A/N: Thanks so much to foreverprue, Joleca, lizardmomma, and Draco's-Loyal-Longing for reviewing. I'm glad you all liked it. Hope you like this next chapter!
Chapter Two
Phoebe stared at Cole. "I'm sorry, what?"
Cole gave a nervous laugh. "The source. We can't honestly expect to survive down here as long as he's alive. At least not indefinitely."
Phoebe walked up closer to him. "I didn't know we planned to stay down here indefinitely. Only until it was safe to go back up."
"How long did you think that would be? A couple days? Weeks?"
Phoebe didn't reply, knowing what he was getting at. She turned her gaze to the ground.
"We have to start going over our options. And, luckily, the Seer has provided help on the most obvious one," Cole continued, glancing at the demon, who was watching the two with both amusement and impatience.
"So we're going to kill the Source...and then what, Cole? Stay down here while the Underworld remains in chaos? They'll all be fighting to gain control. We'll be sitting ducks here!" Phoebe tried to reason with him.
Cole shrugged. "No, actually, we won't."
Phoebe waited for him to elaborate, but when it was clear he wouldn't she decided to press on.
"Then what are we going to do?"
Cole exchanged a quick look at the Seer before flashing Phoebe a mysterious smile. "When the time is right, you'll know."
Phoebe knew the conversation was over, and allowed the Seer to come in closer to the cave, not at all happy about it.
The Seer nodded to Phoebe, obviously pleased to have been accepted, but Phoebe didn't return it. Instead she turned to Cole.
"You better be right about this."
When Piper woke up the following morning, she was immediately greeted by stillness. It was so quiet without Phoebe. She got up and took a shower, remembering how she and her younger sister would constantly fight over the hot water. A single tear fell down her cheek. How would she ever get past this?
When she went to the kitchen twenty minutes later, she saw that Prue was thinking the same thing. She was sitting at the kitchen table, staring into her coffee, or rather looking right through it. Piper got the sense that she was trying to look into the Underworld somehow and see if Phoebe was okay.
"Morning," Piper announced as she went to pour herself a cup of coffee.
Prue jolted up in her seat. "Morning, Piper. Did you sleep?"
"Not a wink," Piper answered, sitting down beside Prue.
Prue nodded. "Me neither. I can't stop thinking about Phoebe. How could she go down there when she knew something like this could happen?"
Piper shrugged. "She had no way of knowing that we would be exposed, or that the Source would offer a deal."
"Yeah, but she had to have known there would be a possibility. I mean, we've been witches for three years! How could she be so careless like that?" Prue snapped.
"Prue, this isn't Phoebe's fault. And sitting here blaming her isn't helping the situation. We just need to accept that we have to wait," Piper said, trying to stay calm. She understood Prue's anger. She was angry, too. But blaming Phoebe for something that was out of her control wasn't fair.
Prue let out a bitter laugh. "I bet Cole was just waiting for this opportunity."
Piper gave her a pointed glare. "What do you mean by that?"
"How do we know that Cole has truly turned? Phoebe went down there trying to save him. What if she never got the chance? What if all this happened before she could use the potion on him, and he's keeping her down there?" Prue asked, looking horrified.
"Oh come on, Prue. Leo said that Phoebe was safe with him. And besides, he wouldn't have left her alone with him if he were still evil," Piper argued.
"Cole will always be evil, no matter how much he tries to change that. But I'm not convinced. We have to do something, Piper. We're too vulnerable up here without her."
Piper shrugged. She knew it was pointless to try to talk Prue out of something she had already set her mind to. Prue was the oldest, therefore she felt it was her duty to protect her and Phoebe.
Prue stood up and dumped her cold coffee in the sink, then hurried out of the kitchen to, Piper assumed, the attic.
Piper didn't go after her, knowing it would be useless. She drank her coffee in silence. She wasn't all too worried about Prue going off into the Underworld without her. Prue would ask Piper to go with her if she came up with a plan, and Piper wasn't eager to venture down there and go against Leo's advice. Not just because he was her husband. Leo was right; it would be playing right into the Source's hands.
But that wouldn't stop Prue from trying.
At that moment Leo came into the kitchen, looking as depressed as Piper felt. "Hey, honey," Leo said, walking over and kissing her on the cheek.
"Hi."
"How's Prue doing?" Leo asked, taking the seat that Prue had just abandoned.
Piper sighed and shook her head. "I don't know. She's been ranting about how Phoebe could be so careless to let herself get trapped in the Underworld. I think she's in the attic now trying to find a way to get down there and save her."
At this Leo's eyes widened. "And you let her?" he stared at Piper in shock.
"No, I did not let her! She's just grieving in her own way. Besides, it's not as though she's going to find anything."
"If you say so. But still, I think you should go up there just in case," Leo said as he took a sip of Piper's coffee.
Piper waved him off. Even if he didn't think so, she knew that Prue would never do something that irrational. Now--especially after learning that a dumb mistake like vanquishing a demon in broad daylight on a public street could alert the world to their true identities--she was sure of it.
"So," Piper started, determined to change the subject, "feel like pancakes?"
Leo grinned. "I'd love some."
Piper patted his shoulder as she stood up and began gathering all the ingredients she would need to start them. Leo helped her by getting out a large pan. Other than that, he knew to stay out of her way. She was a genius in the kitchen.
"Are you planning on going to P3 today?" Leo asked, trying to make conversation. He sat down on a stool behind the island.
"I haven't really thought about it. But I probably should. I can't let this whole thing ruin our lives any more than it already has," she replied. Then she eyed him curiously. "Why?"
"No reason. I just thought it might be good for you to get out of the house and try to move on from this," he explained.
