Chapter 20: A Name
Disclaimer: I'll own Charmed the day that a bunch of 50 something year old male producers stop being afraid of a 34-year-old female actress.
A/N: Hey, sorry it took so long to update. I'm back from that school thing. Also, I have a new story up called Pride, Patience, Perceptibility, and Pain if you haven't seen it yet, it's a joint fic with another author named Jazzymon05. Hope you didn't have to wait too long. I want to answer some of your reviews but I've been told that's strictly forbidden. So with no further adieu, ON WITH THE FIC!
"Are you sure we're in the right place?" Piper breathed as she followed behind Pam and Prue.
"This is where the crystal landed," Prue answered as her and her two sisters moved along the wall.
"Maybe we should go back out to the car with Andy and Bane," Pam started, "I mean, it's Bane's idea that got us here, maybe he knows more about this than we do."
"Bane?" Prue questioned, more haughtily than she had meant to, "I don't think asking him will help anything."
"Well fine then," Pam glowered; thinking Prue's unwillingness to try to get more information off Bane was strictly due to Prue's need to prove something to Piper, "We could at least go to Leo. We've been walking around in circles for half an hour."
"Leo will orb in if he's found anything, remember?" Prue shot back, "Besides, what are you afraid of?" She added, more out of annoyance for being the only sister willing to keep going than out of genuine curiosity.
"Nothing," Pam said defensively, "I just think we should try to scry again. You know, just to make sure we have the right place. You were a little distracted. Maybe…."
"Maybe what?" Prue said loudly, rounding on both her sisters. "I didn't scry wrong; we are in the right place." She said icily.
Piper gave a slight eye roll and upon seeing this, Prue cocked her head to the side as if to ask Piper what more she wanted from her. Piper simply walked around Prue and Pam, continuing down the jagged rock wall.
Phoebe stared in utter disbelief at the woman standing before her.
"What, are you going to stand there all day and gawk?" the woman asked with condescension dripping from her tone.
"I----I," Phoebe stammered.
"You what?" she said as she stopped Phoebe form talking, "You're going to try and stop me? Well I hate to burst your moronic little bubble, but your sisters are already here to 'save' you."
Cole's mother snapped her fingers and the two of them flashed into another room, away from familiarity, away from Cole, and away from hope.
Phoebe's eyes widened as her heart fell at the thought of Cole's mother's plans falling neatly in to place.
'No,' she thought to herself, 'This can't be happening.'
"I don't believe you," Phoebe spoke bravely, "If my sisters are here then why haven't they come yet?"
"Oh you're a clever one aren't you?" Cole's mother taunted, "Maybe my Cole didn't make a mistake in choosing you."
Phoebe raised and eyebrow at this, looking unmistakably offended. Whether Cole's mother recognized this or not, she continued what she was saying without acknowledging it.
"I've cloaked our location, Phoebe dear," she said, "They won't find us until I want us to be found. Until I've made something terribly clear to you."
"And what's th…" Phoebe began flippantly, but was cut off immediately.
"You can't win," Cole's mother spoke powerfully, hushing Phoebe and taking away any arrogance she might have been holding on to.
"I will bring myself and my son to Power. If I am to fail, a spell is already in place. That spell will instantly kill Cole at the exact moment of my vanquish. So you see, there's nothing you can do to win. It's the old kill or be killed; except I have the distinct impression that even if you kill me you won't be able to live with yourself."
Phoebe involuntarily took in a large gasp of shock as she staggered backward a bit.
"You wouldn't," she chocked out with much more confidence than she felt.
"Oh I would," Cole's mother spoke, smiling widely, on the verge of laughing at Phoebe's reaction.
"He's your son!" Phoebe yelled, not even meaning to.
The smile wiped abruptly from Cole's mother's face and a look fit to kill took its place.
"Correction, Phoebe," she spoke Phoebe's name like it was something you would find in a deserted alley, "He's a demon. As am I. Once you begin to understand that, you may start to understand other things, such as why witches and demons do not fraternize. As well as why a mother would take her son with her in death rather than leave him around to be ruined by the likes of you."
She turned her back on Phoebe, seeming to have said more than she planned to. Phoebe took the moment of weakness and tried to rush at her. Cole's mother held up a hand at Phoebe and turned around slowly. Phoebe froze, suspended many feet in the air.
"You don't know my name, do you?" Cole's mother said with a look of mild curiosity on her face.
Phoebe furrowed her brow, wanting to speak but finding that her windpipe was being held tightly by an unseen force.
"No, of course you don't" she said, answering her own question, talking to herself more than Phoebe. "A name holds a lot of power, you know." She continued, turning her back once more and letting Phoebe drop to the ground-----hard.
"I'm sure you don't know it, but your own name means that of a goddess. A goddess of the moon in particular. A name can reflect so many qualities in a person. Sometimes a name is nothing more than just that. You, for instance, are nothing close to the goddess in which your name describes."
Phoebe tried to choke out a declaration of indignation at the comment, but Cole's mother stopped her before she could say anything.
"I'm not finished," she said as she turned to face Phoebe and reapplied the force on her throat.
"Besides, anything you would've said would only have proved my point," she continued, "What I want you to know is, a name can hold someone's innermost being. It can hold their greatest weakness. Even a demon cannot break the bonds of what has already been done. But a name can. But you don't know my name, Phoebe," Cole's mother said as she mocked her knowledge over Phoebe's, "You hold no Power over me. And never as long as I live, you live, and your dear sisters live will you ever hold anything over me. When you understand that, you stupid, pathetic child, you might not find what's about to happen so hard to let come to pass."
Phoebe's head swam with all the information Cole's mother had juts fed to her. 'Even a demon cannot break the bonds of what has already been done. But a name can.' Phoebe had a feeling that Cole's mother had just let slip much more than she had planned to. 'A name can.'
Cole's mother used the hand that she wasn't currently using to magically choke Phoebe and waved it toward the wall at their left. The wall itself disappeared and revealed a narrow hallway.
Footsteps as well as the short, whispered voices of Pam, Prue, and Piper could be heard echoing from the hallway, getting closer by the second.
"Pam, Prue! Go back, it's a trap!" Phoebe tried to yell, but found she could only mouth.
"Oh, they're coming," Cole's mother said with utter glee.
"This is going to be fun."
A/N: Wow. My goodness that was an odd chapter. I'm so sorry if you were confused by it. It's totally okay if you were, because I certainly was. Oooh and boy was it annoying not being able to say the woman's name and having to put 'she' and 'Cole's mother' everywhere. That must have been utterly trite for you all to read as well. I apologize sincerely. I also apologize for the lateness of the chapter. I'm just completely out of it right now. I haven't read or written fanfiction for a while now, so please FEEL FREE to tell me if this sucked. Like, a lot. Don't worry, I'll be strong. Say whatever you want to. I'll have the next chapter up MUCH sooner. And with that, please review and I hope the chapter wasn't too bad.
