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Chapter 7
Cole had just finished putting a protective spell around Nicole's body. He could not seal the chamber itself since the ghost had to be able to enter and he absolutely dreaded that something would happen to the body preventing him from performing the ceremony. Celina approached him and touched his shoulder to attract his attention. The French woman looked older and her black hair was now grey, but her penetrating dark eyes were still the same and they radiated warmth and support.
"There are six of us here," she said quietly, "except you. Sylvester and Angela are controlling the entrance. Vladimir, Steven, O-Li and me will be at every corner of this room. So try not to worry too much. We are more than prepared."
The half demon nodded, "Thanks, Celina. I'll be calm when this is over and Nicole is back with me."
The older woman gave him a sympathetic look, "I know. And I want to give you this," she handed him a sheet of paper filled with a small but very accurate handwriting. "This is a resurrection spell from the Grimoire," she said, "and this," she pulled another sheet from the pocket of her robe, "is calling for the lost love spell." A questioning look on his face forced Celina to explain. She lowered her voice to mere whisper and continued, "If Nicole does not return by the end of the night, I want you to use the lost love spell to call her spirit and perform the resurrection ceremony."
"But I will need the Grimoire for that," Cole asked looking at her suspiciously.
The older woman just waved her hand dismissively, "Of course it would be easier with the Grimoire but you are one of the Chosen Two. You are more powerful than anybody who ever used the Grimoire before. Plus you and Nicole have a special link, it would make things a lot easier. I just want you to promise me that if she's not back by the end of the night you'll go ahead with the ceremony no matter what any of us says."
The half demon stared at Celina, "Why?" he asked quietly.
She hesitated for a second and then answered carefully, "Because after 12 hours there are many more things that could go wrong during the resurrection ceremony and I don't want to take such risks. If she does not find the Grimoire within 12 hours there is very little chance she will find it at all. I have made a promise a long time ago to William Schwarzlight that I would protect Nicole as much as possible. This promise is very dear to me. I could not prevent her from taking this risk but I can minimize it and I will do it no matter what the Council thinks about it."
The half demon nodded and his attention moved to the description of the ceremony. The ritual was very complicated and Cole found a whole list of ingredients that were needed. "That's a very long list," he said.
"Don't worry, I'll take care of it," Elizabeth was standing behind him, her eyes studying the French woman.
Cole was glad that his mother was there. He would never have admitted it openly but his nerves were strained as a bow and her calming presence gave him that extra support he needed. "Thanks," he answered passing her the list.
"I'll go with you," Celina suggested. "It would be good if we get everything ready as soon as possible."
Elizabeth just nodded in agreement and the two women shimmered out. Cole looked around and saw Leo who set in the corner staring in front of him. Cole turned away. He knew that Leo followed Nicole's orders but it still did not change the fact the Leo was the one putting the knife in her heart. And now Cole was immensely grateful that it was not his mother. The half demon sighed and took a step towards Leo. The voice behind him stopped him in his tracks.
"What do you want to do with him?" Vladimir asked.
Cole turned around, "I want to modify his memory that he would not remember what he'd done and then send him home."
The Lugel shook his head, "Don't do it just yet. Leo should stay here until the ritual is completed."
"Why?" Cole raised his eyebrows in surprise.
"Because the blood of the killer can help with the resurrection."
Cole stared at him as if Vladimir suddenly gone mad, "So do you suggest that I just kill him?" he asked incredulously.
Vladimir shrugged impatiently, "Of course, not. A few drops of blood will be enough. So just put him to sleep for now and then we can decide whether we should keep his memory or not."
That was good advice and a few minutes later Leo was sound asleep and the half demon found himself sitting in front of Nicole's body. Every look at her was painful but he could not move himself away. He wondered where was Nicole's soul? Did she manage to enter the Oris, would she be able to find the Grimoire? Cole sighed, patience was never his virtue and at the moment waiting was torturous. It was going to be a long night, probably the longest in his life.
Nicole glided closer to the Oris. The flames erupted from the crater and she had to remind herself that she was a fleshless ghost and no fire could harm her. She gathered her courage and floated into the flames. She came out on the other side and the sight in front of her made her stop still. The place was immense. It looked like sci-fi movies with a massive opening in the middle and a whole net of narrow tunnels going into all directions. It would take her forever to find the Grimoire in here. For a moment Nicole felt lost but than she reminded herself that the sooner she would find the Grimoire the sooner she would be back with Cole again. She floated to one of the tunnels. What she saw inside made her shiver with horror. Now she knew why the Oris was feared so much among the magic community. The prisoners of Oris did not have cells or at least not the cells in the normal understanding of this word. They were immured into the walls of the tunnel. The creature Nicole saw looked very human-like. It was a woman, her eyes were wide open but Nicole could not notice any reaction in them. The young Lugels glided further and was relieved when she passed the prisoner. If she knew beforehand how grim and scary this place was she would not have hurried volunteering for this job. But now she could not go back. Nicole floated further looking around carefully scared to miss the Grimoire. The time was flying pass, the tunnels changed but there was no sign of the book. Slowly Nicole could feel a fear entering her heart. What if she could not find it? She pushed these thoughts away and concentrated on her task. When she entered the next tunnel she almost collided with a group of ghosts, they were gliding to the outside pushing a heap of levitated debris in front of them. They stopped and observed Nicole with calm interest.
