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CHAPTER 13
Cole was slipping in an out of consciousness, sometimes aware of what was happening around him, and sometimes not. He heard the gathering of many persons, of footsteps filing past his cage, and of the grunts and whispers of those who stared at him in his state of weakness, but it didn't really seem real. He heard the rising of voices, the saying of the ritualistic prayers, the intoning and chanting of choruses, sometimes loud, sometimes as if coming from far away.
He opened his eyes, and saw demons of all shapes and sizes, some in human form, some not, standing around, their backs towards him, turned to face the elevated platform on which Zaytak and his main supporters were standing. He closed his eyes, then opened them again and saw Phoebe, swathed in a black robe and hood, standing not two feet away from the cage. He wondered why Khali would bother to appear in that particular glamour, and closed his eyes again.
He then heard a loud commotion, and opened his eyes again, to see Paige and Leo standing over him. Once again, he closed his eyes, not believing or caring that what he saw was real. Then it was if he was flying, and white, blue and gold lights swirled around him in and out of his body, and when he opened his eyes again, he was lying on something soft, in a room he knew he should recognize, but that wasn't important to him at the moment, so he closed his eyes again.
++++++++++ +++++++++++++
Their plan was simple, create a diversion, and orb Cole out of the Underworld. It involved a lot of trust, particularly by Piper and Phoebe, as they would have to shimmer back with one of the demons. They had no time to refine their plan, and were amazed at how simple it was, and how effectively it worked.
Jael was to keep close to Phoebe, Tems, Boraz, Elizabeth and Piper were to create a diversion, as noisily as possible, while Leo and Paige were going to try and break into the cage and orb back with Cole.
Elizabeth supplied everyone with long black cloaks with hoods, and they all shimmered to the Underworld, even Leo and Paige – so as not to be seen orbing – into the middle of the gathering.
There were all sorts there, some in demon form - like Belthazor, to small gnomes, to men in business suits and women in long dresses, most wore the long cloaks, but some didn't bother.
Tems morphed as he shimmered, back into his demon form, and pushed his way to the front, shouting about the lost Grimore, and how Zaytak was breaking all the rules. Zaytak's followers took exception, and a shouting match began, with Boraz, and Elizabeth adding their bit to the argument, generally shouting and yelling and making as much noise as possible.
Piper froze the guard that was standing by the cage, and Leo and Paige orbed into it, grabbed Cole, who seemed to be unconscious, and orbed out.
Then slinking back through the crowd, who were all now yelling at eachother, Boraz took Piper's hand, and Elizabeth took Phoebe's, and they all shimmered away.
The whole exercise had taken less than 10 minutes!
They all reappeared in the sunroom, only seconds behind Leo and Paige, who had laid Cole on the large sofa. Leo stood looking down at his former friend, an almost sad look in his eyes.
"Can you heal him?" asked Elizabeth softly, as she sat down on the sofa, and stretched out a hand to touch her son – for the first time in 30 years.
Leo looked down. "I don't know if I should try," he said "It's against everything I represent."
"Why?" asked Jael, stepping forward. "He needs help."
"He was dangerous – will be dangerous to my family," said Leo, looking at Piper for some sort of clue as to what she was thinking.
Elizabeth looked up at Leo. "If you are scared of him – you have my word that I will not let him harm you. – Any of you." And she looked around at Phoebe, standing back, her hand over her mouth, and her eyes fixed on Cole's face.
Leo turned to look at his sister in law.
"Phoebe?" he asked, a question in his voice.
Tears had formed in her big brown eyes, and began spilling over, down her cheeks.
"I never thought I 'd see him again." She said, trying to keep the tremor out of her voice.
Piper moved to put her arm around her sister; Paige also moved to stand close.
"Take that thing off, from around his neck," said Boraz practically, "Then he will heal himself – or at least stop bleeding all over your sofa."
Elizabeth put her hand on the torc, and twisted it slightly, but the magic prevented her from opening it. Boraz bent down, and touched it, murmuring a few words in an old and powerful language, and the torc broke into two pieces.
The wound in Cole's side stopped bleeding immediately, and even as they watched, it began to knit together. The bruises and the blood on his jaw and face also vanished, before their eyes. He gave a great gasp, and his eyes flew open.
Phoebe had not looked into Cole's eyes for a long time. She stepped forward, not knowing yet whether she was going to throw herself into his arms, or slap him and run away. Her heart began to beat faster, this was Cole, this was the love of her life, her soul mate. She couldn't help the joyous smile that trembled on her lips.
"Cole – oh Cole," she said breathlessly, and took a tentative step forward.
