A/N: Well I'm glad people liked Prue's part......I know this story's going kind of slow, but I promise, it'll get better!! Thanks for all the reviews.....hey Brooke!!! Miss talkin' to you girl! I don't really have access to an a regular internet source right now.....but I hope you're doing alright!
Summary: A/U fic. Starts around Season 4. Instead of going to the all the way to the alter to be intiated in as the Source, Cole sacrifices himself to save Phoebe from turning evil. He unfortunately dies in the process, and Phoebe with no choice and persuasion of the Seer, still becomes Queen of the Underworld with her baby still inside of her. Piper, Paige and Leo's failure to bring Phoebe back causes a huge impact in their lives, and they too also have no choice but to move on.
Disclaimer: I do not own Charmed or any of the characters, except for those in future chapters that are not recognized. I also don't own most of the dialogue in the first two chapters, because they were taken from the original script.
Part 1, New Beginnings: Chapter 4 - "Blocking the Entrance"
Paige rushed through the Book of Shadows until she finally arrived the Seer's entry. "Found it." she announced to Piper.
Both were in the attic searching for ways to end this catastrophe they were in. Piper was a few feet away from Paige, at a table mixing up offensive potions that she thought would be useful to them.
"So, what's the vanquish?" she asked, not directing her attention away from the potions. Paige paused for a bit as she examined the Seer's entry.
"Crap." said Paige. Piper turned around to see Paige's frustrated look over the book.
"What? What is it?"
"The vanquish. It needs a piece of her flesh. I guess the vanquish of the Seer can't be in our game plan right now." Paige said, as she sighed heavily. "What do you have going over there?"
Piper turned back to her prepared potions. She held one vile up to show Paige. "This one duplicates my freezing power, and plus it scalds the flesh so we should only use it for.....the people that count."
"Are we supposed to use that on Cole....?"
"If we have to, to get Phoebe back, then yes."
"Are we supposed to......vanquish Cole?" Paige asked, hoping there was some other way they could turn Cole back to their side. She knew how devastated Phoebe would be if they went through with it, and also how unwilling she would be to come back to her sisters.
Piper paused, not really knowing what to say. "He's the source of all evil.....we can't just.....let him go....." she said, unsure of her answer. Paige didn't want to push the subject any further and stopped asking questions. Just then, Leo orbed into the attic. Piper and Paige looked up from their work as Leo orbed in.
"Did you find it?" Piper asked.
"Nothing....." Leo said, with bad news. "I couldn't find anything. I went down to the underworld and searched familiar places.....I tried the best I could to sense Phoebe down there, but they must have some magical block on the coronation site. "
"Great.....how are we supposed to even find her, let alone get her back now??" Paige said with frustration.
"We just have to hope that we're not too late. How's the battle plan coming?" Leo asked.
"Paige found out that vanquishing the Seer won't work for us. We need a piece of her flesh for the vanquishing potion and we don't exactly have time for that."Piper replied. There was a beat of silence, indicating that not one of them knew what to do.
"We can't give up. We can't. This is our sister we're talking about. We've been through worse than this, guys. We're going to get her back." Paige said, trying to be of some encouragement. Opposite of his usual attitude, Leo's heart was full of doubt in this situation.
"Have we.....Paige? Have we been through worse than this.....? Phoebe is about to become Queen of the Underworld, on her own will. Something in my gut, is just telling me that we can't stop this. There's something bigger behind all of this.....like we're not meant to save her this time." Leo explained to Phoebe and Paige. His expressions were evident that he was dead serious about his feeling.
Paige glanced at Leo in a sort of shock. She couldn't believe what Leo was saying about Phoebe not being able to be saved. She looked towards Piper to see what she would do. Piper looked furious, but also hurt, not by Leo's words, but by how true he really was. Piper's eyes brimmed with tears, and they threatened to fall as she spoke.
"We have to try. She's my baby sister. We can't let him take over her." she whispered. Leo saw a tear fall slowly down Piper's cheek. Seeing Piper the way she was broke his heart into pieces. He walked over to her and knelt down to wipe her tear away.
"We'll try. I promise......we'll try." he whispered. He kissed her cheek lightly, but couldn't stop the terrified look Piper kept on her face. Suddenly, it was as if Paige had a revelation. Her eyes lit up, and she ran over to the Book of Shadows and started to flip through the pages vigorously. Piper and Leo glanced up to see what she was doing.
"Paige....what are you looking for?" Piper said, sniffling and wiping her eyes.
"Something you said.....set me off. I have an idea."
