Thank you very much for reviews. I know that the last chapter did not have
a lot of action.
It was more of a foundation for the next one. So here it comes. Let me know what you think.
Chapter 6
Blue orbs lit up the darkness. The moment they disappeared the West Andes Mountains fell back into their lightless state broken only by the reflection of flames erupting from the craters. The whitelighter waited and a second later Cole and Nicole materialized next to him.
"This is a grim place," Nicole commented dryly.
"It will be light soon," Leo replied curtly. "We'll just have to wait a few minutes." He turned to Cole who was looking around with a slight frown on his face. "What's wrong? Have you been here before?"
The half demon shook his head, "I don't think so, though it does look vaguely familiar." He took a step closer to Nicole, "I just have a weird feeling about this place."
"That's not surprising," Leo remarked coldly, "after all the most powerful Book of Evil is lying just a few hundred yards away. If anyone, you will be able to sense it." The glare, which he received from Nicole made the whitelighter almost choke on his last words, "Sorry," he mumbled apologetically, "old habits."
Just as he said it the sun finally appeared from behind the mountain range and Leo breathed out in relief. The arrival of the morning distracted Nicole's attention from him. She looked around with interest. The scenery was beautiful but unfriendly if not intimidating. There was not a single piece of green in sight, just grey and black rocks and in a distant she could see the red flames and dark smoke erupting from the top of the craters. Suddenly she felt a wave of panic hitting her. She span round and saw Cole looking around wildly getting more and more pale with each second. Before she had a chance to ask anything, the half demon fixed Leo with a hard stare and asked in a tensed voice.
"Which mountain did you throw it in?"
The whitelighter pointed to the crater of the highest mountain, "This one, it looked the most active and I thought that the Grimoire would definitely burn in there..." He stopped in mid sentence interrupted by a loud angry groan escaping through Cole's clenched teeth.
"Do you know what this is?" Cole pointed to the mountain his eyes flashing dangerously.
Leo shrugged his shoulder unsure of what had caused such reaction of his always so cool ex brother-in-law. "It's a volcano," he finally answered.
Now Cole's face expressed an utter fury. The whitelighter took a few steps back and Nicole grabbed the half demon's arm.
"Cole, what's wrong," she asked worriedly forcing him to look at her.
An angry laugh escaped his mouth, "He does not even know," he yelled, "I can't believe it, at least if he did it on purpose I could understand. But he does not even know!!!"
"Know what?" Nicole cried out her eyes pleading Cole to answer.
The half demon turned to the whitelighter, "This is not a volcano, Leo," his voice was a mixture of anger and contempt. "This is the entrance to Oris." Leo paled, so did Nicole and Cole continued sarcastically, "Oh, I see that you've heard about it. Good to know that the Elders at least bothered to tell their whitelighters about the most horrible prison in the magic realm. Would be good if they not only told you about it but also showed it so that you wouldn't use it as a rubbish bin thinking it was just a volcano."
Nicole stared at the mountain, fear consuming her. During her two weeks express course in magic she had learnt about Oris. It was the high security prison of the magic realm. Only for the gravest crimes against the magic itself could the demon, witch or any other magical creature be placed into Oris. It was considered to be worse than death. The moment prisoners entered the Oris their powers disappeared and they were reduced to a state of complete paralysis and could not move a single muscle. In this state they remained in their cells until the death came to rescue them. There was no other place in the Universe that was feared more than Oris and no worse fate than becoming its prisoner.
Leo felt incredibly stupid and guilty. Neither Cole nor Nicole paid any attention to him. She was staring at the mountain and the half demon just stood next to her his anger and frustration clearly marked on his face. The whitelighter decided to raise his voice, "May be Lugels can ask the guards to find the Grimoire for you?" he suggested unsurely. "There must be guards in Oris to keep an eye on prisoners."
A barking laugh answered his words, "Yeah, there are guards," Cole said caustically, "Ghosts. They are the only one who can move inside the Oris. And if you want to get an agreement with them, please be my guest. Ghosts of Oris have only one task and it's sacred to them: nothing and nobody ever leaves the prison. Talking to them is like talking to a zombie."
"But there must be some power that can rule them?" Leo exclaimed.
Cole shrugged, "Not that I know of. Ghosts of Oris stand outside the powers of magic. That's why there is no way back from Oris because there is no one who can reverse your sentence. If the High Court of Magic decides to place you there, it's the end. Since even the Court does not have the power to return a prisoner from the Oris."
Leo was about to say something, but Nicole interrupted him, "That's enough," she said. "There is no point of staying here. Leo, you should go home. There is nothing you could do at the moment. And we are going to do some thinking. See if there is a way around this mess."
The whitelighter hesitated for a moment shifting from one foot to the other but Nicole looked at him sternly and after murmuring quiet "sorry" he orbed out. The moment he left Cole lost control and his frustration spilled. "I hate these damn whitelighters and their ignorance," he yelled. "Guardian angels, my arse. How can the Elders keep their servants and charges in the dark about such important things?! I was ten years old when I was first taken to see the Oris and told to stay away from this place no matter what. And he chucks the Grimoire in there and does not even know it."
Nicole tried to calm him down. Her hand touched his shoulder. "Come on, Cole. There is nothing we could do to change the situation. We should just go home and tomorrow we can consult with the Lugels and see may be there is a way to get around this."
"Yeah," he muttered ironically, "or we should just tell my mother that there will be no Grimoire and she will just have to do without it. Will save everybody's time."
When Vladimir arrived to the emergency meeting of the Lugel Council he was surprised to see that all thirteen members were present. That meant that there was something the Chosen Two wanted to discuss with the rest of the Council. When everybody took there places Cole spoke up.
"We have asked the Council to meet because we have hit an obstacle in our plans to coronate the new Source," he paused for a second and continued. "All of you know that Grimoire is the essential part of the coronation ceremony. It activates the Sources powers and gives the new Source the ability to sense his servants and them to sense him. We knew that the Grimoire was hidden by the Charmed One's whitelighter in the volcano. But yesterday we found out that Wyatt had chucked it not into the volcano, or he thought it was a volcano. In reality the Grimoire is now laying at the bottom of the Oris."
The sound of muffled gasps filled the room.
"Did Wyatt know about the Oris?" Carlos exclaimed his voice elevating above the noise.
"No," Nicole answered, "he thought that it was just an ordinary volcano. I checked he told us the truth. The Elders never showed him the Oris, they just told him about it. So it was a complete accident that when he was looking for a place to hide the Grimoire he picked the Oris."
