Title: The Thrice Blessed
Rating: T
Fandom: Charmed
Summary: Magical Twins, the Thrice Blessed, travel to San Francisco in search of the Charmed Ones when a witch murders their family. Takes place eighteen years after "It's A Bad, Bad World".
Disclaimer: I own Daniel Stanton and weather witches, the Trent twins, and the story line.
AN: Paige has married a weather witch (always male, a witch that controls the weather) Daniel Stanton, and Phoebe married Cole (has all his powers, but has been converted to good through a potion preventing him from killing Innocents).
The Trent Family: Stephen and Anita Trent (parents), Petra and Patrick Trent (the Thrice Blessed), James (their Whitelighter), Ira (their Gypsy tutor)
The Halliwell Family: Piper and Leo (Wyatt and Chris), Paige and a male weather witch named Daniel Stanton (Pearl), Phoebe and a mortal named Phillip Mathers (Benjamin, Patricia, and Jacob)
Power Distribution in the Children: Petra (shimmering, fire balls, mental manipulation manipulating people's thoughts, geokinesis manipulation of the earth, orbing, and telepathy) Patrick (shimmering, fire balls, fire shield, invisibility, orbing, and premonitions) Wyatt (orbing, healing, tracking, telekinesis, Excalibur, animation the ability to bring inanimate objects to life), Chris (orbing, tracking, and telekinesis), Pearl (orbing, ability to control the weather), Benjamin (premonitions, levitation), Patricia (freezing ice, melting), and Jacob (empathy, photokinesis the ability to control light).
Prologue
The storm broke over the high hills of Davenport, Washington. Finally, the rain ceased pounding on the roofs and the hail faded from everyone's memory. It hadn't gotten too large, but it still did some damage. A light frost coated the individual blades of grass, making the ground slippery. The rain had heavily saturated the parched ground with its fat droplets. The animals were finally emerging from their hiding places and sniffing the air contentedly. Mosquitos came out with the dawn, and would disappear just as quickly. They laid their eggs in the standing water, which would be drained per Health department regulations soon enough. Miller's Creek, which used to a trickling stream, gushed with the storm run off. The water stained the large rocks and boulders bordering the stream as it passed over them.
Just as Nature awoke, so did the Trent Manor not too far from the creek. The Trent Manor was an authentic 1900 Victorian Mansion that their ancestor, Phillip Trent I, built as a wedding present for his wife, Angelique. It was three stories high with a rounded tower, a wraparound porch, and two white columns holding up the roof over the porch. Curved glass windows adorned the tower where Angelique would paint her locally popular portraits. She was a household name in Davenport, and she often said, "Nothing would have happened had not my husband been so considerate with providing a studio." That comment was usually followed by a chaste kiss on the lips. Trent Manor had remained in the Trent family since the beginning, and now, it housed the latest generation of Trents.
Petra Trent sat at the kitchen table, eating her Cheerios, and watching the morning light stream in through the French doors. She read the back of the cereal box already, bored out of her mind as she waited for her brother. Petra was an attractive sixteen-year-old girl with long, thick, glossy brown hair tied back in a messy ponytail. Her skin was milky white, enhancing her black eyes. The onyx eyes were telltale signs of the Trent legacy and she proudly displayed them, even when making someone uncomfortable. She was taller than most girls her age, coming in at five feet nine inches. She was well muscled and fit, but still curvy in that very fortunate way some women have. She wore a tight tank top with her Curious George pajama pants. The medallion of Saint Jude, the patron saint of lost causes, hung around her neck. She slept and showered with it on. Petra fidgeted with her slippers as she awaited her brother's arrival.
Petra and her brother Patrick Trent were twins. They weren't just twins, they were the Thrice Blessed; witches with the powers of good and evil running through their veins. Their father, Stephen Trent, was half demon, half human known in the Underworld as Sashenko. He was so named because he had refused to practice his evil heritage and retreated to the safety of the Above World. There, he met Anita March, a naturally born witch turned outcast Whitelighter, and married her a year afterwards. Five years into their marriage, and seven miscarriages later, Anita went to a nearby Gypsy, and Eva advised her to try once more. With the help of a Fertility Charm, Anita became pregnant. On October 31st, nine months later, Patrick was born. Three and a half minutes afterwards, so was Petra. The Trent family immediately retreated to their ancestral home, and with the Elders' help, were hidden from the Magical community. The Twins grew up in relative seclusion with the occasional company of their Whitelighter, James, and their parents, who taught them magic. To make the seclusion complete, the twins were home schooled by Ira, a Gypsy from Eva's clan.
