Piper came down into the kitchen. Prue had already beaten her to the coffee maker. The Halliwell sisters went through the same deal every day - Prue and Piper went off to work, while the unemployed Phoebe stayed at home, most likely meddling with magic.
"Big day today, huh?" Piper asked her older sister Prue.
"Yeah, the biggest. Today's Buckland's big yearly auction and Claire's expecting me to run it. I'm so overwhelmed," Prue replied.
"I know the feeling," Piper said, smiling. "There's a huge convention in town and Quake was chosen to cater it." She looked at her watch. "I have to go soon, or else I will be fired."
"Me too," Prue agreed. Just then the phone rang. Piper picked it up.
"Hello?! Yes, this is Piper. Uh huh. Really? When? Ok. Well gotta go. See you then," Piper conversed with whoever was on the other end of the line.
"Who was that?" asked Phoebe, who had just woken up.
"Guess what, our three cousins are coming today to visit. Did anyone know anything about this?" Piper asked, taking a sip of her coffee. Neither Phoebe nor Prue responded.
"Well how is that going to work? You and I both have major commitments at work today. Phoebe's going to have to pick them up at the airport," Prue pointed out.
"You say that like it's a bad thing. I'd be happy to pick them up. When does their flight get in?" Phoebe asked. She poured herself a bowl of cereal.
"Noon," replied Piper. "Oh god, I'm going to be late!" she screamed as she looked at her watch.
"Me too," Prue added. Both sisters grabbed their coats and left the house. Phoebe closed the door behind them.
Phoebe drove to the airport and arrived at the gate with only seconds to spare. She waited for her cousins, although she didn't know what they looked like, or, for that matter, what their names were. She would just have to wait for them to find her. She was nervous about meeting these cousins, and wished her sisters were there. Are they witches? she wondered to herself.
Just then three blond teenagers approached her. The tallest one came up to her and asked, "Excuse me, are you Phoebe Halliwell?"
"Yes," Phoebe replied with a smile. "Are you our cousins?"
"Yeah. I'm Amy. I'm the oldest. And this is Alyson and Anie," Amy explained.
"Well, I'm Phoebe. And my sisters Prue and Piper are at work right now, but you'll meet them later. In the meantime, why don't we get your luggage and we'll go," Phoebe suggested. She motioned for her cousins to follow her.
On the way to the baggage claim, Phoebe began to think about her cousins. They were teenagers. She had expected them to be about her age. She also wanted to know if they were witches. The three girls found their suitcases and then the four of them left the airport.
"So this is your house?" Anie asked, upon their arrival at the Halliwell house.
"Yep," Phoebe answered. "It used to be our Grandmothers'." Phoebe unlocked the door and led the girls up to the guestroom. "You guys can unpack later. Do you want to go on a tour of the house?" she asked. The three girls agreed.
Phoebe led them around the huge mansion-like home. She showed them the kitchen, the living room, and all three Halliwell sisters' bedrooms. Finally they had seen every room in the house, except the attic. Phoebe debated taking them up there, as she had no idea whether they knew their secret or not. Finally she decided to, figuring they wouldn't question the magical contents of the attic. She led them up to the attic, where Aly saw the Book of Shadows.
"Nice book," she said to Phoebe.
"It's a family heirloom," Phoebe replied. "It was Grams'."
"Yeah, I figured that," Aly said. "We've got almost an exact duplicate at home."
"You have a copy of the Book of Shadows?" Phoebe asked. "So you're witches?"
"Yep, that's us. The Charmed Ones," Amy replied.
"That can't be. Me, Prue, and Piper are the Charmed Ones," Phoebe argued.
"You obviously don't read the Book of Shadows for fun, do you?" Anie asked.
"No," Phoebe answered with a sarcastic and confused tone.
Anie opened the slightly dusty book to a certain page she seemed to have memorized. "Read this," she instructed Phoebe.
