A/N: thank you, ProtectionPaige, for reviewing. Cole will be in this chapter, as will a whole lot of hate.

"You talk to them first," I said to Prue.

Are you ordering me around?

"Yes. I do not want to face those people." If they were able to go against the Charmed Ones, they had to be pretty powerful, and I had a feeling that they would easily have influence over me. I didn't like it when people had power over me. In addition to that, there was the fact that if I wasn't comfortable around Prue's family, who she happened to like, how would I fare around people that she hated? The odds were stacked against me when it came to the Elders. This was all about Prue, so she could face them.

It's not like they're evil.

"That's not the way you describe them," I pointed out.

Well, it's not like they're going to try to kill you.

"Are saying that you don't want to face them?"

No. It's just that if you have to face them, you should be confident about it.

"Confident? I'm not even confident around your sisters."

Why is that?

"Your sisters are way powerful. And since the Elders run the heavens, they must be pretty powerful too."

Yeah, but they don't act like it. Just relax.

"Oh, I'm relaxed."

Good, she said cheerfully, choosing to ignore my sarcastic tone. Strange. I would have thought that she wouldn't have taken that. Don't worry. I'll do most of the talking.

She had done it again. She had used that uncharacteristic soft, comforting way. There were many unusual things about Prue. Her traits didn't seem to match very well. Was that how she always was? Or was that just how she was with me? She didn't seem like the kind of person who would treat people differently, but she had already proven that she was one woman about whom you could not gather assumptions very easily. In fact, she made that as difficult as possible. It was like a way of keeping people locked out. Was Prue afraid of getting hurt? I couldn't imagine her like that. She was so strong. It felt like there was no force that could knock her down. Yet she had been knocked down. She was dead, after all. Still, not even death had kept her down. She was alive, in a manner of speaking. I knew that I would have quite a time trying to figure Prue out.

That was a challenge that, oddly enough, I found myself yearning to measure up to. Usually, I took people's personalities exactly as they presented them. It was how they wanted to be seen, and who was I to argue? But I was arguing now, even if it wasn't directly with Prue. By analyzing her, I was taking apart her personality in order to better understand her. That wasn't what I normally did, but this was in no way a normal situation. Change was something that you had to accept, and you had to change yourself so that you could adjust properly. I rolled that thought around and decided that I liked it. I had never been as thoughtful as I had been in the past day. I was changing myself in order to conform to the situation. It was a good thing, a very good thing. Perhaps this would make me a better person. Perhaps it would improve who I was.

The optimism really wasn't helping at all. It was only a temporary distraction. In fact, it was stopping me from finding out what was going on. Optimism definitely didn't suit me. Refreshingly annoyed with myself, I listened to the conversation.

"Do they really want us all to come?" Piper questioned Leo.

"Yes. They think that that would be best."

"You sound awfully pessimistic, Leo," Phoebe said, her head tilted to the side thoughtfully. "What are they saying?"

"It'd be easier if you just talked directly with them."

"The Elders rarely ever make things easier," Prue said. "But we should get this over with."

My nerves went off at once. Even though my body wasn't under my control, I could still feel myself going off. At least I had constant influence over my body in some ways, even though it was only in a small way when I was pushed back. Prue, on the other hand, didn't share my attitude towards that influence.

Christy, you're making me nervous as hell.

"Well, I'm sorry about that, but that happens to be how I feel."

Can't you take any comfort in the fact that you're going to see heaven without having to die?

"That would be an interesting thing." But that didn't mean that I was ready. Before I had a chance to prepare myself, Leo orbed us 'up there'. 'Up there' turned out to be very… white. It was blindingly bright. And it was a building. There were columns and everything. It was definitely not what I had expected. I mean, I had expected clouds… robed figures… Just as I was thinking that, about twenty people dressed in golden robes appeared in the room. Whoa. Talk about foreshadowing, I thought to myself.

The figures put down their hoods. They don't look very old. Of course, Leo didn't look very dead, but he technically was. Appearances were often deceiving in this world.

One of the Elders approached me. His eyes sharply examined me. I really didn't like him. I probably would have squirmed under his gaze, but Prue stared back with equal determination. If it had been a battle of wills, they would have been at a standstill. I could feel that she didn't quite trust this Elder in particular. After a long stare, he broke eye contact.

"I can see her spirit in this girl," he announced. "And her powers as well." He turned to back to Prue. "Welcome back, Prudence."

"It's good to be back. Who are you?" She barely blinked as she faced him. She was good.

