Chapter 2. Wasteland
Cole felt shit. Ever since he got into the Wasteland he has been on the run. He was tired and only the thought of Phoebe kept him going. After he contacted her he was waiting for her to help him. He believed that she would save him. Now this hope was gone. Phoebe wanted to move on and to give up her powers. She did not want to be with him or help him, she did not want even to hear about him. Why the hell he struggled so much? Why did he try to fight the Source? Why did he got himself killed and why he was fighting now to survive? He must be a complete masochistic idiot trying to prolong his own misery. It would be much easier to get gobbled up by this disgusting monstrous worm and get it over and done with. Cole turned his head to already too familiar sound of the beast approaching but instead of running for his life away from it he walked straight toward the sound. The ugly head of the beast had already appeared out of the ground. He heard another demon approaching the wasteland when everything around him froze. Cole stared for a moment on the beast motionless in front of him and demonic essence hanging not far away from his head. He stretched his hand to reach this essence when he felt his body frozen and heard a calm voice behind him said, "You do not want those powers."
Cole jerked his head and saw a man in late 50s, dressed in grey robe. The man had a little smile on his face and looked at Cole with the expression of calm interest.
"Who the hell are you?" asked Cole, who was a great deal surprised to see somebody freezing the Wasteland.
"My name is William Schwarzlight. I don't think you know me."
"I am pretty sure, I don't," Cole snapped.
"Well, then this is the time we get acquainted. But first let me check something. Don't worry I am not going to hurt you. "
He held out his hand and a piece of parchment appeared in his palm. Then he waved his hand over Cole's right arm, which got Cole's arm unfrozen. The man carefully took Cole's hand and placed it on top of the parchment. In amazement Cole saw the parchment glowing in a beautiful blue shine. Schwarzlight smiled broadly and said more to himself then to Cole:
"I thought so."
"You thought so?" Cole repeated. "Thought what? Who the hell are you and what do you want from me?"
"I am one of the Lugels. I am sure you heard about us."
This time Cole was even more shocked. Lugels were legends. They stood between or better say above the good and evil. They were very powerful; the rumours were that Lugels possessed ability to tap into the matter of the Universe and transfer it into any power imaginable. Cole had never seen a Lugel. He believed nobody had ever seen them, even the Source. They kept their identities very secret. They were the money-makers, doctors, teachers and guards of the magical world. They never took sides. They helped both good and evil. They were protectors of magical world from exposure to the mortal realm and everybody cooperated with them. Cole knew that in the past the Source tried to battle them for their money and power and he had failed. The Council of the Underworld had to find a new Source. Lugels could be merciless when it came to protecting themselves and the magic world. All he knew about Lugels were more legends than facts. Apparently they all looked like humans, lived in the mortal world. They were excellent shape shifters and this way could hide their identity.
"I want to talk to you, Mr Turner and would really appreciate your attention. I will unfreeze you completely if you promise that you are not going to do anything stupid. We don't have much time. Keeping the Wasteland frozen for a long time is not very safe. And we have a lot to talk about."
Cole thought about it for a second. He did not lose anything by talking to the Lugel. Hey, he did not have anything to lose anyway. And in all honesty he was curious what Lugels wanted from him. So he nodded in agreement and immediately felt himself being released.
"From your reaction I understand that you have heard about Lugels before," started Schwarzlight. "I suspect that part of what you have heard is true and part of it is just a myth. However, I don't have time at the moment to tell you what is true and what is not. The main aim of Lugels is to protect the world of magic and keep the balance of forces inside it and for as long as we existed we managed to preserve this balance. However, now the Magic world faces one of the biggest threats. And this is that evil and good has been at war for many generations to the point that if the peace is not negotiated within next few months we will face a total extinction. For a long time now we have been monitoring the situation and..." he stopped because Cole's body suddenly froze. Schwarzlight rushed to him but the voice coming from the usual dark but now all over sudden light blue sky of the Wasteland said, "He is fine, don't worry about him."
Schwarzlight looked at the sky and the sign of understanding and of sadness and worry came to his face. "It's time?" he asked more like stating the fact.
"Yes, it is," the voice came.
"But what will happen to our plan?"
"Everything will go along as it should be. You did well, however, things like this cannot be planned. Your task was to find the Chosen Two which you did. Now it is their turn to take things forward."
"But they don't know anything," protested Schwarzlight.
"This is only partially true. There are others who will be able to help them with some things and some things they will have to find out themselves. There are things, which should be done without interference. The Chosen Two are supposed to bring the peace to the magic world. They need to be exceptional individuals in order to achieve that and if you are going to hold their hands all the time how will they become these individuals?!"
Schwarzlight nodded but his face was still sad.
"You are sad that you are not going to see your niece," the voice continued.
"She is just so innocent, she does not know anything," Schwarzlight said quietly.
