Charmed & Dangerous—Part 7
Summary: Phoebe and Paige come face-to-face with an evil that will test not only their magic, but their love.
Rating: PG-13
Note on cultural appropriation: I am using real gods & goddesses from eastern mythology in this story, and like everything else in the world of fanfic, the incarnation of these figures is entirely fiction. No disrespect to real-world religions is intended.
As soon as Phoebe walked through the attic door, she knew that Piper and Prue had found something, just as she knew it wasn't something she was going to like. They were standing over the Book of Shadows with grim looks on their faces, and when they saw her, they looked at her the same way they had when, as kids, they'd had to tell her that her goldfish was dead.
"Okay, you two, poker is definitely not your game. So what did you find? Have we ID'd this demon yet, or what?"
"Well…yes and no," Prue said hesitantly. Phoebe looked at her, nonplussed.
"What she means," Piper broke in, "is that, well, we found out who this Queen of Shadows person is…but, um…"
"But what, Piper? Spit it out already!" Phoebe growled, growing agitated.
"She's not a demon, Phoebe."
"What, then? A warlock?" Phoebe looked back and forth between her sisters, who both seemed to find their shoelaces suddenly fascinating.
"She's a goddess, Phoebe." Suddenly the room began to blur. Phoebe could feel her senses pulling away from her, as the sounds of her sisters' voices faded and the feel of the floor beneath her feet fell away. The next thing she knew, the floor reappeared under her back, and she was staring up at Prue and Piper's worried faces.
"Whaaa?" Phoebe groaned dazedly as Prue began to pick her up off the floor. Before she had even risen to a sitting position, however, Paige came bursting in, eyes wild.
"Phoebe! Are you okay? What happened?" Paige rushed to Phoebe's other side, searching her for hidden injuries.
"I'm okay, honey…I think I just fainted for a second." Phoebe rubbed her eyes, feeling the acute vertigo drain away as Paige's fingers ran over her scalp, looking for a bump or a bruise. She leaned into the warm arms supporting her, and allowed Paige and Prue to help her stand up.
"Paige, how did you know?" Piper asked curiously, once they were all satisfied that Phoebe wasn't in any immediate danger.
"I don't know," Paige answered honestly as all eyes in the room fell on her. "I think…I think it was the same thing that happened to Phoebe when that demon attacked me this morning."
"Did you feel me?" Phoebe asked softly, her hand resting on Paige's flat stomach. Paige nodded, and they shared a look that was both confused and knowing at the same time.
"Are you two going telepathic on us?" Piper asked nervously, looking between them. "Cause, if you are, it would explain why Maya is after you."
"Maya Shakti?" Paige asked in a hushed whisper, tearing her eyes away from Phoebe to look at Piper and the book.
"You know about her?" Prue asked, her entire manor changing in an instant from 'big sister time' to 'demon hunter time.'
"Well, I know about her place in Hindu and Buddhist mythology…I don't know if it has anything to do with, y'know, reality…" Paige trailed off uncertainly, suddenly unsure of herself. The idea of 'real' mythology was giving her a bit of a headache. Phoebe reached out and put her hands on Paige's temples, rubbing them gently. Paige smiled at her.
"You felt that?"
"Uh-huh."
"Wow."
"I know."
"O-kay, you two are starting to freak me out," Piper said in her high-pitched, I'm-trying-not-to-panic voice.
"We can feel each other's feelings, Piper," Phoebe explained calmly. "I don't really understand it…but I know it's right. Just like I know that your head feels better now," she said to Paige, smiling and kissing her temple as she removed her fingers.
"Are we talking, E.T. style, you-hurt-I-hurt, or full on, I-read-the-book-and-you-know-what-it-says?" Prue asked with interest.
"Column A, I think," Paige said, with a glace to Phoebe who nodded in agreement.
"It's not words…it doesn't happen up here," Phoebe explained, tapping her forehead.
"Yeah," Paige agreed, "it's more visceral. I didn't know what had happened upstairs, just that Phoebe was scared and in pain."
"Just like I knew this morning with the demon," Phoebe nodded as the pieces began to click together.
"Is it possible they're developing some sort of joint power?" Piper mused, looking automatically to her older sister for validation.
"Anything's possible," Prue admitted. "We really don't have enough to go on yet…I'd like to get back to what Paige knows about our bad guy—I mean, gal." Everyone looked at Paige. Paige shrugged.
"I only know what everyone who took "Intro to Eastern Religions" last quarter knows…" When the sisters looked at her blankly, Paige elaborated. "Okay, Maya Shakti, she's the Goddess of Illusion. She creates the myth of the self, of separation from the whole."
