(AN: Thank you to everyone who sent feedback. It really is the reason I
keep writing. Sorry it took so long to post this but ff.net and my AOL
have been having an argument for the past couple days. Hehe.)
"Ummm, Leo?" Piper asked, confused. They had just orbed in and found themselves in total darkness.
"Sorry. There were people out in the hallway and in the security room." Leo explained.
Piper nodded, even though she knew that he couldn't see her doing it. "Alright, let's get down to business."
She stepped forward and promptly stepped into a bucket, knocking over brooms and mops with a loud clatter. She would have undoubtedly continued to the floor with them if her husband had not quickly reacted by grabbing her arm. He pulled her roughly back up against him and she gratefully grabbed onto his upper arms to steady herself. "Thanks," she said a little breathlessly.
"Don't mention it," he replied. Suddenly noticing their rather close position, his voice took on a teasing tone. "You know, this closet is rather small.. and private.." His breath was hot against her ear and she shivered despite herself. She could feel his responding grin against her cheek. Even in a time like this he could still not ignore the beauty of his wife.
Reluctantly she pulled back some, smacking him lightly on the chest. "Hey now. Focus." Piper tried to keep a straight face but knew she was failing miserably and that he could hear it. He sighed, feigning disappointment, and she leaned forward to him again. "However, later is another story..."
He chuckled, "I'll hold you to that." He released his grip on her and they both carefully felt their way to the doorknob.
Piper paused before she turned the knob. "Sense anyone now?"
She felt him tense in concentration, and then shake his head. "Nope, all clear."
She breathed a small sigh in preparation and pushed the door open, glancing to the right and left in case Leo had missed someone. He noticed her actions, "What? You don't believe me?" He asked in a mockingly hurt voice.
"I'm just.. being careful." She noted.
"Ah, yes. Careful is good."
They crept out of the cramped closet and Leo led them to the security room. The door was slightly ajar and Piper peeked in. There were five men in the middle of a conversation about sports or something. Piper continued to scope it out for a few more seconds, making sure that she hadn't missed anyone. An overweight, younger man sitting in front of the monitors had just begun to say something to the rest of them. "Yo, guys! I've got a good one for ya. This beautiful blond chick walks into a bar with a dildoe under one arm and a little French Poodle under the other. She sets them both on the bar and the bartender walks up and asks her what she's doing with them. She answers.."
Piper rolled her eyes and threw up her hands. Instantly, the men all froze. "Men." She sighed exasperatedly. Leo looked over at her. "Oh, not YOU honey," she quickly reassured him. They crept into the control room, locking the door behind them.
Leo walked over to the monitors and busily started typing away. The Ancient Greece exhibit soon came up onscreen and, after some searching, they could see the outlines of two people hiding behind a large sculpture. Leo continued typing for a couple more seconds. Finally he straightened up and turned to his wife. "Alright, let's go. I've programmed all the cameras in that section to be on a continuous loop. They won't be recording anything new and will just show the same thing all the time from up here."
Piper cocked her head thoughtfully, "Leeeoooo... how'd you.? You don't have time to be at home that often yet you have time to learn all about computers?? What exactly do you DO up there?"
Leo shrugged, "Phoebe helped me out some. Apparently to get in touch with my 'inner 21st century child', as she put it." They heard someone jiggling the doorknob and then keys being jingled. "C'mon, we've got to get out of here."
Piper stepped up to him. "Hold on," she added, as she reached over and gave the man who had been telling the joke a solid slap on the back of his head. "And you kiss your mother with that mouth," she scolded disapprovingly, adding some tsk-tsking at the end. She grabbed Leo's hand and they orbed out, unfreezing the guards, as the door burst open.
************
Phoebe and Paige waited patiently in the exhibit. They had arrived just minutes after the museum had announced the closing for the night and the two had had to hide while the curators swept through, on the prowl for lingering guests. They had seen Angela briefly since their arrival. But she had gotten caught and had been escorted out by an usher. They assumed that she would quickly find her way back.
They both held their breaths as a final security guard went through the room, doing one last check. "Sector Seven secure," he said gruffly into his walky-talky and stepped out of the room. Immediately, metal security doors began to slide down in every doorway. They locked shut with a resounding crack. Phoebe had had time to see what other security measures could be around and she stealthily made her way over to a small panel on the opposite wall. With less than half of the way to go, she heard a sharp buzzing noise start.
"Phoebe!" Paige hissed at her. "Don't move!" Phoebe looked down and whimpered slightly when she saw how close the laser grid had come to her pant leg. She edged it back, careful not to hit the beam behind her. Concentrating, Phoebe slowly levitated herself up and across the laser grid. She sensed Paige clapping happily behind her. When she reached the box Phoebe carefully opened it, hoping that it wasn't going to be too confusing. Luck was with her however. The switches were clearly marked ON and OFF for several items. She breathed a small sigh of relief and reached out to flip all that she could to the OFF position.
When she was finished, she lowered herself to the floor and gave Paige a thumbs-up. Paige quickly walked over to her. "One obstacle down," Paige murmured. "One to go."
Leo and Piper orbed in next to them. Piper looked around apprehensively, "I assume that you guys waited until we had messed up the cameras right?"
Phoebe nodded, "Yea, we were watching. Once the red light went bye- bye for a couple seconds, we knew that it was ok."
Piper nodded. "Where's Mei... Angela?"
Phoebe and Paige shrugged. "I dunno. One of the curator people led her out. We haven't seen her since?"
