Chapter 4: The old black magic
Cole Turner woke up early the day before his wife's official arriving in town. After his shower, he went to the kitchen to begin preparing breakfast. They had a long day ahead of them: hey had to run some last minute errands before his wife came back and the kids wanted to find a present for her. It was Friday and he took it off with the weekend to be able to spend it with his family.
He didn't have to wait long before he heard tiny feet pounding on the floor and coming toward him. His two children were standing in front of him with sleepy eyes. Ben was holding his little sister's hand in his while she rubbed one of her eyes with the other, a pacifier in the mouth and her teddy bear under her arm.
"Morning guys." Cole greeted while he knelt in front of them and kissed each child on the head. All he got was a shy "good mowning daddy" from each. He then took Vicky in his arms and helped Ben in his seat at the table. Still with the little girl wrapped around him, Cole then served Ben a glass of orange juice with his cereal. He then put Vicky in her high chair with her breakfast in front of her. Once everyone was served, he took a seat between the two to be able to help the when necessary with a cup of coffee in hand and his plate in front of him.
They weren't worried for Amy. The girl wasn't a morning person and Cole decided to let her sleep since he was taking the kids out. She had a plate of breakfast waiting for her in the microwave and all she'd have to do was reheat it when she was ready. In the meantime, the three of them would finish preparing for their day out.
Once they finished with their breakfast, Cole took Ben and Vicky upstairs for a bath and to clothe them. An hour two hours later, they were making their way to the family car. Father and son were dressed alike with blue jeans and a whit t shirt under a leather jacket. As for Vicky, she was wearing a summer dress adorned with yellow flowers over which she had on a white cardigan, white stockings and yellow Mary Janes.
Hours later, after their visit to the mall and the restaurant for a quick lunch, they found themselves in a flea market. They were simply looking around, Vicky resting in her father's arms, to see if there was something that would grab their interest when Cole heard Ben call for him.
"Daddy, daddy, look, a magic wand! Can I have it, pleaaaase?"
Cole looked at what his son was pointing and new exactly that it wasn't a fake. What's more, the more Ben approached the wand, the more it reacted. There was no doubt in Cole's mind: the magical object was reacting to his son so there must be a reason to it. Luckily, no one else had noticed and didn't know what it was so he could have it for just a few dollars. And that was exactly what he did.
The three Turners arrived home with shopping bags on the father's arms while Ben was proudly waving his new acquisition around. Cole was grateful that it hadn't done anything yet for he just wanted to make sure it was the one he thought it was. All he'd have to do was take a quick look in the Book to be sure. He left the bags where they should go and then went to look for the Book. It had its specific room on the first floor of the house. Cole entered it to find the Book in the middle of one half of the room surrounded by bookcases of magical books while the other half resembled a lab of some sort. It was there that they brewed their potions and also where they kept every potion ingredients they owned, labelled and neatly put away in glass cupboards.
Cole went straight to the Book, opened the second page, picked up the pen beside it and scribbled a few words in. He waited a few seconds to see other words appear then went straight to the page that they indicated. Reading it got him the confirmation he was looking for. So, the witch must have awoken, he thought. They'd just have to wait for her to appear. He didn't need to worry for his son: they had strong protections all around the property.
No one with bad intentions towards the family could access the property. The wards would reject them and if they insisted, they'd be zapped to an unpleasant location. Only those he or his wife authorised could magically transport themselves in. Otherwise, they'd find themselves in a special room in the basement with no other choice than to transport themselves out again. Even after that, they would leave a recording for the Turners to see. That's what would happen to those who'd want to snoop around or to hurt one of them. It was all in the intruder's intentions and the family's feelings about them and theirs about the Turners.
Cole left the Lab to go look for the children. He found them in playroom with Ben trying to make his wand work and her sister looking on wide-eyed. So far all he'd managed to do was make it spin around his palm in fast movement but Cole wasn't worried. His son was a smart and strong little boy and he'd have the hang of it in no time to be able to use it. But now wasn't the time.
"Come on you two. Time for a quick nap."
"Oh daddyyyy! Can I play with my wand first pleaaaaaase?" Ben whined.
"No buddy, you know you have to. Your sister is tired and you can't play without her here to see, can you?"
