DISCLAIMER: Prue, Piper and Phoebe Halliwell, Morris and all other characters who have appeared in the series "Charmed" together with the names, titles and back story are the sole copyright property of Aaron Spelling, E. Duke Vincent, and the Warner Brothers Television Network. No copyright infringement was intended in the writing of this fan fiction. All other characters, the story idea and the story itself are the sole property of the author.

This is an alternate possibility to what happened the first show of Charmed. When it all began... What if they all had different powers than what was originally planned? What if their powers had matured before they knew about it? This is sorta a few weeks after the first episode, rather than have them do the unbinding spell the first episode...it starts a few weeks after they all have come back to the Manor and have settled home.

Part 1

A Moonlit Night: 1999.

Phoebe wipes the dust off her white blouse and said, "echh! All this dust up here...", and sneezes. "We really need to dust up here", she thinks. She notices an old trunk in the corner, near a set of 3 ornately stained glass windows. She gingerly sits down on the attic floor of the Halliwell Manor, opens the trunk slowly, then draws out a book from an old trunk that has a triquetra symbol on the front cover. She opened the book, fascinated at it's age, then comes across the front page, that has the title, "Book Of Shadows", that explains the Halliwell secret. There is a chant following this excerpt. She muses for a moment, and smiles.

Thinking, "What the hell? This might be fun!"

She chants:

"Hear now the words of witches,
The secrets hid in the night,
The oldest of Gods are invoked here.
The great work of Magic is sought.
In this night and in this hour,
We call upon the ancient power.
Bring your powers to we sisters three"
We want the power, Give us the power!"

A light shimmers through the whole manor, while a picture of the three sisters, distant, magically draws together closer! She feels a tingle go through her body, and closes the book and runs downstairs, carrying the book.

She bumps into Piper, who is walking to the kitchen to cook dinner from the living room, as she hightails it down the stairs.

"Whoa Pheebs...what's the big hurry??"

Pheebs smiles, and says, "We're witches!"

Piper stares at her blankly, "What? What are you saying? What are you babbling about?"

Phoebe shows Piper the Book of Shadows. Piper looks at it, "Where did you get this from?"

"The Attic...", Phoebe points upward.

Piper says, "What? I thought the attic was always locked, and no one could get in, especially after Grams died..?"

Phoebe nods, "But it just sorta...you know... slid open at my push. I was curious."

Piper sighs and chuckles softly, "Yes..I know you are curious, sis. So...what's this about being a witch? And where's Prue? She probably should be here for this."

Phoebe, being very excited, "Wait, it also says we have powers!"

Piper looks askance, "What powers?"

"Oh, like moving objects with your mind, freezing time, and premonitions."

Piper stares at Phoebe in disbelief.

Phoebe doesn't notice, and wonders to herself, "I wonder who has what powers.."

Piper takes the book from Phoebe, "This is crazy. We are not witches, and we have no powers. I know you want to believe in witches, but.."

A door slams shut, as Prue storms into the Manor, angry from her fight with Roger.

"Ooooh That man just pisses me off!", exclaims Prue to nobody in particular. She marches into the living room, and notices Phoebe sitting on the couch, and Piper standing and staring at Prue.

Piper asks, "What's wrong Prue? Work bothering you again?"

Prue growls, "Yes....that ..that MAN... I just wish I could strangle him..."

"Prue - Why do you keep working for Roger? After all that happened with you two in the past?", sighs Piper.

Phoebe slowly moves out of sight, hoping her sister won't notice her. She suddenly notices sparks emitting from Prue's clenched fists, and widens her eyes, and says, "Um, Prue...please calm down...look at your hands..." Piper notices, and says, "What the hell?"

Prue looks at her hands, glowing with electricity. She stares in shock, then stammers, "W-what is going on?"

Phoebe looks puzzled, as the sparks slowly fade away from Prue's hands. Phoebe grabs the book, and looks at the front page, that explains about their powers.

"But...that can't be right... it's not even mentioned??"

