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Chapter 54- Through The Looking Glass
"Come on, come on", Buffy said as she turned the recording on.
Everyone was shocked to see Cordelia fine as she said she'd been made ruler. The guys were pulled to their feet as Wesley found it fantastic, and Cordelia said she could use some extra cushions but she had a throne now. Wesley and Gunn suggested she could release them while Nawerk asked if he could gut them for her to eat, but Cordelia wanted extended groveling from her friends, and when she didn't get it she quipped. "Okay. - Off with their heads!" Some of the guards draw their swords to obey as the guys flinched in the hold of the rest of them. "Just kidding." The guards froze with the blades only inches away from the guys' throats.
Everyone was shocked, still struggling to process what they were seeing.
"She is….ruler", Dawn muttered.
"And she saved them", Willow added. "Wow!"
"Didn't see that coming", Tara sighed.
"The tables have turned", Xander said.
"She seems to be enjoying the power a little too much", Giles noted.
"Well duh! She was beaten up and treated as a slave a few hours ago, why wouldn't she enjoy the power?" Willow asked. "It's a peak moment for her."
"But it doesn't make sense. This Dimension treats humans as slaves and calls them 'cows', how did she become a ruler?" Buffy asked.
"In that outfit, I don't mind", Xander said, only to find the girls staring at him, and gulped before doing the zipper motion.
"I believe we will find out soon", Giles said.
Nawerk helped Cordelia down the throne, protesting her decision but she told them all to leave, which they did, the guys now unchained. Wesley, Gunn and Lorne were relieved she was fine and then dug into platters of fruit as Cordelia told Angel she'd first been jabbed with hot pokers then made princess.
"Making her a princess almost makes up for jabbing her", Xander said before snarling. "Almost."
"Still waiting on the why", Dawn said.
Wesley was confused before Lorne realized she'd a vision, and Cordelia mentioned she was still vibrating from it, or could be the pokers.
"Still hate those people", Buffy snarled.
Lorne went to lounge on the throne and explained the priests- the Covenant of Trombli had a prophecy of a coming messiah. Cordelia pushed Lorne's feet off the throne, so he let her sit down while he said the cursed one, a being with pure sight would reclaim the throne and restore the monarchy, and 'pure sight' meant one who had a direct link with the Powers That Be. Gunn laughed at Cordelia being a messiah.
Even the Scoobies couldn't hold their chuckles.
"She's a…messiah?" Xander said, laughing.
"How is that even possible?" Buffy asked.
"Different dimension, different rules", Willow shrugged.
"Her being a nice person was great, but this is too hard to stomach", Dawn agreed too.
"Well, surprises always happen", Tara told her.
"I did not believe this would be why she became monarch in my wildest of dreams", Giles commented.
Wesley said this had happened and so they had a chance of surviving this, and then they mentioned they'd misplaced the portal and book, so Cordelia said this place had a lot of books, but she wasn't in a hurry due to being a princess. Angel eventually ended up admiring himself in front of a mirror, surprising Cordelia as Wesley and Gunn explained the new rules to her.
"Yeah, look at your hair!" Xander said.
Angel tried to push his hair down, asking if it was because of the portal, but was told they were always like this, shocking him, and Wesley started explaining the plan but Angel asked why he wasn't told of his hair, only for Cordelia to say he looked good.
"You're saying that because you love him, right?" Dawn asked with a smirk as some chuckles followed.
"Him admiring himself in a mirror, never knew I needed to see that", Buffy quipped.
"We all needed that", Willow told her.
Wesley pushed Angel away from the mirror, asking him and Lorne to track Lorne's family, horrifying Lorne but Wesley pointed out the alternative would be to remain stuck in this Dimension, so Lorne pulled Angel away, saying he could admire himself in his grandmother's glass eye, and also asked him to call him 'Lorne' instead of 'Host' now since for the people of Pylea 'Host' was something to lay eggs in.
"Umm, I don't wanna think about it", Buffy said.
"No one does", Tara said with a sigh.
