Ella walked downstairs to find Byron making himself a drink in the kitchen.
"Hi sweetheart, how was work?" He asked.
"Fine." Ella replied shortly.
"Is something going on with you and your sisters? You're always up in the attic with them. I haven't seen you in days."
"We're just catching up and getting to know Paige a bit better. We've had a lot to talk about."
"And Aria?"
"Girl talk." Ella tried to brush it off.
"Have I done something to upset you?" Byron asked as he picked up on a cold edge to her voice and the fact that she was stood in the furthest point possible from him in the kitchen. "Is this about Mr Fitz?"
"No it's not. It's about you and Meredith." She said, finally coming out with her accusation.
"Meredith?"
"Don't lie to me Byron." She responded, her voice turning dark and threatening in a way that Byron had never heard directed at himself before.
"I don't know what you're talking about." He lied poorly.
"I'm talking about you having an affair with one of your students and asking our daughter to lie about it for over a year!" Ella shouted, her temper getting the better of her.
"I..." Byron started before Ella cut him off.
"You used our daughter to hide this from me. How could you do that to her? I don't even know who you are! How could you be so selfish as to tear this family apart over the first young girl who shows you any attention!"
"It wasn't like that." He protested.
"At least you're not denying it now!" Ella screamed at him, all the time fighting the urge to blow something up. She clenched her fists and held her arms tight by her side to try and force herself to stay calm.
"How long have you known?"
"Since the night Phoebe and Paige came to stay."
"I'm so sorry." He pleaded. "Tell me what I need to do to make this better. Do you want me to move out?"
"Don't make that my decision."
"Well do you think it would help?"
"I don't know what would help right now but if you want to move out I'm not going to stand in your way."
"Maybe I should give you some space." He suggested, his voice as calm as he could muster.
"Maybe that's a good idea." Ella remarked.
"I'll get a hotel room tonight." He said before taking his drink upstairs with him to pack an overnight bag.
As much as she didn't want to be seen as the bad guy who kicked her kids' dad out, she was glad that Byron was going to be out of the house tonight. If they were going to try and go after the Source she didn't want him getting caught up in the crossfire. She hated him for what he'd done but she couldn't stop loving him either.
Thinking about keeping her family safe, Ella sent Mike a text asking if he could stay with a friend for the night, telling him she had a couple of colleagues coming over. Mike replied saying that there was no way he wanted to spend the evening with a bunch of his teachers and told her he'd be back to pick up some stuff in about half an hour.
Later that evening the five women were sat around the table eating dinner. None of them brought up Ella's argument with Byron, despite the fact that they'd been able to hear a lot of what was said.
After dinner Aria was about to excuse herself and Alison, giving her mom and aunts some privacy, when all of a sudden the front door blew open to reveal a grey creature, who Aria assumed was another demon.
"Shax!" Phoebe screamed.
The three sisters, who had known this would happen soon, recited the spell to vanquish him from memory.
"Evil wind that blows
That which forms below
No longer may you dwell
Death takes you with this spell."
The wind that Shax had brought with him started to swirl violently around him but nothing else was happening.
"He's too strong!" Paige yelled.
"We need your help. Both of you." Phoebe said to Alison and Aria.
"I don't know the spell." Alison shouted over the noise of the wind.
"Just repeat after us!" Ella shouted back in desperation.
The wind that had been immobilising Shax had died down and he threw Aria across the room. Her small frame crashed into the bottom of the staircase.
"Aria!" Ella screamed. She was about to rush over to her daughter's aid when Paige grabbed her arm.
"We need to say the spell. We can't help her until he's gone."
Ella nodded through her tears and the three witches repeated the vanquishing spell twice more, with Alison joining in on the last time.
The power of a fourth witch seemed to work as the wind around Shax blew even faster than before. Seconds later he was gone.
Without another thought, Ella rushed to Aria's side and Phoebe called out to Leo.
"Aria, are you ok? Where are you hurt?" She asked.
"My back. I'll be fine." Aria insisted.
"We're not taking any chances." Ella told her firmly. "Leo!" She shouted. This time he orbed to them immediately.
"What happened?"
"Shax." Phoebe replied.
"Did you vanquish him?" Leo asked, already crouched next to Aria and healing her.
"We think so." The middle sister replied. "The power of three wasn't strong enough though. We needed Alison's help."
"Alison?"
"She's my friend." Aria answered, looking up to where Alison had been standing. Her eyes widened and everyone else turned to follow her gaze, only to see that the blonde was no longer there. "Where did she go?" She asked, panicked.
"She must've left while we were checking on Aria."
"Do you think she'll come back?"
"I don't know, sweetie." Ella replied, stroking Aria's hair. "I'm so sorry about this. I'm sorry you got hurt and I'm sorry that Alison's left." She said, tears forming again in her eyes.
"We've only just got her back. Why would she run off again?"
