IN THE UNDERWORLD…
First kill had come and gone smoothly, undetected as far as the magic radar went. The police had ruled it a mugging gone bad after a couple days which left it as another unsolved, opened investigation. As days went by, itemson the demonic list of requirements were collected without real effort or skill. Vizkaroth was as powerful as he was clever and knew very well how to play his cards keeping under the radar.
"Why not Balthazor? He was loved by the Charmed ones, wasn't he?"
"Yes, but Balthazor's still serving time in purgatory and still quite powerful"
"So, you think we couldn't take him?" said the demon offended. Vizkaroth found this way of thinking quite exhausting. For many years, they had indeed proven that they couldn't and it had to be the Charmed ones that got him finally out of commission; not that any demon would own up to that.
"We could but it would require an incredible amount of work which could alert the Halliwell line that something is indeed going on under their very noses" Viz simply explained. "Let's not forget they do have eyes down here. We wouldn't want to draw unnecessary attention to our plan so early on by targeting a soul which was directly under their line"
"Then who?"
"We could take Prue's old flame, Inspector Trudeau. A mortal soul would be only too easy to summon and capture"
"O…k…who next? We got the soul of their first innocent, one the Charmed ones loved" the demon circled that one as the next to acquire. "a magical creature…that one wasn't easy, but a few hours of tree wrecking would make the nymphs come forth no matter what…" she crossed that one out since it had been very recently acquired "a being of light"
"You can cross that one out" the demon stared at Viz. "A little manipulation and white lighters came to aid in a shooting"
"Still, they're careful" said the demon somewhat impressed.
"Not if sufficiently inexperienced, like I said… a recently initiated white lighter of Paige's"
"Won't she notice?"
"Not on time to put it together. After all, in this endless battle, good creatures and bad get killed without consequence every single day. They're still very much in the dark about what's really going on"
"How are you so sure?"
"They haven't come after us, have they?"
"OK. So… down with that one… we still need… a demon's and a child's"
"Leave that last one to me"
"Will it be one of the Halliwell children?"
"No, it can't be. I promised their family would be safe"
"Since when do we keep our promises, Vizkaroth?"
"Since that is the very reason they're doing all of this so willingly and therefore it is the very reason we are only a couple requirements left from the main event"
"And the other one?"
"Did you know the Charmed ones saved a baby manticore years back?" the demon stared incredulously.
"I doubt after more than 20 years later that'll count as a child" Viz stared impatiently.
"His mother was a manticore and he lives with his mortal father up in the surface" he went on uninterrupted. "He should be an easy demon to catch" he took the soul collecting dagger and offered it to the demon, taking the parchment with the macabre list from his hands. "You can take care of a young manticore hybrid, can't you?"
"Consider it done" he took the blade and shimmered off to his dark deed.
"I can hardly wait till I'm rid of your incompetence" he patted his robes as if dusting off something unpleasant. He stopped, listening in all the Halliwell line. Most of it, trivial and boring, to him at least. There were some demon hunting issues, but they no longer concerned him as far as he could tell. And then… "Huh… interesting" he smiled and shimmered as close as he could to the manor.
AT THE MANOR…
"Alright. We need the cauldron I was using downstairs. I'll go clean it up" said Piper.
"We can use this one" said Paige lifting a slightly blackened and beat up cauldron under a shelving unit. Piper laughed as if she were joking and headed downstairs. "What? Why was that funny?" she put it down disappointedly.
"It's not, honey. It's just more… appropriate that we don't use the most banged out cauldron we got to summon one of our relatives"
"You got a point" she went to the BOS where a notepad laid on top. "OK. What have we got? Leprechauns weren't very cooperative, but…they were able to reassure us nothing is disturbing the peace on their end…or in the magical community for that matter"
"Mermaid was annoying and she made a mess of that kiddie pool" Phoebe protested.
"Yeah, but at least she was on the same page with the majority of the magical creatures we talked to"
"Yeah, unfortunately they were all basically telling us nothing's going on. We could get that answer straight from Wyatt"
"Yep" Paige continued to peruse through the pages without losing track of the one she had been on just yet.
"Did you notice anything weird last time you talked to them?" Phoebe crossed her arms in a puzzled pose.
"Not really. They kept telling me they're just trying to protect us all and as rushed as their every move seem to be right now, I don't see any reason to believe otherwise"
"Except we've seen what's coming"
"There's that"
"So question remains, what can a demon do to make them do the wrong thing for the right reasons?" Phoebe started pacing again.
"By offering to spare their family"
"It doesn't sound like enough. I mean… as far as we can tell attacks have neither stopped nor become more frequent according to the kids" no matter how old they were getting, whenever they talked about their children, they still ended up being the kids. "Our family seems to be in the same position as it has always been"
"What about offering full immunity to their children? I mean, after Meg they've been heart broken and maybe not thinking straight"
"Even if they did and I don't believe they would… promise, yes… actually sparing them altogether, I don't see it… nor believe they would be naïve enough to take the demons' word for it…plus, they insist that family means all of us, not just them"
"That missing piece" Paige said exasperated, pushing her hair back.
"At least we know something is going on, even though it might not be coming from them directly"
"Not yet"
The cauldron was washed and brought up along with a fresh batch of herbs to toss in. Paige had been working on the actual spell, while Phoebe tried to tidy the attic into a more presentable version of itself.
