"Primrose Empath"
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Prue was in the kitchen, focusing on trying to move a fork with her mind while Daina was at the table, flipping through a Cosmo magazine that had been left in the living room.
The girl was looking at new, fashionable fall clothing when Phoebe walked into the room, trying to pull the strings on her top for decoration to their proper place.
Spotting her sisters, the blonde walked over and looked a bit distressed about her clothing.
"Look at me. I am a fashion blunder. A Mademoiselle Don't." Phoebe held two fingers over her eyes.
"Drama queen." Daina sang as she flipped a page.
Prue then tried to move the fork again, but failed.
"Oh my God, you lost your powers?" Phoebe gasped.
"Can't lose what you never had." Prue said.
It was really her astral form that was trying to move the fork with her powers and Astral Prue faded off, going back to her body while Phoebe rolled her eyes.
"I hate it when she plays astral games." She muttered.
"She's trying to get a power kick for when we fight our new baddie. She's been less insane lately thank God." Daina said.
"Marco!" Phoebe called as she started to leave.
"Polo!" Prue could be heard from the attic.
Shrugging at this, Daina went back to looking through her magazine when her eyes settled on the Book that was left downstairs.
Putting the magazine down, she picked up the Book, her hand going on the cover and it glowed gold making her pull her hand away as a mark appeared on it.
"What the heck?" she asked.
The mark looked like an M with curved sides that had two triangles and teardrops around it.
Curiously, she placed her hand over it and her eyes turned gold as the mark glowed and she then pulled her hand away in shock as her eyes returned to their chocolate color.
Prue then came downstairs making the girl look over at her as the raven pulled her coat on and grabbed her purse along with her car keys.
"Hey, I'm heading to the dentist. I'll be back in a few hours. Phoebe will be leaving for her date with Cole and Leo and Piper should be home soon." Prue said.
"You really aren't gonna leave me alone anymore are you?" Daina asked.
"With your bad luck? Forget it." Prue scoffed.
"Hey, the crazy lady with a gun doesn't count. You were still in the house with me. Just tied up and partially blinded." Daina pointed out as Prue rolled her eyes.
"Uh huh. See ya, honey." Prue kissed her head and then left.
"Bye." Daina called, then turned her attention to the Book.
"Okay, let's add some stuff in here." She said grabbing a pen.
Opening the Book up to a blank page, she then wrote 'The Golden Radiance' on top, then drew the symbol that had appeared on the cover.
Once that was done, she then wrote down her barrier power and how it worked so far.
She had been trying to create a barrier around other objects and it seemed to work when she threw a vase in the air and created a barrier around it before it hit the ground and it landed safely in one piece.
From her memory, she knew that she was able to touch other people and the barrier would extend over them to protect the group from bullets, fireballs and energy balls.
Her eyes also glowed gold to recognize a demon that was in front of her or anyone that was a threat.
She then heard the door open and knew that Piper and Leo then came home, both bickering over something that Daina decided to stay out of for her own safety.
"Okay, what do you think of this outfit?" Phoebe asked as she came into the kitchen dressed in a pair of jeans and an orange belly shirt that's short sleeves went down around her shoulders.
"Kire." Daina chirped.
"What does that mean?" Phoebe asked.
"Pretty." Daina translated.
"Thanks." Phoebe beamed with a smile as she then sat down next to the girl and saw that he was writing in the Book.
"What are you doing?" she asked.
"I'm writing about the Golden Radiance for future generations. Plus, look at this. This mark appeared on the Book when I touched it. That never happened before." Daina said as she showed off the cover.
"Is that the mark for the Radiance?" Phoebe asked.
"I guess so." Daina shrugged.
"Okay, well, let's see what you wrote so far." The prophet said as she read the writing.
Kit came into the room and mewed at the duo as she jumped up onto the mahogany haired girl's lap and curled up on it as Daina scratched her light brown/beige ears.
