A/N: oy. It has been a while, I know. But here's the seventh chapter. Thank you, furypiper (read and all shall be revealed), ProtectionPaige, and Dezi (I tend to hold out on things until the big finale. Only around seven more chapters until that, though…) for reviewing the last chapter.

"So you had a vision and you didn't tell us immediately?" Piper said. I hated that tone. It was the tone that Prue had used with me. It made me feel so… inferior. More than that, it made me feel like I really had screwed up. That was something that I didn't particularly wish to acknowledge. Why, why did Piper have to have that tone? Now I felt like a child with her hand in the cookie jar. It made it much harder for me to find an appropriate response.

"Well… yeah," I said meekly. Piper's look told me that that wasn't enough of an explanation. Though I didn't want to, I went on. "It just seems like every time I mention an odd occurrence, things get even weirder. I thought it would be easier to ignore this. Plus that was a creepy vision. Being burned alive, then finding my bracelet like this…" She was giving me a look that my mother often gave me. "But it seems like ignoring this doesn't really help, as you are demonstrating now. You know, you'd make a good mother. You've really got that whole 'I know that you know that I'm annoyed' look down."

I sneaked another glance at Hermes - or Melchior, as he seemed to prefer. He looked Middle Eastern, which made me wonder about his life as Melchior. But his coinciding knowledge of his past life was even more intriguing. How was it that he was able to remember? I couldn't question him on that at that moment, though, for Leo was speaking with him. I didn't know what about, but it was clear that Melchior was not very pleased with his current situation, and he seemed even more displeased with me. I didn't like the impression that he gave, but I wanted to know more about him no matter what. I had called him after all. There was no reason why I shouldn't be able to question him… right?

"I wonder why he's able to remember his past lives," Prue said.

I was just wondering that myself. Perhaps it has to do with his dealings with the Elders, I said.

"Perhaps."

"Well, you should really tell us these things when you see them," Piper said, looking like she was a little uncomfortable with the mention of motherhood. I made a quick mental note to not bring up that subject again. "Ignoring something that is obviously magical can only make things worse. Trust me. I've learned from experience." She paused and switched gears. "We'll have to figure out who the witch was in your vision. It could be the key to this whole thing."

"Just one more thing to add to the long list of things that we need to figure out, right?" I responded with a sigh. "Your life, with all this magic, seems so overwhelming. How can you manage with all this stuff?" That had been bothering me ever since I had arrived. Their life was so stressful, yet they managed to overcome difficulties and live semi-normal lives. They were quite amazing.

"You get used to it after a while," Piper said and shrugged. "We just take it one incident at a time, and we try to keep part of our lives devoted to being normal." She cast a glance at Melchior and Leo.

"I can't believe that I can summon people just by speaking their name," I said. "It looks like I'm going to have to be considerably more careful when I speak." That would not be an easy task for me. When I felt impassioned by a subject, I had a tendency to blurt out whatever I was thinking.

"Don't worry about that," Prue said, "I'll make sure that you don't say anything that you don't mean."

Am I supposed to be reassured?

"Depends on how you take it."

Yeah, that really doesn't help, you know, I said. Oh my God, what if the Elders what to get involved with this? We're in an Elder's school. He could easily get to me!

"Calm down," Prue said, being the voice of reason. "I'd worry more about getting Melchior back to where he belongs."

Right. One thing at a time. I mean, Leo can just orb him back to wherever he came from. It'll be easy.

Melchior looked at me and nodded at Leo. That made me quite uncomfortable. Melchior was smiling a little and looking downright devious. Okay, it was time for him to get orbed back. I had Gideon scheming against me. One person doing that was more than enough for me. To my added horror, Leo also looked to me, then looked back to Melchior and nodded.

What the heck was that about? I said, not really directing the question at Prue.

"We're about to find out."

"Christina," Leo began as he turned to me, "Melchior has decided to do something that would be greatly helpful to everyone in this situation."

I shifted my eyes from Leo to Melchior. "Okay… What is it?"

