Without further ado...
Screams echoed through the night time on Prescott Street. The shrieks that originated from the old Victorian manor house were undeniable, even in the chilling storm that raged that night. It was 1975 and Patty Halliwell writhed on top of her bed as her third daughter began to crown. Her husband Victor kneeled at her bedside, having his hand squeezed whenever Patty screamed. Although they were separated, he had to be there for his baby’s birth.
Patty’s mother Penny wiped her brow and neck with a cool damp cloth. The power had gone out, typically, right before Patty’s water broke; so the room was lit only by the soft orange glow of candle light and the odd flash of lightning from outside.
“Oh!” Patty winced. “Why isn’t this any easier the third time round?”
Victor rubbed her shoulders. “Hang in there sweetheart, our daughter will be here soon.” He looked up at Penny, “Right?”
Penny went to check on her daughter’s progress. “Alright, Patty,” she confirmed “It definitely looks like it’s time to push.”
Patty squeezed Victor’s hand with one hand, while squeezing the mattress with the other and gave it her all. Her face contorted into shapes almost impossible to replicate under any other circumstances, as she pushed through the pain. She stopped for a moment to breathe.
“She’s almost here, she’s almost here,” Penny cheered. “One more should do it!”
Victor welled up as his wife gritted her teeth and pushed some more. “You’ll be holding her before you know it”
Patty stopped pushing and gasped as she heard a baby’s cries. She gave a smile that lit up the room more than any electricity could, as her mother rose from the bottom of the bed with a beautiful baby girl in her arms. “She is so beautiful” Patty beamed with tears in her eyes.
“Of course she is, takes after her mother” Penny handed the baby to the mom of three.
Victor tickled the baby’s tiny hand as Patty rocked her in her arms. “I’m sure she’ll be as strong and as wise as her mom as well.”
Patty kissed her husband and looked at her baby’s face. The crying almost instantly gurgled out as the newborn made eye contact with her mom for the first time. Even the thunder that still rumbled didn’t seem to trouble her now. “We’re so happy you’re here. Little Phoebe Halliwell.”
“Do you want anything?” Penny spoke softly.
“A glass of water would be great” Patty replied, a little hoarse.
Penny left the room to see to her daughter’s request.
Just as the sound of Penny walking downstairs faded, three beings in black hooded cloaks appeared in front of Patty, Victor and Phoebe.
“Demons,” Victor seethed; furious that the forces of evil were interrupting such a precious moment. He got up and charged at the figures.
“Victor, no!” Patty cried, as one of the demons casually threw him to the other side of the room with the wave of a hand.
The commotion started Phoebe crying again.
“He wants the baby; that is all.” The middle of the three demons stated emotionlessly. He moved towards the mother and daughter.
“Keep away from my daughter!” Making sure Phoebe had enough support with her right arm underneath her, Patty threw out her left arm, fingers extended; causing the demons to freeze. They started to move again in slow motion, fighting through Patty’s power, but to Patty’s relief, she heard her mother’s rapid footsteps getting closer and closer.
A frenzied Penny entered the room just as the demons broke out of the freeze. They stepped back for a moment, surprised by Penny’s sudden appearance.
“He will have the baby,” the middle demon coldly stated to Penny. “If not tonight, then eventually.”
“You will leave them alone and you will leave my house!” With that, Penny raised her arms and the demons were swept out of the room in a blur. The force of Penny’s telekinetic magic blew through the room like a gust of wind that dissipated as quickly as it emerged.
Victor recovered and picked himself up off the floor. “Thank you Penny.”
Penny nodded, feeling her pounding heartbeat beginning to calm.
Patty rocked Phoebe once again and managed to calm her a little. “Mom, will they come back?”
Penny sighed. “Not tonight dear. Not tonight.”
Present day. Halliwell Manor was deathly still. The house was rendered silent, but the wreckage spoke volumes. The doors were open slightly, the glass panes having shattered against the force of the demon that left such destruction in its wake. Three bodies lay bleeding; two witches and one innocent. Prue and Piper Halliwell were left unconscious next to each other; their lives hanging by the thinnest of threads.
Doctor Griffiths; an accomplished, respected and much loved man, was slumped over a window frame; blood dripping from his ear. It was too late for him. He had been the target of the demonic hit man Shax and so the grey-skinned demon had made sure to deliver a fatal blow to the mortal. The witches were really just collateral damage; but fun had clearly been had with the added destruction.
