An elderly Asian man shuffled out from behind the paper screen. He moved slowly, and his wrinkled skin looked as thin as paper, but his posture was still straight and his movements seemed to be backed up by a hidden strength that belied his elderly appearance. With a knowing smile on his face he reached into a pocket inside the brown corduroy coat he sported. "Of course. But first, I must ask, who are these women who accompany you? I sense great power. But is this a power I can trust?"
"We're Halliwells," answered Prue matter-of-factly, hoping that would be answer enough.
He met Prue's eyes with a disturbingly piercing gaze. "That is no guarantee of good intentions. To be sure, most of your family are forces of good, but good can be corrupted. As a young man I knew another of the Warren line." His gaze now fell on to Phoebe and she felt a shiver go up her spine at his appraisal. "You should know best, yes? Of course, the last time I sold anything to you, you went by Pearl. Tell me, do you still sell your potions to any mortal with a few pennies to spare?"
Phoebe cringed a little at this. "That was a past life. I've grown – promise!" she reassured him with an uncomfortable smile.
Penny raised her eyebrows at his familiarity with her Aunt. ‘I guess the stories about her really weren't exaggerated, if he recognizes her soul even now,’ she thought, but quickly came to her granddaughter's defense. "They're the Charmed Ones, Quan."
This seemed to be all she needed to say, as Mr. Quan's manner immediately eased. He regarded Phoebe again, this time a twinkle in his eye. "Ah, how things change. I see you must have paid your karmic balance to receive such a great power... and responsibility. Your cousins, or sisters now I see, did you a great service releasing you from that life." He regarded all three before adding, "In which case, you are all welcome here." He bowed his head slightly.
"Thank you," replied Piper simply, suddenly reminded of the wise old master with whom she had once switched bodies.
Mr. Quan finally withdrew his hand from his coat, which held a slim leather case. He unclasped it's three buttons slowly as the three sisters unconsciously leaned forward just a bit to get a look at what mysterious object he was offering Penny for such a powerful potion; hoping it would be the totem. His slim fingers grasped something inside the case and withdrew a set of what looked to be yellow rectangular papers. With a fluid motion he pulled a pen from where it was perched on his ear and looked at Penny.
"Is it alright if I post-date this for next week? I'm waiting on a payment from a gypsy healer in town that I supply." It was a checkbook.
"Of course. But just remember it's Halliwell with an ‘I’, not ‘Y’, this time," she replied. Mr. Quan nodded and began scribbling.
Phoebe slumped down as she saw what the paper was and leaned over and whispered to her sisters. "Was anyone else expecting something... I dunno..."
"Exotic?" answered Prue with a smirk. "Yeah, I kinda was." Piper gave them both a tilt of the head that said she had been thinking the same.
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As Penny and Mr. Quan haggled over prices for her magical services, the Charmed Ones wandered about the store, eyes drifting across a wide variety of exotic goods, in hopes of a sign. Some items they recognized as magical reagents, others like a figurine of a what looked to Phoebe like a chicken doing the Macerana, were simply baffling.
As Penny wrapped up her business the women were visibly disappointed that this didn't seem to be the stop they needed to make to find the Ninsun totem. After confirming that the items on display were the only wares he had the four women stepped outside the store.
Turning her eyes from the sidewalk to her family as they walked, Piper questioned Penny. "Are you sure there aren't any other magic-related errands for today, Grams? Like, a coven meeting or something...?"
Penny shook her head. "I'm afraid not, Piper."
Piper sighed. "I just don't get it. Unless someone is just going to come up and hand it to us-" she began but was suddenly knocked to the ground as she ran into someone on the street. The other person was also knocked to the pavement.
"Ow," remarked Piper matter-of-factly. She was so used to be knocked around by now a small fall hardly phased her any more. "Sorry, I wasn't watch-" the other person began before meeting Piper's eyes, and the apologetic tone immediately flattened. "Oh. It’s you people again," said teenaged Paige curtly. She quickly began gathering the indie rock magazines scattered across the alleyway back into the paper bag she was carrying.
"Yeah. I hope you didn't break my geriatric old hip," shot back Piper sarcastically, but still began to help Paige gather up the belongings sprawled across the pavement, despite herself.
