Disclaimer: I still own nada
A/N This is my version of "Womb Raider" – italics is basically story as told, the rest is me. Enjoy….
Inside the attic at the manor, Phoebe is sitting on a couch looking through the Book of Shadows.
Marshall, the Whitelighter who replaced Leo, orbs into the attic.
Phoebe immediately asks him, "Did you sense her?"
"No, if she's in the underworld I can't get a read on her."
"If anything happens to Paige I will never forgive myself." She quietly vows.
Pru walks in carrying some iced tea "Anything on that demon?"
"I think so, come look." Pru puts down the tea and stands near her sister to look at the book.
She reads,"Oral tradition tales of a giant whose body served as a portal to other dimensions. Because he
was imprisoned centuries ago, nobody knows what this demon's name is or if he even exists."
"It gets worse. There's no known vanquish for him, the Source was so threatened he condemned the
giant to spend eternity in a cage." Phoebe fretted.
"The Seer must have set him free to capture Phoebe." Marshall added.
"But he got Paige instead thanks to me." Phoebe said, her eyes dark with worry.
"No, that had nothing to do with you." Pru insisted. "How are you feeling?"
"Uh, better, I think the baby's resting. It's when he's active and using magic that it hurts the most." Phoebe
answered grimacing.
"Here, have some iced tea, it will cool you off," Pru offered. She hands the glass to Phoebe who goes to
have a sip and instead throws it across the room.
"What the hell? I can't even enjoy some iced tea!"
"Uh, it wasn't iced tea. It was a binding potion. Paige suggested it to help control the baby and I couldn't
tell you because if I did he would've stopped you..." Pru's explanation trailed.
"He stopped me anyway. He knows things that I don't know. He's trying to take control of me." Phoebe
yelled.
"You can't let that happen," Marshall counseled, "if he takes control he'll never let go."
"I know." Phoebe said tearfully, "It's not me and it's not Cole, it's the Source."
(X)
Inside the Source's dungeon, Paige is asleep in a cage. She wakes up with a fright. The Seer is standing
there watching her.
"So what," Paige asks with false bravado, "are you into some kind of dominatrix thing now?"
"You are not the sister I expected but you'll do," said the unexpectedly calming voice of the Seer.
"Sorry I can't stick around but you're creeping me out anyway." Paige tries to orb out of the cage but
can't.
The Seer laughs, "You're not going anywhere."
Paige stands up. "So what was your plan? Trap Phoebe in this cage and fatten her up 'till she gives
birth?" She asks sarcastically.
"Even don't have that kind of patience."
"Well, whatever your plan was I'm happy to spoil it."
"You didn't spoil anything. Phoebe will come to me as soon as she gets my message." The Seer
assured Paige.
"What message?"
In answer, the Seer's eyes turn white. Inside the manor, Phoebe gets a premonition of the Seer killing
Paige.
"I saw the Seer, she was killing Paige." Phoebe said as soon as she could speak.
"How can you get a premonition without touching anything?" Pru asked.
"I don't know, maybe the Seer sent it to me."
The tall man appears.
"That is not all she sent." Pru said, pointing at the demon.
"Come with me now or your sister dies. You've already seen how." He sneers at Phoebe.
"No, Phoebe, don't!" Pru screams.
"It's a trap," Marshall agrees.
"It doesn't matter," Phoebe said in a defeated voice her shoulders slumped, "I have to save Paige, it's the
only chance left."
"No!" Marshall yells. Phoebe pushes him out of the way.
Pru gasps, "You're letting your baby control you, Phoebe."
"That wasn't the baby, that was me. I got Paige into this mess, I'm gonna get her out of it." Phoebe
promises squaring her shoulders for battle.
Pru pulls the Seer vanquishing potion out of her pocket. "Oh, no you're not. Not if I kill the Seer first." She
heads towards the tall man and a beam of blue light shines out of Phoebe's hands. It hits the tall man
The potion bottle breaks and Pru cuts her hand. "Damn it! Did
that come from you?"
"I'm sorry, Pru, I can't let you take the fall for me." Phoebe insists quietly.
"Well, why not?" Pru demands. "You can't use the baby's powers like that."
The tall man gets up, "Come here, witch."
The blue light comes out of Phoebe's hand again and starts to vanquish the tall man.
"Phoebe, don't!" Yells Pru, but she's too late, the tall man is vanquished. "Phoebe, nobody has ever been
able to vanquish that demon. Do you realize what you just did?"
