Change Happens
Chapter 17: While You Were Shimmering
"Raynor?" Phoebe squinted her eyes, trying to remember why the name sounded so familiar.
"Are you sure that's all you saw in your premonition?"
Paige gave a brief shake of her head. Just after the attack to her abdomen, the unborn Prophetess Guardian's power of premonition had raced through her, activated by Ohanzee's shadow athame. She remembered the vision as clearly as if she'd been standing there herself. "Positive."She clicked her tongue against the roof of her mouth, as her eyes scanned the page. "He's powerful, but we don't need the Power of Three to vanquish him. A simple explosion or something to that effect will do. I just don't understand why, if he's not so powerful, he was able to steal Brianna's soul."
Piper teetered over to the Book and glanced at the page. "Maybe he had help that you didn't see?"
"Does it say what his powers are?" The psychic asked.
Piper shook her head.
"Damn."
Paigestaggered over to the ancient sofa, and plopped down. She gave a quiet sigh as she closed her eyes.
"Paige?"
"Whatever you have to say can wait, Piper. We've got bigger issues than this," she splayed out her fingers towards her sisters, "right now."
"No." Phoebe stood near the attic door defiantly. "We have to work through this right now, Paige."
Paige heaved herself off the sofa, glaring daggers at her older sister. "No, Phoebe, we don't. And I won't!" Wiping away her tears she added scornfully, "And there's nothing you can do about it."
Piper's brown eyes blazed, and the witch marched over to the pedestal. Her shaky hands twitched as she began to flit through the pages, coming to a stop at one in particular. "'For those who want the truth revealed, opened hearts and secrets unsealed. From now until it's now again, after which the memory ends. Those who now are in this house, will hear the truth from other's mouths!'"
"Piper!" Phoebe exploded, rushing to the stand. "I can't believe you cast the Truth Spell!"
Piper turned quickly to her baby sister, locking eyes with the pregnant witch. "Why don't you want to talk with us about this?"
Paige turned her head away, fighting the strength of Piper's spell. Finally, however, the spell took over and Paige wrenched her head back to Piper. "Because," she hissed, "you love Prue more than you love me! You always have! I was never even a part of this 'family' until Prue came back!"
Piper staggered back into Phoebe's arms, aghast at Paige's words. "How could you think that?" She blurted out, startling even herself. "I've always loved you!"
The youngest jumped to her feet, flinging her arms in the air. Orbs swarmed the attic as her rage and pain caused her powers to finally spiral out of control. "Liar!" A stream of orbs flew past her head, smacking through one of the stained glass windows. "'Half-breed,' that's all you thought of me as! And don't you lie to me Piper, I know it! I could see it in your eyes."
----Flashback----
"You have a magical power, you know."
The youngest Halliwell turned with curiosity, staring back at her elder sisters.
Moving closer with Piper in tow, Phoebe added, "Mmm. At least, if you're really a Charmed One, you do. And the sooner you learn it, the sooner you'll be able to protect yourself."
"I have a power?"
Piper's lips parted. "According to the prophecy, the third sister has the power to move things with her mind. Like Prue could."
"How does it work?"
"You concentrate on an object, like that candle right there." The psychicpointed toone of the white church candles. "And then you just wave your arm at it." Phoebe then flicked her arm in a Prue-like fashion.
Paige copied the maneuver, but nothing happened. Shelooked back to her half sisters.
"Or, uh, you could squint your eyes. She used to squint her eyes," the timer suggested.
The whitewitch looked to the candle, waving her hand and squinting her eyes, yet still nothing happened. She turned back to her sisters. "Well, maybe I'm not one of you after all if I can't even make that candle…" She raises her hand in the direction of the candle. Suddenly a spray of blue and white orbs surrounded it, transporting it from its stand to the half witch's outstretched hand. Nervously, she hands the candle to Phoebe. "Oh."
Phoebe looked to Piper with a curious expression etched into her face. "So perhaps the whitelighter in her makes it work differently?" She proceeded to blow out the candle and set it aside.
"Half-breed," Piper whispered icily.
----Flashback----
"I was angry with you!" Piper hissed. "You-you were taking Prue's place. You were her substitute, a quick fix for my big sister! She had just died, and then suddenly we have a new sister so we can fix the Power of Three and keep saving the world! It wasn't fair!" There was a loud crack, as one of the support beams gave way, sending a shower of dust and wooden splinters down on the three sisters.
