No Place Like Home (Sequel to "Munchkin 'Cisco")

[NoAzMale]

CHARMED
“No Place Like Home”
(Sequel to the story “Munchkin ‘Cisco”)
By J. B. Tilton (a.k.a. NoAzMale) and Teri Thibeault (a.k.a. Tessalynne)
Emails:
noazmale@isot.com evilgidget_2000@yahoo.com
Rating: K+

Disclaimer: “Charmed” and all related characters and events are the property of the WB television network, except for those characters specifically created for this story. This is a work of fan fiction and no infringement of copyright is intended.

* * *

(Authors note: This story takes place between season 4 episodes “Trial By Magic” and “Lost And Bound”.)

* * *

The Charmed Ones and an old “friend” must join forces once more for the ultimate battle between real and fantasy magic.

* * *

PRELUDE

Abigail Martin sat in her jail cell contemplating the last few days. It should have been so easy. Kill Prue, take her powers, and replace her. Then it would have been a simple matter to kill Piper and Phoebe and take their powers. Her plan had been flawless. Well, almost flawless. She had underestimated only one minor part of the plan.

Prue’s power of telekinesis had emanated from her eyes not her hands. If not for that miscalculation she would have succeeded where no other demons had succeeded before. Her research on the Halliwell’s had been impeccable. Prue had the same power as one of her ancestors. That should have meant it worked the same way.

Obviously Prue’s power had progressed since she had gotten it. Abigail knew that would happen but she had not expected it to progress so rapidly. She looked at the full moon through the window in her cell. It would be an easy matter for her to escape. But that would alert the police. If she just disappeared from her cell they would make a concerted effort to find her.

But if she bided her time it would be much simpler. All she had to do was get her public defender to plead her guilty by reason of mental defect. At the very least she would be committed to an institution for examination. Once there she would become just another statistic. One more mentally disturbed person mixed in with countless others. Then she could quietly slip away without notice. All she had to do was wait and pick her time.

She turned to walk back to the single bed that sat in the cell. There was little for her to do at the moment. Just sit and wait. It shouldn’t be more than a couple of days. As she took a step toward the bed she suddenly froze in place. She was no longer in her tiny jail cell in the police station. She was standing in what appeared to be a palatial mansion.

She was apparently in what appeared to be the library. It was huge and three of the walls were lined with books. A huge crystal chandelier hung from the ceiling and a very expensive looking Persian carpet covered the floor. She was facing the only wall not covered in books. It held, instead, a large picture window that opened onto a spacious garden beyond.

“I’m disappointed in you, Abigail.”

Abigail spun around and found herself facing a frail looking old man sitting in a wheelchair. Two young women about Abigail’s age flanked the wheelchair. A bottle of oxygen was strapped to the chair. The old man looked to be well over a hundred years old. His leathery wrinkled skin was a light gray color and his black eyes twinkled in the light from the chandelier.

“You were always one of my favorites,” said the old man. “It pains me that you would betray me this way.”

“Grand Mystic,” gasped Abigail. “No, no, it’s not like that, sir. I did it for you, sir. To gain the power you need.”

“The Charmed Ones are off limits,” said the Grand Mystic. “You knew that. They are off limits for a reason. To be of use to me their power must be fully developed. Because of your interference you have exposed us.”

“No,” pleaded Abigail, “it’s not like that. They have no idea who I am. They think I was just a deranged human bent on replacing Prue. Next time I’ll be successful.”

“There will be no next time. Despite your intentions we have been compromised. My instructions were very explicit. The Charmed Ones were to be left alone until I dictated otherwise. So that when the time was right we would have the element of surprise on our side. Your disobedience has changed that. You have jeopardized everything.”

“Grand Mystic,” pleaded Abigail, “please, I can make this right. If you’ll just give me another chance….”

“There will be no second chance. You have openly defied me and I cannot permit that. You of all people know the rules. I demand blind obedience from all Mystics. And your impudence will be seen as weakness in me if I do not punish you.”

“But Grand Mystic….”

Abigail’s pleas fell on deaf ears. The Grand Mystic raised one hand and a strange magic enveloped her. Screaming in agony Abigail simply faded from the room.

“You did not vanquish her,” said one of the women standing next to the Grand Mystic.

“No,” he replied. “Sometimes vanquishing is not enough. She will serve as an example to others who would wish to defy my authority. Make sure that all others know of her fate. The same fate that awaits any who would challenge me.”

The woman that had spoken bowed slightly and then silently faded from the room.

“What will you do now?” asked the second woman.

“Put out the word,” said the Grand Mystic. “The moratorium on the Charmed Ones is lifted. Any who wish may make the attempt against them. But also make sure that all know how powerful the witches are. I would suggest that only the most powerful make the attempt. Others would stand little chance against them.”

“Understood, Master,” said the woman.

The Grand Mystic smiled as the woman faded from the room. After all these centuries he would finally have what he desired most. He knew nothing would happen right away. Mystics were notorious for careful planning. It might be weeks or even months before even one felt confident enough to go after the Charmed Ones.

But he had time. And once his plan came to fruition not even demons would be able to challenge him. Yes, he had time.

[NoAzMale]

ONE

Phoebe came out of the store with several bags in hand. The last couple of weeks had been hard on Paige and Phoebe had decided to get her a gift. Unlike Piper and Phoebe, Paige was relatively new to the Craft. And after visiting her parents in the past and turning her on again off again boyfriend into a virtual Gumby, Phoebe decided that Paige could use a little pick me up.

Not that Paige had been the only one who had a hard time recently. Constant demon attacks had kept them all on their toes. But thanks to their powers they had been able to keep an innocent man from going to prison for a murder he didn’t commit.

As she walked toward the car she thought about the painting supplies she had bought for Paige. After the incident with the Muses Paige had decided to get back into painting again. Only most of her supplies had dried out from lack of use. She had kept saying she was going to get some more but never seemed to have the time. So Phoebe decided a great way to help out would be to buy the supplies her sister needed.

As she walked down the street she passed a man wearing a long coat. She thought it strange that someone would be wearing such a coat on such a beautiful day. But then there were all kinds of people in San Francisco. As she passed the man he suddenly turned and grabbed her by the arm. At the same instant she felt something sharp press against her back.

“Let’s not make a scene,” said the man as he half pulled her toward a nearby alleyway. “Someone else could get hurt. And we wouldn’t want that, would we? You’re supposed to protect the innocent not put them in danger.”

Phoebe’s blood ran cold. Demons didn’t usually attack in public. They preferred to have no audience when they killed their prey so that magic wouldn’t be exposed to the mortal world. Either this demon was extremely stupid or extremely bold.

He dragged her halfway down the alleyway finally shoving her against the wall between two dumpsters. He brandished an athame at her. The bags Phoebe was carrying fell to the alley below as she slammed against the wall of a nearby building.

“I figured you’d be the easiest to get to,” said the demon. “You’re the middle sister. No active powers. Once you’re out of the way there won’t be any Power of Three. Then I can finish off your sisters. And once you’re not around to protect him any longer the traitor will be easier to get too. The Source is going to reward me handsomely for this.”

“I wouldn’t bet on it,” said Phoebe, trying to buy time. “Demons have tried to kill us before. And none of them are around to talk about it. You might want to rethink this before you do something you’ll regret.”

“Oh, I’ve thought about this plenty,” said the demon. “I figured you wouldn’t be expecting an attack in public. You shouldn’t let down your guard no matter where you are.”

“I’ll remember that,” said Phoebe.

“Unfortunately you won’t be in any condition to remember anything. This is where you get off.”

He raised the athame and moved in to strike. Instinctively Phoebe raised her hands to ward off the attack knowing it would probably do no good. Almost instantly an invisible force took hold of the demon and threw it back across the alley. The demon struck the building on the opposite side of the alley dropping the athame.

“Leo,” Phoebe called into the air. “I could use a little help right about now.”

“Calling for your White Lighter?” questioned the demon. “He won’t do you any good. He’s less of a threat to me than you are.”

The demon bent down and picked up the athame as Leo orbed into the alley. It took him only a minute to realize what was going on. He turned to grab Phoebe intent on orbing them both out of the alley. The demon turned and cast an energy ball that struck Leo a glancing blow, knocking him off balance.

“Stop it,” screamed Phoebe. Her hands were still outstretched and the demon was once again cast back against the alley dropping the athame again. At the same instant Phoebe felt some kind of power emanate from her hands. “Whoa. Did I do that?”

“That’s not possible,” said the demon. “You have no active powers.”

“I guess things change,” said Phoebe.

The demon formed another energy ball and was preparing to cast it. Phoebe tapped into her newfound telekinetic ability and took hold of dumpsters on either side of the demon. As if of their own accord the dumpsters smashed together pinning the demon between them. The demon died in a flaming conflagration.

“Phoebe, what happened?” Leo asked, walking over to her.

“I vanquished a demon,” said Phoebe, picking up the athame the demon had dropped.

“How?”

“Apparently I’ve got a new power,” beamed Phoebe. “An active one. I seem to have gotten Prue’s telekinetic ability.”

“That doesn’t make sense,” said Leo. “Paige got that power when the Power of Three was reconstituted.”

“We’d better get home,” said Phoebe looking around the alleyway. “Before someone comes asking questions.”

Leo took Phoebe’s arm and orbed them out of the alley back to the manor.

[NoAzMale]

TWO

“Wait a minute, slow down,” said Piper. “You mean a demon attacked you in public?”

“Yeah,” said Phoebe. “He said something about me not expecting an attack in public. I guess he was right.”

“So what happened?” asked Paige. “Leo orbed out of here so fast he didn’t really have time to explain anything.”

“Well when I found out it was a demon, I called for Leo. I figured he’d be able to orb me away. But the demon must have been expecting that. He attacked Leo almost as soon as he orbed in.”

“Lucky for me I’m immortal,” said Leo.

“So what happened?” Cole asked. “Are you okay?”

“I’m fine,” said Phoebe. “I vanquished the demon. It was either him or me.”

“How?” Piper asked. “Did you use that athame against him?”

“No,” said Phoebe. “I did it like this.” She stretched out her hand and the athame slid across the coffee table and came to rest in front of Cole. “I kind of thought you might be able to identify which demon it was from that. He never said who he was.”

“Okay, hold on a second,” said Piper. “Since when did you get telekinesis?”

“Since now,” said Phoebe. “I just guess my powers are increasing. Leo has told us that’s going to happen.”

“Yeah, but not so soon,” said Leo. “You’re still learning to use the powers you have. And like I said, Paige got telekinesis. If your powers were increasing it should be related to your precognitive ability.”

“Well, my orbing isn’t exactly the same as telekinesis,” said Paige. “There is a difference. And if Phoebe’s powers are going to increase it makes sense that she’d get another Charmed power.”

“There are no markings on this athame,” said Cole. “It looks like the generic type used by a lot of wannabe bounty hunters. Ones trying to make a name for themselves. Only the top bounty hunters have their own mark or symbol. Taking out the Charmed Ones is a sure way to get yourself noticed by the hierarchy.”

“He wasn’t after just us,” said Phoebe. “He said when we weren’t around to protect you any longer he was coming after you.”

“That’s one ambitious demon,” said Paige.

“Well he’s vanquished now,” said Leo. “We need to concentrate on Phoebe’s new power. It doesn’t make sense she’d get that power. And she shouldn’t be able to control it so quickly. You remember what happened when you got new powers. When Piper got her explosive power it took her time to learn to control it.”

“Well, I did have Prue’s power before,” said Phoebe. “Remember that Dark Lighter that was trying to kill you? We stopped him by switching powers. Maybe I was able to control it so quickly because of that.”

“It doesn’t work that way,” said Leo.

“Leo’s right,” said Cole. “Even demonic children have to take time to learn to control their powers. Not all demons are born with their powers. As they manifest themselves they have to learn to use them and that takes time.”

“I’m not seeing a problem here,” said Piper. “A demon has been vanquished and we have another power to use in protecting the innocent. Never look a gift horse in the mouth, I always say.”

“Piper this is serious,” said Leo. “Even White Lighters need time to learn to properly control their powers. With you it’s even more important you have time to learn to control them. It’s just not natural that this is happening so quickly.”

“I’m with Piper and Phoebe,” said Paige. “We’re the most powerful witches in history. You keep saying so. I don’t see that it’s such a big deal.”

“The fact that her powers may be increasing isn’t,” said Cole. “The fact they’re increasing so powerfully and that she can control them so quickly is a big deal. Like Leo said, it’s not natural. Something strange is definitely going on here.”

“You guys worry too much,” said Piper. “I say we should be celebrating.”

“I need to check with the Elders,” said Leo.

“Do what you have to,” said Phoebe. “I, for one, like having an active power for a change. One that I can actually use to vanquish demons without having to resort to spells or potions.”

Leo orbed out of the manor as Cole sat with his brow furrowed. It was clear he was still very concerned about the turn of events. Although he no longer voiced any objections Phoebe knew that when they were alone he’d continue to try to convince her something was wrong. She couldn’t fault him for that. He was only concerned with her best interest.

* * *

Leo was gone less than an hour when he orbed back into the manor. Phoebe had been practicing with her new power. Piper and Paige had long lost the novelty of her new power. But they didn’t try to dissuade her from practicing. They realized that the better she could control it the more of an asset it would be to them.

“What did you find out?” Cole asked as Leo orbed in.

“Not much,” said Leo. “The Elders can’t figure out why Phoebe suddenly got this new power or how she’s able to control it so quickly. They’re as worried about it as we are.”

“As you are,” corrected Phoebe. “I’m not the least bit concerned with it.”

“You should be,” said Cole. “What Leo found out from the Elders should prove to you that this isn’t normal.”

“As normal as demons attacking at all hours of the day and night?” Paige questioned. “That’s not exactly what I’d call normal either.”

“Maybe not in most houses,” said Leo. “But most houses are the homes of the Charmed Ones.”

“You think this could be a demon attack?” Cole asked.

“I don’t know,” said Leo. “It seems kind of strange that a demon would attack them by increasing their powers.”

“Not necessarily,” said Cole. “If their powers increase too fast or too quickly it could be detrimental, you know that.”

“You have a point. I remember what happened when Piper’s doctor accidentally got infected with the girl’s blood. It drove him insane.”

“Yeah, but you said it was because he was mortal,” said Piper. “He wasn’t used to having magical abilities. We are. We’re the Charmed Ones. Increasing our powers seems like a pretty stupid way to attack us.”

“And I’m not sure of any demon capable of doing it,” said Cole. “Other than the Source. And the risks are serious. It could backfire.”

“Which it apparently has,” said Phoebe. “Instead of driving me crazy it’s just made me stronger. If their intention was to overload me it hasn’t worked.”

“Yet,” said Cole. “You haven’t had this new power very long. It could get worse very soon. We need to be ready for that in case it does.”

“By doing what?” Paige asked.

“Maybe a power binding potion,” said Cole. “It won’t hurt her and she’ll be able to get her powers back once we’ve figured out what’s going on.”

“Are you crazy?” Phoebe questioned. “I just get this new power and you want to take it away from me?”

“I don’t mean to use it yet,” said Cole. “Just that we should have it handy in case. Things could go bad very quickly. We should be prepared for any contingency.”

“Now you listen to me, Cole Turner,” said Phoebe, shaking her finger at him, “just because I’ve gotten a new power is no reason to . . . Cole?”

Cole didn’t seem to be moving. He stood staring at her but she could tell he wasn’t even breathing. She turned to Piper.

“Why did you freeze him?” Phoebe asked. “I can handle this.”

“I didn’t freeze him,” said Piper innocently.

“Phoebe,” said Paige, “I don’t think Piper froze him. I think you did.”

Phoebe just stared at her sisters in disbelief.

[NoAzMale]

THREE

“Will you listen to us now?” Leo asked. “Even if your powers are increasing they shouldn’t be increasing this quickly. Cole’s right. If your powers increase too quickly you won’t be able to handle it. That’s why it takes time.”

“But I feel great,” said Phoebe. “In fact I feel better than great. I don’t think I’ve ever felt this good in my life.”

“That could be just the beginning,” said Cole. “That could change very quickly. That much power coursing through your body can be very dangerous.”

“I don’t see how,” said Phoebe. “I seem to have all of Melinda Warren’s powers. The same powers each of us have. How can it be dangerous for me if it wasn’t dangerous for her?”

“Because her individual powers weren’t as strong as yours are,” said Leo. “That’s why you had to be prepared to get your powers. Her temporal manipulation, telekinesis, and precognition abilities were actually weaker than yours will eventually be. So she was able to handle all that power. No human can handle all three powers combined in the same body. Not at those levels.”

