A Trip to the Underworld (Thursday afternoon)
Veronica was pacing nervously in the east attic.
After everything that happened with Piper, she was starting to re-think the wisdom of going to the Underworld with Bel. But she wasn't about to admit that to anyone and besides, it would make for a great project for Journalism.
Now all she needed was Bel to arrive.
This wasn't a good idea.
Going into the Underworld while quite likely under a death sentence from the Source? Completely insane. Bringing an innocent with him? Even more so. But he was also feeling reckless, almost suicidally so. This trip would get that out of his system, and he could protect Veronica if need be.
He knocked on the east attic door.
"It's open," Veronica called.
Bel opened up the door and stepped inside, closing it behind him. "You ready for this?" he asked Veronica. "Still time to back out of it."
"Why would I back out?" Veronica asked. "I've got my digital recorder and my taser. I'm ready when you are."
Bel held out his hand. "All right, but keep quiet and don't go anywhere without me."
"Wouldn't dream of it," she said, reaching out and taking his hand. That was probably going to be the worst part of her day, touching Bel. "Let's go."
Closing his hand around hers, Bel shimmered them down to the Underworld. He choose an area that was usually empty and quiet so few demons would be about. "Here we are," he said, looking around at the reddish stone walls of the caverns he once called home.
Veronica pulled her hand away. She took her recorder out of her pocket and turned it on. "It's... cozy," she said, looking around.
"We're not much for comfort down here," Bel explained. "It's warm enough, but most demons have little more than straw for beds and a private chamber if they're lucky. Only the most powerful demons have anything as comfortable as you're used to. It's supposed to make us harder, I guess."
"Did you have anything like school growing up?" Veronica asked.
"Yeah, kinda," Bel said, nodding. "My mother...she didn't want me, so she gave me to Raynor. He's the leader of the Brotherhood of the Thorn, and he put me with the other initiates. We got trained on how to use our powers and the demonic hierarchy and what was going on in the mortal world, things like that. Plus the basics of what you learn in school -- reading and writing, Latin, math."
Veronica nodded. "Did you spend all your time here or did they take you up," she gestured vaguely, "there? And Latin?"
"A lot of the spells we learn are in Latin," Bel explained, starting to get lost in memory. "And most of the time I was down here. The first three years of my life I was in San Francisco. After that I didn't go up there until I was around 12 years old. We, um...we went on 'field trips' to track down witches...."
"Um, you can stop there," Veronica said awkwardly. She had a pretty good idea of what kind of field trips Bel meant and she really didn't want to hear details. Especially because twelve?
She shook her head. "I assume it was a lot different than school in Fandom then."
Bel nodded. "You don't really make friends down here. Allies, yeah, but you're always watching your back. You show any sign of weakness and someone will be there to take advantage of it. Actually being friends with someone was new to me in Fandom."
"The Underworld sounds like Neptune High," Veronica remarked sardonically.
Bel managed a half-smile. "Minus the fireballs?"
"Something like that," Veronica said with a small smile of her own.
"So, how did you end up at Fandom High, anyway?"
"You sure you want to hear this?" Bel said. He sighed a little and began to explain. "The Seer -- she can see the future -- got a vision of the rise of the Charmed Ones. The Source knew that they would be hard to kill, that it would take a demon with exceptional skill to destroy them, but only if he could get close enough. Raynor thought I would be the one who could succeed because of my skill and because my human blood would be a benefit rather than a curse in this case. So he sent me to Fandom High to learn to live with humans. That plan...backfired."
"Wow," Veronica said. "So you were sent there to kill Piper, Paige and..."
"Phoebe, yeah," Bel said. "I didn't know it was them at first, but I figured it out when I realized what their powers were. My duty was to kill them, or report who they were if I couldn't, but...."
"Is that why your mom..."
They were getting really good at this not finishing their thoughts thing.
"She was giving me one last chance to prove what I was," Bel said. "Make the choice to be demon or human."
Veronica nodded, not quite sure what to say to that.
"Obviously, you know the choice I made," Bel went on. He laughed weakly. "Turned my back on all this." He gestured around him.
Then his expression changed to one of alarm. "Someone's coming," he said. "We have to...."
Before he could finish the sentence, another demon stepped into the chamber in which he and Veronica stood. Bel quickly grabbed Veronica by the arm, holding her like she was a prisoner.