Down in the dark caves of the Underworld, Phoebe Halliwell and Leo Wyatt waited anxiously for news.
Cole Turner shimmered in before them.
“It’s done,” he announced, fear in his eyes.
Phoebe turned to her whitelighter. “Go now!”
“What about…” Before Leo could finish, five demon guards appeared around them.
A demon blasted Cole with a bolt of electricity directly into his spine that sent him flying across the cave and slamming into a wall.
“Now!” Phoebe insisted. “Don’t let this be for nothing!”
Leo obediently orbed out.
Phoebe turned and assumed a fighting stance ready for battle, only to find that none of the demons were approaching her. They were all surrounding Cole, hitting him with electricity, kicking him and punching him while he was down. Phoebe charged at the group and kicked one of the demon’s feet off the ground. The others turned towards her, revealing a bloody and unconscious Cole.
“Come on, you bastards, you wanna keep me here?” screamed the determined witch. “You can bet I’ll be kicking and screaming!”
The demons didn’t look the least bit concerned. “Oh we don’t doubt that”, one of them smirked.
Phoebe didn’t like this, why weren’t they attacking her? Suddenly it became all too clear. She felt a presence behind her; hot as the fires of hell. The heat subsided as she felt the red claws and the dark robe slither around her body. She gasped for air, unable to scream as the Source of All Evil enveloped her.
She didn’t have time to think; to react.
It was too late.
She belonged to him.
Leo orbed into Halliwell Manor and immediately ran to his wife’s side. Holding his hands over her body, he allowed the golden light of his healing power to run through her. Leo let out a sigh of relief as the blood began to disappear and Piper’s wounds began to fade. However, he knew he had no time to celebrate and began to use his power on his wife’s older sister.
“Come on, Prue.” he begged. “Piper will kill me if something happens to you.” He began blaming himself for not healing Prue first; she was very close to death, so it took longer for his power to take effect. When the blood finally started to clear, he breathed a sigh of relief, knowing that he had gotten there just in the nick of time.
Seeing the two sisters starting to come to, Leo ran straight to Doctor Griffiths. He applied his power to the innocent, but the glow in his hands just flickered uselessly at his lifeless body. “Damn it.” Leo could tell that the doctor had been dead for some time.
He turned even as Prue and Piper arose from the floor.
“What happened?” Piper groaned.
Leo sprinted towards his wife and gave her the tightest hug he could. He failed to hold back the tears in his eyes. “I love you so much”
Piper looked toward Prue confused.
Prue shrugged; just as unaware of recent events as her younger sibling.
“I love you too. It’s alright, I’m okay.” Piper saw Doctor Griffith’s body over his shoulder. “Oh, God!”
Prue ran over to check on their innocent. “Is he…”
“I tried. I’m sorry; he’s gone.” Leo sighed, head bowing slightly at his failure to heal the doctor.
“Son of a bitch!” Prue barked.
Leo looked up, guilt written all over his face.
“No,” Prue assured him. “Not you.”
Piper attempted to reassure her sister. “Prue, we’ll get him, it’ll be okay.”
“It’s not okay Piper,” Prue ranted. “An innocent is dead. Evil has won.”
Piper couldn’t deny her sister had a point. “I guess our track record hasn’t been looking too hot recently.”
Prue rolled her eyes. “Yeah, no kidding. And where the hell is Phoebe? I called her like three times.”
Leo braced himself, “I’ve got some explaining to do. Well to start off, I can honestly say that things could be worse, I know that for a fact.”
Prue raised an unbelieving eyebrow.
Piper looked at him nervously. “We’re listening.”
“Well I’ll fill you in,” he started. “But I think we have a big problem.”
“What?” Prue looked increasingly nervous and impatient. “What’s wrong?”
Leo struggled to look the sisters in the eye. “I’ve been trying to orb back to Phoebe since I tried to heal Griffiths and I can’t. I think that means he already has her.”
Piper held her breath for her next question: “Who’s he?”
In the Underworld, The Source sat proudly on his throne, savouring his victory.
A demon guard approached and bowed before him. “The witch and Belthazor have both been imprisoned, my liege. The dungeon guards await further instructions.”
The Source gave a quiet, deep cackle of satisfaction. “Phoebe Halliwell… the baby of the Warren clan. Oh I have had such plans for you, my child, since the day you were born...”
A bolt of lightning crackled in the darkness behind his throne.
