Astris and Sigurd
Astrid and Sigurd stepped into the lobby of the Hotel Hyperion. Astrid was looking much more comfortable in faded blue jeans which had one knee ripped out of them, a tight black top and sneakers. Her armour consisted of a silver breastplate, a shin gaurd and two forearm shields which also concealed several types of weapons. She had a silver fur around her shoulders and her hair was tied back into heavy braids and tied off with strips of tan rawhide. They entered laughing and joking to each other in Norwegian, Sigurd casually hefting an axe that was wider then his shoulders. Which was quite wide. Astrid had a quiver of whitefletched arrows slung over one shoulder, a long bow across the other and a sword on her hip.
Astrid's wings shone with white purity, every trace of the black that had covered them yesterday banished. Eyes a sparkling blue. Sigurd rumbled out something to her as he nuzzled her neck and she squealed, then drew his head down to hers and kissed him enthuasistically. "Ja!"
"So. We are back." Sigurd nodded at Angel. "Shall we begin to match up this propecy with any others we can find?"
Gwen
Gwen padded down the stairs, adjusting her shirt. She yawned. "I'm really going to start leaving clothes here." She looked to see Astrid and Sigurd. "Hello."
Wesley looked up from his notes. "Morning. Slept late?"
"Sorta. More like I lost the inclination to get up this morning." Gwen grabbed her sweater from where she left it on the couch and shrugged it on. "So, what's the deal with the prophecy?"
Sigurd and Astrid
"Morning. Well, we have three apples." Sigurd sat down on a chair and Astrid leaned against his shoulder. "We must find the three people to give these apples to, or there will be much trouble."
"Woe, in point of fact." Astrid sat crosslegged on the floor and took her sword out of its sheath. She started to sharpen with adept flicks of her hand, the whetstone rasping over the already razorsharp edge. "Should I...?" She made a tossing gesture, looking up at Sigurd.
"Don't know." Sigurd looked across at Wesley. "If you think it will help, Astrid has offered to throw and read the Runestones."
"If we feel that there is no other recourse, then it may come to that," Wesley said softly.
"What's the big deal about them?" Cordelia asked.
"When I use them, I lose part of my soul," Astrid said simply. "For knowledge, must sacrifice be made. Odin hung from the tree upside down for nine days and lost an eye to gain his wisdom. Should it be easier for a mortal then a god?"
"Perhaps we can get these two in..." Welsey polished his glasses. "The twins, Vortigern and Mordred."
Gwen
"Yes, let's get the twins in! Oh god yes!" Gwen exclaimed, waking up.
Cordelia looked over at her in shock. "Ok, a big yes from electro over there."
"Sorry, it's just I haven't seen Mordred in forever... let's get them in. Quick, someone call them. Wait, I will! Wait, can I do it telepathically?" Gwen clapped and stood up.
Wesley stared at her in confusion. "Why don't you try and call then."
Gwen nodded. "Mordred, can you and Vort come to the Hyperion?"
Mordred and Vortigern
Mordred jerked upright in class as Gwen's voice echoed through his mind. Bloody hell! He looked at his teacher of the class he was in. Xavier. "Can I go? Can *we* go?" He asked bluntly, knowing the higher level telepath would have heard Gwen.
"It's probably important. You have my permission," Xavier stated calmly.
"Ta, prof." Mordred stuffed his things into a bag and 'ported to his twin's side. He was training with SPike in the Danger Room. "OI! Going to th' Hotel, Gwen called and she wants you to come too!"
"Then I'm bloody well coming too. I do not trust the poof's greasy little anklebiter as far as...Chelsea could throw 'im." Spike walked with Vortigern to Mordred's side.
"Well, let's go then." Mordred took their hands, closed his eyes and 'ported. They arrived in the lobby of the Hotel.
Gwen
Gwen smiled as Mordred, Vortigern and Spike appeared in the lobby.
"Wow, it worked. Hey guys. Yeah, we sorta needed you here because a prophecy applies to you. At least, that's what we worked out," Gwen explained in a rush.
