A/N: And still…thanks to Mita for reviewing my story…all those other people who read and don't review are evil! J/K J
Chapter 6: A Warrior's Fate
As his soul slowly faded, every memory of the past year faded along with it. The time when he saw Buffy again, after he regained his soul, slowly disappeared. The time when he found out the First was using him to kill again…slowly fading. With his last ounce of strength left, Spike called out, "Angel!" He hoped Angel, somewhere on the other side of the wall, would hear him, and if he did…
Angel was waiting patiently for Spike to finish talking to the demon…if he was talking. He swung his sword around, accidentally knocking an empty flower vase to the floor. Sighing, he stopped swinging his sword and looked to the door. At first, he thought about barging in to ask what was taking so long, but then again…suddenly, he heard something. Someone: calling out his name. It sounded faint at first, like it was an echo in a cave, but slowly gained volume. He knew the voice…
"Spike!" Angel called out and rushed to the door. It was locked.
Trodigur lowered his hand. "Yes…another soul…" He closed his eyes. "Yes…"
Spike was released from the mind-control Trodigur had set on him. He didn't dare move, though. Without his soul, he felt weak. It was like a part of him was missing.
Trodigur hummed a bit, then said, "Now for the final spell…"
Goodbye, Buffy…Spike thought one last time.
With all his might, Angel kicked the door. This time it opened, revealing Trodigur, already chanting the final spell. "Spike!" Angel called to the vampire. Spotting Trodigur, he suddenly knew what to do. He threw his sword right at Trodigur, hitting him in the shoulder.
Trodigur stopped chanting and looked up. He spotted Angel. "How dare you interrupt me?" He shouted.
Spike realized that someone had barged in and thrown a sword at Trodigur. He turned around. "Angel?"
"Here." Angel handed Spike his sword. Spike took back his sword, backing away from the demon.
Trodigur muttered something under his breath and the sword flew out of his shoulder. It spun around, pointing straight at Angel. "Goodbye," Trodigur said, and grinned evilly. The sword, as if on demand, flew right at Angel's un-beating heart, but Angel was quicker. He ducked, just in time for the sword to fly over his head and into the wall behind him.
Angel straightened and looked at Trodigur. A smile slowly formed on Angel's face, almost like a smirk. "You lost your sword," he commented.
"I have many other tricks up my sleeve," Trodigur answered intensely. He shouted something in Latin and Angel cringed as his eyes turned yellow, as two upper fangs appeared. He looked at Trodigur steadily, as if waiting for something.
"Kill the vampire, Angelus," Trodigur ordered. Angelus grinned, eyes looking over to the vampire in the corner. Spike saw Angel's eyes. They were gleaming brightly.
"Ah, William the Bloody. We meet again," Angelus said, in a threatening voice.
Spike held his sword at ready. He was being torn apart…his grand-sire finally turning against him…wait, Spike thought as he looked at Angelus, he was always against me. "Angel," he said cautiously. "You don't want to do this."
"Of course I do," Angel said brightly. "You've always been avoiding fights against me. You're afraid to lose?"
Spike hesitated before answering. "No," he lied. He squared his shoulders, looking ready for a fight.
Angelus looked deeper into Spike's eyes, reading them. Then, he smirked. "You're afraid. You're afraid I'm going to beat you," he acknowledged with laughter. He continued when Spike didn't reply. "You're afraid you're going to loose, you're afraid that I'll gain the upper hand and stake you, is that it?"
Spike shook his head. "No…"
Angelus saw defeat coming to Spike, and he grinned evilly. "You're afraid to fight," Angelus began, grabbing his sword and ripping it out from the wall, "because of your soul." He faced Spike, ready for the final showdown, ready for it to begin.
You're afraid to fight because of your soul… Angelus' words ran through Spike's mind, his confidence slowly fading. Yeah, post-soul Spike wouldn't have been afraid to fight, but I'm not post-bloody soul Spike anymore, am I? I'm now pre-soul Spike, who's always ready for a fight…
Angelus' smirk decreased slightly as he saw a grin form on Spike's face. "What?" He asked curiously. "I'm right, aren't I? With a soul, you can't find the courage to fight me."
