Leo had passed out before he could say anything else and the girls had sprung into action, with Prue issuing orders.
"Phoebe, check the Book of Shadows, see if anything about whitelighters is in there. I'm going to call and cancel our flight and get Xander and Cordelia over here, if we've got trouble incoming, they can help. Piper, get the first aid kit and pack gauze around the arrow until I can get it out." Everyone scrambled to follow their assignments and about ten minutes later Prue returned to the attic with Xander and Cordelia in tow,
"Flight's canceled." She told her sisters and knelt beside Piper who was holding gauze around the arrow as Prue had instructed.
"I've never heard of whitelighters." Xander said. "But I can call Wesley and see if the Watchers Council knows anything."
"Do it." Prue ordered. "Piper, when I tell you, pull the gauze away." Piper nodded. "Now!" Prue ordered and Piper pulled back as Prue grasped the arrow with her power and pushed. It moved through Leo's shoulder and embedded itself in the wall several feet away. Xander winched. "I'm thinking it's a good thing he's unconsciously right now." As he pulled out his new cell phone and called Wesley. Piper held the gauze over the bleeding wound again.
"Wesley?" Xander said as soon as he heard the man's voice. "Have you ever heard of a whitelighter?"
"Rumors, stories, nothing concrete. Why?" He asked.
"Because a guy just appeared in the girls' attic in a bunch of literal white lights claiming to be a whitelighter and he's been injured."
"Oh, dear. The stories say they're some sort of higher power akin to guardian angels. They're rarely seen which is why there's not much more than rumors or stories about them. Nor is there much known about what they do. Xander, be careful. Whatever they are, they're powerful. But bear in mind what we learned in regards to the Powers who felt they had some say in the supernatural world. Balance. If a whitelighter is a higher power, they may be balanced by an equal, but lower power."
"Which just might be why our visitor is injured. Thanks, Wes, talk to you later." He hung up and filled the girls in on the conversation.
"Well I guess this explains why he's geographically undesirable." Phoebe commented as she paged through the Book. "I found something!" She exclaimed. "Darklighters, former humans granted power, they exist to spread hate. They often work as mercenaries for other demons. They teleport using black lights called orbs. They kill whitelighters and good witches, as well as future whitelighters. They kill in two ways, with the Touch of Death, literally touching a mortal and causing death and with poison coated arrows. The poison is specifically engineered to kill whitelighters."
"Leo said he's a whitelighter." Piper looked scared. "And he arrived with an arrow in him, he's been poisoned! Is there a cure?"
"There's nothing listed." Phoebe said regretfully. "But the next page is about whitelighters. They teleport too, using white lights and can heal with a touch. Basically the opposite of darklighters."
"Opposites, balance, same thing." Xander muttered. "I say we take that arrow to Andy and see if he can have the poison analyzed. Probably a long shot because it's probably at least partly mystical, but still worth a shot."
"That's a good idea." Prue agreed, she used her power to pull it from the wall. Cordelia grabbed a cloth and wrapped it around it.
"I'll do it." She said. "You guys might need to protect him if the darklighter manages to follow him here."
"Be careful." Xander told her. "We don't know if they bother to reclaim arrows. He could come looking for it."
"I'll keep my gun handy." She assured him. "At the very least it'll make him think twice." She headed out as Xander turned back to the sisters.
"What kind of protections do you girls have on the house?" He asked.
"There's no protection spells listed in the Book of Shadows." Prue replied. "I've been trying to research protection Magic's, but haven't gotten very far."
"Okay, I know a few, I can put them up for you. Unfortunately, most Wards only guard against a specific type of demon, you have to create a new Ward for every demon. I also know a Sanctuary Ward, it prevents violence from happening within the Ward. It doesn't however, protect from violence initiated from outside the Ward."
"It's better than nothing." Prue said. "I want to see the spells before you cast them and then I'll help you with casting them."
"You have the emotional investment in the house." Xander nodded. "It'll add to the protection. I'll go get my supplies and write out copies of each Ward. That way you can add them to your Book."
"Strange that Grams and Mom never thought about protections." Phoebe said. "Or our ancestors apparently."
"In Grams' and Mom's case they usually went looking for demons, it was only occasional that the demons came looking for them." Prue reminded her. "Probably the same with our ancestors. Us being the Charmed Ones makes demons come looking for us."
"That reputation thing the Soul Collector mentioned when she threatened Xander." Phoebe nodded. "Just knowing we exist is enough reason for them to come after us. Crap."
"Sums it up." Piper agreed grimly, continuing to hold the gauze over Leo's wound and praying they could find a way to help him.