Chapter 7: A Knight to Remember Part 1
November 1, 2001 – Thursday
Victor Bennett's Apartment
Buffy stood outside her ex-husband's apartment, getting up the nerve to knock as she reflected on the last two weeks. She, Dawn, Piper, Phoebe and Paige had faced a demon called Gammill, who shrank them with a wand and incased them in clay in preparation in turning them into weird figurines. Even though a Power of Three spell vanquished Gammill.
it had been Dawn and Paige who had managed to actually defeat Gammill. They had used their powers, Dawn's telekinesis coupled with Paige's telekinetic orbing to summon the wand and shrank him to a size that a Power of Three spell would work.
After Gammill had been vanquished and they were returned to their former size Piper decided to rename the club. Buffy was surprised by the choice of new name, she had figured that Piper would rename it in her honor and call it Patty's or Patty's P3 or something like that. But Piper instead the name Piper had chosen was instead in honor of Dawn…P3 had been renamed Dawn's P3.
Piper had even asked for Buffy's consent for when she had enough money to open her own restaurant to hand the nightclub over to Dawn. Buffy had of course given her consent.
0 – 0 – 0 – 0 – 0
Victor Bennett read a newspaper in the living room of his apartment as a knock came at the door. He set the newspaper aside and went to open and found Buffy standing there. "May I help you?" he asked confused on who she was.
"Hello, Victor," Buffy said, smiling.
"Do I know you?" Victor asked as he tried to remember where he had seen or met her. Was it from work? The grocery store? The club?
"The reason we got divorced was because of Sam, my Whitelighter," she explained. Buffy had known that despite Victor knowing about magic that he might have a hard time accepting that his ex-wife had been reincarnated into a new body. So she had come prepared with items only he and the family would have known. "On Piper's wedding day you said and I quote, 'Alright, who brought my ex-wife back from the dead?' And at the time you saw me technically I wasn't dead. What you saw was an astral projection. Every time I was summoned by the girls I appeared to them in a form they would recognize. Oh and on Piper's wedding day you told Piper at P3 that when we were married those were the best days of your life."
"Patty?" Victor asked as his eyes widened in realization. He was sure it was her, after all only he, Piper, Phoebe, Patty and Grams would have known what was said the day of Piper's wedding.
Buffy nodded. "Yes, Victor. It's me."
"How?" Victor asked in complete and utter shock.
"I was reincarnated," Buffy answered. "Can I come in?"
Victor nodded and stepped aside as Buffy entered the apartment. He went to close the door.
"Leave it open," Buffy said stopping him from closing the door. "Please? You'll see in a minute. She's parking the car."
Victor nodded as he left the door open. "I have to say, Patty, you look good. I can't say which body you look better in to be honest."
Buffy smiled, "Thank you. And it's Buffy now."
"You'll always be Patty to me." Victor said honestly. "I guess you know what happened to Prue?"
Buffy nodded, "I do. I attended her funeral."
"You did?" Victor said in surprise. Why was she only revealing herself now if she had been in town that long? "Why didn't you say anything then?"
"Because, I was just coming to terms with my memories of being Patty," Buffy answered. "I wasn't sure if I could tell Piper and Phoebe that their mother was alive when last they knew I was dead."
"But you did?" Victor asked.
Buffy nodded, "Yes. In fact Dawn and I've moved into the Manor. Dawn and I live there now with Piper and Phoebe."
"Dawn?" Victor asked.
"Dawn is my sister in this lifetime. She's a minor and I'm her legal guardian," Buffy explained as she motioned behind her. Victor looked at the door to see Dawn standing in the door frame. "Victor I would like you to meet my sister, Dawn Marie Summers. Dawn this is my ex-husband, Victor Bennett."
"Hello Victor," Dawn said as she walked into the room closing the door behind her. She held out her hand and he shook it. "Buffy has told me a lot of good things about you."
"You have?" Victor asked looking at Buffy in surprise. Given how their marriage ended he would have thought that she might have wanted to distance herself from him.
Buffy smiled. "Victor, we may not be married anymore. But you are still family."
Victor smiled and despite everything he and Patty had gone through he was glad she felt that way. He turned and looked at Dawn. "Hello, Dawn. It is a pleasure to meet you."
Paige's Apartment
"Once upon a time, there lived a handsome Prince, who was about to marry a beautiful Maiden." Paige said in a dream like voice as she lay in bed with a very attractive man, sheets tangled around their bodies. "But an evil Enchantress with dark powers wanted the Prince for herself, so she could become Queen and rule the entire Kingdom."
