Yeah, I've been holding out on you guys as far as Jerome and Paige goes. I have plans for a lot of that near the end, but I still need something in between. Keep reminding me of that periodically; I might forget again. This chapter isn't completely Jerome and Paige, but it's got some. Here you go.
Chapter 20:
Jerome had sensed great amounts of power in the middle of the Sahara. It was always the Sahara. Either that or somewhere in the Amazon. Jerome Flickered to the source of all the power he was sensing, but there was nothing there. Jerome knew something had to create that power, and it hadn't faded. Jerome still felt lingering amounts of energy where he was, and several power surges from around him. Something was creating that energy. Something powerful.
Jerome decided to try luring the source of the power to him. He shot intense lightning into the sky, hoping the source of the power would sense all his power. There was also a really good chance they'd see the lightning. It was pretty bright.
Jerome wasn't disappointed. Cole Flamed in front of Jerome. "Cole," Jerome growled.
Cole just sighed. "What are you doing here?" he asked. "I thought you were Paul or Excisio, calling me back."
"I sensed your power usage. What are you doing here?" Jerome asked. Jerome kept his guard up, even though Cole didn't seem to want to fight.
"You can relax; I'm not here to pick a fight," Cole said. Jerome didn't let his guard down. Cole shrugged. "Or you can remain tensed as a coiled spring. I really don't care."
"What are you doing here?" Jerome asked again.
"I'm looking for some place Excisio called Claustrum," Cole said. Jerome tensed.
"Why are you looking for that place?" Jerome asked.
Cole shrugged. "I just go where I'm told and don't ask questions. I was told to search for it somewhere in the Sahara. And that's what I intend to do," Cole replied.
"Do you even know what it is you're searching for?" Jerome asked.
"Some city or something," Cole said. "Excisio didn't really say."
"Why are you working with Him?" Jerome asked. "You've said you don't want revenge."
"You're right. I don't want revenge. I don't even want to cause pain. I don't mind causing pain, but I don't seek to do so," Cole said.
"Then why are you doing all this?" Jerome asked.
"Simple. I want my freedom. The Wasteland is hardly a pleasant place to exist. I want to be free to come and go, to enjoy the pleasures of this world," Cole said. "Excisio gave me a chance to have this."
"How do you plan on enjoying the pleasures of this world if this world and everything in it is destroyed?" Jerome asked. "You should know that that's all He can do. He only has the power to destroy; that's what He is, pure destruction."
Cole looked like he was about to reply when a large blast of lightning erupted in the sky to the east. Cole turned to Jerome and said "Well, that's my call. It's time I left." Cole Flamed away, leaving Jerome alone in the desert sands.
"Jerome's been gone for two hours! What could possibly be so urgent that he needs to be gone for two hours?" Paige asked while pacing anxiously in the kitchen. Melinda was sitting on the kitchen counter. Piper was upstairs with Wyatt, which was why Melinda was on the counter. Had Piper been down there she would have stopped Melinda from getting on the counter the second Melinda looked at it.
"Are you two, like, together or something?" Melinda asked.
Paige immediately blushed a deep scarlet. "No! We are not together!" she said, a little too quickly and a little too loudly.
"But you want to be," Melinda said. Her taunting reminded her of Piper. Piper used to tease Paige like that, before Leo left and Piper became so distant.
"Shut up," Paige said.
Melinda smirked. Phoebe walked into the kitchen and asked "Why are we telling Melinda to shut up?"
"She won't admit that she wants to be with Jerome," Melinda said.
"You're still into him?" Phoebe asked.
"I only ever lost interest because he left," Paige replied.
"He left? Why?" Melinda asked.
"It's a long story," Phoebe said.
Melinda was about to say something when Chris Orbed into the kitchen. "Chris!" Melinda exclaimed. She jumped off the counter and hugged him. "I was so worried about you! Are you okay?"
