A/N: When I talk about Phoebe meeting Prudence Wentworth (Melinda Warren's daughter), I know it never happened in the show. It happened in one of the "Charmed" books titled, "Whispers From The Past". And just so there's no confusion, I'll explain what books and what episodes have taken place in my series. (Since it did begin in season 4.) For the episodes, seasons 1-3 all happened. "Charmed Again, Part One", "Charmed Again, Part Two", "Hell Hath No Fury", "Enter The Demon", "Size Matters", "A Knight To Remember", "A Paige From The Past", "Lost And Bound", & "Saving Private Leo". Of course the last 3 episodes that I mentioned never had the whole Cole's marriage proposal thing and Cole without powers and stuff. But the Paige going back in time thing took place, the Tyler thing took place, and Leo's war 'buddies' coming back to get revenge took place. With the books, all the books with Prue took place. The books featuring Paige are as follows. "Spirit Of The Wolf", "Garden Of Evil", "Date With Death", "Dark Vengeance", "Shadow Of The Sphinx", "Something Wiccan This Way Comes", "Mist And Stone", & "Mirror Image". Just so you know, I may refer to these 'adventures' again, later on in my series. Also, I've updated all the pictures (although it may take a while for them to appear on my bio page, it always does). ALL the pictures should be working properly now (I've even added a picture of Brandon, for this fic). winter blaze: lol You're welcome. :) (Good luck with that report!) peanut2lb: LOL I bet he would've flipped! I'm sure it would have been entertaining as hell! Damn writers, they just had to kill him though, despite him being so awesome! Zythe: Oh, sorry 'bout the confusion. Prue is in Cole's body (Prue/Cole), Paige is in Prue's body (Paige/Prue), and Cole is in Paige's body (Cole/Paige). Phyre: There will be more Persia (after all, this is titled, "The Children Of Light"). Yeah, poor Piper. lol I have been thinking about what new power to give her, but I was sort of waiting for the show to give her a new one first. I will be advancing her current powers soon, though. Yes, Phyre will be in THIS fic. (A little later on, though.)
The Children Of Light
Chapter 3: Cross My Hart
Prue/Cole walked over to the Book of Shadows, but the book fell off it's stand. Prue/Cole reached down to grab the book, but it slid away. "What the hell is wrong with the book?!"
"The book doesn't let evil touch it, remember? And you're in Cole's body." Paige/Prue said. She picked up the book and sat down on a wooden chair, then began to flip through the pages. Suddenly she fell through the chair, along with the book, and they disappeared into the floor.
"Paige!" Prue/Cole yelled. Suddenly Prue/Cole shimmered out.
----
Prue/Cole shimmered into the basement, next to Paige/Prue.
Paige/Prue looked up at the ceiling. "Leo!"
Leo orbed in. "What happened? I was talking with The Elders."
"Paige activated my phasing power and fell through the attic into the basement." Prue/Cole answered.
"And I think I sprained my wrist." Paige/Prue winced.
"You mean my wrist!" Prue/Cole exclaimed, angrily.
"Well if your powers weren't so hard to control!" Paige/Prue shot back.
"Well I'm sorry my powers don't consist of just talk and poof!" Prue/Cole raved.
"They aren't that simple! You try dreaming about reorganzing your room and then waking up to find everything moved around, because they orbed in your sleep!" Paige/Prue countered.
"Ladies!" Leo yelled. He gently took Paige/Prue's wrist and healed it. "Please, try not to phase through anything unless it's life threatening. Now I have to go, I'll be back when I finished talking with The Elders." He orbed out.
Paige/Prue grabbed the Book of Shadows and glared at Prue/Cole. "What are you giving me that look for?"
"I'm not giving you a look!" Prue/Cole defended.
"Yes you are." Paige/Prue grumbled, as she walked out of the basement.
A low level demon shimmered in, in front of them. "Balthezor!" He hurled a fireball at Prue/Cole.
"Prue!" Paige/Prue screamed, as she held out her hand. Suddenly Prue/Cole floated into the air, above the fireball, and missed it. Paige/Prue pulled her hand back, shocked, and Prue/Cole crashed to the floor.
"Paige!" Prue/Cole hissed.
Piper and Cole/Paige came rushing into the room.
