Chapter 7: Inland

When Cole got to his senses, he could still see leaning over him, smiling at him when she noticed he was aware of his surroundings, but behind her he could see the furnishings in her own room at the manor.

"Everything is fine, baby. You've lost a bit of blood, but you're going to be all right soon. Hecate gave you quite of big doze of energy, and now you can sustain your own."

"Me? What happened?" He asked Phoebe.

"I'll tell you everything, have some patience. First of all, Hecate went to check on your sister and mother too, they are in the guest room, your mother shielded Elinor and hey, you never told me what kinda strong powers she has! Anyway, I'll go tell her you're awake in a minute. How we got out? Weirdly. Abracax overestimated the power of three."

"The power of three? But you were down there with me, with your sisters having no idea where we were, not to mention us having similarly no idea where this prison was."

"Well...kinda disconcerting a bit in some ways, but they substituted me with Hecate."

"She's no sister of yours."

"No, but she is a sister witch. They did a bonding spell and with her being the third charmed one, they could do more than we ever could...I think it's kinda pity she went back to the temple. Anything I should get you while I'm out?"

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Cole tried and established he was strong enough to get up from bed. He had enough of wasting time resting and surrounded by four walls, especially now that Phoebe went back to college. For someone usually having a shimmer every second hour or so, it was an intolerable sensation, being confined like that.

"What do you think you doing? I could bring you whatever you want," Piper offered from the corridor where from she saw him moving. She seemed worried. About him. It was a measure of how much they cared about him, but more likely of how much they cared about his lover, Phoebe.

"Come on now. Don't handle me like I'm disabled. I'm okay. Just let me up and I'll be as good as ever," he really felt like almost hundred percent. He would awaken occasionally with stomach cramps but nothing serious. That too, will pass if he had another couple of days he didn't use his powers for.

"Good? Aha," Piper smiled at his choice of words, "Phoebe and your mother had given me strict instructions about what to do and not to do with you...well, how about watching tv downstairs instead of up?"

"Thrilled..." She descended the stairs with a sigh of relief. Not because they let him up, no, but because he was finally home. What a strange place for a demon like him to want to live at, amongst witches and whitelighters and still, it wasn't that strange. Cause all that didn't matter. They were the people who actually cared about him.

The End.