Angels Mercy Sing -- part 6 of The Island of Galleno (Only a man who has felt ultimate despair is capable of feeling ultimate bliss.)
by Isabelle
Rating: R (for cursing, mild nudity, adult situations and violence)
Disclaimers: BTVS belong to Joss Whedon, ME, and UPN they are being used for entertainment, I don't own them. The Count of Monte Cristo belongs to Alexandre Dumas--Spike's journey was taken from the idea of the book and is used in the skeleton of the Series.
Summary: The moment that Spike finally has Buffy he is vamp-napped by Riley and a new officer, Jack Marshall and sent to the Island of Galleno off the Moroccan coast where all the leftovers of the Initiative are being placed. Buffy frantically looks for Spike but gets news that he was 'accidentally killed' by Jack, who decides to make Sunnydale his residence. The whole thing is Spike trying to get back to Sunnydale and Buffy thinking he's dead. It's filled with exotic places, tons of Original Characters, mysticism, enchantment, magic and love. It takes him years to find out who he is before he can find the one he loves.
Spoilers: Set after Normal Again, Season 6
Feedback: bih80reviews@yahoo.com
Archiving: Carnal Sins, DeathMarkedLove, and Only Time--all others please ask.
A/N: From now on this next few chapter will concentrate more on Spike--since Buffy's settled down a bit. But I repeat--what's happened with Buffy & Jack does NOT mean she's moved on. We all know Buffy and know she likes stability, her little piece of normalcy. Just hang on there *g*
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"To see the world in a grain of sand, and to see heaven in a wild flower, hold infinity in the palm of your hands, and eternity in an hour."
William Blake
Dawn will hate her for weeks. When she found out about the news she told her Spike would hate her for doing this and that little William would too.
She got the pregnancy blues.
She picked up her crying baby... she really had no clue before this how to be a mommy, but it almost came naturally to her, plus she had been reading all those books that Anya had bought her.
Tara and Willow had spoiled her child rotten. Did all types of protection spells and blessings, and bought him more toys than what he could handle.
Jack was something else. Anything she wanted she got.
She wanted new shoes? She got her three new pairs. She wanted take out? He would get her Chinese and Indian.
She looked down at her week old son while he sucked greedily from her enlarged breast. His eyes were closed and a small fuss of blond hair was sticking up--she had tried to comb it down but it was a bit rebellious. His cheeks were pink and his skin was the palest ivory. He was tiny. Well both her and Spike were not large framed people.
He had perfect little fingers and tiny toes, and the bluest eyes she'd ever seen.
He's opened his eyes only 4 times and immediately Dawn told her he was going to be a Spike replica when he grew up.
She didn't know if she was glad for that. She would eventually have to tell her friends...that is if she ever lived to see him grow up.
She held him closer.
"I love you, William..."
Her baby stopped suckling and Buffy knew instinctively it was time for the burping hour. She picked up his tiny body as his little legs rolled up and he became restless.
She placed a white rag on her shoulder and placed him over it.
She could hear him making gurgling noises and turned to look at him.
He was still so tiny... she kissed his eyes and smelled his hair. He smelled like heaven.
William started crying. Small baby whimpers.
She burped him fast yet gentle and sang under her breath to calm him. He eventually stopped and she felt him go stiff.
Turning to look at him she saw he was fast asleep with a little fist in his mouth.
"Shh... my love... daddy will be home soon..."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Day 5 of the training
"You must know your opponent in the first three seconds of seeing him, feeling him, sensing him." Archie said as he walked around Spike.
Spike was sitting--yoga style with only what was left of his jeans and a bamboo pole on his hand. Back straight and blindfolded.
"Can we skip this bloody part?" Spike roared.
Archie who was holding a bamboo pole of his own cracked it against Spike's skull, stunning the unprepared vampire.
"Bloody 'ell!" he rubbed the back of his head and glared at the vampire through the blindfold.
"If you want to learn how to fight in back alleys watch Mortal Combat--if you want to be a master, you listen to me," he replied calmly.
Spike straightened again and concentrated.
"Nature tells you what she's feeling, what is coming, when it's coming and from where it's coming..." he said slowly, hypnotic. "The wind moves with the object and the tiniest noise can be heard from an astute vampire."
Archie stood behind Spike and placed his pole gently across his shoulder blades. "Stand up... be one with the pole, let it part of your spine, of your back of your neck... let it be connected to you."
"And don't say you can't," he replied, before Spike could protest.
Spike took a deep breath but stopped himself as he remembered that Archie had told him breathing was noise to his ears and to his enemy. No breathing, live longer.
Controlling all the muscles of his back he made the poll part of himself and stood up, standing completely straight and letting the poll stay on his back.
"Now... jump, turn around and hit my pole with the one in your hands."
And he did.
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The non-existent trade system was a clouded one on the island. On the new moon all the creatures of the island would stand at La Palchera--the place where the cargo was thrown down. It was a flat small mountain that had a small lake in the middle of it. Aside from this incredible flux of nature was the fact that on the new moon the lake lit up naturally. For living around the reed bushes that surrounded the lake were millions of fireflies. Magical fireflies that lit up on the new moon--making the lake sparkle like a lit diamond.
The cargo plane would drop the goods in the lit lagoon, then about three 'wrappers' would swim out to the 7 cargos and tie strong ropes around the shipments--the rest of the islanders would pull from the shore.
When all 7 shipments were retrieved they would be hauled to the town center where the particular shop owners would take what they would sell. The hardware store took the wood, and any tools.
The ale would be separated equally among the two bars in town. Selina, for the more poor folk who didn't mind cheap beer and mad whiskey. Damasco for the creatures with more wealth who enjoyed rare beer and fine cognac.
All the clothing would be given to Madame Merius who was the seamstress of the island and all clothing and cloth could be accessed through her.
Food for the humans and demons was given to Toby O'Mally who was in charge of the small grocery store. Since there was little electricity on the island the milk could only be stored for 3 days. Therefore for only three days in the month was milk accessible. If any woman would get pregnant the milk was given to the child. But since 1984 there had only been 3 children born. It was said that if you went to Pauma, the old woman that lived by the South sea she would perform a female operation for three gold coins and seven yards of cloth. Therefore most women or female demons went to her willingly.
Blood for the vampires and the bat-demons was given to Hang, he kept a small cooling system so that they would have good blood the entire month. Plus he had a team of five hunters that went out into the jungle to capture all types of wild animals and drain their blood. The fur was given to Madame Merius so make good clothing for the winter months.
There were never weapons brought to the island. The only weapons were the ones that were made from wood and the few that were made by Gasto, the blacksmith. Metal was rare to come by and the weapons were owned by the very wealthy and Cage Committee that had various swords, large hammers, and lances--nails and small hammers always went to the hardware store so the blacksmith mostly dealt with the larger things.
Demons and men became wealthy on the island by the time periods they had been there. When creatures were first moved to the island they claimed lands and built small huts out of bamboo. That was in 1923, as time went by wood was used for the building of Puerto de Tierra, now most folk lived in the small town, population 364.
145 Large demons 112 Vampires 55 Humans 52 Small demons
No one dominated anyone, but the riches mostly went to humans who saw with greed, the demons were mostly happy to be feed and bathed.
There was no water system. The fresh water was stored in large gallons in the back of the stores and homes --public water was held every three buildings and anyone could drink and use it for their purposes. Baths were often taken in the lakes and the rivers by the large waterfalls.
In 1962 a small map was made of the island. They had counted that it was almost 42km long and 6km wide. Most of the population of the island was on it's west coast, as that was the closest place to La Palchera. The island itself was shaped like a leaf, a thin leaf. With small gulfs and steep rocks at the south bend of it. With all the trees and the small mountains within the small island it took a normal human over 4 days to get to the other side of it... if they didn't encounter any wild animals.
This was the island that had begun the preparations for it's one and only festivity.
The Cage Festival.
The festival lasted for 5 days.
On the first day of the festival the contestants would be shown off and the creatures would place bets on whom would win. There could be as many contestants as they liked but few entered for fear of death. Only one human had ever entered the tournament back in 1994. Geoffrey Nayk, he had died in the second round and from then on no more had ever entered. That day there was also roasting of many wild pigs and lots of ale to keep all the members happy. On the first day all the contestants fought another contestant. There were two ways of winning. By killing the other or by saying 'cordia', the Spanish word for Mercy cut short. If the losing party indeed said the word then they would be let out of the cage and the other would be declared the winner. Many times the words were said and they were killed anyways but no one mentioned it.
The second day was the winners of the previous days' fights taking on each other. At night there was a dance, traditional to the Gansthu demons and all would dance until the wee hours of the night.
The third day would be the winners of the second day fighting against each other. By this time there were usually only 6 or so left.
The fourth day was a day of preparations for the post fifth day party. There would be dancing and games and all would drink merry and congratulate the winners. It was also a day of relaxing for the last 3 or 4 left for the championship.
On the fifth day horns would be sounded and flowers were thrown in the path of the finalists. They would be clothed with thick capes made by the seamstress. In the colors of red, blue, green, and orange. The red was worn by the previous year's winner.
The fights would begin at 3pm sharp after a heavy lunch was had. In the final battle the winner was required to kill the loser. Two creatures in, one creature out. That was the motto.
A banquet was had in honor of the winner and women, both human and demon, would perform belly dancing for the winner--his bed would not be empty that night.
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There was anger building inside of him. Anger such as he'd never thought he'd feel. He hated more than he did when Angelus took Drusilla, he hated more than when he got his chip, he hated more than when Buffy died the first time, he hated everything around him. But above all he hated himself.
He was becoming stone cold and emotionless, the moment his mind would slip that soft white spot he would retreat and almost growled, snapping fangs at himself and fighting a mirror image he couldn't see, taste or hear but could feel miles away.
The physical pain he was feeling now as Archie kept adding more coconuts on top of him was almost welcomed. He wanted to lie there in the thick sand just feel the weight of the world bearing down on him until it crushed his lungs and heart.
"Tell me when to stop, William," he heard Archie call as Varro added more coconuts to the pit Spike was lost in.
"Keep going," the vampire said quietly, but his teacher heard him.
September 26th
The final stages of the evolutionary process I have predicted has taken a toll on my young friend. He has become emotionless and hard, wretched and miserable, hiding within his shell and pushing everything away.
I know that this preparation for the tournament is only a way to keep his mind off things, with the anger that he has inside of him we could tear the entire village apart until the sea ran red with blood.
He wants and loves the physical pain, it fills him as much as you can fill an empty body that won't let anything in. The tests are becoming harder and more dangerous but he thrives on it. It makes him whole... as whole as you can place pieces that have been scattered forever.
He still wants off the island, when we're not training he's fixing the boat. He talks about going out and finding the men who did this. I asked him if he were going to take on governments themselves and he answered more wisely than I expected.
'To beat the government you have to play in their arena' said he.
'Running for office now?' asked I.
'No, going to find me that treasure and manipulate them with my wealth, politicians salivate at the site of fortune.'
And right he is. I dare say I fear for the man who crosses paths with this enraged demon. Hell hath no fury like a scorched man.
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She was trying, she really was. This smile, this sparkle it was all mechanically produced.
Inside she was a dead shell, even her baby sensed it. He would whimper and cry and be restless in the night not letting her sleep.
It was 4AM and William was sobbing in his crib. Buffy had tried to pick him up, that didn't work. He wasn't hungry, he wasn't sleepy... he was just...
She didn't know what to do she felt like crying too.
"Please William..." she begged as she rubbed his little back as he lay on his tummy, curled up into a ball.
Little red face with rebellious blond hair ignored her and continued sobbing, little fists moving back and forth, trying to do something... she didn't know what else to do. He was waking up Dawn who had school in the morning.
She finally pulled on sweats and wrapped her baby in a thick blanket to protect him from the night's cool air. Despite his protest and rabid cries she took him outside and down the path to where Spike's abandoned lair lay.
The moment she stepped outside the baby quieted.
"You like the night, William?"
He opened his eyes and looked at her in wonderment, forcing his small fist inside his mouth.
She walked him into the cemetery and through the gravestones. His blue eyes wide with curiosity though she knew he could only see blurs he seemed to like the gray blurs of the stone tablets.
"This is the south cemetery," she spoke to him softly.
He made some gurgling noise that made her smile and kiss the top of his small head.
She walked him to Spike's crypt and she could instantly tell that his spirits were lifted.
"Yes, this was daddy's house... or hole..."
More gurgling sounds and more fist chewing.
She showed him around the crypt, showing the TV, the old refrigerator, everything. He marveled at it all as she told him small stories of things she remembered.
"One time he was painting his nails... you know that wouldn't be a good influence for you." she smiled.
She took him to the lower part of the crypt, dusting the bed before settling down William on Spike's old sheets.
"And this was our bed," she smiled down at him as she unwrapped him, his little legs went into a kicking frenzy. "Yeah, smells like him, doesn't it?"
William agreed with her as much as a baby may by trying to eat both of his fists.
She lay down next to him watching him chew happily on himself as his wide blue eyes studied all of the room. She ran her fingers through his blond hair and kissed him.
"You're going to look just like him," she smiled at him. He offered her this chewed-on first. "No thanks--mommy is almost a vegetarian."
