I have not stolen this work - It's a backup account with my unfinished and abandoned stories from my main account which is FictionQueenxx
This story will be getting removed from that account at end of the month.
Chapter 1:
When she was bad
Aster woke to the sound of her large Rottweiler, Bear, barking outside her room. She groaned and pulled the duvet off her body and softly padded to her ensuite bathroom. She turned the shower one while she undressed and quickly brushed her teeth. She stepped into the shower and let the hot water run over her body. She grabbed her coconut body wash and body scrub and began to wash her body. Once she washed her body she started to shave her legs and arm pits before she washed and conditioned her hair with her coconut shampoo and conditioner. Aster stepped out of the shower and wrapped a towel around her head and her hair and walked back to her bedroom. She quickly blow-dried her hair and towel dried her body before coating her body in coconut body lotion. She searched through her wardrobe and picked out a short black skirt with a white cold shoulder top. She put the clothes on and then a pair of white low-top all-star trainers, she brushed her wild hair and painted her lips red and her eyes dark purple with black outline. Aster grabbed her black leather backpack and walked down the stairs.
"Morning, daddy" she kissed her father's cheek who was sitting at their large dining room table drinking a coffee and reading the paper
"Good morning, darling." Robert smiled at his oldest daughter over his paper
"Daddy?" Aster asked sweetly as she took out some cereal and milk for breakfast
"What, baby?" Robert sighed knowingly
"Can I drive my new car to school?" she pulled the puppy dog eyes
"No" Robert continued when Aster opened her mouth to object "We're just back, I'll drive you to school and you can meet up with Xander and Willow"
Aster smiled at the thought of her friends. She hadn't seen them in a year since her family had took her father's sabbatical in France. Of course, they had been writing to each other, but it wasn't the same as hanging out with them in person. Willow had written about a new friend they made called Buffy Summers, it made Aster a little nervous thinking that her 2 best friends had replaced her when she was away. When she written her concerns to her friend, Willow had written back calling her ridiculous that she thought one girl could make year of friendship disappear.
After breakfast Robert drove both his children to school while his wife went to work. He pulled up ouside the high school and turned to his daughter who was looking at the school with a strange look on her face
"Aster?" he called softly "Are you okay?" it was times like this he wished he had his wifes poer of empathy
"I'm fine daddy, just nervous" Aster smiled slightly
Robert could tell just how nervous she was, he watched as the once bright sunny sky became dark and cloudy
"Just take a breath" he advised his oldest "And walk in as if you never left."
"Okay" she whispered before leaning over and giving her dad a kiss before getting out the car and walking up the school steps.
As Aster walked in she immediately began to search for her friends, she found them talking with a tall man with glasses and was wearing a lot of tweed and a pretty woman who must also be a teacher at the school. Aster's eyes zoomed in on the pretty blonde standing next to her friends and suddenly the anxious feeling bubbled up in her stomach again.
"Willow!" she called and her best friend turned around and squealed and tugged Xander around to and his face lit up
"Aster!" they shouted and hugged her tightly making her giggle
"Guys, your crushing me!" she laughed loudly and pushed them off her
"We missed you!" Willow grinned "How was France?"
"Kind of boring" Aster shrugged and lonely" she smiled sadly which made Xander hug her again
"Well your back now" he smiled largely, he had missed Aster and a year was a long time
"Who's she?" Aster heard a voice and turned around and saw the blonde looking at her with irritated eyes
"Buffy, Giles, Miss Calendar, this is Aster Cronwell" Aster saw the man jerk his head at her last name and looked down nervous "She is Xander and I's best friend. Her father took a sabbatical in France so she missed an entire year"
"Well we were kind of having a conversation" the blonde snapped and Aster winced and the tone
"Buffy, it can wait, can't it?" Xander asked, wanting to spend time with his best friend
"Fine!" Buffy snapped before storming off
"Sorry about her" Willow sighed "She had a tough summer"
"It's fine" Aster smiled sadly "We should get to class"
"Oh yeah, bye Giles, Miss Calendar" they waved and the teens went off to class.
The next day Aster was wearing a soft blue dress which stopped at mid-thigh and a pair of white sandals. She was standing with Willow, Xander and Buffy, the latter who was ignoring her existence completely
"Angel stopped by? Wow. Was there… Well, I mean, was it having to do with kissing?" Willow questioned.
Buffy turned to the red-head as she got items out of her locker. "Willow, grow up. Not everything is about kissing."
