Fic: The First 4/?
Series: The Prophecy of 6
Author: DarkChilde
Email: princess220@alltel.net
Rating: Overall for series is an R. This first part is no more than PG-13
though
Summary: A prophecy takes the Scoobies to New York City where another
prophecy will change their lives forever.
Disclaimer: I do not own the Buffy the Vampire Slayer characters. Joss and
others own it all. No profit is made. I do own several original characters
in this story. They are from my, as yet unpublished, trilogy, Eternal.
Spoiler Warnings: Anything through the season 6 episode, Once More With
Feeling, is fair game. I don't think I have any blatant spoilers, but you
never know what might pop up. This is actually set in what would be season
8.
Distribution: List archives can have it. If anyone else wants it just let me
know. I haven't turned anyone down yet.
Feedback: Yes please. I live for it.
Author's Notes: Okay first of all I have to thank my faithful beta Heather.
Not that she'll ever see that, but oh well. Next, there are some things that
you should probably know about this story. If this works out it will be the
first part in a 6 part series. It's a cross-over with a trilogy of novels
that I have written, but haven't found a publisher for yet. Given that no
one on these lists is likely to have read them, I have tried to make
everything very clear, but here are some basics. Alexei, a 300+ vampire
controls the city of New York. He also has a human consort, Katharine. The
vampires here are quite similar to Buffy vampires, but with a whole
different culture. If anyone wants to know more about the novels, I'm always
happy to talk about them. Spike knows Alexei, because he was master in New
York when Spike and Drusilla were there in the 70's. Everything else should
be explained in the fic.
"Ah yes, the prophecy. I know of the Prophecy of Six. I believe I may be of
some assistance to you in this. Sit, friends and we will discuss such
matters."
While everyone did as he asked, it was clear that they were not going to be
passive and pliable for this conversation. "And I am sure that we can use
any help that we can get, but first there are a few matters we must
discuss." Spike spoke firmly. "We need to set down some terms for our visit
here. Also you need to understand our power structure."
"Certainly, I see the need for terms, unfortunately, I don't feel prepared
to offer terms until we have spoken about the prophecy. As for understanding
your power structure, I am ready and willing to hear that explanation. I
expect it to be a rather confusing one, considering the rather unique
composition of your group." There was a touch of amusement to Alexei's voice
as he answered.
"I suppose we can set aside the terms for a short while, but they must be
set before we leave this place tonight. These people are my family, my
people. I protect them as any master would his pack, but they are much more
than that. They are my friends, my life. I claim them as my own, yet I do
not own them. I do not do the decision making for this group, neither does
any other individual. We decide things as a group. It's a strange thing for
me, so I'm certain that it is even more so for you, but it is who we are."
Spike had dropped his lower class accent and sneering manner for this
speech. In life, he had been educated as a gentleman and he still held that
capacity with language, he simply chose to reject it at most times. Now he
needed Alexei to understand the sincerity of his words.
Alexei was silent for a moment. William had lived in New York City for more
than a year, and had been brought before Alexei more times than either of
them would have liked. He had heard him under many different circumstances.
He had even heard Spike's impassioned pleading for a cure for his love, and
yet he had never heard this voice. Never once had the creature that called
himself Spike allowed his shields, defenses, and layers of deception to drop
enough that he could see through to the man behind, see through to William.
When he finally responded to him, it was in a soft voice that dropped many
of his own layers of protection. "You are right. This kind of arrangement is
difficult for one as myself to understand. In life, my world was ruled over
absolutely by my sovereign, my lord, my friend. As a vampire my only
experience is with masters who rule absolutely over their province. I may
never full comprehend your way, but I do respect it. This will not be a
problem between us. Now I must share something with you that you may find
difficult to understand or believe. I know that all of you are experienced
with a certain kind of vampire, and some of you have heard or even seen
things about my kind. Certainly, none of you know much about us, and
normally I would maintain that secrecy, but I believe in this case you must
understand."
"Alexei, you can't." Nicholas broke in, fear and anger in his voice. "The
Elders would not forgive this."
"Nicholas, I both can and I will. The elders can not afford to lose my
support with the others. They can not afford for me to join Giovanni and his
people. Even if they were to hear of this, they would turn aside. This is my
land, I make the decisions here." Alexei's response was sharp.
"Alexei, I know that you make the decisions, but I also know that you value
the opinions of those of us close to you. I must recommend against this. Our
secrets have been sacred for longer than you have existed. It is one thing
to tell one woman, to tell this group which includes a slayer of our kind
and members of the council is pure folly." Marie spoke in a much more
subdued manner than Nicholas had, but her message was essentially the same.
