CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR: WARRIORS AND CHAMPIONS
The Scoobies and the Slayer's trudged into the Hyperion, startling Wesley and Lorne who were sitting together in the office, discussing what their plans were now going to be. They both quickly went into the foyer area; eagre to see what the sudden flux of people was about.
Wesley's eyes lit first on Buffy, and he rushed over to greet her.
To both their surprise, he pulled her into a hug, and finally pulled back. "Where's Angel?"
Buffy looked away, and in that moment, Wesley had his answer. He took a step back in shock, his eyes flying to meet Connor's, and when he saw the tears in Angel's son's eyes, he knew that Buffy wasn't lying. Angel was dead.
"Dear god."
Lorne looked at the original Slayer, reading her almost screaming aura that spoke of pain, heartache and desperation. He stepped forward and engulfed her in a hug, stroking her hair gently. He'd grown attached to Angel's girl during her visit to LA so many weeks ago, and seeing her in so much pain was heart breaking.
"He died a champion," Lorne whispered.
Buffy nodded weakly and took a step back, wiping at her eyes.
"We uh…Sunnydale was kinda…destroyed," Buffy explained. "We were looking for a place to stay."
"Of course," Wesley replied immediately. He wasn't about to turn them away, especially not when so many of them were injured.
"It's a good thing we'd set up so many rooms after that whole Jasmine fiasco," Lorne commented.
Wesley nodded, and the Slayers began separating into groups and walking up the stairs of the hotel, claiming separate rooms, and rejoicing the fact that they no longer had to share floor space.
"Thanks for this," Buffy said quietly as they watched the assorted chaos of girls rushing up and down stairs.
"Angel would have done no different," Wesley said softly.
Buffy just nodded, still unable to really talk or think about what had happened to Angel. She was still in a state of denial, and she knew that as soon as there was a moment of quiet, it would catch up to her fully.
Nearly an hour later, Buffy finally worked up the courage to venture into Angel's room, shutting the door behind her, not wanting her privacy to be ruined by curious Slayers who wanted to know more about her relationship with Angel. With a heavy heart, she wandered aimlessly through his room, her hand absently touching the soft silk sheets of his bed.
She sat down, kicked her boots off and curled into a ball, and lay down, trying to keep her breathing even as she took in Angel's oh so familiar scent. Her heart was slowly breaking, and she knew that any second now, she was going to be a sobbing mess.
Her hand slid under the pillow and hit a leather bound journal. Curious, she pulled it out and opened the front page, an envelope falling onto the sheets. It was addressed to her. Unconsciously holding her breath, she opened the envelope and pulled out a letter, written in Angel's familiar cursive handwriting.
Beloved,
I know there is a good chance that I won't be coming back from the battle with the First. If the amulet truly does what I think it will do, and end the battle, then I know it is worth any risk that I have to take. I would gladly die a million times over to protect you, and I hope and pray that you are alive and well.
I knew that you would come to LA after the battle, and if you are reading this in my bedroom, which I only ever wanted to share with you, then I was right. In the bottom drawer of the dresser is a folder that settles my accounts. I have left everything to you and Connor, and have set up bank accounts for both of you. I know that it is not what you wanted, but it is all that I can offer you.
Be brave, my love, and continue on as I know you will try to do. Give my love to Connor and to Dawn, as well as to your friends. Never forget that you are the only woman I have ever loved in all of my years, and I am, now and forever, yours.
Always.
Angel.
Seeing his name written so finally was her undoing. She clutched the letter to her chest and let the weight of what had happened overwhelm her.
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Wesley sat at the desk in the office, still completely baffled by how everything had turned out. He hadn't even considered the thought of Angel not coming home, and now that it was reality, he was somewhat flabbergasted. He heard a soft knock at the door to the office, and he looked up to see Giles lingering in the doorway.
"Rupert," he greeted.
"Wesley."
"Can I get you anything?" Wesley asked. "Tea?"
Giles looked extremely grateful, nodding his approval as he entered the office and settled into one of the large leather chairs. Wesley handed him a cup of tea and sat back down in his own chair.
"How's Buffy doing?" Wesley asked.
Giles just shook his head sadly.
"Devastated. She hasn't come out of Angel's room yet. Connor's in there with her. Dawn had a peek in there earlier, and she said that they were just lying curled up together," Giles explained.
Wesley sighed and nodded, not having expected to hear anything better than that.
