Chapter VI - The Old Me
"Somebody what?" Piper demanded, throwing her arms up. "Who? Why? How?"
Leo shook his head.
"I don't know. All I know is what the Elders told me. This is the very same Cole you vanquished two years ago: same cunning, same guile, same attitude. He just doesn't remember any of it."
"Er... excuse me..." Cole said, leading all eyes to turn back to him. "What exactly is going on?"
"Oh, button it," Piper said, and froze him again. Phoebe, who had been relatively lost in thought up until now, tried to put everything that had happened behind her. If Leo was right, then Cole was hardly a threat to them anymore. Whether or not he was a demon didn't matter, as he couldn't even remember. The first problem to sort out was getting his memory back.
"What exactly do the Elders know?" she asked, although she hated the thoughts of having to rely on them yet again.
"I'll go and see. Make sure he," he nodded towards Cole, "doesn't get away."
He was gone within seconds. Piper frowned, and looked around in dismay at the attic, still in a mess.
"Well, today has certainly been interesting," she said slowly, sighing. "Demon attacks, sisters who don't tell me things, and now an ex brother-in-law. I'm beginning to wonder if my day can get any better."
She stalked out of the attic in a huff. Paige tutted as she watched her go.
"I guess she's just fed up of everything," she mused.
"Yeah, well, I'm not surprised," Phoebe replied, feeling tired and beaten. "Think you could clean up this attic?"
Paige didn't object. She did, after all, have the power to move things with her mind. And it was hardly personal gain. They couldn't work in an untidy space.
As Paige orbed things back to the way they should be, Phoebe walked over to the window. The sunshine of earlier that morning seemed to have dwindled, and the sky was quite overcast. In the street below, cars drove by and pedestrians walked, continuing with their every day lives. They had no idea what was happening in the sisters' attic, and had no idea of what had happened in the past. How many times had the girls saved the world now? Parts of Phoebe wanted it to stop, for the fighting and never ending battle to all be over. But another part, a part she had tried to hide away for so long now, knew that she loved saving the world. She loved things that distracted her from life, and it gave her excuses when she didn't want to deal with things. And Cole was certainly something she didn't want to deal with.
"Ever wonder how the Elders seem to know so much...?" she asked distantly, resting her head against the cool, comforting glass. Paige looked up, after having just orbed the mirror back into its frame.
"What do you mean?" she asked, walking over to her sister. "From my experience, they really don't seem to know very much at all."
Phoebe, despite all the circumstances, laughed.
"No," she giggled. "I mean, how come they seem to pick up on everything? We're the most powerful witches; shouldn't we be the ones sensing when there's a 'shift of magical power'?"
Paige thought for a moment.
"Well, not really..." she offered. "They spend all their lives up there, looking down on the world, and trying to maintain the balance. We have lives, and jobs, and responsibilities. I wouldn't call being a witch part-time, but we don't sit around and wait for stuff to happen, either. We just deal with it when it does. Like this."
She gestured towards Cole.
"I guess you're right," Phoebe replied quietly. Then something struck her. "You know, you're very clever when you want to be, Paige," she said, turning to look at her baby sister. Paige smiled.
"It's a gift," she chuckled.
At that point, Leo crept up behind them. Phoebe jumped, and nearly fell through the glass. Then, for no apparent reason, all three of them started to laugh together. It had been a while, Phoebe thought, and she missed the familiarity of it.
"The Elders have confirmed it," Leo said eventually. "But as they said when they were last here, they don't know who has done it. Whatever it is, it's some pretty powerful magic. It was Cole's destiny to stay in the void, and your destiny, Phoebe, to move on. Now both of those destinies are in jeopardy, and perhaps even more."
"Void?" Phoebe asked, confused. "What void?"
Leo's face fell.
"You mean... Piper didn't tell you?"
"Tell me what?"
At this, Leo frowned, then shook his head. I don't know what's got into her lately, he thought. What is she playing at?
"Leo, what's going on," Paige demanded. She stepped forward and looked straight into Leo's eyes.
"You remember the other week, when Piper was attacked by the thorn demon? And the Elders took away my powers?"
The sisters nodded.
"Well, apparently, while Piper was dying, she was stuck in some sort of... spiritual plain. A Cosmic Voice between life and death. And Cole was there, Phoebe. He was the one who helped Piper to move on, he was the one who helped our love grow."
Phoebe felt herself become short of breath. There was a tension in her chest, and she leant backwards against the windowsill for support.
"You mean... she saw him?" she asked weakly. Leo nodded.
"Oh that's just insane!" Paige said. "Piper would have told us if she'd seen him."
"No. She didn't want to worry you guys."
