Charmed: Alternate Season Five

by Ian G

Did you ever wish Phoebe and Cole had stayed together? Or maybe that Paige had kept her job? Well read about those and many other changes in this alternate season five of Charmed. Read, review, and enjoy.

5. Episode Five: Lost Soul

Episode 5.5: Lost Soul

The Charmed Ones stood stock still, staring at the spiritual form of Prue. She looked just as she had before the demon Shax had killed her; except she was now glowing and see-through.

Prue nodded as Piper said her name. "Yes, it's me. God, it's so great to see both of you again." She turned to Paige. "And to finally meet you." Her wispy form moved towards Paige, who didn't move. Prue brushed a shimmering hand across Paige's cheek. "My baby sister. If only things had been different..."

"Why are you here?" Piper asked. Her eyes, like Phoebe's, were filled with tears. She may have, in a way, seen Prue just a few minutes before, but that Prue had been different. This was the real deal.

Prue turned, a frown etched on her face. "Don't you want me here?"

Piper gave a weak smile and wiped away her tears. "Of course I want you here. What I meant was... why now? Why not when I first called you last year? Why not any time between then and now? Why did you wait so long?"

"Because I had to," Prue said. "A witch who has lost her life is not allowed to return to earth in a spiritual form until the anniversary of her death."

"Why's that?" Phoebe asked.

"That rule was made for a very important reason. If a witch returned too soon after her death her loved ones would hold on to her. Not let her go; not move on." Prue looked at Phoebe and Piper in turn. "You two have grown so much in the past year." She looked at Paige. "And helped Paige grow as well. You needed that time to be able to grow."

Piper glanced at her watch. "It's almost midnight. Why did you wait so long to come today?"

Prue shrugged. "I was going to come earlier, but I saw that you guys were busy saving an innocent, which always comes first."

Piper frowned and looked at Phoebe and Paige. "What innocent?"

Paige waved her hand dismissivly. "Later." She turned to Prue and said, "I've always wanted to meet you and learn everything there was about you. Phoebe and Piper have told me some things, but it's always better to hear it firsthand."

Prue laughed. "I'll tell you anything you want to know."

There was a sudden shimmering in the center of the attic and three demons appeared. The one in the middle was short and crouched, clothed in a billowing hooded cloak. He held a staff in one hand and a glass sphere in the other.

The two other demons were obviously just bodyguards. Bulging muscles were barely contained in their black clothing and each held an athame in their hand.

"Attack!" yelled the middle demon with a raspy voice. He held back as the other two attacked the three living sisters. Waving his staff in a clockwise motion, the cloaked demon started to mutter something.

Phoebe grabbed onto one of the muscled demons and fell back, pulling the demon with her and flipping him onto his back. She leapt up and ran over to a table where several potions sat. Phoebe grabbed up a grenade potion and threw it at the demon, vanquishing him before he could get up.

Paige and Piper were dealing with the other demon. Piper froze the demon's athame just as he threw it and Paige orbed the weapon to herself. She threw it back at the demon, but he moved out of the way and it just grazed his arm.

Prue watched her sisters fight and sighed, wishing that she could help. But her attention was drawn away as she suddenly felt herself being pulled towards the cloaked demon. Her body turned into a golden ball of light, which zoomed over to the demon and into the glass sphere.

"No!" Piper yelled, seeing this. She raised her hands to freeze the demon, but he shimmered out with Prue's soul before she could.

The remaining demon grinned. "Mission accomplished," he said, shimmering out after his master.

Piper dropped to the floor and started to shake with sobs. "I can't lose her again," she cried.

"We won't," Paige said with a take-charge attitude. She went over to the Book of Shadows and started to page through it.

"Paige is right," Phoebe said, kneeling down next to Piper and rubbing her arm. "We won't let some demon get away with Prue's soul."

Blue orbs streamed down from the ceiling, forming into Leo. "Hey, I just came to see if Piper was awake." He saw her sitting on the floor and rushed over to her. "Piper, you're back... What's wrong?"

Piper just shook her head, not able to speak.

Phoebe spoke for her. "We got a visit from Prue--"

"Oh," Leo interrupted, nodding his head. "It's the anniversary of her death."

Piper stopped sobbing and turned to her husband, her sadness turning into anger. "You knew about that whole rule of her not being able to come to us until now?"

"Yeah, but I wasn't allowed to tell," Leo said. "It was for your own good."

Piper snorted and looked away. "Damn Whitelighter rules."

Leo ignored the comment, instead asking Phoebe, "So Prue came...?"

Phoebe nodded. "We only got to talk to her for a minute. Then demons attacked. One of them somehow captured Prue's spirit in a glass sphere. Paige is looking in the Book for him."

At this, Paige gave a frustrated sigh. "And I can't find him."

"It's a big book," Phoebe said. "Keep looking."

"No need," Leo said. "I know what type of demon it was." He got up and went over to the Book of Shadows, standing next to Paige. "It was a Soul Catcher demon, named for obvious reasons. Demons like that don't use the souls for themselves, but sell them off to other demons."

Leo placed his hands, palms down, over the Book. His hands glowed as he twiddled his fingers and the pages flipped rapidly until he lowered his hands.

Paige looked at the Book and nodded. "Yeah, that's him."

"Is there a vanquish?" Phoebe asked.

"Yeah, a potion," Paige said.

Phoebe turned to Piper. "Honey, do you want to go lay down or something while we make the potion?"

Piper shook her head, wiping away her tears. "No. I want to make the potion." She stood up and walked over to the Book. "I want to make sure I have a hand in what kills the bastard who captured my sister." She picked up the Book and headed for the stairs without another word.

Leo looked at the other two. "I have to get back to my other charge."

Paige sighed. "What is it with this charge, Leo? Is she inept at protecting herself?"

"Actually, yes," Leo said. "She's a witch who has visions, like you, Phoebe. Except that she can only have them in her sleep. Her power has pretty much taken over her life and she sleeps most of the time, only being awake long enough to eat, go to the bathroom, and tell her Whitelighter of what she has seen."

