Title: In Her Wildest Dream
By: Bridget McKennitt
Disclaimer: Charmed and company are owned by Aaron Spelling and other companies. They are used here without permission, and for entertainment purposes only. No challenge or infringement upon the copyright is intended, nor should any be inferred.
Summary: Phoebe is trapped in an endless dream with only her mind powers to save her.

"Ugh, I need a coffee infusion majorly," Phoebe muttered as she stumbled into the kitchen. Her hair was pulled back into a messy ponytail and there were dark circles under her eyes.

Paige poured her sister a cup of hot coffee and handed it to her. "Looks like you had a rough night," she commented.

Phoebe accepted the cup and took a gulp. The hot liquid was just what she needed. She took another gulp before answering. "Had a nightmare of some sorts. Funny thing is, I don't even remember what it was about."

"That's like, what, your third one this week?"

"Fourth."

"Exactly. Phoebe, your nightmares have got to stop. You're barely functioning as it is, and you can't get fired from your job." Paige grinned. "Only one sister is allowed to be unemployed and that's me."

That brought a smile to Phoebe's face. "I promise I won't get fired from work."

"Well, good. Maybe I can whip up a spell that'll help keep your nightmares at bay."

"Thanks for the thought, but I've already tried that. It didn't work." She leaned her head on her arms that rested on the table. "In fact, I think it made my nightmares much worse."

Paige grew concerned and hugged Phoebe. "Maybe there's something in the Book of Shadows that can help. A potion of some kind. Want me to check?"

"If you want." She glanced at the clock and jerked. "I'm gonna be late for work! Thanks for the coffee, Paige, and I'll see you tonight."

Night came quickly that day as Phoebe returned home from the Bay Mirror. She had tried to make herself presentable with lots of make up so Elise wouldn't notice the state she was in.

Though, Phoebe smiled ruefully, Elise would not have noticed anyway. She had worn some pretty bizarre outfits as an experiment to see what would her boss say about them. Nothing, as usual.

Phoebe got as far as the living room when Paige came downstairs with a potion in hand. "I think I've got it, Pheebs. Drink this right before you fall asleep and it should keep your nightmares away."

She took the potion and smiled. "Thanks, Paige. I'll be sure to do so." She stifled a yawn. "Right now seems to be a good time." Phoebe waved to her sister as she ran upstairs.

After taking a bubble bath, Phoebe sat on her bed and stared at the potion Paige gave her. It was sweet of her to try and help her with her sleeping problem. "Because if I don't get enough sleep, then I'm no good to anyone."

Taking in a deep breath, she drank the potion. The effect made her immediately drowsy and her head fell on her pillow, eyes shut before it hit. Her last thought before she went under was that Paige's potion worked.

Or did it? Phoebe gazed at her surroundings. She stood on what seemed to be the ruins of a structure. A stone structure, nothing modern. An arch in the distance caught her eye, the only thing left standing, and her legs started to move towards it.

Before she could complete her first step, a bolt slammed into the ground a few feet away from her. Then another, this time much closer. That was all it took for Phoebe to start running away from the direction the bolts were coming, which happened to be by the arch. She dove behind a boulder and took in a shaky breath.

The bolts had stopped and Phoebe peered over the boulder. Everything looked safe, but she wasn't willing to take the chance. "Someone or something doesn't want me near that arch," she muttered. Not that it mattered. Her first priority was to get back home.

Phoebe was a witch with natural affinity with creating spells. After years in the craft, she no longer depended on the Book of Shadows for help as heavily as she needed to before. So it took only a few minutes for her to come up with a spell.

"Hear my words, a witch out of place. Return what has been moved, through time and space." For a moment, Phoebe thought her spell had worked. Silver lights sparkled around her, but it soon died away. "What happened?"

"Your spells won't work here."

She turned around and saw a young boy standing there. He had large brown eyes with tousled hair of the same color. His clothes could only be considered at best rags. Phoebe's heart immediately softened towards the child.

"Hello. How do you know that?"

"Come with me." The boy motioned with his hand and ran, expecting Phoebe to follow him. She did. If he had the answers she needed, what else could she do?

They traveled across the stone temple, she figured this was what the structure was because it reminded her of Mayan temples, until they came upon a small building with a collapsed roof.

