The Power of the Fifth
Chapter 1
"Phoebe!" Piper screamed, walking out of the bedroom that she shared with her husband, Leo.
"I'm down here, what's the crisis?" Phoebe retorted from the kitchen where she was making her breakfast. Usually the two sisters got along well with each other, today however, was not the best day in the Halliwell house.
"Where's Prue's diamond necklace?" Piper yelled back. "I asked you to put it back when you got home from your date last weekend!"
Suddenly Paige walked out of her room, her face obviously upset that she had been woken up by the yelling between her two older sisters. "What the hell is going on between you two."
Standing closer to Paige than Phoebe was, Piper whispered, "I need to wear Prue's diamond necklace today, and Phoebe didn't return it like she said she would the last time she wore it."
"Sure blame it all on me!" Phoebe screamed back as she started to eat. She actually hadn't heard what Piper had been saying to their youngest sister, but she knew, whatever it was, that Piper had been blaming her for it.
"Okay, I'm not getting in the middle of this. I don't want to, and therefore I won't." Paige muttered and she walked downstairs, first through the living room, and then into the kitchen. As she opened the refrigerator door a thought suddenly popped into her head, "Oh crap! My laundry!"
A swirl of blue lights surrounded Paige as she orbed down to the basement where the washer and dryer were in the Manor. She started humming as she pulled her clothes out of the dryer and began folding it up. As she finished she grabbed a hold of the basket and began to orb herself upstairs, but she was suddenly grabbed by someone.
"Aaack!" She screamed and dropped her clothes.
"Shut up, Paige!" A voice whispered in her ear, and she suddenly realized that it was Cole, Phoebe's boyfriend.
"What is going on here?" Paige asked, however, her question was more in the form of a demand.
"What, you've missed the yelling that's been going on, off and on all week?" Leo asked.
"No, but I still don't see why my two brothers are cowering in the basement." Paige insisted.
"You think of me as a brother?" Cole asked with a slight smile on his face.
"Well yeah, I mean, Leo, you're married to Piper, and you live in her bedroom with her, and Cole, you may not be married to Phoebe, but I know you're in love, and that you live here too. And I know that, at the most, technically, you'll only be my brothers-in-law, but I feel like you're my brothers." Paige explained.
"Anyway," Leo said, to get back to the reason they were in the basement, "It's been one year today."
Paige didn't need Leo to explain what was one year ago today. She knew it was the first anniversary of the death of Prue.
"Piper wants to wear Prue's diamond necklace. The necklace has gone down through the family to the oldest daughter for as long as anyone can remember."
"Grams gave it to their Mom. When she died Grams gave it to Prue for her high school graduation." Cole added.
"Well, now that Prue's gone Piper and Phoebe decided that they would share the necklace, but that Piper would keep it, since she's now the oldest."
"So Phoebe borrowed it for our special weekend."
"But she didn't return it, so Piper's got upset. She thinks she needs to wear it today because she's unsure if she's going to be able to make it through the day, considering how close she and Prue were."
"Phoebe did return it!" Cole insisted.
"And that's why it's nowhere in our room?" Leo retorted.
"Okay, that's it!" Paige ordered. She orbed out of the basement and was promptly followed by Leo who grabbed Cole's hand and orbed upstairs, to wherever Paige orbed to.
"Piper." Page demanded, and suddenly Piper appeared.
"Hey, that's not fair! You can't just use your powers on me!" Piper insisted.
"Phoebe." The scene was nearly exactly the same, with the exception that it was Phoebe resisting, instead of Piper.
"Prue's Diamond Necklace." Paige held out her hand as she said this, and this time the necklace appeared in her hand. "Here's the necklace, now will you two please start acting like the sisters that I know, instead of the imposters you've been for the last week?"
"You're right," Piper relented, as Phoebe nodded.
"I'm sorry, Pipe, I just don't know what's gotten into me lately."
"Well, Pheebs, it's been a rough week for all of us." Piper responded. As she and Phoebe embraced, they heard a loud crash come from upstairs.
