Chyp – Thanks!
Phoebe turner – Heh… Read to find out!
Piperfairy – Lol, nope! She's wasn't! And Pamela is around 18 years old.
Prince Halliwell – I'm glad you liked all of it! And yeah, I'll probably be getting a lot of nasty reviews for this chapter.
Ravenix – Yeah, I thought that since it was her psychic powers that made her go crazy in the first place, the least psychic power should be the one she got back. And there's a list of characters, their ages and powers in the first chapter of this fic, just add on Paige's multi dimensional sight and Emma's psychokinesis.
Loz – Yeah, there's quite a lot of battles in this chapter too! Ha, you noticed the little Julian reference? Cool, thanks for reviewing!
The End Of An Empath
Piper waved her arms about to clear the smoke that had just erupted from the potion Emma was making. She coughed slightly as the psionic robotically picked up another herb and threw it into the mixture, causing another plume of smoke to rise with a bang.
"Would you give it a rest, woman?" Piper exclaimed, yanking the next herb out of Emma's hand, "Do you even know what you're doing?"
"Piper, I'm the head of the potions department! Of course I know that I'm doing!" She snatched the herb back from her friend and threw it into the pot. Lorna's cries began to come through the baby monitor that was sitting on the table, Emma glanced at it briefly, "Call me back up here with blue smoke starts to appear." She ordered, wiping her hands together and going down the attic steps, brushing Phoebe's shoulder as she came the opposite way.
"Wow, warpath much?" Phoebe cringed, looking back the way she came.
"More like empath. She can't handle high pressure situations even without feeling everyone else's worry," Piper explained, having lived with Emma for close to three years, she knew how the redhead worked.
"Aidan's taken the kids to Magic School," The middle sister informed.
"Did he just forget about Lorna?"
"No, Emma's orders. She's to stay here,"
Piper put down the jar of scarab horns, "Are you kidding me? This place is probably going to be in the thick of a demon battle and she wants her kid to be in the middle of it? Lorna could get killed!"
"She knows that…" Phoebe shrugged, "But she is not for turning,"
"This is ridiculous…" The Charmed One growled in response, "I'm gonna go talk to her," She clapped her hands together in a similar fashion to Emma before pointing at Phoebe, "Call when it starts to smoke blue."
"Why? What happens then?"
Piper shrugged, "Ask Emma,"
Aidan let out a long sigh as he rubbed his forehead, wincing as he nursed his headache. He brought his away and smiled when he saw Melinda reaching up from the floor to be in his arms. The elemental picked his daughter, playing with her mousy blonde locks and making her giggle, but it wasn't long before Emma splashed out from the floor and joined her twin sister on Aidan's lap.
"I can see they're going to be a couple of daddy's girls." Leo smiled as he walked into the nursery, sitting down in the large armchair across from Aidan. He picked up Connor and sat him on his lap, the one year old had been in distress ever since his father had disappeared, so he had needed to be calmed down now and again.
"I can't believe they're almost one year old," Aidan marveled at the children sitting with him, "I'll never forget the moment I realized they were mine."
Leo grinned, "Well, a kid using one of your powers to transport into your arms is sort of a give away!" He picked at the knee of his jeans slightly, "Do you regret what happened with Paige? When you left?"
"Every day." He replied immediately, "I was so self destructive. I would punch mirrors; use my powers on servants… But after a while I just began to accept that Atlantis was my place. Then Pamela summoned me to help take down Phoebe, all those feelings just came rushing back."
"Are you going to get back together? I mean, from what you told me about last night, it was pretty intense," The elder asked his friend. They had, after all, been friends before Aidan had left so they trusted each other with their secrets.
"I don't think so man." He put down both the girls when they started reaching for toys on the floor, "We both know that we can't be together, but something was just… triggered last night. I don't know what to do…" The elemental sighed, going back to rubbing his head.
"I can see why you've got headache." The Elder replied as he put Connor back down with his trains.
The men sat in silence until a faint screech came to their ears. They frowned at each other and got up, still trying to figure out where the noise was coming from. A faint red light began to shimmer in between Leo and Aidan; it eventually grew stronger until Paige was standing in its place.
"Huh… It worked!" She grinned to herself.
"Paige? Where are you?" Leo asked urgently, he was about to ask more when Emma began to reach for Paige, who melted at her daughter's woe.