"So, what," Paige said, "she needs to be watched over all the time?"

Leo nodded. "Pretty much. Since it's such a time consuming job, the Elders assign Whitelighters to take turns watching over her. Now it's my turn."

"Why does she decide to sleep all the time, though?" Phoebe asked.

"She doesn't decide to, she has to," Leo said. "Her visions are very powerful, but they take a lot of energy and she just can't really stay awake that long."

Phoebe shook her head. "If I were her, I don't know if I would want to keep my power. She's missing out on life."

Leo shrugged. "In a way, she is seeing a lot more than most people see in their entire lives. Even if they're explorers. She also knows that her gift is very important to the fight for the side of good. Now I better get going. She's a large target for demons, so I have to get back."

"Okay," Paige said. "We'll call if we need help."

Leo nodded and orbed out.

"Let's go get our sister back," Phoebe said. She started to head for the stairs, but Paige stopped her.

"Wait. How do we find the demon once the potion is ready?"

Phoebe glanced around. "Didn't you graze the demon with that athame?"

Paige nodded. "Yeah."

"So there should be some blood on it," Phoebe said, nodding to the athame that was stuck in the wall.

"I'll get it and start scrying," Paige said, going to pry the athame from the wall.

"And I'll go help Piper," Phoebe said, turning on her heel and making her way for the kitchen.

-x-

In the Soul Catcher's lair, the demon himself pulled Prue's trapped soul from his cloak and held it out.

Another demon reached out and took it. "Thank you," he said. "My master shall be quite pleased."

"Ah, ah," said the Soul Catcher, waggling a scabbed finger at the other demon. "We aren't forgetting payment are we?" As a sigh came from the other demon, the Soul Catcher continued, "You know the drill. Payment and paperwork. Humans aren't the only ones who need to keep records."

"Yes, yes," the other demon muttered. "I've purchased many souls from you, I know how it goes." He reached in his own cloak and pulled out a small sack that was filled with gold coins. He dropped it into the Soul Catcher's waiting hand.

"Now for the paperwork," the Soul Catcher said. He put away the sack and then got out a piece of parchment and a quill pen.

There was a sudden explosion from outside followed by shouts and more explosions. The surviving minion from the attack on the manor rushed into the lair. "Sir," he said. "The Charmed Ones. They've found us."

The Soul Catcher glanced at his minion's belt. "You're athame, where is it?"

"I..."

"You left it at the witche's home, didn't you? You fool!"

The demon who had purchased Prue's soul started to back away. "If the Charmed Ones are here, I don't want to stay around."

"What about the paperwork?" the Soul Catcher asked.

"No time!" And with that, the demon shimmered out.

Outside the lair, Piper, Phoebe, and Paige were fighting the Soul Catcher's guards.

"Fireball!" Paige yelled, teleorbing a demon's attack right back at him. She glanced around. "There's too many of them!"

"We have to get in there before the Soul Catcher escapes!" Piper yelled back.

"I'm on it," Phoebe said. She ran towards the demons blocking the entrance to the lair and levitated over them, landing on the other side. Before the demons could stop her, she burst into the lair.

The Soul Catcher was alone, except for one minion. The minion attacked Phoebe, but she gave a powerful kick to his chest. It knocked him back onto a bonfire that sat in the middle of the lair. Flames spread over his body and he exploded.

Phoebe advanced on the Soul Catcher, but he grabbed up his staff and pointed it at her. Phoebe screamed in pain and collapsed to the ground. She felt like something was being pulled out of her.

"Staff!" Phoebe heard someone yell. The demon's staff disappeared in a shower of orbs. A moment later the demon froze.

"Phoebe?" Piper came over to her sister. "Are you okay?"

Phoebe sat still for a moment, just trying to breath. The horrible feeling in her chest finally subsided. "Yeah... I'm okay." She got to her feet and turned to Piper and Paige, who held the demon's staff in her hands. "What about you guys?"

"Demons go boom," Paige said with a smile. "Thanks mostly to Piper."

"Well I heard you scream," Piper said to Phoebe. "And I told myself that I wasn't going to lose another sister. ... The demons tended to die pretty quickly after that." She moved her gaze to the frozen demon. "Now let's see what he has to say," Piper said, unfreezing just the demon's head.

The Soul Catcher glanced around, confused. "Why can't I move the rest of my body?"

"Because it's frozen," Piper said, crossing her arms. "Ironic how the sister you stole from us is the one who first came up with the idea of interrogating this way. Now where is she?"

"I don't have her anymore."

"Then who does?" Phoebe asked.

The Soul Catcher sneered. "I'm not telling you."

Piper raised an eyebrow. "Really?" She pulled out a vial from her pocket and held it up for the demon to see. "Then maybe you'll tell Mr. Vanquishing-potion here."

The demon's sneer faded, but he still said nothing.

"I don't think he's gonna talk," Paige muttered.

"Should we just vanquish him?" Phoebe asked.

Piper shook her head. "No. He's our only lead."

The Soul Catcher suddenly unfroze. He snatched up a dagger and threw it at Piper.

"Look out!" Phoebe yelled, tackling her sister to the ground.

The demon reached out his hand and his staff was torn from Paige's grasp, flying into his own. He then proceeded to use it on Paige the same way he had used it on Phoebe minutes before.

Piper watched as her baby sister collapsed in pain. She didn't want to use the potion, but she couldn't just let Paige die. Standing up, she whipped her arm and the vial flew across the lair. Flames spread over the Soul Catcher the instant the vial smashed into him. He dropped his staff and screamed out as the flames consumed him.

Piper and Phoebe helped Paige to her feet, watching as the demon exploded, leaving nothing more than a scorch mark.

"There goes our lead," Piper muttered.

Phoebe rubbed her sister's arm. "Don't worry. We'll find her."

Paige nodded. "There has to be something here that could lead us to the demon that bought Prue's soul." She started to look around the lair, searching for anything that could help them.

Piper and Phoebe started to help and after a few minutes Phoebe called out to her sisters. "I think I found something," she said, as Paige and Piper came over to her. Phoebe held up a stack of scrolls.

