Charmed
The New Power Of Three

Copyright 2006 Julien Gregg
All rights reserved.
No part of this story may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without written permission from the author. This story is almost all fiction. Almost all of the characters depicted in this story exist exclusively in the imagination of the author. Any resemblance to an actual person, living or dead, is, sometimes purely coincidental. This story is based on the television show, Charmed, and although the family name and a similar book of shadows appear in this story, there are no characters from the show in the story. They may be named, but they will never be portrayed.

Charmed is owned by Spelling Entertainment and Warner Brother's Television. Certain spell text borrowed from the television show. However, since no money is being made by this tale, I don't feel horrible about borrowing anything.

To read more of my stories go to my personal site.

From Chapter One:

"Ashes to ashes, dust to dust. Unwind this demon's evil lust. Enclose him in eternity's tight fist. Rid this evil from our midst!" They stood, clutching each other's hands as they watched Ash's body become consumed with flames.

Ash screamed, but he loosed the fireball, and before Damon could move, it struck him in the chest, knocking him to the floor and everything went black for him. Dean and Drake were screaming his name, but their voices were sounding further and further away. He was dying, and there was nothing he could do about it.

Dean swore under his breath, and Drake kept saying no over and over again. They both stopped in their tracks when what looked like illuminated blue glitter began to flicker in the air. It was sparse at first, but more and more of it began to join the dancing particles until they became a solid blue light. Then there was a brown haired man that they both knew standing there. His brown eyes looked worried, and then he saw Damon on the floor.

"Damon," he cried, rushing over to him and kneeling down. He rolled Damon onto his back, put his hands over the bloody wound in his chest, and suddenly there was a golden light. Dean and Drake watched in wonder as the wound grew smaller and smaller until it was gone completely, and Damon was coughing as Jason helped him sit up.

"Jason Neald," Damon said in wonder, and then he was pointing at his father.

Two
What Magic Is This?

They watched in awe as Jason healed Adam's wounded chest just the way he'd healed Damon. Adam unfroze as Jason healed him, and he jumped when he saw Jason squatting in front of him. He looked at Jason and tried to smile, but it looked more like a grimace. Drake and Dean were hovering over Damon, and Jason smiled at Adam.

"Nice to see you again, Mr. Jamison," he said, holding out his hand.

"I knew you were more than Damon's ski friend," Adam replied, shaking Jason's hand. "You white lighters wedge yourselves right into the lives of your charges, don't you?"

"We do until they're ready to know who we really are," confirmed Jason. "Drake and Dean know me, too. They just know me a little differently than Damon does."

"So you've been watching all three of them?" Adam asked as he tilted his head to look up at Jason as the white lighter stood.

"That's what I do, Adam," Jason said simply. "I'm their white lighter, and until they knew that they were the charmed ones, I couldn't tell them that. I had to watch over them in case Ash, or another demon, found them before they had their powers."

"But you were always so competitive and trying to beat me," argued Damon as he and his cousins came over to sit with Adam.

"It was a great cover, Damon," replied Jason. "You had no idea and didn't even suspect that I wasn't just another guy in the lodge. Didn't you ever wonder why my parents never came to see me compete?"

"Truthfully, I never really paid that much attention to the spectators," admitted Damon. "I was too focused on the slopes and winning."

"That's not a completely bad thing, Damon," laughed Jason. "You're supposed to be focused on your goals. You're a charmed one."

"But that doesn't define me," argued Damon. "I can't let everything in my life be ruled by the fact that I'm charmed."

"Yes, you can," replied Jason. "It has all your life, because you have been a charmed one all of your life. Just because you didn't have your powers didn't mean you weren't charmed. You were charmed the day you were born."

"But you were in Daytona," Dean mumbled. He was very confused. He'd known Jason as another dancer at the club. He wasn't one of the dancers picked to dance in the Saturday night productions, but he was usually there.

"I was in Daytona with you, Dean, and I was in Hawaii with Drake," he said. "That reminds me, Drake, aren't you supposed to call someone to tell him how you're doing?"

"Aaron," Drake said softly, hanging his head. "I don't know what to say to him now."