"I hate her," The largely built, tanned skinned man muttered as he leaned close to Paige's ear.
"Really? I always kind of related to her," Paige countered with a sly grin.
"Like I said." He grinned. "I love her." He chuckled and Paige giggled. "Then what happened?"
Paige flipped onto her stomach as she continued her story, "Well, in order to pull off that kind of magic, the evil Enchantress had to wait for a sign that her powers were at their darkest." She explained glancing at him conspicuously.
"A sign?" he questioned, beckoning her to elaborate.
"Mm-hm," Paige replied with a nod as she gazed up at the night sky. "See in the stars?" she asked pointing up at the sky. "See the Prince? His sword? And the three stars that form his crown?" she asked pinpointing at certain star in the sky. "Well, once the evil Enchantress saw the sign, she locked away the beautiful Maiden and cast a spell on the unsuspecting Prince: Bring together my Prince and me. Let him fall on bended knee. I summon…." Paige frowned as she attempted to recall the next line. "I summon…." Paige shook her head and sighed. "I can never remember the end of it."
"Let me guess." The man smirked. "The Prince defeats the evil Enchantress. He married the beautiful Maiden and they lived happily ever after right?" he asked in a slightly mocking tone.
Paige bit her lip and shook her head. "Nuh-uh." She smirked. "Actually, the evil Enchantress bore an heir, killed the Prince and ruled the Kingdom forever." She smiled smugly at him.
"Well, what kind of fairytale is that?" he asked with a grin.
Paige shrugged. "It's just one that's kind of stayed with me for as long as I can remember." She informed him still gazing at the stars, "I told you I was a weird kid." She reminded him pointedly.
"I need to get you out more Paige." He mused gazing up at the stars with her.
Paige shot him a small scowl. "It'd be easier if you were around more Glen."
"I'm around now." He pointed out with a smile, his eyes flicking down to her lips.
Paige made a "come hither" gesture with her finger, a mischievous smirk firmly in place as Glen came down on top of her.
November 2, 2001 – Friday
Halliwell Manor
Buffy was making a cup of coffee in the kitchen as a very tired and irritated Dawn walked in. She was still in her pajamas as she went straight for the bagels.
Piper smiled at Dawn from where she sat at the island opposite Buffy. "Long night?" she asked her aunt.
"Blame it on your mother," Dawn groaned. She looked at Buffy. "I'm not a Slayer, Buffy. I can't stay up half the night like you can."
"I didn't know that vampire was going to take so long to rise, Dawn," Buffy sighed. "But I got something to help, well I hope anyways." She handed her sister the cup.
Dawn blinked as she looked at the cup of coffee in her hand. "Your giving me coffee," she said clearly surprised.
"Well after the night we had," Buffy shrugged as she and Piper watched as Dawn tried to use the unplugged toaster. "Dawn, it's unplugged. We still have that demon problem to deal with."
"Oh, great. And here I almost forgot about that little demon problem," Dawn grumbled in defeat as she took a bite of her untoasted bagel. "You know this sucks right? How are we supposed to survive without electricity?"
"Look at me!" Phoebe nearly growled as she stormed in with her wet hair soaking her back. "I look like a drowned rat. I need my blow dryer!"
"Look," Buffy said, "both of you, pretend you're camping."
Phoebe grimaced. "I hate camping."
"So do I, Buffy," Dawn added.
"Well, I hate instant coffee," Buffy said. She watched as Dawn finally took a sip and wrinkled her nose in disgust. "I know, Dawn. Instant is just not as good."
"We can't keep living with no electricity," Phoebe stated. "It's medieval."
"At least we're conserving energy," Piper argued.
"Who cares if we're conserving energy!" Dawn scoffed. "We need to take care of our demon problem."
"We have to figure out when the Shocker demon's going to attack next and fast," Phoebe added as she wrapped an arm around Dawn.
"You need the Power of Three to vanquish him," Buffy shook her head. "And unless you have forgotten, Paige lives across town."
Phoebe removed her arm from around Dawn and walked over to the phone. "I'm calling her."
Buffy and Piper tensed. "Not the cordless!" they yelled.
Just then, the shocker demon erupted from the phone causing Phoebe to drop it. She backed up as she watched the demon escape the phone. It was made of electricity but in the shape of a person. It jumped on the table and threw electricity near them, blowing up a cupboard. It threw even more electricity, this time hitting all four of them. The force sent Dawn and Phoebe spiraling in separate directions from Buffy and Piper. The latter two quickly scrambled to their feet. Piper used her power on the demon, scaring it enough to have the thing retreat into an electrical outlet.
