A/N: Yuss, and here goes another chapter. I watched 'All Halliwells Eve' too many times, so I think I might've overdone it a bit. Oh well! lol, I did a bit of research on Tarot cards and all that, so it kinda took me a while to post this. XD Also, I passed my Learner's Test for driving, so I've been a bit busy. Doesn't matter much now though, because Chapter 4 is now here! ^.^ Oh, and be sure to read the Author's Note at the end of this. University's gonna come in soon, and life will be busier than ever so I might not have enough time to write. Hence, the A/N at the end of this story... ^.^ You'll see...
DISCLAIMER: Here we go again. Don't own them, and I don't own the song either. Although, I might be the owner of a Tarot Manga set soon. Hopefully anyway... XD
Chapter Four: A Touch of Destiny
'Cause you give me something
That makes me scared alright
This could be nothing
But I'm willing to give it a try
Please give me something
'Cause someday I might know my heart
- You Give Me Something (James Morrison)
The Triad stood on their respective convening positions around Cole. They had summoned him for a new plan, a definitive blow as they called it.
"We concur that it is time to make a move against the witches…" started one of the hooded beings.
"You have managed to get closer to them, and it is safe to say that you will not be suspected of anything with this plan…" said the other one behind him.
"Are you sure?" Cole asked. His cover was very important, especially if the plan failed.
"What do you know about the Warren line?" the third one asked.
"That it has always been one of the most powerful good forces over the centuries," he answered. "It is also the genealogical line from which the Charmed Ones come from."
"Indeed," they said. "And what is so special about tomorrow night?"
"All Hallow's Eve," he answered. This was sounding more and more like a school quiz rather than anything else. Although he had an inkling as to where they were going with this, it still seemed too rough on the details. "Your plan?"
"A portal. Back in time," one of them answered. "To finish the Warren line before it even starts."
He looked at them, a bit incredulously. It was a bit farfetched, but it was logical. Nipping the tree by the bud.
The hooded figure continued. "The matriarch of the Charmed Ones was born on that night under a circle of protection. You must prevent the child from being born good and their line will change, tipping the scales in favor of evil. It will not be necessary to kill the child."
Oh, so no killing this time? How… surprising, Cole mused.
"There is a woman, Ruth." they continued explaining. "Give the child to her and she will raise it to become evil…"
"…to gain an ally instead of an enemy." he concluded.
"Yes. If you succeed, the Charmed Ones will become evil. No need to waste powerful magic," the one behind him stated.
"We want you to pave the way for the upcoming eve of the child's birth. The portal is ready. You will commence in a few hours. You will capture the mother and retain her until the child is born." another one instructed.
Cole nodded. The three hooded figures gestured and started chanting.
Nos advocamus maleficus virtus
Muto tempus, aperto tempus
Aperto porta, abeo preteritus
The portal opened. "Capture the baby," they commanded him. "Do not fail."
"Didn't we vanquish them already?" Phoebe asked as she ran to Leo and her sisters.
Prue waved her hand and the Grimlocks flew onto the living room through the threshold. "I dunno! But that's not what I came to warn you about!" Leo said. Turning around, they saw a whirling pool in the air, distorting the see-through image it had of the other side of the room. "That's what I wanted to warn you about!"
"Look out!" Phoebe screamed. The Grimlocks had come recovered from their knock down. Piper moved fast and froze them.
"Leo, what the hell is-?"
Piper never managed to finish her sentence. The Grimlocks that were frozen in their foyer looked harmless compared to the vortex behind them. Leo never managed to explain either, because the next thing they knew, the vortex had suddenly sucked them into itself. All they saw was the blur of a tunnel, their head spinning and bodies spiraling out of control until they got spewed out onto a grassy field. Scrambling to get up with their Halloween costumes still on, they tried to make sense of what had just happened.
"Is everybody okay?" Prue asked, the first one to get up.
Phobe looked at their surroundings. "Too soon to tell…" she answered her.
"Did the Grimlocks do this?" asked Piper.
They all tried looking for anything that could be out of place or different. "Uh… Unless we're dead and this is the hereafter, I don't think so." Prue concluded.
"Eternally Elvira? Yeechh…" Phoebe gestured, looking at her black and revealing outfit.
Walking a few paces from where they landed, they found a pile of stones set up on top of each other with fruits and flowers set on top.
"Alright," Prue said while she checked out the pile. "Uh, so this looks like witch's altar."
Piper looked at her. "A witch's altar? What's going on?"
