Chapter 7: Day Six
"Wh-where am I?" Leo asked. He was in some darkened place. He couldn't see anything, but darkness. Someone stepped forward. It was an Elder. Her robes had been tattered and charred. "Why have you brought me here?"
"You're our last hope," she told him. "You're the last one that can help us." A few more Elders stepped out. "We're all that's left."
"What do you expect me to do?" Leo asked, suddenly angry. "I have no powers. I'm a human, not an Elder. Not even a whitelighter."
"As I said, you're all that's left. The sisters went up against the demons recklessly. That's why they've lost the battle. That is why they have failed."
"Piper's…dead?" Leo asked, suddenly overtaken by sorrow and grief. "I should have gone with her. I should have helped them."
"There's nothing you could have done," another Elder said. "She's not dead anyways…yet."
"What do you want me to do?" Leo asked again.
"There's only one thing left that could even hope to help us. It involves going against everything we believe in and breaks several of our rules."
"Who cares about the rules?" Leo exclaimed. "If there's no world left, what's the use of your rules anyways?"
"We have considered that, and came to a final conclusion. You must work together, with a certain demon." Leo's eyes filled with wonderment.
"Duck!" Piper yelled. Phoebe ducked down as Piper exploded a demon in front of her. Phoebe, still crouching, kicked a demon in the gut, sending him to the ground.
"Are you all worthless?" Rindo asked.
"No," Piper said. "Just stupid." She blasted Rindo, forcing him through a coffee table. Phoebe kicked him across the face to keep him down a little longer. She levitated in the air, spun around and kicked another demon, causing him to fall to the ground.
"Piper, behind you!" Phoebe yelled. Piper froze an energy ball from hitting her. She then, blew the lower-level demon up.
"Thanks," Piper said. She blew up another demon.
"Anytime," Phoebe replied. She didn't notice a demon throwing an energy ball at her. It sent her flying across the living room. Piper blew the demon up and ran to her sister's side. "I'm okay."
"Good," Piper said. "I don't need three dead sisters." Rindo stepped into the room, mockingly clapping his hands.
"Great work," he said. "You managed to kill several of my best demons. I applaud to you. But what have you got to take me on?"
"How bout this for a try?" Piper said, using her power to send him into a wall. He got up and brushed some debris off of his black clothing.
"You really do fight well. Although I must say, I am pretty sick of being thrown into things such as walls and coffee tables."
"Let's do it again then," Piper said. She was about to use her powers when Rindo sent a gust that blew her into a wall. Phoebe grabbed an exploding potion and threw it at him. It barely phased him. Piper slowly regained her ground and was about to attempt to blast him again, but Rindo was too quick. She was hit with another gust and was knocked unconscious.
"Now for the kill."
"We will supply you with your powers as an Elder for this mission. You must complete it before the storm and demons kill every last living thing." Leo nodded his head. "Alright then." She waved her arm. "Your powers have been replenished. Now orb to the Underworld and find the demon quickly. The fate of the world rests on it." Leo orbed to the Underworld, leaving the other Elders in their dark, new lair.
"This is getting to be too much," Annie said. "We can't stop the demons much longer. I hope those Charmed Ones have a plan that could save us and the world."
"I sure hope so too," David said. He was still lamenting over his sister's death. "Can you see the outcome of this?" he asked Charles.
"I can't see anything," Charles replied. "I'm not sure what will happen. My gut feeling is that we're goners though."
"Yeah, that's mine too," Annie said. "We're not as powerful anymore. We can't do this without Jordan."
"I don't think we could do this even with Jordan," Charles said. "It's all up to what the Charmed One's have planned."
"If they have anything planned," Annie said doubtfully. "Look out! Demons ahead."
The Underworld seemed slightly happier now with the demons gone. There was nothing down there but rock and stones. Leo had no idea where to go first. He felt a power source, so he decided to walk towards it.
"Hello?" he called out. He heard the reply of his echo. The Underworld was dead. He kept walking towards the energy he felt. It was a great one. Stronger than any he had felt before. Stronger than the Charmed Ones, stronger than the Source, and certainly stronger than Rindo.
"I've been expecting you, Leo," a demon said once Leo had walked into a demonic lair.
"Why aren't you up with the rest of your demon buddies?" Leo asked sarcastically.
"I hardly call them 'buddies'," the demon said. "I call them nothing more than acquaintances."
"Whatever," Leo said, trying to get on subject. "I…"
"I know why you've come," the demon answered before Leo explained. "It sure did take you long enough though. I was expecting the sisters to come straight to me, but instead, they decided to die fighting an endless battle."
"Will you help me or not?" Leo asked impatiently. The demon turned to face him.
"I don't seem to have a choice," the demon of time answered.
"Piper, get up!" Phoebe yelled to her sister. Rindo had her by the throat and was holding her in the air. Phoebe was frantically trying to get loose, but the harder she tried, the harder Rindo's grip became. "Piper!" Piper suddenly started to stir. "Help!"
"No one can help you now," Rindo said. "No one."
"Think again," Piper said, using her powers, once again to push Rindo back. He dropped Phoebe to the ground as he was thrown back.
"I think I'll kill you first," he said to Piper. "No, better yet. I'll force you to watch your sister's death." He turned to a few demons. "Restrain her." They were telekinetic demons that had Piper's body limp before she had a moment to react. Rindo grabbed Phoebe and held her to a table. He started to use his power of lighting to send powerful shocks through Phoebe's body.
"Phoebe!" Piper screamed. Phoebe's struggling body suddenly went limp. Her lifeless body fell to the ground. The telekinetic demons forced Piper over to Rindo for her execution.
"Like that, witch?" Rindo asked. "You're next."
"How long will this take?" Leo asked. The time demon was mixing up some sort of potion. "I can tell Piper's in pain. Both physically and emotionally."
"It will only take a few minutes. Luckily we're only traveling back a few days in time. If this had gone on much longer, it would take me several more hours to finish this potion." He added another ingredient.
"I need to help Piper," Leo said.
"No," the demon told him. "She's as good as dead already. She will be restored by the time rewind, don't worry."
"I know, but I feel her pain. She can't go through this, even though she won't remember it. I can't allow this to keep going."
"The potion is almost done. All I need is one last ingredient." He started looking through his shelves. "Ah ha! Here it is." He grabbed an old jar and opened it. He threw in the last ingredient and started to mix it.
"Done?" Leo asked.
"You need to be patient, especially when dealing with time. All I need to do is say this spell." He started to chant in some demonic language, in hopes of restoring things to the way they were meant to be.
"I have been looking forward to this for too long," Rindo said. "Killing the strongest witch on the face of the planet. Such victory." He grabbed a knife and held it to the back of her head. "I think I'll do this the old-fashioned way."
"You'll never get away with this," Piper said, although she knew the battle was lost.
"Oh, but I have. I have already gotten away with everything." He lifted the knife above his head. "Now I'll get away with you." He plunged the knife down hard and fast.
Right before it hit Piper's head, time started to rewind. Back before Phoebe was killed, back before Darryl was killed, before Paige was killed, before Victor, Darryl's family, and before the death of all the other innocents. Time was rewound to be started out fresh.