A/N: Sorry it took me so long to update. I finally have some time to myself and decided to update. I had no idea how to get the characters out of the situation from the previous chapter but I think I have successfully figured it out. I hope you like it...please review.
The future is never set, yet there are some things that can't be changed. It's a strange blur of black and white, as well as all of the shades of gray they make. Some shades are darker than others, almost as dark as evil. Others are so light you cannot tell their difference from white. Other possible futures are the perfect balance. Still, the future is unpredictable. No one knows what can and will change, and what can't ever be changed.
Brendan pulled his lips back hesitantly, his eyes still closed and the endorphins still rushing to his brain from Prue's kiss. They were the last to pull away from each other. Opening her eyes with clarity for the first time, she stood there star struck and lifted a hand to his cheek before kissing him softly.
Piper, Phoebe, and Paige each stumbled; trying to grip their new husbands for support as they suddenly became woozy; the evil releasing its grip on their souls. Kaleb yelled fiercely as he pushed Piper away and grabbed Brendan, turning him. "What did you do," he screamed.
"Evil and good, like fire and oil, both unite with dangerous spark," Prue recited, "cast in blood and not in love, marriage vows are now revoked. Your evil reign has now expired, vanquished by our charmed power," she finished after having made her way to her younger sisters.
The brothers had backed away when she started casting her spell. They had tried to use their powers to vanquish the sisters and were held at bay by Paige's shielding power, similar to Paul's.
The sisters held hands as Prue recited it the spell again. It was strong enough to hold the brothers in place, stuck in excruciating pain, but they weren't being vanquished. Prue changed her tactics. "Charlotte, Melinda, Prudence, Brianna, Helena and Grace. Pearl, Priscilla, Penelope and Patrice. Halliwell witches stand strong beside us. Vanquish this evil from time and space."
The three brothers suddenly combusted in flames that jumped high toward the sky before leaving no trace that they had ever existed and Brendan stared back from the space where they had once stood and then to his bride.
"Not that I'm complaining," Piper said. "But what just happened?"
"I used the spell we used on the source to vanquish the brothers. I figured it was the most powerful spell we had and since it worked on the source it must work on them," Prue answered.
"Okay, but how were you able to undo all of the side effects of their plan," Paige asked. "I'm pretty sure that we were evil, and that we all married evil. So how did you undo that?"
"With my help," the dark priestess answered before walking down the altar to where the sisters stood. "The brothers would not have stopped going after you, but they were not powerful enough without the youngest to defeat you. These past months have seen the almost total devastation of the underworld at your hands. They had to be stopped," Dantallian said. "I approached Prudence and Brendan last week and we set our plan in motion."
"You worked with a demon," Phoebe yelled in shock. "How did you know you could trust her," she screamed.
"Dantallian was kind enough to sign a truce," Brendan answered. "It's a contract that can't be broken by penalty of death. If she had tried to go back on it then she would have been vanquished immediately."
"So what, you got kidnapped on purpose," Piper asked.
"Actually, yes," Prue told them. "I was pretty sure they wouldn't kill me because that would keep Brendan from ever joining them."
"What about us turning evil? That was real, I felt it," Paige said.
"That was a potion I made for your sister," the priestess explained. "I told the brothers it would cement her bond with evil but what it really did was cloak you in evil. It helped them believe that they had the upper hand. It wore off when Brendan and Prudence kissed; his lips were lined with the antidote."
"So we're not really married," Paige said.
"Nope," Prue said, shaking her head.
"Thank God, I've got a date with Henry later," Paige said and her sisters laughed. "Is there anything left to do here or can we go home?"
"You're welcomed to leave now," Dantallian said. "I was more than happy to work with you this time and our truce prevents me from ever working against you, but I would feel safer if you left."
"You would feel safer," Piper said. "You're the demon," she pointed out.
"Yes, but while you have assurance that I won't come after you, I don't have any that you won't vanquish me."
"Nice doing business with you," Paige bit off her sarcastic retort. "All aboard the cosmic taxi," she said, and they all returned to the manor.
"Leo," Piper called when they walked through the doors. The whitelighter appeared looking relieved.
"Thank goodness you're okay. There was widespread panic up there once the elders felt your shift to evil."
"Prue's master plan," Phoebe said. "She didn't feel the need to clue us in on the plan."
"Well I've never seen the elders so worried," Leo told them. "The idea of evil corrupting the charmed ones was enough to have the entire council of elders called. They want to meet you."
"Wait, like we would get to go up there," Phoebe said in wonderment. "What do they want with us?"
"I don't know," he said. "But they'd like a council with you now," he said and was met with five nervous stares.
"Why am I here," Brendan asked Leo as they led the way to the elders.
"You're a big part of the girls' lives and why they were able to defeat the ultimate evil. I'd say that makes you pretty interesting to them," the other man answered.
There were little landmarks that stood out, and the only things the visitors saw were the mists and veils that prevented most mortals from getting a peek into the heavens and afterlife. They had all come to a stop and the sisters tried to localize where the voices were coming from.