Paige waved Piper off. "I'm fine lady, don't worry about it. I got it," she said. As she quickly reached out to take the magazine that Piper had picked up, Paige's sleeve shrugged up, revealing a simple charm bracelet. A teardrop shaped stone bearing a red symbol dangled from it. As Piper's eyes locked on to the trinket, Paige tugged at the magazine in Piper's hand. The motion knocked loose the hidden prize inside its pages - a pack of cigarettes – and sent them skidding across the ground.
"Shit!" exclaimed Paige and she scrambled to grab the cigarettes before the odd adults saw them.
"Where did you get that!" exclaimed Piper.
"None of your business," replied Paige hotly. Internally, she winced. Her parents were gonna kill her if they found out she was smoking.
"Can I just have a closer look at it?" asked Piper, which got her sisters and Pennys attention.
Paige gave her a strange look. "They're just some off brand... If you want to bum a smoke, why didn't you just say so?" 'Maybe I'm in the clear if I play this right,' thought Paige.
"You smoked, Paige?!" exclaimed Phoebe. "Why didn't you ever mention it?"
"Uhh, maybe 'cause I don't know you?" she replied sarcastically. "Hell, I don't even remember seeing you around school!"
"Maybe if you attended a little more often you would," covered Prue deftly, before giving Phoebe a wide-eyed look that practically shouted 'Get it together!'
Piper, meanwhile, gave Paige a strange look back before realization dawned on her face. "Oh! No, no, no... not the cigarettes,” she said before a little disapproval seeping into her voice. “I think I know where you got those. I meant the bracelet. Can I see it?"
Paige's natural feisty rebelliousness was tempered by the strange behavior of the women, so she capitulated quickly. "Huh? Oh, yeah, sure, I guess..." She lifted her wrist and pulled back the sleeve to show Piper the charm bracelet.
All four women surrounded the teenager, eying what she thought was simple jewelry. "Look at that!" said Phoebe.
"The symbol," said Prue simply and the others nodded. Indeed, around the young Paige's wrist dangled a grape sized piece of polished stone, inscribed with the very same Sanskrit symbol that they had seen in the Book of Shadows in the entry about Ninsun's Tear.
"What?" asked Paige, wary of the attention suddenly garnered on her wrist. She quickly shoved her hands in her coat pocket, hiding the bracelet. "Look, you got to see it, okay? I don’t know what kind of crazy New Agey crap you guys are into, or what ‘signs’ or ‘omens’ you think you’re looking for, and I don’t care. I've got places to be," she finished stuffing her purchases into the paper bag, eager to be on her way.
"Seriously, where did you get that?" insisted Piper.
"Nowhere, okay! Geez, what are you? My parents?" Paige protested, trying to step around the women, but they quickly formed into a human wall, blocking her path out of the narrow alleyway. She huffed and spun on her heel, determined to go somewhere away from these crazies.
"Hold on this instant!" commanded Penny in the kind of voice Phoebe, Piper, and Prue had been all too familiar with as teenagers. Paige's stride was broken for just a moment before she took off again.
"Answer our question or we'll tell your parents about you skipping school," threatened Piper loudly. "We know the Matthews, your parents, quite well," she lied.
Paige froze in her tracks and her shoulders dropped. "Damn." She turned around and crossed her arms. "I bought it at that shop you just came out of, okay?"
Grams shook her head sharply. "She’s lying. There's no way Quan would have sold that to a teenager," Penny remarked quietly to her granddaughters. "Mortals can't even open the door to the shop, and she doesn't look like any demon or witch I've ever see-"
"She's our sister, Grams," interrupted Piper, softly, hoping Grams wouldn’t flip.
Penny's eyes widened. "You don't mean...she's Sam and Patty's little girl?"
Prue and Piper nodded and Phoebe smirked. "She's got the Halliwell spitfire spirit, huh?"
Grams nodded, considering the girl standing defiantly before her. "Just tell me she's settled down in the future, like you girls!"
