Souls Found
None of these characters are mine; all credit goes to the writers of BtVS. If you wish to share, this work with someone be my guest just give me credit.
If you want background - read Lost Souls.
Chapter 5
Long after Xander and Angel have both fallen into an exhausted sleep, Willow is still awake, her mind racing over the events of the past hours and the possible connotations for there future. She gingerly crawls out of the bed and out to where she left the texts that she was reading earlier.
Finding a particularly scholarly work entitled "The Habits and Known Rituals of the Vampyre" authored by some ancient watcher in 1907. Given the post-it-notes littering the tome, obviously Giles had found the book to be reputable.
She begins to list a number of possibilities on a yellow legal pad found in a drawer near the computer. Soon words like Mates, Sires and severing ties were recorded on the paper. Starting with Mates, she finds a succinct definition.
**Mates are typically observed to be two vampyres of a similar
status. Unions may be either heterosexual or homosexual in
nature. Mates are sometimes said to be the union of Sire and
Childe, but this is not a necessity. However, in the great
majority of observed cases, unions occur with vampyres within
the same family branch. This may be due to similarities or
preferences not yet know. Mates are typically joined for life.
In one observed case in 1681, both mates died when a Slayer in
Hertfordshire, England successfully killed one. There are vague
reports of a ritual in which mates may be separated without
death but there is little evidence of to the requirements of
such a rite. ***
Vague! Willow thinks - the whole blooming thing was vague. Going on with her research, she finds little else that is any better. Remembering some old-looking books above the computer, Willow tries what must be Angel's own collection. These books are thinner, some handwritten with beautiful script. Two look to be written in French, Three in Latin, one must be Greek. A title page in one that has no script on the spine gives her hope. It simply says "Rituals of Ancient Clan of Aurelious".
The words are handwritten in a clipped but legible script. Taking the book over to the overstuffed couch, she cuddles under a blanket draped over the back of a nearby chair and settles down to read the book through.
*******************
Willow, yawns, a purely human gesture that surprises her as she finishes the sixty-seven pages of the book. Her questions are answered but she's not happy about what she's found. Between intuition and information, she knows what has happened. The question now was how to tell Angel.
Tiptoeing back into the bedroom, she has another surprise, finding Xander spooning Angel in a fairly protective stance. She hates to bother them but --- this can't wait. Crawling up the bottom of the bed, she works her way in between the two men, waiting them both up in the process. For the first time since turning, neither seem particularly interested in sex. Well, good, she thinks. Surprised again that her mind would have even gone there. Bad Willow, Bad!
"Uh Guys, I think I found out what might have happened last night. I mean, the part about Buffy and Spike --- and Angel collapsing too." She hesitates only to have Angel spin to take hold of her shoulders in an aggressive way.
Xander quickly intercedes before he can even think, placing a large hand in the center of Angel's chest. " Whoa Papa, back off. She's only trying to help."
Xander's firm but good-natured words reach Angel and he backs off, releasing Willow as she sinks back into Xander's protecting arms, facing Angel. Just the feel of her own mate gives her comfort and strength. She thinks about how she would feel without the tie. What Angel must be going through.
"Uh, I stayed up last night reading and stuff and I finally found a book called 'Rituals of Ancient Clan of Aurelious', you know the one, Angel?"
"Yeah, it was one of Darla's books. I read it once a long time ago. I have tried to stay away from her stuff. I mean, touching it --- sometimes --- it's like she's here --- it's just too hard."
Satisfied with the explaination, Willow proceeds, "Well, I think I found out what happened." Gathering her confidence she continues, "Each Vampyre Line has a Witch or a Seer. There is only one at a time. When one dies another is called. Ahh, kind of like a slayer but this is somebody who sees things maybe can do more magic than the regular vamp. Like the lighting rod of magic for the whole line."
"Well, as best I can figure, Dru was most recently this person. Either by choice or not, I think she passed that part of herself into Buffy when she - ahh, when you killed her."
Angel grimaces at her words but his eyes urge her to continue/
"I think when Buffy woke up and was well - vulnerable, Dru, being the seer for the clan, sort of channeled through her. I think they connected, maybe, because of their close connection to you?"
"I think this connection to Dru was influencing Buffy to some extent, and since Dru was Spike's mate, I think that's why she responded to him like she did."
As she pauses, Xander speaks, "But what about Angel - what about him passing out. What does Buffy channeling the criminally insane have to do with Angel passing out."
Willow rolls his eyes, Xander is always the one to ask those questions!
"There is a ritual - in Darla's book - that I think Dru had the capacity to perform. I think she was able to somehow steer Buffy and Spike through it once she died."
"Kind of like taking possession of them?" Xander asks again.
"Yes, in a manner of speaking. Remember the aura?" Looking at Angel, Willow takes his limp hands in her as he absorbs her words. "The ritual, if I'm right, severed the mating bond between you and Buffy. It's my guess that Spike and Buffy performed a bonding ritual on a metaphysical plane so that essentially, Buffy is now taken Dru's place as his mate and the witch of the clan."
