A New Path
Summary: Set after 'All Hell Breaks Loose' and 'Buffy vs. Dracula'. Prue died and Paige rose, right? wrong, Prue died and Willow become a charmed one; she may not be a Halliwell sibling, but she's housing enough power to equal Piper and Phoebe. So this means that Willow and Tara now move to San Francisco and start out on a new path with the Halliwells. Dawn does not exist (this will become more important and clear later on, trust me). Don't necessarily needed to have watched Buffy or Angel in order to understand.
Charmed Again:
Two young women; one a redhead and one a dirty-blonde, drove across Golden Gate Bridge, as the stars and moon shone down on them like spotlights.
"Tara, are you sure the wicca group is here in San Francisco?" the redhead asked,
"yes, stop worrying Willow; we're not in Sunnydale anymore, there's no big monsters here," the other one replied, stroking Willow's hair comfortingly.
Meanwhile, in the Halliwell manor; which was also in San Francisco, Piper Halliwell sat in the attic of her home. The pretty brunette cut her finger and dripped the blood into the small cauldron in-front of her, before saying a spell and then burying her face in her hands as it failed.
"Piper, what are you doing up here?" a voice asked,
"Prue?" Piper hopefully said, looking up to se her younger sister Phoebe walking towards her instead,
"sweetie what are you doing?" Phoebe asked, grabbing a towel from next to Piper and pressing it down on the witch's bleeding finger,
"I don't understand, we've tried everything to bring her back, why isn't anything working," Piper sobbed,
"because it's not meant to," Phoebe replied.
"But we've cheated death before, why not this time? I just don't understand" Piper continued to cry,
"we've lost our sister, how are supposed to understand that?" Phoebe said, Piper didn't answer, instead she slammed the book of shadows shut,
"now c'mon, Prue will never forgive us if we don't look good at her funeral," Phoebe told Piper, leading her out of the attic. As they left, a piece of paper blew through the partially open window and landed on the book of shadows, on the flier was written: 'Come To Our Wicca Meeting!'
The following morning, Willow Rosenberg; redhead, witch, and lover of Tara Maclay, was walking through Golden Gate Park, when the cool breeze carried a newspaper page into her hands.
"Prue Halliwell," she whispered, pressing her finger to the name, "why do I feel so close to you?" she continued to whisper, folding the paper and shoving it in her bag, heading back out of the park.
Back at the manor, Piper sat at her dressing table, brushing her hair repeatedly,
"honey, it's time to go," her whitelighter husband; Leo Wyatt, said, from where he stood in the doorway,
"I don't want to go," she told him, not looking towards him, "if I go it means she's really gone."
"Piper…" he began, walking over to her,
"don't, just don't," she said, standing up and ushering him away,
"do you still blame me for not being able to save her, is that it?" he asked,
"you…you saved the wrong sister," she stammered, "she was the strong one, she was the best, you only saved me because I'm your damn wife, when you should have saved her," Piper said, before breaking down into tears in his arms.
Not much later, as the funeral came to and end and the family stood up to except condolences, Willow Rosenberg stood in queue,
"what am I doing here," she whispered to herself, turning to walk away just as she found herself face to face with Phoebe; Prue's baby sister.
"I'm so sorry for your loss," Willow said, shaking her hand.
"how did you know Prue?" Phoebe asked,
"just from…around," the redhead replied,
"were you close?" Phoebe went on to ask,
"no, not really," Willow told her, turning around to walk away,
"wait!" Phoebe called after her, reaching out to Willow's shoulder only to be hit by a premonition as she mad contact:
Willow was in a room with other women when the door was blasted open and Shax appeared out of a powerful wind, aiming a mixture of energy and forceful air at Willow.
Phoebe gasped as she was released from the vision,
""he's after her," she stated,
"who's after who?" Piper asked,
"that girl…Shax is going to kill that girl," Phoebe replied, staring at where Willow was no longer standing. Suddenly, two demons shimmered in and charged up energy balls, but Cole threw an energy ball of his own while Phoebe did a levitating kick at one of them. A second of Cole's energy balls then finished both demons off.
