Chapter 6
They had wandered outside and Psyche had given them a quick tour of her gardens. As they resettled on the patio, Simon began refilling their cups from the tray he had brought from the living room. After a quick snack and a short silence, Psyche put her cup down on the table.
Psyche: I had read about Prue's death and I am truly sorry for your loss. I attended the funeral but didn't feel comfortable meeting you at that time.
Piper: Thank you. Shax, whom we later vanquished, with Paige's help, killed her.
Psyche: Thank the heavens he's gone. Well, you have heard quite a lot so far but there is more if you are willing to continue.
Piper: Of course. I believe we deserve to know everything.
Phoebe: Yes, it would help us to better understand some things.
Paige: First, there is just one thing that I don't quite understand. How come you can use both your witch and demonic powers, whereas Cole knew nothing of his witch powers?
Psyche: Good question, Paige. I may end up liking you after all. That was a joke. Anyway, the reason is this. Cole's mother did not know that he was half-witch either. She raised him to be a demon therefore helping him to master the demonic powers he had. His training buried them deep inside. He was never really given the chance to decide how he wanted to use his powers, so because of free will, the others remained buried instead of giving him warlock tendencies allowing them to resurface now. He now has free will. The option of remaining good as a witch or becoming evil again as a warlock is his.
Cole: I think I'll choose witch, thank you.
Phoebe: Good choice.
Psyche: Did that answer your question, Paige?
Paige: What about you? You can use them both?
Psyche: Well, my father raised me differently. He allowed me to choose. Once I had chosen the same path as him, he helped me to discover all of my powers and how to utilize them. I never had to bury any inclination toward good or evil, just try to find a balance between the two within me and to use it properly.
Paige: I see.
Psyche: Very well then. I will continue with the story. After my mother's death, as well as training me, my father devoted all remaining energy to his books. He thought that it was awfully coincidental that two male witches had been tricked into marriage by the same demon. He stumbled upon the answer.
Simon: I slipped one day and confided in Patrick the truth behind the relationship between Cole's father and mother. He had discovered that she was a demon a week before the wedding. However, her spell was too strong and he would not give her up so instead he did what no other witch before him had managed to do. He created a potion that would relinquish his powers. He would rather have been a mortal than become a warlock. He drank the potion the night before the wedding when he realized that he would be going through with it rather than vanquishing her. However, she was already pregnant. Cole's mother had known that he was a witch and had been plotting with the Source to conceive a child that would be half-witch and half-demon. However, when Benjamin did not become a warlock after marrying her she thought that she had made a mistake.
Cole: Why would the Source want a child that was both?
Psyche: Don't you realize the power that child would have, Cole? Why do you think you were so powerful? You may not have been using your witch half but the potential was there and boosting the demon one.
Simon: When he had relinquished his powers he no longer had my protection. I had to leave him but I still kept an eye on him because I feared for his safety. Then one day he was gone. Your mother had caught him trying to leave with you, and she killed him. I am truly sorry I was not there to protect him.
Cole: You have nothing to apologize for. My father made his choice and I have seen to it that his soul has been released from the Source's grasp.
Simon: Thank you.
Psyche: I believe my father was, in part, a reincarnation of Benjamin because he was worried about the very same thing happening to him. He had a knack for potions, as well. Before he met my mother he had created one that would allow him to remain a witch even should he marry a demon without his knowledge. It saved us both. My mother believed him to be a witch as well and then thought she had made another mistake when she married him and he too did not become a warlock. However, instead of relinquishing his powers and making him an easy target, it had allowed him to be able to defend himself when she attacked. I think that had been her biggest shock in that final moment, the fact that she had been tricked instead of him.
Simon: I had warned him. I thought that he hadn't listened and when he married her I believed that I had to leave. He proved me wrong when he called me five years later and...well, you know the rest.
Psyche: My father had discovered the Source's plan to have a child in his grasp that could utilize both witch and demonic powers. This discovery is what had him killed. He went in search of Balthazar, fearing that he would someday realize his true potential. He did not reach him, obviously, but he did find out something that no one on our side knew. They still don't, at least, until now. I'm sorry, Simon, but I swore to him that I would tell no one. Now, however, is the time. Before my mother married my father she had bore one other child. The father of this child is the Source.
Leo: WHAT!?! You mean, the Source has a son of his own!?!
Psyche: Yes.
Piper: Why didn't you tell us, Cole? This is bad, very bad.
