SAME SPOILER WARNING AS PREVIOUS CHAPTERS

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

The girls had no sooner orbed out of Victor's apartment when Grams and Patty materialised in front of all the male members of the family.

"Oh my God, what are you doing here?" Victor exclaimed, not used to seeing ghosts in his apartment.

"Nice to see you too, Victor." Grams shot back at him.

"What are you doing here?" Leo asked, repeating Victor's question.

"There's not much time. Piper has had us doing a bit of investigating for her." Patty started to explain.

"What do you mean? Why has she had you helping her?" Chris asked recognising them both immediately from photos.

"Hello Chris, Wyatt." Patty said to them. "I'd love to spend time getting to know you, but I'm sorry this is very urgent."

"Piper realised that Zankou's precognitive powers did not extend to ghosts. There is no way for him to second guess what we've been doing." Grams explained answering Chris' question.

"But Zankou has been vanquished." Wyatt told them.

"No. He hasn't." Patty said. "Look, you don't have to understand this, you just have to do what we tell you."

"Piper has taken her sisters to Magic School because she is planning to make a deal with Zankou. His vanquish was just a ruse to make you all let your guard down, and her sisters more open to the idea of a truce." Grams continued.

"A truce? That's ludicrous!" Leo exclaimed.

"Piper knows that. She's been feeling a little depressed lately, and she noticed that Zankou couldn't read her as well while she was feeling this way. So she contacted us, crying her little heart out, god bless her soul, and told us what she wanted us to do." Patty helped to explain.

Grams continued, "We've found out two things from the Underworld. When Wyatt was here last time, Zankou was able to tap into his mind and find out that Piper's greatest desire was for a normal life. He has been using that as bait to form this truce, but of course he intends to kill them. The other thing he found out was the secret of the magical protection spell at Magic School. Wyatt must have known its secret in the future."

"I don't remember any of that." Wyatt told them all.

"So Zankou is now able to break the spell, and intends to kill them at Magic School." Chris worked out.

"Yes, but that's where you come in. We've got crystals for a force field, and vials with a potion. This is a similar potion that was used to imprison him by the Source, only this one will kill him, with the help of The Power of Three." Patty said as she handed Leo, Chris and Wyatt each a vial.

"You have been busy." Leo told them. "And Piper kept all this to herself."

"Yes, she had to. If she'd spoken about it to anyone Zankou would have been able to sense it. She also had to make sure she stayed pretty damned depressed while working this all out. Anyway, timing is of the essence. You have to arrive when Zankou is least expecting it which is when he thinks he's won, and his defences will be at their lowest." Grams explained.

"Now go and save our girls." Patty said to all of them.

Chris, Wyatt and Leo all grabbed a vial and crystal each. Chris put his hand on his Dad's shoulder and they both orbed out, closely followed by Wyatt.


"You've got three minutes." Phoebe said coldly to Zankou. "Start talking."

"Well I'm sure Piper has explained why we're meeting. Well, I'm afraid you can forget all about that." He said, as demons appeared all around.

"Paige, quickly orb…." But Piper did not get a chance to finish her sentence as Zankou threw a potion at their feet and the girls collapsed to the ground.

Zankou walked up to the sisters who were now lying paralysed on the floor. They looked up at him in terror, unable to move.

"Don't worry, it's just a little paralysing potion, it will wear off in a few minutes. Unfortunately you'll be dead by then. Yes, sorry to tell you that you are not protected here at Magic School anymore. And I have you to thank for that Piper." Zankou told them arrogantly.

Piper looked up at him, and hoped her plan was still going to work. She hadn't known for sure about him killing them at Magic School, but she had guessed it. That's why he had wanted it to remain a secret that they had died there in the new future. He was then able to kill the Elders, as they would have no idea the defences had been breached.

"When you summoned Wyatt from the future, I was able to tap into his thoughts while he was evil and find out about your desire for a normal life, and you've been falling into my trap perfectly. But, I was also able to find out the secret to this place. And that is going to be very handy."

"After I've killed them, we'll move them back to the Manor, so no one will suspect that I have been able to break the protection spell here. Zankou announced to his demon followers all around him.

"Sorry, but I see no reason to delay the proceedings any longer." Zankou said looking back down at Piper as he formed an energy ball in his hand.

As he lifted his hand to strike, suddenly Chris, Wyatt and Leo orbed in, and in one movement the three threw the magical vials they were holding at his feet and then immediately placed the crystals around him.

Zankou let go of the energy ball, which hit the side of the crystal forcefield, exploding harmlessly. He then started screaming as millions of tiny little insects came flying out of the shattered vials and began flying all around him and then, to his horror, through him. Desperately he tried to brush them away with his hands, but it was to no avail. He didn't stand a chance.

The demons standing around were so surprised to see their mighty leader be trapped in this way, that they just stood there, doing nothing.

"Who's next?" Wyatt asked to them all. They all realised that with Zankou being defeated in front of them, they would stand no chance, and so they all disappeared as quickly as their demonic magic would take them.

Leo ran to Piper, Wyatt to Paige, and Chris to Phoebe. They helped the girls, who were now starting to be able to move again, to a sitting position.

"We need the Power of Three Spell to finish him off." Leo told them.

"Just one thing, Zankou." Piper said as strongly as she could. "A witch is who I am, and always will be."

Then the three girls said together, "The Power of Three will set us free. The Power of Three will set us free." They watched as the millions of tiny insects kept swirling around him, eating more and more of his flesh, quickly devouring him until there was nothing left, and then they, too, disappeared.

"Now that's what I call a vanquish!" Chris exclaimed.

The sisters, now almost completely recovered, were carefully helped to their feet by the boys.

"What the hell just happened?" Phoebe asked.

"It's a very long story, but it was all Piper's doing. Zankou, through Piper, had been trying to lure you all into a trap, but needless to say, she outsmarted him." Leo told them.

"Why didn't you tell us?" Paige asked.

"Because Zankou would have been able to sense it. I'm sorry, but I had no choice. I'm just glad it's all worked out." She said, very relieved. "Oh, and I had some help from Grams and Mum because there was no way Zankou could sense them."

"Very smart." Paige complimented.

"Yes, it was." Grams said as she and Patty walked toward them.

"Thank you Grams, and thank you both for helping me." Piper said gratefully to them.

"Now that everybody is here, there is something I would like to say." Piper said looking around at her family looking back at her. "As you all know, I've been feeling a little down lately." Piper started to explain.

"But that was all part of the plan because Zankou had trouble sensing you when you were like that." Leo said to her.

"That was at the end. To begin with the feelings were real. But I just want to say that this whole thing has taught me a huge lesson. For years I've been searching for a normal life. It was all I could think about, and the belief that it would one day happen was sometimes the only thing that got me through the day. Well, how ironic was it that that desire is what nearly killed us all, and probably did kill us in Chris and Wyatt's future. I've come to realise that this is normal for us. We are witches. That's what we were born to be, and this life that we lead is normal for our destiny, and I've finally come to not only accept that, but embrace it."

"Well said, Piper." Phoebe said, as she walked up to hug her.

"I second that." Paige said, as she too walked up to Piper and the three sisters hugged, and felt more of a bond between them than they had for a long time.

Grams and Patty looked on proudly.

"I think it's time," Patty said to Grams.

"I think you're right." Grams replied.