Fanfic / The Last Charmed One

The Last Charmed One is a Charmed For Want Of A Nail fan fic.

The fic is an Alternate Universe Fic set in the aftermath of the Season 3 finale , except that Cole, Phoebe and Leo get stuck in the underworld and are unable to arrive in time to save either Prue or Piper who both die at Shack's hands.

The Last Charmed One contains examples of the following tropes:

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• Action Girl: While initially in shock due to her sisters' deaths, Phoebe quickly recovers as she, Leo and Cole are under constant demon attack.
• Aerith and Bob: You have Astaroth, member of the Infernal Council, Celaeno, leader of the Harpies and Lily, matriarch of the succubi.
• The Bad Guy Wins: The fic premise is that the Source's plan works as designed, unlike in canon.
• Black Magic: The powers of evil itself, permeates all of the underworld and its denizens. The Warren witches also practise some forms of it.
  • Blood Magic: Practised by demons. Leo freely gives away his blood to a demon as part of a bargain to get a dragon bone.
    • Necromancy. All blood-to-blood summonings are this, and Leo is shocked that the Charmed Ones used such a dark spell to summon Melinda Warren once or that it's in the Warren Book of Shadows in the first place.
• The Blade Always Lands Pointy End In: Subverted. Phoebe throws a sword at a demon that's strangling Leo, but it's the hilt that hits the demon's head. However it distracts the demon long enough for Leo to grab the sword and vanquish him with it.
• Clap Your Hands If You Believe: Phoebe decides to tap into the power of the Summer Solestice, whose power comes from the people's belief and also the symbolism of light triumphing over darkness.
• Cool Sword: Leo gets one early in the fic, and Cole claims its cursed. Phoebe also steals a knife cursed with a strength-draining spell.
• Despair Event Horizon: Initially Phoebe, until anger takes over. On the other hand Leo falls deep into it's pit when he starts losing his whitelighter powers.
• Eldritch Location: It's revealed by Leo that the underworld and Up There are not physical locations but constructs of magic that are merely an echo of the mortal world. One of the advantages is that the enviromental magic sustains physical beings, ensuring that the trio and especially Phoebe doesn't starve to death. And at least in the Underworld, it's impossible to keep track of time unless one has Whitelighter sensing powers.
• Fights Like a Normal: Phoebe, due to not having active powers.
• Functional Magic: Like in canon, the fic deploys most forms of magic including:
  • Theurgy: Phoebe taps into the power of the summer god and the mother goddes under the summer solestice in a failed attempt to vanquish the Source.
  • White Magic: Whitelighter powers and Wiccan spells to vanquish demons.
  • Black Magic: Practised by demons, warlocks and other evil creatures and the Warren family witches.
• Good Is Not Nice: The fact that the Warren Book of Shadows has spells of necromancy in it proves that the Warren witches are willing to fight dirty.
• Hell: The Underworld, where the trio is trapped by the Source's seal.
• Impaled with Extreme Prejudice: A demon by Leo's curtesy.
• MacGuffin: The skull Phoebe steals from a vanquished low-ranking demon.
• Magical Incantation: As the best spellwritting Charmed One, Phoebe is able to invent spells in the fly. However, stress, danger and being under attack makes it hard for her to engage in spell crafting.
• No-Sell: Wards and protection spells can't stop The Source, nor can spells pierce through wards created by it.
• No Kill like Overkill: With a simple spell Phoebe, without access to the Power of Three, vanquishes twelve demons simultaneously.
• O.O.C. Is Serious Business: After vanquishing a demon for the first time with a sword, Leo's face contorts into a hateful sneer.
• Poltergeist: There are many types, including healing poltergeists and demonic ones. The ones in the underworld are enormous, feed by the Black Magic practised by demons. Phoebe tries to use a ritual to channel a demonic poltergeist power into a dragon bone to use to kill the Source. However the spirit's power is too great and the bone is destroyed during the ritual.
• Power Incontinence: Because of Piper's death, Leo loses his love-powered ability to heal.
• The Power of Love:Leo can't use it after Piper died
• Plunder: Phoebe loots vanquished demons, mostly athames and knives and sometimes a few Magic Wand which are useless as it requires a demon's touch to activate.
• Roaring Rampage of Revenge: Phoebe, Cole and Leo spend a month vanquishing low-ranking demons.
• Technical Pacifist: As a Whitelighter, Leo is not supposed to vanquish demons but being trapped in the underworld, he has no other choice.
• Teleport Interdiction: The Source puts some sort of ward over the underworld, preventing the three protagonists from orbing, shimmering or spellcasting back to Earth. They still can teleport into other parts of the underworld, just not out of it.
• Tome of Eldritch Lore: The Warren Book of Shadows, which also contains dark necromantic spells to summon ancestors and living relatives. It's implied that's the reason why evil beings want to steal it so much.
  Cole: I imagine if the saintly Elders knew that was in your Book of Shadows, they'd try to destroy it, and probably you along with it.
• Wicca: It seems that Phoebe actually does believe in Wicca, while in canon only witch practitioners did.