Hello! Sorry for the delay, but I am back in business. Okay, there are a lot of review responses today so I'm not wasting space by rambling!
Peanut2lb- You like Mark that much, huh? I'm so glad I've developed such a likeable character! You have no Idea how happy that made me! The Jason/Cole hatred is important in the latter half of the sequel…very important. And I am avoiding buses at all costs! Lol!
Money makes me smile- Thanks for the review! Hispanic is a race- like there are blacks and whites? People from Puerto Rico and places like that are Hispanic.
Powerof4- Thanks for the review! I thought everyone would have worked out if Piper was having a boy or girl-lol! Big clue: The baby had witch powers, not just whitelighter ones. I'm sorry I couldn't update sooner!
BlueOrbs998- Thanks for the review! You don't like Piper being pregnant? I promise you will love the character when she comes! Remember what the seer told Decron: "The coming of the new year will bring the conceiving of the third child." Halloween is only October- there's plenty time for Paige and Mark to…y'know. Lol! Just because Piper and Leo are having a third, doesn't mean Paige and Mark won't either. sniggers You won't be disappointed!
RJF- Thanks so much for that review! I've been walking around with an inane grin on my face ever since I read it! Lol! You're a fellow Scot? Where you from? And about the Demon names, I have a top-secret method:P Just kidding! Most of them are variations on what they are associated with, e.g. Chimerak- 'chimera' means a figment of your imagination. Or they are plays on my friends/families names, e.g. 'Nasus' Tribe- Susan spelt backwards! Ingenious or what? Lol!
Prince Halliwell- This chapter's for you! Thanks for the review! I knew you'd like MJ's power! Lol! I'm glad you liked the comedy, but after this chapter it's gonna get pretty dark…
.elementbabe- thanks for the review!
Cherry7up- Thanks for the review!
Rebana- still laughing about the 'goatee' thing! Come to think of it, they do all have goatees! Lol! Thanks for the review! I'm hoping I can do telepathy justice.
Charmed1s-Halliwells- thanks for the review!
Moonfirefairy- thanks for the review.
Phiona- somehow I doubt she'll call the baby Harry Potter, but your review rocked! Lol! Thanks!
Charmed Dawn- I do believe that was the longest review in the history of the universe! Lol! Thanks for all the compliments! I must remember to thank Prince Halliwell for recommending my fic- I think you'll like this chapter, it's a crossover between my fic and his! Oh and it's Piper's baby who's telepathic, not Piper, but it is gonna be fun!
Kendalpaigecharity- thanks for the review!
Rangers1036- thanks for the review!
Fanmania- Thanks for the review!
Okay, this is gonna be another two-parter because I felt guilty leaving you guys waiting! The second part should be up between today and Sunday. BTW I've not proof read this so if you find any errors feel free to point them out!
The alternate Universe characters, demons and powers all belong to Prince Halliwell, as does some of the dialogue used. If you like what you read then I highly recommend you check out his fics- 'simply charmed' and 'being charmed'! Enjoy dudes and dudettes!
Laur x
Chap22- Alternate Universe-city Challenge
Paige sank into the old loveseat in the Halliwell Manor's attic. She smirked as her eyes scanned the page in the very old book which rested on her knee and tried to push the mental image of Phoebe as a Banshee out of her mind. She had been up here for the past half hour and was supposed to be searching for something that could help Piper control her baby's telepathy, but, as she always did when she was looking for something minor in the Book of Shadows, Paige had gotten distracted.
Of course, Melinda-Jayne insisting that she saw the pictures of her father's demonic form had started Paige's flipping of the ancient pages. The small girl had quite recently developed an obsession with that page in the Book of Shadows and it had only just become apparent to the Charmed Ones that it was because the page containing information on 'Belthazor' also showed photos of Phoebe and Cole together. It appeared MJ still had inner demons about the fact her parents weren't together.
"Aunty Paige?" She asked, a whining tone apparent in her voice.
"Yes sweetie?"
"Rachy stealed my pen!"
"Rachael?" Paige asked sternly, looking towards the corner where the tiny redhead sat colouring in…the wall! "Rachael, don't do that!"
"Why?" She asked, turning to face her mother with a look of pure innocence twinkling in her blue eyes. "I's sowee…"
"I know Snowflake, but Aunty Piper's not gonna be very pleased is she?"
"Oops…" Rachael scanned the floor with her eyes and a worried look spread across her face, "Can you cean it wif da spell?"
