I am so sorry that i have not updated in a while, i just got really sidetracked with trying to find a job and a life and TRYING to update - this chapter was really hard to complete, and then when i was on a roll i couldn't stop and it became too long, so then i cropped it off right at the end!
anyway, i hope this is up to your guys standards, and i hope i get some reviews out of this - so people, hit that little 'go' button down the bottom of the page there! Go, now!
Chapter twelve
Paige rematerialized into the attic of the manor, right behind the Book of Shadows. She opened the hard cover of the book and felt energy surge through her body. Looking through the Book of Shadows often charged her adrenaline, thus giving her the energy she needed to survive attack and lack of sleep.
She hesitated on calling Piper for help as she knew that once Piper entered the attic the two of them detour on to bitching about the Elders, and they could not afford to do that even though Prestyn was safe in the arms and watchful eyes of those 'Up There'; but it didn't mean that Cole wouldn't find her and take her again. They had to get rid of him – whether they had the Power of Three or not.
Paige sighed. She knew she had to let her sister know she was home and she also needed help and a second opinion. She closed her eyes, took a deep breath and exhaled.
"Piper! I'm back!"
Heavy footsteps sounded on the stairs. Piper appeared in the doorway of the attic with hands poised on hips and a raised eyebrow. A facial expression of anger was unmistakable. Paige felt intimidated by this look and gesture, and quickly began explaining on behalf of the Elders.
"In all honesty Piper, you were a little forceful and –"
"And what?" Piper spat, cutting Paige off, striding into the attic, standing opposite her sister with the Book of Shadows between them both. Paige opened her mouth to answer when Piper cut her off again. "On second thought," she began, holding a hand up to silence her sister, "don't tell me. We don't have the time to argue right now."
Paige rolled her eyes at her sister's melodramatic nature.
"In any case, they've agreed to keep her up there, which will give us time to recuperate and plan."
Piper slowly shook her head. "What's the catch? They wouldn't all of a sudden change their opinions of her."
"Just a little persuasion…" Paige hesitated and added quickly, "and Leo has to look after her."
Piper looked at her little sister with anguish. "And you stupidly agreed."
Paige felt a pang of hurt, and started to defend herself. "No… No I didn't stupidly agree. It was either that or they wouldn't take her in. I don't see how you think I was being stupid…" To Piper's (and Paige's) surprise, Paige's defense was quite mellow.
"They have our in-house-healer," Piper growled. "What happens if we get injured, Paige?" Piper's voice rose.
"Who said anything about him not being allowed to orb down to help us?" Paige defended.
"So then who will look after Prestyn?" Piper snapped.
"Chris, Wyatt, Phoebe…" Piper let out a shrill laugh. "What!" Paige let out. She was getting sick of Piper's behavior.
"You're going to leave three kids under the age of twelve to look after a kid who is under five?!"
"I'm sure the elders would help."
Piper rolled her eyes less then subtly and grunted. She shot daggers at her baby sister. "You are so naïve," she spat.
Paige felt another pang of hurt. Tears began to sting her eyes, but she kept them back. "Didn't you say that we don't have the time to fight?"
Piper sighed. "I'm panicking. When I panic, I stress, when I stress, I'm blunt, when I'm blunt, I'm harsh!"
"And rude – especially to your sister whose stress level is exactly the same as yours, but I'm handling it better!" Paige snapped. She was tired of being attacked.
Piper jumped at her sister's outburst and realized how she was behaving. "Paige," Piper reasoned.
Paige shook her head as a single tear fell down her porcelain-like face. "Save it. We'll finish it later. What's more important is vanquishing Cole."
There was silence through the attic as Paige and Piper stared at one another, not knowing what to do, how to act, or what to say. Paige began to finger the pages of the Book of Shadows, bending the corners back and forth before realizing she was defacing it and stopping herself.
"So…" Piper began in a low murmur; unsure of how she was going to finish her sentence now that she had started. "Any, uh… Any ideas? You know, on how to try to vanquish him?"
