Hello Everybody. The new chapter is here. Hope you'll enjoy it. Please R&R.
Chapter 17
Sixteen hours later Cole and Nicole shimmered and blinked into the Underworld. The Source was surrounded by her Council. She lifted her head and stared at the arrivals questioningly.
"It's over," Cole said firmly. "The Titans are vanquished, this time for good."
The buzz of relief swept through the room. "The Charmed Ones?" Elizabeth asked.
"Yes," Nicole confirmed. "The female Titan was actually killed by one of the males who then was destroyed by the Charmed Ones together with the other one."
"Good," the demoness nodded approvingly. "It's a great relief for all of us."
Kalius frowned, "Great relief and a great shame. We had to collaborate with witches."
Elizabeth turned to him and the young demon shrank under her cold gaze, "Kalius, Are you accusing me of collaborating with witches?"
He shook his head too aware of the rest of the Council stares, "No, my lady" he said, "but it's the fact that we did not fight Titans ourselves and had to wait for the Charmed Ones to vanquish them."
Elizabeth allowed a chilling smile to touch her lips, "You are too young to understand that you have to pick your battles. If we had fought the Titans ourselves we would have lost a lot of demons and warlocks and with very uncertain outcome. This way we let the witches take the blow." She got up from her seat and continued. "Learning to use your enemy when it's beneficial is the sign of great wisdom and I sincerely hope that nobody on my Council has the desire of taking the "moral" high ground. It would mean that they were in the wrong place and should better have joined the Elders Council." The demoness voice sounded sarcastic but her cold eyes seared the rest of the members with a deadly glare. Everybody listened respectfully and high priest Corado was nodding approvingly.
Elizabeth relaxed slightly and returned her attention to Kalius. The younger demon bowed his head, "Apologies, my lady, I did not think about it."
The demoness looked at him coolly a small smile playing in the corners of her mouth, "Harsh thinking is the sign of naivety," she said calmly and turned around dismissing the Council with the wave of her hand. Kalius breathed out in relieve but she stopped and added thoughtfully, "I just hope that none of the members of my Council is too naïve for his job."
The young demon shuddered, bowed deeply and disappeared after the rest of the Council.
Philip des Noures who was worried about his newfound daughter while she was away helping the Charmed Ones to fight the Titans stayed behind. When Elizabeth turned to him, he bowed lightly and said in a respectful voice, "My lady, would it be possible if I borrow my daughter for a few minutes.
Elizabeth shot Nicole a look and nodded. The young woman followed her "father" out of the Source's apartment leaving mother and son alone. The demoness came closer to him, "You look tired, Belthazor," she said softly.
Cole shrugged his shoulders, "It's been a very long day," he said and smiled, "and very eventful."
She nodded understandingly, "How did it go with the Charmed Ones?"
Cole shrugged again, "It went okay. I think Leo will be the one who gets most of the crap, but then it serves him right. At the end it was him who released the Titans."
"Leo?" Elizabeth exclaimed in shock, "The whitelighter?"
"He is not a whitelighter anymore, mother. Or to put it correctly he went a very long way from the whitelighter he once was. In all honesty I would have never thought that Leo could change so much."
Elizabeth smiled vaguely, "Still waters run deep," she said nonchalantly and returned to the topic that worried her, "So what would happen to the Elder's Council now?"
"It would be restored," Cole explained, "Leo will become the Head Elder and with the help of another Elder who had survived they will build a new Council. At the moment there is an intermediate group of whitelighters who is covering the most urgent calls and, thanks to you, the demonic world is more interested in share prices than in witches."
He shot a glance towards the entrance hoping that Nicole would not be too long. A smile touched his lips and Elizabeth who was watching her son attentively asked, "What are you smiling about?"
Cole looked at his mother and hesitated for a moment. Then he shook his head and said quietly, "Nicole is pregnant." Cole smiled from excitement he felt just by saying it out loud. He was so preoccupied with this new feeling that did not notice how pale Elizabeth became.
"No," she uttered, "it's not possible."
"Why not?" Cole asked looking at his mother slightly puzzled.
