Philippa's First Warlock Philippa Suzanne Newland sat in her high chair in the lounge, gurgling happily to herself as she waited for me to make her breakfast. From upstairs came the sound of running water as Phoebe, always a late riser, took a shower. In the kitchen, I mixed a bowl of baby rice; Philippa at four months had recently started on solids. There was a ping from the microwave. I took out a cup of coffee, replacing it with the rice and hit the power button. I stepped into the lounge and my daughter turned her head to look at me. "Don't fret precious," I told her, "Yours is being nuked, and it'll be ready in two minutes." I held up two fingers. It couldn't hurt my daughter if she learnt to count early. "But first Daddy has to take this up for Mummy. She had a late night last night. She and Aunty Prue, and Aunt Piper had to get a nasty warlock." I smiled at my daughter. In return her beautiful face with her mother's snub nose, and my grey-green eyes creased in a smile to match my own. Then I went upstairs still smiling as another normal day started in the Newland household. In the lounge Philippa continued to gurgle away to herself, and her head moved as she looked around the room. On top of the toy box she spotted her favourite rattle. But there was no one to get it for her, and she was strapped securely into her high chair. Still that changed nothing about her desire. All Philippa knew was that she wanted the rattle. Now. Then just like that, it appeared in her hand. The little girl smiled, and from her mouth came something that was an approximation of a four-month-old child's delighted laugh as she started playing with the toy. Upstairs, Phoebe had emerged from the shower and put on her track suit. She sat cross-legged in the bedroom as she meditated, calming herself down after her usual morning kick boxing workout with the ever-unfortunate Slam Man. I entered the bedroom and quietly, carefully, so as not to disturb my wife's concentration, put the mug containing Phoebe's coffee on the nightstand. I turned to go when suddenly Phoebe tensed, her body stiffened and her breathing becoming short and rapid. I had come to know by now that these were the telltale signs that she was experiencing a premonition. I went to her, and knelt by the side of the bed, she was always a little bit shaken up when she recovered, and there was no telling how intense, or how long one of her visions would be. But she didn't come out of it. After a minute, her posture relaxed slightly and her breathing slowed, but she was still tense, with her eyes closed tightly, and her hands clenched into fists so that white was showing at the knuckles. This was not the relaxed state in which she usually meditated, and I knew she was still having a prolonged vision. For five frightening minutes, my wife sat in that half-relaxed, half-stressed state. Finally Phoebe opened her eyes and smiled. She looked for all the world, as if she'd just awoken from a marvellous and blissful dream. "Whoa! What a rush!" she grinned. During her pregnancy Phoebe had experienced some unexpected side effects. While carrying our unborn child, Phoebe was able to channel the powers that were to be granted to the baby Philippa. She'd gained my own power of summoning; the ability to bring objects to myself at will; and her own powers of premonition had become exceptionally strong. Either as an after-effect of this, the natural growth of her powers, or a combination of both, Phoebe had finally gained some control over her own power and was now able to call her premonitions more easily. But now it seemed that something different was going on. Looking at my concerned face, Phoebe explained, "My power just grew. I had a vision of everything that's going to happen today." She got up from the floor and took her coffee. "It was awesome. After the initial flash I was still seeing things but it felt…" She searched for a word but couldn't think of one that captured her feeling. Finally she settled for, "Good. Empowering" "Well, this new power certainly agrees with you," I told my wife. "You're glowing. You've never looked so beautiful - except on our wedding day." I smiled at the memory. "This is mind blowing. You saw a whole day before it happened. Like the guy who gets tomorrow's paper in that TV show." "You mean Early Edition?" "Yeah. Your own Early Edition." "That's what we'll call it," Pheebs decided. "The Early Edition. I just wish all my power growths were this cool." I frowned then, as a sudden thought occurred to me. Phoebe noticed instantly, "Liam. What is it?" "This makes two power jumps in four months. First you finally got control over your visions, which was great. Apart from an active power, that's what you most wanted. And now this." Taking her hand I continued, "I'm just scared that it's too much, too fast, especially just after your pregnancy. What