"Okay, but promise you won't tell your Daddy or Aunties?"
"Pomise!" Rachael replied with a look of relief, which brought a small smile to Paige's lips. She had been thinking of using the spell anyway. Piper was already angry enough at the fact that she could constantly hear other people's thoughts and her older sister was one pissed off pregnant lady Paige did not want to mess with.
"Can I say it Mommy?" Laura asked eagerly, from where she had been sitting next to her sister. "Please?"
"Me too!" MJ yelled excitedly.
"Sure, come here and hold my hands." Paige smiled at the little girls' eagerness to use magic and patted the two spaces at either side of her on the couch. They ran towards her with enthusiasm bursting from their seems and jumped onto the loveseat energetically. "Ready?" Paige asked with a grin, but a strange tugging in her abdomen brought the grin swiftly from her face.
"Yep!" Laura replied, "Let the object of…what's wrong?"
"I don't know," Paige replied, doubling over as she felt herself being pulled from the attic, still clutching Laura and MJ's hands.
At the sudden silence that filled the room, Rachael's head turned towards the loveseat where her mother, sister and cousin sat…had been sitting. The attic was now empty other than the tiny redhead. "Mommy?" She asked, her voice beginning to tremble and jaw beginning to quiver, "Lola?" There was still no reply and tears began to fill Rachael's eyes, "Melly-Jay?" Still no answer and Rachael's slow tears turned to panic filled screams for her father.
xxxxx
Paige's eyes were still closed when her dizzy spell washed off, but she could no longer feel the loveseat underneath her. In fact, she was now standing. She knew Laura and MJ were still at either side of her, but panic soaked through her as she realised she could no longer sense Rachael…anywhere. She opened her eyes and looked towards where her youngest daughter had been sitting, but instead of seeing the redhead, her eyes met…her own?
Sitting in the corner, next to a chair Paige recognised to be the one they had destroyed all those years ago when they had vanquished the darklighter who had possessed Belthazor's powers, was a woman who looked remarkably like Paige. In fact, the only difference between the two women was that the stranger in the corner had blonde hair.
"Demon!" MJ yelped, forming an orange fireball in her hand and thrusting it towards the familiar stranger leaving her bewildered Aunt and cousin to gawp open mouthed at the Paige 'clone'.
"You're the demon little missy!" The woman, who not only looked like Paige, but sounded like her, scolded, using a shield of orbs, very similar to the one Piper's baby had used on Halloween to deflect the potion, to return MJ's fireball. MJ, fortunately, shimmered out but Paige got even more confused. She had been going by the assumption that the other her was a demon, but she had used a whitelighter based power so that hypothesis was quashed.
"What the hell is going on?" Came another familiar voice and Paige let out a sigh of relief as Piper entered the attic. However, her relief was soon overcome by utter confusion. Piper was carrying a tiny baby in her arms and was followed by three little girls.
"Well, you see…" The other Paige began "I sorta…"
"You cast a spell." Piper finished for her and Paige's eyes widened. Maybe it wasn't the woman who looked like her that was the intruder? Maybe she, Laura and MJ were the intruders?
"Yeah, but I even wrote for it not to have consequences like it did with you!" The other Paige argued. This was getting a little too confusing.
"That means nothing!" Piper spat and her attention turned to the real Paige, whose face was a wash of sheer bewilderment. From what she could gather, this other Paige had summoned her to an alternate reality where, God forbid, she was blonde!
She turned her attention to the little girls who were with Piper and her feelings of being in an alternate reality were confirmed. She couldn't really catch a glimpse of the baby because she was huddled into Piper's chest, but it felt very odd seeing Piper with a baby that wasn't Prue or Andy. The eldest girl was remarkably cute. She had mouse brown hair, which she wore in pigtails and gorgeous blue eyes- not quite the same blue as Laura and Rachael's nauctater eyes but still beautiful. To Paige, she looked very familiar but she couldn't quite put a finger on who it was that the girl looked like. She was definitely a Halliwell, but with a hint of someone else...Glenn? Nah… The second was equally adorable and also very much a Halliwell. If Paige didn't know any better she could have sworn the girl was Prue's daughter. She had a head of thick, raven hair and stunningly mesmerising dark green eyes- so much like the eldest Halliwell that it was unreal. The final toddler was definitely the cutest. Paige didn't even need to look twice to know whom her parents were- Piper and Leo. She was gazing up at Paige with large brown eyes, running her small hand through her dark brown hair, and was giving a small and very cute giggle.
