Chapter 3- A shortcut to mushrooms

Disclaimer- I don't own charmed!

Once again, thanks for the reviews! (Some1 said 'wow" to my story and it hasn't even got interesting yet! Whoot! And to answer Jackie67's question, after Paige's baby, there will be 6 more kids.) By the way, the title for this chapter has nothing to do with its contents, but I couldn't think of anything creative so I borrowed one from LOTR! This chapter kind of continues from the last chapter, but will skip ahead in the middle.

Happy New Year! And may the Power of Cheese guide you! Please R&R…

PS. Season 7 of charmed starts here on Thursday! YAY!

PPS. On a more serious not, I send my condolences to all those who have been effected by last weeks tsunami.

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Paige sat on the camp bed in her father's dusty old apartment. She stared blankly around the room and kicked the dust off the floor wondering why Sam still had an apartment, as he was, for lack of a better term, dead.

Her father, Sam, was standing in the doorway of the scrawny bedroom watching Paige stare into space. He noticed her resemblance to Patty more now, than he had ever noticed it before. The moon was shining in through the window illuminating her pale skin, giving her a radiant beauty. He thought of everything his daughter had told him when she'd arrived; Of Decron's evil plan to go after her family and more importantly her baby; of her outburst in the attic; of her worried thoughts of raising a child in an evil-filled world and of how she didn't want the baby.

"You're more like your mother than you'll ever know," he told her reassuringly.

Paige wondered what relevance this had to anything she had just told him, but it strangely calmed her down. "In what way?" she asked before she could stop herself. She had never known her mother and Sam was the only person she knew who liked to talk about her.

"When she was pregnant with Prudence she didn't want to bring a baby into a world full of demons and warlocks." He had now moved across the room and was sitting next to his daughter on the camp bed.

"Really?" Paige replied, "I always thought that she wouldn't be scared of anything. I suppose that was wishful thinking. I just had this idea of Wonder Woman..."

Sam laughed. Patty certainly was Wonder Woman to him. He hugged his daughter and kissed her hair, almost the same way he had done before giving her up as a baby. "Everything will be okay, just like it was with your sister." He told her

"Yeah, but Prue didn't have a zillion demonic cults on her tail, did she?" Paige asked. Somehow it felt wrong to be questioning her father's judgement. His presence was so oddly calming.

Sam didn't know what to say to Paige's last comment. Of course Prue hadn't had demons her tail, not at least until it was proven she was a charmed one, but he just wanted his daughter to know it would all be okay. The pair sat in silence until Paige fell asleep in her father's arms. Sam slowly and silently left her to sleep.

Paige awoke early the next morning, unsure of what she had been dreaming about. All she could remember was the clear image of her mother's smiling face. As the image drifted away from her Paige closed her eyes tightly trying to hold on to the glimpse of her mother when it suddenly dawned on her. Her mother. Why hadn't she thought of it before? If her mother couldn't help her, who could?

She got up hurriedly brushing her hair and pulling on her fuchsia, turtle neck sweater. She ran through to the couch where Sam was sleeping, kissed him on the cheek and thanked him quietly. Sam was startled by his daughter's kiss but when he had turned to speak to her, he was greeted by the all too familiar lights of her orb.

The Halliwell Manor was enveloped in silence when Paige arrived in the attic. She headed straight to the Book of Shadows, apologising to the book for kicking it the night before. She flicked through the pages, searching for the spell to summon her mother from the dead.

"Aha!" she said triumphantly, "candles, I need candles..." As Paige hurriedly placed a circle of candles on the floor in front of her she heard someone stir on the floor below. She stopped for a second encase whoever it was decided to come up into the attic. When she heard what sounded like Leo's footsteps disappear downstairs, she continued what she had been doing.

"Lets see," she sighed, scrolling her finger down the page in the Book of Shadows.

"Here these words

Hear my cry,

Spirit from the other side

Come to me,

I summon thee

Cross now

The Great Divide."

