by Paul Ruditis
“It’s a work of art,” Phoebe agreed sarcastically. “So, what are we thinking? Titans again?”
“I hope not,” Piper said recalling her brief stint with goddess-like powers and a rather sour disposition. “I still get a shiver every time it rains.”
“Should I orb him back to the Manor?” Paige asked.
“Let’s take him to Prue,” Piper suggested. “She’s been looking for a project to work on at the Nexus, something to pass the time. Besides, I don’t want this creep in my house in stone or in human form.”
Paige looked the statue in his frozen eyes and patted him on the head. “Don’t worry. We’re still going to help you. Just don’t expect our hearts to be in it.”
“Or any other part of our icky women’s bodies, either,” Phoebe said.
Paige left one hand on the top of the statue and held out her other hand to Piper while Phoebe grabbed her shoulder. She’d had more awkward orbs with larger groups of people, but she was glad they were hidden behind the bush. They must have looked ridiculous as they started to orb away.
Prue concentrated on the options laid out before her, focusing on her objective as she hunched over the table. She’d been at it for over an hour and things weren’t getting any easier. It was a challenge, but one that she had faced many times before. “I’m looking for a middle piece that’s a patch of blue sky with maybe just a wisp of a white cloud along the edge.”
Cole remained on the couch, pointedly ignoring her while he read a magazine that was several months out of date. “I already told you, I’m not helping.”
“Need I remind you the Elders specifically sent you here to help me?” Prue leaned around the edge of the table. “Maybe it fell on the floor.”
“With supernatural issues,” Cole reminded her. “I’m here to fight demons, not thwart one-thousand-piece puzzles.”
“Yeah, well, in between supernatural disasters, I expect we’re going to have a lot of downtime here in the middle of nowhere. Nothing wrong with taking up a hobby.” Prue didn’t see any puzzle pieces hiding on the floor. If Cole weren’t there, she would have gotten down on her hands and knees for a more thorough search, but there was only so much indignity she could handle at one time. Crawling around on the floor to find a small piece of cardboard was just past her limit.
Cole put down the magazine. “How about a hobby of trying to find a way out of this Nexus. It’s not like you to give up so easily.”
“Who said I gave up?” Prue asked. “Doing puzzles has always helped me concentrate. It’s how I got through my senior year of college.”
“I have never in my life seen you do one puzzle, Prue.”
“Yeah, well, you’ve only known me for a short period of my life… lives. I have a lot of secrets you’ve yet to—Aha! Found it!” The missing piece was mixed into a small pile with another piece lying half-over it. She picked it up and fit it into place, adding to the sky over the ocean in her puzzle. “Only five hundred and however many pieces to go.”
A collection of white/blue orbs materialized at the edge of the table and Prue stood up straight, working out the kinks in her back from leaning over for so long. “Looks like we’ve got company.”
“Oh, thank god.” Cole dropped his magazine on the coffee table and hopped up from the couch like he was ready to go somewhere. Anywhere.
Prue’s sisters appeared out of the orbs along with a rather ugly statue. Prue took one look at it and scrunched her face to let them know how she felt about the clutter in her home. “Thanks, but I’m finished redecorating. And that piece of crap does not go with the décor.”
Piper glanced over at the unfinished puzzle on the table. “Uh-oh. The puzzles are out. What’s the problem?”
Prue shot a look to Cole that basically said, See? I told you. He just shrugged silently in response. “Same problem since day one,” Prue said. “Trying to figure out a way to escape the Nexus of the All.”
Phoebe picked up one of the pieces. “Any ideas?”
“Nothing yet,” Prue replied, snatching the piece out of Phoebe’s hand. Her younger sister had lost too many puzzle pieces in the past. Prue had long since tired of finishing a puzzle with two or three empty spots left over. “We’re dealing with a magic older than time. Might take a few weeks to figure it out.”
“Well, anything you need. We’re here for you,” Paige said.
