She was pushed to her knees in front of the dark throne. There was no one else in the room but she could sense the evil that belonged there. The perspiration ran down her body from the intense heat in the caverns below.

He walked in as if she wasn't even there, yet he saw her. Her wet and beaten body as she kneel at his throne in her sports bra. "So this is the witch that turned Belthazor? She doesn't look that special to me." He said as he sat at his rightful place. "How are your accommodations my dear?"

"Go to hell." She spat back at him

"Oh yes you always were the fire in the family now weren't you? But that is no longer a problem to me. None of you are."

"This isn't over by far." She said as she met his cold stare. At least she thought she was as he hid behind his dark hood.

"Oh but it is. You see the end of the Charmed Ones is now. You are all that remains."

Phoebe looked at him not sure what he was saying. A trick he was trying to trick me. "You don't lie very well for a demon."

"No? Well that could be because I'm not lying. You see that little show was to distract your whitelighter and the traitor long enough so my assassin could complete the job he was sent to do. And killing two of the Charmed Ones was a bonus he was more then willing to do as an extra." He said, "so you see by the time your whitelighter got there it would have been to late. Your sisters are dead."

Even with her hands tied behind her she had to some how get to the evil before her. Lunging at the figure before her she was quickly brought to the ground by the demons at her side.

She lay on the ground, her face in the dirt as she looked into the bottom of the black cap that was now standing right in front of her. Then she saw the sword as he taunted it before her face, running it gently along her cheeks.

"I am going to enjoy seeing you die slowly witch." he snarled at her.

She tried to watch where he went with the sword but someone held her head down. But her question was soon answered as she felt the tip of it cut into her back as it sliced through her skin every so slowly. She tried to hold in the scream, but has he sliced it deeper she couldn't hold it in any further, as her screams where hidden under the deep laughter that could be heard throughout the caverns.

Piper sat on the floor with her legs pulled up to her chest just starring up at the plywood that Darryl had put up for her. She just starred at it. It just seemed so surreal.

"Piper." The voice called to her as he walked around the corner. "Come on sweetie, don't do this."

"She's gone." Was all she could say, as she rocked back and forth.

"I know honey." He tried to comfort her the best he could but he knew it was no use. There was only one person now that could give Piper the comfort she needed and she was stuck in the underworld.

Helping her to her feet he guided her to the couch and sat beside her with his arms around her small frame.

He thought back to the phone call he received. Come to the Manor right away something has happened. He thought of each word as his own world started to spin. It was so unfair, he had just got back into their lives and now this. Prue and him had finally found a common ground. They would even get together ever Monday, just the two of them, for lunch. And now she was gone. Evil had once again taken something that he loved.

"Dad?"

"Yeah honey."

"She gets to be with Mom now right?"

"Yeah honey she does." He answered as he pulled her tighter.

"It's not fair. What are we going to do? Phoebe and I need her."

"We'll all be there for each other sweetie, that's all we can do. And try to get through this one day at a time."

Cole made his way through the maze of tunnels in the underworld. There were some that even he didn't know where they led to. And with that, he knew it could be very difficult to find Phoebe.

He eased himself around another corner keeping his senses on full alert for any sign of movement. As he stepped towards the next bend he felt a presence behind him. Turning quickly he threw an energy ball at the same spot he felt someone standing in.

"Whoa. Cole."

"Shit Leo. What the hell are you doing here? I could have killed you just then." He grabbed at Leo's shirt pulling him out of site. "What the hell are you doing here? I told you to go back up top and let Prue and Piper know what was happening."

Leo just looked at him, the picture of Prues broken body still fresh in his mind. "Prues dead Cole." Leo stated.

Cole looked at Leo and tried to hear the words again that he spoke. "What?"

"I didn't get there in time. I almost lost Piper too."

Cole let him go before turning and taking a step forward. For all their differences Cole liked Prue, maybe it was her connection with Phoebe. She was pretty much the person that had raised Phoebe to be the woman she was. And now she was gone. "What.. What happened?"

