The Dark Hand Part 2
(This is a continuation of the alternate universe I created in Degrees of Evil and that is featured in Information Exchange and Triangle of Hades. I do not own any part of Charmed, I just write about it. And as always, please comment and tell me what you think.)
As the nine entered the room, they found Rahab resting, apparently at ease. As they approached him cautiously, he said, "Don't even think about it. You'd be dead before you could even try."
All nine straightened, and the lead figure asked, "Did you get rid of them?"
Rahab got up, and hid the weariness he felt. He looked at them, and said, "Don't worry. My plan is going perfectly. There was a minor complication, but I dealt with it. I'll go back soon to deal with the others."
"Others? You mean you didn't get them all? You have fail." one of the demons began, but before he could finish, Rahab destroyed him with an energy ball. He looked back at the others, and he said, "I will finish them, when I am ready. There is no hurry. There is no escape from where I sent the other two. Now, leave me. I wish to consider how I want to best end this."
The other eight quickly backed out of the room, leaving Rahab alone. He slumped down, and sighed. That was too close. The truth was, Rahab was a little afraid to go back. Not afraid of the witches: far from it. Rather, Rahab was afraid he was losing his edge. Rahab had never been this worn out from a battle. He always considered every possibility, and planned for it. So how had he missed Phoebe's other power? Rahab had watched them for close to a week, monitoring their every nuance of behavior. He instigated the battle with the warlocks to find out about their powers. Could she have hidden it from him Rahab wondered. He then shook his head. It didn't matter. The witch was gone forever, and soon the third sister would be joining them. Rahab smiled, and dozed off.
***
Powers of the Witches Rise Course Unseen across the Skies Come to us, we call you near. Come to us and settle here.
When Paige finished chanting, she looked around expectedly. But there was nothing. She sighed, and remarked, "That's the 9th callback spell, and the last one in the book I can think of." She sat down. "I don't know what else to do."
Michael sat down near her, and said, "There has to be something."
Paige looked up at him, and fought to keep the tears back, "I've tried everything, but I don't even know WHERE they were sent to, much less how to get them back. I've tried to call to a lost witch, I've tried to call across our blood, I've tried to summon Life, and I've even tried to summon the Guardians to help find them. I'm not giving up, but I'm open to suggestions."
Cole stopped pacing and asked, "Are you sure you can't sense them Leo?"
Leo looked at Cole in annoyance and said, "As sure as I was the last four times you asked me."
"I'm sorry," Cole said. He took two steps and then slammed his fist onto the table. "Damn it! If I were still a demon, I could at least try and shimmer after them. I feel useless."
Michael walked over and put his hand on Cole's shoulder. "We'll get them back. I've already called my assistant, and she's scouring the Library for any spell or incantation that could help us. Leo has asked all whitelighters to chip in. We have to trust that we're meant to find them."
Cole looked back at Michael and said softly, "I'm good at a lot of things, trusting blindly isn't one of them."
"What I can't understand is why Gabriel hasn't brought them back," Leo said. "All the Guardians can teleport, and unborn or not, Gabriel is the Guardian of Life. He should easily be able to go wherever he needs to go, unless he's."
"Don't say it," Cole interrupted, "Don't even think it. My son is alive: all of them are. We just have to figure out how to find them."
"The problem is we have no link to find them," Paige said. "I've tried my link by blood to Piper and Phoebe, but the fact that I am only a half-sister affects the range of the spell."
"Wait, what about me?" Cole suddenly asked. Paige looked at him for a second as if he were crazy, and then she replied, "You're not even related by blood to either Phoebe or Piper, so what makes you think you can find them if I can't?"
"I wasn't talking about either Phoebe or Piper, I was talking about Gabriel," Cole continued excitedly. "I am his father, which means at least half of his genetic material is from me. In addition, he and I have shared minds on numerous occasions. That has to create some kind of link we can follow, shouldn't it?"
"I don't know. In theory, it could work," Michael added, "but at best all Gabriel would feel was a general location of where you are. We don't have the power to bring him here, and unless he is still able to teleport, I don't think it would help. And if we did do that, it would be quite loud, magically speaking. It could bring back Rahab, and we can't face him without the power of three."
"We don't have a choice. What do I have to do?" Cole asked.
Michael thought about it, and then said, "You'll have to write a whole new spell, one that you think could reach him. And you'd have to mentally reach for him, and try to find him. Unfortunately, since you've never done that, you'd have no idea how to move around, or follow your instincts. You could easily wind up lost, cast adrift forever."
Leo suddenly stepped forward, and said, "I can help him. We whitelighters are trained how to travel the world outside the body. If I guide him, I know I can lead him back to his body."
