For
the first time in who knows how long, Angel actually slept for an entire
day. He climbed out of bed and
dressed. Today was the day.
He
arrived at Cordelia's apartment shortly after sundown and knocked. The door opened by itself, and Angel stepped
inside.
"Cordy?"
"In
here!" a voice called from the kitchen. Cordelia rolled out of the kitchen and smiled at Angel.
"Where's
Buffy?" Angel asked, noting that his seer was alone.
"Oh,
she and Riley went to grab some dinner; I wasn't hungry so I conned my way
out. What's up?" Angel knelt beside her
and took her hand.
"Cordelia,
I want you to come with me."
"Why,
is there an emergency?" She looked at him rather confused; Angel was acting
very strange.
"I
want to heal your legs." His statement shocked her, and she just stared at him
like he was out of his mind.
"Angel…how?"
It sounded really stupid, but it was all she could think of. The vampire ran his hand down her cheek and
actually smiled at her.
"Trust
me, Delia."
"Um…okay."
She consented with even thinking. His
eyes held a warmth in them that she'd only seen once- when he'd held her in the
hospital.
"Good,
now, let's go."
Angel
was glad that he'd found Cordelia alone; he didn't want to have to get everyone
else involved in this. He approached
his destination and stopped his car. Walking around, he opened the door and pulled Cordy's legs out. Without warning, he picked her up and kicked
the door shut.
"Heh,
what gives? I need my chair." Angel
shook his head.
"No,
you won't; you won't need it ever again. I promise." The determination in his voice almost made her believe him.
Angel
carried her down the steps and into the waiting room. Just as he'd expected, an older man came out of the door. He was dressed as an English butler and
seemed to recognize Angel.
"May
I help you?"
"Yes,
I want you to heal her legs; she can't walk anymore," Angel answered. The man shook his head.
"I'm
sorry, but I can only let you go through the trial once."
"Trial?"
Cordelia asked.
"Look!"
Angel said sharply. "I passed your stupid trial last time, and you screwed me
over. I deserve another chance and so
does she." The old man rubbed his chin for a moment and nodded his head.
"Very
well, you're request is granted, but you must pass the trial once again."
"What
for? I already did!"
"It
is required; if you do not, I cannot help you."
"Fine,
let's just get it over with." Angel wasn't too happy about having to go through
this again. The last time he'd had to
go through a hallway full of crosses, grab a key out of bowl of holy water, and
survive a room full of stakes. It was
not something he was itching to face again.
"You
may put her over there," the man stated, gesturing to a couch against the wall.
"Angel,
what are you doing?" Cordelia gasped as he set her down.
"I'm
going to heal you."
"Yeah
but, what is this about a trial?" He cupped her face in his hand.
"Don't
worry about it, I'll be fine." Angel knew that he was lying, but the last thing
that he needed was Cordy worrying about him.
"It
is time." Angel turned towards the old man and walked towards the doorway that
he was standing next to. Angel glanced
back at Cordelia one last time and walked inside, just as the door closed
behind him.
"What
is he doing?" Cordelia asked the 'constable'.
"This
place is meant for people with terminal illnesses. They are allowed to be healed, but someone must pass three tests
to earn it."
"What
kind of tests?"
"It
is different for each person, but essentially, they must face their worst
fears."
"What!"
Cordelia nearly screamed. Angel hadn't
told her anything about this. Damn him,
he was such a prude sometimes.
Angel
walked down a dark hallway, looking for anything out of the ordinary. Suddenly, a pathway lit up in front of
him. He could see dark gaps on both
sides of the wall. On the floor in
front of him were various symbols and certain ones had sunlight shining on
them.
"Great,
I bet the only real ones are the ones with sunlight." Testing his theory, Angel
tossed a rock onto one of the dark tiles. A pendulum, bearing a giant axe, swung across the room not more than two
inches in front of Angel's face.
"Damn,
this is never easy." A picture of Cordelia sitting in her wheelchair flashed
through his mind, and his eyes narrowed.
