Charmed Reborn

Disclaimer: All rights for Charmed and the Halliwells go to the WB, as well as Aaron Spelling and Brad Kern. This story is a spin-off of the original Charmed series, categorized under fan fiction, and is not intended to imply any personal knowledge, or the actual sexuality of any of its celebrities.

This story is obviously fiction. This story will also involve sexual and intimate relationships between two (or more) males, and if this offends you or it is illegal for you to be reading, then please leave. If you are under the age of consent for your community, please leave. And if it does offend you, I honestly don't know why you're even here in the first place.

Previously...

"Promise me. Promise you will find my brothers and sisters," Bathym said.

"Who...?" Lex found himself asking unconsciously.

Spots of purple light pulsed in and out like a dying star. "They are few now. So few. All are good, all are evil. Let them find themselves."

"Psh! I'm not part of the Guardians. I'm representing them." Mitzy said. "...I'm part of a different organization."

"Which one?" Lyla asked.

"Wouldn't you like to know." she responded.

The statement was met with a very sarcastic smile from Paige. "Great. I only have to wait a day to work on one of the most important cases in the world of magic."

"Well I don't-" Now Lyla was frustrated. "What's so 'important' anyway?"

"Wait." Aaron, Lyla, and Paige leaned over a picture in the Book. It was unlabeled, on a very tattered page that was soft with age. A stately young woman in an ornate silver dress, a diadem in her hair. Aaron pointed to her. "That's her. That's the one."

"...There's no caption." Lyla stated she flipped the page back and forth, looking for a hidden explanation, but there was none. She looked up at Paige.

Paige inspected the picture closer. "The artists' initials... CW."

"Charlotte Warren?" Lyla asked.

Paige shook her head. "No. Cassandra Warren."

Lyla glared at the telephone. "...Mitzy? What are you doing, you're supposed to be picking up Lucas."

"I am! I'm at the kid's house right now!" A burst of static as Lyla heard a small explosion and a scream on the other line. "We're under attack! They're trying to kill this kid too! Send help, now. Fuck-"

"Aaron!" Lex yelled.

Aaron's eyes widened as two strangers, dressed in bizarre clothes and and naked uncovered hair, appeared in the back of the church. He straightened his hat on his head and cleared his throat, completely lost for words.

Lucy glared at Lex. "That was so stupid!" she whispered harshly. "Obviously he's not Aaron!"

"Ah- I am. Aaron Parris...You are witches, I presume."

Aaron hesitated before letting his arrow loose. Dragon, in the corner of his eye, gave him a solemn nod. He shook his head. The glowing woman, her eyes aglow, her hands aflame... The embodiment of silver and light.

"...God help us."

A Witch in the Matrix

Part II

A burst of light flashed in the lobby. The chandelier somehow dislodged itself from the ceiling. Aaron orbed out of the way. Atla simply raised his hands above his head and caught the chandelier in his arms, effortlessly flinging it back at the glowing woman. She cleaved it with a sword of light. Taking advantage of the opening, Atla huffed and then blew a plume of fire at her. Recovering quickly, the glowing woman held out her forearm, the light around her wrist turning into a tower shield that blocked the flames.

"Dragon! We're leaving!" Aaron yelled, reformed next to Rudi and Rolline hunched on the floor.

Atla rolled and dodged a flash that caused a part of the floor to collapse into the basement. He shot Aaron a brief glare. "Never abandon your home." And with that he let loose a series of windy orbs, all easily deflected.

"What's happening?" Rudi whimpered from his place, trembling while even more wide-eyed Rolline clung to his arm. Aaron didn't say anything in response, only softly patting his head and then jumping back into the fray.

After Atla and Aaron were flung into the wall for the third time, they realized that their enemy was more formidable than either had anticipated. As the woman donned her swords again, Atla turned to meet Aaron's gaze. "For what it's worth... you're a better warrior than I thought, whitelighter."

Aaron smirked then grimaced as he attempted to get to his feet. "Thanks. But we're not -urgh- dead yet." Unable to stand, he decided to use his bow while sitting down, quickly conjuring and shooting another light arrow. The woman easily swatted it away.

But it wasn't them she was after. After finally immobilizing her opposition she turned and floated into the living room. Her bright eyes fixed on Rudi and Rolline. Without a moment's hesitation she threw one of her glowing projectiles at Rudi.

In a surprising split second, Rolline flipped over and shoved Rudi into the corner. The pulsing orb diffused into Rolline's back and with a horrible gasp she stuttered in place. Rudi was petrified in fear. The woman loomed in the air, prepared to attack yet again. But she was cut off by the sound of the front door slamming open.

A pretty pale-skinned girl in a white gown burst into the lobby. About three or four handsome young men in similarly white suits tumbled in behind her, and the newfound caravan fixed their eyes on the woman in the air. "There it is!" the girl screamed. The glowing woman spun around to confront her. She didn't have time to fight back.

The men raised their palms into the air. Like an armada of cannons, volley after volley of sparkling energy catapulted from their arms straight into the glowing woman's chest. Although she seemed unharmed, the continuous concussive force caused her to stagger in midair, lending her helpless.

Atla and Aaron woke up in time to see the young girl reading from a little black book. She put her palm to her heart. "Infinite power/break to the faithful! Sant Exorcisme!" The seemingly simple chant was over. The girl's companions suddenly ceased their onslaught, and with a glorious, choral noise, the glowing woman suddenly disappeared in thin air as if she had never existed.

The girl grinned and then spun around on one foot. She made eye contact with a bewildered Aaron, rushing over to help him to his feet. "Are you alright, whitelighter?"

"Who- wait, who are you?" he asked. At this point finding any more appropriate question like "why" or "how" just seemed ridiculous.

"I'm Angelica." Angelica motioned to her posse. "We've come to help a fellow good in need."

"So... you're from the Nightshade Guardians."

She raised an eyebrow. Perhaps she chose not to respond out of obviousness or offense. Either way, she cleared her throat and then continued as if Aaron had said nothing. "We've been tracking the Hexcasters for several days now. This is the first time we've caught up to it. Thanks for slowing it down for us."

"What did... I'm sorry, what did you call them?"

"The Hexcasters. That's the name we came up with." Angelica walked Aaron to the stairs and sat down next to him. "They use some sort of probability magic. It's powerful, but not flawless."

"I don't really know what to say." And Aaron really was telling the truth. The appearance of the white-clad strangers was bizarre and non-sequitur to say the least. "But still. Thanks." he continued.

Angelica chuckled. "It's our job. It's our life." Across the room Atla got to his feet. Stunned but not phased and completely unseen by the newcomers, he quickly tip-toed backwards into the shadows. He was glad they didn't notice him as he rippled away.

"Just who are you as a group, anyway?" Aaron finally popped the big question. Although Angelica opened her mouth to answer, she herself was interrupted.

"Aaron! Help!"

At the summon of his name Aaron somehow revived his energy and sprang to his feet. He barged into the living room. Angelica, who was at his heels, did as well.

It was Rolline. Her yellow hair an official mess, her left heel broken and her right sleeve torn, Rolline clutched a struggling Rudi with seemingly superhuman strength, holding a crimson slip of paper to his throat. She blubbered with a hint of insanity in her eye and voice. "E-evil, evil, evil... evil everywhere, evil in this boy..."

"Get her off me!" Rudi screamed, only to have his breath taken away by a tighter grip from Rolline.

Aaron saw Angelica reach for an athame in her pocket. He stopped her. She gave him a quizzical look.

"She's on our side." Aaron responded to her expression with tranquility. "But she was having a breakdown when the battle started." Aaron very slowly extended his hand to Rolline. At first Rolline drew Rudi closer to her, but relaxed when Aaron made no further move. "Rolline. I need your help." Aaron said.

Rolline replied with nothing more than a very sad whine.

"It's Lyla. And Lucy. And Lex. They're evil. They have evil in them. Can you help me cleanse them?" Aaron gently posed. Rudi shot him a worried glance from his position, but Aaron seemed to know what he was doing. He repeated himself. "Can you help me? I can't do it without you."

This seemed to strike Rolline. She let Rudi fall to the ground and dropped her paper slip. Aaron smiled and reached his hand out further. "Yes. Good. Come here, with me. Do it for... for, um... good. And for destroying evil. Good, good-"

Rolline laughed through the tears streaming down her face. Her trek to Aaron was almost like walking on a tightrope. But Aaron, ever-patient, just beckoned her more. "Almost there, almost there. Just take my-"

Aaron grimaced with a sudden dull thumping noise. As Rolline dropped to the ground, Rudi and Aaron's mouths agape, Angelica stood over her body satisfactorily swinging a homemade blackjack in her hand. She smiled. "That's the way to do it!"

Although she told him her answer already, Aaron was struck with the sudden urge to ask the question again. "Who ARE you?" But for some other reason, it seemed like deja vu.

"Who ARE you?" Aaron asked Lex and Lucy as he struggled to remember their real faces. They had recast their illusions while Aaron led them down the road.

Lex and Lucy exchanged glances. "You wouldn't really get it." Lucy said. "But we're witches."

"From a different time." Aaron shook his head. "Lord... I thought this entire situation couldn't get any more difficult."

"We're, um, we're really sorry." fumbled Lex. "We didn't even know what happened. And we wanna get back to our own time as soon as possible."

"Good. I don't intend on you staying long."

Although he realized that Aaron was a very different person three hundred years later, Lex couldn't help but feel hurt after being brushed off. Lucy saw the look on her brother's face and suddenly became defensive. "Look, where are you taking us, anyway?"

Perhaps sensing the sudden hostility, Aaron reduced the harshness of his own words. "Someplace safe."

After a laborious journey the three came to an isolated farmhouse on a misty hill. Aaron turned to Lex and Lucy. "You may take down your disguises now." They gladly complied. Although relieved to finally be back to normal again, the two were still painfully aware that this was witch-burning country.

Aaron knocked on the door. The rough voice of an old woman slithered through the cracks like smoke. "What is love?"

"To love one another fervently." Aaron replied.

