Chapter Fifteen: The Beginning Of The End Or The End Of The Beginning?
"Welcome home, welcome," Piper sang waveringly as she walked into the Charmed Ones' new home. "Ugh, more like 'Welcome To The Jungle'," she commented on seeing the mess of overgrown vines and roots. "Guy this place is a sham! Look at it! How many powers did we pay for it?"
"We could've kept those powers," Phoebe noted mournfully.
Paige flung a bag to the ground. "You guys should really use your initiative from time to time," she told them, and waved a hand slowly around the room. Thousands upon thousands of tiny blue orbs filled the room, lighting it up so much that it was hard to see. When eventually they had disappeared and Paige's work was done, the grimy walls and earthy floors had changed. The floor became a polished marble, the walls clean slate, and the ceiling was charmed to look like the night stars were really above them.
"How Harry Potter," Phoebe smiled, and looked around. "Wow Paige. This is amazing."
"Not done yet," Paige muttered, and pointed her hand at the centre of one of the slate walls. Orbs appeared and a huge gaping hole appeared in the wall, which was soon filled with a roaring fire. Then Paige orbed about thirty flame torches into hooks in the walls to give the rest of the room some light. Each torch was a different colour, giving the room a beautiful mellow atmosphere. To finish the effect, she waved towards the ceiling and a huge chandelier orbed in, lit with bright candles. Once that was finished, Paige breathed in deeply. "Now I'm done."
Her sisters gaped around them at what Paige had done. "It's incredible," Piper said. "How did you do that? New power?"
"Not quite," Paige smirked. "Just my old orbing power got... really, really developed. This stuff's stolen from nearby areas. Pretty nice though, huh?"
"Beautiful. And now I can see why we paid so much for this - it's huge!"
Piper grinned at Phoebe. "I like this. I like this a lot." Then her hand flew to her mouth as she remembered something. "Oh! The cat!"
There was a pause as Phoebe and Paige tried to think of the cat in question. "Kit!" Phoebe suddenly gasped. "Who's gonna feed her? Did we feed her anyway?"
"Who's Kit?"
Silence. Piper bit her lip and shrugged. "Maybe she can just look after herself." She laughed and was joined by Phoebe. "Come on, let's check out the rest of this place," she urged and the three of them set off, Phoebe running ahead dragging Piper and Paige by their hands.
The entrance to the lair (as they were soon to name it) opened into the main room which Paige had just redecorated. Leading from that main room were two arching corridors, which Paige spruced up as they explored. They chose the left archway first. "Right is so passé," Paige had announced. Going along the underground passageway, Paige kept the marble floors but chose to just leave the walls and ceiling to their stoney selves. She was beginning to think she was running out of sources to orb-steal the marble and slate from. Funnily enough, it seemed there was more marble available. She smirked at the thought that she could be stealing it from The Source's very own private lair, but she had other plans for him anyway.
Since the passageway they'd picked led to three new rooms each with separate rooms leading off from them, the sisters decided to make it their living quarters. "Ooh, en suite bathrooms!" Phoebe squealed. "This is so much more fun than I thought it would be!"
Paige smiled and orbed bedroom furniture into the room that would be hers. The colours of choice were black, deep bloody reds and jungle greens.
"Paige, I don't know how you did it," Piper said once she'd finished, "But you just made red and green actually look good together."
"Natural flair," Paige replied, quickly going into her new bathroom to give it a once over. "Man, wherever this stuff came from, it's neat."
In a matter of minutes, each sister had their own lavishly decorated chambers and bathrooms, and the sisters hurried back to the main room to check out the rest of the place. "I can't believe there's more," Phoebe gushed. "I'm starting to think that not only was this a great deal, but this was a really great deal!"
The right archway led to more rooms, which quickly became another bedroom, and as they wandered into another room Piper knew exactly what she wanted. "A kitchen. With everything."
"Your wish," Paige grinned, and concentrated on orbing the most expensive kitchen equipent from wherever she could. The result was like Piper's dream come true.
She danced around the machines. "Ooh, oh, oh my god, oh! This place, oh!"
"Have an orgasm, why don't you?" Phoebe laughed at her antic sister. On Paige and Piper's despairing stares, Phoebe only giggled harder. "Piper loves to cook, what can I say?"