Piper and Buffy's attention was immediately on Dawn and Phoebe. "Dawn, are you okay?" Buffy asked as she hurried to her sister.
"Phoebe," Piper said as she hurried to her sister, "you okay?"
"Yeah, yeah." Dawn waved Buffy off. "A little fried but fine."
"No, I am not okay! Ow. Ow. Ow," Phoebe grimaced as she got herself up. "This is too crazy. We have to call Paige and set up a time where she can come over and—"
Buffy sighed. "Phoebe, you can't schedule vanquishes, okay? Demon attacks don't usually fit into day planners."
"Okay, then, what do you suggest, Buffy?" Dawn wondered.
"I suggest that maybe..." Piper took a breath to steady her nerves as she took a seat at the table, "…Paige should move in with us."
Buffy and Dawn looked at each other in surprise. Where would Paige sleep? It wasn't like there was any rooms left. After all Buffy had taken Prue's and Dawn had taken Grams' old rooms.
"Uh..." Phoebe gaped at Piper. "What?" She staggered to a seat. "W-what did you just say?"
"Well, she's going to have to sooner or later, isn't she?" Piper said.
"I..." Phoebe shook her head, "I never really thought about it. And I can't believe you, of all people, are actually suggesting it."
Piper sighed, "I'm just trying to be practical. Besides, I am sick and tired of Leo watching over her day and night, protecting her from various demons. You know, I would actually like to see my husband again."
"While we have the problem of where would Paige sleep," Buffy said. "I do admit that it wouldn't be a bad idea if Paige is closer. At least till she gets a handle on orbing. Dawn and I can't help you with a Power of Three demon."
"On top of that I am still learning, remember?" Dawn said.
"I can understand all of that, but still that's a huge decision," Phoebe said. "Piper, do you think we're ready for that?"
"Well we were ready for mom and Aunt Dawn moving in." Piper said.
"That's different and you know it." Buffy said. "Paige until a few weeks ago never knew Dawn or I existed, that I was your mother reincarnated. Of course neither did you two. But you two have gone your whole lives wishing for more time with me. It made sense that I moved here from Sunnydale so we could make up for the lost time. And of course since I'm Dawn's legal guardian she had to move with me."
"Not that I would have objected anyways," Dawn said. "You guys are my nieces after all. Which means your family."
"All I know is that every demon that is out to impress the Source is attacking us," Piper explained. "Which means we all need to be under one roof. Otherwise, we're too vulnerable." She looked at Buffy. "That goes for you also, mom. If a Power of Three demon were to find out you were our mother." She looked at Dawn. "Or that you, Aunt Dawn, are our aunt. Both of you would instantly be targets."
"We know." Buffy and Dawn said.
"I didn't mean are we ready as witches," Phoebe said. "I meant are we ready as sisters? I mean, what if we don't get along? It's different with mom because well she is our mother."
"But it's not different with Aunt Dawn though isn't it?" Piper reminded Phoebe. "She is our aunt more by association than by genetics. Still we welcomed her."
"I know, you know maybe it's just too soon," Phoebe said with a sad expression.
Piper sighed deeply. "There's only one way to find out if it's too soon."
Paige's Apartment
Paige and Glen were asleep in bed together when Paige's bedside alarm went off. "Oh my God, it's 9:00," she groaned, "I am so screwed."
"Mmm." Glen smiled as he woke up as well. "Can't you just be a little late?"
"I'm already a little late."
"Can't you be a lot late?" Glen watched her as she sat up and wrapped herself in the sheet. "Especially seeing as how I'm leaving tomorrow."
"You're always leaving tomorrow, Glen. That's what you do." She walked across the room with the sheet wrapped around her but stopped when she noticed Glen staring at her. "What?"
"Nine to five isn't you, Paige. You've always had too adventurous a spirit to be pinned down."
"Oh, yeah?" She shook her head at him as she walked into the bathroom. "Just drop by between K2 and the Great Barrier Reef and you know this about me, do you?"
"Your life could be a fairy tale. It doesn't have to end badly."
Paige poked her head around the door. "Who says it's going to?"
"Come to Australia with me, Paige. Just for the hell of it. Why not?"
"Because I've got too many responsibilities. That's why not."
"You're 25-years-old. You've got the rest of your life ahead of you for that kind of crap. Just go for it. Dump your job, and come have fun with me."
Paige walked out of the bathroom wearing a short skirt and her bra. "As tempting as that sounds, I actually have things called responsibilities." She sat on the bed with him. "It's not just my job." She continued as she started to put on her pink sweater. "I've got sisters…" It had been decided that as far as anyone was concerned that Buffy and Dawn would be hers, Piper and Phoebe's half-sisters from Victor's side of the family, "…now, and we've just got... stuff we've got to do."
