Phoebe set the Book of Shadows back on its pedestal. "There, back where it belongs." She said happily and began checking pages, making sure the spells were also the way they should be. "Uh, guys I think we missed something."
"What?" Prue hurried over. "What's this?" Reading the inscription. "Rite of passage, fight it with the Power of One."
"That's what we read yesterday." Cordelia said. "Just before the Book was stolen by Abraxes."
"There's more here." Phoebe told her. "The Book was taken before we finished reading it "
"What's it say?" Piper asked.
"Fight it with the Power of One or else a more powerful evil that awaits will destroy you."
"So if we'd fought some other way than by joining our powers, we'd have been destroyed by a bigger evil?" Prue asked. "Does the fact that Xander and Cordelia helped affect that? I know we wondered before, but that was before I saw this inscription. Did we pass or didn't we?"
"You passed." A voice said and Grams appeared before them.
"Grams!" Piper exclaimed. "Don't we have to summon you to see you?"
"Most of the time, yes, but I was allowed to come to you and tell you that you passed. Xander and Cordelia supported you and protected you while you fought, but the three of you did the actual fighting and reclaimed the Book from Abraxes, therefore you passed your rite of passage."
"What was the purpose of this, Grams?" Prue asked. "Why make us go through this?"
"Same as any rite of passage in any culture, to mark a milestone, to ceremonially transition you from one state of life to another and to give you the chance to choose, to commit, to the path you're walking. To become the next generation of our family that chooses to fight evil. And I'm very proud of you, of all of you, including you, Cordelia and Xander. And trust me, I don't say things like that to men very often."
"Will there be other tests?" Prue asked seriously, wondering how she could prepare for them if there were.
"You could say life is a test." Grams told her. "There's always moral decisions to make, but formal announced and informal unannounced tests, yes to both. And lessons to be learned along the way, but that's life."
"My counterpart said something like that." Xander said. "And so did the Spirit Guides. My counterpart told us that there would be a moral reckoning eventually for choices made, that everyone eventually faces that fact. The Spirit Guides said there are always chances to make better choices."
"They're both right." Grams agreed. "Try to make good choices, my darlings. And Xander, you owe them chocolate, honestly, invoking Murphy? Nearly three years doing this and you still haven't learned that particular lesson? Shame!" She grinned at the young man she was becoming rather found of, his willingness to protect others and his willingness to revenge wrongs done to the people he loved reminded her of herself. And there weren't many men she respected.
"What was the bigger evil that would have destroyed them?" Cordelia asked. "Any chance we can destroy it?"
"Themselves." Grams said seriously. "If Abraxes had succeeded in corrupting the Book of Shadows, its connection to the girls would have corrupted their powers and by extension themselves."
"The Powers allowed that possibility?" Xander demanded.
"On the surface any rite of passage makes little sense, Xander." Grams told him. "But lessons remembered and lessons learned from them can shape us in ways both great and subtle. And the reminder of the moral implications keeps us on our path. Every culture has them, ours is no different. Many are largely ceremonial these days, but there was a time when some of them were life and death matters. When the participants could die. This rite of passage was about committing themselves to being witches, good witches and to using the power they've inherited from their ancestors to fight demons, evil and to be good people. As the progenitor of a new race of humans, you're faced with developing a culture for your people and crafting laws to guide yourself and eventually them, is just the first step, in time you will have to do more. Just like the people in the books had to. Rogue hunters being one example. Their version of police officers, enforcing their laws. You may live for centuries, Alexander Harris and in that time hundreds of techno vamps might be created, as the founder of their race, they will look to you for the example of how to live their lives. Just like Melinda Warren is our example."
"She died to protect her daughter." Phoebe said
"She died to protect more than her daughter." Grams told them. "If the villagers had been able to confirm she was an actual witch in their midst, their fear would have escalated. Xander is afraid of being a monster, being thought a monster. And with good reason, history is filled with examples of people lumping the protectors in with the monsters and trying to destroy both, usually out of fear or envy or both. Xander is also afraid of finding himself on a slippery slope, it's a valid fear and one you should all be alert for. What seems like a tiny thing today, could be a mountain tomorrow."
"You're lecturing, Grams." Phoebe grinned. "I use to hate when you did that, now it feels familiar."
"As your grandmother and at the time the Head of our family, it was my responsibility." Grams grinned back. "Most of the time I wondered if I was getting through to you girls, but today I know, you learned what I was trying to teach you. Now it's Prue's turn to do the lecturing."
"She's been practicing for years." Phoebe muttered. "Trust me, she knows how to do it." Prue briefly narrowed her eyes at her.
"Happy anniversary, my darlings." Grams said merrily. "And I'll see you soon enough." She vanished from their sight, but not from their thoughts and boy, did they all have a lot to think about.
Xander spent a bit more than he could afford fulfilling the terms of his penalty, but maybe it would help reinforce that Invoking Murphy Was A Bad Idea!
