Post by StoryGirl83 on Sept 21, 2013 23:11:47 GMT -5
Chapter Twenty-Four - A Moment In Time
Prue whirled around to face her adversary. What she found was a middle aged man in a robe looking at her with a kind smile. “Who are you?” she demanded.
“Your family has the most fascinating way of messing with destiny,” the man commented without answering her question.
“What are you talking about?” Prue asked glaring at him. “Don’t you dare say my sisters were supposed to die.”
“One of them, yes,” the man informed her. “Had you not interfered one of your sisters would have died. However since you did interfere and all three of your sisters have thus survived, we will not dwell on that. What we need to discuss is the fact that you did so at the peril of your own soul and now you have left us little choice by remaining here so long.”
“What are you talking about?” Prue demanded. “I know I have to go back to being dead. I know . . .”
“You cannot,” the man interrupted.
“What are you talking about?” Prue repeated, perturbed. “Of course I can. I have to.”
“One does not simply stay corporeal for seven years after dying and not expect consequences,” the man informed her.
Prue sighed and nodded. “My sisters are safe. Christy is safe as well. I will accept my punishment.”
“Cases like yours are rare,” he informed her, “but when they do occur the person normally is sent strait on to their next life. In your case that’s a problem,” he admitted. “And your soul cannot stand the strain of returning to death.
Prue looked at him with raised eyebrows so like her sister’s. “How’s that?”
“Your next life is nowhere near ready to be born,” he announced. “You see you were never meant to die when you did and since you did we were already going to be waiting a long time.”
“So now what?” Prue asked frustrated. “Just tell me what is going to happen to me all ready. I will take my punishment.”
“As I said, you left us with little choice,” he repeated. “We can of course attempt to return you to your death, but that will prove difficult and maybe impossible. Should we fail you will be gone forever and your next life will never come to be. That is not desirable. You have a long destiny yet to experience.”
Prue gave him a look. “And the other options?”
“We can find some way to,” he frowned, looking for the right words, “more or less to put you in storage until it is time for your next life.”
Prue sighed. “Fine. Do that, if you must.”
“There is another option,” he admitted.
Prue waited, growing impatient with him.
“It would require all of your powers to be given up,” he informed her, “but you may find it the most desirable option.”
“My powers aren’t really a whole lot of use to me when I’m dead, now are they,” Prue retorted. “That they were able to protect my sisters for all these years is enough.”
“The thing is that by draining your powers, we might be able to bring you back to life.”
Prue stared at him shocked. “Repeat that,” she demanded.
“You would be without magic, any magic,” he reminded her, “but you would be alive, living your life as you saw fit and when you died, again, it is to be hoped that your soul would have had the chance to recover and you would pass peacefully into death.” He sighed. “There is the chance that this too could fail and that if you died too soon you might still lose your soul completely and never move on to your next life.”
“But there’s also a chance I could live,” she demanded. “I could spend time with my sisters get to know Paige and my nephews. I could live?”
He nodded. “The choice is yours.”
Prue looked at her sisters, at her nephews, at her dad. She turned back to the man. “Who are you?”
“I am the Angel of Destiny,” he told her, finally answering that question.
She shook her head, trying to think. She gulped and nodded. “Okay. Do it.”
He waved his hand at her and magic swirled around her. She felt it picking and pulling at her. She saw nothing but a swirl of light all around her, going round and round, making her dizzy. After what seemed like forever she felt it lift away and saw it move from her. Gaps began to form between the light and she could once more see around her. And suddenly it was just gone. She looked at the Angel of Destiny and saw him smiling. “It worked?”
“You are alive.”
Just as if it was nothing. Just to test it, she tried to astral project to him. Nothing happened.