Paige sat on the table staring off into space and humming gently. Piper waved a hand in front of her face. Paige didn't react.
"Phoebe, what did you do?" said Piper. Phoebe winced.
"Why do you think it's something I did?" she asked
"Well, I doubt that Paige would do this to herself and I know I didn't cast any spells. So unless there's a demon of happiness about I think you've got some explaining to do"
"Ok, I cast a spell. But it was just to make people less stressed out. That can't be bad, can it?" Phoebe explained. Piper wasn't having it.
"Less stressed. Phoebe, you turned her into a hippy!" Piper began before pausing. Something had just occurred to her, "Wait, you said people. What people?"
"Paige, and my boss, but that was it. I swear!" Phoebe pleaded. Leo and Gideon orbed in. They had gone to discuss Paige's situation with the rest of the Elders.
"It's not just Paige. Whitelighters all over the world have been reporting in with their charges all showing the same symptoms. The same blissful state and relaxed attitude everywhere" said Leo. Piper turned to Phoebe with a severe look on her face.
"And quite a few other people" she said
"Not just witches either, literally everyone. Even demons that weren't in the Underworld at the time the spell was cast were affected" Gideon told them.
"Don't be mad" said Phoebe.
"Don't be mad, don't be mad, Phoebe you turned everyone into hippies! Of course I'm going to be mad" Piper shouted.
"It's ok, Phoebe can put it right. There's plenty of time for this all to just blow over" supplied Paige in a dreamy sort of way.
"Leo, we are going to the Manor to find Phoebe's hippy spell and come up with a way to undo it. Is Chris still watching Wyatt?" asked Piper
"Yes, I'll tell him where you've gone" said Leo. Phoebe and Piper took hold of Paige's hands. She looked blankly at them.
"Orb, missy!" Piper commanded.
-
There was a Darklighter in the living room. He had put his crossbow on the coffee table and was watching the TV. Clearly he was under Phoebe's patience spell. He looked up as the Charmed Ones materialised.
"Hello" he said amiably.
"Whoa, whoa, whoa, what is wrong with this picture?" Piper shouted. Paige was waving at the Darklighter.
"Oh this? I'm supposed to be waiting in ambush. Ames wants me to distract you while he goes to see Barbas" said the Darklighter in that same good natured tone.
"Barbas? As in 'The Demon of Fear' Barbas? And who is Ames?" asked Phoebe. Piper glanced at her.
"Ames is kinda like my boss, I suppose. And I don't know anyone else called Barbas. Sorry"
Piper grabbed Phoebe by the arm and dragged her into the kitchen. Paige sat down on the couch and said 'Hi' to the Darklighter.
"Ok, there is a Darklighter in our living room and he is just sitting there telling us who sent him. I don't like this. Why is he here?" said Piper
"I know, it's weird. I didn't think my spell would work like this" said Phoebe.
"Yes, but that still doesn't tell us what this Ames guy is up to or how Barbas is involved"
"Why don't we ask him?"
"Ask him? The Darklighter?"
"Why not? He's answered everything else so far"
They went back to the living room. The Darklighter was still there.
"Hello, Mr. Darklighter, why are you distracting us?" asked Phoebe, earning herself a disbelieving look from her older sister.
"Ames is going to summon something. I don't know what it is, but Ames says that it's strong enough to eat the sun and the moon. I'm here because he doesn't want to be stopped and you're the Charmed Ones, stopping evil is kinda like your job"
"So why is he seeing the Demon of Fear?" asked Piper
"Because Ames can't control the beast but he thinks that Barbas can" The Darklighter's cheerfulness was unsettling. Piper put two and two together. She didn't like what she came up with.
"Did Ames steal a book from the Magic School?" she asked.
"Yeah, that was Ames" Piper nodded, and then she stood in front of the intruder.
"I'm going to vanquish you now" she said
"Ok" said the Darklighter. Piper and Phoebe exchanged looks.
"Well, would you mind standing up? I don't want to burn the couch" Piper asked him. To her surprise, he stood up.
"Is this better?" he asked. Piper blew him up.