A lithe woman around the same age as Phoebe walked out of the building with a relieved look on her face. "Eadar, where have you been? We thought you had fallen off the cliff or worse." She noticed Phoebe at that moment. "Ah, I see. You must be new. I'm Emma Royston. I bet you're full of questions right now, so please enter and I will try to explain as much as we know." Her accent was thick but soothing to the ears.

She nodded and entered the building with Emma. Within she found at least ten other people huddling near each other. Their clothes were dirty and poor, just as Emma's and the boy's clothes were. When she appeared, all eyes focused on her. The attention made her slightly uncomfortable, so she leaned against the wall.

"I'm Phoebe Halliwell," she said to break the silence.

"Greetings, Phoebe. As you know, I am Emma. This," she motioned to the young boy. "Is Eadar. He has been here the longest. We are all trapped here in a dreamscape, a sort of astral plane. The world you see is an illusion. We don't eat, we don't drink, we do not even need sleep. As far as we can tell, the way out is through that arch. But in the time any of us has been here, we could not find a way to even get close."

"But why are we here? Is everyone witches?"

"We all have one thing in common, Phoebe. We're all psychics one way or another. Some of us are witches, as you and I, but some are not. We just possess abilities to harness psychic energy."

A scream broke through the air making Phoebe turn her head towards the sound. She saw a man crumple down. Then his body disappeared. Phoebe braced herself against the wall. "What the hell happened?"

Tears filled Emma's green eyes. "We are in a dreamscape, as I have said. That means our real bodies are asleep as if we were in comas. It seems that someone has pulled Richard's plug. When our real bodies die, we die in here. Vice versa."

"How do you know that?" she demanded. "He could have woken up."

Emma shook her head. "There was once a far seer here who Saw what truly happened. She told us that when we fade, we have died. Then her plug was pulled."

"My sisters," Phoebe faltered. "My sisters are witches as well and they'll find a way to wake me up."

"They won't," Eadar piped up. "No one has ever woken up, and no one has ever left this world alive. We are trapped."

Trapped.

The word brought chills down Phoebe's spine.

Phoebe swung her legs over the edge of the plateau that the ruined temple was on and sighed. Every time she tried her spell to wake up, it failed. Emma was sympathetic, but assumed that Phoebe would give up hope. The rest of the innocents all ready had and Emma blocked it out of her mind. Well, there were times in her life that Phoebe had given up hope, before and after becoming a witch. Yet she could recall many situations where she had to remain strong and not give up. She considered this one of those times.

"Hey, Phoebe," Emma called out as she sat next to the brooding witch. "Penny for your thoughts?"

She smiled. "I think my thoughts are more than a penny at this point. I've been thinking of ways to try and get us out of here."

"I did that for months when I first got here. I'm still here. Perhaps we can the time more quickly if we talk to each other about our pasts." Emma tucked back a strand of auburn hair to keep it out of her face. "I'm from Canterbury, England. I grew up in a small village with my mum and brother. She was the witch in our family, and Ron and I inherited her gifts.

"I remember growing up with laughter and fresh baked cookies. Mum was a great cook. She died a couple of years ago in her sleep. My brother married and I have a handsome nephew." She smiled wistfully. "I'm his older spinster sister. I live with him and his wife and child in their home. Love never agreed with me, you know. Then it happened.

"I was knitting for my nephew when I fell asleep and ended up here. I can't help but feel guilty that my family found my comatose body. They must have hooked me up to a machine in the hospital, you know. But my brother and his wife are not rich by any means, and I know they'll pull the plug someday. And who can blame them?"

Phoebe reached over and patted Emma's hand. "You'll get back to them. I swear it."

"So what about you, Phoebe? Where are your loved ones?"

"In San Francisco. I have two sisters and we live in a manor that our Grams willed to us. Together we're known as the Charmed Ones." The words spilled from her lips as she told her story. The death of Prue, the love of her life, Paige, her descent as the Queen of All Evil, her fears, Cole, her job, Cole, innocents. "Paige thinks that I have stopped caring about saving innocents. I see it in her eyes that I've disappointed her. She even scolds me about Cole." Phoebe laughed bitterly. "I guess it's okay for my sisters to fear him, but when I fear him, it's wrong. She expects me to stop being a bitch and walk a mile in his shoes. But it's hard when--"

"When you can't even handle walking in your own shoes. Phoebe, do you love this man?"

