Sorry it took so long to get this done. Hopefully it's worth it. Even though I think it's crappy compared to the first chapter.
I aim to have the next chapter up within the next two weeks so I can start working to update more frequently.
The Glory Of Pain & Power:
"Kira?"
Piper took a cautious step forward, pulling on Paige's sleeve and dragging her forward to the Seer, while Billie climbed off the dumpster, clutching her bloody hip.
"Piper?"
Kira gazed at the charmed duo, her pretty, curious, eyes squinting in what could only be described as utter disbelief.
"Is that really her?" Paige whispered.
"I think so, ask her if she likes grass."
"What?"
"Kira liked grass remember! Ask her!"
"You ask her!"
"Fine!"
The eldest of the sisters moved closer to the clairvoyant.
"Uh…do you like grass?"
"Grass? The park? I dream of being there…"
She stared up at the darkening sky dreamily, thoughts of running around on the grass and feeling it's tender touch beneath her moulding into her mind as a smile formed on her glossy lips.
"Ok, so she likes grass, so that means she's Kira, right?" Piper turned to Paige.
"Well if she's not Kira then she definitely belongs in the Funny Farm, who else likes grass?"
"Can I kill her?" Billie questioned, glaring at the precognitive.
"No!" Piper and Paige exclaimed in unison.
"Wait, why are you here? How did you know I was here?" the blonde girl asked.
"I orbed after Piper!"
"And I used a spell because…never mind, lets just deal with the problem at hand."
Turning back to Kira, Piper moved closer yet again, forcing a small smile to appear confident as she continued:
"How 'bout we all go back to the manor and have some tea?"
"Tea…I don't want tea…" Kira didn't stop gazing up at the sky as she spoke; every single star enchanting her in a mesmerising glow.
"Where's Christy?" Billie questioned the Seer.
"Billie…" Piper warned, stretching her hand out at her side to stop the teen from moving closer.
"Piper. I know she knows!"
"How can she know? She's been dead!"
Suddenly, Kira seemed have her attention pulled away from the sky and settled to focus on the charmed duo and Billie.
"I know…"
Billie lunged forward with her athame, pointing it towards the Seer threateningly.
"Billie no!"
The blonde ignores Paige's words. However, she isn't prepared for what comes next.
A rippling outburst of raging, purple, energy tears from Kira's body; blasting all three of the witches away as the demon screams.
"Who turned on banshee-mode?" Piper groaned, standing up and wavering slightly before regaining her balance and slowly moving towards Kira.
The woman was obviously traumatised, rocking back and forth while holding her head and mumbling to herself.
"Hurt the girl. Hurt the little girl. I didn't mean to. I didn't want to. Just like they hurt her sister. Blood. Trickling. Blood. Trickling. I didn't mean to. I hurt the girl!"
Piper and Paige exchange a worried look.
"Sister? Is she talking about Christy?"
"Billie…"
"Paige I have to know!"
"Paige get her out of here." Piper ordered, glancing at her sister before turning back to look at Kira.
"What about you?"
"You can come back for me. I'll stay with Kira. Just get her out of here!"
"Piper please…" Billie's tone softened as she pleaded, but this didn't change Piper's mind as a concrete glare formed on her face.
"Just. Go."
Paige reached out and took hold of a reluctant Billie's wrist, embracing her in a womb of bright, blue-white, orbs and stealing her from sight as they dissolved; leaving an empty space in their midst.
"Kira. What happened to you?" Piper knelt down beside the precognitive, leaving just the right amount of space between them to avoid Kira feeling suffocated and panicking again.
"Grimoire. They used the Grimoire. Sister. Blood. Cut her finger. Trickling. Blood. Grimoire."
Kira continues to rock back and forth, her body trembling as she chewed at her thumb nervously, tearing the bindings of her flesh and freeing a drop of blood.
"The sister you're talking about. Kira, I have to know. Is her name Christy?"
"They call her…they…the demons call her the Onyx."
"Like the gem?"
"Dark. Beautiful. Pretty little stone…so shiny…"
The Seer holds out her hand, forming a violet flare and conjuring one of the jet black gems in her palm.
"Her pain. Athame. Cut. Cut. The pain. The blood."
"Pain?"
"The Onyx…her pain…so bad…hurting…"
"You felt her pain!" Kira only managed a timid nod before her actions suddenly developed into a frenzy of sorrow and power as she released a jet of purple energy which slid through the air with peace and calmness as it shone like velvet; coming into connect with a nearby dumpster like the tune of a harmonious melody and causing it to slide about a mere ten centimetres.