Phoebe's eyes turn black.
"Stay away, Pru, that's not Phoebe anymore." Marshall warns.
Phoebe flames out.
In the underworld, in its dungeon, Phoebe flames in.
"Come to me, child." The Seer beckoned.
"Phoebe, snap out of it, please." Paige begged.
"Let the little children come to me, for the kingdom belongs to such as these," The Seer takes Phoebe
over to a circle of candles, "the rose circle represents nature, desire, fertility. Kneel." She commands.
Phoebe kneels down.
"Phoebe, it's your body, take control, fight it." Paige encouraged her sister.
"Give me strength, and give me might, to steal a child in still of night." The Seer began.
"Phoebe!" Paige yelled again, hoping to reach her sister in time.
"Darkest forces let it be, here my plea, bring life to me." The Seer continued.
A light comes out of Phoebe and goes into the Seer. Phoebe returns to normal.
"My baby." Phoebe looks at her flat tummy, puzzled.
"He was never yours, or Cole's," The Seer bragged, "From the moment of conception this baby was
mine." She unbuttons part of her dress to reveal the baby moving around in her.
In the coronation room, Dane, the dark priest and the council leaders wait. "Deadline's passed, she's not
here, the throne belongs to me." Dane informs the room.
"We can wait one more..." The dark priest began but was cut off.
"Give me the oath! I want my power!" Dane demanded. Seeing the Seer flame in, he turns to her, "You
promised to bring the Source's heir, so where is he?"
"Inside me," she says, savoring her victory. The Seer's eyes turn black. They all bow their heads.
"The council has chosen," stated the dark priest, "The Seer will be our new Source."
"No, it's a trick," Dane gasped, angry at being thwarted.
"I have brought the council a gift." The Seer waves her hand and Phoebe and Paige appear still in the
cage.
"Charmed Ones. How dare you bring them into our sanctuary!" Dane shouts.
"The witches are locked in a cage from which no magic can escape." She calmly states.
"You can't be sure of that," Dane argues.
"So much negative energy," the Seer proclaims, seconds before she vanquishes Dane.
"Am I to presume these witches of the human sacrifice required to seal your coronation?" Asked the dark
priest.
"Human sacrifice? I didn't know that was part of the plan, did you?" Paige asked Phoebe, panic in her
voice.
"To be your Source, to start a new evil order, to kill the Charmed Ones, this was my vision from the
beginning. Every council leader here will reap the rewards with... Ah!" She doubles over in pain.
"What is it?" The dark priest asked.
"Just start the ceremony," the Seer commanded, her voice trembling.
"Doesn't look like she's having anymore luck with that thing inside of her than you are. Ah, sorry, that was
insensitive." Paige gave her sister an apologetic look.
"It's okay, the baby wasn't mine," Phoebe answered.
"What do you mean?"
"The baby was never mine. From the moment it took over, it just felt like this black hole of evil. Totally
soulless." Phoebe explained.
"Seer, are you prepared to accept the power and position of the Source before all these leaders of the
underworld?" The dark priest intoned.
"I am."
"Okay, so now what?" Phoebe asked Paige.
"We might have a fighting chance if we had the power of three but we can't get to Pru. Ugh, this cage is
magic proof."
"Okay, so the cage is built to make sure magic wouldn't get out, but in the premonition I had, I saw the
Seer kill you with a power," Phoebe reasoned.
"So the cage lets magic in. Do you remember the spell to call a lost witch?" She looked hopefully at
Phoebe.
"Pru and I just used it to try to find you. Uh,
powers of the witches rise, course unseen across
the skies..."
In the attic at the manor, Pru closes the Book of Shadows. "There's nothing left, we've tried everything."
"Well, there's gotta be something missing, something we haven't thought of," Marshall encourages. He
turns his back to her and paces across the attic. Pru disappears. "Maybe if we summon a demon,
someone who knows the way to the Seer's lair, he can lead us to Phoebe and Paige." He looks around in
confusion.
In the coronation room, Pru appears in the cage. "Oh!"
"Oh, thank god it worked," Phoebe hugged her big sister.
"So am I. Where are we?" Pru asked.
"Uh, trapped in a cage," Paige supplied the answer.
"Mm-hm, okay, so lets bust out," Pru said to her sisters.
"No!" Paige cried, "You can't use your magic in here, it'll just bounce off and probably kill us."
Meanwhile the coronation was continuing, "Repeat the oath after me," commanded the priest.
