A/N Yes, in canon Piper's powers had advanced a few months before the Source attacked them. But that was during the very emotional time following Prue's death and Piper taking over as Head witch. With Prue not being dead and fewer attacks to deal with her powers haven't had a reason to advance, until now.
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The darklighter did know about the Sanctuary Ward, word on the Charmed Ones having it on the Manor had been out for quite awhile, it's why the Source was so frustrated since not even Shax had been able to overcome it. So he orbed outside the Manor and unknowingly taking a page from Rodriguez, a demon destroyed nearly two years ago by Xander, began firing his arrows through the windows. The arrows wouldn't kill the witches if they struck them, but they would injure them, which would necessitate calling in their whitelighter for help.
The first arrow nearly hit Piper, who was mixing a potion at the stove. She instinctively threw up her hands to freeze it and to her surprise, blew it up instead. "Hey, my powers finally advanced. Crap." Piper went from excited to pissed. "Oh, what are the odds whoever fired that isn't carrying the Hollow?!" She groaned as she dove for cover.
"Pretty slim." Leo agreed, ducking down beside her. "That was a darklighter arrow, he's after Natalie or they know Cordelia is half whitelighter. Either way, we can't call Natalie until we vanquish the darklighter and Cordelia could return from dropping her parents off any second."
Other arrows broke the windows in the kitchen and than the dining room and than the boom of a shotgun stopped the bombardment and the sound of breaking windows stopped. When they peeked out the darklighter was gone, either vanquished or retreated.
The Source extracted Piper's powers from the Hollow and began mastering them.
"The witch's power is impressive." He walked over to the Seer whose eyes were white while as she attempted to see the future. "What is it? What do you see? Tell me." He demanded.
"I see nothing." She replied as her eyes returned to normal.
"What do you mean? Do I or do I not have the power to defeat the witches?"
"You misunderstand. I see nothing. No Magic, no life, no world. The Hollow will consume everything just as I warned."
"Then if there's no future I have no further need for you, do I, Seer?"
"Please, I beg you. Find another way. Put the Hollow back where it belongs."
"Not until I'm finished. Not until I've killed them all."
"But that's madness. The Hollow won't let you stop there."
"Then so be it!"
"Forgive me. I serve you as always, even until the end." Paying lip service to a demon gone mad.
"Guard the Hollow." He ordered. "I have one more demon to recruit. One more active power to obtain." He flamed out and the Seer made a choice, he had to be stopped. She couldn't banish the Hollow by herself, she'd need the help of a good witch.
Cole pulled Phoebe off to the side as the others worked to clean up the mess the darklighter had made breaking several of the antique stained glass windows. "Phoebe, I need to talk to you."
"Now's not a great time, Cole, the Source or another demon could attack any minute."
"Which is why I need to do this right now. I believe in you girls, I want you to know that because I also want to plan a future with you, Phoebe." He held out a ring box. "I want you to believe in our future, together. I want you to have a reason to fight for it. That might sound a little cheesy, but the feeling is genuine. Will you marry me, Phoebe?"
"It's beautiful." Less then a year ago she'd told her mother she wasn't ready to marry, now after months of living with Cole and being happy, Phoebe realized she was ready.
"This way no matter what happens, you'll always know that I love you." Cole said softly. Phoebe pulled the ring out of the box and slipped it on her finger.
"It's perfect." She smiled at the man she loved. "Piper! I have an idea!" She ran to the kitchen, Cole following.
"An idea?" Piper asked.
"The Call a Witch's Powers spell. It occurs to me that maybe it's strong enough to call your powers from the Hollow. Especially if Cordelia and Xander help us cast it."
"It's worth a try." Piper agreed.
'Powers of the witches' rise
Course unseen across the skies
Come to us who call you near
Come to us and settle here!'
That's when all Hell broke loose as Phoebe realized Cole, who'd been following her, wasn't in the kitchen with them and another demon appeared in front of them. The Source.
"I didn't expect you to summon me." He smirked at them.
"Actually we were trying to summon my powers back." Piper glared at the malevolent being smirking at them.
Cole materialized in the Source's cave.
"Don't be afraid, I have no intention of harming you. I need your help." Cole turned and spotted the Seer. "The Source is mad, he's allowed the Hollow to possess him, my visions show there will be nothing left if we don't stop him."
"You need a good witch to help you banish the Hollow."
"Yes, please, I need you to vouch for me with the Charmed Ones. Together we can banish it and they can destroy the Source, before he kills us all, along with Magic and all life."
"Self interest." Cole nodded. "You want to live as much as we do and end the insanity. Alright, but just so you know, I may not be Belthazor anymore, but I'm still capable of destroying you if you betray us."
"I know that too. I've seen much more then I ever told the Source."
"Than get us back to the Manor before he attacks them again."
"He knows how to disable the Sanctuary Ward, there will be violence."
"Get us there, now!"
