The bad thing about having two days off of work? You get your days all mixed up. So... all day Saturday, I thought it was Sunday... and all day yesterday I thought it was Tuesday.

Sorry about the Tea Leaf, everyone.

She wasn't sure what alerted her to the fact that something was wrong when she first woke up. She stretched and lay in bed for awhile, looking up to the ceiling. She had dreamt about Cole again and she really hoped he was safe and okay. She also wished he would come home soon as she really missed him and she never felt secure when he was away -- no matter how many people were here in Tropolis to watch over her.

Phoebe sat up and that was the first indication she had that something wasn't right in the state of Phoebe. The satin top she had been wearing when she went to bed was now stretched over a chest that she didn't recognize and it was considerably shorter. She frowned, looking down, and gasped as she saw the legs that were definitely not hers. One of the legs had three gashes in the thigh.

Shaken, Phoebe got out of her bed and ran to the full-length mirror on the closet door.

There were sounds of a shrieking witch heard throughout the house.

Phoebe placed her hand against the mirror as her eyes traced every feature that reflected back at her.

She was somehow now in a body that was a lot taller than her and her face was a bit rounder. Her eyes were no longer brown. She was slim and a bit willowy... and her arm had a gash in it to match the ones on her thigh. They looked like demon scratches... those were certainly familiar to her.

Where was her body?!

Clothing... she needed clothing.

Nothing in her closet would fit her so she went to Cole's closet.

Finally dressed in a pair of jeans -- that she cinched around her small waist with one of his belts -- and one of Cole's shirts, she ran to the downstairs with the Book of Shadows. She made tea and then started pouring over the Book to see if she could find some answers.



[[OOC: This would have been posted yesterday, but I needed some information and then painkillers knocked me out for the night. :) ]]

((Happens after this))

After escaping from Narcissus and ... Oh God, Aziraphale... Phoebe had kept running. She wasn't sure where she was going, just away from what had just happened.

There were tears streaming down her face and she could hear the choking gasps that were coming from her throat.

She stumbled into the park, shaking and fighting to calm down, but it wasn't a very successful endeavor at the moment.

Cole! She had to get to Cole and tell him what happened. Then he could be there with her while she called James and Crowley and tell them that something had happened to Aziraphale. Cole would...

...Cole would shimmer right to Narcissus in Chains in a high rage and be woefully outnumbered. He wouldn't care that he was out-numbered and would go to pick a fight anyway. What would matter to him was that she had been terrified and hurt... by someone they both trusted and loved. That would get him angrier than if she had been attacked by a random demon or an enemy.

She shook her head. No, she couldn't go home to Cole right now. She couldn't let him see her like this.

But if she couldn't go home, where could she go where she'd be safe?

She couldn't call James and she was afraid to call Crowley. If something like this had happened to Aziraphale, who knows what might have happened to the two people closest to him?

She might be able to call Doyle... but no, she didn't know how he would react to seeing her in such a abnormally panicked state.

So then what? She couldn't call Lana in this condition... nor could she call Tara. CJ? Hell, she really didn't want CJ to see her hysterical. Jonathan? No, he was too good of a friend for her to show up on his doorstep like this. Lee or Anita might be willing to deal with her right now and would know how to calm her down, but she didn't know how to reach Lee and she had heard that Anita was out of town.

Phoebe dropped down onto a bench and pulled her knees up to bury her face in them. She'd try to calm down some more and then maybe she could figure out what to do.


((locked to felinegenetix. No other IC interaction possible, but OOC interaction and popcorn is possible. :) ))

The Witch's Fire: scared

Phoebe had gotten out of bed early and had made a large pot of tea as she poured over paperwork and researched things on her laptop. Her aches and bruises were healing from last week and she was once again focused on trying to get as much information about several things in her life as humanly possible.

One of those being that she needed to get back on track with trying to locate Prue.

She poured a fresh cup of tea and settled down with her laptop again.

Also, she might really need to think about getting out more and seeing people she cared about. This being a hermit wasn't really her. All she had been doing lately was going to classes and to work and really not much else.

She wanted to spend time with Cole, to get to know Paige better...