"Something Piper said?" Leo asked, confused on what Paige meant. Paige's eyes never left the Book of Shadows. She flipped through the pages while she talked.
"She said, Phoebe was her baby sister. Phoebe is our sister. We have a spell to call a lost sister." Paige said. "If I can just find it......"
"Would that actually work......?" Piper asked, standing up and walking over to Paige.
"There's no doubt that it will bring us to Phoebe. There may be a protection over the coronation, but there's something stronger than dark magic that can bring us to Phoebe."
"The bond of sisters. The bond of the power of three." Leo said, finally catching on to Paige's plan. Paige smiled, and gasped as she finally found the page for the spell.
"Here it is. To call a lost sister. You tried this when Prue died, and instead this spell brought me to you guys. This is going to work......This HAS to work." Paige said, filled with hope that it wasn't to late to save Phoebe.
"I hope you're right." Piper said, lighting some candles. She then ran to Paige, and grabbed her hand, ready to chant.
---
"Is everything ready?" the Seer asked, as she shimmered into the ceremonial site. She looked around the dark underground cave, and saw no flaw. A dark priest, covered in black robes walked up to her and bowed his head.
"Yes, my liege....." he answered. He walked over to the ceremonial table, and with a wave of his hand, the grimoir appeared in front of him. He opened the dark book to the pages he needed to initiate the source. "Everything is as you asked."
The Seer grinned, knowing that everything was going as perfect as she had planned it. "This is turning out quite nicely......soon Cole will be initiated as the Source, with Phoebe at his side. The power of three will be broken."
"How can you allow this to happen, my liege? I am still unclear on what you foresee....." the priest replied. The Seer smiled at the ingenious of her plan. She spent so much thought on it, perfecting every aspect of her plot, making sure that things that could possibly get in her way were taken care of. So far, everything that she had foreseen as a result of her actions had come true.
Of course she had known that Cole would absorb the hollow, ignorantly thinking he was doing good, to save Phoebe. She had also predicted Cole's downfall with the Source's powers, and the trickery the Source had played on the Charmed Ones, causing Phoebe to be bound to the Source by darkness.
"It is easy to understand......once the Source and his queen are in power again, the underworld will be unstoppable. Not only will the underworld be at rule by one of the most powerful witches on Earth.....but their child will bring the balance of good and evil in our favor." she said.
"I see......" the priest said, going back to lighting up candles in preparation for the ceremony.
The Seer's smile never left her face. Nobody seemed to suspect a thing about her plan. Not only will Cole, Phoebe and their child be ruling the underworld, the Seer would be right there with them controlling their every move, making their every decision.
Phoebe had no business in ruling the underworld, and only agreed to her proposition because of the fact that she would have a "happy" family. Cole was weak, and only agreed to terms because of his love for Phoebe. Even if the Source's powers were inside of him, he was still naive and easy to control. Their baby would only be clay for the Seer to mold, as she raised him up as her own in gain of trust and security.
Once all three of them were left vulnerable, she would convince all of demondon to rise up against their rulers, and the Seer foresaw that they would be destroyed, and she would walk away with their powers and the position of rulers of the underworld. All it took was a little time and patience.
Then, she would rule.
"Oh great Seer....." the priest spoke up, interrupting the Seer's train of thought.
"What?" she asked, turning around to face the priest. Instead, she found herself face to face with the future Source of all evil, Cole Turner.
"The Source is here to see you, my liege." the priest said, presenting Cole to the Seer and walking away to do some more preparing.
"Your majesty....." the Seer said, bowing her head to put on an act of respect. "You're not supposed to be here for a while."
"Phoebe had the grimoir from the penthouse.....I thought that we needed it for the ceremony, so I thought I'd drop it off here before it started." he said, putting the grimoir on the ceremonial table.
"That was quite an act that you had there. Letting the wizard take the Source's powers for Phoebe." the Seer said slyly.
"It wasn't me. It was the human inside of me. Somehow......he took over for a second, and everything got out of hand." Cole said, cracking his neck. "I can still feel him screaming......it's like a war raging inside this body....."
The Seer noticed that Cole looked disheveled and weak. She smiled to see that the Source and Cole had no luck in winning their battle for Cole's body. "You look tired, your majesty.....I would be careful. The human may gain control again during the coronation....."
"HE WON'T." Cole shouted, revealing the short temper of the Source. "Not while I'm in this body. I WILL BECOME THE RULER OF THE UNDERWORLD. No HUMAN can stop me. No matter how much he loves my QUEEN."