"Mornin'," a sleepy voice greeted Petra. She turned in her seat and saw her older brother, Patrick, shimmer into the dining room. An inherently evil power, shimmering was only one of Patrick's abilities he used on a daily basis. Patrick was over six feet at the young age of sixteen with a messy mop of oak colored hair on his head. His eyes were the same black as his sister's and his skin was just as pale. He was already dressed in a pair of ratty jeans and a tee shirt with the name of an obscure band emblazoned across it. He scratched his chest and went to sit down.
"What's the matter with walking?" Petra wanted to know. She too had shimmering powers, but she preferred to save them for trouble.
"I was tired, okay, Pet?"
"Don't call me Pet, Pat," Petra sneered. Her brother narrowed his eyes.
"Don't call me Pat!"
"Then don't call me Pet!" Soon, the two were in a full blown argument complete with shouting and several forceful blows. They each could have easily summoned a fire ball, but having been sternly warned against it by their father's demon half, they resisted. They stopped yelling when they heard the ringing of their mother's Orbs. Anita March-Trent was a powerful Witch, but when she died, she was recruited as a Whitelighter. Because she married her husband when she did, she was cast out of the Elders' inner circle (but that didn't mean they clipped her wings...she simply wasn't considered an active Whitelighter). However, she still retained her powers.
"Petra! Patrick!" Her tone said it all. Anita March-Trent was a small woman, under five feet five inches, with long blond hair and stunning blue eyes. Her skin was tanned from hours working in the yard and surrounding gardens. She wore the pink robe she kept for walking around in the morning. Beneath it were her pajamas. "Why do you have to be so loud at five thirty in the morning? There are people in this house that are trying to sleep."
"Sorry, mom," Patrick apologized. Petra quickly followed suit.
"Why is it that every time you two speak to each other, it's a fight?"
"It wouldn't be a fight if some people would just keep their mouths shut," Patrick hinted.
"You're not supposed to use your powers for personal gain. Mom always says that, dumbass."
"Bitch."
"Kiss my ass, dickhead," Petra growled.
"Enough!" Anita pushed her hand over each of her child's mouths and forced them to be quiet. "Now, you are going to sit here and eat breakfast quietly. No more swearing, although God knows where you learned it, and no more bloody talking. Got that? Good. Now, Patrick, please get me a bowl, spoon, the milk, and a banana for my cereal. No magic." Her son obliged. He went into the kitchen, opened a cabinet, and retrieved a small bowl. Pulling a banana out of the fruit bowl and a spoon from the drain board, he set the dishes in front of his mother at the large, round table. "Thanks, baby." Anita poured herself some Cheerios, tore off pieces of the banana to put over it, and poured the milk into the bowl. She smiled, closed the milk, and dug in.
"Where is everyone?" came their father's customary morning call from the third floor. Anita answered, "Down here, honey!" Soon after, Stephen, the patriarch of the Trent family, shimmered into the kitchen and smiled at his family. He kissed his kids on the cheeks, and his wife behind her ear. She shivered happily while their children gagged and looked away. While both twins had their respective teenage feelings, they liked to pretend their parents were asexual.
"What's all the fighting about?" Before Stephen's question was answered, a small portal opened over their kitchen sink and a woman stepped out of it. She was clad in leather with dark hair hanging around her mocha colored skin. She had a strange marking on her forearm, like a bird but not quite, and she pulled out a knife from under her top.
"Hello, Sashenko. We have some business to attend to," and with that, the woman attacked Stephen with a vicious warrior cry...
