'Verlassen Sie Alle Höfnung…' was painted crudely above the main cavern entrance in large redbrown brush strokes, causing Cordelia to stare at it in confusion for a moment. "Giles? Is that Russian or something?"
"German, actually." The librarian replied, looking up to scan the graffiti. He fuddled with his glasses for moment. "My German is a bit rusty, and the grammar is sketchy at best possibly due to age, but I believe it reads 'Abandon All Hope…'"
The brunette rolled her eyes, "Lovely. It's never 'Welcome, please wipe your feet before entering.' It's always the message of gloom and doom written in a virgin's blood."
Angel's head shot up. "How could you tell it was written in virgin blood?" Giles and Brian turned to look at Cordelia in wide eyed astonishment.
"You mean, it..." Cordy paled and felt herself grow nauseous. "Oh! Eeew!"
"Angel, are you really expecting us to just march right in the front door and ask them to return Willow and Xander?" Brian asked.
Angel sighed. "No, this is the front door. It'd be suicide." Then he pointed down a long and dark hallway. "That is our road." "Back door, huh?" Brian replied, then nodded his agreement.
"So, Giles. How much do you know about this Master?" Brian asked later.
Giles paused for a moment, trying to remember his information on the venerable master vampire. "A-according to the Watcher files, Heinrich Joseph Nest was a holy man in the Bohemian Lands of what are now Austria and Hungary. He was born to a wealthy land owner and, as was the custom with the youngest son, he became a priest and traveled with Sigismund on his Crusade against the Ottoman Empire, where they were soundly defeated at the Battle of Nicopolis. According to the reports, Nest fell during the retreat as he stayed to tend to the wounded soldiers. "As he lay dying on the darkened battlefield, he was approached by a cloaked man who offered to heal him, never realizing that his savior was Aurelius, leader of the most powerful order of vampires the world has even known."
Angel actually stopped walking at this point, content to hear Giles' story. Brian threw him a sour look and nudged him to continue with the flat of his blade. "Time's wasting, Angel. Move it."
"Er, as I was saying. Nest quickly rose through the ranks and became Aurelius' chief lieutenant as his horde drove across Europe, cutting a swath of death and destruction for generations, stretching from as far east as Moscow to as far west as London. In fact, many of the plagues attributed to that time were not actually plagues, but a series of bloodwars between vampire houses."
"So, what happened to this Aurelius guy?" Cordelia asked.
"If memory serves, he was killed by the Slayer of that time. An Italian girl, if I'm not mistaken. Francesca Bennini was her name. Rumor had it, Nest personally allowed her access to Aurelius' bedchambers. Then to save the Order's honor, he snapped the girl's neck and sold her corpse to a local butcher."
"You're saying he sold her… as meat?" Cordelia turned a pale shade of green, and her skin became sweaty and cool. Even Angel, who had been a joyful and willing participant in literally tens of thousands of acts of cruelty and malice, found that particular revelation nauseating.
"Yes, well… t-the report may have no real value to it. The Watcher assigned to her, a James Worthington, I believe, went rather mad and had to be placed in an asylum. He committed suicide not long after that." Giles concluded.
"This just couldn't get any more disgusting." Cordelia commented between dry heaves.
"Actually," Giles interjected. "The rumor was that the er… meat was then sent to London and was summarily fed to the High Council as a message from the House of Aurelius."
"I stand corrected."
"Do you think it's possible that we can save this jog down memory lane until after we get to Willow and Xander?" Brian offered angrily.
"You know," Angel grumbled. "This would be a whole hell of a lot easier if you hadn't nearly put Buffy into a coma earlier." Brian stopped short, turning around to glare at the vampire. He put a hand to his mouth in mock guilt. "Oh, gee, is the baby killer angry I gave the Slayer a headache?"
Giles and Cordelia both muttered. "Here we go again."
Xander woke with a start, choking back a cry. He had dreamt of Cordelia. That, in itself, was not entirely uncommon. What was different from this normal teenage fantasy was she wasn't naked in this dream. From what little he could remember from the quickly fading vision, she was coming closer to him, reaching out to him. He felt peace and tranquility envelop him as she neared him. But just before they could touch, she was yanked away by a hideously scarred vampire, who pulled her away. "Cordy. Cordy's coming."