Wesley asked if Cordelia could get them access to books and she reminded she was princess. In a different room, a priest called Barshon said it was sacrilege to allow Cordelia to wear the crown, but Silas reminded she had the sight. Barshon was angry that this beast was the Powers' vessel, and Silas said no harm would come to her until the Com-shuk, after that he could have her head.
The mood turned grim again as Buffy growled. "I knew something was about this."
"I think you are the beasts here", Dawn snarled.
"And what the hell is Com-shuk?" Xander asked, all looking to Giles.
"Don't look at me, I do not know about this Dimension", he told them.
"Never thought I'd see the day you don't know something", Willow commented.
"First time for everything", Tara said as all chuckled while Giles sighed.
Angel and Lorne hitched a ride on the back of a donkey cart and jumped off near the dwelling of Lorne's family, finding some of his relatives engaged in horseplay before a bearded one walked to him, saying they wished to look upon his face again, and then spat on it as Lorne called that one 'mom', shocking Angel.
The Scoobies were as shocked as Angel was.
"Mom?" Dawn let out.
"But the…" Willow put a hand under her chin to indicate the beard.
"This is….." Tara trailed off, even she hadn't expected that.
"New?" Buffy asked and got a nod.
"I have never seen anything like this before", Giles commented.
"Maybe it's like the Dwarves from Lord of the Rings, women have beards too", Xander spoke up, and that made everyone's eyes widen.
"That makes sense", Buffy said with a nod.
"Let's try to get over it", Dawn suggested and all agreed.
The mom said how she went out to the hills where ground was thorny and beat her breast for giving birth to him, saying they'd eaten the wrong sun.
"Okay, this stuff is too hard to get over", Willow commented, everyone exchanging horrified and disgusted looks.
"Why did Cordy have to be sucked in THIS Dimension?" Xander wondered.
Lorne then asked if something odd had been noticed during his disappearance, to which mom said his brother Numfar had done the Dance of Joy for 3 moons. "Numfar! Do the Dance of Joy!" And then Numfar did some weird dance that involved tapping himself repeatedly on the head while moving around weirdly and kicking the air as Lorne mentioned to Angel there was no music on this world and he wished to say the same about the dance too.
No one could contain their laughter at that scene.
"The Dance of…" Buffy trailed off, laughing. "What kind of dance is that?"
"Are there any more dances?" Xander wondered.
"I wanna see more of these", Dawn laughed.
"Imagine if Angel is also dancing alongside that", Willow suggested, increasing the laughter.
"We need that", Tara said.
"The thought is quite amusing and horrifying", Giles said, the laughter continuing.
Lorne described a portal but got nothing while the mom told Numfar to stop the Dance of Joy, and he stopped as the mom told Lorne to get off the lawn with his cow when Landok arrived, saying that was no cow but his friend Angel who'd slayed a Drokken beast and saved his life. The mom decided to hold a feast in his honor, making Lorne's jaw drop. "Numfar! Do the Dance of Honor!" Numfar leapt into another series of leaps and gestures, including the bunny hop, while Angel's coat was taken off by 2 relatives and he had a necklace put around his neck and a cape draped over him, as well as a mirror held in front of him so he could admire himself.
That made jaws drop again before they laughed a little.
"So Cordy's a princess, and Angel is honored like a warrior now", Xander summed up. "If we hadn't seen that priest guys make their plan, I'd say this world is good for them."
"For now", Buffy said, turning grim again. "But that dance is funny."
And then they all laughed at that again.
Landok told Angel he'd be the Guest of Honor where he could tell his tale of slaying the Drokken, and Angel started asking about his hair while Lorne sarcastically said this was the homecoming he'd dreamed of before walking off, leaving the dancing Numfar behind.
"Anyone think there should be a Dance of Shame or Repentance?" Dawn asked randomly and they chuckled again. [1]
"Wouldn't mind one", Willow chuckled.
Wesley read a book, Cordelia and Gunn helping as he took a book from Cordelia, looking at the animal engraved on the cover and called it a 'hart', but Cordelia said it was a Bambi, not a heart, to which Wesley spelled it and said it was a deer associated with rural mysticism.
"I have heard of those, they used to call stags that in medieval times", Giles said. "So I believe a few things are common between our worlds."
