AUTHOR'S NOTE: This is a sequel to my story Reality Bites. Hopefully you won't need to read that one for this to make sense. I hope the first person perspective doesn't put anyone off. Any feedback greatly appreciated. I have made reference to, but not used to any great extent, Talula's fan fiction, I asked for and received permission and fully acknowledge them as hers. They're intended as a small tribute to the writer of the best Charmed Fan Fiction I've read and the second-best Charmed-Buffy fanfic. I think Talula would agree that Lacy's novella length story is truly awesome.
DISCLAIMER: Based on the Spelling Productions television show, Charmed, created by Constance M. Burge. All Charmed characters are the property of Spelling Productions, with the exception of the characters of "Ryan" and "Liam" which are mine.
I was depressed. Funny actually, I ought to be feeling on top of the world. A month had passed since I'd acquired magical powers and become a witch. A lot had happened, I'd transported from my own world into an alternative reality, where Charmed, my favourite series was real. A warlock looking to kill me had followed me, but with the help of the Charmed Ones, together we'd managed to defeat him.
I'd also fallen in with love, and Phoebe Halliwell never appeared to grow tired of showing people the engagement ring I'd brought her a week ago. I should have been happy but I wasn't.
When the relief of defeating that warlock, and the joy of Phoebe agreeing to marry me had worn off, I'd hit reality with a bump. Reality, that was my problem. See I'd just literally landed here. Back home I had social security numbers, a driving license, an entry on the electoral register. I didn't have anything here. It was all well and good wanting to live here with Phoebe, but without any government records I couldn't even get a job. I was as good as an illegal immigrant.
I often caught myself wishing that this were a reality where the Charmed - Buffy crossover fan fiction I'd read and enjoyed so much was true. I could really use Willow Rosenberg to hack into Washington and set me up with some ID.
There were no spells for creating a new set of government records. Even if there were, this came down on the side of personal gain. Even then, I didn't know if there was another Liam Newland living somewhere. I thought there might be as my credit card was still valid, I felt a bit guilty as if there was, he'd have got an awful credit card bill, but the whole thing meant I couldn't ever use my real name even if I could get government records.
Everyday, it was looking more and more that circumstances were forcing me to go home. Nor could Phoebe come with me, as she'd just face the same problem I was having. In any case, there was no way I could ask her to choose between the Power of Three and me. I might love her, and she might love me but this world needed her, and it needed her to be with her sisters.
"What are you doing?" I turned. Phoebe had come into the kitchen for a drink, "You're getting depressed again aren't you?"
"You're hot with the premonitions today," I said trying to joke my way out of it. It failed by a mile.
"I don't need a premonition to be able to see that," she replied, "Getting worried about it isn't going to change anything. I love you and want you to stay but if you can't then we have to make the most of what time we do have. Hell, if we can find a spell to let you go back and forth without causing universe destroying rips in the fabric of reality, then you'll be able to come and visit at weekends." She smiled, "It'll be like a forces marriage. We'll just tell the kids, Daddy's a really long way from home."
"I don't want a forces marriage. I want a proper normal life with..." I started angrily but stopped as Phoebe burst out laughing.
"Normal life? You're a witch, I'm a witch, we don't get normal lives!" She took my hand, and carried seriously, or as seriously as Phoebe ever got, "Maybe what we've got is the best we're gonna get, it's up to us to make it work." She laughed again. "You've made me go all serious," she said scolding, "You know I hate that. Come on it's a nice evening; we've got a couple of vids. Let's go veg out."
I laughed too. I could never stay depressed around Phoebe. I followed her into the lounge.
In the lounge, Prue, Piper and Phoebe were sitting on the sofa, taking their ease and arguing about what video to put on first. As I entered the room, Piper looked up, "Ah the prodigal returneth, so Pheebs cheered you up then?"
I nodded, "Yeah, she always can."
"It must be the practice she gets defusing my temper, when I'm about to kill her for wearing one of my dresses," joked Prue.
Wisely, Phoebe decided not to answer that, "Darn, I forgot my drink," she said. She turned to go back into the kitchen.
"Let me," I said, extending a hand. A second later a glass of orange juice appeared in it. That was my power. I could summon any object from wherever it was to wherever I was, and send things away, or "banish" them as I called it to somewhere else.
