We had to cover ourselves quickly. "The Golden Dawn? Demon, creature, or spell?"
"Don't play stupid, Phoebe. You know very well what I'm talking about." Grams crossed her arms. "The Golden Dawn is incredibly dangerous. They will only trick you."
It looked like we were caught. "Grams, calm down. We're only asking them to help us find Voldemort."
"And they're not having much luck, are they?"
"It's a difficult process," I said.
"They're stalling in order to get to you," Grams said. "They're going to take advantage of you."
"That can't be. I would have sensed something," I said.
"You can't be that certain of your powers."
"Yes, I can. I have to."
"I'm glad that you're so confident, but you're wrong," Grams told me. "I want you to sever all ties with the Golden Dawn. Use a spell if you have to. Just make sure that they can't get to you."
"We've gone this far, and we know that they're good," Piper said. "They help the resistance in the future. Chris?"
"Yes, Chris, how did you get the Golden Dawn on your side?" Grams asked him.
"I'm not the one who got them to support us," Chris said.
"Who did, then?"
"Sirius. We all met with Katana, and she had Sirius go through one of her tests."
"To see how strong he was, I'd assume," Grams said. "As I recall, MacGregor Mathers founded the Golden Dawn saying 'it is better to be the hand of the devil than to be in his path'. It was an idea that he passed onto his son, Bartholomew Mathers. He believed that power was greater than the idea of good and evil."
"But Bartholomew's son rejected the idea and taught his daughter to be good," Chris argued.
"Yes, he did," Grams said. "I have no doubt that Katana is a pure soul. She is trustworthy."
"So why are questioning the Golden Dawn?" I asked.
"For your own good. Many of Katana's followers are more loyal to MacGregor than to her. They still believe what he believed. They didn't come to Katana, nor did she seek them out. They came to MacGregor. Chris, the fact that you are my great-grandson would explain why the Golden Dawn chose to help you. You are almost as powerful as Wyatt. With the added bonus of Harry, the Golden Dawn would have been quite enticed. Katana's followers helped you because you had power, not because they're good."
I was so tired of this. I didn't want to fight with Grams. I just wanted spend some time with my son, and I wanted to get my niece and nephew back. The Elders had to back off. Otherwise, they would have a really pissed off Power of Four to deal with.
"You're absolutely right, Grams," Prue said.
I turned to her, incredulous. "What?"
"She is," Prue said. "The Golden Dawn is only interested in power. They'll lean towards the side with the most power."
"Voldemort," Grams supplied. "He now has Wyatt and a being with the ability to turn time. There's nothing he can't do. He is the most appealing one at the moment."
"Oh, I beg to differ." Prue was smiling secretively. What was she hiding? "Honestly, don't you see it?"
"The only thing I see is a large amount of arrogance," Grams said.
"Perhaps," Prue conceded. "Regardless, we are the ones with the most power."
"What makes you say that?"
"Many, many years ago, a great source of power existed in the form of Morrigan. Now she has come to us. We have the Power of Four, Morrigan, Harry, and Nick twice over. We are the most powerful."
"You fail to realize that the Golden Dawn only sees the Power of Four and Harry. Nick is still only a baby. We can't do anything with his powers. They don't know about Morrigan or Chris."
"Katana knows about Morrigan," I said.
Grams looked horrified. "Then all is lost."
"What do you mean?" Piper asked.
"You've lost your advantage over Voldemort."
"It's not like he could do anything about Morrigan," Prue pointed out. "He can't harm us while we're in her form."
"But he can delay the inevitable. He thought that he had the upper hand. There was a chance that he could get sloppy. Now he knows about Morrigan."
"How would he find out?" Piper inquired.
"Do you really think that the Golden Dawn wouldn't test Voldemort with that information?" Grams said.
"Why would they?"
"In order to make sure that you're not bluffing."
"Katana wouldn't tell," Chris said. "And she probably doesn't know about their ability to take on Morrigan's form. She only knows about Morrigan."
"Plus we would have seen the repercussions," I put in.
"We'll show them Morrigan's form," I said. "If they're not impressed, Paige can erase their memories. Paige!"
