hanks for the reviews! I'm in a celebratory mood (aren't I Jess? Lol!) because Charmed has been renewed and Sunday was my birthday:D But I feel you will all hate me. All of you… hides
Prince Halliwell- I'm glad you liked the nickname! And yeh, my updating will be wonky! Thanks for the review!
Cherry7up- Thanks for the review!
Money makes me smile- I understood the French:D …unlike that stoopid translator! High on a hill goat's milk cheese shepherd is only one! LMFAO. Thanks for the review!
Charmed1s-halliwells- Thanks for the review.
Rebanana- Thanks! That review was spectacular! Lol! If Mark were on the show, I'd be happy too! But then I'd sue them for plagiarism and make lots and lots of money! Muahaha!
.elemenbabe.- Thanks for the review!
Moonfirefairy- Thanks for the review and I PROMISE I will catch up on your fics when my exams are over! Lol!
Peanut2lb- That's not all we're going to see of Grams' bias towards Andy! Thanks for the review!
RJF- I'm a genius? If only they'd have told me that before I sat my exams… thanks for the review!
Pangea- Thanks for the review! New reviewers are always awesome! And you really think Mark is better than anyone else? Wow!
Powerof4- Yes, any excuse to make Phoebe miserable, I will use! And my flying monkeys will only ever work for me…thank god…
BlueOrbs998- You rock too dude! We never did start that 'we rock' club, did we? Lol! I think you were the only person to pick up on the hints I've been dropping throughout the entire story as to who will die. And yes, all will be revealed about the third child in this chapter. Enjoy!
Right, this may be a little rated R because of language and violence.
Chapter24- To Lose One is to Gain Another.
When Paige was awakened by the sound of an innocent giggle on the morning of January second 2008, she could never have comprehended the day that was to come. She groggily swept her dark hair from her porcelain face and sighed with a happy smile. Instead of coming face to face with her husband like she usually did, she found herself staring into the gorgeous blue eyes of her youngest daughter. The two-year-old redhead had obviously crept into the bed during the night again, but this time her sister had followed. Laura was lying across Mark's chest, giggling as he tickled her. Paige was not, and would never be, a morning person, but at this moment she could not have been happier.
Placing a hand on her abdomen, she sighed contently, knowing now would be when she was going to tell them. "This is nice." She said, sitting up and lifting Rachael onto her knee.
"What is sweetheart?" Mark asked with his crooked smile. It still melted Paige's heart.
"All of us being here…" A grin spread across her face as her eyes met her husband's. "…all five of us." Once again, her hands slid onto her abdomen and she smiled slyly.
"Yeah, it is- Woah, wait! Five?" His face lit up like a small child's at Christmas as a look of realisation washed over him.
"Mommy, you silly Billy!" Laura giggled, "One, three, two, four!" She counted, pointing at each person in turn.
"Silly Billy!" Rachael mimicked, holding up four fingers on her left hand.
"Well, soon there's going to be five." Paige told her daughters. "Mommy's gonna have a baby."
xxxxx
The underground cave remained in a tense silence as the large, cloaked demon's thoughts tumbled around his head. His charcoal black face deepened with a look of worry and he closed his one eye in frustration. It was already two days past the New Year and Decron had not yet prevented the existence of the third child. Without the assistance of his seer, it was hard to tell when his plan could be put into action, but he knew he would have to act soon. Decron could only hope that he was not too late.
Morphing back into his pathetic human form, he fiercely thrust a fireball at the cave wall. A low rumble echoed through the underground cavern and large clumps of rock fell from the ceiling. Decron smirked. If he could do that to an underground cave with only one fireball, killing the Nauctater and his wife would be a piece of cake.
xxxxx
The Andersons pulled up in front of the Manor and as soon as they stepped out of the car, were met by a very excited Prue, Andy and Melinda-Jayne who, apparently, had been playing outside. Leo, who was sitting n the porch and was clearly supervising, smiled and gave them a wave.
"Guess what Uncle Mark?" Prue asked excitedly, levitating into his arms the way she always did when she greeted her favourite Uncle.
"What?" He asked, grinning at the look of disapproval on Leo's face when Prue had used her powers.
"I getted two dollars from the tooth fairy!" She gave him a wide smile; showing where her two front teeth had been and mark gave her a smile in return. He could not wait to play tooth fairy with Laura, Rachael and his third child. There were so many things to look forward to. He averted his eyes to Paige so he could give her a knowing smile, but apparently she had not been paying attention to the conversation at all. Paige's face wore a very sullen expression and her eyes were narrowed in disgust. Mark followed her gaze to the garden across the street and immediately knew why she looked so frustrated. Paul McFarland was standing in the garden, mowing the lawn at snails pace, as always, wearing his oversized sunglasses. When he gave them a wave, Mark could almost see Paige's blood boil as she gave Paul a very forced smile.
"Creep…" She muttered.
"Who is?" MJ asked curiously.
"Oh, no one sweetie." Paige replied. "Girls, go inside and say hello to your Aunties, okay?"
"But I is wantin' to pay, Mommy…" Rachael pouted her lip and batted her long eyelashes with a pleading look in her huge blue eyes. Paige groaned. She wished they wouldn't give her that look.
