Disclaimer: I don't own Charmed.

In this 'verse, the Manor has four bedrooms, not three. Also, there will be more Phoebe and Paige soon, I promise.

Read, enjoy and review!

Published: 28-3-2024

Chapter Four

The Sword in the Stone

Piper sighed to herself as she walked into the upstairs bathroom. She was at a loss as to how to connect with her daughter. All Kate would talk to her, actually to anyone, about was Wyatt and protecting her. The only progress they seemed to have made was that Cole had persuaded Kate to move into the Manor, and he'd only managed that by pointing out how much easier protecting Wyatt would be if she were living with them. She was staying in the guest bedroom (that had never housed any guests in Piper's memory) that they had been planning on converting to a nursery for Wyatt once he was old enough that Piper was comfortable with him leaving the closet. It should have happened months ago, but after learning a demon was after her son she had put it off. That decision was only reinforced by the knowledge of what The Demon was planning on doing should he get his hands on her son.

Piper was wondering if they should add an extension to the Manor, though. They couldn't risk breaking up the Power of Three right now, but the place was full to the brim, and she worried where they would fit Baby Kate when she arrived next year. Though, by then they should have The Demon dealt with, and Adult Kate would be heading back to the future. Hopefully a very different one to the one she had come from and Leo had caught a glimpse of. Still, either way they were struggling to fit everyone, and she knew Phoebe and Cole wanted to have children eventually, even if they had needed time after the tragic fate of their son, and she knew that they'd decided to wait until Wyatt was safe at least before trying for another child. Piper was grateful for that. A third baby would make finding space very difficult.

Piper shook her head to dismiss the thoughts. They would manage, just like always, and there was a while left to figure everything out.

Truth be told, she was just grateful Kate had agreed to move in instead of insisting on staying at P3. The stressed mother was desperate to believe that it was progress. As it was, Kate kept going to the Underworld alone (apparently the agreement to go with Cole had only been for that particular day in Kate's eyes), despite Piper's pleas, and eventually, after an argument with Kate and a talk with the rest of the family, Piper had accepted (very reluctantly) that she wasn't going to win this fight. Cole went with the young witch whenever he was available, and he'd assured Piper that she was good at blending in and had a plethora of demonic informers who took one look at her and spilled everything they knew.

Piper wasn't sure how comforting the 'reassurance' had been for her.

Sighing heavily, she set down her toolbox and eyed the clogged sink. Richard had used magic to fix the garbage disposal downstairs, and the temptation to do the same was overwhelming. After all, she had a dozen other things around the house to get done, and she'd only given herself today to get through them, what with the constant threat hovering over her son that they were all focused on.

"Well, maybe a little magic wouldn't hurt," she reasoned. It wasn't really personal gain, after all. She needed to get the chores done to focus on Wyatt and Kate, and there would be catastrophic consequences for the world if she missed a threat to her son because of a clogged sink. At least that's what she told herself to keep from feeling guilty at cheating.

She paused to think of a spell (which admittedly wasn't her strength) but was cut off by the water in the basin bubbling up and forming into the figure of a woman. "Whoa!" Piper exclaimed. She stepped backward and raised her hands defensively, prepared to blow the water woman up if she turned out to be a demon. Though the sink would probably go too in that case, which would be very inconvenient.

The woman reached out a hand imploringly. "Help me, please!" She begged.

The Charmed Ones orbed into a pretty park with a large pond and looked around warily.

"Okay, so water lady pops up from the sink," Paige commented, eyeing their surroundings suspiciously. "Are you sure she's not a demon?"

Piper grimaced. "I'm sure she needed help," she stated, dodging the question.

"What else did she say?" Phoebe asked, looking around for any sign of their Innocent.

Piper shrugged. "That was it. Pretty park, pond and poof."

Just then, the pond started to bubble, and a sword began to rise out of the water. "Over there!" Piper cried, pointing at the pond where a woman made of water, holding onto the sword, was rising out of the water. They began heading towards her as she floated over to land. She turned solid when her bare feet touched the grass and began running towards the three witches.

Meanwhile, a man wielding a dagger and shield with a black cloak flowing from his armoured shoulders, shimmered in.

"They're coming!" The woman shouted. "Take this, it does not belong to them!"

Before the Charmed Ones could intervene the man threw a dagger at her and they watched helplessly as it pierced her chest. She fell to the ground as the sword flew over some trees.

The sisters ran over to their Innocent and bent over her. But before they could do anything, two more demons wearing black masks and carrying battle axes shimmered in and a sword materialised in the man's hand.

Leaving Piper to tend their Innocent, Phoebe and Paige went over to face the demons.

