Charmed: Hanging with Mr. Turner
Disclaimer: I don't own charmed, but the WB does.
Summary: AU After Season six- After Gideon's death, Leo has taken over his position as guardian of the school but has hired a headmistress to handle all school matters. When the headmistress hires a familiar new teacher, the Halliwells must investigate to see what this new teacher's plans are. Are they good? Or is there an ulterior motive here?
A/N: Just a quick story based around plots that I have written over the last few years, which are mostly about Cole and Phoebe. Review and tell me what you think!
Chapter 2: The Second Class
Looking at each other, Phoebe gave out a growl of frustration, while Piper simply shrugged in indifference. Grabbing hold of her two sisters, Paige orbed them all back to the manor, where the three went their separate ways for the day—Phoebe went to go write her column for the next day, while Paige went to go call Kyle to further their budding romance. The oldest sister Piper, meanwhile, bit her lip in thought, before deciding to go up to the attic, intent on easing her sisters' worries.
Once she got up there, she quietly closed the attic door behind her, and walked over to the Book of Shadows, opening it up to the Belthazor summoning page that was found within it. She grabbed a few candles from the table that was off to the side, and placed them in a circle, lighting them all up with a match. "Magic forces black and white, reaching out through space and light, be he far or be he near, bring the former demon Belthazor here." She chanted, looking down at the circle of candles that was placed in the center of the attic.
"Not the sister I expected," A voice said from behind her, making her whirl around in fright. "You know, that spell doesn't work on me anymore and I only came tell you that, not because your magic forced me to come."
"I have some questions for you, Cole." Piper informed him, as Cole came around and took a seat in one of the wicker chairs that were stored in the attic. His gaze moved around the room, and he was unsurprised to see that it hadn't changed much since he had last seen it, save perhaps for the children's' toys that were scattered about.
"And I will answer them because you are the one asking them," Cole admitted, turning his attention from the attic to the witch in front of him. "I've always liked you, Piper, you know that. But if I answer them, you have to leave me alone afterwards."
"I know," Piper nodded, having always known that Cole preferred her over Prue and Paige. "How are you not dead? Paige said that she saw you vanquished. We even went to your penthouse and it was empty."
"I'm neither a ghost, nor a demon, if that answers your question." Cole replied, not giving Piper any more information than she needed. While he would answer her questions, it would be on his terms, not hers.
"It doesn't," Piper shook her head, knowing that there were a thousand other things he could be instead of a ghost or a demon. "Then what are you? Poltergeist? Nightmare?"
"I'm not a danger to you, your sisters, or your son." Cole replied, hoping to ease any concerns that the witch had about him. "And before you start jumping at me for even mentioning your son, I know I have no right to talk about him, I know that, I was just making sure you understood that I am not after you in any way, shape or form. That's all. I simply want to teach young witches and magical children the considerable knowledge that I have in the hopes that they can use it to do a lot of good in the world, and most importantly, they can use it to better protect themselves."
Piper noticed that he did not say sons, which meant that he was unaware of Chris' birth. "I'm not worried about that, but my sisters are, and I want to be able to answer their questions." Piper replied honestly, the idea that he was after Wyatt or Chris having not crossed her mind. If he was after Wyatt or Chris, she assumed that he would have a lot less detailed of a plot than pretending to teach at magic school. "So what are you?"
"I'm a ranger, a soul ranger to be exact, a guardian angel-like being that goes around and helps lost souls, protects the Earthly realm from skeletal beings, and fights soul collectors." Cole answered honestly, giving into Piper, deciding that answering the questions was a better tactic than continuing to be hassled by them. "All of the powers that I have now are not demonic, and they only relate to my duties as a ranger."
"Soul ranger?" Piper almost laughed, finding it funny that such a thing existed. "How come I've never heard of such a thing?"
"Because the book is written by witches who are alive or never experienced life as a lost soul," Cole replied easily, recognizing the fact that the book was added to by past witches after they had died in some cases. He got back to his feet and walked over to Piper, before manually turning the pages of the book himself, which elicited a gasp of shock from Piper. He stopped on the page that explained about soul collectors, showing Piper what he meant. "Most of my charges are dead." He explained, before flipping through another few pages and stopping on the page about skeletal beings. Then, he took a step back and allowed Piper to read the page, his gaze moving around the attic. "Plus, there aren't many of us and you aren't supposed to know about us. And as for the name, would a ghost buster be more professional to you?"
