Princess Pinky – Lol, well, with the timeline of my fic, most of the innocents from Season 1 are around 10 years older now! So I thought it would be a great opportunity to bring him back! I thought about bringing Tyler back, but then I would have to go through him wanting his powers back etc… And the Pam/Zach break up is explained in the sequel.
Phoebe turner – Thanks!
Prince Halliwell – I'm glad you liked all of it! And like I told Princess Pinky, Zach's reasons will be explained the sequel. And yes, even I, the writer, is glad to see Aidan and Paige together. Lol.
ColePhoebe4eva – Yeah, I used to like Magic School, but lately it's just been getting on my nerves, so I thought 'Hey I'll blow it up!' Lol. It means I can have a lot more mortal school storylines in future stories too. I'm glad you liked it.
Chyp – Thanks.
Fanmania – Lol, thanks, the last chapter was just really a fluff to balance out this chapter, which is basically one massive fight. Lol. Thanks for reviewing.
Piperfairy – Ha, that seems to be most people's reaction to the engagement. I like him too; he's the only other witch they've ever run into really.
To Live To Fight Another Day Part 3
Paige stared at the rising sun through the shattered window of the classroom. Her thumb moved in circles on the back of Aidan's hand as he clutched to her subconsciously in his sleep by putting a strong arm around her waist. She raised her left hand to the gradually increasing light, smiling at the engagement ring on her finger as it sparkled in the morning glow.
With a small sigh, the witchlighter gently lifted her fiancée's arm from her body, releasing herself from his loving hold and sitting on the mattress, turning around to see Aidan frown as her form was taken from him. She turned slightly, bending down and barely brushing her lips on his.
"Ew…" Paige grimaced at the clothes she had been wearing for the past two days. She smiled when she noticed a misshapen pile of fresh clothes that were close to the burnt out remains of the fire from the night before. She stood up, tip toe-ing towards the pile and beginning to fish through it for something she wanted.
She settled for a normal pair of jeans with a shimmering black top that had thin straps to keep it on her shoulders and around her torso. Paige quickly changed as quietly as she could, not wanting to disturb Aidan from his sleep. She wanted to do this with as little words as possible.
The youngest Charmed One held her sneakers in her hand, not wanting to make any noise as she walked towards the door, gently placing her hand on the handle and gripping it tightly before turning it slowly and opening the door gradually, wincing as the wood creaked as she disturbed it.
She was met with both of her sisters sitting on the floor of the Great Hall, a large blanket covering their shoulders as their eyes scanned over the pages of the new Book of Shadows. Phoebe pointed at something in the book, making Piper frown before nodding as she understood what her younger sister was saying.
"Is strategizing just for two or can I join in?" She walked towards the two on the floor, alerting them to her presence as she sat down and shimmied across to her sisters, where Piper extended her arm along with the blanket, inviting her sister into the huddle.
"Come join. We're just looking for ways to execute the thing we talked about last night. Do you think you can still pull it off?" Piper asked her sister as she wrapped her in the blanket. Paige took time to notice the dark patches underneath both her sisters' eyes.
The witchlighter shrugged as she surveyed the page that the book was open at, "I should. Did you get the ingredients I need last night?" She placed her hand on the page, going over what it said, "Because this spell only strengthen the-."
"Whoa!" Piper suddenly exclaimed, "We've got a UFJ on our hands!"
Paige raised her eyebrows as her oldest sister suddenly grabbed her wrist and raised her hand to hers and Phoebe's eye level, "Excuse me?"
"Unidentified Fabulous Jewelry." She quickly explained, her eyes narrowing at the ring on Paige's finger and scrutinizing it carefully with a smile on her face. Phoebe however, was not as subtle with her excitement.
"Oh my God…" The middle Charmed One squealed, cupping her nose and mouth with her hands in shock before suddenly gripping Paige's hand tightly and gazing at the ring, "You're engaged!" She suddenly exclaimed, making Piper suddenly clamp her little sister's mouth shut by putting her hand across Phoebe's mouth.
"Our little plan to sneak away won't work if you go shouting stuff like that!" She hissed before turning to Paige, "Although congratulations are definitely in order." She wrapped an arm around her youngest sibling's shoulders, hugging her and rested her head on hers, "You deserve it, honey. After everything you've been through, it couldn't have happened to anyone else…"
"Thanks…" She soaked up the tenderness of the moment before getting back to business, "But let's not get ahead of ourselves. It's going to be a really long engagement; I'm talking like a year, so let's just get back to avoiding certain death, shall we?"
Phoebe nodded quickly, pointing at the page, "Is this the sort of thing you said you needed? Because if it is then Piper and I will get to work on the other stuff while you work on this."
"Um…" She peered at the artistic writing, studying what it said, "Yeah, this'll be great. I just need a little blood from each of us and we'll be set."
"Alrighty then!" Piper announced, closing the Book of Shadows over and tucking under her arm before standing up, pulling her sisters to their feet with her, "I suggest we get to work now and make the first move."
"Are they ready?" Satanos spat at the armour clad former Atlantian General, who whipped his head around and glared at his boss before gesturing down into the chasm filled with the thousands of demons that had been created, each of them roaring and sharpening their weapons as they sensed a battle was looming.
Kahn scowled at the demon, "They're mid level demons with not much intelligence, I've prepared as best as I can, but then again, I'm sure they didn't need to be trained to perform a massacre. As I understand, that sort of thing comes naturally to your kind."
The evil being grew angry, suddenly grabbing his inferior by the throat and lifting him up, holding him over the pit of violent demons, "They've had to go for two years without a single kill. You've lived out your use, so I suggest you don't anger me if you don't want to die now."