Piper goes over to Phoebe and sits down by her, and says, "What can't be right?" Prue looks at Phoebe totally confused.

Phoebe explains, "We're witches. Grams was one too."

Prue has a shocked look on her face, "What??"

Prue thuds her shocked body down on a plushed chair, and exhales.

Piper goes over to comfort Prue, "You alright honey?"

"No, a bit confused, actually. What's going on?"

Phoebe becomes the center of attention for a moment, and becomes uncomfortable. "Well, we are descended from a very long line of witches, apparently, from the Warren Line, to the Halliwells. We are supposedly supposed to be the Charmed Ones, aaaand...we have powers, but..."

Prue gestures, "but...?"

"It says here that we're supposed to be able to move things with our mind, freeze things, and have premonitions...."

Piper muses with an interested glance, "Hmmm, sounds interesting."

Prue nods, but Phoebe is still distant. Phoebe states, "but...you, Prue, had like sparks radiating from your hands...which isn't even in the book..."

Prue wonders, "You two exhibited anything yet?"

Phoebe and Piper shake their heads no.

"What do we do?", says Piper, rubbing her hands on her legs, pondering to herself.

Part 2

Prue's stomach growls loudly. Piper is startled, then chuckles, "Maybe I should go make dinner?" Phoebe and Prue laugh softly, and Piper grins broadly. "Shall we?"

All three sisters head into the kitchen, Phoebe sitting at the table across from the counter, Prue sitting to the right of Phoebe, taking the newspaper to browse the Wanted Ads, in the hope of finding a better job.

Phoebe is restless, and stretches, "Pipe, what you making for dinner? I'm hungry!" Piper laughs, "Pheebs... relax, it's coming. We're having Chicken Parmesan tonight! At least in a hour. The chicken needs to cook." Phoebe wriggles in her chair excitedly, "Sounds great! May I bring the book in here?" Prue looks at her, "Hrm... I suppose it can't hurt to take a look..."

Phoebe races to the living room, and comes back with the book. She gingerly places the book on the table, and opens the cover. Prue scoots over, to look at the front page. "Wow... this is amazing. I didn't even know Grams was a witch..." Prue shakes her head. Piper muses to herself after hearing her sister's comments, "Why did this have to happen? What will our lives be like now?"

Piper finishes preparing dinner, pops it into the oven, and sits wearily on the chair left of Phoebe. She exhales and smiles.

Prue looks up from the book at Piper, "Long day at Quake?"

Piper groans, "Oh yeah. The waitress kept dropping the glasses...I just wanted to strangle her! I don't want to EVEN think about what the expenses will be like!" She massages her neck softly. Prue grimaces at the thought of the expenses. Phoebe smiles, "It'll be fine, Piper."

Piper smiles softly at her little sis, "So, what's in there?"

Phoebe answers, "I dunno, really. I haven't gone too far, except this spell that I did earlier tonight...I hope you guys aren't mad at me for that?"

Prue and Piper shake their heads. Prue sighs, "Well, it would have been nice if you HAD thought to consult us, but...what is done is done. And I don't think you really thought it'd work, did you?"

Pheebs shakes her head, "No, but I thought it would be fun to just fool around..."

Piper nods, "But, at least I hope you will try not to mess around like this again...who knows what will happen?"

Phoebe sighs again, "Yes I know I know... I'll try not to do that again."

Prue smiles, "Alright, Pheebs..."

Phoebe turns the page, and notices no table of contents. "Wait, I thought it'd have at least a table of contents? How are we gonna find anything?" She then flips the pages randomly. "Holy ...!! Look at this thing! It's got everything!", exclaims Phoebe.

A knock is heard from the hall. Someone is at the door. Piper looks up, "Oh my god. I forgot. I had a date scheduled for tonight! You know Jeremy, right?"

Prue nods, "Yeah you've mentioned him. We haven't met him."