"Later sweetie, when mommy's not a projection," She assured her, looking back up to face her brother in law, "Me and Brennan are trapped in some cage with a force field round it," Paige was about to continue, until she gasped and her body flashed crimson, "Damn…"
"Is the force field pulling your astral self back?" Aidan asked, putting his hand on hers, but she pulled away with a bashful smile.
"Yeah, I think so. All I know is that we're close to Katrina's lair. But don't come for us, we're guarded by thousands of demons. Literally." She emphasized.
Leo's eyes widened, "He's created an army?" She nodded, "Paige, we'll get you out. I'll go tell Piper," He looked up slightly before being lifted into a cloud of orbs.
Paige turned to her ex, "Look, Aidan-,"
But she was cut off, he put his hand up, "You don't need to say it. Last night shouldn't have happened… it can't happen, we just got carried away,"
The witchlighter smiled weakly, "Yeah…" She replied, before being consumed in a red ruby light and disappearing.
Katrina blinked as her eyes returned from being blank white; she smirked across her large cauldron to where the Nameless One was standing with an impatient look on his face. He had his hands on the side of the cauldron, pulling at it slightly.
"She astral projected to them, just as I foresaw." She smirked, walking towards a pedestal that had a bloodied athame atop it. The Seer picked it up carefully, as if to respect the power that a magical being's blood held.
"Will your ritual be complete in time? She needs her powers drained or she won't be able to die," He asked pacing around the bubbling cauldron, "We need to take out the empath tonight or we'll never get the child."
She glared at him, "She needed to establish a connection with the mother before we could take her. If we had taken Lorna from birth, you probably would have killed her in frustration over her cries."
"You know me so well…" He narrowed his eyes at her.
She smirked, "I can imagine that your parenting skills need refining. I'll take care of the child, since I doubt you have the patience for an infant."
"And this little vendetta you're planning, it wouldn't have anything to do with the water elemental rejecting you, would it?" He smirked, "You're only half demon so things like that may bother you…"
Katrina cocked her head slightly, "If I can't have Aidan's children, then I'll take his whore's best friend's…" She raised the athame over the cauldron, swinging it teasingly, "I'm glad I kept this after using it in the conjuring potion. I can use it again to take away her powers," She looked up to the uber-powerful demon, "Then she'll be yours for the taking,"
Emma stroked Lorna's head as she put her down in the playpen; the little elemental wasn't sleeping so Emma had decided to bring her up to the attic where she could keep an eye on her and make more potions at the same time. Pamela stormed into the room with a bottle of water, angrily twisting the cap before starting on her roommate.
"Why the hell are there pots of potions in the freezer?" She demanded, "I put this water in to make it extra cold and I find it dumped on the floor!"
"You can never have too many potions…" The empathy replied absentmindedly as she filled another vial. She walked over to another table that had something covered with a sheet on it, Emma yanked the sheet off to reveal a sea of vials, each filled with a different potion. She added her new one to the collection and put the sheet back over it.
"If Chris was to come up here and have an accident with his exploding power, that table would be responsible for blowing up the entire state!" Pamela spat at her, pointing a finger at the table as she shrilled.
"It will also be responsible for vanquishing the Nameless One, and I'd think you would want that seeing as how he put you in a coma!"
"Of course I want that! Ugh… You really are impossible to talk to when you're like this!" Pamela spat, before turning on her heel and stomping out of the attic, grabbing her bottle of water from the table on the way out, but the footsteps got louder as she came back, "Oh, and another thing, clean up the damn ingredients you've left all over the kitchen! It smells like Noah's ark crawled in there and died!" It was then she left, muttering things about empaths and PMS.
Emma sighed and ran a hand through her auburn hair, closing her eyes and trying to suppress the emotions that were almost screaming in her ears. She put her hands over her face in a weak attempt to block out the world. When realizing that wouldn't work, Emma brought her hands away from her face, only to be looking at something completely different.
She was not in the attic anymore.
Instead she was surrounded by white, the psionic narrowed her eyes as they adjusted to the overwhelming light emitting from the walls. Emma looked up to see large pearl white beams at the top of the area, a beautiful starry sky was beyond, its contents twinkling and seemed to light up the place even more. She began to walk forward a little, feeling a sense of familiarity as her forehead creased into a frown. She knew this place.