"No, I think you're wrong. You see, only post-soul Spike wouldn't have found the courage to fight you, but I'm not post-soul Spike anymore, am I? I'm pre-soul Spike, ready to fight you any day." Spike's eyes turned yellow as two upper fangs appeared. "I'm ready to fight you any day," he commented.
Angelus' eyes gleamed brightly as he grinned. "Let's begin, shall we then?"
Two vampires evenly matched with their swords and super vampire strength. Spike was almost terrified at the thought of who would win. If Angelus won, then Spike would be dust, literally. If Spike won, however, then…all I have to do is hold my ground long enough to at least knock Angel unconscious. Then I can drag him back to the hotel…there was a window located next to the air furnace. It was still night, but the clock was ticking away to 6 o'clock. The longer Spike stalled, the closer it got to sunrise. It's now or never, Spike thought.
"Ready to begin?" Angelus asked as heard Spike's hesitated sigh.
"Yeah," Spike replied. He looked Angelus in the eye. "I'm ready when you are."
Trodigur looked on at the scene with a devilish grin, eager to see who began the fight, eager to see who was the winner in the outcome.
A minute ticked away as Angelus and Spike waited for the other to make the first move. No one did. Angelus frowned, and then threw the sword at Spike's deadened heart. Spike raised his sword instantly and knocked the flying sword aside.
"No swords," Angelus ordered. His voice was filled with fear…fear and confidence both. Spike grinned at the thought of Angelus being scared. "A sword would make an easy stake for the both of us." Even still, Angelus was lying through clenched teeth. Spike didn't know, though, and threw his sword to the side, which landed right next to Angelus' fallen sword.
"Fine. We'll just roll with the kicks and punches then, will we?" Spike asked. He knew that with vampires, it was polite to fight with what the other vampire ordered. If Angelus ordered that they fought with swords, or maces, Spike would agree. It would be a fair fight between the two vampires. Even still, Angelus didn't really follow the rules in a vampire fight.
"So let's begin," Angelus offered the chance for Spike to make the first move, but when he didn't…Angelus leaped at Spike, knocking the younger vampire to the ground. Spike was dazed at first, but slowly got up. Angelus, sensing his chance to get his weapon back, dived for his sword. Spike saw Angelus, and reached for his sword. However, he was one second too late.
"What's the matter? You lost your sword?" Angelus grinned, looking down at Spike. He was holding Spike's sword, along with his own.
"No…" Spike began, knowing what Angelus was going to do.
With his vampire strength, Angelus broke Spike's sword in two, heaving both pieces to the side. "Boy, that was weak metal. I'm kind of surprised I carried that with my other weapons in the first place."
Trodigur looked on with a grin plastered on his face. Eagerness filled his eyes as he looked to see if Angelus would kill Spike.
"I'm kind of sad to see you go," Angelus continued. Spike raised an eyebrow, looking at Angelus. "Wait a minute…no, I'm not." A grin formed on Angelus' face as he raised his sword, the tip pricking the skin above Spike's deadened heart. "What're you gonna do? Hmm? Are you just going to stand there, under the stake, like you did so many times in the past? Are you going to be abused by me?" Angelus laughed. "Of course you will. You've never had the courage to stop me."
It's true, Spike thought, closing his eyes. I've never had the courage to stop him in the past…Spike tried with all his might to stop thinking about the past. The blood, the screams…he was still haunted by the torture from his grand-sire…from Angelus. Almost everyday Spike and Angelus got into arguments, and after every argument, Spike would be on the ground with blood on his face. Not the blood from a person, however, but his blood. There were a couple of times Angelus would point a stake at Spike's deadened heart, threatening to stake him. The past was a dark time for Spike. He hoped he never had to go there again.
Angelus' laughter brought Spike back to the present. He opened his eyes to the sword, which was still pricking his skin. "No matter what you do, no matter if you do stake me, because swords won't work when staking a vampire," Spike muttered, even though he knew Angelus could hear every word being spoken.
"No, it won't work, boy. But I know something that will…" Angelus got in batting formation with the sword being the bat. Spike breathed in sharply as he knew what was going to happen. "Good-bye, Spike," Angelus said, and swung the sword at Spike.