Paige appeared. "You found Nick?"
I went on, ignoring her. "Prue will be able to tell if they're going to do something. You've got to have confidence in our powers. We have to do a lot, and we need all the support we can get."
"You just have to get to Voldemort," Grams said.
"We have to do a lot more," Prue said. "Don't ask. We'll discuss it later."
"Right now, though, we have to prove ourselves to the Golden Dawn before they betray us," Piper said. "We'd better take on Morrigan's form."
"Hello? Clueless sister here," Paige said.
"Chris is Nick," Prue said. "We have to go to the Golden Dawn. Take on Morrigan's form."
"What?" Paige exclaimed.
"Later. Now change."
I was feeling faith in myself, but that was tainted by other emotions. I would have to use anger.
Grams stared at us, then sighed. "Be careful. The world needs you."
"Yeah, and not just our world either," I muttered.
"What does that mean?"
"Later."
I closed my eyes and thought of Voldemort. Anger rose up inside of me and I took on Morrigan's form. When I opened my eyes, my sisters were all in her form. "We shall return with what we seek." We disappeared, but not by orbing or disapparating. It was something quite distinct. It was familiar, for Morrigan had touched my spirit with same power I was using.
We appeared in Katana's office. She entered the room quickly.
"Who are you?" Katana demanded.
"We are the Charmed Ones," Piper said.
"I see. You're being influenced by the spirit of Morrigan."
"She has blessed us with her form," I said. "She has given us great power."
"You don't need to prove your strength to me. However, you do have to prove it to my followers."
"That's easily done." We held up our hands. Katana's followers appeared.
Katana smirked. She knew what we wanted. "Attack them."
They did. All their attacks, though, just bounced off of us. They stopped, awestruck.
"You have proven yourself," Katana said. "Return to your true forms."
We let go of our emotions. But I could feel that Piper couldn't let go.
"You see that the Charmed Ones are far more powerful than we thought. I believe that they deserve our backing," Katana announced.
I turned to Piper. She was trapped in Morrigan's form. "Piper, you have to let go of your grief," I whispered to her.
"I cannot until my children have returned."
"You have to," I said. "There's still hope."
"We are going to help you. We are now bound to your task," Katana said to us.
There was a ripple of discontent at this comment. "Mathers, how are we bound to these four?"
"I have given my word," Katana said. "You took an oath to follow me, and so you are bound to me. I bind myself to them. Simple transference, you see. Do you trust me?"
"Of course we do, Mathers."
"Then you will do this for me."
"Piper, you can't deny yourself," I said.
"I do not deny myself," Piper said. "I am simply one with Morrigan."
"But you're not Morrigan. Think of your love for your children."
"I can't."
"Are you saying that you can't remember how much you love your kids?"
"No…"
"You have to overcome your grief so that you can save them."
"We will contact you as soon as we find him," Katana said. "It won't be long."
Piper transformed and we orbed back home.
"I can't do this," Piper said. She was in tears. "It's too much."
"Piper," Remus said, taking her hand. She buried her face in his chest, crying heavily.
We have to get them back.
I held Nick close to me. I was so happy to have him back. I loved him so much. "Voldemort is never going to get you back." A wave of excitement burst through me. It was coming from Piper.
Paige opened the door. "Phoebe, they—"
"They found him?"
She nodded. "It's time."
I placed Nick in his crib. "Are we all ready to go?"
"Yes. We have all the potions we might need and we're all set to go into Morrigan mode."
"Good." I followed her downstairs. "Sirius, keep a close eye on Nick."
"I will," Sirius said. "Just go and get Melinda and Wyatt."
I kissed him, then went back to my sisters. "Are we going to meet with Katana?"
"Yes," Prue said. "She's going to use her shaman powers to get us there."
I looked to Piper. "You ready for this, Piper?"
"I've been waiting for this." Paige orbed us.
When we arrived, we were in a circular room. A four-pointed figure was painted on the floor. Katana was waiting for us.
"You should go into your greater form," she said in her smooth voice. "And your invisibility, Piper, would likely be useful."
