Chapter 9: Scry Hard Part 3

"I can't believe we've been miniature for two hours ..." Piper said as she, Buffy and Leo walked down the stairs of the dollhouse, "... and demons take over the house. If Zankou taps into The Nexus –"

"We're not gonna let that happen," Leo said as they walked into the living room.

"Oh, yeah? How? We're three inches tall," Piper asked skeptically.

"Well, we're gonna get to the Book and we're gonna contact Phoebe and Paige," Leo answered.

"Uh ..." Piper pointed out the window at the extremely large Book of Shadows on its extremely tall bookstand. "That Book? 'Cause A—we're trapped. And B—even if we weren't, those demons could squash us with one foot."

"Stay calm. Wyatt didn't put us in here to get hurt. He put us in here to protect us. There has to be something we're overlooking," Leo said as she looked around the dollhouse. "Blasting doesn't work."

"Yeah. I noticed," Piper said remembering her earlier attempt at blasting out and being rebounded by the force field that Wyatt had placed over the house.

"All the doors, the windows are sealed. How did you play with the dollhouse when you were little?" Leo asked.

"What do you mean?" Piper wondered.

Buffy smiled as she saw where her father was going with his line of questioning. "It has to open, right. It's a toy, either the roof opens or it's hinged somewhere on the side and swings open."

Piper shrugged. "I don't know. That was a lot of years ago."

"It might be our only shot. You need to think," Leo argued.

"I think it swung open," Piper said as she looked around.

"Where?"

Piper headed into the conservatory as Leo and Buffy followed behind her. They two looked at their surroundings trying to find where the dollhouse swung open. "Here," she said.

Leo picked up a chair and broke it apart so he could use the longest piece to try and wedge the wall apart. But no matter what he can't get the leverage.

"Let me try," Buffy said as she took the chair piece from Leo. "I maybe three inches tall. But I'm still a Slayer which means I should still be physically stronger than either of you." With practiced precision she wedged the piece in and then utilizing every ounce of Slayer strength she had she managed to force the wall apart wide enough for them to get out through it.

"You know, Leo," Piper said as they would out through the crack. "I'm glad you cast that spell. Because if you hadn't they might have found out and taken Buffy away from Joyce, and we might still be trapped inside the dollhouse."

Leo laughed and nodded. "I am, too."

Buffy looked at her father and smiled as she wrapped an arm around him and gently hugged him.

0 – 0 – 0 – 0 – 0

At the Bay Mirror in Phoebe's office, Phoebe stood behind her desk as she edited an article. Just at that moment Paige orbed in with Joyce.

"Oh, you got to give me one second," Phoebe said. "Any luck with Piper or Buffy?"

"No," Paige said. "I tried sensing Buffy and though unlike earlier I do seem to get a ping now. It's small, like the tiniest of blips. And both Joyce and I have scryed for both Piper and Buffy and we've come up empty. Will you please just come back to Magic School with us now?"

"Give me just two minutes," Phoebe said.

Joyce frowned. "My daughter is missing."

"And our sister," Paige added.

"And there are fifty jobs on the line if the paper does not come out," Phoebe argued.

Paige shook her head. "Well, you can cancel the subscription to our house if the demons don't get out."

"Just give me one minute," Phoebe said.

"Fine," Joyce replied as she looked at her watch. "One minute, go."

Phoebe looked at Joyce as if to say you're kidding right before Paige pushed her out the door. She sighed and then let out a loud whistle as she walked to Bauer. "Okay. Check this out," she said as she handed Bauer's edited article to him.

"You think I'm going to let Ask Phoebe rewrite me?" Bauer asked.

"Read now, bitch later," Phoebe said as she remember Joyce. Not that she believed Joyce was actually keeping track of the time. She just how the mother of two felt right now. It had been after all how she had felt when she and Piper had lost Prue. So the sooner they found Buffy and Piper, the better. "Okay?" She turned to a man from advertising. "So you oversold a space. Let me see the ads." The man nodded as he showed her both ads. "Shrink them and print them both."

