Greetings to my adoring fans!!! My ego boosters, flatterers and most
importantly, my friends!
Here's a quick little chapter to tide you over.
Warning: I have a few ideas swirling around in my head. Watch this space, things will be happening!!
Roses are red
Violets are blue
I'll send you a bouquet
If you review!!!
Chapter 21: In the dark
Phoebe wasn't the only having trouble sleeping.
Talia tossed and turned in her bed. All she could do was listen to Judy's rhythmic breathing beside her, wishing that sleep would claim her too. Finally, she gave up trying to sleep. She knew that if she stayed in her room much longer she'd end up waking the younger girl. Quietly she got up and put on a pair of trouser bottoms. She didn't bother changing out of the t-shirt she had worn to bed. She let herself out of her room.
When Talia reached the top of the stairs, she stopped. Had she just heard a door closing? Talia looked up at the clock hanging on the wall next to her. It was a little past four in the morning. Who besides her would be awake in the Haliwell household at this time? Talia shook her head and made her way downstairs as quietly as she could.
It would be morning soon, and Talia knew from past experience, that the only way to rid herself of her nightly demons was a harsh physical workout. She let herself out to the garden outside. She didn't bother with any lights. She was comfortable in the dark. She liked the dark. It hid away all the things she didn't want the world to see. . .
Carefully, she positioned herself in the middle of the garden using only her sense of touch and the various shadows cast by the pale light of the new moon and the stars in the sky. Then, she started on her warm up routine. She went through the movements slowly at first, picking up speed as time progressed. Soon she was a blur of motion in the dark.
*************
In a place in the deepest recesses of the earth, a figure sat at a table, in a room dimly lit by torches. The man had gray hair and small beady eyes that seemed to glint with ill-concealed malice. There was a parchment laid in front of him. He scribbled on it with an old-fashioned quill. Occasionally he dipped it in a small bottle of ink, which, along with a slowly decreasing candle, was the only other object that claimed the table's smooth surface.
Valdis entered the room with something akin to respect in his handsome, and usually arrogant, features.
"About time," said the man, who hadn't raised his head from the parchment he was still scribbling furiously on.
"It's good to see you too, father," snarled Valdis sarcastically.
The quill stopped its motion. A pair of cold, gray eyes finally deigned to look up at their equals.
"You saw her?" asked Predicus, one of the most powerful demons of the Underworld and member of the Evil Council.
"I saw her," confirmed Valdis.
"Well?" asked his father impatiently.
"She seems to have adjusted well with the witches."
Predicus snorted as he slowly got up from his chair. "She would! She's a half-breed after all."
Valdis remained silent. Predicus on the other hand, continued his tirade.
"Just like her father! Who ever heard of the son of a mortal, becoming the Source? His ascendance to the throne was sacrilege! Their blood is tainted, unclean, mingled with that of mortals and, even worse, witches! No matter what they do, they can never be as strong as a pureblooded demon! Remember that, son!"
Valdis kept the smirk, which was fighting to rise up to his face, hidden. He didn't tell his father that the very fact that Belthazor was indeed the Source, disproved all his elitist theories. It was his human half that had saved him in the Wasteland. And Talia wasn't descended from just any witches. She was descended from the Charmed Ones, the most powerful witches in the world! Both hers, and Cole's, other halves contributed to their strength, rather than deduct from it.
Predicus though, would hear none of it.
"The Source asked you to keep an eye on her. You do that. But I want to you report everything she does, to me first. I want to know what time she wakes up in the morning and what time she goes to bed at night. Where she goes, and who she goes with. What she eats for breakfast, what she eats for lunch and what she eats for dinner."
"What for? The Source has already chosen sides. Even he has me watching her, I don't think he'd ever dare do anything to help her or the Charmed Ones. He knows the consequences of such an action only too well."
In one swift movement, much faster than Valdis could have ever anticipated, Predicus grabbed him by the throat and slammed him against the stone wall.
"You think?!" he bellowed in his face.
Valdis gasped for breath. He tried to pry his father's fingers from his throat, but it was a losing battle. Predicus was too strong. His eyes bulged in terror as he looked upon the mad face of his father.
"You are not meant to think, boy!!"
"That girl is Belthazor's only weakness. He may have tried to convince the Council otherwise, but the fact that he has you watching her is testament to that. Belthazor has soiled that sacred throne! And for that, he must pay. I will see to that! Only a pureblood demon is ever worthy of that throne. And only a pureblood demon is ever worthy of that sacred cloak that comes with it. And it will be a pureblood demon that will raise the Underworld to the glory it once had!"
Predicus released his son abruptly. The young demon gasped for air. He staggered to find his balance and held onto the wall, swallowing oxygen in large gulps.
"Watch yourself, son," said Predicus in a somewhat calmer voice, turning his back on Valdis. "A war is approaching in the Underworld. You want to be on the winning side."
Without another word Predicus retrieved the parchment he had been writing on and left the room.
