The Closing Chapter
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Piper Halliwell was running through the dark, deserted hallways of Magic school. A look of panic and fear was on her face as she desperately tried to reach something. She kept running and entered the large round library.
Billie and Christy were standing in the center of the room with Phoebe and Paige across from them, mirroring how they were facing each other during the Ultimate battle. The only difference was that Piper was not standing in between her sisters. Piper knew what was about to happen.
"No wait!" she yelled out too late.
Both pairs of sisters raised their hands at each other, Billie and Christy released a powerful stream of fire while Phoebe and Paige countered it with a stream of blue lighting. The streams clashed in the middle of the library, as they met small energy blasts were released, destroying everything around them.
As the battle raged on Billie and Christy slowly started to gain the upper hand. Their stream of fire pushed back the lighting of the two Charmed Ones. Billie and Christy's faces were filled with determination and desire to kill, while Phoebe and Paige were fighting for their lives and slowly getting weaker. Their stream of lighting started to flicker.
Phoebe suddenly broke her concentration and looked at Piper.
"Piper, help us!" she cried out.
At that moment both she and Paige lowered their hands, drained of their magic. The stream of lighting flickered once again and then died out. Piper screamed for her sisters as the fire pressed on and engulfed them in flames, vanquishing them.
Piper fell to the ground crying hysterically. She looked up at Billie and Christy, who stare at her with a cold, demonic expression. Then they suddenly looked the other way.
Piper followed their eyes to the other side of the room, where Leo was standing with the angel of destiny. Leo looked at her with tears in his eyes. Piper realized what was going to happen next.
"Leo!" she cried out as a yellow stream of orbs started swirling around him, leaving him frozen inside a metallic glass display. The angel of destiny then teleported him away. Piper screamed out his name and cried, knowing she was alone. Billie and Christy walked up to her and stared down at her. Piper looked up at them with a hateful glare.
"I will kill you." Piper said.
Billie and Christy didn't say anything, they just raised their hands and released a stream of fire.
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"No!" Piper yelled out as she shot up in bed. She was breathing heavily as she looked around. She was in her bedroom, it was early morning and warm sunlight was already shining through her window. She immediately placed her hand next to her to feel Leo lying beside her, still asleep. She let out a sigh of relief, it was just a dream, the same horrible one she'd been having for the last six months.
Piper carefully sneaked out of bed and put on a fluffy pink bathrobe before leaving the room. She walked to Wyatt's room and peaked inside, then she did the same with Chris. Both boys were still peacefully asleep like their father. Just a dream, Piper reminded herself as she headed downstairs.
When she entered the kitchen she made herself some coffee and checked the calendar hanging on the fridge. The word 'Brunch' was written down on today's date. Her sisters and their husbands/boyfriends were coming over for a family brunch. Piper herself had been pushing for it for a couple of weeks now, since she has barely seen her sisters the last few months, but now she absolutely wasn't in the mood for a nice family moment.
After having a cup of coffee, Piper decided to try forgetting about the dream and focus on the good things in her life. Their destiny as the Charmed Ones was finally fulfilled and she could finally enjoy a relatively normal life. To get her mind of everything, she started doing what she does best, cooking.
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Meanwhile, on the other side of town, another Charmed One woke up next to the love of her life. Phoebe stared at the man lying next to her in bed and knew she had finally found what she had been looking for all these years. The last six months had been wonderful. She had Coop had gotten closer than ever now that future Wyatt had revealed that their love wasn't forbidden and that they were even married in the future.
Phoebe carefully got up and put on a robe, not wanting to wake Coop, and sneaked out of the bedroom. After getting some tea, she settled on the couch with her laptop and a pile of 'dear Phoebe' letters. Her luck in love had also done wonders for her column, the reviews she had received the last months had been very positive. Someone had even recommended she should write a book, something Phoebe had never thought about before.
Phoebe opened her documents and looked at a small document named 'finding love'. It were just a couple of notes and some short drabbles she had written down, but could it really be good enough to become a book?
