Of Brunch and Meetings
Piper was up early arranging the seating at P3 and getting everything ready for the brunch that was scheduled at 11:00 am that morning. She was setting an empty platter in the center of a table finalizing the touches of her decor. She looked at her watch that read 9:00 AM and hurried up knowing that she still needed to finish the rest of the tables before the food would arrive.
"Looking kind of tense sis" Phoebe said from the stair case. She had offered to help her sister prep for the occasion.
"Nothing new Phoebs" Piper said starting the routine of fixing another table.
"I thought you would be in the Kitchen at Halliwell's cooking"? Phoebe said walking towards her sister.
"Mel and Chris are taking care of that" Piper said without skipping a beat and barely acknowledging her sisters presence.
Phoebe studied her sister and knew she was purposely keeping busy. She knew Piper was avoiding something.
"Piper, are you alright?" Phoebe asked.
"Why do I have the feeling like somethings coming? And it isn't good." Piper said setting the last plate in place. Phoebe looked at her sister and wondered if bringing up what Prue had said yesterday was a good idea. She stood quiet not knowing what to say. Phoebes silence spoke loudly to Piper. Piper looked at Phoebe and nodded.
At that moment Prue came in bouncing down the stairs with Paige right behind her. "Good, you both are here".
Prue had filled Piper in on what was discussed yesterday at the wedding. Paige had also stated what Jr. had told her. Piper looked at her sisters and expected Phoebe to say something.
"Nothing from you?" Piper gesturing with her hand at Phoebe.
"No, I don't know what those kids know. Penny hasn't even said anything to me. I haven't had a vision in a long time. You know if I had, I would have told you something." Phoebe said saddened that her sister would think she was hiding something.
"The fact that Chris and Jr. know of something isn't all there is. Andy told me that it looks like the Sources book is no longer in the Andes. Someone found it and took it. We are talking about the possibility of a new source" Prue stated with crossed arms.
So much had happened during the last twenty five years. The sisters had fought to take out any threat in the underworld the first five years after defeating Billie and Christie. Prue had returned shortly after with Andy and her children. As Prue had stated, "It was destiny who brought us back together" That 'destiny' turned out to be the inclusion of her oldest daughter Patricia Brianna as a Charmed one. The Halliwell's had fought to keep a normal as possible life and keeping magical issues at bay.
Paige had reclaimed magic school and with Leo they had it running in no time. She was essentially the only connection with the elders. Paige was the only extremely active witch in her family and that was due to her being a whitelighter, mostly. Truth was, the Charmed ones were no longer needed. Henry was busy working and he climbed the latter fast. He was in charge of the parole department and was always working with Paige and her charges.
Piper put her attention back to her family and her dream business; Halliwell's, named after her family. She had finally opened her restaurant and had a very happy family. She relished in the normalcy of her life, sure there were some issues with magic after cleaning up the underworld and knew threats had to be taken care of, if they ever came around; but she was finally at peace with knowing that the source and any major threat were gone and her and her family could live a relatively normal life. Leo followed in his own footsteps, he became headmaster of Magic School and personally trained his children, nieces and nephews in magic. He wasn't going to allow the next generation to be unprepared in case something came, he knew it would and he needed them ready for it.
Phoebe on the other hand, focused on her book. She delved deep and produced a hit after hit of self help books on dating. It didn't help that she was married to a cupid; a cupid who still had a job to do. Both helped eachother tremendously and coop had suggested they open a business together, Phoebe thought it absurd and just focused on her books. As Coop focused on his matches, he decided to open a dating service company. As online dating and the such were such great hits, he capitalized on it and became a huge success.
Finally Prue had finally returned to her sisters after almost ten painful years apart. She had explained that she was not allowed to return as she and Andy had become whitelighers and the Charmed ones had to create their bond with Paige. Once Prue came back, she helped in cleaning out the underworld and brings peace to the magical world. Prue had picked up where she had left off and became a freelance photographer and Andy became and inspector.
Life for the past twenty something years had been a dream for the Halliwell women, but that dream was about to be shattered in mere minutes. Once again they would be thrown into the underground world of magic and their children would be the main targets this time.
This is what caused Piper fear, she knew this was coming. She could almost taste it. Piper wanted to know what they all would be up against and she needed to know whatever her sister knew.
The room was quiet, it oozed tension. Piper nodded and looked at her sisters. It had come to a surprise when she didn't back down as Prue told her they were going to have to prepare to step a side as their children were a lot stronger that they were and that they in fact were no longer the charmed ones.
"Well then, I guess this will be an interesting brunch" Piper said as she put the final napkin on top of a plate.
If what Prue had just said, what Andy had known all along was true; the coming battle was going to be hard. They had fought so much that she felt use to it, but her children, her nieces and nephews had not endured what she and her sisters did. Sure Wyatt, Chris and Jr. had been at the front of keeping tabs and making sure no threat went unnoticed; and the new incarnation of the Charmed ones did their fair share of demon fighting, but what was coming was far more bigger than retcon work and a couple of vanquishes here and there. The peaceful era had ended and fighting would commence soon. Piper was too old and Wyatt was technically next in line, she was angry that the cycle had started again and understood it was only natural that it would.