"That is so useful," smiled Phoebe. She came over to take the glass, but as she got close I swept her into an embrace and kissed her. Prue and Piper looked on tolerantly. Suddenly, Phoebe's body went stiff, and she gripped me harder. The classic signs she was having one of her visions. When it passed, she let go of me and recoiled. Then the effects passed and she looked up at me, more afraid than I'd ever seen. Her voice when it came was cracked and hoarse, "I just saw you die."
* * * It was Phoebe's great gift that she was so free spirited. This gave her an indomitability and fearlessness that few had. Even Phoebe herself didn't realize what strength truly lay at her core. This made her the perfect sister of the three Halliwells to have the power of premonition. It meant she could cope with the harrowing things she often saw, things that would have lesser souls calling a psychiatrist. Ten minutes later, and with a shot of vodka added to the orange juice, Phoebe was able to tell us what she'd seem.
"It was by a fountain in the park. This man, he must have been a warlock, touched you and you just folded up, and lay there."
"Are you sure it was Liam?" asked Piper
"Positive, It looked just like him, He was wearing a denim jacket with an Assassin patch on," Phoebe looked at me, "I've never seen anyone except you with a patch like that on their jacket."
I was wearing the jacket; I flung it across the room. "OK I'll never wear that jacket. Then it can't happen."
"It doesn't work like that," said Phoebe.
"But your premonitions can be changed," said Prue, "In a way they're not so much premonitions as warnings."
"They're has only been one we couldn't change," said Piper trying to comfort her sister. It didn't help.
"Yes, and that one involved someone one of us loved, and he died and we couldn't save him." Phoebe continued tearfully, "And so does this one. It's bad enough losing you because you can't stay, but Andy happening all over again..."
She collapsed into my arms, crying uncontrollably. I held her close, trying to comfort her, but not really knowing how. I stroked her soft brown hair and whispered that everything would be all right, wishing desperately that I believed it.
Piper came over, "Liam, let me and Prue get her to bed. And go yourself. Sleep is the best thing right now; it's probably the only thing."
I nodded. Prue and Piper led the unresisting Phoebe upstairs. I followed them.
* * * Next morning, Phoebe was to everyone's relief feeling much better. She sat at the kitchen table drinking coffee. Piper came in with the mail
"Bills, Prue's paper, junk mail for Phoebe, another bill, and a letter addressed to The Charmed Ones, no address, it must have been hand delivered." She slit it open and read it. Her face went pale and she let the letter fall on to the table. Prue had entered the room and saw what happened.
"Piper?" She crossed the room, took the letter and read it aloud, "Charmed Ones, I must talk with you on a matter of the most importance possible. Please meet me at the fountain in Golden Gate Park at noon. There's no signature."
"So that's where it happens," I said quietly.
"No it doesn't," replied Piper, "We're not going."
"We have to," said Prue, "Whoever wrote that called us the Charmed Ones. That means they could be a witch in trouble."
"Or a warlock trying to trap us," said Phoebe hotly, "A warlock who'll kill Liam."
"It could be," accepted Prue, "But we have to go, it's the chance we take. It comes with being the Charmed Ones. But Liam isn't mentioned; he can stay here. Come on we better get going, it's almost eleven and Golden Gate Park is the other side of the city. You know what the traffic's like on Saturdays." The sisters turned to leave.
"Hold it," I said. They turned back. "Don't I get asked my opinion? I mean it is my death."
"That's why you're not coming, so you don't die," said Prue.
"And if it is a warlock?" I asked angrily. Without waiting for an answer, I continued, "What if he kills you? How'd you think I'd feel knowing you died because I was too chicken to face my own death?"
"Liam, you can't be serious," exclaimed Piper.
I continued more calmly, "Yes, I'm serious, I've been thinking about this. Phoebe only saw me die. If any of you were going to die, I'm sure she'd seen have that too, that means if I die, then you don't. If I don't die, then maybe you do." I turned to Phoebe, "You saw I was wearing my jacket. What else, exactly?"
Phoebe thought for a moment, "Your jacket, that Meat Loaf tour t-shirt, your black jeans and basketball boots." For a moment she almost smiled, as she finished, "And it looked like, for once, you'd combed your hair."