"What are they?" Paige asked.

"They seem to be records," Phoebe answered. "Of the things the Soul Catcher sold."

"So?" Piper asked.

"So," Phoebe said with a grin, "they also say who bought them."

Piper's eyes widened and she snatched one of the scrolls from Phoebe. "Do any of them mention Prue?"

Phoebe shook her head. "None that I have seen."

"But maybe the demon who bought Prue's soul is a regular customer," Paige said.

"That's what I was thinking," Phoebe said with a nod. "Maybe we should take these back to the manor and start looking these guys up in the Book of Shadows."

Piper nodded. "Then summon their asses and find out what they know." She folded up the scroll in her hand. "Let's go."

-x-

Piper sighed as the smoke from the demon she had just vanquished faded away. She picked up one of the scrolls and crumpled it up, tossing it into a trash bin.

Phoebe entered the attic with a steaming mug of coffee in her hands. It was now morning and Phoebe hadn't slept in over twenty-four hours. "Hey," she said, taking a sip of the coffee and relishing the taste. "Sorry, I just really needed some caffeine to keep me awake." Phoebe paused and sniffed the air. "Is that smoke?"

"Yep," Piper said, not looking up from the newest scroll that she held in her hands.

"Piper, you said you would wait for me so we could summon the demon together."

Piper moved over to the Book of Shadows, still not looking at her sister. She started to page through it, looking for the next demon. "Well I didn't, and it doesn't matter. He didn't know anything."

Phoebe sighed. "Piper..."

Piper didn't look up.

"Piper, look at me."

Her sister finally raised her gaze.

"Thank you," Phoebe said. "Now, Piper, I know how you feel."

"Do you?" Piper asked, cutting her off. "You should feel the same way as me. We lost Prue once before and now we might lose her again. I can't stand that. And if you felt the same then you wouldn't be able to stand it either. You wouldn't be able to waste a minute not looking for her. Instead you feel free to take coffee breaks."

Phoebe stared Piper down. "I'm sorry Piper, but I have been up for over twenty-four hours. Yesterday I fought demons, stopped an innocent from blowing up half the city, and still managed to finish my column. You, however, spent the day having a nice catnap on the floor."

"I wasn't napping!" Piper snapped back. "You know that."

Phoebe sighed and set down her coffee mug. "You're right, I'm sorry. I'm just tired and on edge. But you have to understand that I want to find Prue just as much as you do."

Piper nodded. "I do. I'm sorry, I'm on edge too." She wiped away a tear that tried to escape her eye. "It's just... losing Prue the first time was hard enough. Then I had to say goodbye to her in that alternate reality or whatever that I was in."

"What?" Phoebe asked, hearing this for the fist time.

Piper shook her head. "Later. Anyways... I don't know if I can handle losing her soul. Before I always knew she was in a lace where she was okay. But now..." The tears couldn't be stopped and started to cascade down her face.

"Oh, sweetie." Phoebe opened her arms. "Come here." Phoebe embraced her sister and stroked her hair. "It's going to be okay. We'll find her and vanquish the demon that took her."

Piper broke the hug and nodded. "I know." She wiped away her tears got back to searching through the Book. "Where's Paige?"

"Downstairs on the phone," Phoebe said. She picked her mug of coffee back up and took a long swig. "She's in the middle of a lecture with her boss."

Piper frowned. "A lecture? Why?"

"Because," Paige said, coming into the attic. "I missed work yesterday when I had to save that innocent and I called in again today. Mr. Cowen was pretty mad. I don't think he believed my sick act."

"Yeah, well, you never were that good of an actress," Phoebe said with a smile.

"Oh shush. Now give me some of that," Paige said, snatching Phoebe's mug and taking a gulp of the caffeinated beverage. She let out a refreshed sigh and then handed the drink back to Phoebe.

"You could have gotten your own," Phoebe muttered.

Paige shrugged. "I thought sisters shared," she said, sticking her tongue out at Phoebe. Turning to Piper, she said, "Speaking of sisters, how's the search going?"

"Well," Piper started, "counting the one I just vanquished, we have summoned and interrogated three demons. All of which knew nothing."

"One of them is bound to know something," Paige said. "Who's next?"

"This guy," Piper said, stopping her search.

Phoebe and Paige went to stand next to Piper to see what page she had stopped on.

"Zerek," Phoebe said, reading over Piper's shoulder. "Known and respected by most other demons, Zerek deals in the practice of resurrection. Using dark spells and potions, this demon is able to bring most any type of being back to life. Unlike other demonic resurrectors, whom only have the power to bring beings back in a zombie like state, Zerek is able to return them to the way they were before they died."

"Huh," Paige muttered. "I don't think he's really what we're looking for."

"Me neither," Phoebe agreed. She picked up a few of the scrolls they had brought back and started to look through them.

"Wait," Piper said. "Shouldn't we interrogate them all?"

"There's no time for that," Paige said. "We should concentrate on the demons who would have something to gain from Prue's soul."

Phoebe nodded. "Paige is right. This Zerek guy really doesn't fit the profile. Why would a demon want to bring Prue back to life?"

"Well," Piper started.

She was cut off by Phoebe suddenly gasping for breath, her eyelids flying shut. Her sisters waited patiently and after a moment Phoebe opened her eyes again.

"What did you see?" Paige asked.

"A magic show," Phoebe said.

Piper stared. "... A magic show?"

"Yeah," Phoebe said with a nod. "But I know there was evil there. I could feel it."

"What's the name on the scroll?" Paige asked.

Phoebe squinted at the paper in her hands. "I can't read it. It's all smudged."

Paige moved over to an antique desk and pulled out their scrying tools. "Well maybe we can use that scroll to scry for the place."

"That's a good idea," Phoebe said, bringing the scroll over to her little sister.

"Wait," Piper said. "You two just said that we should concentrate on demons who would have something to gain by having Prue's soul."

"And?" Paige asked, already in the process of scrying.

"Well you don't even know what demon that is!" Piper yelled. "Yet you are wasting time with it?"

