A/N: Just FYI, in my world, the astral plane is not like a limbo or an afterlife. It's just another plane of existence that only special people have access to. It may come in handy later in my series, maybe not.

Change Happens

Chapter 20: Soul Far, Soul Good

"Phoebe!"

Phoebe's skin prickled at the sound of her big sister's voice, which was just dripping with disappointment. "Blast the shield!"

"I'm going to do more than blast this damn shield," Piper growled. Her hands deployed and an explosion echoed the room, sending shock waves from the shield straight into the Phoebe.

Cole curved his arm and summoned a cackling ball of energy above his palm. He reared back and cast it into the flickering blue force field.

Piper stalked over to her little sister and grabbed her by the hair, yanking her upwards. "I am so far beyond pissed with you, missy!" Another explosion rocketed off the force field.

Phoebe cringed. "Piper, I-"

"Don't even start with me!" She squinted her eyes, looking scarily like Prue at that moment, and sent another blast at the shield.

Cole grabbed his daughter by the waist and hoisted her into his arms.

"I can take care of myself," Pam glowered.

"We're not going to talk about this right now, Pamela. I'm taking you and your cousins home."

"No!" Pam placed her hand on the back of his neck, activating her ability to absorb powers. Then she shimmered away from her father's grasp, appearing next to her mother. She laced her hands together and forced her palms towards the shield. A glob shaped energy ball raced from her hands, followed instantly by another and another. Amazingly, it was like a string of energy balls. The kid was powerful, and she knew it.

Pearl elicited a small grunt as she hit the force field again. "Slow down the force field, Aunt Piper."

"What're you talking about?" Piper asked, as she blasted the shield again.

"Use your power to slow down its regenerative properties, and then hit it all at once with our combined offensive powers."

Piper held up her hands, acting as if she were about to catch a ball, and then she flicked her wrists. There seemed to be a small hiss in response, then the shield gleamed against her power. "Ready, aim," she instructed. A plan was forming in her mind. "Throw!"

She held up both of her hands, just five inches apart from each other as she gauged the barrage of light balls and energy balls. With her right hand, she froze each one with a fast gesture. With her other hand, she used her slow motion power, causing them to move all at the same speed. Nervously, she chewed her lip as each one neared the glowing field that separated them from their demon. Then, with just centimeters between them, she simultaneously unfroze the spheres and let loose an exploding blast.

"Duck and cover!" Piper's voice had come just seconds too late. Its sound was lost in the atomic strength of the deadly concoction of power. The next thing she knew, she was under a pile of rubble a mile thick. Cloudy red smoke hung in the air, which was even worse that the pea soup San Francisco fog. She scrambled upwards, dusting off the inches of dust that had landed on her and attempted to look around. The dust laden air was too thick, and burning her eyes. "P-Paige? Phoebe?" She pinched her shirt between her fingers and brought it up over her nose, to keep her from inhaling the dust.

Across the room, Phoebe groaned as her eyes opened. She touched her lip, feeling that it was sliced open at the center and a small trail of sticky blood was dribbling down her chin. she couldn't see a damn thing because of the dust clouds. "Piper?"

Through the dark red clouds, a sparkle of blue and white illumination gleamed through. When they parted, a dark form was partially visible. The creaking of wheels gave her away, however. Paige was still holding onto her IV stand. She clicked her fingers together and a blinding flash of orbs filled the cavern, sucking up the unnatural dust in its entirety.

"Mom?" Pam sniffled as she arose from the rubble. Her hand was cupped around her nose, but it was clear why as she neared the psychic Charmed One. Dark red blood was gushing from the cracks between her fingers, obviously from a very bloody nose.

"You should've warned us about that," Persia moaned. The explosion had pressed her against the wall, and a jagged rock had left a deep gash from the edge of her right eye brow to the top of her forehead. Blood trickled from the dirty wound, threatening to spill into her eyes.

"Leo?"

The whitelighter shifted uncomfortably, for he had a jagged rock embedded in his stomach, pinning him to the wall. "A little help here?"