"You guys keep doing the sisterly-making-up thing, I'll see what that was." Paige mentioned as she ran up the stairs. A quick sweep of the second floor of the Manor revealed that nothing was out of order so she began walking the steps to the attic, knowing that whatever it was that had happened it must have been magic-related. The only thing worth anything in the attic was the Book of Shadows.
Upon entering the attic, Paige very clearly saw a woman standing and looking through the Book of Shadows. "What the hell do you think you're doing?"
When it became apparent that the woman was not going to answer the question Paige yelled down to her sisters, "Get up here, there's someone in the attic!"
Paige could hear her sisters and their loves running up the stairs, yet the woman continued to ignore Paige, simply flipping the pages of the Book of Shadows.
As soon as Piper ran into the room she held her hands up and froze everything. She looked to her sides and saw that her husband and Cole were frozen in time. As the Charmed Ones looked at the woman, they realized she was still flipping through the pages of their Book.
"She's definitely not frozen!" Phoebe whispered to Piper.
"Thank you for pointing out the obvious. I can see that!" Piper replied.
"It's like she doesn't even hear us, the entire time we've been talking, she's completely ignoring us!" Paige added.
Suddenly the woman looked up, and the sisters could see the surprise in her blue eyes. She took a second look at the page in front of her, and then disappeared.
"Hey, what's going on?" Leo asked, as he and Cole unfroze.
"The woman who was here, standing by the book of Shadows, didn't freeze when everything else did." Piper said.
"And then she just disappeared. Which is weird, I have never seen anyone just disappear like that before. I mean, she didn't blink out, or orb out, she just kind of disappeared. Is that possible?" Page asked, obviously confused about the whole thing. She had been a witch for nearly a year, but she still found some aspects of it confusing.
"Actually, she kind of looked like Prue did when she was astral projecting." Phoebe mentioned. "I mean that was the way Prue used to disappear when she was going back to her body."
"You're right." Piper nodded, showing her agreement with what Phoebe was saying.
"So what, does that mean she's a witch, or is she a warlock? I mean, I would think that if some nice good witch wanted to look through the Book of Shadows, she would ask. Right?" Paige asked.
"So, what we have to do is find out why she was here. And who she is." Piper said, "Like I really thought we could go through today without anything magic related."
"Piper, it's going to be okay." Leo said as he rubbed her back.
"So how do we go about finding her? We don't know what she is, is she a witch, a demon, a warlock? Is she good or bad?" Paige asked looking at both her sisters for the answer.
"If she's a witch she's good, if she's one of the others she's bad. See how that goes." Cole said to her.
"I got that!" Paige responded, her eyes flashing in anger.
"Well, why don't we assume, for now at least, that's she's good. We could probably say the lost witch spell. I would rather she be a witch then a warlock, and we need to start somewhere." Phoebe said going over to the Book of Shadows. "We should also figure out what she was trying to find."
"Except, I think that we interrupted her. I doubt she was actually able to find whatever it was that she was looking for." Paige replied. "She looked really surprised when she finally realized that we were in the room."
"Let me find out if They know anything up there. I'll be back soon." Leo murmured as he pulled Piper into a hug and kissed her head for a second, taking the time to make sure that she was going to be all right. Then he orbed out of the attic.
"Phoebe, do you need me to stay here?" Cole asked as he walked closer to where Phoebe had moved.
"No, are you trying to leave, or something?" Phoebe's smile showed that she was joking with Cole.
"I just want to see if I can find anything out on the streets...and yes, I'll be careful, I still know people out there, I can't do as much as I used to, but I still want to help." Cole had already override Phoebe's objection before she could even get the words out of her mouth.
"Okay, but don't take any chances." She demanded.
"I won't. Love you." Cole said as he bent and kissed her. The kiss was a simple one, one that showed affection.
"So, where do you guys want to start?" Piper said, taking the initiative to act on what they had just been talking about.