"No!" Phoebe jumped between her sisters, spreading out her arms and keeping them literally an arm's length apart. "This isn't right! You shouldn't be fighting like this, you should be helping each other get through this!" She clasped her eyes shut. "Why can't you just see how painful it is for both of you?"
Suddenly Phoebe's entire body began to emit a warm sea-foam green color. Unbeknownst to her, on her left Piper began to glow a dark magenta and to her right, Paige was enveloped by a pulsating violet. As Phoebe grew brighter, the light began to spiral from Piper and Paige to Phoebe's left and right hands, respectively. Then in a large burst, both colors spiraled through Phoebe's arms and smashed together in the center of her chest, before crossing sides and evicting the palms of her hands as glowing darts. The purple dart hitting Piper's heart, as the magenta hit Paige's simultaneously. The psychic gasped sharply, flying backwards and hitting the wall with such force that a small picture of Grams came shattering to the floor.
Both Piper and Paige also went flying in opposite directions, landing on their asses with hard thuds. Fortunately their impacts weren't as powerful or nearly as painful as Phoebe's. In unison they blurted, "What the hell was that?"
Phoebe rubbed her bruised back, and climbed to her full height. She stared at both of her sisters, who were no longer glowing. "I think," she breathed, "my empathy just advanced."
----
Raynor stood smugly, bouncing a ball of white light against the palm of his hand. "The witches'll be here soon, searching for her. I can sense it."
Ohanzee slithered across the rustic cave walls, floating in and out of the shadows of the flickering flame within its center. "They had better be." Ohanzee's voice was loud and ominous, seemingly coming from every point in the room all at once; almost like ultra advanced sound system equipment. "I didn't sacrifice one of my most powerful demons to bring you back, just to have you fail."
Raynor bowed his head, chuckling softly. "And you'll be handsomely rewarded for your demon's sacrifice." He smiled malevolently at the soul in his palm. "I do good work." Licking his lips he added, "When I was young, I couldn't understand what was so great about having the ability to summon the souls of the dead." He snickered. "Such an insignificant power, I always thought. That was until I realized the kind of knowledge the dead had, and the lengths one would go to get back a loved one." He shook his hand, snapping his fingers as the ball that was Brianna's soul vanished. "Love is such a pitiful thing," he sneered. "It can make even the greatest of demons fall...Like Balthezar."
----
Piper pulled her knees to her chest, shuddering under the warmth of a huge wool blanket. "Paige," she murmured, "I really didn't know." She shook her head, as Phoebe entered with a tray of chamomile tea.
"Of course you didn't," the youngest spat. "You didn't even want me around." Her eyes watered as she took a white mug from her psionic sister. "Thanks, Phoebe."
"No problem." Phoebe placed the tray on the table, and snagged the last cup for herself. She turned to sit next to Piper, more out of habit than anything, and at the last moment she shifted position and hesitantly took a seat next to Paige. "D-do you mind?"
Paige sniffled, before taking a sip of her tea. "No."
Phoebe smiled weakly, before climbing under the blue fleece blanket that she'd draped over Paige earlier. This must be how Piper felt all the times she had to intervene when Prue and I were fighting. She placed the hot mug to her lips and let the tranquil liquid slid into her mouth and down the back of her throat. "Tell us about you."
Paige's face flickered in surprise. "What?"
"Tell us about you," the empath repeated.
"You already know about me, Phoebe."
"No we don't. Not like we should, Paige. We lost all of those years growing up. We lost the memories we should of had. Like the fights over boyfriends and the all nighters with hot cocoa after a breakup and-"
Paige's lips curved into a fine smirk. "You drank hot cocoa after breakups too?"
Piper snickered quietly. "Grams said we weren't old enough to drink coffee yet."
"I always thought about coming to you guys," the youngest blurted.
"What?"
"Yeah..." Paige took another drink from her mug. "After I finally got my job at South Bay, I started doing research on my birth parents. Mom's name came up, but it was such a long shot, her dying so young and all. I decided not to act on it." She licked her lips, choosing her next words carefully. "But then you opened up P3."
Piper ran a hand through her hair, looking rather surprised.
"I started going there a lot, and not just because it was the hottest club in town." She let a smile creep onto her face. "I felt sort of connected somehow, you know? But I always thought that it was a little silly. Every time I saw you three at the bar or something, I always entertained the thought of going up saying something. But it was just so insane-"
"I wish you had."
Paige's head whipped up at that. It had come from Piper, surprisingly enough. For a moment Paige thought that maybe Piper was lying just to make her feel better, but then she remember the Truth Spell. The Truth Spell lasts twenty-four hours. Which means she has to be telling the truth. Her heart gave an extra thump. "What would you have said?"
