(If you gave me multiple comments, I'm addressing both at the same time)
writerchic16, thanks for the happy birthday wish. No, I do not have all these spells memorized. I could barely remember who some of the smaller demons are! I've been frequenting certain Charmed sites that have the spells. I had problems finding a vanquishing spell for this chapter, that's why it took so long for this one... Apologies... And as for Christy, don't forget she was pretty commanding over even the Triad, so taking charge over these demons should be cake.
CharmedNeptune47, thanks for your comment and birthday wish. I thought the Star Wars comment would be funny...
charmed4eva112, I don't think Gideon would make an appearance (although I liked him a lot, as well), only because he wasn't trying to kill the sisters, so why would Christy need/want him? I'm contemplating bringing back future Chris & Wyatt further in the story.
piperspeanut, yeah it's harder to convey the scene better because it's the type of comedy that you have to actually see. But I thought it'd be funny to throw Prue into it this time. Thanks for the birthday comment. I put the Dora comment in kinda randomly, but I thought it would be funny. No, I'm not putting Cole and Billie together, it's just they're kinda the outcasts... I think Phoebe will be the only one for Cole, and seeing as how that isn't happening, Cole has accepted that he will be alone.
PeterPanTinkerBell27, hehehe, Piper walking into the playpen was a funny thought. I'm trying to keep it as funny as possible, otherwise it's just scary, having to face all these demons.
jiejei1, two chapters is cause for celebration? o.O LOL. Yeah, the Power of Four was something I was trying to figure out when to put in, and I figure since her and Paige got their... stuff together, it was time. Thanks for the happy birthday wish! Yeah, I guess driving is going to come sooner or later, but right now I'm happy taking the subway... Anyway, I'm putting them up as fast as I can, I ran into a wall trying to find a vanquishing spell...
ChristineRudd, yeah, I thought about what I would say to some people I really don't like and mixed it in with the sisters' situations. It's cool to pull demons form the first, second seasons in. I skipped over some of the less important ones, or the ones that were no-brainers for the sisters. I loved "Sense & Sensability!"
WelshCanuck, yeah I got some inspiration from the Olympics... it was on while I was writing... lol. And Star Wars ran through my head because I saw a commercial for the new movie, hahahaha... Sorry to hear you had a crappy day... I dunno, I don't consider myself that good a writer, I'm doing this mostly so my brain doesn't completely melt during summer vacation. ;-)
PrueAndyForever, yeah I let Prue in on losing her senses, lol. And I figure vanquishing Shax gives her some closure. I'm still figuring out some details on the final battle. Yes, some of the argument was repressed anger that was exaggerated with Andras's spell. Yes, the demons have Prue. But they can't really kill her (yet) because they'd still have the Power of Three...
littlemissbad, glad you liked the argument... -)
"Phoebe, I think you're under a spell, and that's what's clouding your judgment," Coop said tentatively over breakfast the next morning.
"For the first time, I'm seeing things clearly," Phoebe insisted. "Whose side are you on, anyway?"
"I'm on the side that wants good to win," Coop replied. "Didn't the fight seem a bit out of the ordinary to you?"
Phoebe sat there, puzzled for a few minutes. "It did, now that I think of it," she agreed. She shook her head. "I dunno, maybe we should give it a day and see what happens…"
"Let's just hope we have a day," Coop said quietly, noting how the demon attacks seemed to come every second of every day, now.
"Paige, I may be new at this magic stuff, but…" Henry was trying to get through to Paige, but unfortunately, it was like trying to stand between a truck going 90 mph and a car to stop a collision.
"But what?" she snapped.
"It just seemed so sudden, the fight last night."
Paige crossed her arms, seeming defiant. After a moment, she became less intense. "Hmm."
"I was right, wasn't I?"
Paige just sat there. "I have a new Charge," she said, changing the subject. "I'll deal with this later." She orbed out.
Henry sighed. "Women."
"Piper," Leo said. She sat there, pretending to not hear him. "Okay, you may still be mad from last night, but you all may be in grave danger!"
"Tell me something I don't know," Piper quipped.
Leo held up the Book of Shadows. The triquetra on the cover had become so that it was no longer an intertwined design, signaling that the Power of Three had shattered with the sisters' bond. Without the Power of Three, they were all vulnerable. "Look."
Piper did so. "And?" she asked, although not with as much anger or attitude.
"Do you really think Prue went home with Phoebe last night, after that fight?" Leo raised his eyebrows. "She probably was alone, and don't forget, Christy has the demons in pairs."
"So?"
"So whoever is paired with Andras probably knew Prue was going home alone and may have grabbed her."
Piper's eyes widened and all her anger and attitude dissipated at last. She leapt to her feet. "Oh my God, what if you're right?"
"That's what I've been saying all night."
Phoebe was at work when her phone rang. She picked it up. "Phoebe Halliwell, Bay Mirror," she answered automatically.
"Phoebe?" It was Piper. Phoebe fought the urge to yell some obscene words at her and hang up.
"Piper? What's wrong? You sound scared and worried."
