Natural resentment

Xander felt a bitter taste in his mouth as she didn't seem to accept him helping her in return, but in the end it was her choice. Looking at the vial in his hand he sighed, knowing what pain could go in to filling such a vial. He took the vial, taking off the simple cap before placing it to his lips. He didn't like that he had the whole vial for himself, but he couldn't think that. He drank, emptying the vial, gasping as he felt the holy healing starting already. He stood for a while, trying to regain his strength before looking at Aiden, feeling sorry not only for the seraph but for the woman who seemed to willing to help. He walked over, looking at the seraph, knowing the man's name. "Victor, look at me," he said in a gentle tone, placing a hand on the seraph's. "We can't save your wings, but we can save your life," he said in a sad tone. He knew what he had to do, swallowing as he grabbed harder around Victor's hand, mostly to make sure that he wouldn't let go. Xander would take away his pain, take it away as long as the wings were being removed, but that task was straining. A couple of pureblood came over, gasping at the sight, but they knew they had to help, looking Aiden with a distrust in their eyes. "Aiden, are you strong enough for this?" Xander asked, if not one of the other seraphim would grab a hold of Victor's wings. Xander needed to grit his teeth as to not cry out in pain. It felt like his own were being ripped off, but he could not let Victor suffer alone. There was solidarity between seraphim, a brother and sisterhood unlike any other, and the compassion they showed each other was so far removed from the was daemons were.

Buffy felt the frustration build in her chest. Felt so torn, and why couldn't her aunt just accept that it wasn't a choice for her. She didn't choose whom she loved, she couldn't delete her emotions in one swift move, especially since she didn't know the full story. Leona had been stern before, but hearing how she was disappointed in Buffy made her swallow. It felt like ice in her veins, hearing her own blood speak of her like that. Leona grabbed her arm, making Buffy follow with a bowed head, like a scolded child. That was until she said that Baal would ruin her just didn't sit right with her. She tried pulling her arm to herself, feeling her muscles strain to get out of the valkyrie's firm grip. As she finally got out she looked at her arm, seeing how it was beginning to bruise already. "If I let him ruin me, it will be my own descision - You think I'm naive, all of you do, and not once have you ever listened to me," Buffy said, her voice hoarse and her lips blue from the cold. She was shaking, both with frustration, anger and the cold. "It's always about being a seraph, always about daemons being the only evil in this world; but what if I don't believe that? Will you discard me? See me as evil because of whom I love and the fact that my emotions are not like a robots?" she said, shaking her head. It was no use. Her aunt wouldn't listen, and she knew that Xander wouldn't listen either. She felt sick, felt like she needed to get away. "I am a fenix, auntie, I am not a warrior, I'm a wandering soul with a short life and all I ever wanted was to belong; yet that feeling is apparently forbidden!" she said, louder now, yelling in her hoarse voice as tears started to fall down her cheeks. She looked in to her aunt's eyes, the hurt and confusion so clear on her face, and yet she knew that she had to get away. "Don't. Follow. Me," Buffy said, making sure to pronounce every word before turning on her heel, running down the streets. She wanted to get as far away as possible. She didn't want to speak to anyone with any sort of bias; all she needed was some time to reflect and a place to calm herself. The only place she knew where her family couldn't follow; The temple of Faeth.

She was sure she would have lost it if Xander hadnt joined her and talked to the seraph, she took a moment to dry her eyes as the two talked. She felt quite a lot of empathy for everyone around her, but it was possibly something she had learned from the lycans. She couldnt feel their emotions like the wolf-creatures but she could easily spot it. When the other seraphim joined in, she felt their eyes filled with distrust and at Xander's words, she felt like she lost her courage to butt too far into their business, "I'm not," she said in a quiet tone as the other seraphim joined in instead to keep the wounded Victor down. Aiden just sniffled and dried her nose before she hugged her arms around herself. She wasnt just going to stand and watch, so while they were removing the wing, she was gathering supplies for the aftercare. It wasnt a surprise that Victor would feel immense pain that would force some horrible piercing screams out of him, Aiden was just slowly preparing herself for the amount of pain that she would hear in his tone. She looked at them all from afar as she had prepared her things and she saw how they all were together in this. She saw the same mourning in every face, but she could also sense anger in some of their expressions. She looked down at her hands that where holding some bandages and disinfectant and she knew she had to use her last couple of tears on this guy, at least to keep him stable enough to be moved elsewhere. It was so cold out here, she could feel the goosebumps under her jacket.
As the wing was removed, she took a liberty to butt in, even if the other seraphim looked at her with distrust and anger at her approach. She disinfected the bloody stump before wrapping it tight enough to stop any bleeding. She placed the vial at Victor's lips before she made him drink it, knowing it would heal slower that way, but it was far more effective if he had hidden wounds somewhere. She sighed deeply as she stepped away to let Victor have his peace, walking onto the next one, though the feeling of their icy looks had put her off. She was sure they had felt the darkness and now their frustrations projected.