"You LOST her?? Why didn't she hide with you?" Piper interrupted before they could answer her question. "Never mind. We've got a demon to worry about now." They heard a scratching noise above their heads and all immediately looked up, prepared for battle.
"Meika!" Phoebe exclaimed. "Could you at least warn us?"
The Chimera grinned and shrugged slightly, "Sorry. I've been up here for awhile, waiting for you guys." Her claws dug into the ceiling as she made her way across it, clinging upside down. "The Staff is over here."
The four on the floor followed her path until they reached a large glass case on the far wall. There were about two dozen staffs and similar objects in the large display case and Phoebe, for one, was glad that Meika had come along to point it out right away. The Chimera indicated to one that was slightly behind several others, almost right in the middle.
Made of silver, instead of gold, it wasn't nearly as impressive looking as the ones around it. The Staff was dwarfed by the size and color of the others in the case. But what made it catch their eyes were the carvings on it. It rested on several silver serpent heads, ruby eyes glittering and fanged mouths open to make a stable support. The snaked bodies wound upwards, elegantly intertwining until they became rougher up towards the top. It was here that the serpents turned into a different beast. And the top of the staff sported the heads of Cerberus. Each head of the three-headed guard dog of Hell was turned upwards to clasp onto a pointed crystal secured on top. The gem almost seemed alive. Even when observers weren't moving, the colors constantly were, going from a deep blood red to a midnight blue.
Piper whistled softly. "Daaaaamn." Her sisters nodded their agreement. They looked at each other. "Phoebe, you take that side." Piper pointed to the left. "Paige, you take the other."
"Gotcha." They answered simultaneously.
"We'll," she pointed to herself and Leo, "stay a little farther back to cover you." Piper glanced up to the ceiling. "And you.." Meika raised an eyebrow at her. "You just chill around up there." The Chimera nodded and they all broke up to go to their respective positions.
************
Two hours later, Phoebe was bored. Bored out of her mind. She could barely make out Paige's outline across the way and had the sneaky suspicion that Paige had dozed off one or two times during their vigil. She didn't even WANT to think about what Piper and Leo could possibly be doing back where ever they were. Phoebe glanced up at Meika who was still calmly attached to the ceiling. The Chimera glanced down at her and raised one clawed hand to her head like she was holding a gun. Putting it to her head, she pulled the fake trigger and pretended to go limp. Phoebe grinned. At least someone else was as tired of doing this as she was. She sighed silently and shifted position for the bajillionth time, not at all surprised to find that her leg had fallen asleep yet again.
The air around them grew cold, and a slight mist began to snake through the room. "Uh-oh." Phoebe whispered. "That's never good." She shivered and rubbed her arms, more from the anticipation rather than the draft. Suddenly a demon shimmered in a few feet in front of the case. Phoebe and Paige were hidden in the shadows almost directly next to him on either side.
They were slightly taken in by his appearance. They had imagined Jakkin to be like most demons they encountered, dark and daunting or old and weathered. This one, however, was neither. His short, bleach blond hair, bronze tan, and impressive physique made him seem like more of a surfer than any demon. But when he glanced from side to side, Phoebe and Paige were immediately reminded of his demon nature when they saw his dead, black eyes. There was no white on his eyeballs and Phoebe was afraid that they would suck her right in as his gaze bore into the darkness where she was hiding. She shrunk back, holding her breath, and her back pressed tightly against the cool granite behind her.
Seemingly satisfied that there was no one there, the demon once again returned his attention to the case before him. Something hit his back and he was pushed forward slightly before standing up straight again and whipping around. Piper was standing with hands upraised. "He didn't blow up." She whispered to Leo who was still in their hiding place.
"Well, freeze him!" Leo whispered back.
She threw out her hands. Jakkin froze for only a second before he pulled out of it. Leo stepped towards his wife. She tried to freeze him again but it seemed that he had become prepared. Jakkin held his hand up in front of his face his palm facing outwards and fingers spread. "Aversia," he whispered and the blow was deflected. Leo and Piper were instantaneously frozen in place.
Phoebe heard Paige whisper "Oh crap" just a little too loudly. Jakkin's head snapped around to the sound. He flicked his hand and the sister was thrown through the air, into the solid wall behind her. She slid to the ground unconscious. Phoebe took her opportunity. She ran two steps and levitated up, aiming a strong kick at the back of the demon's head. Caught unaware, Jakkin fell to his side, yelling in both pain and anger. Phoebe stood defensively between him and the case. Jakkin stood back up, black blood dripping down his face where Phoebe's boot heel had caught him.
She sucked in her breath. He was a lot taller than he had looked from her sitting position on the floor. An energy ball formed in his hand and he smiled evilly. One by one, he threw them at her and she flipped easily out of the way. The final one managed to hit her in the back though and she cried out as she slumped down to the floor.
Jakkin breathed in and out angrily. "Witches," he growled to no one in particular. "What a damn nuisance." He glanced at the form on the floor in front of him thoughtfully. "As much as it would please me to rid the world of you..." an energy ball formed in his hand, "I don't have the time now." He closed his gloved hand and extinguished it.
He began to walk again towards the case.
"Perhaps you can make time for me." Meika hissed from above. Jakkin looked up just in time see a flash of scales and wings before he found himself on his back. She was ripping into him with her claws and he cried out in pain. He shimmered out from beneath her. "Damn." She whispered.
