Charmed: Hanging with Mr. Turner
Disclaimer: I don't own charmed, but the WB does.
Summary: AU After Season six- After Gideon's death, Leo has taken over his position as guardian of the school but has hired a headmistress to handle all school matters. When the headmistress hires a familiar new teacher, the Halliwells must investigate to see what this new teacher's plans are. Are they good? Or is there an ulterior motive here?
A/N: Just a quick story based around plots that I have written over the last few years, which are mostly about Cole and Phoebe. Review and tell me what you think!
Chapter 8: Mid-term Exam
Cole Turner rolled over in his bed one morning, before flinging his hand over the side and turning off his beeping alarm clock. Tiredly, he swung his legs over the bed and got to his feet, groggily wiping his eyes as he made his way over to the bathroom across the room. Going to the sink, he splashed some cold water onto his face in an attempt to fully wake up, and then looked at himself in the mirror, giving a small smile. He was happy to be alive and eager to get back to the life he had started to build before his run in with the Avatars. With that in mind, he brushed his teeth, took a hot shower, and got dressed in a black suit and blue shirt, before heading towards the kitchen and preparing himself a nice breakfast. After he was finished eating, he grabbed his bag, took a bottle of water from the refrigerator, and sparkled out of his apartment.
He appeared in the halls of Magical School just moments later. As he walked towards his classroom, many of the students were whispering amongst themselves and pointing in his direction as an excited energy started palpitate around him. He had grown to love teaching, to instilling his considerable knowledge onto younger people, which surprised him since he had very little interaction with teenagers before that time. He waved to a few colleagues as he walked, each of whom wore surprised expressions on their faces though he paid them no mind. Reaching his classroom, he let out a deep breath with a smile on his face as he walked in as he had done many times before.
"You're back!" The class exclaimed upon seeing his face, happy to have their teacher return to them. They had been without their favorite class for the past month, Cole having seemingly disappeared with the coming of the Avatars. However, now that the Avatars were gone, Cole had reappeared and returned to teaching just as they had hoped he would.
"Yes, yes," Cole smiled happily, thrilled to have his fourth chance at life, while many others suffered with only one. "It's good to see you all."
"What happened to you?" Tag questioned, asking the question that was on all of their minds.
"It's a long story," Cole sighed, not wanting to fill them completely in on what he had gone through. "Let's just say that when the Avatars took over, they didn't want me around so I was written out of existence. However, I luckily have a few very powerful friends on our side, so when the Avatar threat was extinguished, I was brought back by them to return to you all."
"What did the Avatars have against you?" Many of the students asked, wondering how their teacher had something over the Avatars, beings who were able to transform the entire world into their own image.
"I knew things about them, dangerous things, things that would help our side defeat them and they didn't want to risk that getting out," Cole replied, reluctant to reveal anything more than that and risk endangering the students. He knew the Avatars were still out there, somewhere, just biding their time until they could take over the human world once more.
"What were they? I tried looking in the library to find information about the Avatars, but not a single book referenced them," Sara, one of the more intelligent students, inquired, having spent entire days in the library searching for any information she could find.
"Are they, you mean," Cole responded, not wanting them to think the Avatars were gone forever. "They were forced to retreat, but they were not destroyed. As for what they are, well, they are an ancient order that wants to end the fight between good and evil and bring their order to the universe."
"So they were good?" A few of them confusedly asked, misinterpreting what Cole had meant by wanting to end the fight between good and evil and bring order.
"Their order, not order in general," Cole said, and upon seeing the confused faces of the students, he expounded on his answer. "They want to impose their will upon the world at the cost of free will, so no, they are not good, but instead, they are a different brand of evil from the ones we discuss right here in this classroom."
"Will they be back?" A boy with fear in his voice inquired, hoping that he would not have to witness the Avatars return.
"Not in the near future," Cole answered, shaking his head in the negative. He could sense that the boy needed more reassurance than that, so he quickly added, "They were on Earth five thousand years ago before returning, so I expect them to take that long once more before showing themselves again."
