The title of this chapter is different to the one I said and is the same as one of the charmed books!
Thanks everyone who reviewed, thank you SO much!
Truth And Consequences:
"Phoebe?"
"that was Elise, the paper's burnt down," she weakly replied. Everyone par Phoebe shared a shocked look.
"H-how?" Piper stammered, Phoebe shook her head and shrugged,
"here, sit down," Cole said, standing up and giving her his seat,
"no, I need to get down there," she told him,
"but, Phoebe, you've just had a big shock, you need some time to deal with it, even if it's only a minute," he said,
"I've had a minute," she simply replied, before flashing out.
In an alley next to The Bay Mirror building, a golden-white flare temporally illuminated the shadows as Phoebe appeared,
"oh god," she murmured, as she gazed at the smoke rising from her blazing work place.
"Phoebe," Elise said, making her way towards her possibly favourite employee,
"are you okay?" the advice columnist asked, as she watched her boss cough badly,
"yeah, just a little bit of smoke inhalation," Elise replied.
"Is there anyone still in there?" Phoebe asked, Elise nodded,
"about two people they can't get to," she croaked,
"but I can," Phoebe whispered, as one of the windows smashed; revealing a mass of roaring fire.
"Phoebe! Phoebe! Where are you going?" Elise called after her, as Phoebe marched towards the building and gave everyone who tried to stop her a small zap, before swinging the doors open and flashing upstairs.
"Get out of here, the whole building's gonna blow," one of her co-workers stated, pointing at a group of petrol cans which the fire was moving towards. Phoebe ran over to where he lay; weak and covered in small scorch marks from the heat and ash,
"Gabrielle," Phoebe muttered under her breath, seeing whose office door the petrol cans were stacked against,
"I think she's still in there," he said,
"she's about to owe me big time," Phoebe said, after chanting a spell to get the man out of the building:
"his needs are dire,
so take him from the fire."
Then she made her way towards Gabrielle's office and flashed inside; finding the fashion columnist unconscious. She checked for a pulse and then they exited the room in a glow, just as the flames licked against the petrol cans and an explosion carried throughout the building.
"You're a very brave woman, though I have now idea how you got her," a fireman said, as Phoebe walked alongside him towards the ambulance,
"or why," Phoebe whispered to herself; under her breath, because you're a good witch she reminded herself.
Back at the Halliwell-Wyatt manor, Paige dipped the wet crystal in the bowl of ash she has psychokinetically-orbed to herself from The Bay Mirror remains; causing the dusty substance to cling to the watery jewel.
"Are you sure this will work?" Piper asked, while she tried to tidy up the mess her daughters and nieces had created,
"no, that's why I have this spell to help!" Paige replied, holding up a piece of paper.
"Tell me when you find the location," Prue told her,
"no, you're not going anywhere near someone who causes fires," Andy strictly told her,
"I can look after myself, and so can the baby," she argued,
"I don't care," he stated, "Piper, can you keep an eye on her? the Elders are calling for a meeting!"
"that must be where Leo is," Piper said, tidying as she talked; like she was saying it to herself,
"Piper!" Andy said, clapping his hands to get her attention,
"what? oh, yeah, I'll watch Prue!" she replied,
"thanks," he said, before orbing out.
"You're not really gonna 'watch' me are you?" Prue asked,
"uh huh, I told him I would so I will," Piper said,
"then who's gonna come with me?" Paige questioned,
"I will!" Cole offered,
"me too," Kyle said, wrapping his hands around his wife's waist from behind.
"This isn't working," the youngest charmed one sighed, dropping the crystal on the map and unfolding her spell:
"the flames that burnt my sister's job,
a life they could possibly rob,
so show me to me where they are,
I will follow like a guiding star."
The crystal began to whip around in the air and danced across the map,
"gotcha," Paige whispered, jotting down the address on a piece of paper and grabbing Kyle's hand; orbing out with Cole shimmering after them. Piper felt a presence behind her as Phoebe flashed in,
"hey Pheebs, was everybody okay?" she asked,
"yeah, I had to save some guy and Gabrielle from the building, then it exploded," the angelic seer calmly replied,
"Gabrielle? couldn't she have used her powers to escape?" Prue said,
"that's what I thought," Phoebe replied, "I'm gonna use the truth spell to see if anybody knows anything."
