Chapter 12 - Standing Alone
Instinctively - or stupidly, whichever word you prefer - I tried to freeze him. Then someone, Leo, I think, pulled me to the ground as a fireball sped towards us.
This is bad. Very, very bad.
"What do we do!" Paige cried, as she dived under the table to avoid another fireball.
"We run." Prue said quickly, as Phoebe kicked the demon and sent him flying.
"Or we could orb." Leo scoffed.
"Oh. Right. Try that." Prue nodded, joining us under the table, pulling Phoebe down with her. Seconds later we were in the attic.
We could hear crashes and bangs downstairs ... and the fire alarm.
"Uh-oh." Phoebe muttered.
"Leo, get the kids and get out of here." I said quickly. He looked at me uncertainly.
"What if you need me -"
"We'll call you - You can still hear us, right?"
"Yeah - are you sure?"
"We can handle it. Please. Just get them out of here." I pleaded, as another crash sounded from downstairs.
"Go to the station." Prue said quickly. "Andy will let you hide out there, and demon's wont go there. They wont risk exposure."
Reluctantly he orbed out, and we looked at each other.
"Any ideas?" Phoebe asked.
"Without our powers we're helpless." Paige sighed.
"We need them." Prue admitted. "We need magic."
I nodded. "I can't wait to see the look on the Elders' faces." I sighed.
"Maybe we don't need their help." Phoebe said thoughtfully. "If we can remember the spell - the first one - we can get them back. We don't have to answer to them, just because we have magic."
"We can work independently." Paige agreed. "If we can convince them to let us stand alone, everyone's happy."
"The world still has the Charmed Ones, but the Elders can't interfere." I said thoughtfully. "OK ... do we remember the spell?"
We looked at each other.
"Hear the words of the witches ..." Phoebe said. "Then something about secrets ..."
"The secrets we hid in the night." I added.
"Something about gods ... invoked ..." Paige said, screwing her face up in concentration.
"The Oldest of Gods are invoked here." Prue recited. "I think."
Grabbing a pad of paper and a pen from the side, Phoebe scribbled it down.
"Uh ... The great work of magic ... is sought." Paige added.
"In the night, and in this hour ..." Prue murmured.
"We call upon the ancient power." Phoebe said, as she scribbled it down.
"Bring the power to we sisters four, we want the power, give us the power." I finished, smiling. "See, not to shabby.
"OK, I think we got it." Phoebe said, reading through the words she scrawled. "Ready?"
We nodded, then formed a circle, kinda, and held hands.
"Hear the words of the witches, the secrets we hid in the night." Prue said loudly.
"The Oldest of Gods are invoked here, the great work of magic is sought." I continued.
"In this night, and in this hour, we call upon the ancient power." Phoebe added excitedly.
"Bring the power to we sisters four." Paige said. "We want the power ..." Together, we finished the spell:
"Give us the power."
White lights hit us all, and I smiled as the empty feeling vanished.
"We're back." Phoebe said brightly. The next thing we knew, we were up in the heavens, but I knew Paige hadn't orbed us.
Turning slowly - seeing the blackened remains of the pillars I had destroyed the night before - We came face to face with an angry Elder.
"What do you mean by this?" He cried, spit flying from his mouth.
"Say it, don't spray it." Phoebe muttered. The childish phrase infuriated him even more.
"You reject the power of four, abandon your legacy, then think you can take it back when it suits you!"
"Only because you left us defenceless, then sent demons after us!" Prue yelled.
"The point remains -"
"The point remains that this is our life, our magic and our destiny. It has nothing to do with you." I snapped.
"We had an idea." Phoebe told him. "So shut up, and listen."
He looked taken aback, and for a moment I wondered if he'd hit her - Prue obviously felt the same as she moved closer to Phoebe - but he closed him mouth, folded his arms and leant back.
"I'm listening."
"We still want to have powers - not in the least to defend ourselves and our family - and we still want to help innocents. But we don't want to have anything to do with you." Phoebe told him.
"You don't control us, our magic, what innocents come to us." Paige said. "You stand back, let us be in control, and we'll do things our way."
"Let destiny take it's course." Prue added.
"You stay out of our lives, and we ..." I looked around, trying to hide a smile. "We'll stay out of yours."
"And away from your pillars." Phoebe added.
He looked at the other Elders. "One moment." He turned around swiftly, and went back to the other Elders.
They talked for a long time, and eventually turned to face us.
"Agreed."
"Great." Prue smiled. "Now, get us out of here." She said to Paige, who gladly obliged.
We orbed back into the kitchen, where I blew up the demon.
"Look at this mess!" I cried.
"Let the object of objection become but a dream, as I cause the scene to be unseen." Paige smiled. "It's a magical mess. No personal gain." She smiled. I rolled my eyes.
"Nice loophole." Phoebe smiled.
"Leo." I called, and he orbed in with the kids.
"Well?"
"We're back, and better than ever." I smiled.
Just in case anyone'sd wondering, the Elder they've been arguing with was the one that was really mean to Leo in season 7. Usless info for you there. Review!