Crimson Concrete for a Thorny Rose (part 2b) by Instant Classic Superstar Pac
Disclaimer: Charmed is complete property of the late Aaron Spelling, Connie Burge, Brad Kern, and co. I only own four characters seen here, two being Derrick Serkan Brady and the Kentman, and the pieces of the storyline you are about to read that are not seen or hinted at on Charmed. Also, regardless of whose vision they are, all characters involved either are/were or would be portrayed by actual human beings with at least an iota of believable acting ability.
Rating: T
Summary: Follow-up to Love's Demonic Black Sheep set within pieces of season 7. Derrick's quest to save both Kyra and Cole comes closer to impossible through a heartbreaking setback which he must find the resolve to plow through and rise above.
NOTE: Before we begin, I would like to apologize for once again taking a billion years to do this. Now, I've got to ship out a warning. This chapter is in so many places, but that's for a reason. It's because of what I'm trying to set the table for. And that's my next piece to this little saga at last.
Meanwhile, the battle between Anya against Yoka and the Kentman still raged on the Underworld. As Anya cart wheeled to the side to avoid another flurry of Yoka-generated burning falcons, the Kentman launched another blast of his black burst particles at her. This round made its way inside her, and as the Kentman quickly closed his right fist, the particles burst inside Anya, sending a stabbing pain searing through her ribs which temporarily immobilized her. With that, Kentman and Anya both rushed over and kicked her in the abdomen, sending her flying back into the wall and writhing in pain at her unfortunate lot at the moment.
"Well, we should've known you weren't gonna make this easy on us," Yoka started as she and Kentman stalked over the groaning Anya, "but then again it's not like it really matters."
"That's right, Anyankos," the Kentman continued, the two now casting a proverbial shadow over her. "It all ends here."
"That's… ach… what you think… bastard!" Anya shot in defiance, which Kentman grew a puzzled look at, thoroughly pretending as if he didn't understand.
"You've gotta be kidding me. Really," Kentman protested. "Anya, you're mere seconds away from death, yet you still think you can fight?" The fact that she was so clearly favoring her midsection as though unable to fight back whatsoever only further played into why this was supposed to be unfathomable. Physical incapacitation was most demons' utter breaking point. But not this one. However, just then she was able to simmer down her reaction to the pain, and apparently, from the smile that came upon her features, the pain itself.
Then it happened. Anya transformed into a new demonic form; taller, with golden skin and a more menacing tone in her face, which was now affixed with black markings around her now glowing red eyes. Several black exoskeleton-like spikes started to protrude from her back, as well as a couple from her elbows. Her clothes also changed, morphing into a hard exoskeleton shield which covered her chest, front midsection, full lower abdomen, thighs, and calves. Immediately, Yako and the Kentman were overcome with shock and fear, scrambling around and trying to find a way to escape from the gambit she just caught them in.
As soon as they both tried to split up and take off, Anya got back up and launch a black energy ball at Yako's back, which struck and knocked her right into the wall. The Kentman stopped and turned around to view the attack.
"Damnit!" he shouted, firing another particle shot in her direction. Anya responded by creating a black flame shield which kept the particles, then coming right the Kentman's way and gripping him by the neck. She then quickly released and punched him, which sent him towards a wall as well. Yako, whose face looked plenty bruised itself, picked herself back up and staggered about a bit, which Anya suddenly caught sight of.
"Tired already, sis?" Anya asked, her voice laden with a new demonic tone to it. Yako was momentarily frozen in fear by the comment, which she quickly tried to cover up by throwing jets of flame at Anya, who swatted the attack aside like nothing. As Anya slowly crept towards Yoka, the redhead found herself actively quivering.
"That wasn't exactly a very smart move there, Yoka," the Kentman proclaimed with a brave tone in his voice as he launched more particle blasts towards Anya, but with a simple turnaround and scream she was able to deflect that assault right back at Kentman, who had to use his particle teleport maneuver to escape getting hurt.
"Oh, and that was much better!" Yoka managed to sarcastically retort back towards her partner.
"Just run, you fool!" Kentman warned in retort, and it took one quick look at her sister for Yoka to remember the situation and realize he was right. As Anya looked back and forth, Yoka was able to quickly get a running start as she tried to make a break for it. The transformed demon quickly saw it and formed a deadly-looking black energy ball in her hand, but as soon as she launched it at Yoka, the Firefox made her escape by flame. She just stood there, eyeing the spot, as did Kentman for awhile.
