A/N: Sorry for the wait, but I was violently ill. Here's the latest installment. By the way, for all the Sprouse Brothers fans out there, I saw their new movie "The Prince and the Pauper" and I totally loved it. It's awesome that they're exploring new frontiers, and I'm anxious to see where they head next.

Chapter Sixteen: Where Great Powers Lie

It wouldn't be long now. The full moon of the equinox would reach its place in the sky. London's suite at the topmost floor of the Tipton was now a great pillared chamber of stone. The Grimoire lay open on its gruesome pedestal made entirely of skulls in the center of the chamber. The only part of the original suite that had remained was the great window that led to the balcony where the moonlight was creeping in. It was casting eerie shadows all around, the room's only source of light.

The Heir stood before the pedestal. He stood as motionless as a statue appearing utterly calm, but the impatient tapping of his boot betrayed his mask. The dark priest that had been brought in to perform the ceremony was hunched over the dark book and practically cowering in his robes.

A trail of black orbs sailed into the room signaling Helen's return, but she was alone this time as she materialized behind where her master stood. The Heir kept his back turned to her as he spoke in his chillingly calm tone.

"Where are the sacrifices?"

He heard Helen shudder. "My lord, I… I'm sorry. They escaped." Her voice trembled in fear. "And Rupert… Rupert's dead." She breathed. It was strange for her to feel that way over her brother's demise. Darklighters weren't supposed to feel that kind of pain, but she couldn't deny that she was feeling grief over her twin's death. "Those brats and their whitelighter vanquished him."

"Yes, I know." The Heir replied. "I felt it. In fact, I intercepted his orbs just before they reached the wasteland." He turned to face her with his piercing grey eyes, made even more startling by the black markings on his face. He held up his long pale arm to show Helen what he held. In his black-clawed fingers was a clear shimmering crystal. Rupert's black orbs were swirling around in it.

Helen's breathing stopped in her chest as she stepped slowly closer to her master, her eyes never flickering from the crystal that held her brother. She was so transfixed by its dark light that she didn't notice the dark glimmering blade in The Heir's other hand until it had plunged itself into her. The Heir pushed his black longsword deeper into her stomach as he whispered in her ear.

"Oh, don't look too surprised Helen. After all, you did lose the sacrifices. So I suppose you and your brother will have to do." The Heir smiled as he lightly kicked Helen off of his blade to lie on the floor, scarcely breathing, the crystal that held her twin clutched tightly in her hand. The moonlight lingered on her pale face, illuminating her flame-red curls as she lay slowly dying.

Satisfied with his work, The Heir twirled his sword, vanishing it from his hand. He turned away from Helen and back to the priest.

"Shall we begin then?"

"Where are we?" Piper asked as her and her sister's orbs reformed.

"This is right outside the Tipton." Zack explained.

"Why couldn't we just orb in like last time?" Piper felt Natalia tap her shoulder. She turned to see what the sorceress was pointing at and her mouth fell open. "Figures." A pulsating shield of red surrounded the entire hotel.

"Can everyone see that?" Cody marveled, looking up at it.

"Only magical beings." Natalia explained.

"So what's keeping everybody else back?" Zack queried. Natalia pointed again, this time at the length of CAUTION tape that had been placed all along the perimeter of the building. "Oh."

"Okay, stand back." Piper warned, waving them all back a few steps. Then without warning she threw her hands at the shield, sending her most powerful blast at it. It backfired, sending her flying backwards to land in a heap.

"Piper!" Leo cried, rushing to help his wife.

Piper coughed as he helped her to her feet. "Well it was worth a shot."

Cody stepped closer to the shield to inspect it. "Zack, it's the same kind that they used on our cell. Do you think we can break it the same way?"

Zack ran his fingers through his long shaggy bangs, pushing them out of his face. "I don't think so. This one is way too big to blast down."

"I think you're all looking at this the wrong way." Natalia mused. "I don't think our problem requires us to break it down. We just need an opening to get to the other side. Maxine, give me your athame." Natalia took the dagger from Max, her jaw set and her violet eyes intent on the shield. She held the knife point down. She released it, and it hung suspended in the air. Purple streaks of lightning writhed from the sorceress' hands into the floating dagger while she chanted a spell.

"Wanton powers in this blade yield.

Penetrate that which would shield."

Once the athame was filled with purple electricity, Natalia took it by its hilt and made a downward slash into the force-field. The lightning shot from the blade in multiple directions, fighting to keep the slash from closing over. It forced it wider, making a narrow opening just barely large enough for the others.