"Ah, what's going on out there?" Pru arched a brow to her sisters.
"The Seer's being coroneted as the new Source." Phoebe said.
"Yeah, then she's gonna sacrifice us," Paige added.
"Lets get this straight; you guys summoned me to a cage where my powers don't work, so we can all die
together!" Pru stormed.
"Well," Paige winced, "the plan has some flaws admittedly."
"We just have to stay positive. We have the power of three here, there is nothing stronger than that,
right?" Phoebe quizzed.
The Seer starts glowing and floats up into the air.
"Are you sure there's nothing stronger than the power of three?" Pru asked.
The Seer floats back down the ground. She turns to the cage and gets a shock when she notices Pru.
"What an unexpected surprise. You just made my..." flames shoot out of her head and she groans.
"It's the baby," Phoebe explained quickly to her sisters, "He has too much power for her. That's how I felt,
it felt like I was gonna explode."
"What are we gonna do?" Paige whispered back.
"We need to make her tap into the baby's power, all of it," Phoebe stated.
"How the hell are we gonna do that?" Paige asked.
The flames disappear and the Seer continues, "I command all in attendance to witness the power of the
Source."
"Power of three spell," Pru said decisively.
"Uh, okay," Phoebe agreed.
The sisters began to chant, "The power of three will set us free, the power of three will set us free." The
blue beam of light hits the cage but the spell protects them. "The power of three will set us free, the power
of three will set us free."
"What's wrong?" demanded the dark priest.
"Nothing's wrong!" The Seer says in a voice that says differently.
They continue chanting and the blue light rebounds back and hits the Seer. It then rebounds onto every
demon in the room and they are all vanquished.
"Where did everybody go?" Pru asked. She kicks the cage and one of the sides fall off. They get out.
"The blast took everyone out. The Seer, the council leaders." Phoebe answered in amazement.
"Well, I'd say that the scales of good and evil just dramatically tipped in our favor." Pru said smiling.
"Except, look at Phoebe," Paige demanded pointing to Phoebe's once again pregnant belly.
Phoebe woke up from the dream sweating. Every night she had the dream, every night she
prayed that she wouldn't still be pregnant come morning. But she always was.
There was no way to end her pregnancy; the baby defended itself vigorously. There were times when she felt maternal stirrings for her baby, when she felt that some of Cole and herself must live in this child. She worried that that was just what the baby wanted her to think. Her pregnancy was progressing at an alarming rate. She was barely four months pregnant, yet, appeared to be near labor. She couldn't go to a doctor, her pregnancy was so far outside the realm of normal, plus her little Source to Be didn't behave in public. His magic was unruly and unstoppable.
Phoebe grimaced whenever she heard the adage 'eating for two' her baby wasn't interested in food. He yearned for power and Phoebe could feel him draining her of all that she had.
Lately, she'd begun to hear Cole's voice calling to her, but that was impossible. She and her sisters had vanquished him. Still his call persisted.
Phoebe waddled downstairs to where her family was, calling out as she came, "Demon baby heading down." She did this so that Paige could orb to another room if she needed to. They'd found out that Paige's freezing ability didn't work on the evil fetus, probably immune through his mother. She noticed the orbs swirling as she hit the bottom step, glad that Paige had retreated to safety.
"Do you really think you should call him names?" Marshall asked quietly.
"What's he gonna do, vanquish me? He needs me to be born. Besides he knows he's a bad boy," Phoebe replied. "Evil things always like to brag about how evil they are, so I don't think he takes offense."
"Still, it's not really normal is it," Pru insisted.
"Come on, Pru, we both know this pregnancy, this baby, is anything but normal," Phoebe scoffed.
"Maybe now isn't the time to mention it," Andy directed at his wife. Pru looked at him in indecision.
"Mention what?" Phoebe asked.
"Andy, she's gonna notice sooner or later," Pru said to her husband and then turned to Phoebe, "Pheebs, I'm going to have a baby." She winced waiting for her sister's anger.
"That's great!" Phoebe said enthusiastically. "Why were you afraid to tell me?"
"Because of your own situation," Marshall eyed her belly meaningfully.
"Please, I'm so tired of mourning my condition. I'd much rather celebrate Pru's," Phoebe stated, "You sleep with a demon you get a demonic baby," she shrugged, "It's nice to take the focus off me for a change."
"What are you going to do?" Pru asked.
