Righteous Destruction - Cold Storage
Jun. 2nd, 2006 11:03 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
prodigalwatcherEverything was prepared, according to the text that Lilah had provided me. It was far from the simplest spell I'd ever attempted-- in fact, it was almost as taxing to acquire and prepare the necessary implements as it had been to actually perform, but I'd done it.
The Axis of Pythia had worked perfectly, as if I'd had a compass to point precisely where I'd hoped it would in the first place. A deeper trip into the Wolfram & Hart archives showed me the rest I needed to know.
The ceremony had begun at sundown, as proscribed, and hadn't finished until well after midnight. At last, though, as I cast the ground mixture of grain, herbs and blood into the brazier, there was a great plume of flame that swirled upwards until it formed a fiery ring ten feet above the empty warehouse's concrete floor.
Beyond the ring was another place, bright yellow-white light glowing behind swirling silver mist. I directed all my will right at the center of the ring.
"Apello," I intoned, and a wind rushed around me, gale force pushing me away from the ring. I braced myself and stood my ground.
There was a flash of light, and I was forced to my knees by the backlash of magical energy. When I lifted my head and the violet streaks faded from my vision, she stood in the center of the room, eyes wide and searching.
"Cordy," I whispered.
"W-Wes?" Her speech and manner were halting, stammered, as if she were exercising mental muscles that hadn't been used in a very long time. "What- what's going on?"
I stepped closer, tamping down the urge to rush forward and embrace my old friend. Instead, I studied her: clad in a flowing pure white dress, she looked every inch the beautiful young woman who'd been lost months before. A rush of memories flooded into me, thoughts of a more naïve Cordelia and much more awkward me, back in Sunnydale. Of the worst, most fumbling kiss in recorded history. Of late nights and takeout Chinese food and battles and friends.
"You're back, Cordy," I answered her, smiling. "You're home."
I continued to stare at her. My other preparation had been a spell that would allow me to see magical influence. If this were not actually Cordelia, and merely some other being masquerading as my old friend, I would know. I would also know if she still possessed the gift of the Powers That Be's visions and the demonic attributes that would allow her to continue to receive them.
That latter, she did. Cordy was still the seer who would provide the champion with the visions necessary to do good in the world. There was more, but that was a mystery I would explore later. I'd learned enough.
Finally, I crossed the distance between us and wrapped my arms around Cordelia. She hugged me back fiercely, and I could tell the tears would come soon.
"How long...?"
I shushed her. "Don't worry about that now. There are just two things first."
"Okay," she said, giving me a half smile, "and the first would be?"
Reaching out, I grasped Cordy by the back of the neck and pulled her in for a deep, searing kiss. After a moment's surprise and panic, I felt her reciprocate. We parted, both breathing deeply. Cordy touched her flushed face and smiled.
"Wow, Wes. I was going to say that you looked a lot hotter. Didn't know the inside had gotten a makeover, too." She laughed. "What's the second one, or do we need to get a room?"
Instead of answering, I reached out for her again. The blue-white arc of the taser lit up her shocked face for just a moment before I made contact. Cordy's body jerked before she could make a sound, then went totally slack. I caught her with my free arm.
"I've already got a room prepared for you, Cordy."
Sweeping her up, I crossed the warehouse floor and stepped through the glamour-hidden door. On the other side was a small room, formerly an office, but far cleaner and better lit than the rest of the warehouse. I laid Cordelia out on the hospital bed I'd had installed and waited as the healer demon whose services I'd purchased hooked her up to both a life-support system and a machine not unlike an EEG, its electrodes attached to a crown on the one-time Princess' head.
"And this will keep her in a chemical coma indefinitely, but unharmed?" I asked the demon. It nodded it's large cranium in response. Once the demon was finished ensuring Cordy's health and continued unconsciousness, we stepped outside the room.
"And that machine will record her visions as they come, and will allow me to view them?" Again, the demon nodded. "Excellent," I said, before drawing my pistol and firing four times into the wide, flat brow of the demon's head, splattering the floor with its impressively knowledgeable gray matter. The entire place and then the room itself again were protected by two nested energy fields, erected by another pair of powerful inhuman mystics, and keyed to my life-force and the physician's.
They were slumped dead in the corner, also of "lead poisoning" as the old noir films might have said.
Now, my work could begin in earnest. I had the seer, and more importantly, I had her visions to guide me. There was no place I could not go, no threat I could not face, now that I would see it coming.