"You still haven't told me why I'm here!" Paige interjected, grabbing Laura and MJ's hands to stop them pacing forward, cocking an eyebrow and sighing. What the hell had she been pulled into this time?
"I cast a spell to find out whether it's Glenn or Kyle I love." The blonde Paige explained
'Gee, that was a big help! I seriously hope I'm not that vague!' Paige thought, fighting the urge to roll her eyes. She still didn't exactly understand what was going on and could sense neither Laura nor MJ knew either. Another thing that had struck her was that when her alternate self had mentioned the names of two men, neither had been Mark.
"Okay, I'm gonna get confused." The alternate Piper announced, causing Paige to give her a look of disbelief. She was confused? "So what are your names?"
"Paige Anderson." Paige said contemplating whether or not to offer her hand to Piper…what would be the point of offering her hand to her own sister- Alternate reality sister?
"Anderson?" The other Paige asked. Evidently Mark did not exist in this reality.
"Married," She told her 'twin', flashing her wedding ring.
"My name's Laura!" Laura said from her place at her mother's side, narrowing her eyes suspiciously. She raised her hands in an attempt to freeze the alternate Piper and Paige, but to no avail.
"Me MJ!" Melinda-Jayne announced, following her older cousin in making an introduction.
"I don't care what your name is!" The other Paige snapped causing MJ's face to drop. "Why do you look after mini-demons in your world?"
'Because I'm the source of all evil and she's my freaking minion!' Paige thought sarcastically with yet another roll of her eyes, but resisted the temptation to say it out loud, knowing that her temper was only rising because she did not like not knowing what was going on."She's my niece." She retorted, shocked by her alternate self's rudeness, but trying to remain calm. She walked forward, leaving Laura and MJ where they stood, to approach the other her. "Phoebe and Cole's daughter, but she's pretty much all Cole…magic wise anyway!" This seemed to satisfy the alternate universe Halliwells and Paige gave a small smile. At least they recognised Cole's name.
Laura looked from a frustrated MJ to where her mother was standing and her face screwed up in confusion. Both of the women in front of her looked like her mother, both wore the same perplexed expression, and both even stood in the same position. Without her glasses, Laura was having a hard time deciding between the two.
"Which one my mommy?" She whispered to MJ.
"Dat one!" MJ replied, pointing to the blonde. "She's mean."
"My Mommy is not mean!" Laura protested with a stamp of her foot. MJ just responded with a shrug and turned to Piper who had been watching the two girls with a smile.
"Aunty Pipew?" She asked, batting her eyelashes, not understanding that this wasn't her Aunty Piper. "Can I go pay wif Andy?"
"He's at work right now." She replied, her brow knitting.
"Don't be silly!" Laura exclaimed with a loud giggle, giving her mother a sly smile.
"Andy doe wok!" MJ continued with the same smile as her cousin, "He too ickle!"
"Not in this world." Piper explained, causing both girls' to share a baffled look. This world? "Andy's an adult."
"Andy's our Uncle." The oldest of the alternate realty children said, edging forward in a very similar manner to Laura. Paige jerked her head to the side. If Andy Trudeau was alive in this world then maybe her assumptions of the little girl being Prue's daughter had been correct? Before she could open her mouth to speak, however, Laura had stepped towards the three girls.
"We got Uncle Andy too!" She told them excitedly before looking to the floor and letting out a melancholy sigh. "But he's in Heaven…"
"I can see this might cause problems." The alternate universe Piper said, looking between the two Paiges.
"Yeah," The real Paige agreed, "Especially if Andy's alive in your world." She looked down at Laura, who she knew had developed a very strong liking to her 'Uncle Andy' in the short time that he had been on earth. If Laura discovered Andy was alive here Paige would have a hard time explaining why. "We're lucky if we get to see him or Prue once every few months…maybe years." Paige let out a sigh, much like the one Laura had given a few moments before. Even thinking about Prue made her upset.
"Prue?" The alternate Paige gasped, her eyes widening in a look that Paige recognised from the mirror as terror. "Prue's dead too?"
