2016
Pyralis closed the door behind her as quietly as she could, desperate not to wake anyone. Then she stopped to listen for any telltale noises. Satisfied that everyone was asleep, she tiptoed into the living room - only to find her aunts there, waiting for her.
"You're late." said Piper.
"Yeah... There was a technical hitch and the movie started thirty minutes late."
"Really, that's interesting..." Piper feigned distraction. "So how do you explain the extra hour it's taken you to get back here?"
"My bike chain came out on the way home."
"You didn't take your bike." said Paige pointedly.
Piper stared at her scrutinizingly. "And I don't see any grease on your hands."
Pyralis stared back as Piper waited patiently. They both knew this would end the same way it always did.
"Oh, never mind," sighed Pyralis at last. "I-"
Her expression suddenly changed from one of resignation to one of confused surprise as she looked down at her stomach, and the bloody sword that was suddenly protruding from it. "Oh sh..." she managed before her eyes rolled up into her head. The demon who had just appeared behind her withdrew his weapon with an evil grin as she sank to the floor.
"Leo!" screamed Piper, already on her feet. She tried to freeze or at least explode the demon as he advanced on her, but to no avail. He swiped his sword and she jumped back with a yelp, only narrowly avoiding it. Suddenly Paige jumped on his back and he struggled to get her off, thrashing about wildly. He reached back with his sword and started trying to hack at her with it, managing a deep cut in the side of her neck which forced her to let go. She fell to the floor with a thump and lay there groaning, holding her head. Now it seemed she was out of the way the demon went after Piper again, leaping in front of her and backing her up against the wall, cutting her in several places in the process.
"Sword!" Paige shouted shakily, trying to get up as it appeared in her hand. The demon immediately turned around and started back towards her. Piper picked up a vase and threw it at him, but he didn't even seem to notice. Instead he concentrated on Paige, who was holding his sword in front of her with a defiant look in her eyes. Further thrown objects had the same non-effect, but Piper kept going just so she wouldn't have to stand there helplessly. Paige and the demon circled each other, both trying to decide upon the best strategy. At that moment Leo orbed in. The demon looked back at the sound, and, taking advantage of his distraction, Paige ran at him, screaming as she plunged his own sword into his heart.
The demon exploded in a mass of pink goo.
Leo rushed over to Pyralis, who was lying on the floor, unmoving. He rolled her onto her stomach and held his hands over the bloody wound in her back. The familiar yellow glow appeared, and within a few moments the cut had vanished.
Pyralis sat up slowly as Leo went over to help the others. Then she noticed the demon's sword lying in a slimy pink puddle. She picked it up out of idle curiosity and proceeded to draw patterns on the cool metal blade, watching the demon's pink goo mix with her own blood.
"Pyralis, stop that! You might cut yourself." The newly-healed Piper came to sit on the arm of the couch, apparently not noticing that it was covered in bits of demon. "Anyway, it's gross."
"And this pink slime on my face and in my hair and - oh! - in-between my toes isn't? I mean, what kind of demon is made of pink slime? Pink!" Pyralis shook the sword, sending blobs of goo everywhere.
"The kind that wields a sword and managed to cut each and every one of us. It's a miracle we're all still here."
"It's always a miracle we're all still here, even though we always are. I don't know why you have to make such a big deal out of it."
"Because," said Paige, stepping in, "even though it may seem to you that we're always all still here, the fact is that we're not. If we were, Michael would still be here, and Prue, and even your dear parents, not to mention all the innocents we've lost!"
"Okay Paige, calm down, no need to get worked up..." Piper put a hand on Paige's arm, then turned back to face Pyralis. "Now, I believe we were discussing your punishment for being and hour and a half late and then lying to us about it. Again."
"What?" said Pyralis, trying to look disbelieving. "You mean being stabbed in the back wasn't punishment enough?!"
"As much as I enjoyed that, no, it wasn't. You're grounded for two weeks."
"But Piper..." sulked Pyralis.
"Pyralis, that's my final word on the subject." Piper lay back on the couch, suddenly exhausted. "Now go on, take a shower to get that slime off of you and then go to bed."
"Come on Pyralis, Leo said gently, starting to walk up the stairs. "'Night
guys" he said to Paige and Piper.
The two sisters watched Pyralis follow him reluctantly, then sat in silence for a moment.
"Whatever you want to say, just say it." said Piper finally.
"Oh, how kind of you to give me permission." Paige stood up and walked a few paces before sighing and turning back to face Piper. "That was to close for comfort, Piper and she was was talking like it was an everyday occurrence! And y'know what, that's what it's becoming! Now I don't know about you, but I don't think that's a good thing."
"Of course it's not a good thing, but there's nothing we can do about it, I mean-"
"You know what we can do about it" Paige cut her off.
"Paige," said Piper, exasperated, "I thought we agreed-"
"We did. Three years ago we agreed not to do anything unless it got worse. Well - newsflash! - it has! Kalinda and Phillip are asleep in bed, and thank God this demon didn't think to go after them first, or they wouldn't have woken up in the morning! Piper, we have got to do something!"
"I think we should just wait a little longer, y'know, maybe-"
"No! No maybes!"
"But-"
"No buts! We have to act now, or pretty soon they're gonna get another one of us, and then another, and before you know it we won't be able to act! It's time we stopped waiting to see what's gonna happen next. As much as it may hurt, Piper..."
Paige paused to look at her sister with sympathy. Forcing herself to calm down and take a deep breath, she looked into her eyes.
"We have to kill Phoebe and Cole, and we have to do it now."