Chapter 10: Progress

"Buffy? Buffy! Buffy, wake up!"

Buffy opened her eyes. She was still sitting a the kitchen table, her head resting on the old book she had been reading the night before. Joyce was standing over her, shaking her awake. "What are you still doing here? You should have left for school an hour ago!"

"What?" Buffy jumped up. "What time is it?"

"It's late. What were you doing, sleeping down here?" Joyce's eyes skimmed over the book, and a hopeful glint ignited within them. "Oh! Did you fal asleep studying?" She moved to get a closer look, but Buffy snatched up the book and backed out of the room. "Yes! Yes, I did. That's it exactly. Studying. Um, I need to get washed and changed, I didn't get a chance last night."

"Do you want me to drive you in?"

"Yeah, that would be great, thanks!"

Buffy ran upstairs and into her room, clutching the book. She must have been really tired last night, she couldn't remember reading anything after the first page. Bursting with curiosity, she opened it to the second page but found herself unable to read any of the strange characters that she found.

Damn.

Most of it was in an entirely different language. This would need to be translated before it was readable, but at least it would give Giles something other to do than pester her to train.

Giles took off his glasses and wiped them with his handkerchief before replacing them.

"Good grief… well, you lot certainly had an exiting time without me."

"Exiting is kinda the wrong word." Replied Xander. "Try terrifying. And confusing. And all around weird."

"But we have powers and stuff now!" Willow chirped optimistically. "Actual powers. Fighty stuff, I mean, that's pretty cool, right?"

"Oh, don't get me wrong, I'm hyped about that for sure! It's just… I don't really like how it all unfolded."

Giles frowned. "How do you mean, Xander?"

"I dunno. I guess I just don't like the thought of something being able to mess with me. Change me. I don't know if I like the sound of this 'Spirit power' everyone keeps talking about."

"You've been living on top of the hellmouth for your entire life. A hellmouth which has been chugging out demonic energy all the time." Oz remarked.

Xander hesitated. "Well… yeah, true. It's never done anything noticeable to me though."

Rukia stepped forwards. "Spirit power isn't some external force, it's within you. My guess is that the hellmouth simply helped to bring it out. Besides, Urahara told you that your powers have been passed down to you. You inherited your high spirit level."

"Have you asked your Dad yet? About the Quincy stuff?" Willow asked. Xander shook his head.

"Nah, not yet. It's a kinda weird thing to bring up. It's gonna be a big of enough challenge to find a time when he's sober enough anyway."

"Hey, Rukia," Oz began. "I have a question. Am I still going to transform on nights with a full moon? Or do I have control over it now?"

Rukia paused, considering him for a moment. "I'm not sure. I'm still unfamiliar your world, all the demons and mysticism. It could be."

"Then I guess we'll find out." He looked up at Willow and Xander. "Sorry I got beat down so quick last night. Sounds like I missed the most exiting event."

Willow replied, "Don't be sorry! I'd probably be dead if it wasn't for you, you were amazing. Do you remember all of it?"

"Mostly. But even then, I didn't have full control. Like, it was me, but I felt more wolf than human."

"Well, you didn't attack or kill me, so I'm happy."

Giles approached Rukia. "Actually, I have a few questions of my own."

"Yes?"

"I think it would serve us all well to learn a bit more about these Hollows. They're a bit of a mystery, and I've been able to find very little mention of them at all in any of my books. Is there anything you can tell us?"

"Yes, I suppose there is. Let's see... When most souls die, they pass straight on to the soul society. Those who stay usually do so because they feel they have something they need to accomplish. They might watch over a loved one, or protect a certain place. Hollows are souls that have become overwhelmed by sadness or regret, have been devoured by a hollow, or simply stay too long in the human world. All souls have a chain of fate that connect them to their bodies that is severed when they die. When the chain eventually disintegrates fully, a hole opened in their chest and they lose their heart. That is when they turn into a hollow. Destroying the mask of a Hollow frees the soul to move on to the soul society."

"But why the mask?" Willow asked. "What's so special about it? Why does only that kill them?"

"That is where the heart goes."

"Wait wait wait," Xander said, "The hollow's mask is their… heart?"

"Yes."

Giles said, "That's fascinating. It is incredibly similar to the way a vampire is made."

Rukia glanced at him in surprise. "It is?"

"It is?" Echoed Xander.

"Yes! Think about it. When a vampire is made, the soul is forced out and a demon takes over, and it can only be killed by destroying the heart."

"Or burning, or beheading, or-"

"Yes, yes, okay. Thank you Xander. But what if the soul doesn't leave, like we thought? What if it's corrupted? Or, or trapped, like in a hollow? Can you not see the similarities?"