"Wait, you can create barriers around other objects? When did you discover this?" Phoebe asked.
"Prue isn't the only one training." Daina said.
She then grabbed a plate, tossed it into the air making Phoebe yelp in worry, but calmed down when Daina held her hand out and a barrier appeared around the plate as it slowly lowered to the ground.
"Well, I was impressed. I wonder if you could do that with energy balls and send them back at the demons." Phoebe mused.
"I'm not crazy enough to try that." Daina said.
They then heard familiar voices speaking and got up to go check, Kit jumping to the floor and ran off while Daina carried the Book out with her.
What the two sisters found was Prue and Cole in the house talking to Piper and Leo.
"Hey. Look, it's my lunch date." Phoebe greeted as she walked over with her purse making Cole turn and smile at her.
"Sorry I'm late; I got held up on a case. You look amazing." Cole chuckled as he held her hands.
"It's all part of my master plan." Phoebe smirked.
"Uh, Phoebe, I wanted to talk to you about the signs…uh, the assignment that we were talking about on the phone." Prue said as she stumbled over her words as she glanced at Cole warily.
This made Daina realize they were talking about the supernatural.
"Where did it lead to?" Phoebe asked.
"To this incredibly tragic guy who's scared to leave his own home which might be okay if it weren't about to be torn down." Prue informed.
"Was there a social worker there?" Cole asked.
"No, but I was told that a deputy was going there this afternoon to evict him and he has no place to go." Prue said.
"So he's gonna be homeless?" Daina asked as she walked over to stand beside the tanned couple.
"Let me, um, make a call. See what I can do." Cole said as he patted his suit to find his cell phone.
"Kitchen." Piper supplied.
"Thank you." Cole nodded at her as he then headed off to use the phone.
Prue then groaned as she placed her hand over my jaw where her tooth was acting up again.
"Still bothering you, huh?" Piper asked.
"Yeah and it's really giving me a headache." Prue groaned.
"I'll get you something for it." Phoebe said as she went into the kitchen.
The remaining family members sat down on the chairs and couches.
"All right, what happened?" Piper asked.
"Well, when I walked in, this guy acted like he was in pain. He could feel my emotions and he could even feel my pain. He acted like it was his own pain and he was sobbing." Prue explained.
"Based on everything you said, Prue, it looks like your shut-in's a future Empath." Leo said just as Phoebe walked in with a bottle of aspirin and a water bottle.
"An Empath and me without my dictionary." Piper quipped.
"They're mortals who can actually feel what other people feel. It's a rare gift. When they die they often return to Earth as Empaths where they blend into society as councillors, elders, teachers. They use their sensitivity to guide mortals, ease their pain, even heal them." Leo explained.
"I-I don't think this guy would like at it like a gift. He-He's one big wrong nerve ending. You should have seen how he reacted to my toothache." Prue said.
"It could be he's rejecting his gift. Fighting the emotions he feels instead of embracing them." Leo said.
"Well, he sure sounds like an Innocent to me." Piper said.
"It would be a shame to lose a future Empath and all the good he'll do." Leo said.
"So what do we do? I mean, he has a power he doesn't want or understand." Daina said.
"What I don't understand is who sent the signs that you followed." Phoebe looked at Prue.
"It's hard to say. It could be them, could be…" Leo trailed off.
"Cole." Piper warned as the man stepped into the room.
"I got a guy at housing who can relocate your shut-in if he leaves voluntarily." Cole said as he wrote on a business card.
"Here's my card and have him page me." he said handing it to Prue.
"Thanks. All right." Prue said as she grabbed her coat and purse as she got up.
"Uh, Prue, do you want us to go with you?" Piper asked.
"No, this guy can barely deal with one person let alone four, but thank you." Prue said as she then walked out.
"Okay then, ready for lunch?" Cole asked as Phoebe stood up.
"Lunch would be great. Do you mind if we joined ya?" Leo asked making everyone stare at him.
