Hello everyone! *grins madly and waves*
I was rather apprehensive about your reactions to the previous chapter as I was afraid it wouldn't exactly be up to par. Thank you to everyone who's tried to refute that view. You've restored my confidence as a mediocre writer!
Ori: I'm glad you like the song as it's one of my favourites. It does have beautiful lyrics, doesn't it? I don't know if this chapter is exactly what you hope it would be, but I felt that I had certain loose ends to tie up before moving on with the action.
Chantedly: I hope this chapter answers one of your questions at least. There'll be more action soon! So... is the Josh synonymy the reason you're reading my story? Or is he just the distraction? *waggles eyebrows up and down suggestively* Either way, I'm glad you're reading... and reviewing.
Barb6: You are right. The last chapter did take a lot out of me. Talia's ranting and raving had to come from the heart so I ended up snapping at anyone and everyone approaching me as I was writing it. The fact that it was so hard to write didn't help either. I'm glad someone's impressed with me!
I love your comments. You're right of course, Talia should never doubt her father's love for her, but as you so rightfully pointed out, she is very hurt, very confused, and as a consequence, very angry. I do hope someone will set her straight too.
Mickis: Friends! *grins goofily* You'll be glad to know my muse is back and with a vengeance! The words simply flowed out of my fingertips just like you said they would. I think I know exactly how this story is going to end now, I just don't know if people will be happy with it.
Bob-the-bear: Wow! I don't think I've ever had quite such a spirited response in any of my reviews!
I am incredibly... awed, and grateful, and humbled, by how passionately you seem to like this story. You make it worth writing, I'll give you that! Which is why I dedicate yet ANOTHER chapter to you! You've set such high standards for me. I do hope I don't disappoint...
TanyaM: You've just expressed one of my own biggest worries in your review!
Don't get me wrong. In Chapter 11, I think I show pretty clearly that the other members of the council are terrified of him. But they are demons, bad guys, of course they want his throne and if by some miracle they got it, they would probably rip each other to pieces squabbling over it. They only united behind Perdicus because they felt that he could get rid of Cole.
Cole is very powerful, but he has been in power for a while now and, so far, he had Talia by his side. She was almost as legendary as her father in the Underworld and if he still had her, along with Xander, then no one would dare oppose him. As it is, the demons see Talia's departure as their chance to try and get rid of him. After all, if the Source can't control his own daughter, maybe he's not as untouchable as they thought.
Notice that none of them dares rise directly against him. They know they have absolutely no chance, so they do the only thing they can do. They try to turn Talia, the only person that has a realistic chance of getting rid of him, against him.
The barman's view is the view of common lower level demons. They have seen a lot more of Talia that the Source who prefers to stay in his palace. They've seen Talia's power with their own eyes, while they've only heard about Cole's. And even then, they believe that Talia has argued with her father over the throne, but has left the Underworld knowing that she couldn't fight him for it – yet. They believe that she's away gathering forces to her side, preparing to take on her father. They are of course, wrong.
Cole feels compelled to publicly condemn Talia's defection. He is the Source, and the Underworld expects it of him. Even a very powerful king has to make certain concessions to his subjects.
But now Cole has to show his true strength if he wants to keep his throne. Which he will. Soon. After all, he's got a bit of a temper too, you know... and the conspirators dared hurt Talia...
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And as always, I'd also like to thank my beta Nightcrawler, only this time, I'd like to thank him for more than his revising. There's a certain scene in this chapter, between Cole and Phoebe that was not only his idea, but a lot of it was actually written by him too! I've added to it and changed it of course. If it was up to Nightcrawler, I'm sure he would have had Cole, Talia and Phoebe ride off into the sunset at the end of this story, but it was simply too good a scene for me to pass up when he sent it to me with the previous chapter, so I've included it on this one.
Thank you everyone for reading and mostly for reviewing. You reviews make my day, I thrive on them, and they, along with my conscience, keep me up at nights better than coffee when I'm writing this story. Keep sending them you guys and you make those sleepless nights worth it...
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Chapter 38: Aftermath
Perdicus nervously paced the floor. He had been alerted the moment Talia had flamed to the deep recesses of the Underworld. He had after all been expecting her to put in an appearance.
Unable to take the suspense any longer he stopped his pacing. Determinately he made his way to an intricately carved cabinet at the end of the room. He took out a crystal glass and filled it with port wine from the crystal decanter that stood next to it.
He took a large gulp of the dark red liquid from the glass and closed his eyes as it trailed fire-hot kisses all the way to his stomach. Once more he reached into the cabinet. This time he pulled out a wooden box. With the box under one arm, and the crystal glass in the other hand, he made his way to his desk which stood proudly at the other end of the room.
Slowly, ceremoniously, he sat on the velvet covered chair. His long white fingers opened the box and drew out what for all purposes appeared to be a crystal ball. Most people involved with magic would have winced at the stereotype of it all, or even laughed in disbelief, but Talia and all upper level demons would have recognised it for what it was. It was a Spectrodome.
