"I thought you said there were demons attacking?" Piper asked as they stood in the empty alley.
"There were in my premonition," said Phoebe. "One over there by that door and another one standing beside that dumpster over there. The little girl ran out in between them and one of the demons attacked her with a fireball."
"Well, all's quiet on the western front," said Paige, looking around. "Are you sure you go the time right?"
"I think so," said Phoebe. "The shadows on the ground seem right. I just don't understand what happened."
Just then a door down the alley opened and a little girl came walking out. She appeared to be about nine and seemed to be casually looking around the alley without a care in the world. Phoebe identified her as the little girl in her premonition.
"Little girl," Piper called out to her. "You shouldn't be out here. It could be dangerous."
"Oh, my mom let's me come out here all the time," said the girl. "It gets boring in that restaurant with nothing to do."
"I know," said Piper, "but you should really stay inside. You have no idea who might be out here..."
Suddenly two demons shimmered into the alley. One was by the door and the other was by the dumpster Phoebe had pointed out to her sisters. The little girl was directly between the two. The demon beside the dumpster immediately threw a fireball that headed directly for the girl.
"Fireball," called Paige, extending her hand.
The weapon began to orb to her and she immediately redirected it back at the demon that had cast it. It struck the demon vanquishing it in a conflagration. The sisters turned to the other demon. It simply smiled and extinguished the energy ball it was preparing to cast.
"Thanks," it said, smiling at them. "I owe you one."
Suddenly the demon shimmered and was gone. The little girl watched the entire exchange, then suddenly turned and ran as fast as she could back through the door she had just come out of.
"Okay, what was that all about?" Piper asked, looking at her sisters.
"He didn't even seem interested in us," said Paige. "I don't know whether to be relieved or annoyed."
"It's odd," said Phoebe. "That fireball didn't look like it was meant for the girl. It looked more like it had been cast at that demon by the dumpster."
"This is very weird," said Piper. "But at least we saved the innocent. I think we should get back to the manor so you can have a look at that letter that prompted your premonition."
"That's a good idea," said Phoebe. "They have to be connected. I'm just not sure how."
Before Paige could orb the girls out of the alley four more demons suddenly shimmered into the alley. Seeing the demons appear, the sisters ducked behind the dumpster, using it as a shield until they could get ready for the inevitable attacks.
Hidden behind the dumpster as they were, they couldn't see much but they could hear plenty. It sounded like a war zone. There were explosions and cries of pain coming from where some of the demons had appeared. Cautiously, Piper peered around the side of the dumpster. The sight that greeted her was confusing. The demons seemed to be attacking each other, completely ignoring the sisters.
"It looks like they're trying to kill each other," Piper whispered to Phoebe and Paige. "They don't even seem concerned about us."
"Okay, now that's annoying," said Paige.
Suddenly a demon shimmered in beside Phoebe. It glanced at the sisters but before any of them could react it rose up and cast a fireball into the alley. There was an explosion and the sound of someone - or something - crying out in pain. The demon then ducked behind the dumpster and smiled at the sisters.
"I figured they wouldn't suspect me of being here," it said to the sister. "Thanks for the cover."
Before any of them could answer the demon shimmered away. Piper looked at Phoebe and Paige in total confusion. There had to be at least half a dozen demons in the alley but not even one of them seemed interested in the witches. The sisters all grasped each other's hands as Paige orbed them out of the alley. The demons might be ignoring them for the moment but that could easily change.
"You're saying they weren't even interested in you?" Leo asked when they told him what happened.
"One was even sociable," said Paige. "Thanked us and everything. Then just shimmered away."
"That's odd," said Leo. "Before you called me down here the Elders said there was some unusual activity going on in the underworld but they weren't sure what it was. None of their usual lines of information had been able to tell them anything."
"Well, something odd is definitely going on," said Piper. "Maybe you should get back up there and find out what's going on. We can look after the baby until you get back."
"Good idea," said Leo, handing the baby to her. "I'll let you know what I find out as soon as I can."
"What do you think is going on?" Phoebe asked as Leo orbed out of the manor.
"I don't know," said Piper. "It's not like demons to totally ignore us. I know that a lot of demons hate each other. I guess with the Source vanquished there's no one around to keep them in check. Maybe some of their rivalries have flared up."
"But they were attacking without any regard for who might see them," said Paige. "That's unusual even for demons."
"That's true," said Piper. "Let's hope that when Leo gets back he can tell us something."
"I hope so," said Phoebe. "Having demons attacking us is not my idea of a fun Saturday afternoon, but having half a dozen of them shimmer in and completely ignore us is unnerving."
"We'll just have to wait and see what Leo finds out," said Piper, taking her son back up to his crib.