Angel
leapt to the first tile, and his flesh began to burn. He rolled forward and landed on the second one. Ignoring the pain, he jumped across the
darker tiles and landed on the third one. His arms lit on fire, and Angel growled in pain. He rolled onto the fourth tile, but he
clipped one of the wrong ones, and a barrage of stakes just missed his
head. Feeling himself ready to explode,
Angel lunged forward and out of the room. He rolled around on the floor, trying to put out the fire on his
clothes.
Meanwhile,
Cordelia was busy waiting for him. She
never been a very patient person, and this was driving her nuts.
"Ah,
what is he doing?" she groaned.
"Do
you wish to know?" the constable asked her. Cordelia looked at him in surprise but nodded her head.
"Yes,
I do."
"One
person may observe the trial; however, you cannot interfere with it."
"I
understand." He passed his hand over Cordelia's face, and she felt a surge
through her mind, much like when she saw a vision.
"Angel!"
she gasped as she saw in struggling to his feet. She could see that his arms were burn, along with his back and
face.
Angel
picked himself up off the floor and pressed on. He entered a second room, and the entryway behind him was
immediately sealed. His eyes flashed
around the room, but he couldn't detect any danger…except from…
Angel
turned to his right, and an armored appeared out of the wall. It held a massive broadsword, and a cross
was engraved across his breastplate. His faceplate was lowered, and Angel felt that he did not want to see
the face that was hidden beneath it.
"Prepare
for battle, demon."
"Hey,
wait a minute!" Angel ducked just as the warrior took a swipe at him. He rolled away from his opponent and sprung
to his feet.
"Fine,
you want to fight then so be it." The warrior charged at Angel, and the vampire
just barely missed being skewered. The
sword did manage to clip his side, and Angel growled in pain.
"What
the? Why the hell did that hurt so
much?" The warrior laughed at him.
"This
is no ordinary sword, vampire; it is made of solid silver!"
"You've
to be kidding me!" Angel avoided another thrust and ducked under another
swipe. Silver was not something he
wanted to mess with. It was not fatal
to him at first but prolonged exposure of it to his blood could cause him to
have a severe allergic reaction.
"What's
wrong, vampire, are you scared of me?" Angel scrambled out of the way just as
the warrior brought his sword down in an overhead swing.
"No
wonder I never saw anything made of silver at the hotel," Cordelia gasped.
"Silver? Ah yes, it can be deadly to vampires if
enough gets into their bloodstream," the constable stated.
Angel
knew that he couldn't keep dodging like this. He wasn't tired, but his reflexes were slowed due to the pain coming the
burns on his body. He needed a plan,
and he needed one now.
Drawing
the warrior up against the wall, Angel ducked his attack, and the sword sparked
against the wall. Angel grabbed one of
the torches from side of the wall and pinned the sword against the stone
side. He booted the warrior in the
stomach and forced him to relinquish his sword.
"Damn
you, vampire, you will die." Angel caught the sword in his hand and gripped it
tightly.
"Not
today," and he rammed the blade straight into the warrior's heart. The silver went through his armor like a hot
knife through butter. The armored
figure collapsed to the floor and faded away into nothingness. Upon his death, the front door to the room
opened for Angel, and the vampire headed for his final test.
"He
did it!" Cordelia said happily. "That's the Angel I know; no one can beat him."
"What
about himself?" the constable asked.
"Excuse
me?"
"Watch
and see what I mean."
Angel
reached the lighted end of another stone tunnel and entered the final
trial. Like clockwork, the doorways
sealed, and every torch on the wall lit up.
"Okay,
this is getting old, just bring on the test already." A side gateway opened,
and a hooded figure walked into the room. Angel's instincts told him to be on guard, and he felt an unusual
feeling of déjà vu.
"So,
who are you?" Angel asked.
"Why,
don't you recognize me?" the hooded figure said in an evil voice. If Angel's heart had been beating, it would
have stopped cold.
"I
know that voice!"
"I
should hope so; it is your own!" and the figure flung off his cloak.
"Oh
dear God!" Cordelia nearly screamed. "It can't be…"
"This
is his final test," the constable confirmed.
Angel
had fought almost every man and beast known, but he had never expected this.
"Why
are you here…Angelus!"
Author's Notes: I know…it's been a long time since I've updated this. Sorry that I didn't add the final trial, but I wanted to let it have it's own chapter. Just imagine… Angel vs. Angelus…who is gonna win?
