more as I thought of our first kiss.

"What?"

"I was just thinking about our first kiss. I was so panicked that I froze you."

"You never told me that."

"I've grown up a lot since then."

"We all have."

"But our love is still the same. I wish I had tried to talk to you again. If I had, we could have been together all along."

"That doesn't matter. We're together now."

"Sorry to ruin this moment, but Prue just woke up," Paige informed us. We hastened to Prue's room.

"Prue?"

"You know, I've been hearing that tone a lot today." She smirked. She was fine. "I had a battle royal with Voldemort. But it was my mind, my domain. He didn't stand a chance."

"Thank God you're okay," I sighed.

"Voldemort's a pushover when it comes to the spiritual realm."

That struck me as odd. But I ignored it and concentrated on Prue. "You really scared us. I barely slept last night."

"How long was I out?"

"Just last night and today."

"I lost all that time?" Prue frowned.

"Prue, you just overcame Voldemort," Paige said. "A little lost time isn't that important."

"That's what you say. Our schedule is packed. Come on, let's get caught up."

That's Prue for you.

"We've got a meeting for the Order. Dumbledore will want to know about all the weird stuff that happened lately," Phoebe told us. "It is a beautiful day. I love summer." She smiled widely.

"First night of peace?" I asked.

"You could say that."

"Oh. So it was a good night?" Paige said with a wink.

"Very good."

"Well get ready for another hectic day," I said. "This is the first meeting of the summer. Snape's going to be going on about his spy junk."

"Now Piper…" Prue said.

"What? I really don't like Snape."

"None of us do, but he can help us with this. We need to know what Voldemort is up to in order to protect Wyatt and Nick."

"Yeah…"

Things were a little easier with Wyatt and Nick. We were still worried about them, but we had gone through a lot. We felt a sort of peace in the house. Hopefully it would last.

"It seems like we're doing a pretty good job with them."

"We're on the right track," Paige said. "We all feel it."

"Just as long as it isn't a false sense of security," Prue said.

"Pessimist."

"I believe you're the cynic," Phoebe said.

"Must run in the family."

The meeting, while quite normal in its subject matter, had an ominous feeling about it. It felt like there was some unfinished business hanging around. It was a jerky feeling that only we noticed. Even though the others didn't notice, it was still there, and it was still strong.

"It's coming from Dumbledore," Phoebe murmured to us after the meeting. "He has something troubling him."

"Should we ask him about it?" I asked.

"Yes. He's hesitant about approaching us."

That was quite unlike Dumbledore. Something was wrong.

"It has to do with Morrigan, but it's clouded. He's unsure about it."

We approached him, wondering what he would say.

"Sir, we'd like to know more about your connection with Morrigan," I said.

Dumbledore sighed wearily. For once, I saw his age. "Perhaps it is time for us to talk." He took a moment to collect his thoughts, then began. "It was long ago that I discovered the tale of Morrigan. I was just starting to teach at Hogwarts. Grindelwald was the biggest threat then. I wanted to find a force powerful enough to help me accomplish my goals. I eventually found Morrigan."

"What exactly is her tale?" Phoebe questioned. "We couldn't find much on her."

"There is a good reason why. It's because of the great power she holds. Someone with enough power would be able to attempt to bring her into the world again. Of course, no one would be able to take her powers, but it would disturb the natural balance of forces, for Morrigan grew more powerful in death. As for her tale… Queen Morrigan was the first great magical ruler. She brought magic together and established order within our world. She had four forms. She drew her power from them. She fought demonic forces and created the long line of Wiccan witches. No one could control her children, but as the generations grew, her protection weakened. They were more vulnerable to the forces of evil. One of them became evil. He was the first Source of All Evil. He did terrible things in the world, but he was suppressed by his family. He could never gain power as great as Morrigan's, though. Before she died, Morrigan made a promise. Until the Great Four come, my power shall only be mine. That stopped all people from reaching her height of power."

"Is that why Voldemort could never have a greater power?" Prue asked.