"These bloody Elders," Carlos could not contain his anger. "They are so scared to reveal their little secrets that don't even tell whitelighters the most basic things."
A few voices agreed with him but Nicole interrupted this outburst against the Elders. "It's all nice and well, but we can complain about the Elders later and may even do something about it. At the moment we are facing a different problem. We need to find a way either to retrieve the Grimoire or to perform the ceremony without it."
"You can't perform the ceremony without the Grimoire," Radgiv said adamantly. "The magic of the Grimoire is linked to the powers of the Source. Without the book the powers would not be activated and the Source would not be able to control his servants."
"Well, can you recreate the Grimoire?" Cole asked. "I have seen a copy of it in the Lugel's realm. Can we use this book for the ceremony?"
Sylvester shook his head, "A copy is just a copy. It has all the spells and is very useful for reference purposes but it will be completely useless for the coronation ceremony because it lacks the magical power of the Grimoire. You need the original one to activate the powers of the Source."
"Well, we don't have it," Cole stated coldly. "And unless you know something I don't and there is somebody who has control over the ghosts of Oris we won't get it either."
The tensed silence fell onto the Council and Nicole had a faint feeling that the other members were trying to exchange looks under their grey hoods. The half demon had a similar feeling and it filled his heart with nervous uneasiness. The silence lingered for few long minutes and when Nicole was about to demand the explanation, Celina threw her hood away and faced the two young Lugels. The rest of the Council followed her lead. And Cole immediately knew that his gut feeling was right. There was something he and Nicole did not know and he was almost sure that he was not going to like it either.
Celina moved into the centre of the circle, her face unusually sober, "There is nobody who has the power over the ghosts of Oris but there is a way to slip pass them."
"And what good will that do?" Nicole could not contain her scepticism. "Even if we can slip pass them we would not be able to move in Oris."
"You will if you are a ghost," Celina objected.
Nicole stared at her open mouthed and Cole asked incredulously, "You suggest that we find a ghost who'll get the Grimoire for us?"
The French Lugel shook her head and looked at the half demon, a strange expression on her face. "No, Cole," she said quietly, "I mean that one of us has to become a ghost and I am afraid that there is only one person in this room who can do it."
A feeling of uneasiness that Cole felt had risen from his stomach and formed a tight knot in his throat, "Who is it?" he asked wearily.
Celina's eyes turned to his side and he already knew the answer before she said it, "It's Nicole," the French accent became very distinct. "She's the only one who is an innocent here and the only one who is not invincible." She paused and continued slowly, "The ghosts of Oris are not ordinary ghosts. They are the spirits of magical creatures, and not any magical creatures. Only those who never killed in their life and were themselves vanquished by a magical person could become the ghosts of Oris."
Cole shook his head visibly struggling to contain his emotions. "You cannot be serious. You want to kill Nicole so she could become the ghost and retrieve the Grimoire? Don't you think this is pushing it too far?"
Vladimir looked at him sympathetically, "I am sorry, but we need the Grimoire to fulfil our missions and she's the only one among us who can enter the Oris."
"Yes, but she is also one of the Chosen Two." Cole said now in the rock hard voice. "If things go wrong your mission will be doomed anyway." Carlos was about to object but Cole just seared him with a deadly glare. "You don't have to remind me that we swore to do whatever it takes to bring the peace to the magic world. What is important we did not sign up to a suicide."
"You will be able to resurrect her," Celina tried to sound confident, "the Grimoire has the spell..." she stopped mid sentence as if burnt by Cole's glare.
"I have not been born yesterday. I know that resurrections are associated with immense risks and the outcome is far from certain."
Radgiv decided to step into the conversation, "This is not your decision, Cole. Only Nicole can decide whether she's going to give this a shot."
"You are mistaken," the half demon's retorted, "Nicole is my fiancé, and it is our decision." He was about to add something else, when Vladimir stepped into the conversation.
"You are absolutely right, Cole, both you and Nicole have the right to take this decision together. But please listen to me before you make it." He waived his hand and a piece of parchment appeared in her hand. It looked familiar to Cole and he vaguely remembered that he'd seen a similar parchment in Schwarzlight's hands. As if the older Lugel had read his thoughts Vladimir continued, "This is the prophecy based on which we identified you. Lugels paid with their lives to collect all pieces of this puzzle. I will give it to you to read. You will see that it talks about the great deal of risk even about the danger you are facing currently. But it also talks about great hope you'll find at the end of it." The parchment glided towards the Chosen Two and Nicole came closer to Cole so she could read the inscription as well. The half demon took the parchment into his hand and the brown letters started to glow. Instinctively Nicole put her hand on the parchment and suddenly the inscription floated up in the air.
Their pass lies through heaven and hell Through evil and good Through hate and love. Many dangers will follow them. And the death will meet them on thee way. They will kill, they will save, They will fall and get up. But as long as they are Hand in hand on thee pass Magic powers will serve them Keeping Chosen Two safe In each others arms.
"This is not the inscription we know," O-Li exclaimed. "The one we had talked about the innocent who will stop being innocent when..."
Dorian waived his hand interrupting her, "We were not the Chosen Two and only they could activate the second verse." He stepped in front and said, "This is not our decision," he said. "You are the Chosen Two. It's your destiny to bring the peace to the magic world. We can only advise and help you. I know that nobody should be asked to risk their lives and the lives of someone they love like that but I am afraid that we have little choice. We will leave you now so you can make the decision. If you decide to take it, all of us would do whatever we can to help you. If not that I am afraid it would be out of our hands." With these words he disappeared from the surface followed by the rest of the Council. Cole and Nicole were left alone. He looked at her pale face and his heart was torn apart. He made a few steps closer to her and whispered pulling her closer, "You don't have to do this."
She smiled slightly into his chest but did not say anything. They stood like that for a while and then Nicole whispered, "Take me home, Cole."
He nodded and shimmered away.
Very late at night Celina was sitting in her kitchen looking through the big French doors into the dark garden. She could not sleep. Her mind was fighting with her heart and she could not forget Nicole's pale but strangely calm face while she listened to Cole fighting for her life during the Lugel's Council meeting. Though Nicole did not say a word while the rest was discussing her destiny, Celina knew that no matter what's been said the final decision would be taken by Nicole and that Cole would agree to whatever she decides. Celina was torn apart between the promise she made to a dead friend, her only love, and the duty she knew had to prevail. She remembered her induction into Lugel's, the face of William Schwarzlight and his stern voice "The goal is everything, always and everywhere." She also remembered the same voice saying. "Please Celina, you know what sacrifice is, please protect her. Promise me you'll do everything to save her life. She deserves to live. She's the only one left from our family."
