Part Sixteen

"Freeze him, Piper!" Belthazor shouted the instant they shimmered into the attic. 

Piper and Paige, who had been kneeling by the low table with all the potions, stared back in shock.  Their sister clung to Belthazor who held onto a frozen Dark Starling.

While Paige had gotten to her feet, Piper remained in her spot as a thousand thoughts and fears flashed through her mind.  After two years, there he was, Belthazor, standing once again in the middle of her attic.   Phoebe's shaky steps away from him caused her to move and she ran to Phoebe's side and hugged Phoebe tight.  "Thank God," she whispered in relief.

"Hardly," Belthazor snapped.  "Use your power, now! I can feel the shield weakening."

"Potion first," Piper murmured as she fingered Phoebe's torn shirt and bloody bandages, "to remove any other shields."

Paige grabbed the vials of the pink and green potions and, with a wary eye on Belthazor, instructed, "Let go." 

At the same moment that Belthazor released it and stepped back, the Dracken containment shield dissipated and the Dark Starling instantly formed a fireball in each claw and fired at the sisters.

While the sisters safely jumped out of the way, Belthazor grabbed the Dark Starling's arms from behind.  "Now, Paige!"  But the demon flung him back and he sailed through the air, knocking over the Book of Shadows's stand, and crashed into the nearby chair.  As he rolled over, he couldn't help but notice that the Book shot itself across the floor a few feet further away from him.

"So much for having changed," Paige snidely remarked to her sisters.

"Paige, please…you don't --" Phoebe weakly began before she was yanked down by Piper.

The fireball narrowly missed them and Piper insisted, "This first, him later.  Throw it, Paige!"

As she dove out of the way from another incoming fireball, Paige threw the pink potion at the demon and coughed from the resulting pink smoke.  She scrambled to her feet, waved away some of the smoke and, while the Dark Starling was still stunned, she quickly threw the green immobilizing potion. 

It suddenly stiffened in position.  The flaming fireball remained in its frozen outstretched claw.

Piper immediately used her own freezing power on the demon and breathed a sigh of relief when it remained frozen.  

Belthazor suddenly turned to Paige, "Call for the fireball.  Using its own fireball against itself might work."

She glanced at Piper who shrugged in reply. 

"Worth a try…" Phoebe quietly agreed with a glance to him.

"Fireball."  And, as soon as it orbed from the demon's claw, Paige sent it flying back at the demon.

"Damn," Piper muttered when the Dark Starling remained standing unharmed.  "Any more bright ideas?"

Belthazor then began firing a rapid succession of energy balls at the demon but they all exploded harmlessly on contact.   "It's not working…Go ahead with the vanquish!"

In a moment of uncertainty, Piper questioned Paige, "Potion then spell? Or both at the same time?"

"Spell? Thought there wasn't any…"  Phoebe watched as the Dark Starling began to break free from the combined freeze.  "Piper……"

Piper immediately froze the demon again but shook her head, "I don't think it'll hold."

As the demon's arm began minutely moving back and forth, Chris reminded the sisters, "The blue potion should weaken it enough for the vanquish to work."

The Dark Starling let loose a fireball at Chris but, because only its claw was completely free from the freeze, the fireball did nothing but leave a black scorch mark on the floor.

Piper grabbed the vial with the blue liquid, threw it at the Dark Starling, and instinctively stepped back from the blue sparks.

Belthazor fired at it with another string of energy balls and shouted, "Vanquish it!"

While Paige grabbed the vanquishing potion from the table, Piper nervously wondered, "Is it my imagination or is he moving more?"  She stepped closer to Phoebe who suddenly sagged.  "Pheebs?" she whispered as she caught her sister.

Belthazor barely acknowledged the sisters while he maintained his attack on the demon.  "Throw the damn potion!"

Paige didn't hesitate and threw the vial directly at the demon.  She grabbed Phoebe's other arm to help support her older sister and squinted as she tried to read the spell amidst the grey smoke.

"Spell of strength and protection,

Multiply our powers to the --"

Piper faltered in her chanting when she saw the Dark Starling's arm break free.  "Look out!" she shouted to Chris.

Chris leapt out of the fireball's way but crashed headfirst into two wooden chairs.  Dazed, he carefully freed himself from the splintered wood.  "Keep going," he encouraged while he gingerly touched the bloody bruise on his forehead. 

"Spell of strength and protection, Multiply our pow--"

Phoebe suddenly sagged again, in spite of the support of both sisters.  "Can't see straight…dizzy…"

Belthazor watched with dread as Phoebe fell to her knees.  He glanced at the Dark Starling and saw its eyes were brightly glowing red.  "No!"  He fired at the Dark Starling over and over.

Phoebe doubled over in Paige's arms.  "Hurts…Can't breathe…"

Paige pulled away Phoebe's collar and encouraged her sister to breathe deeply.  To her horror, though, she caught sight of the star.  "It's turning black," she whispered to Piper over Phoebe's head.

With combined outrage and fear, Piper stood in the open and waved her arms to blow up the demon.  But her effort only resulted in the destruction of Belthazor's energy balls.

"Finish the spell!" he demanded while he desperately fired at the Dark Starling.

But Piper was too caught up in the moment and tried blowing it up again.  When it suddenly disappeared, she anxiously wondered,  "Did it work?"

Belthazor switched forms again and looked over at Paige and Phoebe.  "Well?"

Paige awkwardly got to her feet and managed to help Phoebe stand.  Paige kept her arm around her older sister and, while Phoebe continued to pant heavily, she tearfully shook her head to the others.

Piper turned to Cole, "Go back and get the Dracken to track it again."

