Part 11: Powers Awakened
Angel took the offered drink into his shaking hand, then downed it in one swallow. After coughing as the brandy burned down his throat, the vampire said roughly, "I thought that that horse was only a dream in my hallucinations of Hell after my return."
"Apparently not," Giles murmured as he refilled Angel's glass.
In the silence that followed, the entrance door to the mansion opened, as Willow came inside.
In an excited -- but subdued -- voice, she said, "The druids are almost done taking care of the paladin's mounts."
At those words, Angel shuddered, and once again downed the refilled glass. With a frown of displeasure, Buffy stopped the vampire from getting another refill.
"That's enough, Honey," the Slayer said firmly. "I have no intention of you being drunk not even one day into our marriage."
With the reminder of what had been done that night, Angel looked down at his and Buffy's right hands. He saw the Claddagh rings glinting in the firelight, and smiled faintly as he brought his wife's hand to his lips and kissed it.
"Forever," he whispered.
"Forever," Buffy agreed firmly.
"As upsetting as breaking this moment is," Xander said in a tone of voice that was clearly the opposite of what he was saying, "we've got business to take care of. When we leave, you guys can do whatever you want."
Angel glared, while Buffy rolled her eyes. With a sigh, the Slayer muttered, "What is there left to discuss?"
"Your training," said Giles quietly, "and how to destroy the harpy."
Buffy frowned, a look of concentration on her face, before she said and asked, "The harpy I can understand...but training?"
In an almost patronizing tone, a Watcher said, "Well Slayer, with you needing to patrol every night, your insistence on keeping a normal life as much as possible, and the souled vampire unable to go out into the sun...your time to train together is very limited."
Buffy and Angel looked at each other. After a moment, Angel slowly nodded once. They then stood and went over to one of the covered windows in the mansion. Once there, the vampire stood a few feet in front of the window, while the Slayer went to stand by the black-out curtain.
As Darkmoon watched the two, he suddenly realized what they were about to do, and exclaimed in alarm, "Oh no you don't! You're not telling them!"
Buffy scowled as she put a hand on the curtain covering the window, her other hand resting on her hip. In a voice showing her annoyance, she said, "Why not? You've made it so that it can't come off as long as he has his soul. And if somehow he does loose it, he'll go 'poof' with it on...like any other vamp."
As Darkmoon growled -- dangerously close to taking on the guardian form --, Willow asked uncertainly, "What are you guys talking about?"
Buffy focused on Willow, and asked mildly, "The sun's up, right Willow?"
As Willow slowly said "Yeah." Buffy swiftly pulled the curtain off of the window, daylight flooding the room. Angel stood within the sunlight, his eyes closed, a look of bliss upon his face. Buffy went over to him, and touched his arm. He turned, bent down, and kissed her.
Into the stunned silence, a Watcher shouted, "My GOD!"
Angel sat outside in the sun, Buffy beside him, as the Watchers and druids argued with his familiar within the mansion.
"You know," Angel commented while putting on a pair of wrap-around shades that he had bought after his first day in the sun, "they should really come outside. It's a beautiful day."
"Mm-hm," was the only response from the Slayer as she lazily traced patterns on Angel's bare chest. Buffy then glanced up, a grin on her face as she said, "Although, it is funny that the only time the Watchers and druids have agreed about anything is about that ring. You'd think we'd found Excalibur, then tossed it into an active volcano."
With a faint chuckle, Angel murmured, "If only they knew that that was the sword the higher powers gave me."
"Well, you are his descendant."
"True." Angel sighed as he glanced towards the mansion, then said, "They're not going to be done anytime soon. Why don't we get acquainted with our chosen steeds?"
Within the woods near the mansion, Angel and Buffy stood gazing at the pegasus and night-stallion.
"It's hard to believe that they're ours," Buffy finally managed to say past her wonder.
Angel nodded his agreement as he watched the two creatures play together. Darker than night, and brighter than day, pegasus and night-stallion mock-battled. A few moments later, as if sensing their riders, they stopped, and looked over at the vampire and Slayer.
As one, pegasus and night-stallion bowed. Buffy's breath caught as her eyes grew wider in awe. In a hushed tone, she asked, "Why are they doing that, Angel?"
"They recognize the crown-prince -- and unofficial king -- Liam Kells-Pendragon. He who is last of the Pendragon's to exist," a voice said softly behind Buffy and Angel.
Swiftly, vampire and Slayer turned around, and saw a peculiar sight. An elderly man in well-worn jeans, a tattered green t-shirt, and hiking boots that had seen better days holding an ancient wooden carved staff stood, gazing at the two lovers with gentle gray eyes. He bowed to them. When he stood, he said -- still in that soft voice--, "Greetings, my Lord and Lady, I am Mavric, descendant of the wizard Merlin, and I'm to teach you both how to use those magnificent steeds behind you, as well as how to use your new powers."
"What powers would that be?" Buffy asked in confusion.
Mavric looked deeply within Buffy's eyes, and said in a powerful voice that echoed, "The powers that you have possessed since you were first called as Light Paladin, Maeve Summers."
Buffy's eyes glazed, as a shimmering blue light surrounded her. Angel started to reach out to her, but stopped when he felt a force that he had only felt in Hell surround him. Drawing in a shuddering breath, Angel strained against the bonds that made it impossible for him to move. He did not notice the red glow surrounding him, casting a dark and sinister shadow upon half his face.
Minutes passed, as both were caught in the re-awakening of their powers. It was Angel who first broke free with a cry of triumph...as the red light around him exploded. Rage in his eyes, the vampire crouched before Mavric, growling. Seconds later, Buffy gasped, staggered, and fell to her knees, trembling, the blue light surrounding her gone.
Slowly, Angel stood, his gaze never leaving Mavric's. A red light that might as well have been fire surrounded the vampire's hands, as he snarled, the very depths of Hell shining within his eyes, "You will pay for that, wizard!"
Staggering back, Mavric placed his staff before him in a fighting stance, his eyes wide, as he whispered in shock, "You shouldn't be that powerful!"
By this time, Buffy was now standing, and -- seemingly out of nowhere -- a flaming white sword was in her hand. With the power of the Slayer and the White Paladin's spirits' rage within her eyes, Buffy growled out, "How dare you!"
A shudder shook Mavric's frame as he whispered to himself, "That's not possible! How can they be so powerful!"
The wizard then watched wearily as the pegasus and night-stallion came to stand beside their respective rider. Never taking their eyes off of Mavric, Buffy and Angel mounted their steeds. A moment later, Darkmoon stood behind the wizard, and caught the wizard's collar in his mouth, and dragged him back towards the mansion.
Once outside of the woods, Darkmoon released Mavric. Shuddering, he moved further away from the familiar and paladins, as Angel and Buffy each raised their right hands in unison. Neither said a word as light -- red and blue -- shot out from their hands, and struck him. No time did he even have to cry out in fear, before landing harshly against a mansion wall, unconscious.
Instantly, those within the mansion came running out, to witness a sight they had never seen.
Slayer and vampire sat upon their mounts -- they and their mounts garbed for war --, as Darkmoon crouched in guardian form in front of them.
In a trembling whisper that all could hear in the sudden silence, a druid said, "There is no need for them to train. They are ready now."