THIRTY-THREE
Phoebe looked over her list one more time. She had spent the last couple of hours trying to come up with a list of people close to her that could be the other half of the anchor. She had begun by listing the people she could remember that she had known in her life. She left out most of her childhood friends and acquaintances. Most of those she hadn't seen in years and, in truth, she had never really been that close to them.
The list she had was relatively short. There were her sisters, of course, including Paige. There was her father, mother, grams, Andy, and Darryl. And, of course, there was Leo. There were also some people she had known at Quake, Buckland's, and some of her college friends. Not to mention some of the innocents she had helped save over the years.
She immediately removed Grams, Prue, and Andy. They had died in the true timeline and Tempus said it would be someone who was relatively the same in both timelines. She also removed Paige and Leo from the list since Tempus had all ready checked them and said they weren't the other half of the anchor. He said It would also be a magical being so that meant that Darryl and many of the innocents would also be removed from the list. Not to mention people at Quake and her college friends
On second thought she decided to leave the latter two on the list. She had no way of knowing who – if any – of them might be magical and she didn't know about it. It would be a simple matter to remove them later when it was discovered they had no connection to magic.
"I never realized how hard this was going to be," she told Piper. "Or how many people we interact with every day that we know virtually nothing about."
"There does seem to be quite a few names," said Piper. "Are you sure that's everyone? Maybe someone you knew a long time ago that might have slipped your mind?"
"I think so. I think we remember at least something about people who ever meant something to us. Even if you loose contact with them I think they still stay in your memories for a very long time. I just wish I knew more about what Tempus is looking for. Once the list is complete he'll have to check each name to see if they're the one we're looking for."
"That's going to be dangerous. We can't bring them all down here to the underworld. Which means he'll have to go to the mortal plane. Each time he does he'll risk detection."
"Leo said he'll take the list to the Elders when I'm finished. They'll be able to eliminate some of the names. They should know if any of them are magical or not."
"Unless they're like Paige," said Piper. "She's been around for more than twenty years and the Elders didn't know about her."
"That's true. But I think a lot of that has to do with the fact that she didn't know who or what she was. So she wouldn't have used any magic consciously. As it is she only used magic once and that was a subconscious use of her orbing. When her parents died."
"Well, there must be a lot of people who have powers who don't know about them. People like Paige who might have been adopted and know nothing about their lineage. Or maybe descendents of witches whose power has lain dormant for decades. There's just no way to know for sure."
"How's it going?" Leo asked, coming into the chamber where Piper and Phoebe sat.
"Not bad, I guess," said Phoebe. "I think I've got it narrowed down as much as I can without knowing more about some of these people. How long do you think it will take the Elders to eliminate some of the names?"
"That's hard to say," said Leo. "Normally they'd send a White Lighter to check them out. That could be very dangerous especially with Dark Lighters working with the government. They'll have to check from the White Lighter realm which is less effective and takes longer."
"It is possible that some of the people on the list aren't alive any longer," said Paige. "Or have been identified as not being witches by the government scanners. That should help narrow the list down."
"It still leaves quite a few names," said Phoebe. "And each of those names is going to have to be checked by Tempus. That's going to be dangerous for him."
"We're going to help as much as possible," said Leo. "Considering the urgency of the situation, the Elders have said I can use memory dust to remove the memories of anyone we have to test. If we can't get the timeline put back then we can't have them remembering what we did. It's a drastic measure but a necessary one considering the possible repercussions."
"It's too bad the other half of the anchor wasn't Paige," said Phoebe. "Other than you and Leo she's about the closest one to me in the real timeline. It sure would have made things a lot simpler."
"I know, sweetie," said Piper. "I guess it just can't be that easy
"That's the first time you've called me that since this timeline was altered," said Phoebe. "I never realized how much I miss it."
"Well, I'll admit I didn't trust you at first," said Piper. "You'd be surprised how many 'relatives' we've had since being put into that camp. Each with their own agenda for trying to get close to us. But over the past few days I've come to see that you're serious about what you told us. And how much you care about Prue and me. And Paige, of course. I get the feeling we were all very close in the real timeline."
"Eventually," said Phoebe. "It wasn't always that way. Prue and I used to fight like cats and dogs and you were always the tranquilizing force between us. After we became witches we had to become close or we would have been killed long ago."
"You even seem to be close to Leo," said Piper. "You said he and I are married in the real timeline?"
"Yes," said Phoebe. "Oh, it's anything but a smooth road. Like everyone else you have your problems. And I guess you being a witch and he being a White Lighter probably gives you problems that other couples don't have. But you love each other very much and no matter what happens you always seem to be able to work things out."
"That's good to hear," said Leo. "It seems strange that the Elders would allow us to get married. That's one of the most important rules. Second only to not interfering with free will, of course. I still don't understand why they would have allowed it."
