Mysterious Midnight - I'm really glad you like the end; I couldn't resist putting a little bit of Prue in there too! Thanks for you reviews; they're awesome!
lillynilly - I'm glad you like my story, hopefully you'll like this chapter too. Thanks for your review!
Brooklyn Halliwell - It doesn't matter if you haven't reviewed before, I'm really happy you have done now! Thanks for reviewing!
InTheForestsOfTheNight - Wow, high praise! Thanks for that, your reviews are always really complimentary, they give me a buzz! I hope you like this chapter too!
AmyH. - I'm glad you liked that scene; I liked writing it! Thanks for your review!
-Chapter Sixteen-
It took nearly twenty minutes for Nicki's headache to pass, by which time the sisters had managed to find everything the spell called for. Leo had taken Wyatt downstairs, and Nicki was sitting cross-legged in a circle of candles, her hair now loose around her shoulders, falling like a screen to hide her face.
'Are you okay, honey?' Paige asked, holding out a slip of paper.
Nicki tucked her hair behind her ears, revealing a nervous smile. 'Yeah,' she said, taking the piece of paper. 'What's this?'
'You have to say that,' Piper said, lighting a bunch of sage and dropping it into a large clay bowl, 'right after we finish chanting, okay?'
'Okay,' Nicki said, looking slightly apprehensive.
'You ready?' Phoebe asked, smiling reassuringly.
Nicki nodded, her face resolved. 'Yeah,' she said, swallowing audibly. 'Let's do this.'
Phoebe, Paige and Piper joined hands, standing outside the circle, the book in plain sight. They began to chant.
'Powers bound before first breath, come now here and manifest, find the place from whence you came, this girl who bears the Halliwell name. Let her have what's hers by right, raise her to a greater height, come for this child to complete, and in her your solace meet.'
The candles' flames rose to nearly three foot high, and the smoke from the sage formed a vortex around Nicki. From inside this clamour, Nicki's voice could be heard, shakily reading the two lines on the parchment in front of her.
'Settle with my heart your goal, return and make my spirit whole.'
The flames rose to the ceiling, encasing Nicki in a dome of fire. The heat was so intense that it forced the sisters over to the other side of the attic. They looked worriedly on as Nicki rose inside the dome, her head lolling from side to side as if she were a rag doll.
Suddenly, the smoke from the sage turned red, and rushed outwards with a dull thump, extinguishing the candles and knocking everything in the attic, including the sisters, to the floor. Nicki fell to the floor and lay there, unmoving.
Piper, Paige and Phoebe all got up immediately and rushed over to her side. They stood, as if afraid to touch her, shock on their faces.
Nicki's loose curls had become poker straight, her hair now almost reaching her hips. It was still black, but was more inky now than raven coloured and there were ice blue streaks throughout it, the same colour as Deimos' skin. She wasn't unconscious; but was lying on her back, her breathing laboured. Her eyes were rolling and unfocussed, her back arched, face stretched with pain. The room started to gently shake, and objects started to fly all around them, soaring between them and smashing into walls.
'She's not dangerous,' Phoebe said, bending down and avoiding a lamp that was hurtling towards her head, 'I can feel it.' She took Nicki's head in her lap, and started whispering comfortingly to her.
Paige and Piper kneeled too, trying to calm her down.
'Shhh,' Phoebe said brushing Nicki's hair away from her face, 'it's okay honey, it's okay,' she said, but her eyes were full of worry.
'What do we do?' Paige quietly asked Piper, also trying to soothe her, whilst orbing out any objects that seemed to get a little too close.
'We just have to bring her back,' Piper said, holding Nicki's shoulders on the floor to get her attention. Nicki tried to resist, but Piper leant down. 'Look at me,' she said firmly, 'just look at me, honey.'
'It's okay,' Phoebe said, quietly. 'Shhh, Nicki, it's okay.' She was still sitting behind Nicki, holding her head in her lap and running her hands across Nicki's face and hair, trying to elicit a response.
Piper pushed Nicki's shoulders back to the ground, and shook her slightly. 'Look at me,' she said, loudly.
Nicki seemed to break out of a trance, her eyes wildly searching, before focussing on Piper's face, directly above her. Piper gasped, and Phoebe and Paige could see why. Nicki's normally blue eyes were a fiery red. Not like Cole's were; just the iris had changed, but it was still a shocking sight to behold.
As she concentrated on Piper's face, Nicki's breathing slowly returned to normal, the pain leaving her face.
'It's okay,' Phoebe repeated, stroking her hair.
'You're okay,' said Piper, making sure to keep her attention.
With Nicki now becoming more aware of her surroundings, the objects in the air slowed and fell to the ground.
'Table!' Paige said, holding her hand above them and orbing out the table which had stopped directly over their heads. She returned it to its rightful place, and then turned to make sure that everyone else was okay.
