Groaning internally, Piper pinched the bridge of her nose. She was getting one of her headaches. After helping save her from becoming a Fury, Paige had stopped by the house a few times and expressed a desire to learn more about the craft. So, Piper had taken the girl under her wing. She was regretting that now.

  Peering through her seldom-worn reading glasses at the quiz she had devised in preparation for Paige’s latest lesson, Piper asked her next question, “After mixing your potions, what’s the best method to preserve unused sea slugs for future use: A, pickle them, B, sugar them, C, smoke them, D, freeze dry them?”

  Sitting across the kitchen table, sucking on a lollipop, Paige responded, “Well, now, you see, if I had extra sea slugs, I’d let those little suckers go right on back to the ocean.”

  “D, Freeze dry them is the correct answer,” said Piper, holding back a reprimand.

  “I was going to guess that,” Paige assured her.

  “Why are you guessing at all?” Piper questioned snippily.

  “To pass?”

  Feeling her frustration getting the best of her, Piper pulled off her glasses. “Paige, this isn’t like trig, you know,” she chastised. “It’s not like you’re never going to use it again. If you blow a potion, innocent people could die. Did you study at all for this test?”

  “Well, I started to last night,” Paige admitted, “but a friend from work came over, and she knew this bouncer at this club and... I’m sorry.”

  Piper sighed. What she wouldn’t give to go to a club and chill out with some friends. The closest she could manage right now was a trip to P3 to work with the husband she was barely communicating with. “It’s okay. I was single...once. Why don’t you study tonight?”

  “I can’t. I have a guy coming over here and we’re going out.”

  “Here? What’s wrong with your place?”

  “Uh, this place is slightly more impressive than mine.”

  “Uh-huh,” said Piper, her patience wearing thin. “Look, Paige, I really, really want to be the cool big sister, but this is ridiculous. You have no priorities.”

  “That is not true,” Paige asserted, but she didn’t dare tell Piper everything. Sure, she was interested in learning about witchcraft, but that had just been an excuse to get her foot in the door of Halliwell Manor. When she stopped by the house, she had done so intending to get to know her new sisters, but when she and Piper started talking, there was this moment of panic, a worry in the back of her mind that they wouldn’t have anything else in common.

  So, here she was, sitting exams like she was back in school. “I’ve left work to come here and study twice now,” she said. “That’s why I have to go out tonight. The boss’s son is in town for the weekend.”

  “And you think showing him a good time is going to improve your career standing?” Piper questioned.

  “Well, yeah,” said Paige, popping her sucker back into her mouth.

  Piper felt like she wasn’t getting through to the girl, so she gave tough love a try, “Okay, listen to me very carefully. There is nothing more important than learning your craft right now. We could be attacked at any moment.”

  “Then why am I stuck here reading?” Paige challenged. “Shouldn’t I be out there hunting demons, like Prue?”

  Piper cocked an eyebrow. Did she really just say that? It was like Paige was trying to parent-trap her or something. “Err, no, you shouldn’t,” said Piper definitively, “and neither should Prue! Trust me, we get quite enough demons around here without seeking them out.”

  “Where is she today, anyway?” Paige enquired.

  “In the Underworld, playing Ms. Hellfire with Cole,” Piper elucidated with disdain, not meeting the girl’s eyes.

  “Err, Ms. who?”

  “Never mind,” said Piper, forgetting for a moment which sister she was talking to and realizing her quip was wasted. Besides, another discussion about Prue’s single-minded obsession was not what she needed right now. “What you need to be focusing on for the foreseeable future is studying, so you know what to do when the next demon comes crashing into our lives.”

  “More studying?”

  “Yes, Paige!” Piper chided. “You think I like playing teacher? Believe me, I don’t. Prue, Phoebe, and I had to learn how to be witches the hard way. You should be thankful that you’re getting a crash course, and from an expert potioneer, I might add.”

  “But the potions stuff hurts my brain,” Paige whined. “You were a chef. Can’t I just leave the potions to you, and I’ll do the spell writing?”

  “And what if I’m not around? What if I’ve been…turned into a Fury, or a Wendigo, or…the Easter Bunny or something?” Piper gesticulated, counting off fingers. “You need to know this stuff. Potions need prep time, but they’re more effective than spells and far more reliable than one written off the cuff.”

  Paige frowned. “The one I came up with against the Fury worked pretty well,” she argued.

  Piper let out a noiseless chuckle. “I don’t wanna rain on your parade, Paige, especially since you helped save my life and all,” she started as she got up from her chair and moved to the coat pegs, “but you changed a couple of words to an existing spell, which just happened to be the perfect counter to that particular demon. You got lucky!”

  This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.

  Paige sulked silently as she watched Piper grab her purse, an umbrella, and a jacket to put on over her long-sleeved black tee. “Where are you going?” she asked, wondering if she had pushed the woman too far.

  “Chinatown. I need to stock up on some of these herbs,” Piper explained, gesturing at the many potion ingredients laid out across the counter.

  “Oh, can I go? I can get my nails done.”

  Piper had the distinct desire to bang her head against the wall. It was in one ear and out the other with Paige! She was going to need to add some migraine relief to her list of things to pick up at the herbalist’s. “You need to work on your potions,” she said, careful to control her tone.

  “Aww, come on!” Paige protested.

  “Paige, please don’t make me the Wicked Witch of the Northwest! You asked me to show you this stuff, remember? Let me be your sister, not the mean mommy who nags you to do your homework.”

  Paige slumped in her chair, feeling a little guilty. She wanted that too, after all.

