ONE
Leo orbed into the manor and found Piper in the kitchen preparing lunch. She glanced over at him as the orb finished.
"Hey, sweetie," said Piper. "How did you White Lighter meeting go?"
"Fine," said Leo. "Just the normal stuff. How are you doing?"
"I'm fine," said Piper. "I thought I'd make everyone a nice lunch before I went to open the club. Phoebe and Cole are in her room and Paige should be home in a few minutes. Now that you're here we're all set. Lunch will be ready in just a few minutes."
"Great," said Leo. "I'm starved. What say I help you open the club this afternoon? I'm not getting a call from any of my other charges right now. I think it's going to be a fairly quiet afternoon."
"White Lighter intuition?" Piper asked with a smirk on her face.
"Why not? I do have superhuman senses. Well, sort of anyway."
"Sure. I'd like some help with the club. It can get pretty boring setting it up. Not the most exciting job in the world."
"What's not the most exciting job in the world?" Cole asked as he and Phoebe came into the kitchen.
"Opening the club," said Piper. "It's usually the same thing every day and it can get kind of boring."
"Well, you're the one who wanted to open a nightclub," said Phoebe.
"Actually, I wanted to open a restaurant. I just decided it was easier and less hassle to open a club instead. I haven't given up on my dream of having my own restaurant just yet. One day I'm going to have that club, you just wait and see."
"That's the spirit," said Cole. "Never give up on your dreams."
"I'll second that," said Paige, coming into the kitchen. "Am I too late for lunch?"
"Right on time," said Piper. "Now, if the rest of you will help me take the food into the living room we can have a nice family lunch for a change. We're all usually so busy running errands or at work or something to enjoy a nice lunch together."
"Or fighting demons," Phoebe interjected.
"I was trying not to think about that part," said Piper.
"I don't blame you," said Paige. "I know I haven't been at this as long as the rest of you have but it seems like demons are popping in all the time. How do you learn to live with it?"
"We really don't have much choice," said Piper. "Being the Charmed Ones has certain risks inherent with it. Like demons wanting to make a name for themselves by killing us."
"You kind of get used to it after a while," said Phoebe. "It kind of gives you a sixth sense."
"That's good coming from someone who can see the future," said Leo.
"It's not like I have any control over it," said Phoebe. "It just sort of happens. Not like Piper's freezing or Paige's orbing. I'm the only one without an active power."
"But it's also a very important power," said Cole. "Without it you wouldn't know about half the innocents you have to protect or half the demons that were going to attack."
"Still, I'd like it if I had a power that I could control," said Phoebe. "Even a minor one."
"Well, you do write most of our Power of Three spells," said Piper. "And that's very important. Those spells alone have saved us more times than I can count."
"But even with all our power we can't save everyone," said Phoebe. "Mom died fighting a water demon. Shax killed Prue. Andy died fighting Rodriguez. It seems like everyone we care about ends up dying."
"I'm still here," said Leo.
"You don't really count," said Phoebe. "You're all ready dead. Besides, most demons can't hurt you. Not permanently. It takes a Dark Lighter to kill you."
"You still have me," said Cole. "And plenty of demons have tried to kill me especially since I vanquished the Triad."
"I know," said Phoebe. "It just seems like everyone else we know ends up dying. I just wish it didn't have to be that way. That there was some way to protect them from demons besides just our powers."
"You do very well with your powers," said Leo. "As many demons as you've fought it's a wonder things aren't worse than they are. It's like I keep telling you. Your magic protects you. And you protect the innocent. In the end there are a lot of people who owe their lives to you."
"Well, I can sympathize with her," said Piper. "Sometimes it seems like we just can't save enough of the innocents we're supposed to protect. Like that doctor who was killed when Prue died. We couldn't protect him well enough."
"You've saved more than you realize," said Cole. "More than most witches do in their entire lives. Trust me, I know. Most witches don't save half the number of people you guys have saved all ready. And you still have years ahead of you to save even more. Don't doubt yourselves. It may not always seem like it but your track record is exceptionally high."
"Well I for one wouldn't mind if we didn't have to go out after demons all the time," said Paige. "My boss gets upset when I disappear for hours on end. I can usually placate him with some story that I'm working on a case. But I'm not sure he always believes me."
"Hazards of the trade, I'm afraid," said Leo. "And unfortunately there isn't much you can do about it. You'll just have to learn to live with it."