Piper ignored his joke, instead focusing on the content behind what he said. "I've fought a skeletal being before, how come a soul ranger didn't show up then?"
"Because when you fought Necron, he was after a life, not a soul." Cole answered simply, remembering the incident where Phoebe had turned into a mermaid. "Rangers only concern themselves with souls, and rarely ever get involved with things like that. Even ghosts, ones that may stray into the territory of a ranger are often left for witches to handle, unless a soul collector gets involved and even then, if a witch is working on it before a ranger, the ranger will move on to another charge."
"You mean to tell me that you're good, that you actually help people?" Piper inquired, double checking to make sure that was what Cole was saying.
"More neutral than good, but yes, I help people," Cole nodded in the affirmative, realizing that it was a far cry from his days as Belthazor, the demonic soldier of fortune that had killed witches and innocents alike. "Don't act too surprised now."
Piper stared at Cole for a second, and then a thought popped into her head, something that didn't sit right with what she knew about Cole. "What's in it for you?" She questioned, recalling how Cole never did something without a plan, without a benefit to himself or an ulterior motive.
"An opportunity," Cole answered cryptically, not going into more detail than that. What he was getting out of being a ranger was something private and important, not something that he felt Piper needed to know.
"Piper, are you up here?" Phoebe's voice came, as she opened the attic door and entered the room, attempting to find her older sister. Her smile faded when she saw Cole, and her eyes went wide with rage. "What is he doing here?"
"I summoned him," Piper answered, taking a step in between Cole and Phoebe, as if to separate the two "He's answered your questions, and I am satisfied with what he had to say."
"I have a new question for him," Phoebe spat, pointing at him threateningly. She walked towards him, stopping about five feet before him, continuing to stare at him as she thought of what she wanted to say to him. "What hell did he crawl out of in order to sneak back into our lives?"
"I didn't go back to the Wasteland after my last vanquish," Cole answered sarcastically, annoyed with Phoebe's attitude. "Because reality reset itself at the exact moment I died, I was stuck in the void between life and death, unable to move on. I didn't go to hell and I have no intention of entering your lives, let alone by sneaking back into them. Either way, it was good seeing you Piper, good luck with everything. And goodbye, Phoebe." He nodded to both sisters, and then sparkled out of the attic in a silhouette of grey orbs that rose into the air and disappeared.
"What the hell was that, Piper?" Phoebe turned on her sister, narrowing her gaze. Piper had told both her and Paige to drop it, and here she was going behind their backs and talking to Cole, a fact that made her quite angry.
"He wasn't going to answer your questions if you asked them, Phoebe, but I knew he would if I asked them." Piper answered honestly, leaving the attic and walking down stairs with Phoebe following closely behind her. "He's not evil, and he wants nothing to do with us."
"He's a demon, of course he's evil, Piper!" Phoebe snapped, still not believing that Cole wasn't evil and wasn't there to turn her evil again. Her biggest fear in the world was that she would turn evil again, and in order to prevent that, she was constantly vigilant to any temptation that may come about, this one being no different.
"He's not a demon; he's a ranger, a power ranger or a soul ranger or something like that." Piper said, recalling what Cole had told her just moments prior to Phoebe's entrance into the attic. "He helps people, Phoebe, he's good….or neutral, his words, not mine."
"It's a lie," Phoebe said, adamant in her beliefs about Cole.
"What is?" Paige questioned as she walked up the stairs, while Phoebe and Piper walked down.
"Cole being good," Piper answered in an exasperated tone, hoping that she would be able to get through to Phoebe soon.
"Oh, that again," Paige sighed, as she passed the sisters and continued to walk up the stairs, apparently not wanting to think about it.
"Phoebe, just drop it." Piper ordered, entering the kitchen to start on making dinner for the family. "Until he makes an attempt to ruin our lives, or even intrude on them, just move on and forget about it."
"He's not your ex-husband, Piper." Phoebe snapped, knowing that if Cole was Piper's ex, she would have the same feelings as her.