"Phoebe, reversing your spell is going to have to wait. This sounds big"
"I'll see what I can find in the Book of Shadows but I've never heard of anything that can eat the sun and moon" said Phoebe as she went to the attic.
"What can I do?" Paige asked.
"Err, why don't you go and tell Gideon that we know what happened to his book?" Piper suggested.
-
Ames was drawing runes on the cavern floor. He had everything planned down to the smallest detail. Nothing could go wrong now.
"Still rushing to get finished, Ames? You know that you can't summon the thing until midnight" Barbas had materialised behind him.
"Don't tell me that the witches spell has affected you too" said Ames.
"No, no, but you may like to know that one of the Charmed Ones got the full blast" Barbas kicked at one of the runes, smudging the design. He smirked at the look on Ames face as the Darklighter went to correct it. Barbas waited until Ames was on the ground before dangling a small, blood red amulet in front of his face.
"Is that it?" Ames asked
"Is this the amulet that contains a drop of blood from the saint who destroyed your monster the first time it was summoned all those centuries ago? Why yes, I do believe it is!" said Barbas, swinging the amulet like a pendulum.
"Where did you find it?" Ames asked as he reached for it. Barbas snatched it away.
"My secret. Let's just say I had to kill quite a few people to get it"
"Do you realise how vital that amulet is? I've had my agents searching for it for months!" Ames said quietly. He stared at the amulet in Barbas' hand as though it were the most beautiful thing he had ever seen
"In that case, I think I'd best keep a hold of it" said Barbas before he teleported away.
-
Leo found Chris and Wyatt in a quiet room. Chris had spent the past half an hour trying to get Wyatt to take a nap but it wasn't happening.
"Chris, Piper wanted you to know that she's gone back to the manor with Phoebe and Paige" Leo said to them. From the crib where he was sitting, Wyatt giggled and pointed at Chris. The comic that Piper had taken was orbed back into his hand.
"That's right, wait till mom's gone!" said Chris sarcastically. Wyatt laughed.
"Am I missing something?" Leo asked
"Wyatt and I were reading this earlier. I guess he wants to know how the story ends. Anyway, why have they gone to the manor? Does it have anything to do with the missing book?"
"No, Phoebe cast a spell that went wrong; they're trying to reverse it"
"Well, if you don't mind watching Wyatt I could go and help them" Chris offered.
"That could be for the best. Paige was affected by the spell"
"Affected, how?" Chris asked
"You'd better see for yourself" said Leo. Chris handed him the comic book before he orbed.
-
Chris appeared in the kitchen to find Paige stirring what looked like a thick brown potion.
"Paige, where are Piper and Phoebe?" Chris asked her as she took her concoction off the heat.
"They're upstairs reading the Book of Shadows" she said, stirring the mixture a few times to even it out.
"Are you ok? Leo said that you'd been affected by a spell"
"I'm fine". Happy with the mixture, Paige picked up a box of cornflakes and added them to the mix.
"Paige, what are you doing?"
"Well, Piper said to tell Gideon that we know that a Darklighter called Ames stole his book and is working with Barbas to summon some kind of demon. Then I thought we should have a vanquishing potion to vanquish the demon. Then I realised that it was stupid because I didn't even know what the demon was, and then I remembered that I haven't made any of these in a very long time. Can you pass me some of those paper things please?" Paige pointed to some muffin cases on the bench.
"Piper! Phoebe! What's going on?" Chris shouted. Piper came into the kitchen.
"Paige? What is this?"
"Well, after you told me to…"
"I think I'd better tell her, you finish what you're doing" Chris cut her off. Paige smiled.
"What is going on here? Dad said that there was a spell gone wrong"
"Long story. Chris, can you go tell Gideon that we know where his book is"
"Yeah, Paige told me about the Darklighter and Barbas"
"Good, and can you ask him if he knows anything about a demon that can eat the sun and the moon? Phoebe and I can't find anything in the Book of Shadows"
"Eats the sun and moon" Chris repeated, "I've heard that before somewhere, I'm sure of it"
"Do you know where?"
"I'm sorry, I can't remember. But I know I have heard that before somewhere. I'll see what Gideon knows" Chris promised.