"Yeah…" Paige looked up and felt her heart sink. Whatever warped reality she had been summoned to, Prue was alive. All the emotions she was sure she had gotten rid of came rushing back to her and she felt tears prickle in the corners of her eyes. In this reality she was a real sister, not a replacement like she had always subconsciously believed. Perhaps her purpose in life was not to take Prue's place in the power of three? "Are you saying she's alive in your world?" Paige had to make sure; this was just too much to handle. She wiped a stray tear from her eye and looked to her alternate self for an answer.
"Yeah."
Paige's burning urge to continue asking questions did not die, but before she could open her mouth again, Piper spoke.
"How 'bout I take the kids downstairs?"
Paige looked from Piper to the three alternate universe girls, to her alternate self and finally to Laura and MJ. After a few seconds of contemplation she decided that she could trust her daughter and niece to behave and gave a curt nod, her mind burning with so many questions that, for the moment, thoughts of the real world washed from her mind.
xxxxx
Mark reached the top of the stairs in a bid to escape his sister-in-law's telepathy and his ears were met by the sound of his youngest daughter's frantic screams. His blue eyes scanned the corridor before he realised that the noise was coming from the attic and he proceeded to sprint up the second set of stairs with panic coursing through his veins. The only sound coming from the attic was the sound of Rachael's sobs and he was positive that his wife, eldest daughter and his niece had been up there with her.
"Oh my goodness!" He exclaimed, rushing to his daughter's side and nearly slipping on the fresh coat of ice which lined the floor beside her. "Snowflake, what happened?"
"M…mommy g…goed bye bye!" Rachael choked, calming down at the appearance of her father but still very startled by her mother, sister and cousin's sudden disappearance.
"Where did they go?" Mark asked hurriedly, "Did a demon get them?"
"No…dey dust dis'peawed."
"Just like that?"
"Yuhuh…"
"Crap…Piper! Phoebe!"
xxxxx
The frown on Laura's face had not moved since her alternate reality Aunty had taken her downstairs and although she was usually very much a people person, she was very reluctant to speak to any of the other girls, except MJ of course. Melinda-Jayne and Laura did still not quite grasp the fact that this wasn't their world and the situation was not helped when Laura spotted a photo, of her mother and another little girl, hanging on the wall.
"What your name?" She asked, turning to the girl in question, realising MJ, though still in a bad mood, had already began babbling away to the two younger girls.
"Karis." She replied curtly, obviously not trusting Laura at all.
"I'm Laura," Laura replied, "Why is you in dat picta with my Mommy?" She indicated to the picture with her hand and deepened her scowl. That was where her mother's wedding day photograph was supposed to hang.
"Dat's my mommy!" Karis responded angrily, sticking out her tongue.
"No she ain't!" Laura snapped, quickly disliking this girl. She was a liar. "She is me and Rachy's mommy! Stupid."
"I am not stupid!" Karis exclaimed irritably, and Laura was too furious to notice the girl's striking resemblance to Paige. "Aunty Piper! She called me stupid!"
"Both of you stop arguing!" It seemed that in every reality Piper had her motherly authority because the two girls were soon silent, leaving them to listen to MJ's conversation with her newfound friends.
"Grace?" Melinda-Jayne asked the second oldest of the alternate universe children. "Patrice sure laughs a lot." She pointed to the third toddler- the one Paige had worked out to be Piper and Leo's daughter- and raised a confused eyebrow. The little girl was laughing happily as Grace tried to teach her to say 'demon'. MJ had taken quite a liking to the two younger girls, but it was the tiny baby in the bassinet that had really caught her attention. "Who's dat buba?"
"Vat's Patrice's sista, Charlotte." Grace replied and MJ scowled.
"No it's not!" She replied, genuinely angry. Charlotte was her sister, not Patrice's, and she was most definitely not a small baby. "Tarlie's my sister!"
"Melly-Jay, shh." Laura stepped forward and placed a hand to her lips, knowing what happened when Melinda-Jayne got angry. "amember Aunty Piper said we's in a diff'rent world? Maybe she's a diff'rent world Charlie?"
The alternate Piper sighed in relief as Laura walked towards her cousin, clearly grateful that the four-year-old knew how to calm MJ down. However, the alternate Piper was definitely not used to MJ's temper- she had obviously never experienced a child with demonic tendencies before.
"Tarlie's my sista!" MJ repeated and the faint outline of a black line appeared across her eye. "Mine."
"Mine!" Patrice replied, still laughing because she didn't understand quite how serious an angry MJ was.