"Who are you?" Nicole could hear a telepathic question.
She decided to stick to the truth as much as possible, "I am new," she answered. "I have just been looking around."
"Oh," the ghosts looked at her more curiously, but fortunately there was no surprise in their reaction.
"Well, there is nothing here to see. We've cleaned this one. We have another hundred to go. You should join us. We'll show you around."
Nicole hesitated for a moment but then decided to follow them. It did not matter which tunnel she would go next. And may be she could find out from other ghosts if they had already found the Grimoire. Again one tunnel followed another. The ghosts were commenting about the prisoners and Nicole just kept quiet listening to them. From their conversations she found out that there were about ten other groups clearing up the Oris. Desperation filled her heart. There was no way she would find the Grimoire in this place. Even without the clear up operation it would have taken her months. And now the chances that the Grimoire was already found by one of the other groups were rising every minute.
Nicole could not say how long she'd been with the ghosts, during this trip she saw horrible things and forced herself not to be touched by them. Her task was the Grimoire and she kept studying every inch of surface, every new item found by the cleaning team. After another tunnel the ghosts instead of entering the next one turned and glided upwards. And Nicole noticed that there were ten other groups each of them pushing a pile of debris in front of them. Desperation did not describe what Nicole felt. There was no way she could find the Grimoire in this mountain of a thousand years old crap. She followed the other ghosts watching how they merged the piles together and levitated them to the top of the crater. Nicole had nothing left but to trail behind them. Soon she found herself outside the crater and found that the place had changed completely. When before there were black rocks there was now a stream of smoking lava flowing slowly towards the ocean. For a moment the mountain of debris floated in the air and then slowly fell into the scorching lava. The ghosts hovered for a moment watching it and then glided back into the crater.
Nicole did not follow them, she waited for the ghosts to disappear and then floated after the mountain of debris searching every inch for the Grimoire. She did not have much hope but suddenly she could feel the strong power spill. She followed it like a beacon and saw the black book floating on top of the lava completely unharmed by the flames. She rushed to it and tried to levitate the book but instead she was flung away by the invisible power. Nicole repeated her effort but with the same result. The book was surrounded by some protective shield and she was not able to penetrate it. Without much hesitation Nicole concentrated her telepathy and tried to reach Cole.
The half demon was snapped out of his thoughts but a distant cry, "Cole. I can't touch this book. You have to get here, quickly."
Without a single word he shimmered out leaving the Lugel team and his mother staring at the spot where he just sat. He followed her call and found himself in the middle of a stream of lava. And several feet away he could just make out the outline of the ghosts hovering above the black book. He concentrated on using his telekinesis to lift the book from the flames and very slowly the Grimoire levitated from the scorching stream and the half demon firmly clasped his hands around it. They were paying a very high price for this book and Cole was not going to risk loosing it again. He lifted his head and saw the ghost gliding next to him. "I have it," he send a mental signal to Nicole, "now we can go back to the Underworld and it will be all over." He was about to shimmer away when he caught a sight of the ghost gliding towards him. A thought hit his mind and before he could ask anything his suspicion was confirmed by Nicole.
"I can't shimmer. I don't have any powers except telepathy." The young woman felt helpless and she fought really hard not to panic.
Cole thought for a moment and thankfully Celina's words came to mind. "Don't worry," he tried to make his telepathy sound reassuring. "I have a spell ready, I'll call for you. Just give me a minute."
Nicole had to gather all her courage to just let him go. But she knew there was no other way. She had to let him go. Cole gave the ghosts another reassuring glance and shimmered out.
He reappeared in the Underworld chamber and was met by the worried Lugels. When they saw the Grimoire in his hands, they breathed out in relief. Elizabeth just looked at her son.
"Where is Nicole?" she asked soberly.
"She can't shimmer," Cole answered heading to the altar. "She does not have any powers except telepathy."
"But you will be able to resurrect her?" he heard a shaky voice from the corner. The whitelighter looked terrible, pale with his eyes glimmering wildly. The half demon just looked at him. And not hearing the answer, Leo continued, "You have to resurrect her, otherwise, I will be, I will be a..."
But Cole interjected him with a low but dangerous voice, "Don't say it," he warned Leo, "don't even think it."
With these words he kneeled in front of the altar, with a wave of his hand the barrier surrounding Nicole's body was gone and Cole took her cold hand into his. The candles lit up. Cole took an athame, which still had traces of Nicole's blood. He bowed his head and cut his wrist so that his and Nicole blood mixed together.
With the power of light And the power of darkness I am calling for you Since you holding my heart Please come back Through the plains and dimensions Please come back My now lost ever Love.
For a few moments nothing happened and Cole repeated the spell again. This time he focused all his power on reaching to Nicole. His tensed words echoed through the silence of the chamber and the candle flames shuddered. Next moment the wind flowed through the room and the ghosts reappeared in front of him.