"Yeah. Some stuff's about groping." Xander paused and turned to Buffy in a panic. "It wasn't about groping?"
Aster zoned out as she read her book leaning against the lockers, she could hear the trio but it was almost as if they forgot she was there.
"Okay, hormones on parade here? It was pure shoptalk. Remember vampires, pointy teeth, they walk by night, am I ringing a bell?" Buffy questioned.
"What did he say?" Willow asked.
"Oh, something's up. It's nothing I can't handle." She said as they began to walk down the hall.
"Oh hey, did you guys hear that Cibo Matto's gonna be at the Bronze tonight?" Xander asked
"Cibo Matto? They're playing?" Willow asked in astonishment and Xander looked at her with eyebrows raised.
"No Willow, they're gonna be clog dancing." Xander said sarcastically but Willow didn't notice which made Aster smile
"Cibo Matto can clog dance?" Xander looked at her and she realised what he'd said. "Oh, sarcasm right." She murmured.
"We should attend, no?" He asked but we never had a chance to answer as Cordelia came over.
"Oh look, it's the Three Musketeers." Cordelia stated; her tone was scathing but the words were not and we exchanged curious looks with one another.
"Was that an insult?" Buffy asked.
"Kinda lacked punch." Xander commented.
"The Three Musketeers were cool." Willow pointed out.
"I see your point."
"Well, I just meant that you guys always hang out together. So, did you guys fight any demons this summer?" Cordelia asked not noticing Aster standing there
"Uh, yes! Our own personal demons." Willow said loudly, looking around and nervously as her best friend who was clearly not paying any attention to what the cheerleader had said.
"Uh, such as, as, as lust and uh, thrift!" Xander spoke
"I would have to go with Stooges also." She commented.
"What are you guys talking about? I'm talking about big squiggly demons that came from the ground? Remember? Prom night? With all the vampires?" she still didn't notice Aster which kind of pissed the wiccan off a little bit. Sure she had been gone a year, but it was only a year.
"Cordelia, your mouth is open, sound is coming from it. This is never good." Buffy stated and Xander agreed, pulling the girl out of the centre of the corridor and towards the lockers
"See, we can't mention that stuff in front of other people, Buffy being a Slayer and all." He explained.
"You haven't been talking about our little adventure all summer, have you?" Willow asked and the girl fixed her with a scathing glare.
"Are you nuts? Do you think I would tell people that I spent the whole evening with you? Besides, it was all so creepy. That Master guy? And all the screaming. I don't even like to think about it." She turned to Buffy "So your secret's safe with me." She said, the sincerity clear in her voice and her face.
"Well, that works out great. You won't tell anyone that I'm the Slayer, and I won't tell anyone you're a moron." Buffy stated, before pushing past the girl and walking away.
Aster wasn't surprised all she had gotten since she arrived was disrespect from a girl who was obviously exaggerated in Willow's letters. One thing did catch Aster out though, A Slayer. She would have to tell her parents as soon as possible.
Xander and Willow thought so too as they commented on her behaviour.
"What's up with her?" Cordelia asked
That night at the bronze Aster watched as Buffy teased Xander and it made her frown. She didn't know what the blonde's problem was but she needed to chill out. Aster got up and decided to leave so she waved by to her friends and left the club. On her way home she encountered a few vampires, but they were nothing a quick energy ball couldn't solve. When she got home and asked her parents to talk since Lily was in bed.
"What is it darling?" Heather asked as the trio sat on the sofa "I can feel your nervousness"
"There's a slayer a school" Aster said biting her lip
"What?" Robert stood suddenly angered at the thought of a Slayer being so close to his family
"Robert!" Heather's voice cut through the room and she grabbed her husband's hand which calmed him instantly
"I hate it when you use your powers on me" Robert grunted and sat back down
"I would have to if you weren't so hot headed" Heather snapped before they turned back to their oldest child who was playing with her hair "Sorry darling"
"It's okay" Aster said softly "Her name is Buffy Summers. She's in my year at school."
"Willow and Xander's new friend?" Heather asked
"Yeah…except that she's nowhere as nice as Willow said she was. She doesn't even acknowledge me, and the rare times that she does she's snappy and she was teasing Xander at the Bronze tonight when she knows he really likes her. You should have seen his face when she walked away from him, he looked so hurt!" Aster cried her eyes watering. She had always been an emotional girl and it got worse when she entered her teens.