"I think I've got a better spell," Piper told her, walking over and beginning to flip through the book until stopping on a certain page. On the page was an illustration of Piper and Paige; both having been drawn by Paige herself, and next to the pictures was a spell,
"CSI spell?" Phoebe smirked, reading the title of the page,
"long story," Piper replied,
"wait, isn't that how you found I was evil?" Prue asked,
"which time?" Piper said, with a grin, Prue shot her sister a playful glare.
"Are you sure it won't take too long this way?" Phoebe questioned,
"I'm sure," Piper nodded,
"good," Phoebe said, before chanting the spell:
"so no time we do waste,
give us the brains to solve the case."
The sisters' eyes glowed for a second or two and their clothes morphed into black suits and black sunglasses,
"wait, why did it work on all three of us?" Prue asked,
"because Miss Big Brains here forgot to reword the spell and make 'us' 'me'," Piper replied, glaring at Phoebe,
"I'm sorry, but look at the bright side; three heads are better than one," she said.
"Two heads," Piper said, gesturing at Prue and herself,
"hey, I have a head!" Phoebe exclaimed,
"yeah, but you have nothing in it," Prue responded, patting her clairvoyant sister's shoulder as she and Piper walked passed her.
Meanwhile, Paige, Kyle and Cole found themselves in an abandoned apartment,
"where are we?" Kyle asked, as they began to look around,
"hey, guys, has anyone actually been to Gabrielle's place since she left Victor's?" Paige asked, as she picked up a half burnt photo she had found of Gabrielle, Megra and Victor,
"no, why?" Cole replied,
"because I think this is where she lives," Paige said, "well at least lived," she added, glancing around at the empty room.
"You find Megra and Katrina, I'll go tell the others," Cole instructed, shimmering out,
"where d'you think they'll be?" Kyle asked,
"well Megra's a little kid and Katrina at least seems like a kind sister, so maybe the park?" the witchlighter suggested,
"lets go and see," he said, taking her hand and allowing her to orb him out.
At the hospital, Gabrielle had just signed herself out and was walking through the corridor when the air beside her rippled and Cole appeared.
"What are you doing here?" she asked,
"why'd you do it?" he questioned,
"you won't understand," she said, beginning to walk away,
"at least let me try," he stated, reaching out and taking her hand, she turned and gave him a half smile, before he shimmered them out.
They shimmered back in in the penthouse and sat at the glass table,
"so, are you gonna give me a chance to understand why?" he asked,
"Megra and Katrina, they're reincarnations of ancient evils, and their eternal battle will not end until one is dead, I couldn't choose, and I couldn't watch…" she said, tears beginning to roll down her cheeks,
"so you decided to take the cowards way out," he stated, standing up and turning away.
"I just told you that I attempted to kill myself because my daughter's were trying to kill each other, and that's how you react?" she said, upset and, to be honest, quite outraged,
"suicide is a cowards mission, suicide is for weak people, people who can't cope, and in my opinion you are anything but weak," he snarled.
"You have no idea…" she began,
"no idea? no idea of what? no idea of what is beneath the makeup and designer clothes? Yes, I do, don't you remember that night?" he said,
"that's not what I meant Cole and you know it," she hissed, through gritted teeth. Gabrielle stormed off towards the elevator doors only for him to run over and swivel her waist around so she was facing him,
"I'm sorry," he apologised, not taking his hands from her body,
"I'm sorry too," she whispered,
"for what?" he asked,
"for everything," she replied. He caressed her cheek before planting a kiss on her lips and leading her towards the bedroom…
At The Bay Mirror, Prue, Piper and Phoebe made their way through the burnt building; cloaked from the eyes of the police officers by an invisibility spell.
"What's this?" Piper asked, holding up a small hoop caked in ash,
"a wedding ring," Prue said, blowing off the ash to reveal a shiny gold band,
"let me see that," Phoebe told them, taking the ring from Piper's hand and reading the words engraved on the inside,
"love Victor," she whispered,
"what?" Prue questioned, but before Phoebe could reply she was sucked into a premonition:
Gabrielle wiped at her tearstained cheeks before putting the final petrol can down and heading into her office; locking the door and chanting something in Latin. As a fire lit in the corridor and people began to scream, she slouched against the door and grabbed a small bottle of vodka from her pink handbag, sipping at it and waiting for the flames to come.