The door swung open. An elderly but spry woman in the same hair covering and dress of the other ladies in town stood in the door. She had a hurried face and fast hands that urged Aaron inside. Lex and Lucy followed and the woman swiftly shut the door. Only then did she take the time to look the newcomers up and down. "Wh-what garb is this?" she nearly whispered. The first thing she did was clutch Lucy's green bang. "Surely witchcraft... I've never seen Indians with cloth like this." She remarked, now referring to Lex's jeans.

"Err... yeah." Lex was getting uncomfortable.

"Goody Nurse. I'll leave them with the others."

"Yes. Yes, of course, terribly sorry." Goody Nurse gave an almost admiring look to Lex and Lucy as they followed Aaron to the corner of the room. Aaron bent down and pulled up a section of the floorboards. He led them down a staircase into the basement.

"I apologize for Goody Nurse." Aaron said on the voyage down, as soon as he was sure she couldn't hear. "Sometimes she's far too curious for her own good. But she has a Godly heart, which is more than much of Salem can claim."

It finally struck Lex as strange that the staircase was anything but short, and that there was light far enough down. Did they even have basements back then? He looked up at his sister, and judging from her face she was wondering the exact same thing.

They reached the bottom. Indeed, it was well lit. Lex opened his mouth to ask about the lighting, the depth, or the technology, but stopped when Aaron turned around. "You are safe." he said. "Abigail has no idea this place even exists, and the town respects Goody Nurse far too much to rummage through her dwelling."

"Aaron Parris?" Aaron faced the woman that called his name. Lex and Lucy leaned over to see.

A group of about five or six women gathered at the far wall. Their white cotton dresses and coverless hair was a refreshing change of pace for Lex and Lucy. The one who had called Aaron's name, a ghostly woman with a very sharp nose, stepped forward. Aaron tipped his hat. "Goody Proctor, I bring grim news. Abigail has called for the execution of Goody Good."

Goody Proctor solemnly nodded. "She has truly gone too far. Aaron, I see you brought company." To no one's surprise, her eyes strayed to Lucy's hair and Lex's clothes. "...Strange company."

"They claim to be witches as well."

"Oh, we are! Really!" Lex said. "We, um... it's just that, we're a little lost, because... well..."

"-we're from the future." Lucy cut the proverbial crap.

A plump girl behind Goody Proctor almost sneered. "That's a likely story." she snickered.

"But they are witches." Goody Proctor asked Aaron.

Aaron nodded. "I saw them cast those spells you use. They changed their dress and hair and turned invisible with simple words."

"How do we know they're telling the truth?" the girl behind Goody Proctor sharply inquired of Aaron. "They just appeared out of thin air and we're supposed to believe they're on our side? If you ask me, these two may be nothing more than another one of your sister's schemes."

Just as Lex began to feel like a museum exhibit, a commanding voice from the corner of the room admonished her. "Deliverance."

Deliverance spun around to protest, but Goody Proctor put a hand on her shoulder to mute her. The rest of the women grew silent as well.

Tituba, slim but powerful, beauty but no inefficient grace to slow down her movements. She kept her dress in prim condition but her messy hair tied back with a straw cord. Lex spotted a totem wand in her hand- but it was dramatically different from the one he was so used to seeing Mikey use. Tituba's was an ebony wand, topped by an angel with outstretched hands- Lex saw a yellow light bloom between the tiny wooden palms as Tituba approached. "They're telling the truth." she calmly stated. "You can confirm that, Dorothy."

Before Lex or Lucy could do anything, Goody Proctor locked eyes with them. Their minds briefly touched and let go of each other with a light tingling noise. Goody Proctor blinked and put a hand to her temple as she recovered from her empathy. "I'm getting too old for this." she mumbled to herself. She looked to Deliverance, then to Aaron, and lastly to Lex and Lucy themselves. She nodded.

"You're all witches too then." Lucy said, wagging her finger at the group.

While some of the women returned to the chairs and tables to sit down, Tituba, Goody Proctor and Deliverance came forward to explain. Aaron backed away and took a seat on the stairs. "Yes. It's true. We're witches." Goody Proctor confessed. "Some of us are just practitioners, but some have powers as well. As you've seen, they've become more of a curse than a blessing."

"Salem found out?"

"They never would have it weren't for that despicable slut." spat Deliverance.

The outburst caught Aaron's attention. "I'll have none of that!"

"Sorry." Goody Proctor apologized for her younger compatriot. She sighed then continued. "Abigail Parris was a newcomer to our coven. But she and Tituba had quite a few disagreements."

Deliverance cut in. "She was insistent on a Ôpurer' coven with Ôpure' magic. Apparently that didn't include dark skin or Ôsavagery.'" The sarcasm in her voice tainted Lex and Lucy's picture of Abigail even further.

"But you accepted Tituba." Lucy posed with doubt.

This clearly offended Deliverance. "...Tituba accepted US. I would have died in childbirth if it weren't for her charms. She healed my mother of the Consumption! How dare you question-"

"Please, Deliverance." Tituba seemed almost exasperated. "Respect." Deliverance shushed herself and crossed her arms. Tituba took on a much more rational approach to the conversation. "Abigail never liked my magic. I learned spirit magic when I was very little. It's not traditional witchcraft and she was offended by it. But she wasn't the only one."

It seemed that Goody Proctor was quick to follow up with her own qualification. "Oh, but the most of us were fine with it. We love all our magical sisters."

"What's Ôpure' magic then?" asked Lex.

"It's... well, there's no such thing, really." Goody Proctor replied. "But Abigail believes it's a magic without worship of Mother Nature, without the Law of Threefold Return, and without supposedly Ôdark' magic. See, now, Abigail and her girls... they were different. And when we approached them with our concern, they went mad." Goody Proctor shook her head in shame. "They split from us. Somehow she got all the men on her side, too. That's when the hunting started. Poor Martha was the first to go. And then Susannah. Before we knew it, the entire coven was at risk. It was then we received help from a most unlikely source-" she made a sweeping motion to a humbled Aaron. "-and we owe him our lives."

"Now, I don't... I don't approve of your lifestyle." Aaron said, although it didn't sound like he believed it whole-heartedly. "I just know all of man is supposed to love all of man. And that's that."

"Thank you, anyway." Goody Proctor said with a gentle grin.

"But these are our own problems." Tituba said. She smiled and referred to Lex and Lucy. "I'm sure you want to return to your own time."

They nodded eagerly. "We'd really appreciate it. And we can help with anything while we are here." Lex stated on a whim. He noticed Goody Proctor and Deliverance suddenly dive into side conversation when he said it.

Tituba noticed as well but said nothing. She ushered them to the tables where food and water was available. "Go and rest, then. I'll scan you while you're eating, you won't even notice. We'll get you home."

"Thank you so much." Lex insisted. He exchanged glances with his sister, who mumbled "it's hard to fuck up water, but then again these are Puritans we're talking about." Nonetheless they decided to take up Tituba's suggestion.

As soon as they were out of earshot, Tituba joined in on Goody Proctor and Deliverance.

"Could they do it?" Goody Proctor whispered.

"I snatched a glimpse of their powers." Tituba stated. "They are quite strong. But their strength is limited in this time."

"The point is whether they could get in and out. You heard Aaron; they know how to disguise themselves." argued Goody Proctor.

Deliverance hissed in response. "They could be anyone! Their loyalties could be good or evil, we know nothing."

"Deliverance may have a point."

Both Goody Proctor and Deliverance looked at Tituba in surprise. Tituba nodded. "They have warlock blood. And warlock power as well."

"No! No, that cannot be. I sensed good."

"I did too, sister. They are good. But their warlock powers... they operate differently than witch powers."

"What do you mean?" Deliverance asked.

"Witch powers are bound to a soul. A witch is born with them and dies with them, so when a witch travels to a time before she is born, her powers are diminished. But warlock powers are eternal. They pass from warlock to warlock, so time has no effect on them."

Deliverance rejected the explanation even though she was the one who asked for it. "I don't believe that. If you have warlock powers, you're a warlock. If you're a warlock, you're EVIL. They're impostors."

Tituba nodded in agreement. Goody Proctor bit her lip. "...If they are, then we'll be on guard." a resoluteness settled in her eyes. "But we're desperate, girls. By any means necessary, we must save Prudence."

By the time Paige and Lyla orbed into the Seles household, half of the living room was in ruins. They were also astonished to appear three feet away from two Hexcasters preoccupied with an overturned couch. That is, they were preoccupied until they spun around to face them.

Lyla backflipped in order to dodge a falling piece of ceiling one of the Hexcasters cursed. Paige slashed her arm in the air. A wave of orbs pummeled the floating women in a lightstorm.

Hearing the noise, Lucas and Mitzy shot up from behind the sofa. Mitzy motioned at Lyla. Lyla ran behind the distracted Hexcasters then joined Mitzy and Lucas in their sanctuary. "Why didn't you bring the Reflector?" Mitzy hissed.

"Wha? Yeah, you're welcome, it was easy to get here so fast."

Mitzy slapped her palm. Lyla drew back in tiny pain. "We give you a new weapon and you don't even use it? Just spit in my face! At least it's not backhanded!"

One of the Hexcasters within the storm shot a sphere of light at Paige. Paige, too consumed in her concentration, let it hit her square in the chest. She dispersed in a scatter of orbs and reformed next to Lucas. Lucas jumped in surprise. Paige gave him a cute wave. "Nice to see ya again, Lucas!"

"Err, yeah, you too."

"Paige!" Lyla yelled. "Get my Reflector!"

Paige rolled her eyes and held out her hands. "Solar Reflector." A sparkle of whitelights appeared in a disk. The Solar Reflector appeared. Lyla quickly snatched it.

"...Now what?"

"God, you're stupid." Mitzy exclaimed.

They were all more than a bit surprised when the couch suddenly exploded. Paige threw her body over Lucas and orbed him from the impact. Lyla instinctively shielded herself with the Reflector, protecting her from the blast. Mitzy, however, wasn't so lucky. The force blew Mitzy backwards, full force into a cabinet filled with dishes. The shattering sound culminated with her horrible grunt as she fell to the floor, her face scrunched in agony.

