Part 3: A Familiar and A Harpy

That morning, in the library at Sunnydale High School, an emergency meeting was taking place.

"I am not making this up, Giles!" Buffy exclaimed in anger.

"I am sorry, Buffy, but I cannot possibly imagine what could make a vampire so distraught," Giles said, while furiously wiping his glasses.

"And it doesn't help that when I brought it up this morning -- before leaving -- that he nearly went hysterical! No, correction: he was hysterical." Buffy drew in a deep breath to calm herself, then said slowly, "Giles, his reaction was far worse than whenever I accidentally say 'Hell' around him."

Slowly, Giles put his glasses back on, and studied his Slayer. "Buffy," he said softly, "you know I will have to use all venues open to me, to find out what could possibly frighten him. That means that I will have to contact the Council of Watchers, and tell them about Angel. I have not told them about him before this."

For a long moment, there was silence, then Buffy nodded. "Alright," she said. "Contact them. Tell them what you can." Buffy paused in thought, then said, her voice hardening, "But Giles, also tell them this: If they try -- in any way or form -- to harm or kill Angel, they will answer to me."

Angel tossed restlessly in the Slayer's bed, as Darkmoon silently entered the room through the window. He leapt onto the bed, and gazed solemnly at the vampire.

There is no time to prepare him. She is here, and has seen him, Darkmoon thought grimly.

Slowly, the black cat moved towards Angel's restless form, but did not touch him. When he stood at the head of the bed, he closed his eyes, and pressed his forehead to Angel's.

Let our minds be joined, Darkmoon thought.

Images came to him, as he felt himself enter Angel's mind.

Death.
Destruction.
Remorse.
Light in the form of a woman...a Slayer.
Love.
Pure happiness.
Soul's loss.
The demon seeking revenge.
Soul's return.
Hell.
Freedom.

With a screech, Darkmoon forced himself back into his own body, and fell off the bed, shaking.

He's been to Hell! Great merciful heavens...he was in Hell!

With a shudder, Darkmoon once again leapt onto the bed. Purring in a chant-like manner, he pressed himself against Angel.

"Sacred Moon, hear my plea!" Darkmoon thought out-loud. "Ease the horror of this one's dreams. Let him know peace."

The black cat once again shuddered, as a female voice thundered in his mind, "There is only one who may give him peace. One who cannot do so, due to the curse laid upon him. The curse that binds his soul."

"How, then, am I to aid him?"

"You are bound to him now. Awaken him. Explain what is happening. Have him seek the aid of those he knows. Though they seem his enemies...they are not."

Head bowed in reverence, Darkmoon thought, "Sacred Moon -- Mother -- I thank you. It shall be done as you say."

When he was sure the presence was no longer around him, he added silently, Around sunset, that is.

Giles slowly placed the phone down after five hours of intense conversation with various people of the Watchers Council. He took off his glasses and wearily rubbed his face.

From behind him, the Slayer asked quietly, "What's the verdict, Giles?"

With a weary sigh, Giles turned around to face the Slayer and Slayerettes, and said, "They'll help. If only to see one who has withstood the torments of Hell, and 'survived to tell the tale', as they put it."

Buffy's lips thinned in displeasure, before what Giles said completely registered. Her eyes widened, as she said in shock, "They're coming here!"

Giles nodded, and watched as the Slayer nervously paced. He became concerned, and asked, "Buffy, what is it?"

Seemingly talking to herself, Buffy said, "I haven't even gotten him to tell me about what he experienced in Hell. How could the Watchers possibly pry it out of him?"

"I do not know," Giles sighed. "They don't comprehend a lot of what I told them, but they are willing to try and understand."

Buffy nodded as she looked towards the sunroof. Quietly, she said, "Sun'll be down in about an hour. Angel promised to be here shortly after sunset to tell us what he saw, or at least a drawing anyway.

As Angel dreamt, he sensed the nearing of the sun setting. In dream, he found himself once again in one of Sunnydale's graveyards. Again, he stood before the headstone that bore his life's story.

Why am I here?, he thought as he looked around.

"To see me, Master," said a voice behind him.

Angel whirled around, and saw Darkmoon. "Who or what are you," he asked.

"Your familiar," came the simple reply.

"Familiar?" Angel said in confusion. He then asked, "What are you talking about?"

Darkmoon's eyes narrowed, before he said, "Do you not remember, Liam Kells? You who were destined to be a druid of high rank, before your death? I was to be your familiar, though you were not supposed to know that."

Angel's eyes widened in shock, before he shouted "NO!", and woke up.

Angel's eyes snapped open, to find the black cat from his dream sitting calmly on his chest. With a strangled cry, he threw the cat across the room, and sat up, breathing heavily. The cat crashed heavily against a wall inside Buffy's closet. As Darkmoon landed on the floor of the closet, objects on the shelf inside the closet started to fall.

Angel distinctly heard within his mind "Damn you," before everything fell on top of Darkmoon. Shaking with shock, Angel scrambled out of Buffy's bed, knelt in front of the closet, and began to take things off of the black cat. What he saw made him shudder.

Bloodied, flattened, and no pulse let Angel know that the cat was not alive. As Angel picked up and held the cat close to himself, a strange thing began to happen.

The wounds that the cat had began to mend. Within moments, the wounds were gone, as the flattened form began to take on its more natural shape. When all was once as it was, Darkmoon gasped awake, heart beating.

Once again, Angel heard words on his mind that were not his own. Words that were clearly agitated.

"I would appreciate it if you don't ever do that to me again!"

With a start, Angel dropped the black cat, and scrambled away from Darkmoon, until he bumped into the bed. With a frustrated growl, Darkmoon leapt, and landed on Angel's lap. Once there, he snapped, "Be still!"

Angel froze.

Calmly, Darkmoon plopped down onto Angel's lap, and gazed up at the vampire. He said, "Now, as to who I am: My name is Darkmoon, and I -- as I said earlier -- am your familiar. Now, because of your untimely death, the druids looked into the future, and saw that you would need me. So, they placed a spell on me that cannot be revoked, and made me immortal, unable to die...as long as you remain alive, so to speak. You being a vampire and all. Does that explain everything to you?"

"I think so," Angel said quietly, his brow drawn down in concentration. He then looked more closely at the cat. "But if this is true, why were you not with me before this?"

Darkmoon shook his coat, and said with a snort, "They wouldn't let me go to you. I had to play 'decoy', until the time was right for you to destroy her."

A chill went down his spine, before Angel asked, "Who?"

"The Harpy. The creature you saw last night."