Eryn and Leo orbed into the attic of the Manor. Downstairs, they could hear someone - Wyatt - yelling something at someone else: Chris. Leo looked at Eryn.
"Stay here, okay? I'll go talk to them. And especially Chris," he told her. Eryn nodded.
"You do that," she told him, sitting down on the sofa. Leo orbed downstairs. Eryn drummed her fingers nervously on the arm-rest. She felt a faint shiver running down her back, and she glanced around. She sighed and went back to tapping her fingers, not noticing a faint, black shimmer hovering in the far corner of the ceiling.
The black shimmer gave a nasty little giggle and flickered out.
----
Leo orbed in just in time to have to duck as a vase hurtled through the air towards him. He flicked his fingers at it and it and it orbed out before orbing back in, safely, on the coffee table.
"What the Hell is going on?" he roared, furious. Wyatt stormed into the living room.
"Dad, Chris got rid of your charge!" he said sharply, dark eyes flashing angrily.
"How the Hell was I supposed to know she was his charge!" Chris yelled, running in after him. "She acted like a Whitelighter!"
Leo narrowed his eyes at Chris. "And what does that have to do with anything, Chris?" he asked, his voice dangerous. Chris swallowed hard.
"Nothing…" he said slowly, but he knew his Dad knew what he meant. Leo gave him a disgusted look and turned to Wyatt.
"Eryn's fine: she's upstairs. Go up there and stay with her. Don't let her out of your sight. I need to talk to Chris." Wyatt started to speak, but Leo interrupted him. "Alone." Wyatt nodded slowly, shot Chris a mildly sympathetic look, and orbed out, his orbs travelling up through the ceiling.
Leo turned to Chris. "What possessed you?" he asked, his voice low. Chris didn't answer. "Chris…"
"I thought she was a Whitelighter, okay?" Chris snapped suddenly, angrily. Leo glared at him.
"Just because someone is a Whitelighter doesn't give you permission to run them out of the house!"
"I thought she was here to replace you…"
"And since when have I brought my so-called replacements around to the house myself, huh?"
"I don't know…"
"Try never."
Chris took a deep breath in. "I'm sorry, okay?" he asked in a pained voice. "I didn't know she wasn't a Whitelighter. If I had…"
"You would've treated her differently?" Leo asked, interrupting him, his voice skeptical. Chris' temper flared.
"Yeah, I would have!" he snapped. He was angry. Really angry. He'd seen his Dad a grand total of three times in the last month due to the meddling of his father's fellow Elders, and he'd had enough.
"Seeing as how you're not me, you wouldn't know what it's like to be able to count on one hand the number of times you've seen your own father in the past month. If you were me, you would've done the same thing, because I thought I was going to lose another parent! I get that Eryn isn't a Whitelighter, and I'm sorry I treated her like I did, but if she was a Whitelighter, I would've done the same again." He paused and looked Leo straight in the eye. "So help me god, Dad, if they try and make you leave again, I'll kill 'em."
Leo stared at him, and for a second Chris thought he was gonna get a smack over the back of the head. Leo, although an Elder, had no problems whatsoever with disciplining his kids. Then he sighed and rubbed the bridge of his nose.
"I'm sorry, Chris," he said softly. He sighed again and went on. "I made myself a promise when you were born that I wasn't gonna stay away from you and Wyatt. When I first got made an Elder, your mom had to deal with raising Wyatt alone for a few months, and I swore I wouldn't make her have to do that again. I swore I wouldn't take my sons father away just because I was an Elder." He gave Chris a sad smile. "Guess I screwed up there, huh?"
Chris shook his head. "Dad, it's alright…" He began, but Leo held up a hand.
"It isn't alright, Chris, and you know it." Leo said firmly. " And I'm sorry about this," he added, "About everything. Not being there, and for all the Whitelighters trying to replace me." Chris nodded slowly.
"I know. It's just…I want to have a Dad, y'know?"
"Yeah, and you've got me." Leo told him. Chris gave him a lop-sided smile. Leo grinned back, then said seriously, "I have to go back Up There for a while Chris." Chris sighed and turned away, walking over and sitting down on the sofa.
"Why?" He asked. Leo walked over and sat down beside him.
"I was half-way through an argument with the other Elders when Eryn started yelling at me. I was telling them to butt out and let me have a life with my family. To let me handle my charges the way I see fit. To still act as an Elder, but do it from Earth, as opposed to the Heavens. And they were finally saying yes. Finally agreeing. Then Eryn started calling for me…"
"I hate her," Chris said flatly, looking at him. Leo arched an eyebrow.
"Why exactly do you hate her?" He asked. Chris shrugged.
"Well…she acts like a Whitelighter…" Leo grinned.
"Yeah, I bet she does.…"
Chris gave him a questioning look.