"Yes. He did not die, but he is not invincible. Well, after I found Morrigan, I first attempted to contact her. I was unable to. The mention of the Great Four, however, intrigued me. After some time, I found another prediction involving four witches. The Charmed Ones. I searched for these witches for quite some time. I was about to give up when Patricia Halliwell came to me and told me about her other daughter. I had found four sisters in a Wiccan family. I was certain that you were the ones.

"But it was not a certain thing. I knew that I could only wait." He paused. "Yet as I pondered the situation one night, a great force entered my office. It was indescribable. I knew that I was in the presence of Queen Morrigan. I was at last sure that you were indeed the Great Four. Finally your powers were revealed. I could have told you about Morrigan then, but it was not time. You had to find those emotions within yourself before you could accept Morrigan.

"And now we are here. The stage has been set. The players are all together. There is not script any longer. You have the power. Your children have come into play. Harry will soon be ready. Nothing is assured except your power. I've been waiting to tell you all this, but I had to let everything run its course. If I had interfered, you might not have received Morrigan's gift. You are ready for this. Take the power and make it your own. You are the ones Morrigan sees fit."

"So this was all meant to happen?" Paige asked.

"Yes. There are still a few holes, though. It's your job to fill those holes. Morrigan has incorporated another variable. You must discover what that variable is before time runs out."

That must be the thing that stops everything from adding up.

There was an odd sucking sound.

"Whoa. That was weird." A young girl had appeared. She looked no older than fourteen. She suddenly noticed us. "Oh dear." She flicked her fingers. "So you're witches. Wait a minute. Mom!" She hugged me.

"Hoooold it," I said. "Who are you?"

"I'm Melinda, your daughter." She smiled.

"Uh… What are you doing here?"

"I was hopping through time because you grounded me and I was bored out of my mind. I was going back to the time when you were teenagers when I kind of got stuck. I got caught up in my emotions when I started to go back, so that messed me up. This has happened before, so I know what to do. I just have to wait it out. Aunt Paige, what's up with your hair? You actually dyed it red?"

"Accidentally."

We are all taking in Melinda's bombshell.

"Am I born yet?" Melinda asked. "Because this would be really weird if you guys didn't know about me."

"Yes."

"Oh good. So you must be Dumbledore. It's good to meet you. Mom told me about you. Too bad you… right… not supposed to reveal information about the future. Anyways—Chris?" Chris had just orbed in. He stared at Melinda incredulously.

"Melinda?"

"Yup. What are you doing here?"

"I'm here the change the past."

"You look older," Melinda said.

"I am," Chris replied.

"Wait. Why did you come back? It seems more natural that I would come," Melinda said.

"You know I can't tell you that."

"I'll just go to the future, then."

"Trust me, you don't want to go there," Chris said. "It's a wasteland."

"Probably my stupid brother's fault." She rolled her eyes.

Remus walked in. "I was wondering what happened to you."

"Dad!" She hugged him.

Remus looked understandably surprised. "Did you just call me dad?"

"Yes. I'm Melinda. I came back from the future."

"Oh."

"I know this is a lot, but you won't remember any of this. Chris will take care of that."

"What?" I said.

"Melinda, don't reveal any more information," Chris warned her.

"Sorry. I know I have a big mouth. But I don't see the harm. They'll forget it anyways. Aunt Phoebe, watch out for—"

"She might remember some of this," Chris interrupted. "You know Phoebe."

"Yes, I do. Oh, my power's back in order. Mom, dad, much love. Y'all have a good time with Wyatt. Chris, if you would." She bowed a little and disappeared.

"Chris, what—" My words were cut short as I locked eyes with Chris. For a moment, everything was meaningless. Then it was back to normal. "Thanks for telling us all that, Dumbledore. We'll keep looking for that variable."

"I have a feeling that you'll find it soon. After all, you are the Great Four." He had regained the brilliance that shone in his eyes.

If he is that confident, we should be too. We have Morrigan on our side. We're greater than Voldemort. That was promised to us. Dumbledore always knows when things are going to turn out right. We'll trust in him and Morrigan. She certainly has become a big part of our lives. But we were always destined for this. We had to end up here. We're going to take this to the end. We will be the ones to end this battle.