"Hello Emma,"
A chill ran down Emma's spine, immediately recognizing the voice as one she hoped to never hear again. Turning around to see what had greeted her, and she got a shock when she did. The empath was facing a large hulking demon with stone grey skin; it wore a tattered piece of brown leather around its midsection, while a rope necklace dangled from its neck. Around six large curved teeth hung from the rope, they were almost big as the large nails it kept flexing on his claws that look like they could do serious damage.
"I know you…" Emma whispered hoarsely, swallowing the lump in her throat as she advanced on the creature.
It broke out into a grin, flashing the large teeth that its mouth housed, "I should think so; you after all, owe me for everything that you hold dear in your life at this moment. You have made good use of your granted second life, but I'm afraid it's at its end,"
Her eyes widened and a painful pang of fear hit her heart, "What… What do you mean? I thought you said that I could live out my life with this chance!" She pleaded, stepping forward and ignoring the terror she felt.
"Yes, that is true. But I'm afraid I'm just a mere agent to a higher power and I have received direct orders from them to inform you of your life ending." It informed her, "Your case has been debated much by those who control, and it is very rare for me to receive direct orders from them."
Her eyes flashed with fury, "So I'm going to get killed, just like that?"
"You misunderstand." The demon waved the notion away with its claw, "Your death is inevitable, in fact, and it is because of extremely… unique destiny that your life won't end there,"
Emma narrowed her eyes, not sure if she could trust the demon. If he had given her life, he could probably take it away just as fast, "What do you mean?"
"Just make arrangements. Things that a human would do if they knew their life was coming to an end. I do believe you make… wills." He smiled slightly.
She gave him an offended look, "You expect me just to let go of Lorna too?"
The creature's eyes widened with fear, "Lorna must be safe at all costs! She should be your first priority when you return to your world, ensure that she will be looked after before you do anything else."
"Why?"
"That does not concern-,"
"If you talking about my daughter then I think it does!"
But there was suddenly a bright flash. Emma winced as she put her arm over her eyes; they were shocked by the sudden change in light and stung as the psionic cringed into her arm. She tried to look in the direction the voice was coming from, but the light was too harsh.
"Ensure the child's safety and prepare to die, your friends cannot know of this mission."
Katrina cursed loudly as she slammed her hands down on the side of the cauldron, blinking quickly as she regained her normal sight. Regaining her composure, the Seer ran a hand through her hair and took a deep breath; she had to prepare for the visitors she had foreseen. Taking a pewter ladle from the pedestal next to the cauldron, she dipped it into the concoction she has been brewing for the last hour. Katrina calmly poured the ladle's contents into a glass bottle and setting it down carefully on the small knee height table.
"Here we go…" She whispered to herself before turning around to see a cloud of orbs descend from the ceiling, slowly taking on the form of Leo, Phoebe and Pamela.
The three of them stared the Seer down, who shrugged cockily. Phoebe turned to Leo, "Go get Paige and Brennan," She whispered, slyly handing him a potion before he ran through the passage in the cave.
Katrina stepped to the right, attempting to follow the elder, but a cloud of chilling white frost suddenly flew in front of her, blocking the path and creating a thick layer of ice on the cauldron she was standing next to. Pamela stood with her hand under her mouth, revealing that she had been responsible for the cryokinetic attack.
"You're not going anywhere…" The teen warned, lowering her hand and flexing her fingers, preparing for another assault on the redhead.
Suddenly, Katrina threw out her hand, conjuring a three pronged dagger as she did. The dagger flew towards Phoebe, who had her eyes closed with deep concentration and managed to catch the weapon skillfully before it whisked into her head. The Charmed One's eyes flashed open to reveal electricity sparking from them.
"Phoebe…?" Pamela frowned at her aunt, stepping back slightly as the neon blue eyes narrowed threateningly at Katrina, who took one look into the witch's eyes before disappearing in a flash of light, sensing the power and fearing it.
Leo hugged the cavern wall as the shouting got louder. The last thing that they needed to happen was for him to be spotted and have all hell break loose. The elder looked up as he got closer to the edge, seeing a cage hanging from the gorge ceiling where Paige and Brennan where being held. He then peered down into the massive abyss, gasping with horror with what he saw.
Hundreds and hundreds of Leech Demons, all of them roaring at the top of their voices as if trying to rally each other to get even more riled up. Leo could see that there were many camp fires. It was like a sky of demons with the small clusters of fire being the sparkling stars of the night. The elder began to look around; he brought the potion out of his pocket, the one that would break the force field around the cage. There was only one problem, how was he going get close enough to use it?