"Welcome," a masculine voice beckoned the sisters. "It is a pleasure to meet you," the voice said. "Pardon us," he continued and the veil began to lift from their eyes, and Brendan and the sisters were able to see the beginning shapes of the higher beings and their surroundings. It was serene and utterly peaceful.
With an elegant wave of his arm the elder gestured to elegant, throne like seats for the guests. "Please, take a seat," Zola said. "You must be wondering why you were brought here," he said. "Yours is a destiny much greater than most and it seems that your family has a unique hold over how it unfolds. Pasts and futures have shifted and somehow you're destiny has changed and evolved because of it, effecting others who will be influenced by you. Your powers are still developing though you already experience powers unique to yourselves. We have never seen Piper's power before and doubt we will again…outside of your descendants, that is.
"The council asked Leo to escort you here because while you have managed successfully to speed up the completion of your shared destiny, some things have lagged behind, such as the rewards of all of your hard work and sacrifice. We would like to begin with Brendan," Zola said.
"I don't understand what you mean," the man said. "What rewards?"
"You've managed to overcome the most dangerous form evil can hold over a person…its hold since birth. As you were directly involved in the sisters' vanquish of your brothers we would like nothing more than to offer to strip you of the evil you have fought against for so long."
"You mean you would make him mortal," Prue inferred.
"Not exactly," Zola said. "The ultimate evil may have been fought but that does not mean your fighting has ended. There are smaller, easier threats you and your sisters will each fight together. Anyone placed in your care should have their own means of protecting themselves. Brendan would be granted abilities much like a whitelighter, only he will still be alive and would continue to age. This is the only time such an offering has ever been made. Would you be willing to accept the duties that come with being a whitelighter?"
"Yes," Brendan answered. "Once I was settled on the life of a priest to help others but I can no longer commit to that role. Still, I want to help, and I want to shed my warlock side."
"So shall it be. The next reward is for Phoebe," Zola moved on and saw the intrigued look on the young woman's face. "You have experienced the loss of a loved one, yet managed to move past it for the good of your sisters and your destiny. While we cannot bring Cole back, we would like to give you the peace of knowing that he will have the chance to be good in the next life as you had hoped. Still, that is not the reward we are most happy to bestow on you. You've had a hard time allowing love in your life and as a reward we have assigned you to a cupid who will work with you to find the love you were meant for."
"Thank you," she said, "but I don't know that I'm ready."
"That is why you need this," Prue interrupted. "They aren't saying you'll find love right now; you're right, it is too soon. Take it from me, though, if you're not prepared to accept love then you won't recognize it when you do. Let them do this for you, Pheebs. You deserve this," she said and Piper and Paige mumbled their agreement.
Zola nodded, and turned his attention to Paige. "Young one, for you we have a special gift; a new power," he said and saw her beam with happiness. In your past life you wielded power over the elements. Souls evolve and regress and the power was taken from you as a consequence of a past life. You have more than earned it back."
"Wicked," the twenty year old said.
"Piper, you and Leo will not receive any interference from us. Yours is a love that has struggled to survive over the course of many lifetimes. The fact that you keep finding each other is a sign that you should be together. You have our blessings.
"Lastly, Prudence, we wish to reward you. The struggle to be a charmed one was particularly hard for you for reasons you are not aware of."
"Then enlighten me," she said.
"Prudence, you and each of your sisters share very old souls as are the bonds that bind you four together. Each of you has lived out important lives before culminating into the charmed ones. While souls tend to travel in the same groups, remaining in the same families and social circles, your soul has always played the most significant parts in the Warren line."
"Such as," Paige asked.
"One of your past lives was as Melinda Warren."
"The Melinda Warren that started all of this," Phoebe asked amazed. "Why is it always Prue," she said in mock jealousy.
"Please, I was burned at the stake if you recall the stories. Not so fortunate," Prue reminded her younger sister.
"It was important for you, Prudence, to have the lives that you did. As you shed each life you gain and lose different parts of your soul as you either evolve or regress. Some our found again, some are not. You've lost important pieces that could not be put back together until you fulfilled your own personal destiny. Prudence, this is the first time you've lived your life through a significant, defining battle. Melinda, the first to lose her life because of her magic, was the beginning of a curse on your soul; one which you have finally broken and now you are to be rewarded for your perseverance."
Odin took a step forward from the choir of elders, taking over where Zola left off. "Usually we reserve this for new whitelighters so that they may learn from their past lives. You have all earned the right to view your past lives in order to learn from them. Besides this, Prudence, you are also being granted new powers."
"Powers," Phoebe asked. "As in plural? You have all the luck," she whined crossing her arms and sending a smile her sister's way.
"Your new powers are pieces of your soul that were lost over your many lives. You're finally ready to find those pieces again and to live out the life you have never been able to before."
"Does that mean what I think it means," Paige asked and got a nod from Piper.
"Prue has all of Melinda's original powers now, doesn't she," Piper asked Odin.
"Yes, she does. Now, we will call on you separately to view your past lives over the course of the next several weeks. Don't worry, we will gather you at times convenient to you, but there are certain rewards you need to learn of on your own. Leo will escort you all back to the manor," he said and the girls and Brendan orbed home to get some much needed sleep.