The Closing Chapter 4
Xxx
"Are you telling me that Christy is back? How is that possible? We saw you vanquish her." Piper said after Billie finished her story.
"I don't know, I mean, yeah she's back, but I don't know how." Billie said.
"And how do we know this isn't some trap you two set up?" Piper asked.
"Oh.. Piper, please!" Phoebe calls out.
"What? Excuse me for being a little suspicious." Piper said.
"If Billie was working with Christy, do you really think she would come here and tell us?" Paige asked.
"So you believe her story?" Piper asked.
"Yes, I do." Paige said.
"And what about you?" Piper asked Phoebe.
"I sensed her feelings when I got my empathy back, everything she could feel I felt as well. She is telling us the truth." Phoebe said.
Upon hearing and seeing the trust her sisters still had in Billie, Piper realized her own feelings were clouding her judgment. The anger and betrayal she felt didn't allow her to see Billie as anything other than evil. In her heart Piper knew Billie wasn't evil, but getting past what she had done was almost too hard. But Piper realized that if they wanted to work this out, she needed to put her issues with Billie aside for now.
"I'm sorry, Billie." Piper said, though the words didn't come out easily.
""You don't have to apologize, Piper."Billie said. "I know where you are coming from and that you may never trust me again. But I came to you to warn you. Christy is planning her revenge. And we have to stop her."
"Are you sure you are up for this?" Paige asked "I mean facing her again?"
"I have to. All of this is my responsibility. If only I had seen the truth behind her sooner." Billie said. "She is my sister, and I have to stop her."
Piper looked at the young girl and for the first time saw something of the old Billie again, her bravery.
"So now that we all agree, what are we going to do?" Paige asked.
"Well, if we want to stop Christy, I think the first thing we need to figure out what she is." Phoebe said.
"Good point, but what is she?" Paige asked.
"She could be a ghost." Billie said.
"Or a zombie." Phoebe suggested.
"No, she didn't look zombie-like. She looked normal, like she was alive." Billie said.
"Well, aren't ghosts usually transparent?" Paige asked.
"No, ghosts can appear in a lot of ways, some looks like ordinary people." Piper said as she thought back of Mark, the ghost she had met nearly nine years earlier.
"Are we even sure it was really Christy?" Phoebe suddenly asked. "Are you sure it wasn't some shapeshifter or illusion or something?"
"No, it was defiantly Christy. I'm sure of it." Billie said.
"It could be an astral projection. After all, Christy was a powerful telepath." Paige said.
"Maybe, but it could also be that the triad taught her some of their tricks, like being able to exist in spirit form after their bodies are vanquished." Piper said.
"But we destroyed that weird platform-thingy." Paige said.
"There could be another one."Phoebe suggested.
"Which means we have to go back to Magic school." Paige said.
"Yes, and isn't it a very big coincidence that the Elders just happen to pick today to ask us to reclaim Magic school?" Piper said.
"Do you think they know about Christy?" Billie asked.
"I doubt it." Paige said. "The Elders weren't that well informed the first time around."
"Okay, let's get back to Christy here for a second, we can worry about Magic school and the Elders later. We still don't know what she is or how to vanquish her." Piper said.
When Piper said that, both Paige and Phoebe looked at Billie, who was staring at the ground.
"We are going to vanquish her, aren't we?" Piper asked. "No matter what she is now, it's clear that the last part of her humanity is gone now."
"Piper is right." Billie said. "The Christy that faced me was so cold, she didn't seem human anymore."
"Sweetie, are you sure about this?" Phoebe asked.
"Yes. I just have to accept that the sister I once had is gone. Whatever the triad made her, it's not Christy anymore." Billie said determined.
"Then what's the plan?" Paige asked.
"Well, if Christy really is bound to one of those platforms the triad used, it has to be in Magic School." Piper said.
"Which means we have to clear out the demons first." Phoebe adds.
"And that means we'll a lot of potions." Piper said. "So what if Paige and I started working on the potions, Phoebe you try to think of some spells to help us out, and Billie…"
"I'll hit the Book and try to find out more about Christy." Billie said before Piper could finish.
