Grimms and Gods
by Daniele-Marx
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Disclaimer: I do not own "Angel" or anyone from BtVS. Chapter Two!
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
After a long while Deni was approached by Angel as she was reading through some hunting fire demons who wielded swords as weapons. There were none. This struck her as odd and she closed the book, looking up and seeing Angel holding a book open in front of her. Deni hesitated as he grabbed her full attention and read a sentence of the book. This section was about the Stellio-Arrak pendant, the fire red jewel encased in a large salamander, a Stellio. Scanning a bit more, she found a point in a paragraph, placed her finger on the part she read, and looked up at Angel. He turned the book back towards him and read what she pointed at:
"The Stellio-Arrak pendant originated during
the 1400s by the goddess Melynadia, the Fire
Tamer half-goddess, who disappeared
immediately after the creation of the pendant.
Arrak was the god whose duty was to rise the
sun everyday. It was said that the pendant
would control the primal urges of the
undead..."
"How are you possible? Even vampires who have lived for such a long time have been noted and remembered by other vampires. Even I would have known about you...actually, I think I'm more interested in where you got that pendant from." Deni drew out her necklace unconsciously and looked at the pendant that mirrored the small picture in the book, holding it with graceful hands that seemed to move like water.
"I received it as a gift from a friend, and no one would remember me. I'm just a myth." Angel eyed the piece and Deni stood up, looking at the book over the front of the edge.
"You have a good friend." She nodded. "A Fire Tamer?" Deni sat back and suddenly something passed by her eyes, making her will to speak less strong. She never enjoyed her will to talk excessively and prided herself more on her will to stay quiet rather than her will to ramble off whatever was on her mind. There was too much to risk
"You're trying to get me to open up but I've gotten myself into too much trouble by answering personal questions. First off, I feel too old to go up against every vampire, demon, and apocalyptic beast who thinks they will get some recognition for defeating me. I like the quiet life personally. I think, though, that if your team works well enough, I'll give you a few numbers for reference unless you have a fee?" Angel nodded. "Understandable. I found something, though." Angel looked down to see that she was pointing at another paragraph. It read:
"From the fire within comes the jewel Arrak
and its protector, the Stellio, an ancient
salamander which comes from fire and consumes
it. It is also the sole protector of he who
wears it during battle with the death bearer,
'Grimmace,' whose purpose is to steal souls.
This creature multiplies itself to throw off
an enemy, each one becoming a separate and
independent being. These two things are the
destroyer of the Grimmace."
"Isn't that convenient?" she said very quietly, suddenly understanding the necklace she wore. "I never knew that." Angel looked at her and she returned the gesture. "They only attack things with a soul. That means you have a soul, right?" Angel opened his mouth to explain, but decided to skip the speech. "I'm pretty sure I know who you are, but the Scourge of Europe disappeared a long time ago. What happened, though? Get swarmed by a clan of Gypsies?" Angel nodded without much thought and Deni shook her head in disbelief. "You're better off with it. More self control."
"Do you have a soul?" Deni didn't answer him, but he had a feeling she didn't want to talk about her circumstances, so, not caring whether or not she wished to tell him anything after this, he pressed on. "If you're going to work with us, we have to know who we're working with." Angel didn't get an answer right away, but he knew her enough already that she was considering telling him what he wanted to know. He waited a few more moments and she finally sent a look of frustration up at him, her neck craning because of his height.
"No, I don't. I do have more self control of my bloodlust than most vampires I know."
"Does the pendant make you this way?"
"I assume it has something to do with it. The other half would have to be a particularly violent turning. That's a different subject altogether." Deni plopped back on the chair but not before grabbing a notepad and pencil, beginning to scrawl the information she had down. Angel seemed to mutter something to himself about how that couldn't happen and she mumbled just as quietly as he finished that the times had changed since reason left the vampire race.
"Do you remember the book that you got the counter spell from?"
"Nope. I didn't get to read into the subject too thoroughly and by the time I sent it to someone who could read it somewhat, there was an attack and I was off. In all my life I had never seen anything in that language. On another note, I find your book collection impressive. Mine keeps getting messed with. I do believe my colleagues have never mastered the Dewey Decimal System. Well, I wrote down the basics." She stared at the notes she made and began to form a plan, handing the paper over to Angel. Angel took her notes calmly and looked at what she wrote:
Grimm
--invisible except when seen in a mirror
--scythes made of fire
--already on the move
Arrak
--God of the Sunrise
Stellio
--Salamander born from fire and lives by consuming it.