"You did your share you found the one who will be with her."
Schwarzlight quickly raised his head. "Do you mean that he," Schwarzlight pointed at Cole, "is going to be..."
"It is all in the Destinies hands. You, if anyone, should know."
Schwarzlight nodded.
"You have 5 minutes to finish here and get back. Then you know what will happen. You have 40 days."
Schwarzlight nodded again. The sky went dark and Cole felt normal again.
"What was that?" he asked suspiciously. "You promised not to freeze me if I behaved? I don't remember doing anything wrong."
"It was not me," Schwarzlight said, "it was the Power beyond my control. We have even less time than I though. And I don't have time to explain everything I wanted. The truth is," - he paused for a moment thinking hard how to get Cole to do what he wanted without long explanations. All his life William Schwarzlight thought about his duty first and about himself and people he loved second. He sacrificed his loved ones for the big aim. He always thought he would have time to repay them but now he knew he did not have this time. He made his decision. He looked at Cole and said. "I have an offer to make. I have a niece. She is the only living relative I have. She is half mortal like you. Her father was a Lugel like me. She does not know about her magical heritage, she thinks she is an ordinary mortal. She has a big future ahead of her. But she needs to be taught about her powers and about what she is. I will give you your powers back and take you back to the mortal realm if you swear to me that you will protect my niece and teach her everything she needs to know."
Cole was stunned. It did not make any sense.
"But what about you?" he asked, "why don't you protect you niece."
"I will not be there when she comes to San Francisco," Schwarzlight sighed, "My time in this world is almost over. Look, Cole, we don't have time for long thinking sessions. I need an answer."
Cole looked at him. For the first time Lugel looked worried and agitated. His eyes were looking straight at Cole and there was almost pleading in them.
"Why me?" Cole asked.
Schwarzlight hesitated for a second, "Because you are what you are. You are half human. So is my niece. You know what means to suppress your magic side. You know demons and you know witches. You don't think about the world as black and white. You are not totally evil and not totally good."
"I was," Cole snapped, "I was the Source of all Evil and I was a mortal."
Schwarzlight smiled with a kind and even paternal smile, "Yes and no. That's why you are so unique," he looked at the sky and said, "Cole, I would love to give you more time. But I don't have it. What will you say?"
Cole knew that he already decided. He would take this offer and try again with Phoebe. It would give them another chance even if she didn't not want it. And then he had a gut feeling that the Lugel was honest and that the destiny of his niece was important to the whole world of magic. He looked straight into the Schwarzlight eyes and said, "If there is no other constraints I will accept your deal."
He saw Lugel sigh with relief and smile, "No more constraints. Teach and protect my niece; that is the only one." He stretched his hand and Cole shook it. Immediately Cole felt that they both started to shimmer and at the same time he felt powers flowing into him from the Lugel. Schwarzlight planned to just grant Cole his powers as Belthazor when he felt his own powers leaving him and flowing into Cole and then he heard a voice in his head. "He will be the one who replaces you," and the image of Cole in grey robe like his own standing on the platform of the Lugels Council filled his head." Schwarzlight could not believe it. They finished shimmering and Cole found himself in his penthouse. There was a letter lying on the table with his name. He opened it and read.
"Dear Cole,
This apartment is yours. So is the car in front of the building and the accounts, details of which you will find in the office. It is yours to do what you like. You also have your job back.
You have 40 days to adjust to your life. Then expect a visitor.
Yours truly,
William Schwarzlight"
**************
Forty days later the housekeeper found William Shcwarzlight dead in his bed. It seemed that the old man died from heart failure in his sleep. On the other side of town Cole Turner woke up with a massive hangover after his alarm went off. After a 20 minutes shower and 3 tablets of painkiller he got into his Porsche and drove to work. It promised to be a very long day: the first day for him as a divorced man. When he finally got home in the evening he picked up his mail and found a letter in a black envelope. Cole opened it and found a white card with just 3 lines.
William Schwarzlight
Died 2003
XXX Cemetery, Thursday March 2003, 11 am
So William Schwarzlight was dead. It meant that his niece if what Lugel told Cole was truth was going to arrive soon. Last months Cole had been too busy trying to win Phoebe back that he hadn't given much thought to his encounter with the Lugel. He knew that the powers he received exceeded anything he ever had even when being a Source. And invincibility was indeed very nice. However, he could not decide whether he believed what the Lugel told him. He had a feeling that in the beginning of their conversation Lugel wanted to talk to him about something really important. He was talking about the war between the good and the evil and about the Lugels' mission to protect the magic world as such. But then the Lugel changed. Cole had been trying to put his finger on what changed but he could not. Lugel just seemed to run out of time and just offered him powers in return for helping his niece. That sounded really weird. Cole did not even know if he believed that Schwarzlight's niece existed. But he had this gut feeling that whatever was about to happen would change his life forever.