"Yes, but even so, doing such a move would leave both of you incredibly vulnerable to attack, so we'll have to protect you somehow, although I'm not sure what we can do."
"Wait, I know," Paige interrupted. She walked over and pulled out the crystals the sister's used to contain the Source. "If I invert this, it should keep out any and all magical attacks, right?"
"Yes, yes it would," Michael said excitedly, "But we have to rig it with a special spell so that it didn't block out Cole's call. Cole, you get to work on that spell. Paige, you and I have some shields to invert. Leo, you will have to remain in the shield with Cole. Do whatever meditation you need to, but get ready."
Everyone nodded, and got to work,
***
Rahab awoke with a start, feeling back to full strength. He glanced around, and realized he had slept for close to 4 hours. That meant the remaining witch had had close to 6 hours since his last attack to plan for round two. Oh, well. It made no difference. Rahab was back at full power, and that witch couldn't touch him. Rahab smiled, and shimmered out.
***
"Are we ready?" Paige asked. When everyone nodded, she said, "Then let's do it." Cole and Leo nodded, and sat down back to back. Paige moved the last crystal into place, and a shield came up around them. She looked at them, and said, "Good luck." Leo turned to Cole and remarked, "Let's do it." Cole began to concentrate, and he also began to chant.
Magic forces, ancient and strong. Help me to undo this wrong. As a Father, I beseech thee. Find and return my Son to me. Let no barrier hold you back. For great power you do not lack. Reunite Father and Son So on this day good has won.
Cole and Leo's heads slumped forward, and their breathing slowed. Paige turned to Michael, and said, "How long till Rahab notices?"
"Not long at all," a new voice said, and they both turned to see Rahab appear.
***
At first, Cole was barely able to keep himself aware that he had a body. When Leo appeared, Cole almost shouted in relief. This out of body experience is difficult. Leo jerked his head, and said, "You go. I'll anchor you to your body." Cole nodded, and then he let his instincts guide him. He felt himself going farther and farther away, as all his thoughts focused on Gabriel. Time was meaningless, but it seemed like hours later when he heard Leo say in his mind, "Careful, I can't anchor you if you go out much farther."
Cole strained, trying to find something, anything. Suddenly, he felt it, just barely, and at the edge of his awareness. SON! He shouted across the lines, and he thought he felt a response. He felt Leo pulling him back, and he tried to stay.
"You have to come back or I'll lose you," Leo said, and Cole could feel the weariness in his voice. As Cole let Leo reel him in, he sent out the thought. Follow me back son. Please, follow me back.
***
"I must admit, this is very impressive. I didn't think you would consider this a possibility." Rahab said wryly. "Not that it matters. You two will be dead long before they get back."
"That's what you think," Michael said, and began to chant. Rahab brought his hand up, but this time Michael was ready. He threw a small white ball at Rahab, and Rahab instantly blocked it with his arm. When his arm came into contact with the ball, however, it erupted with light. Rahab fell back, and said, "A flash grenade? Very creative.but not that creative." Rahab's other hand came up and Michael was knocked back.
Paige gestured, and shot a lightning ball at Rahab. As Rahab prepared to deflect it again, she shouted, "Lightning BOLT!" and redirected it above his shield. It slammed into him, and threw him back. When Rahab got back up, anger was on his face. "That's enough!" Rahab shouted, and then he threw both hands out at Paige. Two energy balls slammed into Paige, flipping her and knocking the wind out of her. As she struggled to get back up, she heard Rahab say, "So, any last requests?"
Paige looked around, but Michael was out cold. She did however see Cole and Leo's heads come back up. They were weary, and Paige couldn't tell if they had succeeded. Inspiration struck as she said, "Yeah. Send me where you sent me sisters. I'd rather die with them than die alone."
Rahab smiled, and said, "I normally wouldn't, but your ability to adapt has impressed me. Very well." He said three words under his breath, and gestured. A portal opened behind Paige, and she began to be sucked in. Rahab smiled, and said, "And now it ends."
Without warning, the portal began to glow. Rahab smile vanished, and a look of shock came over him as he said, "NO!" Phoebe and Piper stepped out of the portal, and it closed. Paige took one look at them, and realized something was very wrong. First of all, they looked VERY different. When they went in, they didn't even appear pregnant. Now, both of them looked like they could give birth any day. Also, their hair and nails were longer, and their clothes were in tatters. But that wasn't what made Paige worry. When she looked at Piper, she saw a blank look, as if nothing was registering. That in itself was a problem, but when Paige saw Phoebe's face, she barely stifled a scream. Phoebe's eyes were glowing, and she had a look of absolute fury on her face.