Willow squealed in excitement as it clicked into place. "Ooh! Oh! Also, when a vampire dies it turns into dust! Same thing happens to a hollow! Only in that case, it's more spirity, soul, not-really-there dust that just dissappears... but the point is they both disintegrate when they die."

"Exactly." Giles turned back to Rukia. "What do you think? Are hollows a type of demon? Are they related to vampies?"

"I… I'm not sure. No one has ever reffered to them as demons, but… You're right. It seems likely."

Just then Rukia's phone buzzed. As she took it out of her pocket, Xander tensed. "What is it? Hollow?"

"No, it's Buffy. Good grief, she only just woke up. She should be here soon."

"Well, that fight last night probably took a lot out of her. She should call in sick, get some rest."

"She still hasn't told her Mom yet though, has she? Joyce wouldn't let her stay in."

"Nor should she." Giles huffed in response to the teenager's remarks. "Buffy has duties to attend to. She cannot afford to shirk her responsibilities. Besides, I could do with hearing her side of events."

"Slave driver." Willow muttered. She stood up. "If we're done here for now, I've still got a bit of history homework left. Didn't get a chance to finish, what with all the excitement." She walked away to a more secluded area of the library.

...

Xander moved over to Rukia. "So, how are you doing after-?"

"Sorry Xander, one minute," She replied dismissively, following Willow.

"…after everything..?" Xander finished lamely.

Oz regarded him impassively. "Still pining?"

"What?" Xander replied, alarmed. "Pining? Who's pining? No pining happening here! What gave you that idea?"

"Well, it-"

"No. Actually, don't answer that. Please."

...

Rukia found Willow browsing the shelves of history textbooks. "Willow? I've been meaning to talk to you."

"Hm? Oh, sure! What about?"

Rukia crossed her arms and leaned against the library shelves. "I wanted to ask how you're coping."

"Oh, fine! Fine! You know, last night wasn't exactly anything out of the ordinary. Sure, a little more ghosty than demony, but same difference really."

"No, I meant with everything. Ghosts. The afterlife."

Willow's expression froze for a second, but she recovered fast. "Oh. Why wouldn't I be?"

"People from all different religions can find it hard. Or a shock. It's not unusual, or unreasonable."

Willow shrugged, evidently uncomfortable with the conversation. "It's fine. I'm fine. Nothing wrong, no one upset here. We're all just living large in fineville."

"Willow." Rukia said softly, but not patronisingly. "Look- Yes, there is an afterlife. But remember that beyond that everything's still a mystery to us. Don't think there's no room for belief, because there is. Even if things aren't exactly as you imagined them, it doesn't mean you're wrong" She chuckled. "Heh, there's people in the soul society who can explain this way better than me."

"What about you? Were… are you religious?"

"No. I was a baby when I died, I remember nothing about my short life as a human. And in the soul society I never really ran into the idea of faith until I was already quite old."

"So you don't believe in anything?"

Rukia paused. "I guess… I guess I believe that I don't know. I don't know if there's a god or not. And I'm okay not knowing."

A few minutes later, Buffy ran in through the doors. "I'm here! I'm here! I made it!" She said. Willow and Rukia ducked out of the shelves as they heard her approach.

Xander grinned. "Ah, so sleeping beauty awakes! Good to see you." He said jokingly.

"Hey, Buffy." Said Oz

"Yeah, you too. Where's Giles?"

Giles strode out of his office. "Glad to see you made it to school. I can't imagine Snyder will be too pleased with your tardiness, however."

"Yeah, yeah. Look- I had a difficult night, okay?"

"So the others have been telling me. Seems I missed out on quite a lot of excitement."

"Don't worry. I've got something here that you'll like." Buffy relied, rooting around in her bag and gently placing the ancient book down on the centre table. Xander and Oz leaned forwards in their seats, and Willow and Rukia leaned over the banister to get a better look.

"Where did you get this?" Giles asked, curiously yet cautiously.

Willow spoke up. "Was that it? Was that what Urahara gave you?"

"Yeah. I didn't manage to read much due to most of it being in gibberish speak, but a few parts of it have been translated already. Besides, there's this." She opened the cover and read out the writing on the first page, while the rest of them listened in increasing alarm.

When Buffy finished, she stood back and let it sink in. After a moment of silence, Xander burst out,

"Oh, come on! Don't end there! That's just the worst cliffhanger!"

"Hey, if you can read ancient heiroglypy prehistoric, be my guest. Otherwise, that's pretty much all there is for now."

"Well, that's not a very good gift." Oz remarked. "If we can't even read it."

Willow replied, "Urahara must think we'd be able to translate it. Maybe we have more appropriate resources to do so than the soul reaper guys did?"

"Better resources than the soul society? I thought those guys could live for thousands of years, they'd have had ages to gather all the stuff they needed."

