DISCLAIMER: I didn't invent these characters; the story takes place in the second season:
Prue was bored as sat in her office, it was hard to believe that last week she had been trapped inside a painting here. Today was more tedious she had a few clients to see one of them a girl called Faye Alexander was trying to convince her to auction some old photographs.
"Its one of the original Cottingley Photos, I'm sure you've heard of them, they made a couple of films about them a few years ago." Faye Alexander said to Prue as she handed her the black and white photograph. It was a picture of an Edwardian Girl surrounded by fairies. There was something eerie about the picture on close inspection the fairies seemed to be fake paper cuts but for a brief second Prue thought it looked real she believed that fairies were real before her own common sense took over.
"Where did you get the photo?" Prue asked
"I bought it a few years ago its definitely genuine, well it's an original photograph whether or not it's content is fake is another matter… whether or not you believe in fairies." She joked
"A lot of people thought they were genuine at the time." Prue toyed with asking Faye if she believed in fairies.
"Yeah the guy who wrote Sherlock Holmes was one of them, the girls that did the photographs said they were fake a few years ago but there still is an image in it scientists can't explain. I know that the main fairies in it aren't real I've seen fairies and they don't look like that."
The last statement took Prue aback with its absurdity and the way the girl said it with such conviction.
Faye could see that this bemused Prue. She explained that she had seen fairies since she was a little girl and she had managed to take some photographs of them herself. She then asked Prue if she would like to see them.
Prue agreed after all she had things a lot stranger than fairies and her experiences as a witch taught her to keep an open mind. Faye didn't have the photos on her but they arranged to meet in the park where Faye had taken some of the photos maybe Prue might see some herself.
They agreed to met at twilight, which Faye said was the best time to see Fairies, this was an hour after Prue finished work so she went home first. Phoebe was sitting working on a tapestry she didn't notice Prue arrive home.
"Hi Phoebe" Prue said as she kicked off her shoes.
"Oh hi Prue, I didn't hear you come in I've been working on this all day."
Phoebe turned back to the tapestry, which featured elaborate Celtic embroidery. Prue was surprised to see this besides the fact it was so unlike Phoebe, the tapestry also featured fairies; surely this was too much of a coincidence?
"When did you decide to take up weaving?" Prue asked
"I saw some tapestries in a store window, I decided to buy a kit and try it out myself, I could be the first artist in the family".
"You've got hidden depths Phoebe, it's funny that you picked fairies for the subject, I was just talking to a girl about them"; Prue told Piper about Sarah and the fairy photographs. Phoebe was interested by this and agreed to go with Prue to the park.
When they arrived at the park Faye was standing at a fountain. Piper thought that this was ridiculous the part was too mundane and sanitized for anything as magical as Fairies.
"I brought my sister Phoebe, I hope you don't mind."
"No of course not the more the merrier, please to met you, the fairies are this way."
Phoebe rolled her eyes at Prue as the followed Faye to a wooded area. 'This is the fairy ring', Sarah said. Prue and Phoebe looked at the small clearing with a ring of mushrooms in it.
"What now?" Prue said, she wondered if Faye expected them to eat the mushrooms.
"We wait," Faye said she seemed convinced that the fairies were going to make an appearance.
After ten minutes this Prue and Piper were starting to act fidgety and thought about heading home. Then something happened Phoebe thought she saw something in the corner of her eye, at first she thought she was just seeing things then she saw it more clearly; a green spark dancing in the centre of the mushroom ring. She could she from there expressions that the others could see it too. Was this a fairy Phoebe thought as she reached out to touch it? The green spark darted away quickly from Phoebe, she could now she more of the sparks dancing around her. Phoebe looked down to see that she was now standing in the centre of the fairy ring that had begun to glow, more sparks swirled up from the ring around Phoebe. Then in a flash Phoebe was gone.
"What happened?" Prue said anxiously her sister was gone. This was Faye's fault she had tricked them lured them here. She turned and looked accusingly towards Faye how looked as shocked as Prue and grabbed her "What did you do to her"?
Phoebe looked around Prue and Faye had vanished and a thick mist now surrounded her she could make out she was in the middle of a stone circle but she couldn't make out any other features beyond it. Where am I? I guess I'm not in Kansas anymore. Phoebe thought to herself as she began to come to terms with her new surroundings. She decided it was best to stay in the same place… it would be easy to get lost in the mist and she could hear inhuman voices coming from within it.
