Dark Destiny

by Lady Dawson

Chapter Seven: Evacuation

Susan slipped into the room that she shared with her brother, tossing the jacket onto the bed as James glanced over at her curiously. "Problems getting home from Leo's?" he asked and she shrugged, emptying her pockets of the potions and returning the athame to its place on her desk.

"Demon," she answered quietly and he nodded. "And I think that I might have a new power." James perked up with interest at this and turned around to give her his full attention. "When I was fighting them, I was trying to get this trashcan lid, you know, to hit them with and all of a sudden . . ."

"All of a sudden . . .?" James prompted.

"It flew over to me, as though I had called it over with telekinesis or something," Sylvia explained and James looked thrilled at this prospect. "I think I'm developing telekinesis or something similar to it, anyway. There's no other explanation."

"Oh, thank goodness," James said. He looked as happy as she felt; she had always hated the fact that she had no active power. "It's about time that you've got a power that you can fight demons with. You know, that always scared me, because you keep going on every night to go fight demons and all you've got to fight with are potions and fighting skills."

"Excuse me, I can fight fully well with telepathy," Sylvia countered and her brother grinned as he leaned back against the bed. She shook her head as she sat down on her own bed, glancing out the window. "So, did Parker say how the rescue mission went?" she asked as an attempt to divert herself from thinking about what was going to happen tonight. This was probably the stupidest, craziest thing she had done in her life, but Sylvia knew she had to. For her own sake, as much as Chris's.

James burst into detailed information about how Lyla and the others had managed to rescue two of the witches, but the third sibling had gotten captured by the demons and was in Wyatt's dungeons right now, being tortured for information and/or being turned to his side. Sylvia only half paid attention to what he was saying as she stared outside and if he noticed this, he either didn't care or pretended not to.

But her thoughts were soon interrupted by Parker as he barged into their room without knocking. "All right, James, I need you to tell me where your sister is because we need her—" He stopped talking when he saw Sylvia. "—here. Oh, you're back. Why didn't you tell Lyla that you were back? Never mind," he said hurriedly. "We need you downstairs, Sylvia. It's Roxanne, she's hurt bad."

Sylvia sprung to her feet, hurrying after Parker as he led her downstairs, James right behind them. Roxanne was one of the spies at Wyatt's domain, one of those in his inner circle, so if she was hurt, then he had most likely found out that she was tied to the rebellion. It was a miracle that she had managed to get out of there alive.

The Whitelighters were all standing around her, healing Roxanne as Sylvia, Parker, and James entered. One of them glanced up and noticed The Ambassador standing there and glanced towards a rebel standing nearby, who immediately went over to her.

"Sylvia, we found her down in the tunnels, calling out for help. She was barely coherent when we found her, but we can't be sure if demons found their way here. Roxanne may have unintentionally led some of them here while she was trying to get here." He was looking worried. "She may be able to tell you how she got attacked when she wakes, but it will be awhile."

"Of course," Sylvia murmured, trying to think. "Send out the order for evacuation. We're taking no chances. We need to be out of here within the hour. Do not leave anybody behind. Tell everyone to pack what they need or what is essential to the rebellion. Leave nothing behind that could tip Wyatt off to where we've gone. James, you know the drill," she said, glancing at her brother.

James nodded quickly as he left behind, casting a quick look at Roxanne before he left. "Sylvia, where are we going to?" he wanted to know. "We can't go back to the old headquarters; demons know where that's at. The safe house?"

Sylvia's heart stopped. "No," she replied. "It's not safe anymore. Don't worry, I'll figure something out." She looked towards the rebel. "How soon will Roxanne be able to talk to me about what happened?"

"I think she may be coming to now, Miss Sylvia," a Whitelighter said as Roxanne let out a soft groan and they dispatched around her. "We'll try and prepare everyone for leaving. We should hurry," he added, glancing towards Roxanne as Sylvia walked over to her.

"Roxanne?" she asked softly, placing a hand onto her shoulder. The witch groaned slightly, opening her eyes and she smiled down at her. "Are you all right? You gave us quite a turn back there." She nodded weakly. "What happened to you? Did Wyatt found out that you were working for us?"

"Yes . . ." Roxanne struggled to form words and she gasped for breath as she stared up at Sylvia's blue eyes, looking guilty and ashamed. "Miss Sylvia . . . please . . . I'm so sorry." She gave a small gasp of pain that showed clearly in her eyes. Sylvia shook her head, not understanding. "I failed you, Ambassador. He is coming . . . he is looking for you, to find you and bring you to his dominion."

Sylvia shook her head. "Wyatt?"

Roxanne nodded once. "He . . . he wants to . . ." Before she could finish the statement, her head fell limply to her side and Sylvia shouted for one of the Whitelighters, but by the time that they got there, it was already too late. The light had died from her eyes and Roxanne was beyond anyone's help. Even one of the most powerful Elders alive could not have granted to gift of life.

Shaking as she slowly got to her feet, Sylvia looked at the Whitelighters that had come to her call. "Let's get out of here," she whispered as she walked away. There was no time for sorrows; she would have time to grieve later. Right now, there were people's lives on the line, people who depended on her. Sylvia Chandler would have to grieve later. Right now, The Ambassador was needed.

--

"Sure that nobody's going to follow us down here?" James asked softly as he walked next to his sister. Behind them, there were fifty or more people walking with them through the sewers. "I mean, nobody knows these tunnels better than you, but . . . there's always a chance."