"STOP IT! STOP IT! STOP IT! For gods sake this is Prue's funeral! Can't we at least bury her in peace!" Piper screamed, as Cole vanquished a third and final demon and knocked all the chairs into each other; creating a mess. The charmed one gestured furiously as she spoke and smashed a vase which was next to her, but she completely dismissed this and stormed off.
Later on, at the manor, Phoebe, Cole and Leo were stood in the foyer, watching as Darryl and a suspicious cop named Agent Cortez left.
"You can't save every innocent Phoebe, and you can't stop every demon," Cole reminded his girlfriend, as they discussed what they were going to do about Shax and Willow,
"yeah, well I have to save this one, for Prue," she told him,
"I don't think Piper's ready to go demon hunting," Leo stated,
"that's why I'm hoping a witch and a half demon will be enough to take Shax down," Phoebe said, glancing at Cole.
"Lets just hope so," he said, kissing her on the head.
Up in the attic,
"I am going to summon Prue; she's my sister and, damnit, I want to talk to her!" Piper spat, as she lit the circle of candles and then stood at the book of shadows, casting the spell to summon a spirit and watching with a hopeful look as lights began to form. Unfortunately, the lights became Penny instead of becoming Prue, much to Piper's disappointment,
"grams, where's Prue?" Piper asked,
"she's with your mother…adjusting," the deceased witch replied.
"You can't talk to her, not yet," Penny said,
"why?" Piper questioned,
"because talking to her, seeing her now, keeps her alive for you," Penny explained,
"and why can't that happen?" Piper asked,
"because, if it does, then what's supposed to be will not become," Penny told her,
"cut the cryptic grams," Piper growled,
"all I can say is that your destiny is yet to be fulfilled, and more awaits," she said, before dissolving into the same white lights she had arrived in. Pier sighed and walked from the attic, not noticing the flier for the wicca group on the floor underneath the pedestal.
As night came, Phoebe was jotting the spell to vanquish Shax down from out of the book, when she noticed the flier,
"Cole, do you think she might be here?" she asked, handing it to him.
"Maybe, was there anything in your vision to hint that she was involved in wicca?" he said,
"candles, lots of candles, and jars of herbs and coloured sand," she replied,
"okay, she either our innocent is obsessed with aromatherapy or, she's a witch," he stated,
"as long as I get that demon I don't care if she's the Queen of England," Phoebe muttered, as he wrapped his arm around her and shimmered them out.
In a small restaurant not far from P3, the owner and powerful witch; Lorna Andrews, had pushed all the tables and chairs to the walls so she had more space for her wicca group.
"This place is kinda creepy," Willow whispered to Tara, glancing at the only source of light in the room; many candles, "like Sunnydale creepy,"
"hmm, unless they all just like candles?" Tara suggested, also whispering, Willow shot her girlfriend a 'not likely' look and then took a seat amongst the circle of witches.
Outside of the restaurant, Cole and Phoebe watched through the window as the witches all closed their eyes, par one; a young redhead,
"that's her," Phoebe whispered, pointing at Willow,
"and that's him," Cole stated, as Shax burst in through the doors.
"Oh lord!" Lorna screeched,
"not quite," Shax groaned, forming a ball of wind and energy,
"not at all," Phoebe argued, as she and Cole marched in and Cole launched an energy ball at the demon's back.
"Are you a witch too?" one of the other women asked,
"run!" was all Phoebe said, they all obeyed except Willow,
"c'mon Will, they seem like they can handle this," Tara said tugging on her girlfriend's hand,
"no, I feel like I need to help, like I have to help," Willow disagreed. Phoebe watched with curiosity as Willow stared at one of the candles and the flame shot up into a roaring fire, distracting Shax long enough for Cole to strike him with a few energy balls and Phoebe to cast her spell.
"Now go!" Cole ordered, this time Willow nodded and fled with Tara as Phoebe repeated the spell a second time; though still not defeating Shax. The grey creature flung a powerful blast at Cole as he disappeared into the wind. As Cole was flying towards the wall; as a result of being hit by the blast, he shimmered out and back in again beside Phoebe,
"never scare me like that again," she said, burying her head in his shoulder,
"what happened with that candle?" he asked, looking over at where the fire was now gone,
"I'm pretty sure it was that girl," the precognitive charmed one replied.