It took Valdis rather longer, till he could shimmer out of the cavern.
Here's a quick little chapter to tide you over.
Warning: I have a few ideas swirling around in my head. Watch this space, things will be happening!!
Roses are red
Violets are blue
I'll send you a bouquet
If you review!!!
Chapter 21: In the dark
Phoebe wasn't the only having trouble sleeping.
Talia tossed and turned in her bed. All she could do was listen to Judy's rhythmic breathing beside her, wishing that sleep would claim her too. Finally, she gave up trying to sleep. She knew that if she stayed in her room much longer she'd end up waking the younger girl. Quietly she got up and put on a pair of trouser bottoms. She didn't bother changing out of the t-shirt she had worn to bed. She let herself out of her room.
When Talia reached the top of the stairs, she stopped. Had she just heard a door closing? Talia looked up at the clock hanging on the wall next to her. It was a little past four in the morning. Who besides her would be awake in the Haliwell household at this time? Talia shook her head and made her way downstairs as quietly as she could.
It would be morning soon, and Talia knew from past experience, that the only way to rid herself of her nightly demons was a harsh physical workout. She let herself out to the garden outside. She didn't bother with any lights. She was comfortable in the dark. She liked the dark. It hid away all the things she didn't want the world to see. . .
Carefully, she positioned herself in the middle of the garden using only her sense of touch and the various shadows cast by the pale light of the new moon and the stars in the sky. Then, she started on her warm up routine. She went through the movements slowly at first, picking up speed as time progressed. Soon she was a blur of motion in the dark.
*************
In a place in the deepest recesses of the earth, a figure sat at a table, in a room dimly lit by torches. The man had gray hair and small beady eyes that seemed to glint with ill-concealed malice. There was a parchment laid in front of him. He scribbled on it with an old-fashioned quill. Occasionally he dipped it in a small bottle of ink, which, along with a slowly decreasing candle, was the only other object that claimed the table's smooth surface.
Valdis entered the room with something akin to respect in his handsome, and usually arrogant, features.
"About time," said the man, who hadn't raised his head from the parchment he was still scribbling furiously on.
"It's good to see you too, father," snarled Valdis sarcastically.
The quill stopped its motion. A pair of cold, gray eyes finally deigned to look up at their equals.
"You saw her?" asked Predicus, one of the most powerful demons of the Underworld and member of the Evil Council.
"I saw her," confirmed Valdis.
"Well?" asked his father impatiently.
"She seems to have adjusted well with the witches."
Predicus snorted as he slowly got up from his chair. "She would! She's a half-breed after all."
Valdis remained silent. Predicus on the other hand, continued his tirade.
"Just like her father! Who ever heard of the son of a mortal, becoming the Source? His ascendance to the throne was sacrilege! Their blood is tainted, unclean, mingled with that of mortals and, even worse, witches! No matter what they do, they can never be as strong as a pureblooded demon! Remember that, son!"
Valdis kept the smirk, which was fighting to rise up to his face, hidden. He didn't tell his father that the very fact that Belthazor was indeed the Source, disproved all his elitist theories. It was his human half that had saved him in the Wasteland. And Talia wasn't descended from just any witches. She was descended from the Charmed Ones, the most powerful witches in the world! Both hers, and Cole's, other halves contributed to their strength, rather than deduct from it.
Predicus though, would hear none of it.
"The Source asked you to keep an eye on her. You do that. But I want to you report everything she does, to me first. I want to know what time she wakes up in the morning and what time she goes to bed at night. Where she goes, and who she goes with. What she eats for breakfast, what she eats for lunch and what she eats for dinner."
"What for? The Source has already chosen sides. Even he has me watching her, I don't think he'd ever dare do anything to help her or the Charmed Ones. He knows the consequences of such an action only too well."
In one swift movement, much faster than Valdis could have ever anticipated, Predicus grabbed him by the throat and slammed him against the stone wall.
"You think?!" he bellowed in his face.
Valdis gasped for breath. He tried to pry his father's fingers from his throat, but it was a losing battle. Predicus was too strong. His eyes bulged in terror as he looked upon the mad face of his father.
"You are not meant to think, boy!!"
"That girl is Belthazor's only weakness. He may have tried to convince the Council otherwise, but the fact that he has you watching her is testament to that. Belthazor has soiled that sacred throne! And for that, he must pay. I will see to that! Only a pureblood demon is ever worthy of that throne. And only a pureblood demon is ever worthy of that sacred cloak that comes with it. And it will be a pureblood demon that will raise the Underworld to the glory it once had!"
Predicus released his son abruptly. The young demon gasped for air. He staggered to find his balance and held onto the wall, swallowing oxygen in large gulps.
"Watch yourself, son," said Predicus in a somewhat calmer voice, turning his back on Valdis. "A war is approaching in the Underworld. You want to be on the winning side."
Without another word Predicus retrieved the parchment he had been writing on and left the room.
It took Valdis rather longer, till he could shimmer out of the cavern.