"My name is Gideon." He extended his hand. Prue didn't take it. "I normally do not reside in the heavens."

"And why is that?"

"I run a school of magic on Earth," he responded coolly. "But the entire council of Elders was called for this occasion."

"I see."

The tension between these two powers was intense. I was aching to alleviate some of it, but Prue had so much control over the situation that I couldn't do anything. She held a powerful grip that couldn't be loosened. I was impressed, but I knew that she wouldn't have this kind of a reaction to the other Elders. No, there was different about this Elder, something that neither Prue nor I liked one bit.

"Well, now that we know that Prudence truly inhabits this girl's body, let us go to a more private place," a different Elder said.

Leo seemed to take that as his cue and hung back. Piper saw this and tried to lead him into the room.

"It would be better if your whitelighter-" the same Elder started to say.

"Husband," Piper corrected.

"Ooh, go Piper."

"And we think it would better if he came," she continued.

"Piper, go ahead," Leo said quietly.

I did not like how these Elders were treating Leo. Only Gideon and another Elder seemed to not be shooting daggers at Leo. It wasn't fair that they were treating him so poorly. He was a good man. He could have taken me as a crazy person and left forever, but he had helped me.

Hmm… Gideon didn't dislike Leo. If he did, he hid it very well. Gideon was quite different from the other Elders, and mostly not in good ways. He seemed to be someone who you did not want to get involved with.

Do you sense anything about him?

"I think so. There's something off about him. I don't like him."

If you can sense something, then it must be especially powerful. I hope my sisters sense it too. She looked at them. They didn't appear to notice anything about the mysterious Gideon. In fact, it even seemed that Paige was checking him out.

"It doesn't look like they do."

Prue didn't respond. She just kept studying Gideon as we were led into the other room. I couldn't tell what was going through her mind. She, like me, was able to keep certain thoughts private. Though I couldn't hear her thoughts, I could feel that her mind was working on exactly who Gideon was. Her frustration was quite evident.

"Sit," Gideon instructed.

Prue took her time getting situated. She had great gall. When she did get settled, she maintained her steely look.

"Uh, Prue, maybe you shouldn't do that. You have no idea what I look like when I have an attitude."

This is hardly an attitude. You should see me when I get angry.

"I think I'd prefer not to see that." I resigned myself to silence, not wanting to incur her wrath.

"Well, this is a unique situation indeed," Gideon began.

Thanks for cluing us in.

"And it is unique for a good reason. Two souls cannot inhabit the same body, especially when one soul possesses supernatural powers. One soul becomes the dominant soul, and the body adjusts to that soul. Therefore, if the body is harmed, the lesser soul departs for death while the dominant soul revives the body. That is our theory, at least."

"I don't like to work with theories," Prue said.

"That is how it must be for now. As I was saying, the double inhabitance does not affect the body in any other way. Switching off is perfectly acceptable."

I had an urge to say 'I told you so' to Prue, but she way too tense to be shown up. I maintained my silence.

"However, it is not suitable for you. You have faced a demon already, and word of your powers is likely spreading throughout the Underworld. We have no reason to believe that those running the Underworld know that it is you who has those powers, but they will certainly be interested in a youth with the power that you held. If they are able to find out that you have returned, they will try to come after you."

"I'm quite used to that. I can defend myself just fine."

"We fully realize that, but there is a problem with that. You won't be able to keep constant control."

"But I'll be able to jump into control any time I need to."

"Yes, but we believe that you should make sure that you become the dominant soul. If you do that, you will be able to be in control at all times. You'll be able to allow the girl-"

"Christina. Her name is Christina."

"Yes," he said silkily. "She will be able to control her body at times, but you will have to give her permission."

"Permission? This is her body. I'm the one who should get permission."

"It won't harm her in any way."

"How do you know? You said that you're basing this all on theories. This is has never happened before. You have no idea how this could affect her. You don't know how this could end. You need to figure this out before you start making plans for me."

"There is no way that this could harm her soul. As long as her body is kept safe, she will live on. There is nothing to worry about."

"I couldn't disagree more." They locked eyes again. This time, Gideon seemed more uncomfortable and less confident. Just look at him squirm. She was pleased with this development. I wasn't as sure about it. Maybe he was just putting up a front; maybe he wanted her to think that she was winning. In any case, it was Phoebe who interrupted their silent battle.

"We've established the situation. Now, what is it that you plan to do?"

Gideon seemed glad to shift his attention from Prue to Phoebe. "First, we must determine if Christina has any powers of her own."