“So what’s causing it?” Piper asked. “Who’s causing this to happen?”

“I don’t know,” said Leo. “As I said, not even the Elders are aware of what’s going on. It must be demonic in nature.”

“I don’t think so,” said Cole. “Like I said earlier, I don’t know of any demons capable of doing this. Short of the Source, that is.”

“Could it be the Source?” Paige asked.

“I guess it’s possible,” said Cole. “If it is then it’s a dangerous gamble. If it didn’t work out the way he planned it would only end up making you stronger. I’m not sure he’d take a chance like that.”

“So if it’s not the Source then who is it?” Phoebe asked.

“I haven’t the faintest idea,” said Cole. “No other demon I know has the power to accomplish this.”

“Well if it’s not a demon doing this,” said Piper, “what else could it be?”

“It might be the Nexus,” suggested Leo.

“The Nexus?” questioned Phoebe. “How could it be doing this?”

“You were the only one born in the house,” said Leo. “It’s possible that gives you some kind of connection to it. Maybe you’re drawing power from it or something.”

“It’s certainly possible,” said Cole. “The power of the Nexus is certainly great enough to cause the increase in Phoebe’s powers.”

“So why would it give her those powers?” Paige asked.

“It’s not,” said Leo. “Technically it’s not giving her any powers. It’s more like it’s super charging her. Causing her powers to increase faster than normal.”

“And because I’m a Charmed One,” said Phoebe, “that increased power is causing me to manifest the same powers Piper and Prue got. That’s why I can freeze things and why I have telekinesis.”

“That doesn’t make any sense,” said Leo. “If your powers were simply increasing you should be getting powers related to the power you all ready have. Something related to your precognitive ability.”

“Why wouldn’t she get the other powers?” Piper asked. “They are part of the Charmed heritage. It seems to me they’d be the perfect choice for her to get.”

“Except that you each have different powers,” said Cole. “Like different abilities. While they are connected in a general way they are separate and distinct powers. But any future powers you get should be related to your current powers.”

“And Piper’s freezing power and Prue’s telekinesis aren’t related to your precognitive ability,” said Leo. “For instance if you had gotten something like empathy that would be a natural progression of your power.”

“Empathy is related to precognition?” Phoebe questioned.

“Yes,” said Leo. “It might not seem like it but it is. You see what people go through or will go through. The next natural step in that ability would be to feel what they go through. There are other options of course. That’s only one possible option.”

“Okay,” said Piper, “so why is she getting our powers instead of something more related to her own powers?”

“I don’t know,” said Leo.

“That’s the sixty four thousand dollar question,” said Cole. “Whatever is going on we’d better find out fast. The longer this goes on the more dangerous it could be. Not just for Phoebe but for the rest of us as well.”

“How could it be dangerous to the rest of you?” Phoebe asked.

“Because it just might make you unbalanced,” said Leo. “Too much power too fast is extremely dangerous. You learned that with Piper’s doctor. It’s the same even with you. Even though you’re used to magic it is possible to overload you. Cole’s right. If we don’t figure this out soon everyone could be in danger.”

“So where do we start?” Piper asked.

“Check the Book of Shadows,” suggested Cole. “There might be something in there that can help.”

“That’s always a good start,” said Paige.

“I’ll go back to the Elders,” said Leo. “At the very least they should be made aware of Phoebe’s latest power increase. It might give them an idea of what’s going on.”

“Good idea,” said Piper. “In the mean time, Phoebe, I think it’s a good idea if you don’t use your powers any more. The more you use them the more dangerous it could be.”

“No problem there,” said Phoebe. “Suddenly gaining new powers isn’t such a great thing after all.”

“Leo, you need to get going,” said Piper. “The sooner you get to the Elders the sooner we might figure out what’s going on here.”

“I’ve been trying,” said Leo. “I can’t seem to orb up there.”

“This isn’t good,” said Cole.

“So what do we do now?” Paige asked.

“Perhaps I could be of some assistance in that area.”

They were all on their feet instantly. They turned toward the stairs to see who had spoken. Sitting on the steps was a man dressed in black with shoulder-length red hair. They had all recognized his voice and the British accent he had. He was smiling at them as if he hadn’t a care in the world.

“Jerrod,” Phoebe gasped. “Jerrod Burns.”

“A pleasure to see you again,” said Jerrod, “under the circumstances. Although I do suppose that depends on your point of view. All things considering.”

“What do you want?” Piper asked coldly.

“I just stopped by to give you a hand,” said Jerrod. “I seriously doubt if you’ll find anything about this in your Book of Shadows. And without my help you don’t have a chance of figuring out what’s going on or how to stop it.”

“What have you done?” Piper asked. “How have you been able to increase Phoebe’s power like this?”

“Oh, I haven’t done it, I assure you,” said Jerrod. “I have no motivation. As Phoebe can tell you, the last time I spoke with her I had decided not to pursue getting the Book of Shadows any longer. I went up against the three of you twice and lived to tell about it. I have no wish to tempt fate a third time.”

“Then if you aren’t doing it, who is?” Paige asked.

“She is,” said Jerrod, looking directly at Phoebe.

[NoAzMale]

FOUR

“You’re here to play that record again?” Piper asked. “It seems to me the last time you were here you were making the same accusation.”

“And I was correct, wasn’t I?”

“What do you want?” Piper asked, ignoring his question.

“That’s an interesting story, actually,” said Jerrod. “I believe it would be more accurate to say that it’s Phoebe and me that’s doing it. A few days ago I noticed my power increasing. Not so strange really. As I’m sure you’re aware powers do increase from time to time.

“Well, it seemed to me that they were increasing more rapidly than should be normal. This, of course, concerned me. So I did some checking. As it turns out my powers were increasing unnaturally just as I suspected.”

“Get on with it,” said Cole. “What does that have to do with your being here?”

“What I discovered,” said Jerrod, “was that not only was it increasing but it was expanding.”

“Expanding how?” Phoebe asked.

“Perhaps a demonstration would be more productive than a simple explanation.”

Jerrod waved his hand and suddenly the Source of All Evil flamed into the entryway. The three girls immediately moved into defensive positions between the Source and Leo and Cole. Leo wasn’t in much danger but Cole was mortal. Any attack by their arch nemesis could prove lethal.

The Source formed a fireball and was about to cast it when Piper brought her hands up. She tapped into her explosive power and the Sources’ chest exploded but then almost instantly reformed. He hadn’t dropped his fireball and he immediately cast it. Paige called for the weapon but it somehow evaded her orb and made straight for Cole.

Before any of them could move the fireball struck Cole and engulfed him in flames. Miraculously the fireball caused absolutely no damage to Cole. The flames suddenly extinguished and the Source stood laughing. Jerrod waved his hand and the Source simply vanished from sight.

“Okay, what just happened here?” Paige asked.

“A demonstration as I said,” said Jerrod.

“Some demonstration,” said Piper. “You bring our greatest enemy here to attack us.”

“And yet each of you are unharmed,” said Jerrod. “Including the half demon who should be nothing more than a scorched mark on the carpet.”

“He’s right,” said Cole. “I felt the fireball hit but no other sensations. It wasn’t even warm. Then it simply went out.”

“An illusion,” said Jerrod. “It’s one of the abilities of a Mystic Warlock. You do remember I’m a Mystic Warlock, right?”

“How could we forget?” Piper questioned. “You used your power to trap us in the movie ‘The Wizard Of Oz’.”

“Of course. Anyway, I’m what you might call a senior Mystic. I can create some very realistic illusions as you have just witnessed. And they can be quite believable. But they are nonetheless only illusions.”

“If that’s true,” said Phoebe, “how come Piper’s explosive power seemed to affect the Source?”

“My point exactly. It shouldn’t. But as you saw it affected the Source as I’m sure it would have the real Source. That’s what I meant when I said my power was expanding. The illusions I’m able to create are now beginning to take on aspects of reality.”

“Wait a minute,” said Cole, “that’s not possible. If they’re only illusions no matter how powerful they are they’re still illusions. They shouldn’t have any aspects of reality.”

“I see the rumors about Belthazor are true.”

“It’s Cole now. Belthazor is gone forever.”

“Well, Cole, you’re absolutely correct. As I said my illusions can be quite believable. It’s more difficult with magical beings of course because of their innate magical ability. But with mortals it can be much easier. Still, they are simply illusions nothing more.”

“So how come yours are different?” Leo asked. “And what does this have to do with Phoebe’s powers increasing?”

“Because, my dear White Lighter, they are connected, her powers and mine. I believe her power is augmenting mine, so to speak. Giving them the ability to be much more solid than simply illusions. Bringing them from the realm of fantasy to the realm of reality so to speak. And if they keep expanding as they are eventually they will no longer be just illusions. They will be in reality whatever I choose them to be.”

“That’s impossible,” said Cole. “There’s no way to combine your magic with hers. Forget that you aren’t related. Forget that your magic is evil and hers is good. Your magic if fantasy magic. Hers is real magic. There’s no way to combine the two effectively.”

“That’s what I’ve always believed,” said Jerrod. “In fact, to my knowledge no one has ever been able to combine fantasy magic and real magic. It’s what you might call the Holy Grail for Mystic Warlocks.”

“You aren’t making any sense,” said Paige. “First you tell us that your magic is becoming real and now you say it’s not possible.”

“I didn’t say it wasn’t possible,” said Jerrod, “only that no one has learned the secret to combining the two. As far as I know no one has even come close to effectively combining the two. Nevertheless, that’s exactly what’s happened here. Phoebe’s innate magical ability and my own have begun to merge. It’s had the effect of increasing her power as you’ve all ready witnessed. It’s also had the effect of causing my illusions to become more and more real.”

“Enough of this,” said Piper, her temper flaring. “You keep talking in riddles but you aren’t saying much. Just how the hell is it possible for your powers to combine when even you say it shouldn’t be possible?”

“It’s all thanks to the wonderful power of Oz,” said Jerrod grinning at the group.

[NoAzMale]

FIVE

“I’ve had enough of this,” said Piper. “This was all settled the last time you were here. Phoebe used the slippers and put everything back the way it was supposed to be.”

“That’s what I thought as well,” said Jerrod. “But I can assure you it is quite true. I’ve been able to track the source of the increased magic. Believe me I was as surprised as you obviously are. But there can be no doubt about it. The fantasy magic of Oz and our magic is combing into a new form of magic. Magic composed of both fantasy and real magic.”

“How is that possible?” Phoebe asked. “I used the ruby slippers to separate the two. There shouldn’t be any way for this to be happening.”

“There is if the ruby slippers are still affecting reality,” said Jerrod. “I’ve discovered that’s exactly what’s happening here. Somehow the ruby slippers from the movie weren’t returned to the movie as we initially thought. When Phoebe used them it drained their magic which restored everything. But now they’re beginning to alter things again. And not in a good way either.”

“What is that supposed to mean?” Cole asked.

“The first time,” said Jerrod, “I put you in the movie The Wizard Of Oz. You three used a Power of Three spell to free us from the movie. Essentially creating a bubble of magic that lifted us out of the movie and returning us to the real world. Unfortunately it also brought the slippers out of the movie with you including the magic they contained.”

“We know all that,” said Piper.

“Yes, well, I’m sure you remember what happened the last time. The magic from the slippers began to overwhelm reality. Altering it so that it conformed to the Land of Oz. We were able to use the slippers to separate the magic and return things to normal. Rather, I should say Phoebe used the slippers.

“Unfortunately, the slippers apparently didn’t return to the realm of fantasy magic as I thought they would. Instead they’ve been sitting somewhere building in strength. While they’ve been doing that they’ve also been combining with real magic. That’s why the increase has been so subtle.”

“Well, that explains why Phoebe’s powers have been increasing,” said Leo. “But it doesn’t explain why I can’t orb to the White Lighter realm.”

“Because White Lighters don’t exist in Oz,” said Jerrod.

“But you said Oz wasn’t overwhelming reality this time,” said Piper.

“That’s right. It’s merging with reality. Which means there are going to be elements of both in the merged reality. Apparently one of those elements is the absence of White Lighters. And in answer to your next question, you still exist because you were a part of the original spell I cast. So you – all of us – are going to have a certain amount of immunity to whatever changes are being made.”

“Which means there probably aren’t any demons either,” said Cole. “There weren’t any demons in the movie.”

“That would be a logical assumption,” said Jerrod, “but there’s no guarantee of that. It’s also possible that the White Lighter realm and the underworld still exist but that the combined magic is simply preventing your orbing up there. There’s really no way to know for sure right now.”

“So what about Phoebe?” Paige asked. “Leo and Cole were saying she’s in danger because of her sudden power increase. Is she still on danger?”

“Probably not,” said Jerrod. “Like me her power is fueling the merging. The combined magic is simply giving her what she’s always wanted. Greater power. Enough power to fight demons. Without having to rely on her sisters to help her.”

“That’s not what I want,” protested Phoebe.

“Maybe not directly,” said Jerrod. “But indirectly that’s what you want. You’ve always wanted to have active powers. And your love for your sisters makes you instinctively want to protect them.”

“So what do we do about it?” Piper asked. “I assume that’s why you’re here. Why you’re telling us all of this.”

“You’re very perceptive,” said Jerrod. “Yes, that’s why I’m here. You see even with the increased power there is still a danger. If the power keeps increasing eventually even Phoebe and I won’t be able to withstand it. And then we’ll both suffer the same fate. Either we’ll be driven insane from too much power or we won’t survive.”

“So you’ve come to ask our help to stop this,” said Cole.

“Precisely. Since the ruby slippers are inanimate objects there’s no way to tell what direction the merging will take. Everything will be totally random. And some of the prospect about what those changes might be are not pleasant.”

“What do we have to do?” Paige asked.

“We, not you,” said Jerrod. “Only Phoebe and I can do this. We have to disconnect the power source for the changes. Which means we have to disconnect the ruby slippers, so to speak.”

“How do we do that?” Phoebe asked.

“They have to be destroyed.”

“Wait a minute,” said Leo. “Last time you said if we did that it might accelerate the changes.”

“And that was true last time. This time it’s different. By destroying the slippers, the magic in them will naturally be drawn back to its normal realm. Fantasy magic to the fantasy realm and real magic to reality. The two will be forced back where they belong.”

“Why does it take both of us?” Phoebe asked. “We just get Piper to blow the slippers up.”

“Afraid that won’t work,” said Jerrod. “The fantasy magic in the slippers will prevent her from doing any serious damage to them. That’s why I have to go. Phoebe can destroy the real magic in the slippers and I can destroy the fantasy magic. Unless we destroy both simultaneously it won’t do any good.”

“How do you destroy magic?” Paige asked.

“We write a separation spell,” said Jerrod. “One that will affect both real and fantasy magic. Then Phoebe and I cast the spell at the same time. That should force the combined magic out of the slippers. Once we force the magic out, Piper can blow the slippers up giving the combined magic nowhere to go. Then each of the magicks will be drawn back to their appropriate realms.”

“You seem to have thought this through pretty well,” said Cole.

“I’ve had a few days to mull it over. But this should work. It’s not unlike vanquishing a demon.”

“Okay now all we have to do is find the slippers,” said Piper.

“Another reason I’ve come here,” said Jerrod. “It will take both Phoebe and me to locate the slippers. The real magic in them will prevent me from homing in on them just as the fantasy magic will prevent Phoebe. But together we should be able to narrow down their location.”

“How do we do that?” Phoebe asked.

“Just concentrate on them. Focus your attention on the source of your new powers. It will help you locate them something like a magnet pointing north. Since we’re both connected to the combined magic it should be a simple matter to combine our magic and home in on the source of that magic. Namely the slippers.”

“So what are we waiting for?” Cole asked. “Let’s get it done.”

“That’s why I’m here,” said Jerrod. “But it was necessary for you to understand how important this is. Now that you’ve been brought up to speed, so to speak, we can….”

He was interrupted by a frantic pounding at the front door. Annoyed, Piper went to answer it. Even before she reached the door whoever it was pounded on the door twice more. As before it was a frantic pounding as if the person were trying to knock the door off its hinges. Piper opened the door and Darryl nearly pushed his way inside. Almost immediately he pushed the door closed behind him.

“Thank God you’re home,” he said, glancing back at the door. He appeared to be extremely agitated. “I didn’t know what else to do so I came here. I figured you’d at least know what’s happening.”