Her thoughts were interrupted by a knock on the door. Surprised that somebody could visit her so late she went into the hall and looked through the pip hole. When she saw the woman standing on the porch she immediately flung the door open.
"Hi, Celina," Nicole greeted in a calm voice. "I was hoping you were not asleep and we could talk."
The older woman smiled and invited Nicole in, "Where is Cole?" she asked.
"Oh," Nicole smiled lightly, "He is asleep. I mixed a sedative into his drink."
Celina nodded but remained silent just looking at the younger woman. The latter took a deep breath and said, "I came here to tell you that I will take the chance and try to find the Grimoire."
"What about Cole?" the French woman asked.
Nicole smiled sadly, "He knows that we don't have a choice. We accepted our destiny and we have to carry through with this decision. If it was Cole who had to risk his life he would have agreed to your suggestion straight away. He is used to be at the forefront of events. For him it's easier to face the danger than to see somebody else risking his life. But he'll come round to it. Just give him a bit of time."
The French woman nodded, "I think it will be very difficult for Cole to let you do it." She smiled sadly, "And he is not the only one who would feel much better if there was another way."
Nicole lifted her hand interrupting the older woman, "I know Celina, there is no need to tell me," she said gently but sternly. "I came here to ask you a favour. And I want you to listen to me without interruptions." She paused and continued in a lower voice, "If things go wrong, I want you to promise me that you would do wherever it takes to make Cole continue on the Chosen Two pass." She noticed a surprised expression on the older woman's face and a forced mocking smile touched her lips, "Don't worry, I am not saying that because I am so overly devoted to the Lugel's mission. My primary concern is Cole. It would be a difficult time for him and there is no better remedy against grief than a very busy job, something meaningful. If Cole quits the whole Chosen Two thing, he would just be miserable alone and I don't want him to go through this. So I am asking you to make sure that he remains a Lugel. I don't care what you have to do to achieve that. Just keep him busy. I am sure Elizabeth will help you."
Celina's eyes sparkled dangerously and Nicole really wished that the other woman would not start crying. It was way more than she could handle at the moment. Fortunately the older Lugel kept her cool and even managed a small smile. "I'll do as you ask," she said simply. "You don't have to worry about it. But I also can tell you that I would not be thinking about it. I am confident that you will be back from the Oris. I know you and Cole and am quiet certain that you are strong enough to trick even the magic of the Oris and Cole loves you enough to move heaven and hell to protect you."
Nicole smiled wanly, but her eyes expressed gratitude for the older woman reassurance.
At the same time Cole woke up. He found himself laying on the bed though he could not remember how he got there. He looked around and discovered that the other side of the bed was not touched. Immediately he knew that Nicole was not in the Penthouse. When he got to the living room he found a short note pinned to the table.
"I went to see Celina. Don't worry. I'll be back soon.
N."
The coil that was squeezing his heart became tighter. The reality hit him. This moment Cole knew that Nicole would take the risk and try to retrieve the Grimoire. And that he would have to let her. If it was him he would without doubt take the risk and trust Nicole to resurrect him. Right now Cole would have given anything to be able to switch places with her, but it was not in his power. And it made his heart tremble in fear. The only though of losing her was unbearable. If she was gone there was nothing in his life worth living for, nothing worth breathing for. Cole pushed these thoughts out of his head. Nicole needed his support and help. And he needed to make sure that he would not lose her.
Cole quickly went to the bathroom and stuck his head under the cold tub. The icy water allowed him to pull his thoughts into some sort of order. A moment later Cole Turner materialized in his mother's Underworld apartment.
Elizabeth was sitting in a massive chair with a manuscript in front of her. The sound of shimmer made her look up and one glance at her son's face was enough to know that something was wrong. The demoness got up and rushed to him.
"Belthazor, what's wrong?"
The attempt of wry smile had failed miserably and Cole resigned to the fact that he was not able to pull a brave face in front of his mother. "The Grimoire is at the bottom of the Oris. And the only way to retrieve it is for Nicole to be killed and become a ghost," he blurted on one breath.
Elizabeth paled and for the first time in the last hundred years she pulled her son into a tight hug. His first reaction was to push her away but she held him firmly and Cole just hugged her back trying his utter best not to cry. After a short while he pulled away, "Using a spell from the Grimoire I can resurrect her but I will need your help with it. The ceremony has to be done in the Underworld at the old Sources chambers. I will have to bring Nicole's body there and perform the ritual. We will need to completely secure the place. And I want you to be around so that you can step in if necessary."
Elizabeth just nodded, "You know I'll do whatever it takes," she said simply and after the short hesitation added, "I know that you probably have discussed all this. But she does not have to do it, Cole."
The half demon just shook his head, a pain obvious in his eyes but he managed to control his emotions. "She made the decision, mother, and I support it no matter that every cell in my body screams against it. If it was me I would have taken the risk and Nicole would have supported me. Now it's my turn. And that's why I am here. I need you to do one more thing. Nicole has to be killed and the only way is by the direct stroke of the athame into the heart. She has self-healing powers so one inch away and the wound won't be fatal. It would just cause her immense pain. I can't have her suffer this. That's why I am asking you to deliver that stroke. I know you won't miss."
Elizabeth's face now was deadly pale, "You can't ask me that," she whispered backing away from him, "You can't ask me to kill the woman you love, the woman whom you are about to marry."
Cole's face was as pale as his mother's, he took Elizabeth's hands into his and lowered his head his eyes never leaving hers, "I know I can't ask you that but I do. Please help me through this, mother. There is no one else, whom I can trust with this except you."
It took all the will power the demoness had to keep herself from running away or bursting into tears. She bit her lips so hard that she could taste the blood and nodded silently. Cole breathed out in relief. "I'll let you know when the time comes," he said and shimmered away afraid that if he stayed any longer his determination would slip away.
He reappeared in the Penthouse almost the same time as Nicole. They stared at each other. In this moment it was easier to use telepathy than to find words. He knew that she decided to take the risk and she knew that he resigned to the fact and would support her through it. And both of them knew that if they let their emotions take control just for one moment they won't be able to regain to compose themselves again. The sudden sound of orbing interrupted this silent conversation and both Lugels were surprised to see Leo orbing into the Penthouse. His face expressed an utter worry and he looked visibly relieved to find both of them in.
