Paige orbed back into her room, heart pounding. She was stunned by Phoebe's revelations -- she would never have guessed that her middle sister felt inadequate. "I thought that was my job," Paige said to herself wryly. Her musings were interrupted by a swirl of orbs.
"Paige?"
"Leo! How are you holding up?"
He gave a sad smile. "I've been better." He was surprised when his youngest sister-in-law gave him a gentle hug.
"I'm so sorry. This must be so awful for you. But we'll get this Benecaedus, and between Piper's potion and Phoebe's spell, he's gonna be one sorry demon." She brushed a lock of red hair out of her eyes. "The summoning spell's done. Have you checked in with the other two?" she asked innocently.
"Phoebe's still working on the vanquishing spell. I haven't talked to Piper yet, though," Leo told her.
"Should I go see if Phoebe needs any help? You know, someone to bounce ideas off?" Paige inquired.
Leo shook his head. "No, I think she's got it. She told me you've been working on your powers, though."
Paige grinned. "Oh yeah. It's like exercising -- my powers started out like a 98-pound-weakling, but they're going to be the Incredible Hulk by the time I'm through!" Leo smiled back at her.
"I wouldn't be surprised. Well, if you're all done here, let's go see how Piper's doing."
* * *
"Alright, let's see what happens if I --" BOOM! As Piper dropped in the wolfsbane, the simmering potion exploded loudly. When the smoke cleared, Piper was amazed to see a brilliantly white fireball suspended above the pot. "That's different," she said to herself, as she backed up from the stove. Afraid to jostle the pot, or even make too much noise, lest she disturb the fireball, she said softly, "Leo?" Her husband orbed into the kitchen with Paige. Piper tilted her head toward the fireball, still motionless several inches above the potion. Arching her eyebrows, she looked quizically at him.
"Whoa," whispered Paige.
Leo looked startled. "I don't -- I didn't think -- I mean..." He trailed off, apparently speechless.
"Honey? Do you know what it is?" Piper asked. Her eyes narrowed. "Honey, are you okay?"
"Piper, that's a Font fireball," he breathed, his eyes wide.
"It's a what?" Piper asked, echoing Paige's thought.
"It's a pure white fireball, from the Font."
"Oookay, what's the Font?" Piper said, looking confused.
"The Font of Goodness," Leo explained. "Just like there's a Source of All Evil, there's a Font of Goodness. It's hidden away, beyond the mortal realm, but it's the source of all good magic. Your powers come from it, and every time you use your powers for good, you strengthen the power of the Font."
"'Font' like 'fountain'?" Paige interrupted. "Then what's it doing with a fireball?"
"The Font doesn't flow with water, it flows with power, in the form of light. That way, when a mortal is given power, or a power boost, the Font can reach him or her at the speed of light. Sometimes the power will come as just an extra-bright bit of sunlight, but the Font also produces these fireballs. The border of the Font is actually a chain of these fireballs. They contain a concentrated amount of power, and just from their glow they radiate power." Leo looked at each of them seriously. "The Font has a consciousness, an awareness. It's linked to every good magical being in the world. It must have seen how pure your intentions were, and realized that the Power of Three needed a boost to vanquish Benecaedus. So it sent you the fireball."
Piper was mesmerized. "So what do I do with it?"
"Take it in your hands," Leo said. Piper gingerly reached out and cupped the fireball in her hands, which glowed briefly for a moment. Then the fireball faded away. Piper turned to her husband in astonishment.
"Don't worry, that's what it does," he assured her. "It will be there when you need it."
"Cool! Lucky you. Maybe I was at least close enough to catch a little of that radiance," Paige said. She noticed a bit of water on the counter, and held out her hand to orb a rag over to clean it up.
"Uh, Paige, I wouldn't be too jealous if I were you," Piper said.
"Huh? Oh," said Paige, when she looked down at her hand and saw not only the rag she'd orbed, but also a white fireball hovering above it. "Piper, could you take the rag, please?" Piper did, and Paige cautiously brought her hands close around the fireball. As Piper's had, it brightened momentarily and made her hands glow, then faded away.
"Oh -- oh -- Leo!" came Phoebe's voice from upstairs. The three in the kitchen jumped. Paige grabbed Piper's hand and they and Leo orbed to the attic.