"Just tell him that you're doing fine, Drake," counseled Jason. "He needs to hear that. He's worried about you. You can figure out how to tell him that you're moving here later. He doesn't even need to know that you're a witch yet."

"But I'll have to tell him eventually," argued Drake. "What if he can't accept it? What if he tells someone?"

"Do you trust him?" Jason asked.

"Well, yes, but I've never had a secret this big before," Drake reasoned.

"That's true, but you have to decide if you can trust him with your secret," said Jason. "You have to decide where your relationship goes with him now. I can't decide that for you, and your cousins can't either."

"I know where I want our relationship to go, but it can't if he can't accept that we're witches and keep the secret safe," said Damon. "I need to figure out a way to find out if he can be trusted with the secret."

"Can we do that at home?" Dean asked. "Its not that I don't understand what you're going through, I'm just tired, and I'd like to eat."

"I can take you all back to the manor," said Jason. "I think it would be best if Adam joined us for now. Ash may be gone, but who knows what else is lurking. You're powers are new, and the underworld will see this as a time to destroy you."

"Its been a long time since I have been orbed," chuckled Adam.

"What do you say?" Jason asked the cousins.

"What do we have to do?" Drake asked.

"Just take my hand, and touch each other," explained Jason. "I'll do the rest."

The cousins joined hands with Damon taking Jason's hand while Adam took his other. They felt a strange sensation immediately. It was like being pulled along a tunnel, and then there was nothing but bright blue light. When it faded, they were in the sun room of Halliwell Manor. The trip had taken all of two seconds, but it was an experience none of them would ever forget. Drake was reminded again of fireflies in a wind storm.

"That's orbing?" Damon asked. "It was amazing!"

"I get the feeling that you'll all be needing me to orb you out of situations soon," chuckled Jason. "I've watched all three of you, and you're all so eager to help people all of the time. That's going to get you into trouble a lot."

"They're all going to start hunting them now, aren't they?" Adam asked Jason with a horrified look on his face and resignation in voice.

"The demons will come, yes," replied Jason. "I'm afraid there's no way around that. With their powers being so new to them, the underworld will strike out at them while they think they're vulnerable."

"But we aren't vulnerable," protested Dean. "We're charmed."

"You are vulnerable, Dean," argued Jason. "Until you learn to control and use your powers, how will you defend yourselves?"

The cousins were silent for a moment after that. They looked at each other and wondered exactly how they would master their new powers in time for the next battle. Damon still didn't know how to un-freeze time. He hadn't had time to even experiment when he'd frozen his father. Ash had attacked before he could. He wished that there was a safe way to practice; a way for all of them to practice.

"All right, listen," said Jason, startling all of them out of their worried thoughts. "You guys get something to eat and then some sleep. I'll go talk to the Elders, and then we'll set up a little practice for your charmed powers in a safe environment."

"Practice?" Damon asked, shocked that Jason brought up the very thing he'd been thinking about.

"Yeah," replied Jason with a smile. "I'm your white lighter. I should help you guys practice."

"What about your other charges?" Dean asked.

"That's what I need to talk to the Elders about," replied Jason. "Well, one thing. I need to have most of my other charges reassigned until you guys are ready to face anything."

"How many white lighters are there?" Drake asked.

"More than I can count or name, Drake," chuckled Jason. "Trust me, everyone will be covered while I concentrate on you three."

Those twirling specks of bright blue light surrounded Jason as soon as he finished speaking, and before any of them could say anymore, the rushing blue light drifted upward, dissipating as it climbed until the light and Jason were gone. The cousins sat looking at each other with opened mouths.

"That's not fair," breathed Damon. "He can't just say something and then orb out."

"I think we'll have to get used to that," sighed Dean. "I remember Gregory doing the same thing to my dad a lot. White lighters don't always think about what's fair."

"When do we get to meet Gregory?" Drake asked. "If he was our parents' white lighter, then why isn't he ours?"

"I don't know the answer to either of those questions," replied Dean. "I'm more interested in this practice that Jason was talking about."

"I still can't get over Jason being a white lighter," said Damon. "I would have never guessed that he was anything other than the arrogant ski opponent that he presented himself to be."

