Chapter Fifteen

"Our path is not to question the Elders," said Melisandre and there was a general shakiness to her voice as she looked around. Paige and the woman where at the edge of the Heavenly realm, able to look below and see a portion of the Earth.

At first it had been easy to get lost in it all: The golden buildings stretching up into the sky, the intermix between cityscape and forestry, and the abundance of flora which sent a sweet scent permeating through the air. But she'd taught herself to focus.

She looked at the woman, taking in her expression:

"The thing we have to remember," said Leo. "Is that there have always dissenters in the Heavenly Realm. They've just chosen to soften their voices over the years because the futility of their actions has started to filter through. But the point remains, not every whitelighter enjoys our current utility."

She seemed to be stuck between fear and uncertainty, but Paige knew the deeper expression. She'd had conversations similar to this, spread across dimensions. She knew the right people to talk to, but the more important thing now was figuring out the right pace.

"I know," said Paige and she let out a long sigh. She looked below, letting her features morph. "But… We've already lost so many innocents either to darklighters or demons."

"Even so, the Elders have a path for action," she said. "The Charmed Ones have manifested their powers and even in two months they've already vanquished many an evil."

"But they're just one set of witches," said Paige. She took in another breath and shook her head. "I have faith in the Elders," she said. "At least them I understand. But all this faith on untrained, untested witches tipping the scale between good and evil…"

"The Elders have a plan of action," she said but Paige could sense the doubt there.

She shrugged. "I'll have to trust that too," she said. "A charge is calling me." She and Melisandre shared a quick nod before Paige focusing on the location, convincing herself she was there and then feeling herself burst apart and reform.

Paige appeared just outside a neighbourhood and started walking, moving a block before she turned into a small house. It was a room house, the dimensions stretched a little so the house appeared to be bigger. As she stepped in a putrid smell passed through the house. Paige walked into the kitchen and Joanna was there watching over three separate cauldrons.

The girl looked up and smiled. "Hey, Mom," she said, sprinkling some black plants into one cauldron. There was a puff of smoke that quickly dissipated. "Everything okay up there?"

"Still working various angles," she said with a sigh. "It's a little tiring though. I think the years have weened away the amount of independence that they have."

"You'll make it work," said Joanna.

Paige gave a nod and walked to the fridge, pouring herself some orange juice. "Any word from your siblings or cousins?" she asked.

"Letita was around to bring in some supplies," she said. "I've worked so that there are a few more vials of potions so that you and the others can keep your forms. Speaking of which you should really drink one, it's getting easier for my mind to grasp who you are."

Paige held out a hand and a potion appeared in her hand. She took a gulp and her face creased in discomfort as she felt the potion running through her; muscles twisted just beneath the surface, skin stretching and bones shifting.

The witch let out a long breath before the potion settled.

"Doesn't get even a bit easier," she muttered under her breath. "Want any help with the potions?"

Joanna gave a smile at that. Paige started to work, getting into the routine. Three hours and her other kids started to arrive through portals from the Halliwell dimension, getting their batch of potion and spending some time with Paige before they returned to their tasks.

Later in the day Paige visited her other charges. A woman that was having a hard time in her teaching position, a lawyer who'd just found out a client had committed a murder, a kid who had just manifested and was thinking on using his abilities on bullies; the last didn't work out so well.

"You've lost this one," said the darklighter. He was on the shorter side with brown eyes and black hair. "Run off back to heaven little whitelighter," he muttered.

Paige orbed away. "I'm going to have to have a talk with that kid," Paige muttered under her breath. The witch was powerful enough that it was better if he was on their side, seeing the world not just as black and white but with some complexity to it.

Witches of that power were better trained by Jeremy. It was dangerous but they already had a plan. In one timeline a Paige would have gone into the Halliwell dimension while in the other she would have stayed on earth.

She, the Paige on earth, kept making the rounds: Watching the emotional disposition of those under her charge, helping out a coven of three as they tried to find a demon that was terrorising Chicago.

"I've seen you fight," said Sheila. "You could help us in this fight."

Paige had to shake her head. "I'm a whitelighter," she said for the fourth time to the very same woman. "I work more as a guide than anything else."

The woman closed her eyes and stretched out her sense. The moment she felt that all her charges were at ease Paige focused on the destination and appeared in the Heavenly Realm. As always there was a mill of whitelighters who weren't on active duty, conversations being shared, but more so than ever, there was a hum of activity.

Paige ignored it. She was new enough that she wouldn't be given any sensitive information. Instead she spent her time reading through the realm's collection of history books. It was surprising how much information the Heavenly Realm had on demons, but then, when Paige really thought about it, it shouldn't be: The Elders were one of the first magical races to exist.

But much though she wanted to know about demons, the Angels of Destiny were of a greater interest.

Much like other higher beings they had their own dimension accessible only to them. There was even greater information about their powers: An omniscience that was anchored to the present, but what made them powerful was the fact that they were rumoured to have an infinite amount of power under their control.

But when Paige thought about it, the idea didn't gel. They'd never had the opportunity to fight the Angels of Destiny, but they'd had time to build up wards and in those times wards had helped fend them off. Spells to hide them from sight, sound and scent had nullified their omniscience.

It made more sense if this knowledge was propaganda, making it so no one even considered fighting the Angels.

In my right mind I wouldn't have done this, Paige thought sardonically. But she'd died and a lot too. There were timelines where she'd lived long and hadn't been embroiled in magic and in those timelines she hadn't sent her kids back in time.

She felt the anger as she thought about everything, the situation she was aware of and she felt like lashing out. Instead she took in a long breath. It was only a matter of time before the status quo was broken beyond measure.

Even so she felt like venting and she knew Prue would be in the middle of a battle. She focused, running through the connections to her sisters and she watched: