AN: In olden times (don't ask for dates, coz I don't know), young boys were castrated so they could sing the higher vocal ranges, that's were the term castrato in music comes from.
AN: I DO NOT KNOW ANY LATIN! So for the spell words I used an online translator, if anyone speaks Latin and what's there is gibberish, I'm sorry.
Part 8
Gunn stared at the scene in front of him, filled with barely contained rage. It was Sunday afternoon, he'd received the call on his cell just after lunch and had excused himself from Scoobies, called a cab and headed over to the other side of LA to meat Karl, who said he was desperately needed back home. He could hear it in Karl's voice, he knew he was going to see a body, but he never expected what he saw.
Swallowing stiffly and without taking his eyes from the corpse he spoke. "What happened."
The sound of shuffling feet, and the distant sound of one of the younger gang members still retching, outside was his only reply.
"I ain't gonna ask again"
Karl cleared his throat; he hadn't been in charge all that long and this was the most gruesome thing he had ever seen.
"Some neighbourhood kids said they found a nest, we went to check it out."
"And?"
"We get there, no teeth but the place had a vibe you know?" When Gunn nodded he continued. "We was about to head back, when Lee says he sees something and just takes off inside, we follow and we end in this room, and all of a sudden the shadows just came alive G! This big assed black shadow thing heads straight for Lee, and then, hell I don't know! One minute Lee's screaming the next he's lying on the floor like that!" he finished pointing to the corpse in front of them.
"Its just like those Girls, hey G?" One of the group said from off to the side. And it was, apart from the body being of a male in his late teens and was still clothed; Gunn felt he could have been looking at one of the crime scene photographs. Oh and not forgetting the smell, like rotten eggs, 'sulphur' he thought to himself, he'd been in the room enough times when Wes was cooking up something for a case to know what sulphur smelled like.
"Looks like" came his neutral reply.
"You know what did this? How we kill it? Coz you just point the way and its dead!" Karl growled beside him.
"Yeah I know, and we got people working to find out how to put this mother in the ground, but you guys ain't gonna be the ones to do it."
A chorus of protests and curses rent the air at Gunn statement. He simply waited until the ruckus had died down before he spoke again.
"This ain't no vampire, or some scaly assed puss monster that will go down with a quick hack with an axe! This is serious shit! You guys are good at what you do, you keep the streets safe and that's good, but this kind of shit is outta your league! You go chasing this thing and you gonna end up dead like our boy Lee here!"
Gunn waited for anyone to protest, apart from a few grumbled the group remained quiet, most knew that Gunn said this was bigger than them it really was.
"Good, now tell we where this all went down, this thing's days are numbered."
"It's a shadow?" Buffy asked incredulously as Gunn told the group what he had found out.
"Seems like, Karl said you try and hit it and you just pass straight through."
"So let me guess, in order to kill the minion we have to Kill Tolezar first?" Buffy grumped.
"If what Gunn's people found, was the Minion." Willow added.
"It is and no we don't" Angel said as he rose from the couch and moved to the table, with an open book. Laying the book on the surface he grabbed another and opened it to a marked page and looked between the two, chewing his lip, his brow lowered in concentration.
"Splainy?" Buffy asked with a raised eyebrow.
"What?" Angel replied looking up from the book, then as if his brain caught up with his ears, his confusion cleared. "This shadow thing, is the minion and in order to Kill Tolezar we have to kill it."
"Coz that'll be a walk in the park, killing something we can't hit." Faith Snarked.
"Both Tolezar and its Minion live in space just outside our dimension, they aren't fully corporeal, that's what Tolezar needs the minion for, to feed enough to become corporeal." Angel explained. "So what we need, is to make the Minion solid, then we can kill it."
"I might know spell that could work, I'd need to check and get ingredients but it shouldn't be a problem to perform it." Willow offered, before dashing from the room and up the stairs to her room.
"OK, so the plan is we, rush into this warehouse, Willow mojos the shadow thing into a not shadow thing, and me and Faith Kill it. That the idea?"
"Pretty much." Angel replied.
"How?"
"In my experience decapitation and dismemberment is pretty final" Angel shot back.
"Oh, slice and dice, that I can do."
"I remember. Last time I saw you, you were pretty handy with that axe thing." Angel said with a nod.
"Scythe." Buffy corrected him.
"Still, he would be singing castrato had he survived." Angel said with a smirk and Buffy bit her lip to hold her laughter, it wasn't funny, well it was, but she knew she shouldn't laugh, and thank god for Dawn being a mine of useless information, otherwise she wouldn't have known what he meant.
"Hey as nice as your little private joke is, can we get back to it, people are dyin" Gunn huffed, since the minion had taken one of his own he was even more driven to get rid of the thing.
"All we're waiting on is the spell."