Cole breathed out in relief but this was only the first part. The ghost glided towards Nicole's body and stayed still.
From his place in the corner Leo could see how Cole got up and opened the Grimoure. The four hooded figures, which stood motionless in each corner of the chamber had moved towards the centre of the room surrounding the altar. The dark haired woman who looked vaguely familiar to Leo approached him and motioned the whitelighter towards the altar. He hesitated for a moment but the woman was obviously waiting for him and he did not have anything left than to move closer towards the centre of the room. The hooded figures stepped aside allowing him to pass and he took place slightly behind Cole with the woman standing just a few feet away. Panic struck Leo. He could not understand a word from the inscription in the book but he could feel the power coming from it. He noticed the athame lying on the altar and immediately remembered that a lot of demonic ceremonies required human sacrifices. He stared at the back of Cole's head praying that the latter would explain to him what was going on. The whitelighter looked around and saw that there was no escape from this place: he was completely surrounded by the figures in black robes. Just as Leo was about to raise his voice, Cole turned around with a very annoyed expression on his face. "Leo, nothing is going to happen to you. All we need is a few drops of your blood. A small prickle will do the job. So please stop panicking it's distracting."
The whitelighter felt slightly offended by his condescending tone, "I did not say anything," he grumbled quietly.
Cole just turned away, "But your thoughts were loud enough."
The whitelighter did not have time to answer. Cole took the book in both hands and started chanting. His voice sounded very distinct in the silence of the chamber. Leo could not understand a single word but he could feel power radiating from his ex brother-in-law. In awe he saw how the different ingredients fell into the crystal chalice. Cole had not lifted a finger, they moved following his silent orders. The liquid in the chalice first turned light yellow, then bright blue and then cleared up a slight mist forming above it. Cole's voice became slightly louder and Leo could feel how the half demon channelled his power into the potion. Another ingredient dissolved in the liquid and it turned completely black. Somebody pushed Leo in the back and the whitelighter took a step forward stretching his hand. As if following invisible hand the athame moved and Leo could feel the pain of the light cut. He squeezed his palm into a fist allowing his blood to drip into the chalice. In a blink of an eye the liquid turned bright red. The whitelighter raised his head and froze. Usually piercing blue had turned completely black with flames flashing in them. These eyes radiated an immense power and following their gaze the liquid started to boil, a thick black fog forming on top of it. It took a shape of vortex growing with every second. Cole's voice now thundered in the chambers. The vortex was now so big that Leo had to take a step back. When the vortex started to look like a miniature tornado the half demon raised his hand and the ghosts disappeared in the vortex. For a second it hovered above Nicole's body. Cole flung his hand forward and the vortex collapsed on Nicole's body enveloping it completely. The half demon took the chalice and smashed it into the wall. The vortex disappeared and Leo heard a quiet gasp. Green eyes opened wide and looked around wildly until they landed on Cole. A weak smile touched her lips, "Cole," she whispered barely audible.
The half demon dropped to his knees his arms wrapping around Nicole. "Nicole, oh God," the sparkling blue eyes searched her face. "Are you okay?"
She nodded smiling at him, tears standing in her eyes. Nicole lifted her hand and touched his face. He covered her hand with his tenderly kissing the palm. And then pulled her into his embrace. Everybody stayed quiet for a few moments. Then Elizabeth took a step forward. "You will need to rest for a couple of days," she said gently. "There is no reason for you two to stay here, just go. We'll finish everything here."
Cole helped Nicole to get up his hands wrapped protectively around her waist. He looked at Celina and the latter just smiled encouragingly, "Don't worry, we'll take care of everything," she said.
Cole did not have to be asked twice. He pulled Nicole closer and blurred away.
When they disappeared Leo realized that he was left with 5 demons or whatever they were, and had no idea what their plans were for him. One of the man in hooded robes turned to him and asked coolly, "Listen to me carefully, whitelighter Wyatt. What happened during the last twelve hours cannot spread beyond these walls. So you have two options at the moment. First, your memory could be modified so that you would not remember anything from the moment when you showed Cole and Nicole the place where you hid the Grimoire. Second your memories will stay intact and you will have to live for the rest of your life with the knowledge of what happened and what you have done. You will not be able to tell anyone, even your wife or your children, not now not ever. I can promise you that if you choose to modify your memory there will be no side effects. The choice is yours."
Leo hesitated, part of him wanted to forget everything he saw and did during this night. And another part was telling him that Nicole Berg and Cole Turner would remember everything and if he chose to forget it would mean that once again he did not have the courage to face the reality, to make a difficult choice, to carry it through and to take responsibility for it. And no matter how tempting oblivion was it was not an option, it meant failing, it meant admitting that he was no more than an ordinary coward. The whitelighter lifted his head and stared at the hooded figure. "I don't want to modify my memory," and as if his words were not clear enough he repeated, "I choose to remember what I've done and I promise I would not tell a living soul."
For a second the man stood still and Leo could feel how his eyes from below the hood bored into him. Finally, the man said, "Fine, this is your choice. You can go now."
