A/N: This chapter is written from the narrative perspective rather than Phoebe's perspective. It just makes it easier for me to write it, plus it means that I can have scenes which Phoebe was not in, which helps the structure. This is almost a Paige replacing Prue's part in Bride and Gloom BUT there is a twist, otherwise I would not be bothering to write this chapter. :)

Chapter Ten

February 2001

The three sisters – Piper, Phoebe, and Paige – were sitting at the bar in P3. It was a busy evening and they were having a good sisterly talk.

Cole walked up behind Phoebe and wrapped his arms around her. He kissed her neck. Phoebe giggled. Piper and Paige were disgusted.

'This a public place, you know,' said Piper.

Piper jumped when she felt two arms wrap around herself.

'Get off me or I will blow you up!' shouted Piper.

Piper looked behind her to see Leo was the one embracing her. Piper relaxed.

'Hi there,' said Piper with a smile.

'Er, guys,' said Paige. 'This is still a public place.'

'Yeah, Piper,' said Cole. 'Why is it okay for you and Leo to show your affection in public, but not for me and Phoebe to do the same?'

Paige glared at Cole. She did not want him agreeing with her.

'Cole, you are a demon,' said Paige. 'It would never be right for you and Phoebe to be together.'

'Paige!' shouted Phoebe.

'What? Would you rather I say how I feel about him behind his back?' said Paige.

Piper was hardly paying attention to Phoebe and Paige's argument. Piper was too busy kissing Leo.

Piper stood up. Hand held in Leo's, Piper began to walk away with him.

Phoebe and Paige stopped arguing and exchanged looks.

'Do we want to know where they are going?' asked Paige.

Phoebe shook her head. 'Probably not. It is great how close they have gotten since their engagement, even if Piper is… you know… freaking out about planning the wedding.'

Cole pulled Phoebe to her feet, and said, 'Do you want to go and dance?'

Phoebe smiled, and then turned back to Paige. 'Paige, do you mind me ditching you?'

Paige shook her head. At least if Phoebe left that would mean that Cole would leave too.

Phoebe and Cole disappeared onto the dance floor.

Paige let her head slump onto the bar. She hated being the only single sister. Piper and Leo were engaged, and – however much Piper and Paige disliked it – Phoebe and Cole were in a serious relationship.

Paige felt a tap on her shoulder. She looked up. A good looking guy who only looked a year or two older than her was standing by her, smiling at her.

'Want me to buy you a drink?' the guy said.

Paige shrugged.

The guy laughed. He sat down on the stool next to Paige.

'I am Michael, by the way,' he said.

'Paige,' said Paige quietly.

'Nice name,' said Michael. 'What do you want to drink?'

'I don't want anything to drink,' said Paige.

Michael frowned. 'How about a dance?'

Paige shook her head.

'Then why are you at a club?' asked Michael.

'My sister owns the place. I came with my sisters,' said Paige.

'Then where are your sisters?' asked Michael, looking around.

Paige shrugged. 'One went off with her fiancé. The other disappeared with her boyfriend.'

'Well then, it looks like you could do with some company,' said Michael.

'Not with someone I have only just met,' said Paige.

'Number one: I meant company as in a conversation, nothing more, and nothing less. Number two: Who else – other than your sisters and their partners – have you got to talk to in this club that you have already met?'

Paige sighed. 'Fine. What do you want to talk about?'

'The fact that there is a demon in the alley about to kill an innocent,' said Michael seriously.

Paige sat bolt upright and stared at Michael.

'What?' said Paige. 'Why did you wait until just now to tell me? And who are you? How do you know about the existence of demons? How do you know what I am?'

Paige did not wait for an answer. She was already pushing her way through the crowds towards the back door. Michael was following her.

Cliff notes version: With the help of Michael, Paige vanquished the demon and saved the innocent. Michael convinced her that she did not need her sisters. Michael asked Paige whether he could see her the next day. Paige agreed to the prospect of a first date. Later that night, Paige realised she was missing her lipstick, but thought no more about it.

The next evening, Paige met Michael at their agreed location. It was a nice little outdoor café. They sat down at a table and ordered a meal. They chatted and discussed openly about their lives. Michael told Paige how he was a witch. They had a lot of common interests.

At the end of the date, Michael leant in for a kiss. Paige returned the kiss.

Suddenly, Paige found that she could not move. Also, she was no longer sitting in the café. She was in a dark courtyard.