"Piper," Phoebe said. "You know I get premonitions for a reason. And I got this one while touching one of those scrolls that came from a place where the only thing sold are souls. We have to believe that my premonition has something to do with who took Prue's soul."

Paige nodded. "It's the best lead we have right now." The crystal landed and Paige wrote down the address. "Let's get going."

"I'm going to stay here," Piper said.

"What?" Paige and Phoebe asked at the same time.

Piper shrugged. "I really don't think we're going to find anything that can help us at a magic show," she said. "So you two go and if you find some, great. But I'm going to stay here and keep looking."

"Well," Phoebe said. "If it turns out she's not there then it would be good to have not wasted all that time."

Piper nodded. "Exactly."

"Okay, Paige and I will go," Phoebe said. She finished off her coffee and set the mug down on the desk. "We'll call if we find anything out." She then took Paige's hand and the two of them orbed out.

The moment they were gone, Piper snatched up the scroll with Zerek's name on it and started scrying.

-x-

Paige glanced at her watch and sighed. "Phoebe, we've been here for almost an hour."

She and Phoebe had arrived at the magic show just as it was starting. Phoebe had suggested that they wait for the show to end before searching around. Their main suspect was the magician himself and they wouldn't be able to talk to him until after the show.

"Don't worry," Phoebe whispered. "I think it's almost over."

"Good," Paige muttered.

She grabbed up a handful of peanuts from a bowel they had been given and started munching. Her stomach felt as if it was eating itself and had been making noises for almost half-an-hour, much to the dislike of those around her. She couldn't help it, though, not having eaten since the day before.

"Oh please," Paige muttered as the next trick was performed. "I don't know how I could have ever thought this stuff was cool. After being a witch for over a year, it all just seems so cheap."

"I know what you mean," Phoebe said with a smile. "I went to a magic show just a few months after I first became a witch. Just for fun, you know? They had to kick me out because I was laughing so hard. I just wanted to get up on stage and show them all some real magic."

The magician on the stage was now setting up his final act. His assistant rolled a tall wooden box out onto the stage and the magician announced that he was going to make a member of the audience disappeared.

"I could show him a thing or two about disappearing," Paige muttered to Phoebe, making her sister giggle.

"You!" The magician pointed across the room, directly at Paige.

"Me?" Paige asked, just to make sure.

The magician nodded. "Yes, you. You've been disturbing the whole show. I might as well make you disappear so you can't disturb anyone else."

"Sorry," Paige said. She slid down in her chair. "I'll be quiet."

"No, really. Come up here." The magician waved for Paige to come up on the stage. "Be my volunteer."

"I dunno..."

Phoebe leaned over and whispered in Paige's ear. "This could be what we were waiting for. I'm betting there is some trap door or something. That will get you behind the scenes, allow you to look around some."

Paige wasn't so sure, but she got to her feet anyways and went up on stage. "What do you want me to do?" Paige asked.

"Just step into this box and stand perfectly still," the magician said, leading her over to the box. "I will do the rest." He opened the door, and once Paige was in, slammed it shut.

Paige heard a click. She felt the box then start to be spun around. Placing her hands against the sides of the box, Paige tried to keep her balance. The box was spinning faster and faster and Paige was starting to feel quite sick.

Now I wish I hadn't eaten all those peanuts, she thought.

Just as Paige thought she was going to throw up, there was a bright flash of light. Paige shielded her eyes. After a moment she realized the spinning had stopped. Everything was silent.

Dropping her hands, Paige looked around. She was in a cage.

"Uh oh," she muttered. She tried to orb out, but her orbs just bounced off the bars. "This can't be good."

She tried to get her barings. It seemed as if she was in the basement of the building. She could hear muffled clapping coming from above. In the basement there was a large assortment of magic tricks that she guessed were used in other shows. Other than the tricks, a cabinet, and a mirror on the wall, the room was quite empty.

Paige heard a door open and then the clomping of someone coming down the stairs; two someones, actually. The magician and his assistant came strolling over to Paige, evil smirks on both their faces.

"Well, well," the magician said. "We knew we'd be getting a visit from the Charmed Ones soon enough."

Paige's eyes widened. "You're the demon that took Prue's soul?"

The magician nodded. "Let me tell you, she did not come cheap. In my opinion, she cost too much. She may be a former Charmed One, but the key word is 'former'. Now she is just a regular old soul. Not worth that much in my book. But my master insisted..."

"Who's you're master?" Paige asked, hoping to pump the demon for information.

The magician waggled a finger. "I'm not telling," he said in a sing-song voice. "I've already said too much. Now it's time to get on with the plan." He snapped his fingers and electricity shot from the bars of the cage, striking Paige and knocking her unconscious. "Get the sphere," he said to his assistant.

The assistant nodded and went over to the cabinet, pulling a glass sphere from it. She returned and handed it to the magician, who had now opened the cage door.

He entered and knelt down over Paige. He muttered a spell, waving a hand over her chest. A golden ball of light rose out of Paige and entered the glass sphere. Getting up, the magician handed the sphere to his assistant. "Put it with the other one."

"Yes, sir," the assistant said, taking the sphere.

The magician went over to stand in front of the mirror that hung on the wall. "Master," he said. "The plan is proceeding as you foresaw. We now have two of the witches' souls."

The shadowed demon that had worked with Zoltar and the goblins appeared in the mirror. "Good. I knew they would come here once they found those records."

"Master," the magician said. "I have not asked many questions since I found you in that graveyard. But now I must ask... why don't we just kill this witch? It would be the end of the Charmed Ones once and for all."

"You know why," the shadowed demon hissed. "We need her. I need her; to help me and my siblings escape from this horrendous realm. Only with her and her sisters' power can we hope to get the key to the gateway that keeps me here."

The magician nodded. "Ah, yes. The key."

"Now," the demon said. "Is Temaka ready?"

The assistant, Temaka, stepped in front of the mirror. "I am."

"Good. Now use your power to enter the witch's body."

With a nod, Temaka went into the cage. She knelt down next to Paige, closing her eyes. Temaka's body turned into a gray mist that hovered in the air for a moment before shooting down into Paige's body. Temaka, now in control, opened Paige's eyes. She got up and went back to the mirror.