The final room was clear as to what it was going to be for. They walked in, instantly becoming aware of the chilled air. "Well I know what's going in here," Paige held her hand out. "Book."
Her hands dipped under the weight of the Book of Shadows as it orbed into her hands. She looked down at the cover. "Hey look," she drew Piper and Phoebe's attention to the picture of the triquetra - the symbol of the power of three, the Charmed Ones. Well, it used to be the triquetra. "Check it out," she uttered, staring at the new symbol. It was triangle-shaped, each of the corners was intact, but the three sides were broken.
"Seen that before," Piper commented, and completely randomly she blinked out.
"Where the hell'd she go?" Phoebe stuttered.
Paige shrugged. Seconds later, Piper replied with the Book of Shadow's podium in tow. On Paige and Phoebe's apprehensive looks, she raised her shoulders and beamed at them. "It's not the same Book without this old thing. Now help me with it, cos damn is it heavy!"
Once the Book was resting in it's rightful place on the podium, the sisters took a breather and made their ways back to the main room. They went over to the only piece of furniture they'd been privided with in their 'underground lair'. It was an extremely aged and very large oak table. Paige ran a hand over it's knots before perching on the edge. "What do we call this place?" she questioned.
"What do you mean?"
"Well, it seemed like everything always had a name. The manor. The Book. The Underworld. The club. You know? I don't wanna call this place 'home' or a house cos it's not exactly much of a house is it?"
Nodding, the other sisters thought for a moment. "Well I'm going with our evil lair," Phoebe said quickly. "The lair. How'd you like it?"
Laughing, Piper nodded. "The lair. Very foreboding."
They settled themselves and stood in contemplatative silence for a few minutes.
"It's been an eventful couple of months," Phoebe finally said as she kicked back in comfort in thier new home. There was a pause. "Well I'm done relaxing. What should we do now?"
Piper stuck out her lower lip thoughtfully, then laughed. "It's easy. We take out The Source, steal the grimoire and rule the Underworld!"
The three Charmed Ones laughed in spite of themselves. Little did they know how close Piper's suggestion was to what they actually would do.
* * *
Prue sat alone on her bed, contemplating her next move. After finding out about her sisters moving to the Underworld, Prue decided it was safe enough to send Stephen back home. Only now she found herself missing his presence and the way he made her feel like she could actually fix this.
Still, she also simply wanted to be alone. She wanted to lie on her bed and wallow in her own misery, to berate herself, to hurt herself, anything that would punish her for being such a bad sister. She deserved the pain.
Nobody could know how she felt. Not even Stephen. She'd opened up to him before and although it made her feel so much better at the time, on reflection she knew how it made her look. Weak. Pathetic. He would never want a crybaby like her. Nobody ever would. Or nobody ever did, even when she was alive. Except Andy.
"This is useless," she moaned, begging her mind to avoid thinking about Andy. She flopped back onto her bed restlessly and concentrated on her breathing. After a few minutes of lying still in her own self-pity, she heard a voice at the back of her head call her name. "What do you want?" she muttered resignedly, but she wasn't allowed to ignore her charges. She orbed out.
And reappeared in Stephen's apartment.
He was standing facing away from her, but he turned sharply on her arrival. His brow was knit and his clasped hands were resting at his chin.
There was a silence as they stared at each other.
"Are you okay?" he asked after a while.
Prue nodded defiantly. Then she slowed, and began to shake her head. She couldn't keep this up any longer, she couldn't. What was it about this man that made her go so weak at the knees that she couldn't even hide from him? Pursing her lips to hold back the tears, she let Stephen take her into his arms and hold her, stroking her hair and rubbing her back gently.
After a while, she pulled away. "I'm gonna stop them you know," she told him decisively. "No matter what, I'll stop them."
"I know sweetie," he said soothingly and kissed her forehead. "I know."
Prue rested her head on his shoulder. "Whatever it takes."
End of part one.
A/N: You heard me! Part one! Meaning that oh yes there is indeed a part two on the way... I despair for you guys, really I do.
Thanks for all your support, I hope you enjoyed reading this. A lot. And as for the sequel, I hope you like it just as much and if not more. I certainly do! But first, I have a squillion stories to get out of the way... and... oh crap, you're not wanting me to finish Psychosis are you? *whines* It's so harrrrrrd!