"She's probably scared." Phoebe replied. "She didn't want anyone knowing she was alive in the first place. Shax attacking probably pushed her over the edge."
Paige decided to speak up. "We need to vanquish the Source as soon as possible. Maybe once he's gone she'll come back."
"I need some time alone." Aria said, standing up. "Thanks Leo." She added after realising she no longer felt any pain from the attack. The concept of having a guardian angel who could heal her was still new to Aria, having only ever experienced his power once when he healed Paige the day they became witches.
Aria headed upstairs to her bedroom. She reached her bed and collapsed in tears. How had her life become such a mess in only a few days? After everything with her parents and Ezra she was already struggling to cope but now she had the added responsibility of being a witch and her friends knowing about it to worry about. She knew they'd be scared of demons attacking now and she couldn't bear the burden of their safety alone. What was she going to do if a demon attacked when her mom wasn't around? She'd never fought one on her own before and she couldn't orb out or blow them up alone.
She couldn't help but wonder if these problems would all go away once the Source had been defeated. After all, he was the one sending out most of the demons to them. He was also who Ali was so scared of. Maybe once he was vanquished life could go back to normal, she thought.
Thinking of Ali, she was drawn back to 'A' and the messages they'd all been receiving. Would that stop as well? Was 'A' anything to do with the Source? Or were they mortal? As much as she hoped she could kill two birds with one stone, getting rid of the Source and 'A', she doubted they'd be that lucky. Besides, why would 'A' stalk her friends if they were a demon? Emily, Hanna and Spencer weren't witches. They had no connection to the magical world. What interest would the Source have in them?
She decided to rule out that theory. Her mind was still reeling from everything that was happening to her and the people she cared about.
Aria was so deep in her thoughts that she didn't notice Ella coming in to her room until she was sat next to her on her bed, arms around her in a comforting hug.
"You know you can always talk to me about what's bothering you, right?" She said once she had caught Aria's attention.
"I know, mom. I just don't know how to deal with everything that's going on right now."
Ella sighed. "You shouldn't have to be dealing with all this." She replied sadly. "Growing up is hard enough as it is without all the extra stress you're going through right now."
"Are you going to tell Mike about what's happening between you and dad?" Aria asked.
"Yeah... you know... when I can."
"Well just don't wait too long. It was way too hard to keep it from you for a year. I don't want to have to do that to him too."
"I know, sweetie. I can't believe your dad made you hide that from me for so long. It wasn't fair on you."
Aria looked up at this. "You don't blame me?" She asked.
"No, of course not. It was his mistake. All you were trying to do was protect me and keep this family together."
"I'm always around if you want to talk." Aria offered.
"It's ok. This is between me and your dad. Don't worry." Ella assured her. "You've got enough on your plate right now."
"Are you still planning on going after the Source tonight?"
"Leo's agreed to take us to the Underworld. We're going to lead him back here and that way we can say the spell while drawing on the power of the Nexus." Ella noticed Aria looking worried at their plan. "You don't have to be here if you don't want to. We should be fine without your help." She didn't want to put her daughter in any more danger than she was already in.
"But you couldn't defeat Shax earlier." Aria pointed out. "If you're drawing on our family magic surely my being there will make the spell more powerful."
"Only if you're sure you're ok with it."
"I want this to be over as much as you."
"Ok. Let's go downstairs and go over the plan with everyone else."
Once they were in the living room with Paige, Phoebe and Leo, Ella expressed her wish that Aria didn't come to the Underworld with them.
"It's filled with demons and incredibly dangerous. I feel uncomfortable enough that you'll be here when the Source comes. You're staying here." She said firmly. "We'll orb back as soon as we've got his attention, which shouldn't take too long. Be ready for us. We're going to orb to the basement and you need to be there ready." She directed this at Aria.
Aria agreed and they all went over the vanquishing spell one last time.
"Are you sure about this, Piper?" Leo asked as he was about to orb them to the Underworld.
"Can you see another way around it?" She asked him. Leo shook his head. "Then I'm as sure as I'm gonna be. Let's go."
"Good luck." Aria shouted after them as they orbed out. Once they were gone she headed down to the basement. For some reason it had always frightened her to go down there. She figured it was probably to do with the Woogyman stories her mom told her.
Meanwhile, Ella, Phoebe, Paige and Leo were searching for the Source in the Underworld.
"This is going to take forever." Phoebe moaned after five minutes of searching.
"There's got to be a way of drawing him out." Paige suggested.
Without warning, Ella raised her hands and blew up a fragment of a cave wall nearby.
"What was that for?" Paige asked.
"Drawing him out. He's bound to have eyes and ears all over this place. Maybe if we use enough of our powers for him to notice he'll come to us."
Paige started orbing short distances while Piper continued to blow things up.
While levitating, Phoebe yelled to Leo. "You could help, you know?"
Leo sighed and orbed like Paige.
From nowhere, a swirl of black smoke appeared, revealing a black hooded figure.
