Chapter Five – Sacrifice

Leo stood against the wall of the cave, invisible, but she knew he was there. She could see the Elder's face, which had worry and sadness written all over it. He knew about what had happened to the other Elders, she realized.

Suddenly, three characters in cloaks entered the cave. She knew who they were too. Leo tensed, she saw it, but nothing could give away the Elder's whereabouts to the High Priests. That's why she didn't understand why she was so worried.

The High Priests were whispering to each other, but their demeanour was casual. Too casual. She only realized what they were doing until it was too late and they had Leo cornered.

All three of them shot powerful purple bolts of lighting at Leo, who couldn't dodge because of the short distance, was subdued.

Phoebe gasped at the intensity her premonitions now had. She realized Piper and Paige were looking at her and she quickly looked up. "What did you see?" Phoebe thought about lying, so Piper wouldn't freak out, but she couldn't. She told them the truth.

Piper jumped out of bed again, and she wavered again, but this time she remained on her feet. "What are you doing?" Piper looked at Paige determinedly. "I'm going to save my husband!"

Paige was about to protest when Appylus beat her to the punch. "If they have Leo, then they already have taken his powers. I'm sorry to say this, since Leo was my friend as well, but he is dead."

Piper's head snapped towards Appylus, an angry look on her face, and the Elder flew into the wall. "More new powers…good! The better my chances will be to save Leo," Piper said with conviction.

"Piper, I'd like to think that Leo's alive too. But the odds are against us and if you go down there chances are you'll be captured. The three of you need to work together to stop the Source," Appylus pleaded.

"Leo isn't dead," Phoebe stated and all eyes shot towards her. "If he was dead, Piper would've felt it. Their connection is too deep for her not to have felt it. Besides, I wouldn't have had the premonition if we couldn't save him."

"So, what's the plan?" Appylus looked at Paige, who had asked the question, and there was disappointment in his eyes. Phoebe got up from and walked around, and everybody looked at her, clearly expecting her to come up with the plan.

"Appylus is right, we need to stay together if we want to have a shot against the Source. So I say we set up a force field around the house to prevent the High Priests from coming after Appylus, and then we go down there."

"NO! You can't win if go up against them on their turf, the world would be lost," Appylus screamed, but the sisters all had the same look of conviction on their faces now. Phoebe walked out of the room, and Piper and Paige followed.

Appylus followed them to the attic, where Phoebe had the Book of Shadows in her hands and Piper and Paige were placing crystals. Phoebe beckoned Appylus, and he walked towards her.

"If the Priests manage to take down the force field and move the crystals, the orb to magic school and take the Book with you. We don't want them getting a hold of either you or it," she said, her voice both worried and friendly and Appylus remembered a vision he had had once about her.

A vision in which she played a key role in the battle between Good and Evil, and he wondered if the future he had seen in that vision would ever come to be. "Be careful down there," he whispered and she smiled warmly at him.

She handed him the Book before walking out of the attic and placing the final crystal near the door. "We'll be back soon," she said before her eyes started glowing like Piper's and Paige's.

As Paige orbed out, Piper dematerialized and Phoebe disappeared in a flash of light. Appylus felt the force field erect around the house and sighed. The future of the Earth now hung by a thread.


"So, what now?" Phoebe looked around thoughtfully. "Can you try and locate him? You're part white lighter, so you should be able to sense him the same way he used to sense us," she told Paige, and the youngest Charmed One turned Elder closed her eyes and focused.

Piper held her breath, realizing that finding her husband depended on Paige being able to fully concentrate. Suddenly, Paige opened her eyes and looked at Phoebe. "That way," she said determinedly and pointed to the corridor behind Phoebe.

Phoebe turned around and seemed to focus on the direction Paige pointed in. "You're right, I sense Evil that way. I doubt they would've left Leo unguarded," she said, and immediately Piper set out. Phoebe followed close behind and Paige was the last to move.

They walked through the corridor, which got darker and darker as they went further from the torch-lit cavern in which they had entered the underworld, until they saw a light at the far end.

"There," Paige pointed. "Leo is in that cave, I feel it too," Piper nodded and they stopped walking. "Okay, here's the plan. I walk in there and draw the guards' attention. Then you guys orb in, and Piper helps me fight them while Paige frees Leo. Got it?"

Piper and Paige nodded, and Phoebe walked towards the cave. Piper and Paige stood by, ready to execute Phoebe's plan as soon as she entered the cave.


Appylus took a good look at the Book he held in his hands. The Book of Shadows, which held both the history and the present of the Warren-line in it. "You've seen a lot, haven't you? Centuries of both Good and Evil, hundreds or even thousands of witches and warlocks and demons," he said to it.

Suddenly, the Triquetra started glowing and in it Appylus could see Phoebe entering a cave in the underworld. She was barely into the cave, when she was blasted by the entire Council of High Priests and was thrown into the wall. Appylus watched in horror as she laid there, blood oozing out of her mouth, nose and ears.

"You're right. You have their history, but she has their future. And the rest of the world's as well," Appylus said as the image disappeared. The Triquetra's light deactivated the crystals and Appylus felt the force field fall as well.

He understood what the Triquetra was trying to tell him and he wasted no time in orbing out.


A feeling crept up on Phoebe, and she feared the worst as she stepped into the cave. Her instincts were proven right as the Council of High Priests stood before her, expecting her.

Just as they all unleashed powerful purple bolts of lightning at her, Appylus orbed in front of her. He held out the Book of Shadows and Phoebe took it. Appylus' eyes were glowing, as was the Triquetra, and Phoebe was hit with a premonition she realized Appylus was sharing with her.

As it ended, Appylus was hit by the blasts of the Council of High Priests. "Thus ends the gift of Spirit," he whispered with his dying breath.

Phoebe nodded and the Elder smiled before his body started emitting a bright white light. A powerful explosion rocked the cave as the light emitted by Appylus' dematerializing body vanquished the Council of High Priests.

As the smoke cleared up, Phoebe saw that Appylus' body was completely gone. In the back of the cave she saw Leo, locked in a cage, and she started walking towards him.

She had taken only one step when Piper materialized, ready to blast any guards, and Paige orbed in near Leo's cage. Both sisters looked at Phoebe with a questioning look on their faces.

"We have a problem, guys," Phoebe sighed.

T.B.C.

Author's Note: I'm really, totally, absolutely sorry I took this long to update. I just had a really hard time with this chapter, so much so I had to rewrite it seven times to make of it what it is now. I hope you guys like it.

Please review….