"How will you do that?"

"By asking her mother." At that, my mother walked in. A stab of pain hit me. I was still a little angry with her for not telling me who she truly was, but that was overwhelmed by guilt. I had stormed out of there in anger without giving her a bit of credit. I wanted to apologize, but here was not the proper place and this certainly wasn't the right time. It would have to wait.

Hang on. The subject of powers had been brought up again. Oy. It would neat to have powers, but it was too big. The Charmed Ones had powers, and they were constantly battling demons. I only wanted to be a normal teen. Normality seemed to have stricken from my life, though. Would it be so bad to have some powers to make up for that loss? I supposed not, but the greater part of me was hoping that I would not have any special abilities. It would just be too weird. Though I had admired the mysticism of magic back when it wasn't real, this was different - this was real. If I did find out that I had powers, there was no going back. I would be stuck with them forever. The finality of that was what scared me the most. I couldn't give my powers back if I found that something bad went with them.

"Hello, Gideon," my mother said calmly. "I thought you started school for those with magical ability."

"I did. I have to address this issue, though."

"Ah, yes. The fourth Charmed One is in my daughter's body. Any idea how that happened?"

"Not as of yet." He didn't seem too pleased with my mother. I could see that it was because of me. He didn't seem to like the fact that my parents had had me. I really didn't care about his opinion, though.

"Why did you summon me here?"

"We summoned you because we need to know if Christina has any powers. It will affect how we approach the situation."

She looked at me carefully. I knew that if she had a choice, she would have told me first. My mother was like that. She hadn't meant to hold back before; that's just how it turned out. I saw that now. However, now was the moment of truth. Now she would reveal whether or not I had powers. From this point on, things could either continue on their path or they could shift to a new path that incorporated my gifts. If I had any powers, everything would change. My nerves showed up again, but Prue didn't say anything.

"Christina-" she began.

The moment had arrived. I tensed.

"-does not have any powers. I didn't have her until long after I had clipped my wings. She is not part whitelighter."

So it would all continue on the current path. I was torn between relief and a bit of longing. However, as I looked at the Elders and how lives could get so complicated with the aid of magic, relief won out. Once I helped Prue, I could move on and return to my normal life. Everything was going to turn out okay.

Strange. I could have sworn that you would have powers.

"Well, I don't. Why would think that I would?"

It's how you feel, how your body feels. Plus there's a reason why I was drawn to you. Why else did I end up in a body that was far from my sisters?

"Maybe it's just because of my mother. She seems to know a lot about what happened after she left."

That's not surprising. She probably kept a few connections. Even when a whitelighter leaves, they usually want to keep informed. But I don't think that that's the only reason why. There's some other reason, and I'm going to find out what that reason is.

"Why?"

Because I have the tools.

Like Prue, the Elders didn't seem satisfied with that answer. There were quite a few murmurs throughout the council, most of which had a discontented tone to them. Why were they all searching for some greater explanation? Why couldn't they just accept it as it was? It was probably caused by the same thing that caused me to explore Prue's hidden depths. I couldn't put my finger on exactly what that force was, but it was still there.

"Is that a problem?" mom asked.

"It is strange that Prudence's soul would be drawn to someone who had no powers," said Gideon.

"But this a new experience. You don't know why she would even be drawn back to life, let alone to Christina." Mom knew them well. It was weird to see her like this. But then again, everything else had been strange lately.

Gideon turned back to us. "We would like to hear from Christina."

Nope. I was not moving. If only I could mentally hold on…

Suddenly, I was in control. Prue was very discreet. How I hated that.

No, I don't want to do this. They don't like me. I can tell.

"They don't like the fact that your mother had you."

"Christina, please describe how this happened."

"Well… I was in my room yesterday when I suddenly blacked out. I woke up a minute later and my head hurt like hel-heck." It didn't seem proper to swear in front of the Elders. "Prue's voice came to me out of nowhere. To prove that she was real, she had me call her sisters. After it turned out that she was real, she tried to explain everything. That's when I saw my reflection. Instead of seeing myself, I saw Prue."

"You saw her reflection?"

"Yes."

There were more murmurs at this. I nervously shifted. What was so special about me seeing her?

Gideon quieted the others. "And how did you get to San Francisco?"

"Prue had me call upon Leo."

Now they even gasped. Big whoop. I could call Leo. What was the big deal? They discussed this softly.

"That is all we need from you right now," Gideon dismissed us.

That was… interesting.

"Yes, it was."

