It was lunchtime at Sunnydale high and Oz, Willow, Giles, Cordelia and
Xander were seated at the library table waiting for Buffy.
She ran through the library doors to see them patiently waiting for her.
"You know you really shouldn't run on day like this. It's bad for the skin!" Cordelia remarked seconds after Buffy entered the library.
"Thank you Cordelia!" Giles said in a semi-harsh tone.
"Um... Buffy? Why are we here?" Willow asked her.
"Well, I've asked you all to come here because I've got the cure for Angel and I'm pretty sure I know what I'm doing. And I'm gonna do it tonight." Buffy said.
"Yeah that's great but I still don't get the us being here part!" Cordelia said.
"I need your help. All of you." She said. "Nothing can go wrong tonight. And this being the Hellmouth- it's inevitable it will! So I need you to help me."
"How?" Oz asked.
"While I'm doing the ritual at Shady Hill, I need you guys to protects me. I doubt it'll take longer than twenty minutes but I'm not sure!" Buffy said.
"I'm game!" Xander replied.
"Thanks Xand." Buffy smiled at him. "Ooh Giles, could you bring the amulet tonight?" Buffy asked.
"Yes. Where do you propose we meet up?" He asked.
"I was thinking here?" Buffy said. "At about nine? I need the cemetery to be clear while we're there. I want no interruptions."
"Ooh look at you being little miss bossy boots!" Cordelia remarked again.
"Look, do you want to help or not?" Buffy asked her.
"Yeah, ok! Whatever!" Cordelia said.
"I can be wheel man. We can take my van there." Oz said.
"Thanks. I'll get what I need. The Syrma-Matis demon's at the cemetery." Buffy said.
"Err Buffy? The demons at the cemetery?" Willow asked.
"Yeah. I had to kill it. When I went to see that guy Willie told me about. The one I told you all about yesterday. I had a kind of vision and in it the demon was dead! I saw myself kill it!" Buffy told her."
"Guy?" Xander asked. "You were alone with a strange guy in his house?"
"Yeah. He helped me!" Buffy replied.
"Did he even have a name?" Xander inquired.
"Ya know, I never thought to ask." Buffy said puzzled. "But I don't think he was human coz when I looked back at his house after I left it'd gone!"
"Like disappeared?" Oz asked.
"Yeah. Poof-gone!" Buffy said. "It was weird! So we all meet at nine?" She asked.
"We meet at nine." Willow spoke for everyone.
********************
"You meet at nine?" Angel asked Buffy.
"Yeah. I'm gonna save you Angel. You might be ready to go but I am not ready to lose you ok." Buffy said sitting next to him on his bed.
"If I don't make it... if the cure doesn't... if it doesn't work I want you to know... I want you to know I love you Buffy. Always. Not even death can change that." Angel said.
"Don't talk like that. It won't come to that." She smiled at him. "I love you." She whispered. Buffy kissed him on the lips. "I have to go. Get ready for tonight. Hold on ok. Be strong. I know you can do it!" Buffy said and left the warmth of Angel's candlelit bedroom for the cool dusky air outside.
********************
"You bring the amulet?" Buffy asked Giles.
"Ah, yes." He searched his pockets, "Here!" He handed it to her.
"Right, are we all ready?" Buffy asked.
They all left the library and headed to Oz's van. They were all armed should there be a battle. Oz had a stake, Willow had a crossbow and Xander and Giles both had axes. When they reached the cemetery Buffy briefed them on what the ritual entailed. Then they headed through the gloomy cemetery until they neared the spot where Angel was stabbed and where Buffy had concealed the demon.
"Ok, I need you to form a kind of circle around me. But spread out." Buffy said.
They all set out, surrounding Buffy at different points in the cemetery. If there were to be an attack, at least one of them would know about it.
"Good luck Buffy." Willow said and hugged her best friend and she too set out to find a spot to patrol.
Buffy walked to the spot where Angel had been stabbed. There was a stone bench by a tall beech tree whose leaves had turned orange due to the autumn season. The road from her dream was up ahead. She knew she was in the right place.