"Whoa, whoa, whoa!" Piper yelled. She waved her hands, exploding the low level demon.
Cole/Paige smirked. "Why am I on the floor?"
"Take that smirk off my face." Paige/Prue hissed.
Prue/Cole got up and ignored Cole/Paige's question. "Paige, do me a favor, and never use my powers on me again."
"I didn't know you cared so much." Cole/Paige said, sarcastically.
Prue/Cole glared at Cole/Paige and an energy ball appeared in Prue/Cole's hand. Then Prue/Cole hurled the energy ball at Cole/Paige.
Cole/Paige orbed out, barely missing the energy ball. The energy ball hit the wall and left a scortch mark and then Cole/Paige orbed back in. "Maybe I do like these powers."
----
Phoebe Halliwell burst through the front door. "I'm home, but not for long!" She threw her coat on the sofa.
9-year-old Pearlinda Belland, Pearl for short, followed her Aunt Phoebe's lead and threw her coat on the sofa. "Mom! I'm home! Brandon's here too, he's gonna do homework with me!" She reached back through the doorway and grabbed Brandon's arm, pulling him inside. "We'll be in my room!" She pulled Brandon up the stairs.
8-year-old Phiona Wyatt skipped happily into the Manor and saw the coasts on the sofa and shook her head. "Mom isn't gonna like that." She took off her coat and held out her hand, letting orbs go from her hand and surround the coat, then hang it up nicely on the hanger. She shut the doors behind herself.
6-year-old Pamela Turner, Pam for short, shimmered onto the sofa. She just happened to land right on the coats. "Hey! What are these doing in my spot?" She grumbled. She crumpled the coats into a big ball and threw them to the opposite chair. She grabbed the remote and flicked the T.V. to the afternoon cartoons.
----
Phoebe walked into the kitchen and smiled when she saw Cole and her 3 sisters. "Hey there, baby." She walked up to Cole/Prue and leaned into kiss her husband on the lips.
"Ahh!" Prue/Cole screeched and shimmered out, missing Phoebe's lips by centimeters.
Phoebe stumbled forward.
Prue/Cole shimmered back in, on the other side of the room.
Phoebe spun around. "What the heck was that for?!"
Cole/Paige waved. "Honey, I'm over here."
Phoebe's eyes became wide. "What?"
"I'm Cole." Cole/Paige said.
Phoebe narrowed her eyes at Prue/Cole. "Paige!"
"No, I'm Paige." Paige/Prue said, with a wave of her hand.
"What's going on?" Phoebe asked.
"The cliff's notes version is, a demon tried to disconnect Paige's soul from her body. Prue tried to save Paige, Cole tried to save Prue, the power hit Cole, and since the three were still connected...." Piper began.
"We switched bodies." Cole/Paige concluded.
"So I almost kissed...." Phoebe began.
"Prue." Piper filled in.
"Oh, gross!" Phoebe said, with a wrinkle of her nose. "And my husband is my sister?"
"Yes." Cole/Paige said.
"Double gross!" Phoebe whimpered.
"You should be talking!" Prue/Cole grumbled.
"And just assume it was me?" Paige/Prue asked.
"Because you switched bodies with me last time, because you wanted to be me." Phoebe said.
"I would never want to be Cole! Let alone have Cole be in my body!" Paige/Prue snapped. A chair went crashing into the wall.
"Paige!" Piper yelled.
"Sorry!" Paige/Prue said. She walked over to the chair and picked it up, then put it back at the table.
"We have to...." Piper began.
Leo orbed in, cutting his wife off. "I have some news."
"What news?" Glenn Belland asked, as he walked into the kitchen. He was holding Prissandra in one arm and holding Pandora Trudeau's hand with his free hand.
Piper quickly filled Glenn in on the situation.
Glenn nodded, still looking a little confused.
Pandora giggled. "Because you love Auntie Paige."
"What?" Everyone said together.
"Uncle Glenn was thinking abouts why he got into this family." Pandora filled in. She was becoming better at not blabbing things that she'd found out with her telepathy, but sometimes she let her mouth run away before consulting her brain.
Paige/Prue giggled. "I love you too, honey."
"Umm...I'd say we go prove that to each other, but lets wait until you're....you again." Glenn replied.
Pandora cringed. "Eww."
"Pandora, sweetie. Stay out of Uncle Glenn's head for now." Prue/Cole said.