"The demons, they made you an empath."
Sympathy moulds into Piper's face as she looks at Kira; sitting there, clearly in pain; but other people's pain.
OOO
"Paige look out!" Phoebe hollered. The precognitive darted forward and tossed a green potion to her younger sibling.
Upon catching the potion, Paige slammed it against the chest of the attacking demon and pulled away as he exploded into flame, turning to fight another of the vile creatures.
It had been two days since Kira had been found and the Seer had been hiding down in the basement ever since, while several demons had arrived and attacked the siblings in search of her.
Phoebe and Paige were suddenly thrown back as the remaining demons exploded into showers of flame and light, turning their heads to see Piper.
"This is getting old." The eldest of the current Warren generation stated.
"Speaking of things getting old; how's Billie's search for Christy going?" Paige asked, plopping down on the sofa.
"Paige…" Piper warned.
"Right. I'm sorry. But is she even close to finding her?"
"No. But if I know her as well as I think I do she's probably fast asleep in the attic after spending the whole night looking in the book for any information on The Onyx."
"How about we ask the Elders?" Phoebe suggested. Piper showed disagreement in her face.
"Sweetie, I don't think it was right how they turned try any harder to help Leo either, but maybe we should put our personnel feelings aside for Billie's sake?"
"The wrinkly old crap-bags won't know anything anyway!" Piper continued to object.
"I'm gonna go see Henry." Paige announced, standing and turning on her heels to head out of the room.
"But what about things here? Kira? Billie?"
"You said it yourself, Billie is far from finding Christy and Kira is two steps away from a straight-jacket. Just call if you need me!"
The elder two charmed ones just watch as their sister evaporates into dazzling blue-white lights.
"Something's wrong with her."
"There's something wrong with everybody." Phoebe responded, walking through to the kitchen.
"No need to tell me." Piper sighed.
OOO
Wisps of jet black smoke danced in the air, moving softly through the corridors of Magic School before stopping to spin at the centre of the main hall.
Several demons stood around, watching and waiting as the smoke began to manifest into a bodily shape.
"He's here," a female demon; Thora, grinned.
They continued to watch, not taking their eyes of the smoke as it morphed into a robed man.
Symbols of various shapes and sizes were tattooed onto the bare bits of flesh he showed; pentagrams, suns with sharp rays, crescent moons, all marked on his pale skin with black.
"The Onyx…where is the Onyx?"
"She's safe my liege. She's safe."
"Get her. Bring her to me!"
"We have something else for you master."
A male demon steps aside as orbs begin to twist and turn in the air; getting darker as they get closer to forming a figure.
"Who is this?"
"A charmed one." Paige stepped forward.
"A what?"
"A great force of good." She reached out to shake his hand. "Former."
"And are there more of your kind?" He declined her offer, gesturing for her to retract her arm with his set of black talons.
"Charmed ones you mean?" He nodded. "Yeah; one dead, two alive."
"Ah, I know who you are; the power of three. Prophesised back in my day by the legendary Seyton."
"As in the devil?" Paige questioned cautiously.
"No. Just a very powerful demon. And a dark prophet."
"More powerful than you was he?" The witchlighter grinned.
"Don't test my patience Charmed One."
"Paige. Most people call me Paige."
"I'm not most people."
He glared at her with a steely gaze, pressing his palms together as fire began to fuel around him.
"Praying?"
"Gathering my power."
"Aww. Poor little demon need to meditate to get his big bad magic working?" She said in a babyish tone.
He releases a feral roar and blasts her with a globe of fire; breaking her body apart into swarming orbs which circuit through the air and move over to cluster in his palm.
"If you kill her then we'll never manage to turn her sisters," one of the other demons objected.
"And why would I want to do that anyway?"
"To have the power of three fighting at your side would make you a force to reckoned with."
The demon glanced from his minion to the orbs fluttering in his hand; coming to a decision.
"I'll let her be, for now." He released the white-blue lights and they returned to writhing in the air; beginning to reconnect and then breaking apart again.
"She's not full whitelighter. She's finding it hard to reform," a demon pointed out. The Leader snapped back to look at him.
"Then find a way to put her back together!"
He stamped his foot as a raging storm of fireballs and misty clouds of energy built up around his figure, pulling him from sight and fading away.
OOO
One of the support beams drops from the basement ceiling, crashed down onto the concrete and causing Kira to jump.
"What happened?" Piper asked, as she and Phoebe ran down the stairs and towards the empathic demon.