"S'ut up!" MJ snapped, her anger getting the better of her as her demonic nature slowly began to surface. Because she was too young to understand that they were in an alternate reality, she felt that the three little girls from the other world were intruding and her already bad mood did not help the situation. "See, dat's our Mommy!" MJ pointed to a picture of Phoebe and gave an obstinate scowl. She was not going to give up easily.
"Aunty Phoebe don't have any babies." Karis pointed out, not realising that this was going to make MJ even angrier.
"Shh." Laura said once more, worry filling up her blue eyes as she noticed MJ's tribal markings appear, "Please?"
xxxxx
Upstairs, the Paiges were still deeply engrossed in conversation. Paige had found out more about this alternate reality than she had bargained for and they had sill not reached the subject of why she was actually there. Apparently the oldest of the girls was her alternate self's daughter- she had not asked who the father was because she knew the answer was not going to be Mark- and she could only hope Laura did not get offended by her alternate universe daughter. The second girl, as Paige had expected, was Prue and Andy's daughter, by the name of Grace- a name she had actually considered for Rachael. Paige couldn't help but be upset by the existence of little girl. Piper and Phoebe had told her on many occasions that Prue had wanted a child and suddenly, Paige had been sucked into a world where she had one. The two youngest girls, Patrice and Charlotte, were Piper and Leo's daughters and Paige did not even need to think twice to know that if MJ heard the baby's name she would get very angry. However, the curious lack of talk about her third sister was beginning to worry Paige and she felt the need to question why her alternate self never spoke about Phoebe when it came to the topic of children.
"So, what about this world's Phoebe? Is she with Jason?"
"Who?" The other Paige asked curiously. Oops…
"Never mind."
"She's with Cole- I thought you said that MJ was Phoebe and Cole's daughter?"
"It's complicated." Paige cringed, wishing she hadn't opened her mouth in the first place. This was going to be hard to explain. But then something suddenly dawned on her. "We probably shouldn't let Melinda-Jayne see her parents together…"
"Why?" The other Paige asked. Paige recognised the look on her alternate self's face as one of confusion and racked her brains for a simple way to put it.
"She sorta has some issues about Phoebe and Cole… in our reality they split up before she was born, so she's always felt kind of betrayed. I mean, don't get me wrong, she loves her stepfather and stepmother, but, especially with her demonic genes, it's a very touchy subject. I think seeing them together might just rile her a little."
"Oh…" The alternate Paige let the information sink in before turning to her counterpart with a look of realisation. "I don't think we should let Phoebe see her either. She and Cole are having problems conceiving. If she finds out she has a daughter in another universe it might upset her."
Paige looked to the floor and decided against telling her alternate self that Phoebe, in fact, had two daughters. It was odd to imagine a world without her part-demon niece, or Charlotte, or even Ben, so hearing that Phoebe and Cole could not have children in this universe was a little peculiar. "It's strange how this world can be so different to mine." She said, turning her head upwards. "I mean Mark doesn't even exist here."
"Who?" Once again, Paige's 'twin' looked confused, but this time Paige was willing to give an explanation.
"My husband." She beamed.
"I don't think I've ever even met a Mark!"
"Really?"
"Yeah…what's he like?"
"He's amazing." Paige felt her heart flutter at the thought of him and she could feel herself begin to get giddy like a schoolgirl. "Six foot four of Scottish hunk!" She gave a giggle- now she was even talking like a schoolgirl. "And he has the most incredible personality. He'd do anything for our daughters. I mean, growing up I never believed in love at first sight, but when I met Mark I just knew, you know? I love him so much…I don't know what I'd do without him." Paige was overcome with the sudden urge to return to her own universe, but the thing was, she wasn't sure how.
"So, your husband's called Mark?" The alternate Paige asked, seemingly taking a while to digest the information.
"He's a Nauctater- kinda like a cross between a witch and a hunter."
"You're so lucky." Paige's 'twin' said with a sigh. "The father of my child left us to go travelling and hooked up with some girl called Jennifer." Paige felt the need to tell her alternate self to orb his balls far away, but did not feel that it would be very appropriate, so she continued to listen. "Then I fell in love with someone called Kyle, and this morning Glenn asked me to renew our vows…"
"You married Glenn?" Paige scoffed. If she had been drinking something she would have choked. Glenn? Her high school sweetheart? Sure, they still spoke often, but they both had their own families now! Heck, MJ even went to pre-school with Glenn's son!
"Yeah, didn't you two ever get together after high school in your world?"