Ben looked at her sister who was looking back at him sleepy eyed, sucking on her pacifier. His daddy was right, he couldn't. His little sister was his greatest fan, daddy always told him. And daddy was always right, that's why he was a great lawyer, the greatest even. So, if he said he couldn't, then he couldn't. That one was mommy's saying.
So the little boy answered. "No," with a resigned sigh.
"Come on then, let's go." With that said Cole took Vicky in his arms and went upstairs to put them to bed.
At the Halliwell manor, Leo suddenly orbed into the conservatory. Paige, who was snooping at Piper and Dan in the latter's car engaging personal time, was startled. "Leo!" Glaring at him, she asked. "Could you try and knock like any normal person?"
"Sorry Paige but it's an emergency. What were you doing?"
"Me? Nothing!" she said, a little too quickly.
"Really?" Now he was suspicious. He studied her for a moment then went to look out the window too. Seeing the scene outside, he understood why she didn't want him to know. He turned to Paige with a devastated look expression on his face.
"I'm sorry Leo." She sympathised. She really liked Leo, they were whitelighters after all. She didn't want him to hurt like he was.
"Don't worry Paige, I'll be fine. Anyway, I'm here to talk to you and your sisters about something important. So, I saw where Piper is but where is Prue?"
"Last I checked she was at work." Now she was sarcastic again. It seemed to be a trait more pronounced on the youngest Charmed One. "You know that thing you do for you to earn money to pay bills, food..."
"Yeah, I get it Paige. What I have to tell you is very important." He was about to continue when they were interrupted by voices coming from the doorway. They went over to be met by Piper and Dan. The couple froze.
In a moment, Piper took Leo to another room. Dan and Paige looked after them for a moment. "That handyman spends a lot of time here." Dan finally commented.
"Yeah, it's a very old house, lots of things to repair, you know." She told him with a nervous laugh.
Dan looked at her, not really believing it. "Anyway, I have some work to do. Tell Piper I'll call her later." With that said, he left the manor."
In the other room, Piper was pacing, before talking.
"Don't take this the wrong way Leo but what are you doing here? You can't keep orbing whenever you want." She berated.
Leo made a sad face. "It's never been a problem before."
"Well, now things are different. So what are you doing here?"
"I'm here on business. A witch was freed today and we need to take care of it."
"Of course it's about that, what else is new?" Piper made a face.
They went back to the others to find only Paige was still there.
Piper looked around before addressing her sister. "Where's Dan?"
"He left, said he had some work to do, sorry." Paige answered.
Piper just sighed with resignation before talking. "Ok. Let's get this over with so we can go back to our life. So Leo, what's going on?"
Leo went back to the problem at hand. "Earlier today, a witch escaped from a cave she was tricked in and entombed."
Piper was confused. "If she is a witch then what's the problem? She escaped what's it got to do with us?"
"It wouldn't normally be a problem. Unfortunately, this particular witch turned evil two hundred years ago and used her craft for evil."
"So, normal witch intervention then." Paige declared. "Who is she and how can we vanquish her?"
Leo looked at them sadly. "You can't."
Piper was indignant. "Excuse me, what do you mean we can't?"
"I mean no witch can vanquish Tuatha. Only the chosen one can." Leo admitted.
"Ok, then why don't you go look for this chosen one to take care of your problem? Why are you here?" Piper asked again.
"I came to ask you to protect him. The only thing that can defeat Tuatha is her wand which only the chosen one can use against her." Leo said again.
"Great! Now we have to babysit." That was Paige alright.
"This is serious Paige!" Leo exclaimed. "If Tuatha finds the wand first she could kill the chosen one and then come after you too."
"Ok, Leo. Now tell us everything about this chosen one. If we are to protect him, we have to know who he is."
"His name is Kyle Gwydien, seventh son of the seventh son. We've been watching him since he was a little boy."
"Where does he live? Where can we find him?"
Leo looked at his watch and gave his answer. "He should finish his last class in about an hour so, we've a little time to plan how we're going to proceed."
"Wait, what. Don't tell me he's just a kid?"
"Of course not Piper, he's in high school."
"High school or not he's still just a kid. And you expect him to go against a powerful witch all by himself?"
"He won't be alone, he'll have you guys to help him. And anyway, I'm not the one that chose this for him, they did. He won't have a choice either way. Tuatha knows he's the chosen one and she'll go after him."
"Great, just great!" Piper wasn't very happy with this mission.
Just then, they heard the front door open and their older sister calling out to them.
