Title: The Wisdom of War
Rated: PG-13
Author: Kelie
Summary: Taking place in the up-coming season (Premieres on Sept 12th) With the new baby (Chris), and Wyatt taking up a lot of her time, Piper's sisters feel she needs a break. But her break could lead to more trouble than they anticipated. With Leo gone on a rampage to avenge Big Chris' death, the girls are vulnerable, and demons are beginning to take notice. A cult leader finds the powers of demons to entrance his victims into following him. The girls are chasing down his demonic helpers, while Piper's powers begin to increase, making the girls wonder if the power of three is still equal.
"You don't think I know that?" Phoebe sighed, letting her arms fall to her sides.
Paige nodded. "Well it doesn't seem like you do..."
The middle sister flipped through the Book of Shadows. Paige was pacing. She paced a lot these days. Ever since Leo left on a war path to avenge Chris' death, Piper has been too busy with two kids to worry about demon activity. This left Paige as the only witch with powers to defend her family, and the manor. Phoebe was useless; she barely seemed to be home anymore. Work was still consuming her. Piper had a reasonable excuse, the kids came first. She understood that. Phoebe on the other hand, she couldn't understand.
"It's not in there." Paige muttered.
Phoebe sighed again. "Look Paige, I know what I am doing. I'll find something."
"You don't get it. It's not for us to fix."
Phoebe slammed the book of shadows shut and stood up to protest. "It has to be!"
Paige grabbed Phoebe by the shoulders. "They took your powers for using them incorrectly. Casting a spell to get them back isn't going to help!"
"You don't know that..."
Paige insisted. "Yes, I do."
"What's going on?" Piper entered the room, with baby Chris in one arm and Wyatt in his stroller.
The girls stopped their quarrel at once and smiled lovingly at their older sister.
"Nothing." They said together.
Piper smirked, knowing something was wrong. "What is it?"
Paige sighed heavily. "Just trying to find a spell for... um... diaper rash."
Piper frowned. "Paige, you know better then to cast for personal benefit. Plus, neither of the boys have rashes..."
Phoebe stepped in to cover. "Well, we were just thinking, just in case..."
Piper smiled. "Thanks, but what I need is some rest, not magical antidotes to diaper rashes."
Phoebe sighed. She could see her sister's tired eyes glace quickly at a photo of Leo on the bookcase. Piper wasn't just tired physically; she was simply wearing herself out emotionally. Again and again.
"Exactly! You need a break!" Phoebe suggested.
Piper nodded. "Well, it would be nice, but I can't."
Paige interrupted eagerly. "Yes, yes you can. I'll watch the kids. I could use a break from the solo-demon destroying."
Phoebe frowned, upset. "You're not doing it alone. I'm helping..."
Paige laughed angrily. "You look stuff up. Thanks, but I can do that. What I need is for you to get your powers back. If you worked on that half as much as you work on your article, maybe you'd have them back already!"
"That's not fair!" Phoebe yelled.
Piper jumped in. "I kind of agree with Paige. You should spend more time working on getting your powers back. They're not going to come back on their own."
Phoebe looked at her sisters. She waited a moment, trying to come up with something to say. There was nothing however, so she chose another route. She stomped her foot, and huffed her way out of the room and up stairs.
"Well, I should have seen that coming..." Piper sighed.
Paige picked Wyatt up out of the stroller and cuddled him. "I meant it, you know? I'd like a break too, and I know you could use one... why don't we switch places for a day or so?"
Piper shook her head. "I can't. It's just too soon."
"Ok, I understand..." Paige looked down, disappointed.
Seeing her sister upset, Piper suggested. "But, maybe tomorrow... I could use a break..."
Paige's eyes lit up at the thought. "Oh really!? Thanks!" She hugged her sister tight; kissing her on the cheek.
"No problem..."
In her room, Phoebe lit a circle of candles and began to meditate. She closed her eyes and chanted a magical incantation to see visions; to see something, anything to point on her on her path. She saw nothing. She hadn't seen anything since her powers were taken away. She was beginning to think that perhaps her magic was taken too; her spells just didn't seem to work anymore.
"It's useless." She sighed, blowing out the last of the candles.
