A/N: I have a few twists and turns coming up in this charming road, so please be patient. But please trust me; I am listening to your requests and I have not forgotten Prue, Andy, or Pandora. And as far as the Prutus' name goes, only Paige knows what she saw from the premonition (she hasn't shared that information with anyone else). As far as she knows, that is the future. But then again, this IS Charmed. wink BTW, special thanks to Ross who let me use his "Reverse To Call A Lost Witch" spell.

Change Happens

Chapter 16: To Call A Lost Warren

The clank of the metal chain against the wall tinkered through the attic, as the amethyst scrying crystal embedded itself into the wall. Paige threw up her hands in exasperation. "Abso-freakin'-lutely nothing!"

"Paige!" Piper growled, yanking the small stone from the hole in the wall.

Paige narrowed her dark brown eyes and crossed her arms over her chest. "Hormones."

Phoebe placed her hands to the sides of her head.

"What's wrong with you?" The elder witch glowered.

"You two! You're driving me crazy with your tension!"

"I thought you had enough control over your empathy to block us out by now?"

Phoebe frowned, flipping her head away so she wouldn't have to look Piper in the face.

"Phoebe?" The timer moved closer, laying a hand on her little sister's shoulder. "Pheebs," she softened, "what's wrong?"

"I'd been having some trouble with my empathy," the psychic admitted quietly.

"What?"

Phoebe shrugged and her shoulders slumped. "Ever since," she swallowed the lump in her throat, "ever since Prue d-d..."

"And you didn't tell me?"

"You were taking it the hardest," Phoebe admitted. "You and Andy, that is. I didn't want to worry you." She gently massaged her temples with her index fingers. "Besides, it gets a little better as the days go by. It's just that when everything gets really stressful-"

"Oh, Phoebe," Piper sighed, wrapping her arms around her younger sister. "I'm so sorry!"

Paige stood to the back of the scene, the familiar feeling of being left out starting to take over. She hadn't felt it since before Prue had returned and, unfortunately, it felt just as bad as it had then.

"Paige?"

Paige shook her head, glancing Phoebe straight in the eyes. She let out a small gasp of surprise, to see Phoebe's eyes red and tearing. "Phoebe, what's wrong now?"

The psychic rubbed her wet eyes. "I think you know."

The witchlighter shook her head, bewildered.

Phoebe let out a labored breath and spread her arms out, motioning for Paige to join her and Piper. "Paigey," she moaned, "I had no idea, I swear."

Piper stood motionless, staring between her two sisters. Not being empathic or telepathic, she had no idea what Phoebe was talking about. "Phoebe? P-Paige?"

Phoebe sniffled in reply. "She's hurting too, Piper." Her bottom lip trembled as she spoke. "She feels left out. Really," she said stressing the word, "left out."

Piper's gaze softened as she looked to her pregnant sister. "Is that true, Paige?"

Paige fought back the tears. She wanted to run right into their arms, but another part of her wanted them to feel her pain too. But, she realized, I'm already doing that to Phoebe. Her bottom lip quivered ever so gently and without a word, she gave into a cloud of orbs.

----

"What're you doing?" The Firestarter inquired, as he dipped a piece of his chicken into some burgundy tinged sauce.

"Inspecting my food," Perisa replied in monotone.

"Why?"

"I've heard that people like to spit in the food."

"They do." Tyler shrugged, taking a sip of his soda. "I had a friend who did it to some bitchy woman who held up the drive through and backed it all the way out to the street. She was sick too, had a nasty cough." He smirked, noticing the electric's pale face. "Three of them spit in the old wench's coleslaw."

Persia placed her hand to her pale lips, her skin fading to an almost greenish tinge. "Oh Goddess!" She shoved away her uneaten snackers and clutched her stomach in revulsion.

"You aren't going to eat them?" The male witch asked rhetorically. He rolled his eyes, grabbing the snackers and stuffed one into his mouth.

"You're sick!"

The Firestarter mumbled something inaudible, thanks to his mouthful. Only moments later he washed it down with a swig of Sprite, and then his expression turned serious. He laced his fingers together and leaned across the table, locking his eyes with the Child Of Light. "Persia, I don't like the way things were left hanging between us. I want to mend them. Your friendship means a lot to me and I want to preserve that." He twisted his head to the side, trying to read her face. "Do you understand that?" The teenager ran a hand through his thick, blonde hair. "What can I do to make it up to you?"

