"What do you mean 'No future'?" Dominic sneered. His anger flowing freely through him. Of all the powerful demons and even Sources that had preceded him, he had been the one to finally put an end to the Charmed Ones.
He hadn't expected to find cousins, who, though new to their powers, had somehow managed to escape and thwart him.
It had been beginners luck, he told himself, and beginners luck didn't last.
"I believe your cousins are tampering with the time line." The Seer carefully told him.
"What!" Dominic yelled, a fireball exploded into the stone wall behind the Seer as she flinched, aware that the anger Dominic was feeling was making him lose control of his powers.
The Seer bowed low and held her position until Dominic had calmed and the rain of fireballs decimating Dominics' throne room had ceased.
"My liege," The Seer began cautiously, "I have given much thought to this situation and I think I have a solution." Dominic glanced up at the old woman, surprised. So she was useful, occasionally.
"I propose that you go back, find where in time your cousins are and stop them. You are still here, so it seems that they have so far been unable to accomplish what they set out to do. If you wait much longer, you might be unable to stop them."
"Go back?" Dominic paused, his mind whirring, "But the dangers! One little thing changes and it can cause irreparable damage to the future, to now."
The Seer nodded, "Yes my liege, but I fear the consequences if you don't go will be much worse."
"Well of all the things we've seen, I think that was the weirdest." Pia concluded as they left the courtroom.
"Yeah, evil fighting evil in a courtroom." Wyatt remarked. "Well we were always warned that all lawyers were evil, now we know for sure."
They had snuck into the back of the courtroom to watch Cole fight for the incarceration of the murderer possessed by a demon that they had watched Prue and Phoebe fight off.
The lack of murder weapon had meant that the murderer had been let off, despite the rather vague eyewitnesses reports from Prue and Phoebe.
Pias heart had jumped when the judge had asked the sisters what had happened. What exactly were they supposed to say without revealing their secret and the existence of magic?
Unable to tell the judge what had really happened, the sisters were guilt ridden when the judge had let the murderer go.
But one thing they had all agreed on, Coles performance had been outstanding. Pia could fully appreciate how Aunt Phoebe had fallen for him, not only was he jaw-droppingly handsome, but he seemed to be committed to fighting the bad guys.
"We really need to decide a plan of action," Wyatt suggested, "We need to figure out what we can do to change the future without changing too much."
"I don't see what we can do." Pia shrugged, "We cant approach them without them thinking you're warlocks, and my mom isn't even a charmed one yet."
"We're going to have to keep following them until we figure it out." Chris suggested, "Maybe we can find some evidence of Cole being evil to show Aunt Phoebe." Chris looked from Wyatt to Pia and shrugged, "We have to be extra careful, anything we do could alter the course of the future more drastically than we intend."
"So, for now, we follow" Wyatt agreed as they headed towards the manor.
Dominic flamed into the Sources throne room and looked around at the gloomy stone quarters. He briefly wondered if the spell had worked, his surroundings had changed little over time.
Two bright white eyes appeared before him, followed by a small dark woman dressed in red robes.
"Who are you, and what are you doing in the Sources throne room?"
Dominic let her know his identity, his eyes flashing black and filling with flames.
The Seer gasped and fell to her knees.
"Forgive me sire, I did not know."
"Get up." Dominic ordered, "I come from the future to see your Source."
"What do you want?" A rasping voice reverberated around the room, echoing through the stone chambers.
Dominic turned to face the demon, clothed in deep black robes, the aroma of sulphur seemed to wash from him. The demons face was badly scarred over one side and he bore tribal markings.
Dominic dipped his head in a gesture of respect which he wasn't used to making. "I thought it pertinent to alert you to my presence in your time." Dominic told him, "I've come to prevent the next generation of Charmed Ones from altering the course of the future."
"The next generation of Charmed Ones?" The Source growled, "Here? In my time?"
"Not for long." Dominic vowed.
"I hope you don't expect to use my demons," The Source scowled, "I have already lost so many to the Charmed Ones, we're working on an alternate solution to the Charmed problem."
"Use demons and have someone else get the credit for their deaths? This visit was a mere courtesy, to warn you of their presence, and of mine."
Dominic took one last look around and flamed out in search of his cousins.
As the cousins turned the corner on to Prescott street, they heard the manor door slam and Piper came tearing down the stairs, obviously upset.