"If it was then there might be some residue of her magic on this which I can use to scry for her," Phoebe aid, walking over and scooping up a handful of ash, Cole nodded and joined her where she stood; once again shimmering them out.
Not long after the events at the restaurant, Phoebe had changed from her funeral clothes into jeans and a white tank top, and was now trying to scry for Willow using the ash.
"Hey sweetie, you okay?" she asked Piper; who had just entered the attic,
"no, and I don't think I ever will be, but…you're right, we have to save this girl and defeat this demon…for Prue if for nothing else," the now eldest sister replied, placing her hands on the book of shadows,
"are you sure this will work with just the two of us?" she asked.
"Well, it worked with just you and Prue when the day was first lived," Phoebe stated,
"yeah, but you were still alive, which meant we were still charmed; that's why it worked," Piper said,
"it's worth a shot," Phoebe said,
"not at the risk of ending up like Prue," Piper disagreed,
"Piper, you said it yourself, we have to save this girl!" Phoebe exclaimed,
"what makes you think we'll be able to save her if we couldn't save Prue?" Piper said softly, tears beginning to fall down her cheeks.
"If this our lives, if we're all gonna end up like Prue, then I don't see the point in living, why do we come into this world just to leave it again…why…why did Prue have to leave it?" she sobbed,
"we come into this world to live, and that's what Prue would want us to do, we have to fight this fight, otherwise you'll just prove yourself right, that life isn't worth living, but ours is, because we help other people keep on living, we're heroes Piper, and so was Prue, she was the biggest hero of us all; she was a champion," Phoebe reassured her sister, while fighting against her own tears.
"Leo's found something," Cole said, stepping into the doorway,
"we'll be right down," Phoebe told him, wiping away her own tears before doing the same for Piper,
"you okay?" the clairvoyant asked, as her boyfriend headed back downstairs,
"yeah, lets go save this innocent and beat this demon, for Prue," Piper replied,
"for Prue," Phoebe repeated, with a nod, as she followed Piper downstairs.
"So, what is it that you found?" Piper asked her husband, as they all stood in the foyer,
"that your innocent; Willow Rosenberg, is here for a reason," he replied,
"what do you mean?" Phoebe questioned,
"she's destined to be here, with you," he said,
"can you fill in the blanks?" Piper said,
"Willow is the only force of magic strong enough to equal to yours, her level of power is the same as that of a charmed one, maybe even more; she's the only one who can restore the power of three," he explained.
"But I thought the power of three was all about sisterhood?" Cole said,
"it doesn't look that way, it's about power…and love," Leo said, glancing at the sisters,
"love? love just feels like a portal for pain," Piper said, as a tear began to shine in each eye,
"then maybe we don't start with love, maybe we just start with friendship," Phoebe suggested, this was then followed by a short silence,
"friendship sounds good," Piper nodded.
"Okay then, lets get back to scrying for our fellow charmed one," Phoebe said,
"it feels weird saying that, considering Prue isn't the fellow charmed one we're scrying for," she added,
"I know, but maybe someday we'll get used to it," Piper told her, as they made their way back up to the attic.
The air rippled and orbs formed in an alley as Leo, Piper, Phoebe and Cole appeared,
"there she is," Cole stated, pointing to where Willow and Tara were walking towards Quake.
"Willow! Hey Willow! Wait!" Phoebe called after her, running towards the redhead,
"aren't they the ones from the wicca meeting?" Tara whispered to her girlfriend, while looking from Phoebe to Cole,
"yeah, and according to my research, they're the two surviving charmed ones," Willow replied, glancing at Piper and Phoebe.
"Willow, we need your help," Piper said, as they approached the couple,
"my help?" she said, "but you're the charmed ones!"
"not without you were not," the brunette stated,
"what do you mean?" Willow asked,
"you're charmed," Cole replied,
"it's your destiny," Leo smiled. Tara tried not to yelp as Willow's hand tightened around hers, as a sign of the redhead's shock.
