Charmed AltaVerse 4x01 Caught Up In My Astral Ways
Disclaimer: I do not own Charmed or any characters associated with it, except those I have created.
CREDITS:
Shannen Doherty
Prue Halliwell
Holly Marie Combs
Piper Halliwell
Alyssa Milano
Phoebe Halliwell
Julian McMahon
Cole Turner
Brian Krause
Leo Wyatt
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Prue, Piper, and Phoebe were the Charmed Ones; three sisters prophesized long ago to be the most powerful good witches the world has ever seen. Over the past three years, the sisters have been through a lot. Losing loved ones, gaining loved ones, and even having been killed a few times. Just recently, an assassin by the name of Shax nearly ruined the Charmed Ones lives, but due to the youngest sister, Phoebe, Prue, the eldest and most powerful witch of the three, was saved. Although, as Prue realized, vanquishing Shax wasn't enough; they'd have to go after the Source. The Source of All Evil is their number 1 foe. He's the most powerful person on the other side, like a king. Although they needn't worry about that today, for Phoebe had a premonition of a demon killing a woman in a house.
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A large, decrepit looking house stood on the edge of the road as if someone had just placed it there; it looked as if it didn't belong, even though it was on the edge of a desert. Piper's jeep rolled down the sand, as they drew nearer and nearer, Phoebe reading from a piece of paper they had written on about the demon.
Saden, the demon of agony, causes great pain to his victims by causing them to see illusions of painful images. His powers include shimmering, illusion casting, and tele-teleportation, or the ability to move things from one place to another by way of teleportation.
To vanquish him, say this spell:
Hear us now, the Power of Three,
Our conviction looks unto Thee,
Feel the pain you have dealt,
Fell your power for yourself
"But from my premonition, I don't know how we're supposed to get close enough to cast the spell."
"We'll get to it," Prue said, leaning slightly as she turned.
"I don't know, guys, maybe we should check the Book again."
"Piper, that's where we got this," Phoebe said, indicating the paper. "And besides, we didn't have enough time. I saw Saden killing that old woman in that house."
"Maybe next time," said Prue, stopping the jeep, and jumping out with her sisters, "we should have Leo orb us."
"He couldn't." Piper looked thoroughly annoyed. Although her husband had promised he wouldn't be working as much as he used to, he hadn't kept his promise. "He had to go see a charge. A blond, perky one, probably."
"So you hate her because she's happy?" Prue asked, leading her sisters up to the shack.
"Not what I meant."
"Oh."
"OK," Phoebe interrupted, "let's just focus on this demon, OK?" Phoebe tried to turn the knob on the door, to no success. Prue motioned for her to move, and raised her hand. The door blasted open, spraying dust and dirt over them. The three sisters rushed into the room, and were greeted by a sullen looking demon. The skin on his face stretched so tightly over his face that it looked like a skull. If hadn't had eyes, he would have looked like a corpse. His long greasy hair hung down to his shoulders. He smiled as if he were looking upon an all-you-can-eat-buffet.
"Welcome," he said, pausing, "to my little shop of horrors." Piper lifted her hands to freeze him, but was too slow for Prue, who threw him across the room with a wave of her hand, and ran over, flipped over the couch, kicking him in the throat. She bent down and picked him up, kicking him back down, and continuing to beat him.
"What's with her doing this," Phoebe asked her sister. At the past six vanquishes, Prue had taken a strong lead and beat the demon to a bloody pulp before she allowed her sisters to vanquish them.
"She found a bracelet that Andy gave her, and I think it rekindled some old demons."
"But what about the plan?"
"She remembers, and she knows, but it's just – she can't focus with the thought of Andy; she says we're not doing it soon enough."
"We can't do it any sooner."
"You know, since my husband is always taken, maybe your boyfriend can help us out."
"No, he can't. He's almost as busy as Leo these days. He's trying to hide from Zotars, who want him because he helped me escape. It's becoming very dangerous for him."
"Yeah, I'd hate to think of what'd happen if he got caught."
"I'm not just talking about the demon." Phoebe looked over at Saden, who had a split lip, a broken nose, and looked to be missing a few teeth.
"What does that mean?" Piper refused to look at the demon.
"He knows I'm mad at him. He only has time to shimmer in and then right back out. I don't get to see him, and I'm feeling neglected."
Piper never got to answer, because the next moment, Saden mustered up enough strength and threw Prue through a window. Prue's astral projected appeared in front of Saden, who kicked her in the stomach, knocking the gum she had been chewing out of her mouth, onto the dusty floor.