"I don't think we have the time," he replied in a hoarse voice while he watched helplessly as Paige led Phoebe to the sofa.

"Then work fast," she demanded, "I'm not losing another sister." 

"There's always that last potion," Chris mumbled when he finally got to his feet.

"No," Phoebe weakly insisted and suddenly resisted Paige's assistance.  "Not limbo."

Cole turned to Chris and growled as he pointed to Phoebe, "Was this part of it? Was this what you wanted?"

"What the hell are you talking about?" Chris retorted.

Cole leapt at Chris and wrapped his hands around Chris's throat.  "You're the one who set this in motion!  You're responsible!"

Phoebe weakly called out, "Cole, no…"

"Get the hell off of him!" Piper shouted as she ran at Cole and tried to pry him off Chris. 

Still holding onto Phoebe, Paige called for Chris and orbed him out of Cole's grip to the far end of the room.

Cole shoved Piper back.  "Open your eyes! He's part of this!"

The star on her chest was burning and Phoebe pressed her hand to it.  "Not Chris," she murmured.

"You said it yourself, Phoebe," Cole exclaimed, "he's been working on his own agenda ever since he met you."

"But he's not trying to kill us," Piper practically screamed, "which's more than I can say for you!"

Cole glared at Chris, "You're involved and we both know it."  Chris was about to protest but Cole cut him off, "Phoebe's turning and if there's the slightest chance you could've stopped it, I swear --"

"I tried," Chris interrupted and hung his head in defeat, "I swear I tried, but it didn't work."

Stunned by his admission, Piper turned to him.  "What?"

"That's where I was this week," he explained.  "After everything that happened last week, I came up with a new plan but it didn't work.  I didn't change anything."  He stared down at the floor while he continued, "The Dark Starling attack changed everything.  Phoebe's turning broke the Power of Three and within a year both Paige and Piper were dead along with Leo."  He glanced at Piper but switched his focus to Cole.  "I don't know why Phoebe was chosen, I swear.  I don't even know who was behind it.  No one ever claimed responsibility." 

Cole gave a curt nod.  "Continue."

"Good magic suffered a terrible blow that day," Chris told them, "and the world was never the same.  With the fall of the Charmed Ones, there were power struggles in the Underworld but no unifying force took over until a decade later."

"What about Wyatt?" Piper tearfully inquired.

Chris finally looked at her and replied, "After your deaths, Wyatt's grandfather was awarded sole custody."

"Thank God," she murmured.

Chris sadly shook his head.  "A year later, Victor Bennett was killed in a fall.  It was called an accident but I discovered that Victor was actually murdered by a faction in an attempt to kidnap the baby and turn him evil.  The Elders stopped them."

Paige watched her two older sisters and wasn't sure which was trembling more.  "See, it's okay, Piper.  Wyatt's okay."

"He lost his entire family," Piper shrieked.  "How can he be okay?"

"Wyatt…survived," Chris cryptically assured her.

"So what now?" Paige asked.  "How do we break the cycle?"

Chris nodded towards Cole, "You're still my wild card.  You might be able to prevent their deaths and stop it all."

"Great," Paige muttered, "just great."

Piper glanced down at Phoebe who still pressed her hand to the star.  "How does that help Phoebe?"

Cole shook his head and locked eyes with Phoebe.  "It doesn't."

"If I don't turn," Phoebe realized with a whisper, "the Power of Three isn't broken.  That'll change everything."

Piper and Paige exchanged glances before Paige reluctantly offered, "I'll get the potion."

"No," Phoebe gasped, "not that way."  With a burst of energy she broke free from Piper's arms and rushed toward Cole.  "You promised."

In an instant, Cole realized what she wanted and gripped her upper arms.  "I can't do that, Phoebe."

"Dammit, Cole," she wheezed, "no time to go through this…again with you.  You promised…I believed..."

"What's she talking about?" Piper nervously questioned.  "What promise?" She took a step closer to her sister, "Phoebe…what have you done?"

"Cole, please…" Phoebe tearfully implored and grabbed his arms when he shook his head.  "Please, let him in and do it."

"Phoebe…" he croaked.  But he couldn't ignore her silent pleading as tears streamed down her face.  In one swift movement, he released Phoebe, morphed into Belthazor's form, pulled her back with one arm, created an athame in his other hand, and, before her sisters could react, shoved the blade deep into her chest. 

"NO!" Piper screamed when Phoebe collapsed against him.

"Phoebe…" he whispered as he dropped the bloody athame, changed forms once again, and lowered her body to the floor.

"What have you done?" Paige whispered in disbelief while she watched Cole cradle her sister's pale form.

Phoebe looked up at him and stared deep into his eyes.  "Thank…you," she breathed.  "Do…love…you…"

He caressed her face and, in a choked voice, promised, "And I love you, Phoebe, forever and always."

"What have you done?" Paige repeated in a louder voice.  In a fit of rage, she reached into her pocket, pulled out the first vial that her fingers touched, and hit Cole squarely in the back with it.

Through smoke and fire, he managed to push himself back, away from Phoebe.

"No…" she gasped in horror.

Piper dashed to her sister's side and pulled Phoebe into her arms.  She tried to staunch the bleeding and pleaded with Phoebe to hold on.  "Leo!" she stared up at the ceiling.  "Leo, I need you!"

"Promised…him…safe…" Phoebe barely managed to apologize.  She caught his gaze and tried reaching out to him but her hand fell limply to her side and her eyes closed.

"Phoebe!" Cole screamed in a mix of both physical and emotional pain.

As the flames consumed him, Paige pulled the other vial from her pocket and realized, "Damn, I grabbed the wrong one."

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