"We'll be ready next time!" Tag erupted with a large smile on his face, earning hoots and cheers from the rest of the class, all of whom were confident they'd be able to fight the next threat that came their way.
"The world was tested and you all passed its exam," Cole grinned, happy to see that the students weren't hurt or scarred by what had happened. "Where did you all leave off with your substitute?"
"We didn't have one," They all answered, surprising Cole a bit in their announcement.
"Classes were suspended from the time the Avatars attacked to just a few days ago, so the last time we met, we kind of just sat around, talking about what we experienced with the Headmistress," a witch named Jen that had brown hair and the ability to commune with animals answered, explaining what the students had been doing over the past few weeks.
"And what did you experience?" Cole questioned, wanting to know what they went through while he was erased from existence. He had literally not existed during the time of the Avatars, so he had no recollection of life since the time that Avatars had confronted him.
"I felt happiness, joy, and the overwhelming inability to feel any other emotion," Jen answered, having felt a strange sensation while in the world controlled by the Avatars—it was peace, but a weird, unnatural peace.
Likewise, some other students spoke about what they felt, saying similar things as Jen. They all felt as if they were dead inside with out the ability to actually feel anything, whether it was good emotions or negative ones. They felt like automatons, robots, beings that were meant to do their chores but not have fun, to work but not experience life. While they all wanted it to end, they explained that they did not have the desire to fight back, as if every ounce of their rebelliousness had been ripped from them and their inner strength stripped. Overall, as they all finished telling Cole about their experiences, they were glad that it had ended and never wanted to experience it ever again.
"Yeah," nodded Cole nearly a half an hour later, having allowed every student to speak if they so chose. "They're gone now, so you don't need to worry about feeling that ever again. I'm sorry if you had to go through all of that."
"We're okay now that you're back, Mr. Turner," Sara smiled, thoroughly happy to have her favorite teacher back. She, like most of the students at Magic School, had believed him to be dead, so to have him back was something she had never thought could be possible.
"I'm glad to be back," Cole said, returning the smile, surprised that his students cared about him as deeply as they were portraying. "Okay, so we last left off with the Darklighters, are there any questions?" Cole asked, scanning the room with his crystalline blue gaze. Seeing no one raise their hands or voice their inquiries, he continued, "We move onto the main course of this class, the level on the hierarchy with the upper-level demons, the dark priests and priestesses, and the dark faes, the enemies in which you will be coming up against on a regular basis.
Demons, what I'm sure you've all been waiting for, are the indigenous beings of the Underworld. They were originally monstrous in appearance, but over history, they have changed with the times; additionally, they live in caves and generally have limited technological know-how in comparison to humans," Cole began, finding it ironic that he would live most of his life trying to kill witches and then use that information gathered to teach the new generation how to best protect themselves from said demons.
"How did they lose their monstrous appearance?" A boy named Duncan, who had the power of conjuration, questioned, wanting to know how demons could go from monstrous appearances to changing with the times.
"Ask again in a second," answered Cole, not wanting to reveal that portion of the lecture just yet. "As you've already learned, demons are divided up into three different levels: low, middle or level two, and upper level. We'll re-affirm our knowledge on low-level demons first. They are monstrous demons that lack a human form or a human appearance. They live in tribes in the Underworld, with only a select few having the ability to teleport, but even more limited is the small group within the group that is capable of teleporting that can actually teleport out of the Underworld itself. You see, it takes a great deal of power to travel between the realms, so while a low-level demon may be able to teleport within the Underworld itself, they may not be so lucky to actually be able teleport out of the Underworld. They are mostly used as grunts for tasks in the Underworld, and do not get to see anything much outside of their tribe, leaving them relatively ignorant. However, sometimes an upper-level demon may bring a low-level demon to Earth in exchange for performing some task for them, which allows the low-level demon some smidgen of freedom from the Underworld, however limited."
