“Hail Maria, of the Order of Aurelius!” the shout went up around the Hall.

When the cries finally died down, Maria turned her attention back to the Master of her new Order, who once more sat upon the Diaz, Spike at his shoulder.

“The plan, Master Angelus?” she queried with a small bow.

“You and the rest of the Magdala will be ensouled before the rest of the Order.  Tonight – now,” he clarified, cutting straight to the chase.  “If it works, you will be introduced tomorrow to the rest of the Order, and you, along with my childe and his House, will provide security during the full Order’s ensouling.”

Maria inclined her head in acknowledgment and agreement.  He had no need to explain to her why that security might be necessary.

“If it doesn’t work,” the dark vampire continued, “Well, we’ll have our work cut out for us coming up with a new plan,” he finished simply.

“It will not fail,” Maria replied, once he was through.  “The prophecy makes it clear that you shall succeed.”

“I don’t know what you know of the Shanshu, but it in no way makes this clear as far as we’re concerned,” he said.  “When, where, who – these things are all uncertain in the prophecy.  My destiny – and yours – is by no means certain,” he admonished.

“We will support and defend you, Master Angelus – you have our oath, and the Magdala do not break their oaths.”

Angel nodded his acceptance.  “Spike, the marks,” he said, still watching the Magdala closely for any signs of a break in their ranks, despite their master’s declaration.

Spike left the Diaz to stand at the center of the star where he met Wesley, who handed him a small stack of papers, each one inked with the spelled mark.  The blond held the papers up so the Magdala could see the A upon the them.

“As formally acknowledged members of our Order, your flesh will accept these marks."  He shrugged out of his duster and pulled the sleeve of his black t-shirt up to display the tattoo’d A.  Peeking out beneath the sleeve, at the top of the A, the talons of the gryphon were just visible, but nothing else of the replicate of his sire’s tattoo could be seen.  Still, Spike noted Wesley’s heightened interest and curiosity as he inspected what was visible of the addition from close up.

“Hand them out, Wes,” the blond ordered, passing the stack back to the ex-Watcher.

Once each of the Magdala had a piece of the spelled paper, Spike continued his instructions.  “Hold them to your upper right arm for three seconds, and the mark will transfer.  Do it now.”

The red-headed vampires slipped their cloaks off, and beneath them each wore gowns that were more appropriately described as layered robes.  They were, unlike the deep velvety blackness of their cloaks, of various earth hues, warm and soft; brown like autumn, green like spring, the burnt umber of rocks and trees, with the occasional gun-metal blue, reminiscent of a trickling riverbed.  Long, loose sleeves were pushed up to bare slim arms, and the marks were pressed to pale flesh.  The Magdala held them there unflinching, all the while staring at the blond vampire at the center of the star.

“Enough,” he said, after three seconds had elapsed.

The papers were taken away and each looked down to inspect the dark A that now marked their skin.

“These marks will provide the conduit for my soul,” Angel explained, moving to the center of the Star.  Spike stepped outside the perimeter at his sire’s approach.

“Patesco Aurelius,” Angel commanded, reigniting the star.  The points flamed again, and he looked at the others standing before him.

“Two hours ago I confirmed that all the other formally acknowledged members of Aurelius have applied their marks, but I haven’t opened the conduit in the out-flowing direction yet.  That will happen tomorrow night with them, but tonight with you.  First, I’ll do the confirmation,” he added.  He murmured a single line of Latin and the spell was activated, opening the inward flow of communication between those marked, and the Head of the Order.  Angel let the current flow through him unchecked for a moment, then nodded.  “Now for the second part,” he said.

The simplicity of his words fooled no one as to the significance of what was about to occur.  He glanced over at his childe who nodded slightly.

“Inside the star, Master Maria,” Spike instructed.  “The rest of you in a circle outside it.  You need to form an unbroken chain – the marks need to be touched to ensure that the spell is contained to your Clan, and doesn’t extend to the full Order.”

Maria stepped between two flaming points and stood between her charges and the Master of their new Order.  The members of her Clan formed a circle about the star, and reached out with their left hand to press firmly against the mark of the sister beside them.  When the circle was complete Angel reached out to touch Maria’s mark, and she reached back to make contact with one of those in the outer circle.  Spike prowled the perimeter slowly, making sure the connections were intact, then finally nodded to the vampire at the center.

