Chapter 9- Survivor: Magic School
A/Note: This chapter is pretty damn long, but I'm also pretty damn proud of how it turned out. If you think so as well, leave a pretty damn good review. :)
I hope you enjoy and please try to leave a nice constructive review if possible with the parts you enjoyed and even speculate along the way. Thanks.
September 30th, 2006
Morning in the attic of Halliwell Manor was busy as Piper bottled her famous explosive potions. After they were all corked, she moved over to a table that had four black one-strap potion pouches and equally stocked the purple potions. For this battle, she needed to be comfortable to move around and Piper was more than that in a brown suede jacket, blue jeans and black sneakers.
Phoebe walked in with Billie right behind.
"Billie, why on earth are you wearing that?" Piper asked as she spotted Billie's attire.
The witch had on a black sports bra with matching tights. Around her arms were black bracelets and a leather band around her wrist. "What? They're from my super chick days. They're really easy to move around in as well as blend with demons."
"I'm not going to argue on your fashion sense," Piper finally said after glaring at the witch up and down for a few seconds. "How did the potions go downstairs?"
"Well done," Phoebe said pulling one blue potion out of her pocket. "There's a few more downstairs but they are for dire emergencies."
The potions Phoebe and Billie were brewing in the kitchen were the same ones they used against each other in the Ultimate Battle. They were labeled as 'Atomic Potions' as it seemed appropriate since it displayed powerful explosions when collided with something.
"Okay, so we'll all take a couple. Any idea when Paige is getting back?" The eldest asked as she finished stocking the potions and slung one pouch over her shoulder.
"She's had quite a few charges and getting them to help us out is important. We don't have the full approval of the magical community as some still don't like us, some don't like Billie and some don't like us working with Billie," Phoebe explained as she opened a drawer and pulled out two athamaes. "She should be here soon though."
"I think she's hesitant," Piper commented. "She's pregnant and doesn't want to risk getting herself hurt. Billie, you're living with her. How she's been doing?" Both Piper and Phoebe stopped to listen to what she had to say.
"She's actually been studying a lot about techniques we can use and has been practicing her powers daily. I think she's also doing it to keep her mind off of the guy she killed. Her orbing advancement is really coming along and she is also self-healing. Henry and I were wondering how she healed herself after she was hit with the Darklighter arrow and we came to that conclusion. She added all her new Darklighter knowledge to her Book," Billie explained.
"Would you say she's been a little too obsessed with magic? How have her and Henry been doing?" Phoebe asked.
"Honestly, I think you should take it up with her. I don't want to betray Paige in the sense that I'm spilling the beans of everything she's been up to," Billie admitted. "I'm sorry."
"Don't be, sweetie," Phoebe said with a comforting face. "We were just concerned about her, but you're right. We'll ask her some time today." Phoebe held out one of the two athamaes for Billie.
"No need," Billie said. She held out her own hand and a gold glow shone over her palm and an athamae appeared. "Paige has had me practice my projection power… Every day. She thinks that if I concentrate hard enough, I can help you guys amplify a protection spell."
"Magic School is enormous. You got the school and the outside grounds, it'll be a lot to cloak from evil," Piper warily said.
"Paige thinks I can and I trust her word," Billie said as she slid the athamae she conjured into the slit of her boot.
Paige then orbed in, clad in an aqua blue shirt with blue jeans and white sneakers. "Hey, guys."
"And there she goes," Phoebe chimed. "How did it go? Did you get in touch with all your charges?"
"I actually reached all of them. The only ones that aren't coming to fight are the future Whitelighters and Evelyn, the Oracle. I've given them all transport potions and instructed them how to use them. We should get there first though in case there are clans of demons they may not be able to fight off," Paige said as she picked up one of the stocked pouches and slid it on.
"I hope there isn't an army," Piper said. "The plan is to blow up some demons, a couple warlocks and we cast a spell to protect and cloak the school."
"There's definitely a chance of an army," Billie said. "We all know it, otherwise we wouldn't be packing all these potions."
Piper turned to Billie, "Speaking of those, can you go downstairs and get them?"
Billie nodded and left the attic.
"Phoebe, did you make the potion to summon the Witch Doctors after we're done so they can cleanse the school?" Paige asked.
"Yeah, don't worry about that," Phoebe said as she picked up two vials of yellow potion. "Speaking of worrying…" she then placed the potions back on the table and looked at Paige, "How are you handling everything? We've seen you twice since you told us you were pregnant and that was for my engagement dinner and when you came to discuss our plan."
"I saw this coming." Paige said as she pulled out a chair and sat down. "Its just things I did when I was under the influence of evil that got to me. I nearly killed Billie, I killed a man who dedicated his life to good and I was too close to becoming your worst enemy."
"Come on, Paige, you wouldn't have been our worst enemy," Phoebe said to comfort her sister.
"You don't get it, Phoebe. I felt like I could do anything and I'm sure with more time, I would've learned more aggressive ways to use my powers. I don't even want to think of me killing you guys or how I killed that other guy," Paige said staring at the attic floor.
"Paige, you don't need us to tell you that when you were possessed by evil, it wasn't you," Piper assured her.
"You're wrong, Piper," Paige said now standing up, but not taking her eyes off of the floor. "I felt that I did have some allure to who I became and some of my feelings were true. There are times that I feel that I just don't know Henry and he doesn't know me and now I'm having his child."
"It's because of your duties that pull you away from him," Phoebe told her. "Being a Witchlighter takes up a lot of your time and you're doing the world a huge favor by aiding to these people. You know you love helping them, that goes without saying, but Henry is greatly ignored because of this."
"There's another huge benefit out of being pregnant," Piper said with a smile that Paige could finally see as she took her eyes off the floor. "Sabbatical. It goes without saying that you're not going to be running around fighting off Darklighters while you're pregnant. This will give you enough time to be at home with Henry and just learn more about each other."
"I haven't really thought about taking time off of my duties," Paige admitted. "Do you really think the Elders will just let me ignore the calls of charges?"
"You can't be expected to orb to a charge with a baby growing inside of you. I personally would love to hold this battle off until after you give birth as some serious magical blows are at risk, but there's no stopping you now. You're very stubborn, Matthews," Piper said with a grin on her face and a fist on her waist.
"I am self-healing after all," Paige grinned. "So are we ready to do this?" She eyed her sisters one by one. "We got to save this school for the children. I think I'd like my kid to go there one day."