Solutions
--counter spell needed
"So, what's your story?" Gunn asked, looking up from his book at the bookshelf at Deni. Deni looked up as if just realizing the man was just there. She remained quiet because she had just rambled on about parts of her past to Angel, something she had not intended to do. Fred was sitting down near him, deeply immersed in a book about apocalyptic beasts; it was possible that she hadn't even been paying attention to the conversation between Deni and Angel. Though, she didn't look the type to overlook any sort of information. Deni watched as the woman seemed to calculate everything she read in the book and wondered how she got pulled into this group. Maybe it was the thrill of discovery or scientific calculations that got her where she was, but then again, it wasn't her business. She didn't answer Gunn, and he mumbled something about antisocial behavior and something else that might have referred to Angel.
Wesley walked in with a book cradled in his hands and Angel was still reading the list Deni had made and saw the flaw in the knowledge right away. She had a necklace that would protect her so long as she didn't take the necklace off for more than a few moments. The trouble was that it was a specially-made pendant necklace and would only protect one person at a time. "I see. We've got something, guys." Gunn and Fred put down their books and looked at Angel. "Is that friend around still? The one who gave you that pendant?"
"She died." Deni said bluntly. "Even is she were alive, she'd be no use to this cause. I would suggest a trap to get them out into the sunlight."
"They're not that slow. They might pick it up. If anything, a large, well-laid distraction could do the trick, but we would need something big. And with this information on the Stellio-Arrak, we can probably find a weak point."
"What's the Stellio-Arrak?" said Fred. She had stood up and walked over to the book Angel and Deni had been looking at, picked it up and read from it where Angel pointed. A frown spread over her face, but then resolve seemed to take its place. "I don't see a problem. See, if we look at the evidence, a 'Stellio' is actually a large, fire-living salamander and 'Arrak' is the Norse god of sunrise. I think all we would need is someone to conjure one or the other, or maybe both, considering the artifact we have suggests that they work together. The Stellio would be very useful since the Grimm uses a fire scythe and Stellios seem to consume flames. Sun, of course, would be the obvious solution to destroy them."
"Then again," said Wesley, "it would be best to use a genuine Stellio, and I am sure they are extinct. But since the Stellio and Arrak are grouped together, they were destined to stop this evil together?"
"Or unless Arrak is the keeper of the Stellios." said Deni. Everyone looked at her, which Deni found rather irritating.
"Either way, we'll have to use magic to conjure either a Stellio or summon Arrak." Angel said, looking at Wesley. "Willow?" Wesley nodded in approval.
"She hasn't turned down an opportunity to help with magic. I'll make the call." Wesley left the room, passing Cordelia as she entered the office. Deni had her doubts on whether they were going to be conjuring Arrak, the Norse sun god, or a salamander that consumes fire from a known enemy. Cordelia took one look at Deni and raised an eyebrow as she saw her outfit before lifting a bag of Krispy Kreme doughnuts up, signaling breakfast.
"Who are you?" Deni looked at the woman blankly and remembering herself saying that five was a decent number for an investigations team, then scolding herself for agreeing with such thoughts. Angel looked at Cordelia while Gunn reached for the doughnut bag.
"Cordelia, this is Deni. She came here to share information on the murders."
"Did she care to think about the people who saw her in that?"
"There are more important things in this world than fashion." said Deni.
"I believed that once, but then a minute later I woke up and realized that it was all just a dream. I swear, Angel, where do you meet these people?" Gunn fished out a glazed doughnut and took a bite out of it, passing the bag to Fred. She nodded graciously and dug out a jelly-filled pastry, handing the bag back to Cordelia. "So, what are they?"
After Angel explained the situation, Wesley walked in and Cordelia swung the bag of half-gone doughnuts into his chest. "Willow said she would be here as soon as she is able. She's got an idea as to which spell we're thinking about using." Wesley put the doughnut bag down.
"What happens until then?" Gunn said, finishing his doughnut. "Do we wait for it to attack again or do we want to go after it now?"
