A/N: Yet another Natalia chapter. But it's the last one, I promise. I also managed to give one of my favorite characters from Charmed a brief cameo at the very end.
Chapter Twelve: Witches of Old
"I have to get back!" London cried, trying to shake Phoebe and Paige's hold on her. "They're all trapped there with… with that thing!"
"Calm down." Paige grunted, keeping a firm hold on London's arm as she and Phoebe kept her restrained to the couch of the manor's living room. "Moseby sounded the alarm. They're all evacuating the hotel as we speak."
Instead of calming down, however London actually managed to wrench her arm from Paige's grasp and send a fist into Phoebe's nose. Paige quickly tried to get her back under control while Piper just rolled her eyes.
"Oh for the love of—" the eldest Halliwell made the familiar gesture with her hand, freezing London mid-struggle on the couch. Meanwhile in the same room another heated argument was taking place.
"You knew about this didn't you!" Cody hollered, shaking an accusing finger at Natalia.
"I had suspicions they were targeting your mother, nothing more."
"Shut up! You've lied to me from the start! You don't care about me, or my mom! You don't care about anything!"
"Cody." Max warned, placing a hand on the hysterical fourteen-year-old's shoulder, which he shook off angrily.
Natalia merely rolled her shadowy purple eyes. "Believe what you want. You're a child. What can you possibly understand about caring for something?"
"I care about a lot of things, demon!" Cody bit venomously. "I care about Max, my brother, my mom, but you wouldn't know anything about that!"
"I understand more than you think." Natalia stated, raising her voice ever so slightly. "For instance, I know that you've done a pretty pathetic job of caring for those people. Just look at how you've treated them."
"That's because you made me!"
"I didn't make you do anything. You did it all on your own."
Cody couldn't take her arrogance anymore. He moved his hand as if he were going to use his power to throw the sorceress, but Natalia held out her own hand as if to block. Her strange birthmark was plainly visible on her palm.
"Careful, boy." She hissed. "I bound your powers once, I can do it again just as easily."
"You can try." Piper retorted, putting a protective arm around him. Zack moved to his side and pulled his brother away from where the two women's eyes locked intensely with each other. "I think he's right. For someone who's supposedly trying to help us, you've done an awful lot of manipulating, especially with him. There are a lot of things you're not telling us Nat."
Piper's words triggered a memory for Cody. Back in her chambers he had asked Natalia a question that, despite her promise she had refused to answer. "I know why she helped our mom bind our powers. Mom said she knew Melinda Warren."
All three sisters' gaze shot at the sorceress with incredulity. The air suddenly seemed as heavy as their moods. Phoebe was the first to break the silence. "You knew our ancestor, the same ancestor who started the Book of Shadows, and you never told us?"
"I'll bet you knew about that prophecy too." Paige added.
"Why didn't you tell us?" Piper demanded, remembering her own encounter with the kindly matriarch of her family line. "What did you have to do with Melinda? Did she do something to you, and you came looking for us for revenge?"
"That's none of your business." Natalia warned, her voice starting to rise again.
"Did you try to steal her powers, like Matthew Tate did?"
"Don't you dare compare me to him."
"I'll bet you got her to trust you, and then you stabbed her in the back."
"NOOOOOOO!!" Natalia roared. The entire room trembled with her rage, rocking on its foundations. Her dark raven hair writhed of its own accord, flinging sparks of purple electricity. Zack, Cody, and even Max covered their ears, feeling as though their heads would explode. At the last minute, Leo orbed back to the room, taking a stand in front of them.
"Phoebe, now!" Piper called.
Phoebe leapt for Natalia and grabbed her wrist. The sorceress, realizing what was happening threw her off, but it was too late. In that one loss of control Natalia had let down her defenses, allowing Phoebe the long awaited opportunity to receive a premonition of what the demoness had fought so desperately to keep hidden.
The entire coven stood frozen in their circle, unable to believe what had just shadowed into their midst in their dimly lit cave. The violet-eyed demoness stood in their midst, clad in black. She wore a cold smile on her face. No one dared to approach her, save for a heart-faced woman with piercing blue-green eyes.
"Melinda Warren, I presume."
"Natalia, your reputation precedes you."
"Likewise." Natalia replied dryly.
"What are you doing here?" The witch asked in a kindly but commanding tone.
"I'm actually here to enlist your help."
"And why would we help you." Came another voice, harsher than Melinda's. An older woman with rose-gold hair moved to Melinda's side. Eva Proctor had been her guardian from the day her mother died, and second in command within the coven.