They were all set, Willow had found the spell and had the ingredients to do it, the weapons had been divided out and the plan gone over many times. Every one was going, Angel had refused to be left behind, but he had conceded to not joining the fray. He and Gunn were both armed though, just in case. As it turned out they would need at least three people for the spell, Angel having past magical experience and Xander as the weakest of the fighters would join Willow. Gunn was still a crack shot with a cross bow, especially his won custom made one, so he would provide covering fire for Robin and two slayers.
It was a quarter to midnight. They planned to leave at exactly 12 o'clock, there wasn't a particular reason, it was just nice to have a time, a structure to help everyone psych themselves up for a fight. A fight that for some of them, would be their first in over a year. Angel glanced up from the book he was reading, checking the last minute details, making sure he hadn't missed anything. He knew all to well that this was a huge test for every one, including himself. Willow hadn't used magic in combat situations since The First, Gunn had proved unerring accuracy in target practice, but hadn't been in combat since he'd come out of hospital. Faith and Buffy had been lax with their slaying since Sunnydale was destroyed, although Faith was in better shape, having been training with the other slayers. Robin and Xander had also been out of combat for a while, and for all of them it was the first time they had gone out to fight with this particular group dynamic.
For Angel the test was more serious, without even realising he'd done it, he'd taken control, not just of the research, but also of the group. This would be the first test of his leadership skills since the fight with the partners and also his first time leading from the rear. To say he was nervous was an understatement. There were lives on the line, if his research was only slightly lacking, if his plan had one flaw, it could cost lives. Still raw from the deaths of his friends, the thought of loosing this new family was enough for him to consider saying 'screw the demon and can we go hide somewhere?' But like him, they knew too much, there was no way they could not help.
Looking around the room, he watched the others prepare. Willow was sat crossed legged on the floor, Xander sat opposite her, going over the ritual again. Gunn was meticulously cleaning, checking and testing his crossbow. Robin and Faith were in the hallway just shy of his vision, but he could hear them sparring. And Buffy was stood in the centre of the room checking over the weapons. As he watched her, she pulled a long sword from the chest and wielded it expertly. Seeing her with a sword always had the same effect on him, his stomach would clench tightly, and although the warrior in him appreciated her technique and the men in him definitely appreciated the view, a part of him always became very very nervous.
Buffy swung the sword in an arc, following through as part of exercise. As she brought the blade to bare, she looked up and her eyes locked with his. In that moment Willow's words haunted him.
"You've both died and come back but you still don't get it. If she dies tomorrow you'll never know IF. Can you spend a mortal life time living with IF?"
Rising to his feet and maintaining eye contact he spoke.
"Can I speak to you a minute?" When Buffy frowned but nodded, he turned and headed for the kitchen.
Buffy carefully placed the sword down and followed, slightly confused. When she entered the kitchen she found him standing with his back to the room, leaning against the counter.
"Angel?"
"I've been thinking..."
Buffy moved to stand next to him, and as she did the hall clock chimed midnight. As if the mere sound of the chime hailed the end of the world, Angel spun Buffy to him and pressed his lips to hers. The kiss was short, but intense, with Buffy pulling away first to breath having not got the chance to get her breath before its start.
"Wow" She gasped, "What was that for?"
Angel ducked his head and scratched the back of his head, in the moment it had seemed the right thing to do, instinct, but now it seemed a little foolish.
"I was thinking, that uhh... maybe sometime we could, you know, go get coffee or something..."
Buffy nearly burst on the spot, this kiss had been a surprise and a good one at that, but this was Angel, human Angel asking her on a sort of date. His words were so close to something he'd asked her before that she was tempted to repeat her own reply from before, but she also knew that this had to be fresh start, the past had to be left where it was if they were to have a chance to have any kind of relationship. Still it didn't mean she couldn't have a little fun.
"You're not allowed coffee."
"Hence the 'or something'... um... oh god, this was stupid, I'm sorry I..."
Buffy suddenly realised just how unsure Angel really was, he had no idea that she still loved him, and why should he? She hadn't said so, and after everything else, he had the confidence of a goldfish on dry land. Raising her hand, she pressed a finger to his lips to silence his babble.
"I'd love to."
The two cars pulled up outside the abandoned warehouse, Willow driving Angel's GTX and Robin driving his SUV. Angel had been barred from driving due to his medication and not trusting Xander with his car, he'd opted to allow Willow to drive.
"I can't believe you didn't trust me to drive your car." Xander whined as he got out of the back of the GTX. Angel ignored him and moved to the trunk to get out their equipment. "I'm a good driver, sure I'm one eye man, but they gave me back my licence."
Now it was Willow who spoke up. "Xander, they gave Buffy a licence, that doesn't say much"
"Hey!" Buffy yelped, as she came up beside Angel to unload the trunk. Having ridden with Robin, she hadn't had to put up with Xander's grousing the entire trip.
