Chapter Fourteen
"You know, I'm older than the both of you," said Piper, trying and failing to keep her irritation out of her tone. Wyatt and Harry stood at either side of her as they moved through the Market; both of them were tall enough that they framed her, looming much like bodyguards.
"I don't appreciate being coddled," she continued.
"All these people find out that you're a witch and we have a fight on our hand," Wyatt said getting closer. He had his hands folded behind him, scanning their surroundings.
"I could just as well be a warlock," said Piper. A stall was close and a woman in ordinary clothing sat with a chain at her neck, a look of fear in her eyes. "Harry, be a dear a buy her, will you?"
"We won't be able to buy every witch in this place, Auntie," he said and his expression slipped into a grin. "But if we fought all of them…"
"Too dangerous," said Wyatt, he gestured skywards.
The Market was in a desert, buildings of varying length just at the edge in the brown of the desert beyond. Piper looked closer and she saw the shifts in light, making out the outlines of various forms. When she counted, she could see at least six other demons guarding the market.
"Ever the more exciting," said Harry.
"No, we're playing this smart," she said. "We don't have the security we had before."
"Fine," said Harry with an exaggerated sigh. He walked off while Piper and Wyatt looked around. She stopped at a stall, looking over some cursed jewellery and then moving onto some herbs.
"Do you have seeds for this?" she said after taking a sniff of the plant. It didn't smell very good but the vendor had said it had properties worked in potions to enhance the speed and strength of the drinker.
"Yes," the demon said, a large man who looked bone thin. It looked like he would fall over to a small wind but he held himself true. "But it requires the right nutrients in the earth."
"You mind giving me instruction on how to do that?" Piper asked. "I love me my potions."
"Quite strange for a warlock," he said. "Don't your kind usually use pilfered power?"
"Haven't you heard? The Charmed Ones are real," she said. "From what little I got from my contacts they're on the lookout for warlocks. It doesn't hurt to lay low for a while."
"Smart," the man said. "Seven gold pieces for the maintenance of the plant. Raising it to maturity. Three pieces per seed."
"Seven seeds," said Piper and she started reaching into her satchel when a woman bumped into her. Piper felt as the weight of her satchel shifted; before the woman could get too far Piper pointed a hand in her direction and the woman started to slow down.
Three demonic guard appeared, all of them carrying spears. They were hulking forms, insectoid in that they had grey exoskeleton, pincers and large golden eyes.
"Problem?" the biggest said.
"She stole something from me," said Piper. "Any other circumstances and I might have killed her. But right now I'll settle for taking what's mine."
"Is this the truth?" asked the lead guard. Piper pushed out a hand and the woman returned to speed. "And speak, truth."
"I…did," she ground out. One of the guards searched the woman before pulling out her stash of gold coins. The demon took all of them gold and handed it over to Piper. They disappeared and the commission was quickly over.
"What will happen to her?" Piper asked. The man had finished with Piper's order.
"A message needs to be sent," the man said. "They'll check her records and if she has more than three strikes she will be executed. Crime isn't need with the powers moving through the Market."
With that done Piper returned to Wyatt who was speaking to a demon with a very long nose and black eyes. Harry was in the process of buying another witch with their money; at some point they would have to work at getting more money, but Piper would leave that for Melinda and Divina, she was good in that sort of thinking.
Their business done Wyatt took Piper's shoulder while Harry took both the witches. They all disappeared in a flash of fire appearing in another portion of the Underworld: The sky was dark with flashes of lightning going off at times, leafless trees stretched out in the distance with dark forms shifting. The only constant source of light was one which came from a house in the middle of it all.
They started walking towards it with the sound of sniffling from the three witches they had trailing after them.
"Please," the woman kept saying. "Please don't kill me. Please."
A form darted from the trees towards them, sleek against the darkness with the vague shape of a dog; Wyatt pointed a hand but Harry moved faster. The boy opened up, his form becoming larger and filled with a myriad of tentacles. A set snakes out, crashing against the ground before one managed to grab at the demon.