She stood up, looking around guardedly. He shimmered back into view behind her, in front of the Staff's case. She saw him raise his hands and the energy balls formed in his hand. He threw five at once at her and she raised her hands to freeze them. Much like Jakkin himself had done earlier with Piper, the energy balls froze for only a second before continuing on their course. It was long enough though to allow Meika to jump out of the way. She tucked her wings in close to her body and scampered on all fours to hide on the other side of the room.
Jakkin grinned. "Witches are just witches. I think I can make time for YOU though. Killing a Chimera will really help me out in the underworld." He began to advance towards her hiding place. Meika had been counting on his coming for her. She leaned back against the case, panting from her efforts and holding her bleeding arm where a stray energy ball had hit. Jakkin laughed at her as he drew closer, "Ha! One of Good's most powerful beings HIDES instead of fights! And THAT is why good will always loose."
Meika looked at a reflection in the case across from her, showing Jakkin's progress. She willed him to come a few more steps forward. He reached it. "Bingo," she whispered, smiling. Her head slumped forward and she astral projected herself back over to Phoebe. She glanced at the prone figure on the floor, noting the shallow breaths, and was relieved. Meika focused her attention on the statue that Phoebe had been hiding behind. The stone Griffin and Sphinx glared back at her. She raised her hands beckoningly. "Ky asha ve'nique. Armad'aka niet da solnah," she murmured.
Jakkin heard the whispers back behind him and turned around confused. He repeated her words, trying to decipher them. "Brother and sister beings of mine. Take heed and inhabit your forms again."
"Varsa kine sheal molka, arh va'hasheem gri ta."
"I call upon your power and strength, against the evil we must defend." Jakkin trailed off as she finished.
Meika still stood in front of the statutes with her hands raised out. The Griffin blinked, the Sphinx winked, and they both arose. Meika threw her hand out in Jakkin's direction, indicating to him. "Phay ghyniel," she commanded and they instantly obeyed.
Jakkin took a quick step back, aghast as the two stone beings rose up before him. The Griffin, with the back end of a lion and front and wings of an eagle, immediately went after the demon. The lioness Sphinx, however, stayed behind and ducked into the shadows. Jakkin shimmered away from his attacker and came back to stand in front of the case. He was barely even fully formed yet when the Griffin slammed into him, cracking his head against the concrete floor. The Griffin screamed in conquest as its stone talons dug into the demons back. Jakkin screamed painfully in return. "Tylack," he spit, through his grinding teeth. One of the rear feet of the Griffin swent flying out from under it, and the beast went crashing to the ground. Jakkin shimmered out from underneath and snarled as the stone creature thrashed about of the floor, unable to righten itself.
He heard a roar from behind and the Sphinx was on top of him, pinning him to the side of the glass case. A slight cracking, like the sound of thin ice gradually breaking, began. And suddenly, both the Sphinx and the demon found themselves inside the case amongst the broken glass. Meika, attempting to help the Griffin to its feet, froze in anticipation of the alarms. But none came (Phoebe must have switched them off with the lasers) and she was thankful for that small favor.
She finally helped stone creature to his feet and turned around to check on the Sphinx's progress. The lioness had the demon pinned on his back to the bottom of the case. Staffs were strewn everywhere. Her massive, stone claws raked across his body and a few managed to get his face as well. He screamed angrily as the blood continued to flow out of his wounds, running into his eyes and pooling onto the floor. His left hand grasped the staff closest to him. Jakkin quickly slammed the pointed gold baton into the bottom of the creature's chin. The Sphinx threw her head upward, rearing back and screaming in pain. Even in stone, the sharpened blade could still penetrate. Jakkin took his opportunity and looked around desperately. Meika knew exactly what he was looking for and her eyes hurriedly searched for the Staff of Hermes amongst all the others.
They found it at the same time and Meika leapt for it. But Jakkin was closer and he quickly slid out from under the writhing Sphinx. His bloodied hand gripped the Staff. Jakkin turned, looked Meika in the eye, and smiled triumphantly. The crystal on the end immediately went from blue to deep blood red at Jakkin's touch.
"NO!!" Meika cried, hand outstretched as she continued through the air. But it was too late and she landed on empty ground as Jakkin and the Staff both shimmered away. "DAMN IT!!" Meika shouted in frustration, slamming her hand onto the concrete so hard that she heard her own bones snap. She bowed her head, fighting back the frustrated tears. She had been so close; so close to stopping him. Meika looked up slowly, trying to regain her composure.
Piper and Leo had both unfrozen as soon as Jakkin had left. Piper was helping an unsteady Paige to her feet and Leo was quickly healing Phoebe's wound. All four looked uncertainly around, first at the stone creatures, then at Meika. Meika shook her head sadly at their questioning glances and turned to the Sphinx beside her who was still howling in pain. "Pija," she softly begged it. And the creature was instantly still. Deep, hard breaths came from the Sphinx as Meika placed her hands on the stone head. A warm, golden glow began to spread and the Sphinx relaxed, sighing contentedly while the Chimera healed her wound.
Piper broke the silence, "Wha.wha..wha..?" She trailed off, not even able to finish one word as the Griffin looked over at her, cocking its head curiously.
Meika smiled sadly. "Don't worry. They won't hurt you. I needed to call for some.. reinforcements. Too bad it didn't do much good." She placed her forehead solemnly against the Sphinx's head in front of her. The Griffin came up to join them. Meika stepped away and bowed deeply to them both. "Kar'ish." She thanked them.