As she blew out the flame, a bolt of lightening shot into the room. It threw her down, she ran into the hall to find a demon with horns coming from everywhere. As she went to attack it, Piper and Paige came running upstairs. Piper motioned to freeze it, and the next thing Phoebe knew, the demon was gone and Piper and Paige had moved from the top of the stairs to the other end of the hall.
"Phoebe, are you ok?" Piper breathed.
Phoebe nodded. "I think so. What happened?"
Paige swallowed. "She froze you."
"What?" Phoebe was confused. "She can't, I'm a witch."
Paige nodded. "Everything froze, including you."
"You didn't freeze." Phoebe snapped.
Piper nodded. "I unfroze her."
"And not me!?"
Shrugging, the oldest sister tried to make it better. "I was worried about you getting hurt..."
Phoebe marched up to her sisters. "I'm not broken. I can still fight."
Paige. "We understand that, it's just that..."
"I don't want to hear it, ok?" She cried angrily.
"Fine." Piper stopped the fight before it could escalate. "We have more important issues at hand, like my powers increasing."
Later, in the kitchen; the girls all looked out the window. They peaked through the curtains and then look to Piper. She was standing, with her game face on, looking ready to fight.
"Ok, let's see how well you freeze. Freeze the birds in the sky." Paige suggested.
Piper nodded. "Ok, I'll try."
Piper froze the birds. The girls smiled, looking up at the birds frozen in mid-air. They failed to look down and see that everything was frozen outside, and Piper wasn't even outside, the window wasn't even open. Phoebe glanced at the road and saw a dog frozen in the middle of peeing on the sidewalk.
"Oh God!" She exclaimed.
Looking up still. "What's wrong? They look really cool." Paige said casually.
Phoebe corrected herself. "No, no. They look fine… it's everyone else that seems a little… stiff."
Piper looked to the street. "Oh no!" She quickly unfroze them. "Wow… I had no idea I could freeze that much!"
Phoebe grimaced. "I've seem this before… in the future your powers were this strong. But that's still years away, they shouldn't be this strong yet."
Piper looked around. "What's happening?"
The next morning.
"Paige, remember to get the bottles all done before Chris wakes up, other wise his crying will make Wyatt upset and then your going to be in a world of trouble." Piper warned her little sister.
"Got it. Go, have fun."
Piper laughed and rolled her eyes. "Right. Shopping for potion ingredients, sounds like tons of fun..."
Phoebe ran into the kitchen, still in her PJ's. She was rushing, as usual to get ready for work. Today was no different from most days, except today she wanted to ask for a reduction on her hours at the office. She needed to find herself again, and her powers. Which meant, work just had to slow down, or she'd never find the time to anything else.
"Hey... oooh there's my boys!" She ran over and kissed her nephews good morning.
Piper handed her a cup of coffee. "You better hurry, or you'll be late again."
Paige handed them both their breakfasts. "Eggs, bacon, and vitamins." She smiled.
Phoebe cocked an eye brow to her. "Oh boy... Yummy."
Later.
Piper waited in line with her arms full of spices, and herbs. This was fun. Well, maybe not. However, it got her away from the hectic life of house and kids.
"Next." The cashier said, and Piper stepped up a little to catch the line.
As she waited in line, a flash of light flooded the room. Everyone was still, but not frozen. They were scared. Piper looked around, what were they seeing? Suddenly she was knocked back, and slammed into the adjacent wall. Sliding to the ground, she coughed up a little blood. 'Nothing new there' she thought, brushing herself off and standing to see her attacker. It was that demon she'd thought she killed yesterday. But there it stood, it all its disgusting wonder. Its horns were huge, and his drool was everywhere. It looked like a mindless monster, but its eyes showed intelligence beyond that. It was not just any old monster. It was smart. It looked straight at Piper, and seemed to smile. Out of reflex, she tried to blow it up, but all it managed to do was knock the demon back a few feet.
"Run!" Piper screamed at all the other customers, who were already trying to escape.
At the manor.
Paige was laying Chris down for a nap. She turned to find Wyatt standing over his toys. He was using his powers to fuse his toy together. He was orbing them into one another. Paige ran over to stop him.
"Wyatt, no!" Paige took him away from his toys. "Stay here, be good." She scolded.