"Excuse me." Leo interrupted, sounding a little annoyed.
"Oh, right! Go on, honey." Piper urged her husband.
"Right. The Elders said that in order to get everyone back into their bodies, we'll need two key things: a cross and thirteen witches to form a coven." Leo replied.
"What about Mary?" Piper asked.
"We have to find her soul in order to get it back into her body. We'll also need a poppet." Leo said.
"How do we find her soul?" Paige/Prue asked.
"We should focus on switching you three back, so we can work on finding Mary." Leo said.
"We've got a problem." Phoebe said.
"What?" Leo asked.
"What what?" Persia Halliwell asked, as she made her way into the kitchen.
Glenn spoke up and told Persia what he'd just learned.
"Oh, that's not good..." Persia said, as she took a seat. "But what were you saying 'what' about, mom?"
Phoebe looked at Persia. "We don't have thirteen witches. There's Prue, Piper, Paige, myself, you, Pearl, Phiona, Pam, Pandora, and Prissandra. That's only ten. We're three short."
"We could summon mom and Grams." Piper said.
"We'd still need another witch." Phoebe pointed out.
"Wait. Prue and Paige can't be part of the coven, because they're the ones who we're trying to help. We can't have them. So we only have eight witches, unless you summon Patty and Penny, making ten." Leo said.
"Nice." Paige/Prue said, sarcastically.
"What if we summon Melinda Warren?" Phoebe suggested.
Paige/Prue tilted her head to the side. "Melinda Warren? As in our very great, great, great, great...."
"We get the idea, go on..." Phoebe interrupted.
"Grandmother?" Paige/Prue finished.
"Yes. Prue, Piper, and I summoned her once before to recapture a warlock that escaped from a locket that she banished him to." Phoebe said. "I don't remember if I ever told you."
"But we'd still need two more witches." Piper said, as she paced the floor.
"What about Prudence Wentworth? I met her once, remember? When I got trapped in the past?" Phoebe said. "I'm sure her spirit would remember me."
"Who's Prudence Wentworth?" Glenn asked.
"Prue's namesake. She was Melinda Warren's daughter, but she married and it went from 'Warren' to 'Wentworth'." Piper replied.
"That'd work out great! I'd love to meet her!" Paige/Prue said, excitedly.
"But we'll still be one witch short." Prue/Cole said.
"What about Brandon?" Glenn suggested. "He's a witch and he hangs around enough."
Prue/Cole, Piper, Phoebe, and Paige/Prue exchanged looks.
"I'll go get him." Glenn said. He handed his youngest niece to Piper and then walked out of the room.
Prissandra giggled.
"We still need a cross. A good one." Leo said.
"Aren't those Christian type things? Why would we need it in a Wiccan ceremony?" Phoebe asked.
"Actually, crosses predate Christianity. They were originally used to ward off evil." Leo said.
"Or bad luck." Paige/Prue added.
"Aren't you thinking of four leaf clovers and horse shoes?" Phoebe asked.
"Actually, Paige is right." Leo said.
"Ha." Paige/Prue smirked.
Phoebe rolled her eyes.
"Cole, why don't you go up to the attic and find a cross. I know I saw a really pretty looking one up there, a few years ago, when I was doing some reorganizing." Piper said, as she gave Cole/Paige a slap on the back.
"Why me?" Cole/Paige complained.
"Because I said so." Piper said.
Cole/Paige made a 'hmph' noise and left the room.
Glenn walked back into the room, with Pearl and Brandon.
Brandon smiled. "Hi Mr. and Mrs. Wyatt." He greeted. He looked at Paige/Prue. "Good to see you again, Ms. Halliwell." He spotted Glenn. "And it's nice to see you too, Mr. Turner." He said, respectfully.
Prue/Cole cringed. "Actually...."
Glenn cut in and explained everything to Pearl and Brandon. "So anyway, we were wondering if you'd fill in and help us get them back in their bodies."
Brandon blinked, looking sort of stunned. "Me? Why? I mean..yeah, sure. But, me?"
Pearl giggled. "Of course! You're a witch and a good one at that!"
"Good, then it's settled." Paige/Prue said.
