TWELVE
Piper sat on the sofa still unable to comprehend what Cole, Michael, and Kiethran had told them. A woman who got pregnant for the sole purpose of extending her own life. With absolutely no thought for the life she brought into the world. Michael had orbed to the Elders to tell them what they had found out. He was confidant they would reconsider their decision once they heard the facts.
"It's so unbelievable," said Phoebe. "How could a mother do that to her own child?"
"She doesn't see it that way," said Cole. "To her the child is just a means to an end. A vessel for her own use. She was always angry about not inheriting her mothers' immortality. So she used the ancient magic of her people to create that immortality."
"How did she do that?" asked Paige.
"Her necklace," said Cole. "She used incantations that were old even in ancient Egypt. She enchanted the necklace to allow her to transmigrate her soul from her body to another body.
"But there's a restriction on the magic. It has to be performed every thirty years or it becomes useless to the wielder. So every thirty years she gets pregnant and takes over her daughter's body at the time of birth."
"And she's been doing this for thirty-five hundred years?" asked Piper.
"Roughly," said Cole. "No one knows her exact age. I doubt if even she remembers."
"So, why send me the visions now?" asked Phoebe.
""It's probably getting close to the time for her to transmigrate again," said Kiethran. "Knowing about you and your ability, she probably was afraid you'd have a premonition about it. So she sent you the visions to confuse and deceive you so you wouldn't see what was really happening."
"But as I said," said Cole, "the magic of the necklace is so powerful, she couldn't disguise it completely. So it remained gold in your vision instead of being silver as it really is."
"Cole," said Kiethran, "if Phoebe is getting these visions now, I'm willing to bet the transmigration is imminent."
"Probably," said Cole. "And it could be even worse. Without leadership, the underworld could remain in chaos for decades. Long enough for her to grow up and become the next Source. If that happens, she won't need her necklace any more. The power of the Source will make her immortal."
"So," said Paige, "all we have to do is track down one half demon and vanquish her to put an end to all this."
"We have to do it before she gives birth," said Kiethran. "According to the druid histories, she's already got someone who will watch over her until she's old enough to be on her own. If we don't get to her before she gives birth, she might disappear."
"So, what exactly does this necklace look like?" asked Piper. "It might help us to track her down if we knew what it looked like."
Cole got a tablet and a pencil. He spent several minutes drawing the necklace. Kiethran checked the drawing to make sure it was accurate according to what the druids' knew about it. When they finished, they showed the drawing to the others. It was an ankh, the Egyptian cross symbol for life. Inside the oval top of the cross was what appeared to be some type of bird.
"Oh my God," said Phoebe, looking at the drawing. "I've seen that before. A woman I ran into at work was wearing it."
"You've actually seen her?" asked Leo.
"Yes," said Phoebe. "And she's due to deliver any day. She said her husband got her the necklace when he was in Egypt."
"Then she's close by," said Cole. "She won't travel anywhere and risk complications to her pregnancy this close to her due date."
"So all we have to do is find her," said Piper. "Just how are we going to do that?"
Just then Michael orbed back into the manor.
"Good news," he announced. "The Council has reversed their decision. Once I told them what we had learned, they unanimously agreed that Pipers' baby was not a threat."
"Oh, goodie for them," said Paige sarcastically.
"We have some news of our own," said Kiethran. "Ahken Tan is in San Francisco. Phoebe saw her the other day. And she's due to deliver at any time."
"That's great," said Michael. "With her due date so close she won't be going very far."
"That's what we figure," said Cole. "The only problem now is locating her before she gives birth."
"And that may be harder to do than we imagine," said Kiethran. "We could have a few days or as little as only a few minutes. We should be able to locate her, but I'm not sure if we'll find her in time."
"We'd better find her in time," said Cole. "If she delivers and disappear, the next time we hear about her, she may be the Source. And we might not be able to stop her then."
Piper sat on the sofa still unable to comprehend what Cole, Michael, and Kiethran had told them. A woman who got pregnant for the sole purpose of extending her own life. With absolutely no thought for the life she brought into the world. Michael had orbed to the Elders to tell them what they had found out. He was confidant they would reconsider their decision once they heard the facts.
"It's so unbelievable," said Phoebe. "How could a mother do that to her own child?"
"She doesn't see it that way," said Cole. "To her the child is just a means to an end. A vessel for her own use. She was always angry about not inheriting her mothers' immortality. So she used the ancient magic of her people to create that immortality."
"How did she do that?" asked Paige.
"Her necklace," said Cole. "She used incantations that were old even in ancient Egypt. She enchanted the necklace to allow her to transmigrate her soul from her body to another body.
"But there's a restriction on the magic. It has to be performed every thirty years or it becomes useless to the wielder. So every thirty years she gets pregnant and takes over her daughter's body at the time of birth."
"And she's been doing this for thirty-five hundred years?" asked Piper.
"Roughly," said Cole. "No one knows her exact age. I doubt if even she remembers."
"So, why send me the visions now?" asked Phoebe.
""It's probably getting close to the time for her to transmigrate again," said Kiethran. "Knowing about you and your ability, she probably was afraid you'd have a premonition about it. So she sent you the visions to confuse and deceive you so you wouldn't see what was really happening."
"But as I said," said Cole, "the magic of the necklace is so powerful, she couldn't disguise it completely. So it remained gold in your vision instead of being silver as it really is."
"Cole," said Kiethran, "if Phoebe is getting these visions now, I'm willing to bet the transmigration is imminent."
"Probably," said Cole. "And it could be even worse. Without leadership, the underworld could remain in chaos for decades. Long enough for her to grow up and become the next Source. If that happens, she won't need her necklace any more. The power of the Source will make her immortal."
"So," said Paige, "all we have to do is track down one half demon and vanquish her to put an end to all this."
"We have to do it before she gives birth," said Kiethran. "According to the druid histories, she's already got someone who will watch over her until she's old enough to be on her own. If we don't get to her before she gives birth, she might disappear."
"So, what exactly does this necklace look like?" asked Piper. "It might help us to track her down if we knew what it looked like."
Cole got a tablet and a pencil. He spent several minutes drawing the necklace. Kiethran checked the drawing to make sure it was accurate according to what the druids' knew about it. When they finished, they showed the drawing to the others. It was an ankh, the Egyptian cross symbol for life. Inside the oval top of the cross was what appeared to be some type of bird.
"Oh my God," said Phoebe, looking at the drawing. "I've seen that before. A woman I ran into at work was wearing it."
"You've actually seen her?" asked Leo.
"Yes," said Phoebe. "And she's due to deliver any day. She said her husband got her the necklace when he was in Egypt."
"Then she's close by," said Cole. "She won't travel anywhere and risk complications to her pregnancy this close to her due date."
"So all we have to do is find her," said Piper. "Just how are we going to do that?"
Just then Michael orbed back into the manor.
"Good news," he announced. "The Council has reversed their decision. Once I told them what we had learned, they unanimously agreed that Pipers' baby was not a threat."
"Oh, goodie for them," said Paige sarcastically.
"We have some news of our own," said Kiethran. "Ahken Tan is in San Francisco. Phoebe saw her the other day. And she's due to deliver at any time."
"That's great," said Michael. "With her due date so close she won't be going very far."
"That's what we figure," said Cole. "The only problem now is locating her before she gives birth."
"And that may be harder to do than we imagine," said Kiethran. "We could have a few days or as little as only a few minutes. We should be able to locate her, but I'm not sure if we'll find her in time."
"We'd better find her in time," said Cole. "If she delivers and disappear, the next time we hear about her, she may be the Source. And we might not be able to stop her then."