Elizabeth feverishly searched for an answer, "Well, you've been married for such a short time," she mumbled.
The half demon smiled, "Sometimes things happen faster than you expect."
"So what are you going to do about it?" she asked.
Cole raised his eyebrows, "Nothing. Why should we do something?"
"But it's a very dangerous times for you," the demoness tried to find the right words, "do you think it's a right time to have a child?"
He stared at her, "There is never a right time," he objected, "so we just have to make sure that everything goes fine and Nicole and the baby are kept safe."
Elizabeth turned away from him trying to compose her feelings.
"Mother," Cole frowned, "you act as if you are really unhappy about it. I thought you wanted me to have a child."
The demoness turned back finally regaining the full control of her face and voice. "Of course, Belthazor, I am happy that you are going to have an heir. I am just surprised and also worried slightly. It's dangerous times now. I would prefer a slightly calmer surrounding for the arrival of my first grandchild."
He studied her face but could not see any falseness. His features softened, "I know you are worried, mother. But we'll be fine. And I am relying on you here. I will do my utter best to protect Nicole and the baby but if by some reason I am not there, promise me, you'll help Nicole."
Elizabeth bit her lip making her best effort to hold back emotions. She had to pull together all her demonic nature to control them. "Of course I will, Belthazor, it goes without saying."
She was about to add something but was interrupted by the figure in white Greek tunic appearing in the middle of the chamber. The mother and son froze on the spot.
"Phoebe?" Cole regained control of his tongue, "What are you doing here?"
The Charmed One looked at her ex-husband. "I came to see you."
Elizabeth made a move forward ready to shield her son from any harm. Phoebe frowned at her. Cole noticed the looks two women exchanged. He touched Elizabeth's hands and whispered into her ear. "You should go." The demoness was about to object, but he did not let her, "Just go, mother, I'll be fine." She nodded and shimmered out.
Cole and Phoebe were left alone. He faced his ex wife and took a deep breath. He had to keep his promise to Leo and make some sort of peace with Phoebe.
"You are still a Goddess I see," he said calmly.
Phoebe smiled, "I am a Goddess of Love," she corrected him proudly.
He returned her smile, "It suits you," he said softly, "I mean you look good."
"Thanks," her face lit up.
"But you don't need to be a Goddess to look good," he added, "These powers are a big strain for a human body."
Phoebe's smile disappeared and she frowned, "I see," her voice rang with sarcasm, "You are still in a role of the savior of the magic world. That's why you are being so nice to me, because you want me to return these powers."
Cole shook his head. "No, Phoebe. Yes, I want you to return these powers but I am not being purposefully nice to you to manipulate you."
The middle Charmed One looked at him suspiciously but his blue eyes looked at her calmly and she believed him. "I wanted to speak to you," she repeated, "and if I give up my powers I would not be able to get to you."
Cole sighed, "You can always get to me, Phoebe. I live in the same city. And there is such thing as a telephone."
She smiled sadly, "As if you would talk to me, Cole!" she paused and added quieter. "Plus, what I want to say is not a phone conversation." She stopped and took a deep breath gathering her courage. "Look, I want to start by apologizing for creating the alternative reality, it was wrong of me. I just did not think straight at a time." She did not dare to look at Cole and therefore did not notice the puzzled expression on his face. "I..." she tried to continue but he interrupted her.
"What alternative reality?"
Phoebe jerked her head up and looked at Cole surprised. "You don't know?" she asked.
Cole frowned, "No, I don't. What alternative reality?"
Phoebe shifted her weight from one foot to another and all over a sudden turned into her normal self. The Greek tunic disappeared and she was left in a pair a pair of jeans and a plain tee-shirt. She looked at her ex-husband and continued with the explanation. "After your wedding," she started, "I cast a spell and returned to the past to stop our divorce going ahead. It created an alternative reality, in which we were still married. But unfortunately it did not end well. You asked for divorce."
Cole listened to her attentively trying to take in this new information. Part of him was surprised that Phoebe's action affected him at all. He would have expected that being a Lugel he would have been able to sense her spell. And another part of him was curious if in this alternative reality him and Nicole had got together. But he knew that Phoebe was not the person to ask about it.
