I just realized that I had completely left out Willow and Xander's take on all that has been going on, seeing as how they play such an important part of the show.
"I wonder if Percy can surf real well," Xander said.
"It stands to logic," Willow pointed out, munching on popcorn as they watched some nameless surfing movie.
"Son of the sea god and all that," Xander continued.
"He may be able to ride horses real well, too," Willow said, "Poseidon did create horses."
"He did?"
"According to legend," Willow said, "Horse back riding, surfing, great body... it's a wonder girls aren't falling all over him."
"You know how to pick up a man's self esteem, Wills," Xander moped.
"I'm a geek, so I don't care about that stuff."
"Sure," Xander said, "Maybe I should get a tan."
"Wouldn't hurt," Willow said as she popped another popcorn in her mouth.
"I don't like this," Xander said.
"Percy? Or Angel?"
"Both," Xander said, "Angel is a two-hundred year old vampire and Percy is the son of some immortal entity that controls two thirds of the earth's surface."
"You think trickery could be afoot?"
"Yep," Xander said, "What if Angel is just biding his time for a moment to strike, and Percy is part of some evil whale plot to flood the world?"
"Stretching it a bit, aren't you?"
"Stretching keeps you from getting cramps," Xander said, "But I'm right about the Angel thing."
"Perhaps," Willow said, "You heard what Percy said, neither he nor Buffy sensed evil in him."
"Well, Buffy didn't sense that Angel was a vampire in the first place," Xander said, "And like I said, how can we trust Percy?"
"I see your logic, and raise you this," Willow said, "Could Percy and Angel help keep Buffy alive during Slayage?"
"Don't we do that?"
"They're more effective," and then Willow thought, "OhmygodwhatifBuffydoesn'tneedus-"
"Breathe Willow!" Xander ordered, "Buffy isn't going to forget about us just because she has some new allies."
Buffy
"I think... pant... I forgot... pant... to meet... Xander and Willow..." I panted.
"No dice," Percy didn't even look winded, despite the light sheen of sweat that clung to him "Come on, you're much stronger and faster than me. All you need to do is learn to use it right."
I lifted my sword, which had started out feeling light as a wood stick used to before Slayer strength, but now felt like it was fifty pounds before Slayer. Percy's sword, on the other hand, seemed to always make his sword turn to a blur when we got into it. He gracefully brought his sword to guard. We stayed shock still for a moment, before the flats of our blades touched. And then we danced.
Sparks flung into the air, our blades becoming blurs. Before, I found Percy laughably easy to follow, until he seemed to stop midswing and change direction, knocking my blade to the floor. The first of many. Now, I was exhausted and sore from the whacks Percy has been giving my all day with the flat of his blade. I suppose I should be impressed that he has that much control over his weapon. I was too exhausted to care.
And then Percy knocked my blade out of my hands. Again.
"Figured it out," Percy said, "You swing with your elbow."
"Huh?" I said as I bent over, hangs on knees, and panted.
"Your swing with your elbow," he demonstrated, "Yeah, your arm should proved the general movement, but the finer control should be through the wrist. It's quicker, more controllable."
"Why... pant... are... you... teaching... me... swordplay... again?" I asked.
"Like I said," Percy said, "Your strong and your fast. But I still almost beat you, without a sword, my specialty weapon. This way, you learn about how I fight."
"What about... how I fight?" I asked.
Percy chuckled, "We'll go over barehand tomorrow, okay? I think we're done here."
"Oh, thank God," I gasped, as I grabbed my gym bag and hobbled toward the door. Which Giles promptly came through.
"Oh, Buffy, just in time for you patrol tonight," Giles said.
"I don't think that she's up for it," Percy said before I could protest, "I got it."
"Hey!" I protested.
"I remember my first sword lesson," Percy said, "Do you want to go running off into the woods to be shishkabed by an electric spear?"
When we all looked at him in confusion he said, "Long story, do you want the night off or not?"
"Good point," I said as I continued to hobble toward the door, "Good luck!"
Percy
Sunnydale sure became creepy without a sun. I was tempted to draw Riptide, but I figured the whole point of the patrol was stealth, finding trouble instead of attracting it too me. I figured that would attract a lot of trouble, so I kept my sword in pen form.
