Fic: Comes Out of Darkness, Morn (24/37)
Mar. 18th, 2012 11:15 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
sara_wolfTitle: 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...
*****
Paige orbed into the Manor, materializing to find a foot flying at her face. She managed to dodge so that Phoebe only clipped her in the shoulder, and she silently thanked Henry for his insistence on training with her in self-defense when she fell and managed to roll back up to her feet. She met Phoebe's shocked gaze as she stood up, dusting herself off in the face of her sister's stunned silence.
"Little jumpy, are we?" Paige asked, and Phoebe blushed.
"A little bit," she admitted.
"Demons don't usually orb," Cole interjected, dryly, from behind them, and Paige turned around to see the half-demon using a damp cloth to wipe away the dried blood from around his nose and eyes.
"Didn't Leo and I already patch you up once, today?" Paige asked, and Cole chuckled.
"I guess the Furies don't agree with me," he replied. "I'm fine, don't worry."
"Piper, on the other hand," Phoebe spoke up, reminding Paige of why she was there, "is not so fine."
"What happened?" Paige asked, as she joined Phoebe at the dining room table, where the Book of Shadows was open on the surface.
"After you left," Phoebe told her, "Piper went back to her scrying, and everything seemed to go back to normal. Until I mentioned to Piper that she might have been a little hard on you, with the whole Henry issue. And then she started ranting, again, and then she grew claws, and then she attacked Cole and smoked out of here."
"So, she's turning into a Fury?" Paige clarified, and when Phoebe nodded, she demanded, "But, how is that even possible? I mean, that would be like me turning into a demon."
"Which is also possible," Cole spoke up, and Paige shot him an incredulous look. "Hey, you asked."
"It happened when the Fury breathed the smoke into Piper's face," Phoebe told her. "In human criminals and demons, the smoke burns them alive from the inside. It's how the Furies punish evil-doers. But, in good people, the smoke looks for a portal of unexpressed fury."
"And Piper's been raging for days," Cole added. "She was ripe for conversion."
"So, how do we un-Fury Piper?" Paige asked, as she quickly read the page that the Book was open to.
"We have to close the portal of unexpressed rage," Phoebe told her. "Of course, first we have to find Piper, and she's all but disappeared-"
"What about this spell?" Paige asked, as she stopped her flipping of the pages of the Book. "To Find a Lost Witch," she read out loud, but Phoebe shook her head.
"Piper's not a witch," she reminded Paige. "It won't work."
"Look," Paige pointed out, "if Leo and I can cobble together one-and-a-half Whitelighters to heal half a demon, then there's got to be some way for us to alter this spell to find our sister."
"That's it!" Phoebe said, excitedly, and when Paige looked at her, she added, "We'll use the spell, but we'll substitute sister for witch." She looked so elated that Paige was starting to feel hopeful about the whole thing, but then Phoebe's face fell as she scowled down at the table. "Except that it's never going to work," she muttered. "The spell will never be strong enough, not with evil pulling on Piper."
"So, we add bait," Paige told her.
"Paige, where are we going to find-" Phoebe trailed off, her eyes following Paige's gaze to where she was looking at Cole, and she shook her head, emphatically. "No. Oh, no. We are not using the love of my life as bait."
"Oh, yes we are," Cole spoke up. He crossed the room to stand behind Paige's chair, his hands on the back of the seat. "It's perfect."
"It's suicide," Phoebe snapped. "Cole, you've already faced the Furies twice in one day. You might not survive a third encounter. Especially if they actually focus their cries on you."
"If we don't do this," Cole said, quietly, "then Piper will be overcome by evil. You'll never get her back."
Phoebe sucked in a sharp breath, her fingers digging into the edge of the table. Paige reached out, rubbing Phoebe's back in a comforting gesture for a few seconds, and Phoebe shot her a grateful smile.
"We're going to need some blood," she told Cole, who nodded.
Paige summoned a knife from the kitchen, handing it to Cole who obligingly pricked his finger. He let a few drops of blood fall onto the scrying crystal that Phoebe held out to him, and Phoebe carefully took the crystal by the chain. She held her free hand out to Paige, and the two of them started chanting the spell while she dangled the crystal in front of them.
