Hey guys! Sorry for the long not update, but I was trying to wait for Laur to get her reviews in! Lol! Anyways, I'm afraid, my compadres, that we have come to the end of our journey, not only for Persephone, but for all of the diaries of the Archers. I hope you enjoyed reading them as much as I enjoyed writing them and I hope you got a good sense of what our favorite cousins are like. We only have one more story left in the entire Army of Witches series. There will be no more stories written with any affiliation to the Army of Witches, or any characters that I have created within them. So, now that that's been said…
Confessions of a Halliwell: The Diary of Persephone
Chapter Six: From Graduation to Greener Grass
Have you ever heard the saying "The grass is always greener on the other side"? Well, see, that statement was invented by the optimists. Not to be outdone, the pessimists came up with the equally original saying "The grass isn't always greener on the other side". I don't know what the hell all these people are talking about grass for, because I could personally give a shit. At any rate, they're both right. If we keep going with the grass analogy, whenever you reach the other side, there's usually a little bit of everything. You have really green grass, which represents good luck, and you have the nasty yellow grass, which represents bad luck. And then there's the really shitty dirt patch that you trip over because you're too busy worrying about what color your grass is to notice it. This represents graduation.
It was the last week of school for the Seniors… ever! As you can probably imagine, we were all very excited. Even Parker was glad to be graduating. There were a slew of Senior Pranks, including putting red dye in the lap pool and having one of the guys float to look like he was dead and putting laxatives in the soup at lunch. There were many more, of course, all too stupid for me to even mention. My cousins and I were also very excited at the prospect of college. I was going to acting school, Patience was going to be a lawyer, Preston was going to be a psychologist, and Parker was going to be a neurosurgeon. And we all even had scholarship offers until…
"You can't go to college."
"What?" Patience, Parker, Preston, and I exclaimed in unison. We had all just been talking about college and how often we were going to see each other when Oden the Elder orbed in.
"You can't go to college," Oden repeated.
"Why the hell not?" I asked.
"Well isn't it obvious?" he asked.
"Obviously not if we're asking," Patience said angrily.
"You are the Archers," he said simply, as if that was supposed to explain everything.
"No shit, Sherlock. You want to give us a little more?" Preston said.
"We thought you knew that when you graduated and came of age that you would immediately begin your destinies," Oden explained.
"And how the hell were we supposed to know that exactly?" I asked. "And what do you mean begin our destinies? Haven't we already begun them? We've fought demons and gone to school all in the same day, why can't we got to college and do the same?"
"Because like the Charmed ones, you are stronger together. Besides, you are to lead armies into the final battle against good and evil. That requires your full attention. Now, you will each be sent a messenger tomorrow to show you your new homes," Oden said, and with that, he orbed out.
"Wait, new homes? What the hell is that?" I yelled after. "Asshole!" I scowled and sank back into my seat, sharing a look with my cousins. Patience looked half pissed, half curious, Preston looked annoyed, and Parker looked like he would die.
"Don't worry Parker. After we save the world and vanquish the Elders, you can go to college," Patience said.
"Yeah, just focus on your Valedictorian speech to take your mind off of things," Preston said. Parker just nodded and orbed out.
"Ugh! I hate the Elders!" I exclaimed.
"I wonder what Oden meant by new homes. If we have to live in Elder funded housing, they better be damn well furnished," Patience said.
"Well, we'll find out all about it tomorrow. Let's just focus on… well, I don't know what to focus on, but let's not focus on the Elders and their stupidness right now," Preston said. I raised my eyebrow.
"Stupidness? And you got to be a Senior how?" I asked. Preston glared.
"Shut up," he said.
The next day though, we all found it pretty hard to focus on anything but the Elders and their "stupidness". We'd told Kyle, Leah, and Atli about what the Elders had said. Kyle and Leah were angry and curious, and Atli was furious, but he understood why we had to do it. Our parents, on the other hand, were extremely furious and they did not understand. Piper had blown a few thing up and tried to the Elders down. They ignored her, of course, as any sane person would do when a pissed off witch who could blow things up was trying to get you to come down so she could blow you up.
"So, what's gonna happen to you guys?" LC asked. She had been questioning Preston incessantly the whole way down the hall.