"No!" Paige blurted, before realising how rude she must seem. "In my world Paige and Glenn just didn't fit."
"I'm starting to think that myself…"
Paige put a comforting hand on her alternate self's shoulder. It was very weird to see yourself get so worked up, but Paige knew she had been brought here to help, so that was what she was going to do. "Maybe that's just it. Maybe in this world there's supposed to be Paige and Glenn?"
"I don't work with maybes." The other Paige stated, causing the real one to give a small snort of laughter. She didn't work with maybes either. Perhaps they weren't that different after all.
"Okay, so do you think that Paige and Kyle fit together?" She asked, hoping that Kyle was the correct name. Her alternate self just shrugged, but before Paige could question any longer a sudden warm feeling behind distracted her, as a warning seemed to go off in her head. Something seriously evil had just entered the attic.
"Hades." The alternate Paige gasped, her eyes widening in panic as she looked over the real Paige's shoulder.
"That's right." A voice, which almost dripped with evil, replied.
Paige looked up inquisitively, wondering why her alternate self had just mentioned the mythical Greek god of the dead she remembered studying in high school. And who the hell had just spoken? Before she could open her mouth to ask, however, a sharp pain from behind engulfed her body and she let out a small scream.
"I was alerted of a strange presence and now I know what it is." The same, cold voice sneered. The only voice Paige had heard which was that evil before was Decron. "You!" He spat. Paige couldn't even think to orb out as a fireball sent her limp body soaring through the air.
The next thing Paige felt was herself rising upwards and her heart sunk. Her eyes widened and her jaw dropped as she struggled to fight back tears. She was dead. She looked down and saw her own body, which she was slowly rising out of, and her whole world came crashing down around her. If she died in the alternate Universe, Laura and MJ would be left alone, and she would never even get a chance to say goodbye to Mark or her precious Snowflake. Where would her spirit go- the alternate Heaven? This was too much to handle. She jerked her head upwards to see her alternate self return a fireball back to the ghost who had attacked them and she knew she needed to help.
"I'm a ghost," He snarled as the fireball passed straight through him. His booming voice sent a chill straight through the youngest charmed one, and looking into his eyes, which were only just visible from under the long black hood of his cloak, she felt terror beyond what she knew. His eyes were like empty shells of pure evil and even in spirit form, Paige could sense the power radiating from him. Whoever this was- be it this Universe's source, or the Greek ruler of the underworld Paige's alternate self had mentioned- he was not someone she wanted to deal with. Unfortunately, she had no choice.
"That makes two of us." She spat, realising that if she could not save herself, she would definitely save the other her. And maybe if she vanquished this ghost quickly enough, the alternate Leo could heal her before it was too late. "Ashes to ashes, spirit to spirit, take this soul, banish this evil!" Hope faded from her voice, as she realised nothing was happening…this was really it.
xxxxx
Downstairs, Laura was still struggling to calm MJ down. It was clear the alternate universe children were slightly scared of her demonic markings, but Melinda-Jayne's mood did not seem to be swaying.
"Melly-Jay," Laura whispered, "Please be goo- ow!" The four year old suddenly doubled over as a small scream escaped her lips. She looked up with tear filled eyes reached out for her alternate universe Aunty Piper. "D…d…demon." She choked. "Hurted Mommy." Laura could feel her mother's pain, but it left as soon as it came. This unfortunately did not make Laura feel any better. She could now not sense her mother at all.
"Stay here." Piper ordered, dashing up the stairs.
"Please save my Mommy…" Laura whispered, tears streaking down her face. The alternate reality girls were eying her in sympathy, but all Laura wanted was her father's comforting hug.
"Okay Laura." MJ replied, shimmering out without hesitation.
"MJ!" Laura hissed.
"Demon…" Patrice said with a giggle, noticing MJ's full on demonic tribal markings had appeared. Laura glared at her.
xxxxx
The alternate Piper appeared in the attic doorway and Paige wanted to yell at her for leaving the kids alone, but she still couldn't understand how the spell had taken no effect. "Why didn't it work?"
"Because not only am I a ghost, but I'm a God." The evil being replied, forming an energy ball in his hand and prepared to throw it directly at Paige's spirit.
"Paige!" Piper yelped, addressing the alternate reality Paige and raising her hands to blow up the energy ball. "See if you can heal her. Quick!"