"Can we please just drop it?" Angel pleaded. "Xander, you're not driving my car, EVER. Let it go."
When the group gathered by the door, Angel addressed them all.
"We all clear of the plan?" They all nodded or signalled in the affirmative. "Good, remember keep your mouths closed until we finish the ritual, that's how it gets its victims... and be careful"
They all moved off into the building, Gunn in the lead following the directions Karl had given him. Just as Angel went to go through the door, Buffy grabbed his arm.
"No heroics," She said seriously, then with a smile she added. "You owe me a cup of coffee."
Catching her hand in his, "Make sure you're there to collect it then."
The unspoken pact made between them, they entered the warehouse in pursuit of the others.
The room was just as Karl said it would be. It was beyond dark, there seemed to be no light at all, and even the beams from their flashlights seemed to be swallowed by the gloom. Working in absolute silence Willow pulled a bottle of blessed salt from her bag and began to make a circle, Angel and Xander holding flashlights to aid her progress, the others watched the room.
Passing their flashlights to the others, Xander and Angel joined Willow in the circle, and the three sat crossed legged on the dirty ground. Willow placed a candle at its centre and lit it. As soon as the flame leapt from the wick, the shadows came alive, desperately trying to track the shape in the darkness, flashlight beams crisscrossed the room, those outside the circle moving closer together, knowing they were vulnerable in the dark. By this time willow had set light to a bundle of herbs that now smouldered on the ground and the three joined hands. With a nod from the redhead they began to recite the words they had learned by heart.
Ex atrum adveho in lux lucis
Ex aer fio viscus
exsisto illae universitas quod nullus alius
Exorior
Exorior
Exorior
It was like watching syrup spread over a table in reverse. Think and oily the shadows began to coalesce, taking form in the centre of the room. The shade charged forwards towards the group but passed straight through them, making them all suck in a breath of surprise and still the three seated in the circle chanted.
Ex atrum adveho in lux lucis
Ex aer fio viscus
exsisto illae universitas quod nullus alius
Exorior
Exorior
Exorior
The noise the creature made was terrible, a skittering screeching noise as it moved around the room in a fury, all the time growing in solidity, seeming to suck the shadows into itself and revealing the room. Gunn was the first to see her, the child seemingly asleep on the small bed at the far end of the room. Unable to speak, and unable to get the other's attention he alternated between watching the minion, and the girl.
Ex atrum adveho in lux lucis
Ex aer fio viscus
exsisto illae universitas quod nullus alius
Exorior
Exorior
Exorior
With the third recitation of the spell there was deafening screech and the minion became solid. The room seemed to come to a standstill the Scoobies staring wide eyed at the minion. The minion itself seemed to be indefinite in its form, it moved within its own skin like it was made of molasses. Tendrils of it snaking out like tentacles then returning to the bulk that floated just above the floor.
"Oh Shit" Faith exclaimed
Before anyone could respond a tentacle shot out in her direction at head height. Ducking and rolling she avoided it, the movement spurring the others into action. Having learned form Faiths mistake they charged forward in eerie silence. Gunn rolled his chair back against the wall and took aim, as a tentacle speared its way towards Robin he deftly shot, causing the minion to withdraw it with a shriek.
The three spell casters continued to chant, needing to maintain the spell until the creature was dead.
Ex atrum adveho in lux lucis
Ex aer fio viscus
exsisto illae universitas quod nullus alius
Exorior
Exorior
Exorior
Whenever one of the fighters made a sound as they tried to close in on the central mass, the Minion would hone in and fire off one of its spear like tendrils. The closer they got the less it took for the minion to hear them; the mere exhalation of air was enough. They were making little progress, every tentacle they sliced off; bled thick, foul smelling ooze onto the floor, before it was dragged back inside the main mass. Here and there, where the tentacles had been returned, tiny tears in the skin of the mass still oozed. Ducking and slicing, Buffy rolled back to her feet, panting with the exertion of keeping moving.
Catching Faith's eye, she changed her grip on her sword and motioned with her head to the far wall. Faith nodded and the pair moved in tandem. Running full pelt past the Minion towards the far wall, when they reached it they took one step up and turned. Using their conserved momentum they put all their effort into the throwing the weapons they held, Buffy her sword and Faith her Axe. The room held its breath as the two weapons sailed through the air with lethal accuracy. A sickening wail reverberated around the room as the blades connected with the Minion's mass.
Like an over filled balloon, the mass exploded spraying the occupants with the same black sludge that coated the floor. The group just stared at the spot where the demon had been, their silent communion only broken when a pitiful sniffled drew their attention to the bed. The girl was awake.
Wiping the mess from his face Gunn was the first to speak.
"Ok, that was just nasty."
Translation of the Latin spell (again this is what I put in the translator, if its nonsense blame that)
From Dark to light
From air become Flesh
Be of this world and no other
Come forth
Come forth
Come forth