Petra awoke in her bed, sitting up. The nightmare had come more vividly that night, as it had every other night for the past three months. She pushed back the blankets and stood up, ignoring the chill the cold air sent over her skin. She could adjust the radiator at the other side of the room, but she knew Patrick liked it that way, so she didn't. Her brother took over the other bed and lay on his back, the bedding twisted over his splayed leg. Petra grabbed her robe and left the room, closing the door silently.
The hotel room was smaller than expected, so James, the Twins' whitelighter, occupied another room right next to theirs. Petra tucked a spare room key in her pocket and went next door. She knocked carefully and waited a heartbeat before the door opened. James stood there. He had long black hair usually tied back in a thick ponytail and flushed skin. His eyes were emerald green. He wore a pair of pajama pants and a white undershirt over his mildly muscular torso. He ran a hand through his hair.
"Petra, is everything alright? How's Patrick?"
"He's fine. He's ready to leave this place."
"I can understand that. Here, why don't you come in? Better than standing out in the hall, alone and cold. I'll make you something," James offered. Petra declined the offer of food with a polite thank you, but went inside. She sat on the soft couch and watched James pour her a glass of water anyways. He handed it over and watched her drink it.
"Thanks," Petra said as she said the glass on the table. She put her feet under her and leaned against the arm of the couch.
"How are you doing, Pet?" James asked. Petra had stopped protesting the nickname soon after her parents were killed. She remembered the last fight she and Patrick had about the name. She remembered that it brought her mother into the kitchen, and then her father. It put them into the path of the assassin. Petra remembered everything that happened as if had taken place just a minute ago. The woman attacked Stephen and cut him down quickly. Anita tried to defend her husband, but she was murdered as well. Then, when the woman advanced on the twins, Patrick threw up his hands and a shield of fire, one of his own special powers, ignited around them. Petra had been terrified of the woman who had just killed her parents before her eyes. Patrick went into action and smote the assassin (later discovered to be a Phoenix) with a few powerful fire balls. Her ashes coated the floor. Petra and Patrick called James quickly to heal their parents, but it didn't work. Stephen was dead, and Anita died in James' arms. Apparently, the blade was coated with the Darklighter poison. James took the twins away after calling the police. Stephen and Anita's will named James the children's sole guardian, so the Whitelighter took over the funeral arrangements.
The funeral and wake were a week ago, but Petra and Patrick stayed behind with their new guardian to take care of their inheritance. They got the house and everything their parents possessed. That included the family fortune of over five million dollars (which the Twins refused to touch), the two Fords (which James traded in for travel money), and some bonds in the March name. James closed the house up when it was established the twins would not return there for a while, and transferred the money to a safer account in a California bank managed by a one of his charges.
"I'm fine, James. Really," Petra reaffirmed when she saw James' doubtful look. She had known James ever since she could remember, so she felt comfortable being in his presence. She leaned against his solid frame and let a small tear fall. "I just really miss them. I'm so tired, James"
"I know, baby," James whispered. He kissed the top of her head and stroked her arm with his wide hand. He felt Petra was like a younger sister, or at the very most, his very own daughter. He had spent so much time with the Twins, protecting them, that he loved them dearly.
James and Petra fell asleep, listening to the silence and the occasional sleepy groan from next door.
The next day, James had the Twins gather their things together to orb down to San Francisco. The Elders had ordered him to take the Thrice Blessed children to the Charmed Ones. They would take them in until they figured out how to protect the children. James agreed and informed Petra and Patrick of their destination. The Twins agreed to go, happy to leave the constant reminder of the past behind.
"Petra, do you have everything together?"
"Yeah," she grunted as she dragged a heavy duffel bag to the front of the hotel lobby. The bag contained a few articles of clothing, but it was mostly her books. She kept the Trent family Book of Shadows in its special carrying case with her at all times. Patrick hauled his suitcase alongside hers and grunted when he set it down.
"I didn't realize I had so much shit."
"Don't swear," James automatically corrected. Patrick chuckled sadly at the normalcy and watched their Whitelighter go to check them out.
Soon, they were out of the hotel and James led the Twins to the side of the hotel alley. There, they would orb so no one would see them. James took their hands and the Twins held onto their luggage. Blue and white orbs enveloped them and they were gone.