Voices of men coming from afar interrupted their discussion. They seemed to be on a hunt, men on horses, with torches and pitchforks in broad daylight.
"There they are!" one of them yelled. "Kill the witches!"
"Oh, you had to ask!" Phoebe protested as they all started to panic.
"Not good, not good, not good!" Piper said, heading for the bushes. "Flee! We're not in Kansas anymore!"
The mob galloped in closer, as Prue, Piper and Phoebe tried to run for cover. How did they know they were witches anyway? They hadn't even done anything yet.
"Don't tell me we've time traveled again!" whispered Piper. "I hate time traveling!"
Phoebe whispered back at her, "You do? I was burnt at the stake last time, remember?"
"Alright, let's make sure that doesn't happen again." Prue said. Eyeing the mob in more detail, she tried applying what she'd learnt at university. "From what they're wearing, it looks to be… what, sixteen, seventeen hundreds?"
"Where the life expectancy of the average witch is, what, fifteen minutes?" snapped Phoebe.
The rustling in the bushes behind them made them stop the conversation. A man came out of the bushes, startling them and made them gasp in surprise. They'd been caught.
"Find anything, Micah?" one of the hunters called out. Prue locked eyes with the man as he stared back at her. She stopped Piper with an arm when she was about to freeze him. "No, nothing here! Ride on!" he answered back at his companions.
"Shhh…" he told them, a finger on his lips, before ran off to join the others.
Phoebe and Piper looked at Prue, who was still looking at the guy's back, in a daze. "Why wouldn't you let me freeze him?"
"I dunno," she answered her, mesmerized. "There was just… something."
"Don't touch me," the woman snapped at him, trying to put on as much anger on the line as she could while in pain.
Cole took his hand back along with the wet cloth. "There's no need for you to be anymore uncomfortable than you have to be," he told her. It was something to take the child away from the mother, it was another to keep the woman in more pain than necessary. In normal circumstances, he would really care, but it didn't really matter if he was considerate right now or anything. She'd end up being dead after all of this anyway.
"Really?" she defied. "Then let me go. I beg you…"
"Even if I could, it wouldn't help." he said, sincerely. "Another one would be sent to take you right back."
Ruth, who was on the table, gasped at the cards she'd just drawn out of her reading. "What? What do you see?" Cole asked her.
"A force of great good, from your time. Here, for the baby as well." she told him.
Cole came closer to look at the cards laid out on the table. He saw three female cards, Queens, specifically. "Three of them. I'm not surprised my traveling here undoubtedly alerted the other side," he mused. If he was about to change history, the Elders would have probably sensed it beforehand.
"But this new force…" Ruth said, worried.
"If it's who I think it is… I can handle them." he answered. "You just make sure she stays here through midnight."
With that, he turned away and left the room. He needed some time to think before he went through with any of this. A couple of days ago, he had been so willing to go through with the mission when the Triad had called him, but right now… Where's all this doubt coming from Belthazor? he asked himself. He did not understand why he couldn't enjoy pain as much as he did before. He was about to eliminate the most powerful source of good magic from its very inception, and somehow he felt… sorry about it. This would obviously mean the demise of Prue and Phoebe Halliwell, but he'd rather not go there yet.
Prue looked around from behind her mask. Piper and Phoebe were walking right beside her as they roamed around the festivities. There was music, pipe flutes playing at the background, jugglers walking while maneuvering apples in the air, dancing, drinking, laughter and masks. It was like one big seventeenth century party. They had to be more careful now. Their previous attempt had failed miserably and had gotten Eve injured. It wasn't such a good thing to find out you had no powers in the middle of a battle, but they hoped that now they were better equipped, the power of All Hallows Eve would be enough to rescue Charlotte.
Along with a few apples, a doll and a broom, she mused.
"Care to know your future m'lady?" a voice asked Prue. Looking around expecting to find Piper and Phoebe, she instead saw an old man, graying beard and balding. He had kind eyes, and looked harmless, almost the grandfather type.
"No, thank you…" she answered him kindly, "I'm pretty familiar with it already..."
The old man insisted. "Are you certain?" he asked. "There is no harm in knowing who your love might be… I can reveal many things…" he said showing her a deck of cards.
Tarot, huh?
"I'm sorry, I just don't believe in those kind of things," she said, ready to keep on walking. One thing was being a witch and fighting demons, another was believing in stupid cards to tell you what your life would turn out to be.
And then the voice of another man called out to her. "Interesting…" he said. "A lady who does not take interest in love."