"Very… well…" He managed to breathe out from the demon's grip before he was thrown across the plateau, rolling along the ground and hitting the wall roughly with a clang, his armour now scratched after going along the rocky floor.
"Get them ready." Satanos ordered, turning back to his army with his arms folded, "Storm the school with them, I've broken through the barrier and I know how to do it again, corner them on their turf while I take care of the Charmed Ones." He growled, picturing his three enemies in his mind and clenching his fists.
"Aw… Hear that girls? He's going to take care of us. How nice of him." An arrogant voice almost singed from behind them. The demon turned around, his eyes widened in rage when he saw the Charmed Ones standing together at the mouth of the cave that led back to Katrina's former chambers.
Despite his anger, Satanos managed to grin, "You three made a big mistake coming down here. Do you even know what you're standing on the edge of? The biggest army of the Underworld, and it's going to slaughter everyone you've ever loved." The girls remained silent and stone faced, "Get them moving! NOW!" He bellowed in the direction of Kahn who was just getting back up.
"You!" Piper and Paige gaped in unison, remembering the warrior from their first trip to Atlantis. They had thought that Aidan had killed him with the help of Undine sacrificing herself to give her son the power he needed to vanquish the corrupt man.
Kahn merely smiled, brushing some dust off a plate of his armour before his form was distorted by the shimmers that consumed him, taking him away from the plateau. A deafening roar was heard below, making the three witches take a step forward to investigate before a massive fireball was thrown towards them, blowing up about a foot away from them and throwing the sisters back into the chamber, each of them letting out a yelp of pain as they hit the ground.
Satanos stepped forward, lowering his arm and snuffing the flames that writhed in his palm, "Now, where were we?"
Pamela shook her head in annoyance before a chill in her lungs rushed out of her body in the form of a cryokinetic cloud of frost. The icy mist enveloped the flames in the centre of the room, leaving only a lick of smoke which the teen stamped out firmly with her foot before turning around and cursing.
"They must have run off hours ago, what were they thinking?" She snarled at her two uncles, who were looking through the wreckage for some of the weapons that had been placed on the walls of Magic School, almost as trophies.
Brennan grinned as his hands gripped something metallic underneath a mound of wood shafts, "Gotcha!" He exclaimed triumphantly, yanking on what he held and revealing a bronze goblet, "Dammit!" The elemental cursed loudly throwing the harmless cup across the Great Hall and crouching down in defeat. "I give up,"
"C'mon Pam, we know why they left. To avoid as much drama as possible, if you were going to die, would you want a lot of drawn out goodbyes?" Leo asked his niece before reaching for something under the rubble and pulling out a thin weapon, a rapier. The Elder smiled at his luck as Brennan glared at him.
The witch let out a wry chuckle, "I'm probably not the best person to ask, too many goodbyes in my life to remember them all. But I would probably not want to say goodbye at all…" She turned with a smile, "But that's just me."
"Then that's probably how your aunts are feeling." He looked at her with a grin, "Your behaviour doesn't all just come from you, you know." Leo said, realizing that Pamela really did have a little of each Charmed One in her.
Pamela sighed, "Do you think they'll be okay?"
"Yeah." He replied, a little too quickly for Pamela's liking. She shrugged it off the pang in the pit of her stomach and went back to looking and shaking her head at the remains of the fire.
"Okay…" Aidan announced as he walked into the hall, climbing over the various pieces of shattered marble and sandstone, "Prue is taking care of the Valkyries and Centaurs in the south wing, we though it would be better for Andy to take the students and teachers since they might harbour some resent towards Prue for wrecking this place."
"What about the feraltongue kid and all his lovely creatures?" Pamela droned, having had an encounter with the various beasts Lewis had summoned and had not liked them one bit.
"He and his band are with the students. All the witches we could round up have been split among the four groups, although the mutants seemed to be taking it as an insult rather than help." Aidan explained with his eyes glazed over in thought.
"Why?" Leo asked, frowning at the idea of anyone refusing help at a time like this.
Brennan's face contorted as he tried to find the right words to explain, "Mutants are sorta… knock offs of witches, their powers tire out and weaken a lot quicker than a normal witch's does. Thus the resentment, as most mutants think that no matter how much they train, they'll never be as good as real witches…"
Pamela pursed her lips, smiling, "I can think of one psionic redhead who's shot that theory to hell… Emma really was a cut above the rest." She said, now smiling at the memories that were flooding her mind.
"Emma was…" One side of Brennan's mouth flickered with a smile, "I don't think was a witch or a mutant from the start. She was something else." He whispered the last line to himself to no one would hear him.
"Okay!" Pamela suddenly slapped her hands together, rubbing them excitedly, "We don't have time to reminisce… We'll do that after we kick some demon ass!" She grinned, "So, we got four groups and there are six of us including Prue and Dad…" The teen quickly went over the numbers in her head, "We'll go with two to two groups, and one each to the other two."
"Who are going to be the people who are by themselves?" Leo asked, looking around at the other two men for their input, "It should probably be the two strongest, so Prue's a definite with all the power she got from the matriarchs. So…"
"Aidan, you take your soldiers by yourself. It's not as if they'll listen to the rest of us and with your near god status you've got the best chance at surviving without someone to help." Pamela suddenly ordered.
The elemental nodded, expressing his agreement, "Good luck you guys," He smirked, winking at Pamela, "Give'm hell…" Aidan grinned to his future niece, before a torrent of water devoured him and disappeared as quickly as it had came, taking its passenger to wherever he wanted to go.
