Here I was, in the basement of the Manor, with Melchior, Phoebe, Prue, and a man that Melchior had identified as Doctor Faustus. So, yet again, I was involved in some strange situation. Why did this have to happen now? I had just come back from the dead. Couldn't the universe give the Halliwells a break? Though I blamed the universe, I was still rather annoyed with myself. The sisters were already stressed out, and I just kept adding to their problems. Even though I didn't know why this Doctor Faustus had come to the Manor, I was certain that it was my fault. The shadow of the past, Shamira, my nonexistence - would any of this ever make any sense?
The man stopped and stared at Melchior. A smile gradually broke across his face. "Hermes," Doctor Faustus said. "Here we are again." He looked strange. His eyes were almost hollow, and he didn't seem to be very solid. What was he?
"What are you doing here?" Melchior questioned. "The shadows shouldn't still exist. Shamira's gone."
"Shamira has called upon us," Doctor Faustus said. "You don't remember."
"Are you saying that she's still alive?" Melchior said.
"Of course she's alive, Hermes," stated Doctor Faustus. "Why would you think that she's gone?"
"She wasn't present in my life." Melchior shrugged. "I thought that the Elders had finally caught her." He walked closer to Doctor Faustus. He actually seemed happy. Apparently Shamira really meant a lot to him.
"There we certain complications," Doctor Faustus said. He paused, listening intently. "The others are coming."
As if on cue, a woman appeared at the top of the stairs. She walked down to Doctor Faustus, murmuring under her breath. "We will be one again. We will be one again." She noticed Doctor Faustus and snapped out of her trance. "Can you hear them?" She smiled. "Listen."
"We will gather," another woman said as she appeared next to the first woman.
"Our powers will rise." This time, a man appeared.
"We will triumph." Yet another woman materialized.
"Good will always endure." One more woman appeared.
The group greeted each other by silently inclining their heads. They all had that hollow look about them. They almost looked… well, dead. Melchior had called them shadows, so maybe they were all shadows of the past. That would explain their appearances. I wasn't entirely comfortable with this development.
"Um… Melchior?" Phoebe said. "What the hell is going on?"
"This is Shamira's spell," Melchior said. "It's her sign."
"Telling us what?" Phoebe asked, nervously regarding the shadows.
"We are here to tell you that the change is beginning," one of the women said.
"How can it be happening already?" Melchior questioned, seeming puzzled. "Shamira hasn't even surfaced yet."
"But she has," Doctor Faustus said. "You just can't see her."
Irritation blossomed on Melchior's face. "Shamira always was fond of her little riddles. Never could get a straight answer out of that woman," he muttered. To Doctor Faustus he said, "Has she left any clues?"
Doctor Faustus smirked. "Hermes, you must tell them about the past. Only then will you see her."
"Tell them? They can't know," Melchior said.
"Tell them about the past, Hermes," the unnamed man said. "Tell them about us. They will know the truth, and then you will see her." He held out his hand. Suddenly, we were in the attic with the Paige, Piper, and Leo.
"Dare you disobey her will?" the last woman said.
"I believe you know the answer to that, Emilia," Melchior said.
"Uh… what the hell?" Paige said, abruptly reminding us of the others in the room. "Who are you? What's going on?"
"The change is beginning, Paige," Doctor Faustus said. He came up to me, faintly smiling. He didn't seem to be looking at me. Rather, he seemed to be looking to Prue. "Ah, almost alive again. Not quite, though."
I think he's talking to you, Prue, I thought to her.
"But why?"
One by one, the shadows each chose a person in the attic and stood in front of them. The three women had chosen the remaining sisters. The man had chosen Leo.
"Open your minds," the shadows whispered. "She has risen again. Hear her call. See her now."
Paige, Phoebe, and Piper all exchanged glances. "Um, okay," Piper said. "Melchior?"
"Listen," the shadows urgently said.
We all became silent, listening carefully.
At first, I could hear nothing except the usual sounds of the city. Then, something different began to sound. It was low at first, but it eventually became clearer. It was the voice of the shadow that I had met. She was rapidly speaking in several different foreign languages. There was no discernible pattern. She would recite a few words of each language, and then quickly switch to a new language. It was strange that she sounded so calm when her quick transitions seemed to indicate that she was ill at ease, or that she had very little time to speak. I was so absorbed in her voice that I didn't notice that the shadows were disappearing until Paige pointed that out.