"With all my heart," she answered truthfully.

"And you fear him?"

"Not him so much as what he has brought to me. Pain and suffering. I'm sure he never meant any of it, but that's like saying fire is sorry that it burns."

"Maybe, if I ever get my life balance again. I want, no, I need balance."

"Ah, I'm getting a much clearer picture. You are striving to find the balance amid the chaos of your love life, your hectic work schedule, and your duty to witchcraft, Charmed Ones, and saving innocents. Because of this, your sister Paige thinks you don't care."

She nodded. "It doesn't excuse any of it, but I have been trying to be good."

Emma slung an arm around Phoebe's shoulder and hugged her. "Think of it this way. You're trying to free us from this astral plane. I consider that very good." She stood up and headed back to the building, leaving Phoebe once more to her thoughts.

Did her powers work on this astral plane? Obviously not spells, or else she would not be trapped. Phoebe recalled an incident years ago when she and Prue were trapped in the Ice Cream Man's truck. Prue could not use her power but Phoebe was able to receive a premonition. Could that also apply to this situation?

Phoebe extended her arms in the air and closed her eyes. If it was true that they were trapped on an astral plane, then she would be surrounded by psychic energy. All she needed to do was tap into it.

She reached out with her senses and yanked on the tendrils with her mental fingers. She gasped and felt herself being pulled into a vision. Bolts were flying from the arch's direction. Eadar was trying to get past the bolts but the bolts came faster and faster until he had to pull back. The look on his face was almost evil. The vision ended.

Phoebe frowned, puzzled. Her premonition was intense, but she had no clue what it meant. Did the key to getting out of the astral plane lay with Eadar? Yet the feelings she got from the vision was sinister. She had to find out what it meant.

A simple touch of Eadar was all she needed. But before she made any move to stand, a strong wind (where did it come from?) pushed her over the edge. Phoebe tried to reach for something to hold on to, but there was nothing. She dropped a few feet before her levitating power kicked in.

That was close. Phoebe looked down and gulped. The drop was enough to break every bone in her body. She ran her hands over the ridges on the side of the cliff wall, but there was none deep enough for to climb up on.

"Damn it," she whispered to herself. She couldn't levitate forever. Once weariness set in, she would fall and die. She floated closer to the cliff wall, still running her hands over it.

Without knowing it, she began to glow with a silvery aura. Her aura grew brighter and brighter until the aura encompassed the side of the cliff. Rock spikes shot out, making a ladder all the way to the top. Phoebe grabbed onto the closest spike to her and pulled herself up. The spikes held and she was soon crawling back onto level ground.

She laid on her back as she tried to catch her breath. What the hell had happened?

"Emma!" The witch glanced up to see Phoebe heading towards her. Her shirt was ripped in several places and her hair was disheveled.

"Phoebe, what happened?"

"I fell off the cliff." She held up her hand at Emma's astonished face to ward off questions. "There's more to it than that. I found out that my own individual powers work here and that's not all." She quickly explained about her premonition, her levitation, and the silver aura that saved her life. "It's just a hunch, but I think that we can influence this place."

Phoebe closed her eyes and concentrated on her clothing. She pictured her favorite clubbing outfit; red spaghetti strap top, black pants, and high laced boots. A silvery aura surrounded her, and when it faded, she was wearing that outfit. "What do you think?"

"That was bloody brilliant! But how can we use that to our advantage? Changing clothes and cliff sides won't help us any."

"This place, a dreamscape or astral plane, whatever you want to call it, is filled with psychic energies. Energies we can control to our advantage. You try."

Emma stared up into the pink sky. The sky had remained pink since she had arrived months ago. She missed the blue sky, even the murky gray of London's skies when she visited the city. She lifted her hand and called upon the magic within. Blue. Blue. A bluish aura radiated from Emma and covered the open space above her. When the aura retreated, her precious skies were returned.

"Power of the mind," whispered Emma. "We must tell the others. We can finally wake up!"

Before Emma could hurry back to the shelter, Phoebe laid a hand on her arm. "We cannot tell them."

