The All or Nothing/Plot

The issue starts in the Manor, with Paige and Leo continuing the conversation from the end of Issue #8 about Neena's status as "The First Witch". Leo explains that Neena (as she's calling herself now) was born before names. Paige asks what she's doing now, and Leo answers "I wish I knew" as the issue cuts to a two-page spread of Neena's demon army attacking the Elders. Rennek, the Darklighter, tells Neena that the demons aren't strong enough to defeat the Elders, and she responds that they won't realize that until it's too late. Back in the Manor, Leo continues telling Neena's story, explaining to Phoebe -- who has retrieved the Book of Shadows -- that the sisters need to know Neena's history before they attempt to confront her. Leo assures them that Neena wouldn't have killed Piper, so Piper is likely safe for now.

Leo starts telling the story, which begins in the early days of humanity. The scene shifts to Piper, in some kind of dark limbo with a tree, who nearly acts out Leo's story. As Leo explains, there is an energy that runs through the Earth called "the All", which is significantly more powerful than the Nexus.

"Thousands upon thousands of years ago, a woman came across that nexus. She alerted her mate to what she had found. At first, they were too afraid to go near it. Even at a distance, they could feel its power. But she pushed past that fear."

Piper sees a shadowy figure by the tree and chases after it, but it's gone by the time she gets there. She picks a lone apple from the tree, and an Angel of Destiny arrives, warning her not to eat it.

However, in Leo's story, the woman tapped into the power and "was infused with more of the All than any human was intended to possess."

The Angel of Destiny explains to Piper that they're in a place that shouldn't exist, and she arrived there the same way Piper did. She theorizes that only the magic that brought them there can allow them to leave.

Leo's story continues, as he explains that the woman shared the power of the All with her mate, making them immortal, and created a new state of consciousness: The Higher Realm. However, the magical bond between the two of them contained the All in the Higher Realm, and Earth started to die, so the only way to save it was to separate the powers. As Leo's explaining the last of this, Neena's attack continues against the retreating Elders. Kyle, who has just moved on, gets the Elders safely behind the gates of the Ancestral Plane, where Neena leaves Impedimentia to stand guard, so her army can regroup.

Leo's story resumes, and he explains that the woman and man were forced to abandon the Higher Realm, never to return. Phoebe chimes in that the story sounds "kind of familiar", and Leo says many belief systems come from the same origin. He continues that when the woman was on Earth, she gave birth to a pair of children. The first had the mother's powers, but not as strong, and gave birth to the line of natural-born witches. The second "twisted the magic for darker purposes" and is responsible for the line of warlocks. The other children that the man and the woman had didn't have powers themselves, but in rare cases, their line could give birth to a full witch, upsetting the Grand Design. Leo explains that the Warren family is part of that woman's bloodline.

Back in the world that Piper is trapped in, the Angel of Destiny explains that the realm they're in was a failed attempt to recreate the Higher Realm. The Angels of Destiny would have stopped Neena, but they misunderstood her plan. The realm starts to break up, as a side effect of creating an alternate plane. The Angel of Destiny says the first witch (Neena) exists outside the Grand Design, so they have very little control over her, and can only witness her actions. She then bites into the apple, and disappears, as the shadowy figure observes.

Back in the Manor, Paige asks what happened to the mate of the first witch, and Leo says he returned to the Higher Realm without her, which causes Paige and Phoebe to kind of see Neena's side of things. Leo explains that with every witch born, the All was weakened, and it needed one of the two to return. While that's going on, Neena marches her demon army to a set of giant golden double doors, and says "Let's crack this sucker open."

Leo continues, saying that the mate didn't choose to leave the first witch, just that one day, he was gone, and she was alone for the first time. To save the All, the Elders had to pick one of them to return to the Higher Realm, and they chose him.

This is explained over Piper standing confused, before the shadowy figure emerges to hand her an apple. She turns around to see who it really is, and sees Cole standing in front of her.