Part 5

The next morning Piper and Paige were in the kitchen eating breakfast and Phoebe was up in the attic trying to find out who was attacking them.

"Guys!" Phoebe shouted down suddenly to her two sisters, "I think I found something!"

A couple of minutes passed and then Piper and Paige entered the attic.

"What? Have you found the demon?" Piper asked moving across the attic to her sister.

"I think so," Phoebe replied, lifting the Book of Shadows up and turning it so the other two could see the picture, "is this him?"

"Oh that's him alright!" Paige confirmed and Phoebe placed the book back down.

"I thought so...Garentax, a low level demon..." Phoebe groaned, thinking about what Chris said about discounting lower level demons, "Oh..."

"What do you mean 'oh'?" Piper said, her voice getting squeaky and higher, "I do not like the sound of that oh!"

"Well....it seems those powers he had weren't his own!" Phoebe said. She was glad Chris wasn't here because he would just love to have said he had told them so.

"So what, is he like a warlock where he kills and collects powers?" Paige asked.

"Yes and no!" Phoebe replied and then read a small bit of writing next to Garentax's name, "he is also known as 'The Keeper of the Gemstones!'"

"Gemstones?" Piper asked, raising an eyebrow in speculation.

"Uhuh!" Phoebe nodded and then began reading from the page, "it says here that, he has the power to trap individuals in gemstones where he can then use their powers to his own will!"

Paige's brow farrowed in thought, "So the gemstones he had were all holding demons, witches or anything supernatural?"

Phoebe nodded.

"And when they glowed that was him tapping into their powers?" Piper asked.

"Yep!"

Piper rolled her eyes heavenward, "Is there a vanquish?"

"Not as such" Phoebe said with an odd expression on her face. "What do you mean by that?" Piper asked.

"No spell or potion!"

"Then how do we vanquish him?" Paige asked, trying to look over Phoebe's shoulder at the book.

"You can't!" Phoebe said, shielding the book from her sisters, "not directly anyway!"

"Phoebe cut the cryptic crap!" Piper said losing her patience, "I have enough of that from Chris and Leo!"

Phoebe sighed and gave a rather sheepish look, "We can only destroy him while using one of his gemstones!"

"Oh! Is that all?" Piper said seemingly calm but there was a hard edge of sarcasm in her voice, "How the hell are we going to get a gemstone of off him?"

"Well I was thinking that he's bound to come here right?" Piper and Paige nodded, "So, when he gets here Paige does her thing!" Paige gave Phoebe a funny look, "You know! Gemstone!" Phoebe said, holding out her hand as she said gemstone.

Paige finally understood what she was on about, "Why didn't you just say that in the first place?"

"Good plan...but I think we need a back up!" Piper said and then took a deep breath, "Chris!!!" she yelled to the ceiling.

Piper frowned when Chris didn't appear, "Ok where is he?"

Phoebe and Paige looked equally as puzzled as their elder sister, "I don't know!" Paige said.

Piper put her hands on her hips in anger, "Chris get your ass over here this instant!" she yelled, looking like a very angry mother.

Phoebe couldn't help but laugh at this image and at the thought of Chris' face after hearing Piper yell that.

"What are you laughing at?" Piper snapped angrily.

"Me? Nothing!" Phoebe replied, biting her lip in an attempt to stop laughing. However when Chris failed to appear again her expression turned to concern...where could he be?

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"Ok this sucks!" Chris groaned. He had tried all his powers on the gemstone wall but none of them worked, he knew they were there but he couldn't access them. It was like they were being channelled somewhere else.

Garentax grinned as he flung his arm out, sending a chair flying across the room to crash in a heap against the wall.

"Hmm telekinesis, orbing and sensing...those are the powers the Charmed Ones are aware of!" he said, "Won't they be surprised!"

Inside the gemstone, Chris rolled his eyes. *Like you know how to work my powers!* he thought to himself.

Garentax laughed and brought the quartz gemstone up to his eye. "That's the beauty of the gemstone witch!" he said, looking at a shocked Chris, "The wearer has a perfect telepathic link with the prisoner...so I know how to work ALL your powers!" he laughed again, letting the gemstone fall down to hit against his chest.

Inside, Chris was knocked over by the gemstone moving sharply and he hit one of the walls really hard, knocking the wind out of him.

Suddenly Chris heard the faint sound of someone calling his name and his heart sank as he realised who it was.

"It appears your charges want you!" Garentax said grinning madly, "Let's not disappoint them shall we?"

And with that he disappeared in a cloud of blue and white orbs.