Destinies Toll Is Ending
Chapter 10
The Beginning of Arch 2
Two men walked down the streets of the now dilapidated San Francisco. They took extreme pleasure in seeing it in ruins. The first man, a demon named Krycheck laughed darkly. He told his companion, Yowatz, how he loved seeing the city this way. Yowatz grinned with a nod, complimenting that the gloominess gives the city some spark and jazz. The demons walked slowly, taking everything around them in. Krycheck asked if Yowatz knew that Zedai had attempted to kill Chris and Kalista earlier. "Ha!" Yowatz let his voice echo through the city, amused at how far his voice traveled. "Zedai is one of the most pathetic excuses for a demon. He reminds me so much of our good friend, Athulak. Wonder what happened to him?" The two demons laughed hysterically. The demons had gotten enough of such a lower life form, as Demortica would probably call him, and they killed Athulak when the opportunity presented itself. "Still," Yowatz said with a grin, "can't believe Demortica's dead. And her vanquish caused all of this?" He laughed again, and his friend joined right in. They began to mock the Charmed Ones, and were impressed how they lived out Athulak, Demortica, and Medilyn. "Ah Medilyn. Such a pity she died. Bah! She was such a... a peacemaker!" Krycheck mocked throwing up while Yowatz joined the little charade, and "comforted" his "sick" friend, "Oh my poor little friend, it hurts to see you so ill." Both men erupted into more laughter, loving the sound of their laughing echo.
The two approached the little pier near the bay, and looked out. Not a soul was in sight, magical or otherwise. It was quite nice, to be honest. Forming a fireball, Krycheck flung it at a telescope where people could use to look out at across the boardwalk/pier. Hearing it smash and its pieces falling to the ground, Yowatz sighed sadly. He told Krycheck how it was such a shame that there weren't any witches around to kill and slaughter. "Don't you mean slaughter and kill?" Krycheck winked while Yowatz punched him in the arm, "You know what I mean you dammed fool! Like there's a difference anyway." The men laughed again. They had no idea why they were so chummy when they use to hate each other. In fact, didn't they wanna kill each other at one time or another?
"Aww, is this what a bromance looks like? I didn't know that was a thing for us demons." Krycheck and Yowatz turned around to find none other than Zedai. What a foolish decision to face them! Krycheck rolled his eyes, and waved Zedai off. He told Zedai that the big boys were on the playground and didn't need a little goody two shoes demon in their faces. "Aww, that's it? What, you don't wanna kill me? Or attempt to? You two are getting, dare I say it, soft?" Zedai chuckled darkly while the others glared at him. Did he seriously just suggest that of all demons Krycheck and Yowatz were getting soft? Zedai didn't care however, and continued on, "What's your track record with killing witches, anyway? Because from what I heard, you couldn't even touch a hair on the Halliwell Punks." Both Yowatz and Krycheck glared. Both forming fireballs, they aimed it at the annoying demon. "Watch what you say, Zedai, because you couldn't touch a small little hair on the Halliwell witch either!"
Zedai crossed his arms now, amused by the reactions the demons were giving him. With a sly grin, he asked the two if they were sure he really even wanted to kill the Charmed One. Both looked shocked, but before they could speak, Zedai pressed on, "I don't want simple bragging rights just because I killed the Charmed Punks. Besides, I'm smart enough to stand down when I need to. All they'll do is vanquish me. I'm not ready to die, unlike you pathetic little worms." Krycheck had had enough of the mockery and insults and flung his fireball at Zedai's face. The demon immediately put himself into a defensive position, but the fire ball never met in contact with him, nor did he even stop it! "Huh, I must be better than I thought." It was his turn to laugh while the others just looked confused. The fireball was just stopped in mid air. What the hell, Zedai didn't have that power. How the hell did he stop it? Annoyed, Yowatz grimaced, "Really you fool? You use a pathetic little time stopping power? You're the soft one, my friend." Before Zedai could defend himself, the fireball unfroze and zipped back towards its sender. Before Krycheck could jump away, he was hit square in the chest and flung back onto the ground. "What the hell?!" Yowatz looked from Krycheck to Zedai, and demanded to know how Zedai did that. "I didn't! How the hell could I do something like that? I don't have stupid witch powers!"
"No, but I do." A voice came from the left of the demons. Krycheck was up now and looked at the man who had talked. The Demon was tall, muscular, and he was sporting a beard, but it wasn't long or anything. His hair was a dark brown, and eyes were a bluish green. He had a long black coat on, dark jeans, an a pair of Interceptor boots on.
Zedai and Yowatz also looked, shock on all three of their faces. The man stepped up between Yowatz and Zedai, with Krycheck a few feet away from Yowatz. Zedai, being the smart one, backed away a bit and bowed. Yowatz saw what he was doing, and actually decided to do the same. "Seriously? Just because you saw him do it, you decide to, Yowatz?" Before Yowatz could speak or Zedai could smirk, Krycheck came up to Yowatz. "What are you doing here? Didn't they say you were dead?" The Demon laughed hauntingly, and asked why Krycheck was so stupid. "Really, you're as pathetic as your brother." Always getting defensive when people talked about his brother, Krycheck glared and demanded the Demon to never talk about Zankou again. Zedai face palmed himself, and accidentally let his next words slip, "You're a dead demon now, Krybaby."