He began to look around the ceiling of the cavern, looking for a large jagged rock or a deep indent in the wall that he could stand on, but the cave seemed to have been modified by powerful magic and its walls were unnaturally smooth. Leo stared at the cage, knowing there was only one way to pull this off. Putting the potion back in his pocket, he took a step back so he wouldn't be seen and was enveloped in a swaddle of orbs.
Pamela tried to push Phoebe off her as her aunt had her pinned against the wall by the neck with her arm, slowly cutting off the teen's air supply. She stared into the Charmed One's sparking eyes, seeing electricity ping out in different directions as she pressed her forearm harder onto Pamela's neck, who had now resorted to flailing her legs, she was powerless.
Let me be of assistance.
Somehow, Pamela managed to take in a gasp of air as a searing heat passed through her body. She felt as if her skin was being scorched. A white hot glow enveloped Pamela's eyes, making Phoebe frown and attempt to crush the remaining life out of the witch.
"Inhio…" Pamela wheezed, waving her hand across Phoebe's face with a great effort. The middle Halliwell's arm immediately fell from her niece's neck; she just stood in front of her, blinking the odd time was the only sign as life.
"Altivolus!" She screamed, pointing at Phoebe with her index finger and sending her hurtling into a large bookcase type unit filled with potions, making all the glass come down on her head. She was, however, not fazed by his onslaught and bared her teeth as she got up, wiping the glass from her jeans.
"No harm shall come to this vessel," Pamela warned, her eyes briefly shifting towards the large cauldron in the centre of the room. Making a quick gesture towards it, she activated her magic, "Surgite!" Pamela yelled, raising her arm and making the cauldron hover into the air before suddenly hurtling itself towards Phoebe.
The witch's lightning blue eyes widened as the stone cauldron flew into her chest, she was sent flying back, pinned to the cauldron as it crushed her between the wall and itself. Pamela looked triumphant, lowering her arms and folding them, smirking at her work. But there was a grunt underneath the rubble, and suddenly the cauldron was thrown into the air by a very much alive Phoebe, who pushed the obstruction towards her enemy.
"Confuto!" The teen yelled, raising her hands and stopping the large sailing object from crushing her. With a strained look on her face, she whipped her arms to the right, throwing the cauldron to the side and out of the way.
"You magicks are strong. But even you must have a breaking point." Pamela growled, raising her hands to cast another spell.
"You are a powerful Wicca. But I am forever; you shall not defeat me…" Phoebe replied in a booming voice, beginning to stride towards her niece, who seemed to be running out of ideas.
Pamela's ears twitched slightly as she heard footsteps coming down the path, she had to end this, and quickly.
"Expulsum illa confuto phasmatis… Expulsum illa confuto phasmatis…" She began to murmur a chant as Phoebe walked towards her. She grabbed the teen's neck, who instantly put her hand on the hand that was trying to strangle her. Bright flashes past through the room, both witches shared an intense stare before a ripple of energy blasted the two apart. Pamela skidded across the floor, hitting her head off the wall while Phoebe landed in the wreckage of the bookcase she had demolished earlier.
"Phoebe!" Brennan ran across to his semi-conscious wife, dropping to his knees and helping her up from the wood splinters that she was lying on. The two of them stood up, Phoebe nursed a bump on her head while Pamela did the same after being helped up by Paige and Leo.
"Did Katrina do this to you?" Leo asked his niece, looking around at the destruction he thought had been caused by a battle with the Seer.
Pamela rubbed the back of her head and shared a look with Phoebe answering, "Um… Yeah, she got away… I think. I don't really remember," That was the truth; the last thing she remembered was looking into the neon blue of Phoebe's eyes.
The middle Charmed One decided to agree before it raised too much suspicion, "Yeah, I think she just threw us into the walls and left. I'm surprised she didn't come after you. How did Leo get you guys out anyway?"
Paige giggled slightly, "He orbed himself onto the top of the cage. You should have seen him squirming for something to grip onto."
The elder rolled his eyes at his sister in law, "Well, it was either that or fall into a canyon full of demons. Would you rather I had just left you in that cage to rot?" He retorted with a hint of a smile.
"Of course not," Paige smirked, "We're very grateful." She looked towards her sister and her husband, "Why don't we get out of here before the cavalry comes, huh?"
Phoebe nodded and patted Brennan's chest slightly, "I'm for that. Although I would like to pick up Connor from Magic School first,"
"Sure, I need to get the girls anyway." The youngest Charmed One replied.
