( Chapter 3 )
Disclaimer: No copyright infringement is intended, all characters belong solely to the creator, Joss Whedon. On the other hand, this idea belongs to someone I met on aol but forgot to get his name before he changed his SN. So, I won't take credit for the idea, Buffy was played by me and he was Riley and Angel. This whole story is more or less mine though, since I typed it all up and what not. If you wanna use it, ask me first please. ^_^
Pronunciation and Reference:
Chratylia: ( pronounced Shruh-teel-yuh )
Chratyl: ( pronounced Shruh-teel, he is the demon who guards the gates of hell )
Lyrics: 'Goodbye' by The Painkillers ( but mostly to Cherish Alexander who wrote the music and lyrics )
In The Cemetary...
The words hit Buffy hard. She couldn't believe what she was hearing, how he could just say something like that to her without considering her current position.
"...What?" she whispered in shocked response to his confession. "What are you saying, Angel?" she questioned, further prompting him to open up to her.
"I..." he started, then closed his eyes tightly, searching for the response he knew she wanted to hear; or at least the response she expected to hear. He then opened his eyes slowly, and gave her the only answer his heart could come up with, "Your love for me may have ended when you found Riley...Buffy...as for my love for you...it was never over..." he finished in a slow, smooth whisper.
"I can't...I can't believe this, why are you telling me this..?" she asked, feeling completely helpless at the lack of her understanding.
"I might not...see you again after tonight, I just thought I'd get everything out of the way..." came his rather sudden reply.
"You can't be serious...what would any of this have to do with you and me and us not...Angel, what are you talking about?!" she almost screamed, he was mixing everything up inside of her. She knew something evil was coming and it had to be destroyed, but why was he admitting all of these things to her now? What bothered her more was that he attached the part about him not seeing her after tonight. What was he talking about? Was it true?
"Buffy, listen to me...there's something about Chratylia that you need to know...it involves..." he just looked at her with a vague look of inanimate emotion, how could she not see? "...It's dangerous Buffy, deadly in every way imaginable. You'll need help..." he whispered, keeping his focus on her expression which had remained in its state of confusion. She then, slowly ran both hands through her hair in an attempt to move it out of her face.
"Okay Angel..." she began, "as soon as we destroy this thing, we're going to
have a serious discussion to end all discussions we've ever had...about
everything..." she said sternly. "Now, how are we supposed to-..." she
was stopped in mid-sentence when she heard a deep rumbling sound coming from
underneath her.
Chratylia Begins...
The thundering sensation felt like the ground would split into millions of peices at any time. The both of them began searching the ground for a source of opening, or at least a place of escape for the demon that was, at that moment trying to break free of it's underworld.
"Buffy...I know where it is...I can feel it!" he yelled over the tremendous pounding of the earth around them. As he pointed toward the far end of the cemetary, she noticed that it wasn't too far from a particular family mausoleum where Spike occasionally hung out. It would figure, Spike always attracted the negative aspects of everything.
"How are we going to stop it now? It's already rising!" she yelled back to him over the pounding noise. He began making his way over to the freshly opened hole that was Chratyl's escape from Hell. The demon hadn't quite began the process of invading Sunnydale, so Angel began thinking through everything that could possibly be done. She started after him in a frenzy, she knew now that she wouldn't be capable of destroying this thing on her own. Why? She was scared to do it alone, for the first time in a long time of Slayerdom, she was scared to slay alone. As he slowed to a stop only inches from the deep gash in the earth, she almost ran directly into him from behind while abruptly trying to stop herself. The hole was growing larger by the second it seemed, the pulsing reds, oranges and yellows were glowing brighter all around the inside. As he kept his gaze on the hole that seemed to melt the earth around it, he had to keep stepping back to avoid falling into the gaping hot pit below.
"Look at this..." she whispered to herself in amazement. "Angel...the ground is deteriorating all around it! It's also getting too....bright..." she yelled from behind him as she instinctively fell to her knees and covered her eyes. He was busy trying to figure out a way to get around the inevitable, although he knew it was useless. The hole had become big enough to where it no longer needed to expand, and the bright yellows, reds, and oranges had faded. Dark blacks and grays eminated from the inside of the pit, causing shadows to be thrown out onto everything in the cemetary. In a last moment of desperation, he grabbed Buffy's wrist and pulled her away from the now dark abyss of shadows.
"Angel...what are we going to do? He'll come up any minute..." she whispered to him quickly.
"Buffy, what was the one thing...the worst thing...I've ever done," he began asking, "that I've regreted and had to pay for ever since it was done?" He had to make her understand, even if it meant giving up his own existence so she could continue with hers.
"Angel, I...we have to eliminate this thing before it gets too strong..." she replied, she knew what he was aiming at and she wanted to avoid the truth of it.
"I'm the one who's released all of this evil into Sunnydale, Buffy...I opened the Hellmouth. From that came every problem you've ever had...including me," he yelled over the booming of the nearby pit that was now preparing for the arrival of Chratyl himself.
I'm dead inside but I'm still alive,
And my soul it bleeds internally,
Thirsting for a sip of your smile,
"This is insane Angel...that demon is going to pull you down with it if you keep talking and don't move!"
"I'll explain all of this to you some day, Buffy...right now this evil needs to be destroyed before it gets loose into the world. The only way to do that is to feed it the source of it's own creation." As painful as it was, he pulled his gaze from her and turned to face the large gap before him. The demon Chratyl had already begun taunting Angel, summoning him into the hellish underground to do his bidding for "heavenly" rewards. Although Angel had his attention on Chratyl, Buffy was concerning herself with what she knew he was going to do.
"Angel...you don't have to do this, we can beat it together...I can't do this without you!" she screamed over the coaxing of Chratyl.