"Well can't we just do the ritual again like a cosmic divorce?" Xander is back in his role as the doubter now that is soul is back.
"I don't think so. It takes the witch of the clan to perform the ritual plus it can only work if it was done of the free-will of both so Buffy had to consent without any influence."
Xander gets louder this time almost a mouth piece for Angel. "That just can't be. Buffy wouldn't chose that Blond Billy Idol Wanna Be. NO way, No how."
A little more unsurely he asks, "Right?"
*******************
The picture they find as they literally roar into the room is disquieting and not remotely dangerous. Both fair heads are asleep. So deeply asleep, it seems that even three vampire rushing in the door doesn't wake them. And while their arms are wrapped securely around each other, their clothes are still on and they are lying above the covers.
The length of time that they are together seems limitless as they fall together into a sleep like neither has felt before. The last sense either experience is the laughter of the dark witch herself.
The silver knife cuts sharply. She forces it with all of her will. Immediately, she is gasping for unneeded breath, totally lost without this tie to her sire, her mate. Being a fledging, albeit a strong one, she feels herself fading without that anchor, her demon weakening and taking the rest of her with it.
Just as she relaxes into the sensation, blood enters her mouth. Her demon immediately accepts the offering and she draws hard on the pro-offered wrist.
Suddenly things spin outward and she finds herself in corporeal form. A very solid form as holding her and with every draw on this fount, she feels millions of tiny, unseen cords reaching blindly for this being - his strength.
Spike has never sired a true childe before. Minions sure but never this, never anything close to this. Even though she is the one feeding, he feels as if he is absorbing her into his very pores. The feeling leaves him drunk as she continues to take from her, cementing the bond between them.
Almost giddy with the need to finish the bond and secure it even further, Spike whispers a few bonding incantations that he most certainly picked up from Dru. As her feeding slacks off, his own desire rages and he quickly takes her neck and bites deeply before she has any time to react. She sighs at the contact in obvious welcome.
This claiming, the feelings it inspires, calms her, it fills her with satisfaction as indeed the hurt is dulled. The hole inside of her is being filled with golden light. She feels warm and happy and responds by holding tightly to the figure who has given her this peace. With every moment, the warmth inside of her seems to pulse and multiply until it is a living thing - golden and good.
Spike feels this entity - golden and good - throbbing inside of her and unconsciously, it is as if his demon seeks to draw on it. As soon as he deliberately seeks to touch this part of her, he feels himself drawing this part of her into himself just as surely her blood.
TBC
None of these characters are mine; all credit goes to the writers of BtVS. If you wish to share, this work with someone be my guest just give me credit.
If you want background - read Lost Souls.
Chapter 5
Long after Xander and Angel have both fallen into an exhausted sleep, Willow is still awake, her mind racing over the events of the past hours and the possible connotations for there future. She gingerly crawls out of the bed and out to where she left the texts that she was reading earlier.
Finding a particularly scholarly work entitled "The Habits and Known Rituals of the Vampyre" authored by some ancient watcher in 1907. Given the post-it-notes littering the tome, obviously Giles had found the book to be reputable.
She begins to list a number of possibilities on a yellow legal pad found in a drawer near the computer. Soon words like Mates, Sires and severing ties were recorded on the paper. Starting with Mates, she finds a succinct definition.
**Mates are typically observed to be two vampyres of a similar
status. Unions may be either heterosexual or homosexual in
nature. Mates are sometimes said to be the union of Sire and
Childe, but this is not a necessity. However, in the great
majority of observed cases, unions occur with vampyres within
the same family branch. This may be due to similarities or
preferences not yet know. Mates are typically joined for life.
In one observed case in 1681, both mates died when a Slayer in
Hertfordshire, England successfully killed one. There are vague
reports of a ritual in which mates may be separated without
death but there is little evidence of to the requirements of
such a rite. ***
Vague! Willow thinks - the whole blooming thing was vague. Going on with her research, she finds little else that is any better. Remembering some old-looking books above the computer, Willow tries what must be Angel's own collection. These books are thinner, some handwritten with beautiful script. Two look to be written in French, Three in Latin, one must be Greek. A title page in one that has no script on the spine gives her hope. It simply says "Rituals of Ancient Clan of Aurelious".
The words are handwritten in a clipped but legible script. Taking the book over to the overstuffed couch, she cuddles under a blanket draped over the back of a nearby chair and settles down to read the book through.
*******************
Willow, yawns, a purely human gesture that surprises her as she finishes the sixty-seven pages of the book. Her questions are answered but she's not happy about what she's found. Between intuition and information, she knows what has happened. The question now was how to tell Angel.
Tiptoeing back into the bedroom, she has another surprise, finding Xander spooning Angel in a fairly protective stance. She hates to bother them but --- this can't wait. Crawling up the bottom of the bed, she works her way in between the two men, waiting them both up in the process. For the first time since turning, neither seem particularly interested in sex. Well, good, she thinks. Surprised again that her mind would have even gone there. Bad Willow, Bad!