Paige looked on expectantly; a severe disappointment arrived in her stomach when nothing happened. She had almost started to cry again when she realised, "Damn it! I forgot to light the candles!" When the candles were lit, she stood back; once again, she had butterflies.

"Here these words

Hear my cry,

Spirit from the other side

Come to me,

I summon thee

Cross now

The Great Divide."

Paige spun around in triumph as a large white light appeared in the circle of candles, but when she turned back to face her mother she was greeted by the person she had least expected.

"Prue?" She gasped.

"The one and only." replied her transparent sister. "Well technically not anymore, after Piper's baby was born but..."

Paige gazed into her sister's eyes. "Oh my god!" she squealed "I have to go and get my...our sisters!"

"No." Prue replied sounding quite disappointed "I can't talk to them yet. Not until they can handle seeing me again..." She trailed off with a sniff.

"Oh, okay." Paige was still in a state of utter shock. She was actually speaking to the all-powerful Prue Halliwell that she had heard so much about. She could clearly see a bit of both Piper and Phoebe in her eldest sister and was toying with herself about whether or not she would shout for them. "Rules are made to be broken..." She told Prue.

"Damn right they are!" laughed Prue before turning serious again, "but trust me, Piper and Phoebe won't be able to handle it just yet. It's a miracle I was allowed to come and speak to you."

Paige smiled at Prue. There eyes met and Paige saw a little of herself in Prue too. Not knowing what to say Paige sat and twiddled with her thumbs.

"Phoebe does that a lot too y'know?" Prue stated. She knew she was there for a purpose but there was an awkward tension between the two women who occupied the attic.

"Yeah...no offence, but I was kinda expecting Mom." Paige finally said, trying to make conversation. Yeah right! Way to start a good conversation. She thought. I must seem like a complete idiot!

"Mom seemed to think it would be better for me to come. I don't really know what to say though. I mean, I watched you, erm, voice you opinions last night but I don't think there's anything I can say to help!" Prue told her. Yeah right! Way to start a good conversation! She thought, unaware that her sister had just thought exactly the same thing. What an idiot!

Suddenly it dawned on Prue that she had exactly the right advice to give. Something she had told herself a lot when she was alive. "Actually Paige I do have some advice." She said calmly.

Paige was just staring at her sister longingly. Although she had never known Prue, she admired her. She was, brave, beautiful, confident and most of all a good sister. She grinned as Prue continued.

"It may not be much help, but it kept me going when I was a charmed one." She paused to stare at her sister. Ever since she had found out about Paige she had kept a close eye on her. It upset her to a certain extent, that she never got to know her- After all she was her sister, her baby sister... "We all have a destiny and your destiny as a charmed one is to rid the world of evil. No matter how bad things may seem at the time they will always work out for the better because good always triumphs over evil."

Paige tried to take in what her sister was saying. "How can you still believe that when you died trying to fulfil your destiny?" She blurted out and then kicked herself for being so rude.

Surprisingly Prue laughed. "I thought you might ask that. But it was my destiny to die. If there is one thing I learned during my time as a charmed one it's that you can't escape death." Prue said with a smile.

"But how can I be sure my baby's destiny isn't going to lead it to evil," Paige replied, still kicking herself for questioning Prue's advice.

"I'm probably gonna get in serious trouble for telling you this but like you said, rules are made to be broken... Your baby, and Piper's, and eventually Phoebe's are destined for great things in the world of good magic." Prue said with an innocent, yet strangely guilty smile.

"Phoebs and Piper were right, you do kick ass!" Paige said. Prue's words had somehow brushed all the worries out of Paige's mind and Paige had replied with a comment that sounded much better in her head.

"Hell yeah I do!" Prue laughed, "Now I better go before Grams or Mom come and kick my ass for telling you that. Please tell Piper and Phoebe I love them and I'm really sorry..."

Prue's last words trailed off as she disappeared in the same white light which had brought her.

