Unexpected Arrival
Chapter 7
Disclaimer: I do not own Buffy or any of its
characters, unless Joss Whedon takes pity on my poor soul and gives them to me.
Anyone who sues shall be paid in pocket lint and dirt. Actually better make
that dirt I’m running out of lint.
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AN: Thanks
for the reviews everyone. For all the Spuffy lovers YES it
will be a Spuffy EVENTUALLY. The joy of
a plot is I can make them do anything I darn well please and I’m going to make
the girl suffer first. (Insert evil laugh here).
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Chapter 7
Buffy woke the next morning and headed for the
shower. She felt awful her eyes wraw raw and swollen and she hadn’t
gotten much sleep. She glared at the door to the bedroom that held Spike
and Rebecca; she had spent most of the night straining to hear what was
happening in the offending room. She hadn’t heard a sound and didn’t know
whether to be pleased or worried about that.
She had just put her hand on the door knob when it
swung open. Rebecca almost collided with her as she walked out clad in a
towel. Rebecca smiled widely at her “Good morning Buffy.” Rebecca hummed
to herself as she walked back into the bedroom. Buffy could hear Spike as
he greeted her before the door once again closed.
Buffy glared at the closed door before she turned
to enter the bathroom. She spotted Dawn leaning nonchalantly leaning
against her own door. “Watcha doing?” she asked
innocently.
“Umm just going to have a shower” Buffy started to
move forward.
“So the love birds awake?” Dawn felt like she was
going to burst if she didn’t find out what was going on soon.
“Looks that way” grumbled Buffy as she closed the
bathroom door with a bang.
“Geez
grumpy much.” Dawn all but bounced to
the bedroom door knocking before poking her head round the door. Her eyes were
squeezed shut just in case she saw something she really shouldn’t see at her
age. Dawn had done that once when Buffy had been dead, the sight of a
drunk and very naked Spike had embarrassed her for weeks. “Hey guys you
decent”
She heard Spike give a low laugh “I don’t know
about decent Bit but you can look” Dawn opened her eyes to see Spike and
Rebecca already dressed.
“Everyone’s meeting downstairs” She smiled as
Spike wrapped his arms around Rebecca “Come down when you’re ready. I’ll
go warm you some blood.” Dawn thumped down the stairs to the kitchen
pleased that it was now the weekend and she wouldn’t miss any of the juicy
details.
Spike hugged Rebecca closer to him placing gentle
kisses alone her neck. He sighed deeply “We could just lock doo door and
stay here all day” he wasn’t looking forward to spending another day surrounded
by Scoobies.
Rebecca wriggled out of his grasp and pulled him
towards the door “Somehow I think they would send up a search party.”
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“Pancakes?”
“Yes please!” Dawn walked over to the fridge
grabbing a d bad bag from behind the four day old Chinese takeout. Weird
how she was more grossed out by the funky looking leftovers than the
blood. She filled Spikes mug, putting it into the microwave to warm.
Spike and Rebecca walked into the kitchen just as
the microwave finished. Dawn plunked his mug onto the counter before
grabbing a plate of pancakes and shovelling them into her mouth at an amazing
speed.
Spike stared at her “That is disgusting Nibblet.”
Dawn shrugged
“Coming from someone how drinks blood, that’s
saying something” Xander grimaced as he watched the teen continue to eat.
Giles moved to the dining table so he could drink
his morning tea in relative peace. The table was already strewn with
papers from this morning’s research.
“So what’s the what
G-man” Xander pulled up a chair at the table.
Giles sighed and looked at his watch ‘Yes a
full 30 seconds peace and quiet’ he turned to Xander “How many times must I
ask you not to call me that Xander?”
Xander merely shrugged “Not sure G-man, tell you
when we get there.”
Giles looked up as the others entered from the
kitchen “Perhaps we could move to the living room while we wait for Buffy to
join us.” He started to gather the papers from the table.
Xander and Dawn sprung up racing each other to get
the best spot, Spike and Rebecca followed at a more leisurely pace.
healthy snacks. She had a feeling they were going to need them. It
was going to be a long day.
Buffy came downstairs feeling better, she had had
a long talk with herself in the shower and decided that the only reason she was
so emotional yesterday was the shock of finding out who Rebecca was. It
was most definitely NOT because she was jealous of her relationship with Spike.
might need this”
Buffy smiled her thanks and took a seat, purposely
avoiding looking in Spikes direction “Ok so what’s the plan.”
Giles cleared his throat as he began “Those of us
who were up early this morning formed a list of issues that need to be
discussed” He looked at the papers in his hand “We decided that to avoid any
confusion we would ess ess each in turn until everyone is satisfied they have
grasped the situation fully.”
“Sounds like a plan” Buffy looked towards Giles.
