Author's Note: Hi guys I'm really sorry for keeping you waiting so long for this chapter, but I've been working on a Draco/Ginny story as well and my head is kind of in a whole lot of mess.
Umm... no fluff in this chapter, sorry :) But as I still don't have the slightest idea as to where am I going with this one, you'll have to excuse me ;)
I really wish I could hug and kiss you all and thank you personally for all your wonderful reviews that has been keeping me flared about continuing this piece, but I'm a busy person and have no time to reply to each and every one of your comments. But I do want to say that you guys make me smile too much that my cheeks hurt! I genuinely hope you will enjoy this chapter, whether you review or not :)
Take care, my dearest!
Piper wasn't fond of falling. Actually, she was pretty sure it was the only thing she hated more than her demon self. The utter sensation of haplessness and helplessness, limbs flailing about ungracefully, liver hovering somewhere twenty feet above you, stomach knotting fiercely, and in all this commotion of physical reaction, the single salient thought in your mind being – 'God, I hope my brains won't make that splooshing sound'.
Of course Piper realized how absolutely human this disliking of hers was, but nonetheless, she hated falling down. This particular trip to the Wasteland she undertook couple of times beforehand, when she disappointed the Source. But it was so long ago, the memories were too vague to remember when exactly will she land and what will she land on.
She kept falling, flailing her arms in miserable attempts to grab hold onto something, until suddenly – when she was already wondering when will this parody of 'Alice in Wonderland' will end – she landed hard onto the sand in a heap of body parts. She grunted irritably, pulling herself slowly up to her feet, spitting sand and batting it off her clothes. Thankfully the landing wasn't as painful as it could've been if she was vanquished.
She scanned the area around herself, finding nothing but enormous boulders and ongoing dunes for miles and miles ahead. Suddenly feeling the sands beneath her feet shift ever so slightly, Piper's eyes widened with horror as a sense of déjà vu overcame her. The moment she received back her motor skills after a momentary immobility, she jolted to her left, launching herself onto the nearest boulder, clawing her way on top of it. Hearing the muffled movement behind her, Piper hurried onto the boulder, distancing herself as far away from the rim as possible.
Slowly, almost leisurely, the creature ascended from beneath the ground, sniffing the air all around Piper, trying to detect her exact location. The eyeless snake was at least 30 feet length and a meter in width. He moved unhurriedly, his extended form slithering upon the sand, his tongue flickering nervously around the boulder that held Piper.
She gulped silently, holding her breath as the creature hissed beside her. It wasn't the first time she found herself facing one of these creatures. Their hearts were a highly requested piece and in the demonic market you could easily get three, four powers for it. Also the tongue was a pricey thing that assured the success of any healing potions, the creature's poison was of the deadliest ever known and its' blood was an important ingredient in some major explosive and protection potions. Of course this information didn't do Piper much good right now.
She snarled quietly, flicking her wrist faintly, her fingers clutching around the sharp dagger that sprung out of her wristband, and launched herself on top of the creatures head. She stabbed the dagger all the way down to the hilt into the creature's head even before it could register what had happened, grasping the hilt fiercely with both her hands as the creature wriggled and coiled about in desperate attempts to shake off its' rider. It released horrid high-pitch shrieks as the violet blood oozed down its' head, covering Piper in vague purple haze.
Piper held on expertly, saddling the beast beneath her, sending sharp jolts of pain into the creature's head with every cruel twist of the dagger, deepening the fatal wound and soaking up in the violet blood. Gradually the beast's shrieks turned into pitiful moans and it lowered itself onto the ground, feeling the life seeping away from it. Couple of moments passed and the creature remained unmoving allowing Piper to climb off of it, panting heavily and wiping the sweat from her forehead. She cackled at herself, sadistic gleam twinkling in her eyes as she crouched down and stabbed her dagger into the creature's flesh, slicing it open easily and retrieving an amethyst-colored heart. She tucked the heart into a leather pouch and cut out the creature's tongue as well, a sly grin creeping across her face. She rampaged through her pockets, trying to find couple of vials for the blood, but found only two of those. Crap! Oh well... she filled the two vials with the violet liquid and finally took a step back, to inspect her work. The lifeless body was sprawled for over 30 feet away from her, its' gray-brown skin mingling perfectly with the sand. She sighed contently to herself, walking closer to the creature and wiping her blade on its' skin.
Sudden shudder of the snake form didn't quite register in Piper's mind when the creature heaved a ragged breath and turning to face her, sprays of green acid emanated the hole in its' mouth-roof. Piper staggered aback in surprise and just when the venom was about to connect with her flesh, searing it in slow agonizing process, a blue bubble of rippling energy bloomed around her, shielding her from any danger. She gasped in relief as the venom reverberated from the brimming of the shield and landed on the creature's skin, hearing the last shriek as it died yet again.
Piper sneered, scolding at herself as to how could she forget about the fact that these creatures remained alive for a while after their hearts have been cut out. She raked her fingers through her hair tiredly and allowed her eyes to slip down, to her belly.
"It's okay... you can put the shield down now," she said softly, sensing the static air around herself dissipate. She rolls her eyes and walked over to the same boulder she occupied earlier, climbing up and calming herself with the fact that there will be no more snakes. At least for the time it takes the body of this one to degenerate.
She braced her stomach lovingly, suddenly plunging into thoughts about the little person that was growing inside of her. It has been three months now, her stomach was soon to show and she still had no idea as to what to do. She didn't tell Leo and as far as she was concerned she wasn't going to. She didn't need the pesky whitelighter meddling her daughters' life, polluting her mind with nuisance about the greater good. She understood the girl will be half whitelighter, but there was no shadow of a doubt in her that it would be easily banished from her. She suddenly felt a tied knot settle at the pit of her stomach and she shifted uncomfortably.
She hasn't told the Source as well. Though she kept telling herself that it was because She will take the child to herself and probably kill her, a nagging thought that she just didn't want Her to pollute her daughter's mind with nuisance about the greater evil roamed her mind. Piper knew the Source would be either extremely pleased or extremely enraged. Pleased - if she thought she could mold the girl to her liking and then send her off Up There to kill everybody, since her daughter would probably have the ability to orb; enraged – if she realized Piper has bedded a whitelighter, though she doubted if she hadn't known yet, and dared to conceive a child. It's not like I planned this, damn it!
How she knew it was a girl? Well, of course it'll be a girl! Piper came from a long line of female mercenary demons and always knew that if she'll bear a child one day, it will be a girl. Of course, on the other hand, with whitelighters involved who could be sure... she scowled and leaned aback, resting her back on the stone.
Lately Piper has been thinking about leaving. Not just leaving the Underworld or crossing to the other side – God forbids... - but disappearing altogether from everyone's radar and raise the girl in the human world. Perhaps Ireland or Scotland... somewhere green...
She shook her head, cursing herself for even considering such ridiculous possibility and glanced around herself at the endless dunes. Now, how the hell am I suppose to get out of here?