Part 7: Guardian's Duty

"So," Willow said somewhat excitedly, "the druids will be here in about two weeks?"

"Yeah," came the muffled reply, as Angel lay face-down -- flat-out on the couch -- as Buffy soothingly massaged his back.

"Angelus," a female Watcher said. "Wha--"

"Angel!" several voices chorused in correction from various directions.

Somewhat startled, the Watcher continued, saying, "What is your distinction among the druids, and how did you attain the mark of Kells upon your back?"

With a sigh, Angel said, "Buffy, stop." When the Slayer sat down on the floor in front of the couch, Angel pushed himself up, and sat behind her. Leaning forward, the souled vampire asked, "What do you know of the Kells bloodline?"

"That they were very powerful, but were not recognized for that power, except among the druids. The eldest sons were born with the mark of Kells on their back. They were also practically wiped-out in seventeen fifty-three."

Looking down at his hands, Angel asked, "How were they destroyed?"

"By some unknown vampire. To this day, we do not know who--" The Watcher stopped suddenly, as a realization came to her. "Good God! You were that vampire!"

Angel nodded, and looked up, bitterness in his eyes, as he whispered rhetorically, "What better way to destroy a bloodline than to be of that bloodline?"

A male Watcher asked in a hard voice, "What was your human name, vampire?"

"Liam Kells," Angel answered. He then said, "I was the eldest -- and only -- son in my family. My father was a merchant, while my mother was royalty."

"What level of royalty," asked Giles.

"She was a princess. In fact, if she hadn't married my father...she would've been an unacknowledged queen."

"Unacknowledged?" Another Watcher asked. "What royal line would that be?"

Angel slowly rose to his feet, and said casually as he walked out of the room, "Pendragon."

Near noon the next day, Buffy slipped into the mansion, and found herself face-to-face with the guardian form of Darkmoon.

"Hey, Darkmoon," Buffy said quietly. "How's Angel doing?"

"Alright," he said within the Slayer's mind. "Asleep right now. I just wish that those blasted Watchers would leave him alone!"

Buffy chuckled, and watched as the guardian became a familiar. She said, "Right with ya on that. Angel almost vamped on them out of sheer frustration last night, when they didn't take seriously his 'Leave me alone.' Even Xander knows not to cross that line!" She sighed, before saying, "At least they were helpful in getting that spell to let you speak to all of us. If only they could find a way to bind Angel's soul permanently."

Buffy went and sat down on the couch, Darkmoon jumping up onto her lap. She petted him as she said regretfully, "If only the curse were permanent...and he could go out into the sunlight. Then everything would be perfect between us."

Silence fell, before Darkmoon said quietly, almost unsure of himself, "Wouldn't him loosing his soul be considered harmful to him? And I know sunlight and holy objects are."

"Yeah," Buffy said, equally slowly, "they would... What are you getting at?"

"The ability to go from familiar to guardian and back has only happened once before, with the wizard Merlin's familiar. I have been granted the level of guardianship, because of how powerful my master is. One of the responsibilities of a guardian is to make sure no harm can come to the guardian's master as much as possible. Another thing is that now that I can take on the guardian form...I've been granted greater magical abilities...and knowledge of where magical artifacts are located. One in particular I know would be very helpful to my master, and is here in Sunnydale."

Buffy's hand stilled, as she understood what was being hinted at. In a voice that broke no disagreement, she said, "Tell me."

Darkmoon moved from under Buffy's hand, and faced the Slayer. He said, in a serious tone, "It's called the Ring of Amara, and it makes a vampire immune to all things that can kill or harm them. Even a stake in the heart, beheading, or sunlight would not damage them in the least." After a pause, he said, "I am also in possession of a spell to make it so that only my master may wear the ring."

"How are we to get the ring when it's in a sealed tomb...underground!" Buffy exclaimed to Darkmoon later that day, as Angel restlessly paced behind her.

"I can get in there with my master," Darkmoon explained. "But I need to be near the place in order to do it. That is where you come in, Slayer."

"What exactly is she needed for," Angel asked as he continued to pace around the room.

"The spell I will use to get into the crypt will need the blood of a very powerful being on the side of Light. The most powerful ones are paladins and Slayers. She is technically both, even though she has yet to formally take on the rank of paladin."

"Will I have to go through what Angel did," Buffy asked uncertainly.

"No. The only pain you will feel would be when you cut yourself."

Buffy nodded her understanding, and said, "Then all we need do is wait for sunset."

Mere seconds after sunset, Angel, Buffy, and Darkmoon slipped out of the mansion.

"I hope no one realizes that we're gone," Buffy whispered as they slipped through the graveyard near the mansion.

"They wont even know we left and came back," Darkmoon said. "I placed an enchantment in the room we left from. They'll think we're all just taking a well-deserved nap."

A few minutes later, they reached their destination. Crouched above the place where the tomb lay buried, Buffy drew a knife lightly across her hand. Only a few drops fell onto the ground, but that was all that was needed. In guardian form, Darkmoon touched Angel, and they disappeared.

Sitting down on the ground, Buffy pulled out a stake, and lightly tapped it against her knee as she gazed around herself.

Within a tomb filled with unimaginable riches and artifacts, Darkmoon and Angel appeared. Moving with unerring precision, the guardian familiar went towards his goal, the souled vampire following. Within a moment, Darkmoon carefully picked up an old green-gemmed ring, and placed it in Angel's waiting hands.

Slowly, Angel picked up the ring, and slipped it onto his left middle finger. He looked around, and saw a cross nearby. With an unnecessary breath, he reached out, and placed his hand upon the cross.

Nothing happened. Not even a wisp of steam, nor the sizzle of flesh burning.

With wondering eyes, Angel gazed at Darkmoon. "It works," the souled vampire whispered hoarsely.

"It should," Darkmoon said calmly. "Come on. We need to go and make sure that that ring can only be worn by you."

"...Let this ring be bound. Let only one vampire ever wear it from this day forth. He who is named Angel, a souled vampire."

Within a silver chalice, the ring of Amara glowed, the gem changing color, becoming blood-red with a clear center. Then slowly, the mark of Kells appeared in black upon the gem.

"It is done," Darkmoon said. "Go ahead and put the ring on, Master."

Angel slipped the ring onto his left middle finger, and looked at Buffy, smiling faintly. Buffy smiled back, and hugged the vampire, saying, "Now if only we could bind your soul a little more securely."

"I might have a solution to that," Darkmoon said. At the looks of shock from the vampire and Slayer, he explained, "Remember when I said that it was a spell that made me unable to die, and how it keeps me from permanently dieing? Well, I might be able to get the druids to alter it, and make it so that I am 'technically' my master's soul's keeper. That way, as long as I live, your soul would be bound to you.

"And since you cannot die permanently unless I die," Angel said in wonderment, "my soul would be bound to me for as long as I exist!"

"No more happiness clause... No more curse, because it wouldn't be needed," Buffy mussed out-loud.

"But we gotta wait until the druids get here," Darkmoon said, being the voice of practicality.

Angel gazed at Buffy, taking her hand in his, as he said, "We've waited this long. We can wait a little longer."

Buffy nodded her agreement, then said, changing the subject, "Angel, about the ring? I don't think it'd be wise to let them know you have it yet. They wont know what it looks like -- especially now that the gem has changed -- so you wearing it wont be a problem."

"Agreed," Darkmoon said. "They will merely think it an heirloom, with the mark of Kells upon it. Come, we must go out and be with the others. They are starting to become suspicious."

As they left the bedroom, Angel could be heard saying, "First thing we do at lunch tomorrow, is have a picnic." You could almost hear Buffy's grin following those words.