The Mighty Belthazor

When the Source of All Evil woke Monday morning, he was very disoriented for a moment. Where had the weekend gone? One minute he was killing the Slayer, then the next....

( And then it all came rushing back. (Cut for linkdrop) )

The Source stood in the doorway to the bedroom, watching Phoebe sleep. He idly bounced a ball of fire in his hand. He should kill her and be done with it. The Charmed Ones were his greatest enemy. They could possess the power to vanquish him. But he couldn't bring himself to do it.

It was Belthazor's fault. He knew it would be a risk, dealing with a human soul. But the opportunity had been there, and at the Seer's urging he had taken it. There were rituals in the Grimoire that would help him, fully subjugate the soul and secure his power, but they needed time to prepare for.

In the meantime, the witch would live. But there were ways to bring even such a force of good under his sway.

He moved to the kitchen, waving his hand to conjure up several vials of liquid and herbs, along with a small cauldron. Holding out his arm, he used the athame to cut into his own flesh and let the blood drip into the cauldron. He poured a few more ingredients into the cauldron and mixed it with the tip of the dagger. Smoke rose, and he eyed the smoke detector in the room warily. But it didn't go off.

He poured the mixture into a glass. It would taste awful, but he could convince Phoebe to drink it. Cold medicine tasted just as bad, after all, and she was still recovering from her illness. He could sense the pull of evil on her, and the tonic would increase that until she was firmly in his power.

The doctor had been dealt with, and the angel would be too distracted by grief to sense his presence. The Source had plans to deal with Angel eventually. Anders was an obedient pet and a pleasing diversion. Things were going well.

He could feel Belthazor struggling within him, finally realizing what had been happening. He was horrified by what had been done to Dr. Wilson and by his betrayals of Phoebe and treatment of Anders. But he wasn't strong enough to stop him. The Source would keep him under control and play his role here at the school until he was ready to reclaim the Underworld and reestablish his rule there. Then nothing could stop him.

He returned to the bedroom, settling on the bed next to Phoebe. She stirred and sleepily looked up at him. "Drink this, sweetheart," he said softly, handing her the glass. "It will make you feel better, I promise."

Bel blinked in confusion as he looked down at the suitcase on his bed. He didn't remember packing it. He'd visited the fourth floor common room that morning, and talked to Dean, Dawn, Cally, and Alanna, then headed into town to talk to Dr. Wilson about his headaches. Then he'd gone to see Anders to set things straight between them. That memory was kind of fuzzy, though -- did they have a few drinks or something? He had a feeling it had gone well, though; he felt very satisfied with the outcome.

But between the constant headache and the strange little gaps in his memory, he was starting to get really worried. He'd talk to Phoebe about it tomorrow. Or maybe Angel would have an idea about what could be causing it. But for now he had a bed waiting for him and a portal to catch in the morning. His main concern should've been surviving meeting Penny Halliwell, after all.

Bel felt like he had jetlag. He'd left earlier that afternoon for Tortall, and three days had passed while he was there. When he returned to Fandom, however, it was only late Friday afternoon.

It had been good to see Angel, though not so good telling him about what had happened. He'd talked to Isabel, too, and met some of Alanna's friends. Running into Marty and Angela, and later Logan, however, had been less than pleasant.

His body still ached and his head was still pounding from the fight with Logan, and he wondered how far it might have gone if Dawn and Gary hadn't broken it up. The headache was making it hard to concentrate on formulating a plan to rescue his father's soul from Raynor. Phale had said he would help -- he could get him to the Underworld. Cameron and Isabel and Parker had all offered their help, and Phoebe wouldn't let him go without her, he was sure. He could bluff at being a demon and probably get around all right; it was just the getting out that would be the problem. A pretty big problem.

[Door is closed, post is open.]

Bel was glad the weekend was over.

Friday night, Phoebe had gone out to spend some time with Lana. But she didn't come home. After checking with Jim and finding that Lana hadn't come home that night, either, he'd gone looking for them. He didn't find them, but he did run into a group of trolls in town. When his fireballs had proven ineffective, and as he quickly realized they were as strong or stronger than he, he'd made a tactical retreat back to the school, joining the fighting there. Unfortunately, he was knocked out, but Anders had dragged him to safety.