Faye was crying she explained to Prue that nothing like this had happened before. Prue realized that the girl couldn't have be responsible for Phoebe vanishing but decided to bring her back home as she didn't want to leave the girl alone.
Piper was wondering where here sisters were when Prue and Faye arrived.
"Phoebe's in trouble, we think she's being abducted by fairies". Fairies that sounded ridiculous Prue could hardly believe she was saying it.
"You've been reading too much Marion Zimmer Bradley". Piper laughed but quickly stopped when she saw the serious expressions on Prue and Faye's face. They explained what had happened and after making Faye a cup of coffee the two sisters headed upstairs to see if the Book of Shadows contained any way to rescue there sister.
Phoebe sat and hugged herself; this realm was cold and empty, she was scarred that she was going to be trapped in this place for the rest of her life… but she reassured herself that her sisters would find a way to rescue her; after all she had been in worst situations than this. Then she could make out a figure moving in the mist. Phoebe was surprised to see a dwarf moving towards her. The creature had a human head but its lower body was covered in thick fur. Phoebe couldn't help but laugh at the creature with its absurdity.
"What are you laughing at"? The creature spoke to her with a gravelly voice. Phoebe couldn't tell him, realizing once more that she was stuck in another dimension at the mercy of this thing.
"What are you, did you bring me here, where is this place anyway?" Phoebe fired a strung of questions at the creature.
"I'm Pete the Brownie madam and no I did not bring you here mortal, you must have found you're on way here although I don't know how that would be possible. This place is Tir Nan Og."
"Do you know how, I can get back?" Phoebe asked.
"No but for a price, I can take you to someone how does." Pete made a wry smile.
"What's the price" Phoebe replied nervously
"Use your imagination," the dwarf looked at Phoebe lecherously.
"You must be joking, I would sooner stay here forever". Phoebe said scornfully backing away from the dwarf.
"Suit yourself." The creature said and began to walk away.
"No wait, I'll give you this watch, look it's gold". Phoebe took her watch and held it at Pete. He looked at for a while then snatched it.
"Okay, follow me," The dwarf walked off into the mist. 'I might as well see how far this rabbit hole goes' Phoebe thought to herself and followed after him.
Prue and Piper had scoured the Book of Shadows for any information about fairies they found a few accounts of unseelie faeries, a malevolent group of fairies and the witches how had fought them in the past but there was nothing on the faerie realm itself.
"I don't feel very well". Piper stopped and held her stomach.
"You too, I been well since I came in," Prue felt nauseous then realized in it most have been the coffee. "Faye, she must have spiked he drinks?"
Piper felt dizzy now she stumbled before blacking out. Prue grabbed her sister and stopped her from collapsing, sitting her on a nearby chair. Prue decided to go and confront Faye but she could hardly stand up and she fainted before she reached the stairs.
Phoebe had walked through the mist for over an hour now and was beginning to wonder where the creature was leading her. Pete who had remained silent for most of the journey turned round and assured her that they were almost there.
"I hope so Pete, that's a pretty unusual name for a fairy."
"Phoebe's a pretty unusual name for a human isn't it and I'm not a fairy."
"I suppose I should tell you now, I'm not just a normal human I'm a witch".
"Why can't you cast a spell to get out of here then." There was a hint of sarcasm in the Brownies voice.
"I can't do that". Phoebe was beginning to get annoyed with the creature.
"Your not much of a witch then what can you do?"
"I can see into the future, I've got two other sisters and we use our powers together."
"You didn't see this coming". Pete laughed.
"You said your not a fairy, what are you then".
"I'm surprised that you're calling me a fairy most mortals nowadays would think I'm an alien but then most humans don't think there witches." Pete smiled at Phoebe "There aren't any fairies or aliens just the idea of other worldly creatures. That's what I am."
"That sounds to abstract, you mean your just a figment of my imagination" Phoebe was puzzled by the creatures statement
"No the idea is eternal, if you don't understand just look at the pictures."
The mist was beginning to clear Pete ran off ahead and Phoebe chased after him. Then she could see it. She was in the middle of a luxuriant meadow the scene was more real, more beautiful than anything Phoebe had scene before. Phoebe was totally overcome by this. Ahead of her she could see a Greek edifice, surrounded by elfin girls, on seeing Phoebe the nymphs seemed startled and run off into a nearby wood. Phoebe remembered that she didn't belong here and had to find a way home.