"I know him as a surfer," said Drake. "He was always very interested in my relationship with Aaron. I never knew why, but I guess I do now."

"It doesn't matter how we know him," argued Dean. "The fact is that he's our white lighter. I still don't really know much about what he's supposed to do for us, though."

"But you remember Gregory," said Drake. "Surely you remember what he did for our parents."

"I was a small child the last time I saw Gregory," replied Dean. "My memories from that time are spotty at best. I'm sure there is a reason why he isn't our white lighter, and Jason will no doubt explain everything to us when he comes back."

"I have to call Aaron," said Drake, excusing himself from the sun room.

Dean wondered exactly how Jason was going to teach them to use their powers. What kind of practice could they use to learn to control something they'd never used before. Sure, Damon had frozen Adam at the hotel, but as he'd said he didn't know how to reverse that. Drake had already had a premonition, and that seemed straight forward enough. All he had to do was touch something, it seemed.

One thing was proven, though. Drake's premonitions weren't completely accurate, and they could be changed. For one thing, Dean hadn't called lightning the way Drake had seen in his premonition. Ash didn't look like an ordinary man, either. It was comforting to know that Drake could act to change the outcome of a premonition, but Dean still wondered about using his powers. He couldn't think of any way to learn.

Dean and Damon sat down in the kitchen to eat the muffins they found in the refrigerator. Neither of them said much. They were both lost in thoughts of practicing and learning their powers. Damon was still wondering about what their grandfather had said about Drake's mother. What could it be that he could inherit from her that Donald would be worried about? If his mother wasn't a witch, then what powers could she have possessed?

"I don't know about you," said Dean, getting up from the table and pushing his chair in, "but I feel like I haven't slept in a year. I'm going to bed."

"I'm not far behind you," replied Damon. "I wonder what happened to Drake."

"He said he had to call Aaron," said Dean. "I guess he's still on the phone."

"He has to be hungry, though," insisted Damon. "Maybe I should take him a couple of muffins."

"Sounds like a good idea," agreed Dean. "I'll see you when I wake up again, if Jason doesn't wake us up first."

"Right," chuckled Drake.

He watched Dean walk out of the kitchen, and then he got a plate and put two muffins on it. He was amazed at how calm he felt. A demon had just tried to kill them, and they were all calm. It was strange. To even believe that any of it was real was strange enough. To watch a demon be engulfed in flames and then literally explode in front of him defied all reason. Still, his mind accepted all of it. He'd used his power, and he'd read the spell with his cousins that had vanquished the demon that had killed Halliwells before. It was amazing.

He found Drake asleep in his bed. The telephone was off the hook, and he still clutched the receiver in his hand. Damon took the phone from him and placed the plate of muffins on the nightstand beside the bed. He went to his own room and climbed into the bed that was now his. He was surprised when sleep took him immediately.
 

* * *
 

"Come on, Damon," said Jason, smiling down at his sleeping charge. "Wake up now."

"Jason?" Damon's sleepy voice asked. "Is that you? I dreamt I was . . ."

His eyes snapped open, and he looked around the room. Realization washed over him that it had been no dream. He was a witch, a charmed one. It had all happened. Jason Neald was a white lighter, though Damon still wasn't sure exactly what a white lighter really was. The important thing was that it was real.

"Welcome back," said Jason, smiling. "Ready to practice?"

"Can we just talk for a minute?" he asked, struggling to sit up in the bed.

"Sure," replied Jason, sitting down on the edge of the bed.

"Jason, how?"

"How did I become a white lighter?" Jason asked, and Damon nodded. "Well I was once a witch. I wasn't anywhere near as powerful as you or your cousins, but I was a good witch. I fought demons and warlocks just like you and your cousins. I was killed by a powerful demon, and the Elders decided that my good fight was far from over. They made me what I am now."

"What is a white lighter?"

"Well, we're guardians for good," replied Jason. "We guide good witches and help them fight evil. We're necessary to heal our injured witches and make sure that they know how to fight and when to use their magic. We also have the power to cover up certain things so that magic isn't exposed."

"So you're an angel?" Damon asked, trying to sort it all out in his mind.

