AUTHOR'S NOTE: Been busy lately which explains why it's taken me slightly longer to get this chapter done. The next one should be finished a lot faster (then again it's shorter than this one).
Here's a question that I really need an answer to (otherwise it's just going to take longer to finish this): Do you guys want a quick ending (i.e. nothing drawn out or terribly complex) or a longer ending (i.e. it takes longer to get to the climax concerning the metallurgy demons)? Please let me know which one you'd prefer!
CHAPTER 11 -ASKING QUESTIONS-
Angel banged on the door with a passion. The minute that Wesley had told him the bad news, he had been out the door and on a mission.
"Okay, okay! Jeez... I'm coming." Lilah opened the door and raised an eyebrow. "Angel, to what to I owe this questionable pleasure?"
Angel glared at the cocky lawyer. "You screwed us up."
"I don't remember doing that. Look..." Lilah sighed as Angel pushed his way past her. "Come in, why don't you?"
Lilah sat down and pursed her lips. "Would it be too much to ask just how I screwed you up?"
"The Casotrosians got the statue. They were there waiting for Cordelia and Gunn when they stole it."
"That's unfortunate. But judging from the fact that you haven't tried to rip my head off, I'm guessing your friends got away alive."
"No thanks to you."
Lilah laughed incredulously. "You think I told the Casotrosians to ambush you? If I wanted them to get the statue, why didn't I just tell them where it was?"
"I don't know what goes on in that head of yours, maybe you wanted to get us into trouble and save the Casotrosians the job of breaking into the apartment."
"If I wanted someone to just break in somewhere, don't you think I would've gone to people who I hate less? It wasn't really my idea to give you guys the information. If it had been up to me, I would have hired a professional."
"Then how did the Casotrosians know where the statue was?"
"Not sure." Lilah shrugged. "Could be a leak inside the firm. I'll have to look into it."
"But you're not going to do anything about the Casotrosians?"
"No. As long as it doesn't blow out of proportion."
Angel scoffed and headed for the door. "Figures."
"By the way, how's Fred's new friend doing?"
Angel stopped and turned around. "Why would you care?"
"No particular reason." Lilah smiled.
"You know something about him?"
"I doubt I know any more than you do. But I have to admire your guts."
Angel crossed the floor between him and Lilah and stared down at her. "What do you mean by that?"
"Taking in a banished elemental, you must feel confident about your chances."
Angel narrowed his eyes, Lilah was enjoying every second of his uncertainty. He shook his head and left Lilah and her infuriating grin behind him.
On his way to the car, Angel pondered Lilah's words. Was Mabon a threat? Everyone, even Wesley seemed to have warmed up to his unassuming personality. Then again, unassuming personalities often hid something completely different beneath them.
Angel knew that Wesley had talked with Mabon, he had smelt the elemental's scent on Wesley. Mabon had an odd scent, much like air on a rainy day, fresh yet heavy.
- - - - - - - -
The staff of Angel Investigation, minus Angel himself, were hard at work to figure out how to locate the Casotrosians. Everyone seemed to agree that where ever the cult was, it had to be a spacious place.
Fred set down the phone's receiver. "Lorne hasn't heard anything about an army being raised. He promised to look through some of his contacts though."
"Good." Wesley nodded. "At least they haven't managed to raise the army yet. According to this it requires a rather complex ritual to do so."
"When is getting an army ever easy?" Cordelia sighed dramatically.
"We still ought get ready, in case those guys get their army before we get our hands on the statue again. I vote we head out and search for them." Gunn scanned the weapons' cabinet.
"Nice idea, but where would we start?" Cordelia asked.
Gunn closed the cabinet's door and sat down on the circular couch. He cast an unsure glance at Mabon who was currently floating a short distance away, reading a book Wesley had given him.
"It says here that the army won't just appear out of nowhere. Basically they need something for the army to settle in."
"You mean like golems or something?" Gunn asked.
"I' afraid it might more unpleasant than that." Mabon handed the book to Wesley.
"He's right. The army needs actual bodies."
"So the army is made of zombies?" Cordelia folded her arms. "Doesn't sound like a big deal."
"Yeah. We've taken care of loads of zombies before," Gunn added.
"We've never fought zombies who are professional warriors," Wesley said.
"So there like super-zombies? That's-"
Fred was interrupted by Angel entering the lobby.
"So, what did she have to say?"
"That she didn't have anything to do with the ambush. And as much as I hate to say it, I'm inclined to believe her. If she do it, I'm pretty sure she would have been gloating about it."
"Gloating would suit her better than being a gracious winner," Cordelia mused.
"Are Wolfram and Hart going to do something about the Casotrosians?" Fred asked.
"Not unless we mock it up badly."
Gunn threw his arms in the air. "Leave it to the heroes to do the dirty work."
"As it turns out, the army is most likely going to consist of undead warriors."
"Super-zombies?"
"That's what I said!"
"I suppose that would be an adequate description. Though I would be inclined to comparing them more vampiric creatures."
"It didn't exactly say that they eat humans or anything." Mabon floated down to stand next to Wesley.