The Hexcasters molded their light. Shining swords appeared from their grey-gloved hands. Mitzy tried to get up but the pain wouldn't let her. One of the women raised her sword above her head, ready to strike, and Mitzy closed her eyes to brace herself.

"Yahh!"

A giant bronze mirror suspended on a tether of red light whacked the women away like a tennis racket. Who else but Lyla, a crimson star on her forehead, held the Reflector in her mental grasp like a celestial ball and chain. She swung her hand again. The river of ruby light that connected Lyla to the Reflector swished into the air and the Solar Reflector clobbered a Hexcaster with the effect of a sledgehammer. She crashed through the ceiling with a dull clunking sound.

The other Hexcaster angrily retracted her sword. She shot a glowing orb at Lyla. Lyla, not sure what else to do, used the Reflector as a shield.

She didn't anticipate what would happen. The orb, rather than cursing the Reflector, literally diffused into the Reflector, traveled along the red tether, and melted into Lyla's head. Lyla gasped and nearly lost her concentration. But thankfully the Hexcaster seemed surprised at the outcome as well. Paige, reforming behind Lyla with Lucas, took advantage of the ceasefire and pointed at the floating woman. "Pluto!" she shouted. The woman disappeared in a shimmer of orbs. The battle was over.

Lyla let go of her powers. The Reflector dropped to the ground with a heavy noise. She looked at Paige. "Did you just orb her to Pluto?"

"Yeah. I think there're a lot of demons there at this point." she replied. She got up and ran to Mitzy's side then healed her wounds with a golden light.

Mitzy got up and rubbed her head. She looked at Lyla. For the first time her face wasn't twisted in scorn. "...Thanks." Mitzy said quite frankly.

"Oh, uh. You're welcome." Lyla was confused by the sudden change of heart. "Thanks for the wedding gift, I guess." Lyla looked to Lucas. "Are you ok?" she asked him.

He nodded. He scanned the wreckage that was once a living room and kitchen. "...Rudi's house isn't, though."

"I'll take care of that." Paige said. She helped Mitzy get to her feet. "Get Lucas back quick." she told her. Mitzy complied. She took a confused Lucas by the arm and conjured her broomstick as they went out the door.

Paige closed her eyes and opened her palms in front of her. Orbs sparkled around the room miraculously repairing broken glass, mangled furniture. In a matter of seconds Paige had fixed the entire household.

Lyla nodded in approval. "Wow. Vanishing Spell in a snap, huh?"

"Mmhmm."

Suddenly, Lyla clutched a hand to her forehead in pain. "Agh... what the hell..."

"Are you okay?"

"Yeah, it's just that..." Dizziness struck her. She fumbled for a support. When she flung her arm out, a white orb shot from her palm into a wardrobe. The wardrobe flashed white then toppled over to the ground in a thunderous crash.

Paige pointed to the wardrobe in shock then gasped and stuttered to Lyla. "That was- wasn't that- hey!"

"I dunno! Omigod, I dunno!" Lyla's scared squeals joined Paige's. "It just happened, I don't know how or why, I just-" Lyla accidentally flailed her arm again, and this time a part of the ceiling fell to the ground.

"Stop it! I just fixed the place!"

"Omigodomigodomigod!"

"Lyla!"

Lyla and Paige turned around. Illuminated by the streetlights outside the open door stood none other than Lux Sandra and Lux Roland, halos and all. Lux Sandra seemed concerned while Lux Roland just looked mad. Lyla bit her lip, thinking that he looked pretty hot angry. "We saw that." Lux Roland continued.

"W-what are you doing here?" Lyla asked cautiously.

"Checking to see if you were alright." responded Lux Sandra. "...we couldn't sense your brother and sister. We were concerned."

Lux Roland picked it up from there. "Now we see we have other reasons to be worried." He motioned to the Reflector on the floor. "We don't know who had the nerve to give that thing to you. They're chaotic."

"What Lux Roland means to say is that we don't want you using demonic powers. The last time a Charmed One did that..." Lux Sandra bit her lip. "...it wasn't pretty."

"Well, I mean, I didn't mean to," fumbled Lyla. "It just happened, I couldn't help it. But if you don't want me doing it then fine, I won't-" A ball of light flew out of her hand and caused a chair to collapse. "How'd this happen in the first place?!"

"Connecting with a Reflector augments the user's natural powers. Obviously you have some inherent power of empathy, so the Reflector acted as a gateway to absorb and mimic other powers." Lux Sandra explained.

"...Oh."

Suddenly, Paige, who seemed absent throughout the entire conversation, abruptly cut in front of Lyla and confronted the two Elders. "You found Ôem, right? Tell me you found them!" she nearly screamed. Although Lux Sandra and Lux Roland seemed to know exactly what she was talking about, Lyla just scratched her head in confusion.

"You have got to calm down. There's no use getting riled up over a lead."

"It's all I got. It's a mandatory for me to get riled up."

"Paige?" Lyla piped. Paige and the Elders turned to glare at her. "What's going on?"

"None of your concern." Lux Sandra stated.

"None of your business." Paige and Lux Roland said at the same time. "Just sit down somewhere and put your powers away." continued Lux Roland condescendingly.

Lyla sucked her cheeks in out of frustration. "Hey, maybe I messed up, but I'm STILL a Charmed One. What are you hiding?"

Out of wariness or skepticism the three exchanged glances. They came to silent consensus. "Look. Lyla. You've got to keep this secret. Tell Aaron and Lex and Lucy when we find them, but that's it. The only reason we're letting you know is so that you can help." Paige said. "Got it?"

"Got it."

"Good. Then listen. You probably remember our kids and husbands."

"Of course." Lyla's eyes widened. "What happened to them?"

"I'm getting there! After my sisters and I died they vanished without a trace. We've been searching ever since, and we haven't gotten much progress. Well, guess what: we've reached a breakthrough. Our kids are in the Underworld."

"Whoa, no. That's not-" Lyla looked at the Elders. "You let that happen?"

Lux Roland crossed his arms. "We're guardians, not babysitters."

"But they're okay. Right?"

"I have no idea! My sisters and I were trying to figure that out when you decided to call me down here without a return ticket." Lyla looked guilty. Paige rolled her eyes and toned her voice down. "Sorry. But you've got to understand. These are my babies we're talking about. I can't rest in peace knowing I couldn't protect them. This is... this is so important to me. You don't know."

Lux Sandra cut off Paige's rather introspective monologue. "It would be in all of Good's interest to rescue the Halliwell and Mitchell children. We have reason to believe that the Seven are corrupting their powers as we speak. If they, especially Piper's boys, were to stray to the side of Evil, they would be unstoppable."

"It's imperative that you make the newest Warren generation your top priority." Both the Elders said eerily in synch.

Although creeped out, Lyla acknowledged. "Keep us updated," she said. She looked at Paige. "We'll do everything we can."

"Of course you will." Lux Roland declared. "Now. Where are your siblings?"

"They are coming." said Lyla quickly. She grabbed Paige's hand. "In fact, we have to go get them! Bye!" Paige waved and orbed them out.

Lux Roland furrowed his brow. He looked to Lux Sandra. "...What does this mean?" he asked.

"We knew their warlock side wouldn't stay asleep forever. All we can do is pray it doesn't get out of hand."

"I hate to say it, but I agree with Odin." Lux Roland said, giving Lux Sandra a sour expression. "The Halliwells were different. Even Phoebe gave up her throne of Evil after she turned. But they were pure-"

"Roland, don't you dare use that term."

"I'm sorry. But they had no warlock side to them. When they turned, the Good in them always guided them back." Lux Roland looked over the Seles household. He used his orbs to fix the residual destruction Lyla caused. "As for the Russels..."

"Please, just stop. I understand your doubts. I can't say I'm completely trusting myself. But the fact is that the Russels are all we have now. We MUST save the children, at any cost."

"Agreed." Their work done, Lux Roland and Lux Sandra disappeared in a ray of light.

While several of the girls surrounded Lucy to admire her hair, Lex sat down on the stairs next to Aaron. Lex looked up at him and smiled. Aaron blushed and quickly turned away.

"...You've done great work, Aaron."

"It's just my responsibility. I think He'd be happier if everyone decided to help each other instead of burn and kill and fight..." Aaron pondered. He adjusted his hat, which was noticeably loose on his head. It made Lex laugh. Aaron finally chuckled a little as well.

"So. Do you wanna be a reverend too?" Lex asked.

It didn't seem like Aaron was used to the question, for the pause was substantial before he answered. "Well... I'm the reverend's son."

"That doesn't mean anything."

Aaron gave Lex a funny look. "I don't know how your people operate in your time, but you don't seem to understand. We're a small group. We must keep order. Sometimes a system of succession is required to keep that order."

"I didn't ask if you were going to be Reverend. I asked if you WANTED to be."

This seemed to make Aaron think. He took off his hat. Lex wasn't used to seeing Aaron's characteristic blonde hair at shoulder-length. It framed his face nicely, though. "Do you want me to be completely honest?"

"You can trust me."

Lex heard Aaron mumble something about trusting a witch. Lex giggled a little and so did Aaron. "I always thought of being Reverend as something my sister would do. She memorized the entire scriptures. She knows each of the books better than I know the ÔOur Father.'" He grimly shook his head. He motioned to the witches of Salem. "Then she got involved in all of THIS. She always had powers. We kept it secret from father. But when she realized that she had powers because she was a witch... Abby was fine with it. In fact, she was happy. It didn't shake her faith, it didn't scare her. It just made her stronger. It was then she started preaching on her own. ÔThe Holy Girl:' That's what they call her." Aaron stared at his feet. "She doesn't know who she is. And she's hurting people because of it."

An appropriate silence. Not sure if it was the right thing to do or not, Lex reached over and put his hand on Aaron's knee. Contrary to his expectations Aaron did not draw away. He was met with Lex's kind eyes. He bit his lip. "...You are a strange person. I don't think I've ever met anyone like you."

