Closed RP: The Morgan-Petrelli Tent
Damn, he had gotten dressed up for this? Surprise marriageStill, Peter Petrelli was hardly a man to fight fate - he tended to run face first into it - so he just calmly collected himself and headed down to the tent village. At least, by the looks of the rather large crowd, he wasn't the only person roped into this
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"This is delightful," the demon crowed, enormously pleased with himself. His voice took on a pitying cast. "You are quite terrible at ordering people to do things, Rachel Mariana Morgan, and I'll beg you to stop. It's getting in the way of conversation."
Beside Rachel, Peter scowled sharply. "Exactly. I'm not leaving you alone," he agreed. Algaliarept had the pleasure of watching disgust pass over Peter's face as he realized he had just agreed with a demon.
"You are both simply wonderful," Algaliarept smiled serenely. "And of course you're my witch, you have my aura all over you, and my mark. Did you see them, Peter? My black all over her, my mark on her wrist. She simply can't leave me alone." Intently, his gaze focused on Peter, who apparently still hadn't realized the magnitude of the situation. "She comes crawling to me, did you know? Begs for my help when she's too weak to solve anything herself. She's sold nearly everything but her soul."
He watched as Peter raised his eyebrows, looking over at Rachel in surprise. The demon would be more than happy to give him a little Demon 101, especially when it came to Rachel. "I did see them," Peter muttered. "What... what did you need so badly that you had to do deals with a demon?"
Algaliarept snickered to himself. Peter sounded upset, even though he'd never met a demon before. It was like he'd just discovered that Rachel had just killed Santa Claus. Ooh, this was good.
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"Shut up." But there was no more snap in my tone. In order to get Al to leave, I'd have to summon him. Or else I had no control. And I wasn't prepared to do that. Not yet.
"I had my reasons," I told Peter, quietly. Of course, the first mark wasn't mine. It had been Nick who'd taken the deal, despite my begging him not to. After Al had almost killed me in that basement. And the second... I'd had to. Piscary had to be put away, and Al had been my only chance. "Can we please talk about this later?"
Well, there went any chance at all Peter would ever again look at me with something other than disgust. And fear. I remembered the look well from Nick. It wasn't something I enjoyed. Growing reckless with this loss - something that hurt far worse than it should - I stepped forward, eyes snapping. "What do you want, Al? I didn't summon you. You have no business here. So why are you bothering me?"
Oh, and by stepping forward, I also planted myself once more between Al and Peter. Even if he hated me, now, I still wasn't letting Al get his slimy fingers on him. "And stop calling me yours. I'm not in the ever after. You couldn't even manage to pull me there. So don't get smug."
Yeah. Baiting a demon. Brilliant, Rachel.
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He chuckled as Peter moved sideways again, never letting Rachel come in between them. Peter hadn't yet replied to Rachel's explanation; either he was agreeing to talk about it later, or he just didn't have anything to say. The demon desperately wanted to know which.
Algaliarept sighed loudly. "I must admit, this is getting very repetitive. All this telling me to leave and trying to taunt me, it's just... so pénible. Tedious, boring, tiring. We could all get along so much better if you'd stop that." The demon held up a hand, letting the red mist of the ever after swirl gently and form into a three foot length of steel pole, which he began to spin lazily between his fingers. Peter's flinch was delicious.
"Tell me, why don't we shift onto more interesting subjects, hmm? I just want to talk," Algaliarept said leisurely. "For instance, Peter, did you know that Rachel has made deal with another demon, other than myself? She hungers for these things, my little witch. She just can't stop herself."
The demon stopped talking abruptly, scowling furiously. "Telekinesis won't work on me, Peter Petrelli," he snapped, watching as Peter cursed quietly, his hand still raised in the air after his attempted sneak attack. Algaliarept pursed his lips at Rachel. "I'd thank you if you put a leash on him some time soon, he's already tried to read my mind. It's getting annoying."
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I blanched and looked over at Peter. Damn it. Reaching out quickly, I took his hand, giving it a tiny squeeze as I tried for a light tone, "Jesus, Pete, you should know better. There's nothing in his mind but sports scores and bad porn. You'd be bored stiff."
His jab about the ley-lines made me flinch, visibly. It was true. And I'd just been throwing that around for fun. God, I was stupid.
Suddenly, I was pretty sure why Al was here. My mind flashed to just a little bit ago. I'd been happy. For one of the rare times since coming here, I'd been happy. Of course Al would show up and try to ruin that. It's what he did.
That pole. I looked from Al to Peter. Al didn't do anything lightly. I wasn't afraid of steel poles. Which means Pete must be. I squeezed his hand again, trying to look more confident that I felt. God, if Al did one freaking thing to Peter, I'd rip the demon apart myself.
