See Part One for disclaimer and details. Hello all, and welcome to the latest chapter of Shards of Fate! Thanks as always to our reviewers and the people who have sent feedback of any sort. Okay, here is the second half of the two-parter as promised, we hope you'll like it. And please, tell us what you think of it! Fair warning, though, the tension and conflict/argument in the story will intensify from this point onwards...
Part Eleven: Reunion, Part Two
Abandoned building, Los Angeles
June 20th, 2004
Ethan Rayne was not exactly in the greatest of moods, as he stared at his captive tied to a chair. Ever since he had shown up in that empty hospital room, he'd wanted answers; and yet, all he had right now was mostly questions.
It had been something of a shock, discovering that he'd somehow travelled forward in time to the summer of 2004. From Ethan's point of view, one moment he had been trying to fend off Cordelia's semi-crazed attack whilst Willow had been under his 'clementia nigrum' spell – and the next moment both women, and that Harris bloke, had vanished. No machinery, no people, nothing and no one in the room except him. Not even the bed was present. It had taken going down to the hospital lobby for him to learn why...
Not that that had explained the 'how.' Not even Wo-Pang – who had been very surprised to see the Englishman again – had been able to explain how Ethan had arrived at this point in time. In fact, the only useful thing that the shaman had been able to tell him was that nothing had changed, with regard to the upcoming disintegration of his soul. That had made Rayne decide that he had to find out if whatever had sent him forward in time, could also do the reverse.
Send him back down the river of years, in order to save himself from a fate worse than death.
After all, it wasn't like he could appeal to the local branch of Wolfram & Hart for payment in return for services that had been attempted to be rendered. There was nothing but an empty space, now, where the evil law firm's building used to be; good riddance in one sense, yes, given the demonic law firm's reputation for dealing with failure, but it also didn't help the British man's cause at all.
In any case, Ethan had thought about it, and decided that most likely it was the brunette who'd burst in and tackled him to the floor that had been responsible for what had happened. That red-haired witch had almost certainly been too out of it to accomplish anything, and ditto the one-eyed vegetable he'd been hired to wake up. Which didn't completely rule them out, of course; but the simplest explanation was most often the correct one, and all that.
A few polite questions to the right people at that private hospital had quickly netted Ethan Cordelia's name, and a simple Internet search had provided the woman's address. But Rayne had been justifiably wary of approaching the Seer in person, or by any sort of proxy. Given their last encounter, Ethan had decided instead to acquire information from someone who worked there, at her so-called detective agency.
Classic battle strategy; always target the adversary's weakest link.
"What's going on?" Andrew demanded fearfully, as Ethan ripped the bag off his head and Wells blinked furiously, his eyes attempting to adjust to the dim ambient lighting. He spotted the British wizard and started to say, "Uh, who are you?"
"I'll ask the questions," Ethan replied sharply. "Now, then, tell me about Cordelia Chase."
"C-c-cordelia?"
"Yes. And don't dawdle – time is rather an issue for me, I'm afraid," Ethan smiled.
The sight of that cold, shark-like grin instantly gave Andrew a case of the chills, and robbed him of all semblance of courage. "Uh, okay, um – what, what do you want to know?"
"Her powers. Her abilities. What she can or can't do; everything you know, old chap. And please don't lie to me; the consequences won't be pleasant for you, I'm afraid."
Andrew didn't need any more encouragement. He began to spill everything he knew, before answering Ethan's questions about what might have happened in Xander's hospital room six months ago. He noticed that his captor didn't seem very happy with the answers he'd received, and so Wells babbled, "I don't, I don't know anything definite about that, you know. I wasn't even around at the time; all I know is, is, is what I've heard when the others talked about Xander..."
"It's all right, mate, I believe you," Ethan said reflectively, before he pulled out a knife and cut Andrew loose. Ignoring the Yank's surprise as Andrew stood up from the chair, Ethan went over to a nearby table and grabbed the can of Coke sitting there. He popped the tab and offered the can to Andrew, saying "There you go. Your throat must be incredibly parched by now, after all."
Andrew certainly hadn't been expecting this. Frowning, he said, "Uh, so – is that it? Like, can I go now?"
"Why not? Like I said, I don't have time to waste on trivialities," Ethan shrugged.
Somewhat reassured, Andrew grinned in relief and took a deep gulp of the soft drink. Immediately, though, he felt funny as the liquid travelled down his throat. "Uh..."