"Do you have complete control?" the shadowed demon asked.

Temaka stretched Paige's arms and wiggled her fingers. "Yeah, I think so," she said.

"What about her powers?" the magician asked. "You must have control of those before the plan can continue."

Temaka looked around. She spotted a plastic wand sitting on top of a cardboard box and held out her hand. "Wand!" The wand disappeared in a flurry of orbs and reappeared in Temaka's hand. She twirled the wand in her fingers and smiled. "Cool power."

"Use it wisely," the demon in the mirror said. "Now, you know what to do. Carry out the plan, but be careful to not let the witches find you out."

Temaka nodded and started for the exit.

"The scrolls!" the demon hissed. "Do not forget the scrolls we prepared. You'll need them."

"Right, right," Temaka said. She went to the cabinet and pulled out three scrolls. "I'll be back with the key in no time." She turned on her heel and went off up the stairs.

"Don't worry, master," the magician said. "She'll get the job done."

"She better."

-x-

Outside, Phoebe was pacing. The show had ended almost ten minutes before and Phoebe was starting to worry about her sister. "If anything happens to her," she muttered, "I'll never forgive myself for making her go up there."

Just then, Temaka, in Paige's body, came out. "Hey," she said with a small wave.

"Oh good, you're okay," Phoebe said. "Here, I held your purse for you," she said, handing it over.

"Thanks," Temaka said. "Now I don't have to carry these scrolls around."

Phoebe eyed the scrolls of parchment in Temaka's hand. "What are those?"

"Well I ran into a demon in the basement," Temaka said, stuffing the scrolls into Paige's purse.

"Does he work for the magician?" Phoebe asked.

"Yes, but the magician isn't a demon," Temaka lied. "This demon was a possessing demon. Would extract someone's soul and then posses their body and impersonate them."

"Wait," Phoebe said, holding up a hand. "Was?"

Temaka nodded. "I vanquished him after I got all the information that I could."

"So what did you find out?" Phoebe asked.

"He didn't take Prue's soul," Temaka answered. "But," she said, as Phoebe's face fell, "he did know who did take her."

"Really? Who?"

Temaka shrugged Paige's milky white shoulders. "He wouldn't say his name. All I could get out of him is that the guy's lair is very hard to get into. Without the key, he's the only one who can get in."

Phoebe frowned. "Key? What key."

"Oh, right." She pulled the scrolls back out of Paige's purse and handed them to Phoebe. "Got these off of the demon before I vanquished him. I already read over them. Apparently this demon is seriously paranoid. So he set up this gateway that only he could transport through. Then he made a key and split it into three pieces."

"Wow, that is paranoid," Phoebe said.

Temaka nodded. "It gets worse. He then embedded each piece into three separate servants of his, which are living in different parts of the world."

"Kasheeb, Vandral, and Axem," Phoebe said, reading the names off of the scrolls.

"Yep," Temaka said. "And the only way to get the pieces out of the servants is to vanquish them."

"Of course," Phoebe said. She handed the scrolls back to Temaka and sighed. "This is going to be a tough job."

"But anything to get Prue back, right?" Temaka said.

Phoebe nodded. "Right." She took Temaka by the hand and led her into a deserted alley. "Okay, let's get back to the manor. We can use these scrolls to scry for the demon servants." She waited and then looked over at who she thought was her sister. "What's wrong?"

Temaka had her eyes closed and her face was all scrunched up. "Nothing," she muttered. Truth was, she was worried about orbing and was trying to concentrate. Finally orbs covered her and Phoebe and they vanished from the alley.

-x-

Piper appeared in the Underworld in a swirl of white lights. Instantly she raised her hands up, ready for trouble. What she found was an aged demon sitting with a spoonful of porridge halfway to his mouth.

"Who are you?" the demon asked.

Piper ignored the question. "You Zerek?"

The demon set his spoon back into his bowl. "You're going to have to tell me who you are first."

"Piper. Piper Halliwell," she said.

"Charmed One," the demon snarled. He raised his hand to attack, but Piper raised up her own, stopping him.

"You obviously know who I am," she said. "So you must also know what I can do when I wave these hands of mine." She knew she couldn't vanquish him, having read in the Book that he could only be vanquished by the Power of Three. However, she could certainly damage him and the demon knew that.

Lowering his hand, the demon said, "What do you want?"

"You resurrect people right?" After getting a nod, she asked, "All kinds of people? Demons, humans, witches?"

"Yes," Zerek said. "I have had success with every being I have encountered."

"Good," Piper said. She seemed to be arguing silently with herself, not sure whether to ask the demon her next question or not.

"Well?" Zerek said. "What do you want?"

Piper took a deep breath and then said slowly, "I want you to resurrect my sister."

-x-

"She's not downstairs, either," Phoebe said, entering the attic.

Temaka stood at the pedestal, paging through the Book of Shadows. She felt a great honor by being one of the only demons to have ever had a look at the magical tome. There was so much information in it. Temaka was especially interested in the vanquishing potions that were listed. As a demon, she had quite a few enemies. Temaka made a mental note to write down some of the potions so she could use them against a few demons that wanted her dead.

"Paige?" Phoebe said loudly.

Temaka jolted and looked up. "Oh, sorry. What?"

"I said, 'Where do you think she could be?'" Phoebe said.

Temaka shrugged. "Maybe she went after a demon."

"But she would have called first," Phoebe said. "Well, at least she should have."

"Prue was, like, really important to Piper, right?" Temaka asked.

Phoebe nodded. "Of course."

"Well, maybe Piper is so focused on finding Prue that calling us just slipped her mind," Temaka said.

Phoebe bit her lip. "Yeah, maybe."

"Should we get started with scrying?" Temaka asked.

"Maybe we should wait for Piper," Phoebe said.

Temaka shook her head. "No, we can't wait. We know where Prue's soul is being held, but who knows how long it will be there? Who knows what that demon could do to her. We have to find her now."