“Thanks,” Prue said. It wasn’t a surprise, but was still nice to hear, especially from Paige, since they hardly knew one another. Having the time to properly develop a relationship with her youngest sister was another thing that had been stolen from Prue, first when she had died young and then when she had returned and got herself trapped at the magical Nexus that linked Earth with the Heavens and the Underworld.
It wasn’t like the stupid and often completely arbitrary rules of magic were anything new to Prue. She’d only been a witch for three years before she died, but she’d seen enough back then to get the gist of things. Bending the rules by coming back from the dead in the body of a woman who was no longer using it was obviously something that magic would find a way to balance out. Prue might have been trapped at the Nexus, but at least this way she got to see her family on occasion. That was more than she’d had before. If only they brought better housewarming presents with them.
Prue stepped up to the statue to give it a closer look. “So, who’s the guy? I assume he used to be less stonework and more flesh?”
“That’s why we’re here,” Phoebe said.
“Local politician,” Paige explained. “Long story short: the exterior finally matches his stone heart.”
“I had a vision of him being turned to stone, but didn’t see who did it,” Phoebe explained. “Of course, we have our suspicions.”
Prue laid a hand on the stone. It felt cool to the touch. “Where did it happen?”
“Looked like his office,” Phoebe said. “Sometime late last night. But then he was moved to the Presidio, like someone wanted to make sure the world saw him like this.”
“To send a message,” Cole suggested.
“But to who?” Prue asked.
“Whom?” Cole said with a smirk.
“Why don’t you visit the congressman’s office?” Prue said to her sisters. “You can take Cole with you. He needs to go out for his walk.”
“I’ll get my coat.” Cole was out of the room within seconds.
Phoebe smirked as she watched him leave. “Already driving each other crazy? That didn’t take long.”
“He has that effect on people,” Paige added.
“It’s not him. Not really. It’s all this.” Prue moved away from the statue. “Being dead was a nightmare for me. This is marginally better, but I want to have a life again. I want to see the world. Get a pizza.”
Paige placed a hand on Prue’s shoulder. “We can work on the world part together, but I can handle the pizza.” She orbed away.
“That’s not what I meant,” Prue said to the empty spot where Paige had stood a moment earlier.
Phoebe plopped down on the couch. “No. I like this plan. I could go for some pizza.”
Piper joined her, settling in. “Didn’t you just have breakfast?”
“We’ve traveled to the other side of the world. Where it’s dinnertime.”
Prue squeezed in between her sisters. “I missed you guys.”
“Group hug!” Phoebe leaned in and wrapped her arms around her sisters.
“This family does a lot of hugging.” Cole returned wearing a dark gray jacket, looking more like himself fully dressed in his impeccable suit.
Prue shook her head as Phoebe released her from the hug. “Just once I’d like to see him lounging around in sweatpants and an old T-shirt.”
Phoebe looked her ex over as well. “That suit is practically loungewear for him. Look, the pants are pleated.”
> Cole was about to respond when orbs collected behind the couch, forming Paige holding a cardboard box. “Somebody order a pizza?”
“I was kidding,” Prue said as she got up and took the box from her sister. “But I’ll take it.” She waved a hand over the table and the puzzle was replaced by fine china.
“Oh! Fancy!” Phoebe sprung up from the couch and hurried to the table, opening up the pizza box. “Veggie! My favorite!” She pulled out a slice without even bothering with a plate and took a bite. “Oh! Oh! Still hot!” Phoebe was waving her hand in front of her mouth to cool herself when she caught Cole smirking at her. She shrugged and blushed. He’d certainly seen worse from her before.
“I thought we were going to the congressman’s office,” Cole said.
“Not right now,” Piper said.
“Then why did I get my jacket?”
“Why do you do anything?” Paige asked. “But we’ve got the human side of this covered. You’re better suited to the magical stuff.”
“You want me to hit the Underworld? Look into some old contacts?” Cole asked.