"The feelings. They're just too much!" Kira sobbed, crawling into the dark corner of the room and curling up uncomfortably.
"We have to get that power out of her." Piper stated.
"And I think I know how." Phoebe said softly, inhaling a brave breath as she turned to face her elder sister. "Me."
"Huh?"
"We can reword the power-switching spell to pull the power from her and into me."
"But what about when your own empathy returns? You'd have double your meant amount, it could be too much for even a charmed one."
"Well if we don't do something she's gonna die."
"We could always strip her powers."
"And leave her defenceless to any demons that might attack?"
"Do you have any better ideas?"
"Actually. I think I do."
She turns and heads back up the stairs, a confused look dawning on Phoebe's face as she follows.
OOO
"Please! No!" Father Thomas begged, but the demon just ignored his pleas; forming an energy ball and firing it towards the former empath.
"Hey!"
The demon turned in the direction of the voice to see Piper and Phoebe running towards him. He flashed them a grin before shimmering out.
"I think I just found a flaw in your plan." Phoebe said, pulling her hand away from the gaping wound in Father Thomas' chest to reveal it was covered in a mass of blood.
"We need to call an ambulance."
"D-Don't…bother," Father Thomas stammered weakly, taking hold of Piper's hand and stopping her from dialling 911 on her cell.
"You still have a chance!" Piper objected, pulling a way and punching in the number.
"Piper…" Phoebe murmured. Looking from her sister to the limp form of Father Thomas; his chest no longer rising from his heavy breathing. "We've lost him."
"And without him we might lose Kira." Piper sighed. The sisters exchanged a worried look.
OOO
Billie stormed into the attic. A constant flow of telekinetic energy tracing around her, causing papers and other light objects to whip up into a frenzy as she passed.
"I'm going to find my sister!" She promised herself confidently. Only having to hold her hand over the book in order to flip the pages.
"Who are you?" The suspicious voice of Penny Halliwell rang through the air, causing Billie to turn and find the Halliwell High Priestess standing opposite.
"Who are you?"
"I'm the old witch that used to rule this joint. Now, on to your introduction." Penny stood with her hand on her hip, an aggressive and hard look on her ghostly face.
"I'm Billie. So you're the sisters' grams then?"
"And you're their new little student." She glanced around at the various objects that were still being swept up in Billie's kinetic release.
"You the one making all these things float?" The spirit questioned.
"Yeah. And I can't make it stop."
"Well it seems you're a pretty powerful telekinetic."
"Yeah. Isn't that kind of obvious!" Billie pointed out, glancing around the room.
"Look, it's gonna take another powerful telekinetic to help you sort this out and regain control."
"And where am I gonna find one of those?"
"You're looking at her."
Penny held two of her fingers together to create sort of a point to give her power a direction; flicking her hand and striking the floating objects with another blast which sent them all sailing to the floor. Unfortunately it got Billie too.
"Ow!" The blonde groaned, beginning to get up only to fall back down again.
"Billie?"
"Yeah?"
The aged Halliwell turned to see Astral Billie standing behind her.
"Hmmm…astral projection; telekinesis. I think there's someone better suited to help you out with this."
"Who?" Billie asked curiously. Penny just smiled.
OOO
"Crap!" Piper yelled, as a blast of purple energy rocketed through the air and straight at her. She flicked out her hands but instead of freezing the attack, a shield of white light formed on her palm and the blast was sent straight back at Kira; who barely managed to dodge it.
"A new power," the molecular stated, glancing at her palm as the glow cleared.
"New power?" Phoebe repeated, as she jogged down the stairs.
"Yeah. I think I just deflected Kira's blast."
"Deflection? What has that got to do with your current powers?"
"I don't know. Maybe because I can speed up and slow down molecules I can now form them into forcefield, or at least a little deflective shield."
"Not fair. I only have on power." Phoebe groaned, before taking a more serious tone. "Well at the moment anyway."
She looked towards Kira, watching the Seer shuffle and moan out of discomfort as the emotions of the neighbours haunted her.
"You can't be serious about doing this," Piper argued.
"It's the only way to help Kira. And it'll help me too."
"How?"
"I haven't had my other powers for a year and a half Piper! You don't know how weak it feels after six years of using my magic constantly."
"But I thought you enjoyed not being at your full power. You said it made you feel free. So you could sort out your own feelings without having to suffer with someone else's."
"And at first that was how I felt. But I don't anymore. I need to do this Piper. Please."
"Okay. Fine."
Piper stepped aside as Phoebe moved forward and pulled a piece of paper from her back pocket; unfolding it and beginning to read:
"Cursed with this harming gift.
