Bitter Destruction

Damn, guys, I'm so sorry for the long wait! :( I know you guys must be really mad or disappointed in me. This chapter was kind of hard to write, though, so don't be too upset, haha.

The reviewers!

Denver - Thank you, again, sweetie, for the review! :) I hope you can forgive me ONCE MORE! Yeah, you'll find out that Leo's pretty much gonna kill Delilah over this (kidding [or am I? :o], but he's pissed, so...) and Piper, of course, is such a sweetheart. Gotta love her, right? ;)

Prince of Madness - Thank you, too, for another great review. I hope some of those questions are answered... or maybe they're just more confusing now? Who knows. ;)

Thank you guys so much! Now enjoy this chapter!

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"Delilah, I'm so sorry."

I looked around for the voice. My breathing had returned to its steadier pace and my heart was no longer on overdrive. Prue kept her hand interlocked with mine, giving me warmth and care along my skin. Leo was in shock; his face was almost numb-looking. Piper had spoken those four words, though, I could tell. Her brown eyes were expressing sympathy and pity. A weight seemed to push down on my heart.

I felt terrible.

Cole cleared his throat. "Let's take this in here," he offered with a gesture of his hand into the living room.

He and Phoebe walked in first, then Leo and Piper followed, their walking exceptionally slow.

Before we took our turn, I squeezed Prue's hand, getting her attention. "Prue... I-I can't do this," I said, swallowing down the sobs that started to crawl up my throat. "They're all going t-to hate me."

Prue pulled me into a hug, and I started to cry, forcing myself the best that I could to not sob. 'Control it,' I told myself, recalling the same voice Prue had used the night before. "They're not going to hate you," Prue whispered, her voice soothing. "They know this was not your fault. They know this hurts you more than anyone else. And they're going to accept this, just like you are and just like I am."

Nodding in understanding, I relieved us both from the hold but kept her hand close in mine. "Thank you," I mumbled, wiping tears from my eyes.

The witch led me into the living room where the couch was still open, and we sat together. My eyes were stuck on her jeans, away from the small crowd. The weight was still pressing. Deeper and deeper.

"When'd you find out, Delilah?" Phoebe asked.

Inhaling as much air as possible, I responded with my voice breaking, "I t-took a pregnancy test on Piper and Leo's wedding day." I glanced up, seeing that Leo and Cole stood by the fireplace, arms folded over their chests, stone-faced, while Piper and Phoebe were sitting in armchairs across from Prue and me. "B-But my... The Source told me before he..." I stopped to exhale ragged breaths. "He told m-me that I would have his son, like he-he already knew I was going to be pr-pregnant." Turning to Cole, we both said the only way my father could've already known: "The Seer."

"The Seer?" Phoebe questioned, her face quizzical.

"An advisor of The Source. She can see the future, like you, so she must've seen the... heir," Cole responded.

"Damn it..." Leo muttered quietly, moving away from the fireplace and starting to pace along the margin between the couch and chairs.

"Leo?" Piper asked. "What is it?"

"The Elders had heard rumors, but they didn't think it was true. They told me just having Delilah here was dangerous enough..."

"Leo," Prue said, her voice stern. Leo stopped in his tracks and faced her. "What rumors?"

He sighed. "The dawning of a new Source."

Everyone looked on in shock and worry. I could even feel goosebumps form along Prue's arms as I leaned closer into her.

"What do they know?" Cole asked.

"Not much," the whitelighter replied bitterly. "After you guys vanquished The Source, demons either hid out in the shadows, away from you guys, or tried to mass themselves together to form armies big enough to kill you. I don't know if you guys realize it, but destroying The Source made quite the impact on the Underworld.

"The Elders thought that because less and less demons are leaving the Underworld, they're determining some... some way of finding the new Source of All Evil." Leo sighed deeply.

"But they can't," Cole said. "None of the 'regular' demons can become The Source now." His eyes locked on mine. "Not if there's an heir waiting to be born. The heir is next in line."

One of my hands let go of Prue's and rested over the bulge along my stomach. "They want my unborn child to be the next Source?" I asked, trying to make sense of how an infant could control an entire Underworld.

"Yes. But, obviously, when it's born, it won't be able to make decisions and give out orders. Someone will have to mentor it," Cole explained then paused. Before speaking, he turned away from my eyes and swallowed. "And," he said, his voice hoarse, "I doubt you'll be the one to help."

Unable to form words, I heard Piper speak for me, "Meaning?"

Leo answered for the upset half-demon, "They plan to kill Delilah after the child's birth."

"We won't let them," Prue snapped quickly, her green irises darting between the two male bodies in the room. "There's gotta be some way to prevent them from taking the baby and turning it into The--"

"The only way," Leo interrupted, watching me, "is to get rid of the monster."

"Leo!" Piper exclaimed in shock. "We're not going to kill an innocent baby! How can you even say that?!"

"Piper, if this picture was any different - any way at all - I wouldn't have said that, but this is bad. If Delilah, conceived by a witch and the most powerful demon to live, is in fact the most powerful being in the world, and she's carrying a... fetus that has not only Delilah's traits, but The Source's as well. The fetus could be two times more destructive than Delilah! We can't let something that hazardous upon the earth. All hell would break loose."

