I'll Wait For You

Chapter 2 - Aurelius

Part 1

When Angelus came to, he found himself lying on a lounge in a lavishly furnished room. He sat up to face his captor only to realize that the vampire in front of him felt familiar, that is, he felt like an Aurelian, a member of Clan Aurelius. He also felt old, ancient in fact. The first thing Angelus thought was that this couldn't be the one he suspected, after all, Aurelius had been dead for more than a thousand years.

As if hearing his thoughts, the demon standing in front of him informed him that he had in fact been dead for more than three thousand years. That being the case then, Angelus knew that he must be in some kind of alternate reality.

Angelus was stunned and he spoke with uncertainty. "A-Are you truly Aurelius?"

The demon smiled. "Truly. I am. And I have a request to make of you."

Still shaken, but awed by the presence of what was obviously the spirit of The Ancient of his clan, and temporarily forgetting about his original destination, Angelus could only reply, "Anything, master. I will do anything you ask of me."

"Good. It is a task that I cannot perform myself. It must be performed by a master in my own clan that is far enough removed from me that he does not know of any of my surviving childer. That is why I chose you."

The spirit of Aurelius described in detail what he needed. It was a quest that he could trust only to Angelus. He had childer, still alive, undead, surviving around the world, but they and their childer have been at odds with each other since his death and only a master in his own line could accomplish the task of bringing unity to Clan Aurelius and thus paving the way for his return.

It was a well known fact among vampire clans that the founder of a clan could be restored to unlife by his remaining childer after being dust for three thousand years. Angelus had never heard of such a restoration; besides that, he was certain that Aurelius had been dead for little more than one thousand years. He did not understand any of this.

"Then I will explain everything to you." Again spirit Aurelius responded to Angelus' thoughts before he spoke them.

"It is annoying that you can read my thoughts," Angelus told the spirit, forgetting that he was speaking to his clan's Ancient.

Aurelius smiled briefly. "Then I shall not, but you must listen carefully; I do not have much time. I must return to retrieve the soul of my mate before it is too late. My father's remaining followers may find her soul and destroy it if I do not hurry back."

At the mention of the word 'mate', Angelus remembered his own mate and the fact that she might be in trouble. He was assured by Aurelius that Buffy was safe and would remain so until Angelus' tasks were completed. When he learned that there was information that she needed and would not otherwise get in time to save her life, Angelus was desperate. "I must go to her."

"No. You must complete your quest. I will go to her. I will present the information to her while she sleeps."

Angelus had to accept that.

Part 2

Aurelius continued to detail the assignments which, if completed as he requested, would open the door for his return to earth. He had seven surviving childer in various parts of the earth and he had affection for each of them, but Kotaro, the eldest, was his favorite and he was loved above all of the others. Aurelius felt that his affection for Kotaro was quite likely the source of the hostility among his childer. He would have to correct that.

He provided for Angelus details regarding each childe that only the childe and Aurelius would know. This information would be needed to convince each of the childer that Angelus had indeed spoken with their sire. Some of the details included information regarding their first meeting with Aurelius or possibly the conditions surrounding their turning. For those very stubborn childer Aurelius also detailed personal information, some of which would be most disturbing and should be used only if absolutely necessary.

Some of the childer, like Kotaro and his twin sister, Kaiya, could read minds, even vampire minds, so Angelus would have to be very careful to keep his mind closed off from them. It was important that they not learn secrets that belonged to the other childer. Aurelius taught him how to do that. He also taught Angelus teleportation and certain spells that he thought would be helpful.

Part 3

When he was certain that Angelus was ready, Aurelius opened a part of his mind to him. Angelus was allowed to see the Ancient as a young man, his determination to become a healer as his mother, Audean, was and the resentment that his father, Ucton, felt for him. This resentment stemmed from his decision to follow a path of good like his mother instead of joining his father in evil, evil that Ucton forced upon his family and everyone that crossed his path. Ucton was from a realm where human souls were very valuable and he had not revealed his true nature to Aurelius' mother until long after they were married.

Because Aurelius refused to marry the witch that his father chose for him, Ucton swore forever vengeance on his son. He captured his wife and Aurelius' fiancée, Princess Arianna, and tied them to chairs and, under threat of a horrible death for his family, he forced a vampire to turn his son while the three of them watched. Ucton then left his wife, his son and his son's fiancée trapped together, fully expecting that Aurelius would then kill his own mother and fiancée when he awoke from the turning. He did not. Instead, Aurelius took Audean and Arianna and went into hiding where they managed to elude his father for nearly three years.

When Ucton found them, he immediately magically froze Aurelius, slashed Audean with his sword, removed Arianna's soul, magically trapping it, and left with her body and soul with a threat that if he ever saw his son again, he would destroy Arianna's soul and keep her soulless body alive as his slave. Returning to his realm with a human soul (and the body to house it) of such an important person would bring him prominence and prosperity for centuries.