"Okay," She sighed, "But if Uncle Leo tells me you've used your powers I'm gonna take them away, okay?" She hid her smirk with her hand as looks of terror washed over her daughters' faces. That was one threat that would always work.
"Yes Mommy!" Laura replied, before turning to Andy with a cheeky smile, "Tag, you're it!"
xxxxx
Paul smirked as he watched Paige and Mark enter the Manor. This would be the perfect opportunity to strike. If he could somehow get the whitelighter out of the way, the Anderson brats would be left unprotected and, finally, Decron would triumph. He turned off the useless human grass-cutting contraption and dashed inside. He was going to have to work fast.
He reached the shabby, grotty and foul smelling kitchen and quickly drew the curtains. "Amazong." He snarled, snapping his fingers. In a purple flare, a short and scrawny warlock appeared. As soon as he saw who summoned him, he kneeled, bowing his pointed and pale head so that his mass of greasy blonde hair fell over his shocking green eyes. "Gather a few of your best men." Paul ordered. "I need you to attack the eldest Charmed One."
"Yes master."
xxxxx
Paige found her sisters in the kitchen preparing the traditional 'first Sunday of every month family meal night' pot roast. The youngest Charmed One's hand had rarely left her stomach since that morning, but they had decided not to tell the others until they had eaten. She sighed contently, making her sisters turn to face her, realising that she had entered the room.
"You're here!" Phoebe stated happily.
"Clearly!" Paige replied with a roll of her eyes.
"Well someone looks happy." Piper observed, noticing that her youngest sister was almost glowing with exuberance.
"I am." Paige replied, "How 'bout you guys?"
"Let me tell you something. Grams' twenty-four hour telepathy blocking potion is a god sent miracle!" Piper said cheerfully.
"So you keep telling us honey," Paige replied, suddenly wondering what powers her baby was going to have, "Phoebs?"
"Same old." Phoebe told her, "Charlotte's had the flu all week and Jason's flying out to Hong Kong for a fortnight on Tuesday. So either I'm gonna have to take Charlie to work, or work from home and that's gonna look really good when my article about how young mothers can still have lives gets published!"
"Phoebs?" Piper said with a false smile, "Shut up." Both of Phoebe's sisters stifled their laughter with coughs, and turned away.
"Do you have any cucumber?" Paige asked, eying the fridge in hope. God, these pregnancy cravings were weird!
"Cucumber?" Piper questioned curiously, "Usually when you come here you eat me out of candy and cakes, are you on a diet or something?"
"…or something." Paige smiled cryptically, but Piper just rolled her eyes. Nobody had any time to react when two warlocks appeared; separating the youngest charmed one from her sisters. "Look out!" Paige yelped as one of the scrawny, undernourished warlocks in oversized green coats aimed a fireball directly towards Piper.
Piper jumped in surprise and rose her hands, but before she could even attempt to freeze the fiery sphere, a shield of orbs emitted from her stomach, protecting the two older charmed ones from the attack. "Good baby." Piper quipped, rubbing her stomach with one hand, whilst flicking the other toward the warlocks and vanquishing them in a blazing demise. The charmed ones were too preoccupied by the baby's incredible display of power to notice that two more of the spindly warlocks had appeared behind Piper and Phoebe. It wasn't until Piper collapsed to the ground with a gasp of pain that any of them sensed anything.
"Piper!" Phoebe gasped, dropping to her knees and pulling the athame out of her sister's lower back, fear washing over her.
"That was not a good idea!" Paige snarled, preparing to call for a knife or some sort of pain inflicting object. She stumbled backwards a few steps when the dishtowel, which she had been holding, erupted in flames. Had the baby done that?
"Oh, but master will be pleased." The first warlock- a very short and unnaturally slim creature with a pointed, rat like face- growled with a smirk.
"Well your master can stick 'pleased' up his arse!" Came Mark's voice from the doorway. He made to shoot electricity towards the scrawny evil creatures, but he stopped and arched his brow. He had definitely seen these warlocks, or ones very like them, before. He made a mental note to check the book and continued with his attack, killing them instantly, sending their viscous, yellow blood all over the kitchen. He turned his attention to the flaming towel and gave Paige a curious stare. 'Baby?' he mouthed. Paige nodded. If Piper had not been injured, Mark would have grinned widely. It seemed the baby had inherited its Uncle Doug's fire starting ability.
"Leo!" Phoebe's voice cut through the Nauctater's chain of thought. "Get in here, now!"
xxxxx
Leo watched with a smile as the kids turned their game of tag into catch, with Andy's new red soccer ball. He couldn't believe how much Laura and Prue had grown up since, what seemed like an age ago when they had been turning each other into cats and sharing a room in the Manor. Of course, the other kids had grown too, but watching Laura and Prue take care of their younger siblings and cousins made Leo feel very proud.
When Andy began to cry, Leo was jerked from his happy thoughts. He looked up to see his son glaring at Rachael through tears, and he got to his feet to go and sort out whatever squabble was taking place.
"You losted my bawl…" Andy said, wiping his eyes with his red jacket sleeve.
"I's sowry Andy…" Rachael replied slowly, eying the garden across the street where the red ball had landed. "I'll gets it fo' you." She let go of Laura's hand and turned to the stairs, but before she could run across the street, Leo's voice stopped her.