Michael smirked evilly. He stood up and dragged Paige's paralysed body behind him. Paige was unable to regain any control.

'What is going on?' said Paige. 'Why can't I move?'

'A paralysing potion,' laughed Michael. 'I cannot believe you fell for that. I am not a witch. I am a warlock, and I am going to get my hands on the Book of Shadows.'

Paige saw a woman appear by an altar.

'You will never get the Book of Shadows! My sister will vanquish you and then they will save me!' shouted Paige.

Paige tried to orb, but she could not. This paralysing potion had also affected her powers.

Michael cackled.

'Dark priestess, will you do me the honours of making this Charmed One my bride?' said Michael.

'What? What? What?' shouted Paige in a panic. 'I don't want to get married! I think I like being single now!'

Michael laughed. 'Too late, witch.'

Michael clicked his fingers. Paige still found herself unable to move, but she was suddenly standing upright next to Michael.

'Let the marriage begin,' sneered Michael.

The dark priestess began to say the words. Paige gulped. She needed Piper and Phoebe.

A few hours later, the evil Piper and Phoebe blinked into the courtyard. The dark priestess had just stolen the evil Book of Shadows, and Piper and Phoebe wanted it back. Also, they expected Paige to be here, and wanted her back so as they could form an evil Power of Three.

There was no sign of Paige or the Book of Shadows. The dark priestess lay injured on the courtyard floor. An arrow had badly wounded her.

Piper and Phoebe ignored the dark priestess' dying groans of pain.

'Where do you think Paige is?' Phoebe asked Piper.

'I don't know,' said Piper. 'She cannot have been gone long or blinking would not have sent us here considering we sensed for her.'

'Hmm…' said Phoebe. 'Looks like our sister got her revenge on the dark priestess already.'

Piper nodded. 'We should go back to the manor and try and locate Paige and the Book.'

Piper and Phoebe blinked out of the courtyard.

Paige opened her eyes. The last thing she had remembered was the dark priestess finishing the ceremony and then everything had gone dark. Paige had been knocked out.

Paige was no longer in the courtyard. In fact, it looked like she was in the underworld. Paige stood up. She was in a room all by herself.

Michael and the dark priestess were nowhere to be seen. Had her sisters saved her? If they had, then why would Paige be in the underworld?

Paige heard the sounds of people approaching. Worried that it might be a demon, Paige panicked trying to think of a way to protect herself.

Suddenly a crossbow appeared in her hand in a puff of smoke. Paige eyed the crossbow in fear. Her fear quickly changed to excitement. Yes, she had somehow just summoned a crossbow like a dark lighter does, however it was a lot cooler than just telekinetically throwing things at people for protection.

Paige held the crossbow up, waiting for the people to come around the corner. Three demons came around the corner. Before they could react, Paige shot each of them with arrows from the crossbow. Obviously the poison was only fatal to a white lighter, but at least the arrows would slow the demons down.

Ten dark lighters suddenly orbed around Paige.

'Come with us, Paige,' said one of the dark lighters.

'Why?' said Paige. 'And how do you know my name?'

'It's your choice. Either you come with us and live, or stay here and let those demons kill you,' said the dark lighter. 'My name is Thorpe.'

'I can protect myself with this, Thorpe,' said Paige, gesturing at the crossbow.

'That is only fatal to a white lighter,' said the dark lighter. 'We used our arrows to injure the dark priestess, but only because we wanted to get in and out of there fast.'

Paige noticed that a few of the other dark lighters were now attacking the three demons. A dark lighter pressed his hand against a demons head and the demon began to scream as his head burnt into ash.

'That is so cool,' said Paige.

Thorpe laughed. 'If you come with us, we can teach you how to do that.'

Paige nodded. The dark lighters, Thorpe, and Paige orbed out.

Thorpe, Paige, and the dark lighters had orbed into a room full of comfy seats and dark lighters. The dark lighters grinned when they saw Paige.

'You got the Charmed One,' said one of the dark lighters.

'He did not get me, I decided to come with out of intrigue,' said Paige spitefully.

'So what do you think of our lair?' asked Thorpe.

Paige shrugged. 'It is okay. It could do with a better interior design and some central heating.'

Thorpe laughed. Paige looked at Thorpe.

'What happened?' said Paige. 'Why did I wake up in the underworld? You said that you attacked the dark priestess?'