“Slow down, Darryl,” said Piper. “What are you talking about?”

“You mean you don’t know?” he asked, looking into the living room. Then he spied Jerrod. “What’s he doing here? Is he responsible for this?”

“Darryl, what’s going on?” Phoebe asked. “Responsible for what?”

“Then you don’t know,” said Darryl. “Everything’s gone crazy out there. Every cop in the city has suddenly disappeared. Every one but me. People are going crazy. And there are some weird things going on. City hall has turned into a honest to goodness castle.”

“This isn’t good,” said Jerrod. “Not good at all.”

“What do you mean?” Leo asked.

“It means that the changes are further along than I originally thought. There’s no time to loose. We have to find the slippers right away.”

“What’s going on?” Darryl asked again. “Is he responsible for this?”

“Long story,” said Piper. “We’ll explain it later. Right now Jerrod is right. He and Phoebe have to find the ruby slippers so we can fix everything.”

“Shall we?” Jerrod said, holding out his hand to Phoebe.

Hesitantly she took his hand and they both concentrated intently.

[NoAzMale]

SIX

“This can’t be coincidence,” said Piper. “It’s a good thing we left Darryl at the manor. I don’t think he could handle this right now.”

“It’s not coincidence,” said Jerrod. “It would explain why city hall has suddenly changed into a castle. The magic would be strongest wherever the slippers are. And it would emanate outward from there.”

“Well this certainly looks like a real castle,” said Phoebe, looking around the elaborate hall they all stood in. “Right down to the suits of armor in the corners. Did they really have those in real castles?”

“Not that I know of,” said Cole. “Castles were usually the home to the wealthy or nobility. Having suits of armor standing around in the hallways would be a waste. All they would do is rust. Armor was a defensive implement for knights and the nobles.”

“You seem to know a lot about it,” said Paige.

“I took a couple of classes in college,” said Cole. “I’ve always been fascinated by the medieval time period.”

“This isn’t right,” said Jerrod.

“What isn’t?” Leo asked.

“This,” said Jerrod, indicating the large room. “It’s too complete, too specific. It’s almost like someone has designed all this.”

“Well, you did say that the fantasy magic would change reality to conform with it,” said Paige. “Wouldn’t you expect something like this?”

“The castle, yes. But not all of the details. Look at the engraving in the walls. And the pattern on the floor. It’s too perfect.”

“I don’t understand,” said Piper.

“Fantasy magic would create the basics of the changes. The basic castle, for instance. But the details could only be provided by someone’s imagination. The armor, the engravings, the pattern in the floor, all of it would have to have been provided by someone’s imagination.”

“But that would mean that someone has the slippers,” said Cole.

“Yes, but that’s clearly not possible,” said Jerrod. “It would mean that whomever has the slippers has been able to control both fantasy magic and real magic. And as I’ve all ready told you, no one has even come close to doing that.”

“Maybe they’re doing it without realizing it,” suggested Paige.

“I suppose it’s possible,” said Jerrod. “And if that’s the case it would be a simple matter to put things back. If someone is using the slippers that means everything has been done by their design, either consciously or subconsciously. All we need to do is relieve them of the slippers and that should stop the changes and put things back.”

“I thought only the rightful owner could use the magic of the slippers?” questioned Paige.

“Normally, yes,” said Jerrod. “But when Phoebe used the slippers the last time she would have removed herself from the fantasy realm. That’s why the slippers vanished when things were put right. And since the slippers rightfully belonged to Dorothy, who no longer exists, then whomever picked up the slippers the first time would have become their rightful owner.”

“So how do we get the slippers from them?” Leo asked. “You said they can’t be forcibly taken from the rightful owner. They have to be freely given.”

“Then we’ll just have to convince them to give the slippers to us,” said Jerrod, smiling. “And no, I don’t mean in a bad way. We’ll just have to make them understand how dangerous this is. I’m sure it shouldn’t be too difficult to convince a mortal how dangerous using magic can be.”

“You might be surprised,” said Paige. “Having all that power can be very intoxicating. I know. It happened to me when I first met Piper and Phoebe.”

“We can only try,” said Jerrod. “Who knows? The person may not even know they’re doing all this.”

“Then we’d better find them fast,” said Leo. “Before the changes become to great. The longer this goes on the harder it could be to put things back. Remember the last time? We nearly didn’t get things fixed in time. If the magic takes on a life of its own like it did last time we could have a whole new problem on our hands.”

“Well,” said Piper, looking at Phoebe and Jerrod, “you two said the slippers are here somewhere. Any idea where they might be?”

“Probably the throne room,” said Jerrod. “That would be the focal point of the castle. So it stands to reason that’s where they’d be.”

“That make sense,” said Phoebe. “But just where is the throne room?”

“It shouldn’t be too hard to find. Can’t you feel the strength of the magic? It’s stronger here than it was at the manor. The closer we get to the slippers the stronger that feeling will be.”

“You’re right,” said Phoebe. “It is stronger here. I can feel it. It’s almost like it’s drawing me to it.”

“That’s because it is, in a way,” said Jerrod. “All we have to do is follow the pull of the magic and it will lead us right to it.”

“Well, then, lead on,” said Piper. “I, for one, would like to get this over with.”

Together Phoebe and Jerrod turned and began to walk down a hallway out of the room they were in. The others followed as they negotiated the passages in the castle as if they knew exactly where they were going. Within a few minutes they entered a smaller room that had a dais in the center of it and what appeared to be a spotlight shining on the dais.

“That’s strange,” said Piper. “I can’t see any light source for that light.”

“Probably created by whomever is using the slippers,” said Jerrod. “They’re in here somewhere, I can feel their magic. They’re in this room somewhere.”

“I can feel them too,” said Phoebe. “But I can’t get a fix on them. It’s almost as if they’re masked or hidden somehow.”

“Not masked. And not hidden either. Deflected you might say. I’m very surprised that you were able to find them. That shouldn’t have been possible.”

“Who’s there?” Cole asked. “Whoever you are, show yourself. Or are you too much of a coward?”

“Trying to goad me?” questioned the disembodied voice. “I would have expected more from the great Belthazor.”

“Whoever you are,” said Piper, “you might as well show yourself. We aren’t going away.”

Suddenly a form began to form in the middle of the dais inside the light. When it had fully formed it was a woman about twenty-five wearing a nearly floor-length black dress. Her brown hair fluttered as if blown by a light breeze. And on her feet sat the ruby slippers that glistened in the light from overhead.

“Hello Piper,” said the woman. “Long time no see. And Phoebe, too. It’s good to see both of you again. It’s a shame Prue isn’t here to join in the reunion. This must be the fourth sister I’ve heard all those rumors about. Paige, isn’t it?”

“Abby?” questioned Piper in confusion.

“You know her?” Paige asked.

“Yeah, we know her,” said Phoebe. “She worked at P3 for a while. Then she went crazy and tried to kill Prue and take her place. Last I heard she was being sent to a psychiatric hospital for evaluation.”

“Plans change,” said Abby. “And Jerrod. Why am I not surprised to see you here? You should be on my side.”

“Hello, Abigail,” said Jerrod. “A lot of this make sense now. A whole lot of sense.”

“How do you know her?” Leo asked.

“We’re old friends,” said Jerrod. “Well, maybe not exactly friends. More like colleagues you might say.”

“What do you mean colleagues?” Cole asked.

“Abigail is a Mystic Warlock,” said Jerrod.

[NoAzMale]

SEVEN

“Wait a minute,” said Paige. “She’s a warlock? And you guys let her go to a psychiatric hospital? Now I’m confused. Why didn’t you just vanquish her?”

“Because we didn’t know she was a warlock,” said Piper. “There wasn’t any indication she had any powers at all. Everything she did she did without magic. We just thought she was some kind of nut case.”

“Now that’s not very flattering,” said Abigail.

“Oh, she wasn’t crazy,” said Jerrod. “In fact, her plan was nearly brilliant. She planned to kill Prue, take her powers, and then take her place. Then she’d kill both of you and take your powers as well. Supposedly it was for the Grand Mystic.”

“Grand Mystic?” questioned Paige.

“The leader of our little sect,” said Jerrod. “The most powerful Mystic there is. Only he had put you off limits. Abigail violated those orders when she went after Prue.”

“And I would have been successful, too,” said Abigail. “But that fool, the Grand Mystic, wouldn’t listen to reason. I misjudge Prue’s power, that’s all. I didn’t know her power emanated from her eyes. I thought it came from her hands like her ancestor. If I had been given another chance I know I could have been successful.”

“You knew the rules,” said Jerrod. “You disobeyed the Grand Mystic. You had to be punished.”

“He didn’t vanquish her?” Cole questioned.

“No, he said vanquishing was too good for her. He was never specific about exactly what her punishment was but he said it was worse than death.”

“And he was right,” said Abigail. “He put me in that accursed movie to die over and over again. Do you have any idea what that’s like? To die over and over again in exactly the same way and not be able to do anything about it. And yet to know each time it’s going to happen.”

“I can imagine,” said Piper. “Now why don’t you just hand over the slippers and maybe we won’t vanquish your sorry butt.”

“Still feisty as ever, eh Piper? But I’m afraid I can’t give you the slippers. I’m not through with them just yet. In fact, I’m just getting started. We have big plans in store for everyone. And when those plans are complete I will be the undisputed ruler of, well, everything. Not even those self-righteous Elders will be able to do anything about it.”

“You’re delusional,” said Phoebe. “Jerrod has told us all about Mystic Warlocks. You don’t have any power in the real world. And I’m betting you would stand even less of a chance against the three of us. You know who we are. You really think you can stand against the Power of Three?”

“Stand against it and more,” said Abigail. “You have no idea the power I now wield. Not even the Power of Three is any match for me. And I’m growing more powerful each day. In no time at all I’ll be so powerful that not even the Source or the Grand Mystic will be able to challenge me.”

“Yeah, yeah, we’ve heard that before,” said Piper. “Look, we can do this the easy way or the hard way. The easy way means you may get to live. The hard way – well, I’m sure you know how that ends.”

“Brave talk,” said Abigail. “How little you truly understand about magic.”

“Okay, I’ve had enough of this,” said Piper.

She raised her hands and tapped into her explosive power. She unleashed the power on Abigail but instead of blowing her up the power impacted with some sort of shield that surrounded her. Abigail just laughed.

“You fool,” said Abigail. “Don’t you know that magic can’t hurt itself?”

She raised her hand and some invisible force took hold of Piper and cast her back across the room, causing her to strike the opposite wall.

“Piper,” called Leo as he turned to rush toward her.

“Ah, ah, not so fast,” said Abigail.

She raised her hand again and Leo was cast in the opposite direction away from Piper.

“She’s not seriously injured,” said Abigail. “But I don’t want you using your healing power on her just yet. I think she should suffer for a bit.”

“Slippers,” Paige called out holding her hand.

The magic of her orb began to envelope the slippers and then suddenly vanished.

“You’re as big a fool as your sister,” said Abigail. “Your magic is as useless against me as hers is.”

Abigail then used her power to throw Paige across the room next to Piper.

“Leave my sisters alone,” screamed Phoebe.

Instinctively Phoebe raised her hands. She tapped into her newly acquired explosive power and cast it at Abigail. Instead of impacting the shield as Piper’s power had done, Phoebe’s power exploded on Abigail’s chest. Abigail was knocked back from the attack and almost instantly her exploded chest reformed.

“This isn’t possible,” Abigail screamed. “You have no active powers.”

“Like you said,” said Phoebe, “plans change. Now just hand over the slippers before you piss me off.”

“I don’t know how you managed the new powers but this isn’t over yet. I obviously need to let my power build a bit more before I can take you out. That’s okay. I have time. And soon not even your new powers will be a problem for me. Until later then.”

Before Phoebe could move Abigail suddenly vanished from the room. Phoebe hurried over to Piper and Paige to see if they were okay as Leo hurried to them, too. Cole and Jerrod were the last to get to them.

“We’re okay,” said Piper obviously very annoyed.

“Yeah, only our pride has been hurt,” said Paige. “I thought you said a Mystic Warlock doesn’t have any power in the real world?”

“The don’t,” said Jerrod. “The only thing that makes any sense is that her power has grown even more than mine allowing her to affect the real world as effectively as the fantasy world. Probably because she’s using the magic from the slippers directly. If she had wanted to she could probably have killed you without any problems.”

“Except she was surprised that Phoebe was so powerful,” said Cole. “Which means she probably didn’t know that Phoebe was linked to the combined magic as well.”

“That makes sense,” said Jerrod. “Plus she didn’t stick around for a fight. Which means she’s not sure just how powerful Phoebe is yet. That will change very quickly. As soon as she feels she strong enough she’ll probably be back. She’ll have to finish you off since you’re the only ones who stand a chance of defeating her.”

“That probably means she also doesn’t know that your power is increasing as well,” said Leo. “We might be able to use that.”

“Maybe,” said Jerrod. “For right now we should get back to the manor. The girls powers are strongest there. Abigail won’t attack again until she’s sure she’s strong enough to stand against Phoebe. That will give us some time to sort things out and come up with a way to stop her.”

“That’s not a bad idea,” said Piper. “We obviously need a new strategy. This one failed miserably.”

They all turned and headed out of the castle back to the manor.

[NoAzMale]

EIGHT

Abby appeared in the living room of a modest house somewhere in San Francisco. A man was standing in the room looking through a book. He just glanced up casually when she appeared.

“What are you doing here?” he asked. “You said it wasn’t time yet.”

“It’s not,” said Abigail. “I had some visitors. The Charmed Ones. And the White Lighter of theirs and the demon Phoebe is involved with.”

“The Charmed Ones?” the man asked. “How did they find you? What did they want?”

“They wanted the slippers,” said Abigail. “That’s not all. Jerrod was with them. I think he’s working with them?”

“Jerrod? Are you sure?”

“Very sure. And there’s more. Phoebe had powers like nothing I’ve ever seen before. She was nearly as powerful as I am.”

“That’s not possible,” said the man. “You have the slippers. I have access to their powers through you. How could she possibly be that powerful? She didn’t even have any active powers.”

“I don’t know,” said Abigail, “but she was definitely powerful. I could probably have taken her if it had been just her. But with the others there I didn’t dare chance it. None of the others are powerful enough to challenge me but they could have distracted me enough for her to best me. I thought it was best if I got out of there.”

“This isn’t good,” said the man. “This could jeopardize all of our plans. Besides, the Charmed Ones are my revenge. I owe them for what they did to me.”

“I know, my love,” said Abigail taking the man in her arms. “And you will have your revenge on them. Just as I will have my revenge on that fool, the Grand Mystic. But we aren’t ready yet. Our power isn’t great enough.”

“Phoebe could still be a problem,” said the man. “If she’s that powerful she may be able to challenge us. Unless we take care of her first.”

“You have a plan?”

“Yes. If we can separate Phoebe from the others, we can deal with her separately. Once we’ve finished with her the others should be easy to take care of. Not to mention there won’t be any Power of Three left to oppose us.”

“True. And even now the Power of Three could be a problem. Soon not even that will be a problem but for now it’s something we still have worry about. I had hoped they wouldn’t discover us until we were too strong for them to withstand us.”

“Well, they still don’t know about me,” said the man. “That’s our ace in the hole. And even if they suspect you’re working with someone else there’s no way they’d ever suspect me.”

“How true. So what is this plan of yours?”

“Very simple. We wait until she’s alone. Then I blink in and take her. I can be in and out before any of the others even know I’m there. Then you and I kill her. She shouldn’t be able to stand up to both of us. After she’s dead it won’t matter what the others do. As you said, none of them are powerful enough to stand up to us.”

“How will you get past the others?” Abigail asked. “Especially that White Lighter of theirs? He’s bound to sense she’s in danger as soon as she recognizes you.”

“I’ll be long gone with her before he can even orb to her. We’ll have to prepare a location to shield her from his senses. If he can’t sense her he won’t be able to locate her. And we can kill her at our leisure.”

“Are you sure you can handle her alone? As I said, she’s nearly as powerful as I am. If she uses her powers against you it could delay you long enough for them to get to her.”

“It shouldn’t be too difficult. She won’t be expecting an attack. I should be able to take her by surprise. All I have to do is grab her and blink out. She’ll be disoriented for a bit. Long enough to bind her hands and keep her from using her powers.”

“Excellent,” said Abby. “I’ll prepare a place for you to take her. You know where I’m talking about. They won’t be expecting you to take her there. They’ll waste time trying to find her. And once we’ve finished with her we’ll take care of the rest of them. Then no one will be able to stand against us.”