Krycheck started to run towards Zedai, but the Demon stopped him. With his hand raised, he was pulling Krycheck into a choke hold. "Y-you don't... have that p-power..." The demon shrugged, stating he "picked it up along the way", "Do you like it?" Krycheck gasped as he tried to breath, begging in stutter to let him go. "What a pathetic being you are, Krycheck. Zedai was right, you are getting soft." The demon flung Krycheck past Zedai, crashing into a brick wall. Yowatz began to run towards his friend, but the demon stopped him, "Where do you think you're going?" Yowatz froze in position, sending glances at Zedai. With a little smirk and a salute, Zedai told Yowatz he was on his own, "You're the big boy, remember? You don't need little ol' me to defend the big boy on the playground, do you?" Zedai began crack up while the new mystery demon gave him a look. Zedai caught it, and stopped laughing, but then he thought what was the point? If he was gonna die, he was gonna die laughing! So he continued.
"I like you, kid. I could probably have you on my side." Zedai grinned, sending victory looks towards Yowatz. Yowatz became somewhat sympathetic with Zedai, asking him if he knew what the demon before him was capable of. Zedai just pretended to think about it, and shrugged. "Why should I care? It sounds to me that he likes me. You're the one who should be watching your back, not me. Worm." Yowatz turned to the demon visitor now, asking for his forgiveness. He promised to never bother him or demons like Zedai ever again.
"Demons like Zedai?" The Demon walked up to his new red haired pal and placed his hand on Zedai's shoulder, "What you mean by that? Aren't all demons the same?" Zedai raise his hand to offer his two cents, saying that there were different leveled demons out there. "What level are you, boy?" Zedai smiled proudly, stating he was an Upper Level Demon. Yowatz accidentally snorted, and stated, "For an Upper Level, you sure don't act like it." The Demon who was defending Zedai approached Yowatz now. After he raised his hand, Yowatz' face began to darken. Zedai was interested, and asked the Demon what he was doing. "If you ever threaten this demon again, I will kill you myself. Or maybe I'll lead The Charmed Sons directly into your path."
He let go of Yowatz who dropped to the ground and began gasping for air. W-what the hell did he do me? Yowatz ran his hands over his face, and felt his skin was getting... wrinkled? More than that, there was blood spilling out of his nose too. Zedai watched in amazement as Yowatz' face began to return to normal. "Now that's something I've never seen before." The Demon looked over at his red haired friend, offering to teach him someday. When he looked down at his hand, he saw that there was scar on it. "What happened to your hand?" Zedai looked at his hand, which showed dried up blood on it. "Oh nothing. I was playing with Chris Halliwell, you know the little one, and he bit me. He was hiding out in some dudes place." Zedai shrugged, the Demon shrugged, but Yowatz just looked confused. Why, why, why was this Demon being nice to Zedai?! The Demon must have caught Yowatz' expression, because Yowatz was cowering. Zedai rolled his eyes,
"What a wimp." The Demon looked over, placed his finger over his lips and shushed Zedai. Smiling, Zedai just backed down. "Sorry, "Daddy"." The Demon shook his head, but still he didn't do anything to Zedai. Yowatz was just too damn confused.
The Demon was telling Yowatz, ordering him really, to take his friend and scramble. Looking defeated, Yowatz walked past Zedai giving him a glare, picked up Krycheck and flamed out with him. "That's rude. He didn't even say goodbye." Zedai shrugged while the Demon chuckled. Zedai looked shocked, but he also felt a little proud of himself. "A chuckle. I never knew you had it in you." The Demon just looked at Zedai with a malicious smile. He walked back up to Zedai, took his injured hand in his, and healed the wound. Zedai looked a little confused, but thanked The Demon. "Don't worry about it. I'll make sure Chris takes it easier on you next time." Zedai smiled, but waved it off. "Nah, don't. I love battling that little boy. He's a fun component, especially now that he's Batman! Or is it Superman?" The Demon gave Zedai a confused look.
"You didn't know? I think it's a new power he developed. I could be wrong, but I thought I saw him looked shocked when he did it." Zedai explained that when he Chris, and the blonde battled in the street, Chris went to attack him, but flew up into the air. Looking impressed, the Demon smiled. "Well what do you know, a power advancement. That's my boy." The Demon chuckled and began to walk away from Zedai.