Paige sighed as she realised how hard it must have been for her sisters to lose Prue. She was already missing her eldest sister and they had only spent ten minutes together. Prue's advice had given Paige a huge confidence boost but she still wasn't sure how she was going to face Mark.

Seconds after Prue had disappeared Piper and Phoebe had come rushing into the attic.

"Oh, Paige..." Piper had said. The look of disappointment on her face brought yet another tear to Paige's eye.

"Sorry Paige, it's just, we were sure we heard Prue's laugh coming from up here."

Phoebe's apology seemed a little off to Paige and she wasn't sure how she was going to tell her sisters what had just happened but she turned to them beaming and replied

"Maybe you did..."

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Paige hadn't realise just how hard it was going to be to tell her sisters of her encounter with Prue. She could see their jealousy and couldn't do anything about it. At first Piper found it hart to accept that she wasn't ready to speak to her elder sister until Phoebe persuaded her that Prue wouldn't have said it if she didn't mean it.

Phoebe also found it quite comforting to learn that she was going to have a child. She still hadn't gotten round to telling Cole that she wanted to try for one- soon, but he had been withdrawing from her since they had vanquished the darklighter. She felt almost as if they were falling apart from each other and something the darklighter had said kept playing in her mind: once a demon always a demon...

As the days went by baby Prudence was not allowed to be left alone in a room. It comforted Piper to a certain extent that Prue had said her baby was destined to a life of good, but there was a constant nag in the back of her mind that destiny could be swayed. Piper's daughter on the other hand was oblivious to any threat she was under and her powers grew more powerful by the day. Leo swore that he saw her levitate a few inches above her changing mat to allow him to change her diaper. Phoebe was concerned that Prue orbed the TV remote away from her every time she tried to change the channel and Piper's teddy bear would occasionally go missing and end up in the playpen.

Mark hadn't asked Paige what Prue had told her, he was just extremely grateful that Paige was no longer angry and upset. He hadn't interacted with his family much since the night he and Leo single handedly vanquished at least fifty demons. Everyone was worried about him. After all, he was usually their source of entertainment and now he preferred to be alone with Paige. He felt like his pride had been bruised when he hadn't managed to comfort his wife and had the idea that Piper and Phoebe blamed him. It wasn't until the night they revisited the Nasus tribe's warehouse that he started to be himself again.

As the sisters, Cole and Mark approached the warehouse Mark playfully put on a show of 'James Bond rolls' and pretended to shoot Cole in the shoulder. He knew of the danger that lay ahead, but somehow the adrenalin made him act like a small child. However, when they finally reached the abandoned building he became very protective of his pregnant wife. He made sure he was standing in front of her to prevent any sudden attacks when Piper blew of the buildings doors.

Much as they had expected, the remainders of the Nasus tribe still occupied the warehouse. Mark looked around, it did not look the same as the warehouse he had entered five nights before hand. Instead of the large welcoming party, a few demons- eight at the most, were scattered throughout the large, empty room.

Each of the demons had turned to see what had caused the explosion and were shocked, to say the least, at the sight that met their eyes. Mark was standing defensively in front of Paige, an athame ready in his hands; Piper, who had been leading the group, stood with her hands poised and ready to freeze or blow up any demon in her path; Phoebe stood behind Piper, with her arms out in front of her, looking almost like someone out of an old kong-fu movie. Cole, on the other hand, just stood normally with his hands in his pockets as though looking for demons was the same as going to buy groceries and Paige was just plain irritated at her husband.

One of the demons- a bald, scrawny looking thing with a snake like face and a triangle carved into his left temple- came charging towards the group of unlikely heroes. Piper immediately froze him, but he broke through the freeze, spitting a yellow liquid into Pipers face. She screamed in pain before blowing up the demon.

"Piper?" Phoebe gasped running towards her sister.

"It's okay," Piper reassured her. She could feel her face coming up in a large blister, but she was determined to vanquish each and every one of the demons in the room.