"You said that they don't have a human form or don't appear human, right?" A girl named Bree asked, unable to imagine what exactly a lower demon looked like as she had never seen one before. "So what do they look like?"
"Predominantly," nodded Cole, mentally conjuring images of the various low-level demons that he had seen in his time as Belthazor. "Green or yellow skin, talons, slit tongues, strange eyes are the usual characteristics. Next are the level-two demons, which as you recall is not really a level, but I just want you to remember that they exist. They are human-looking, but do not have a lot of power, being relatively limited in skills and abilities. They are servants of higher demons, and are usually given magical weapons to supplement their lack of talent and ability, such as a transprojector, which allows them to send out a beam of energy that can vanquish even the strongest of demons into oblivion."
Almost instantly, Sara furrowed her brow, looking around at her classmates to see if anyone picked up what Cole had said. "Isn't that, you know, kind of dangerous?" She questioned, not bothering to raise her hand. "I mean, what's to stop them from using that weapon against the Upper-Level demons who give it to them?"
"Yeah," Cole laughed, crossing his arms in front of his chest as he leaned against his desk. "That has happened before. A demon named Litvak, a member of the Ordo Malorum who was high up in the hierarchy, was vanquished by a transprojector. Who said evil was smart, though?" Then, shaking his head, he continued, "And at the top of the chain, the upper-level demons are demons of the highest order, the demons that control the Underworld—or rather, the demon stock from which the demons that do control the underworld come. They have a human form, mostly unnaturally, and incredible powers, including the ability to teleport, but unlike their lesser brethren, they also have the mental acuity to use those powers. Now, they're not all geniuses by any means, as Sara has pointed out moments ago, but the most powerful ones usually are quite the intelligent foe."
"How do they unnaturally get a human form?" A student asked, not understanding how one went about getting a human form unnaturally. Did they literally steal a face from a human like some sort of serial killer in horror movies or was it something more magical than that?
"Well, Upper-Level demons appear monstrous, that's their normal form, but they can also undergo a change, a transformation so to speak, by way of magic that grants them a human form," Cole answered, recalling the many demons that appeared both human and non-human. "Don't get me wrong, they're not human, they just appear that way sometimes, which is why it's unnatural."
"You touched on it just now and said for me to ask later, but why do demons look like humans?" Duncan asked once again, wanting to hear the answer from Cole.
"That's…that's a detailed question to answer," started Cole, as his gaze drifted over to the clock on the wall, which revealed that the class was almost over. "It's one that I don't really want to discuss right now after seeing how much time we have left. We spent a lot of time talking about me and you guys earlier, unfortunately."
"But…" Duncan pleaded, not wanting to have Cole forget for the next class. He had waited for so long that he couldn't help but feel a bit anxious now that the answer was so close.
"Hold on, hold on," Cole smiled, putting his hands up in defense. "I'll talk about something different with the remainder of the time, saving the bulk of the lecture for next time. I won't avoid answering it next class, I promise. With that being said, this is your time, what are some questions, not dealing with demonic human forms, do you have about magic?"
"Classes ago I asked if demons could be resurrected and you told me to wait, is now the time I can ask?" Herman, another witch with the power of conjuration, asked, referencing a question he had inquired about two classes prior. "If so, then how can demons be resurrected?"
"By a spell, which summons them back from the depths of the demonic graveyard, a terrible hell dimension that consumes their essence," Cole replied, earning a shiver of discomfort from the class. "Another way is when a powerful demon on all Hallow's Eve, the day that the barriers between the worlds are at their weakest, can come back under their own power. It takes substantially more power to come back on a day other than Halloween, but it is possible, assuming the right demon tries it."
"But how do they do it?" Herman repeated, wanting more information on the matter. He wanted to see if it was similar to the way a human would be resurrected or if it was something entirely different.
"They resonate their teleportation between the barriers," Cole answered, remembering the time where two grimlock demons were able perform the feat when he was first sent to kill the Charmed Ones. "It takes skill, effort, power, and most of all, knowledge to perform. Only the most intelligent and potent of demons can perform it. Like I said, there is another way, but that takes more power than most demons have."
