SEVEN
"That's impossible," said Phoebe.
"Oh, I assure you it's quite possible," said Kumak. "I have quite an extensive list of clientele. Mr. Rowe is only one warlock I've assisted over the years."
"Phoebe's right," said Piper. "It couldn't be Brendan."
"You know this Brendan Rowe?" Paige asked.
"Yes," said Piper. "He was one of three brothers we met just after we got our powers. They were supposed to be the evil Power of Three."
"Only Brendan didn't want anything to do with it," said Phoebe. "He ended up vanquishing his two brothers and then he joined the priesthood to prevent himself from becoming a warlock."
"I can't speak to those events," said Kumak. "All I can tell you is that about eight years ago he came to me and hired me to duplicate the three of you. Of course at the time I was hired to duplicate the eldest one. When she died there was an unfortunate side affect of the process that I hadn't foreseen. Because they were linked through your sister's blood, when she died, so did the doppelganger I used to duplicate her."
"So why didn't we die when we vanquished the other three doppelgangers?" Paige asked.
"Because they were created from your blood, not the other way around," said Kumak. "They got their power from you. When that power was suddenly interrupted, it affected her in the same way, but it would hardly work in reverse."
"So you went back and got another doppelganger to duplicate me," said Paige.
"Oh, not initially," said Kumak. "I hadn't been hired to duplicate you. Only the original three sisters. I returned for the fourth one when Rowe returned and paid me to duplicate you. He said something about wanting the full Power of Three. Something about replacing what had been lost."
"When he had vanquished his two brothers," said Piper. "That doesn't make any sense. The last we saw Brendan he was taking his vows to be a priest. He wanted nothing to do with his birthright."
"I don't understand how becoming a priest would prevent him from turning into a warlock," said Paige.
"Well, he never really explained that to us, either," said Phoebe. "All he said was that once he became a priest he wouldn't have to worry about ever becoming a warlock again."
"Okay, we know who," said Piper. "The question now is why."
"I'm afraid I can't answer that one," said Kumak. "I've never concerned myself with the whys of those who employ me. To find out what his motivations are I'm afraid you'll have to ask him."
"That's exactly what we intend to do," said Piper. "But before we leave there's a little unfinished business we have to attend to. We want the rest of our blood you used to create our doubles."
"I'm not sure I could do that," said Kumak. "Acquiring the blood was very expensive. I've expended a great amount of time, money, and effort to acquire your blood."
Piper just raised her hands and the wall next to Kumak suddenly exploded. He instinctively raised his arms to protect himself from the flying debris.
"Okay, okay," said Kumak, "it's in the cabinet on the far side of the cavern. It's in a false compartment in the bottom."
Paige walked over and opened the cabinet. She checked the bottom and found the false compartment. When she lifted the lid off the compartment she found quite a few vials of blood, each carefully labeled.
"Looks like he has more than just ours," said Paige, putting the vials into a bag she found lying on the floor. "It looks like he has three or four dozen vials of blood all from different witches."
"Well, we're taking it all," said Piper. "And I suggest you find something else to experiment on. I don't like the idea of you trying to clone any witches, not just us."
"As I said," said Kumak, "cloning witches has proved more problematic than I originally thought. And I doubt that I would have any better luck in the future."
"Good," said Piper. "I don't want to have to come back here again."
"Oh, one other thing," said Phoebe. "David Post. The kid you've been getting your blood from. We want you to leave him alone. He's just a kid and we don't want you taking you anger at loosing us out on him."
"He's hardly a consideration," said Kumak. "He was simply a supplier. Not the first time I've lost a supplier. Besides I can hardly hold a mortal responsible for the actions of the Charmed Ones. You have nothing to be concerned with. I have no interest in him."
"Make sure it stays that way," said Piper. She glanced around and saw some large books sitting on a shelf against one wall. She raised her hands and the books suddenly exploded into a thousand pieces. "I imagine that will put a crimp in your experiments. And if we find you're trying to recreate us again we'll be back. And your ring won't stop us."
"Those journals contained dozens of experiments I've completed over the decades," said Kumak. "It will take me years to reconstruct it."
"Sounds like a personal problem to me," said Piper. "Just remember what we said. You try duplicating us again and we'll be back."
"You've made that perfectly clear," said Kumak.
"Come on, Paige," said Piper. "Get us back to the manor. We have to find Brendan and find out why he's trying to duplicate us."
Paige orbed the three of them back to the manor.
"That certainly doesn't sound like the Brendan you encountered seven years ago," said Leo.
"You know about him?" Phoebe asked.
"You forget," said Leo. "I've watched over you your entire lives. When you became involved with a warlock I watched over you very closely. There was no way to determine what was going to happen. Especially with the Rowe Coven."
"What do you know about the Rowe Coven?" Piper asked.
"It was headed by their father, Charles Rowe," said Leo. "He believed that his sons were the fulfillment of a prophecy from the tenth century. A prophecy that said they would be the most powerful warlocks in history. The evil Power of Three. Of course, that all ended when his two oldest sons, Greg and Paul were vanquished. I understand he didn't take it very well."
"But that doesn't explain why Brendan would want Kumak to duplicate us," said Phoebe.
"Afraid I can't address that," said Leo. "When the two oldest brothers were vanquished and Brendan entered the priesthood they were no longer a threat. The Elders stopped watching them so closely."
""Well, it appears they were still more of a threat than anyone thought," said Paige. "If Brendan had been successful it would have altered the balance of power between good and evil."
"Can't argue with that," said Leo. "But I still can't explain why Brendan would change his mind. I checked on him for a while after he entered the priesthood and he seemed sincere. He had given up all interest in anything supernatural."
"Then I think it's about time we asked him," said Piper. "And find out why he wants us dead after we saved his life."
"Okay, but if that was seven years ago how are you going to find him now?" Paige asked. "There's no telling where he may have moved to since then."
"Father Austin might know," suggested Phoebe. "He was the one who sponsored Brendan into the seminary. Brendan looked up to him like a father, no pun intended. If anyone knows where Brendan is I'll bet father Austin knows."
"It's kind of late now," said Piper. "We'll go over to the church the first thing in the morning and see if Father Austin knows where Brendan was assigned."