After they finished the spell, the dining room was plunged into abrupt silence. Paige looked around the quiet room, and then back to Phoebe.
"Now, what?" she asked.
"Now, we wait," Phoebe told her.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
After Paige had stormed out of the house, Piper had immediately gone back to her scrying. Phoebe had looked like she wanted to protest Piper's treatment of Paige, but one sharp look had quelled any impulse her younger sister might have had. And she'd stubbornly ignored the tiny voice in the back of her mind that pointed out how unfair she'd been to Paige. A bigger part didn't care how unfair she'd been. She had been hurt, and angry, and she'd wanted to stew in those feelings for a while.
Everything had seemed fine for a while, but then Phoebe had found the courage to speak up to her, to confront her about her behavior towards Paige, and a red haze had descended on her. She honestly couldn't remember when she'd let the rage take over, couldn't remember what had led her to go from yelling at Phoebe to attacking Cole, who'd made the mistake of simply walking into the room.
But, here she was with blood on her hands, and a faint memory of slicing into Cole's chest with her elongated nails. And she had no idea what to do, next.
She couldn't go back to the Manor, that much was certain. She knew that she wasn't acting like herself, knew that what she had done was wrong. She still had enough self-control to know that she absolutely didn't want to hurt Phoebe. She was the only family she had left, and she couldn't bear to lose her, like they had Prue.
The thought of her older sister sent a sharp pain lancing through her heart, and she gasped in shock, momentarily unable to breathe. She clenched her hands into fists until her nails bit into her skin, drawing blood, but with the pain came a much-needed clarity.
She couldn't think about Her. She had to focus on something else, anything else.
Piper took several deep, ragged breaths, closing her eyes as she tried to clear her mind. As she forced aside all thoughts of Phoebe, and Leo, and Paige, and Her, she could hear a faint whispering in the back of her mind. The pull of the distant voices was unmistakable, and she gave in and let the rising power take over. She felt herself become light, and when she opened her eyes again, she was in the Underworld, facing the Furies that had attacked them, earlier.
To say that the Furies were surprised to see her was an understatement. Piper knew that she had one chance to win them over, to avoid getting attacked, again.
"I've been looking for you," she lied, quickly, getting surprised looks from the demons.
"To vanquish us?" one of the Furies, asked, cautiously.
"To join you," Piper replied, but this time it wasn't a lie.
The more she thought about it, the more it felt right. To just give in to the rage rising within her, to punish those who deserved it without fear of repercussions, to finally get the vengeance that she'd been looking for ever since She died.
"I want to join you," she repeated, resolutely. "I understand you, more than you know."
"You're a witch," another Fury spat at her.
"Not anymore," Piper replied, ignoring the dull pain in her chest at the words. "You three have seen to that, haven't you?"
"We can't just leave her alone," the third Fury said, in a placating tone. "We should keep an eye on her, if only to avoid drawing attention to ourselves by the likes of the Source."
"Fine," the first Fury said, and she seemed to be the leader of the group by the way the other two accepted her word as law. "But," she added, warningly, "if I think that you're trying to trick us, witch, it will be the last thing you do. I'll not soon forget that you tried to kill us."
"And you returned the favor," Piper retorted. "I'm not looking to vanquish you. I just want to kill as many demons as I can."
"We have that in common," the third Fury said, her voice a low purr. "Come with us," she said, tugging on Piper's sleeve. "We'll ready you for your first hunt."
While the Furies were helping her get ready, Piper again heard a distant whispering in the back of her mind. This one was different from the pull that had brought her to the Furies, a bright sound where the other had been dark. It hurt her ears, made her want to hide until those who called to her gave up looking.
But, under the whispers was another pull, and this one sang of blood, and fear, and death. This one, she wanted to answer.
"I know where evil dwells," she murmured, and the Furies looked at her in curiosity.
They smoked out of the cavern they were in, landing in the foyer of the Manor. Piper stalked through the house with the other Furies behind her, and she found her quarry waiting for her in the dining room. She ignored him in favor of the women flanking him, both of them staring at her in shock.