She sighed and looked around the room. She had cleaned it up as best she could, taken away all of the debris and corpses of little aliens.
"We spent a lot of time here... I forgot how much time we spent here. He would've loved to see you, William... yes, I think he would've had been freaked out at first but eventually he would have not been able to take his eyes off you..." she looked down and smiled as her baby lay sound asleep.
"Yeah, if he would've been alive," she said softly and kissed his forehead watching as he sighed in his sleep, there amongst the smell of his father and the warmth of his mother.
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"William!"
Spike came stumbling into the small hut, panting from the weight training of tree trunks. "Yeah, mate?"
"I found it!"
Spike sat down next to the older vampire as he spread his work on the table. There were over fifteen open books on the table and on the floor, all well read and marked on the important passages.
They had found tid-bits about the Black Lake Treasure but nothing with solid validity.
"Here, in the scrolls of Papious II, he writes 'The knowledge has come to me in this past twelfth month that indeed Atmazul the Great has taken all of his fortunes into the red desert where only the strongest of animals live. He traveled with two dozen men and all but four died in the perilous journey. He traveled deep, angering the desert gods and insulting them by swimming down into the deep waters of the sacred black lake. There he placed one hundred and eleven chests filled with gold and precious jewels such as the world has never known. There in the red desert they lay, many have tried to find it...many have failed. There is no getting the black treasure back without angering the gods themselves."
Spike sat back and smiled.
"I'm going after it, mate."
Archie took off his glasses and rubbed his temples. "It's not that simple, my friend. Where shall you get loyal companions to accompany you, no vampire can carry one hundred eleven chests filled with gold. And no one can make it alone. There are creatures in this red desert that you have never heard of. Ancient creatures of unspoken terror..."
Spike laughed and patted Archie's back. "You need to get out more, mate you sound like you're warning a child about the boogie man. While I'm the boogie man children should be warned of."
Archie stared at him. "So you're really going to go after it?"
"I need my revenge, Archibald." Spike's face grew grim and colorless. "If money is the way to power in this new world then so be it. The devil will come for them in the night." A small glint appeared in his eye that gave Archie shivers. "You know what they say... the devil is a gentleman."
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"Do you really need this, my love?" Jack asked Buffy over his shoulder as he eyed the dirty blanket he found while packing up her room.
Buffy looked over his tall shoulder to see what he meant and her eyes went wide, snatching Spike's blanket from his hand. "Yes!"
Jack eyed her carefully. "I've never seen you with a security blanket..."
Buffy played with the crumpled sheet in her hand. "It's not a security blanket, Jack... it's a memento..."
He saw her withdrawl into herself and wrapped his arms around her. "I know this is all moving fast, but it's better for Jacob if we settle him down. That way he'll have a father figure and a mother. With a nice home and a nice yard, we can even get a puppy--"
She smiled at the painted picture. "Golden retriever?"
He laughed. "Whatever you like, baby."
She sunk into his embrace and tried to forget... "Yes, I think he'd like that."
He pulled from her and smiled. "Want me to order a pizza? That way you can get ready to meet my parents."
She groaned. She was really not looking forward to meeting the Senator and his wife. She had a distinct feeling they though she was a harlot.
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"She's a tramp!" Jacqueline Marshall hissed to her husband as he played with his tie.
"Jacqueline you have no clue what the girl is like, Jack seems to really like her," the Senator reasoned with his polished wife, frowning at his tie-tying skills.
Jacqueline grabbed her husband's shoulder and took his tie in her skilled hands. "Having a child with another man whom she didn't know and living parentless in that large home. Having witches for friends and this whole secret business of being a Slayer--I don't like it, I tell you George that girl is trouble!"
George wheezed when she tied the necktie too tight. "Jacqueline, please. Our son hates us as it is, let's just be pleasant."
"Why couldn't he marry Marlene Dietrich, she's from a good family and she studied law?"
George cringed at the mention of the girl. She was indeed an ugly creature. "He needs to look at her, Jacqueline."
She huffed. "Have you ever thought about what this could do to your career--to his career?"
The Senator shrugged. "My term is almost up. I look forward to letting him be the politician of the family."
"A California representative with a wife whose child is from another man?!"
George quieted her. "Will you speak more quietly, darling. I would prefer not reading about our private lives in the Gazette tomorrow when I have my morning coffee."
"You must speak with him, George he'll ruin us all with his adventures and brain-dead ideas. At twenty eight we were already settled and happy."
Happy, he snorted in his head. "Yes, yes I remember."