"Why not?"

"The vision I received of Eadar, it makes me suspicious of the role he plays in this."

"He is just a little boy, Phoebe. How could he have any role but innocent?"

"Who knows? But I had that premonition for a reason, and I need to follow up on it. So until I know for certain, we can't let what we know slip." The two stood for a moment as sister witches about to head into battle. Their cause was great and the risk was high. Emma would not tell a soul until Phoebe's mystery was solved.

But one thing bothered Phoebe. Why was it that only psychics in any way, shape, or form, were trapped in the dreamscape? Was there a reason behind it? Could a demon have a hand in this? Then if so, why wait so long to *do* something? Emma had been trapped for months and there were more who had been trapped longer. Demons weren't known for their patience.

"Phoebe, perhaps you should change your clothing. Some might wonder where you got them from."

She nodded and quickly changed her clothes back to what she was wearing before, minus the rips she got from falling off the cliff.

Time had no meaning in the dreamscape. The sky remained a lit blue whether it was night or day. Phoebe did not know how much time had already passed from when she had fallen asleep till now. It didn't matter really. Her duty was to the innocents.

The two witches practiced influencing the astral plane every chance they got. They had to work small though, else the others would notice. Emma seemed to trust them, but Phoebe wasn't so sure. They stayed within the shelter and pitied themselves. Eadar was the only one besides them who left the shelter. He was the one that Phoebe could not fully trust. Eadar maybe a little boy, but looks were always deceiving. Fighting the demonic children who escaped the Ice Cream Truck came to mind.

"I think we're as good as we'll ever get," Phoebe announced. "Want to go over the plan again?"

"That would be prudent. We shall send Eadar to collect stones far from the arch as a distraction. As soon as he leaves, we round up the rest of the innocents and take them to the arch."

"The arch will start shooting bolts as soon as we near it, and when it does, we nudge them to a new direction or transform them to something else less dangerous. Then I'll say my spell and hopefully that will send us to our respective bodies and homes." Phoebe grinned. "Let's do this."

They hurried back to the building and saw Eadar waiting in the doorway with his arms crossed and a surly face. "Where have you been, Emma? There was no one here to watch everyone. What if someone died? Then everyone would have panicked and they do not listen to me."

"I'm sorry, Eadar, but Phoebe was telling me that she might have devised a potion to get us out of here. Is it possible for you to collect some stones on the other side of the temple plateau?"

Eadar's face grew more surly. "Why can't I collect them here?"

"Phoebe needs the stones from that side. She says they are filled with more magical residue. Isn't that right, Phoebe?"

Phoebe nodded. "It seems that we feed off the astral plane. Since no one goes to the other side, then there is more residue there," she said, lying through her teeth.

"Oh, all right." Eadar kicked a pebble with his foot and ran off.

When he disappeared into the distance, Emma entered the shelter with Phoebe in tow. "Everyone! Get up and follow us. We're going home."

An old man stared at Emma from his corner in the shadows. "Have you cracked? We are trapped her forever until we die. There is no escape."

"There is," Phoebe snapped. "Some of you may have given up hope, but I refuse to sit down and cry a river. So either follow us or stay here. Everyone has a choice in the matter, but I hope you choose the right path."

"Are you kidding? If you can get us out of here, I'd follow you anywhere," said the old man gleefully.

The rest of the innocents followed suit. There were nine in all, not including Phoebe and Emma. They walked towards the direction of the arch. The structure came into view and bolts started to fly. Phoebe concentrated on the first one, using the power of her mind to change it into water. Emma took on the second one. Raising her hand, she nudged it upwards.

"Run towards the arch!" Phoebe shouted. Emma was front guard, leading the innocents forward while Phoebe protected them from the back.

Dust rose from the stone ground as the bolts the witches did not catch grew stronger. Well, Phoebe was used to rebelling. She spotted an incoming bolt and changed it to rose petals. That was too close though. They still had about several meters to run and bolts were coming in faster. As well, Emma looked to be tiring out.

A strange heaviness crackled through the air as Phoebe constructed a massive shield above their heads.

"Keep going. We're almost there!" cried out Emma.

"No, you're not." Phoebe blinked and saw Eadar blocking Emma's path. "I can't let you leave," he said solemnly.