Had he heard THAT line before. Lex cleared his throat and withdrew his hand. "Oh, um... no. Sorry." Neither Aaron nor Lex knew what he was apologizing for.

Suddenly, Aaron realized something. "I've been meaning to ask. How did you know my name?"

Although Lex opened his mouth to think of a lame half-baked excuse, he was relieved when Lucy intervened. She put a hand on his shoulder. "Lex, that Proctor woman wants to talk to us."

Lex nodded. He looked at Aaron, who clearly looked sad that Lex was leaving. Lex gave a gentle grin. "It was nice talking to you," Lex said. Aaron simply nodded in response, replaced his hat on his head, and went back up the stairs to Goody Nurse's foyer.

Goody Proctor and Tituba stood waiting for Lex and Lucy. Tituba greeted them with a smile while Goody Proctor seemed far more serious. "It should be easy for you to return to your time," Tituba said in a "good news, everyone" voice.

"How?" asked Lucy.

"Why... just combine your powers."

Lucy snorted and laughed. "Ha! No, no, no. My powers are on the fritz, and my brother's don't even work."

"Not your witch powers, girl." Goody Proctor cut in. "Your warlock powers." Lucy was struck speechless. Goody Proctor, who assumed Lucy knew what she was talking about, grew more severe. "Don't be afraid. Just show us what you can do."

"Um, well... I don't have warlock powers. I'm a witch."

"We may be a small group, but we're not naive." Tituba said. "We know you have warlock blood." This struck both Lex and Lucy embarrassed.

"All you have to do is demonstrate your powers."

"...Look. I don't know about warlock powers, but here's something, I guess." Lucy looked around for a suitable target. Her eyes settled on Lex. Before he could yell in objection Lucy flicked her fingers at him. Her lime green spotlight settled over Lex's body with the sound of a ticking clock accelerating. Lex, in the light, gave his sister a frustrated look. Lucy rolled her eyes. "Well come on! Run in circles or something!"

Lex complied, albeit reluctantly. He suddenly became a green flash of light, a neon emerald cyclone of speed. Lucy turned off her powers. Lex, still running around her, finally stopped and smiled at Lucy. "Luce, that was awesome!"

"Hm." Goody Proctor mumbled, unimpressed. "Now, dear, if you're both truly witches, then tell me how your powers worked on your brother."

This caught Lucy's tongue. She looked down at her hands. "Wait. That was a warlock power?"

"Oh. You don't know." Tituba said in surprise. "Both you and your brother have warlock powers. We thought you knew."

"No!" Lucy still insisted. "Lex doesn't have any powers." Lex nodded eagerly in agreement.

"Yes, he does. You speed up time, and he... he teleports."

Lex giggled. "Haha!" And then he saw that Tituba and Goody Proctor were dead serious. He stopped. "I don't know what you're talking about."

"Of course you do. I see it all." Tituba motioned to her wand. Goody Proctor seemed to agree as well. "You own the power of the speed of light. And you, sister, that of time. Combined, you came here."

"Wait. Lex. That makes sense."

"Huh?"

"Think about it. I can make time speed up. And if you can teleport at the speed of light, then imagine what would happen if I used my powers on you."

"...We'd go faster than the speed of light?"

"Or something." Lucy tapped her chin. "You need to figure out how to teleport again."

Lex shrugged. "Iunno. I tried all the commands I know." He squinted then tried some more. "Push! Rend! Up! Yield! Diffuse!"

Goody Proctor exchanged a skeptical glance with Tituba.

"Uh, uh... rebound? Attack? Ripple?"

Lucy rolled her eyes. "Lex, you look like an idiot."

"Sorry. I don't remember, do I have any others?"

"...That one with the light."

"Oh, yeah. Shine!" A flash of blue light. But it didn't sparkle from Lex's hands. Instead, it sparkled from Lex's being. His silhouette became a picture of pure luminescence that caused everyone in the room to shield their eyes. It was brighter and more fluid than orbs, and certainly more formless. He rematerialized in front of a stunned Lucy.

Goody Proctor smiled. "You'll be fine."

"...Fine for what?" Lex asked as he steadied himself. He only half-understood what just happened to himself.

"If it's not too much trouble, we need your help before you go."

"Oh! Oh, well..." Lex clenched his teeth and looked at his sister. She seemed to say "don't look at me." Still, Lex remembered what he had said earlier. He regretted it now. "Um. I guess while we're here, we'd be glad to help."

That was all they needed to hear. "Perfect!" Goody Proctor stepped forward and folded her hands on her lap as she spoke. "Recently, a witch in our coven named Melinda was killed."

"No doubt by Abigail." Deliverance had suddenly cut into the conversation even though she was certainly uninvited. Both Goody Proctor and Tituba gave her an obvious glare. Deliverance sensed the alienation so with a pout on her face she turned and left.

"...Anyway. Melinda was a neutral party. We have reason to believe a warlock was responsible for her death. But that's not important." Goody Proctor turned and nodded to Tituba. Tituba held her angel wand in front of her. She conjured a small sphere of yellow sparks with it, which in turn flattened and expanded into a hologram-like image of a young blonde haired girl, Melinda, cradling a small baby. "Melinda's infant daughter. Prudence."

Pause was taken while Lex examined the picture. "She looks a little like Prue," he mumbled to his sister, referring to Melinda.

"Pardon?" Goody Proctor asked in curiosity.

"Nothing." retorted Lucy quickly. "What about the girl?"

"She could be in trouble. Melinda was killed this morning, but we don't know what happened to Prudence," Tituba stated. She glanced at herself and at Goody Proctor. "We would go get her ourselves, but obviously we would be recognized. Abigail and her group... what does she call them again?"

"HER Monastery."

"Right. Abigail and Ôher monastery.' They stole much of our magic when they left us, so they could see through our illusion spells easily. However... with your magic, you would have no problem at all being unnoticed."

Lucy put a hand to her temple. "Wait, so what exactly do you want us to do?"

"Go to the Warren house. Find Prudence and get her back here safely. That's all we need."

Lex nodded in confirmation. "You can count on us."

"I hope so."

Confused by Tituba's rather cynical answer, Lex and Lucy turned around to leave. Goody Proctor stopped them. "Wait!" They looked at her in the corners of their eyes. "God be with you."

"Thanks, I think." Lucy replied.

"Yes, yes." Goody Proctor smiled. They turned to go, but she stopped them again. "Oh, and also. Be careful. Abigail is very persuasive to the weak of will. You could say that's her power. It's how she got that Monastery of hers to follow orders so well."

"Abigail? Um... but we're not going to see her? Right?"

Goody Proctor pressed her lips together, giving no answer. Lex shut his mouth. "Before you two go. I forgot to tell you where she lives."

They headed up the stairs after Goody Proctor gave them the directions. Ignoring Goody Nurse, they cut through the main room and straight out the door. Lex cast the illusion spell. The results came out different this time, as they appeared to resemble a blonde brother-sister pair.

"You ready for this, Lex?" Lucy said rather jokingly. "Making our own timeline and all. We gotta be REALLY careful. Well, wait. Actually, any changes we make would either be instantaneous or would have meant to have happened anyway, so I guess it doesn't really matter. Isn't this crazy? First Aaron, now our great grandma, we gotta tell Lyla about this."

"..." Lucy started to fade away. Lex began to unconsciously finger at his pendant. "I got a bad feeling about this."

"Why? It's our great-great whatever grandma. We know nothing bad's gonna happen to her, otherwise we wouldn't be existing."

"No. It's something else. I mean, I think that's really cool and everything, but..." The mist was growing thicker outside. Lex stopped to gaze through it. "We should go."

The gentle buzzing noise of a crystal cage flickered in the mostly-destroyed living room. Rolline, yellow hair askew, lay unconscious within it.

"Amazing... the Charmed Ones." Angelica said with wonder in her voice. She touched Aaron's shoulder, but he seemed untrusting. "I've always wanted to meet them. Of course, I was horrified when the first ones died. But it's what inspired me to gather my group and... you know the rest."

"You became demon hunters."

A patronizing smile. "Very good, whitelighter, yes."

"My name is Aaron, by the way."

"Oh, I know, you told me." This obviously struck Aaron as strange. Without permission Angelica tried to slip behind Aaron and peek up the stairs. "Is that where they keep the Book of Shadows?"

Aaron blocked her with his body. She seemed surprised by this action, as though she had an inherent right to go to attic uninvited. "Please move."

"Look, we don't let anyone into the attic unless there's-" Angelica, like a housecat, decided to lose interest and meander into the living room where her followers, caged Rolline, and Rudi were held. Aaron rolled her eyes.

Suddenly, he heard something behind him in the kitchen. He spun around. Atla stood in the kitchen door, wildly motioning Aaron to join him. Aaron made sure that Angelica was tied up in the living room, which she was, and then ran into the kitchen and closed the door behind him. "Where the hell were you?!" he whispered/yelled. "I was worried you'd been vanquished along with the Hexcaster or something!"

"You don't-" A pause. "Thank you for worrying, whitelighter."

"Tch- wha? Just answer the question."

"You don't know who that girl is, do you?" Atla asked, his voice low and now mysterious.

"Angelica. That's all she told me. It's not like she hiding anything though, it's just that she like, loses interest in me or something... hey, you still didn't answer me."

"I was in a safer place than here." Atla sternly pointed to the closed kitchen door. "That girl is Angelica Danforth." Atla paused, hoping Aaron would pick up. His blank stare indicated that he didn't. "...The Elders did not inform you about her."

"No."

"After the first Charmed Ones died, there was an enormous backlash against demons and warlocks by witches. We sometimes called them Ôwitch supremacists.'" This made Aaron laugh a little. Atla continued. "This new wave was unique in that they, with the help of their whitelighters, invaded the Underworld and hunted demons on a preemptive basis. Angelica is their leader."

This made Aaron think. At first he was surprised the Elders never told him about this group, considering their rather recent formation. But most of all he was relieved. "Dragon. You do realize this means they're on our side."

"Correction. She is on your side. I am on your side. She is not on my side. I am not on her side."