"How are you doing?" Giles asked, looking intently at the former Watcher.
"It's…it's hard to believe really," Wesley admitted. "For so long, we haven't spoken, and we were only now just beginning to become friends again. I suppose not being able to see a body and have actual proof of it is just making it that much harder."
Giles nodded understandingly. He couldn't believe how much Wesley had changed. In place of the bookish, stuffy snob who had tried to take over his position as Watcher four years ago was a confident and capable young man who finally understood what he was getting himself into. It was definitely a change for the better.
"If you don't mind my asking, where are the rest of your group?" Giles asked.
"Fred and Gunn are away at the moment," he explained. "Attempting to sort our their relationship woes. Cordelia is…comatose. And Lorne and I are the last of us."
"Comatose?" Giles repeated.
Wesley gave Giles a quick rundown of what had happened to Cordelia, beginning with the inheritance of the visions, becoming a half-demon to help the pain of the visions, and her being appointed as a 'Higher Being', which had all ultimately been the plan of an evil power. It had used Cordelia to infiltrate Angel Investigations, and had resulted in devastation for all of them when it had been revealed that Cordelia wasn't the girl that they all knew and cared for.
Giles was completely shocked by it all. Hearing that they'd been manipulated was surprising, and to hear that it had been Cordelia, one of the original Scoobies who he had considered as 'his own' was devastating.
"Will she ever wake up?" Giles asked.
Wesley shrugged helplessly. "I wish we knew. And now with Angel gone, there's no real way of finding out. Our link to the Powers was Cordelia, and the Oracles are dead."
"Dead? The Oracles? You can't just kill the Oracles," Giles said.
Wesley looked at the older man thoughtfully. "But they were killed. Nearly three years ago, by a demon by the name of Voca."
Giles was still sceptical about it though.
"Just because a demon killed the bodies of the Oracles doesn't mean they are dead. The Powers would either appoint new Oracles or restore the old ones," Giles said.
Wesley couldn't believe they'd never considered that possibility themselves. The Oracles were some of the most powerful beings on all of the realms. For them to be destroyed did seem somewhat ridiculous, and giving it even more thought, he was fairly certain that Giles was right.
"Perhaps we should try to pay them another visit then," Wesley suggested.
"Now?"
Wesley's eyes widened. "Oh no. We can't go in there. We are not Warriors. We are Teachers, Guardians, but we are not Warriors."
"Perhaps Faith, or one of the other Slayers would be up to it," Giles suggested.
Wesley sighed. He hated what he was about to suggest, but he knew that it would be Buffy who would need to speak to the Oracles. Out of all the Slayers, it was she whose destiny seemed to almost matter more. As the oldest Slayer, and possibly the greatest Slayer in centuries, it made more sense for Buffy to go before the Oracles.
"I think that Buffy should be the one to do it," Wesley said. "Not today of course, but soon. When she is feeling up to it."
"Feeling up to what?" came a familiar voice from the doorway.
Both ex-Watchers looked up, surprised to see Buffy out of Angel's room already. Her eyes were blood-shot, her cheeks stained with tears, but she looked awake and alert.
"Are you alright?" Wesley and Giles asked simultaneously.
Any other day and Buffy would have found Giles and Wesley speaking in sync incredibly funny. Today, she could barely conjure a fake half-smile.
"I'm fine. What am I meant to be feeling up to?"
"Speaking to the Oracles," Wesley explained. There was no point in hiding it from her.
"The green guys in togas, right?" Buffy asked. Angel had explained about the Oracles when they'd spoken about the events of the Day-That-Wasn't. He'd described who the Oracles were and how they had helped him.
Wesley nodded. "That would be them. We were thinking that perhaps you could go and speak with them. To discuss what will happen now. Where destiny should be leading you."
Buffy breathed in deeply. Destiny…she hated that word.
"Right now?" she asked.
"When you feel up to it," Giles said quickly.
She shrugged, trying to be nonchalant. She knew that if she stayed in Angel's room much longer, she wouldn't have been able to stay strong. And that was what a Slayer needed to be. She couldn't afford to have a breakdown now when so many other people were counting on her to lead them.
"Let's go."
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"We beseech access to the knowing ones."
There was a bursting flash of light in the archway, and Buffy took a deep breath before stepping into a large white marbled room. She swallowed nervously and stepped forward.
"Come before us Warrior," a silky male voice commanded.