Prue turned around to face the voice that had recently joined a conversation she thought was already over. It came from a tall man behind her, wearing his black mask. He had long and flowing dark hair, going down to his shoulders, a face that would probably be handsome without the mask and piercing eyes that were all too familiar. She tried looking at him closely, seeing if she recognized Micah. Somehow, she didn't get the same vibe. He was different.
Cole looked at the woman in front of him, the back of her seeming familiar. When she turned around to face him, he saw her eyes, reminding him of another pair that were of the same shade. His slight curiosity over a woman not interested in knowing her future turned into wonder as he looked at her.
"And, why would it be so interesting, pray tell…?" she asked him.
"Wouldn't a beautiful lady such as yourself be interested in knowing who will hold her heart?" he countered.
She looked at him, and then at the old man who was still watching expectantly. They were both being rather persuasive, and they were only staring her down. Seriously Prue, I can't believe you're even considering this. She sighed. I guess a little card game wouldn't hurt.
"Fine," she nodded, following the tarot reader to his desk.
Shuffling the cards swiftly, he divided them into three piles. Making her choose one, he set aside the deck and reshuffled the rest, and dividing the reshuffled part, he made her choose between two piles, and placed the one she didn't choose on top of it. Then, he combined all the cards by putting the set-aside pile at the bottom of all of it. With his left hand, he picked out the card on top and laid it out in the open. She remembered a course she took in college on Art History. Tarot art and the symbolism included in it. The beautiful lining and the colors all represented something. It was the picture of a queen, serious and dignified, looking ahead with her head held high and holding a sword forward.
"Ahhh… You are strong. And proud. You rule your life with precaution and with your head. You are intelligent and wise, you do not let your heart take over what must be done," he said. She was liking the description more and more. "Oh, but you have also suffered and lost. You know what pain is like, and are careful not to suffer again. You are alone."
"Andy…" she whispered, the first name she thought of when the reader mentioned loss. Hey! Okay, yes maybe I am alone right now. But it doesn't mean I'm going to end up like a batty old lady with a million cats! she argued in her head.
"Hmm?" the reader and Cole both looked at her. "You said something?" the reader asked.
"Ah, nothing. Continue," she answered. He took out another card and laid it down beneath hers. It had the picture of a dark creature with horns. Everything had a black background and fire surrounding it. The old man looked at it quizzically, with his brow furrowed. The card grabbed Cole's attention and definitely captured it. This was definitely very interesting.
"That is… odd," he said.
It didn't look good from her perspective either, given that the card was upside down. "Why?"
"It is reversed. The man… The man you are destined with. He is… the devil," he answered her, barely with a whisper. "Upright, this card is the symbol of desire… But with too much, desire then becomes evil. And, when it is reversed, it is the worst of all desires. He is the devil himself."
What, am I going to fall in love with a demon? she thought sarcastically. "Maybe when the horns and the goat legs disappear…" she joked.
The reader just looked at her, still worried. Drawing out another card, he placed it at the bottom center of the table, right in front of her. The fourth card had the drawings of five sticks, with five people holding each. They looked like they were fighting.
"The Five of Wands." the reader said. "You have already started with a fight… or at least what seemed like a fight."
"Seemed?" Prue asked incredulous. "I probably kicked his ass! He's a demon. That's hardly surprising," she said.
"A… demon?" Cole asked her.
Oh crap! "I mean, you know… the devil? So, evil demon… Kind of the same, right?" she said, trying to make up for the slip. Prue looked curiously at him. His voice reminded her of someone, which irritated her a bit. The man looked as intently back at her as she did to him.
"None too accurate I'm afraid," he answered. "There is a fine line between a demon and evil." Prue looked at the masked man suspiciously. He seemed to know more about demons than he was supposed to.
"And how would a kind sire such as you know so much about evil?" she asked him.
He gave her a look. "Experience m'lady. Such a pretty face as yourself should know that evil…" he paused as if to make a point. "…can come in many guises."
Prue kept looking at him, trying to push through what was behind the mask. Her instincts told her to be wary and careful, but not for the reasons her head seemed to be telling her. She would definitely have to look out for him.
"Yes… sure," the tarot reader said smiling inwardly as he interrupted their staring contest. "Well you seem to be playing," Prue and Cole jumped a little, hearing the old man's voice. "Us?" they asked at the same time.