Faster than a snake the tentacles snapped back, the dog creature moving towards Harry's maw before Piper acted, flicking her fingers and stopping the demon. Harry's tentacle continued forward while the demon had stopped mid-air.
"Form means utility," she said when large, red eyes flashed in her direction. "It could be useful." Harry let out a long breath with a lot of spittle before he closed again, appearing in his close to human form. "Wyatt."
Wyatt focused and chain materialised in his hands. He focused and there the chain orbed, a portion wrapping around the dog demon's neck while the rest stayed in his hands.
"Whitelighter," said the male witch. "But. How could you—?"
"Quiet," said Piper. She unfroze the demon and it continued it its arc before it orbed until it was in front of them. The thing looked around in confusion before it started to lunge.
"Don't," said Wyatt and his voice was filled with authority. His eyes flashed red, the same happening with Harry's. "You no doubt feel that. It's better you not fight."
"Unless you want me to gobble you up," said Harry. The boy shrugged. "Your form might be fun."
The thing bristled. "You're to be our new dog," said Wyatt. "I can feel it off of you that you were one of the first. The more instinct driven. It won't be that hard for you to fit into the form."
Harry clapped his hands. "Brother!" he said. "You got me a dog." He jumped at Wyatt and gave him a tight hug. "You're my favourite cousin. But don't tell anyone," he added in whisper.
"Let's just get to the house," said Piper. The continued, moving past the boundaries and into the warded area. The dog bristled even more because Harry and Wyatt had changed chains. Had Piper not raised the boy, she too would have found something unsettling about him.
Jeremy and Cole were waiting for them as they got into the house, the two stopping whatever they'd been discussing as they entered.
"Dad!" said Harry. "I got a pet! Biter."
Cole frowned. "One of the old ones," he said. "Are you sure you can handle it? Those things are quite cunning."
"Of course I can," said Harry.
"More powers," said Piper to Jeremy. "It should be enough to start getting other powers under our control."
The begging got fiercer at those words. "Don't worry," said Jeremy. "You're not going to die. Powers of the witches rise, course unseen across the skies; Come to me who calls you near, come to me and settle here."
Lights flickered through the air, moving from the witches before settling in Jeremy.
"Done," he said. "Now I can take you both home. I'll change your memories so that you don't tell anyone about this. But at least you're alive, right?"
The witches gave short nods. Jeremy pointed a hand and a hole opened in realities. "Chains," said Wyatt and the chains disappeared from the witches. Jeremy, with the witches, stepped through and the portal closed.
"Did you find anything?" said Cole.
"Most of the leads we aren't sure whether they're real or not," said Wyatt. "There are disappearances but we can't separate those from just dealing between demons or the Unknown Demon."
"Even so I should start running through them," said Cole. "I'll stock up on Tasers until you find your elemental demon. What about the Seer, have you had a chance to contact her?"
"Not our department," said Piper. She settled into a seat, letting the sound of the fire ease her nerves. "Peter?"
"Upstairs," said Cole. "We had another Old One try and breach the wards. Too far forward to be what we're looking for. He got tired with all the noise we were making."
"I'll be in the basement, then," said Harry. "Getting this guy house-bred. Peter can get grouchy."
"Melinda?" Piper asked.
"Making money," the girl said as she blinked into the room. She pulled off the bag and placed it onto the floor. "We've now taken control of the Upper East Side demon collective. It's only a matter of time before we're notice but we'll have enough of a revenue stream to last us a while longer."
"Speaking of which I should get back," said Cole. "There's only so long I can disappear. Word about the Charmed Ones are starting to make waves." The man gave his son a hug before he faded.
Harry moved onto the basement while Wyatt and Melinda moved to the conservatory to start their sparring practise. Piper closed her eyes and focused on the connection, and with it, she watched Paige work: