I was given a suggestion for how Phoebe's power of premonition could be messed up, and I like it. So, here it is.
Chapter 28:
Phoebe and Piper had gotten progressively worse and worse. Neither had the strength to walk, and they could barely sit up. Piper's sinuses were plugged, and Phoebe's head was pounding. Piper kept coughing and sneezing, yet Phoebe seemed to be over these symptoms. She had moved on to nausea and headaches. Phoebe quickly got tired of her bedroom, and asked Leo to Orb her downstairs on the couch. It was considerably less dangerous than letting Piper downstairs, and Phoebe seemed to be done with the symptoms that messed with her powers. Unless she were to develop the ability to breathe fire or spit lava or something. Then her nausea could be a problem.
Leo Orbed Phoebe onto the couch. "Thanks, Leo," Phoebe said, though she sounded so weak. "Could you send Paige down here? I need her to help me get to the bathroom."
Leo Orbed upstairs to Paige. "Phoebe needs your help going to the bathroom," he told her.
"Really? I just helped Piper like five minutes ago. By the way, sink needs fixing," Paige said. When Leo looked at her with a slightly confused expression on his face Paige fake-sneezed. Leo nodded his head in understanding and went to see if he could fix/heal the sink.
Paige walked downstairs to Phoebe. "Hey, Pheebs, need some help?" Paige asked. Phoebe nodded and Paige helped get her up and walk her to the bathroom. Unlike Piper, Phoebe was too nauseous to keep herself upright and leaned completely on Paige. Paige struggled with the complete weight of her older sister. Eventually the two were able to get Phoebe in the bathroom and back on the couch. Paige sat down on the couch, next to Phoebe, to rest.
Leo started calling for Paige to help him with something. Paige got up and walked upstairs. She walked back and forth like that for the rest of the day, eventually collapsing from sheer exhaustion. Phoebe was too weak to move from the couch, and didn't feel up to Orbing or Shimmering or any other form of teleporting, so she stayed on the couch during the night. As she slept, she dreamed.
She saw a huge creature with black skin and huge muscles. The monster had two long spikes protruding from the back of its head, horrible, monstrous eyes that glowed a wicked red, long claws that protruded from each of its fingertips, and a slightly elongated face with vicious fangs. It emitted an aura of pure, raw power and destruction. The monster was chained with glowing, golden chains. The chains seemed to stretch on through infinity, and there was nothing other than the monster and the golden chains, one around each wrist. The monster roared, grabbed the chains with its hands, pulled on the chains, and shattered them. It roared in triumph.
The dream shifted to a dark cave. Phoebe had no idea where it was, but it was empty. Then the monster, herself, her sisters, and Jerome came. Jerome was bloodied and wounded. The monster seemed to be smiling, though it was difficult to tell through its grotesque face. "So," it said "these are the mighty Charmed Ones. Are these really the best the Grand Design has to offer? Pity." The monster then shot black lightning at them. Jerome, despite his injuries, leapt in the way of the blast, protecting the sisters. It hit him and knocked him to the ground, smoking and sizzling.
The monster snarled and said "Are you still alive? You are one persistent Defender."
The dream faded and reappeared in the same cave, but this time the monster stood over Paige, who was on the ground, bleeding. Phoebe saw herself and Piper dead on the ground, burnt and charred. Jerome seemed to be dead on the ground a few feet away from Paige. The monster built up a ball of black energy, held it over its head, and said "This will end it!"
The monster threw the ball at Paige, only to have Jerome get up and leap in the way. The ball hit Jerome full force and blasted him several meters away. The monster snarled and said "Why do you insist on interfering with my plans? What do you have to gain?"
Jerome stood and responded, saying "I would sacrifice anything and everything for Paige!"
The monster snarled and said "Then die!" The monster waved its hand it front of Jerome. Jerome glowed in a dark light and screamed in pain. He collapsed.
"What did you do to me?" Jerome gasped.
"I destroyed your power of invincibility. Now," the monster said as it created another black energy ball, "die!"
The monster threw the energy ball at Jerome. Jerome disintegrated into dust. Phoebe expected him to reform, but he stayed dead. "Jerome, no!" Paige screamed.
Phoebe gasped awake, sweating and panting. She saw a worried Cole watching her. "Are you okay, Phoebe?" he asked.