"I get that," Piper nodded in understanding, turning on the stove and heating up some hot water. "But I also see that you may not be thinking as clearly as you would be if he wasn't your ex-husband. I'm not saying you're wrong for the feelings that you have, all I'm saying is that your history with him may be skewing those feelings just a tad. We have no evidence, outside of him being alive, that he's after us."
"He's a soul ranger," Leo's voice came, as his body appeared in a silhouette of blue and white orbs. "They're the exact opposite of soul collectors, instead of using spirits for revenge, they help spirits move on. Phoebe, you remember the woman that was with Jackson Ward when you and Prue had to deal with that ghost, the one that you told me about?" Leo questioned, looking over to the middle sister, who gave a grunt of recognition in response. "I think her name was Charon, and if it was Charon, she was a soul collector. Yeah, he's the opposite of her, so he's not dead, but he might not necessarily be alive, either."
"We know," Piper informed her husband, as she poured some salt into the boiling pot of water. She grabbed a bowl of chicken stock form out of the refrigerator and brought it over to the pot, before dumping the contents of the bowl into the pot, as well.
"What, how?" Leo questioned confusedly, looking between Phoebe and Piper for an answer.
"Piper summoned him," Phoebe replied, rolling her eyes, still a bit perturbed by Piper's actions. While she knew Piper had good intentions by doing it, she still felt betrayed a little by what Piper did. "Still, I think he's evil and I'm going to be keeping on an eye on him just in case."
"He's not evil, Phoebe," Leo returned, sitting down at the kitchen table. "They wouldn't have chosen him if he was."
"Who chose him?" Phoebe asked, staring at Leo, wondering who in their right mind would allow Cole a chance to help people.
"Can't tell you that, Phoebe," Leo shook his head, making Phoebe wonder whether he didn't know who did it or it was a secret that he couldn't reveal.
"Why did they choose him?" Piper asked, wondering if Leo had any insight into that decision. In her mind, Cole Turner was many things, but a selfless guardian angel was not one of them. The thought of Cole and Leo being so similar in duties was mind-boggling to her, though she knew she would have to come to accept it sooner or later if it indeed turned out to be true.
"He's an enigma to the universe, and a near perfect fit for the duties that he has to perform." Leo replied honestly, seeing the brilliance in Cole's selection as a ranger. "He wasn't the first, or the only, and will not be the last half-demon to exist. There have been many before him and there will be many after him. What he did with his soul, however, was pretty unusual, an action that shows how intelligent his demonic half really was, in an evil sort of way."
"Go on," Phoebe prodded, wanting to know what Leo meant by that. She knew that Cole was very intelligent, it was one of the things that attracted her to him, but she did not know where Leo was going with what he had said.
"Many half-demons perform an act of supreme evil to burn away their humanity and their soul, usually by killing all of their mortal relatives. Other half-demons take a potion or a tonic, or even perform a dark ritual to extract their souls from their persons, making them a demon pure. Belthazor, meanwhile, suppressed his humanity and shuttered away his human soul, the person we know as Cole Turner, minimizing it to the point that he only allowed it to stay with him so he could better infiltrate the human world." Leo continued, gazing over at Phoebe, explaining what made Cole so special. "It wasn't until he met and fell in love with you, Phoebe, that his human soul even had a chance to gain some power, and in time, was able to suppress his demonic self, Belthazor. Hence, technically speaking, before the Source and all that other stuff happened, Cole, or rather his soul, was an innocent. And being almost an innocent that had knowledge of the magical world, the ability to wield massive amounts of power, a desire to atone for past mistakes, and being a spirit that can't move on, he was a near perfect candidate to be a ranger."
The next week passed by quickly, and before Phoebe knew it, she was sitting in the back of the classroom in Cole's demonology class. She had tried to talk Paige and Piper into attending with her, but unfortunately for her, neither wanted to waste their time. Begrudgingly, Phoebe went to the class alone, feeling a bit awkward, but knowing that someone needed to keep an eye on Cole. She waited for Cole to arrive, trying not to eavesdrop on the school's rumors that all of the students were currently whispering about. She thought back to her own days during high school and she couldn't help but smile at them, remembering them as fun and easy, not filled with threats against her life from demons and warlocks alike.