"We can't do that," he said. "The advertisers were promised a certain size."

"Well, then make the font bigger," Phoebe said. "And if they complain, send them a bottle of Cristal on my tab. Actually, on Elise's tab." Satisfied he turned and walked away. She turned back to Bauer. "What do you think?"

Bauer nodded. "It works."

"That's what I like to hear. Who's next?" Phoebe said as Jordan stepped up to her. She let out another sigh. "First my teacup, now he's on my computer."

"You know what? Isn't this kind of obvious?" Phoebe asked.

"What?"

"He likes you," Phoebe said with a shake of her head.

Jordan looked toward the film critic who smiled at him sheepishly. He turned and walked away.

"Any other questions?" Phoebe asked quietly, but no one answered. "No? Okay. I will be in my office in a meeting." She went back into her office and closed the door behind her.

"Now you understand what I have to go through," Joyce said.

Phoebe laughed. "I guess so. Let's go," she said as she and Joyce took Paige's hands and they orbed out.

0 – 0 – 0 – 0 – 0

Buffy who was the first to make it to the top of the bookstand helped Leo and then Piper up before the three of them hid behind the Book.

"You both okay?" Leo asked.

"I'm fine dad," Buffy replied. "Slayer, remember?"

"My arms are a little sore, but I'm not the one with a hole in my back," Piper said.

"I'll keep an eye on those two," Buffy said as she motioned toward the door. "Get to work on that spell so Paige, Phoebe and my mom can find us."

"Don't you think they scried already?" Piper asked. "Or Paige would have sensed you, Buffy?"

"Well, if Paige, Phoebe and Joyce did scry, it wouldn't have worked," Leo said. Wyatt's shield on the dollhouse would've protected us. It would have likely kept Paige from sensing Buffy as well. But based on the last time you were shrunk."

"She dropped to the tiniest blip on Paige's radar," Piper said remembering when Gammil had shrunk her, Phoebe and Paige.

"It also must be the same reason Zankou didn't know where we are," Leo said.

"And now that we're out?" Buffy asked.

"We have to hurry," Leo said. "All right, Piper, help me flip these pages."

"Wait. I have a better idea," Piper said.

"What?"

Piper motioned to Leo to move and then using her explosive power flipped the page.

"Hold off a second," Buffy whispered as the demons looked toward the book. She looked around and smiled. "They're looking this way. Hopefully they will think the wind did it; there is a scarf by the window fluttering in the breeze."

0 – 0 – 0 – 0 – 0

At Magic School Paige was utilizing a mortar and pestle as she ground up rosemary. "Okay, this whole calling a lost witch stuff is much harder without the book."

"Maybe we didn't scry hard enough," Phoebe said. "Shall we try again?"

"It won't work," Joyce said with a sigh. "Paige and I both scryed for Piper and Buffy and we both came up with nothing."

Paige put the pestle down and picks up the rosemary. "I even tried sensing Buffy, and she's dropped to the tiniest of blips."

"Tiniest of blips?" Phoebe asked.

"Yes," Paige said, when she looked at her sister she could see that Phoebe had realized something. "What?"

"Remember Gammil?" Phoebe asked. "When he shrunk us. Leo told Piper when he tried to sense me that I had dropped to the tiniest of blips."

"You think they've been shrunk?" Joyce asked.

"I'd say its possibility," Phoebe said. "They may even still be inside the manor. Paige, you said you found Wyatt and Chris alone at the manor with Piper, Leo and Buffy missing. What if he did the same thing he did with the dragon."

"You're saying that Wyatt shrunk his parents and his big sister," Paige said. "But why?"

"Didn't Piper tell you that Leo had gotten hurt?"

"Of course," Paige said. "And Wyatt would have seen the injury, he might have thought he was protecting them from getting hurt and put them someplace where they couldn't be hurt. But where?"

"I don't know," Phoebe said with a sigh.