The whitelighter did not wait for the second permission and orbed out. He reappeared in front of the Manor. He saw the light in the attic and immediately heard the Charmed Ones call. He sighed and orbed into the manor.
"Where the hell have you been?" Piper yelled at her husband. "We've been calling for you for the last two hours."
"I've been with a charge," he answered tiredly. "I could not leave her."
Piper just snorted, but Phoebe prevented her from retorting. "Leo, I had a premonition," the middle Halliwell looked very pale. "Cole had retrieved the Grimoire. There was an eruption of the volcano and he snatched the Grimoire straight from the lava stream and disappeared with it."
The whitelighter mentally cursed, this was not good. "Did you see anything else," he asked wearily.
"No," Phoebe shook her head, "just what I told you."
"I think this is enough," Paige piped in. Leo turned his gaze and just stared at her questioningly. "Oh, come on Leo. I don't see what are you so surprised and upset about. We all knew that he was an evil bastard. He's already been the Source once, so what will stop him from doing it again."
The whitelighter stood quietly, he had to think of what to do. He needed to stop the Charmed One going after Cole. "I will speak to the Elders about it," he said finally.
"Sure," Phoebe replied, "but we have already talked here and we are going to stop Cole from becoming the Source. He is already powerful enough. We can't have his powers multiplied by the Grimoire."
Paige nodded in agreement, "We have already started to work on the vanquishing potion."
The whitelighter moved his gaze from one sister to another. And for the first time he felt uncomfortable with the way the Charmed Ones took decisions. They did not try to find out more about the situation. They made their judgement and were going to execute the convict.
"I think you should not do anything before I speak to the Elders," Leo said firmly. "It might be that Cole did not want the Grimoire for himself or he needed it for some other purpose."
Piper stared at her husband as if he suddenly gone mad and Paige exploded, "Wait?" she shrieked, "Leo, are you nuts? We can't wait. Cole is going to become the Source and we need to stop him."
Leo had a long day and his nerves were so strained that he could not control himself anymore. "How do you know?" he yelled, "Did Cole tell you that he wanted to become the next Source? Did you see it in your premonition?" he seared Phoebe with an angry glare. "You just assuming all these things, again." He realized that he said more than he planned and tried to calm himself, "All I am saying it that there might be another explanation."
Phoebe looked at her brother-in-law suspiciously, "What other explanation, Leo?" she asked. "We are talking about Cole here, I think his history speaks for itself."
"You can't judge people based on their history, Phoebe. You are a psychologist, you should know that."
"May be people you can't judge, but he is not people, he is a demon," Piper stated sternly.
"This demon saved your arses several times," Leo objected, "who was a member of this family?" When he said it Leo knew immediately that he made a mistake.
Phoebe paled and seared him with a deadly glare. "What are you getting at Leo?" she hissed, "are you telling me that you think Cole is innocent? Well, that's an interesting development since just two weeks ago you were convinced that he was evil. Are you expressing your own opinion or is this the new official position of the Elders?"
Leo stammered, her question found him at a loss. He was shocked by his own reaction, why was he defending Cole Turner? He hated the guy. The answer came to him momentarily. He believed Nicole Berg. He knew she told him the truth that him and his family killed an innocent man just because of his past. They committed a cold blooded murder. His discovery stunned him. He looked at three sisters staring at him and suddenly felt utterly frustrated. He could not get through to them. Not without telling them everything he knew and even then he doubted that they would change their minds. Leo shook his head. He owed Cole Turner more than he would ever be able to repay. But now was not the time to think about his failures as a whitelighter. He can do it later when he helps Cole and Nicole to negotiate their peace deal. Now he needed to keep the Charmed Ones on his side. He took a deep breath and lied to his family for the first time in his life, "I am sorry," he said trying to sound sincere. "I did not mean that. I am just really worried about you guys. I have spoken to the Elders a lot recently and they are very worried about Cole's new powers. You are not nearly powerful enough to go against him. That's why I want you to let me first speak to the Elders. May be they have some extra information. You are vulnerable now especially with Piper pregnant. We need to be well prepared not only with potions but also with the information if we go after somebody as powerful as Cole."
Piper's face softened, she took her husband by the hand, "I think Leo is right," she told her sisters. "We should get all the information first."
Leo sighed with relief, now that Piper was on his side he knew he could convince the rest. He noticed a resentful look that Paige gave her oldest sister and quickly added, "You should still work on the potion, Paige. You definitely have a talent for it. Just promise me that you won't go after Cole before I talk to the Elders."
The youngest Charmed One was very pleased with Leo's compliment on her witchery skills, "Fine," she murmured. "I guess a bit of preparation won't do us any harm."
She looked at Phoebe but the middle sister just set in the chair. When all eyes concentrated on her, she shrugged her shoulders, "Just as long as it won't take forever. We don't exactly have an eternity here."
The sisters headed downstairs with Leo walking behind them. His thoughts were grim. In one day he killed an innocent, took part in the resurrection ceremony, which was as dark magic as it could be, found out that he was guilty of a murder of a family member and bluntly lied to the said family. That was indeed an eventful day.
Chapter 7
Cole had just finished putting a protective spell around Nicole's body. He could not seal the chamber itself since the ghost had to be able to enter and he absolutely dreaded that something would happen to the body preventing him from performing the ceremony. Celina approached him and touched his shoulder to attract his attention. The French woman looked older and her black hair was now grey, but her penetrating dark eyes were still the same and they radiated warmth and support.
"There are six of us here," she said quietly, "except you. Sylvester and Angela are controlling the entrance. Vladimir, Steven, O-Li and me will be at every corner of this room. So try not to worry too much. We are more than prepared."
The half demon nodded, "Thanks, Celina. I'll be calm when this is over and Nicole is back with me."
The older woman gave him a sympathetic look, "I know. And I want to give you this," she handed him a sheet of paper filled with a small but very accurate handwriting. "This is a resurrection spell from the Grimoire," she said, "and this," she pulled another sheet from the pocket of her robe, "is calling for the lost love spell." A questioning look on his face forced Celina to explain. She lowered her voice to mere whisper and continued, "If Nicole does not return by the end of the night, I want you to use the lost love spell to call her spirit and perform the resurrection ceremony."
"But I will need the Grimoire for that," Cole asked looking at her suspiciously.
The older woman just waved her hand dismissively, "Of course it would be easier with the Grimoire but you are one of the Chosen Two. You are more powerful than anybody who ever used the Grimoire before. Plus you and Nicole have a special link, it would make things a lot easier. I just want you to promise me that if she's not back by the end of the night you'll go ahead with the ceremony no matter what any of us says."
The half demon stared at Celina, "Why?" he asked quietly.
She hesitated for a second and then answered carefully, "Because after 12 hours there are many more things that could go wrong during the resurrection ceremony and I don't want to take such risks. If she does not find the Grimoire within 12 hours there is very little chance she will find it at all. I have made a promise a long time ago to William Schwarzlight that I would protect Nicole as much as possible. This promise is very dear to me. I could not prevent her from taking this risk but I can minimize it and I will do it no matter what the Council thinks about it."
The half demon nodded and his attention moved to the description of the ceremony. The ritual was very complicated and Cole found a whole list of ingredients that were needed. "That's a very long list," he said.
"Don't worry, I'll take care of it," Elizabeth was standing behind him, her eyes studying the French woman.
Cole was glad that his mother was there. He would never have admitted it openly but his nerves were strained as a bow and her calming presence gave him that extra support he needed. "Thanks," he answered passing her the list.
"I'll go with you," Celina suggested. "It would be good if we get everything ready as soon as possible."
Elizabeth just nodded in agreement and the two women shimmered out. Cole looked around and saw Leo who set in the corner staring in front of him. Cole turned away. He knew that Leo followed Nicole's orders but it still did not change the fact the Leo was the one putting the knife in her heart. And now Cole was immensely grateful that it was not his mother. The half demon sighed and took a step towards Leo. The voice behind him stopped him in his tracks.
"What do you want to do with him?" Vladimir asked.
Cole turned around, "I want to modify his memory that he would not remember what he'd done and then send him home."
The Lugel shook his head, "Don't do it just yet. Leo should stay here until the ritual is completed."
"Why?" Cole raised his eyebrows in surprise.
"Because the blood of the killer can help with the resurrection."
Cole stared at him as if Vladimir suddenly gone mad, "So do you suggest that I just kill him?" he asked incredulously.
Vladimir shrugged impatiently, "Of course, not. A few drops of blood will be enough. So just put him to sleep for now and then we can decide whether we should keep his memory or not."
That was good advice and a few minutes later Leo was sound asleep and the half demon found himself sitting in front of Nicole's body. Every look at her was painful but he could not move himself away. He wondered where was Nicole's soul? Did she manage to enter the Oris, would she be able to find the Grimoire? Cole sighed, patience was never his virtue and at the moment waiting was torturous. It was going to be a long night, probably the longest in his life.
Nicole glided closer to the Oris. The flames erupted from the crater and she had to remind herself that she was a fleshless ghost and no fire could harm her. She gathered her courage and floated into the flames. She came out on the other side and the sight in front of her made her stop still. The place was immense. It looked like sci-fi movies with a massive opening in the middle and a whole net of narrow tunnels going into all directions. It would take her forever to find the Grimoire in here. For a moment Nicole felt lost but than she reminded herself that the sooner she would find the Grimoire the sooner she would be back with Cole again. She floated to one of the tunnels. What she saw inside made her shiver with horror. Now she knew why the Oris was feared so much among the magic community. The prisoners of Oris did not have cells or at least not the cells in the normal understanding of this word. They were immured into the walls of the tunnel. The creature Nicole saw looked very human-like. It was a woman, her eyes were wide open but Nicole could not notice any reaction in them. The young Lugels glided further and was relieved when she passed the prisoner. If she knew beforehand how grim and scary this place was she would not have hurried volunteering for this job. But now she could not go back. Nicole floated further looking around carefully scared to miss the Grimoire. The time was flying pass, the tunnels changed but there was no sign of the book. Slowly Nicole could feel a fear entering her heart. What if she could not find it? She pushed these thoughts away and concentrated on her task. When she entered the next tunnel she almost collided with a group of ghosts, they were gliding to the outside pushing a heap of levitated debris in front of them. They stopped and observed Nicole with calm interest.