I grabbed my jacket. It was still lying on the floor where it had landed the previous night. "Give me five minutes." I went upstairs and five minutes later came down. I'd changed. I was wearing my black denim jacket with an Assassin patch on the sleeve (a subscription gift from a fan club I was in), a Meat Loaf tour t-shirt emblazoned with the "The Very Best Of Meat Loaf" cover art on it's front and the 1999 European tour dates on the back, my black Wranglers, and a pair of brown basketball boots.
I stood in front of the mirror, doing up the jacket, adjusting it to fit just right, then I grabbed a comb and dragged it through my unkempt hair, forcing it into a semblance of neatness. I turned to Phoebe, kissed her, and headed for the door. As I walked across the room, I snapped my fingers, summoning a baseball bat, which materialized in my hand, "Let's go!"
"What's the bat for?" asked Prue.
I slapped the bat against my palm, "I'm going out like I came in - kicking and screaming."
"You can't whack Death over the head!" exclaimed Piper.
"If he comes near me I'll rip his balls off!"
* * * We drove fast. There was a chance that if we got there early, we could be ready for whoever was supposed to kill me. We got to the park for a quarter to twelve and it was ten to by the time we were nearing the fountain. It was quiet in the park, which was unusual, as it was typically very busy, particularly by the fountain, which was a popular place to meet. This time there was only one person standing there.
"This doesn't feel like a trap," commented Piper, "And I don't see how one person could kill Liam with all three of us watching. Could you be wrong?"
"I'd like to think so," replied Phoebe, "But it never has been yet."
As we got closer to the fountain, we could see that the person standing there, who'd presumably sent the note, was a slim male of about my height. Suddenly, a figure appeared next to him, placing a hand on his shoulder. He collapsed toward the floor.
"Hey!" shouted Phoebe.
The figure looked up saw us, and disappeared as quickly as he'd materialized. We ran toward the young man by the fountain. I got there first, and found myself staring into a mirror. Lying on the ground, wearing the same clothes, face twisted in pain was another Liam Newland. He opened his eyes and looked at me, "What the hell?"
"This ain't gonna make any sense. I'm from another reality. Another world…" I stopped not knowing how to explain.
My double nodded, "Parallel universe theory. That's ironic. Also explains the credit card bill."
"What's going on? Did you send the letter? Who was that warlock?" asked Prue. I was kneeling beside my prone double, the Halliwells standing in a half circle behind me.
"A very nasty piece of work called Ryan. He has the powers of Blinking and Deathtouch. If you hadn't disturbed him, I'd be dead now, rather than in five minutes. And I did send that letter. You're early."
"I saw you die, although we thought it was our Liam, we came early to try and stop it," explained Phoebe, "Not early enough."
"It's enough that you came early. If you'd got here at Noon, you'd have just found my body. Ryan is up to something - something big. When I found out how big I knew I needed help. So I wrote that letter and put a seek spell on it hoping it would find you. All the information is at my place, 1256 April Drive, the red folder under the loose floorboard under the tiger rug." My double looked at me, "Deathtouch is always fatal. It's just a matter of time, so humour me. How'd you get here?"
"It was about a month ago. I became a witch by accident, and by an even bigger one ended up here. Ended up fighting a warlock, falling in love and getting engaged." I glanced at Phoebe, which the other Liam followed.
"Congratulations!"
"Are not in order. It's off. Thing is I've got to go home. You're Liam Newland here, not me. As far as the government are aware I don't exist."
"No records," nodded my doppelganger, "Well I ain't going to be needing mine. You might as well have them, and if you're getting married you'll need a place."
"I can't…" I began.
"I've no family, it'd just be sold off. If I can't help myself out who can I help?" My double interrupted. He put his hand inside his jacket, and it came out holding a wallet, "Here, it's got my driver's license, social security number, keys, everything you'll need. If you wanna thank me, just promise three things."
"Name them."
"Don't bury me, I always wanted to be cremated, plus if you buried me and I got dug up there'd be too many questions. There's a spell, Witchfire." He smiled, "I always liked it here. There're worse places to spend eternity." He told me the words and I nodded my assent as he looked at Phoebe, then continued, "Look after her, she's beautiful. I never found love, I'm glad one of us did. Don't ever let her go. I'll come back and kick your ass if you do. You know I will because you would."