Nicki sighed, defeated, and her eyes changed back to their usual blue. She immediately started sobbing, tears spilling down reddened cheeks. 'I'm sorry,' she said, bringing her hands up to her face. 'I'm so sorry.'
Piper took her hands off of Nicki's shoulders and drew her up into a hug. 'It's okay,' she said, rubbing her back. 'Don't worry about it, it's okay.'
'Did she do that?' Phoebe asked Paige, slowly standing up and indicating to the ruined attic.
'Uh huh,' Paige said, retrieving the Book of Shadows from underneath the upturned couch. 'Looks like she inherited a little telekinesis from her mom, hey?'
'Wow,' Phoebe said, looking back down to Piper and Nicki.
Piper was standing up, and Nicki had stopped crying; she was rubbing her face with her hands.
'Are you okay?' Paige asked, as she put the Book on its pedestal and flicked through it.
'Yeah, thanks,' Nicki said, as Piper and Phoebe helped her to her feet. She swayed a little as she stood up, but then seemed to find her footing. 'What happened?' she asked, fingering her new hair.
'Looks like you've inherited some new powers,' Phoebe said, pulling her into a tight hug. 'Are you sure you're okay?' she asked, resting her chin on the top of Nicki's head.
'Yeah,' Nicki said, muffled. 'You can let go now, Aunt Phoebe,' she added; Phoebe's grip was getting stronger, and claustrophobia was setting in.
'Oh, right, sorry,' Phoebe said, letting go of her niece and smoothing down her hair. 'So what do you think about the new style?' she asked, picking out one of the ice blue streaks.
'I wasn't expecting it,' Nicki said, honestly. 'But I kind of like it, I think.' She looked pensive for a second, and then continued. 'Do you mind me calling you Aunt Phoebe?' she asked.
'Of course not,' Phoebe said, elbowing her teasingly. 'What else would you call me?'
'Do you mind?' Nicki asked Piper and Paige, looking slightly worried.
'Go ahead,' Paige said from the Book, still rifling through its pages.
'No,' Piper said, going over to Paige. 'It just needs a little getting used to, I suppose,'
she added, smiling at Nicki. 'What are you looking for?' she asked Paige, putting her hand on her arm to stop her frantic searching.
'The Vanishing Spell,' Paige said. 'I know it's here somewhere.' She removed her arm from Piper's grip and turned another page. 'Ah, here it is!' she said. 'Can I?' she asked Piper and Phoebe. 'What about the personal gain?'
'I don't think it will be an issue,' Piper said, 'as all this was caused by magic. Go right ahead, I definitely don't want to clear this lot up.'
Phoebe waved her hand dismissively. 'Go for it,' she said.
'I'm sorry,' Nicki said quietly, looking at the floor. 'I'm sorry for messing up the attic.'
'Hey,' Phoebe said, lifting Nicki's chin. 'Not your fault, okay sweetie?'
'Okay,' Nicki said meeting her eyes.
'Right then,' Paige said, cracking her fingers. 'Let the object of objection become but a dream, as I cause the seen to be unseen.'
White lights illuminated the attic, and as they faded it was revealed almost exactly as it was before the spell had been cast. Everywhere was sparkling clean, and the potion ingredients and books were arranged much more neatly than they had been that morning.
'Hey, looking good,' Piper said, taking a look round. 'I won't have to clean up here for a while now,' she said, smiling.
Phoebe, Paige and Nicki all laughed a little. Then, they all headed downstairs. As they passed the landing, Leo emerged from the bedroom, balancing Wyatt on his hip.
'Everything go okay?' he asked, handing the baby over to Piper.
'Umm, yeah,' Paige said. 'I think so.'
'What do you mean, you think so?' Leo said looking slightly worried.
'Looks like our golden girl here has a little more power than we first realised,' Paige said, exchanging a small smile with Nicki.
'Going to have to keep an eye on her,' Piper said, smiling. 'Just until you have some control,' she added, as she caught Nicki's worried eye.
'Okay,' Nicki said. They all sat down in the living room, Phoebe, Nicki and Paige all curled up together on the couch. 'Am I dangerous?' Nicki asked, quietly.
'No honey,' Phoebe said, reassuringly. 'We won't let anything happen, believe me.'
'Okay,' Nicki said.
Suddenly, three warlocks blinked into the foyer, looking menacingly at the assembly in the living room. Wyatt gurgled and held out his elephant, as if offering it to one of the warlocks. Nicki giggled at him.
The warlocks looked to her, and a spark of recognition danced in the eyes of the biggest, evidently the leader. 'The heir of Deimos has her powers!' he said, with reverence and fear in his voice.
Nicki looked shocked. 'What?' she said, and the other warlocks noted her too. They stood back, evidently unsure about her.
'We are going to have to do something about this warlock problem,' Piper said, handing Wyatt back to Leo.
This seemed to jolt the warlocks back to earth, and they rushed to attack, athames raised.
-End of Chapter Sixteen-