Phoebe read the page aloud. "April 10th, 1542. Today Rhiannon and I were captured by a warlock. He tried to take our powers using a ritual, which would divide us from our powers. The ritual went wrong, and our powers were duplicated and given to two friends and non-wiccan cousins of ours, Mary and Beth. Mary now shares my power of moving objects with my mind, although it is warped. She can move herself into objects. Beth received Rhiannon's gift of seeing the future, only Beth can also see the past, a person's secrets, and their emotions, just by looking in their eyes. I believe that Mary and Beth are now part of our witch life and their descendents will obtain their powers too. The Book of Shadows was also somehow duplicated. - Rylan Sophena"
It took Phoebe a few moments to absorb this. Two sets of Charmed Ones. This is just great she though to herself.
"So you guys are descendents of Mary and Beth?" Phoebe questioned.
"Yep, that's us. Anie has the power of moving herself into objects, mimicking, more commonly known as shapeshifting. I have the soul viewing power," Amy explained. "Aly here has a fun power. It's the power of creation. She can make stuff out of thin air."
"Cool!" Phoebe exclaimed. "I wanna see!!" The girls obediently nodded. First, Anie displayed her power by morphing into a cat. "Wow!" Phoebe called. Then, Alyson showed off her power by making a candy bar appear in her right palm. "I'll take that thank you," Phoebe told Aly, taking the confection from her. Next, Amy demonstrated her power. She looked into Phoebe's eyes.
"I'll only look at your thoughts right now," Amy told Phoebe. "I don't like to go into secrets and past because most people don't like that. Looking into your future may be potentially dangerous because meddling with time is dangerous, and the future of certain people, like you, is not for me to see. If I did, I could change future history. Ready? Oh, and try not to have a premonition while I'm locked. It might injure me. I think."
"I'll try my hardest," Phoebe said, smiling.
"Okay. Now stare right into my eyes. Don't move. Blink if you have to, but not until I'm locked. Once I'm locked you can move around and close your eyes if you want." Phoebe opened her eyes very wide and looked straight into Amy's. Amy did the same. Amy stared for a few moments until her eyes became a deeper violet color, and she was oblivious to the people around her.
"She's locked now," Aly explained. "You can break away."
Phoebe closed her eyes and blinked a few times because of the stinging from keeping her eyes open for so long. She then continued to look at Amy in a less staring way. Finally Amy closed her eyes. They returned to the normal bluish-violet color and she came aware again.
Amy smiled. "You're thinking of your sisters right now. You're wondering what they'll think of, about the whole warped power two sets of charmed ones thing. I know it's freaky. When we first heard about you we went ballistic. It's not every day you find out these kinds of things."
"I know what you mean," Phoebe sympathized. "When me and Prue and Piper first got our powers back, we were in shock. Well, I thought it was cool, but Prue and Piper, well, we won't go there. But we're dealing."
"What do you mean, when you got your powers back?" Aly questioned.
"We got our powers back last year. We had them when we were children, but Grams took them from us, to save us from a warlock," Phoebe explained.
"Oh, fun," Anie commented.
Prue and Piper arrived at the manor at the exact same time. Piper unlocked the door, and the two sisters went inside to find a swirling mass of magic mist flowing through the house.
"PHOEBE!" Piper screamed. She began to charge after her little sister.
"Yeah?" she casually replied
"What did you do?" Prue asked. "Why does our house look like a hailstorm?" She hung her jacket on the hook.
"Oh that's just Anie," Phoebe explained.
"What?" Piper and Prue asked in unison.
"Anie, can you morph back now so I can get off the hook?" Phoebe asked.
"Okay," replied a chiming voice, seeming to come from nowhere. The swirling mass concentrated in one stop a materialized in to a human teenage girl. "Hi! I'm Anie," she greeted her cousins.
"Amy, Aly?" Phoebe screamed up the stairs. "Come meet Piper and Prue!"
The six sat down in the living room and the three blond sisters explained their powers and who they were. Prue and Piper sat in a state that somewhat resembled shock, while Phoebe sat there smiling.
"I'm not buying this," Piper whispered to Prue. "I'm freezing them." She threw her hands out to freeze time. Piper expected their cousins to freeze, but they didn't. "What the-"
"In case you forgot, we're witches, so that kinda doesn't work on us," Amy told Piper. Piper made a face at her.
