THREE
"It's a Carack demon," said Leo after he had returned from the Elders.
"They're mid level demons used for a variety of purposes. Apparently each has
different markings and you can tell which one it is by those markings."
"Which doesn't do us any good since we don't know about the markings,"
said Paige. "Any idea how many of these things there are?"
"Not exactly," said Leo. "It's not like we have a running total of all
the demons in the underworld. I do know there aren't that many of them."
"Well," said Piper, "according to the Book of Shadows it can emit a
secretion that has the affect of rendering its victims unconscious. That's
apparently what happened to Phoebe. It also explains why there were no signs of
a struggle."
"There's more," said Leo. "According to the Elders, enough of the
secretion can cause memory loss in a victim. It can completely submerge a
victims memories so they have no idea who they are."
"Which means Phoebe may not even know she's a hostage," said Paige. "If
she has no memory, she wouldn't know she was kidnapped."
"By why take her?" Piper asked. "If it's using her to get to us why
haven't we been contacted? And if it wanted to kill her, why take her? Why not
just kill her while she was unconscious?"
"Maybe they don't want you to know she's dead yet," said Leo. "No, that
doesn't make sense. It must have known you'd realize she was missing. After
all these years it's not easy to get to one of you without the others knowing
about it."
"So we're back where we started from," said Paige. "At least we know who
took Phoebe. But we don't know where. Or for what. And since Leo or the
Elders can't sense her, she must be on some other plane."
"Can the Elders give you any idea of what's going on?" Piper asked.
"No," said Leo. "The underworld is still in pretty much an uproar with
the Source vanquished. Most of the hierarchy is so suspicious of the others
that few of them are willing to work together."
"We do have one option," offered Paige. "At least someone who knows about
demons and might be able to give us some information. And I'm willing to bet
that since it's Phoebe in trouble, he'd be willing to help."
Piper looked at Paige for a moment. She didn't like going to Cole Turner
for anything. He was evil and couldn't be trusted. But she also knew that
Paige was right. If anyone knew something about this demon it would be Cole.
Piper didn't say a word. She simply walked over and picked up the phone.
She dialed a number and waited.
"Hello?" she questioned. "I want to speak to Cole Turner . . . I don't
care how busy he is. You tell him this is Piper Halliwell and I want to talk to
him right now."
"Piper," said Cole after a moment of silence, "this is a surprise. I
never expected you to be calling me."
"This isn't a social call, Cole," said Piper. "We need your help.
Phoebe's been kidnapped by a demon and we don't know where it's taken her."
Suddenly the phone went dead. Almost as quickly, Cole shimmered into the
manor.
"What do you mean, kidnapped?" questioned Cole.
"Boy, talk about instant service," said Paige.
"Just that," said Piper, ignoring Paige. "A demon attacked her and
kidnapped her. We don't know where it's taken her or if she's even alive. We
figure you could probably help in this since you're a demon yourself."
"Former demon," said Cole. "And I'll be glad to help. Which demon was
it?"
"It's called a Carack demon," said Leo.
"I know them," said Cole. "It probably won't hurt her. At least not
right away. If it kidnapped her it wants her for something. What did it look
like?"
Piper gave him the description of the demon. Cole stood thinking for a
moment.
"It could be any one of them," said Cole. "Most of them look the same.
Can you describe the markings on its arms? That would help me narrow down which
one it is."
"I can do better than that," said Paige.
She quickly incanted the spell again and they all watched as the vision
played out before them. When it finished, Cole turned to the others.
"I recognize the markings," he said. "The demon is called Gastion. He
was one of the senior Carack demons."
"What do you mean was?" asked Leo.
"Well," said Cole, "I only knew him in passing. About seventy or eighty
years ago he did something that angered the Source. I don't remember exactly
what it was. But for his punishment the Source banished him."
"Banished?" questioned Piper. "I thought he'd just vanquish this
Gastion."
"Not all demons are vanquished," said Cole. "On the outer fringes of the
underworld is an area called the Émigré. Instead of vanquishing an underling, a
demon can banish it to the Émigré. Gastion was banished there by the Source as
I said."
"So this Gastion has left the Émigré and kidnapped Phoebe," said Piper.
"I don't see how," said Cole. "There's only one way in or out of the
Émigré. And it's guarded by some very powerful demons. The entire area is
surrounded by a natural magical shield that prevents any type of transporting.
Orbing, shimmering, even flaming won't pass through it. The only way in or out
is through the single entrance."
"So maybe this Gastion has found another way out of it," suggested Paige.
"That's hard to imagine," said Cole. "It's been used for thousands of
years and as far as I know no demon has ever found a way out of it."
"This one obviously did," said Piper. "And it's taken my sister for God
knows what reason."
"I do," said Cole. "Gastion always had a fascination for human women. To
be honest it kind of disgusted most of his contemporaries. But he didn't care.
He always said he'd rather . . . consort with human women than demonic women. I
think that was part of the reason the Source banished him."
"You mean he kidnapped Phoebe to be his concubine?" questioned Leo.
"No," said Cole. "He kidnapped her for his wife."