"What stuff?"
"Stuff that keeps me pinned down."
Glen moved closer to her. "Is that a good thing or a bad thing?"
Paige leaned in to kiss him. "I'm not sure yet."
0 – 0 – 0 – 0 – 0
Dawn and Buffy followed Piper and Phoebe as they walked up to the front door of Paige's apartment. Just as Phoebe was about to knock on the door, Leo orbed in front of them, and she knocked on him instead.
"Hi," he said. "What's up?"
"What's up?" Piper repeated with an eyebrow raise. "How about a kiss for your long-lost wife, huh?"
"Oh, right." Leo chuckled and quickly kissing Piper on the cheek before attempting to shoo them away, "Well, uh, bye."
"Uh..." Dawn said as she looked at Buffy, Phoebe and Piper. She turned her attention to Leo and eyed him warily. "What do you mean bye? We just got here."
"Right, well, you know." He chuckled tightly again. "I don't want to leave Paige unprotected."
"Uh-huh." Piper nodded but sported the same look as Dawn. "Is she home?"
"Yeah, she's home." When Piper headed for the door, Leo intercepted her again. "She's just a little, uh, indisposed at the moment."
At that comment they finally got what he was putting out. Dawn and Phoebe's eyebrows shot up as they gave each other a look.
Buffy sputtered at her son-in-law incredulously. "W-wait, wait, you watch?"
"What are you, like a peeping angel?" Piper added just as incredulous as her mother.
"Well, I didn't see anything!" Piper stared at him until he broke. "Alright, just a little, but how else am I supposed to protect her?"
"How about you do like your other charges," Buffy lashed out.
Phoebe then pushed past him and barged in. Buffy, Dawn and Piper ran after her. Inside, Paige and Glen were making out on the bed, Paige with her top off. When the girls barged in, she jumped up and covered her chest.
"Sorry to interrupt." Phoebe averted her eyes. "Can't see a thing."
"Phoebe Johanna Halliwell!" Buffy admonished her daughter.
"Wh—" Phoebe said looking back at Buffy.
"Guys!" Paige yelled. "What the hell is going on?!"
"I know this looks bad, but it's very important. Believe me," Phoebe started but upon seeing Glen she gaped. "Whoa."
Buffy and Piper smacked Phoebe on the arms as Dawn clapped Phoebe upside the head.
Glen looked to Paige. "Who are they?" he asked.
"The soon to be ex-sisters I was telling you about," Paige answered.
"Okay, we're sorry, but you know..." Piper said as Phoebe smiled and waved. "We didn't know witch way to turn if you know what I mean."
Glen started to get up as he eyed them warily. "Maybe I should go."
"Oh, uh..." Dawn said averting her eyes as she tossed him his jeans. "Here."
Glen saw Dawn's embarrassed look and felt sorry for the young woman as he started to get dressed. "Thanks."
"I'm sorry about this Glen." Paige frowned. "This is horribly embarrassing." She then looked at Buffy as she thought to herself. 'Especially in front of my mother.'
"No worries. You obviously got some responsibilities." He kissed her on the cheek before walking into the bathroom. "Plane leaves tomorrow."
"Plane?" Piper frowned. "What plane?"
"Never mind." Paige glared. "This better be important."
Phoebe interjected with a bellow. "I can't use my blow dryer!"
"Or the toaster!" Dawn eyed her next. "Or the coffee pot or just about anything that uses electricity and we can't live like that so we need to do something about it. Now preferably."
Piper clapped loudly with a nod. "So have you been attacked by the Shocker demon yet?"
Leo piped up before Paige could answer. "No she hasn't."
Paige gave him a look. "How would you know?"
"You don't want …" Buffy started before being interrupted by Phoebe.
"Oh..." Phoebe leaned in. "Because he's been watching you for the last week or so for your own protection."
"You've been watching me?!" Paige asked.
"Well, I didn't see anything!" Leo said in his own defense.
Phoebe motioned with her head. "At least nothing very interesting."
Piper nodded. "Right."
"Okay, Dawn would you herd your nieces and nephew-in-law out the door please, thank you," Buffy said.
"Alright," Dawn said as she glared at Piper, Phoebe and Leo. "And don't think about objecting." Piper, Phoebe and Leo looked at her, saw the look that said she meant business and slowly made their way out of the apartment. She followed them out and closed the door behind him.
Buffy glanced toward the bathroom and flicked her wrist freezing Glen so she and Paige wouldn't be disturbed. She looked at Paige and sighed. "We can talk freely, I froze your friend. I'm sorry about that, sweetie."
