Disclaimer: I own nothing.

A/N: Oh, I forget to say this. In case you didn't know (which you probably do) Drew Fuller came back for a little bit last episode. YEA CHRIS!!! I'm gonna miss him this season.

Stolen

The council shortly ended after the news of the amulet was told. The nine robed figures left the room silently leaving the man in the high chair to his own thoughts. He sat unmoving in the chair his eyes closed in concentration. Finally the position of the amulet had been found, they had hope yet. All they had to do now was to reach out their hand and take it before any others did.

The council had discussed briefly their course of action, but the decision remained solely up to him, their leader. He had taken their suggestions and opinions to mind and was now contemplating the final action they would undertake. He couldn't ponder for long though, he needed to act fast. The situation at hand was a delicate one and could easily be tipped either way, for good or for bad.

He opened his eyes, staring into the shadows as an idea entered his mind. He would send somebody to retrieve the amulet. It was a simple solution, but not one to be taken lightly. He needed to send the right person to recover it, but who? He would need to send someone who was quick-minded, intelligent and intuitive; someone who was spirited and strong. And he knew just who that someone was. He closed his eyes again and reached out with the power of his mind to touch another's, calling to them. And they responded.

"So, what is it?"

Piper looked expectantly at Leo, who was examining the amulet that Phoebe had given him. He ran his fingers over the red, surprisingly warm stone in the center, exploring it and rubbed the smooth surface as he thought.

"I don't know," he said, still staring curiously at stone. "I've never seen anything like it before. Are you sure there was nothing in the book about it?"

"Positive," said Phoebe as she crossed her arms.

"What about the demon that attacked you?"

"No nothing about him either. Maybe you should check with the Elders, see if they know anything."

"Yeah, maybe," Leo handed the amulet to Phoebe and quickly orbed Up There. After Leo was gone, Phoebe turned to her sisters.

"I wonder why we can't find anything about this amulet," said Phoebe, absentmindedly stoking the stone with her thumb.

"Maybe it's not magical," suggested Paige from her position on the couch. "Maybe it's just an ordinary necklace."

Piper shook her head. "I don't think so," she said. "Demons wouldn't be after something that isn't worth anything."

Paige's brow frowned in thought. "Well, maybe if we find out who the demon was that had it, we could find out about this amulet," she suggested.

Phoebe looked at her younger sister questionably. "You mean scry with it."

Paige shrugged. "It's worth a try isn't it?" She waited for her sister's reactions.

"I'll get the map and the crystal," Piper said and left the room, heading toward the attic. As soon as she left Cole shimmered into the room. Phoebe saw him appear and went over to hug him.

"Hey, baby," said Cole as he wrapped his arms around her waist and kissed the top of her head. Phoebe smiled and went to put her arms around his neck. Cole caught a glimpse of the amulet still entwined in her fingers and gripped her wrist.

"What?" asked a surprised Phoebe looking up at his face. Cole said nothing; instead he took the amulet from her hands and held it in his own. He looked at it in awe as he carefully inspected it a strange look pasting over his eyes.

"Cole..." Phoebe started to say slowly after seeing the look in Cole's eye. She dropped the hand that had held the amulet and stared at her boyfriend. Piper had come back from the attic and was holding the map and scrying crystal.

"I've got the stuff..." Her voice trailed off when she saw Cole holding the amulet. She cast a questioning glance to her sisters, but they were looking at Cole with intent curiosity.

"Cole," began Phoebe again, "have you seen this before?"

Cole didn't answer immediately, he was still eyeing the stone with great interest; he hardly seemed to hear Phoebe or notice her the others staring at him. "Cole!" Phoebe said sharply trying to get his attention. He seemed to snap out of his trance and turned to find himself looking at a impatient Phoebe.

"No, I haven't," he said. Phoebe turned to her sisters with sigh and seemed to relax a bit. "But I have heard about it."

Phoebe whirled around facing Cole and looked at him fixedly. "What do you mean? You know about this?"

Cole shifted uncomfortably. "I heard something about it in the Underworld." He held up the chain letting the light from the window reflect off the smooth surface of the stone. "All the demons down there are talking about it. It's supposed to have some great power."

"What kind of power?" asked Piper from her place behind Phoebe. Cole looked at her with a serious expression.

"Not of this world kind of power."

It took only a few minutes before he heard the sound of approaching footsteps. A figure entered the chamber, dressed in black like the others had been. The hood was thrown back revealing long, dirty blonde hair that was pulled back into a braid that fell past the women's shoulders. She came and stood before great chair and gently dipped her head into a bow in respect before sitting down. She leaned back in the chair and placed a hand under her chin as if already bored and uninterested. He smiled to himself, amused at her manner. She is in the presence of her leader, yet acts with casual insolence. He was not upset with her laid-back attitude, however; of course she was always like that, but she was good at what she did and was the only one he would trust with the task. Our future depends on it, he thought.

"Welcome, Arianna." he caroled in greetings.

She stood up again and gave another short bow almost mockingly. "Lord Cyrus." She sat down immediately taking up her slouching position once again. With out any further waiting she dove right into the issue.

"So what is it that you want?" she asked causally, ignoring the normal protocol of being addressed before speaking to a higher authority.

"The amulet has been found," he said simply giving her the information that she wanted. She didn't even stir at the news.

"So I've heard."

He sat back in his chair, impressed. It hadn't even been half-an-hour since the news had been brought in and she already had discovered about it. Her ears are sharp, he thought again.

"I need you to retrieve it."

She sat up a little straighter in her chair appearing interested now. "All right. Where is it and who do I need to kill to get it?"

He stood up from his chair and stepped down from the platform on which it stood. The women's green eyes followed his every move as he made to approach her.