"Da da, da da..." He baby talked.
Paige lifted him up and set him on her knee as she took a sip of her drink. "I know, you miss your Father. But your Daddy is away... sometimes...." Paige tried to find words to explain Leo being absent. There was nothing she could say to this little toddler to make him miss his father any less. "Never mind, you'll understand when your older." She let him down and he made his way to his toys once again.
At her job.
Phoebe closed her office door and walked behind her desk. She sighed heavily and began to pack her things up for the day. To her surprise her boss had understood her need to cut back, after all this position was never meant to be full time anyway. Or at least it wasn't supposed to be in the beginning. One thing had led to another, and before she could object, she had found herself a career driven woman with nothing else in her life. What had happened to her?
Her assistant walked in with a pile of letters. "They wanted to know if you'd take these home, since you're part time now..."
Phoebe sighed. "Part time, means less work... not less office work and more home
work."
Her assistant nodded. "I had to tell you, sorry."
"Its fine, leave them here, I'll come back for them later."
At the magic shop.
"Oh, crap." Piper said she motioned to blow up the demon again.
This time her power kicked into full blast and not only blew the demon apart, but managed to blow the entire half of the building along with it. The force of the explosion sent Piper flying through the air, landing her on the sidewalk. She sat there dazed and amazed staring at fire, smoke, and confused people.
"Oh crap... again." She muttered, as she dusted herself off, and briskly began to walk toward her car.
At the manor.
Phoebe walked in the house and took her coat off. She hear Paige struggling with the kids. She walked into the living room and found Paige standing with Chris crying in her arms, and Wyatt making a total mess out of his toys by using his powers to mutilate them.
"Wyatt, no!" Phoebe ran over and picked him up.
Paige sighed. "It doesn't help, he knows I can't stop him."
Phoebe looked worried. "You don't think he's evil, do you?"
"Yes, yes I do. As evil as all little boys his age are..." She explained.
Phoebe nodded. "A handful?"
"Oh diffidently."
"He's the least of our worries..." Piper said.
They both turned. Piper was covered in dust, and dirt. Her clothes looked like she'd been through an explosion.
"Oh my God." Phoebe rushed to her. "Are you ok?"
Paige scrunched her nose. "Looks like you had fun after all..."
Wyatt struggled to reach his mother, so Phoebe gave him over. As Piper held him, her wounds began to heal.
Piper kissed her son. "Thanks sweetheart. Mommy loves ya."
"Aww. That's so cute. He healed you!" Phoebe cooed.
Paige sighed. "Why can't he do that when he makes a mess?"
Flash Forward - 2009
Five years Into the Future. The manor is a very different place. Its high walls and beautiful architecture have given way to time. Above the magical home, dark clouds circle, ever present, ever watchful. The streets are dirty, everything seems dimmer somehow, as if good can't reach out as it used to.
Inside the Charmed Ones manor, a slightly aged Piper, Phoebe and Paige sit at their kitchen table, drinking their herb teas with the book of shadow, now three times bigger. Chris comes into the kitchen with his older brother Wyatt at his side. They are older now; Wyatt looks to be about six going on seven possibly, and Chris to be around five. Piper smiled proudly at them, they were just getting home from classes at the magic school.
"How was school?" She asked her sons.
Chris shrugged, shyly. "Mr. Tanner yelled at me." He cried.
"It wasn't his fault Mommy." Wyatt defended his brother. "He was trying to stop Anna from pulling his hair."
Piper hugged her boys. "Its ok, I'll talk to the teacher later." She watched them run off to play.
Suddenly, a feisty pair of younger children ran into the kitchen crying. A little boy, and girl each about 3 or 4. Piper stood up in fright and scooped the young boy off the ground, as Phoebe did with the girl. They cuddled their shaken children. The girl was Phoebe's daughter, a brilliant little 3 year old, with the fight and imagination of her mother, as well as her striking looks. Her name is Patricia, after her grandmother. The little boy is Piper's 3rd son. He's just about to turn 4, he is strong and bold, and has the smarts of his mother. His name is Victor, after his grandfather.
Paige, looking to find the cause of their tears asked. "What's wrong?"