"Ok. Here goes!" Buffy said to herself.
She placed her bag down on the ground, took out her matches and a large bag of barbeque coals she'd picked up from the store on the way to the library. She placed it down on the ground where she had found Angel. Buffy then walked over to the nearby bush where she'd hidden the Syrma-Matis demon. She pushed the branches back and the demon lay there just as Buffy had left him. She dragged him over to the spot where she'd perform the ritual. She also took a few pieces of wood to burn later on.
Buffy lit the bag of charcoal and it burned quite easily. She added the wood she'd taken from the bushes and the fires heat and size increased. Buffy let it burn for a little while and she took the Valiturus Subrutum parchment out of her bag.
She breathed in deeply. She hated saying Latin. If she got the pronunciation wrong it could ruin the whole ritual.
She placed the parchment onto the stone bench next to her. She took a small, sharp knife out of her pocket. She slid it across her palm flinching at the pain. As she did it she read aloud from the parchment the first line of the incantation: "Tractum itum adfinis citro ab accio abeo." She held her hand over the blazing flames and wiggled her fingers so the blood would fall into the fire. "Conloco hic bellator solutum!"
********************
Angel called out in pain. He felt a burning sensation in his chest. His eyes began to water as he felt his own life slipping away. "Buffy?" He called out. Angel knew he wouldn't last much longer. He knew if Buffy wanted to help him she'd have to hurry.
********************
Giles stood alone, surrounded by ancient headstones with a grand mausoleum just ahead of him. He thought he could see something in the distance advancing toward him. He squinted to see if it would improve his vision. "Oh God!" He said. A group of five vampires were coming toward him. "Willow!" He shouted. She came running round the corner seconds later. "We've got company!" He told her and he pointed to the group of vampires.
"Oh! Oh no! We have to protect Buffy." She said. "OZ! XANDER!" She shouted. Oz and Xander had met up around the other side of Buffy. They looked at each other when they heard Willow call them. "She's in trouble!" Oz said.
They both ran to Willow.
Giles, Xander, Oz and Willow stood strong as the vampires neared them.
********************
The flames roared louder and grew in size as Buffy let her blood into them. They slowly turned green and glowed blue on the flickering tips.
Buffy said the next part of the ritual, "Amitto sertum adambulo cessum ha auris." She moved over to the demon and dragged him closer to the fire. She picked him up, her hand still bleeding painfully and she dropped the Syrma- Matis demon into the flames. The fire glimmered a deeper shade of green, the blue on the tips became more intense and cast an eerie glow over the cemetery.
Buffy rummaged through her knapsack for the amulet. She eventually found it and she wore it around her neck.
She felt a surge of power go through her body. She felt stronger than she had ever felt. Buffy turned her concentration to the fire the heat from it warming her skin and pressing hard against her face. The heat was becoming unbearable but Buffy soldiered on. "Amitto sertum ire solutum. Ab adeo audax adfinis castus. Ab adeo fortis adfinis arbitratus deservio adigo asumptivus aveo!" Buffy said raising her voice.
********************
Angel cried out, the pain in his chest now even more intense. His eyes began to glow green and his face changed from angelic to vampire and then back again. Angel squeezed his eyes shut in an attempt to shut out the pain it was still there and getting worse. He cried out in pain again and louder this time.
********************
The vampires now only a few metres away from where the gang stood. Giles swung his axe at one of them, the vampire wasn't much taller than Giles and didn't look much stronger either but he blocked Giles's swing and gave him a stiff elbow in the face.
Xander and Willow rushed at a female vampire; she was tall and had long red hair. They both pulled her arms back so Oz could stake her. But he kicked her knees first and she became unstable, the vampire kneeling down; Oz staked her.
Another female vampire hit Willow on the back of the head; she fell to the ground and bumped into a seventeenth century headstone.