Alexei softened a bit, recognizing her genuine concern. "Marie, I do value
your opinion, but our secrets will be safe with these, of that I am certain.
Slayers have never been a serious problem for us, nor do I expect them to
be. These men may have been Watchers once, but no longer. Their very
acceptance into a family group with two vampires proves their ability to see
truth rather than just the stories they have been told. In this, I believe
we can trust them."
"As you wish, my lord." Marie replied, offering no further argument.
Nicholas looked unhappy but did not speak.
Alexei turned back to Spike and the others. "I apologize for that display.
There are things that you must know in order to trust me. Please recognize
that my telling of these things is a gesture of trust on my part. My people
have survived for the millennia that we have in large part by remaining
hidden, not only from the common people, but from those such as yourself,
from slayers, and most especially from the Council of Watchers. It is our
law that this story shall not pass to human ears that we do not plan on
making one of us. I have broken that law once before. My love, Katharine
will never be a vampire. She does not wish it, and I would not force it upon
her. For love I told her this story. For trust I tell you." Alexei paused
here hoping for some kind of reassuring response from the others it came
from Wesley.
"One of my areas of scholarship with the council was on the ancients. That
is what we call your kind, as most of the oldest vampires we are aware of
seem to be of your kind. There was little information to be known, but there
were a few things that I believe are relevant. The incredible secrecy of
your kind was well noted. Your reluctance to break from tradition was also
prominent. So, I do believe you when you tell us that this is a tremendous
act of trust. You are right, I am no longer a part of the council either by
employment or by inclination. I no longer believe in the black and white
world that the Council tells us exists. I do however believe that they do a
tremendous amount of good in the world. I can not promise you that your
words will not make it back to them. What I can promise is that I would only
betray your trust if I believed it to be necessary for the good of all. I
would tell them, only if I believed that doing so would bring about a safer
world."
The answer was honest. Alexei believed that merely from the tone it was
given in. He glanced at Marie who nodded almost imperceptibly to confirm
this. He then turned towards the other Watcher in the group. "And you Mr.
Giles?"
Giles answer was swift and sure. "I have had very little contact with the
Council in recent years, and have only initiated that contact once. I no
longer believe in their ideals, I'm not certain I ever did. I can not make
promises about what I have not heard, but unless you are about to tell me
that you and yours have secretly set up great slaughterhouses where you
murder innocents on a daily basis, I sincerely doubt that you have any cause
to worry that your trust will be broken." His disdain for the organization
that had trained him and shaped him from his youth was clear.
Alexei received the same small nod from Marie indicating that this man too,
told the truth. "Good. This is an ancient story as you may have guessed. My
kind have many legends about our origins. I do not know which is true, nor
does my master who is the oldest vampire I have ever encountered.
Regardless, our origins are rather irrelevant. What is important is that in
the early days of humanity there was only one kind of vampire. All vampires
were as I am. We are stronger than the vampires that you have learned about,
not so much physically, though we are stronger and faster, but we have power
that is kept from them. Our powers are many and varied. I have the ability
to influence individuals with the sound of my voice, I can manipulate my
environment, the temperature and appearance of the things around me.
Nicholas can call the darkness to him, he can cloak himself in it, even
during the day. He can walk among mortals in this manner. He can send
emotion with his voice. Others can shapeshift or call animals to themselves.
Virtually any power that you have ever read in fiction as belonging to
vampires belongs to one or more of us. By the time humanity was building
cities and developing government we were already forming the structure that
still exists today. A ruling body was established. It has had many names but
is now called the Council of Elders. It has always been made up of the 9
oldest living vampires, regardless of power. The idea is that much wisdom
must be gained in order to survive the lengths of time that the Elders have.
Their rule was to be followed without question. Their first act was to
organize vampire society. Many of the rituals of greeting that my kind
practice are from these early decisions made by the council. The established
the strongest vampires as masters over a domain. A master's rule was
absolute. This system and the supremacy of the elders lasted for centuries,
even millennia. A relatively short time ago, maybe 2000 years, a group broke
away from us. Our way had always told us that we were not superior to the
humans, we co-exist with them. They are our primary source of food, and as
such many of us choose to kill to survive, but we are not superior to them.
In many ways we were a part of the human world. They new of our existence,
our masters were frequently close advisers to the human rulers of an area.
