Bitter Destruction

If you are a moderator or administrator seeing this, I promise this will be my last long author's note. (Though, if I may, I'd like to post another long one next chapter... Again, I will only do so if given permission.) Please do not get angry with me. I just want my reviewers to see this. :)

So REVIEWERS, please read: Due to the database and storage, I've been told that I should not post long author's notes or feedback on your reviews. I've been told to use the forum for this if I want to, and I did make a name, but I'm not too keen on the idea, so my request is this, and please read this! When you review, please leave your EMAIL so I can give you feedback or let you know if there's a new chapter or sequel (:D) or whatever's up with CandyCaner! I know that some of you enjoy this story and probably would want to continue to read it (at least that's the impression I'm receiving) so I think that this will benefit you. :) So please LEAVE YOUR EMAIL. If perhaps you don't want to leave your email in a review for the public to see, send me a personal email (my email address is in my profile) and we can chat there. I really appreciate it. :D

And thank you guys so much for reviewing Erika and luvs! I love you all! :) Keep reviewing!

And, mods, please don't get angry with me! I'm trying to not take up space! This'll be my last one! :)

Anyway, enjoy guys!

ps - There are POV switches again, but you guys must be able to handle those by now. :)

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Third Person POV

"Can't I just blow this up?" Piper asked in a whisper, looking around at the rusted bars of the cage.

"No!" Cole exclaimed through a hiss. "Anything that happens inside the cage stays in the cage. You try to blow it up, we all blow up." He turned in the direction of The Seer, Jarrod, and Delilah. "And anything that comes from the outside will come in."

Phoebe slapped her sides with her hands in frustration. "So we're dead no matter what!" she whisper-yelled to him.

He stood motionlessly, keeping his eyes on the ceremony. Delilah hadn't started to read yet, for she kept her raven-colored eyes on The Seer, waiting for orders. Jarrod glanced over at the cage, smirking devilishly at the prisoners. Cole felt his throat tremble as he growled. "We have to stop this," he said in a low voice.

"How?" Prue asked from the other side of the cage, her eyes stuck on Delilah's pale face. How could she stop this? She wasn't able to prevent any of this. She wasn't there to kill The Source before he raped Delilah. She wasn't there to keep the baby from ruining Delilah's life. She wasn't there to give Delilah the pleasure desperately desired, and instead tried to find it from someone different. She wasn't able to protect Delilah, what she vowed she'd do.

Cole's jaw clenched to keep his facial features from faltering. He didn't know. He honestly didn't know.

All of them grew silent as The Seer left the middle to grab something from outside the circle. She strode past the outline of demons and walked back into the circle, holding a black cloak in her hands. Delilah had stood perfectly still during The Seer's disappearance, holding the same stare as if the former advisor of The Source hadn't moved at all. The Seer walked behind Delilah, lifting the apparel up and over her shoulders. "His robe suits you," The Seer murmured into Delilah's ear, smiling. Delilah remained frozen.

"We're all here to witness the rise of our new leader!" The Seer yelled to the crowd, circling around Delilah, Jarrod, and the bookstand. Her voice echoed around the Underworld, adding to the volume of her words. "As some of you may have heard, an heir to the recently deceased Source is in the midst of arrival. Well," she paused to let out a short chuckle, "he's almost here." Her hand rested on the round curve of Delilah's bare belly that the cloak was unable to conceal.

Many of the demons in the audience mumbled things aloud -- some to each other, some to themselves -- regarding the news. Others remained quiet; Cole and the sisters considered those to be the ones that already knew about this leak of information.

"Silence!" Jarrod bellowed, calming the crowd back into absolute stillness.

The Seer nodded approvingly in Jarrod's direction, who nodded back with a confident grin. "As I was saying," The Seer carried on, yet this time she stayed next to Delilah with her hand upon the baby's home, "before The Source was vanquished--" She briefly stopped her words to flicker her attention toward the rusted cage filled with the four bodies. "Before The Charmed Ones killed Him, this girl, who some of you may recognize..."

Prue caught the smug look that flickered on Jarrod's face when The Seer said her last statement, and her body trembled with rage. She walked around Piper and Phoebe over to Cole's shoulder where she whispered, "We can't let this happen, Cole! We can't let them put Delilah through this!"

Cole raised his hand to his head and scratched harshly at his scalp, groaning in frustration. He wanted to do something about it just as badly as Prue did.

The eldest Halliwell looked at her sisters, both of them staring at the scene with worried, confused expressions. Piper kept thinking about Leo and how she might never see him again. And how Delilah was going to give birth to The Source's child, a whole new generation of evil. As much as she hated to think it, she had to wonder if was Leo right. Should they have gotten rid of the child before? Meanwhile, Phoebe stared at The Seer, recalling her premonition and how soon Delilah would read out of that book, and then she would face them and shoot flames. Would Delilah -- or Delilah's baby, she corrected herself -- actually kill them? Would Delilah have enough control to stop him or her from destroying the greatest good witches to live?

