Chapter 7
Angel sat heavily down on the sofa and picked up a random magazine from a pile in front of him. Where were they going to go from here? He flicked through the pages, unaware of the fine print, his mind wandering away to Buffy still upstairs.
Footsteps sounded in the hallway.
Giles stepped through the front door in his usual manner, whistling to himself. He reached the lounge, unaware of the vampire sat on the settee.
"Giles?"
"Wah, !?" Giles leapt almost literally out of his skin. He spun on his heel to find the black-clad figure sprawled out in front of him.
"A-Angel? What are you doing here? No more pressing matters in LA to be dealing with?" Giles instantly caught up a defence in his manner.
"No, there was something that I had to sort out with Buffy." Angel simply smiled in return.
"Oh, Nothing beastly I hope?" Giles forehead began to wrinkle with concern.
"No, nothing to be worried about".
"Hey!" Buffy entered the room, hugging Giles as she passed him.
"Buffy, I - " Giles began.
"Angel, what time are we planning on leaving for LA?" Buffy brushed passed and seated herself next to the dark, brooding man.
"Well as its midday already, I can't exactly leave so as soon as the sun sets we'll go." Angel replied.
"LA? You can't just leave Buffy." Giles butted in.
"Why not? Oh no you haven't found some other apocalyptic demon that MUST be slaughtered by tomorrow evening have you? 'Cause tell it, it can wait, I have some stuff to deal with in LA first." Buffy finalised.
Giles could see he wasn't going to win this one. "Well I thought we could do some more training, maybe a long patrol tonight." Giles lowered his tone.
"Well it'll have to wait, I wont be long." Buffy walked into the kitchen.
Giles followed her, making sure that he was out of earshot of Angel. "Why!!" Giles exclaimed in a hushed whisper.
"The whole sleep thing, I think I've solved it." Buffy answered. "When I went to visit Angel about sneaking around me, apparently we were attacked by a demon that made Angel human again. He couldn't remain human as the end of the world was nigh blah blah blah, so time was turned back, so he could kill the demon before its blood mixed with his. The "Dreams" are actually flashbacks." Buffy finished.
"So what do you intend on doing? You know what the problem is, so why go back to LA?" Giles inquired.
"I need to speak to the oracles Giles, I can't keep having these dreams, they are torturing me.." Buffy handed Giles a cup of tea and headed back into the lounge.
"Doyle" Angel entered the office nodding to his colleague.
"Hey there angel, looking pretty non-gloomy today." Doyle answered; looking up from the newspaper he was reading and catching a glimpse of Buffy at Angel's side. "So that's why..." Doyle answered his own question.
"We need your help." Angel smiled.
Instantly Doyle stood up, glad to be wanted.
"Well what can I do you for." Doyle proudly answered.
"We need to speak to the oracles again, can you get us in?" Buffy smiled at the small Irish man.
"Sure." Doyle sighed, discovering it weren't that great a favour after all.
"Present, we need a present." Angel remembered, not prepared to sacrifice anything else of his again.
"Present? What so we go to the home wreckers and give them presents?" Buffy asked.
"Unfortunately yes. If you don't want to give them one then that's your loss but don't think I won't be saying I told you so once they've turned you into a toad." Dolye ended the conversation.
Angel picked up a heavy golden paperweight shaped as an angel and followed the others out of the doorway.
"Warrior, you come before us yet again. And who is this that you bring with you? The Slayer." A deep voice sounded in the glistening white room.
"And what present do you bring the lady today, warrior?" The male asked pacing the floor bare footed.
"This" Angel took out the paper weight and threw it aimlessly in the air. Instantly the object was drawn by a magnetic force to the female.
"Mmmm, yes this will do. Kind of ironic don't you think?" She let out a laugh. "Now what is it that you require?"
"The day - The day you turned back and said would only live in my memory forever does not only live in my memory. I was willing to bear the pain of that day, but by no means did I want you to subject the slayer to such torment."
"Ah, yes. A Minor blip, but I am afraid there is nothing that can be done." The male paced some more.
"You don't understand" Buffy finally spoke up. "To live like this and be a warrior to your kind is useless. I can't fight properly, I can't sleep properly, I can't do anything with at least being reminded of that day and all I know is that it can never be." Buffy sighed.
"How do you know that it will never be?" The female stepped forward. "There are ways to become human." She nodded in Angel's direction.
"What? Avert the apocalypse and save mankind. That will take forever and even if I was made human I could not help with the demons of this world and yet again will be taken from your cause." Angel answered.
"Not necessarily. What if there was a way we could rid you of your demon but yet allow you the good powers that you now possess?" The female continued.
"No, I can not allow this. They are in the hands of fate it is not for us to dabble in petty mortal circumstances." The male approached the female.
"But he is not like any of the other warriors for that alone we owe him our gratitude. He is like you or I, his heart is pure and his soul is good. As for the she-warrior, she has also continued the battle longer than any of us could have predicted and in her turn she has died, yet come back and continued to fight." The female smiled at Buffy her eyes full of admiration for the strong slayer. "Is it not time that we gave them some reward for campaigning so long against the dark enemies of this world?" The female turned towards the male.
He sighed and looked on at the warriors before him. "There is a way. It is long and dangerous and you may not survive it. Yet you both have survived much that I thought you could not. There are trials that you must take" The male pointed at Angel. "Visit the cavern of souls and there you must seek for the curse to be lifted. Now go." With a wave of the Male's hand Buffy and Angel found themselves back outside the gateway standing next to a panic stricken Doyle.
"Did it work?" Doyle asked.
"Yeah it worked. Tell me Doyle. Do you know anything about the Cavern of Souls?" Angel began...