The tarot reader let his smile come out. "By 'you' I mean, you and the man in the cards of your life of course," he clarified. "He might not be so far away as one would think…"
"Really now?" Cole commented. "I wonder who the lady might be referring to… I would feel pity for the man who ends up with such a violent wife…" he grinned under the black mask.
Prue glared at him. Who was this guy anyway? "If he were to cry foul every time we had a little fun, maybe you should feel sorry for him."
The tarot reader looked at them. It was as if the cards were playing themselves out right before his eyes. With that, the reader drew another card. The next one showed three swords stabbing a bleeding heart. Prue looked at the design and drew her hand to her chest, looking worried. The card just oozed pain all over the place.
"Necessary cutting. In the present, or the near present. Somehow, somebody or something will be left out," the reader explained.
"What do you mean… left out?" Prue asked.
He looked at the card. "Well, at this moment, it could be anything or anyone. Shall we shed some more light?" he asked, taking another card from the pile and placing it on top of the Three of Swords stabbing the heart. The reader's hand turned the card to face up, revealing the image of a queen, beautifully and delicately seated on her thrown, looking at the golden cup on her hands.
Prue and the man beside her looked curiously at the card. If Prue remembered the details of her course clearly, this was supposed to be a very intuitive woman, who was usually led by emotions rather than anything else. "The Queen of Cups?" she asked.
"Yes. A very sensitive and emotional lady. Someone, who although lacking in common sense, has very accurate instincts… Almost as if she could sense the future. And it seems it might be someone rather close to you. A sister, perhaps?" the reader asked.
At the mention of the word sister, Phoebe's name flashed in her head. It all seemed to fit. She could not count how many times she'd accused Phoebe of being reckless and often a dreamer who had 'no vision'. But then, if Phoebe's the one getting cut off… The guy must be…
"No… No, it couldn't be." she mused to herself. Cole was the only person she could think of at the moment. "Cole.. and Phoebe?" she whispered.
Cole strained to hear the whisper, which sounded very much like his name. "It seems to me as if you will have a very complicated deal in your hands soon, my lady," the man beside her said.
The reader chuckled. "Indeed. Getting involved with an evil man who will cut one's sister off… It all makes for a very turbulent future."
The old man continued, dealing two cards at the same time and placing them next to each other. One of them showed a boy or a young man looking up to the sky happily, the sun on his back and his dog beside him.
"How appropriate. The Fool." the reader stated signaling at the first card, while Cole chuckled. "You are attracted to him because of foolishness and naiveté."
Prue smiled. "Well, that should explain it…" She wasn't in the right state of mind.
"Yes, or it could apply to the man as well. He must've been all too dim-witted to have fallen for such a woman as her," Cole grinned behind his mask.
Prue looked at him, eyes spitting fire behind the mask of green leaves. "Speaking from first-hand experience now, are we sir?" she threw back at him.
"Ah, well you see, the man was blinded by beauty. It was foolishness indeed," he replied at her calmly.
Prue was taken aback by the implied compliment. For some reason, the way he looked at her made her think he wasn't talking about knights and queens in cards anymore.
The tarot reader observed the verbal battle ensuing. If it did not seem all too coincidental, he might have thought the lady and sire that were in front of him had met before. The second card showed them an upside down moon: One half showing it's face sideways, while the rest hidden in darkness. At the top, it showed what looked like a dog and a wolf howling at it upside down.
"Unfortunately… Secrets plague the next card," he said, pointing at the moon card. "The upright moon shows mystery, what is hidden and what is not seen. But reversed, it involves trickery and deception. Both of you may have many secrets that are to be kept hidden."
Prue felt even more uneasy. Everything kept hitting her like small epiphanies, and each card seemed to just fit in place like an unknown puzzle. The reading was just too accurate for her liking. She hoped the cards didn't reveal anything about her being a witch. Even though this was only a card game, she couldn't take any chances when so many people were looking.
Cole looked at the layout of the cards so far and he sensed Prue's uneasiness. The devil card was screaming at him like nothing else in the table. It just confirmed his plans even more, but with the wrong sister. This was some other lady's fortune reading, not his nor any of the witches he'd come to erase from history, but he couldn't shake the nagging feeling inside. The cards' meanings kept hitting home, and The Fool was very appropriate indeed. He felt the twang of irony. If only the old man knew how well he had nailed everything… With every dealing of the card, the situation seemed to be more dangerous, but they both couldn't help but listen till the end. The old tarot reader drew the last card, and suddenly, everything happened very fast.
"Witches!" a woman cried out.