if your powers get too much for you to handle again?" Or if you can get them so unexpectedly, what's to say you can't lose them as suddenly?" "You worry too much, darling," my wife told me. "Sure, the powers during my pregnancy were too strong, but they've settled down again. They can expand suddenly." She shrugged. "Look at Prue, she was shocked the first time she channeled through her power through her hands instead of her eyes. Getting the Early Edition like this is no big deal. And as for calling my premonitions, I'd already been trying to do it for months. The pregnancy may have helped, but it was hardly sudden." Phoebe squeezed my hand reassuringly, her dark eyes looking into mine, as in a voice that brooked no argument, she finished, "I am not to going to lose control. Nor will I suddenly lose my powers" Suddenly she laughed, "Which reminds me. There's gonna be a power outage that'll knock out all the traffic lights, you'd best get to work before gridlock ensues." Phoebe and I went downstairs. I grabbed my briefcase, and then kissing the two ladies in my life, headed to the office without delay, hoping to avoid the traffic. Phoebe went into the kitchen, got the baby rice, which by then had cooled perfectly, and started to feed Philippa. As she did she noticed the rattle, in her young daughter's hand "Now where did that come from?" Philippa just cooed. * * * The following morning Phoebe carried out her usual routine, with one slight difference. This time she deliberately attempted to call the vision that we'd christened the "Early Edition". Just as in the TV show, the advanced warning had enabled things to be changed. Phoebe had been able to prevent Piper from falling down the stairs, tell Prue to keep her schedule free (Pheebs saw Darryl asking Prue out) and last but not least I'd been the only person in the office to get to work on time. Coming down the stairs, she looked radiant, her face wreathed in a grin. "It worked then?" I asked, although I was pretty sure I knew the answer. Which only went to prove that I wasn't the one who was blessed with the sight "No," replied my wife, "I didn't see anything, but I think that was because nothing is going to happen today." She paused as she tried to give voice to her thoughts and feelings, as much to try and make sense of it all for her as for me. "I came out of the trance, or whatever, with the same feeling of bliss, that I did yesterday. If I hadn't experienced *something*, I'm sure that I wouldn't feel this good. I certainly don't after a regular vision." "Well no news is good news, I suppose." Phoebe smiled, "Let's hope so." She glanced at the clock, "You best get going, you'll be late." Kissing my wife and daughter as usual, I headed for the car. * * * "Prue! Why aren't you at work?" asked a surprised Phoebe, as she answered the door. "Day off!" grinned the eldest Halliwell "Prue Halliwell having a day off!" exclaimed Phoebe with mock disbelief. "Ok. Who are you and what have you done with my sister?" "Cute Pheebs. Very funny," laughed Prue as she stepped into the house, heading straight for the lounge. As she entered, Philippa looked up and seeing her aunt, she smiled, stretching out her arms as she asked for a hug. Prue's face broke into a huge grin, her grey eyes sparkling merrily, as her usual hard-bitten and determined veneer fell away. Prue reached out her own arms, and her niece rose up off the blanket, squealing with pleasure as she floated across the room into her aunt's adoring grasp. Phoebe watched amused as Prue, with a tenderness that belied her driven, work-centred facade, played with Philippa. Phoebe had been really surprised at how much her daughter had taken to Prue. She liked her Aunt Piper too, but whenever she saw Prue, Philippa's face seemed to light up. For some reason, maybe some small child's instinct, Philippa saw past Prue's often cold, forbidding exterior to the warm loving person beneath. Philippa's first ever smile had been at her senior aunt, a memory Prue would cherish always. Placing Philippa back on the floor, Prue crossed to her toy box. "Shall we get a toy to play with?" Interpreting her niece's grin as a yes, Prue reached into the toy box and took out a stuffed bear with a chef's hat. "Would you like Piper Bear?" Philippa just lay on her blanket, uninterested in the toy. Her aunt tried again, this time holding up Philippa's toy car. Once again there was no response. "OK, how about Officer Wobbles?" suggested Prue holding out a figure of a policeman with a large round weighted bottom. The idea of the toy was that if you knocked it over, the figure would automatically pop right back up, righting itself. No matter how hard you tried, the jolly little policeman just wouldn't stay down. Philippa smiled. Wobbles was one of her favourite toys. She stretched out her hand and the figure disappeared out of