"I mean, it'd be great. Two couples on the town. In the real world. What could be greater?" Leo asked making Piper chuckle hesitantly.
"It's up to you." Cole said to Phoebe.
"Why not? Oh, but Daina." Phoebe said making everyone look at the girl.
"I can call Darryl and have him call in the check on me." Daina suggested.
"I-I don't know." Piper said.
"Come on, she's a big girl. And Prue will be back soon. She'll survive long enough." Cole said patting the girl's head.
"Fine, but I will be calling in too. If there's any trouble, call 911, us, whoever seems important." Piper said.
"I promise." Daina held her hand up.
The two couples then left the house and Daina quickly started locking all the windows and the doors, then sat down on the couch with Kit.
"Okay, let's see what I can do to kill the boredom." Daina said as she picked up the math work that Prue had printed out for her.
Kit mewed as she curled up on the couch, watching over the girl.
The girl was working on her math, unknown to the fact that a tiny portal opened up and a large blue dragon was spying on her.
Sensing something off, Daina looked over to where the portal was located, but it was then gone.
Not seeing anything, she shrugged it off and went back to work.
(Later on…)
Hearing the door open from upstairs, Daina got up from her bed and walked down the stairs to see Cole walking out of the door with Prue gasping as he passed by her and Phoebe looking heartbroken.
"What happened?" Daina asked as she walked over.
"Are you okay?" Phoebe asked Prue as she was taking in a deep breath.
"Whoa, I haven't felt anything like that since Andy was alive." Prue said breathlessly with her hand over her heart.
"Anything like what?" Phoebe asked.
"Spinning into infinity. You know, that…headlong spiral that steals your breath and stops your heart." Prue chuckled lightly.
"I'm lost." Daina said.
"Prue, what the hell are you talking about?" Phoebe asked.
"Falling in love." Prue said.
"Falling in love? Prue, I just got dumped, okay; I'm trying to experience a break-up here. Who's falling in love?" Phoebe asked.
"Cole." Prue said making Phoebe chuckle while Daina was clueless.
"Okay, you are so off track." Phoebe denied making Prue gasp.
"What? What happened?" Daina asked in worry.
"Wait, I felt that too. Phoebe, your heart just jumped and…I felt it. You're falling in love too." Prue pointed at her.
The sisters were silent, in shock as Prue chuckled happily.
"Um, what?" Phoebe asked.
"I cast a spell to take away Vince, the Empath's, power and I've been feeling these things ever since." Prue explained.
Phoebe and Daina shared a look at this.
"Leo!" Daina yelled heading for the kitchen with Phoebe and Prue following.
"We got a problem." Phoebe said as they found Piper and Leo in the kitchen.
"Prue cast a spell to remove Vince's pain." Phoebe said.
"Who's Vince?" Piper asked holding a coffee mug.
"The shut-in. But, uh, I think, call it a hunch, that it backfired and it made Prue an Empath." Phoebe said.
"What kind of hunch?" Leo asked.
Phoebe then pinched Piper making her exclaim in pain at the same time as Prue, then Piper pinched Phoebe back making Prue yelp along with Phoebe.
Everyone then stared at the telekinetic in surprise.
"Uh oh." Piper said.
"Uh, okay, I don't really know how it happened, all right. All I was trying to do was help an Innocent… What is that I'm feeling? You. You're feeling fear. Spill it." Prue looked at Leo accusingly as he appeared nervous.
"I'm-I'm afraid you're in danger. You weren't meant to receive this gift. You can't handle it." Leo said.
"Okay, you're looking at it all wrong. Uh, okay, I was guided to Vince, remember? Maybe I was meant to have this gift." Prue insisted.
"But Prue, you're not an Empath. You're just a witch." Piper pointed out.
"Right, a witch who's power come from her emotions, all right? Look, I-I was searching for a power boost to fight Balthezor, maybe this is it. Will you guys stop being so negative?" Prue asked.