The weather in San Francisco had been shitty lately. Dark storm clouds gathered over the city and rain drenched it everyday at least once, perhaps twice. Fog rolled over the bay and the wind whipped through the trees and against the Halliwell Manor. It was unusual weather for the middle of April. Usually, it would be well over one hundred degrees and the air conditioning would be on. Now, the windows were closed and people wore sweaters and sweatshirts.
Piper Halliwell, the eldest sister and eldest Charmed One, stirred the pudding in the glass bowl with a wooden spoon. She knew the Thrice Blessed were coming to her house and she wanted to be prepared. Supposedly, they were even more powerful than her and her sisters. She wanted them to feel welcome. She didn't know a lot about the Thrice Blessed, so she decided to make a nice meal and go from there. She heard a small ding to the right and groaned. Her corn bread was finished. She set the pudding down and opened the oven. Grabbing a pair of oven mitts, Piper removed the hot tray and dumped the piping hot bread into a basket, then covered it all with a cloth napkin to hold the heat in. Retrieving the pudding, Piper stirred it a couple of times, then dropped the spoon in the sink and slid the bowl into the fridge. Turning to the island in the kitchen, Piper called for her two sons.
"Wyatt! Chris!" A shower of blue and white orbs rained down into her kitchen, and her sons appeared. Wyatt was taller than his brother with blond spiked hair and his father's blue eyes. He had a narrow face, but it was handsome. Piper grinned to see he was in his Sunday best, a dark blue dress shirt and ironed slacks with shined shoes. His brother, Chris, wasn't so nicely dressed. His dark brown hair hung in his own glassy blue eyes as he shifted on the balls of his feet. Chris wore a leather jacket with a black tee shirt and worn jeans with converses on his feet. He was the typical teenager. And he was covered in goo.
"Chris, what happened to you? Never mind. Wyatt, you fill me in while Chris goes and gets cleaned up," Piper ordered. Wyatt grinned at his little brother and sat at the kitchen stool as Chris sauntered out of the kitchen to get dressed.
"What happened?" Piper asked her eldest after giving him a kiss on the cheek.
"He vanquished a slimy demon in the back alleys of the Underworld." Wyatt reached for a cucumber from the tossed salad near him, but Piper smacked his hand and send him a scalding look.
"That is for dinner. Now, tell me what the hell your younger brother was thinking by vanquishing a demon all by himself," Piper demanded. However, before Wyatt could answer his mother, the jingling of orbs was heard and appeared in the Halliwell kitchen. A short red headed woman with nearly flour-white skin stepped forward. Her brown eyes gleamed with love and happiness as she held her husband's hand. Paige Matthews-Stanton was Piper's youngest sister (really half-sister, but who cares) and the final installment of the Charmed Ones. Choosing to keep her strange potion-induced red hair, Paige had twisted her hair up into a stylish bun. She wore a wine red dress and matching shoes. Her husband, Daniel Stanton, smiled and greeted his sister-in-law and nephew. He was the smallest of the Charmed Ones' husbands. Standing at five feet ten (and still taller than his wife), Daniel had short blond hair and brown eyes. He wore a nice suit the color of charcoal. It looked good on him. Their only child, Pearl, was the same height as her Aunt Piper at the age of fifteen. She had bubblegum pink hair and dark eyes that laughed with the room. She immediately let go of her mother's hand and rushed over to Wyatt, her favorite cousin. He hugged her and let her sit on the stool next to him.
"Why on Earth is your hair pink?" Piper asked, her nose twitching at the humorous sight of her niece with hair that resembled penny candy.
"Mom said I could dye it," Pearl answered truthfully. Piper sent her sister an incredulous look.
"What? I didn't say she could dye it pink."
"You didn't say that I couldn't dye it pink," Pearl defended herself.
"Come on, sweetie. Let's see if we can help out Aunt Piper," Daniel offered. He kissed his wife soundly and hugged Piper.
"Hey, Daniel. How's business?" Piper asked. Daniel opened up a restaurant in what used to be the Quake site called 'Shadow', a tribute to the Halliwell family tome. Piper was ecstatic her sister married a chef (and a witch to boot), although she knew she would have to. When Paige moved out, she often complained about not getting to eat anymore chef-prepared meals anymore.