Cole felt shit. Ever since he got into the Wasteland he has been on the run. He was tired and only the thought of Phoebe kept him going. After he contacted her he was waiting for her to help him. He believed that she would save him. Now this hope was gone. Phoebe wanted to move on and to give up her powers. She did not want to be with him or help him, she did not want even to hear about him. Why the hell he struggled so much? Why did he try to fight the Source? Why did he got himself killed and why he was fighting now to survive? He must be a complete masochistic idiot trying to prolong his own misery. It would be much easier to get gobbled up by this disgusting monstrous worm and get it over and done with. Cole turned his head to already too familiar sound of the beast approaching but instead of running for his life away from it he walked straight toward the sound. The ugly head of the beast had already appeared out of the ground. He heard another demon approaching the wasteland when everything around him froze. Cole stared for a moment on the beast motionless in front of him and demonic essence hanging not far away from his head. He stretched his hand to reach this essence when he felt his body frozen and heard a calm voice behind him said, "You do not want those powers."
Cole jerked his head and saw a man in late 50s, dressed in grey robe. The man had a little smile on his face and looked at Cole with the expression of calm interest.
"Who the hell are you?" asked Cole, who was a great deal surprised to see somebody freezing the Wasteland.
"My name is William Schwarzlight. I don't think you know me."
"I am pretty sure, I don't," Cole snapped.
"Well, then this is the time we get acquainted. But first let me check something. Don't worry I am not going to hurt you. "
He held out his hand and a piece of parchment appeared in his palm. Then he waved his hand over Cole's right arm, which got Cole's arm unfrozen. The man carefully took Cole's hand and placed it on top of the parchment. In amazement Cole saw the parchment glowing in a beautiful blue shine. Schwarzlight smiled broadly and said more to himself then to Cole:
"I thought so."
"You thought so?" Cole repeated. "Thought what? Who the hell are you and what do you want from me?"
"I am one of the Lugels. I am sure you heard about us."
This time Cole was even more shocked. Lugels were legends. They stood between or better say above the good and evil. They were very powerful; the rumours were that Lugels possessed ability to tap into the matter of the Universe and transfer it into any power imaginable. Cole had never seen a Lugel. He believed nobody had ever seen them, even the Source. They kept their identities very secret. They were the money-makers, doctors, teachers and guards of the magical world. They never took sides. They helped both good and evil. They were protectors of magical world from exposure to the mortal realm and everybody cooperated with them. Cole knew that in the past the Source tried to battle them for their money and power and he had failed. The Council of the Underworld had to find a new Source. Lugels could be merciless when it came to protecting themselves and the magic world. All he knew about Lugels were more legends than facts. Apparently they all looked like humans, lived in the mortal world. They were excellent shape shifters and this way could hide their identity.
"I want to talk to you, Mr Turner and would really appreciate your attention. I will unfreeze you completely if you promise that you are not going to do anything stupid. We don't have much time. Keeping the Wasteland frozen for a long time is not very safe. And we have a lot to talk about."
Cole thought about it for a second. He did not lose anything by talking to the Lugel. Hey, he did not have anything to lose anyway. And in all honesty he was curious what Lugels wanted from him. So he nodded in agreement and immediately felt himself being released.
"From your reaction I understand that you have heard about Lugels before," started Schwarzlight. "I suspect that part of what you have heard is true and part of it is just a myth. However, I don't have time at the moment to tell you what is true and what is not. The main aim of Lugels is to protect the world of magic and keep the balance of forces inside it and for as long as we existed we managed to preserve this balance. However, now the Magic world faces one of the biggest threats. And this is that evil and good has been at war for many generations to the point that if the peace is not negotiated within next few months we will face a total extinction. For a long time now we have been monitoring the situation and..." he stopped because Cole's body suddenly froze. Schwarzlight rushed to him but the voice coming from the usual dark but now all over sudden light blue sky of the Wasteland said, "He is fine, don't worry about him."
Schwarzlight looked at the sky and the sign of understanding and of sadness and worry came to his face. "It's time?" he asked more like stating the fact.
"Yes, it is," the voice came.
"But what will happen to our plan?"
"Everything will go along as it should be. You did well, however, things like this cannot be planned. Your task was to find the Chosen Two which you did. Now it is their turn to take things forward."
"But they don't know anything," protested Schwarzlight.
"This is only partially true. There are others who will be able to help them with some things and some things they will have to find out themselves. There are things, which should be done without interference. The Chosen Two are supposed to bring the peace to the magic world. They need to be exceptional individuals in order to achieve that and if you are going to hold their hands all the time how will they become these individuals?!"
Schwarzlight nodded but his face was still sad.
"You are sad that you are not going to see your niece," the voice continued.
"She is just so innocent, she does not know anything," Schwarzlight said quietly.
"You did your share you found the one who will be with her."
