A/N: whoa. Is that really today's date? I know this has taken far longer than usual, but I just moved into a new house (a real pain in the arse!). I hope this makes up for the lost time. Thank you, Charmed-snow (you'll just have to read to find out), ProtectionPaige, and FuryPiper, for reviewing. This story's finally back!
"So this is Magic School. Pretty impressive, I must say." I peered down the endless hallway. "What's the point of having an endless hallway, anyways? Do these people really need all that space?" I wasn't really talking to anyone in particular, though Piper and Leo smiled at my comments.
"It's a good thing you and Prue are compatible," Piper remarked. "Otherwise she would have driven you crazy. Or the other way around."
"I like her attitude."
"This is it," Leo said as we reached our destination. We were confronted by a wall of books.
My mouth dropped open. "Wow. There are a lot of books there. How are we going to find the right one?" I questioned.
"I was hoping that you could use your power," Leo replied.
"Can I call specific things?"
"Yes, you can. Try it."
"Okay. Um, books that relate to Prue's situation." I raised my hands. Many books came flying at me. "Stop! Now just settle down on the table." They calmly went to the table and formed a neat pile. "Good. This is one crazy power."
"You'll get used to it eventually," Leo said. I liked the way that he spoke. He had a smooth, even tone that could bring peace to your spirit. The things that he said helped, too - he had a way with words that was quite unique. It didn't seem like an ability that every whitelighter had. It was just Leo.
"Hmm. There are an awful lot of books there." I eyed the tall pile. This was going to take a while, and I wasn't sure how long we had before Gideon returned. "Are you sure that we're going to get through all this before Gideon comes back?" The Elders were debating over Prue's situation. I had no idea exactly why it was a debate instead of a discussion; the happenings in the heavens were very secret. Thinking back to the first demon I had seen, I could understand that. It still irked me a little, though.
"This is a very complicated situation. They may have some solutions, but there's a lot of controversy involved with every answer," Leo replied. Piper was silently sorting through the books with a noticeable gleam in her eyes. She wanted to help her sister, but she more wanted her sister back in her original form. If only the right book would pop up, if only I could make everything right for them…
But in order to do that, I had to deal with tedious details, including sorting the books. Well, this is a magic school. These books are bound to be interesting. I had to keep myself positive about the situation, and I had to focus on how I would be able to help Prue. "Let's get started then." I joined Piper and picked out the first book that I saw. It was huge, at least a thousand pages long. On the cover, Exploration of the Spirit was written in silvery letters. I forced myself to not groan as I sat down and opened the book. I think this book is cutting off the blood to my legs, I said to Prue.
"You're such a drama queen."
I know. But this thing is humongous. It'd take me a year to read all of it.
"But you're not going to read all of it. You just need to look for the important things."
How can I know what's important?
"Look for things concerning separation of the spirit from the body."
Maybe this thing has an index… I flipped to the back with significant difficulty. There was no index. Just great. Opting to not go through every page, I concentrated on looking for a chapter that would help me. To my surprise, the chapter that I opened up to was perfect. Death and the soul's journey. Now that's talent. I started to read the first paragraph. It took up the whole page. I skipped to the next page. The soul separates instantly… blah, blah… the soul begins a journey to heaven… Well, what if it doesn't?
The next few pages were devoted to a description of the pathway to heaven. Once it had described it enough to make my head spin, it went into the details of the ghostly realm. The ghostly realm eases the transition. Does that sound like where you went?
"No. There was nothing there, and it certainly didn't ease anything."
That was enough for me to skip over that part. The worldly gap, eh? This passage seemed to be more intriguing than the others. The worldly gap is a place between the real world and the ghostly realm. It is completely devoid of all the characteristics that bring comfort to the soul. No spirit has ever been sent here, but if one were to do so, the person would be aware of only emptiness. Such a durance would be triggered only by premature death, and that is not a part of destiny's threads. The spirit, in theory, would be sent back to Earth and drawn to someone who could bring the person back.
"That's definitely where I was," Prue confirmed.
"Prue was sent to the worldly gap," I announced. Piper and Leo looked up at me. Leo seemed to know what I was talking about, but he looked dubious.
"The worldly gap?" Leo frowned. "That puts a whole new spin on this situation."
"How so?" Piper asked.
"It means that Prue wasn't meant to die. Something forced her to die. This whole thing is a part of her destiny."
"But the book said that premature death is never a part of destiny," I pointed out. Though the book had also said that souls never went to the worldly gap…
"The Charmed Ones are unique in every aspect." He turned to Piper, who was obviously searching for a deeper explanation. "You four must have a very complicated destiny that goes beyond the normal outlines."
"This is really annoying. How are we supposed to make any progress if there are no rules to guide us?" I could clearly see that Piper liked magic the least of the four sisters. She was a structured person, and magic seemed to screw up that structure for her. "I suppose that we're destined to figure this all out, though," she said, answering her own question. I liked that Halliwell attitude that the sisters showed off.