"It's going well. Actually, it couldn't be better. Thanks for the shout out at P3, Piper," Daniel thanked her. She blushed and giggled when she heard Paige's coughed 'suck up'. "Hey, Wyatt. How's it going at school?" Wyatt was attending Regis University in Denver, a university he applied to as a joke. When he got in, he decided to enroll. He orbed there everyday and home every night. It wasn't a big deal and it gave him orbing practice. Since he enrolled at the age of nineteen, he was still a Freshman.
"It's great, Uncle Dan," Wyatt said. "I passed my midterms for Statistics and Psychology. Now, I'm just waiting to take the others and I should be finished soon."
"Good. Now, Piper. Is there anything I can do?" Daniel offered his services and she was all too happy to let him help. She handed him the spoon and directed him to the homemade Minestrone soup bubbling on the stove.
"Stir."
"Yes, ma'am." As Daniel worked, Paige and Piper sat at the table and discussed their soon arriving guests.
"Who are they? I've never heard of them before," Paige said. Piper nodded.
"Apparently, they were being kept under wraps." The two witches kept talking low enough as not to disturb the other conversations going on around them. Soon, the kitchen was filled with the sounds of talkative family, catching up. It had been over a week since they'd gotten together, and that was just for a demon vanquish. Leo came down from the upstairs with Chris walking in front of him. Chris had combed his hair, showered, and put on a black deep green dress shirt and black slacks with dress shoes. He'd rolled up the sleeves and Piper crinkled her nose. She was reminded of the older Chris that had come back from the future to help keep Wyatt good. And it worked. Wyatt was the strongest force of Good Piper had ever come across. Leo wore a suit similar to Daniel's. They greeted each other like men, slapping of the back and shaking of the hand.
The doorbell rang and Paige sent Pearl to let Phoebe and her husband, Phillip Mathers, in. Soon, the pink haired pixie came back with Phoebe, Phillip, and their three children. Phoebe was as elegant as ever with her black hair curled around her face. She wore light makeup (not that she even needed a bit of it) and a cream pants suit. She held her husband's hand. Phillip was a mortal, but he'd been surprisingly accepting about Phoebe's 'occupation'. He stood about six feet tall with dark, shaggy hair and piercing blue eyes. He looked as handsome as ever dressed in a black suit that highlighted his strong form. Their children were Benjamin at seventeen, Patricia at sixteen, and Jacob at fifteen. Benjamin and Jacob both had black hair like their father while Patricia had the light golden brown hair of her mother's original color. They all had blue eyes and very soft features. The boys wore similar suits while Patricia donned a black, ruffled skirt and a deep blue blouse.
Chris and Wyatt took Pearl, Benjamin, Jacob, and Patricia into the living room to watch an episode of a favored sitcom before the visitors arrived. All the Halliwell children were close to one another. They were their own best friends. Wyatt particularly favored Pearl, and Chris spent most of his time with Benjamin, but they were all always together. When they left, the six adults remained and gathered around the kitchen table to wait for their guests to arrive.
It turns out, they didn't have to wait that long. The doorbell rang again and Piper gasped.
"They're here!" She hurried away to open the door.
Piper straightened her dress, then opened the door. What she expected was an older set of twins, handsome in their suits for dinner. What she got was a ragged pair of children no more than sixteen years old, with a haggard looking Whitelighter behind them, carrying a suitcase and a duffel bag. The girl held a nice Hawaiian style bag at her side, with something weighted down in it. Still, Piper didn't let the shock play out on her face, and let them in like a nice hostess.
"Hello, I'm Piper Halliwell, and welcome to Halliwell Manor." She invited the twins and their Whitelighter into the house. They hurried indoors and set their bags by the door. Petra held her brother's hand and watched James come up behind them. He was uncomfortable, she could tell. They were supposed to dress nicely, and instead, Patrick donned a long tee shirt stained with some condiment and Petra's jeans were fraying at the bottoms. The only one who looked as if they were ready for a formal dinner was James, in his customary nice shirt and pressed slacks.