"Something like that," replied Jason with a smile. "Angels are a bit higher up than white lighters, though. I guess you could call us angels in training."

"Angels in training," Damon muttered as he slid over to sit beside Jason. "What about everything in Alaska?"

"That was just a cover so that I'd be able to watch you without alerting you that I was watching," replied Jason. "I'm sorry for tricking you, Damon, but it really was necessary."

"So if I'd been hurt or something, you would have healed me?"

"That depends on how seriously you were hurt," informed Jason. "I wouldn't have broken my cover unless you discovered that you were a witch or something drastic happened."

"I guess I understand that," replied Damon. "Its just going to take a little while for me to wrap my head around this."

"That's completely understandable, Damon," said Jason. "I would be worried about all of you if you had just accepted all of this without questions."

"So Drake and Dean have questions, too?"

"I'm sure they do," replied Jason. "I haven't talked to either of them alone, yet. I came to you first."

"Why me?"

"Because your questions were burning in your heart a lot hotter than theirs," explained Jason. "I could almost hear your thoughts."

"You can read my mind?" Damon asked quickly.

"No," chuckled Jason. "I can sometimes be empathic, though. Especially with powerful charges. I have no charges more powerful than the charmed ones."

"I think I understand," Damon breathed after a moment of thought. "I'm ready for whatever you've got planned for us now."

Twenty minutes later, all three cousins were seated in the living room of the manor while Jason explained what he had in mind for their practice session. What he had done so far was have all of his other charges reassigned for the time being. Once that was accomplished, he'd convinced the Elders to allow the charmed ones use of a neutral place to test their powers.

"There will be other white lighters there," he explained. "Each of us will attack you . . ."

"Attack us?" Dean asked, getting to his feet. "What the Hell . . ."

"Relax, Dean," said Jason. "We can't hurt you. What we will be attacking you with are orb balls. They won't hurt you in any way. What you'll feel is a slight tingling sensation if one of the balls hits you."

"Orb balls?" Drake asked, leaning forward and looking at Jason hard. "What are orb balls?"

"This is an orb ball," Jason said, opening his hand as a ball of that blue glittery light formed in his hand. "I assure you this can't hurt you. You've allowed me to orb you once already, Dean. Did I hurt you then?"

"Well, no, but that was different," countered Dean. "You weren't throwing balls of light at us."

"Touch this, Dean," said Jason, holding out the ball of light toward him. "You'll see what effects it has if you just trust me."

Cautiously, Dean reached out his hand and carefully touched the ball of blue light. Instantly his entire body began to thrum and tingle beginning with his arm and traveling all through his body. At the same time a sense of comfort and warmth flooded him. He felt as if everything was right in the world.

"That's amazing," he breathed as he pulled his hand away from Jason.

"You see?" Jason asked, extinguishing the ball of light. "I'm your white lighter, Dean. You have to trust me, first of all."

"We trust you," said Damon, who until that moment had silently watched them and listened. "When do we start this training thing?"

"When you are ready," replied Jason. When all three of them nodded and stood, taking each other's hands, he reached out and took Damon's hand and orbed them to the training ground.

When they materialized again, Drake was the first to notice the strangeness of the place they'd orbed to. There was nothing. The place was completely barren. They stood on bare dirt, and as far as they could see there was nothing and no one. They turned to Jason and looked at him with questions in their eyes.

"I told you that I was taking you to a neutral place to train," Jason said as they all spread out. "This is it."

"But, Jason, there's nothing here," argued Dean. "How can we . . ."

"Jason," said a voice as the twirling blue light converged on a spot not three feet from them and a blond haired man materialized. "You've brought them. Good."

"Steven," said Jason, smiling. "The others?"

"We're here," said another voice from behind them, and they turned to find three more white lighters. Two dark haired men and an older woman.

"Giselle," said Jason in a shocked voice. "I wasn't aware that an Elder would be joining us today."

"These are the charmed ones, Jason," said the woman they now knew as Giselle. "Mistakes were made with the handling the charmed ones of the past. We won't make those mistakes this time around."

