Ch.4 Thy kingdom come
Illyria stepped over the lifeless body without looking at its limp form.
"Your breed is fragile," he addressed the two trailing behind him.
"How is it that they came to control this world?"
"We have tacos," Fred muttered between batted breaths.
"Ignore her, my liege," begged Knox. "What humans lack in strength they make it up with much sneakiness."
"You are deceivers." sneered the demon disgustingly.
"Yes - all of them. They deserve to be punished."
"They? You don't consider yourself a part of your race?"
"Not anymore. I'm with the king."
Illyria smiled, pleased with his answer while Fred tried to hide her feelings of disgust. She studied Illyria when he placed himself in the middle of the oval room they were in.
"Open the gateway," Knox said eagerly. "Raise your army. Wash humanity from the face of the earth and claim that was lost to you so many millennia ago, when the world was ruled by-"
"Be silent!" Illyria's voice rang out, stopping his tirade.
Knox begged for his forgiveness and bowed in worship.
Illyria ignored the man, and Fred, and raised his hand to open the portal. But nothing happened and he let out a small sigh.
"The gateway is blocked." He almost sounded disappointed.
"I was afraid of that," Knox took a step forward. "Wolfram and Hart probably threw a lock on it. They're big on things happening on their timetable."
"The Wolfram and Hart?" Illyria looked at him, clearly annoyed. "In my time they were weak; barley above the vampire."
"Huh. I guess they beefed up." Knox gave out a small laughter. "But don't worry - I brought my skeleton-key. Just in case."
Illyria watched as he placed the bones on the marble floor.
"Showtime!"
"Any seats left?" Gunn's voice startled Knox so that he swung around to the intruders.
"If not we can just stand in the back," said Angel, walking down the steps.
"Angel!" Fred took a step towards the vampire but was stopped by Illyria's arm.
"You can't win this, guys," declared Knox, smiling.
"Then we all die trying," stated Wes with a concerned look towards Fred.
That seemed to confuse the otherwise stone cold demon.
"Why?"
"You want the short version?" barked Angel. "You walking around looking like the man you murdered." He noticed the pained expression on Fred's face.
"You think your actions will restore him?" asked Illyria and turned his gaze to Fred.
"No."
"Yet you seek a confrontation you cannot win."
Angel walked towards him with a sword in his hand, soon followed by Gunn and Wes.
"What you're trying to do - raising your army, reclaim your world - innocent people will die. Like Spike. I can't let that happen."
"You are the protector of these creatures? You'll fight for their lives?"
"Yes."
Illyria turned his head to Knox that had been standing by his side with a sly grin.
"Even this one?"
Knox's smile slowly faded away as he turned his head towards the god king.
"Is that an issue..? Is my life in barrel, boss? King?"
"You're about as low as it gets, Knox," said Angel merciless. "But you are a part of the humanity. That isn't always pretty but that is a hell of a lot better than what came before. And if it came down to a choice between you"- he nodded at Illyria-"or him, then yes; I would fight for his life. Just like any other humans. Cause that's what people do. That's what makes us…" Angel's glorified speech came to a halt when a shot echoed through the room and a red circular splash appeared on Knox's chest.
The man looked down on the wound before falling to the floor, obviously quite dead. And ruining Angel's statement.
Angel frowned in disappointment and looked at the shooter.
Fred's hand trembled as she held the gun in a tight grip. Her eyes were glistening with tears and hatred for the man that had been apart of her lovers death. A death that had been meant for her.
Illyria gazed down at the fallen man and then eyed Fred with displease.
"You've destroyed my Qwa'ha Xahn."
"Yeah… But you gotta admit that he had it coming," said Gunn.
"It offends me," Illyria spat out. "That you think he matters."
"You're right." Angel meets the demons gaze. "He's not the problem. You are." And with that he charged at him with his sword, quickly followed by Gunn that had a sword of his own.
Illyria easily avoided their advancement and no matter how they came at him they couldn't get in even the smallest blow. It was almost as if the demon played with them, dancing around and using every trick to avoid getting sliced by the mighty swords. As one the two men charged at him, but Illyria simply took both edges in his hands and then effortlessly flung the two of them away.
Wes, who had been standing in the shadows as a spectator 'til this moment fired his gun at the demon but it used its ability to slow the time. Pleased with himself, the god king watched the humans and the half-breed in their incapacitated states, before turning around - only to be facing the half-breed.
"What's the rush?" The vampire smacked the demon hard in the face making him fly across the room. He walked over to the creature that looked up at him in bewilderment.
"How?"
Angel held up the piece from Illyria's sarcophagus.
"From your sarcophagus. It's connected to you." He flipped it in his hand. "I'm connected to it."
The god king seemed strangely to enjoy this move from the vampire.
"Sneaky." He swung out a leg and sent Angel to the floor, quickly got up on his feet and avoiding the bullets from Wes's gun he made his way over the floor, opening the portal.
Before the portal could close, Fred jumped in after Illyria. She heard the protesting screams from her friends before hitting the floor on the other side pretty hard.
"You're too late," informed Illyria as he progressed up the stairs. "My army will rise. This world will be mine once again."