"We're not going to use Morrigan unless we have to," I said. "We don't want him to know about her."
"Yes. Voldemort tends to get too confident sometimes. Now position yourselves on the points." Katana closed her eyes and held out her hands. "Concentrate on your goal."
A rumbling of energy passed through us.
"I wish you good luck, Great Four."
The room disappeared. A blink later, we were in another place. I could feel the evil and the hatred in the air. We were in the right place. We cautiously walked towards the source of the evil vibrations.
"Wormtail, I tire of your ramblings. Can it be done?" Voldemort asked Wormtail sharply.
"M-master, if you will it, it can b-be done," Wormtail stuttered. "H-however, it could take longer than we first expected. They can't reach their powers, but if we try to take them away, they might be able to break through the spells. The boy is quite strong."
"Of course he's strong," Voldemort said. "He controls the sword. We can't take their powers directly. We'll just have to try it another way. That damned mortality, though, complicates things."
"If they are a threat, why can't we just kill them?"
"We can't kill Wyatt. If we do, the sword will go straight to Piper and she will be pulled into the lake for all eternity. We can't let that happen. We must either take Wyatt's powers so that I may have the sword or we must turn him evil. If we turn him evil, I will have to raise him. I can't take the chance of letting the Charmed Ones turn him back." He paused. "There may be a spell that can help with that. We'll only turn to that if we are forced to."
"Yes, master."
"Now bring the children to me. I want to see if they have made any progress."
Wormtail disappeared into another room. He returned with Wyatt and Melinda. We had to hold Piper back. We couldn't give ourselves away. We needed to get Voldemort away from them so that he couldn't try to hurt them. He would do anything to make sure that we didn't get them back.
"Ah, they are still resisting," Voldemort murmured.
"H-how are they able to resist?" Wormtail questioned. "They don't have their powers. Why can't you come near them?"
"The fact that their mother is Piper Halliwell is why. She is a Charmed One. She is the Lady of the Lake. She has incredible powers. But that won't protect them forever, especially if I turn them evil. Then we won't have any problems with Potter. Wyatt will protect me. Melinda will be able to turn time for me. I will be able to do anything once I have control over them." He laughed coldly.
Now was the time. Piper stripped away the invisibility.
"There has been a slight change in plans," she said.
"You!" He tried to fire a spell at us, but Prue knocked him down and his wand flew out of his hand. Wormtail set a spell at us, but we jumped out of the way and Prue claimed his wand. They were helpless and ours for the taking.
"I've been waiting to add you to my list," I said and tackled Wormtail.
"Phoebe, please."
"God, don't beg, Peter," I said. "It makes you even more pathetic than you already are."
"You will pay for what you did, Voldemort." Paige said. She and Prue had him pinned to the wall.
"I'm not going to kill you, Wormtail," I said. "Don't get me wrong. I'd love to get revenge for what you did to Lily and James, but I'm better than you. I'll only kill you if you force me to. You have been touched by evil, you have chosen your path, wait in your prison, wait to feel good's wrath." He was yanked away to Azkaban. I stood up. Piper was holding Wyatt and Melinda.
"Let's get out of here," she said.
"No!" Voldemort yelled.
"You have no power, Voldemort," I said.
"Bosk!"
A demon appeared. I picked out the right potion and threw it at the demon, vanquishing it.
"We will be back," I promised Voldemort.
"You think you've won? I will triumph!"
We disappeared home.
"What a blowhard," I said and rolled my eyes. "Hey, little man." I took Nick.
"How did it go?" Sirius asked anxiously.
"Just look," I said and motioned towards Remus and Piper. They were fussing over Melinda and Wyatt. It was adorable. "What happened to the bigger version of our son, anyways? We find out he's our son and he disappears."
"He's trying to tie up some loose ends," Sirius said. "I still can't believe that Chris is ours."
"I know. He does look a lot like you, though. I should have seen it before."
"Well now we know."
Chris orbed in.
"Chris, hi," I said. "Where have you been, hon?"
I could tell that he was a little uncomfortable around me. "I was just trying to find out what demons are in Voldemort's fold. I'm going to go work on some potions."
