"Let's go hunting," Chris said, a grim smile on his lips.
"I agree, but first we've gotta figure out tactics." Wyatt said. Chris rolled his eyes. "Hey, they're important," Wyatt said defensively. "If we don't have a plan of action, the Stoli could…"
"…surprise us all and leave us standing around like stunned mullets while he decimates us, I know, I know. So, what's the plan, cap'n?" Chris asked him. Wyatt shot him a dirty look.
"Well, genius, we could always go after the Seekers first. Get them to tell us where the Stoli's hiding out. Or…" Wyatt glanced at Eryn. "Didn't you say you saw the Stoli at Tartarus?"
She nodded. "Yeah, but he won't be there now. He would've left."
"How do you know?" Chris asked. Eryn noticed a faint note of coldness in his voice and sighed.
Here we go again, she thought grimly. She had noticed how he disliked her when they had first met, but just before Leo had left, he had seemed to like her. Now it was back to disliking her again.
"Stoli Demons don't stay in one place for too long. It's just not in their nature to hang around," she answered. "And, if we're talking about tactics, I think we should get the Stoli first."
"How do we do that if we don't know where he is?" Chris asked sharply. "And why the Hell would we do that first, anyway? The Seekers are after us, not the Stoli."
Eryn shot him a dark look. "Who the hell do you think the Seekers are taking orders from: Santa? The Stoli is paying the Seekers to come after you two. Eliminate the Stoli, he can't pay the Seekers. The Seekers, seeing as they won't be getting paid, won't come after you anymore. Then, you can just summon them and pick them off at leisure, and they won't be after your asses at the same time. And as to the How…all you need is a summoning spell."
She walked over to the Book of Shadows. "May I?" She asked. Wyatt nodded, and she opened the book and began flipping through the heavy pages. Chris walked over behind her.
"What are you looking for?" he asked.
"Stoli summoning and vanquishing spells…I assume you have them, seeing as you vanquished the last one," she replied coolly. Chris glared at her back.
"Yeah, towards the back," he answered, pissed off. Wyatt nudged Chris with TK, making him look up.
: Cut it out, Chris, : Wyatt warned.
: Why? : Chris replied mutinously. : It's not like she's any better. :
: She's just trying to help and you're biting her head off. What would you do if someone was constantly being an asshole to you? :
: So you're siding with her now? : Chris hissed back. : That's it, I'm outta here… :
: Oh no you don't. You're not leaving the house. I don't want you drawing any Seekers to you without me around to help. :
: So we're back to this again, huh? You don't think I can handle myself? :
: Jesus Christ, Chris, you are such a stuck-up idiot sometimes, you know that? Has it ever occurred to you that maybe, just maybe, I don't want to lose my brother simply because he got it into his head he was able to vanquish a Seeker without a potion, without a spell, and without being able to use magick? : Wyatt slammed these thoughts into Chris' mind, hard, and Chris staggered slightly.
"Chris, go downstairs and get the ingredients for the vanquishing potion, now. We'll need it, the Stoli's upper-level." Wyatt said sharply, out loud. Before Chris could answer, he added, "And don't start. I know you remember them." Chris glared at him and orbed out. Wyatt sighed.
"Sorry about that," he said to Eryn. She glanced up.
"About what?" she asked, confused.
"Chris," he answered
"Oh." She sighed and glanced down at the book again, thumbing through the back pages. "That."
"Yeah, that. Listen…"
She cut him off. "Look, don't worry about it, okay? I'm probably not gonna be around for long, anyway, so it doesn't really matter. And, besides, I'm used to it." She blew out a breath. "When you are who I am, you kinda sorta have to be."
"Who are you?" he asked. She grinned at him.
"Hm. Nice try," she said, a hint of a laugh in her voice. She looked back down at the book and stopped. "Oh, found it," she announced just as Chris orbed back in with the potion ingredients.
"Got them," he told Wyatt abruptly, setting them down on the table. Wyatt nodded.
"All right. Get started on making the potion." Chris frowned.
"Me? Why?"
"Because everyone knows I'm crap at making potions, that's why." Wyatt told him, adding in TP: What, you thought I was gonna pass you over for her? I don't even know if she knows how to make a decent herbal tea yet! :
: Thanks, Wy, : Chris TP'd to him before breaking off and getting started on the potion. Wyatt grinned. Chris was the best potion-maker the family had ever seen, including their aunt Paige and their mom, Piper. His mom and aunts had been delighted when they had discovered how good Chris was at making potions. Once Chris had made a potion once, he remembered it forever, which was a big help considering all the demons that came after them.