"Okay, I will go with my Dad, which leaves you guys with the mutants. That okay?" The teen's eyes shifted between Brennan and Leo, who nodded at each other while grabbing the weapons they had collected. They went to leave the hall, before the mutant turned around, holding up the axe in his hand.
"Don't you need anything?" He asked.
Pamela grinned, raising both her fists to reveal thick brass knuckles on them, sharp spikes gleaming on the weapons as the teen held them up proudly, "I think I can take care of myself, but thanks Newbie." She smiled; Brennan had never been able to shake that nickname in the two years he had been in San Francisco.
"Okay. Good luck." Brennan replied, heading back around and walking out of the hall with Leo, making a turn to the right when they reached the end of the corridor and going towards where the mutants were being prepped for battle.
A smirk played on the teen's face as she reached down to the golden heart locket that hung around her neck. Pamela gently released the clasp, opening it fully and unleashing the blinding light the diamond in the centre was now giving off, her slightly pale features now being lit up by the warm glow.
"You better be ready for this…" She whispered into the locket, before letting it drop out of her hand and back to her front and walking out of the Great Hall with a smug look on her face.
The stream of blue energy struck Piper hard in the chest, throwing her over the large cauldron that still inhabited the room. The harsh noises of wood splintering and glass smashing reached the ears of everyone in the room as the eldest witch landed in a shelf unit filled with potions, her left side crashing into the furniture and falling to the floor in a shower of glass.
Paige rushed to her side, skidding to the floor on her knees and holding her hands above the gash in her sister's head. A brilliant golden glow was released immediately, slowly knitting the wound back together and reversing the blood that flowed from her skull. She whipped her head up, her dark hair flipping to her other shoulder before she called out to her sibling.
"Phoebe!" She screamed, catching her sister's attention as the middle Halliwell spun on her heel, delivering a hard kick to Satanos's chest and hurling him into the side of the pewter cauldron.
"Heal Piper! I'll keep him busy!" Phoebe hollered, turning back to the demon at hand so fast that it looked as if she had just shook her head. Satanos laughed as he sat up, a smirk on his face before getting up to his feet.
"Pitiful. You guys really didn't think this through before coming down here…" He said, arrogance flashing in his eyes as he casually brushed off sawdust that was covering his clothes.
"Oh, trust me, we've thought this through for longer than you can imagine. In fact, we haven't even broken a sweat yet." Phoebe retorted with a smirk of her own, launching another kick at her enemy, only for him to catch her foot with superhuman reflexes. She broke out into a smile as she levitated, still in the demon's hold, and used her free leg to kick him hard in the face, making him let go and letting Phoebe return to the ground in a graceful turn.
Despite the momentary pain pulsing from his jaw, Satanos turned back to the witch with a malevolent smile, his greasy black hair falling over the soulless orbs of his eyes, "You're going to break more than a sweat when I'm done with you…" He growled, a plume of crimson flames bringing forth a blazing fireball in his palm, which he then proceeded to hurl into Phoebe's chest.
The middle Charmed One screamed, and in the explosion caused by the fireball's impact, vanished within the nova and only left a wisp of smoke in the fire's wake. The demon immediately began to scan the room for swarming particles, not wanting to be caught out like the last time he thought he had killed her.
"You're going to have to do better than that!" Phoebe's voice sang merrily. Satanos turned to his left just in time to take the brunt force of the psionic blast that had flew from the witch's forehead. Great pain rushed through his mind as he stumbled back, raising his hands to his temples before taking time to sense the residual magic left from the attack.
"You're not a Charmed One…" He spat, glowering at the witch who had now been joined by her other two sisters. Each of them had inane grins of their faces that didn't suit three women who were facing the toughest battle of their lives.
Piper smirked, "None of us are. We're just a little gift that they sent to you. You'll never find out where they really are…" She said cockily, looking at both her sisters, "I think we've delivered the message, don't you, girls?"
"Definitely." Paige smirked, before locking eyes with their enemy, "They'll get you, you know. You will be dead before midnight… or maybe a little later, it depends on how long it takes you to figure everything out." She winked at him, "Let's go you guys,"
Letting out a primal roar, Satanos launched a fireball that had instantly appeared in his hand. It rocketed towards the youngest sister at an unbelievable speed, but only hit the wall after going through the rapidly dissipating crimson glows that were left as the witches disappeared.
"How's it going in here?" Pamela asked loudly over the din of chattering students and teachers, all of them rifling through the assorted weapons that had been gathered during the night. Her father turned around, brandishing two usually long athames that he seemed to have grown quite fond of in his fights.
"Uh…" The mortal scratched the back of his head after he deposited the daggers into two holsters around his waist, "They're all a little nervous at the thought of having to use weapons, they'd rather rely on their powers."
Pamela shook her head, "Powers should be a last resort in fighting, magic drains quicker than your body. It's sorta like leaving the best till last. Although after three years at this school, I've seen most of their powers and they're probably better off not wasting their energy trying to use magic." She looked at her father, "How about you? Ready? We're moving out as soon as we get the signal from everyone else."
"Yeah…" Andy nodded uncertainly, "I'm… well, I'm as best prepared as I'm gonna get." He turned towards the large group in the room, "So, just how are we getting everyone into the Underworld?"
"There's some portal device in the basement of school, according to Leo." She explained, "We'll be able to get everyone on pretty quickly so that we have the advantage of attacking first."
Before another word could be uttered, the ground shook, the foundations of what remained of the school groaned from the pressure that was being put upon it. Columns of dust fell from the unstable ceiling, covering a few students and managing to worry everyone with a few seconds. A low rumbling made what was left of windows shake violently in their panes before it all suddenly came to an abrupt stop.