*~* Please read and review!!! Thank you!!! *~*
Angel sat heavily down on the sofa and picked up a random magazine from a pile in front of him. Where were they going to go from here? He flicked through the pages, unaware of the fine print, his mind wandering away to Buffy still upstairs.
Footsteps sounded in the hallway.
Giles stepped through the front door in his usual manner, whistling to himself. He reached the lounge, unaware of the vampire sat on the settee.
"Giles?"
"Wah, !?" Giles leapt almost literally out of his skin. He spun on his heel to find the black-clad figure sprawled out in front of him.
"A-Angel? What are you doing here? No more pressing matters in LA to be dealing with?" Giles instantly caught up a defence in his manner.
"No, there was something that I had to sort out with Buffy." Angel simply smiled in return.
"Oh, Nothing beastly I hope?" Giles forehead began to wrinkle with concern.
"No, nothing to be worried about".
"Hey!" Buffy entered the room, hugging Giles as she passed him.
"Buffy, I - " Giles began.
"Angel, what time are we planning on leaving for LA?" Buffy brushed passed and seated herself next to the dark, brooding man.
"Well as its midday already, I can't exactly leave so as soon as the sun sets we'll go." Angel replied.
"LA? You can't just leave Buffy." Giles butted in.
"Why not? Oh no you haven't found some other apocalyptic demon that MUST be slaughtered by tomorrow evening have you? 'Cause tell it, it can wait, I have some stuff to deal with in LA first." Buffy finalised.
Giles could see he wasn't going to win this one. "Well I thought we could do some more training, maybe a long patrol tonight." Giles lowered his tone.
"Well it'll have to wait, I wont be long." Buffy walked into the kitchen.
Giles followed her, making sure that he was out of earshot of Angel. "Why!!" Giles exclaimed in a hushed whisper.
"The whole sleep thing, I think I've solved it." Buffy answered. "When I went to visit Angel about sneaking around me, apparently we were attacked by a demon that made Angel human again. He couldn't remain human as the end of the world was nigh blah blah blah, so time was turned back, so he could kill the demon before its blood mixed with his. The "Dreams" are actually flashbacks." Buffy finished.
"So what do you intend on doing? You know what the problem is, so why go back to LA?" Giles inquired.
"I need to speak to the oracles Giles, I can't keep having these dreams, they are torturing me.." Buffy handed Giles a cup of tea and headed back into the lounge.
"Doyle" Angel entered the office nodding to his colleague.
"Hey there angel, looking pretty non-gloomy today." Doyle answered; looking up from the newspaper he was reading and catching a glimpse of Buffy at Angel's side. "So that's why..." Doyle answered his own question.
"We need your help." Angel smiled.
Instantly Doyle stood up, glad to be wanted.
"Well what can I do you for." Doyle proudly answered.
"We need to speak to the oracles again, can you get us in?" Buffy smiled at the small Irish man.
"Sure." Doyle sighed, discovering it weren't that great a favour after all.
"Present, we need a present." Angel remembered, not prepared to sacrifice anything else of his again.
"Present? What so we go to the home wreckers and give them presents?" Buffy asked.
"Unfortunately yes. If you don't want to give them one then that's your loss but don't think I won't be saying I told you so once they've turned you into a toad." Dolye ended the conversation.
Angel picked up a heavy golden paperweight shaped as an angel and followed the others out of the doorway.
"Warrior, you come before us yet again. And who is this that you bring with you? The Slayer." A deep voice sounded in the glistening white room.
"And what present do you bring the lady today, warrior?" The male asked pacing the floor bare footed.
"This" Angel took out the paper weight and threw it aimlessly in the air. Instantly the object was drawn by a magnetic force to the female.
"Mmmm, yes this will do. Kind of ironic don't you think?" She let out a laugh. "Now what is it that you require?"
"The day - The day you turned back and said would only live in my memory forever does not only live in my memory. I was willing to bear the pain of that day, but by no means did I want you to subject the slayer to such torment."
"Ah, yes. A Minor blip, but I am afraid there is nothing that can be done." The male paced some more.
"You don't understand" Buffy finally spoke up. "To live like this and be a warrior to your kind is useless. I can't fight properly, I can't sleep properly, I can't do anything with at least being reminded of that day and all I know is that it can never be." Buffy sighed.
"How do you know that it will never be?" The female stepped forward. "There are ways to become human." She nodded in Angel's direction.
"What? Avert the apocalypse and save mankind. That will take forever and even if I was made human I could not help with the demons of this world and yet again will be taken from your cause." Angel answered.
"Not necessarily. What if there was a way we could rid you of your demon but yet allow you the good powers that you now possess?" The female continued.
"No, I can not allow this. They are in the hands of fate it is not for us to dabble in petty mortal circumstances." The male approached the female.
"But he is not like any of the other warriors for that alone we owe him our gratitude. He is like you or I, his heart is pure and his soul is good. As for the she-warrior, she has also continued the battle longer than any of us could have predicted and in her turn she has died, yet come back and continued to fight." The female smiled at Buffy her eyes full of admiration for the strong slayer. "Is it not time that we gave them some reward for campaigning so long against the dark enemies of this world?" The female turned towards the male.
He sighed and looked on at the warriors before him. "There is a way. It is long and dangerous and you may not survive it. Yet you both have survived much that I thought you could not. There are trials that you must take" The male pointed at Angel. "Visit the cavern of souls and there you must seek for the curse to be lifted. Now go." With a wave of the Male's hand Buffy and Angel found themselves back outside the gateway standing next to a panic stricken Doyle.
"Did it work?" Doyle asked.
"Yeah it worked. Tell me Doyle. Do you know anything about the Cavern of Souls?" Angel began...
*~* Please read and review!!! Thank you!!! *~*