Piper laughs, "Well, you will tonight, when you stall him, so I can get ready. Just pull dinner out in 45 minutes, okay? Pheebs...Um, you probably should put that book back in the Attic..at least before you get the door." Phoebe nods, and runs up to the Attic, and places it on the bookstand. Prue goes to the door in the Hallway, and opens it, to see Jeremy standing there. "Hi, You must be...?"

Prue smiles, "I'm Prue, Piper's sister. You are Jeremy, I take it?"

"Yep. Nice to meet you", smiles Jeremy.

At this point, Phoebe runs downstairs, and peeks around Prue's shoulder, and says, "Wow, he's cute!", gaining a quick elbow jab from Prue in her stomach. "Ouch, Prue! what was that for?"

Prue chuckles, "Sorry. This is Phoebe, our little sister. She can be a pain sometimes."

Phoebe pouts and says in a childish voice, "Ohh gee thanks Prue."

Prue chuckles. "Now you've met the entire family. Piper is upstairs getting ready... why don't you get comfortable on the couch?"

Jeremy follows Prue into the living room, making himself comfortable on the couch. Prue smiles, "Do you need anything? A drink of water?"

"Nah, I'm comfortable. Thanks, I'll just wait for Piper."

"Sure, no problem. What do you do?", asked Prue.

Jeremy shrugs, "Oh I work for IBM, as a computer tech."

Prue smiles widely, "Oh really? wow, that's so cool. Where are you taking Piper tonight?"

Jeremy runs his hand through his hair and smiles, "Well, I thought I'd take her to a fancy restaurant, then maybe a place to dance."

Phoebe awwws and smiles, "How romantic!" A beep emerges from the kitchen, "Whoa. That's our dinner. Excuse me! Gotta take it out!" She runs into the kitchen.

Prue smiles, "Let me check on how Piper's doing. It shouldn't be too much longer. " She goes upstairs for a few minutes, to Piper's bedroom and peeks in. "Piper, you okay there?"

Piper is in the middle of getting into a nice long black gown. "Yeah, I'm fine...just almost ready. Is he downstairs waiting?"

Prue nods and smiles, "You know, he's pretty nice! Cute too. Why didn't you bring him home earlier? You've been dating him, what, a month?"

Piper chuckles, "Well, I wasn't sure if you'd like him. Since he is somewhat geeky, but he's an adorable man, as well."

Prue sits on the edge of the bed, and looks up at Piper, "I hope you guys have fun tonight. I think he's gonna sweep you off your feet!"

Piper looks interested, "Oh? What did he say?"

Prue shrugs, "Well, he did say he'd be taking you to a fancy restaurant, and maybe dancing..."

Piper giggles softly, "Oh really? Well, I better get going since he's been waiting..."

Prue nods, "Go get 'em!", and laughs.

Meanwhile, Phoebe has taken dinner out, and put it on 2 plates for her and Prue. She walks into the living room, "Hey Jeremy, where's Prue?"

Jeremy looks at her, "I think she went to check how Piper was doing."

Phoebe nods, and sits down on the sofa chair, sprawled out, waiting for them to come down.

She looks up at the entrance Piper makes...walking down the stairs like a regal queen, with a long black gown, a nice necklace made of pearls, with her hair pulled back into a flowing braid.

She whistles, "Wow Piper, you look great!"

Jeremy looks in awe, "Y-yeah, you do look great!"

Piper blushes and chuckles softly, "Thank you, Jeremy. Shall we go?"

"By all means. It was nice to meet you and Prue", Jeremy said to Phoebe with a small smile.

Jeremy and Piper leave the Manor, to go dancing and dinner.

Phoebe smiles, thinking about Jeremy, and how nice he is. A chill runs up her spine. "Oooh, wierd. what was that? Felt like someone walked on my grave..."

Prue looks at her, "Hmm, maybe it's just a draft...?"

Phoebe shakes her head, "I don't really think so..it felt something was wrong. I don't know. Wait...didn't that book say that one of us was supposed to have premonitions?"

Prue thinks for a moment, "I think so. I'm not sure. Anyways. Dinner's ready, isn't it?"