"Alright, looks like it's group hug time…" Pamela groaned as they all joined hands, making sure everyone was connected before leaving in a cloud of orbs.
Emma wiped away a stray tear from her cheek as she sealed off the letter with a "Winnie the Pooh" sticker. She turned the envelope over, picking up the ballpoint pen again and writing on the front, "The Halliwells" before setting it up next to one of her potion books on the desk so that the next person to enter her room would see it.
The psionic stood up, grinning at her daughter who was currently wriggling around on the bed. She picked up the redheaded infant and balanced her on her hip, smidging her nose with the tip of her finger and making Lorna laugh before pulling her into a tight embrace.
"Mommy will always, always, be watching over you sweetie…" She kissed Lorna tenderly on her forehead as more tears began to fall from her eyes, "Promise me you'll be a good girl for Auntie Piper, okay?" Lorna cooed in response, reaching out and touching her mother's cheek with a soft hand.
Emma attempted to connect with her daughter empathically, so that, no matter how young she was, an imprint would forever be made on her heart. But the empath frowned when she found that no connection opened. Beginning to panic, Emma squeezed her eyes shut and attempted to orb downstairs, when she opened them, she still saw her room around her. Her powers were gone.
"Piper!" She yelled as she began to storm downstairs, frantically scanning for the eldest Halliwell witch as she made her way down to the bottom floor.
Emma found Piper in the kitchen, pouring the contents of a potion pot into sink. The Charmed One had her head turned away to avoid getting the potion splashed up in her face as it sloshed down into the drain.
"Damn… Why did you make so much?" She asked, turning to talk to the redhead.
"Piper, I-."
"I mean, it's not going to be you cleaning up this mess, it's me,"
"Yeah I know, but listen-,"
"Do you guys think I enjoy cleaning up after all your messes? You leave dirty potion pots, Pamela's room is always mess, Leo leaves Magic School files all over the place…"
"I'm sorry, but-,"
"It just gets a little straining from time to time, you know?"
"Piper!" Emma snapped, determined to stop the latest rant her roommate was on.
"What?" Piper exclaimed, putting the pot down and turning around.
The psionic took a deep breath, "I don't have my powers,"
Piper's jaw hit the floor just as Leo orbed in with Wyatt, Chris and Pamela, "What are you talking about? How can you just lose your powers?" She shrilled, not even noticing the rest of the household beside her.
"Oh my God, you lost your powers?" Pamela breathed.
Emma frowned slightly, "Do you think the Elders revoked my powers?"
"Wouldn't put it past them…" Piper muttered with a rolled of her eyes.
Leo shrugged, "I don't know. But I don't think it's possible for them to revoke all of your powers, I mean, not all of them were given to you by them so…"
"Why don't you go check?" Emma finished for him. "But drop the kids at Magic School." She handed Lorna over to him, "With one power down, they'll be safer there."
As she was handed to Leo, Lorna's bottom lip began to quiver as she reached out her mother. Emma could only smile meekly and gave her daughter a wave as she orbed out with her "Uncle" Leo.
"I'll go check the book," Pamela muttered, not only wanting to check about Emma's powers, but to see if there was anything in there on Prudence Warren 1st. She left the kitchen, still rubbing the back of her head from the bump.
Piper went to follow her niece. But Emma gently grabbed her arm and made her stop, "Um… Piper, if anything was to happen to me… Would you take care of Lorna?" She stared the witch out, as she was giving Emma a surprised and confused look. Piper wriggled free and folded her arms.
"Of course. Would you do the same with Wyatt and Chris if it was me?" Emma nodded immediately, "Alright then, let's go get your powers back."
The two of them walked into the dining room, but immediately stopped when Pamela went sailing past them and crashed into the wall of the stairs, sending a shower of wood splinters into the air as she shattered the wood with the velocity of her body. The two witches whipped their heads around to see the Nameless One standing in the solarium with his hand outstretched.
The demon conjured a fireball, bouncing it in his hand for a while, as if taunting them, before throwing it towards Piper and Emma. Piper, who thought fast, quickly grabbed her friend's hand and breathed in, meaning to mass out. But the flaming sphere went right through them, exploding on impact with the wall and leaving a scorch mark. The Halliwell looked down at herself and Emma to see that she their bodies were now wavering particles. She had phased.