"It might have to do with what happened afterward," Leo said. "If Prue hadn't died, you wouldn't have met Paige."
"But we met Paige because of the Power of Three. It was the gap in powers that led us to find her," Piper argued. "Mom only told us the truth because she had to."
"Then perhaps it has to do with Christy. Or maybe both of them."
"Hey, I'm not that special," I said uncomfortably.
"Yes, you are. You have powers that you're not supposed to have. You have a Halliwell power. Prue was drawn to you for a reason. We just have to figure out why all this had to happen."
"Oh, all right." I set aside the book and called for another one. Two books came to me, fighting each other. I looked from the books to Leo and Piper, who didn't notice the struggle. Neither book won out and they both came to me. Melinda Warren and the Halliwell Line was the title of the first book. Death and Life was the title of the second one. "Interesting," I murmured and opened the book about Melinda Warren. It turned out to be quite fascinating. I was completely caught up in it when I felt a strange sensation. It felt like someone was watching me. I looked up, but Leo and Piper were both involved in their books. I looked back down, but I couldn't shake the feeling that I was being watched.
The feeling didn't go away. In fact, it got stronger the more I ignored it. Finally I couldn't resist and looked up again. A woman was standing by the doorway, her eyes fixed on me. I stared at her, mesmerized. She seemed to exude serenity, so I felt no threat from her. I didn't understand what was happening, but for once, I didn't really care.
The thought of going over to her skipped across my mind, but that didn't seem necessary. There was something about her that stopped me from doing anything. If I just stayed where I was, something important would happen.
Just as I was acknowledging that fact, the room began to shift into a new surrounding. I was in a cave. Fear jumped up in me, for I knew that my end was nearing. Premonitions are never wrong, after all. It was like Prue was in control, but that wasn't what was happening. She didn't control my thoughts. This was something else…
Suddenly, I was grabbed. I didn't know where I was, but I knew what was happening. I tried to free my hands, but I was being tied to a stake. I was helpless. My powers could do me no good.
"Burn the witch! Burn the witch!"
That horrible chanting drilled itself into my head. How dare they do this to me! I protected them from evil. I was their savior, and they were persecuting me! Flames crackled around me, licking at my body. I squeezed my eyes shut and shouted my final words. "You may burn my flesh, but my power does not end here!" My mouth continued to move, but I could no longer feel myself. I was being pulled away from that place, that memory. It was only a memory…
Images began to fill the void in my eyes. A room… books… two people… Who was I? Where was I? I couldn't even tell if I had a body. Was I solid? Was I real? I didn't know, and it scared me terribly. I needed something, anything to cling to. I needed to know who I was and if I truly was being burned. I felt safe, but I didn't know for certain that I was. Please, please… what was this?
"Christy? Christy, enough spacing out. Come back to Earth."
Christy. No, that couldn't be who I was. Christy… Christy… Full awareness hit me heavily. I felt very light-headed and tired out, but I at least knew that I was Christy. Why had I been unsure of that? What had I just seen? And – the woman! I searched for her in the room, but she was gone. Puzzled, I tried to piece together what I had just endured. Fire… there had definitely been a fire. And a witch. They had been calling me a witch. I was a witch, but I wasn't being burned. What on earth had just happened to me?
Prue, what the heck was that?
"What was what?"
That vision, I said impatiently. That was so real. I don't think that was just a daydream. My mind isn't nearly that morbid.
"I didn't see anything. Tell me what you saw. It may be important."
I saw from the eyes of this witch. She was being taken away to be burned at the stake. She had had a premonition of it, and she apparently needed her hands to work her other powers. As she was being burned, she said that her power wouldn't end with her.
"I think," Prue said slowly, "that you summoned the memory of Melinda Warren's burning. You need to tell Leo."
No, not yet. I want to finish up here. It was probably just triggered by the fact that I was reading about her. My hands were shaking a little. Even though that hadn't really happened to me, it felt like it had. It had been so real. I didn't want to talk about it again. I just wanted to forget it.
I raised my hand to call another book, forgetting that I already had another book to read through. As the next book came to me, I glanced at my hand. I almost gasped at the sight that confronted me. I stared, not believing what I was seeing.
My fingertips were an angry red. They had been burned. The bracelet that I was wearing had been melted together so that the charms weren't distinguishable. It was like I had actually been touched by fire, though it was centralized around my hands. Now it was time to tell Leo.
But as I watched, the redness began to disappear. It was like I was healing at warp speed. Okay, now this is getting really weird. I inspected my hands closely. They were completely healed. Had I just imagined that they had been burned? The glaring melted metal that was wrapped around my wrist proved that something had happened. Tenderly, I pressed my hands together. No pain resulted. I shook my head. I must be going crazy or something.
"Tell Leo," Prue insisted.
No. There has to be a logical explanation. I had a weird daydream, which led to me thinking that my hands were burned.
"How do you explain the bracelet?"
