Post by StoryGirl83 on Oct 7, 2010 11:46:10 GMT -5
Chapter Fifty-Nine – Death in the Marketplace
Chris poured the last of the potion into a vial. While that was ready, thanks to the grimlock half breed he was now down an athemé. And that was important, because without it he couldn’t steal the powers he needed, so he needed a new one.
Chris scowled. How on earth does one go about gaining an athemé? He snorted. By leaving earth that’s how.
And so it was to the underworld he was headed. He put away the vials with his potion and started looking through his large stash. He smiled as he read the labels on some of them. Yes, these will do the trick.
He attached a belt around his waist and filled it with potions. On his legs he strapped knife holsters. He wasn’t as confident with them as he was with other things, but he had no idea what he might be going up against.
Taking quick stock of his arsenal he finally decided he was ready for his next battle. He orbed out, but not in the normal blue and white lights, nor was it the black fly like things of a darklighter. No, this was indeed pure black, but it was also clearly light swirling around. The more he faded away the lighter the lights became until the black had completely flipped into being a white and blue lights. And the look on his face as he completely dissolved from view was one of pure confusion and no small amount of terror.
When Chris reappeared it started as the blue white lights of a whitelighter and quickly changed into the black ones resembling a darklighter, but not quite them. As he took form the demons in the open demonic market place scattered. Even if most had no fear of either whitelighters or darklighters, the very fact that someone was orbing in made them weary.
The look on Chris’ face was enough to put fear in even the stoutest of demons present. Chris waved his arms around and the walls around them shifted as clunks of them fell and blocked the entrances. Chris dropped one of the potions onto the floor. “I wouldn’t try shimmering,” he warned, smirking as one of the demons did and turned into a ball of fire.
The other demons looked around uncertain. Some looked nervously at the blocked exits.
“As I said, I wouldn’t try orbing.” Chris gave them a malicious grin. “We can do this the easy way or the hard way and personally I’m more interested in the hard way, so have your choice.”
One demon threw a large energy ball at him and Chris grinned. He held out his hand and the energy ball went straight back at its sender. It engulfed the demon, and though it didn’t completely vanquish the demon, the demon sunk to the ground in pain.
Chris’ grin broadened as he watched the rest of the demons back up, growing more uncertain and more than a little afraid. “I need a power stealing athemé. I figured the market place was the place to start my search. Any volunteers?”
When no one said a word, Chris chuckled. “Perfect.” He calculated the number of demons around him. Seeing a large group near one of the walls he waved his arm and parts of the stone wall behind them came tumbling down. To make sure nothing survived he sent a potion reaming at them and the screaming began as the potion blasting a scalding acidic liquid over half a dozen demons. This was followed by first one explosion, then another and another in a chain reaction that vanquished seven demons in seconds.
“Do you have any idea who I am?” Chris asked. He waved his arm sending another demon careening to a wall and then he tightened his hand until the demons head popped off.
Off to the side one demon merchant watched him with interest. He made no move to attack Chris, only watched.
Chris threw a few more potions at random demons.
Seeing that this mad man was not going to stop, the demons took stock. In only seconds fifteen demons had gone from being there going about their business to being vanquished by this lone witch.
Chris held out his hand to deflect some incoming acidic spit. It turned back on its owner and vanquished the scabber demon. Chris chuckled. “You’d think demons would be more than happy to help anyone wanting to vanquish a Charmed One.”
That caught Marchez’ attention all right. He held out his hand in a stop gesture. “Wait!” he called out.
Chris turned to look at him. “Did you have something to say, demon?”
“You wanted an athemé?” Marchez asked.
Chris nodded. “A power stealing one to be precise.”
Marchez ignored this. “To kill a Charmed One? Your family?”
Chris’ eyes narrowed. “To vanquish a Charmed One, yes. My reasons and any connections I might have to them are no one’s business.”
“I might be interested in helping you, for a price,” Marchez informed him.
“What’s to prevent me from just taking it?”
“Because it is only here if I want it to be here,” Marchez informed him with a smirk. “I run a business. I do not like to be taken by thieves.”
Chris waved his arm around and the stones around the room formed a barrier preventing the other demons from getting near. He didn’t feel like worrying about them. He walked over to Marchez’s booth. “What do you want in exchange for your athemé?”
“Your business,” Marchez informed him. “As a first time customer going after the Charmed Ones, I will give you this item for free. If you die, it will return to me.”
“I won’t die,” Chris leaned in to get close enough to look the demon in the eyes.
Marchez backed up slightly. “Everyone who takes them on dies eventually, unless of course they kill them all, but no one’s ever done that.”
“I will win this battle,” Chris announced, sounding more confident than he felt. It was suicide to go after them. And if he lost, he didn’t know what they would do. He had a feeling they would make an exception to their rule of not going after family. And if they sent Wyatt after him . . . but he must not think of that. He could kill one of his aunts. He was confident that given the chance he could do that. The same could not be said of his older brother. He could never kill Wyatt. So if they sent Wyatt after him he was done for.
“The athemé,” Chris demanded holding out his hand.
Marchez chuckled inwardly. It would certainly be worth the price of one athemé to see this boy kill a Charmed One. He held out his hand and an athemé appeared in it. “Use it and make them suffer.”
Chris grabbed the athemé and threw down one of his remaining potions on the ground. Lights swirled around him, dark at first and then lighter and lighter causing Marchez to grow worried. Something was not at all right with this son of a Charmed One.