In the meantime his ex wife continued. "Anyway, after everything got back to normal, I tried to remember what you had told me in that reality. You said that you were possessed when you became the Source. So I conjured the past premonition and I saw everything. How the Seer tricked... blackmailed you into accepting the Hollow and how you fought the Source to save our lives." Cole's face stiffened and Phoebe hurried to continue, afraid that he would interrupt her. "Please, Cole, listen to me. I need to tell you how sorry I am. I have been so wrong. We all have been so wrong. But my fault is greater than the others. I knew you better than anybody else. I knew how much you went through trying to change your life. I should have recognized that something was wrong. I should have known that you would never have willingly turned evil again. I was your wife... And instead of helping you I went along with my fears and prejudice..." She could not continue and stopped trying to hold back tears.
Cole did not know what to say. Seven months ago he would have given anything to hear these words from Phoebe. Five months ago he would have probably told her to get out of his sight. And now he did not know how he felt. Resentment was still there as the horrible memories of being possessed by the Source, which he probably would never be able to forget. But what had changed was that Cole did not seek the Halliwells approval anymore, in reality he did not care what they thought about him. His life had changed, took a complete turn, turn for the better. And he dreaded to think that if he had not ended up in the Wasteland he might have never met Nicole. He took a deep breath and looked at his ex wife, which was staring at him with a distorted face.
"I am so sorry, Cole..." she whispered again.
"I know," he answered and ran his hand through his hair trying to find the right words. "Look, Phoebe. I know how you feel: guilt, regret, frustration - I've been there myself. But you have to go through this and move on. What's done is done. I am not suggesting that you just forget everything but you need to live with it and not let the past hold you a prisoner. You have so much in your life: close family, great job and I am not even talking about your powers."
"But not you..." Phoebe said in a chocked voice.
Cole sighed and tried to smile, "But is it such a bad thing?" he asked and before Phoebe could answer continued. "Look, Phoebe, I am not going to pretend that what we had was not special. It was, that's why we both fought so hard to be together and why we were so hurt when it did not work out. But you must admit that we seemed to have more rough patches than the nice ones. And I think it's because we are too different. You were always uncomfortable with my demonic past and I to be honest could not live according to your ideas of what's right and wrong."
"But we loved each other," Phoebe explained, "It should have been enough."
Cole lifted his eyebrow, "You don't believe this, Phoebe," he objected gently. "You said it yourself just a few months ago."
"I was wrong," Phoebe exclaimed passionately. "I was lying to myself when I said it. Love is what really matters. If people truly love each other they can overcome everything." She looked into his eyes trying to find at least some reminiscence of love she used to see in them, but in vain. Tears streamed down her face and her shoulder sagged, "The truth is, Cole, that you just don't love me anymore. And you blame me for making your life so miserable and destroying our relationship."
Cole sighed. He did not know what to say. Phoebe brushed away her tears and stared at him her eyes sparkling, "Just be honest with me, Cole," she yelled. "Stop being so damn calm and wise and tell me the truth that you hate my guts, that you think I am a heartless bitch who betrayed you and ruined our marriage."
Cole was taken aback by her outburst. He looked at her eyes and for once he saw in them the same rebel girl who did not vanquish him three years ago. This girl deserved the truth. He took a step towards Phoebe and looked her straight into the face.
"I have never thought," he started slowly accentuating each word, "that you were the only one guilty that our marriage did not work out. I know you have suffered with the whole Source's thing and even before with Raynor. At the same time it's true that five months ago I thought that you had killed our relationship. And not even by vanquishing me. Hey, I could even try to understand why you did it. You were scared and your sisters certainly did not help. But I could not forget how you gave up on me in the Wasteland when I asked you for help and after I got back how you kicked me out of your life without even trying to understand what I went through. I hated you at the time. But now I think that we just were not meant to be together. We are too different, we come from too different backgrounds and we want different things in life. We gave it our best shot and it did not work. And I am grateful to you for seeing this before I did."