"Well..." Aaron stretched his arms out. "I don't know about you, but it's good for us. Just stay here then and I'll call you out when she leaves."

"Very well."

Aaron and Atla heard the front door open and close. They distinguished two sets of footsteps stumble inside. "Who are you?" rang Mitzy's voice through the closed kitchen door.

Sensing his que, Aaron made a silent motion to Alta, who complied. Aaron quickly snuck out the door. He didn't realize it, but after he left Atla simply rippled out again.

The scene between the lobby, foyer, and living room was tense and strangely static. Lucas stood with his feet still planted on the threshold of the door. Mitzy, broomstick in hand, stared straight into the living room at her sister's body in the crystal cage. Rudi was out of sight, strangely surrounded by Angelica's men. Angelica posed innocently next to Rolline's cage with her hands folded behind her back.

Aaron gave a skeptical glance to each of the parties. "Hi there. Mitzy, this is Angelica. Angelica, Mitzy."

"Yeah...?"

"Pleasure." Angelica kept her perfect posture as she turned to Aaron. "Should I vanquish her, or would you like to do the honors?"

"What?!" Mitzy took an immediately defensive pose as Angelica's posse suddenly left Rudi and crowded in front of Angelica.

"Angelica! Mitzy's on our side! She's part of the Nightshade Guardians." He heard Angelica give an offended guffaw from behind her human barriers. Mitzy gave Aaron a look in the corner of her eyes then shook her head. She trusted Angelica not. The negotiations continued. "Look, we're all witches here."

"No, not that one. She fought the Charmed Ones once."

"Well, I mean-" Aaron exchanged a confused glance with Mitzy. "She used to be evil, but she's good now. How did you know that anyway?"

"I have my ways. Whitelighter, she's tricking you. She and all those Nightshade people." Two of her men made a small gap that Angelica could peek through. "They all fought the Charmed Ones. Witch doctors too."

Aaron threw his hands up in exasperation. "Be reasonable! If we're ever gonna save the Charmed Ones that ARE alive, then please! Just work with us!" he yelled.

Contemplative silence. Finally Angelica gently moved her caravan out of the way and slowly stepped out into the open. She seemed to give a fairly reasonable nod of the head to Mitzy before turning to Aaron again. "I suppose you're right. They're the most important priority right now." she stated.

Again, it seemed that the atmosphere grew tense for no reason. Lucas finally decided to close the door behind him, and completely ignoring Mitzy, Aaron, and Angelica, ran to the living room. Rudi looked up from his seat and smiled. Lucas smiled back before yawning.

Aaron gathered Mitzy and Angelica then led them into the living room. Mitzy's gaze couldn't help but stray to Rolline in the cage. "Why is she in there?" Mitzy inquired, not without a bit of emotion.

"She was hit and it made her go crazy. She tried to kill Rudi, so we didn't have much else of a choice." Rudi was already waiting, although Lucas was close to falling asleep on what was left of the sofa. "Maybe it's time for you to tell us what's going on." Aaron said to him.

Mitzy agreed. Angelica was puzzled. Her followers crowded outside in the lobby, strangely silent. Not seeing any other option, Rudi proceeded.

"See, when I was part of the Polyhymnia Project with Lucas..." he turned to Lucas, expecting him to wake up, but he didn't. Rudi cleared his throat. "Anyway. Lucas was in charge of a lot of the Classical languages, but I'm a specialist... recently I had a tablet in a Nuer dialect. It was called the Lilian tablet, after the cultural anthropologist that recorded it. But the weird part was that when I translated it-" Rudi had a hard time articulating the point. "-I mean, I've studied the Nuer. The Lilian Tablet may have been in Nuer, but it had nothing to do with any of the local religious beliefs. Plus, they found it buried under a dried up lake of all places!"

"So that's what this is about. The Lilian Tablet." Mitzy said.

"Not the Tablet itself. What's written on the Tablet. The Polyhymnia Project got lucky. The Lilian Tablet was shipped to SF State exclusively, so we were the first ones to translate it."

A pause. "Well? What'd it say?" Mitzy yelled with frustration.

Lucas suddenly woke up. "Wha, what's happening?"

"I don't remember verbatim. If I could get to my dorm room, I could get the transcription, but... I never thought it meant anything until now. It described a pantheon of sibling gods. One was an Ôangel' named Beleth. It called her the Ôsoul of mathematics.'"

Angelica followed up in revelation. "And the Hexcasters use probability magic."

"So Beleth..." Aaron contemplated, remembering what Dragon had told him before. "...must be a part of the Seven. The Hexcasters are part of the Seven!"

"Huh?" Rudi shook his head in confusion. "No way. The Lilian Tablet definitely described Beleth as good. Or at least, it didn't say she was a demon."

Before a rebuttal could be given out, sparkling orbs formed in the living room. Lyla and Paige materialized in the middle of the circle, met simultaneously with caged Rolline and the other raven-haired stranger. Lyla found Aaron and glared at him. "What happened?" He opened his mouth to resond but Lyla cut him off. "Never mind. We've got important news."

"WE'VE got important news." Aaron said. "Rudi? Could you fill her in?"

Rudi, instead of doing what he was told, walked past Paige and Lyla then leaned over to whisper to Aaron. "Could I talk to you?"

This was strange. Lucas was still half asleep, so Aaron looked to Mitzy. "Maybe you and Lyla could talk." Mitzy nodded. She motioned for Lyla and Paige to sit next to her. Aaron noticed Angelica shoot a strangely wary look at Rudi before crossing her arms and staring at Rolline again. Rudi made sure to take Aaron far away from the living room and even the foyer where Angelica's men were. They went into the kitchen, which Aaron was surprised to find was empty. "Are you okay?" Aaron asked.

"I'm worried." Rudi turned around yet again to make sure they weren't being listened to. He gave a desperate look to Aaron that couldn't help but worry him as well. "Who is that girl?"

"Angelica. She's a witch, and she's on our side."

"You're sure."

Reeling from the second kitchen confrontation in a matter of ten minutes, Aaron felt paranoid himself. "What happened?"

"When you went away, I- well, it was weird. It was really creepy. Those men with her, they surrounded me so I couldn't see, but I could still see a little bit of what was happening. That girl was looking at Rolline, and..." Rudi frantically ran a hand through his hair. "...I don't know, it seems so crazy."

"It's okay. You can tell me."

"...I could have sworn she had a knife."

"Shine."

For the fifth time in a row, Lex phased into a beam of bright blue light and reappeared five feet from his starting place. Lucy had begun to ignore it now as she simply kept her steady pace. Lex, his blonde doppelganger mischievously smiling, tried to get her attention. "It's easy when you get the hang of it!" he exclaimed. "No wonder Aaron and Dragon do it so much."

"Listen, Lex, I really don't know how you could get so excited about this," posed Lucy in response. "These are warlock powers. That doesn't scare you in the least?"

Actually, the only ponderence that Lex had about his warlock powers was eagerly discussing them with Atla when he got home. But he wasn't sure where Lucy was going with her train of thought. "I guess not. Are you?"

"Uh, yeah. Obviously. We're warlock enough as it is without having these powers to deal with... what if we turn evil?"

"Luce, that's not-"

"No, not evil, I mean, what if we hurt someone we care about?" All quiet. Lucy shook her head. "Maybe I'm overthinking it. I'll... I'll try and bind my warlock powers when we get home."

"Wha?"

They both stopped, much to Lex's chagrin. They had reached their destination. Lucy clicked her tongue. "This is it," she bitterly stated.

Melinda Warren's house was just as isolated as Goody Nurse's, and not much different in architecture. To their dismay Lex and Lucy could hear voices from the inside. They exchanged glances. "Let the object of objection-"

Too late. The door opened. Abigail, Elizabeth, and Ann stepped out. Ann swiftly closed the door behind her upon seeing Lex and Lucy. "Who are you?" Abigail inquired sharply.

Lucy opened her mouth to lie. Lex, remembering his sister's penchant for atrocious lies, beat her to the punch. "We're Melinda's cousins. From Beverly."

"She's dead," Abigail quickly stated.

"Oh... we know." Lex replied. He tried to peek into the house through the window, but Ann blocked his view. "We heard the news. We only came here to get her daughter."

"She never had a daughter," she declared in response. Ann looked into the window. She gave an acknowledgment to Abigail, who nodded. "Good day." Abigail and Ann clutched their arms to their chests and wandered into the mist. Elizabeth wearily glanced at Lex and Lucy before joining her companions.

They made sure the girls were out of sight and out of earshot. "They were missing one. The chubby one." said Lucy.

"Yeah." Lex brushed past Lucy and opened the door. The house was dark and empty, devoid of any real furniture at all except for an empty podium. "Where is everything?"

"If I'm guessing right... we're too late. I'll bet that fat girl took Prudence while we were chatting outside." Lucy snuck to the podium. "And the Book of Shadows too."

"Hey, you're right." Lex crossed the room and knocked on a wooden wall. It swung open to reveal a secret back door. "What do we do?"

Lucy took Lex's arm and strode out the door. "Recast the vanishing spell. We gotta catch up to them, and fast."

"Well... sure. But I don't see how we can find them at this point."

She looked down at her palms. "It shouldn't be hard with super speed."

It had been a while since Atla had rippled into the cave. But he knew he couldn't stay long. Cassandra's Eyes probably had the place rigged, and the Seven could be after him again at any moment.

Atla rushed to the black pool in the back of the cave. "Kira." Nothing. Atla thought he heard something behind him. Marking it down to paranoia, he tried again. "Kira!"

This time, the water rippled rose, and the dark skeletal profile of Kira arose. She glared at Atla with blank black eyes. "What are you doing here?! You might as well stab a stake in your eye, it'd be quicker and more painless than death by other demons!"

"I don't plan on staying long."

"That's what they all say, honey." The tenseness of the situation didn't stop Kira's voice from sounding cheerful. "I like you, Dragon. You give a dead girl some fun stuff to watch. For the sake of you NOT being killed, I'll answer the question for free."

"Where's Lex Russel?"

"Oooooh, la la."