"Yeah, I'm fine, Mel. It's okay, I'm alright," Chris said, hugging her back. Paige wolf whistled.
Melinda and Chris quickly stopped hugging and stepped back from each other, disgust on their faces. Melinda was red in the face. Chris was considerably better at hiding his emotions, but Phoebe could feel the embarrassment from him. Though, the embarrassment was more like a kind of parent embarrassing, not like the kind of embarrassment two people felt when they liked each other but didn't want to admit it. Phoebe, after feeling their embarrassments, thought Paige's whistle had been unjustified.
"What did you find?" Phoebe asked, before things could get any more awkward.
"Not much," Chris said. "Just this box." Chris pulled a small gray box out of his pocket. The box was completely ordinary in every way; not decorations, markings, anything. It was just a boring, gray box. It didn't even look like there was a open it.
"There wasn't anything else?" Paige asked.
Chris shook his head. "I completely searched the house. That was literally the only thing in it," he said.
"Well, what do we do with it?" Phoebe asked.
"We wait for Jerome to get back," Paige said. She saw Jerome Flicker into the living room. "Well, that didn't take long," Paige said. Everyone went into the living room to show Jerome the box.
"Jerome!" Paige called. Jerome turned around to face her. "Where did you go?"
"Just to investigate something. Nothing for you to worry about," Jerome replied.
Jerome saw Chris. "Did you find something?" Jerome asked.
Chris nodded. "Is this gray box important?" he asked, showing Jerome the box.
Jerome took the box and looked over it. "Yes, it is," he said.
"Why's it important? What's in it?" Phoebe asked.
"I don't know, but my father kept it with him everywhere he went. He never let this box out of his sight, and he frequently stressed to me and Benjamin how important it was," Jerome said.
"Can you open it?" Chris asked.
"I'm trying to. I know something's inside of it, but I don't know what or how to open it. My father never mentioned anything about opening it, other than when the time comes I'll be able to," Jerome said. "Where's Piper?"
"She's upstairs, with Wyatt," Phoebe said.
"Someone go get her. I have an idea," Jerome said.
Phoebe ran upstairs to get Piper. She came back down a few seconds later with Piper following. "Piper," Jerome said, "can you phase objects other than yourself?" Piper nodded.
"Can you phase the box, without phasing anything inside?" Jerome asked.
"I think so," Piper said.
"Here, try it," Jerome handed her the box. Piper took the box and held it. After a few seconds something small fell out of the box. Jerome picked it up. It was a key.
"Do you know what the key is for?" Paige asked.
"I have my suspicions," Jerome said. Jerome started to Flicker. Paige grabbed Jerome's arm before he completely disappeared.
Jerome and Paige appeared in a dark cave. "Where are we?" Paige asked.
Jerome glared at her. "We are somewhere I am supposed to be!" he snapped. "You aren't supposed to be here!"
"Then tell me what you're doing instead of vaguely saying 'I have my suspicions' and leaving!" Paige said, using a mock voice for what Jerome said.
"There are things you don't need to know! Things that could be extremely dangerous if you did!" Jerome exclaimed.
"I am a Charmed One, I'm used to danger! I'm always in danger from demons!" Paige said.
"Demons are nothing compared to what we're dealing with!" Jerome said, exasperated.
"Why does it matter if I'm in danger, anyway?" Paige asked.
"I don't want to have to watch you die!" Jerome yelled. Paige and Jerome grew quiet. "I've already seen people I care about die. I don't want to add you to that list," Jerome said quietly.
Jerome and Paige were silent for a while. "You can stay, if you promise to stay back and say nothing," Jerome eventually said. Paige nodded in agreement, still too stunned to speak. She had never heard Jerome burst like that before.
Jerome turned towards the back of the cave and said "Follow me, but don't get too close." Jerome started walking farther into the cave. Paige followed. Jerome reached the back of the cave, where a strange symbol was etched into the wall. The symbol looked like three circles that all overlapped each other with a triangle in the center. On the edges of each of the circles was a drawing of a snake wrapped around the edges. Jerome pressed his hand in the center of the symbol. The symbol began to glow brightly. The wall faded and revealed a door. Jerome took out the key and unlocked the door.