Willow, who couldn't get back to sleep, turned inside his arms to face him. "I know." He looked at her strangely for a moment, before she explained. "I dreamt Brian was looking for us."
"Something's wrong, though. I think it's a trap."
Willow nodded reluctantly. "Yeah, I know. We're the bait."
He could hardly contain himself. The Four were coming here. The Four Horseman of the Apocalypse. Coming to join him, to free him from this prison he had been rotting in for the last sixty-one years. He sat forward in his highbacked throne, facing down the crucifix across from him. A surviving remnant of the earthquake of 1936, one of the few items from the church that no one removed. As much as it still caused him pain and fear, the Master left it. To learn to endure it. To master it.
He sat up straighter in his throne, considering his new lieutenants, and laughed. "It will be glorious. Glorious!" He stood up suddenly, slackjawed. Never in his six centuries had he witnessed an event quite like this. It seemed the wooden statue of the Savior mounted on the wall had begun to cry.
He looked around the room, wondering if anyone else had seen it. But of course not, the room was empty. He had dismissed them all when James had come with news of the Herald's arrival. He rose and stepped to the icon, barely controlling his own fear.
As he reached out to sample the tears emanating from the Lord's countenance, the statue moved and it's head looked up to gaze at the Master with eyes full of fire. "I shall strike down upon thee with great vengeance and furious anger those who would attempt to poison and destroy my brothers." The icon spoke harshly, a deep echoing growl that seemed to come at him from all sides, causing the Master to step back in fear. "And you will know my name is The Lord when I lay my vengeance upon thee!" The Master froze in a panic as the Christform reached out to touch him, the wooden hands splintering and cracking as they tore away from the wooden planks. The Master raised his hands to ward away the holy figure, a scream of pure terror rising in his throat. "Nooooooooo!" His head snapped up and he blinked away his surprise.
The Master found himself back in his throne, his eyes scanning the room. Had he screamed aloud? What blood still pumped through his veins from the earlier meal brought to him by his lackeys rushed to his cheeks in embarrassment. Several minions looked up in confusion, before going back to their dinner consisting of a homeless person. He turned to James, who was busy scribbling notes into his palm pilot. "James?"
"Yes, my master?" Horton dutifully replied, inwardly cringing at having to act subordinate to this tired old man.
"From now on, no more Quentin Tarantino movies." He growled.
James sighed inwardly. "It shall be as you direct, my Lord."
The Master glanced uneasily back at the crucifix. Was that a message? A warning from the Powers That Be to stay away from their servants? Or was it just nothing more than his subconscious voicing unspoken uncertainties? He didn't know for certain and for the first time since being brought across, he felt real fear.
The bickering ended relatively quickly, Brian coming to the conclusion that arguing with Angel wasn't really worth the effort. It certainly wasn't making him feel any better, and he could tell it was only making Cordy feel worse. He could see she was still scratching absently at a patch of exposed skin on her forearm. "Cordelia, what are you doing?" Brian whispered to the brunette, not wanting to call everyone's attention to her actions just yet. But he couldn't hide his worry.
She looked at him curiously. "What are you talking about?"
He pointed with his eyes down to the inflamed portion on her arm. She tracked his gesture and was shocked to see she had nearly torn the skin from her arm. Wide tracks of red cut from her wrist up to her sweater top. She pulled her arms in tight to her chest, embarrassed at her behavior as well as Brian noticing it. "I guess I'm just nervous. What if we don't find them, Brian? I think I'll go crazy if we can't find them."
Brian nodded and pulled her close, nodding his agreement. "I know exactly what you mean." He pulled up at the sleeve of his jacket, showing off a wicked stretch of bloody skin. "We need to tell Giles about this. This can't be normal."
"No," she whispered emphatically.
"But" Brian started.
"No, Brian. Not yet. They can't know. It's too hard. Just… not yet, okay?" She interrupted. "Just hold my hand. It doesn't hurt as much when you do." She reached out and gripped his hand, a lot tighter than he was expecting. The fire swimming beneath his skin lessened a bit when she touched him, making it almost tolerable.
