Disclaimer: I own nothing…I'm serious nothing.
Spoilers: Nope…okay maybe a few…possibly…oh I don't know
Dedication: To anyone who sent me a review
Author's Note: I took pieces from The Craft for the
ritual.
AUTHORS NOTE: WHILE FANFICTION.NET WAS DOWN THIS STORY HAS BEEN UPDATED FROM CHAPTER
ONE TO CHAPTER SEVEN. YOU MIGHT WANT TO START AT THE BEGINNING.
CHOICES – A Buffy/ Angel Saga
Chapter 7 – Rituals
Buffy slipped into the bathroom and tried to get herself
together before heading back out to the great room. She didn't want the gang to
see her like this most especially Angel. She knew that he would misread her and
try to talk her out of doing this ritual. She washed her face and then headed
back out. She didn't see Riley so she could only assume that he was still in
the room or had maybe even left, not that she could blame him.
Buffy walked up beside Giles and watched as he prepared a
mixture of herbs. Buffy continued to walk around as Willow and Tara were going
over the ritual incantations. She felt nervous and at the same time she was
anticipating what this ritual would mean for her and Angel in the long run.
Wesley and Cordelia cleared a space on the floor and
Spike and Dawn walked in with the rest of the stuff needed to work the spell.
"All right then I think we are ready to go. Where…where
is Angel?" Giles questioned as he looked around the room.
"I'll look for him." Buffy offered.
Buffy wandered down the hall and headed upstairs towards
the master bedroom. The door was closed and she knocked gently.
"Angel?"
Buffy slowly opened the door to find Angel laying on his
bed and facing the window. She saw him react to her presence and then turn
towards her. She stood in the doorway almost afraid to go in any further but
then Angel reached his hand out to her and it was all she needed.
Buffy crawled up onto the bed beside Angel and he pulled
her in close. They both reveled in the feel of holding the other neither one
knowing how long it would last but each wishing for eternity. It was a long
time before either one of them spoke and it was Buffy who broke the silence.
"They are ready for us downstairs."
"Buffy are you sure you want to do this? I mean because
this spell is involved and it…" Angel was struggling.
"What?"
"We are going to be really connected after this, so much more
than we are now. It…it might be more than you can handle."
"More than you can handle meaning me or more than you can
handle meaning Riley?"
"Well this is going to affect your relationship with…him.
I don't want you to do something you're going to regret."
"Angel as far as Riley and I are concerned well let's
just say our boat was already sinking before we set out to sail."
Angel looked at her funny and Buffy had to stifle a
giggle.
"My relationship with Riley has already suffered major
damage because of this whole thing. Besides I uh…oh this is harder than I
thought…I uh…maybe we should go downstairs the ritual you know."
"What is it Buffy, I need you to be sure about this."
Buffy took a deep breath and looked him straight in the
eyes.
"I love you, never stopped and my feelings for Riley are
not what I led everyone to believe they were. What about you? Are you sure
about doing this?"
"I would do anything to protect you but I'm not the issue
here."
"You are just as much an issue here as I am. It is just
as important that you do this willingly and without reservation as I do."
Buffy sighed heavily and turned to face him.
"Angel I can't have any kind of life if I am dead now can
I?"
"No but…"
Buffy put her fingers against his mouth effectively
quieting him.
"No buts, we need to do this so we are doing it all
right?"
Angel nodded and got up off of the bed and held out his
hand to Buffy helping her to her feet. When they got to the bedchamber door
Buffy stopped Angel from opening it and when he turned to look at her she
reached her hand up behind his neck and pulled his mouth down to hers. The kiss
was painstakingly sweet, full of the promises of things to come. They then
walked downstairs and Angel took Buffy's hand before they walked into the room
and gave it a gentle squeeze. Wesley came over and told Buffy and Angel what
would happen in the ritual while the others continued to prepare.
Buffy had been given a thin white slip type dress to wear
and Angel a pair of thin white cotton pants. Both were to be bare foot and had
gone to do the ritual cleansing.
Cordelia and Tara had gone with Buffy to help her. They
had run her a bath with oils and rose petals infused in the water. Cordelia and
Tara then poured stainless steel containers of the water over her while they
chanted.
"Let her be cleansed. Let her prepare to take his soul
into her own. Let these blessed waters protect her from the evil that would
infect her. They will be one. They will be one. Two souls come together, alone
they are weak but together they are strong. Blessed be."