"Rachael!" He called, seconds before she stepped onto the road, "You know not to cross the road by yourself sweetie."
"But da ball…"
"I'll get it for you, stay here."
"Fanks Uncle Leo." She said, giving an embarrassed shrug.
"That's okay sweetie, just don't run off like that again." Leo watched the redhead toddle back up the stairs before turning to the road. He looked to the garden of Paul McFarland and narrowed his eyes curiously. How had Rachael, a petite two year old, had the force to throw the ball all the way across the street? At the risk of sounding like Paige, that was definitely rather suspicious. Paul was nowhere to be seen, but that didn't stop the odd sceptical feeling in his stomach. He stepped onto the road and began walking towards the stranger's garden, but before he could even get halfway there, a searing pain in his back stopped him. "Piper!" He gasped, orbing out without hesitation.
At the top of the stairs, Prue looked to Andy in panic. "Mommy?" She gasped in an almost identical manner to her father. She grabbed her brothers hand and orbed them both inside, leaving Laura, Rachael and Melinda-Jayne alone in the garden
xxxxx
Leo orbed into the kitchen to find everyone crowded around a heavily bleeding Piper. His heart began to race as panic welled up inside him. The wound in her lower back was bad. Very bad. Her greet top was covered in thick blood, which was slowly seeping over the floor, and although her eyes were open and she appeared to be awake, Leo had never been more worried. Not only Piper was in danger, but his unborn daughter. "Move!" He spat, pushing Phoebe to the side and lowering to his knees. Hurriedly, he placed his hands over the wound and waited for a golden glow to emit from his palms. He breathed a long sigh of relief when it came, and within minutes, Piper was on her feet, wrapped in her husband's arms. "Are you alright?" He asked her.
"I'm fine." She replied with a thankful smile, "So's the baby."
"Mommy?" Came Andy's worried vice from where he and Prue had orbed in. "Is you okay?"
"I'm fine my little Prince." She picked him up and planted a motherly kiss on his forehead. "See?"
"What happened?" Prue asked. She knew her father had been worried, but her mother looked okay.
"Some demons attacked us Sweetie. Nothing for you to worry about."
"Actually," Mark interjected with a perplexed look on his face. "They were warlocks."
"What?" Paige asked, turning to face her husband. "But they didn't blink?"
" No, they flared… I know I've seen them somewhere before…" He closed his eyes in thought, trying with all his might to remember where he had seen those warlocks. He opened them in defeat and looked to the Charmed Ones. Paige was eying the towel the baby had apparently set on fire in curiosity, Piper was still assuring her son that she had not been badly injured and Phoebe was bouncing a restless Charlotte on her hip…Charlotte… That was it! That was where he had seen the warlocks before! The night Charlotte was born!
Flashback- December14th 2006
He rounded the next corner almost too quickly and only just stopped in time. Mark was torn between being amused at the warlocks' odd appearance, or shocked at the fact Paige's paranoia would have been correct- they were standing outside Phoebe and Jason's house. Standing in the huge garden, under the shade of a large beech tree, was the most unlikely group of warlocks you could imagine. The leader, a scrawny man with slicked back, greasy, blond hair, wearing an emerald green cloak which trailed on the ground due to his stunted growth, was standing in front of his four companions. They were dressed similarly to their superior, each looked as undernourished as the next and their abnormally large, shifty, yellow eyes were darting around as if following a small insect in flight. Mark had been looking forward to this all day, but it was beginning to seem a bit anti-climactic. Boyzone go bad? This will be much too easy!
Yes, that was definitely where Mark had seen those warlocks. But the vanquish had been so simple that he had forgotten all about it until now. Why would they be coming back? Had they even had a purpose for being there? He wracked his memory for anything significant, and when he remembered, it hit him like a ton of bricks. How the hell could he not have remembered this?
Flashback- December14th 2006
"We vowed not to betray our master." The leader- Garton- hissed. A grotesque, green liquid spat from his pale, narrow lips and as a spark hit Mark's arm, the nauctater had to bite his lip to stop him from wincing in pain. He could feel it eating at his skin, but had never liked to show he was in pain. At least he knew what these pathetic warlocks were capable of now. He took a step back and shock washed through him as Garton's acid vanquished the fellow warlock.
"I see sibling rivalry isn't just a Haliwell trait…" Mark mused, "Are you going to tell me or not?" Mark stood at six foot four and compared to the two small and spindly warlocks, was very intimidating. He threw his arm into the air and shot a huge bolt of electricity into the clouded night sky, lighting his face in a very ominous manner.
"Our master…" The remaining follower spluttered, "His name is D…D…De…Decr-"
"Silence you fool!" Garton snapped, vanquishing another of his brothers, leaving Mark very frustrated.
Decr? … Decron? …it couldn't be… could it? Decron is dead. Stop being paranoid.
Mark brushed the thoughts of Decron to the back of his mind and rage began to bubble in his stomach. This warlock had just vanquished two of his own brothers and yet, he was smiling. It made Mark sick. This creature had no soul. He did not deserve to live.