"The attacks have all been at night." said Wesley. "There's little chance it even goes out in the daytime. Our chances are better to go with the magic plan."
"It all sounds good...in theory." Gunn looked at Deni, who had presumed reading about the Stellio-Arrak pendant. He assumed that she wasn't going to involve herself in their group affairs, but wasn't sure if she was getting anything out of their conversation. "Why don't we ask Deni?" Deni almost looked up abruptly, and would have blushed if she had the blood to. Deni looked at Gunn, Angel, then back to Gunn. She seemed to gather her thoughts within a moment's time, which led Angel's conclusion haywire once again.
"Magic will work. I've been deflecting them for awhile."
"Deflecting them is a lot different than killing them."
"They aren't complex creatures. Their weakness was in a book written decades ago. I'm just not strong enough to conjure it. The witch--" Angel cut her off abruptly, silencing her.
"Her name is Willow." Deni ignored him and kept talking.
"The witch is strong enough to conjure the Stellio?" Angel nodded and Deni let out a breath of air, obviously tired and apparently feeling a large burden being lifted from her shoulders. Cordelia seemed tired of the scene, which had suddenly reminded her of someone who was always brooding as well, then left the scene while rolling her eyes. Deni continued to read the book in front of her, trying to take in as much information as possible from it on the pendant around her neck. They would wait until the witch got there.
~~
"Hello! Anybody here? Angel? Wesley? Cordy?" Willow walked through the Hyperion Hotel with her potions bag at her side and a hefty old book under her arm. She had been researching books in Giles' extensive library at his home and had come up with something that could serve as a destroyer of the Grimm Wesley had told her about. This Deni character sounded interesting; she just had to meet her. Cordelia stepped into the room to greet her and, not surprisingly, after a few short comments, they were finished with all the latest on both their sides of California. "I can't wait to meet Deni. She sounds fascinating. Don't look at me like that, Cordy." Cordelia had given Willow one of the old-fashioned I'm-better-than-thou looks and the witch concluded that her female counterpart was not well thought of in many senses. "She can't be all that bad, can she?" Willow watched Cordelia point towards the office where Deni and Angel were conversing.
"They haven't stopped talking since he brought her here. I think he's trying to get her to talk or something. She hasn't been the most compliant when it came to regular interesting conversation. You see that face she is making? That empty, solitary stare as Angel talks to her? That hasn't changed, either. I don't even think Angel can surprise her. It gets worse, too. Her fashion sense is almost as bad as her attitude. I didn't think it possible for someone to try wearing what she is during fall. It is just terrible." Willow realized that regular conversation with Cordelia was never going to change. At least she's trying to be nice by not saying this in front of Deni; she possibly learned tact since meeting up with Angel?
"When do we start? I think it would be best if we can start quickly. It might take awhile before I'll be ready to perform the ritual. I've never tried to conjure a false lizard being to scare off grim reapers. It's not natural enough for me because it calls for some more ancient magicks." Willow waved at Angel, who had looked out the office door and waved back. She still couldn't wait to meet Deni.
"Angel, Willow's here! " Angel looked up to see the two looking at him and he with Deni entered the room in which he was hailed into. Willow studied Deni and smiled after a second. "Willow, Deni, Deni, Willow." Willow and Deni shook hands.
"You are a freelance witch?" Willow smiled wider.
"You're a witch and vampire?" Deni nodded as if she were tired of talking about the subject, but remained polite. "And I heard you don't have the appetite?"
"You heard correct."
"I may have heard of you, but you've got to be over four hundred years old by now. And how you still remain alive is beyond me."
"Staying out of trouble seems to work for me. Nobody comes after you if you have nothing to prove it seems."
"How do you survive then?" Willow seemed suddenly very interested in what Deni had to say and Cordelia rolled her eyes.
"Mostly because I never told anyone, but every now and then someone figured me out and tried to take me. They were always about a century younger than I so it wasn't hard to defeat them and cast a memory spell on them to keep them from remembering me. Everything was okay until these Grimms came along."
"But if you don't get into the affairs of your surroundings, how come you got involved with this?"
"I guess I got sympathetic."
"I guess I would too. What did you do with all that time on your hands?"
"Everything." Angel interrupted them by clearing his throat gently.