The two stone beasts respectfully returned her gesture with a deep nod of their own. Then they turned and went back to their respective posts. The Sphinx yawned, baring her fangs, before stilling again permanently. The Griffin stood proudly at attention and gave one last defiant scream before settling back down into its stone slumber.
The Charmed Ones and their whitelighter stared at her until she was afraid that their eyes were going to pop out of their heads. She tried to shrug it off nonchalantly, "I'm more powerful than them. So I can call upon them when I really need their help."
Paige looked at the two, now silent, stone creatures. "That." it was the first words that any of them had said thusfar, "that was.. Awesome!"
Phoebe smiled. "Ditto."
"Yea," Leo repeated. They heard footsteps outside of the metal security door. "Uh-oh. We've got company. I don't know about you guys but I don't really want to be around when they come through that door to find one of their exhibits smashed up and stolen from." The others all nodded their heads in agreement. Everyone grabbing on to everyone else, they quickly orbed out just as the security codes were punched in and the door began to rise.
************
More than a thousand miles (and only a few seconds) later, they found themselves at the Manor. It was still only eight or nine o'clock a night, but all of them, especially Piper, were beginning to feel the strain of the day. As their feet hit the solid wood floor, she all but collapsed into a nearby chair at the kitchen table. Leo held securely onto her waist though and eased her down. He glanced at her worriedly, knowing that she must be under a good deal of stress. She tried to give him a small smile to reassure him, but he was still left feeling discomforted.
Phoebe and Paige went straight to the coffee pot. They glanced sympathetically at their older sister, knowing that it must be killing her not to be able to drink coffee. She nodded understandingly though and they continued to make their cups. Meika on the other hand, tore open the refridgerator door. She immediately began pulling item after item out of it and went around the kitchen hurriedly fixing things to eat. Paige looked at her puzzled, "Umm. it's ok. You don't have to fix us anything to eat. We've already had dinner."
Meika threw her an amused look. "Ha! Who said anything about this being for you? I'm starving."
Piper looked over the array of leftovers, snacks, cookies, and sandwiches. Meika was readily consuming them all. Piper's resulting nausea as she watched the Chimera eat brought back some rather disturbing memories from the morning sickness period in her first trimester. She pushed the thought aside and called out. "I'd be careful what I ate if I was you. Some of that is Phoebe's cooking (The edibility's kind of questionable)."
"Hey!" Phoebe exclaimed, throwing a dishrag in her sister's direction. Piper laughed as she caught it. Phoebe glanced back over to the counter and made a face as Meika wolfed down her fifth sandwich in several minutes. "How the hell can you eat all that and stay so damn skinny?" She asked, indicating to the girl's slender form.
"Mmhhmhmm.." Meika mumbled, holding up one clawed digit as she tried to swallow first. "I have an extremely high metabolism in my Chimera form. When I start to do a lot of magic, like what I did earlier with the statues and shape shifting from form to form, it really drains me. So I'm trying to make up for it now by earning back some of the calories." She finished her explanation by taking a large bite out of a nearby plate of leftover pasta.
Leo looked at her, the weariness evident on his face. Piper noticed it and placed her hand comfortingly over his one on her shoulder. It still amazed her that even an angel could get so exhausted and tired. "So what do we do now?" He asked the still feasting Meika. "I mean, Jakkin has the Staff. You said that you had hoped to stop it there but we couldn't. So what are we going to have to do now?"
Meika looked at him thoughtfully, almost sadly, as she slowly finished chewing the last of her sandwich. She swallowed and said, "I guess that we're going to have to protect my mom now." She ended the sentence with disappointed sigh. "I really didn't want to involve her though. She's had to deal with so much up to this point already."
"Well, she has got to know." Piper argued. "She didn't know in the past and wasn't able to protect herself. At least this way it will give her a fighting chance. C'mon."
Meika glanced around hesitantly and Phoebe jumped in, "This isn't still about the whole 'don't mess with the past' thing is it? Because I think that you're already in too deep to do much about that one. You've fiddled around in the past too much already to try and get out of it clean now. You might as well go all out."
"My mom wouldn't like it." Meika tried to explain. "She's told me time and time again NOT to go and mess around with the past."
Piper leaned forward slightly and gently prodded, "If she knew the reason that you're doing what you're doing, I'm sure that she'd understand. In fact, she would probably even be impressed by the extent of your determination to make things right. Tell us Meika. What's her name? Who is she?"
Meika looked up and met Piper's gaze, unshed tears glistening brilliantly as her dark brown eyes met Piper's. She whispered so soft that her voice cracked emotionally and Piper almost missed it.
"You."
Piper just stared back, open mouthed at the creature before her. Her breathing became quick and irregular as she tried to laugh. To her though, it came out almost maniacal. Piper pulled her head up and back, her eyes darting around wildly. Suddenly, everything began to catch up with her at once: the stress from the pregnancy, the lack of sleep, demon hunting, time traveling prophecies, and now.. this. The edges of her vision became fuzzy and she desperately wanted to fight against the impending darkness. But it was so welcoming and Piper found that all she wanted to do was let it take her.
Closing her eyes, she gave into the abyss. And the last thing she heard was her name being yelled by her husband, sisters, and.. daughter.
And then there was nothing.
TBC
Feedback perhaps? Pretty please with sprinkles on top? And a cherry if you're really nice.
(AN: Yes, yes. I know that some of you guessed what was going to happen but I just couldn't help myself. This next part though might take a little longer because it's got so much stuff that I'm going to have to remember to put in it. So just bear with me for a bit, k?)