"So let's save it," Phoebe declared. "For our future children." The witch smiled knowing that she may not be pregnant now, but knew she was destined to join her sisters in motherhood.
"Got the potions," Billie said at the door with a small sack in her hands. She carefully placed them on the table, knowing that if she dropped them, the potions would explode and tear apart the manor.
"I'm going to go downstairs and say goodbye to Henry," Paige said. "I suggest you two ladies do the same." Paige walked out of the attic and after hearing her sisters agree, she heard their footsteps follow behind her.
The sisters made their way down the steps and found Leo and Coop in the parlor. The boys were playing with toys beside them on the floor. Leo was browsing through the Halliwell Book of Shadows with Coop looking over his shoulder, occasionally glancing at the television.
"I guess my man is in the kitchen," Paige said with a sly smile and walked pass the dining room, through the archway and into the kitchen to find Henry standing in front of a cauldron with the Matthews Book of Shadows on the island beside him.
Henry turned when he heard footsteps and smiled at Paige. "You're back. How are you doing?"
"A little nervous," she admitted. "I just wanted to stop by and see you before we took off. What are you doing in here, mister?"
"I'm making a potion. You're the witch, you telling me you had to ask that?" Henry joked with his boyish grin.
"Yeah, I'm the witch, so why are you making the potion? And what potion is that, if I may so ask?" Paige asked, hoping it wasn't anything that would blow him up if he made a mistake.
"Nothing serious, just one of your simple potions. It's just a potion you have that is listed to turn you hair red. I found that the specifics were strange, but it looked simple," Henry explained, clueless to the various hair colors Paige had gone through. "I figured I'd get some training so I can start coming with you for these battles."
Paige walked closer to Henry and tilted her head. "Thank you for doing this and we'll talk more about this when it's all over. I just want you to hang with the other guys as we gals go out and save the world… I love this millennium where women save the day."
"Are you sure you're feeling okay to do this? I'm sure your sisters and Billie can do it if you're not feeling up to it with the baby and all," Henry said, hoping she wouldn't go into this battle.
"The battle may not be that bad and we're the Charmed Ones. If we can lose a school, we can sure as hell make sure it finds it's way back to our side," Paige said as she wrapped her arms around his back. "I promise the baby and I will come home safe. He or she is going to keep me safe."
Henry rested his chin on Paige's head as he tightly embraced her. "I wish you would just let me come with you."
Paige began to back up and held his hands. "I love you simply because you're willing to engage in such a battle, but just trust in us and worry with the other guys."
Henry smiled and nodded. He wrapped his arm around Paige's shoulder and together they walked out of the kitchen and reached the parlor where they saw Piper kissing her children goodbye and Phoebe hugging Coop.
"Got a wrench to pry these guys apart?" The youngest Charmed One asked and looked up at her chuckling husband.
(X)
The Halliwell sisters orbed into the hallway that lead into the Great Hall and Billie appeared in a cloud of smoke that rose from the floor. They cautiously looked around and examined the hallway. Scorch marks from countless demonic attacks, the walls and doors had cracks all around and there was dry blood of fallen demons.
"So, are we going to take this as a good sign that there aren't any demons here?" Phoebe asked as she continued to look over her shoulder.
"Are you kidding me?" Piper then pointed at the door leading to the Great Hall. "As soon as we kick open that door, we're going to have fireballs coming at us like never before."
"I'm not kicking it open then," Billie said with crossed arms.
"This is actually one of those times when we're actually allowing you to play with demons and now you won't do it?" Piper questioned. "Living with Paige has made you soft."
"Hey!" The Witchlighter exclaimed. "Let's just all go in at once. If we see any demons, we regroup and get a proper mass vanquishing spell ready."
Billie held up her fist and began to knock on the air. "Should I knock?"
"I don't view demons as the type of people who are sure to keep their elbows on the table when they eat their victims, so let's cross out any sense of mannerism," Phoebe said with folded hands before her.
With that, Billie telekinetically pushed open the large brown doors that separated the Great Hall from the hallway and revealed that the grand room was empty. The Charmed Ones and Billie cautiously walked in and constantly looked over their shoulders. There were tables that were split down the middle, more scorch marks of past demon battles and unpolished weapons spread around the floor.
"Wait, hold on," Phoebe said with her hands bouncing before her. "Are you telling me there's not one demon?" The middle sister now had her index finger held up for all the other women to see.
"The point is they aren't here. They could be playing tag in the Underworld for all I care, so we should just cast the spell," Paige suggested.
Billie spotted an ax that appeared to be floating and turned a suspicious eye to it. "Guys, would you happen to know if any weapons were ever enchanted to float?"
"No, weapons we're always just meant to hang on the walls as relics from past battles that good succeeded in. They used to have plaques under the weapon telling who possessed the weapon, but since this place got trashed, there's no telling who the warrior was," Paige explained. "Why do you ask?"
"Mainly because there's a floating ax coming our way, but thanks for the history lesson," Billie quipped as she took a few steps back.
The sisters turned around to see the ax for themselves. Piper instantly threw up her hands, "Do we have a spell or am I blowing it up?"
"I hold no objections to blowing it up," Phoebe said, taking steps back.
Book cases, cracked frames and other items within the room shaped up and shaped down according to size to reveal Chameleon demons. The floating ax was no longer floating as one Chameleon revealed himself as he came out of cloak mode and charged at them.
Billie quickly threw her hands out before her and sent the Chameleon soaring through the air, while still wielding his ax. Piper quickly flicked her wrists and blew up his arms.
When the arms exploded, blasts of green blood shot out the ends of his arm sockets and the ax dropped to the marble floor. The Chameleon demon slammed against a bookcase and a shelf collapsed on top of him when he reached the floor.
Energy balls flew their way and Paige and Billie deflected them as Piper blew them up. Phoebe ran over to two Chameleons finding her place in the battle and engaged in physical combat.
Paige turned to Piper to see an energy ball about to combust against her back and grabbed her by the shoulder and orbed out, dodging the magical attack. They orbed back in the hallway. "Piper, try and get Phoebe and Billie out of there. A spell is the only way to take them down, so I'm going to contact the guys and have them search through the Book of Shadows."
"When did you become the eldest sister?" Piper quipped.
"Piper, just go!" Paige responded.
Piper realized this was in fact a battle and she charged back into the Great Hall.
Paige pulled out an orange circular crystal that was enchanted to communicate with the men back at the manor to save time from orbing. She then spoke into it. "Guys, do you hear me?"
