Charmed: Hanging with Mr. Turner
Disclaimer: I don't own charmed, but the WB does.
Summary: AU After Season six- After Gideon's death, Leo has taken over his position as guardian of the school but has hired a headmistress to handle all school matters. When the headmistress hires a familiar new teacher, the Halliwells must investigate to see what this new teacher's plans are. Are they good? Or is there an ulterior motive here?
A/N: Just a quick story based around plots that I have written over the last few years, which are mostly about Cole and Phoebe. Review and tell me what you think!
Chapter 10: Final Exam
A week later found Cole standing in front of his class, beginning his lecture about the second highest level of the demonic hierarchy, the various evil groups of the Underworld. "So last week, we finished our lecture on faes and priests, and now we will start on the devils, anointed ones and generals level," started Cole, seeing the end of the school year in the distance. He had only a few more subjects to teach the students, after which they would have a full breadth of knowledge about the Underworld. "First, we'll begin with various groups that are found in this level, such as the Ordo Malorum, the Brotherhood of the Thorn, the Triad, the Infernal Council, and the Dark Cult."
Cole paused to gain the students' attention, who were whispering in excitement as they inched closer and closer to the Source of All Evil. "First comes the Ordo Malorum, which is a cabal of seven demons who are in charge of grooming the Source's power-base. They train the generals of the Underworld to do the bidding of the Source. Any demon within the Triad, the Cult of Darkness, the Infernal Council, the Source's Hand, or the leadership of the Brotherhood of the Thorn, which are all organizations that serve the Source, are trained by a member of the Ordo, though they themselves are not necessarily members of the Ordo. And someone who is trained by the Ordo itself is eligible to become a member of the Ordo when a spot opens up should a member be vanquished."
"The Ordo Malorum demons are much more than simple demons, as each of the seven leaders of the Ordo is known as a Demonic Dark Lord of the Underworld, and they rule over a section of the Underworld like a fiefdom for the Source. Additionally, they each have a specific task and duty assigned to them—such as Litvack, who trained and controlled the Libris demons, demons who prevented the mortal world from learning about demons; Ludlow, who was tasked with training demonic children in their powers or evil mortals, was another member of the Ordo; and Raynor, whose job it was to recruit for and lead the Brotherhood of the Thorn," Cole informed them, telling them the ways of the Underworld that not many on the side of good knew about. "The other four members are pretty much unknown to me except for rumors, but I'm sure their duties were well known, even if they stayed in the shadows."
"Is every member dead?" questioned Sarah, a brown-haired girl in the front of the class that Cole had found to be the most prepared student that he had in any of his classes.
"I guess," Cole shrugged, not knowing either way. "Because there is no Source to appoint a new leader, the Ordo is all but gone, similarly to the Triad who was vanquished by a rogue demon, the Cult of Darkness who all died in a single night at the last coronation of the Source, and the Brotherhood of the Thorn who fell after Raynor's death. Rumor has it that demons known as Thrask and Crill were also members of the Ordo, but they are now part of the Tribunal, which monitors the use of magic on both sides after magic was exposed a few years ago. Finally, the level-two demons that I mentioned at the start of the class are servants of the Ordo, who promise them additional power if they serve them loyally," Cole finished, stating all he knew about the powerful demonic group.
"Can I ask about that, why would demons care if magic was known?" A male student asked, speaking up for the first time since the first or second class. "Like, I never got that, I understand why we care, but why do demons? It doesn't make sense to me." He opined, trying to understand the thought process of the Underworld.
"If I told you right now that I could control your mind through my words, what would you do?" Cole questioned with a raised eyebrow, fully aware of the benefits to evil that keep magic a secret brought to them. "How would you react?"
"I'd be worried, I probably wouldn't talk to you, if I'm being honest," he answered after a moment of thought, honestly believing that mind control would worry him more than anything else. Doing things against your will and desire was a horrifying thought to him, something that scared him deeply. "I'd try to steer clear of you as best as I could."