"Eryn spent three years of her life growing up at Magic School," Leo explained. "The teachers at Magic School are, for the most part, Whitelighters. Stands to reason she'd act like them a little. Plus, she's actually part Whitelighter, so she does have some Whitelighter tendencies, like orbing, and being a pacifist…" Leo snorted and rolled his eyes. "…even if she doesn't show it all the time…" Chris narrowed his eyes at him, and he relented. "Okay, so she never displays pacifist tendencies…but, actually, in all seriousness, she's a lot like you, Chris."
Chris arched an eyebrow. "Oh, yeah? How so?" he asked sceptically.
Leo took a deep breath. "She's intelligent, mature, funny, insane, sarcastic, strong…She likes those late nineties, early zeroes bands you like…y'know, Good Charlotte and Linkin Park…she's part witch, part Whitelighter…she goes to a normal school because her mom, who was killed by a demon called Ardariaen, wanted her to…she's hunted by demons: the same one that killed her mom, in fact…she has me as a Whitelighter…she loathes Elders, hates demons…" He shot Chris a look. "Does any of this sound familiar? Do I really need to keep going?"
Chris sighed. "It's just…"
"Just what?"
"Has the term idiotic, self-centred bitch ever occurred to you in describing Eryn?" Chris asked him grimly. Leo stared at him for a second, then laughed. "What's so funny?" Chris asked him, hurt. Leo shook his head.
"Nothing, except that Eryn asked me almost exactly the same thing about you a few minutes ago," Leo told him, amused.
"What?" Chris asked, his voice rising in pitch as he jumped up from the sofa. Leo stood up and held up a hand.
"Chris, listen to me. Give her a break. She's been hunted for almost eleven years by a demonic clan that is notorious for its savagery, its ability to avoid vanquishing, and the fact that if they want someone dead, that someone is usually dead in three days, maximum. The fact that she's eluded them for eleven years makes her exceptional as a person, but it hasn't been easy for her.
"So take it easy on her. Try and make a truce with her. Believe me, she's probably wanting to do so with you."
Chris stared at Leo for a second, then sighed and nodded. "Okay. Fine. I'll try and make peace."
Leo nodded. "That's all I ask." He clapped Chris on the shoulder, then glanced upwards. "Let's go tell Wyatt I have to leave. Again." Chris smirked.
"He's gonna explode."
----
Wyatt orbed into the attic to find Eryn sitting on the sofa, biting her fingernails.
"Y'know, you really shouldn't do that," he told her. She glanced up at him, then bit the air in front of her. Wyatt could hear the dull click her teeth made as they came together, and he winced. "I would not wanna get on the wrong side of you," he said, walking over and sitting down on the opposite end of the sofa. She shrugged.
"Try telling that to the demon I have on my ass."
"Must be a pretty small demon, to fit on your ass," he replied with a smirk, and she laughed.
"Ardariaen is not a small demon," she told him, her smile fading slightly as she spoke. "He's the most powerful demon in the Underworld at the moment, and his clan is the most powerful clan of all time."
"Ardariaen…" Wyatt murmured, thinking. "Can't say as I've ever heard of him." Eryn smirked.
"Yeah, well, you wouldn't've. He's kept a pretty low profile for the last eleven years." She scowled. "But he's been very, very busy whilst keeping that low profile. He's been very quietly amassing powers and minions, so he can take over the Underworld, and then the Above-lands."
"Above-lands?" Wyatt asked with a frown. Eryn shot him a puzzled look.
"Um, yeah…it's what the demons call up here, and the Heavens. Because they're above the Underworld."
Wyatt nodded slowly. He looked at Eryn, studying her. She arched an eyebrow.
"What?"
"I'm just trying to figure out why anyone would want to kill you," he explained. She laughed.
"Well, I could probably give you a whole list of people who would want to kill me, and their motives. Including your brother, I might add," she told him. Wyatt winced.
"Look, I'm really sorry about him. He's just an id…"
Eryn sighed. "Look, Wyatt, it doesn't matter, okay?"
"No, it does, I mean, he's a little…"
Eryn shook her head firmly. "No, Wyatt, I'm serious. It doesn't matter. Like I said before, I'm probably not going to be around for long, anyway, and…"
"You were being literal, weren't you?" Wyatt said, interrupting her. "You told me you wouldn't be around for long, before…I thought you meant you wouldn't be here, at the Manor for long, but you actually meant alive for long…" She shrugged.
"Well, yeah," she said casually. "Considering the demon I've got after me - and what type he is, and the minions he's collected - I'd say it's pretty feasible I'll be dead in less than two days."
"You seem pretty calm about it."
"Well, the alternative is to turn into a hysterical, screaming, crying, powerless wreck. Considering, I think I picked the better option, don't you?"