Disclaimer: I do not own Charmed or any of it's characters.

Thanks for the great reviews. Paige and Piper are on the quest to find Phoebe/Pearl and Riley/Anton. You'll see the return of an old face in this chapter.

CHAPTER 11

Brendan Rowe had just wandered to the church kitchen for a late night cup of tea. He was having trouble sleeping and struggling with a terrible cold. He had lived at the same church for nearly twelve years now as the head pastor. He took pride in his work and in helping those less fortunate then himself, but today he had spent most of the afternoon in bed.

The tea was soothing on his throat, but a noise caught his attention. He set his tea cup on the table and turned around, his eyes catching sight of a knife blade. It was the old floorboards of the church kitchen that gave Pearl and Anton away. They creaked with every step. "Don't move father, we need you to marry us now." Anton demanded.

Brendan took in a deep breath. He wasn't a father, but he wasn't about to argue with a crazed man who held a knife in his face. "Ok, ok. Do you want me to do it right here in the kitchen?" He asked.

"That wouldn't be romantic now would it?" Pearl asked rhetorically. "We'd prefer to be wed out in the chapel."

Brendan glanced at her dress. It looked expensive. "The chapel is back out the way you came, but if you don't have a marriage certificate your marriage won't be legal." He tried to explain.

"Just shut up and marry us." Anton reached for Brendan, yanking him from his chair. He forced him into the chapel with he and Pearl.

The woman looked familiar to Brendan. He had seen her before, known her from somewhere. "Aren't you Ask Phoebe?"

"We don't have time for questions." Anton insisted.

"You're related to Prue Halliwell aren't you?" He asked.

"Are you going to marry us or what?" Pearl asked back. Both she and Anton were getting impatient with him.

Brendan was a frequent reader of Phoebe's column, mainly because he read the paper every day and never missed a section in it. The news paper and coffee were part of his morning rituals, aside from his prayers. He remembered reading all about Phoebe's wedding in the paper years ago. Phoebe even wrote a book about finding love a year or two after getting married. The book was a huge hit. The biggest thing he remembered about Phoebe and the Halliwells was that they were witches. He himself had been a warlock and they had helped to save him from his ill fated evil destiny, to help him on the path of righteousness. He glanced at her finger and the ring confirmed what he thought.

"We prefer a quick ceremony, none of that dearly beloved nonsense." Anton said.

"Of course." Brendan replied, though it dawned on him that he didn't know the man's name. "Do you...what's your name?"

"Oh please, can we just get on with it." Pearl said, clearly annoyed.

"I don't think so." Piper replied from the back of the chapel. Paige stood next to her.

Everyone turned to face the pair. Pearl was not happy to have her wedding interrupted, especially by one her descendants. She recognized Piper, but not the other sister. In anger, she held her hand out and let her pyrokinesis strike. It went for Piper.

Piper's natural reaction was to freeze the flames and she did it none too quickly. It was so close that her and Paige could feel the heat from them.

Pearl wanted to strike again, but she felt something pulling inside of her, something trying to take over. It was the spirit that she was sharing her body with. Phoebe could sense and feel everything that was happening, everything that her body was doing. She could feel what Pearl was feeling because of her power of empathy. She was trying to be strong, to over power Pearl's spirit so she could help her sisters.

Pearl had access to Phoebe's powers because she was sharing the same body as Phoebe, just as Anton could access Riley's powers. With that power, she could feel the strong bond that Phoebe shared with her sisters. She could feel the strength between them. There was such power and power was always something she could never have enough of.

Piper and Paige moved around the frozen flames. They unfroze, striking the doors behind them. Anton thought Pearl would strike again, but was surprised when she halted herself and seemed to be in a bit of a struggle with herself. He took matters into his own hands. He whipped out the knife he had first used against Brendan, throwing it towards the sisters.

"Athame!" Paige called out. It orbed into her hand perfectly and she threw it back, aiming for Pearl. Over the years, she had gotten pretty good with knife throwing and wouldn't have risked aiming for Phoebe's body unless she were certain of where it would strike. She didn't want to kill Pearl or Phoebe, just injure them temporarily in hopes of being able to get Pearl's spirit out of Phoebe's body.

Anton stepped in front of Pearl, taking the knife himself. It struck his arm and forced him to wince for a moment in pain. He was over the pain quickly as he removed the knife, a crooked smile forming on his face. He went to throw it back, but Pearl stopped him, grabbing his arm. "Wait." She said. He looked at her in confusion. "They'll just send it back. You can't kill them."

"What?" He questioned.

"I can feel the power my host soul shares with them, there's so much. It's all we've ever wanted." She explained. "And it's stronger if they are alive."

Angered, Anton turned away from Pearl. He couldn't risk letting her descendants live. He knew they would try and send he and Pearl back to Hell. Hell was not a place he ever wished to return. It meant burning forever in the pits of torment, forced to be without his true love, without Pearl. He never wanted to be without her again. He ran towards Piper, knife ready to strike.

Piper thrust her hands out, hoping to freeze the warlock. He slowed for a few seconds, but forced his way through her powers grasp on him. Pearl could sense his determination, but couldn't risk losing the power she felt between the Charmed Ones. She was now being forced to chose between love and power, but power won out in the end.

"No." She shouted. Pearl pushed her hand out, flames flying towards her lover. Before he could reach Piper, Anton was engulfed in fire. His flesh began to burn as he fell to his knees. He cried out to Pearl in disbelief over her actions.

Pearl felt a tear rolling down her cheek and quickly wiped it away. She couldn't think about what she had done. She couldn't watch as he took his last breath. Brendan reacted, reaching for a candelabra that was near the altar where he and the couple had stood. The candles weren't lit, but it made for a formidable weapon. He struck her hard in the head, letting her collapse to the floor unconscious.

"Brendan?" Piper questioned. She stepped around the pile of warlock ashes that littered the main aisle of the church. She recognized him instantly, though she hadn't seen him in years.

"I'm sorry about Phoebe." He replied. "I figured something was wrong with her, maybe a spell gone a wry."

"Something like that." Piper answered.

"Ok, you two know each other?" Paige asked curiously.

Piper turned to Paige. "This is Brendan, he was a warlock that we helped a long time ago." She turned back to Brendan. "This is our long lost sister Paige."

"Wow, three sisters." He replied. "Why isn't Prue here to help?"

"Oh, well..." Piper trailed off. He must not have heard about her death. "She's not with us anymore. She had a shorter destiny than we did."

"I'm so sorry." He bowed his head in shock.

"I don't want to be rude, but we really need to take care of Phoebe and figure out what happened to Riley." Paige said.

"Of course. Go." Brendan insisted. "I'll clean up here."

Paige reached a hand out to Piper as her other hand reached for Phoebe's unconscious body. She orbed back to the manor immediately and focused on getting Pearl in a crystal cage until they could figure out how to remove her soul from Phoebe's body.

Piper rummaged through the book of shadows, looking for the perfect spell and or potion to help them with Phoebe. She knew there was something in the book about spirit dispossession. It was just a matter of finding the page.


Riley and Pearl were nearly married, but it came down to a choice for Pearl between love and power. In a twist, she chose power over her lover Anton, saving the sisters. Now they have to try and get her soul free from Phoebe. Let me know your thoughts...thanks!

P.S. There is only one more chapter to follow this one and then the story is complete.