As I turned out the lights and clicked the padlock into place, I indulged myself in a small smile. Perhaps, I thought, a phone call to Lilah would be called for in celebration.
The Axis of Pythia had worked perfectly, as if I'd had a compass to point precisely where I'd hoped it would in the first place. A deeper trip into the Wolfram & Hart archives showed me the rest I needed to know.
The ceremony had begun at sundown, as proscribed, and hadn't finished until well after midnight. At last, though, as I cast the ground mixture of grain, herbs and blood into the brazier, there was a great plume of flame that swirled upwards until it formed a fiery ring ten feet above the empty warehouse's concrete floor.
Beyond the ring was another place, bright yellow-white light glowing behind swirling silver mist. I directed all my will right at the center of the ring.
"Apello," I intoned, and a wind rushed around me, gale force pushing me away from the ring. I braced myself and stood my ground.
There was a flash of light, and I was forced to my knees by the backlash of magical energy. When I lifted my head and the violet streaks faded from my vision, she stood in the center of the room, eyes wide and searching.
"Cordy," I whispered.
"W-Wes?" Her speech and manner were halting, stammered, as if she were exercising mental muscles that hadn't been used in a very long time. "What- what's going on?"
I stepped closer, tamping down the urge to rush forward and embrace my old friend. Instead, I studied her: clad in a flowing pure white dress, she looked every inch the beautiful young woman who'd been lost months before. A rush of memories flooded into me, thoughts of a more naïve Cordelia and much more awkward me, back in Sunnydale. Of the worst, most fumbling kiss in recorded history. Of late nights and takeout Chinese food and battles and friends.
"You're back, Cordy," I answered her, smiling. "You're home."
I continued to stare at her. My other preparation had been a spell that would allow me to see magical influence. If this were not actually Cordelia, and merely some other being masquerading as my old friend, I would know. I would also know if she still possessed the gift of the Powers That Be's visions and the demonic attributes that would allow her to continue to receive them.
That latter, she did. Cordy was still the seer who would provide the champion with the visions necessary to do good in the world. There was more, but that was a mystery I would explore later. I'd learned enough.
Finally, I crossed the distance between us and wrapped my arms around Cordelia. She hugged me back fiercely, and I could tell the tears would come soon.
"How long...?"
I shushed her. "Don't worry about that now. There are just two things first."
"Okay," she said, giving me a half smile, "and the first would be?"
Reaching out, I grasped Cordy by the back of the neck and pulled her in for a deep, searing kiss. After a moment's surprise and panic, I felt her reciprocate. We parted, both breathing deeply. Cordy touched her flushed face and smiled.
"Wow, Wes. I was going to say that you looked a lot hotter. Didn't know the inside had gotten a makeover, too." She laughed. "What's the second one, or do we need to get a room?"
Instead of answering, I reached out for her again. The blue-white arc of the taser lit up her shocked face for just a moment before I made contact. Cordy's body jerked before she could make a sound, then went totally slack. I caught her with my free arm.
"I've already got a room prepared for you, Cordy."
Sweeping her up, I crossed the warehouse floor and stepped through the glamour-hidden door. On the other side was a small room, formerly an office, but far cleaner and better lit than the rest of the warehouse. I laid Cordelia out on the hospital bed I'd had installed and waited as the healer demon whose services I'd purchased hooked her up to both a life-support system and a machine not unlike an EEG, its electrodes attached to a crown on the one-time Princess' head.
"And this will keep her in a chemical coma indefinitely, but unharmed?" I asked the demon. It nodded it's large cranium in response. Once the demon was finished ensuring Cordy's health and continued unconsciousness, we stepped outside the room.
"And that machine will record her visions as they come, and will allow me to view them?" Again, the demon nodded. "Excellent," I said, before drawing my pistol and firing four times into the wide, flat brow of the demon's head, splattering the floor with its impressively knowledgeable gray matter. The entire place and then the room itself again were protected by two nested energy fields, erected by another pair of powerful inhuman mystics, and keyed to my life-force and the physician's.
They were slumped dead in the corner, also of "lead poisoning" as the old noir films might have said.
Now, my work could begin in earnest. I had the seer, and more importantly, I had her visions to guide me. There was no place I could not go, no threat I could not face, now that I would see it coming.
As I turned out the lights and clicked the padlock into place, I indulged myself in a small smile. Perhaps, I thought, a phone call to Lilah would be called for in celebration.