"Impossible." Piper clenched her fist. "Paige," she tried again, "that's not what I meant. It's just that...it was so hard to believe that mom could even have another child-"
Phoebe waved her hand, signally Piper to let her take over from there. "When Prue, Piper, and I went to the past to stop mom from making a pact with this warlock named Nicholas, I wasn't even born yet. In fact, mom was barely pregnant with me, and she didn't even know it. When Piper blurted it out to her, she told her and Prue that she couldn't even have anymore children. That it was physically impossible. Besides that, even with magic it's mind boggling to think that mom and Gramscould cover up an entire pregnancy."
"I guess you really are more like mom than you thought, Piper."
Piper creased her brow as she peered over the rim of her cup. "Hmm?"
Paige shrugged. "I mean, not only do you both have the same power, but you both dig whitelighters and you both had two kids that you thought was impossible." She absently began to curl a strand of her hair around her index finger. "And then there's that thing about you looking more like her than any of us."
Piper laughed. "Everyone would always say that Prue looked like her."
Paige nearly burst out laughing. "Prue? Wow. Prue and I are the farthest from it. Not to offend her or anything," she glanced towards the ceiling, "but she's even more an anomaly than I am. At least I have the trademark brown eyes. Her's are blue!"
"I bet she'd take that as a compliment."
"Why?"
"She always hated being compared to mom."
"I don't understand..."
"She was angry at mom for dying on her," Phoebe interjected. "I guess she resented her for making her mine and Piper's 'new mother.'"
"She gave up her entire childhood for us."
"She was only-"
"Seven when mom died," Paige cut in. "I know. I talked to her about it once. She was there after it happened."
Phoebe and Piper shared a confused look, before silently urging their baby sister to continue. Clearly they'd never heard the story before.
Paige ran her index finger over the rim of her warm mug. "Camp Skylark, I think it was called. On February twenty-eighth, nineteen-seventy-right." Paige's lip trembled. "I realized I was barely six months old at the time."
Phoebe slid her arm around Paige's shoulders, knowing exactly what Paige meant. "I was about two."
Paige leaned back into Phoebe's embrace. "Anyway, she said that Grams had brought her that day, because they'd called her down to identify the body and she didn't have anybody to watch her. But Prue snuck out of the car and she saw them zipping mom up in the body bag, after they pulled her out of the water."
Piper shivered as she tried to imagine how her big sister must have felt. No wonder she had a phobia of water.
Phoebe dabbed her runny nose with her sleeve. "I never knew that..."
The youngest closed her eyes, envisioning her big sister and then her genetic parents, followed lastly by her adoptive parents. "It's ironic, ya know? The elements have taken the people who mean the most to me. Huldra was the one who led to Prue's death, the Water Demon to my biological parents, and fire took my mom and dad. You guys are so lucky. At least you had Grams and your dad-"
"He wasn't always around for us," Phoebe interrupted.
"He and mom broke up before Phoebe was born, and then got back together after he found out she was pregnant again. They tried to work things out when Phoebe was a baby, but our dad was jealous of yours. And even when they knew it wouldn't work out, they tried to be civil for us. But he ended up leaving again around the time Prue was seven."
"But he showed up occasionally," Phoebe gently reminded.
"Yeah. He came once on my eighth birthday, but all I remember is him and Grams fighting, and then he ended up leaving again. I didn't see him for years after that."
Phoebe nodded. "Sometimes he'd send a card, but that was it. At least until nineteen-nighty-eight, after we got our powers back."
"How was your childhood?"
"Lonely." The word came so quickly from her lips that it surprised Paige herself. "I mean, my adoptive parents were great. They took me everywhere when I was young, and they did everything for me. They always told me that I was their 'Little Angel.' We moved into this brand new house when I was five, and that was when I met Glenn. He lived across the street, and we became best friends instantly." She snickered quietly, envisioning her husband as a young child. "But it was still really lonely, you know?" She brushed her hair from her face. "They didn't tell me I was adopted until I was ten, though."
"What made them choose ten?"
"I asked questions."
After a beat, Phoebe nodded her head. "What questions?"
"I'd been at Glenn's house and Melody was showing me photo albums."
"Melody?"
Paige rolled her eyes. "Sorry, sometimes when I get going, I forget you guys don't know." She took another sip of her tea. "Melody is Glenn's mother. It's who Pearl got her middle name from."
Phoebe smiled. "It's nice that you did that."