"Eadar, move aside," Emma said.

"I can't let you through. If you and the others escape, then my plans are ruined. I won't allow you to waste the years I've worked on this." The grim look on his face brought on a premonition. Phoebe gasped as it hit savagely.

She saw Eadar as a man. He stood over a woman cowering on the ground. In his hand was a dagger, ready to plunge into his victim. Eadar moved to strike when the woman raised her arm and sent her magic out. Eadar tried to dodge the attack but the magic entered his body causing him to glow. He disappeared and found himself in astral plane, screaming his revenge and frustrations.

"A witch trapped you here," Phoebe said as she opened her eyes to see him transform into his true adult form. "You tried to kill her."

Eadar nodded. "That is true. I was about to kill her when she trapped me here in this forsaken place. Perhaps I should thank her. I had no powers of my own, unless I had killed her. But when she sent me here, I realized that I was a latent psychic. I could control this plane. What's more, I found out two ways to escape. One is through that arch, but the bolts would never let me through no matter how much I influenced the dreamscape. Another was to collect enough psychics to drain and kill. My power combined with yours would have set me free."

He eyed each of his captives. "I picked each of you from the psychic energies you glowed with. I needed all of you to lose hope and not try to escape. I would have all ready escaped actually if it wasn't for people outside of the dreamscape pulling plugs every so often. But with the addition of this one," he said as he looked at Phoebe. "There is enough power for me to escape. So you see, I win."

"I don't think so." Phoebe moved her way forward until she faced Eadar. "These innocents are under my protection." She sent her power out in a powerful ball. It smashed into Eadar, making him fly a few feet back. "Got my drift?" She looked at Emma and said under her breath, "Hurry while I distract. Lead everyone to the arch."

"That was good, but not good enough, witch." Clouds formed above Phoebe and began to rain down hail.

Phoebe only smiled as a circle of dry air opened around her, hail streaming to all sides as if she'd covered herself with a glass bowl.

This further pissed off Eadar. "I refuse to be beaten by a mere witch. This is my world!" He screamed.

"No," Phoebe calmly said. "It's mine." She closed her eyes briefly. The tendrils of her power spread out at lightning speed, weaving themselves around Eadar. "I will do what my sister witch could not, would not. Prepare to go hell, Eadar." Now that her magic was focused, she sent silver fire rippling through her tendrils as it flowed into Eadar, ripping him apart. His scream echoed throughout the dreamscape as he exploded in a silver explosion.

Phoebe had no time though to enjoy her vanquish, she had to get Emma and the rest of the innocents out of the dreamscape. She caught up with them at the arch and smiled wearily. "Let's go home, everyone." She grinned at Emma before chanting her spell. "Hear my words, beings out of place. Return what has been moved, through time and space." This time her spell worked. Silver light surrounded them all before taking them home.

"Phoebe? Phoebe, wake up." Paige's voice reached Phoebe's ears.

Her eyes shot open to see her sister's smiling face. "Paige!" She sat up and hugged her younger sister. "How long have I been asleep?"

"Oof, Phoebe. Nice to you, too." She disengaged herself from her sister's arms. "What are you talking about? You slept the entire night, and if you don't wake up now, you'll be late for work."

That stopped Phoebe. She had only been asleep for one night? Funny how in the dreamscape it seemed much longer than that. "I think I'll call Elise and tell her I'm taking a day off."

"What? Why?" asked Paige.

"Because I want to spend this day with you, Paige. I've had a very wild dream. Family is important, you know. And if we encounter a demon, we'll vanquish him and save the innocent without feeling like it's a chore. We should be glad that we're alive doing what we're doing. After all, who else gets to save the world on a daily basis?" Phoebe grinned impishly and got out of bed.

Paige just stared at her. "Okay, who are you and where's my real sister? Or did my potion do something to you?"

"It did nothing, Paige. I just, I got an epiphany and I want to celebrate life. Wanna join me?"

"Sure! I'll go get ready." Paige left the room while Phoebe went to her drawer. After her day out with Paige, she had to call Cole and finally have that talk they needed to have for months. Then, then she would find the number for an Emma Royston in Canterbury, England and reconnect with the kind witch. The day was looking up.

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