"Okay..." Phoebe replied, still not fully convinced. She then ran straight up to one of the other demons, which had frozen and dug an athame into his chest. When she realised that the demon had not vanquished she turned to Mark and yelled "Potion!?"

Leo and Mark had identified some of the demons they remembered in the Book of Shadows allowing the girls to make up the appropriate potions. Phoebe however, had been too slow in asking for the potion as the demon known as Felane burst into flames.

"What can I say?" Paige said smirking "I always had a good aim..."

Phoebe laughed, before turning back and running towards another demon and kicking him hard in the back of the head, sending him flying. "Potion?" She asked turning to Cole, who had memorised how to kill every demon Leo and Mark had recognised.

"Athame." He replied, throwing it across to where the demon lay causing it to burst into disintegrate.

"You guys get all the fun." Phoebe complained with a put on pout.

Once the group had vanquished all eight demons they prepared to leave, but they were met with a familiar, cold voice.

"I told you you'd pay halfbreed." Came the voice of Decron followed by a small scream from Phoebe.

They turned to see Decron, now with only on yellow eye, stick a knife into Phoebe's back. She fell to the floor with a look of terror in her eyes and tried to pull herself across the ground to where Cole was standing but Decron stopped her by placing his foot firmly on the back of her head.

Each of them made to move foreword but immediately stopped, after a warning from Decron. "Move any closer and I'll snap her neck." He turned his attention to Paige and grinned maliciously, "I know you better than you know yourself Paige. I know the way to make you suffer is by killing off your family…one by one…"

Piper let go of the potion vial she had been holding and dropped her eyes to where Phoebe lay. She was going to lose another sister. When Phoebe flinched and her body turned limp Piper thought the worst.

"No!" She screamed as she ran forewords towards Decron.

Paige had obviously been thinking the same as Piper and was running straight towards the large demon. The two sisters, both in tears, had just about reached the spot where Phoebe's limp body was sprawled on the ground when the both gave a gasp of confusion and a sigh of relief.

"You know! That HURT!" Phoebe yelled angrily from behind Decron as she kicked him in between the shoulder blades sending him crashing to the floor before she disappeared in a flash of red light.

What had been Phoebe's limp body now sprang back to life in her sisters' arms. Although she was in pain she smiled. "I astral projected! Hah! An active power!"

Piper's relief was immense when she saw her sister smile, but soon the relief turned to anger when she saw Decron jump to his feet and spring backwards. Cole and Mark had rushed to attack him but had been sent to the ground by a wave of Decron's hand.

"You cannot defeat me!" He growled "Even with your filthy halfbreed sister!"

"What's Paige got to do with it?" Mark asked as angrily as he could manage, his mind still on Paige.

"What's Paige got to do with this?" Decron mocked, "She's got everything to do with it! My brother thought he had destroyed The Charmed Ones but then she came along and destroyed him! You may have managed to vanquish Shax, and even the source, but I know more about you than you realise. Watch your backs- especially you halfbreed!" When he finished his eye rested on Paige, the hatred towards her evident. Piper was sure she had seen him smile when his eye met Paige's 'bump' before he shimmered out.

Putting this thought to the back of her mind for now, knowing she would have to tell Paige later, she continued to hug Phoebe as her other sister healed her burn.

"I thought I'd lost you..." Piper trailed off with a sob.

"I have another active power!" Phoebe squealed, after Paige, with the help of 'bump', healed her.

"So you showed us," said Cole. He picked her up of the floor, the words "will you marry me?" once again on the tip of his tongue. Before he could muster enough courage to ask Phoebe the question Mark interrupted him.

"Sweetheart, don't worry... we wont let him near our baby. We can vanquish him just like every other demon who threatens you."

"Did you see the look on his face? He's more than just an average demon." Paige sobbed as she buried her face in Mark's torn shirt.

AN- You like? Please Review!

From now on I think I'll update every Sunday.