Paige stuck out a hand. "Axe!" She called. The axe orbed into Paige's hands and she hit the demon with it, vanquishing him. Meanwhile, Phoebe had gotten the axe off the other demon and attacked him with, vanquishing him too. The two turned and spotted the swordsdemon approaching Piper and the woman. Piper tried to blow him up, but he must have been an upper-level demon because it only made him stagger. The younger Charmed Ones quickly ran over.

Phoebe hefted her axe and smirked at their opponent. "I'm liking these odds," she remarked. Evidently the swordsdemon did not like the odds, however, because he fled and they dropped their stolen weapons.

"Wuss," Paige scoffed disdainfully, before they turned to the Innocent.

"The sword," the woman whispered weakly. "The sword is..." But before she could finish speaking, her chest stopped rising and she turned into a puddle of water.

Phoebe looked around wildly. They'd seen a lot during their time as the Charmed Ones, but injured Innocents turning into water was new. "Where'd she go? What'd she say?"

"Uh, she said something about the sword," Piper answered as they looked around in search of the weapon the demons had seemingly been after. "Where is it?"

"It's in the stone," Paige said reverently.

Her elder sisters followed her gaze and spotted the sword sticking out of a large rock.

"The sword and the stone?" Phoebe asked incredulously.

Piper raised her eyebrows, clearing full of disbelief. "Uh, you gotta be kidding me. Right?"

Back at home, Paige, Richard, Paige's new boyfriend and Cole stared in amazement at the sword in its' giant sheath. Paige had orbed it to the conservatory before bringing her sisters home. Once they'd returned to the Manor, Phoebe had gone upstairs to check the Book of Shadows for any hint of Excalibur. Piper, meanwhile, was sweeping up around the boulder, which had landed on top of the glass coffee table.

"Okay, could you maybe miss the table next time?" Piper huffed at her youngest sister.

"Sorry, I've never orbed anything that heavy before or that historic," Paige replied defensively.

"Do you see it glowing?" Richard asked reverently.

Piper shook her head in denial. "No, it's the sunroom, there's a lot of light," she insisted.

Paige gave her an exasperated look. "What part of this reality aren't you getting? Sword stone, lady lake?"

"It was a pond," Piper argued stubbornly.

"Do you think she's from Avalon?" Richard wondered, still looking at the sword in amazement. At their side, Cole was studying it with quiet seriousness, with a hint of awe in his bright blue eyes.

Paige nodded. "Yeah, I think she was flushed out by whoever's after Excalibur," she confirmed. "The Maker of Kings."

Piper stopped sweeping to glare at them. "Look, we're not talking about Camelot, right? Because that's not real."

"Actually, Camelot is a historical fact in magical history," Cole finally spoke up, turning to his family. "It was before my time, obviously, but the Triad spoke of it sometimes. They fought with Mordred at Camlann, when the King was killed. Merlin, Arthur, the Round Table...it's all real, though some facts are distorted in the mortal version.

For example, Merlin was Arthur's age, not an old man, and died protecting his king. Arthur was a witch, hence him being King of the Magical World. Mordred was a warlock with no known relation to the King who may or may not have been Morgana's lover, and Guinevere and Lancelot never had an affair. Or rather, they were enchanted to have one by Morgana, in the hopes of destabilizing the kingdom.

It's believed that Camelot still remains, hidden under heavy wards placed by Merlin and Arthur, awaiting Arthur's heir, who is either his descendant or possibly his reincarnation, depending on which version you believe. The Heir will be someone with the ultimate power, and the only one who can wield the sword."

Paige cast Piper a smug look. "You see?" She smirked. Piper blinked, realizing that Paige and Kate's smirks were rather alike, then shook it away.

"The Triad aren't exactly reliable sources of information, ya know," she pointed out.

"Either way, those demons believe the sword is Excalibur," Cole broke in to prevent an argument between the sisters. "Which means they'll come back for it. Supposedly, the wielder of Excalibur will be unstoppable. They'll have the power to command all magical forces, of all sides, and some prophecies are even interpreted as saying they will end the war between Good and Evil."

The sisters, growing serious, exchanged worried looks. Piper was especially worried. After all, she had two children (even if one was about twenty - and they really needed to get Kate's exact birthday date out of her to celebrate, even if belatedly) living in the house. She didn't want them at risk more than necessary, and this sword seemed like a magnet for evil attacks.

Just then, Phoebe entered the room carrying the Book, two pages marked by her fingers.

"Okay, there is definitely nothing in the Book," she announced, pausing and frowning at the sight of Richard. She wasn't happy about her baby sister dating a man with magic addiction issues. "Oh, hi. How ya doing? Didn't realise you were still here."

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

Phoebe gave a blatantly fake smile. "No, not really," she replied. Paige frowned at her and Cole gave her a pointed look, reminding her of their conversation that morning when she had agreed to give Richard a shot. After all, his past wasn't half-as-bad as Cole's, and she'd given him a chance to prove himself to the family. She blushed a bit in acknowledgement of look.