Xander punched her but another vampire punched him back twice as hard. Meanwhile Oz was being cornered near the mausoleum by a vampire who must have been a body builder before he'd died because he had an extremely muscular body. Oz kicked him as hard as could in the stomach and the vamp doubled over. Oz slammed him head first into the wall of the mausoleum and then ran to help Giles. Giles was fending off two vampires quite successfully but needed help. Willow loaded her crossbow and aimed at one of the vamps fighting Giles. She hit one in the back and he fell to the ground. Xander dived on him, keeping him down, yanked out the arrow and immediately plunged it back into the vampire right in the heart. He exploded in a cloud of dust.
********************
Buffy said, "Solutum sertum adfinis amitto sertum ingen." As she pulled her coat-still soaked in Angels blood-out of her bag and cast it into the fire.
She took a quick glance at the Valiturus Subrutum and continued, "Onis hic caminus ad condono ceptum hic adfinis integro sertum." She then removed the amulet from round her neck and said, "Hic ab adoleo. Hic ab additum!"
She held the amulet high in the air above the fire and shouted, "Tractum solutum sertum!"
********************
Angel's eyes returned to their natural dark colour and suddenly he felt his life seeping back into him. The pain he'd become accustomed to was fading. He felt the wound healing on his chest and he smiled.
********************
Giles got punched in the jaw by the remaining vampire and the force of the blow pushed his glasses off his face. He stepped back still reeling from the force of the punch and he trod on them and felt them crumple under his foot. "Oh! Bloody hell!" He said. He regained his balance and ran hard into the vampire, knocking him down, he heaved his axe up in the air with his last remaining strength and brought it down hard on the vampires' neck. The vampire turned to dust. Giles got up and dusted himself down.
Xander ran into the vampire who Oz shoved into the mausoleum wall but the vampire pushed Xander past him into the wall. Xander careered into the wall, hit it side on and slumped to the ground. The vampire ran off heading to where Buffy was.
Oz managed to trip the last remaining vampire who hadn't run off and Willow quickly staked him. The whole gang then chased after the body-builder vampire heading for Buffy.
********************
Buffy dangled the Rumadien Amulet over the fires roaring blue-green flames, the swirling mist inside the diamond shaped stone in the centre of the amulet began to clear. Inside the stone an image began to form. An image of a man. Buffy recognised him immediately-it was Angel! As this was happening Buffy said, "Ceptum ductum tra aconitum adfinis solutum sertum. Amitto tra clades lapideus ire indolentia!"
Buffy then slammed the amulet down on the ground and smashed the stone with the heel of her boot. A wave of green energy spread out from the amulet and shot out into the distance. Then, in a cloud of smoke the fire, the amulet and the Valiturus Subrutum parchment all disappeared just as the stray vampire launched itself at Buffy. She ducked and the vampire flew over her. As she was down on the ground she found a piece of wood she'd neglected to out into the fire and as the vampire ran at her she plunged it deep into his chest. He exploded turning to dust.
********************
Angel sat up in bed and he tried to speak but he couldn't. He laid back down on his bed and felt a force pulling his torso up off the bed. His head and legs remained on the bed. A green lightning bolt struck his chest and Angel screamed writhing in pain as it struck him. The energy dissolved into him and the pain totally disappeared. He had tears streaming down his face and all he could think of was Buffy.
********************
Buffy smiled at her friends. "I did it. I felt something powerful go through me." She said. "I only finished like a second before that vamp jumped me. It was a close call. If he'd have gotten me it could have been the end for Angel!"
"Ah Buffy? Why was the amulet so important to you?" Giles asked.
"The stone showed the demon his next target. Smash it and you kill their sight and free all the pure souls of other victims trapped within it!" She said. "The spirits told me!"
"Oh!" Giles said a little confused and still only semi-conscious from being beaten up!
They all smiled and felt a sense of relief that it was all over; Giles holding his smashed glasses and wiping blood away from his bruised and bleeding jaw, Xander holding his shoulder which had hit the wall hard; bruising it badly, Willow rubbing her head from hitting it on the headstone and Oz holding Willow with no real injuries of his own.
