Fairie Wary
April melted into May and the girls were enjoying their summer, relatively demon-free. They hadn't encountered any more Grimlocks in the sewers. Presently, Piper and Prue were sitting in the sun room each with a book in hand. Prue let out a sigh and closed her book. It wasn't that she didn't like to read, it just got very boring very fast.
"I'm bored," Prue complained, causing her younger sibling to close her own book.
"Me too," Piper agreed. The wo girls stared at each other for a moment before getting up and wandering outside. Luckily the back yard was surrounded on three sides by tall bushes. Concentrating, Prue managed to send a stick flying with a mere flick of her hand. She couldn't help but smile at the progress she was making with controlling her power. Suddenly a light went off in her head and she turned to her sister.
"Want to try something?" she asked.
"Like what?" Piper asked. Prue beckoned her to the swing tied to tree in the corner.
"Get on and I'll push you," Prue instructed. Piper, who couldn't understand what this had to d with anything, dutifully climbed on. Prue took a step backed flicked her wrist, giving Piper a firm telekinetic shove. The eight-year-old was propelled forward, gripping the ropes on either side of her firmly as she swung backwards.
"Do it again!" she laughed and Prue obliged. The pair spent a good half hour outside, Prue strengthening her power and Piper enjoying the positive outcome.
Inside, Phoebe was in her room, carefully dressing her favorite baby doll in a new outfit. Suddenly she felt a presence behind her. Slowly she turned around but nothing was there. With a shrug she turned around to find her doll's shoes missing. She had just put the shoes on. How could they be gone? She stood up, looking around to see if she could find them but to no avail. Just as she sat back down, she noticed something flickering out of the corner of her eye. She stood and followed the source only to find a small creature hovering in the closet holding the doll shoes.
"Those are mine," Phoebe stated, trying to take them from the diminutive creature. The creature sighed bu handed them over. Phoebe backed away, picked up her doll and put the shoes back on.
"What are you?" Phoebe asked just as footsteps stopped outside her door. The door squeaked open and Piper walked in.
"Who are you talking to, Pheebs?" Piper asked.
"Can't you see it...in the closet?" the five-year-old replied. Piper went to stand by her sibling and indeed saw the small winged creature.
"What is it?" the older of the two asked.
"I don't know..." Phoebe murmured. Just then Victor's voice called up the stairs.
"Girls, come on. It's time for dinner," he shouted. Piper looked around the room and fund a jar that she and Phoebe kept their spare change in. She dumped the collection of coins onto her bed and made to catch the fairie.
"Freeze it," Phoebe giggled as it eluded Piper's reach. With one hand, Piper flicked her wrist and the winged creature was immobile. She hurriedly captured it in the jar and sealed the lid.
"We have to show Prue," Phoebe said, taking the jar from her sister's hands as they headed downstairs.
They found Victor and Prue in the dining room. Piper took the seat next to Victor and Phoebe plopped down across from Prue, proudly displaying the jar.
"Phoebe...what's that?" Prue asked, seeing the small thing struggling against the glass.
"It's just an empty jar," Victor commented.
"No...there's something in it," Piper retorted.
"I don't see anything, girls," he sighed.
"Maybe it's magical," Prue suggested. All three girls got up, starting to head for th stairs.
"Girls, come back here. You're going to eat dinner before you go off figuring out whatever that thing is," he said sternly. The girls traipsed back in and sat down again. Victor took the jar and started to loosen the lip.
"Daddy don't!" Piper exclaimed, her hands shooting out to stop him. Unintentionally she froze him.
"Oops," she muttered.
"Piper froze Daddy," Phoebe giggled.
Prue surveyed the situation and then grabbed the jar from her father's grasp. She motioned for her sisters to follow her.
"But Daddy said–" Phoebe began to protest.
"Daddy's frozen, Phoebe," Prue hissed as they rounded the landing and entered the attic. They set the jar on the table and began looking through the thick tome. Downstairs Leo appeared, noting that Victor was frozen. He didn't have a good feeling about this. Immediately he disappeared up to the attic.
"Girls, why is your Dad frozen?" he aked. They were seated around the book in such away that they blocked the jar from view.
"Cause I froze him," Piper answered.
"Why?" Leo pressed.
"He was going to open the jar," Piper answered. Just then leo saw he jar and the small creatue inside.
"How did you get a fairie?" he inquired.
"So that's what it is," Prue said, closing the book.
"How come you can see it and Daddy can't?" Phoebe asked.
"Well I am magical and your Dad isn't. Plus, he doesn't believe in fairies," Leo explained.
"Should we let it out?" Prue asked and Leo nodded. She unscrewed the top and the fairie flew out and heaved a large sigh of relief. She flitted down to Phoebe' eye level, squeaking at her. Phoebe's brow knit together as she tried to figure out what it was saying.
"I think it wants help," she said. Prue just rolled her eyes.
"How did it find us?" Piper wanted to know. It squeaked again and Phoebe turned to look at her sisters.
"It says because we're the Charmed Ones and we can help," she translated.
"Does it have a name?" Prue asked and once more the fairie squeaked.
"She says her name is Lily," Phoebe answered. Just then pounding footsteps came tearing upstairs.
"Piper, you know better than to freeze people," Victor scolded.