Wesley nodded and indicated the notepad in front of him. "Seems to be talk of twins... angel and wolf?"
Gwen rolled her eyes. "Can we get to that in a minute? First, I would like to say hi properly to Mordred." Gwen walked over to Mordred and wrapped her arms around him and leaned up for a kiss.
Mordred, Vortigern and Sigurd
"God, I hate prophecies," Spike muttered. "Hey, Sigurd, Astrid." Mordred and Gwen were still snogging like mad. "You know, you think they remember they have to breathe?" He asked the people in the lobby loudly. Vortigern snickered, Wesley coughed, Angel looked uncomfortable and shifted slightly, Gunn was very carefully not looking, Sigurd smiled and Astrid bit her lip in order to keep from laughing.
"How ist Katt?" Sigurd asked the vampire.
"She's fine."
"Good."
"So, prophecy. How does it apply to my boy?" Spike demanded.
Sigurd sat up and recited the propecy again. "I must give the apples to the two in twain, the angel and the wolf. The lover and the fighter, who together share a soul. The artist and the berserker, who together fight for all. The lover of the wolf, the singer of the storm, terrible and beautiful in her white hot fury as the spears of the sky fall around and through her. Woe betide if one eats and all do not. Woe betide the love of the soul if the soul is split by death. Woe betide this earth if love is left behind to mourn. Woe betide if the sun is seperated from the night, for two halves make a whole. The moon watches the sun in the day and the black of night hides the darkest wounded soul. Bloodrinker beloved of the day will walk forver at the side of the sun. As life is to death so is death to life. Endings and beginnings are not what they seem."
"Impressive," Vortigern noted. "What apples?"
"These ones." Sigurd showed them the three golden, gleaming apples.
"And you're having trouble figuring out who the people are why?" Vortigern demanded. "S'easy. Me, Mordred and Gwen."
Gwen
Gwen reluctantly pulled away from Mordred.
"Huh? No, see that's where it goes wrong... I'm not the prophecy type person. It's gotta be a mistake."
She snuggled into Mordred's arms a bit more.
MOrdred, Vortigern and Sigurd
"What do the apples do, anyway?" Mordred asked.
"They make the eater immortal and eternally young," Sigurd said. Vortigern and Mordred exchanged a glance.
"It's you then, Gwen. There's no way in hell I'd eat one unless Mordred did. And there's no way he'd leave you behind. So, yes, you." Vortigern cuddled into Spike's arms. The vampire was looking dazed. "We can have our forever," Vortigern whispered to him.
"YES!" Spike yelled and whirled Vortigern around before covering his laughing face with kisses.
Gwen
Gwen stood stunned. "I think that I may have to think on this. Elsewhere."
She left the hotel quickly and headed for her place.
Mordred, Vortigern, Astrid and Sigurd
"Shit, shit, shit," Mordred said and then took off after her. "LOVE!"
"Akk three of you have to take the apples," Astrid said, looking up from her sharpening. "She will come around. Destiny is a hard thing to deny." She lifted her sword and admired the ripple of light over the steel. Sigurd lifted her head up and kissed her.
"And I think Nyx would have several things to say about it if they did not." Sigurd stroked one of Astrid's wings, smoothing down the feathers.
"I am not giving you up, pet," Spike growled. "If I have to force the apple down your throat, you are eating the damn thing."
"And there we have the scary obsessiveness that is vampiric love. I think I'll be over there now." Vortigern inched away, then yelped as Spike very firmly anchored him with an arm.
Gwen
Gwen turned at the sound of Mordred's voice and looked at him for a long moment, then continued on. What was there to say? She needed to think about everything.
Mordred, Vortigern, Astrid and Sigurd
Mordred spun around, and punched the wall. Then he 'ported ahead to her place. They *were* going to talk about this.
Vortigern had quite given up on trying to get away from Spike and stood by the vampire's side with a look of mild forebearance, arms crossed. "You know, I'm not likely to die right now," Vortigern pointed out. Spike snarled. Sigurd and Astrid snickered.