Phoebe nodded. "Yeah, you're right. Okay, you make the scrying potion. I'll go over these scrolls to see if they say how to vanquish these guys."

"Uh, actually, I have to go to the bathroom," Temaka said hurriedly. "You get started on that potion and I'll be right back."

Temaka ran from the attic, stopping only when she got to the bottom of the stairs. She let out a sigh. "Keeping up pretenses is hard," she muttered to herself. "Especially when I have no idea how to make potions."

-x-

A laugh burst from Zerek's mouth, along with some spittle and bits of porridge. "Do you think I'm insane?" he asked Piper. "You want me to bring back a Charmed One?"

"I don't care about the whole Charmed thing," she said, grinding her teeth. "I just want my sister back. I read up on you in the Book of Shadows. I know you can do it."

The demon nodded. "Yes, with my knowledge of spells and potions, I do have the power to do it." He locked eyes with Piper as he said his next words. "But I won't."

Piper felt anger boiling up inside of her. She wanted so much to blow this demon to the Wasteland. But she decided to try a different approach. "If you won't do it yourself, maybe you can tell me how."

Zerek eyed her for a long moment. "The magics used in this are very dark. Very... evil. If you did this it could put you onto the path of darkness. It could turn you."

Piper rolled her eyes. "Look, I don't care about the warning on the bottle. I want to do this. No, I need to do this."

Once again Zerek eyed her for a long moment. Finally he shook his head. "No. If I did this and demons found out then I would lose the respect that it has taken me years to gain. I would be a traitor."

"Maybe they'll find out, maybe they won't," Piper said. "But if you don't tell me how to do this then I will go home, get my sisters, and we'll come back and vanquish you. However, if you do help me, then I will make sure that we will never come after you."

Zerek mulled it over, stirring his porridge absentmindedly. "That is quite an offer."

"Damn straight."

Zerek dropped his spoon and got to his feet. "Alright." He made his way over to a large chest and opened it up. After rifling through it for a minute he pulled out a piece of parchment. "Here," he said, handing it to Piper. "This is a list of what you will need and directions for the ritual."

Piper looked over the parchment, frowning at some of the ingredients. "I've never even heard of some of this stuff."

Zerek nodded, grinning a yellowish grin. "Well, you would have no need for them in your daily witchy potions. This kind of stuff is for the big leagues."

Piper folded up the parchment and put it in her pocket. She turned to go, but paused. It turned her stomach to say it, but she decided that it was the right thing to do. "Thank you."

Zerek grinned again. "It was my pleasure."

-x-

Temaka and Phoebe orbed in in the midst of a jungle.

Temaka glanced around. "Are we sure we got the right place?"

Phoebe shrugged. "We scryed for Kasheeb and the crystal landed someplace in Africa." She waved her hands around. "This does look like Africa."

"Yeah, I was just thinking he would be in a more civilized place."

Phoebe frowned. "Civilized? He's a demon, Paige."

"Yeah. I know. I just..."

Luckily there were suddenly loud noises from up ahead.

"Is that cheering?" Phoebe asked.

"Only one way to find out."

The two of them made their way through the jungle until they came to a clearing. There was commotion everywhere. People eating and laughing, children running and playing. But most people were gathered on wooden risers, watching a fight go on in a ring that was in the center of the clearing.

"Hey," Phoebe said, pulling out the scroll with the information and a picture of Kasheeb on it. "Isn't that him?"

Temaka nodded. "Yeah, that's him."

"What is he doing?" Phoebe wondered out loud.

"He's doing what he always does," someone next to her said. "Demons come from all over to try and take Kasheeb down, but he is unstoppable. He always wins."

Just then Kasheeb slammed his fist into his opponent's chest. It went right through and the demon exploded. Cheers erupted from the crowd and Kasheeb grinned, raising his arms in triumph.

"Do you think we could talk to him?" Temaka asked.

The man laughed. "The only way you meet Kasheeb is in the ring."

Temaka pulled Phoebe aside. "I think we should do it."

"What? Are you crazy? Did you see what he just did?"

"Yeah," Temaka said with a nod. "But we need to kill him anyways to get the piece of the key that he has."

"True," Phoebe said. "But I've been in a ring like that before and let me tell you, it wasn't fun. I almost died."

"You almost die all the time. Now come on." Temaka latched onto the reluctant Phoebe and dragged her over to the man in charge of registration. "We'd like to sign up to fight Kasheeb. Well, actually, she would."

"Why me?" Phoebe whined.

"You're the one with the martial arts skills."

"Yeah, yeah." Phoebe sighed. "Give me those potions you brought."

"Ah, ah," the registration man said. "No potions or weapons. This is a physical fight to the death."

"Oh god," Phoebe muttered.

"Remember," Temaka said. "This is for Prue."

"You know, we were never that close."

Temaka glared. "Phoebe."

"Okay, okay!" She signed her name down on the piece of paper that the registration man held out to her. "So, when do I fight? Kasheeb must be pretty tired from that fight he just had."

The man shrugged. "No, not really. That was a pretty easy one for him. He should be ready in a few minutes."

"Oh god," Phoebe muttered again. She looked around and saw people whispering to one another. They pointed at Phoebe and at Kasheeb, then started pulling out money. "Are they placing bets?"

"Looks like it," Temaka said.

"Think they're betting on me to win?" Phoebe asked.

"Do you want the truth?"

"No."

"Then yes. They are all betting you will win." Temaka slapped Phoebe on the back. "You can do it."

"Okay, Paige? This is a fight to the death, not a little league game. Can't you come up with something a little more encouraging?"

Temaka thought for a moment. "Uh... kick his ass?"

"Better."

"Okay, get in there," the registration man said to Phoebe. "It's time for the fight."

"Already?" With no answer, Phoebe sighed and went into the ring.

"Now it's time for our next fight," an announcer said. "Kasheeb versus Brenda Hawthorn!"

"You changed your name?" Temaka asked from the sidelines.

"Well I wouldn't want them to recognize my real name."

"Good thinking," Temaka said with a nod.

"Let the fight begin!"