But anyways, merci beaucoup!
"Welcome home, welcome," Piper sang waveringly as she walked into the Charmed Ones' new home. "Ugh, more like 'Welcome To The Jungle'," she commented on seeing the mess of overgrown vines and roots. "Guy this place is a sham! Look at it! How many powers did we pay for it?"
"We could've kept those powers," Phoebe noted mournfully.
Paige flung a bag to the ground. "You guys should really use your initiative from time to time," she told them, and waved a hand slowly around the room. Thousands upon thousands of tiny blue orbs filled the room, lighting it up so much that it was hard to see. When eventually they had disappeared and Paige's work was done, the grimy walls and earthy floors had changed. The floor became a polished marble, the walls clean slate, and the ceiling was charmed to look like the night stars were really above them.
"How Harry Potter," Phoebe smiled, and looked around. "Wow Paige. This is amazing."
"Not done yet," Paige muttered, and pointed her hand at the centre of one of the slate walls. Orbs appeared and a huge gaping hole appeared in the wall, which was soon filled with a roaring fire. Then Paige orbed about thirty flame torches into hooks in the walls to give the rest of the room some light. Each torch was a different colour, giving the room a beautiful mellow atmosphere. To finish the effect, she waved towards the ceiling and a huge chandelier orbed in, lit with bright candles. Once that was finished, Paige breathed in deeply. "Now I'm done."
Her sisters gaped around them at what Paige had done. "It's incredible," Piper said. "How did you do that? New power?"
"Not quite," Paige smirked. "Just my old orbing power got... really, really developed. This stuff's stolen from nearby areas. Pretty nice though, huh?"
"Beautiful. And now I can see why we paid so much for this - it's huge!"
Piper grinned at Phoebe. "I like this. I like this a lot." Then her hand flew to her mouth as she remembered something. "Oh! The cat!"
There was a pause as Phoebe and Paige tried to think of the cat in question. "Kit!" Phoebe suddenly gasped. "Who's gonna feed her? Did we feed her anyway?"
"Who's Kit?"
Silence. Piper bit her lip and shrugged. "Maybe she can just look after herself." She laughed and was joined by Phoebe. "Come on, let's check out the rest of this place," she urged and the three of them set off, Phoebe running ahead dragging Piper and Paige by their hands.
The entrance to the lair (as they were soon to name it) opened into the main room which Paige had just redecorated. Leading from that main room were two arching corridors, which Paige spruced up as they explored. They chose the left archway first. "Right is so passé," Paige had announced. Going along the underground passageway, Paige kept the marble floors but chose to just leave the walls and ceiling to their stoney selves. She was beginning to think she was running out of sources to orb-steal the marble and slate from. Funnily enough, it seemed there was more marble available. She smirked at the thought that she could be stealing it from The Source's very own private lair, but she had other plans for him anyway.
Since the passageway they'd picked led to three new rooms each with separate rooms leading off from them, the sisters decided to make it their living quarters. "Ooh, en suite bathrooms!" Phoebe squealed. "This is so much more fun than I thought it would be!"
Paige smiled and orbed bedroom furniture into the room that would be hers. The colours of choice were black, deep bloody reds and jungle greens.
"Paige, I don't know how you did it," Piper said once she'd finished, "But you just made red and green actually look good together."
"Natural flair," Paige replied, quickly going into her new bathroom to give it a once over. "Man, wherever this stuff came from, it's neat."
In a matter of minutes, each sister had their own lavishly decorated chambers and bathrooms, and the sisters hurried back to the main room to check out the rest of the place. "I can't believe there's more," Phoebe gushed. "I'm starting to think that not only was this a great deal, but this was a really great deal!"
The right archway led to more rooms, which quickly became another bedroom, and as they wandered into another room Piper knew exactly what she wanted. "A kitchen. With everything."
"Your wish," Paige grinned, and concentrated on orbing the most expensive kitchen equipent from wherever she could. The result was like Piper's dream come true.
She danced around the machines. "Ooh, oh, oh my god, oh! This place, oh!"
"Have an orgasm, why don't you?" Phoebe laughed at her antic sister. On Paige and Piper's despairing stares, Phoebe only giggled harder. "Piper loves to cook, what can I say?"