Piper raised her hands.

"No!" Leo winced at the pain. "I mean, I think we've had enough explosions for one day." He looked pleadingly to his sister-in-law.

"Rock!" Paige hollered. She flexed her fingers as the heavy rock orbed into her palm, an she dropped it to the ground.

Leo also slid to the ground. The hole in his stomach magically sealed itself, as only darklighter poison could hurt him. "Ough."

"At least you can heal yourself," Pearl groaned from the corner of the cavern.

"Oh Goddess!" Paige gasped.

"I think I have a sprained ankle." The eldest Blessed One bit her lip in aggravation.

"I've got you." Cole dusted off his red dress shirt, clearing it significantly of debris. "Just hold still." He moved across the rocks and gently pulled his niece into his arms.

"Ow."

"Leo'll fix you up," he said as he moved back to his brother-in-law. "Which one is it?"

"The swollen one," Pearlinda groaned.

"This one," Leo said as he removed his niece's shoe. He silently noted how fat her ankle was. Possibly worse than a sprain; a break. He placed his hand over the black and blue ankle, releasing his classic healing power.

"Where's Raynor?" Phoebe suddenly asked. The sole purpose for the catastrophe came flooding back to her.

Piper brushed off her pants and crossed over the rubble, passing over to Raynor's quarters. The force field had been completely destroyed, as she did not even hear a hiss as she moved through the place where it had previously been. She just stood in the center of the room, searching for a lump that was their desired demon. Just as her stomach began to flip, making her wonder if he may have escaped, she spotted an arm under a pile of rock. She flicked her wrist, blasting the rocks away from the soul stealing demon. From her vantage point, he looked dead.

"Freeze him," Phoebe suddenly burst out.

Without questioning her little sister's wisdom, the timer froze their enemy where he lay. "Why?"

"He's weak," the psychic explained. "Near death. Just unfreeze his head."

"What exactly are we doing?"

"All better," Leo whispered to his niece as he slipped her shoe back on.

Cole lowered her to the ground. "Phoebe wants to overload his system with the emotional urge to summon Brianna back."

Paige shifted her weight uncomfortably. "Why can't you," she directed the question at Phoebe, "or Pam just take his power and summon her back?"

"We don't know where he's sent her," Phoebe explained. "He took her from the afterlife, but we don't know where he's holding her."

Paige leaned tiredly against the wall. "Right."

Phoebe stumbled over to Piper and stood above Raynor with a vicious desire in her eyes. She took a few deep breaths and then she focused on her sister. Her hand arched out and she envisioned the page in the Book of Shadows that contained Brianna's picture. Come on! Work. Please, please work! Several minutes passed, and soon a collective breath filled the room. The precognitive stood confused and angry. "Why isn't it working? It worked before! I mean, I was able to do it with you and Paige."

Piper placed a comforting hand on the side of each of Phoebe's arms, pulling her into a hug. "Shh. It's okay. It takes time to control power advancements, remember?"

"But that's just it, Piper! We don't have time!"

Paige's eyes seemed to twinkle. "Wait a minute! Wait just one goddamn minute!" She wheeled her IV stand over to Pam. "Pearl."

Pearl trucked over the debris and gently placed her hand over her cousin's blood covered nose and healed it almost instantaneously.

"What're you doing?"

Paige waved the question off, as she led her niece over to Raynor's frozen form. "Take his power."

"Paige, I already told you-"

"Just do it," the youngest butted in.

Pam placed a shaky hand to Raynor's arm, absorbing his power into her body.

"Unfreeze his head."

"How is this going to help us?"

"The Truth Spell, remember? I believe it not only works on people within the house, but people we come in contact with too, right?"

----Flashback----

"You guys, I just wanted to see how Andy would react."

"What a way to come out of the broom closet," Phoebe chirped.

"Are you nuts? We just need to, we need to lock the doors, call in sick, and stay in our own bedrooms until it just goes away." The timer looked aghast.

"Hello, there's a demon on the loose and I still have to find that woman. Whoa, whoa. Wait a minute."