Psyche: Cole did not know. No one knew except my mother, the Source, and the demon that looked after the child. She is the one my father found out from. I do not know how nor am I sure that I want to but once she had told him she realized her mistake and told the Source. He then decided that it was time for his son's first kill. He sent Lancelot after my father.
Paige: Lancelot? That's ironic.
Psyche: Very. When he came, I hid again, still too young to help. He killed my father like no other demon, except perhaps the Source, could.
Phoebe: I don't understand. How?
Psyche: By calling for his soul. He literally sucked his soul from his body and into the palm of his hand. There was no way to defend against this attack. This power is not known to anyone because it has never been heard of.
Cole: The Soul Catcher. He is feared widely but no one knew of his identity. I mean there were rumors of him being the Source's son but nothing could ever be proven or confirmed. I knew of a demon named Lancelot. I trained him. However, of this power he never showed any signs. Perhaps he was a different demon. The Soul Catcher steals the souls of witches and uses their knowledge and powers to find others. No one is sure if he can even be stopped.
Psyche: It is possible that it was him, Cole, but who knows if we will ever find out? I never saw his face. True, no one is sure if he can be stopped but my father was still as prepared as he could be. He knew that he might die by his hand because of those very rumors and again prepared a potion that would seal his soul if taken. No demon, not even the Source, can access his knowledge or powers without the key.
Leo: Where is the key?
Psyche: I don't know. He died before he could tell me. The last thing I remember him telling me in training was...
The time will come when I will be gone,
My soul taken and my life here undone.
The only key that exists I have hidden
But you are the one who will find it and it must be within.
Piper: Now that's cryptic.
Psyche: I still haven't figured it out. I know that it is a message of where he put it and that I must know where it is but I've racked my brain for years. I can't think of anything he ever gave me or showed me that might be hiding it.
Phoebe: But how would you get his soul back to use it? Wouldn't Lancelot take yours first.
Psyche: He wouldn't if he thought I had the key or knew where it was. I believe that his undoing would be the releasing of a soul that he has taken. Perhaps it's a spell that my father has written that would enable me to release him therefore destroying him. I don't know. I just don't know.
Simon: All right, Psyche. Calm down. I'm sure we will figure it out.
Paige: Uh, guys? Perhaps we should move this party inside before it rains.
Unnoticed by everyone, dark, ominous clouds had settled overhead and it did indeed look as if rain would fall at any moment.
Psyche: That's odd. There wasn't any rain in the forecast and why haven't the clouds blocked the sun?
Piper: Oh, no!! The elemental demon!
Psyche jumped up out of her chair and stared at Piper.
Psyche: Elemental demon!?! What do you mean elemental demon!?! The last of them is asleep.
Leo: Apparently not anymore. The girls have undergone a great many attacks lately and the elders feel that it is because the Source was trying to distract them long enough to summon an elemental demon.
Paige: What do you mean by "the last of them"? How do you know about them?
Psyche: My father was fascinated by them and devoted a great deal of time researching them. He had already realized some time before that he was a Halliwell, the twin sister of Patricia, and knew that someday the Charmed Ones would need a fourth. He did not know that it may be me but he still taught me everything he knew about them just in case. I gather that you coming here means that you need me to complete the circle of four of the same blood?
Piper: Perhaps. We came mostly in search of answers about Uncle Patrick. We had no idea that we would be gaining a cousin as well. However, we do need to figure out how to defeat this demon and fast. He is already gaining enough power to alter the weather report.
Psyche: Speaking of which...
She quickly turned and hurried back into the house. When everyone entered the living room behind her, they noticed that she had turned on the T.V. and was staring at the weather channel.
Weatherman: It would seem that across the nation, even the world, a serious of bizarre weather patterns have taken effect. It has suddenly begun snowing in the desert regions of Arizona and New Mexico as well as the Sahara desert and other desert regions of the Middle East. Temperatures in the Arctic and Antarctica regions have been reported to be climbing into the 80's and are still rising. Tornadoes have been spotted in European countries and massive Tsunami's, hurricanes and other such storms are forming in all of the major oceans. Geologists are sending in reports of massive worldwide activity on all major fault lines, which could lead to massive earthquakes and dormant volcano eruptions. Everyone is asked to remain where they are and to stay calm until further information is provided.
Psyche muted the television and then began pacing in front of the fireplace.