'It must have worked' Faye thought as she finished her coffee, these witches were pushovers at first she was worried that they might have caught on to her but there had been no sound from upstairs for some time so her plan must have worked. Faye went upstairs; she saw a pile of clothes lying on the floor, the ones Prue had been wearing.
Faye examined the clothes, 'your not so tough now,' she thought as she pulled out a tiny naked body, Prue remained unconscious as Faye held her. She was now four inches tall and had gossamer wings. Faye went into the attic and found Piper. Faye wondered what he was going to with the sisters before she noticed a small cage and gently put them in it.
Faye searched Phoebe's room she was looking for one of her possessions, which she would use to gain access into the Faerie realm. Rummaging through Phoebe's clothes thinking that Phoebe had no taste she settled on taking a hairbrush with her.
Prue was startled when she awoke; she was naked in some kind of a cage with Piper lying beside her. She was shocked to discover that they both had wings and they seemed to be in a giant version of their attic. 'This can't be real, it must be a dream,' She shook Piper to wake her. Piper opening her eyes, closed them, then opened them again and started to scream.
"Why can't I wake up", Piper said after she had calmed down.
"I don't think this is a dream," Prue said and nipped one of Piper's wings.
"Ouch. Then what happened to us, have we been turned into fairies?" Piper couldn't believe this was happening.
"That's what it looks like, wait there's somebody coming." They heard a loud banging noise which sounded like an approaching giant.
Faye entered the room.
"Hello girls, I'm glad to see your up", Faye said with a booming voice, the sisters couldn't believe how huge she was she seemed monstrous.
"What have you done to us", Prue shouted at Faye.
"Watch your tone with me or I'll pull your wings off." Faye smiled at Prue who was taken aback by the girl's sudden cruelty. "Your not half the woman you used to be but you a lot easier to handle now, which is lucky for you, I was going to stick you in the microwave but it well be more fun keeping you as pets."
Faye walked back towards the door before turning to mock them again.
"Don't think of trying to escape, there aren't exactly many places you could go in your present conditions and I'll be bringing your sister back to join you." Faye slammed the door behind her.
Prue and Piper stood and looked at each other. Neither of them had fully come to terms with what had happened to them.
"What are we going to do"? Piper said looking worried. Prue pointed at the door of the cage, which broke open.
"At least we still have our powers." Prue smiled and flapped her wings ineffectively. "How are you meant to fly with these things anyway?"
Piper stepped out of the cage unto the table it was sitting on 'How are we going to get down from here'. Piper looked over the edge and peered down at the floor. 'Wow, this is like Land of the giants'.
Prue looked around at the enlarged objects on the table, none of them seemed helpful except a large cable, using this to climb down seemed absurd but it was there only option. "Give me a hand with this cable we can shimmy down it."
"What are we going to do when we get down" Piper replied.
"Get help and something to wear I'm freezing." Prue shivered.
"How are we going to explain that we're four inches tall and have butterfly wings"? Piper said sharply.
"Leo's the only one we can ask, it might me dangerous if a normal person sees us."
"Do you mean we might die if someone says they don't believe in us." Piper said she was overcome with the ridiculousness of this situation, it was like a bad Bewitched episode, she felt like disbelieving herself, wanting to disappear completely.
"I don't know but I don't want to risk it, Leo's our only option." Prue understood that Piper didn't want to see Leo.
"Okay, but we'd better find something to wear first." Piper said sheepishly.
Prue and Piper lifted the cable and attached tied it round the cage door before lowering it over the edge of the table. 'We'd better be careful here' Prue said as she started to climb down.
Climbing down the cable was harder than she had expected, the cable was beginning to sway as she climbed down and being naked didn't help either. Then she lost her grip, her bare feet slipped on the cables plastic and she fell off. Prue screamed closed her eyes and waited to hit the bottom. To her surprise she was hovering in mid air instead of being crushed to death. She could now fly amazed she flew up to Piper who looked awestruck.
"Looks like we can fly, try it for yourself".
Piper flapped her wings and managed to lift herself of the table. Piper had always dreamed about flying but never expected it to be like this.
"We don't need Leo now we can handle this ourselves." Prue said flying over to the door, which was shut, she tried moving the handle but wasn't strong enough to open it.
