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(This is original creative material copyright Chris Kenworthy, based on characters that he has no right to owned by someone else blah blah biddy blah...) |
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"Very well," Wahrthier boomed back. "Ask, and it shall be considered."
"I beg of your wisdom on behalf of this one," (Vanessa turned and gestured impressively towards Angel,) "who has been touched by the mystic forces in a way we comprehend not. He seems to be, that is... well..."
"He is with child," Wahrthier observed, with an expression that could be considered a smirk, with a bit of imagination.
"Uh, yes," Vanessa confirmed, a hint of flush rising into her cheeks. "We are trying to figure out exactly how that could happen... and why."
"Of course," Wahrthier assured her. "I may be able to help with that. But first, I will need to hear more of the Angel's experiences in the Inferno."
Angel stepped up, his head shaking in confusion for a moment. "My trip to Hell, you mean?" The demon's face nodded slowly. Angel looked around, and one by one Vanessa, Willow, and Giles nodded at him. "Okay, well, let's see."
"The vortex came, and swirled around me, and suddenly I was somewhere else - a dark, featureless plain, like a desert that had never seen the light of day. I looked around in every direction, but they were all the same - rolling dunes and hills, black trees, and a featurelessly blacker sky. There didn't seem to be any advantage to staying where I was, though, so I picked a heading randomly and started moving.
"As I walked, the memories of Angelus' escapades began to return. How he had tormented Buffy, threatened her - and my - friends, killed Jenny Calendar... I, uh," Angel looked down towards his feet. "I broke down and cried right there where I stood...
"I also came to remember how Angelus had unearthed Acathla to suck the world to Hell. That's when I realized where I was... and because Buffy and the furniture of the mansion hadn't shown up, I surmised that Buffy had managed to close the vortex.
"I don't know how long I had been walking when the first one came. It had the body of a giant ant, the head of a wolf and the arms of a man. I tried to run away, but the thing could outdistance me without even trying. It grabbed me and held me in the air as it looked me over.
"'Well, well,' the beast somehow said through its lupine mouth. 'Passing strange - a vampire child with the spirit of a mortal. Are you mortal, little vampire?'
"'No... I'm a demon, like you,' I said challengingly. I mean, I am, in essence.
"'He is a demon,' another monster called out, 'but he has a human soul. And for the sake of humanity, he hunts and kills our brethren on the Earth.' The new demon walked up beside the ant-thing, and I could see it clearly - a giant ape with huge translucent fly-like wings, scales on its forearms and demonic claws instead of paws, and two extra heads - a dragon's and a man's. A snake coiled around the monster's thick legs - I couldn't be sure if it was a pet or somehow attached to him.
"'But he is on the Earth no longer,' the ant-thing called out. 'We must exact vengeance, for the sake of our brethren.' And suddenly, in an instant, the hill was filled with hundreds of strange creatures, whose mutations I couldn't even begin to describe. I was tied to one of the black, spiny trees, and tortured many different ways for a period of short interminability.
"And then a new voice called out over the plain. 'Stop! Release that vamp at once, for his time to face eternal torment is not yet! This Angel has a long road to walk before the likes of you may have him.' And the demons obeyed! They untied me from the tree and left me alone.
"From then on I didn't see such creatures again. Occasionally some manner of demon spirit would come to torment me, minor devils such as the Horrors, but mostly I simply wandered on in isolation, never seeing an end to that horribly lonely desert.
"But the voice from the sky spoke with me several more times. About good and evil, demons and mortals. Some times it seemed to be trying to persuade me of something, or convert me to something, but I could never be sure. It talked much of there being no such things as good and evil, only loyalties to one's own kind. It argued that even though I had human sensibilities, I wasn't a human anymore, but a vampire, and that the only 'good' for me was to work with my own kind. I didn't believe the voice for a long time, but as time passed, I lost my ability to argue with it.