"Heh," the particle demon finally sounded off as a smirk crept on and he teleported out of there. It was as he was doing this that Anya sharply turned in his direction, so she was too late to stop him. After looking around for a bit, to make sure they wouldn't come back and jump her, she sighed and allowed herself to return to her more human form.
"Well, thank God that's over. If He considers a creature like me, at least," Anya remarked to no one in particular before red-orbing out of the territory.
Back in Valhalla, Derrick and Cole were walking along through Valhalla.
"So, what happened with the new dark hero look?" Cole asked somewhat in jest, referring to the new black coat and tights, the latter of which had some red outlined sun artwork visible below the belt but mostly hidden on the sides behind the coat.
"Oh, that," Derrick recalled. "Well, you can blame the Valkyries for that one. See, they wanted me to have a pendant like theirs as proof of my basically joining them, but then I kinda realized, the whole pendant thing is corny. So instead they actually went downstairs in order to find somebody who could make me an outfit that would specifically kinda mesh with my bloodstream."
"And they could actually accomplish this?" Cole questioned, a little quizzical as to why and how this was actually doable.
"You'd be surprised how persuasive beautiful chicks in Amazon gear can be without coming onto anybody. Oh! Here we are," Derrick replied, seeing that they were finally approaching a Valkyrie acting in place of Herja and the top class of warriors at their usual training spot. "Hey!" The blonde Valkyrie turned around at his call.
"Oh… Derrick, who's this with you? Is he the intruder?" she inquired as she finally noticed the other man.
"Well, actually-"
"Yes. I am," Cole immediately cut Derrick off, figuring he would've probably tried to sugarcoat something in his defense. "But I didn't come here on purpose. I just kind of… lucked into it, you could say."
"Hold on a second," Darrius suddenly spoke up, having turned and seen the man in the suit talking with Derrick and Herja. Suspicious of this new arrival, the warrior approached the triumvirate and looked around at Cole as if inspecting him. He stopped at his face, however, specifically taking the opportunity to look into his eyes.
"You appear to be a fairly hard man," Darrius noted. "Perhaps a little too hardened."
"And I think I know exactly where it comes from," Cole remarked, expecting the obvious to be somewhat irritating.
"Cole, just stop," Derrick quickly advised. Unfortunately, that squealed the name of this man to the Valkyrie and the warriors. A few of them looked crossly, having apparently heard a few stories about a demon named Cole, some in clearer detail than others. Those who weren't eyeing the scene with suspicious gazes were looking around at those that were as if asking to know what was going on. Siu, though, specifically stepped forward and joined Darrius in the confrontation.
"Serkan!" Siu suddenly burst, addressing Derrick by his middle name as he'd instructed for the warriors to do. "Why did you bring an evil demon here?"
"Like he said, he brought himself here by accident, and trust me. He's not a threat. He's not in evil form. In fact, he's not even exactly a demon right now," Derrick soundly explained. "He's part dead and cosmic, pretty much like all you guys now."
"Like one of us?" Darrius questioned, receiving a nod from Derrick.
"That makes no sense!" Siu was steadfast to object. "Once the evil dead are vanquished, they are taken to a stage of hell! How could one get in here?"
"Oh, there's a reason for it," Derrick coolly affirmed, "and I think I know what it is."
"Hey, I don't need all my personal baggage being aired out here," Cole interrupted.
"Whoa, relax. I wasn't gonna tell him what the reason was," Derrick claimed in self-defense.
"Enough!" Siu suddenly cried out, stopping the squabble as he turned to Cole. "If the stories are true, you are formidable and vicious, but also cunning and dangerous. I don't know why Serkan trusts you, but I cannot accept your presence. Prepare to fight me, demon!" Cole merely looked at the monk warrior like he was crazy, briefly turned to Derrick and got a shrug, then returning to giving Siu the same quizzical expression on his face.
"You're kidding me, right?" Cole finally asked after a ten-second pause.
"What do you mean?" Siu demanded hostilely.
"What makes you think I'm gonna fight you here and now? You're blinded by your own raw instinct," Cole commented, leaving Derrick impressed that his half-dead friend could pick up on the exact same thing that he's been trying to teach the monk and the rest of these warriors since he's been around. "You're gonna strike and try to kill me, and I'm gonna make you pay for it. It's too easy. In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if this guy right next to me's been telling you this exact same thing for a long time now."