"A premonition?" Piper inquired.

"No. An epiphany." Phoebe looked to hereldest sister."So you're telling me that everyone I ask a question to has to answer with the truth?"

"I think so, yes. But that also means if we get asked a question, we have to answer the truth," Prue warned.

"I can work around that. This is cool. Very cool," the psychic announced before grabbing her coat from the foyer.

----Flashback----

"You're right," Phoebe breathed. "I completely forgot! I actually used that to my advantage where Andy was concerned."

"Okay, go."

Piper blinked her eyes and Raynor's head unfroze.

"Raynor," Paige growled. She kicked the demon, rolling him over and pressing her foot to his neck. "Where's Brianna and how do you summon her?"

Raynor's eyes squinted. He was strong enough to fight the demon, even in an almost fully frozen form. Unfortunately for the demon, Piper's magic was far more powerful. His mouth twisted, and through gritted teeth, he announced the deceased witch's whereabouts. "The astral plane."

Paige's eyes flashed to her remaining sisters. "The astral plane? How do we get to the astral plane?"

"We don't have to get to it. We just have to know where it is." Phoebe placed her hand on the back of her eldest daughter's neck.

Pam nervously laced her fingers together. "But how do I get Brianna, if I don't know where the astral plane is?"

"Answer the child!" Paige growled, digging her shoe deeper into Raynor's throat.

"Call upon her," the soul stealing demon choked.

"Literally?"

Raynor gasped, "Yes!"

Pam stretched out her arm. Her fingers curved into claw-like formation. "Brianna, I summon you from the astral plane!" A small dot of light appeared above her hand. It slowly grew and stretched until it became the size of a grapefruit.

Piper raised her hands threateningly. "How do we turn her into a physical form."

Pam waved her hand, dismissing the comment. "Nevermind. I think, maybe, I know." She backed up, and then positioned the palms of her hands together, horizontally. She narrowed her eyes and then swiped her right palm against her left, swinging it away and into a half circle against the surrounding air.

The white sphere seemed to implode on itself, before casting a blinding light upon the several pairs of eyes in the room. When the light vanished, an older woman stood before the young demoness-witch. She was about Paige's height, with wildly messy brown hair that extended down her back. She wore atight fitting blue, straplessEdwardian gown which hugged her bust and extended to cover her feet. A flashy shall draped over her shoulders and extended to create sleeves, all of which were made from airy silk and flashy red sequins. The finishing touch was a loose satin ribbon that wrapped around her middle, as a well placed sash.

"Brianna." Piper absently grabbed at Phoebe's arm.

"I know." Phoebe bit her bottom lip. Her hands were shaking under Piper's. If her hair was black, she'd be the spitting image of Prue!

"You look like Aunt Prue."

A harshness that had been in Brianna's features seemed to melt away. "Naturally, dear. My daughter was your aunt's past life." She scowled, and turned slowly to face Raynor. Her hand arched out before her, and she began to constrict his throat with her highly advanced telekinetic powers.

"Wait!" Paige held up her hand to stop her ancestor. "I've got a better idea." She waved her hand in a Prue-like fashion. "Sand!" A cloud of orbs materialized before Raynor's face and flew into the small slits in his nose, coursed down his nasal passages, and entered his lungs.

Raynoreyes bulged as he unfroze, and he grabbed at his chest as the debris from Piper's blast cut off his oxygen. His face turned a beat red, before he exploded outwards, leaving a fine powder on the three Charmed sisters, Brianna, and Pamela Turner.

Paige brushed away the dust, disgustedly. "Now what?"

Brianna Miller smirked coldly. "Ohanzee isn't that hard to vanquish, girls. You just have to know how."

"We already do. We just don't know how to find him," Cole spoke up.

Brianna's head whipped around towards the half demon. "You're a demon," she sneered. "You should have a fair idea of where a demon like Ohanzee would hide."

Cole stared at her in a loss.

"You'vebeen there yourself, Mr. Turner."

Cole's eyes widened. "But he's not dead!"

"He's a Shadow Demon. His rules aren't the same."

