His talons clawed into the wall angrily. He had been sent back in time by a witch! A witch! His hatred boiled within, as his talons ripped at the brick. Although he had only been sent back a single day, he had been sent back none the less. This was no ordinary Charmed Protector, next time the Hallowed Wolf would not be so generous with speech. No matter, he had the capability to transport between planes, therefore he could transport between times as well. The process would simply require a little extra, blood.

To conserve energy, the Hallowed Wolf would not use magic to kill; instead he would be forced to do things the bland and boring way. He used his keen wolf-like senses to catch the scent of his prey. It was a witch. Not the witch he wished to kill, but a witch with power, and therefore of use to him. For each great feat he did, he would require magical blood to sustain him, until he could be brought back in full form. For that to happen, he would need to get back to the present – and reach Daniel before the Charmed Protectors did. Daniel would be his host, his carrier into a re-birth. The sooner he was transformed back into his full divinity the better. Life as a Demigod was not as fun as living as a fully divine creature. No matter, his plan would succeed, he was sure of it. Those Charmed witches, those protectors didn't have it in them to destroy one as mighty as he.

"So, let me get this straight." Phoebe sighed, sitting down on the couch. "Piper is becoming the Mother of magic – of all magic, and..." She looked to Piper. "The Hallowed World called you a queen or God or something?"

Piper nodded but stayed silent.

"It makes sense." Leo admitted.

Paige shook her head, as did Phoebe. "What about this makes sense?" The little sister asked.

Leo cleared his throat. "Piper is, by nature – the primal protector of our children. Wyatt and Chris are both very powerful, too powerful for their own good right now. So the universe – or some higher power – created a balance, allowing Piper to sort of channel their power, until they're ready to use magic on their own."

Piper sat down, flustered. "I don't like it. If everyone is worried that the boys can't handle their power, what makes them think that I can handle both of their powers?" She looked at Leo, distressed.

Leo stepped up to her, and took her hand. "Piper, I believe in you. You can do anything, I know it. The powers behind this know you too, and they know that you can handle what they give you. Besides, you're not getting all of their power, your getting partial control of it – you're channeling their energy through your body, like a funnel."

Snorting a sarcastic laugh, Piper said. "Great, I'm the magical equivalent of a kitchen utensil."

Leo couldn't help but make a small laugh at her joke. "It going to be ok. I promise." He assured her.

Phoebe shook her head in disagreement. "Not if we can't find the Hallowed Wolf, and that guy Daniel."

"Can you sense the Wolf guy at all?" Paige asked, hopefully.

The middle sister sighed. "I think that psychic link has been temporally shut off, due to time differences."

Piper scrunched her nose. "Sorry about that."

Phoebe smiled. "Don't be, it wasn't exactly fun being hooked up to that thing."

"Yea, but it sure could have helped us right now." Paige admitted. "Cause we got nothing to go on. I orbed back to Daniel's little cult factory and he's gone, no trace of him. I give credit to his many demonic allies, who by the way, are also cloaked from our scrying." She shrugged in confusion.

Piper frowned. "How can that be?"

"I think the Hallowed Wolf gave them all some kind of protection. Probably the same reason you couldn't blow him up – they're all protected by something, it's gotta be the wolf." Phoebe said, sure of her theory. "Trust me guys, I've been in this things head. It's smart, it may look like a beast but its not... well, I mean it is, but it's more than that. It's cunning, and knows how to win a war."

"War?" Leo asked, but wasn't sure if he even wanted to know the answer.

Phoebe nodded. "Yea, you guys didn't get the memo? This is a war for him. He wants his land back – the land he used to rule over when he was worshipped as a God."

Meanwhile, in yester lands the Hallowed Wolf was completing his tasks, one by one. Step one, kill witch – check. Step two, take witch's blood – check. Step three, drink blood and focus all energies on getting back to tomorrow... or the present, or whatever it was anymore - almost check.

He took the last drop of red liquid from the girl's emptied body and swallowed it whole. He felt the magical power serge within him. The girl's blood had done the trick. He felt revved up and ready to march terror upon hundreds of innocent beings – of course first he had to get back to a time in which everything he'd planned was already set up. He had to get back to Daniel and his chance at divinity once again.

Humans made excellent hosts for all sorts of things, including Gods. Maybe it was their meaty outsides, or maybe it was their lack of power, so there was less change of an overload – but humans made the perfect carriers. Personally the Hallowed Wolf thought that it was the lack of moral compass, the lack of compassion and the fact that humans swayed so often on the fine line between good and evil that they had made themselves into living beacons of light or shadow, just begging to be possessed, eaten or plainly killed by whatever demon saw fit. Whatever the reason, Daniel was his sheep – ready and willing to go as far as needed to see his Lord rise again. The Hallowed Wolf smiled at the thought. That human man was truly amazing. He not only served to resurrect a demonic God, but he'd managed to bring forth more human sacrifices than any of his demonic worshipers ever had. For that he was proud of Daniel, and little disgusted with the human race all together. No demon would sell out his entire race for power, but humans would. What foul creatures they were – to prey upon themselves in a manner that was so deprived of respect.

