Chapter Ten
"Calm down, Paige," Phoebe suggested as she hurried from her spot next to Cole to her sister. "Tell us what happened."
But Paige was too agitated and stepped out of reach, "Kyle's gone and I can't find him. I tried scrying but he's not anywhere."
"You weren't centered," Phoebe calmly told her. "You need to take a couple of deep breaths and -"
"We don't have time!" Paige practically pleaded.
"He went after Zankou," Cole realized as Phoebe hugged Paige tightly.
Paige nodded tearfully but pulled away slightly to look at her sister, "When you weren't in your room…"
"Why didn't you go to Piper?" Cole frowned. "Phoebe's been through too much to go chasing after your demonic boyfriend in the middle of the night."
Phoebe felt Paige stiffen and glared at her ex, "Cole…"
"He's right," Paige hiccupped as she stepped back, "I didn't think. As soon as I read his note, I orbed to the attic and then to your room and -"
"He left a note?"
"I don't think he planned on me finding it until the morning," Paige answered her sister. "All it said was that he was sorry but that I should trust him."
"So instead of trusting the man you keep saying is good, you ran straight to Phoebe who nearly died today," Cole lashed out, completely unsuccessful at reigning in his temper. "You didn't -"
"That's enough, Cole!"
"No, Phoebe," Paige quietly said, "he's right. I panicked and didn't think about -"
"You never think," Cole interjected, "none of you. That's why you're always -"
"Don't test me…" Phoebe warned him again. "It's okay, sweetie," she told Paige, "I woke up and came down for some soup."
"Are you really okay?" Paige asked guiltily after Cole shot her a warning look of his own. "Maybe I should wake Piper and work with her on this. You need to rest."
"Just 'cuz I feel like I've gone ten rounds with the Source, doesn't mean I'm not up for vanquishing him," she teased before turning slightly to Cole, "uh, no offense." The edges of his mouth twitched but instead of waiting to see if he smiled, she focused on Paige, "I'm better, honest. Now are you sure Kyle went after Zankou? Maybe he just needed to get out and clear his head."
"At two in the morning?" Paige sighed, "It was one of the things we talked, argued, about before but I thought he finally agreed and saw it my way."
Phoebe looked at Cole, "Kyle has no idea what he's in for…"
"What's done is done, Phoebe," he said. "It's not -"
"Wait a minute," Paige interrupted, "you know?"
Phoebe nodded, "Cole told me Kyle's a Gloryhound. I'm sorry, sweetie."
"It doesn't mean he has to embrace that side," Paige complained. "I tried to make him see that he can still help us without ever getting his powers. He doesn't need them."
"Except that he won't be complete without them," Phoebe commented.
"It didn't bother him 'til now, did it? It takes more than powers to make a person," Paige declared. "He's a good person who's spent his whole life fighting evil and he'll stay that way."
Cole didn't acknowledge her dig at him. "All you can hope for now is that he doesn't betray you or Leo."
"He would never do that!"
"Maybe not willingly," he informed Paige, "but it can still happen. Just ask your sisters."
"We're not talking about you," she hissed.
"Funny," he murmured, "I thought we were." He was about to say more but the expression on Phoebe's face warned that he was treading on even thinner ice so he merely said, "It's Kyle's choice and you've no right to take it away from him."
"He'll be sacrificing everything he believes in," Paige cried, glancing from him to her sister. "He'll be sacrificing himself. Phoebe, please…"
But Phoebe gazed into Cole's eyes and accepted the truth. Sometimes the only option left is to offer oneself as sacrifice. 'Oh, Cole, I wish I'd realized sooner…'
From the look in her eyes, Cole realized she'd had some sort of epiphany and he could practically feel her regret. But regret for what? 'The Hollow,' he almost said aloud. "There was no other way," he assuaged her guilt, "and, knowing how it all turned out, I'd still make the same choice."
"I know," she whispered. "But…I wish you'd never been put in that position and I'm sorry…"
"It was my choice," he repeated. "My choice and I'm sorry you had to suffer the consequences."
Paige finally figured out what they were talking about and gasped, "I don't want to lose Kyle to evil! We have to save him!"
Phoebe slowly met Paige's anxious eyes, "Kyle's doing it for the right reasons, Paige, but it's his choice, his sacrifice to make. We just have to pray it's not in vain."
"But…"
"C'mon, sweetie," Phoebe said, tugging on Paige's sleeve, "let's wake Piper and fill her in so we can figure out what to do next."
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"I must say I am surprised," Zankou admitted as he circled Kyle in the dimly lit cavern. "You do realize you'll be sacrificing the life you led, one filled with light and good, to embrace a new life, one filled with darkness and evil."
"I thought you wanted this," Kyle watched him in confusion. "Isn't that why you answered my call so quickly? So why're you trying to talk me out of this?"
"You misunderstand, Agent Brody," Zankou laughed, "I'm merely pointing out that which you should be made fully aware. There isn't to be any question, any doubt, raised later as to your understanding of what is about to transpire. There will be consequences to this…rite of passage, if you will."
"I'm ready," Kyle nodded.
Zankou paused a moment before continuing, "Your physical transformation will be the easy part. The rest of your life, however, the acceptance of your true self, will be a difficult road to walk. Not only do you have to unlearn everything you've come to know about the ways of life but you also face the limitations of your own kind. Some demons, particularly Gloryhounds, who possess the inability to, shall we say, multi-task, often lead relatively short life-spans. Your parents, for example, lived a mere fraction of the span of other demons."
"Everybody dies, even demons," Kyle shrugged, trying to strengthen his resolve. "The question is what you do with your time on Earth. I have certain goals and I intend to fulfill them."