"H- how did you know?" Derrick couldn't stop himself from asking aloud.
"Once you've lived long enough to see just about everything, one look truly is worth a thousand words," Cole replied with a smile.
"Enough talk!" Siu shouted, finally fully tired of this dialogue. He started to rear his leg for a kick, until…
"Stop it!" a familiar feminine voice came and commandingly swooped over the area. Everyone else immediately turned around and caught sight of Herja, and more importantly knew better than to ignore her presence and pursue what they were doing, including Cole because of how conditional his official acceptance had been into Valhalla. His acceptance… wow, the one part he and Derrick forgot to mention to these guys. Unbelievable.
"Herja, Serkan has found the intruder and brought him into our midst,"
"I'm well aware," Herja revealed, bringing about a look of surprise. "And I know it isn't easy. But the head triumvirate and I have conditionally accepted him into Valhalla."
"But why?" another one of the warriors spoke up. This was the large rotund one with the face paint. "He's a threat! A demon! One of the forces of evil!"
"Not completely, and apparently not at the moment. Also, our new champion seems to be confident in his honest intentions here," Herja countered the warrior's argument. "Therefore, Freyja motioned to accept him into the fold here at Valhalla, so long as he is not left without surveillance for a second."
"But that's a dangerous stand to take," argued the short-haired blonde Valkyrie that supervised in Herja's place. "Assuming that this demon won't try anything? How do we know he hasn't just been using the compassion of certain high members here to prepare an ultimate assault?"
"If he does, we'll deal with him then. But if not, then he could be a valuable addition to our cause," Herja reminded her. "Think about it. We have the power to destroy him if he tries anything treacherous. The worst that can happen is that he lays one strike and is quickly dispatched before he can get the chance to do anything further. In any case, the decision's been made. And I don't really like it, but I see where it comes from. Hopefully the same can apply to the rest of us in due time."
The other Valkyrie and even the warriors listened to Herja's point and began to contemplate it. Murmuring began to occur amongst most of the warriors, which the mage and the monk approached in order to listen more closely. Much of the stance among the warriors was that Herja was right, and if not that then since the decision had come from up top there was no use trying to fight it. As they listened in, the two warriors began to get a good idea how they would manage this. Once their minds were fully made up, they turned to the two Valkyries and the quasi-demonic "brothers", ready to speak for the rest of the class.
"I still think we should strike him down now," Siu began, "but out of loyalty, we will agree to keep him. And especially, to keep an eye on him."
"Thank you," Herja acknowledged, truly grateful that this didn't blow up badly. "You are all a great credit to what we do here in Valhalla." With that statement spoken, she walked in front of Cole and stared him directly in the eye. "Hopefully, the same can apply to you, rather than the other way around."
Cole could only give a small amused chuckle. He had no intentions on betrayal, but starting here was going to be a definite rough patch. Good thing he had Derrick to help him through a bit for the time being, though.
As this all went on, in the heavens stood a figure currently looming in thought, with the next conference approaching. He was an Elder, typical to the role with white and golden robe, and from the looks of him he either was or had stopped aging while in his fifties. His face was oval-shaped and appeared a little stout, and he carried a short head of graying hair, which was typically a sign of one becoming an Elder but in his case was simply aging before the fact. His name was Odin, and he was one of the most powerful members of the Council of Elders.
For longer than he could truly count now, Odin had been an Elder and truly earned his place in the ranks, helping to enact and enforce rules and regulations which were vital to maintaining order in the magical grand design. These rules had been put into place in order to prevent so many personal complications he'd seen before in his life from getting in the way of the duties of magical creatures, specifically whitelighters, the state that most Elders had directly progressed from, and the charges that they had to look out for. One of those safeguards particularly, put in place 42 years ago, could be considered something of a chastity order, but that was a cold definition at best. It was a rule that was made with the intention of keeping undue emotional baggage from impeding whitelighters' ability to do their jobs, and to keep the immortal dead revived from interfering with the alive in ways that were unprecedented and unpredictable. It was the rule forbidding whitelighters to become too intimately involved with their charges, which included but was not limited to romantic relationships.
