I'm really really really really really sorry about how long it took. I've
got some serious writer's block and this chapter is really more of a get
over it than an addition, but I did manage to reveal two or three things
about what's in store. Expect another Paige/Chris fight. I have no idea
why, but I love writing those.
Chapter Five: Fan the Flame
Chris anxiously flipped through the crusty, aged parchment of the Book of Shadows, frantically searching for a demon with green blood, the ability to erase memories that the sisters hadn't *already* vanquished. Which, since he'd started an hour ago, was none. His intuition to told him it was a demon, not the Cleaners or anything and up until now, his intuition had served him well. If *somebody* would just help him...
Paige was still sulking about *Richard*. Paige didn't have to tell him what it was, she'd been absolutely ogled ever since she met him, and only now was she starting to act moody. Screw him if he was the type of guy who would leave her when something better came along. Especially when he couldn't see that she was the better thing...HOLY HELL! He hated her; there was absolutely nothing between them except a fiery vengeance. One, he didn't like her, B. She never was going to the nymph thing slide and next... Damn, she was hot. Why bother denying it to himself, he loved the tight clothes she wore, and he would've given anything to remember what had happened last night.
Chris tiredly rubbed his temples, and leaned against the stand with his elbows. If he weren't careful, Phoebe would find out. /Pull yourself together man! / He thought, flipping another ten pages to an entry on goblins. *Goblins*. Right about now, goblins were supposed to increase in general activity. Chris mulled over his history lessons in his mind. The Wanderer was killed, Cupid's son Eros disappeared, and goblins resurfaced from the mountains caves. Maybe he'd been too focused on immediate threats to the sisters that he'd never bothered to study the whole picture.
Leo orbed in just as Chris began to study the horrendous, raw orange skinned and fanged picture staring back at him for the book. "What are you doing up here without Paige?" he asked sternly. Chris rolled his eyes and clapped the book shut, shutting his thoughts and feeling inside himself at the same time.
"Just look in on centaurs again, thanks for the concern about my paper cuts." Chris replied sarcastically, smiling artificially at the Elder, just for the sake of annoyance. No one truly appreciated that as much as Chris. Come to think of it, no one really appreciated his antics at all.
"I know what happened..." Leo began. Chris' heart stopped pumping and his blood chilled, freezing within his veins. Fretfulness throbbed in his head and a nervous lump rose in hi throat. He was dead, whatever he'd done. "... At the village with you and Paige, I was watching." Leo finished disapprovingly folding his arms and glaring at Chris. "And I've got two things to say to you." The color flooded back into Chris' face and he scorned himself for thinking Leo had caught on to him. The guy gave himself *way* too much credit.
"Well, could you make it fast?" Chris retorted mockingly, exiting the attic and stepping down the stairs. Leo sighed gruffly and followed, clearing his throat for a miniature lecture.
"When Paige electrocuted you, she manifested her new power, energy control. You'll be training her on how to focus on her power." Leo explained, as Chris unemotionally sped down another flight of stairs.
"Why do I have to?" Chris asked, on the verge of whining. Leo pretended not to hear the comment.
"But there's the little matter of your bickering with her."
"Hey, I expressed my opinion. She took it overboard." Chris replied as he sprawled on the couch and looked up at Leo as if to tell him 'I don't care, screw off.' Leo paused a moment and glanced into the conservatory, where a rosy-cheeked, wide-eyed Wyatt was slapping away a spoon of ground peas his elf-nanny was trying to feed him. Leo had the incredible urge to go be with his son, but stayed instead to lecture Chris on the ways of the whitelighter.
"Chris, you should remember that we have a job to guide our charges..."