"I'd be happy to tell you." Natalia answered arrogantly, seemingly calm in the face of so many witches. She cast her eyes around the rest of the circle. "And listen well, for this affects all of you." She looked back to Melinda. "As you may have heard, some four hundred years ago the Vampire Queen and I formed an alliance, and together we overthrew The Source." The mere mention of that name sent a shiver down the entire circle's spine. Even Melinda could not suppress a shudder. "But unfortunately we could not vanquish him. He escaped and is now looking for a way to regain his power. If he does, things will be dark for everyone. With our combined powers I think we can see to it that he is stopped from ever returning."
"Why should we trust you?" Eva growled.
"You can't. But it's either that, or you can just sit back and let The Source regain his throne." There was a murmur throughout the gathering.
Melinda stared at Natalia a moment before speaking. "The Council leaders will discuss your proposal." She turned, beckoning Eva and two others to follow her into a separate chamber in the cave. One of them stared resentfully back at her. Natalia was surprised to see that it was a man with shoulder-length brown hair and dull brown eyes. It wasn't common to see a male in such high authority among witches, but one look at how his hand clasped Melinda's answered the sorceress' question.
About an hour later they returned. Natalia hadn't moved an inch, for to her an hour was as fleeting as a minute. "Well?" She asked darkly.
"We have reached a decision." Melinda answered.
"And?"
"We agree to align with you, but on one condition."
"Name your term." Natalia folded her arms, knowing there was no getting past this.
"You don't harm any innocents."
Natalia grinned sinisterly and laughed wickedly in her dark velvet voice. "That's all? Consider it done." She removed one of her black gloves and extended her hand to Melinda, revealing the strange birthmark on her palm; a fire-colored eye with bat-like wings on either side. Melinda took the woman's hand hesitantly, and demon and witch struck their pact.
"They took Prudence." Natalia whispered, wincing from the grievous wound that spread from her right shoulder to the base of her neck. "They knew I was there. They caught me off guard."
"Don't worry." Melinda assured her. "He can't do anything without the Grimoire. Now hold still and let me look at that wound." She knelt beside her and began examining the injury. It appeared poison, no doubt specially designed for her.
"You seem awfully calm about your daughter's abduction. Why are you worried about me when your offspring is marked as a sacrifice for The Source?"
"Make no mistake, I'm furious that they took my daughter, and when we find them they'll pay dearly for touching her. But like I said, the mission was a success. We took the Grimoire and Matthew has it hidden somewhere safe." Melinda indicated the handsome man that Natalia had come to know as Matthew Tate. "Eva is guarding it right now."
Matthew pulled Melinda aside. "She's right." He whispered, but Natalia heard anyway. "Your daughter is a hostage and you're wasting time healing a demon."
"Do you think I'm happy about the situation? But she's gotten us this far, and I don't think we can save Prudence without her."
"How do we even know we can trust her?"
Melinda simply smiled. "Eva once said the same thing about you. I'm not asking you to trust her. I'm asking you to trust me. Now go back with Eva and protect the Grimoire."
"Wait." Matthew pulled a pewter locket from his pocket and clasped it about her neck. "Till we're together again." He pulled her close and kissed her passionately. She returned the same before pushing him away.
"Now go before this is all for naught."
Matthew vanished into the darkness, leaving Melinda to care for Nat. Natalia just stared at the witch, perplexed by her words and her actions. "Melinda, I… I know you don't trust me completely, but I want you to know something." She swallowed, feeling just as surprised by her own words as Melinda was herself. But they had grown close in the few weeks that they had worked together. "I really do appreciate your kindness to me. You've helped me far more than is necessary, putting yourself, your friends, your family in danger."
Melinda smiled with her full rosebud lips. "That's what family does for each other. So long as you're with us, you're part of our coven, and that's family enough."
Natalia cast down her eyes, unsure how to take Melinda's words. After awhile she finally answered. "Thank you."
This was it. This was where it would all end—in this grove, at this vile altar. The Source, stripped of most of his power, was forced to perform the ritual in the mortal world. In the surrounding trees the members of the circle watched the council leaders as well as The Seer mull about, and waited for the plan to be executed.
"Remember," Natalia whispered, "When the ritual begins The Source will be distracted. The entire coven needs to combine their power and channel it into me. Then I'll use it to destroy him." Melinda nodded, her eyes never wavering from the dark haired little girl that lay comatose in the center of the altar. How painful it must have been for her to sit in wait, unable to go to her daughter. But this could be their only clear shot at The Source, and she had come to trust Natalia as a sister.