“The White Lighter might be a problem. He can only be killed by Dark Lighter poison. There’s not much we can do to him that will affect him permanently.”

“He has no offensive powers, either. And he can’t contact his precious Elders. He’s less of a problem than the others. I will need some time to recuperate from preparing where you’ll take Phoebe. I’ll have to regain my strength.”

“I understand that,” said the man. “I’ll take care of Phoebe. Once you have your strength back we can deal with her. And then I’ll have my revenge on the three sisters.”

“Don’t let me keep you from having your fun with her, my love. As I said, the sisters are your revenge. My revenge will be against that fool, the Grand Mystic.” Abby kissed the man passionately. “Don’t worry, my love. There is enough revenge to go around for both of us. More than enough. Before we are finished everyone who betrayed us will pay for what they did.”

The man kissed Abby passionately and held her close. Very soon no one would be able to stand against them.

[NoAzMale]

NINE

“Let me get this straight,” said Darryl back at the manor. “All the craziness that’s going on right now is because of these ruby slippers? The ones from the movie ‘The Wizard Of Oz’?”

“Pretty much,” said Piper.

“So he is responsible for it,” said Darryl looking intently at Jerrod.

“I suppose I do have to take my share of the blame for it,” said Jerrod. “But in all fairness this is none of my doing. I think it’s quite clear that Abigail is responsible for everything that’s going on.”

“Because you started this with that stupid spell of yours,” said Cole.

“This isn’t doing us any good,” said Leo. “Jerrod, you said that Abby was a Mystic Warlock.”

“Yes,” said Jerrod. “She wasn’t even one of the more powerful ones.”

“Then why would she attack us?” Phoebe asked. “If she was that weak she should have known she didn’t stand a chance.”

“Because of the Grand Mystic. She always claimed she wanted to steal your power for him.”

“You mentioned him before,” said Paige. “Just who is this Grand Mystic and why would Abby be trying to steal our powers for him?”

“As I told you, he’s the leader of our sect. He the most powerful – and oldest – Mystic Warlock. No one knows exactly how old he is but there are indications he’s well over three hundred years old.”

“I didn’t know warlocks were immortal,” said Paige.

“They aren’t,” said Jerrod. “Somehow – no one knows how – he’s been able to use his powers to extend his life. He’s extremely frail physically but as powerful as he is no one has been able to challenge him. That’s why Abigail wanted your powers. He thinks by adding your power to his he’ll be able to restore his health.”

“Wait a minute,” said Piper. “You said a Mystic Warlock’s power was basically illusion. How can he use illusion to extend his life?”

“No one knows,” said Jerrod. “But if he can get your powers he could conceivably do exactly what he wants. And then he will be immortal.”

“Because of the prophecy,” said Cole.

“What prophecy?” Phoebe asked.

“It seems that what I’ve heard about you is true. You do know a great many things. Yes, because of the prophecy. There’s an ancient prophecy. It talks about someone combining fantasy and real magic and becoming an unstoppable force. The Grand Mystic has always believed that prophecy refers to him. And when you came on the scene he became convinced you were the real magic he needed to make the prophecy come true.”

“But you said he put the girls off limits,” said Leo.

“Yes. He wanted their power to be fully developed before he took it. If Abigail had only waited she might have been successful. After she attacked Prue he figured it was only a matter of time before you discovered us so he put out the word you were no longer off limits. I was the first to make the attempt. Unfortunately I was less than successful.”

“So that explains how she got out of jail,” said Darryl. “The last I heard she was going to be transferred to a psychiatric hospital for evaluation. Her lawyer was pleading her insane or something. What I don’t’ understand is why the girls weren’t warned when she escaped. She would have been considered a risk to them and they should have been warned.”

“The power of the Grand Mystic,” said Jerrod. “He was able to utilize his magic to erase any memory of her from the minds of whomever had come into contact with her. Well, any mortals, anyway. That would have been nearly impossible with the rest of you because of your innate magic. But as far as the mortal world is concerned what she did never happened.”

“Then why do I remember her?” Darryl asked. “I don’t have any magic.”

“That’s a good question,” said Jerrod. “Maybe it’s because of the magic bubble the girls created when they brought us out of the movie. It must have insulated you from his magic somehow.”

“And now she’s back to take over the world,” said Piper. “And from the looks of it she has enough power to do just that.”

“We have big plans,” Cole said thoughtfully.

“What’s that, sweetie?” Phoebe asked.

“It’s something Abby said,” said Cole. “’We have big plans in store for everyone’. I was just wondering why she said that. She didn’t strike me as having any kind of split personality or anything like that. So why did she say ‘we’?”

“Well she was being admitted for a psychological evaluation, wasn’t she?” Paige asked.

“Of course,” said Jerrod suddenly. “I’m such a fool. I should have thought of that before.”

“Thought of what?” Piper asked. “What are you talking about?”

“Abigail must be working with someone,” said Jerrod. “It’s the only thing that explains how she could have been doing all this. Her magic is the same as any Mystic. She should have been able to use only the fantasy magic of the slippers. She wouldn’t have had any control over the real magic in it.”

“You mean there’s another warlock involved?” Phoebe asked.

“Yes,” said Jerrod. “And it would have to be one of the more normal variety. It couldn’t be another Mystic. They wouldn’t have any more success controlling the real magic than Abigail would. So it would have to be a regular warlock in league with her.”

“That doesn’t make any sense,” said Leo. “That would mean they’re combining their powers. That’s not possible. The girls can do it because of their blood relation. Witches and warlocks of different bloodlines can’t combine their power effectively enough to be of any use.”

“Couldn’t the power of the slippers allow her to use the real magic too?” Paige asked.

“No,” said Jerrod. “Regardless of how powerful she may be she can still only manipulate fantasy magic. She has no control over real magic. The only answer is that she has linked her power through the slippers with another warlock. But Leo is right. It’s not even possible with warlocks of different bloodlines.”

“What about a relative?” Piper asked. “Maybe Abby has conned one of her relatives to help her.”

“That’s not possible,” said Jerrod. “Abby’s parents died long ago. And she had only one sibling. A brother.”

“Then maybe it’s her brother,” said Cole. “Even if he was mortal she should be able to access real magic through him. Kind of like filtering it.”

“I’m afraid that’s not possible as I said,” said Jerrod. “Abigail’s brother was a regular warlock. They were quite a pair. She would use her powers to weaken their opponents using their fears and fantasies against them. Then, when they were weak enough, her brother, Alexander, would strike. They made a very effective team.”

“It sounds like he would be the perfect one for her to help her use the slippers,” said Paige.

“Except that Alexander is dead,” said Jerrod. “He was killed some time ago.”

“Maybe he wasn’t really killed,” suggested Piper. “Maybe he just made it appear as if he were killed so no one would suspect him.”

“That’s not likely,” said Jerrod. “And you of all people should know that.”

“Me?” questioned Piper. “Why would I know?”

“Because you’re the one who vanquished him,” said Jerrod. “He belonged to a loose knit group of warlocks that worked as sort of mercenaries for some powerful demons and other evil magical entities. They all liked to pick pseudonyms for themselves. His true name was Alexander Martin. But you would probably know him better by the alias he preferred to go by. He called himself Zile.”

[NoAzMale]

TEN

“Who is Zile?” Paige asked. “I never heard of him.”

“We have,” Piper said looking at Phoebe. “It was a long time ago. Before we found you. An evil priestess kidnapped Prue and forced her to marry Zile. That turned Prue evil and in turn turned us evil. She did that so she could get her hands on the Book of Shadows.”

“We were lucky we defeated her,” said Phoebe. “But Jerrod is right. Zile is dead. We vanquished him just before we vanquished the priestess. So it couldn’t be him.”

“And Abby didn’t have any other siblings?” Piper asked.

“No. Zile was her only brother and she had no sisters.”

“What about someone else?” Leo asked. “Someone she might have been close to?”

“That would be very unlikely,” said Jerrod. “You see, Abigail and Zile were close. Very close. Most would say they were closer than a brother and sister should have been.”

“You mean,” began Paige. “Ew, that’s just sick.”

“It was a point of contention even among other warlocks,” said Jerrod. “The Grand Mystic overlooked it because she was so useful to him. She and Zile would often work together to vanquish the Grand Mystic’s enemies.”

“I guess violating his orders was too much for the Grand Mystic to tolerate,” said Cole.

“Well as you can see it couldn’t be Zile,” said Jerrod. “And to the best of my knowledge Abigail had no other siblings. Nor even any other close relatives. At least not close enough to be able to combine her power with.”

“How did she get out of the movie?” Paige asked. “For that matter which movie was she in in the first place? I mean it’s just a movie for crying out loud.”

“A lot of stories are based on real incidents,” said Jerrod. “The Wizard Of Oz is one of those incidents. Oh, the actual incidents were somewhat different. But the gist of the story is pretty much the same. L. Frank Baum, the man who wrote The Wizard Of Oz, must have learned about the story somehow. When he wrote the story the magic of the actual incident became enveloped in the story itself.”

“So it’s like a modern day fairy tale,” said Leo. “And Abby became a character in that fairy tale when the Grand Mystic cursed her.”

“Exactly,” said Jerrod. “When Phoebe brought the slippers out of the movie we were in, she also brought the magic from the fairy tale with her. It’s opened a doorway of sorts. One that is causing the real and fantasy to intermingle.”

“So if Abby was trapped in the fairy tale,” said Piper, “how did she get out of it? You said that she was doing all this. Wouldn’t she have had to cross over into the real world to do it?”

“Yes,” said Jerrod. “Otherwise she’d be changing the fantasy world and not the real one.”

“Then how did she get out?” Cole asked.

“She must have used the power of the slippers to slip through a crack,” said Jerrod. “A juncture where real and fantasy magic overlap.”

“How?” asked Phoebe.

“Well, the power of the slippers would allow her to do that.”

“Which means she must have had use of the slippers even when she was in the movie.”

“Yes, of course.”

“That doesn’t make sense,” said Cole. “In the movie Dorothy had the slippers. And Phoebe was cast as Dorothy. When she brought the slippers out with her they wouldn’t have been there for Abby to use them. So how did Abby get out? She would never have had access to the slippers.”

“That’s a good question,” said Jerrod. “She wouldn’t have had the power to do it herself. Especially under the curse the Grand Mystic put on her. Not even I would have had that kind of power and I’m what you might call a senior Mystic.”

“If she had the powers of the Wicked Witch she might have been able to,” said Phoebe. “Combined with her own power maybe that gave her the power she needed.”

“But Prue was cast as the Wicked Witch,” said Jerrod. “And Piper was cast as Glinda, the Good Witch. With me cast as the Wizard there’s no one left with the kind of power she would need to get out.”

“Yes there is,” said Paige. “I remember reading some trivia on the movie once. It said that the scene where Dorothy is in the twirling house in the cyclone there was a scene where Miss Cultch turns into the witch.”

“So?” Jerrod questioned.

“Well, in that scene, the witch is seen wearing the ruby slippers. So the witch would be the Wicked Witch of the East, not the one we see in the movie. The one that Dorothy fights with.”

“That’s what Abby meant by dying over and over again,” said Jerrod. “The Grand Mystic must have cast her as the Wicked Witch of the East. Which means she would die at the beginning of the movie. Especially if she still retained her memories. The longer she would be in he movie the more likely she would be to find a way out of it. By killing her at the beginning he would prevent her from utilizing the powers of the slippers to escape.”

“Wait a minute,” said Darryl. “My kids watch that movie all the time. Didn’t the ruby slippers originally belong to the witch that Dorothy’s house fell on?”

“Yes,” said Piper. “When she was killed by the house the slippers became Dorothy’s.”

“And if Abby was cast as that witch,” said Jerrod, “then she would have access to their full power. She could have used that magic to get out of the movie.”

“Okay,” said Piper, “now we know how she got out of the movie. That doesn’t get us any closer to finding out who she’s working with. I’m assuming even the power of the slippers wouldn’t be enough to allow her to control real magic like she’s been doing.”

“And you would be correct,” said Jerrod. “She would still have control over only fantasy magic. She would have to be working with someone else who has the ability to control the real magic. And they have to be able to combine their magic to be as powerful as they are.”

“But without a living blood relative,” said Leo, “that’s not possible.”

“Okay, I’m obviously no expert,” said Darryl, “but you said that this bubble had somehow combined real and fantasy magic. Couldn’t she be using that connection to tap into someone else’s magic?”

“Of course,” said Jerrod suddenly. “It’s so obvious. And it makes something Abby said clear now. I couldn’t figure out what she meant by it.”

“Meant by what?” Leo asked.

“She said ‘magic can’t hurt itself’,” said Jerrod. “I didn’t understand what she meant by that. But it’s the only thing that makes any sense.”

“What are you blabbering about?” Cole asked.

“I’m not blabbering. It would also explain how Abby was suddenly able to get out of her curse. When the girls cast their Power of Three spell to get us out of the movie, they created a magical bubble as I’ve all ready explained. Fantasy and real magic would have been trapped inside that bubble. The fantasy magic of the slippers and the real magic of the Charmed Ones.

“Abby would have received a surge of power from that intermingling because she was, at that point, an inherent part of the fairy tale. It would have allowed her to overcome the curse the Grand Mystic put on her and free herself from it. It would take a very powerful magic to overcome a curse like that. A magic such as the Power of Three.”

“You aren’t saying what I think you’re saying, are you?” Paige asked.

“Yes, I am,” said Jerrod. “This all started once we were removed from the movie. That can mean only one thing. The real magic powering the intermingling is the Power of Three. It’s the girls’ own magic that’s allowing Abby to do all this.”

“You mean we’re the ones helping her do this?” Piper asked.

“I’m afraid so. No other magic would be strong enough to power the changes. Abby is able to use your own power against you. Which is why your explosive power didn’t work on her. Magic can’t hurt itself, as she said. And as long as she has access to that magic, we won’t be able to stop her.”

[NoAzMale]

ELEVEN

“Oh, this is just getting better and better,” said Piper. “Not only is Abby a warlock out to kill us but she’s using our own power to do it. Can this get any better?”

“It does give us an advantage, however,” said Jerrod.

“How do you figure that?” asked Paige.

“Because the Power of Three is too powerful for even Abby to control completely,” said Jerrod. “Which means she has to bide her time. Absorb the magic a little at a time. That explains why she hasn’t attacked you yet. She doesn’t have the power to overcome your magic.”

“Okay,” said Phoebe, “if magic can’t hurt itself, how come I was able to hurt her?”

“Because as I said she hasn’t absorbed enough of your magic yet. Plus you have access to the fantasy magic. That’s enhancing your power. If you’ll remember she only used her telekinetic power against Piper and the others. She didn’t use any other powers against you. And when Phoebe attacked her she fled almost immediately. She’s still too weak to confront you directly.”

“What about whomever she’s working with?” Cole asked. “They’d have the same power wouldn’t they?”

“Probably. They’d be sharing their magic through a magical conduit. That means it’s going to take longer for her to gain control of the magic. But it’s still only a matter of time before that happens. And when it does there will be no stopping her. Then she’ll come after you.”

“We still have to figure out who she’s working with,” said Piper. “And since Zile is dead it’s going to make it harder to locate whomever that is.”

“Well I for one could use a shower,” said Phoebe. “I think we should take a break. We aren’t going to do anyone any good if we wear ourselves out.”

“She’s right,” said Leo. “Piper, why don’t you fix something for us to eat? We’re going to need to keep our strength up if we’re going against Abby.”

“Good idea,” said Piper. “Paige, will you help me in the kitchen?”

“Sure,” said Paige.

“In the mean time,” said Cole, “Jerrod can tell us everything he knows about Abby. There might be something we can use to our advantage. Some weakness we can exploit.”

Piper and Paige went into the kitchen as Phoebe headed upstairs. In her room she began to look through her closet for something to wear. As she was deciding what to wear she heard someone move up behind her. Thinking it was Cole following her upstairs she turned to him.

“Decided to help me with my shower?”

She was taken by surprise when the man pushed her up against the wall and put one hand over her mouth and another hand around her neck.

“Hello, Phoebe. It’s been a long time. I think it’s time we got reacquainted.”

Without another word he and Phoebe vanished from her bedroom.

“Whatever you can tell us about Abby could be helpful,” said Cole in the living room with Leo and Jerrod. “You’d be surprise how something that seems insignificant could be helpful.”