Aurelius' sire found him and released him from his father's magic. He healed Audean who was near death and gave her a blessing of health and a long and happy life. He then took Aurelius under his wing and taught him the white magic that he knew. After that he took Aurelius to DeJus, the person who had taught him; DeJus agreed to take Aurelius as his apprentice. Aurelius studied and trained and practiced for nearly a century perfecting his craft, until he was sure he was ready to face his father. In the meantime he also built a clan of faithful followers, some of whom he came to love so much that he made them childer at their request. Over the centuries Clan Aurelius became the strongest and most feared vampire clan on the planet.

Fifteen hundred years ago Aurelius met with his ten favorite and oldest childer; he told them that he was ready to move ahead with his plans for revenge against his father and to possibly restore Arianna. In order to do that he had to die and he chose his first and favorite child, Kotaro, to kill him with the understanding that he would return to his clan three thousand years after he was dusted.

This meant that at least one of his ten childer that witnessed his death had to survive for those three thousand years and he urged them to stay together and protect each other. Of course that didn't happen. By now three of his childer were dust and the other seven were spread around the world and not speaking to each other.

Part 4

It took Aurelius seventeen hundred years to find his father and to figure out a way to destroy him. He had to be careful; because of his paranoia, Ucton had spies everywhere. He knew that sooner or later his son would come looking for him, seeking revenge. He had to give his son credit - causing himself to be dusted and seeking his ultimate revenge as an untouchable spirit had been a stroke of genius and by the time he figured out what was going on, Ucton knew that it was too late for him to escape. He installed guards around himself and his current family; he paid handsomely for mercenaries of all sorts to make up what he assumed was a loyal army of defenders; and he made sure that the word was spread concerning the status of Arianna's soul. All of his efforts were for naught. He knew his son well enough to know that nothing would stop Aurelius when he was hell bent on revenge.

While his mind was still opened to Angelus, Aurelius recalled his confrontation with his father:

Begin Flashback

Aurelius planned his revenge carefully as he perfected his craft and built his clan. He searched for many years for his greatest enemy, his father, who held the soul of his mate captive, only to find them at the outer edges of the underworld, a place that Aurelius feared most. He would not let his fear hinder him, vengeance was his and he would exact it upon his father in the most painful way possible.

He teleported into Ucton's inner chamber while he slept and immediately stripped him of his power and his voice. Ucton realized that something was wrong as soon as he awoke and did not see his guards; he tried calling them and couldn't. For the first time that he could recall, Aurelius saw real fear in his father's eyes. 'Good', he thought, 'this is only the beginning of what I have planned for you.' Using Ucton's voice Aurelius assembled his father's army, the majority of which were loyal only out of fear. After dividing the army into two groups based on their intent, Aurelius declared war on his father's kingdom and proceeded to completely destroy Ucton's army, his personal guards and all of those who openly followed him. Those that had been held against their will were then set free and Aurelius helped them to return to their homes.

Ucton's concubines and their offspring, who were either half-demon like their father or three quarters-demon depending upon their mother, were all paraded before Ucton and beheaded in front of him. Aurelius planted a spell in Ucton's mind, that he had prepared specifically for him, that caused Ucton to live out his life trapped in a reality of tremendous pain and his greatest fears. Over and over he saw his home, his family and all that he owned destroyed by his son; he saw a healthy and happy Audean with her new husband and children; and he saw Arianna completely restored to life and reunited with Aurelius. Ucton was destined to walk the underworld for ten thousand years, shunned by all as his body slowly decayed and his mind stayed trapped in its prison for eternity.

Aurelius then went looking for Arianna and found her soul still trapped in the container it was originally stored in. Knowing how much time it would take to find a member of his own clan that he could trust, he had the soul magically hidden so that it would not be disturbed. Knowing how much members of any given branch of his lineage (originating from one of his seven childer that were still alive) hated the members of the other branches, he knew that he had to use someone that was far enough removed from his seven remaining childer that they were not aware of the childer at all. A process of elimination led him to Angelus whom he studied carefully before making his decision.

End Flashback

Part 5

After spending time in Aurelius' mind, Angelus felt a new respect for the spirit before him and he swore to himself that he'd do all that he could to support his Ancient's restoration to unlife. He had no idea how long his efforts would take and he was concerned about the status of any possible relationship with Buffy after being gone so long.

Aurelius could see the conflicting emotions playing across his face so he asked of his concerns. Angelus explained to him the situation with Buffy, Angel and himself, that he believed his mate loved the soul and the demon equally, but that she would never accept him unless she knew for certain that Angel was at peace in heaven. Aurelius told him that Angel's soul was trapped in the ether and there it would remain unless it was released.

"After I have returned to earth I will create two spells for you, one that will release Angel's soul so that it can continue on its journey to its final reward and a second that only Buffy will be able to perform (and only once) so that she can speak with Angel."

Angelus was pleased with that.

After reviewing in his mind everything he had learned from his Ancient, Angelus was ready to start on his quest; he really had his work cut out for him.

At the same time Aurelius was ready to return to his father's realm to retrieve his mate's soul. He had to prepare himself, in case he had to fight the denizens there who wanted to lay claim to the soul now that Ucton was no longer around.

End of Chapter 2