TWO
"There's nothing in here even remotely like this," said Phoebe, closing the Book of Shadows.
"Can anyone explain to me exactly what happened?" Piper asked.
"Apparently," said the strange man, "when Leo, being partially orbed, struck Cole, who was in the state of shimmer at that moment, they somehow merged. But we're not sure exactly how that's possible. Neither Cole nor Leo know how of any way to do something like this."
"You have both their memories?" Phoebe asked.
"Yes," said the man. "It's kind of strange. We're both Leo and Cole and at the same time we're neither. We're a merging of the two."
"That is just so weird," said Phoebe. "The way you talk. It reminds me of some of those old movies on the late late show. The royalty in those movies used to talk like that."
"So what do we call him?" Piper asked. "We can't just keep calling him 'hey you' and somehow neither Cole nor Leo seem appropriate either."
"Cleo?" suggested Paige. "Or maybe Coleo?"
"I'm not real crazy about either of those," said Phoebe. "Coleo makes him sound like a rap singer and Cleo sounds like one of those late night psychics you see on TV."
"What about Trey?" the man suggested.
"Trey?" Piper questioned.
"Yes," said the man. "It means three. Somehow it seems appropriate. Three of us in one body."
"Sounds as good as any name to me," said Paige.
"Trey," said Phoebe, testing out the name. "It has a nice ring to it."
"Okay, Trey it is," said Piper. "So, Trey. Any idea how this could have happened to you? Leo and Cole know more about demons than any of us. With their combined memories you should be a virtual walking encyclopedia of demonic information."
"The last few minutes for both are a jumble," said Trey. "We don't remember anything specific just bits and pieces. Do you have any idea what kind of demon you were fighting?"
"No," said Paige. "We didn't have a chance to check the Book of Shadows and it didn't exactly introduce itself. It was red and had these horns coming out of its forehead."
"And it seemed to be looking for something," said Piper.
"Were its eyes black?" questioned Trey. "No pupils?"
"Yeah," said Piper, "as a matter of fact they were. Do you know what it was?"
"It sounds like a fusion demon," said Trey.
"What's a fusion demon?" Phoebe asked.
"Something very rare," said Trey. "They have the ability to fuse with other demons increasing their power. My guess is it was here after us. That is, the Cole part of us."
"That's why it didn't attack right away," said Piper.
"Probably," said Trey. "They can only fuse with other demons. They're usually only used against a very powerful opponent. When the opponent is no longer a threat the demon separates itself from whatever demon it's fused with."
"But why send it after Cole?" Phoebe questioned.
"Since Cole is only half demon," said Trey, "that would probably mean the Fusion Demon would have complete control over the fused form. Whomever sent it probably figured it could fuse with Cole, kill the three of you, and then deliver Cole to the Source."
"Kind of kill two birds with one stone," said Paige.
"That would be our guess," said Trey.
"I still don't understand how the two of you could have merged," said Phoebe. "One's a demon and the other's a White Lighter. That shouldn't be possible."
"Ordinarily we'd agree with you," said Trey. "It must have been the Fusion Demons' energy ball."
"Why would that make a difference?" Piper asked.
"Fireballs and energy balls are created from the magic within a demon," said Trey. "That would mean that on a very basic level the weapon is comprised of the core elements of the demon. The power of a Fusion Demon's energy ball would be comprised of the same fusion power as the demon itself. It must have interacted with the partially phased Leo and Cole fusing them at a genetic level. Kind of like intermingling their atomic structures. We are the result."
"So are you Cole or Leo?" Phoebe asked.
"Both," said Trey, "although neither is really in control. We're a separate entity altogether. We're just comprised of both."
"Great," said Paige. "A demon lighter.'
"That's probably not too far off the mark," said Trey.
"Well, our main concern now is how to separate them," said Piper. "To get them back. Can a Fusion Demon separate them?"
"No," said Trey. "A Fusion Demon can only extract itself from whatever demon it's fused with. They don't have any special powers over other demons in their non-fused state."
"What about a potion or spell?" Phoebe asked. "Maybe we could separate them that way."
"Fusion Demons are high level demons," said Trey. "When they fuse with another demon the fused demon has its powers increased dramatically. Nothing short of a Power of Three spell would even stand a chance of affecting it. And since it's that power that's fused us, nothing less is going to separate us.
"The only problem is that not even a Power of Three spell may be able to extract the cells properly. It would be like trying to separate the eggs from a cake after it's been baked. The eggs still exist but getting them out would be next to impossible."
"It might even be dangerous to try," said Paige.
"What do you mean?" Piper asked.
"Well, you keep telling me that magic can react in unpredictable ways," said Paige. "What if the spell doesn't work the way you plan? It might actually make matters worse. It might vanquish Trey instead of separating Leo and Cole."
"She has a point," said Phoebe. "I think our best chance is going to be a potion. Provided we can come up with one."
"That may not be possible," said Trey. "In order to counteract the demons' magic, the potion would have to be at least as strong as a vanquishing potion. And for that you'd need a piece of the demons' flesh."
"But Paige vanquished it," said Piper.
"My point exactly," said Trey.
"What about some flesh from another Fusion Demon?" Paige asked. "Maybe that would work."
"No," said Piper, "it won't. Potions for high level demons are specific. It wouldn't be any more useful for separating them than it would be to vanquish another demon. Without the flesh of the demon that caused this the potion would be useless."
"And we vanquished the demon," repeated Phoebe.
"Which means," said Trey, "there's no way to create a potion to separate them from us."
"I guess our only option is the Elders," said Phoebe. "They should be able to separate Cole and Leo."
"She's right," said Piper. "As much as I hate to admit it Trey is going to have to orb up there and tell them what happened."
"We'll go right away," said Trey. "With any luck we should be back soon."
Instead of orbing Trey began to shimmer. But the shimmer had a bluish affect to it not unlike Leo's orbing ability. Within seconds he was gone. Just as quickly he reappeared.
"What's wrong?" Paige asked. "Did you forget something?"
"No," said Trey. "Apparently we can't go up there. We think it's the half of us that's Cole that's preventing it. We're stuck down here."