"Melchior wishes to help you explore your powers," Leo said. "He is an expert in unusual magic, as you know, and he is an excellent teacher."

I examined his words. It would be greatly helpful if Melchior taught me? My cheeks reddened a little as I understood. I was causing everyone more trouble than I was worth. "Oh, yeah… That would be good. But wouldn't that be interrupting your life, Melchior?"

"What life?" Melchior scoffed. "The Elders will not allow me to truly live."

"So you have nothing better to do than teach a teen witch?" I said, eyebrow raised.

"You are a very eloquent youth," Melchior commented dryly. "But something must be done about your magic. In all my lives, I have never seen anyone with such volatile power. You are a very unique case."

"Is that a compliment?" The words slipped out, and I immediately regretted them. Too late I bit my tongue. This was a respectable man, a true symbol of great magic, and I was acting like a child. I am really not good at holding my tongue.

"Tell me about it," Prue said.

Melchior glared at me. "I'm just making that clear," he said gruffly. "I see that you and I are going to have a lot of fun together."

I looked down guiltily. "Sorry. I kind of have a big mouth…" I cleared my throat. "It would be an honor to be taught by you. But do you mind if I clear up some things first?"

"Such as what?" Melchior responded.

"Why do you know about your past lives? What did the Elders do to you?" I asked in a rush.

Melchior sighed. "I know of my past lives because that is a part of the punishment that the Elders decided I had to endure. You see, in each life following the one as Hermes Trismesgistus, I would always be drawn to alchemy. The Elders made it so that every time I came close to discovering the elixir of life, I would remember my past lives. I would then have to start over with a new life. I was just about to move on from my life as Melchior when you summoned me. I daresay that you have freed me, Christina."

That didn't make me feel any better. It made me feel much worse. "The Elders are going to come after me for sure," I groaned. "I've already been causing enough trouble. Now I've freed you. They are going to be so pissed."

"I wouldn't worry about the Elders," Melchior said. "Now that I am free from them, I am able to use my magic to shield myself. They won't be able to find me."

"Uh, you do know that you're in an Elder's school, right?" I said.

He looked unbothered by this. "Of course," Melchior replied easily.

"Well, don't you think it would be kind of easy for him to spot you?" I continued.

"Absolutely not," Melchior said, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. "Only those who truly have eyes to see can see me now."

"Okay…"

"Bite your tongue," Prue reminded me.

I am… I am…

"So…" I started, looking down at my bracelet. "What are we going to do now?" I touched the melted metal thoughtfully. The vision kept playing over and over in my mind. I had no idea what we were going to deal with first: my vision, Melchior, or any of the other things that I had gotten us into.

"I have to gather my tools, of course. The first thing that I have to do is study your powers," Melchior said and came up to me.

I stared at him.

He looked down at me impatiently. "Well, orb us," Melchior snapped.

"Oh, right…" I wasn't exactly sure if I needed to know where I was going to actually end up there, but somehow we ended up in a strange lab. It was lit by a few flickering lights. Glancing around, I could see that we were underground. "Where are we?"

"It doesn't matter." Melchior waved his hand. All the instruments and things that had occupied the room suddenly vanished. A large black bag appeared in Melchior's hand. "I'm finally beating them," he muttered with a satisfied smirk. He then noticed me staring at him. I realized that I had been doing that a lot, so I wasn't surprised when he scowled at me.

"Yes, yes," I sighed. "Back we go."

"You're not even trying," Prue said disapprovingly.

Believe me, Prue, I'm trying, I told her as I orbed. It didn't seem right that a man who had just been freed from damnation could be so… unpleasant. I would have thought that he'd be happy. Although, there was the fact that he now had to deal with me. I knew that there were certain people who automatically didn't get along. Cole and Prue were prime examples. Perhaps Melchior and I just wouldn't get along.

That was not making this any easier. Quite frankly, I currently felt screaming my lungs out and throwing a right little temper tantrum. Between Melchior, my vision, and the general feeling that I was a burden, I was really not feeling too friendly. Okay… I just had to take a deep breath. I had to remain calm and adult. This sucks, I thought grumpily.

