FUTURE PERFECT
CHAPTER 9
"Come on, Paulina! Concentrate." Ania sounded desperate. "You can do it. Reach for your power. You know it's there."
Paulina growled in frustration. She had been trying for hours. The others had coaxed, threatened, pleaded with her to access her magic. Leo tried to put her in a trance. Phoebe suggested meditation. Nothing worked. It would help if she knew what she was searching for, what a magical power felt like. All she sensed was hunger, exhaustion, and a sore butt from sitting on the floor in a lotus position for the last half-hour.
"It's not working," she grunted and scrambled back to her feet. "Maybe you're all wrong. Maybe I don't have any magic after all."
"You helped bring Phoebe back, didn't you?" Ania offered.
Paulina shrugged and rolled her shoulders. "Maybe that was all Joren."
She knew it couldn't be true. In another part of the room, Elayne and Phoebe were having as much success with teaching her distant cousin to tap in to his powers as Leo, Ania and she herself were having. She reached for the ceiling to stretch the stiffened muscles in her back when out of the corner of her eye Paulina noticed a bright, blue light heading straight for her.
"Watch out!" Phoebe yelled in the same instant.
Without thinking, Paulina dropped her left hand to ward off the light. It changed course abruptly, as if it had hit an invisible wall, and ended up in the large rubber tree on the opposite side of the room. The tree exploded in a gush of flames, which vanished so fast that the sprinkler system didn't have time to kick in. Bewildered, Paulina stared at the soot staining the carpet where the plant had been.
"Cole, damn you!"
Slowly, Paulina moved her gaze away from the stain to see the evil boss standing stiff and motionless, like a statue cut from granite. His arm was raised as if he was about to throw something.
"What happened to him?"
"I froze him," Elayne said.
"What the hell was that?" Joren circled Cole's motionless form, studying him.
"A fireball," Phoebe grumbled. "I knew we shouldn't trust him." She turned to Elayne. "Can you unfreeze his head?"
Elayne looked doubtful. "I've never tried that before. I don't know if it's even possible."
"It is. Piper could do it. She had the same power."
Elayne nodded. "I'll try." She gestured with her fingers.
Cole's right knee came up and while he balanced on one leg, he waggled his foot at them.
"His head, I said," Phoebe said over her shoulder at Elayne. "We can't very well ask his foot what this was about, can we?"
"Sorry," Elayne mumbled. Her cheeks colored pink. She gestured again. This time, Cole's left hand moved and waved at them.
Phoebe growled.
Cole's body began to shake and a rumbling sound came from his chest. It took Paulina several seconds to realize it was laughter. Then his entire posture relaxed. He set his foot back on the floor and his right arm dropped to his side.
"Sorry," he grinned at Phoebe. "Couldn't resist. You didn't really believe the witch could freeze me, did you?"
"Why not?" Phoebe demanded. "Piper could."
"Yes, she could. But that's a long time ago, Phoebe. Back then I didn't have the abilities I do now. Plus, I've had a lot of time to learn how to use my powers. Magical powers are like a fine wine: they grow better with age."
"Care to explain what you were doing flinging fireballs at Paulina?" Leo's voice held a slight tremor and he looked shaken.
"Sure." Cole gestured in Joren's direction. The chandelier let go from the ceiling and was about to drop on the man's head, when he batted a hand at it. The lamp flew through the air and shattered against the door several feet away.
Joren's jaw dropped. "I--didn't even touch it," he whispered.
"I'd say that Paulina has the power of deflection." Cole sounded smug. "And Mr. Matthews over there has Prue's telekinesis. Need and desire is what triggers a power for the first time. Not meditation or breathing exercises."
* * *
The pages whispered as Phoebe flipped through the Book of Shadows. Many of the spells and potions described on those pages brought back memories. She discovered that after she had died, Paige and Piper continued to do battle for the forces of good. Although it appeared they didn't have much battling to do. In the span of a few months, San Francisco changed from a demonic nexus to a tranquil, peaceful place. Phoebe's brow furrowed. It was strange. As long as she could remember, after Gram's died and she and her sisters discovered their destiny, the evil attacks never let up. On a weekly basis every demon and warlock imaginable had tried to kill them, steal their Book, or swipe their powers for themselves. Perhaps, she mused as she flipped another page, once the Power of Three was gone, evil was no longer interested.
Her gaze fell upon the photos and the drawing on the next page and breath escaped unbidden through her teeth. She couldn't tear her eyes away; they were glued to words that she knew by rote, even after all this time. Her lips moved as she read them.
"Beware of this demonic soldier of fortune. As sinister as he is intelligent, he is not to be trusted."
