Fic: Comes Out of Darkness, Morn (17/37)
Title: Comes Out of Darkness, Morn
Rating: PG
Warnings: none
Summary: Pax's disappearance shattered Paige. Losing Prue, three years later, reopens old wounds that she thought she'd managed to close off, forever. But, through tragedy comes a sliver of light, and discovering that she's a witch is only the beginning...
*****
"How could you just let Paige leave?"
Piper glared at Leo from where she was pacing across the conservatory. "We didn't just let her leave," she informed her husband. "She ran out the door after some kid."
"And we couldn't exactly stop her," Phoebe added, from where she was lying on the couch, "because something pretty powerful knocked us on our asses."
"And you're sure it was the Source?" Leo asked, a dubious tone in his voice.
"Well, the gargoyles weren't exactly whistling Dixie, Leo," Phoebe sniped.
She shot Leo her own glare from her reclining position, but the effect was somewhat ruined by the ice pack she had over her forehead. She lifted two fingers to massage away the ache in her temples, groaning softly.
"God, my head hurts," she mumbled.
Suddenly, Cole shimmered into the room, spinning away from the spot where he'd been standing, and throwing an energy ball into the space where another demon was materializing. The demon materialized with the energy ball inside him, making him explode from the inside out. Piper took care of the second demon that shimmered in, blowing him up and sending thick, green ichor spraying around the room.
There was a moment of silence, and then Phoebe spoke up. "That didn't really help my headache."
"Thanks," Cole said to Piper, as he sat down on the couch, moving Phoebe's feet to rest them in his lap. "You're never going to guess what I found out, down there."
"Well?" Piper said, impatiently. "Don't keep us in suspense."
"From the rumors I heard down there," Cole told them, "the Source isn't trying to kill Paige. He's trying to corrupt her."
"Corrupt her?" Phoebe echoed, opening one eye to look at her boyfriend.
"He wants to turn Paige evil," Cole replied. "And, if he can manage to corrupt her, then he's got a clear path to the two of you, as well."
Piper and Phoebe exchanged incredulous looks.
"We need to find her," Piper declared. "How are we going to find her?"
"Paige is my charge," Leo pointed out. "I can sense her."
"So, where is she?" Piper demanded, barely a second later.
"Give me a minute," Leo said, softly, closing his eyes in concentration. "I - I don't know," he said, his eyes flying open in alarm. "I can't sense her. This shouldn't be happening. Only someone or something with really powerful magic can block me from my charge."
"Like the Source?" Phoebe asked, and Leo nodded.
"If he's already found Paige," Cole spoke up, "he could be shielding her."
"But, Paige would never let a demon get close to her," Phoebe argued. "Especially one that looks like the Source." She shivered in remembrance of the imposing demon she'd seen down in the Underworld.
"But, he wouldn't look like a demon," Cole protested. "He can possess people, and if he found a host that Paige would be willing to trust-"
"We need to get to her," Phoebe said, jumping up from the couch and hooking her arm through Piper's, dragging her older sister toward the attic. "Come on, we're hitting the Book."
Ten minutes later, Piper gave up and slammed the Book shut, glaring down at the cover in disgust.
"This is useless," she declared.
"Don't give up," Phoebe said, crossing to her side and throwing her arm over Piper's shoulders. "Maybe all we need to find Paige is a little help."
She winked at Piper as she emphasized the last word, and no sooner had she finished speaking than the cover of the Book flew open and the pages started flipping, coming to rest after a few seconds. Phoebe looked at the page it was open to, her triumphant expression fading to confusion a moment later.
"Enchantment spell? This isn't going to help us find Paige," she said, and Piper peered over her shoulder at the spell.
"No," she said, slowly, "but it might help us identify the Source. See this last line? So she can reveal the evil within."
"Okay," Phoebe replied, "but that still leaves us with the same problem. What good is it going to do to identify the Source, if we can't even find him in the first place?"
"I can find him," Cole spoke up, quietly. "Demons can sense the Source's aura. It's how he reminds us of his power."
"Hey, speaking of finding things," Piper interrupted. "What did you do to Inspector Cortez?"
"Memory dust," Leo answered, from where he was standing beside the window. "Cole and I went after him in Africa, and I used memory dust on him. It took some careful manipulation, but he doesn't remember anything about what he saw in the attic, last night."
"Does he still suspect us for Prue's murder?" Piper asked, darkly.
"Everything's been taken care of," Leo reassured her. "Cortez is not going to be an issue, any more."