Buffy stared at the two mystical beings in front of her. They were as Angel had described them, dressed in togas with their arms tattooed or painted with gold.
"Usually we would ask for an offering," the woman said, staring at Buffy intently. "But after what we have witnessed you do, both today and for the last seven years, it is we who owe are in debt to you. What is it that you wish to ask?"
"I've come for…guidance I suppose," Buffy replied.
It was the truth. The Shadowmen she'd spoken to weeks ago had told her she would be the hellmouth's last guardian, and it looked as though they were correct. What she now needed to know was what she was supposed to do with no hellmouth to watch over.
"That is natural," the woman replied. "You feel lost. You're heart is aching for it's mate."
Buffy nodded and blinked away her tears. Maybe Giles and Wesley had been right. It was too soon to be doing anything.
"His sacrifice was truly noble," the man said, a touch of sympathy in his voice. "After only just reuniting with his mate, he was able to surrender his own life."
"It as is it was written," the woman agreed.
Buffy felt anger flare within her. She'd never been fond of prophecies. They'd rarely gone well.
"Written?" she asked coldly.
"Do not be angered, Little Warrior," the woman said calmly. "Your life has never been your own. We had thought that you'd accepted this by now."
"Doesn't mean I have to like it," Buffy grumbled, fighting to keep her arms at her side and not fold them across her chest petulantly.
The woman laughed lightly and stepped towards Buffy. She placed a cool hand against Buffy's cheek and the Slayer felt something peaceful sliding through her veins. The knot in her chest loosened, and the pain from her injuries vanished. She could breath easier and focus her energies. Ever since she'd seen Angel with light pouring from his chest, she hadn't been able to think straight, and now she could finally keep her thoughts separate.
"You feel it, don't you?" the woman asked kindly.
Buffy nodded, not entirely certain what she was meant to be feeling, but knowing that whatever it was, she could feel it.
The female Oracles hand drifted from Buffy's face, down her shoulders and settled on Buffy's stomach.
"Can you feel him still?" she asked.
Buffy looked at her incredulously. "Who? I'm not…I can't be…"
"No, Warrior, you are not pregnant," the male informed her, his voice neither cold nor unsympathetic. "Can you feel your mate?"
Buffy felt everything freeze. She'd never thought of that. The despair, panic and devastation had stopped her from focussing her energies and trying to feel Angel within her very soul. She could still feel him! But that didn't make any sense. No one could have survived what Angel had gone through. The light would have burnt him, the collapsing school would have crushed him, and the complete destruction of the town would have finished him off for sure.
"Oh god…I can feel him," she whispered, her eyes filling with teas. "Why can I still feel him?"
The female smiled at her sympathetically. "It is not until you truly let got that your questions will be answered."
Buffy had no idea what was going on. Even with the new focus in her mind, she couldn't seem to grasp what they were telling her. The Oracles sensed her confusion and distress.
"Say your goodbyes to him Warrior," the woman said gently. "If you love him, let him go."
Buffy looked at them, and the two Oracles couldn't help but feel touched by the anguish in this young Warrior's heart. They knew what was to come, and could only hope that the Warrior would be strong enough to survive the coming months.
"You must train them, your sister-slayers," the male Oracle said. "Teach them about love and life, and what it truly means to be a Slayer. Whether you wanted it or not, their lives are in your hands."
"That's what I…"
"Said to Faith," the woman finished for Buffy. "Good advice it was as well, Little Warrior. They are your next mission. Teach them, train them, and allow nature to take its course."
"What?"
"Death happens, Warrior," the male explained. "Especially in war. You will not be able to prevent them all from passing. Protect them, mourn for them, but do not feel guilt for their deaths."
"But they're Slayers because of me," Buffy protested.
"They chose this course," the Oracles corrected her simultaneously. It was the woman who continued. "If they choose not to fight, to protect their fellow mortals, that is the choice that they will have to live with, but you are not to blame if any or all of them are to perish in battle."
"If your idea had not been approved by the Powers, the spell would have killed your witch-friend," the male said.
Buffy felt a chill of fear run down her spine at the thought of Willow being killed because of the spell that Buffy had suggested. She just thanked the Powers that the idea of sharing the burden of Slayerness had been approved.
"That is all we can tell you at this time, Little Warrior," the woman said kindly. "And remember….let him go."
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*sniffs* Rah. Glad you guys are still enjoying this thing! Two more chapters to go!
Toodles.