We were often prominent merchants. This small group of rebels wished to
change that. They saw themselves as superior to the humans. For nearly a
century a bloody war raged between the two groups and many humans were
slaughtered both by the rebels and simply caught in the crossfire. The
humans began to fight back, a small group of us assisted them. We formed the
Council of Watchers and through magic and ritual helped them to find the
slayer. Slayers have existed since the beginning of time, their purpose was
to be a force of balance in the world. In particular they were to stop the
powers of chaos from gaining dominion. We strangely enough helped them to
become what they are today. We taught the Watchers how to locate and train
their girls to fight and kill more and more effectively. It did not take
long for millions of us to die in this battlefield. Eventually the Elders
decided that the rebels would be outcast forever. They would not be allowed
entrance to our society, they would remain outside of it. Unfortunately, we
were already losing what could be called the PR battle with the humans. Too
many of them were dying at the hands of vampires. The only way that the
Elders could save us from this righteous indignation was to begin to hide.
The laws that keep our ways hidden from the outside world were created then.
We may not tell those who we do not plan on turning of our existence. We
must hide our kills. In short we should be invisible to the world around us.
The leadership also made great efforts to erase every human record of our
existence, those among us that could effect memory removed the memory of us
from our few remaining allies minds. Our enemies were left with only the
knowledge of the outcast, not of us. I can not explain why it happened,
though there are those among us who have theories, but over the next several
centuries the outcast became weaker and weaker until they were as they are
today. William, Angelus you may be interested to hear the name of the
vampire that led the outcast. His name was Aurelius. You are his direct
descendants and for that reason you are among the most powerful of your
kind. I am in no way trying to make my kind into some noble creature. We are
not, we are in many ways, very human. There are those among us who are
simply evil, there are also those who are a great deal more righteous than
I, but one of the things that we retained that the outcast did not was our
ability to rule our thirst. We choose to be who we are they, for the most
part do not. The two of you have met unique circumstances that have restored
your control to you, but few of your kind have that. It is because we choose
that you can trust me and mine. We choose not to kill you. Most of us choose
not to kill at all." When he quit speaking the silence fell heavy on the
room. It was a lot of information to digest all at once.
Finally, Giles broke the silence. "You have said that the Elders hold
absolute control, and yet you spoke with your people of how they needed your
support. I may be overstepping my bounds to ask, but what does an absolute
ruling body need with your support."
Alexei sighed, but answered the question. "The outcast are not the only
group to have challenged the Elders. Very recently a group of young
vampires, their leadership is mostly from the Italian renaissance, has been
trying to break with the elders. Their public voice is Giovanni, it is
rumored that he is the bastard son of Lorenzo De Medici. He calls his people
the Children of Reason. They believe that the time has come to retake our
place at humanities side. He believes that modern science will protect us,
that we will no longer be seen merely as monsters. He advocates revealing
ourselves to humanity. He also wishes to do away with the old system of
masters answering to the elders and establish an elected body to rule over
us democratically. He is an idealist, and while I find beauty in his ideals
I do not believe that the world is ready to hear them. Unfortunately for the
Elders, he and his followers are among the most powerful vampires in
existence. They control several major cities including, Paris, London, and
Boston. They would very much like to include me as a supporter of theirs. I
have thus far remained my neutrality. Giovanni is welcome in my city he has
free passage, but neither do I choose to break from the Elders. If I were to
leave there are many who would follow. This incarnation of the Elders is
comprised largely of relatively weak vampires for all their years, and the
few with great power feel much as I do, or so go the rumors."
Giles nodded. Angel spoke, "I think we can understand that, and for the
record I believe you are right. Perhaps one day people will be able to
accept our existence, but for now they are not ready. There are too many
people like the Council in the world who see things only in terms of good
and evil, black and white, and miss all of the subtleties in between."
"I understand your reason for telling us this, and recognize it for the
great act of trust that it is. Forgive me if I do not return that trust just
yet. I assume that you tell us this to emphasize your status as something
less than evil." Giles voiced his own doubt.
"Certainly that is why I tell you. I want you to believe me when I tell you
I wish to help. I do. I have studied the Prophecy of Six for most of my
lifetime now. The evil that is to come could destroy everything, not just
your world, but mine as well. If preventing that means allying myself with
the Slayer then I am happy and even honored to do so. I believe that I have
books in this library that you do not have any access to. I also have access
to books in my Master's possession. I believe that with my help you and
yours stand a much better chance of defeating the six evils, and finding
those that are prophesied to fight this fight." Alexei answered easily. He
had won, enough of their trust that they would work with him, he was certain
of that.
"Whoa, you mean that there is a prophecy about who's going to defeat this
thing. Why didn't we know about that part Giles." Buffy interjected.
"Probably because we are dealing with commentaries and translations that are
several thousand years removed from the original prophecies, and we have
fragments at best. I'm very curious to hear what you have found." Giles
academic nature had won out over any mistrust he still felt.
"You're going to give us access to these prophecies?" Spike questioned his
accent and demeanor fully back in place.