----

Dwight Alfred spread his fingers lazily across his silver suit, as he reached for the golden door handle of the courtroom.

"Mr. Alfred," Cole sneered.

Dwight's steely eyes seemed to glaze over, as he whirled around at the ominous voice of the half demon. "Mr. Turner," he glowered, "how nice to see you."

Cole's cold blue eyes flickered, as he crossed swiftly to Dwight's side. "And you'll be seeing a lot more of me," he growled. "I'm not that easy to take out."

Dwight stared for a moment, before regaining his composure and swinging open the door. "I haven't the faintest idea what you're talking about, Mr. Turner. But if you'd like to talk to me, then please go to my lawyers." With that, he marched down the isle towards the defense table, where his party waited for him.

Cole passed a quick glare towards the demonic defense, before taking his own seat across from them.

"All rise for the honorable Judge Windsor!"

The courtroom pulled to their feet as the old judge slunk out of his quarters and took his seat at the head of the room. The man grabbed his gavel and banged it roughly against its base. "Mr. Moore, please carry on." He motioned towards the defense table and waited patiently for the trial to continue.

----

The cotton ball clouds stood brightly against the blue of the sky, casting irregular shapes unto the roof of a rather tall building. A large outline marked the top of the building, made specifically for helicopters to see from high in the air. Within the center of the marking, a funnel of orbs exploded from the ground, whirring around until they left only the whitelighter-witch hybrid in their wake.

Blobs of ebony mascara carved rivers down the sides of her pale cheeks, and making it appear as though she had two black eyes. The whitewitch dropped to her knees, holding her pregnant belly as she did so. Why did it have to be Prue? She couldn't believe how unfair it was.

Although she loved all of her family, Prue had been the one to really make her feel at home in the Manor. Piper had been far too close to Prue to really accept her, until after Prue had come back. Phoebe had been almost overly eager. But Prue had wanted to get to know her. To protect her, care for her, and be the big sister that she was. Now that she was gone, Paige was feeling all of the emotions that she'd had post discovering her sisters. Unfortunately this time she couldn't hide them from Phoebe, and that made her nauseous. She didn't want to, or she couldn't, express her feelings with Piper and Phoebe.

Paige placed her hands to her dripping face, hiding her red eyes as her body wracked with sobs. She didn't notice the unnatural movement of a cloud's shadow behind her. It wasn't until a sharp pain attacked her stomach did she feel it. The life within her womb, her niece's life, fading quickly. Pulling her hands back, she gasped at the bloody gash on her bulging belly. "No!" Again, she felt another knife rip through her right shoulder, and she toppled to the side. That's when she saw it.

The shadow was monstrous. It looked vaguely like a silhouette that Balthezar might cast. There was no face, no intricate detail, just a looming shadow with dark meaty arms and a muscular physique. The outline of a black athame rested tightly in the clenched form of the shadow's hand, and he moved with stealth towards Paige.

The witch scrambled back, waving her blood soaked hand in a ragged fashion. Nothing was happening.

Ohanzee dove. Surprisingly, however, it was not at the witch herself. He dove at the whitelighter's wavering shadow, plunging hit silhouetted athame into her chest, and twisting it violently.

Crimson gushed between her breasts, soaking her shirt and making it cling to her pale skin. She dropped backwards, hitting her head against the cement as both her life and the life the of unborn Akashic Heiress faded from existence.

----

Phoebe gasped. The sheer amount of energy in her mind yanked her to her knees as past images filled her mind's eye, followed by the most gruesome of scenes. She grabbed her head in pain, as tears welled in her eyes. "Paige!"

----Premonition----

A moving tornado materializes out of thin air, heading straight for Paige and Shane. Appearing with murder in his eyes, the massive blue-gray demon forms a concussive blast and hurls it towards the pair of young lovers.

Opening her eyes, Paige sees the blast heading towards them as she looks over Shane's shoulder. "Shane!"