Ethan watched as Andrew started to stumble around, before he guided Wells back to the chair. He then began the real interrogation of his prisoner.
Torture, Rayne knew, was an obsolete way of getting information. It took too long, and even when the subject appeared to have been broken, he sometimes lied convincingly or only told part of the truth. There were certain magical drugs, however, which worked quickly and completely reliably. And it hadn't been any great effort for Ethan to substitute the soda within the can for veritas root extract and trick Andrew into drinking it, to check that he hadn't been told lies or half-truths.
Much to Ethan's disappointment, however, he quickly found out that Wells hadn't lied or been evasive in any way; it was quickly confirmed that what Cordelia had done to him back then, it had basically been an accident. She couldn't control the demon powers she'd been gifted with, either then or now – so, given the very little time he had left to work with, Ethan quickly dismissed the Seer as a source of useful aid and succor. What with her uncontrolled abilities, the little tart was more of a menace than anything else.
Annoyed with himself for wasting his precious time this way, Ethan began to consider his next course of action, leaving the drugged young man behind in the abandoned building without a second thought (or even a first one).
And by the time Andrew crawled out of that abandoned building, the nerd was hallucinating and having psychotic fits as well...
Angel Investigations, Los Angeles
Later that day
Xander grunted, as he managed to wiggle his toes and lift his legs up off the bed. He thought that soon, sooner than either the doctor or Melissa believed possible, he would be able to ditch the wheelchair and walk on his own two feet again. And so what if the nurse had scowled in confusion, and muttered to herself that his rate of recovery was just way too unnaturally fast?
Sunnydale High alumnus, here. Xander was tempted to tell her, 'we do unnatural two shows a night, enjoy the fish and don't forget to tip your waitress', but he knew there was no point in getting Melissa mad with his...unique brand of humor. Besides, years of watching TV shows like ER and CSI had made Harris well aware that you should never piss off someone with access to very large needles –
Harris then decided to take a break for a while, and let his thoughts roam wherever they wanted. He recalled how, over the past two days, he'd had plenty of visitors. In addition to Angel, Spike, Dawn and the Slayers stationed here in the City of Angels, Willow's ex-girlfriend Kennedy had briefly shown up from New York; that was where she was living now, along with a number of other Slayers who had been assigned to that city. She hadn't stayed long, though, once she'd heard that Willow would most likely be arriving soon –
Harris didn't need to guess why Kennedy had split. Like with Robin and Faith, the war-time romance between his oldest friend and the brash former Potential simply hadn't worked out. Maybe it had been because Kennedy had learned that Tara was Willow's true heart's desire, thanks to Ethan's 'clementia nigrum' spell – or maybe it hadn't. But either way, the end of the relationship obviously hadn't been pretty.
{ Ought to do something about it, maybe? None of my business, I know. But Kennedy's a good Slayer, if nothing else, and I suppose she deserves to have some happiness in her life... }
Xander's thoughts were interrupted as Dawn stormed into the room, with Faith trailing behind her. The Summers woman then said angrily, "Okay, Xander, what have you done?!"
"Huh?"
"Oh, come on! What, you think I'm blind, or, or stupid?! Cordelia's been depressed and miserable as hell since yesterday! So, what have you done?" Dawn demanded again.
Xander looked at her quizzically. "Uh, Dawn, just so I'm clear on this – you learn that Cordy's having emotional problems, and so by some kinda insane troll logic, it's automatically my fault?"
"Percentage play, guy. And past history isn't exactly on your side," Faith explained, as Dawn glared at him for the question.
"Eh, good point," Xander acknowledged. "And yeah, I guess maybe I coulda handled that conversation we had yesterday a bit better..."
"What conversation?" the female teen demanded at once.
"Sorry, Dawn Giovanni, but that's private stuff between me and Cordelia," Xander stonewalled her at once.
"What? I thought you promised not to keep any more secrets from me – like when you didn't tell me that you'd learned that Cordy was in a coma, all those months ago!" Dawn shouted, as Faith winced from the sheer volume of the outraged outburst.
"Dawn, it's not about that," Xander said, trying to be patient. "I'm just saying, some things between a man and a woman aren't appropriate for public debate or discussion. Like, did I ask you for all the intimate details after you slept with that guy – what was his name, Tim?"
"That's not the same thing!" Dawn said hotly, even though her deep blush and quick glance towards Faith indicated that that story hadn't become common knowledge around here yet.