"Back to the Source," Phoebe said, briskly, clapping her hands to get everyone's attention. "Cole, you can't track down the Source. He'll find you and kill you."
"Not if I'm careful," Cole countered. "Besides, if I don't do this, then he'll kill your sister. Or worse."
Phoebe glared at Cole, but then, reluctantly, she nodded.
"Okay, so we need something to enchant," Piper said, looking around the attic, and then she snatched a pair of pink glasses off the bookcase. "What about these?"
"They're hideous," Phoebe declared.
"We're fighting the Source of All Evil," Piper retorted, "not walking down the catwalk at Milan. Where's that spell?"
She and Phoebe looked over at the Book, each of them taking hold of the glasses.
"Magic forces far and wide,
Enchant these so those can't hide.
Allow this witch to use therein,
So she can reveal the evil within."
Phoebe took the glasses and placed them on her face, looking around the attic. Her gaze landed on Leo, and she frowned.
"It didn't work," she said, disappointment in her voice. "Leo still looks the same."
"Because Leo's not evil," Piper pointed out, smacking her younger sister on the arm. "What about Cole?"
"Hey, I resent that," Cole grumbled, as Phoebe looked in his direction. A second later, she yelped and yanked the glasses off her face.
"I take that to mean that it worked?" Piper asked, rhetorically.
"How'd I look?" Cole asked, curiously.
"Like hell," Phoebe retorted, as she folded the glasses up and placed them in her pocket. "Thanks, Grams," she added, softly, brushing her hand across the open Book.
"How do you know that it wasn't someone else?" Piper asked, nodding up at the ceiling. "Come on," she went on. "Let's go save our baby sister."
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
"How many more places are you going to check?"
The Source struggled to keep the impatience out of his voice, but he suspected that he hadn't been successful, from the suspicious look that Paige shot him. But, she just sighed and didn't say anything, proving that he'd chosen wisely for his host. With anyone else, he suspected that she would have been questioning him; but with this one, she was putty in his hands.
"I'm sorry," she said, shaking her head. "I know we've been looking for a while, but I just can't give up, you know? I let Emily get away once, and god only knows what she went through for all those months. I can't leave her alone to face that, again. I have to find her."
"And I'll help you for however long it takes," the Source replied, because that was what was expected of him.
But, he was starting to get bored with the situation. It had been amusing, at first, to watch the witch wander around aimlessly, with no idea of where she was going, or what she was getting herself into. But he was never going to have the chance to corrupt the witch, at this rate, and the longer she remained on the side of the Light, the stronger her bond with her sisters would grow.
And he absolutely could not let that happen.
Dropping back as the witch kept walking down the street, he focused on the girl that she was searching for. It was fairly easy, the girl had a latent magical potential that had clung to him after she'd bumped into him at that church, a potential that he could sense even with those damned gargoyles doing their best to cripple him. And it was a matter of seconds to locate the girl, and then transport himself to where she was.
He lucked out. Not only did he find the girl, but he found a hulking young man threatening the child with a long knife, a vicious snarl twisting his lips as he backed her into a corner in a dark alleyway. The Source found himself rather impressed by the mortal man, by the coldness in his eyes as he stared down at his prey, and the inventive and vile threats that he threw at the girl. He didn't even think that he was going to have to do all that much to get what he wanted.
'Should recruit this one, when I'm done,' he thought, idly. 'He'd make a fine demon.'
For now, though, he had work to do. He stepped up behind the young man, keeping himself invisible so that neither mortal could see him, and then he leaned close and started whispering in the young man's ear. He didn't have to coerce, or even order, the young man to do his bidding, such was the dark nature of his soul. He just planted a few creative suggestions into the young man's head, and then he stood back and watched him work.
And glorious it was. The young man had hardly required any prompting to step forward and put his knife to good use, carving into the girl like the mortals did their Thanksgiving turkey. It was almost a shame to have to stop him, to have to render the young man unconscious and put out such an inhuman fire. But, he couldn't have the girl dying before he was ready; not if he wanted to truly corrupt the witch.
He looked down at the girl, lying, bleeding and broken, in a crumpled heap at his feet, and prodded her still form with his foot. Then, he pulled his host's phone out of the man's pocket, scowling at the device before finally figuring out how to dial the witch.
"Paige," he said, before the witch could speak, "I've found her. I've found Emily. You need to come quickly, it's bad."