Suddenly I registered that I was back at the school. I was just standing there with everyone looking at me. I had been zoning out again. "Erm… Well, I suppose we should get started on this."

"You finally understand," Melchior said, purposely being condescending. "Now, we should return to the Halliwell manor. My alchemy magic is too strong for the Elders to not sense while I'm here."

I blinked. Yes, I did understand. What a trick that was! I exclaimed in my head. I get it now. He's testing me.

"Hmm. You're right. But why?"

I have a feeling that it has to do with my magic.

There was a large amount of orbing and we ended up back at the manor.

"Ah, you're finally back," a strangely familiar voice announced. "I've been waiting for you."

Piper flicked her fingers and I turned around to find none other than Gideon standing in the living, thankfully frozen. My mouth hung open as I stared at him.

"Him? What is he doing here?" I cried, backing up. "He saw Melchior! He-"

"He saw nothing," Melchior assured me.

"Are… are you sure?" I asked unsteadily. I was really getting sick of being surprised. I couldn't handle much more of this.

"I'm certain," Melchior said. It was strange how he could so quickly change his manner of dealing with me. "Go ahead and unfreeze him," he told Piper. She reluctantly did so.

"Hello, Gideon," Piper said uncomfortably. "Um… What are you doing in my home?"

"I need to borrow Christina again," Gideon said, smiling at me.

Okay, he is officially creeping me out. He was talking like I wasn't there, despite the fact that he was staring right at me. And that word choice made me feel like an object. I don't like the look of this.

Gideon's eyes skimmed over Leo and Piper, then landed right on Melchior. I held my breath as he stared intently, then slowly moved on. I quietly let out the breath. Gideon didn't know that Melchior was there - Melchior's magic really was that strong. This was definitely going to be useful.

"I don't like this either," Prue said. There was a frown in her voice.

What are we going to do?

She answered that by taking over. "You know, you could directly address Christina," Prue said to Gideon, smiling in a way that I was sure made me look a lot like Prue. "And I don't exactly like it when I come home to find uninvited guests. We were at the school. You could have easily talked to us there."

"You were at the school?" Gideon asked, looking genuinely puzzled. "I wasn't able to sense you anywhere."

Prue quickly glanced at Melchior, who shrugged, smirking. Quickly she turned her attention back on Gideon.

"I see. Christina had a small mishap with her power. That may have interfered," Prue stated. "What exactly do you want from her?"

"We have been debating this issue, and we have come up with an option that will fix everything," Gideon explained. "We would like to discuss it with you."

"You can just tell us now," Prue said, crossing her arms. "I think Piper and Leo should know this."

"They are welcome to come," Gideon said. "But we must go now."

"Fine," Prue said. Once again, we were being orbed off to another place.

I let the feeling of dread wash over me as we appeared in front of the council of Elders. They were all there again, all looking stiff and overly serious. If there was any good news to be told, they certainly didn't look like the ones who would be telling it. My body reacted to this realization in the usual manner, and I felt Prue tense.

"They do not look like they're going to be delivering fabulous news," I said nervously. "I'm not liking this."

Prue didn't answer; she simply stood there tensely waiting for the Elders to speak. She had no words of comfort for me, and no one in the one could offer me any sense of comfort. Their faces were all somber and stern. Why did the Elders always have to make these meetings so horribly uncomfortable? This was undoubtedly far worse than the last meeting with them, but I wasn't sure exactly why it was. I wasn't really eager to find out.

They only made it worse by looking us all over very closely. It looked like they were searching us for something, but what? The majority of them appeared completely emotionless, but one or two looked displeased. That minority didn't stare at me; they stared at Gideon with highly disapproving looks. Gideon ignored them, likely a wise move on his part. Was it possible that I had someone on my side? If I was lucky… and I hoped with all my heart that I was.

Prue glanced to the side and I saw that only Piper and Leo had followed us. I was pleased to see that Melchior had wisely decided to not come up. I had hoped that he would do that, but he was an awfully daring man. At least, that was the impression that I had gotten.

