Charmed. Cole and Phoebe Guardian Series.How quaint the ways of paradox?

Charmed. How quaint the ways of Paradox Chapter 4

Part 1: Time and Time Again

Chapter 4

"How quaint the ways of paradox; At common sense she gaily mocks" (Gilbert and Sullivan. Pirates of Penzance)

With nothing else to do and no where else to go Cole drove back to the Manor and parked in Prescott street where the car was outside the view of the Manor, but he could see it. He sat in the car for nearly an hour with very little happening that he could see in the Manor. As all the changes, that had happened that morning sank in, he found being suddenly severed from the family in the Manor left him feeling disorientated and very insecure. Common sense told him he had a credit card to use for a hotel and clothes if he needed them and magic to manufacture them but being homeless and without connection or belongings, except for the leased green Mercedes left him feeling very isolated.

Paige finally came out dressed for jogging. Cole carefully followed her, shimmering just a little behind. She ran for 15 minutes, went to the drug store in the shopping centre, ordered a huge chocolate milk shake, 3 scoops of ice cream and settled down and read the very expensive fashion magazines that were there for customers, for 40 minutes then ran back up to the Manor. Cole wondered if that was what she always did when she said she was running for an hour and a half.

He went back to the car and waited because there was nothing else he could think of to do.

.....

Shortly after he had checked the Grimoire, the Elders called Leo with an assignment for the Charmed Ones to deal with some foul smelling Amomitines, gaseous demons who invaded places of good and made them uninhabitable by humans and all creatures of good for months at a time. They had been invading places of worship in a number of locations and were now in San Francisco.

And Leo had a problem because it became very clear that the Elders had no idea about the changed timeline. Leo's difficulty was that he could not tell them about the changed timeline without talking about Cole and Cole was a taboo subject. When Cole had first returned from the wasteland, Leo had tried to get help from the Elders and they had flatly refused to believe that Cole had come back. The Old Source was gone and they did not believe that the return of any of his incarnations was possible.

Leo had finally been forced to conclude that whatever Cole was he was totally beyond of the sphere of the Elders. Which was one of the reasons he had encouraged the Charmed Ones to try and destroy Cole, because an evil creature beyond the understanding of the Elders, was terrifying. Only when both Cole and the Charmed Ones managed to draw themselves back from the edge of the evil pit where the Charmed Ones fear of Cole had lead them, Leo had been forced to assume that in the magical realm, in the magical universe there were some things both Good and Evil, that were beyond the understanding and knowledge of the Elders and Cole was one of them.

Leo orbed into the Manor kitchen, not certain of his reception and not certain how he was going to deal with this. Piper was sitting at the kitchen table working on accounts. Melinda was in the playpen gurgling to herself and having great game thwacking building blocks over with her favourite rabbit toy.

Piper turned around. She looked awful, her hair did not appear to have been washed for a week, her eyes were sunken and her face was colourless. She looked like she was wearing most of Melinda's breakfast on her t shirt.

"You shit I told you not to come here " Piper said.

"Its important Piper " Leo answered, "There are some demons the Elders want you to deal with. "

"You've got a cheek coming here spouting on about the Elders and doing good " Piper asked "Where's Caleb?"

"Who?" said Leo.