Let the hex be cast adrift.
Into myself let the power flow.
From your form may it go."
She folded the spell back up and pushed into back into her pocket just as white lights were stripped from Kira and entered into her. Giving the charmed one a tingling sensation as the new magic sent a satisfying rush through her body and a smile erupted on her face.
"Did it work?" Piper asked.
"It worked."
"Maybe we should call Paige and let her know."
At the mention of her sibling's name, Phoebe was sent hurdling into a powerful premonition:
Paige was sitting in the conservatory, watching Wyatt and Chris play sadly. She didn't notice as a demon shimmered in behind her, clamping his hands on the sides of her head and sending black light pulsing through her before she could make a sound.
The scene suddenly changed and Paige was now in Magic School. A hooded demon threw a fireball in her direction as she exploded into a shower of orbs.
It changed again and the whitelighter-witch was now in Wyatt's room, the demon Leader at her side as she conjured up a silver crossbow out of orbs and fired it towards the Twice Blessed Child.
"Wyatt!" Phoebe exclaimed, as she was released from the vision and sprinted up the stairs, Piper quickly running after her.
OOO
They charged into Wyatt's room to find he was fast asleep; unharmed.
"What the hell happened down there?"
"The empathy. It's made my premonitions stronger. When you said Paige I had a premonition of her; she was evil and about to kill Wyatt with a crossbow."
"Darklighter crossbow?"
"No. It was different. It was silver. Looked almost good."
"Okay then. Whitelighter crossbow?"
"Whitelighters don't have crossbows!"
"Well then what do you suggest!"
"Maybe it was just some kind of demonic power! Or maybe she's got a new power too!"
"If we've both got new powers and yours have got stronger then that must mean that something big is on it's way."
"Something which we're gonna stop," Phoebe assured her.
Suddenly, white lights illuminated the room as Paige formed, shortly followed by the demon Leader appearing out of flames and dark energy behind her, his face hidden by his dark hood.
"Paige, you're possessed. You don't wanna do this!" Phoebe stated.
"Do it. Kill the child. Collect the power!" the Leader whispered in her ear.
Paige nodded and orbs swirled in the air by her hands, moulding into the silver crossbow.
"Paige no!" Piper hollered, throwing out her hands to blow up the crossbow only for a pearly glow to consume the weapon and send it flying to the ground; out of Paige's reach.
"How did you do that?" Phoebe questioned, confused.
"Well, going by my molecule-making theory, I just took hold of it and threw it to the floor."
"So it's kinda like molecular telekinesis?"
"Yeah. But can we discuss this later? Cos I think our sister's currently out to kill us!" Piper said, diving to the ground as Paige orbed the crossbow back to her and fired at the eldest charmed one.
The renegade whitelighter-witch was about to shoot again when a violet energy ball struck her side and sent her flying into the wall. She shot her head back as she sat up and found Kira standing in the doorway.
"Thank you." Phoebe mouthed to the Seer, taking this chance to leap at her sister and pin her to the ground.
"This isn't over!" the demon Leader swore, knowing he'd just lost his new ally and teleporting back out.
"Think you can work out a reversal?" Phoebe asked, picking up one of Wyatt's heaviest toys; a large truck containing smaller cars, and striking her sister on the head with it; rendering the witch unconscious.
OOO
About an hour later, Paige was back to her normal self and the sisters were in the attic with Billie.
"So you met Grams then." Phoebe said.
"Yeah. She's pretty strong."
"She's not the only one." Piper stated, glancing around at the mess.
"Oh. I'll clean it up."
"So you have a new power," Paige looked to Piper, "you have Kira's empathy," she glanced to Phoebe, "and I was conjuring crossbows?"
"We think the witch magic fused with the whitelighter to create an offensive weapon to rival a darklighter's."
"Cool," Paige grinned, after a second.
"So did you happen to catch that demon's name?"
"No. It was never used. Though I'm pretty sure I could identify him in the book."
"Let's do it then."
The sisters walked round and stood behind the pedestal, flipping through the book while Billie stood opposite and waited.
"Found him. But he looks kinda different now. More symbols on him. Must be a sign of power." Paige soon said. Pressing her finger down on the page.
"Oh crap…" Piper murmured. She and Phoebe exchanged a worried look as they read the main title 'Jith; Head of the Triad'.
OOO
And there ends the second chapter. Finally. Here's a short explanation of Piper's new power:
Molecular Manifestations- She can basically manifest molecules into offensive and defensive energy to create forcefields, harmful blasts and to control other objects.