As Phoebe was sorting through her files she noticed a picture, she double-clicked on it to reveal a photo of her and Billie at P3, dancing and laughing with drinks in her hands. Seeing the picture hurt Phoebe, knowing everything that had happened since then. Her finger moved to the 'delete button' but she was hesitating to click it.
Billie had betrayed them, but only because she desperately wanted her sister back. Christy was evil, but Billie was so blinded by her love for her that she just couldn't see it until it was too late. In just a few weeks, Christy had managed to warp Billie's mind into thinking that the Charmed Ones were evil, with the Ultimate battle as a consequence. And if it wasn't for Piper reversing time, Phoebe and Paige would have both died at the hands of their betrayer.
Still, Phoebe couldn't hate Billie for what she had done, if anyone knew what it was like to become evil for love, it was Phoebe herself. For months she refused to see Cole had become the Source and when she found out she even became queen of the underworld for him.
"Hey, what are you doing up so early?" Coop's voice sounded form behind Phoebe.
She turned around to see him standing in the bedroom door, dressed in just a pair of black boxer briefs. Phoebe instantly clicked the photo of Billie away.
"I was up, so I decided to work on my column." Phoebe said.
""You should come back to bed." Coop said.
"I wish I could, but we have to get ready for brunch, remember?" Phoebe asked.
"Right." Coop said. "Okay, then I am going to take a shower, wanna join me?" he added with a smile.
"In a minute." Phoebe said.
"I'll be waiting." Coop said and went into the bathroom.
Phoebe waited until she heard she shower being turned on and then turned back to her laptop. She opened the picture one more time and started at it. Should she reach out to Billie? The girl had lost everything in the last few months, she needed a friend. After looking at Billie smiling in the picture, Phoebe decided it was too soon, she wasn't ready yet.
Phoebe shut down her computer and got up. For a short moment she felt a little nausea and dizziness and reached for her stomach. As soon as the moment passed she shrugged it off and joined Coop in the shower.
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Unlike her sisters, Paige Matthews was not ready to give her magical life. She wasn't fighting demons anymore, but she was more than just a witch. She was also a whitelighter and now that the ultimate battle had been fought, she had more time for her charges. That is why, when both her sisters were home with their husband/boyfriend on this sunny morning, Paige orbed into a small back alley in the center of town. She had been tipped off by the Elders that a future whitelighter was about to be attacked. Paige looked around and noticed a ripped open garbage bag on the ground, she covered her nose to block out the smell.
"Great, another alley. Why can't they ever attack in a nice park or at the beach?" Paige remarked to herself.
She hid behind a dumpster on the other side of the alley waiting for something to happen. A few seconds later a young woman came out of the backdoor of a diner. She was wearing a waitress uniform and was carrying two large garbage bags. The waitress was softly singing a song Paige didn't know as she opened a dumpster and threw away the garbage bags.
Just as she turned around and wanted to walk back to the diner, a trail of black orbs descended in front of the door and took the shape of a darklighter. The waitress screamed and stumbled back against the dumpster.
"Where did you come from?" She asked scared.
"Purgatory, but that's nothing compared to the place you're going." The darklighter said.
He raised his hand and a crossbow appeared in a puff of black smoke, he aimed it at his target.
"Please, No!" the waitress begged as she cowered against the dumpster.
"Please don't beg, it's really annoying." The darklighter said and fired.
The waitress screamed as she saw the arrow coming her way. Paige jumped up from her hiding place and waved her hand. "Arrow." She called out. The darklighter's arrow disappeared in a wave of blue orbs and reappeared. The darklighter quickly turned and faced Paige.
"You!" he said, his voice was filled with hate.
"I'm sorry, do we know each other?" Paige asked confused.
"I know who you are, Charmed One." The darklighter said and aimed his crossbow at Paige.
The darklighter conjured up three more arrows on his crossbow and fired them all at once. Paige didn't move and hold out her hand.