"No worries, Grams. She’s got a great head on her shoulders in the future," replied Prue. She had only known Paige for about two days, but it already felt like she’d always had her as a sister. It had surprised her that rather than having to make room in her heart for the woman, it felt like the space had always been there, waiting to be filled. Now that she was faced with this teen version she was both surprised, and yet not, by the girl’s attitude. She certainly was a Warren. And probably would have driven her absolutely nuts if they’d have grown up together. Prue smiled inwardly at the thought.
The teenaged Paige waved a hand at the strange women. "Uh, hello? Are we gonna finish this third degree or can I just go and let you mutter amongst yourselves?"
"Yeah, yeah, yeah!" replied Piper, her voice grumbling in annoyance. "We're getting there. So you said you bought it from the shop here. Why?"
“Quan doesn’t sell to just anyone. How did you get him to do business with you?” asked Penny.
Paige shifted uncomfortably. She didn't know what it was about these women but she got some kinda vibe. 'And mostly they're as annoying as my family at the moment...' She sighed moodily and crossed her arms, knowing she wasn’t going to be able to talk her way out of this. They seemed to know the old Chinese guy. "Look – I stole it, okay? It was no big thing... I can give it back and you can go and humiliate me in front of the owner if you want. I've been through worse!"
Phoebe smiled shrewdly, thinking back to how she would have reacted at that age. "Well, yeah... We could do that. Or, you could just hand it over to us."
Paige narrowed her eyes defiantly. "What is this, a hold up now?"
"More like an intervention," answered Phoebe. "Trust me, you'll thank us in the end. And since we just happened to have been looking for that item today, you can think of it as a good deed."
"And if I don't?" asked Paige, mostly as a bluff. She didn't like being pushed around. Especially by adults.
"Well," said Piper slyly, "like I said, we can always tell your parents about your ditching school. And the cigarettes, too..." She raised an eyebrow. "So. What’s it gonna be?"
Paige huffed a final teenaged bit of attitude before giving in. "Aaallright. Here, take it!" she slipped the charm bracelet off her wrist and flung it at Piper who caught it deftly.
"Thanks. And uh, Paige, can I ask you a question?"
Paige shrugged. "Now you ask for permission?"
"Right. Well, I was just wondering… what was it that made you steal this, anyway?" Piper asked with genuine curiosity.
Paige avoided eye contact with the woman who was now asking a kind of personal question. Like she knew her. This caught Paige off guard and the wall she kept up with most adults was partially down.
"Well, uh, to be honest?" she shrugged, staring at her boots, "I don't really know. It was weird... I just went into the place cause it reminded me of that shop, y'know... in that movie, 'Gremlins?' I saw that old Chinese guy go in and I thought it'd be somethin' to do. Mostly, it was boring, and kinda weird, but that stone..." she shrugged again. "I dunno... it was like..." she trailed off, thinking to herself. ‘They'll think I'm crazy.’
"Go ahead," encouraged Phoebe gently.
"Nah... it's stupid. You'll just think I'm making it up."
"You'd be surprised what adults will believe if you just let them listen," replied Phoebe. "I know I was when I was your age."
Still uncomfortable, Paige finally let the words tumble quickly from her mouth. "Ok, well... I dunno, I just, it was like something drew me to it. Like, almost like there was a voice? Or something? But I didn't have the money and it was like I was supposed to have it – not that I really hear voices or anything, but yeah, so I, y'know... took my five finger discount!" she laughed nervously. "But it's the first thing I've ever stolen - you believe me right? I'm not a bad kid… I just, there's things..."
Phoebe waved her off. "No need to explain. I think we got the answer we needed," she smiled at Paige warmly.
Paige looked at the four women for a moment. "Can I just ask you guys something now?"
Phoebe shrugged. "Can't see why not. Shoot."
Paige tilted her head and narrowed her eyes suspiciously. "How do you really know my name?"
"We told you," began Piper.
"We work at your school!" finished Phoebe with a mischievous smirk.
Paige just game them a strange look. "Uh, so I guess I'll just see you around..."
"Sure!" said Phoebe. As the teenaged Paige shrugged and turned around and quickly beat a path out of there, Prue nudged Grams. "Should we erase her memory?"
Grams shook her head. "No, I don't think so. You didn't reveal anything. I would be surprised if she remembers this at all after some time. And if what you, and me-"
"You and I," corrected Phoebe playfully.