"Decron." Mark said. Everyone sharply turned their gaze to him. Ever since the night Rachael had been born and Barbus had vanquished Decron, nobody dared utter his name around Paige. Why would Mark be mentioning it now? And what relevance did it have to the scrawny warlocks that had just attacked?
"What?" Paige snapped, turning her attention from the blackened towel to her panic stricken husband.
"It has to be." Mark whispered. He turned to Paige and looked her directly in the eyes. What he was going to say was going to either sound ridiculous, or cause Paige to have a mental breakdown, but Mark was convinced he was right. "Paige," He began. Everyone's eyes were glued on him and each person in the room looked confused. "It's him. It's Decron." Mark's face was filled with a sorrowful realisation. Every time Paige had been pregnant, Decron had done something to put her baby's life at risk. He didn't care that this warlock attack did not fit with Decron's usual way of attacking. He did not care that Barbus had supposedly killed him two and a half years ago. Something inside him just knew it was him. Decron was back. And remembering the warlock's words from before only confirmed it. Mark did not give Paige time to react. He suddenly looked to his whitelighter friend and choked in horror. "Leo!" Mark gasped through the awkward silence, his blue eyes filling with panic. "Where are the girls?"
xxxxx
Paul McFarland let a satisfied smirk pass across his lips as he watched the Halliwell-Wyatts orb out. And not a minute too soon. The whitelighter had almost retrieved that ball from Paul's garden. Of course, when he had summoned it to himself he had been bargaining on his minions doing their job slightly quicker, but nevertheless, Laura and Rachael were left alone in the garden. There was still the half demon child, but she could be easily dealt with. This was the time to make his move. Decron was finally going to fulfil his destiny.
The three girls were conversing at the top of the steps when he exited the house. They looked like they were about to head inside. He needed to act fast. He made sure they weren't looking and waved his hand in the direction of the ball, causing it to appear in his hand, like it had appeared in his garden before. And then he began jogging down the stairs. With every step he took his smile widened. This would be like taking candy from a baby.
"Excuse me?" He snarled. The redhead began to visibly shake, but her older sister stepped protectively in front of the two younger girls. "Is this your ball?"
"It's our cousin's." Laura replied confidently, stretching her arms forward in an attempt to grab it.
"Ah, ah, ah." Paul crooned, wagging his finger and narrowing his eyes behind his oversized sunglasses. "Didn't your parents ever teach you about manners?"
"Sorry." MJ said. Not being part whitelighter, she was unable to sense the tremendous evil radiating from Paul McFarland. She stepped out from behind Laura and smiled at him. "Pwease can we get Andy's ball back?"
"But how do I know it's yours?" Paul asked. This demonic witch was tremendously irritating.
"Acause we lost it!" MJ said defensively, angry that this man would not believe her.
"Well that won't be all you're losing." Paul's voice turned deep and he thrust his hand forward angrily, grabbing Melinda-Jayne around the throat.
Laura watched in horror as the man her mother had been so convinced was evil attacked her little cousin. She felt ice spark from Rachael's fingertips but the redhead was too frightened to move. MJ appeared to be short of breath and her vigorous kicking was becoming less forceful with every passing second. She raised her hands in an attempt to freeze the man, but it did not work and her panic was getting the better of her.
"Leave MJ alone!" She screeched venomously, raising her hands into a fighting position.
"As you wish." Paul snarled, causing Laura to flinch. She had heard that voice before. It was most definitely demonic. Her jaw dropped as he flung MJ's body through the air and hurled a fireball directly at her. She landed limply on the ground and the Anderson girls' eyes welled up with frightened tears. When Decron turned to she and her sister, Rachael let out a blood-curling scream and Laura froze in fear. Paul McFarland was growing. His skin was turning a dark shade and his teeth were becoming pointed. Laura had seen this demon before. She also knew that he was supposed to be dead. "You're coming with me." He roared. Before Laura had time to react and orb she and her sister out, Decron's large hand silenced both Anderson girls. All that remained where they had been standing was the echo of Decron's ominous laugh.
Xxxxx
Nobody understood what Mark was saying or why he suddenly believed Decron was behind the attack, but they all hurriedly followed him from the house. He pushed the manor door open with such force that the glass pane almost shattered, but the nauctater did not even turn to see what damage he had caused. He had to find his daughters.
His eyes scanned the garden, the street and the surrounding houses but Laura and Rachael were nowhere to be seen. However, his eyes came to rest on something equally as horrifying. Something that made his whole body tense, awaiting a scream from his sister-in-law. Lying lifeless and horribly blooded in the corner of the garden was his niece. MJ's paling face showed a tremendous fright and her lime green pinafore was soaked through with her blood.
"MJ!" Phoebe gasped, running towards her eldest daughter, everything Mark had just said about Decron washing from her mind as panic engulfed her.
Everyone but Mark and Paige had dashed to MJ's side. They remained rooted to the path they were standing on, blocking out Charlotte's horrified cries, blocking out Phoebe's panic filled sobs, blocking out everything but themselves. They remained in a frantic search for their own daughters and with every passing second, hope fled their hearts.
"Pixie!" Paige screamed, her voice beginning to tremble. "Snowflake!" There was no answer. Paige could not even sense them any more. The girls were gone.
