Title: Letalis Lamia Antiquus : Arma Argentum
Disclaimer: I do not own anything. Buffy/Angel and company belong to Joss and Mutant Enemy.
Author's Note: This is the first FanFiction I have ever written and posted. Take it! Read it! Love it, or Hate it! But don't try and pass it off as your own. Please tell me what you think.
Pairings: Willow/Kenny, Faith/Buffy, and maybe one more with an unknown.
Setting: Takes place right at the end of "Chosen" (Starts with the lines the show ended on)
Prologue
Constantinople, 1204
The armored stone that had once provided a barrier from enemy threats on Constantinople's ground region was beginning to crumble. The protective wall was no longer keeping out the onslaught of the invading Venetians. The attackers advanced with determination, wearing silver chain mails under a fleece bearing the cross of Christ. Armed with bows, long swords, and torches, the Venetians, led by Isaac Angelus, the dethroned Emperor of Constantinople, stormed the city burning and ransacking homes and churches for any valuable treasures they could find. Arrows, bolts, canons and fire had killed off most of the knights and soldiers, as well as demolishing most of the towns structures.
'This is truly hopeless,' Alexius Murzuphla, the defense of Constantinople, thought to himself.
'It is going to take somewhat of a miracle to survive this onslaught and prevent the Venetians from seizing the city,' he acknowledged.
He decided to fall back into Hagia Sophia, the church of the holy wisdom with an ark that belonged to Count Thibaud de Champagne. He had promised to keep this sealed treasure out of the hands of the evaders even if the cost was his life.
..........
Clerics and knights, in their eagerness to acquire famous and priceless relics, took part in the sack of churches. The Venetians received half of the treasures, each portion determined according to his or her rank. Most of the West was to be enriched with ornaments that were being stripped from the churches of Constantinople. During their ransacking of the churches, Dandolo, Baron of Venice, found Alexius kneeling in front of the cross at the head of the church. This church was beautiful, a vast circular dome hung around 100 of so feet overhead, while on both the east and the west, vast semi-domes surmounted three large vaulted niches of the sanctuary below. The windows that surrounded the church were stained and colored,and the ceiling was full of wonderful paintings of saints.
"It is over, you have been defeated," claimed Dandolo triumphantly as he slowly made his way up the middle of the three isles.
"You may have won the battle, but the war is far from over," Alexius stated as he turned to face his foe.
"Give it up Murzuphla! You are foolish to believe such nonsense, you know as well as I do that the war is over, Constantinople now belongs to the Christians," Dandolo insisted as he stopped a few feet in front of Alexius.
Alexius smiled. "You are the foolish one to believe that the war is over! It's far from over; this is just a step taken to bring on the apocalypse. We are only human, and we can be so naïve when it comes to seeing the clear picture." Alexius said with a light laugh.
"What. What are you talking about Alexius?" Dandolo blurted, terrified at what he had just heard.
"Time will tell Dandolo, time will tell!" Alexius stated as he lifted the lid off the ark. He then reached in and carefully took out a Vortex Orb that held a white glass crystal.
"All I need to fulfill my destiny is a human sacrifice to power the orb!" Alexius continued. [i] "And I think you will do just fine." He laughed.
Suddenly Dandolo felt someone pull his head back. He eyes met yellows eyes that seemed to glow. "Wha.Who are you?" Dandolo stuttered.
"Why, I'm the beginning to your end my friend" the demonic figured stated. He pushed Dandolo's head to the side bearing his neck. "This will all be over shortly," he said as he sank his sharp fangs into Dandolo's neck.
Alexius was pleased. "Very Good Baldwin, his life will be the key to bringing hell to this earth, it seems we will be victorious after all."
..........
Baldwin took the dead body of Dandolo and slung it over his shoulder. He took the body to the front of the church and placed it carefully on the stone alter, assuring that the body was in the right position. Alexius began to light the candles that were surrounding the alter. He claimed that the candles were needed in order to perform the ritual. When everything was prepared, Alexius took a cup that had been filled with Dandolo's blood, and splashed it on the Cross that was at the head of the church. Proceeding with the ritual, he brought the Vortex Orb and stood in just apex of Dandolo's body.
"It is time Baldwin, take your position at the base of the alter." Alexius ordered.
"Yes Sir!" Baldwin replied as he took his place.
Alexius began to chant, which caused the white crystal to start glowing, giving off an amazing pure light, a magical mixture of fire and water. "Forem imperiosus peremptum tempus temporis pervalidus rubor." he was interrupted when the doors of the church were smashed open.
"What is going on in here?" Isaac asked as he entered the door preceding his army of warriors. "Dandolo! Seize them, they are to be executed in the name of Christ for betrayal of the Holy Order." He yelled after he saw Dandolo's dead body on the alter. The first regiment of Isaac's troops approached the alter cautiously. Two of the knights grabbed Baldwin and attempted to carry him away.
