A Second Life
Chapter 11; The Ultimate Power
Halliwell Manor; Seconds before
The Sisters watched as first Billie and Christie vanished in smoke and then Aberro. They looked at each other before Christie's words came to mind and as one they charged up the stairs. Piper blew the door to splinters in their haste and they entered the room just in time to see the explosion as a ball of ice and a ball of fire met in the centre of the room. They could only watch as Billie and Christie were blown backwards straight through the window and presumably down onto the now charred back lawn.
Piper tried to freeze the explosion before the damage was down but it had already overcome Aberro as he hovered in front of her son's blue shield. They all watched as the now smoking phoenix was sent barrelling through the shield and into the wall.
They ran across the room as soon as the debris from the explosion could be navigated and as soon as Wyatt saw his mother and relatives the shield sunk into him. Paige ran to scoop up their burnt protector.
She cradled the bird to her chest as she tried to check for injuries as Piper checked over Wyatt and Phoebe checked over Chris.
"His wing's snapped by the looks of it." Paige reported to her sisters. "And he's pretty burnt up, do you think we should try to call a Whitelighter to heal him?"
"I wouldn't bother." An otherwise unnoticed Coop replied from his post at the window. "Whitelighters can only heal humans and besides he's immortal, he'll heal."
Both Piper and Phoebe cast a worried glance over at Aberro before turning back to Coop who continued.
"Those two have gone. They must have used that potion again almost as soon as they went out of the window." He theorised.
"I can't believe we let them stay here!" Piper shouted before continuing her rant about ungrateful bitches.
"Oh my god!" Paige yelled. "His wing's healed already."
Aberro had slowly started to regain consciousness over the last few minutes and after realising the pain in his body started to heal himself faster. His body would have done it anyway but if he directed it to a certain part of his he could heal that part faster. His first concern was his wing. He needed to be mobile again in case those two brats thought they could come back in again and steal his boys.
He soothingly calmed his Phoenix side to make it be patient but it was constantly trying to remind him about why people should learn to leave a Phoenix's chosen charge alone. He calmed it eventually and put his concentration onto his wing healing first the bone and then the paper-thin leathery skin that spanned the whole length. Feeling satisfied as it slowly clicked back into place he squirmed to try to stand up on his strangely moving perch.
Paige set him down gently on the edge of Chris' cot-bed and after being forced to steady him for several attempts he finally managed to stand on his own.
"Are you ok?" Phoebe asked, Aberro could make out Leo standing behind her and he looked over his shoulder to try to check on the others. Piper was close to her sons and of course Paige was standing next to him in case he fell again.
"Coop?" He trilled knowing that only he could understand him. "Where are you, you nappy wearing baby?" He said using his normal light hearted insult.
"What did I do to you!" Coop confirmed his presence as he stepped away from the window and into Aberro's line of sight. "You look light KFC by the way."
Aberro snapped his head around to glare at the Cupid before stretching out his nearly healed wing, remembering to maintain his slightly off balance as he did so, so that he could check the damage. His feathers were all still there but they were completely blackened by fire, only the undersides of them were still their pristine colour albeit a bit ruffled. He glanced around the room and, pulling up his reserves that he knew he would need for this, lightning started to dart around him closely followed by a thin sheen of ice that coated every part of him.
Paige looked as if she would move to help even as the ice clouded over but thought again as the lightning coalesced at the closest point of the ice sculpture to her as if to attack.
"Just wait, Paige." Coop told her, and continued at the curious looks, even from Leo, "You'll see. Not even all the eldest of Elders have witnessed something like this."
Just as he finished the sound of shattering ice brought everyone's attention to Aberro again as they watched the lightning seemingly attack the ice breaking it up into inch square pieces which fell to the floor disappearing as they went. With a last cracking of ice, Aberro burst from his self-imposed tomb looking as good as ever before.
Aberro tried to look smug no matter how tired he was but he didn't fool anyone. "How much did all that take out of you, Aberro?" Coop asked him. The others listened attentively.
"Almost all that I have." He responded careful with a trill that passed on exactly how weary he was.
"What did he say?" Phoebe question Coop.
"He's used up a lot of his magic today." Coop translated.
"Does that rebirth thing always use up so much energy?" Paige asked curiously.
Aberro just looked at Coop and left him to answer the question. "The rebirth uses up a lot of energy, but it is more that he had to fend off a very large and powerful magical attack before hand."
"I thought Phoenixes were immortal, if the rebirth takes so much energy, couldn't someone just kill one enough times to drain their power till there isn't enough left?" Paige asked.
Coop seemed stuck. Phoenixes guarded their secrets closely, especially with anything to do with their immortality. Aberro spoke to Coop for a minute or so before Coop turned to reply to Paige's question.