----
Cole/Paige rummaged through the attic, unsuccessfully. "Egh... Where is that cross?" Cole/Paige asked. Suddenly Cole/Paige felt weight in Cole/Paige's hand and Cole/Paige realized that the cross had orbed into Cole/Paige's hand. Cole/Paige examined the cross. It was very unique. It was solid gold, incrested with rubies in the shape of apples on both the front and back of the cross, on each point. Then in the center of the cross, on one side, was a silver pentagram. He turned the cross over and on the reverse side, in the center, was a silver Triquetra. "Hmm." Forgetting for a moment that Cole/Paige couldn't shimmer, Cole/Paige tried, but orbed out instead.
----
Cole/Paige orbed in and placed a hand on Cole/Paige's stomach, feeling a little woozy. "Whoa..That sure can get ya." Cole/Paige handed the cross to Piper. "Happy?"
"Yes, thank you." Piper said, as she examined the cross herself.
"Ruby apples?" Glenn asked, as he walked up behind Piper, and peeked at the cross over her shoulder.
"Apples are very important to witches. If you cut one open, the seeds for a pentacle in the heart of the apple. When you combine it with laurel leaf and put it into a circle, it forms a protection circle against evil." Piper explained. "The rubies are for decoration."
"How do you know that?" Paige/Prue asked.
"Honestly? It's a guess." Piper said.
"No, about the apple thing." Paige/Prue persisted.
"Oh. Because when Prue, Pheebs, and I went to the past and helped give birth to Melinda Warren, we had to form one of those protection circles." Piper said.
"That's when I flew on a broom, in front of the full moon." Phoebe said.
"So we have you to think for the modern day Halloween images of witch shadows flying on brooms in front of the full moon?" Paige/Prue asked.
"Pretty much." Prue/Cole replied.
"Let's get this show on the road!" Cole/Paige snorted. "I want my body back. I don't like the feeling that orbing leaves."
"Whimp." Paige/Prue muttered between 2 fake coughs.
"I heard that." Phoebe said, as she narrowed her eyes at Prue's body.
"Heard what? I didn't hear anything." Paige/Prue said, as she looked around, innocently.
"Whatever." Phoebe replied, sarcastically.
----20 Minutes Later----
Paige/Prue, Piper, Phoebe, and Cole/Paige finished chanting the spell to summon a spirit.
In a swirl of lights, Penny Halliwell Patty Halliwell appeared, in a cirlce of candles.
"Well, hello dears." Penny greeted.
"Hi Grams!" Phoebe greeted.
"Why've you summoned us?" Patty asked.
"We need your help." Paige/Prue replied.
Phoebe explained their current predicament.
"So we still need to summon Melinda Warren." Penny said. "She's such a nice ancestor."
Penny and Patty stepped outside the circle and became solid.
Patty walked over to Glenn and picked Prissandra from his arms. "Hey sweetie. You sure are big! I think the last time I saw you was on your wiccaning and you were only four months old!"
Prissandra giggled and dots of light floated from her fingers.
Prue/Cole walked out of the room for a moment and then walked back in, a few moments later, with the locket that Matthew Tate was trapped in. "Here. Hurry and cast the spell."
Paige/Prue, Piper, Phoebe, and Cole/Paige sat down at a small table in the attic; a bowl and athame sat before them.
Prue/Cole handed Piper the locket and then lighted a few more candles in the attic and spread them around the room.
Piper gently placed the locket in the pot. She took the athame and cut her finger, letting a drop of her blood drip into the pot, with the locket. She handed the athame to Paige/Prue.
Paige/Prue poked her finger with the athame and let a drop of her blood drip into the pot as well, then she handed the athame to Phoebe.
Phoebe cut her finger. "I'm so excited! I haven't seen her in so long!" She saw her blood drip into the pot and handed the athame to Cole/Paige. "I remember how hesitent you were at first, to cutting your finger, Piper."
"Yeah. Now it's like...." Piper made a slitting motion. "And bam."
Cole/Paige let a drop of blood fall into the pot, after making a slice in Cole/Paige's finger, with the athame. "I hope with works with me."
"It should. Paige is our sister and it's her body and blood." Phoebe said.
Paige/Prue, Piper, Phoebe, and Cole/Paige took hand and read the spell that they'd memorized; Piper and Paige from years ago and Paige/Prue and Cole/Paige from 10 minutes ago. "Melinda Warren, blood of our blood, great-great-great-great-great-great-grandmother, we summon thee."