Veronica winced when Bel grabbed her arm, but forced herself to stay calm. Bel could easily shimmer them out. They weren't in any danger.
"Belthazor!" the demon said. "You're supposed to be dead."
"Dead?" Bel repeated, confused. "Who said I was dead?"
"You and your mother were vanquished by a witch," the demon said. "But apparently not." His eyes narrowed. "But you were also named as a traitor, working with witches and vampires. What's going on?"
Bel laughed. "You believe everything you hear, Grellic? I was doing as I was told -- getting close to the witches so I could destroy them. The vampire, too. And I even brought the Source a present." He twisted Veronica's arm.
Veronica groaned inwardly. She thought she was done playing the victim. But she figured she better put on a good show if they were going to get out of here.
The thought that Bel had double-crossed her never even occurred to her.
She managed to work up some tears. "Please," she begged. "Let me go." She struggled against Bel's grip on her arm.
"Who is she?" the demon asked, peering closely at Veronica. "Not a witch."
"But she's close to the witches and the vampire," Bel said. "She's one of their allies. Her loss will devastate them."
Grellic grabbed Veronica's other arm. "Then let's bring her in, brother," he said.
"Please let me go," Veronica begged, her fear a little more real when Grellic grabbed her arm. It wouldn't be quite so easy for her and Bel to escape with him having a hold on her.
Bel grinned, releasing his hold on Veronica. "She's a slippery one," he said. "Keep a good hold on her." The demon nodded and grabbed Veronica with both hands.
Grellic immediately shoved Veronica against a wall, one hand squeezing her throat.
"We should have a little fun with her before we take her the Source," he leered.
Pretending to be a victim was one thing, actually being a victim? Veronica was so done with that.
She summoned every bit of courage she possessed and brought her knee up to connect with his groin.
Grellic let go of Veronica, howling in pain. Veronica dropped low and scrambled out of the way as Bel summoned an athame to his hand. He stabbed the blade into Grellic's back. The demon screamed in pain again as he erupted into a gout of flame and vanished.
Bel held out his hand to Veronica to offer to help her to her feet. "You okay?" he said.
Veronica took his hand and stood up, brushing off the back of her pants.
"Yeah, I'm fine," she said with a wry smile. "But what do you say we finish this interview in my room?"
"Sorry about that," he said. "I couldn't just shimmer us away. If he'd thrown a fireball it could've knocked us out of the shimmer. But getting the hell out of here might be a good idea, especially if anyone heard Grellic."
"Let's blow this popsicle stand," Veronica said.
Bel blinked. "That means go, right?"
"Yes," Veronica said, stifling a giggle. "Before we have to kill anyone else. I'm trying to keep my body count low."
"Another demon to put under your belt," Bel said, grinning a little. He held out his hand to Veronica; when she took it, he shimmered them back to the east attic.
When they got back, Veronica let go of Bel's hand and flopped down in the chair. "Well, that was interesting," she said. "That guy said that he thought you were dead. Is that a good thing?"
Bel started to pace. "Someone must've seen the vanquish potion hit my mother, but not Angel knocking me out of the way," he said. "And they reported that back to Raynor and the Source. So if I'm dead, they won't come after me...."
"Well that's good, right?" Veronica asked. "That means no more attacks on you or Phoebe."
"On me, yes," Bel mused, "and hopefully on Phoebe. If they think that she and her sisters were strong enough to take out me and my mother, then they'll back off until they have a better plan of attack."
Veronica nodded.
"I guess you should probably tell her and Piper what happened today," she said.
"Yeah, they're going to need to know about this," Bel said. "It's kind of a relief, though. I'm safe for now, I guess, until someone realizes I'm still alive."
"At least you killed that guy. He can't tell anyone now," Veronica pointed out. "Just don't take any more field trips down there."
"I may need to to find out if there are any plans to take out Phoebe and her sisters," Bel said. "But I'll be careful."
"Good," Veronica said.
"Um, so, interview," she continued, taking her recorder out of her pocket. "Actually, I think I probably have enough to work with."
"Okay," he said. "If you have any other questions, you know where to find me."
"Yeah," Veronica said, offering a small smile. "Thanks again. For everything."
"You're welcome," he said. "Catch you later." Ignoring the door, he shimmered out of the attic.