"Looks like a Bambi to me", Xander shrugged, chuckling.
Wesley said they had to jump from book to book and also found references to the Cursed one, including mentions of 'Com-shuk' and 'Groosalug', and closed the middle book, finding a male sheep aka ram on the cover, and the second book had a wolf's head. Wesley looked at the images and rearranged the order- Wolf, ram and hart. The eyes of the three widened in horror as Wesley realized the priests couldn't be trusted.
Now everyone's eyes went wide.
"Can't they leave them alone in another Dimension at least?" Dawn asked angrily now.
"Damn! That was a twist!" Xander said, shocked.
"We did know that the Senior Partners had influence on other Dimensions as well", Giles reminded, though he was quite surprised himself.
"Yeah, but who would have thought that Demons who own lawyers would have connections in a savage world like this?" Buffy then asked him.
"Yup, with their civilized ways, this place didn't seem like something they would be connected to", Willow agreed.
"Guess they have different ways to make connection with all Dimensions", Tara shrugged, but all were shocked for sure.
"At least they know the priests are up to no good", Buffy pointed out the bright side.
"So Wolfram and Hart accidentally made themselves useful to the good guys this time", Xander said, everyone chuckling at the irony.
At the village, Angel was recounting his tales to a group of village kids, telling them of the time he'd chopped off Lindsey's hand, calling him lawyer-beast as all gave appreciative exclamations and applause while Angel jumped through gap in the circle of children and walked to Lorne.
"Lawyer-beast", Buffy said as they all chuckled again. "Well, it's accurate."
"I know right?" Willow asked.
Lorne said they should go back to the palace but Angel didn't want to disappoint the kids, and Lorne got that Angel liked being seen as a hero without the pesky moral ambiguities back home.
That made them a little more serious, as they realized how much Angel could be judged back on Earth, and Giles and Xander knew they were among the judgmental people as well, though they were trying to be better now, especially Giles since the future Buffy had told him not to judge Angel for taking over Wolfram and Hart.
"It has to be a good feeling", Willow noted, not really judging him for that.
"But he knows he has more important things to do as well, and he needs to return to his normal lifestyle", Tara said with a sigh.
Angel said he was a little and Lorne said he was starting to see the image they had of him, and then Landok asked Angel to retell the story of the sorcerer who could remove his limbs and reassemble at will.
"We didn't need to remember that", Xander said as they cringed on remembering Ronald Meltzer.
Landok saw two demons position a square block on the little platform in the middle of the square, and told Angel it was time for the Bach-nal, and Angel shall swing the Crebbil, confusing him as he was led away while Lorne almost choked on his drink and tried to stop Angel, who was halfway across the square already.
"What's a Crebbil?" Dawn wondered.
"Does not sound like a good thing based on how Lorne is reacting", Giles noted grimly.
Wesley and Gunn hurried after Cordelia as she entered the throne room, saying she didn't want to be a slave again, but Wesley pointed out the shadiness of the priests, and then Com-shuk with the Groosalug, which she still found better than shoveling demon horse poo.
"Can't really blame her", Willow said, and no one could really disagree.
Silas arrived with 2 priests, asking if everything was all right and Cordelia said 'yes' while Wesley said 'no', and then Gunn asked about the Groosalug, the 3 lying to Silas that Cordelia had a vision, and he said it had been summoned from nearby scum pits for Com-shuk, and then Silas told them Com-shuk was a mating ritual on Cordelia's request, and Gunn reminded Cordelia he'd called it dirty.
Now everyone exchanged disgusted looks again.
"Mating with a Demon creature from scum pits?" Xander asked.
"Can't someone give her a break from Demon babies?" Dawn asked, clearly disgusted and horrified.
"Please get out before that happens", Buffy requested.
Cordelia tried to pass off as if she was looking forward to it, and then tried to go past them but was stopped by Silas due to rebels around, and was told the palace guard was doubled, before leaving and Cordelia told her friends they needed to get out now.
"Yeah, get out quickly", Willow agreed.