"I-I just had a nightmare, I think," Phoebe said.
"You think?" Cole asked.
"It felt kind of like a premonition, but also like a dream," Phoebe said.
"Have you ever had a premonition in your sleep before?" Cole asked.
"No," Phoebe replied.
"Then it was probably just a fevered nightmare," Cole said.
"It felt so real, I could see and hear everything so clearly," Phoebe said. "Do you know of any black skinned monsters?"
"What else did it look like?" Cole asked.
"It had huge muscles, two horns, red eyes, long claws, and fangs. It was huge and insanely powerful. It killed me, Piper, and Jerome," Phoebe said.
Cole looked at her. "Isn't Jerome invincible?"
"I thought so, but the monster took away Jerome's invincibility," Phoebe replied.
"Well, I don't know of anything like that," Cole said. "It was probably just a nightmare."
"Yeah, I hope so," Phoebe replied.
Paige came running down the stairs. "What's the matter?" Paige asked. "I heard Phoebe screaming."
"What took you so long?" Cole asked.
"Piper was worried, and wanted to know what was wrong. Are you okay?" Paige asked.
Phoebe had a premonition of when she was sick many years before, with Prue taking care of her. Phoebe, however, had no idea she was having a premonition, and through her fever she became a little confused. She thought what she was seeing through her premonition was happening at that moment. She also seemed to forget that Prue was dead. "I'm fine, Prue," Phoebe said.
Both Cole and Paige looked at her, confused. "Prue's dead, remember?" Cole said.
"Yeah, she died and you met me at her funeral, remember?" Paige asked.
Phoebe snapped out of her premonition and, in a brief moment of emotional weakness, started crying.
"Are you okay, Phoebe?" Cole asked.
Phoebe nodded and said "It's just that, whatever just happened, made me remember how Prue always used to be the one to take care of me when I was sick. I miss her so much!" Phoebe started crying.
Paige felt really bad. Phoebe had her! Paige was perfectly capable of taking care of her big sister! Paige also felt guilty for feeling like that. It was natural for Phoebe to miss her oldest sister. It was normal to miss a dead relative. And Paige was upset with Phoebe for doing just that. "Phoebe," Paige began, "is there anything that Prue used to do for you that I can do?"
Phoebe shook her head and laid back down. "All I want to do is go back to sleep," she said.
"Okay, good night," Paige said as she went back up the stairs.
Phoebe flashed back into her fevered premonition mode. She saw Jerome picking her up and carrying her to her room. Phoebe started arguing, saying "I'm okay, really! I just need sleep!"
Cole looked at her, confused, and said "Then go to sleep, Phoebe. It's alright, you can rest."
Phoebe started screaming "Put me down, I'm fine!" Cole started to worry. She was wide awake, but she seemed to be hallucinating. Cole yelled for help.
Jerome, Paige, and Leo all came rushing downstairs. There was an explosion that came from upstairs. Leo sighed and went back upstairs to help his wife back into the safety of her bedroom. Jerome took one look at Phoebe and said "She's trapped in some kind of premonition mode, likely due to the virus. We need to get her back into her room." Jerome then picked her up and carried her to her room. Since Phoebe was trapped a few minutes in the future she didn't say anything to argue. Instead she was muttering something under her breath that Jerome chose to ignore. The second he passed Phoebe's door Phoebe gasped.
"What just happened?" Phoebe asked.
"You were stuck in a premonition. You just snapped out of it," Jerome replied.
"How is that possible?" Phoebe asked.
"The virus is messing with your powers," Jerome said.
"But premonitions aren't active powers," Phoebe argued. "How can the virus affect them?"
"Active or not, the virus will mess with your powers. Your basic powers are safe, any and all others are fair game. Goodnight," Jerome said. He left Phoebe's room. Phoebe quickly fell asleep.
Paige, however, couldn't sleep. Phoebe seemed to prefer Prue to her. Paige used to feel like she was just an inferior replacement for Prue, like replacing a nice TV with a lower quality one out of necessity. Paige had gotten over that, but now some of that old feeling was starting to come back.
Author's Note:
New chapter, more diseased problems, and messing up Paige's bond with her sisters. The premonitions while sick idea was given to me by Daicy. Feel free to post any other ideas or thoughts or other reviewing purposes.