They weren't telling us something, and it was obvious that it was because of Gideon. I was starting to understand their distaste for the Elders.

"So this is the Book of Shadows, huh?" I looked over the cover. There was a symbol on it that I didn't recognize. "What's that?"

"A Triquetra. It's a symbol of the Power of Three."

"Power of Four now. There are four parts. I think you're the circle - you'll keep them together."

"I swear, you definitely have the disposition of a whitelighter."

"However, I am not a whitelighter. I'm not even half of a whitelighter."

"Half-whitelighter."

"What's the difference?"

"Saying that you're not half of a whitelighter makes it seem like there's something missing."

"Okay…" I let the subject drop and moved to a different one. "Are you sure I should be up here alone?"

"My sisters will be up in a minute. Piper is probably getting the kitchen in order. She doesn't like to leave things unfinished. And it's not like you're a demon."

"Those things are nasty."

"You haven't even seen the worst of them."

"And I hope not to. Are they all in this book?"

"Most of them."

"Well, let's take a look, then." I went over to the Book.

"I wouldn't do-"

I opened the book.

"-that." She sounded stunned.

"What?" I asked.

"That's not what was supposed to happen."

"What do you mean?"

"The Book usually defends itself from those who don't have good magic. That includes all innocents."

"How does it defend itself?"

"It shoots away from people. If a demon tries to touch it, it zaps them."

"That's one powerful book." I looked at the first page. "Is this what gave you your powers?"

"Yes." She still seemed puzzled.

"Maybe it senses you in me. That's a logical explanation."

"I suppose."

"You have an influence on my body. It doesn't sense a nonmagical person. It senses you." I came across one page that had a picture of red-skinned demon. It looked rather malicious. "Belthazor. You ever run into him?"

She didn't respond.

"Prue?"

"Yes, actually. We did run into him."

"What, bad vanquish or something?"

"You could say that."

"You could, but you wouldn't, would you?"

"It's complicated."

"And that's different from the rest of your life how?"

"Bad blood."

"Figuratively?"

"Yes."

She was shying away from the subject insistently. I wasn't about to back off, though. I wanted to know. "Did he really hate you?"

"At first."

"At first? What, did he grow a heart?"

"I don't believe so."

"Is he dead?"

"I'm pretty sure that he is."

"But you're not certain. Why is this like pulling teeth?"

"You know how I told you how I can get really angry?"

"Yeah…"

"Well, talking about him is one way to assure that I do get angry."

"Gottcha."

"That's good."

Paige and Piper came in. "Sorry that took so long. Let's…" Piper stopped when she saw that I was touching the Book. "How… can you do that?"

"I think it's because of Prue."

Paige saw the picture of Belthazor and flinched. Why would she flinch? What were they hiding?

"Do you know anything about this demon?" I asked casually.

"Christy…"

"Um, yes, we do." She looked away. Piper too avoided my eyes.

"Really? Well, Prue-"

"Don't you dare blame this on me!"

"-wants to know-"

"I'm warning you, Christina!"

"-if you managed to vanquish him."

"Oh. Well…" She didn't continue. This was getting annoying. She looked towards the door. "Hold that thought." Both she and Paige approached the door. Piper opened it to reveal that Phoebe was standing with a fairly handsome man.

"Phoebe!" Prue roared.

Fury more intense than I had ever felt reverberated through my body. I thought she was going to kill Phoebe. I tried to hold her back. Phoebe was okay by me; I didn't want to see Prue kill her. However, Prue took over and ran over to them.

"PHOEBE HALLIWELL!"

Huh. So I really could yell that loudly.

"What is wrong with you?"

Even though she saw me, I could tell that Phoebe was intimidated.

"Prue, I can explain."

"No, you can't. Didn't you go through enough hell with him?" She spoke as though the man weren't there. He seemed to be accustomed to that.

"Look, I don't need two of you ganging up on me," Phoebe said.

"Piper finally came to her senses?"

"No, I'm talking about Paige. You and Paige both can't believe that he is good."

"That's because he isn't!" Prue and Paige both said.

"Prue, his demon side is gone."

"Demon side? Demon?" Was this man a demon? If he was, I could understand Prue's reaction.

"I don't care!" she growled. "I told you to move on."

"Prue, you died. We were lost without you."

"So you found comfort in him. Sorry if I can't find the sentiment in that."

"Prue-"

"No." Phoebe fell silent under her gaze.

"Okay. Time out. Don't you think you're overreacting, Prue?"

No. He's a demon. He's Belthazor.