Psyche: I don't understand. How could an elemental demon have gained so much power so quickly?
Cole: He would have had to feed off a hundred humans truly evil in order to do so. I don't know of any place on earth that would hold them. They are usually spread out over many different prison areas.
Paige: Prison areas?
Piper: That would make sense to look in prisons for humans that have committed acts of pure evil. Cole is right, though, there isn't a place with that many evil humans imprisoned together. It would be ludicrous to put so many criminals of that nature in one place!
Phoebe: I've got it!!!
Everyone turned to look at Phoebe, who had been staring out of the window at the impending storm clouds. She turned and by the look on her face everyone knew they would not like her answer.
Phoebe: Alcatraz.
Simon: Alcatraz? What the hell is that?
Cole: Of course!! Why didn't we think of it before?
Paige: I don't understand. Alcatraz has been closed for years and no one except tourists have been there.
Piper: Except the ghosts of criminals and torturous prison guards.
Phoebe: Exactly. The book said that an elemental demon needs the Spirit of Human Evil as the fifth element. It didn't say anything about actually requiring a human body to do this. What if he drew off the spirits left to haunt Alcatraz?
Simon: Again, what is Alcatraz?
Psyche: Good job, Phoebe. Alcatraz is an old human prison, Simon. The world's worst criminals were sent there to rot and were beaten, underwent shock treatment, as well as executed within those walls. That is the main reason why it was eventually shut down. It is built on a small island in the San Francisco Bay.
Paige: Now the important issue. Stopping him.
Psyche: We need to cast a circle and call the quarters. It's the only way. Since there are four of us now of the same bloodline.
Piper: What if we don't have enough power to defeat him, though? You are talking about a lot of evil energy.
Psyche: True. However, Mother Nature is probably a little pissed off right now. If we call the quarters, his wife will answer and the retribution will be quite severe.
Phoebe: Wife?
Psyche: Yeah, Gaia. It dates back to Greek mythology. The only elemental demon left is Cronos the God of the Universe and father of Cyclops and the Olympian Gods and Goddesses such as Zeus, Hera, Aphrodite, Hades, Poseidon, etc. He was married to Gaia, commonly known as Mother Earth. When her children were born, an oracle had prophesied that a son of Cronos would rise and defeat him so he swallowed his children whole. All but the youngest, Zeus, who was hidden away by his mother. When he grew up, Gaia and Zeus plotted together and poisoned him causing him to throw his children up. Disgusting, I know. Anyway, after this they rebelled and killed him. However, being a God, what was left of him became demonic and the opposite of his wife. He is the last of the elemental demons so I can only assume that he is the one causing the chaos we just heard about.
Piper: Yuck!! So you are saying that by "calling the quarters," we would be summoning Gaia and she will help us stop him?
Psyche: Exactly!
Cole: Do you have any idea how far fetched that sounds? There's a reason it's called mythology.
Leo: Yes, but it is all true. That was what I was trying to tell you earlier when we arrived. The elders had felt the awakening of an old God and could only assume that it was indeed Cronos, the last of the elemental demons.
Paige: Great. Now all we need to do is figure out how to do the casting and calling and all that stuff.
Psyche: I already know how.
Just then the doorbell rang.
Simon: I'll get it.
Psyche: Send them away, whoever it is. We have work to do. I'm going to get father's book that contains the ritual we need for this.
As everyone waited for Psyche, Simon left to answer the door. As soon as he opened it, a tall handsome man walked in.
Simon: Most people wait to be invited in, Lance.
Lance: Good afternoon, Simon. Is Psyche home?
Simon: Yes, but she has guests and does not wish to be disturbed.
Lance: Nonsense. She would not refuse the man she is marrying tomorrow.
With that, he stepped by Simon and walked into the living room. He stopped abruptly when he saw Psyche's guests. Piper, Phoebe, and Paige were talking animatedly on the couch, Leo was studying Patrick's portrait, and Cole had his back turned against the room as he stared outside. Paige was the first to see Lance and stopped talking mid-sentence. Simon walked up behind Lance.
Simon: Most people consider it very rude when someone just marches into their house, especially uninvited.
Lance: You can stop chastising me on my etiquette, Simon. Where is Psyche?
His question was not directed to anyone in particular and no one seemed inclined to answer right away. Cole still had not turned from the window but was now watching Lance in the reflection of the glass. Just then, Psyche reappeared carrying an old and battered briefcase. She stopped short upon seeing Lance.