"Hi," Phoebe said to Kasheeb. Kasheeb only growled and swung a huge fist at her. Phoebe ducked and kicked out, sweeping Kasheeb's legs out from under him.

"Nice!" Temaka yelled. "Now go for the kill!"

"With what?" Phoebe yelled back. She yelped as Kasheeb jumped back to his feet and attacked her.

For several minutes the fight went on, Phoebe barely being able to hold Kasheeb off. Phoebe was getting tired, but she could see that Kasheeb was just fine. He lunged at her, but Phoebe levitated into the air. Taking a deep breath, she swipe kicked, her foot connecting with Kasheeb's jaw. She heard a crack and Kasheeb dropped to the ground, dust and dirt billowing up around him.

The announcer ran into the ring and checked Kasheeb. He then looked up at Phoebe. "He's dead; broken neck. You've won."

Temaka came into the ring as cheers erupted from the crowd. "You did it," she said.

"Yeah, but where's the piece of the key?" Phoebe asked.

Not a moment later Kasheeb's body disappeared in a flash of light, leaving a small golden handle of a key. Temaka snatched it up and grinned.

"Got it," she said happily.

"Great," Phoebe said. "Now let's get out of here before these people make me their new champion."

-x-

Piper entered the attic just as Phoebe and whom she thought was Paige orbed in.

"Piper," Phoebe said. "Where have you been?"

The oldest Halliwell knew she couldn't tell them what she was up to. They would never agree with her and would try to stop her. What's worse, they would probably tell Leo and she didn't want to be in a fight with her husband.

"I've been tracking leads," she said. "Where have you two been?"

"Tracking not a lead, but the true culprit," Phoebe said with a grin. "We got all the pieces of the key."

Piper frowned. "Huh? What key?"

Phoebe quickly explained the whole situation. "Now we have all the pieces and we're ready to go into the demon's lair."

"Wait," Piper said. "Do we have a vanquish for this demon? Or even know his name?"

"Well, not exactly," Temaka said. "But hey, we're the Charmed Ones. We can take him."

"Why don't we check the Book first," Piper said. "There has to be something on this guy or about the gateway."

"No, there isn't," Temaka said. "I checked."

"You did?" Phoebe asked. "When?"

"When you were on the phone with your boss downstairs. Right before we went after Kasheeb," Temaka said. "There's nothing in the Book."

"Well we can't just go in unprepared," Piper said.

"Look, time is running out," Temaka said. "Prue's soul is in danger."

"You're right," Phoebe said. "We can't waste anymore time. Prue needs us."

Piper sighed and then nodded. "Okay. How do we get to this gateway?"

"Like so." Temaka pulled the three pieces of the key out of her pocket. She placed them on a table and pushed them together. The pieces magically came together, making the key whole. Temaka picked it up and held it out in the air, twisting it. A swirling white portal opened up. "Let's go!" Temaka yelled over the wind.

Piper glanced at Phoebe and took her hand, following Temaka into the portal. When they came out they were in a large cavern. A huge black door was embedded into the far cavern wall.

"Finally," Temaka whispered. She made her way towards the door, but Leo suddenly orbed in front of her.

"Stop!" he said.

"Leo?" Piper said. "What are you doing here?"

"My charge had a vision," Leo said.

"Huh?" Piper said.

"Leo told Paige and me about her earlier," Phoebe said. "What was the vision about, Leo?"

"She said that she saw the Gateway of Dragons being opened," Leo said. "By you three."

"So?" Piper asked. "That's what we were about to do. Prue's soul is in there."

Leo shook his head. "No, she can't be. On the other side of that door is a realm that has held three demons captive for hundreds of years. If they get out... Let's just say it would be really bad."

"The scrolls Paige got from that demon said nothing about that," Phoebe said. "They said that three servants of a demon held three pieces of one key to his lair. For protection."

"That's not true," Leo said. "Yes, there are three servants of good that hold the keys to this gateway, but that's to make sure evil doesn't set these demons free."

"Oh god," Phoebe said, putting her hands over her face. "So those were good people we killed?"

Piper rubbed her sister's arm. "It's okay. You didn't know."

"Well," Temaka said. "I guess that demon must have lied to me."

"I just don't know why you three didn't check the Book of Shadows about this first," Leo said. "There is an entry on it."

"Paige said there wasn't," Piper said.

Everyone turned to Temaka.

Temaka gave a fake smile. "Ooops." She then orbed out and back in in front of the door, key in hand. Before she could unlock the door, though, Phoebe tackled her to the ground.

"Who are you?" Phoebe yelled, her arm against Temaka's throat.

"Technically," Temaka wheezed, "I'm Paige. I've got her body. Not to mention her powers." With that, she orbed out.

Phoebe got back to her feet. "Hurry, back to the manor." Running over to Piper and Leo, she took their hands and Leo orbed started to orb them out.

"Wait," Piper yelled. She threw out her hand and the key, that had fallen to the ground, exploded. "Guess the Elders never thought of that idea, huh?"

"Well..." Leo said.

"Thought so," Piper said.

"Come on," Phoebe said. "Paige is in danger."

Without wasting another second, Leo orbed them back to the manor.

-x-

"What is taking so long?" the demon in the mirror hissed.

"Don't worry, master," the magician said. "Temaka is in the body of a Charmed One with Charmed powers. There's no way she could fail."

Temaka suddenly orbed in, rubbing her throat. "I failed," she said. "I'm sorry."

"Sorry!" the shadowed demon yelled. "I've been waiting for hundreds of years to get out of here. Now I had my chance, but you failed and all you can say is you're sorry?"

Temaka shrugged. "I gave it my best shot. And truthfully, I'm actually not to sorry that I failed. Because if you got out of that realm, I would have to serve you." Placing her hands on her hips, she continued. "Guess what? I'm sick of serving other demons. I have the body and powers of a Charmed One. I have the ability to get their Book and use it to destroy my enemies. I could become the next Source."

"Oh no you don't," said the magician, shaking his head. "You will get out of that body right now. You work for me."

"Not anymore." Temaka pulled out a vial from her pocket. "Do you know what this is? It's a vanquishing potion. For you. I found it in the witches' Book of Shadows."