"Good that you're here," Leo blurted out. "I have just been to Oris." He saw a surprised looks on their faces. "I wanted to make sure that it was exactly the same mountain that I have chucked the Grimoire in."
"And?" Cole exclaimed, his heart suddenly filling with hope.
"It is," Leo confirmed not noticing how the two faces in front of him fell. "But I noticed that something was different. There was so much roaring noise and the whole ground was shaking. If I did not know better I would have thought that the volcano was about to erupt."
Cole and Nicole exchanged worried glances, "What could that be?" she asked.
The half demon paced around the living room. "I don't know," he finally answered. "We should go and have a look."
With these words they blurred away followed closely by Leo. When they arrived to Oris the first impression was that nothing had changed. But very quickly they saw that the flames erupting from the top of the crater were rising much higher than before lighting already darkening sky with all shades of red. The ground under their feet shuddered with low roaring sound. It indeed looked like the volcano was about to erupt. Nicole and Cole exchanged looks.
"I don't like this," she said. "Something is going on."
The half demon nodded in agreement.
"But what could it be?" Leo asked. "I have been reading up on Oris at the Elder's library. It's never has been relocated. Every thousand years the guards clean it up and throw away the dead bodies and all the debris into the lava stream, which then flows into the ocean."
The moment he said it, Nicole and Cole almost jumped up. "Well, I think now we know, it's a cleaning day," Cole muttered.
Nicole grabbed him by the arm. "If they find the Grimoire before us it will end up in the ocean and we would never be able to locate it again."
The half demon's face sobered. "We need to hurry," he said slowly. "I'll go to Celina, get everything organised."
The ground under their feet shook violently and the large cracks appeared in the surface. "It's too late for that," Nicole cried out. She stretched her arm and an athame appeared in her hand.
"No," Cole yelled.
"I am really sorry about this, Cole," her eyes glimmered with determination. He felt her warm fingers touching his cheek and the next moment Nicole flung her hand forward and the half demon flew back and disappeared out of sight.
The young woman turned to Leo who looked at her in a complete shock. She put the athame into his hand and forced him to lift it.
"Listen to me Leo. I need to retrieve the Grimoire. And the only way to do it is for me to become a ghost. You have to vanquish me with this athame. Aim straight into the heart and don't worry. Cole will be able to resurrect me after I find the Grimoire."
The whitelighter's face paled and he threw the athame away from him, "You are insane," he yelled. "I am a whitelighter not a demon."
"Well, I suggest you forget about it for now." Nicole said sternly another athame appearing in her hand. "Because you don't have a choice. We are running out of time and if you don't do it now then you can forget about saving Piper and..." Hew words were interrupted by Leo grabbing her shoulders and shaking them violently.
"Stop throwing this into my face," he shouted. "I hate you, you ruined my life with your "if you don't do this Piper will die, if you don't do that she will die as well". Don't you see that every time you say it, it kills me?"
A sharp pain from a slap made him release Nicole. The young woman glared at him her eyes sparkling furiously, "You don't leave me any other choice," she yelled. "You are so stubborn and narrow minded that it is impossible to communicate with you. Do you think I enjoy threatening you and constantly dealing with your hostility? Do you think I have nothing better to do than to listen to your moaning and accusations? I hate you as much as you do. You put the person I love with all my heart through so much pain that if it was up to me I would send you straight to hell and never hear your name again. But I don't have a choice. I have a task to fulfil and it is more important than me or you or your precious family for that matter. You claim to be a guardian angel than stop thinking about your beloved wife for a minute and think about all these people who will die as a result of the power imbalance, which by the way you helped to create by killing the Source without even thinking of the consequences. And now Cole and I have to fix your mess. Do you think I want to risk my life? I am not suicidal, you know. I love my life, for the first time I am happy, I am in love and I am loved by the best man in the world. And in stead of liying in his arms I am keeping him away so that he does not have to see this." She lifted the athame and pushed it into the Leo's hand. "Now you are going to pull it together and do what I told you."
"No," Leo cried. "No, I can't, I can't. I am supposed to heal not kill people."
Nicole sighed tiredly, her pale face expressing a great strain. "Leo, listen to me. The world is not black and white, there is such thing as necessary evil. And angels are not exempt from having to do dirty work. If you can't understand it than I can't help you. But I swear to God, if you don't do as I say, I will kill Piper myself. And I will not feel guilty because it would be an act of mercy considering the fate of being killed by her won son." She forced Leo to look at her. "We don't have time. If the Grimoire is lost, so will the future of magic and the Halliwell family." She noticed the whitelighter hesitating. The ground shuddered again. Nicole lifted Leo's arm and placed the athame next to her heart.
"Hurry, Leo," her voice was quiet. "I can't keep Cole away from here for long and you don't want him to see you killing me."
The whitelighter was shaking violently. Suddenly his mind was filled with the images of Piper's lifeless bodies in his arms. A voice whispering in his hand, "Do it, just do it."
He gripped the athame and felt it penetrating the human flesh. A soft gasp forced him to open his eyes and he saw Nicole's body sliding on the ground. Her eyes flattered for a moment and closed. Leo just stood there the bloody athame in his hand. He did not hear the sound of shimmer. The pain from a punch made him drop the athame and he collapsed to the ground. Cole fell on his knees next to Nicole's body. His face distorted with pain. A grey shadow separated from her body, it circled the ground for a moment and then rushed through Cole's body and floated towards the flames of the crater and the half demon heard a soft whisper, "I will come back, I promise." His vision became blurry and he buried his face in her neck. But his mind did not let him fall apart. He needed to keep his head cool, he had a lot to do and could not afford a mistake. He lifted his head, scooped Nicole into his arms and turned to Leo who was still in a trance sitting on the ground. The half demon could not look at the whitelighter, "Get out of here," he said trying to control himself. "Go home."
Leo did not move. Cole noticed the athame lying next to him. Carefully clutching Nicole's body he picked the knife and put it in his pocket. He was about to blur when the ground under his feet shuddered and large crack appeared between him and Leo. The whitelighter seemed not to have noticed. Cole made a few steps towards him and shook him violently. "Get out of here. You've done your part," he repeated. When Leo did not react, Cole grabbed the back of his shirt and blurred away. In the same position they reappeared in the Source's chambers. Cole dropped Leo on the floor where the latter just lay in the heap. Holding Nicole's body in his arms the half demon concentrated all his power. A few seconds later two female figures materialized in the chamber.