She slammed the car door and drove away.
"Mom!" Wyatt whispered as she drove past.
Chris watched the car drive out of sight. "So what now?"
"We're going to have to split up." Pia said, "I'll stay with Prue, Chris you go after your mom and Wyatt, as you have the most control over your powers, you follow Aunt Phoebe."
Chris looked down the road in the direction Pipers car had gone. "How am I supposed to follow mom? I don't even know where she's gone!" Chris said.
"I bet she's gone to P3," Wyatt said, "You're going to have to try and orb."
Chris looked at Wyatt. "And how exactly am I going to do that Mr Witch?"
Pia put her arm on Chris' shoulder. "Close your eyes." She said gently, "and concentrate. Feel the need to be with your mom rise within you." White lights surrounded Chris as Pia took away her hand, "That's good Chris, keep going. Concentrate."
Chris screwed his eyes up tight as more white lights surrounded him.
Pias voice faded from his hearing, replaced by the hum as the orbs increased their speed circling him. Just for a second, he was no longer aware of the ground beneath his feet. When his feet touched the ground he slowly opened his eyes.
Pia and Wyatt were no longer next to him, instead he stood at the side entrance of P3. He'd done it.
Pia and Wyatt looked around making sure no-one had seen Chris' disappearance.
"It worked!" Pia said.
"How did you know what to say?" Wyatt asked.
"I don't know, it just came to me." Pia shrugged.
"Well done." Wyatt gave his cousin a quick hug.
Their attention was drawn once more to the manor as Phoebe appeared with a bag on her shoulder.
"Looks like she's going to college." Wyatt said, "I should be able to blend in."
Pia doubted that, Wyatt wasn't the blending in type. His stature put him at least a head taller than most, and his blonde hair and dark eyes usually attracted a crowd of girls.
Pia didn't say anything, just wished her cousin good luck as he followed their Aunt.
Pia slowly walked towards the manor, as she crept up the stone stairs towards the front door, she snuck into the garden, and tried to peer in through the window, but the net curtain obstructed any view.
The manor door opened as Prue appeared. The young woman didn't pause to look around, she had left the manor door unlocked.
Pia wondered if she should follow the plan or if she should stay here, having the opportunity for a quick flick through the book of shadows.
Pia watched Prue until she was out of sight and slowly put her hand on the manor door. As she did so, her breath was pulled from her lungs, her head pounded as image after image flashed through her mind.
She pulled away from the door as the last image stuck with her.
Dominic attacking Prue.
Dominic was here, in this time. She had to warn the others.
Chris watched Piper through the window, she was reading the books in the club looking totally bewildered.
A small white light next to him caught his eye, and he watched as Pia orbed in beside him.
"What are you doing here?" Chris asked, "Aren't you meant to be following Prue."
"Theres a problem," Pia explained, "Dominic."
"What about him?"
"I had a premonition of Dominic attacking Prue."
"But that means he's here. Now." Chris said, worried.
Pia hushed Dominic as Prue came round the corner and headed into the club.
The pair watched as Prue showed Piper a newspaper which seemed to make Piper even more confused.
Chris took Pia's hand, "This will wait. We need to warn Wyatt."
Hand in hand, the cousins closed their eyes and concentrated, focusing all their energy on finding Wyatt.
The shiver that ran through their bodies, making them feel slightly disorientated, was becoming familiar.
As the noise of congregating college students filled their ears. They opened their eyes in time to see the last orb disappearing.
"You guys are going to give me a heart attack doing that!" Wyatt said. "What are you doing here anyway?"
Pia looked around, glad that they were hidden from public view. "Dominic's here." Pia told him. Wyatt looked from Pia to Chris.
"You saw him?"
"Pia had a premonition of Dominic attacking Prue." Chris explained.
"They're coming out." Wyatt said, hushing his brother as the college door opened and a handful of students emerged. Alongside the students was Aunt Phoebe, the books in her arms were held tight to her chest.
"Look" Pia pointed.
Cole was following Phoebe.
"Should we warn her?" Chris asked.
"No, just wait." Wyatt said, still watching.
Cole reached out for Phoebe, at his touch Phoebe jumped out of her skin and tried to spin kick her assailant. Cole caught the leg flying towards him and held it, as they began to chat.
