Chapter 5
Cruelty in Sewers
Willow blinked when she followed Constantine down the stairs – there was a woman seated primly on one of the sofas. She had a short black hair that hugged her fair-skinned face closely in a bob, bright, kindly eyes and a sweet smile. Dressed in a demure maroon blouse and long black skirt, she looked like the first-grade teacher everyone would wish to have, understanding, with the smallest hint of a sense of humor, old enough to be motherly but young enough to still have great fun with.
There was no indication of how she'd arrived here – no car outside, and it was too late for public transport… unless she walked? But Willow had never seen her before.
"This is Willow," Constantine was introducing. "Willow, this is… what name are you usin' now, luv?"
The woman chuckled at the quip. "You can call me Rose."
"Um. Hi," Willow said sheepishly. "I uh, didn't hear anyone enter the house."
"She means none of her wards went off," Constantine said dryly.
"The wards? Oh, they were finely made," Rose smiled at Willow, who blushed at the praise, "Though the clause – 'neither man nor woman, spawn of heaven, hell or earth' does not apply to me."
"Really?" Willow blurted out, then blushed again for being too forward.
Rose glanced at Constantine, who shrugged. "Didn't tell her anythin'."
"I am both man and woman," Rose said then, "And though the Doctor wanted to talk to you, John said you'd probably had enough of old men poking at you and your spells, so here I am."
"Doctor?" Willow looked even more confused. "Both man and woman?"
"Sometimes Rose is Rose – the female side, and the side I like better, since she doesn't scold me – " Constantine smirked at Rose, "Or she is the male side, Doctor Occult, yet another grim bugger." His tone warned Willow not to ask any questions about this. "They're two different people altogether. She's here to 'splain things to you and your friends, so you might like to try locatin' them now. Either that, or you go make coffee for us, we talk, you go sleep, and we do it in the mornin'."
"I believe you said 'come now', John, and not 'come in the morning'," Rose said mildly. "We were working on something important and didn't particularly want to be disturbed."
"I'd call Giles," Willow said, ducking into the kitchen to make coffee. Constantine seated himself on the sofa, which was also his bed, and yawned again.
"When did you start taking mentors again, John?" Rose chuckled as she watched the sleepy girl bustle around the kitchen muttering about sugar. "You made so much noise over having Timothy Hunter."
"Ever since I got a new resident in here, luv," Constantine tapped his head. "Phoenix name of Meridian. Likes tryin' to boss me around. And Willow needs help."
"I can see that," Rose said gravely. "And as we agreed, I will save the explanation until all her friends arrive. It has been a while since we last met, John – and already you have, by accident, shaken the world again." She paused. "I was referring to Hell."
"Everyone seems to be givin' me flak for that," Constantine smirked. "He's a good choice, you have to admit."
"Too good, I would think. It may be that he was meant to be the choice," Rose mused, "By those higher than you or me."
"Since when did you turn into Mister Tall 'n Dark in a white turtleneck?" Constantine asked dryly, referring to the 'mysterious' figure in his life who occasionally showed up and spoke in cryptic sentences. Called himself the Phantom Stranger, and didn't seem to know how utterly stupid that name was… but since he was quite a bit more powerful than Constantine, he wasn't about to criticize. Not openly, at least.
"I am always myself, John Constantine," Rose smiled.
"Thanks for comin', luv," Constantine murmured such that Willow wouldn't hear. "I appreciate it. Though I don't want to know how you got here from Poland in five minutes."
"You're welcome, John… and yes, women will have their secrets," Rose replied, thanking Willow as the girl came in with two piping-hot cups of coffee.
"Everyone's coming over soon," Willow said, sitting down next to Constantine. "Um. Giles said he'd heard of you."
"Did he now," Rose sipped her coffee.
Willow fidgeted, betraying her excitement. "He said you're one of the Council's listed most-powerful mages."
"The Watcher's Council?" Rose looked at Constantine, who nodded. "Ah. I have heard of them." Her tone was neither approving nor disapproving, and for the next fifteen minutes she good-naturedly answered Willow's questions on Faerie and her magic, until the rest of the Scooby Gang showed up in Spike's DeSoto.
After introducing Rose to them, Constantine watched as they compared notes. Giles, Xander and Anya had not found anything in the books about Willow's condition, why the mage could be here, or Aphrodite's love spells except for a few vague references to Midsummer's Night's Dream. "It appears that the play was an interpretation of something that actually happened," Giles concluded, looking at Rose. "And… I've heard you've been to Faerie."
"And a dangerous place it is to the unwary," Rose agreed. "There may well be a counter in one of the Marketplaces – there are many reversal-herbs, but are you sure you'd wish hate on you, Willow, instead of love? You would still have been toying with this dark elf's emotions – and you might find that hatred would be all the more destructive to you and your friends, especially if he is so powerful."
"There's no clean cancellation?" Willow asked.
"You could look – but it would be better that someone experienced in the ways of Faerie looked for you. I can only spare this time now to advise, then I have to return to Poland." Rose shot Constantine a chiding look, like one would scold a naughty child. "There are disturbances there caused by the ascension of the new Prince of Hell."
"Jarlaxle's making trouble here?" Constantine felt surprised.
"Not him, but there are others who are trying to break into this world – the would-be staging grounds of the Last Battle – and take from it its bound magic for their own purposes, to move against the Prince of Hell. One reason why they are close to breaking out is because someone disturbed the fabric of this world to exit from Hell… "
"All right, all right," Constantine held up his hands in surrender.
"Spike and me found that the elf's hiding out in the cemetery," Buffy said brightly, from too little sleep and too many emotional disclosures. "Everyone say 'd'oh'. And, he's been killing just about every demon or vampire who confronted him or got into his way." She described to them what Willy had told them.
