Title: Love And War
By: Bridget McKennitt
Characters: Phoebe Halliwell, Paige Halliwell
Rating: PG
Word Count: 1625
Summary: There is more to the Goddess of Love and Goddess of War than quotes and comedy relief.
Contains: No warnings in as far I know that can't be extrapolated from the header itself.
Disclaimer: Charmed is owned by other companies. They are used here without permission, and for entertainment purposes only. No challenge or infringement upon the copyright is intended, nor should any be inferred.
"End war game." Paige walked into the living room as she waved her arm in the air
to disperse the holograms.
"We've tried every plan we could think of and nothing pans out." Phoebe sat down
on the couch and looked up at her sister. "What are going to do?"
They, along with Piper, had been turned into goddesses by Leo in order to fight
off the Titans. Piper became the goddess of Earth, Paige the goddess of War, and Phoebe
the goddess of Love. Supposedly with the Power of Three and the added boost of godlike
powers, they should have been able to take on the Titans. Not even close.
When the three had rushed off to the park to save an Elder, the Titans Cronus and
Demetrius attacked them. Paige's trident hardly made a dent while the shield the Charmed
Ones put up barely held back the Titans' powers. If Leo hadn't orb them out in time, they
along with the Elder they were supposed to save would have died. Not a good thing.
"We're missing something," Paige said to herself. "But what? Hey, do you think we
should call Piper down here? Three heads are better than two, after all."
"No, not yet. She needs to be with Wyatt right now." Phoebe picked up an old Greek
mythology book that she found in the attic and scanned for the section on Aphrodite. "What
we need to do is get in touch with our inner goddesses. I mean, there must be something
they did that could help us."
"Good idea." Paige nodded and reached for another book to research on Athena.
"Check this out, Paige. 'Although Aphrodite may seem insignificant in the presence
of such deities as the sun-god Apollo or the warlike Athena, her power over love is revealed
to be very influential upon closer examination. With a domain that included the innermost
feelings of the heart and the source of human passion, Aphrodite had power unlike any other
god. Such power is revealed in her actions toward both her faithful followers and those
who incited her anger.'"
"That's what I'm talking about! You have control over human emotions."
"And hopefully Titan emotions as well. Okay, we need bait and we need a plan. We
also need to fight them away from the manor. The further away from our home, the better.
Wyatt must be kept safe at all costs."
Paige thought for a moment. "Here's an idea. When the Titans teleport in, you can
distract them with your Love powers long enough for me to zap them with my trident. No,
that might not work. They brushed off my power like nothing the last time."
Phoebe got up and hugged her sister. "Don't worry. We may be goddesses but we're
also witches. Perhaps a mixture of potions and your trident should do the trick. Remember
we need to destroy the Titans, not trap them like the Greeks did thousands of years ago."
"I sure hope so." Paige smiled ruefully. "Goddess of Love at work already, hmm?
My emotions are calmer now."
The sisters laughed and went upstairs to gather the potions they would need.
***
On a hill overlooking the San Francisco Bridge, Phoebe waited in the open with her
hands clasped in front of her. She appeared to be in concentration as her sister walked up
to her. "I'm ready on this end. How about you?"
Phoebe opened her eyes. "I think I found them. They're close by. Actually, it was
easy to find them. I've never felt such hatred before."
"Being trapped in ice for three thousand years will do that to you. Alright, bring
them to us." Paige stepped back and clutched her trident tightly. They had decided to leave
Piper at home with baby Wyatt because their sister was too emotional to function in a battle.
Leo not answering her cries had brought out even more of her selfish side. Even if the
Titans represented the end of the world, Piper would nothing do until Leo went to her.
"Consider it done." Phoebe closed her eyes again and took a deep breath. The air
rippled around her as she called forth her power. The only way to describe it was a chord
of music that rose in a crescendo and rippled away to the location of the Titans. She saw
through her mind's eye Cronus and Demetrius as they searched p3 for an Elder. The wave hit
them and they stumbled back from the unseen attack. Phoebe didn't waste any time.
'Come to me,' she sent to them. She twisted their feelings of hatred and revenge
to make them head for her and Paige.
Phoebe released her hold and turned her head towards her sister. "They're coming."
