Disclaimer: I don't own charmed
Chapter 10: Old Flames and New Fire
"Ok, I'm ready to go," Phoebe announced, coming down the stairs. Piper, Paige, Leo, and Kyle were all in the foyer. The sisters had sent Grams back soon after Chris and Andy had left.
"Well it's about time," Paige complained. The quartet had been waiting downstairs for over an hour. "What did you do; try on every pair of clothes you own twice?"
"Hey," Phoebe objected. "A girl's gotta look good." The sisters just rolled their eyes at that.
"Let's just go," Piper ordered, moving towards the door. "Look out!" she suddenly shouted just as a fireball whizzed past Paige's ear. The sisters turned to see where the fireball had come from, and came face to face with Chris and Bella.
"Belthazar," Phoebe breathed with too many emotions to count. She felt shock, rage, fear, confusion, and hundreds of other things at once. "How…?" Phoebe didn't finish her sentence, because Piper pulled her out of the way of another fireball.
"There's potions in the kitchen," Paige stated, grabbing her sisters by the arm and orbing to said room.
Once in the kitchen, Phoebe immediately started rummaging through cabinets, looking for something.
"He did look an awful lot like Belthazar. Didn't he?" Piper asked, turning to Paige. "Do you think it was really him?"
"I'm sure it was," Phoebe answered. "The way he fought, looked, and even moved. I trained with Cole for years. That was him. I just don't know how. Here we go!" Phoebe exclaimed, pulling a dusty vial from the back of the cabinet.
"What's that?" Paige asked, pointing to the potion.
"It's what's left of the Belthazar vanquishing potion we made years ago. I kept a vial back here…just in case."
"Auntie Paige! Auntie Phoebe! Mom!" Chris called, creepily, as he entered the kitchen.
"Chris?" Piper asked, standing up from behind the island where the sisters had been hiding. "What's going on?"
"Just having a little fun," Bella's deep voice growled from the other side of the kitchen. She was standing there, holding an energy ball, posed to strike.
"I don't think so Cole," Phoebe yelled, throwing the vial at the demon before her.
The potion hit Bella square in the chest. She hollered in pain as the flames grew around her; then they stopped. The flames receded, leaving a large burn mark in the center of her chest.
Bella laughed. It was a horrible laugh, deep and maniacal. The laugh then turned into a cough, which was just as evil. It sounded like a bad case of black lung, and you could hear things rattling around in her chest. She dropped to her knees, and Chris ran to her. The two orbed away quickly.
"Where are they?" Leo asked as he and Kyle orbed into the room. "We went upstairs to get the potions."
"They're already gone," Phoebe answered dejectedly. "It was Belthazar. I know it was. We have to stop him." Phoebe began to march toward the attic, prepared for battle.
"I don't think so," Paige said, following her sister up the stairs. "It looked different."
"I agree with Paige," Piper added, following her sisters upstairs. "Oh, Leo and Kyle, why don't you guys talk to the elders. See if they know anything about the demon Chris is working with, and where Andy is."
"Phoebe, what are you doing?" Paige asked annoyed. "It wasn't Belthazar. The demon looked more…feminine."
"It was him!" Phoebe growled. "It wasn't just his looks; it was behavior too. Here," she said, passing a sweater to Paige. "We can summon him using this. It was Cole's."
"Phoebe," Paige started again, but Piper stopped her.
"No, she needs to do this. She needs to know that Cole and Belthazar are gone," Piper explained.
The sisters placed the crystals on the floor, and said the summoning spell. To Piper and Paige's great surprise, white lights began to form. In a few moments, Cole was standing in there midst.
He looked different than the sisters remembered. He didn't look his usual well-groomed self. Instead, he wore torn jeans and a white sleeveless shirt. He was unshaven, and his hair looked unkempt.
"Cole?" Phoebe asked, still not believing it was true. "You're alive?"
"In a sense," Cole said sarcastically.
"How, and why do you look so…scruffy?" Paige asked, bewildered.
"I'm a warrior on Valhalla. What am I doing here anyway?" Cole asked confused.
"You attacked us," Piper explained, "earlier tonight, as Belthazar."
"I did not. You got rid of my demon half years ago. It wasn't me."
"No," a graveled voice growled from the shadows, "it was me." Bella stepped out of the shadows, in all of her glory.
"Who are you?" Paige asked, now thoroughly confused.
"She's an old friend," Chris explained from the doorway. "Don't," he ordered as Piper raised her hands to blow up Bella. "We're not here for you…this time. We just need your help."
"Help?" Piper asked.
"Yes," Chris said smugly, moving into the room. "I'm looking for my big brother. You see, I've had a change of heart. I spent years battling evil, him, and now I'm done. I need you to do a blood to blood spell, and get him for me, so we can have a little chat."
"Why would we want to do that?" Paige asked defiantly.
"Because if you don't, Andy dies," Chris bluffed. "I have her hidden in the underworld. Do you really want her death on your conscience?"
"We'll do it," Phoebe agreed, much to her sister's surprise.
"That won't be necessary," another voice announced.
"Doesn't anybody knock anymore?" Piper yelled frustrated. "Wyatt?" she asked once he walked out from another corner of the attic.
"Can someone please either send me back, or get me out of this circle?" Cole asked, frustrated. Paige, against her better judgment, removed a crystal so that Cole could get out from the center of the conflict.
"So you finally decided to join me little brother?" Wyatt asked, moving closer to Chris. "And you brought Andy along too."
"Andy?" the sisters asked confused, reminding Wyatt they were still in the room.
"Leave us," Wyatt ordered, and, with a wave of his hand, sent the sisters and Cole away. "Now, Christopher, we should be going."
"I don't think so," Chris answered, as Bella moved to his side. "I like it just fine here." With a wave of his hand, Chris sent Wyatt flying across the room and into a nearby cabinet.
Bella laughed at an unconscious Wyatt. "Is it time for fun yet?" She asked, eager for bloodshed.
"Patience," Chris stated, just before orbing himself away. Bella followed.
Hey guys, I hope you liked this Chapter. I know Cole is supposed to be trapped on some plane, but I love him far too much.