“Well, as I said, she and Zile were very close. Unnaturally close by most people’s standards. It’s why he went after Prue. After you foiled Abby’s plan and the Grand Mystic banished her he swore vengeance on the sisters. He planned to steal their powers to free her.”

“We know what happened there,” said Leo. “He was vanquished and so was the priestess he was working for.”

“Yes,” said Jerrod. “She really wasn’t close to anyone else. She kept pretty much to herself. Except for the Grand Mystic, of course. There wasn’t anything she wouldn’t do for him. I always believed it was because she wanted to take his place some day. Like I said he’s physically very frail. He’s confined to a wheelchair partially because of his advanced age. But his power is so great no one can oppose him. With your power Abby could conceivably do just that.”

“So if she’s not close to anyone, who could be helping her?” Leo asked.

“It could be anyone,” said Jerrod. “Any warlock that would be interested in getting part of the Charmed Ones power.”

“Which means any warlock,” said Cole. “I doubt if it’s a demon. Most demons won’t work with warlocks. Besides a demon might not be able to utilize the girl’s power. It would have to be a warlock.”

“Or it could be a mortal,” said Leo. “It’s possible she’s filtering the girl’s magic through a human. It might be possible for her to use their power that way. If it is just a regular human it’s going t make it more difficult….”

Leo stopped in mid-sentence and stared at the ceiling for a minute.

“Piper, Paige,” he called out, “Phoebe’s in trouble.”

He didn’t wait for them. He orbed immediately to Phoebe’s room. At nearly the same instant, Jerrod blinked into her room and Paige orbed Piper and herself there. Cole, being the only one with no powers, had to relay on taking the stairs. He arrived a few seconds after the others.

“I suddenly sensed she was in a panic,” said Leo. “But she’s not here.”

“Someone was here,” said Jerrod. “I can sense the residual affects of someone blinking out. It’s not very strong but it’s there.”

“You think it was Abby?” Piper asked.

“I don’t think so,” said Jerrod. “I’m not sensing any mystical magic that would be present if it was a Mystic. No, it has to be a regular warlock. But I can’t sense where he’s taken her. Something is blocking my tracking sense.”

“I can’t sense her either,” said Leo. “I should be able to sense her no matter where she is on the mortal plane. But I’m not getting anything. It’s like she’s just vanished.”

“Unless she’s being shielded or in the underworld,” said Cole. “I doubt if she’s in the underworld. It would be dangerous enough for a warlock to go down there. Taking a Charmed One with them would be that much more dangerous. So he must have taken her somewhere that’s shielded from Leo’s senses.”

“Why take her?” Paige asked. “If he wanted to kill her why not just kill her here?”

“He might not have had enough time,” said Cole. “With all of us here she might have been able to alert us before he had a chance to kill her. So he’d probably take her somewhere that he could kill her at his leisure.”

“That makes sense,” said Jerrod. “And if he’s shielded it from your White Lighter’s senses then he may take his time killing her. Most warlocks are notoriously sadistic in that respect.”

“Then we have no way to find her,” said Piper frantically. “She could be just about anywhere and we have no idea where she is. By the time we find her it might be too late.”

“I wouldn’t say that exactly,” said Jerrod. “There is a way we might be able to locate her. It’s a long shot but it just might work. If you’re willing to trust me.”

“How?” Piper asked, frantically. “How can we find her?”

“I can tap into your dreams and fantasies,” said Jerrod. “I might be able to locate her that way.”

“How?” Cole asked.

“Well, no two fantasies or dreams are exactly alike,” said Jerrod. “But with sisters as close as these are, they would be very similar. If they share a similar dream or fantasy, the underlying cause of those could be caused by the same stimuli. Since they are linked magically, as well as by blood, it’s very likely there’s a link between them. I can tap into that link and locate her that way.”

“I never knew Mystic Warlocks could do that,” said Cole.

“It’s not something we broadcast,” said Jerrod. “I’m sure there are things about demons you’d just as soon didn’t become public knowledge.”

“Point taken,” said Cole.

“So, all Piper has to do is find something that she and Phoebe have in common,” said Jerrod. “Some dream or fantasy they have in common. The more personal it is the better. That will make the connection even stronger. Then I can tap into it and create a psychic link with Phoebe. That will lead me right to her. All you have to do is decide on something you think Phoebe wants, too.”

“That’s easy,” said Piper. “Having Prue back. No offense Paige but it’s been very hard since she died. I know I’d like to have her back. And I know Phoebe wants the same thing.”

“Don’t worry about it, sweetie,” said Paige. “I know how close the three of you were. And it’s perfectly normal you’d want her back. Besides, it might help us find Phoebe.”

“Great,” said Jerrod. “That should make the link as strong as possible.” He reached out and took Piper by the hands. “Now, just think about Prue. The better the memories the stronger the link. I’ll see if I can tap into those thoughts. You may be tempted to push me from your mind. It’s very important you don’t do that. You have to allow me to tap into your thoughts.”

Piper closed her eyes and thought about Prue. All the good times they had together. Even the arguments that had seemed to draw her closer to her dead sister. They were memories and thoughts she had never told anyone. Memories and thoughts that had consoled her on nights when Prue’s absence was even more pronounced than normal.

As she thought of Prue she felt a presence in her mind. Just as Jerrod had said, her first instinct was to resist the presence. To push it out of these her most private of thoughts. As she fought the urge to push the presence out of her mind she concentrated intently on Prue and Phoebe. If this failed, it might cost Phoebe her life. Piper vowed that was not going to happen.

[NoAzMale]

TWELVE

“You’re sure this is where Phoebe is?” Piper whispered to Jerrod.

“Positive. The psychic link I was able to establish with her is very strong. There’s no mistake about it. She’s in here somewhere.”

“Why would he bring her to P3?” Paige asked.

“Because it’s probably the last place you’d look for her,” said Cole. “It’s actually very ingenious. Whoever he is he’s holding her right under our noses. We could have wasted a lot of time looking for her.”

“Can you tell if she’s okay?” Piper asked.

“I’m not sure,” said Jerrod. “I can tell you she’s still alive. And she’s frightened. Other than that I don’t really know.”

“We have to be on our toes,” said Leo. “If this warlock is as powerful as Abby we could have a problem fighting him.”

“That’s why we aren’t going to waste any time,” said Piper. “Leo, as soon as we find Phoebe you orb her back to the manor. We’ll keep this warlock busy long enough for you to do it. Then Paige and Jerrod can get us out of here.”

“Whoever this warlock is I doubt he can stand up to this,” said Darryl, checking his handgun. “I may not have any powers like the rest of you but at least there’s something I can do.”

“Hey, I don’t have any powers either,” said Cole. “but if nothing else we can serve as distractions. Long enough for the others to take him out.”

“Let’s find Phoebe,” said Piper. “I want to get her back before that bastard can do anything to her.”

Everyone except Leo cautiously moved into the club. The plan was simple. The others would locate Phoebe and the warlock. Leo would hide in the shadows where he couldn’t be seen. While the others distracted the warlock Leo would suddenly orb in and grab Phoebe and orb her out of the club.

The inside of the club didn’t look any different from what it normally looked like. Some of the lights were on which was unusual. Other than that it looked like any other day the club was closed. Normally Piper would all ready be at the club getting ready to open it. Today, however, opening the club was the last thing on her mind.

As they made their way through the club they cautiously watched every corner. The warlock could be anywhere. They needed to be ready for anything. They had moved only part of the way through the club when all of the lights suddenly came on.

Phoebe could be seen clearly sitting in a chair near the back exit of the club. She was tied to the chair and had a gag tied around her mouth. She didn’t appear to be injured at all. But it was clear she was terrified.

They all froze when the lights came on. Each expected an attack. For a few moments nothing happened. No one moved and even the air was still. When nothing happened, Piper began to make her way to Phoebe.

“I’m afraid you can’t have her just yet. I’m not quite finished with her.”

A man suddenly appeared behind Phoebe. He held an athame in one hand. He stood smiling at the group.

“Zile?” Piper questioned. “But you’re….”

“Dead?” Zile finished. “Yes I was. Shattered into a million little pieces. Just like your White Lighter husband there. I wouldn’t try orbing to Phoebe. You aren’t that fast.”

“How can you be here?” Piper asked. “We vanquished you.”

“Yes you did. As I said, just like your husband. Only when you vanquished the priestess all of her spells were reversed. Which, as I understand it, is how you got your husband back. But then it’s how I came back, too. You didn’t think it only worked for him, did you?”

“Let Phoebe go,” said Piper. “We vanquished you once. We’ll do it again.”

“Oh, that’s not going to happen,” said Zile. “You see since my dear Abigail has returned there’s nothing that can stop us. But then you know all about that, don’t you? And you must be Paige, the other sister. Nice to make your acquaintance.”

“The pleasure’s all yours,” said Paige, disgust in her voice.

“You don’t approve of me?” Zile asked. “Not so surprising. Our kinds don’t really mix well.”

“You mean sick perverts like you?” Paige asked.

“Judge not,” said Zile. “And who else do we have here? Jerrod, of course. And you would be Cole Turner. Abigail told me you were working with them. But just who might you be? I don’t believe we’ve been properly introduced.”

“I’m Inspector Morris of the San Francisco Police.”

“Really?” questioned Zile. “Now why would they bring you here? You’re no witch. You’re even less of a threat to me than they are.”

“Call it moral support,” said Darryl.

Zile raised his hand and Darryl’s pistol suddenly flew out of its holster into his hand.

“Can’t let you keep this, now can we? Someone might get hurt. I’ll just hang onto it for safekeeping.”

“What do you want?” Piper demanded.

“Why, revenge, of course,” said Zile. “You didn’t think I’d just forget about what you did to me, did you? If not for you I would have been able to release Abby from the hell the Grand Mystic put her in a lot sooner. You have to pay for your interference.”

“You tried to kill us,” said Piper. “You got what you deserved.”

While they were talking Cole noticed Jerrod cautiously reach behind him and remove an athame. He glanced at Cole and then at Zile. Cole knew exactly what he had planned. But they would need to distract Zile if they stood any chance of succeeding.

“Why don’t you just let Phoebe go?” Cole asked slowly moving to the side so that Zile would be facing away from Jerrod. “If you have so much power she’s not threat to you. There’s no reason to hurt her.”

“There’s revenge,” said Zile. “Like I said, they have to pay for what they did. Now you’re a different story. When Abby and I are finished we’ll need someone to rule the underworld for us. Keep all the demons in line so we won’t have to waste our time on them. You would be perfect for that, being a former demon. Join us and we can give you enough power to rule the underworld with impunity.”

“That’s an interesting offer,” said Cole. “Let Phoebe go and we’ll talk about it.”

“I’ve all ready told you that’s not going to happen,” said Zile. “She’s going to pay for what she did. Her and her sisters. But my revenge is against them, not you. You don’t have to die today. None of the rest of you do. Just walk away and I’ll forget you were ever here.”

“That’s not going to happen,” said Leo.

“Suit yourself,” said Zile. “Don’t say I didn’t give you a chance.”

“I’d say you’ve given them every chance.”

Suddenly Abby walked into the club from the back door. She was dressed exactly as they had seen her at the castle. She stood next to Zile smiling at the group.

“I didn’t think you’d be here,” said Zile. “You said you would need to recoup your strength after preparing this place.”

“It didn’t take as long as I anticipated,” said Abby. “Besides, I wanted to be here when you have your revenge. The time has come to put an end to this.”

They all stared at Zile and Abby knowing that with their increased power there was no way they could stand against both of them together.

[NoAzMale]

THIRTEEN

“Looks like everyone’s here,” said Zile.

“Who do you plan to start with?” Abby asked.

“Phoebe, of course,” said Zile, brandishing the athame.

“You aren’t going to hurt my sister,” said Piper.

Abby formed a fireball. “I’m afraid you have nothing to say about the matter.”

Zile grabbed Phoebe by the hair and pulled her head back. Then he lowered the athame to her throat fully intending to kill her in front of everyone. Before any of them could move Abby suddenly turned and cast her fireball. It struck Zile forcing him back and he dropped the athame. Just as suddenly Abby vanished from the room.

“Leo, now,” screamed Jerrod.

Leo didn’t hesitate. He orbed immediately to Phoebe and grabbed her arm and then orbed her out before Zile could recover from the attack. Piper raised her hands and Zile’s chest exploded but reformed almost immediately. Paige reached out her hand called for the athame he had been holding and it orbed immediately to her hand.

“You fools,” said Zile. “You can’t stand against me. The power Abby and I wield is irresistible. I don’t know how you managed that little deception but it won’t help any of you. Phoebe may be safe but I’ll have my revenge against you. Then I’ll finish her off.”

He formed a fireball and began to cast it. Jerrod pulled the athame out from behind him and cast it at Zile. But the athame never reached the warlock. Instead it impacted on a shield similar to the one that had protected Abby.

“You have no power over me,” laughed Zile. “You think a simple athame could harm me? The magic we possess now courses through us. It grows stronger each day. When we’re finished not even the Elders nor the Source will be able to resist us. And not even your magic is strong enough to harm me.”

“We don’t need it to hurt you,” said Jerrod. “Paige. The athame. Use it now.”

Paige looked at Jerrod confused. She wasn’t sure what good it would do. He had all ready proven that an athame was no danger to him. Still, she couldn’t stand by and do nothing. She used her orbing power and cast the athame at Zile. The athame orbed to Zile and struck him in the shoulder. He howled in pain from the attack.

“Piper, now. Destroy the athame.”

Piper brought her hands up and tapped into her explosive power. The athame stuck in Zile’s shoulder suddenly exploded. A second later flame erupted around Zile and he was vanquished in a conflagration. Jerrod dropped to the floor exhausted.

“That was close,” he said. “It took nearly all my power to create that illusion of Abigail. But it was enough to distract Zile long enough to get Phoebe out of here.”

“I don’t understand,” said Paige. “How come the athame I used got through his shield? I thought our magic couldn’t hurt him.”

“It didn’t,” said Cole. “All it did was counter the shielding he was using. It would have merged with his magic. Since the athame was wrapped in that magic it allowed it to pass through the shield.”

“Exactly,” said Jerrod. “And when the athame struck Zile, it grounded him so to speak. Remember, Zile and Abigail are using a combination of real and fantasy magic. The athame is from the real world. His magic wasn’t strong protect him from it yet.”

“And when I destroyed the athame,” began Piper.

“It forced the fantasy magic he controls to compensate,” said Jerrod. “Only it couldn’t compensate fast enough and it overwhelmed him. That’s what vanquished him. And this time he’s vanquished for good.”

“You’re sure?” Darryl asked.

“Positive,” said Jerrod smiling. “Don’t worry. He’s not coming back this time. Now, we need to get back to the manor. Abigail is going to know we vanquished Zile and she’s not going to be happy about it.”

“Are you strong enough to help get everyone back?” Cole asked.

“I don’t think so,” said Jerrod. “As I said, that illusion took nearly all of my power. Paige, do you think you can get us back to the manor okay?”

“I’ll try,” said Paige.

They all linked arms and Paige then orbed them out of the club and back to the manor.

* * *

“Are you sure you’re okay?” Piper asked Phoebe after they had returned to the manor.

“I’m fine,” said Phoebe. “Zile took me by surprise. I thought he was all ready dead. He blinked me to the club and had me bound before I could do anything. I thought for sure I was dead. But he didn’t have enough time to do anything before you showed up. What happened to him anyway?”

“He’s gone for good this time,” said Piper. “Thanks to Jerrod. And we have him to thank for finding you, too. If it wasn’t for him we might still be looking for you.”

“Just doing what I can to help,” said Jerrod. “And we still have Abigail to worry about. Like I said, she’s going to know we vanquished Zile. And she’s not going to be happy about it.”

“What do we do about her?” Paige asked. “At least we don’t have Zile to worry about any more. There’s only Abby now.”

“And that is not good,” said Jerrod. “With Zile dead Abby doesn’t have to share the power of the slippers any longer. Which means she’ll grow more powerful even faster. I’m afraid vanquishing Zile hasn’t helped matters any. In fact, if anything, it’s made them worse.”

* * *

“No!” Abby screamed as she fell to the floor. With Zile vanquished the power he had been using began to surge into her. “This isn’t possible. You can’t be dead. They aren’t powerful enough to kill you.”

As the power flooded into her she had to fight to maintain control. She had never absorbed so much power before. If she failed to absorb it all it would destroy her. She tapped into the slippers she was wearing. She began to channel the magic from Zile through the slippers. Slowly the pressure of the magic began to subside. Within a few minutes she had absorbed all the magic. The process of absorbing so much magic had left her physically exhausted.