"It is presently in the possession of the Charmed Ones."

She raised an eyebrow with amusement. "It's with those witches." She gave a small laugh before standing up. "It'll be like taking candy from a baby." Without even a short bow, usually given with departure, she made her way out of the chamber.

"Arianna," he called after her. She stopped in mid-step and turned back towards him. "We have been waiting a long time to relocate the amulet and you know how important this is to all of us." He fixed her with a stern glance and she stared him straight in the eye unflinching. "Go in, take the amulet and bring it back here. No games, no messing around, you know how powerful it is and what could happen if it fell into the wrong hands. It would be a very dangerous tool." Arianna crossed her arms, wanting this little lecture to end so she could do what she needed to.

"I know Cyrus." she said impatiently, "After all, I have been studying it for the past decade."

"Of course," he said and turned to go back to his chair. Arianna did not move.

"And what of the witches?" she asked.

He turned back to her. "You are not to harm them," he said firmly. He saw her hesitant about the instruction.

"But they're witches."

"You are not to harm them," Cyrus repeated. He wanted to make her understand and respect his authority.

Arianna paused for a moment, considering her options. "Fine, I won't harm them," she said though a bit slowly. Cyrus seemed to be satisfied that she would obey this time and dismissed her with a wave of his hand.

"What do you mean 'not of this world kind of power?'." asked Paige.

Cole lowered his arm and firmly grasped the stone in his fist. "Rumor has it down there that this amulet isn't from this world. That its power comes from a different realm."

The girls were still confused. "Where else could it come from, the Spirit realm?" Paige asked.

"It doesn't look very ghostly," said Piper tilting her head to look at the stone better.

"Where else could it come from, if not the Spirit realm," said Paige. "We don't have many other options." Everyone was stumped.

"I'll go back down and see if I can find anything else," Cole suggested. The girls looked at each other briefly and nodded.

"Okay," said Phoebe and came up to put her arms around Cole. "Just be careful."

"I always am." He gave her the amulet and kissed her before shimmering to the Underworld.

"Well I guess scrying for it won...," started Paige but was interrupted as a demon shrouded in a dark cloak shimmered in behind Phoebe. "Phoebe, behind you!" she shouted in warning, but it was too late. The demon, with a wave of his hand, threw Phoebe across the room where she landed on a side table, smashing it to splinters. Piper raised her hands to blow the demon up but found herself, instead, flying into a wall where she hit her head and slumped to the ground.

"Lamp," called Paige holding out her hand. It orbed over to her and she threw it toward the demon who ducked, missing the lamp by a hair. Phoebe was up again, a little wobble from her flight through the air, but managed to stand tall. Paige tried to throw a vase at the demon, who again avoided, but it distracted him enough that Phoebe was able to go behind him and kicked the legs from under him. He crashed on his back and his hood fell back revealing a face similar to the demon they had saw earlier in the park; those deep, yellow eyes stared back at her. The demon reached up and grabbing Phoebe, proceeded to flip her over him onto her back. The wind rushed out of her lungs as she slammed into the floor, stunning her for the moment. He used the second to take the amulet that was clenched in her fists. Seeing him take it, Paige tried to stop him before he could leave.

"Amulet," she said reaching out her hand towards the demon, but nothing happened; the amulet didn't appear in the swirl of blue lights as it normally should. The demon smiled wickedly at her, showing his yellowed, pointed teeth and shimmered out.

Phoebe groaned and got up from the floor using a nearby table to steady her. She looked around the room surveying the damage. She saw a slumped figure against the wall.

"Piper," she whispered, seeing her oldest sister lying on the floor. She rushed over to where she had fallen, followed by Paige, and knelt down beside her. "Piper," said Phoebe, anxiously "Get up."

Piper opened her eyes, staring up at her two concerned sisters. Phoebe let out a sigh of relief. "Piper are you alright? Say something."

"Ow," responded Piper, rubbing her head and then slowly raised herself into a sitting position aided by her sisters.

"Are you okay sweetie, do you want me to call Leo?"

"I'm fine," said Piper waving them off. After a while she stood up and looked around at the rubble in the room. "Ugh," she said staring at the splintered table, "more demon aftermath clean up." And proceeded to start picking up the wood fragment that once was a table

"Piper...," started Phoebe intending to tell her about the amulet, but was interrupted as another figure dressed in black robes materialized into the room.

"Not again," groaned Piper, she made to blow up the intruder, but the intruder held up a hand as if it were a shield. The attack never hit its target, but seemed to be absorbed by the robed figure. Piper stared in amazement first at her hands, then the stranger before trying to blow it up again; the same thing happened.

"I don't have time for this," said the stranger in an annoyed voice. With a wave of the intruder's hand, Piper, Phoebe, and Paige found that they couldn't move, much like what happened when Piper froze something. But they were still aware of all that was going on and were able to move there eyes and mouths.

"That's better," said the stranger, "Now, tell me where the amulet is and I'll be out of here and you can go back to whatever you little witches do."

"You just missed it," said Phoebe matching the smug attitude of the intruder. The stranger turned towards her. "One of your little demons friends came by and took it already."

The stranger didn't move. "You mean it's gone?" It said in quiet anger.

"Yep," said Phoebe, "You missed it by just a few minutes."

The stranger threw back it's hood to reveal a head of blonde hair that was pulled back into a braid. The face of the women was tinged red and she had her fist clenched at her side.

"Can't you pathetic witches hold on to a little necklace for more than a few minutes?" She told the sisters in a heated voice and glared coldly into the eyes of each of the frozen witches making them cringe inwardly. "Well thank you for making my job a hell of a lot harder." With that she materialized out of the room. Upon her leaving, the sisters unfroze and stared at each other silent, and confused. Very confused.