Still, it was tempting to draw, because my New York instincts were in full panic mode. I guess it comes from ignoring them yelling at you not to enter the park at night. Drug dealers and murderers were in the park at night. I wasn't afraid of them, but nightmares of the park at night still haunt the back dreams of every New Yorker.
"It's laughable," a voice said behind me.
Quicker than a thought, Riptide was drawn and I was in a fighting crouch facing my opponent, before I saw that it was Angel. I sighed and relaxed a bit. Only a bit, "You're sneaky."
"You're not," Angel said, "Your smell radiates for at least two miles. This stealth approach isn't working."
"I always had trouble with stealth," I admitted, "Care to join me?"
He didn't even have the courtesy to shake his head. He just gave me a look that said, Me, help? Please.
"You say that you're on our side," I accused, "And yet I have never seen you actually fight a vampire."'
"It's the Slayer who wants to protect humanity," Angel said, "I have seen enough of it to know that there are times when humanity is just as bad as demons."
"I ever tell you about the time I went to Atlanta?"
"No."
"We, me and my friends, land outside some presidential library," I explained, "This old lady, the curator-"
"I know who your talking about," Angel said with no change of expression, "Calls everyone 'sugar'."
"Then you already know," I said, "The few bad ones ruin it for the rest of us."
"There's more than a few," Angel said.
"Then the few good ones are worth fighting for," I said stubbornly.
"If you're such a team player," Angel said, "Why haven't you told them about the blonde girl? Annabeth, I think you called her."
That silenced me. I just turned and walked away. This time he followed me.
It was a while into the patrol that I said, "She isn't fighting this fight. Her fight is too get better."
"Insanity doesn't work like that," Angel said, "It's not a flu you can get over after a few days rest."
"I know that," I snapped, "I thought with the weird energy here and all, that it would help a little bit. The best one I know who can deal with insanity is all the way in New York."
"Dionysus," Angel said.
"Exactly," I said, "You've read a bit in two hundred years."
"It's called not owning a TV," Angel said, "We have company."
I looked left, were I felt a cold breeze, and saw a vampire, full demon face, sniffing the air, "You smell tasty," he said, before charging.
I rolled my eyes, and in one fluid motion, drew Riptide, sliced his head off, and capped my sword. His headless trunk fell to the ground before disappearing into dust.
"Nice," Angel said, "Buffy would have stopped to fight, maybe say a few one liners."
"Not my style," I said, "A fight is fought to end it, not for pleasure," oddly enough, that's why I won most of my fights, my enemies took too much pleasure in it and the monologue-ing that came with it, "That amateur stuff will get her killed if she keeps it up."
"And how long have you been doing this?" Angel said.
"I killed my first monster when I was twelve," I shuddered. Not something you will ever forget.
By this time we were leaving the park and entering a "forested" area. When I say that, I don't mean that they were really trees, more like really tall bushes and bamboo that grew around a very dirty river that wound through the edge of town. This time I did draw my sword to give me light to go by, because the nearly full moon was covered by the foliage.
"What about you," I asked, "Even with a soul, you don't need to help us."
"I'm not helping you," Angel said.
That's when it hit, "You like Buffy, don't you?"
"She's a kid," he said.
"Pretty good looking kid," I joked, "You are not to tell Annabeth I said that."
"Then drop it," Angel said.
"You have no sense of humor, do you?" I said.
"None," Angel said.
"Lighten up," I advised, "Chicks dig a funny guy. How do you think I got Annabeth to fall in love with me? My stunning good looks?"
He just glared at me and moved on.
I chuckled a bit and followed before entering a clearing and seeing something that made me shiver, and not from the cold.
On the floor of the forest were two concentric circles, with ancient Greek writing written between them. I squinted, and tried to angle my blade to get a better look. Even though I could get a literal translation, it was like reading Shakespeare, none of it made any sort of sense. I figured if I told Giles that, he would sputter and be all outraged.
"You know what this says, don't you?" Angel said.
"I know what it says," I said, "I don't know what it means."
"Right here," he pointed at one word, "You know what this means?"
"'To call'," I said, "It can also mean 'to beckon', or-"
"It can also mean 'summon'," Angel said, "Someone was trying to summon a monster here."
"Now the question is," I said, standing up, "Did they succeed?"
"Spells like this require the monster's cooperation," Angel said, "If they don't want to come, they don't."
"This is a Hellmouth," I said, "What are the odds that the monster didn't want to show?"
"Not in our favor," Angel said.
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