"It's Prue," Piper said, both of them choosing not to address the fight last night. "Did she… uhm, did she come home with you?"
"No," Phoebe said, catching on. "Is something wrong?"
Piper sounded like she was about to burst into tears. "I've been calling her cell, and she's not picking up. I think," she paused, and Phoebe could hear Piper trying to compose herself. "I think maybe someone grabbed her after we fought."
Phoebe didn't say anything.
"Pheebs?"
"I'm coming over."
Piper came to the door, and Phoebe immediately felt bad that they had fought last night. "I-I've been calling Paige, too," Piper stammered as Phoebe walked in to hug Piper, "no response from her, either."
Trying not to break down as well, Phoebe brought Piper to the living room, where they sat down. She closed her eyes and summoned Coop to her side. "I hope I didn't interrupt you," Phoebe said.
"No," Coop said, nervous that two sisters were in the same room but relieved at the same time. Phoebe and Piper filled him in on what they had supposed happened to Prue.
Leo came in, leaving the boys with Victor in the conservatory. "I was afraid this would happen," he said, meaning Prue. He looked around. "Where's Paige?"
Piper exhaled, tears coming to her eyes. "She's no answering her phone, either!"
Cole shimmered in with Billie. He saw the grim looks on everyone's faces, and Billie noticed it, too. "What's wrong?" Billie sat next to the sisters.
"We had a fight," Phoebe said softly, looking down at the floor and giving a quick glance at Piper. "And we used our powers during it."
"Andras," Cole said. After all, he should know – he was the one that originally sent him after the sisters. "Where's Prue and Paige?"
"We don't know," Piper said, her nose turning red.
"Okay, going all Rudolph on us won't do any good," Phoebe said, getting up and hugging her sister.
"Well, we got a rough list of the demons Christy has, what pairs she put them in," Billie said, pulling out a sheet of paper. "Unfortunately, we don't know what order they're attacking in or where Christy is." She showed it to Phoebe. "We've crossed out all the names of the demons we've already vanquished." Phoebe looked at the long list that was still left and felt like gagging.
"It says here that Andras is paired with Aames," Phoebe said. "So, if they haven't changed partners—"
"And seeing as how scared these demons are of Christy—" Cole cut in.
"Then Aames is the one we're looking for."
"Aames is a Darklighter," Piper said, recalling how he had killed Natalie, their temporary Whitelighter.
It hit Piper and Phoebe at the same time.
"Paige!" That was why she hadn't been answering her phone.
Everyone grew silent, trying to figure out to find Paige, since no Whitelighters were present.
"Got it," Phoebe said, jumping up. "Billie, remember how you projected Christy to the attic? Why don't you just do that, but this time bring Paige here?"
"I could try—"
Cole cut in. "Why don't you do that to Christy so we can kill her?"
Recoiling a bit that Cole had put it so bluntly, Billie took a second to remember that there was probably no way of saving her sister, not anymore. "I've tried, she's protected herself from me," Billie said, as if it were obvious. "I'm not sure I can do it with Paige, either. At least with Christy I had the sister-bond thing, I don't have a strong tie to Paige."
"Then how about this," Phoebe said. "I swap powers with you, and then I do it?"
Billie and Phoebe read the spell form the Book of Shadows:
What's mine is yours,
What's yours is mine
Let our powers cross the line
I offer up this gift to share
Switch our powers through the air
Phoebe waved her arm at a hat across the room, using the same trigger Prue's power used, and to everyone's relief it moved. "Okay, so the spell worked," Phoebe said. "Now how do I use the projection power?"
Billie instructed her and Phoebe did exactly as she told her. "Close your eyes and take a deep breath. Focus on Paige, see her, and feel her. Think only about her. Focus on how much you want to see her, to be with her again. Visualize it… you have to want it. You have to want it more than anything."
A few seconds passed by, and Phoebe remained still, concentrating with her eyes closed.
Then Paige materialized, an arrow – unmistakably from a Darklighter's crossbow – sticking out of her back.
"Oh my God," Phoebe yelled, and everyone ran over. Piper ran out of the room and returned in a few moments, holding Wyatt in one hand. He seemed appalled by the sight of an arrow protruding from his aunt's back, but Piper led him over.
"Can you do something for Mommy," Piper asked, trying to hide the shakiness of her voice. "Can you hold Auntie Paige's hand and heal her?"
Billie cautiously pulled the arrow out, and Wyatt held Paige's hand. She was barely breathing, but something in Piper's heart told her Paige was not lost, not yet.
Sure enough, after several tense seconds, the Paige's wound began to heal, and she began to visibly breathe again.
She woke up. "Where am I?" She saw her sisters and swallowed, remembering how they had left it last night.
"We got worried when you weren't answering your cell," Phoebe confessed. "So I swapped powers with Billie to get you back."
"Now we just need to get Prue," Paige said. "I heard jingling when I was at Henry's and I orbed, only to find Prue tied up, and she was trying to warn me about something. I didn't know what it was until a Darklighter shot me."