Lorne was looking for some way to get to Angel, but he was being lifted by two green demons and carried around the square. There were shouts of 'bring the crebbil!' Angel smiled at Fred and gave her a little wave as she was being lead between to other demons towards the little platform. Angel was deposited on the platform. Lorne was bobbing up and down behind his mom and waving his hand in the air, still trying to get Angel's attention as he surveyed the crowd. Someone pushed a battle-ax into Angel's hands and Angel grabbed it reflexively. Landok told him to swing true and quick so they could eat. Angel looked down and saw that Fred was kneeling beside him, her head resting on the block that was set up there earlier. He looked from her to the ax in his hands.
Now the mood plummeted once more.
"A sacrificial feast", Giles said, his tone grim once more. "And they want Angel to sacrifice her."
"I hate these people so much!" Dawn snarled.
"Yeah, the savagery is just astounding", Buffy agreed. "That too to other living and breathing creatures."
"So this is how they met", Willow said in realization.
"Guess Angel's not enjoying being Guest of Honor anymore", Xander commented dryly.
"So things are about to go downhill then", Tara sighed.
Angel didn't want to do it, and Fred was repeating 'Make it quick!' over and over again, and then Angel pulled off his necklace and cape, while the mom said this 'cow' plundered the food stores, Angel saying she was probably hungry. Landok asked if he would not swing, and Angel pulled Fred up, saying only if he was forced to as he pushed her behind him a little.
"Here we go", Buffy sighed, repeating Lorne.
The mom screamed to stop them. One green horned warrior jumped up on the platform and Angel pushed him off. Another one followed and Angel kicked him back down. Lorne asked to stop. Angel stopped to look over at him as Lorne started around the square demons were moaning and screaming in pain, covering their ears with their hands. Singing Lorne slowly walked through the crowd towards the platform as if he was in his club back on earth. Landok wondered what strange sorcery this was.
"The power of good music, to which you bloody idiots are deaf!" Giles snapped, angry at music being insulted as all chuckled at his reaction.
"Music as a weapon", Buffy smirked.
Angel picked Fred up in his arms and jumped off the platform while Lorne stepped on top of it still singing. The mom dropped face down to the ground, saying it burnt.
That brought some chuckles again.
Angel ran over to one of the horses the guards rode and jumped into its empty saddle, then motioned to Fred. Fred grabbed a hold of his hand and he pulled her up behind him. Angel turned the horse just as two guards in a chariot pulled by two horses came charging into the square. Lorne saw them coming towards him, one leaning out over the side holding a mace. "o... Shi..!" The mace caught him square in the middle.
Everyone flinched a little as Dawn said. "Really hope he's fine. I like him a lot."
"We all like him a lot", Tara told her. "But I think he's gonna be captured again."
"That's fine, Cordy can just pardon him again", Xander said with a smile.
Cordelia, Wesley and Gunn snuck around a deserted corridor, Cordelia also carrying jewels and stuff, saying she wanted to know of a Dimension where no Demons wanted to impregnate her, wondering if she gave "come 'shuk' me" vibes.
"No, they're just pervs", Buffy said in a growl directed at the Hacksaw and its minions as well as the Skilosh.
Wesley and Gunn were pulling a stone trap door in the floor open to reveal some nauseous liquid sloshing around at the bottom of it, and in spite of the bad smell, needed to get out through it. Cordelia wondered why they couldn't use the front door, to which Gunn pointed her booty- the stuff she carried, and she wanted to have it as a reminder of her reign.
"You have the dress", Xander quipped, and was shot looks by the girls again. "Not that I wanna look at it."
Wesley and Gunn eventually dropped into the sewer and Cordelia was about to follow before Silas, other priests and guards arrived, shutting the trap door as Silas told her the Groosalug approached.
All groaned again as Dawn wondered. "Why couldn't you arrive one minute later?"
"It's like a fire and frying pan", Buffy said. "No good options."
"All that sewer crossing for nothing", Willow sighed.
Wesley and Gunn came out of an opening in the castle, all dirty before realizing Cordelia hadn't made it, so they had to find Angel. Angel and Fred were riding double through what looked like low mountain country. Angel looked around then pulled the horse to a stop, slid off, and helped Fred down, saying they should get on foot, and sent the rider-less horse away. Fred was staring at him and put her hand on his chest. "Handsome man - saved me from the monsters." Then she said bye and ran off as Angel followed.