"Will, we should get started. What's your plan?"
by Daniele-Marx
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Disclaimer: I do not own "Angel" or anyone from BtVS. Chapter Two!
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
After a long while Deni was approached by Angel as she was reading through some hunting fire demons who wielded swords as weapons. There were none. This struck her as odd and she closed the book, looking up and seeing Angel holding a book open in front of her. Deni hesitated as he grabbed her full attention and read a sentence of the book. This section was about the Stellio-Arrak pendant, the fire red jewel encased in a large salamander, a Stellio. Scanning a bit more, she found a point in a paragraph, placed her finger on the part she read, and looked up at Angel. He turned the book back towards him and read what she pointed at:
"The Stellio-Arrak pendant originated during
the 1400s by the goddess Melynadia, the Fire
Tamer half-goddess, who disappeared
immediately after the creation of the pendant.
Arrak was the god whose duty was to rise the
sun everyday. It was said that the pendant
would control the primal urges of the
undead..."
"How are you possible? Even vampires who have lived for such a long time have been noted and remembered by other vampires. Even I would have known about you...actually, I think I'm more interested in where you got that pendant from." Deni drew out her necklace unconsciously and looked at the pendant that mirrored the small picture in the book, holding it with graceful hands that seemed to move like water.
"I received it as a gift from a friend, and no one would remember me. I'm just a myth." Angel eyed the piece and Deni stood up, looking at the book over the front of the edge.
"You have a good friend." She nodded. "A Fire Tamer?" Deni sat back and suddenly something passed by her eyes, making her will to speak less strong. She never enjoyed her will to talk excessively and prided herself more on her will to stay quiet rather than her will to ramble off whatever was on her mind. There was too much to risk
"You're trying to get me to open up but I've gotten myself into too much trouble by answering personal questions. First off, I feel too old to go up against every vampire, demon, and apocalyptic beast who thinks they will get some recognition for defeating me. I like the quiet life personally. I think, though, that if your team works well enough, I'll give you a few numbers for reference unless you have a fee?" Angel nodded. "Understandable. I found something, though." Angel looked down to see that she was pointing at another paragraph. It read:
"From the fire within comes the jewel Arrak
and its protector, the Stellio, an ancient
salamander which comes from fire and consumes
it. It is also the sole protector of he who
wears it during battle with the death bearer,
'Grimmace,' whose purpose is to steal souls.
This creature multiplies itself to throw off
an enemy, each one becoming a separate and
independent being. These two things are the
destroyer of the Grimmace."
"Isn't that convenient?" she said very quietly, suddenly understanding the necklace she wore. "I never knew that." Angel looked at her and she returned the gesture. "They only attack things with a soul. That means you have a soul, right?" Angel opened his mouth to explain, but decided to skip the speech. "I'm pretty sure I know who you are, but the Scourge of Europe disappeared a long time ago. What happened, though? Get swarmed by a clan of Gypsies?" Angel nodded without much thought and Deni shook her head in disbelief. "You're better off with it. More self control."
"Do you have a soul?" Deni didn't answer him, but he had a feeling she didn't want to talk about her circumstances, so, not caring whether or not she wished to tell him anything after this, he pressed on. "If you're going to work with us, we have to know who we're working with." Angel didn't get an answer right away, but he knew her enough already that she was considering telling him what he wanted to know. He waited a few more moments and she finally sent a look of frustration up at him, her neck craning because of his height.
"No, I don't. I do have more self control of my bloodlust than most vampires I know."
"Does the pendant make you this way?"
"I assume it has something to do with it. The other half would have to be a particularly violent turning. That's a different subject altogether." Deni plopped back on the chair but not before grabbing a notepad and pencil, beginning to scrawl the information she had down. Angel seemed to mutter something to himself about how that couldn't happen and she mumbled just as quietly as he finished that the times had changed since reason left the vampire race.
"Do you remember the book that you got the counter spell from?"
"Nope. I didn't get to read into the subject too thoroughly and by the time I sent it to someone who could read it somewhat, there was an attack and I was off. In all my life I had never seen anything in that language. On another note, I find your book collection impressive. Mine keeps getting messed with. I do believe my colleagues have never mastered the Dewey Decimal System. Well, I wrote down the basics." She stared at the notes she made and began to form a plan, handing the paper over to Angel. Angel took her notes calmly and looked at what she wrote:
Grimm
--invisible except when seen in a mirror
--scythes made of fire
--already on the move
Arrak
--God of the Sunrise
Stellio
--Salamander born from fire and lives by consuming it.