[Preplayed with demonbelthazor, no IC interaction possible unless you're visiting Veronica afterwards. The trip itself is NFB because not even Barbossa is *that* good. ;) ]
After everything that happened with Piper, she was starting to re-think the wisdom of going to the Underworld with Bel. But she wasn't about to admit that to anyone and besides, it would make for a great project for Journalism.
Now all she needed was Bel to arrive.
This wasn't a good idea.
Going into the Underworld while quite likely under a death sentence from the Source? Completely insane. Bringing an innocent with him? Even more so. But he was also feeling reckless, almost suicidally so. This trip would get that out of his system, and he could protect Veronica if need be.
He knocked on the east attic door.
"It's open," Veronica called.
Bel opened up the door and stepped inside, closing it behind him. "You ready for this?" he asked Veronica. "Still time to back out of it."
"Why would I back out?" Veronica asked. "I've got my digital recorder and my taser. I'm ready when you are."
Bel held out his hand. "All right, but keep quiet and don't go anywhere without me."
"Wouldn't dream of it," she said, reaching out and taking his hand. That was probably going to be the worst part of her day, touching Bel. "Let's go."
Closing his hand around hers, Bel shimmered them down to the Underworld. He choose an area that was usually empty and quiet so few demons would be about. "Here we are," he said, looking around at the reddish stone walls of the caverns he once called home.
Veronica pulled her hand away. She took her recorder out of her pocket and turned it on. "It's... cozy," she said, looking around.
"We're not much for comfort down here," Bel explained. "It's warm enough, but most demons have little more than straw for beds and a private chamber if they're lucky. Only the most powerful demons have anything as comfortable as you're used to. It's supposed to make us harder, I guess."
"Did you have anything like school growing up?" Veronica asked.
"Yeah, kinda," Bel said, nodding. "My mother...she didn't want me, so she gave me to Raynor. He's the leader of the Brotherhood of the Thorn, and he put me with the other initiates. We got trained on how to use our powers and the demonic hierarchy and what was going on in the mortal world, things like that. Plus the basics of what you learn in school -- reading and writing, Latin, math."
Veronica nodded. "Did you spend all your time here or did they take you up," she gestured vaguely, "there? And Latin?"
"A lot of the spells we learn are in Latin," Bel explained, starting to get lost in memory. "And most of the time I was down here. The first three years of my life I was in San Francisco. After that I didn't go up there until I was around 12 years old. We, um...we went on 'field trips' to track down witches...."
"Um, you can stop there," Veronica said awkwardly. She had a pretty good idea of what kind of field trips Bel meant and she really didn't want to hear details. Especially because twelve?
She shook her head. "I assume it was a lot different than school in Fandom then."
Bel nodded. "You don't really make friends down here. Allies, yeah, but you're always watching your back. You show any sign of weakness and someone will be there to take advantage of it. Actually being friends with someone was new to me in Fandom."
"The Underworld sounds like Neptune High," Veronica remarked sardonically.
Bel managed a half-smile. "Minus the fireballs?"
"Something like that," Veronica said with a small smile of her own.
"So, how did you end up at Fandom High, anyway?"
"You sure you want to hear this?" Bel said. He sighed a little and began to explain. "The Seer -- she can see the future -- got a vision of the rise of the Charmed Ones. The Source knew that they would be hard to kill, that it would take a demon with exceptional skill to destroy them, but only if he could get close enough. Raynor thought I would be the one who could succeed because of my skill and because my human blood would be a benefit rather than a curse in this case. So he sent me to Fandom High to learn to live with humans. That plan...backfired."
"Wow," Veronica said. "So you were sent there to kill Piper, Paige and..."
"Phoebe, yeah," Bel said. "I didn't know it was them at first, but I figured it out when I realized what their powers were. My duty was to kill them, or report who they were if I couldn't, but...."
"Is that why your mom..."
They were getting really good at this not finishing their thoughts thing.
"She was giving me one last chance to prove what I was," Bel said. "Make the choice to be demon or human."
Veronica nodded, not quite sure what to say to that.
"Obviously, you know the choice I made," Bel went on. He laughed weakly. "Turned my back on all this." He gestured around him.
Then his expression changed to one of alarm. "Someone's coming," he said. "We have to...."
Before he could finish the sentence, another demon stepped into the chamber in which he and Veronica stood. Bel quickly grabbed Veronica by the arm, holding her like she was a prisoner.
Veronica winced when Bel grabbed her arm, but forced herself to stay calm. Bel could easily shimmer them out. They weren't in any danger.