"She's not all up there, is she?" Xander asked.
"5 years in this place, would you be all right up here?" Willow asked.
"Probably worse than her", Xander said with a sigh. "Poor Fred."
"Yeah", Buffy sighed too.
Angel ran through a wooded area, past a boulder, ran up then slowly made his way along the boulder and into a cave, finding Fred who'd already run up that way, now wearing a pair of crooked glasses, busily adding to the carved symbols covering the walls of the cave. Angel crossed the cave, looking at his reflection in the water before asking if she wanted to talk, but she couldn't because he wasn't real so her head had come off and now she was dead.
"No Fred, you're not", Willow assured, everyone's hearts going out to her for how badly disoriented and half-crazy she had become in this place.
"Angel will get you out", Tara said, though she knew this Fred couldn't hear her, but there was just something about her which made her lovable, even if she wasn't in her best state currently.
Fred was writing mathematical formulas on the wall, and then Angel spotted her old driver's license from LA which had expired in 1998, and found out her name- Winifred Burkle. Fred said she had a dream and name and Angel read her name from her license, making Fred pull the license from his hand as Angel remembered her as the girl from Cordelia's vision, mentioning she'd disappeared from LA 5 years ago. She told him to stop it but he assured this wasn't a dream and her head was still on, pushing her glasses back onto the bridge of her nose, and assured he was real as well.
"He's real, and he'll get you out", Buffy said with a sad smile, the smile was because Fred would finally be saved, and it was sad because she'd been trapped in this place for 5 years.
"I can't even take watching this Dimension, and she survived for 5 years. She's something else", Dawn said in awe and respect as well as sympathy.
"Me too", Xander agreed with a nod.
Angel assured her that he and his friends would get her out. Fred then mentioned the other girl from the portal- Cordelia, whom she'd tried to help but Angel assured she was fine and a princess, surprising her.
"It's not that nice", Buffy said.
Cordelia was sitting on the throne when Silas told her the Groosalug was approaching, and she tried to leave with an excuse but was pushed back down, and then a bulky Demon with a sack over its shoulder arrived, Cordelia wanting to be killed now.
"Add me as well", Giles said, cleaning his glasses while the rest had wide eyes.
"Oh come on!" Xander said.
Then a handsome warrior followed the beast, clapping its shoulder and telling it to put those away before walking to Cordelia and kissing her hand.
Buffy, Willow and Dawn seemed just as smitten as Cordelia did in the recording.
"He's…nice!" Buffy said.
"Oh my God! He's so handsome and tall and muscular!" Dawn said with a smile.
"Maybe it's not the worst thing to happen", Willow said lamely.
"Oh come on! What's so nice about him?" Xander said, mainly jealous of how attractive he really looked.
"He seems like one of the heroic princes from the tales", Giles simply commented, choosing to ignore the smitten girls.
"Guess we shouldn't have judged him by the name", Tara said.
Angel and Fred were walking outside when 2 bucket-head soldiers arrived on horseback, swords drawn. Angel pushed Fred to the ground and tried to shield her with his own body, as the first guard charged and tried to swipe them with his sword. Angel told Fred she might see something frightening but he was her friend.
"I get the feeling", Buffy said, remembering when she'd seen Angel's Vamp face for the first time. "But he's your friend."
Angel jumped up to engage the guards as they came at them again while Fred ran to cower against the side of a boulder. The first guard charged Angel and he ducked under the sword, turning to find the second guard almost on top of him. He morphed but instead of his usual vamp face appearing the morph continued until his whole face turned green and bumpy, framed by some almost horn-like protrusions, while his hands turned into claws. Fred flinched a little.
Everyone in the room flinched as well, and in Buffy's and Dawn's cases, gasped.
"What the…?" Xander trailed off. "What….that is…..that's not a Vampire!"
"How the hell did that happen?" Buffy wondered. "How is that….Angel doesn't turn into that?"
"What is that?" Dawn said with a gulp.
"I…..I really can't tell", Willow muttered. "How the hell did this happen?"
"This is….." Tara trailed off, not sure what to say.