“Ready, Sire.”

The dark vampire nodded at his childe, took a deep, unnecessary breath then spoke the final words of the spell.

A dim, hazy light, tinged with blue filled the Hall.  That Angel was the anchor point seemed clear, as a darker outline surrounded him like an aura.  Wesley drew in a gasping breath, immediately making the connection that this light was the vampire’s soul manifested visibly.  So it was true, he thought, dazed by the anticipated but still somehow unexpected evidence.  The soul was vast.  He could see no boundary, no weakening at any point in the chamber, except for the slightly darker blue halo that surrounded the soul’s source.

For a long minute there was nothing more than the filmy haze, but then tiny lights started to flicker and spark within it.  The sparks grew in frequency and strength, until suddenly they exploded in a flash of energy, individual pin-pricks of light joining to form what looked like pale lightening strikes, each one flying outward to one of the red-headed vampire’s surrounding the central figure in the star.  Each strike linked directly back to Angel in turn, finger-threads of connection that sizzled and snapped.  The Magdala threw their heads back and cried out, vampire faces pushed to the fore.  They stared upward with golden eyes and flashing fangs.  Angel stood in much the same pose, game face on, mouth open with sharp teeth gleaming.

The lightening strikes connecting him to the Magdala flickered and pulsed, but slowly strengthened.  Finally the connections were unbroken and steady, like a television that has been fine-tuned to perfect its reception.  The flames at the five points of the star flared up to blaze about him and with a gasp he pulled his hand away from Maria and collapsed to his knees at the center of the star.  As though their strings had been cut, each of the Magdala immediately followed suit.  The blue haze disappeared, as did the sparks, until nothing visible remained.  Slowly Angel opened his eyes and pushed unsteadily to his feet.  Spike stepped inside and helped his sire up, and Angel allowed it, leaning heavily on his childe’s shoulder.  He looked at the blond, eyes wide and nodded.

“It worked.”

Spike nodded in turn, a worried look on his face.  “You need to rest…”

“Soon,” Angel replied, cutting him off.  “Secure them in the cage – they’ll have to stay there until tomorrow night.  Get them blood, then come back here.  We need to put a spell in place that masks their presence so the rest of the Order isn’t alerted too early.”

Angel pushed the blond away, and his childe nodded tersely, watching as his sire made his way slowly up the steps to sink into his chair.  Only then did he turn to the others on the main floor.

“Wesley, Gunn, Illyria, get them up.”

The blond stepped out of the star and joined the pets in helping the weakened vampires to their feet, then led the way out and down the hall.  The Magdala went into the cage and sank down to the floor again without complaint.  They leaned against each other, clearly taking comfort in the closeness of family.

“Go get blood – at least two packages for each,” Spike instructed the pets.  “It will be human,” he added, this time addressing Maria directly.  “But understand that you’ll have to settle for less from here on out.  The price you pay,” he added with a shrug.

“We understand,” Maria said softly, resting against the side of another of her Clan.  “We knew what our request would entail when we made it.  We have no regrets.”

She was in human face now, and the look there could only be described as beatific.

Spike stepped closer to the bars.  “How does it feel?”

“You have your soul, and yet you ask?”

“Mine is mine,” he said.  “Yours is his.”

“Strange,” she finally replied, a far-away look in her eye.  “It isn’t my own, I know that, but it’s familiar.  It fits.  I feel as though I should feel more – more guilt, but I don’t.  Strange,” she repeated.  “I don’t understand it, but already I know that we are not what we once were.”

“You’re still demons,” Spike warned.  “Believe me, it won’t do to try and fool yourself about that.  The biggest challenge of the soul is learning to live with it and your demon together.  To ignore what’s at your center will bring you nothing but pain – I know.”

Maria nodded slowly.  “I understand.  This soul has struggled – I feel it.  Master Angelus suffered through it for a century, this we know.  His pain has eased our own, and we will never forget it.  Your destiny is truly great,” she whispered, eyes fluttering as she strove to hold off the sleep which so clearly wished to claim her.

Spike tilted his head, considering her words.  Just then the pets returned, and he shrugged them aside.  Maria was already half asleep.  They all needed to feed and rest.  His curiosity about their experience would have to wait some hours before it could be further assuaged.  The pets passed the blood through the bars, and after ensuring that the barred gate was secured, Spike left the cage room, the other three trailing behind.