"You have to calm down, my king." The Seer replied, a little startled by his outburst. "You need to save your strength for the coronation. Once you and the charmed one are initiated, there will be no need to pretend with her anymore. She will be bound to you by evil, and will be unable to escape....."
"That is the plan. What do you foresee about the child?" he asked.
"The child will be more powerful and more evil than imagined."
"No problem whatsoever?"
"Even if the child was conceived with the contribution of Phoebe and Cole's love....." the Seer admitted, "it still has yours and Phoebe's powers combined. All it needs is a little persuasion into the dark side."
"Good." Cole said, sounding relieved.
"Just let me take care of everything, your majesty. You are too weak right now to handle any of these problems....."
The Source suddenly let his temper out again. He grabbed the Seer by her arm and startled her. "IS THAT AN INSULT?!?" he screamed. The Seer rolled her eyes, tired by the Source's useless outbursts.
"Your majesty, I was just implying that you need to take care of the human inside of you. Make sure that he does not escape the hold you have on his soul." she said, wiggling free from Cole's grasp.
"I already said, that I have it under control, Seer. Know your PLACE." he said, sternly. He was about to shimmer out, but reminded himself of what he needed to tell the Seer.
"Oh, and Seer. The other two charmed ones and their whitelighter have ways of getting to Phoebe. Make sure that they do NOT disturb the coronation......" he said, not waiting before flaming out from the ceremonial grounds.
The Seer's face lit up, as she suddenly remembered that she hadn't taken care of that matter. She walked over to the grimoir, and flipped through the pages. She stopped once she reached a page filled with evil spells. She looked down at the spell, and lifted her hands to the sky as she recited the spell.
"Obstruo afectio lamiae, Obstruo afectio lamiae!"
---
"Ready?" Paige asked Piper, standing over the book of shadows. The Book was open to a page titled, "To Call a Lost Sister."
"Ready. Leo?" Piper said, looking over to Leo. "You know what you're going to do right?"
Leo nodded and confirmed their plan. His instinct and gut feeling that something bad was about to occur, had never left him, but he had no choice but to go with the plan. As her whitelighter, he couldn't just give up on Phoebe so easily. He had to make some kind of effort in order to save her.
The world of good magic was counting on it.
"Okay. I reworded the spell so the spell should bring us directly to Phoebe instead of summoning her here, since she may be protected by dark magic . When it does, Leo, sense where we are, and orb to where we are with the potions, and we'll be good from there." Paige said.
"As long as we get Phoebe back to the manor, we can work it all out." Leo said, grabbing the necessary potions in his hand.
Paige and Piper looked down at the book of shadows with a bowl of herbs and an athame near them. They took a deep breath as they got ready to chant.
"Power of the sisters rise
Course unseen across the skies
Bring to her who call her near
Bring us the power to settle there." Paige and Piper both recited in unison. They then took the athame and pricked both of their fingers and squeezed it so that a small drop of blood would mix in the bowl with the other herbs.
"Blood to blood, we summon thee. Blood to blood, take us to see thee." they both said. A second after they finished reciting the spell, the both of them were surrounded by bright white lights and seemed to blend it with them. The lights whirled around Paige and Piper, then dematerialized them into a blending cloud.
Leo watched the group of lights rise to the ceiling, praying that the spell would work and bring them directly to Phoebe. Usually things worked out for Paige, Phoebe, Piper and himself. They had found themselves in worse and more threatening positions than this, Leo kept telling himself, and somehow this would too would end up okay.
But as soon as the group of lights bounced off the ceiling, materializing Piper and Paige back onto the floor, Leo cursed his luck under his breath after another prayer failed to be answered.
"No....." Leo hissed. Paige and Piper were startled by their sudden crash onto the hard attic floor. They both got up, and Paige dusted herself off. Piper looked around the attic, confused on why they weren't in the underworld facing their sister and evil brother-in-law.
"What......What happened?!?" Piper exclaimed, in frustration. Leo shrugged and helped Piper up on her feet. Paige ran to the book of shadows and double checked if they had done everything correctly.
"I don't understand.....That spell should have taken us DIRECTLY to Phoebe. No doubt about it....there is NOTHING that interferes our bond as sisters!!!" Paige explained, more baffled than Leo and Piper combined.
Suddenly, a piercing cackle filled the attic. Piper, Paige and Leo were startled by the sudden sound, but knew who it was before she shimmered in. The Seer appeared before them with the same confident smile on her face she had left them in their last meeting.
"You...." Paige muttered in disgust.