"Okay." Piper said after a moment of silence. "Let's get started then."
Xxx
Meanwhile, at Magic school, a tribe of demons was gathered in the library. They appeared to be a tribe of low-leveled young demons, all dressed in brown leather. Each of them also wore a tribal-like symbol on their foreheads.
In the middle of the room lay another demon, she was also dressed in leather and had strange markings on her face, but she was clearly not a member of this tribe. She was a Fury, a vengeance demon that hunted wrong-doers, like Piper had become shortly after Prue had died.
The leader of the demon tribe, a seemingly young man with black hair and dark eyes stepped forward. He wore a large necklace made of bones, probably as a symbol of his leadership.
"We have waited a long time for this, my friends. After centuries of being seen like low-life trash, the underworld will finally give us the respect we deserve when we permanently claim Magic school as our territory." The leader said.
His speech caused cheering and excited shouting from his tribe.
"With this final sacrifice, our territory will be marked, and all other demons will have no choice but to finally accept us." The leader continued.
The leader pulled out a curved athame with the same tribal symbols.
"When the blood of this Fury will spill out on this floor, no one will be able to drive us from our new grounds. We will no longer have to bow down to upper level demons. Instead, they will have to bow down to us if they want the power of this school." The leader said.
Again, his tribe cheered and started shouting to kill the Fury. The leader of the tribe smiled and stepped forward to the Fury. The Fury jumped up and tried to slash him with her talons, but her arms were in chains. The Fury screamed in anger.
The leader raised his athame, but before he could plant the blade in her, the Fury screamed and burst out into flames. The Fury's screams continued until she was nothing more than a pile of ashes.
"What the hell just happened?" the tribal leader screamed in anger.
He turned around to see Christy standing there.
"You have a lot of nerve showing up here, witch." The leader said.
Several tribal demons held out their hands and conjured up green energy balls. Christy simply glared at them, causing them to all catch fire.
"Stop this!" The leader called out.
Christy closed her eyes and the flames disappeared, leaving the demons a little charred but still alive.
"You didn't come here to fight, what do you want, witch?" the leader said.
"I am not just a witch." Christy said. "I serve directly under the triad."
"The triad are no more, little girl. Why should this mean anything to us?" the leader said.
"The triad lives on in me, I know all their secrets. Secrets that could give you more power than this place could ever bring you." Christy said.
"And why should I believe you?" the leader said.
"Because I am the only one who can save you." Christy said.
The tribal leader started laughing, and soon his entire tribe followed.
"Save us? From what?" he asked mockingly.
"Do you really think the forces of good are just going to give up on this place? They intend to get it back." Christy said.
"Let them come. We don't fear them." The leader said.
"Not even the Charmed Ones?" Christy asked.
This caused some of the tribal demons to start whispering in panic. The Charmed Ones were something no demons had ever defeated.
"Why would the Charmed Ones come here?" the leader asked.
"They were asked to, by the Elders. So you're not just facing the Charmed Ones, but the wrath of the Elders as well." Christy said.
"And what could you do for us?" the leader asked.
"I can stop the Charmed Ones, kill them. I just need you to distract them long enough for me to finish my plan." Christy said.
"So let me get this straight, you will kill the Charmed Ones and give us all the power we want, and in return we just have to distract the Charmed Ones?" The leader said.
"That's right." Christy said.
"How stupid do you think we are? We can't hold off the Charmed Ones for long. Do you know how many of my people will be killed?" the leader angrily asked her.
"I don't care, and neither should you. What are a few sacrifices for unlimited power?" Christy coldly said.
"And what do you get out of all of this?" the leader asked.
"A chance to fulfill my destiny, and then there is a little thing called revenge." Christy said.
"I need to think about this." The leader said.
"Then you had better think fast, the Charmed Ones are making preparations as we speak. They will be here soon." Christy said. "You only have so many options. Side with me, flee or be vanquished by the Charmed Ones!"