"Cole, what's she talking about?"

"She's talking about the Shadow Realm."

"The Shadow what?"

"The Shadow Realm," the half demon repeated. He moved nearer to the deceased Warren witch. "It's a dark realm that can be activated on All Hallow's Eve, between the land of the living and the dead. If a being can work its magic correctly, and navigate through the realm without being swallowed by the Shadow Guards that live there, then they can come back to life." Cole shifted his weight uneasily. "It's how the Grimlocks came back the night you were sent back in time to save Melinda Warren."

"How did you know about-" Phoebe shook her head. "Nevermind, I don't want to know."

"So how do we get to him, if we can't access it until Halloween?"

Brianna chewed her lower lip a moment, before murmuring, "Death."

Piper's eyes flickered dangerously. "Death? As in, a sacrifice?"

"No." Brianna's hands landed on her hips. "Death, as in the Angel of Death."

"No!" The cave shook as parts of the ground began to pop and explode, forming a giant crack in the dry earthen soil. "He took our sister," the current eldest Charmed One seethed. "We won't work with him again."

"Piper!"

Paige curled her fist. "You know we have to, Piper. We can't let this demon continue to kill innocent people!"

"I won't give Death the satisfaction, Paige. He's taken far too much from this family."

"This is beyond our feelings, Piper. Innocents will die, and that is unacceptable. We are the Charmed Ones. We are meant to protect them, whether you like it or not." The youngest turned her attention to Brianna. "How do you summon De-"

----Premonition----

"Spirits of air, sand and sea, converge to set the Angel free, in the wind I send this rhyme, bring Death before me, before my time." Prue stood alone on the beach, waiting for her spell to finally bring the Angel of Death to her.

As predicted, he appeared. "Are you sure you really want to be here?"

----Premonition----

Pam reached out to touch her rigid aunt. "Aunt Paige?"

"The beach."

Piper and Phoebe exchanged looks. "The beach?"

Paige's entire body, IV included, morphed into orbs and traveled up through the rocky ceiling.

----

The salty air licked her face, as the pregnant Charmed One appeared on a desolate white sand beach. Her gaze flickered around, just to be sure that nobody had seen her. She doubted it, due to the fact that the waves had been choppy all week and not a soul had dared to test them.

Paige neared the salty water, which was lapping at the edge of the sand. She stopped, allowing her shoes to sink into the wet earth. Her mouth drew open and as the image of Prue replayed in her mind. "Spirits of air, sand and sea, converge to set the Angel free, in the wind I send this rhyme, bring Death before me, before my time!"

"Just like your sister."

Paige whirled around, finding a hulking black clad man behind her. "The Angel of Death?"

"Just call me Death." His voice was monotone. He studied the witchlighter. "You even look like her." He extracted a roll of paper from his coat pocket. "Your name isn't here," he mused. "What is it you require?"

"I'm not here to play games," Paige sneered. "I'm here to find out how I can gain entry to the Shadow Realm."

"The Shadow Realm?" Death smirked. "Why would a living, breathing..." His eyes looked her up and down. "And expectant witch, want access to my realm?"

"A demon is hiding there, and its our job to stop him." Her voice was almost as icy as the waves that washed ashore.

"Your shadow demon? Ohanzee?" He looked down at his list again. "The one who took the woman you found in the alley?"

"Yes."

"It will cost you."

The Charmed One stood defiant. "How much?"

"Too much."

----

"Paige!" Piper slammed the Book of Shadows closed. "Paige, you get your half whitelighter ass down here this minute!"

Brianna stalked across the room and fell onto the resident couch. "I haven't been on this couch in decades."

Pearl's jaw dropped. "You know the Pearl who had it?"

"Know her?" Brianna laughed. "The Pearl you speak of, was my mother."

Pearlinda gaped.

"Oh yes. In fact, I remember sitting on this very couch when she told Lola and myself that we might be the Charmed Ones."

Pearl's face screwed up in confusion. "What? Who's Lola? And why did she think you were the Charmed Ones?"