"Yeah. Melody, she was a great woman. She passed away from breast cancer in nineteen-nighty-nine, though. Which was why when we had Pearl, we decided to honor her with that name."
"So what did you see in the photo albums?"
"Oh, right!" Paige blushed. "The photo albums. She was showing me pictures that were taken when she was pregnant with Glenn. When I went home that night, I asked to look at my parents photo albums. When I realized that there were pictures of me as a baby, but none with my mother pregnant with me, I began asking why. That's when they sat me down and told me about Sister Agnes and how she had given me to them."
Piper twisted a strand of hair. "Can I ask something kind of personal?"
"Sure."
"Why couldn't your parents have children?"
"It was my mom, actually. It was actually a problem like the one you had, Piper. Scar tissue. When she was seventeen her house caught on fire. I believe it had something to do with a wood burning stove, or something. Either way, when she was trying to get her little sister, my Aunt Julie, out of the house, one of the support beams fell on her. It was a miracle she got out, let alone lived. But it caused permanent scar tissue to form from the impact on her abdomen."
"What was her name?"
"Jasmine."
"Jasmine and Julie?" An amused smile washed over the eldest of the three. "Did your adoptive mom have any other siblings?"
"One brother. He was the middle child."
Piper quirked a brow. "What was his name?"
"Jarrett. Good ol' Uncle Jarrett."
Piper glanced at Phoebe, continuing to smile.
"What?" Paige crossed her arms. "What's so fu-" She rolled her eyes. "Is it that they all have 'J' names? Look, it isn't a family tradition like with us. It was just that my grandmother wanted her kids to have an apparent connection, other than blood and their last names."
"It's not that, I just think it's a little ironic. Have you ever studied our Family Tree?"
Paige shook her head.
"It's the same thing Grandpa Jack's mom did with her kids."
"Grandpa Jack?"
"Grams' first husband."
"Oh!" Paige flicked her wrist, waving her sister on.
"Yeah. He had an older sister named Janice. Mom used to always tell me how she loved spending time over at her Aunt Janice's house, when grandpa would drop her off. I guess they'd do a lot of cooking and poetry-"
"Cooking and poetry?" Paige snickered, looking to Phoebe.
"Sounds more like potions and spells!" Phoebe grinned. "Man, it would've been so cool growing up with powers."
"Uhm, Pheebs?"
"Oh, yeah, right." The middle of the three rolled her eyes. "Continue with what you were saying."
"Yeah, well. Did Prue ever tell you that her middle name is actually Janice? After Great Aunt Janice?"
Paige shook her head, smiling. "Wow. Hey, I guess that if our descendants ever get tired of the 'P' tradition, they can always change to 'J,' right?"
"Or 'W.' I mean, check out how many 'W' names we've got in the bunch. 'Warren,' 'Wentworth,' 'Wilder...'"
"'Wesley,'" Paige jumped in.
"Wesley?"
"Glenn's father. Everyone just called him 'Wes', though."
"What about your adoptive father?" Phoebe inquired.
"Ruben. Ruben Matthews," Paige replied softly.
Piper leaned over to place her empty cup on the tray. "Looks like we need to update the Family Tree, huh?"
Before Phoebe could open her mouth, she caught a set of shimmers across the room. Acting instinctively, she jumped to her feet and into a fighting stance. She could feel the adrenaline rush through her body as the dark form materialized, and then gave a exhale of relief. "Cole!" She bolted across the room, throwing herself into his arms. Standing on her tip toes, she leaned in to kiss her husband. As their lips met, however, a reel of colorful visions blasted her psychic mind.
----Premonition----
"How could you have failed? It was just one little witch!" Raynor was standing in an Underworld cave with Cole and another demon. His question was addressed to Cole, however.
"No, it wasn't. The Charmed Ones were there, just like I warned you they might be," Cole defended.
"We could have taken them," the third demon fired back.
"We would have died. The amulet protected them," Cole hissed.
Raynor looked to Cole. "Which is exactly why I want it. What has happened to you, Belthazor? The witch's magic never would have stopped you before, you never would have given up. What's changed?"
"You know what? Let's just drop the pretences, okay? I'm tired of playing games. We both know what you're trying to do, it's not gonna work."
"Yeah?"
"You don't care about the amulet. You only care about turning me against Phoebe."
"How smart, and yet foolish enough to fall in love."
"Loving her is the best thing that's ever happened to me. You can destroy me, but you can't change that."
"After all that I've taught you and all that I've given you, you're willing to give it all up for a witch?"
"I'm not gonna kill for you, Raynor. Not anymore."