"Kira-" Atla turned again. He could have sworn he heard something in the water. "-not now."

She smirked. "Your boy's in the past. Flung far cos he and his sister got some new powers."

"How?"

"One question, one question! I answered it already, too. You'll find him in Salem, about... 1692-ish?"

"Thanks. I'll remember this." With that, Atla quickly rippled out and Kira faded away into the stone. It didn't give him comfort knowing that someone or something had watched him go.

By the time Mercy had brought the girl to the assigned meeting place, Abigail had gathered her Monastery and was standing with them in a rather menacing semicircle. Mercy could see Elizabeth, the coward, huddling behind her, and Ann in the back transcribing from Melinda's book into a small black one.

"It's about time," Abigail snapped.

"You try getting around in this mist and finding a meeting spot deep in this stupid forest."

"Yes. I did. That's why I'm here on time."

"...I meant with a baby in tow." Mercy clutched Prudence a little tighter. Prudence, a ripe 3 years old, was strangely quiet in Mercy's arms. Mercy gave the baby girl a loving look as she wiggled a finger in front of her face. "What're we gonna do with Ôer, Abby?"

There was a subtle flash of green light behind a close grove of trees that thankfully went unnoticed. Lex gripped Lucy's wrist and crouched down to the ground. Upon realizing that their vanishing spell was still in effect, they slowly crept closer to Abigail's gathering to better hear and observe what was happening.

Ann looked up from her transcribing. "Give her to the wolves. If we're leaving, we can't afford extra baggage," she said without emotion. Lex covered his mouth to stifle his gasp.

"Abby, no..." Elizabeth almost whispered. She twiddled her fingers together and then compulsively curled a stray bang of her hair. "We can't do that."

Abigail acquainted Elizabeth with a disgusted face before giving her judgment. "We're not going to kill her." Everyone present waited for the "but." It remained implicit as Abigail went to Ann's side. Her monastery, about 5 or 6 men and women in formal robes, parted to let her through. Abigail took the Book of Shadows in her hands. Both Lex and Lucy noticed how thin it was compared to the present day, the work of only one solitary witch. Abigail flipped through the pages until she found the appropriate one. Elizabeth, Ann, and Mercy with Prudence crowded around her.

"...A crystal cage? What is that?" Mercy asked.

"Patience is a virtue," Abigail shot. Mercy looked at her bitterly before doing what she was told. Abigail summarized anyway. "I'm sad to say Melinda was a genius. I've never seen anything like it."

"I don't get it, Abby. It just says a cage can contain demons." Elizabeth stated.

"Continue."

"It says a cage is made with five quartz crystals, it can dampen powers-"

"There."

"Huh?"

"That's the rub. Melinda died before she could study crystal cages with depth. So she had no idea what magic she could have unleashed." Abigail grabbed one of the Monastery men. She gave him a nod and in return he reached into his pocket. First he pulled out a series of fist-sized gold stones, then handed them to Abigail. Then he reached into his other pocket and pulled out a golden athame, which Abigail also took. She menacingly slashed it in the air as she spoke. "Crystal cages can dampen powers. Yes. But how? With the right kind of crystals, a cage can siphon complete control over any power."

Mercy bounced Prudence in her arms and pouted at the golden stones. "That's how you used all the jewelry we stole? I thought you'd get us some bartering money."

"Put the baby on the floor." Mercy looked at Abigail like she was speaking wingdings. "Drop her."

She complied, mumbling softly, "You better know what you're doing." With a sweep of her arm Abigail sent her Monastary to the edges of the cave. Ann and Mercy backed away. Elizabeth stood her ground, however, which perplexed Abigail.

"Lizzy, move." Abigail spat.

"You're not gonna hurt the baby, are you? Abby?"

"Stop blubbering! You are embarrassing!"

This simply made Elizabeth shed more tears as she retreated towards the other girls. Abigail tenderly placed the golden stones in a perfect circle around Prudence. A soft gold light fluttered like a glittering cloud around the infant. Abigail smiled as she backed away.

Lucy felt Lex next to her ear. "What's happening?" he whispered.

"Hell if I know. Nothing like this in our Book, that's for sure."

The dome-shaped golden fog became thicker until Prudence became obscured, and all that confirmed her existence was her telltale cries. Elizabeth whimpered in fear. Ann crossed her arms. Mercy couldn't help but bask in the macabre radiance, sharing Abigail's grin.

And then, the climax. Abigail raised the golden athame above her head. "Behold! Pure witchcraft!" she hailed. Her Monastery, suddenly revived, joyously rabbled amongst themselves. Abigail saluted the sky as the fog above the forest broke, and the glorious sun broke down upon the scene. "Divine power/Drain! Prendre pouvoir!"

The athame, the cloud of gold, shone heavenly colors in the midday sun revived. Prudence's cries grew louder. Slowly but surely the golden energy flowed to the athame like steel to a magnet. Abigail laughed. "Do you see? Do. You. See?" she yelled to Mercy. Mercy gave a hearty nod of her head.

But suddenly, the cries stopped. Realizing something was amiss, Abigail looked down at the golden circle. The cloud was fading away. The light was dimming. She dropped the athame in disgust. Mercy and Ann hectically scanned the woods in confusion. The fog, unopposed, blocked the sun again. "What happened?!" Abigail screamed. The gold had disappeared, revealing that Prudence was no longer in the circle.

Silence. Heads turned to a mysterious blonde girl at the edge of the forest, cradling Prudence in her arms. She smirked. "Here's my cousin," she remarked as if she had just found her.

"Kill her!" Abigail screamed. The Monastery responded posthaste, suddenly procuring a number of archaic rifles and aiming them at Lucy like a firing squad. Abigail, Elizabeth, Ann, and Mercy covered their ears. They fired a storm of bullets with a horrendous sound.

"Shine!"

In a flash of blue light the bullets hit nothing but the trees. Lucy, still holding Prudence, and Lex reappeared behind the crowd. "That was so cool!" Lex exclaimed. He jumped when sparkling red waves caused their disguises to fall. "Uh-oh." Their attention was turned to Ann, whose arms were still shining from the dispelling.

The Monastery began the lengthy process of reloading their guns. Mercy put her hands in front of herself. A cascade of flames poured forth, heading straight towards Lucy and very much threatening to incinerate Prudence.

Although Lucy was prepared to take the flames for baby Prudence, she was surprised when Elizabeth, emitting a piercing shriek, leapt into Mercy, shoving her to the ground. Ann, seeing the betrayal, tried to punch Elizabeth in the face. Elizabeth covered her head, causing a bright red shield to protect her from the blow and shove Ann away.

Lucy wasted no more time, running to Lex in panic. "We gotta go," she insisted.

She barely finished her sentence when Abigail took action. She grabbed the golden athame from the ground and raised it above her head before slashing it in front of her. It sparkled and shone before a blade of gold energy sliced through the air. It went straight through Ann and Elizabeth, who remained unharmed. But Lex saw it home towards Lucy. Somehow he knew it wouldn't be as kind to her. In a split second, Lex's eyes met with small Prudence's. They were innocent, big, so full of possibility... a generation trapped in irises. The gold blade grew closer. In desperation, Lex threw himself in front of his sister.

"Lex!"

His face contorted in pain. He could barely scream, it was so painful. Sharp, cold, and deft were the wounds on his back, bloody and with purpose. Lucy saw it, and after she clutched her brother's hands and screamed his name, she fainted, gently dropping Prudence before falling herself.

Over. Over? Blurry vision, crystallized with hurt, Lex only saw the world turn red. But it wasn't blood. It wasn't death. It was poor Lizzy's shield, a last line of defense against gunshots, against Mercy and Ann, against Abigail's rage. Lex could see Elizabeth's bugged out eyes and the fuzzy outline of her curly hair. "Sweep us away!" he heard her say. "Please, take us away!"

With whatever strength he had left, Lex softly nodded. Elizabeth scooped up Prudence with one arm and held Lex's hand with the other. Lex felt for Lucy. He closed his eyes. "...Shine..." he whispered. Blue light enveloped them and became them and they sparkled away into thin air. Elizabeth's tell-tale shield disappeared. All that could be heard was a furious Holy Girl resounding in Salem's woods: it was the sound of a fish that got away.

A rather sinister light was thrown on Angelica in the other room. While Paige and Lucas kept a very intent eye on her, Aaron, Lyla, Mitzy, and Rudi convened in the kitchen, now the designated conniving grounds.

"So, that's what I saw." Rudi finished his story for the second time.

Lyla sighed. She looked at Aaron. "...But she's on our side," she said.

"Not if she attacked Rolline." Mitzy defended.

The kitchen door opened. Everyone jumped in their place, anticipating their tryst to have been discovered, but it was only Lucas. "What is it?" Lyla asked.

"I was talking with Angelica."

"Oh, good. WE were just talking about her. She's gotta go." Mitzy proclaimed.

"Look, I don't wanna intrude, but... to be fair, she tried to kill Rudi. Angelica might have been justified in-"

"Oh, shut up!" Lucas was cut off by Mitzy. Rudi blushed from the indirect attention.

"You guys might wanna think twice about her then." Lucas turned to Lyla. "We were talking... and if we can figure out when or where your brother and sister are, then we could combine our magic and get them back."

Certainly a turning point. But Mitzy still raged. "That doesn't matter! We can get them back without that psycho, what's important is that we get rid of her!"

Lyla intervened. Mitzy gave her noticeably more respect than before. "Look. We gotta find Lex and Lucy. Rolline is important, but as an ally so is Angelica. For now, we have to compromise." she turned to Aaron. "And where's Dragon?"

Aaron shrugged. Lucas exclaimed, "But that girl's nuts!" although no one knew who he was referring to. "Err... Rolline is."

"Look, she's not evil. She's just... well yeah, she's nuts." Mitzy finally admitted. "But she's usually not that nuts!"

Aaron flashed back to the battle that happened several hours ago. "The only reason she's snapped is because one of the Hexcasters attacked her."

Perhaps everyone came to the exact same revelation at the exact same time. Heads turned to Lyla. She caught on too. "No! I promised not to use them." Lyla argued.