Phoebe and I looked at each other, smiling. My double saw it and smiled weakly as well. The third?" I asked.
My double was fading fast now, as he said weakly, "You have to stop Ryan, Get him for me!"
He barely had time to hear me say, "I will," before he was gone.
I stood up. "Piper, freeze time. As much of the park as you can," I requested. Piper nodded, and gestured with her hands. All the noises, that you don't notice; bird song, the breeze rustling the trees, the trickle of the fountain; the sounds that are just there, ceased as time stopped flowing making the world seem eerie and strange. I stood by the still form of my double, hands palm down, and recited the spell he'd told me.
"Ego voco ignis
Translatum ea lamia tenus Caelum."A red glow surrounded the body, becoming ever more intense, until it burst into fire, flames dancing and leaping into the air, completely masking the body. The heat was intense, so hot that the flames weren't red but almost white. Suddenly the fire became a pillar of flame stretching and twisting like a tornado, up, it seemed, into infinity. The four of us stood awestruck by the display, how long it lasted we didn't know, but as abruptly as it appeared, the firestorm melted away. Of my double's mortal remains there was nothing, the fury of the fire was such that they had been totally consumed. Mysteriously, there was no sign of the fire; the grass wasn't even singed. Hesitatingly I reached out my hand, putting a fingertip to where the flames had been and yelled in pain. My finger burned - by the intense cold.
"That was some spell," I exclaimed, "I wouldn't mind going like that, so I reckon he'd be happy." I turned to the Halliwells, "Piper, if you could unfreeze everything, we'll go see what I've inherited."
"You mean, your new place, or our warlock problem?" asked Phoebe.
"Both," I replied.
* * * It was a nice place, a two bedroom apartment in a modern building, just perfect for a bachelor or a couple starting out. I was curious as to what had been the differences and commonalities between my double and I. It seemed we shared the same tastes; the music collection was almost identical, made up mostly of rock albums by greats such as Meat Loaf, Bon Jovi, Queen and Aerosmith.
There was a letter on top of the CD rack, a credit card bill from my bank. With it a note, "Hey Liam. Thought you cancelled this when you emigrated. Anyway I've sent it you to sort out. Call me, Vince." The credit card bill consisted entirely of transactions in San Francisco, my spending since I arrived. I put the letter down, feeling rather guilty.
On the floor in the middle of the lounge was a beautiful rug with a huge picture of a pouncing tiger. Prue and I rolled it up and underneath it was a loose floorboard. Phoebe prised it up and put her hand in the hole. It came out holding a red folder. The four of us went over to the sofa and started to read.
The folder turned out to be a diary. It told the chronicle of Liam Newland and his best friend, Ryan.
They'd grown up together; unlike me this reality's Liam had always been a witch. So had Ryan. It was that bond that was at the heart of their friendship. A secret only they knew. They'd gone through school together, and had moved in together when things started going wrong.
To help pay the rent, they'd let the other room to another guy, Nicholas. His arrival proved to be no coincidence, as he revealed himself as a darklighter. He tried to persuade Liam and Ryan to use their powers for personal gain and then more and more for evil. Liam had resisted the temptation but Ryan, attracted by the promises of power, had succumbed. In fact Nicholas succeeded all too well, as he found out when Ryan killed him, taking Nicholas' darklighter's Deathtouch to add to his own power of blinking. After that Ryan had disappeared out of Liam's life, and Liam had hoped never to see him again.
After that Liam, had got on with life. Six months ago he'd got a promotion, which sent him from England to the US. And a fateful encounter with Ryan.
The spell that Ryan had used to steal Nicholas' power did more than give the user it's victim's power, it gave them their knowledge. Darklighters know many things. One of the things he'd known was about the Amulet. It had been found by an archaeological dig at an Aztec village, and had been catalogued as a common piece of jewelry, and left to gather dust in the vaults of a museum in San Francisco. It was anything but common. In the hands of a witch or warlock, the Amulet had the power to warp reality, sending people into parallel universes where things were different from their own reality. That wasn't all. Perform the correct ritual and the Amulet would destroy the barriers separating parallel universes from one another, merging them together into a single reality. Parallel universes are universes where each decision that's made is played out. Combine the realities into one and all the possibilities would try and play out in one reality. The result would be inconceivable chaos.