Patricia sniffled and pointed toward the doorway into the main sitting area of their home. Piper put her son down and began to walk into the next room. Phoebe and Paige stayed back. There was an air about Piper now, something was different. She was wiser somehow, stronger than the others.
"Wyatt? Chris?" Piper called, checking to make sure the boys hadn't been tormenting the little ones. The boys didn't answer. "Come here right now!" She yelled.
"Mommy!" Piper heard Wyatt scream. She ran to his voice and found both her older sons.
They were standing side by side. Three powerful demons with snake tongues were trying to attack them. Wyatt was using his barrier to protect himself and his brother.
"Come here!" Piper cried.
Hearing the fuss, Phoebe and Paige ran into the room with Victor and Patricia. Piper whipped around and pointed a finger at them, motioning them to stay back. They did so.
"You won't escape this time!" The demons said angrily.
Piper scoffed at them. "Ya, like I've never heard that one before!"
Wyatt and Chris ran to her, and she scooted them behind her as she blew up the demons. Their body parts and magical auras went flying everywhere. Piper back away again, seemingly knowing the battle was not done.
The demons reappeared. "Mother of the Charmed line... you'll die for that!"
Phoebe and Paige watched in horror as they all banded together to rid themselves of Piper. Their energies surged and vaulted from their arms to Piper's chest. She was sent flying into the wall behind her. Wyatt flew into a terrible rage and attacked the demons. Without understanding his powers fully, he managed to vanquish the demons. His rage sent a powerful wave of explosive energy, just like Piper's, only it wasn't triggered by a motion of hands, just his thoughts. The demons burst into flames and turned to ash. Paige and Phoebe rushed to Piper, who laid on the ground bleeding. All the children began to her cry. Her sons surrounded her.
"Mommy!" Chris began to cry over his Mother uncontrollably.
With some effort Piper managed to take his hand in hers and touch his cheek with her free hand. "Chris… it's ok. I'm here." She coughed. "Wyatt, you have to be strong, and stay good. Remember that I love you, that your Father loves you, all of you. Take care of each other... I love-" Before she could finish her thought, pain took her, and she collapsed, dead.
They watched as her dead body began to cover itself with light. It was her powers, the powers she'd be harboring, holding for her sons. It was the power of the charmed ones. Over the years, as Piper gave birth to her children, her powers had grown again and again. With the birth of her third son, it became clear that the charmed line would now belong to men. Her sons. To protect them from that life, Piper had taken the burden upon herself. She enchanted herself with their powers, so that they might not feel the weight of the world until they were ready. However, upon her death those powers rose up from their host and sought to find their true owners. Wyatt, Chris and Victor were each surrounded in their mother's light. The light flooded them, and entered into their hearts. When the light had faded, the chandelier that Grams had cursed to open to the Charmed line began to glow once more. Phoebe and Paige watched as their nephews were imbued with what had once been their destiny: To fight demons, and protect the innocents.
As they all stood shocked, a figure emerged from the shadows. It was the image of Piper. She was surrounded in heavenly lights, wearing a long, white, flowing gown. She looked younger, like she had at the peak of her own life. She looked lovingly down upon her sons, and then to her sisters and niece. They looked up in awe at her. She was beautiful.
"Piper!" Paige cried out. "They're too young. They're not ready for this."
Piper smiled warmly and disappeared.
The boys continued to cry, tears of sadness streamed down their cheeks. Paige and Phoebe could not sooth them. Their mother was dead.
Present day.
He orbed in, and made his way down the long, dark ally. Something was wrong. He could no longer sense the demon of fear, Barbas. He'd been hunting him for so long, and now he was gone. Leo stopped and closed his eyes. He felt Piper; she was a little shaken about something. '…Probably a demon...' He thought to himself. 'The girls can handle it.'
"You know what's worse then an elder walking among the filth?" A voice called to him from behind. "An elder who seeks revenge." It laughed. "I thought you people were all about the forgiveness?"
Leo spun around to greet the voice, he was shocked when it was not who he'd thought it'd be. "Who are you?" He asked, annoyed.
"I'm just a man, in search of a calling..." He drawled.
The Elder cocked an eye to the strange man. "Oh? What's your purpose with Barbas?"
"Nothing anymore... He's dead." He almost giggled with excitement.