"This Dimension affects Angel differently", Giles reminded. "He has a reflection and can stand in the suns. So-"
"His transformation is different as well", Willow realized as they all gulped at the sight of this Angel.
"Oh my God!" Buffy said in horror. "This is…..I don't even know what to say about this transformation."
"It's like he became Vampire Hulk or something", Xander muttered.
"Fred's gonna be freaked", Willow said in realization.
Angel leapt to pull the second guard of his horse. Angel lay into the downed guard with wild ferocity. The guard screamed as Angel literally ripped one of his arms off and tossed it aside. Seeing this the other guard turned his rearing horse, and flees. Angel buried his head against the guard's throat and the guard went motionless. Lifting his head Angel looked back at Fred, cowering against her boulder, and she said bad things always happened here.
Everyone was disturbed by the sight. Angel was a great hero, Liam was a waste of space, while Angelus was pure evil but a clever genius and master manipulator.
This was just a savage creature which cared only about being brutal.
"Oh no", Buffy sighed, all of them disturbed. "Why?"
Growling, Angel left the soldier and made his way over to Fred, who tried to make herself as small as possible. Angel leaned in close to her and sniffed. Blood was smeared around his mouth and coloring his teeth. There was a piece of meat hanging form one fang. After a moment Angel abruptly turned to look over his shoulder and leapt away from Fred in a sudden flash of motion. Fred drew a few gasping breaths, then looked over at the mutilated corpse of the guard lying a few feet away.
The sight of the corpse was disturbing for sure.
"Bad things really do happen", Dawn muttered.
"He left Fred alive though", Buffy pointed out, getting a hopeful gleam again. "Angel's still in there."
"Hopefully, yes", Tara said with a sigh, as all of them hoped he came back to normal soon.
Groo was telling his tale to everyone at court, and told Cordelia what was wrong with his body- the curve of his mouth, the odd bulge of his limbs and the heart beating in the wrong place.
"Oh no, I love that curve", Willow said.
"And the bulging, get out of here!" Buffy said.
"Plus, the heart does seem to be in the right spot", Dawn added, since that was all left to say.
"Isn't that what makes 'cows' beautiful?" Tara asked with a chuckle.
"He's not all that good!" Xander said.
"I believe he is not fully human", Giles noted.
Groo said there was 'cow' blood in his veins, and then mentioned he wasn't anatomically equipped to mate with females of his tribe, and so had to make his way on his own, seeking to end his suffering. Cordelia told the other courtiers to get out and Groo to stay, and he said he'd entered every contest to test his skill and strength, mainly to end his life, but he won at them all and so he became the 'Groosalug'- the brave and undefeated.
"Defeat me", Buffy let out, and then was shot looks from everyone else. "Did I say that out loud? Crap."
"Handsome, muscular, brave and a great fighter", Dawn counted on her fingers.
"If you're looking for qualities in a future boyfriend, then stop, because no way in hell are you dating him", Buffy said.
"Why? So you can date him?" Dawn asked.
"Huh…no! Yes?" Buffy said.
"Why do you have to have everything?" Dawn asked.
"Shut up and watch", Tara told them, and so they did, while everyone was amused by them.
Narwek entered with 2 guards leading a gagged and bound Lorne, and Cordelia without looking ordered to deal with it, but when they were going to execute Lorne she noticed and stopped them, quickly pardoning him as she pulled the gag off, eventually pushing Lorne off, and he asked about Wesley and Gunn but she was sure they were fine, shutting the door in his face.
"Are they?" Willow wondered.
"I don't think so", Xander said.
Wesley and Gunn were walking and arguing before Wesley realized something was following them. They pivoted together to survey their surroundings. Suddenly the Angel-beast appeared on top of a rock, then jumped off, knocking both of them to the ground. Wesley and Gunn picked themselves up and turned to look at the Angel-beast, fanning out so that the beast couldn't come at both of them at once. Wesley stumbled on a rock and fell. The beast ran towards him hesitating a moment at the sight of the branch that Wesley was holding in front of him. At the same time Gunn began to pelt the Angel-beast with rocks. The Angel-beast turned and Wesley spotted Angel's tattoo showing briefly through a rip in his clothing. "It's Angel!"