When they were done Cordelia and Tara pulled Buffy's gown
over her still wet body and then they wrapped the towel around her hair trying
to absorb the excess water from it. They anointed her forehead and chest with
oils and other magic pastes as well as weaved flowers and stones into her hair.
At the same time Wesley and Xander had taken Angel to
another bathroom and he was bathed in a very similar fashion. They had used
slightly different herbs and oils in his bath than Buffy's but the chant was
the same.
When they had finished Angel slipped into the pants he
was to wear and they anointed Angel's body with oils and magical pastes and
then lead him down to the great room.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
In the great room of the mansion the floor had been
cleared of furniture and Willow was wearing what looked like a white floor
length nightgown and she had no shoes on her feet. Buffy and Angel watched as
Giles and Willow made a circle on the floor with some white powder and then
they chanted in what Buffy assumed was Latin. Willow then stepped inside the
circle. Giles handed Willow a small dagger and he motioned for Buffy to step
towards Willow. Buffy stood right on the edge of the circle and Willow held the
dagger to the hollow of Buffy's throat.
"It is better that you should rush upon this blade now
than to enter this circle with fear in your heart. How do you enter?"
"With perfect love and perfect trust."
Buffy and Willow leaned into one another and kissed
chastely on the mouth. As they did this the protective barrier shimmered and
then Buffy stepped over the line now standing inside the circle with Willow.
Willow affixed a wooden sheath to the dagger and handed it to Buffy.
Buffy stood where Willow had moments before and Angel
stood where Buffy had been. Buffy held the dagger to Angel's heart.
"It is better that you should rush upon this blade now
than to enter this circle with fear in your heart. How do you enter?"
"With perfect love and perfect trust."
Riley had chosen that moment to return. He walked into
the great room to see Buffy and Angel lean into one another and kiss gently.
The passionate energy that encompassed and surrounded them shone like a bright
light. Angel then stepped over the barrier into the circle with the two girls.
Buffy took the dagger and pointed the blade skyward.
"As above."
She flipped it so it was now pointing down.
"So below." And she stuck it into the floor.
Giles, Wesley, Tara and Xander all took up a position
around the circle creating a square. Each one had something representative of
the four corners: earth, air, fire, and water.
Giles began chanting first both his arms outstretched
skyward.
"Hail to the guardians of the watchtowers of the East.
Powers of air and invention. Hear us."
Next Wesley.
"Hail to the guardians of the watchtowers of the South.
Powers of fire and feeling. Hear us."
Now Xander.
"Hail to the guardians of the watchtowers of the West.
Powers of water and intuition. Hear us."
Finally Tara.
"Hail to the guardians of the watchtowers of the North.
Powers of mother and earth. Hear us."
Now Willow chants.
"Aide us in our magical working on this May's eve.
Spirits of the interregnum show us your glory show us your power. We pray of
thee, we invoke thee, we summon and stir thee."
Willow put Buffy's right wrist and Angel's left wrist and
bound them with a silk sash.
"Bind these souls and combine the essence. Let them drink
of each other and become one. Strengthen their bond and join them. Soul mates
united missing pieces now brought forth and made whole. Alone they are weak,
together they are strong. Take of mine offering and let my will be done."
Willow took the dagger and made a small incision on her
wrist letting some blood drip into a bowl filled with herbs. She lit a match
and dropped it into the bowl. The mixture burned and then exploded in a flash
of bright purple light. Willow turned to Buffy.
"Buffy do you take into yourself Angel's soul, protecting
it as it protects you?"
"Yes."
"Do you have a symbol of this commitment?"
"Yes."
"Give this symbol to Angel."
Buffy took Angel's hand and slipped his claddaugh onto
his finger.
"Angel I give you this symbol which represents my
commitment to you. I will protect your soul, heart and body as I protect my own
until I no longer exist on this plain or any other."
Willow then took the dagger and sliced Buffy's free palm
letting blood drip into a goblet. She then turned to Angel.
"Angel do you take into yourself Buffy's soul, protecting
it as it protects you?"
"Yes."
"Do you have a symbol of this commitment?'
"Yes."
"Give this symbol to Buffy."
Angel took Buffy's hand and slipped her claddaugh onto
her finger.
"Buffy I give you this symbol which represents my
commitment to you. I will protect your soul, heart and body as I protect my own
until I no longer exist on this plain or any other."