Schwarzlight quickly raised his head. "Do you mean that he," Schwarzlight pointed at Cole, "is going to be..."
"It is all in the Destinies hands. You, if anyone, should know."
Schwarzlight nodded.
"You have 5 minutes to finish here and get back. Then you know what will happen. You have 40 days."
Schwarzlight nodded again. The sky went dark and Cole felt normal again.
"What was that?" he asked suspiciously. "You promised not to freeze me if I behaved? I don't remember doing anything wrong."
"It was not me," Schwarzlight said, "it was the Power beyond my control. We have even less time than I though. And I don't have time to explain everything I wanted. The truth is," - he paused for a moment thinking hard how to get Cole to do what he wanted without long explanations. All his life William Schwarzlight thought about his duty first and about himself and people he loved second. He sacrificed his loved ones for the big aim. He always thought he would have time to repay them but now he knew he did not have this time. He made his decision. He looked at Cole and said. "I have an offer to make. I have a niece. She is the only living relative I have. She is half mortal like you. Her father was a Lugel like me. She does not know about her magical heritage, she thinks she is an ordinary mortal. She has a big future ahead of her. But she needs to be taught about her powers and about what she is. I will give you your powers back and take you back to the mortal realm if you swear to me that you will protect my niece and teach her everything she needs to know."
Cole was stunned. It did not make any sense.
"But what about you?" he asked, "why don't you protect you niece."
"I will not be there when she comes to San Francisco," Schwarzlight sighed, "My time in this world is almost over. Look, Cole, we don't have time for long thinking sessions. I need an answer."
Cole looked at him. For the first time Lugel looked worried and agitated. His eyes were looking straight at Cole and there was almost pleading in them.
"Why me?" Cole asked.
Schwarzlight hesitated for a second, "Because you are what you are. You are half human. So is my niece. You know what means to suppress your magic side. You know demons and you know witches. You don't think about the world as black and white. You are not totally evil and not totally good."
"I was," Cole snapped, "I was the Source of all Evil and I was a mortal."
Schwarzlight smiled with a kind and even paternal smile, "Yes and no. That's why you are so unique," he looked at the sky and said, "Cole, I would love to give you more time. But I don't have it. What will you say?"
Cole knew that he already decided. He would take this offer and try again with Phoebe. It would give them another chance even if she didn't not want it. And then he had a gut feeling that the Lugel was honest and that the destiny of his niece was important to the whole world of magic. He looked straight into the Schwarzlight eyes and said, "If there is no other constraints I will accept your deal."
He saw Lugel sigh with relief and smile, "No more constraints. Teach and protect my niece; that is the only one." He stretched his hand and Cole shook it. Immediately Cole felt that they both started to shimmer and at the same time he felt powers flowing into him from the Lugel. Schwarzlight planned to just grant Cole his powers as Belthazor when he felt his own powers leaving him and flowing into Cole and then he heard a voice in his head. "He will be the one who replaces you," and the image of Cole in grey robe like his own standing on the platform of the Lugels Council filled his head." Schwarzlight could not believe it. They finished shimmering and Cole found himself in his penthouse. There was a letter lying on the table with his name. He opened it and read.
"Dear Cole,
This apartment is yours. So is the car in front of the building and the accounts, details of which you will find in the office. It is yours to do what you like. You also have your job back.
You have 40 days to adjust to your life. Then expect a visitor.
Yours truly,
William Schwarzlight"
**************
Forty days later the housekeeper found William Shcwarzlight dead in his bed. It seemed that the old man died from heart failure in his sleep. On the other side of town Cole Turner woke up with a massive hangover after his alarm went off. After a 20 minutes shower and 3 tablets of painkiller he got into his Porsche and drove to work. It promised to be a very long day: the first day for him as a divorced man. When he finally got home in the evening he picked up his mail and found a letter in a black envelope. Cole opened it and found a white card with just 3 lines.
William Schwarzlight
Died 2003
XXX Cemetery, Thursday March 2003, 11 am
So William Schwarzlight was dead. It meant that his niece if what Lugel told Cole was truth was going to arrive soon. Last months Cole had been too busy trying to win Phoebe back that he hadn't given much thought to his encounter with the Lugel. He knew that the powers he received exceeded anything he ever had even when being a Source. And invincibility was indeed very nice. However, he could not decide whether he believed what the Lugel told him. He had a feeling that in the beginning of their conversation Lugel wanted to talk to him about something really important. He was talking about the war between the good and the evil and about the Lugels' mission to protect the magic world as such. But then the Lugel changed. Cole had been trying to put his finger on what changed but he could not. Lugel just seemed to run out of time and just offered him powers in return for helping his niece. That sounded really weird. Cole did not even know if he believed that Schwarzlight's niece existed. But he had this gut feeling that whatever was about to happen would change his life forever.