"We're in the sunroom!" Paige yelled out in response.
"Hey guys. Leo? What are you doing here?" Seeing his expression, she hurried to explain. "Not that it's not good to see you, I'm just surprised to see you, here."
Piper beat him for the response. "Apparently, we have to help a kid vanquish a powerful witch." She made sure to stress out the word kid to get her sister to understand.
Prue laughed for a moment but after seeing no one else was joining her, she stopped. She then turned to their whitelighter. "You're not serious Leo? Really, a kid? How old is he anyway?"
"This is very serious and I'm telling you, there is no other way." He then paused, studied Prue seeming to look for something on her. Not finding it, he looked troubled.
"Is there something wrong on me, Leo?"
"I don't know yet. Are you already finished with work?"
"Yeah mostly. Then I just had to get away from someone who was getting on my nerves. Why? Why are you interested in my work?"
"Because you don't have the wand." Seeing her blank expression, he explained. "The chosen one can only defeat Tuatha with her own wan and since you're supposed to protect him until he's ready, it should have come to you somehow. I mean Piper and Paige don't have it and seeing as you work for an auction house, you seemed the obvious choice for it to come to."
"If none of us have it then where could it be?" Prue asked him.
"Maybe it went directly to the chosen one?" Paige guessed in turn.
"No, it didn't." Leo immediately rejected the possibility.
Piper was doubtful. "How can you know it didn't go to him?"
"Because if it had they'd have connected, they'd have sensed it and told me."
"Now what do we do?"
"We'll have to find a way to find the wand before Tuatha does."
In the meantime, Paige had made her way to the window, looking out of it in curiosity. Suddenly, she got a shocked expression on her face. "Oh my god!"
"What is it Paige?" Her sisters immediately went to her. the two of them and Leo looked out too to see what was going on. They became as shocked as Paige.
"Well, that's close enough." Leo suddenly said.
"What do you mean Leo?" Piper asked. She seemed to be the only one to have heard him and capable of speech.
"I mean that's the wand." He said.
Cole had taken advantage of his children's nap to do some last minute work around the house. When they had returned home, they had found out that Amy had gone out for some alone time and sightseeing. When he finished, he went to the couch in the sunroom to relax with a book. It wasn't long before the little ones made their way down to him.
Once they'd had their snack, Ben once more demanded the permission to play with his new toy. Cole, for his part, thought it best to explain some things to the little boy first. He'd already discussed it with his mother and she agreed too.
"Come on you two, there's something I have to tell you first." He took the two kids to the sunroom with the wand still in Ben's hand. He put them on the couch and sat on his hunches before them. "Do you remember what mommy and I told you about good and bad witches?' Cole got vigorous nods to his question. "Well, a long time ago, there was a very, very bad witch who once had a wand like this one."
Ben's eyes got wide in wonder." Really?" He was starting to get second thoughts about this wand. What if he was bad and that's why he got a wand like the bad witch?
His father saw his expression and continued quickly. "Really. And unlike you, she decided to use her wand to do bad things. She hurt many people until she was stopped and lost her wand. But now, she came back and she wants it back so she can hurt people again but we won't let her, ok?" Once again, he got nods in return. "The only person who will be able to stop her is the one with the wand. That's you Benny."
Once again the boy opened his eyes wide. "Really" His father nodded. He wasn't sure if he could but if daddy said so, then he'd do it. "How?"
Cold smiled at him. His son was a very smart and brave boy and he always made sure to tell him so. "You're brave, smart and really powerful. I'm sure you can do it. All you have to do is train a little with your wand here ok?" The little boy nodded again. "Let's go outside so you can do it properly." Cole took them again this time to the garden.
He was sitting on a chair in the patio instructing his boy while his sister stood beside him shearing him on. He heard his cell phone ring from the house. He told the kid to continue while he went in to answer.
Back at the Halliwell manor, the three witches and their whitelighter were still stood staring at the kids in the garden of the house next to theirs.
"Leo, are you sure that's the wand we're looking for? Is that really Tuatha's wand?" Prue asked.
"Yeah I'm sure."
"Then the kid doesn't know what he's playing with. This could be dangerous for him!" Piper all but exclaimed.
"I think there's a question more important than that." Paige suddenly said. When they all looked at her, she rolled her eyes then said with a sigh. "If only the chosen one can defeat Tuatha with her wand, then that means only the two of them can use it, right."