As soon as the words left her lips, the Titans teleported in front of them with
rage on their faces. "You!" Cronus roared, the ground trembling from the shout.
"Yeah, it's us. Get ready for oblivion." Phoebe began throwing potions at them
while Paige readied her trident and took aim.
Though the explosive potions and lightning strikes made the Titans stagger back,
it was not enough. Cronus raised his arm and a stream of fire shot out at Paige. She
immediately dove to the side in order to dodge the attack.
"Paige!" There had to be something more Phoebe could do then throw potions. Then
it hit her. She remembered reading from the books that during one of the battles the Greek
gods fought against Mother Earth, she had sent two brothers Otus and Ephialtes to challenge
Mount Olympus. An oracle had predicted that neither gods nor mortals could kill the giant
brothers. Try as the gods might, they could not defeat the brothers by strength alone. So
Apollo thought of a plan to trick the two into killing each other by using their emotions
against them. Jealousy, envy, and pride.
While this was not the exact situation as the old legend, as the goddess of Love,
perhaps she could manipulate their emotions directly and cause them to attack each other.
It was worth a shot and at this moment, they needed to do something quickly. But she needed
some time.
"Paige, run another war game."
"What?"
"Just do it. I have a plan."
Paige waved her arm and hologram images of Phoebe and Paige appeared while the
real sisters were hidden behind another hologram of the hill. Paige ran to her sister.
"Okay, that should keep them busy, but I don't know how long."
"I don't need long, at least I think I don't. Just keep them distracted while I
play with their emotions."
As the Titans were busy attacking the holograms, Phoebe reached into the core of
Cronus with her power and caused him to see Demetrius as a rival, an arch enemy. 'Attack
him,' Phoebe's mental order cried out. 'He wants to overthrow you and rule the world on
his own. Attack him!'
It was enough. Cronus stopped attacking the Paige hologram and turned towards the
other Titan. "Demetrius! I know what lies in your heart. You want to kill me and rule
alone. Well, I won't let you." He raised his arm and shot a blast of flame at him.
Demetrius shot out his lightning bolts to stop the attack. "I am loyal to you,
Cronus. Why must you attack me?"
Then Phoebe focused her power on Demetrius. 'Don't let him kill you like he killed
Meta. Attack him!'
Demetrius growled. "You killed my Meta. You must die."
The two Titans began to fight and, with fire and lightning flying, they vanquished
each other.
The holograms faded and Phoebe hugged her sister tightly. "We did it!"
Paige laughed with joy. The world was saved. "We sure did! Come on, let's go home
and tell Piper the good news."
***
As soon as the sisters entered the living room, they saw Leo wearing a golden
robe. "Leo!" He turned around and smiled.
"I knew you could do it. All you had to do was believe in yourselves." In his hands
was an urn. "Now it's time to give back your powers."
"Gladly," Paige said. "As much as I love being a goddess, I miss being me." Leo
first sucked out the goddess powers from Phoebe, and then Paige. Piper waited until Leo was
done before speaking.
"Why did you leave me at home? Aren't I the leader of this group?" Piper demanded.
"Piper," Paige began. "We thought it best if you stayed with Wyatt. As his
mother--"
"Screw that!" Piper's voice intensified and shook the manor's foundation. "I could
have taken out the Titans myself."
"Calm yourself, Piper," Phoebe said sharply. "Besides, would you have really gone?
You spent most of the time during this situation being a bitch and selfish. Now give up
your goddess powers and let's get on with life."
Piper's eyes turned to slits at Phoebe's words. "What if I don't want to give them
up?"
"Being selfish again? What about Wyatt? If Leo's an Elder, he still needs a mother
to take care of him. Though ever since his birth, Paige and I have been his surrogate
mothers."
Leo touched Piper on her shoulder, whispered into her ear, and led his wife out
of the room. Paige turned to her sister.
"Phoebe, maybe we shouldn't have done that. She still has her goddess powers and
she looks pissed."
"I say it was about time. She may be the oldest of us, but sometimes she has the
mentality of a five year old. Hopefully Leo can sort her out, though I doubt it." She
sighed. "Thank goodness it's over."
The sisters leaned on each other as they walked out of the living room.
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