Spectrodomes were very expensive and very rare dark artifacts. An enormous amount of magical energy was required to put them to use and they worked similarly to the Source's own stone pool in the Great Hall. If its user concentrated hard enough, they could see in its depths anyone, or anything, they wished. The reason that they were so rare was because they had been outlawed by practically every Source that had ever been in power. The thing about Spectrodomes was that they could be used to spy on anyone, including the Source himself, and that was one thing that the Source, whoever he, or she, was at that time, could not tolerate.
Perdicus allowed himself a smirk before he concentrated on the Spectrodome.
The minutes seemed like hours as Perdicus watched the argument between the Source and his daughter. He grinned maliciously as the hurtful words left Talia's mouth. But his grin soon turned into a frown.
~Consider this a warning, father~
Perdicus frowned. She was letting him off with a warning? That wasn't how it was supposed to be!
He watched Talia storm out of the Great Hall without a backwards glance.
Perdicus scowled. He was positively fuming. They were going to use Talia against her father. The magnificent plan he and Valdis had contorted would have played the insolent half-demon against his brat. He already had the backing of other upper level demons, the outcome of this scheme would have guaranteed his ascendance to the throne.
With a well placed sweep of his hand, he sent the expensive crystal glass crushing onto the wall.
Slowly he got up.
~And if you EVER do anything to hurt my friends again, I'll come after you and I will hunt you down!
I'll vanquish you the way the Charmed Ones never could, and this time, there'll be no way back, father! I promise you~
An evil sneer spread over his cold features.
If at first you don't succeed, try, try, again...
***********************
"You know, as far as teen hang-outs go, this place isn't so bad," Phoebe commented. She and Wyatt were in a somewhat secluded clearing in Golden Gate Park.
"Josh comes up here sometimes when he needs to get away," Wyatt said by way of confirmation. "I'm not sure if he's here though. He may have just gone home, in which case we're out of luck."
"Still, it can't hurt to have a look around," Phoebe countered. "I'll take the right side, and you take the left."
Aunt and nephew split up and began to search the opposite sides of the large clearing for Josh.
The sudden storm that had caught Talia and Josh by surprise no more than a couple of hours ago, had ended. The moon and stars still hid behind menacing clouds and moisture hang heavy in the air, but Phoebe was grateful for not having the hindrance in sight that the rain would've caused, as she looked anxiously for the terrified teenage boy.
After a few minutes, Phoebe began to doubt that Josh was out here after all. Suddenly, the hairs on the back of her neck stood up as she heard the all-too-familiar sound of flaming. She whirled around, expecting to see Talia, but her heart nearly stopped when she took in the form in front of her.
"Phoebe," Cole said quietly.
"What the HELL are you doing here?!" Phoebe hissed.
"As laughable as it may sound," Cole said with a hint of impatience, "I'm here to tell you that I had nothing to do with what happened to Josh."
"Oh, right," Phoebe said sarcastically.
"Listen to me," Cole said firmly. "I think someone is using Talia to get to me. I have my suspicions as to who might be responsible, but I have no proof...yet."
His eyes were unguarded, large, pleading. They begged her to believe him.
"Why should I believe you?" Phoebe said, but she could feel her conviction wavering.
She of all people knew just how much Cole loved his daughter. Hadn't she seen it months ago in his eyes, on a warm September night? Wyatt's story had bothered her the moment she heard it, but Talia believed it, and it was that, more than anything else that had convinced Phoebe of Cole's guilt.
"You may be a Charmed One, Phoebe, and I may be the Source," Cole began, "but I still love you; and I love Talia. I would never do anything to hurt you...either of you. You know that, Phoebe. Deep down in your heart you know that."
Cole started to turn away, but he paused. "Tell Talia that...I'll take care of it. I'll get the bastard that hurt her. Tell her...tell her I'm sorry."
He then flamed out, leaving a bewildered Phoebe behind.
It took Phoebe a little while for his last words to sink in. Cole believed Talia to be with them, just like Phoebe had believed her to be with him. This brought up a whole new question to Phoebe's fevered mind. Where was Talia anyway?
***********************
Josh sat shivering on the stands of the school football pitch. Though the rain had finally stopped, his seat was wet, like everything else there. It didn't bother him. He was already soaked to the bone and his chills were brought on by more than just the piercing cold. His tormented mind played and replayed, over and over again, the horrific scenes he had just witnessed mere hours ago, when his entire world came crushing down.
He was in love with Talia. He had been sure of that only a short while back. He had planned to tell her that very evening when...
The Talia he knew was the fun loving girl he had seen every day in school. She loved books and art, and was bored to death by sports. She was smart and funny, blatantly honest in her views, spirited...
