NINE

"Which is exactly what I figured you'd do since that's what I would do," said Cole stepping into the attic. Behind him were Piper, Paige, and Leo. "There's one thing you didn't take into consideration, though. We are essentially the same person. Which means I knew exactly what you would do. Right down to almost the exact spot you'd shimmer to when you came here."

"It's a trap," snapped Belthazor.

"Yeah, pretty much," said Piper. "And you walked into it just like we figured you would. Like Cole said, you and he are basically the same person. Talk about getting inside the head of your opponent."

Cole bent over and placed a crystal on the floor in front of him. Too late Belthazore noticed the other crystals spread around him in a circle. Before he could move the crystal Cole had placed on the floor completed the circle and a power cage sprang to life.

"I know you as well as I know myself," said Cole. "Because you are me. I knew that I would be wanting to get in and kill Phoebe and get out as quickly as possible. I knew you'd be in a hurry to finish the job I was sent to do. And with Phoebe alone in the attic you'd figure she was an easy target, just like I would have. I probably would have overlooked the crystals, too. Just like you did."

Belthazor cast the energy ball he was holding directly at Phoebe. But the weapon struck the invisible barrier created by the crystal cage and dissipated harmlessly away. Next he tried to shimmer away but the shimmer also bounced off the power cage keeping the demon still trapped inside.

"You should know better than that," said Piper, sounding like a mother scolding a child. "Cole knows how useless it is to try and escape that crystal prison. You should know that, too."

"Traitor," Belthazor snarled at Cole. "You betray not only the Source and the Brotherhood, you betray yourself as well."

"I'm not sure that's even possible," said Cole. "Besides, I'm not betraying anyone. You and I are one. All I'm doing is trying to put you back where you belong."

"I belong with the Brotherhood," said Belthazor. "Serving the Source where you should be."

"You know I've changed," said Cole.

"You have," said Belthazor. "I haven't."

"Okay, so much for the heartfelt reunion," said Piper. "We have business to conduct. Listen up, red boy. We know how you were separated from Cole. Now, personally I'd prefer just to vanquish your sorry butt and be done with it. But Phoebe wants Cole back whole. So just tell us who has this absorption crystal that was used to separate you two and we can put this all behind us and get on with our lives."

"You are a bigger fool than he is," said Belthazor. "Even if I knew I wouldn't tell you. Unlike this traitor I am loyal to the Brotherhood."

"Well, that answers one question," said Leo. "At least now we definitely know it was the Brotherhood doing this."

"You'll get no more information out of me, White Lighter," said Belthazor. "As I said, I'm loyal to the Brotherhood. Nothing you can do will persuade me to betray the Brotherhood."

"He's right about that," said Cole. "He'd rather die than give up the Brotherhood. If you knew about my initiation into the Brotherhood you'd know that I was willing to die rather than betray them. In fact, I thought I was going to die. There's nothing you can do that's going to do any good."

"Well, we have him here for now," said Paige. "At least we don't have to worry about him attacking any more."

"Yeah and we're no closer to getting him put back inside Cole than we were earlier," said Phoebe.

"Maybe we are," said Piper. "Come on. Let's go down to the kitchen. I have an idea that might get us the information we need."

Belthazor just watched as the five left the attic. He tested the crystal prison some more to see if there was a weakness he could exploit. There must be a way out of the prison. He just had to find it.

"Belthazor should have returned by now," said Teltrick. "He had only to kill one lone witch. That was his specialty. Killing witches. This one should have been easy for him."

"It is possible he had to wait until she was alone," said Baldasor. "He knew that Cole could not be injured. It is possible he couldn't kill her immediately without putting Cole in danger. Belthazor is very efficient and very patient. I can assure you he'll kill the witch."

"I hope so," said Teltrick. "Raynor was wrong to blackmail Belthazor as he did. But that does not excuse Belthazor's betrayal of the Source and the vanquishing of the Triad. I would like to remove that black mark from our record permanently."