Psyche: Lance! What are you doing here?
Lance: I came to see how my bride was doing with her preparations.
Psyche: Everything is in order. I told you that when you called this morning. I also said that I was planning on having the afternoon to myself and that I would see you this evening at dinner.
Lance: I know, darling, but I couldn't wait that long to see you.
Lance walked across the room and bent his head to kiss Psyche. Instead she stepped back.
Psyche: Simon, did you mention that I said I did not wish to be disturbed?
Simon stepped forward not looking worried in the least.
Simon: Of course, I did Miss, but Lance insisted that he see you.
Lance: Do not blame Simon, Psyche. I was a little eager to see you and did not listen to him. So who are your friends?
Psyche: Actually, this is family.
Lance: Family? I did not know you had any living relatives. Why didn't you tell me?
Piper: Well, we sort of surprised her. We did not know she existed until this morning ourselves.
Lance: I see, and you are?
Piper: I'm Piper. These are my sisters Paige and Phoebe. We're Psyche's cousins. This is my husband Leo Wyatt and Phoebe's boyfriend Cole Turner.
Lance: Who seems to be a little shy today.
Phoebe had noticed Cole's method of observation and worried that something was amiss, stood and looked at Lance.
Phoebe: He was hit with a lot of information today about his past. He kind of needs a moment alone. So, Psyche, you did not mention that you were getting married. When is the big day?
Psyche: Tomorrow.
Paige: Tomorrow? Boy, we sure do have excellent timing, don't we?
Psyche: That's all right. Everything is ready. All we have to do now is be on time.
Lance: Which we will. Am I interrupting anything? Would you prefer me to come back later after your guests leave?
Psyche: Yes, I would appreciate that, dear. I will call you then and we can set a time for dinner. How's that sound?
Lance: Sounds good. If you don't mind my asking, though, isn't that your father's case? The one you said you wouldn't allow anyone else to look in?
Psyche: Uh, yes, it is. My father has an old photo album in here and I thought I would bring it out just this once so that my cousins might have a chance to get to know their uncle in a small way.
Lance: Well, that sounds like fun. I'm sure that there are some interesting photos of you as a young girl that I would love to see, that is, if you don't mind.
They had wandered outside and Psyche had given them a quick tour of her gardens. As they resettled on the patio, Simon began refilling their cups from the tray he had brought from the living room. After a quick snack and a short silence, Psyche put her cup down on the table.
Psyche: I had read about Prue's death and I am truly sorry for your loss. I attended the funeral but didn't feel comfortable meeting you at that time.
Piper: Thank you. Shax, whom we later vanquished, with Paige's help, killed her.
Psyche: Thank the heavens he's gone. Well, you have heard quite a lot so far but there is more if you are willing to continue.
Piper: Of course. I believe we deserve to know everything.
Phoebe: Yes, it would help us to better understand some things.
Paige: First, there is just one thing that I don't quite understand. How come you can use both your witch and demonic powers, whereas Cole knew nothing of his witch powers?
Psyche: Good question, Paige. I may end up liking you after all. That was a joke. Anyway, the reason is this. Cole's mother did not know that he was half-witch either. She raised him to be a demon therefore helping him to master the demonic powers he had. His training buried them deep inside. He was never really given the chance to decide how he wanted to use his powers, so because of free will, the others remained buried instead of giving him warlock tendencies allowing them to resurface now. He now has free will. The option of remaining good as a witch or becoming evil again as a warlock is his.
Cole: I think I'll choose witch, thank you.
Phoebe: Good choice.
Psyche: Did that answer your question, Paige?
Paige: What about you? You can use them both?
Psyche: Well, my father raised me differently. He allowed me to choose. Once I had chosen the same path as him, he helped me to discover all of my powers and how to utilize them. I never had to bury any inclination toward good or evil, just try to find a balance between the two within me and to use it properly.
Paige: I see.
Psyche: Very well then. I will continue with the story. After my mother's death, as well as training me, my father devoted all remaining energy to his books. He thought that it was awfully coincidental that two male witches had been tricked into marriage by the same demon. He stumbled upon the answer.