Then, he hung up the phone with a satisfied smirk and waited for the witch to arrive.
Continued here
Rating: PG
Warnings: none
Summary: Pax's disappearance shattered Paige. Losing Prue, three years later, reopens old wounds that she thought she'd managed to close off, forever. But, through tragedy comes a sliver of light, and discovering that she's a witch is only the beginning...
*****
"How could you just let Paige leave?"
Piper glared at Leo from where she was pacing across the conservatory. "We didn't just let her leave," she informed her husband. "She ran out the door after some kid."
"And we couldn't exactly stop her," Phoebe added, from where she was lying on the couch, "because something pretty powerful knocked us on our asses."
"And you're sure it was the Source?" Leo asked, a dubious tone in his voice.
"Well, the gargoyles weren't exactly whistling Dixie, Leo," Phoebe sniped.
She shot Leo her own glare from her reclining position, but the effect was somewhat ruined by the ice pack she had over her forehead. She lifted two fingers to massage away the ache in her temples, groaning softly.
"God, my head hurts," she mumbled.
Suddenly, Cole shimmered into the room, spinning away from the spot where he'd been standing, and throwing an energy ball into the space where another demon was materializing. The demon materialized with the energy ball inside him, making him explode from the inside out. Piper took care of the second demon that shimmered in, blowing him up and sending thick, green ichor spraying around the room.
There was a moment of silence, and then Phoebe spoke up. "That didn't really help my headache."
"Thanks," Cole said to Piper, as he sat down on the couch, moving Phoebe's feet to rest them in his lap. "You're never going to guess what I found out, down there."
"Well?" Piper said, impatiently. "Don't keep us in suspense."
"From the rumors I heard down there," Cole told them, "the Source isn't trying to kill Paige. He's trying to corrupt her."
"Corrupt her?" Phoebe echoed, opening one eye to look at her boyfriend.
"He wants to turn Paige evil," Cole replied. "And, if he can manage to corrupt her, then he's got a clear path to the two of you, as well."
Piper and Phoebe exchanged incredulous looks.
"We need to find her," Piper declared. "How are we going to find her?"
"Paige is my charge," Leo pointed out. "I can sense her."
"So, where is she?" Piper demanded, barely a second later.
"Give me a minute," Leo said, softly, closing his eyes in concentration. "I - I don't know," he said, his eyes flying open in alarm. "I can't sense her. This shouldn't be happening. Only someone or something with really powerful magic can block me from my charge."
"Like the Source?" Phoebe asked, and Leo nodded.
"If he's already found Paige," Cole spoke up, "he could be shielding her."
"But, Paige would never let a demon get close to her," Phoebe argued. "Especially one that looks like the Source." She shivered in remembrance of the imposing demon she'd seen down in the Underworld.
"But, he wouldn't look like a demon," Cole protested. "He can possess people, and if he found a host that Paige would be willing to trust-"
"We need to get to her," Phoebe said, jumping up from the couch and hooking her arm through Piper's, dragging her older sister toward the attic. "Come on, we're hitting the Book."
Ten minutes later, Piper gave up and slammed the Book shut, glaring down at the cover in disgust.
"This is useless," she declared.
"Don't give up," Phoebe said, crossing to her side and throwing her arm over Piper's shoulders. "Maybe all we need to find Paige is a little help."
She winked at Piper as she emphasized the last word, and no sooner had she finished speaking than the cover of the Book flew open and the pages started flipping, coming to rest after a few seconds. Phoebe looked at the page it was open to, her triumphant expression fading to confusion a moment later.
"Enchantment spell? This isn't going to help us find Paige," she said, and Piper peered over her shoulder at the spell.
"No," she said, slowly, "but it might help us identify the Source. See this last line? So she can reveal the evil within."
"Okay," Phoebe replied, "but that still leaves us with the same problem. What good is it going to do to identify the Source, if we can't even find him in the first place?"
"I can find him," Cole spoke up, quietly. "Demons can sense the Source's aura. It's how he reminds us of his power."
"Hey, speaking of finding things," Piper interrupted. "What did you do to Inspector Cortez?"
"Memory dust," Leo answered, from where he was standing beside the window. "Cole and I went after him in Africa, and I used memory dust on him. It took some careful manipulation, but he doesn't remember anything about what he saw in the attic, last night."
"Does he still suspect us for Prue's murder?" Piper asked, darkly.
"Everything's been taken care of," Leo reassured her. "Cortez is not going to be an issue, any more."