"I'm sure he will," said Baldasor. "Belthazor has never failed to accomplish any mission he was sent on. Except for the obvious one, of course. I'm sure he'll accomplish this one as well."

"Not without a new plan," said Belthazor, walking into the chamber. "The witches were waiting for me when I got there. They trapped me in a crystal prison that seemed impervious to my powers."

"How did you escape, brother?" Baldasor asked.

"I still have a few secrets," said Belthazor. "A small piece of advice. Never reveal all of your secrets to anyone. You never know when one may come in handy."

"How is it you were able to keep this from Turner?" Teltrick asked. "You said yourself that you and he have the same memories."

"It was something I had forgotten about," said Belthazor. "I was desperate trying to get out of that prison. I had all but given up hope when I suddenly remembered something that happened decades ago. Considering I only remembered it because I was desperate it doubt it would have occurred to Turner."

"My brother is over one hundred years old, Teltrick," said Baldasor. "There must be many things that he has tucked away in his memory that he doesn't even realize he knows."

"No doubt," said Teltrick. "So, Belthazor, you're saying the witch still lives?"

"Unfortunately, yes," said Belthazor. "As I said, they were waiting for me. I had not taken into account that Turner and I would think nearly identically. They left me alone saying something about a plan to discover who had the absorption crystal that separated us."

"They're after Jorlan?" questioned Teltrick. "How could they know he had the crystal?"

"They didn't," said Belthazor. "They tried to get me to tell them where it was. Of course, I didn't know. But I refused to give them any information. The oldest witch seemed to have a plan to locate Jorlan. I escaped while they were discussing it. It is possible they are not even aware that I have escaped yet."

"They are in for a surprise," said Teltrick. "We purchased the crystal from him to release you. And we paid dearly, I can tell you. But it will be worth it once you are returned to us. But we still have the witches to deal with. Our primary goal has not changed."

"And we have lost the element of surprise," said Baldasor. "Now they know we are after them."

"Which may work to our advantage," said Belthazor. "They do not know that you have the crystal. Which means they will probably go after Jorlan thinking to get the crystal back from him. All we have to do is be there waiting when they arrive. They will be expecting to be facing only a human alchemist. They won't be expecting to be facing the Brotherhood of the Thorn."

"Surely they know we are the ones behind this," said Teltrick.

"Yes," said Baldasor, "but Cole is sure to tell them that demons only work with alchemists when it is necessary. Belthazor is correct. My brother will inform them of everything he knows about alchemists."

"Then it should be simple," said Teltrick. "We have enough of the Brotherhood waiting with Jorlan to insure that even the famed Charmed Ones cannot survive. And we will make sure that the Source is made aware that is was possible because of Belthazor."

"What of the crystal?" Belthazor asked. "We must be sure it is safe when we go against the Charmed Ones."

"It will be," said Baldasor. "Kempac will hold onto the crystal until we are finished. Then we can reintegrate you back into Cole."

"I should return to the manor," said Belthazor. "If they discover I've escaped they may suspect a trap with Jorlan."

"That's not safe," said Teltrick.

"Safer than you would think, brother," said Belthazor. "They wish to reintegrate me with Turner as well. So they aren't likely to harm me. Besides, they have also discovered that what affects me also affects him. And their entire motivation is to save him. So they are not likely to allow me to come to harm if they have any choice."

"Be careful, brother," said Baldasor. "The witches are crafty."

"Don't worry, brother," said Belthazor. "The witch's will be much too busy with the Brotherhood to be concerned with me. Once they have gone to retrieve the crystal I will simply escape their prison again. The next time we meet the Charmed Ones will be dead and I will be a member of the Brotherhood once more."

Belthazor turned and left the chamber. Baldasor looked at Teltrick.

"We have plans to make," said Baldasor. "This time the Charmed Ones do not escape us."