"Okay, enough bonding. We didn't really come here for a reunion. We've got some icky things to vanquish," Anie explained.
"Warlocks?" Prue inquired.
"Worse. Hunters," Amy explained.
"And what do they want?" Phoebe asked.
"To kill witches."
"And how is that any worse than a Warlock?"
"Hunters aren't physical beings. They're spirits, who jump from host to host. When they feel endangered, they jump to the closest subconscious or unconscious person. That includes anyone who's sleeping. And they're picky too. Nine times out of ten, they head for people you know, you care for, and that you would not expect to kill you. They're hard to find, and almost impossible to kill. "
"Then how come we've never seen them before," Prue asked.
"They don't know about you. They don't know that you're the true Charmed Ones. They think we are. We've been battling them our whole lives. And they keep coming back, no matter how many you vanquish," Amy explained.
"So, we have to help right?" Phoebe asked.
"Exactly. You have the Power of Three. Well, so do we, but not as strong as you. The six of us together are strong enough to defeat them."
"Well this is great," Piper sighed. "Now I won't be able to sleep tonight. Hey, it's late, I'm going to bed." Prue, Phoebe, Alyson, Amy, and Anie agreed.
The six witches slowly woke up the next morning. Piper and Prue went to work, while Phoebe, Amy, Aly, and Anie went to the mall for a shopping spree.
Prue arrived at Buckland's to find a customer waiting in her office. Claire was also there.
"Prue, this is Ms. Vera Kelly. She's interested in that gold locket," Claire explained. "Ms. Kelly, this is Prue Halliwell."
"Hello, Ms. Halliwell," Vera said, smiling.
"Hello. So you're interested in the gold locket? Come down to storage with me. Well go look at it." Vera followed Prue down the stairs to storage.
Meanwhile, at the mall, Phoebe and her cousins were inside an accessory store. Anie looked at nail polish, Aly checked out lip-gloss, and Phoebe and Amy looked at necklaces.
"I'm trying to find something for Piper's birthday," Phoebe explained.
"Oh, this one's nice," Amy said, pointing to a gold locket.
"Yeah, it is. Piper would like it too. How much is it?" Phoebe turned the locket over to see the price tag.
Suddenly Phoebe jumped, and closed her eyes. She was having a premonition.
"Whoa, what did you see Phoebe?" Aly asked.
"I saw Prue. At work, being attacked by a client. Come on, we gotta get to Buckland's."
The four of them ran out of the store and out of the mall. Phoebe fumbled with the keys and finally the left the parking lot.
Prue lead Vera towards the location of the golden locket.
"This is it. Item number 62834, a gold locket. Estimated value, $2500. It's made of pure gold, hence the $2500," Prue explained to Vera.
"Excellent. I'll take it." Vera took out her checkbook and wrote a check for $2500, and then handed it to Prue.
"Thank you," Prue said, smiling.
Vera picked up the necklace and put it on. She turned to Prue and said, "No, thank you," in a weird voice. Vera mutated into a demon of some sort.
"Prue Halliwell, prepare to die!" Vera exclaimed. She ran after Prue with a weapon of fire Prue had never seen before.
Prue began to run. She turned around at moved Vera into a pile of empty boxes. Then she ran upstairs towards her office, where she ran into Phoebe and the cousins.
"Prue, you're in danger!" Phoebe exclaimed.
"No kidding, why do you think I'm running?" Prue screamed.
The five of them ran into Prue's office and locked the door.
"Ok, you three stay here, and Prue and I will go fend her off," Phoebe instructed her cousins.
"No way, I mean, our individual powers are stronger than yours. We've had them longer. Plus, if something happened to one of you, the Hunters kill us all," Amy told Prue and Phoebe. Then, before either of them could argue, the three went outside Prue's office and went after Vera.
"Oh look, it's the little Charmed Ones!" Vera cackled. "You can't stop me now, I've got my amulet. I'm stronger than you."