Andy placed a hand on one of the athames perched in his belt, "That can't be good…" He murmured, not wanting to alert the students and teachers to any danger until the time was right.
"Things like that are never good around here…" Pamela hissed back, her eyes narrowing as she scanned the immediate area, "Something's not right." She said firmly, before turning her attention to the hallway, where another sound was reaching their ears.
Shouts, smashes, screams. All were getting closer. The rumbling continued, shaking everyone to their core along with making the weak walls rock and sway from the earth shifting underneath them. Pamela clenched her fists, knuckles turning white under the metallic ones she had on her fingers while Andy whipped out his hands at an incredible speed, deploying the athames from their holsters and preparing to defend his daughter.
And it was then they came. A squad of Leech demons barreled around the corner in the hallway, heading straight for the group of inexperienced warriors. Their roars were deafening, rusty and dull weapons held tightly in their wrinkled fists as they charged, their skinless faces contorted into expressions of blood lust and perverse pleasure at the terror they knew they were causing.
Pamela's face fell as all the colour drained from her features, her clenched fists loosened slightly in fear, "Aw… shit!"
Reacting to the situation immediately and without hesitation, the witch threw out her fist at the first demon that was foolish to confront her, slashing across its cheek with her sharp brass knuckles before landing a blow in between his eyes. Blood spurted violently from the wound before the evil creature was devoured in the cleansing flames, echoing howls of pain left in the fire's wake as the demon was vanquished painfully. Pamela was already covered in blood from the fatal wound she had inflicted.
Her head snapped around, witnessing the struggling members on their side before rushing to their aid immediately. She saw one demon about to bring its sword down on a freshman that she didn't recognize, and, thinking fast, blew out a strong cloud of cryokinetic mist, enveloping the weapon in ice and making it smash into small harmless chunks as it came into contact with its would be victim's shoulder.
The witch ran forward, taking the attacking demon by surprise as she threw her fist into the back of its skull. A nauseating squelching noise was released as Pamela drove the spikes on her knuckles as far into the demon's head as they would go, quickly and roughly wrenching them from the creature's skull and releasing more blood that flew out of the four holes in his head, covering Pamela's shirt with an assortment of blood and various entrails from his head. Flames quickly consumed it, ending the excruciating vanquish that it had endured.
"Um… Okay…" She stuttered, quickly grabbing a weapon on the ground and shoving it into the boy's hands, "You're short and puny, so take cheap shots and run like hell. Got it?" He nodded vigorously, "Alright then! Go stab some backs!"
Andy drove the athame into his enemy's gut roughly, twisting it slowly and painfully before wrenching the dagger from the wound, now gushing with blood. The demon screamed in pain the fatal blow it had suffered, and from the flames that had now devoured it completely, disappearing in a satisfying explosion.
The mortal spun around, hurling one of his weapons towards another demon, where it pierced the creature's neck. It let out a chilling roar as it wrenched the athame from its neck, just in time for vanquishing flames to envelop him completely and only leave the dagger to fall to the ground and a small line of smoke that was blown away quickly. He ran forward, retrieving the sharp object before leaping at another enemy.
Shalimar leapt from the support beam that she had been balancing on, falling to the floor in her signature feline stance. Her amber eyes blazed with animalistic rage and fury, showing that she was more beast than human at this point. She landed in a crouched position and ran forward, thrusting her fist into a demon's lower back and ripping its spine from its body, causing an instant vanquish and leaving Shalimar with even more blood lust.
Lexa scrunched up her face as she released a searing laser of light from her fingers, immediately striking a demon that was in mid jump on its way to a mutant who had her back to her attacker. The combination of heat and magic reduced the creature to dust instantly, leaving no trace of its existence. The mutant looked around, they weren't prepared for this. All the mutants were already running low on energy and every time a demon was vanquished, two more would replace it, it was a vicious cycle that never seemed to end.
Her train of thought was broken by crackling tesla coil zipping past her ear, striking a demon that she hadn't noticed and causing it to blow up from the pressure on its body. Lexa spun around and was faced with Brennan and Leo, who were already preparing another electrical assault with their respective powers.
"It's about time!" She snapped, quickly making a violent gesture with her arms and releasing a dazzling cloud of light. It stunned a crowd of Leech demons coming towards her and gave the two men the chance to blast them apart with lightning, "This is endless! We don't stand a chance!"
Leo gritted his teeth, hurling out his arm and blowing up another demon with a destructive streak of neon blue lightning, "We need to hold off until the girls vanquish Satanos! They should all disappear after-," He was forced to duck to avoid a stray ball of lime green energy that had been fired by one of the mutants. The sphere hurtled into the wall and somehow caused the marble and stone to age rapidly, reducing it to dust in a matter of seconds, "Damn moleculars…" The Elder grumbled.
"BASTARDS!" The profanity was accompanied with a deep, loud, menacing roar that suddenly tore through the air before a crowd of Leech demons was thrown violently into the air, convulsing as they flew before landing in various part of the hall. Each of them disappeared in plume of flames, leaving Riley standing in the middle of a clear space. His large chest heaved up and down with his breath as his eyes glowed with cold blue fury.
"Jesus Christ…" Lexa gaped, completely stunned by a never before seen display of the ursine feral's true powers.
"Never… ever… crowd an angry bear…" He snarled to no one in particular, before going back to taking out demons in a similar gruesome fashion to the way Shalimar was disposing of her enemies. He ran into the heat of the battle, the odd demon being hurled into the air like a rag doll and ending with a small whimper of pain as it died.