Alexei smiled smoothly as he answered, "Ahh my dear, William. I think it is
time that we discussed those terms that you were so eager to set. I propose
to grant you free access to my library and the expertise of both myself and
my close advisers in this room. What I ask of you is merely that you share
any information or insights that you find with me and that you report in to
me every day that you are in the city."
"That's all?" Xander spoke for the first time since they had begun their
business. "You want us to tell you what we know?" It was obvious that he
still had his doubts about the sincerity of Alexei.
"That is all I ask. I want to see this thing destroyed as much as you. At
this point maybe more because I understand more fully what it is and what it
could do if unleashed on the world. Are we agreed?" Alexei tried to sound
reassuring as he spoke.
"If you'll give us just a moment." Spike addressed Alexei, "We need to
discuss this."
Of course. We will attend to some other business while you talk. We will
return in ten minutes." Alexei rose even as he was speaking. His companions
stood and followed him out the door.
"So how do we know we can trust them." Buffy was still wary.
"I guess we really don't, not anymore than they know they can trust us."
Willow answered her.
"I don't really think we have a lot of choice in the matter. If he's telling
us the truth about having access to a great deal more knowledge about the
prophecies than we have, then we need that knowledge." Giles wasn't quite
sure that he trusted them himself, but their knowledge could be invaluable.
"That being said, I think we should consider the fact that Alexei knows that
too. If he were really trying to manipulate us somehow, he could have
demanded much more and been reasonably certain that we would accept his
conditions. It might not be a reason to trust him, but it is a reason to
believe that he is being honest about this one thing." Angel rationalized.
"Okay so are we going to agree?" Spike asked.
"I think so." Giles answered him.
"Like Angel said, if he was trying to cheat us he could have done so much
more. We don't have a lot of options here." Cordelia chimed in.
The conversation considered in this vein until Alexei returned. "My friends,
I hope you have reached some decision." He addressed them.
"We agree to your terms. Now I think we'd like at least a little of the
information that you promised us." Spike answered for the group.
"I can give you a brief overview of the knowledge, but I imagine that your
scholars would like the opportunity to review the materials for themselves."
Wesley nodded and Giles spoke. "We would."
"Well then, I will let you know the basics. I have gained access to
literally thousands of versions of the prophecies. The oldest and most
complete version that I have found was taken from a very old vampire that I
killed last year. He found it in Wales centuries before I was turned.
Basically what this version of the prophecy set down was a series of six
evils, "And the evil shall arrive as Fire and Ice, Drowning floods and
crippling plague, Eternal day and darkest night." Some of the other versions
and some of the commentaries offer a bit more description of what these
might be. It also tells of six warriors who will defeat these evils. "For
six shall defeat the six which destroy. Three creatures of light and faith
and three knowing only night, bound in pairs most unlikely shall begin to
fight." There is more, some description of the pairs involved, but it's all
rather vague. Most of the scholars agree that the six will be three humans
bonded to three vampires but beyond that there is little that we have
determined for sure." Alexei gave this short version of what he knew.
"Fascinating, I've only heard of a relative few bondings between humans and
vampires and of course two of those are in this room. Have you considered
that?" Wesley was curious as to whether one or both of the bonded pairs here
were implicated by the prophecy.
"We have of course considered it. I don't believe that Katharine and myself
are one of the pairs spoken of by the prophecy, mostly because only the
defiance of a related prophecy allows us to be together. It would not be
unheard of that one prophecy cancelled out another, but I don't believe that
to be the case. There are other reasons, but that is the major one. Timothy
and Nicholas steadfastly refuse to believe that they may be involved with
the prophecy but I have yet to find any reason to exclude them. With your
permission, I would like to call in an expert on several of the languages
that my books are in. He is human, and has worked for me for more than about
a decade now. While he has a somewhat more flexible sense of morality than
most humans, he has always dealt honorably with me." Alexei had been waiting
for an opportunity to bring in this friend. "He has not yet been given the
opportunity to examine these works, but I believe he could be of some help."
After some brief discussion it was agreed that the help would be welcomed.
They had now talked most of the night. They needed to return to their hotel
before dawn came. The humans would return in the early afternoon after
grabbing a few precious hours of sleep. The vampires would join them as soon
as the sun had set.
"Goodnight my friends. I understand your reluctance to accept my further
hospitality, but if you should wish to leave your tiny rooms at any point in
this journey simply let me know. I will arrange for you to have much nicer
accommodations." Alexei's voice had become the voice of the gracious host
yet again.
"Thank you, but I believe we will be perfectly happy where we are. Not that
we don't trust you, but lets just say it is perhaps better not to test that
trust." Giles answered him.
Alexei laughed. "I see why you and yours have survived as long as you have.
It will be a pleasure to see you tomorrow." With that he took his leave,
followed by his companions.