"I knew it," the seer growled,
"knew what?" Piper asked, "knew what?" she called after Phoebe; as she charged from the building,
"the spell's over," Prue said, as their clothes returned to normal,
"she knows who did it," Piper stated, as they raced after their sister; the invisibility wearing off as they ran.
Gabrielle arrived at the hotel room she had been staying in since last night, and found Phoebe sitting in the chair next to the bed.
"What are you doing here?" she asked,
"you did it," was all Phoebe said,
"did what?" Gabrielle asked,
"burnt the paper down; risked all those lives," Phoebe spat, pulling a potion from her back pocket and holding it threateningly.
"What's that gonna do?" Gabrielle questioned,
"send you very far away," Phoebe informed her, throwing the potion, only for Gabrielle to destroy the vial with a blue blast.
"If you wanna play it that way…" Phoebe said, walking over and grabbing Gabrielle by her hair, "…then I'll play," she continued, after smashing Gabrielle through the window and onto the balcony.
At the Halliwell-Brody manor, Kyle and Paige watched from the doorway as Katrina tried to break through the forcefield they had created, with a bit of help from Megra,
"how long until the sleeping spell takes effect?" he asked,
"ten-fifteen minutes, if at all," the witchlighter replied.
"Paige? Kyle?" Prue's voice called from downstairs, followed by a clap as the front door closed,
"you want me to stay and watch them?" Kyle asked, as Paige made her way towards the stairs,
"no, they're stuck, for now," she replied, as they linked hands and walked downstairs together.
"Hey, where's Pheob…?" Paige began, before she was cut off by a crash from upstairs,
"uh oh," Kyle said, as they ran up and found two demons in the place of Megra and Katrina,
"where did they come from?" Piper asked,
"your stepmother," Paige replied,
"oh good lord," Piper sighed, rolling her eyes.
"Urm guys, I can't hold this for long," Prue stated, as she telekinetically lifted the two creatures into the air,
"let me help," Piper said, attempting to freeze them,
"I'm gonna try to create another forcefield," Paige said,
"I don't think there's much point, they'll break through it like it's a crumbling cookie," Kyle told her,
"true," she nodded. The She-Devil; formerly known as Megra, broke from Prue's hold and pounced through the window, while the Icy-Flamer aka Katrina leapt towards the foursome and threw them all over the place.
"Piper, blow her up," Prue ordered,
"but it's still Katrina, still a person!" Paige argued,
"it's the only way," Kyle agreed, Piper nodded and gestured, blowing up the Icy-Flamer. Splinters of ice and tiny flames danced around in the air, before reconstituting into the unconscious form of Katrina.
Back at the hotel,
"why'd you do it?" Phoebe questioned, "why did you risk hurting all those people?"
"You don't understand!" Gabrielle claimed, throwing Phoebe down to the floor.
"You burnt the place down! What is there to understand?" Phoebe argued, forcing Gabrielle off her,
"I didn't mean too, I wasn't thinking…I just wanted it to all end," the half demonic goddess replied, before falling down to her knees and burying her face in her hands. Phoebe was shocked and confused, what could be so bad for Gabrielle give up during a fight?
"Wanted what to end?" the angelic seer asked, slowly stepping towards her,
"I couldn't cope with seeing them, I just couldn't, I had to choose between one of them but I couldn't, so I wanted to choose myself and stop having to see them try to kill each other," Gabrielle sobbed,
"you were trying to kill yourself?" Phoebe said, Gabrielle nodded. As Phoebe plucked up the courage, and got over her personal problems, in order to go to Gabrielle and at least attempt to comfort her, a red being leapt from behind and pounced on Phoebe; who reacted upon instinct and blasted her attacker with a bolt of electricity.
"Megra!" Gabrielle screeched, as the dying She-Devil became the innocent body of her child. Cole shimmered in just in time to see Megra's chest rise for a final time,
"what…what happened?" he asked, tears glimmering in his eyes,
"I'm…I'm so sorry Cole, she just…she just attacked me…and I didn't know it was her…and then…well…and then this," Phoebe said, standing up and walking over towards her husband,
"are you telling me you killed my daughter?" Cole asked, Phoebe opened her mouth to speak…
To be continued…
Sorry, this was shorter than I thought (and hoped) it would be, but last chapter was very long (for my writing anyway) so I hope that makes up for it!
Next chapter- There's a funeral, three attempts at a wedding, and a coma victim admitted to hospital- all in one day!
'Three Weddings And A Funeral' should be up soon.