In a swirl of white lights, Melinda Warren appeared, in the flesh.
"Prue? Piper? Phoebe? It's so good to see you again!" Melinda said. She walked over and hugged Phoebe, Piper, and then turned to Paige/Prue.
"Uh, hi. I'm Paige. Your long lost great, great, great, great, great, great granddaughter. Half whitelighter, half witch....Yada, yada, yada, yada. Anyway, that's Prue." Paige/Prue pointed to Prue/Cole. "And actually, that's my body." She pointed to Cole/Paige.
"I see...Well, it's good to meet you, Paige." Melinda said.
"That's why we brought you, Melinda. We need to switch them back and we need thirteen witches to form a coven and do it. But Prue and Paige can't be involved, since we're trying to fix them. Do you think you can help us?" Piper asked.
"Of course!" Melinda replied, happily.
"I have a question." Paige/Prue said.
"Mhmm." Phoebe mumbled.
"If you summoned Melinda last time with this spell, didn't you bring her from the past?" Paige/Prue asked.
"Yeah." Prue/Cole replied.
"So, didn't you bring her from the past again?" Paige/Prue asked.
Penny laughed. "Oh no, dear!"
Patty smiled. "See, that is the special spell to summon Melinda Warren. Just an ordinary summoning won't work. However, when you do the spell, it takes the Melinda from whatever time period is needed. In this case, this is her spirit in solid form."
"Oh. Okay, gotcha." Paige/Prue replied.
Piper placed the candles back in a circle and said the spell to summon Prudence Wentworth.
Moments later, Prudence Wentworth appeared in a swirl of lights, in the candles.
Introductions began.
----20 Minutes Later----
Piper, Phoebe, the Blessed Ones, Penny, Patty, Melinda, Prudence, Brandon, and Persia who was holding Prissandra were in a circle. Prue/Cole, Paige/Prue, and Cole/Paige were in the center of the circle, making a smaller circle, around the cross. They'd all memorized a spell, that Leo'd given to them from The Elders.
"Okay, go." Leo said.
The witches in the circle, minus Prissandra who's power was directed through Persia since she couldn't talk yet, began to chant the spell. A wind began to blow violently around the 3 people in the center of the circle. Then the cross magically rose above Prue/Cole, Paige/Prue, and Cole/Paige's heads. It began to spin so fast that it looked like a colorful blur and then red light burst from the ruby apples. The silver Triqeutra and the silver pentagram glowed white and red light encircled the 3 people in the center of the wiccan circle. The chanting grew louder and the wind grew stronger, as well as the spinning of the cross.
Suddenly Mary Hart faded into view. "Help me!" She whispered. She faded out and then in again. "Help!"
The chanting stopped abruptly and the cross fell back to the floor.
"Please..." Mary whispered. She faded out and then back in. "Help me.."
A Soul Hound flared into the room.
"Back!" Penny yelled. She waved her hand and sent the Soul Hound flying into the wall.
"The..cro.." Mary faded out again and then back in. "..ss."
"The cross!" Prue/Cole yelled.
"Cole, orb it to her!" Phoebe yelled.
"H..." Cole/Paige said. But the cross orbed out and then orbed in, in front of Mary.
"Thank you." Mary said. A red light surrounded Mary.
Melinda held up her hands and froze the Soul Hound in place.
"We need to perform Mary's ritual now, before we loose her soul permanently. The cross will only help her for so long." Leo said. "Where's her body?"
"Come with me." Piper said. She led her husband out of the room.
"Can I blow him up now?" Pearl asked.
Melinda smiled at her great, great, great, great, great, great, great granddaughter. "Of course, Pearl."
Pearl smiled and created a ball of glowing white light. Then she hurled it into the Soul Hound and he exploded on contact.
"When I told you, the last I was here, that I saw many more female witches in the line....I never expected such power." Melinda said, as she eyed Phoebe.
"I never expected whitelighters in the family." Prudence said, as she stood next to her mother. "Nor demons." She said, as she stole a glance at Cole and Pam.
"There are surprises around every corner, as they always say!" Phoebe defended.
"Mhmm." Prudence muttered.
Leo orbed in with Mary's body.
TO BE CONTINUED....