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
"Phoebe, you take the one on the right and I'll make a break for it!" Piper said with mock enthusiasm after having to politely force down two pickled hen's eggs and a pig leg (Phoebe: Poor piggie). She hadn't been very interested in all of Phoebe's suspicions toward Paige and Chris, much more involved in discussing possible motives and suspects with their escort. (Bane, was what he was called)
"My dear," Bane laughed, "You only have a bit to go. But I would like to introduce two famed witches such as yourselves to meet someone who is quite near your standards I should hope." For someone half-animal, he was very eloquent. He lifted his head to the noon sun and his eyes twinkled merrily. "You have been her idols since I told her myths of your power in her childhood."
"Man, you know how to make a woman feel old." Piper giggled, striding easily next to him as he plodded down the dirt path. Phoebe rolled her eyes as Piper and Bane continued to chat. Bane was a bit too cheerful for Phoebe to channel and Piper was just plain bored. Besides, Phoebe still had some sort of nagging feeling in the back of her head that what she had seen between Chris and Paige was more that what it seemed. Although both shared the tendency of keeping secrets and neither took insults easily, something didn't add up.
While going over the incident in her head for the umpteenth time, Phoebe barely took notice that Bane was introducing them to a young woman he addressed as the Wanderer. She looked barely a day over seventeen, with a rough, navy wool cloak and hair black as a crow's feathers. Her skin was pale, white almost, and her eyes were large and jade green, her voice deep yet feminine.
"Pardon me, but I have urgent business with the king." She informed them urgently after introductions. With a whip of her cloak, she had twirled and hurried off to the king, who was busy having a conversation with some guards.
"Well that was quick." Piper remarked, frowning slightly toward the brisk girl. Bane shook his head sadly and turned to face both of them.
"She has overworked herself since the death of her brother." Bane said unhappily.
"Wait, are you talking about the prince, the crowned centaur prince?" Piper asked, feeling that the info had to be a bit mixed-up. How the hell did centaurs reproduce? There weren't any females and any other possibility was just...uhg.
"Indeed, she is the daughter of a centaur and a nymph. The king is her father, making the prince her late brother." Bane told her. He quickly changed the subject seeing the look of wonder and disgust on Piper's face. "So do you have enough information from us to start your investigation?"
Sighing, Piper and Phoebe nodded in sync with one another and called for Leo as Bane trotted off, head held high. According to Leo, the Wanderer was a magical being that kept the passageways between worlds safe. She had to be born of a nymph and a half-breed. A new one was born every fifty years.
When they arrived at home, they could hear frantic shouts of "PUT IT OUT!" followed by screams of "WELL HOLD STILL!" and the smell of burning wood was thick in the air, coming from the second floor.
"Why the hell did you leave them alone together?" Piper shouted, knowing all too well who it was, scrambling up the staircase with Phoebe close behind her. Leo shrugged and hurried after them.
"I was watching when Paige electrocuted Chris and I thought that if they trained together they might be able to work things out." Another shout from the attic. "I only left them alone for five minutes!"
"To what point and purpose Leo? I was hoping we could just separate the two of them... Permanently!" Piper stomped up the final flight of steps and threw the door open. Paige was patting the flaming sofa out with an old, bulky, musty old rug and Chris was lying on the ground with a black and charred shirt that was still smoking. Apparently, Paige's new power had gotten so bad, she started a few things (such as Chris) on fire. "My god, what did you say do her now?" Piper scolded, throwing her hands up in frustration. A nearby vase with blue and pink flowers imprinted on it blew up and the shards tumbled to the ground next to the wall.
"He made fun of-" Paige began, childishly pointing her fingers at Chris.
"Her vacant boyfriend-" Chris cut in.
"We're on a break-"
"You're in denial-"
"You're a jerk-'
"You're an idiot-"
"ASSHOLE-"
"BITCH-" At this comment, Paige decided that the peaceful course of action would be to thrust the rug on top of Chris and proceed to try and wring his neck. Phoebe pulled Leo into the commotion and he tried to hold back an absolutely livid Paige, while Piper pulled the rug off of Chris.
"I swear, you two are acting like such children-" she began, not counting that all the anger in the room was affecting Phoebe.