Paige stared through Piper before taking her question into consideration. She looked up in thought. "We could strip him of his powers, rendering him human thus making it easier to kill him – you know, blow him up, or dip an athame into poison, throw some energy balls at him, come up with a spell – there are so many ways right now…"
"And not saying that they aren't good, but by stripping him of his powers he is human… which means his body won't disappear; it will stay there, a big bloody mess. If it even looks like foul play, then we're up for murder."
"Only if we don't hide the body – and we can get Leo to do that no problem."
Piper shook her head. "No. There's got to be another way."
"There is no other way Piper! This is how it has to be. We're not sending in Chris for the kill; we can't send in Wyatt or Prestyn because they don't have active powers and the Charmed Ones' powers are useless against him. Rendering him human is the only way!
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"It's the only way," Leo argued.
"It is not the only way, Leo," the Elder returned.
Leo was trying to argue that he needed to be back down on Earth with Piper and Paige so if something happens he would be down there and could heal or help them. He was going to leave Wyatt and Phoebe in charge of Prestyn and Chris– the Elders would barely have to step in. But the Elder arguing against Leo's plea was reluctant to the idea as the agreement was that Leo was to look after Prestyn – not Wyatt or Phoebe or Chris.
"Please," Leo pleaded.
"You will go if needed, not a moment before that." With that, the Elder turned and walked away.
Leo sighed and shook his head. He returned to the children. Chris was playing quietly by himself with a few toys, near the others; Phoebe was sitting with Prestyn and Wyatt, absent mindedly looking around the area of which she was in and surveying her surroundings with caution. Prestyn held on to Wyatt's hand with all her might, fearing the worst.
A few moments later, another Elder approached Leo and beckoned him away from the children. Leo got up, quickly glanced at them, and made his way over, hesitantly; not knowing what to expect, even though he knew the Elder personally.
The Elder's face was solemn. "Leo."
"Xerxes. Something the matter?"
"Your plea to Adrian has made its way through here quite quickly…"
Leo raised his brow, a slight expression of annoyance on his face. "So I see," he stated as numerous White Lighters and Elders bowed their heads and chattered softly, every so often peering up to look at Leo and gasp at the children, not knowing who the half demon, half witch child was, and walking away quickly, further away from them.
"Why do you want, so badly, to return to the Charmed Ones?"
Leo scoffed. He could not believe that Xerxes was even asking that question. "I take it you haven't been watching what's been going on in the past seventy-two hours?"
Xerxes let out a little laugh. "I have been watching. I was one of the many that sent the premonition to the child – what I am simply asking is, why do you want to go back down there? When the deal was, strictly, that you look after the demon child."
"Okay, you know what?" Leo was beginning to get worked up. His face hardened. "She's not just a demon, she's part witch too – part Charmed One no less, and you're treating her like she is the ultimate threat… She's only five!"
"She is a child of ultimate good and ultimate evil. Those two should never be mixed!"
"But they have, and she is completely and totally normal. She thinks her power is part of the normality of our lives! Why can't you understand that?"
"Because she has yet to discover her path and her powers and to what extent they can be used."
"All the more reason to keep her up here until Cole is dead."
"Cole will not rest until he has the girl, and will not die until the power of three has been restored," Xerxes simply stated.
Prestyn watched and listened to her uncle and the man in the white robe talking nonsense. She was wedged between Wyatt and little Phoebe and felt somewhat safe, but still scared at the same time.
Leo and Xerxes continued their conversation.
"You're right. Cole won't rest until he has Prestyn, and he will kill anyone who gets in his way. I want to be down there in case Piper or Paige are hurt; if they're too badly hurt, they might not be able to call for me, and I don't want to risk that." Leo was growing tired of this argument.
Xerxes places a hand on Leo's shoulder. "I understand your anger, Leo, I really do. But there is no swaying Adrian's mind. You will stay up here until instructed otherwise."
Leo sighed, but nodded his head, returning to the kids yet again. He squatted down in front of Prestyn, who had now calmed down upon the sight of Leo. She looked up at him with her big hazel eyes, which were glossed over with tears.
"It's okay sweetheart, we'll get you back safe and sound and back to your mommy." He brushed her cheek lightly and got up to check on Chris.
Wyatt looked at his baby cousin. "Are you okay, Prestyn?" He asked when he heard a sniffle coming from her direction.