For years that rule had been followed to the letter, apart from , and there were no problems because of it. Witches were able to focus on living their lives, strengthening their powers, and protecting the innocent from demons and other evil threats. Whitelighters were able to focus on looking after the witches in order to help them maintain this goal, whether it meant posing as acquaintances or casual friends or simply watching over them without any real place in their lives. Not to say that everything had gone without a hitch, as demons were still getting the better of witches close to as much as vice versa, but things were much more orderly. Whitelighters treated the Elders with respect and followed their orders, which were restricted to any emergency situations, and when witches and/or future whitelighters entered the afterlife they followed suit, and those who were apt to be trouble at first eventually came around. Many of the Elders currently in place actually earned their position over other contenders due to their level of respect.
These thoughts were not a speech made for a power grab on his part. Odin truly felt that this was the way it needed to be. And it had much to do with how he came up. Before he became an Elder, he'd lived a life as a fairly powerful witch. His parents and siblings, however, had had no powers nor knowledge of magic, meaning he'd never had any knowledge of it himself until one day when out in the woods he suddenly came under chase courtesy a horse. He cowered in fear, expecting to be kicked into next week, but suddenly a force field had come around him and knocked the horse back. He had gone alone, but he later found out that his father had seen everything. Being that his family was founded on deep moral values and respect, when his father told him that he was ready to excommunicate him from the family for this if it meant protecting the others from his powers, he simply agreed and admitted that he was just as scared that he might do something and would leave on his own if he had to. This had actually inspired his father to offer to make sure he would master his powers.
Unfortunately, the man would go on to be killed just a few years later while with Odin, leaving the rest of the family to reject the then-teenage boy. He accepted it out of shame and made his way through the world alone, which landed him somewhere where he learned to grow into and control his powers. Unfortunately, his strict values and complaints about the bold and somewhat unrefined style of dress the keepers had there would actually ruffle enough feathers there to get him kicked out of yet another place to stay. Returning to the world at large, he discovered that he'd become quite the strong and adept witch, and used his powers to protect the town where he was born. The Elders eventually would recognize his good works and stable mindset and came down to offer him a place in their ranks, and from there the rest was history.
Speaking of history, recent history had it that the long-awaited prophecy of the most powerful witches in history would finally come true when the witch Patricia Halliwell and Victor Bennett's daughters, Prudence, Piper, and Phoebe, finally came together as the Charmed Ones over six years ago. The whitelighter Leo Wyatt, who had been secretly watching over the Halliwell family while posing as a friend or minor acquaintance for over fifty years, had been the model whitelighter so far and there was no reason to expect anything different. Though the sisters' relationship had been somewhat strained in the beginning, it eventually grew, and for a while it seemed that there would be nothing more than bliss between the Charmed Ones and the Elders.
That was until Leo and Piper suddenly decided that following their urges to jump into romance with each other was a good idea. Odin had feared that from there, everything would go downhill. And it did. First Leo was healing Piper from diseases, breaking the rule against healing wounds that didn't come from evil attacks. Then they were secretly plotting to get married, and the Elders were having to rely on a tip from demons in order to catch wind of it and stop it in time. Then, while they were in the process of convincing the council through their actions to allow them to marry, Phoebe was off falling in love with a demon. This would be a factor in the incident that lost Prue and later introduced the council to the fact that Patricia and her whitelighter Sam Wilder had broken the anti-involvement rule in the mid-to-late 1970s, resulting in the hybrid Paige, and had given her at birth in order to hide the fact. And all this before the royal backfire of Phoebe's demon romance and Gideon going insane over the power of Piper and Leo's firstborn twice-blessed son Wyatt, the prospect of which had been another reason to keep whitelighters out of bed. All unnecessary complications, all because the Charmed Ones, especially Piper, and Leo, decided to throw caution to the wind and hell with the rules.
Recently, though, was the biggest insult to the Elders' order that he could ever remember. A gathering storm was on the horizon, courtesy of a powerful and shady force he recalled from history called the Avatars. While not decidedly evil, the Avatars were not a trustworthy entity, to say the least. Leo of all people should've known that, since he was the one they were torturing with flying skull creatures and helping that scoundrel Barbas set up to kill one of their own in Zola, the one that had in fact been one of Leo's closest confidants in the council. Yet all they needed to do was to speak of some utopia, feed him all the lines that he wanted to hear, and he was willing to take the gamble of possibly throwing everything away at their feet. Even after they requested he save a demonic seer, of all things, he still stuck through. Then again, he did seem to have some form of a history with that specific seer… yet something else to be concerned about.