"I hate people. Especially people called Daniel Barker." Piper snuffed out a candle and sighed. "It's hopeless. We can't find Daniel until he makes his presence known again – it's time to wait."

Paige was horrified at that idea. "Wait? Wait for what; for him to lure some innocent into a cult again?"

Phoebe agreed. "We can't just sit here?"

"I know; I don't like it either." Piper began. "But the fact remains that Paige can't sense him to orb to him, Phoebe can't sense the Hallowed Wolf to find him, and we can't get a reading on any demonic activity from scrying. What would you suggest we do? Randomly pick places until we accidentally find him?" Piper laughed half-heartily.

Paige and Phoebe smiled at one another, as if they'd wished they'd thought of that. Phoebe said. "Why not?"

"What, you have to be kidding!? I don't have time for this..." Piper explained. "I have to get a band eventually for P3, and I have to get some time to spend with my kids, I am not chasing some idiot all around the city."

Paige huffed. "Fine."

Almost mimicking her little sister, Phoebe did the same. "Fine."

"If you guys get anything, let me know. I'll be in the kitchen, trying to book 'Good Charlotte' for Friday night." Piper said, as her heels clicked down the attic stairs.

As the remaining two sisters began to talk about Piper's situation, the kids and ultimately her new role as mother of magic, Cole shimmered in; taking them both by surprise. Phoebe stared at him, not glaring – but thankful. He'd saved her life, again, and saved her sisters too. She was sad that the Cole from her world had not been this kind. The thought drifted through her head that perhaps she'd been wrong about Cole; maybe she'd misunderstood him all that time. Perhaps he had only had her best interests at heart – even if he'd done the wrong things to try and make things better.

"There's a lot of talk going on in the underworld. People are saying this is the end of our reign; that everything is going to be under a new rule. They say that the Wolf God is coming." He stated, portentously.

Phoebe echoed his tone. "Yea things aren't looking too good up here either."

"This isn't a joke, Phoebe. If the demons go back under the rule of a God they will increase in numbers, in strength, they will become a much bigger threat than you could ever imagine." Cole warned.

Paige joined in. "How would that happen?"

"Gods give their creations benefits, their give them courage and hope, and much more. It's why people flourish on the surface and demons dwell in caves. Gods reward those who worship them. If demons started worshiping a God and receiving rewards for their efforts... 'God' only knows what they could be capable of." The half-demon explained.

Phoebe looked puzzled. "What God, or Gods, helps us humans?"

"You're joking right?" He looked at Leo, then to the girls. "Elders look over humans."

Leo shrunk back, embarrassed. The girls stared at him, amazed that they'd never considered Elders as Gods, or really all that divine. Now that they thought about it, it seemed to make sense. They guarded humans; they protected them, and people – whether they knew it or not – worshiped them, in one form or another.

"You mean, Leo – you're a..." Phoebe was at a loss for words.

Paige was stunned too. "If you're a God, and Piper was destined to become one too, than that means that Wyatt and Chris are not only twice blessed, but they're..."

Leo nodded serenely. "That's right, but Elder's are not Gods like you think. They're more like embodiments of a council that acts for the Gods of creation. We basically do everything they tell us, without really being told... if that makes sense."

Even though Paige nodded yes, she said. "No, that makes no sense."

"Does Piper know?" Phoebe wondered.

Leo nodded. "Yes."

Too her shock, Phoebe added. "When, how... what?"

Leo laughed lightly. "Once we found out she was pregnant with Chris, after I'd already become an Elder – I had to tell her. She's known for a while. She was told never to tell you, or anyone. It's very important that Elders are not seen as Gods; we can't answer prayers, or create miracles, we set the pieces up, and try to make sure they don't fall. We are more limited than you think." Leo explained carefully.

"Limited-shrimited." Paige scoffed at him. "You're a freakin God!" She declared. "Do you have any idea how messed up this makes... everything!?"

Phoebe sat down, unable to stand anymore. "I'll never be able to yell at you the same way again." She muttered.

Leo laughed again. "You can still yell at me Phoebe. And Paige, what's messed up about any of this? You're an angel of sorts, did you ever think about that?"

Paige finally felt the need to sit. "This is way too heavy. Way, way too heavy."

Cole was shocked that even though they had endured so much, this seemed to be harder for them to take than many of the other things they'd had to deal with. He wanted to laugh, but stayed silent. He felt bad that he'd accidentally brought so many new things to the table. He'd just confused an already confused situation. Man oh man, in this world everything he did with the girls seemed to end in tragic or hurtful ways. He was starting to see why they hated him so much here. He couldn't wait to get back to his world. Where things were complicated, but not nearly this complicated.