“Don’t worry, my love,” she said aloud. “I will avenge your death. The Charmed Ones will pay for what they have done to you. They will pay dearly. And I promise you it won’t be a quick or painless death either. They will pay my love.”

Abby stumbled over to a bed in the corner and collapsed on it. Within moments she was fast asleep. She knew she would sleep for hours while her body adjusted to the additional power she had absorbed from Zile. But when she awoke she would avenge Zile.

[NoAzMale]

FOURTEEN

“Worse?” Darryl questioned. “You mean things are going to get worse? How could they possibly get worse? Have you seen what’s going on out there not to mention that some demon just tried to kill all of us?”

“Calm down, Darryl,” said Piper. “I’m sure things aren’t that bad.”

“Actually, they are,” said Jerrod. “In fact, things couldn’t be much worse. You’ve seen how much things have all ready changed. And how powerful Abby was the first time we confronted her. And that was when she had to share power with Zile. Now she doesn’t have to share that power. Her power will be twice as strong as before.”

“Oh, that’s not good,” said Paige.

“But we have my increased power,” said Phoebe. “That should help offset her power.”

“Not enough,” said Jerrod. “She’s drawing power directly from the slippers. While you get your increased power from them as I do, we aren’t drawing from them directly. So our power won’t be increasing as fast. And we won’t have the control over it that she has.”

“What can we do?” Leo asked. “There has to be some way to counter her increased power.”

“What about a power stripping potion?” suggested Cole.

“It might work,” said Jerrod. “But there’s no guarantee it will. Remember it’s not just real magic she controls. It’s fantasy magic as well. There’s no guarantee that a power stripping potion will be affective against that.”

“We have to vanquish her,” said Paige. “That’s the only way to stop her for good.”

“The question is how,” Piper said. “We weren’t exactly successful the last time we faced her. And like Jerrod says, now she has Zile’s power as well.”

”There’s one sure way to stop her,” said Darryl.

“I’m not sure even that will work,” said Jerrod. “She’s more than a mystic now. With all that power she can rival most demons. And there are a lot of demons that a gun won’t work on.”

“Quite a few, as a matter of fact,” said Cole. “Demons are creatures of magic. That’s why most of them are immortal. Most human-made weapons simply don’t harm them. And if Abby is as powerful as Jerrod says she is then they won’t be any more affective against her. We would need a vanquishing potion tailored specifically for her.”

“And since we have no idea what kind of potion that is, making one is just a tad difficult,” said Piper.

“I’m not sure even a potion would work,” said Jerrod. “You are all being very narrow minded in your thinking. You’re thinking of Abigail as a regular demon. She’s anything but. The fantasy magic she controls changes the whole complexion of the situation. Regular options simply won’t work here. You have to think outside the box, to coin a phrase.”

“This is all kind of new to us,” said Piper. “And we do quite well ‘thinking outside the box’. A lot of our solutions have been anything but conventional. It’s one of the reasons we’ve been so successful against demons.”

“I understand that,” said Jerrod. “And you’re right, it’s been very effective for you. But this situation is completely different. Even some of your more elaborate solutions are likely to be utterly useless against her.”

“So what do we do?” Leo asked. “We can’t just sit around and hope something happens. And as you said, Abby is going to be coming after them eventually. We have to do something.”

Jerrod looked at them. He obviously had something on his mind. Finally he took a breath.

“There is one thing they can do,” he said. “It’s drastic and I’m not sure how you’re going to react to it when I suggest it to you.”

“You have a way to stop all this and you didn’t say anything about it?” Piper asked.

“As I said, I’m hesitant to mention it. I was hoping it wouldn’t come to this but it seems we have no choice. It’s the only way to stop Abigail. And I’m pretty sure you aren’t going to like it.”

“What is it?” Phoebe asked. “Is it a special potion or spell?”

“Not exactly,” said Jerrod. “Oh, it does involve a spell. But not in the way you imagine it.”

“Okay, so what spell are you talking about?” Paige asked. “If you know of a way to stop Abby spit it out.”

“As I’ve all ready explained,” said Jerrod, “fantasy and real magic are intermingling. From what we’ve learned from Abigail and Zile we know that the real magic is your own power; the Power of Three. We also know from what they both have told us that they’re still learning to control that power. Most likely they’re still gaining power as the fantasy and real magic continue to combine. How long that is going to take to complete is anyone’s guess.”

“Enough of the history lesson,” said Piper. “Just tell us what we have to do to stop Abby.”

“I’m getting to that,” said Jerrod. “Everything we’ve done so far – everything we’ve tried – has failed completely. As I see it, there’s only one way to stop Abigail. We have to deprive her of the power that’s making her stronger.”

“We’ve tried that,” said Cole. “There’s no way to get the slippers from her with her increased powers.”

“I know,” said Jerrod. “But that’s not what I meant. She’s using the magic of the slippers and there’s no way to get through that. So we have to get around it. We have to stop her from getting that power in the first place.”

“How can we do that?” Leo asked.

“There’s no way to shut off the fantasy magic because it’s an inherent part of the slippers. It would be like trying to stop your heart form pumping without killing you. That’s just not possible. So we have to shut down the other magic that’s powering the change.”

“You mean we have to shut off the real magic that’s joining with the fantasy magic,” said Piper.

“That’s right,” said Jerrod. “If we can shut off the real magic that’s combining with the fantasy magic it should force everything back the way it was and rest reality.”

“But you said the Power of Three is combining with the fantasy magic,” said Phoebe. “How can we prevent it from doing that.”

“There’s only one way,” said Jerrod. “The Power of Three has to be stripped from it. In order to do that it will be necessary to strip you of that power. Once it doesn’t exist any longer there will be nothing for the fantasy magic to combine with.”

Everyone just stared at Jerrod in total disbelief.

[NoAzMale]

FIFTEEN

“I know I didn’t hear what I think I just heard,” said Piper.

“You can’t be serious?” questioned Paige.

“I’m completely serious,” said Jerrod. “Believe me, I wish I wasn’t. But it’s the only way we’re going to stop Abigail. As long as she has access to your powers she’s too strong for any of us to confront. We have to deprive her of that power if we stand even a chance of stopping her.”

“You’re crazy,” said Cole. “You’re proposing that they get rid of the only protection they have against Abby. Or any demon. If they strip their powers they’ll be defenseless.”

“At least they’ll be alive,” said Jerrod. “And there’s a chance they can get their powers back. Stripping their powers won’t destroy them. They’ll still exist. It will just be a matter of locating them again once this is over.”

“And when the underworld discovers they have no powers they’ll be sitting ducks for any demon that wants to take revenge on them.”

“Besides,” said Paige, “how do we know this isn’t a trick? Some way for you to get our powers from us?”

“It’s not,” said Phoebe. “Don’t ask me how I know, but I know it’s not a trick. Jerrod is being honest when he says he believe it’s the only way to stop Abby.”

“Oh, are you suddenly empathic?” Piper asked. “How could you possibly know that?”

“It might be the psychic link I used to find her,” said Jerrod. “Once the link is established it exists until I sever it. I haven’t had the chance to do that yet what with rescuing her and all. And the link works both ways.”

“We’ll need a whole lot more than your say so for that,” said Piper.

“Then take mine,” said Phoebe. “Piper, you and Paige both know I would never do anything to put you in danger. Trust me when I say this isn’t a trick. Jerrod honestly believes it’s the only way stop Abby. And what he says makes sense. He’s right when he says everything we’ve tried has failed. If we’re going to stop Abby it seems that depriving her of her power is the only way to do it.”

“And if it does work what about afterwards?” Leo asked. “Piper’s right. When word of it gets out every demon in the underworld will come looking for revenge.”

“And I don’t have my powers any more,” said Cole. “I won’t be able to protect you. If none of you have any powers you’ll be as helpless as any mortal.”

“They don’t all have to do it,” said Jerrod. “Only Piper and Paige. Most likely Phoebe is the conduit through which the power is being transferred to the slippers. If she should suddenly stop all that power could destroy her. Besides, we’ll need her increased power to stop Abigail. Now that Zile’s dead it’s Phoebe and me against Abigail.”

“I thought you said that by stripping our powers it would set everything right?” questioned Piper.

“In a matter of speaking,” said Jerrod. “In order to set everything back the way it was the slippers have to be destroyed. By stripping your powers you cut off Abigail’s power source. She’ll essentially be stuck at the level she’s at now. So will Phoebe and I. Now, Abigail is more powerful than either of us, that much is obvious. But together we should be able to stop her and get the slippers.”

“So how do we destroy them?” Paige asked. “They’re supposed to be made of ruby. We can’t just smash them with a hammer. And you said magic can’t hurt itself. So I’m willing to bet neither of you will be able to blow them up with your increased powers.”

“No, we won’t,” said Jerrod. “But once we have the slippers we’ll be able to find a way to destroy them.”

“And just how do we get the slippers from her?” Cole asked. “I doubt if Abby is just going to turn them over if we ask her.”

“It wouldn’t do any good to just take them,” said Leo. “Remember, you said they rightfully belong to her. Which means even if we take them from her she’ll still have access to their powers.”

“That’s right,” said Jerrod. “There’s only one way to get them from her. We’re going to have to vanquish her first. Once she’s dead whoever picks them up will then be their rightful owner. But we have to take this one step at a time. The first step is to stop her growing power. And the only way to do that is for Piper and Paige to strip their powers so she doesn’t have access to the Power of Three.”

“Couldn’t we just bind our powers?” Piper asked. “That way we’d still have them and we can unbind them once we’ve stopped Abby.”

“That won’t work,” said Jerrod. “Even if it’s bound, the Power of Three will still exist. It won’t bind Abigail’s powers and it will continue to power the slippers. The only way to stop that is to end the Power of Three.”

“I’m still not convinced,” said Piper. “You’re a warlock. Which means your evil. And evil always has an ulterior motive for everything it does. You aren’t likely to help us out of the goodness of your heart.”

“Yes, well, things change,” said Jerrod. “I agree with most of what you said. Evil usually does have it’s own agenda. But I can assure you I don’t. My only objective is stopping Abigail before someone else gets killed.”

“And why should we believe you?” Cole asked.

“Because he’s changed,” said Phoebe. “I can sense it. He’s different from before. He’s no longer a warlock.”

Jerrod just stared at Phoebe for a moment. Then a slight smile crossed his face.

“It seems I’ve been discovered,” he said. “It’s why I didn’t blink back here from the club once we had vanquished Zile. I discovered I couldn’t blink.”

“But that’s not possible,” said Leo. “Blinking in a standard power of all warlocks.”

“My point exactly,” said Zile. “Only warlocks can blink, even Mystic Warlocks. And all warlocks have the ability to blink. So if I can’t blink it can mean only one thing. I’m no longer a warlock. It would appear my contact with you over the past few weeks has definitely had an affect on me.”

“I don’t believe it,” said Piper. “Demons just don’t change sides.”

“Ordinary I’d agree with you,” said Jerrod. “But technically warlocks aren’t demons. They’re humans just as witches are. And humans have the propensity for good or evil. Warlocks just naturally gravitate towards evil, just as witches gravitate toward good. But most humans are capable of change. Even warlocks.”

“And we’re just supposed to take your word on it?” Paige asked. “I’m with Piper. Warlocks don’t just change.”

“I suppose not,” said Jerrod. “In all fairness I probably wouldn’t take my word on it either if I were in your place. I can tell you is it’s true. And I think I have a way to prove it to you.”

Jerrod reached underneath one pant leg and pulled out an athame.

“Where did you get that?” Piper asked. “You never recovered yours when you used it against Zile.”

“I always carry a spare,” said Jerrod. “You never know when you may need it.”

He held out his hand and drew the dagger across his palm. Almost immediately his hand began to bleed from the cut on the palm.

“As I’m sure you’re aware,” said Jerrod, “warlocks don’t bleed.”

“It could be a trick,” said Cole. “You are a Mystic Warlock. By your own admission your abilities include creating illusions. How do we know this isn’t just some kind of illusion you’re producing?”

Jerrod held his hand out to Leo.

“Heal me. We all know that White Lighters can’t heal evil. And you’ll know if it’s an illusion or not. Even if I were to create the illusion that you’re healing me you’ll know the difference.”

Leo looked at Jerrod and then at Piper. After a moment he held his hand over Jerrod’s’ bleeding palm. His healing ability covered the cut and within moments Jerrod’s hand was completely healed.

“It wasn’t an illusion,” said Leo. “It was a real cut and I healed it. If he were still a warlock I couldn’t have done it just as he said.”

“Wait a minute,” said Darryl. “They can do that? They can just change from good to evil like that?”

“Not normally,” said Cole, “but it is possible. With enough motivation any creature can change. It just usually takes a great deal of motivation to change someone from evil to good. I should know. It took me over a hundred years before I found the motivation to change. Still, it’s not what I would call a common occurrence.”

“But it would appear it’s happened here,” said Paige.

“It’s not the first time,” said Phoebe, looking at Piper. “Remember Brendan Rowe? He became a priest to keep from being a warlock.”

“Okay,” said Piper, “let’s say for the sake of argument that I buy that you’ve changed. That doesn’t change my mind about stripping our powers. The Power of Three is the only thing that appears to be able to stop Abby. If we strip it away we’ll loose our only weapon against her.”

“And while we stand here arguing about it she continues to grow stronger,” said Jerrod. “If anyone has any better ideas I’ll be glad to listen to them. But if we don’t stop her soon she’ll be too powerful for us to do anything about. And then it won’t matter whether you have the Power of Three or not. She’ll destroy you and you won’t be able to protect yourselves.”

“And how do they protect themselves without the Power of Three?” Leo asked.

“Phoebe and I protect them until we find a way to restore their powers to them,” said Jerrod. “Look we don’t have a lot of time here. You come up with something else and I’ll listen. But you’d better come up with something quick. Abigail’s power is growing as we speak and if we don’t stop her now we may never be able to.”

Piper and Paige just stared at Jerrod.

“I might have a compromise,” said Cole.

[NoAzMale]

SIXTEEN

“He’s been gone a long time,” said Paige.

“Well, he can’t orb up there any more,” said Jerrod. “It might take a while to find what he’s looking for. At least he can still orb around down here. Otherwise it might be near impossible to find it.”

“He’s not happy with my suggestion,” said Cole. “You think he’ll make a real effort to find it?”

“Yeah, I’m sure,” said Piper. “He doesn’t always agree with our decisions but he supports us even when he thinks we’re wrong. He’ll do his best to find what he went after.”

“Besides,” said Phoebe, “he really doesn’t have any choice. He’s our White Lighter and it’s his job to help us if he can. And if he doesn’t find it Piper and Paige might have to strip their powers. This is definitely the lesser of two evils.”

“I’m still not comfortable with that idea,” said Cole.

“Just relax,” said Piper. “Leo will find it. Now, when he gets back with it do we have the spell ready?”

“Yeah,” said Phoebe, holding up a piece of paper. “We couldn’t use the spell in the Book of Shadows because it would have stripped all of our powers. So I sort of modified it for the occasion.”

“Is that wise?” Jerrod asked. “If it’s not worded just right you might inadvertently cast that spell instead.”

“I’m sure it will work,” said Phoebe. “I have done this a time or two, you know.”

“Okay, explain to me again just how this is supposed to help,” said Darryl.

“It’s really quite simple,” said Cole. “Leo’s going to get a special box. It’s made from a very rare material that is immune to magic. It was brought here from another dimension centuries ago. Now, once Leo brings it here, the girls will cast a spell that will draw their magic out of Piper and Paige. They’ll then put the magic in the box where it will be kept safe and sound until we put an end to Abby after which they can take the magic out of the box and get their powers back.”

“What was this material brought here for?” Paige asked.

“It was used to make another box just like the type Leo went after,” said Cole, glancing uneasily at Jerrod. “The witch that brought the material back didn’t know how much would be needed so she made sure they brought back plenty of it. As it turned out she brought back more than enough. Once the box that was needed was made the rest of the material was used to create three more boxes nearly identical to the first one. To my knowledge the other three have never been used. They’ve been held in reserve, as it were, for special occasions.”

“Just what was the original box used for?” Piper asked. “It must have been something pretty powerful.”

“You have no idea,” said Jerrod. “As Cole said, it was centuries ago. And suffice it to say that if it weren’t for that box none of us would be sitting here now.”

“So what was this powerful magic?” Phoebe asked.

