A/N: I have to warn you that updates might be more off in the coming weeks, as I have a whole shit load of work to makeup and finish, as well as a huge English research paper (and I have to fix this problem at school concerning next year's classes and a competency that THEY LOST)! But I do have a few future chapters written out that I've very excited about. ;)

Change Happens

Chapter 14: All Souled Out

"How in the world did they do that?" Piper blistered.

"It was some very powerful dark magic."

"But how, Leo? I mean, if that's possible, why don't they steal more powerful souls more often?"

"You mean like Prue or Melinda Warren?"

"Mhmm."

"Like I said, it's powerful magic. But it's got to be more powerful thanthe soul they're summoning, and it would take some kind of super demonic magic to steal souls as powerful as Melinda Warren's."

"But isn't the afterlife Up There?" Piper asked, pacing the room with her arms folded. "Isn't that blocked off from demons and darklighters and warlocks?"

"No. The Elders' dwellings are separate from the confines of the afterlife. There are safeguards Up There."

Piper scratched her head as she seated herself on the sofa. "Okay. Uhm...so what do we do? How do we get Brianna's soul back?"

"You mean, how do we even find it," Paige corrected.

"Those bastards," Piper cursed.

"Piper, little ears!"

"Oh come on, like the fetus is gonna know what that means."

"I wasn't talking about the fetus," Paige snorted. "I was talking about your daughter," she exclaimed, pointing towards Prissandra's play mat.

Before the elder witch was able to retort, the front doors swung open and the psionic Charmed One ran in. She appeared frazzled as her heels clanked against the floor and a small plastic container swung from her hand. "Piper! Paige!"

"What the hell is wrong with you?" Paige asked, waddling over to her sister. "And why aren't you at work?"

"Well..." Phoebe looped her free arm with her baby sister and walked her back to the couch. "You should probably sit down."

Piper quirked an eyebrow. "Phoebe?"

"Heh. See, this woman stole my reserved parking spot today and she was a real bitch with her fancy clothes and fancy car and-"

"Phoebe?" Paige crossed her arms and settled them over her stomach.

"Well, it turned out that it was Elise's niece, who's staying here for three days. And anyway, she wanted me to show her around the city and go to this photo shoot with her."

"And?"

"And she was just being such a-"

"Oh my Goddess!" Piper gasped, suddenly pointing to the container and putting two and two together. "That toad isn't Elise's niece, is it?"

Phoebe gave a sheepish smile.

"You turned her into a toad?"

"Yeah..."

Piper's brown eyes blazed. "Well thank you Phoebe! First you enact the flying on broomsticks and now you're turning innocents into toads!"

"She was so not an innocent!"

"So much for trying to escape the stereotype," the witchlighter muttered.

"We so don't have time for this," Piper moaned. Hauling herself up from the couch, she launched into a brief explanation of the day's events and stressed the importance of the Shadow Demon's vanquish.

"What about Eliza?"

"You named the toad?"

"She already had a name Paige," Phoebe replied with a 'duh' accent.

"What can we do?" Piper asked, folding her arms in exasperation.

"I was hoping that you'd know where that old terrarium is, that you had for your pet turtles when you were nine?"

Piper closed her eyes, attempting to remember. "I thought Grams got rid of that years ago?"

Phoebe snapped her fingers in frustration. "Curses!"

"You used to have turtles?" Paige asked, her eyes blinking with curiosity.

"Is that really an appropriate question at the moment?" Piper spat.

Paige turned away, slightly hurt. "I just wanted to know," she said a little too quietly. "I had a pair of pet turtles when I was eight."

Piper's face softened. "Paige, I'm sorry-"

"No, it's fine. You're right. Totally inappropriate." She shifted her weight, looking to the psychic witch. "I might still have that terrarium in storage, though."

"Really?"

Paige nodded. "Let me go check. I'll be back in ten." Without so much as looking towards Piper, she dissolved into orbs that ascended to the ceiling and vanished.

----

As Persia slipped out of her Chem class, she felt a rough hand on her shoulder, and was pulled to the side. "What the-"

"We need to talk."

"Tyler," she hissed, "I thought we've been through this once today?"

"I don't give up easily."

"I'll use my powers if I have to," she threatened.

"And I came prepared," Tyler countered, flashing her his plastic gloved hands. "And I don't think you want to risk exposing energy bolts in the middle of a populated school, do you?"

Persia stared, rage building in her system. Unfortunately she didn't have much of a choice. "Fine. You've got lunch and that's it."