"It's okay, mom." Paige said with a sigh.
"Sometimes I wonder what mother taught them. I'm sorry for barging in. We were going to knock," Buffy explained. "When we have a moment we could use your help at the Manor. We have a Power of Three demon we can't vanquish without you."
"I'll think about it, mom." Paige said.
Halliwell Manor
"Okay so..." Buffy held up two dresses to Phoebe, a blue one and a black one. Phoebe had set her up with a friend of hers on a blind date. "Which one? It's been like... forever since I've even thought of going on a date."
"Okay, okay..." Phoebe smiled as she studied the dresses and then her mother. "Mmm...the black one. You can never go wrong with a little black dress."
Buffy nodded as intense knocking pounded from the front door.
Piper hurried in with a irritated scowl and headed straight for the door. "Alright! Calm down!"
Paige walked in after the door was opened. "At least I knocked."
"Oh," Piper sighed.
Phoebe and Buffy both came in from the living room as Dawn came from the kitchen. "Hey, Paige," Phoebe said.
"I'm not here to talk to either of you," Paige dismissed glaring at her sisters. She looked toward Buffy and Dawn. "Mom and Aunt Dawn, you two I'm talking to. I'm just here to look at the Book of Shadows."
Buffy smiled as she stopped Paige and hugged her youngest daughter. "Go right on ahead, sweetie. It's your Book, too," she said as Paige smiled at her.
"Hey." Phoebe scoffed. "We said we were sorry."
Paige started up the stairs. "Yeah, right."
Piper squeaked out, "What do you think about moving in with us?"
Buffy stiffened and pointed her glare directly at Piper. "Piper!" she said as Phoebe tensed. "Now is not the time."
Paige stopped dead in her tracks. "Excuse me?"
"Well, that's what we came to talk to you about," Piper said ignoring Buffy's warning. "You know, we're tired of getting attacked by demons here and not being able to do anything about it."
"Yeah," Phoebe agreed. "But we could do something about it if we were together. You know, if we lived together because that's when we're the strongest. What do you say?"
Dawn was speechless. She couldn't believe the nerve Phoebe and Piper had right now to ask Paige to move in after what happened in Paige's apartment.
Buffy looked at her daughters. She couldn't believe the nerve her daughters had either. "I can't believe you two."
"I have to agree with mom. Are you two out of your freaking minds?" Paige scoffed as she stormed up the stairs.
Piper watched her baby sister before turning to Buffy, Dawn and Phoebe. "Don't people usually storm out of the house when they're angry?"
"You two are not so old that I can't bend you over my knee," Buffy said. "What is it that mother taught you two growing up." She looked at Dawn. "What would mom have done if you acted like these two?"
"Probably grounded me, maybe spanked me for bullying other people," Dawn answered.
"Exactly!" Buffy said as she glared at her daughters.
"Guys!" Phoebe yelled before leading them up the stairs. "Come on, we can talk about this later."
"Yes we will," Buffy and Dawn agreed.
0 – 0 – 0 – 0 – 0
In the attic, Paige was flipping through the Book of Shadows when the girls walked in.
"So..." Phoebe regarded Paige, "You're not even going to consider this?"
Buffy shook her head and looked to the heavens. "Mother is this, what you had to deal with, with Prue, Piper and Phoebe?"
"Kind of reminds you a little bit of us doesn't it," Dawn said as Buffy reluctantly nodded.
"Nope." Paige said in answer to Phoebe's question.
"Why not?" Piper asked.
"Because if it was that easy for you guys to barge into my room all the way across town," Paige explained. "Imagine how easy it would be if I actually lived here."
"Okay, could you stop looking at the Book for a second?" Piper said.
"It's her Book too." Dawn said reminded her eldest niece.
"I know that, Aunt Dawn. If she lived here..." Piper pointed out, "she could look at it all the time."
"Look..." After a few silent seconds Paige looked up at them. "I understand why you guys are asking me, I really, really do. It's just, I don't want being a witch to take over my life. It's just... too much responsibility."
"We all understand that." Phoebe nodded, forcing herself forward with this. "I freaked out in the beginning too. But I didn't have a choice, and neither do you."
"As much as I hate to say this, Paige. I was like Phoebe," Buffy said as she glanced at Dawn. "Remember when we moved to Sunnydale?"
Dawn sighed and nodded. "I remember," she said. She looked toward Paige.