The next morning, after the Doctor had announced they'd found the location of the trolls' captives, he'd immediately shimmered there to rescue Phoebe. Unfortunately, the females trolls looked deceptively innocent, and they'd knocked him out and tucked him away. When he'd finally awaken, he'd staggered out and found Phoebe, shimmering her and Blair to safety. Then he'd gone back to work out a little aggression on the trolls, before heading back to the dorms. Phoebe reassured him she was fine, but he still was upset he hadn't been able to better protect her or find her sooner.

He was pacing his room, still agitated, when flames surrounded him, and he felt the irresistible pull of a summons to the Underworld. He let the flames take him, unsurprised when he found himself before Raynor.

( In the Underworld.... )

Bel was practicing shimmering across the room, testing out his power. Since the detoured shimmer to hell with Nadia -- literally -- he was worried about his powers acting up for some reason. But everything seemed fine. Well, except for his emotions, which were still rattled from seeing his father and himself as a child in the Underworld.

After ensuring himself everything was in working order, he settled down on the couch to wait for Phoebe. He wondered if she knew about the sprinkler incident and resulting detention, which was becoming a Saturday tradition for him these days. Hopefully she'd be distracted enough by the surprise birthday party he was supposed to take her to.

[ooc: for the girlfriend, but open to knocks while he waits.]

Bel lay on his bed, his hands clasped behind his head as he stared up at the ceiling, his thoughts troubled. The desire for blood and violence was strong and hard to resist. He'd already lost that fight twice in the past week -- first the mugger, then the fight with the demons that attacked Wilson and Blair. Neither of them seemed upset about how he'd acted, but that didn't change what he'd done. And he wanted more. After the phone call with Veronica he was already plotting further violence.

And then there was the tarot reading.

If they were evil, it was okay, wasn't it? He was justified in his punishment.

But feeding the demon was still dangerous.

Maybe just a little bite.

Since Phoebe had gone to bed early, Bel hung out in the living room of their suite, idly flipping through the channels on the TV and contemplating his courses from that week. Pop Culture would be useful for understanding some of the phrases and references his classmates made that went over his head. Criminal Justice was interesting so far. It kinda went with the hero thing. He'd survived Hunting 101 and Ethics unscathed, and was now considering adding a fifth class; he'd talk to Phale on Monday about adding Prophecy. Never knew when that kind of knowledge might come in handy, particularly with a prophetic girlfriend.

He was feeling an almost distressing need to impress his teachers, two in particular. He idly contemplated ways to do this as he continued to flip though the channels.

He should probably tell Phoebe his plans for Saturday night at some point, too.

[open if you have need to distract the demon.]

Okay, so his girlfriend was a mermaid. And it was all his fault because he was keeping things from her.

He'd done some research and found a demon who could transform Phoebe back. But the price she wanted was his soul, and after the "useless" human Lana freed Piper from the Sea Hag's trap, Piper blew up the demon.

He'd talked to Blair in Sex Ed the previous day. Blair had suggested talking to Phoebe and "opening his mind" to her, fulfilling the spell she intended to cast. Maybe that would fix the backfire. Seemed like now that was his only choice. But would she hate him for it? He'd gone to see her the previous night and couldn't bring himself to do it. Now he was running out of time. She'd already swum out to sea to escape him once. She might not come back next time.

He shimmered to Selkie Cove, closed his eyes, and used their soulbond to summon Phoebe to him.

[Locked to future_visions. Specific details of the conversation are NFB. That Phoebe and Bel were at Selkie Cove and something may or may not have happened is fine.]

Bel limped into the South Attic and quickly headed for the shower to wash away the evidence of fighting. He wasn't in too bad of shape, but he'd have a bruise on his jaw for a few days. He debated how he was going to explain that to Phoebe. "Sweetheart, I had to fight him because he freaked out Willow"? "I've been feeling aggressive and needed to fight to get it out"? He hated not confiding in her, but he hated disappointing her even more.

Then there was the weirdness with Callisto earlier in the library. He'd asked her if she wanted him to call Angel; she had indicated yes. Problem was he didn't want to talk to Angel. He stared at his phone for several long moments, then sighed and crawled into bed with Phoebe. He'd think about it tomorrow.