"It is, sadly", Buffy muttered. "Please don't hurt them."
"Angel's still in there, he won't", Tara assured her.
Gunn glanced at Wesley and the beast leapt, knocking him to the ground. Gunn was straining to hold the Angel-beast off far enough to keep out of the reach of its fangs, with Wesley trying to reach out to him.
"Okay, maybe he will", Tara said lamely.
"Come on, turn back", Willow begged.
Fred slowly dipped her hand into a leather pouch hanging by her side. When she took her balled hand back out it was dripping with blood. She slowly raised it up into the air. She could dimly hear Wesley calling Angel's name, but the sound of his voice was being drowned out by a heartbeat like thudding as the Angel-beast slowly straightened up and looked over towards the blood covered fist. The Angel-beast slowly moved closer to Fred and, with her fist still raised, Fred slowly backed up, leading it away.
"Fred", Willow said in both admiration and fear.
"Leading him away with blood, smart", Giles commented.
"Really hoping he doesn't hurt her, she has been hurt enough", Dawn wished.
Wesley hurried over to Gunn and noticed deep scratches marring his left shoulder, and then told him the strange wild girl had saved them from Angel, explaining that Angel's Vampire self had been sublimated by this Dimension.
"So that was true", Giles realized his explanation was the right one.
"Guess everything does come at a price", Xander groaned.
Wesley used mud to pack Gunn's scratches and remembered that Angel had remained human before, and Gunn pointed out he could walk in sunlight and have a reflection, and Wesley realized when he'd accessed the Demon for whatever reason, it had overtaken him completely, and this was what the thing inside of him looked like in its purest form, Gunn calling it nasty.
"No its not", Buffy whispered. "He's good, kind, heroic."
"He is, but the Vampiric side isn't just going to go away", Willow pointed out to her. "Angel and Angelus aren't as different as we believed when we were younger. And so the bloodlust is always inside."
"He controls it, all the time", Tara said, and all of them, even Giles and Xander felt their respect for Angel rise by a good bit.
"Not in this Dimension though", Dawn said sadly.
Wesley and Gunn started walking off when screaming figures started to drop out of the trees surrounding them and in a few moments they were surrounded by a group of humans carrying crude weapons.
"Goddamn it!" Xander snapped, everyone groaning again. "Is this what- 'everything goes wrong' Dimension or something?"
Fred was slowly backing across her cave. The Angel-beast followed her until it came up to the edge of the little pool. It looked down and seeing a monster looking back swiped at the water, destroying the reflection. It sat and stared down as the image reformed slowly, then drew its claws across it slowly and watched the image break up and reform again. With a groan the beast suddenly morphed back into Angel, who staggered back from the edge of the pool. He took a few stumbling steps away then collapsed into a shivering, gasping heap in a little patch of sunlight in the middle of the cave, his back to Fred. Fred slowly walked over to him and reached out a hand towards him, then looked at her still bloody hand and slowly pulled it back without touching him.
"Angel's back", Buffy said, sighing in relief. "He's back."
The others were a little relieved as well.
"Fred did it", Willow said.
"But he doesn't look fine", Buffy then added, looking down and rubbing her head.
"He just released the beast, he can't take it", Tara told her.
Groo finished telling his story to Cordelia and then she mentioned the truth of her visions and also said she wasn't a princess where she came from, rather an actress, and explained to Groo once she got a gig, other people told her what to do, and Groo mistook she was her village concubine, with which she didn't disagree, especially due to her last job, saying she had to wear something skimpy and exploitative, looking down at her current outfit.
"Umm, this is…." Xander said but then saw the girls looking at him so he said. "So you can comment on the guy but I can't comment on her outfit?"
They sighed, realizing he had them there.
"Go on", Buffy said.
"Honestly, don't know how to describe it", Xander told them and they groaned again.
"This is why we were looking at you", Dawn said.
"Oh were you?" Xander asked and she looked back at the screen as he chuckled.
Cordelia said she wasn't a princess but Groo disagreed, and then said she could declare whatever she wanted with her bearing and beauty, and she said it was a beautiful dream but no real, to which Groo asked the reason.