His words hurt Phoebe but she tried to hide it behind a wan smile. "Well, at least you are honest with me now."
Cole smiled appreciating her bravery, "I don't want to hurt you, Phoebe," he said. "God is my witness I will be grateful to you for the rest of my life for awakening my humanity. And I want you to know that I don't regret anything that happened between us. It's just that it was time for both of us to move on... in different directions."
Phoebe could not hold her tears anymore. She covered her face with her hands and started crying. A warm hand lied on her shoulder and she leaned on Cole's strong frame. They stood like this for a while. When Phoebe finally managed to regain control of her emotions, she decided to ask the question which was brewing in her head for the last months.
"Cole," she asked, "What is it about Nicole Berg that I don't have?"
The half demon hesitated for a moment and then answered honestly, "Phoebe, it's not about you being not good enough for me. You are a fantastic woman any man can only dream about. It's about me and the way she makes me feel. Remember I told you that I would die for you. Well, for Nicole I want to live."
The Charmed One nodded dispiritedly. Cole took a step closer to her, "Come on, Phoebe, I will take you back to the Manor. Underworld is not a place for the Charmed One."
He offered her his hand and Phoebe clasped her fingers around his. He blurred away and they reappeared in the hallway of the Halliwell's Manor. Still holding his hand Phoebe looked at her ex husband.
"Well," he said, "I should go."
She nodded, "Will I see you again?" she asked.
He lifted his eyebrow, "Of course, I am not moving to a different reality and considering our respective jobs we are bound to meet."
She shook her head, "No, I don't mean like that, will I see you in private? Like a friend?"
Cole looked at her and for a moment he was tempted to say "yes" but then Nicole's face stood in front of his eyes. "I don't think that would be a good idea, Phoebe," he said gently.
"Oh," she stammered, "I understand. You still cannot forgive me for what I have done."
Cole shook his head, "It's not about forgiveness Phoebe. Me and you will never be friends. We have been through too much, neither of us will be able to ever forget it and it's stupid to act as if nothing happened."
He noticed how her lips trembled and took her hand into his, "Look at me, Phoebe," he asked softly and when she lifted her eyes, smiled at her. "Maybe we are not going to be friends in the usual meaning of the word but we will be two people who understand each other, respect each other and will always help each other if it ever comes to it. It's more than most people ever have."
His smile made her insides melt and she nodded. Cole returned her smile, "Take care, Phoebe." He let go of her hand and shimmered out. The Charmed One remained standing in the hallway her hand still outstretched as when he was holding it.
"Buy, Cole," she whispered, "till the next life where I will never let you go."
Xxxxxxxxxxx
When Phoebe lost her Goddess' powers, Leo finally closed the container and sighed with relief. The Titans were vanquished and the Charmed Ones were safe with their powers back to normal. He was about to orb out of the Manor when he saw Piper walking into the living room. An awkward silence fell between them.
"I was about to go," he muttered not sure if she was still mad at him.
"Oh," she did not move and Leo could not take his eyes of her. He did not see Piper like this for so long. And she was so beautiful that he could not force himself to leave. Finally he gathered his courage and was about to orb out when she stopped him, "Leo, what happened? I mean what happened when you left to become the Elder?"
The former whitelighter opened his mouth prepared to repeat his story but she interrupted him, "Don't lie to me Leo. I think I deserve to know the truth. And I am not stupid, I know that Cole and Nicole are involved in all this."
He jerked his head: he was not prepared for this question and for sure did not expect Piper to link him becoming an Elder and Cole. She noticed his hesitation and pressed further, "Look, Leo, I am your wife and I have the right to know why my husband left me seven months pregnant and went off to fulfill his destiny or something. And don't try and tell me that Cole is not involved. The way the three of you showed up yesterday was a proof that you were working with them and I want to know why?"
Leo sighed. He knew that she was right and even if they never would be together again, he had to tell her the truth or at least part of it. He took a deep breath and forced himself to look her in the face.
"Look, Piper, Cole had nothing to do with the Council asking me to become an Elder. But he had something to do with me accepting it. Cole and Nicole are serving the power which protects the balance between good and evil. And I am trying to help them the best I can."