"So now we're the myths?" Piper asked.
"No…" Paige sighed. "See, it's hard to understand Eastern philosophy with a Western mindset. I'm not sure I'm even explaining it well. See, in Hindu mythology…Buddhist too…the world began in pure unity, a single, great consciousness. That's what the Ohm represents." The Charmed Ones nodded, all of them familiar with the soothing mantra from their own meditations.
"So," Paige continued, "When the perfection of that unified consciousness was broken…all these little pieces of divine consciousness were shattered, and they all fell into the world and they just, you know, kind of play with each other. Each believing in their own autonomy, the idea of self in opposition to other, me versus you, mine versus yours. And they lose sight of the fact that they're all just refractions of each other." Phoebe was nodding, but Prue and Piper were still looking at her the way her classmates in study section did when they didn't want to admit they weren't following her.
"Okay," Paige said brightly, settling on a new approach. "Imagine that your foot suddenly sees itself in opposition to your arm. Imagine that all your body parts have their own, separate consciousness, and each one sees itself as an autonomous unit. How well would your body function? How would blood flow through your circulatory system?"
There was a collective Ohhhhhh, as everyone in the room finally came up to speed.
"Everyone in your class knows all that?" Phoebe asked impishly, looking up at Paige adoringly.
"More or less," Paige shrugged, giving Phoebe a lopsided smile.
"Well I'm starting to get a picture here," Prue said slowly. "This Maya chick…or goddess…or whatever…she feeds off separation, divisiveness. So anyone who can overcome that, and become part of each other they way you two have, is obviously a threat to her."
"In the stories we read in class, she came after Buddha and tried to get him to renounce the path of truth by tempting him with all the sins of the flesh…wine and women and everything…kind of parallel to the whole, 'Last Temptation of Christ' story." Paige said musingly. "When he wouldn't give in to her, she became enraged, and tried to destroy him, but his tranquility in the path of truth was so great, that her powers backfired on her and she ended up sending herself to hell…or at least, something like that. I'm not sure there's a Buddhist version of hell, per se. Plus, I think Gods and Goddesses have their own afterlife-y deal. I dunno, maybe she got karmically recycled or something."
"Well she's here now, maybe she worked her way back up the chain," Prue mused. "After all, it has been about five thousand years since she took on the happy fat guy." Phoebe cringed.
"Are you saying she's been juicing up for five millennia to come after us? We're not the freaking Buddha!" Phoebe cried, her heart pounding as the enormity of the situation hit her.
"But you are bodhisattvas," Leo stated calmly as he orbed in beside them.
"Bodhi—what now?" Piper quirked her eyebrows at her husband.
"It means they're spiritual warriors," Leo explained serenely. "Those whose purpose is to enlighten the world, to be an example to others by living in truth, love and harmony." He was looking at Phoebe and Paige as he spoke, both of whom were draining of color rapidly.
"No, Leo," Paige shook her head stubbornly, "this is some sort of mistake. We're not—I'm not—it's just mythology!" She finished desperately.
"Like angels?" Leo asked impishly, smiling benignly at her like a favorite niece.
"And witches?" Prue added, coming to stand next to Leo. Paige continued to shake her head, staring at the floor. Phoebe was staring at nothing, in a complete daze.
"That's why you never developed an active power like your sisters, Phoebe," Leo continued in the same gentle, calming voice. "Your path lies in the way of peace…your destiny is with Paige, to usher in an era of utopia, by elevating humanity's capacity for compassion to a new level. Culminating with your firstborn daughter." Both Phoebe and Paige jerked their heads up at these words, staring at Leo with mouths agape, like fish out of water.
"Leo, are you trying to give me a heart attack?" Phoebe managed to gasp out, leaning back against Paige for support. She could feel Paige's heart thudding wildly in her chest, and she hardly needed the new empathic power they shared to know that her girlfriend was freaking out as much as she was. She took Paige's hand and lead them both to the couch before their knees gave out.
"You wanted to know!" Leo exclaimed exasperatedly.
"The prophecy?' Paige asked weakly. Leo nodded.
"Maya's return has tipped the balance between good and evil…and the Universe always maintains its own alignment. Destiny has chosen you two because the purity of your love has enabled you to see past the socially constructed notions of separateness, to a level of consciousness where self and other are flipsides of the same coin. Your magic is elevated at the same time. Only a couple whose love is blessed by divine light can conceive the child who will usher in utopia…the goddess of compassion incarnate."
"Conceive?" Paige looked daggers at Leo. "I don't know if you've noticed, Leo, but Phoebe and I don't exactly have all the necessary equipment between us for any conceiving." Her eyes blazed.