She had studied the description so often in the past, in an attempt to understand Cole's demonic half. Then Emma vanquished Belthazor and only the human Cole was left. It had been hard on him, but those had been the happiest days on her life. Until an evil seer came along and used Cole for her own diabolical ambitions.
"Phoebe?" Paulina's voice startled Phoebe out of her reminiscence.
"Yes?" She looked up to see the girl standing beside her chair.
The young witch creased a piece of paper in her fingers. "Could you--I mean, I tried--I wrote a spell?" Her face twisted in uncertainty.
Phoebe smiled and held out her hand. "Sure." She unfolded the piece of paper. "You really enjoy discovering you're a witch, don't you?"
Paulina gave a shrug. "I guess. The night my parents died--they said the fire destroyed everything in the house. I never had anything that belonged to them. Except for a few vague memories." Her face lit up with a dreamy smile. "Now, I do."
Phoebe recalled the little girl she left on the sidewalk, with big, fat tears on her round cheeks. "I'm sorry," she said. She squinted and tried to read the words on the sheet. Why couldn't they have remade her glasses as well, when they resurrected her body? Or fixed her eyesight, while they were at it.
"Sorry about the handwriting," Paulina mumbled. "I usually use a voice-activated scribe."
"It's okay," Phoebe assured her absently. She held the page at arm's length to make out the scribbles.
"This is really good," she added once she had finished reading the spell.
"Really?"
"Yes. I only have one suggestion. See, if you replace 'fate' with 'fortune', it is much more specific."
Paulina repeated the change Phoebe suggested aloud as if to taste the words on her tongue. "You're right! Thank you!"
Phoebe smiled at her enthusiasm. "Just remember, the true power is not in the words. They are merely an aid. A witch's power is in her blood."
"I know. I remember." Paulina folded the piece of paper and stuffed it in a pocket of her jeans.
"What are you doing?" She took in the Book of Shadows on the coffee table. "Hey! Isn't that you? And--" She leaned forward to get a better look at the pictures.
Phoebe followed her gaze. The Book lay open on the page she herself had added, as a warning to future witches to beware one Cole Turner. "Yeah. That's me. And Cole." Her voice was soft as she remembered how devastated she had been the first time --or should that be second?-- when Cole betrayed her and killed the witch Jenna.
"Is it really true?" Paulina asked. "That you and he were married, I mean."
"It is. It didn't work out. We tried to hard to make it work but--I guess we came from too different worlds." She shrugged. Admitting failure still hurt. She could feel tears form in her eyes.
"I'm sorry," Paulina said guiltily. "I didn't mean to bring up bad memories. It must be hard for you, having to work with him."
Phoebe nodded, distrusting her voice.
She was spared any further painful trips down memory lane when the door opened. Joren walked in with Leo. Cole followed on their heels.
"So, now that we have Phoebe and that spell, how will we get this Hollow to come here?" Joren articulated the words 'spell' and 'Hollow' carefully, as if he wasn't sure of their pronunciation. He was having a hard time coming to grips with the concept of being a male witch. It was more difficult for him than for Paulina. She was much younger and therefore much more open to strange and incredible developments. Phoebe suspected that if Joren hadn't seen a few spells come into effect with his own eyes, or done magic with his own hands, he would have left a long time ago.
"Simple," Cole replied. "I will put out word that the Power of Three has been restored. There's no way the Hollow's wielder will be able to resist the shine of that much magic."
"Wouldn't that bring half the demon world down on us, trying to kill us?" Phoebe asked. "Again."
Leo glanced sideways at Cole, who was studying his fingernails.
"No, it won't." Leo crossed his arms. "Not as long as Cole is in charge. He has declared the Halliwell line off limits to any demon under his rule. They won't dare cross him."
Phoebe opened her mouth, then closed it again. Her teeth grazed her lower lip as she thought it over. Cole had been the cause of the peace in San Francisco? It was because of him that Piper had been able to live a normal life, as she so often proclaimed to want? That Paige had returned to being a social worker, something she did so well before dedicating herself to the Power of Three full-time?
"Is that why their powers were lost?" She dipped her head at the two witches.
"Not lost," Leo amended. "Gone dormant. But yes. Without the need to defend themselves, the knowledge of the craft was slowly lost from your family line."
"An unexpected side effect," Cole muttered. He avoided her eyes. "I wanted your sisters and their children to be safe, that's all."
Phoebe placed a hand on Cole's arm. He tensed beneath her touch.
"Thank you."
His arm muscles relaxed under her fingers. "You're not upset?"
"Upset? Cole, you did what you did for unselfish reasons. How could I ever be upset about that?"