She also really needed to make contact with her friends and her brothers -- once they got back from their vacation.

Phoebe had been listening to the news since the first report of the riot at Brookhaven. This couldn't be good. She placed a call to Jonathan to see if he was okay, but so far he hadn't answered the phone. When she heard that people had been hurt and one of the doctors stabbed, she frowned at the TV. She hoped like hell her friend was alright.

When the Call to Arms from City Hall had come through, Phoebe sighed and went to change into clothing suitable for fighting. Combat boots, cargo pants and a long sleeve shirt, with a thick leather vest over it. She pulled her hair up in a ponytail to keep it out of her way while fighting. She made sure she had her knives, and her cell phone and went downstairs.

She placed a call to Stokes to let him know that she wouldn't be in on Tuesday and then she called her teachers to let them know she probably wouldn't be in class for a couple of days. She then wrote notes for Cole and Paige, letting them know where she had gone.

Taking a deep breath, Phoebe left the house and went out to see how she could help.

The Witch's Fire: predatory

Phoebe didn't know why, but she was exhausted beyond the telling of it.

She made her way home and leaned on the door as she fit her key into the lock to open the door.

"Cole? Paige?" she called out as she shut the door behind her. There was no answer and she dropped her keys on the counter in the dining room and started to drag herself up the stairs.

The closer she got to her and Cole's room, the heavier everything seemed to start feeling. She dropped her bag on the stairs halfway up and used the railing to pull her up the rest of the way.

She shut their bedroom door behind her and pulled herself up onto the bed to collapse. She dragged Cole's pillow to hold close to her and finally gave up and closed her eyes.


( Hello, Nightmare )


Letting out a sharp scream of pain, Phoebe dropped to the bedroom floor with a loud thud.

The Witch's Fire: exhausted

Phoebe held tightly to Cole as he shimmered them home from The Devil's Bris. It wouldn't have mattered how tight she held him to her as he was holding her to him just as tightly. He shimmered them directly into their bedroom on the second floor of the house and the first thing Phoebe did was make sure their bedroom door was shut. The last thing they wanted was for Paige to walk in on them and she didn't want them to traumatize her sister more than they already had. She returned to Cole and pulled him down on their bed with her.

For the longest time, she just held on to him and then she ran her hands along his face and arms and through his hair. She still had tears on her face, but these were tears of release and relief. She was afraid to move from his side, afraid that it was a dream and that she'd wake up and he wouldn't be here with her. She was having a hard time believing that he was with her again and she planned to make the most of it. She wanted to hold him and be held by him... and never let go of him again.

She cradled his face between her hands and just looked into his eyes for a long time. Then she bent her head and kissed him deeply. She transmitted all of her hunger, all of her longing and all of her love for Cole in that kiss. The last few weeks melted away as she kissed him, keeping his face cradled protectively in her hands the entire time.

The Witch's Fire: hopeful

[[OOC: This happens before this conversation. The mun went to bed before I remembered to post it.]]

Phoebe slipped outside and lit up a cigarette. It was just another one of the habits she had acquired lately, probably mostly from Ethics class and smoking with Lee during stressful conversations. She pulled out her cellphone and dialed a number from memory. The phone rang twice and then a familiar voice answered.


( Phone Call To A Dear Friend )


Phoebe hung up the phone and finished her cigarette before going back inside The Devil's Bris.



[[OOC: Lana modded with permission of mslanalang]]

The Witch's Fire: depressed

Phoebe was up early, even though she didn't have any classes today. She was making coffee and doing some thinking about the last week or so... or more.

After getting over the shock at coming face to face with a younger --- not to mention alive --- Paige, Phoebe had invited her to stay with her and Cole since they had the spare room. She knew Cole didn't trust Paige and she could understand his reasonings. He wasn't about to trust her safety to anyone right now and he wanted proof that this was Paige.

She sighed and took a drink of her coffee.

There was so much going on and so much she and Cole needed to discuss. She still hadn't gotten a chance to tell him she had hired a part-time bodyguard shortly after the last demon attack. They hadn't mended everything between them, yet, but she was desperate to. Each day she was away from him killed her a little more inside.