Just then the scrying rose into the air and moved around the map. "Oh, my god. Are you seeing what I'm seeing?"

"Yeah. And I don't believe it," Phoebe said.

"I do," Joyce said. "There is a spell in your book that your mom and I wrote. We would cast it if we were in trouble and knew the other was looking for us. The spell would have done exactly this."

The crystal fell on the map, right on top of where the manor was.

"It looks like you are right, Pheobe," Paige said, "the are there."

"Or it's a trap," Phoebe said.

"It's possible," Joyce agreed. "They could have found Buffy and Piper and forced them to cast the spell. But I think it's a trap we are going to have to stumble into."

Paige nodded as Phoebe and Joyce took her hands and they orbed out.

0 – 0 – 0 – 0 – 0

On the second floor of the manor outside the bathroom a demon walked through the hall. The door slowly opened and Phoebe looked out. She closed the door and looked at Paige and Joyce. "We gotta get past the guard."

"Fine, but we can't use any more magic otherwise Zankou will sense us," Paige said.

"Can't use magic?" Phoebe asked. "What do you call orbing?"

"She's right, he already knows we're here," Joyce said.

"I have an idea," Paige said and she smiled. "Do you remember how I told you of how my first face to face meeting with Buffy went?"

"The handstand," Phoebe said as she looked toward the door and nodded. She couldn't do a handstand but grabbing the doorframe she could use the leverage and kick out at the demon hard. She opened the door quietly and then got herself into position. As the demon passed outside the door, she swung out and kicked him in the face knocking him backward into the wall with a thud. She then kneed him in the head knocking him completely out.

"Okay. That was a really great plan," Paige said as she smiled.

"And it was all your idea," Phoebe said as she smiled at her sister. "Where do we begin?"

"The Book," Joyce said as they turned and headed up the stairs to the attic. As they approached the door the saw a demon, Phoebe took him out as Paige and Joyce worked their way around to the Book.

"Piper, where are you?" Phoebe asked.

"Buffy?" Joyce said.

The attic door squeaked shut as Zankou stepped out from behind the door. Phoebe turned around with a gasp. In his arms, he held a box. "Looking for these?" he said as he opened the box to show them Piper, Leo and Buffy inside. "The mighty Charmed Ones ... the most famous witches of all time. So many demons have tried to kill you."

Inside the Box Piper knelt down trying to keep her balance while Leo and Buffy peered out through the opening.

"What do you two see?" Piper asked.

"Demons," Leo replied.

"But now that the moment is here, it's almost ... anticlimactic," Zankou said.

"Maybe for you it is," Paige told him.

Zankou powered up a powerball. "Perhaps you'd like to go first."

"Hold on. You need us. To open The Nexus," Phoebe said.

Zankou smiled. "Nice try. Shall I start with you instead?"

"No," Joyce said. "Because you need them to get the Shadow."

The powerball in Zankou's hand vanished.

"I'm listening," Zankou said.

"What are they doing?" Piper whispered to Leo and Buffy.

"They're stalling," Craven said answering Piper's question unknowingly. "Just kill them and evil will control The Nexus this time."

"This time?" Paige asked. "What do you mean, you've tried before?"

"I bet they lost some demons, too. Yeah. We've had some experience with The Nexus," Phoebe said.

"So have I," Joyce said. "With the Shadow or as their Grams called it when she told it to them as a bedtime story, the Woogie."

"They're lying," Craven stated.

Zankou shook his head. "No. I read Piper's diary. I guess I'll need to make her big again for you to do this?"

"Zankou, they just want you to restore the Power of Three," Craven argued.

"What's that, compared to the power of the Shadow?" Joyce asked.

"So what is in it for you?" Zankou asked.

"We live to fight another day," Paige said. "And if we do die, we go down kicking and screaming."

"I'm not leaving you two," Piper told Leo and Buffy.

"You have to," Leo said.

"If Zankou gets the Shadow, then we'll never be able to stop him," Piper said.