Series: The Prophecy of 6
Author: DarkChilde
Email: princess220@alltel.net
Rating: Overall for series is an R. This first part is no more than PG-13
though
Summary: A prophecy takes the Scoobies to New York City where another
prophecy will change their lives forever.
Disclaimer: I do not own the Buffy the Vampire Slayer characters. Joss and
others own it all. No profit is made. I do own several original characters
in this story. They are from my, as yet unpublished, trilogy, Eternal.
Spoiler Warnings: Anything through the season 6 episode, Once More With
Feeling, is fair game. I don't think I have any blatant spoilers, but you
never know what might pop up. This is actually set in what would be season
8.
Distribution: List archives can have it. If anyone else wants it just let me
know. I haven't turned anyone down yet.
Feedback: Yes please. I live for it.
Author's Notes: Okay first of all I have to thank my faithful beta Heather.
Not that she'll ever see that, but oh well. Next, there are some things that
you should probably know about this story. If this works out it will be the
first part in a 6 part series. It's a cross-over with a trilogy of novels
that I have written, but haven't found a publisher for yet. Given that no
one on these lists is likely to have read them, I have tried to make
everything very clear, but here are some basics. Alexei, a 300+ vampire
controls the city of New York. He also has a human consort, Katharine. The
vampires here are quite similar to Buffy vampires, but with a whole
different culture. If anyone wants to know more about the novels, I'm always
happy to talk about them. Spike knows Alexei, because he was master in New
York when Spike and Drusilla were there in the 70's. Everything else should
be explained in the fic.
"Ah yes, the prophecy. I know of the Prophecy of Six. I believe I may be of
some assistance to you in this. Sit, friends and we will discuss such
matters."
While everyone did as he asked, it was clear that they were not going to be
passive and pliable for this conversation. "And I am sure that we can use
any help that we can get, but first there are a few matters we must
discuss." Spike spoke firmly. "We need to set down some terms for our visit
here. Also you need to understand our power structure."
"Certainly, I see the need for terms, unfortunately, I don't feel prepared
to offer terms until we have spoken about the prophecy. As for understanding
your power structure, I am ready and willing to hear that explanation. I
expect it to be a rather confusing one, considering the rather unique
composition of your group." There was a touch of amusement to Alexei's voice
as he answered.
"I suppose we can set aside the terms for a short while, but they must be
set before we leave this place tonight. These people are my family, my
people. I protect them as any master would his pack, but they are much more
than that. They are my friends, my life. I claim them as my own, yet I do
not own them. I do not do the decision making for this group, neither does
any other individual. We decide things as a group. It's a strange thing for
me, so I'm certain that it is even more so for you, but it is who we are."
Spike had dropped his lower class accent and sneering manner for this
speech. In life, he had been educated as a gentleman and he still held that
capacity with language, he simply chose to reject it at most times. Now he
needed Alexei to understand the sincerity of his words.
Alexei was silent for a moment. William had lived in New York City for more
than a year, and had been brought before Alexei more times than either of
them would have liked. He had heard him under many different circumstances.
He had even heard Spike's impassioned pleading for a cure for his love, and
yet he had never heard this voice. Never once had the creature that called
himself Spike allowed his shields, defenses, and layers of deception to drop
enough that he could see through to the man behind, see through to William.
When he finally responded to him, it was in a soft voice that dropped many
of his own layers of protection. "You are right. This kind of arrangement is
difficult for one as myself to understand. In life, my world was ruled over
absolutely by my sovereign, my lord, my friend. As a vampire my only
experience is with masters who rule absolutely over their province. I may
never full comprehend your way, but I do respect it. This will not be a
problem between us. Now I must share something with you that you may find
difficult to understand or believe. I know that all of you are experienced
with a certain kind of vampire, and some of you have heard or even seen
things about my kind. Certainly, none of you know much about us, and
normally I would maintain that secrecy, but I believe in this case you must
understand."
"Alexei, you can't." Nicholas broke in, fear and anger in his voice. "The
Elders would not forgive this."
"Nicholas, I both can and I will. The elders can not afford to lose my
support with the others. They can not afford for me to join Giovanni and his
people. Even if they were to hear of this, they would turn aside. This is my
land, I make the decisions here." Alexei's response was sharp.
"Alexei, I know that you make the decisions, but I also know that you value
the opinions of those of us close to you. I must recommend against this. Our
secrets have been sacred for longer than you have existed. It is one thing
to tell one woman, to tell this group which includes a slayer of our kind
and members of the council is pure folly." Marie spoke in a much more
subdued manner than Nicholas had, but her message was essentially the same.
Alexei softened a bit, recognizing her genuine concern. "Marie, I do value
your opinion, but our secrets will be safe with these, of that I am certain.