"HOLD IT!" Phoebe screamed.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Sorry about the bit of Leo-bashing, I was telling it partly from Chris' point of view. So erm, you could review, just to encourage me. Sometimes I think I'm too needy.
Chapter Five: Fan the Flame
Chris anxiously flipped through the crusty, aged parchment of the Book of Shadows, frantically searching for a demon with green blood, the ability to erase memories that the sisters hadn't *already* vanquished. Which, since he'd started an hour ago, was none. His intuition to told him it was a demon, not the Cleaners or anything and up until now, his intuition had served him well. If *somebody* would just help him...
Paige was still sulking about *Richard*. Paige didn't have to tell him what it was, she'd been absolutely ogled ever since she met him, and only now was she starting to act moody. Screw him if he was the type of guy who would leave her when something better came along. Especially when he couldn't see that she was the better thing...HOLY HELL! He hated her; there was absolutely nothing between them except a fiery vengeance. One, he didn't like her, B. She never was going to the nymph thing slide and next... Damn, she was hot. Why bother denying it to himself, he loved the tight clothes she wore, and he would've given anything to remember what had happened last night.
Chris tiredly rubbed his temples, and leaned against the stand with his elbows. If he weren't careful, Phoebe would find out. /Pull yourself together man! / He thought, flipping another ten pages to an entry on goblins. *Goblins*. Right about now, goblins were supposed to increase in general activity. Chris mulled over his history lessons in his mind. The Wanderer was killed, Cupid's son Eros disappeared, and goblins resurfaced from the mountains caves. Maybe he'd been too focused on immediate threats to the sisters that he'd never bothered to study the whole picture.
Leo orbed in just as Chris began to study the horrendous, raw orange skinned and fanged picture staring back at him for the book. "What are you doing up here without Paige?" he asked sternly. Chris rolled his eyes and clapped the book shut, shutting his thoughts and feeling inside himself at the same time.
"Just look in on centaurs again, thanks for the concern about my paper cuts." Chris replied sarcastically, smiling artificially at the Elder, just for the sake of annoyance. No one truly appreciated that as much as Chris. Come to think of it, no one really appreciated his antics at all.
"I know what happened..." Leo began. Chris' heart stopped pumping and his blood chilled, freezing within his veins. Fretfulness throbbed in his head and a nervous lump rose in hi throat. He was dead, whatever he'd done. "... At the village with you and Paige, I was watching." Leo finished disapprovingly folding his arms and glaring at Chris. "And I've got two things to say to you." The color flooded back into Chris' face and he scorned himself for thinking Leo had caught on to him. The guy gave himself *way* too much credit.
"Well, could you make it fast?" Chris retorted mockingly, exiting the attic and stepping down the stairs. Leo sighed gruffly and followed, clearing his throat for a miniature lecture.
"When Paige electrocuted you, she manifested her new power, energy control. You'll be training her on how to focus on her power." Leo explained, as Chris unemotionally sped down another flight of stairs.
"Why do I have to?" Chris asked, on the verge of whining. Leo pretended not to hear the comment.
"But there's the little matter of your bickering with her."
"Hey, I expressed my opinion. She took it overboard." Chris replied as he sprawled on the couch and looked up at Leo as if to tell him 'I don't care, screw off.' Leo paused a moment and glanced into the conservatory, where a rosy-cheeked, wide-eyed Wyatt was slapping away a spoon of ground peas his elf-nanny was trying to feed him. Leo had the incredible urge to go be with his son, but stayed instead to lecture Chris on the ways of the whitelighter.
"Chris, you should remember that we have a job to guide our charges..."
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
"Phoebe, you take the one on the right and I'll make a break for it!" Piper said with mock enthusiasm after having to politely force down two pickled hen's eggs and a pig leg (Phoebe: Poor piggie). She hadn't been very interested in all of Phoebe's suspicions toward Paige and Chris, much more involved in discussing possible motives and suspects with their escort. (Bane, was what he was called)
"My dear," Bane laughed, "You only have a bit to go. But I would like to introduce two famed witches such as yourselves to meet someone who is quite near your standards I should hope." For someone half-animal, he was very eloquent. He lifted his head to the noon sun and his eyes twinkled merrily. "You have been her idols since I told her myths of your power in her childhood."