As if in response to their thoughts, The Source appeared in the middle of the grove in a cloud of flames, shrouded in black. His face was overshadowed by a dark hood, completely invisible.
"Shax!" He called, and in a sudden whirlwind, his personal assassin was at his side. He knelt before his master, presenting him with—to Melinda's horror—a black tome of untold evil. Two more demons shimmered behind Shax, holding a woman between them. Eva had been captured as well.
"The Grimoire?" she whispered, terror stricken. "Matthew… is he…"
"We can't worry about that right now. It's time to move." Natalia hissed, leaping from the shadows to strike the cloaked figure in the chest with a shaft of violet lightning. The Source staggered back, losing his hood in the process.
"You!" He growled through gritted teeth. He was a pale gaunt man with long black hair and a beard that hung to his waist. His eyes were two glassy black orbs of darkness. "Seer," He bellowed, "begin the ceremony!" The red robed woman did as directed, opening the Grimoire.
"Now!" The sorceress cried, firing her lightning at the tyrant. He met it head on with a beam of dark energy. The rest of the circle followed Melinda's lead and leapt from the trees to recite the spell. It was a compilation of the strongest spells Melinda had in her arsenal. In unison they began strengthening Natalia's power.
"Hell threw you from its inner core, Earth can't hold you anymore,
Since heaven cannot be your place, your flesh and blood we now erase!"
The shafts of Natalia's lightning multiplied and began to break off, striking down Shax and several council leaders when they tried to rush to their master's aid. The two demons who had held Eva went down as well, allowing her to join the circle.
"We balance all our energy to banish you to eternity!"
With no one else to distract it, Natalia's lightning curled and redirected itself into The Source who screeched in agony as the energy ripped into his face. His hair and beard began to shrivel and fall out.
"Tide of evil washed ashore, to bring this darkness evermore,
With all our strength we fight this fate to make this evil obliterate!"
With more and more streaks of lightning The Source was forced to his knees, still howling a bloodcurdling scream. Then there was another scream in the grove. It was Melinda's. She had heard a warlock blink behind her, just before he grabbed her and whispered in her ear.
"Surprise, Melinda."
"Matthew?!"
With the spell cut short by the overpowering of the coven's leader, The Source gained the upper hand. His beam shattered through Natalia's lightning, hitting her squarely in the abdomen. It sent her flying backwards into a tree with a sickening crack.
"Witch! I've caught the witch!" Matthew cried gleefully. Torchlight and angry voices of a mob could be distinguished in the background.
"Witch hunters!" Melinda cried. "Everyone flee! Get out of here!" Panic spread through the grove as the witches fled and the demons began to shimmer out.
"Seer, finish the spell!"
"Natalia!" Melinda hollered to be heard over the mania, still trying to shake Matthew. "Get Prudence, and escape!"
"But you'll—"
"Just go!"
Natalia growled with fury in her throat, snapping her ribs back into place from the impact. In a desperate move she lunged The Source, sending him tumbling backwards into the altar. He remained stunned long enough for the sorceress to grab the little girl and shadow away.
"NO!!" The Source cried, casting his dark eyes about the grove. The attack had not only weakened him, it had completely disfigured his face. Gruesome scorch marks stretched across the entire right half of his face, apparently blinding his right eye. The only hair that remained were two sprigs of shriveled black hair on either side of his chin. But he refused to be beaten. He threw two fireballs at two of the escaping witches, killing them on impact. The Seer finished the ritual, and dark energy glowed from every pore in his body. He turned back to Melinda with his newly deformed face, grinning fiendishly. "It is done."
Melinda cried out in sorrow for her fallen sisters, and in despair for their efforts while Matthew kept her restrained waiting for the witch hunters. They had failed.
Melinda looked up from her cell floor, quickly straightening herself as Natalia's shadow took form. She didn't want the sorceress to see her like this. She still had her dignity. "What new from the outside?"
Natalia sighed. "It was Matthew, a warlock and a spy for The Source under our very noses this entire time. After their plan to kill me failed, Matthew was told to gather more information on our plan. They decided that the easiest way to stop us…" the sorceress swallowed, unable to look Melinda in the eye any longer, "was to abduct the leader of the coven."
Melinda nodded. "How did he get the information?"