"Arrows." She called out.
All three arrows were surrounded by blue orbs, right before they reached Paige they stopped and faced the other way, pointing straight the darklighter.
"If you really knew me that well you should have known that that wasn't going to work." Paige said and lowered her hand.
The arrows were shot back at the darklighter and pierced his chest. He screamed as he exploded in a ball of fire. His crossbow fell to the ground. Paige walked over to the waitress and gave her hand to help her up.
"Are you okay?" Paige asked.
"I think so." The waitress said while drying her tears. "What was that thing? And why did he want to kill me?"
"That thing is called a darklighter and he wanted to kill you because you have a very special destiny. You are meant to do great things in the future." Paige explained.
"What kind of things?" the waitress asked surprised. "I can't do anything, I'm just a waitress."
"It will all become clear someday, Sophie, but for now I think it's best if we forget this ever happened, so you can live out your life as you were meant to." Paige said.
"How can I ever forget this happened, and how did you know my name?" the waitress, Sophie, asked doubtful.
Paige didn't answer her questions, instead she held out one hand and softly blew into it. Sparkling white dust flew up from her hand and into Sophie's face. Sophie coughed and tried to wave the dust away.
"What happened, what am I doing here?" Sophie asked a little dazed.
"You were just taking out the trash." Paige told her.
"Right. Thanks." Sophie said and walked back into the diner.
Paige waited until she closed the door and smiled. "Great stuff, that memory dust. I could have used that when I was younger."
She was about to orb out when she noticed the crossbow lying on the ground. She walked over to it and picked it up.
"Great, a souvenir. Better not let this lying around." She said and orbed out.
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Back at their apartment, Henry was sitting on the couch watching the news on the TV. He was fully dressed and impatiently checking his watch every few seconds. Annoyed, he turned off the TV and threw the remote on a chair. He started pacing around the room, still checking his watch. He looked up when a blue orbs suddenly materialized and took the shape of his wife.
"Paige, where have you been? We're supposed to be at your sister's brunch in 10 minutes." Henry said.
"Sorry I'm late, honey, I was busy trying to save a life!" Paige said. "And then when I vanquished the darklighter I had to drop off his crossbow so it could be destroyed."
"Everything turn out okay?" Henry asked.
"Yes, darklighter destroyed, charge saved, everything is fine." Paige said.
"Good, now you can jingle up there that you have the rest of the day off right?" Henry asked.
"I doesn't work like that, Henry, you know that." Paige said. "It's the same with your parolees, you have to be there for them whenever they need you."
"Yeah I know, I just wish we could be somewhere on time for a change. You're always late, you know that?" Henry said.
"Yes, but isn't that one of the many reasons why you love me?" Paige asked charmingly.
"Just get ready." Henry replied with a smile.
Paige walked up to Henry and gave him a kiss. "We could be even later, if you know what I mean.." she seductively said as she leaned into him and kissed his neck.
"Paige, come on, don't." Henry said and tried to resist his wife's temptation. "Your family is waiting for us."
Paige started unbuttoning his shirt. "Well, it's a good thing they're used to waiting."
She finished unbuttoning his shirt and let it fall off his shoulders. She then pushed him down on the couch and crawled on him. She took of her jacket and threw in onto the ground. Henry smiled as Paige leaned in to kiss him. As they started kissing Henry placed an arm on her back and turned them around, placing him on top.
""Let's take this to the bedroom." Paige said and orbed both of them out.
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Inside her dorm room, Billie Jenkins was lying in bed. With the curtains closed the room was dark and depressing, just like Billie herself has been feeling for the last six months. It had been six months of crying herself to sleep and waking up screaming from the horrible nightmares.
How had it come to this? Before she had parents who loved her, a sister who she just got back and friends who loved and treated her like family, until she betrayed them. Now her parents were killed by demons, her sister was dead by her own hands and her friends hated her and wanted nothing to do with her. She was alone, and it was all her own fault. She hated herself for being so stupid, so ignorant, so easy to manipulate.