TBC
Chapter 1
"Phoebe!" Piper screamed, walking out of the bedroom that she shared with her husband, Leo.
"I'm down here, what's the crisis?" Phoebe retorted from the kitchen where she was making her breakfast. Usually the two sisters got along well with each other, today however, was not the best day in the Halliwell house.
"Where's Prue's diamond necklace?" Piper yelled back. "I asked you to put it back when you got home from your date last weekend!"
Suddenly Paige walked out of her room, her face obviously upset that she had been woken up by the yelling between her two older sisters. "What the hell is going on between you two."
Standing closer to Paige than Phoebe was, Piper whispered, "I need to wear Prue's diamond necklace today, and Phoebe didn't return it like she said she would the last time she wore it."
"Sure blame it all on me!" Phoebe screamed back as she started to eat. She actually hadn't heard what Piper had been saying to their youngest sister, but she knew, whatever it was, that Piper had been blaming her for it.
"Okay, I'm not getting in the middle of this. I don't want to, and therefore I won't." Paige muttered and she walked downstairs, first through the living room, and then into the kitchen. As she opened the refrigerator door a thought suddenly popped into her head, "Oh crap! My laundry!"
A swirl of blue lights surrounded Paige as she orbed down to the basement where the washer and dryer were in the Manor. She started humming as she pulled her clothes out of the dryer and began folding it up. As she finished she grabbed a hold of the basket and began to orb herself upstairs, but she was suddenly grabbed by someone.
"Aaack!" She screamed and dropped her clothes.
"Shut up, Paige!" A voice whispered in her ear, and she suddenly realized that it was Cole, Phoebe's boyfriend.
"What is going on here?" Paige asked, however, her question was more in the form of a demand.
"What, you've missed the yelling that's been going on, off and on all week?" Leo asked.
"No, but I still don't see why my two brothers are cowering in the basement." Paige insisted.
"You think of me as a brother?" Cole asked with a slight smile on his face.
"Well yeah, I mean, Leo, you're married to Piper, and you live in her bedroom with her, and Cole, you may not be married to Phoebe, but I know you're in love, and that you live here too. And I know that, at the most, technically, you'll only be my brothers-in-law, but I feel like you're my brothers." Paige explained.
"Anyway," Leo said, to get back to the reason they were in the basement, "It's been one year today."
Paige didn't need Leo to explain what was one year ago today. She knew it was the first anniversary of the death of Prue.
"Piper wants to wear Prue's diamond necklace. The necklace has gone down through the family to the oldest daughter for as long as anyone can remember."
"Grams gave it to their Mom. When she died Grams gave it to Prue for her high school graduation." Cole added.
"Well, now that Prue's gone Piper and Phoebe decided that they would share the necklace, but that Piper would keep it, since she's now the oldest."
"So Phoebe borrowed it for our special weekend."
"But she didn't return it, so Piper's got upset. She thinks she needs to wear it today because she's unsure if she's going to be able to make it through the day, considering how close she and Prue were."
"Phoebe did return it!" Cole insisted.
"And that's why it's nowhere in our room?" Leo retorted.
"Okay, that's it!" Paige ordered. She orbed out of the basement and was promptly followed by Leo who grabbed Cole's hand and orbed upstairs, to wherever Paige orbed to.
"Piper." Page demanded, and suddenly Piper appeared.
"Hey, that's not fair! You can't just use your powers on me!" Piper insisted.
"Phoebe." The scene was nearly exactly the same, with the exception that it was Phoebe resisting, instead of Piper.
"Prue's Diamond Necklace." Paige held out her hand as she said this, and this time the necklace appeared in her hand. "Here's the necklace, now will you two please start acting like the sisters that I know, instead of the imposters you've been for the last week?"
"You're right," Piper relented, as Phoebe nodded.
"I'm sorry, Pipe, I just don't know what's gotten into me lately."
"Well, Pheebs, it's been a rough week for all of us." Piper responded. As she and Phoebe embraced, they heard a loud crash come from upstairs.