"When I was first called as a Slayer I fought Merrick on it," Buffy said. "I didn't want it. When I slayed Lothos, I was kicked out of school, moved two hours from my friends. At that point I wanted a normal life again. I didn't want to do it anymore. You should have seen me with Giles. We argued about it the first day we met. In the end I didn't have a choice, it was who I was, just as being a witch is who you are."
Dawn nodded. "Buffy is right. I've seen what being a Slayer did to her over the years."
Buffy looked at Dawn wondering what her sister still had yet to tell her about last summer while she had been dead. She didn't know what her life as the Slayer and her sacrifice on the tower had done to Dawn. How her sister during the months she had been gone had grieved for her nonstop. She also didn't know that thanks to Willow and Tara that Dawn had not committed suicide to be in heaven with her.
"Why not?" Paige looked to Phoebe who paled. "Aren't you the one who told me I should fight like hell to keep my life separate from magic?"
"Unfortunately..." Piper frowned. "It doesn't always work out that way."
Buffy nodded, "Piper is right, Paige. It doesn't always work out like that. I should know."
"Well, maybe it would if I didn't live here." Paige said as she returned to flipping through the book.
Phoebe sighed. "If you're looking for the Shocker demon spell, we already found it."
"I'm not." Paige shook her head. "I'm looking for something else."
"What are you looking for?" Dawn asked.
When Paige didn't answer Piper pressed, "Look, you may not want to share a bathroom, but when it comes to that book, it concerns all of us."
"Besides that..." Phoebe said as Buffy joined Paige. "Maybe we can help."
"Okay..." Paige looked between the four of them. "I know it sounds stupid, but when I was little, I invented this horrible little fairy tale and it just always seemed really real to me. I don't know. Just..." She turned to a page with the title: The Evil Enchantress, and gaped. "Oh my God."
Buffy looked at the page in front of her and Paige. "The Evil Enchantress?"
"That's it. That's—that's the evil witch, the one who kills the Prince...after he gets her pregnant, of course," Paige said excitedly.
Piper nodded as she, Dawn and Phoebe gathered around Buffy, Paige and the book. "Of course," she said.
"The spell. I can't believe it." She studied the next page titled 'To Call a Lover to Oneself' and began reading from it, "'Bring together my Prince and me, let him fall on bended knee.'" Piper, Dawn, Buffy and Phoebe all tried to stop her as she recited it. "'I summon him to my side, that he may take me to be his destined bride.'" Paige grinned, "I finally got to finish it."
"Paige!" Buffy admonished as a gust of wind blew through the attic making the Prince appear. "You just recited a spell!"
The Prince looked around in shock before seeing Paige and kneeling down. "My love."
"Oh great," Buffy said. "And this is why we don't read spells from the Book aloud in front of the Book."
Another gust of wind formed erratically around Dawn as it transformed her attire into a medieval lady's gown. Her long brunette hair was now white and braided intricately down her back. She scoffed once she caught sight of her reflection and the girls each squeaked in just as equal shock upon seeing her.
0 – 0 – 0 – 0 – 0
Paige ran into the kitchen, followed by the Prince then the girls. Dawn truged along in the back as she dragged behind her heavy new outfit. "Okay this is way more than annoying!" Dawn huffed as she all but tossed the train of the dress aside. "I would like to know why Paige cast the spell and I…"
"Yeah, I would love to know why too," Buffy agreed as she played with Dawn's long braid. "You feeling medieval at all?"
"Not funny, Buffy," Dawn groaned. "Remember when we were singing? I was put into one of these then, remember? Almost forced to marry a demon as a result of Xander summoning said demon."
"I forgot about that," Buffy sighed. "Sorry."
The Prince continued to follow after a freaked out Paige. "Why do you run from me?" he asked.
"Why are you chasing me?" Paige returned.
"Because we are meant to be together," he answered.
"That is not true." Paige motioned around. "Does this look like King Arthur's court in front of you?"
Piper chuckled. "Aunt Dawn does."
"Shut it!" Dawn growled.
"Yeah medieval gowns, Dawn and I have a bad history," Buffy added with a look at Piper. "I almost bet Dawn being thrown into that gown isn't going to be good."
"It doesn't matter," the Prince said intensely. "We're meant to conceive an heir, my love."
"Ugh," Paige grimaced and moved away from him again. "Stop saying that."
Phoebe grinned. "You guys want some privacy?"
"This is not funny." When the Prince continued to follow her, Paige held out her hand. "Plate." A plate orbed into her hand and she immediately broke it over his head causing him to groan and buckle to his knees.
Despite her predicament Dawn felt sorry for the guy. "Oh!"
"Paige Elizabeth Matthews!" Buffy admonished.