The shadows seemed to be losing what little solidity they had. As they became fainter, they appeared to melt into an energy. I could feel the power in the air as they faded away. I watched closely and saw that they were gathering together, becoming one. Then they were gone. Still, I didn't think that they were really gone. I could still feel the energy that they carried. It was all around me; it was spread throughout the attic.
My own shadow of the past was continuing to chant, but even she seemed to be fading away. Her voice was becoming softer. Her words slowed as they softened in volume. Yet as with the other shadows, the energy created by those words didn't leave the attic once the shadow's voice had gone. It was still there, a part of the energy of the other shadows.
We were silent for a while before I broke the silence.
"What happened to Cole?" I asked.
"We sent him down to check on you," Piper said.
The energy suddenly overwhelmed me, which caused my powers to go crazy. Everything in the attic responded to my calling power and rushed toward me. Piper froze them. I was quite appreciative.
All of a sudden, Cole appeared in the attic. I assumed that I had somehow called him up.
The energy continued to overwhelm me. I felt like I was in a dream. Everything was softer, yet more meaningful. Then anger came to me. I was outraged. I had just sensed something off about the power that had been bestowed to Cole. I didn't know how I knew about the power, but logic was less important than my anger.
"Christy? Are you all right?"
I could just barely hear Prue's voice. I felt no need to respond to her.
"They tried to take your power away," I said to Cole. "They made more of a mess than I thought. They will pay for that and every other deed."
"Okay," Piper said. "This is absolutely ridiculous. Christy, what are you talking about?"
"He is the guardian," I angrily said. "But they made him forget."
"The guardian?" Melchior repeated. He looked to Cole. "You're the guardian?"
"What about those weird people?" Phoebe said.
"All right. Everyone just stop," Piper said, taking control over the situation.
The anger was ebbing away. I was grateful for that. I was gaining control of myself, but that also meant that I was losing that strange knowledge. I partly wanted it to stay in control and provide further answers.
"Christy! Answer me."
Yeah, I said. I'm getting pretty tired of this.
"So am I."
"Melchior, since you seem to be the only one who knows anything about whatever is going on, you really need to explain this," Piper said. I was impressed by her forcefulness.
"The shadows were Shamira's spell," Melchior responded.
"Shamira?" Leo said. "Shamira is gone. How could her spell still exist?"
"She isn't gone," Melchior said. He got out his wand and pointed it. A large book appeared on the table. "All the answers are in the book." He was obviously very weary.
Paige went over to the book and looked at the title. "Emerald Tablet by Hermes Trismegistus," she read.
"Hey, I read about that in The Art of Alchemy," I said, remembering that long ago day. "But what does that have to do with anything? It's only about alchemy."
"This is the more complex version," Melchior said. "It involves more than just alchemy. It is where I recorded all of Shamira's history." He waved his wand. The book opened to a particular page.
"Shamira and her order," Paige read. She glanced at Melchior, who motioned for her to continue. "The world organization was built on one element: balance. Everything has a continuous existence because of the delicate balance of all things. Everything that dies is reborn into this cycle that maintains the balance. The Elders were established to make sure that the balance was kept. But the power that actually kept the balance was known as the Verum.
"The Verum was not created by the Elders, or any other force. It was created when all things came into being. The Verum is what keeps good and evil in balance. It keeps life going, and keeps death going. The Verum is totally independent. However, certain factors make it necessary for the Verum to have a protector, a vessel in which it can be held. This vessel was created by the Elders from the incomplete energies that good had produced. Shamira, the Living Balance, was the vessel.
"Shamira was made to obey the Elders, but she did not bow to their will once she had control of the Verum. She saw the flaws of the Elders' rule, and she sought to fix those flaws. To Shamira, those flaws were a threat to the balance. They opened the Elders to the powers that they needed to control. Shamira knew that they could become corrupted by those powers, so she worked to purify the Elders.
"The process the Shamira created would have diminished the Elders' power. The Elders felt that Shamira was making herself into a threat to their rule. This is what motivated them to put limitations on her. They forced her into the cycle of life. The Verum continued to maintain the balance, but Shamira forgot her identity. She cycled through life for quite some time before the Verum discovered a major imbalance that required Shamira's interference - my own dealings in alchemy.
"The Elders did not allow Shamira to a play a large role in my punishment, but Shamira came to me on her own. She wanted my help to break free from the Elders and accomplish her goal to purify the Council of Elders. Together, we were able to find six souls who would be able to aid Shamira in her cycle. Shamira was able to write out our life paths so that we could be free from the Elders. Our names changed throughout the lives that we shared, so I will list the souls by our positions in Shamira's order.