“We can hold off on that, too, for the moment.” Phoebe blew on her slice of pizza. “We’ve dealt with beings that could turn people to stone before: the Titans from Greek mythology. We took care of them, but there could be more on ice. I was thinking you could go check it out.”
“Take Leo,” Piper said. “He’ll know where to go.”
“Got it,” Cole said.
“He’s at Magic School,” Piper added, checking her watch. It was still set to San Francisco time. “If you go now you’ll get him during his free period.”
Cole gave a little bow as he started to fade. “I live to serve.” By the time he finished the sentence he was gone, off to Magic School.
“Sorry if he’s driving you crazy,” Phoebe said to Prue once he was far out of earshot.
Prue dug into the pizza box, pulling slices out for her other sisters and putting them on the plates she’d created out of the air. “First off, it’s not your responsibility to apologize for him. And the truth is I’d probably go crazy—well, crazier—if he weren’t stuck here with me. Much as I love your visits, you can’t be here every day. Now that Dad’s back home from his little vacation, it would be lonely without Cole.”
“Can’t say you’re not making the best out of a bad situation,” Paige said.
“I do what I can.” Prue lifted her slice of pizza and blew on it like Phoebe had. “Now, tell me what’s going on with all of you. It sounds like Mr. Granite can probably stay like that a bit.” Prue took a bite of pizza. It wasn’t nearly as hot as Phoebe had made it seem.
“I can’t imagine a missing congressman is a good thing,” Phoebe said. “But the world might be better off if this particular congressman stayed on ice for a while.”
Chapter 3
The bitter cold slapped Cole in the face the moment he faded into the ice cavern with Leo at his side. Frigid air bit into his exposed skin and right through the silk of his suit. Nothing in his current wardrobe was proper for this excursion. “Think I prefer my trips to the Underworld. At least it’s warmer. Downright hot at times, depending on what you’re doing down there.”
“We won’t be here long.” Leo wrapped his arms around himself for warmth. At least his long-sleeved flannel was slightly more appropriate for the conditions. “But yes, it was better when I had a magical ability to fend off the cold.”
“The internal warmth of the demon inside me was one small benefit of my prior existence,” Cole said. The ex-demon’s ability to teleport was one of the few powers he retained in his now undead form. His current version of a life was a far better tradeoff than when he was part-Belthazor—or carried the Source inside him. But there were times when he did miss some of the special abilities he had when he was at his most powerful. A fireball or two would have come in quite handy in this ice cave.
Cole wasn’t sure what to call himself these days. He was no longer a demon but clearly no longer mortal. He was more corporeal than a ghost, but still technically dead. “Undead” really was the most reasonable term, but that brought up images of zombies shambling along, and he still carried himself with his traditional swagger. Like Prue, he was a supernatural unicorn, incredibly rare and possibly one of a kind. It would make things difficult if he ever decided to reapply for a driver’s license, but he didn’t see many government forms in his future. He was still Cole and that was all that really mattered.
Leo was already on the move, heading down an icy tunnel into the frozen unknown. “The remaining Titans should be in the general vicinity.”
Cole followed. “Do you miss it?”
“Magic?” Leo asked as they moved through the cavern. “It came in handy at times. Complicated things at times too.”
“Not just the magic,” Cole said. “All of it. Having a calling. Being a Whitelighter. Or… I hear you were an Elder for a while too.”
“And an Avatar,” Leo said. “So we’ve got that in common. But yes, I do miss some things about the role I played in watching over the Charmed Ones. It’s a good trade-off though. Growing old with Piper. Raising our family together without the Elders constantly calling me Up There. The healing power would be nice, especially when Chris was going through his daredevil stage, but I wouldn’t change it for the world. Why? Are you having trouble with your new role?”
“I’m adjusting,” Cole said as they came to a fork in the tunnels. “I’ve never been good at taking orders from someone. Just ask the Source. Oh, that’s right. You can’t. He’s gone.”