She felt Buffy's fight against her grip around her arm, but she didnt want to let go as she had made a promise to Xander, even if she was disappointed in the fenix. When Buffy got free, she turned to look at her with a frown, ready to hear what she was going to say. It was probably due to the bad timing of the conversation, but as Buffy went on, Leona just let her speak with no objections. At any other scenario, the valkyrie would have tried to deflate the situation, not let it blow so far out of proportion and leave them both hurt and angry. But she couldnt really think straight with all that had happened and the fact that she was still in complete shock over losing Verona. She just couldnt figure out what was going through her niece's head, talking about how daemons werent the problem here when her mother's lifeless blood was still flowing into the pavement. "You were always so busy thinking you didnt belong that you were blind to see if you did or not!" she yelled after Buffy, groaning loudly as she kicked the side of a trashcan, leaving a small dent and a massive pain in her foot. She just gritted her teeth, watching the way Buffy ran as she pulled up her phone to inform Xander about it all.

Xander could feel his body give in, absorbing as much pain, and perhaps more than he could handle. He groaned, closing his eyes as the smell of seraphim blood hit his senses. He felt like weeping, sobbing, but he couldn't let himself show that weakness right now. Most of them were looking to him for guidance, and he felt lightheaded just thinking about it. His mother had been one of the matriarchs of this family, so it was only natural for them to look to him. However he felt far from ready for such a responsibility. He opened his eyes with a shaky breath, seeing Aiden tend to Victor he took a step back. His body had taken too much pain, and he knew it. However how could he not alleviate someone's pain when he had the possibility to do so? He sighed, feeling his phone vibrate, taking out and looking at the screen with unfocusing eyes. He took a deep breath, his body trembling at what he was reading. He should've known, but Buffy had never been defiant like that, making him frown in worry. He took a step forward before collapsing to the ground with a loud thump, groaning as he knew he couldn't move. He wanted to call Buffy, tell her to go home, but he could barely speak as his body had gone into shock.

Buffy just kept running, hearing her aunt's words over and over in her head. Reaching the temple she ran through the gates, throwing herself down on the floor as she started bawling her eyes out. Here she could remain in peace. Nobody but fenix could enter here; it was a safe place. She looked at her phone, her tears dripping on the screen as she felt her vision blurry from the water. She needed to have some clarity.

[Messages between Baal and Buffy]
[Buffy:] I just need to know
[Buffy:] Did you kill her?

She looked at her screen as she had sent the messages, bowing forward as she hugged her arms around herself. The priestess stood by the altar of Faeth, feeling pity for the poor girl, but she was also wise enough just to let her be for now.

Aiden looked up as she saw Xander stagger in the corner of her eye, quickly pushing herself up to her feet as he fell to the ground. She almost just threw herself on her knees as she grabbed him to pull him away from the cold ground, moving his head to look at his eyes, gritting her teeth a little as she felt small stones from the ground against her skin, knowing her kneecaps had been scraped. "Xander. Xander! Look at me," she instructed him in a hasty tone, trying to catch his gaze as she tried to keep his attention. She didnt know much about how to handle a shock-situation, but she had an idea that making contact would work. "Keep looking at me. I'm here alright?" she said. She looked up at the others, calling for their help as they rushed over.

Baal didnt even know where he had gone to. It didnt look like something he recognized, so he had to be far away. He just needed to be away from the city while he was thinking it all through. He knew what he had done and somehow he wasnt sure what was going to happen from this point out. He just knew he was far more angry at himself than good was worth. He had torn the mark away from his palm, but sadly it would heal to look like nothing had ever happened to it. The pain he thought he deserved. A beeping from his phone made him sigh deeply. It could be either two people - One he didnt want to talk to and the other he wish he could. He looked at her message, feeling his eyes get wetter for every blink as he was taken back to that moment in front of all the bloodshed. He gritted his teeth, lifting his wounded hand to bite his thumb in anger. He texted her back, never wanting to lie to her.

[Messages between Baal and Buffy]
[Baal:] Yes.
[Baal is texting]
[....]
[....]
[Baal has stopped texting]

Xander knew he had to stay conscious, however he just wanted to close his eyes, drift off and not be sure wether he would ever wake up again. He felt someone pull at his body, his eyes flickering as he thought he was being taken by Verity herself. Would he join his mother? Would Verity see that he had tried, that he had fought with every ounce of his body? However the voice he heard was not Verity, it was Aiden, however he could barely keep his eyes open. He wanted to tell her not to worry, tell her that he would be alright, but simply using his vocal chords proved to be harder than he thought possible. It felt like his tongue was twisted and his throat seemed so rough that he felt the need to cough. But nothing sprung from either throat nor lips, looking at her with his unfocussed vision.

Buffy saw the reply, watching him type. Was he going to explain? Did she even need an explanation to know what had to happen next? As he stopped typing she knew she had to cut it all off. Cut the tie that she felt he had on her. Was her aunt right? Had he seduced her with lies? Promises that he was different when he really wasn't? She wrote a simple word, one word was what she could give her. A word she could never tell her mother.

[Buffy:] Goodbye

She looked at the screen for a while before sending the message, tossing her phone in to one of the large fires that were constantly lit in the temple. Then she broke down, however this time she was no longer crying. Her tears had stopped coming in, and she realized what had happened. The priestess moved to her side, placing an arm around her and guiding her to one of the back rooms of the temple.