"I'm not sure how long I was in Hell. There was never any change in the sky, and the hunger never came upon me, though I drank no blood. Then, all of a sudden, I beheld a wall of rippling light beyond the next hill, and ran to see what it was. Through the wall, I saw Buffy and her friends fighting Queen Kaliya and her vampires. Willow saw me and called out, and I rushed over to the aperture. Buffy touched the wall at the same time I did, and... well, do I need to go on from there?"
"No," Wahrthier said. "Many of your conclusions are true, Vanessa of the Children of Avalon. However, Angel's condition is not an idle mischance. It was carefully arranged by that power that spared him from the demon hordes of the Black Desert. Queen Kaliya's spell was caused to be started, establishing the Hellmouth connection from the Master's lair to Angel, and it was intended to be interrupted in exactly such a way as it was. Careful manipulation of the quantum threads and the dimensional possibilities created this child within him - a mix of Slayer, vampire, and something beyond."
"Which power was this?" Vanessa called out, and winds began to blow around the basement once again. "Tell me his name!!"
"Samael." With that, Wahrthier's face winked out and the room returned to normal.
* * * *
"Aaah!" Xander exclaimed. "What's that... behind me!?" He spun about and executed a crescent kick with a gutteral 'hai!'
"Take... that," he continued, turning partway to the right and striking out with a karate chop. "And that, vampire scum!" He jerked his elbow violently back behind him.
"Mm-hmm!" Xander turned around at the sound of a throat clearing, to see Buffy and Jim staring at him. Jim was smiling, or perhaps smirking, but the look on Buffy's face was annoyed.
"Look - I think it's great that you're enjoying this stuff, Xander," Buffy began slowly, "but I'm gonna have to ask you to not do that." She smiled at Xander for a moment, then resumed a serious face. "While we're out on patrol, at least. We're not the power rangers here!"
"Oh, okay," Xander said, purposely letting his face fall with disappointment. Buffy frowned, then caught the twinkle in Xander's eye and grinned, slapping him playfully.
"Say," Jim broke in as they turned a corner, "how many times have you patrolled Limbo, Buffy?"
"Um, I dunno - maybe twenty-five," she guessed.
"And how many times have you actually found anything?"
"Well, counting our initial survey... one."
Jim gave her an annoyed, 'then what are we doing out here?' look.
"Make that two!" a deep voice called from behind them. Buffy spun about, and the others followed. Buffy's mouth dropped open in shock.
Five vampires, all of which she recognized, and four of which she had killed, stood before her in a tight pack. Luke, the Vessel of the Harvest. Darla, Angel's unholy sire. Jasper, the rogue mercenary who had almost killed her with a magic sword and ring. A dark-skinned vampire who had been at the Master's interrupted restoration and a bald one she had seen with Spike rounded out the party.
"Jeez, you guys really never do give up, do you?" she asked sarcastically.
"Now, what would be the fun in that?" Jasper replied, pulling out a short knife.
Buffy knew that bravado wasn't going to intimidate these vamps... well, maybe she could scare the two in back, but they weren't the big problem. She grabbed the stake from inside her sleeve and waited for what was coming next.
They charged as one, or did their best to, and Buffy was knocked to the ground by Luke as she tried to block Jasper. Someone else gave Luke a flying tackle, occupying him for a second, but Darla kicked her in the ribs and dropped down onto her torso, weighing Buffy's midsection down through her knees and grabbing her shoulders to keep her still for the bite.
But Buffy knew how to deal with that. Her legs were now free, and she put them into play. First one knee shot forcefully up to hit Darla on her tight butt just as the vamp was about to bite. Then the slayer wrenched both her knees up to close like clamps about Darla's hips and throw her partway off of Buffy. A blow from Buffy's open palm to Darla's forehead finished the job, and the Slayer sprang to her feet and surveyed the situation.
Luke and Absalom were menacing Xander and Jim, both of whom were pinned up with their backs to a wall fifteen feet away, and Jasper was standing right between her and them, his blade at the ready. Behind him, Dalton skulked nervously, but there was a cold gleam in his eye. "En guarde, Slayer!" Jasper called out.
"Oh, great," Buffy muttered to herself.
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