Illyria had no idea tough, how empty those words were. Not until he reached the nave of his temple and found… nothing. Illyria's army was dead, his statue destroyed. Vahla ha'nesh was in ruins. Nothing remained. Nothing at all. Pain coursed through the demons body. So much pain! It was uncontrollable, consuming. There was nothing left.
"It cannot be," Illyria gasped. "It's gone." No longer caring about the female's presence, Illyria collapsed on the ground and ran the dust through his hands. "My world is gone."
Fred appeared at his side and pointed her gun at his bowing head.
"Now you know how I feel."
And strangely, Illyria understood. Understood true suffering. The grief between Illyria and the female was the same. They were linked.
Illyria could not continue to remain in his vanished temple. He needed to get out, needed to think. Quicker than what Fred could process thought, Illyria reopened the portal that would take him back to the place the Qwa'ha Xahn had called a museum. Illyria disappeared through the hole, and left it open for the woman that somehow was bound to him.
Fred was in Spike's apartment. She had only been there a few times, since he had seemed to prefer spending their time together at her place.
The apartment smelled like cigarettes and leather. It smelled like Spike. There was no trace of him in Illyria, but here he was everywhere. There were his clothes in the drawers, his blood in the fridge, his sheets that she curled up under. She didn't know why she was here. There was nothing left. Just an echo and a fading scent of her lover. It just hurt too much. There was no screaming. There wasn't anything but the emptiness. Nothing but Illyria. She wanted to kill the god. Wipe Illyria from the face of the earth; to stop seeing Spike in that thing's face. She hated looking into Illyria's icy eyes and wondering why they didn't sparkle. Spike was gone. There was nothing left but a body and a god that manipulated it like a puppet.
It should've been her. That thing had been meant for her.
Her death.
Spike's death.
Which was worse?
It didn't matter. She felt dead anyway. Empty. Hollow. Gutted out.
There was no Spike now. No lover. No tender lovemaking. No hope.
Hollow. She felt hollow.
In a way, it was Gunn's fault. He was the one who had signed the custom papers that had allowed Illyria's sarcophagus to enter Wolfram and Hart. Yes, Fred knew about that. She couldn't hate Gunn for it tough. Couldn't hurt him. Wanted to, but couldn't. Gunn had just been doing his job. He wouldn't have even had that job if it hadn't been for Angel's deal with Wolfram and Hart. Angel's interference. It was somewhat Angel's fault too. Fred didn't know why, but she had a sneaky suspicion that the vampire seemed to guilt stricken to be completely innocent in this whole charade. Had he acted on part of the Senior Partners? Was Spike the price? Her lover's life for everyone else's? So in a manner it was Angel's fault, that Spike was dead, Fred concluded. He killed him just as surly as if he had driven a pool stick through her lovers' heart.
"You grieve still. For a single life."
Illyria.
Fred shivered between the sheets and glanced over at the demon that stood in the doorway. It must have tracked her here. Fred balled one of her fists together and bit on her knuckles to stop herself from crying out in pain.
"Get out," she begged as warm tears ran down her cheeks.
Illyria ignored her and walked in.
"This place was part of this shell."
"Don't call him that!" Fred cried, hating that cold, emotionless voice. Hating the stiff, jerky way the demon moved. Hating that it wasn't Spike. "He had a name."
"He had many names. The first was William. You were a part of him. You were part of this shell."
"Stop calling him that!" Fred yelled in despair. "Stop it! Stop it!"
Again, Illyria ignored her.
"He cannot return to you. Yet, there are fragments. When his brain collapsed, electrical spasms channeled into my function system - memories." Illyria held up his hand and Fred could see blue sparkles between his fingers. In Spike's voice, Illyria repeated her lover's last words. "Oh God, Fred, why can't I stay?"
"Stop it!" Fred erupted and reaching for a cup that stood on the nightstand, she threw it at Illyria. The god caught it easily and crushed it to dust.
"You presume to think you could do me harm?" Illyria sounded more amused than anything else.
"Get out!"
"I've nowhere to go. My kingdom is long dead." He sounded regretful. "Long dead. There's so much I don't understand. I've become overwhelmed. I'm unsure of my place."
"I couldn't care less."
Illyria approached the bed and looked down at the angry female.
"I exist here. I must learn to walk this world. I'll need your help - Fred."
Illyria uttering her name only served to further enrage her. She had no desire to pay babysitter to a demon wearing Spike's face.
"Never. Try asking Wes. Maybe he would be glad to help. But don't ask me again. Ever."
"There are women." Illyria said thoughtfully and Fred stiffened. "They would maybe be of some help. But I don't know were to find them. You're all that is left. You destroyed my Qwa'ha Xahn."
"He destroyed what was mine."
"And that made it just?"
"Yes. No. Maybe. It felt like that at the moment."
Illyria smiled slightly.
"You will help me. You will help me because I look like him." He eyed her curiosity. "Is it true what you said before? Isn't there anything in this life but grief?"
Fred looked up at the god and saw Spike's face looking down at her. She remembered how he could hold her tightly against his chest while whispering sweat nothings in her ear, making her giggle 'til he silenced her with a kiss.
"There is nothing in this life but grief."
"That is not enough to live by."
"No," Fred agreed, "It's only enough to survive."