"Home sweet home," Angel said bitterly, as he gazed at the city of his birth, as a demon...as well as a human.
Dru spun around and laughed, ran just like a just like a child. "Daddy, will I meet your family here?"
Angel reached out, and with more force than was necessary, grabbed Dru. In a low growl, his eyes glowing yellow, he hissed, "Only if you want to be dust!", and released her.
Dru stumbled to the ground, sniffed the air, and looked around. She murmured, "I don't like what I am feeling right now. The stars are even becoming darker and telling me to hide like the clouds hide them in a storm."
Faith turned behind her. She felt the same vibration, and backed up into Angel. He placed his hands onto her shoulders to acknowledge the fact that he knew and understood what she was sensing.
Maeve and the other Watchers were alert and cautious as they moved closer to Angel. Maeve asked curiously, "Angel, what do you want from this place?"
"The land remembers," was all Angel said, as he moved away from the others as if in a trance, his step firm.
Faith watched as the souled vampire walked away from her. She could feel the intensity that began to come through her...from the earth and Angel. It left her, and she looked at Angel and knew what he was saying. With her new power, she began to reach out to him.
"Don't," Angel whispered in the Slayer's mind. "This I must do alone."
Instantly, she drew back into herself, but kept a small connection to him, to be able to know what was happening to her Angel. In silence, Faith watched as Angel took off his jacket, then his shirt. The mark on his back was clearly evident, as he knelt down on the ground and touched it reverently. He bowed his head and closed his eyes.
Power surged through him, as the ground trembled. Angel lost all feeling of everything around him, as a smell like spilt blood flooded his senses.
"The blood of your ancestors -- which runs through your veins -- overwhelms you, Son of Kells."
"Who are you?"
"I am your father."
Angel's heart felt heavy as the words sank into his soul. He could feel his father, as if he were inside him.
"Do not fear, my son, for the time is at hand. Your powers as a Son of Kells must awaken. Only then, may you destroy St. Vigeous: the defiler of our blood."
Angel hung his head lower, unable to accept what he was told. He felt unworthy to have such a task laid upon him. As if he could feel the glare of his father's eyes upon him, he lifted his head slightly, to catch a glimpse of his father's pure glory. Angel quickly looked down in fear of him.
He felt as his father knelt down in front of him. With a gentleness he did not expect, his father placed a hand under his chin, and gently raised his head to gaze into his father's eyes.
All he saw was understanding.
"That was the demon. Not you, my son."
His father raised Angel to his feet, and looked at him straight in the eye...man to man. Angel felt the relentless weight of the demon's past release its hold on his heart.
"Receive your power."
Angel, as his father spoke, looked towards the moon. It seemed to drip with blood, making the sky red, as a sound unlike any he had ever heard seemed to pierce him. He felt as though he were being filled with light. The demon within him screamed as he fell to the ground.
Hands held him as every part of his being was infused with the power of his ancestry.
"Be remade, Warrior and Champion of Kells!"
His blood coursed through his veins as he reached into the air. The demon inside torn within him to escape the retched soul that bound it. Angel clenched his fist to accept the power that flamed within his hand. The demon began to show his face, as Angel turned away from his father, not wanting his father to see.
But his father would not allow it. Forcefully, he turned the souled vampire to face him, and shouted, "NO!"
The demon did not bow, as he looked up, and growled, rage within his eyes. Suddenly, maniacal laughter came from within his soul that Angel couldn't control.
Grimly, Angel's father placed his hand over his son's heart, in a harsh whisper he said, "You will not take control Angelus! This power is my son's alone!"
Angel began to shake and gripped his father tightly. His eyes were wide open as if he were a puppet in a play that had just taken place. With a gasping breath, Angel's face took on its human form. Gently, his father laid him down, and stood.
"Be well, my son," the father said, as he seemed to shimmer, then disappear.
As Angel lay upon the ground, he heard Faith uncertainly call to him, "Angel?"
She tenderly touched his cheek, as he raised his head, and opened his eyes to gaze at her. She smiled, as he stood up from his knelt position. Angel looked around as they started to walk away. He stopped a moment, picked up his jacket and shirt, turned back once more, and closed his eyes. In silence, he said, "Thank you, Father. I will not fail you!"