Leo became enraged. "What!?"
"I'm sorry if I ruined your plans, but I've gotta do, what I've gotta do..."
He blinked and quickly sensed that this man was no demon. In fact, he was human, pure human. What could allow a human to kill a demon as powerful as Barbas?
"What do you want?" He asked the man.
Before another word could be said, the man called out for his lackeys. A handful of demons appeared and dropped the lifeless body of Barbas to the ground. He'd been chasing him down as revenge for helping Gideon with Chris' death. Although his son had been reborn into this time, Leo wasn't satisfied. Chris' future had been jeopardized because of the man whom he'd respected and treated as a mentor and father figure. He'd been completely destroyed by the idea of total betrayal.
The strange man looked to the body and then to his demon bodyguards who surrounded him.
"Take the corpse away, and bring the blood to my followers." He ordered, as one of the demons took him by the arm, and shimmered out.
With everyone gone, Leo spoke aloud to himself. "Followers?"
Inside the Charmed One's home, a window shattered. Piper froze the upper level and human looking demon, then called for help. Paige and Phoebe came running into the front hall.
"Whoa... when did he get here?" Phoebe asked quickly.
Piper swatted at Paige's attempts to check her cuts. "I'm fine... he got here about thirty seconds ago... but that's not the problem-"
As she tried to explain, the demon broke free of her power and began to charge at the girls. Out of panic, and reflex, Piper blew him up. Phoebe and Paige sighed in relief and looked to Piper.
"That wasn't too bad..." Paige said happily.
Piper grunted. "The problem is that-"
Just as she began again, another upper level, human looking demon shimmered in and took charge, firing a few balls of energy at the charmed ones. They ran and hid for cover as the mini explosives ruined their furniture.
"Oh my God... what the heck is going on?!" Phoebe cried out.
Paige stood up as the demon made another fire ball. "Fire ball!" She called it to her, and sent it flying back to its owner, blowing him up.
Another appeared.
"They just come back, it's useless!" Piper yelled over the sound of their windows shattering by the front door.
Thinking quickly, Phoebe ran over to the hall table and began to jot something down. Piper and Paige continued to blow the suckers up, but each time another came.
"What are you doing!?" Piper scolded her sister for not helping, although she knew that her powers were inactive.
Phoebe ran back with a piece of paper and began to read it aloud, it was a spell. Piper and Paige both realized what she was trying to do, and began to read with their sister.
"Within our home, to those unknown, let this barrier help us, keep our enemies out of sight for the rest of the night!" They chanted.
Their words rung true and a barrier erected itself around their home. The unknown demons couldn't pass through; they were safe... for now.
"Thank God!" Paige sat down, breathing heavily.
Piper ran to the kid's room and came back. "The barrier worked perfectly, its covering the entire house. They can't get in anywhere." She said, relieved.
Phoebe nodded. "For tonight anyway... we need to figure out what they are, and what they want."
"I'm on it!" Paige ran to the attic.
As their little sister took research duty on full blast, Piper and Phoebe began to clean up the huge mess left behind from the battle.
"I hate this." Piper muttered, but Phoebe could hear her.
"Messes, demons, kids, it's a lot to deal with"
Piper shook her head. "That's not what I mean."
Phoebe stopped cleaning and looked at her older sister, a little confused. "What do you mean then?"
Thinking about it for a moment, Piper looked around. "I hate that my boys have to grow up in this... this chaos. Wyatt barely gets to play anymore without a demon attacking."
Phoebe understood. "I know, but the demon activity has increased lately. It's weird."
"Is it? It's not weird, it's normal. It's our version of normal, anyway. It shouldn't be, and I don't want it to be for my kids."
There was a tone to her voice that Phoebe hadn't heard in a long time. It was that nagging sense that maybe she was just ready to quit. But she couldn't. They'd given up their only chance at a life free of demons, but that was before she'd had children. Piper now faced all sorts of fears that Phoebe knew she couldn't understand until she had kids of her own. Piper had more to worry about then just surviving the next demon attack. If she didn't her kids would be left motherless and left without protection from their enemies. She had to always think of Wyatt and Chris, always worrying that if she slipped up, or if she didn't wake up right away, a demon might kill her babies. Phoebe looked at her sister with wonder and respect. The dark circles under her eyes gave her away though. She had combated her fears of demons attacking while she slept by not sleeping. Leo was gone, on a mission to avenge their son's death. Phoebe knew Piper understood why he left, but she could feel Piper's loneliness. She was alone. No one could fill that void, except Leo. Phoebe silently prayed that he'd come back, soon.
