Exile

[maggieremington]

                 It is said that the Halliwell family fell like a stack of dominos.   One by one until it was brother against brother.   The last two to survive were supposedly Wyatt and Chris Halliwell but that wasn’t true.    When Chris left to try and change the future, there was still one left.   There was still one Halliwell left alive who hadn't surrendered to Wyatt's machinations

                Nicole had turned to squatting out in P3.   No one came here anymore and her kind was a dying breed.   Anyone who hadn’t surrendered to Wyatt was left on the run or killed.   She had since learned all the old ways that she could from a woman she called her guide.  Katarina Crane was the only one that was keeping Nicole Turner from giving up.   In the beginning, she had only thought the red haired woman to be a dream, but then, things started happening, her world fell apart.    There were too many things that didn’t add up, the things Katarina taught her were so real and she had for a brief time thought she was a Dream Sorceress.   At least until her father, the only one she had left beyond Katarina told her that the red haired witch was a prisoner of something far more powerful than the Source had ever been.

                So Nicole took the help, she welcomed it even.

                Nicole stretched from her place on the couch.   It was better than sleeping on the floor, even had managed to get the springs back into place so they didn’t stab her in the back.   She rolled over on to the floor landing on a one foot kneel.  She dusted herself off and made the couch.    The basement had become her bedroom and she had to literally scavenge for everything she had.    She had slipped on a pair of jeans, boots, a sweater, and a worn leather jacket.    Her clothes were far from new and had a definite worn feel to them and their neutral colors.

                Nicole went upstairs to find her father sitting at a table reading a newspaper.   “Morning Daddy,” she said with a smile.

                Cole Turner, former Source of all Evil, amongst other titles smiled at his daughter.   “Good morning sweetheart,” he said smiling, wishing he could hug her but due to the fact he was just a spirit trapped between worlds meant he couldn’t do a damn thing.   “So what’s on the agenda today?”

                “Surviving,” she said with a snort.   “But need to find food to last for a few days and try to stay off radar,” she elaborated.

                “Hmm,” he said.

                Nicole looked up and asked, “What is it?”

                “Have you considered leaving San Francisco all together?” Cole asked.

                “And go where?” She asked searching threw a brown bag that lay on the bar.

                “Well there are a few places you could go and live safely; either in England or Massachusetts.” Cole suggested.

                “Why those places?” She had to ask, there had to be a reason.

                “Because the magic in those locations can’t be touched by Wyatt and his demons else a whole new war would start out, one he couldn’t hope to win.    In Massachusetts there are two places you could start over.   The first is a place called Storybrook and the other, Sleepy Hollow.”

                Nicole just stopped and stared at her father.   “Why those two places?”   She knew of Sleepy Hollow, Katarina had mentioned it.

                “Storybook is a cursed place; every fairytale story happened and was cursed there.   There is literally no magic there.  No one could ever find you there because demons can’t cross the threshold but you could.  Two months ago the little town appeared out of nowhere.” He elaborated on the sleepy little town.

                “While Sleepy Hollow is ground zero for battle of good vs evil, only thing stopping it is the Witnesses.   If Wyatt attempted to go there, he would end up in a war that he could very well lose.   It’s right out of Revelations.”

                Nicole groaned, “Just out of curiosity, if it’s the Apocalypse there. WHY would I go there?” She asked.

                “Because your cousin couldn’t go there or send anyone in his stead unless he wanted to piss off quite a few powerful beings.”

                “Now England, that’s where it’s tricky, it’s another society altogether of wizards and witches.”

                “Wait.   I thought the Wizard race was extinct.” Nicole quipped.

                “These Wizards and Witches are governed by a different set of rules and use wands rather than staffs.   They might even be willing to leave you alone but if you did fall in with them, you wouldn’t be able to be touched.”

                Nicole groaned as she pulled out a banana that was rather beaten.   “Great,” she said sarcastically.  “So basically it’s… Cursed fairytales, the end of the world, or wizards?”   Nicole wondered not for the first time of what they they would have chosen.  Abandon San Francisco and go somewhere safe or go out swinging.   She rubbed her forehead.   She had been taken away at birth by the Cleaners and had been lucky to be rescued by her father and he had raised her as best he could admist the hell that the world had become.   Nicole didn’t know what her mother and her mother’s family had been like, not really.

                “If I chose one of those places, what would happen?”

                “I would take you there and then up to you what would happen next.” Cole told her standing.

                Nicole had to consider what she wanted to do now, whether or not she wanted to do any of this at all; but staying in the shadows running from demons?    No she couldn’t keep doing this.   Nicole had inherited the need to protect the innocent from her mother and it was eating her alive to be doing nothing, Nicole didn’t even use her powers any longer.

                It was obvious now what her answer already was, she would go to one of those places would be.   For good or bad, it was time to go.