Solutions
--counter spell needed
"So, what's your story?" Gunn asked, looking up from his book at the bookshelf at Deni. Deni looked up as if just realizing the man was just there. She remained quiet because she had just rambled on about parts of her past to Angel, something she had not intended to do. Fred was sitting down near him, deeply immersed in a book about apocalyptic beasts; it was possible that she hadn't even been paying attention to the conversation between Deni and Angel. Though, she didn't look the type to overlook any sort of information. Deni watched as the woman seemed to calculate everything she read in the book and wondered how she got pulled into this group. Maybe it was the thrill of discovery or scientific calculations that got her where she was, but then again, it wasn't her business. She didn't answer Gunn, and he mumbled something about antisocial behavior and something else that might have referred to Angel.
Wesley walked in with a book cradled in his hands and Angel was still reading the list Deni had made and saw the flaw in the knowledge right away. She had a necklace that would protect her so long as she didn't take the necklace off for more than a few moments. The trouble was that it was a specially-made pendant necklace and would only protect one person at a time. "I see. We've got something, guys." Gunn and Fred put down their books and looked at Angel. "Is that friend around still? The one who gave you that pendant?"
"She died." Deni said bluntly. "Even is she were alive, she'd be no use to this cause. I would suggest a trap to get them out into the sunlight."
"They're not that slow. They might pick it up. If anything, a large, well-laid distraction could do the trick, but we would need something big. And with this information on the Stellio-Arrak, we can probably find a weak point."
"What's the Stellio-Arrak?" said Fred. She had stood up and walked over to the book Angel and Deni had been looking at, picked it up and read from it where Angel pointed. A frown spread over her face, but then resolve seemed to take its place. "I don't see a problem. See, if we look at the evidence, a 'Stellio' is actually a large, fire-living salamander and 'Arrak' is the Norse god of sunrise. I think all we would need is someone to conjure one or the other, or maybe both, considering the artifact we have suggests that they work together. The Stellio would be very useful since the Grimm uses a fire scythe and Stellios seem to consume flames. Sun, of course, would be the obvious solution to destroy them."
"Then again," said Wesley, "it would be best to use a genuine Stellio, and I am sure they are extinct. But since the Stellio and Arrak are grouped together, they were destined to stop this evil together?"
"Or unless Arrak is the keeper of the Stellios." said Deni. Everyone looked at her, which Deni found rather irritating.
"Either way, we'll have to use magic to conjure either a Stellio or summon Arrak." Angel said, looking at Wesley. "Willow?" Wesley nodded in approval.
"She hasn't turned down an opportunity to help with magic. I'll make the call." Wesley left the room, passing Cordelia as she entered the office. Deni had her doubts on whether they were going to be conjuring Arrak, the Norse sun god, or a salamander that consumes fire from a known enemy. Cordelia took one look at Deni and raised an eyebrow as she saw her outfit before lifting a bag of Krispy Kreme doughnuts up, signaling breakfast.
"Who are you?" Deni looked at the woman blankly and remembering herself saying that five was a decent number for an investigations team, then scolding herself for agreeing with such thoughts. Angel looked at Cordelia while Gunn reached for the doughnut bag.
"Cordelia, this is Deni. She came here to share information on the murders."
"Did she care to think about the people who saw her in that?"
"There are more important things in this world than fashion." said Deni.
"I believed that once, but then a minute later I woke up and realized that it was all just a dream. I swear, Angel, where do you meet these people?" Gunn fished out a glazed doughnut and took a bite out of it, passing the bag to Fred. She nodded graciously and dug out a jelly-filled pastry, handing the bag back to Cordelia. "So, what are they?"
After Angel explained the situation, Wesley walked in and Cordelia swung the bag of half-gone doughnuts into his chest. "Willow said she would be here as soon as she is able. She's got an idea as to which spell we're thinking about using." Wesley put the doughnut bag down.
"What happens until then?" Gunn said, finishing his doughnut. "Do we wait for it to attack again or do we want to go after it now?"