"Why don't you call to him?" Phoebe asked bluntly.
Stunned, Piper became misty-eyed. "How'd you...?" But words failed her.
Phoebe's eyes widened. 'Did I just sense something?' She wondered. "Oh... oh, oh!" Phoebe jumped up and scurried off to an area that was clear of objects.
Piper followed her, confused. "What are you doing?" She asked.
"Shush." Phoebe insisted. "I have to concentrate." She explained.
"On what?" The oldest sister asked.
Then it became clear. Phoebe began to slowly rise into the air, levitating. She was a little unsteady, but her powers were back! Piper's face lit up with joy, as her sister demonstrated her gifts.
"Are they back, can you call a premonition?" Piper was hopeful, and handed her Leo's jacket.
Phoebe held the worn clothing in her hands, closing her eyes she tried to call her gift. She received no vision. She opened them up and saw Piper's nervous, yet hopeful expression.
"Nothing from this... maybe..." She walked over to one of scorch marks the demons left behind.
As her finger tips touched the floor, she was seized with images; Thousands of images. They were the premonitions she would have gotten, if her powers had not been stripped. Hundreds of demons, innocents and scenarios crossed her mind's eye. At last she saw the demon that had belonged to the scorch mark. He was diffidently an upper level demon. In her vision she saw him working with others like him, to use his power to kill other demons, including a horned one with lots of drool. Phoebe snapped out of it.
"What did you see?" Piper asked.
Phoebe cleared her mind for a moment. "Lots... but I saw the demon, he was working with a lot of other demons..."
"Doing what?"
The psychic frowned. "They're killing demons."
As Phoebe explained her vision in more detail, Paige came downstairs with the Book of Shadows in her arms.
"It's a conduit." Their little sister announced.
"They're harboring powers, taking them from other demons." Phoebe explained.
Paige scrunched her nose up. "Hey, I was doing the research here, how'd you know that?"
"She has her powers back." Piper said happily.
"Oh sweetie, that's great!" She hugged her sister.
As the night crept forward, and the moon gave way to the faint light of day, the girls researched and worked. However Paige was falling asleep on top of the book of shadows, leaving a nice puddle of drool on the picture of a conduit. While Piper was trying to coo a fussy Chris back to sleep, without waking Wyatt in the process; As Phoebe wrote spell after spell, always ending up crumpling them into little paper balls and throwing them to the ground in a heap.
"Leo." Piper called. "Leo!" She called again.
Standing at the threshold of her room, clutching a small teddy bear in her hands, she whispered his name. It was barely audible to others, or even to her. But in her head she screamed for him. Something inside her called out to him without need of voice or sound. She knew he could hear her, just as they always could feel each other. They weren't just soul mates, they were more then that. When she lost Leo, she had lost an extension to herself. She had lost her best friend. She had really and truly lost her better half.
Little did the eldest witch know, her slightly younger sister was standing behind her. Not only was she sensing every bit of her pain, but she was watching as her older sister's heart was broken. Piper stood there for what seemed to be an hour, to Phoebe. Yet Piper wouldn't move, never giving up hope that her Leo was not lost forever. Like the wife of a lost solider in times of war, so was Piper forlorn for Leo. Without him, she was going to slip.
Phoebe backed away as silently as she could and headed down the stairs to wake Paige. She tossed her sister from side to side until she jumped up in mid-dream.
"Not yet, Ricky!" She cried.
Realizing it was just a dream; Paige yawned, stared down at her watch, and then squinted angrily at Phoebe.
"What is it?" She asked.
Phoebe shook her head. "It's Piper. We have to do something..."
"Is it Leo, again?" She asked, then looked down and saw the puddle of drool starting. She quickly tried to cover it up with her arms. "So... what are we going to do about this?" She asked, overly-excited, trying to draw attention away from the book.