"We didn't say anything." Phoebe said.
"Yeah, but I can feel all of you-"
The mini TV behind them then exploded making them all cry out as they turned to look at the broken screen, sparks crackling inside from the wires.
"What was that?" Leo asked as Piper had her arms around Daina.
"I think I did it. It's just, all of your doubts are screaming in my head. I-I've gotta get a hold of this." Prue ran her hand through her hair.
"The Book of Shadows, maybe there's something about Empaths." Phoebe said walking by Prue.
"Where are you going?" Prue asked.
"To help you." Phoebe said.
"Yeah, but you're dying to see Cole." Prue said.
"Stop that. I did not say that." Phoebe frowned.
"Phoebe, go to him, all right. Tell him what's in your heart. I think you'll find a receptive." Prue told her.
"Prue, I can't. I've got to stay here with you. Do-Do you really think he'll be receptive?" Phoebe asked.
"Yes. Now go get your man. He wants you." Prue smiled.
The two sisters then hugged at and the prophet then left to go see Cole.
Piper and Leo then looked at the TV while Prue started to head for the Book, Daina following after her with the other two following.
"We'll help you out." Leo offered.
"No, no, no. I'll hit the Book alone. You guys' couple issues are really starting to hurt my head." Prue said.
"Wait, we have couple issues?" Piper asked looking at Leo.
"Resentment, denial. Be nice. Let's go." Prue grabbed Daina's hand and pulled her up.
"Why am I going with you?" Daina asked as they walked to the attic.
"Because apparently I can't feel any of your emotions. Not sure how, but I can't." Prue said as they came up to the Book.
Opening the Book, Daina came to the page she started on the Radiance.
"Sou ka. Then, I guess I can add protection from Empaths to the page." She said grabbing a pen and wrote it down.
"You've been keeping track of your powers?" Prue asked reading over the page.
"Yeah, no one knows about my powers, so I might as well write down what I've learned." Daina said.
"Good, good. Oh, God." Prue groaned as she walked over to the door.
"Not now, I have a headache!" she called down.
"What? What's going on?" Daina asked.
"Leo and Piper are…making up." Prue said coming back over to the Book and they began to search for anything on Empaths.
(The next morning…)
Daina woke up the next morning to find that Prue was missing and found Piper and Leo searching for her.
"Hey, where's Prue?" the Keeper asked.
"I don't know. She wasn't in her room. Did you see her?" Piper asked.
"Not since I went to bed last night." Daina said.
"Why were you around her? Weren't your emotions getting to her?" Piper asked.
"No, she said she couldn't feel mine." Daina shook her head.
"It must be her powers. She can create barriers, so maybe she's subconsciously putting up a barrier around her emotions, a shield if you will, to keep out an Empath's powers." Leo explained.
"That makes sense. Now back to finding Prue. Where could she be?" Piper asked
Biting her lip, Daina then looked over to see Kit over by the basement door and walked over.
"Daina?" Piper called.
The girl opened up the door and heard quiet sobbing which made the trio go down the steps to find Prue was there with the Book in front of her.
She was crouched down, hands on her head, rocking back and forth with tears streaming down her face.
"Prue, what's the matter? What are you doing in the basement?" Piper asked as she and Leo came down.
"I'm just trying to escape." Prue sobbed as she stood up.
"The emotions. They-They're everywhere. I can't get away." Prue gasped.
"What do you mean?" Leo asked.
"It's not just you and Piper. I'm picking up things from other peoples' houses. These people and their in my head. And in my heart. It just hurts." Prue hyperventilated.
Piper stepped closer to go comfort her, but Prue held her hand up to stop her as she backed up to the wall.
"No! Stay away. Piper, no contact." Prue breathed.
"Okay." Piper stopped.
Prue then slid down the wall and sobbed as she ran her hands through her hair, gasping in pain.
