AN: Sorry for the long delay but I had some family issues (I still have and not pleasent ones I might add) but today I felt like writing again, so here it is. I don't think it is that good but I'm not used to write children (even if they are demonic!). So, please, tell me what you think. The next chapter won't take so long, I promise. It's practically ready I only have to type it because it's handwritten at the moment.

Well, enough from me! Here's the chapter, please read and enjoy!

Chapter 5: Piper

Piper opened her eyes to a very unfriendly enviroment. She was in a small cave-like room enlightened by a single candle where a girl about ten sat on a staw mattress staring at her hands quite desperately. She had long black hair and was dressed rather poorly: she was wearing old jeans and a shirt made of hessian. She didn't look up when a boy walked in who Piper this time recognized immediately as Cole, so she guessed that th girl was his sister.

„Drop this Rosie!" he said when he saw what his sister was doing.

The girl looked up and Piper saw that the similarity between them was even more pronounced than it had been before.

„I can't drop it because I'm going to fail again!" she said in a trembling voice.

„You can't possibly know it!"

„I can. And I know! You know I do, Cole!"

„Don't adress me as Cole..." he mumbled instead of reflecting on her remark.

„Then you shouldn't call me Rosie!" she said.

„It's time to go else we will be late" he changed the subject quickly.

The girl sighed but stood up and followed her brother. They had identical bags over their shoulders and they looked like two teenagers going to school. As Piper found out a little bit later this was exactly the case. For a while they were walking in silence until the girl – Rose – spoke again.

„Cole..."

„Hmm?"

„How do you do it?"

He shrugged.

„It just happens. I concetrate and then I feel the tingling as the energy builds up in my arms. Then I just throw it."

„It sounds so simple. I concentrate, I really do but I feel nothing and nothing happens..." she trailed off but then added. „You will be punished again because of me!"

„Don't worry about that."

Rose mumbled something under her nose.

„What was that?"

„Other students are punished when they fail and not when somebody else fails..."

„The others don't have brothers or sisters."

„Divan has, for example..."

„But he hates his brother and probably would be happy if he were punished."

„And you don't hate me?"

„No, I don't."

„I don't hate you either" she declared.

„I'm very glad..." Cole smiled teasingly.

„Do you think that I really will manage this time?"

„Maybe, but don't worry: you're good at any other subjects!"

„But this is the most important one..."

„You should really drop this, Rose. It starts to become really boring."

Meanwhile they achieved their goal: a similar building to the house they lived in. It must have been a school as there were a lot of children in front of it.

Inside the two children split up and went to differet classrooms. After that Piper spent the day with visiting class after class and realized that demons were highly educated in a lot of things she has never even heard about.

Rose was very nervous the whole day and she was chided many times. Cole on the other did well in every lesson. Then in the afternoon Piper saw what Rose was so afraid of. They were in a training room where in the middle there was a human-sized puppet. The students had to throw energy-balls at the puppet. Rose was one of the lasts and by the time it was her turn she was almost trembling. Every other student managed for the first or second try they had problems only with their aiming.

The teacher was an arrogant female-demon who prodded the children constantly and she wasn't really nice.

„Let's do it!" she urged Rose.

The girl stretched out her arm and wrinkled her face in concentration. Nothing happened. She tried again, this time she bit in her lower lip. A faint mop of smoke appeared over her palm but it vanished immediately. The teacher stormed over to her and grabbed her shoulder roughly.

„You're pathetic! If you continue like this we have to considering to expell you! I thought you would try everything, I told you what will happen if you fail again!" she turned to the other students who were snickering at the scene. „The lesson is over! You come with me!" she pulled the girl after herself along the corridor to another classroom.

She burst in without knocking.

„Cachran!"

The demon who held the lesson nodded at the female as a greeting and asked.

„Is something wrong, Nira?"

She frowned.

„I just need Belthazor!"

She gestured at Cole who stood up and followed the woman and his sister into the basement. Nobody said a word while they were walking. They went into an almost empty room. Piper didn't know it but it was the same room Phoebe had also seen before.

„Do it!" the female demon said and Cole obediently took off his shirt and kneeled down at the bench that was the only furniture in the room. The woman bound his wrists with leather stripes, then took the device that reminded Piper of a whip and started to hit on the boy's back.