"I'm sorry," Paige said, she too felt sorry for hitting the guy on the head. "Did I hurt you?"
He took Paige's hand to kiss it. "You could never hurt me, my love."
"Piper…Mom..." Paige looked over to her sisters, mother and aunt with wide freaked out eyes. "Either of you, please, do that thing you do."
Piper glanced toward Buffy. "I don't want to blow him up."
Buffy flicked her wrist and froze him, allowing Paige to pull her hand away and wipe it on her blouse. "Thank God chivalry is dead," Paige said. "He is getting on my last nerve."
"Okay, well..." Phoebe motioned to him. "He must be under some kind of spell."
"Gee, you think?" Dawn said angrily. "What about me? Why do you think I'm dressed this way?"
"The evil Enchantress," Paige answered. "She cast some sort of spell on the Lady and a love spell on him."
"So why is Sir Lust-a-lot lusting after you?" Piper asked. "And why'd it hit Aunt Dawn?"
"That's a good question," Buffy agreed looking at her sister.
"How should I know?" Paige shrugged.
"Well, because it's your fairy tale and it's alive and frozen in our kitchen!" Piper huffed putting her hands on her hips.
"Piper!" Buffy admonished. "Language, young lady."
"Mom, I'm older than you," Piper said with a roll of her eyes.
"This is really too much hair to deal with," Dawn whined. "And why am I blonde?"
"Part of the spell obviously," Buffy said. "Remember Halloween. When I wore that eighteenth-century gown to impress Angel. My hair turned brunette. Though it always surprised me the monks made you brunette. I'm blonde, mom was blonde and dad is blonde. Why did they make you brunette?"
"Because of Faith I would assume," Dawn answered. "Willow and Tara had assumed that since I'm not a clone of you they had to use someone else's DNA also. They assumed Faith's."
"Would make sense," Buffy said as she thought about it.
Paige huffed at the conversation going on around her and walked out of the kitchen.
"Uh..." Phoebe frowned and followed after her first. "Where are you going?"
"I can't handle this," Paige told them.
"Wait, Paige, you can't just leave." Piper hurried after her next, followed by Buffy and Dawn. "I mean look at Aunt Dawn…"
"…and there's a frozen Prince in the other room," Dawn added.
"Yes I can." Paige frowned as she continued to hurry out. "I don't live here, remember?"
Buffy and Phoebe sighed. "Paige," the said.
"What?" Paige said.
"Look, you can't keep running away from these things," Phoebe said as Paige opened the front door. "That's what we're trying to tell you. Being a witch is not a part-time job."
"Yeah, well, if I don't leave now, I'm not going to have a full-time job." Paige said.
Piper yelled after her sister as Paige retreated to the driveway, "Paige, the Charmed Ones come first!"
Pacey huffed out a laugh at that. "The Charmed Ones come first?"
Piper smirked. "It always worked when Prue said it."
Buffy shook her head. "And maybe that's what's wrong, Piper. She's not only a Charmed One but your sister."
In the other room, an announcer on the TV could be heard, "The home also features a spacious kitchen complete with granite counter tops and state of the art convection oven." Buffy, Dawn, Phoebe and Piper walk past it. "The walk-in pantry provides ample space..."
"The VCR?" Piper frowned when she noticed the blinking light. "Who set it to record?"
"Not me, promise," Dawn said holding up her hands.
The tape was then ejected just before the Shocker demon escaped out of the VCR. Piper used her power and immediately blew up the TV. The demon then appeared behind them and threw electricity at Piper, tossing her over the couch. Phoebe levitated and kicked out but the Shocker demon grabbed onto her leg and started electrocuting her.
Dawn squinted at the demon and tried to push it away from Phoebe telekinetically but nothing happened. She looked like a deer caught in headlights as the demon threw out another electrical bolt that sent her flying through the hall into the conservatory. Buffy spun heading into the conservatory heading for Dawn as Piper quickly got up and pushed the demon out of the way using a wooden coat stand. Phoebe fell onto the floor just as the demon once again escaped through the electrical outlet.
"Phoebe?" Piper said.
"I'm okay, I think." Phoebe stood up, "Mom, how is Aunt Dawn?"
"Geeze," Dawn groaned as Buffy helped her up, her dress and hair were both singed and smoky, "Did you see that? I don't have my powers."
"You don't have your powers?" Buffy said in complete surprise as Dawn nodded. She spun on Piper and Phoebe. "We need to figure out what the hell Paige conjured and fix it ASAP."
"I think mom is right," Phoebe agreed. "Aunt Dawn is vulnerable without her powers."