Leo nodded his head. "Yeah, that's right. Other than Tuatha, only the chosen one, Kyle will be able to wield her wand."
"Leo, have you looked at the kid? He's using the wand and it's working!" Paige exclaimed, pointing outside at the kids.
Leo looked again closely to see that sure enough, the wand was spinning around and wherever the boy willed it to. He then frowned, puzzled. "That's strange. And it shouldn't be possible.
"Well I think we should go talk to them." Prue suddenly said. She seemed to brighten at the idea.
Piper studied her for a moment. "Oh, no Prue, you can't do that!"
Her older sister got defensive. "What, all I'm going to do is go there, talk to the kid and see what he can tell us about how he's doing that."
"And take the chance to talk to his father, maybe?" Piper didn't really believe her sister.
"That' inevitable anyway."
"Prue's right Piper." Paige interrupted. "He doesn't look older than five. We can't just go there and take things from him. And we'll have to explain ourselves."
"Ha! See, I was right." Prue said victoriously. Without waiting for a response, she went through the door and out to the Turners'. Paige and Leo soon followed after giving Piper a shrug. With a resigned sigh, Piper went after them. This was a bad idea, she just knew it.
They approached and opened the door of the fence leading to the other house. Slowly, as to not frighten the two kids, they made their way to them.
"Hey." Prue called out softly, just enough to be heard.
The two kids turned around and stared at them, trying to guess why they were there. The boy was the one who talked first. "Who are you?" At the same time, he took his sister by the hand and pulled her behind him.
The four adults found it cute that he was so protective of his little sister. Being the one closer to the kids, Prue took charge. "Don't worry we just want to talk to you."
Ben had a sceptical look on his face. "We can't talk to you. You're strangers and you're witches too."
That last bit surprised the four adults. How could a little boy know they were witches? Was he one too or was that just an expression to him? If he was that would maybe explain why he could use the wand. They didn't have time to ask however.
"Ben." The boy looked up at his father's calling. "Come here with your sister, please." He obeyed without a word, taking his little sister with him to the patio. Cole ruffled his son's hair when he was beside him and smiled. "Go wait for me inside." He looked at them until they had disappeared into the house before turning to the Halliwells and Leo.
"What were you doing talking to my son without permission? No, scratch that. What were you even doing in my garden in the first place?" His tone was quiet but very cold. He didn't like it when strangers went anywhere near his children without permission, especially witches, good or not.
Prue was once again the one who talked when the others looked a little intimidated. "I am sorry Cole, we didn't mean any harm. We just wanted to talk to him and to you too."
Cole simply looked at each of the in turn. When no one else talked again, he became impatient and a little exasperated. "Well? I'm waiting. What did you want to talk to us about?"
This time, it was Paige who went straight to the point. "We wanted to ask how he could do the things he did with the wand and how he knew we were witches." Hearing this, her sisters and Leo sent her a look. "What? We don't have time to beat around the bush!" they then waited for Cole's explanations.
"Is that all?" They just looked at him, waiting. "What my son can or does do in his own home is none of your business! And how he is able to tell you lot are witches is even less so. So, if that is all, I suggest you leave."
"Please Mr Turner, I know it's probably too personal but this is of great importance. We must know how Ben did this so we can help him." Piper was practically begging to know.
"My son doesn't have any problem, so he won't be needing your so called help!" Cole was beginning to lose it. He couldn't help it, they were trying his patience.
Leo thought it best to intervene. He could clearly see that his whitelighter skills of guidance and mediation were needed. "That's not what they meant. Of course your son doesn't have any problem. It's just that there are things going on that could be very dangerous for him."
Now puzzled, Cole asked the question, just to humour them. "What things are talking about?"
Prue thought they should be honest with him if they wanted his help in explaining why the boy could use the wand. "There is a witch, a bad one looking for her wand to do evil and that wand is the one your son has. So, if she finds him, she could hurt him and we don't want that. We just want to protect you and your children."
"Are you talking about Tuatha?" Once again, the other four were left speechless.
Regaining, her voice back, Prue asked. "How do you know about that?"
Cole rolled his eyes. "Again, none of your business. I am perfectly capable of protecting myself and my family, thanks. Now, are you going or do I have to make you?"
They opened their mouth to speak again but were interrupted by a sound from the side of the Halliwell manor. They all turned around to see a woman in a red dress from the seventeen hundreds. The Charmed ones immediately got on the defensive.