Prestyn nodded her head, but continued to sniffle. She looked over to Leo who was playing with Chris who was seemingly on his own. "Uncie Leo…"
Leo looked up, picked Chris up and, walked over to Prestyn. He set Chris down next to Phoebe and squatted down in front of Prestyn.
"Where is my mommy, and my Auntie Paige, and my Aunt Piper? Why am I here? I want to see my mommy! Why can't I see my mommy?" Tears streamed down her little face, her body shaking from emotion.
"Hey that's a good question," little Phoebe piped up. "Why are we here? I mean you and your family may be used to this freak show, but I'm not. I want to go home now. I'm ready to go home now." She sulked and crossed her arms, staring daggers at Leo.
"Look you guys, it's not safe to go back home yet. The bad man is still back there, and he might come back for you…" Leo thought that it might not have been the best way to go about it, considering that they were only children, and he should have been more subtle about it, but if he was, he would only encounter more questions.
"Which one of us?" Phoebe countered.
"Any of you. This is why you all need to stay up here, so that you all end up safe and sound."
"But what about Mom and Aunt Phoebe and Aunt Paige?" Wyatt asked.
Phoebe cocked her head to the side with a raised brow – Aunt Phoebe?
"They're big girls, they will look after themselves and each other."
Wyatt crossed his arms over his eight-year-old chest. "I heard what you were saying to that man about the bad man…"
"Wyatt, what did I tell you about eaves dropping?"
"He wasn't eaves dropping, we all heard," Phoebe retorted.
"Hey, watch your tone," Leo eased. He felt a tiny tug on the sleeve of his shirt and he looked down to Prestyn.
"Uncie Leo… I have to tinkle," She whispered.
Leo tried to stifle a laugh at his niece's vocabulary, and nodded his head. He had asked if the others needed to come with him, and he wasn't surprised when they all needed to go too – they had been there for a while; 6 hours and counting.
Chris and Wyatt went first. He orbed them out to the manor, careful to dodge Piper and Paige, and orbed them back in, coming back for the girls and trying, once again, to dodge Piper and Paige, which seemed easy as they were in the attic.
Phoebe and Leo were waiting for Prestyn so they could go back 'Up There'. It was taking a seemingly long time for Prestyn to come out. Leo knocked on the door.
"Prestyn…" He pressed his ear to the door, waiting for an answer. There was nothing. Maybe she didn't hear him? He knocked on the door again and spoke a little louder "Prestyn?" Again there was no answer. "Uh-oh… Not good, definitely not good…"
Little Phoebe looked at Leo. "What's wrong?" She asked.
"No response… Look, do me a favor; see if she's in there…" Leo was starting to panic now – could Cole have possibly known that she would be back? Could he have set a trap?
"I beg your pardon?" Little Phoebe blinked.
"Do it, it's an emergency, I need to know if she is in there," he persisted in a firm voice.
Phoebe rolled her eyes and sighed. She knocked on the door, before turning the door knob slowly and opening the door just as slowly. She peeked in and saw only an empty bathroom. She opened the door all the way and walked inside. "She's not here…" She raised her arms, bending them at the elbow, palms up.
Leo walked in and looked around. There seemed to be no sign of struggle but, then again, Cole could just appear and reappear, just like Prestyn, so of course there would be no sign of struggle. But if it was an attack, Prestyn would have screamed.
"Okay, you're going back, now."
"Home?" Phoebe's face lit up.
"No. Back with the boys. We'll get you home later."
Before Phoebe could protest, he grabbed her by the arm and orbed her 'Up There', before orbing straight into the attic. This news was going to be extremely hard to break – to Paige and Piper, and to Wyatt and Chris.
Piper and Paige looked up from the Book of Shadows and couldn't help the shocked expression that crossed their faces when they saw Leo appear in the attic.
"Leo, what're you doing here?" Piper asked with an eyebrow raised.
Leo put his head in his hands and rubbed at his face. He sighed. "There is no easy way to break this to you, so I'm just gonna say it," he paused. Paige made an impatient motion with her hands telling him to continue. "Prestyn's missing."
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