But this... thing that he saw back at the alley, she was that too. Josh was still not quite sure what had happened! One minute they were just laughing in the rain, like any normal couple of teenagers out on a date, and then suddenly they were surrounded by strange men dressed in black. His own thoughts and memories sounded strange and foreign to him, but he knew what he had seen.
She had taken charge. There was no doubt of that in his mind. She had become cold and business-like all at once. She stopped him from moving forward and she turned to face the men. Josh had suddenly realised that they were surrounded.
Josh remembered being confused. He had spent the whole time being confused, he confessed to himself. He had called her name. He wanted to ask who those men were. She obviously knew them, from her reaction, but she ignored him.
He heard her yelling something...calling for her cousin. Josh couldn't understand. Wyatt was nowhere near them! Why would she call for him when there was no chance that he would hear her? And that's when things became a blur for Josh.
One of the men had thrown something at them. Josh wasn't sure what, but he remembered Talia throwing him to the ground, landing protectively on top of him. He remembered being surprised at how strong she was. Someone that small couldn't possibly be that strong, right? Then he remembered feeling ridiculously indignant. He was the man. He was supposed to protect her, not the other way round. He raised his eyes only for his jaw to drop.
He looked up just in time to see Talia wave her hand in a strange motion at one of the men. His eyes widened as he saw the man being literally lifted off his feet and thrown by an invisible force against one of his comrades. He still wasn't sure how she did that, but he was certain that it had been her doing.
He watched her fight against a very big man. She was so small and he was enormous, yet strangely enough, he could see her winning. Impossibly, or so it had seemed to him, she was gaining ground against the brute of a man. Damn, she was fast!
Then suddenly he saw her turn to face another of the men. Disbelievingly, he watched her right hand burst in flames. The flames rose out of the palm of her hand, but they didn't seem to burn her. Talia didn't even spare them a glance and for a fleeting moment, Josh wondered if she even knew that they were there. His momentary suspicions were unfounded, he realised when he watched her throw the flames at her approaching would-be attacker, before turning back to her previous hand-to-hand fight.
Josh watched in disbelief as the man exploded in flames.
And that's when he saw another man creeping up behind her. He was holding a metal trash can above his head and was poised to throw it at Talia. He hadn't had time to think, to process what it was that he was watching. Josh wasn't sure if he had shouted her name out loud, but he must have, because she turned round and, spotting the man with the trash can, made another of those sudden moves with her hand and sent him flying against the wall.
Josh was still staring at her when his back exploded in pain. He gasped with the agony of it and then the world went black for a while.
He had come to, not too long later only to see Wyatt leaning over him with concern in his eyes.
He briefly wondered how his younger friend had got here so fast, but his back still hurt like hell, so he didn't give it much thought.
"Take it easy Josh," he heard him say. Wyatt then turned him on his stomach, and a dazed Josh felt comfortable warmth spread over the still-searing pain. He opened his eyes one more time, but this time he seriously regretted it. What he saw filled him with horror.
Talia was literally on fire. Flames danced towards the sky from her burning limbs. An unearthly cry left her lips and Josh couldn't understand why no one helped her. Surely, couldn't they see that she was in pain?
And then suddenly Talia was gone altogether and in her place stood a creature like no other Josh had ever seen...a creature that seemed to be solely made of fire.
Josh watched with fascinated horror as the creature – bird – flew above their heads for a little while before plunging downwards, towards them. For a few terrifying moments he thought it had been heading for him, but then it viciously saw it attack one of the men.
Sitting at the stands of the darkened football stadium Josh shivered.
There was fire, and the smell of burning flesh, the feel of the cold rain on his skin, and the anguished cries of a dying man. He hadn't been able to tear his eyes away and he had been pretty certain that no one else present had either, though he couldn't remember ever checking around to be sure.
Josh shivered once again. It was the most horrifying thing he had ever seen and would haunt him to his grave.
Strangely enough he hadn't made the connection until he saw with his own eyes that big thing which he had at first thought beautiful, only to realise how ugly it was at its murderous rage, transform back into Talia.
She remained kneeling on the floor for a while, catching her breath. And for the first time since his world imploded, Josh felt everything slowly sinking in.
His girlfriend, the girl he thought he was in love with, the girl he had laughed with less than an hour ago, was a monster, a murderer. He was too shocked to react. He simply stood there as Wyatt helped her up. He didn't even remember standing up in the first place.
She reached for him. And suddenly, he couldn't stand the idea of her touching him! He had run. Run away from the girl he thought he loved and the boy he thought he could trust.
He ran not really knowing, or caring, where he was going. He ran to get away from the horrors he had witnessed.
Whatever she was, Josh realised, Wyatt was too. How else could he have heard her calling and arrived so quickly? Halfway through his running he realised that his back wasn't hurting anymore. He remembered Wyatt leaning over him and that warm comfortable feeling on his painful back. The younger boy had healed him. And Josh didn't know if he should be glad or upset.