"If they do, then they're going to have to get what's coming to them," Sylvia responded shortly. People were getting tired, she knew, and they weren't anywhere close to somewhere safe. Her patience was wearing thin. "Whatever they dish out, they're going to get back double."

James was silent as he looked at his sister. "What I don't get is how they finally caught Roxanne," he said after a minute. "She's been down there almost two years, Syl. If she was gonna get caught, then it should've happened before now. How'd he find out?"

"I'm gonna find out," Sylvia replied as she glanced sideways towards her brother. She wrapped an arm around him, drawing him closer. "But first we need to find someplace safe, Jamie. It's gonna be all right, I promise. It's going to be fine." But she was having a hard time convincing herself as well as her little brother.

Prue suddenly appeared next to her, her dark eyes, so much like her mother's, grave. "Sorry to bother you, Your Ladyship, but we kind of need a break here," she said scathingly. "It may have escaped your notice, but we've got tired people here."

Sylvia glanced over her shoulder and sighed; almost everybody was completely wiped out and barely able to keep up with her. "All right," she said quietly. "We'll take a break. Get the rations out and start serving, but we need to get a move on in a half hour."

"As you wish," Prue said mockingly. Sylvia glanced towards Phoebe's eldest daughter, but she had already vanished into the crowd, distributing the orders and she sighed. After her sister had died, Prue hadn't given much respect to everybody, least of all Sylvia. She said that Sylvia was pretty much doing the same thing that Wyatt was, getting followers to serve as a dish to the enemy, not caring what happened to them.

"Go ahead and rest up, bro," Sylvia told James as he half-collapsed onto the ground. "I'm gonna head up, see if I can find anything."

James looked up at her worriedly. "Sure that's a good idea?" he asked anxiously. "I mean, they've got to know by now that the resistance is gone from headquarters. They're gonna be on the lookout for us." His blue eyes were focused on hers nervously.

"Don't worry, little brother," Sylvia sighed. "They're not gonna be tracking us down, not if I can help it."

"I'm going with you." Lyla had approached them and folded her arms across her chest. "You're gonna need back up, Sylvia, and I can hold my own. Besides, we need to find a place before the demons are picking us off one by one." Sylvia hesitated, then nodded.

"All right, let's go," she said, looking over to her deputy. "Parker!" He looked around at her, before heading over quickly. "Lyla and I are gonna head up and see if we can find anyplace. If we're not back in a half-hour, then go without us. Your main priority is to get these people to safety. Even if we get captured, don't come after us. You know the rules." She met his gaze evenly before looking at Lyla. "Let's go."

"Right behind you, boss," Lyla said with a grin as they headed through the sewers, getting a good distance between them and the resistance before getting above ground. "I've never been in this part of town," Lyla commented as she surveyed the area around her. "Have you?"

Sylvia looked around them, her expression grave. "Once," she whispered softly, recognising the place.

There was a feeling of darkness, death, and destruction all around her as she stared at the place where the battle had occurred. This was only the beginning, she realised, the start of something that she may not be able to stop.

Slowly, she took a step forward, walking through the battlefield. The battle was over, but that didn't mean that the danger had passed. Paige was right next to her, with her son and niece Prue. "Let's spread out, see if there's any survivors," she suggested. "Yell if something happens."

"Don't worry, we'll find them," Paige said confidentially, though she was shaken by the sight in front of her, Sylvia could tell. She knew the feeling; the sixteen-year-old felt just as shaken and unnerved by all of this as the youngest Charmed One.

Walking through the destruction, Sylvia kept a look out, checking the bodies to see if anybody were alive, but every one that she found was just as dead as the last. Chris, how could you do this? she thought, pain striking her heart. She didn't understand this; how could he have possibly . . .

A groan caught her attention and she whirled around, racing towards the sound, pushing a corpse off of the survivor and she went pale as she saw who it was. "Mom," she breathed, staring down at the battered, mutilated body of her mother, who blinked up at her. "Mom, I'm here! I'm gonna get you some help, all right? It's gonna be all right, it's gonna be fine."

Sylvia knew she was rambling, knew that her mother was beyond saving, but she didn't care. Her mother smiled faintly, shaking her head weakly. "My baby girl," she whispered, raising a shaking hand to touch Sylvia's cheek. "Do not give up . . . no matter what happens . . . no matter how hopeless it seems, never give up on him . . ." She closed her eyes, a pained look crossing her face before she looked at her daughter. "Many more will die if you give up on him, my daughter . . . he is a part of you and always will be. Don't lose him," she whispered, "the way that I lost your father."

"Mom—" Before Sylvia could finish, her mother's hand dropped away from her and her eyes closed forever. Her head turned to her side and then she was gone, leaving her daughter alone in the world to raise her two brothers and fight the man that she loved.

"This was the place where Wyatt and Chris staged their first attack," she answered quietly as she walked through the ruins. "It's all ruins now. Nobody ever comes here, not even demons. They all feel it . . . the chaos and the ruin and the destruction. All of it started here." She stopped as she reached the place where her mother had been lying and stared down at it for a full minute. "So many lives were taken here," she whispered. "So many lives destroyed because of this."

Paige had died here, with her son barrelling into a rage at the lone demon who'd killed his mother. She remembered the enraged face that Parker had sported as he slaughtered his mother's murderer. Part of the reason why Parker had never become the Ambassador was because he didn't trust himself in that position. He never wanted to be that close to the dark side again, he had once told her.

Sylvia looked towards Lyla, who was staring up at a building that still remained standing, though near ruins. She smiled at Sylvia. "I think that I found a safe hiding place," she announced.