Well here's chapter 21 at long last. Enjoy and review.
Balance chp 21: Colours and Whispers
Buffy struggled to understand all that had just happened. It had all been so fast.
"Are they…?" Tears were in her eyes as she looked at Cordelia, then Connor and finally Calista.
"No, I, I think they're just unconscious." said Spike sounding shaken, as he and Angel laid Calista down on the ground. Fred and Lorne came running down from the roof via the fire escape and rushed to the group. Fred knelt down beside Connor and touched his neck, feeling his pulse. Her warm chocolate brown eyes flitted about over his injuries and she said shakily,
"What did they do to him?" Lorne put a hand on her shoulder saying,
"From the look of it Freddy bear we don't want to know."
"Tried to kill him." choked Angel, coming over, "The, The First tried to kill him in, in a box, roast him in it." Buffy saw he was falling apart as he told them. She walked up to him and hugged him tightly.
"A brazen bull." muttered Wes to Giles who nodded. Buffy pulled away from Angel and wiped a tear from his cheek, before she looked around. Four potentials were dead and the other five were badly injured, but were being helped by Dawn, and the others.
"Hey B, listen we gotta get these guys to a hospital." called Faith as she put pressure on Vi's leg to stop the bleeding of a deep cut.
"Ok, Wesley would you-." Wes was already dialling on his cell.
Angel had seen a lot of terrible things, and had been a part of more, but this was the worst for the simple reason that he was helpless. He was unable to help the most important people in his life. Buffy stood at his side offering silent support and he was grateful because he knew that without her he'd fall to pieces and probably stake himself.
"Hard to believe, all three of them in comas." said a passing doctor to a nurse, "And aside from the boy we have no idea how they were caused." Connor, his son was in a deep coma because of trauma. The injuries and the experience of torture had defeated the Destroyer, son of Angelus. There was some irony in there somewhere but Angel couldn't bring himself to care. Calista and Cordelia were also in comas, but the causes were scientifically unknown. Giles had said that, like what Skip had said, Cordelia had been drained of most of her life force, resulting in her comatose state. As for Calista most likely she'd been drained too, and finally succumbed to the pressure of it all. Buffy broke the silence between them,
"What about the babies? What did the doctor say about them?"
"He said, he said that there's a chance that the babies mightn't survive because Calista's brain isn't fully functioning, but that it would probably be safe to do a C-section if anything happened and they'd probably survive."
"Well… that's good isn't it?"
"Yeah, I mean yes it's great, just…" Angel wasn't sure what he was going to say. Buffy squeezed his shoulder and then said something about checking on the others. Angel waited for a few minutes till the last nurse left the room then limped in on his now bandaged leg and looked at his son, then at Cordelia and then at Calista. For all the world the two girls could just be sleeping, but Connor, Connor was still a mess. They'd put him on a drip but had agreed that he wouldn't need a blood transfusion, which was amazing considering the amount of injuries, but Wes said that it was better because Connor's blood could easily be different from a normal humans and it mightn't be safe. Angel sat beside his son and put his large hand over Connor's smaller one. His son had hands so like Darla's, just like he had her eyes, and her cheekbones, in fact there were many aspects of Connor that were so like his mother, including his tendency to get very jealous. But Darla had always managed to fit in wherever it pleased her and Connor, Connor never seemed to fit in anywhere. He wasn't a human, but he wasn't really a demon either. He was sort of caught in the middle, not really a part of anything. Well on second thought he was a part of something, he was a part of Angel's family, and he was a part of a very amazing race. Angel had found that despite Connacht's, at times, annoying personality, there wasn't a second where he hadn't respected him. He'd helped Angel to find his son and Angel knew he didn't have to, that he could have just stayed out of everything and left them to it but instead he'd kept trying to help them.
Maybe he could help them again! Angel jumped to his feet and kissed Connor's forehead saying,
"Don't worry, I'll be back son." And ran out of the room, saying to Giles who was coming back from the coffee machine, "Giles tell the others I'll be back soon I need to do something great thanks bye!" With that said he was gone. He got in his car and drove off towards the beach. His brain was working overtime as he tried to think of a way to make his idea work. He parked the car and got out walking to the edge of the water as it lapped at the beach. He knew it was a long shot, but he tried the simplest approach.