Robert and Heather sat quietly listening to their daughter, they could hear the sudden thunderstorm that had erupted from her outburst.
"Did you tell Willow how she's been treating you?" Robert asked
"Yeah and she said that Buffy had a rough summer"
"Well there you go. Don't give up on someone because they've had a rough time." Heather said kindly as she kissed her daughters head before going to her office
"Come here" Robert opened his arms and Aster sunk into them gratefully
"I don't want to lose my friends" Aster's voice cracked as she held tightly onto her father
"You won't" Robert said softly combing his fingers though his little girl's hair "You just need to give them some time. Then if it makes things easier…you can tell them about your Wiccan powers"
"I think I might have to" Aster continued at her dad's look of confusion "Giles the Librarian and I'm guessing he's also Buffy's Watcher, when Willow said my last name he stared at me oddly"
"The Cronwell Wiccans have been around for centuries" Robert shrugged "It's no surprise that the Watcher Council would know about them. We'll just have to wait and see what he does with that information and hope he doesn't tell the rest of the council. The last thing this family needed is another asshole sticking his nose in where it doesn't belong. I can't risk it."
"You had to kill him dad" Aster looked him straight in the eye "It was him or us" she was referring to the year before when a Demon Hunter had turned up looking for her father. The hunter kidnapped Heather and June trying to lure Robert out, it worked and Robert killed the hunter before burying his body in the woods. A month later the family moved to France.
"I know" Robert smiled at his daughter "Right off to bed"
"Night Daddy" Aster kissed her father's cheek and walked up to her bedroom. She quickly got undressed and crawled into bed next to Bear and fell asleep.
The next day after school, Aster walked through the corridors of the school and was looking for Willow and Xander. She ended up at the library and she caught the end of what Giles was saying
"The, the, the person or persons who were with him... when he... It is a trap."
Aster opened the door slightly and spotted serval vampires appearing on the level above the group
"It just isn't for her." Giles finished before the vampires attacked.
Aster dumped her bag and quickly through an energy ball one of the oncoming vampire but they had already made off with Willow and the Librarian. She looked at Xander and saw one of the Vampires go to punch him again, so she quickly raised a hand and a bright pink bubble formed around her friend. The vampire was confused as to why he couldn't get to the boy who was encased in the bright bubble. Xander himself looked shocked, he looked over at Aster and the shock stayed on his face. He had no idea his friend could do that. The vampire got fed up and quickly followed his fellow vampires out into the night.
Aster dropped the shield and Xander dropped to the floor, she quickly ran to him
"Xander are you okay?" she asked
"I'm fine" he looked up at his nervous friend "Thanks for…for whatever it was you did"
"No problem" Aster said just as Buffy came busting though the door and up to Xander
"Where are the others? What happened?" Buffy asked.
Buffy moves to help him up, but he violently shakes off her hand.
"Vampires. The ones you could handle yourself." Xander said.
"Where did they take Giles and –" Buffy said.
"I don't know! I don't know what of your problem is - what your 'issues' are, and as of now I officially don't care! If you'd worked with us for five seconds you could have stopped this." Xander said.
"We have to think. Why did they take them?" Buffy said.
"If they hurt Willow I'm gonna kill you." Xander said.
"Id have to agree on that" Aster spoke up
"What are you even doing here?" Buffy snapped
"You should watch yourself bitch!" Aster snarled making both teen flinch away "If you think that because you're the Slayer and you've been a year, that you can ruin years of friendship then you can forget it."
"Whatever. Why did they take them and not you?" Buffy asked Xander
"Giles said the ritual was, um... they needed people close to the Master... physically close, when he..." Xander said.
"The ones who were with him when he died." Buffy said
"Giles, Willow... Cordelia." Xander said.
Buffy nodded, "And Ms. Calendar."
"We have to find out where they are" Xander said
"I think I have a way" Buffy said, "come on"
"I've got a quicker way. Giving that time is of the essence" Aster said before grabbed both teen's hands and taking the knowledge of where Buffy was thinking before orbing to the Bronze.
When they landed Buffy quickly pulled away and glared
"What was that?" she demanded
"Did you not do the Slayer research your meant to?" Aster asked wondering how a Slayer could be so stupid. It's basically a rule to read up on different Wiccan abilities and of course Demon abilities, so that your prepared
"What research?" Buffy asked before rolling her eyes "You know what, right now I don't care" she stormed over to the vampire. The vampire's hands were tied behind her back, and she landed hard from a kick by Buffy.