The three of them sat around the cauldron and tried their best to concentrate on Edward and him alone before adding the final roots.
Hearken to these words
Hear our cry
Spirit from the other side
We wish to speak to you here
Come to us, so mote it be
Vizkaroth was physically standing outside the manor and mentally listening to every word. He waited for just the right moment and whispered in Piper's ear as they finished their chant…
"Edward" "Edward" "Danny?"
A cloud of smoke appeared and seemed to implode into nothing.
"What was that?" asked Phoebe.
"That was… new"
"You think it worked though?" Piper started to look around them as if searching for a missing pet, stretching and ducking down to see in every nook and cranny.
"One way to figure it out" Paige got up and started searching the house. Phoebe started texting her daughters to ask if anything unusual had happened. It had worked alright, just not quite as expected, but… same old, same old.
AT WYATT AND SAM'S…
Both Edward and Danny's spirits appeared downstairs where the kids played.
"What are you doing here?" asked Edward.
"Bits me, but it beats hell" he smiled.
"Yeah, I bet it does" he stared lovingly at his nieces and nephews, who could clearly see him. Angie was the only one who ran (one-year-old-toddler pace) to hug his uncle Edward. When she reached them, she tried to hug thin air and fell face forward on the floor. Danny was laughing his ass off. "Shut…up"
"What? That was funny" Edward rolled his eyes and tried comforting Angie who was now sobbing on the floor.
"It's OK, doll face"
"Angie, I'm coming, baby g… Edward?"
"Hey sis"
"Danny?"
"I would be careful throwing stuff at me, cause you might hit the little unaware creatures over there"
"Hey, zip it" Edward kept trying to shut him up.
"What if I don't?"
"Both of you, shut up" Sam finished coming down the stairs and picked up Angy, who continued crying, stretching her little hand at her uncle; kissed her and then turned to face Ed. She tried touching him unsuccessfully. "OK. Spirits. Got it" she took a couple deep breaths and then. "How did you…?" she stared at Edward. "Why did you?" she added looking at Danny.
"Truth is we don't know. We were summoned and allowed to be here and…"
"That's as far as we know"
"I hate to say it, but he's right about that" Edward said annoyed.
"It's OK. Wh…Wh… What do you...?"
"Everything alright? Sa…" Wyatt was calling out, coming after her still slipping into a sleeve of his shirt. His words being cut off at the sight.
"Bits the hell outta me" she answered trying to bounce calm into her youngest daughter.
"I'll call mom, maybe she can shed some light on this…" he went to get his phone from the kitchen counter, eyeing Danny out the corner of his eye.
"So you have no idea who summoned you?"
"Nope" Danny answered.
"You be quiet. Nothing good can come from summoning you"
'Hey, take it easy. Cut me some slack, I'm doing time in a deep spiritual hole"
"Not deep enough apparently"
"OK, mom. Please let us know" Wyatt ended the call. "Mom says one of the cousins' spell might have backfired, so we should keep them here for the time being while they sort it out"
"Believed her?"
"Not a word"
"Well, ain't this grand?" she rubbed her face in exasperation, going to set Angie down with her brothers and sister, bribing her attention away from her uncle with more plastic cubes. Wyatt had his eyes closed and took deep breaths. Obviously, Danny made him incredibly uncomfortable, even in spirit form. Sam went to pull out one of the kitchen stools for Edward to sit, which she wasn't sure he could actually do in present condition.
"Well…" Danny demanded. "I'm not sure I wanna sit but at least…"
"Zip it. As long as you're here you'll be as quiet as a mouse or I'll put your summoned ass in a -bottle and seal it as a souvenir, get that?" he made a zipper-over-his-mouth movement. Sam went to hug Wyatt who clung onto her.
"You could cut me some slack. After all, I was summoned to my killer's house"
"I'm warning you. Watch it" Sam threatened him.
"If you think me killing you was the worst thing that happened to you, you have a serious lack of imagination" Wyatt threatened him, still holding his wife protectively.
"True story" Sam kissed his cheek lovingly. Then, he reached for her lips and kisses got slightly more interesting as he caressed the side of her head, trying to imagine how painful it was for her to see her brother's spirit. She hadn't been in any kind of contact with him since he'd died. Not to mention, having their first-born's killer and abuser in the house, however incorporeal.
"Hey, hey, hey, just cause I'm dead, doesn't mean it makes me any less comfortable to watch that kinda thing" said Edward, making the lovebirds laugh and break apart.
"I would offer you a drink, but…"
"Don't bother. It goes right through me" he made them smile for a moment longer before the weight of Danny's presence tainted the air again. He turned to the children, who continued playing undisturbed. "They're beautiful, sis"
"Yours would have been too"
"OK. Imma throw up now" Danny's words were received by a murderous stare from Wyatt and Sam. "By the by, rumor has it, you've been frequenting all the wrong people" he added derisively.
"What does he mean by that?" asked Edward turning back to them.
"I thought you guys would know the same stuff by now"
"We don't hang around in the same circles" he continued to stare. Wyatt's eyes were fixated on Danny.
"Keep your poison to yourself" he warned.
"Oooh, hit a nerve?" At those words Sam went to grab an empty jar from the pantry and slammed in on the counter so hard it startled the young ones.