Brennan, who had seen this spectacle, sighed and shook his head as he swirled his wrists around, concocting more voltage on the edge of his fingertips, "I knew there was a reason I never liked camping…"
Satanos appeared within a tower of fire on top of the Golden Gate Bridge. He immediately turned full circle, looking over the area where he had sensed the Charmed Ones. The demon's brow knitted in thought, this was the third time the witches signal had led him to a dead end. They were tricking him, planting parts of their magic in various places and attempting to ware him down slowly, and although Satanos hated to admit it, their traps were taking a lot out of him.
"Now!"
The demon spun around to see the three witches standing on the higher platform of the bridge. Each of them threw a vial from their palms, their faces contorted into ones of concentration before Satanos threw out his hands, gripping the three potions telekinetically and diverting them to the red metal that he was standing on.
But before they could smash on the ground, each vial suddenly dissolved in a flare of ruby light. The evil being's eyes widened, quickly looking up to the Charmed Ones and clenching his fists as they too vanished in a crimson glow.
"More astral simulations…?" He snarled to himself, his eyes growing even wider as he scanned the area for any clues. They would have to have had to come up here to plant the simulations, therefore there had to be a trace of their magic to follow. Satanos narrowed his eyes into slits as he noticed a small funnel of lavender smoke dancing in the air on the higher platform, where the fake Charmed Ones had stood.
Crouching slightly, the demon leapt into the air in a feral-like way, landing on the higher red steel with a clang as his iron soled boots connected with the surface. There was a small vase-like sitting on the ground, purple plumes of smoke floating upwards from it, he recognized it from somewhere. He knelt down, examining the carvings on the terracotta vase before suddenly realizing what it was. Illusion smoke.
But before he could do anything about it, the violet toxin had invaded his nostrils and had began to intrude on his mind, seeping into every crevice to find its target, and from what Satanos could see from the markings, this particular brand of illusion smoke had been designed to prey on the victim's greatest fear. As he expected, the haunting chants of the Charmed Ones reached his ears. He dreaded to look up, but he had to if he wanted the illusion to end.
The three witches stood in front of him, each of them soaked from head to toe in blood with sinister looks on their faces as they said a vanquishing spell that Satanos couldn't make out. He dropped to knees, knowing that they were covered in all the blood that he had spilled during his existence. Then it started, the searing pain in the centre of his chest spread outwards, enveloping him in jade coloured flames as he knelt on the floor, silently begging for mercy before his vision was covered in the deep green fire. There was a thunderous explosion; all he could see was black, until his normal vision returned.
The pain was gone, along with the blood soaked witches and vanquishing flames that he had barely endured. Gritting his teeth, he brought his fist down on the vase, shattering it violently and releasing a weak wisp of purple smoke before nothing was left. He stood up, taking a deep breath and suddenly spinning around, his eyes completely black with anger.
"WHERE ARE YOU?" He screamed in a deep voice that dripped with black magic, before vanishing in a column of searing hot orange flames that seemed to be even more intense than the fire he had arrived in.
"Remind me why we decided to take courtyard duty!" Cassy voiced her annoyance loudly before pushing three demons back with an invisible telekinetic force. In some aspects, mutant telekinesis was better than the real witch's version, as it didn't require gestures. Only a strong will and powerful mind were needed.
Jesse rolled his eyes, pushing his fists against one another and releasing a frigid blast of thermal energy from his body, encasing the five demons in front of him in thick layers of frost and ice, before releasing a roasting hot thermal blast and reducing the creatures to puddles of red water on the blood stained ground. "Because we got stuck with the job nobody wanted, again!" He groaned, taking in a breath and phasing to make an enemy pass right through him. Cassy spun on her heel, narrowing her eyes just a little and throwing the demon into the air with her powers. There was a terrible crunching noise as the creature was impaled on the sword of a large statue, causing an instant vanquish in an intense fire.
"Everybody, push forward!" The telekinetic bellowed to the battling mutants, "We can't afford to lose any more territory! Beat them ba-!" She was cut off abruptly, her mouth gaping before Cassy looked down, her eyes widened as she saw a waterfall of blood trickling down from her abdomen. The mutant's eyes rolled to the back of her head before she suddenly collapsed to the ground.
Jesse gritted his teeth, forming a fist that was quickly covered in knitted deep orange lines as he massed out and throwing the balled palm into a demon's chest. The evil being was thrown back from the force of the blow and fell onto the point of one of its comrade's swords, devoured in the cleansing fires before vanishing in a blast of heat. "Cass!" He bolted to his teammate, falling to his knees in front of her, not knowing what to do.
Cassy looked up, her eyes dark with determination as she tried to block out the pain from the stab wound, "Don't you… dare… stop for me…" She growled, "I just… need to play dead for a few minutes…" She insisted, resting her head back on the ground as Jesse watched her back rise and fall with her slow breathes before leaping to his feet and returning to the fight.
Prue frowned darkly, lacing her fingers together in a tight mesh before turning her hands outwards towards the platoon of demons that were charging at her, taking advantage of the large empty space that deceased witch's last attack had created. Energy rippled in the air in front of her palms, a white shimmering light began to form, before an unbelievable amount of power burst forth into a beam of angelic light. Every demon it hit was vaporized immediately, while every valkyrie and centaur it hit was left completely unharmed.
War cries were erupting from everywhere around the hall. Valkyries, who had been trained for a fight such as this, were disposing of their enemies in a most elegant way, their legs dancing a lethal ballet as they jumped into the air to assault their enemies violently, returning to their serene composure for one second before reverting back to the fierce warriors that they truly were.
The centaurs were taking a less beauteous approach. Charging through their enemies and crushing them with their hooves was one strategy, while trying to take out as many of the demons who had avoided their feet by swinging their lances and spears above their heads and bringing them down on the unsuspecting creature who was unfortunate enough to meet with the half man-half beast's weapon.