"Hello, everybody," Cole smiled as he walked into the room, his eyes briefly meeting the students before stopping on Phoebe. He immediately noticed that, unlike last time, Phoebe was the only Halliwell there, which to him meant he was making progress. "I'm glad to see everyone is back and I didn't scare anyone off during our last session together."
"We've been waiting for this class since we've started magic school, do you think you'll scare us off that easily?" A female witch joked, erupting a round of laughter from the rest of the class.
"Touché," Cole grinned, knowing that the students were excited to be in his class. It wasn't necessarily the curriculum that made them excited, but rather what it represented—they were almost done with school and they'd be out in the real world soon. "So I believe we finished going over the basic hierarchy of the Underworld last time, which allows us to go over each tier in more depth from now on. Today, we'll be going over the outcasts that have been expelled from the Underworld by the Source, as well as touch on bottom tier of warlocks and evil witches, which will be the subject of next week's class. Are there any questions so far?" Cole asked, looking around the room, wondering if anyone was confused about anything.
Seeing no one raise their hand or voice their questions, Cole turned and drew the pyramid back onto the chalkboard like he did during the first class. "Firstly, let's discuss the outcasts, those exiled from the Underworld." He started, circling the bottom tier to show what he meant. "These evil pariahs, for lack of a better word, are expelled for a variety of reasons, but mainly because the Source didn't want to have to deal with them. For instance, around twenty or so years ago, Kurzon, once one of the most powerful and familiar outcasts, rallied a faction of demons and tried to lead a coup against the Source. The Source, apparently aware of the fact that he risked possible defeat in a head to head battle with Kurzon, decided to outcast Kurzon instead of fighting him personally."
"Where do the outcasts go?" A female witch with blonde hair questioned, wondering if the demons had another home that she didn't know about. "What exactly does it mean to be made an outcast?"
"They teleport around the realms, from plane to plane," Cole answered with a shrug, having no specific knowledge on the subject since every outcast was different. When he was the most wanted demon in the entire Underworld, he shimmered around the planes in an effort to keep the Source from realizing he was still alive, but he was never banished and could therefore be seen in the Underworld. "They are not forced to go anywhere; they just cannot be seen in the Underworld or face being attacked on sight. Kurzon and his second in command Keats usually stayed on Earth, though some have been known to find a home in the other realms, especially Avalon. As for the outcast process, all it means is that they cannot be seen in the Underworld or else all demons would be after them, which clearly is dangerous. It's not like there is a bounty on their head, instead it just means that demons have an obligation to attack the exile should they see him or her."
A male witch raised his hand, itching to find out why Kurzon thought he was powerful enough to fight the Source. "What kind of powers does Kurzon have?"
"Well, he was vanquished by the Charmed Ones, so he doesn't have any powers," Cole informed them, referencing Kurzon's vanquish nearly three years prior, to which he was an eyewitness. "But to show the type of powers that an outcast would have, when he was alive, Kurzon was an extremely capable demon; he could teleport from place to place in a way reminiscent of both shimmering and fading sometimes called flaring or gleaming, depending on the speaker; he could also reconstitute himself if he was blown up by molecular powers, he additionally possessed super strength, and finally, he could throw highly potent energy balls, some of the strongest in the Underworld. He was also highly resistant to injury, being able to even fend off a direct hit from one of the Source's fireballs, and if he ever was injured, he was able to regenerate at a rapid pace. However, I would imagine his abilities were not limited to those powers, so even if you think you know an enemy, you may not know him as well as you think, which is something to remember."
"Why did Kurzon betray the Source?" A red-haired girl in the front questioned, wondering what would make a demon go against the Source like Kurzon had.
"Because he's a demon," Cole replied simply with a shrug of his shoulders, knowing exactly the way demons worked. As Belthazor, there were many times that the demon inside of him wanted to kill someone just to kill them, but his human soul and his considerable intelligence kept him from doing that, knowing that it would not benefit him in the long run. "And that's what demons do. Beyond that, however, Kurzon was trained by the Ordo Malorum to be a general in the demonic legion, to be a leader in the Underworld. He did that for countless of years before he was tired of following and wanted to lead for himself. His own ego led to his banishment by the Source, which led to his eventual vanquish."