They all looked at each other knowing all they wanted to was get out of Shady Hill cemetery as quickly as possible.
She ran through the library doors to see them patiently waiting for her.
"You know you really shouldn't run on day like this. It's bad for the skin!" Cordelia remarked seconds after Buffy entered the library.
"Thank you Cordelia!" Giles said in a semi-harsh tone.
"Um... Buffy? Why are we here?" Willow asked her.
"Well, I've asked you all to come here because I've got the cure for Angel and I'm pretty sure I know what I'm doing. And I'm gonna do it tonight." Buffy said.
"Yeah that's great but I still don't get the us being here part!" Cordelia said.
"I need your help. All of you." She said. "Nothing can go wrong tonight. And this being the Hellmouth- it's inevitable it will! So I need you to help me."
"How?" Oz asked.
"While I'm doing the ritual at Shady Hill, I need you guys to protects me. I doubt it'll take longer than twenty minutes but I'm not sure!" Buffy said.
"I'm game!" Xander replied.
"Thanks Xand." Buffy smiled at him. "Ooh Giles, could you bring the amulet tonight?" Buffy asked.
"Yes. Where do you propose we meet up?" He asked.
"I was thinking here?" Buffy said. "At about nine? I need the cemetery to be clear while we're there. I want no interruptions."
"Ooh look at you being little miss bossy boots!" Cordelia remarked again.
"Look, do you want to help or not?" Buffy asked her.
"Yeah, ok! Whatever!" Cordelia said.
"I can be wheel man. We can take my van there." Oz said.
"Thanks. I'll get what I need. The Syrma-Matis demon's at the cemetery." Buffy said.
"Err Buffy? The demons at the cemetery?" Willow asked.
"Yeah. I had to kill it. When I went to see that guy Willie told me about. The one I told you all about yesterday. I had a kind of vision and in it the demon was dead! I saw myself kill it!" Buffy told her."
"Guy?" Xander asked. "You were alone with a strange guy in his house?"
"Yeah. He helped me!" Buffy replied.
"Did he even have a name?" Xander inquired.
"Ya know, I never thought to ask." Buffy said puzzled. "But I don't think he was human coz when I looked back at his house after I left it'd gone!"
"Like disappeared?" Oz asked.
"Yeah. Poof-gone!" Buffy said. "It was weird! So we all meet at nine?" She asked.
"We meet at nine." Willow spoke for everyone.
********************
"You meet at nine?" Angel asked Buffy.
"Yeah. I'm gonna save you Angel. You might be ready to go but I am not ready to lose you ok." Buffy said sitting next to him on his bed.
"If I don't make it... if the cure doesn't... if it doesn't work I want you to know... I want you to know I love you Buffy. Always. Not even death can change that." Angel said.
"Don't talk like that. It won't come to that." She smiled at him. "I love you." She whispered. Buffy kissed him on the lips. "I have to go. Get ready for tonight. Hold on ok. Be strong. I know you can do it!" Buffy said and left the warmth of Angel's candlelit bedroom for the cool dusky air outside.
********************
"You bring the amulet?" Buffy asked Giles.
"Ah, yes." He searched his pockets, "Here!" He handed it to her.
"Right, are we all ready?" Buffy asked.
They all left the library and headed to Oz's van. They were all armed should there be a battle. Oz had a stake, Willow had a crossbow and Xander and Giles both had axes. When they reached the cemetery Buffy briefed them on what the ritual entailed. Then they headed through the gloomy cemetery until they neared the spot where Angel was stabbed and where Buffy had concealed the demon.
"Ok, I need you to form a kind of circle around me. But spread out." Buffy said.
They all set out, surrounding Buffy at different points in the cemetery. If there were to be an attack, at least one of them would know about it.
"Good luck Buffy." Willow said and hugged her best friend and she too set out to find a spot to patrol.
Buffy walked to the spot where Angel had been stabbed. There was a stone bench by a tall beech tree whose leaves had turned orange due to the autumn season. The road from her dream was up ahead. She knew she was in the right place.