Suddenly, three streams of neon blue light erupted from the large doorway. Prue couldn't see what the cause was, but the light immediately shot down at an incredible rate, instantly destroying any demons that it hit and moving like a snake in the battlefield as it searched for more enemies. The witch shook her head when she saw Aidan charge through the crowd, holding the Trident of Poseidon and twirling it around majestically as he butchered as many evil beings as he could along the way.
"Need any help?" He asked, grinning in a similar way to Andy and making Prue realize what had probably initially sparked her youngest sister's attraction for the elemental. His smile.
"Shouldn't you be helping or leading your soldiers?" She spat, turning around and releasing a sphere of white light from her palm at a demon that had attempted to attack her from behind. Thanks to her heightened powers, she had been able to pre-empt it quickly and reduced the demon to a pile of ash immediately.
"They've been trained well, unlike most of the people in this fight!" Aidan shouted back, stabbing his enemy in the chest with the three prongs of his trident, before pulling it back roughly and assaulting another demon with the large spike on the bottom end, "I thought you might need some help since you and me are alone!" He explained, quickly creating a circle of deadly icicles around his wrist before hurling them at more evil beings.
"Thanks for the concern, but…" She flicked her wrist at a sword on the ground, sending it hurtling into the chest of the demon that was about to attack Aidan from behind. The elemental turned around just in time to see the flames consume his would be killer and take him to the other side in a small explosion, "I think you need my help more than I need yours." Prue smirked, her smugness vanishing when a frigid glowing icicle flew past her ear. She turned around, seeing a demon scream in pain before being dispatched into darkness by the sharp weapon that had been thrown.
"You sure about that?" Aidan grinned at her again, "Why don't we make this interesting?" He suggested, "Kill counter back to zero, whoever has the most kills by the time this is over gets…"
"My blessing to marry my sister." Prue smiled at his surprised expression, "You'd be amazed how a big sister finds out things. If you win, you get my blessing, if you lose, then you're going to need to put up with me glowering down at you from up there." She smirked, before launching another white energy ball from her palm, blasting a demon into oblivion, "One to me!" She grinned, beginning to run back into the fight, "Oh, and one more thing. I don't like to lose."
Satanos flamed into the dank chamber. This strategy was beginning to ware thin, even by the Charmed Ones' standards. His eyes were still darkened by the black magic that threatened to override his rational thought as he scanned the area. He was going to kill them. Slowly. Brutally. Painfully, kill them. The demon frowned as he stepped forward; he refused to be tricked again. He went to take another step, but abruptly came to a stop mid-stride, something wasn't right.
The evil being raised his hand to his face, igniting a bright fireball within his palm and illuminating the chamber with a pale orange glow. Fortunately for him, his slightly enhanced vision allowed him to use this light to see everything clearly. Satanos' features contorted with anger as he saw what was right in front of him, how had they done this?
Before him lay a grid of metal pipes, but he could tell it was something a lot more than that after scanning it with vision that allowed him to sense magic. It was the most intricately planned trap yet, and a smile spread across his face then he realized that they wouldn't catch him out.
From what Satanos could tell, it was some sort of binding field, and a powerful one at that. It looked as if it had been designed especially for him, to hold and bind his magic away along with himself into another realm. He grinned, having fond memories of when witches of old would use meager versions of this in an attempt to stop him; he should have guessed that the Charmed Ones would be the witches to create one with enough power to…
His soulless eyes widened as he finally realized there the three sisters had been hiding all along. They would want to go to somewhere where they were in control, where they had the power, the upper hand. The demon almost laughed at his own stupidity, before letting out a chuckle and flaming out, knowing full well where he was going to find his prey.
Pamela delivered another lethal blow to the demon that she had been fighting in the classroom. The witch dove over the desk it had knocked her over and delivered a solid uppercut to his chin with the spikes on her knuckles, sending it flying into the wall just as it became swathed in flames, blowing up as soon as it hit the wall and leaving a blackened scorch mark on the already damaged marble. It was at this point she noticed that the fight had somehow led her into an empty classroom, she was completely alone.
"My, my, it's a shame we never got to meet before. I really would have liked to go a few rounds with you."
She turned around, regarding the stranger with suspicion. He was dressed in turquoise armour from head to toe, much like the uniforms of the Atlantian soldiers, except from the fact that it looked severely dented, as if it had been a lot of battles. There were three punctures in the tough metal chest plate, making Pamela remember the descriptions Paige had told her about the demonic Atlantian General.
"It's Kahn, right?" She played coy, walking slowly towards him and tightening one of her fists until her knuckles were a ghostly white while the other hand gripped tightly to the locket around her neck, which was still glowing fiercely.
"I'm glad I'm so famous with the Prince's in-laws." He said, smirking as he drew a long sword from its sheath on his belt, relishing the sliding noise it made as metal was separated from leather.
She cocked her head, "Didn't your mother ever teach that notoriety is a bad thing? Although I'm guessing she did a pretty crap job considering you're a pathetic washed up soldier who's on his second life." Pamela spat, making a flicking gesture with her hand and trying to take the sword from Kahn's hand telekinetically. The sword began to move, but he gripped it tightly, slowing its already gradual escape and reclaiming it.
"It's resilient to the kiddy party tricks of witches…" He smirked, "And you're about to learn that first hand." The warrior ran forward, his sword raised above his head and ready to deal a fatal blow.