"Same as last time. Shax. Both the Dr. and Prue are dead."

Cole's next thoughts went out to Phoebe. He knew that this would hit her hard, as he was certain it hit Piper. "We have to get Phoebe out of here. If the Source finds out that only Prue was killed he will kill her that much quicker. Or he will gloat in telling her, her sister is dead."

"And Piper will divorce me if I don't bring her only sister back." Leo agreed as they both started down the passageway.

The steam hissed through the holes in the walls, as the heat intensified everywhere. It was the next thing to hell, and she knew that this would be her last look at the world. Though it was not her world.

She felt the pain as the whip hit her back once again. She held in the cry she wanted to release. But she couldn't for much longer.

"Maybe I should start to bring other demons in here. Just to see what it is that is so special about you that would make a demon like Belthazor turn on us all."

The meaning behind his words did not get past her. She remembered what the Source had said to him as she was pulled from the chamber. "I'll give you three days with her. Do with her as you wish. Just make sure it is painful. And I want to see her corpse by sunrise on the fourth day." She watched as he now approached her. The glint in his eyes as they ran over her body didn't escape her.

Driving his fist into her rib cage he drove all the air in her lungs out of her. He then proceeded to use her as a punching bag as he laid punch after punch all over her.

She cried out in pain with each hit. She could feel her body breaking down. But it was then that he just stopped.

"Can't kill you yet witch. I still have two full days of this. I have to make it last. Savour the moments." He laughed at her as he left her there hanging from the hook in the ceiling. The cuffs cutting into her flesh as she hung there almost lifelessly.

--- ----

One days. Had she really already been there for a day? She never knew when he would come to her or who would come. Sometimes he would just talk to her letting her believe that he would not hurt her on that visit. Then he would just leave. But then usually another demon would enter and he would do something. She lost count how many times she had passed out from the pain.

Piper woke the next day in her bed alone. She remembered sending Leo away to get Phoebe, but that was yesterday afternoon. What was taking so long? Had something happened to her too? Or had something happened to Leo.

Her heart was missing a large part of who she was as she lay there thinking about Prue. She didn't even want to get out of bed as she recalled the events of the day before. Her big sister was gone.

She pulled the pillow close to her as she took in Leo's smell. She cried alone as she thought of both her sisters. "Please Leo you have to bring her back. I can't lose both of them." She didn't know how long she had been lying there crying on and off. When she thought she didn't have any more tears left, she would cry again.

She heard the door to her room open slightly and knew who it was. She looked up and met his eyes. Even from there she could tell he had been crying as well, but at that moment he was trying to be strong for her.

He stepped into the room and walked to the bed. Sitting on the edge he pulled his daughter into his arms as she once again cried for the lose and pain she was going through.

"Come on honey I made breakfast."

"I'm not hungry." She sniffed out from under his hold.

"You have to eat Piper. Phoebe is going to need you as much as you are her when Leo brings her back."

Piper thought about the words he had said. Phoebe. Her baby sister didn't even know yet, she was lost somewhere in the underworld with Cole and the Source. She knew that the news of Prues death would hit her hard. They had finally got their sisterly bond on the right track. Doing the things they had missed out on when they were growing up. They had bridged a twenty something gap in three years.

"Come on. My pancakes will get cold." Victor said as she squeezed her tight before getting off the bed and heading to the door.

"You're pancakes never were any good Dad." Piper said as she watched him go

"Yeah well, I never said you got your cooking skills from me." He said as he looked over at her. Her blood shot eyes swollen from crying so much. "I'll be downstairs."

She watched him leaving the room and closing the door behind him. Letting out a sigh she got off the bed trying to prepare herself for her first day without Prue and needing Phoebe right then. With her baby sister beside her maybe she could go on with the day but her baby sister was not there. She didn't know where she was and her husband had not returned to even give her a clue.

"Leo where are you?" she said to no one.