Paige sighed in relief as her spirit sank slowly downwards and a warm glow entered her body. The blonde version of herself had healed her, but it took all of Paige's effort not to scowl. Her alternate self seemed to have a vast array of powers that she didn't have. However, the small glimmer of envy washed out of her completely when she noticed Hades send a powerful lightning bolt towards her. Luckily, both Paiges jumped out of its path before it could cause them serious damage, but Paige was no longer concerned for herself as she saw her niece shimmer in, in front of Hades.
MJ saw her Aunt was okay and turned to the evil being who had made Laura cry. She glared at him, the dark line across her right eye becoming clearer and the red hexagons on her temples growing with every passing second. She formed a fireball in her hand and narrowed her eyes. This demon had hurt her Aunt Paige and she was not happy.
"My, my." Hades smirked. "What do we have here?"
"ME!" MJ roared, the bad mood she had been in all day finally having some use as she sent fireball after fireball at the corporeal god.
"You're strong for such a small demon." He scowled, very unhappy that someone so small could have actually weakened him. "But that won't stop me from killing everyone in your family…in this world anyway."
Hades left his words lingering in the air as he flamed out, but MJ looked utterly horrified. The words 'killing' and 'family' rang in her head like a bell and her blood began to boil. She let out a loud scream and shimmered out, only to shimmer back in a moment later. Paige was used to MJ's temper tantrums, but she had never seen one as bad as this before.
"MJ, calm down." She ordered, walking towards her niece with concern radiating from her. Whatever had been bothering MJ for the past few weeks had finally bubbled to the surface, and MJ was not listening to her Aunt. "Melinda-Jayne Halliwell, you stop that this instant!" She didn't like shouting at any of the kids, but it appeared to be the only way to get through to her niece as MJ slowly returned to normal. Paige noticed the alternate Piper and Paige staring in shock and she averted her gaze to a spot on the floor at the other side of the room, where a small cluster of orbs formed her daughter.
Laura saw her mother and relief washed through her. Her Mommy was okay. She ran up to hug her, but stopped when she saw Melinda-Jayne. "I take Melly-Jay downstairs…" She said, taking MJ's hand and orbing out.
"Her mommy will sort her out when we get back…but for that to happen I must fulfil my purpose for being here." Paige said. She was still in shock from everything that had just happened, but the quicker they got home, the better.
"I'll get back to the kids." Piper said, jogging from the room. Apparently attacks from Hades were common in this reality.
"Right, so what are we gonna do to help me choose?" Paige's 'twin' asked, taking a seat on one of the chairs that had not been destroyed.
Paige looked at her, trying to think back to her social work days. This normally would have been easy, but giving advice to yourself was a hard thing to do. "When you and Glenn got together, did you see something long-term?"
"Not really…neither of us did." She replied with a sigh, "He wanted to see the world and I wanted to help kids. I really wasn't ready for one of my own, but when I found out I was pregnant that changed everything. You could say it affected everything I planned to do, but if I had a chance to, I wouldn't change a thing. I love Karis more than life itself, more than any man."
Paige smiled. It appeared her alternate self had felt the same as her when she had gotten pregnant with Laura, but also she knew exactly what the other Paige should do. "You've just made your choice Paige." She said.
"What d'you mean?" The alternate Paige asked in shock.
"You've just told me that you only love Glenn because he became a real part of your life along with Karis. In my opinion you only love him because he's the father of your child." She watched as all the information sank in on her alternate self and, at the exact same time, both Paiges let out a sigh of relief. One because she knew who she loved, the other because she could now go home.
xxxxx
±Real world±
Piper slumped over the dining room table, crystal in hand and worry etched into her face. The crystal would not drop and hope of finding Paige, Laura and MJ was lowly fading from the ever-confident witch's heart. Phoebe, Jason and the kids had searched the Manor from head to foot at least three times and still found nothing to help them figure out where the missing three had gone. Leo had even orbed himself and Mark to the Underworld to sense for them but had returned with nothing more than they had left with. Piper refused to believe the only possible explanation was that they were dead, but unless they had been pulled from the face of the earth, it was slowly becoming the only answer.
Upstairs, Mark lay Rachael down for a nap in Andy's bedroom. She had not left his side since her mother, sister and cousin had disappeared and was refusing to go to sleep if he left the room. As her eyelids began to droop, Mark began to pace the room with electricity sparking from his fingertips. He had never felt so utterly helpless in his life. He and Paige had been through too much for it just to end with no explanation. And in Laura's four and a half year life, she had been so close to death so many times that the nauctater refused to believe she was gone. Unfortunately, the Nauctater's optimistic outlook was beginning to fail him. They could find no trace of Paige, Laura or MJ anywhere. He fixed his gaze on the slow rise and fall of Rachael's chest. She wasn't quite asleep, but the sight of her was enough to give him some hope. However, he did not know if hope was going to be enough.