Today was the culmination of Odin conferring with the rest of the Elders for weeks to decide what to do with Leo. It took all this for the rest of them to finally decide that something needed to be figured out about this rebellious whitelighter in their midst who was breaking all the rules and doing no one any service but those impulsive witches. They decided on doing a test, to force him to give up either his Elderdom and everything it entailed, or his personal life with the Halliwells. And Odin was determined on committing Leo to the test. He had to punish Leo. He had to teach him a lesson about being an Elder that he would never ever forget. Even if it took dishing the family a piece of its own medicine to do it.
Unfortunately, as usual, the Charmed Ones couldn't realize when it was time to leave well enough alone, and Piper had to get attacked by some thorn demons. And Leo had to continue to be as impulsive and impetuous as ever, daring to fall from grace. Well, he got what he wanted now. Congratulations to one Leo Wyatt. He wanted to live a normal life with his witch. Now he's got one. Hopefully, he's happy with himself.
"Um… Mr. Odin, sir, the others are waiting for you," a young male voice spoke which he recognized all too well. Kevin. The prodigal Elder who the Charmed Ones helped Remus transfer his powers to. And they couldn't even do that right, he had to die to make that happen. To make matters worse, seeds of the rebel youth have been slowly showing from Kevin recently. Odin would have to be strict with him, keep him in line, train him personally in how to properly carry oneself as an Elder.
But he had to focus on Kevin later. The important focus at the moment was that the Council needed his presence for the next meeting and that was taking place now.
"Very well," he stated, getting up off the porch and walking towards the building's conference room.
In another Underworld location, which actually looked quite different from the simple cave where Anya was fighting her sister Yoka and the Kentman earlier, there were two male demons, who each looked to be of a young man's age, both apparing to be in their mid-twenties, though only one had facial hair. The one with facial hair also had a full head of short, wavy, dark hair, with a mustache and a small goatee. The other one sported a spiky square-looking buzz cut and no facial hair. Both wore dark dress shirts and pants, though the shorter-haired one's dress shirt was a shade of navy blue while everything else on both men was black.
"So you see, this is exactly where I'm going with this," the buzz cut demon started.
"I'd say I'm catching your point, but one question," the wavy haired one asked. "If you're so sure that this can work, why are we waiting so long?"
"Man… you think you've got it, Nomed, but you're still missing the picture. It's because I know this can work that I'm willing to wait even longer," the buzz cut one replied towards his accomplice. "You see, one day I ran into this demon as I was walking around the Underworld inconspicuously. I noticed he was doing the same, so I tried to come over and talk to him about a plan to raise some hell in the mortal world. He raised an athame to my neck and told me if I didn't drop it right then and there I'd be the next demon to die at his hands, which told me that I was dealing with a rebel here. I was able to quickly beg off and scamper for the hills, but I had to see what was making this guy tick."
"So that's the demon you were following the whole time," Nomed finally realized aloud.
"That's right," his friend confirmed. "And here's where the real story kicks in; it turns out, he's the half-vampire whitelighter they left up in Canada."
"That was Serkan?" Nomed stated.
"Yeah, do you know him?" the other demon confirmed.
"Um… not really, sir. Just by reputation," Nomed admitted.
"So you know no more than me. Actually, that's not all the way true, you know less. Well, that's about to change," the toxically attractive apparent boss stated to prepare him. "What I've learned watching him on-and-off over the past year is that he's been living with a seer, and they've viewed each other fondly. I realized those two were partners searching for some common goal of some sort, and were apparently even watching the Charmed Ones, of all people, a few times, but they couldn't find what they were looking for. One day, though, they got into this argument about a vision she saw, related to a group called the Avatars and apparently her imminent death at the hands of her former demonic master. She told him he couldn't stay because he was nowhere in sight in her visions of coming events, which meant that if he didn't leave at that moment, then he would die. They had a, uh… well, what I would call at least a painful parting."
"Wow. At this rate, I wonder what kept you from biting their heads off," Nomed wondered aloud, somewhat surprised.