Brianna laughed. "The prophecy said that three sisters would be born. One with the power to move things with her mind, one with the power to stop time, and one with the power to see through time. I already had telekinesis. Lola, she was my baby sister, had the power to freeze. My mother was so excited when she found out she was pregnant with a third child. Until that point, nobody in the family had ever had more than one child since Phyre Warren."

"Phyre Warren?"

"You don't know who Phyre Warren is?" Brianna shook her head in dismay. "She was Charlotte and Beatrice's mother."

"Who's Beatrice?"

"Charlotte Warren's younger sister. From what my mother told me, she was cursed from the womb and born disfigured."

"How?"

"She only had one leg." Brianna smiled sadly. "Apparently, as lore goes, she spent the rest of her life using her power to help other disfigured people look as good as perfect as her power would allow."

"What was her power?"

"Biokinesis."

"I've never heard of it."

"Is it really that bad in this age?" Again, the deceased witch shook her head. "Biokinesis allows you to change the biology of people or animals, or what have you. For example, by running her hands over her hair, she could change it from red to brown."

"Oh!" Pearl grinned. "Like in 'The Craft'?"

"'The Craft'?"

"It's a movie that came out before I was born. It's about this coven of girls and one is evil and one is good and-"

"I get the idea," Brianna interrupted.

"So how come you and your sisters weren't the Charmed Ones?"

"Because Agnes was born with conjurative powers. We waited, but she never developed any type of clairvoyance." Brianna lightly brushed the sofa with her hand, as a wistful look flickered in her dark eyes. "She ending up turning against the family for a one, Timothy McBride though. He was an evil creature."

"Literally?"

"Yes. He convinced Agnes that he was our long lost, half brother on our father's side. She chose him over the family, and then came crawling back years later."

"Did you let her back?"

"Yes. But things weren't well between any of us after that. Even our grandmother was cold towards her, and Aggie had always been the closest of the three of us with her."

Pearl was about to respond, when a cloud of blue caught her attention. She craned her neck to her uncle orb in. "Do you know where she is?"

"The Elders say she's with Death, at the entrance of the Shadow Realm."

Brianna snorted. "I could've told you that!"

Leo glowered. "Then why didn't you?"

Brianna flipped a strand of her tussled hair. "Because you didn't ask."

Pearl jumped up. "Then let's go get her! Where is this Shadow Realm? How do we get there?"

"You'll need the demon."

"Cole?"

"That's the one."

"Why?"

"Because from what I hear, he has experience in shimmering through different planes. You'll need him to take you there."

"I'll go get him." Leo turned on his heel, ready to stomp out of the attic. Something about Brianna rubbed him wrong.

"But it won't do you any good."

"And why's that?" Leo growled.

"Because by now, I assume that Paige has already made a pact with Death. She'll be the only one allowed in. Unless, of course, you want to pay an even greater price."

"A greater price?" Chills ran up Leo's spine. "What do you mean? What kind of price?"

Brianna traced her fingers over the triple Goddess symbol, on the cover of the Book of Shadows. "You'll find out soonenough."

----

Paige hugged her arms, as she stood at the mouth of a pitch black cave. A chilling breeze was filtering out of its opening, and causing wave upon wave of goose pimples to assault Paige's porcelain skin.

"Your sisters can't help you now."

"I know."

"And once you go in, you can't turn back."

"I know."

"I've informed my Shadow Guards of your presence. They won't interfere with your quest."

"Thank you."

"Don't thank me yet." Death stared cooly at the whitelighter-witch. "Are you sure you really want to do this?"

Paige turned her head towards the Angel of Death, staring him directly in the eyes. "Yes."

"So be it." Death pointed towards the cave. "Go now, before I change my mind."

Paige swallowed hard, and stepped into the devouring darkness of the cave. The wheels of her IV creaked as she padded across the ground. She glanced back over her shoulder, only to see a faint shaft of light from the entrance. He's gone. I'm alone. She placed a hand on her swollen stomach and proceeded further, until she couldn't see at all.

TO BE CONTINUED...