The blast knocks Shane off his feet, smacking him into unconsciousness.

Terrified, the youngest Halliwell emitted a scream of pure terror. Then she watches as another blast heads for her. Her pale hands fly to her face in fight, and her body is engulfed in bright orbs as the blast rockets through them, hitting the wall behind where she'd just been. A moment later the orbs reconstitute, and she stares in pure shock, not realizing how or what just happened. Quickly, she turns on her heel and heads across the room, making a beeline for the access tower door.

----

Blood. Thick, crimson masses covered the partially shaded ground as the vital fluid left Paige's body. Her eyes were frozen open, staring at the cloud dotted sky as her life slowly drained away. The witch's chest rose and fell with pain, as she fought for her life. Then all at once, it stopped. They were both gone, but the blood continued to pool beneath the whitewitch's body.

----Premonition----

"Phoebe!" Piper secured her arms around her little sister, holding her tightly as Phoebe's fragile frame jerked with pain. "What did you see?" Her lips trembled. "What happened to Paige?"

"The helipad," the psychic manage to gasp through sobs. "The helipad. H-hurry!"

Piper dove to the Book of Shadows, violently flipping through its pages. "Phoebe I-" Suddenly a magical wind swirled around the standing brunette, flipping the pages open in a rapid fashion. Piper's hair flitted around her face, before coming to a stop in time with the pages. She stared at the same spell she'd inadvertently used to find Paige in the first place.

"Phoebe, I want you to use the To Call A Lost Witch Spell to get Pearl. I'll be right back!" She took a quick, cleansing breath and then quickly reworded the spell in her mind. "Powers of the witches' rise, course unseen across the skies, to the ones we seek take us near, their faces now shall be made clear!" A whipping swirl of white lights surrounded her, and she was gone.

----

Swirling lights surrounded Piper, as she appeared in a bloody puddle next to her baby sister. A gasp caught her throat, as she wrapped her arms around Paige's near lifeless form, and pulled her into her arms. "Oh no, no, no. Paige, you have to pull through for me." Tears spilled from her brown eyes, and then out of the corner of her vision, she saw Ohanzee. She squinted and the cement erupted in a mighty explosion of cement, but the shadow kept coming. He's veering off though. Then, as she saw his shadowy arm raise, she ducked to the side as did her shadow.

Ohanzee's arm slashed over the place where Piper's shadow had been, but nothing happened. His shadowy fingers balled in rage as he turned towards the witch's shadow again. He wanted all of the Warren witches dead, and he'd make sure it happened. Unfortunately as he raised his dark athame, he saw shadowy dots begin to cloud the witches' shadows. Turning his head, he could see the white lights dancing around Piper and Paige. Before he could enact another attack, their shadows and physical forms had been carried away.

----

Pearl placed her hands over her mother's bloodied body. A warm golden glow washed over Paige's red stained skin. Barely above a whisper, the Blessed One silently hoped that she and her aunts weren't too late. "Please mom, please..." A small tear pricked her eye, and it dropped unnoticed to Paige's stomach. The small droplet burst into a golden wave, washing over Paige like a mini tsunami. The blood instantly vanished, and the wounds repaired themselves. When the glow faded, Pearl pounced on her mother.

Paige gasped, trying to hug her daughter with definite difficulty. "Thanks, baby."

"I'm so glad you're okay," Pearl sobbed. She buried her head into her mother's shoulder.

Piper and Phoebe stood to the side, staring expectantly. Phoebe had told Piper what Paige had been feeling, and now neither of them knew how to remedy the situation.

Craning her head, Paige caught her remaining sisters out of the corner of her eye. She ran a hand through her daughter's hair, whispering softly that she needed some time with her sisters.

"Don't leave the Manor, okay?"

Paige smiled weakly. "I won't."

"Promise?"

"I promise."

Pearl wiped her eyes, before giving her mother a quick kiss on the cheek and silently leaving the attic.

"Paige, I'm-"

"No time," Paige murmured, orbing to the Book of Shadows. She stopped, staring for a moment at the page which had initially brought her to her sisters. She knew this had to be the page that had just saved her. Closing her eyes, she turned it. "I know who took Brianna."

TO BE CONTINUED...