"What is it?" Many of the students asked, intrigued by the idea of learning something that not many demons even knew.
"You break through the barrier yourself and just leave," Cole informed, being one of the only people in all of history to actually have firsthand knowledge on the issue. "Though, I've only ever known one demon to do that before, and he was a strange case that doesn't necessarily happen often because demons are consumed in the demonic wasteland quite quickly, making it nearly impossible to stay alive long enough to come back."
The class went silent on the topic after that, but there was a flurry of hands in the air, each of whom wanted to ask question about a different subject. "You've mentioned a bolt ball before, what is that exactly?" A student with the ability to phase through walls questioned, recalling a class earlier in the semester where Cole had spoken about a demonic power called a bolt ball.
"You remember when I mentioned flame balls in our first class?" Cole inquired, earning a nod from most of the class. "Bolt balls are red energy balls. Red energy balls are to blue energy balls as flame balls are to fireballs. Red energy balls are sometimes called voltage balls or bolt balls by demonic power brokers; they are a weaker form of energy ball. They do not have the same concussive impact that regular energy balls do, but have the same electrical impact."
In the back, a boy that had never spoken furrowed his brow. "They're less powerful then?" He asked in a low voice, though Cole heard him clearly.
"But just as dangerous," Cole agreed, willing to concede that they were not as powerful as energy balls but not wanting to make the students think they were less effective. "How about we take this time to talk briefly about demonic powers, let's say, teleportation? Let's hear some opinions, what do you believe is the strongest form of teleportation in the demonic world?"
"Blinking?" One witch said instantly, having seen a warlock blink out one time when her parents were fighting him. The warlock had blinked around the room quicker than his parents could react, though ultimately came to his death as blinking couldn't save him from the spell that his mother had been chanting all the while.
"Fast, but not very powerful," Cole answered as he leaned against his desk with his arms crossed in front him, hoping that his students would know the answer. "Blinking does not allow a user to travel to each and every realm, plane, or world, whereas let's say shimmering, while much slower than blinking, does allow a user to travel to each plane. In fact, it wasn't until just recently that blinking was able to get to the Underworld, which is because blinking isn't, or wasn't rather, an actual demonic power—it was a form of teleportation used exclusively by witches until a warlock copied it some centuries ago. To answer the question, the most powerful form of teleportation actually is flaming, a fire-based technique that travels both quickly and anywhere you want, barring an incredible powerful charm of protection, such as the one on the heavens that only allows orbers inside. Flaming is only used by the most powerful of Upper-Level demons, as you need a certain level of energy in order to burn down the walls of space like flaming does for you. It's quick and efficient."
Cole took a sip of water from his bottle, listening to a few comments from his students all the while. Clearing his throat, he continued his lecture, "Next would probably be fading, a form of energy-based teleportation, which was created by the Infernal Council for their demons of hate, level-two demons meant to spread hate in the world, in an attempt to infiltrate the Cupid's Temple. That's actually why fading looks so similar to beaming, the good magic equivalent, because it's a replica. Glistening is another energy based, but it is not nearly as potent as fading, though it certainly has its uses."
"Why not shimmering?" Sara asked, having seen numerous demons be able to shimmer, while she had yet to see any of the other forms of teleportation.
"Shimmering is probably the most prevalent as it's the most useful, outside of flaming," Cole shrugged, having been relatively neutral in regards to his shimmering ability as compared to his other teleportation forms in retrospect. " It's not too slow, it allows the user to travel to just about any plane except the ones protected by powerful charms, and generally does not use too much energy to perform. Smoking, which is a neutral power as witches can have it as well, is okay, but prevents a lot of traveling to various planes similarly to blinking," Cole finished, and then looking over to Tag, whom had the power to smoke, Cole frowned, realizing his faux pas. "Witches use it better, if that helps."