Gwen
Gwen opened the door to her place to find Mordred already there. She closed the door and sighed. She headed out the back to her balcony and sat herself down in one of her armchairs and crossed her arms, staring out at LA.
Mordred
"Locks...not so much use against a teleporter, love," Mordred breathed into her ear. "So. Let's talk about eternity." He sat down in a chair across from her and crossed his arms.
Gwen
"It's not that I don't want to be with you... it's just... it's a big thing to hear, you know? And I needed time to think about it."
Gwen reached out and took Mordred's hands. "I love you, but... this is... it's a big thing."
MOrdred
"Am I not good enough to spend that long a time with? And it's not like we have to stay together forever and ever. Look at Nyx. Look at Dru and Spike." Mordred raised her hands and kissed them. "But I won't go without you. And the prophecy was quite clear on what would happen if we didn't. Woe betide, ring any bells?"
Gwen
"No, Mordred, that's not what I meant." Gwen reached out and stroked his cheek affectionately. "Yeah, I know, things will go all kabooey if I don't accept, and it's not that I won't accept it's just..." Gwen paused, struggling for the right words. "I just didn't expect anything special to happen to me. Besides you... I figured I had all I needed to expect."
Mordred
"You're worth more then life will give you. You're worth more then life could give you." Mordred lifted a tendril of her hair out of her face. "Why shouldn't something special happen to you?"
Gwen
Gwen shrugged. She looked away from Mordred and out onto LA again.
"So what happens? We eat these apples and then what?"
Mordred
"Why don't we go ask the people who know? But as far as it goes for me, I'll love you as long as you'll let me. We'll just have more time to do it." Mordred looked out over the city.
Gwen
Gwen nodded. She stood up.
"Ok. Yes. Mordred..." she looked over at him. "Nevermind. Let's just go find out."
Mordred
"And we don't need to take them right now, either. We can think about it. And I think I'd rather be older when I do this. You know, like 20 or something. Who wants to look like a teenager for the rest of eternity?" Mordred kissed her. "I love you."
Gwen
"I love you back."
Gwen thought for a second.
"What if I took mine now and you took yours when you reached my age... or older? That could work. Anyway, let's go back to the Hyperion."
MOrdred
"Whatever you want, love." Mordred 'ported them both back to the Hotel. Spike was still holding very firmly onto Vortigern who was beginning to look pissed off. Mordred smiled slightly. You seem to have a growth, packmate.
"Spike. I am not going to drop dead in the next few seconds. Let go." Spike just growled.
Gwen
Gwen smiled and reamined holding Mordred's hand.
"So what's the deal with the apples? Do they all have to be taken at the same time? Why us?"
Vortigern and Sigurd
"They must be eaten by the three of you. Why? I do not know. When? That is not very relevant." Sigurd shrugged. "Just as long as the three of you decide to eat them. The Aesir may have simply decided that you deserve it."
"Then why all the woe betide?" Vortigern asked. Sigurd and Astird chuckled.
"Ever heard of the term, carrot and stick? Or perhaps there is something you will do in the future, that if you do not eat you will not be able to do."
Gwen
Gwen nodded. "So... immortal. That's... that's... ok. Yes. So... um... this is all new to me, so I'm gonna sit here and not say much."
Vortigern
"You will eat the damn thing, if I have to force it down your throat," Spike growled threateningly. "I am *not* losing my boy."
"God, would you just stop that?!" Vortigern yelled at the vampire. Angel snickered and Vortigern whirled to face him. "And you can just shut the hell up! *You* don't have a Gem because you were so angsty over this whole soul business, you destroyed it! I am very handy with a stake and holy water, so I would advis it's in your best interest to shut up and stay the f*ck out of this!"
Gwen
Angel shrugged and headed back into his office. "This doesn't involve me."
Gwen looked after him and sighed. She stood up and followed him to talk to him.
Mordred and Vortigern
"I am going to get a coffee," Vortigern said as he made a visible attempt to calm down. "*You* will stay here." He looked at Spike determindly. "Does anyone else want anything?"
"Black, please, Vort," Mordred asked.