Slayers have never been a serious problem for us, nor do I expect them to
be. These men may have been Watchers once, but no longer. Their very
acceptance into a family group with two vampires proves their ability to see
truth rather than just the stories they have been told. In this, I believe
we can trust them."
"As you wish, my lord." Marie replied, offering no further argument.
Nicholas looked unhappy but did not speak.
Alexei turned back to Spike and the others. "I apologize for that display.
There are things that you must know in order to trust me. Please recognize
that my telling of these things is a gesture of trust on my part. My people
have survived for the millennia that we have in large part by remaining
hidden, not only from the common people, but from those such as yourself,
from slayers, and most especially from the Council of Watchers. It is our
law that this story shall not pass to human ears that we do not plan on
making one of us. I have broken that law once before. My love, Katharine
will never be a vampire. She does not wish it, and I would not force it upon
her. For love I told her this story. For trust I tell you." Alexei paused
here hoping for some kind of reassuring response from the others it came
from Wesley.
"One of my areas of scholarship with the council was on the ancients. That
is what we call your kind, as most of the oldest vampires we are aware of
seem to be of your kind. There was little information to be known, but there
were a few things that I believe are relevant. The incredible secrecy of
your kind was well noted. Your reluctance to break from tradition was also
prominent. So, I do believe you when you tell us that this is a tremendous
act of trust. You are right, I am no longer a part of the council either by
employment or by inclination. I no longer believe in the black and white
world that the Council tells us exists. I do however believe that they do a
tremendous amount of good in the world. I can not promise you that your
words will not make it back to them. What I can promise is that I would only
betray your trust if I believed it to be necessary for the good of all. I
would tell them, only if I believed that doing so would bring about a safer
world."
The answer was honest. Alexei believed that merely from the tone it was
given in. He glanced at Marie who nodded almost imperceptibly to confirm
this. He then turned towards the other Watcher in the group. "And you Mr.
Giles?"
Giles answer was swift and sure. "I have had very little contact with the
Council in recent years, and have only initiated that contact once. I no
longer believe in their ideals, I'm not certain I ever did. I can not make
promises about what I have not heard, but unless you are about to tell me
that you and yours have secretly set up great slaughterhouses where you
murder innocents on a daily basis, I sincerely doubt that you have any cause
to worry that your trust will be broken." His disdain for the organization
that had trained him and shaped him from his youth was clear.
Alexei received the same small nod from Marie indicating that this man too,
told the truth. "Good. This is an ancient story as you may have guessed. My
kind have many legends about our origins. I do not know which is true, nor
does my master who is the oldest vampire I have ever encountered.
Regardless, our origins are rather irrelevant. What is important is that in
the early days of humanity there was only one kind of vampire. All vampires
were as I am. We are stronger than the vampires that you have learned about,
not so much physically, though we are stronger and faster, but we have power
that is kept from them. Our powers are many and varied. I have the ability
to influence individuals with the sound of my voice, I can manipulate my
environment, the temperature and appearance of the things around me.
Nicholas can call the darkness to him, he can cloak himself in it, even
during the day. He can walk among mortals in this manner. He can send
emotion with his voice. Others can shapeshift or call animals to themselves.
Virtually any power that you have ever read in fiction as belonging to
vampires belongs to one or more of us. By the time humanity was building
cities and developing government we were already forming the structure that
still exists today. A ruling body was established. It has had many names but
is now called the Council of Elders. It has always been made up of the 9
oldest living vampires, regardless of power. The idea is that much wisdom
must be gained in order to survive the lengths of time that the Elders have.
Their rule was to be followed without question. Their first act was to
organize vampire society. Many of the rituals of greeting that my kind
practice are from these early decisions made by the council. The established
the strongest vampires as masters over a domain. A master's rule was
absolute. This system and the supremacy of the elders lasted for centuries,
even millennia. A relatively short time ago, maybe 2000 years, a group broke
away from us. Our way had always told us that we were not superior to the
humans, we co-exist with them. They are our primary source of food, and as
such many of us choose to kill to survive, but we are not superior to them.
In many ways we were a part of the human world. They new of our existence,
our masters were frequently close advisers to the human rulers of an area.