"That's exactly what I would expect," Cole agreed with a nod of his head. "It's the same concept with demons. Sure, perhaps in the past, fear could control humans, could garner them more power, and they do have some fearsome visages, but it doesn't always work anymore. Humans are dangerous to demons; all it takes it one nutcase with a bomb and serious injuries could come to a wide assortment of demons. Nowadays, demons like to control the world from the shadows, and it is easier to do that when the humans are ignorant of magic. If an everyday person knew about magic, wouldn't they be more skeptical of their actions? Wouldn't they start to question why the powerful businessman suddenly changed his mind on something? Or why a rich person bequeathed his money to a relative stranger? By keeping the world in the dark, demons can use it to their advantage more."
"That...that makes a ridiculous amount of sense," the boy laughed, surprised that he hadn't thought of that beforehand.
"Good," Cole said with a smile, happy that the boy's curiosity was satiated, before adding, "Now that we've established the Demonic Dark Lords of the Underworld are the members of the Ordo Malorum, we can move onto other groups of the Underworld. Next comes the Triad, the Cult, and the Infernal Council. All the various groups had different purposes, like say the Triad, which handled special projects for the Source, being a direct link to the Source. Together, they shared a piece of the Source's power, as evidenced by their black as coal eyes that show the pit of evil that is in their bodies," Cole said, moving quickly through the various groups that served the Underworld, seeing no reason to spend an extended amount of time on them as they themselves were simply an extension of the Source—the Ordo Malorum was the only group that truly mattered in the long run. "The last version of the Triad were vanquished four years ago, and a new version has not yet been anointed as far as I know."
"Who vanquished them?" A couple of the students asked inquisitively, wanting to know just who was powerful enough to knock off the demons on top of the food chain.
"An evil, but powerful demon, who was threatened with being vanquished himself," Cole returned cryptically, hoping that he wouldn't have to divulge information about himself. "He was desperate, so he took them all out in a few swift actions."
"Is the demon still alive?" Another student asked, wondering what the end result was for the demon.
"He survived the attack against the Triad, yes, but he was vanquished not two years ago, about a year after he betrayed the Underworld," Cole again answered, giving a small smile as he remembered that time of his life.
"How was he vanquished?" Sarah inquired, curious as to the circumstances surrounding the demon who vanquished a group so connected to the Source had found his end.
"A witch practitioner who wanted revenge for the death of her fiancé, who the demon had killed a year or two prior, did it,' Cole answered honestly, keeping it vague enough to be speaking about someone else. "The Infernal Council, meanwhile, handled everyday matters for the Source, allowing the Source's attention to be on other things. The Infernal Council is also the overseers of the Darklighters, as they are the ones who create them and train them in their powers. The Cult of Darkness were filled with priests and priestesses that performed the various demonic rituals for the Source, including the Source's coronation. And the Brotherhood of the Thorn were the emissaries of the human world for the Source, as every member of the Brotherhood had to have a human visage in order to take the oath and be inducted."
"In regards to the groups, can you tell us more about them? Like why are there so many?" A blonde student asked, not seeing the point in having so many of them.
"Power struggles prevented many demons from working with one another, so when they were created, due to the different purposes they have, the Underworld needed to have a few of them," responded Cole, taking a swig of his water. "And with that, we can move onto the various other members of the Upper-Level Demonic hierarchy."
"Next we have the devils, which are a human-looking, demon-like species that are from a plane parallel to the Underworld that has since become known as the Graveyard," Cole said, informing them of a little known species of evil. "They are nearly extinct, in fact I've never met one in my life, but some still exist, and those that do are very powerful and sought after. Thousands of years ago, their home-world was attacked by a mystical vapor called the Hollow, which absorbs all magic. They tried fighting it with their own magic, not knowing what it was, but ended up destroying themselves in the process. With their defeat came the destruction of their home-world, as well. And while it still exists and I have traveled to it before, it is forsaken, with very little life willing to traverse its lands.
He noticed that some of the students were taking notes, so he paused to allow them to catch up, knowing that he was giving them a lot of information in quick succession. He walked over the chalkboard as he waited and drew the pyramid that he had created on the first day, reminding them of the level that he was lecturing about: near the top. Walking back over to the head of the classroom, in front of his desk, he saw that everyone had caught up and he gave them a smile, before giving a small, non-descript shrug. "Devils are, without question, the most difficult thing to lecture about," he added, leaning against his desk. "The truth is, no one alive has firsthand knowledge of the events that transpired, save perhaps the higher beings like the Elders."