"You fools, you can not stop the inevitable!" Baldwin yelled as he shifted into game face. "The world is doomed no matter what you do. If you break the ritual, you could surely bring more destruction than that which would be brought if the ritual was completed!" He laughed. He then pushed off the two knights and dove for Isaac.
"By the Order of the Holy Sepulchre, I banish you to the pits of hell!" Isaac said loudly as he swung at Baldwin's head. As he brought the sword back to his side, Baldwin's head was decapitated, followed by his body bursting into dust. Turning his attention back to the front of the church, he ordered his men
"Seize him and bring him to me! This will end now." The knights obeyed the command and seized Alexius.
"If you disturb the ritual, we will all die I promise you!" Alexius stated.
Neglecting Alexius' statement the knights pulled him away from the alter and began to drag him to Isaac. The white Crystal began to turn black and the ground began to shake. The pillars that had held up the domes of the church were beginning to crack, and strong winds shattered the glass windows along the sides of the church.
"I told you, we are all going to die!" Alexius yelled.
Suddenly the crystal broke free from its Orb, and began to levitate in the air. The black crystal then began to give us a dark mass of energy the filled the church. Screams could be heard as the men tried to escape the expanding mist, but it was no use. The mass of energy took over each body like a plague, leaving them to die on the church floor. When it had finished sucking the life force out of each being inside the church, the crystal shot up into the sky and disappeared from site. Everything was then calm. The bodies of the knights, Isaac, and Alexius laid lifeless on the floor of the church.
..........
"What do you suppose we do now my lord?" A Dark figure said from the Church loft.
"We will find the Crystal of Sepelio." His counterpart complied as he jumped to the floor below.
"But my Lord Diabolus, that could take centuries, and the Master will not be pleased with us for letting it out of our grasp." The Dark figure stated.
"The search will be hard, but we must find it. You must understand Acidus, the crystal has tremendous power, even you couldn't understand the unspeakable power that the Master could possess with this in his hands." Diabolus replied. Acidus snatched the Vortex Orb out of the lifeless hands of Alexius.
"This will be useful for when we find the crystal" Acidus stated.
"That it will be, lets get going, dawn is just a few hours away, and we got a long journey ahead of us." Diabolus answered. They took one more look at the bodies that now covered the church floor before turning and exiting the church doors, only to disappear into the darkness of the night.
..........
Disclaimer: I do not own anything. Buffy/Angel and company belong to Joss and Mutant Enemy.
Author's Note: This is the first FanFiction I have ever written and posted. Take it! Read it! Love it, or Hate it! But don't try and pass it off as your own. Please tell me what you think.
Pairings: Willow/Kenny, Faith/Buffy, and maybe one more with an unknown.
Setting: Takes place right at the end of "Chosen" (Starts with the lines the show ended on)
Prologue
Constantinople, 1204
The armored stone that had once provided a barrier from enemy threats on Constantinople's ground region was beginning to crumble. The protective wall was no longer keeping out the onslaught of the invading Venetians. The attackers advanced with determination, wearing silver chain mails under a fleece bearing the cross of Christ. Armed with bows, long swords, and torches, the Venetians, led by Isaac Angelus, the dethroned Emperor of Constantinople, stormed the city burning and ransacking homes and churches for any valuable treasures they could find. Arrows, bolts, canons and fire had killed off most of the knights and soldiers, as well as demolishing most of the towns structures.
'This is truly hopeless,' Alexius Murzuphla, the defense of Constantinople, thought to himself.
'It is going to take somewhat of a miracle to survive this onslaught and prevent the Venetians from seizing the city,' he acknowledged.
He decided to fall back into Hagia Sophia, the church of the holy wisdom with an ark that belonged to Count Thibaud de Champagne. He had promised to keep this sealed treasure out of the hands of the evaders even if the cost was his life.
..........
Clerics and knights, in their eagerness to acquire famous and priceless relics, took part in the sack of churches. The Venetians received half of the treasures, each portion determined according to his or her rank. Most of the West was to be enriched with ornaments that were being stripped from the churches of Constantinople. During their ransacking of the churches, Dandolo, Baron of Venice, found Alexius kneeling in front of the cross at the head of the church. This church was beautiful, a vast circular dome hung around 100 of so feet overhead, while on both the east and the west, vast semi-domes surmounted three large vaulted niches of the sanctuary below. The windows that surrounded the church were stained and colored,and the ceiling was full of wonderful paintings of saints.
"It is over, you have been defeated," claimed Dandolo triumphantly as he slowly made his way up the middle of the three isles.
"You may have won the battle, but the war is far from over," Alexius stated as he turned to face his foe.
"Give it up Murzuphla! You are foolish to believe such nonsense, you know as well as I do that the war is over, Constantinople now belongs to the Christians," Dandolo insisted as he stopped a few feet in front of Alexius.
Alexius smiled. "You are the foolish one to believe that the war is over! It's far from over; this is just a step taken to bring on the apocalypse. We are only human, and we can be so naïve when it comes to seeing the clear picture." Alexius said with a light laugh.
"What. What are you talking about Alexius?" Dandolo blurted, terrified at what he had just heard.
"Time will tell Dandolo, time will tell!" Alexius stated as he lifted the lid off the ark. He then reached in and carefully took out a Vortex Orb that held a white glass crystal.
"All I need to fulfill my destiny is a human sacrifice to power the orb!" Alexius continued. [i] "And I think you will do just fine." He laughed.
Suddenly Dandolo felt someone pull his head back. He eyes met yellows eyes that seemed to glow. "Wha.Who are you?" Dandolo stuttered.
"Why, I'm the beginning to your end my friend" the demonic figured stated. He pushed Dandolo's head to the side bearing his neck. "This will all be over shortly," he said as he sank his sharp fangs into Dandolo's neck.
Alexius was pleased. "Very Good Baldwin, his life will be the key to bringing hell to this earth, it seems we will be victorious after all."
..........
Baldwin took the dead body of Dandolo and slung it over his shoulder. He took the body to the front of the church and placed it carefully on the stone alter, assuring that the body was in the right position. Alexius began to light the candles that were surrounding the alter. He claimed that the candles were needed in order to perform the ritual. When everything was prepared, Alexius took a cup that had been filled with Dandolo's blood, and splashed it on the Cross that was at the head of the church. Proceeding with the ritual, he brought the Vortex Orb and stood in just apex of Dandolo's body.
"It is time Baldwin, take your position at the base of the alter." Alexius ordered.
"Yes Sir!" Baldwin replied as he took his place.
Alexius began to chant, which caused the white crystal to start glowing, giving off an amazing pure light, a magical mixture of fire and water. "Forem imperiosus peremptum tempus temporis pervalidus rubor." he was interrupted when the doors of the church were smashed open.
"What is going on in here?" Isaac asked as he entered the door preceding his army of warriors. "Dandolo! Seize them, they are to be executed in the name of Christ for betrayal of the Holy Order." He yelled after he saw Dandolo's dead body on the alter. The first regiment of Isaac's troops approached the alter cautiously. Two of the knights grabbed Baldwin and attempted to carry him away.
"You fools, you can not stop the inevitable!" Baldwin yelled as he shifted into game face. "The world is doomed no matter what you do. If you break the ritual, you could surely bring more destruction than that which would be brought if the ritual was completed!" He laughed. He then pushed off the two knights and dove for Isaac.
"By the Order of the Holy Sepulchre, I banish you to the pits of hell!" Isaac said loudly as he swung at Baldwin's head. As he brought the sword back to his side, Baldwin's head was decapitated, followed by his body bursting into dust. Turning his attention back to the front of the church, he ordered his men
"Seize him and bring him to me! This will end now." The knights obeyed the command and seized Alexius.
"If you disturb the ritual, we will all die I promise you!" Alexius stated.
Neglecting Alexius' statement the knights pulled him away from the alter and began to drag him to Isaac. The white Crystal began to turn black and the ground began to shake. The pillars that had held up the domes of the church were beginning to crack, and strong winds shattered the glass windows along the sides of the church.
"I told you, we are all going to die!" Alexius yelled.
Suddenly the crystal broke free from its Orb, and began to levitate in the air. The black crystal then began to give us a dark mass of energy the filled the church. Screams could be heard as the men tried to escape the expanding mist, but it was no use. The mass of energy took over each body like a plague, leaving them to die on the church floor. When it had finished sucking the life force out of each being inside the church, the crystal shot up into the sky and disappeared from site. Everything was then calm. The bodies of the knights, Isaac, and Alexius laid lifeless on the floor of the church.
..........
"What do you suppose we do now my lord?" A Dark figure said from the Church loft.
"We will find the Crystal of Sepelio." His counterpart complied as he jumped to the floor below.
"But my Lord Diabolus, that could take centuries, and the Master will not be pleased with us for letting it out of our grasp." The Dark figure stated.
"The search will be hard, but we must find it. You must understand Acidus, the crystal has tremendous power, even you couldn't understand the unspeakable power that the Master could possess with this in his hands." Diabolus replied. Acidus snatched the Vortex Orb out of the lifeless hands of Alexius.
"This will be useful for when we find the crystal" Acidus stated.
"That it will be, lets get going, dawn is just a few hours away, and we got a long journey ahead of us." Diabolus answered. They took one more look at the bodies that now covered the church floor before turning and exiting the church doors, only to disappear into the darkness of the night.
..........