He looked at her blankly, then his eyes swept away, and he saw his mother. He directed his blank stare at her too; then closed his eyes again for a moment, unable to believe what he was seeing, and where he was.
There was complete silence; then Cole opened his eyes again, and stood up, swaying a little on his feet.
He stood like that, staring around the room, for a good minute while he tried to work out what had happened to him. He tentatively put his left hand up to where the torc had been, and rubbed his neck looking from person to person, and finally ending up staring at Jael, with complete bewilderment in his eyes.
Phoebe moved forward again, and reached out to touch him, but he flinched away from her, turning that blank, dead stare back on her, and then, before anyone could stop him, he shimmered out.
"Well, that's O.K. – don't bother to thank us," yelled Paige after him.
"Wait here," said Elizabeth, and immediately shimmered after him.
The Charmed Ones and Leo all stared at the three Other World visitors.
"Would you like us to wait outside?" asked Jael, nervously, and he, Tems and Boraz began walking towards the door.
"No – wait a moment," said Piper. "You can wait in here – I know you mean us no harm. Can I get anyone a drink – Coffee perhaps?"
The sorcerer bowed his head to her, and smiled. "Thank you, that would be pleasant," he said, in his deep voice. The other two nodded, in confirmation.
"Pheebs snap out of it, - a little help in here," said Piper, walking towards the kitchen. "Paige, can you entertain our guests?" And she pushed her stricken sister into the room ahead of her.
Elizabeth materialized in the mausoleum, seconds after Cole. He swung around to face her, and she stepped forward, reaching out towards him. He backed away slowly, till he came up hard against his father's tomb.
"You are not real," he said, forming a fireball. "I don't know what you want – and I don't care. Get away from me."
"Cole," she said softly. "I was captured, not killed. Tems, Boraz and I, we were betrayed by Raynor. You know what he was like." She moved a step closer, and he lifted the fireball higher, a look of anguish on his face.
"What do you want from me?" he asked, not believing her, not allowing himself to believe her.
"I don't want anything from you," she said, moving still closer. "I am your mother. A simple hello would be good."
He threw the fireball at her with all his strength, and she vanished, while the fireball smashed into the opposite wall, and she materialized again, this time directly in front of him.
"Open your eyes, Cole, look at me. I am your mother."
Cole slowly sank to his knees, putting both his hands over his face.
"I can't do this anymore," he said, "I can't play these stupid games. Tell whoever sent you that I just want to be left alone. Who was it – was it Zaytak, or the Elders, or even the Charmed Ones? I don't care anymore – I just want to go away, and be by myself."
He gave a great sigh, then looked up at her. He reached up and a dagger materialized in his hand. He presented it to her, hilt first.
"Do what you came to do," he said thickly, "I won't fight you, I am too tired – kill me now." And he dropped his head down, baring his neck to the knife she held.
For a good 30 seconds, she stared down at his bowed head; then reached down and with her hand curling into a fist, she administered the hardest punch she could to the side of his face.
"How dare you just give up, like this!" she screamed at him. "I have some idea what has been going on in your life lately, and that is no excuse. You are right. You are no son of mine. No one with my blood would just wimp out and give up. You make me feel sick."
And she hit him again, as hard as she could, and sent him rocking back on his heels.
He flung his head up, and stared at her, his blue eyes cloudy with unshed tears. "Mother?" he whispered, almost afraid to believe it. "Is it really you?"
Elizabeth glared down at him, clenching the dagger in her hand. "Yes," she replied, "I am so tempted to carve my name on your forehead with this."
He surged to his feet, and grabbed her around the waist, swinging her around, and then they hugged for the first time in 30 years. Cole could not help the few tears that now rolled down his cheeks. He held her tight for what seemed like hours. Finally he pulled away, and still holding her stammered "How – how did you survive? How did you know what was going on here? How did you get the Charmed One's to help? How...?"
"We have a lot of catching up to do," she replied, reaching up to touch his face gently. "I will get the others, and we will go somewhere, and you will hear the full story – of Raynor's betrayal, of our capture, our existence, our escape – and I want to hear your story, I want to know what evil things Raynor taught you, why you killed the Triad and married the witch – how you ended up so powerful – and whether or not we can save Belthazor. Do you wish to come with me – or go and arrange somewhere for us to stay – can you hire a suite of rooms somewhere – or even a house?"
"I don't want to see the Charmed One's again," he said, biting his bottom lip. "I can't see Phoebe again ever – I hurt her too much before, and she hurt me, too. I'll just wait here – don't, don't be too long."
Elizabeth squeezed his hand, reaching up to kiss him on the cheek. "I'll be very quick," she said, and shimmered away.
Cole sank back down to the ground, closing his eyes, his brain whirling around, still half in shock.