It was more of a foundation for the next one. So here it comes. Let me know what you think.
Chapter 6
Blue orbs lit up the darkness. The moment they disappeared the West Andes Mountains fell back into their lightless state broken only by the reflection of flames erupting from the craters. The whitelighter waited and a second later Cole and Nicole materialized next to him.
"This is a grim place," Nicole commented dryly.
"It will be light soon," Leo replied curtly. "We'll just have to wait a few minutes." He turned to Cole who was looking around with a slight frown on his face. "What's wrong? Have you been here before?"
The half demon shook his head, "I don't think so, though it does look vaguely familiar." He took a step closer to Nicole, "I just have a weird feeling about this place."
"That's not surprising," Leo remarked coldly, "after all the most powerful Book of Evil is lying just a few hundred yards away. If anyone, you will be able to sense it." The glare, which he received from Nicole made the whitelighter almost choke on his last words, "Sorry," he mumbled apologetically, "old habits."
Just as he said it the sun finally appeared from behind the mountain range and Leo breathed out in relief. The arrival of the morning distracted Nicole's attention from him. She looked around with interest. The scenery was beautiful but unfriendly if not intimidating. There was not a single piece of green in sight, just grey and black rocks and in a distant she could see the red flames and dark smoke erupting from the top of the craters. Suddenly she felt a wave of panic hitting her. She span round and saw Cole looking around wildly getting more and more pale with each second. Before she had a chance to ask anything, the half demon fixed Leo with a hard stare and asked in a tensed voice.
"Which mountain did you throw it in?"
The whitelighter pointed to the crater of the highest mountain, "This one, it looked the most active and I thought that the Grimoire would definitely burn in there..." He stopped in mid sentence interrupted by a loud angry groan escaping through Cole's clenched teeth.
"Do you know what this is?" Cole pointed to the mountain his eyes flashing dangerously.
Leo shrugged his shoulder unsure of what had caused such reaction of his always so cool ex brother-in-law. "It's a volcano," he finally answered.
Now Cole's face expressed an utter fury. The whitelighter took a few steps back and Nicole grabbed the half demon's arm.
"Cole, what's wrong," she asked worriedly forcing him to look at her.
An angry laugh escaped his mouth, "He does not even know," he yelled, "I can't believe it, at least if he did it on purpose I could understand. But he does not even know!!!"
"Know what?" Nicole cried out her eyes pleading Cole to answer.
The half demon turned to the whitelighter, "This is not a volcano, Leo," his voice was a mixture of anger and contempt. "This is the entrance to Oris." Leo paled, so did Nicole and Cole continued sarcastically, "Oh, I see that you've heard about it. Good to know that the Elders at least bothered to tell their whitelighters about the most horrible prison in the magic realm. Would be good if they not only told you about it but also showed it so that you wouldn't use it as a rubbish bin thinking it was just a volcano."
Nicole stared at the mountain, fear consuming her. During her two weeks express course in magic she had learnt about Oris. It was the high security prison of the magic realm. Only for the gravest crimes against the magic itself could the demon, witch or any other magical creature be placed into Oris. It was considered to be worse than death. The moment prisoners entered the Oris their powers disappeared and they were reduced to a state of complete paralysis and could not move a single muscle. In this state they remained in their cells until the death came to rescue them. There was no other place in the Universe that was feared more than Oris and no worse fate than becoming its prisoner.
Leo felt incredibly stupid and guilty. Neither Cole nor Nicole paid any attention to him. She was staring at the mountain and the half demon just stood next to her his anger and frustration clearly marked on his face. The whitelighter decided to raise his voice, "May be Lugels can ask the guards to find the Grimoire for you?" he suggested unsurely. "There must be guards in Oris to keep an eye on prisoners."
A barking laugh answered his words, "Yeah, there are guards," Cole said caustically, "Ghosts. They are the only one who can move inside the Oris. And if you want to get an agreement with them, please be my guest. Ghosts of Oris have only one task and it's sacred to them: nothing and nobody ever leaves the prison. Talking to them is like talking to a zombie."
"But there must be some power that can rule them?" Leo exclaimed.
Cole shrugged, "Not that I know of. Ghosts of Oris stand outside the powers of magic. That's why there is no way back from Oris because there is no one who can reverse your sentence. If the High Court of Magic decides to place you there, it's the end. Since even the Court does not have the power to return a prisoner from the Oris."
Leo was about to say something, but Nicole interrupted him, "That's enough," she said. "There is no point of staying here. Leo, you should go home. There is nothing you could do at the moment. And we are going to do some thinking. See if there is a way around this mess."
The whitelighter hesitated for a moment shifting from one foot to the other but Nicole looked at him sternly and after murmuring quiet "sorry" he orbed out. The moment he left Cole lost control and his frustration spilled. "I hate these damn whitelighters and their ignorance," he yelled. "Guardian angels, my arse. How can the Elders keep their servants and charges in the dark about such important things?! I was ten years old when I was first taken to see the Oris and told to stay away from this place no matter what. And he chucks the Grimoire in there and does not even know it."
Nicole tried to calm him down. Her hand touched his shoulder. "Come on, Cole. There is nothing we could do to change the situation. We should just go home and tomorrow we can consult with the Lugels and see may be there is a way to get around this."
"Yeah," he muttered ironically, "or we should just tell my mother that there will be no Grimoire and she will just have to do without it. Will save everybody's time."
When Vladimir arrived to the emergency meeting of the Lugel Council he was surprised to see that all thirteen members were present. That meant that there was something the Chosen Two wanted to discuss with the rest of the Council. When everybody took there places Cole spoke up.
"We have asked the Council to meet because we have hit an obstacle in our plans to coronate the new Source," he paused for a second and continued. "All of you know that Grimoire is the essential part of the coronation ceremony. It activates the Sources powers and gives the new Source the ability to sense his servants and them to sense him. We knew that the Grimoire was hidden by the Charmed One's whitelighter in the volcano. But yesterday we found out that Wyatt had chucked it not into the volcano, or he thought it was a volcano. In reality the Grimoire is now laying at the bottom of the Oris."
The sound of muffled gasps filled the room.
"Did Wyatt know about the Oris?" Carlos exclaimed his voice elevating above the noise.
"No," Nicole answered, "he thought that it was just an ordinary volcano. I checked he told us the truth. The Elders never showed him the Oris, they just told him about it. So it was a complete accident that when he was looking for a place to hide the Grimoire he picked the Oris."
