Prue was confused by the sudden quietness of her surroundings, she was still in the attic, but Chris wasn't anywhere to be seen, and the attic was eerily silent. There wasn't any ambient noises, no crickets chirping away in the garden, no distant echo of a dog's bark somewhere, nothing. It was almost as if she was the only one in San Francisco.
She looked around her once more, "Chris?" she called hopefully, but received no answer of any sort. She took slow, cautious steps towards the attic door, and peered outside. When she saw no signs of danger, she ventured out of the attic, both her hands raised and ready to attack. She descended the steps, one by one, careful not to make a sound that might warn her enemies of her whereabouts. Granted, she still had no idea what was going on, but that didn't mean that she can't be careful.
Once she reached the second floor, she slowly made her way over to the first room; Piper's room. She opened the door slowly, wincing when it creaked, only for her eyes to nearly bug out of her skull when she found the bed completely empty and made, showing no signs whatsoever that it had been used lately, if not ever.
"Piper?" she called, looking around the room to see if she is hiding in some unseen corner, but her sister's voice didn't sound from the room, or from anywhere else for that matter.
"Leo?" she tried, looking up at the ceiling, and listening intently for the familiar jingle of orbs that announced his arrival, but none came.
She opened all the rooms, and every single time she was met with the same scene. An empty bed in a deserted room, which had no signs of life whatsoever. No Phoebe, no Paige, and no Andie; even the nursery was completely empty and showed no signs of Wyatt.
Panic was starting to settle in, she who never panicked, was seconds away from completely losing it. It had to be a very powerful demon to take her entire family with one blow, including the children. She darted towards the stairs, and ran down them two at a time, completely throwing caution to the wind as she frantically called out the names of her sisters, "Phoebe? Paige?" but she was only met with silence.
"Andie?" she nearly screamed, fear gripping her heart and desperation making her choke on her own breath, "come on baby, come to mommy" she pleaded, as she searched the first floor for any signs of her sisters, daughter, and nephew.
"Leo? Chris?" she cried through her tears, but no one answered her. She couldn't understand how any of this could happen, how could they all disappear suddenly, and all at the same time.
She darted once more for the stairs, and ran all the way back to the attic, throwing the door open as she stumbled over her own feet towards the book. Her eyes nearly bugged out of her skull when she saw the empty pages, her already erratic breathing becoming even more ragged and shallow as she frantically flipped through the pages, the very empty pages.
Her entire focus was on the pages, and trying to make sense of her situation, that she didn't notice the man who appeared before her, until his soft voice pulled her back to earth, and had her heart stopping in her chest.
"Hello Prue" he greeted softly, and she froze but refused to look up. She knew this voice, she knew it very well. She hadn't heard it in six years and she thought that she never will. She stayed in her place, her eyes looking down at her hand, and only looked up when a hand came into view, and covered her own.
She blinked a few times, but he was still there. She couldn't believe her eyes, she had tried summoning him numerous times before and failed miserably. She had only seen him in her dreams, but they were never this vivid. She was never able to touch him, something was always keeping them apart. But now he was there, standing in front of her, looking into her eyes, his hand rubbing hers gently, a reassuring smile gracing his lips. His eyes were still as mesmerizing as they always had been, and they still held the same warmth and love that she had always seen in them. Seems like not even death deterred them.
"Andy?" she whispered.
Piper was sleeping peacefully in Leos's arms, when she was snapped out of the beautiful dream she was having by Chris basically barreling into the room, "Aunt Piper" he cried desperately, and almost pleadingly. Leo jolted at the sound of Chris's voice, but didn't get enough time to reprimand Chris, since he saw the look on his face.
"Chris, is everything alright?" he asked, once he noticed the fear and panic, and the tears brimming in his eyes.
"Mom's missing" he declared, and Piper didn't know whether to cry out in joy that he finally called Prue 'Mom' or panic about the other part of the sentence.
"Chris, calm down. What do you mean missing?" she inquired.
"We were talking in the attic, when a demon shimmered out of nowhere and attacked us both. I easily vanquished him, but when I turned around I didn't find her" he recounted.
"Leo" Piper breathed frantically, and he didn't need her to say anything more. He immediately closed his eyes, and tried to sense for Prue.