  “From tomorrow, anyway,” Piper continued. “Since I’ve already started with the nagging and I’m on a roll, I’ll tell you that you should get rid of that lollipop habit because it’s going to rot your teeth.” With that, Piper left the kitchen, regretting not commenting on Paige’s dress sense—suspenders over a white tank, really?

  Paige rolled her eyes and pulled her lollipop from her mouth with a defiant smack of her lips.

  Deep in the Underworld, Cole was leading Prue through what felt like an endless maze of catacombs in search of their next target, the eerie glow of liquid magma streams and occasional torches their only sources of light.

  “And you’re sure you’re not lost?” Prue asked derisively, vaguely wondering where the man got his new black coat. He had been sporting a camel one since his brown coat was ruined, and now a third had appeared. She supposed black was a necessity in the Underworld; she had donned some of the choice pieces retained from her would-be assassin’s wardrobe, after all. Still, she wasn’t interested enough to ask Cole about his seemingly endless supply of outerwear. That was the kind of thing friends did.

  “I’m not lost,” Cole insisted for the third time. “The path just takes a while to navigate. He doesn’t like visitors.”

  “But you know the way. A good friend of yours, is he, this sorcerer?”

  “His name’s Rochaaran. And I wouldn’t say friend exactly. He knows about magic that can affect souls and helped a guy I know with something, so I consulted him while I was looking for my father’s soul.”

  “Rochaaran?” Prue repeated mockingly, selectively ignoring the overly personal comment the man shared. “Not Josh, Mike, or Dave? Just once, I’d like to meet a demon named Bob.” Prue shook her head. What was she doing? Wandering through the Underworld with a demon, seeking out another with who knows what kind of powers… If Cole decided to betray her, she would be stuck down here.

  Alright, that wasn’t likely. Annoying though he was, Cole had been a good ally. Together, he and Prue had taken out more than a dozen demons in their search for Phoebe. She supposed he was trustworthy, if not out of loyalty to her, then out of love for her sister, the same love that drove her. That much Prue could trust, and without Piper by her side now, what choice did she have? Cole was all she had, and as much as it pained her, she needed him.

  “I’ve been thinking—” Cole started with some hesitance.

  “Don’t hurt yourself,” Prue interjected.

  He continued as if he hadn’t heard, used to the woman’s provocations by now. Most of them, anyway. “—if you ever want to train together…?”

  “Train? With you, you mean?” said Prue in consternation. Cole had his uses, but that might be pushing it. “Why would I wanna do that?”

  “Well, there are things I can teach you. Things you won’t learn in a yoga studio or during a class at the Y.”

  Prue ran a hand over her head in frustration, “God, could you be any more condescending? For your information, I’ve been taking kickboxing lessons twice a week for almost a year now, at a dojo, with the same instructor Phoebe started out with. But do tell me, oh wise one, what is it that you think you can teach me?”

  “Well, swordplay, for one thing,” Cole said in a detached manner, on high alert as he altered their route through a rocky cavern with two avenues ahead.

  “Why would I need to learn to use a sword? Is the Source likely to challenge me to a duel?”

  “You never know. He does have a sword, and one nick from it will leave you in excruciating pain,” said Cole, absently rubbing his abdomen as he recalled being impaled by said weapon. “Hand-to-hand combat has its limits, and you’re no Phoebe.”

  Prue bit back a retort. It was a low blow, but not one she could argue with, even if she wanted to. He was right. As hard as she trained, she just didn’t measure up to her little sister’s physical prowess. Phoebe hadn’t just studied martial arts for longer; she had the kind of reflexes and flexibility that couldn’t be taught. She was a natural. It took all of Prue’s concentration to compensate for her shortcomings with her Telekinesis, especially when she tried to duplicate Phoebe’s Levitation-bolstered moves.

  When Prue came over pensive in response to his remark, Cole clarified, “My point is, sword fighting teaches confidence, intensity, discipline… If you want to fight demons, you should learn to fight like a demon. ‘Know thy enemy and know thyself; in a hundred battles, you will never be defeated.’”

  Recognizing the quote from The Art of War, Prue was impressed in spite of herself. Apparently, Cole’s evil education hadn’t all been for show. “I doubt Sun Tzu had demons to contend with when he wrote that.”

  “It still applies,” Cole asserted. “We can’t ignore what I’ve learned. The Source—”

  “Yeah, yeah, the Source wants us dead. What’s new?” Prue deadpanned.

  “He doesn’t just want us dead. He needs us dead,” Cole corrected. “Ever since I escaped him, ever since we started doing…this, factions have been forming to challenge him. He must finish what he started if he expects to survive, which means that you need to be prepared. We all do.”

  Cole’s point was valid. Still, they were seeing enough of each other already. She didn’t like the idea of spending any more time than necessary with the man. There had to be better options. Maybe she needed to try a different fighting style at the dojo. Aikido had interested her. Or, if learning to use a sword was a good idea, there had to be somewhere in San Francisco she could do that. She would have to look into it.

  Cole held up a hand, signaling for Prue to halt. She complied, then folded her arms as he started running a hand over an unremarkable section of rock. “This is it. It needs blood. Got a knife?”

  “What, no doorbell?” she quipped, handing over an athame taken from her inner coat pocket.

  Cole pricked his finger and smeared some blood on the stone wall. It suddenly melted away to reveal an archway. He handed back the knife, then gestured with both hands and a half bow, “After you.”

  “No, no, by all means, age before beauty,” she responded, mimicking his gesture. She then followed him into the unknown, mentally readying herself for battle.

  

  Video credit: HalliwellCreations on YouTube