"Trust my mom," Buffy said. "I bet you they have a plan that will not only rid you of Zankou but this Shadow demon as well."

"I think Buffy is right," Leo said." The Shadow won't know where to go. Look, I might have lost my powers, but I didn't lose what I know about magic. Trust me. Do what he wants."

Zankou reached in just then and took Piper out of the box.

"Hey!" Piper shouted. "Put me down! Dammit, I say. Put me down!"

"You try anything ... and you will lose the love of your life and your newfound step-daughter," Zankou told Piper. He then closed the box lid leaving Buffy and Leo unable to see what was going on. He restore Piper to full size and they all went down into the basement. They stop near a hole in the floor.

"Any idea how we're gonna get out of this one?" Phoebe asked.

"No," Piper said. She looked at Joyce. "Do you have a plan?"

"Yes, one I hope will get both Buffy and Leo back to full size," Joyce said.

Zankou handed Paige a spell. "Proceed."

"Natum adai necral dana intan lanok," Phoebe, Piper, Paige and Joyce all chanted.

They watched as the Shadow rose out of the hole. Zankou moved forward, his arms spread wide. At first the Shadow headed for him and then it turned and headed for Joyce, Piper, Phoebe and Paige.

"What's happening?" Zankou asked as the Shadow zoomed straight into the box Zankou still held.

"Leo? Buffy?" Piper said as the box exploded.

Black smoke poureds out of the box, then back into Leo and Buffy, now full sized as their eyes turned black.

Zankou turned and looked at Leo and Buffy. "What have you done?!"

The Shadow inside Leo and Buffy turned and blasted Zankou with a powerful force of smoke coming out of their right hands. The force of the blast pushed Zankou high up into the basement wall.

Zankou growled as the other demons in the basement turn to attack Leo and Buffy with their boomerangs. The boomerangs pass harmlessly through them. Leo and Buffy tossed Zankou to the ground and turned and blasted the demons, vanquishing them.

Zankou barely got to his feet when he threw a blast or energy at Leo and Buffy, which did not phase either of them. They blasted Zankou back, pushing him up the stairs and into the kitchen.

Buffy and Leo head up the stairs following Zankou and found the kitchen empty.

"Leo, Buffy, you two don't want this," Piper said.

"Say the spell," Leo told them.

"I am light. I am one too strong to fight," Piper said before Joyce, Paige and Phoebe joined in. "So go away and leave my sight and take with you this endless night."

The Shadow rose out of Leo and Buffy and headed back into the basement as father and daughter collapsed to the floor.

Leo and Buffy groaned as Piper and Joyce rushed over to check on them. "Are you both okay?" Piper asked.

"Yeah," Leo said as he looked at his daughter. "We're all right."

"What happened?" Phoebe asked.

"The Shadow couldn't choose between Zankou's evil or the Power of Three and Joyce, so it went to the only neutral territory ... me and Buffy," Leo explained.

"Buffy wouldn't be neutral though," Paige said. "If she hadn't chose she wouldn't have been assigned as my charge."

"You are correct," Leo explained. "And you are wrong. Buffy's witch side is good, of course. You are right there. But the Slayer, the slayer was created to maintain the balance between good and evil. It is neutral."

"So," Joyce said, "when the Shadow entered Buffy it inhabited only the Slayer half of her. It did not take her over completely like it had Leo, who was completely neutral. It was kind of like a multiple personality. While the Shadow was in her, the Buffy/witch personality was suppressed for the Slayer/Shadow personality."

0 – 0 – 0 – 0 – 0

That night at P3, Buffy and Dawn sat with their mother, Piper, Phoebe, Paige and Leo. The two teenage girls had glamours cast on them to make them appear older so that Piper would not be in risk of losing her liquor license for allowing underage girls in.

"So, all that power surging through your veins didn't make you miss the old days?" Piper asked Leo.

Leo shook his head. "No. I chose the girl, remember?"

"It would be a shame not to put all that magical knowledge to good use," Phoebe said.