Rose just stood there and watched and Piper understood what she had been talking about before: she failed in the lesson and Cole was punished for it. It was very cruel but at the same time very clever. The girl winced every time the whip stroke down however Cole didn't seem to take it too seriously.

Then suddenly something changed... Rose cried out and the theacher stopped the beating and looked at her and then dropped down the whip. Rose's eyes rolled back so that only the white of them could be seen. The teacher seemed to be very surprised but rushed to the girl's side.

„What are you seeing?" she asked urgently. „Tell me!"

Cole couldn't see what was happeneing and he started to tug at the restraints.

„What's going on?" he asked frantically, but he didn't get an answer.

„Tell me!" the woman said again.

Rose was gasping for air but started to speak in a whispering voice that sounded much older than a ten-year-old's.

„...I feel... power... so much power... a book... a demon is standing in front of it... his face is scarred and... has tribunal marks...if he touches the book... he will die... he can't touch it... it's poisoned... poisoned..."

Her head fell back and then she collapsed.

„What's going on? Rose!" Cole asked again and when there was no answer he simply turned into his demon form (it was strange to see Belthazor as a child!) and tore the restraints easily. The next moment he was at his sister's side.

Just in that moment the teacher jumped up: „You stay here!" And then rushed out of the room.

Cole didn't even listen to her, he was concentrating on waking up his sister.

„Rose! Rosie!" he was caressing her face with such a gentle touch that Piper could in no way associate with a demon. Rose slowly opened her eyes.

„What happened?" she asked.

„I think you had a vision or something..."

„Oh... I remember... I think."

„Professor Nira made you tell her what you were seeing" Cole said.

„Was she angry?"

„I don't think so... she seemed to be rather... frightened."

„Frightened?" the girl asked back and Piper heard that her voice was a little bit slurry.

„Are you okay?" Cole asked anxiously.

„I'm tired..."

„Then rest!"

He pulled her head into his lap and leant against the wall. After that they were waiting there in silence until the demon-professor came back. She won back her cool appearance.

„I reported to the director and he went to Our Liege. Your information was very important but this doesn't mean that I forgot the punishment. Twice as much actually because you tore the restraints."

Then Piper had to watch as the teenager was bound back to the bench and beaten unmercifully with the whip. The most unnerving thing was that Cole seemed to take it quite easily. After they finished his legs were a little bit unsteady but he won back his balance after a few moments and they walked home.

A few hours later the two children were in their room again preparing for sleep. Cole was lying on the staw-matress on his stomach, while Rose was covering a blanket on the floor.

„I can still sleep on the floor" Cole said to his sister.

„No!" she answered immediately. „It's okay. I don't want you to be hurt even more."

„Blew out the candle then."

Rose did as she was told and lied down curling into a ball.

„Cole?" she asked after a while.

„Yes?"

„Is your back still hurting?"

„No."

„You're a liar!"

„Then why do you ask?"

„Just so... Do you think that they really would expell me from school?"

„I don't think so. What happened today seemed to be very important and I suspect that Master was praised for it. He was happy when we came home."

„It was scary... to see all those things, I mean."

„Demons are never scared" Cole said matter-of-factly.

„Didn't you hear it often enough? I'm not a proper demon!"

„Yes, you are. Nira just told so because she was angry."

„No, I think she is right."

„No, she isn't and now sleep!"

There was silence for a while and then Rose asked again.

„Cole?"

„Hmm?"

„Are you still awake?"

„No."

„Could you tell me about that man...you know...father?"

„I'll tell you tomorrow."

„Please! I can't sleep..."

Cole sighed and started to speak.

„Well... when you were born we didn't live here in the Underworld but in a town up on the surface. Father lived there with us. He was a very nice man who smiled a lot. But he had no powers..."

„Then I'm like him..." Rose mumbled.

„No, Rosie. I mean that he wasn't a demon at all. He was a human."

„Yeah, I know..."

„He might have been a human but he knew a lot of things. He was a professor at a university..." Cole spoke as if he were telling a bedtime-story.

„What's a university?" she asked curiously.