"I got my power back…" She breathed.
Emma immediately made her way over to Pamela, "Lift now, glow later!"
"You can't orb away this time…" The demon growled, conjuring yet another fireball as Piper and Emma began to lift Pamela as they climbed the stairs slowly. Emma looked back and gave him a look filled with hate, now realizing he had been responsible for her losing her powers.
"Piper!" She wailed, cringing as a fireball hit the banister, making another flurry of wood and cutting their faces in the process. Another fireball was coming their way, and with the banister gone, they had no protection. Piper jut out her hand, her fingers twitching slightly as the fireball blew up in a shower of sparks.
"C'mon! We need to get to attic!"
Leo orbed into the Magic School nursery to find Paige, Aidan, Phoebe and Brennan sitting with the kids. He quickly put Lorna down in the playpen and let the boys to play with their toys before rushing to towards his family. He wasn't sure, but as he had orbed away, he had heard the noises of a fierce battle coming from the Manor.
"Hey, why did you bring Wyatt and Chris back? And Lorna…" Phoebe looked past him to smile at the baby.
"I think something big is going down at the Manor." Leo informed them immediately, "Emma's lost her powers so it's only Piper and-,"
"Whoa! Leo, slow down. Are they being attacked?" Paige asked, trying to calm her brother in law.
He groaned with frustration, "I don't know…"
"Okay, stay here. I'll go check it out," The witchlighter announced, beginning to orb out before her sister grabbed her arm.
"I'm coming with you," Phoebe said, standing up and bouncing on the balls of her feet, ready to fight. But the wind was knocked out of her sails when Paige shook her head, "What?"
"Well…"
"Paige, spit it out!"
She let out a sigh, "Piper and I agreed to keep you out of demon fights until you get your powers back,"
The middle sister's eyes widened with rage, "What? You went behind my back and just decided this? I can levitate which means I can fight!" She was about to say more, until a jolt passed through her body and memories were awakened. She had heard something like this before.
"I thought we agreed that she wasn't going to be part of this! She can only levitate!" Piper exclaimed as she pointed at Phoebe.
"She refused to stay behind," Paige said sheepishly.
"Piper, I'm got going to sit here and watch you all die! You need the Power of Three!" The middle sister protested.
Phoebe's look grew distant as she realized her vision was coming to pass. She had to convince Paige, "But Piper and I have been working on a spell to vanquish the Nameless One!" She pulled a piece of paper out of pocket, waving it in her sister's face, "See? Why would you want me out of the fight when I'm the only one with the vanquishing spell?"
"I don't know, but you're not coming!" Paige shook herself out of Phoebe's grip and began to orb out. She before she was completely devoured by white lights, the middle Halliwell shot out her hand, grabbing onto Paige's hand and being consumed by orbs as they disappeared.
The attic door burst open, Emma and Piper walked as fast as they could as they carried an injured Pamela towards the edge of the attic. They set her down and Piper ran over to the Book of Shadows, flipping anxiously through the pages as Emma gave her a disapproving look while trying to awaken Pamela.
"He's gonna be in here in a matter of seconds and it's now you start looking at that thing?" She snarled.
Piper ignored her, "Paige! Get your ass down here!" she shouted to the ceiling, "Paige!" It took two calls before orbs began to appear, slowly taking on the form of Paige and Phoebe. Phoebe looked confused, remembering Brennan was here in her vision.
"I thought we agreed that she wasn't going to be part of this! She can only levitate!" Piper exclaimed as she pointed at Phoebe.
"She refused to stay behind," Paige said sheepishly.
"Piper, I'm got going to sit here and watch you all die! You need the Power of…" She suddenly stopped, remembering more of her vision and turning to Paige, "Did you get your healing power back?"
"No…" Her baby sister shook her head Phoebe wore a fearful look. It had all changed.
"Fine!" Piper suddenly exclaimed, "Paige, get Pam back on her feet, Emma, get the potions, and you…" She gestured wildly at Phoebe, "Kick some ass!"
Piper continued to flip through the Book of Shadows as Paige took over from her friend by trying to wake up Pamela. The witchlighter slapped her niece's face slightly, mentally saying sorry when she saw all the cuts on the teen's face. Phoebe took a deep breath as limbered up slightly, knowing exactly what was going to happen next. Emma got back to her feet and jogged across the room, only to be stopped by a tower of fire erupting in front of her and the Nameless One appearing.
