Angel rose, sweaty & distraught from his slumber, & headed upstairs to the agency's office area.
Cordelia: "Are you OK?"
Angel: "Yeah. I just had a pretty realistic dream."
Harry: "Angel, we have business to discuss."
Angel: "Is it bad?"
Cordelia: "It looks like we've found a key to Hell. So yes, that's bad."
Kate (coming in the office): "What's bad? I just got finished filling out the paper work on that demon we busted out, always nice to commit a crime in my own precinct. It gives me that nice criminal feeling."
Angel: "Can we get to the bad here?"
Harry: "I saw in the paper today about this ancient artifact on exhibition in the Los Angeles Museum of Historical Art. I recognized it from some text of the Cessarevite. The relic is one of three pieces that create a vortex into the pure demon dimension."
Cordelia: "Once the vortex is open, all the demons in Hell are free to come & invade the American job market."
Kate: "Yes, that'd be our biggest worry, Cordelia."
Angel: "It's a gate. The demons will be free to enter this reality."
Harry: "Exactly. Angel, have you ever heard the story about the protector race?"
Cordelia (with a morbid tone): "He has, yes."
Kate (interjecting): "I haven't."
Harry: "Well, the first force on this earth was Evil, which you may have heard Angel call 'The First'. Then, came a force of Good, our 'The Powers That Be'. Ever since then-"
Cordelia: "-which is a long time, by the way."
Harry: "-the two forces have been at war with each other. Well, OK, Evil created the first creatures & believe me when I say they were created in their creators image. They were truly evil beings- demons. Then, later, The Powers created us. Now, we didn't stand a chance against demons, they killed us brutally. So, The Powers created this race of beings called the Protector Race to kill the demons, save humanity. What happened to them is a whole nother story- but I will tell you that the only trace left of them is a girl with the name of a source of hope."
Kate: "Faith."
Harry: "Yes. Now, the first breed of demons that The First created after Good created the Protector Race, were the Cessarevites. They are Evil's counter-creation to the Protector Race. These demon's soul purpose was- not to kill because Evil had already done that, it had thousands of species to kill humans- what the Cessarevites were created to do was allow all demons ever created, ever perceived to come into the world. They would quickly kill the humans &, hence, Evil would permanently beat Good."
Kate: "When you think about it, really, everything- the Protector Race, the Cessarevites- they were all to end this eternal war between Good & Evil."
Harry: "Right again. To open the gateway to Hell, the Cessarevites constructed a seal. This seal had the power to open a vortex. The Protector Race at the time was still in vast numbers. Now, just as the Cessarevites opened the vortex, the protector race came in & killed most of demon race. They broke the seal into 3 equal pieces & buried them deep in three different kinds of earth's soil."
Cordelia: "I've been on the phone to Wesley, & he says that The Watcher's have kept detailed records of this seal. He says two of the parts have been found already, somewhere throughout time, & stolen, most likely by the remaining Cessarevites. This last piece is the third & it was found in Italy 2 months ago. It was buried 450 yards in mountains."
Kate: "450 yards in one of Italy's many mountains? That was no coincidence. Sounds like one of the Cessarevites found it mystically."
Cordelia: "That's what we're thinking. But, to get it out, they must have had to get contacts with some archeological people with money, manpower, & a really big drill."
Harry: "Archeologists have been researching the last piece of the seal, under heavy security for several weeks. Tomorrow is it's big premiere to the public. Odds are, the Cessarevites are going to try & grab it."
Angel: "Odds are the other pieces are here as well."
There was a creak, everyone looked to see Damon standing the doorway.
Damon: "Hi, all. I didn't mean to-"
Angel: "Damon, good morning."
Cordelia: "We're a little busy."
Kate: "Um, Angel, why is he here?"
Angel: "He didn't kill that girl, he's a healing demon. He was trying to save her."
Harry had already jumped up to shake Damon's hand: "Hi, I'm Harry. This is Kate. You'll remember her from last night."
Damon: "Hi, thanks for the help."
Kate: "Well, if you had been minding your surroundings better, I wouldn't have had to put my ass on the line busting you out."
Damon: "I'm sorry about that. & I'm sorry for interrupting. I'll just go. Thank you, Angel, for a place to crash for the night."
Angel: "I think maybe you could help us, you need a job?"
Damon: "Yeah. Thank you. As long as I don't have to fill out one of those forms. Or if I do, maybe you can draw me in a little box for 'regenerative demon' under race?"
Angel: "Will do. Sit down. We were discussing breaking into the Los Angeles Museum of Historical Art tonight."
Kate: "What? Jesus, Angel, I did the breaking & entering thing last night. How many crimes am I going to have to commit this week?"
Angel: "Only the one. I think Damon & I should go. I'll morph into my vampire face, & of course, they'll think Damon is wearing a mask as well on the surveillance tapes."
Cordelia: "So, no cutting the power this time. What about alarms?"
Angel: "We'll do it fast, quickly in, drag it out. We'll go through the tunnels, say 1 AM?"
Damon: "Well, I'll check my schedule. Oh, yeah, 1 AM is open."
At close to 1 AM, Damon & Angel traveled the sewers & climbed into the museum. The two, with their extra human quickness & strength, quickly grabbed the rather large piece of the seal & hopped into the sewers. The two ran until they got to the agency, & then dragged the artifact up the stairs into Angel's bedroom.
Cordelia: "Oh, thank god, it's all over the news. & Kate's on TV saying that the perpetrators still have to be inside because the cops got there 3 minutes after the silent alarm was triggered."
Angel: "Well, we're safe."
Cordelia: "If that's the word for it. So, what do we now? Break the thing?"
Damon: "No, no, breaking... that's no good. We should hide it. Hide it here."
Angel: "No, I agree with Cordelia. Where's Harry?"
Harry: "In the bathroom."
Angel: "I wanted Harry to tell me if there's anything ritual we can do to destroy this thing."
Oz: "At first I'd try good old fashioned throwing it on the ground."
Angel: "OK."
Angel took the piece & threw it to the ground, hard.
It didn't shatter.
Cordelia: "That was weird."
Angel: "I don't think it can be destroyed that way."
Harry (coming down the stairs): "No, it can't be done that way. In fact, not even by ritual. The only way to destroy this thing is to have all the pieces together."
Cordelia: "Well, that's gonna be kinda hard. I mean, we'd have to find the Cessara-people & not to mention bring about the very thing we're trying to prevent."
Angel: "There has to be another option. I'm going to go to The Oracles."
Oz: "The Oracles, but what do you have to bring them?"
Angel: "I grabbed this on our way out of the museum." Angel held up a gold detailed dagger. "It's from the Crusades."
Cordelia: "Stealing? Kate's gonna kick your ass if she finds out about this."
Harry: "What did you think they were doing there in the first place, Cordelia?"
Angel: "It's justified. I want some very detailed information, I need something with a high value to give them. It's the dagger that King Richard used to cut his hand, to call on the greatest of holy wars."
Cordelia: "OK, fine, we'll stay here & watch the thing. You go talk to the messengers of the other side."