As Angel and Faith walked towards the car they were traveling in, Faith could be heard saying, "So where are we going now?"
"Stonehenge."
The car came to a halt, as Angel stepped out, and swiftly lent his hand to Faith. She stood up to inhale the ancient air that crept off the stones on the hill. The sky began to take on an ominous and eerie glow as Faith moved towards the ruins.
Maeve stepped out and motioned to several of the other Watchers that this was the moment that they needed to be alert for.
Dru opened her arms and embraced the feeling of being where the prophets could speak to her louder than before.
"The blood speaks," she whispered eerily "can't you hear it?"
Several of the Watchers turned in her direction and looked confused. Drusilla grinned as she gazed up at the moon, and laughed softly. A Watcher glanced up at the moon, and shuddered.
The moon was so full of blood that everything looked like it had no color. But Angel looked at Faith, and saw in her eyes a glimmer of light that began to radiate as they got closer to the ruins.
Everyone stopped when they reached the top. Faith looked over at Angel, and felt her power start to grow, causing her to tremble. But somehow, she controlled them. Angel himself felt connecting to the Slayer, and sensing what she felt.
Faith turned her head, and glanced back at the Watchers. Quietly, she said, "Maeve, Angel and I will go on from here."
Once again, Faith moved without hesitation as Angel followed her in a dazed state. They reached the inner circle, and Faith collapsed convulsing.
Angel quickly caught her, and laid her down on the ground. Through the sudden pain, the Slayer called out to the only protection she knew that could help her at this time.
"Angelus! Aide me!"
The demon began to rage within his soul as he grasped his shirt, ripping it to shreds and throwing it aside. The demonic Angelus growled in anger at being summoned. With a terrifying grace, he slowly stood, and out-stretched his arms to the sky, as he raised his face -- eyes closed -- to the moon, the muscles of his chest rippling with power. He gradually lowered his head to gaze at the Watchers. A rumbling growl came from deep within his chest, as the demonic essence within Angel's body glared deep into the souls of the Watchers that surrounded him and Faith.
Maeve's eyes widened as she motioned to her men to go after Faith. They swiftly moved at command. Then stopped suddenly at what they saw and heard.
Faith arched up with a scream as a gold choker chain wrapped around her neck, and -- as swiftly -- around Angel's. Angelus howled in rage as he yanked at the bonds that held him. The chain kept them bound together as guardian and ward.
Faith's arms reached up -- as if accepting something --, then fell away from her body and were firmly held to the ground, as if they were bound to the earth. Angel became calmer, as the demon accepted that he was protecting Faith...but only when he was needed.
"What are you waiting for!" Maeve insisted, forcing herself to feel past the shock of what she was seeing. "Go and get her away from him!"
A Watcher moved towards the demon, and rushed him. The chain between the vampire and Slayer loosened. Instantly, Angel lashed out with his hands, ripping the Watcher's shirt and drawing blood. The Watcher staggered back in agony, as two more took his place.
With a deep growl, the souled vampire lunged, grabbed them by the neck, and -- just as he was about to crush their throats -- was jerked back by the golden chain. The Watchers fell to the ground gasping for air.
The demon howled with animalistic rage at being held back from his kill.
As this was happening, Faith lay bound to the earth, feeling the power of the Oracles consume her. She felt hot and cold at the same time. Hot with the power of her heritage, and cold with the knowledge of what she needed to do.
She could do nothing to stop what was happening to her. With effort, she thought, "Angel! Hold them for a little longer... I understand now why you saved my soul."
The demon paused, shook his head, then turned to look at Faith, as if she wounded him. He moved to her, touched her briefly, and thought, "Little One, I have always cared."
Faith's breath drew in sharply at those words. It was as if what had been said was the key needed to release her. As she exhaled, her hands began to glow with a white frosty flame. She instantly tilted her head up. She felt her heart open, and winced. Tears began to flow from her eyes, as agonizing pain overwhelmed her.
Maeve noticed that the chain between Angel and Faith had shrunk again, and again she instructed the Watchers to attack.
The chain instantly loosened, and the demon leaped and struck two off their feet before they could even make the first blow. Then the demon turned to look at another. He fled, unwilling to face the creature before him.
Then the demon turned to look at Maeve, and gazed into her soul. The Watcher shivered to think that this being was her kin.