The final room was clear as to what it was going to be for. They walked in, instantly becoming aware of the chilled air. "Well I know what's going in here," Paige held her hand out. "Book."
Her hands dipped under the weight of the Book of Shadows as it orbed into her hands. She looked down at the cover. "Hey look," she drew Piper and Phoebe's attention to the picture of the triquetra - the symbol of the power of three, the Charmed Ones. Well, it used to be the triquetra. "Check it out," she uttered, staring at the new symbol. It was triangle-shaped, each of the corners was intact, but the three sides were broken.
"Seen that before," Piper commented, and completely randomly she blinked out.
"Where the hell'd she go?" Phoebe stuttered.
Paige shrugged. Seconds later, Piper replied with the Book of Shadow's podium in tow. On Paige and Phoebe's apprehensive looks, she raised her shoulders and beamed at them. "It's not the same Book without this old thing. Now help me with it, cos damn is it heavy!"
Once the Book was resting in it's rightful place on the podium, the sisters took a breather and made their ways back to the main room. They went over to the only piece of furniture they'd been privided with in their 'underground lair'. It was an extremely aged and very large oak table. Paige ran a hand over it's knots before perching on the edge. "What do we call this place?" she questioned.
"What do you mean?"
"Well, it seemed like everything always had a name. The manor. The Book. The Underworld. The club. You know? I don't wanna call this place 'home' or a house cos it's not exactly much of a house is it?"
Nodding, the other sisters thought for a moment. "Well I'm going with our evil lair," Phoebe said quickly. "The lair. How'd you like it?"
Laughing, Piper nodded. "The lair. Very foreboding."
They settled themselves and stood in contemplatative silence for a few minutes.
"It's been an eventful couple of months," Phoebe finally said as she kicked back in comfort in thier new home. There was a pause. "Well I'm done relaxing. What should we do now?"
Piper stuck out her lower lip thoughtfully, then laughed. "It's easy. We take out The Source, steal the grimoire and rule the Underworld!"
The three Charmed Ones laughed in spite of themselves. Little did they know how close Piper's suggestion was to what they actually would do.
* * *
Prue sat alone on her bed, contemplating her next move. After finding out about her sisters moving to the Underworld, Prue decided it was safe enough to send Stephen back home. Only now she found herself missing his presence and the way he made her feel like she could actually fix this.
Still, she also simply wanted to be alone. She wanted to lie on her bed and wallow in her own misery, to berate herself, to hurt herself, anything that would punish her for being such a bad sister. She deserved the pain.
Nobody could know how she felt. Not even Stephen. She'd opened up to him before and although it made her feel so much better at the time, on reflection she knew how it made her look. Weak. Pathetic. He would never want a crybaby like her. Nobody ever would. Or nobody ever did, even when she was alive. Except Andy.
"This is useless," she moaned, begging her mind to avoid thinking about Andy. She flopped back onto her bed restlessly and concentrated on her breathing. After a few minutes of lying still in her own self-pity, she heard a voice at the back of her head call her name. "What do you want?" she muttered resignedly, but she wasn't allowed to ignore her charges. She orbed out.
And reappeared in Stephen's apartment.
He was standing facing away from her, but he turned sharply on her arrival. His brow was knit and his clasped hands were resting at his chin.
There was a silence as they stared at each other.
"Are you okay?" he asked after a while.
Prue nodded defiantly. Then she slowed, and began to shake her head. She couldn't keep this up any longer, she couldn't. What was it about this man that made her go so weak at the knees that she couldn't even hide from him? Pursing her lips to hold back the tears, she let Stephen take her into his arms and hold her, stroking her hair and rubbing her back gently.
After a while, she pulled away. "I'm gonna stop them you know," she told him decisively. "No matter what, I'll stop them."
"I know sweetie," he said soothingly and kissed her forehead. "I know."
Prue rested her head on his shoulder. "Whatever it takes."
End of part one.
A/N: You heard me! Part one! Meaning that oh yes there is indeed a part two on the way... I despair for you guys, really I do.
Thanks for all your support, I hope you enjoyed reading this. A lot. And as for the sequel, I hope you like it just as much and if not more. I certainly do! But first, I have a squillion stories to get out of the way... and... oh crap, you're not wanting me to finish Psychosis are you? *whines* It's so harrrrrrd!
But anyways, merci beaucoup!