Somehow Ryan had found out that Liam had moved to San Francisco and set a trap. Attempting the same spell he had on Nicholas, Ryan tried to kill Liam and steal his power and knowledge. In the magical duel that had followed, Liam had managed to escape but not before the resourceful warlock had worked a spell that gave him temporary use of Liam's power to summon objects. Ryan had the Amulet but Liam now knew his plan and must die.
My double had had his power a lot longer than me. Consequently it was stronger. Whereas I could only banish and summon objects if I knew where they were, my counterpart could use his power to seek objects or people out and then summon or banish them. In over his head; with a warlock out to kill him; and a magical artefact he didn't know how to counter; he'd used this ability to send that note to the Charmed Ones.
We closed the folder. "And the rest we know," said Prue. "I suppose Ryan must have been following him, and getting him alone by the fountain was an opportunity too good to miss."
"At least we got there in time to be able to find out what was going on," commented Piper, "Now how do we stop this Ryan?"
"More to the point, how'd we find him to stop him?" asked Phoebe.
Piper was flicking through the diary again. A piece of paper we hadn't noticed dropped out. Piper read it aloud, "The Ritual of Tezumen. Allows the Amulet to take on the power to destroy the divisions between parallel universes. The ritual must be performed on a spiritual nexus during a total eclipse of the sun."
"August 11th," I exclaimed.
The three sisters looked at me questioningly, "It's been all over the news back home," I explained, "It's the last solar eclipse this millennium, and the best view is from Cornwall in England. I think the US isn't in the path of the eclipse so you miss the view, which is probably why you haven't had all that much coverage."
"But as you say, that's back home, and for you that is England, but it's also another reality. It might not be happening here," argued Prue.
"It is," said Phoebe, "It's been all over the horoscope pages."
"Two days then," said Prue, "And we know where there's a spiritual nexus don't we?"
"Our house," groaned Piper.
* * * It was two days later. 10:00am. The eclipse was due at 11 minutes past 11. We were in the attic trying to find something about the Amulet in the Book of Shadows, and trying to decide how to defeat Ryan. We knew that Ryan would probably come to us, Halliwell Manor being situated on the spiritual nexus. There'd been some worry on Prue's part about how to defeat him. Last time the Sisters Three had faced a darklighter, Prue had to take his power, and channel all her hate and anger in order to kill him. It was an experience she felt loath to repeat. Phoebe had seen Prue do it; and Piper had heard the story. Neither of them were sold on the idea either. All three of them breathed a visible sigh of relief when it was pointed out that Ryan was mortal, he'd only stolen the darklighter's power, not become one himself.
"So what do we do?" asked Piper, closing the Book, after a fruitless search.
"For a start we keep our distance," said Prue, "His touch can kill, remember?"
"I've an idea," said Phoebe. She looked at me, "But it depends on whether Liam can banish himself." She told us the plan. It had many virtues. It was simple, didn't need any complicated spells, but most importantly it was a plan and we were running out of time. There was only one negative point; the plan could easily get me killed. We waited for Ryan.
We didn't have to wait long. He appeared out of nowhere, blinking into the room, right in front of us. Trying to put some distance between us and him, Prue waved a hand to push him backwards, The Amulet, which he was wearing around his necked, glowed briefly, but Ryan kept on coming. Piper tried to freeze him, and once again nothing happened except for a brief glow emanating from the Amulet.
"It won't work," he gloated, advancing on us as we backed away. "The Amulet phases me out of reality so your magic can't affect me."
We turned and ran down the stairs, only to find Ryan had blinked in front of us. "Don't worry, I won't use the Nicholas' power on you. That'd be no fun." The warlock laughed evilly, "You'll wish I'll had". He stared into space, as if he were in a trance, reminding me of Phoebe in the throes of a premonition. The Amulet around his neck glowed. "All the possibilities laid before me. Now where shall I send you?"
He turned to Phoebe, "How'd you like a reality where the Woogyman won, and you killed your sisters?" Phoebe launched a karate attack at the smug warlock, who blinked out of the way, leaving Phoebe to land painfully on the floor.
Facing Piper, he continued, "And for Piper, so in love with her whitelighter; what could be better than a reality where she's blind, her two sisters dead, and Leo, the darklighter, caused it all?" Piper gasped in horror.