But now was really not the time to think about what kind of a person Melchior was. I had to concentrate on the Elders, even though that was highly unpleasant. I couldn't avoid it; I was standing in front of them, and it seemed like they were going to be handing me my sentence pretty soon. I wasn't sure if I wanted them to speak or not. While I dreaded what they were going to do to me, I also wanted to know what was going to happen to Prue. I was surprised that they had resolved the issue so quickly, but it was a good thing… right?

"Prudence Halliwell," an Elder began, "we have been discussing your situation with great care, and we have come up with a plan that will resolve this issue. There are actually three options, but only one will be best for the greater good."

"One of the options was to allow you and Christina Raven to continue switching off," another Elder continued. "That, however, cannot benefit the greater good. That option has therefore been eliminated."

"The second option was for Christina to conceive a child, a body into which you would be reborn," a third Elder spoke. "But considering her age, that option was decided against."

"Thank God," I said. "That's just… I could not do that."

"The third option is the one that we have decided on," Gideon spoke. It figured that he would be the one to tell me my fate. "It is an option that may seem rather severe, but it is entirely necessary." He paused. "We have decided that Christina Raven will have to be sacrificed to serve the greater good. You will both undergo a ceremony which will remove her spirit and allow you to completely control her body."

Sacrificed? The words hit me bluntly. I so numb that I could just barely understand what they meant. They were going to kill me. This wasn't possible. I couldn't die. Death had always been so unreal to me. I had never faced death or feared for my life. Now the Elders were calmly telling me that they were going to kill me so that Prue could have my body. I didn't want to die. Why were they doing this to me?

"You are all unbelievable," Prue said, furious. "You're actually telling me that you're going to murder an innocent so that I can live? Have you suddenly switched sides? Last time I checked, good saved innocents. Now all of a sudden, we're destroying them? You can't do that. I'm not a Charmed One anymore. The Power of Three is found in my sisters, not me. I died, the Power of Three was reborn, and now I have to move on. You gave us three options, and I'm taking the first one right now. But I'm going to offer you my options. First option: you do the ceremony, but you take my soul out, not Christina's. Second option: you get my body back and bring me back to life that way. Now that you understand that I am not going to take this crap, I want you to think long and hard about my options and decide which one you would prefer. Do you all get it?"

"This is not in your power, Prue," Gideon said. "Your body cannot be brought back to life. And you are an important soul despite the fact that you are no longer a Charmed One. You will be instrumental in the fight against evil. We need you, but Christina…"

"What? You don't need her? Do you have any idea how powerful she is? With the right training, she could become more powerful than the Charmed Ones," Prue said.

"There's just one problem with that, Prue," another Elder spoke up. "Christina has no destiny. The Angel of Destiny never created a life path for Christina. All people are born with a path to take, as you know, and existence is carefully planned out. We know about every person on this Earth, but as far we know, she was never born. She can't be sensed or controlled. It's as though she isn't real."

"Well, you had problems knowing about Paige," Prue pointed out. "And she's half-whitelighter."

"We as Elders didn't know about Paige," Gideon said, "but there are other beings that control existence. Those beings knew about Paige. But they know nothing of Christina. We don't know what she is, but it is quite clear that she was never meant to exist."

"I'm sure that makes this a lot easier for all you," Piper spoke suddenly. "You can get off guilt-free after you kill her. But I have stand by Prue on this. Bring Prue back to life in her own body. Don't destroy Christina."

Gideon looked to Leo. "Leo, explain to them why this is necessary. They understand it better if you say it."

"I can't do that, Gideon, because Prue is right. Christina deserves to live," Leo said. "She's a powerful witch, but she is innocent. She didn't ask for this, and she didn't seek Prue out. Their paths crossed, and she does have a path. You just can't control it."

"You are all making a mistake," Gideon said. "This is necessary for the greater good. You must think of that. You cannot stop this."

"Oh yeah?" Prue challenged. "Just watch me." Leo orbed us out, and that part of the ordeal was over. But this had still only just begun.