“That’s not important,” said Cole nervously. “It’s locked away forever now, thank goodness. It’s not something you’ll ever have to worry about. The box is locked in a nether region outside of time and space and neither good nor evil would dare release it. The results would be. . . . disastrous to say the least.”

“So if we never have to worry about it why not just tell us what it is?” Piper asked.

“Extraneous information,” said Cole. “Right now we have to worry about Abby. And it’s probably best if you aren’t distracted.”

“Cole’s probably right,” said Phoebe. “We can discuss what this great magic is later. Right now I’m worried about Leo. He should have been back by now. How hard is it to find one box?”

“Harder than you might think,” said Jerrod. “According to legend, the boxes were distributed around the world for safekeeping until – and unless – they were ever needed.”

“Distributed where?” Paige asked.

“No one knows for sure,” said Cole. “The legends say that the Elders were tasked with protecting the boxes in case they were ever needed. Only they know for sure where the boxes are located.”

“So that means Leo will know, right?” Phoebe asked.

“Probably not,” said Jerrod. “As I understand it there is a great deal the Elders don’t tell even to their White Lighters. This would be one of those things. But Leo’s been around long enough to know where to look. And who to ask for permission to use the box.”

“Ask permission?” questioned Piper. “What do you mean ask permission?”

“Technically,” said Cole, “only the Elders have the authority to authorize the use of one of the boxes. That way they’ll only be used for the most important situations.”

”Well, I’d call this one of those situations,” said Paige. “I mean if we don’t stop Abby all of reality goes to hell in a hand basket. I’d call that pretty important.”

“We’ll just have to wait and see what happens,” said Jerrod. “Once Leo gets back we’ll know.”

“Well, I’m going to put on some coffee,” said Piper. “It could still be a while before Leo gets back. We might as well be comfortable while we wait.”

“I’ll help,” said Phoebe. “I’m kind of hungry anyway. I think I’ll make myself a sandwich.”

“That sounds like a good idea,” said Paige. “I’ll help you make enough for everyone.”

“Excuse me,” said Darryl, as the girls left the living room. “Nature calls.”

“You don’t want to tell them?” Jerrod asked Cole when they were alone.

“Not right now,” said Cole. “They have enough to worry about for the moment. Like I told Phoebe, there’s no sense in burdening them with extraneous information right now. You know as well as I do that even if they knew about it it couldn’t help them. We have to concentrate on Abby right now.”

“I suppose you’re right,” said Jerrod. “The Hollow has been locked away for more than three millennia. Too bad we can’t use it. It would solve all of our problems.”

“And create a whole slew of others we don’t need. Trust me it’s best if we just don’t say anything about it for now.”

“Okay. I’ll defer to your judgment. You do know them better than I do.”

Suddenly Leo orbed into the living room. He looked around seeing only Cole and Jerrod in the room.

“Where are the girls?”

“They’re in the kitchen getting something to eat,” said Cole. “Were you able to find one?”

Leo held up a small rectangular box. As he did the girls and Darryl came back into the room.

“You got one,” said Piper, kissing her husband. “You were gone a long time. You must have run into some problems.”

“You have no idea,” said Leo. “But suffice it to say that I was able to convince the guardian of the box to let me borrow it until this is all over. But I have to return it as soon as we’ve stopped Abby.”

“And if we can’t stop her?” Paige asked.

“Well let’s just say that in that event returning it won’t be a high priority. On anyone’s list.”

“What do we do now?” Phoebe asked.

“You use the spell you wrote,” said Jerrod. “If I understand it correctly, the box will instantly draw in the magic once it’s been removed from Piper and Paige. It will be protected until we stop Abigail and then it will be a simple matter to restore their powers.”

“Are you sure this is going to work?” Piper asked, looking at the box. “You said yourself that as long as the Power of Three exists Abby will continue to gain power. Won’t it still exist even if it’s been removed from us?”

“Technically, yes,” said Jerrod. “But the material this box is made from is immune to magic. It comes from a dimension where magic doesn’t exist. No form of magic, no matter how powerful, can penetrate the box. So even though the magic inside still exists Abigail won’t be able to draw on it. She’ll effectively be cut off from it as if you powers had been stripped from you.”

“Which means we won’t have access to it either,” said Paige.

“That’s true,” said Jerrod. “But between Phoebe and me we should be able to stop her. Remember, our powers have been increased as well. Alone neither of us is a match for her. But together we should be able to stop her. Together our power is greater than even hers. And since we’re linked because of the slippers we should be able to use our powers together just as the three of you use the Power of Three.”

“If everyone is cut off from the Power of Three,” asked Paige, “won’t that mean that the power increase should be negated? It is the source of the power increase after all.”

“Yes, but it’s like increasing the memory in your computer,” said Jerrod. “Once you’ve upgraded the memory it stays upgraded. That’s essentially what’s happening here. The Power of Three is increasing our power. Cutting off that power won’t affect the increase we’ve all ready received. It will just prevent it from increasing any further.”

“Let’s get this over,” said Piper. “It’s gone on long enough. I want to put an end to Abby as soon as possible.”

“Okay,” said Jerrod. “First, you cast the spell. That should draw the magic out of Piper and Paige. More than likely it will rise above you and hover for a few seconds before it dissipates. Before it can dissipate Leo will open the box. The magic will be drawn into the box and Leo closes the box trapping it inside. If the legends are true.”

“They are,” said Leo. “That’s pretty much what happened the last time one of these boxes were used.”

“Yeah, we covered that all ready,” said Cole. “Once we’ve trapped their power inside the box we’ll need to find Abby.”

“That won’t be hard,” said Jerrod. “Phoebe and I should be able to home in on her power level. Then we can go finish this.”

“Okay,” said Piper. “Phoebe where’s the spell?”

Phoebe pulled out the piece of paper she had written the spell on.

“I made it a Power of Three spell,” she said. “I figured it would be the only thing powerful enough to remove Piper and Paige’s powers.”

They looked the spell over for a moment and then the three sisters intoned the spell together.

They all watched as Piper and Paige began to glow. For a few seconds nothing happened. Then slowly the glows separated from them and rose above their heads. The magic combined into a single entity. Leo opened the lid to the box and almost instantly the magic was drawn into it. Leo then closed the lid to the box and the magic was trapped inside.

“That’s it,” said Jerrod. “Abby shouldn’t be able to draw on the Power of Three any more. All we have to do now if find her and stop her.”

“Let me save you the trouble,” said Abby suddenly appearing in the entryway to the manor. “You’re a fool, Jerrod. As are the rest of you. Oh, we’re going to put an end to this, all right. You’ll pay for killing Zile. And it won’t be a quick or painless death, either, I can assure you of that.”

[NoAzMale]

SEVENTEEN

Everyone was on their feet in an instant. They faced off against Abby as she stood in the entryway smiling at them.

“It’s over,” said Piper. “We’ve cut off your power. Whatever you have planned is over. Just give us the slippers and we won’t have to kill you.”

“You think you have the upper hand?” Abby asked. “You are all such fools. You think you have it all figured out don’t you? You’re not even close. Oh, I do get additional power from the Power of Three. And locking it away in that box won’t do you any good. My power will continue to grow no matter what you do. Unfortunately you won’t be around to see it.”

She held out her hand and a blast of energy shot out and struck Leo. He was knocked back and the box he was holding fell to the floor. The box fell open and the magic inside suddenly rose in the air. Abby stretched out her hand again and the magic moved to her and enveloped her. Within seconds she had absorbed all of Piper and Paige’s magic.

“You really didn’t think that simple box would stop me did you?” she asked. “I’ve spent a long time planning my revenge. I knew it was only a matter of time before you figured out the connection between the slippers and the Power of Three. And I knew if I waited long enough you’d strip that from you to stop me. Now I have two-thirds of that power. When I’m finished here I’ll have it all.”

Phoebe raised her hands and tapped into her telekinetic power. The power simply passed around Abby harmlessly.

“You never learn,” said Abby, turning to Phoebe. “Magic can’t hurt itself. Your strength comes from the Power of Three which I now control. My power, on the other hand, is a different matter.”

Abby raised her hand and an energy ball flew at Phoebe. It barely missed her as she dived to the side to avoid it. At the same instant Cole jumped for Abby. But just as before the magical barrier surrounding her protected her. Cole slammed against the barrier and was knocked back. Abby turned on Piper and Paige. She formed another energy ball and smiled.

“Now to put an end to this,” she said. “Once the two of you are dead there will be no way to reconstitute the Power of Three. Then I can finish the rest of you and get on with my plans.”

“Not today,” said Jerrod.

He created an energy ball and cast it at Abby. Just as with Phoebe’s telekinetic power it impacted the shield around her and dissipated harmlessly away. Abby turned on Jerrod.

“It looks like I’ll have to take care of you first,” she said, forming an energy ball. “The others are no matches for me. But you and the middle sister seem intent on stopping me. I find it very annoying. Too annoying to deal with.”

She cast the energy ball and Jerrod was knocked back against the wall of the living room. He slumped to the floor. None of them could tell if he was simply unconscious or dead.

“One down one to go,” said Abby turning on Phoebe who was just now gaining her feet.

Suddenly a shot rang out. Abby grabbed her arm and screamed in pain. She turned to see Darryl holding a smoking gun pointed at her.

“Don’t move,” said Darryl.

“This isn’t possible,” said Abby in disbelief. “You’re a mortal. You have no power over me.”

“A mortal with the gun,” said Darryl. “You so much as twitch and the next one won’t be to wound you.”

Abby howled in anger and then simply vanished from the manor before anyone could move. Piper and Paige moved over to see if Phoebe was okay while Cole went to check Jerrod. Leo bent down and picked up the now empty box that had contained Piper and Paige’s powers.

“This is just great,” said Piper, seeing that Phoebe was unhurt. She moved over as Cole helped Jerrod to his feet. “You said that if we stripped our powers you’d be able to stop her. Now, not only is she not stopped she has our powers to boot. And without the Power of Three we have no way to stop her.”

“I don’t understand it,” said Jerrod. “It should have worked. I don’t understand how she could have that much power once you stripped your powers. It should have affected her just as I said.”

“Well it didn’t,” said Piper. “Now we’re even more screwed than we were before. Abby is stronger than ever and we’ve lost our only chance of stopping her.”

“That may not be entirely true,” said Jerrod, looking at Darryl. “Abby was right. He’s just a mortal. He should have been less effective against her than you are even without your powers.”

“I did have this gun,” said Darryl, holstering his pistol. “Good think I carry a backup weapon. I should have killed her. But I figured if I just winged her maybe she wouldn’t offer any resistance. I guess I was wrong.”

“That’s just it,” said Jerrod. “With her power you shouldn’t have been able to hurt her at all. You saw what happened when Phoebe and I used our powers against her. They passed around her like they weren’t even there.”

“A pistol is a different matter,” said Darryl. “Obviously she couldn’t protect against that.”

“No, Jerrod is right,” said Cole. “With her power that pistol shouldn’t have had any affect on her. The bullet should have bounded off that shield just as your powers did. The question is why didn’t it?”

“Wait a minute,” said Paige. “Are you saying that even though we can’t fight Abby Darryl can? That’s just crazy. Darryl is an innocent. He doesn’t have any powers. How can he fight against someone with Abby’s powers?”

“That’s a good question,” said Leo. “There must be something about Darryl that insulates him from the changes somehow.”

“That doesn’t make sense,” said Cole. “Unless someone cast a spell on him he shouldn’t be insulated. And even if someone did cast a spell, the combination of the real magic with the fantasy magic should have overcome that spell.”

“Unless it’s the prophecy,” said Jerrod.

“You mentioned this prophecy before,” said Piper. “Just what is this prophecy anyway?”

“As I said,” said Jerrod, “there’s an ancient prophecy. It tells of a great power that will combine real and fantasy and become an unstoppable force. No one knows exactly what the prophecy means but it’s always been interpreted to mean the Grand Mystic.”

“Why do you think Darryl might be involved with this prophecy?” Phoebe asked.

“The prophecy goes something like this,” said Jerrod. “’In the time of the great battle a power will rise. It will be a terrible power that will blend that which is tangible and that which is intangible. The three in one will strive to vanquish the evil but the power will prove relentless And they shall be overcome by the joining. And their power will be added.’”

“That certainly sounds like our situation right now,” said Leo.

“What about this great battle?” Paige asked. “What great battle?”

“The battle between good and evil,” said Jerrod. “In the past there have always been battles between the two. But since the three of you have come on the scene those battles have become more intense. Every demon wants to put a stop to you. They all realize how powerful you will eventually become and they want to stop you before that happens.”

“Okay, that much we understand,” said Piper. “And that part about us being overcome by the joining. Like Leo said, it certainly describes what’s happened with Abby. She’s beaten us at every turn.”

“What does any of this have to do with Darryl?” Paige asked.

“That’s not the entire prophecy,” said Jerrod. “As I told you earlier, we’ve always thought the prophecy was in reference to the Grand Mystic. No one has the power he does so it was always believed he’d be the one to be able to combine real and fantasy magic – the tangible with the intangible.”

“And the three in one,” said Cole. “That would describe the girls perfectly. Three witches able to combine their magic into the Power of Three – the one.”

“Exactly,” said Jerrod. “When the three of you came on the scene the Grand Mystic believed you were the fulfillment of that prophecy. The three in one whose power will be added to his. But obviously that’s not what the prophecy means. It was in reference to Abigail. She’s the great power that’s been able to join the tangible with the intangible.”

“That doesn’t explain how Darryl fits into all this,” said Piper.

“The rest of the prophecy goes like this,” said Jerrod. “’No force shall survive the power of the joining. Save for the boundary where the intangible meets the tangible. Against this the evil will have no power.’”

“That doesn’t make sense,” said Paige.

“I think it does,” said Jerrod. “Everyone has always thought that the boundary where the intangible meets the tangible is a place. But what if it isn’t? What if it’s not a place but a person?”

“How is that even possible?” Phoebe asked.

“Have you ever used your magic on him?” Jerrod asked.

“Once or twice,” said Piper. “As long as we’ve known each other it’s hard not to occasionally.”

“And I usually regret it every time they do,” said Darryl.

“Whenever you use your magic,” said Jerrod, “there’s always a residual affect left behind. Usually it’s not enough to even be noticeable. It would probably not even interact with magic that’s used on him later. And I used my magic on him when I first transported everyone into that movie. That would also have left an almost imperceptible residue in him.”

“So you’re saying that the two residual affects would have combined in him to make him immune to Abby’s power?” Piper asked. “Surely it’s not the first time a mortal has had real and fantasy magic used on them. Why would it affect him that way?”

“Sure other mortals have had both magic used on them,” said Jerrod. “But not the Power of Three. And not enhanced by the magic of the slippers which is arguably one of the most powerful magicks in the fantasy realm. That would have enhanced the magic in him. And just like with Abigail, Phoebe, and me, that power would grow stronger with each passing minute.”

“Which means that Abby has no power over Darryl,” said Leo.

“Exactly,” said Jerrod. “That’s why he was able to shoot her with his pistol. The magic surrounding him would have surrounded the pistol as well. When he shot her not even her shield could protect her from it.”

“Which means we have a way to fight her,” said Cole. “You saw how she reacted when Darryl shot her. She was dumfounded. And she ran from him. Which means she frightened of him.”

“But if we figured it out won’t she?” Phoebe asked. “And when she does she’s bound to figure out someway to protect herself from him.”

“She might figure it out,” said Jerrod, “but there’s no way she can protect against it. There is no protection against him. The only thing she can do is try to kill him and put an end to his threat.”

“Which means we have to stop her before that happens,” said Leo. “Darryl is an innocent. We can’t put him in harms way even to defeat Abby.”

“It seems to me I’m all ready in harms way,” said Darryl. “As much as I may hate to admit it, it seems like I’m the only chance we have of stopping her.”

“He’s right,” said Jerrod. “If we hope to stop Abigail our only chance is with him. Now all we have to do is figure out how to best use our advantage before Abigail strikes again. And she will strike again. If for no other reason than to stop your policeman friend from posing a threat to her.”

“I do have a name,” said Darryl, annoyance in his voice.

“Of course, forgive me,” said Jerrod. “I guess I’ll have to learn some manners now that I’m good. It’s not something I have a whole lot of experience with. Manners are usually considered a form of weakness among evil creatures. They only understand power.”

“Well, once this is over we’ll help with that,” said Phoebe. “Now, what are we going to do about Abby?”