"Connacht! Connacht! I know you can hear me! I need your help again! Please listen to me!" he shouted out across the water, "Connor and Calista need your help, I know you can wake them up, please help us."
"Angel…" Angel jumped as the voice behind him spoke. Connacht stared at him with sad eyes, tired eyes.
"Look Connacht I know you've done more then we could have asked, but… please help them." Connacht looked away, then back up and said
"Angel… this is the last time, ok?"
"Ok, yes I understand."
"Good, now we don't have much time so call up your friends and tell them to be beside Connor and the girls, we'll transport them and you to the realm." Angel did so and then Connacht vanished. Angel paced back and forth for several minutes waiting and wondering what was taking so long. His cell phone rang and he answered it.
"Angel, Connacht needs you to stop pacing, he can't cast the spell if you're moving." Wes said dryly.
"What?" Angel didn't get an answer because there was a flash of light and Angel found himself in the glorious realm of the Children of Vampires. The others were beside him, except for Dawn, Robin, Andrew and Faith who'd stayed with the potentials, another two were dead now. Connor, Cordelia and Calista lay on three pedestals, in the centre of a circle of Connacht's people. Angel and the others stood outside it. Calida walked out to the three and drew a symbol on each forehead and heart, whispering something softly as she did. She then walked away to the people standing waiting in a circle. She touched the forehead and heart of each person, travelling around in the complete circle before she reached Connacht. The two shared a strange look, as if having a silent argument, before she sighed and touched his brow and heart. She then did the same to herself, looking like she was blessing herself. She stepped back to be part of the circle and, as one, the congregation of spirits joined hands.
Connacht began to whisper something in a long forgotten language, one which made the hairs on the back of the Scoobies and A.I.'s necks stand on end and yet made their bellies feel warm like they'd eaten a large, hot meal. Calida began to speak along with Connacht yet they still spoke at a whisper and even as each person joined, going right around the circle, the volume never went above a loud whisper. It was different from the last spell they'd seen the Children of Vampires perform, that had been passionate and full of strength. This one was soft and gentle, coaxing Connor, Calista and Cordelia to come back from oblivion, and it was kissing away the injuries, healing cuts with sweet caresses. A sweet smell tingled the noses of the watchers, soothing their souls, restoring their energy. The Children of Vampires let go of each other and each held out their right hand, palm up, towards the three lying still on the pedestal. From them a soft blue light emerged and floated to engulf Connor, Cordelia, and Calista. The light, hazy, almost smoky, then changed to a gentle red, then to yellow. Then it changed to indigo, but Cordelia continued to glow yellow, blue, and red. The indigo only went to Calista and Connor. Then it became violet but still didn't touch Cordelia, only the other two. The colours swirled around each body, each defined, un-mixing, slowly being absorbed into the body, causing the skin to glow the respective colour for a moment. The Children of Vampires then, again as one, turned their hands so the back was facing up and Connacht whispered a new word, then slowly they dropped their arms and let out a collective sigh. Connacht pushed his hair out of his eyes then they locked with Calida's but neither said anything.
Angel approached the circle and the people moved to let him pass. He looked at Connor in utter amazement, every single wound was gone from his face, and he was willing to bet everywhere else too. Yet Connor didn't open his eyes, he just lay still, the only sign of life being the gentle rise and fall of his chest. Calista didn't stir either, she just lay there, her hair splayed around her head like a golden halo. The perfect image of a sleeping angel. Cordelia however stirred softly and her eyes flickered open. She looked around in confusion.
"Cordelia?" called Angel softly. She turned her head slightly to look at him and her big brown eyes widened.
"Angel?" she whispered, almost frightened.
"Hey Cordy, yeah it's me." Cordelia propped herself up on her elbows, her face a picture of confusion.
"Where, where am I?"
"It's a long story, but you're safe. Do you remember anything?" Cordelia's face wrinkled in thought then her eyes widened and filled with tears.
"Oh God!" she gasped and she looked to her right where Connor lay, to Calista on her left. She sat up fully and seemed to go into silent shock. Buffy came up behind them.
"Cordelia?" she asked searching her face. Cordelia looked at her.
"Buffy?"
"Howdy, long time no see."
"I remember." stated Cordelia.