"Leo! Go!" Phoebe shouted, grabbing Paige's arm as she orbed the two of them back to the house. Leo orbed Piper back at the same time.
They arrived in the basement where Aria was stood waiting for them.
"Is he coming?" She asked.
"I hope so." Phoebe replied. "It's about time we kicked his demon butt."
The same black smoke that had appeared in the Underworld started forming before them.
"You killed my best assassin." The hooded figure spoke. "And now you have the nerve to come to my home and show off."
"Now!" Ella screamed.
"Prudence, Penelope, Patricia, Melinda
Astrid, Helena, Laura and Grace
Halliwell witches stand strong beside us
Vanquish this evil from time and space."
The four witches chanted the spell from memory. Flames rose around the hooded Source as if from nowhere. He screamed in agony as the flames began to consume him. On instinct, Ella tried to shield Aria from the blast she guessed was coming. The flames rose up higher, engulfing the Source completely as he disappeared, vanquished to the Wasteland.
Once the screaming had stopped, the four witches and Leo looked up.
"Is it really over?" Phoebe asked in disbelief. After years of living in fear, she couldn't believe they'd finally vanquished him. "Is he gone?"
"I think so. I almost can't believe it." Ella replied.
"Is everyone ok?" Leo asked. "Is anyone hurt?"
There was a chorus of 'no' and 'I'm fine' among the four witches.
Before Leo had a chance to express his relief, he was being summoned by the Elders.
Ella noticed him tilt his head as he heard the familiar jingle.
"Just go, we're fine." She assured him, having long ago become familiar with his actions.
Leo leaned over and gave Ella a kiss on the head. "I'm so glad you're ok." He told her before orbing out of the room.
Phoebe, Paige and Aria looked at her in shock.
"Did Leo just kiss you?" Paige asked.
"It was just a friendly kiss." Ella assured her. "We were married, you know. He's allowed to be relieved that I'm ok."
"But he didn't kiss any of us." Paige pointed out.
"That would be weird." Phoebe said, remembering the days when they first met Leo and her and Piper were fighting for his attention.
"And him kissing mom now wasn't weird?" Aria questioned.
"It didn't mean anything. He knows I'm married." Ella said firmly, although a part of her was secretly hoping he did mean something by it. "Now can we drop it?"
Everyone agreed, although no one made a move to start a new conversation. They were all just so relieved that the battle was over that they couldn't do anything but sit in the basement as a small feeling of freedom washed over them.
Their happiness was short-lived, however, when Aria's phone rang from her pocket.
'It's not over yet. –A'
"Who is it?" Ella asked. Aria showed her the message and Ella gasped. "How does 'A' know about this already?"
"I don't know. Do you think they are a demon as well?"
"They could be a Seer?" Phoebe suggested. "It explains how they know so much. Let's check the Book."
"You two go and do that. Me and Aria should try and get hold of Alison." Ella said.
Phoebe and Paige left the basement and headed to the Book of Shadows in the attic.
"Are we going to summon her?" Aria asked.
"I don't see we have a choice unless she left you with a cell phone number."
Aria shook her head and the two witches said the spell together.
Alison appeared before them, confused and angry.
"What do you think you're doing? I left for a reason. It's too dangerous for me to be here!" She shouted at Aria, who cringed back at the tone of her voice.
"We've vanquished the Source." Ella said and Alison's eyes widened.
"What?" She asked.
"We led him here and said the vanquishing spell." Aria supplied. "It worked." She smiled.
"He's really gone?"
"Yeah. Does that mean you'll come back?" Aria asked.
"I don't know... 'A' is still out there."
"But 'A' knows you're alive anyway." She pointed out.
"You should tell your mom you're alive. She's been devastated." Ella said.
"I don't even know how to go back." Alison admitted, and Aria could tell that her friend was truly scared. Whatever she'd been through since she found out that the Source was after her had taken out some of the snarky comments and bitchiness from her. She would never have let on how vulnerable she was when they first became friends.
"I can invite her over here and we can tell her together if that would make you feel more comfortable." Ella suggested.
Alison thought this over for a while before nodding. Ella excused herself to phone Mrs DiLaurentis. She wanted to give her daughter and Alison some space as well, knowing there were some things teenagers wouldn't do or talk about with their parents around. Once she was gone Aria leaned in to give Ali a hug and the two girls burst in to tears of relief, finally giving in to their emotions now that they were alone.
After they had both calmed down, Aria spoke up.
"We should let the girls know what's happened." She said.
Alison agreed with some reluctance, not wanting to tell them about how she'd run off again, but she wanted some support when her mom came over.
Aria grabbed her cell phone and sent out a group text telling them to come to her house as soon as possible. She received some concerned texts back but everyone was free and agreed to come back.
The two girls headed upstairs to tell Ella, who informed them that Mrs DiLaurentis would come round in about an hour, giving the girls plenty of time to fill their friends in before she arrived.