"No offense taken, don't worry," Tag smiled, not at all offended by what Cole had said. He knew his powers weren't that great, but he hoped to work on them in order to increase their potency.
"Mr. Turner, my father fought a demon before, that demon had like a mixture of two teleportation powers, how is that possible?" A gruff voice questioned, making Cole turn his attention to the oldest boy in the class, who had the power to shapeshift.
"Because that demon's parents probably each had the separate power," Cole explained, cognizant of the fact that magic usually had a way of co-mingling when both parents were magical. "And the demon offspring inherited each, and did not have the ability to use one or the other solely. It's a dangerous thing, inheriting both like that—only those who are strong and intelligent enough can use both without handicapping themselves; most demons who use both also have double the negative effects as in they'll have the slowest form and the least powerful form of teleportation."
The bell rang just then, signaling the end of the class for the day. Cole grinned and waved as the students started to funnel out, before he was left alone in the classroom. He gave out a deep breath as a wave of happiness rushed over him, the joy at being able to live his life once more coming to him fully. He loved being alive, loved being a teacher to the younger generation and would not trade it for the world, a realization that came to him nearly instantly upon being resurrected. With a smile still on his face, he grabbed his things and left his classroom, intending on spending some time in the teacher's lounge for the first time. He knew he had work that he had to complete, important work, but for the first time in a very long time, he was going to enjoy himself.
The next week passed with Cole continuing to enjoy life, and before he knew it, he was once more in front of his students, ready to teach their next class. Having arrived earlier than normal, he stood a the head of the class as all of the students made their way into the room, filing into their normal seats as they chatted amongst themselves. They all had a bundle of energy, seemingly having just returned from lunch as it was late afternoon when their class first started. Cole gave them all a smile as they entered, happy to see them, before starting his lecture when everyone had arrived.
"As you know, we started on our lecture about Upper-Level demons last week, so we'll start from where we left off," Cole said, before being interrupted by another person entering the classroom. Cole flicked his eyes over to the new entrant and saw that it was his ex-wife, Phoebe Halliwell, who whispered her apologies before she walked to the back of the room, where she took the open seat that she had taken the last time she was in the class.
"Right," Cole smile, turning his gaze back to his class, not at all flustered by her sudden appearance as he would have been months prior. He was at peace with both himself and his past actions, which allowed him to overcome any lingering negative emotions he may have about how their relationship had ended. "As you are aware, Upper-Level demons are the stock from which the rulers of the Underworld come. They are a race of great magical strength, but great evils, as well."
"Are they just demons or do they have, you know, like different races amongst them?" A question came immediately, the boy who asked it having clearly been wondering it all week.
"They have different races," Cole answered with a nod, having been a member of a demonic race himself. "As some demonic races are upper-level in their entirety. Like the Grimlocks, or the Brutes, or the Rune demons. If a lower-level demon is born unto them, it is done away with, which has made them as powerful as they are races."
"How many races are there?" Herman inquired, curious as to if there were simply a select number of racial groups similarly to humans or if there were a bountiful collection of various races that were each labeled demons.
"A dozen, maybe," Cole shrugged, not really knowing one way or another. "Though that is often a contrived distinction, as demons are demons, they just started looking different because their magic would transform them and then those demons that were transformed the same started mating with one another. They're all demons, just as you all are human, no matter how you look. It's simply that, through thousands of years of breeding, certain lineal looks and appearances and powers have manifested, which are then known as a specific race. Basically, if they look similar and have similar powers, that's a demonic race. However, even that is dying out as many demons have started breeding a human appearance into their genes."
Instantly there were two hands that shot up into the air, the lecture apparently having elicited questions without being even five minutes into it. "They're powerful because their parents were powerful, yes? So then they do inherit powers from their parents. I thought you said that last class, but I wasn't sure."
Cole furrowed his brow, trying to decipher what the student was actually asking, before he gave out a nod in the affirmative. "Powers run in their bloodline, yes, with some having exact powers of their parents or some having atavistic powers that hark back to an ancestor long since vanquished." He moved his gaze over to Duncan, who still had his hand up from earlier.
