Legacy 111: Penny Dreadful
Part 4
Xxx
Feeling as if time had stopped, Wyatt stared at his family and waited for someone to say something. He had feared this moment ever since he realized his feelings for Dylan, but part of him was happy the secret was finally out. There was no going back, so he had to look forward instead. Melinda was about to speak, when suddenly a column of fire rose from the floor and Julian appeared.
"Sorry." Julian said as he noticed the tension in the room. "Is this a bad time?"
Wyatt was stunned. Even though he knew the essence was expelled, he still could not forget Julian had been the Source of All Evil. According to Prue, he was trying to be good now and had tried to connect with his mother and sisters, but Wyatt had never really talked to him. And now he had disrupted a critical moment in his personal life.
"Julian." Penny said surprised.
"What the hell are you doing here?" Chris called out as he stood up.
Before anyone could react, Chris waved his arm and Julian was thrown against the wall. Payton cried out for her brother while Penny angrily began screaming at Chris. Everyone seemed to forget the huge bombshell Wyatt had just dropped. Everyone except Melinda, who began crying and ran into the kitchen. Wyatt wanted to go after her, but he realized he was probably needed here.
"What the hell is wrong with you?" Penny asked Chris.
"You can't just attack him." Payton argued. "He is not evil anymore."
"It's alright." Julian said as he magically rose to his feet. "I guess I could have expected a reaction like that. Next time I'll knock."
"Next time?" Chris asked. "Why are you even here?"
"I need to talk to you about…" Julian started to say, but he stopped when he noticed the invitation to the nightclub opening lying on the table. "Why do you have this?"
"That's none of your business." Chris said. "You might be related through blood, but that doesn't mean you're part of this family. For all we know, you're still evil."
"I'm not." Julian replied. "At least, I don't think so."
"He is not evil." Payton said upset as she turned to her half-brother. "I know what happened in Miami. I know you helped defeat the Wraith. Mom was so happy to see you."
"Right." Julian said hesitantly.
"I've been wanting to meet you for a long time now." Payton said. "But I guess I was nervous. I wasn't sure what to expect."
"Believe me, I understand." Julian said. "All of this still feels strange."
"You're my brother." Payton said. "Wow, that feels so weird to say."
"Alright guys, you can have your sibling bonding moment later." Penny remarked. "Julian, you were pretty clear. You said you couldn't pretend, that you needed time. What changed?"
"I'm not here to have a family reunion." Julian said. "I came to warn you."
"About what?" Chris asked skeptically.
"A demonic threat." Julian explained. "This invitation to the reopening of P3 was sent by a demon. A soul collector. She took over the club to lure new souls."
"Then why would she invite us?" Penny asked.
"Because witches are worth much more than mortals." Julian said. "If you would have gone to the opening, you would have walked right into a trap."
"How you do know all of this?" Chris asked.
"I heard some rumors when I was in the Underworld." Julian replied.
"I knew it." Chris said. "You're still part demon. Why else would you be down there?"
"You're right, I will always be part demon." Julian agreed. "But I was there fighting other demons."
"Why?" Payton asked.
"I don't know." Julian replied. "I guess I wanted to know what it feels like to be on the side of good."
"Yeah right." Chris remarked as he rolled his eyes.
"I don't need you to believe me." Julian said determined. "I don't care what you think of me. I just came to warn you. Do whatever you want."
Julian became surrounded in flames and was about to leave when Payton grabbed his arm. He stopped and frowned at her.
"Wait." Payton said. "Please, you just got here. You came to warn us, which means you must care, right? So stay and help us."
"Payton, if he wants to leave he should." Penny said.
"I think he should." Chris added.
"Nobody asked you." Penny snapped at him.
"Guys!" Henry suddenly called out as he slammed his fist on the table. Everyone was shocked and turned to him, as he had been quiet the entire time. "Love the family reunion, but aren't you all forgetting something important here?"
A silence fell in the room as everyone suddenly seemed to remember what Wyatt had just told them. The awkwardness was almost unbearable as they tried to muster up a response.
"Oh. Right, sorry." Chris said as he looked at Wyatt.
"It's alright." Wyatt replied. "I know it's a lot to process. We can talk about it later."
"No, this is important, we should talk about it now." Chris said as he glared at Julian. "Preferably in private."
