Under the Forbidden Sun
Part 9 – Beginning
“Look, Jericho, you may be some Hell goddess, but there is absolutely NO way I am working with Angelus the Midnight Jigalo*!”
Jericho looked at Xander thoughtfully for a moment before replying, “Whether or not you like it, Xander, you will be working with him. It’s a little too late for second thoughts, you know. You had your chance to stop the prophecy, twice.”
“When?” asked Xander, narrowing his eyes.
“First, when I bonded to you. If you had rejected that, the prophecy wouldn’t come about. Second, if you hadn’t slaughtered your grandparents. That completed one of the correlating prophecies and set into motion parts of the Rebirth. You’ve already started a chain of events that will inevitably end with the destruction of the world as you know it.”
“But I don’t want that! I like the world the way it is!
“Who said that it was going to be worse when we’re done?” asked Oz.
“What?” Xander exclaimed as he and the others turned toward the werewolf.
You’re making assumptions, Xander. And when you assume, you make an ass out of you and me,” said Oz.
“Fine, but keep Angelus away from the leather.”
Doyle and Jericho both snickered, as Spike replied, “No problem, pet.” He then addressed his sire, “Y’hear that, Peaches? Leave the dead cows alone.”
“Like you’re one to talk, Bleach-boy. If Xander objects to leather so much, why do you keep your duster?” Angelus sneered.
Spike snarled and tried to get at Angelus, but Xander grabbed his arm. “Spike!”
“Leather doesn’t bother me,” said Xander with an evil little glint in his eyes, as Spike sat back down and sulked. “It’s YOU in leather that I object to.
Wesley stared nervously at the door he was standing in front of. “Are you going to go in, or just stare at it until it disintegrates?” asked an amused Joholen.
“You don’t understand,” said Wesley. “Angel’s in there.”
“No he’s not.”
“What do you mean? I saw him in the… oh!” understanding dawned on his face.
Joholen smirked, “See? Problem solved. Now, if we don’t get in there soon, Jericho’s probably going to blow the roof off the house.”
They entered the house and Joholen was instantly accosted. “Father! You’re here!”
Joholen pushed the boy to arm’s length. “Of course I’m here, Chi, there are very important things about to happen. My, my, I think you grew again.”
Wesley watched interestedly as the auburn-haired boy blushed, then hugged Joholen again.
“Aunt Jericho said you should go in…” Malachi’s voice trailed off as he caught sight of Wesley. “Who’s that?”
“This is Wesley. Wes, this is my son, Malachi. He’s half Grogthk and Xander’s cousin. But I’m sure Jericho forgot that little detail.” Joholen gestured toward the door Malachi had been about to point out. “Shall we?”
“Well, that’s done, then,” said Giles tiredly.
“W-what if Xander’s in danger?” asked Tara nervously.
“Or Doyle? Or even Spike?” added Willow. “Shouldn’t we help them?”
“It’s very possible, but there’s no way to get them safely away from Angelus,” said Giles.
“Are you sure?” asked Willow.
“Yes, and girls, we’re not even certain if they’re in danger.”
“But if Angelus is loose again, they have to be. Especially because of the prophecy,” stated Willow firmly.
“There’s nothing we can do?” asked Tara. “There has to be!”
“Well, we could try and figure out who the other two people are that are mentioned in the prophecy,” offered Giles.
“Only two left?” asked Willow puzzled. “I thought there were three.”
“Spike, Xander, and Angelus,” said Tara.
“Doyle,” Giles stated, sitting on the couch. “Doyle is the fallen one.”
“So that means the only two left unknown are the first and last.”
“Yes, Willow. Does either of you have your copy of the prophecy? I left mine at my house.”
“I have mine,” Tara got her purse, pulled a piece of paper out, and handed it to Giles.
“ ‘One is and isn’t to the naked eye Holds the eternal reigns for all to live yet die.’ Now remember, we’re looking for hidden meanings,” said Giles.
“What if we take this one at face value?” asked Tara nervously. “I mean, that girl that showed up and then took off with Spike and Xander. She looks human to humans and like a demon to other demons.”
Willow looked admiringly at her girlfriend, before replying, “But what’s the second half mean? What’s it referring to?”
“Perhaps it pertains to Jericho’s species,” suggested Giles.