the astonished Prue's grasp, ending up in Philippa's. Dropping the toy onto the floor, Philippa gurgled contentedly as she watched it falling over and bobbing back up. Before the amazed gaze of her mother and aunt, she made the toy reappear in her hand so she could drop it again, allowing it to fall and once more right itself. "Did you see that?" asked Prue. "Yeah, she's starting to get her powers," grinned Phoebe then groaned as she thought of something, "Oh no, can you imagine the trouble a four month old witch could cause?" "No," laughed Prue. "But I think you and Liam are about to find out." Philippa played with her aunt and mother for about three quarters of an hour, then began to niggle and Phoebe knew she was ready for a nap. Taking her daughter upstairs, she laid Philippa in her crib, and Prue helped to send her niece off to sleep by magically rotating the mobile suspended above her. Once Philippa was safely off in dreamland, the two sisters relaxed over a cup of coffee downstairs, catching up on girl talk, and Prue continued to spend a pleasant and peaceful day off. The peace was shattered an hour later by a sudden piercing cry from upstairs. Phoebe and Prue rushed to Philippa's room. The baby was curled up in a fetal position screaming at the top of her lungs, as tears cascaded down her face. Phoebe picked up her daughter, and started to rock her, trying to comfort and calm the distressed child. Suddenly, she tensed, as she was thrown violently into an unexpected premonition. There was someone holding her, and a cold object rested on her neck. Across the room, terror etched on their faces, stood the figures of Prue, Piper, Liam - and Phoebe! In a flash of realization Phoebe knew that this wasn't her premonition at all. It was Philippa's! Her daughter had awoken terrified after experiencing a vision in which a knife was held to her throat. Phoebe could feel her daughter's bewilderment and fear as the four month old tried hopelessly to comprehend what was happening. Philippa had somehow sensed that the scene was about her, and the cold object (Phoebe perceived Philippa didn't know it was a knife) was threatening her. Phoebe came out of the premonition, to meet the usual concerned gaze, this time of Prue. "I thought you were going to drop her for a moment," said a relieved Prue, nodding at her still shrieking niece. "What did you see?" Phoebe started to rock her daughter, trying to assuage Philippa's anxiety and get her back to sleep, but to no avail. "Tell you in a min," she eventually answered her sister. "That really shook me and her." Holding her still frightened and weeping daughter out to her sister she requested, "Prue, she always goes to sleep for you. Please." Prue nodded and took her niece into her arms. Softly she began to sing. It was Philippa's own lullaby. Prue had just come up with it one day but it seemed to work better than Hush Little Baby or Brahms. "Philippa, Philippa, please don't cry Your tears will be banished, by and by The Charmed Ones are here just for you Mummy, Aunt Piper, and Aunty Prue." Prue sang the verse over and over. Gradually Philippa's cries quietened and stopped, then her eyes began to close as she drifted once more into a restful slumber. Placing the sleeping infant in her crib, Prue and Phoebe left the room, and descended the stairs on silent feet. Prue and Piper had at times, questioned and regretted the fate that made them witches, but never Phoebe. She had always had the absolute conviction that being Charmed was their destiny and blessed the night when she crept up to the attic and found the Book of Shadows for the very first time - until now. "Prue, it was Philippa's vision that I saw, and somehow, I shared it. I could feel what she was feeling. She was absolutely terrified. Of what she saw. And of what was happening to her. Why in the world make a baby go through that? Who the hell are "They", as Leo bloody calls them, to make my daughter come into her powers that way? They scared her half to death! Damn them! And damn this whole witch business! I wish I'd never laid eyes on that godforsaken book!" "No you don't," contradicted Prue, softly. "You're just angry and you've a right to be." "Prue, Don't tell me my rights and what I'm thinking," raged Phoebe "You can't possibly know. You've never had kids." For a moment Prue looked hurt, then replied, "But I have. I had you and Piper, remember. And I felt just the same way about you pair that you do for Philippa. I still do." Phoebe nodded, acknowledging the point, "You're right." She smiled. "So Mom, how can I protect Philippa from all this?" "You can't. When you were fourteen and everyone started calling you Freebie, I wanted to let you off of school. Keep you away, spare you the tears, but I couldn't. It was something you had to face. It's the same for Philippa. She's a witch, and it's part of who