"I liked that gum!" She exclaimed, punching him across the face. Piper and Phoebe rushed forward to pull Prue off of Saden.
"Let's just vanquish him," Piper said, freezing him.
In unison, the three chanted.
"Hear us now, the Power of Three,
Our conviction looks unto Thee,
Feel the pain you have dealt,
Fell your power for yourself!"
Saden unfroze and screamed as he exploded, in behind them, shimmered Cole.
"I'm here to help," he said.
"Wow, are you late or what?" Prue said exasperatedly. "Hey, can you give us a lift?"
"Are you stuck out here or something?"
"No," Phoebe said, "But we're far away from home, and she was wondering if you could shimmer us and the car home."
"Shimmer a car? You want me to shimmer four people and a car?"
"Just three people, Cole." Said Prue.
"No, Prue. Phoebe, Piper, me and you. Four people, one car."
"Whatever can you do it?" Cole stood straighter in a contemplating way.
"I could try." Cole followed the three of them out, and Piper got into the back, as Cole made his way around the Cole to the front; Phoebe, stopped midway trying to get into the front with Cole, and turned to address Prue.
"Isn't there something you're missing?" Phoebe asked her eldest sister.
"No, I don't think so, why?" Phoebe pointed around Prue, to her unconscious body. Prue had forgotten she astraled out.
"Oh." Prue's astral projection disappeared as Phoebe got into the car and shut the door. Prue ran to the jeep, and hopped in, shutting the door. Cole closed his eyes and concentrated. The entire jeep and all of its occupants shimmered out.
Prue's real body lay on the porch, glass covering her; she hadn't returned to her body for some reason.
-
"Cole, you did it!" Phoebe said as the jeep shimmered into the driveway. Prue looked around furiously, checking for mortals who might've seen.
"What if someone saw us?"
"No one saw us. If they had, I'm sure they would have stuck you all to trees and set you on fire by now.
-
Hours later, Piper stood making dinner, Phoebe and Cole were up in her room "training" and Prue sat in front of the Book of Shadows, searching for a way to vanquish the Source.
The sound of someone rapping on a door rang out through the manor. Piper left her cooking to answer it. Swinging the door open, Piper saw it was Darryl.
"Hi, Darryl, can I help you?" Piper asked a little shaky, afraid that they had been seen shimmering into their driveway. Piper's mind blinked fast as a warlock to Phoebe's future execution, and disappeared as quickly. Darryl walked right passed her into the manor, looking around.
"Is there something you're looking for, Darryl?"
"Yeah, you could say that. Is Prue around?"
"Of course. She's upstairs in the attic. Why?"
"I have a body in the hospital – in a coma."
"And?"
"It's an identical to Prue's 100%."
"What? But tha-that's not possible. She-she's not – Prue! Phoebe! Prue!" Phoebe, closely followed by Cole, and a few moments later, Prue.
"What's going on?"
"Darryl just said Prue is in a coma."
"I'm not in a coma," Prue said, weaving around Phoebe. "I'm right here."
"I know that, but I have an identical to you in a coma in the hospital. They want Phoebe and Piper to come down to the hospital to identify the body. I would do it, but they need a family member."
"Phoebe will go." Prue said. "Piper will get Leo to check with the Elders. We need to figure out why this is happening. I bet it has something to do with my astral projecting this morning. Cole, you go down to the underworld and see if any demons know about this. With me split up, I'm vulnerable, which makes us vulnerable. In the meantime, I'm going to cast a spell to turn into Manny Hanks, as much as I don't want to, I'm going to need a cover until we get this fixed. Piper, you search the Book of Shadows after asking Leo. And, you, Darryl, you need to go back to the station and keep this as quiet as possible." Prue spun on her heel and bounded away.
"Sorry for Prue," said Piper. "She's been a little extreme lately."
"No problem."
"You better go before Prue turns you into a frog or something."
"Or beats you into a blood pulp," Cole added. Phoebe turned and gave him a what-were-you-thinking look. Cole rose his eye brows. "I'll see you later, Honey." He bent down and kissed her, then shimmered out.
Cole turned and left, as Phoebe grabbed her jacket, hugged her sister and left. Piper took a deep breath.
"Leo!"
Prue sat on a sofa in the attic, scratching on a piece of paper, then, she scratched it out, and rewrote it. After several times of doing this, Prue gave up, picked up the pad and threw it. She began crying, as she pulled a bracelet out from her pocket. It was a silver bracelet, with a small rectangle attached to a chain. On the rectangle the words "For the girl who stole the beat of my heart –Andy" Prue slipped the bracelet on, and looked at it glint in the sun as her tear dropped onto the silver. She stood up, and held the bracelet against her wrist, and wrote a spell in her mind to turn her into Manny.