"Eat something and lie down, so Paige can come out of hiding. Walking around is hard work," Phoebe evaded the real question.
(X)
Phoebe sat in her room composing a letter. As she wrote, tears fell down her face. Her usual optimistic attitude as ghostly as her pain-filled expression. She wrote her heart out, quite literally, certain that this letter was the only way she'd ever get a chance to explain and convey her feelings and her hopes.
(X)
"Pru, get up here!" Phoebe screamed.
Paige orbed first, instinct. Both sisters surprised when the baby demon chose to ignore her.
"What's going on?" Pru asked as she hurried up the stairs.
"I think it's time," Paige said thoughtfully, "Pheebs, I wanna be with you, do you think he'd mind?"
"I think he's worried about other things just now," Phoebe assured her sister. Pru and Paige helped Phoebe back into her room, exchanging looks at the emaciated body under the maternity garb. Phoebe was all belly!
(X)
It wasn't the lack of medical attention, nor the lack of knowledge, Pru and Paige had both studied how to help Phoebe deliver her baby, it was the…baby. His birth took all the strength he hadn't yet managed to steal from Phoebe. Pru had hastily placed him in a bassinet and tried unsuccessfully to revive his mother. Paige poured over the Book of Shadows, but her tear-filled eyes could barely see the pages.
"Heal her!" Pru demanded of Marshall, angrily.
His eyes, noticeably shiny, he said, "I can't, Pru, I've tried."
"Try again, that's our sister!" Paige yelled, tears choking her.
Obediently, Marshall rested his hands on Phoebe's chest, under which her heart barely beat.
His hands glowed slightly, but they all knew it wasn't enough to save Phoebe. Just then, Cole shimmered into the room. He'd been vanquished to the demonic Wasteland where he'd gathered as many powers as he could, as many powers as he needed to leave the Wasteland and return home, to Phoebe.
Cole took in the situation at a glance, "Phoebe?" he asked, his eyes instantly welling with tears.
Pru shot him a look of pure hatred, "We do not have time for you right now!"
"How the hell are you even here?" Paige asked.
"Not now, Paige. Phoebe needs us. He can go back to hell for all I care. And take the baby Source that killed her," Pru gritted relentlessly.
"Baby…Source…" Cole looked around in confusion and saw his son, lying in a bassinet. He strode to the child. The murderer who'd taken Phoebe from him…He picked the infant up, intending to kill it, but when he looked into the baby's eyes, he realized that he couldn't. He shimmered out of Phoebe's room with his son in his arms, certain that wherever he went it would be hell, without Phoebe.
"Phoebe, come on, honey. Fight," Pru pleaded, tears running down her cheeks.
"We need you, Pheebs," Paige added, "Wake up, sweetie."
Marshall gazed at his charges, sympathy shining from his face. Knowing that there was nothing he could do, he felt it was best to leave them in privacy. He orbed from Phoebe's room, Pru and Paige's sobs seemed to travel with him.
(X)
A week later, Pru and Paige were still adjusting, taking solace in each other. It was a week of tears, of hugs and handholding. A week of saying 'I love you' and sharing looks of silent grief, and offering a comfortable shoulder when the grief wasn't so silent.
Paige entered the conservatory, holding an envelope in her hands. "Pru, I uh…found this in Phoebe's room. It's addressed to us." She sat next to her big sister on the sofa. The eldest Charmed One and the youngest sat there contemplating the envelope silently for a few moments. Finally, Pru nudged Paige to open it. Their eyes glimmered with tears as they read Phoebe's words.
Dear Pru and Paige,
Know that I love you. If there had been a different way…but why wish for what didn't happen? If you're reading this letter, then I was right. I've felt for some time that the baby was using all my strength, feeding on my life. I'll be okay, I'll be with Piper and Leo…if it really is heaven, maybe I'll be reunited with Cole, or at least the part of him that wasn't a demon or the Source. I worry about the two of you. Look out for each other, love each other. Have lots of babies and tell them about how much their Aunt Phoebe would have loved them. When you remember me, please try to remember me happy and not the way I was towards the end. I don't know what this means for the shared destiny…I doubt we have another sister waiting in the wings to be called, but I do know that you are two of the strongest witch…women that I have ever known. You'll need that strength now. You'll need to be each other's strength.
All My Love Forever,
Phoebe
Paige wiped tears from her eyes, "Blessed be, Phoebe," she said quietly, letting her big sister enfold her in a hug. The remaining sisters drawing strength from each other.