"Honey—" Phoebe began, laying a placating hand on Paige's arm.
"No!" Paige yelled, jerking her arm away. Her eyes shone with tears that spilled down her cheeks as she tried to blink them away. "Do you think that's funny, Leo? To dangle something like that in front of a couple of girls? You think I haven't lain awake at night, daydreaming about what it would be like to be able to make a baby with the person you love? To make a life, a real human being, out of love? I can't have that, Leo!" Paige screamed, hot tears running down her cheeks.
"Baby," Phoebe murmured, reaching out to take Paige's face between her hands. As her palms made contact with Paige's tearstained cheeks, they both gasped and went rigid.
Phoebe saw the scene just like she always did—from outside of herself, like a dream, where she was the invisible narrator. She was not inside her body, or any body, for that matter. She looked down and saw herself, asleep in her own bed, with Paige wrapped snugly around her. It was obviously some time in the future, because they both had different hairstyles; Paige was now strawberry blond, while Phoebe's hair was jet-black and cut in stylish layers. Phoebe couldn't help thinking how adorable they looked together. Paige was thinking it, too. Paige was there with her—not the her in the bed, the real her, watching form outside themselves. They couldn't talk to each other, as they lacked bodies, mouths, and vocal cords, but it didn't matter. They could feel each other's presence, and both knew they were together and safe.
Then a tiny field of blue-white lights appeared at the foot of the bed, and a little girl—no more than three or four—orbed onto their feet. The Paige and Phoebe on the bed didn't wake up. The little girl crawled quietly up their bodies, pulling back the fluffy comforter to reveal a very pregnant Paige. The dark haired child then pushed up Paige's pajama top and spoke directly to her stomach.
"Good morning, baby," the child whispered. "Are you ready to be born?" Then she laid her head down against Paige's bellybutton, kissing it, and looking as if she were listening for a response. She closed her eyes, smiling serenely.
"Good morning, baby girl," Paige murmured sleepily, her hand ruffling the dark hair spilling over her belly.
"Mama, the baby's hungry! She wants chocolate," The little one said with absolute conviction.
"Don't I know it," Paige agreed, opening her eyes to gaze adoringly at her child.
"Mmmm…" Phoebe was waking up now, too, nuzzling her face into Paige's neck, her hand going automatically to the round tummy already being showered with love. "Baby always gets what she wants…" she drawled sleepily, blinking open her eyes. Paige smirked and kissed her. Watching the tender scene unfold, Phoebe couldn't help but notice the wedding ring that adorned her finger resting on Paige's swollen belly.
"Mommy," the child said to Phoebe, "what did I like to eat when I was in your tummy?" She crawled further up to snuggle between her parents, pulling Phoebe's arm around her as she nuzzled into Paige's hair, just like her mommy.
"Welllll…" Phoebe grinned, exchanging a mischievous look with Paige, "the first thing you liked me to eat was…Brussels sprouts!"
"It was not!" the little girl shrieked, a grin on her face. "It was watermelon!"
"Oh, that's right," Phoebe said, smacking her forehead in a exaggerated way. "Then after that, you were always thirsty for milk. Milk, milk, milk! I drank so much milk I thought I was gonna turn into a cow."
"I wouldn't turn you into a cow, silly Mommy," the little girl giggled, her dark eyes shining with glee.
"I know, honey," Phoebe smiled. "And I certainly remember the last thing you wanted before you were born…" Phoebe trailed off, looking at Paige adoringly. Paige smiled back.
"Chocolate chip pancakes!" The child shrieked, bouncing on the bed excitedly.
"Sound good, baby?" Phoebe asked, stroking Paige's tummy absently as they got lost in each other's eyes.
"Sounds perfect," Paige hummed, leaning forward to give Phoebe another slow, sweet kiss.
"Does that mean the baby will come out soon?" The little girl asked eagerly.
"Hmmm, didn't she tell you when she'd be ready to come out?" Paige asked teasingly, stroking her daughter's dark, silky hair and pushing it behind her ears.
"Awww, she doesn't know," the child shrugged. "I don't think she even knows she's ever gonna come out! She doesn't know what it's like!" She looked up at her parents, frustration and confusion evident in her eyes. "If she doesn't decide when it's time to be born, and you don't decide, then who does?" Paige looked at Phoebe, a doesn't-our-daughter-ask-smart-questions expression on her face.
"Nobody decides, Tara," Phoebe explained patiently. "Just like nobody decides when it's time for the sun to set, or the tide to come in. Things happen when they're ready to happen…just like the plums in the back yard fall off the tree when they're ripe." The little girl nodded.
"Nature always knows when things are ready," she said wisely.