That's impossible! We couldn't have been caught yet! Prue thought, completely forgetting everything else. She turned around from the table alarmed at the cry. She needed to find Piper and Phoebe immediately and took off her mask to see better. Cole watched the woman in front of him panic. As she turned to face him again as she searched for someone, he saw her face. It was Prue. The revelation hit him like a bucket of cold water.
"Piper?" she called out amidst the crowd.
Piper came out from her right side. "I'm here! Where's Phoebe?" she asked.
"Oh no…" Prue pointed ahead. "Phoebe!"
One of the masked men was searching her. If they found her out, they'd be screwed. Prue and Piper ran to her. Cole watched incredulously at the scene playing out. One minute, he was finding out about the future and staring at the beautiful lady, the next, he was on his mission again. He looked at Ruth.
"Those two as well!" Ruth ordered the guards as she saw Prue and Piper. "There's your three!" she said to him.
"Hey!" Prue protested. They don't need to be so rough! At the thought, one of the masked men discovered the little pumpkin with engravings inside Phoebe's cloak. They had found proof.
"Hang them! Hang them!" the crowd cheered. "Hang them all!"
Prue struggled with the guard that was holding her, even though she knew it was of no use. It was like the Salem Witch Trials all over again. Still struggling, a pair of familiar eyes met hers. It was the man who had been talking to her by the tarot reader. He seemed shocked. Well, it's not everyday you find out you were flirting with a witch… He gaped at her until she was dragged away.
The tarot reader looked at the last card he had drawn out before all the chaos and confusion. It was the card of Death.
Cole stared at the cup in his hands. He was back in Ruth's house, reflecting on the events that had happened earlier. They'd been hanged… And the feeling that he did not feel as good as he thought it would have scared him. Moreover, it had actually been painful. What was worse was that while he watched, he had wanted to go save them. Except somebody else already got ahead of him and when the man freed them, he felt relief. He threw the cup against the wall and it smashed into a thousand little pieces. He wasn't supposed to feel relief. He was supposed to succeed.
Calm down. You know what they're going to do next.
The witches had already gotten a hold of Charlotte. They would be going to the hideout, by the witch altar.
"Is it time?" Ruth asked.
Cole looked at the clock. "Ready the men. We are going."
Moments later, Cole mounted a horse and led the men into the night through the wilderness. Their torches provided enough light to know which way they were going. He'd already given them enough time to move on, but thinking of the pregnant woman, they would never get too far. Unfortunately, he was right. Looking ahead, he saw Prue and Phoebe running around the altar.
"What are you doing?" Ruth asked him, while he pulled the reins of his horse to slowly pace and finally stop.
"Seeing what they've learnt," he said, his eyes never leaving the four women.
He recognized Prue's silhouette in the moonlight who was standing by the altar, apparently chopping. Piper was taking care of Charlotte, while Phoebe ran in a circle around all of them. Taking whatever it was that they were holding and placing it around them, the men in their horses collided with an invisible wall.
A circle of protection, he mused. Well done… Once again, you've showed us why you are the most powerful witches of all time. "They've connected. It's over-"
"Not yet!" Ruth countered. And she was right - one of the men took his gun and shot at the altar. The three of them learnt the hard way that the circle of protection did not stop bullets.
Watching intently, trying to see what they were doing amidst the men trying to get into the force field, he suddenly saw something float. A woman - or a witch actually. With a hat. On a broomstick. It was Phoebe.
He watched her float away in the broomstick over the men who cowered at the sight of her. He chuckled. Huh… How creative of them… He watched her cackle into the moonlight. Clearly, she was enjoying this too much, but unfortunately for him, he had failed. The child had been born into goodness and the Warren line had continued. And yet for some reason, it did not really all seem so bad. He'd have to report to the Triad later of course, but that would be later.
"You've gotta give them credit. They're awfully good," he said, dismounting his horse. "It's alright. Time's on my side," he mused, more to his benefit than anyone else's. He sprinkled the enchanted powder on the floor and opened the portal to return him to the present, while Ruth watched on, horrified. Time was on his side indeed.
A/N: So here is where you guys come in! ^.^ Please review! I'm planning an 'extra' episode coming soon, based rather loosely on one of the Charmed Novels that for some reason they never made into an episode... And it involves a LOT of kissing. So, review coz I need your guy's opinion! And also, to see how many people are interested on it... Or else I won't post it... Mwahahahah! Say... Ten reviews for this chappie? XD I shall be mean... lol!