Simon: I slipped one day and confided in Patrick the truth behind the relationship between Cole's father and mother. He had discovered that she was a demon a week before the wedding. However, her spell was too strong and he would not give her up so instead he did what no other witch before him had managed to do. He created a potion that would relinquish his powers. He would rather have been a mortal than become a warlock. He drank the potion the night before the wedding when he realized that he would be going through with it rather than vanquishing her. However, she was already pregnant. Cole's mother had known that he was a witch and had been plotting with the Source to conceive a child that would be half-witch and half-demon. However, when Benjamin did not become a warlock after marrying her she thought that she had made a mistake.
Cole: Why would the Source want a child that was both?
Psyche: Don't you realize the power that child would have, Cole? Why do you think you were so powerful? You may not have been using your witch half but the potential was there and boosting the demon one.
Simon: When he had relinquished his powers he no longer had my protection. I had to leave him but I still kept an eye on him because I feared for his safety. Then one day he was gone. Your mother had caught him trying to leave with you, and she killed him. I am truly sorry I was not there to protect him.
Cole: You have nothing to apologize for. My father made his choice and I have seen to it that his soul has been released from the Source's grasp.
Simon: Thank you.
Psyche: I believe my father was, in part, a reincarnation of Benjamin because he was worried about the very same thing happening to him. He had a knack for potions, as well. Before he met my mother he had created one that would allow him to remain a witch even should he marry a demon without his knowledge. It saved us both. My mother believed him to be a witch as well and then thought she had made another mistake when she married him and he too did not become a warlock. However, instead of relinquishing his powers and making him an easy target, it had allowed him to be able to defend himself when she attacked. I think that had been her biggest shock in that final moment, the fact that she had been tricked instead of him.
Simon: I had warned him. I thought that he hadn't listened and when he married her I believed that I had to leave. He proved me wrong when he called me five years later and...well, you know the rest.
Psyche: My father had discovered the Source's plan to have a child in his grasp that could utilize both witch and demonic powers. This discovery is what had him killed. He went in search of Balthazar, fearing that he would someday realize his true potential. He did not reach him, obviously, but he did find out something that no one on our side knew. They still don't, at least, until now. I'm sorry, Simon, but I swore to him that I would tell no one. Now, however, is the time. Before my mother married my father she had bore one other child. The father of this child is the Source.
Leo: WHAT!?! You mean, the Source has a son of his own!?!
Psyche: Yes.
Piper: Why didn't you tell us, Cole? This is bad, very bad.
Psyche: Cole did not know. No one knew except my mother, the Source, and the demon that looked after the child. She is the one my father found out from. I do not know how nor am I sure that I want to but once she had told him she realized her mistake and told the Source. He then decided that it was time for his son's first kill. He sent Lancelot after my father.
Paige: Lancelot? That's ironic.
Psyche: Very. When he came, I hid again, still too young to help. He killed my father like no other demon, except perhaps the Source, could.
Phoebe: I don't understand. How?
Psyche: By calling for his soul. He literally sucked his soul from his body and into the palm of his hand. There was no way to defend against this attack. This power is not known to anyone because it has never been heard of.
Cole: The Soul Catcher. He is feared widely but no one knew of his identity. I mean there were rumors of him being the Source's son but nothing could ever be proven or confirmed. I knew of a demon named Lancelot. I trained him. However, of this power he never showed any signs. Perhaps he was a different demon. The Soul Catcher steals the souls of witches and uses their knowledge and powers to find others. No one is sure if he can even be stopped.
Psyche: It is possible that it was him, Cole, but who knows if we will ever find out? I never saw his face. True, no one is sure if he can be stopped but my father was still as prepared as he could be. He knew that he might die by his hand because of those very rumors and again prepared a potion that would seal his soul if taken. No demon, not even the Source, can access his knowledge or powers without the key.
Leo: Where is the key?
Psyche: I don't know. He died before he could tell me. The last thing I remember him telling me in training was...
The time will come when I will be gone,
My soul taken and my life here undone.
The only key that exists I have hidden
But you are the one who will find it and it must be within.
Piper: Now that's cryptic.
Psyche: I still haven't figured it out. I know that it is a message of where he put it and that I must know where it is but I've racked my brain for years. I can't think of anything he ever gave me or showed me that might be hiding it.
Phoebe: But how would you get his soul back to use it? Wouldn't Lancelot take yours first.
Psyche: He wouldn't if he thought I had the key or knew where it was. I believe that his undoing would be the releasing of a soul that he has taken. Perhaps it's a spell that my father has written that would enable me to release him therefore destroying him. I don't know. I just don't know.
Simon: All right, Psyche. Calm down. I'm sure we will figure it out.