"So I did interrupt something." Julian noted.
"We'll take Julian to the attic." Penny said. "Maybe he can identify the demon we're dealing with. And for what it's worth, Wyatt, I'm completely fine with it."
"Me too. I actually think it's kind of sweet." Payton added with a smile.
"Thanks, guys." Wyatt said feeling relieved.
"We'll be upstairs." Penny said.
"I'll go with them." Henry added.
Wyatt and Chris waited in silence as the others headed up the stairs. When they were gone, Wyatt turned to Chris and noticed his brother had sat back down, staring at the invitation. Chris had always been bad at talking about personal stuff and preferred to obsess over other things, like demons.
"So how long have you known?" Chris asked eventually.
"It's not as simple as that." Wyatt replied. "I had no idea until I fell in love with Dylan."
"Dylan." Chris repeated. "You helped him months ago, so you've been keeping this a secret all this time? Why didn't you tell me?"
"I needed to figure it out for myself first." Wyatt replied. "And I was nervous about how you would react."
"I can't believe you." Chris said angrily as he stood up. "I know we've had some issues the last year, but you're not just my brother, you're my best friend. And you didn't tell me. Did you really think I would reject you for dating a guy?"
"I don't know." Wyatt admitted. "This isn't easy, Chris."
"Who else knew?" Chris asked. "Obviously Henry knew."
"Only because he caught me and Dylan earlier." Wyatt said. "The only person I told was Prue."
"I see." Chris replied disappointed.
"Look, I wanted to tell you, because you are my best friend as well, but that only made it more difficult." Wyatt explained. "Out of everyone, I was scared of telling you, Mel and our parents the most. Because you are ones I fear losing the most."
Chris took a deep breath and nodded as he thought about what he said. "I guess I can understand that." He eventually admitted. "I would probably feel the same way."
"So we're okay?" Wyatt asked.
"Of course. You're my brother." Chris said awkwardly. "And you know I hate being all sentimental and crap, but I love you. Just so you know."
"I didn't get that last part." Wyatt replied with a smile.
"I'm not repeating it." Chris said. "So let's just move on and forget all this awkward stuff. We have a demon to vanquish after all."
Wyatt nodded and could not help but smile. As always, Chris was reluctant and awkward about showing his emotions, but he knew his heart was in the right place.
"You should probably talk to Melinda first." Chris said. "She seemed pretty upset."
"I know." Wyatt replied, realizing that he had one more confrontation to deal with. Had Melinda just been crying because it was emotional for her, or was there still something to be worried about?
Xxx
Meanwhile, Penny sat in a comfortable chair in the attic while Payton and Julian were going through the Book of Shadows to find the demon. Payton was flipping the pages, as Julian was hesitant about touching the book. He seemed worried about it repelling his demonic half. Penny could understand why. At the moment, she would not be surprised if the book repelled her as well. Her new power had caused her to do some questionable things. Apparently, you didn't need to be part demonic to make bad choices in life.
Penny turned to Henry, who was lounging on the old sofa across from her. "How is your head?" She asked.
"Oh, it's fine." Henry replied. "Wyatt healed me, remember?"
"Right." Penny said.
"Still strange, right?" Henry noted. "I don't even remember tripping."
"Here, that's her." Julian suddenly said as he pointed at a page in the book.
"Dahlia, a demonic soul collector." Payton read aloud. "Having been around for centuries, she has risen to power by making Faustian deals with rich and important mortals. Those she cannot trick into a deal, she incinerates with her hellish fire."
"Is there a way to vanquish her?" Penny asked.
"Due to the great number of deals she has made, Dahlia has become nearly impossible to vanquish. To end her wicked deals, she must be beat at her own game." Payton read.
"Oh, I just love it when the book gets all cryptic." Henry remarked annoyed. "Thanks a lot, witchy ancestors."
"Beat her at her own game." Julian noted.
"Beat her at her own game. Does that mean we have to make a deal?" Payton asked.
"A deal that leads to her own doom." Julian said. "That's going to be tricky, she's been doing this for centuries."
As the others discussed potential deals, Penny suddenly got an idea. With her new power, she could easily gain the upper hand on Dahlia and force her into a bad deal. That way, she could actually do some good with her power and make up for her mistakes. But in order to succeed, she needed to trick Dahlia, which meant she couldn't storm into the club with her family. She needed to go in alone and get a meeting with the soul collector. She slowly got up and tried to sneak away, but she ran into Julian by the door.