"Are there any outcasts still alive?" The red-haired girl followed up, seeing if there were other outcasts that roamed about the world.
"Sure," Cole nodded in the affirmative, numerous banished demons or clans immediately jumping to his mind. "I only used Kurzon as an example because I was well aware of his case. There are demons that have been captured in the Source's dungeon because the Source didn't know how to vanquish them, demons like the entrapped Zankou—speaking of which, I have a story about Zankou and the Source that I will tell you about when we start discussing the Source, so be ready for that. But back to the Source's dungeon, there is an old saying about it that I think conveys the message quite nicely: you're dead, damned, or desperate if you're down there, so it's obviously not a place a demon wants to be. Anyway, if the Source can capture them, he tries to capture them, if not, they are banished like in the case of the vampires because the Source does not want to risk a one on one battle with them—after all, he could very well lose and be vanquished as a result or even have his authority questioned if his victory isn't convincing enough. That is especially true with the vampires. The vampires, because of their ability to expand their armies at a quick pace, were banished by the Source hundreds of years ago out of fear. Each vampire queen rules over her coven and has full control over her vampire family, which shows that a vampire queen could have a loyal army to fight against the Source should they so choose, perhaps justifying the Source's fear of them."
A younger-looking boy in the back of the class who was usually quiet looked up to Cole with a questioning glance. "Are vampires mortals?"
"Individual vampires can be turned from mortals or witches or other magical species, but the vampire queens are demons pure." Cole informed them, remembering his various dealings with the vampires as the Source. "People are turned into vampires when another vampire bites them. However, it is not until a new vampire has tasted blood and killed their first innocent do they truly convert into vampires, as is the case of many types of monsters that we will discuss in the future." Cole finished, and then realizing that it would probably be good to give them more information, he bit his lip, thinking about what specific vampire traits that he knew. "As a side bar, to kill a vampire, you must drive a stake through their heart or destroy the vampire queen. An individual vampire's powers are numerous, such as limited shape shifting into the form of a bat, super strength, resistance to injury, the ability to cling to solid surfaces, enhanced senses, and flight while in bat form. Be warned, that as vampires grow in age, they become immune to the powers of a witch, which is something to be cognizant about."
"When you say that vampire queens are demons pure, you mean that vampires are a race of demons?" Another boy asked with furrowed brows, having always thought that vampires were vampires and not demons.
"Not quite," Cole shook his head in the negative, not having meant that exactly. "Legend has it that, before the time of the Elders themselves, a demon, or a warlock more likely, was attacked by a swarm of bats after he tried to kill a witch. Apparently the witch had the ability to control animals, and to defend herself, she set the bats loose on him, which transferred onto him some bat-like qualities when he was bitten by them. The demon survived and got away, and eventually had five daughters, each of whom had the powers of a bat and an unworldly taste for blood—the first vampire queens. Through the generations, the legitimately born children of the original daughters became pure vampires themselves, who make up all of the various vampire queens that are found in the world. And by legitimate children, I mean those actually born to the vampire queens, rather than transformed into vampires by being bitten by one."
A half an hour passed, with Cole discussing various other demons and beings that had banished and made an outcast by the Source. Eventually, the lecture moved on to the start of the warlock and evil witches. "Warlocks that are born from warlocks do not bleed and have the ability to transform into a monstrous appearance, which enhances their powers," Cole recited, knowing that when a warlock transformed into their monstrous appearance, his or her resistance to injury was greatly enhanced and they gained limited super strength. "A warlock born to two warlocks is tainted by evil, and while they can renounce their ways, they usually do not. Eventually, as the line of warlocks grows through the ages and they become more evil, their souls slowly transform into demonic essences before they too are demons and not warlocks anymore. That's what truly makes warlocks different than evil witches—warlocks are almost demonic, while dark witches are just evil and dark, but still very much mortal."
"I always thought that dark witches were simply witch practitioners, rather than magical witches like us." A boy supplied, having always misunderstood the distinction.