"Oh, we are, believe me," said Piper. "But a girl has to have some dreams, doesn't she?"
"I thought your dream was to own your own restaurant?" snickered Cole.
"Can't we have more than one?" Phoebe asked. "Who says we only have to have a single dream?"
"No one I guess," said Cole. "But dreaming about it isn't going to change anything. Not as long as the Source is around."
"Okay, enough demon talk," said Piper. "We're supposed to be having a nice family lunch, not a strategy session on demons. I hereby declare a moratorium on any more demon talk until lunch is over."
The rest of lunch was free of demon talk. Just as Piper had wanted it was a nice, quiet family lunch. And when lunch was finished everyone even helped Piper clear the table. As they carried the last of the dishes into the kitchen a floor plant near the arboretum shuddered slightly and then changed form.
In its place stood a demon. The demon was barely four feet tall and was a uniform gray color. Its ears were highly pointed and it had two empty sockets where its eyes should have been. There were no other facial features to speak of. It glanced toward the kitchen and then quietly shimmered out of the manor.
A moment later the demon shimmered into a chamber in the Underworld. In the chamber stood the Source, Malevant, and the small demon that had initially insisted on seeing the Source. The demon turned and walked over to Malevant.
"Savro watch witches as Malevant say," said the gray demon in a halting English. "They talk with White Lighter and half demon."
"What did they talk about?" Malevant asked. The gray demon told them of the conversation that had gone on during the lunch. "Very good, Savro. Return to the lower chambers."
"It was dangerous to send such a low level demon to eavesdrop on the Charmed Ones," said the Source. "Especially so soon after the fiasco we recently went through. I nearly convinced the witch to strip their powers. If not for the White Lighter and the traitor I would have. But I used a Chameleon demon to gain information about them. You were lucky they didn't discover Savro."
"It was a calculated risk," said Malevant. "I figured they wouldn't suspect such an obvious ploy again so soon. It seems I was correct. Besides, Savro wasn't there long enough for him to be detected."
"Still," said the Source, "their conversation seems to have been very boring. Not much we can use I'm afraid. The chit chat of mortals can be so tedious."
"Perhaps not so tedious," said Malevant thoughtfully. "The first part of their conversation definitely has possibilities. Perhaps a way for us to finally be rid of those accursed witches."
"How?" asked the small demon. "As the Source said their conversation was enough to put any demon to sleep."
"That is because you don't listen, Lettrick," said Malevant. "To you it was nothing more than mundane chatter. But I have made a career of listening. And hearing things that others would not give a second thought to."
"You have a plan?" the Source asked.
"I believe I do," said Malevant. "But it will require that we bring in someone very special to deal with it."
"So you are saying that the information Lettrick brought me is useful?" questioned the Source.
"Very useful," said Malevant. "And he's right. If my plan is successful we will no longer be troubled by those accursed witches."
"Good," gloated the Source. "I have dreamed of the deaths of the Charmed Ones since they first appeared."
"Not just their deaths," said Malevant. "Also a way to punish them for their incessant interference."
"Punishment and death?" questioned the Source. "Malevant, a present for me? And it's not even the anniversary of my ascension."
"Anything to please you, my liege," Malevant replied. "Plus, there will be an added bonus as well."
"And just what added bonus would that be?" questioned the Source.
"The traitor," said Malevant. "My plan will also do away with the traitor, Belthazor, as well as vanquish him in the end."
"The Charmed Ones and the traitor, Belthazor?" the Source questioned gleefully. "I may have to promote you, Malevant. Such prizes warrant a special reward."
"If I may say, my lord," said Malevant, "I am all ready your primary advisor. I do not believe I could rise any higher in the hierarchy without replacing you. Which, of course, I could not possibly do. I serve out of my loyalty to you, not for any thought of reward."
"As always," said the Source. "If only the rest of my underlings were so trustworthy. Still, you have pleased me greatly. You have presented me with the greatest present any demon could have given me."
"Whatever you're going to do," said Lettrick, "you must do so quickly. The alignment will occur tomorrow night. If we miss it we will have to wait 200 years for the next one."
"Do not worry, Lettrick," said Malevant. "We have plenty of time to get things in place. But as I said, it will require we bring in someone very special for my plan to work. And only you, Source, have the authority to get that person for us."
"And just who is this special someone we will need to kill the Charmed Ones?" asked the Source.
"Devlin," said Malevant deliberately.
The Source's eyes narrowed at the sound of that name.