"Ummm, Leo?" Piper asked, confused. They had just orbed in and found themselves in total darkness.
"Sorry. There were people out in the hallway and in the security room." Leo explained.
Piper nodded, even though she knew that he couldn't see her doing it. "Alright, let's get down to business."
She stepped forward and promptly stepped into a bucket, knocking over brooms and mops with a loud clatter. She would have undoubtedly continued to the floor with them if her husband had not quickly reacted by grabbing her arm. He pulled her roughly back up against him and she gratefully grabbed onto his upper arms to steady herself. "Thanks," she said a little breathlessly.
"Don't mention it," he replied. Suddenly noticing their rather close position, his voice took on a teasing tone. "You know, this closet is rather small.. and private.." His breath was hot against her ear and she shivered despite herself. She could feel his responding grin against her cheek. Even in a time like this he could still not ignore the beauty of his wife.
Reluctantly she pulled back some, smacking him lightly on the chest. "Hey now. Focus." Piper tried to keep a straight face but knew she was failing miserably and that he could hear it. He sighed, feigning disappointment, and she leaned forward to him again. "However, later is another story..."
He chuckled, "I'll hold you to that." He released his grip on her and they both carefully felt their way to the doorknob.
Piper paused before she turned the knob. "Sense anyone now?"
She felt him tense in concentration, and then shake his head. "Nope, all clear."
She breathed a small sigh in preparation and pushed the door open, glancing to the right and left in case Leo had missed someone. He noticed her actions, "What? You don't believe me?" He asked in a mockingly hurt voice.
"I'm just.. being careful." She noted.
"Ah, yes. Careful is good."
They crept out of the cramped closet and Leo led them to the security room. The door was slightly ajar and Piper peeked in. There were five men in the middle of a conversation about sports or something. Piper continued to scope it out for a few more seconds, making sure that she hadn't missed anyone. An overweight, younger man sitting in front of the monitors had just begun to say something to the rest of them. "Yo, guys! I've got a good one for ya. This beautiful blond chick walks into a bar with a dildoe under one arm and a little French Poodle under the other. She sets them both on the bar and the bartender walks up and asks her what she's doing with them. She answers.."
Piper rolled her eyes and threw up her hands. Instantly, the men all froze. "Men." She sighed exasperatedly. Leo looked over at her. "Oh, not YOU honey," she quickly reassured him. They crept into the control room, locking the door behind them.
Leo walked over to the monitors and busily started typing away. The Ancient Greece exhibit soon came up onscreen and, after some searching, they could see the outlines of two people hiding behind a large sculpture. Leo continued typing for a couple more seconds. Finally he straightened up and turned to his wife. "Alright, let's go. I've programmed all the cameras in that section to be on a continuous loop. They won't be recording anything new and will just show the same thing all the time from up here."
Piper cocked her head thoughtfully, "Leeeoooo... how'd you.? You don't have time to be at home that often yet you have time to learn all about computers?? What exactly do you DO up there?"
Leo shrugged, "Phoebe helped me out some. Apparently to get in touch with my 'inner 21st century child', as she put it." They heard someone jiggling the doorknob and then keys being jingled. "C'mon, we've got to get out of here."
Piper stepped up to him. "Hold on," she added, as she reached over and gave the man who had been telling the joke a solid slap on the back of his head. "And you kiss your mother with that mouth," she scolded disapprovingly, adding some tsk-tsking at the end. She grabbed Leo's hand and they orbed out, unfreezing the guards, as the door burst open.
************
Phoebe and Paige waited patiently in the exhibit. They had arrived just minutes after the museum had announced the closing for the night and the two had had to hide while the curators swept through, on the prowl for lingering guests. They had seen Angela briefly since their arrival. But she had gotten caught and had been escorted out by an usher. They assumed that she would quickly find her way back.
They both held their breaths as a final security guard went through the room, doing one last check. "Sector Seven secure," he said gruffly into his walky-talky and stepped out of the room. Immediately, metal security doors began to slide down in every doorway. They locked shut with a resounding crack. Phoebe had had time to see what other security measures could be around and she stealthily made her way over to a small panel on the opposite wall. With less than half of the way to go, she heard a sharp buzzing noise start.
"Phoebe!" Paige hissed at her. "Don't move!" Phoebe looked down and whimpered slightly when she saw how close the laser grid had come to her pant leg. She edged it back, careful not to hit the beam behind her. Concentrating, Phoebe slowly levitated herself up and across the laser grid. She sensed Paige clapping happily behind her. When she reached the box Phoebe carefully opened it, hoping that it wasn't going to be too confusing. Luck was with her however. The switches were clearly marked ON and OFF for several items. She breathed a small sigh of relief and reached out to flip all that she could to the OFF position.
When she was finished, she lowered herself to the floor and gave Paige a thumbs-up. Paige quickly walked over to her. "One obstacle down," Paige murmured. "One to go."
Leo and Piper orbed in next to them. Piper looked around apprehensively, "I assume that you guys waited until we had messed up the cameras right?"
Phoebe nodded, "Yea, we were watching. Once the red light went bye- bye for a couple seconds, we knew that it was ok."
Piper nodded. "Where's Mei... Angela?"
Phoebe and Paige shrugged. "I dunno. One of the curator people led her out. We haven't seen her since?"