"I don't know, babe," Preston said dully.
"Well, where will you go?" LC asked.
"I don't know, babe," Preston said again.
"Can I come with you?" LC asked.
"I don't know, babe," he said a little more pointedly.
"If I can't come with you, will I ever be able to see you again? Will they make me forget you?" LC asked, getting frantic.
"Jesus Christ, Leah! I don't know!" Preston exploded.
"Preston Coleridge Halliwell!" I exclaimed. He sighed.
"I'm sorry, babe," he mumbled.
"Look, LC, we're just as clueless as you are. We don't know anything about this. We're gonna be finding out a little bit more today, but as soon as we know, you guys will be the first to know," Patience said. Leah nodded, a worried expression still on her face, but she kept the rest of her questions to herself.
That afternoon, when we got home, we found Oden waiting for us, along with four Whitelighters. The Whitelighters bowed as we came in. We all looked at Oden with raised eyebrows and dropped our stuff of the couch.
"Alright now, what the hell are we doing here cause I don't have all damn day," I said. Oden nodded.
"These four Whitelighters," he said, "are here to show you the Lands of the Archers. You are about to embark on your first journey to your destiny. I bid you farewell and good luck." With that, he orbed out.
"You guys better be some damn well informed Whitelighters, cause I've got fifty thousand questions that I need answered or my girlfriend's gonna drive me insane," Preston said.
"We will take you to where you need to go and answer all questions that we are authorized to answer," one of the Whitelighters said.
"Authorized?" Patience asked. "Why don't you take the Elder shaped stick out of your ass first and then rephrase that statement." The Whitelighters gave her a confused look. "Ugh, never mind."
"Are we ready now? I want to get this over with," Parker said. The Whitelighters nodded.
"If you would take my hand, miss," the Whitelighter on the end said. He was very cute, with short black hair and bright green eyes. He looked to have died when he was about twenty-five or so.
"First, what's your name?" I asked.
"Christian, miss," he said. I smiled.
"Well Christian, I'm Persephone. It's nice to meet you," I said. I grabbed his outstretched hand he orbed us out.
We reappeared in a place that I had never seen, never imagined in my entire life. It was amazing. A huge island, filled with beautiful trees and warm sand surrounded by crystal blue water stood before me. I looked over at Christian in astonishment. He grinned and led me up the beach and onto a path of sand. The air was hot, sweltering even, and way too hot for a normal human. There was an atmosphere of aggression, something I'd never experienced before, but it all felt so natural to me. In all of my eighteen years, I had never felt more at home, at peace than I did then. We passed through clearing in the trees that held little villages in them. They were empty though, not a person to be seen in them.
"Where are the people?" I asked.
"This island holds no human life yet. These villages are for your soldiers. They will come when you are ready to lead them," my guide explained.
"Who will they be?"
"Some will be fallen witches, some Whitelighters who have been chosen for this destiny, some fallen soldiers. All of them predestined long before for this, waiting in death for you to lead them," he said.
"But what if I can't lead them? What if I can't lead them? What if I'm not ready for this? I have no clue what I'm doing here," I reminded him.
"You are the great Archer of the South. You will be ready. It is you destiny," he said. "Come, we still have much to see." We continued on down the path, past many other villages. Finally, we came to a stream with the same beautiful water as in the ocean, only it was clear as glass. It looked strange though. It didn't flow like water. It was different.
"What is it?" I asked, kneeling down to get a closer look.
"It's the River of Fire," Christian said simply. I looked back at him.
"Fire?" I asked. He nodded. I cautiously dipped my hand in the stream and felt the warmth course through me. I pulled some out and watched as it formed itself into a fireball, just like my own, but clear.
"This is the source of power and peace in your land. It leads us to your palace," he said. I was too shocked to say anything at the mention of a palace. It was like some sort of fairytale. We walked a little further before we came to a spot where the trees were arched over and a gate of fire blocked the way. Without even thinking, I brought my hand up in front of the gate and watched as it disappeared.
"How did I know to do that?" I asked.