Paige: Uh, guys? Perhaps we should move this party inside before it rains.
Unnoticed by everyone, dark, ominous clouds had settled overhead and it did indeed look as if rain would fall at any moment.
Psyche: That's odd. There wasn't any rain in the forecast and why haven't the clouds blocked the sun?
Piper: Oh, no!! The elemental demon!
Psyche jumped up out of her chair and stared at Piper.
Psyche: Elemental demon!?! What do you mean elemental demon!?! The last of them is asleep.
Leo: Apparently not anymore. The girls have undergone a great many attacks lately and the elders feel that it is because the Source was trying to distract them long enough to summon an elemental demon.
Paige: What do you mean by "the last of them"? How do you know about them?
Psyche: My father was fascinated by them and devoted a great deal of time researching them. He had already realized some time before that he was a Halliwell, the twin sister of Patricia, and knew that someday the Charmed Ones would need a fourth. He did not know that it may be me but he still taught me everything he knew about them just in case. I gather that you coming here means that you need me to complete the circle of four of the same blood?
Piper: Perhaps. We came mostly in search of answers about Uncle Patrick. We had no idea that we would be gaining a cousin as well. However, we do need to figure out how to defeat this demon and fast. He is already gaining enough power to alter the weather report.
Psyche: Speaking of which...
She quickly turned and hurried back into the house. When everyone entered the living room behind her, they noticed that she had turned on the T.V. and was staring at the weather channel.
Weatherman: It would seem that across the nation, even the world, a serious of bizarre weather patterns have taken effect. It has suddenly begun snowing in the desert regions of Arizona and New Mexico as well as the Sahara desert and other desert regions of the Middle East. Temperatures in the Arctic and Antarctica regions have been reported to be climbing into the 80's and are still rising. Tornadoes have been spotted in European countries and massive Tsunami's, hurricanes and other such storms are forming in all of the major oceans. Geologists are sending in reports of massive worldwide activity on all major fault lines, which could lead to massive earthquakes and dormant volcano eruptions. Everyone is asked to remain where they are and to stay calm until further information is provided.
Psyche muted the television and then began pacing in front of the fireplace.
Psyche: I don't understand. How could an elemental demon have gained so much power so quickly?
Cole: He would have had to feed off a hundred humans truly evil in order to do so. I don't know of any place on earth that would hold them. They are usually spread out over many different prison areas.
Paige: Prison areas?
Piper: That would make sense to look in prisons for humans that have committed acts of pure evil. Cole is right, though, there isn't a place with that many evil humans imprisoned together. It would be ludicrous to put so many criminals of that nature in one place!
Phoebe: I've got it!!!
Everyone turned to look at Phoebe, who had been staring out of the window at the impending storm clouds. She turned and by the look on her face everyone knew they would not like her answer.
Phoebe: Alcatraz.
Simon: Alcatraz? What the hell is that?
Cole: Of course!! Why didn't we think of it before?
Paige: I don't understand. Alcatraz has been closed for years and no one except tourists have been there.
Piper: Except the ghosts of criminals and torturous prison guards.
Phoebe: Exactly. The book said that an elemental demon needs the Spirit of Human Evil as the fifth element. It didn't say anything about actually requiring a human body to do this. What if he drew off the spirits left to haunt Alcatraz?
Simon: Again, what is Alcatraz?
Psyche: Good job, Phoebe. Alcatraz is an old human prison, Simon. The world's worst criminals were sent there to rot and were beaten, underwent shock treatment, as well as executed within those walls. That is the main reason why it was eventually shut down. It is built on a small island in the San Francisco Bay.
Paige: Now the important issue. Stopping him.
Psyche: We need to cast a circle and call the quarters. It's the only way. Since there are four of us now of the same bloodline.
Piper: What if we don't have enough power to defeat him, though? You are talking about a lot of evil energy.
Psyche: True. However, Mother Nature is probably a little pissed off right now. If we call the quarters, his wife will answer and the retribution will be quite severe.
Phoebe: Wife?