"Go now!" Natalia groaned from the strain. The party filed in quickly, careful to avoid the lightning. Once they were all through, Natalia could hold it no longer. Her body melted into a smoky black shadow that lunged through the opening and rolled to the ground where she reformed, breathing raggedly. Max crouched to help her up, but the sorceress merely handed her weapon back before shrugging her off. She grabbed the nearest lamppost for support, staggering to get back to her feet. "I'll be fine."

"Everyone remember the plan?" Piper asked. All nodded. "Good. Leo, you're with Max, Carlisle, and London. Nat?"

Natalia nodded weakly. "I know my part. Just go, I'll meet you there."

"Alright, let's go."

Carlisle stormed through the hallway on the twelfth floor of the Tipton, trying to look intimidating even though he still wore the tattered remain of his suit. He stomped right up to two random leather-clad demons. "You two! Those idiot darklighters lost the sacrifices. I need to select two from the prisoners." The two demons looked at each other, confused. "Well, snap to it!" Carlisle barked.

The two muscled but dimwitted demons jumped to do his bidding, leading him further down the hall to the suite that had been converted into a prison. They began working the keys they carried into the six individual locks that chained the door shut (a process which took several minutes). They were so distracted by this task that they didn't hear the three individuals orb in behind them. Before they could open the third lock, Leo, Max, and London had them both clocked out.

"What took you so long?" Carlisle sighed in relief. "I was sure they were about to figure me out."

"We would've come sooner if Leo weren't so worried about bringing this trunk." Max threw Leo an accusing glare, pointing to the massive chest he had managed to retrieve from the attic of the manor. "What's in there anyway?"

"Demon leftovers." Leo explained, lifting the wooden lid. Inside was an impressive array of weapons that had been left over from former demon vanquishes; a mace, a morningstar, a ball & chain, two gleaming longswords, an axe, a celerity demon's pronged gauntlets, even a darklighter's crossbow with a quiver of arrows.

"Cool." Max grinned.

"Ooo! I call this one!" London chimed, reaching for the first longsword with a gold-plated handle and a dragon burned into the hilt.

"Did you find it?" Phoebe called from the other end of the hallway where the sisters, the twins, and Carey had just orbed in.

"One way to find out." Piper said, getting ready to blast down the door.

"We're gonna die here, aren't we?" Lance the lifeguard droned for the eighth time.

"Lance, stop saying that." Maddie griped as she continued poking around the door looking for a means of escape.

"Madeline, I fear Lance may have a point." Moseby said hopelessly. "We're locked in and being guarded by whatever those creatures are."

"Plus they bricked off the window to the fire escape, and we finished digging for that thing in the basement so technically they don't need us anymore." Arwin added matter-of-factly. Maddie glared at him. "What? I'm just saying."

"No." Estaban cut in with his heavy Latin accent. "Maddie is right. In my country we never give up without a fight. I for one refuse to sit here and wait for death. I will fight 'till the end."

"Thank you, Estaban." Maddie smile admiringly.

"Or at least wait for someone to rescue us." He added, ruining the moment.

"Rescue us? That's a laugh." Moseby huffed. "Who in their right mind would enter this death trap?"

Maddie thought for a moment. "Zack and Cody."

Moseby rolled his eyes. "You're joking right?"

"No, I mean the air-ducts. Zack and Cody used to crawl around in them all the time. There's got to be one in here. Estaban, help me move this cabinet." Maddie and Estaban bent and slid the cabinet over with some difficulty to reveal a good sized air vent. Maddie crouched to see if they could remove it. "Arwin, we need your screwdriver."

Arwin pulled a mini-screwdriver from the pant-leg of his blue jumpsuit. It was the one tool he had managed to conceal from the demons. The handyman gently nudged Maddie aside to work on opening the vent. The screws fell to the floor and the vent swung neatly open. Their faces fell when they discovered that it too had been bricked over.

"Shoot."

"You know, this kind'a reminds me of that night I spent in the slammer with Peppers." Muriel mused from her seat in the corner, sounding very far off. The others just stared at her, astounded by her lack of worry. "I sweet-talked the warden into letting me out, then I clubbed him over the head and took his keys, and Peppers & I drove off into the sunset… Hey, maybe that'll work on these bad boys."

Moseby rolled his eyes. He dismissed Muriel's flashback and was about to say something comforting to Maddie, but was interrupted by a sudden crash that reduced the door to splinters.