"Who are you?" Nicole could hear a telepathic question.
She decided to stick to the truth as much as possible, "I am new," she answered. "I have just been looking around."
"Oh," the ghosts looked at her more curiously, but fortunately there was no surprise in their reaction.
"Well, there is nothing here to see. We've cleaned this one. We have another hundred to go. You should join us. We'll show you around."
Nicole hesitated for a moment but then decided to follow them. It did not matter which tunnel she would go next. And may be she could find out from other ghosts if they had already found the Grimoire. Again one tunnel followed another. The ghosts were commenting about the prisoners and Nicole just kept quiet listening to them. From their conversations she found out that there were about ten other groups clearing up the Oris. Desperation filled her heart. There was no way she would find the Grimoire in this place. Even without the clear up operation it would have taken her months. And now the chances that the Grimoire was already found by one of the other groups were rising every minute.
Nicole could not say how long she'd been with the ghosts, during this trip she saw horrible things and forced herself not to be touched by them. Her task was the Grimoire and she kept studying every inch of surface, every new item found by the cleaning team. After another tunnel the ghosts instead of entering the next one turned and glided upwards. And Nicole noticed that there were ten other groups each of them pushing a pile of debris in front of them. Desperation did not describe what Nicole felt. There was no way she could find the Grimoire in this mountain of a thousand years old crap. She followed the other ghosts watching how they merged the piles together and levitated them to the top of the crater. Nicole had nothing left but to trail behind them. Soon she found herself outside the crater and found that the place had changed completely. When before there were black rocks there was now a stream of smoking lava flowing slowly towards the ocean. For a moment the mountain of debris floated in the air and then slowly fell into the scorching lava. The ghosts hovered for a moment watching it and then glided back into the crater.
Nicole did not follow them, she waited for the ghosts to disappear and then floated after the mountain of debris searching every inch for the Grimoire. She did not have much hope but suddenly she could feel the strong power spill. She followed it like a beacon and saw the black book floating on top of the lava completely unharmed by the flames. She rushed to it and tried to levitate the book but instead she was flung away by the invisible power. Nicole repeated her effort but with the same result. The book was surrounded by some protective shield and she was not able to penetrate it. Without much hesitation Nicole concentrated her telepathy and tried to reach Cole.
The half demon was snapped out of his thoughts but a distant cry, "Cole. I can't touch this book. You have to get here, quickly."
Without a single word he shimmered out leaving the Lugel team and his mother staring at the spot where he just sat. He followed her call and found himself in the middle of a stream of lava. And several feet away he could just make out the outline of the ghosts hovering above the black book. He concentrated on using his telekinesis to lift the book from the flames and very slowly the Grimoire levitated from the scorching stream and the half demon firmly clasped his hands around it. They were paying a very high price for this book and Cole was not going to risk loosing it again. He lifted his head and saw the ghost gliding next to him. "I have it," he send a mental signal to Nicole, "now we can go back to the Underworld and it will be all over." He was about to shimmer away when he caught a sight of the ghost gliding towards him. A thought hit his mind and before he could ask anything his suspicion was confirmed by Nicole.
"I can't shimmer. I don't have any powers except telepathy." The young woman felt helpless and she fought really hard not to panic.
Cole thought for a moment and thankfully Celina's words came to mind. "Don't worry," he tried to make his telepathy sound reassuring. "I have a spell ready, I'll call for you. Just give me a minute."
Nicole had to gather all her courage to just let him go. But she knew there was no other way. She had to let him go. Cole gave the ghosts another reassuring glance and shimmered out.
He reappeared in the Underworld chamber and was met by the worried Lugels. When they saw the Grimoire in his hands, they breathed out in relief. Elizabeth just looked at her son.
"Where is Nicole?" she asked soberly.
"She can't shimmer," Cole answered heading to the altar. "She does not have any powers except telepathy."
"But you will be able to resurrect her?" he heard a shaky voice from the corner. The whitelighter looked terrible, pale with his eyes glimmering wildly. The half demon just looked at him. And not hearing the answer, Leo continued, "You have to resurrect her, otherwise, I will be, I will be a..."
But Cole interjected him with a low but dangerous voice, "Don't say it," he warned Leo, "don't even think it."
With these words he kneeled in front of the altar, with a wave of his hand the barrier surrounding Nicole's body was gone and Cole took her cold hand into his. The candles lit up. Cole took an athame, which still had traces of Nicole's blood. He bowed his head and cut his wrist so that his and Nicole blood mixed together.
With the power of light And the power of darkness I am calling for you Since you holding my heart Please come back Through the plains and dimensions Please come back My now lost ever Love.
For a few moments nothing happened and Cole repeated the spell again. This time he focused all his power on reaching to Nicole. His tensed words echoed through the silence of the chamber and the candle flames shuddered. Next moment the wind flowed through the room and the ghosts reappeared in front of him.