"Demon and human forms," Duncan said simply as a large smile appeared on his face, finally seeing the opportunity for Cole to answer the question that had been burning in his mind for weeks.
Cole laughed, willing to answer the inquiry and not stall another day. "Unlike in ancient times, demonic forms do not give as much of a material benefit to a demon as it did in days long since gone. Demons used to use their demonic appearances to strike fear into the hearts of mortals in order to get what they want and to spread evil. Today, in a business world and global economy, it's better for a demon to be able to appear human so they can infiltrate whatever it is they want to infiltrate and blend into crowds, whether it's an organization or pose as an important person."
"That answers the why, how about the how now?" Duncan expressed, wanting a better answer than the one Cole had given.
"A variety of ways," Cole replied, trying to think of which one to say first. "Some perform a ritual, accomplished by an alchemist, which transforms their demonic face permanently into a human one, leaving red eyes as the only distinction in showing their demonic nature whenever they go to use their powers or they experience great emotion, like anger or frustration."
"Like the demon Rodriguez and Cole's mother," Phoebe whispered to herself, recalling the vision that she had dealing with Cole's mother and father when they had first met one another.
"When that demon then goes to have a child, that human appearance is transferred to the demon, therefore creating a line of demon-looking humans, which is mostly what has happened over the years," informed Cole, having seen the effects of the ritual through many of his accomplices in the demonic world. "Many members of the Brotherhood of the Thorn have had that ritual done, as it is necessary for them to appear human in their line of work."
"Human-looking demons, you mean," A female student smiled, correcting his slip of the tongue.
Cole furrowed his brow, and then smiled as well, recognizing his mistake. "Yes, human-looking demons, my apologies. Likewise, if a demon can shapeshift, they can appear human whenever they want, and if the demonic child was conceived while the demon was in human form, that child will have a limited form of shape shifting which will allow them both a human and a demon form unless they inherit the shape shifting ability outright. Finally, demons sometimes purposely breed with humans to create half-demons, demons that look like humans and can morph from a demon form into a human one at will. However, here is a way to tell if a human is a demon or not: demons without human heritage will bleed black in their demonic form, while a half-demon will always bleed red, no matter the form they are in. Additionally, most pure demons won't actually bleed at all in their human forms."
"Are half-demons evil?" A voice questioned, unknowingly inquiring about something that had affected Cole most of his life. "Do they have souls?"
Cole looked up at Phoebe, who cocked an eyebrow in response, wondering what Cole's answer would be. "Predominantly," Cole nodded, believing that half-demons in the world did indeed have souls at birth however marginalized they ended up being. "Most half-demons have souls at birth, but they are oftentimes stripped of that immediately by their demonic parent. Or, if they're not, they go about stripping it themselves when they are old enough. They can be evil, they can be good, but until and unless they lose their soul, it's always possible that there's goodness in them and they are not entirely irredeemable. As far as I know, a half-demon is only ever born without a soul when their human parent is enchanted by the demonic parent into performing the act, which is what Hecate, the Queen of the Underworld, was known for doing."
"She's the Queen of the Underworld, so is she the Source?" Sara asked, believing that the title of Queen of the Underworld was just another name for the Source.
"Oh, no," Cole shook his head, laughing slightly that the idea. "She was the daughter of one Source and the consort of another, which makes her think she's royalty or something. She isn't all that powerful, so you don't need to concern yourself with her right now." His eyes flicked up to the clock, and he gave out a small sigh. "I see we have about ten minutes left in this class, what do you want to hear?"
"Can you tell us about some powerful demons?" A witch questioned after raising her hand. "The ones in this level, I mean."