she is. Like all her family. The witch thing may have got us into this, but it's also what will get us out. It works both ways." Phoebe suddenly laughed. "That sounded like something I'd say. Thanks Prue. So how do we get out?" "Call Piper and treat your sisters to dinner," suggested Prue. "The Newlands and Halliwells can spend a pleasant evening over a meal, wine and a Council of War." * * * I came home from the office to find my two sisters in law deep in conversation with my wife. Prue and Piper were regular visitors to our house and Phoebe and I frequently went around to the Manor. We spent as much time in each other's houses as we did in our own, but I could always tell when it was a social call or business. I greeted my wife and returned Prue and Pipers' hellos and asked, "So what is it this time?" "Philippa's got her powers," started Phoebe "Both of them. Your's and mine. She had a premonition, and when I picked her up, I somehow linked into it and saw it too." Phoebe's face paled as she recalled the frightening experience of seeing our daughter's vision. "There was a warlock - with a knife to her throat. She was so scared Liam, not just of what she saw but by the whole experience…" I nodded. In a way I could appreciate how Philippa had felt. Late in her pregnancy, Phoebe had been attacked while alone in the house. She'd fought off her assailant, a demon, but had been seriously injured in the process. My precious and crafty wife had the unorthodox idea of combining the powers that were coursing through her and the baby, and had been able to send me a vision in which I saw Phoebe lying unconsciousness on the upstairs landing. It had been one of the scariest things that'd ever happened to me, and left me with a new respect for my wife's gift. "Is Philippa alright?" I asked worriedly "Cried the house down for twenty minutes straight, but once we got her back to sleep she was fine," answered Prue "Yeah, she played with her aunts the whole rest of the afternoon." Piper told me, then turning to Philippa who was in her high chair, having her dinner, said in her baby voice, (which always reminded me of the Wicked Witch of the West) "Didn't we Sweetie?" Philippa laughed, spraying a mouthful of chicken casserole baby food all over her mother. "Piper," whined Phoebe as she wiped her face, "How many times? Do not make the baby laugh when I'm feeding her." Piper couldn't reply. She was in hysterics, laughing uncontrollably along with Prue and myself. A none too-amused Phoebe finished feeding her daughter, while I went into the kitchen to serve dinner. Dinner was delicious. Chicken breast in a white wine sauce, with pineapple mousse to follow, accompanied by an acceptable Californian Chardonnay. Following dinner I put the dishes through a dishwasher cycle while the Charmed Ones put the clan's youngest witch to bed. Coming back downstairs we poured ourselves a glass of wine each, finishing the bottle as we settled down to discuss our latest warlock crisis For the fourth time that day, (she'd told Piper on her arrival at our house) Phoebe recounted the details of her shared premonition. The warlock attacked us at our house, right here in the lounge. But since the vision had been from Philippa's viewpoint with the warlock had been holding her captive, there was no way to know what he or she looked like. We also had no idea when it would happen - although Phoebe was convinced that it would not be tonight. She felt sure that her new "Early Edition" would have shown the warlock this morning if that were the case. Confidently she remarked, "So we'll know when he's coming. I'll see him in the morning of that day." "That's not good enough Phoebe," commented Piper, "What if you see him at eight in the morning and find out that he's coming in 5 minutes. We won't have enough time to plan anything. You can't rely on this advance warning power you've got. For one, you've not had it long enough to know how reliable it is. And two, if it were the be all and end all of your power, you would have stopped having random premonitions, but you still had Philippa's" "That was different…" Phoebe began "Maybe, but you nearly always have a premonition for a reason. We have to believe you linked to Philippa's premonition because we were meant to know about it" Phoebe nodded sagely. Her middle sister was making a lot of sense. We needed information. We had a starting point but we needed a different view. That view ideally being from the other side of the room so that we could see the warlock. "OK," Phoebe decided. "I'm going to concentrate on Philippa's vision and try to call up my own vision of what I'd be seeing." Phoebe closed her eyes and tried to relax, attempting to call a premonition. Although she found it a lot easier nowadays, it was still very much hit and miss. We sat in silence, so as not to disturb Phoebe's