We were often prominent merchants. This small group of rebels wished to
change that. They saw themselves as superior to the humans. For nearly a
century a bloody war raged between the two groups and many humans were
slaughtered both by the rebels and simply caught in the crossfire. The
humans began to fight back, a small group of us assisted them. We formed the
Council of Watchers and through magic and ritual helped them to find the
slayer. Slayers have existed since the beginning of time, their purpose was
to be a force of balance in the world. In particular they were to stop the
powers of chaos from gaining dominion. We strangely enough helped them to
become what they are today. We taught the Watchers how to locate and train
their girls to fight and kill more and more effectively. It did not take
long for millions of us to die in this battlefield. Eventually the Elders
decided that the rebels would be outcast forever. They would not be allowed
entrance to our society, they would remain outside of it. Unfortunately, we
were already losing what could be called the PR battle with the humans. Too
many of them were dying at the hands of vampires. The only way that the
Elders could save us from this righteous indignation was to begin to hide.
The laws that keep our ways hidden from the outside world were created then.
We may not tell those who we do not plan on turning of our existence. We
must hide our kills. In short we should be invisible to the world around us.
The leadership also made great efforts to erase every human record of our
existence, those among us that could effect memory removed the memory of us
from our few remaining allies minds. Our enemies were left with only the
knowledge of the outcast, not of us. I can not explain why it happened,
though there are those among us who have theories, but over the next several
centuries the outcast became weaker and weaker until they were as they are
today. William, Angelus you may be interested to hear the name of the
vampire that led the outcast. His name was Aurelius. You are his direct
descendants and for that reason you are among the most powerful of your
kind. I am in no way trying to make my kind into some noble creature. We are
not, we are in many ways, very human. There are those among us who are
simply evil, there are also those who are a great deal more righteous than
I, but one of the things that we retained that the outcast did not was our
ability to rule our thirst. We choose to be who we are they, for the most
part do not. The two of you have met unique circumstances that have restored
your control to you, but few of your kind have that. It is because we choose
that you can trust me and mine. We choose not to kill you. Most of us choose
not to kill at all." When he quit speaking the silence fell heavy on the
room. It was a lot of information to digest all at once.
Finally, Giles broke the silence. "You have said that the Elders hold
absolute control, and yet you spoke with your people of how they needed your
support. I may be overstepping my bounds to ask, but what does an absolute
ruling body need with your support."
Alexei sighed, but answered the question. "The outcast are not the only
group to have challenged the Elders. Very recently a group of young
vampires, their leadership is mostly from the Italian renaissance, has been
trying to break with the elders. Their public voice is Giovanni, it is
rumored that he is the bastard son of Lorenzo De Medici. He calls his people
the Children of Reason. They believe that the time has come to retake our
place at humanities side. He believes that modern science will protect us,
that we will no longer be seen merely as monsters. He advocates revealing
ourselves to humanity. He also wishes to do away with the old system of
masters answering to the elders and establish an elected body to rule over
us democratically. He is an idealist, and while I find beauty in his ideals
I do not believe that the world is ready to hear them. Unfortunately for the
Elders, he and his followers are among the most powerful vampires in
existence. They control several major cities including, Paris, London, and
Boston. They would very much like to include me as a supporter of theirs. I
have thus far remained my neutrality. Giovanni is welcome in my city he has
free passage, but neither do I choose to break from the Elders. If I were to
leave there are many who would follow. This incarnation of the Elders is
comprised largely of relatively weak vampires for all their years, and the
few with great power feel much as I do, or so go the rumors."
Giles nodded. Angel spoke, "I think we can understand that, and for the
record I believe you are right. Perhaps one day people will be able to
accept our existence, but for now they are not ready. There are too many
people like the Council in the world who see things only in terms of good
and evil, black and white, and miss all of the subtleties in between."
"I understand your reason for telling us this, and recognize it for the
great act of trust that it is. Forgive me if I do not return that trust just
yet. I assume that you tell us this to emphasize your status as something
less than evil." Giles voiced his own doubt.
"Certainly that is why I tell you. I want you to believe me when I tell you
I wish to help. I do. I have studied the Prophecy of Six for most of my
lifetime now. The evil that is to come could destroy everything, not just
your world, but mine as well. If preventing that means allying myself with
the Slayer then I am happy and even honored to do so. I believe that I have
books in this library that you do not have any access to. I also have access
to books in my Master's possession. I believe that with my help you and
yours stand a much better chance of defeating the six evils, and finding
those that are prophesied to fight this fight." Alexei answered easily. He
had won, enough of their trust that they would work with him, he was certain
of that.
"Whoa, you mean that there is a prophecy about who's going to defeat this
thing. Why didn't we know about that part Giles." Buffy interjected.
"Probably because we are dealing with commentaries and translations that are
several thousand years removed from the original prophecies, and we have
fragments at best. I'm very curious to hear what you have found." Giles
academic nature had won out over any mistrust he still felt.
"You're going to give us access to these prophecies?" Spike questioned his
accent and demeanor fully back in place.