"Well, I can, but most of the ones that I was familiar with have been vanquished thanks to the Charmed Ones," Cole answered with a smile, moving his line of sight back up to Phoebe, who gave a smirk herself. "Vinceres was pretty well known as a demonic assassin within the demonic and witch world. He was cursed by an empath right when his first son was born, Ari, in an effort to prevent them from uniting, but if they had been able to team up they would have been nearly unstoppable. He was vanquished about three or four years ago."
"What kind of powers did he have?" Tag inquired, wondering what a demon that acted as a demonic assassin could do with his magic.
"Limited telekines, touch of death, great strength and high resistance, among a few other lesser powers," Cole informed them, remembering why Vinceres was such a threat. "Quite powerful, so much so that even some demons that would normally have no problem with any other demon did not go against him unless absolutely necessary. He could also adjust and was immune to witch powers, like spells and potions, which made him nearly impossible for witches to vanquish. In the words of that empathy that cursed him, he was an unstoppable killing machine."
"Who else?" The class all asked, wanting to learn more about the demons that they were told about growing up but had never seen yet.
"Troxa, Sykes, Benzor, Bethlar, Rodraga, we could go on for hours with this," Cole shrugged, naming various demons that he had the pleasure of meeting over his long life. From her spot in the back of the class, Phoebe couldn't help but conjure up images of the various demons that she knew, all of them uglier than the last. "Shax, Vornac, Tarkin, Trigg, Rake…"
"All of them are powerful?" A student asked, outwardly surprised that there were so many demons that were considered powerful.
"Were powerful, yes," Cole nodded in agreement, having listed only Upper-Level demons that were once part of the Brotherhood of the Thorn or were connected to the Source of All Evil, like Shax and Rodraga, the demon otherwise known as Inspector Rodriguez. "With Shax being the most powerful out of that list, but they were all certainly powerful. I think Benzor is still alive, actually, but I know for a fact that all of the others are dead."
"How?" The class prodded, hoping to learn more about Cole himself for a time. Rumors and stories had gone around the school when he first started teaching them—the girls thinking he was cute and the boys thinking he was cool—stories that they wished to learn the truth about by the end of the year.
"Because I was the one that vanquished many of them myself," grinned Cole, earning a gasp of shock from the entirety of the class and a smile from Phoebe. "And I was there when the Charmed Ones finished off the rest." He paused and took a swig of his water, before placing the bottle back down on the desk and looking around for the next question. "But enough about me for now, what else do you want to know?"
"What are the most common powers?" Tag asked in an effort to continue the topic from the last class.
"For Upper-Level demons, you mean?" Cole asked, earning a nod. "Teleportation in the form of a shimmer, I would say. If you mean active powers, I'd probably say either energy balls or super strength, if you want to call that an active power."
The bell rang out suddenly, ending the class before the next question could be asked. Cole watched as the students funneled out, smiling and waving as they left. Phoebe waited until the last student exited, before making her way up to the front of the class. She had learned about Cole's reappearance a few days prior from Leo, and she wanted to see him with her own eyes.
"Hello Phoebe," Cole said, packing up his bag, having heard the footsteps coming towards him.
"Hey Cole," Phoebe replied, stopping five feet away from her ex-husband. "I had heard that you were, how to put this, on spring break for the rest of eternity. I'm glad to see that proved untrue."
"I got sick of the beach, what can I say?" Cole shrugged with a laugh, turning his gaze over to her. "I hear you were the ones to confront the Avatars, needless to say, good job on that."
"It was all because of Leo, he was the one that sent me on the right path," Phoebe answered, knowing that they would still be stuck in the Avatar controlled world if it wasn't for Leo reminding her of her inner will power. "And I saw you were the one that sent him on the right path."
"It was nothing," Cole shook his head, not wanting her to think anything of it. "What can I do you for?"
"I just wanted to say hi since you've been a stranger when I said that you didn't have to be," Phoebe said, fully aware that Cole was keeping his distance for a reason.
"You need information, don't you?" Cole said, noticing the hesitant look on her face as if she was reluctant to tell him the actual reason of her visit.