(Opening Credits)
It was a cold night in San Francisco. Most people were asleep, warm in their beds. To most people, the world was normal again. The exposure of magic had been fixed, but a new disaster had hit the Halliwell sisters hard.
Prue sat at an altar in the attic. She rubbed her eyes as she lit a couple of candles. It was the early hours of the morning and she was exhausted; but she knew that she wouldn’t be able to sleep despite this, so she decided to use her time more productively.
Two weeks had passed since she and Piper had survived Shax’s attack. Two weeks had passed since she last saw her baby sister. It wasn’t really so long ago that Phoebe hadn’t been living with them; before the power of the Charmed Ones was reawakened, but now her absence was a black hole in the home.
“Power of the witches rise, course unseen across the skies,” Prue incanted. “Come to us who call you near; come to us and settle here.” She grabbed an athame from the altar and pricked her finger with the point, allowing the blood to drip into a small bowl of herbs. “Blood to blood, I summon thee. Blood to blood, return to me.” She waited expectantly as the candle flames flickered slightly.
Nothing.
A solitary tear ran down Prue’s cheek. She wiped it off her face; she didn’t have time to cry... it was probably just exhaustion anyway.
Piper entered the attic in her nightgown to check what was happening. “Prue? Honey, you’re bleeding.”
Piper grabbed a tissue and held it to her sister’s finger. “It’s three o’ clock in the morning, what are you doing?”
“I can’t sleep Piper. I can’t rest while our sister is with that monster. I don’t understand why magic can’t fix this. It’s like the Book has just deserted her!”
Piper didn’t know what to say; she just continued to dab Prue’s finger.
“We were so careless, Piper.” Prue despaired. “Vanquishing a demon in broad daylight? What were we thinking? She saved us. We screwed up big time and she fixed it. We can’t let her down!”
Piper made an attempt at comforting. “Leo says the Elders are still working on a way to get through the Source’s barriers.”
“Which puts us at the exact same point we were at two weeks ago, Piper. I’m not leaving her fate in anyone else’s hands, I can’t fail her.”
Another tear ran down Prue’s cheek; it wasn’t exhaustion after all.
“We’ll find a way. I miss her too and I can’t even bear to think of what she might be...” Piper stopped herself from finishing; completing that sentence was not going to help matters. “Come on, at least rest your eyes for a few hours. You can’t use this much magic without letting yourself recharge.”
Prue couldn’t argue with her sister about that much. Her powers were no good to anyone if she didn’t have the energy to use them properly. She certainly needed all the energy she could gather to take down The Source. And she would, if it was the last thing she ever did.
But, for the time being, she would rest, on her bed in the dark.
On the way to her bedroom, she saw Kit, their trusted feline, sitting outside Phoebe’s bedroom. Prue could’ve swore she saw sadness in the cat’s eyes; knowing that the youngest sister wasn’t there behind the closed door.
She picked Kit up; “I know, baby. We’ll get her back; don’t worry.”
As she rested on top of her covers with Kit snoozing beside her, Prue prayed that Cole would be with her sister and couldn’t help but laugh at the fact that that was something she actually wanted. Whether Cole could be trusted or not was still very much up for debate, but next to The Source of All Evil, Prue was far more appreciative of the devil she knew.
As her mind wandered frantically, an idea came to her.
Perhaps she was looking at the wrong type of magic…
Phoebe Halliwell slowly opened her eyes. Every day, she’d make a little wish within the moment that she did this. That brief state of consciousness between sleep and awake. She wished that it had all been a nightmare. No such luck. She opened her eyes to her dark prison once again. The only light she had was from a torch secured into the stone wall. There was very little ventilation in the room and the smell was horrendous. She looked down at the dirt floor she had just been asleep on and suddenly became painfully aware of how much her back ached.
The only other thing in the cell was a small bowl of water, placed on the floor as if left for a dog. Despite that, Phoebe was still thirsty; she was given the bare minimum to keep her alive and strictly nothing more. Why they were keeping her alive, she didn’t know.
She wondered if Cole had been given the same treatment, or if he was long since killed. She missed her sisters. She missed her sisters so much that it felt like knives in her soul.
The door to her prison swung open. A guard placed a plate of what Phoebe assumed was intended as food and then locked the door; all of this without making eye contact. Phoebe waited a few moments before deciding it was okay to approach the offering. She looked grimly at the small slop of unidentifiable gruel. There were no utensils with which to eat; after all, that would’ve allowed her to maintain a shred of dignity.