“Yes, well” Giles looked at Rebecca as he spoke “
and Buffy.
communities” Dawn cleared her throat loudly “Dawn would also like Rebecca to
explain more fully about the retained personalities that she mentioned
yesterday.” Giles looked around at the gathered group “And then there is
the matter of Quentin Travers and the alleged tampering with the council
records.” He still had trouble believing that anything like that could be
accomplished. “I think this should be left to the end as it will no doubt
lead to other questions.”
Everyone nodded in agreement; Giles looked at
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reincarnation spells and I’ve found that they sometimes refer to the persons
‘essence’ and other times their ‘souls’. The way they are written makes
me think that they are referring to two different things. I’ve always
assumed they were the same.”
Xander interjected “They are. Aren’t they?”
Rebecca looked at
little about resurrection when I first met the Osisians.” She leant forward as
she started to impart her limited knowledge. “From what I remember the
Osisians believe that a being’s essence is made up of three parts; the mystical
or spiritual, the emotional and the logical.”
Rebecca paused looking around at her now rapt
audience “the mystical is what is commonly known as the soul, you could say it
is the moral centre for bei being. It helps them to distinguish right
from wrong on a base level.” She thought for a moment “There’ more to it than
just that but I can’t really remember it all.”
emotional would be like….their heart?” she looked at Rebecca for confirmation.
“Yes that’s right; the emotional aspect is what
motivates the being to act to fulfil a need. They feel hungry so they get
food, their angry so they lash out in violence.”
only had the heart part of their essence they would not be able to temper their
reactions. Everything would be extreme”
Rebecca nodded “And logic is the mind, the beings
ability to use reason. It’s the part of the essence that can overcome the
primal instincts of the heart.”
Silence filled the room as each of the Scoobies
processed this new piece of information.
Rebecca continued “The Osisians also believe that
these elements are also made up of three parts. Basically they are the past,
present and future.”
what had happened during the spell “I think I’ve understand. The past
would be those parts of a person’s…umm… beings essence that is passed down from
their ancestors.”
Rebecca nodded “That’s correct. The present
is part of the essence that wholly belongs to that being and the future is that
part of the essence that is passed along to future generations.”
can assume that when the spell went wrong the past part of Buffy returned to
Rebecca resurrecting her as well.”
“That sounds like the most plausible reason” Giles
had been making notes of his own. “Did the Osisians explain what they believed
happened upon the person’s death?”
“I didn’t understand most of it but it’s more to
do with birth then death.” Rebecca stood and began to pace trying to
recall what she had learnt. “When a being is conceived they receive a
part of each of their parents, which forms the past part of their
essence. It’s like the seed that starts the growth of the beings own
present essence. The two parts then merge and form the future part which
is passed along to their children.”
Dawn looked at Buffy tearfully “The monks made me
from Buffy, does that mean I’ve taken away part of her essence.”
“No Dawn. Please don’t think that.
It’s more like a copy is taken of the beings essence and used to start the
growth of the next.” Rebecca thought for a moment longer “The Osisians
also believed that when a being died that a copy of their essence would sit in
the spiritual ether until a compatible descendant was found, joining with their
essence and making it stronger.”
“I know I know” Xander had finally heard something
that he thought he understood “My Uncle Rory says that I’m just like my great
essence in me as well?”
“Yes that is most probably correct.”
on her notepad.
“Is that enough information for the moment
“Yes this helps me big time.”
“Good Good. Perhaps we
could take a short break and then
Spike jumped up “Right time for a smoke” he strode
out the back standing in a shaded spot while he lit up.
“You know those things will kill you.”
just outside the backdoor.
“Good thing I’m already dead then.”
A few days ago he had been depressed and dark; she had been worried that he
would do something extreme. Now his whole body seemed to thrum with pent
up energy she tilted her head to one side as she studied him ‘So this is
what a happy Spike looks like’ she thought.
Spike cocked an eyebrow “Watcha
lookin at Glinda”
“You” she walked over and laid her head on his
shoulder wrapping her arms around his waist. “It’s good to see you happy”
she placed a gentle kiss on his cheek before turning to go back inside “Told
you that you mattered”
Spike smiled in response before flicking his
cigarette into the yard and following her back inside.
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quietly, everyone else was already seated ready to begin again.
“Whenever your ready dead boy”
“Shouldn’t you be off buying doughnuts or
something about now whelp?” Spike smirk as Xander glowered back at him.
Giles looked up from his notes “Doughnuts? Are
there any jelly?” everyone snickered but quietened down when Giles gave them
all a stern look.
“
up at Rebecca and Spike “I’d like to know more about how the demon communities
worked.” She looked around at the others “I thought that if we knew what we
were looking for we may be able to find out if there are any still in existence
today. They could be helpful allies, especially if we have to go up against
the council.”
“Why do we need help from demons?” Xander looked
meaningfully at Spike
“Well duh Xander, ‘cause
they’re like wicked strong” Dawn rolled her eyes at him. “Wouldn’t you
rather have like an army for the next apocalypse, or would you rather let Buffy
die AGAIN?”