"Me, I'm not so sure," Faith stated thoughtfully, as Dawn turned to face her. The Slayer added, "I mean, think about it, kiddo – with their history? What are the odds that Cordelia couldn't restrain herself any longer, and tried to put the moves on Xander's ass – and he told her 'no'? It'd explain why she's been pretending not to be in a deep funk for the past twenty-four hours..."
Dawn's eyes went wide. "Oh my God, you're right!" She then turned to Xander and glared at him again. "And that's exactly the sort of idiotic thing you'd do, isn't it? Cordelia finally decides to forgive you and take you back, something I once thought would never happen, but you go and-"
"Dawn. If our friendship means anything to you, anything at all – then stop. I mean it," Xander cut her off sharply, with a flinty look in his eyes. "Like I said, what's between me and Cordy is private. So don't assume that you know better than I do and start interfering in something that's none of your business, okay? I'm asking you as a friend, and as a grown-up, to respect my wishes and stay out of this."
"But-"
"Dawn? Do I have to remind you what happened with Buffy and Willow and Giles, because they thought that they knew best where Cordy and me were concerned? And what that eventually led to?" Xander cut across her protest smoothly, his tone of voice now as cold as a glacier. "Because I don't want things to end up like that between you and me, Dawnie, I really don't. I've lost enough friends thanks to that sort of thing, already!"
Dawn stared at him, before becoming convinced that Harris was serious. A mulish expression appearing on her face, the human incarnation of the Key then quickly left the room without looking back.
"Kinda harsh," Faith commented neutrally, staring at her one-time lover.
"Yeah, but Dawn's a Summers woman, and you know just how goddamn stubborn they are. Asking her nicely to stay out of it wasn't gonna accomplish jack," Xander replied. Then he turned to look directly at the Slayer. "And where've you been, Faith? Haven't seen you around here since the day I woke up."
"Anaheim, and a few other places," Faith shrugged. "Xander, gotta admit; I'm kinda surprised 'bout how you're actually being civil to me. Figured I'd get lumped in with B and the others, about the Big Lie of 2003..."
"Nah. I heard from Cordy how you didn't decide to conceal that stuff from me, which makes all the difference in my book," Xander shrugged back. "Sure, you shoulda woken me and Dawn up that night and told us everything; but it's not like I haven't screwed up that sort of way myself. So far as I'm concerned, no harm done. Anyway, what were you up to in Anaheim?"
"Just doin' some digging." Faith smiled, glad that there were no issues between herself and the formerly one-eyed man.
"Mind if I ask what you were digging into?" Xander said. He wasn't sure why he was suddenly so curious about this, but just went with his instincts and asked.
"Naw. And ran into someone who told me that Buffy's college beefstick, that Riley guy; he got himself all blowed up last year," Faith commented, ignoring Xander's look of surprise. "Man left behind a widow, and a kid who'll grow up never knowing his dad. I figured since Finn was on the list of people I wanted to make amends to one day, I dunno – I thought maybe I could give his family some sorta closure, find out who did it..."
{ Shit. Sorry, Riley. And hope you made it upstairs safely. } "Any progress?" Xander then asked the Chosen One, slipping into his 'interested professional' persona and burying his personal feelings. "Leads, suspects, anything?"
"Leads, nothing – after all this time, the trail's stone cold. Suspects, way too many – that boy managed to make himself lotta enemies in the demon world! Plus, it's the military. Not sure how much you remember, but they were never too keen on the whole 'playing nice with outsiders' thing," Faith shrugged again.
{ The Initiative, sure. But regular military, that's different, } Soldier Xander whispered inside the man's head. { Never mind, focus. You need to – }
"And by the way? I know all about you and Cordelia. On account of she needed to talk to someone about all that, and as the outsider, guess I qualified somehow," Faith continued on, much to Xander's amazement. "Lemme guess; Queenie wanted to talk about the life you guys shoulda had together, especially them two kids of yours? And you shut her down?"
"Yeah. And please don't get any ideas, Faith; I don't want to talk about all that with you, either," Xander said quietly.
"Why not?"
"Same reason I gave to Dawnie; that's private stuff," Harris replied, deadpan.
"Still, oughta talk about it with someone."
"Why? I mean, leaving Sunnydale for good, and not battling the forces of evil every week? You gotta admit, if nothing else – that sure as hell doesn't sound like the Xander Harris I was, back then..."
