Learn to Live
Slowly we learn to live
Quickly we blame and bleed
Deeply we love and feel
Slowly we begin to be
-Kat
Magic School, 2004
Paige and Phoebe orbed into Magic School, looking for Piper. The halls were empty and an eerie silence blanketed the school.
"Piper?" Paige called, "Gideon?" There was no answer. Then an energy ball came hurtling at the sisters. Paige orbed out, and Phoebe dove to the side. There was no one in the hall.
"Where did that come from?" Phoebe gasped, "What's going on?"
"I don't know, but whatever it is, it's bad. Something is seriously wrong here." Paige frowned, listening.
"A girl is in distress."
Phoebe guessed this was just another manifestation of Paige's whitelighter powers. "Where?" she asked.
"This way." Paige orbed them into a classroom down the hall. A little girl, maybe three or four, was huddled in the corner, crying.
"Hey sweetie," Paige said, kneeling down beside the child, "I'm Paige. Can you tell me what happened?"
"Demons came. They took my friend, and then everyone just left." She started crying again.
"Do you know where they went?"
"They said something about," she stumbled over the word, "B-be-beetrie-al? I don't know what the word is."
Phoebe and Paige glanced at each other. "Was it betrayal?"
"I- I think so. I want my mommy. I wanna go home."
"Where's your mommy?"
"At home." The girl started sucking he thumb.
"Okay, sweetie, I'm Phoebe. Can you tell me your name?"
"Maka." The child replied, "I'm Maka."
"Pretty name," Paige commented. "Alright, Maka, I need you to concentrate real hard on your home. Can you do that for me?"
"Uh-huh."
Paige reached down and picked the young girl up. "Okay, we are going to orb there."
"Soon I can orb," Maka said. "Mommy says when I'm six. That's only in two years!"
Paige smiled. "That's great. Concentrate real hard on your home, okay?"
"Okey-dokey."
Phoebe held on to Paige's arm, and they vanished in a swirl of blue lights.
Somewhere Underground
Piper woke up inside a metal cage. She had been in this before, and knew instinctively that the only way to escape was for her to do a Power of Three spell with her sisters, and they weren't here.
She saw Wyatt, unconscious in another cage, and started to cry. She had hoped he would have orbed up there. She paused, frowning.
He had orbed out, she remembered. She had seen him disappear. How had he been captured? Then it hit her.
Gideon!
He had betrayed them, but why? He was an elder, why would he try to murder an innocent child?
She knew that Wyatt was safe within his shield for now, but sooner or later Gideon would figure out a way to kill him, Piper knew.
Up There
Whitelighters rushed around, talking furiously. The whole place was in an uproar. Leo hurried through the crowd to the Council chamber.
How could he do this? I thought he was my friend! Leo didn't know how to deal with this betrayal. What kind of beast would try to kill an infant? The facts just didn't add up. He's an elder!
He pushed the double doors open and stormed into the room, his composure gone. The rest of the Council was already there. Gideon was conspicuously missing.
"Leo! How nice of you to join us."
"I was trying to find my son, dammit!"
The other elders were shocked at this outburst.
"Leo, please calm down. We need to understand exactly what happened before we do anything rash."
"What happened was Gideon betrayed us. He tried to kill my son and kidnapped my wife. He worked with demons. What more is there to know?!"
"Well, for instance, why he did this. We can't ask him, but Sigmund will speak in his place."
"He was in on this too?" Leo took a deep breath to calm himself and sat down.
"Sigmund, what do you have to say for yourself?"
"Well, Gideon came to me and asked me to help him. He said we had to sacrifice Wyatt for the greater good."
"Why, exactly, is that necessary?"
"Because the child has too much power. You all know what happened when he orbed that dragon into San Francisco."
"Whatever his good intentions, the end does not justify the means. He should have come to us instead of making deals with demons."
"You wouldn't have done anything!"
"We could have bound the child's powers before things got out of hand like this."