Phoebe shrugged. "We can't do anything. Leo has to come back on his own."
"You make it sound like he might not come back at all." Paige scorned.
The middle sister sighed and became serious. "He may not."
"He may not what?" Piper asked from behind them.
Phoebe spun around and blushed a little. She didn't mean for her sister to hear that. Right away she sensed that Piper knew what was going on. Immediately she tried to explain.
"Hey... I didn't mean that. I was just-" Phoebe blundered.
Piper smiled faintly and shrugged her shoulders with a weak attempt to seem ok. "It's fine. I get it. You're just being honest, and I respect that, I do." Then she sighed and looked dead serious. "But he will come back. I know it. I feel it down to my bones. Leo isn't going to abandon us."
Paige quickly responded. "Of course not. Phoebe wasn't saying that at all."
"I hope not. I need you guys right now. I need you guys on my side." Piper said with a desperate tone.
Phoebe took her sister by the arm and brought her in for a hug. "We always will be."
In the heavens above; Leo orbed in and made a B-line straight to an Elder wearing a white robe, instead of the traditional golden color. He took him by the shoulder and spun him around to face him.
"Leo, what do you think your doing?" The elder asked, horrified by Leo's angry gestures.
Leo responded by punching him in the face. "You bastard!" He yelled.
The other Elders standing near by quickly tried to pull Leo away. It didn't work. The ex-husband and Father of a Charmed Ones sons made a ruthless lunge at his target.
"You sold us out! You helped kill my son!" He screamed.
The Elder defended himself, and tried to block Leo's attack. "He's not dead Leo, he was reborn!" He tried to sooth his attacker.
"Damn you Zola, I'll never rest until I see you sent where you belong!" He cried with a passion in his voice that echoed straight into the Earth below. Then, pointing down, he motioned where he'd send him. "I'll get you Zola, if it's the last thing I do." His voice was calmer now, but somehow more threatening then ever before.
Zola backed up, quite afraid that Leo could back-up his threats. "Leo, you must understand our position. Your sons are a threat to the balance that we created. They could tear the cosmos apart at its seems!"
Not hearing him anymore, it seems as though Leo was listening to someone else. The Elders that surrounded him could see no one.
From Leo's point of view, a voice talked to him, it told him of Zola's betrayal, of his attempts to rid the world of his sons. It urged him to kill the Elder, to kill them all. They were a danger, a threat to his family, to his sons, to Piper. That eventually the Elders would all betray him, they would rise up and try to kill his family, even after everything he'd done and given up to save them from being destroyed. He'd given up a chance at a happy marriage with Piper, he'd given up the ability to see his sons grow up the way a Father should. He'd given up so much, he'd lost so much, and this is how they would repay him. With the blood of his loved ones on their hands.
Unknown to Leo, the voice in his head was actually the astral projected spirit of Barbas. Although disconnected form his body, Barbas was still around. Due to his ability to feed on fear, he survived. As long as fear was around, he would be; in some form or another.
Hearing the words of this unseen force; Leo's already fragile mind snapped. In a single felt swoop, Leo charged his electric hot energy and fired it into Zola. It incinerated him at once and caused a wave of energy to explode, knocked the other Elders off their feet. As the other Elder rose to grab Leo, he bolted to the tower of memory, where the whitelighter dust was kept. He grabbed a handful and cast it upon the entire room. The Elders stumbled and shook their heads, dazed and confused. Leo watched for a moment, as it hit him. What had he done?
Just as the weight of his actions hit him, the voice laughed, and revealed itself. Leo was horrified. He had been tricked into killing another Elder, and erasing the memories of the other Elders too. Barbas laughed and disappeared, happy with his results.
Down below, on Earth. Piper was folding laundry in the living room when suddenly she fell to the ground in tears. She sobbed uncontrollably. This hurt was like nothing she'd felt before. It was confused, and betrayed and horrified all at once. Hearing her tears, her sisters flew into the room in a panic.
"Oh my God! Piper!" Paige exclaimed.
Phoebe rushed her sister's side and held her cheeks with her hands. "What's happening, what's wrong?" She asked.
Piper tried hard to stop crying. "It's nothing." She sniffled, shaking the emotions off, trying to act like they were never there at all.