“Dawnie” Buffy was shocked at Dawn’s attitude
“She has got a point Buffy” Giles thought for a
moment “I’m sure that a peaceful demon community could be an invaluable source
of information and …umm…manpower.”
Rebecca interrupted “That is a good idea; however
we don’t even know if they still exist or if they’ve been hunted into
extinction. There is a spell that I could do however, to call forward an
emissary. I could try that?”
“Yes that is one idea; however I would like to
know more before we continue”
“Of course” Rebecca settled back leaning against
Spike’s chest “Most of the communities have some sort of masking spell placed
around them. This is so any humans that enter the community won’t notice
anything too out of the ordinary. Many of them also have a sanctuary
spell in place to prevent demon violence.”
“I thought they were peaceful” blurted out Xander
Rebecca looked at him in frustration “They
are! Other demons aren’t however.”
“Maybe we should look into getting one of those here”
Buffy looked around her home noting all the items that had been replaced or
repaired over the years.
“Usually there is a mix of demons and humans and
they usually like to be near power centres.”
“Why power centres?” asked Dawn
“It used to be so that they could help the Slayer
and the council keep them under control, have their own people on the inside so
to speak.” Rebecca looked at Spike before continuing “That was why there
was one close to
“Really?”
“Yes, most of the Professors and other staff of
the university were either demons or in the employ of the council.”
Rebecca hesitated before she continued “Do you remember David Stanton he was a
vampire.”
Spike stared at he open mouthed “
small chuckle “knew I admired him for a reason.” He turned to look at
“Everyone thought he was a bit odd, used to hate the sun, would skirt round any
stray sunbeams. His rooms were always dark as pitch. Just thought
he was nuts, makes sense now though.” He sat back happily
“Good grief! A vampire at
were off being cleaned furiously again “Well that’s just…I mean how….Oxford
your say? Good grief”
“So if you failed your mid term you got
what? Eaten?” Rebecca laughed at Dawn’s reaction.
“No Dawn they did not get eaten. Well …some
of them might have.”
Dawn gasped “I’m joking Dawn, really.” Rebecca
reassured her “David Stanton is one of those demons I told you about.
Soulless but made a choice to be good.”
The gang waited for Rebecca to continue, Spike
stretched his arms out along the back of the sofa, a satisfied smirk on his
face ‘This was going to be interesting’
“David Stanton was employed by the council; he was
married to a Tenlasia demon and they lived in the
community near the university. He was attacked and turned one night on
his way home. Rachel came to us distraught” she looked at the vacant
expressions on the Scoobies “Rachel was his wife, anyway she had sent out a
search party and they had found his body.”
“But how did they control his initial bloodlust”
inquired Giles
“In cases like this the person would be magically
restrained. The whole community would take turns watching over
them. Each household would bring an animal to be offered for blood.
When the victim awoke their family, friends and neighbours would all be there,
feeding them and speaking to them about their lives. There was absolutely
no violence. Often an Osisian would come and assist, they believed that
without the violent influence a sire would have over a fledgling the logic part
of the persons essence would learn to compensate for the loss of their soul.”
“It sounds like this would be a drawn out process”
Giles theorised.
“It was” Rebecca nodded “It could take months
before the fledgling would be permitted to move around unrestrained. But
it was found that if they could work through the initial bloodlust and
would reassert itself.”
Dawn started to get excited “That’s what happened
with Spike, the chip controlled his bloodlust long enough for him learn how to
control it himself.” She jumped up flinging herself into Spike’s lap and
wrapped her arms around his neck squeezing him happily “See I told you he had
changed”
“Thanks Bit” grinned
Spike pleased that he didn’t need to breathe.
“Yes well it seems that these peaceful demons
could be of assistance to us” Giles once again looked at Rebecca “You said that
you could try to contact them, perhaps we could do that now.”
“I can try” Rebecca stood speaking to
thinking about what they had learnt.
The girls soon returned with a small glass bowl
filled with water and placed it onto the floor. They placed a few other
items around it;
sure about this” she looked at
this isn’t magic for your own gain. It’ll be fine”
The three of them sat round the bowl and began the
spell.
fall into the water.
*Ego
Advoco Ad Quos Quisnam
her fingers just touching the water.
powder into the bowl.
*Monstrare Tui
Verus Vultus Ad Quos Quisnam
Capto*
had. Rebecca then lifted her hand above the bowl and took a small knife,
cutting her palm; she let a few drops of blood fall onto the waters surface.
*Mittere
Rebecca placed her hand on the bowl then the three
of them spoke in unison.
*Invito
The water began to swirl in the bowl, turning a
brilliant gold before once again turning crystal clear.
“You called” said a clipped voice.
The gang turned to look at the figure standing in
the doorway.
“Anya” cried Xander as he recognised just who the
emissary was.
Anya gave him a quelling look “I’m not talking to
you Xander Harris” she turned away from him “OK people I don’t have all day,
places to be, vengeance to wreak.” She moved towards
dead?”