Phoebe decided to leave the food for now; it wasn’t as if she needed to get it while it was hot. She hobbled over to the door, her clothes becoming increasingly dirty and her dark blonde hair a greasy, frizzed mess. She bashed on the steel. “Hello?” she yelled. She bashed on it three more times. “I really need a bathroom!”
She heard footsteps approaching and jolted back as something slammed against the opposite side of the door.
“You’re not going anywhere, witch!” a deep voice taunted. “You know the drill.”
Phoebe could hear the sick satisfaction in his voice. She turned around and looked at her surroundings once again. She held her head in her hands and tried to steady her breathing.
“Keep it together, Phoebe,” she said to herself. She let out a sigh of hopelessness and approached one of the corners of the room.
At least nobody was there to see her.
Darryl Morris knocked on the door of the manor. He was greeted by a rather tired-looking Piper. “Hey Piper, do you have a minute? I could really do with updating you guys on the situation.”
“Oh, um, yeah, of course, Darryl. Come on in.” and Piper stepped aside to allow the inspector inside.
Piper offered him a cup of coffee, but he declined.
“How are you and Prue doing?” he inquired. “Any luck getting Phoebe back?”
Piper sighed. “We’ve been hitting one brick wall after another for a couple of weeks now, but Prue seems to have had some kind of epiphany... though she’s not letting me in on it, which is a little worrying. Prue!” she called upstairs. “Darryl has some info to share!”
“Just be a couple of minutes!”
Piper and Darryl sat at the kitchen table.
“I’m afraid I don’t really have good news” Darryl began.
Piper let out a cynical giggle. “Who does these days?”
“My captain is talking about bringing you in for more questioning” Darryl said softly as if walking on a verbal minefield.
“What else could we have to say?” Piper sipped her coffee to try and stay calm. “We told him that we were knocked out and couldn’t remember anything.”
“Well, that bought us some time,” Darryl explained. “But I think that excuse would have worked a little better if Leo hadn’t healed your head injuries.”
Piper sighed. “But then we would have been dead! For cryin’ out loud.”
“Sorry Piper, I know this is the last thing you guys need to deal with.” At least he still doesn’t have reason to suspect Phoebe played any part in it,” he reassured her. “As far as he knows she’s still visiting friends in New York.”
“Well that’s something at least... and don’t be sorry, Darryl, this sure as hell isn’t your fault.” Piper looked sad, remembering what Leo had told her. ; we probably would’ve been exposed all over again if it wasn’t for your help.”
Darryl gave her a small smile, happy to do his part and be appreciated. “Sounded pretty horrible from what you said Leo described. Things are bad, but at least you guys managed to fix that.”
Piper looked at her coffee cup, a deep shame washing over her. “Apparently I didn’t have anything to do with it; I was dead. She brought me back.” Piper’s eyes began to fill. “I’ve been helping Prue all I can, but I’m really worried about her state of mind... and Phoebe...” and the tears fell.
Darryl reached out and laid a hand on Piper’s.
“I just feel so useless. I wish Leo hadn’t told me what happened, because now I can’t get it out of my mind. I needed saving; I did this; which means if anything happens to Phoebe...” Piper stopped, the tears beginning to hurt her throat.
“Have you said any of this to Prue?”
“No.” Piper shook her head immediately. “I need to keep a brave face for her,” Sher took another sip and looked concerned. “Speaking of which, what is she doing?”
As if on cue, a crash could be heard from upstairs.
Darryl and Piper jumped up from their chairs and ran towards the stairs. Darryl held his hand close to his gun. He hadn’t had much luck the last time he went up against demons with a firearm, but perhaps he could at least distract one long enough for his friends to secure a vanquish. The two rushed towards the attic, but before they could enter they found themselves dodging an energy ball that escaped from the room. Darryl pushed Piper to the floor and the demonic attack blew a hole in the wall.
“What the hell?” Piper grumbled.
Darryl grabbed his gun as they both entered the room.
Piper stopped in disbelief at the scene transpiring before her.
Prue was wrestling on the floor of the attic; seemingly winning at that moment. She was kneeling on top of someone in a fitted business suit, repeatedly punching whoever it was in the face – a face Piper couldn’t make out thanks to Prue’s beating.
“Prue?” Piper wailed.
Momentarily distracted by her sister’s presence, Prue halted her attack and consequently received a sizeable black heal to the face, which sent her hurtling backwards to the other side of the attic.