"Maybe it can be", Dawn said.
"Not as long as the Covenant of Trombli is here", Giles told her in a grim tone. "They have plans, and those plans do not involve Cordelia alive."
Silas was angry that Cordelia had asked for parchments and decided to send her a message.
"What message?" Willow wondered, everyone having a sinking feeling.
The human rebels were gathered around a fire in the woods with Wesley and Gunn tied to a stake on either side, and they rebels were discussing what to do when Wesley spoke up, saying they were personal friends of the princess, and asked them to check his pocket, from where the leader took out his wallet and found a picture of Angel, Cordelia and Wesley, all smiling, and the leader agreed to write some demands, and then send them to Cordelia stuffed in the mouths of Wesley's and Gunn's severed heads before putting them on sticks to display outside her window, Gunn sarcastically saying how much they loved this.
"You just had to open your mouth you bloody idiot!" Giles snapped at Wesley.
"Well, at least he tried", Buffy told him.
Fred was filling a pot with water from the pool and carried over to where Angel was lying on a pile of blankets facing away from her. He was still shivering slightly and breathing in small ragged gasps. Fred dabbed at his neck with a wet rag, asking how he felt but got no response and said she was used to no talking, to which he muttered they'd seen it. "The monster... They-they saw what I really am. - I can't go back. Not now. I can never go back. No..." Fred said he could stay here, looking around the cave as Angel breathed raggedly.
"This is not a place to stay", Dawn muttered. "And he has many more people who need him."
"He's ashamed", Buffy realized. "Of the monster."
"Wouldn't you be?" Willow asked, and Buffy couldn't respond, because it was true. "The Demon almost hurt his friends, he can't take it."
"He doesn't care if he was in control or not, he feels guilty", Tara told her.
"Huh, poor guy", Xander muttered, properly realizing just how much Angel lived with.
Cordelia and Groo were laughing as she wrote up proclamations when Silas and 2 priests entered. One of them was carrying a small pedestal, the other a silver platter with a domed lid. They set down the pedestal and set the platter down on top of it. Silas ordered Groo out and he left, offending Cordelia who said she was gonna change the way of things, only for Silas to knock the proclamation out of her hand. Cordelia reminded she was wearing the tiara but Silas said in spite of the Powers gifting her, she had no authority, saying the princess was a tool like the Groosalug.
"You goddamn little bastards", Xander snarled at Silas. "I really want someone to knock their heads off."
"Me too", Dawn added.
Silas told Cordelia to silence her cow mouth. Cordelia folded her arms in front of her. "Pardon me?" Silas mocked. "Pardon - your majesty? Don't you feel you have done enough - pardoning..." he reached over to lift the lid off the platter. "...for one day?" Cordelia looked down and gasped as she saw Lorne's severed head lying on the silver platter. The screen went black.
Everyone else gasped too.
"Oh my God! Lorne!" Dawn gasped.
"No", Buffy whispered.
"It can't be!" Xander snapped.
Before Tara or Giles could react, Willow remembered. "But he's alive!"
"What?" Giles asked her. "How can that be?"
"When I went to LA, he was alive, with his head still attached", Willow told them. "And yes, I remember right, you think I'd misremember a detail like that?"
"So, it's a fake head or something?" Tara asked, everyone sighing in relief.
"Oh thank God", Buffy said.
"He is so nice, he shouldn't die", Dawn said too.
"Good thing", Xander muttered too.
"Must be a fake head then", Willow shrugged. "Though it looks real."
"We have one more to go for Year 2, let's take a look", Buffy said as they came to the next recording.
And done. Just 1 more now. Now I'm wondering if Cordelia's sea-shell bikini from 'Belonging' was a prototype version of what she wore in these final 3 episodes.
[1] Don't know if everyone knows this or not but Numfar was played by Joss Whedon himself, and Joss should now do the 'Dance of Repentance' for all his misdeeds, and keep doing it forever because it's not like anyone with common sense is gonna forgive him.
Anyway, hope all enjoyed and see you all next time with the Season 2 finale. Stay safe from the coronavirus ya all!