"I'll come with ya to help carry," Gunn offered.
"Latte, please," Wesley said.
"Vanilla mocha latte, thanks," Cordelia said. Mordred sat down on a chair and crossed his arms. He looked at Gunn.
"Make sure he doesn't get hurt."
"Hey man, you gotta tone down on that tyoe of vibe."
"Yes, well, when we're all finished discussing how I can't take care of myself..." Vortigern was whitelipped with anger. "I am going to get those coffees." He banged the door on his way out and Gunn followed him more slowly.
Gwen
Gwen came out of the office a few minutes later, and sat down on the couch. She leaned back against it and closed her eyes for a few seconds.
"So... weather's nice."
Cordelia grinned. "Yeah."
MOrdred and Astrid
Spike was sulking. Mordred sighed and leant back, before gesturing in Spike's direction. "Oi, mate, give us a smoke?"
"Sure mate, could do with one myself." Spike slid a cigarette into his mouth and then threw the packet to Mordred. Ignoring Cordelia's glare, they both lit up and sighed thankfully. Mordred tossed the packet back, and Spike returned it to his pocket.
"God, I needed that."
Astrid had moved on from sharpening her sword to the several concealed daggers she carried. "It is good to have something to do with your hands, ja." Sigurd leant down and whispered something to her. She blushed, then slapped his leg, laughing. "Senere," she promised him. (Later.) "So. Will you take the apples?"
"You bloody well better," Spike warned.
Mordred raised an eyebrow. "And it's exactly that type of attitude that sent Scathach out of here in a huff. If you ever want to get laid again, I'd suggest you do a lot of crawling. He's very annoyed."
Gwen
Gwen sighed. "Ah, stress. I'm taking up a new habit... Spike?"
Spike tossed her the cigarette packet and she pulled one out. She flipped the lighter from her pocket and lit it, then sent the pack flying back to Spike.
Sigurd
Spike caught it nimbly and stuffed back into one of the many pockets of his duster. "So, where the hell do this apples come from?"
"The orchards of Freya," Sigurd replied. "In Asgard, the realm of the Aesir."
"But you have no idea why they gave the three apples to you?" Wesley asked. Sigurd nodded.
"Freyr, Freya's husband halted me after I had made my way to the tree with the apples. He told me to pick not only the one for Astrid, but to pick three more. Then he told me to remember that very annoying riddle, and sent me back." Sigurd sighed affrontedly. "Gods." The word was loaded with frustration.
"Tell me about it," Cordelia said. Sigurd looked at her. "I was a Higher Power for a while. It sucked. They were all really...snobby."
"And that bothered Cordelia Chase, also known not so fondly as Queen C, how?" Wesley inquired. She put her hands on her hips and glared at Wesley. "What could bother you about Heaven, when you'd survived LA?" She glared at him for a moment longer, then laughed.
"You got a point, Wes."
Gwen
Gwen took a drag of her cigarette and rolled her head back, then reached to massage her neck.
"So... we take these apples and immortality fun ensues? Well, I'm in."
Cordelia looked down at her nails. "Ugh. I need to get these done again."
Mordred, Vortigern, Astrid and Sigurd
"Here then." Sigurd tossed her the apple. She caught it, barely. "Eat and live forever young."
"And doesn't that sound like a cheesy b-rated movie?" Astrid said, smiling innocently as Sigurd threw her a disgruntled glance.
"Now I remember what it is that I liked about my age. Women knew their place and kept it."
"Tough dragonhide, mitt hjerte." She blew him a kiss. "You're stuck here and now."
"With you, which makes up for it all." His hand ran along the curve of her wing and she smiled.
"I want to wait a few years," Mordred said. "Don't want to spend the rest of eternity being asked fer me ID."
"Good point," Vortigern said as he stepped back into the Hotel, followed by Gunn. "Did we miss much?" He very ostentatiosly snubbed Spike as he walked over to Welsey and Cordelia to give them their coffees.
"Oh yeah, you have a lot of grovelling to do, mate," Mordred said to Spike.