Piper gasped, but didn’t have time to rush to her sister’s aid as the demon had recovered and was now heading towards her. Piper’s eyes widened as she recognised the suit; it was Klea, one of the few remaining upper-level demons belonging to The Brotherhood of the Thorn.
Darryl took two shots at the stone-faced she-devil, which only served to slow her down, the bullets dropping to the floor and her wounds swiftly fading. Fortunately this was long enough for Prue to gather herself and get back on her feet.
As Klea rapidly recovered, Piper raised her hands, hoping she’d be able to freeze her. Before she got the chance, Prue pulled Klea backwards to the ground with her telekinesis.
“No Piper,” Prue warned. “You might blow her up!”
Piper shrugged confused, “And that would be a bad thing?”
Seizing the opportunity while Klea was on the floor, Prue aimed her power at a box amongst the sisters’ magical supplies. The box opened to reveal four crystals and with a few hand gestures from Prue, they floated from the container and gathered around Klea’s body, resting on the floor. Klea attempted to rise from the floor, but the crystals glowed and sizzled with electrical energy that fired through her body; bringing her to her knees.
The demon seethed with fury.
“Oh,” Darryl mumbled to himself. “I so didn’t need to know this is happening.”
Piper huffed at her sister. “What the hell is this, Prue?”
“I summoned her”, Prue answered nonchalantly, “Adjusted the magic-to-magic spell.”
“Why? What could you possibly want with her?” and Piper gestured to Klea.
“I suggest you vanquish me now,” Klea scowled.
“Shut up!” Prue responded. She led Piper and Darryl outside the attic to talk. “I was thinking last night about how much evil has been winning lately.”
“But Prue, we…”
“Please, Piper, just let me finish,” Prue insisted. “I thought about the innocents we’d lost lately: Davidson, Griffiths, Jana… and then I remembered: The Brotherhood!”
“What about them?”
“They made a blood oath to The Source,” Prue explained to her sister. “He handpicks the members. If anyone knows about his plans now that The Triad is dead, surely it must be them.”
“But even if that’s true,” Darryl pitched in, “didn’t you say that your magic was blocked from wherever Phoebe is?”
“Exactly; our magic,” Prue emphasised with a cunning smile. “Good magic is being shielded against, but he wouldn’t block himself off from his main operatives on earth.”
“And that’s where Ally McBeelzebub comes in?” Darryl wagered.
“Precisely” Prue beamed a little with pride in her plan.
Piper didn’t look impressed. “We’re trusting a demon to get us to Phoebe? This is where we’re at?”
“Oh, trust doesn’t come into it,” Prue insisted. “We have a potion left. She opens the door to the underworld or she dies,” and Prue pulled a vial of violet potion from her pocket.
“Then I shall die for my liege!” Klea announced from the attic, having eavesdropped the whole time.
Piper gestured towards the attic in a ‘there ya go’ manner. “At least run it by Leo first, see if The Elders have made any progress.”
“And you think I’m acting desperate?” Prue scoffed. “Fine, go ahead.”
Piper called for her husband and he instantly orbed in beside her. “Please tell me you have some good news,” she begged.
“They may be onto something,” Leo told them, but then winced as the next part left his lips. “but they need a little more time.”
“Tough” Prue abruptly responded. “They’ve had two damn weeks and we have no idea what Phoebe has been going through in that time; we’re done waiting. We take the fight to them.”
“I may have an idea what your sister has been through,” Klea cooed.
The four of them re-entered the attic and looked down at the demon.
“But just out of curiosity,” Klea asked, “what makes you think she isn’t already dead?”
“She isn’t,” Piper asserted. “We’d know.”
“What is he doing to her?” Prue demanded.
“I imagine she’s in the dungeon.” It was clear, even with a demon as cold and withholding as Klea, that she was getting sick satisfaction from letting them know of their sister’s suffering. “A terrible place.”
“You’ll take us there,” Prue dictated. “Shimmer us, open a portal, whatever.”
“No I won’t” answered Klea. “Do you realise who you’ve summoned? I will gladly die before I take orders from a witch.”
Phoebe looked up at the stone above her as she laid on the floor, drifting into slumber. It wasn’t easy to fall asleep intentionally in her surroundings; but she’d grown increasingly weak due to lack of sustenance and air, so occasionally she’d fall unconscious from sheer lack of energy.