After looking askance at him and then dope-slapping him, Faith sarcastically pointed out, "You got issues about how you were supposed to give up fighting the good fight? So what? I mean, was it your girlfriend's destiny to get the visions, and almost die in a mystical fucking coma? Quit being such a moron, you retard! Bottom line, neither of you are where you're supposed to have been. You're where the hell you are now. Deal with it!"
Shaking her head, Faith quickly exited the room while a somewhat bemused-looking Xander swung his legs over the side of the bed, rubbing the back of his head and staring at the departing brunette curiously. { Have I completely lost my mind, or was that Faith's idea of attempting to play matchmaker? }
Outside the new Angel Investigations agency, Osgood Boulevard
June 21st, 2004
Angel looked up at the Monday morning sun, feeling its warmth upon his skin as a tingly feeling of appreciation swept through him. Even though it had been quite a number of weeks now since his human physiology had been restored, he never got tired of basking in the daylight. Or watching the sunrise or the sunset, as the fancy took him.
The only thing missing that would have made such activities not just pleasurable but perfect was –
{ Don't go there, } Angel quickly thought to himself, as the tingly feeling vanished and he tried to concentrate on his upcoming unpleasant task. { No point in going there, laddie, not anymore. And may as well get this over with; no point in delaying it any longer. }
Squaring his shoulders and banishing the look of defeat from his face, Angel entered the detective agency and made his way through the various Slayers and other people in the lobby. He saw Faith talking to that redhead, Violet something or other, and he briefly caught the brunette's eye; the Lehane woman nodded, before returning her attention to her sister Slayer.
"Hey, Angel, g'morning. Did you have a good weekend?" the young woman in charge of answering the phones during the night said, before yawning loudly and stretching a bit in her chair. "Wow, been a long shift...definitely need to go home and get some sleep!"
Grimacing, Angel thought to himself, { Yeah. I remember what it was like, when I worked the graveyard shift around here. And to think, I willingly accepted a menial job like that – because I was that desperate for Cordelia to give 'us' a try! Damn it. I may have gone from a Champion to a flunky around here, but that didn't mean I had to lose nearly all self-respect as well. So it's time to change that! }
"Actually, my weekend wasn't the greatest," Angel replied to the receptionist's question. "But I made a decision, and I need to talk to Cordelia about it. Pretty sure I won't be manning the phones, afterwards; so you should get someone else to cover the day shift, for after you leave."
"Sounds serious," the young woman said, frowning.
"Yeah, guess it is," Angel nodded. "Be back in a few minutes." With that, he took his leave of his co-worker and headed for Cordelia's private office. He was about to knock on the door, when the ex-vampire heard the sound of something smashing apart inside the room – a vase or something like that, most likely.
{ Heaven hath no rage like love to hatred turned, nor hell a fury like a woman scorned, } Angel thought philosophically, recalling the original verse by William Congreve and easily able to guess what – or rather, who – had put Cordelia in such a bad mood. { You know, Harris, in a way I almost pity you. There's an ancient Chinese curse that goes, 'may you live in interesting times' – and I get the feeling that life is gonna get very interesting for you, very soon! }
"Cordelia, can I come in?" Angel called out, after knocking on the door. He took her silence as an affirmative and opened up, quickly entering the office before shutting the door behind him. The centuries-old Irishman took a swift look at the mess, before focusing on Cordelia. "Bad time for us to talk?"
"No," the head of Angel Investigations exhaled, before sitting down behind her desk. "And sorry you had to see this, but I just had to..."
"Let off some steam?" Angel nodded. "Yeah. And probably a good idea to do it in here, rather than in the gym. Slayers are teenage girls, they gossip – and you do have an image to maintain, right?"
"Right," Cordy nodded. "Anyway, what's up?"
Angel smiled – a tired, pained smile which Cordelia had never seen on his face before. "Nothing. Everything. I need to talk to you, one last time."
"One last time? Angel, what are you talking about?" the Seer demanded.
"Dawn came around to Spike's apartment last night, while I was there," Angel shrugged slightly. "That's how I learned that you've made your choice – and you picked Xander, not me."
"Uh..." Cordelia said uncomfortably. "Look, Angel, I know that you two have never gotten along since, well, uh – since the day you met, I guess. And I also know how hard it's been for you over the past month or so, every time you asked me out on a date and I said no, but the thing is I don't...I couldn't..."
