Post by StoryGirl83 on Mar 17, 2009 14:11:25 GMT -5
Chapter Two - Power Outage
“What just happened?” Piper asked Prue glancing at Paige as she did.
Prue shook her head. “I don’t know, but let’s deal with the deal first.”
As Prue spoke the room unfroze and the demon started moving. He threw lightning at Prue who jumped out of the way.
“Piper, what happened?”
Piper waved her hands up and down, but nothing happened. “I don’t know.”
Prue swung her arm at the demon sending into the wall. “Well, do something about it.”
Piper tried freezing the room, again. “Nothing is happening.”
The demon got up slowly. Paige saw him and grabbed a cushion off the couch, throwing at him.
Prue raised an eyebrow. “A pillow?”
Paige rolled her eyes. “You got a better idea? No powers. Remember?”
The demon looked down at the cushion with disdain. Prue waved her hand sending a lamp across the room at the demon. He managed to sidestep it.
“Really, what a poor attempt, witch,” the demon mocked as he looked over the situation.
Piper continued to try freezing him. Frustrated she began looking for a weapon.
The demon threw lightning at Piper. Electricity flashed around him.
Piper ducked. “Can’t you give us time to grieve? Our sister just died.”
The demon chuckled. “I’m here to help you join her.” He sent more lightning at Prue.
Prue sent the lightning away from her with a wave of the hand.” Not going to happen.”
Piper got up and threw a door stopper at the demon. Unfortunately things to throw were in short supply. Then, she ran out of the room in the direction of the kitchen where potential weapon were more readily available.
Prue waved her hand in an attempt to send another lamp at the demon. The lamp wiggled and fell over, but did not move any farther. Prue tried, again. This time nothing happened. Prue frowned.
The demon sent another lightning bolt at Prue and one at Paige, scorching the wall behind Paige as she got out of the way.
Prue was hit in the leg during her attempt to get out of the way. She fell to the floor screaming in pain.
The demon grinned. “So you can be hurt. We had . . .”
He was abruptly stopped as he exploded all over the place. Piper stood just behind where he had been, knife in hand. She was grinning until she noticed Prue on the ground. She dropped the knife and ran to her sister’s side. “Leo!”
Leo must have heard the urgency in her voice, because he orbed in almost instantly. He saw Prue and dropped to his knees. He held his hands over her leg. A gold glow emanated from them and her leg slowly healed and then her pants healed over the wound.
Once her leg was healed Prue sat up and then pushed herself to her feet. She exhaled slowly and looked around her. Her eyes rested on Paige with a frown.
Before she could say anything though Leo spoke. “What happened? I thought demons quit attacking her.”
Piper shrugged. “I guess he decided with Phoebe dead we’re easy pickings.”
“He was almost right,” Prue stated turning her attention to Leo. “Our powers failed on us.”
“What?” Leo’s attention was fully on her. “Failed how exactly?”
Prue waved her hand in the direction of the couch, but nothing happened. “Completely. I used it a couple of times and then nothing.”
Leo turned to Piper. “And your power?”
Piper sighed. “Once and it ended on it’s own. After that, nothing.”
I’ll go check Up There, see if They know anything,” Leo said with a sigh. He started to orb out.
“Wait,” Prue said quickly.
Leo stopped orbing a fully rematerialized. “What?”
“Paige orbed,” Prue stated simply.
“Huh?” Leo looked at her surprised.
“What?” Paige looked at her confused. “I did what?”
“You orbed,” Prue repeated. “When the demon first attacked.”
“Impossible,” Paige protested. “Witches don’t orb and I’d know if I was a whitelighter. Besides Piper can freeze whitelighters.”
“One witch orbs,” Leo reminded her looking at the three women.
“Melinda,” Piper said in little more than a breath. “But Melinda’s not a normal witch. Her father . . . you’re a . . .”
“Whitelighter,” Leo finished. “Which means one of Paige’s parents is, too. Probably her father since I don’t think a pregnant whitelighter would escape Their notice.”
“Can you check something like that?” Prue asked.
“I don’t know,” Leo admitted. “It hasn’t come up before.” Leo turned to Paige. “Do you know anything about your biological parents?”
Paige shook her head. “Not really, just bits and pieces.”
“Anything you can tell that would help me Up There.”
Paige walked over to the couch and sat down. “My parents. My real ones, the ones who raised me didn’t know much, only what Sister Agnes told them.”
“Sister Agnes?” Prue asked.