Thorpe nodded. 'We sensed that you had become evil. Your witch side has become warlock, but you also have your white lighter half. You are now part dark lighter. The dark priestess had put you and that warlock husband into a coma, so as she could take control of the Book of Shadows. We did not want a dark lighter to be used in such a way, so we decided to ambush the courtyard, attack the dark priestess, and take you with us.'

'You have the Book?' asked Paige.

'Yes,' said Thorpe smiling. 'As part warlock, you are the only one here that can use spells, but we thought you would like to keep control of it.'

Paige smiled. 'Where's the Book?'

'In a secure room,' said Thorpe. 'We don't want any demons to get their hands on it.'

Paige nodded. 'Can you teach me that touch and burn thing now?'

Thorpe laughed. 'So eager to learn! And we call it the touch of death.'

Paige nodded. 'Teach me it.'

'We need to get ourselves a volunteer, first,' said Thorpe.

'I am sure you can find plenty of demons down here,' said Paige.

'Yes, but I want to use this as a chance for you to show us how committed to being a dark lighter you are,' said Thorpe.

'What are you trying to say?' asked Paige.

'My dark lighters are already on their way to find the victims that we want you to practice the touch of death on,' said Thorpe.

Paige asked, 'Who?'

'Sitting around at the manor is not doing anything!' said Phoebe. She was becoming aggravated.

'We would have left the manor by now if those demons had not kept attacking,' said Piper.

Piper and Phoebe were standing in the attic. The attic walls were full of scorch marks where demons had been blown up.

'Why do you think they keep attacking us?' Phoebe asked. 'We are evil now. We are on their side.'

'I think they are scared of us,' said Piper. 'Think about it. The evil Charmed Ones could defeat the Source. We could defeat the Source and become the new rulers of the underworld.'

Phoebe smiled. 'Power over the underworld. That sounds good, but first we need to find Paige and the Book.'

Piper nodded.

Suddenly a demon shimmered into the attic. Piper held her hands up at it and it burst into flames.

'I like the added touch of flames to your explosion power,' laughed Phoebe.

'Me too,' said Piper. 'It is fun to watch them scream in agony as they burn before they blow up.'

'So should we go to the underworld and try and sense for Paige there?' asked Phoebe.

'It means we can kill more of the Source's demons on the way,' said Piper.

Phoebe nodded with a wicked grin.

Suddenly four dark lighters orbed into the attic.

Piper rolled her eyes. 'You think you can defeat us?'

'Do you not see all those scorch marks in here?' laughed Phoebe. 'Many of those are the remains of demons. One is the remains of Piper's white lighter fiancé. Don't think we won't do the same to you four.'

'We don't want to hurt you,' said the dark lighter. 'We can take you to your sister.'

Piper and Phoebe exchanged looks.

'Why should we trust you?' said Piper.

'Paige is part dark lighter now,' said the dark lighter. 'We would never hurt her.'

'Why do you want us?' asked Phoebe.

'Your sister has the Book. She wants you to meet her in the underworld,' said the dark lighter.

'What is in it for you?' asked Piper.

'Yeah, I see why we would want to find Paige, and why she would want to find us. What I don't see is why you would want to help,' said Phoebe. 'You know that uniting the evil Power of Three will probably make us unstoppable.'

The dark lighter nodded. 'Yes, but we would like you to know that the dark lighters are on your side. We were never in league with the Source, and we would rather that there was a dark lighter in control of the underworld. Even if she is only part dark lighter.'

Piper and Phoebe exchanged looks again.

'Take us to our sister,' said Piper.

The four dark lighters orbed Piper and Phoebe into a room. The dark lighters orbed out, leaving Piper and Phoebe in there alone.

'Hey! Come back!' shouted Phoebe. 'Paige is not in here!'

'Phoebe,' said Piper.

Phoebe turned to Piper and noticed what Piper was looking at. They were not the only ones in the room. Chained to the wall was a young man. Piper and Phoebe recognised the man as Paige's date from the other day: Michael.

Piper and Phoebe approached Michael.

'Michael? What are you doing here?' said Piper. 'Where is Paige?'

'Do I look like I am in control?' moaned Michael, gesturing towards the chains.

'He is a prisoner,' said Phoebe. 'Just blow him up. He is no use to us.'

Piper raised her hands.

Michael laughed. 'Your powers won't work in here! Besides, you don't want to kill me!'

Piper put her hands down.

'We are listening,' said Piper.

'I am the reason that you are evil,' said Michael. 'If I die, the marriage between Paige and I becomes void, and the three of you return to being goody-goods. That is why the dark lighters have not killed me.'