Zankou nodded with satisfaction, "You will be assigned a mentor, of course, and trained, tested, and the like, before you set foot above ground again."
Alarmed by the revelation, Kyle still demanded, "What about the Avatars?"
"They will be destroyed with your potion," Zankou assured him. "Or at least they'll be weakened to the point of no longer being a threat. Don't look so afraid, your assistance will be rewarded."
"I'm not afraid of that," Kyle boldly stated. "I'm not afraid of any of this."
"Good," Zankou smiled at the lie. "I like you, you show initiative and courage. However, I will not be swayed by human emotion and will show you no preferential treatment. You'll provide me with the potion and then you will immediately begin training." He circled Kyle again and saw the determination in Kyle's eyes and, again, admitted surprise, "You weren't expecting to survive, were you? That's why you're not afraid. You believe you'll die in the attack anyway." His comment was met with silence and he continued, "Do the Charmed Ones inspire that much loyalty that you would willingly martyr yourself for them? From what I understand, they're rather, hmmm, how delicately can I put this? They're uninformed, selfish, spoiled, destructive, and bitchy witches. Truth be told, they'd make perfect demons. Do not mistake their motives, Kyle. The witches are at a crossroads, unsure which way to turn, and they won't hesitate to use you much the same as you are now using me. They want the vanquish and will not -"
"Can we just get on with this?" Kyle hotly interrupted. "This's my choice. Not theirs. And I'll deal with them in my own way."
"Unless they deal with you first," Zankou commented. When the young man remained silent, Zankou nodded, "Very well, a deal's a deal. Come, let's get ready."
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"I don't like this," Leo protested. "I shouldn't be consulting with the Elders. I should go with you."
"Number one, you're still not recovered completely and, number two, Kyle didn't leave us much choice," Piper told him. "We can't let Zankou have the Avatar vanquish."
"We can't let Kyle become a demon," Paige corrected, dismayed at the different priorities she and her sisters seemed to have at the moment.
"He's already a demon," Cole reminded her. "You can't change that fact and you can't protect him from it."
"Cole's right," Phoebe gently said to her sister. "Whether the Avatars are a real threat or not, now that he knows the truth, Kyle's gonna be curious and want to know more. All we can do is be honest with him and be there for him if he lets us. Our main concern should be defeating Zankou. We need to track his whereabouts in the Underworld like Cole said. The Avatars won't involve themselves now anyway."
"At least not yet," Piper murmured.
Astonished that Phoebe's attitude was still so conciliatory towards him, despite how he'd angered her earlier, Cole didn't press his luck. Instead he questioned her, "Are you sure you're well enough to make the trip?"
"I think you should stay here with the boys," Piper agreed, "and rest while you can. We might be going on nothing more than a wild goose chase. Besides, you might have better luck scrying now."
"Except I had that premonition when I touched Pai- Kyle's, shirt," Phoebe argued. "I have to be there."
"All you saw was a glimpse of some sort of ritual involving Kyle," Piper told her. "It's not much to go on and you're not exactly back to fighting speed yet. I think you still need to rest."
"Why?" Phoebe exclaimed with frustration. "Look, our powers're gonna be weakened down there anyway so I'd be no worse off than if I did have them."
"It's not your lack of powers, Pheebs," Piper insisted. "If a different rib had broken, if Cole had waited a second longer, if Leo had been any weaker…Don't you get it? You were this close to joining Prue and I don't want to tempt fate twice in one day."
By the time Piper finished, Phoebe had already wrapped her arms around her older sister. "Didn't mean to scare you," she whispered in Piper's ear. She pulled back, "But I'm better and we're stronger together even if we are in the Underworld. Besides, Cole's gonna stay with the boys while Leo's gone."
"What?"
She turned to Cole, "If you come with us, you'll be back on their radar."
"And then we'll have to deal with either them wanting you back," Paige grumbled, "or wanting you dead. Either way it puts us in danger so can we just drop it and go?"
"No," he growled.
"Look, I know shimmering isn't lethal and won't be sensed but who's to say you won't need to, you know…" Phoebe argued. "If we end up in danger, your first instinct'll be to turn into him and that will be picked up."
"After being dea- after two years, my signal probably won't even be recognized," he assured her, wondering about her motives. Was she trying to protect him or protect herself and her sisters? "So while you're off confronting demons, I'm supposed to wait around here babysitting? It's not what I do, Phoebe."
"It is now," she retorted. "Don't you get it, Cole? Wyatt and Chris're the next generation and have to be protected at all costs. If something happens to us, you need to make sure they're safe until Leo can get them."
"Nothing's going to happen to you," he practically shouted.
"Glad you agree," she grinned as she linked arms with her sisters. "Be back soon."
"Phoebe!" Incensed by her wink, he growled to the one who often was the voice of reason among the sisters, "Piper…"
"Wipes and diapers are on the second shelf of the dresser," Piper told him as Paige orbed them away.
"What!" But the witches had already disappeared and he raged to Leo, "Phoebe's in no condition for a fight now. She manipulated me! And what about your wife? She -"
"Trusts you," Leo interrupted with quiet amusement.
"Is that why there's a pink potion ready with my name on it?" Cole snapped.
"I'm serious," Leo shook his head with a chuckle. "Piper and Paige may still have issues where you're concerned but, believe me, Piper'd never have left our sons in your hands if she didn't, on some level at least, trust you." He couldn't help but smile at Cole's expression of disbelief. "Don't worry, after the day they've had, the boys'll probably sleep through the night. Now I'd better go and -"
"Don't orb an atom, Whitelighter," Cole warned.
"Technically, I'm an Elder," Leo grinned as he orbed away. "Be back soon," his voice echoed.
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