"Who are you and what do you want?" Prue asked unnecessarily.
"Don't play dumb with me witch. I want my wand and I want it now!" Tuatha wasn't about to waste any more time here. She reached into her pouch for a powder that she blew at the five in front of her. To her surprise and that of the Charmed ones and their whitelighter, nothing happened. They looked at each other in confusion before noticing that Cole had not reacted at all.
Being the only one to know what had happened, he supported a determined expression. After a few moments of silence, he finally talked. "You call that power? I'll show you what power really is." With that, he sent an energy ball her way. The force of it and the surprise of the attack sent Tuatha flying several feet away. It took her a moment but she eventually got up before disappearing in a puff of smoke.
As for the Charmed Ones and Leo, they were standing there mouths agape. Still staring at the space the witch had disappeared from, they could not believe their eyes. Apparently, their neighbour was a witch, and judging by how forceful his energy ball had been, he was a very powerful one. The eldest Charmed One was more than surprised, she was fascinated and very much impressed.
Before any of them could say anything, Cole talked again. "Now, how about you lot get out of my property?" With that, he walked in the direction of the house to check up on his children. He'd also have to tell his wife all that had just happened.
The Charmed Ones and Leo had no other choice but to go back to the manor. Once there, Piper turned to the others. "Ok, what just happened out there?" She still had a disbelieving look.
"I'd say that Cole is a witch and his kids probably are too." As opposed to her sisters, Prue was very impressed. "And he just kicked Tuatha's ass. What do you think of that Leo? I thought no one but the chosen one was capable of that?"
"It's still the case. If you haven't noticed, he didn't vanquish her, just slowed her down. Obviously, he knew of her even before we did and he knows he can't vanquish her. That's why he didn't attempt anything else."
"How do you think he knows her? Could he be a witch?" Piper wanted to know.
Leo had a thoughtful expression. "I really don't know."
Paige thought she had to intervene. "Ok Leo, why don't you go ask the Elders about him and how it's possible that his son can use Tuatha's wand? Maybe they know something that can help us?"
In the meantime, Piper had been studying her older sister and addressed her as soon as Leo left. "Please, Prue, don't tell me his being a witch makes him that much more attractive to you?"
"Well, yes. Don't you get it? It's the perfect match. I wouldn't have to worry about him finding out that I'm a witch since he's one too."
"Maybe, but he could also be a demon." Paige found herself on the receiving end of her two sisters' stares. "What? It's possible you know?"
Prue snorted. "Come on Paige, really? A demon with kids, where did you ever see that?"
"We know nothing about him, even Leo doesn't." As soon as she finished her sentence, the man in question orbed in front of them.
"That was quick."
"Well? What did they say?" Piper asked.
"Nothing!"
"No surprises there." Piper muttered under her breath.
The others chose to ignore her. "What do you mean nothing Leo?" Prue spoke up.
"I mean just that: they don't know of any witch called Cole Turner and they don't understand how his son can use Tuatha's wand either. They suggested we learn as much about him as we can. He could be a potential powerful ally."
"I wouldn't mind learning more about him!" A cry of Prue made her turn to her side. "What, it must be done. You heard what the Elders had to say, he could be a powerful ally."
"Hello, aren't you forgetting something? We have an evil witch to find and vanquish!" Paige went back to their first concern.
Prue took the lead and turned to Leo. "Right. First we must find this chosen one of yours and bring him back here for protection."
She was interrupted by Piper. "What good is it gonna do? Cole won't let us anywhere near the wand."
"It doesn't matter anyway. According to the Elders, Kyle's not the chosen one anymore: they felt a shift in the wand and think that now Cole's son got the power to defeat Tuatha."
"I thought you said they didn't know why he could use the wand and now you're telling us that he has to defeat the witch?"
"No, Piper, I said they didn't know how he could use it, not why." The whitelighter defended himself.
"It doesn't matter!" She snapped at him. "We told you Kyle was too young to go against a powerful and experienced witch and now you want a young kid of no more than five to do it? Are you and the Elders out of your minds?"
"We won't be able to approach him anyway. You saw how his father reacted to us just talking to him. I don't think he'll let us use him to defeat a witch." The youngest Halliwell's declaration surprised them as they hadn't thought of it.
"Paige is right." Prue sighed.