Gabriel let out a bestial roar, and launched himself at Rahab. Before Rahab could even act, Gabriel landed a punch to his gut, and followed it up with an elbow to his nose. Rahab fell to the ground, and Gabriel jumped on him. He pinned Rahab's arms beneath his legs, and began to beat on Rahab with wild abandon. Leo slowly got to his feet, and walked over to Piper. When he touched her, she showed no recognition. Michael had woken up, and he got to his feet. He and Leo approached Gabriel and said, "Gabriel, stop." Gabriel looked up at them, and he roared again. He gestured, and Michael and Leo felt magical power hit them and pin them to the wall. They couldn't move, and they were slowly being crushed. Cole got up, and said, "Gabriel, stop!"
Gabriel looked over at Cole, and recognition slowly came over his face. "Fa.Father." He looked down at Rahab, barely conscious and looking like he'd been thrown into a meat grinder and a look of horror crossed his face. He backed up, and said, "No." Rahab took advantage of this to shimmer out. Cole slowly approached his son, and said, "Gabriel, are you alright?" Gabriel looked at Cole for a moment, and then he was gone. The light didn't fade from Phoebe's eyes: it was just gone. Phoebe stumbled back, and Piper also stumbled back. She looked around, and asked "What the Hell happened?"
Leo looked at her, and said, "What do you mean, don't you remember?"
"The last thing I remember is falling into that portal of Rahab's. Next thing I know, I'm here.why is my belly so BIG!" Piper exclaimed.
Paige and Michael looked at Phoebe and asked, "What about you?" Phoebe nodded absently, her hand on her belly. Michael looked at Paige, and said, "I guess maybe some sort of thing about the portal, is that you couldn't remember?"
"How much time has passed since we left?" Piper asked. Paige looked at her watch and said, "Just over 6 hours."
"That's impossible. What they hell happened to us? Did you vanquish Rahab?"
Paige shook her head, and said, "He's definitely, going to be a problem."
"But not our biggest," Phoebe said.
"What do you mean?" Michael asked.
Phoebe looked around, and then said, "Before he left me just now, I touched Gabriel's mind. Not much of it, but just a portion, and."
"And what? What's wrong?" Leo asked.
Phoebe walked over and went into Cole's embrace before she said quietly.
"And what I felt wasn't sane."
TO BE CONTINUED.
(This is a continuation of the alternate universe I created in Degrees of Evil and that is featured in Information Exchange and Triangle of Hades. I do not own any part of Charmed, I just write about it. And as always, please comment and tell me what you think.)
As the nine entered the room, they found Rahab resting, apparently at ease. As they approached him cautiously, he said, "Don't even think about it. You'd be dead before you could even try."
All nine straightened, and the lead figure asked, "Did you get rid of them?"
Rahab got up, and hid the weariness he felt. He looked at them, and said, "Don't worry. My plan is going perfectly. There was a minor complication, but I dealt with it. I'll go back soon to deal with the others."
"Others? You mean you didn't get them all? You have fail." one of the demons began, but before he could finish, Rahab destroyed him with an energy ball. He looked back at the others, and he said, "I will finish them, when I am ready. There is no hurry. There is no escape from where I sent the other two. Now, leave me. I wish to consider how I want to best end this."
The other eight quickly backed out of the room, leaving Rahab alone. He slumped down, and sighed. That was too close. The truth was, Rahab was a little afraid to go back. Not afraid of the witches: far from it. Rather, Rahab was afraid he was losing his edge. Rahab had never been this worn out from a battle. He always considered every possibility, and planned for it. So how had he missed Phoebe's other power? Rahab had watched them for close to a week, monitoring their every nuance of behavior. He instigated the battle with the warlocks to find out about their powers. Could she have hidden it from him Rahab wondered. He then shook his head. It didn't matter. The witch was gone forever, and soon the third sister would be joining them. Rahab smiled, and dozed off.
***
Powers of the Witches Rise Course Unseen across the Skies Come to us, we call you near. Come to us and settle here.
When Paige finished chanting, she looked around expectedly. But there was nothing. She sighed, and remarked, "That's the 9th callback spell, and the last one in the book I can think of." She sat down. "I don't know what else to do."
Michael sat down near her, and said, "There has to be something."
Paige looked up at him, and fought to keep the tears back, "I've tried everything, but I don't even know WHERE they were sent to, much less how to get them back. I've tried to call to a lost witch, I've tried to call across our blood, I've tried to summon Life, and I've even tried to summon the Guardians to help find them. I'm not giving up, but I'm open to suggestions."
Cole stopped pacing and asked, "Are you sure you can't sense them Leo?"
Leo looked at Cole in annoyance and said, "As sure as I was the last four times you asked me."
"I'm sorry," Cole said. He took two steps and then slammed his fist onto the table. "Damn it! If I were still a demon, I could at least try and shimmer after them. I feel useless."
Michael walked over and put his hand on Cole's shoulder. "We'll get them back. I've already called my assistant, and she's scouring the Library for any spell or incantation that could help us. Leo has asked all whitelighters to chip in. We have to trust that we're meant to find them."
Cole looked back at Michael and said softly, "I'm good at a lot of things, trusting blindly isn't one of them."
"What I can't understand is why Gabriel hasn't brought them back," Leo said. "All the Guardians can teleport, and unborn or not, Gabriel is the Guardian of Life. He should easily be able to go wherever he needs to go, unless he's."
"Don't say it," Cole interrupted, "Don't even think it. My son is alive: all of them are. We just have to figure out how to find them."
"The problem is we have no link to find them," Paige said. "I've tried my link by blood to Piper and Phoebe, but the fact that I am only a half-sister affects the range of the spell."
"Wait, what about me?" Cole suddenly asked. Paige looked at him for a second as if he were crazy, and then she replied, "You're not even related by blood to either Phoebe or Piper, so what makes you think you can find them if I can't?"
"I wasn't talking about either Phoebe or Piper, I was talking about Gabriel," Cole continued excitedly. "I am his father, which means at least half of his genetic material is from me. In addition, he and I have shared minds on numerous occasions. That has to create some kind of link we can follow, shouldn't it?"
"I don't know. In theory, it could work," Michael added, "but at best all Gabriel would feel was a general location of where you are. We don't have the power to bring him here, and unless he is still able to teleport, I don't think it would help. And if we did do that, it would be quite loud, magically speaking. It could bring back Rahab, and we can't face him without the power of three."
"We don't have a choice. What do I have to do?" Cole asked.
Michael thought about it, and then said, "You'll have to write a whole new spell, one that you think could reach him. And you'd have to mentally reach for him, and try to find him. Unfortunately, since you've never done that, you'd have no idea how to move around, or follow your instincts. You could easily wind up lost, cast adrift forever."
Leo suddenly stepped forward, and said, "I can help him. We whitelighters are trained how to travel the world outside the body. If I guide him, I know I can lead him back to his body."
"Yes, but even so, doing such a move would leave both of you incredibly vulnerable to attack, so we'll have to protect you somehow, although I'm not sure what we can do."
"Wait, I know," Paige interrupted. She walked over and pulled out the crystals the sister's used to contain the Source. "If I invert this, it should keep out any and all magical attacks, right?"
"Yes, yes it would," Michael said excitedly, "But we have to rig it with a special spell so that it didn't block out Cole's call. Cole, you get to work on that spell. Paige, you and I have some shields to invert. Leo, you will have to remain in the shield with Cole. Do whatever meditation you need to, but get ready."
Everyone nodded, and got to work,
***
Rahab awoke with a start, feeling back to full strength. He glanced around, and realized he had slept for close to 4 hours. That meant the remaining witch had had close to 6 hours since his last attack to plan for round two. Oh, well. It made no difference. Rahab was back at full power, and that witch couldn't touch him. Rahab smiled, and shimmered out.
***
"Are we ready?" Paige asked. When everyone nodded, she said, "Then let's do it." Cole and Leo nodded, and sat down back to back. Paige moved the last crystal into place, and a shield came up around them. She looked at them, and said, "Good luck." Leo turned to Cole and remarked, "Let's do it." Cole began to concentrate, and he also began to chant.
Magic forces, ancient and strong. Help me to undo this wrong. As a Father, I beseech thee. Find and return my Son to me. Let no barrier hold you back. For great power you do not lack. Reunite Father and Son So on this day good has won.
Cole and Leo's heads slumped forward, and their breathing slowed. Paige turned to Michael, and said, "How long till Rahab notices?"
"Not long at all," a new voice said, and they both turned to see Rahab appear.
***
At first, Cole was barely able to keep himself aware that he had a body. When Leo appeared, Cole almost shouted in relief. This out of body experience is difficult. Leo jerked his head, and said, "You go. I'll anchor you to your body." Cole nodded, and then he let his instincts guide him. He felt himself going farther and farther away, as all his thoughts focused on Gabriel. Time was meaningless, but it seemed like hours later when he heard Leo say in his mind, "Careful, I can't anchor you if you go out much farther."
Cole strained, trying to find something, anything. Suddenly, he felt it, just barely, and at the edge of his awareness. SON! He shouted across the lines, and he thought he felt a response. He felt Leo pulling him back, and he tried to stay.