Leo placed his hands over MJ and awaited his ever-familiar golden glow. When it did not come he choked and turned to face Phoebe, who had tears streaming down her face.
"Why isn't it working Leo?" She snapped. MJ still had a pulse. She had felt it!
"I…I don't know…" Leo stammered. "She's still alive…"
"Then what the hell is wrong with your powers?" Phoebe roared as more tears fell down her cheeks. She clutched her daughter's body in her arms and planted a kiss on Melinda-Jayne's forehead. "Don't worry baby, you'll be okay." She soothed. "Try again Leo."
"It won't work." Came Mark's sullen voice. They turned to see the six foot four Scotsman still standing in the path, cradling a sobbing Paige in his arms. He too had tears in his eyes, but he appeared to be scowling at something. At the questioning gaze he received from every person on the grass, Mark continued. "Decron knows how we work by now." He said. His voice was toneless and hollow. "He knows we'll try and heal her. He'll have cursed his magic so that it can only be reversed when he's dead. I've seen demons do it all the time."
"Mark." Piper shot, "Decron is dead!"
"No, he's not! Don't ask me how, he just isn't!"
"What?" It was Jason who spoke this time. "You're saying that the only way to heal MJ is for you to kill that demon? The one we thought died two years ago?"
"Not necessarily." Mark replied. Paige was still trembling in his arms, refusing to face her family. "Most curses are easily removed with a potion…"
"But we're going to kill him anyway." When Paige did turn to face her family, her face was reddened from tears, but it still showed sheer determination. "I'm going to get my daughters back."
xxxxx
Just minutes later, Piper, Paige, Mark and Leo gathered in the attic. Phoebe had remained downstairs with Jason to watch the kids and to begin mixing the curse-removing potion for MJ. Paige was still visibly shaking as she walked over to the Book of Shadows, but both Piper and Mark placed comforting hands on her shoulders.
"How can he be back?" She whispered slowly, turning to look her husband directly in the eyes.
"Maybe he was never vanquished." Mark replied, pulling her close. "We will find him and this time we'll make sure he's vanquished for good." As the words left his lips, the flipping of pages caught the four in the attic's attention. The Book of Shadows, as it had done on so many other occasions, was flipping by itself.
"Grams?" Piper said, turning her head upwards, "We have enough on our plates already! We don't need any more de…" She didn't finish her sentence when she saw what page the Book had landed on. "Decron?" She read from the title. All the information that had ever resided about him in the book was a title and still, that was all that she could see.
"I told you!" Mark said, his panic for his daughters rising as his suspicions of Decron were confirmed. He noticed that Paige had visibly paled and was about to speak when she turned to face Piper.
"If Grams had known he was alive, wouldn't she have told us before?"
"Who said it was Grams?" A cold, sinister voice echoed through the air. Paige froze. A chill travelled straight down her spine and it took all of her strength not to collapse as a man appeared in the corner of the attic. The man she had known was evil. The man she had tried to convince her sisters was evil on so many occasions. Paul McFarland had just flamed into the room. This whole situation was too much for the youngest Charmed One to handle. Decron was back, Paul McFarland had just used an upper level demonic power, and her girls were missing…maybe even dead.
"What the hell?" Piper yelped, stumbling backwards. "How did you-?"
"How did I flame?" Paul snarled, moving his hand towards his glasses, "Clearly you're not as clever as you seem, witch!"
"You're a demon?" Leo gasped.
"Well done, whitelighter. How observant." Paul paced forward and headed straight towards Paige, slowly removing his glasses from his face. When Paige saw what lurked behind them, everything in her mind clicked. Paul McFarland's one eye almost glowed yellow and where the second eye should have been there resided a huge, disfiguring scar, which looked as though someone had gouged Paul McFarland's eye out with a knife…or even an athame. Just like she had done to Decron's eye at her wedding… This was not Paul McFarland. This was Decron.
Her heart rose into her throat and her knees turned to jelly. Tears of frustration, panic, worry and shock prickled the corners of her eyes, but she knew she could not let Decron see she was weak. She had been so sure that Barbus had killed him the night Rachael had been born. She had done nothing to make sure it was true. If anything happened to her girls, it would be all her fault…
"Where the hell are my daughters?" She yelled, lunging towards him and attempting to push him to the ground.
"Well you just answered your own question, half-breed." He replied maliciously. His form began to change as he grew. His scrawny physique broadened and his height increased massively. At the same time his pale skin began to blacken and his teeth grew yellow and pointed. The sight of this demon struck fear into Paige's heart. The one demon she had ever truly been scared of was back, standing mere feet away from her. It was an effort to open her mouth and make a noise, but as Mark grabbed her hand, she found her words.
"You bring them back here right now!"
"Now, why would I do that?" He snarled, "Of course, I could…" He snapped his fingers and the girls appeared in his arms. Both were unconscious and terribly bruised, but Paige and Mark could see the slow movement of their chests. Although they now had a small glimmer of hope, their fear was also growing. With just one wrong move, Laura and Rachael could be dead. "…but that will mean you giving up your powers…"
Piper and Leo's panic stricken eyes met Paige and Mark's sorrow filled ones. Decron had just proposed that Paige and Mark gave up their powers in return for their daughters, and Piper knew, from the looks on their faces, that they were going to agree to do so. The eldest charmed one looked to her youngest sister with a hard gaze, but it soon softened as Paige's eyes shone with a plea for help. She had never seen Paige look so distressed before. With all that Decron had put her through in the past seven years, this had to have been one of the worst. If it had been Prue and Andy hanging lifeless in Decron's arms Piper had no idea how she would have reacted.