"Where are you going?" Julian asked.
"Oh, just to get a drink." Penny lied.
"Somehow I doubt that." Julian said. "You were sneaking out."
"As if you suddenly know me." Penny remarked. "A little late for the big brother routine."
"And now you're being defensive." Julian noted. "Like you're hiding something."
"Alright, I didn't want to do this, but you leave me no choice." Penny said as she grabbed his arm and looked into his eyes. "I am going to leave, you are going to let me and not say a word." As she used her power, her voice echoed telepathically. Suddenly she got a weird feeling, like she was hitting an invisible wall.
"And why would I do that?" Julian asked with a frown.
"What?" Penny asked shocked. "You're immune?"
"Immune to what?" Julian asked. Suddenly she heard this voice inside her head. "Wait, did you just try to enter my mind?"
"Crap, I forgot you were a telepath as well." Penny replied with her mind. "That must make you immune to my power."
"What power?" Julian asked aloud.
"Not here." Penny replied as she looked at Payton and Henry, who were still discussing ways to trick Dahlia by the book. She nodded at him to follow and they went down the stairs.
"What is going on?" Julian asked.
"Alright, I got a new power. Some kind of freaky mind control thing." Penny explained. "When I use it, people go into this trance and they do as I ask."
"Sounds like hypnosis." Julian said. "Makes sense considering your primary power is telepathy. You need to be careful with that."
"So I've noticed." Penny said. "I was messing around with it so far, but I already accidentally hurt someone."
"Hypnosis can be very dangerous." Julian replied.
"I already got a lecture from Noah." Penny remarked. "But I can handle it."
"No, I don't think you understand." Julian said. "It's not just dangerous to others, but to yourself as well. A power like this has the potential to be highly corruptive. It takes a really strong person to master it."
"And you don't think I can do it." Penny replied annoyed. "Typical. Why does everyone always think I'm going to screw up?"
"That's not what I said." Julian said.
Penny was about to argue some more, when suddenly two demons appeared in the hall through shimmering. They each raised their hand and threw an Energy Ball, so Penny pushed Julian out of the way and levitated to avoid them.
"Demons!" Penny called out to warn the others.
Penny levitated toward the demons and kicked the first one across the face. At the same time, Julian flung his arm and threw the second one down the hall. Explosions sounded from downstairs, meaning that demons were attacking the others as well. Penny knocked down the first demon as he tried to get up, and Julian vanquished the second with a fireball.
"What the hell do you want?" Penny asked the first demon as she placed the heel of her stylish boots on his throat.
"You forgot to RSVP to your invite, witch." The demon growled.
"What does Dahlia want with us?" Penny asked.
"Your souls, of course." The demon replied. "Either you show up, or she will take the souls of all the innocents at the opening."
"She will do that anyway." Julian noted as he threw another fireball and vanquished the demon.
"He could have given us more information." Penny said angrily. "I could have used my power to force him to answer us."
"He is a minion, nothing more." Julian replied. "He doesn't know anything."
"I guess you're right." Penny admitted. "But that doesn't change things. If I go there alone and meet Dahlia, I might be able to force her into a deal to destroy her."
"Your power might not even work on her." Julian said. "I'm not letting you go alone."
"How sweet, it's almost like you care." Penny remarked.
"I do care." Julian replied angrily. "Do you think the last few months have been easy for me? I don't know how to handle this family stuff. Half the time you people drive me insane. All this feeling and talking is so…"
"Human?" Penny finished. "Must be a new experience."
"You have no idea." Julian admitted. "But I'm trying."
"Then come with me and help me stop Dahlia." Penny said. "With my power, we have a chance to beat her without endangering the others."
"You can be really frustrating, you know that?" Julian noted.
"Well, get used to it if you want to be part of this family." Penny replied with a smirk. "So does this mean you're going to help me?"
"Fine." Julian said.
Julian reluctantly held out his hand and Penny took it. She told herself that she was granted this power for a reason, so perhaps this was it. She needed to prove she could handle it. She nodded at her brother and they both disappeared from the manor in a column of intense flames.
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