Buffy was sitting on a park bench in daylight. Sunlight filled every detail of her face, showing the colors of her eyes, glinted off her necklace she wore. Spike, unknown to Buffy, walked up to the Slayer and sat down next to her.
Buffy looked to Spike, surprised to see him out in the sun without bursting into flames. "Spike? What are you doing here?" It was more of a statement than a question.
Spike looked up to the sun and squinted. A smile slowly grew on his face. He looked back to Buffy. "Guess I'm a human now, love. Not a creature of the night anymore."
Buffy shook her head, not believing that Spike was human. "How? Why?"
Spike shrugged and looked to the sky. "God, I didn't know how much I missed being human 'till now…" he trailed off as he looked into Buffy's eyes. "I missed you."
"No, you didn't," Buffy stated as she stood up. "You didn't even care about me, or even wondered about me. I was worried to death about you, and all you can say is that you missed me?"
"Buffy…" Spike began, but he never got to finish as Buffy cut him off.
"No…don't…this thing we have…it's not real. You're not real. You were meant to be a creature of the night, but here you are…in the sun," Buffy said. Overhead, black clouds were beginning to drift together.
"I love you," Spike said quietly. "And I did worry about you…all the time."
Buffy turned to face Spike, anger clear in her eyes. "You can't love…without a soul…"
Spike frowned, then stood up, offended by what Buffy said. "I have a soul. I can talk; breath, sleep, and I can definitely love, too. Buffy…" Spike neared her, unaware that it started to rain. Lightning painted the dark, gray sky. "Buffy, I love you."
"Not anymore you don't. You think you can win me back just by saying 'I love you'? Let me tell you something, Spike, it doesn't work. No matter what, you'll always be a vampire to me. I'll always remember that incident two years ago when you tried to…when you tried to hurt me." Buffy sighed, and then continued. "You can't love without a soul. I'm sorry, Spike," Buffy added as she walked away, and left Spike behind.
Spike stood there in the rain, both offended and stunned that Buffy left him. Unbeknownst to Spike, tears streamed down his face.
Spike had that dream often. Actually, it was more often than just a few times. He never figured out what it meant, and had been trying for more than a month to figure it out. As Angelus was about to cut off his head now, his last thought was directed to his dream. Spike closed his eyes as Angelus swung the sword at him. He waited for the moment…the moment when all he had worked for to turn to dust, the moment for who he was to turn to dust.
When Spike didn't feel the sword's impact, he cautiously opened his eyes. The sword was stopped an inch from Spike's neck. If it didn't stop, then…Spike didn't even want to think about the thought. He slowly looked to Angelus, contradiction lined on every detail of his face. He dropped the sword. The clatter of metal to the surface of the floor rang throughout the room as Angelus dropped to his knees. His eyes were directed to the doorway. Spike turned around, and saw Gunn, Fred, Wesley, and Lorne standing in the doorway. He breathed a sigh of relief as he saw the gang. Wesley held a book open, chanting something in what sounded like Latin. Gunn held a sword at ready while Fred held a crossbow, and Lorne held a sword, too. The Trodigur demon laid on the floor off to the side, still, and a big gash in the middle. It was dead.
"Spike, are you all right?" Fred asked the vampire.
Spike remembered seeing the woman…the same woman from the hotel, although Spike never got her name. "Yeah, I'm fine," he responded weakly. "Who're they?" He asked as he saw Gunn, Lorne, and Wesley.
"Well," Fred began, drawing in breath. "This is Gunn," she introduced, pointing to the black man next to her. "This is Lorne," she introduced the green demon. "And the guy chanting Latin is Wesley. And I'm Fred," she added as she gave a smile to Spike.
Gunn and Lorne each acknowledged the introduction with a nod.
"Okay, now that I'm all caught up, what's Wesley doing?"
"Oh, well, after Gunn and Lorne killed the demon, Wesley grabbed the book, and began the spell for restoring Angelus' soul," Fred explained. "Are you sure you're all right?" She asked again.
"Well, except a missing soul, yeah, I'm just peachy."