Phoebe snaps out of her musings, "Oh yeah, it's on the table! Let's go eat."

Several Hours Later:

Phoebe yawns and says, "I'm headed to bed. How about you?" Prue looks at her watch, "Wow. it's pretty late. Piper's not home. I hope she's alright. She must be having fun."

Phoebe smiles.

A few hours later, in Phoebe's bedroom.

Phoebe tosses and turns in her bed, obviously having a bad dream.

Her Dream:

A white flash appears suddenly, then Phoebe dimly becomes aware she's dreaming. She looks around, in confusion. She thinks about Piper, then everything happens at a sickening speed.

A path seems to zoom from where she's standing at the Manor to where Piper and Jeremy are, outside his car, kissing. She finds herself surprised that she knows instinctively exactly where they are. Jeremy is smiling at Piper, and looks around, and sees no one nearby. Piper asks, "What are you looking for?" somewhat uncertainly.

It was like Phoebe was there literally, in senses surround. She tried to get Piper's attention, but to no avail. Piper gasps as she saw Jeremy smile wickedly, with a sharp knife. Phoebe tries to scream, "Piper, GET AWAY!" but couldn't get Piper's attention whatsoever, then realizes she is having a premonition! Phoebe stands helpless in shock. Jeremy cackles, "Now that you're a Charmed One, I must have your powers!"

She snaps herself out of her dream, screaming, "PIPER!" Prue wakes up suddenly, and runs to Phoebe's room, "Phoebe! Are you alright??"

Phoebe is shivering, numb with shock, "U..h, um... I had a dream about Piper. T-that she was murdered... by Jeremy. He somehow knew we were the Charmed Ones, or something..." Her eyes unfocuses, "but... is Piper home yet??"

Prue shakes her head, "Not that I know of. I didn't hear her come in. Let me go check her room." She briskly walks to Piper's room, peeks in, and doesn't find her. She walks back and tells Phoebe, "No, she never came home."

Phoebe gasps, "What? Then...maybe I do have premonitions, and She's in danger!"

Prue wonders, "How do we find her? did you see anything recognizable in your premonition?"

Phoebe shakes her head, "Not really...but...it was really weird. It was like a path was laid out to me right to Piper. Like something told me how to get there."

Prue thinks for a moment, "Let's go! Perhaps it's nothing. We better go see."

They run to Prue's car, and Phoebe gives directions on how to get there.

The moment they arrive, they see Piper and Jeremy kissing, but Prue pulls over from a short distance, to see what happens.

They watch as Phoebe's dream unfolds. Phoebe gasps in shock, "This is my dream! Let's go!"

Prue and Phoebe run to them as Jeremy pulls his knife out, and cackles. Prue's hands glow angry electric as she suddenly throws an electric sphere from both hands at Jeremy, and knocks him down.

Jeremy gets back up with a struggle, and tries to grab Piper, but Prue throws another lightning ball at Jeremy. Jeremy lays there unconscious. Prue grabs Piper, "Let's go!"

Piper hurries back with her sisters, back to the Manor.

Sitting in the living room, they look over the Book of Shadows.

Phoebe reads, "Apparently, Jeremy is a warlock."

Prue and Piper ask, "What's a warlock?"

Phoebe replies, "It's someone who kills witches to gain their powers."

Piper gazes at Phoebe in shock, but decides that Jeremy must be stopped.

Prue interjects, "So..how do we get rid of him?"

Phoebe reads further on the page, "Well...there's a spell...but mainly it says, "The power of Three will set us free" three times.

The front doors crash open, and Jeremy stalks in, with electric burns on his body.

"I will have your powers, whether you will it or not!", screamed Jeremy.

Piper looks at Jeremy disapprovingly, and says, "Nope. I don't think so!"

Prue says, "Let's do it"

The three sisters began chanting:

The Power of Three Will Set Us Free!
The Power of Three Will Set Us Free!
The Power of Three Will Set Us Free!

A huge wind began gusting through the room, and converging on Jeremy whirling around him, as he screamed in agony, bursting into flames, then into nothingness.