He knitted his brows in confusion, before he slowly opened his eyes.
"Leo, please don't tell me that she's dead!" Piper pleaded, and he shook his head.
"If she was, I'd disappear" Chris assured her, without taking his eyes off of Leo's confused face.
"Chris is right, she's not dead, and she's here" he stated, and it was now Piper and Chris's turns to be confused.
"Here where?" Piper asked.
"Here in the manor" he replied, though his voice sounded as confused as she looked.
"How can this be?" Chris wondered, and they both looked blankly at him.
"I'll go ask the Elders" Leo exclaimed, as he orbed off and Piper shuffled from under the covers.
"Go wake Phoebe, and I'll get Paige" she instructed, "try not to wake Andie, I really don't want to have to explain where her mommy is, and let's hope we find her before she wakes up" she added, as an afterthought as she made her way to Paige's room.
All three sisters, and Chris rushed into the attic, where Chris said it all went down, as he recounted the story one more time for Phoebe and Paige.
Piper and Paige immediately rushed over to the book, trying to find a way to locate their sister, while Phoebe tried to summon a premonition from where the potion shattered.
"Did you try summoning her?" Piper asked.
"Yes, I tried all that and nothing worked" he answered desperately.
"Don't worry honey, we'll get her back" Paige assured him softly.
"Why don't you go down to the Underworld and see if you can find out anything about this seemingly random attack?" Phoebe suggested, and he nodded.
He teleported out, just as Leo orbed in.
"What did they say?" Piper asked.
"They say that it is possible that she really is in the manor, just on a different dimension" he replied.
"Like the time with four horsemen of the Apocalypse" Phoebe realized.
"That would explain why Chris couldn't summon her, she's already here" Piper guessed, and Leo nodded, "and why when I sense for her, I sense her here" he affirmed, and she sighed in frustration.
"Well, there is nothing in the book about how to open portals between dimensions" Paige pointed out in frustration.
"And I struck out on the potion stain" Phoebe chimed in.
"Why don't we instead of casting a spell to find her, we cast a spell to show us how?" Paige suggested, looking at her sisters.
"I think I can tweak the 'to call a lost witch spell' to ask for help with finding her" Phoebe said thoughtfully.
Prue and Andy seemed to be locked in a staring match, neither willing to look away and neither willing to say anything. She was still expecting him to disappear, but all he did was walk around the podium so he was no standing in front of her.
"I won't disappear Prue" he assured her, and before she knew it, she had lunged at him, wrapping her arms around his neck. Tears and sobs wracked her body when she felt his arms wrap around her shaking body, as he shushed her gently, "it's okay baby, I'm here" he murmured soothingly.
"I missed you so much" she hiccuped, and it made him tighten his arms around her even more.
"I missed you too baby" he confessed, as he pulled back slightly so he can look into her eyes, "I knew you wouldn't shun me out" he added, and she looked confused.
"The shape shifter who took your place, whenever I tried speaking to her, she would claim that it brought her too much pain because of our daughter" he explained, and she smiled sadly, "she's beautiful, she reminds me of you sometimes" she stated, and he smiled, "I know, I watch over her all the time" he said, as he rested his forehead against hers.
"Am I dead?" she asked, and he shook his head softly, "no. You're in a different dimension, and you are very much alive" he replied.
"Then how can you be here?" she whispered.
"Because you need me" he said simply.
"Will the power of three be enough?" Paige asked, as Phoebe handed her her copy of the spell.
"Yeah, I used the spell that gave us our powers as well, so it should work" she answered, just as Chris teleported in.
"Hey, did you find anything?" Piper wondered.
"The demon that attacked was sent to distract me. She's in a different dimension" he answered, "but we have another problem" he added.
"Please don't tell me you found out who is responsible for turning Wyatt, now, of all times" Piper snapped.
"No" he said, as he pulled his hand out of his pocked, and they all gasped.
His hand was transparent.
"What the hell is happening to him?" Piper screeched.
"I think with Prue stuck in the alternate dimension, his existence in itself is threatened" Leo elaborated.
"Great, is there any other surprises we need to know about?" Paige asked sarcastically.
"Only that today is my conception day" his voice was barely a tad over a whisper that they all thought they imagined it.
"That was rhetorical" Paige squeaked.