Cole breathed out in relief but this was only the first part. The ghost glided towards Nicole's body and stayed still.
From his place in the corner Leo could see how Cole got up and opened the Grimoure. The four hooded figures, which stood motionless in each corner of the chamber had moved towards the centre of the room surrounding the altar. The dark haired woman who looked vaguely familiar to Leo approached him and motioned the whitelighter towards the altar. He hesitated for a moment but the woman was obviously waiting for him and he did not have anything left than to move closer towards the centre of the room. The hooded figures stepped aside allowing him to pass and he took place slightly behind Cole with the woman standing just a few feet away. Panic struck Leo. He could not understand a word from the inscription in the book but he could feel the power coming from it. He noticed the athame lying on the altar and immediately remembered that a lot of demonic ceremonies required human sacrifices. He stared at the back of Cole's head praying that the latter would explain to him what was going on. The whitelighter looked around and saw that there was no escape from this place: he was completely surrounded by the figures in black robes. Just as Leo was about to raise his voice, Cole turned around with a very annoyed expression on his face. "Leo, nothing is going to happen to you. All we need is a few drops of your blood. A small prickle will do the job. So please stop panicking it's distracting."
The whitelighter felt slightly offended by his condescending tone, "I did not say anything," he grumbled quietly.
Cole just turned away, "But your thoughts were loud enough."
The whitelighter did not have time to answer. Cole took the book in both hands and started chanting. His voice sounded very distinct in the silence of the chamber. Leo could not understand a single word but he could feel power radiating from his ex brother-in-law. In awe he saw how the different ingredients fell into the crystal chalice. Cole had not lifted a finger, they moved following his silent orders. The liquid in the chalice first turned light yellow, then bright blue and then cleared up a slight mist forming above it. Cole's voice became slightly louder and Leo could feel how the half demon channelled his power into the potion. Another ingredient dissolved in the liquid and it turned completely black. Somebody pushed Leo in the back and the whitelighter took a step forward stretching his hand. As if following invisible hand the athame moved and Leo could feel the pain of the light cut. He squeezed his palm into a fist allowing his blood to drip into the chalice. In a blink of an eye the liquid turned bright red. The whitelighter raised his head and froze. Usually piercing blue had turned completely black with flames flashing in them. These eyes radiated an immense power and following their gaze the liquid started to boil, a thick black fog forming on top of it. It took a shape of vortex growing with every second. Cole's voice now thundered in the chambers. The vortex was now so big that Leo had to take a step back. When the vortex started to look like a miniature tornado the half demon raised his hand and the ghosts disappeared in the vortex. For a second it hovered above Nicole's body. Cole flung his hand forward and the vortex collapsed on Nicole's body enveloping it completely. The half demon took the chalice and smashed it into the wall. The vortex disappeared and Leo heard a quiet gasp. Green eyes opened wide and looked around wildly until they landed on Cole. A weak smile touched her lips, "Cole," she whispered barely audible.
The half demon dropped to his knees his arms wrapping around Nicole. "Nicole, oh God," the sparkling blue eyes searched her face. "Are you okay?"
She nodded smiling at him, tears standing in her eyes. Nicole lifted her hand and touched his face. He covered her hand with his tenderly kissing the palm. And then pulled her into his embrace. Everybody stayed quiet for a few moments. Then Elizabeth took a step forward. "You will need to rest for a couple of days," she said gently. "There is no reason for you two to stay here, just go. We'll finish everything here."
Cole helped Nicole to get up his hands wrapped protectively around her waist. He looked at Celina and the latter just smiled encouragingly, "Don't worry, we'll take care of everything," she said.
Cole did not have to be asked twice. He pulled Nicole closer and blurred away.
When they disappeared Leo realized that he was left with 5 demons or whatever they were, and had no idea what their plans were for him. One of the man in hooded robes turned to him and asked coolly, "Listen to me carefully, whitelighter Wyatt. What happened during the last twelve hours cannot spread beyond these walls. So you have two options at the moment. First, your memory could be modified so that you would not remember anything from the moment when you showed Cole and Nicole the place where you hid the Grimoire. Second your memories will stay intact and you will have to live for the rest of your life with the knowledge of what happened and what you have done. You will not be able to tell anyone, even your wife or your children, not now not ever. I can promise you that if you choose to modify your memory there will be no side effects. The choice is yours."
Leo hesitated, part of him wanted to forget everything he saw and did during this night. And another part was telling him that Nicole Berg and Cole Turner would remember everything and if he chose to forget it would mean that once again he did not have the courage to face the reality, to make a difficult choice, to carry it through and to take responsibility for it. And no matter how tempting oblivion was it was not an option, it meant failing, it meant admitting that he was no more than an ordinary coward. The whitelighter lifted his head and stared at the hooded figure. "I don't want to modify my memory," and as if his words were not clear enough he repeated, "I choose to remember what I've done and I promise I would not tell a living soul."
For a second the man stood still and Leo could feel how his eyes from below the hood bored into him. Finally, the man said, "Fine, this is your choice. You can go now."