Demons...

Again, this brought her back to Paige.

If Paige was really who she said she was, then they were going to have to get her working with her magic and learning as soon as possible. Otherwise, they could end up with another dead Halliwell witch... or two. She wouldn't let Paige die this time.

After getting home from work, Phoebe went quietly into the spare room and shut the door. She pulled out the bowl and the athame. She sat on the floor near the window and lit the candles in a circle around her. Taking a deep breath, she sliced the athame across her palm and then squeezed her handshut to drop the blood over the herbs and oils in the copper bowl. As she dripped her blood into the bowl, she recited the following spell:


"Hear now the words of the witches, the secrets we hid in the night.
The oldest of Gods are invoked here, the great magic is sought.
In this night and in this battle, I call upon the ancient power.
Bring back my sister. Bring back the Power of Three.
Power of the witches' rise.
Course unseen across the skies.
Come to us, we call you near.
Come to us and settle here.
Blood to blood, I summon thee.
Blood to blood, return to me."

She let the blood drip for a few more seconds and then curled her hand into her shirt.

"Please, Prue... please come back."

The Witch's Fire: distressed

Phoebe stumbled in after work and immediately went to the kitchen to make tea. It's not like she'd be able to sleep anytime soon, anyway. As the tea brewed, she looked around the kitchen and sighed, realizing just how alone she was right now. For the first time in several years, she was alone -- and she couldn't even go home to Grams and Piper to feel less alone. She carried her tea into the living room and tucker her feet under her as she stared into distance.

Cole was gone and he wasn't coming back until she told him she'd never talk to Crowley again. She took a sip of her tea and shook her head. He didn't understand. He wanted her to choose between her love for him... and her friendship and affection for Crowley. He still thought she was naive when it came to the other demon, wouldn't believe her when she said she knew exactly what Crowley was and what he was capable of.

He wanted her to make a choice...like he felt he was forced to choose between her and Angelus all of those years ago. She hadn't pushed for a choice between her and Angelus...she had pushed for a choice between Angelus and the deaths of so many innocents. Her being able to go back to Cole had just been a bonus. He still refused to see that and boiled it down to it being between her and Angelus.

Phoebe started pacing the living room, seriously considering calling in sick from all of her classes for the next several years. Without Cole in her life, she felt like she had lost her way, and she hated that feeling. He was her other half, a part of her soul... her strength.


( Visitor From The Past )

The Witch's Fire: depressed

Phoebe lay on the couch where she was wrapped in not one, but two thick comforters. She had gone to work last night, but she had finally succumbed to her emotional meltdown after the attack Friday night... Saturday morning. She called and left a message with Aziraphale explaining that she wouldn't be opening the Tea Leaf today. To be honest, she was a little hesitant to leave her house at all, but she was thinking she might just hide in her home all day.

She was a mess of shaking and every time she closed her her eyes, she saw the four demons attacking her.

They would have killed her. It was the first time in a long time that so many had attacked her all at once. Usually when others had attacked, she had been with Cole and they fought together. She had been attacked by one or two demons alone before, but never by more than that. The Source was getting serious about wanting her death.

She needed to talk to someone, needed someone to come, but who could she call?

She couldn't call Tara because Tara would take one look at the bruises and the cuts and demand she go to a hospital. She couldn't call CJ because... well, CJ had a lot going on and the last thing she needed to see was her looking like this. She didn't know if she could call Jonathan about something like this. Anita... had her hands full. Crowley... bad idea there. He'd come if she needed him, but she wasn't abut to betray Cole by bringing him into their home without Cole there. Aziraphale...

James!

If she called James, and he was able to, he'd come --- if only to check out her wounds and make sure she was okay. He'd bandage her up and tell her how to take care of the claw gouges... and she might even be able to avoid telling him why she was where she was when she got attacked.

She placed a call to James and left a voicemail for him.

Then, she curled back up on the couch, trying not to think too much about what had happened.

The Witch's Fire: sore

To say that Phoebe wasn't in a good place emotionally right now would be tantamount to saying that the Titanic had a little bit of a leaking problem.