"Promised who?"

"The Elders. Aaron, you know how they can be." Lyla said to Aaron while bumping into him. She threw her hands in the air. "Where is Dragon? He should be helping..." As she had summoned with her words, a ripple appeared in the middle of the kitchen. Atla stepped out. Lyla was glad for the diversion. "Great! Where were you? This kitchen's getting crowded."

"I know where Lex and Lucille are." Atla stated flatly. "Where and when."

Aaron furrowed his brow. "How?"

"Connections," was all Atla said. "Salem. 1692."

"I'll get right on it." Lucas said, nearly plunging out the door and grabbing Rudi by the wrist. "Uh- consider it payment back fore running away and stuff."

"Wait." Lucas stopped at Lyla's command. "... Dragon? Mitzy? Hide out for now. Aaron? You're with me. We're gonna get Rolline back." Mitzy smiled. Thanks was not needed, but it was obviously implicit.

Orders given out, they moved out. Dragon and Mitzy stealthily snuck out the side door through the dining room, and rushed up the stairs to the attic. Lucas and Rudi exchanged a multitude of glances while they waited in the kitchen. Lyla and Aaron crossed the foyer and went into the living room.

Angelica immediately got up from her conversation with Paige mid-sentence. She greeted Lyla with a sparkling smile. "I can't believe it! A Charmed One! It's an honor to be fighting with you." she said. She heartily shook Lyla's hand. "I talked to your friend. If we combine our skills, we can definitely find your brother and sister."

"Oh! Of course!" Lyla said with a very fake smile.

"Err... maybe you could follow me to the foyer. You know, to show me what you plan on doing." Aaron said.

It did seem a bit suspicious. But Aaron and Lyla's smiles were persistent enough to convince Angelica. "Alright. Sure." She, followed by her group, stepped into the foyer with Aaron. Lyla closed the door behind them very discreetly.

Paige buried her face in her hands. "Oh, thank you. She was getting on my last nerves." Lyla made a "sh" motion. She positioned herself in front of Rolline's crystal cage with her hands outstretched. Paige raised an eyebrow. "You're not seriously gonna try that, are you?"

"Sh! Yes!" Lyla concentrated. Not sure exactly how to activate the power, she concentrated on the image of the Hexcasters. Spheres of light, grey power. She breathed deeply. Inhale, and on the exhale..."

"Graahhh!!!"

Angelica looked at the closed door. "What in the world was that?" she pondered.

"Uh, nothing. Keep telling me about the spell." Aaron said, beginning to sweat.

Paige grabbed Lyla's arms. "Watch what you're doing!"

"Sorry, I-"

Rolline, very slowly, rose from her place. She blinked rapidly and then ran a hand through her hair.

"Are you okay?" Lyla asked apprehensively.

She turned her head to stare at Lyla. Paige was strangely silent. Rolline opened her mouth. "Yes."

Although her voice seemed normal, and her mannerisms as well, why was it that her "yes" seemed like a "no?" Paige was still hesitant, but Lyla was eager to get going. She kicked one of the crystals away and let the cage fall. Rolline stumbled out. "Paige, could you take her to the attic?"

"...Sure." Paige took Rolline's hand and orbed away.

Lyla sighed. She looked down at her hands. The powers of a demon at her fingertips... A bizarre feeling. A feeling contradictory to her entire upbringing. If only Mom could see her now, she'd throw a fit! Lyla shook her head. She flung the door open, surprised to see Lucas, Angelica, and Aaron already waiting.

"We're ready." Angelica said.

Blue light flowed then ebbed in the basement of Goody Nurse. Tituba, Deliverance, and Goody Proctor followed the source. Lucy, unconscious; Lex, bloody; and Elizabeth, filled with fright, baby Prudence in her arms.

"YOU!" Deliverance shrieked. Elizabeth whimpered and wept a little before holding Prudence in front of her like a shield.

"Wait, Deliverance, please!" Tituba insisted. She and Goody Proctor swept down to their knees. Goody Proctor took Prudence and bounced her up and down, while Tituba confronted Elizabeth. "...Lizzy?"

Elizabeth sniffed. "I-I, I tried to help, Tituba. Abby was doing too much, I couldn't take it anymore, I-I, I tried, I really, really did, but-"

"Sh..." Tituba hugged her a little bit. "You made the right choice."

Deliverance glared at Elizabeth before walking over to Lex and Lucy. "...I'm guessing they were on our side after all."

"Deliverance, cut the chatter." Goody Proctor demanded. "Get some of the girls, make some herbs to heal the boy. There's a spell that can help to stop the bleeding, but-"

Aaron ran down the stairs. His eyes fixed on Lex's slashed back and his pain-racked face. "What happened?! Heal him!"

"I wish it were that simple. What few whitelighters we had joined Abigail. We need time, patience... but with rest, they'll be fine."

As soon as Goody Proctor finished her sentence, a glowing glyph appeared under Lex and Lucy. With a sudden, snapping noise like a cable breaking, they disappeared.

The basement was quiet, but for Elizabeth's gentle cries. Deliverance put her hands up. "I didn't do it," she said.

"Wh-where are they?" Aaron stuttered.

Tituba looked at the patch of floor where the glyph had appeared. "Back to their time. Someone must have been looking for them."

"But they were wounded! What if they die?!" fumbled Aaron again.

"...I pray they have the tools to help in the future, then." Goody Proctor said with a c'est la vie attitude. She sighed. "Deliverance? Find materials for a memory erasing potion. We'll all need to take it, including you, Aaron, and Goody Nurse too." Aaron grimly stared at the floor.

"What about the girl?" Tituba asked.

Goody Proctor, not sure about whom Tituba was referring, answered all the possibilities anyway. "We'll give Prudence to Melinda's neighbors. They are fine people, and she should be safe there. As for this one..." she bent down to face Elizabeth. "I suppose you can't go back to Abigail."

She wildly shook her head. "Abby's gone by now. We were gonna leave after we took the baby."

"Do you know where?" Again, she shook her head. Goody Proctor bit her lip. "Very well. Stay with us. We will do our best to give you amnesty."

Deliverance, bottled herbs gathered in her arms, spoke up from across the basement. "...Does this mean we're safe?"

Goody Proctor got up. She looked in Prudence's eyes. How similar, familiar from some place... "For now," she replied. "Only for now."

Lucas wrote the glyphs in a circle: seals he had seen and memorized in an ancient Hebrew text long ago. Seal of Venus, seal of Mercury, seal of return... The arcane angles and celestial curves imitated planets and stars on the floor of the foyer. He finished the circle and dropped the chalk, wiping his palms on the sides of his jeans. He took the candles from Lyla and lit them around the circumference. Aaron placed one of Lex's shirts and one of Lucy's necklaces in the circle.

Angelica, her followers dismissed to someplace unknown, cleared her throat and took out her little black book. She exchanged glances with Aaron and then Lyla. She grinned. "Let's do it."

Lucas took the right flank, and Angelica the left. Lucas began to speak in tongues as his hands ascended, the runes glowing and then spinning around an axis. Angelica flipped open the book. "Time's echo/Return to us! Memoire perdu!"

The chanting grew louder and some force made Lucas' words echo through the foyer. An invisible wind swirled form the center of the rune circle, bursting outwards and causing their clothes to flutter. Angelica yelled again. "Lex Russel! Lucille Russel! From the past lost, now return!" She forcefully pointed. A portal of shining light ripped through the air with a glorious noise and swirled inside the circle.

"They're coming through!" Angelica screamed over the noise.

Lex opened his eyes. He was standing on air. Above him, the sky moved forward with accelerating clouds and suns and moons trading places across the horizon. Below him, the ground grew green then brown then green again, then into beautiful bursts of faraway rainbow blossoms that faded back into the emerald cycle. Lex looked around. He was not alone.

In front of him, at the nexus of the heavens and earth, was one of the glowing women. Only she did not glow, and she did not float; she stood as he did. She approached Lex step by step. He could not hear her steps, but he could see under her royal dress that she wore heels. Shining, crystalline ones that would make a beautiful ringing noise on a hard surface. Lex imagined the sound in his head.

Her eyes were dark brown without the light. Her wrists were delicate, and when the she came close enough she lifted her gloved hands to try and touch Lex's face. He didn't draw back. She moved her lips. No sound came out, but Lex could still hear what she said.

Cassandra?

It felt like a desperate whisper to Lex, as though he were Cassandra in another skin. He shook his head. The woman put the edges of her fingertips through Lex's hair.

Humans... I have not met your kind in a long, long time.

"Who are you?" Lex found the courage to ask, albeit quietly.

Her fingers rested on Lex's cheek.

You recognize me no longer. You stray from Infinitus. My child, where is Cassandra?

Lex shook his head again, this time in confusion. "I don't understand," he stated. "Why do you attack us?" Lex continued, changing the subject dramatically.

It has been so long... so, so long. I have not seen my brothers and sisters, nor have I met humans.

Brothers and sisters. That was familiar.

But a wind began to rise, and the sky and the earth began to grow dark. The woman tried to hold Lex's hand, but he was swept away to quickly. All he could see was the faint silhouette of her bright grey dress, fluttering away in the growing darkness.

The portal swirled brighter, the chanting louder. Suddenly, a beam of light broke through the front door windows: finally, dawn. Morning made its way into the manor, and illuminated the portal with a rosy glow.

The noise lured Atla and Paige to the top of the stairs, peeking from the attic. At last the portal bulged and with a final flash and snapping noise, the runes and portal disappeared, and the chanting stopped.

There was Lucy, face up, obviously unconscious. And next to her, Lex, the back of his shirt torn and slashed but otherwise unharmed, lay unconscious as well.

Lucas rubbed his hands together, satisfied with his work. Abigail smiled at Lyla. "There you go."

"Oh my God." Lyla rushed to their sides, Aaron in tow. Aaron felt Lex's pulse, then Lucy's.

"They're fine. Just unconscious."