"You LOST her?? Why didn't she hide with you?" Piper interrupted before they could answer her question. "Never mind. We've got a demon to worry about now." They heard a scratching noise above their heads and all immediately looked up, prepared for battle.
"Meika!" Phoebe exclaimed. "Could you at least warn us?"
The Chimera grinned and shrugged slightly, "Sorry. I've been up here for awhile, waiting for you guys." Her claws dug into the ceiling as she made her way across it, clinging upside down. "The Staff is over here."
The four on the floor followed her path until they reached a large glass case on the far wall. There were about two dozen staffs and similar objects in the large display case and Phoebe, for one, was glad that Meika had come along to point it out right away. The Chimera indicated to one that was slightly behind several others, almost right in the middle.
Made of silver, instead of gold, it wasn't nearly as impressive looking as the ones around it. The Staff was dwarfed by the size and color of the others in the case. But what made it catch their eyes were the carvings on it. It rested on several silver serpent heads, ruby eyes glittering and fanged mouths open to make a stable support. The snaked bodies wound upwards, elegantly intertwining until they became rougher up towards the top. It was here that the serpents turned into a different beast. And the top of the staff sported the heads of Cerberus. Each head of the three-headed guard dog of Hell was turned upwards to clasp onto a pointed crystal secured on top. The gem almost seemed alive. Even when observers weren't moving, the colors constantly were, going from a deep blood red to a midnight blue.
Piper whistled softly. "Daaaaamn." Her sisters nodded their agreement. They looked at each other. "Phoebe, you take that side." Piper pointed to the left. "Paige, you take the other."
"Gotcha." They answered simultaneously.
"We'll," she pointed to herself and Leo, "stay a little farther back to cover you." Piper glanced up to the ceiling. "And you.." Meika raised an eyebrow at her. "You just chill around up there." The Chimera nodded and they all broke up to go to their respective positions.
************
Two hours later, Phoebe was bored. Bored out of her mind. She could barely make out Paige's outline across the way and had the sneaky suspicion that Paige had dozed off one or two times during their vigil. She didn't even WANT to think about what Piper and Leo could possibly be doing back where ever they were. Phoebe glanced up at Meika who was still calmly attached to the ceiling. The Chimera glanced down at her and raised one clawed hand to her head like she was holding a gun. Putting it to her head, she pulled the fake trigger and pretended to go limp. Phoebe grinned. At least someone else was as tired of doing this as she was. She sighed silently and shifted position for the bajillionth time, not at all surprised to find that her leg had fallen asleep yet again.
The air around them grew cold, and a slight mist began to snake through the room. "Uh-oh." Phoebe whispered. "That's never good." She shivered and rubbed her arms, more from the anticipation rather than the draft. Suddenly a demon shimmered in a few feet in front of the case. Phoebe and Paige were hidden in the shadows almost directly next to him on either side.
They were slightly taken in by his appearance. They had imagined Jakkin to be like most demons they encountered, dark and daunting or old and weathered. This one, however, was neither. His short, bleach blond hair, bronze tan, and impressive physique made him seem like more of a surfer than any demon. But when he glanced from side to side, Phoebe and Paige were immediately reminded of his demon nature when they saw his dead, black eyes. There was no white on his eyeballs and Phoebe was afraid that they would suck her right in as his gaze bore into the darkness where she was hiding. She shrunk back, holding her breath, and her back pressed tightly against the cool granite behind her.
Seemingly satisfied that there was no one there, the demon once again returned his attention to the case before him. Something hit his back and he was pushed forward slightly before standing up straight again and whipping around. Piper was standing with hands upraised. "He didn't blow up." She whispered to Leo who was still in their hiding place.
"Well, freeze him!" Leo whispered back.
She threw out her hands. Jakkin froze for only a second before he pulled out of it. Leo stepped towards his wife. She tried to freeze him again but it seemed that he had become prepared. Jakkin held his hand up in front of his face his palm facing outwards and fingers spread. "Aversia," he whispered and the blow was deflected. Leo and Piper were instantaneously frozen in place.
Phoebe heard Paige whisper "Oh crap" just a little too loudly. Jakkin's head snapped around to the sound. He flicked his hand and the sister was thrown through the air, into the solid wall behind her. She slid to the ground unconscious. Phoebe took her opportunity. She ran two steps and levitated up, aiming a strong kick at the back of the demon's head. Caught unaware, Jakkin fell to his side, yelling in both pain and anger. Phoebe stood defensively between him and the case. Jakkin stood back up, black blood dripping down his face where Phoebe's boot heel had caught him.
She sucked in her breath. He was a lot taller than he had looked from her sitting position on the floor. An energy ball formed in his hand and he smiled evilly. One by one, he threw them at her and she flipped easily out of the way. The final one managed to hit her in the back though and she cried out as she slumped down to the floor.
Jakkin breathed in and out angrily. "Witches," he growled to no one in particular. "What a damn nuisance." He glanced at the form on the floor in front of him thoughtfully. "As much as it would please me to rid the world of you..." an energy ball formed in his hand, "I don't have the time now." He closed his gloved hand and extinguished it.
He began to walk again towards the case.
"Perhaps you can make time for me." Meika hissed from above. Jakkin looked up just in time see a flash of scales and wings before he found himself on his back. She was ripping into him with her claws and he cried out in pain. He shimmered out from beneath her. "Damn." She whispered.