"These bloody Elders," Carlos could not contain his anger. "They are so scared to reveal their little secrets that don't even tell whitelighters the most basic things."
A few voices agreed with him but Nicole interrupted this outburst against the Elders. "It's all nice and well, but we can complain about the Elders later and may even do something about it. At the moment we are facing a different problem. We need to find a way either to retrieve the Grimoire or to perform the ceremony without it."
"You can't perform the ceremony without the Grimoire," Radgiv said adamantly. "The magic of the Grimoire is linked to the powers of the Source. Without the book the powers would not be activated and the Source would not be able to control his servants."
"Well, can you recreate the Grimoire?" Cole asked. "I have seen a copy of it in the Lugel's realm. Can we use this book for the ceremony?"
Sylvester shook his head, "A copy is just a copy. It has all the spells and is very useful for reference purposes but it will be completely useless for the coronation ceremony because it lacks the magical power of the Grimoire. You need the original one to activate the powers of the Source."
"Well, we don't have it," Cole stated coldly. "And unless you know something I don't and there is somebody who has control over the ghosts of Oris we won't get it either."
The tensed silence fell onto the Council and Nicole had a faint feeling that the other members were trying to exchange looks under their grey hoods. The half demon had a similar feeling and it filled his heart with nervous uneasiness. The silence lingered for few long minutes and when Nicole was about to demand the explanation, Celina threw her hood away and faced the two young Lugels. The rest of the Council followed her lead. And Cole immediately knew that his gut feeling was right. There was something he and Nicole did not know and he was almost sure that he was not going to like it either.
Celina moved into the centre of the circle, her face unusually sober, "There is nobody who has the power over the ghosts of Oris but there is a way to slip pass them."
"And what good will that do?" Nicole could not contain her scepticism. "Even if we can slip pass them we would not be able to move in Oris."
"You will if you are a ghost," Celina objected.
Nicole stared at her open mouthed and Cole asked incredulously, "You suggest that we find a ghost who'll get the Grimoire for us?"
The French Lugel shook her head and looked at the half demon, a strange expression on her face. "No, Cole," she said quietly, "I mean that one of us has to become a ghost and I am afraid that there is only one person in this room who can do it."
A feeling of uneasiness that Cole felt had risen from his stomach and formed a tight knot in his throat, "Who is it?" he asked wearily.
Celina's eyes turned to his side and he already knew the answer before she said it, "It's Nicole," the French accent became very distinct. "She's the only one who is an innocent here and the only one who is not invincible." She paused and continued slowly, "The ghosts of Oris are not ordinary ghosts. They are the spirits of magical creatures, and not any magical creatures. Only those who never killed in their life and were themselves vanquished by a magical person could become the ghosts of Oris."
Cole shook his head visibly struggling to contain his emotions. "You cannot be serious. You want to kill Nicole so she could become the ghost and retrieve the Grimoire? Don't you think this is pushing it too far?"
Vladimir looked at him sympathetically, "I am sorry, but we need the Grimoire to fulfil our missions and she's the only one among us who can enter the Oris."
"Yes, but she is also one of the Chosen Two." Cole said now in the rock hard voice. "If things go wrong your mission will be doomed anyway." Carlos was about to object but Cole just seared him with a deadly glare. "You don't have to remind me that we swore to do whatever it takes to bring the peace to the magic world. What is important we did not sign up to a suicide."
"You will be able to resurrect her," Celina tried to sound confident, "the Grimoire has the spell..." she stopped mid sentence as if burnt by Cole's glare.
"I have not been born yesterday. I know that resurrections are associated with immense risks and the outcome is far from certain."
Radgiv decided to step into the conversation, "This is not your decision, Cole. Only Nicole can decide whether she's going to give this a shot."
"You are mistaken," the half demon's retorted, "Nicole is my fiancé, and it is our decision." He was about to add something else, when Vladimir stepped into the conversation.
"You are absolutely right, Cole, both you and Nicole have the right to take this decision together. But please listen to me before you make it." He waived his hand and a piece of parchment appeared in her hand. It looked familiar to Cole and he vaguely remembered that he'd seen a similar parchment in Schwarzlight's hands. As if the older Lugel had read his thoughts Vladimir continued, "This is the prophecy based on which we identified you. Lugels paid with their lives to collect all pieces of this puzzle. I will give it to you to read. You will see that it talks about the great deal of risk even about the danger you are facing currently. But it also talks about great hope you'll find at the end of it." The parchment glided towards the Chosen Two and Nicole came closer to Cole so she could read the inscription as well. The half demon took the parchment into his hand and the brown letters started to glow. Instinctively Nicole put her hand on the parchment and suddenly the inscription floated up in the air.
Their pass lies through heaven and hell Through evil and good Through hate and love. Many dangers will follow them. And the death will meet them on thee way. They will kill, they will save, They will fall and get up. But as long as they are Hand in hand on thee pass Magic powers will serve them Keeping Chosen Two safe In each others arms.
"This is not the inscription we know," O-Li exclaimed. "The one we had talked about the innocent who will stop being innocent when..."
Dorian waived his hand interrupting her, "We were not the Chosen Two and only they could activate the second verse." He stepped in front and said, "This is not our decision," he said. "You are the Chosen Two. It's your destiny to bring the peace to the magic world. We can only advise and help you. I know that nobody should be asked to risk their lives and the lives of someone they love like that but I am afraid that we have little choice. We will leave you now so you can make the decision. If you decide to take it, all of us would do whatever we can to help you. If not that I am afraid it would be out of our hands." With these words he disappeared from the surface followed by the rest of the Council. Cole and Nicole were left alone. He looked at her pale face and his heart was torn apart. He made a few steps closer to her and whispered pulling her closer, "You don't have to do this."
She smiled slightly into his chest but did not say anything. They stood like that for a while and then Nicole whispered, "Take me home, Cole."
He nodded and shimmered away.
Very late at night Celina was sitting in her kitchen looking through the big French doors into the dark garden. She could not sleep. Her mind was fighting with her heart and she could not forget Nicole's pale but strangely calm face while she listened to Cole fighting for her life during the Lugel's Council meeting. Though Nicole did not say a word while the rest was discussing her destiny, Celina knew that no matter what's been said the final decision would be taken by Nicole and that Cole would agree to whatever she decides. Celina was torn apart between the promise she made to a dead friend, her only love, and the duty she knew had to prevail. She remembered her induction into Lugel's, the face of William Schwarzlight and his stern voice "The goal is everything, always and everywhere." She also remembered the same voice saying. "Please Celina, you know what sacrifice is, please protect her. Promise me you'll do everything to save her life. She deserves to live. She's the only one left from our family."