"Belthazor!" the demon said. "You're supposed to be dead."
"Dead?" Bel repeated, confused. "Who said I was dead?"
"You and your mother were vanquished by a witch," the demon said. "But apparently not." His eyes narrowed. "But you were also named as a traitor, working with witches and vampires. What's going on?"
Bel laughed. "You believe everything you hear, Grellic? I was doing as I was told -- getting close to the witches so I could destroy them. The vampire, too. And I even brought the Source a present." He twisted Veronica's arm.
Veronica groaned inwardly. She thought she was done playing the victim. But she figured she better put on a good show if they were going to get out of here.
The thought that Bel had double-crossed her never even occurred to her.
She managed to work up some tears. "Please," she begged. "Let me go." She struggled against Bel's grip on her arm.
"Who is she?" the demon asked, peering closely at Veronica. "Not a witch."
"But she's close to the witches and the vampire," Bel said. "She's one of their allies. Her loss will devastate them."
Grellic grabbed Veronica's other arm. "Then let's bring her in, brother," he said.
"Please let me go," Veronica begged, her fear a little more real when Grellic grabbed her arm. It wouldn't be quite so easy for her and Bel to escape with him having a hold on her.
Bel grinned, releasing his hold on Veronica. "She's a slippery one," he said. "Keep a good hold on her." The demon nodded and grabbed Veronica with both hands.
Grellic immediately shoved Veronica against a wall, one hand squeezing her throat.
"We should have a little fun with her before we take her the Source," he leered.
Pretending to be a victim was one thing, actually being a victim? Veronica was so done with that.
She summoned every bit of courage she possessed and brought her knee up to connect with his groin.
Grellic let go of Veronica, howling in pain. Veronica dropped low and scrambled out of the way as Bel summoned an athame to his hand. He stabbed the blade into Grellic's back. The demon screamed in pain again as he erupted into a gout of flame and vanished.
Bel held out his hand to Veronica to offer to help her to her feet. "You okay?" he said.
Veronica took his hand and stood up, brushing off the back of her pants.
"Yeah, I'm fine," she said with a wry smile. "But what do you say we finish this interview in my room?"
"Sorry about that," he said. "I couldn't just shimmer us away. If he'd thrown a fireball it could've knocked us out of the shimmer. But getting the hell out of here might be a good idea, especially if anyone heard Grellic."
"Let's blow this popsicle stand," Veronica said.
Bel blinked. "That means go, right?"
"Yes," Veronica said, stifling a giggle. "Before we have to kill anyone else. I'm trying to keep my body count low."
"Another demon to put under your belt," Bel said, grinning a little. He held out his hand to Veronica; when she took it, he shimmered them back to the east attic.
When they got back, Veronica let go of Bel's hand and flopped down in the chair. "Well, that was interesting," she said. "That guy said that he thought you were dead. Is that a good thing?"
Bel started to pace. "Someone must've seen the vanquish potion hit my mother, but not Angel knocking me out of the way," he said. "And they reported that back to Raynor and the Source. So if I'm dead, they won't come after me...."
"Well that's good, right?" Veronica asked. "That means no more attacks on you or Phoebe."
"On me, yes," Bel mused, "and hopefully on Phoebe. If they think that she and her sisters were strong enough to take out me and my mother, then they'll back off until they have a better plan of attack."
Veronica nodded.
"I guess you should probably tell her and Piper what happened today," she said.
"Yeah, they're going to need to know about this," Bel said. "It's kind of a relief, though. I'm safe for now, I guess, until someone realizes I'm still alive."
"At least you killed that guy. He can't tell anyone now," Veronica pointed out. "Just don't take any more field trips down there."
"I may need to to find out if there are any plans to take out Phoebe and her sisters," Bel said. "But I'll be careful."
"Good," Veronica said.
"Um, so, interview," she continued, taking her recorder out of her pocket. "Actually, I think I probably have enough to work with."
"Okay," he said. "If you have any other questions, you know where to find me."
"Yeah," Veronica said, offering a small smile. "Thanks again. For everything."
"You're welcome," he said. "Catch you later." Ignoring the door, he shimmered out of the attic.
[Preplayed with demonbelthazor, no IC interaction possible unless you're visiting Veronica afterwards. The trip itself is NFB because not even Barbossa is *that* good. ;) ]