"I know. And it's okay, Cordelia – I mean, it's not like I didn't see this coming," the former vampire said as calmly as he could, even though a trace of bitter disappointment could still be heard in his voice. "I guess that up until now, I just couldn't let go of the hope that one day, somehow, we'd get back to where we were two years ago. That night we were supposed to meet up at Point Dume, I mean."
Cordelia looked at the smashed vase on the floor. Angel's words had reminded her of a time when she had felt closer to him than anyone else, and the next logical step after Groo had left was giving 'them' a shot. She said slowly, "Do you think that if we'd met up that night, right now we'd be...?"
"Yeah. Or I prefer to think we would be, anyway."
Cordelia still couldn't look at him directly. "Guess we missed our moment, huh?" She wisely left unspoken her feelings that their 'moment' wouldn't have worked out in the long run, anyway.
Angel nodded, a resigned and beaten look suddenly appearing on his face. "Maybe we were meant to. And I'm not talking about Jasmine and Skip, either; maybe Fate, or Destiny, or whatever you wanna call it was trying to get you back together with the guy you were originally meant to be with, all along."
That caused Cordelia to look up and stare at her employee in surprise. "That's gotta be the first time I've heard you acknowledge that. Ever. Angel, what the hell?"
"Yeah, it's because I've decided – well, I-I can't stay here anymore. Because this isn't me, Cordelia. This job – this life – it just isn't me," Angel tried to explain his feelings, hesitating a bit. "I was a Champion, but now I'm nothing but a – look, I love you. You know that, right? And ever since I became human, I've been hoping and praying that somehow, someway, we'd get our happily-ever-after. But since it's clear now that we won't – well, this is sorta my off-ramp from the Cordelia Chase highway, so to speak. Kinda like Groo when he left, way back when."
Cordelia looked stunned by the man's words. "Groo? What? Angel – where the hell are you even gonna go, if you leave?"
Angel shrugged. "Massachusetts, actually. Because Connor's transferring to MIT."
"What?"
"His girlfriend named Tracy? He told me that he doesn't want to lose her, so Connor's planning to follow her to Cambridge before the summer's over," Angel shrugged again. "He's my son, and I want to stick close to him for a few more years. After that, though – who knows? I haven't visited Ireland in a lifetime, so it might be good to go home to Galway for a while. Maybe even visit the continent, too-"
"Do you even have a passport?" Cordelia interrupted, looking at him in amazed disbelief. "And hey, what are you gonna do for money? I mean, on what I pay you...c'mon, Angel, this is crazy!"
Angel gave her a pitying look. "Cordelia? Maybe you've forgotten, but Angelus walked the Earth for nearly two centuries – and he stashed plenty of loot here and there, whenever the fancy struck him. After my soul was restored, I refused to touch that sort of blood money on principle; but it was still there, if I ever needed it. And after everything that's happened to me this year – well, let's just say I've decided that I don't need to concern myself about that sort of thing anymore."
Cordelia flushed. "Well, it's not just that, I mean you've only been human again for a few weeks – Angel, are you sure this is the right thing to do?"
"Positive," Angel nodded, as the brunette got up and came around her desk to stare directly into his face. "I'm gonna miss you, Cordelia. More than you'll ever know. But – this is the right thing to do. For you and me. And tell Xander – I dunno, tell him he's a very lucky guy – and if he ever hurts you like that again, I'll be back to kill him, okay?"
"Yeah, right," Cordy smirked for a moment. "Willow would turn you into frog pate afterwards, the moment she heard about it!"
"Good point," Angel ruefully acknowledged. He then hugged her tightly, and gave her a quick kiss on the forehead. "Goodbye, Cordy. I'll never forget you. And I'll see you again one day, I hope."
"Yeah, me too," Cordelia said through the sudden lump in her throat, as Angel turned around and headed for the door. It was somewhat telling how she didn't try to stop him from leaving, though, or try to talk him out of following his son across the country.
"So long, Angel. And – good luck."
Secret location, Los Angeles
Later that night
"LET ME GO, YOU ASSHOLE!" Dawn screamed at Ethan, struggling to get loose from her bonds. Her hands and feet were tied to four stakes that had been driven deeply into the earth, and even though the young woman struggled mightily to get loose, she was unable to do so.
"Be quiet, girl," Ethan said irritably. Dawn's screams were almost enough to make him regret kidnapping her earlier on – almost, but not quite. "Even though that's not what you actually are, are you?"