"Like I said, this is your home. You were destined to come to this place before your ancestors were even born. You're connected to it," Christian said. "Shall we?" I walked through the place where the gate once was and gasped. In a huge clearing in the trees was an amazing palace, one that even Cinderella would have been jealous of. It had some of the most beautiful architecture known to man, and probably some that wasn't, and was almost reminiscent of the Kremlin of Red Square in Moscow. The huge double doors swung open on their own as we approached.
I almost passed out as we walked inside. I gaped at the great entrance hall that we had come into. The ceilings were about thirty feet up and painted with beautiful murals, all of them having something to do with fire and great warriors. There were chandeliers of flames magically suspended in midair to light the way. We continued on into what I figured was the throne room, judging by the two chairs made of the most beautiful and flawless glass I'd ever seen and furnished with bright red cushions.
"They were sculpted by Zeus himself, using his very own lightning to strike the sand on the very beach we arrived on," Christian informed me. I just shook my head.
"This is too much. There's no way that all of this can be mine. I have to get out of here," I said. Christian frowned.
"If you insist," he said. "But first there is one more thing you must see." He led me over to the window. I looked out, wondering what it was I had to see. I gasped as I realized. Just visible beyond the trees, on the far side of the island, was a huge volcano towering high above everything. I couldn't tell if it was active or not, but I didn't really have the desire to find out.
"What is that?" I asked.
"It is Mount Pyrus. That is where all of your warrior's weapons are forged," Christian said.
"And what happens if it erupts?" I asked.
"It never will," he said simply.
"Wow. This is… well, this is amazing, but I really just need to go home and see my cousins, my parents. I need to talk to them," I said. Christian nodded and grabbed my hand.
"I hope your time here faired you well," he said. I smiled.
"It was great. You were great. Thank you," I said. He returned the smile and orbed us out.
"Oh my god!" Patience squealed, knocking me over before I had even fully materialized. "Can you believe this shit? It's amazing! You should have seen it!"
"Well, I saw mine," I said.
"Really? What was it like? Was it amazing? I bet it was amazing," Patience said excitedly. I nodded.
"It was amazing," I said.
"You have to come see it, it's so awesome!" Patience exclaimed. "Oh no! How am I gonna get there? I can't orb!"
"Actually, that is the last thing that we need to discuss with you before we depart," Patience's guide said.
"We just have to wait for the others to get back," Christian said. It was then that I realized that Parker and Preston weren't even there yet.
"They must still checking their islands out. I can't believe that entire island belongs to me! What was yours like?" Patience asked.
"It was incredible. There was a beautiful beach and lots of trees. And there were villages for the soldiers to live in when they come. Then there was this river that was clear as glass, but it didn't have water in it, it had fire. It was so weird. And don't even get me started on the freaking palace, because that was just unbelievable. And then there was the volcano, Mount Pyrus. That's where all the weapons are forged. It was huge!" I said. There was an excited glow in Patience's eyes.
"That's so cool! Mine was awesome too. It wasn't a regular island because there was like no sand, but it was like this big patch of land in the middle of nowhere, like someone cut it out and stuck it in the middle of the ocean. There were a bunch of villages too and the palace was right by this huge lake, like bigger than all of the Great Lakes combined and there were so many fish and just about every aquatic animal imaginable in it. I think it was called Lake Hydrus. And there were Mermaids, too! They're the ones that forge the weapons for the soldiers in the lake. It was crazy!" she explained. Just then, two sets of orbs appeared as Parker and Preston materialized with their Whitelighters. Parker looked absolutely stupefied and Preston had a malevolent grin on his face.
"That was wicked," he said. Parker just nodded in agreement. Before Preston could open his mouth again though, Patience's Whitelighter, Gabriel started.
"Before the four of you begin to discuss your newfound land, we need to say something. You are no longer the same. You have visited your homes and you are now connected to them, which means that you will be more powerful. More than ever now you need to stick together. Don't let the petty arguments of humans get between you. After your graduation, you need to report up to the Wise Ones so that they may give you any instructions that they so feel necessary. Oh, and you no longer travel the same either. Patience, I believe that you'll find getting around much easier now that you've visited you home. We wish you the best of luck on whatever journeys your destinies may bring you now. Farewell," he said. The four of them bowed and orbed out.
"What the hell?" Patience asked. "Wait, did he just say that I can get around now? I have a magical form of transportation?"