"The one I shall call the guardian was likely the most important soul. He was the one who kept the Elders away from us. He protected us. He was the one who kept the order. At times, he stayed near us as a ghost. That form allowed him to retain his memories. On a few occasions, though, he joined us in life.
"The one who can be called the controller was the soul who kept us on the right track. She brought us together and ensured that we accomplished our missions. The one who maintained the peace, however, was the one who ensured that we didn't get fed up with each other. She kept us together while the soul who was our motivation kept us going. She was our hope, and she was the eternal optimist. The eternal pessimist was the soul who made sure that we continued to fight. It was because of her pessimistic view that she kept fighting. She felt that we had to fight to get hope. The last soul was the mediator between the Elders and us. He was the soul who dealt with the Elders whenever they came around.
"Eventually, the Elders interfered in our operation. They took the Verum from Shamira and made us believe that Shamira had been killed. We found out the truth, though. I believe that Shamira will soon reclaim the Verum, for she has established the line of the Halliwells. She has given Melinda Warren great abilities, and Melinda Warren will grant power to three souls in the future. Only then will we will be able to fight the Elders."
"Shamira established our bloodline?"
"What does this mean, Melchior?" I asked.
"You six," he pointed to the sisters, Cole, and Leo, "are the six souls that Shamira chose. The shadows that you saw represent your past. They are you."
"Hold on. This can't be right," Prue said. "I'm taking over, Christy."
"You're saying that I was Doctor Faustus?" Prue questioned. She clearly didn't believe him, and I couldn't blame her. I myself found it rather difficult to believe.
Melchior nodded slowly and carefully. His gaze was distant, as if his mind was on something very different.
"So we're all a part of Shamira's order," Prue said. "And Shamira established our bloodline."
"That is correct."
"Wait. Christy had a vision at Magic School. She saw a witch being burned. Was that one of Sharmira's lives?"
"Yes," Melchior confirmed. "That's the life she shared with Melinda Warren."
"I understand that then," Prue said, "but there are still a few things missing."
"Such as?" Melchior asked.
"I don't know what Prue feels is missing," Leo said suddenly, "but I'd like to know how they - we - got away from the Elders."
"We sold our souls," Melchior replied.
"We sold our souls?" Paige incredulously repeated. "Why?"
"We sold them so that we could be freed from the rule of the Elders," Melchior said.
"But why?"
"Shamira can write life paths," Melchior explained. "She can give people life because of the Verum. However, she has to maintain a delicate balance when she writes those life paths. We gave her our souls so that we could create our own destinies and avoid dealing with the Elders. The Elders don't know that our souls belong to Shamira. They still create destinies for us, but those destinies are not as powerful as the one Shamira grants us."
"I think I understand that," Phoebe said. "The Elders assigned Prue a destiny that stated that she would die because of Shax. But that wasn't the destiny that Shamira wrote for her. That's why she went to the Worldly Gap."
Melchior smiled. "Very good, Phoebe. You completely correct. When Prue died, her true destiny was not fulfilled. This imbalance caused her soul to go to the Worldly Gap. Prue, you went to the Worldly Gap and waited there until the magic could locate Shamira and take you to her. It took a while, but magic was able to send you back to Shamira." He placed extra emphasis on the last few words.
The sisters' faces lit up. I could feel the recognition in Prue as well. They mutely looked at each other, mouths open. They had all obviously caught onto whatever Melchior was hinting at, but I was still clueless.
"Uh, what's going on?" I asked Prue.
Prue didn't answer. "You mean she's…"
"Yes, she is," Melchior said.
"Who's what?" I said, growing frustrated. "I'm really confused. A little help?"
You ask Melchior, Prue said and pushed me to the front.
"What's going on?" I asked.
"You haven't figured it out?" Melchior asked, amused.
I glared at him. "No, o wise one, I have not figured it out," I said, my words heavy with sarcasm. "Care to share some of your wondrous knowledge?"
Melchior studied me for a long time, that silly grin still plastered on his face. I was just about to start yelling when he spoke at last. "Christina, you are Shamira." He spoke so lightly. How could he speak such a significant sentence with such ease? I would have expected that he'd be more dramatic.
Ah… but of course. I knew why he would speak with such ease. He was just testing me again. "Okay," I said simply.
Melchior's eyebrow went up. "This isn't exactly the reaction I was expecting from you."
"Well, I know that you're just messing with me," I said. "I don't know why, but I guess that doesn't matter. Maybe you're just testing me. Maybe you're trying to make me figure something else out." I shrugged. "I just don't know."