Maybe… Maybe my power reacted to what I saw and… melted the bracelet.
"That makes no sense whatsoever. You don't have a power that could do that. You didn't call anything. This is something else."
Maybe I have untapped potential. I'm just starting to explore my powers. Plus I did call Phoebe's premonition. I hadn't yet explored that detail. How could I call a vision to me? It's not like this power allows me to channel other people's powers. I don't think that the call relates to why I saw Phoebe's vision. Maybe this vision relates to it somehow.
"Could you possibly focus? You just saw something that you can't explain. Find a way to explain it."
Out of nowhere, a soft voice whispered into my ear. "The book is the key," a woman's voice said.
I didn't even blink. That's it! Enough with the mysterious voices. I already have a resident voice, thank you very much! I'll assume that you didn't hear that, Prue.
"Actually, I did."
Oh. Well, what book is this voice talking about?
"I would guess that it's the one in your lap."
I looked down at the book. The title read The Art of Alchemy in loopy gold writing. Alchemy seemed like a familiar term, but I couldn't quite recall from where I remembered it. Hoping to stir some memory of it, I opened the book.
"What are you doing?" Prue asked in an agitated tone.
Reading.
"I'm aware of that. Why aren't you speaking up?"
Who am I to disobey a mysterious voice?
She started to argue, but I quieted her voice by reading the beginning of the book. Alchemy is the complicated method of producing a chemical substance that can turn any metal into gold and is the elixir of life. The beginnings of this practice are unclear and widely debated, but most people agree that the one who began alchemy was Hermes Trismegistus. Trismegistus was an Egyptian who wrote the Emerald Tablet, the first guide to alchemy. With him, we begin a journey that explores the art of alchemy.
This book did seem appropriate, for some strange reason. Perhaps it was because of the fact that alchemy dealt with the elixir of life, which could possibly help Prue. But Prue had a sense of life. She wasn't really dead, so how could the elixir of life help her? What she truly needed was a body. She needed to get back her true life and let go of this half-life.
Yet I found myself continuing on. Alchemy is one of the few magical outlets that innocents have taken part in. Some witches and dark beings dabbled in the practice, but it did not become a serious subject until Hermes Trismegistus took up the practice. A powerful wizard, he was able to correct many of the mistakes that had passed down by the ones who had come before him. Trismegistus came close to finding the correct potion for alchemy, but the Council of Elders stopped him before he could overstep the boundaries placed on magic. He was forced to give up, but others continued his work.
The reasons why Trismegistus's work was brought to end are numerous, but the primary reason would be personal gain. Trismegistus had intended to give himself immortality, which completely violated the natural rules of good magic. In addition to that, there is the fact that demons could have easily accessed the power of immortality. Success in alchemy also would have affected innocents deeply.
The book turned out to be a fascinating read. It seemed that even Prue got caught up in the twists and turns that could be found throughout the history of alchemy. Even though I couldn't see how this would relate to Prue's problem, I thoroughly enjoyed the subject of alchemy. I found myself wishing that alchemy did have something to do with what was happening. Maybe we can find a way to link this to the situation.
"In order to do that," Prue responded, "we'll have to get everything out into the open, including your little vision."
You're not going to let go of this, are you?
"No. I know how things can spiral out of control when you withhold information. Magic has an incredible impact on all aspects of life. It's better to deal with things while you still have some kind of control over the situation."
I find it hard to imagine that you could let anything get out of control.
"It happens to everyone at some point. No one is perfect."
You should have been made into whitelighter.
"No way. I never would have followed the rules."
You not following the rules? That's quite a shock. It's a good thing I was sitting down.
"I wish I had lived a little more," she said wistfully. "Loved, even. But it seems like Andy…" She stopped abruptly. I could feel her sorrow over her lost love. "Time should heal all wounds. But I know that it doesn't."
I didn't quite know how to respond to that, so I stayed quiet.
"Find anything important?" Leo asked suddenly.
I jumped. I had forgotten all about Piper and Leo. "Not really. I've been looking at alchemy. It relates to the elixir of life, but I don't think that would help Prue much. Plus there's the fact that the Elders get annoyed if anyone toys with alchemy. But Hermes Trismegistus seemed to know what he was getting into, and he knew what he was doing. If we could summon him here, then-"
"Don't say that," Leo said urgently.
"Why?"
"Because it brings me right to you, young lady. Have you no idea what your powers can do?" A tall, thin man dressed in a flowing black robe was standing in front of me, studying me distastefully. "There used to be a time when young people had to be properly tutored before they could use their powers. What ever happened to that?"
"Who the heck are you?"
"Primarily, I am known as Melchior. But you're probably looking for one of my past lives." He picked up the book in my lap and looked it over. "I was at one time Hermes Trismegistus. I am one of the souls damned by alchemy." He thrust the book back into my arms. "Now, would you kindly explain why you have summoned me?" He looked at me sharply, making it obvious that he didn't want to be here.
I looked from him to Leo. "Oops."