Paige couldn't stop herself. She asked "What just happened?"
Jerome turned to her, a somewhat amused look on his face. "That was a door, enchanted by my father to only recognize his bloodline. Had anyone else touched the seal, they would have been badly shocked or disintegrated," he said.
Jerome opened the unlocked door and entered into it. Paige followed him, cautiously. She didn't want to be shocked or disintegrated if she could avoid it. Inside was a well lit room. The light came from luminous spheres that floated around the room. At the far side of the room was a shrine with a stone tablet on it. Paige could see an image of a woman on the tablet, like a photograph. She had no idea who the woman was. She looked around the room. It was completely empty other than the shrine with the tablet.
Jerome walked to the shrine and grabbed the tablet. "Do you know who she is?" Paige asked.
Jerome nodded. "My mother," he whispered. Paige frowned.
"Isn't there supposed to be some secret thing in here that your father used to seal the Destroyer?" Paige asked. "Did your mother have anything to do with that?"
Jerome shook his head. "After my mother faded, my father became... unstable. I guess it's comparable to a human going senile. He must have put this in here, not really realizing what he was doing, and thought he hid something of great power and importance in here," Jerome said.
"Is there something else hidden in here?" Paige asked.
Again, Jerome shook his head. "No, nothing but this shrine," he replied.
Jerome up from the tablet and at Paige. "We should get back. Benjamin and Daniel need to know that there was nothing hidden of any use," Jerome said. Jerome grabbed Paige's arm and Flickered back to the manor.
As soon as they entered the living room they were bombarded by questions from Phoebe. Piper, Chris, and Melinda were gone. "What did you find?" Phoebe asked.
"A picture," Paige replied. "A picture of Jerome's mom."
"A picture?" Phoebe repeated. Paige nodded. "How is that useful?"
"It's not," Jerome said. "My father must have been confused when he did this."
"Then how do we stop the Destroyer?" Phoebe asked.
"I don't know. I need to talk to Benjamin and Daniel. If you'll excuse me," Jerome said. Jerome Flickered to the barren desert of Antarctica. He knew no one would be there. Jerome called for Daniel and Benjamin. They both Flickered in front of him.
"Did you find anything?" Benjamin asked.
Jerome shook his head. "Our father must have been insane. All he left was a picture of our mother," Jerome said.
"A picture? That's it?" Daniel asked.
Jerome nodded. "And that's not all the bad news," Jerome said.
Both Daniel and Benjamin looked worried. "What is it?" Benjamin said.
"The Destroyer's looking for Claustrum," Jerome said.
Both Benjamin and Daniel visibly paled. "He's looking for Claustrum?" Benjamin asked in unbelief.
Jerome nodded. "I sensed great power in the Sahara earlier and went to investigate it. Cole was there, and said that's what he was searching for."
"Is it possible he just said that to scare us?" Daniel asked.
Jerome shook his head. "I doubt it. Cole didn't have any idea what it was he was really looking for. Just that it was called Claustrum and was somewhere in the Sahara. Other than that, I don't think Cole knew anything about Claustrum. If he did, I doubt he would dare search for it," Jerome said.
"If the Destroyer gets into Claustrum, we're all doomed," Benjamin said.
"Worse than doomed. We're already in huge trouble with just the Destroyer, if He gets into Claustrum, there's no telling what could happen," Daniel said.
"Our chances of survival and stopping the Destroyer would go from one in six million to one in 754,253,942,653,462. If we're lucky," Jerome said.
Author's Note:
So, anyone have any guesses as to what Claustrum is? I have plans for it, don't worry, but I would love to see some guesses. I would also love to see some other reviews about how the chapter was and the little scene between Jerome and Paige.