"The locket." Natalia glared at the hateful thing as Melinda unclasped it from around her neck.
"How fitting that it will be his undoing. Did you bring the ingredients?"
"Right here." Natalia replied, pulling a woven pouch from the inside of her cloak. "If that curse is as powerful as you say it is, Matthew Tate won't be in any position to betray anyone ever again."
Melinda took the pouch gratefully, then met Natalia's gaze, afraid to ask. "What of the others?"
The other woman's expression was answer enough. "Some escaped, but others were caught."
"Prudence?"
"She's safe, as I promised."
"And Eva?"
"She escaped. No one thinks she was involved. She's with Prudence now."
"And what of the Book of Shadows?"
Natalia rolled her eyes. "You know I can't touch it."
"But you know where it is. I need you to add this to it." Melinda pulled a sheet of parchment from the folds of her skirt. "I wrote it last night in the midst of a vision. I saw each generation of Warren witches growing stronger and stronger, culminating in the arrival of three sisters. They're known as The Charmed Ones. It is their destiny to vanquish The Source. And they will not once, but three times. But he will rise again once more, and if that happens the only way to vanquish him for good will be for the Power of Three to be cast by seven."
Natalia took the page and stared at it, unable to make any sense of it. "Clearly the power of three means The Charmed Ones, but who are the other four?"
Melinda took the woman's hands in her own, tears filling her eyes. "That's what I need you for, my friend."
Natalia choked. "What?"
"When The Charmed Ones surface you must begin searching for four others that will band with them to destroy The Source for good." There was a resounding clang as the jailhouse door was opened. Two sets of footsteps and the jangling of keys could be heard. "That's Matthew. Go quickly." She whispered urgently.
The sorceress shadowed and reformed outside Melinda's barred window just in time to watch.
"Well you can keep your trinkets too." Melinda declared, ripping the locket off her neck and throwing it at Matthew's feet. He merely smirked at her and gathered it up, foolish enough to open it.
"I'll find another witch to give it to."
"Maybe not." Melinda smiled triumphantly as Matthew pulled the tiny red parcel from the inside of the necklace. It sparked, and disintegrated in his hand. There was a sudden gust of wind in the cell.
"What is this magic?!" Matthew demanded.
"I'm taking back the powers you stole from me. Outside of time, Outside of gain, know only sorrow, know only pain!" And in a flash of light, Matthew Tate vanished into the pewter medallion. Melinda snatched it up and took it to the barred window, dropping it into Natalia's waiting hands. "Make sure it's never found."
"That should be easy."
"Be careful my friend."
"I will. The Source can't find me if I don't want to be found, not even in the Underworld." Natalia clasped her friend's hands one last time before vanishing from sight.
"Rest in peace you miserable wretch." Natalia growled, tossing the locket over the side of the bridge, sending it into the river below. She looked back down the hill from astride her dark horse. She could make out the town and the smoke from the stake where Melinda was already burning. Her fists tightened on the reins until her knuckles clicked. "I swear I will find the seven, and end this."
"Enough games Kira." Natalia hissed at the young seer. "Show me the seven."
"We've tried this, Nat." The insufferable seer actually had the audacity to smirk at her."I'm not getting anything in the pool." She gestured to her large cauldron of bubbling fog. "I do see another run-in for you with The Charmed Ones. Careful, it looks like Piper has a dangerous new power. Doesn't look like Belthazor is going to be a problem for much longer though."
"Fine, nothing about the seven. But if I don't find them soon, everything we've worked for will collapse."
"Fine, fine, fine." Kira grumbled. "Read me that prophecy again?"
Natalia pulled out the copy she had carried every day since Melinda's death. "When full moon's risen high, a shadow—"
"No, no, after that."
Natalia narrowed her eyes. "Thrice has it risen—"
"No, after that."
"But the shadow may fall—"
"Before that."
"Will you just tell me what you want?"
"Sorry." Kira grinned. "I just kind'a like screwing with you." She took the sheet and scanned it briefly. "Here it is: Rises again where great powers lie. That's where the seven will gather." She waved her hand elegantly over the pool. The fog rose up and cleared, revealing an image of a large prominent building towering over a busy street. An elegant gold T was emblazoned on its doors. Natalia furrowed her brows at the image.
Kira giggled cutely. "The Tipton hotel, sweet!"
"So now you know." Natalia hissed to Phoebe as the premonition faded. "She and I began this. She treated me like a sister, and for that I will put that monster back in the wasteland where he belongs."