"You remember that we haven't seen each other in a long time?"
"No I, I remember what that thing did. How she hurt so many, killed so many. Oh God!" The tears fell down her cheeks and Angel held her as she cried into his chest. Buffy came closer and rubbed her back soothingly. Fred and the others came up and she stood beside Connor, her sad eyes looking at Cordelia. Her hand covered Connor's. Cordelia pulled away from both of them and said,
"I'm ok, I'm fine. It wasn't me who did those things, wasn't me." she said it like a mantra as if to convince herself.
"That's right, it wasn't you Cordelia." said Wesley, "No one blames you Cordy." She nodded biting her lip softly. She wiped her face then looked at Connor and Calista,
"Why haven't they woken up?" she asked looking at Connacht.
"Well they're healing is different from yours." explained Calida. "You only needed some calming of the soul and some stimulation of the body and some energy to wake you up. They needed that and they needed some spiritual unfoldment to help them understand themselves and they needed to have the need to learn from what has happened, to understand it, not run from it."
"I'm a little confused, what does that have to do with them not waking up?" asked Fred
"Well it-"
"See Cordelia needed to be with you, that's how she will heal. Now Connor and Calista need you too, we're not saying they won't, just that they need some rest first, they'll wake up soon don't worry." said Connacht over Calida. Calida stepped forward and said,
"There's something else." Connacht shot her a sharp look which she returned with a glare, then she looked back and said, "We people cannot be around much longer, our magic is running out, we'll be gone forever soon. But there's so much, so much knowledge that we don't want to be lost from this world. So we…" she swallowed as if afraid of them.
"What? What did you do?" asked Angel suspiciously.
"We gave Connor and Calista all our knowledge. I also gave Calista my memories, and Connacht gave Connor his. It may seem selfish, we know they need this."
"So what they're gonna wake up and have all the knowledge of you guys in their heads?"
"Not exactly, that's one of the reasons that they won't wake for a while. See, Connor will wake up first and the knowledge will be already mostly sorted in his brain, but he'll be quite confused, so you have to be careful."
"And Calista?"
"Calista, we did something different for her. She's been through something amazing and horrifying. In allowing herself to become the Angel of Balance, she was open to all the good of this world but also to all the evil. That will have been like nothing she's ever experienced, like anyone's ever experience. So all this knowledge will be too much, the very memory will be too much for her in her condition, so," Calida took a deep breath, "We've set her mind to be almost set at a time release, when she wakes up, she won't remember what's happened and all bad memories will be… well she won't be able to access them if you will. It may seem like she's in a daze. After the babies are born, she'll begin to remember things, slowly, each day as she wakes she'll remember more, in as gentle a way as we can make it, easing her back into everything, all you have to do is take care of her." Connacht was giving Calida an annoyed look but she was ignoring him. Clearly they'd had an argument. Angel walked around the pedestal so he was standing beside Calista. He reached out and stroked the top of her head. She sighed softly and her breathing deepened and he heard her heart beat slow slightly as she relaxed even more at his touch. Connacht spoke softly to him.
"We've done everything that we can for them, so its time for you to leave." Angel looked at him,
"Thank you." He spoke with as much gratitude as he could. He knew that this would be the last time he ever saw them. He was sad at that, and wished Connor and Calista could say proper goodbyes to them.
"Yes thank you so much, I didn't deserve your help." Cordelia said.
"Hey everyone deserves a second chance… or third… or fourth… or fifth if you're me!" grinned Connacht.
"Wait before we leave I need to ask you something." said Wesley suddenly.
"Sure shoot!"
"The day after Calista arrived, she was injured by a Bringer, and somehow at the same time Connor… well he glowed and-" Connacht held up a hand to silence him.
"And you wanted to know if that was us." Wesley nodded, "Well I can say with all honesty, nope, wasn't us."
"Then how?"
"Because, like we've been saying soul mates are very special and in our kind if one of the pair is near death the other is compelled to reach them as fast as possible. Therefore since Connor obviously couldn't leave in the middle of a fight he was able to reach some of his power and get rid of them. Of course he had no clue before but now with our information he'll understand." They nodded and again thanked them.
Like it? Hate it? Feel that was too easy? Worry not, it won't be.
Night's Darkness