"One more time." Buffy hauled the vampire up. "Where are they?"
"You're too late. Your friends are dead."
"Tell me where they are." Buffy demanded
"What are you gonna do, kill me?"
"As a matter of fact, yes." Buffy punches the vampire in the face. She flies back, landing on top of the pool table. Buffy comes around the table, calmly unhooking her Caroligian cross necklace. She holds it above the vampire's face and as the vampire moans in pain, Buffy drops the necklace into the vampire's mouth. Clamps it shut with her hands.
The vampire writhes, smoke pouring out of her mouth.
"But since I'm not gonna kill you any time soon, the question becomes, how do we pass the time till then?" Buffy said.
Buffy pulls the cross out by the chain. "So, one more time."
At the Factory Cordelia is tending to an unconscious Jenny. The door opens, she starts back as a big vampire enters. "Please... go away... what do you –"
The vampire slugs her, knocking her cold. He started dragging both women up the stairs.
The Anointed One walks past the old, rusted surgical table in the middle of the room. He holds a goblet in his hands. On the table is the Master's skeleton laid out on it. He reaches the head of the table, and Absalom, who wears a black ceremonial robe.
The Anointed One hands him the goblet. Absalom looks up at the balcony where two vampires start hauling on a chain.
Cordelia, Giles, Willow and Jenny are hung upside down on meat hooks attached to the chain. They are all unconscious as they are positioned directly above the Master's skeleton.
Absalom dips his finger in the goblet. Goes to the first body - Willow - and makes a small 'x' on her forehead.
The other vampires from a semi-circle around the side of the table as Absalom continues to each boy, repeating the ritual.
Under the Balcony Aster, Buffy, Xander and Angel orb in. The four of them creep along in the dark until they can see the centre of the room.
They see the skeleton laid out on the table. Above it, their four friends. The vampires in a semi-circle, six quietly chanting figures. Absalom and the Anointed One at the head.
Buffy stopped still gazing at her friends. She knew that it was her fault they were taken.
The Anointed One produces a curved knife, hands it to Absalom, who says a silent prayer over it.
"Buffy. Buffy!" Angel whispered.
Buffy snapped out of, looks at the man she loved
"We gotta do something now." Xander said.
"You two get the others out of here." Buffy said to Xander and Angel
"I can help" Aster insisted
"What can you do exactly?" Buffy asked less rude than before. Seeing her friends like that had made her realise that her behaviour since she came back was not acceptable
Aster lifted a hand and a blue electrical ball formed in her palm.
"Okay, you can come with me" Buffy nodded seeing that Aster could clearly take care of herself
"We'll need you two to distract the vampires." Angel said
"Right." Aster said as she and Buffy started toward the ceremony.
"What are you gonna do?" Xander asked.
Buffy and Aster stop and turn back to them.
"I'm gonna kill them all." Buffy said as she and Aster turn and walk away. "That oughta distract them."
Absalom finishes his prayer, kisses the knife. "For the Old Ones, for his pain. For the Dark."
They repeat it solemnly, one after the other.
"For the Dark."
Absalom brings the knife to the first throat - that of Willow.
"For the Dark."
"For the - GYEHNNNNGH!" A vampire said as he eyes popped wide as the tip of a stake pops out of his chest. He gasps for a moment, then he explodes into dust, revealing Buffy right behind him.
Absalom screams, an inhuman shriek that galvanizes the vampires into action. They effectively flank Buffy and Aster, and two of the vampires rush them simultaneously.
Buffy roundhouses one of them in the jaw, staggering them back as the second was dusted by an energy ball. A third vampire gets Buffy from behind but she elbows him in the throat.
Buffy and Aster dodges about the boxes and machines, quick and alert.
Absalom sees Buffy and Aster are occupied. Roughly grabs Willow's face, brings the knife to her throat when the Cordelia, Giles, Willow and Jenny start moving away, towards the balcony.
On the balcony Xander and Angel are hauling on the chain that holds the bodies, pulling them closer.
"The sacrifices! Stop them!" Absalom yells.
Some vampires peels off upstairs, leaving Buffy and Aster with the other two.
Buffy and Aster are on one side of a pile of boxes, a vampire, Jane, behind them, another vampire, Bob, on the other side of the boxes. Buffy kicks Jane sending her sprawling, then jumps, grabbing the top box and flipping herself over the pile, landing on her feet - and still holding the box, she brings it over her head and smashes it smashes it over the Bob's head.