"You won't have to be the Slayer anymore once I've completed the process. I promise you Buffy, I'll make everything right again. I just wish I'd never..." he trailed off, staring back at her for a long moment. The expression on his face appeared like he was completely enamored with her. He knew there was nothing more to say, he had to get this over with before it was too late. He broke the gaze and turned away from her, bracing himself for the dive he would have to take to save her future.
A year ago like yesterday,
Lord you know how hard I prayed,
To
make you stay here for awhile,
"No! I can't lose someone else to this....stupid demon!" she yelled after him. He moved nearer to the blackness, shielding his eyes from the illuminating light errupting from inside of it. She hadn't realized she was still on her knees, she was still trying to get over the terror of what she was witnessing. A sudden light flashed in response to his approaching, and it caught her attention. She leapt to her feet and began running after him with whatever strength she had, suprisingly, it hadn't taken her long to catch up with him. She threw out a small right hand and clutched his arm tightly in an effort to hold him back. "Angel don't! You'll...you'll die!"
"...This is the only possible way I know of to save you, and the rest of Sunnydale from literal Hell on Earth!" It was evident in his voice that he didn't want to lose her again, but it was better that he lost her by losing his own life rather than hers.
"Angel..please...." she begged, "...don't make me lose you too, this isn't the only way to beat it..."
"Buffy...let me be strong, let me finally put everything right again..." he whispered in reply. He seemed so calm now, as if he knew what the outcome would be and he just accepted it. He quickly turned around to face her, his eyes flickered to a rest on hers. Deep green, liquid pools of emotion stared back at him, hot tears of pure pleading streamed down her beautiful face. If he never did see her again after tonight, he would always remember her crystaline gaze and the affect it had on his heart. Her expression was begging him not to do it, if he were any closer to her he feared he would feel the pain and suffering she'd gone through and wind up staying to comfort her. He couldn't leave without feeling her touch one last time. Lightly placing pale hands on each side of her tear-stained face, he brushed a few tears away and leaned down to kiss her softly. She gently grasped his wrists with both hands and closed her eyes tightly, allowing a few hot tears to make new tracks down her cheeks.
Life was better with you here,
I know it will take some time to fully
heal,
Before we say Goodbye,
"I love you, Buffy..." he whispered as he broke the kiss, and took one last
look at her face. Standing back, her turned around quickly and ran directly
toward the gaping hole. When he reached the edge, she watched him dive into the
deep pit of surging shadows and blackness without hardly any hesitation. The
ground shook violently as the darkness slowly began disappearing, the gap was
actually closing itself up. Buffy could hear the deep, agonizing screams of
Chratyl's pain as his only entrance to Earth was closing on him. She had also
heard other screams of pain mixed with those of Chratyl, they belonged to Angel.
She had been left standing there, to watch him sacrifice himself just so she
wouldn't have to fight anymore. As the hole finally sealed itself shut, she felt
her heart sink as she dropped to her knees.
Chratylia Has Ended...
Her eyes were searching desperately for a door, or a window she could crawl through to get out of this nightmare. Controlling her thoughts now would be practically impossible, her mind was on over-load. How could he do this? Admitt the things he did, and then just leave like that? Risk his life for something so...senseless. How many times had she wanted him to be strong and do things on his own, only to plead for him not to do it this time? What could he have possibly been thinking in giving his life to this demon? What could he have accomplished on his own that they couldn't do together? Why had he come back in the first place, and lied about his reasons? There was definitely something that Angel hadn't told her about what had just happened. What killed her even more is the fact that she would never know the answers to any of these questions now. Angel was gone, Riley was gone, her whole life was shattered and completely destroyed.
Unwanted change is moving on,
Still holding on to everything,
Just
to be your thoughts for awhile,
What would she tell Cordelia back in L.A.? Angel had a life there, he had people there who needed him. What was to come of his business down there now? What was she going to do about all of this? She would undoubtedly have to explain to her friends and Giles, wouldn't she? When his lips were against hers in that last moment of goodbye, she remembered the warmth she felt in being so close to him. It was like he was truly alive, although he wasn't even close to having a breath of life in his body. A part of her was glad he was gone, she could finally try to get over losing Riley in peace. On the other hand, some other part of her wished he hadn't done it, he could be there to console her and make all the terrible things in her life just disappear. She always knew he loved her, that's just how he was, but how could he just throw it in front of her the way he did? To end it all like this. She slowly wrenched herself to her feet, keeping her gaze facing downward. She sighed deeply, she was beginning to expect herself to be next.
A year ago like yesterday,
Lord you know I'd give up anything,
Just to have you here once again,
She began walking toward the entrance of the cemetary, passing the miniature mausoleum on her way. It looked just like a small playhouse, like the ones schools have for the kindergarteners. As she stopped to look at the small building, she wiped away a few more tears. Hopefully that hole will open up and swallow Spike the next time he comes prowling around here. She stuffed her hands into the pockets of her jacket, then turned to leave the cemetary for the night. A sudden shower of bright, glowing lights, followed by a heavy thud from inside the mausoleum had frozen her in mid-step. As she slowly turned toward the mausoleum, she feared the absolute worst, maybe the demon had realized that it had to get her now that it was done with Angel. As she moved toward the large marble grave, she could hear the muffled sounds of anguished moaning. Her heart was pounding hard enough to explode through her chest. She stepped past the two cement pillars on the outside, making her way toward the back of the marble-like house. Her eyes immediately caught sight of something she wasn't prepared for, her heart jumped, clouded green eyes wide in disbelief.
The words were barely able to get around the heart pounding in her throat, "...Angel..."
Even when I lied you were mine,
Even when you died you were mine.