"But I'm serious!" he shot back.
"And you never thought of sharing that little piece of information before?" Paige reprimanded angrily.
"Who the hell is your father?" Piper demanded.
"I can't tell you" he objected.
"Chris, Prue is stuck in a different dimension, and you are fading away. I say you need to stop worrying about future consequences, and worry about the present ones" Phoebe listed urgently.
"You won't believe me if I told you" he said dejectedly.
"Try us" Leo urged.
Prue had her head resting on Andy's chest, and to her surprise she could hear a heartbeat, "how come I can hear your heart beating?" she asked.
"Because technically speaking, I am alive. Only in this dimension, and only for as long as you're here. Once you go, I go" he explained.
"You're making me choose between you and my family, between you and your daughter!" she cried, as she backed away from him.
"You don't have to choose Prue, you don't belong here. Andie and your sisters need you, same for Chris" he stated.
"You know about him?" she asked.
"Of course I do, I watch over you all the time, so I know he's yours. And I see the pain in his eyes every time he looks at you. He loves you very much, and he misses you terribly. He needs you, he needs his mother, and Andie just got you back. There is no choice, I am here until your sisters figure out a way to get you back to your own dimension" he elaborated.
"As long as I am here, you are; but as soon as I go back, I lose you again, and you have the audacity to stand there and tell me that it isn't a choice" she yelled.
"It isn't a choice because you don't get a say in it. Once they find a way, you are going back whether you want to or not. You're not meant to stay here, but I am" he shot back.
"Now where did I hear that before?" she snapped, and he smiled sadly at her.
"I know I should've listened to you, but I was meant to distract Rodriguez long enough for Piper to get back up and freeze him, otherwise he would've killed Phoebe" he appealed.
"No" she cried through her tears, "you were supposed to stay in the car, you were supposed to be there during the first sonogram, you were supposed to witness your daughter's birth. I wasn't supposed to stand over your grave and regret every minute I ever spent without you. I wasn't supposed to walk around with the guilt of your death hanging over my head. Your daughter was supposed to grow up under your watchful eye, she was supposed to know what a loving father you are. But all of that didn't happen, BECAUSE YOU BROKE YOUR PROMISE" she sobbed, screaming the last part.
He let her yell at him, he let her let it all out, she needed it and it was the least he could do. He closed the distance between them, and pulled her into him. She tried to resist, she punched his chest a few times, but he persisted and finally succeeded. She rested her head against his chest, sobs wracking through her body as she continued to punch his chest, although their force was getting weaker with each blow.
"You promised you would stay away, you promised you won't come in and then you did. You wanted nothing from the life of a witch, and you still ran into a wiccan fight" she sobbed.
"I couldn't bear the thought of losing you" he whispered into her hair.
"And you think I could, you were trying to protect me and you died" she cried.
"Prue, my death was not your fault. I was the one who ran in, even though I knew you had your powers, even though I knew you could defend yourself, but I didn't think about any of that when I ran in. All I could think about was how much I loved you, and how much it would hurt me to lose you" he poured his heart to her, as his own tears streamed down his face.
"I was wrong when I thought that I wanted a normal life; all I wanted was a life with you. I didn't care if it was normal or not, but I didn't realize that till it was too late" he continued, "I'm so sorry baby" he apologized, bringing a hand to cradle her head, when her sobs turned into gut wrenching wails.
Piper, Phoebe and Paige had just finished chanting the spell, and before the echo of the last word faded, they were surrounded by a golden light and disappeared.
"Where did they go?" Chris asked, and Leo immediately closed his eyes to sense for them.
"Leo" Chris called, when he noticed the shocked expression Leo had on his face.
Leo slowly opened his eyes, "go get Wyatt, and I'll get Andie. Try not to wake him" Leo instructed, as he walked off without another word. Chris looked confused but he followed him nonetheless.
The girls were standing in a long corridor that seemed to have no end.
"What is this place?" Paige asked.
"I have no idea" Phoebe answered.
"Did the spell not work?" Piper asked, but before any of her sisters could answer, the jingle of orbs interrupted, announcing the arrival of Leo and Chris, with both sleeping children to the three women's surprise.
"Leo, what is this place?" Piper questioned.
"Magic School"