"Hey," Piper said to Manny, who came down the stairs.
"Hey. Did you talk to Leo?"
"Yeah. He said he'd go to the Elders and check. I wonder what Phoebe's doing."
-
Walking into a hospital room, Phoebe saw her oldest sister laying on the bed.
"Is this your sister?" A doctor asked Phoebe.
"Yes. That's her. Prudence Halliwell."
"Thank you, Ms. Halliwell. Your sister appears to be in a coma. She was found at an abandoned house in southern California. This was determined as her town of residence, so she was brought here. I'll leave you alone."
"Thank you, Doctor."
-
About an hour later, as Phoebe came into the manor, Leo orbed in, looking apprehensive.
"What's wrong?" Piper asked her husband. Phoebe joined them.
"Prue's body's in a coma. What's the news from the Elders?"
"They call is Astral Arrest. It's when someone with the power of astral projection tries to return to their body incompletely."
"What do you mean 'incompletely'?"
"It means that Prue left something behind. Did you take something off. A bracelet? Maybe your jacket?"
"What about Andy's bracelet?"
"No. I had that in my jacket here."
"There's another problem though; the Elders say that the last person who went into astral arrest died from it. Starvation," he added, seeing the wonder on their faces.
"I don't want to die of starvation," Prue said forcefully. Phoebe walked forward and hugged her sister.
"You won't, Honey. You won't." Phoebe gasped as she had a premonition.
Prue's astral projected appeared in front of Saden, who kicked her in the stomach, knocking the gum she had been chewing out of her mouth, onto the dusty floor.
"Prue! Your gum! You had gum in the shack, and the demon kicked you, making you spit it out! We've got to go to the shack. Cole!!!" Cole shimmered into the manor.
"You need to shimmer me and Prue to the shack. You, Piper, you need to go to the hospital for when Prue wakes up."
"There's a problem," Cole announced. "A demon knows about Prue's little problem, and is going to try and steal the gum. A seer tipped him off."
"Well, what are you waiting for?" Prue asked, astraling out. Cole grabbed Phoebe's hand and shimmered them out, as Leo and Piper hugged and orbed.
-
Prue raked the ground with her fingers, but couldn't find her gum. It was too late.
"Now what?"
"The hospital." Prue and Cole said together.
"The demon is going to try and kill me." Prue stood up. "Let's go." She astraled out.
-
"Where's the gum? Piper asked as her Prue and Phoebe and Cole astraled and shimmered respectively.
"A demon stole it. We think he's coming here." Prue peered around and saw no demon.
"Did you vanquish him?"
"No. No demon was here."
"Wait, a spell!" Phoebe exclaimed. "We'll use a spell."
"You can't," said Leo. "Prue's astral projection works by her using her telekinesis to create an astral projection. Because of her telekinesis, Prue's astral projection is stronger. And because she only has enough telekinetic power left to return to her body, her astral projection remains powerless."
"Are you going somewhere with this Leo?"
"If you don't return to your body on your own, you won't have your telekinesis power." Prue's face fell. She wouldn't have her power? She wouldn't be as strong without it. She looked down at her body, and decided.
"Let's do it. I can't protect innocents as an astral projection. Plus, it'll cost too much to keep me in here."
"Prue—"
"No. This is what I want. What we need."
-
The next day, Prue stood up, glad to be back in her body. She raised her hand, flicking her fingers, trying to telekinetically lift a robe off of a door. Nothing happened. She sighed as she stood up and went downstairs.
"Hey, Prue. You happy to be you?"
"Yeah, I am. But it's strange, not having my power. Makes me feel – incomplete."
"I know what you mean. When I went up there," said Piper, referring to when her husband took her up the Heav, where the Elders lived. "I want' allowed to use my powers."
"But that was different. You still had your powers. I have one power now – astral projection. And I'm not even sure if I can do that. I don't want to try it.
"At least we still have each other. I'd have been broken down if I lost you guys, too."
"But we weren't even in any danger, Prue."
"You're right. But I still couldn't stand to lose you."
Prue, and her sisters, Piper and Phoebe hugged each other. The Charmed Ones sat united, safe, to fight another day.
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I really hope this is good. I've taken up a new writing style. Plus, I write better (I think) when I read Harry Potter, as I have been doing lately. But enough of my life.
Hope you enjoy! Look for my next update: 4x02 Legend of Sleepy Halliwell.