"What?" The words had taken so long to settle in on Mark that he only just managed to bring his voice out. He could not take his eyes off of his girls, his angels. They looked so frail, so harmless, so innocent. If Decron did anything to harm them… The proposition the demon had just made was not one Mark needed to consider. He would give up everything in an instant if it meant saving his girls. Everything; his home, his powers, his life…
"Your powers in exchange for their lives." Decron spat. "What do you say?"
Paige and Mark turned to face each other. Paige wrapped her arms around her husband and buried her face in his chest, as the tears began to stream down her face once more. She knew what consequences giving Decron their powers would have. He would be too powerful for them to ever stop him. And The Power of Three would no longer exist. But to even question not saving her daughters had Paige appalled at herself. Laura and Rachael were her life and soul. She loved Mark with all of her heart, but without her daughters, she was nothing. Mark pulled back and placed a hand under his wife's chin, so that she would look him in the face. Their eyes met and Mark slipped his hand onto her abdomen with a small, knowing nod. The decision to give up their powers was made, but although she would do it anyway, Paige needed to check with her sisters first.
"Paige," Piper spoke, as if almost sensing what her sister was about to say. "I understand."
"Thank you…" Paige whispered in return, before turning to face the demon behind he whole situation. "If you hurt them once you have our powers, I will hunt you, and I will kill you."
"You can try." Decron replied with a glare, his grip on Laura and Rachael becoming even tighter. "And now, a spell, if you please, half-breed."
Paige gulped. She knew she had to word this spell carefully so that she was only giving up she and Mark's powers. "What is now yours was once mine, let Paige and Mark's powers cross the line. We offer up our gifts to share, to give to Decron through the air." (AN- thanks Jess)She whispered, Mark squeezing her hand as her breathing became uneven. A chill sent straight down their spines as bright lights emitted from their chests and flew towards the towering demon.
The bright lights entered his chest and a sudden surge of power washed through him. He stood tall and let out a loud, booming cackle which almost shook the house, and a surge of electricity shot from his clawed fingertips. He had their powers now. If they ever did conceive a third child, he too would be powerless. But why stop there? Why let them live in peace? Oh no, Decron still wanted the Andersons to suffer. He wanted to be certain that they would never find a way of conceiving The Third Child. "Why thank you." He spoke and his voice caused bile to rise in Paige's throat.
"Give me my daughters!" Mark screamed. "Now!"
"Oh, did I not mention that you'd have to come and find them? I'll be seeing you…" And then he was gone. And so were Laura and Rachael.
Paige's breathing got quicker and louder as she watched Decron flame out. She stepped away from her husband and let out a piercing scream. He had taken them. And she had no powers to retrieve them with. Behind her, Mark fell to the floor. Without his powers, his Nauctater instincts were gone and he suddenly felt helpless. His strong, masculine physique looked oddly frail as he brought his knees to his chest and began to cry. He had never been helpless before in his life. He had always had something up his sleeve. Now he didn't even have powers.
"We have to find them." Paige spoke up. "Mark, we have to find them."
"Do you think you'll be able to orb?" Mark asked, looking at his wife's stomach. If the baby had managed to start a fire by itself earlier, then there was the possibility that it would be able to orb.
"We can always hope…" Paige crouched down next to her husband and put her arm around his shoulders. She kissed his cheek and gave a saddened smile. "…Please orb us to your sisters." She whispered. Nothing.
"What did you just say?" Piper asked in shock. If she had heard correctly it certainly explained the odd wording of Paige's spell "Are you pregnant?"
"Yes." Paige replied, but her voice was left lingering in the air as she and Mark disappeared.
Piper's jaw dropped. Her powerless sister and brother-in-law had just been orbed out by their unborn child to god knew where. "Leo, we have to follow them. Sense her! Quickly!"
"Honey, I can't." He replied, apparently having tried as soon as they had disappeared. "They must be in the underworld."
"Aw crap!"
xxxxx
The underworld cave where they rematerialised was almost too dark to make anything out in. Mark kept a firm grip on Paige's hand, too scared that if he let her go, he would lose her too. The hard, rock floor was almost like a labyrinth of sharp stones and demon carcasses. The putrid smell lingering in the air would have made the Andersons' stomachs churn had they not been so focused on getting back their daughters, and the constantly tripping over rubble was not helping the situation. Tunnels led in every direction and the two powerless parents were stuck at a crossroads. One of the tunnels surely led to Laura and Rachael…or did they? Perhaps they were closer than they had thought…
When Mark turned his gaze upwards, his heart almost stopped. It took all of his effort not to scream. Hanging, fifty feet in the air, upside down, from two ropes, were his precious Pixie and Snowflake. Still unconscious, but still alive, their small forms swayed back and forth on the ends of the flimsy pieces of rope. They looked so helpless, and Mark had no way of helping them.