Phoebe gasped and opened her eyes. Paige was next to her, clutching her hand. For a moment they just stared at each other, wordlessly. Then Phoebe reached up and gave Paige the tenderest, sweetest kiss of her life.
"Uh…guys?" Piper asked hesitantly. "Wanna tell us what ya saw?"
"Um…" Phoebe looked up with a blush coloring her cheeks. "Let's just say, we won't have to argue over what to name our first child."
"I wonder what we were gonna name the one on the way?" Paige mused, a giddy grin plastered on her face. Prue and Piper started blankly between the two dazed lovers on the couch, and Leo, who was smiling at them like a proud grandpa.
"Leo, how…?" Piper trailed off, unable to voice her question.
"Don't you know by now, Piper?" Leo smiled at his wife. "When witches and white lighters get together, there's enough magic in the air to do anything…creating life comes naturally." Piper grinned back at her husband. They'd been worried that they might not be able to have a baby of their own lately, after Piper's doctor had informed her that she had scar tissue in her womb. Apparently, it wasn't such a problem after all. Piper threw her arms around Leo, and, incongruously, burst out laughing.
"Will SOMEBODY please tell me SOMETHING!" Prue finally yelled, getting fed up with being left out of the loop.
"Sorry," Phoebe said sheepishly, as she and Paige came up for air. "In a nutshell? We saw our daughter. And her name is…"
"Tara?" Leo asked gently. Phoebe nodded, her mouth slightly open.
"Wait a minute," Paige said, holding up her hand. "Leo, you said…goddess of compassion incarnate…you didn't mean…our daughter…she's not…Tara, like, the green tara? Is she?" Leo and Paige were looking at each other in a knowing way, while everyone else just looked confused.
"I'm cashing in all my chips here, people," Prue said finally. "So will someone please buy me a clue?"
"Well," Paige said slowly, "the green tara is the Japanese name for the goddess Avalokiteshvara…she's like the Hindu archetype of infinite compassion. She was sorta one of Buddha's right-hand men. Or women. You know."
"And now she's coming back as your daughter?" Piper asked incredulously.
"Not now, now," Phoebe said in a squeaky voice. "I mean, we haven't even finished college yet! We aren't even married! We need time and charts and prenatal vitamins and oh god do we need protection? Like, magical safe sex?" Both girls looked at Leo to answer this question, who in turn went several shades of red.
"Um, magical conception only happens when a great force of intention is behind it. You can't, um…do it…by accident."
"Oh." Phoebe gave a huge sigh of relief.
"Good," Paige nodded. "I mean, I'm as eager as the next girl to be the mother of a reincarnated goddess, but Phoebe's right, we're way not ready." She looked at her shell-shocked girlfriend and smiled devilishly. "You looked so cute with your hair all wild and black," she murmured, her fingers grazing over Phoebe's collarbone.
"Hmmm, you were pretty foxy as a redhead, Mama," Phoebe purred. The look that passed between them raised the temperature in the room several degrees.
"Don't even go there, you two," Prue said dangerously, slamming her hand down on the Book of Shadows for emphasis. "We still have a lot of work to do! I think we need to figure out exactly what new powers Paige and Phoebe have, so we at least have a shot of fighting back when Queen whatever shows up."
"Well, we've seen that Paige gets premonitions now," Piper mused, "and they both have this emotional link with each other…do you think there's any more?"
"There is," Leo said. "Paige is beginning to come into her full powers as a white lighter…and she's sharing them with Phoebe."
"Are you crazy?" Phoebe looked at Leo like a three-headed monkey. "I can't orb!"
"Are you sure?" Leo challenged. Then he stood up, grabbed an athame off the nearest shelf, and flung it at Phoebe. Phoebe shrieked and immediately orbed out, reappearing behind Piper.
"What the hell do you think you're doing?" Paige yelled angrily, glaring daggers at Leo.
"Teaching Phoebe about her new powers," Leo said simply. "If anything had gone wrong, you could've healed her anyway."
"Leo, you know I can't heal."
In the middle of the argument, just as everyone was beginning to reorient themselves, no less than fifteen fire-throwing, yellow-eyed demons appeared around them.
"Prepare for the coming of the darkness!" The lead demon roared, as four of them grabbed Prue and Piper, holding their arms behind their backs so they couldn't use their powers. Two of them threw potions at Leo and Paige. The remaining demons all jumped on Phoebe, tackling her.
"Phoebe!" Paige screamed, as a gut-wrenching pain lanced through her, as if a part of her own body were being town away from her. She gasped and doubled over. When she raised her head, all the demons were gone—and so was Phoebe.