Leo moved down the tunnel on the left. “Yeah, but he’ll probably be back soon. That’s one power that refuses to stay vanquished. Kind of like you.”
“Not good company to be in,” Cole said. “But I take your point.”
“This must be the place.” The tunnel opened up in front of Leo, leading into an ice cavern that was decorated more like a hut in the middle of some kind of safari tour or an old adventure movie.
A wooden platform had been built on the snowy ground. The table standing on it held a large book of magic, even bigger than the Charmed Ones’ Book of Shadows. In the corner, someone had strung up a hammock as makeshift living quarters under an old umbrella that probably did little to keep ice from falling on them while they slept. Torches were stuck in the snow and lanterns hung from the walls. The magic that had created them still kept the flames alive even after all these years. It was slightly unnerving, as if the being that had enchanted them was going to return home at any moment.
Cole examined the wooden platform that bore the telltale scorch marks he assumed had once been a demon or some other practitioner of dark magic. It was doubtful anyone was coming back from that. “Ah, yes. It looks like the Charmed Ones have been here.”
“This wasn’t actually their doing,” Leo said as he examined two human-sized gouges in the ice walls, running a hand along the frozen tombs. “I would have expected all of this to ice over again by now.”
“Magical prisons don’t function by real world rules,” Cole said as he examined the remains of the prison. “This place held three people?”
“Two in here,” Leo said. “Titans. Powerful beings that claimed to be gods. They ruled the world until the Elders intervened by granting mortals incredible powers so they could battle the Titans.”
“Because the Elders never involve themselves directly when they can get other people to do the hard work for them,” Cole said. “Figures.”
“It’s better now,” Leo assured him. “Somewhat. The Elders have learned their lessons for the most part. They don’t abuse their position like they used to under the guise of being above it all.”
“They’re still keeping Prue prisoner at the Nexus as punishment for breaking their rules.”
“I don’t know how much of that is their doing,” Leo said. “She seems to be more of a prisoner
of the magic itself, but I get your point.”
Cole joined Leo at the gouges in the wall. “What did these Titans do when they finally got out?”
“Decimated the Elders,” Leo said with a note of sadness in his voice. It might have been years ago, but the pain was still there. “Whitelighters too. The Titans turned some of us to stone, which allowed them to steal our power to orb.”
“And that’s why we’re here?”
Leo shrugged as he headed to the other side of the cavern. “Someone’s got to check it out. Let’s try down that tunnel. There was a third Titan imprisoned somewhere around here. There might be others. I figure one loop around this place should tell us all we need to know. Then we can get someplace warm.”
Cole followed. He was glad to be moving again. It helped to keep the circulation flowing. In this cold, he could imagine his blood freezing, if he even had blood in his veins anymore. The whole “undead” thing was a little confusing. “You don’t sound very convinced.”
“I’m not so sure it’s the Titans,” Leo admitted. “Congressman Ward’s a mortal. The Titans were focused on magical beings. This doesn’t exactly fit their M.O.”
“We assume he’s a mortal,” Cole said. “You know as well as anyone that magic takes all forms.”
“True. Like I tell my students: magic can be the beauty or the beast.”
Cole smiled his familiar wry grin. “Sometimes it’s both.”
Stheno ran her fingers through her long, flowing black hair, shaking free the cobwebs she’d passed through on that last bend in the tunnel. It was something to do while she waited. Euryale had stopped once again to pull her heel out of the soft dirt. Her sister did love her stilettos. There was little doubt in Stheno’s mind that one day Euryale’s love of modern fashion would be her undoing.
“Do we have to do this every year?” Stheno asked, pulling a spider free from the tangles of her hair. She considered leaving the arachnid where it was, but she preferred to behave as a human while in human form. The average person didn’t usually react well to creepy crawlies in their hair. Not that there were any actual humans around to see her at the moment. But it was too easy to fall into old habits when it mattered if she grew too casual with her actions when it didn’t count.