CHAPTER 13
Cole was slipping in an out of consciousness, sometimes aware of what was happening around him, and sometimes not. He heard the gathering of many persons, of footsteps filing past his cage, and of the grunts and whispers of those who stared at him in his state of weakness, but it didn't really seem real. He heard the rising of voices, the saying of the ritualistic prayers, the intoning and chanting of choruses, sometimes loud, sometimes as if coming from far away.
He opened his eyes, and saw demons of all shapes and sizes, some in human form, some not, standing around, their backs towards him, turned to face the elevated platform on which Zaytak and his main supporters were standing. He closed his eyes, then opened them again and saw Phoebe, swathed in a black robe and hood, standing not two feet away from the cage. He wondered why Khali would bother to appear in that particular glamour, and closed his eyes again.
He then heard a loud commotion, and opened his eyes again, to see Paige and Leo standing over him. Once again, he closed his eyes, not believing or caring that what he saw was real. Then it was if he was flying, and white, blue and gold lights swirled around him in and out of his body, and when he opened his eyes again, he was lying on something soft, in a room he knew he should recognize, but that wasn't important to him at the moment, so he closed his eyes again.
++++++++++ +++++++++++++
Their plan was simple, create a diversion, and orb Cole out of the Underworld. It involved a lot of trust, particularly by Piper and Phoebe, as they would have to shimmer back with one of the demons. They had no time to refine their plan, and were amazed at how simple it was, and how effectively it worked.
Jael was to keep close to Phoebe, Tems, Boraz, Elizabeth and Piper were to create a diversion, as noisily as possible, while Leo and Paige were going to try and break into the cage and orb back with Cole.
Elizabeth supplied everyone with long black cloaks with hoods, and they all shimmered to the Underworld, even Leo and Paige – so as not to be seen orbing – into the middle of the gathering.
There were all sorts there, some in demon form - like Belthazor, to small gnomes, to men in business suits and women in long dresses, most wore the long cloaks, but some didn't bother.
Tems morphed as he shimmered, back into his demon form, and pushed his way to the front, shouting about the lost Grimore, and how Zaytak was breaking all the rules. Zaytak's followers took exception, and a shouting match began, with Boraz, and Elizabeth adding their bit to the argument, generally shouting and yelling and making as much noise as possible.
Piper froze the guard that was standing by the cage, and Leo and Paige orbed into it, grabbed Cole, who seemed to be unconscious, and orbed out.
Then slinking back through the crowd, who were all now yelling at eachother, Boraz took Piper's hand, and Elizabeth took Phoebe's, and they all shimmered away.
The whole exercise had taken less than 10 minutes!
They all reappeared in the sunroom, only seconds behind Leo and Paige, who had laid Cole on the large sofa. Leo stood looking down at his former friend, an almost sad look in his eyes.
"Can you heal him?" asked Elizabeth softly, as she sat down on the sofa, and stretched out a hand to touch her son – for the first time in 30 years.
Leo looked down. "I don't know if I should try," he said "It's against everything I represent."
"Why?" asked Jael, stepping forward. "He needs help."
"He was dangerous – will be dangerous to my family," said Leo, looking at Piper for some sort of clue as to what she was thinking.
Elizabeth looked up at Leo. "If you are scared of him – you have my word that I will not let him harm you. – Any of you." And she looked around at Phoebe, standing back, her hand over her mouth, and her eyes fixed on Cole's face.
Leo turned to look at his sister in law.
"Phoebe?" he asked, a question in his voice.
Tears had formed in her big brown eyes, and began spilling over, down her cheeks.
"I never thought I 'd see him again." She said, trying to keep the tremor out of her voice.
Piper moved to put her arm around her sister; Paige also moved to stand close.
"Take that thing off, from around his neck," said Boraz practically, "Then he will heal himself – or at least stop bleeding all over your sofa."
Elizabeth put her hand on the torc, and twisted it slightly, but the magic prevented her from opening it. Boraz bent down, and touched it, murmuring a few words in an old and powerful language, and the torc broke into two pieces.
The wound in Cole's side stopped bleeding immediately, and even as they watched, it began to knit together. The bruises and the blood on his jaw and face also vanished, before their eyes. He gave a great gasp, and his eyes flew open.
Phoebe had not looked into Cole's eyes for a long time. She stepped forward, not knowing yet whether she was going to throw herself into his arms, or slap him and run away. Her heart began to beat faster, this was Cole, this was the love of her life, her soul mate. She couldn't help the joyous smile that trembled on her lips.
"Cole – oh Cole," she said breathlessly, and took a tentative step forward.