Henry's voice came out of the other end. "Yeah. Paige, what is it? Need help?"
"I need you to find me a vanquishing spell for Chameleon demons. Hurry because we have a load here right now," Paige said as she continued to watch in on the battle. Someone then tapped her shoulder and she turned around to find a demon grinning at her. "You should've killed me when you had the chance."
The Witchlighter dropped the crystal and began her defense. Paige ran her fist into his chin, elbowed him in the chest, twirled his arm over her shoulder and flipped him onto his back. She pulled out a potion from her pouch, threw it at him and backed away as he exploded.
She orbed the communication crystal back into her possession and asked, "Did you find it yet?" The sounds of heavy flipping were heard as the men were probably searching through both tomes.
"I found it!" Henry's voice shouted from the end of the crystal.
"Tell it to me," Paige said as she watched the battle.
(X)
A Chameleon demon drew his nails into Phoebe's bare arms and threw her, watching as she slammed against the wall. Phoebe got up with a hand on her back and charged at the demon. The Charmed One grabbed him by the collar of his trench coat, fell onto her back and used her leg as leverage to flip the demon onto his back. The sound of Paige chanting distracted a now standing Phoebe as the Chameleon jumped back to his feet and tightened his arms around Phoebe, suffocating her with his demonic strength.
Evil hiding in my sight,
I use this spell with all my might,
To stop your changing form and shape,
This vanquish seals your fate!
The Chameleon demon wrapped around Phoebe blew up and his green blood splattered all over her. All the other Chameleon demons combusted as well and Piper and Billie took cover on the floor to avoid the shower of blood. The Great Hall now had the blood of an entire clan of Chameleons spread on the walls and floor.
"I took them down. Thanks, honey," Paige said and then tucked the crystal into her pocket. "How are you guys doing?"
"I'm wearing demon aftermath…" Phoebe answered. "How do you think I'm doing?"
Piper and Billie both stood up from the floor with only small amounts of blood on them. "You'll shower when you get home. Let's just see if we can find any other demonic critters," the eldest told her sister.
"I can't go home and shower?" Phoebe asked as she made her best attempt to wipe the blood off of herself.
"No, but this might be one of those times when you want to fight a Water Demon," Piper responded.
Explosions from two opposite ends of the hall were heard and Paige shrugged her shoulders. "I guess this is the part where we split up. I'll take Piper and Billie will stick with Bloody Phoebe there. If worst comes to worst, I'll orb out with Piper and Billie can use her potions for you two."
"Did I forget to mention that Coop's ring is a little more than just flashy jewelry? There is still some power in it so I can very well teleport myself," Phoebe informed. She noticed her ring had the slime-like blood on it. "Billie, you're going to have to project some water or a bathtub or something..." her voice trailed as the two walked off.
Paige and Piper walked to the other. Piper opened one large door as Paige opened the other.
"So is there any other reason you wanted me to come with you besides me being able to blow up the bad guys?" Piper asked, smiling. She continued to look on searching for the source of the previous explosion.
"I was hoping for some advice on how you handled being pregnant. I remember it freaking you out to the point where you placed a fearless spell on yourself," Paige reminded.
"Not one of my highlight moments," Piper admitted with a chuckle. "I can help with this. To remain on the subject of fear, what scares you most with being pregnant?"
"Uh, let's see… There's the whole thing about having someone put their life into my hands. I grew up and raised myself not to be so dependent on others. I regret being that way with my parents for reasons you're aware of, but for as long as I can remember, I'm used to just generally pushing away help. Since it went ignored, I can't go back and remember how to put that protection on someone else," she explained as she placed her hands on her stomach.
"Paige, that's ridiculous. Wyatt and Chris have depended on you so many times. I've depended on you whenever I entrusted the life of my children into your hands. I've entrusted my own life into you whenever we're out on Charmed duty. Maybe you've learned to be more dependable in your time with us," Piper figured.
The sisters turned the corner and spotted a witch being stabbed by a Brute demon with an athamae. He pulled the athamae out of her chest and she dropped to the floor, lifeless. He grinned at the athamae and smelled the blood of his victim. He began to move the bloody blade to his tongue to taste victory and it vanished in a bright blue light accompanied with dancing white orbs.
He looked up to see the source of the teleporting athamae and Paige was waving the athamae. "Lost this?"
He charged at them and his brown sleeveless jacket was flying behind him like a cape. His large open hands were outstretched before him as he was prepared to crush their skulls. He saw Piper put her hands out before her and seconds after, he felt a sharp pain collide with his chest that sent him soaring backwards and slamming against the wall, breaking the plaster. A series of more blasts collided with his chest from Piper's end until he finally blew up.
"Nice job, sis. Those Brutes normally need custom potions to take them down." Paige stated.
"My power doesn't apply with those rules," Piper smirked.
Vilo then shimmered in. The telepathic ally of Avo first looked at the floor and saw one witch who looked to have her skull crushed in and another that was bleeding from her stomach. He then looked up at the two Charmed Ones. With his free hand, he blasted Piper and sent her slamming into a wall where an old bronze shield fell on top of her, knocking her out.
"Damn it. I forgot he was an accomplished telepath," Paige thought.
"You're damn right I am," Vilo snarled.
"Oh yeah. No point thinking, is there?" Paige said as an energy ball courtesy of Vilo came her way. She latched onto her sister's shoulder and their orbs shot up as the energy ball phased through.
(X)
"Billie, watch out!" Phoebe shouted as soon as she spotted a fireball flying towards her head.
Billie was clueless as to where the attack was coming from, but just dropped to her knees and covered her head with her arms. The fireball zoomed over her head and melted a hole into the wall. She looked up after she felt the heat wave pass her. "That heat is unbearable."
Phoebe ran over to Billie and helped her up to her feet. They faced their opponents, which were firestarters that were serving Avo since there wasn't a current Source of All Evil. They simply respected Avo's power enough to serve him. Their bodies looked to be of molten flames having embraced their firestarting powers to the fullest. There were three that stood by each other.
"They definitely look like they might require the Power of Three," Phoebe speculated.
Three fireballs began to form in front of the three firestarters and were building at an incredible speed. They began to fly towards the girls and Billie quickly dropped a potion in between them. Smoke began to swallow them until the fire reached them and blasted them out of it. The witches crashed through the doors leading into the Great Hall, landed onto the floor and slid back.