Her brown eyes looked at him in disbelief. "You are working with Cole?" she asked. "With this evil bastard, who ruined Phoebe's life? How can you do that!!!"
"He is not an evil bastard," Leo shot and when Piper waived her hand dismissing his words continued grabbing her shoulder, "Listen to me, I have not been brainwashed by Cole. When Nicole Berg came out with this whole speech that Cole was an innocent man possessed by the Source, I did not believe her. But since then I had got a conformation that she was right. And from no one else than the Elders. They knew all along that Cole was possessed but did not tell us because they did not want him and Phoebe to be together. And it did not matter that he was stripped of his powers, he still had his demonic genes and the Elders were scared what kind of child him and Phoebe could have had."
His wife stared at him in shock, "That's not possible," she uttered.
Leo ran his hand through his hair and sighed tiredly, "But it is. When we vanquished the Source we killed Cole alongside him."
Piper plopped on the sofa. "I can't believe it..." she said in shock, "What will happen to Phoebe if she finds out?"
Leo sat down next to his wife, "I think she already knows," he said quietly and when Piper stared at him questioningly explained, "I have been keeping an eye on you and your sisters and I know that Phoebe cast a past premonition spell. It showed her what had happened then."
Realization hit Piper, "That what she was talking about," she whispered and turned to Leo, "she said that she had faced the truth about her life!"
Leo nodded, "Well, I have done the same," he said quieter, "And I apologized to Cole. I don't think we ever would be friends but at least we can try to respect each other."
Piper sat silently for a moment and then faced her husband, "So what about the horrible things that would happen to us if you did not become the Elder? Was it all a lie?"
"No," Leo shot, his eyes boring into hers, "It was not a lie. It was the one, solo reason for me becoming the Elder. I can feel guilty towards Cole and might want to redeem myself by doing something back for him, but I would never leave you just to calm my conscience. You are number one for me Piper, you and our baby are my love, my life and my future. And so that we have this future together, I had to leave."
"And you can't tell me what is it that threatens our future?" she asked trying to sound calm.
Leo sighed, "No, I can't. I wish I could but I am bound to secrecy."
Piper nodded. "OK," she said.
Leo stared at her with disbelief his throat suddenly becoming very dry, "OK?" he repeated hoarsely, "You mean..."
Piper looked at him and said quietly, "I mean that I understand why you left and I believe that you are trying to protect me and our child." She sighed and continued slowly, "And though being without you is very difficult for me and I still don't like the fact that you are keeping secrets from me I accept that you don't have a choice and trust that if things change you will tell me the truth."
"Piper!" Leo took her hand and buried his face in it.
She smiled and gently stroked his hair. It was so good to have Leo next to her again. During the last months she missed him so much. Today she once again remembered why she first fell in love with him. He was kind and calm and she could see love and adoration in his eyes. But even more for the first time today she noticed that her husband possessed an unbelievable inner strength, he took decisions and stuck to them, he was an incredible force behind three sisters and even when they fought the Titans Piper always knew that everything would be fine because Leo was with them. She was surprised that she had never noticed it before. Neither had she noticed how incredibly gorgeous her husband was. Ever since she married Leo and Phoebe met Cole the half demon was always considered as the hot one and Leo was the reliable one. But today when two men stood side by side dressed in black jeans and dark shirts they definitely looked level play. Piper snapped from her thoughts, she still had one important question to ask. And the answer would define how her life would go at least in the foreseeable future. "I have just one more question, Leo?" she said softly. He lifted his head and saw her eyes boring into his. "When will you come back? I don't need the exact date but at least some indication, a month, a year? How long do we have to be apart?" Piper studied her husband's face and she could not help noticing how his eyes darkened and how he immediately became more distant.
Leo lowers his head and said slowly, "I am not going to lie to you, Piper. I don't know. I doubt that it would be a month. The Elder's Council is destroyed and I have to help rebuilding it. And after that there would be several things to sort out. And I have no idea how long it would take." He finally got the courage to look at her. "I..." he did not know what to say, "I realize that I can't ask you to wait for me indefinitely and in the meantime to put your life on hold. You deserve much better. So..." he took a deep breath and continued in a calm but strained voice, "if you want your freedom I will respect your decision and do my utter best not to stand in your way."