„It's like a school but people learn very complicated things there and you have to be very clever to teach there. And our father invented some very important things as well..."

„What?"

„I don't remember" he went silent for a while but then continued. „But this wasn't the best thing about him. Every night when we had to go to bed, he came into our room, tucked us in, kissed us and then told a story. Every night a different one."

Rose sighed silently but Piper saw that she has almost slept in already.

„I wish I hadn't forgotten them..." the next words he only whispered. „I think he loved us..."

About half an hour later when Piper supposed that the children were already sleeping the door burst open and both Cole and Rose jumped as if they were struck by lightning. Their lord, or master or whatever they called him came in and he didn't seem happy. He just grabbed Rose's shoulder and pulled at her:

„Come!"

Cole stared at them frightened and before they could leave, he collected his courage and asked.

„What happened?"

„It's none of your business! Go back to sleep!"

The door was closed with a bang and the boy just stared for a while at it. Then he sneaked out of the room and followed the departing pair unawares. Piper had to admit that he was a natural in spying. Raynor, however he was joined by to guards, didn't notice his student.

They didn't go long when they achieved a small cave and went inside. Cole looked around carefully and then followed them. He was lucky because there were a lot of rocks and he could easily hide behind one. The room looked like some kind of sanctum. There were strange statues around the walls and a stonbench in the middle. Three women stood around it and behind them three other demons. Raynor nodded at the women and without a word pushed Rose forward. One of the women, a short, dark-skinned female-demon with curly dark hair gestured at a guard who stepped forward and boosted up the girl.

She tried to struggle but had no chance of course. She was carried to the stoneblock and Piper only now saw that there were shackles on it for the wrists and the ankles. Rose was quickly restrained and after a few seconds she stopped struggling.

Cole was crouching behind the rock and Piper saw how he paled. When the three women stood in circle around the girl and started to chant some spell he jumped forward shouting.

„No!" he looked at Raynor begging. „Don't let this happen, Master! Don't! They rob her powers!"

The upper-level demon looked down at him with cold eyes.

„I can't do anything" he said and waved at the guards. One of them grabbed Cole by the shoulders but it wasn't that easy to stop him. He almost managed to tear himself from the grip.

„You can't do this! Stop! Stop it, please!"

The adult demon was unfortunately much stronger and practically picked Cole up from the floor and started to lug him out of the cave.

„No!" the black woman said suddenly. „Let him watch!"

The demon turned but still held on to Cole and when the boy continued to shout the demon simply put a hand on his mouth. After that only muffled sounds could be heard from him and even those were drown out by the loud chanting of the women.

They spoke quicker and quicker. The bound child started to tremble first, then her back arched from the stone and she went totally rigid. One of the women pulled out a small vial and stepped to the girl's head. With a quick movement she poured the content of the vial into the child's eyes. Piper has never heard somebody scream like this, especially not a child.

This made Cole struggle even harder. The demon got bored after a while and hit his captive on the head so hard that the boy's eyes went hazy.

After a few moments Rose stopped screaming, her head lolled back, she fell back to the stone and went totally limp. For a second Piper thought that she died but then saw that her chest rised and falled regularly.

„What are you going to do with her?" the black woman asked Raynor but the man only shrugged.

„I have some interests in the outer areas. She can work there. When she wakes up send her to Pirax, he will deal with it.

Meanwhile the demon let go of Cole who fell to the knees instantly. Raynor called him without looking at him.

„Belthazor! Come!"

As he got no reaction he pulled the boy up by his shirt.

„Don't make me ask again!"

Piper saw that his eyes were glistening and he was gulping deeply a few times but he followed his master obediently with his head bowed. After walking a while he asked quietly.

„Why did they do this?"

„Your sister had a special power, a useful but dangerous one. The Seers don't let new members into their circle unless one of them dies. And they would never chose a half-blood. They kill all of their potential rivals but I managed to persuade our Liege that she still might be useful. So they only took away her power and her eyesight. She still might have some glimpses into the future occasionaly though."

„Can I see her sometimes?" the question was barely audiable.

„We will see" Raynor answered with a frown. „If you behave properly."

The world suddenly faded out around Piper and she fell into total darkness again.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

13