Psyche: Yeah, Gaia. It dates back to Greek mythology. The only elemental demon left is Cronos the God of the Universe and father of Cyclops and the Olympian Gods and Goddesses such as Zeus, Hera, Aphrodite, Hades, Poseidon, etc. He was married to Gaia, commonly known as Mother Earth. When her children were born, an oracle had prophesied that a son of Cronos would rise and defeat him so he swallowed his children whole. All but the youngest, Zeus, who was hidden away by his mother. When he grew up, Gaia and Zeus plotted together and poisoned him causing him to throw his children up. Disgusting, I know. Anyway, after this they rebelled and killed him. However, being a God, what was left of him became demonic and the opposite of his wife. He is the last of the elemental demons so I can only assume that he is the one causing the chaos we just heard about.
Piper: Yuck!! So you are saying that by "calling the quarters," we would be summoning Gaia and she will help us stop him?
Psyche: Exactly!
Cole: Do you have any idea how far fetched that sounds? There's a reason it's called mythology.
Leo: Yes, but it is all true. That was what I was trying to tell you earlier when we arrived. The elders had felt the awakening of an old God and could only assume that it was indeed Cronos, the last of the elemental demons.
Paige: Great. Now all we need to do is figure out how to do the casting and calling and all that stuff.
Psyche: I already know how.
Just then the doorbell rang.
Simon: I'll get it.
Psyche: Send them away, whoever it is. We have work to do. I'm going to get father's book that contains the ritual we need for this.
As everyone waited for Psyche, Simon left to answer the door. As soon as he opened it, a tall handsome man walked in.
Simon: Most people wait to be invited in, Lance.
Lance: Good afternoon, Simon. Is Psyche home?
Simon: Yes, but she has guests and does not wish to be disturbed.
Lance: Nonsense. She would not refuse the man she is marrying tomorrow.
With that, he stepped by Simon and walked into the living room. He stopped abruptly when he saw Psyche's guests. Piper, Phoebe, and Paige were talking animatedly on the couch, Leo was studying Patrick's portrait, and Cole had his back turned against the room as he stared outside. Paige was the first to see Lance and stopped talking mid-sentence. Simon walked up behind Lance.
Simon: Most people consider it very rude when someone just marches into their house, especially uninvited.
Lance: You can stop chastising me on my etiquette, Simon. Where is Psyche?
His question was not directed to anyone in particular and no one seemed inclined to answer right away. Cole still had not turned from the window but was now watching Lance in the reflection of the glass. Just then, Psyche reappeared carrying an old and battered briefcase. She stopped short upon seeing Lance.
Psyche: Lance! What are you doing here?
Lance: I came to see how my bride was doing with her preparations.
Psyche: Everything is in order. I told you that when you called this morning. I also said that I was planning on having the afternoon to myself and that I would see you this evening at dinner.
Lance: I know, darling, but I couldn't wait that long to see you.
Lance walked across the room and bent his head to kiss Psyche. Instead she stepped back.
Psyche: Simon, did you mention that I said I did not wish to be disturbed?
Simon stepped forward not looking worried in the least.
Simon: Of course, I did Miss, but Lance insisted that he see you.
Lance: Do not blame Simon, Psyche. I was a little eager to see you and did not listen to him. So who are your friends?
Psyche: Actually, this is family.
Lance: Family? I did not know you had any living relatives. Why didn't you tell me?
Piper: Well, we sort of surprised her. We did not know she existed until this morning ourselves.
Lance: I see, and you are?
Piper: I'm Piper. These are my sisters Paige and Phoebe. We're Psyche's cousins. This is my husband Leo Wyatt and Phoebe's boyfriend Cole Turner.
Lance: Who seems to be a little shy today.
Phoebe had noticed Cole's method of observation and worried that something was amiss, stood and looked at Lance.
Phoebe: He was hit with a lot of information today about his past. He kind of needs a moment alone. So, Psyche, you did not mention that you were getting married. When is the big day?
Psyche: Tomorrow.
Paige: Tomorrow? Boy, we sure do have excellent timing, don't we?
Psyche: That's all right. Everything is ready. All we have to do now is be on time.
Lance: Which we will. Am I interrupting anything? Would you prefer me to come back later after your guests leave?
Psyche: Yes, I would appreciate that, dear. I will call you then and we can set a time for dinner. How's that sound?
Lance: Sounds good. If you don't mind my asking, though, isn't that your father's case? The one you said you wouldn't allow anyone else to look in?
Psyche: Uh, yes, it is. My father has an old photo album in here and I thought I would bring it out just this once so that my cousins might have a chance to get to know their uncle in a small way.
Lance: Well, that sounds like fun. I'm sure that there are some interesting photos of you as a young girl that I would love to see, that is, if you don't mind.