He finally said it. Leo did not know how he managed to utter these words. But one look at Piper made him forget all about his own pain. She sat on the couch completely pale her eyes full of tears.
"You want a divorce?" she whispered.
"No," Leo shot, "I don't want a divorce, I love you Piper, more than anything and this will never change. But I am not sure that you would want to wait for me when I have no idea when I am coming back. And even more I am not sure that you would want me back in your life after everything I've done and I will have to do. I am not the whitelighter you once knew. I've seen to many things, I've done too much wrong and you might not want..."
He stopped mid sentence when Piper groaned and clutched her belly. "What's wrong?" Leo rushed to her.
"The baby," she whispered trying to breath, "The baby is coming..."
XXXXXXXXX
Nicole paced around the Penthouse impatiently waiting for her husband. What was taking Cole so long? After talking to Phillip she blurred back to the Source's chambers anxious to share the information she received but found the room empty. She quickly realised that Cole had already left the Underworld. She presumed that he would get back to the Penthouse but instead he went to the Halliwell Manor. Nicole did not fancy going there and resigned to waiting for him at home hoping that he would not be too long.
Her patience was on the edge when he finally blurred in.
"Thank God," she cried out, "I was worried what was taking you so long."
He shot her a guilty look, "Sorry," he muttered, "I had to take Phoebe back to the Manor."
Nicole's insides grew tight as always when she heard the name of his ex wife, "Back?" she repeated questioningly.
"Yeah," Cole shifted his weight from one leg to another, "She came to see me to the Underworld and I promised Leo I would try to make some sort of peace with her. Her powers have been going haywire recently and he was worried about the Charmed Ones..."
"Cole," she interrupted him, "you don't have to explain to me why you dropped off Phoebe. I trust you and plus we have much more important issues at the moment."
He gave her a wary look, "What's wrong?"
"When des Noures asked to talk to me he wanted to warn us." She pulled up the sleeve of her blouse with a nervous gesture. "You know how warlocks are good in infiltrating the witchery covens or at least getting close to them?! A week ago he got a report from one of his agents that somebody was trying to organise witches and mortals who in the past were attacked by the Brotherhood of the Thorn."
Cole who was listening to her with acute attention relaxed slightly, "Every large coven was at least once attacked by the Brotherhood," he remarked calmly, "it was a big organisation with several hundreds of members."
"Oh, I know that," Nicole did not support his light tone, "And so do the warlocks. But the agent said that the witches contacted were the relatives of victims of one particular demon." She gave him a meaningful look and added quieter, "Belthazor."
The half demon immediately became alert, memories of how he lost his demonic half fresh in his mind, "Is des Noures sure?" he asked frowning.
"No," Nicole admitted reluctantly, "That's why he did not say anything during the Council meeting. His spy was supposed to get some more information but he disappeared three days ago. At first des Noures did not worry, apparently this half warlock was a bit of playboy."
"Was?" Cole interrupted her.
"Yes, they found him yesterday or what was left of him. Vanquished using an athame."
Cole ran his hand through his hair and started pacing trying to put his thoughts together. His wife looked at him worriedly, "Phillip thinks we should move to the Underworld for a while at least until he finds out any more information. He has instructed all his agents to keep their eyes open. So we hopefully will hear something soon. But I think that he's right. It would be safer in the Underworld for both of us."
"And I agree," Cole got up, "You should go straight away and I'll stay here and try to find out something about this whole thing."
"Oh, no," Nicole glared at him, "You are not going alone," she said sternly. "Either we both go to the Underworld or we both stay here and try to figure out what is going on."
Cole shook his head, "Look, Nicole, you've been up for more than 16 hours. That's not healthy especially for the baby. Plus it's just witches, what can they do against me? And I promise I am not going to fight them, I'll just listen into their conversation and be invisible all the time."
Nicole gave him an unhappy look, "I don't think it's a good idea, Cole."