"It wasn't easy," said Phoebe. "At first they said no. But then Aames tried to kill all the White Lighters and it came down to us to stop him. Once we did that the Elders changed their minds and allowed it. I guess they decided since we risked our lives to protect them they owed us something."
"You never got married?" Leo asked.
"Actually she did," said Piper. "She told Prue and me that she married Belthazor, no less."
"You married an upper level demon?" Leo asked in shocked surprise.
"That was a long time ago," said Phoebe. "And it wasn't like it just happened over night. Initially he was sent by the Source to kill us. Because he is half human and has a soul he understands humanity like most demons can't. Eventually he and I fell in love and he turned good."
"So, what happened?" Piper asked. "You said that at one time he was your husband. That implies he isn't any more."
"After we vanquished the Source," said Phoebe, "he absorbed the Source's power. I guess it was just too much for him to withstand. He reverted back to evil and we ended up having to vanquish him."
"That's terrible," said Piper. "Having to vanquish your own husband? I can't even imagine what that must be like."
"Well, like I said, he reverted back to evil," said Phoebe. "When he tried to kill you and Paige I realized I had no choice. We had to vanquish him to protect ourselves."
"You vanquished the Source?" Leo asked.
"It wasn't easy," said Phoebe. "We all nearly died doing it. And we were only able to because Cole helped. Vanquishing him after all that was the hardest thing I've ever had to do."
"I can imagine," said Piper. "I guess mom and Prue aren't the only ones you'll loose if the timeline is reset."
"Not completely," said Phoebe. "After Cole came back from the Wasteland he tried to convince me . . ."
"Wait a minute," said Leo. "Cole came back from the Wasteland?"
"What's the Wasteland?" Piper asked.
"It's the place where vanquished demons go," said Phoebe. "Yes, he came back. He never told me how he was able to do it. He just said that because he has a soul it protected him from being vanquished like regular demons. Somehow he was able to get the magic he needed to escape the Wasteland."
"I've never heard of a demon ever coming back from the Wasteland," said Leo.
"Oh my God," said Phoebe. "Could that be the answer? Leo, I need to talk to Tempus now. Do you know where he is?"
"I think he's in a chamber down the passage to the left," said Leo. "He said something about needing to conserve his strength to try to reset the timeline."
"Let's go," said Phoebe.
Confused Piper and Leo followed Phoebe down the passage to where Tempus was. As they entered the chamber Tempus was looking through an ancient tome. He looked up as the three entered.
"You said the other half of the anchor would be someone close to me and someone who is magical," Phoebe said without preamble.
"That's correct," said Tempus. "Because you are the one who cast the spell it would be someone connected to you. And it must be a magical being otherwise the magic would have destroyed them."
"How powerful would they have to be?" Phoebe asked.
"Quite powerful, I should imagine," said Tempus. "The stronger their magic the stronger their position as the anchor. Just as your sister. She's a Charmed One. There is no stronger magic for good, according to the prophecies."
"You also said they would be essentially the same in both timelines," said Phoebe.
"Essentially, yes. There may be some minor differences, however."
"Is it possible their memories could have been altered? Maybe they believe they belong in this timeline?"
"I suppose it's possible. The magic of the folded timelines may have caused the memories of this timeline to be imprinted over those of their real memories. Why all the questions?"
"One last question. Could this person be a demon?"
"A demon? Who's close to a witch? I find that extremely difficult to believe."
"Just answer the question. Could this person be a demon?"
"Of course. In fact, it would make perfect sense. Two individuals– one good, one evil – would be quite an effective anchor. It would anchor both the good and evil sides of the timelines together. All of which is moot since it is virtually impossible for a demon and a witch to have such a relationship. Even assuming that the witch does not have knowledge that the other is a demon, no demon would care for a witch in this way. It is completely contrary to their nature."
"Unless the demon is half human," said Phoebe.
"Belthazor?" Tempus questioned. "You think Belthazor is the other half of the anchor?"
"Yes," said Phoebe. "I can't explain it right now but let's just say that the Cole of the real timeline is capable of having feelings that no other demon is capable of. He's half human. That means he has the same feelings and emotions as any human. He may have suppressed them his entire life but he still has them."
"An interesting premise," said Tempus. "In that light I suppose it is quite possible that Belthazor could be the other half of the anchor. But as I said he must be close to you. Does he occupy a place of prominence in your human heart?"
"He was my husband," said Phoebe. "At one time I loved him very much. I guess somewhere deep down I still love him. I probably always will. Something like that doesn't change completely."
"Then perhaps I should see if Belthazor is the other half of the anchor," said Tempus, putting down the tome he was looking at. "If this is true I may be able to unfold time very quickly. Let's go find Belthazor."
Together the group followed Tempus out of the chamber to find Cole.