"But you were going to let her go. And I didn't mean to freeze you," Piper answered, giving an apologetic look.
"I also told you girls you could look at the thing after we ate," he continued, looking diappointed.
"That's my fault," Prue admitted, knowing she'd better own up to it.
"I'm very disappointed in you three. Now let's go downstairs and eat dinner," he ordered sternly. Glumly the girls filed out of the room.
"I just got here," Leo said, trying to make sure Victor didn't blame any of this on him.
"I see that," Victor grumbled. Just then Phoebe came running back in.
"Don't go anywhere," she told the fairie.
"I'll keep an eye on her while you eat," Leo promised and watched Victor usher his youngest daughter downstairs.
Dinner passed quietly and the girls got up and brought their dishes into the kitchen. Prue turned on the hot water and wordlessly began to wash the dishes. Piper grabbed a towel and stood next to her, accepting the clean dishes.
"Here, Pheebs. But this away," Piper instructed the five-year-old. Victor just watched from the door as his daughters did the dishes. He hadn't asked them to do it. He figured Prue had known enough that he would have made them do it as punishment anyways. When all the dishes were done and put away, they turned to see their father.
"No can we go?" Piper asked.
"Yes. Go on," he said. They took off at lightning speed, their loud footsteps reverberating in the old house. Leo stood up when the girls came in.
"Where did Lily go?" Phoebe asked, looking around frantically for the fairie.
"She's still here, don't worry. She told me why she needs your help," Leo answered, squeezing Phoebe's hand.
"Why?" Piper asked.
"There is a group of trolls trying to capture her and her family," he relayed
"How can we help? And what does a troll look like anyways?" Prue asked, sounding a little skeptical. She was getting a little old for all this fairytale junk.
Leo summoned the Book to him and opened it to a marked page. The girls gathered around him and browsed the page on troll. Piper wrinkled her nose.
"They look ugly." she commented.
"Are they evil?" Phoebe asked.
"Well they're not really evil, just...unpleasant," Leo answered. Phoebe nodded in understanding and smiled as Lily reappeared.
"So how do we stop these trolls?" Prue sked. Leo began to answer when all of a sudden a large, ugly creature appeared in the attic. Piper and Phoebe scrambled to their feet and stared at the creature.
"I'm guessing...that's a troll," Prue murmured.
"Yes...that would be a troll," he answered.
"Where the fairie?" the troll roared. It was more of half-intelligible grunt.
"You can't take her," Phoebe cried out. The troll snarled at her and took a step towards her.
"Leave my sister alone," Piper shouted, trying to freeze him. It worked.
"Does the bok say how to get rid of it?" Prue asked, turning to the book.
"Does it?" Piper prodded, trying to read over her sister's shoulder.
"No..." she answered.
"You're going to have to think of a spell on your own," Leo said, knowing it was probably a bigger task than they were ready for.
"How?" Piper asked, her voice trembling.
"It just has to rhyme," he explained.
"Uh...ok," Prue muttered. Phoebe squeezed Prue's hand, half out of fear and half in preparation for the spell.
"I can't think of anything," Prue gasped, starting to panic. The troll was going to unfreeze any minute.
"Try hitting it with something," Piper suggested, clutching Phoebe's free hand. Prue's eyes scanned the room until they landed on a piece of wood. It was worth a sho. She waved her hand at it and it went flying, striking the troll in the stomach. He unfroze, looking down at the wood impaling him.
"Arr," he groaned as he disappeared, leaving a pool of green goo on the floor.
"Yuck, that's so gross," Phoebe complained, the smell spreading throughout the attic. Just then Victor appeared.
"What happened up here? And what is that smell?" he asked, fanning the air in front of him to try and breathe.
"Troll goo," Prue informed him.
"Troll goo? What...what..." he babbled.
"The girls had to vanquish it to protect the fairie they found," Leo informed him.
"Well...is the attic going to smell like this for long?" Victor gasped. The smell was quite rancid.
"The girls could just use the vanishing spell to get rid of the good and the smell," Leo suggested. Prue grabbed the book and found the spell.
"Let the object of objection become but a dream as I cause the sen to be unseen," they read in unison. Their unison reading skills had improved since they'd first come into their powers. Before their eyes the good disappeared and the smell dissipated.
"So...is the fairie gone? Is everything over for today?" Victor asked, suddenly sounding tired.
Phoebe turned to see Lily giving them all a wave. She squeaked something to the five-year-old.
"She says bye and thank you," Phoebe translated. The other two girls waved goodbye and she disappeared. Without a word, Victor headed back downstairs.
"You girls did very well today," Leo commended.
"Will we have to do that again...help magical creatures?" Piper asked.
"Sometimes. You're very powerful witches and creatures on both the side of Good and Evil know that," he said somewhat somberly. At least no one had gone after the girls themselves this time. He looked up, annoyance etched on his face.
"I have to go. I'm very proud of you girls," he said before disappearing in orbs.
"How come Phoebe was the only one hat could talk to Lily?" Piper asked as sometime later as she and Prue at on Piper's bed.
"Maybe because she's the youngest and still believes the most," Prue muttered.
"Yeah...maybe," Piper agreed.'
"I hope nothing needs our help for a while. I'd rather be bored than clean up bad guy goo," Prue giggled.
"Me too," Piper agreed again.