"Ok. Here goes!" Buffy said to herself.
She placed her bag down on the ground, took out her matches and a large bag of barbeque coals she'd picked up from the store on the way to the library. She placed it down on the ground where she had found Angel. Buffy then walked over to the nearby bush where she'd hidden the Syrma-Matis demon. She pushed the branches back and the demon lay there just as Buffy had left him. She dragged him over to the spot where she'd perform the ritual. She also took a few pieces of wood to burn later on.
Buffy lit the bag of charcoal and it burned quite easily. She added the wood she'd taken from the bushes and the fires heat and size increased. Buffy let it burn for a little while and she took the Valiturus Subrutum parchment out of her bag.
She breathed in deeply. She hated saying Latin. If she got the pronunciation wrong it could ruin the whole ritual.
She placed the parchment onto the stone bench next to her. She took a small, sharp knife out of her pocket. She slid it across her palm flinching at the pain. As she did it she read aloud from the parchment the first line of the incantation: "Tractum itum adfinis citro ab accio abeo." She held her hand over the blazing flames and wiggled her fingers so the blood would fall into the fire. "Conloco hic bellator solutum!"
********************
Angel called out in pain. He felt a burning sensation in his chest. His eyes began to water as he felt his own life slipping away. "Buffy?" He called out. Angel knew he wouldn't last much longer. He knew if Buffy wanted to help him she'd have to hurry.
********************
Giles stood alone, surrounded by ancient headstones with a grand mausoleum just ahead of him. He thought he could see something in the distance advancing toward him. He squinted to see if it would improve his vision. "Oh God!" He said. A group of five vampires were coming toward him. "Willow!" He shouted. She came running round the corner seconds later. "We've got company!" He told her and he pointed to the group of vampires.
"Oh! Oh no! We have to protect Buffy." She said. "OZ! XANDER!" She shouted. Oz and Xander had met up around the other side of Buffy. They looked at each other when they heard Willow call them. "She's in trouble!" Oz said.
They both ran to Willow.
Giles, Xander, Oz and Willow stood strong as the vampires neared them.
********************
The flames roared louder and grew in size as Buffy let her blood into them. They slowly turned green and glowed blue on the flickering tips.
Buffy said the next part of the ritual, "Amitto sertum adambulo cessum ha auris." She moved over to the demon and dragged him closer to the fire. She picked him up, her hand still bleeding painfully and she dropped the Syrma- Matis demon into the flames. The fire glimmered a deeper shade of green, the blue on the tips became more intense and cast an eerie glow over the cemetery.
Buffy rummaged through her knapsack for the amulet. She eventually found it and she wore it around her neck.
She felt a surge of power go through her body. She felt stronger than she had ever felt. Buffy turned her concentration to the fire the heat from it warming her skin and pressing hard against her face. The heat was becoming unbearable but Buffy soldiered on. "Amitto sertum ire solutum. Ab adeo audax adfinis castus. Ab adeo fortis adfinis arbitratus deservio adigo asumptivus aveo!" Buffy said raising her voice.
********************
Angel cried out, the pain in his chest now even more intense. His eyes began to glow green and his face changed from angelic to vampire and then back again. Angel squeezed his eyes shut in an attempt to shut out the pain it was still there and getting worse. He cried out in pain again and louder this time.
********************
The vampires now only a few metres away from where the gang stood. Giles swung his axe at one of them, the vampire wasn't much taller than Giles and didn't look much stronger either but he blocked Giles's swing and gave him a stiff elbow in the face.
Xander and Willow rushed at a female vampire; she was tall and had long red hair. They both pulled her arms back so Oz could stake her. But he kicked her knees first and she became unstable, the vampire kneeling down; Oz staked her.
Another female vampire hit Willow on the back of the head; she fell to the ground and bumped into a seventeenth century headstone.