"God, it's just so hard to concentrate. To even talk. I just want it to go away. It feels like it's going to-"
The wooden beam above them then broke making everyone gasp in shock and jump back.
"What was that?" Piper asked.
"Her Empathic ability. The more she feels, the more powerful she becomes." Leo said.
"This is not a good thing." Daina said as she walked over to Prue.
The raven clung to the girl, relieved that there was one person she couldn't feel the emotions from and who wouldn't cause her pain.
"All right, if this is a gift, then we are returning it. It was not meant for you. Come on, we're gonna find this Vince guy. Come on. I know, I know. You're gonna be okay." Piper said as she and Daina helped Prue up.
(Later on…)
They had arrived at the building where there were police and paramedics that were wheeling a dead body into the ambulance.
Prue was moaning in pain as Daina held her, trying to comfort her as Leo, Piper and Phoebe went to check out the room Vince was in.
"It hurts, it all hurts." Prue sniffled.
"Shh, it's okay. Don't worry, we're gonna help you." Daina whispered comfortingly as she rubbed her sister's back.
"No one can help me. It's driving me insane. I feel like needles are piercing my skull." Prue said as she began to sweat and clung painfully to Daina.
Seeing her older sister in so much pain was bringing Daina to tears and she was thankful that her emotions weren't hurting her as well.
Just then, the others came running out to the car and quickly got inside.
"Vince is a demon. He's after the Empath who cursed him." Phoebe said quickly as she got inside the car.
"Nani?" Daina asked.
(Crest Hills Psychiatric Hospital…)
"And who are you here to visit today?" the nurse at the front desk asked as Phoebe signed the visiting papers.
"Um, we came to visit our father." Phoebe said.
"What's his name?" the old nurse asked.
"Dad?" Phoebe smiled nervously.
"This is a psychiatric facility." The nurse began as Phoebe gestured for Piper to freeze her.
"We can't very well let every-"
"Okay." Piper said as she flung her hands up and immobilized the woman.
"This place is a minefield for you. You should wait here." Leo spoke to Prue.
"No, if Vince comes, I need to be there to reverse the spell." Prue said as she stood up and the group started walking.
They walked inside the room that was filled with mostly old people, one even being dressed like Santa Claus, as they searched for the Empath.
"That looks like the guy from my premonition." Phoebe pointed at a man looking out the window.
Daina stood beside Prue as Leo, Piper and Phoebe walked over to talk to the man.
"So, how ya doing so far?" Daina asked.
"Fine. Everyone's calm right now, so I feel fine. Good thing these people are all drugged up on happy pills to keep calm." Prue chuckled weakly.
"I wish I knew how to help, but I just don't know what to do." Daina said.
"Hey, you're trying. That's all that matters. Just remember to always try and never give up no matter what." Prue advised.
Daina smiled and nodded at that as she then glanced around the room of the people playing checkers, painting, reading, watching TV or simply sitting around doing nothing while a few doctors monitored them.
Prue was then shuddering for breath as she felt the Empath's anger rise.
"You didn't cast a spell?" the Empath demanded.
"She did, but-"Piper was cut off.
"I gave up everything to prevent that beast form killing again!" the Empath yelled as he grabbed Piper.
Some of the patients were startled as Prue felt their fear and her powers acted up, making things move which created more fear.
"If it's free, you can't stop it! Nobody can!" the Empath yelled.
The hospital began to shake as Prue tugged at her hair, fighting off the pain she felt and things began to fly around the room while the doctors tried to get the hallucinating patients out.
(Back at the manor…)
Prue was rocking back and forth in the basement as she clung to Daina, burying her face in her chest to try and hide from the emotions that were attacking her.
Blinking tear filled eyes; Daina looked up to where Leo was as he watched them and then upstairs to check on Piper, Phoebe and the Empath.
The raven was sobbing into her sister's chest, the pain being too much.
"It's okay. It's okay. Everything will be okay. Just don't give up. You told me not too and now I'm telling you the same thing. Don't you dare give up on me. The Prue I know is stronger than this." Daina sniffled as she tried to sound strong.