"Wanna bet?" called Prue and Amy at the same time. Just then, Piper walked into room. She immediately froze Vera.
"Hey Piper!" Prue exclaimed.
"Hey. Oh, what is that thing?" Piper asked in disgust.
"That would be Vera Kelly, my last customer. But I think selling her that locket was a mistake," Prue explained to Piper.
"Yeah, I would have to agree with you on that one," Amy stated. "That locket is actually an amulet, the Hunter's all-powerful thingamabob. Once it's in their possession, their leader is almost invincible. But not totally invincible, just really, really powerful. And I think the Power of Three times two-"
"Can kick her ass," Phoebe said, finishing Amy's sentence.
"Yeah."
"Well, then, lets do it," Piper exclaimed. She unfroze Vera.
"What? Six of you?" Vera asked in a gnarly voice.
"Yep, the Power of SIX this time, loser."
Immediately, Anie changed into a panther. She chased Vera down the hall, until she was cornered. Vera dropped her weapon, but it was still guarded. Piper froze Vera. Amy looked into her eyes, and her own eyes became the deep purple Phoebe had seen earlier. She stayed that way for a moment, then broke away.
"There's only one weapon that can kill her. It's a special sword, that will crush her amulet and drain her of her strength," Amy explained to the others.
"And we don't have it, do we?" Piper asked.
"Yeah we do. Aly?"
Alyson closed her fist and her eyes. A sphere of light began to grow and soon the sword materialized in her hand.
"That's just not fair," Phoebe cried.
Alyson gave the sword to Prue. "If anyone goes near her they'll be killed instantly. You have to move it." Prue squinted her eyes, as she had done so many times before, and thrusted the sword into the monster's heart. Vera unfroze, and collapsed to the floor. A black mist rose from her body, and Vera regained consciousness. Piper froze her again.
"She's still alive," Piper said, stating the obvious.
"Vera is. The Hunter isn't," Amy clarified. "Remember, that Hunters jump from person to person."
"So is that the end of the Hunters?" Prue asked.
"No," Anie sighed. "They'll never die out, but they'll get weaker and weaker to the point where they'll be like ants to you."
The six arrived back at the manor to find it a mess. "What the hell happened here?" Phoebe asked.
"Oh no. The Hunters. They attacked," Amy explained. "Anie, Phoebe, you go look around the house and see if there's anything out of the ordinary. Aly, Piper, go outside, check around the house. Prue, you and me have to go to the attic. That's where they probably are, with the Book of Shadows. And bring the sword."
Prue grabbed the sword off the table and ran up stairs with Amy. When they arrived in the attic, Prue nearly fainted. Andy was standing by the Book of Shadows, with a weapon similar to Vera's. He had also mutated like Vera.
"Andy! What are you doing?" Prue screamed in distress.
"Oh finally, Prue shows up. What am I doing? Destroying you. That's what Hunters do, isn't it?" the possessed Andy replied.
"Andy, no. This isn't you. You've been taken over by a spirit," Prue screamed. Andy came after her with the weapon. Prue screamed. "Andy no, please, don't do this. Please."
Then Amy threw the sword at Andy. It landed in his chest, and he fell to the ground. Like Vera, a black cloud of mist rose from his body. Andy sat up and groaned.
"Are you ok, Andy? Are you back?" Prue said, running over to her ex-boyfriend.
"Yeah, I think so," Andy replied. He then saw the sword, and his own weapon, lying next to him. "Prue, what happened?"
"Andy, I'm going to tell you the truth. A spirit called a Hunter possessed you. Hunters kill witches. You tried to kill me Andy," Prue explained.
"Prue," Amy said softly.
"Huh?" Prue asked, not looking up from Andy.
"There's one more thing me and my sisters have to do before leaving. There's a spell in the Book of Shadows that will take our warped powers from us, and leave us as just witches, and not the Charmed Ones."
"OK," Prue replied.
The six performed the spell, with Andy looking on. Amy, Anie, and Aly received new powers, similar to Prue, Piper and Phoebe's. Prue, Piper, and Phoebe really were the Charmed Ones.