"Wo... worry us!" Phoebe cried, standing up from the sill. "What the hell? She didn't want to worry us? Where is she, I'm going to give her a piece of my mind!"
"I'm not sure if that is such a good idea..." Leo called out after Phoebe, who had stormed off out of the attic. Paige frowned and shook her head, and ignored Leo's cries of protest as she followed her sisters.
"Piper!" Phoebe shouted down the stairs.
Piper, who had been sitting contentedly sitting in the living room dealing with her feelings, stood up sharply.
"What?"
Phoebe walked the rest of the way down the stairs and walked over to Piper, her eyes ablaze and more feelings lighting in her heart than she knew was possible.
"Why the hell didn't you tell me you saw Cole when you'd been attacked by the thorn demon?"
"Ah," Piper responded, flinching. "I didn't want to upset you. It was probably nothing. He told me he was stuck there forever... and to be fair, if he could have gotten out of there, don't you think he would have done it already?"
"Probably nothing?" Phoebe repeated, beyond anger. "PROBABLY NOTHING? That 'probably nothing' is in our attic, Piper! He is standing up there, with no recollection of who or what we are, and of what he's put me through, and you call it probably nothing? Didn't it occur to you that he could have lied?"
Piper frowned defensively. It wasn't her fault, was it? She had only tried to protect her sister.
"Yes, of course it did!" she snapped. "But he didn't seem capable of escaping the void. I saw the love in his eyes when he saw you, and – "
"Love?" Phoebe cried incredulously. "That isn't love, Piper. It's gone beyond stalking, and now, because you didn't say anything, he's back to ruin our lives for the – "
"All right!" Paige shouted from the bottom of the stairs. She whistled loudly, leaving both Piper and Phoebe to look towards her. "This isn't helping. We can have time to fight afterwards. But right now, there is a man up there who can give us all the answers we need."
Piper's frown reached her mouth, and she looked away from Phoebe. Phoebe shook her head, but smiled to Paige.
"You're right," she said softly. "I have to sort this out."
She walked up to Paige, smiled gently, and then trotted back up the stairs.
"Wonderful," Piper said sarcastically. "You know, I was only trying to help."
"I know you were Piper," Paige said, crossing her arms and walking over to her sister. "But right now, I think Phoebe needs our help. All of us. She probably just needs someone to blame right now. But we have to be strong, for her sake."
The beginnings of a smile began to touch Piper's mouth. Paige was right. This was not the time to be arguing. Right now, they needed to work together.
"I have an idea," she said. "Follow me."
The two sisters walked carefully into the attic. The first thing Piper noticed was the clear floor. She'd be sure to thank Paige for that later.
Phoebe was standing by the book, leafing desperately through the pages for something – anything – that might help them with Cole. She glanced up when she heard footsteps, but other than that, made no recognitions of her sisters' arrival. Piper held a piece of paper in her hand, and walked cautiously up to Phoebe.
"I'm sorry Phoebe. I wanted to help, but I should have told you about Cole. But I think I have an idea that can help us now."
Phoebe sighed, but looked bravely up into the eyes of her older sister.
"It's okay," she said, meaning it. "I'm sorry too."
"I was thinking... it's pretty powerful magic that erased Cole's memory. A power of three spell would probably be able to fix that. He'd be... himself again. Do you want to go through with it?"
Phoebe thought for a moment. She thought about everything to do with Cole she hated. She thought about how miserable he had made her life in the last few months of their relationship. She thought about how much she used to love him. And then, she nodded.
"Let's do it."
The three girls gathered once more in front of the crystals. Leo leant against a desk by the side, waiting in case the girls needed him. He knew that they would probably have rather been alone, but it was just not safe enough. If Cole got hostile, there was no telling what he was capable of. He listened as the sisters read out the words on the paper Piper had written.
Let who he was become him now,
Take life with death, his past allow;
Bring the memories of new and old,
So we may know what's been untold.
Bright lights began surrounding Cole, and the sisters each backed away from him. The eerie, still body of Cole unfroze once more, but as the lights circling him started penetrating his body, he let out a terrifying cry of pain. Everyone he'd ever killed, every time he'd used his powers, he could feel it now. All the memories of helpless victims and blood stained bodies came rushing back to him. The pain he caused all those innocent people...
Cole let out a loud, hurtful cry in despair. He sank down to his knees and buried his head in his hands. It was too much.
"Something's hurting him," Phoebe said. She couldn't help the tenderness in her voice. Something inside her, no matter how small it was, still loved Cole. And she couldn't ignore that. She stepped forward, broke the crystal cage, and bent down next to the helpless man.
"Phoebe, what are you doing!" Piper cried, shocked. Paige patted her arm.
"I think she knows what she's doing," she said softly.