concentration. For two minutes nothing happened, then Phoebe stiffened, muscles tightening, breathing quickening as a premonition took hold, lasting for about thirty seconds. Then Phoebe relaxed and opened her eyes, smiling grimly with satisfaction, "OK, I saw him. About 6 foot, light hair. He was holding Philippa and he had a knife at her throat. There was also a wand. It had runic symbols on it and the vision seemed to be trying to focus on it. Quick! Give me a pen and paper." Grabbing the drawing materials, I handed them to my wife, who drew out the symbols she'd seen in her vision. Then she handed it to Prue, "Check the book." "I'll check at Bucklands as well. The wand might be on the artefacts database and these symbols will help trace it." "Anything else? " asked Piper "Yeah, I saw our clock, 7.45 pm. Got the time but no date." "As long as you spot him in the Early Edition," I put in cheerily, "We'll have plenty of warning." "But just in case I don't, my dear sisters, consider yourselves permanently invited to dinner, until our guest turns up. Better safe than sorry." "Thanks Pheebs," grinned Piper, "Gets me out of the cooking for a few days." "Yeah, Sis. That's a good idea," agreed the eldest Halliwell. "I'll look up this wand first thing in the morning, and phone you as soon as I know something." With that we wished each other a good night and the Council of War adjourned. * * * The next morning, Phoebe saw the warlock in her "Early Edition". He was coming that night. After telling me, she immediately phoned the Manor to inform her sisters. I wanted to take the day off but Phoebe insisted I go to work, as the warlock wouldn't attack until tonight. Eventually I agreed with her because lately I'd had to take considerable time off work, thanks to various "family emergencies". My boss was understanding, but would surely start complaining soon, and even though being witches was all very well and good, it certainly didn't bring in the money. Still I was stubborn, and we almost got into a nasty argument about it, except that Phoebe had already seen us having a row in her vision, and stopped me cold by pre-empting my every point. Reluctantly, admitting I'd lost, I departed for work. As I pulled out of the driveway, I looked back and saw Phoebe, standing at the front door, grinning in triumph. * * * Returning from work, I arrived at my house almost at the same time as Prue, who'd just finished at Bucklands, and had driven straight to my place. We entered the house, greeting Piper, Phoebe and, of course, Philippa. Pheebs made coffee and settling in, Prue told us what she'd found out about the wand. "It's called the Wand of Ipslore. There's a huge legend about it, that'd make a great bedtime story, except we don't have time. Basically touch a good witch with it and the warlock gets their powers." "The good witches would be us," guessed Piper. "Yeah," acknowledged her elder sister. "But that ain't the worst. The wand bestows immunity from all magic as long as its user possesses it." "That makes things interesting," I commented dryly. Prue smiled "Not if Phoebe can kick it out of his hand." Phoebe caught on to Prue's plan fast, "Then Piper freezes him, we P3 him and all before Philippa's bedtime." The plan made, we settled down to dinner and then waited. 7.30 came and Phoebe took up her position by the door to the lounge, waiting for the warlock's entrance. We didn't know the exact time he arrived, since the attack was under way by the time Phoebe saw it. The mood in the room changed, as the air filled with tension. Philippa, playing nosily with her activity gym, which had buttons and levers to make various objects spin, whistle, squeak, buzz, and rattle, sensed it too. Her squeals ceased and she abandoned the gym. Starting to play with Officer Wobbles, Philippa gurgled softly as she knocked him over, and watched him rock back up. He came at 7:40, but not through the door. Instead he appeared from nowhere, blinking into the room. Instinctively, Prue tried to throw him back, only for the warlock to laugh as nothing happened. "Your power's won't work, witch. Not while I have this" He extended his hand so we could see what he held. It was a wand of black ebony, polished so that it caught the light. It was emblazoned with runic symbols along its length, each rune depicted with inlaid silver. "The Wand of Ipslore," he announced grandly "And I, Marcus possess it. Soon I will possess your powers as well." Phoebe and I exchanged glances. Did anyone speak like that in this day and age? Marcus had obviously just passed the warlock initiation or whatever they had; and had decided to start big by taking out the Charmed Ones. Somehow he'd gotten hold of something that gave him a chance. It was like teenagers and sports cars. A dangerous mix. After seeing Prue's abortive attempt, Piper didn't even try using her powers. Using