"We could teach it to be good," I offered softly. "I changed, so it can, too, right?"

"Delilah, it's not--"

"It's a small, ignorant infant, Delilah," Cole responded gently, cutting Leo short. "It won't have any control over its powers, its emotions. Like when you released the fire from your hand--"

"You did what?" Leo asked me tersely.

"She threw a flame," Phoebe answered, "with her hand at the demons that attacked us at P3."

"There were demons at P3?" Piper shouted at her sister. "There had better not be a mess to clean up, young lady!"

"Piper!" Leo yelled, both of them glaring at each other. 'Great,' I thought to myself. 'The newlyweds are already at each others' throats over this, and they'd just gotten back from their honeymoon. Wonderful work.' "You need to see the big picture here: because Delilah is pregnant with The Source's spawn, the child has its father's powers."

"That's why, then," Cole thought aloud. "That's why you produced the flame, from the infant."

"Delilah doesn't have control, then?" Phoebe asked.

I looked at Cole with hope. "Hmm," he hummed, sounding unsure. "The baby has your father's genes, like you, but The Source bound your powers after you were born. I think that means that the child has the powers, but, because the baby is connected to you, you can channel its powers and use them. However, the child could get more powerful, more than we'll anticipate, and could take over."

"How do you know?" Piper asked.

All heads turned back to Cole. My eyes were locked on his. Cole's jaw tightened before he answered, "Delilah's mother wasn't very powerful being only a witch. Once she was impregnanted with Delilah, whom contained The Source's powers inside her, somehow would get so strong, and she would consume the wi--"

"Lily," I interfered, "is her name."

Cole nodded. "She would consume Lily. But I'm not sure exactly what would happen. It was prohibited for anyone to see her at all; only The Source and The Seer could visit Lily. Demons knew that someone was kept in that room, but The Source wouldn't allow anyone to see her, to know about her." He scoffed in bitter amusement. "We all started to think it was a hybrid-monster or something. Not a girl."

The room was quiet as we waited for Cole to finish with his explanation. Eventually he shook out of his thoughts and spoke again. "Sometimes the whole Underworld would shake. Not tremendously, but a small rumble, like an earthquake. You could even feel it above ground."

"We would be able to feel them?" Phoebe asked.

"Sure," Cole replied. "But, again, I don't know why. The day that Delilah was born, however, the ground almost divided."

"She was in that much pain?" I inquired, my fingers digging a little more into my shirt.

Leo glanced at me. "Why do you say she was in pain?"

I swallowed, looked at Prue, and then back to Leo. "The baby tends to fight inside of me, it feels like. Clawing and scratching... to get out, I guess? And it's very painful. I would assume that when it's ready to come out of the womb..." I winced.

"It would be excruciating," Prue finished. "With her emotions and hormones going crazy as it as, and the additional pain of the baby, I wouldn't be surprised if the ground split."

"Which is why we can't go through with this," Leo sighed.

A silence filled the air after Leo's last words. I wanted to speak back and tell all of them that I could make this baby good and not the ultimate danger to the world. But I couldn't guarantee that.

Prue kissed the top of my head and then moved her body away from mine. "Prue?" I asked, feeling her hand unlatch itself from mine. She rose from the couch with her eyes totally focused on something. She had some kind of idea. Prue, what is it? I asked with my power.

"Piper, can you make something for Delilah to eat? She hasn't been eating too well since you've been gone, and I don't want that to affect the baby," Prue said.

Piper and I made confused faces at each other.

"Phoebe, come with me. I'll need your help."

Phoebe also stood up, but she looked just as puzzled as her older sister and I were. "What are we--"

"We're going to find some answers," Prue responded, cutting the youngest witch off. "We need to summon the dead."

I found it hard to find my voice. "P-P... Prue, who are you going to summon?"

Prue's throat tightened and relaxed as she swallowed. "The only person that could know what you're going through," she answered gently.

I couldn't believe her words. A shiver ran down my spine. "The only person that could know what you're going through..."

Lily. My mother.

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Side Note
Not very important, but I'm curious: If you're visualizing what's going on while you're reading this, who do you usually see Delilah as? An actress or just some random chick? Well, I hadn't really given it much thought myself, really. She was kinda Sim-ish to me, actually, haha. But a girlfriend of mine and I had watched the "movie sensation" Twilight a few weeks ago, and the actress that plays Alice Cullen (Ashley Greene) caught my attention! So I looked her up, and, with her long hair, she looks gorgeous! Kinda Delilah-like, I think, too!

Some stuff of her:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k4mxnpwzIhk (in the bed is muy yummy! :D)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tcHDbiVIPrk

Let me know what you guys think, or who you would cast as Delilah if this were to have aired on Charmed, like, nine years ago! (Of course if the producers chose Greene, she'd be youngerrrrr, but there's technology crap for that! ;D)

I'm done rambling now. Please review, and I'll try to get the next chapter up quickerly! :)