Piper and Phoebe exchanged looks.

'I definitely prefer the power of being evil,' said Piper.

Phoebe nodded and turned to Michael. 'So if this is prison, then that makes us prisoners too. The dark lighters lied to us. They wanted us out of the way so as they could have the Book.'

'And Paige,' added Michael. 'I heard them discussing that as part warlock, part dark lighter, and a Charmed One, she could be the most powerful person in the underworld.'

'We should get out of here, and save our sister. We need to create the evil Power of Three,' said Piper. Phoebe agreed.

Piper and Phoebe blinked. Nothing happened.

'Why are we still in here?' asked Phoebe.

'I am a warlock too,' said Michael. 'Don't you think if I could have escaped by blinking I would have done it by now? This room is impervious to warlock magic. I think the whole of the dark lighter lair is impervious to warlock magic.'

Piper and Phoebe sighed.

'There is always the prospect of finding another way of killing Michael so as we become witches again,' suggested Phoebe. 'That way we could use our witch powers to break out of here.'

Piper mulled over the idea, while a look of terror presented itself on Michael's face.

'Killing me defeats the purpose,' said Michael. 'You will just turn good again.'

Piper and Phoebe groaned.

'Maybe you could get Belthazar down here, Pheebs?' said Piper. 'He could break us out.'

'Demon powers are impervious too,' said Michael.

Piper and Phoebe glared at Michael.

'You keep saying 'powers'. How about spells?' asked Phoebe.

Before Michael could reply, two dark lighters had orbed into the room. One was Thorpe, the other was Paige.

Paige smiled when she saw her sisters. 'Piper. Phoebe.'

'Paige,' said Piper and Phoebe smiling.

Then Paige noticed Michael chained to the wall. Paige turned to Thorpe.

'You want me to practice the touch of death on Michael?' asked Paige.

'No,' said Thorpe. 'Your victims are your two sisters.'

Paige looked at Piper and Phoebe.

'Victims?' said Phoebe. 'Look, we only came here to find you, Paige.'

'Yeah, Paige,' said Piper. 'If we unite as the evil Charmed Ones, we will be unstoppable.'

'Don't listen to them, Paige,' said Thorpe. 'You can rule without your sisters. You are more dark lighter than warlock.'

Paige looked like she was unsure as to which side to pick.

'Paige, we are your sisters,' said Piper.

'She is evil!' said Thorpe. 'Family means nothing.'

'If I kill you two, I will still be powerful and I won't have to share the power,' said Paige.

Piper and Phoebe backed up a little.

'Paige…' said Piper. 'Kill the dark lighter, not us.'

Phoebe tried to kick Thorpe, but he orbed a few metres out of her way.

'Are you not going to attack us?' Phoebe asked Thorpe.

'This is not my fight. I am only here to observe,' said Thorpe. 'Paige, I believe it is your turn to make a move.'

Paige nodded. Piper and Phoebe exchanged worried looks. They were powerless and their sister was about to kill them.

Paige advanced towards Piper and Phoebe. She held her hand out in front of her.

'Which sister are you going to try the touch of death on first?' asked Thorpe.

Paige thought about it for a split second. She had been arguing with Phoebe earlier about the Cole stuff. 'Phoebe.'

'Nice choice,' said Thorpe.

Piper stepped away from Phoebe. Piper was evil – and therefore selfish. Although she cherished the notion of creating the evil Power of Three, she was currently powerless and did not want to get in the way of Paige while she was trying to kill Phoebe.

Piper looked for a door. There was not one. The dark lighters – it seemed – always chose to orb their prisoners in and out of the room, so there was no need for a door. No escape. Piper found she had circled the edge of the room and was now standing right next to Michael.

Paige had backed Phoebe into the corner of the room. Phoebe ducked as Paige stuck her hand out. Paige's hand hit the wall, leaving a scorch mark on the wall.

Paige snarled.

'Er… Piper, what rhymes with vanquish?' asked Phoebe as she dodged another attack from Paige.

'What do you mean?' asked Piper. 'We are warlocks. We don't need to say a spell for it to work. We only need to think it.'

'Yes, but those are warlock powers,' said Phoebe. 'I think we can still get worded spells to work in here though.'

'Try a different word to vanquish,' said Piper. 'Maybe something that rhymes with dark lighter?'