"You've been working all week," Sirius said. "Why don't you take a break?"
"I can't." He stopped. "Do you sense that? Something's coming."
"Or maybe it's already here," I said, feeling the evil come closer. I really didn't want to deal with another demon. Nick blinked and a crash sounded behind us. We turned and saw that a demon had indeed appeared. Nick had apparently used his telekinesis. Piper finished the demon off easily.
"Looks like Wyatt isn't the only one with a lot of power," Piper commented.
"Phoebe—" Chris started.
"Phoebe?" I said. "How about 'mom'?"
"Well, I should go work on those potions."
He orbed away before I could get in another word. "I just don't understand him."
"It is a lot to take in," Sirius said. "He just found out that we're his parents. Give him time."
"Yeah, but Paige found out her parentage quickly and she adjusted fairly well in a short time."
"It took her some time too. Don't push him. You might just end up pushing him away."
"You're really starting to sound like a whitelighter."
"I'm talking as a father," he said.
"At least this time we'll be able to raise him. That's the thing, though."
"What do you mean?"
"Well, shouldn't Chris's memories be changing or something?" I said. "His history has changed completely."
"Maybe a few other things need to change."
"That doesn't sound at all encouraging."
"Calm," Sirius said. "You can do this."
"I hope so."
Paige
"I can talk to him," I told Phoebe.
"No, that'll just complicate things. Sirius is right. I should just let him come to me. Still, it's kind of hard. He's my son, but I didn't raise him. I'm like a stranger to him." She sighed. "I just never expected this. I mean, I thought that Chris was Chris. Nick was Nick. Now they're the same, and it's almost paradoxical."
"What are you talking about?" I wasn't following her at all.
"I don't know," Phoebe said, frustrated.
"Neither do I. Just relax. You're never going to achieve faith in yourself if you keep doubting your abilities as a mother."
"I guess."
"Phoebe, you got Nick back."
"Only after Prue figured everything out," Phoebe pointed out. "I couldn't even see that Chris is my son."
"Who would have expected it?"
"Prue did. The clues were all there. Remember when that warlock attacked?"
"Yeah. He got you and Chris," I said.
"No, he only got Nick. He stabbed Nick, and whatever happens to Nick happens to Chris. I should have noticed that."
"You were kind of in the middle of being killed."
"Well, he said that his mother was empathic."
"You're not the only empath in the world."
"There aren't many witches who are married to their whitelighters," Phoebe argued.
"Not even Chris knew. Quit beating yourself up over this. The past is gone. You have to move on."
"I can't as long as I don't have a relationship with Chris."
"It'll come eventually," I said.
"I don't like the sound of eventually."
"That's all you have right now."
She again sighed. "You're right. What are we going to do today?"
"Work on potions, train Harry on using a sword, and we'll probably squeeze in some meditation."
"Sounds like fun. When do we start?"
"As soon as we can pry Piper away from the kids."
"It sucks that we have to drop our lives again," she said.
"Unfortunately, the entire wizarding world has to prepare for this," I said. "We have certain duties."
"Yeah, I know the drill." The house shook suddenly. "What was that?" A giant eye appeared in the window. It was very… dragon like. "What now?" We opened the door. A dragon was indeed sitting on our front lawn. It growled a little, then lowered its head.
"I think it wants us to climb up," I said.
"No. Absolutely not. I am not riding a dragon. We have to much to—whoa!"
The dragon, not pleased with our hesitance, had used its tail to slide us up onto its back. We clung to it desperately as it took off.
"I hate the magical world!" Phoebe screamed as we sailed up into the air. "We're going to be spotted!"
"No, there's a spell on the dragon… and us, I guess. We're okay," I called over the roar of the wind.
"You call this okay?"
"We're alive, aren't we?"
"Who knows how long that's going to last!"
The dragon began its descent.
"Do you know where we are?" Phoebe asked, glancing around.
"No."
"Too wonderful!"
We landed and the dragon slid us off.
"I see Nekane did as I instructed her."
I recognized that voice. "Katana?"
"Yes," Katana said.
"What the hell?" Phoebe burst out.
"I needed to talk to you."