"Ah, that is correct."
"So, any thoughts on what we'll be doing next?" Angel strolled over to the reception desk.
"Unless we someone comes over and tells us where the Casotrosians are going to resurrect their army, there's not much we can do right now."
"Wait a minute." Gunn stood up. "If they need dead people for the army, they're going to have to get them somewhere. You know, dig up fresh graves or something."
"Yes. Unless of course they want something fresher," Wesley said. "In any case we should be able to detect such behaviour."
Gunn was at the door before anyone else could react. "I'll watch the streets. If there's some new development, call me."
Fred headed for her computer. "I'll hook us up to the police communication frequency."
"Good idea."
- - - - - - - -
(At dawn)
Nothing had happened during the rest of the night. Everyone had sat around, listening for any news and reading through a pile of books, attempting to find any further information on the Casotrosians and the ancient army.
Eventually, tired and frustrated, everyone retreated to get some much needed rest. Angel walked along the second floor corridor until he came up to Mabon's door. The question brought on by Lilah's words had been bothering him all through the night, but he had thought it better not to bring up the subject in front of everyone. He did not want to risk upsetting Mabon and possibly making him aggressive.
Angel knocked on the door and heard Mabon's voice inviting him in.
The elemental sat on the side of his bed watching Angel inquisitively. "Is something wrong?"
"Not really." Angel rubbed the back of his neck. "I just wanted to ask you something."
"Then ask."
"Well, it's just that..." Angel tried to search for the right words. "When I went to see Lilah she told me something, about you."
Mabon tilted his head. "What could she know about me?"
"I suppose she did some research after she saw you earlier. Anyway... She said that you..."
"It's something that bothers you?"
"Kind of, yes. I don't know if it should really bother me or not."
"If it does then you should come out with it."
Angel sat down on a nearby chair. "Lilah said that you've been banished."
Mabon's eyes grew wide and he stammered. "I... I..." He buried his face in his hands and groaned.
"I didn't want to mention it with everyone else present, I thought you'd want to handle this in private."
"I guess I should be grateful for that," Mabon's muffed voice replied.
"So it's true?"
"Yes." Mabon let his hand fall down on his lap. "I was hoping to leave that issue behind me."
"Look, all I want to know is who did it and why. I just don't want to keep guessing on whether or not you're threat."
"Depends on who you ask." Mabon sighed, looking away from Angel. "If asked all but one elemental, they would tell you keep away from me, if not advice you to do something worse."
"So, you were banished by elementals?" Angel leaned forward in the chair.
Mabon seemed to almost shrink as he pulled his legs against his chest. "Yes. I'm forbidden to ever enter a sanctuary."
"What's a sanctuary?" Angel spoke softly, encouraging Mabon to talk.
"They are areas, usually hidden within mountains, populated entirely by elementals. Whenever an elemental wishes to rest in a peaceful place or interact with other elementals, they will seek out a sanctuary. Most elementals spend all their time in them."
"You mean places like Olympus and Mount Everest?"
Mabon nodded. "Sanctuaries, most sacred mountains are. I have no business anywhere near one, not any more."
"What did you do?" Angel asked, not sure if he would get an answer.
"Nothing." For the first time Mabon looked at Angel, his eyes shone with unbitten tears. "It's what I am, not something I did, that made the community banish me."
"Aren't you an elemental then?"
"I am, there's no denying it. But I'm not like the others. An elemental is perfect, "pure as the elements they personify". You can only imagine the shock of the community, when they find something that in their minds should not exist." Mabon shook his head and looked down at his hands. "There's no room or excuse for difference and imperfection among us."
"Why are you different? Not that I know much about elementals, but you don't look like you have anything wrong with you."
Mabon closed his eyes for a moment and then pulled up the left sleeve of his shirt. While his wrist and hand was still wrapped up in the bandage Fred had put there, the rest of his arm was covered in pale pink lines of various sizes.
"I told you the first night that elementals can't be injured permanently." Mabon's voice was shaky. "We do not scar and yet my body is marred with scars. I didn't know this at first, only elementals seem to be aware of the fact. But whenever any other elemental would see even one of my scars they would be disgusted and angry."
"So you've got some scars, big deal." Angel shrugged.
Mabon pulled his sleeve back down. "It is a big deal to the others. For me to exist... it is like saying to all of them that they too could be as flawed as me." He sighed again and looked up at the ceiling.
"I'm not sure if I'm getting this the right way. You were banished by other elementals because you scar and they don't."
"There's no way for me to explain the situation, but maybe I can make you see." Mabon stood up.
"Huh?"
"Vampires have a touch of immortality in them. I can connect with that and take you inside my memory." Mabon crouched down before Angel and held out his hands. "Take a hold of my hands and close your eyes. "
Angel hesitated.
"I promise, you're in no danger. You can pull out of the memory anytime by opening your eyes. This is only way I can make you understand."
"Okay." Angel placed his hands on top of Mabon's. "But if I think for a second that you're trying something funny, I won't be happy."
"Fair enough."
Taking one deep breath, Angel closed his eyes.