Leo looked to Joyce who smiled at him and then he looked back at the sisters and simply shrugged.

"Oh, my god! Isn't that your boss Elise?" Paige said as she looked out on the dance floor.

Phoebe's jaw dropped. Sure enough, Elise and her date, Richard Dillard, were dancing. "Oh, my god, it is!"

"So much for her family emergency," Paige said.

"Everyone deserves a normal life away from the pressures of their daily lives," Joyce said.

"I couldn't agree more mom," Buffy said as she hugged Joyce.

"You know what?" Phoebe said. "Good for her."

"You're not gonna call her on it?" Dawn wondered.

Phoebe laughed slightly. "Well, I'm not gonna buy her a new blackberry, but all the times I've bailed, who can blame her?"

"Wow," Piper said. "Enlightened."

"Well, you learn a lot from walking in someone else's shoes," Phoebe said.

"Yeah," Paige said. "That's what I'm afraid of—What Zankou has found out about us."

"I have my doubts," Joyce said, "that you have seen the last of him. In fact it would not surprise me if Dawn, Buffy and I have not seen the last of him either."

At that moment Leo got to his feet. "Well, on that unhappy note, I gotta get back to the manor and clean up the mess after the demons. It's probably gonna take a while to sort it all out."

"Well, here we go again, huh?" Piper asked.

Leo nodded. "Yeah," he said as he left.

Paige stood up and sighed. "As for me, as much as I would like to find a little cutie to dance with, I should be getting back to Magic School to finish those schedules. Whoo-hoo!" She looked to Joyce, Buffy and Dawn. "Call me when you're ready to orb home." She turned and walked off.

"I think I have a solution," Buffy said. "To at least Paige's problem."

"What?" Piper asked.

"Dad spent fifty years as first a Whitelighter and then an Elder. He could use his knowledge to pass on what he has learned to others like me and Dawn just coming into our powers," Buffy said.

"Have him teach at Magic School," Joyce said as she smiled at her eldest. "Paige would then be freed for her Whitelighter duties and her job in Sunnydale."

0 – 0 – 0 – 0 – 0

The next day Piper led Leo into the Great Hall at Magic School. She stood behind him covering his eyes. Once they were in the Great Hall she removed her hands. "Surprise!" she said.

Leo looked around. "What, you want me to clean magic school?" he asked.

"No."

Leo turned to find Phoebe, Paige, Joyce, Dawn and Buffy joining them.

"We want you to run it," Phoebe said.

"Huh?" Paige asked surprised at the turn of events. "What's going on here?"

"Well," Joyce said. "We know how you've been trying to juggle your Whitelighter duties, your job here and your job in Sunnydale. This will allow you to devote yourself to just you're duties in Sunnydale and of course your Charmed One responsibiltiies."

"And Leo being the perfect man for the job," Piper said as she looked at her husband. "Considering your magic know-how, you're practically a walking Book of Shadows."

"You can teach kids like me and Buffy all we need to know about our powers," Dawn added.

"Well that would definitely free me up," Paige said.

"And with Leo, the school is still in good hands," Joyce said.

Leo smiled and looks at Paige. "I don't know what to say. Paige?"

"I'm good," Paige said and with that she orbed out.

"Well, that was easy. Leo?" Phoebe asked.

Leo smiled. "I'd be honored."

"Good choice," Piper and Joyce told him.

Leo smiled as he kissed Piper and when he pulled away he saw Wyatt standing in the doorway. "Hi," he said as he walked over and knelt next to his son. "Guess what? You don't have to worry about daddy anymore, 'cause I am gonna be okay! Okay?"

"Before we call Paige back," Buffy said, "I just thought I'd let you know, dad. That Dawn and I will be here after school for an hour or two. Not only so I can spend time with you, but so you can teach us about our powers."

Leo looked up at his daughter and smiled. As he stood up, he picked up Wyatt and then pulled Buffy into an embrace hugging both is son and his daughter close to him.