Just then, the Empath and Leo came down the stairs and walked over to the sisters.
"Go away!" Prue yelled as she tried to hide herself behind her sister.
"I know how you feel. Your instinct is to pull away. Don't. Try to find any inner calm." The Empath advised.
"I can't. The pain…" Prue shook her head.
"You're carrying a cross you were never meant to bare. I'm sorry." He said.
"You're sorry. I can't-I can't take it. please." Prue sobbed.
"You've been fighting what you feel. That's natural and it's wrong. To find your strength as an Empath, you must embrace the emotion. Focus on me. The feelings are ripping your apart because you're fighting them, like the demon did. A demon can't handle human emotions. You can." The Empath encouraged.
Sounds of a fight could be heard upstairs meaning that Vinceres had found them.
"Prue, take my hand." The Empath kneeled in front of her and held his hand out to her.
Looking at him, Prue reached out and hesitantly took his hand, then held it in a firm grip as he wrapped his other hand around her own.
"My power to ease human suffering lay in my hands. That's how I cursed the demon. You must channel the Empathic gift into your power." He said.
"I can't. I can't control my power." Prue whispered.
"Prue, you can do it. You have a once in a lifetime opportunity to feel the world's emotions. All it means to be human. The good and the bad. Don't be afraid." The Empath said.
Taking in a deep breath, Prue then forced herself to her feet and calmed herself down as she then headed for the stairs.
"Oh, thank God. I think she was bruising my ribs." Daina groaned as she stood up.
They then followed after the repowered Prue and walked into the parlor where they found Vinceres choking Phoebe while Piper was on a broken antic couch.
"You want him? Come and get him." Prue said.
Flinging her arm, Prue made Vinceres drop phoebe as he went flying back.
"How'd you do that?" he asked.
"If you want the Empath, you're going to have to go through me." Prue stated.
Looking between the demon and their sister, Phoebe and Piper stood up.
"Stay back. This is my fight." Prue said.
She then ran at Vinceres and seemed to be levitating in the air as she continuously kicked him in the chest making him stumble back.
He then got back up and they started throwing hits at each other, Prue swerving out of his reach, then jumped over to the stair railing and used it to kick herself off the wall and kick Vinceres in the face.
Smirking, he levitated back to his feet chuckling.
"You can't hurt me, witch. I can handle your powers." He said and then wrapped his hand around her neck.
They stared into each other's eyes as Prue then grinned as she used her powers to pull his hand away from her neck and then flipped into the air, landing behind him, then lifted her leg up and kicked him in the back of the head.
The two went back to hand to hand combat, Prue growing cocky as she folded one arm behind her back to fend him off, grabbed his arm and then used her hand to push him onto the floor.
"I can handle your powers." He said through gritted teeth as he stood up.
"What about pain? Human pain?" Prue asked making his eyes go wide.
Astral Prue then appeared and she jumped inside of Vinceres' body making him scream in pain as he seemed to be burning from the inside out and then he exploded, leaving Astral Prue.
Prue then lifted her head up and smiled at her astral form that returned the gesture before fading away.
"The voices, they're gone." Prue informed.
Everyone then got up from the floor and walked out from their hiding places to go over to the telekinetic.
"So, you're not an Empath anymore?" Phoebe asked.
"I'm sorry. I was hoping that we could return your gift." Prue turned to the Empath.
"But you did. It appears I have the ability to understand what people are feeling even without a magic assist." The Empath smiled.
"You kicked ass." Daina smirked.
"I did, didn't I?" Prue grinned cheerfully as the four sisters laughed.
The next night, the girls went to P3 to celebrate after Prue went to the dentist and Daina spent the night sleeping peacefully, unaware of a dragon appearing in her room, watching over her with a proud smile.
He ran his claws through her hair gently, then faded away.
To be continued…