He looked at her blankly, then his eyes swept away, and he saw his mother. He directed his blank stare at her too; then closed his eyes again for a moment, unable to believe what he was seeing, and where he was.
There was complete silence; then Cole opened his eyes again, and stood up, swaying a little on his feet.
He stood like that, staring around the room, for a good minute while he tried to work out what had happened to him. He tentatively put his left hand up to where the torc had been, and rubbed his neck looking from person to person, and finally ending up staring at Jael, with complete bewilderment in his eyes.
Phoebe moved forward again, and reached out to touch him, but he flinched away from her, turning that blank, dead stare back on her, and then, before anyone could stop him, he shimmered out.
"Well, that's O.K. – don't bother to thank us," yelled Paige after him.
"Wait here," said Elizabeth, and immediately shimmered after him.
The Charmed Ones and Leo all stared at the three Other World visitors.
"Would you like us to wait outside?" asked Jael, nervously, and he, Tems and Boraz began walking towards the door.
"No – wait a moment," said Piper. "You can wait in here – I know you mean us no harm. Can I get anyone a drink – Coffee perhaps?"
The sorcerer bowed his head to her, and smiled. "Thank you, that would be pleasant," he said, in his deep voice. The other two nodded, in confirmation.
"Pheebs snap out of it, - a little help in here," said Piper, walking towards the kitchen. "Paige, can you entertain our guests?" And she pushed her stricken sister into the room ahead of her.
Elizabeth materialized in the mausoleum, seconds after Cole. He swung around to face her, and she stepped forward, reaching out towards him. He backed away slowly, till he came up hard against his father's tomb.
"You are not real," he said, forming a fireball. "I don't know what you want – and I don't care. Get away from me."
"Cole," she said softly. "I was captured, not killed. Tems, Boraz and I, we were betrayed by Raynor. You know what he was like." She moved a step closer, and he lifted the fireball higher, a look of anguish on his face.
"What do you want from me?" he asked, not believing her, not allowing himself to believe her.
"I don't want anything from you," she said, moving still closer. "I am your mother. A simple hello would be good."
He threw the fireball at her with all his strength, and she vanished, while the fireball smashed into the opposite wall, and she materialized again, this time directly in front of him.
"Open your eyes, Cole, look at me. I am your mother."
Cole slowly sank to his knees, putting both his hands over his face.
"I can't do this anymore," he said, "I can't play these stupid games. Tell whoever sent you that I just want to be left alone. Who was it – was it Zaytak, or the Elders, or even the Charmed Ones? I don't care anymore – I just want to go away, and be by myself."
He gave a great sigh, then looked up at her. He reached up and a dagger materialized in his hand. He presented it to her, hilt first.
"Do what you came to do," he said thickly, "I won't fight you, I am too tired – kill me now." And he dropped his head down, baring his neck to the knife she held.
For a good 30 seconds, she stared down at his bowed head; then reached down and with her hand curling into a fist, she administered the hardest punch she could to the side of his face.
"How dare you just give up, like this!" she screamed at him. "I have some idea what has been going on in your life lately, and that is no excuse. You are right. You are no son of mine. No one with my blood would just wimp out and give up. You make me feel sick."
And she hit him again, as hard as she could, and sent him rocking back on his heels.
He flung his head up, and stared at her, his blue eyes cloudy with unshed tears. "Mother?" he whispered, almost afraid to believe it. "Is it really you?"
Elizabeth glared down at him, clenching the dagger in her hand. "Yes," she replied, "I am so tempted to carve my name on your forehead with this."
He surged to his feet, and grabbed her around the waist, swinging her around, and then they hugged for the first time in 30 years. Cole could not help the few tears that now rolled down his cheeks. He held her tight for what seemed like hours. Finally he pulled away, and still holding her stammered "How – how did you survive? How did you know what was going on here? How did you get the Charmed One's to help? How...?"
"We have a lot of catching up to do," she replied, reaching up to touch his face gently. "I will get the others, and we will go somewhere, and you will hear the full story – of Raynor's betrayal, of our capture, our existence, our escape – and I want to hear your story, I want to know what evil things Raynor taught you, why you killed the Triad and married the witch – how you ended up so powerful – and whether or not we can save Belthazor. Do you wish to come with me – or go and arrange somewhere for us to stay – can you hire a suite of rooms somewhere – or even a house?"
"I don't want to see the Charmed One's again," he said, biting his bottom lip. "I can't see Phoebe again ever – I hurt her too much before, and she hurt me, too. I'll just wait here – don't, don't be too long."
Elizabeth squeezed his hand, reaching up to kiss him on the cheek. "I'll be very quick," she said, and shimmered away.
Cole sank back down to the ground, closing his eyes, his brain whirling around, still half in shock.