He smiled and pulled her into the hug, "Everything will be fine," he whispered softly, "I promise. You know yourself that we are going to have a very busy time and it would better if we did not have to look over the shoulders all the time. The sooner we clear everything up the better and safer for the baby."
Nicole nodded, "You promise you'll be careful?" she asked twisting the fabric of his shirt.
"Word of honour," his lips touched hers and Nicole forgot all her troubles. Without breaking the kiss Cole tried to blur away but found himself still in the Penthouse. The half demon pulled away and tried to shimmer but again nothing happened.
Nicole frowned and looked at him, "What's wrong?"
"I can't blur," he said puzzled and opened his palm expecting to see an energy ball hovering above his palm. But once again his powers did not work.
Nicole tried the same and looked at him worriedly, "Our powers don't work." She concentrated trying to extrapolate her inner feelings, "And it's not just our powers, I can't feel any magic at all. And it's not that my senses are wrong. I can still feel the matter of the Universe but it just seems to be inactive."
"The Halliwell's child," Cole whispered. He looked at Nicole, "Remember, that in rare occasions when a powerful magical being is born to a human woman sometimes the magic takes a pause in order to allow the mother to cope with the baby's powers which otherwise could destroy her. Well, Piper Halliwell is not exactly an ordinary human but then her child is more powerful than any baby ever born into this world, so that's why we probably have this pause to allow her to give birth."
Nicole could feel her body tense, "I don't like this," she said worriedly, "Without our powers we are sitting ducks here."
Cole tried to calm her down, "We are not sitting ducks," he said. "First, it's not just us who are powerless, so we don't have to fear from any other magical creatures. And secondly, most people live like this all the time and we for sure are fitter than most of them."
Nicole gave him a sceptical look, "You forget that most people don't have that many enemies as we do. And considering the fact that my mother is somewhere on a lose I don't feel comfortable without the protection of my powers." She looked at him pleadingly, "Please Cole, I don't want you to think that I am paranoid but from the moment I heard this story from Phillip I keep having this horrible feeling in my gut. And ever since I returned to the Penthouse it keeps getting stronger. So can we just get out of here? I know that we can't go to the Underworld, but at least we can go to my uncle's house with electric gate and the door you need a missile to break through."
The half demon was already used to trust his wife's gut feelings. Nicole was not a panic-monger and he would agree with her that the Schwarzlight Manor was a safer place than the Penthouse. He took her hand and they both got into the lift, which took them downstairs to his car.
XXXXXXXXXX
When her son sent her off Elizabeth shimmered into the Signa plane and knocked on the door to a small wooden hut. After a few moments it opened and the penetrating eyes of the Prophet eyes stared at her.
"We need to talk," the demoness said firmly experiencing a strong feeling of déjà vu since it was exactly the same words she said six months ago after coming here for the first time after her son restored her memory.
"Yes, we do," said a deep voice. "Please come in."
When the demoness entered she found that she was not the only guest of this remote hut.
"What are you doing here?" she asked coldly.
Celina smiled coolly at the demoness, "Same thing you do." The demoness just looked at her suspiciously and the French woman continued, "I believe we have one concern in common."
"No, we don't," the Source objected coldly, "you are a Lugel and therefore your primary concern is your mission whatever it is. I am a mother and my primary concern is Belthazor."
Celina met the black eyes of the demoness with similar cold look, "You are right," she said, "in thinking that our primary concerns are slightly different. You first care about your son and only after that about his wife, and myself I first care about Nicole and only after that about Cole." She paused noticing a slightly surprised expression on Elizabeth's face. "But both of us failed to see the real situation. It's not about him or her. It's about both of them. Neither of them would be able to have a normal life alone. Which makes our task more difficult than we thought before."
The demoness studied the Lugel's face with an acute attention and then turned to the Prophet. "Your potion did not work," she said coldly.
Celina smiled, "It would have if Nicole drank it."
The demoness stared at her surprised, "I saw her drinking it," she exclaimed.