TBC
CHAPTER 9
"Come on, Paulina! Concentrate." Ania sounded desperate. "You can do it. Reach for your power. You know it's there."
Paulina growled in frustration. She had been trying for hours. The others had coaxed, threatened, pleaded with her to access her magic. Leo tried to put her in a trance. Phoebe suggested meditation. Nothing worked. It would help if she knew what she was searching for, what a magical power felt like. All she sensed was hunger, exhaustion, and a sore butt from sitting on the floor in a lotus position for the last half-hour.
"It's not working," she grunted and scrambled back to her feet. "Maybe you're all wrong. Maybe I don't have any magic after all."
"You helped bring Phoebe back, didn't you?" Ania offered.
Paulina shrugged and rolled her shoulders. "Maybe that was all Joren."
She knew it couldn't be true. In another part of the room, Elayne and Phoebe were having as much success with teaching her distant cousin to tap in to his powers as Leo, Ania and she herself were having. She reached for the ceiling to stretch the stiffened muscles in her back when out of the corner of her eye Paulina noticed a bright, blue light heading straight for her.
"Watch out!" Phoebe yelled in the same instant.
Without thinking, Paulina dropped her left hand to ward off the light. It changed course abruptly, as if it had hit an invisible wall, and ended up in the large rubber tree on the opposite side of the room. The tree exploded in a gush of flames, which vanished so fast that the sprinkler system didn't have time to kick in. Bewildered, Paulina stared at the soot staining the carpet where the plant had been.
"Cole, damn you!"
Slowly, Paulina moved her gaze away from the stain to see the evil boss standing stiff and motionless, like a statue cut from granite. His arm was raised as if he was about to throw something.
"What happened to him?"
"I froze him," Elayne said.
"What the hell was that?" Joren circled Cole's motionless form, studying him.
"A fireball," Phoebe grumbled. "I knew we shouldn't trust him." She turned to Elayne. "Can you unfreeze his head?"
Elayne looked doubtful. "I've never tried that before. I don't know if it's even possible."
"It is. Piper could do it. She had the same power."
Elayne nodded. "I'll try." She gestured with her fingers.
Cole's right knee came up and while he balanced on one leg, he waggled his foot at them.
"His head, I said," Phoebe said over her shoulder at Elayne. "We can't very well ask his foot what this was about, can we?"
"Sorry," Elayne mumbled. Her cheeks colored pink. She gestured again. This time, Cole's left hand moved and waved at them.
Phoebe growled.
Cole's body began to shake and a rumbling sound came from his chest. It took Paulina several seconds to realize it was laughter. Then his entire posture relaxed. He set his foot back on the floor and his right arm dropped to his side.
"Sorry," he grinned at Phoebe. "Couldn't resist. You didn't really believe the witch could freeze me, did you?"
"Why not?" Phoebe demanded. "Piper could."
"Yes, she could. But that's a long time ago, Phoebe. Back then I didn't have the abilities I do now. Plus, I've had a lot of time to learn how to use my powers. Magical powers are like a fine wine: they grow better with age."
"Care to explain what you were doing flinging fireballs at Paulina?" Leo's voice held a slight tremor and he looked shaken.
"Sure." Cole gestured in Joren's direction. The chandelier let go from the ceiling and was about to drop on the man's head, when he batted a hand at it. The lamp flew through the air and shattered against the door several feet away.
Joren's jaw dropped. "I--didn't even touch it," he whispered.
"I'd say that Paulina has the power of deflection." Cole sounded smug. "And Mr. Matthews over there has Prue's telekinesis. Need and desire is what triggers a power for the first time. Not meditation or breathing exercises."
* * *
The pages whispered as Phoebe flipped through the Book of Shadows. Many of the spells and potions described on those pages brought back memories. She discovered that after she had died, Paige and Piper continued to do battle for the forces of good. Although it appeared they didn't have much battling to do. In the span of a few months, San Francisco changed from a demonic nexus to a tranquil, peaceful place. Phoebe's brow furrowed. It was strange. As long as she could remember, after Gram's died and she and her sisters discovered their destiny, the evil attacks never let up. On a weekly basis every demon and warlock imaginable had tried to kill them, steal their Book, or swipe their powers for themselves. Perhaps, she mused as she flipped another page, once the Power of Three was gone, evil was no longer interested.
Her gaze fell upon the photos and the drawing on the next page and breath escaped unbidden through her teeth. She couldn't tear her eyes away; they were glued to words that she knew by rote, even after all this time. Her lips moved as she read them.
"Beware of this demonic soldier of fortune. As sinister as he is intelligent, he is not to be trusted."