She closed the bar, being the last one to leave as usual, and started on the long walk towards the train... or however she decided to get home. Maybe she'd just walk for awhile. She really had no desire to return home. Home meant alone...home meant no Cole.

She was broken and getting worse every day that passed.

She missed him so much. She hadn't spent a night in their bed since he had walked out, choosing instead to nap on the couch when she could sleep. Every night the emptiness threatened to do her in, but with every sunrise she fought to continue to function, deciding that she wouldn't disappoint him further by hiding.

Phoebe buried her face in the collar of her coat as she walked. She had tears in her eyes, as she usually did when she was alone these nights, but she was trying desperately not to let them fall.

As she was walking, something suddenly caused her spine to stiffen. She lifted her head to take in her surroundings. Okay, empty streets, empty and dark places. It didn't take a witch to know she was being followed. She stopped walking and without turning around started talking.

"It's late and I'm tired. I am so not in the mood for games so you better just damn well show yourselves."

She heard steps and turned around.

Terrific. Four demons on a Friday night and her without a thing to wear.

She sighed. "Hello, boys."

"Hello, Witch. Where's your husband?"

Phoebe sighed and dropped her bag at her feet. That answered the who and why questions.

"On vacation."

"Too bad for you."

Phoebe shook her head. "Oh look, we've reached the useless banter portion of the broadcast. Can we just fight and get this over with?"

"As you wish," the leader said as he and one of the others came at her.

As the first got within striking distance, Phoebe dropped to the ground as CJ had taught her all of those years ago, and kicked out her leg, sweeping him off of his feet. She rolled as he came down and shoved her knife into his side. That one dispatched for the moment, Phoebe got to her feet, only to find herself slammed into a wall.

This couldn't be good.

The Witch's Fire: drained

I'm at work today, but it looks like I cannot get to Google or Gmail from my server.

There's a lot of SL stuff that Pheebs needs to do, so I have a request. If you're supposed to be having interaction with Phoebe, could you please link here and I'll tag into things as I see them? I can get to LJ with no problems (weirdness) but Gmail is tanked.

Phoebe is going to be wandering in town, trying to see if she can find a fight or something. Fighting is a good tension balancer for her right now. She's not looking for an argument but a fight. Hey, she has to keep up her training somehow, right? Are there NPC bad guys she can attack?

I also figure this will be a good way for her to get more familiar with her surroundings and stalk her soulmate.

When she had finally decided to try to function, Phoebe had made coffee and sat outside for a very long time. She felt so empty inside. With tears in her eyes again, she reached for the phone and dialed a number.

"Grams? It's Phoebe."

Hearing her voice, Phoebe went inside and crumpled onto the couch. "Grams, I'm chasing so many shadows in my mind, and the light that used to guide me, I'm not sure if I can trust in it any longer." She shook her head as tears slipped down her cheeks. "I don't know if I can be just what I am, I know you said I needed to find my way and be true to what I see and feel, but it's all so messed up now."

"There was this party last night and Cole and I dressed up. I was a temple dancer, and he was an angel. Grams! Be nice... please? Anyway, we got to the private party at the party and ran into some old friends. Everything was going well and I went wandering. I found CJ, you remember me telling you about her? We talked and we danced. She's just as wonderful as ever."

Phoebe wiped her eyes, listening to her Grams. "After awhile, I ran into Jonathan, a friend from high school. We danced and got caught up on things. It was really nice to see him, Grams. I also spent some time talking with Aziraphale. He and James are both here Grams and I start work in Aziraphale's teaq shoppe next week."

She sniffled. "This is where it gets bad, Grams. I was wandering the gardens and I ran in to an old friend. No, you don't want to know and no, you wouldn't approve. He promised a few things a long time ago, and last night was the first time I had seen him in five years. I kissed him. Yes, I know I shouldn't have, but I did. He was a bit shocked to see me and he told me why. After talking to him for a bit, I went to find Cole and he took us home where we proceeded to get in to a fight and... he walked out."

