Duality
By Risa
Disclaimer: See Chapter 1
Author's Notes: This is a rather short chapter, but it was the best place to end it. Basically this just sets the stage for the next chapter. I hope you enjoy it!
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Chapter Seven
"And how am I supposed to do that?"
"Soulmate bond," Fortuna said simply. Phoebe stared at her.
"How?" Phoebe asked.
"Darien can explain it better than I can," Fortuna said, "after all he's had the experience."
Darien nodded. "Take his hand," he instructed, "and close your eyes. Now clear your mind and focus on all the times you've spent together."
Phoebe did so. Slowly, all the images of all the times that they had spent together since they first met came to her mind.
The night they first met. He had walked towards her with that devastatingly charming smile that instantly attracted her…
Every kiss they had shared, every night spent in his arms, every word of love exchanged and treasured… the laughter and the tears, the sweetness and the pain…
She could feel a connection open between them and gradually she saw, through all their memories, a cord of silver and gold.
That's it, she dimly heard Darien's voice in her mind, that's the connection. Now hold on to it and let it pull you in.
She followed Darien's instructions and let herself get pulled in by the cord. What she saw surprised her.
Cole's mind was a conflict of colours. There were dark, fierce shades of black with slashes of red but there were also blinding blues and brilliant whites thrown into the mix. She wandered around, hoping to find Cole.
She found him beside a swirl of sinister mist that was being held back by a wall of what seemed to be green jade. There was a breach in it and she could see Cole standing there, trying to keep the mist from getting through the breach. Instantly she knew what he was trying to do.
She ran towards him and helped him push. Cole looked at her in surprise. "How did you get here?" he asked. He had been trying as hard as he could to keep the Source down and under control. And he wasn't really succeeding.
"Soulmate bond," she replied, "it's a long story which I'll tell you later." That's provided if we actually get out of this, Phoebe thought to herself.
We'll try to, Cole said mentally. There were no secrets in this sort of link, no private thoughts.
A voice intruded. It was Darien. All right, Phoebe, summon all the power that you have as a witch and combine that with the power of the soulmate bond. Then use that power to repair the breach.
To her surprise, it actually worked. She watched in fascination as slowly, the breach glowed with a silvery glow and became smaller and smaller before it eventually disappeared.
"I'll see you up there?" Phoebe said, smiling slightly as she sent a wave of love towards Cole – the equivalent of a mental caress. She could get used to this soulmate stuff.
"Definitely," he grinned at her. "Race you back." With that he disappeared.
The rest of the people in the room watched nervously until they saw Cole's eyes blink and open. They stared at him, apprehensive for a moment, unsure if the one who woke up was Cole or The Source. Then they saw Phoebe open her eyes and smile. "No fair," she said, "You had a head-start."
The rest of them looked at each other in relief. It was the normal Cole.
"Great to see you back Cole," Piper said, "you had us rather worried there."
He grinned and sat up. "So was I. It's good to be back."
Phoebe looked at Cole, her expression thoughtful. Then she turned to Fortuna and said, "If I could do that alone, then wouldn't all of us combined have enough power to get rid of the Source once and for all?"
Fortuna shook her head. "What you did was just to repair the barrier that the charm had created. Not only did you do that before there was a chance for the breach to get too big, repairing also requires much less power. The only problem was, only you could do it because of the soulmate bond and because you're a witch."
"But isn't Darien telepathic?" Paige asked. "Why couldn't he do it?"
"While I could enter Cole's mind, I don't have the power to repair the breach," Darien said.
"Can the charm still last a month? How much time do we still have left?" Phoebe asked.
"My guess?" Fortuna said, "I don't really know."
"If you guys have a spell, I suggest we better get it done quickly," Leo said. "Even if you can still depend on the charm to last for a month – which we can't – the Seer might attack again. We can't guarantee that we'd be able to get to Cole in time."
Cole nodded. "We can't wait any longer."
Phoebe looked up at him, stricken. If the spell backfired… this might be the last few moments that they had together. She didn't want to lose him, not this soon.
Piper coughed. She knew that it was best if the two of them had some time together alone. "We actually have an idea. I'll fill you guys on it. Phoebe, could you tell Cole and come up with a spell for the Source?" Her heart went out to Phoebe. She knew all too well what it felt like knowing that someone you loved was going to die. She had experienced it once with Leo and she never wanted to go through that again.
The rest of them got the hint and left the room.
Cole took Phoebe's hands in his and caressed them. "I wish we had more time together too," he said softly. "But we don't." He sighed. "Phoebe, I love you more than life itself. If my death ensures your safety, then so be it."
Phoebe wrapped her arms around him as the tears began to fall. "I know, I know. It's the same for me. Why does this have to happen to us? Why can't we just be happy without something happening to screw it up?"
"I don't know, Phoebe. I just know that things like this happen. We can only deal with this as best as we can and accept what happens and deal."
Phoebe sighed. "I guess living for a hundred over years does make you learn some stuff about life, huh?"
Cole smiled gently. "Yeah, I've learnt a thing or two."
Phoebe said, looking up into Cole's eyes and cupping his face in her hands, "I will always love you, no matter what happens. You know that right?"
Cole looked at Phoebe as nodded, feeling the pain and sadness swarm his heart. He never thought that his life with Phoebe would end so abruptly. He couldn't bear to leave her. Not now, not ever. He leaned down and kissed her. There was desperation in the kiss – the knowledge that they might part and the desire to cling on to every moment that they still had.
Phoebe reluctantly pulled away and tried to smile. "Look, we're talking about this as if it's a certain fact. The spell might still work. Come on, let's get started on it."
Downstairs, Piper explained to Leo and Darien what she, Phoebe, Paige had come up with. "So what do you think?" she said at the end of it.
"It just might work," Leo said. "But there's something else. The spell just splits apart Cole and The Source. Assuming that the Source is strong enough, he might be able to kill Cole the moment they split apart before the vanquish even comes into play."
"What about combining both spells in one?" Darien asked.
Piper shook her head. "That would require a lot of power. Power that we don't have. At least with two spells, even if we can't vanquish the Source, there is a stronger chance that Cole will survive."
"All right then," Paige said. "If we've decided what are we going to do, when are we going to do it?"
"Tomorrow?" Fortuna suggested. "Give everyone a night to rest and prepare?"
Piper nodded. "Let's do it."
*~ To Be Continued ~*