Chapter Twenty-Two: A Plan
Back at the Manor, Piper was desperately trying to scry for Phoebe in an attempt to find her remaining two sisters. She was pissed off, she was frustrated, and she was getting more and more worried as the minutes passed. There were only a few short hours before Cole would be returning and expecting Piper and Phoebe's decision. Well, Piper's decision, now.
"I can't get a hold on her!" Piper snapped. She had a very powerful urge to chuck the scrying crystal at the wall but decided against it: what use would that be? She needed to stay calm.
"You will, Piper. Just be patient," Leo tried. He put a hand on her back to comfort her.
"We have less than eight hours before we have to choose!" she snapped. Sighing, Piper pressed her fingers to her temple. What was she supposed to do? She couldn't lose either Paige or Paris... she just couldn't choose which sister she wanted to save.
"You know you have to choose to save Paige, right, Piper?" Grams said. She had been quiet for a while, thinking things through and trying to work something out.
"What?! No. I'll think of something, Grams. Phoebe and I... we'll think of something,"
"But if you haven't?" Grams asked.
Piper glared at the map as she continued to scry for Phoebe. "We will," she insisted. She couldn't understand why Grams was being so negative – she was meant to be the pessimistic one, not Grams. If only Paige was alive, she'd stay positive. But then they wouldn't have been in this awful situation.
"Piper, if you save Paige, you can use the Power of Three to find Paris, like you did before. Plus, Paige is her Whitelighter so she should be able to sense her," Grams suggested. "Do that,"
"Cole will kill her, Grams! Didn't you hear him say that?" Piper said.
"He's bluffing, dear. It was an empty threat,"
Piper glanced up at Grams, worried. "But how can you be so sure?" she asked softly.
~4 hours later~
Piper's arms ached. Her back ached. Her feet ached. She'd been standing up pretty much for the last 20 hours and she was exhausted. Once again, she chanted the to find a lost sister spell, to no avail. "Why isn't it working?" she muttered. She was close to tears and she was running out of hope. And time. "It should be working,"
"Cole must have known Phoebe was bluffing," Leo told her. It was an idea that he had had for an hour or so now.
"What does that mean?" Piper snapped. "What does that mean in terms of how many sisters I will have at the end of the day?" she was feeling every piece of hope draining her and wondered how much longer she could cope with this: not knowing.
"I don't know," he said gently.
"Two," Grams said sternly. "And by tomorrow, you'll have all three," she sounded confident in this decision, but Piper was doubtful.
"What are you talking about?" Piper asked.
"Cole wouldn't have hurt Phoebe, just trapped her in the Underworld," Grams started to explaining. "He loves her. So, take him up on his offer to save Paige, work with her – and me and Leo – to get Phoebe. And once you find Phoebe, you'll find Paris and then put her body in a crystal circle so Cole can't get to her and sleep on it. You can use the Power of Three tomorrow to save her life," she was very calm as she explained her idea.
"Will that work?" Piper asked her. Although she had been calm when she explained the idea, she now looked hopeless.
"It's the only plan we have," Leo replied.