Penny gave her a smug look. "Glad to see you finally started listening to your lessons."
"Well, as it turns out, I did become a writer," she replied with a shrug and a smirk.
"Oh! Who knew?” laughed Penny. “But as I was saying, if the other me, oh and you girls of course, think that this was all pre-destined then I see no need to erase her memory. Besides, time is of the essence - we should get you home!" finished Penny.
“Not before we find out where this dude picked that thing up,” replied Piper.
Penny nodded. “Good point.”
Prue elbowed Piper in the ribs. “Hey, H.G. Wells - I think you might just have this thinking outside the timeline thing down, Piper. Maybe you can start fighting evil Quantum Leap style!”
Piper groaned. “Oh, God no! Let’s just talk to Quan...” Everyone else laughed as they stepped back into the shop.
When they had inquired where he had gotten the Ninsun totem, he simply smiled at the witches mysteriously, telling them that he had been sworn to secrecy as to its origins by the previous owner, not to be sold to anyone under any circumstances, and had been paid handsomely for that service by way of a powerfully blessed ward for his shop. With a little prodding, he had admitted that he knew it had been stolen, but that the person who had given it to him had simply told him that he should put it on display at the beginning of this year, and the person meant to have it would take it on their own. As they exited Prue noticed that the small bell above his door contained a small silver triquetra instead of the usual suspended ball. She smiled wryly to herself.
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The group was soon back at the manor after this, where the Halliwell women gathered back up in the attic, safely hidden from 1993's set of sisters, should they come home unexpectedly. As Prue lit up a circle of candles and Piper and Phoebe discussed a spell to return them to 1983, Grams regarded the future versions of her girls. 'They really are the Charmed Ones...' She smiled inwardly, reassured that she had indeed done a good job raising these girls alone.
When the preparations were done the girls gathered around Penny and she hugged all three at once. "You all hold yourselves with such grace...your mother must be so proud of you," she said, softly adding, "Even more proud of you than she already is now."
As the group hug broke up Prue met Grams' eyes. "You talk to her in this time?"
Penny smiled. "Oh! Well, of course dear! Not often, but when I want her input on how she wishes you girls be raised she always gets a summon. And, believe it or not, some of the more creative punishments came from Patty herself," she finished with a laugh.
"Tell her we miss her," replied Prue.
"And love her," added Phoebe.
"She knows, my dears. She always has," reassured Grams. "Now, get back to saving the world, hm?"
“We will. Take care, Grams,” replied Piper.
The sisters gathered in the circle of candles and began to recite the spell.
“Future's past we have seen,
Task fulfilled, so transport we,
Back to where we should be,
In the year Nineteen Eighty-Three.”
The three sisters were quickly swept away by a swirl of white smoke, leaving Penny alone in the attic. She sighed wistfully and dabbed at her watery eyes, before she set the book on a nearby table and opened it to a blank page. The remaining evening passed quickly as she added the entry for Ninsun's Tear and cross referenced a few astrological charts to mark the date in page margins.
The soft glow of a bright full moon shown through the attic window by the time she finished the entry and finally sat down to make short work of creating a memory spell. Penny found she’d finished not a second too soon, as the final strokes of her pen were interrupted by the sound of bickering voices floating up through the pipes from downstairs.
Penny sighed. 'At least I got to know for one afternoon that this sibling rivalry will eventually end!' she thought before reciting the spell in her hand. She then burned the piece of paper the spell was written on and as the paper curled into black carbon the memory became hazy. The memories quickly crumbled into nothingness, just as the ashes of the paper did, and Penny found herself suddenly confused.
'What was I doing up here?' she thought. Another shout rang from downstairs and she heard the kitchen's back door slam shut. Penny sighed. 'Will they ever get past this?' she wondered to herself as she blew out the candle. Somehow, the swirling dance of the smoke from the extinguished candle seemed to tickle at her memories - something she just couldn't put her finger on. Something at the tip of her brain, as Allen used to say.
She shook her head and decided to let the thought drop. 'If it’s important I'll remember it eventually,' she concluded as she closed the attic door behind her, and recited a spell under her breath to seal it magically. Even as she raised her voice to intervene between her granddaughters, somehow, the bickering didn't worry her as much as it typically did.