"We'll probably need a crystal cage for him, too," Eryn said thoughtfully, studying the entry in the Book of Shadows.
"Hmm?" Wyatt asked absently, looking at her.
"I said we'll probably need a crystal cage for him, too."
"How d'you figure?"
"Well, considering the size of him, I'd say he's collected a few powers along the way." Wyatt arched an eyebrow at her, and she sighed. "Look, it says right here, down the bottom: 'Stoli Demons collect the powers of demons and witches as they kill them. For each power collected, a Stoli grows approx. one inch above their usual height of approx. six feet, two inches.'" She looked up at Wyatt and Chris. "The Stoli I saw was gaining on six foot ten."
Chris glanced up from his potion. "So that means he's collected eight powers, right?" he asked. Eryn nodded.
"Or thereabouts."
"Shit," Chris remarked, going back to the potion.
"I'd say we'd need that crystal cage, too," Wyatt said, walking over and grabbing the box that held the quartz crystals before starting to lay the crystals out in a pentagram configuration.
"Might be wise," Chris said as he tossed in a handful of sage leaves. The potion in the cauldron gave a flash of light. He blew out a breath. "The mate of the Stoli was about five foot eleven, six foot. No-where near six foot two. What's with that?"
"Well, she probably didn't have as many powers as her mate, and she probably wasn't even fully-grown," Eryn explained. "It can take up to fifty years for a Stoli to attain its full height. Her mate's probably a hundred or so years old, and pretty smart, too."
"How's that?" Chris asked.
"Well, instead of taking you on personally, he's commissioning Seekers to come after you. He's testing the waters, seeing how powerful you guys are. When he's sure he knows your strategies, and how powerful you are, he's gonna come a-callin'."
"No he's not, " Wyatt said, standing up and stepping back to examine the cage parameters. He nodded in satisfaction. "We're going to call him, and then we'll vanquish him."
Eryn nodded and walked over to where Chris was working on the potion and picked up one of the ingredients. Chris shot her a look.
"What's wrong?" he asked defensively.
"Nothing, it's just…you just remembered all this off the top of your head?" she asked in return, indicating the multitude of bottles, jars, bags and containers. He nodded quickly.
"Yeah…" he said softly. His mom had said the same thing to him a few hours before she…He swallowed hard and examined the potion carefully, shutting himself off from her. There was no way he was going to remember that now, especially after being reminded by a Whitelighter. "You said the Stoli's picked up more powers?" he asked brusquely. He didn't see her shoot him a hurt look, but he heard the chill in her voice.
"Yeah. Why?" she asked abruptly.
"Then we're gonna need something a bit more powerful to take him out," he explained.
He orbed downstairs to the kitchen, away from her, and began searching through the cupboards for the Mandrake root and wraith essence. He found them easily enough - Paige, his youngest aunt, had gone through a phase before he was born and had alphabetised the kitchen cupboards, as well as putting the magic and normal-use herbs in different cupboards - but didn't go upstairs right away. He just couldn't do it.
Some of what she did…how she spoke…it just reminded him of what his Mom had been like. She had spoken with the same sarcastic edge to her voice as Eryn had, had always read the fine-print in the Book of Shadows, had always saved his and Wyatt's asses…
: Chris?" Wyatt called, both in TP and out loud. He glanced upwards.
"Coming!" he yelled. He orbed up to the attic. Eryn was standing at the Book of Shadows with Wyatt, reading over the vanquishing and summoning spells, he assumed. She glanced up as he set the extra ingredients down.
"Mandrake and Wraith Essence?" she asked, arching an eyebrow. "That's gonna pack one helluva kick."
"Exactly," he replied, tossing the Mandrake in, then adding three drops of wraith essence, very quickly. The potion imploded, and Chris waved the smoke away quickly. He grabbed a trio of vials, filled them with the deep blue potion, and tossed one each to Eryn and Wyatt.
"Aiight. Tactics decided upon?" he asked. Wyatt raised a fist threateningly, and he held up his hands. "Okay, okay, fine, no more cheap digs…" He blew out a breath. "Let's get this show on the road, shall we?"