The guy's effectively wearing a box helmet. Buffy powers out a side kick to the face, smashing through the box to it hit. Bob flies back into the corner. Buffy pulls out a stake and quickly dusts Bob.
Jane goes to slam into Aster when she is stopped by a pink shield, she stopped of a second confused before she is quickly dusted by another energy ball.
Xander and Angel pull the bodies to the safety of the Balcony. Jenny and Cordelia are lying nearby as they pull the third one off. It's Giles, who's just starting to waken.
The sixth vampire, Ned, climbs the stairs - and Angel turns. Ned charges - Angel throws himself at him. They grapple, stepping onto some rotted boards covering a hole. It breaks, the two of them falling to the lower level.
Ned shoves a shard of wood at Angel's heart - Angel grabs it and shoves harder, sending it backwards through Ned's heart as he dusts.
Xander gets Willow, the last one, off the chain. A dazed Giles is helping Jenny.
"Are you, all right?" Giles asked.
Jenny nodded, "I think so. My head..."
"Where's Buffy?" Giles asked Xander.
Xander looks down at Buffy and Aster who are approaching Absalom. "They're working out their issues."
"They?" Giles questioned and looked before and was stunned at the sight of the Cronwell girl who was throwing energy balls and occasionally surrounding either herself or Buffy in a pink bubble. Giles was mesmerised by her abilities. He knew, of course, what she was the moment he heard her name. The reason he hadn't told anyone, was because the Cronwell family was perhaps one of the few Wiccan families that had no record of evil or criminal activity, so Giles decided to give her the benefit of the doubt and right now he was glad he did.
Absalom holds a sledgehammer, "Your day is done, girl. I'll grind you into a sticky paste. And I'll hear you beg before I smash in your face."
"So, are you gonna kill me? Or are you just making small talk?" Buffy asked after sharing a look and nod with her new could-be-friend
Absalom rushed at Buffy, swinging back the hammer just as an energy ball smacks him in the face turning him to dust. The sledgehammer drops to the ground in front of Buffy and Aster. Buffy took a moment, breathing hard. Quiet in victory. She looked at the Master's bones as her expression changes. Buffy picks up the sledgehammer.
Giles, Willow, Angel, Xander, Jenny and Cordelia watch from above. Xander helps Willow to her feet.
"It's over." Willow said.
Xander shook his head, "No, it's not."
Buffy approached the table, the Master's bones laid out before her. She stared at it quietly for a moment, then Buffy swings the sledgehammer and smashes the skull in. She continuously swung the sledgehammer, smashing the Master to powder, the grunts of her efforts rising to a roar, still she swung it, again, again, out of control.
Angel approached Buffy slowly as Aster made her way to her friends who hugged her tightly. Buffy dropped the hammer, she was shaking and started to cry just before Angel took her in his arms tightly
"It's okay... it's okay..." Angel cooed into Buffy's hair.
The next day, Aster sat in class in the chair beside Xander while Willow was behind him and there was an empty seat behind Aster for Buffy if she wanted it.
Buffy walked into the classroom and froze when she spotted the trio. She hesitantly began making her way over when Willow looked up at her
"Buffy" Willow smiled slightly
"Hey." Buffy said meekly
"We saved you a seat..." Willow said gesturing to side beside her
Buffy smiled gratefully as she sat down.
"There's a rumor going around that Mr. Cox is the most boring teacher in the entire world. Like I think he won a belt or something." Xander said
"Lucky us." Buffy looked down
"Well, I hear he nods off a lot, so that's a plus." Willow added.
"So, are we bronzing tonight?" Xander asked as he looked at Aster and Buffy
"Wednesdays it's kind of beat." Willow said.
"Well, we could grind our enemies into talcum powder with a sledgehammer, but, gosh, we did that last night." Xander said.
Buffy laughed, relaxing into her seat.
"I'm sorry" Buffy said to Aster who looked at her surprised "I wasn't kind to you when you came back. I think that dealing with the fact that I died and then suddenly there was a new girl that was best friends with my best friends…I kinda freaked"
"It's okay" Aster smiled "Did Giles speak to you about….?"
"The whole Wiccan thing? Yeah, he did. He explained about your family history and he gave me a book that he said was recommended by you. Thanks"
"No problem" Aster smiled. She had told Giles that she thought Buffy would benefit from reading a book on Wiccans and their powers and Demons and their powers. Aster knew that once she and Buffy got to know each other, they would be good friends.