"Prue's okay?"
"He's using her as bait, setting a trap."
"One we're not falling for," Piper said.
"What?" Paige sat there. "Look, if this is about last night…"
"No," Phoebe said. "This Darklighter is smart, is great at planning, and is even better at setting traps." Her and Piper shared a look. "If we're going to take this guy down, we need a plan of our own." She smiled at Paige. "Unless that's a problem with you?"
Paige smiled back. Honestly, she wanted to talk about last night, but right now, they needed to rescue Prue. "Nope, fine with me."
"Ready?" Piper asked Phoebe.
"Ready." She closed her eyes, and once again used Billie's projection power. This time, she focused on Prue. It was easier this time, and Prue appeared quicker than Paige.
Prue was tied to a chair, her hands, and legs bound by rope, as well as blindfolded. Aames had done some research.
"Prue, you're safe," Billie said. Prue realized that Aames had a trap and began shaking her head wildly.
"No! It's a trap."
"Don't worry," Phoebe said. She knelt next to Prue, while everyone else took their positions, hiding.
Aames came into the attic, smug and confident as ever. "Where are your sisters?" he demanded, aiming a crossbow at Phoebe.
Billie dropped down behind Aames, using Phoebe's levitation power. She kicked Aames in the face, and he fell down, dropping his weapon.
"Crystals," Paige called, encircling him in a circle and trapping him.
He reached out and drew his crossbow closer to him. Seeing this, Piper froze him. "Hurry," she said to Phoebe, who had been there so Aames wouldn't get suspicious when he'd first appeared.
She ran to her sisters' side, and Cole handed them the Book of Shadows, which he had been protecting in case that was what Aames had actually been after. Leo, Coop, and Henry, who Paige had orbed over to show she was okay, ran to Prue to untie her so she could use her powers if their plan didn't work. Prue waved Aames's crossbow away from him as he began fighting the freeze.
Phoebe, Paige, and Piper read the spell aloud:
Time for amends and a victim's revenge,
Cloning power turned sour,
Power to change turned to strange,
I'm rejectin' your deflection
Aames howled in agony, his body distorting and bursting into flames. His head reeled back as he blew up, another plan foiled by the sisters.
"Wait," Prue said, as the others breathed a sigh of relief. "Andras was with him, and he's probably not too far behind…"
As if on cue, Andras teleported in. "I shoulda known he couldn't be counted on," he sneered at the scorch mark where Aames had been standing. He went to shoot anger into the sisters again, but Billie shrank it into nothing with Phoebe's empathy power. Cole immediately threw an energy ball at him, and Andras was vanquished once more.
The room was silent as the four sisters remembered the fight they had last night.
"Glad that's over," Paige said.
"The Book's cover doesn't say it is," Leo said, holding up the book. "Which means…"
"We have to kiss and make up," Piper finished.
Understanding what Piper meant, Leo, Coop, and Henry left, taking Wyatt with them.
"Where do we start?" Prue asked. An awkward silence followed.
Paige spoke first. "Prue, I'm sorry about what I said. Your sisters missed you so much after you died. We weren't better off without you. I didn't realize how much they – we – need you. I shouldn't have said that."
"Well," Prue said, "speaking of things we shouldn't have said… I was wrong about saying your parents didn't love you enough to keep you. It wasn't their fault, and it definitely wasn't your fault you had to be given up. I know what a hard decision that must have been for them, and I am so happy we got a chance to meet you. Even if you're our half-sister, I know we all think of you as more than that… a lot more." Prue looked at Phoebe. "And I'm sorry I called you whiney, I think you're the toughest out of all of us here."
"Thanks," she said to Prue. "That means so much, coming from you." She looked at Piper, and her heart felt heavy. "I am so sorry about those things I said to you. You are an amazing cook… just look at how much I eat every meal that you cook!" Piper laughed. "You are a great older sister. You're so responsible and understanding…" Paige coughed, making Piper laugh again. "…and I am so happy that I was blessed to get you as a sister." Phoebe choked back tears. "You are a wonderful wife, I hope Coop and I are as happy as you and Leo are when we've been married that long. And you're a great mother! You know I think you are!"
Piper walked over to hug Phoebe, who was now slightly crying. Paige and Prue watched as the two sisters who had been together the longest were embracing each other.
"I love you, kiddo," Piper whispered into Phoebe's ear.
"Take that, Christy," Paige said, wiping tears from her eyes and gave a soft chuckle. Prue smiled.
"We're in this together," Prue said. "No matter what."
Out of the corner of her eye, she saw the triquetra re-form on the cover of the Book of Shadows.
Author's Note:
Wow, sorry this one took two days. I had problems finding the vanquishing spell for Aames, and seeing as how I don't have the DVDs, it took some time Googling to find it.
Anyway, hope you enjoyed reading. Next on line should be the Four Horsemen and Captain Black Jack Cutting... the next two chapters aren't as exciting but the two chapters after that should be better... I hope...
Thanks for reading! Comments, criticism, questions, demands, you name it -- no hesitations!
KateB819