"My object all sublime
I shall achieve in time—
To let the punishment fit the crime—
The punishment fit the crime." – William Schwenk Gilbert, The Mikado
Xorkkandeelieanderwitz and Rrrragrundalianna looked through the portal at the weeping vampire. Turning towards each other, their bodies flickered and became that of two figures with shimmering silver and gold skin and bluish tattoos. If Angel could have seen them, he would have recognized the brother and sister team of the Oracles.
The male spoke first. "So, sister, do you think this a suitable sentence for this vampire?"
"I do. As you told him in one of your encounters, his fate is tied to that of the Slayer. You told him the truth. It is not your fault he chose to misinterpret that as a sign of possible romance between himself and her." She gave a sly smile even though it met with no corresponding emotion from her brother.
Instead he frowned and tilted his head slightly. "How did you know he would not welcome this sentence? See it as a blessing rather than a curse to be near someone he adored to the point of distraction?"
"To look on his so-called beloved and see her rapture in the arms of another would be an agony to him. It would likewise prove a curse to one of his monstrous ego to have no one speak of him or say his name. Now, wherever her spirit flies through all her many lives, down the unimaginable halls of the future, it shall meet that of her champion—and this one will be forced to endure the sight of their re-unions over and over again," she concluded, satisfaction evident in her voice.
He nodded, pleased with his sister's reasoning. "Indeed, this is far better than any physical torments that could have been devised."
They watched Amelia suckle Eliza while the vampire gazed on the mortal pair with dull eyes. Then the female waved her hand at the milky circle and it winked shut returning to its usual blankness. Speaking almost casually to her brother, she asked, "Should we turn our attentions to the fate of Alexander Lavelle Harris now?"
A faint smile, the closest her brother ever came to expressing happy emotions, flashed across his face. "Yes. The Powers have great plans for him in his next life. We must guide the course of events so he finds the Slayer and her Champion."
The female felt a tremor of something like excitement. It was always a glorious thing when she and her brother moved in synchronous harmony. She could swear she could almost feel the universe shifting into alignment with them as they worked together. Moving from the unlit portal, they bent their heads together and winked out of the space.
"There needeth not the hell that bigots frame
To punish those who err: Earth in itself
Contains at once the evil and the cure." – Percy Bysshe Shelley, Queen Mab