"Lets hope everyone is ready to put their lives on hold" Paige said looking up to the ceiling knowing that the elders would be listening.
"To say that everyone is ready to jump into "THAT" boat is completely false" Phoebe said rubbing her neck as if to alleviate tension.
As soon as the sisters finished their little meeting Wyatt came bouncing down the stairs.
"Did I interrupt something?" he said walking towards them and seeing their worried looks.
"Well it seems like we'll be having a meeting in a bit" Paige said patting her godchild in the back. Wyatt saw his mother's face and knew they knew something.
A bit after everyone had arrived and were all sat with their plates of food, Piper made sure everyones attention was on her.
"Well as you can see, we clearly aren't retired yet. So spill all of the information you know." She stated looking pointedly at Chris.
Everyone looked at themselves and whispered their various responses.
Chris exhaled and looked back at his mother. "We have been tracking factions in the underworld. We were trying to hold off until after Wyatt came back to go in full force, but I guess not."
"What? You were going to send us in to do your retcon?" Patty asked.
"No, we were going to ask you to attack. The full presence of the Charmed Ones still has a powerful effect" Chris tried to explain.
"So you expected us to fight a random demon for basic information on factions?" Melinda chimed in.
"No. Our plan was simple. Destroy or at least scare a specific faction and let them all know we were on to them. They weren't upper level" Chris explained more
"Why would you do that? The power of 3 isn't that strong yet, they aren't there yet. Why hide this from me? I'm their whitelighter, I would have found out the minute they went underground." Wyatt said as he looked over at his brother and cousin.
"Wy, we were trying to let you have a fun time in Paris." Jr. said trying to calm the situation.
"Wait, you think we aren't 'there yet'? Why would you think that?" Penny said defensively.
The situation was getting out of hand, while they were arguing the rest of the cousins along with their mothers were trying to control the situation.
"OK! Lets settle down now" Prue said clapping her hands.
"Lets take it one problem at a time shall we? Both Leo and Andy have confimed that the grimoire is missing, so unless you guys know something about that be quite." Prue stressed.
"Wasn't the grimoire put somewhere in the West Andes?" Warren asked.
"It was. I mean Leo supposedly hid it very well" Phoebe said concerned.
"Great job Uncle Leo" Pearl chimed in.
"Not now Pearl. So what does that have to do with the rest of us" Victor stated.
"What do you mean? The grimoire is missing. The grimoire is missing and you want to bail?" Prue asked her son.
"Look, I know we do not all agree on this magical life we have; but when it comes to the Source of all Evil, we are all in it." Paige hopped in before Victor had a chance to answer.
Everyone looked at eachother and knew that they were going to be doing some work wether they liked it or not.
"Are you sure they are going to use it to initiate a new source?" Patience asked.
"What else would the grimoire be used for? I mean, its not like it's a common ritual" Pandora stated.
"We should assume that that's what the grimoire would be used for, right?" Pearl asked.
Everyone just looked around. The tension in the room was thick and everyone just stood or sat quietly. The thought of a new source after twenty plus years was not a popular notion. The new generation only knew the source as a past foe to their family. Sure, they had read the entry in the Book of Shadows and had listened to their parents stories, but they had never thought of the Source of All Evil as a possible foe, in their lifetime.
Piper, Phoebe, Prue and Paige on the other hand knew what dealing with the Source would be like. Phoebe took it personal as the Source itself was the reason she had truly lost Cole and her unborn child. She had thought that she had gotten past it and somehow at the moment she felt like some part of her was caving, the idea of such evil possibly back was not sitting well with her.
Paige had a tough sentimental attachment to her time dealing with the Source. It was her first big bad, she had started her journey with the source as the villain. Defeating him had come with knowing that her sisterly bond had been cemented. She felt The Source had brought them even closer as sister.
Prue was determined to finish him on the spot. At the time of her death, they were in the middle of fighting him and unfortunately wasn't able to help her sisters in his vanquish; this time things would be different. She was willing to sacrifice herself once more for her family if it meant ending and making sure that the source would disappear forever.
Piper was angry to say the least, she had already defeated two Sources of All Evil during her tenure as a Charmed One, she was not happy about assisting in the destruction of a third Source. She was mostly concerned about the new Charmed ones, Patricia Melinda and Penny were obviously weak. Individually, their magic was strong, but together, it was a mess. She was going to make sure to spend time with them and teach them the most she could. She had hoped that they would have by now, strengthen their bond, but it seemed like it was actually at an end. Piper didn't think it was their fault, there were hardly any upper level demons to take care of and they had grown up living very different lives with little need for the Charmed ones.
In the deepest crevices of the underwold stood a podium with the grimoire in its rightful place. The ancient chambers of the Source had been in ruin and thought to be lost to the knowledge of these recent demons as almost all powerful demons had been killed by the Charmed Ones long ago. Sure some had gone into obscurity and lost to time itself and others had melded in with mortals knowing that they should lay low, while one family bid their time and they were about to strike. Ancient bloodlines thought long ago dead had somehow survived and had been kept from being ousted. This family had big plans for their fellow brethren and they would make sure that their kind, demons would not perish into nothingness.