"I think that's what he said. He said we're all different now. Check it out, Squirt," I said.
"But I don't know how," Patience said with a worried expression. Preston rolled his eyes.
"Remember when you were in my body. You figured out how to shimmer, you can figure out how to do this," he assured her. Patience nodded and closed her eyes. Suddenly, she dissolved into water, appearing on the other side of the room the same way she had gone.
"Whoa! Whoa! That is so cool! What happened?" she asked excitedly.
"You turned into water," Parker told her.
"No way! You guys try it," Patience said. I concentrated, willing myself to be next to Patience just as I would if I were orbing. Suddenly, I was gone and standing beside Patience. "Holy shit! Percy, you turned into a bunch of flames. Preston, you turned into a rock person. And Parker, you turned into a tornado. This is so cool!"
"This is surreal," Parker said.
"Pretty much," I said. "I really need to get home and tell Mom and Dad about this."
"Oh yeah! Gotta go, bye!" Patience said, hydro-orbing out.
Needless to say, my parents were impressed both by my new power and my description of my new home as well. They were also slightly suspicious though, neither one of them liking the Elders at all. They didn't like the idea that we had to leave right after graduation and were insistent on the fact that we still have a graduation party before we left. I told them that they could probably come with me and live in my hot new palace, but they still didn't seem as excited as I was. I guess I wouldn't be either if I were in their position.
The next day at school, we got to explain the whole thing over again to Kyle, Leah, and Atli. Leah was glad to hear that she was allowed to at least see Preston's new place and possibly even live there with him. Kyle was kind of in awe. Atli just smiled knowingly, having already heard of the glory of the Lands of the Archers. We also got our graduation uniforms that day…
"They're burgundy," I said flatly.
"Yes Percy, that would be one of our school colors," Patience reminded me.
"Bu burgundy so isn't my color!" I complained.
"Baby, you'll look good in whatever you wear. Besides, you'll only have to wear them once," Atli assured me. I smiled, though still not liking the idea of having to wear them at all. That night, we took our uniforms home to show our parents.
"I think they'll look good on you guys," Phoebe said, holding up Preston's. She gasped as she was suddenly thrown into a premonition.
"What is it, Aunt Phoebe?" Patience asked as she opened her eyes again.
"Not good. Not good at all," Phoebe said. "Graduation day isn't going to be for graduating. It's going to be for killing."
"What?" Parker asked, panicking again.
"Aunt Phoebe, you can't say things like this and not give an explanation. One more heart attack and Parker's gonna be on a one way trip to the Halliwell mausoleum. What do you mean?" I asked.
"Your teachers, the entire staff at SF Valley High is demons. All of them. They're planning to sabotage graduation," Phoebe explained.
"What? How can the entire staff be demons without us knowing?" Piper asked.
"I don't know, but you guys can't go," Prue said.
"Oh no, you're not taking us away from graduation. I don't care how many demons I have to kill that day, I'm getting my damn diploma!" Patience said.
"Besides, we have to be there to help all of our classmates. They can't defend themselves from all of those demons," I said.
"Well then we need to go," Mom insisted.
"Fine, go, but we need a plan. How are we gonna take out that many demons?" Patience asked. Parker smiled for the first time since Oden had first visited us.
"I think I have an idea," he said.
The next day was, inevitably, graduation day. I had waited for this day my entire life, but now it seemed like demons would ruin it for everyone. They ruined everything. We all suited up for battle, putting on our uniforms and equipping ourselves with plenty of potions in case Parker's plan didn't work. As we walked out past our parents, we nodded at them and then sat down next to each other in our assigned seats. We had no idea how long it would take before the massacre began, but we hoped that it wouldn't be too long.
"You have your speech ready?" I asked Parker. He nodded.
"I'm not even sure if I'll need it now," he said.
"Let's hope not," Preston mumbled.
"Welcome, and congratulations to the class of 2024. It was a long and hard journey, but you made it here today. So, why waste time with a big, boring speech from your principal when you could be up here getting your diplomas already? Let's get on with it then! When I call your name, please come up to the stage to receive your diploma," our principal said. She called out the first student, then the next, and the next.
"Oh my god. She's really going to do the entire thing," Patience realized.