"Lex!" To Lyla, Aaron, and Paige's chagrin, Atla had freed himself from Paige's grip and shot down the stairs. He knelt and hugged Lex to his chest quite unabashedly. He briefly looked up at Lucas, who seemed to feel rather awkward. "I'm in your debt, stranger."

Perhaps intimidated by his dark voice or strong physique, Lucas felt himself shrinking under Atla's gaze. "Uh... don't worry about it. Maybe I should go upstairs..." he then followed his own advice.

Paige went down the stairs a little slower. Lyla shot her a "look." When Paige got to her side, she whispered. "Hey, I'm sorry. You try holding someone with the strength of a hundred men, see how you do."

"The reunion's sweet, but-" Lyla looked over at Angelica. The look of fear and disgust on her face upon seeing Atla was evident enough to prove Lyla's point.

A moan. Lucy shook her head and slowly rose to her knees. She looked around and squinted in the dawn light. "Jeez... we're back?" Lucy looked to her right to see Atla and unwounded Lex. She sighed in relief.

"Sis!" Lyla squealed. She bent down and hugged Lucy.

"Oh, ho, wow." Aaron crossed her arms and stood behind Lyla. Lucy waved to him with what little motion she could in Lyla's vice. "Hi, Aaron. Wait Ôtill we tell you who we met in the past."

Aaron raised an eyebrow in curiosity. But his reply was cut off by Angelica, who had proceeded to clutch her book to her chest and back slowly out the door. "Goodbye, Russels," was all she said.

"Wait, Angelica-" Lyla called out. She let go of Lucy and tried to reach out for her, but she was long gone out the door. Angelica disappeared in the bright morning out the door.

"...Was that... who was that?" Lucy asked.

"A girl named Angelica Danforth." Paige replied. "She helped us get you back to the present." Silence. Paige put her hands on her hips. "What's wrong, sweetie? Know her?"

"I know that book she had." Lucy said. She stared out the door. "That was Abigail Parris' book."

Lyla and Paige had no idea what she was referring to. Aaron, however, froze instantly. "Oh God..." he whispered to himself. "...no."

It was midday by now, but Lucas and Rudi were dead tired. Back in the guest bedroom they had taken up just several days ago, Rudi pleasantly napped while Lucas sat by his bedside.

Rudi tossed a little in his sleep. Lucas reached over and brushed a bit of the hair out of his face. To Lucas' surprise, Rudi moaned a little. And then, in his slumber, a word was intelligible. "...Lucas."

Lucas paused. The sunlight hit Rudi. His hair was a shade paler, and when he opened his mouth, his canines seemed a bit sharper. Lucas sighed. What could be done?

A gentle knock on the door. Lucas got up, rubbed his face, then slithered out the door to see who had knocked. It was Lucy. She gave a smug smile. "Good to see you back again, Mr. Dawson."

Lucas rolled his eyes. "I guess."

"Well, anyway. Thanks for getting me and my brother back. I appreciate it."

"No problem." Lucas sighed. "Look, Dr. Russel, I'll be honest. What're Rudi and I gonna do? We've already missed a day of class, we really can't stay here for very long."

Lucy nodded. "Of course not. I get the impression that you're not nearly in as much danger as before, now that we have the information that Mr. Seles had... but you're still in some danger. You can go back to your classes. But we'll ask the Elders to assign you a whitelighter, and you should be sure to know some other witches on campus... know a Kincaid Rowe? Hook up."

"Alright. Thanks." Lucas yawned. "Uh, I'm gonna take a nap too, I think. I'll see you later."

"Very well. Goodbye, Mr. Dawson." Herself feeling a little tired, Lucy decided to head to her own room herself.

Downstairs, Lyla, Aaron, Mitzy, and Rolline surrounded Paige. Lyla gave Paige a small hug before stepping back. "Don't worry. We'll find the children."

Paige had an optimistic grin on her face. "Yeah, we're reaching a pretty big breakthrough. We'll keep you updated," she said.

"Rolline?" said Lyla.

Rolline, who had made a rather interesting and sudden recovery despite what had just happened to her, quickly complied. "Right away," she said. In a deft motion she reached into her bust and threw it at Paige. In a shimmer of lights, Paige waved goodbye and disappeared into the ceiling.

Lyla sighed. "Alright. Well, Rolline, Mitzy, thank you so much for everything. I guess you can go now."

"It was an honor to serve!" Rolline yelped with a curtsy. She despondently went out the front door.

"Wait!" Mitzy called out the door. She reached for Lyla's hands and looked deep into her eyes with her pretty blues. "...I, I misjudged you."

"Oh. No, Mitzy-"

"We're a lot more similar than I realized. And I just have to thank you for saving me, and my sister... she's not my sister, but that's not the point. Thank you."

Lyla, lost for words, simply grinned.

"...Oh. My organization could use more seers like you..." Mitzy fumbled in her robes until she pulled out a white card. She gave it to Lyla: it read The Sibylla, with an address on it. "Think about it. I'll see you again sometime." With that, Mitzy ran outside with a hand on Rolline's shoulder.

Lyla closed the door behind them. She pocketed the card and looked up at Aaron. "Did you notice that something's off with Rolline?"

"..."

"Aaron."

He snapped out of it. "Hm? What?"

"Nothing." Lyla put her hand in his, and she led him up the stairs. "I dunno about you, but I'm exhausted. Let's nap."

Obviously, Aaron's thoughts were elsewhere. He still remembered Abby clear as day. The Holy Girl. The murderer of innocent women. A liar, a manipulator, a power-hungry tyrant who disappeared as soon as her cover was blown. His little sister. The only one who would play with him when the other boys were afraid of a reverend-to-be. The one he shared secrets with. She was a killer.

Aaron taunted the possibility that it was his very great niece who had just walked out the door that morning.

"Aar-bear?"

He was met with Lyla's smile and a wink. Aaron sighed and smiled back. Lyla opened the door to her room and led him inside for a nap.

Lex reluctantly pried his eyes open a second time. But he was glad he did. The bed was warm, his room bright with day. Atla, arms crossed and back turned, gazed out the window in contemplation.

"Atla." Lex whispered.

Atla jumped. He quickly spun around, then swept Lex up in another hug. "Lex. Never, never worry me like that."

"Alright, -agh- Atla, you're too strong."

Atla let go. He held Lex's shoulders tenderly, and then his hands moved down to his back. He fumbled with Lex's shredded shirt. "What happened? Were you hurt?"

"...Yeah. I was. But I was healed." Lex looked up at Atla. "Something weird happened."

"Never mind. What matters is that you're safe."

Lex felt hot all over his body, burning where Atla touched him. Faced with silence, Lex took a chance. He propped himself up higher, to get face to face with Atla. He put his hands on his pecs, warm and strong. Lex kissed him. He kissed him once, then twice on the lips, then thrice on the cheek. Atla simply stared, wide-eyed, speechless. Lex blushed. "Um... sor-"

The fact that Atla cut off his apology by locking his lips over Lex's seemed to signify that he wasn't sorry.

Lex was thrown down on the bed. Atla loomed over him, his muscular frame blocking the light. Lex could see Atla's fiery handsome face, his deep green eyes right above his. The weight of Atla's body on the bed made Lex bounce up and down a little, and he giggled. Atla smiled, white teeth that reminded Lex of the dragon he was. Lex suddenly felt his shirt being pulled over his head. His own hands wandered to Atla's tank top and pulled it off.

Atla pressed down. Lex moaned just slightly, feeling Atla's entire body engulf his, his powerful muscles plastered to Lex's own chest. He bent down and kissed Lex again. Their breaths, hot and heavy, synched with their heaving chests. Lex drew back from the kiss just briefly, and Atla to propped himself above him as if he were doing a push-up. "Atla..." he whispered yet again, but breathlessly.

"Yes?"

"...I love you."

Quiet. And then, for the very first time, Lex saw it. Something he never thought he would ever see. Atla blushed. Atla, dragon warlock assassin, fearsome warrior with the strength of a hundred men, was turning red from three words! Atla opened and closed his mouth, almost aghast. His emerald eyes widened a little as he stared down at Lex. In a swift motion Atla pressed down again and embraced him tight against his bare chest. He kissed Lex on the cheek and tenderly stroked the back of his hair. Lex, involuntarily, let a tear trickle out his eye.

"I love you too, little one."

He held him for what seemed like time eternal. No selfishness, just protection. Only love. Lex forgot what it felt like. As more tears escaped and Atla continued the gentle cradle, he smiled.

Only love.

"Fun" fact for fans!: I play video games. God, I do. Anyone who's read FF Rosa knows that. Thus, I admit that due to wonderful poetic liscence, I can let video games influence certain things in my writing! Or at least, in envisioning it. For the Hexcasters, look at the image of Princess Zelda of the Zelda series, particularly in the most recent games. Zelda's totally my character in Super Smash Brawl, by the way, maybe that's why she's based on her b/w color scheme in that game! Whee! :D

Hey, um, I feel kinda bad for cheating everyone out of masturbatable stories, and I mean that quite seriously (even though I am laughing very self-consciously while writing it :D). Especially since Lex and Atla over there had to be incredible teases. Do you guys want sex scenes or something? Go ahead and tell me, cos I'll try my best. CR was always a very loose story in terms of sex, so I'm totally open to making it a little more NC-17. Or not. Either way.

Questions abound! I'm sure all of you are getting really sick of the seemingly hundreds of characters that are floating around now. But fear not! Soon, I will release the second Book of Shadows entry, and that might help a little in keeping everybody easily organized.

So anyway... have a nice day! My summer classes are ending in a week, so I am totally psyched :). See you!

as per usual: thank you for reading!

Questions? Comments? Recommendations? Fan Mail? Hate Mail, maybe? Wanna just talk about Charmed? email me at ThePleiadesCall@gmail.com . Love to hear from you!

If you like Charmed Reborn, maybe there's the very vague possibility you'll like other stories I've submitted:

Final Fantasy Rosa (Celebrity), Pokemon: Amethyst (Celebrity), Teth (Fantasy), Diana Celes (High School), and Hallow (Sci-Fi/Fantasy).