"Christy, this is the only thing that would make sense," Paige said. "You have to be Shamira."
"It's not possible," I insisted. "Wouldn't I know if I was Shamira? You said that Shamira fought against the Elders. If I was Shamira, I think I'd be able to face the Elders without becoming a nervous wreck."
"You are Shamira," Melchior said. "You're merely forgotten your identity. It's an unfortunate but necessary device. Once you get the Verum back, you'll be able to fix what the Elders did."
"See, that's the main problem with your whole 'I'm Shamira' theory," I said. "How could I write out life paths if I didn't have the Verum?"
"You were given significant powers, Christina," Melchior said. "You had to have such powers in order to control the Verum. Even though you lost the Verum to the Elders, you still have the powers that you were given when you were created."
I shook my head. "This can't be. I can't be Shamira. I'm just plain old Christina Raven."
"You really won't believe that you're Shamira?"
"I need more proof."
"You'll get your proof," Melchior said. "Once you receive the Verum, you will remember who you are."
"Then let's get the Verum," Phoebe said.
"How?" I asked. "It's protected by the Elders. No one has ever been able to get near it."
"Those people weren't the Charmed Ones," Piper said. "We'll be able to get it."
"But we need someone who knows all about the Elders' system," I pointed out.
"You just have to be such a pain, don't you?" Phoebe said, rolling her eyes. "We have Leo."
Leo shook his head. "You can't get to the Verum," said Leo. "No one can, not even Shamira herself. It's too well protected."
"Can't the Power of Three get through?" Paige inquired.
"No," Leo told her. "The spell protecting the Verum draws on the power of the Verum. Only a huge force could break through the spell."
Prue took over again and crossed the room abruptly. She rifled through the miscellaneous things gathered around the edge of the attic for a few moments before she produced a piece of paper and a pen. "What about the Power of Four?"
"It wouldn't work," Leo said. "Melinda Warren created the Power of Three. The Power of Four means nothing."
"But Melinda got her powers from Shamira," Prue pointed out. "So what if Shamira gives us the Power of Four?"
Leo thought about this. "I suppose it could work."
"Then let's try that," Phoebe said.
"You're going to write the spell, right?" I said.
Yes, I am, Prue told me. All you have to do is read the spell. She put the pen to the paper, but she didn't write anything. She seemed to be stuck. "Okay, I haven't done this in a while." She looked to her sisters. "Erm… help?"
The sisters gathered around her. "Well, the nature of the Verum is very important in this spell," Paige slowly said. "It provides balance. We're trying to find a balance to the spell on the Verum. So… Good and evil, dark and light, the Verum controls these, now the Power of Four joins the fight. From Power of Three to Power of Four, the forces now gather and center our core."
Prue wrote down the spell, then looked up at Paige. "Impressive spell, Paige."
"Thanks."
I was fully enjoying this sisterly moment when Prue astral projected out of my body. "Read the spell, Christy."
I looked at the paper. I wasn't entirely assured that the sisters would be safe if I were to read it. "Are you sure I should do this? I'm really not that good at this stuff."
Everyone just looked at me.
"Fine, fine," I sighed. "Good and evil, dark and light, the Verum controls these, now the Power of Four joins the fight. From Power of Three to Power of Four, the forces now gather and center our core," I chanted. I then looked up to the sisters, meaning to ask them how we would know that the spell worked. There was no need to ask, though, because tiny pinpricks of light were swirling around them. The lights gathered together and showered down on the sisters. The sisters glowed for a few seconds, then the light disappeared.
"Looks like it worked," Phoebe said.
What did this mean? Was I really Shamira? The spell had worked, after all. But I didn't want to be Shamira. That meant that I had to face the Elders, and I had to take on a huge destiny. Though that destiny came with a nice amount of power, I really didn't want to have to deal with the responsibility. If I was Shamira, I was responsible for the balance of every force in existence. Responsibility had never been my strong point. It wasn't that I didn't try to be responsible. It was more the fact that I always got involved in other things, thereby leaving behind my real responsibilities. If I took on the responsibility, would all of existence really be in capable hands?
"We'd better get up there," Prue said.
Melchior shook his head. "First, you need to rest. That spell is going to take a lot out of you. We'll face the Elders tomorrow."
Prue considered him for a moment before she stepped back into my body.
I hope tomorrow never comes.
"Where's your sense of adventure?" Prue said, being strangely cheerful.
Missing in action.
"Well, you're just going to have to find it."
Ugh.