"Hello, sisters," she said, in a sing-song voice. "I'm home."
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...
*****
Paige orbed into the Manor, materializing to find a foot flying at her face. She managed to dodge so that Phoebe only clipped her in the shoulder, and she silently thanked Henry for his insistence on training with her in self-defense when she fell and managed to roll back up to her feet. She met Phoebe's shocked gaze as she stood up, dusting herself off in the face of her sister's stunned silence.
"Little jumpy, are we?" Paige asked, and Phoebe blushed.
"A little bit," she admitted.
"Demons don't usually orb," Cole interjected, dryly, from behind them, and Paige turned around to see the half-demon using a damp cloth to wipe away the dried blood from around his nose and eyes.
"Didn't Leo and I already patch you up once, today?" Paige asked, and Cole chuckled.
"I guess the Furies don't agree with me," he replied. "I'm fine, don't worry."
"Piper, on the other hand," Phoebe spoke up, reminding Paige of why she was there, "is not so fine."
"What happened?" Paige asked, as she joined Phoebe at the dining room table, where the Book of Shadows was open on the surface.
"After you left," Phoebe told her, "Piper went back to her scrying, and everything seemed to go back to normal. Until I mentioned to Piper that she might have been a little hard on you, with the whole Henry issue. And then she started ranting, again, and then she grew claws, and then she attacked Cole and smoked out of here."
"So, she's turning into a Fury?" Paige clarified, and when Phoebe nodded, she demanded, "But, how is that even possible? I mean, that would be like me turning into a demon."
"Which is also possible," Cole spoke up, and Paige shot him an incredulous look. "Hey, you asked."
"It happened when the Fury breathed the smoke into Piper's face," Phoebe told her. "In human criminals and demons, the smoke burns them alive from the inside. It's how the Furies punish evil-doers. But, in good people, the smoke looks for a portal of unexpressed fury."
"And Piper's been raging for days," Cole added. "She was ripe for conversion."
"So, how do we un-Fury Piper?" Paige asked, as she quickly read the page that the Book was open to.
"We have to close the portal of unexpressed rage," Phoebe told her. "Of course, first we have to find Piper, and she's all but disappeared-"
"What about this spell?" Paige asked, as she stopped her flipping of the pages of the Book. "To Find a Lost Witch," she read out loud, but Phoebe shook her head.
"Piper's not a witch," she reminded Paige. "It won't work."
"Look," Paige pointed out, "if Leo and I can cobble together one-and-a-half Whitelighters to heal half a demon, then there's got to be some way for us to alter this spell to find our sister."
"That's it!" Phoebe said, excitedly, and when Paige looked at her, she added, "We'll use the spell, but we'll substitute sister for witch." She looked so elated that Paige was starting to feel hopeful about the whole thing, but then Phoebe's face fell as she scowled down at the table. "Except that it's never going to work," she muttered. "The spell will never be strong enough, not with evil pulling on Piper."
"So, we add bait," Paige told her.
"Paige, where are we going to find-" Phoebe trailed off, her eyes following Paige's gaze to where she was looking at Cole, and she shook her head, emphatically. "No. Oh, no. We are not using the love of my life as bait."
"Oh, yes we are," Cole spoke up. He crossed the room to stand behind Paige's chair, his hands on the back of the seat. "It's perfect."
"It's suicide," Phoebe snapped. "Cole, you've already faced the Furies twice in one day. You might not survive a third encounter. Especially if they actually focus their cries on you."
"If we don't do this," Cole said, quietly, "then Piper will be overcome by evil. You'll never get her back."
Phoebe sucked in a sharp breath, her fingers digging into the edge of the table. Paige reached out, rubbing Phoebe's back in a comforting gesture for a few seconds, and Phoebe shot her a grateful smile.
"We're going to need some blood," she told Cole, who nodded.
Paige summoned a knife from the kitchen, handing it to Cole who obligingly pricked his finger. He let a few drops of blood fall onto the scrying crystal that Phoebe held out to him, and Phoebe carefully took the crystal by the chain. She held her free hand out to Paige, and the two of them started chanting the spell while she dangled the crystal in front of them.