Giles said, "Perhaps it was a particularly rare book… I take it you would like me to look into translating it, Buffy? I can ask the Watcher's council for access to their resources. If there's anything to help us, it's there."

Buffy nodded. "Good. Thanks."

As Giles practically ran into his office to call some contacts, Rukia spoke up.

"The end of the soul society… what the hell happened back then?"

"Well, we've had our fair share of near apocalypses. It's only fair the soul society gets some too."

Rukia shook her head. "No. This is different. The strongest soul reapers have had thousands of years to hone their skills. Anything strong enough to overcome them…" She looked up at Buffy. "Your slayer powers. What are they? Where do they come from?"

"…I don't know. Not really." Buffy paused, breaking eye contact with Rukia. "I think this book is supposed to help me work that out. At least, that's what Urahara implied."

"There's really nothing else to be done about it until Giles finds out something, then?" Willow asked.

Buffy nodded. "Guess so. Okay! Supernatural stuff done and dealt with, back to real life. What lesson do we have next?"

"English. It starts in a few minutes."

"Okay, great! I'll just finish off the homework, and-"

"Actually, Buffy," Rukia interrupted, "We're not quite done yet. I have something to show you."

Buffy blinked. "What? But.. but we were finished! I have class, I can't-"

"Come on, it won't take long" Rukia said, ignoring Buffy's protests and dragging her out of the room.

…

As they left, the other three watched in mild amusement.

"Wow." Said Willow. "She's really not getting many breaks, huh?"

Xander smiled. "Double destiny Buffy. As if slaying wasn't putting a big enough strain on her everyday life."

Willow glanced at Xander, a smile playing on her lips. "So, you still haven't talked to Rukia, then?"

Xander looked up at her in alarm. "Wh- what is everyone going on about? Why does... I mean, I'm not… Fine! Fine, yeah, I like her."

Willow grinned. "Come on. It's you crushing on Buffy all over again. Only this time you seem a little more hidey about it."

Xander shrugged. Oz suggested, "Well, she is dead. Makes for a bit more challenging relationship."

"It worked for Buffy and Angel! A-at first, anyway…" Willow said, losing confidence as she thought more about it.

Xander glared at her. "Great comparison, Will."

"Well, Rukia isn't a demon! She's not at risk of losing her soul and going all 'raargh'. And! And, she told me she's only one hundred and fifty, that's nearly a whole century younger than Angel!"

"Will, somehow this conversation isn't making me a whole lot happier."

"Sorry. You should go talk to her, though. Just make conversation. See what happens."

"I agree." Oz contributed. "What's the worst that can happen?"

Xander looked at him in silence for a second. "This is Sunnydale. Do you want me to make a list?"

"Fair point."

"Okay Rukia, this had better be worth getting another 'late to a lesson' lecture from Snyder."

"You won't get one. I got something for you."

"Boy, everyone's giving me stuff. What is it, Christmas?" Buffy remarked unenthusiastically.

"Here." Rukia tossed her a small, vibrantly coloured tube adorned with the head of a cartoon duck.

Buffy stared at the bizarre object indignantly. "A duck. That's… an interesting design choice."

Rukia sighed sadly. "I know. I wanted a 'Chappy the Rabbit' one, but there just weren't any left."

"…I see. Of course." Buffy held up the odd tube closer to her face. "Soul Candy" She read. "What's that?"

"It's a medicine developed by the soul society. It forcibly ejects the soul from a faux body by injecting a new artificial soul to take it's place."

"Wait, what. You want me to let someone else take over my-"

Rukia smiled triumphantly, oblivious to Buffy's distaste for her plan. "This way, you would be capable of dealing with a hollow even if I'm not around to help. In addition, the new soul will take your place at school when you have other duties to attend to. As far as your teachers and classmates know, you will never miss another day of school!"

Buffy paused, and glanced back down at the tube of soul candy. Sure, as the slayer she should probably be careful about what exactly she let's into her body, but it was a tempting offer…

"I… I never have to attend another biology lesson?" She asked, mesmerised by the possibilities unfolding before her.

Rukia frowned. "Um… not when you have hollows or demon to deal with, but other than that I think-"

"Oh! Yes, with great power comes great responsibility and all that. Yeah. So how do I use it?"

"Press down on the head, and swallow the pill that comes out."

Buffy held up her hand, and pressing down on the duck's head, she caught the small, green pill that emerged.

"It's so tiny. Is there really someone's soul in there?"

"Souls don't need a whole lot of room to be bound to a body. As long as it's made of the right stuff, it doesn't really matter what size."

"Cool. Let's try this then."

Buffy held her hand up to her mouth and let the pill roll inside. Swallowing, she immedietly felt herself pushed out of her body and she fell forwards, now clad in the soul reaper regalia.

