"Right, next on the list is the demon of fear, aka Barbus." Piper told her sisters.
"Don't remind me." Prue said glumly.
"What's so bad about him?" Paige asked.
"Oh I don't know, maybe the fact that it seems nothing can kill him, I don't remember how many times we've tried to vanquish him but he keeps coming back." Piper answered.
"That won't happen this time." Phoebe assured them causing her three sisters to look inquiringly at her. "Ever since Leo told us we would have to face him again I've been doing some thinking. Why don't we hit him with a potion for every emotion but fear."
"Come again?" Paige asked.
"A potion that has herbs that inspire or stand for some type of emotion, such as mistletoe for love, that sort of thing. We put in things for every emotion we can think of, but we don't put in anything fear related." Phoebe clarified.
Her statement was greeted by silence. "Um, something wrong guys?" She asked worriedly.
"Phoebe, you're a genus." Prue stated. The others agreed.
"Right so now we need to get a list together of all the things we need." Piper said, as ever the organized one. "We already have a summing spell in the Book of Shadows, so let's get started on the potion."
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"Every one ready?" Prue asked. The four of them were standing in the attic each of them holding a bottle of the Barbus vanquishing potion tightly in their hand.
Her question was greeted by nods from each sister. "Ok then, let's do this and vanquish him for the last time."
Four voices rose in a steady chant as the sisters read the spell.
"You play the game of evil,
You play the game of death,
We play no game but call you for your end.
Fear you spread,
So come spread it here,
We will oppose you,
Deadly Barbus dear."
A tower of black mist gathered in front of them, building to form the shape of a man.
"Hello, I was wondering when I'd get a call from you again, it's so nice that you remembered me." Barbus grinned, then he caught sight of Paige and his grin widened, "Ah, it appears the rumors are correct, you do indeed have a forth sister."
"Stay away from her." Piper said as she threw her potion at Barbus.
Barbus dogged the potion and threw a dagger, "Oh I'm sorry." He said.
The dagger's handle stuck out of Paige's stomach and she fell to the floor coughing up blood. Her potion fell from her grasp and shattered on the ground.
"You bastard!" Prue yelled and threw her potion. Unfortunately at the same time Piper blew him up. The potion crashed into the far wall as Barbus began to reform.
"You know, you are so predictable," Barbus told them, "All I have to do is knock off a sister of two, easy really." He said looking pointedly at Paige. Phoebe was on the floor next to her trying to stop the bleeding.
"Leo!" she called.
"I blocked this place, he won't be able to get in." Barbus informed them cheerfully.
Prue grabbed a dagger off of the table next to her and lunched herself at Barbus trying to hit him. He backed away but when Prue lunged at him a second time he disappeared and reappeared behind her.
"Sleep tight." He said as he gave her a push sending her crashing to the floor where she lay unconscious.
As Paige and Prue were down and Phoebe was trying to save Paige, Barbus turned toward Piper. "Ready to die?" He asked her as he waved his hand in front of her face, sweeping her mind for her greatest fear.
"Not quite." Piper responded, a second later something hit him in the back. He screamed as the potion took effect.
Barbus's skin began to change color: yellow for happiness, pink for love, red for rage, blue for coldness, green for envy, violet for pride, gray for pain, and after several other colors, his skin turned black for lack of emotion.
Each time his skin changed color, Barbus screamed louder, but when his skin finally turned black he stopped screaming and turned around.
"You killed me." He said to Phoebe and then he began to fold in on himself and shrink. When he was about a foot tall he collapsed leaving a pile of black dust behind.
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After Leo had come and healed Paige and Prue, Phoebe asked him about the dust that was all that was left of Barbus. They sat around the kitchen table while Leo looked into the bottle that contained the ashes.
"Is he dead?" Phoebe asked.
"Yes and no," Leo responded, "What you did was the equivalent of dehydrating someone. If you were to take all of the water out of a person's body you would end up with something like this. But in this case instead of water being deprived it was fear."
"So he's not dead?" Piper asked.
"He is but if you pumped enough fear back into the dust here he would regenerate, so that's why I'll be taking this now." Leo said and orbed away with the ashes.
"He really is unkillable." Paige said sounding awed.
"Told you." Piper said.
So ends the most recent encounter with Barbus, the demon that somehow manages to stay alive no matter how many times he is vanquished.