ALL THINGS NEW
By Starway Man
Continuity: This story is initially set in seasons 7/4 of BTVS/Angel, sometime after ‘Selfless’ for BTVS and ‘Rain of Fire’ for Angel.
Acknowledgments: Thanks to Psyche’s transcript page for some sections of this story.
Warnings: There are plenty of spoilers present, from season 3 of BTVS to the present day.
Summary: D’Hoffryn tries to save his own ass, but a bargain with the entities of the Conduit goes unexpectedly wrong. The lives of everyone are affected from the year 1999 onwards.
-----
“That’s the thing about magic. There’s always consequences. Always!” (Spike, BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER)
“Maybe you’re changing. That could be a good thing.” (Angel, ANGEL)
“And He who sat upon the throne said, Behold I make all things new...” (Revelations 21: 5)
~~~~~~
Part I: Los Angeles, November 2002
The vampire with a soul called Angel wanted to stake himself.
Because he had just learned that the two people who meant the most to him in the whole world – his 18-year-old son Connor, the miracle child and the woman he loved, Cordelia Chase – had slept together, mere hours after Cordelia had told Angel that she loved him and always would.
< My God, how-? Why? And what if Connor gets Cordy pregnant-?!? >
That thought hit like a lightning bolt in his 249-year-old mind, as the ensouled vamp tried to deal with the concept of his beloved giving birth to his grandchild.
< Things will never be the same, either way, > Angel thought dazedly, as he turned away.
The Champion for the entities known as the Powers That Be didn’t know what to do, or even who to talk to about this. Last year of course Angel probably would have instantly confided in the man called Wesley Wyndham-Pryce, and almost certainly benefited from the ex-Watcher’s counsel.
But things were different now, and the former Angelus had the definite feeling that the truce with his former friend was still too fragile for any deep and meaningful conversations like this. Besides, the vampire couldn’t be sure that Wes wouldn’t instantly tell everything to Lilah Morgan, an evil lawyer that the British man was currently sleeping with.
Angel then thought of his associates Charles Gunn and Winifred “Fred” Burkle; but he figured that they just wouldn’t understand, and dismissed them from consideration.
The only other person the undead hero could think of talk to, was the anagogic demon known as Lorne. But right now, the vamp didn’t want to hear something along the lines of “Angel-cakes, there are plenty of other fish in the sea...” that he was sure the green guy with horns would say.
Face in hands, Angel thought to himself, < This is not happening. Please – somebody, ANYBODY, let this somehow not be happening!! >
In that world of demons and magicks, there were no such things as coincidences.
And little did the vampire know that someone named D’hoffryn, would soon answer his prayers.
~~~~~~
The so-called Elder Lord of the Lower Beings was in a foul mood. As D’hoffryn had learned that somehow, some way he had become destined to die very soon – a prophecy written in blood, proclaiming said fact.
The demon had tried everything he could think of to find out the why’s and wherefore’s of this, but had gotten nowhere. Desperate and with nothing else to lose, D’hoffryn decided to play a wild card; and went where he had no business going.
He entered the realm of the Conduit.
As the lower being materialized in the chamber, he started to speak in his usual regal voice. “Behold D’hoffryn, Lord of Arash-”
The speech was instantly cut short, as he was thrown across the room into a wall. The voices of the Conduit – the gateway to the Powers That Be – rang out, “It is come. The demon has come. Come for what? Answers. Death is certain. Death awaits him.”
D’hoffryn got up and looked around, realizing that his customary tactics were not going to work here. “I wish to speak to the Conduit.”
“We are the Conduit. We are the gateway, to that which is forever. It wishes to speak to us.”
The demon looked around again. “Yes. By the way, would you care to show yourselves? I do hate speaking to empty air.”
“We are unseen. Formless. It speaks unknowing. Destroy it. Send it away...”
D’hoffryn said hurriedly, “As you say, I have learned that I have been slated for an early death. The question I harbor is why.”
“It speaks falsely. It wishes only to learn how to undo its destiny. The Powers owe you no explanations. Send it away. Kill it...”
Again D’hoffryn was thrown aside, and he realized he had to go for blunt honesty here. “Please. For the moment, all I wish to know is why.”
“Its pleas are pointless. Its path is chosen. We will not interfere.
“Chosen?”
The voices seemed to become annoyed. “Obstinate. Unwelcome. It speaks and does not listen.”
“Chosen?” D’hoffryn repeated himself.
“It is angry. It is afraid. It knows nothing of the balance. Its actions require balance. Sacrifice is inevitable.”
D’hoffryn had an epiphany. “Halfrek and Anyanka...” he murmured, referring to the time not so long ago, when he had killed one of his minions. The demon overlord had sacrificed Halfrek’s life and soul in order to restore the lives of twelve UC Sunnydale frat guys – as part of a bargain with the 1100-year-old ex-demon Anya, and Buffy the vampire Slayer.
Obviously, his actions required a higher payment than he had anticipated.
Marshalling all his cunning, the ‘justice’ demon started to engage in a bargaining session with the Conduit. “Surely there must be something you want? Something I can do for you, or for the Powers – or one of their champions?”
For the first time, the Conduit hesitated. “It speaks of the Champion. The Champion is in despair. Lost. Hopeless.”
D’hoffryn smiled inwardly. “Yes, indeed. You speak of balance, and I wish to live. I help you and you help me. What could be fairer than that?”
A bargain was soon struck, however the entities warned him that their actions would come at a price. But after he heard it, D’hoffryn looked only mildly surprised. “Is that all?” he asked, and quickly agreed.
At that moment though, a creature in the shape of a little girl appeared in the room. It was the same being that lived in the White Room, at the Wolfram & Hart law offices in L.A.
“Just what do you people think you’re doing here? You’re going to cause a lot of chaos and trouble! And while I like the latter, I hate the former...”
She pointed at D’hoffryn. “Time for you to die.”
~~~~~~
Time seemed to slow down, just like in that movie ‘The Matrix’.
As a white blanket of destruction headed for the Lord of the Lower Beings, the power of the Conduit completely blanketed him at the last moment, saving his life.
But a strange side-effect occurred. Something that was almost unforeseeable. Because when that much power and mystical energy were concentrated together in so small a space, a hole was ripped open in the fabric of reality – right where D’hoffryn was standing.
And thus the demon fell through it, and ended up elsewhere in space and time.
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