"Okay, maybe just a little?" Phoebe sheepishly grinned; she was unsurprised that Cole could still read her emotions even though they had not been together for years.
Cole laughed, not at all offended that she came to him for information. He wanted to protect her, even if they were not in each other's lives anymore. "What is it?"
"I had a vision, one that showed a demon attacking a woman," Phoebe explained, recalling every detail that stuck out to her. "He had the power to throw electricity and turn invisible, does that ring a bell?"
"Electricity and invisibility, you say? No," Cole shook his head in the negative, not coming up with anyone that he was aware about that had those kinds of powers. In truth, he knew that the younger generation of demons was starting to crop up, with new leaders and generals taking their place in the hierarchy, demons that were just children when he was at his most evil, which left him relatively ignorant of the workings of the Underworld. "When does this attack happen?"
"Fairly soon," she replied, having not gotten the sense that the vision was of the far future. It had appeared to her when she was writing her column, with the intended victim having been a post office worker that had touched the envelope.
"No demon that I know of has the power to throw electricity and turn invisible," Cole replied, as the thought of something else came to his mind. "But it may not be a demon."
Phoebe furrowed her brows, not really understanding what Cole was trying to say. "What do you mean?"
"It may not be electricity," Cole answered, changing the direction of the conversation away from demons. "It could be a plasma bolt, an ectoplasmic discharge; there is no electrical component, unlike true electrokinesis, instead it relies purely on the heated corrosive touch of ectoplasm. It's similar to a plasma ball."
"That would open up to a variety of creatures and beings then," Phoebe whispered with an understanding look on her pretty face, trying to figure out what it could be.
"What color was it?" Cole pressed, trying to see if he could figure out what it was without having to see the attack for himself. "Was it a royal blue or a purpler one?"
"In the middle?" Phoebe shrugged, earning a nod from Cole as he furrowed his brow in thought.
"Invisibility and plasma bolt? Try a ghost," Cole suggested, thinking it could be a ghost that was killing in the area that he haunted rather than a specific demon attack.
"But he didn't look ghostly," Phoebe replied, not thinking it was a ghost due to him appearing relatively alive.
"It could be a ghost of demon as they sometimes don't," Cole rebutted, having experienced more than his share of skeletal beings and demon ghosts in his time. "If he had the active ability to tether himself to the human world after being vanquished, he could appear just as he did when he was alive and not like a skeletal being at all. Necron looked like that because not only did his demon form looked like that, but he did not have the active ability to tether himself to this plane, rather, the witch that vanquished him only did a marginal job of doing it. And if this being has fed on a spirit, he would look like he was alive, as well. I could come, if you want."
"Elias Mundy had a similar power now that I think about it," Phoebe said, nodding her head, satisfied with that possibility. "And no, Paige and I will be okay, but thanks."
"No problem, give me a call if you need any more help," Cole replied, not at all offended by Phoebe wanting to vanquish the being without this help. "Do you want me to drop you off?"
"That would be nice, thank you," Phoebe said, reaching her hand out for him to grab. He took her hand into his own, each not concerning themselves with the thought that their hands still fit together perfectly.
In a flurry of grey particles, they disappeared from the room, only to reappear outside of the manor not a moment later. "Before, when you said Paige and you will be okay, what did you mean by that? Is Piper okay?" Cole asked once they arrived, having realized Phoebe's slip of the tongue.
"We're giving her time with Leo," Phoebe said, not going into any more detail than that. "Thanks again for all the help. I'm glad that you are okay."
"Me too," smiled Cole, the excitement of being alive reaching his soul. "I'll see you. Be careful."
"Will do," Phoebe nodded, watching as he disappeared in a flurry of grey particles. "Thank you for saving the world, Cole." She whispered, before walking into the manor and closing the stained-glass door behind her, truly thankful for Cole's help in dealing with the Avatars, even if he thought she didn't know about it. He indeed had saved the world.
A/N: Like always, I've written so this can be the last chapter if I so choose. I have no intention of writing another, but I'm leaving it open just in case.