"I was expecting a bit more of a fight…" He smirked.
"And you'll get one…" Piper growled, throwing up her hands and blasting the demon into a tornado of swirling molecules. Emma ran through the swarm of particles and reached the potions on the table, beginning to scan them all to see what ones would help.
The demon reformed with a grunt, turning to Phoebe and grinning, "Let's weed out the weak, shall we?" A fireball appeared in his hand.
"I couldn't agree more…" She snarled, levitating into a horizontal position and attempted to kick him on the chest. But something happened that she hadn't expected. He caught her foot just before it hit his chest and threw Phoebe across the room by the ankle with supernatural strength. The witch crashed into an antique desk, smashing it as she landed and getting knocked out.
Paige had given up on trying to revive her niece and stood up, glancing for anything that could used as a weapon. "Chair!" She screamed, gesturing at a wooden rocker and throwing it at her enemy in a cloud of orbs. "Grandfather clock!" The witchlighter shouted again, calling for the tall clock and making it disappear in orbs before throwing it at the Nameless One in the same fashion.
The demon growled as the timepiece smashed off his back, this was getting tiresome. With a quick gesture, he stopped the orb covered sofa that was hurtling towards him, and redirected towards the youngest Charmed One. Paige's eyes widened as the wooden three piece hit her, she was sent flying into the attic wall and fell to the floor with a small trickle of blood flowing from her temple
Piper stood next to the Book of Shadows, realizing that she was probably next. She began to try and get her breathing back into sync, knowing that her molecular density skills would be the only thing to save her.
"This is it…" The Nameless One smirked. He had studied these three witches ever since his first encounter, Piper, being the oldest, would no doubt be the strongest. The demon glanced at the book, smiling inwardly before releasing a fireball at the tome. As he expected, an orange-yellow shield suddenly erupted from the Book of Shadows, the fireball fizzled out on contact, but because she was so close to it, the shield blasted Piper back when it arose. She was sent hurtling towards a wooden dresser, sailing into it and making all the china fall onto her, knocking her out.
Just when the demon thought he was alone, small stings suddenly started to erupt on his back. He rolled his eyes and turned around to see Emma throwing potion after potion in his direction, each of them only making small scorch marks on his leather jacket. Conjuring a fireball in his right hand, he grinned at the psionic and winked.
"Just you and me, Red," He taunted, before bringing arm back and swinging it forward, throwing the fireball straight at Emma's chest.
Leo, Brennan and Aidan appeared in the centre of the attic in a mixture of orbs and water. It was obvious that a battle had happened here, the furniture was smoldering, most of wooden antiques were in pieces, and even more worrying, the only person they could see from their view was an unconscious Pamela, who seemed to be coming to with a groan. There was another groan behind a large item covered with a sheet, Phoebe blinked a few times as she stood up, using the covered item to balance herself. Brennan walked over to her, holding her arm and helping her get back to her feet as she laid a hand over her eyes.
Leo noticed Piper lying on the floor behind the untouched Book of Shadows. He knelt down next to her, breathing a sigh of relief when he felt a pulse at her neck before putting his hand above her forehead and releasing a burst of healing light from his palm, reviving his wife and helping her up.
Aidan scrambled to the floor when he saw blood seeping from Paige's head. He put his head over her wound and released a blue glow from his hands. The blood began to crawl back into the gash as it sealed up, healing the witchlighter and waking her. Aidan took her hand and pulled her up to her feet. Paige shook her head slightly and looked around the room, gasping with horror at what she saw, "No…"
Emma lay on floor, her eyes frozen open with sheer terror. A potion vial rolled out her limp right hand, making a small thud on the wooden floor as it hit. Smoke poured from the gaping hole in her chest, similar to the scorch mark that was on the wall behind her.
She was dead.
Okay! Don't kill me! If you read Emma's conversation with the demon earlier in the chapter, you might not lose all hope!
NEXT TIME: The Halliwells reel severely from Emma's death, especially when a demon crashes her funeral. Piper and Leo adjust to having to raise a child that isn't theirs. The anger and pain Pamela feels causes a new power to reveal itself, along with Paige turning towards the bottle to ease the pain of losing her best friend.
Chapter 31 "Grave" will be up soon!
PS: If you guys remember, I sent out profiles of characters with their pictures and things like that. If anyone still has the one I sent them, could you send it back? Because it got deleted from my computer and I would really like to have a copy. Thanks in advance!