"Did you ever think of calling us or owling us?" I asked.
"It's impossible to find this place," Katana replied.
"I see. Exactly why are we here?" Phoebe asked.
"The final battle is coming."
"Is that it? You dragged us here on a dragon just to say that?"
"No. I actually needed to show you this place so that you could come back here later. You can only find this place if you have been shown it."
"And why is this place so special?" Phoebe questioned.
"Because it is a place that is completely free of negative energy," Katana explained. "It is the purest place in existence. It is ideal for your mediations. Though you are very powerful and quite confident, you need all the help you can get."
"Thanks for the encouragement."
"I speak only the truth, Phoebe," Katana said. "Here, perhaps, you will find a way to reach your son."
Phoebe let a small smile sneak through. "You're a really good shaman, you know."
"Thank you."
"Can we orb here now that we know where it is?" I asked.
"Yes. Come here as soon as possible."
"We will. Are we able to orb out of this place?"
"Of course."
"Okay then. If you don't mind, we have a lot of work to do."
She grabbed my arm. "Paige, this is the only way. You're getting very close. You're closer than the others. You don't have anything to hold you back. Then again, that can be a hindering thing in your life. It is, isn't it? Well, once this is over, you can work on that. For now, embrace it. Use it to reach your goal."
"Thanks for the advice. We're going to go now, okay?"
Katana nodded and we orbed home.
"If one demon pops up, I am going to rip off its head," Phoebe growled.
"A little stressed?" I asked.
"I'm almost to the breaking point here. Dragons, demons, Voldemort… I wish that this could be simplified."
"Deep breath."
She took a deep breath.
"Are you calm?"
"No."
"That's too bad. We'll have time to relax later. I know you hate waiting for that mythical someday, but it'll come."
She groaned and covered her ears. "Don't say the m-word!"
"I'll try. That stuff tends to force itself on us."
"I'm going to ignore all that supernatural stuff for today."
"That's pretty hard to do when you consider what we're doing."
"Shh! I'm only doing this stuff because I want to."
"But—"
"Leave me in my perfect little world for now." She closed her eyes.
"You ready to face this?" I asked.
"Ready as I'll ever be."
I awoke with a jerk. "What happened? Where am I?"
My sisters were all suppressing laughs. "You fell asleep."
"In the middle of training?"
"It's not surprising," Prue said. "We have been on a really strange sleep schedule lately."
I stretched. "Where did the boys go?"
"We're taking a break," Phoebe said.
"Oh. How could you let me fall asleep? Why didn't you wake me?"
"You looked so sweet that we decided to let you sleep," Piper said.
"Do I detect a bit of patronization?"
"More than a bit."
I made a face at them.
"You are the baby of the family," Piper said.
"Hey, we have three new babies," I said.
"But you're still our little sister."
I spotted Chris. "Hold that thought." I went over to him. "Hey, stranger. I notice that you've been avoiding us—especially Phoebe."
"I haven't been avoiding you," Chris said.
"Yes, you have," I said. "I've noticed it. Phoebe and Sirius have definitely noticed it. Phoebe's feeling like a lousy mother. Sirius isn't quite sure what to do with you."
"It's just kind of weird."
"I know. Believe me, I can understand. I grew up with the knowledge that my parents weren't really my parents, but it was still hard to accept that I was a part of the Halliwell family," I said. "You know them in the future, right?"
"Yeah, but it's different," Chris said. "Sirius just didn't feel like a father. Piper was more of a mother figure to me. Phoebe was always more like a big sister."
"But Phoebe is your mother. At least stop calling her Phoebe and start referring to her as your mother."
"I will." He smiled. "I'm glad that I got to meet you… Aunt Paige."
"Now that's more like it."
"You ready, Harry?" Piper asked. She was facing him. They were both holding swords. Piper seemed to have the most experience with swords. She was the Lady of the Lake, after all.
"Ready."
The face off began. Though Voldemort wouldn't know about the sword, he would catch on quickly. We had to make sure that Harry was ready to take both the defensive and the offensive. He was a quick learner. It took Piper a while to best him.
"Good."