"You guys keep doing the sisterly-making-up thing, I'll see what that was." Paige mentioned as she ran up the stairs. A quick sweep of the second floor of the Manor revealed that nothing was out of order so she began walking the steps to the attic, knowing that whatever it was that had happened it must have been magic-related. The only thing worth anything in the attic was the Book of Shadows.
Upon entering the attic, Paige very clearly saw a woman standing and looking through the Book of Shadows. "What the hell do you think you're doing?"
When it became apparent that the woman was not going to answer the question Paige yelled down to her sisters, "Get up here, there's someone in the attic!"
Paige could hear her sisters and their loves running up the stairs, yet the woman continued to ignore Paige, simply flipping the pages of the Book of Shadows.
As soon as Piper ran into the room she held her hands up and froze everything. She looked to her sides and saw that her husband and Cole were frozen in time. As the Charmed Ones looked at the woman, they realized she was still flipping through the pages of their Book.
"She's definitely not frozen!" Phoebe whispered to Piper.
"Thank you for pointing out the obvious. I can see that!" Piper replied.
"It's like she doesn't even hear us, the entire time we've been talking, she's completely ignoring us!" Paige added.
Suddenly the woman looked up, and the sisters could see the surprise in her blue eyes. She took a second look at the page in front of her, and then disappeared.
"Hey, what's going on?" Leo asked, as he and Cole unfroze.
"The woman who was here, standing by the book of Shadows, didn't freeze when everything else did." Piper said.
"And then she just disappeared. Which is weird, I have never seen anyone just disappear like that before. I mean, she didn't blink out, or orb out, she just kind of disappeared. Is that possible?" Page asked, obviously confused about the whole thing. She had been a witch for nearly a year, but she still found some aspects of it confusing.
"Actually, she kind of looked like Prue did when she was astral projecting." Phoebe mentioned. "I mean that was the way Prue used to disappear when she was going back to her body."
"You're right." Piper nodded, showing her agreement with what Phoebe was saying.
"So what, does that mean she's a witch, or is she a warlock? I mean, I would think that if some nice good witch wanted to look through the Book of Shadows, she would ask. Right?" Paige asked.
"So, what we have to do is find out why she was here. And who she is." Piper said, "Like I really thought we could go through today without anything magic related."
"Piper, it's going to be okay." Leo said as he rubbed her back.
"So how do we go about finding her? We don't know what she is, is she a witch, a demon, a warlock? Is she good or bad?" Paige asked looking at both her sisters for the answer.
"If she's a witch she's good, if she's one of the others she's bad. See how that goes." Cole said to her.
"I got that!" Paige responded, her eyes flashing in anger.
"Well, why don't we assume, for now at least, that's she's good. We could probably say the lost witch spell. I would rather she be a witch then a warlock, and we need to start somewhere." Phoebe said going over to the Book of Shadows. "We should also figure out what she was trying to find."
"Except, I think that we interrupted her. I doubt she was actually able to find whatever it was that she was looking for." Paige replied. "She looked really surprised when she finally realized that we were in the room."
"Let me find out if They know anything up there. I'll be back soon." Leo murmured as he pulled Piper into a hug and kissed her head for a second, taking the time to make sure that she was going to be all right. Then he orbed out of the attic.
"Phoebe, do you need me to stay here?" Cole asked as he walked closer to where Phoebe had moved.
"No, are you trying to leave, or something?" Phoebe's smile showed that she was joking with Cole.
"I just want to see if I can find anything out on the streets...and yes, I'll be careful, I still know people out there, I can't do as much as I used to, but I still want to help." Cole had already override Phoebe's objection before she could even get the words out of her mouth.
"Okay, but don't take any chances." She demanded.
"I won't. Love you." Cole said as he bent and kissed her. The kiss was a simple one, one that showed affection.
"So, where do you guys want to start?" Piper said, taking the initiative to act on what they had just been talking about.
TBC