Pamela smirked, raising the locket slightly to her lips, "Go for it…" She whispered, before holding the piece of jewelry back out towards her enemy. There was a bright flash before a brilliant stem of neon yellow lightning flew from the diamond in the centre of the locket. The intensity of the blast made Pamela slide back on the floor a few centimetres before the monstrous assault collided with Kahn. His eyes widened in disbelieve before the lightning threw him across the classroom, hurling him into the scorch mark the demon's vanquish had left behind and leaving a dent in the marble.
"Well, it's about time I got some frickin' action on this side!" Persia Halliwell's voice streamed from the locket, "Not that I haven't enjoyed the movie from here, you should have warned me about the graphic violence though." The witch shivered as she thought of the brutality of Pamela's vanquishes.
Pamela rolled her eyes, smiling as she saw that her enemy was still recovering from the attack, "Oh sure, crack all wise when you're nowhere near the danger. I'd like to see you here in my place!"
"Well, it certainly looks more entertaining living it than watching it." Persia shot back, "Anyway, bitch and brag later, kill that medieval reject already!"
"Wow, violence really gets you riled up… Lunatic." Pamela smirked, before returning to her fighting stance as Kahn stood up, summoning his fallen sword back to his hand and bearing his teeth at the witch, "Down, dog." She quipped.
"DIE!" He bellowed, running toward her at supernatural speed and crashing into her front. The locket was torn from Pamela's neck, the glow from the diamond instantly snuffed as the golden heart snapped shut, falling to the floor as the teen hit the wall, falling to the ground and losing her metal knuckles on the way down. They slipped from her fingers and were lost under wreckage.
"Now that's just… rude!" She snapped, bouncing to her feet and running at her enemy. She raised a hand to her mouth, inhaling a breath before releasing a cold mist of frost at Kahn. The cyrokinetic energy was about to connect until he suddenly shimmered out, leaving nothing but ripples in the air.
"Pam! We need you out here!" Andy shouted, running through the door and towards his daughter, who turned around to warn him about the danger as he stood in front of her. Pamela was about to open her mouth, but Kahn shimmered back in while her back was turned, throwing his sword forward and ready to pierce the witch's side. Andy thought fast, grabbing his daughter by the shoulders and throwing her to the side just as the sword was about to run her through. The mortal gaped in pain as the blade puncturing his abdomen, blood gushing the wound immediately as Kahn roughly yanked his weapon from the man's side.
"NO!" Pamela screamed, crawling feverishly to her father as he fell to the ground, blood now creeping out from the corner of his mouth as his head struck the floor. Immediately, she began to call for anyone who could help, not noticing the lime green portal open up in the doorway of the classroom. "LEO! AIDAN! PAIGE! ANYBODY!"
"They… can't hear… you…" Andy spluttered out, "They're… overwhelmed with… the… fighting…"
"No, no, no, no, no, no…" She rambled quietly as she gripped her dad by the shoulders, cradling his head as tears rolled her cheeks, not aware of the fact that Kahn was about to bring his sword down in her head. He too, had failed to notice the girl now striding from the portal.
"I… I… l-ove… y-," He didn't finish his sentence, death taking him quickly and letting his head roll from Pamela's blood soaked hands. She continued to sob into his rapidly cooling chest before noticing Persia standing in the doorway with an uncharacteristic look of sheer rage on her face.
Wordlessly, the otherworldly witch raised both hands. There was a crackling noise, Persia's golden brown hair began to blow about in her face before she produced more voltage than she ever had, the jet of yellow lightning almost overwhelming its creator as a trickle of blood seeping from her nose. The cataclysmic attack struck Kahn loudly, as if it was a thunder clap. He screamed violently as the attack scorched and burned away his flesh, before vaporizing him completely and reducing him to a pile of dust on the floor.
Persia walked towards her bawling friend, her eyes becoming glassy at the sight before her, "I got worried when the locket went offline…" She knelt down, managing to wrench Pamela away from her father's corpse and allowing her to weep into her shoulder, "I am so sorry…" She whispered.
Their moment was broken by the sudden outburst of never ending crackles coming from the main hall; the anguished screams of demons accompanied them. Persia frowned, slowly pulling her distraught friend to her feet and guiding her out of the classroom, gasping at what she saw on the main battlefield.
The ceiling was completely covered grey creatures that were moving around at an alarming rate. Even more of them were streaming through the various holes in the building as energy ball after energy ball flew from the beings' hands, vanquishing the demons instantly and decimating their ranks in a matter of seconds. Both witches ducked as the creatures flew past them, spreading out to the other parts of the school to finish off the rest of the demonic army.
They were gargoyles.
"Okay…" Piper began, lightly tapping her fist off the palm of her hand as she paced, "We're only going to have one shot of this, so we need to be prepared. Is everything in place?" She turned to her youngest sister, who rolled her eyes and sighed.
"Well, it was all in place five minutes ago when you asked me to go check out everything…" Paige snapped, "So unless the house has been turned upside down without us realizing, I think it's all still going to be where it should be."
The eldest Halliwell gave her a look, "Is it so wrong to want everything to go right? Pheebs, what did your last premonition show you? You know, that one you forced?" Piper raised an eyebrow at Phoebe, who was sitting at the kitchen table.
"It was an incantation on the book, for Gods sake!" The middle Charmed One exclaimed, standing up from the table, "And he had found the binding field then flamed out, I don't know what happened after that, so unless I get another premonition… We wait." She finished flatly, putting her hands in her back pockets.
"How long do you think it's gonna take for him to figure out we've been in the Manor this whole time?" Paige asked, now picking at her cuticles and exchanging nervous looks with her siblings.
"Oh, not long."