Piper looks at the place where Jeremy was, "Wow. That was different."

Phoebe and Prue agree.

Piper looks thoughtful, and peers askance at Pheebs, "So...how did you know where I was?"

Pheebs chuckles..."A nightmare. I saw it happen. Must have been a premonition."

Piper chuckles, "Wow, Thanks.. ", hugs Phoebe tightly.

Phoebe becomes thoughtful, "Well, there was a weird thing in the dream too. "

Piper gets a serious and concerned look on her face, "What do you mean?"

Phoebe shrugs, "Well...it was also like I became aware of the path necessary to reach you, as well as my premonition."

Prue and Piper look at Phoebe. Piper nods, "Well...that's interesting, and is pretty useful I think" and smiles.

"Whew. I'm exhausted.", yawned Phoebe. Piper laughs, "Me too. How about you Prue?"

"Yep. Time for bed!"

Part 3

A week later after the Jeremy Incident:

It is early evening after dinner. Piper is at work, regulating duties at Quake. Prue and Phoebe are at home, Phoebe hard at work on the new laptop they recently bought, and Prue enjoying herself, browsing her latest magazine, "Antiques Monthly".

The lights in the entire Halliwell Manor flickered and winked out.

"DAMN! Another blackout! PRUE!", shouts an irritated Phoebe in her bedroom, who is working on a new website for Prue's place of Employment (Buckland's Auction House). The Laptop flickers on and off, as the battery's power gets low. "Damn I hope this doesn't get erased - Prue will be pissed at me."

Prue sighs, and looks up at the air, "PHOEBE, I am NOT the Power Company!" She mutters to herself and goes downstairs, to try to start the generator. Her hands glow electric blue, and she channels her power into the generator. The bare points of the conduits glowed blue for a moment, then started humming, and the lights flickered back on, to a steady glow. Prue walked back upstairs to the kitchen, then upstairs to talk to Phoebe.

Phoebe notices the lights go back on, grins, "Great!", and plugs the laptop back into the wall, to ensure no loss of her project. She hears Prue knock on the door, and looks at her. "Heh.. Sorry... I was working on that project you wanted me to. I didn't want to start all over."

Prue's expression changed from annoyed to somewhat proud. "Wow. You're actually doing that website? I can't wait to see it. Is it done?"

Phoebe shakes her head no, "Not yet. Probably tomorrow."

Prue nods, "No real rush, I want you to do the best job you can do."

Phoebe smiles, "Thanks sis."

Meanwhile, at Quake:

Piper is stressed with all the bustle that was going on. She keeps thinking, "Oh god, I can't wait till it's closing time!" The water in the sink is running, filling up the sink for dishes. No one is in the kitchen at the moment, and she accidently knocks down a plate full of food. As it speeds its way toward the floor, Piper cringes, and thinks, "STOP!", then stares as a plate hovered in midair, with a shimmering 'blanket' of air that counteracted all inertia, and seems to nestle the plate at all sides. She snaps out of it with a gasp, and the plate crashes to the ground in splinters. She then winces. "Damn....but at least I think I know what my power is. I think. But. It's not like freezing time, though, since it was only holding that plate in midair."

Piper decides, "I need to talk to my sisters." She picks up her cell phone, dials the Manor, waits for the phone to be picked up. "Come on, pick up..."

Prue hears the phone, and runs downstairs to answer it. "Halliwell Residence, How may.... Piper?? What's up?"

Piper smiles for a moment. She sighs, "Um, I think I found my power."

Prue perks up, "Really? What is it?"

Piper says in a serious voice, "I have no idea, honestly, since basically I accidently knocked over a plate onto the floor, and I thought "stop!", and it seemed to hover in the air, like something was holding it up, with shimmers on the bottom."

Prue, her interest piqued, says, "What? That sounds really weird. You'll have to show it to us if you can, when you get home. Don't worry about it. Just stay calm until you get home. Love ya, sis!"

"Love ya too, Prue! Tell Pheebs hi for me too!"

