TWO

Paige came in the front door of the manor with a large box in her hand. Cole, always the gentleman, immediately reached for the box, seeing that she was having trouble holding it. As he did, Phoebe stepped out of the living room.

"Is that it?" Phoebe asked.

"I think so," sighed Paige. "I never realized just how much stuff you can accumulate in such a short amount of time. I'm going to have to go through all of this and see what I can get rid of."

"Well, I don't think you had to bring all the canned and dry goods," commented Cole, looking in the box. "I'm pretty sure Piper keeps the kitchen very well stocked."

"Yeah, well it cost me my hard earned money," said Paige. "I figured as long as I bought it we might as well use it. Besides, if I'm going to live here I figure I'll have to do my share of footing the bills."

"That's the normal deal," said Piper, coming out of the kitchen. "All moved in?"

"Pretty much," said Paige. "So, with three women in the same house do we have a bathroom schedule worked out yet?"

"Oh, I just figured we'd use the same one we have before," said Phoebe. "Only Piper and I get to move up a notch."

"And I get to be last?" questioned Paige.

"You are the youngest," snickered Piper. "Besides, we have more than one bathroom. I'm sure we can work out some schedule that will be mutually beneficial to everyone."

"What do you want me to do with all this?" Cole asked Piper.

"Oh, put it in the kitchen," said Piper, looking in the box. "I'm sure I can find some place for all this stuff. Looks like I won't have to do any shopping for a few days."

"Anything I can do to help," said Paige.

"Oh, you're going to regret that," said Cole, a slight smile on his face as he went into the kitchen.

"What does that mean?" questioned Paige.

"Just Cole's sense of humor," said Phoebe. "You'll get used to it."

"Where's Leo?" Paige asked. "I thought he lived here, too."

"He does," said Piper. "Right now he's in, I think, Mexico. He said something about a call from one of his other charges."

"Other charges?" questioned Paige. "He has other charges besides us."

"Most White Lighters have several charges," said Phoebe. "Come on. We'll go in and put your groceries away and I'll explain a few things about being related to a White Lighter."

Piper just rolled her eyes as she followed her sisters into the kitchen. As she did a plant sitting next to the fireplace suddenly shimmered and changed. In it's place stood a small creature barely five feet tall. It was uniformly black all over and only it's eyes showed that it wasn't simply a shadow. It looked toward the kitchen for a moment and then shimmered out of the manor.

Seconds later the creature appeared in the Underworld. In the chamber where it appeared stood the Teltrick, Kempac, and Baldasor. They waited as the small demon moved up to Teltrick. It spoke in shrill whistles, clicks, and popping sounds. Teltrick listened until the creature finished speaking.

"The changeling says that Belthazor is in the manor now," said Teltrick. "It is young and inexperienced but it has served well. We have the information we need for Baldasor's plan." He turned back to the changeling. "Return to the manor. Complete the assignment given you by the Source. I shall see that you are rewarded."

The changeling shimmered and vanished from the chamber.

"It was good that the Source had the changeling watching the Halliwell manor," said Baldasor. "It saved us the trouble of sending someone in."

"Okay," said Kempac, "we now know that Belthazor is with the witches. What do we do next?"

"I think our best bet is Jorlan," said Baldasor. "I believe he's our best bet to accomplish our goal at the moment."

"Jorlan?" questioned Teltrick. "He's not even a demon. He's an alchemist. And he's human. If I remember correctly he was at one time an assistant to Kumak wasn't he?"

"Yes," said Baldasor. "Kumak was attempting to clone witches and convert the clones to evil. As far as I know he has never been successful."

"Of what benefit could this Jorlan be?" asked Kempac.

"Some of Kumak's early experiments will be of use to us here," said Baldasor. "Jorlan was present during those experiments. He eventually became convinced that Kumak would never be successful and went out on his own. But I think he will remember those early experiments. Experiments which were very successful."

"Bring Jorlan to us," said Teltrick. "He will tell us what we need to know or he will die."

"I don't think that will work in this case," said Baldasor. "We have no way of knowing if what he tells us is true. I think, in this case, it would be best to purchase his information."

"And how do we know he will tell us the truth even in that event?" asked Teltrick.

"Because," said Baldasor, "we will pay him half his payment up front. Once we are sure his information is accurate, we will pay him the other half. That should be incentive to have him tell us what we need to know."

"Are you sure it will work?" asked Kempac.

"I have had a half human brother for more than a century," said Baldasor. "In that time I have learned some things about humans. If the payment is something he wishes bad enough, he'll tell us the truth."

"And how do we find out what he wants that badly?" asked Teltrick.

"We ask him," said Baldasor. "I'm sure he'll be more than willing to tell us what he wishes as payment."

"Very well," said Teltrick. "You know these matters better than we. Bring Jorlan to us and we will learn what he wishes as payment. Perhaps we can bring our brother back to us yet."

"We will also need a female demon and young child," said Baldasor. "And a very powerful cerebral demon. Belthazor is exceptionally strong willed. It will require a demon of exceptional ability to keep him from discovering what we're doing."

"I can handle those," said Kempac. "I know just the demon."

"And an illusion demon," said Baldasor. "Someone who can conceal our activities from any onlookers."

"I'll handle that as well," said Kempac. "What do you have in mind?"

"I'll tell you once Jorlan has agreed to help us," said Baldasor.

"Very well," said Teltrick. "Now all we have to do is pick the location. It should be some place reasonably secluded."

"No," said Baldasor. "Belthazor would expect something like that. What we have to do is pick a location that he won't be expecting an attack. Some place where he will feel relatively safe."

"Where can we find such a place?" asked Kempac.

"We watch him," said Baldasor. "The others have to be ready on a moment's notice. We may have only one chance at this."

"I'll make sure they are ready," said Teltrick. "Now, bring Jorlan to me. It's time we brought our wayward brother back into the fold."

Baldasor smiled and bowed to Teltrick and Kempac and then shimmered out of the chamber.