"Then I guess we have a deal." The tribal leader said.
"Smart choice." Christy said.
The tribal leader instantly started shouting orders at his tribe while Christy watched on with a smile. Soon she would have her revenge against the sisters and ultimate power.
Xxx
Phoebe was sitting on her old bed in her old room with a notebook on her lap. She was trying to think of some new useful spells but kept losing her concentration. With a sigh she dropped her pen and looked around her old room. The room that she had slept nearly her entire life in was almost unrecognizable. Half the room was covered in plastic while two walls were painted in a soft green. Piper and Leo were in the middle of converting her room into Wyatt's new room.
Despite the many changes Phoebe could still see some of the things that made the room hers, like the scorch mark by the window from one of her cigarettes as a teenager. She used to hide it from Grams with a picture frame of Prue, Piper and her at the park, taken before she and Prue started hating each other.
Sadness fell over Phoebe when she thought about Prue. She couldn't believe that had been nearly six years since she died. She still missed her big sister every day.
"Phoebe?" A familiar voice sounded from the hallway.
"In here." Phoebe called.
A few second later Coop entered the bedroom.
"How are you doing?" Coop asked as he sat down next to her.
"I'm okay, I'm just having trouble focusing." Phoebe said.
"I didn't mean with the spells, I meant in general." Coop said.
"I know what you meant and really, I'm fine." Phoebe said.
"Look, I know you got your empathy back and I know what you did for Billie." Coop said. "Using your power like that, it can be really straining."
"It was, I almost couldn't take all of that raw emotion." Phoebe said. "But it's over now and I'm glad I was able to help her. Nobody should have to feel that pain."
"I know." Coop said and pulled her in for a hug. "A charge is calling out to me, but I can stay here if you like."
"No, you should go." Phoebe said. "They need you."
"I can send someone else. With everything that is going on here…" Coop said.
"It's nothing we haven't faced before, don't worry about it." Phoebe said.
"How could I not?" Coop asked.
Coop leaned in to kiss her and Phoebe kissed him back, but the moment their lips touched she was pulled into a premonition. Suddenly Phoebe was standing in a hospital room and was looking at herself lying in bed. She knew that she had been astral projected into her premonition, like she had been when she had gotten a glimpse of her future daughter.
The door opened and Coop came walking in, holding a small bundle of blankets in his arms. He looked so happy and proud. Phoebe could hear a baby crying. She looked at her future self, who was crying tears of happiness as the bundle was placing in her arms. Phoebe walked closer and looked at her future daughter. She was so small and beautiful. She looked perfect. Tears welled up in Phoebe's eyes. Her future self looked up at her and smiled.
"She is perfect isn't she?" her future self asked. "Little Prue."
"Prue?" Phoebe asked in tears. She had thought about naming her daughter that ever since she first found out she was coming.
Phoebe reached out to touch her daughter, but felt she was slipping out of her premonition.
"No!" Phoebe called out.
"Don't worry." Her future self said. "You can already feel her, can't you?"
Then Phoebe was back in the present, with a worried Coop looking at her. Phoebe gasped and instantly reached for her stomach. Could it really be true?
"Phoebe, what's wrong? What did you see?" Coop asked.
"Nothing is wrong. Everything is perfect." Phoebe said crying.
"What do you mean?" Coop asked.
"I saw her, Coop. I saw our daughter." Phoebe said and she took his hand and placed in on her stomach.
It took Coop a few second to realize what she was talking about, but then suddenly started to glow.
"Really? You're pregnant?" He asked with tears welling up in his eyes.
"I am." Phoebe said.
"I love you." Coop said and kissed her passionately.
"You should go, Coop. Your charge needs you. We are not going anywhere." Phoebe said after Coop stopped kissing her.
"I don't want to leave you, either of you, ever again." Coop said smiling.
"We will have all the time of world. But now we both have work to do." Phoebe said.
"You're right." Coop said.
He kissed her one final time before teleporting out. Phoebe smiled and gently rubbed her stomach. Everything would be perfect, when she could hold little Prue in her arms.