The French woman shook her head, "No, you saw Nicole drinking a glass of wine, which you thought had contained the potion you mixed into it. But in reality the wine contained a very potent mixture of fertility and passion potions."
The demoness stayed silent for a minute and then asked, "Was it you?" Celina nodded silently. "Why?" Elizabeth tried to sound calm.
"To fulfill their destiny," Celina answered simply.
"In which you manipulated them?" Elizabeth retorted sarcastically.
Celina just gave her a dark look. "The goal is everything," she stated calmly.
"Oh, don't give me that," Elizabeth shot angrily, "you say that you care about Belthazor and Nicole. And all you did is put my son's life in grave danger. I wonder what would Nicole say when she finds out that you knew about it and still proceeded with your stupid mission."
Celina paled but tried to control herself, "I had no choice. There are more important things at stake here."
"Of course," Elizabeth lips twisted into a caustic smile and she turned to leave. But the Lugel stopped her.
"Listen to me," she said, "All you know is that Cole is very powerful, well I can tell you that him and Nicole are the Chosen Two, the most powerful creatures in the Universe destined to bring the peace to the world of magic. They were prophesized long time ago. And Lugels were looking for them for centuries. But when the Chosen Two came along we realized that they were part of another prophecy as well. And that's where the complications started."
"What was that prophecy?" the demoness demanded anxiously.
"The prophecy about two powerful magical beings coming together in marriage and producing two heirs, twins who will secure the prosperity of magic world for centuries to come."
"But how do you know that's Belthazor and Nicole are these beings?" the Prophet finally raised his voice.
Celina sighed and submitted to telling the rest of the Prophecy, "Because the Prophecy talked about two Lugels one of whom had incomplete powers."
The demoness moved forward her eyes sparkling brightly, "And Belthazor has defective powers?"
Celina shook her head, "No, not him, but Nicole. Since they are the Chosen Two as long as they are in physical contact his invincibility covers both of them. But on her own she is vulnerable."
"But it does not make sense," Elizabeth exclaimed. "When Belthazor was born I took him to the Prophet and was told that he was destined for great things but his human half would always be his great strength and his great weakness. It will make him vulnerable to love. When he rises above good and evil he will marry a woman. And he will put himself in great danger trying to protect her and their child. That's why I wanted to stop Nicole from getting pregnant."
"But Lugels could not allow it. The prosperity of magic is too important. And the prophecy says that the couple would not last long and that one of the partners would die trying to protect the other one. And if the heirs were not brought into the world by then the future of the magic world would face great uncertainty. We could not risk that."
"But you happily risked the lives of your two members," Elizabeth cried out, "and from what I understand you did not even tell them about it."
Celina shook her head, "We could not. Do you think Cole and Nicole would even come close to each other in the beginning if they knew that they were supposed to have children together? And when they fell in love, would you think that they would stay together knowing that one of them would die protecting another?" She paused and then continued calmer. "You know yourself that their destinies are linked and only together can they be truly happy, that's why you pushed them together as well."
Both women fell silent. The Prophet who so far had not said a word raised his voice, "What is interesting," he started, "is that Belthazor is the one who is invincible, but all the readings I have done for him shows that it's him who will be balancing between life and death."
Celina and Elizabeth stared at him. "I don't know," the demoness said. "And I don't like things I can't understand."
Celina was about to answer when she froze. "Something is wrong!" she said.
"What?"
"My powers," Celina said. "They are gone."
Elizabeth tried to shimmer but nothing happened. "How could it be possible?" she asked.
Celina looked at her thoughtfully, "It's not just us. The magic of the whole Universe has withdrawn. It's sort of taking a break." She swirled around, "Piper Halliwell," she exclaimed. "Her son is very powerful and his birth is marked by the magic forces." She slammed her fist into table, "And we are stranded here."
Elizabeth paled. "It can't be," she said. "Not now."
The prophet stared in front of him, "This what it meant," he exclaimed, "during my visions I always saw a baby being born and magic world coming to the standstill. I always assumed it was the baby of Belthazor but it probably was the Halliwell's child. Which means that," he paled and shot a worried look at two women, "Belthazor's life is on the line now."