"What happened?" The chorus of confused voices came, questioning what Cole had meant.
"The Hollow happened, that's what," started Cole. "I was told this story as a child: There used to be a world, perpendicular to the Underworld, or maybe in the same space, that had an indigenous race of sentient beings, like Earth has humans. This race was known as the devils, evil and magical creatures that look human, not unlike fae. Powerful and organized, unlike demons who are chaotic and monstrous, devils were the epitome of control—they were trustworthy and sentimental, they remembered their allegiances, unlike demons, who are out for themselves only. Well, their home world was destroyed by the Hollow, which was created by the Wraiths, and the race nearly exterminated before they made a deal with the angels to help save them. The combined might of the lead devil and the lead angel was able to entrap the Hollow in its box and placed it in a place outside of space and time, protected from everything but the strongest of magic. The damage was done, however, and most devils were killed, and their homeland destroyed. Now, millenniums after that, only a handful of devils still exist, and whatever ones do, are highly regarded in the Underworld."
"Why did you go there?" A student questioned, wondering why Cole would go to such a place if it was as bad as he said.
"I was avoiding a very powerful demon and I didn't want him to find me," Cole replied with a bit of a shrug, not wanting to give too much detail but understanding he probably would have to do so eventually.
"Which demon?" A male student asked, wanting to know more about Cole as a person.
"The Source of All Evil," Cole said with a sigh, earning a gasp from the entire class. "Yeah, I've lived an interesting life, what can I say?" He laughed, shaking his head as he saw their interested expressions. "Anyway, back to the devils: They have the same powers as Upper-Level demons, but they are more powerful than most demons. Some also have the power to cast spells, which is something that demons generally lack, unless performing a dark ritual of some sort that uses magical totems to create the magic."
A hand shot up in the back, and Cole nodded, allowing the boy named Quentin to voice his question. "You mentioned the Devil's Sorcerer in the last class, why was Tempus known as the Devil's Sorcerer?"
"Right," Cole nodded, recalling having said that. "He got that title because he worked for and was trained by a Source that happened to be a devil in the early dark ages—meaning two or three Sources ago. It was that Source that honed Tempus' unbelievable and unprecedented time manipulation powers and made him the sorcerer that he was."
"Why is it called the Graveyard?" Tag asked, wanting to know if it was more of a joke or if it really was a graveyard with corpses in the ground.
"Because there is no one there except outlaws, damned and dead men," Cole answered, turning his gaze over to Tag. "Like I said, the devils were mostly exterminated eons ago by the Wraiths and the Hollow with only a few still in existence so it's very rare to meet one, similarly to wizards."
Seeing no other questions, Cole nodded and took another sip from his water bottle as he collected his thoughts. "Then at the last stage, there are the anointed ones, beings that have been given a particular gift or blessing by the Source in order to perform an important task or project," Cole lectured, referencing the various beings in the Underworld assigned to a single task to complete. The task could take days or could last for eons, depending on just what it was the demon was assigned to do. "They are powerful, ferocious, nearly impossible to vanquish, and are directly connected to the Source. The most famous being the Horsemen of the Apocalypse, who are meant to bring about destruction to the human world."
"What kind of powers do they have?" A shapeshifter named Slick questioned, wondering just what it was that the anointed ones could do.
"Oh, that depends on what they have been anointed to perform," Cole said with a shrug, being unable to answer any more thoroughly than that. "Sometimes they are super powerful in the regular sense, sometimes they are limited but are indestructible, nonetheless. It honestly depends."
Cole's gaze moved back to the blackboard behind him, where he had finally reached the top of the pyramid that he had originally drawn all of those classes ago. "And now, the top of the top, the king of the Underworld, lord of the shadows, leader of all monsters and demons alike," Cole started, knowing how anticipated this moment was for the entire class. "The Source of All Evil."