Phoebe swallowed. "I don't know where he went, Grams, but I don't think he's coming back. He hates my friend and he's a bit jealous of him, I think. My friend used to go out of his way to hurt Cole. Grams, I don't want to be in love with anyone else. I'm in love with Cole... I even got him a ring. No, he never saw it."

After awhile, Phoebe nodded. "I love you, too, Grams. I'll let you know when I have news on Prue."

The Witch's Fire: depressed

When Cole shimmered them home, Phoebe dropped the bottle of liquor she had been holding and stumbled into their room. She started taking off the costume and looking for something more practical and comfortable to wear. Her hands were shaking as she was still processing what she had been told and felt from Crowley and now with Cole being so angry with her.

The anger was deserved, she shouldn't have kissed Crowley, even if he was a dear friend.

Phoebe stood in front of the mirror critically looking over her costume for the night.

She was carefully fixing her hair so she could put the crown on and then apply the kohl to her eyes.

She stepped back from the mirror and the chiffon strips of her skirt brushed against her legs. Okay, that sensation was going to have her crawling Cole like a totem pole before the night was through.

Cole... he was either going to try to forbid her to wear the outfit or not leave her side all night. He knew better by now to try the forbidding thing, but it was more likely he was going to be her constant companion, and she wouldn't have it any other way.

She fastened the golden sandals around her feet and then stepped back.

Oh yes... perfect.

The Witch's Fire: excited

Phoebe was writing down a chronological order of how the attacks had started and progressed when the house phone started ringing. The Caller ID didn't look familiar so she picked it up. "Hello?"

Her face went white and then red.

"How the fuck did you get this number?" ...
"No. I told you I didn't want anything to do with you." ...
"You don't understand my attitude?" ...
"Well, gee, maybe that's because I actually do face up to my responsibilities." ...
"Bullshit. You don't get a voice in that. You didn't want one before, you don't get one now." ...
"What happened, Victor? Grams and Piper wouldn't talk to you so you thought you could tug on my heartstrings?" ...
"That doesn't work and it never will." ....
"Oh, I don't know, it might be because you fucking walked out on us when I was barely a year old?!" ....
"No, you listen! You were nowhere to be found when Mom died. You didn't even check on us.... I watched Paige die and you still didn't show!" ...
"Oh get off of it! You never wanted us to be who we were and Grams wouldn't let you stop it." ...

There were tears streaming down Phoebe's face.

"Prue has been missing for months and all you can ever say is let her go. Well, you know what, I DON'T let things like that go. Piper and I lost one sister and I'm not going to let you cause us to lose another one." ...
"I'm warning you, stay the hell away from me. I've done fine without a father all of this time and I damn sure don't need you, now." ...
"Stay away from me, Victor." ...
"You have some gall, trying to manipulate me? Let me give you some friendly advice. Leave me alone. I have friends and family who are around me who will not let me be messed with, nor will they let me be hurt." ...
"No, consider it the last friendly advice you get from me. Come near me, and I'm sure one of them would be happy to give you a personal escort to hell."

Phoebe was so angry, she threw the phone into the wall where it smashed into pieces.

The Witch's Fire: aggravated

( Dream Sorcerer - Mildly NWS )



[[OOC: Some of the bad guy's words are written by Shakespear's Sister]]

The Witch's Fire: scared

Phoebe was walking down the stairs from their bedroom to the living room when the weirdness started happening.

She was halfway down the stairs when she felt a small set of hands in the middle of her back and was pushed. Phoebe cried out as she found herself tumbling down the stairs. At the bottom of the stairs, she lay dazed for a few moments. She got to her feet and looked up to see if she could sense anything on the stairs. There was nothing.

Shaking her head, she turned to go into the kitchen when she felt herself picked up and thrown into a wall. Her head slammed back and then she found herself being pinned to the wall by her throat.

"Cole!" she managed to scream before the squeezing around her throat started.

She started clawing at the area around her throat, trying to break free of whatever was constricting her breathing. In a panic, she slammed her head back against the wall, hoping to interrupt what was happening, but the squeezing didn't stop. She felt herself being lifted up and pinned to the wall as darkness started hovering at the edge of her vision.

The Witch's Fire: confused