At his taunt about the yellow-eyed demon, my eyebrow raised. "Oh, you didn't hear?" I said, suddenly seeing a possible out. "And here I thought you were all up on the latest headlines. Pity." I cocked my head to the side. "Want the dish? How about you leave. We could trade."
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"Can't look away, can you?" Algaliarept's voice snapped Peter out of his thoughts. "After all, the last time you saw one of these, you let it go through your head. Possessing a death wish, Peter Petrelli?"
Peter tensed up, but the demon was already returning his attention to Rachel, a mocking smile playing on his lips. "And I wouldn't worry about that fascinating piece of information, little witch. I already got 'the dish' from Paciscory himself. We've known each other a long time, he and I."
Languidly, the demon started spinning the pole in the opposite direction, watching Rachel and Peter. "I'm just here to... fill you in, shall we say. On all the nasty little details you've so foolishly neglected to tell each other. It's only right, if you're going to be married."
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Not now, Rachel. Focus.
And of course he'd know the demon. "Funny. Pac never mentioned you." Untrue, but I was blustering, trying to think.
...Wait. Peter had tried to read Al's mind? He could freaking read minds? Had he read mine? Okay, add another thing to the list of topics I was going to freak out about later. Instead, I just decided to try and use that. Somehow.
Thinking as loudly as I could, directing my thoughts at Peter and trying, through some mental wall, to keep them from Al, I tried to communicate a plan.
Listen. Al digs up whatever you're most scared of. He makes it real. Can you disappear and get away?
"Gee, and here I was hoping you were here to give us a toaster. A lot more useful than your chatter," I blustered, trying to cover for if Peter managed to actually get my message. My hand squeezed his again, trying to get him to pay attention. He needed to be out of here before Al got bored of toying with us.
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Algaliarept simply smiled benevolently at Rachel's blustering, folding his hands on his lap again. Peter knew he'd like nothing more than to get rid of him somehow, but the pole he'd held had vanished into must - would the demon do the same thing?
"My chatter can be extremely useful," the demon commented dismissively, examining his nails and flicking away a sliver of orange. "For instance, Rachel Mariana Morgan, do you know exactly what Peter can do? I'm sure he hasn't told you everything. He's already nearly killed his brother, nearly killed half of New York because he's so pathetic at controlling himself. Who's to say, the next time you get him angry, it won't happen again?" The demon sighed sadly. "It would deprive me of so much fun. I could take that away, however."
Peter's eyes widened, and this time he didn't even look at Rachel for confirmation. "You what? You could? How?" He tried not to sound too desperate, but it wasn't working.
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Peter, you stubborn idiot. LISTEN TO ME.
And then Al was talking. And I... God help me, I listened. But I didn't believe it. More to the point, I didn't care. And even if I did, what the demon said next wiped every other thought out of my head.
Oh, God. "Don't." The word came out like a plea, a curse. "Peter, stop, please..."
No.
There was one way to stop this, one way to get Al away from Peter. Until I could explain.
It would probably end badly for me, but there wasn't any other way. Not that I could think of.
Taking a deep breath, I looked at Peter. Just for a second. God, what was I about to do? I didn't have many more chances, here. I couldn't possibly have many more close calls in my hand. One of these times, I was going to risk too much.
But I had to.
"Algaliarept." My eyes turned back to the demon. Resigned. "I summon you."
Oh, God.
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Looking between Rachel and the demon, Peter narrowed his eyes, wondering what was going on. His thoughts were still circling around the fact that Algaliarept said he could remove the unstable radioactive power. It would make his life so much easier, not worrying about it.
"Anyway, I said I didn't come here on business," Algaliarept continued, breaking Peter out of his thoughts. "And I'm not interested in getting caught up in this silly fight, again. So, Rachel Mariana Morgan, release the summon, and I'll leave. Easy as that."
Snake-like as the demon's smile was, he was serious. He'd only wanted to play with them a little, the real business could come later.
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"I want you to leave Peter alone. All the way alone. No tempting him with your deals, no tormenting him, nothing." My chin went up defiantly, but I sure as hell wasn't looking at Peter. He didn't understand. So I was going to have to protect him.
"How much, Al?"
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"I'm afraid that, my little witch, would be a price you're not willing to give. You already have my aura, you have my mark, what else? The only thing left is your soul," the demon smiled slowly.
Peter glanced at Rachel, his eyebrows raised in alarm. He didn't yet fully grasp exactly what a deal with a demon involved, but he knew enough that he didn't want Rachel doing one on his behalf.
