TWO

As Leo and Piper moved into the kitchen, they saw Paige and
Phoebe standing in the back door of the kitchen. Rather, Phoebe was
standing in the door in a stance that suggested she was ready for a
fight. Paige lay on the floor of the kitchen unconscious. There were
no marks on her body. Santerra and Prue stood in the back of the
kitchen equal distance from Leo and Piper and Paige and Phoebe.

"I see we have more guests," said Santerra. "We so rarely have
guests and now so many at one time. In fact, I don't believe we've
ever had guests here before."

"Piper," said Phoebe, "she took out Paige. She's got some kind
of power and I don't know how long I can hold her off."

Piper didn't hesitate. She raised her hands to freeze Santerra.
The magic passed around the mambo without effect. Piper just looked
at Santerra in amazement.

"Surprised, my dear?" asked Santerra. "You shouldn't be. You
should have known I would be prepared for you. This is my home, after
all. Surely, you have protection around your own home. But I'm
curious. Why come after me? I've done you no harm. I have no
interest in witches. Why attack me?"

"You have my sister," said Piper, through clenched teeth,
looking at Prue.

"Cassandra?" questioned Santerra, looking at Prue then back at
Piper. "Surely you know she is no longer your sister. This is but a
shell. A vessel, which carried the essence that was your sister. It
was of no use to you or her any longer. I merely . . .."

Suddenly the look on Santerra's face changed. The smile faded
and was replaced by a look of recognition. Or perhaps it was a look
of realization. As if she had suddenly had a veil lifted from her
eyes and was seeing clearly.

"Three witches," said Santerra suddenly. "All sisters. The
Charmed Ones. I have heard of you. Supposedly witches of great power
able to stand up against anything that comes against them. This," she
looked at Prue, "would be the eldest. And that," she looked at Paige,
"would be the fourth sister I've heard of. The one which restored the
Power of Three, I believe it's called."

"Give us Prue," demanded Piper. "We'll leave here and you won't
have to die. All we want is Prue."

"I'm afraid that's not possible," said Santerra. "You see, it
is not just their bodies I need. I gain power from each of them. I
wondered why I gained so much power from the one you call Prue. Now I
know why. The Power of the Charmed Ones. It is not a prize I would
give up willingly. And now, I have double that power. With the
addition of the replacement."

"That's impossible," said Leo. "You couldn't get any power from
just her body. Without her soul, she has no power, let alone the
Power of Three. And since Paige isn't even a zombie, you couldn't get
any power from her at all. Unless . . .."

His voice trailed off. A look of fear came across his face as
he looked at Santerra then at Paige.

"Oh my God," he said.

"That's it," said Piper, her anger flaring. "You're going to
return Prue and we're leaving here or you're going to be very sorry, I
promise you that."

"That's not going to happen," said Santerra, smiling.

Piper looked at Phoebe as she reached into her pocket.
Suddenly, she pulled her hand out of her pocket, holding the bottle
with the vanquishing potion in it. She threw the bottle at Santerra
and just before it hit the mambo, Paige exploded the bottle. The
liquid inside splattered all over the front of Santerra's body.
Santerra just laughed.

"Really," said Santerra. "Do you think that a simple potion
will have any affect on me? I am the greatest mambo who has ever
lived. I have accomplished what none before me have ever done.
There's no way I'm going to allow you, or anyone else, to interfere
with my plans now. And now that I know the Charmed Ones are real,
your power will be magnified even greater."

She reached inside her blouse and removed a pendant she was
wearing. The pendant was a small stone with green striations and
flecks of gold in it. She held the stone in her right hand and
extended her left hand toward Phoebe. Her hand started to glow.

Leo moved instantly. He orbed away from Piper and appeared next
to Phoebe. He took Phoebe's arm and they orbed away just as a
greenish colored beam shot from Santerra's hand. The beam passed
through the bluish affect of the orb missing both Leo and Phoebe.

Almost as quickly, Leo and Phoebe appeared next to Piper. Leo
didn't hesitate but took Piper by the arm and orbed the three of them
away as Santerra turned to face them. As they orbed out, a green beam
again shot from Santerra's hand and passed through where they had been
standing only moments before. Santerra screamed in anger as they
orbed away, leaving Paige lying on the floor of the kitchen.

"What the hell did you do that for?" screamed Piper in the
kitchen of the manor. "We just left Paige there. Not to mention
Prue. You didn't even put up a fight. You ran at the first sign of
trouble. What the hell is this all about?"

"Piper, calm down," said Phoebe. "I'm sure Leo had a good
reason for what he did. You DO have a good reason, don't you?"

"Yes," said Leo. "You didn't stand a chance against her the way
things were. She would have done the same thing to you that she did
to Paige, and there would have been no way for you to stop her."

"What do you mean?" asked Piper. "Paige may have been
unconscious, but I still think . . .."

"She wasn't just unconscious," said Leo. "In a way, you might
say she was dead."

"Dead?" questioned Phoebe. "What do you mean dead?"

"Just that," said Leo. "That's what happens when the soul or
spirit leaves the body. That's what happened to Paige. Santerra was
able to draw her spirit out of her body. And she would have done the
same to both of you. If she did that, she would have had the complete
Power of Three. That, with the power she already possesses, would
have made her unstoppable."

"Wait a minute," said Piper. "How can you possibly know what
she did? We weren't even there when she attacked Paige. And by our
own admission, you don't know anything about voodoo."

"No, I don't," said Leo, "but I do know about that stone she
had. It's ancient. Very ancient. People have been searching for it
for thousands of years because of the powers it has. And the things
it can do. That's why you powers didn't work against Santerra. With
that stone, she's impervious to almost any magic. Only the Hollow is
more powerful than it is."

"A stone?" asked Phoebe. "How can a stone be so powerful?"

"It's no ordinary stone," said Leo. "As I said, its power is
nearly beyond belief. I had to get you out of there. Before she
could do to you what she did to Paige. And to Prue."

"What do you mean 'what she did to Prue'?" asked Piper. "We
know what she did to Prue. She reanimated Prue's body as a zombie."

"No, she did much more than that," said Leo. "Using that stone,
she was able to recall Prue's soul back from the other side. It's the
only explanation for how she could get power from Prue. It's not just
Prue's body we have to worry about saving now. Nor just the bodies of
all the other's including Paige's. With that stone, Santerra is able
to capture their souls as well. She draws power from those souls.
When she's drawn all the power she can, she'll discard them. If that
happens, their souls will die. Whatever was left of them that passed
over to the other side will cease to exist."

Piper and Phoebe just looked at each other. This had started as
a simple task. Stop a voodoo priestess and recover Prue's body. Now,
their task was even greater than they could have imagined. Now, the
very souls of both Prue and Paige were at stake. And the souls of all
the others Santerra had stolen. And that stone made Santerra
virtually invulnerable to their magic.