"He or she is, of course, not the actual source of evil in the world, but it's as close as anything will ever come. Ancient beyond belief, the Source is an essence that is tethered to this world through the evil of the Underworld's Grimmoire—or spell book. For as long as that book exists and is not destroyed, that essence survives, as well. When a new Source is coronated, he or she is possessed by that vapor, where their powers, abilities, skills, personality, and character traits merge into one being—not the essence, nor the demon being possessed, but instead an amalgamation of them both. That's why not all Sources are created equal: while the essence has its own powers, such as pyrokinesis, fire balls, flaming, telekinesis, shapeshifting, amongst others, the more powerful the demon is that is being possessed, the more powerful the resulting Source will be. Let's say a Titan is the one that becomes the Source, that Source would then become nearly unstoppable, adding the Titan's inherent power with the incredible abilities of the essence, creating a force never before seen, honestly."
The entire class had a look of confusion on their faces, as if Cole had been speaking a different language since the start of the lecture. To them, the Source was a nigh mythical being, so to hear that the Source was nothing but vapor, like condensation escaping from a boiling pot, was anticlimactic. "What is the essence?"
"No one knows except the Source himself," Cole whispered, looking down at the floor, having firsthand knowledge of what the essence does to someone. "Some say it's the first Source that became ever living—he was afraid of being vanquished so he did a ritual that connected his life force with that of Grimmoire. That could certainly true, but I believe it is an evil even more ancient than that, one connected to Wraiths of the Netherworld."
"Wraiths of the Netherworld?" A few whispers came, the students clearly noticing that Cole had used the word wraith in context of the devils just moments before.
"Basically, the opposite of angels, living embodiments of evil that were banished to the Netherworld at the beginning of time, where the legends of fallen angels have their genesis," replied Cole, having never intended to lecture about them as he himself knew very little. "Only remnants of their magic still exist."
"Angels have equals?" Some students murmured in surprise, shocked that such beings could have people on equal level as them.
"Everything has an opposite, you know," Cole added with a small smile. "The wraiths are the opposites of the Powers that Be, who live in Heaven. They are basically the opposite of angels, but outside of that, I really know nothing about them, save that they are locked away at the bottom of the universe, the true underverse of it all—otherwise known as the Netherworld. They are the beings of evil that were banished to the Netherworld at the beginning of time, where many origin stories of demons and evil and Satan comes from. Only certain magicks of them still exist, with the locks off their imprisonment being scattered across the world in various mystical locations."
"Going back to the Source, it has been known that there were demons that wished to resurrect a former Source, but these demons are mistaken." Cole lectured, returning to what he wanted to discuss. "For the demon that is revived will not be the Source, but instead the original demon that was possessed by the essence, meaning it will not be as powerful as it once was. To most demons, the Source is a position, the king of the Underworld and ruler over demons and monsters alike. A powerful demon rises, takes the throne, and leads the Underworld, rinse and repeat. The coronation of a new Source is the demonic ritual performed by the Cult of Darkness, which is a group of 13 high priests and priestesses that protect the Grimmoire and perform ancient demonic rituals."
"As a side note, that's actually where the fear of the number 13 comes from," Cole explained, informing them of a lesser known fact. While he noticed that he was a bit scatterbrained when it came to his lecture about the Source, presumably due to his history with the essence, he continued on speaking without thought, aware that too much information wasn't necessarily a bad thing for his students. "There is an old saying: when thirteen gathers, evil follows. By 13, it actually meant the gathering of the priests and priestesses of the Cult of Darkness in order to coronate a new Source, hence the evil following. However, the saying somehow made it into the human world, and through word of mouth, the superstition grew out from its original meaning into what it means today."
"Back to what I was saying—demons believe a new demon rises up and becomes the Source. The truth of the matter, however, is that a demon does indeed rise up, and when he is coronated, he is possessed by the essence of maybe the very first Source of Evil, who is a being of pure and adulterated evil that has tethered his spirit to the Grimmoire. So long as that Grimmoire exists, the essence known as the Source of All Evil exists. And when a demon is possessed by that essence, his personality becomes an amalgamation of that demon's and the essence's, granting all of the powers of the essence, in addition to the powers that the demon previously had. So, in actuality, it is both a position and a person, and any demon can be the Source, but he'll be taken over regardless, and a new personality formed—which is my longwinded way of saying that a specific Source cannot be resurrected as the essence won't be part of the resurrection. The resurrected demon would have to be re-coronated in order to truly return to life."
