Sword and the City Rewrite (Part II)

Disclaimer: I don't own Charmed or any of the characters… although, I really wish I did own at least a certain slightly neurotic, but charmingly adorable future Whitelighter. Unfortunately they belong to someone else. So does the episode Sword and the City.

Author's Note: This was a little wild hare of mine… and I just had to get it out. The episode Sword and the City originally ran in Season 6 of Charmed… one of only two episodes that season that didn't have Chris in it. I figured, there must have been some reason for it, right? Anyway, here's my altered version. The first few parts are basically transcripts from the show, but there are differences as it goes on. Promise! I hope you enjoy it.

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A short time later, Piper, Paige and Richard are gathered in the Conservatory at the Manor. The sword and the stone rest in the middle of the room as Piper sweeps around the massive artifact.

"Okay, could you maybe miss the table?" Piper asks, mildly annoyed.

Paige rolls her eyes, "I'm sorry. I've never orbed anything that heavy before or that historic."

The sword gleams brilliantly, sparkling as if with some inner light.

Richard stares at it, transfixed, "Do you see it glowing?"

"No, it's the sun room, there's a lot of light," Piper says, writing it off as nothing.

Paige looks at her sister incredulously, "What part of this reality aren't you getting? Sword. Stone. Lady. Lake?"

"It was a pond," Piper argues.

Richard questions, "Do you think she's from Avalon?"

Paige nods, "Yeah, I think she was flushed out by whoever's after Excalibur." The half witch, half whitelighter pauses dramatically, looking at the sword, "The maker of kings."

Piper stops her sweeping to stare at the two of them, "Look, we're not talking about Camelot, right? Because that's not real."

"So you're saying you never believed in King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table?" Paige asks.

Piper says, "Yes, I did, when I was seven, and then I grew up."

Paige laughs, "Yeah, you grew up to be a witch that fights demons and silly looking dragons."

"That's different," Piper argues, "that's real."

Paige gestures to the sword and the stone, "And this isn't real?"

"What is real are those hooded freaks," Piper says, still denying the reality of Excalibur.

Richard looks concerned, resting a hand on Paige's shoulder, "They're not gonna give up now that the sword is in the open."

"How do you know?" Piper asks in a mildly suspicious tone.

"Whoever has Excalibur is unstoppable," Richard answers, looking at the sword.

Phoebe walks in, carrying the Book of Shadows, "Okay, there is definitely nothing in the book." Phoebe tilts her head to one side, looking at Richard noticing that he's still around. "Oh, hi. How ya doing?"

Piper nearly grinds her teeth together, "Phoebe, please, put a stop to this nonsense."

Phoebe stops, still looking pointedly at Richard, "Didn't realize you were still here."

Paige defends Richard, "That's okay, you can talk freely in front of him. Lord knows we've been through enough."

Phoebe shakes her head, "No, not really."

"Phoebe," Piper says in a warning tone.

Richard shifts uncomfortably, drawing his hand away from Paige, "Look, I should probably go…"

Phoebe looks at Piper, then plasters an incredibly fake smile on her face, "Don't be ridiculous, you're great."

Paige takes Richard's hand again, "Okay, anyway, book, Excalibur."

Phoebe shakes her head, "Yeah, nothin', nada."

"Really?" Paige asks.

Piper looks smug, nodding towards Paige, "Told ya."

"You know, hey, maybe it's been out of circulation since 'ye olden days', and maybe no Halliwell has come across it before," Paige suggests.

Phoebe flips through the pages and offers the book towards her sisters, "Well, we have run across these guys. Executioner demons. Low-level Bad Asses for hire."

"Who hired them?" Piper asks.

Phoebe flips to the next page, "This higher-level Bad Ass."

Piper crosses towards Phoebe and looks at the page, "A power mad paladin of destruction."

Paige looks towards Richard, squeezing his hand gently, "Maybe, you know, maybe we should just kind of hang out later."

Richard nods, certainly not feeling welcomed by the other two, "Yeah, okay. Bye."

Piper waves to Richard, not wanting to be rude, "Bye."

Richard heads out of the conservatory towards the front door, followed by Paige. "Be careful in all of this," Richard says to Paige.

"Always. I had a really good time last night," Paige says.

"Me too."

"What?" Paige asks.

"Uh, I just don't think your sisters like me very much," Richard says quietly to her.

Paige shakes her head, "Oh, that's not true."

"Really?"

Paige shrugs, "Okay, maybe they're just doing the over protective sister thing."

Richard smiles, touching the side of Paige's face, "Well, that's a good thing because I don't want anything to happen to you."

"Don't worry," Paige reassures him with a hug.

Phoebe is watching Paige and Richard in the other room from the Conservatory. Piper tries to draw her back into the subject at hand and get her to quit pestering their little sister.

"So, he's an upper level demon which means you should be able to make a vanquishing potion," Piper says.

"Okay," Phoebe says, then a beat later, "Wait, me? Why me?"

"Because… hello… I have a few hundred things to do around here in addition to raising a small child," Piper says.

Phoebe bites her lower lip, "I know, you have so much to do, you're my hero. But I can't, I have to go to work. I still don't have an assistant and I'm swamped." Phoebe heads quickly towards the door before she can really be suckered into making the potion.

Piper calls after her, "Phoebe." With Phoebe leaving and Paige returning to the room, Piper turns to her. "Paige! Potion?"

"Oh, I'm sorry, honey, the temp agency's already got me a new job," Paige says.

"But that hardly compares with…" Piper starts, gesturing towards the sword.

Paige gives Piper a look, "Come on, you know there's a magical reason that I had every one of these jobs and who am I to interfere with destiny?"

"Okay, so you want me to add baby-sit the sword and mix vanquishing potion to my never ending 'to do' list?" Piper asks.

"Look, the sword is stuck in the stone. You know it, I know it, the bad guys know it. Nobody is going to get it out until King Arthur pulls it out and when that happens there'll be lots of fireworks," Paige says.

Piper asks, "And when might that be?"

"How should I know? Maybe in a couple thousand years," Paige says, starting to walk out. Part of the way out of the door Paige turns around and walks back towards the sword. With a grin she grabs hold of the hilt and gives it a hard tug to try to pull it out. The sword doesn't even budge. With a laugh and a shrug, Paige grins at Piper, "Well, you can't blame a girl for trying."

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In a cave within the Underworld the Dark Knight pushes a demon against the wall and holds his sword up to the demon's neck. "Oh, but I do blame you," the Dark Knight growls, "The sword is now locked in stone. You promised me murderers, what you delivered was cannon fodder for witches."

"Those weren't just witches," the demon says in his defense.

"Tell me, demon, will your thick head still spout excuses when its cut from your neck?" the Dark Knight threatens.

"If the sword is with the Charmed Ones, it means we need a better class of executioners, that's all," the demon says.

Slowly the Dark Knight lowers his sword, "And how much more will this cost me?"

"The Charmed Ones are formidable."

"How much?"

"To provide you with more executioners, and the training needed to drown the Charmed Ones in their own blood…" the demon walks over to a round table with a large pentagram carved out of the top. The demon smiles and turns back towards the Dark Knight, "A seat at the table. If your goal is to unite all evil under the corrupted power of the sword, you can do far worse than have me at your side."

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Author's Note: Still getting up to the point where Chris will come in. He'll show up in the next chapter, just keep reading… and when you finish, do me a huge favor and click that little box that says 'review'!