"I wasn't gonna sacrifice my entire plan on an impulse," the leader answered. "Back to Serkan. He left, of course, but later that night, he returned while she was asleep, appearing through some kind of vortex alongside a couple of warrior women and a hooded guy. He just came over, looking at her and even touching her in ways that I would chalk down to him wanting her physically but somehow never taking her. Eventually, though, he actually kissed her. Right on the lips. Then he issued an apology that you could tell he was holding back from saying something from, and he walked away and left with the others."
"Wait… no, you're telling me… that can't be right," Nomed started in shock and denial. What his leader was telling him of right now is unheard of.
"That's exactly what I'm telling you," the boss confirmed. "He is just like Belthazor, and we've all heard of what happened to him. Corrupted by his good half and some notion of love. Hmph… love. You have got to be kidding me. I've got to look at multiple demons, infected by the sickness of love. And even more pathetic, Serkan's love interest… was a demonic seer. Who probably shares his feelings, based on her reaction to that kiss, but unlike him actually realized that it was wrong and impossible for her either to have or to survive with. They had to have known about what happened to Belthazor, too."
"That explains what they must have been looking for that they never found," Nomed suggested. "A way to correct that issue about who she was. She must be the rare example of a demon not born with a black heart."
"Exactly, and without a clear mind, either, because of it, because I was hidden in plain sight for every second. More importantly, she sold out demon kind to the Charmed Ones over the Avatars' so-called "Utopia", which they enacted for a time as you know, but ended up killed by Zankou, the demon that was imprisoned in a ball by the Source but then let out by a desperate conference of demons, before that could happen. Apparently he was her old boss that she regarded as a scumbag," the lead demon replied, before the expression on his face suddenly became grim. "I got a good feeling, Nomed, that something big is about to happen in some time, and it's gonna leave us with a window of opportunity. One that looks large enough that we can do whatever and whenever, but that only really leaves us one perfect timing opening to act upon."
"Now I understand exactly what you're waiting for," Nomed remarked as though having an epiphany.
"Congratulations," the calculating demon acknowledged, before smirking deviously and patting a hand on Nomed's shoulder. "You're all in."
Meanwhile, back in Valhalla, after being offered a quick introduction to the warriors that he would be living amongst for the time being, Cole would find himself and Derrick arriving at the cavern chamber while only Freyja and three other Valkyries were present in the room. One of the other Valkyries began to step forward, but Freyja waved her off and allowed the two to come over to her.
"What can I do for you, gentlemen?" Freyja asked cordially with a smile on her face.
"We were actually thinking you could, allow us to take a trip to a mausoleum I know," Cole requested, to which the other Valkyries looked a bit alarmed, though none of them would actually voice their grievances.
"Hmm…" Freyja stated, starting to peruse the request. It was a bit troubling to her that already Cole was asking to go somewhere… however, she did remember something from the earlier conversation. He'd once said something about having some "family business" he'd tended to before arriving at Valhalla that he needed to tell Derrick about. It was fairly apparent by now that he hadn't gotten the opportunity yet. "Very well, but would you care to tell me why you need to get there?" She asked this just to verify.
"We've got private matters to discuss, and finally enough time to do so," Cole explained, which to her was more of a confirmation, something he sort of figured out. "I could've sworn I'd already told you this."
"You have," she replied with a smile. "I'm glad you could be honest with me so quickly. However, we still need to choose a Valkyrie to accompany you and serve as a guard." She then turned towards the other Valkyries in the room. "Cherima!" Her call was responded to in particular by a relatively vibrant-looking shoulder-length-haired Valkyrie brunette, who approached the boss dame and the two half-demons with little hesitation.
"Talk to me, Freyja. I'll do as you ask," she earnestly stated.
"I'm pleased," Freyja replied graciously. "You're a hard nosed and lively Valkyrie. I'd like you to join these two in company to this mausoleum where he's requested to go."
"Wait just a second," Cole quickly interjected before the brunette could vocally sign herself to the task. "No. She's not coming. This discussion is kind of a private matter. We don't need a random Valkyrie to be there watching over us."
"Did you forget the queen's orders?" the Valkyrie apparently known as Cherima quickly contested, showing some of the same loyalty towards Freyja as Kara displayed. "You can't be left unattended, remember, demon guy?"
"Well, Derrick isn't exactly leaving me unattended. Which means that should be enough to make this good for going," Cole countered.
"Actually," Derrick started as he drew the others' focus, "I was thinking, that maybe we could use another helping hand. But it's not you, Cherima."