"It's a Carack demon," said Leo after he had returned from the Elders.
"They're mid level demons used for a variety of purposes. Apparently each has
different markings and you can tell which one it is by those markings."
"Which doesn't do us any good since we don't know about the markings,"
said Paige. "Any idea how many of these things there are?"
"Not exactly," said Leo. "It's not like we have a running total of all
the demons in the underworld. I do know there aren't that many of them."
"Well," said Piper, "according to the Book of Shadows it can emit a
secretion that has the affect of rendering its victims unconscious. That's
apparently what happened to Phoebe. It also explains why there were no signs of
a struggle."
"There's more," said Leo. "According to the Elders, enough of the
secretion can cause memory loss in a victim. It can completely submerge a
victims memories so they have no idea who they are."
"Which means Phoebe may not even know she's a hostage," said Paige. "If
she has no memory, she wouldn't know she was kidnapped."
"By why take her?" Piper asked. "If it's using her to get to us why
haven't we been contacted? And if it wanted to kill her, why take her? Why not
just kill her while she was unconscious?"
"Maybe they don't want you to know she's dead yet," said Leo. "No, that
doesn't make sense. It must have known you'd realize she was missing. After
all these years it's not easy to get to one of you without the others knowing
about it."
"So we're back where we started from," said Paige. "At least we know who
took Phoebe. But we don't know where. Or for what. And since Leo or the
Elders can't sense her, she must be on some other plane."
"Can the Elders give you any idea of what's going on?" Piper asked.
"No," said Leo. "The underworld is still in pretty much an uproar with
the Source vanquished. Most of the hierarchy is so suspicious of the others
that few of them are willing to work together."
"We do have one option," offered Paige. "At least someone who knows about
demons and might be able to give us some information. And I'm willing to bet
that since it's Phoebe in trouble, he'd be willing to help."
Piper looked at Paige for a moment. She didn't like going to Cole Turner
for anything. He was evil and couldn't be trusted. But she also knew that
Paige was right. If anyone knew something about this demon it would be Cole.
Piper didn't say a word. She simply walked over and picked up the phone.
She dialed a number and waited.
"Hello?" she questioned. "I want to speak to Cole Turner . . . I don't
care how busy he is. You tell him this is Piper Halliwell and I want to talk to
him right now."
"Piper," said Cole after a moment of silence, "this is a surprise. I
never expected you to be calling me."
"This isn't a social call, Cole," said Piper. "We need your help.
Phoebe's been kidnapped by a demon and we don't know where it's taken her."
Suddenly the phone went dead. Almost as quickly, Cole shimmered into the
manor.
"What do you mean, kidnapped?" questioned Cole.
"Boy, talk about instant service," said Paige.
"Just that," said Piper, ignoring Paige. "A demon attacked her and
kidnapped her. We don't know where it's taken her or if she's even alive. We
figure you could probably help in this since you're a demon yourself."
"Former demon," said Cole. "And I'll be glad to help. Which demon was
it?"
"It's called a Carack demon," said Leo.
"I know them," said Cole. "It probably won't hurt her. At least not
right away. If it kidnapped her it wants her for something. What did it look
like?"
Piper gave him the description of the demon. Cole stood thinking for a
moment.
"It could be any one of them," said Cole. "Most of them look the same.
Can you describe the markings on its arms? That would help me narrow down which
one it is."
"I can do better than that," said Paige.
She quickly incanted the spell again and they all watched as the vision
played out before them. When it finished, Cole turned to the others.
"I recognize the markings," he said. "The demon is called Gastion. He
was one of the senior Carack demons."
"What do you mean was?" asked Leo.
"Well," said Cole, "I only knew him in passing. About seventy or eighty
years ago he did something that angered the Source. I don't remember exactly
what it was. But for his punishment the Source banished him."
"Banished?" questioned Piper. "I thought he'd just vanquish this
Gastion."
"Not all demons are vanquished," said Cole. "On the outer fringes of the
underworld is an area called the Émigré. Instead of vanquishing an underling, a
demon can banish it to the Émigré. Gastion was banished there by the Source as
I said."
"So this Gastion has left the Émigré and kidnapped Phoebe," said Piper.
"I don't see how," said Cole. "There's only one way in or out of the
Émigré. And it's guarded by some very powerful demons. The entire area is
surrounded by a natural magical shield that prevents any type of transporting.
Orbing, shimmering, even flaming won't pass through it. The only way in or out
is through the single entrance."
"So maybe this Gastion has found another way out of it," suggested Paige.
"That's hard to imagine," said Cole. "It's been used for thousands of
years and as far as I know no demon has ever found a way out of it."
"This one obviously did," said Piper. "And it's taken my sister for God
knows what reason."
"I do," said Cole. "Gastion always had a fascination for human women. To
be honest it kind of disgusted most of his contemporaries. But he didn't care.
He always said he'd rather . . . consort with human women than demonic women. I
think that was part of the reason the Source banished him."
"You mean he kidnapped Phoebe to be his concubine?" questioned Leo.
"No," said Cole. "He kidnapped her for his wife."