"Paige," He whispered. She too, turned her gaze towards the cave ceiling.
"Oh my god!" She choked. "Laura! Rachael!" They did not respond. Paige's hear, once again, began to race. Her daughters were so close, but so far from her reach. "Rachael! Laura!" She yelled again. Still they remained unconscious. "Oh god Mark, what are we going to d-" Her sentence was cut off as she began to dissolve in orbs. The baby was using its magic again, and Paige had never been more grateful.
Mark watched the cloud of orbs travel slowly up the cave towards Laura and Rachael. Perhaps things would work out for the better after all. He clenched his fists and kept his eyes fixed on the bright white lights that were his wife and unborn child. However, his newfound hope quickly turned to horror as a burning sphere of orange light hurtled towards it. "PAIGE!" He screamed, when the fireball came into contact with the orbs and she began to rematerialise as her body collided with the cave wall. "Paige!" She landed with a tremendous thud, which echoed through the underground tunnels. Blood immediately began trickling down her cheek and the nauctater dashed to her side. Before he could reach her, however, an arch of orange flames appeared in front of him, forming the demon he least wanted to see.
"Oh dear." Decron snarled, "I don't know how she orbed, but unfortunately she won't be doing it again."
"What the hell do you mean?" Mark spat venomously.
"I mean she's dead." Decron replied. Mark refused to believe it. If Paige were dead, Laura and Rachael would have felt it and they would not still be unconscious.
"You son of a bitch!" Mark removed his athame from his belt and lunged it into Decron's bare, charcoal black chest. Even if it had no effect on the all-powerful demon, just the satisfaction of inflicting pain on him relieved Mark of a small amount of stress.
Decron just smirked, as if finding the whole situation amusing. He pulled the blooded athame from his chest and narrowed his one eye at the nauctater before bringing the blade to his mouth and licking his own blood from it. "Pathetic." Decron sneered. "You can't kill me."
"But I can hurt you."
"Not nearly as much as I can hurt you." Decron bore all of his pointed, yellow teeth in a cruel grin, "Are you forgetting I have the upper hand here Mark, or do you want me to show you what I can do to your family- your daughters."
"Leave them out of this!" Mark yelled, shifting his eyes, for only a moment, to his little girls to make sure they were still there. "You don't want them. You want Paige and me. You have done since the beginning!"
"Oh, a wise one, aren't we? So you think just because I don't need them dead, then I'm not going to kill them?"
"Please." Mark never thought he would bring himself to do this, but if saving his daughters meant begging, he was prepared to do it. "Just let them go."
"Hmm…" Decron brought his hand to his chin and looked up in contemplation. "If you wish." With a swift hand movement, the ropes that had been holding Laura and Rachael snapped. Never had such a surge of worry shot through Mark, but he ran straight towards the spot in which his daughters would land.
"You bastard!" The nauctater yelled. "You fucking bastard!" All he could do was hope that he would have the strength to catch them. They were falling faster and faster and were getting closer and closer to him. All the while, Decron just stood, laughing.
The force at which Laura and Rachael landed in his arms sent all three crashing to the ground. Mark was almost scared to open his eyes, but when he did, he breathed a long sigh of relief. They were safe. And they were awake. Rachael's face was full of fear and tears were already formed in her eyes. Laura just looked to her father in horror.
"Daddy," She whispered. "He's back."
"I know." Mark replied, shaking in relief. He brought them both close to his body and kissed their foreheads multiple times. He loved these two little girls more than anything in his life and if anything had happened to them, he would have died. "I need you to orb to the Manor, okay?" He spoke quietly and quickly, not knowing when Decron would get bored.
"But Daddy…"
"No buts Pixie. It's not safe here. I need you to go to the Manor and tell your Aunties and Uncles that me and Mommy are here."
"What if you is hurted?" Rachael asked in a small, hoarse voice. "I love you Daddy…"
"I love you too my angels. I love you so much." He pulled them into yet another hug and continued speaking. "If Daddy doesn't come home tonight, know that…know that I'll always be there, okay?"
"But daddy," Laura began, refusing to let her tears fall, "You are coming back, right?"
"I'll try Pixie, I'll try…now go!"
"Bye…" They disappeared in a swirl of blue and white lights and Mark shot straight back to his feet.
"Why did you let them go?" He asked accusingly. No demon he had ever met had spared a child's life before.
"Because." Decron replied, "Knowing that both of their parents are dead will cause them a lot more pain that death ever would."
Mark tensed, knowing what was to come. He was not scared. Death was just going to be another journey. As powerful bolts of electricity -of his own power- surged through his body, he refused to scream. He kept eye contact with Decron the entire time and through all of the unbearable pain that shot through him, his face remained emotionless. He was going to die. And he was going to do it bravely. He knew Paige was still alive. But Decron did not. All that Mark cared about now was that Paige, and his unborn child, stayed alive.
His body landed limply on the floor. He gasped for air and struggled to even move his feet. Decron's sneering face appeared above his, but he had to squint through darkness to see it. "Any last requests?" The demon sneered. Mark gulped. He could barely open his mouth, let alone scream, but he did.
