part4

The First Son

Part 4: Anything For You

�� "I lived in Wales with my husband during about a thousand years ago. The Dark Ages, I believe you call it. Bertram, my husband, didn't approve of my belief in the craft, so he sent my daughter, Eliza, and I before a magistrate. He declared us unfit as human beings and we were cast out. It was lucky that we weren't tortured first? I can't imagine the horrible things I'd heard of them. But that summer of 1008, the witch returned to her true plane, consuming the souls of most of the village children, whose mothers were solitary witches. She came after Eliza, but I managed to ward her off with a potion I brewed to keep death away. It was only days before she came back again, prepared with a counter-potion, to claim my baby's soul. I threw myself in front of her as she walked right through the door of my cottage, and that was the last thing I remember. So, for the past thousand years, I have been devoting myself to finding a way to destroy the monster." Krista sighed heavily a fat tear rolled down her cheek.

�� Piper took her hand warmly, trying to help her regain a bit of strength. "What happened? Did you ever find the vanquish?"

�� Krista shook her head. "No, there is no vanquish for this witch. It is much more complicated than that. There must be a ritual, performed on the second new moon of the summer, with a full coven of witches. That's at least twelve. Do you know twelve witches? And even if you did, where would you get the ingredients for the potion? None of them exist anymore."

�� "We've been in worse scrapes than this. I'm sure we can handle it." Prue patted Krista on the shoulder, but she shrugged away timidly.

�� "What worse scrape could you have possibly been in, that tops the killing of hundreds of newborns at the hands of a witch? One of their own?" She began to cry quietly, weeping into her hands. "Eliza, Eliza, I'm so sorry."

�� The four sister exchanged glances, but none of them could think of a worse situation. Phoebe hugged Krista tightly around the shoulders, and whispered into her ear. "We'll stop her. For you and your daughter, not to mention Piper's baby."

�� Leo, who had been waiting patiently by the door, took a few steps into the room. "We have just over two months to find the things we need, when the second new moon rises in mid-August. Until then, I think that Piper ought to stay with one of us at all times, just to be safe." He took Piper's hand and led her into the kitchen, where Rueben occupied himself with a sheet that he had draped over the table.

�� "Leo, I'm so scared. This seems so unreal, like it's all a dream. I just wish it would all go away." Piper buried her face in Leo's chest, creating a small round circle of liquid where her tears had fallen on his shirt.

�� "We'll take care of you, Piper. You and Melinda will both be safe, I promise you, even if it means that you have to stay up there," Leo pointed skyward, keeping his eyes locked with his wife's. "With the elders until we figure it out, so be it. Anything for you." He kissed her firmly on the mouth, finalizing his statement with a brief moment of passion that left Piper lightheaded.

�� "I believe you," she whispered. "I just hope that they do, too."

�� "Bang! You're dead!" Rueben popped his head out from under the sheet, pointing his gun-shaped hand at his parents.

�� Leo gasped and clutched his chest playfully, pretending to die a slow, painful death. Piper smacked his arm hard. "Don't encourage him. It'll give him nightmares, among other things."

�� "Come on, Piper, let him live a little. He's just a kid. You could use a little fun in your life, too. Don't worry about anything, we've got a whole two months to figure out what's happening and solve the problem." Leo squeezed her arm gently then clutched his chest in mock agony.

�� "It's hard to live a little when your daughter is tap dancing in your stomach. Feel." She took her husband's hand and placed it where she thought the movement was coming from. His eyes widened as he felt his daughter kick.

�� "Wow, she'll make a great soccer player. Remind me to sign her up for the peewee league next summer." Piper slapped him, but did it with a smile. She leaned down and took her son's hand, and put in the same spot where Leo had felt the kicking. "You feel that, honey? That's your baby sister."

�� Rueben arched his eyebrows sharply. "Did you swallow her?"

�� Leo burst out laughing, drawing the attention of the women in the other room. Phoebe came in first, followed by Prue, Paige, and Krista. They looked at him awkwardly and Piper rolled her eyes. "Don't ask. It's a long story."

�� "Speaking of long stories, we found a page in the book about this witchy chick," Paige dropped the heavy object on the table and flipped to the right page. "Lonyu, the soul stealer. Apparently she was once a mortal witch, but when she stole the souls of the other witches in her coven, she was cursed to feed on only souls for the rest of eternity. If she doesn't get the amount she needs during the duration of one new moon every thousand years, she shrivels up and dies a slow, painful death, as all of the souls she's stolen are driven from her body."