She stood up, looking around guardedly. He shimmered back into view behind her, in front of the Staff's case. She saw him raise his hands and the energy balls formed in his hand. He threw five at once at her and she raised her hands to freeze them. Much like Jakkin himself had done earlier with Piper, the energy balls froze for only a second before continuing on their course. It was long enough though to allow Meika to jump out of the way. She tucked her wings in close to her body and scampered on all fours to hide on the other side of the room.
Jakkin grinned. "Witches are just witches. I think I can make time for YOU though. Killing a Chimera will really help me out in the underworld." He began to advance towards her hiding place. Meika had been counting on his coming for her. She leaned back against the case, panting from her efforts and holding her bleeding arm where a stray energy ball had hit. Jakkin laughed at her as he drew closer, "Ha! One of Good's most powerful beings HIDES instead of fights! And THAT is why good will always loose."
Meika looked at a reflection in the case across from her, showing Jakkin's progress. She willed him to come a few more steps forward. He reached it. "Bingo," she whispered, smiling. Her head slumped forward and she astral projected herself back over to Phoebe. She glanced at the prone figure on the floor, noting the shallow breaths, and was relieved. Meika focused her attention on the statue that Phoebe had been hiding behind. The stone Griffin and Sphinx glared back at her. She raised her hands beckoningly. "Ky asha ve'nique. Armad'aka niet da solnah," she murmured.
Jakkin heard the whispers back behind him and turned around confused. He repeated her words, trying to decipher them. "Brother and sister beings of mine. Take heed and inhabit your forms again."
"Varsa kine sheal molka, arh va'hasheem gri ta."
"I call upon your power and strength, against the evil we must defend." Jakkin trailed off as she finished.
Meika still stood in front of the statutes with her hands raised out. The Griffin blinked, the Sphinx winked, and they both arose. Meika threw her hand out in Jakkin's direction, indicating to him. "Phay ghyniel," she commanded and they instantly obeyed.
Jakkin took a quick step back, aghast as the two stone beings rose up before him. The Griffin, with the back end of a lion and front and wings of an eagle, immediately went after the demon. The lioness Sphinx, however, stayed behind and ducked into the shadows. Jakkin shimmered away from his attacker and came back to stand in front of the case. He was barely even fully formed yet when the Griffin slammed into him, cracking his head against the concrete floor. The Griffin screamed in conquest as its stone talons dug into the demons back. Jakkin screamed painfully in return. "Tylack," he spit, through his grinding teeth. One of the rear feet of the Griffin swent flying out from under it, and the beast went crashing to the ground. Jakkin shimmered out from underneath and snarled as the stone creature thrashed about of the floor, unable to righten itself.
He heard a roar from behind and the Sphinx was on top of him, pinning him to the side of the glass case. A slight cracking, like the sound of thin ice gradually breaking, began. And suddenly, both the Sphinx and the demon found themselves inside the case amongst the broken glass. Meika, attempting to help the Griffin to its feet, froze in anticipation of the alarms. But none came (Phoebe must have switched them off with the lasers) and she was thankful for that small favor.
She finally helped stone creature to his feet and turned around to check on the Sphinx's progress. The lioness had the demon pinned on his back to the bottom of the case. Staffs were strewn everywhere. Her massive, stone claws raked across his body and a few managed to get his face as well. He screamed angrily as the blood continued to flow out of his wounds, running into his eyes and pooling onto the floor. His left hand grasped the staff closest to him. Jakkin quickly slammed the pointed gold baton into the bottom of the creature's chin. The Sphinx threw her head upward, rearing back and screaming in pain. Even in stone, the sharpened blade could still penetrate. Jakkin took his opportunity and looked around desperately. Meika knew exactly what he was looking for and her eyes hurriedly searched for the Staff of Hermes amongst all the others.
They found it at the same time and Meika leapt for it. But Jakkin was closer and he quickly slid out from under the writhing Sphinx. His bloodied hand gripped the Staff. Jakkin turned, looked Meika in the eye, and smiled triumphantly. The crystal on the end immediately went from blue to deep blood red at Jakkin's touch.
"NO!!" Meika cried, hand outstretched as she continued through the air. But it was too late and she landed on empty ground as Jakkin and the Staff both shimmered away. "DAMN IT!!" Meika shouted in frustration, slamming her hand onto the concrete so hard that she heard her own bones snap. She bowed her head, fighting back the frustrated tears. She had been so close; so close to stopping him. Meika looked up slowly, trying to regain her composure.
Piper and Leo had both unfrozen as soon as Jakkin had left. Piper was helping an unsteady Paige to her feet and Leo was quickly healing Phoebe's wound. All four looked uncertainly around, first at the stone creatures, then at Meika. Meika shook her head sadly at their questioning glances and turned to the Sphinx beside her who was still howling in pain. "Pija," she softly begged it. And the creature was instantly still. Deep, hard breaths came from the Sphinx as Meika placed her hands on the stone head. A warm, golden glow began to spread and the Sphinx relaxed, sighing contentedly while the Chimera healed her wound.
Piper broke the silence, "Wha.wha..wha..?" She trailed off, not even able to finish one word as the Griffin looked over at her, cocking its head curiously.
Meika smiled sadly. "Don't worry. They won't hurt you. I needed to call for some.. reinforcements. Too bad it didn't do much good." She placed her forehead solemnly against the Sphinx's head in front of her. The Griffin came up to join them. Meika stepped away and bowed deeply to them both. "Kar'ish." She thanked them.