Upon Faith's hands, Gaelic designs manifested themselves -- etched into her palms --, with pure white crystals deeply embedded into the center of her hands. The tears she shed turned into crystals, and fell from her face.
Gasping, Faith called out, "Angel! I need you now!"
As if his soul was summoned back to him, Angel's face changed back to its human guise just enough to turn to look at her. He moved to her, and crouched over her like an animal protecting its mate. He kept his eyes on Maeve and the Watchers, as he felt the power of Faith making her transformations.
Lighting shot from her hands into a triangle -- the top point arching above Angel --, as she looked up into the vampire's eyes. Faith opened her mind to the power that was now hers, and smiled at Angel.
Angel sat straight up, and looked down at her bosom to see a shaft of light coming from within her. A shadowy shape could be seen, then came a glint of silver. The hilt of the sword Angel had seen in his dreams so many times began to emerge from her chest.
She looked up at him as he placed his right hand upon the first grip of the hilt. The Sword of Kells slide further up as Faith's body thrusted upward with it.
Faith closed her eyes and breathed deeper, as the second handle grip of the sword emerged. Angel slipped his left hand into its grip. Faith gasped with pain as she could feel it move within her.
Faith opened her eyes, and looked up one last time. Crystalline tears fell even harder from her eyes, as she thought, "I love you, Angel."
He looked deep within her eyes, and saw the love the Slayer held for the one who had been her guardian. He thought in wonder, as he realized he felt the same, "As I love you, too."
Faith took in a deep breath of air as Angel forcefully slid the blade up and out of her. The sword sang as it sliced through the air, as the vampire whirled the blade to stop suddenly at an angle in front of him. The red glow of the moon shimmered down the smooth edge of the blade in the sudden stillness.
Faith lay limp on the ground, her task for the moment done. The golden chain, which bound the Slayer and vampire, shattered into a shower of light that fell gently around Faith.
Into the power-laden silence, the demon raised his head slowly, and looked up through his lashes at the Watchers, teeth bared in a snarl.
Dru seductively laid back upon a stone, and embraced it to accept the power of her Sire. She whispered joyously, "Daddy wants to play with you."
Angelus moved forward in a dominant step towards Maeve, but before he could reach her, a blue flame rose up in front of him, stopping him.
The demon became enraged, and swung the sword at Maeve. But the flame seared his flesh before he could reach her. He retreated in pain. Snarling, the demon whirled around, to find that the flame had become a circle around him and Faith.
Angelus would not be contained, as he growled and lunged at the flames to make them open. All they did was burn him. He moved back, then leapt forward, trying to go over them. But to no avail, for the flames only grow higher.
He roared, and swung the sword he held directly into the flames. As though the sword were a stick hitting a wall, it bounced back.
Faith's transformation was complete, as her body began to rise into the air. She now wears a pure white free-flowing gown that gives the illusion of white flames. The crystals began to glow in her hands.
Faith looked down to see the demon running like an animal around the circle she created to keep him caged in.
Gently, she breathed in, and said softly and firmly, "Angel. I call forth Angel!"
The demon turned and growled, as he moved towards her at her command. He knelt at her feet, and -- at the same moment -- slammed the tip of the blade into the earth in submission of her will.
Maeve -- watching what was happening -- looked down and motioned to the Watchers to back off. In defeat, she said, "It is done. We have lost... She is theirs now."
Dru turned and gripped the stone. Giddily, she laughed and said gleefully, as she turned to watch Faith deal with Angel, "Did you lose your dolly? That's too bad. Daddy will buy you a new one!"
Faith looked down at the demon that knelt before her, and said in quiet command, "I call for the Champion of the Kells!"
The demon hissed, raised up his arms, and screamed in defiance. The scream became a yell, as the soul gained control. With effort, Angel said, "I am Angel! Liam. Son of Kells! The Chosen One of my people. The Champion of Kells!"
In that instant, the blue flame that Faith had called up to contain the demon fell like water and was no more. The Slayer gently touched the ground and knelt to touch Angel's cheek.
He looked at her eyes, to see that two crystals now were embedded on each side of her face beside her eyes.
Faith said, as she saw the shock in Angel's eyes, "They are the symbol of my pain...and of what I will give up. You have what we came for. That's all that matters... Now. Let's go after St. Vigeous!"