Paige nodded. “She was the one my parents, my biological parents gave me to.”
“So she’s seen them.”
Paige nodded in response to Piper’s comment. “All I remember in that my name came from them somehow. I tried to figure out who they were once, after my parents died, but all I hit were dead ends. It’s not like they left a paper trail.”
“They wouldn’t have,” Leo said wryly. “Some how they hid you, probably bound your powers which is why you’ve never been able to figure out what they are.”
“If my powers were bound, wouldn’t I have been unable to orb like Prue claims I did?”
“I saw it, too,” Piper offered.
“Okay,” Paige amended with a shrug, “like Prue and Piper saw.”
Leo shook his head. “I don’t think a mere witch and whitelighter can bind a whitelighter’s powers. They would have to be stripped and that would only happen if They decided it would or if you gave up your powers.”
“And what about the fact that I don’t freeze. Wouldn’t binding my powers make me hidden from powers? Wouldn’t I freeze?”
“You’re still a witch, but to be very honest, I have no idea. In my time as a whitelighter I have only had three charges who could freeze time and none of them have knowingly attempted to freeze a witch with bound powers in my presence. You could maybe summon Patty Halliwell. She could freeze time and had three daughters with bound powers. If she could have frozen them, she would have at some point before her death. It’s also possible that your whitelighter side messed with that.”
“But whitelighters can freeze,” Paige said repeating what she said earlier.
Leo nodded, again. “I know, but maybe the fact that your whitelighter powers can’t be bound made you open enough to the magical world that you still showed up as a witch to Piper’s powers. I don’t know. I’ll see if I can find anything out.” Leo looked at Prue and Piper. “You two see if you can find an unbinding spell.”
“But wouldn’t the witch who bound them have to do that?” Piper asked.
“Only if she’s alive.”
“You think Paige’s mother is dead?” Prue asked.
Leo nodded. “Yeah. I think so. She had an affair with her whitelighter.”
“Not a dead witch make,” Piper gave him an annoyed look.
Leo shook his head. “It just means she wasn’t following the rules which . . .”
“Is what we do all the time,” Prue interrupted.
“And Phoebe is dead.”
“A demon didn’t get her though,” Prue reminded him.
Leo sighed. “Just see about an unbinding spell and summon your mom or Grams to see if your mom ever used her powers on you.”
“Doesn’t matter,” Prue told him. “Grams did.”
Leo looked at her frowning. “Grams did what?”
“She used her power on us,” Prue told him. “We were in the past and didn’t have our powers because out little selves did. She thought we were warlocks and threw us out of the house with her powers.”
“But little me didn’t freeze us when she froze Andy,” Piper reminded her.
“I don’t think she tried.”
“Our powers weren’t bound. They were literally in someone else, us as little kids.”
Paige looked at Leo with a shrug. Leo sighed and looked at the two sisters. “Piper, Prue, just summon one of them and find out for sure.”
“Is it relavant?” Prue asked.
“Do you have some reason you don’t want to summon them?” Leo asked getting a bit annoyed.
“Well, no.”
“Then, just do it and see if it helps any.”
“Prue shrugged. “Fine. Don’t be too long. We don’t want to be caught powerless the next time a demon attacks and I have a feeling they will.”
“Is Melinda safe?” Piper asked suddenly.
Leo smiled. “She’s fine. I’ll tell her you asked about her.”
“This is going to be really hard without her.”
Leo sighed. “Piper, we agreed . . .”
“Piper nodded. “She’s safer with you. I know. And she is. I’m just going to miss seeing her every day.”
Leo visibly relaxed and nodded. He turned to Prue. “I will be as quick as I can. I’d go somewhere that has potions while you work.”
“Uh . . .” Prue looked at Piper before turning back to Leo. “I . . . kind of destroyed the attic this afternoon.”
Both of Leo’s eyebrows raised, but he said nothing.
“It’s complicated, but basically my past self was in my body and didn’t realize that extent of my powers.”
“Leo relaxed, again. “Oh. That. If you can remember that, you can also remember that I know that, the part about your past selves, not the part about the attic.”
Piper grimaced. “She kissed you. Sorry about that.”
Leo shook his head. “Don’t be. That Piper’s still in love with me. Maybe for her and her Leo things will still work out.”
“This Piper’s still in love with you,” Piper commented. “I just know it won’t work out.”
Leo nodded. “I’m leaving now.” He orbed out before they could stop him, again.