"I don't like it and I will say I am against it from the start," she huffed and walked out of the large bathroom leaving her husband behind to smile back at his reflection in the mirror.
"Sacrifices must be made for the good of the nation."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The town was buzzing like never before.
It had started. The one and only event throughout the year that satisfied the bloodlust for the rest of the 360 days of the year. There was ale and red meat, tons of warm blood, music, games, jokers and laughter.
Spike and Archie made their way through the drunken crowds that smelled fermented like everything else on this island.
He hated the smell of it, and the ache in his heart that he was trying to suppress was becoming stronger as he wondered once more what vanilla smelled like.
Archie pointed to a makeshift stage under the harmless sun. "There's where the contestants are presented. Most of them are boo'ed," he said as if in warning.
Spike's face remained indifferent. "I don't care what these people think of me--I want my map and I'm going to get. Plus, a vampire needs a decent spot of violence."
Archie chuckled.
The way Spike had been training in the past few weeks made him feel almost sorry for the creature whom he'd have to face.
It was not so much the training--it was the bottled anger and frustration.
No one would hear the safe word when he was done with them.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
They hated her.
She knew it.
But the way Jack acted made her not care. She was soon going to be a Marshall whether they liked it or not.
With that thought she plastered on the smile as she let the social worker into her almost bare house. Soon they would all move in to their new house.
"Miss Summers," the woman nodded.
"Welcome to my home, Mrs. Kroger," Buffy smiled sweetly at Doris.
"I see you finally had the baby..."
Buffy groaned--she knew where this conversation was going. The woman had raised three eyebrows when she found out she was pregnant.
William chose that moment to start blowing drool bubbles from his play-yard.
"Yes..." she walked over to her baby and picked him up, smiling as he recognized his mommy. "This is William."
Doris smiled. "Seems like you're knowing full well what single parenthood is all about."
"Well I'm getting married next month," Buffy said triumphant.
Doris gaped at her. "Married?"
Buffy gave William a toy that made his blue eyes go huge as he tried to grab it and eat it.
"Yes," she hefted the small bundle up higher. "Jack Marshall... that's why we're moving. He just closed the deal on a new house."
"Marshall?" Doris asked pensively.
"Senator George Marshall's son," Buffy smiled at William. "You like Jack don't you, baby?" William almost glared at her and stuffed the red toy in his mouth.
"Oh..." Doris looked lost and confused. "Is Dawn moving with you both?"
"Of course, she's my sister...she'll have everything she needs."
William decided he was bored with the toy and let it drop to the floor and started crying. "Is there anything else I can help you with? It's his feeding time."
Doris looked around for a moment. "Right... I suppose I'll be on my way then. I'll make sure I tell my supervisor of the news... thank you again Miss Summers."
Buffy saw the social worker to the door and smiled at William who had decided to start munching her short hair. "I guess this is the road for easy life for us, ain't it Will?"
William pulled her hair from his mouth and stared at it before putting it back in his mouth, his eyes crossing.
She laughed and pulled the strands from him. "No eating of mommy's hair."
She placed William down in the play-yard and turned on his music box so she could prepare the bottle. She hated the breast feeding.
The phone chose that moment to ring and she deftly placed it on her ear while opening the refrigerator. "Hello?"
"Buffy?"
She smiled in recognition. "Hey Giles."
Her relationship with her once watcher was as weird as ever. He has been disappointed with her pregnancy but supportive all the while.
The way she took Spike's news had troubled him but he had not commented. And she knew he was coming in a month to meet William. A name which he almost snorted at along with most of her friends but she didn't care.
"How are you, Buffy?" he asked and she could almost see the smile on his face.
"Doing good... William's feeding time."
"Oh!" he got a mental image and started stuttering.
Buffy caught on. "Bottle feeding!...with a bottle."
"Oh--right..." she could see him cleaning his glasses. "I just... I know I spoke with you yesterday... but I need you to sit down... there's something very important you must know."
Buffy put down the bottle and sat on the kitchen stool.
"What is it Giles?"
She could hear him taking a deep breath.
"Buffy... I spoke with the council yesterday and we've been having meetings about you and the whole child issue and well--"
"Giles! The child is hungry--get to the point!" she growled.
"Right, of course... Buffy--the council has decided to relieve you of your duties."
She sat there for a second not really processing what he said.
"W--what?"
"You're no longer a Slayer, Buffy. The lineage has passed to Faith."
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TBC.......
(I will write as fast and as often as I can--I promise)