"We're going to have to tell him soon. You know that, right?"
"I know. But just not now."
He sighed. "Alright, but if this starts to become a serious distraction, then I'm going to have to tell Giles." Cordelia looked as if she was about to protest, but Brian cut her short. "No arguments."
"It's starting to get to them." Angel whispered.
Giles nodded, watching as Cordelia took hold of Brian's hand. Holding on for dear life. "Indeed. Frankly, I'm surprised they've lasted as long as they have. And it would go a great deal smoother if you wouldn't continue to bait him like you have done."
"Well, this would be a lot easier if Buffy were here." Angel protested.
Giles half-turned to face him. "Probably. But that was not necessarily his fault, Angel. It was my decision to have them train together."
"But you weren't the one who sent her through an audiovisual cart. Excessive for sparring, don't you think?"
Giles frowned, getting a little agitated at the vampire himself. "You know, Buffy had just tried to send him through a cinderblock wall. A case could be made that she started it, not Brian." He removed his glasses, reaching for a handkerchief to clean the lenses. "And for the future, I suggest you adopt a more lowkey approach to Brian and Cordelia for the immediate future. For your own safety."
"I can take care of myself, Giles." Angel muttered. "I've got a couple centuries of experience on him."
"Well, then you've forgotten that his teachers have a combined age somewhere in the neighborhood of four and a half millennia." Giles pointed out, earning a blink of surprise from the elder vampire. Forty-five hundred years? "They're bound to have taught him a trick or two that even you have not learned. And must I remind you once again that we are fighting towards a common goal?"
"I haven't forgotten, Giles. But he hurt Buffy. I just can't let that go."
"But you're going to have to. You can't fight all her battles for her, Angel." Giles reminded him. "She may still be a child, but you can't protect her forever. You can't, and she won't want you to."
"And neither can you." Angel bitterly replied, and he instantly regretted it. It was callous and unfair, preying on the fears that he knew plagued the Watcher at every moment, and he apologized immediately. He couldn't tell if his criticism came from jealousy for the bond Giles shared with Buffy somewhat akin to a father's love, or perhaps from the fear in his heart that knows Buffy's time on earth is extraordinarily finite.
Giles was silent for a long moment, and the vampire squirmed under the pressure of his own thoughtlessness. "It's… alright, Angel. Buffy and I both understand the risks inherent in our callings. Truthfully, I don't know whose calling is the worse. Hers for knowing she will die so young. Or mine for knowing it, but not being able to do anything to prevent it." He then sighed deeply. "And be forced to live on."
Angel stopped to consider that, realizing at once how selfish he was being. About a whole host of things. And he realized that his love for Buffy was still something of a childish love, not yet realizing that she was an imperfect creature filled with her own strengths and weaknesses. It forced him to reconsider his first impression of Brian. His immediate dislike and mistrust was fueled primarily by a one-sided report from Buffy of their fight. And possibly the same reason he took an instant dislike to Xander he viewed them both as a direct threat, despite Brian's feelings for Willow and Cordelia's for Xander. And while the boys did not do much to help him reevaluate his position, he was two hundred and forty-one years old. Shouldn't he know better?
He sighed, and swallowed down the remains of his embarrassment. "I've been behaving like such a child." Angel mumbled to himself, not intending for anyone else to hear.
Giles had stopped and was looking at him, a wry smile on his lips. "Perhaps," he commented idly, putting a hand on the vampire's shoulder to comfort him. The vampire's cheeks flushed, the cup of microwaved pig's blood he'd consumed rushing to his face and casting an unusual rosy glow against his normally ashen white skin. "But no more so than any of the others." Angel looked as if he would protest Giles' attempts to reassure him, but he stopped short. "Thanks, Giles."
The group came to an intersection of sorts not much later as the artificial concrete and steel constructs gave way to more natural formations. The caverns were dark and sinister, no longer filled with the shifting shadows created by torchlight but with a cold that seeped into your bones. The walls were still jagged, consistent with years of tremors, earthquakes and aftershocks. Like the eruption that trapped Nest in his underground prison. Putrid water pooled in ankledeep puddles, probably coming from stress fractures in the sewer lines above them. The cavern ran at a gentle sloping downward angle, winding deep into the dark.