Piper helped her and together they managed to open the door. The first thing they did was search the bedrooms for something to wear. They managed to make togas out of some tissues. Piper asked how she looked to which Prue replied 'just like Tinkerbell.'
"I have to call the club, I'm due in tonight and I can hardly turn up looking like this." Piper imagined the response of her staff if they seen her like this.
After Piper called work they flew out the cat flap into the night. They finally reached the park and the spot were Phoebe had disappeared.
"What…" Piper didn't have time to finish the sentence as she felt herself being pulled out of existence into another world.
They found themselves in a meadow in the other world where they could see a furry dwarf examining a watch. The creature ignored the sisters how were hovering in front of it. Prue could see that the watch belonged to Phoebe.
"What have you done to our sister" Prue shouted at the dwarf which was huge compared to her.
"Begone sprite, I have no time for your foolishness." The dwarf waved his arm at Prue as if she was a bothersome insect.
"Wait our sister is a human, like use we were transformed, that's her watch do you know what happened to her." Piper tried to explain to the creature.
"I saw a girl a while ago… claimed she was a witch. She give me this watch in a fair trade. She was expecting you to rescue her." The dwarf smirked at the sisters "What happened to you two anyway?"
"We were poisoned by an unseelie fairy. Do you know a way for us to become human again?" Prue asked expectedly.
"You've eaten fairy food girl's, it's irreversible… your stuck like that forever." The dwarf could see the expressions of horror on Prue and Pipers tiny faces. He paused then added, "Your sister said you were witches, your combined powers could change you back, it might not work but it's your only hope."
Prue and Piper asked the brownie where he had last seen Phoebe and flew off in that direction. After a while they found Phoebe, she was sitting on a giant mushroom.
"What's this more fairies" Phoebe said when she saw Prue and Piper.
"Phoebe it's us Prue and Piper." Prue shouted at her.
"Your have to do better than that if you want to fool me," Phoebe said looking at the sisters the faces are a good likeness but you've got the size way off and you can lose the wings as well". Phoebe signed.
"It's us, your sisters, the Charmed Ones, you've got a tattoo on your right ankle." Piper said.
"Wait it is you, what happened," Phoebe listened to Pipers voice and recognized her sister.
"It was Faye, we've got to join hands use the power of three to turn back". Prue said. Phoebe held out her hands close together and Prue and Piper grabbed hold of her fingers joining hands themselves. At first there was nothing then Prue and Piper could feel and energy burning inside them, they could feel their wings disappear and begin to grow back to their normal sizes.
Prue and Piper were overjoyed they had begun to think that they were never going to be human again even the togas that they had made had grown as well so they were saved the indignity of nudity.
Their moment of jubilation was cut short however as a portal opening in front of them. They could see Faye emerge from it.
"I see you've grown since I last seen you". Faye said.
"What do you what?" Prue said
"I had been exiled from this world, now thanks to you I'm back and I can resume my true form." Faye groaned as she was saying this.
The girls looked on as she started to convulse, her skin swelled and the sisters looked on in horror as insect legs burst out of her chest. Faye's had changed so that she now had a giant spider's lower body. She looked like a nightmarish arachnid centaur.
"I'm going to enjoy eating you" Faye smiled revealing a pair of vampiric fangs. Webbing shot out of Faye's fingers and entangled the girl's. Piper froze Faye before she could scuttled towards them.
"That was close." Prue said as she used her power to pull the webbing off.
"It's a good job the portal's still open" Piper said
"Wait we can't just leave her here, who knows what havoc she might cause, besides she might follow us," Phoebe added.
"That gives me a good idea," Prue said she used her power to push Faye through the portal.
"That was a good idea," Piper shouted.
"Just trust me," Prue said before she stepped through the portal the sisters followed her and found themselves back in the park. The portal vanished behind them and they could see what was left of Faye lying on the ground. Her giant spider body had been crushed under the weight of the real world's gravity.
"How did you know that would work?" Piper asked Prue.
"A lucky guess". Prue shrugged as Faye's dead body begun to disintegrate.
As the girls walked home they run into Leo who looked at Prue and Piper who were wearing togas and walking barefoot. "You must have had a wild time, it's only 8.30." Leo said jokingly.
"You should have seen them and hour ago". Phoebe laughed.
"Your never around when we need you". Piper said leaving Leo standing there with a puzzled look on his face.