"We're so sorry we're late. Petra had to stop in Chinatown for more toadstool and to look through the bookstore. I must also apologize for our attire. We were...unaware of the clothing status." It was a complete lie. They'd gone shoe shopping. James coughed, trying to hide his blush. As a Whitelighter, he kicked major demonic ass, but as a human being, he sometimes couldn't find the right words. Petra stepped in for him.
"I apologize for James. He's like that sometimes. We can change, Mrs. Halliwell."
"Please, call me Piper. That way, we know who you're talking to," the eldest Charmed One explained.
Petra smiled and pointed at herself, then at her brother. "I'm Petra Trent, and this is my twin brother Patrick Trent. As you probably already guessed, the bumbling man behind us is James Brant, our Whitelighter." She held out her hand and Piper shook it. Then, Piper shook James' and Patrick's hands before stepping back and gesturing the rest of the family into the foyer. She wrapped her arm around her husband's shoulders and motioned her two sons to stand on either side of her.
"Nice to meet you, Petra, Patrick, and James. This is my husband and Whitelighter, Leo, and our two sons, Wyatt and Chris."
"It's an honor to meet the Twice Blessed children," Petra said, ever the diplomat. Wyatt blushed and Chris frowned. Petra took an instant disliking to Chris, but didn't voice it. Instead, she turned and greeted the rest of the Halliwell family.
"This is my sister, Paige, with her husband, Daniel Stanton, and their daughter, Pearl. That is my other sister, Phoebe. She's married to Phillip Mathers and their children are Benjamin, Jacob, and Patricia. Everyone, this is Petra and Patrick Trent, along with their Whitelighter, James Brant." Paige held her husband's hand and grinned at the teens. Phoebe rushed forward and gave them both hugs, eyeing James before her husband pulled her back. James blushed some more.
"Piper," James stepped forward. "May we have some privacy to change? I feel terrible about not being prepared for a formal dinner." Piper seemed caught off guard for a moment.
"Of course," she said. "Take the stairs up to the second floor, and the first door on the right is a bathroom. Just leave the bags by the bathroom door and we'll deal with them later. Chris, can you show Petra and Patrick where the other bathrooms are, please?"
Chris didn't say anything, but started up the stairs and the twins had to rush to catch up. James orbed the luggage up to the specified bathroom, leaving the Halliwells and their families alone.
"Wow. I thought for sure they'd be older," Piper said.
"I know. It's weird to see such...power in someone so young," Paige replied. Piper smiled and went to the kitchen, bringing the children in to help them set the table. Wyatt looked up the stairs and frowned. He didn't like the feel of the children. They felt...dark somehow. Though, shouldn't they be a force for Light? He'd have to ask his dad later on, when they were alone. Wyatt filed the thought back in his mind and went to help bring out the food.
Upstairs, Petra was led to a small, messy bathroom. Clothes were strewn across the floor and it was difficult to make out the tile beneath them. She set down her duffel bag and unhooked the Trent Book of Shadows from around her neck. Placing it on the toilet, she undressed and took out a nice pair of jeans (they were the dressiest pants she had; Petra didn't have any skirts she took with her) and an off the shoulder top. She changed her undergarments and put on fresh deodorant. Picking out matching white panties and strapless bra, she dressed and slipped her feet into pointed toed boots she had bought earlier in the day in Chinatown. Running her brush through her hair, she was immensely glad she'd showered the night before.
Patrick wasn't so lucky. He didn't have any nice pants, so he whispered a small spell to transform his ratty jeans into ironed slacks. He put on a black dress shirt James insisted on bringing, and put on flip flops. He didn't dare attempt any more personal magic; the jeans had been enough. Hopefully, the Elders would realize he needed to make a good impression that would affect the Trent-Halliwell relationship, and forget about personal gain. He had put on some deodorant spray called "Shield" and ran fingers through his thick, slightly dirty hair. He left his bag by the bathroom door and went downstairs. He saw Petra and James were already there.
Before the trio could say anything, Piper emerged from the formal dining room and called to them, "Dinner's ready!"
To be continued...