The class all whispered amongst themselves, fascinated by the in-depth detailing of what the Source was that they had never heard before. "How is the Source coronated?"
"The coronation details a blood oath, in which the thirteen members of the Cult of Darkness, or the High Council as it is often known, convene, amongst demonic leaders of the Underworld," replied Cole, inwardly cringing at the memories of his own coronation. "In front of those demons, the new Source places his hand down on the Grimoire, spills blood on the book, then a mortal is sacrificed, and the demon is anointed as the Source of All Evil. It all takes place on the witching hour, the most evil time of day."
There was a long pause, all the students taking in what they had just heard. Some had a look of horror on their face at the mention of a mortal being sacrificed, but mostly, they were neutral, as if hearing it made them remember that they would be fighting the evil in the world in short time. "Going back to the resurrecting thing," Sarah asked, trying to figure out the wisdom in it. "If that were the case, why would they even attempt to resurrect the vanquished Source?"
"Because demons don't know the truth," Cole answered honestly, knowing how much of a secret the Source's true origin was in the Underworld. "They don't know that the Source is an essence that infects its hosts and combines into an amalgamated being."
Students furrowed their brows at Cole's proclamation. "How do you know then?"
"As I mentioned before, I have a unique history with it," Cole said with a small smile, though the class knew he wasn't going to say anything more than that. "Are there any questions about what we have discussed today?"
"If the Source is dead, and many of these powerful demons have been vanquished, then who is leading the Underworld right now?" Asked a girl who could walk through walls, curious as to what was going on in the Underworld.
"No one," Cole shrugged, knowing that the Underworld was just about leaderless at the present time. "An entire generation of demons have basically been wiped out over the past decade or so, leaving a void that has yet to be filled. Zankou might fill it, but he has not made his presence known since he was released a few weeks ago. There is another claimant by the name of Haas, however, who has begun to stir up some power and clout around the Underworld. If I had to guess, I'd say unless something unforeseen happens, he will be the next Source if not vanquished by Zankou beforehand."
"What powers does he have?" A student questioned, wanting to know what powers it would take in order to unite the Underworld.
"I'm not sure, I've never met him or seen him in action, so I couldn't tell you," Cole said with a shake of his head, barely knowing who Haas was let alone what powers the demon had.
Tag furrowed his brow, confused by what Cole had said. "Wait, you actually meet these demons that you tell us about?"
"Yes," Cole agreed with a nod of his head.
Tag blinked at what Cole had said, not really knowing how to react. "How?"
"Long story, but one the ways I've met them is through the fact that I am the ex-husband of one of the Charmed Ones," Cole replied, not at all wanting to reveal that he himself had been a demon in the past—it was a different life.
"Which one?" A few students asked, not at all worried about crossing a line. They knew Cole was a laidback guy, someone who would not get easily offended by their intrusion into his personal life.
"Do you really think I'd answer that?" Cole laughed, shaking his head in the negative "So through that union, and my own personal life and experiences, let's just say that I know more about demons than anyone in the world that would actually be willing to teach you about them."
Just then, a hand shot up into the air, as if he remembered something just then. "In a previous class, you mentioned you had a story about Zankou…"
"I did, didn't I?" Cole grinned, recalling his promise to tell it to them at the appropriate time. "The story goes that an auricomous possessor demon named Ornias was the liaison of the Source, but was also secretly giving information to the Source's rival, the Dogan of Zanbar. Eventually, this possessor demon talked the Source into attacking the Dogan, and the two had an epic battle, each trying to vanquish the other. The possessor, a powerful demon in his own right, entered the fray, and vanquished the Source for himself, scarring half of his face in the process. When Dogan went to take the throne, believing that the possessor vanquished the Source for him, the possessor demon had his own second in command, a wizard name Zakal, strip Dogan of all of his powers and cursed him to an existence worse than death. The possessor then, of course, took the throne himself and became the new Source of All Evil, eventually being vanquished by the Charmed Ones. You know who the brother, son or father of the Dogan of Zanbar was (we don't really know which one he was to the Dogan)? The imprisoned Zankou, who attacked the Source after finding out about his family member's fate and was then imprisoned himself. Zankou was there during the fight, and was the one who personally scarred the usurping Source's face with a fireball—a scar that he had until his vanquish over a half a millennium later. It's the reason why the Source captured him, because he realized that Zankou was even stronger than his brother and did not want to risk defeat."