"Well, we'll have to convince. He seemed to know more about this situation than us so, I'm sure he knows how important this is." Leo declared, not really convinced of it himself.
"Ok, so, we know where the wand and chosen one are. All we have to do is find Tuatha and try and do something about her. Let's go and scry for her"
The sisters were about to go and do just that but Leo stopped them. "There's no need for that, all you'll do is get yourselves in danger. No, we have to talk to Cole and convince him."
"That won't be an easy task and frankly, I won't blame him if he refuses." Piper made her opinion known to all. With that said, they made their way to the front door.
In the house next to them, Cole had just finished talking to his children about what had happened. The parents had promised themselves to never keep anything from their children, especially when it concerned magic. Magic or not, they all had great responsibility in the world, especially the children. They wanted them to learn everything they could so when they got older they'd be ready to face the world and their destiny.
Cole was watching them from the doorway of the training room, the last room on the first floor. Like every other room, it was protected to be resistant to magic in a way that the person training their powers wouldn't hurt themselves or anyone else. It was then that he heard the doorbell ring. Never wanting them to be training in the room unsupervised, he sent them to the playroom instead. He then made his way to the front door, wondering who it could be.
When Cole finally opened the door, he rolled his eyes when he found none other than the Charmed Ones and their whitelighter. "What do you want now?"
Leo, being the most experienced with magic and possessing the knowledge necessary for this case decided to take the lead this time. "We came to talk to you about Tuatha and the wand."
"I don't see what there is to talk about; you have nothing to tell me that I don't already know."
Seeing as she was the one he'd met first and knew a little about, Prue thought she'd have a better chance at convincing him. "Please, Cole, it concerns your son and it's very important that you let us explain things." All she got was a blank expression.
Once again, Cole sighed and gave a curt nod. Taking it as an invitation, they were about to get in the house with him when he stopped them. "We'll do it in the garden so, I'll see you there." With that, he closed the door in their faces.
"See, he definitely has something to hide. He won't let us in and that's very suspicious.
"He has a right not to let us in his home Paige. Let's go to the garden and be done with this. Paige sighed at her sister's stubbornness. No matter what, Prue seemed bent on involving herself with the man.
They found Cole already waiting for them at the table in the garden. He gestured for them to have a sit, which they did. "I'm listening."
When they were finished, with their explanation, they waited for a reaction from Cole with apprehension. But the man seemed unreadable to them. "Again, that's nothing I didn't already know." He surprised them all with his declaration. "Now, thank you for your concern but I've got it under control. No one will use my son for anything and certainly not a whitelighter on some Elders' order." He gestured for them to leave but again Tuatha appeared before them on the side of the Halliwell house.
Cole sighed. He seemed to be doing that a lot lately. The Charmed ones made their way to the witch, intent on stopping her from achieving her plan. For that, they went out of the Turner's garden to their backyard. In the meantime, no one noticed Cole go back into the house. When he returned, he found the Charmed ones stuck to the ground on different spots while their whitelighter was out cold on the ground.
Cole stopped just on the edge of his garden with Vicky in his arms and Ben at his side holding the wand in one hand and his father's in the other. Everyone looked at them in surprise. Tuatha snapped out of it first. "Give me my wand little boy!" She barked the order as she stretched out her hand to try and take it from him with her power. To her surprise and the Halliwells', nothing happened, again.
Ben looked at his father who gave him an encouraging smile and a nod. He nodded back and then turned back to the witch in front of him. He pointed the wand at Tuatha who got a shocked expression on her face before she screamed and exploded.
The witch's vanquish freed the sisters of her magic but they seemed to still be stuck for a different reason. They had a hard time believing that a five year old had done what they couldn't without any effort.
Cole, on the other hand was very proud of his son. "Great job Benny. You were very good." He crouched down at his level to hug and kiss his head. The boy was beaming at his father's prise.
"Yeah Ben!" His sister too insisted on hugging him for his achievement.
Cole stood up and faced the Halliwell sisters. "Well, that's done. Now, I suggest you take your whitelighter home and treat him." He then looked at his children. "Let's go guys, it's time for dessert and it's ice cream tonight." He received a chorus of "yeah" and chuckled as the kids ran to the house.
The sisters stared after them for a long time before snapping out of it and Paige made to orb them home with their whitelighter. They had a long night of reflexion ahead of them.