“But, what is she?” asked Tara.
“I don’t know,” admitted Giles. “Wesley, Angel, and I researched, but found no demons that matched what we know about her.”
“So she’s a demon with no description, nothing written about her at all? That seems weird,” said Willow. Then something clicked. “Nothing written! Giles, what’s the one type of demon that has nothing written about them except that they rule Hell?”
“Saveric,” said Giles. “Dear gods. If she truly is a Saveric demon then we have to get everyone as far away from her as possible!”
“Why? If nothing’s known about them…”
Giles interrupted Tara’s question. “Just because there’s no substantial accounts written about them in books doesn’t mean we know nothing about them. When lower denizens of Hell have been questioned, they describe the ruling class of demons to be the most vicious and malevolent beings that ever existed.”
“Not… bloodthirsty?” asked Willow.
“No,” Giles said bluntly, “most prefer intricate and soul-crushing mental torment to physical torture. What better way to crush someone than to destroy every shred of hope, every memory of kindness, every flicker of love. They twist their victims’ memories, reworking them until only pain, misery, desolation, and deceit remain.”
“I-is that what happened to Doyle?” asked Tara.
“I’m almost certain,” replied Giles. “Now we have to get back to the house.”
“What are we talking about?” asked Joholen as he entered the kitchen, followed by Wesley.
“We’re trying to get everyone to work together without killing, or mentioning killing, anyone else,” said Jericho, moving around the table to greet her brother.
“Wes!” Wesley jumped, startled when Xander ran up to him. “Look, can you get us out of here?” Xander asked quietly. “That Jericho-girl is seriously freaky! And she wants us to work with Angelus. Where’s Giles? Did he come with you?”
“Um, actually, I came with him,” Wesley gestured toward the crimson-haired demon that was talking with Jericho.
Xander took a step back, “What do you mean? Why weren’t you with Giles?”
“Because I was holding him prisoner until he let go of his non-existent feelings for Angel,” said Joholen, winking at the boy and smiling. “Why would you want to leave? The fun is just beginning.”
“Because I don’t wanna be near Deadboy the Evil,” Xander said, pointing toward Angelus.
“He is your step-Sire, you know,” said Jericho.
“SO?” yelled Xander. “That doesn’t mean I have to like him!”
“But you do have to respect him, and he isn’t TOO different from Angel. Just evil and murderous, really,” said Wesley.
“Great,” muttered Xander. “Now you’re taking HIS side.”
“Well, you were feeling him up the other night,” pointed out Wesley.
“And thanks so much for reminding us all about that,” came Xander’s sarcastic reminder. “And what happened to the whole ‘I’m shagging Deadboy and loving it’? Now you’re sleeping with an evil ruler of Hell?”
“Wes and I were just using each other, weren’t we?” said Angelus.
“As much as I hate to say it, yes, we were,” admitted Wesley.
“So,” said Jericho, clapping her hands to get everyone’s attention, “who’s up for destroying the world as we know it?”
Creeping closer to the house, Giles and the two witches were able to make out the identities of the people currently invading his house.
Willow watched for a minute. “Spike and Xander are both in there.”
“A-angelus, too,” supplied Tara. “And I th-think that’s Doyle slumped over the table.”
“Yes, it is.” Giles watched as Jericho and an unknown male walked past the window, with a younger auburn-haired male tagging after them. “That leaves those two men. Who are they?”
“Look! Giles, Wesley’s in there too!” exclaimed Willow quietly, trying to escape the heightened senses of the two vampires and Xander.
“So he is. Then it’s very possible that the older male is also a Saveric demon. Possibly the brother Jericho mentioned,” said Giles.
Tara was watching another window, hoping for Willow’s sake that she was wrong about who she had seen. Just as she was about to tell the others, the three were grabbed.
“Well, well. What have we got here?” asked Spike smugly, as he held tight to a struggling Willow.
“It’s so nice to see you all again,” said Angelus, smirking. Giles didn’t bother to struggle.
Willow stared at Tara’s captor, surprise and disbelief evident on her face. “Oz?”
From inside the house came an indignant cry from Jericho, "ANGELUS! Get back in here! I told you NOT to kill Xander! It's going to take like five hours for him to regain consciousness!"