"Just start the attack already," I pleaded.
"Patience Halliwell," the principal called. Patience sighed and got up, shaking hands with the principal and taking her diploma. "Parker Halliwell." Parker did the same as Patience and came back to sit down. "Persephone Halliwell." I got up and walked up to the stage, smiling politely and taking the scroll from the principal, my muscles tensing for any sign of an attack. There was none though, and as I sat down, she called Preston up to get his diploma. When all of the kids were finally announced, she called Parker up to do his speech.
"Good luck, sweetie," Patience and I said to him at the same time. He nodded and went up to the podium.
"Hi," he started. "I just want to start by saying that this has been a hell of a ride." Many people laughed at this and Patience, Preston and I raised our eyebrows. "We've been through a lot here in the San Francisco Valley school district. We've all been together from kindergarten until now. It seems like so long ago that we were meeting up for the first time, but the memories are so fresh. Unfortunately though, some people who should be here aren't. While we've gained many new friends along the way, we've lost just as many. But those are the people who are really here with us now. Those are the people that'll be with us forever. No matter where destiny takes us, we'll always have the ones we love. Hold onto them tightly, because when they're gone, you can't get them back. This is the day that we've all been waiting for. This is graduation. When it comes down to it, it's actually not as exciting as all of us thought it would be, even for me. See, this is the road that we have to cross before we can get to the other side. No one knows what they'll find when they get there. Maybe they'll find the green grass that everyone talks about, maybe they won't. You can never know until you get there. But here's hoping that all of you find the green grass that you're looking for, because today we start our lives for real. Today we take the first steps into our destiny. Today, we graduate." Our classmates roared at this, clapping and throwing their hats into the air. Parker grinned at us from the stage, but before he could step off, the principal formed a fireball in her hand and aimed it at Parker.
"Parker, watch out!" I screamed, but I couldn't be heard over the crowd. It didn't matter though, because our psychic connection enabled him to know that something was wrong and he ducked. The crowd quieted down as they realized that something was happening. This gave us the perfect chance to get them out of there.
"Everybody out of here now! You're in danger!" Patience yelled at the top of her lungs. The kids and their parents ran everywhere while the three of us stayed put. Parker was still defending himself on stage and I shot a fireball to distract the principal.
"You know those warriors that you were talking about?" Preston yelled to the sky. "We could use 'em now!" Suddenly, lightning appeared from the north, south, east, and west and about two hundred soldiers appeared, bows and arrows in hand. They stood in perfect formation and aimed their bows at the teachers. I shared a look with my cousins, wondering what to do, but instinct took over instantly.
"Fire!" I shouted. Arrows rained down on the teachers, vanquishing many of them. Preston and I hurled fireballs at them as well.
"Take aim! Fire!" Patience shouted, following my lead. Arrows flew across the sky again, vanquishing more of them. There were only a few left, including our principal. She shot a fireball at me, hitting me in the shoulder. I fell to the ground hard, bracing my fall with my other hand.
"Percy!" I heard my mom yell. I gritted my teeth through the pain and growled, feeling my eyes change. I slowly got up, seeing that the only demon left was the one that had hit me. I glared and grabbed my cousins' hands.
"Let's ditch this bitch," I said. We focused on her and watched as the gray vortex appeared, sucking her in. We let go of each other and looked around, from our waiting army to our amazed parents, to some of our terrified classmates that had decided to stick around and see what was happening. We went around to face the warriors, all of whom stood at attention.
"Thank you all for coming to our aid," Patience said.
"We hope that this can be the start of a great relationship and that together we will win many more battles, bigger battles just like this one," I said.
"Now go get some rest and we'll be there soon," Preston instructed. They all saluted and departed the same way that they had come. I looked at my cousins and we all grinned, feeling that we had accomplished something, ascended to a higher level. It was an amazing feeling. Before we knew it, Leah, Kyle, and Atli had rushed over to us and threw their arms around us. I gave Atli a kiss and looked over at our parents, who were approaching.
"You guys did great," Phoebe complimented.
"And we finally got our diplomas! Now we can get the hell out of here!" Patience exclaimed.
"Don't be too eager to leave right away. We still have your graduation party to throw at P4. All of the O'Reillys are coming," Piper reminded us.
