I'll Wait For You
Chapter 4 - Prep Work
Part 1
Aurelius returned to his father's dimension to retrieve Arianna's soul. Once there he learned that some of the demons that he freed from his father had come into power now that Ucton was no longer there. Because of their gratitude for their freedom, they had seen to it that the soul was kept safe and was no longer used as a source of wealth and prosperity for whomever happened to control it. For this Aurelius was eternally grateful. His spirit was allowed to remain with Arianna's soul until the two of them could be restored to life.
He had no way of knowing how long it would take for Angelus to complete his tasks, but Aurelius was content to wait with Arianna; it had been so long since they were together. He was confident that Angelus would be successful; however, he was not so sure that he had done enough for the slayer. A formidable task lay ahead of her, perhaps there was more that she needed from him, more that he could do for the mate of one of his descendants.
He approached Plicor, who now ruled instead of Ucton, and explained the situation to him. He needed to make sure that the Turok-Han and Bringers that supported the First Evil were destroyed. Plicor called Tebak, his army chief, and told him what needed to be done. Tebak was happy to help the one that had given them their freedom. Aurelius gave Tebak the words to a spell designed specifically for the First's army and instructed him on how to find the slayer.
Part 2
Buffy returned to Sunnydale distraught over the loss of Angel's soul and over Angelus' unexplained disappearance. She explained to Giles what had happened with her Father's attorney; it seemed that she was now quite a wealthy woman. She also told him what she knew about Angel's disappearance and asked that he not tell any of the others, not even Willow and Xander. She didn't want anyone to be concerned that her concentration was more on finding Angel than on the task at hand, defeating the First Evil.
In her heart Buffy knew that Angelus was alive, undead, and he was not in pain. She would know otherwise.
It had taken nearly a week of intense concentration and meditation, but Willow was certain that she was ready to perform the special spell, modified as Buffy requested. They were all gathered downstairs in the living-room and dining-room of the Summers house. Buffy's plan was to grant temporary power to everyone in the house, including the potential slayers, the Scoobies, Giles, Anya, Dawn, and Andrew.
"Before we proceed with this plan, I want you to know that this is temporary. We cannot leave all of you with slayer power."
As expected, there was much mumbling and grumbling from the more outspoken potential slayers. Once they had been given the power, they were not willing to give it up.
"Think about it," Buffy cautioned them. "The First Evil is in this dimension because I was brought back, causing two experienced slayers to again exist at the same time. Imagine what kind of evil you will have to face with twenty slayers on earth. After we defeat the First Evil's army, we need to bring things back to the way they are now, before some other evil crawls out of the woodwork."
The girls now understood the reasoning behind the decision; they didn't like it, but they did understand and accept it.
Part 3
Aurelius again appeared to Buffy while she slept. "We've got to stop meeting like this," she teased.
Misunderstanding her, Aurelius apologized and started to explain the reason for his return visit.
"Aurelius, that was a joke."
"Ah, humor. I confess I do not understand current speech. Perhaps at a later date, we can speak more leisurely and you can explain American humor to me. For now, I am here to tell you that I am sending someone who will help you in your fight against the First Evil. His appearance may be somewhat out of the ordinary, but please allow him to perform his task and let him leave."
Aurelius allowed Buffy to see Tebak.
"He is truly scary looking."
"Yes, but I assure you he is on your side and he holds the key to your success in the upcoming battle. Until we meet again, Slayer."
At that Aurelius bowed and disappeared.
The next morning Buffy once again told Giles of her visit from Aurelius and described Tebak to him. He recognized the demon from her description and left the room to get one of his many volumes that he had at Buffy's house. Returning to the room, he showed her the tome and asked, "Is this the demon that you saw?"
"Yes. That's him exactly."
"He is from the underworld; not from hell exactly, but close. He is usually responsible for maintaining order in his realm."
"If he is one of the good guys in his realm, I'd hate to see what the bad guys look like."
Part 4
Willow's spell was successful; all residents in the Summers' house had increased strength and endurance. The problem was, it made everyone extremely antsy; they couldn't wait to start the battle with the First Evil. Buffy and Giles wanted everyone, especially the new slayers, to test out their new strengths, especially in hand-to-hand combat. Buffy started taking the new slayers with her two at a time when she went to patrol. She soon learned that that was a big mistake. The girls were over-confident and much too aggressive. After only three trips out, she had had to intervene on multiple occasions to prevent the girls from getting seriously injured.
"What is wrong with you?" she demanded of one of the girls as they entered the house. "You'd be dead if I hadn't been with you."
"I was so sure I was ready for this. I saw three vamps coming at us and I expected them to run the other way rather than face three slayers. When they didn't, I panicked."
Buffy placed a reassuring hand on the girl's shoulder. "Okay, you weren't ready. We have about a week to get ready. Here's what we're going to do." She called Giles and Spike forward; they were closing up the Summers' house and moving to Angel's mansion. The keys that she took from Angel's room would come in handy after all.
They divided everyone into three teams. Team one consisted of the younger, less trained slayers and headed by Giles; team two consisted of the Scoobies and the moderately trained slayers headed by Spike; team three consisted of the more advanced and more aggressive slayers headed by Buffy.
They loaded as many as possible into the available cars - Joyce's jeep, Giles' car and Spike's car, and headed to Angel's mansion. They had to make four trips to get everyone, their personal belongings and the available food to their destination. The great hall, the ball room and the dining room were cleared and each team was assigned a room. They would have five days to get battle-ready, one day to compete with each other and one day to rest. After that they were going into battle.
Unknown to the trainees, Spike had enlisted a few of his gambling buddies who were still in Sunnydale to play 'bad guys' on Saturday. That turned out to be just what was needed. At the end of the day everyone was so psyched, they wanted to go into battle right then, everyone that is, except the 'bad guys', who were in so much pain, they were wishing they had never agreed to help Spike.
End of Chapter 4