"The attacks have all been at night." said Wesley. "There's little chance it even goes out in the daytime. Our chances are better to go with the magic plan."
"It all sounds good...in theory." Gunn looked at Deni, who had presumed reading about the Stellio-Arrak pendant. He assumed that she wasn't going to involve herself in their group affairs, but wasn't sure if she was getting anything out of their conversation. "Why don't we ask Deni?" Deni almost looked up abruptly, and would have blushed if she had the blood to. Deni looked at Gunn, Angel, then back to Gunn. She seemed to gather her thoughts within a moment's time, which led Angel's conclusion haywire once again.
"Magic will work. I've been deflecting them for awhile."
"Deflecting them is a lot different than killing them."
"They aren't complex creatures. Their weakness was in a book written decades ago. I'm just not strong enough to conjure it. The witch--" Angel cut her off abruptly, silencing her.
"Her name is Willow." Deni ignored him and kept talking.
"The witch is strong enough to conjure the Stellio?" Angel nodded and Deni let out a breath of air, obviously tired and apparently feeling a large burden being lifted from her shoulders. Cordelia seemed tired of the scene, which had suddenly reminded her of someone who was always brooding as well, then left the scene while rolling her eyes. Deni continued to read the book in front of her, trying to take in as much information as possible from it on the pendant around her neck. They would wait until the witch got there.
~~
"Hello! Anybody here? Angel? Wesley? Cordy?" Willow walked through the Hyperion Hotel with her potions bag at her side and a hefty old book under her arm. She had been researching books in Giles' extensive library at his home and had come up with something that could serve as a destroyer of the Grimm Wesley had told her about. This Deni character sounded interesting; she just had to meet her. Cordelia stepped into the room to greet her and, not surprisingly, after a few short comments, they were finished with all the latest on both their sides of California. "I can't wait to meet Deni. She sounds fascinating. Don't look at me like that, Cordy." Cordelia had given Willow one of the old-fashioned I'm-better-than-thou looks and the witch concluded that her female counterpart was not well thought of in many senses. "She can't be all that bad, can she?" Willow watched Cordelia point towards the office where Deni and Angel were conversing.
"They haven't stopped talking since he brought her here. I think he's trying to get her to talk or something. She hasn't been the most compliant when it came to regular interesting conversation. You see that face she is making? That empty, solitary stare as Angel talks to her? That hasn't changed, either. I don't even think Angel can surprise her. It gets worse, too. Her fashion sense is almost as bad as her attitude. I didn't think it possible for someone to try wearing what she is during fall. It is just terrible." Willow realized that regular conversation with Cordelia was never going to change. At least she's trying to be nice by not saying this in front of Deni; she possibly learned tact since meeting up with Angel?
"When do we start? I think it would be best if we can start quickly. It might take awhile before I'll be ready to perform the ritual. I've never tried to conjure a false lizard being to scare off grim reapers. It's not natural enough for me because it calls for some more ancient magicks." Willow waved at Angel, who had looked out the office door and waved back. She still couldn't wait to meet Deni.
"Angel, Willow's here! " Angel looked up to see the two looking at him and he with Deni entered the room in which he was hailed into. Willow studied Deni and smiled after a second. "Willow, Deni, Deni, Willow." Willow and Deni shook hands.
"You are a freelance witch?" Willow smiled wider.
"You're a witch and vampire?" Deni nodded as if she were tired of talking about the subject, but remained polite. "And I heard you don't have the appetite?"
"You heard correct."
"I may have heard of you, but you've got to be over four hundred years old by now. And how you still remain alive is beyond me."
"Staying out of trouble seems to work for me. Nobody comes after you if you have nothing to prove it seems."
"How do you survive then?" Willow seemed suddenly very interested in what Deni had to say and Cordelia rolled her eyes.
"Mostly because I never told anyone, but every now and then someone figured me out and tried to take me. They were always about a century younger than I so it wasn't hard to defeat them and cast a memory spell on them to keep them from remembering me. Everything was okay until these Grimms came along."
"But if you don't get into the affairs of your surroundings, how come you got involved with this?"
"I guess I got sympathetic."
"I guess I would too. What did you do with all that time on your hands?"
"Everything." Angel interrupted them by clearing his throat gently.
"Will, we should get started. What's your plan?"