"It worked!" She muttered, turning back to look at whatever was inside her body now. The Artificial soul stood still, eyes closed. Then, after a moment, her eyes opened and she smiled at them.

"Hello! My name is Buffy Summers!" She said cheerfully.

Buffy caught her breath in excitement. "No way!" She breathed. "Um. Hey. How you doing in there?"

"Me? Oh I'm fine!" She replied cheerfully.

Rukia's phone buzzed. "A Hollow." She said.

"Wow. That was convenient timing." Buffy remarked.

"Indeed. So, how about it? Want to leave her to take care of things here?"

"Oh, yeah. Bye bye, Bio test!"

"What about the others? Are you going to tell them?"

Buffy paused, considering. "Nah. Let's not. Giles would freak if he knew I was skipping for a reason other than slaying. Besides it could be fun to see If the others catch on. Or not." She looked across at the other soul, still smiling. "Okay, souly. You think you can handle things here?"

"Absolutely. Leave it to me."

Buffy strode forwards and squinted at the second Buffy. "Good. Now listen to me, and tell me the truth. This is very important. How good are you at French?"

Xander watched the exchange from the cover of a nearby tools shed. He had come out to try and talk to Rukia, but this was too fascinating to interrupt. An artificial soul, forced into a body? Woah. You learn something new every day.

Buffy and Rukia soon ran off to deal with another Hollow, leaving Buffy's body in the hands of… whoever it was. She waved at them as she watched them leave and, when Xander was sure they were gone, he emerged himself and strode over.

"Well, fancy that!" He said loudly, startling the temporary Buffy. "Never knew you could have artificial souls. Now listen you, that's my friends' body you got there, you had better take care of it."

"Huh? Oh." She blinked, and smiled somewhat eerily. It was odd to see a non-Buffy smile on Buffy's face. "I guess you'd be one of her friends."

"Yeah, that's right."

"So… does she have any girl friends?"

"Well, yeah, sure. There's Willow and… Willow. Most others are really just aquantiences, and I'm not entirely sure if you could count Cordelia at this stage. It's complicated."

"Are they cute?"

Xander blinked, slightly taken aback. "Oh. Um. I guess. Sorry if this is a bit… uh, blunt, but can I ask… are you gay, then?"

A look of confusion, then anger crossed over her face. "Eh? What? No! I just said…" She trailed off as she seemed to realise something. She glanced downwards. "Er… yes… sure." A smile twitched at the corners of her mouth.

"Not that there's anything wrong with that at all! It's just that since you're in Buffy's body and, you know, pretending to be Buffy, it really would be best if you didn't do anything too… not Buffy. Yeah?"

"Yeah, got it." She said slowly and carefully.

Xander watched her suspiciously. There was something off. Something about the posture, about the way she spoke. It wasn't just because she wasn't Buffy, it was something more than that.

"Hey, guys?" Willow called out to them from back towards the school. "Class starts soon, if you've got nothing too important happening, you should probably come back."

"Coming, Will!" Xander called.

As Willow headed back inside, the Buffy imposter sighed. "She's really hot! Wow. She's like a goddess!"

"Woah! Back up there, that's Willow you're talking about."

"Come on, you can't tell me she's not! Hey, you ever hit that?"

Xander's eyes widened. The penny dropped. "Oh! Oh!" He said accusingly. "You're not gay at all! You're a guy! A guy… in Buffy's body!"

She… or he… blinked In surprise. "Oh, damn. Hoped it might take a bit longer for you to figure out."

Xander was outraged. "What? What were you.. no, I don't want to know. I REALLY don't want to know. Just… get out. Get out now."

"Can't."

"What?"

"Can't. And don't want to, actually. Guess what?" The Artificial soul leaned forwards and smirked, somehow seeming cover menacing even in Buffy's petite frame. "I'm free. This body is mine now."

"No way. Not a chance. I'll drag you back myself and we'll wait till Buffy and Ru-"

The Artificial soul lashed out, taking Xander by surprise and cuffing him in the head with a blow that knocked him out. He keeled over, landing awkwardly on the ground.

The soul smiled, and flexed his wrist. "She's strong. Nice. Just makes everything so much easier."

He could hardly believe his luck. Years of hiding, and he had been mixed up with the merchandise and given a body. On top of that, it was a girl's body! Sure, in the long term it might get a bit uncomfortable, but in the short term it would be utterly invaluable. For a 'romantic', as he liked to call himself, he would be able to get away with so much more.

His soul came with special powers, he knew that, but this body housed a strength he had never encountered before. It was immensely powerful, he could tell that from how little effort he had put behind the punch that floored the boy.

Finally after so long on the run praying he would survive, he was free. And there was so much fun to be had.