"Uh Guys, I think I found out what might have happened last night. I mean, the part about Buffy and Spike --- and Angel collapsing too." She hesitates only to have Angel spin to take hold of her shoulders in an aggressive way.
Xander quickly intercedes before he can even think, placing a large hand in the center of Angel's chest. " Whoa Papa, back off. She's only trying to help."
Xander's firm but good-natured words reach Angel and he backs off, releasing Willow as she sinks back into Xander's protecting arms, facing Angel. Just the feel of her own mate gives her comfort and strength. She thinks about how she would feel without the tie. What Angel must be going through.
"Uh, I stayed up last night reading and stuff and I finally found a book called 'Rituals of Ancient Clan of Aurelious', you know the one, Angel?"
"Yeah, it was one of Darla's books. I read it once a long time ago. I have tried to stay away from her stuff. I mean, touching it --- sometimes --- it's like she's here --- it's just too hard."
Satisfied with the explaination, Willow proceeds, "Well, I think I found out what happened." Gathering her confidence she continues, "Each Vampyre Line has a Witch or a Seer. There is only one at a time. When one dies another is called. Ahh, kind of like a slayer but this is somebody who sees things maybe can do more magic than the regular vamp. Like the lighting rod of magic for the whole line."
"Well, as best I can figure, Dru was most recently this person. Either by choice or not, I think she passed that part of herself into Buffy when she - ahh, when you killed her."
Angel grimaces at her words but his eyes urge her to continue/
"I think when Buffy woke up and was well - vulnerable, Dru, being the seer for the clan, sort of channeled through her. I think they connected, maybe, because of their close connection to you?"
"I think this connection to Dru was influencing Buffy to some extent, and since Dru was Spike's mate, I think that's why she responded to him like she did."
As she pauses, Xander speaks, "But what about Angel - what about him passing out. What does Buffy channeling the criminally insane have to do with Angel passing out."
Willow rolls his eyes, Xander is always the one to ask those questions!
"There is a ritual - in Darla's book - that I think Dru had the capacity to perform. I think she was able to somehow steer Buffy and Spike through it once she died."
"Kind of like taking possession of them?" Xander asks again.
"Yes, in a manner of speaking. Remember the aura?" Looking at Angel, Willow takes his limp hands in her as he absorbs her words. "The ritual, if I'm right, severed the mating bond between you and Buffy. It's my guess that Spike and Buffy performed a bonding ritual on a metaphysical plane so that essentially, Buffy is now taken Dru's place as his mate and the witch of the clan."
"Well can't we just do the ritual again like a cosmic divorce?" Xander is back in his role as the doubter now that is soul is back.
"I don't think so. It takes the witch of the clan to perform the ritual plus it can only work if it was done of the free-will of both so Buffy had to consent without any influence."
Xander gets louder this time almost a mouth piece for Angel. "That just can't be. Buffy wouldn't chose that Blond Billy Idol Wanna Be. NO way, No how."
A little more unsurely he asks, "Right?"
*******************
The picture they find as they literally roar into the room is disquieting and not remotely dangerous. Both fair heads are asleep. So deeply asleep, it seems that even three vampire rushing in the door doesn't wake them. And while their arms are wrapped securely around each other, their clothes are still on and they are lying above the covers.
The length of time that they are together seems limitless as they fall together into a sleep like neither has felt before. The last sense either experience is the laughter of the dark witch herself.
The silver knife cuts sharply. She forces it with all of her will. Immediately, she is gasping for unneeded breath, totally lost without this tie to her sire, her mate. Being a fledging, albeit a strong one, she feels herself fading without that anchor, her demon weakening and taking the rest of her with it.
Just as she relaxes into the sensation, blood enters her mouth. Her demon immediately accepts the offering and she draws hard on the pro-offered wrist.
Suddenly things spin outward and she finds herself in corporeal form. A very solid form as holding her and with every draw on this fount, she feels millions of tiny, unseen cords reaching blindly for this being - his strength.
Spike has never sired a true childe before. Minions sure but never this, never anything close to this. Even though she is the one feeding, he feels as if he is absorbing her into his very pores. The feeling leaves him drunk as she continues to take from her, cementing the bond between them.
Almost giddy with the need to finish the bond and secure it even further, Spike whispers a few bonding incantations that he most certainly picked up from Dru. As her feeding slacks off, his own desire rages and he quickly takes her neck and bites deeply before she has any time to react. She sighs at the contact in obvious welcome.
This claiming, the feelings it inspires, calms her, it fills her with satisfaction as indeed the hurt is dulled. The hole inside of her is being filled with golden light. She feels warm and happy and responds by holding tightly to the figure who has given her this peace. With every moment, the warmth inside of her seems to pulse and multiply until it is a living thing - golden and good.
Spike feels this entity - golden and good - throbbing inside of her and unconsciously, it is as if his demon seeks to draw on it. As soon as he deliberately seeks to touch this part of her, he feels himself drawing this part of her into himself just as surely her blood.
TBC