Her thoughts were interrupted by a knock on the door. Surprised that somebody could visit her so late she went into the hall and looked through the pip hole. When she saw the woman standing on the porch she immediately flung the door open.
"Hi, Celina," Nicole greeted in a calm voice. "I was hoping you were not asleep and we could talk."
The older woman smiled and invited Nicole in, "Where is Cole?" she asked.
"Oh," Nicole smiled lightly, "He is asleep. I mixed a sedative into his drink."
Celina nodded but remained silent just looking at the younger woman. The latter took a deep breath and said, "I came here to tell you that I will take the chance and try to find the Grimoire."
"What about Cole?" the French woman asked.
Nicole smiled sadly, "He knows that we don't have a choice. We accepted our destiny and we have to carry through with this decision. If it was Cole who had to risk his life he would have agreed to your suggestion straight away. He is used to be at the forefront of events. For him it's easier to face the danger than to see somebody else risking his life. But he'll come round to it. Just give him a bit of time."
The French woman nodded, "I think it will be very difficult for Cole to let you do it." She smiled sadly, "And he is not the only one who would feel much better if there was another way."
Nicole lifted her hand interrupting the older woman, "I know Celina, there is no need to tell me," she said gently but sternly. "I came here to ask you a favour. And I want you to listen to me without interruptions." She paused and continued in a lower voice, "If things go wrong, I want you to promise me that you would do wherever it takes to make Cole continue on the Chosen Two pass." She noticed a surprised expression on the older woman's face and a forced mocking smile touched her lips, "Don't worry, I am not saying that because I am so overly devoted to the Lugel's mission. My primary concern is Cole. It would be a difficult time for him and there is no better remedy against grief than a very busy job, something meaningful. If Cole quits the whole Chosen Two thing, he would just be miserable alone and I don't want him to go through this. So I am asking you to make sure that he remains a Lugel. I don't care what you have to do to achieve that. Just keep him busy. I am sure Elizabeth will help you."
Celina's eyes sparkled dangerously and Nicole really wished that the other woman would not start crying. It was way more than she could handle at the moment. Fortunately the older Lugel kept her cool and even managed a small smile. "I'll do as you ask," she said simply. "You don't have to worry about it. But I also can tell you that I would not be thinking about it. I am confident that you will be back from the Oris. I know you and Cole and am quiet certain that you are strong enough to trick even the magic of the Oris and Cole loves you enough to move heaven and hell to protect you."
Nicole smiled wanly, but her eyes expressed gratitude for the older woman reassurance.
At the same time Cole woke up. He found himself laying on the bed though he could not remember how he got there. He looked around and discovered that the other side of the bed was not touched. Immediately he knew that Nicole was not in the Penthouse. When he got to the living room he found a short note pinned to the table.
"I went to see Celina. Don't worry. I'll be back soon.
N."
The coil that was squeezing his heart became tighter. The reality hit him. This moment Cole knew that Nicole would take the risk and try to retrieve the Grimoire. And that he would have to let her. If it was him he would without doubt take the risk and trust Nicole to resurrect him. Right now Cole would have given anything to be able to switch places with her, but it was not in his power. And it made his heart tremble in fear. The only though of losing her was unbearable. If she was gone there was nothing in his life worth living for, nothing worth breathing for. Cole pushed these thoughts out of his head. Nicole needed his support and help. And he needed to make sure that he would not lose her.
Cole quickly went to the bathroom and stuck his head under the cold tub. The icy water allowed him to pull his thoughts into some sort of order. A moment later Cole Turner materialized in his mother's Underworld apartment.
Elizabeth was sitting in a massive chair with a manuscript in front of her. The sound of shimmer made her look up and one glance at her son's face was enough to know that something was wrong. The demoness got up and rushed to him.
"Belthazor, what's wrong?"
The attempt of wry smile had failed miserably and Cole resigned to the fact that he was not able to pull a brave face in front of his mother. "The Grimoire is at the bottom of the Oris. And the only way to retrieve it is for Nicole to be killed and become a ghost," he blurted on one breath.
Elizabeth paled and for the first time in the last hundred years she pulled her son into a tight hug. His first reaction was to push her away but she held him firmly and Cole just hugged her back trying his utter best not to cry. After a short while he pulled away, "Using a spell from the Grimoire I can resurrect her but I will need your help with it. The ceremony has to be done in the Underworld at the old Sources chambers. I will have to bring Nicole's body there and perform the ritual. We will need to completely secure the place. And I want you to be around so that you can step in if necessary."
Elizabeth just nodded, "You know I'll do whatever it takes," she said simply and after the short hesitation added, "I know that you probably have discussed all this. But she does not have to do it, Cole."
The half demon just shook his head, a pain obvious in his eyes but he managed to control his emotions. "She made the decision, mother, and I support it no matter that every cell in my body screams against it. If it was me I would have taken the risk and Nicole would have supported me. Now it's my turn. And that's why I am here. I need you to do one more thing. Nicole has to be killed and the only way is by the direct stroke of the athame into the heart. She has self-healing powers so one inch away and the wound won't be fatal. It would just cause her immense pain. I can't have her suffer this. That's why I am asking you to deliver that stroke. I know you won't miss."
Elizabeth's face now was deadly pale, "You can't ask me that," she whispered backing away from him, "You can't ask me to kill the woman you love, the woman whom you are about to marry."
Cole's face was as pale as his mother's, he took Elizabeth's hands into his and lowered his head his eyes never leaving hers, "I know I can't ask you that but I do. Please help me through this, mother. There is no one else, whom I can trust with this except you."
It took all the will power the demoness had to keep herself from running away or bursting into tears. She bit her lips so hard that she could taste the blood and nodded silently. Cole breathed out in relief. "I'll let you know when the time comes," he said and shimmered away afraid that if he stayed any longer his determination would slip away.
He reappeared in the Penthouse almost the same time as Nicole. They stared at each other. In this moment it was easier to use telepathy than to find words. He knew that she decided to take the risk and she knew that he resigned to the fact and would support her through it. And both of them knew that if they let their emotions take control just for one moment they won't be able to regain to compose themselves again. The sudden sound of orbing interrupted this silent conversation and both Lugels were surprised to see Leo orbing into the Penthouse. His face expressed an utter worry and he looked visibly relieved to find both of them in.