The three of them spun around as their hearts began to race. Satanos stood in the doorway that led to the back yard, his black eyes narrowed into slits as he grinned manically at the witches, all three wearing determined looks on their faces after recovering from the initial shock.
"Took you long enough." Piper sneered.
He smirked at her, "Oh, come on. You ladies need to give yourselves more credit. I shouldn't have expected anything less from the long prophesized Charmed Ones. I can understand why you'd want to fight where you're the strongest. Hiding in plain sight… So simple, yet so effective."
"Oh stop…" Paige droned sarcastically, rolling her eyes and giving the demon a look as if he had lost his mind.
"If you insist…" He shrugged, subtly creating a blazing fireball in his palm as he did, still smirking oddly at the three witches as they stared him down. Satanos threw back his arm before hurling it forward along with the flaming sphere, sending it straight to Piper. But she had been prepared, as the witch took in a quick breath, covering herself in criss-crossing orange cracks and massing out. The fireball bounced off Piper's magical armour, rebounding to Satanos and combusting on his shoulder, making him stumble back into the washer.
"Run!" Piper shouted. The three women turned on their heels, heading for the dining room as fast as they could go and hoping they would get to the attic before Satanos recovered.
"I'm tired of games…" He growled, getting up and running after them with a glint of murderous desire in his eyes as he bolted out of the kitchen. His eyes darted around the main part of the house, looking for his prey before the three of them suddenly faded into view, taking advantage of Piper's invisibility power of conceal them all for a short period of time.
Paige raised her arm, "Vase!" She screamed, gesturing to the vase on the dining room table and causing it to fly at Satanos in a cloud of orbs, reappearing at the last second to smash over the demon's skull. He groaned in pain and fell into the mantelpiece.
But it wasn't over yet. He conjured another fireball, grinning at his three targets before releasing it with even more force behind than the last one, but it was quickly stilled with a flick of Piper's wrist as she froze it in place, halting its movement completely. It hovered in the air for a moment, before Phoebe narrowed her eyes and used her telempathy to channel the assault back towards it owner. The fireball blew up as it collided with the demon's chest, making him stumble back a few more paces and letting the girls escape to the stairs.
"No!" He snarled, throwing a fireball at the banister and reducing part of the stairwell to a smoldering piece of wood that crashed to the foyer, destroying the table that stood in the middle, "I'll get you…" He narrowed his eyes, before disappearing in a raging tower of fire.
"Hurry!" Phoebe urged her sisters to the Book of Shadows, which rightfully rested on its altar in the attic. The three of them stood behind it, taking each other's hands and preparing for what was to come. As expected, Satanos raised the temperature greatly as he flamed in with fury, staring at the Charmed Ones before throwing out both his arms and unleashing two powerful jets of blue fire from his palms, illuminating his face in a ghostly blue.
Their grip on each other's hands tightened as they chanted, "The Power of Three will set us free… The Power of Three will set us free… The Power of Three will set us free…" A multi-coloured bubble shield erected in front of them, halting the blue flames in their tracks as they attempted to break through the barrier that was being caused by one of the most powerful magical forces in the world.
Satanos eventually gave up, dropping his arms and taking deep breaths. The trials that they had put him through during the day had weakened him greatly, and he was barely able to keep a steady footing as he swayed on the spot. "You can't stop me…" He growled weakly.
"No?" Phoebe questioned rhetorically with an eyebrow raised, glaring at the demon that had taken the lives of two of their loved ones in the past year.
"Watch us." Piper finished strongly, silently nodding to Paige who turned her attention to the five coal black crystals that lay on top of the dresser. They all took one final look at their foe before Phoebe deployed the spell from her pocket.
"Dark matter, circle." The youngest Charmed One ordered, gesturing at the five crystals and waving her arm at Satanos and making the dark matter vanish in a swirl of white and blue lights and making it reappear in the same fashion, surrounding the demon as blood red bolts flew from each stone, connecting at the top and trapping him. Paige looked to her right, staring down at the spell in Piper's hand as she and her sisters began to chant.
"Sister witches, we beseech thee,
Lend your strength, to we three,
So our Wiccan message, we may send,
To give this evil a grisly end!"
It began again, just like in the dream the illusion smoke had concocted. A searing pain spread outwards from his chest as they repeated the spell over and over, calling upon the power of all witches to vanquish him. Satanos fell to his knees, holding his agonizing chest as he did, before feeling jade green flames lap and scold his flesh through his clothes. The green fire underneath him became stronger and stronger before the pain was unbearable. There was a thunder-like noise as the explosion set off, shattering the dark matter cage and sending the Charmed Ones to the floor from the shockwave that had been released, it went on to smash all the windows of the top floor before it finally came to a stop. There was silence. Satanos was gone.
Paige stared coldly at the small flickering green flame left in the centre of the crystals. Her eyes began to well up with tears as she looked into the hypnotic dance the small fire was performing. She gulped before frowning intently and letting out a relieved sigh.
"That was for Grant and Emma…"
Woo! Ding dong! The demon's dead! Haha, well, I hope that was worth the long wait. And just in case anyone's confused, the gargoyles coming out of nowhere to win the battle for them will be explained in the next chapter, although it does involve a certain gargoyle by the name of Arc… ;) All the other things will be explained too, don't worry!
NEXT TIME- UNITED AS THREE, FINAL CHAPTER: Brennan and Pamela prepare to leave the family for both career and education. The truth about the force that possessed Brennan and Phoebe is revealed, leaving the Charmed Ones with a foe who is beyond their powers and who wants to take Connor from his mother. Will the sisters prevail over this enemy? Or will Phoebe loose her son forever?
Chapter 40 "The Child Before The Storm" should be up soon!