Piper nodded. "And we've got to convince Paige to move in with us soon before there's nobody left to move in with."
Phoebe looked over at the destroyed television. "I guess we need a new TV."
Piper turned to them as she remembered the other thing Paige's spell had done. "Oh, the Prince."
"The Prince." Phoebe repeated before they rushed into the kitchen but the Prince was already gone, "He's gone? What? Did he go back to fairy tale land?"
"No such luck," Piper said. "Aunt Dawn would probably be normal."
"That and the back door is wide open." Buffy said as she watched her sister fidget with her gown. "So he probably went after Paige." She turned her attention to her sister. "Dawn, what are you doing?"
"This damn thing won't come off!" Dawn explained. "I'm stuck in it!"
"Makes sense," Buffy said. "I couldn't take off the wig during the spell. Till the spell is ended your not getting out of that, sorry Dawnie."
"Okay so..." Piper said. "We just have to fix whatever happened and send the Prince back and that should fix you, Aunt Dawn."
"Hopefully," Dawn agreed.
"Wait, so he left..." Phoebe turned to get a bottle of water out of the fridge. "And he's just wondering around in chain mail?"
"It's San Francisco." Piper waved her off. "Nobody will notice."
"Well, sooner or later, somebody's going to notice and the medieval trail's going to lead them right back to us."
Buffy nodded looking at Piper. "Phoebe's right, Piper," she said. She then looked at Phoebe. "But Piper is also right. Some people will dismiss him simply because he doesn't fall into their world view."
"Buffy and I have seen it," Dawn said. "Mom didn't believe in vampires till Buffy literally through it in her face. In Sunnydale vampire attacks were attributed to barbecue fork incidents."
"Really?" Phoebe and Piper said surprised as Buffy and Dawn nodded.
"Alright, Phoebe, Piper, you two try scrying for him and if that doesn't work, we'll have Leo orb Paige back here and hopefully the Prince will follow." Buffy turned to Dawn. "And you and I will look through the book to see if there's some type of reversal for whatever your under."
"And what would that be?" Dawn asked.
"I don't know." Buffy shrugged. "That's why we're looking."
Phoebe shifted with a frown as she changed the subject. "Maybe we should try a different approach with Paige."
Piper shook her head. "She's not going to come back here voluntarily."
"No. I mean about getting her to move in. Maybe it's too soon for her too." Phoebe said.
"Now that's the first smart thing I've heard either of you say all day." Buffy said.
"Mom!" Piper and Phoebe said as Dawn smiled.
South Bay Social Services
A couple hours after leaving the Manor, Paige stood In the copy room with Leo having a conversation.
"Nobody tells me what to do, Leo. And besides, I'm still mad at you for 'watching over me.'" Paige glared. "I deserve better than that, especially from you."
"Well, I'm a guardian, Paige. It's what I do. Especially during times like this when it's dangerous for you to be alone."
"It's a fairy tale, not a horror movie."
Leo raised a brow. "I was talking about the Shocker demon."
"Well, yeah, but he's not half as scary as Prince Charming coming after me though."
"All the more reason why you should be staying with Buffy, Dawn, Phoebe and Piper."
"What if I don't want to?" Paige countered as she picked up a folder. "What if I want to climb a mountain or go dive the Great Barrier Reef, huh?"
Leo frowned. "What?"
"Look, I've had a blast being a witch. I like the spells, I like the potions. I'm even getting used to orbing, but god, I've just had enough."
As she started to leave Leo followed. "Well, there is no enough, Paige." She stopped and turned around to look at him. "This is who you are. You know that. Why are you running from it?"
"Oh gee, I don't know. Being hunted by the Source, ducking the furies, and being shrunk by a psycho demon, not to mention being chased after by my bedtime stories. I don't know why I wouldn't want the rest of my life to be just like that."
"You're not alone anymore. You have sisters, your biological mother and your aunt now."
"Yeah." She scoffed, "Mom and Aunt Dawn I have no problem with, they're not pressuring me to do anything. But my sisters are pressuring me to move in with them for all the wrong reasons."
"What is that supposed to mean?"
"Nothing. Forget about it." She shook her head. "Look, it's just sometimes I feel like they want me to be Prue, super witch. And I can't. I don't know how."
"Yeah..." Leo shook his head. "I don't think they think that."
"Oh, yeah? Have you checked out mom's room? It's a shrine. They haven't didn't apparently let mom redecorate. It doesn't seem to me like they're ready yet and it's a pretty tough act to follow. Don't make me go back there, Leo. Not just yet, okay? I just need some time." Paige gave him one last look as she left. "I'll call you if I need you."