Willow took the dagger and sliced Angel's palm collecting
the blood in a goblet. She brought Angel and Buffy's cut hands together letting
their blood mix. She then wrapped a silk sash around their hands loosely
binding them.
She held the goblet of Buffy's blood to Angel's lips and
he drank. She held the goblet of Angel's blood to Buffy's lips and she drank.
Willow pored the remaining blood from each goblet into a bowl filled with
magic's and she mixed it into a thick liquid. She held one side of the bowl to
Buffy's mouth and again she drank then brought the other side to Angel's mouth
and he drank. The rest was poured over the cuts on their hands and then they
pressed their palms together, their blood and the magical mixture Willow mixed
seeping into the one another.
"As I will it so shall it be done."
Suddenly Buffy and Angel's eyes glowed and a bright light
enveloped them before an explosion knocked them all to the ground.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Buffy's head hurt and she struggled to sit up. She found
the motion made her dizzy and she went to cradle her head in her hands but
found that one of her hands was bloody and sticky and the other was tied to
Angel. She looked around the room to see Willow lying close to her and the
others scattered around the room.
Buffy untied her hand and tried to wake Angel. She shook
him gently and he stirred slightly. She ran her bloodied hand along the side of
his face and he turned into her palm and his tongue snaked out searching for
the blood. She let him lave her palm a moment before gently pulling away.
Angel feeling her pull away opened his eyes to search her
out. He found her a few feet away leaning over Willow. He looked around the
room seeing the spread of unconscious bodies scattered about. He carefully and
slowly got to his feet. He staggered over to where Wesley lay on the floor and
tried to rouse him and he saw Buffy continue to tend to one of the others. One
by one they checked each of their friends until they both found themselves
standing in front of Riley Buffy simply reached down and felt for his pulse.
Determining he was alive and simply knocked out she decided it was best to
leave him there like that a while. Angel wasn't about to argue.
It took about forty-five minutes to an hour to get
everyone back to consciousness and they all sat in relative silence for a while
afterwards. Buffy had been itching to be close to Angel but with Riley's close
scrutiny of her and him she didn't dare. She was pacing back and forth feeling
like she wanted to crawl out of her skin. The ritual had definitely done
something to her and all she had to do was glance in Angel's direction to know
that he felt the same way that she did. Finally she couldn't stand it anymore.
"I'm going on patrol." She announced.
Giles looked like he was going to object but after seeing
the look on Buffy's face thought better of it.
Buffy headed out and was hoping for a good fight to work
off some of this tension that was coursing through her. It wasn't long before a
trio of vamps crossed her path. Buffy could only grin evilly at the vamps
before she broke out in a run towards them. She fought good and hard and fast
and took the three out in record time. The adrenaline rush that surged through
her veins was almost equivalent to an orgasm.
Buffy continued walking along her route when she sensed
another vampire. She could feel him coming up behind her and she waited until
the last minute before ducking as a fist swung out over her head. Buffy had
dropped down into a roll and came up facing her opponent.
"Angel damn it that is a really good way to get yourself
staked."
"Sorry I just wanted to test your reflexes."
Buffy reached out to smack his chest but he caught her
hand and she stumbled closer to him. She looked up into his eyes and she
couldn't help but fall in love with him all over again. She laid her hand flat
over where his heart laid still, his hand covering hers.
"I can't believe that everything that is in you is in me
too. I feel you so much stronger than I did before."
"I know I felt it too back at the mansion. The ritual, the
bonding was really powerful."
Buffy leaned her head against Angel's chest and he
automatically wrapped his arm around her, brining her in close to him. She
couldn't help but moan, as his closeness seemed to overtake her. She looked up
to his face and found she wanted nothing more than to taste his lips.
Apparently Angel felt the same way as he bent his head down and captured her
lips with his own.
The kiss, though simply and almost chaste, was incredibly
passionate and the two lovers began to glow brightly as their love for one
another manifested. Reluctantly they pulled apart.
"Wow that was…"
"Intense?"
"Yea intense."
"We uh we should get back and talk to Willow about how
the bonding will help us defeat Ha Nachash. Once we do we'll have all the time in
the world for this."
Buffy looked at Angel skeptically.
"Will we really Angel?"
Angel didn't answer; instead he took her by the hand and
led her back towards the mansion.