Phoebe put her arms around Cole's shoulders. Carefully, he sat up, and looked at her. His hair was tousled, and his eyes were red. He was out of breath, and panting, finding it difficult to live with the pain he could feel he had caused. But he was free.
"Phoebe..." he said, looking deep into her eyes. Before he could stop himself, he put a hand up to her cheek. For a second, she let him. But then she pulled away, and stood up. She brushed herself off, as if she had just fallen into a pile of dirt.
"What's going on, Cole," she said, adopting a hard tone in her voice. He shook his head, and stood up himself.
"About three weeks ago, I saw Piper's spirit in the cosmic void. I helped her regain her love with Leo, to show you that love wasn't to be given up on, Phoebe."
"How can you say I've given up on love?" she demanded, taking a step backwards.
"Because I've seen it," he replied simply. "I've seen the pain in your eyes. Every relationship you've had hasn't brought that same fire into you that I first fell in love with – Drake excepted, of course."
"Drake?" Phoebe asked, confused. "How do you know about Drake?"
Cole chuckled, but retained Phoebe's eye contact.
"Let's just say I might have given him a helping hand."
"Oh my God..." she said, coming to a realisation. "You were the one who turned him into a mortal, weren't you?"
"Not quite."
She looked at him and cocked her head. Was this really all he had to offer?
"Are you still a demon?" she asked cautiously. God knows if he were they would have a lot more on their plate than an obsessed ex-lover.
"No," he shook his head. "And I'm not sorry for it, either."
"So... what the hell happened?"
"Look," Cole said, putting a hand up, as if to hush her. "Shall I just start from the beginning? It would be better than all of these questions."
Phoebe looked to her sisters, and they seemed to nod in agreement.
"No funny stuff, mister," Piper said sharply. She waved her hands threateningly, and raised her eyebrows. Cole nodded, knowing what she meant.
"All right," he coughed, not daring to even move to sit down. "It was shortly after you'd awoken, Piper, that I was visited. Some... man, in long, white robes. He told me that I had messed up destiny, and that you were supposed to die. That was supposed to be the end of the Charmed Ones' reign. He said that... that, although I had done a great and selfless deed in helping you and, consequently, helping Phoebe, it did not balance out. I had no idea what he was talking about; as far as I knew, you had called for help and – well – there I was."
"Naturally," Piper retorted. Phoebe cast a severe look back at her sister. She then motioned for Cole to continue.
"He went on to say that destiny had to be fixed. Something had to be done to restore the balance, and to put everything back as it was supposed to be. Supposedly, Piper was to die so that Paige and Phoebe could have the courage, strength and hate in them to vanquish Zankou, and then to continue their lives normally. Without magic. But, my helping Piper find her love again put a spanner in the works. Now you're alive, and I'm in trouble."
"Trouble? What do you mean, 'trouble'?"
Cole arched a thick, brown eyebrow towards the youngest sister.
"Let me finish, and you'll know," he said slowly, almost through gritted teeth. But he managed to compose his nature before he continued. "I didn't have much of a choice. The person in the robe – who, incidentally, told me he was a good guy – said that I was going to be 'replaced'. He said that the risk of me making contact with any of you again was too high, and that I needed to be 'stopped'. He wouldn't really explain much more, only that it was for the Greater Good and Grand Design. The next thing I know, I wake up in my old bed, where I used to live, and I'm living the life I used to live before I met any of you guys. The only difference is, I'm not a demon anymore. And, of course, the robed man completely wiped my memory. I only remembered... everything... when you said that spell."
There was a pause as the sisters and Leo took it all in. Eventually, Phoebe stepped up to him.
"And that's it?"
Cole nodded, and looked her into her eyes. God, how I've missed those, he thought to himself.
"And now, everyone's in danger," Leo added from the quietness of his corner. He walked over to Cole himself. "Destiny is re-writing itself. Things that were 'meant to be' are falling away from knowledge. Things are happening that ought not to have happened. And right in the middle of it are you guys."
"So... what do we do?" asked the ever inquisitive Paige.
Phoebe looked from Cole, to her sisters, to Leo. Already, a plan was forming in her mind. Leo read her expression and nodded in agreement.
"What?" Piper queried, touching Phoebe's arm.
"We find whoever did this to Cole. And then we vanquish them."
"Phoebe," Cole said softly. With that tone in his voice, she could do little else but turn to him. He was rather closer than she expected, and she turned right into his broad chest. Cole gulped down the intense feeling to take her into his arms and show her just how much he'd missed her over the past years.
"What?" she asked gently, trying not to breathe in the scent she had long tried to forget.
"I said he was good. A good guy."
She looked up into his deep eyes, watching them flow like thick syrup.
"I know," she replied.