Prue stared at her sisters before she couldn't handle their distressed faces any longer. She turned back to Delilah, watching her look down and read aloud in that haunting, distorted voice that never would belong to her feeble frame. Why couldn't Prue have just prevented any of this from happening to Delilah? She didn't deserve it at all.

Though she didn't believe it and it was hard to hear herself lie, Prue said, "We're going to save her."

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Delilah's POV

"Stop!" I cried silently, my own voice echoing inside my mind. "Stop stop stop stop stop stop stop stop stop!"

No matter how many "stop"s I said, my body wouldn't cooperate. I would just keep staring at The Seer's face, waiting for commands. This damn baby! Why was it listening to her?! I was the mother!

The Seer had been talking for a long time, droning on and on about how the heir of my father would be so successful and powerful and destructive and how I was such a whore-- Okay, well, she only mentioned that a little once, but, still, it ticked me off. Jarrod wouldn't stop grinning his stupid, cocky smirk like he was the one becoming the next greatest evil to run the Underworld. Actually, I suppose he could be if my baby didn't survive. But it probably would.

Oh fuck.

I felt the pain again down between my legs and spreading through my hips and up my stomach. It felt like someone was drilling into my body with a thick nail, twisting my insides up and lighting them on fire. I heard myself scream and groan, but no one else was reacting so I must not have been heard outside my mind. The feeling was starting to happen more now. Did that mean I was getting... what was the word? "Contractions"?

Yes. The baby was getting ready.

As this latest contraction mellowed, I focused and heard that dark, warped voice again, realizing that it was mine -- or my baby's rather. I looked through my eyes and saw that I was speaking the foreign script laid out on the pages. My voice went quickly, reading the weird letters and symbols fluently, though I'd never seen them before in my life.

Suddenly, another contraction shook me with excruciation, and this time it was so painful that my body quaked with pain. My hands grasped the sides of the bookstand for support and I clamped my eyes shut. The pain was coming in waves, daggers clawing my uterus and stomach. It was dark inside my mind and that seemed to help me get through the tidal wave a little faster.

It lasted for a minute, I think, and then my eyes reopened, still intently reading the foreign text. My mouth came to a halt when my eyes roamed to the edge of the page. I felt myself look upward, back to The Seer's bright eyes, gleaming with interest. "Excellent," she murmured, glimpsing to Jarrod. "Now!" she exclaimed, looking away from me to the demonic spectators. "The coronation is almost complete. One last task is to be completed before--"

A tremendous snarl ripped out of my throat as I felt an even stronger contraction, needles forcing their way through my body and digging in, drawing blood that I could feel trickle out. "Get it out!" I screamed, wishing someone, anyone could hear my plea.

My body shook with heavy pants as it stood up, still holding onto the bookstand to keep from doubling over. "What's the final task?" the voice from my mouth said, ragged and loud.

The Seer had this urgent look in her eyes, like she knew it had to be done quickly. "Killing the ones who killed The Source," she said quickly, pointing at the people in the cage.

My body turned in the direction that she pointed in. I gasped inside my mind when I saw who was inside that dirty structure: Phoebe, Piper, Cole, and Prue. Each one of them stared back at me, their faces colored with fear. "NO!" I cried within. "NO! YOU CAN'T!" My arms raised uncontrollably and I felt power course through my veins. Using every power I had on my own, I told myself repeatedly, "YOU CAN'T!" The fire sparked in my palms, and I could hear The Seer yell, "Yes... yes... yes!" Urging my body on.

"NO!" I yelled, my own real voice resonating throughout the Underworld. I forced my fingers to close, and they started to, but wouldn't completely. I struggled to fight back for control and stop my body from throwing the flames at the only family I'd ever had. "Come on, come on!" I shouted quietly, using all of my arm muscles to put my arms at my sides or extend my arms to the sides and burn the demons. I could feel the pressure building of another contraction, feeling that this one was going to amount to be the worst yet, but I had to withstand it.

I stared at the three witches and Cole, hating myself for putting them through this torture. I couldn't kill them, not after all their help, support, and love that they'd given to me and this child that curled up inside me. I couldn't destroy them!

I caught Prue's eyes, those green ones that always offered me safety. I needed that safety, that security and assurance that all would turn out. "You make each other whole and strong. Don't let go of what you have... before it's too late," I remembered hearing Prue's mother say to me on Piper and Leo's wedding day.

"Don't let go of what you have..."

I grunted and pushed my arms out, staring at those green eyes, remembering how she loved me before and how I betrayed her. Those green eyes said everything. "I love you, Prue," I whispered in my head, hoping that she heard it somehow. Instead, as I held the stare, Prue's head nodded, and she mouthed, "Do it." I whimpered, feeling the contraction coming; my fingers started shaking and my knees were buckling.