As she closed her eyes, she went back to a younger, blissfully ignorant version of herself. Before she had a destiny, before she knew of demons. She was in New York; it was the middle of the day and the streets were packed with people. Phoebe rode her bike with a smile on her face; youth in her eyes and a bounce in her curled bob haircut. She glided through the city; like a duck to water in the New York bustle. She rode into Central Park and pulled up next to a bench. Pulling a large cell phone from inside her coat, she dialed a number she knew by heart.
“Hey Clay, I’m here. You close?” she asked through the brick-like nineties contraption. She gave a school girl grin, “Okay, see you soon!”
Phoebe breathed in the park air and took in her surroundings. The contrast between the vibrant colours of nature and the city that never sleeps was something she adored. She could’ve sat in that moment forever; her free spirit singing within her. She loved it: young, free and with her whole life ahead of her. She rested back on the bench and looked towards the clear blue sky.
Suddenly Phoebe felt an anxiety bubbling in the pit of her stomach. Her smile faded; eyes still locked on the sky above. The calm and clear blue began to morph into a mass of darkest grey clouds that rumbled forebodingly above her. As it stirred, voices whispered and echoed around her:
First her own: “We’re the protectors of the innocent; we’re known as The Charmed Ones.”
Then her eldest sister’s: “Phoebe, what I don't understand is how you could have lied to us. Piper and me, a lie, that still poses a threat to all three of us.”
Then the voice of her late Grams: “Phoebe, what is the matter with you? How can you behave so recklessly? What about your destiny, your-your future?”
Finally, as the park began to darken to such a degree that Phoebe could no longer see the sky; she heard her sisters chanting along with herself: “The Power of Three will set us free; the Power of Three will set us free; the Power of Three will set us free.”
The dream was over, but she wasn’t quite awake yet and in that moment of black, she heard a familiar female voice: “No, Phoebe, don’t!”
A loud bang broke through Phoebe’s sleep and snapped her back into the Underworld. The realisation made her sick to her stomach; or maybe that was the small bit of gruel she forced down earlier. Phoebe looked at the door and realised that the banging was coming from the other side. She prayed that it was her sisters.
The door swung open and a battered and bruised Cole hobbled inside. Phoebe didn’t hide her elation as he collapsed to his knees in front of her. They looked into each other’s eyes for the first time in what felt like months to Phoebe.
“Phoebe, are you alright?” Cole asked through his bloody, swollen lips. “Did they hurt you?”
“I’m fine” Phoebe lied and immediately she lost any credibility by bursting into tears before him. She rested her head on his shoulder and he wrapped the arm that wasn’t broken around her.
“We’ll be okay, I promise” Cole held her. “He would’ve killed us by now if that’s what he wanted.”
“I worried he had killed you. How did you get away? Can you shimmer?” Phoebe asked with hope in her voice.
“No” Cole shook his head, “but I managed to fight off a guard; they’ll be coming.”
Cole moved in closer to Phoebe and they kissed.
Phoebe put as much passion as she could into that one moment; she’d missed Cole so much… hell, she missed any of the affection she had grown accustom to in her life back home. His lips were so warm; the fire between them vibrant.
“Oh, sorry,” as Phoebe pulled back. “Your lip.”
“It’s fine,” Cole assured her. “It’s worth it.”
Cole picked himself up off the ground. He was about to hold out his hand to help Phoebe up, but before she could reach, three demons shimmered in behind him. Phoebe’s eyes widened; she didn’t even have time to scream before one of the demons stuck a knife into Cole’s lower back. Cole gasped and blood dripped on the ground.
“No!” Phoebe cried in anguish.
The demons shimmered out with the injured Cole, leaving Phoebe alone once again. The steel door shut magically the moment they left and all Phoebe could do was weep in the silence and the darkness.
Klea screamed in agony as the bolts of electricity; that emanated from the crystals surrounding her, charged through her body.
Prue gave a flick of her wrist which shifted one of the crystals just out of the formation, ending the torture. She held the potion vial in her hand. “Last chance, Klea,” she threatened. “If I have to vanquish my way through every one that’s left in your little brotherhood, I will!”
Darryl had left once the torture began, figuring it was best he didn’t witness such tactics, even if they were being used on a demon. This left Prue, Piper and Leo alone with her.
Piper looked at her sister, more than concerned with the amount of rage practically vibrating from her. She knew Prue couldn’t keep this up much longer; at this rate, she’d make a mistake and they could end up worse off than before time reset. “Prue, breathe” she said, laying a hand on her sister’s arm. She looked at Klea. “What about Cole?”
