When the Elder regained consciousness, he noticed that he couldn't orb. He looked down at the ground and saw five medium sized white crystals surrounding him. He was trapped and by the Charmed Ones at that.
"Good. You're awake." Piper said. "Now you are GOING to tell us what you know about this new Evil that has made the Angel of Fate take my family away. You have to the count of three to start talking before things get painful." To prove her point, Piper threw a small crystal at the circle of white crystals and the Elder was knocked to his knees by a mind sheering pain.
"Okay, okay." The Elder said. "An Angel of Fate came to use about two weeks ago and told us of an ancient Evil that was being released on the land by some lower level demons. We tried everything we could think of and yet it was still released. We have been trying to track the power source ever since then but there was nothing we could do to stop it."
Prue used her magic to push one of the smaller crystals towards the Elders 'cell' and said, "Don't lie to me Elder. She said that if the Elders would have listened to her then this could have been avoided. What did she mean by that?"
The Elder flinched as the crystal caused him much less pain then before. "She meant that if some of the Elders would have done as Leo had many years ago and turned into Avatars, then we could have easily put a stop to the new Evil. In our ignorance, we thought that our powers would be enough when combined with yours to stop it. We were wrong. That is why we need your help so that we can help you in return."
"Let's stop playing these stupid games of cat and mouse, Elder." Piper said. "What is stopping you from becoming Avatars now? And please be frank with me because I'm sick of playing games with you."
"We would gladly become Avatars now if it was at all possible, but something extremely evil is keeping us from even staying on Earth too long. I don't see how I am able to be here right now without it killing me. But the main reason we cannot become Avatars is because of the simple fact that there are no more in this realm. Something happened today that messed with the Order. The Balance has shifted and Evil is taking power. We have to find a way to keep the universe in Balance or we all die."
"What could be doing that though?" Paige asked, joining in after she got through looking through the Book of Shadows. "Nothing in the book can tell us what's going on either."
"We believe that some of the lower level demons found a stone of great power. Three thousand years ago, the Elders of Old locked it away and both Angels and Demons guarded it because its powers were too great. It is our belief that these demons not only found the stone, but also found a way to distribute its power to others. It was called the stone of Leviathan and I'm not surprised that it is not in the Book because the Elders of Old removed any memory of it and that means any written documentation. The stone itself is probably small in size and jet black like the first one. Its powers are so great that I can't even begin to explain them."
Prue was about to show the Elder the black gem that the demon had left, but a quick look from Piper had set her straight. The message was clear: "Don't trust the Elder yet."
The look seemed to go unnoticed to the Elder. Piper looked back to the Elder and said, "Look Elder. Let me make this extremely simple. Do NOT come back here unless you are coming to tell me what demon to kill. I've lost my family once before and I don't intend to let them stay gone that long again. Oh, and if you even think about coming back before then, I will blow you up into a million tiny pieces that the other Elders will NEVER be able to put back together again. Am I clear?"
"Crystal." The Elder said trying, unsuccessfully at humor. When Piper kicked one of the crystals out of formation, the 'cell' disappeared and she told the Elder to get out. Once he had orbed out of the house, Piper seemed to relax again. It was then she started to smile.
"What's so funny Piper?" Prue asked.
"The Elder told me everything that I needed to know." Piper said simply. "He told me that the information was erased by the Elders of Old and its powers were too great to mention. So, in reality, he told me where to find the information and who the stone was actually intended for."
"How did you figure that?" Paige asked.
"Do you remember that one witch that we saved a couple of years after we defeated the Source the last time while we were in London? She was doing research on an ancient library that had disappeared long before the Elders had taken power and the ancient gods of Greece still ruled. I think that we need to have a little chat with her."
"But who was the stone meant for?" Prue asked intrigued.
"The stone was found the day that the Balance was knocked out of place and all of the Avatars are gone now. The Elders can't come to Earth and it almost killed Chris. It even knocked out an Elder just from it barely touching it. Obviously it was meant for Avatars and Elders, which coexist with Whitelighters." As Piper stopped talking she realized that they would have to leave San Francisco unprotected from demons. She reached for the Book of Shadows and flipped through till she found was she was after. A very powerful potion that would allow them to leave and still have their home protected.
After much preparation and brewing, the potion was ready. Piper dipped the potion into three vials and handed one to each sister. She also handed them a sheet of paper that had the spell written on it. They all three chugged the potion and recited, "Dragon seeds and Iceland Poppy, make me now a carbon copy."
There was a bunch of light surrounding the three sisters as magic took on a pure form and copied them exactly. They could go see this researching witch and still leave San Francisco protected because the copies had their magic too. The three real sisters just had to get back before the copies started thinking they were the real sisters because then they would have to fight them and it just wasn't worth the hassle.
"Paige, did you ever keep up with the girl?" Piper asked, not thinking about that beforehand.
"Yeah, she owns her own book shop in that little Wizard shopping area called Diagon Alley. I believe she called it Hermione's Books and More."
"Ok then can you orb us there?" Prue asked.
"Maybe, I've never orbed into a Wizard society before and we know that their magic is different than outs."
"Just try." Piper said, excitement clear on her face as Paige grabbed her two sisters' hands as she orbed towards London.