"Prue, the motherly protector, always so worried about her sisters. Once you left your body to battle a spirit on the astral plane, and you only just got back in. I think I'll leave you stuck there, only able to watch helplessly as your sisters try and fail to defeat all the world's evil with only the Power of Two." Prue's face was set in hard lines, her grey eyes staring steadily at Ryan. "No reaction? I'm hurt," Ryan mocked.
"I just don't want to give you the satisfaction," replied Prue calmly, continuing to stare at the warlock. He stared back. Prue and Ryan stood, their eyes locked together. Ryan looked away, turning to face me. Prue's lips twisted, betraying for a moment, just a hint of a smile.
"And finally my late ex-best friend's double," laughed Ryan, "You don't know how lucky you were, escaping from the Hunter." He caught my look of puzzlement. "That warlock who came after you. He was a witch bounty hunter; he caught up with you just as you crossed over. A minute later and…" He left the words hanging in the air, not that he needed to finish the sentence.
"So you'll send me back to the parallel universe where I didn't cross over, so he can kill me?"
"Oh no," said the warlock, shaking his head, "That wouldn't be any fun. I much prefer the universe where Phoebe died and you weren't able to 'summon' her back."
"You need the Amulet to send me there," I said.
"Which is here around my… Where is it?" stormed Ryan as his hand went to his neck and found nothing.
"Looking for this," I asked, the Amulet dangling from my hand.
"How?" asked Ryan. The Halliwells looked at me, their eyes holding the same question.
"I noticed when Prue and Piper used their powers, the Amulet reacted. It puts you out of phase but it exists here, so while you were gloating, I summoned the Amulet." I put the Amulet round my neck and turned to the Halliwells, "Do it, this'll protect me!"
"You're in our house," said Prue, "Allow us to roll out the welcome mat." With that the sisters began to recite the spell.
"When in the circle that is home
Safety's gone and evils roam
Rid all beings from these walls
Save Sisters Three.
Now heed our call"Twice they recited the spell, the one that destroyed everyone in the house except the Charmed Ones, their voices growing in strength with each line, a magical wind stirring their hair. Thanks to the Amulet, I was out of phase so the spell couldn't affect me. Even so, such was the strength of the Power of Three, that the Amulet was hot against my skin, glowing red as it resisted the force of the magic around it.
Ryan, deprived of the amulet, screamed in pain, his body shaking, then slowly, from the feet up, it dissolved, pooling into a golden mercury-like liquid that spread out over the floor. As the sisters completed the second invocation, the liquid briefly turned black before disappearing, like water evaporating on a speeded up film, leaving no sign that Ryan had ever been.
The sisters turned, to see how I was. I wasn't there. Phoebe later swore that all she saw was a streak headed for the bathroom, followed by the sound of someone bringing up dinner. After I'd finished being sick, I returned to the attic.
"That actually looked quite good on the TV," I commented.
The three sisters laughed. When they stopped, Prue looked at the Amulet, which I was still wearing, "What about that?" she asked
I took it off and looked at it. It was made of a clay or porcelain type material, which had been glazed; or more likely considering it's age, which was naturally a black colour. The Amulet itself was a round disc with ever decreasing circles carved into its face and intersecting the circles a spiral. You'd be forgiven for thinking it was a common bauble worn by an Aztec of no particular importance. Yet, it had the potential to cause chaos beyond all imagination. I put it on the floor and summoned a hammer. "It has to end, this should never be used. Or Liam died for nothing." I brought the hammer down onto the Amulet smashing it to smithereens.
* * * A week later, Phoebe and I moved into my double's old apartment, and our new place. We held the biggest housewarming party the neighbourhood had ever seen. It was 2.00 am before Phoebe and I crawled into bed.
We kissed passionately, before she pulled away, "Liam," she began, "We've been so busy, what with Ryan, and then moving in here, I haven't been able to tell you."
"What?" I asked, "We can be together now. The good ol' US government think I'm the Liam Newland of this parish. You aren't having second thoughts? I mean it was only a week and…"
She put her finger to my lips, "As I said before, you talk too much," smiled Phoebe, "I'm not second thoughts. Remember, what happened, last time I told you that you talked too much?"
"How I could I forget?"
"Well, now you're never going to be able to," grinned my beautiful fiance, "I'm pregnant."