"Wh…why us?" He asked. Throughout the entire seven years he had been married to his wonderful wife, that had been the one question left unanswered. Why had Decron always targeted them?
Decron grinned. He had won. He had really won. He looked to the dying Nauctater and began his explanation. "The Prophecy," Decron began, "of The Third Child: When a nauctater and a charmed one fall in love, they will have three very powerful children. The first shall inherit her mother's abilities; the second from her father's mother, but the third shall be more powerful than any before. His abilities will be beyond what any Nauctater has ever had, and when he comes of age he will be the most powerful of his kind. The third child of a charmed one and a nauctater is the only one with the ability to kill Decron, the third child of the demon Sarcenoff. And in doing this, he will protect the magical community from Decron's evil rule." Decron placed his boot on Mark's knee and allowed all of his weight to transfer onto his one foot, cracking Mark's leg. "You see, I had to prevent the existence of the third child. I thought to begin with that perhaps if I killed one of the other children you'd give up on having any more. But then I realised, that the only real way to prevent him ever existing would be to kill you and your wife. And that's what I'm going to do. Say goodbye Mark." He spat on the Nauctater's face before taking Mark's own athame and lunging it into his chest once, twice, three times and more. Mark flinched. His time had come, but he was smiling. Decron believed he had prevented the existence of the third child, but Mark knew otherwise. As he watched Decron flame out, he slipped out of consciousness, but he left consciousness knowing that Decron had failed.
xxxxx
Paige's eyes fluttered open and she reluctantly raised her head, hoping with all of her power that the day's events had all been some sort of sick dream. However, she could immediately tell from the hard rock floor and the sickening taste of blood in her mouth that the day had been very real indeed. She squinted through the darkness, her heart racing and her head pounding, searching for some sign of Mark or the girls. She found one.
Bile rose in her throat and tears sprang into her eyes. "No…" She choked, crawling towards the crumpled figure of her husband. The pain in her lower back was almost unbearable, but she needed to get to him. "Mark…wake up…" His dark curly locks covered his face, sticking to the sweat and blood his battle with Decron had created. Paige brushed it back, tears streaming down her face as she gazed into his mesmerising blue eyes in search of some sign of life. She couldn't find one. His white shirt was soaked in blood, seeping rapidly from the multiple wounds in his chest. "P…please wake up…" Still nothing. His usually strong and muscular physique looked oddly frail, crumbled on the floor of the cold, dark underworld cavern. His face was draining of colour and Paige could no longer hold back. Heavy sobs wracked her body as she collapsed on top of him. She was going to lose the only man she had ever truly loved.
"Paige…" A weak and trembling voice came, barely audible over Paige's violent tears.
"Mark?" Hope twitched in her voice, but when she looked into her husbands grief filled face, her smile did not reach her eyes, "…p…please d…don't go…"
"It's my time…" He told her slowly, as if talking was causing him great pain. His voice was hoarse, as if he'd be gargling shrapnel. Tears were spilling over his eyes and his cold body trembled in what he would never admit to be fear. "The girls are safe… make sure they know I love them…and the baby…"
"Please…" She choked. At the mention of the baby, a small fire formed at the back of the cave and Paige doubled over as her heart shattered. She was going to be left alone with three children. She was really going to have to say goodbye… "I love y…you s…so much."
"I love you too…" His eyes were so filled with sorrow that Paige could hardy bring herself to look at them. "Forever and always." The hand he had been stretching towards his wife fell to his side as all of his energy left him. And then Mark Anderson was gone. Even in death, his face showed the love and concern it always had, his blue eyes-the ones Paige had fallen in love with the first time she had ever gazed into them-showed the bravery he had taken with him to the grave. But Paige was too distraught to hear the soft whisper in the air. "I'll be watching over you…"
"Come back…" Her voice trailed off. She felt like she was going to vomit. It was too painful to register what was actually happening. Her heart split in two. As his body went limp and he died in her arms, she felt as though a part of her soul had gone with him. It felt like a thousand daggers had been plunged into her heart at the same time and the grief was becoming unbearable. She was engulfed in an empty pain, like something was clawing at her heart. Painful sobs wracked her body and she struggled for breath through her heavy tears. Why did he have to go? She had loved him with all of her heart, more than anything else in the world and now he was really gone. He was never coming back. Not this time. And it was all because of Decron.
Decron. The thought of his name hung in her head like poison. Mark was gone because of him and for now her extreme grief was overcome by the even more extreme need for revenge. And she was determined to get it.
AN- sniffles. You all hate me? I thought so. But I'm only gonna say one thing before you all shoot me multiple times (Or in RJF's case, cut off my head ±ducks±). Go and re-read the BOS entry in chapter 16 (The one about Nauctaters…) Small ray of hope? And don't forget to review! (Although I expect you'll all be very angry.) I hate myself too…sorry. And something else which is going to make you all hate me is that I think my updates are going to remain irregular because of things going on in my life at the moment. Please bare with me folks. Please.
Next chapter- Paige wants revenge. What will Decron do when he discovers Paige is alive and pregnant? Will Phoebe make the potion before it's too late to save MJ? Will Mark be the only one to meet his demise on this fateful night? And how will Paige be able to tell her daughters of their father's fate? Tissues may be needed again.