�� Phoebe grimaced. "Mmm. Pleasant."

�� "So, basically, all we have to is keep her from stealing a certain number of souls, right?" Prue glanced down at the page to double check.

�� Leo nodded. "Yeah, that sounds about right."

�� "There has to be a catch. It couldn't just be that easy." Piper shook her head. "I can't lose my baby to this monster. We have to find a way to destroy her, once and for all."

�� "Don't worry honey, we will." Phoebe brushed the hair out of Piper's eyes and kissed her forehead. She saw gaze upward, and she sighed. "Are They calling you again?"

�� Leo nodded angrily. "Yeah. Damn it. They have horrible timing." He kissed Piper on the cheek and stood back away from the group. "I'll be right back, I promise." She waved at him as he disappeared in a shimmer of light.

�� "Ok, well, let's get going, we have a lot of things to do, a lot of research and a lot of planning." Paige clapped her hands together and the girls scattered, each to attend to a separate task. Phoebe and Paige went back to the book, Prue sat down to question Krista further about Lonyu, and Piper went about brewing things together that made the house smell like old socks and dead fish. The others pretended not to notice, holding back their gags and coughs until Leo returned an hour later.

�� "Well, it turns out we don't have as much time as we thought we did," he said as he orbed in next to Piper. "Oh, God, what is that smell?"

�� "Forget the smell. How much time do we have?" Piper poured her ruined concoction down the drain in the sink.

�� Leo scratched the back of his neck and tucked his chin in his chest to muffle the answer. "Uh ee."

�� "Excuse me? What was that?" Paige leaned forward a bit on the counter to hear what Leo was saying.

�� He cleared his throat and spoke a little louder. "A week..."

�� "A WEEK?!"

�� Leo's hands shot up to his ears. "Jesus, Paige! Have a little courtesy and let me know before you decide to go shattering glass with that voice again."

�� Piper grabbed her husband's arm firmly. "We can't only have a week. Lonyu only comes on the second new moon, and that's not until august! What is going on, Leo? Christ, my back hurts." She began to rub her back again, trying to massage away the sharp prick of discomfort that shot up and down her spine.

�� "I don't know, and if I did, I don't think I'd keep it from you. They just said to start working a little faster, since Lonyu isn't waiting for the moon this time around. Honey, you don't look too good. Are you okay?" Leo took Piper's hand and helped her onto the stool as she rubbed her eyes roughly.

�� "Something's wrong. I- I think... God, no. It's too early." Piper clutched her stomach and let out a piercing scream. "Leo, it's not time! It's too early, what the hell is going on?!"

�� Acting quickly, Leo jumped up and attempted to carry his wife to the living room in order to help her more easily, but her added weight from the baby made it impossible. "Prue, Paige, one of you, move her to the couch!"

�� Both of the sisters tried at the same time, and Prue ended up moving blue light particles across the kitchen while half of Piper made it through the foyer and onto the loveseat. The rest of her appeared seconds later and she screamed again, glaring at everyone evilly.

�� Leo landed hard on his knees as he slid into the room. He placed his hands over Piper's abdomen and pressed all his strength into healing whatever was wrong. The light glowed beneath his palms for a moment, then flickered and died. He tried again, raising a bead of sweat on his brow, but to no avail. His wife continued to scream, pausing only to catch her breath. She clenched Leo's hand firmly, digging her french-tipped nails into his skin. He gritted his teeth until her grip relaxed and the howling stopped.

�� "Leo..." her voice was faint as she reached out with her other hand. I can't lose her."

�� "I know, baby, I know," Leo kissed her cheek and glanced about the room. Phoebe stood at the door with Rueben under one arm. He was shaking.

�� "Daddy..."

�� Leo shook his head and looked at Phoebe. "Take him out of here, he doesn't need to see this." Phoebe complied and led the frightened boy away. Paige knelt down by Piper and pushed a strand of hair out of her face.

�� "She needs a doctor, Leo."

�� He was silent, but nodded half-heartedly. He lifted her shakily off the couch and she wrapped her arms around his neck. The moon was full and bright as he walked out and laid her in the back of the car. He smoothed down her hair and shushed her as she moaned for him to stay with her. "It's alright, baby. Everything will be over soon."

�� But everything was just beginning.

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