"Thank you." The Firestarter exhaled a breath of relief. "Come with me," he said, wrapping his plastic gloved hand around her wrist and pulling her down the hall.

----

"The court will adjourn for lunch and reconvene at two o' clock." Judge Windsor banged his gavel against its stand and stood, the court following suit, and then slipped off into his quarters.

Cole ran his hands down the flaps of his suit, turning smugly to the defense and giving them a sneer. He was winning over the jurors and everyone could see it. The half mortal slipped to his desk and placed his palms on the edge of his black leather briefcase, pressing it firmly closed and activating the turn locks. He slid his right hand into the handle, removing the case from the table, and walked passed the defense table. "Have a nice lunch," he smirked.

"Oh, we will," the defense attorney sneered under his breath. He tilted his head to the floor. "Now."

The two-dimensional shadow's head appeared to nod backwards and head off following Cole's direction, before fading into the floor.

----

Cole swung open the door to silver convertible, tossing his briefcase into the passenger. As he reached into his pocket to retrieve his keys, he missed the black shadow looming on the ground just a few feet away from his own.

The burly shadow stood motionless for a moment, then his hand extended and shadowy swirls began to pulsate above his dark palm. Then a two-dimensional, black sphere began to take shape and within a split second, the spherical shadow was flying across the asphalt towards the shadow of Cole's chest.

Suddenly Cole staggered back into his driver's seat, grasping his chest in pain. His dark eyes darted around the parking lot, searching desperately for the source of his wound. Then, from the corner of his eye, he spotted a dark shimmer. Grabbing the handle of his briefcase, his body began to ripple, before he completely shimmered away.

----

Eliza stared at the large face pressed against her new glass terrarium. A large greenish-brown skin bubble expanded against her throat and then instantly deflated, allowing her to let out a skin prickling croak.

Phoebe peeled her face away from the glass, grumbling silently to herself as she turned to her baby sister. "Thanks, Paige. This helps a ton."

Paige crossed her arms. "Sure, no problem." She cocked her head to the left. "So, how long exactly does this spell last?"

Avoiding Paige's brown gaze, Phoebe began to absently twiddle her thumbs. "Until midnight.."

"Midnight?" The half whitelighter tossed her arms into the air. "Man, and I thought my big boobs thing was bad!"

"Yeah. It tops the horny tom cat thing too."

Paige turned her attention to her sister, tapping her foot as she waited for an explanation.

"Another story for another day," the psychic groaned, waving off the story. "Anyway, we need to focus on this Brianna thing."

The witchlighter laced her fingers together and leaned her chin against them. "Maybe we could try using a spell to expand my powers and having me call for her soul?"

"It won't work," the psychic shook her head. "You can't use your powers on blood family, remember? That includes their souls."

The whitelighter snapped her fingers in frustration. "Crap, I forgot about that little limitation."

"I don't think you'll be using your powers at all!"

Paige and Phoebe's heads spun around, just as a glowing orange-red fireball came hurling towards Phoebe.

Phoebe could feel her heart jump, as her physical body took to the air and she glided over the fireball. "Paige! The terrarium!"

Paige's arm arched out, her hand twisting into a claw, and she jerked it clockwise. "Toad!" A cloud of orbs enveloped the warty toad and it disappeared from the glass encasement, just as the fireball collided with the glass and forced it to shatter in on itself.

"Bastard!" Phoebe fumed as her feet connected with the floor. "That was important, you asshole!" She held her fists about a foot from her body in a fighting stance, injecting one straight into the face of the deformed demon. Then her body flung back into a levitating backflip, and she landed her spiked heels directly into the demon's chest, sending him flying across the attic.

Paige thrust out her arms and shoved them across each other, making an 'x' with her arms. "Neck!"

"Ahhg!" The demon's neck glowed a sky blue and small orbs danced just above his shoulders, then a resounding crack broke through the attic as his neck twisted so far that it broke. His eyelids drooped shut and his body was immediately engulfed in a dark red, fiery glow as he exploded, leaving nothing but a scorch mark on the wall.

At that moment, Piper rushed into the room. Her eyes were frantic as she looked at the shattered terrarium, which beelined across the room to the scorch mark. "What the hell happened here?"

"Demon." The remaining Charmed Ones deadpanned.

Atop a larger sheet of the glass from the broken terrarium, a new cloud of orbs deposited the amphibian Eliza, who let out another disinterested croak.

In the center of the three sisters, the air began to ripple and Cole appeared. His hand was over a smoking wound on his chest, covered somewhat by red blood. "Phoebe," he breathed. "Help me!"

TO BE CONTINUED...