Xander punched her but another vampire punched him back twice as hard. Meanwhile Oz was being cornered near the mausoleum by a vampire who must have been a body builder before he'd died because he had an extremely muscular body. Oz kicked him as hard as could in the stomach and the vamp doubled over. Oz slammed him head first into the wall of the mausoleum and then ran to help Giles. Giles was fending off two vampires quite successfully but needed help. Willow loaded her crossbow and aimed at one of the vamps fighting Giles. She hit one in the back and he fell to the ground. Xander dived on him, keeping him down, yanked out the arrow and immediately plunged it back into the vampire right in the heart. He exploded in a cloud of dust.
********************
Buffy said, "Solutum sertum adfinis amitto sertum ingen." As she pulled her coat-still soaked in Angels blood-out of her bag and cast it into the fire.
She took a quick glance at the Valiturus Subrutum and continued, "Onis hic caminus ad condono ceptum hic adfinis integro sertum." She then removed the amulet from round her neck and said, "Hic ab adoleo. Hic ab additum!"
She held the amulet high in the air above the fire and shouted, "Tractum solutum sertum!"
********************
Angel's eyes returned to their natural dark colour and suddenly he felt his life seeping back into him. The pain he'd become accustomed to was fading. He felt the wound healing on his chest and he smiled.
********************
Giles got punched in the jaw by the remaining vampire and the force of the blow pushed his glasses off his face. He stepped back still reeling from the force of the punch and he trod on them and felt them crumple under his foot. "Oh! Bloody hell!" He said. He regained his balance and ran hard into the vampire, knocking him down, he heaved his axe up in the air with his last remaining strength and brought it down hard on the vampires' neck. The vampire turned to dust. Giles got up and dusted himself down.
Xander ran into the vampire who Oz shoved into the mausoleum wall but the vampire pushed Xander past him into the wall. Xander careered into the wall, hit it side on and slumped to the ground. The vampire ran off heading to where Buffy was.
Oz managed to trip the last remaining vampire who hadn't run off and Willow quickly staked him. The whole gang then chased after the body-builder vampire heading for Buffy.
********************
Buffy dangled the Rumadien Amulet over the fires roaring blue-green flames, the swirling mist inside the diamond shaped stone in the centre of the amulet began to clear. Inside the stone an image began to form. An image of a man. Buffy recognised him immediately-it was Angel! As this was happening Buffy said, "Ceptum ductum tra aconitum adfinis solutum sertum. Amitto tra clades lapideus ire indolentia!"
Buffy then slammed the amulet down on the ground and smashed the stone with the heel of her boot. A wave of green energy spread out from the amulet and shot out into the distance. Then, in a cloud of smoke the fire, the amulet and the Valiturus Subrutum parchment all disappeared just as the stray vampire launched itself at Buffy. She ducked and the vampire flew over her. As she was down on the ground she found a piece of wood she'd neglected to out into the fire and as the vampire ran at her she plunged it deep into his chest. He exploded turning to dust.
********************
Angel sat up in bed and he tried to speak but he couldn't. He laid back down on his bed and felt a force pulling his torso up off the bed. His head and legs remained on the bed. A green lightning bolt struck his chest and Angel screamed writhing in pain as it struck him. The energy dissolved into him and the pain totally disappeared. He had tears streaming down his face and all he could think of was Buffy.
********************
Buffy smiled at her friends. "I did it. I felt something powerful go through me." She said. "I only finished like a second before that vamp jumped me. It was a close call. If he'd have gotten me it could have been the end for Angel!"
"Ah Buffy? Why was the amulet so important to you?" Giles asked.
"The stone showed the demon his next target. Smash it and you kill their sight and free all the pure souls of other victims trapped within it!" She said. "The spirits told me!"
"Oh!" Giles said a little confused and still only semi-conscious from being beaten up!
They all smiled and felt a sense of relief that it was all over; Giles holding his smashed glasses and wiping blood away from his bruised and bleeding jaw, Xander holding his shoulder which had hit the wall hard; bruising it badly, Willow rubbing her head from hitting it on the headstone and Oz holding Willow with no real injuries of his own.
They all looked at each other knowing all they wanted to was get out of Shady Hill cemetery as quickly as possible.