Dawn abruptly went still, looking at Rayne carefully. "What are you talking about?"
"Now, now," Ethan smirked, as he continued his work. An elaborate circle-seal design, with a six-point star circle inside that was large enough for someone to stand or kneel in. "Let's not play games, my dear. We both know what you really are – the Key. That's the whole point of why you're here, after all."
"You're not one of Glory's worshippers," Dawn said, trying to stall for time. She now knew she was in deep trouble – and it wasn't even a Tuesday! "How do you even know what the Key is?"
"My sources include the Loa. And a witch who was extremely enthusiastic to cooperate with my search for the truth," Ethan said, continuing to paint his circle-seal. "Of course, she did need some not-inconsiderable persuasion at the start."
"Meaning, you only tortured her once," Dawn said, glaring at her captor.
"Ah, now, I'm sure you know that old saying about breaking eggs in order to make an omelet, little miss. But don't worry, it won't be long now," Ethan said cheerfully. "I'm almost done, as a matter of fact."
"You know that my sister and my friends are gonna show up and stop you from destroying the world this way, don't you?" Dawn said belligerently. "So do yourself a favor, and let me go now before they come charging in here to kill you. I promise I'll put in a good word for you, if you do."
"Good heavens, what makes you think that I'm doing all this to destroy the world?" Ethan asked, sounding amazed. "My dear Key, nothing could be further from the truth! I prefer this planet exactly the way it is, so I have no intention of harming it in any way. And that includes having all those numberless demon dimensions out there mixing with our own, and destroying all life as we know it."
"But – then why are you doing this?" Dawn wanted to know, looking confused.
"The Key opens the barrier between the different dimensions, as you know. And time is a dimension," Ethan explained, as he straightened up. He looked at Dawn with a kindly expression on his face, saying, "The problem is I don't have much time left, I'm afraid. My soul shall soon cease to exist, and afterwards, I'll die. My only chance is to travel back in time, and prevent myself from ever becoming a prisoner of the Initiative. Or, failing that, go back to when I first fragmented my soul, and seek help from a certain shaman to prevent my untimely demise."
Dawn couldn't believe it. "Then geez, why kidnap me like this? Why not just ask politely for help? If that's true, I would have been willing to-"
"It's not that simple, unfortunately," Ethan interrupted her, looking mildly apologetic. "According to my research, the only way to use the Key to unlock that particular gate is to bleed your human form, at a certain time of year. Today is the summer solstice, which is one of the two times in question. However, the amount of blood required – well, it's impossible for you to survive it, at least in the mortal guise you've been fashioned into. Terribly sorry, but that's just the way it is. Now, I think we've wasted enough time on chit-chat..."
Dawn began screaming at him again, but Ethan ignored the young woman as he finished painting the circle-seal. He then lit three black candles, and knelt down within the six-point circle.
"I call upon Chaos," Ethan intoned, beginning the spell. "Hear now this plea by your most impious, devoted son." He then switched to Latin and chanted, "It is the longest day of the year, and here lies the Key. Let the gateway to the past be opened!" So saying, he took out a wicked-looking dagger from behind his back and began to bleed the shrieking Dawn Summers, without the slightest bit of hesitation.
The blood oozed out of the mortally wounded young woman. Ethan then said, "So mote it be!" The candles abruptly went out, and the British wizard looked excited. He stared down at Dawn and said, "I think it's working, I'm about to go back-"
The entire world stopped, for one timeless second.
"Kcab og ot tuoba m'I, gnikrow s'ti kniht I," were the next words out of the mage's mouth as, like a movie reel running in reverse, the wheels of time began to spin backwards.
But that was when something went wrong.
That was hardly surprising, though. Quite frankly, Ethan should have remembered the words from the Spirit Guide in Hancock Park all those months ago, when that otherworldly oracle had warned him not to do this; that he would be unleashing Chaos upon the living Earth by his actions. Unfortunately, in his haste and understandable desire to save his own life, Rayne hadn't given sufficient thought to the consequences if something were to go wrong. And by this point it was practically impossible for Ethan to do that, anyway, given the sorry state of his mutilated soul.
History began to completely unravel – until for some unknown reason, it abruptly came to a screeching halt, approximately sixteen hours before the spell began.
And within his bedroom at the Angel Investigations building, Xander Harris abruptly sat up in bed – a loud scream issuing forth from his throat...
TBC...