TEN

Suddenly the door to the room burst open. Clara, Pipers' Souse chef, came rushing into the room. She seemed to be extremely agitated.

"Her sister is her," said Clara, glancing at Piper. "She's demanding to see the witch right now."

"I guess we'll just have to deal with her sooner than we expected," said Wise. "Suits me just fine. Escort Ms. Matthews back here. Walt can finish them both."

"And what do I do about the other sister?" Clara asked.

"What other sister?" Wise asked.

"The other sister the Matthews woman has brought with her," Clara said.

"Oh, that would be Phoebe, my other sister," said Piper. "I was wondering when they'd show up."

"I don't understand," said Walt. "A third sister?"

"Phoebe and I are sisters," said Piper. "Technically I guess Paige is actually a half sister. Same mother but different fathers. But as far as Phoebe and I are concerned Paige is just as much a sister as either of us. Oh, and just in case you were wondering, our lineage was passed down to her just as it was to us. The lineage from our mother."

"What's she talking about?" Walt asked.

"Their lineage as witches," said Clara. "That's why I came back here, Dolman. They're three sister. And if they're all witches as well you know that means."

"The Charmed Ones," Wise gasped, fear in his eyes. "Get Gildarren in her now."

Clara turned and hurried from the room. A few minutes later she returned, Smiley right behind her.

"What's the matter?" Smiley asked. "Galana said there was a problem. I thought you would have taken care of her by now."

"I'll tell you what the problem is," said Wise. He pointed at Piper. "She's the problem. Her and her sisters."

"Dolman, she's just a witch," said Smiley. "Just get rid of her. Problem solved."

"She's not just a witch," said Wise. "She's a Charmed One. And her sisters are right outside waiting to see her."

"A Charmed One?" questioned Smiley, getting very nervous. "Are you sure?"

"Oh, he's quite sure," said Piper. "Leo, I need a little help here."

Almost immediately Leo orbed in.

"What's going on?" Leo asked as he moved to free Piper.

"I found out what's going on," said Piper, rubbing her wrists. "At least part of it. Our friends her aren't human. They're demons. I haven't figured out what they are up to exactly but it can't be very good."

"That would explain what the Elders found in the food you brought home," said Leo. "They found demon blood mixed in with it. When I ate some of it I nearly died. It had a similar affect to Dark Lighter poison. Thank goodness Paige was there."

"We don't want any trouble with you witches," said Wise backing away from Piper.

"You should have thought of that before," said Phoebe who was now standing in the doorway to the room, Paige standing next to her. "We got tired of waiting. And when we saw Clara come out and get Smiley I figured we'd better see what's going on. So, someone want to fill us in?"

"I believe Mr. Wise was just about to do that," said Piper. "Or should I call you Dolman. That is what Clara called you. And Mr. Gui Smiley would be a demon called Gildarren."

"Listen, even we know about you witches," said Gildarren. "No witches were supposed to be involved. Let's just forget about the whole thing. We'll go back to the underworld and you'll never hear from us again."

"I'm thinking not so much," said Piper. "Now, Dolman or Gildarren, before we vanquish you why don't you explain just what you're doing here?"

"We have no quarrel with you," said Gildarren. "It's not like anyone got hurt or anything."

"Just being demos is enough to give you a quarrel with us," said Phoebe. "In case you weren't aware of it, we vanquish demons, no questions asked. At least, not normally."

"I just figured we need to know what they're up to," said Piper. "I'm betting they aren't very high up in the demonic hierarchy. Our names didn't mean anything to them. And they only guessed who we were when you two showed up. So I'm betting they're working for a higher level demon. I want to know who that demon is and what the plan is."

"We aren't working for anyone," said Dolman. He pointed Gildarren. "It was all his idea. I knew this wasn't going to work. I told you it was too risky."

"Shut up, you fool," snapped Gildarren. "They don't know anything. Which puts us in a rather unique position."

"What kind of position?" Paige asked.

"Unless we tell you what you want to know," said Gildarren, "you'll have no idea what's going on. And if you vanquish us before we talk, you can't be sure it won't happen again. Or isn't happening somewhere else even as we speak. So I propose a compromise."

"What kind of compromise?" Leo asked.

"You agree to let us go and we'll tell you everything that's going on here," said Gildarren.

"No deal," said Piper. "How about I start blowing off body parts until you tell us what we want to know?"

"After which you vanquish us?" Gildarren asked. "Seems kind of one-sided to me. Which means there's no reason for us not to lie to you. Now, if you were going to let us go, we'd be more inclined to tell the truth."

"How do we know you won't just lie to us anyway?" Paige asked.

"And have you come looking for us later?" questioned Gildarren. "Trust me. That's not something I'd be looking forward to. You agree to let us go and I'll tell you the truth."

Piper looked at her two sisters and Leo trying to decide if they should trust this demon.