"Sounds good! Let's go," Preston said. They all started towards the cars, but I hung back.
"You coming, Percy?" Mom asked. I nodded.
"Yeah, I just have to grab something real quick," I said.
Later that night, everyone was at P4. Tristan and her husband, Lyra and her fiancé, Bailey and his fiancée, Tara and her husband and two kids, and of course, the twins and their twin girlfriends. Even Autum, Grams, and Grandma were there. We caught up on a lot of things, including a full-blown explanation of graduation.
"How is it possible that the entire staff of you school was demonic and no one knew about it until just now?" Lyra asked.
"If I'd have been to visit I could have told you much sooner," Tristan said.
"Yeah, but you never do," Payton taunted.
"Neither do you guys!" Bailey said.
"Do too!" Tanner protested.
"No you don't," Autum said. I just looked at my cousins and we rolled our eyes.
"I think I'm gonna go see how the dance floor feels," Patience said.
"Yeah, I'll do that with you," Preston said.
"Hey, wait. I want to talk to you guys real quick," I said. I led the three of them to the back room and pulled out three scrolls of paper from my pockets, handing one to each of them.
"Diplomas? But we already got ours," Patience said.
"Yeah, I really only needed one to prove that I actually finished high school," Preston said.
"What are these?" Parker asked.
"They're not yours. Just open them and see," I said. They all unrolled them, their eyes going wide when they did. I had given Parker Kelsey's diploma, Patience Jeff Hollingsworth's, and Preston Heather Graham's.
"Where did you get these?" Parker asked in astonishment.
"I saw them in the box of left over diplomas. I decided to see if I could deliver them to any of them. When I realized who they were for, I decided to give them to you. Preston, I know you probably don't want to keep Heather's, but I figured maybe you could take it to her grave or something," I suggested. He nodded.
"Thanks Percy, this was great. I'll be able to give this to Jeff's parents. I'm sure they'd like to have it," Patience said, giving me a hug. Preston and Parker followed her lead and we went back out to the party.
"Hey, what's this doing here?" I asked, seeing The Army of Witches sitting on the table.
"Wow, it's been a while since I've read it with everything that's been going on," Patience commented.
"It seems like forever ago and we've been through so much since we got it," I said.
"Exactly. We think you should start adding to it. Anything that might be of importance to help you figure out who you're fighting and how you can fulfill your destinies should be put in there. It can be like your own Book of Shadows," Prue said. The four of us looked down at it.
"I guess this means we're starting a new chapter of our lives," Patience said.
"And this book," Preston pointed out.
"We've got plenty to add," Parker said.
"What should we call it?" I asked.
"How about the Archers' Diaries?" Patience suggested.
"Sounds good," Preston agreed.
"Patience, you should go first since you're the oldest," Parker said.
"You can call it Confessions of a Halliwell: The Diary of Patience," I said.
"I like it! It's classy," Patience said.
"So what now?" Preston asked.
"Well, there's only one thing to do. It's time to carry on the heritage. We're the next generation of Halliwells," I said.
"How do we go about that exactly?" Preston asked.
"Just like we always have," Parker said.
"How's that?" Preston asked.
"Together."
Oh my! It's done! Finished, finito, finir, complete! The Archers' Diaries are over! Now there's only one story left in this entire series! I'm not sure when the first chapter will be posted. We have two schedules to work around now, so it might be a little longer between updates and such. Also, because of the new rule on FF.N, I will be replying to my reviews on my message board from now on. The link to that can be found on my profile page, just go to the top and click on the little blue link that says Powerof4 and it'll take you there. If you have any questions, comments, suggestions, whatever, you can email me at AIM me at alhditto8, or MSN me at Feel free to IM me any time if you see me on, just make sure you tell me who you are. Thank you so much for all of your reviews and support so far, from The Army of Witches, to Cole's Revenge, to all of these diaries and I hope to see you all reviewing the next story for whenever Laur and I get it up. Happy holidays, by the way! And just to let you all know, I will officially be 15 years old tomorrow, December 8th. So, I think that's all. Have fun and I wish you lots of luck and presents and all of that for whatever holiday you may celebrate.
.:.Aut.:.