Here's the next chapter. I'm trying to push the sisters' bond to the breaking point, and Amenti is a subtle, careful demon. As a result, these next several chapters will be slow, at least plot-wise.

Chapter 29:

Amenti roared in fury. He threw several fireball's at the captured cupid. The cupid suffered greatly, but didn't die. "Why am I still alive?" the cupid gasped.

"Shut up! As long as I keep feeding you the Draught, you won't die!" Amenti roared.

Steve was standing in the corner, trembling in fear. "Master, what's wrong?" Steve asked.

"That idiot shape-shifter brought me Prue's diary instead of Piper's!" Amenti roared. "What can I do with this?"

Steve trembled and waited. Amenti was brilliant, he would soon think of something. "Wait," Amenti said. There it was; Amenti had an idea. Steve didn't doubt that it would be brilliant.

"This diary is full of Prue's secrets. Secrets that can be used against Piper and Phoebe," Amenti said. Amenti opened the diary and began to read it. "So much sisterly love, love that I can use against them."

"Yes, master, that's brilliant, brilliant!" Steve said, knowing perfectly well when to suck up.

Amenti merely grunted and told Steve to feed the cupid more of the Love's Draught. The cupid fought and resisted, but Steve force fed the Love's Draught to the cupid. The cupid spat it out. "That's a waste of time. Once in your mouth, it's in you," Amenti said. "You're under its effects."

"Why do you insist on keeping me around?" the cupid asked.

"Simple. I need your ring, and if you die the ring loses its power," Amenti said.

"You shouldn't use love as a weapon. Love is the water of life, the fuel of all existence, the greatest of all powers!" the cupid said.

"Shut up. Love is fuel, and I use that fuel to give myself power and strength. I also use that fuel to weaken my enemies," Amenti said. "You are just a cupid. Your job is to supply me with that fuel, with that power."

"That is not my job. My job is to bring people who are meant for each other together. And I have a name," the cupid said.

"And that name would be?" Amenti asked, not really caring.

"My name is Coop," the cupid replied.

Phoebe didn't have any premonitions as she slept. She didn't have any more nightmare about the hideous monster. Paige, however, couldn't sleep. She did have nightmares. She had nightmares about Prue coming back and Piper and Phoebe kicking her out of the manor, stripping her of her powers, and never bothering with her again. The nightmares woke her up. She was sweating and panting. She reached up and felt her cheek. It was wet.

Paige didn't realize that those dreams were planted. Amenti used the cupid ring to plant those nightmares into Paige's mind. She was experiencing those nightmares because Amenti wanted her to, not because her subconscious was trying to tell her something.

Jerome, somehow, was able to sense that something was wrong with Paige. He didn't know what it was, or why he could sense it, but he did know she was suffering. Jerome chose to ignore it; after all, he had shown indifference to others before. This time, however, it was slightly harder to ignore her pain.

Morning came, and Phoebe felt well enough to eat breakfast. In fact, she felt so well that she was willing to try walking, on her own, downstairs to the kitchen to eat with the healthy people. She made it all the way downstairs when the premonition hit her. This time, she was aware that she wasn't in the right time, but she wasn't sure if it was supposed to happen or if it was another attack from the virus. She looked around and saw Prue, sitting in a chair facing Phoebe. Prue was reading a book, though Phoebe couldn't tell what book. She looked up and smiled at Phoebe. Phoebe was beginning to feel dizzy. She saw Prue's face change from a smile to an expression of concern. Phoebe collapsed and gasped out "Prue!"

Cole, Paige, and Jerome were in the kitchen. Leo decided to stay with Piper, who was in a very foul mood. Piper had felt better, too, but kept coughing and sneezing. She wasn't allowed to try to eat downstairs with the healthy people, mostly because none of the healthy people wanted their breakfasts sneezed on and/or blown up in their faces. Cole didn't want to keep being frozen while he was trying to eat his waffles, and Jerome didn't want to regenerate any blown up limbs if possible, especially not in front of sick, nauseous people. Leo didn't want to have to clean up any potential kitchen shrapnel.

Cole heard Phoebe collapse and everyone ran into the foyer. They saw Phoebe on the ground and heard her gasp Prue's name. "Phoebe, Phoebe!" Cole shouted. "Phoebe, are you okay?" Cole was shaking Phoebe gently, trying to wake her up.

Eventually, Phoebe's eyes opened, she looked at Paige, and asked "Prue? What happened?"

Paige just looked at her silently, mouth open. "Phoebe, that's not Prue. That's Paige, your other sister," Cole said. His comment was innocent, but it cut straight through to Paige's heart. She was just the other sister. The one that came to complete the Power of Three after Prue, the prefered sister, died.

Jerome sensed her discomfort at that comment. Why am I sensing things from Paige? Jerome thought. Has the Council given me the power to sense without my knowing? No, if he could sense he would be able to sense more than just Paige's discomfort and pain. What was it? Why could he sense Paige?

Jerome was brought from his thoughts by hearing Cole explain to Phoebe that Prue was dead. Phoebe was still trapped in premonition mode, so she was oblivious to what Cole was saying. "You'll have to get her back into her room in order to snap her out of her premonition," Jerome said.

Cole, in response, carried Phoebe up to her bedroom. Jerome followed. As soon as Phoebe passed through the doorway she came to her senses. "What's going on? Cole, why are you carrying me?" she asked.

"You were trapped in a premonition. This was the only way to bring you back," Cole said.

"You need to stay in your room, regardless of how you feel. If you're lonely, we can bring you into Piper's room and you two can stay together. But you cannot leave your room alone," Jerome said.

Phoebe pouted, but agreed to stay after Cole asked her to and looked at her with concern in his eyes. She yielded.

Jerome turned to leave the two of them alone and walked back downstairs. Paige was still in the foyer. She gestured for Jerome to follow her into the living room. Jerome thought of his breakfast burrito, remote Orbed it to him, and followed her. When Jerome entered Paige looked at the burrito somewhat strangely, as if asking "Why did you bring that?"

Paige didn't ask that, but instead asked "What can you tell me about Prue?"

Jerome froze. He wasn't expecting that. "What do you want to know?" he asked, hoping to cover himself. He did, after all, play a major role in Prue's death.

"Who was she, what was she like, how much did she love her sisters, and how did she die?" Paige asked.

Jerome began to be a bit concerned. He didn't want to answer that last question. "Well, I don't know her that well. She was very controlling. Everything had to be the way she wanted. She held grudges for ridiculously long periods of time. As far as loving her sisters, she loved them unconditionally. She loved them more than anything else in the world. And I think you know how she died. Shax killed her," Jerome said.

"Are you sure you don't know more than that?" Paige asked.

Jerome thought about her death. About his role in it. "No, I don't," Jerome said.

Author's Note:

This was a very slow chapter. The next few will be like this, and eventually Jerome is going to admit he had a role in Prue's death. On another note, I need ideas for getting Jerome captured. I have some spinning around in my head, but I want more input so the ideas stop spinning and decide to solidify into something I can write. I also still want powers for Piper and Phoebe.