"They are immortal; there is no attack that is fatal to them. What you saw Aberro just do wasn't necessary for his survival, just his vanity." He paused to step away from Aberro's swung wing even though he was plenty far enough away from the exhausted bird. "He could take any amount of physical damage without dying, there is no limit and over time he would heal himself back to his full healthy state, but he uses his rebirth to speed up the process and remove the pain."
"What about magical attacks?" Piper asked before Coop could continue, "Like that Killing Curse that Luke warned us about?"
"That's another matter, again any magic that kills or wounds physically would never be able to kill him. Spells like the killing curse would 'kill' him but only for a second, he could feed off of the spell itself to fuel an automatic rebirth." Coop explained the complex information as best he could.
"So, he can't be killed." Piper summed up happily, before in a matter so unlike her she picked Aberro up and hugged him tightly. "Thank you for protecting them."
Aberro trilled slightly annoyed and yet happily too. Coop laughed before translated.
"The first part should probably be left unsaid but he says he was just doing his job, but accepts it anyway."
Piper looked at the bird curiously as she released him to fly over to perch on the bed between the boys. "What are we going to do about the damage?" She asked looking around the room.
"I could fix this room easily enough the normal way, but someone will surely notice the garden sooner of later." Leo put in.
"I don't think anybody heard the explosions or the broken window, we haven't heard any sirens and nobody's knocked yet." Phoebe pointed out to everyone's relief.
"How are we going to explain the damage outside though?" Piper asked lost.
Aberro had an idea and trilled in the direction of Coop before he flew out of the window and down into the back garden.
"He says that he could use all of your help." Coop translated before lifting Chris up and heading out of the room and from there out to the garden. The others joined him there. And they stood around the broken bird bath that Aberro was perched on.
Aberro trilled for a few seconds before Coop translated. "He says he could do this on his own but as he is drained he needs to access your own reserves." Coop paused. "You don't have to do anything, just relax and don't fight the pull."
"Maybe I should go inside for this, I don't have any magic for him to use." Leo said starting to turn to leave. A calming trill made him pause.
"He's not going to use our magic for this, more our life force, it's hard to explain. And he says to add that your life force is just as strong as any here." Coop translated again.
The group settled calmly and watched as Aberro's silver streaked eyes closed gently and almost immediately they felt a pull in the depths of their bodies.
They watched as around them previously burnt bushes, flowers and trees were re-grown in a matter of seconds leaving barely a sign that anything had happened. Obviously even this type of magic couldn't repair cracked stone or the back windows but it was a huge jump towards hiding the fact that a huge explosion had erupted in their back yard.
A few days later.
The next few days was spent with every member of the strange family living inside the manor. Henry had even moved in because Billie knew them all well enough to make him vulnerable to being kidnapped and used as bait. They had all even taken the week off sick in their various jobs.
It was one the second to last day of his self-imprisonment that everything really started to happen. The sisters had spent a lot of time trying to get as much help as they could from the magical community, asking Leprechauns for luck and similar things. Things had been gong well until just this morning when any attempt at speaking to the magical creatures was rebuked with rather rude enthusiasm which shocked the group. The reasons though didn't surprise them and it was obvious what was happening.
Billie and Christie had used their excuse for attacking the sisters earlier to rally the community against them. The more prominent witches that they knew of and contacted told them that they didn't believe a word that the young girls had said and had sent them on their way but the sisters agree to try not to involve them.
A few other groups agreed with the witches but were little help in the oncoming fight. The cupids for example couldn't do anything to help and took Coop's word on sticking with the Charmed Ones.
The day was getting on when it all happened. Leo and the girls had gone out to retrieve supplies and Henry had had to pop into work to catch up on paperwork leaving Coop and Aberro to watch the boys.
A Fairy appeared in the room frantically and by her muttering she had been looking for the charmed ones but when she saw an almighty Phoenix she went straight to him.
He listened in as she told of a meeting between all the good magical creatures about teaming up with Billie and Christie and attacking the Charmed Ones. Aberro couldn't help but compare them to his old Wizarding Community for their ability to believe anything told to them just after a compliment.
He called for Joel and after the Elder appeared told him to take Wyatt and Chris up to his room in Olympus and get a Whitelighter like Luke to watch them for a while and when they were gone in a flurry of blue orbs he told Coop to get the girls home while he sorted out the idiots.
He trilled at the Fairy who flew out the window faster than even a high speed camera could catch and he immediately burst into ice and lightning as he followed her. Coop watched him go before he faded into a red gleam around his heart and in a flash he was gone as well.
A/N; This has actually been done for a while now, but I have got into writing my other story and wanted to add another part to this chapter but I will post this now and work the next part tomorrow hopefully. Sorry for the delay. Love you all and please keep reviewing. Thanks.