Algaliarept paused to chew on another strawberry, looking at them both like they were the best entertainment he'd had in years. "Face it, Rachel Mariana Morgan. You have nothing left to give. If I take your soul, the ends this delicious little fight we have, and no matter how good it would be to drag you into the ever after, I'm not willing to take your soul yet. If you like, you can run to your yellow-eyed friend, he might give you a discount."
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My soul.
The words 'hell no' should have been the first ones to mind. Instead, all I could think of was what kind of price the demon would get out of Peter. Peter who was so tired. Who had nightmares. Who wanted his powers gone. God, the things Al could do to him... It froze something inside of me, made me sick.
And this was my fault. Al had found Peter because of me.
That one thought tipped me over the edge. "Done," I said, before I could think about it. "You have my soul. You leave Peter alone. Take the deal, you foul little bastard."
I could get out of it. I'd find a way. And even if not, Peter would be safe. It would be my fault of Al hurt him. My scar tingled, phantom pain, and I pressed my hand to my neck.
Keeping my eyes well away from Peter, I just stared at the demon and waited. Would it hurt? I hoped it wouldn't hurt. Absent tears pricked my eyes as I wondered if Ivy and Jenks and Dean would ever know what happened to me. Peter didn't know who they were, they didn't know where I was... I was going to think that they would. And they'd be fine, without me. The important thing was, Peter wouldn't trip over his own shoelaces and fall into a deal with Al. Something he was only in danger of because of me.
It was better, this way.
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He was expecting some form of attack, and when it came, the demon was well prepared. Honestly, why did Peter think is such a great idea to just try and punch him? Hadn't he learned anything from this whole conversation? Algaliarept simply stepped back, smoothly shifted into the form he loved to torment Piscory with, and used Peter's momentum to throw him into the kitchen.
Calmly dusting his hands off, the demon turned his attention back to the Rachel. "If I take your soul, I'll be losing part of my fun," he explained, seemingly patiently. "If I leave you here, with your soul, you will continue to meet new people and lead me to them. And the thrill of the chase," the demon licked his lips, the sight not entirely pleasant on a giant jackal, "It's too delicious for me to quit right now."
Peter had apparently woken up in record time; Algaliarept simply sighed and threw him back into the kitchen when he tried to rush the demon again, smiling slightly at the resulting bang and crash.
"My apologies, Rachel Mariana Morgan," the demon continued. "Deal refused. Now unsummon me," he hissed.
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Furious, I stepped forward towards Al, baring my teeth. "Get out of my house, you son of a bitch."
Not waiting for his parting shot, I ran into the kitchen, quickly kneeling beside Peter. "God, are you all right?"
Relief washed over me in a wave so strong my hands actually started to shake. Pressing my forehead to my knee, I breathed out a tiny laugh. He'd refused the deal. Frustration came next, though, prickling at the back of my neck and making me ill. He refused the deal because I could lead him to people.
Bastard.
My head came up, my eyes red but dry. "I'll leave. I'm sorry. I'll leave." My hand half reached out to touch his shoulder, but I let it fall back, fingers curling back to my palm. "But promise me, Peter, please, that you won't make a deal with him. It's not worth it. Whatever he offers you, it is not worth it."
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It was weird, he was almost disappointed that he hadn't gotten a chance to talk further. The demon had promised something that Peter wanted, surely the price wouldn't be too high? It was just one little power.
"What? Wait, you don't have to leave," Peter said, completely baffled. "Why would I want you to leave?" Yes, he'd had a bit of a black-and-white moment where he'd been wary of Rachel and her dealing with a demon, but this meeting had sorted that thought straight pretty quickly. It wasn't her fault; everybody made mistakes that they regretted. The true measure of worth lay in what their motives had been, and Rachel's, obviously, had been to help people. (He hoped.)
"I don't want you to leave, so stop thinking about it," he continued stubbornly. Peter wasn't going to agree to that promise.
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The only people in my life who had ever said that to me were Ivy and Jenks. And of those two, only Jenks' motives weren't suspect. The fear, the relief, even the frustration at not being able to do something actually substantial to protect Peter, all of that faded under a warm sense of belonging. It was uncomfortable in its strangeness.
"You...don't?" I asked, verifying. Surely he was confused. "But Peter, you heard Al. He's... God, this is all my fault." That warmness faded as I realized what it really meant. If I was close to him, if I allowed myself any weakness, Al would use it. "You have no idea what that thing is capable of." My fingers crept, unconsciously, up to cover the scar on my neck.
My head was throbbing, and I sat back, leaning against the counter. "I lead it here. To you. I'm so sorry, Peter. I wasn't thinking. And now..." I didn't even want to think about what would happen if Peter met up with Al alone. "I should go."
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