"Whoa… Hot… Hot!" Phoebe breathed in-between coughs, while also enduring the pain of the crash. Lucky for the two, the doors were already weak, as if they weren't, the witches would've been dead before they hit the floor.
They turned to their side and saw another battle at large. The opponents were a pack of demons were launching energy balls at a group of three men and one woman. The alpha of the small group had brushed up blonde hair with a sleeveless leather vest with black jeans to match. Around his wrists were gray leather bands and attached to his belt were two sai daggers.
An energy ball flew his way and he quickly leaped up, conjured an energy ball while he spun through the air, launched it at the demon and vanquished him. He then landed on the floor.
"Wow, did you see that?" Billie asked Phoebe.
Phoebe turned back to the door and saw the firestarters walk in. "Get your eyes off the hopping demon and look at these guys!" Both women were now staring at the firestarters and Billie jumped to her feet. "Bounce back their attacks, Billie."
The last time Billie did this was when she incinerated her sister in self-defense. She didn't hesitate to kill her, so why wouldn't she do the same now? An empowered fireball came her way and Billie threw out her hands, her fingers shaking nervously as she feared she wouldn't succeed. The fireball was blown back by Billie's telekinetic power and slammed into the firestarter devouring him in his own flames.
"Two more," Phoebe reminded before Billie got excited over her vanquish. Two more fireballs flew towards Billie and Phoebe and they didn't have enough time to react. Death was scorching towards them. One hand clutched a shoulder of each of the witches and they vanished from the Great Hall.
(X)
A buzzing sound entered a multi-subject classroom of Magic School and a cloud of black particles were seen entering through the ajar door. The particles began to split apart and the buzzing sound died down as Billie and Phoebe shot each other a look, unaware of the blond man behind them.
"Whoa, was that your ring?" Billie asked Phoebe.
"It was me." The girls turned to find the jumping-energy ball-lobbing blond. "I'm Cameron Hawke."
"Billie Jenkins!" She quickly exclaimed. "Wait. Are you a demon?" She hoped not. His piercing gray eyes struck out to her as well as his muscular body. He was also an impressive fighter from what she caught back in the Great Hall.
"Look, you didn't destroy the firestarter. You need to understand that right away," he informed and ignored Billie's question.
"I knew it. We need the Power of Three," Phoebe said. "We need to regroup with Piper and Paige and cast a spell…"
"No, you don't get it," Cameron cut in. "Firestarters can't be vanquished by their own fire. One strategy I would suggest would be using their fire against their partners. It's only their own fire they're immune to. Or just try some massive freeze spell, I have to get back." Cameron then turned on his heel, bursting into a twister of black particles that flew out the old classroom.
Phoebe spotted the blank look on Billie's face. "If firestarters can't be vanquished by their own fire, that must mean that…"
"Christy is still alive," Billie continued.
(X)
Paige lied Piper down on an old student's bed and began to heal her. She placed her hands over an open wound on Piper's head and watched as the gold light magically closed it. Piper jumped up and choked on her breath.
"Calm down, you're okay," Paige assured. "We should really find Phoebe and Billie because this is going to get nasty fast."
"I'm assuming that's the telepathic demon you told us about. We should use the atomic potions on him, Avo and Rose. As long as we hit them, they should die," Piper said.
"Wow. Did you think of that plan while knocked out? You seemed eager to spill it," Paige joked. She took a hold of Piper's hand and white lights consumed them and they vanished.
Vilo shimmered in and growled, missing his targets by seconds.
(X)
Paige and Piper orbed into the classroom Phoebe and Billie were in. They instantly saw Phoebe still had some detections of Chameleon blood on her, but both ladies also had scorched shirts and pants, with cuts along their bodies.
"What happened to you guys?" Piper asked.
Phoebe turned to Billie who was still quiet. The Charmed One knew her friend was still frozen from her new discovery. Billie just stared at a wall. "We were battling some firestarters and discovered something new."
"What? Are they working for a new Source or something?" Paige questioned, worried.
"No, they're probably working with Avo. Billie incinerated one and this guy…"
"What guy?" Piper interrupted.
"Probably a demon or something. The point is that he told us that firestarters can't be vanquished by their own fire, only by others," Phoebe said, meekly.
Piper's eyes widened as Paige placed her hand over her own mouth. Together in the same second, they turned to Billie and stared at her.
"Oh, my God," Paige mumbled behind her hand.
Billie finally turned to the sisters and they just waited to see what she had to say. "Christy's alive and out there somewhere…"
"Wait a second. If Christy is in fact still alive, how come Leo was returned to me?" Piper asked. "We had to destroy your shared power and when you killed her, the battle was over. It doesn't make sense. I don't think you should get your hopes up."
"Piper!" Phoebe interjected.
All eyes were now on Piper. Phoebe was shocked, Paige was curious to hear what she had to say and Billie was offended.
"Look, all I'm saying is that maybe the rules don't apply because Christy was half witch. Maybe when her fireball hit her, it actually got her for good," Piper said with regret when she saw how disgusted Billie was looking.
Billie began to shake her head back and forth. "I believe there is still a chance that Christy is out there. I don't know if she's good or evil, but I have to find her, don't I?"
"There's a battle going on out there, guys," Phoebe reminded. "We have to get back out there."
"I have to find Christy," Billie said.
"Billie, no!" Paige shouted. "I will do everything I can to help out with this Christy business after we claim this school back. We'll have all these books at our resources, let's just go do what we came to do now." Her cheeks were a rosier red from the shouting and glared at Billie.
"Fine," she responded meekly. "You promise you'll help me, right?"
"Witch's honor," Paige promised with her hand in the air and middle and index finger pressed together. "Now let's get back out there. We got our telepathic demon chasing us. He was on our tail before. I'm guessing that that he sensed all of us together."
"I wouldn't doubt it," Piper scoffed. She then turned towards Phoebe and Billie, "Our plan is to use the atomic potions on them."
Paige then tapped her pocket. "I still personally have my Avo vanquishing potion with me. I think we're set to go again."
Phoebe opened the door and the four women peaked out and saw a clear hallway. They stepped out and heard an ongoing battle in the Great Hall. They stood before the doors like they had earlier in the day.
"We don't have the luxury of being hesitant anymore," Piper commented. "Let's end this." Piper was suddenly flung into the wall on the left. Phoebe was thrown to the wall on the right and crashed to the floor.