Xxx
Meanwhile, downstairs in the kitchen, Piper and Paige were standing by the counter. While Piper was throwing ingredients in a pan out of memory, Paige was filling a bunch of small potion bottles with already finished vanquishing potions.
"Are you sure these potions will be strong enough? We have no idea what we'll be facing." Paige asked.
"Well, I doubt anything could survive these potions, they're the strongest ones we've got." Piper said.
"Still, I'd feel better if we knew what we were facing. The thought of having Christy back sends a chill down my spine." Paige said.
"I know what you mean. One of the most powerful witches ever, raised by demons to hate our guts." Piper said. "Not exactly a good combination."
"Yeah, but it's more than that." Paige said. "Working her way into our lives, twisting everything, turning her sister and the whole magical community against us…"
"It was all planned from the very beginning. I don't think it was even a coincidence that Billie came into our lives." Piper said.
"But she didn't know back then." Paige said.
"None of us could know, we were all played by the triad like pawns." Piper said.
"Feels like we still are, we have no idea what Christy is planning." Paige said.
"Well, I think we can be sure that she wants us dead." Piper said.
"At least she doesn't have Billie on her side anymore, so no Ultimate power for that little witch." Paige said.
Piper didn't respond and instead continued to brew her potion. She didn't know what to think anymore. She wanted to believe she could trust Billie, but no matter how she tried to convince herself, a shred of doubt always remained.
"Do you believe Billie is on our side, right?" Paige asked, sensing her sister's doubt.
"I want to, Paige. I do, but I just can't say for sure." Piper explained.
"It is going to take a while for that trust to grow back completely, no one can blame you for that." Paige said. "I think you and Billie have already made some great progress getting past this."
"Yeah, thanks to Leo mostly." Piper said. "But before we can go any further, we need to deal with Christy."
"Speaking about Leo, where are the guys anyway?" Paige asked.
"Leo and Henry took the boys to your apartment just in case anything goes wrong. I have no idea where Coop is but I'm sure Phoebe does." Piper answered.
"Good, at least they will be safe." Paige said.
"I'm sorry, Paige, I should have told you earlier. Now you didn't get to say goodbye." Piper said.
"That's alright. I'm pretty confident we'll live through this." Paige said with half a smile.
"Yeah, I hope so." Piper said somewhat doubtful.
Piper picked up the last ingredient and dropped it in the pot, causing a small explosion.
Xxx
Billie was sitting on the couch in the attic staring blankly at the pages of the Book of Shadows. After going through the book several times she still hadn't found anything about Christy. She sighed and tossed the book aside before getting up. She was halfway to the stairs when a sudden gust of wind went past her and flipped open the book of Shadows again.
Billie went back to the book and picked it up, it had opened on a page which contained a power stripping potion. Billie sat back down and looked at the page. She wondered what had caused the wind and what it was trying to tell her. The sisters had once told her that their Grams would sometimes give them advice the same way, but this couldn't have been her, right?
Maybe she was supposed to use this potion on Christy, taking away her powers would probably end the immediate threat, but would it really solve anything? Christy would still be obsessed with her co-called destiny and her revenge. She would still be dangerous to everyone.
No matter what the reason for this potion was, Billie figured it could do no harm, so she quickly started gathering the ingredients and got to work.
Sometime later, Billie hid the power stripping potion in her back pocket and went down the stairs. Piper, Phoebe and Paige were already waiting for her in the lobby. She decided not to tell them about the potion until she knew its purpose, telling them that she was taking advice from a gust of wind didn't seems like a good idea now that they were finally starting to trust her again. The four witches exchanged potions and spells.
It felt like old times again standing with the sisters, ready to vanquish evil. It just broke Billie's heart that the evil in question was her own sister. She had to be brave, she had made her choice, just like Christy had.
"Are you ready for this?" Piper asked.
"Yeah, let's just get this over with." Billie said.
With that said, Paige took everyone's hands and orbed them to Magic School.