Herman, a conjurer who rarely spoke up looked up at Cole, curious to the meaning of a term that Cole had used. "What is a Dogan?"
"It's the title of the king of Zanbar, a once great desert city that was the seat of power for an evil empire that tried to rule the world," answered Cole. "The title comes from the fact that Zanbar was protected by hellhounds, beastly animals from Avalon that were basically irradiated by magic and became magical themselves that were spelled to only respond to the king. Escaped hellhounds from Avalon became the black dogs of myth. Since the word hound is a synonym for dog, the king of Zanbar eventually became known as the Dogan. Further, three thousand years ago, the Source that would soon rule during that time won the title in a battle with the reigning Source at the time, a demon by the name of Zanbar. This demon was known for having an evil empire on Earth during the bronze ages, which he also named Zanbar, which would eventually be lost to time."
"What's an auricomous demon?" A black-haired witch questioned after raising her hand.
"A demon race known for their sallow skin, black eyes, demonically marked faces and rotted teeth, they are possessors, beings capable of taking over their host," informed Cole, anger belying up at the memories of the last Source. "While they are Upper-Level, they aren't necessarily greatly powerful, but the last Source was an auricomous demon that was quite strong, one of the strongest of his kind, if not the strongest that has ever lived."
Cole's eyes flicked over to the clock, where he noticed they were running short on time. "We have time for a few more questions."
"How do we protect ourselves from the Source?" A witch by the name of Devin asked, frightened at the prospect of going up against the Source, the evil that he had feared since first learning about the position years prior.
"Well, it is very unlikely that he or she will ever attack any of you personally," Cole whispered, knowing that many of them did not have the destiny that would put them in the path of the Source. "The Source does not come to Earth unless something very important is happening, but if that day should ever come and you are worried about the Source, use gargoyles. Gargoyles can stop the Source in his or her tracks."
"Gargoyles?" A few students laughed, thinking it a joke. "You mean those ugly statues?"
"They come to life in order to ward off evil," nodded Cole, having remembered the few times that he heard gargoyles after shimmering from the Underworld. "They are the ancient protectors of humanity, so if a great evil magical force comes against a human, they will ward it off. The more evil you are, the more they fight and the more it hurts you."
"They're alive?" A few students said in unison, as if the idea was alien to them.
"No," Cole shook his head in the negative, not meaning to say that gargoyles were sapient and sentient. "A very ancient spell was set upon them by the powers that be as a last resort that bestowed upon them a pseudo life. They come alive only for the purpose of defending humanity against great evils. The great evil, of course, being the Source, or more specifically, powerful demons. It doesn't always work, warding off evil, it depends upon the intent of the evil, but if a great demon comes to hurt a human, gargoyles will most certainly come alive."
Just then, the bell rang, signaling that the students could leave. "Well, this was a fun semester. We only have one more class, but since we have covered just about everything that I wanted to cover, you don't have to come next week unless you want to come. If you do come, I plan on making it a bit more personal, allowing you to ask me questions privately and pick my brain a little bit. Maybe I'll even give you some personal tips or whatnot. I'll have a small general lecture about evils outside of the Underworld, but it'll only last a few minutes. Either way, good luck with your finals and good luck in your life, I'll be rooting for you all. Thank you for being wonderful. Thank you for, well, hanging with Mr. Turner."
A/N: I wanted to get this chapter out as a shout out to a former tradition of releasing a new chapter on my birthday. It's not up to my usual standards because this was kitbashed from two class ideas that I had after taking out the Cole outside of school subplots that I had. This is probably the last chapter, and even if I release another, there would be only one more class left (Summer School). I hope you are and your families are all safe and healthy from Covid. Thank you for reading and thanks for hanging with Mr. Turner.