She couldn't even blame Christy, she was raised by demons, raised to be evil and didn't know any better. But Billie herself, she had seen the good the Charmed Ones do, the loving women that they are, and still she went along with her sister and became convinced they were evil. All because they had normal desires like any other person and wanted a normal life for themselves.
Billie was lost, she didn't know what to do because she knew nothing she could do would make it all right again. She wished she could just lie here and wait for it all to end.
There was a knock on the door.
""Billie, are you in there?" A familiar voice sounded. "Billie, it's me Taylor, open up."
Billie ignored her in the hope she would go away, Taylor couldn't understand. She knew her parents were dead but she didn't know about magic, about her sister, about what she had done.
"Billie, I know you are in there, just open up and talk to me." Taylor said through the door.
Just go away, Billie thought to herself.
"Look Billie if you're not going to open the door, that's okay." Taylor said sympathetically. "I know I can only help you when you want me to. Just know that I am here for you when you do!" There were a few moments of silence. "Bye Billie."
Billie turned around and stared at the wall.
"Well, wasn't that sweet. What good friends you have." A voice sounded from behind Billie.
That voice, it can't be, it's impossible, Billie thought to herself. Her body felt like ice, it was as if everything came rushing back at once. She quickly turned around to see her dead sister standing in the middle of her room. Her face quickly became a mixture of horror, confusion and pain.
"You know, the ones you didn't stab in the back." Christy sarcastically added to her comment.
"No, it can't be." Billie whispered. "Christy?"
Billie slowly got up and took little steps to her sister.
"How is this possible? You can't be real, can you?" Billie asked.
"Oh I am real, little sister. Just incorporeal and stuff." Christy said. To demonstrate she moved her hand right through Billie's wooden desk.
"Are you a ghost?" Billie asked.
"Something like that." Christy said.
"What are you doing here, Christy?" Billie asked, still in shock.
"Well, I came to visit my favorite little sister." Christy said with a cheerful smile.
"Don't do this, Christy." Billie softly said, her eyes filled with tears.
"Don't do what? Pretend everything is fine? Like you haven't killed me?" Christy asked, as she did her voice changed from cheerful to dead serious.
"It was an accident, Christy." Billie said crying. "Please forgive me."
"Forgive you?" Christy asked as if she didn't even know the word meant. "How can you even ask me that?"
"I'm so sorry, I never meant for any of this to happen." Billie cried out.
"I can't forgive you Billie." Christy said. "You killed me."
Upon hearing those words Billie cried out and fell to her knees. Living with the quilt was too hard to bear, but seeing and talking to Christy, hearing her words just killed her.
"Why are you doing this to me?" Billie cried out.
"I am not here to torture you, Billie." Christy said.
""Why are you here?" Billie asked.
"I am here to tell you that it's not too late. We still have a chance." Christy said.
Billie looked up and dried her tears, her pain had made way for confusion.
"A chance for what?" Billie asked.
"A chance to finish what we started, Billie. We can still do it. We are the ultimate power." Christy said.
Billie became scared, even after death her troubled mind could still think of only one thing. The reason she was kidnapped and what she was trained for all these years, killing the Charmed Ones. But what could she possible be planning?
"What are you going to do, Christy?" Billie asked. She knew she had to do something to stop Christy from hurting anyone. All the pain and sorrow went away for a moment. She was now determined to stop Christy and bring her some peace.
"I can see you won't join me, that you would rather side with them. Even if it means betraying your own sister again." Christy said when she sees the look on Billie's face.
"I am not taking sides, Christy, this has to stop. Tell me what you are going to do!" Billie demanded.
"If you are not with me, sis, then you'll just have to wait and see." Christy said with an evil smile.
Then she was suddenly gone, leaving Billie standing in a dark, empty room. Billie knew she had to stop Christy and warn the sisters. But would they even listen? And was she ready to face them again after what she did?
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