After they finished the spell, the dining room was plunged into abrupt silence. Paige looked around the quiet room, and then back to Phoebe.
"Now, what?" she asked.
"Now, we wait," Phoebe told her.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
After Paige had stormed out of the house, Piper had immediately gone back to her scrying. Phoebe had looked like she wanted to protest Piper's treatment of Paige, but one sharp look had quelled any impulse her younger sister might have had. And she'd stubbornly ignored the tiny voice in the back of her mind that pointed out how unfair she'd been to Paige. A bigger part didn't care how unfair she'd been. She had been hurt, and angry, and she'd wanted to stew in those feelings for a while.
Everything had seemed fine for a while, but then Phoebe had found the courage to speak up to her, to confront her about her behavior towards Paige, and a red haze had descended on her. She honestly couldn't remember when she'd let the rage take over, couldn't remember what had led her to go from yelling at Phoebe to attacking Cole, who'd made the mistake of simply walking into the room.
But, here she was with blood on her hands, and a faint memory of slicing into Cole's chest with her elongated nails. And she had no idea what to do, next.
She couldn't go back to the Manor, that much was certain. She knew that she wasn't acting like herself, knew that what she had done was wrong. She still had enough self-control to know that she absolutely didn't want to hurt Phoebe. She was the only family she had left, and she couldn't bear to lose her, like they had Prue.
The thought of her older sister sent a sharp pain lancing through her heart, and she gasped in shock, momentarily unable to breathe. She clenched her hands into fists until her nails bit into her skin, drawing blood, but with the pain came a much-needed clarity.
She couldn't think about Her. She had to focus on something else, anything else.
Piper took several deep, ragged breaths, closing her eyes as she tried to clear her mind. As she forced aside all thoughts of Phoebe, and Leo, and Paige, and Her, she could hear a faint whispering in the back of her mind. The pull of the distant voices was unmistakable, and she gave in and let the rising power take over. She felt herself become light, and when she opened her eyes again, she was in the Underworld, facing the Furies that had attacked them, earlier.
To say that the Furies were surprised to see her was an understatement. Piper knew that she had one chance to win them over, to avoid getting attacked, again.
"I've been looking for you," she lied, quickly, getting surprised looks from the demons.
"To vanquish us?" one of the Furies, asked, cautiously.
"To join you," Piper replied, but this time it wasn't a lie.
The more she thought about it, the more it felt right. To just give in to the rage rising within her, to punish those who deserved it without fear of repercussions, to finally get the vengeance that she'd been looking for ever since She died.
"I want to join you," she repeated, resolutely. "I understand you, more than you know."
"You're a witch," another Fury spat at her.
"Not anymore," Piper replied, ignoring the dull pain in her chest at the words. "You three have seen to that, haven't you?"
"We can't just leave her alone," the third Fury said, in a placating tone. "We should keep an eye on her, if only to avoid drawing attention to ourselves by the likes of the Source."
"Fine," the first Fury said, and she seemed to be the leader of the group by the way the other two accepted her word as law. "But," she added, warningly, "if I think that you're trying to trick us, witch, it will be the last thing you do. I'll not soon forget that you tried to kill us."
"And you returned the favor," Piper retorted. "I'm not looking to vanquish you. I just want to kill as many demons as I can."
"We have that in common," the third Fury said, her voice a low purr. "Come with us," she said, tugging on Piper's sleeve. "We'll ready you for your first hunt."
While the Furies were helping her get ready, Piper again heard a distant whispering in the back of her mind. This one was different from the pull that had brought her to the Furies, a bright sound where the other had been dark. It hurt her ears, made her want to hide until those who called to her gave up looking.
But, under the whispers was another pull, and this one sang of blood, and fear, and death. This one, she wanted to answer.
"I know where evil dwells," she murmured, and the Furies looked at her in curiosity.
They smoked out of the cavern they were in, landing in the foyer of the Manor. Piper stalked through the house with the other Furies behind her, and she found her quarry waiting for her in the dining room. She ignored him in favor of the women flanking him, both of them staring at her in shock.
"Hello, sisters," she said, in a sing-song voice. "I'm home."
Continued here
