"Any luck?" Phoebe asked coning into the kitchen. Paige was busy scrying for Toushell while Piper was working on a potion.
"None," said Paige. "Wherever he is I can't find him."
"Well we have one weapon," said Piper holding up a potion vial. "I've recreated the explosive potion I created a while back. It might not stop this thing but it should slow it down."
"What about Toushell?" Phoebe questioned. "What are we going to do about him?"
"From what Leo has told us," said Piper, "Toushell should be easy enough to deal with. The next time we see him I'll just blow him up. All he can do is shape shift and use his telepathy which Leo says shouldn't affect us any more."
"What about that fireball he formed when we first met?" Paige asked. "Apparently he has more abilities than Leo knew about."
"Probably just another of his subliminal suggestions," said Piper. "I doubt he can really use fire. Just another of his tricks to get us to do what he wanted."
"But Leo said his subliminal suggestions wouldn't work on Whitelighters," said Paige. "He shouldn't have been able to make Leo see an illusionary fireball."
"I don't know," said Phoebe. "Maybe he's got powers the Elders don't know about."
"Okay," said Paige, " so now all we have to do is figure out what that priest meant by going beyond eternity. How do you go beyond eternity?"
"I wish I knew," said Piper. "But even if the priest was insane it must have meant something. We just have to figure out what it meant."
Leo orbed into the kitchen just then.
"The Elders couldn't tell me much more than they all ready have," said Leo. "Originally the gargoyles were an experiment by some of the demonic hierarchy to create a sort of ultimate servant. Low-level demons to be used for manual labor, soldiers, that sort of thing. Their creation is something of a mystery.
"What is known is that the demons made a mistake when they created the gargoyles. They made them too powerful. They have a rudimentary intelligence that allows them to understand orders given to them but they can't talk. And they live on human blood. Other than that virtually nothing is known about them."
"Except we have to go beyond eternity to vanquish this thing," said Paige, "whatever that means."
"The Elders don't know what it means either," said Leo. "They've just marked it up to the ramblings of a deranged mind."
"Maybe not," said Phoebe. "I remember from my psychology class in college that even a deranged person can make sense. What they say is usually cloaked in riddles because the facts get jumbled up in their minds but it can mean something."
"Okay," said Leo, "so what does it mean?"
"We have no idea," said Piper. "We have to unravel the riddle. Is there anything else about this priest that might help us? What about that house he built?"
"It was a normal house by all standards," said Leo. "It wasn't particularly sturdy because he had it built within a few days. Other than that it wasn't any different from any other houses of the day. Once the gargoyle was vanquished he immediately had it demolished so no one would figure out how he did it."
"Was there anything unusual about it?" asked Phoebe. "Special materials, anything special he had put in it, anything like that?"
"Not really," said Leo. "It was built with the same materials used in any house. Even the furnishings were standard items."
"You mean he even had it furnished?" Paige asked.
"Yes," said Leo. "Remember, he was insane. By all accounts you'd think he was building it to live in. He said something about making it look like any other home so the gargoyle wouldn't suspect anything."
"Any idea how long before this egg hatches?" Piper asked. "Maybe if we can get to it before it does we can stop all this."
"In all likelihood," said Leo, "it will have hatched all ready. Most eggs don't take that long to hatch. But it will be several weeks at least before the newly hatched gargoyle is fully matured. It will grow to full size within a matter of hours but it takes a while for it to mature. And it will be at least a year or so before it's capable of reproducing. But when it does it will reproduce at an alarming rate."
"Well, that's something at least," said Phoebe. "If they're as dangerous as Toushell intimated a fully mature one could be very dangerous."
"They are," said Leo. "They were only able to stop them before because they hadn't fully matured yet. If they had it might have been impossible to stop them."
"Phoebe, maybe you'd better come up with a Power of Three spell," said Piper. "If they're that powerful we just might need it."
"Right," said Phoebe. "I'll also check the Book of Shadows for Shaper demons. Maybe something in there will give us a clue where Toushell is hiding."
"I'll keep scrying," said Paige. "Maybe I'll get lucky and find Toushell before the egg hatches."
"Good luck," said Piper. "I'm going to make some more of the explosive potion. We'll need every advantage we have against that thing."
"I'll help Piper with the potion," said Leo. "There isn't anything else I can learn from the Elders. At least I can help you prepare."
It was almost an hour later when Phoebe came down from the attic. Paige was still scrying for Toushell. Piper and Leo were busy preparing some more of the explosive potion Piper had created.
"How's it going?" Piper asked, seeing Phoebe coming into the kitchen.
"Well," said Phoebe, "still working on the spell. But I found something interesting about Shaper demons. According to the Book of Shadows they have a tendency to inhabit defunct churches and synagogues. So I was thinking. If Leo could check with the Elders maybe they could locate this Toushell for us. It should be an easy matter for them to find an old church or something that emanates evil."
"That's not a bad idea," said Leo. "I'll see what I can do. I shouldn't be long."
Leo orbed out of the kitchen leaving the girls alone.
"What about the potion?" Paige asked. "Got enough for all of us?"
"Sure do," said Piper, handing a vial to Paige and Phoebe. "I've made it extra strong. If we all use them at the same time it might be enough to vanquish this gargoyle."
"What about what the priest said?" Paige asked. "About going beyond eternity?"
"Probably just like the Elders think," said Piper. "It was probably just the ramblings of a deranged mind. Remember, Leo said he was insane. But however he vanquished the gargoyle died with him in the insane asylum."
"I'll keep working on the spell," said Phoebe. "We may need it when Leo gets back."