"Okay, then who do you have in mind?" Cherima asked in curious reply.
"Funny you should ask," Derrick answered, before suddenly turning to Freyja. "See, Freyja… I was thinking, that I'd like you to come along." This easily led to gasps among the other three Valkyries, as well as a hostile glare from Cole.
"Me?" Freyja asked loudly in clear surprise herself. "But… why? I especially like to only leave when there's an emergency. What reason would I have to come out over this?"
"Well, for one thing, there's not gonna be a fight in the cage to decide Cole's worth here," Derrick reasoned, "so if anything, this is probably the best chance you're gonna get for awhile of learning what you can about him that goes beyond the stories and the record books." One look at Freyja told him that she was starting to buy in. "I mean, think about it. He's gonna be here for awhile. What better way to find out where his mind's at right now than to join him and a good friend in a personal chat?"
The contemplative expression on Freyja's features was a noticeable sight that largely tensed up the area, specifically the surrounding Valkyries and Cole, all of whom were at least a little apprehensive about this being seen through. Cole didn't appreciate the idea of being "spied on by a goddess Amazon" in his eyes, while the other Valkyries recognized that Freyja rarely ever left the realm of Valhalla and really wondered if this was a good idea. However, the queen bee's choice would soon be made, as she found herself nodding in understanding at several good points to Derrick's offer, both those the double-edged blonde had presented as well as some new aspects of this she considered on her own. Soon, she turned towards Derrick and Cole.
"I'll go with you," Freyja replied.
"Wait, are you sure you wanna do that, though?" Cherima asked immediately.
"Yes. I am," Freyja softly replied, before placing her hands on Cherima's shoulders. "And believe me, there's no need to be concerned, because everything will be fine." Reluctantly, Cherima nodded in reply, then turned towards the other two Valkyries and motioned for them to stand easier. Freyja took her hands off of the underling and allowed her to walk to the others, before taking her own pendant and extending it towards Cole.
"Grab this. And think about where it is you wish to go, then press the gem," she finally instructed the new half-demon in the fold. Resigning himself to the fact that she would indeed be there as well, Cole gave a sigh before doing as she explained. After what felt like an entire minute with the thick atmosphere in the air but was actually less than even half of one, he would finally press the gem and bear witness to the liquid whirlpool vortex that served as the Valkyries' cosmic portal through the worlds.
NOTE: As you can probably see, this chapter is essentially all over the place, but that's for a good reason. Once again, I've got major plans in the works, and between Demonic Black Sheep and Crimson Concrete, all this is like a prequel, a complete setup for that.
Now for a few specifics.
One: yes, the stingy headstrong Elder that helped basically create the rift between the Elders and the Charmed Ones is called Odin. I didn't make that up, folks. Just in case any of you missed it, because he's been addressed by the name on the show by another Elder, Sandra, but it wasn't made terribly obvious. As insufferable as I think he is, in order to a) connect the dots as to what point in time this is in, b) make him somewhat understandably human by giving an idea what made him this way, and c) give his name some fitting connections, albeit only hinted at this point, I decided to use his thoughts to create a backstory that I think would befit the upbringing of an ultraconservative Elder with the name of a Viking god.
Two: Yoka was essentially co-created by me and the same friend that created Anya. Well, actually, he really created the character, I just fleshed out a couple details for my use. I actually think I did more to Anya, because her original demon form was supposed to be more grotesque and even more powerful… okay, now this is just rambling. Anyway, Kentman's the only one of the three that I made up, but then again that was already something you could guess, so yeah. And I added a little extra note in my footnote for 1c&2 about who plays him.
Three: the two male demons at the other Underworld scene? One later goes on to appear on the show. The other is another OC demon of mine. Clue - I didn't give the OC's name.
Four: the last of my OCs involved, the Valkyrie Cherima (whose name is basically an anagram of "chimera"), is for all intents and purposes a cameo character who I severely doubt will be seen again.
Five: part 2c will be much shorter, as well as conclude the Crimson Concrete series. But then again that was already a good guess as well. Unfortunately, there's no good guess as to when it'll arrive.
Anyway, see ya later, folks!
-Pac.
P.S. To everybody, a Merry belated Christmas, Happy belated Hanukkah, Kwanza, whatever else that's a happy December holiday, whatever you may celebrate, and a Happy New Year! Peace, folks.