Sigmund frowned. He was right, Wyatt's powers should have been bound. Why had Gideon insisted on killing the boy?
"Now both Wyatt and his mother are missing. Gideon is responsible, and he will pay the price of having his powers stripped and his soul sent back to earth for recycling."
Sigmund said nothing, hoping he would get off easy.
"And as for you, Sigmund, you are equally guilty. You will pay the same price.
His face fell. Surely there was some loophole, some way out? True, the punishment was not as bad as some, but to lose his identity, be a mortal- he didn't know if he could handle that. "Your honor, please-"
"It has already been decided," he was interrupted. "Your fate is sealed."
Maka's Home
They orbed outside a well kept, if small, house. It was painted white with pretty yellow trim. It was the sort of quaint home everyone dreamed of.
Looking outside, they saw that the house was situated at the end of a long dirt road, in the England countryside.
"Wow," Paige said, "We're in England." She set the child down, and stared around her. This place was amazing.
Maka ran inside, screaming, "Mommy! Mommy, I'm home! Mommy?"
A pretty woman with long wavy red hair came to the door, looking relieved. "Oh. Sweetie, I was so worried something had happened, thank goodness you're okay!"
"Hi, I'm Paige Matthews, and this is my sister, Phoebe Halliwell. It's a pleasure to meet you."
"Halliwell- you're the Charmed Ones?"
Paige shrugged. "Yeah. That's us."
"Thank you so much for saving my daughter! I mean after all that happened at the school, I was worried..."
"Yeah, about that," Phoebe said, "we don't really know what happened, so if you could tell us what you know, that'd be great."
"Of course, come on in."
They walked into the house, and sat down on the wicker furniture. Maka's mothere brought out some tea.
"Well," she told them, "I don't know that much, but from what I can tell, Gideon betrayed us."
Phoebe and Paige stared at her in shock. "Gideon? Are you sure?"
"Yes, apparently, he tried to kill Piper Halliwell's son, Wyatt. Both of them are missing."
Slowly we learn to live
Quickly we blame and bleed
Deeply we love and feel
Slowly we begin to be
-Kat
Magic School, 2004
Paige and Phoebe orbed into Magic School, looking for Piper. The halls were empty and an eerie silence blanketed the school.
"Piper?" Paige called, "Gideon?" There was no answer. Then an energy ball came hurtling at the sisters. Paige orbed out, and Phoebe dove to the side. There was no one in the hall.
"Where did that come from?" Phoebe gasped, "What's going on?"
"I don't know, but whatever it is, it's bad. Something is seriously wrong here." Paige frowned, listening.
"A girl is in distress."
Phoebe guessed this was just another manifestation of Paige's whitelighter powers. "Where?" she asked.
"This way." Paige orbed them into a classroom down the hall. A little girl, maybe three or four, was huddled in the corner, crying.
"Hey sweetie," Paige said, kneeling down beside the child, "I'm Paige. Can you tell me what happened?"
"Demons came. They took my friend, and then everyone just left." She started crying again.
"Do you know where they went?"
"They said something about," she stumbled over the word, "B-be-beetrie-al? I don't know what the word is."
Phoebe and Paige glanced at each other. "Was it betrayal?"
"I- I think so. I want my mommy. I wanna go home."
"Where's your mommy?"
"At home." The girl started sucking he thumb.
"Okay, sweetie, I'm Phoebe. Can you tell me your name?"
"Maka." The child replied, "I'm Maka."
"Pretty name," Paige commented. "Alright, Maka, I need you to concentrate real hard on your home. Can you do that for me?"
"Uh-huh."
Paige reached down and picked the young girl up. "Okay, we are going to orb there."
"Soon I can orb," Maka said. "Mommy says when I'm six. That's only in two years!"
Paige smiled. "That's great. Concentrate real hard on your home, okay?"
"Okey-dokey."
Phoebe held on to Paige's arm, and they vanished in a swirl of blue lights.