"Well, care to join me? I don't really think I'm ready to go solo just yet since I'm sure Prue won't want to go," she said, looking at the ceiling in a helpless manner. It was meant to be an indication to Prue in the attic.
"Maybe you should try and get her to go. It might take her mind off things," he suggested.
"No, it won't. Prue isn't about to let this go, not until she's tried every magical way she can think of to get Phoebe back," she said, her tone indicating that she didn't approve.
"Then it'll just be you and me, then," he said, smiling.
Piper returned it and began spooning the batter onto the pan.
Leo got two plates from the cabinet and set them on the table. "I'm taking it Prue isn't joining us?"
"Probably not," Piper replied half-heartedly. She wasn't in the mood to talk about Prue anymore. It was giving her a headache.
Leo, getting the hint, nodded in understanding. Piper was about to get down a plate to put all the pancakes on, when Prue called down to her.
"Piper! Leo!"
Prue sounded worried, like when a demon shimmered into the attic. Leo and Piper quickly glanced at each other before hurrying up the stairs.
"Prue? What is it?" Piper asked as she and Leo ran into the attic.
What she saw made her stop in her tracks.
Prue was standing behind the Book of Shadows, staring at the ghosts of Grams and their mother, who stood-well floated really-on the circular red rug surrounded by five white candles.
"Grams? Mom? What are you doing here?" Piper asked, shocked.
Grams looked at her sympathetically. "Piper. The four of us need to have a little talk."
Phoebe sat on the cave floor, her head in her hands, feeling like she was going to explode with frustration. She couldn't believe that Cole trusted this Seer, and they had been talking for what was certainly hours. They were discussing battle plans, ways in which the Source was vulnerable, and which demons would be the easiest to go after.
They tried getting her involved in the discussion, but she wouldn't. It seemed her whole life now was based around the Source and, quite frankly, it pissed her off. He had taken so much from her. If she had to talk about him while hiding from him, she'd go insane.
She already was, though. It felt that way. Her mind was constantly drifting back to her sisters, and thinking about them made her angry, too.
Yes, she and Cole had told Leo to make them stay far away from the Underworld, but she couldn't help but feel anger towards them for not even trying to save her.
She was being unfair, she knew, but she couldn't help it. If they loved her as much as she thought they did, then they would be defying Leo by now and blasting their way through the Underworld, going through every demon that got in their way in order to find her. That's what she would do, anyway.
Then something made her pause. What was wrong with her? She never bore this much negativity toward her sisters. Not unless they truly deserved it. And listening to Leo and staying away in order to stay safe definitely didn't qualify.
Maybe it was the exhaustion. Phoebe didn't think she had ever been this tired in her life. She'd have thought that a few hours sleep, even if it was on a cave floor in the Underworld, would solve that problem, but apparently nothing worked the same down here.
But it felt different, too. Almost as if her power were draining out of her along with her energy. It didn't feel good.
She turned to where Cole and the Seer were talking and debated on whether or not to tell Cole about this. He would probably tell her she was being silly. And paranoid. Besides that, he was so engrossed in his conversation with the Seer that he probably wouldn't be too happy about being interrupted. Even though she knew for a fact that the potion to turn Cole good again had worked, she didn't want a repeat of the scene that took place before that.
So that left her back at square one. Alone with only her thoughts. How she wished that there was some way that she could contact her sisters and let them know she was okay. That way maybe all three of them could have some closure. Not that this was goodbye. She was determined about that. She would see them again. She just didn't know when.
Then again, if Prue and Piper weren't looking for her, then would they really care whether Phoebe gave them closure or not? Phoebe's bitter feelings came back as sudden as remembering a vivid dream. Did they really care that she was in the Underworld? Or did they blame her for being exposed? Would they have run into the street if she had been there?
Probably, Phoebe found herself thinking. It's not as if they would've listened to me anyway. I was just the irresponsible little sister to them. And in their eyes, there was nothing more irresponsible then leaving Prue and Piper to fight Shax on their own, knowing that only the Power of Three could vanquish him, just to save her demonic boyfriend.
"Phoebe, look out!" Cole's voice interrupted Phoebe's thoughts, and she looked up to see a bald demon scowling, preparing to throw an energy ball at her.
Phoebe ducked just as the energy ball whizzed past her shoulder. Cole jumped in front of her and threw an energy ball back at the demon, who deflected it easily. Phoebe looked back to see if the Seer was still there.
She was, and when she saw Phoebe looking at her she smirked, as if she knew something that Phoebe didn't.
"Phoebe!" Cole shouted again. Without looking behind her, Phoebe did a backward somersault, dodging another energy ball.
Pissed, Phoebe took out her sword and swung at the demon.
This caught him off guard, but not for long. He snarled at her, and threw a punch her way. She dodged it and glanced at Cole. He motioned for her to keep the demon occupied so he could go in for the kill. She threw the sword aside and did what she did best.
She threw every martial arts skill she knew to the demon, glad that he was there so that she could vent some of her frustrations out on him. Punch, punch, punch, kick, swing, dodge, punch, kick. It all came second-nature to her now, and nothing this demon threw at her was a surprise. He was lousy in fighting, she observed.
It was a fact made evident by Cole's surprise energy ball flying into the demon, making him scream and explode the way all the demons did.
Cole looked at Phoebe once the demon was gone, sweat glistening on his brow. "You okay?" he asked.
"Yes." Phoebe leaned down to pick up her sword. As she did so, she was overcome dizziness. She felt extremely light-headed, and lost her step.
She fell to the ground in one motion, and was only semi-aware of Cole rushing forward to try and break her fall.
The last thing she was aware of was Cole's arms wrapped securely around hers as she faded out of consciousness.