Prue chuckles, "Sure thing, sis!" She then hangs up the phone, and sees Pheebs sitting at the stairs watching her.

Pheebs smiles, "Piper? What happened?"

Prue smiles back, and lets out a small chuckle, "Oh, she apparently found her power. We're not sure what it is, but it involves 'stopping' things. "

"Freezing time?", inquires Phoebe.

Prue shakes her head, "No...doesn't seem like it. Everything else didn't freeze. Apparently the water was still running at the time."

Pheebs is puzzled, but shrugs. "When will she be home?"

Prue thinks, "Probably when it closes, around 11pm." Phoebe nods, "Well, I probably should go back upstairs and keep working, or maybe even just surf the web. I think I need a break."

Prue agrees, "How about if we order a pizza? You hungry? It's around 8pm I think." She looks at her watch to confirm the time.

Phoebe giggles and jumps up, "Whee. Pizza!" Prue looks at her little sister, and chuckles.

Several hours later, the two sisters are relaxing on the couch after munching on pizza, and wait for Piper to arrive home. The moment Piper walks in, Phoebe gets a chill up her spine. Prue notices the change in Phoebe's demeanor, motions quickly for Piper to sit down.

Phoebe starts shaking a little. Flashes of insight and a path opens up to her, zooming into the front hall doors, and she sees a tall man, wearing a two piece suit, crash through the doors. He has a glowing sphere in his hand, poised to throw at them! She snaps out of the trance, with shuddering gasps. "Damn. Those are strong visions.", declares a shaken Phoebe.

Prue looks concerned for Phoebe. "Time to look in the Book of Shadows, I think." Piper nods, and helps Phoebe up off the couch, and lead her to the Attic, with Prue leading the way.

Once they reach the attic, they clustered over the book, with Phoebe in the middle, flipping the pages, searching for the face of the warlock in her premonition.

Phoebe stabs her finger at the page, "Ah! There it is. Let's see.... it says, A warlock named Benthan who can throw light spheres. He also feeds on the fear, especially of witches, which makes him more powerful though, and deadly, but he also can be vanquished with this spell."

"Begone, being of darkness,
Take thy light from our sight,
To the pits of blackness,
as the Charmed Ones so will!"

Prue quickly finds a piece of paper and pen, and starts scribbling quickly. "Okay. I think we're all set..at least for now."

The three sisters jump startled, when they hear a loud bang downstairs! Phoebe looks at her sisters and says, "It's time."

They rush downstairs, and almost run into Benthan. He holds up a glowing sphere in his hand, and aims it right at Phoebe! He lets it fly right at Phoebe, who stares at the light sphere in horror, but doesn't move fast enough. Piper screams defiantly, "STOP!!!! NO!" and flings her hands with her palms facing the warlock, and a glowing white globe encircles the three sisters immediately. The sphere hits the white protective globe and explodes harmlessly.

Phoebe is so shocked, she is speechless. Prue is stunned but manages to get out, "Whoa! So that's your power." Piper struggles to keep the sphere going, and mutters in a low strained voice, "Come on...let's do the spell."

Benthan flings another sphere at the globe without an effect. He keeps hammering away. The sisters start chanting the spell they found.

"Begone, being of darkness,
Take thy light from our sight,
To the pits of blackness,
As the Charmed Ones so will!"

Benthan stares in horror, and bursts into flames. "Nooooooooooo!"

Piper lets go of the sphere and slumps to the ground. Phoebe kneels down on the floor. "You okay sis?", asked Phoebe. Piper nods weakly, "I think our powers are somewhat limited, or something. I'm so exhausted." Prue smiles, and kneels on the floor as well, then hugs Piper tightly. Phoebe hugs Prue and Piper as well. Prue ponders Piper's comment. Prue says, "I wonder why we may have limitations? Maybe because our energy is finite?"

The sisters were left with a mystery. "Where did their powers come from, if they didn't end up with the same powers they were born with? And are they finite, or infinite? And what will come next? ", was upper most in their thoughts.