"How did the curse break?" Ms. Calender asked.
"On Buffy's seventeenth birthday, she and Angel had sex. Later, they found out you were part of the clan that cast the curse. Buffy had a Slayer dream that hinted that you knew something. Your counterpart explained that she'd been sent to watch and report if his suffering was lessening. Buffy immediately demanded that he be recursed. You explained that, that knowledge was long lost to your people. Buffy believed Angel was innocent, she also believed, that Angel was the sole occupant of the body. Maybe because Angel thralled her."
"What do you mean sole occupant of the body?" Ms. Calender, confused.
"I mean there are two minds in that body. Both Alexander and I felt it. Angelus, who gives off waves of hate and the feeling of nasty evil and Angel, who gives off waves of guilt and remorse."
"But, that's not how it should be. From what I understand of the curse, Angelus is supposed to be suffering."
"Well, he's essentially locked in a prison, so in one sense he is suffering. But they're not one mind, even if the minds are linked. Angel is the one suffering for the crimes of the demon. I can't help wondering what's happening to the soul being linked to so much evil."
"How did I redo the curse? The spell was lost a long time ago."
"You didn't. Drusilla got a vision of you working to recreate the spell. Angelus killed you."
Ms. Calender looked horrified by that news and then she rallied. "If I didn't cast it, who did?"
"Willow found your notes and believing it would help Buffy, decided to do it."
"She would't have the power." Ms. Calender protested. "And notes are hardly complete information. How could she have even succeeded?"
"At first she didn't and they attacked while she was trying yet again to do it. She ended up in a coma for a few hours and when she came out of it, she insisted on trying again. That's when the Shadows moved into her and began reworking her body and mind. It's because of them that she succeeded, though she didn't know it until Alexander discovered it when he scanned her."
"And all it took originally to break the curse was sex?!"
"According to your Uncle, he's meant to suffer, if Angelus has a moment when the soul isn't plaguing him then the curse breaks. I think your people misunderstood the curse. I don't think they realized they were causing the soul to suffer and when the soul had a moment when it wasn't suffering, the curse broke."
"Gods and who knows what could give the soul a moment when it's not suffering. I need to speak to Uncle Enyos, he's an Elder of our people. He needs to understand this."
"If he wants to talk to me, I can share what I know directly with him via the telepathy, it would help him to understand."
"Yes, if he could see and feel what you do when in Angel's proximity, it would help. What are you doing about Angel now, though?"
"At the moment, waiting. In the other reality a demon calling himself Whistler told Buffy, Angel was meant to help stop a demon named Acathla. Instead the curse broke and Angelus set off Acathla, which is a demon that can make a portal to a Hell dimension. Giles is researching Acathla to determine if we can destroy him ourselves, without Angel's help. Once we know, I think I'll engage in a little 'it's better to be safe, than sorry' and make sure Angelus can never be a threat. And in the process free the soul."
"I think that's the best solution. This whole thing is insane."
"I understand the need for vengeance, Ms. Calender. I did destroy Spike, the vampire that killed Buffy, after all. And she was my friend. I once told Buffy if her behavior got Willow killed, I'd kill her and Willow is like a sister to me and not even I know how far I would have gone, based solely on the memories of another me, if I'd found Cordelia dead last week, instead of just injured. But this vengeance simply does not make any sense. The soul is innocent of the crimes it's suffering for and where was the soul when they cursed it to share space with a demon? Everything I know from various religions says no one with less power than a god or permission from a god, can pull a soul from any after life. So where was the soul when they made it into a prison for a demon?"
Ms. Calender looked like she was going to be sick as she considered his questions. "More for me to ask Uncle Enyos."
"Ms. Calender, whether you decide to tell the others of your connection with Angel or not is up to you. I also understand loyalty to one's family and despite what the other Buffy thought, you are not responsible for this. But you and Giles have committed the same crime, neither of you thought to investigate the curse. But neither did Angel. I found no evidence of Giles being influenced, but that's three people with knowledge of Magic and a vested interest in finding out facts about it, that never even thought about investigating it. I wonder why? Is it connected to the curse itself?"
"What do you mean?"
"I mean maybe they thought understanding the curse would mean an easy out. If Angel knew there was a way to lessen his suffering maybe he'd try to find it. "
"But if his suffering lessens the curse breaks, why would he want that?"
"For the same reason depressed people kill themselves, it's a way out of pain. And I just told him he should investigate the curse himself. Shit."