"I screwed up."
"You're making a lot of progress. You've only been practicing for a little while. I don't expect you to be a master swordsman. Now, here's how to fix that mistake." Piper showed him and they tried again. He did quite well. That went on for another hour or so. "You want to stop for a while?"
He shook his head. He had his father's determination; that was for sure. He was most assuredly going to defeat Voldemort.
They continued on as we watched.
"He's going to really well with Morrigan's sword," I commented to Chris. "It will be remolded just for him. Exactly how did Harry defeat Voldemort in your future?"
"He used Godric Gryffindror's sword," Chris said. "It was a difficult battle."
"Hopefully we'll be able to make it easier."
"It will be much easier," Chris said. "After Nick… I mean, I disappeared, Ph—mom got too distracted to fulfill her duties as an auror. Many of Voldemort's followers remained. Plus Morrigan wasn't around to help."
"Looks like there's no way we can lose."
"That's what I'm here to ensure."
"You're a lot like your parents, Chris. I'm glad to see that you'll grow up to be like them no matter what."
He didn't seem to know how to respond to this. However, he was saved from answering because Harry was able to best Piper.
"Fantastic!" Piper said. "We'll continue this tomorrow. Now let's go home."
I turned back to Chris. "Take some more time to take in all this, but make sure that you don't wait too long."
"I will."
"Dragon!" Piper called.
"Nekane's back?" I went down, puzzled. "I didn't expect that Katana would be sending Nekane again."
"Katana? What does she have to do with this?"
"Long story," I said. "We have to go and meditate in this garden of perfection."
"What?"
"Don't ask. Prue! Phoebe!" They came down.
"What—dragon? Wyatt didn't summon another dragon, did he?" Prue asked.
"No, this is a natural dragon," Phoebe said. "She's here to take us to the garden. Just follow me."
Phoebe and I led them to Nekane, who helped us up onto her back.
"You will explain this, right?" Piper asked as she reluctantly got onto Nekane.
"Once we get there."
Phoebe and I were a bit more comfortable with the ride. Prue and Piper were significantly frazzled.
"How are we supposed to meditate now?" Prue said. "I'm practically traumatized!"
"You're so dramatic," I said.
"You came," Katana said, stepping into the light. It was daylight in the garden, for some reason.
"We didn't exactly have a choice," Piper said. "Your pet is rather formidable."
"Nekane isn't my pet. She is a companion," Katana said.
"Technicality. Why are we here?"
"To mediate. Negative energy cannot exist in this place."
"Okay."
"Can't you feel yourself relaxing? It's because of the garden."
She was right. I could feel the garden working on me. I liked it.
"So do you think you're ready to take on the power?"
The confidence was growing inside of me. "Of course. After this one meditation, I guarantee that we'll master the power." We went to the center of the garden and grasped each other's hands.
"Find your strength," Katana said.
I am one with myself. I love myself and I am worthy of love. I don't need anyone else to complete me. I am complete.
A small burst of worry flared up within me. I quickly put it out.
We will achieve our goal. We will it so. I will myself to reach Morrigan. I reach out to her power. I will do this. We will do this.
I breathed in deeply. An interesting sensation came over me.
We have the Power of Four. We have what we need to reach Morrigan. She is within us. She is a part of us.
"For it was in the past, it is now, and it always will be. You have reached your core; you have reached me. We are one, and it is done."
I opened my eyes. Morrigan was standing in the middle of our circle. "The truth has come at last. Now go, and do what you must do."
She disappeared in a flash of light.
"I think we've mastered the power," I said.
"Yeah."
We all gasped as the power began to fill us. My sisters' eyes changed color. Perfect love began to pulse through me. I could accept everything about myself. I could make a difference in the world. There wasn't a task in the world that we couldn't do. I was sure of it. Our bodies began to glow with golden light. Our hair became long and black. The power was ours. It was so beautiful.
We flashed into her form for a minute or two. Then it faded away. The phoenix song arose and filled us even more. It was amazing. A few minutes later, the song ended.
"You have mastered the power, Charmed Ones," Katana said. "Now do as Morrigan commands and use it."