Paige and Billie turned around to find Vilo with his hand raised. He waved his hand to the left and Billie flew on top of Piper on the floor. Paige lifted her hand to attack, but Vilo was too fast for her. For one last time, he tapped into Billie's power of telekinesis and threw his arm forward. Paige was telekinetically thrown into the doors, pushing them open and landing into the Great Hall.
Paige looked up to find Rose maniacally laughing as she burned witches that charged at her with her intense sapphire flames.
One witch's head shot upwards as the flames began to consume her body. After the flames entombed her, a short explosion followed after and the flames died down… Paige never saw the witch again.
Rose then spotted Paige and instantly sent a stream of fire towards her. Paige rolled out of the way, but felt the intense heat as it passed by her and crashed against a bookcase, lighting it on fire. Paige stared at the burning oak bookcase as the flames didn't seem to hesitate on consuming it completely.
Columns of orbs began to descend from the middle of the air. Whitelighters appeared to help aid their charges, but they were already incinerated by Rose's fury. They stared at her, confused as to what their next move should be. A purple mist then spread around the Great Hall and the Whitelighters stared at it, curious.
"What is it?" One female Whitelighter asked. The purple mist then reached her and she began to choke. Her veins began to bulge through her pale skin with a dark shade to it. Her once rosy cheeks changed to a purple hue and former blue eyes were now pitch black. She grabbed her own throat, trying to close off her own oxygen, hoping no more of this poisonous mist would take over any further… It was too late. She dropped to the floor as the poison robbed her from her second life.
The same happened with all the other Whitelighters. Paige began to cough as the mist didn't seem to take the full effect on her as the others. She turned to find Avo with his hands raised and the mist flowing out the center of his palms. He lowered them once he saw that his targets were dead… All but Paige.
"Paige," he started as he walked towards her with his hands behind his back. "You didn't want to die with the others?"
"What is that?" Paige asked as she picked herself up.
"Well, you educated me in pretty much everything there is to know about Whitelighters as I educated you about Darklighters. I took it upon myself to make a new poison for Whitelighters. I guess your witch side helps defend you from the full effects," he guessed. "No worries." He held out his hands and his crossbow appeared. He instantly shot an arrow at Paige.
Paige's eyes widened. She knew his arrows were faster than that of any other Darklighters since he personally added velocity to them with his own power. If worst came to worst, her unborn child would heal her.
Someone then grabbed onto her and all she saw were flashes of blue and silver lights. She felt her hair blowing for a couple seconds until she met an abrupt halt. When all was still again, she saw that she was in the arms of her first charge after her father, Mitchell Haines.
Mitchell looked down at her and placed her back on her feet. His brown hair was darker than before and blown back, probably from all the running he must've been doing. He had on a gray short sleeve shirt with black wind-breakers. His aqua eyes were fixed on Paige's light brown eyes and he grinned. "I saw you needed a quick escape."
"Thanks a lot, Speedy," she joked. "I'm definitely glad to see you were able to make it. And I meant the battle, not just saving me."
"My fiancé understands why I have to do this. She may not be a witch, but understands that I have a higher calling with my powers," the hyper-speeding witch explained.
"I have to say again, that I'm glad to hear that you haven't been running from love. I know it wasn't easy for you to put Jennifer's death behind you. I'm sure you'll always have some love for her, but I'm glad to know you've opened up to someone else," Paige said with a smile. "But we should really get back out there."
"I'll email you the specifics of the wedding soon," Mitchell said. "I should get running."
"Keep doing what you're doing and thanks again," Paige said with a smile that she was surprised to find at a time like this.
"Back at you," Mitchell replied before vanishing from sight in a matter of seconds.
Paige without aiming to waste another second, called on her power to orb. She just stood there as her power wasn't activating, until seconds later she orbed out. She orbed back into the Great Hall to find the poisonous mist rid from the room. She didn't even have time to register what went wrong with her power as Billie was engaged and losing in hand-to-hand combat with Rose. Piper and Phoebe together were fighting off Vilo, while Avo was nowhere to be found.
Battle wasn't the only activity occurring in the Great Hall. Trails of fire, both sapphire and blazing orange were lighting up the room in different corners. A 'freeze and move' combo by Billie and Piper finally vanquished the firestarters. Paige pulled out an atomic potion and yelled out to Piper and Phoebe, "Piper, Phoebe! Get out of the way!"
Paige held her arm back, ready to launch as Piper and Phoebe dived out of the way. The potion flew of her hand and soared through the air at Vilo. The telepathic demon held up his hand and tapped into Piper's power and froze it.
The demon smiled and grabbed the frozen potion from out of the air. He sneered at the witches and looked past them at Rose. The demonic witch had her hands wrapped around Billie's throat and threw her over a table, knocking her out. Rose turned around and saw Phoebe and Piper on the floor, hurt from their dive.
Vilo waved the potion back and forth at the fallen witches. "Oh, how the tables have turned. You should've never tried to come up here. Should've stayed back on your mortal grounds and lived the normal lives you so coveted."
Paige then ran to her sisters as fast as she could. She quickly placed her hands on their shoulders and began to charge her orb as Vilo continued to taunt with them with the potion.
Piper's eyes narrowed as she held up her hands. "Son of a bitch!" The Charmed One flicked her wrists and her blast collided with the potion.
The shattered glass freed a rapid release of destructive power. The explosion seemed to amplify within a matter of seconds and grew to look like an enormous fireball. The destructive blast flew towards the Charmed Ones as well as Vilo. Paige's orb never took off and the blast smacked into the witches, lifted them off of the marble floor and sent them soaring backwards roughly ten feet. Piper crashed through an oak table and Paige and Phoebe landed on opposite sides. Vilo wasn't fortunate enough to survive the blast as it picked him up as well, but incinerated him before he could reach the floor. The blast quickly dissipated upon attacking.
Rose looked around in shock. The most powerful witches of all time were laid out before her and her ally was vanquished. She would make Avo proud by killing Piper and Phoebe and leaving Paige for him. There was one way where she enjoyed killing; her firepower. She didn't like having to rely on a weapon that could be easily knocked out of her hands or having to use a spell that could either backfire or fail on her. Everyone was knocked out, so no one would be able to stop her from incinerating two-thirds of the Power of Three.
"Farewell," she breathed as she stared at the air before her. A fireball materialized and the demonic witch continued to add power to it. Once she felt it was a reasonable size to allow her to torch the witches, she stopped. She then thrust her hands forward to add speed to the fireball and it sped towards Piper and Phoebe…
"Water!" Billie shouted with her hands on her temples. The fireball quickly morphed into a large sphere of water that soaked the witches. She hoped that it would too wake them up, but she was glad to have just saved them in the end. She shifted her attention to Rose, who looked beyond furious.
"You bitch," she simply said to the blonde witch. "You have this annoying habit of intervening." Sapphire flames began to run up Rose's arms as she gritted her teeth in frustration and anger.
"I'm not going to let you burn my friends," Billie boldly said. She knew Rose continued to outweigh her in the battles they've had. She had an open cut on her forehead to prove it. It didn't matter though. She knew she was ready to die for the sisters. She was a cocky witch in her earlier days, but they taught her to replace that with courage. Billie tended to play around with the idea, charging into lower level battles being arrogant, but against the greater forces she would recognize the danger involved and would think twice.
"I'll witch-ka-bob them after I'm done with you. You've been such a nuisance and it's a surprise to me that I didn't ignite your ass when I had the chance," Rose said as she straightened her arms forward and released the streams of fire.
Using her power of telekinesis, Billie lifted herself into the air to better execute a flip and landed in front of the demonic witch as soon as she stopped shredding the air with her flames. Billie ran her elbow into Rose's face, twisted her arm behind her back and held out her hand. An athamae flew out from the slit of her boot and she ran it into Rose's chest.
Rose let out a scream that ran chills all over Billie's body. Billie released her and telekinetically sent her flying out of her way. She smiled as Rose crashed against the wall, the athamae still inside of her chest.
The witch charged at the sisters and kneeled over them. She tucked a strand of blonde hair behind her right ear and just stared at them. For a few seconds, she heard a buzzing sound that soon passed.
"Summon a wood nymph," a voice said.
Billie turned to find Cameron Hawke again. "Why do you keep popping up from everywhere?"
"Look, we don't have time for these questions. Just cast a spell to summon a wood nymph to heal them. They have the best availability to aid right now as Whitelighters are dying all around. We're going to have company in a couple of seconds."
"How do you…"
"Just do it! You're not going to get the school back without them!" Cameron looked around at all the fire and held up his right hand. The orange and sapphire flames slowly began to decrease until they were just small flickers of fire that the cold winds of Magic School blew out.
Billie wanted to ask how he did it, but he would just silence her again. She wanted to trust this guy as well, but ever since Christy, trust had become an issue with her. She shook her head at the thought of Christy and began to remember a spell she personally created for future use a while back.
Protector of the forest, I summon thee,
You who protects the bushes, water and trees,
Aiding earth by helping flowers bloom without the sun's light,
I call on you to do something right!
A gentle breeze passed as the silhouette of a wood nymph appeared in a mixture of dancing sage green and lilac lights. A wood nymph now stood before Billie, clad in a green dress with a wreath over her ears that had an assortment of lilies and white roses that kept down her long auburn hair. An expression of fear was spread across the face of the nurturer of the forest. She began to take a couple of steps back.
"Please, don't go anywhere. I promise I'm not trying to hurt you. I just need you to heal them," she explained as she pointed at them on the floor. "If not for me, then for all the times they saved you and your friends."
"Funny for you to say that," she responded. "You're the one that turned us against them! And now you're asking me for help? How do I know that you didn't do this yourself?"
"Why would I want you to save them?" Billie snapped back. Battle cries were heard coming from down the hall. "Please! Paige is pregnant and something must be wrong if her baby isn't healing her!"
The nymph gave in and pulled her necklace over her head and held it over Paige. The dangled jewel that held a drop of water from the Eternal Springs dripped onto Paige's forehead and revived her.
Paige's eyes widened as she saw her sisters knocked out. She jumped up, sparing no time on thanking the magical creature that saved her life. She kneeled back down on the floor, placing one hand over Phoebe and the other over Piper. The golden lights after a few seconds emanated from Paige's palms. Just like when she had healed Billie, one hand was shining brighter than the other allowing Piper to be healed before Phoebe. Paige stopped healing them as soon as she saw them wake up, still leaving them with cuts and bruises all around.
Together, the Charmed Ones stood up and saw a door blasted off its hinges, landing before Cameron. Avo was the source of the door flying off and began to walk in. A large variety of different demons and Darklighters began to charge in causing Avo to be lost within the crowd. They all stopped and refrained from attacking from Avo's command.
Avo walked out to the front with a grim expression. "You know this is the end for you, don't you? You're outnumbered. Paige, I certainly was prepared to engage into a more formidable battle with you, but my lust for power tells me that this battle will suffice enough. I'm obviously more than capable to run the entire demonic community. Ready… Aim…"
"You want the throne of the Source?" Piper asked, causing Avo to stop his countdown.
"Sheer power has always captivated me. Especially unique power…" he said as he eyed Paige, "The powers of the Source are on a grander scale and I want the opportunity to become immortal. Resting on that throne can give me that."
"You don't get immortality for being the Source. Believe me, we've killed three Sources in our time. We know," Phoebe said with a fake smile.
"I think he means immortality in the sense that his name goes on forever without being forgotten," Paige explained to her older sister. She wanted to just grab her sisters and Billie and get out of there, but she had a feeling her orbing power would take too long. Avo would surely have his demonic allies and Darklighters attack if he saw them trying to escape. Besides, with them gone Evil could claim the school.
"Very good, Paige," Avo complimented. "Enough talk though. You can assure this victory will be covered in the Magic School archives… Fire!"
A series of energy balls, fireballs, lightning bolts and arrows sped towards them all at once. Billie quickly placed her hands on her temple and projected a cloudy violet shield that protected the Charmed Ones, Cameron, the wood nymph and herself. All the magical attacks struck the projected shield and began to lessen its power.
"Nice work, Billie," Paige said and quickly turned to her sisters. "What's our next move? This shield isn't going to last for long."
"Sorry I can't sustain it for so long," the young witch apologized.
"Billie, just focus on restoring it as long as you can," Piper suggested, doing her best to buy them more time. "We need help. It's obvious."
"I'm going to call upon my people. You call on yours," Cameron said as he closed his eyes.
"Who are you?" Phoebe asked. She received no answer, as Cameron still appeared to be in concentration. "So we should get on calling our people."
"The rest of the magic community?" The wood nymph asked.
"I think I got just the spell," Paige said as she held out her hands to her sisters. Once they clasped with her, she chanted:
Drawing on the Power of Three,
We call to us, the Magical Community!
Several forms began to glisten in outside the cloudy shield. More and more continued to appear and when the glows died down, an army for good stood behind the witches. Clans of ogres possessed clubs, leprechauns were armed with gold to curse them, elfin warriors had crossbows and swords, witches with potions, and fairies with dust.
The opposing sides stared at each other, not releasing any attacks. The demonic side definitely had more aggressive powers, but the good side wouldn't just allow themselves to be defeated. They would go down fighting.
The cloudy shield of Billie's finally caved in and Billie dropped to her knees, exhausted from the amount of power she kept using.
In the middle of the Great Hall, several men and women, all in black leather, shimmered in and began to launch energy balls at the demons and Darklighters, vanquishing some. The demons then began to fight back as members of good charged into the battle.
"We need to do something fast," Phoebe said. "They'll die and it'll be our fault. I don't want them to feel that trusting us will only lead to an early grave."
"Power of Three spell comes to mind. We can cast a protective shield around ourselves as well as eliminate some of the lesser beings," Piper suggested. "Should we do it?"
"They're not all lesser beings," Paige reminded. "I'm going to go and kill Avo." She pulled out her potion from her pocket and charged into the battlefield which was once grounds for educating. No longer.
"Paige!" Piper shouted, trying to call her sister back.
The Witchlighter halted her charge as an elfin warrior swung back her sword and slashed the arm off of a Darklighter, then plunged it into his chest. She continued to run and saw Avo staring her down as she grew closer.
Avo held out his hand and conjured a thermal ball. He instantly released the violet colored fireball at Paige. Paige threw her potion and then held her hand up, to orb the vial back. She willed herself the best she could and the thermal ball turned around, unaccompanied by orbs. Paige's eyes widened as she just used the classic version of telekinesis.
The vial smacked into Avo's shoulder at the same time the thermal ball smacked against his chest. He instantly blew up and his black and purple orbs flew around the hall, absorbed Rose into orbs of her own and shot up through the roof.
When Paige turned around, more demons were dead, but members of good had to much to mourn later as well. Paige placed her hands on her stomach and willed herself to orb, tapping into the power that resided within her. She soon vanished in a cloud of orbs and made her way back to her sisters' side. "Avo's gone. Let's do one of our mass vanquishing Power of Three spells."
"Couldn't have said it better myself," Piper said as she pulled out a folded paper from her pocket. She unfolded the paper and stood between her sisters. With a hand on each of her shoulders, one from Phoebe and the other from Paige, they chanted:
United as the Power of Three,
Set us of these demons free,
Profound powers hear our call,
Vanquish all evil within these walls!
In the center on the floor of the Great Hall rested a black sigil with six spikes drawn equally around a circle. The entire school began to violently shake ceasing all action from both opposing sides. Everyone looked around and the shake became even more violent, knocking a large number of opponents to the floor.
The Charmed Ones continued to hold onto each other, trying to maintain balance, but to no success. Together, they fell to the floor, landing over each other. Rubble began to fall from the ceiling, landing on members of both sides. Paige looked up to find a good chunk of the ceiling ready to slam down on her sisters and telekinetically willed it to move away, but only saved them by a few inches.
A blast of blue energy shot upwards from the center of the black sigil and through the ceiling. Everyone stared in awe as the blast continued to cause a violent shake until a violent crimson gust began to surround it.
The hair of many began to blow back and everyone started shielding their eyes from the light. Some demons tried to move towards the great power due to the allure, but were only blown back by it.
The shake grew intense for a final time as a whirring sound blared. Gold rings of intense power were then released, strictly attacking members of evil. The discriminating power instantly vanquished them upon contact. When the rings finally stopped, the powerful wind died down and the blue light fell back into the core of the school.
The Charmed Ones stood up and saw they were successful. All demons in the school were eliminated. The sight wasn't that great though. There were still dead Whitelighters on the floor, as well as some other members of the magical community.
Cameron signaled to his men. "Bring them back home. We'll schedule for proper burials." His allies began to run along to the corpses of the fallen soldiers and healers, then shimmered away with them. Cameron then turned to the Charmed Ones and Billie. "Be sure to keep the school safe this time." He then burst into a cloud of black particles and vanished from sight.
"We have to find out who he is," Billie weakly said as she stood up. "At least we know he's not evil, otherwise the spell would've killed him."
"First we protect the school with a spell. Then we'll work on discovering the man behind the mask and the truth behind Christy," Paige said. "Avo's not gone either. He took Rose with him. Something tells me we shouldn't have scared him away because that blast might've taken him out."
"Yeah, what was that?" Phoebe asked as she rubbed her eyes, tired.
"I believe it was the power of Magic School," Paige answered. "I remember reading up on it when I worked here, but I had no idea that it was power of such a large scale."
"This must've been the power they were trying to tap into or find this entire time. I knew we were calling upon greater powers with our spell, but wow. Who knew the school would evict the demons itself?" Piper said with a proud smile.
"Sucks to be them," Billie said. "So. Are we protecting this school or what?"
"Are you sure you're able to do this? Projecting that shield took a good amount of energy out of you," a concerned Phoebe said.
"I don't understand why that wore me out so much. Must've been because of all the firepower coming at it," Billie said, pushing her hair out of her face.
"I doubt it. I think it's this whole Christy thing," Paige realized. "Billie, you can cast some added magic on it later and for now, we'll just cast the spell." She then turned to the fairies that were floating before her. "We're going to need your help on this."
Two fairies, one of each gender, smiled in agreement. They began to glide around the Charmed Ones as Phoebe pulled out a spell, visible to her sisters.
We amplify the power of fairy dust,
In order to protect this school, we must,
May its power encircle the school and conceal,
Forever lock and magically seal!
The gold glittery dust flew out from the hands of the fairies and it spread all around. The amplified web of magic was visible from the window as it embedded itself within the school and the grounds. Magic School was safe again.
(X)
The eternal night in the Underworld was as cold as ever. Body temperature in that particular moment didn't matter to Rose and even if it would have, the demonic witch enjoyed the cold. At the moment, Avo rested his hands over Rose as a gray light began to eat her wounds closed. The skin stretched over and covered the wound as a scar began to form to keep it stitched.
"Tell me I'm going to get the chance to burn her," Rose said through strained speech. "You want Paige to die at your hands and I want Billie. Promise me she's mine."
"It won't be that easy," Avo responded. "But it will be soon enough. Your vengeance will take place in a matter of months."
"Months?!" Rose exclaimed as she slapped Avo's hands away from her. "I had plans to kill her tomorrow, if not within the next hour. Why do I have to wait so long?"