The two stone beasts respectfully returned her gesture with a deep nod of their own. Then they turned and went back to their respective posts. The Sphinx yawned, baring her fangs, before stilling again permanently. The Griffin stood proudly at attention and gave one last defiant scream before settling back down into its stone slumber.
The Charmed Ones and their whitelighter stared at her until she was afraid that their eyes were going to pop out of their heads. She tried to shrug it off nonchalantly, "I'm more powerful than them. So I can call upon them when I really need their help."
Paige looked at the two, now silent, stone creatures. "That." it was the first words that any of them had said thusfar, "that was.. Awesome!"
Phoebe smiled. "Ditto."
"Yea," Leo repeated. They heard footsteps outside of the metal security door. "Uh-oh. We've got company. I don't know about you guys but I don't really want to be around when they come through that door to find one of their exhibits smashed up and stolen from." The others all nodded their heads in agreement. Everyone grabbing on to everyone else, they quickly orbed out just as the security codes were punched in and the door began to rise.
************
More than a thousand miles (and only a few seconds) later, they found themselves at the Manor. It was still only eight or nine o'clock a night, but all of them, especially Piper, were beginning to feel the strain of the day. As their feet hit the solid wood floor, she all but collapsed into a nearby chair at the kitchen table. Leo held securely onto her waist though and eased her down. He glanced at her worriedly, knowing that she must be under a good deal of stress. She tried to give him a small smile to reassure him, but he was still left feeling discomforted.
Phoebe and Paige went straight to the coffee pot. They glanced sympathetically at their older sister, knowing that it must be killing her not to be able to drink coffee. She nodded understandingly though and they continued to make their cups. Meika on the other hand, tore open the refridgerator door. She immediately began pulling item after item out of it and went around the kitchen hurriedly fixing things to eat. Paige looked at her puzzled, "Umm. it's ok. You don't have to fix us anything to eat. We've already had dinner."
Meika threw her an amused look. "Ha! Who said anything about this being for you? I'm starving."
Piper looked over the array of leftovers, snacks, cookies, and sandwiches. Meika was readily consuming them all. Piper's resulting nausea as she watched the Chimera eat brought back some rather disturbing memories from the morning sickness period in her first trimester. She pushed the thought aside and called out. "I'd be careful what I ate if I was you. Some of that is Phoebe's cooking (The edibility's kind of questionable)."
"Hey!" Phoebe exclaimed, throwing a dishrag in her sister's direction. Piper laughed as she caught it. Phoebe glanced back over to the counter and made a face as Meika wolfed down her fifth sandwich in several minutes. "How the hell can you eat all that and stay so damn skinny?" She asked, indicating to the girl's slender form.
"Mmhhmhmm.." Meika mumbled, holding up one clawed digit as she tried to swallow first. "I have an extremely high metabolism in my Chimera form. When I start to do a lot of magic, like what I did earlier with the statues and shape shifting from form to form, it really drains me. So I'm trying to make up for it now by earning back some of the calories." She finished her explanation by taking a large bite out of a nearby plate of leftover pasta.
Leo looked at her, the weariness evident on his face. Piper noticed it and placed her hand comfortingly over his one on her shoulder. It still amazed her that even an angel could get so exhausted and tired. "So what do we do now?" He asked the still feasting Meika. "I mean, Jakkin has the Staff. You said that you had hoped to stop it there but we couldn't. So what are we going to have to do now?"
Meika looked at him thoughtfully, almost sadly, as she slowly finished chewing the last of her sandwich. She swallowed and said, "I guess that we're going to have to protect my mom now." She ended the sentence with disappointed sigh. "I really didn't want to involve her though. She's had to deal with so much up to this point already."
"Well, she has got to know." Piper argued. "She didn't know in the past and wasn't able to protect herself. At least this way it will give her a fighting chance. C'mon."
Meika glanced around hesitantly and Phoebe jumped in, "This isn't still about the whole 'don't mess with the past' thing is it? Because I think that you're already in too deep to do much about that one. You've fiddled around in the past too much already to try and get out of it clean now. You might as well go all out."
"My mom wouldn't like it." Meika tried to explain. "She's told me time and time again NOT to go and mess around with the past."
Piper leaned forward slightly and gently prodded, "If she knew the reason that you're doing what you're doing, I'm sure that she'd understand. In fact, she would probably even be impressed by the extent of your determination to make things right. Tell us Meika. What's her name? Who is she?"
Meika looked up and met Piper's gaze, unshed tears glistening brilliantly as her dark brown eyes met Piper's. She whispered so soft that her voice cracked emotionally and Piper almost missed it.
"You."
Piper just stared back, open mouthed at the creature before her. Her breathing became quick and irregular as she tried to laugh. To her though, it came out almost maniacal. Piper pulled her head up and back, her eyes darting around wildly. Suddenly, everything began to catch up with her at once: the stress from the pregnancy, the lack of sleep, demon hunting, time traveling prophecies, and now.. this. The edges of her vision became fuzzy and she desperately wanted to fight against the impending darkness. But it was so welcoming and Piper found that all she wanted to do was let it take her.
Closing her eyes, she gave into the abyss. And the last thing she heard was her name being yelled by her husband, sisters, and.. daughter.
And then there was nothing.
TBC
Feedback perhaps? Pretty please with sprinkles on top? And a cherry if you're really nice.
(AN: Yes, yes. I know that some of you guessed what was going to happen but I just couldn't help myself. This next part though might take a little longer because it's got so much stuff that I'm going to have to remember to put in it. So just bear with me for a bit, k?)