"We will find them." A voice from the doorway said and Mark turned to see Phoebe.
"How can you be so sure?" Mark asked, the complete opposite of his usual optimistic self.
"I just know they're alive." Phoebe replied, stepping into the room, "If they were dead then the whole magical community would know…like they did when Prue died. Besides…I sorta summoned Grams…"
"She's here right now?" Mark asked, giving his sister-in-law a wide smile. For the first time in her life Phoebe had done something intelligent! "And she says they aren't 'up there'?"
"Well you could always ask me yourself!" Came a new voice as Penelope Halliwell entered the room with a roll of her eyes. "Men!"
"Hello Ms Halliwell." Mark replied as hope soaked back through him. If they were dead, they would have been in heaven.
"Hello Mark." She replied, giving him a warm smile in return, but at the same time her eyes were scanning him for something to pick at. When she found none, she stepped up to the Nauctater and wrapped him in a hug, which was quite a peculiar sight to behold. Penny had always taken a shine to Mark- more so than any of the other husbands at least- but Phoebe couldn't help but be shocked at her grandmother's kindness to him. "I trust you've been looking after my great granddaughters?"
"When are you ever wrong Ms Halliwell?" Mark smiled and rolled his eyes. He knew exactly how to humour Grams.
"Grams?" Rachael asked sleepily from the bed as she sat up to see her great grandmother.
"Hello my darling." Penny replied, picking the redhead up and kissing her forehead. "Now, let's go find your cousins and I'll teach you how to write a tracking spell."
"Why?" Rachael asked, rubbing the sleep from her eyes.
"Well you want to find your mother, don't you?"
xxxxx
±Other Universe±
The alternate Piper looked to Paige and smiled. "So have you written the spell?" She asked.
"Yep, just a few words and we'll be home." Paige replied. As soon as her alternate self had left to find Kyle, she had begun writing a spell. She had never been so keen to get home in her life.
"Does it need the power of three or can just Paige and I say it?"
"Just you and Paige."
"Good because I don't want Prue to find out about this! She'll probably flip her lid! And telling Phoebe she has a daughter called MJ in a different world will really upset her." As she finished her explanation, her head jerked upwards, apparently having heard something downstairs.
"Yeah, Paige told me about how Phoebe can't have kids." Paige said, but a huge crash from downstairs shocked her and, upon instinct, she grabbed her alternate universe sister and orbed out.
They orbed in to see a vase shatter and turned to see Karis had just destroyed it with an orange lightening bolt. Apparently she had been trying to impress Laura.
"See! My magic better den yours!" Karis said arrogantly. Laura frowned and shot her hand to the side, blowing out one of the conservatory windows.
"Laura!" Paige scolded, "That was naughty!"
"Karis, your Mommy's gonna be real mad if she finds out." The alternate Piper said in the same warning tone.
"Show off!" Laura yelled at Karis, completely ignoring her mother.
"Poopy face!" Karis retorted, sticking out her tongue.
"At least I not scared of demons!"
"Am not!" Karis argued.
"Prove it!"
"Fine!" An expression spread across Karis's face, which Paige recognised as the same one Laura used when she was thinking of a spell and her stomach lurched. "Send everyone out and leave me and Laura alone wiv a monsta!" She chanted.
It had not been a particularly good spell, but as soon as the words escaped the girl's lips, Paige, the alternate Piper, and all of the kids minus Laura and Karis, disappeared in a swirl of twinkling white lights. Laura was about to remark about Karis being rubbish at making up spells, but before she could, she noticed what now stood in place of her mother and the alternate universe family. Dripping with a grotesque, green slime, and reeking of rotten eggs, the demon let out a furious shriek and Laura gulped. Uh oh!
AN-Once again, I'm really sorry for the wait! The next chapter should be up between now and Sunday! Please review!
Laur x
Next chapter- Grams enjoys some time with her grandchildren. Laura and Karis wreak havoc on the Manor, but what happens when they discover Demons can break through the spell? MJ encounters her alternate Universe parents- will inner demons resurface again? And will they ever get home.