"We're leaving this realm. I need to better prepare you to take in the powers of Valen," Avo said. "It's important that you're strong enough to withstand these powers. If not, she'll completely dominate you."
"I thought I was just supposed to bring her out from her prison. Now she's possessing me?" Rose asked.
"Yes. As I told you before, you're the Trigger. Your powers of pyrokinesis and most importantly your ability of clairvoyance are important in releasing Valen. Once you embrace her inside, you'll have more than enough power to kill the young witch. I just hope you can kill her before she fully comes into her powers. The powers behind the Grand Design sure knew what they were doing when they assigned the Witchlighter a charge only she could handle," the demonic Darklighter explained.
"I don't care what she's coming into. I'll kill her with or without these new powers," the demonic witch said through gritted teeth. "You have my word on that."
"You're not exactly the only reason we're leaving. I'm not that strong anymore," Avo admitted. "All those Darklighters died and I imbued them with great power for this battle. None of their fallen orbs returned to me, so I have to find other ways to regain my strength. The Witchlighter also hit me with a potion. All she did was provoke me to hurt her in so many more ways. The Source's throne can wait... Vengeance overcomes that."
They stood up and cast one final glance around the lair. Rose placed her hand on her fresh scar, reminding her of her vengeance. Avo placed his hand on her shoulder and together they vanished in a column of inky purple and black orbs.
(X)
A twister of black particles slowly entered a room and formed Cameron. Cameron looked around the room, awaiting someone. There were pictures of several members of the coven that were painted and protected with metallic gold frames. The walls were maroon and there were several black and white candles resting alongside them. There were three black leather couches with a marble white table equidistant from all three in the middle. On top of that, rested some magazines about the magical realm.
"I'm out here!" An impatient Cameron shouted. He paced back and forth awaiting a woman of great importance to the coven.
A door unlocked and a woman in a smart black suit with thin gray stripes running along from top to bottom walked out. Her blonde hair was tied into a ponytail and she smiled at Cameron. "How did it go? Successful?"
"We played our part in saving the school. The Charmed Ones have protected it though. The others did a great job as well, though I must take acknowledgment in the sense that I saved a Charmed One and their former apprentice witch. There were some nasty firestarters out there and that counted as a huge distraction," Cameron explained.
"I'm proud of you all," the coven leader, Annabelle, responded with a smile. "Did we lose anyone?"
"We're all still alive. The challenge was great in some aspects, but not enough to kill us, Mother," Cameron said. It was then that he slipped the gray leather band off his right wrist and revealed a crimson bird emblazoned on his wrist. "We Phoenixes are fighters."
(X)
Back in the Mitchell-Matthews Manor, Paige walked through the hallway and stopped at a door. She gently opened it, flicked on the lights and saw Billie was sleeping with an ice pack on her head. Paige smiled and left her friend to sleep after the long battle.
Paige entered her bedroom and saw Henry just looking through some files. She took a seat beside him on the bed and rested her head on a pillow. "I'm pretty tired," she said with a yawn following. "Why don't we both just ignore work for tonight and just rest?"
"I wish, Paige. I was supposed to do all this today, but I left my own charges hanging today to help you. I am really glad that you let me help out today, though we didn't do much," Henry said. "I got a call from you once and Piper called as well, but her crystal broke before we could get back to her."
"The point is that you guys were sitting on the edges of your seats waiting for us to call and whenever we did, you answered. This victory is just as much yours as it is ours," Paige said with a smile. Henry turned to her and her smile remained for a few seconds before fading. "I also think I have a problem. It's definitely something I have to speak with the Elders about."
"About you dropping your duties until after the baby is born?" Henry asked. The mortal felt there was something more to it.
"I think I'm losing my powers," Paige said, as she forced a smile to lighten the discussion and shook her head back and forth. "I think I was tapping into the baby's power throughout the fight, but I need to know if this is going to happen to it as well."
"I want to go with you when you find out. I want to be involved," Henry stated. "Do you think there is a chance you can recover from this?" Henry pushed all his files to the side, waiting for an answer. If Paige did end up mortal, which he desired in some ways but knew was unlikely, he would be okay with that.
"Yeah, I'm sure there is. Its just Avo hit me with some poison that killed the other Whitelighters. I just think that it's the Whitelighter in me that was ruined or killed. If so, I'm no longer the Witchlighter… Just a witch." She hoped not. She had finally discovered who she was and now the Whitelighter in her was severed.
"We'll go and find out what it's about soon. What do you think the Elders will decide on for the replacement of your duties?" Henry asked.
"I actually think I have something to suggest to them," Paige said. "I can teach Magic School and even help run it. I can cast some spells, find the old teachers and students and I can be within a protected environment. Our baby will be safe."
"That sounds great, Paige. I just really want to check out this situation with your powers as soon as possible. Why don't you try using that stone Billie gave you? The one that tells you about your powers," Henry suggested.
Paige took in a deep breath and sat up. "I'm scared to look at that thing. That power stone is only going to tell me that I'm a powerless witch. My Whitelighter powers have always defined who I have been, even as a witch. I can't see myself getting used to no orbing or not having the other powers at my disposal."
"Confirmation is definitely best right now, Paige. The sooner we have a better idea on what is going on, the better. This may sound harsh, but just get it over with," Henry said.
"Finding out I don't have my powers isn't as simple as I'd like it to be. It's not something I'm just going to get over if I find out that's the case. In some ways, I know you're right, but I just want you to be completely wrong," the Charmed One began to fight back tears. "Curiosity is getting the best of me though. Time to rip off that band-aid."
Paige opened the drawer besides her and reached in for her small white box that contained the crystal. She was already about to break down as she normally would've seen the light beaming out from the sides. It wasn't the case here. Paige opened the box and the crystal only had two tiny orbs gliding within. The witch had a feeling that it was only time until those lights died out as well.
End of Chapter
A/Note: I hope you enjoyed the chapter. I edited it myself, so please try not to go to harsh on me if I missed anything. Also, if a letter or so is missing or a word is combined with another, NOT my fault. It rarely is, it just happens to be a side effect of FF-Net at times.
Also there were supposed to be a couple scenes with the charges seen prior to this chapter, but would've only made it longer, but I plan to return a couple anyway in later chapters.
I hope you enjoyed. The next chapter is pretty important and I've been dying to write it for months and it's already written and is under editing. Thanks again guys...Don't forget to review.