"He's still working on gaining her trust." Wyatt surmised, "Aunt Phoebes first instinct was to fight. Subconsciously at least, she thinks he's a threat."
"He surprised her." Chris said sceptically, "She didn't even know it was him."
"She's at college, it's broad daylight and her mind is still on the lecture she was attending, this is the last place she'd expect a demon attack. Besides, since when do demons alert their victims by tapping them on their shoulder?" Wyatt pointed out, "Especially considering Aunt Phoebes power, her instinct to fight just shows that she doesn't trust him yet. This is good news."
"You mean she'd believe us if we told her Cole is evil?" Pia asked.
"No, firstly she's a Halliwell and stubbornness is in the genes. If we told her not to see him again, she'd do the opposite." Chris said. "No, she wouldn't listen to us, but she might listen to her sisters."
"Which brings us back to Prue." Pia said.
They turned back to Phoebe, who had retrieved her leg but was looking at Cole strangely.
"I reckon she's just had a premonition." Pia said, "If that's the case then she's going to rally her sisters around. We need to get to the book while we still have the chance."
Wyatt, Chris and Pia linked hands, closed their eyes and concentrated on the Book of Shadows. The orbs came almost immediately and Pia realised they were getting better at orbing.
They opened their eyes when the sound of the college students disappeared and the smell of rosewood attacked their senses.
They were back in the attic.
Pia raced to the book and began flipping. "I don't even know what I'm looking for."
"Something to stop Dominic hurting Prue. We might not be able to destroy him, but surely there's something in there to slow him down a bit." Chris suggested.
"This one looks possible." Pia said, pointing to the page she had arrived at.
"Lets just hope it's strong enough for you to say alone." Wyatt murmured.
"What do you mean? You're not going to help me?"
"We can't can we?" Wyatt said, "Prue sees me and Chris and thinks we're warlocks or demons. You could pass yourself off as Melinda."
"Melinda?" Pia questioned, "the daughter Piper saw in her future? Do you think she'd believe that?"
"Sure." Chris said, grasping Wyatts idea, "If you're fighting off Dominic, and you can show her some orbs."
Pia looked down at the spell. "Are we sure this will fend off Dominic?"
"Only one way to find out, grasshopper."
The manor door slammed, "Phoebe?" Prues voice called up the stairs, "I got your call…who the…?"
A smash from downstairs alarmed Pia, "He's here!"
"Good luck!" Chris hugged her. Chris and Wyatt orbed out, leaving her alone. Pia committed the spell to memory and ran down the stairs.
Pia ran down the stairs repeating the spell in her head.
She saw her Aunt Prue flying through the air, crashing in to the tall grandfather clock.
Dominic appeared, smirking. "I wasn't after you, but now that you're here." He said to the broken body.
Pia began the rhyme loud and clear staring at Dominic.
"Hell threw you from its inner core
But Earth won't hold you anymore
Since Heaven cannot be your place
Your flesh and blood I now erase."
"You think you can kill me by yourself?" Dominic glared at Pia as she repeated the spell.
"Keep going," A female voice urged on. Prue got to her feet and dusted herself down.
With a quick jerk of her hand, she flung Dominic across the room.
"Hell threw you from its inner core
But Earth won't hold you anymore
Since Heaven cannot be your place
Your flesh and blood I now erase."
Dominic smirked as the spell, once again had no effect. "You're just not that powerful!" He formed a fireball in his hand and threw it towards his cousin.
"No!" Prue screamed, she flung her arm around, the unseen force sending the fireball back to Dominic.
He screamed as the fireball made impact, burning a hole through his dark clothing. "Bitch you'll pay for that!"
Prue raced towards the stairs and grabbed Pias' hand. "We'll try the spell together." Prue nodded as Pia began the chant again.
"Hell threw you from its inner core
But Earth won't hold you anymore
Since Heaven cannot be your place
Your flesh and blood we now erase"
The pair chanted the spell as one, their words blending and flowing together. Pia felt the difference Prue had made as the air grew thick around them. The power pricked across the skin, and surged outwards to where Dominic had formed another fireball.
A shudder ran over Dominic and he looked down at himself, surprise widened his eyes. He looked back up at Pia. "You haven't seen the last of me."
Flames erupted around Dominic as he disappeared.
Pia breathed a sigh of relief and smiled softly at her Aunt Prue. The difficult bit was just beginning.
"Who are you?" Prue asked.