The red headed demon was curious now, so he ran up to the Demon to walk with him, "No offense man, but why do you talk like that? Like you care about the witch? I mean, don't kill me, but it's just weird. I've never met another demon who showed, I dunno, affection for witches. It's fun fighting him and all, but I don't have affection towards him. Or his brothers for that matter." The Demon merely shrugged, refusing to answer the question. Instead, he just told Zedai that in time, he will know everything. Zedai just accepted it. This was a ride he was not going to miss. 'Sounds fun,' he thought to himself, 'I still can't believe this guy likes me. I don't think anyone's liked me before...' Unknown to Zedai, the Demon intercepted his mind and read his thoughts. He just chuckled, but Zedai never questioned it. He was going to be a really good sidekick.
Chris was sitting on one of the beds with his legs huddled together. He had streams of tears running down his face, and he kept sniffling his nose. Outside, Laurel was leaning against the door frame with her arms crossed with Tyler right beside her. Tyler and Andrew had just gotten done telling their brother about their father and uncle. Laurel sighed and looked to Tyler. "He'll be okay. He's a strong man." Tyler nodded in agreement. He had expected this to happen, but it still sucked. Tyler and Laurel started walking along the sidewalk of the motel in silence. They met Andrew's gaze from across the lot, but Andrew never came over. "This really fucking sucks!" Tyler wanted to kick the wall, but Laurel wrapped her arms around him before he could. She promised that everything was going to be OK, and she would do whatever she could to help out. "Nope, can't let you do that." Giving Tyler a look, she demanded to know why. "Look, every time my family gets involved with someone, shit goes South and they end up dying or forgetting we even exist." Laurel stated that they were together before, and neither had happened to her. Tyler noted that they still broke up, but Laurel said that was different. Plus, no demons had come after her after the break up. Well, she had a point there. "Look, I don't know about you Tyler, but God dammit, I still love you! I know I shouldn't because you were a prick back then..." She ignored the look he had just given her, "but you were probably the first guy I ever loved. Still love. I don't know, it's weird and it's hard to explain." Tyler, feeling pretty bold, took Laurel and pushed her against the wall and began to kiss her. The two inhaled deeply, moaned a couple times, and had their arms around each other.
Across the parking lot, Patience walked up to Andrew and commented on how those two were wild animals. "Seriously, they have so much bent up sexual frustration even after they... well... you know." They both continued talking about Tyler and Laurel's romance when Rick came out from his hotel room and began exercising. Andrew had his eyes on him with full distrust. Patience just shook her head saying she couldn't believe he was with them. Patience told Andrew that she had come close to doing something to Rick, but Chris would always be around and she didn't want to do anything to upset him. "It sounds weird, especially when it's Chris we're talking about here... He was so scared back in High School, but now..." She fell silent, but Andrew smiled. He smiled because he realized that even though Rick had some something really horrible to Chris, Chris was moving past it. Hell, he already moved past it, but now he was showing how mature he was now that Rick was back. "Protector of the innocent, and not punishing the guilty." Patience looked at Andrew, and now she smiled. They both understood what Chris was doing since they were in the situation they were in, and Patience was one of the many who fully understood what that meant.
The door to Chris' motel room opened, and Jason walked slowly inside the room. He saw that Chris was now laying on his side, and through the mirror it was evident that he'd been crying. Jason felt a stab of pain rush into his heart when he saw Chris like this. Getting onto the bed, Jason crawled himself over and laid next to Chris, putting his arm around him. He could feel Chris slowly turn himself around so he could face Jason. When he looked in Chris' eyes, he saw so much pain. So much sadness. With his hand, he caressed Chris' cheek softly, "You are one of the most beautiful souls I have ever seen." Jason looked as Chris slowly formed a smile over his lips. He thanked Jason for finding him when he did, but Jason shook his head. "No, I don't think it was me who found you, I think it was you who found me." Chris chuckled, and placed his hand over Jason's heart, and took Jason's hand and placed it over his own, "I think we both found each other." Jason nodded then used his finger to trace all of Chris' features on his face. "You know one of the things I love about you?" Chris raised his eyebrow, and asked what. "Your nose. It fits you quite well." Before Chris could say anything, Jason leaned in and kissed it softly. Chris accidentally let out a giggle, which made Jason gush, "You're so adorable, Luz Solar." When Chris raised his eyebrow again, Jason chuckled. "It means sunlight. Wanna know why I just called you that?" Chris made a simple nod, and Jason sat up, pulling Chris against him, "Because every time I orb away from you to go to the Upper Regions, I know how close I am to the Sun, and when I have that in mind, I will always know that you are close to me."
Chris could feel every negative emotion leave his body when Jason had explained that. He felt so good that Jason was here, with him. Tonight, he finally felt like his half and Jason's half were forming back into one. It was strange how Loved worked, but Chris knew that he was always going to embrace it. A memory resurfaced when his great-great Grandmother, Penelope Halliwell, had visited him and his brothers. She advised him that it was never healthy to give up on Love, and that he were to never become like her. Chris thought that same advice came into play now, because he was feeling a strong embrace in his heart. The couple made out for a couple minutes before both men pulled the covers over their bodies, and an unseen force used the power of telekinesis to close the blinds of the room, and also the front door.