"You have to come back or I'll lose you," Leo said, and Cole could feel the weariness in his voice. As Cole let Leo reel him in, he sent out the thought. Follow me back son. Please, follow me back.
***
"I must admit, this is very impressive. I didn't think you would consider this a possibility." Rahab said wryly. "Not that it matters. You two will be dead long before they get back."
"That's what you think," Michael said, and began to chant. Rahab brought his hand up, but this time Michael was ready. He threw a small white ball at Rahab, and Rahab instantly blocked it with his arm. When his arm came into contact with the ball, however, it erupted with light. Rahab fell back, and said, "A flash grenade? Very creative.but not that creative." Rahab's other hand came up and Michael was knocked back.
Paige gestured, and shot a lightning ball at Rahab. As Rahab prepared to deflect it again, she shouted, "Lightning BOLT!" and redirected it above his shield. It slammed into him, and threw him back. When Rahab got back up, anger was on his face. "That's enough!" Rahab shouted, and then he threw both hands out at Paige. Two energy balls slammed into Paige, flipping her and knocking the wind out of her. As she struggled to get back up, she heard Rahab say, "So, any last requests?"
Paige looked around, but Michael was out cold. She did however see Cole and Leo's heads come back up. They were weary, and Paige couldn't tell if they had succeeded. Inspiration struck as she said, "Yeah. Send me where you sent me sisters. I'd rather die with them than die alone."
Rahab smiled, and said, "I normally wouldn't, but your ability to adapt has impressed me. Very well." He said three words under his breath, and gestured. A portal opened behind Paige, and she began to be sucked in. Rahab smiled, and said, "And now it ends."
Without warning, the portal began to glow. Rahab smile vanished, and a look of shock came over him as he said, "NO!" Phoebe and Piper stepped out of the portal, and it closed. Paige took one look at them, and realized something was very wrong. First of all, they looked VERY different. When they went in, they didn't even appear pregnant. Now, both of them looked like they could give birth any day. Also, their hair and nails were longer, and their clothes were in tatters. But that wasn't what made Paige worry. When she looked at Piper, she saw a blank look, as if nothing was registering. That in itself was a problem, but when Paige saw Phoebe's face, she barely stifled a scream. Phoebe's eyes were glowing, and she had a look of absolute fury on her face.
Gabriel let out a bestial roar, and launched himself at Rahab. Before Rahab could even act, Gabriel landed a punch to his gut, and followed it up with an elbow to his nose. Rahab fell to the ground, and Gabriel jumped on him. He pinned Rahab's arms beneath his legs, and began to beat on Rahab with wild abandon. Leo slowly got to his feet, and walked over to Piper. When he touched her, she showed no recognition. Michael had woken up, and he got to his feet. He and Leo approached Gabriel and said, "Gabriel, stop." Gabriel looked up at them, and he roared again. He gestured, and Michael and Leo felt magical power hit them and pin them to the wall. They couldn't move, and they were slowly being crushed. Cole got up, and said, "Gabriel, stop!"
Gabriel looked over at Cole, and recognition slowly came over his face. "Fa.Father." He looked down at Rahab, barely conscious and looking like he'd been thrown into a meat grinder and a look of horror crossed his face. He backed up, and said, "No." Rahab took advantage of this to shimmer out. Cole slowly approached his son, and said, "Gabriel, are you alright?" Gabriel looked at Cole for a moment, and then he was gone. The light didn't fade from Phoebe's eyes: it was just gone. Phoebe stumbled back, and Piper also stumbled back. She looked around, and asked "What the Hell happened?"
Leo looked at her, and said, "What do you mean, don't you remember?"
"The last thing I remember is falling into that portal of Rahab's. Next thing I know, I'm here.why is my belly so BIG!" Piper exclaimed.
Paige and Michael looked at Phoebe and asked, "What about you?" Phoebe nodded absently, her hand on her belly. Michael looked at Paige, and said, "I guess maybe some sort of thing about the portal, is that you couldn't remember?"
"How much time has passed since we left?" Piper asked. Paige looked at her watch and said, "Just over 6 hours."
"That's impossible. What they hell happened to us? Did you vanquish Rahab?"
Paige shook her head, and said, "He's definitely, going to be a problem."
"But not our biggest," Phoebe said.
"What do you mean?" Michael asked.
Phoebe looked around, and then said, "Before he left me just now, I touched Gabriel's mind. Not much of it, but just a portion, and."
"And what? What's wrong?" Leo asked.
Phoebe walked over and went into Cole's embrace before she said quietly.
"And what I felt wasn't sane."
TO BE CONTINUED.