"Back to the Source," Phoebe said, briskly, clapping her hands to get everyone's attention. "Cole, you can't track down the Source. He'll find you and kill you."
"Not if I'm careful," Cole countered. "Besides, if I don't do this, then he'll kill your sister. Or worse."
Phoebe glared at Cole, but then, reluctantly, she nodded.
"Okay, so we need something to enchant," Piper said, looking around the attic, and then she snatched a pair of pink glasses off the bookcase. "What about these?"
"They're hideous," Phoebe declared.
"We're fighting the Source of All Evil," Piper retorted, "not walking down the catwalk at Milan. Where's that spell?"
She and Phoebe looked over at the Book, each of them taking hold of the glasses.
"Magic forces far and wide,
Enchant these so those can't hide.
Allow this witch to use therein,
So she can reveal the evil within."
Phoebe took the glasses and placed them on her face, looking around the attic. Her gaze landed on Leo, and she frowned.
"It didn't work," she said, disappointment in her voice. "Leo still looks the same."
"Because Leo's not evil," Piper pointed out, smacking her younger sister on the arm. "What about Cole?"
"Hey, I resent that," Cole grumbled, as Phoebe looked in his direction. A second later, she yelped and yanked the glasses off her face.
"I take that to mean that it worked?" Piper asked, rhetorically.
"How'd I look?" Cole asked, curiously.
"Like hell," Phoebe retorted, as she folded the glasses up and placed them in her pocket. "Thanks, Grams," she added, softly, brushing her hand across the open Book.
"How do you know that it wasn't someone else?" Piper asked, nodding up at the ceiling. "Come on," she went on. "Let's go save our baby sister."
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
"How many more places are you going to check?"
The Source struggled to keep the impatience out of his voice, but he suspected that he hadn't been successful, from the suspicious look that Paige shot him. But, she just sighed and didn't say anything, proving that he'd chosen wisely for his host. With anyone else, he suspected that she would have been questioning him; but with this one, she was putty in his hands.
"I'm sorry," she said, shaking her head. "I know we've been looking for a while, but I just can't give up, you know? I let Emily get away once, and god only knows what she went through for all those months. I can't leave her alone to face that, again. I have to find her."
"And I'll help you for however long it takes," the Source replied, because that was what was expected of him.
But, he was starting to get bored with the situation. It had been amusing, at first, to watch the witch wander around aimlessly, with no idea of where she was going, or what she was getting herself into. But he was never going to have the chance to corrupt the witch, at this rate, and the longer she remained on the side of the Light, the stronger her bond with her sisters would grow.
And he absolutely could not let that happen.
Dropping back as the witch kept walking down the street, he focused on the girl that she was searching for. It was fairly easy, the girl had a latent magical potential that had clung to him after she'd bumped into him at that church, a potential that he could sense even with those damned gargoyles doing their best to cripple him. And it was a matter of seconds to locate the girl, and then transport himself to where she was.
He lucked out. Not only did he find the girl, but he found a hulking young man threatening the child with a long knife, a vicious snarl twisting his lips as he backed her into a corner in a dark alleyway. The Source found himself rather impressed by the mortal man, by the coldness in his eyes as he stared down at his prey, and the inventive and vile threats that he threw at the girl. He didn't even think that he was going to have to do all that much to get what he wanted.
'Should recruit this one, when I'm done,' he thought, idly. 'He'd make a fine demon.'
For now, though, he had work to do. He stepped up behind the young man, keeping himself invisible so that neither mortal could see him, and then he leaned close and started whispering in the young man's ear. He didn't have to coerce, or even order, the young man to do his bidding, such was the dark nature of his soul. He just planted a few creative suggestions into the young man's head, and then he stood back and watched him work.
And glorious it was. The young man had hardly required any prompting to step forward and put his knife to good use, carving into the girl like the mortals did their Thanksgiving turkey. It was almost a shame to have to stop him, to have to render the young man unconscious and put out such an inhuman fire. But, he couldn't have the girl dying before he was ready; not if he wanted to truly corrupt the witch.
He looked down at the girl, lying, bleeding and broken, in a crumpled heap at his feet, and prodded her still form with his foot. Then, he pulled his host's phone out of the man's pocket, scowling at the device before finally figuring out how to dial the witch.
"Paige," he said, before the witch could speak, "I've found her. I've found Emily. You need to come quickly, it's bad."
Then, he hung up the phone with a satisfied smirk and waited for the witch to arrive.
Continued here