The whitelighter did not wait for the second permission and orbed out. He reappeared in front of the Manor. He saw the light in the attic and immediately heard the Charmed Ones call. He sighed and orbed into the manor.
"Where the hell have you been?" Piper yelled at her husband. "We've been calling for you for the last two hours."
"I've been with a charge," he answered tiredly. "I could not leave her."
Piper just snorted, but Phoebe prevented her from retorting. "Leo, I had a premonition," the middle Halliwell looked very pale. "Cole had retrieved the Grimoire. There was an eruption of the volcano and he snatched the Grimoire straight from the lava stream and disappeared with it."
The whitelighter mentally cursed, this was not good. "Did you see anything else," he asked wearily.
"No," Phoebe shook her head, "just what I told you."
"I think this is enough," Paige piped in. Leo turned his gaze and just stared at her questioningly. "Oh, come on Leo. I don't see what are you so surprised and upset about. We all knew that he was an evil bastard. He's already been the Source once, so what will stop him from doing it again."
The whitelighter stood quietly, he had to think of what to do. He needed to stop the Charmed One going after Cole. "I will speak to the Elders about it," he said finally.
"Sure," Phoebe replied, "but we have already talked here and we are going to stop Cole from becoming the Source. He is already powerful enough. We can't have his powers multiplied by the Grimoire."
Paige nodded in agreement, "We have already started to work on the vanquishing potion."
The whitelighter moved his gaze from one sister to another. And for the first time he felt uncomfortable with the way the Charmed Ones took decisions. They did not try to find out more about the situation. They made their judgement and were going to execute the convict.
"I think you should not do anything before I speak to the Elders," Leo said firmly. "It might be that Cole did not want the Grimoire for himself or he needed it for some other purpose."
Piper stared at her husband as if he suddenly gone mad and Paige exploded, "Wait?" she shrieked, "Leo, are you nuts? We can't wait. Cole is going to become the Source and we need to stop him."
Leo had a long day and his nerves were so strained that he could not control himself anymore. "How do you know?" he yelled, "Did Cole tell you that he wanted to become the next Source? Did you see it in your premonition?" he seared Phoebe with an angry glare. "You just assuming all these things, again." He realized that he said more than he planned and tried to calm himself, "All I am saying it that there might be another explanation."
Phoebe looked at her brother-in-law suspiciously, "What other explanation, Leo?" she asked. "We are talking about Cole here, I think his history speaks for itself."
"You can't judge people based on their history, Phoebe. You are a psychologist, you should know that."
"May be people you can't judge, but he is not people, he is a demon," Piper stated sternly.
"This demon saved your arses several times," Leo objected, "who was a member of this family?" When he said it Leo knew immediately that he made a mistake.
Phoebe paled and seared him with a deadly glare. "What are you getting at Leo?" she hissed, "are you telling me that you think Cole is innocent? Well, that's an interesting development since just two weeks ago you were convinced that he was evil. Are you expressing your own opinion or is this the new official position of the Elders?"
Leo stammered, her question found him at a loss. He was shocked by his own reaction, why was he defending Cole Turner? He hated the guy. The answer came to him momentarily. He believed Nicole Berg. He knew she told him the truth that him and his family killed an innocent man just because of his past. They committed a cold blooded murder. His discovery stunned him. He looked at three sisters staring at him and suddenly felt utterly frustrated. He could not get through to them. Not without telling them everything he knew and even then he doubted that they would change their minds. Leo shook his head. He owed Cole Turner more than he would ever be able to repay. But now was not the time to think about his failures as a whitelighter. He can do it later when he helps Cole and Nicole to negotiate their peace deal. Now he needed to keep the Charmed Ones on his side. He took a deep breath and lied to his family for the first time in his life, "I am sorry," he said trying to sound sincere. "I did not mean that. I am just really worried about you guys. I have spoken to the Elders a lot recently and they are very worried about Cole's new powers. You are not nearly powerful enough to go against him. That's why I want you to let me first speak to the Elders. May be they have some extra information. You are vulnerable now especially with Piper pregnant. We need to be well prepared not only with potions but also with the information if we go after somebody as powerful as Cole."
Piper's face softened, she took her husband by the hand, "I think Leo is right," she told her sisters. "We should get all the information first."
Leo sighed with relief, now that Piper was on his side he knew he could convince the rest. He noticed a resentful look that Paige gave her oldest sister and quickly added, "You should still work on the potion, Paige. You definitely have a talent for it. Just promise me that you won't go after Cole before I talk to the Elders."
The youngest Charmed One was very pleased with Leo's compliment on her witchery skills, "Fine," she murmured. "I guess a bit of preparation won't do us any harm."
She looked at Phoebe but the middle sister just set in the chair. When all eyes concentrated on her, she shrugged her shoulders, "Just as long as it won't take forever. We don't exactly have an eternity here."
The sisters headed downstairs with Leo walking behind them. His thoughts were grim. In one day he killed an innocent, took part in the resurrection ceremony, which was as dark magic as it could be, found out that he was guilty of a murder of a family member and bluntly lied to the said family. That was indeed an eventful day.