She had studied the description so often in the past, in an attempt to understand Cole's demonic half. Then Emma vanquished Belthazor and only the human Cole was left. It had been hard on him, but those had been the happiest days on her life. Until an evil seer came along and used Cole for her own diabolical ambitions.
"Phoebe?" Paulina's voice startled Phoebe out of her reminiscence.
"Yes?" She looked up to see the girl standing beside her chair.
The young witch creased a piece of paper in her fingers. "Could you--I mean, I tried--I wrote a spell?" Her face twisted in uncertainty.
Phoebe smiled and held out her hand. "Sure." She unfolded the piece of paper. "You really enjoy discovering you're a witch, don't you?"
Paulina gave a shrug. "I guess. The night my parents died--they said the fire destroyed everything in the house. I never had anything that belonged to them. Except for a few vague memories." Her face lit up with a dreamy smile. "Now, I do."
Phoebe recalled the little girl she left on the sidewalk, with big, fat tears on her round cheeks. "I'm sorry," she said. She squinted and tried to read the words on the sheet. Why couldn't they have remade her glasses as well, when they resurrected her body? Or fixed her eyesight, while they were at it.
"Sorry about the handwriting," Paulina mumbled. "I usually use a voice-activated scribe."
"It's okay," Phoebe assured her absently. She held the page at arm's length to make out the scribbles.
"This is really good," she added once she had finished reading the spell.
"Really?"
"Yes. I only have one suggestion. See, if you replace 'fate' with 'fortune', it is much more specific."
Paulina repeated the change Phoebe suggested aloud as if to taste the words on her tongue. "You're right! Thank you!"
Phoebe smiled at her enthusiasm. "Just remember, the true power is not in the words. They are merely an aid. A witch's power is in her blood."
"I know. I remember." Paulina folded the piece of paper and stuffed it in a pocket of her jeans.
"What are you doing?" She took in the Book of Shadows on the coffee table. "Hey! Isn't that you? And--" She leaned forward to get a better look at the pictures.
Phoebe followed her gaze. The Book lay open on the page she herself had added, as a warning to future witches to beware one Cole Turner. "Yeah. That's me. And Cole." Her voice was soft as she remembered how devastated she had been the first time --or should that be second?-- when Cole betrayed her and killed the witch Jenna.
"Is it really true?" Paulina asked. "That you and he were married, I mean."
"It is. It didn't work out. We tried to hard to make it work but--I guess we came from too different worlds." She shrugged. Admitting failure still hurt. She could feel tears form in her eyes.
"I'm sorry," Paulina said guiltily. "I didn't mean to bring up bad memories. It must be hard for you, having to work with him."
Phoebe nodded, distrusting her voice.
She was spared any further painful trips down memory lane when the door opened. Joren walked in with Leo. Cole followed on their heels.
"So, now that we have Phoebe and that spell, how will we get this Hollow to come here?" Joren articulated the words 'spell' and 'Hollow' carefully, as if he wasn't sure of their pronunciation. He was having a hard time coming to grips with the concept of being a male witch. It was more difficult for him than for Paulina. She was much younger and therefore much more open to strange and incredible developments. Phoebe suspected that if Joren hadn't seen a few spells come into effect with his own eyes, or done magic with his own hands, he would have left a long time ago.
"Simple," Cole replied. "I will put out word that the Power of Three has been restored. There's no way the Hollow's wielder will be able to resist the shine of that much magic."
"Wouldn't that bring half the demon world down on us, trying to kill us?" Phoebe asked. "Again."
Leo glanced sideways at Cole, who was studying his fingernails.
"No, it won't." Leo crossed his arms. "Not as long as Cole is in charge. He has declared the Halliwell line off limits to any demon under his rule. They won't dare cross him."
Phoebe opened her mouth, then closed it again. Her teeth grazed her lower lip as she thought it over. Cole had been the cause of the peace in San Francisco? It was because of him that Piper had been able to live a normal life, as she so often proclaimed to want? That Paige had returned to being a social worker, something she did so well before dedicating herself to the Power of Three full-time?
"Is that why their powers were lost?" She dipped her head at the two witches.
"Not lost," Leo amended. "Gone dormant. But yes. Without the need to defend themselves, the knowledge of the craft was slowly lost from your family line."
"An unexpected side effect," Cole muttered. He avoided her eyes. "I wanted your sisters and their children to be safe, that's all."
Phoebe placed a hand on Cole's arm. He tensed beneath her touch.
"Thank you."
His arm muscles relaxed under her fingers. "You're not upset?"
"Upset? Cole, you did what you did for unselfish reasons. How could I ever be upset about that?"
TBC