Twenty minutes later, Piper, Phoebe, Cole, Tara, Leo and Willow were in the attic, Willow was sitting with the Book of Shadows on her lap, while Piper and Phoebe sat on either side of her and their partners stood opposite them.
"This is amazing," Willow whispered,
"the Elders said you'll have to cast the spell you originally said to receive your powers," Leo told them,
"but why?" Phoebe asked, "we still have out powers,"
"because Willow needs Prue's powers to complete the power of three," Piper replied,
"but won't that leave Prue's spirit without her powers?" Tara said,
"no, you see the way it works is that Willow won't actually receive Prue's powers, just the same powers that Prue had," the whitelighter explained,
"telekinesis and astral projection," Willow stated,
"yeah, how did you know?" Leo asked,
"I did my research after I was attacked by the big grey guy who looked like he'd escaped from a pyjama party," she replied. Piper and Phoebe both cracked a smile,
"most people just call him Shax," Piper said,
"big grey pyjama party guy sounds better," Willow smirked.
"Okay then, lets cast this spell," Phoebe said, turning to the right page and tapping it as a hint for Piper and Willow to also say it,
"we'll have to reword it slightly, change 'sisters' to 'witches'," Piper said, they nodded and chanted the spell:
"Hear now the words of the witches,
The secrets we hid in the night,
The oldest of gods are invoked here,
The great work of magic is sought.
In this night and in this hour,
We call upon the ancient power,
Bring your powers to we witches three,
We want the power, give us the power."
A soft breeze blew through the attic as Piper and Phoebe began to feel powerful again; like they did when Prue was alive, while Willow became overwhelmed by her newfound magical strength; showing this by breathing heavily and clutching her chest.
"Time to put being charmed to the test," Cole said, as a heavy gale roared through the attic and Shax materialised,
"what do I do?" Willow asked, panicking,
"wave your hand at him," Piper replied, attempting to freeze the monstrous creature. Willow gestured at Shax but failed to release a telekinetic blast, her body standing limp instead and her astral self appearing in-front of him,
"charmed one," he groaned, before aiming a blast at Astral Willow and causing her to fly through the air; returning to her body before she hit the wall.
"Dissolve," Tara whispered, making a 'sprinkling' gesture at Shax; whose body split apart into thousands of tiny particles and then reformed after a few seconds.
"Tara!" Willow screeched, as Shax grabbed her lover by her neck and stroked her dirty blonde hair,
"your end has come," he chuckled, redirecting a blast Willow had released and then imbedding his sharp talons into Tara's throat.
"Leo…" Piper said, after managing to blast Shax away from Tara,
"I'm on it," he assured her, running over to heal the wounded wicca,
"you've just made a big mistake," Willow growled, glaring at Shax. He cowered slightly and seemed to fear her, as telekinetic energy coursed through her body and lifted her into the air,
"Willow?" Phoebe said, "what's happening?" she asked,
"she's proving just how charmed she is," Cole replied,
"or at least something like that," Piper said, as Willow's eyes turned black for a moment or two while she released a wave of kinetic power, pounding Shax against the wall.
"Willow, we need to cast the spell," Piper stated,
"wait, I'm not done yet," she told them, as another blast propelled from her hands,
"now you're done," Cole said, taking hold of her arms and making the flowing energy around her stop; lowering her back down to the ground. The three charmed ones stood at the Book of Shadows and chanted:
"Evil wind that blows,
That which forms below,
No longer may you dwell,
Death takes you with this spell."
Flames danced around Shax's body as he exploded,
"he was just the messenger," Piper said,
"we need to get the source," Phoebe added,
"the source of what?" Tara asked,
"of all evil," Leo replied,
"this looks like it's going to be interesting," Willow said,
"trust me, it is," Phoebe said,
"yeah, but it gets boring after a while," Piper smirked, as they walked from the attic and the book closed by itself and the triquetra emblem on the front glowed.
To be continued…
Next chapter- Willow and Tara return to Sunnydale to announce their plans to move to San Francisco. While there's sorrow in the manor as Piper and Phoebe sort out Prue's room ready for Willow and Tara to move in. And Willow doubts she's good enough to be a charmed one.
'Moving On' should be up soon.