"Where's PHOEBE?!? Where's my sister, bitch?!?" Piper exclaimed, desperate to find Phoebe. The Seer only laughed at Piper's remark.
"You witches will never find her. She and the Source have gone on to face their destiny. They will be coronated as the rulers of the underworld within the next hour." she said.
"Not while I'm still alive." Paige said, walking over to grab Piper's hand. "We'll go down there and find her ourselves....."
Paige closed her eyes and started to orb herself and Piper down to the underworld. They dematerialized into bright blue orbs but within a second, Paige realized something was wrong when her orbing wasn't taking her anywhere. She let go of Piper's hand.
"Wait....why can't I orb?" she asked rhetorically, obviously confused over the limit on her power.
She looked over to Leo, and Leo didn't know why Paige's power was restricted. 'Unless....it's not just Paige....' he thought. He closed his eyes, and tried to orb out of the manor. He found his attempt a failure, and realized that the Seer had done something to stop them from being able to go down to the underworld.
"What have you done, Seer?!?" Leo clamored, his voice mixed with anger and confusion.
"Simple." the Seer smirked. "I merely put an enchantment on your house....I couldn't have you very well interrupted the ceremony, let alone risk you stopping it. I've gone too far in my plan for you to ruin it."
"I'll show YOU!" Piper screamed. She grabbed Leo's arm and snatched an offensive potion out of his palm and threw it violently at the Seer. There was a small explosion, but it showed no effect on the Seer.
"You really think those little potions will defeat me? I am more powerful than I was before.....eliminating me is not an option anymore.....especially when Phoebe and Cole are at rule, I will be right by their side. Your precious sister is no longer yours to protect...."
"That isn't YOUR decision to make!!! Now tell us where Phoebe is, you freak from hell....." Piper said.
"Oh, don't worry Piper. I think Phoebe already made that decision herself when she chose evil over her own sisters....." the Seer said, knowing that her words would sink into Paige, Piper ad Leo. "Don't even bother trying to go anywhere....you cannot penetrate the spell. It stays on your house until the coronation is over....."
Piper could feel her anger rising up, and she shot her hands out toward the Seer, but she had already shimmered out of the room. The explosion left a huge mess in the attic.
"NO!" she screamed. "GIVE ME BACK MY BABY SISTER."
Paige attempted to orb down to the underworld again, but she couldn't penetrate the spell. After a few times, she lost hope of orbing down to Phoebe. The sister spell didn't even work to get them to Phoebe....how were they supposed to find her now with the spell over the manor? She glanced over to Leo, who was watching Piper in horror.
"YOU BITCH!!! COME BACK HERE AND FIGHT ME.......FIGHT ME! GIVE ME PHOEBE BACK!" she screamed, now with tears falling down her cheeks. Piper fell to her knees and broke down into tears. Leo ran over to Piper.
"Piper....." Leo said, helping her up to the attic couch. Piper sat down and buried her face into her palms.
"She's my baby sister Leo......What if the Seer was right? Phoebe made her decision on her own......I let Cole destroy her.....I let Cole lead her to EVIL." she said, through her sobs. Leo pulled Piper into an embrace.
"Piper.....don't blame this on yourself.....please....don't start to blame this on yourself....." Leo whispered.
Seeing Piper breaking down brought tears to Paige's eyes. Suddenly reality struck all of their minds. Maybe there wasn't a way to save Phoebe.......maybe she was truly lost.
Piper was about to say something, but stopped. She looked around the room, and suddenly had a dazed look on her face. "Leo.....I don't feel so good.....I feel......dizzy....." she said, turning pale.
"Piper? Are you okay?" Paige asked, noticing the change in her skin tone. Piper didn't answer, and suddenly collapsed on the couch.
"PIPER!" Paige said, running to Piper's side. "LEO! Heal her!! The Seer probably did something!!"
Leo shook his head and fixed Piper's position on the couch. Piper was knocked out, and seemed as if she were sleeping. He stroked Piper's hair, hoping it would bring her comfort in her stress.
"I can sense it in Piper.....it was nothing demonic or anything......she fainted because she was overwhelmed. She needs to rest." he said, obviously worried about Piper.
"Rest? Leo.....Phoebe is about to be coronated as ruler of the underworld......We have to find a way to stop it." she said. But she knew that there was nothing that they haven't tried.
"Paige......I don't think there's anything we can do." he whispered.
To be continued........Stay tuned for Chapter 5 of Part 1!
A/N: Thanks for reading guys. I promise the next chap will be more exciting!