Piper also shot her a stern look. "Phoebe," she hissed.

Looking uncomfortable, Richard cleared his throat. "Look, I should probably go," he said awkwardly.

Phoebe waved him off. "Don't ridiculous, you're great," she said in an overly bright voice.

Paige clapped her hands loudly. "Okay, anyway, Book, Excalibur."

Phoebe shook her head. "Yeah, nothing, nada," she replied, making Paige frown.

"Really?" She asked disappointedly.

Piper looked smug. "See?" She reasoned. "If it was really Excalibur, it would be in the Book, wouldn't it?"

"Not necessarily," Cole responded, earning himself an appreciative look from his youngest sister-in-law and an irritated one from his eldest. "I mean, the sword was meant to have been hidden by Nimueh when Arthur died, to be guarded by a secret line of chosen guardians, the successors to the Lady of the Lake, until the Heir needed it. There's no reason for the Halliwells to have come across it before."

"Guy has a good point," Paige nodded smugly.

"Well, we have run across these guys," Phoebe stated, turning the Book to show the page to her family. "Executioner demons. Low-level bad asses for hire."

Piper frowned, quickly reading the page. "Who hired them?" She asked.

Phoebe turned to the other page she was marking. "This higher-level bad ass," she answered.

"A power mad paladin of destruction," Piper read.

"The Dark Knight," Cole mused. "I've heard of him, though he hasn't been seen in centuries. He's supposedly the best swordsdemon in the Underworld, who can only be killed by Excalibur. He must truly believe the sword is Excalibur if he's come out of hiding."

Paige turned to her boyfriend. "Maybe, you know, maybe we should just kind of hang out later," she suggested apologetically.

Richard nodded quickly, eager to escape the protective older sisters. "Yeah, okay," he agreed. "Bye."

"Bye," Piper answered distractedly, still studying the Book with an unhappy frown. There was no vanquish written for the Dark Knight.

"See you, man," Cole added.

"Goodbye," Phoebe said, before Paige escorted the dark-haired man to the door.

"He's an upper-level demon," Piper stated. "I know there's no potion or spell, but if you made a mandrake variation that should work."

Cole shook his head silently but didn't interrupt. Arguing would only make Piper more determined to refuse to believe the sword was really Excalibur. They'd planted the seed and from now on she would slowly change her mind as more facts became available.

"Okay," Phoebe nodded absently as she frowned after Paige and Richard. Then what Piper had said registered and she turned back to her elder sister, startled. "Wait, me? Why me?" She demanded.

Piper gave her an incredulous look. "Because... hello... I have a few hundred things to do around here in addition to raising a small child who needs to be protected from the demon that wants to turn him evil, and Cole isn't allowed near cauldrons anymore after what happened last time."

Everyone winced collectively as they remembered that incident. Leo had taken three days to repair all the damage to the roof. Their saving grace was that he'd been making the potion in the attic, so the damage was limited to one room and none of their bedrooms were damaged.

"I know, you have so much to do, you're my hero," Phoebe said, leaning in to kiss her sister's cheek as she stood up. "But I can't, I have to go to work. I still don't have an assistant and I'm swamped."

After giving her husband a chaste but loving kiss, Phoebe hurried towards the door.

"Phoebe!" Piper called after her as Paige walked in. The eldest Charmed One turned hopefully to the youngest. "Paige! Potion?"

Paige gave her an apologetic look. "Oh, I'm sorry, honey, the temp agency's already got me a new job," she said regretfully.

"But that hardly compares with..." Piper protested as she pointed at the sword.

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

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

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

"And when might that be?" Piper asked grumpily.

Paige shrugged again. "How should I know? Maybe in a couple thousand years." She started to walk out then stopped and turned around to walk over to the sword. Piper and Cole watched, one in amusement, the other in annoyance, as she grabbed it and tried to pull it free, but it'd didn't even budge. Paige shrugged and laughed cheerfully. "Well, you can't blame a girl for trying."

She walked out, and Cole turned to his sister-in-law. "If you do the vanquishing potion, I'll see if I can figure out what's wrong with the washing machine," he offered, seeing as he'd taken the day off when Piper had informed them about the call for help from the Lady of the Lake, knowing that he'd end up having to make his excuses anyway. Cole was no expert at DIY, that was Leo's speciality, but he wasn't useless either, and Piper looked exhausted. The stress of knowing her children's future if they didn't find The Demon and Kate's cool attitude towards them was wearing on her.

"Thanks Cole," Piper sighed. "Should one of us stay with the sword, though?"

"I think it'll be fine," Cole decided after a moment's thought. "I'll be just a room away, and they can't get it out, so we'll at least hear and be able to come and interfere if they attack. Maybe make the potion in the kitchen, just in case."

Piper nodded and they went to work.