Somewhere Underground
Piper woke up inside a metal cage. She had been in this before, and knew instinctively that the only way to escape was for her to do a Power of Three spell with her sisters, and they weren't here.
She saw Wyatt, unconscious in another cage, and started to cry. She had hoped he would have orbed up there. She paused, frowning.
He had orbed out, she remembered. She had seen him disappear. How had he been captured? Then it hit her.
Gideon!
He had betrayed them, but why? He was an elder, why would he try to murder an innocent child?
She knew that Wyatt was safe within his shield for now, but sooner or later Gideon would figure out a way to kill him, Piper knew.
Up There
Whitelighters rushed around, talking furiously. The whole place was in an uproar. Leo hurried through the crowd to the Council chamber.
How could he do this? I thought he was my friend! Leo didn't know how to deal with this betrayal. What kind of beast would try to kill an infant? The facts just didn't add up. He's an elder!
He pushed the double doors open and stormed into the room, his composure gone. The rest of the Council was already there. Gideon was conspicuously missing.
"Leo! How nice of you to join us."
"I was trying to find my son, dammit!"
The other elders were shocked at this outburst.
"Leo, please calm down. We need to understand exactly what happened before we do anything rash."
"What happened was Gideon betrayed us. He tried to kill my son and kidnapped my wife. He worked with demons. What more is there to know?!"
"Well, for instance, why he did this. We can't ask him, but Sigmund will speak in his place."
"He was in on this too?" Leo took a deep breath to calm himself and sat down.
"Sigmund, what do you have to say for yourself?"
"Well, Gideon came to me and asked me to help him. He said we had to sacrifice Wyatt for the greater good."
"Why, exactly, is that necessary?"
"Because the child has too much power. You all know what happened when he orbed that dragon into San Francisco."
"Whatever his good intentions, the end does not justify the means. He should have come to us instead of making deals with demons."
"You wouldn't have done anything!"
"We could have bound the child's powers before things got out of hand like this."
Sigmund frowned. He was right, Wyatt's powers should have been bound. Why had Gideon insisted on killing the boy?
"Now both Wyatt and his mother are missing. Gideon is responsible, and he will pay the price of having his powers stripped and his soul sent back to earth for recycling."
Sigmund said nothing, hoping he would get off easy.
"And as for you, Sigmund, you are equally guilty. You will pay the same price.
His face fell. Surely there was some loophole, some way out? True, the punishment was not as bad as some, but to lose his identity, be a mortal- he didn't know if he could handle that. "Your honor, please-"
"It has already been decided," he was interrupted. "Your fate is sealed."
Maka's Home
They orbed outside a well kept, if small, house. It was painted white with pretty yellow trim. It was the sort of quaint home everyone dreamed of.
Looking outside, they saw that the house was situated at the end of a long dirt road, in the England countryside.
"Wow," Paige said, "We're in England." She set the child down, and stared around her. This place was amazing.
Maka ran inside, screaming, "Mommy! Mommy, I'm home! Mommy?"
A pretty woman with long wavy red hair came to the door, looking relieved. "Oh. Sweetie, I was so worried something had happened, thank goodness you're okay!"
"Hi, I'm Paige Matthews, and this is my sister, Phoebe Halliwell. It's a pleasure to meet you."
"Halliwell- you're the Charmed Ones?"
Paige shrugged. "Yeah. That's us."
"Thank you so much for saving my daughter! I mean after all that happened at the school, I was worried..."
"Yeah, about that," Phoebe said, "we don't really know what happened, so if you could tell us what you know, that'd be great."
"Of course, come on in."
They walked into the house, and sat down on the wicker furniture. Maka's mothere brought out some tea.
"Well," she told them, "I don't know that much, but from what I can tell, Gideon betrayed us."
Phoebe and Paige stared at her in shock. "Gideon? Are you sure?"
"Yes, apparently, he tried to kill Piper Halliwell's son, Wyatt. Both of them are missing."