She waived her hand and the scene of nothing before them changed into a dark alley with the sounds of a city. There were burned out cars and barrels littered throughout the alley. Neon signs announced businesses on either side of them. The cousins turned in circles, taking in their changed surroundings.

"What is this?" Damon breathed.

"The training place," replied Giselle. "We'll begin now."

"What? How?" Dean asked, but Giselle fired an orb ball at him that he barely had time to duck.

He hid behind one of the cars. His cousins hid as well. Balls of blue light were flying from every different direction. Every time he tried to look over the edge of the car another ball of light would nearly hit him. He knew that they wouldn't hurt him, but that didn't mean he wanted to let them hit him every time they threw one. Instead he concentrated very hard. He wanted to try to magically deflect one, but there were far too many of them. He needed a decoy.

As soon as the thought formed in his head, he began to feel lightheaded. His chin dropped on his chest and then he was standing behind Giselle. He could see the top of his own head behind the car that he'd just left, and at first he was confused. Then it hit him. He'd astral projected. Raising his right hand, he waived it at the next ball of light that Giselle threw as she spun around to confront him. He sent it sailing away from him, hitting her in the chest with it. The fact that it had worked startled him so much that the next thing he knew, he was sitting behind the car again.

He stood up without thinking as another ball of light arched toward him. Waiving his hand again, he sent that ball of light back to the white lighter who sent it. Then he raised both hands and lightning shot from them out toward the very same white lighter who orbed out of the way just in time.

Damon was squared off against Steven, the white lighter who had first appeared after they'd arrived. Steven formed a ball of light in his left hand and Damon put up both hands and froze him in place. He whirled around and froze another of the white lighters before he seemed to completely disappear. All he'd done was wish he wasn't so visible, and then he wasn't. He ran from where he'd been standing and reappeared beside Dean.

"Awesome power!" Dean cried as he telekinetically shot an orb ball back toward Steven, who'd shot one at him as he un-froze.

"I like yours better," replied Damon as he froze Steven again.

The both stopped in their tracks, letting several orb balls bounce off of them as they watched Drake bring his right hand to his mouth and blow out a huge gust of icy air toward Giselle and Jason. Then he twirled around in a half circle and disappeared. Confusion gripped Dean and Damon as they watched. When Drake reappeared, he was beside them. Before either of them could react, a strange ball of bright white light formed in his left hand. He tossed it at Jason, and Damon instantly froze it. Everyone stopped.

"What did you do?" Giselle demanded as Jason and Steven came to stand beside her. All three of them looked terrified.

"I . . . I don't know," stammered Drake, turning to look at his confused cousins. "I just thought about how cool it would be to be able to throw an orb ball back at you, and then I did."

"That's not an orb ball, Drake," said Jason. "That's an energy ball!"

"What is an energy ball?" Dean asked as he and Damon exchanged confused looks.

"Energy balls are an upper level demonic power," informed Giselle. "Before you threw the energy ball, you shimmered. That is also an upper level demonic power."

"I did what?" Drake asked. A worried look crossed his face as the white lighters glared at him.

"How is that possible?" Jason asked, turning to the Elder. "He's a charmed one. He can't be a demon."

"I'm not a demon," Drake gasped, looking at his cousins for help. Both of them regarded him suspiciously. They didn't know what to think.

"You used upper level demonic powers, Drake," said Jason. "How?"

"I don't know," replied Drake. "I didn't do it on purpose!"

First Steven and the others orbed out of the training ground and then Giselle orbed out. She told Jason to take the cousins home before he came to discuss this matter before she went. Jason just stood there and stared at Drake. How can he be evil and still be a charmed one? he wondered as he looked at the innocent face in front of him.

"Come on," he said, taking Dean's hand. "I have to get you back to the manor."

They were all stunned when Drake shimmered out, ignoring Damon's hand when he offered it. Jason looked at Dean and Drake and shook his head. He'd deal with Drake when he got the others to the manor. What scared him was the possibility that Drake really was a demon. How else would he possess upper level demonic powers?

Coming up . . . .

Will Drake's powers prove that he is really evil? Can Dean deal with the suspicion that his youngest cousin is part demon? The answers are coming. Look for Chapter Three: Darkness And Light. Coming Soon!