Alexei smiled smoothly as he answered, "Ahh my dear, William. I think it is
time that we discussed those terms that you were so eager to set. I propose
to grant you free access to my library and the expertise of both myself and
my close advisers in this room. What I ask of you is merely that you share
any information or insights that you find with me and that you report in to
me every day that you are in the city."
"That's all?" Xander spoke for the first time since they had begun their
business. "You want us to tell you what we know?" It was obvious that he
still had his doubts about the sincerity of Alexei.
"That is all I ask. I want to see this thing destroyed as much as you. At
this point maybe more because I understand more fully what it is and what it
could do if unleashed on the world. Are we agreed?" Alexei tried to sound
reassuring as he spoke.
"If you'll give us just a moment." Spike addressed Alexei, "We need to
discuss this."
Of course. We will attend to some other business while you talk. We will
return in ten minutes." Alexei rose even as he was speaking. His companions
stood and followed him out the door.
"So how do we know we can trust them." Buffy was still wary.
"I guess we really don't, not anymore than they know they can trust us."
Willow answered her.
"I don't really think we have a lot of choice in the matter. If he's telling
us the truth about having access to a great deal more knowledge about the
prophecies than we have, then we need that knowledge." Giles wasn't quite
sure that he trusted them himself, but their knowledge could be invaluable.
"That being said, I think we should consider the fact that Alexei knows that
too. If he were really trying to manipulate us somehow, he could have
demanded much more and been reasonably certain that we would accept his
conditions. It might not be a reason to trust him, but it is a reason to
believe that he is being honest about this one thing." Angel rationalized.
"Okay so are we going to agree?" Spike asked.
"I think so." Giles answered him.
"Like Angel said, if he was trying to cheat us he could have done so much
more. We don't have a lot of options here." Cordelia chimed in.
The conversation considered in this vein until Alexei returned. "My friends,
I hope you have reached some decision." He addressed them.
"We agree to your terms. Now I think we'd like at least a little of the
information that you promised us." Spike answered for the group.
"I can give you a brief overview of the knowledge, but I imagine that your
scholars would like the opportunity to review the materials for themselves."
Wesley nodded and Giles spoke. "We would."
"Well then, I will let you know the basics. I have gained access to
literally thousands of versions of the prophecies. The oldest and most
complete version that I have found was taken from a very old vampire that I
killed last year. He found it in Wales centuries before I was turned.
Basically what this version of the prophecy set down was a series of six
evils, "And the evil shall arrive as Fire and Ice, Drowning floods and
crippling plague, Eternal day and darkest night." Some of the other versions
and some of the commentaries offer a bit more description of what these
might be. It also tells of six warriors who will defeat these evils. "For
six shall defeat the six which destroy. Three creatures of light and faith
and three knowing only night, bound in pairs most unlikely shall begin to
fight." There is more, some description of the pairs involved, but it's all
rather vague. Most of the scholars agree that the six will be three humans
bonded to three vampires but beyond that there is little that we have
determined for sure." Alexei gave this short version of what he knew.
"Fascinating, I've only heard of a relative few bondings between humans and
vampires and of course two of those are in this room. Have you considered
that?" Wesley was curious as to whether one or both of the bonded pairs here
were implicated by the prophecy.
"We have of course considered it. I don't believe that Katharine and myself
are one of the pairs spoken of by the prophecy, mostly because only the
defiance of a related prophecy allows us to be together. It would not be
unheard of that one prophecy cancelled out another, but I don't believe that
to be the case. There are other reasons, but that is the major one. Timothy
and Nicholas steadfastly refuse to believe that they may be involved with
the prophecy but I have yet to find any reason to exclude them. With your
permission, I would like to call in an expert on several of the languages
that my books are in. He is human, and has worked for me for more than about
a decade now. While he has a somewhat more flexible sense of morality than
most humans, he has always dealt honorably with me." Alexei had been waiting
for an opportunity to bring in this friend. "He has not yet been given the
opportunity to examine these works, but I believe he could be of some help."
After some brief discussion it was agreed that the help would be welcomed.
They had now talked most of the night. They needed to return to their hotel
before dawn came. The humans would return in the early afternoon after
grabbing a few precious hours of sleep. The vampires would join them as soon
as the sun had set.
"Goodnight my friends. I understand your reluctance to accept my further
hospitality, but if you should wish to leave your tiny rooms at any point in
this journey simply let me know. I will arrange for you to have much nicer
accommodations." Alexei's voice had become the voice of the gracious host
yet again.
"Thank you, but I believe we will be perfectly happy where we are. Not that
we don't trust you, but lets just say it is perhaps better not to test that
trust." Giles answered him.
Alexei laughed. "I see why you and yours have survived as long as you have.
It will be a pleasure to see you tomorrow." With that he took his leave,
followed by his companions.