I let out an agonized scream, feeling the rips and tears throughout my torso and between my legs, blood falling with soft splatters onto sand. The ground shook beneath me, trembling with my body as both tore apart. Screaming sounded inside my ears, and I knew some of it came from my own vocals, but not all. The room began to reek of ash and flame -- like death. Someone let out a blood-curdling scream beside me, screeching and then ending.

Impossibly, my body remained standing after that contraction, but I could already feel another taunting my uterus. Smoke surrounded me, distorting my vision. My lungs felt like they were constricted, barely taking in
air of any kind. My heart was about to erupt. Tears filled my eyes. "Get it out..." I moaned in pain.

"Delilah," she said next to me, placing her hand on the small of my back. "Delilah, we have to get out of here."

Panting and wincing at the same time, I croaked, "Prue?"

"Yes, sweetie, please stay with us," she said but I had no idea where she was. I couldn't see a thing. I needed to see her, to know she was still alive. Maybe I had died with her and her sisters.

"Pr--" I screamed in absolute agony, feeling my back break along with my hips.

"Cole, now!"

Suddenly, it was cold and no longer was the air packed with smoke. It was dark.

"P... Prue..." I needed to hear her voice.

"I'm here, Delilah," she said next to me, taking my hands in hers with the other still planted on my back. "We need to get you on this bed, okay?"

It was getting harder and harder to breathe. I knew I was dying. I knew this was how my mother felt when she just wanted me out. I was going to die, too.

She helped me lift my heavy legs onto a mattress, and I wondered if we were at home. "Can we..." I coughed harshly, failing to open my eyes to look at her face. "C-c-cuddle?"

She didn't answer right away but then she said, "Soon, okay?" I heard her voice break. She knew it was coming, too.

The contraction inched up through my intestines to my stomach to my ribs, all the way to my throat. It was threatening to destroy me soon, I could feel it. My eyelids tightened the clamp they already had and a strangled moan fell from my lips. I had to let Prue know something before I...

"P-Prue... P-please tell Ph-Phoebe and P-P-Piper... I love th-them... and t-tell--" I grimaced at the spark between my legs. "And t-tell Phoe-Phoebe to say y-yes to Co-Cole, please... And L-Leo was right...

"A-an-and, th-the mo-most--" I stopped to hold back a scream that had nestled underneath my throat, half of it crawling out of my mouth. "I-I... love you, Prue... and I'm s-so sorry... for wh-what happened... F-f-for ev-ev--"

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Third Person POV

Cole, long tears falling from his eyes, turned away from Delilah as her body arched off the bed while she wailed in excruciation. "I can't..." he whispered, a sob escaping his throat. Phoebe touched his arm, her eyes, coated with wetness, unable to leave the terrible scene.

Piper was kneeling on the ground, her hands unsteadily keeping Delilah's bloody thighs spread apart. It was so difficult because Delilah's body was spasming so badly that her muscles stayed still for only a couple seconds before quaking uncontrollably, and Piper couldn't control the sobs shaking her body, making her own muscles weak. "Prue... I don't know if this will work..." she said, feeling her own heart clench at the words.

Prue, her body racking with sobs, watched as her lover uncontrollably seized from the pain. She had to hold down Delilah's wrists, keeping her planted onto the hospital bed, or it would make the birth even more challenging for Piper. Delilah's last words echoed in Prue's mind, making the sick feeling inside her even worse. Prue sniffled and managed to ask Piper, "Do you... see the head?"

The middle sister closed her eyes tight, to push away the clutter of tears, and opened, looking down the scarlet canal. "Yes!" she cried, making Cole and Phoebe turn to stare as well. "It's coming!"

Prue knew it was because Delilah's body was shaking even harder, and Prue could literally hear bones crack and muscles rip. Delilah's face had turned crimson as she ground her teeth. Her neck muscles bulged along with the veins. It was near the end... She was going to break in half.

Prue took out the vial from her pocket and pulled off the top. "What's that?" Cole asked in a sniffling voice, almost inaudible.

The eldest Charmed One looked at him, grief staining her irises. "Potion," she said.

"It should fix Delilah," Phoebe explained to him through a whisper.

"Fix her?" he asked, swallowing roughly.

"She isn't strong enough!" Prue cried, a sob escaping. "I need to save her!"

Cole gawked at Prue in disbelief. "Prue, it might not work! What about side-effects?! Personal gain?!" he cried, taking a step closer.

"It's coming!" Piper yelled between Delilah's thighs.

Prue looked down at Delilah, seeing the muscles spasm for, possibly, one final time. "I'm going to fix you," Prue whispered, biting her lip and lifting the vial.

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Delilah's POV

As every single muscle, bone, vein, cell, and fiber tore, cracked, burst, and split, I felt completely exhausted. Everything was dark.

Everything. Was. Dark.

Liquid touched my lips. And trickled down my throat.

I breathed a soft breath. My last.

A baby cried.

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One chapter left! Please review! :)