Klea raised her eyebrow. “What about Belthazor?”
“Well he’s your brother, isn’t he?” Piper pointed out, doing air quotes with her fingers around the word ‘brother’. “What happens to him must be of some concern to you.”
“Belthazor is a traitor and responsible for the deaths of three of my closest comrades,” Klea hissed. “My only concern is that The Source makes his death a slow one.”
Leo took Prue and Piper aside. “This isn’t getting us anywhere, Prue. I say we give The Elders the benefit of the doubt on this one; wait to hear them out.”
“You know I hate to say it, Prue,” and Piper followed suit. “But I think Leo might be right.”
Leo gave Piper a look.
“…I mean I hate to give the Elders the benefit of the doubt. But Klea clearly isn’t going to talk and any other Brotherhood members we can find will probably be exactly the same. These guys are hard-core; that’s why The Source picked them.”
Prue didn’t say anything. She just sighed, defeated.
Meanwhile, Klea listened as whisperings began to flow through her mind. Her eyes lit up red and she smiled.
Piper noticed the demon. “What’s she doing?”
As Prue and Leo turned, Klea’s eyes went back to normal. “Very well” she said.
“Very well what?” Prue folded her arms, losing patience.
“Very well,” she offered. “I will open a portal to the underworld.”
Piper became agitated. “Woah, wait a second. Why the sudden change of heart? What was with the creepy glowy eye thing?”
“You’re wasting my time and your sisters. Now do you want the portal or not?”
Prue and Piper looked at each other, smelling a rat. “What’s the catch?” Prue demanded.
“Just my freedom” Klea shrugged. “I can’t create a portal trapped in here, so if you want your ticket to the Underworld, you’ll have to let me go.”
Prue and Piper both sighed. The thought of letting a dangerous demon go free was painful for both of them, but they were desperate.
“Fine,” Prue agreed through gritted teeth. She comforted herself by silently swearing that she would vanquish her soon enough and that the Power of Three would be restored to do it.
Prue wasted no time and with a quick wave of her hand, the crystals around Klea dispersed.
Klea rose from the floor and allowed a small, evil smile. She held her hands together as if to pray and began speaking in a strange and unrecognisable language. Unrecognizable to non-supernatural ears at least. To Piper, it sounded vaguely familiar and she eventually realised that she had heard it spoken by The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse. ‘Oh that doesn’t bodes well’, she thought.
Klea ceased her chant and a swirling vortex appeared on the floor between them. It swirled hot orange and crackled with red energy- this was it; the portal to the underworld.
Before Prue even got a chance to warn Klea that she would bring an end to her evil, she was gone, leaving only glowing red eyes which faded soon after.
“That could drop you anywhere,” Leo cautioned. “The Underworld is a big place.”
“So long as we’re closer to Phoebe than we are now,” Piper vowed, “we’ll deal with it.”
“Be ready to use whatever magic you can muster,” Prue instructed. “Ninety percent chance this is a trap.”
Prue ran towards the portal and didn’t hesitate; jumping into the vortex. It crackled a little more as her body disappeared through the energy.
Piper and Leo smiled at each other. Piper took hold of her husband’s hand. “Love you.”
“I love you too” he reciprocated. Remaining hand-in-hand, the couple jumped into the vortex. A few seconds later it closed up as if it was never there at all.
In the underworld dungeon, a badly-wounded Cole was shimmered back into his cell by three demon guards. One of the demons looked concerned. “Are you alright?” he asked.
Cole smiled. “Of course I am.” He slowly moved a hand over the stab wound and it closed up as quickly as it was inflicted. “Flesh wounds are just smoke and mirrors.”
Cole suddenly collapsed to the floor unconscious and a dark essence rose from his body. The essence shifted through the air and formed into the imposing body of The Source. He looked down at his once-trusted demon soldier. “The witches are on their way. Klea played them perfectly as I knew she would. Send enough demons for them to fight so that they don’t get suspicious. By the time they’ve figured us out, it will be too late.”
With that, The Source disappeared in a pillar of flame.
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Next on “Charmed”-Where the Sun Don’t Shine-
Prue, Piper and Leo venture through the depths of the underworld to find Phoebe. Unaware, Phoebe devices her own plan of escape, while Cole is forced by The Source to face his past like never before. Will the power of three reunite, or will the underworld claim their souls?