the time Marcus had wasted during his grandstanding, she made her way to the table and grabbed dinner's half empty bottle of wine. Piper hurled it at the warlock, only for it to smash harmlessly against the wall, as he quickly darted sideways, towards the door. Phoebe was waiting. She leaped into the air and launched a kick, which knocked our attacker across the room. Incredibly he still held the wand. Moving in, Phoebe went to finish the job. But her plan was foiled as the warlock blinked, suddenly appearing by Philippa. He grabbed her, then using a power similar to my own, he made a dagger appear in his other hand, which he held at Philippa's throat. "If anything or anyone in this room moves, I will kill this child. If you wish to save her life, you will surrender your powers--Hey get off it!" This last comment was to Philippa who, amazingly, wasn't crying. Instead she seemed fascinated by the wand held in the warlock's hand. She reached a hand out toward it, prompting Marcus' rebuke. Philippa frowned and reached for it again. Again the warlock told her off. Three more times she reached for the wand, each time being told to stop. Finally the warlock roared, "Leave it alone you little brat, or I'll cut your throat." Bursting into tears at this sudden display of fury, the frightened Philippa dropped Officer Wobbles. The heavy toy landed on the warlocks' foot. He screamed in pain, dropping Philippa, the knife and the wand as automatically his hands went to his foot. Phoebe and Piper instinctively leapt forward in vain to try and catch the falling 4 month old. Prue waved her hand to bring the child into her arms, but was surprised when Philippa abruptly disappeared from view. The three sisters turned to me to find that I had summoned my falling daughter out of the air and into my arms. Ignoring the stricken warlock for a moment, the family quickly made sure that its youngest member was unharmed. Assured of Philippa's safety, we all turned as one back to Marcus, only to see him reaching for his fallen wand. Before he could grab it, it disappeared, "My wand." screamed the warlock. Everyone looked at me expecting to find the wand in my grasp but I hadn't summoned it. My hands were quite full with my daughter. Then I heard a cheerful gurgle and I dropped my gaze to a smiling Philippa who waved in her hand a piece of black ebony with inlaid silver runes. Before he could blink away, Piper shouted a single word of power, "Ulthae." The warlock yelped in pain as his arms and legs were brought together as if he were being bound tightly by invisible coils of rope. He tried to blink but nothing happened, the magical bonds nullifying Marcus' magic. He was trapped and at the mercy of the Charmed Ones. Prue and Phoebe looked questioningly at the middle sister. Piper grinned and flipped her hair out of her eyes, "P3 opens nights so I have my days free. I've been reading." Prue's gaze raked the warlock, cold ice in her eyes, then she to turned Phoebe and me, "Well he hurt you the most, Pheebs and Liam--wrecked your lounge, threatened your daughter. Say the word and I'll throw him off the Transamerica Pyramid." Phoebe regarded Marcus coldly before answering for both us. "Nah, he ain't worth it. He's a second-rate warlock who wouldn't even have a hope of defeating us without that wand. Just like Rodriguez and Tempus. I say we do the same to him as we did to them. Let him go… After we relieve him of his powers." With that Phoebe nodded and the Charmed Ones began: "From whence they came Send them now Vanish this warlock Banish his powers" A black fog emanated from Marcus, surrounding him, as the warlock's powers were pulled out of him. The fog gathered into a large orb that passed through the roof on its way to who knew where. With the warlock powerless, Piper undid the entanglement spell and Phoebe addressed him once more, "We left you enough juice to blink out of here. Now get out of my house!" Marcus nodded and vanished. Prue, Piper and Phoebe turned to look at the family's littlest witch, who was still in my arms, and was presently using a powerful magical artefact as a teething toy. "Vanquishing a warlock at four months," laughed Piper, "That has got to be some sort of record." "Yes, she's precocious," answered Phoebe proudly, "Just like her Mom." "Precocious!" exclaimed Prue. "You weren't precocious. You were just a pain!" "Yeah." Piper backed up her elder sister. "In the ass." Eschewing verbal retaliation, Phoebe grabbed a sofa cushion and threw it. Seconds later, soft furnishings flew around the room as the Charmed Ones unwound in the usual way; by indulging in one of their good-natured sisterly fights. I escaped upstairs and laid Philippa in her cot. My singing leaves much to be desired, so instead I told my daughter a bedtime story. "Once upon a time there were 3 sisters, called Prue, Piper and Phoebe…"