The Halliwells and the twins filed in, followed by their respective whitelighters. London, Carlisle and Carey followed closely behind.

"You?!" Moseby cried.

"Boys, you came for us!" Maddie cheered.

"I've never been so happy to see you, little blond peoples!" Estaban beamed. Zack and Cody found themselves caught in yet another group hug.

"No, you're welcome. Really it was nothing." Piper huffed.

After the group hug was over and the boys were through the awkward explanation of their part in this as witches, as well as their connection to the sisters and—to Moseby's astonishment—Natalia, Leo began going over the battleplan.

"Each of you are going to arm yourselves and help me and Max get London to the basement. It's our only chance of getting out of this alive."

"Because London's the only one who can seal the Nexus!" Arwin grinned. Secretly he had always believed in the supernatural and had done extensive research over the years.

"Right." Leo nodded. "Once we get there, London will say the spell and cut The Heir off from its power. We may need to fight our way there, but don't worry. Max and I have been doing this sort of thing for a long time. You're in good hands."

Leo continued to explain while London distributed the weapons. The morningstar was given to Arwin which worried everyone. Moseby took the second longsword, claiming to have had formal training. Lance took the pronged gauntlets, probably because they resembled flippers. Estaban took the mace, Carlisle the axe, and Muriel took the ball & chain. This left Maddie with the darklighter's crossbow, hoping that her archery training from girl's camp would pay off.

"Can fight demons. I wonder how that would look on my Resume."

Everyone in the room was so busy trying to wrap their heads around the impossible task that had suddenly been laid before them that no one notice two of the group's members slip into the hallway, away from prying eyes. In a far corner of the hallway obscured by a shrub, Cody had led Max by the hand.

"Cody, what is this about?"

"Listen, we don't have a lot of time. We've never done anything this dangerous before—"

"Ah-hem." Max interrupted.

"Alright fine, I've never done anything this dangerous before, and before we go I need to know." He looked at the floor, his face flushing to a hot shade of red.

"Know what?" Max tried to break the silence.

"Back there in the cave… it made me realize how dangerous our job is. Piper had tried to explain by telling me about how she lost her sister Prue, but it hadn't really hit me until I… until we almost lost you."

"And?" Max prodded.

"So this might be my last chance to ask you… if you've forgiven me."

Max blinked. "For what?"

"For how I treated you. It wasn't your fault you couldn't tell me your secret, and you probably felt really bad about it, and I just threw it in your face. Friends shouldn't treat each other like that."

"How Disney of you." Max smiled and rolled her brown eyes that seemed to sparkle to Cody.

"I'm being serious." Cody frowned. "I need to know if you forgive me. This might be the last time we see each other."

"Don't talk like that."

"Would you just answer me?!" Cody demanded, urgency shining through his eyes.

Max stared back having never remembered her charge… her friend sounding more serious. More like a man. She breathed in before she answered.

"Yes, I forgive you." It was a simple answer, but it was one that seemed to satisfy him.

Cody gulped. It was happening again—the same thing that had caught him off guard at the dance. Once again he couldn't tell which of them was doing it as their eyes met, but in moments it wouldn't matter. He didn't fight it this time. Instead he closed his eyes and the distance between their lips. Max's eyes widened, but soon closed over as Cody put his arms around her waist and pulled her closer. She followed his lead and wrapped her arms around his neck. She could feel his hand moving gently up her back to stroke her hair.

In that moment, she dropped her athame and forgot everything. Nevermind they were fighting insurmountable evil before it got its hands on unlimited power. Nevermind that all they had to go on was a rag-tag group of hotel employees and a three hundred year old prophecy. All that seemed real right now was that he was holding her and kissing her with more passion than she had ever known, and that for once she didn't have to go it alone. In his arms she felt safe.

A few minutes later, the two of them re-entered the suite, virtually unnoticed.

"Where've you been?" Zack whispered to his brother.

"Nowhere. I've been here the whole time." Cody answered defensively. Once everyone was ready they all started for the elevator, Cody and Max straggling behind the others, hand in hand. When they reached the elevator and the doors opened, the first group (the sisters, the boys and Carey) filed in, wishing the second group (the employees, the whitelighters, London and Carlisle) good luck.

Cody and Max didn't look away from eachother until the elevator doors closed. The elevator started upward while he reached into his pocket for the black band Piper had given him. He tied his shaggy straw-colored hair back, feeling more powerful than ever.