Gwen
Gwen held onto the apple and threw it up in the air a few times, catching it before setting it down next to her and continuing to smoke. She stood up suddenly and picked up the apple and headed in to see Angel again.
Astrid, Sigurd, Mordred and Vortigern
Mordred took his apple from Sigurd and studied it for a moment. "Ta, mate." He looked at Sigurd. "What happens to it, over time like?"
"Nothing. It will stay as fresh as the day it was picked for over a hundred years." Sigurd stood. "We are done here. Astrid."
"Ja, I want to go home. I have discovered exactly how much I hate Earth." She stood with him. "Anymore questions?"
"How do we get in contact with you, if we need to?" Wesley asked. Astrid deliberated for a moment, then pulled a feather from her wing with a bit of a grimace. She placed it on the desk in front of the ex-Watcher.
"Burn it and call my name, and we will come." The teo Aesir warriors strode to the front door, and Astrid whistled. Little sister!
Beloved rider! A pegasus mare wheeled down and landed on the pavement. Slepnir appeared soon after, his entrance more stately. Vortigern's eyes went wode and he scrambled desperately to get his hands on some paper and a pencil. Spike handed him a small sketbook and a lead pencil, and Vortigern's gaze let him know he had gone partway to redeeming himself.
"Farewell!" Sigurd called out, and then they rode off into the sky. Astrid mumured something, and they disappeared, cloaked from sight. Vortigern sighed wistfully even as his fingers guided the pencil quickly.
Gwen
"So... immortality, what's it like?" Gwen asked, perching herself on the edge of Angel's desk.
He smiled at her. "You made the choice?"
"I figured there was nothing to lose, but everything to gain, you know?"
"It is tempting."
"Eternal love, eternal life... it's a big decision, but... you know, the wholw 'woe betides' thing."
"You wanna join them?"
"Sure." Gwen stood and lead Angel from the office.
Mordred and Vortigern
"They left," Mordred informed her, tossing his apple up and down in his hand. Vortigern had his and was looking at it carefully. "We can reach them if we need to though."
"Quite fascinating, really," Wesley mumured.
"Fascinating for you, our lives," Vortigern said. "Makes it a bit more pressing, like."
Gwen
Gwen shrugged. "So... I eat mine now, and then we wait a few years and then Mordred eats his?"
Angel took the apple from her and studied it intently.
Vortigern and Mordred
"Seems to be the plan," Vortigern said. Spike muttered something and Vortigern whipped his head around. "I'll eat mine when my twin does."
"You've already nearly died twice!" Spike growled.
"Your point? It's not like I asked to be shot or have a knife flung into my chest."
"How did you survive?" Wesley asked. Vortigern smiled slightly.
"Nyx and Dawn. They're very good with their magick."
"And I don't fancy seeing you like that ever again. Eat the damn apple."
"I will. When I'm twenty or so." Vortigern tossed his apple to Mordred. "Nyx would look after them for us. There's not much that can take Nyx down and she's trustworthy."
"Good idea." Mordred nodded. "She doesn't need the apples either. She's immortal, and Logan is damn near that too."
"Also good point."
Gwen
Gwen nodded in satisfaction. "Then I'll eat mine tonight."
Angel handed the apple back to her and she tucked it into her bag.
Vortigern and Mordred
"Are we done then? I was in the middle of painting something." Vortigern looked vaguely annoyed. "Or about to be. Muses are calling me."
"I think we're done." Spike looked around. "Not having any urges to prolong my time in the City of Angel."
"Yeah, point." Mordred kissed Gwen. "Got to go, love. Classes."
Gwen
Gwen nodded and kissed Mordred back.
"I'll speak to you later then. Love you."
Mordred and Vortigern
"Love you two, beautiful girl." Mordred kissed her, and then stepped back as Spike and Vortigern came forward. They touched his hands and he 'ported. "Rightio, I'll go give these to Nyx."
"Sure thing, twin." Vortigern headed off to the garage and Spike trailed him like a whipped dog.
Don't let him off so easy.
Oh, believe me, he has a lot of grovelling to do. They both laughed, and then cut the connection.