"Not even for your father's soul?" A bright sphere of white light materialized within Raynor's hand.
Angered, Cole attempts to go after Raynor.
Unfortunatelythe third demon latched onto Cole, holding him at bay with a knife to his throat. "Settle, brother."
"How did you get that? The Source?"
"I'll promise to free him if you've fulfilled your end of the bargain. You kill the witch, come back and finish your obligations, and you and your father will both be free."
Angry and torn, Cole shimmered out.
Looking to the remaining demon, Raynor added, "All that separates us from getting him back are a few drops of innocent blood, and they're about to be spilled."
----
In the attic, a potion in a chalice turned blood red. Jenna, an innocent wearing half an amulet, announced, "It's ready."
Raynor shimmered in and threw an energy ball at Leo,whowas instantlyknocked unconscious.
Jenna gasped. She turned to Raynor and held her amulet.
Cole looked to Raynor. "Leave her out of this, Raynor!"
"I serve with every breath, even my last," Jenna replied boldly.
"I'll have to take you up on that. But I think I'll save that pleasure for my brother." He held out his hand, summoning a crackling energy ball which he hurled at Jenna.
A force field sprang up via the amulet, deflecting the energy ball. However, she still wobbled against the sheer force, landing in a pile of boxes. As she falls to the floor, the amulet falls from her neck.
The attic door shakes as someone tries to get one, but Raynor has blocked the door. Phoebe's voice pours through the door. "Cole?" Again, another bang sounds against the door.
"I've come to take you home," Raynor announced.
"I am home."
"Cole!" Phoebe's voice screamed again.
"You will be when you kill the witch. Stop fighting it, Belthazor. You're a demon. Embrace it. Let evil make you strong again, give into it!"
"Cole? Leo?" Phoebe's voice continues to plead from the other outside the attic.
"The rage in you is raising but it's not me you want to kill. It's her. Do it, for yourself."
"No."
"Cole, open up the door, let me in!" Phoebe yelled again. Unbeknownst to Cole and Raynor, the door creeks over, as Prue and Phoebe are both outside it now. Phoebe peeks in.
"Is she really worth sacrificing your father's soul for?"
"Cole, no, don't do it," Phoebe asked pleadingly.
Cole yelledagainst his inner conflict, before giving into the form ofBelthazor. He conjured a pulsating energy ball and hurled itat Jenna, killing her instantly and leaving no trace of the body.
Raynor shimmers out.
Prue, Piper, and Phoebe run into the attic. Prue and Piper run to Leo.
Belthazor stares at his beloved. "Phoebe."
"What did you do to him?" Piper growled, looking to Belthazor.
Belthazor's form began to shrink, transforming back into its human form; Cole.
"I saw what you did."
"It's not what it looks like. It wasn't-"
"Jenna is dead, and Leo is unconscious. What else could it be?" The psychic cut in.
"Raynor forced me, I had no choice."
"There's always a choice, Cole."
----
Cole shimmered into the Underworld, where Raynor lay waiting for him.
"I knew you'd come back, I've been waiting for you."
"My father's soul, where is it?"
Raynor holds up his hand, summoning a white ball of light; Benjamin Turner's soul. He allows Cole to eagerly take it. "Of course, now that you're evil, what can you do with it?"
"That's not your concern."
"True. You're my only concern."
"How'd you get me to do it? A spell?"
"Does it really matter? But you enjoyed it, didn't you, killing the witch?"
"Not as much as I'm going to enjoy this." Pulling out a knife, Cole viciously stabs the other demon in the stomach. "You killed Phoebe's love for me. Now I'm gonna watch you die."
"I feel your heart, it's racing even as mine slows. You're enjoying this, I can feel it."
Angered, Cole digs the knife deeper.
"This is what I hoped for. Your inner-demonic nature finally showing itself for all its glory."
Cole pushes him away.
"You're truly evil now, Belthazor. Welcome home." Raynor drops to his knees and fire blazes around him, before he disappears.
Cole kneels to the ground in despair.
----Premonition----
Phoebe staggered back, suddenly realizing why the name had been so familiar. "Raynor!"
"Raynor?" Cole's icy blue eyes expanded. "Phoebe, what did you see?"
"The past." She runs a hand through her hair, waving to her sisters. "Go get the Book. Now!" Turning back to her husband, her eyes stare pleadingly. "Cole, you have to tell me everything you know about the demon namedRaynor. The one who tricked you into killing a witch several years ago. The one," she turned away, "the one who I refused to believe tricked you."
TO BE CONTINUED...
