All That Matters

Chapter 04 - Tartarus

Disclaimer: All disclaimers apply

Leo Wyatt orbed into the back room of the demonic bar. Tartarus was a well-known and respected demonic bar on the west side of San Francisco. His charge had told him to meet them here, because - hopefully - their energy would be masked by all the magick in the air.

Leo opened the door and walked out onto the main floor. Demons of every caste, level, age and sex walked, talked and drank as freely as if it were the Underworld. Absolutely nothing looked out of place here, even the girl of about seventeen years of age sitting in a corner booth on the far side of the floor, drinking a Bacardi Breezer as she coolly observed what looked like a demonic hit-job being commissioned. Leo sighed and began threading his way through the crowd towards her.

Eryn Connors sat calmly in a corner booth, waiting for her Whitelighter to show, a lime Bacardi Breezer set on the table in front of her. She glanced at her watch, and gave a faint hiss of impatience. She unconsciously tucked a strand of Irish-red hair behind her ear before taking a swig of her drink and turning her attentions to the Stoli Demon commissioning a group of Seeker Demons for a hit.

She listened with an avid interest as the Stoli at the table in front of her told the Seekers, "Now, I don't care how many of you die, or how long it takes. You are gonna get back to that house and nab those two brats, understand me? I want Chris and Wyatt Halliwell's heads on a stick and in front of my lair within a month. Got it? Good. Now go." She arched an eyebrow slightly as the Seekers shimmered away.

"I do not envy those two, whoever they are," she murmured to herself as she took another sip of her drink. She frowned and took another quick glance at her watch, then looked up as a warm voice said softly, "Worried?"

"Just a tad," she replied, relieved, as Leo Wyatt, her Whitelighter, sat down opposite her. She leaned forward slightly and narrowed her dark grey eyes at him. "Where have you been, hmm? I've been waiting for fifteen minutes, he could've caught up to me in that time!" Leo frowned.

"Speaking of which, what happened?" he asked. Eryn sighed.

"I got a premonition that a demon was going to kill an innocent a couple of blocks from where I was. I couldn't just let it happen, so I went out to stop it." She shook her head slightly, then went on. "Anyway, I vanquished it easy, but when the smoke cleared, there he was, standing right in front of me. The Mighty Ardariaen." She took a deep breath, and let it out slowly. "Let's just say I didn't plan on seeing the most powerful demon in the Underworld at a simple vanquish."

"What did you do?"

"Well, I orbed my ass outta there, what do you think I did! I orbed up to the top of the bridge to tell you I was in trouble, then I headed for the Underworld. And, before you say anything," she added, as Leo opened his mouth to speak, an annoyed look on his face, "it was my only hope, okay? He wouldn't think of looking for me there, and all that demonic energy…" She trailed off. Leo nodded reluctantly, then straightened up suddenly.

"So, he'd set it up?" he asked with a frown. Eryn sighed and nodded her affirmation, putting her fingers to her temples.

"Looks that way. So that means he knew where I was."

"Well, we've got to get you out of here, to somewhere safe." Leo said, making to stand up. Eryn folded her arms and leaned forward slightly.

"Leo. I don't know if you've noticed, but this is Ardariaen we're talking about. He'll find me. Goddess knows he's had the practice…" Leo narrowed his eyes slightly.

"Giving up?" he asked calmly, leaning back against the back of the booth. Eryn hissed at him.

"No," she snarled.

"Then what are you doing?"

Eryn watched him closely as she told him, "I want to take the fight to him." Leo's eyes widened in shock.

"No. No way."

"Why not?"

"You're not powerful enough, that's why!"

"Leo, I've gained three powers in the last month! If I keep going at this rate, I'll explode! I can fight him. Just give me a chance…"

But Leo was shaking his head.

"No," he said again. "No way." Eryn leaned back with a faint sigh. She swallowed hard, then looked up at him.

"I'm gonna die, Leo."

"You're not going to die."

"He's going to find me. He's going to catch me. He's going to kill me." She sighed. "I heard what she said, Leo, remember? 'She will gain powers unheard of in a witch, and he will find her, and kill her, and take her powers for himself. And he will engulf the world in darkness.' I heard her tell him, Leo." Leo shook his head.

"Maybe she told him what he wanted to hear," he said with a faint shrug. Eryn shook her head.

"Prophecy doesn't work that way, Leo, and you know it. Now, if she'd had a premonition, that would be another thing entirely. But she didn't. She was a prophetess. She didn't have premonitions. She couldn't say anything of her own volition if she had a vision."

Leo sighed. "I'm sorry," he told her

Eryn nodded. "Me too," she whispered. Leo reached out and lay a hand on one of hers. He'd already come to a decision. The problem, he realized grimly, was getting her to accept it.

"Look. Prophecies can be thwarted. So we'll do everything in our power to ensure that happens this time. You're coming with me -" Eryn opened her mouth to object. "- No objections -" She closed it again with a muted click. "- because I know she wouldn't have wanted you to want to die just to fulfil her prophecy."

"I don't want to die," Eryn said, giving Leo a strange look. He grinned.

"Good. That settles it. You're coming back to the Manor."

Eryn narrowed her eyes slightly. "You actually live down here?" Then she frowned. "The Manor?" she queried, arching an eyebrow. He nodded. "Weird," she murmured under her breath. He grinned, then stood up.

"Come on, we'll go out the back. We can't exactly orb from in here, and I'll have to orb you so you know where to go."

Eryn nodded and got to her feet, stretching. She flicked her heavy red pony-tail over her shoulder, grabbed a small black bag from off the seat and slung it over her shoulder. She rolled her shoulders and rolled her head, cricking her neck as she did so.

"All right," she said taking a deep breath and letting it out slowly. She shot Leo a quick grin. "All set. Let's rock."

They headed across the main floor and up the stairs to the secondary floor, before turning left and walking towards the big steel door. They had almost made it when a certain…something…stopped them.

"Where're you goin'?" a deep voice rumbled. Eryn and Leo looked at the bar to see a massive Brute Demon staring at them menacingly. Eryn's lip curled.

"What's it look like?" she asked, her voice menacing. "Out."

"You didn't pay your tab," he replied, his voice just as threatening.

"Yeah, I did," Eryn snarled, her grey eyes stormy, "And if you wanna make somethin' of it, say I lied, we can just take this to the floor and I can vanquish your Mack truck ass." The Brute growled.

"What did you say, bitch?" he asked, livid.

"You heard me."

Leo grabbed Eryn's arm. "Eryn, we've gotta get outta here," he told her urgently. She shrugged him off.

"Leo, just wait a…second…" Her voice trailed off as the Brute, assuming he wasn't being watched, ran a massive hand over a small black crystal lying innocently on the bar.

Oh…no… she thought, her grey eyes fixed on the Ronyx crystal. She looked at Leo.

"You're right. Let's go," she said, and they headed towards the door. Eryn felt a group of beings shimmer in behind her, and a cold chill worked its way through her body. She heard the gasps from the crowd: the whispers of "Ardariaen…" "He's here: Ardariaen…" and, for one, solitary second, she froze...but then Leo put a hand in the middle of her back and shoved her, hard, and they were running out the door.

"AFTER THEM!" an icy voice roared, a voice so powerful, so compelling, so utterly terrifying that half the demons on the second floor flooded out of the doors after…well, after them.

Leo ran down the alley, Eryn right beside him. They turned sharply into a narrow walkway, some of the faster demons behind them. Leo fumbled for her hand as they ran.

They orbed out in a swirl of blue and white orbs.