"Man, you know how to make a woman feel old." Piper giggled, striding easily next to him as he plodded down the dirt path. Phoebe rolled her eyes as Piper and Bane continued to chat. Bane was a bit too cheerful for Phoebe to channel and Piper was just plain bored. Besides, Phoebe still had some sort of nagging feeling in the back of her head that what she had seen between Chris and Paige was more that what it seemed. Although both shared the tendency of keeping secrets and neither took insults easily, something didn't add up.
While going over the incident in her head for the umpteenth time, Phoebe barely took notice that Bane was introducing them to a young woman he addressed as the Wanderer. She looked barely a day over seventeen, with a rough, navy wool cloak and hair black as a crow's feathers. Her skin was pale, white almost, and her eyes were large and jade green, her voice deep yet feminine.
"Pardon me, but I have urgent business with the king." She informed them urgently after introductions. With a whip of her cloak, she had twirled and hurried off to the king, who was busy having a conversation with some guards.
"Well that was quick." Piper remarked, frowning slightly toward the brisk girl. Bane shook his head sadly and turned to face both of them.
"She has overworked herself since the death of her brother." Bane said unhappily.
"Wait, are you talking about the prince, the crowned centaur prince?" Piper asked, feeling that the info had to be a bit mixed-up. How the hell did centaurs reproduce? There weren't any females and any other possibility was just...uhg.
"Indeed, she is the daughter of a centaur and a nymph. The king is her father, making the prince her late brother." Bane told her. He quickly changed the subject seeing the look of wonder and disgust on Piper's face. "So do you have enough information from us to start your investigation?"
Sighing, Piper and Phoebe nodded in sync with one another and called for Leo as Bane trotted off, head held high. According to Leo, the Wanderer was a magical being that kept the passageways between worlds safe. She had to be born of a nymph and a half-breed. A new one was born every fifty years.
When they arrived at home, they could hear frantic shouts of "PUT IT OUT!" followed by screams of "WELL HOLD STILL!" and the smell of burning wood was thick in the air, coming from the second floor.
"Why the hell did you leave them alone together?" Piper shouted, knowing all too well who it was, scrambling up the staircase with Phoebe close behind her. Leo shrugged and hurried after them.
"I was watching when Paige electrocuted Chris and I thought that if they trained together they might be able to work things out." Another shout from the attic. "I only left them alone for five minutes!"
"To what point and purpose Leo? I was hoping we could just separate the two of them... Permanently!" Piper stomped up the final flight of steps and threw the door open. Paige was patting the flaming sofa out with an old, bulky, musty old rug and Chris was lying on the ground with a black and charred shirt that was still smoking. Apparently, Paige's new power had gotten so bad, she started a few things (such as Chris) on fire. "My god, what did you say do her now?" Piper scolded, throwing her hands up in frustration. A nearby vase with blue and pink flowers imprinted on it blew up and the shards tumbled to the ground next to the wall.
"He made fun of-" Paige began, childishly pointing her fingers at Chris.
"Her vacant boyfriend-" Chris cut in.
"We're on a break-"
"You're in denial-"
"You're a jerk-'
"You're an idiot-"
"ASSHOLE-"
"BITCH-" At this comment, Paige decided that the peaceful course of action would be to thrust the rug on top of Chris and proceed to try and wring his neck. Phoebe pulled Leo into the commotion and he tried to hold back an absolutely livid Paige, while Piper pulled the rug off of Chris.
"I swear, you two are acting like such children-" she began, not counting that all the anger in the room was affecting Phoebe.
"HOLD IT!" Phoebe screamed.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Sorry about the bit of Leo-bashing, I was telling it partly from Chris' point of view. So erm, you could review, just to encourage me. Sometimes I think I'm too needy.