Wesley finished chanting as he closed the book shut. "There, his soul is restored," he said, glancing at Spike.
"I thought to do spells you needed ingredients of some sort," Gunn said.
"Well, Trodigurs' are known for doing spells without any ingredients required. They like to be quick when doing spells, so they've come up with a system of spells carrying all the magic of all the ingredients that were ever needed, instead of just going out and getting all of them," Wesley explained hastily. "Okay, we need to transport Angel back to the hotel. The spell should have knocked him out for at least a couple of hours."
They towed Angel into the van parked outside. Wesley got into the driver's seat, while Gunn got into the passenger side. Spike, Fred, and Lorne all were in the middle row, looking uncomfortable with sitting next to each other, while Angel was laid out in the last row. It only took them five minutes to get back to the hotel, with barely two minutes left before sunrise.
Back at the hotel, both Spike and Gunn carried Angel back to his room.
"I can't believe you dropped him on his head," Spike said to Gunn as they both walked back downstairs. They had a hard time carrying Angel up the stairs, with Gunn dropping Angel on the stairs.
"He was only a couple inches up from the ground. Don't you start talking about concussions and brain damage," Gunn stated defensively.
"Oh, I'm not worried about that," Spike said, and grinned. "I just think he might get a bump on the back of his head."
"See? Nothing wrong," Gunn said.
"Then, when he wakes up, think of who he'll be on the hunt for," Spike said jokingly.
Gunn paused in mid-walk, thinking of what Spike said. "Can't happen," he muttered as he continued walking.
"Spike, can you come here, please?" Wesley called from his office.
Spike shrugged, and walked into the office. "Yeah, what's up?" He asked as he saw a million papers spread out on the desk.
"Now, before you can get your soul back, I need you to know something important," Wesley said as he looked down at a book.
"Okay," Spike agreed, sitting down.
"I've been doing some reading, and I came across this one prophecy, which mentioned of a warrior's fate. Now, I know Angel is the champion, as stated in one prophecy, so he can't be the warrior, and the only vampire with a soul, besides Angel, is you," Wesley explained, looking back up at Spike. The vampire raised an eyebrow. "Once I do the spell, of course," he added hurriedly.
"Okay, read this prophecy to me," Spike demanded. He strongly doubted that he was the warrior, but if he was, then…better to know now than never, Spike thought.
Wesley cleared his throat. "By the way, it's in poem form," he added before starting. This caused a groan from Spike, who, after his own poems in the past, didn't want to hear or read poems.
"Let's just hope this poem is good," Spike muttered.
Wesley ignored him, and began reading:
The Warrior's Fate—
"God, this prophecy even has a title?" Spike said. Wesley glared at him before continuing.
The Warrior's Fate, a time when all that he has worked for comes together,
Time will show him the path to redemption, courage, love, and patience will be learnt.
A soul's journey through death half begun when he will finish forever,
A pure soul finally redeemed, he will pay the price of all hurt.
Wesley finished, looking up at Spike, who had a puzzled look etched on his face.
"What does that mean?" Spike asked as he stood up.
"Well, I think it means that the warrior—you—will sacrifice your life for someone—or is it another life? Anyway, it's like a path for redemption. 'A soul's journey through death half begun when he will finish forever.' I don't exactly know what that means, but I think it means that he will die, and stay dead forever. 'A pure soul finally redeemed, he will pay the price of all hurt.' There could be a mistranslation, but it means that the warrior, a pure soul, will receive the gift of humanity after all the trials he has gone thought—love, courage, patience. But how could that be when he will be dead forever?"
Spike left Wesley talking to himself absent-mindedly. "Bloody hell," Spike muttered as he walked behind the counter to the fridge. "That guy works too hard." He got a blood bag out, tearing it open with his teeth. He drank it down quickly, not noticing the bad aftertaste it carried. Suddenly, he blacked out.
A/N: Okay, hope you liked the chapter. I'll work on getting the next chapter up as soon as I can, but with high school starting tomorrow (Sept 3)…well, I'll try…and remember for all those who read and don't review: evil!
Oh, yeah, the poem, a warrior's fate, is my poem…I wrote it…