[NoAzMale]

EIGHTEEN

Abigail used her magic to heal the wound Darryl had given her. She cursed herself for being taken by surprise. But then, how could she have known that a mere mortal could harm her? It was inconceivable. Even as a Mystic she was more powerful than mortals. None should have even been able to challenge her. And with her increased power from the joining not even the most powerful of magical beings should have been able to harm her.

So how was it that a mere mortal could have inflicted such a grievous injury on her? He was a policeman so she was sure he hadn’t missed his target. Especially at the short distance between her. He had meant only to wound her not kill her. But that should not have been possible. Her shield should have protected her.

The prophecy. That had to be it. The boundary mentioned in the prophecy. It wasn’t a place as everyone had always thought. It was a person. More specifically, it was that policeman friend of the Charmed Ones. Everyone had been wrong about who the prophecy had foretold. They had all thought it meant the Grand Mystic. That had been proven wrong when she had successfully combined the fantasy magic with the real magic.

So if that part had been misinterpreted, obviously so had the boundary. The boundary where the intangible meets the tangible. Where real magic and fantasy magic coexisted. It was the only thing that would be immune to her power. Immune because, since it comprised both fantasy and real magic, the change would be nothing new to it. Or rather, to him. But how was it possible that a mere mortal could be that boundary?

He was a friend of the Charmed Ones. That had to be it. In their long association it was almost assured that they had used their magic on him at one time or another. And when they had been trapped in the movie he would have been subjected to fantasy magic as well. The combining of those two magicks had to be the answer.

Which meant that he was a threat to her. The White Lighter was no threat to her. He had no offensive powers. As of now, Piper, Paige, and the demon were nothing but mortals. They had no powers at all. Phoebe and Jerrod might prove a problem. They could conceivably be a problem with their increased powers. But she was confident she could handle them.

The policeman was the problem. If he was the boundary mentioned in the prophecy her magic would be useless against him. As she had told them, magic can’t hurt itself. No matter what she did no magic she used would hurt him. So she would have to take care of him in a more conventional manner. Since he was human just about any method would be sufficient.

That shouldn’t be too difficult. Enough reality still existed that it would be simple for her to get what she needed. She closed her eyes and concentrated for several seconds. Suddenly a pistol simply appeared in her hand. She checked it to make sure it was loaded. She had never used one of these before but they didn’t appear to be too difficult. Just point and pull the trigger.

Now it was a simple matter to finish them all off. She knew she wouldn’t have to wait long. They would have figured out what was going on by now. And with renewed confidence in their new “secret weapon” they wouldn’t hesitate to come after her to stop her. All she had to do was sit and wait for them to show up.

* * *

“She’s bound to be ready for us when we get there,” said Paige. “You said yourself she’ll probably figure out the prophecy just as we did. I’m willing to bet she’ll have some kind of contingency plan to deal with Darryl since her magic won’t work on him.”

“I’m counting on it,” said Jerrod. “If magic won’t deal with her problems she’ll have to come up with something else. That’s why we should be able to take her by surprise. She’s not really very imaginative. If she were her plan to replace Prue would have worked better. She’ll be expecting us to try some kind of subterfuge. So we’re just going to give her what she wants.”

“I don’t know about this,” said Darryl. “What if something goes wrong? What if she figures out what we’re up to?”

“She won’t,” said Piper. “I have to admit it’s a pretty good plan. She shouldn’t know what’s going on until it’s too late.”

“You’re sure she’ll go after Darryl first?” Phoebe asked. “If he doesn’t one of us could get killed.”

“She won’t have any choice,” said Jerrod. “Darryl is the main threat to her. Her magic doesn’t work against him. As long as he’s around he can oppose her. And trust me. The one thing evil doesn’t want is someone who can oppose them.”

“He’s right,” said Cole.

“Is everyone sure on what they’re supposed to do?” Jerrod asked.

“I’m still not comfortable using a plan you came up with,” said Piper. “Despite what Phoebe and Leo say I’m not convinced you aren’t still a warlock with some ulterior motive. And your last plan was so helpful.”

“Piper, he’s done nothing but help us,” protested Phoebe.

“No, it’s okay,” said Jerrod. “I understand her concern. And I can understand her reservations. Trust isn’t something you can give or take. It has to be earned. I can only hope that by my helping you I can earn that trust. I know my idea for stripping your powers didn’t work out and I’m sorry for that. But you wait and see. This one is going to work.”

“We’ll see,” said Piper. “But don’t think I’m about to give you free reign just because you’ve been helping us. You double cross us and powers or no powers I’ll find a way to vanquish you.”

“Fair enough,” said Jerrod. “And I hope you’ll soon realize that my only motivation is helping you and stopping Abigail. Now, I think we’d better get ready. Abigail is going to be expecting us to attack soon. And I don’t think it’s a good idea to keep her waiting.”

* * *

Abigail sat in her throne-chair waiting. It wouldn’t be long before they came for her. And she was ready. First she’d deal with the policeman. She didn’t much care for policemen anyway. They represented law and order and everything that was good. The very antithesis of what she believed in.

When he was out of the way she’d finish the others. She’d kill Phoebe first. That would forever prevent the Power of Three from being reconstituted no matter how remote that possibility was. Then she’d finish Jerrod. He was as much a threat to her as the Power of Three. As a Mystic he might possibly be able to tap into her newfound power. She couldn’t have that.

Then she’d finish the others. Piper, Paige, and the demon wouldn’t be a problem. She could kill them as easily as any other human. The White Lighter would be more of a problem. Only the poison from a Dark Lighter could finish him. Once the others were finished it should be easy for her to find a Dark Lighter who’d be glad to take care of him.

“Sitting in the dark isn’t a good thing even for you, Abigail.”

Abby watched as Piper, Phoebe, Paige, Cole, and Leo came walking out of the darkness beyond. She glanced around noticing that Jerrod and Darryl were conspicuously absent.

“Where are the others?” Abby asked. “Surely you haven’t come here alone to oppose me.”

“We thought we might try to talk some sense into you,” said Piper. “You have to see that what you’re doing can’t possibly succeed. Even if you are successful in defeating us you can’t keep all these changes going forever. Not even the Power of Three is strong enough to sustain them indefinitely. Eventually you’re going to start loosing control of it. And from what Jerrod tells us when that happens the power is going to backfire on you and destroy you.”

“I don’t have to keep it going forever,” said Abby. “Only until I have my revenge. And once that’s complete everything can revert back to normal. I’ll have enough power by then that no one – not the Grand Mystic, not even the Source of All Evil – will be able to stand against me. Speaking of Jerrod, where is he? I expected him to be with you. As well as your policeman friend.”

“They’re at the manor,” said Phoebe. “Sort of a backup plan, so to speak. If we can’t stop you they’ll be our second line of defense.”

“How very thoughtful of you,” said Abby. “A contingency plan. I’m afraid it will do you no good, however. I know about you policeman friend. I figured it out just as I’m sure you have. The boundary. But he’s at a distinct disadvantage. While my magic may not work against him he has no powers with which to defend himself. I’ll be able to deal with him quite easily.”

“There’s no reason for that,” said Piper. “He’s an innocent. He’s no threat to you. He doesn’t even like being involved with magic. If you leave him alone he’ll leave you alone. He has a wife and family to worry about.”

“I’m afraid that’s not a consideration,” said Abby. “As long as he’s alive he is a threat to me. Very much a threat. As for leaving me alone your little ploy won’t work. We both know he’s just as anxious to have me out of the way as you are.”

Suddenly Abby spun facing the opposite direction. Standing several feet behind her were Leo and Darryl. They had been making their way toward her as the others had been keeping Abby occupied. As she spun to face them they stopped abruptly.

“Did you really think you could sneak up on me?” Abby demanded. “I could tell the instant you orbed in. It really was quite ingenious. Having the others keep me occupied while you attempted to creep up on me from behind. I suppose you thought you were being quite clever.”

“Something like that,” said Darryl. “They say I’m the only one who can stop you. Since I don’t have any powers we thought it was best not to give you a chance.”

“Which has failed miserably,” said Abby. “Quite the dilemma you have here. The only ones with powers can’t possibly hurt me. And the only one who can stand against my power has no powers with which to defend himself. I suppose you planned to shoot me as you did back in the manor.”

“I was hoping it wouldn’t come to that,” said Darryl. “That you’d listen to reason and stop all this foolishness.”

“Not likely,” said Abby. “I’ve planned this for a long time. And no one is going to stop me. Least of all some pathetic human with no powers. You may be immune to my powers. But there are many other things you are quite vulnerable to.”

Suddenly Abby pulled the pistol she was concealing in her dress. She pointed it at Darryl and fired three shots. The bullets struck Darryl in the chest and he collapsed to the floor unmoving. Abby just looked at Leo.

“Don’t interfere, White Lighter,” she said. “I may not be able to kill you yet but I can cause you a great deal of pain. And my magic would protect me from you in any case.”

She turned back toward the others.

“Now, it’s time this ended. With the policeman out of the way no one can stand against me.”

[NoAzMale]

NINETEEN

Abby dropped the pistol on the floor at her feet.

“This would be too easy,” she said. “Too quick. Besides, I want to savor killing you myself. With my new power. Of course you could try to get the gun. One of you might actually be lucky enough to get it before I kill all of you. But then it really wouldn’t do you any good. My shield protects me from all physical harm. Nothing can touch me as long as I have it in place. Good-bye now. I wish I could say it’s been a pleasure. But it hasn’t been.”

Abby raised her hands and two energy balls formed. She smiled an evil smile as she prepared to cast the weapons. None of the other could do anything but stand and watch her.

Suddenly Leo leapt at Abby tackling her and dragging her to the floor with him. The two energy balls she had formed evaporated as the two tumbled to the floor. They rolled for several feet before they rolled apart. Leo seemed to be cradling his stomach as if injured. Abby rose on her knees and formed another energy ball.

“That was quite foolish,” she snarled at Leo. “I may not be able to destroy you permanently but believe me I can make your life a living hell.”

Before any of them could move she cast the energy ball at Leo. The weapon struck Leo and the magic from it enveloped him. Then suddenly the magic from the energy ball simply evaporated causing no harm to Leo.

“That’s not possible,” Abby gasped. “You should have been vaporized by that energy ball.”

“Magic can’t hurt itself, remember?” said Leo.

Suddenly Leo shimmered slightly and changed form. Darryl lay on the floor where Leo had been only moments before. At the same time the Darryl that Abby had shot with the pistol walked over and glamoured into Leo.

“Sorry for the deception, sweetie,” said Piper. “But we figured you’d try to take out Darryl first. So it was a simple matter to have them ‘switch places’, so to speak. We knew that no matter what you did to Leo you couldn’t hurt him. And with Darryl looking like Leo we knew you wouldn’t consider him a threat. I’m actually surprised the illusion Jerrod used to change Darryl into Leo worked against you.”

“It’s like I told you,” said Jerrod. “With my increased power my illusions are even more effective. Plus thinking Darryl was dead she wouldn’t have been concerned with him so she probably wouldn’t bother to use her power to pierce the illusion. Which she could have done easily. You can be so predictable Abigail.”

“It will do you no good,” said Abby, rising to her feet. “I still have the power to destroy all of you. Nothing will stand in the way of my revenge against you and the Grand Mystic.”

“Except maybe these,” said Darryl, holding up the ruby slippers. “They kept saying these things made you this all-powerful bitch. So I figure without them you aren’t any more powerful than you’re supposed to be.”

“No!!” screamed Abby. “It can’t be. The slippers can’t be forcibly taken. It’s not possible for you to have them.”

“It’s perfectly possible,” said Jerrod. “Remember the prophecy? ‘Save for the boundary where the intangible meets the tangible. Against this the evil will have no power.’ He’s the boundary. That means the slippers don’t see him as foreign. They accept him as part of the magic. And that means he’s not forcing them from you.”

“Well, it seems the shoe is on the other foot, pun intended,” said Paige. “Now let’s see how well you do without your increased power.”

“I still have two-thirds of the Power of Three,” said Abby. “That is more than enough to destroy you.”

She formed another energy ball and cast it directly at the three sisters. Before any of them could move Cole grabbed Phoebe and Paige and pulled them to one side. Piper wasn’t fast enough and the energy ball struck her a glancing blow, sending her reeling.

Jerrod cast his own energy ball striking Abby as Leo rushed to help Piper. Darryl backed away holding the slippers since he knew without any powers he would be of little use in the battle. But he could keep the slippers away from Abby.

Abby was knocked back by the energy ball Jerrod had cast but it did little to harm her. She started to form another energy ball when suddenly she froze in place. The freeze lasted only a moment as she broke through it easily. Again Phoebe tried to freeze Abby but this time it had no affect. Abby turned toward Phoebe.

“I don’t need to physically possess the slippers to utilize their power,” said Abby. “I grow stronger by the minute. Nothing you can do can harm me. And in a few moments I’ll be so powerful I’ll be able to destroy all of you. It’s only a matter of moments now.”

Leo helped Piper to her feet and she seemed groggy but essentially unharmed. They moved over and stood next to Phoebe, Paige, and Cole. Abby smiled at them and formed another energy ball. She was getting stronger and they all realized it. Suddenly Cole looked at Darryl.

“The slippers,” he said. “That’s the answer. The way to stop her.”

“Darryl,” said Phoebe. “Throw the slippers.”

“What?” Darryl questioned.

“Just throw them,” said Phoebe. “Now.”

Confused Darryl tossed the slippers into the air. Abby howled as she cast the energy ball. In the same instance Phoebe brought her hands up and tapped into her explosive power. The magic from the attack struck the slippers and they exploded into a thousand shards. At the same instance the energy ball Abby had cast suddenly vanished in mid-air. Abby began to scream as some form of magical energy enveloped her. In seconds the magic flashed and Abby was vanquished in a conflagration.

“It’s over,” said Jerrod. “Destroying the slippers destroyed her. She couldn’t withstand all the magic she had gained from using the slippers. No one could. It consumed her when it had no place to go.”

“I don’t understand,” said Piper. “You all kept saying that magic couldn’t hurt itself. How was Phoebe able to destroy the slippers? Weren’t they part of the magic Phoebe was controlling?”

“She didn’t destroy the magic,” said Cole. “Only the slippers. The physical manifestation of that magic. The magic still exists. It’s like when Piper destroyed the athame that killed Zile. Phoebe couldn’t affect the magic of the slippers but she could affect the slippers themselves.”

“And just how did you know that?” Piper asked, turning to Cole.

“It was the only answer,” said Cole. “The slippers were what started all this. It just stood to reason they were the way to end it all. And the only way to do that was to destroy them.”

“So if I was connected to these slippers,” asked Darryl, “why wasn’t I destroyed when she was?”

“Because you’re human,” said Jerrod. “You were connected to the joined magic but you weren’t a part of it. Or relying on it as Abigail was. She was so convinced she was invincible with that magic she began to rely on it more and more. In the end she was relying on it almost totally. Destroying the slippers stripped her of that magic. Only it had nowhere to go with the slippers gone and it backed up inside her. Instant overload.”

“So how did Phoebe know all this?” Paige asked. “I understand how Cole could know. He’s over a hundred years old and an upper level demon.”

“Former demon,” corrected Cole.

“Former demon,” Paige repeated. “But none of us knew any of this. How could Phoebe have known.”

“I don’t know,” said Phoebe. “I just did.”

“The psychic link,” said Jerrod. “It allowed me to communicate it to her telepathically. I couldn’t say anything out loud. It would have warned Abigail. And she might have found a way to protect herself. I had to rely on your fast thinking.”

“About that psychic link,” Phoebe started.

“I’ve all ready severed it,” said Jerrod. “Once Abigail was vanquished there was no need to keep it in place. But I left it in place this long in case we needed it. Looks like it was a good thing I did.”

“Well,” said Piper, looking at the shards of ruby scattered all over the floor, “I guess it’s finally over. With Abby vanquished there’s nothing to keep this fantasy hell of hers going. So everything should be back to normal.”

“Except they aren’t,” said Leo looking around. “This is city hall. But it still looks like that fantasy castle Abby created. If she’s not controlling it it should have reverted to normal but it hasn’t.”

“It probably will in a short time,” said Jerrod. “It will just take a few minutes for reality to assert itself.”

“Uh, guys, is that supposed to be happening?” Paige asked.

They all watched as the shards of ruby scattered across the floor suddenly rose into the air. They reformed into the slippers and hovered in mid-air and began to glow. Suddenly a disembodied voice boomed throughout the entire hall.

“All is as it should be. There is nothing to assert itself.”