'Dark lighter?' said Phoebe as she dodged more of Paige's attacks. Phoebe was so glad she had taken self defence lessons and Paige had not. She doubted she would have survived this long otherwise.

'Ha! You cannot vanquish us dark lighters that easily,' laughed Thorpe.

Phoebe began to recite a spell:

'Vanquish that man within those chains,

Put him in a lot of pain.

Kill that warlock,

Vanquish him, like the explosion of a rock.'

Michael screamed and exploded. Thorpe frowned.

Piper, Phoebe, and Paige shivered as they felt the evil wash off of them.

Paige helped Phoebe to her feet. Piper joined her two sisters.

'You wanted to vanquish Michael?' said Piper.

'Yeah. You had left me to defend myself against Paige,' said Phoebe. 'My only choice was to vanquish Michael so as we could turn good again.'

'I am so sorry for leaving you like that,' said Piper. 'I don't know how I could have been so selfish!'

'And Pheebs, I am so sorry for trying to kill you,' said Paige. 'Same to you, Piper, considering you were next on my list.'

'Can I break up these apologies?' said Thorpe.

The three sisters turned to see Thorpe aiming a crossbow at them.

'I now have three witches in here. One of whom is part white lighter,' said Thorpe. 'I despise white lighters. And if I kill the three of you now, I can keep the Book of Shadows.'

Paige held Piper and Phoebe's hands, and tried to orb, but she could not.

Thorpe laughed. 'Don't you think this room would be immune to white lighter powers too?'

Paige grimaced.

Piper and Phoebe stood in front of Paige.

'We won't let you hurt our sister,' said Piper.

'Piper! That arrow can still hurt you!' said Paige.

'Yes, but it won't be fatal for me,' said Piper.

'Or me,' said Phoebe.

'The only way you three could leave this room is by a dark lighter orbing you out,' said Thorpe.

'Or a spell,' said Phoebe.

'A spell?' said Thorpe.

'Phoebe is quite handy with making up spells on the spot,' said Piper smiling.

Phoebe and Paige nodded.

'Pheebs, you may lead,' said Paige.

Phoebe cleared her throat and said:

'Take us three,

To be free.

Take us to the Book,

Which from us was took.'

The three sisters disappeared from the room and reappeared inside another doorless room. The Book of Shadows stood on a stand in the middle.

Paige picked up the Book.

Three dark lighters and Thorpe orbed into the room. Piper and Phoebe both had a crossbow pointed at each of them. Thorpe and the third dark lighter were both pointing a crossbow at Paige.

'Pheebs,' said Piper hurriedly.

Phoebe nodded and said:

'Take us three out of here,

To the place we hold very dear.

Don't let them follow,

Let them wallow.'

Piper, Phoebe, and Paige disappeared and appeared in the attic. Paige placed the Book on the stand.

'Should we be ready for an attack?' Piper said.

'No. In my spell, I made sure that they could not sense where we went,' said Phoebe.

'Pheebs, we are the Charmed Ones, every demon, warlock, and dark lighter in the underworld knows where we live,' said Paige.

'Oh oops,' said Phoebe. 'That voids that part of the spell.'

Paige started flicking through the Book for a vanquishing spell.

Thorpe and a number of dark lighters appeared in the attic.

Piper started to blow some of the dark lighters up, but there were too many of them.

'A vanquishing spell won't work on this many,' said Piper.

'Power of Three?' suggested Phoebe.

'It will have to do,' said Piper.

While Piper tried to blow up any arrows that came their way, Phoebe scribbled down a spell and held it up in front of her so as Piper and Paige could see it too. Together they chanted:

'The Power of Three will set us free,

The Power of Three will set us free.

We are ready born fighters,

So will vanquish these dark lighters.

The Power of Three will set us free,

The Power of Three will set us free.'

The dark lighters burst into flames. Soon the sisters were the only ones left standing in the attic.

'Ready born fighters?' laughed Paige.

'You try and think of something that rhymes with dark lighters,' said Phoebe.

Paige shrugged.

Piper was looking at the state of the attic.

'We need to clear this place up,' said Piper. 'We have vanquished so many demons in here today. And now so many dark lighters too. And – oh my gosh! Leo!'

Piper fell to the floor and burst into tears.

'What? What happened?' asked Paige.

'Piper, er, she, er, blew Leo up earlier,' said Phoebe.

A/N: Wow. I did not expect to finish this in one chapter. Yay. I hope you liked it. Next chapter is back to the present day.