"Good that you're here," Leo blurted out. "I have just been to Oris." He saw a surprised looks on their faces. "I wanted to make sure that it was exactly the same mountain that I have chucked the Grimoire in."
"And?" Cole exclaimed, his heart suddenly filling with hope.
"It is," Leo confirmed not noticing how the two faces in front of him fell. "But I noticed that something was different. There was so much roaring noise and the whole ground was shaking. If I did not know better I would have thought that the volcano was about to erupt."
Cole and Nicole exchanged worried glances, "What could that be?" she asked.
The half demon paced around the living room. "I don't know," he finally answered. "We should go and have a look."
With these words they blurred away followed closely by Leo. When they arrived to Oris the first impression was that nothing had changed. But very quickly they saw that the flames erupting from the top of the crater were rising much higher than before lighting already darkening sky with all shades of red. The ground under their feet shuddered with low roaring sound. It indeed looked like the volcano was about to erupt. Nicole and Cole exchanged looks.
"I don't like this," she said. "Something is going on."
The half demon nodded in agreement.
"But what could it be?" Leo asked. "I have been reading up on Oris at the Elder's library. It's never has been relocated. Every thousand years the guards clean it up and throw away the dead bodies and all the debris into the lava stream, which then flows into the ocean."
The moment he said it, Nicole and Cole almost jumped up. "Well, I think now we know, it's a cleaning day," Cole muttered.
Nicole grabbed him by the arm. "If they find the Grimoire before us it will end up in the ocean and we would never be able to locate it again."
The half demon's face sobered. "We need to hurry," he said slowly. "I'll go to Celina, get everything organised."
The ground under their feet shook violently and the large cracks appeared in the surface. "It's too late for that," Nicole cried out. She stretched her arm and an athame appeared in her hand.
"No," Cole yelled.
"I am really sorry about this, Cole," her eyes glimmered with determination. He felt her warm fingers touching his cheek and the next moment Nicole flung her hand forward and the half demon flew back and disappeared out of sight.
The young woman turned to Leo who looked at her in a complete shock. She put the athame into his hand and forced him to lift it.
"Listen to me Leo. I need to retrieve the Grimoire. And the only way to do it is for me to become a ghost. You have to vanquish me with this athame. Aim straight into the heart and don't worry. Cole will be able to resurrect me after I find the Grimoire."
The whitelighter's face paled and he threw the athame away from him, "You are insane," he yelled. "I am a whitelighter not a demon."
"Well, I suggest you forget about it for now." Nicole said sternly another athame appearing in her hand. "Because you don't have a choice. We are running out of time and if you don't do it now then you can forget about saving Piper and..." Hew words were interrupted by Leo grabbing her shoulders and shaking them violently.
"Stop throwing this into my face," he shouted. "I hate you, you ruined my life with your "if you don't do this Piper will die, if you don't do that she will die as well". Don't you see that every time you say it, it kills me?"
A sharp pain from a slap made him release Nicole. The young woman glared at him her eyes sparkling furiously, "You don't leave me any other choice," she yelled. "You are so stubborn and narrow minded that it is impossible to communicate with you. Do you think I enjoy threatening you and constantly dealing with your hostility? Do you think I have nothing better to do than to listen to your moaning and accusations? I hate you as much as you do. You put the person I love with all my heart through so much pain that if it was up to me I would send you straight to hell and never hear your name again. But I don't have a choice. I have a task to fulfil and it is more important than me or you or your precious family for that matter. You claim to be a guardian angel than stop thinking about your beloved wife for a minute and think about all these people who will die as a result of the power imbalance, which by the way you helped to create by killing the Source without even thinking of the consequences. And now Cole and I have to fix your mess. Do you think I want to risk my life? I am not suicidal, you know. I love my life, for the first time I am happy, I am in love and I am loved by the best man in the world. And in stead of liying in his arms I am keeping him away so that he does not have to see this." She lifted the athame and pushed it into the Leo's hand. "Now you are going to pull it together and do what I told you."
"No," Leo cried. "No, I can't, I can't. I am supposed to heal not kill people."
Nicole sighed tiredly, her pale face expressing a great strain. "Leo, listen to me. The world is not black and white, there is such thing as necessary evil. And angels are not exempt from having to do dirty work. If you can't understand it than I can't help you. But I swear to God, if you don't do as I say, I will kill Piper myself. And I will not feel guilty because it would be an act of mercy considering the fate of being killed by her won son." She forced Leo to look at her. "We don't have time. If the Grimoire is lost, so will the future of magic and the Halliwell family." She noticed the whitelighter hesitating. The ground shuddered again. Nicole lifted Leo's arm and placed the athame next to her heart.
"Hurry, Leo," her voice was quiet. "I can't keep Cole away from here for long and you don't want him to see you killing me."
The whitelighter was shaking violently. Suddenly his mind was filled with the images of Piper's lifeless bodies in his arms. A voice whispering in his hand, "Do it, just do it."
He gripped the athame and felt it penetrating the human flesh. A soft gasp forced him to open his eyes and he saw Nicole's body sliding on the ground. Her eyes flattered for a moment and closed. Leo just stood there the bloody athame in his hand. He did not hear the sound of shimmer. The pain from a punch made him drop the athame and he collapsed to the ground. Cole fell on his knees next to Nicole's body. His face distorted with pain. A grey shadow separated from her body, it circled the ground for a moment and then rushed through Cole's body and floated towards the flames of the crater and the half demon heard a soft whisper, "I will come back, I promise." His vision became blurry and he buried his face in her neck. But his mind did not let him fall apart. He needed to keep his head cool, he had a lot to do and could not afford a mistake. He lifted his head, scooped Nicole into his arms and turned to Leo who was still in a trance sitting on the ground. The half demon could not look at the whitelighter, "Get out of here," he said trying to control himself. "Go home."
Leo did not move. Cole noticed the athame lying next to him. Carefully clutching Nicole's body he picked the knife and put it in his pocket. He was about to blur when the ground under his feet shuddered and large crack appeared between him and Leo. The whitelighter seemed not to have noticed. Cole made a few steps towards him and shook him violently. "Get out of here. You've done your part," he repeated. When Leo did not react, Cole grabbed the back of his shirt and blurred away. In the same position they reappeared in the Source's chambers. Cole dropped Leo on the floor where the latter just lay in the heap. Holding Nicole's body in his arms the half demon concentrated all his power. A few seconds later two female figures materialized in the chamber.