"You wouldn't."

Temaka smiled. "I would." She whipped her arm and the vial flew through the air. It slammed into the magician and he exploded in a burst of fire. "Now," she said, "time to get out of here."

"Not too fast," Piper said from behind her.

Temaka spun around to see Piper, Phoebe, and Leo. Behind her, the demon in the mirror faded away. Temaka started to orb out, but Phoebe threw a potion at her feet. Paige's body suddenly dropped to the floor and Temaka was left standing there.

"Hey," Phoebe said. "You're the magician's assistant."

"Ex-assistant," Temaka said. "He's dead."

"As you're about to be," Piper said.

"I don't think so." Temaka ran for the cabinet and threw it open to reveal the two trapped souls. She grabbed one up and held it close to her body. "Vanquish me and you'll vanquish one of your sisters."

Piper rolled her eyes. "Or..." She flicked her hands and Temaka froze. "Phoebe?"

"I'm on it." Phoebe went and took the trapped soul away from Temaka and stepped back. "Fire away."

"With pleasure." Piper flicked her hands again and Temaka exploded into a thousand black shards. Walking over to the cabinet she picked up the other soul. "Okay," she said, looking at Leo. "How do we set them free?"

"Just smash the spheres," Leo said.

Phoebe and Piper glanced at one another and then threw the spheres down on the floor. They smashed open, one ball of light shooting into Paige, and the other forming into Prue's spirit.

Paige gasped and sat up. "What happened?"

"Well," Piper said. "As far as we can tell, your soul was extracted from your body so a demon could inhabit it and pose as you to try and get us to free some other demons by opening..." She looked to Leo. "What was it called?"

"The Gateway of Dragons," Leo said.

"Right," Piper said.

"Is the demon dead?" Paige asked, getting to her feet.

Phoebe nodded. "Two demons, actually. Apparently she killed her boss."

"Great, good," Paige said, nodding. "One more question. How come you didn't realize that wasn't me?"

"Come on, Paige," Phoebe said. "It's not like we were sitting around having a sisterly chat. We were vanquishing who we thought were demons..." She sighed and blinked away some tears, still torn up about what she had done.

"And I was barely with the demon you," Piper said. "I was trying to... find Prue on my own." She looked at her floating sister.

"Now you have," Prue said with a smile. "But I think I should go."

"Why?" Phoebe asked.

"Because I'm not completely sure it's safe," Prue said.

"Prue's right," Leo said. "If that first demon knew yesterday was the anniversary of Prue's death and that she would most likely come, then maybe others know as well. They'll be lurking around for her. Especially around the house."

"So I'll wait a little while longer," Prue said. "Until it is safe for me to return."

"Hurry back," Paige said.

Prue smiled. "I will." Looking upward, she disappeared in a swirl of white lights.

Phoebe wiped away some tears and looked at Piper. "Are you okay?"

Piper nodded. "I'm fine. I'm positive we'll be seeing her soon."

"Well," Leo said. "I better get back to my other charge. That last vision took a lot out of her, so she's very vulnerable right now."

"Tell her thank you," Phoebe said.

Leo nodded. "I will. I'll be back tonight. My turn with her is just about over." He embraced Piper and kissed her. "So I'll be around more."

Piper smiled. "Good. I've missed you."

"I've missed you too." Again, he kissed Piper, and then orbed out.

"Okay," Paige said. "I may not have been in my body for awhile, but it is very tired."

"Mine too," Phoebe said, rubbing her shoulder. "I feel like I could sleep forever." Her phone rang and she pulled it out, looking at the number. "Except I can't. Elise is probably calling about my next column. Guess I'll have to work on that tonight."

"Sucks to be you," Paige said.

"It does," Phoebe agreed, turning off her phone.

"Let's get going then," Piper said. "I have some stuff to do myself."

Paige took her sisters' hands and orbed them out.

Over in the mirror, the shadowed demon appeared. "When I get out of here, the first thing I'm going to do is kill those witches."

-x-

Late that night, candles burned, placed in a circle on a cold, hard floor. A pair of of boots passed by not only them, but a framed photo that sat in front of them. A hand reached down a picked up the photo, tears dripping onto the glass.

"Oh, Prue," Piper whispered. "I hope I'm doing the right thing."

She set the photo down and looked over at a white casket that sat on the floor of the mausoleum. She hadn't dared to open it, fearful of what she would find. A body, rotted away by time. If she had laid eyes on it, she might have stopped what she was doing.

"But her body should return to normal," Piper said to herself. "That's what the ritual is supposed to do. Everything will be fine," she assured herself.

With a sigh, she pulled out a piece of paper from her pocket and began to read. "Hear these words, hear my cry. Spirit from the other side. Come to me, I summon thee. Cross now the great divide."

A wind whipped through the room and Prue's spirit appeared in the circle of candles. "Piper," she said, confusion creasing her ghostly face. "What am I doing here?"

Piper didn't answer her. Instead, she pulled out a potion vial, which was filled with a blood red liquid. Truth was, some of it was blood. Extracting the parchment that Zerek had given her, she began the ritual. "Soul of a lost one, I command you. Blend yourself with this concoction."

"Wha--"

Prue was cut off as she was suddenly sucked into the potion vial. The contents inside started to glow and pulse. Piper threw the vial onto the casket. It broke open, spilling the liquid, which was now writhing, over the casket. It stained like wine on a silk shirt.

"Bleed through," Piper read. "And enter the vessel. By darkness, by blood, return what was lost. Return soul, return life... Return the vessel to how it once was. Return!" As Piper yelled this last word, the potion seeped through the casket, leaving no trace of it having been there.

Piper waited. The silence was killing her. Finally... Thump.

Piper dropped the parchment and ran to the casket. She fumbled with the latch, finally releasing it, and threw the lid open. Prue shot up into a sitting position, gasping for breath, tears streaming down her face. Piper grabbed her into a hug.

"It's okay," she whispered, tears now falling down her face as well. "It's going to be all right. You're home."

End of Episode 5.5: Lost Soul