"Well, evil witch practitioners are dark witches, so you're not incorrect in that statement, but magical witches can also be dark witches, as well." Cole said, informing him that his assessment wasn't entirely wrong. "And for those who don't know, witch practitioners are those witches who do not have magical powers themselves, but still have a latent witch gene that allows them to use energy around them to perform magic."
"Mr. Turner, sir?" A brown-haired witch said slowly, holding her hand high in the air.
"Yes, Sara?" Cole asked, raising a questioning eyebrow, wondering why she raised her hand when he allowed them to just voice their questions. What was so important that she felt the need to be so formal?
"You know my name?" Sara replied, surprised that Cole knew her name. He was a new teacher, and they had only seen each other twice, so she had no expectation that he would actually know who she was.
"A teacher is supposed to know their students' names, no?" Cole smiled at her, which earned a large grin from Sara. In the back of the room, Phoebe cocked an eyebrow, noticing the class's interaction with Cole, which appeared to show that they all liked him very much. "What was your question?"
"Last week, when explaining the difference between dark witches and warlocks, you mentioned the mythical window." Sara started with a nervous look on her face, clearly upset by something. "When does this window apply? And why doesn't evil just use a spell to turn witches evil during that window?"
"Well, this is more of a topic for next week, but I'll answer it today instead. The mythical window applies when a witch comes into his or her powers fully. In other words, when you all graduate from magical school and turn either 18 or 19, the 48 hour window will start. Do not worry about evil putting you under a spell, however, as they cannot do that. They must respect free will. They can seduce you, tempt you, but they cannot cross over into outright mind-control." Cole answered, and then upon seeing a few faces in the class, he added, "Don't be frightened; you are all good people, wonderful witches, and the window will pass with you all being the same good people that you are today."
"I hope so," Sara muttered fearfully, clearly unnerved by the idea of the mythical window. She always thought that, being born to two good witch parents that she would always be good and could not be changed, but hearing about the mythical window and how her morality was still open to change was not something that made her comfortable.
Sensing the class's apprehension, Cole nodded in understanding, knowing how draining a lecture could be, both mentally and emotionally. "You know what?" He started, running his gaze over the class, hoping to ease their concerns. "I see that you are all tired and I know we're a tad early today, but let's stop here. I've given you some preliminary information about warlocks, evil witches, and the mythical window, so read up some more on that for next week, and I'll see you then."
The students bustled around as they left the classroom, allowing Cole to gather his own things up to leave. "Mr. Turner?" A voice said from behind him, making him turn back around to face the student.
"Yes, Tag?" Cole questioned, raising a curious eyebrow at the student. Tag Sampson was a witch from the east coast that had the ability to teleport by way of smoking, a power that earned him his nickname of Tag for his penchant for appearing and disappearing when his power first awoke as a child.
"My girlfriend is in your gypsy and shaman demonology class, and she said that you went over something different than you did with us, I was wondering if I missed something last class that I should know." Tag asked, hoping that he hadn't missed a topic in the previous class.
"Oh no," Cole shook his head in the negative, knowing the exact reason for the differences in his lectures. "Because I'm not as familiar with gypsies and shamans as I am with witches, I teach them more from a book than I do for you guys here, where I use my personal knowledge instead. Likewise in the elemental class, I teach the firestarters and the rest a little different class than I do you witches. I know about firestarters and windwalkers and the rest, but I don't know them that well, and they all face different threats from the Underworld than do witches. Don't worry, in the end, my three demonology classes will have gone over basically the same things."
"Thanks," Tag replied, before walking out of the class and joining the rest of his friends in the hallway.
Phoebe slowly rose to her feet, and after Tag left, walked up to Cole, who had returned to gathering his things. "Cole," Phoebe said, coming up to him after the class was over once more.
"Phoebe, I'm sorry but I really don't have time to talk to you, I'm busy today." He said, grabbing his bag and making to sparkle away. Acting quickly, Phoebe reached out and took hold of Cole's sports jacket, tagging along on his teleportation and disappearing from the classroom in a flurry of grey orbs.
A/N: Yes, Keats mentioned as Kurzon's second in command was the Keats from "BiteMe." I figure the faction that Keats led was Kurzon's faction, after Kurzon was vanquished, hence why the Source was distrustful of him and why Keats himself tried to ally himself with the vampires.