Just outside the door to the Hall, Spike stopped and the pets waited for further instruction.

“I know you’re curious about what’s happened – so am I.  But we’ll have to wait a few hours to discuss it at length.  We know the important part – it worked.”

The others nodded their agreement, although Wesley clearly was biting back the many questions he had.  Spike smiled and clapped a hand warmly upon the other Englishman’s shoulder.  “All in good time, Wes; we’ll have to be content with this for the time being.”

“It’s hard,” the slender human said, smiling wryly.

“I know, but we do what we have to do, yeah?”

The ex-Watcher nodded.  “Stiff upper lip, then?” he asked, clearly knowing the answer.

“The mark of a good Englishman,” Spike replied, nodding his approval.  “We’ve got strong wards in place,” he added, moving onto the business at hand.  “And I’ll set a masking spell in a moment that will cloak the Magdala from the rest of the Order until we want them revealed, but we can’t take any chances.  We’ll stand watch in our wing each night from here on out until the meeting is over; you three and me, two hours each.  Illyria, you’ll go first.”

“There is no need for the rest of you to stand watch – I can go without recharging for many hours…”

“I know you can, Blue,” the blond interrupted gently.  “But we’re a team, and we’ll share the work.  You go first, then Gunn, Wesley and me.  Go on, now, get upstairs,” he said, shooing the others toward the stairs.

Once they’d disappeared from sight, he entered the Hall and found Angel sitting where he’d left him twenty minutes since, slumped in his chair, but still awake.  The older vampire waved weakly toward the star and Spike nodded, stepping to the center and activating it curtly.  He spoke a simple, short spell, and the points flared briefly, then quickly died down again.  Another command extinguished the flames altogether, and he stepped over the perimeter and strode up the stairs to stand beside his sire.

“No one will sense their presence,” Spike confirmed, a hand coming down to rest tentatively upon the broad shoulder.

“Good,” Angel nodded, barely able to hold his head up.

“You need to rest, Angel.  Come on,” he said, sliding his hand behind the dark vampire’s back.

With no one to see his weakness, Angel let his childe guide him, eyes half closed.  Half asleep, he was barely aware of the trek up two flights of stairs, from the basement to the lobby, and from there to the wing where their rooms were.  Before he knew it, Spike had eased him down onto his own bed, and Angel sighed with pleasure, more tired than he could ever recall feeling.  He tried to unbutton his silk shirt, but his fingers, usually so nimble and quick, felt heavy and clumsy, and refused to cooperate.  Spike brushed them aside.

“I’ll do it,” he said brusquely.

Within minutes Angel was naked, a cool sheet covering his sensitized flesh.  He could still feel the pin-pricks of warmth that the sparks and light streams had generated on his flesh, but that sensation was even now fading away, the lure of slumber insidiously pushing it aside.

“Lay down,” Angel said with the last bit of energy he had.  “Rest with me.”

“Should check on things,” Spike murmured, hesitantly glancing at the door.  “Gotta take my turn at the Watch…”

“Now?” his sire asked, his voice barely audible.

“Later,” the blond replied slowly.

“Then stay, at least for a while.”

After a long pause, Spike nodded.  “Maybe for a bit.”  He pulled off his clothes quickly and slipped beneath the covers.

They didn’t touch.  Angel was silent, eyes closed, and Spike was convinced he was already asleep, when the elder vampire spoke.

“You’re thinking too loud, Will – it’s keeping me awake.”

“Sorry,” Spike said, staring up at the ceiling.  “It’s just that…”

“What?”

“Tonight there were only twenty.  Tomorrow there will be hundreds.”

“We’ll figure it out, Will.  Tomorrow.  Now go to sleep.”

The dark vampire tiredly raised one arm and after a short pause, his childe turned over and laid his head on the broad chest, one hand resting where a heart once beat.  Angel’s arm came down to curve about the slender body at his side, and in the next instant, with his childe held close, he was fast asleep.

Spike’s mind was full of questions, doubts and fears, but suddenly it all seemed unimportant.  They’d never really had any control over what would happen when they attempted the ensouling – they’d known that going into it.  The unplanned-for test had raised questions, but it changed nothing.  Tomorrow they would proceed as planned, and deal with the consequences as they came.  With that thought, he gave up the struggle and joined his sire in a deep sleep.