The last visible segment of the tunnel showed it branching off in two directions. Brian and Angel both had the best night vision and though Angel's natural night vision far exceeded his, Brian was unwilling to allow him to lead them. So Brian lead the way with Giles readying his stake and heavy wooden cross and Cordelia watching their backs with the crossbow.
"So, which way?" Brian asked over his shoulder.
Angel paused. Long enough to cause Brian to stop and Giles and Cordy to slam into Angel like a human train wreck. "What's the deal, Angel? I nearly fell into a puddle of that crap on the floor. It's bad enough I'm gonna have to burn these shoes, but if I have get another manicure, so help me…"
"Angel?" Giles inquired gently. Tensions in the group were high enough already.
Brian stepped forward, after helping Cordelia to her feet. "Angel, which way?"
The vampire bit at his lip for a long moment, before he finally answered. "I… don't know." Brian was on him in less than a second, pinning Angel to the rough stone wall with his left forearm and lifting the vampire several inches off the ground. His other hand was reaching over his shoulder for his katana. "You have five seconds to explain. One… two…"
Giles's heart rose into his throat, partly through surprise and partly from anger. "Angel?"
"Three." The katana slid easily out of its scabbard with a gentle scraping whistle. "Four." The edge was pressed up to Angel's throat, a slight trickle of blood flowing down the blade.
"Wait, Brian. Don't." Giles intervened. He turned to their guide. "Angel, I think you'd better explain… and quickly."
Though unnecessary, Angel swallowed reflexively opening the wound slightly. "Uhh… well, it's like this…"
Before anyone could blink, Angel placed his left foot over Brian's, then drove upward and forward into Brian's groin with his right leg. Brian immediately doubled over in shock and pain, instinctively pushing backward. His foot, however, was still pinned underneath Angel's boot, causing the Herald to stumble backwards into Giles and sending them both to the stone floor. With a smooth transition, Angel grasped at the hilt of Brian's katana and turned it on its former master.
"I knew it! Cordy, shoot him!" Brian snarled.
Biting out a curse, the cheerleader brought the crossbow to bear and fired off a single bolt. At such close range, it would be more powerful than a .38 caliber pistol. If it connected with its target.
As fast as anything she'd ever seen, Angel spun laterally and snatched the bolt out of the air with his bare hand. So shocked, Cordelia hesitated to squeeze off her second shot. That gave the vampire all the time he needed to act. But rather than move in for the kill, Angel slammed the sword into the ground, burying it a good four inches into the granite. "I meant what I said. I don't know which way to go. I've never been this far in. It's not like I've got an engraved invitation saying 'please stop by and take a look around our hidden fortress.' I haven't even spoken to the Master in 237 years. And the last time I did, I insulted him. They probably hate me more than they hate you, you know." With a huff, Angel handed over the crossbow bolt to Cordelia and walked away.
"Oh, well. Isn't this just perfect!" Cordelia huffed as she reloaded the bolt. "What do we do now?"
Brian finally untangled himself from Giles and stood up, then offered a hand to the older gentleman. "Well, there's two choices. Either we pick one, or we split up."
"Either choice presents its own danger." Giles mused. "I suggest we split up. Brian, since you and Angel have… certain issues, I suggest he and I take the passage to the left. You and Cordelia can take the passage to the right."
Angel turned back to the conversation. "I don't think that's such a good idea, Giles. They could be anywhere in this place. We should stay together."
"And while we wait, they could be torturing Xander and Willow" Cordelia reminded them. "I don't care which plan we take as long as we take one sometime today!"
Brian seemed lost in thought, the conversation light years behind him. The voices faded away as his focus narrowed, until all that was visible to him was the gathering dark of the underground caverns before him. The shadows began to coalesce before him, a shape stretched from the darkness, and Brian at first thought it was a servant of the Master that had found them. He reached behind him for his sword, but stopped short. His blood turned to ice in his veins as he recognized the shape. "D-D-Darius?"