"Which reminds me about today's newspaper," Giles held up a roll of paper and turned it to the front page, which showed the picture of a car that had been folded clean in half down the middle, like a piece of paper. The shattered pieces of the windows lay in a dark pool, probably of blood. "The official reason for this was 'car crash', but I think it quite… quite likely that the elf was the cause of this as well."
"The elf is – as Constantine has said – from another world," Rose nodded. "The elves of this world have not this sort of power – save perhaps Queen Titania or King Oberon, but they normally would have no truck with the mortal world. And I have never heard of dark-skinned elves… other than the two new inhabitants of the Dreaming." Again, she looked at Constantine. He grinned at her.
"They're friendly, luv – those there. Didn't recognize this elf's description – but there are so many bleedin' dimensions with different appearances. Not from their world, at any rate."
"About the Gods and your soul, Willow… " Rose finished her coffee and put down the cup. "There are a few solutions, though they may not work, and if they do, your power will be lessened."
"Anything," Willow said, feeling relieved. "I don't mind not having as much power as I have now, if all it'd do is hurt people." Rose smiled at this.
"Then you are a very considerate young lady… much more so than your mentor." She glanced at Constantine, who grinned impishly at her.
"Either you choose just one God, and hope that he or she manages to wrest control from all the others – something that is not likely, since most of the Elder are weakened due to the current popularity of the Younger kin – or you renounce magic taken from the Gods and find your own style, without using spellbooks or at spells that need one to call on the Gods."
"My own style?" Willow asked, feeling that the second choice seemed better.
"Most mages who do not follow Gods have their own styles of magic, luv. Rose and me, for example," Constantine told her. "Takes some research and talent. You have the talent already."
"But that's it? I just say I renounce them?" Willow said, disbelievingly.
"Would that it were that easy," Rose said sympathetically. "They might only be willing to renounce their holds – with a price. And as to finding your own sort of magic – that might take longer still."
"What kind of price?" Buffy asked immediately.
"Some may want errands performed – like summoning some creature – some might want you to fetch them things. They are bound to name a price, though the price of some may be too high to pay." Rose replied. "There is some hope here – there are many holds on Willow's soul, and so the prices are probably not too much for her. The Gods would hope that you would call on them again, and if they were to set a price that was high, there is little chance of that, would there?"
"You can do it, Will," Xander said encouragingly. "We'd all help you."
"But she can't remember all the Gods she's called on," Constantine pointed out. "So how's she to know who to pay?"
Rose grinned. "John – let her ask them. There is no harm in asking politely if you ask carefully. That is something you should remember before you immediately turn to your underhand methods."
"You make me sound like I always use 'underhand methods'."
"Don't you?" Rose asked serenely. "I know you far too well for my own liking. Now I have a last warning for all of you. Things may be trying to break through here on the Hellmouth, so you should be on watch for them. It may be that this elf is trying to bring about one of these breakings. Many of us have had to run around putting down these brush fires, and I doubt we can spare help for you here." She winked at Constantine. "That was one reason why I agreed to come in this form. Dr. Occult says that the next time he sees you, he'd strangle you with his own hands for having caused us so much trouble." Rose paused conscientiously. "Though I think he may have been jesting."
Constantine, who knew better than to presume the Doctor had a sense of humor, made a mental note to stay out of his way until he cooled down.
**
Nalfein woke at when the sun had already risen, called to consciousness by hunger. He ate some of his provisions mechanically as he considered what he had to do. One of those humans had the key – the spider had discovered it – and now the pendant seemed to be throbbing in fury that he hadn't done anything. Shaking, he hoped that his Goddess hadn't noticed that he had failed to deliver…
His mind quickly returned to dwell on the girl. Nalfein wished he knew her name – though he had given her one – Chath – dark elven for 'fire'. The power of the word failed to even describe a fraction of her beauty or the magnificence of her personality – at once both kind and firm, loyal to her friends, compassionate, spirited and sunny, and best of all – innocent of all her virtues, so unlike anyone Nalfein had ever known. She was like a breath of fresh air, a sudden light in the darkness, a new Goddess totally different from the one whom the dark elves of his city were given to from their birth, this one vibrant, charming, vivacious, shunting away the darkness of the Spider Queen.
Nalfein had no idea why he seemed to understand her so much – he seemed to know what she liked and how she would react to any given scenario, though he knew nothing of her past. It seemed as though he had been given awareness of her nature, but not her history – given erudition of her appearance, but not of her names.
He tried to concentrate on the quest. He had to find the residences of all those he had seen – eight of them… maybe he would see her in the process – and get the key from them – maybe she had it – then use it with the components to call the Spider Queen – perhaps the Queen would spare his new Goddess.
Frustrated with himself, Nalfein lashed out at one of the tombs with his magic and shattered it into little pieces. He had to complete this task, call the Queen to this earth – a Queen who had a hatred of surfacers, even humans… but no, Chath was human!
Then, was he to give it up, and renounce all hopes of ever returning to Menzoberranzan? But what had he in Menzoberranzan? Life without living, power without authority, a power that was now, in the light of Chath – meaningless anyway. He could construct simulacra of her in the city, to do his bidding, but he would know that they were not her.
So to forswear all two and a half centuries of belief and teaching for a human, whose normal life span was only a fraction of how long his could be?
Better to get the Key for the Queen. He had to find it…
Find a gift for Chath worthy of her. Nalfein sat down, feeling dizzy. This had to be the emotion unnamed in the dark elven tongue – love. For all his life he had agreed that it was a weakness and hence undesirable, with the easy complacency of one that had never known it and quite likely never would, but now when he burned with it, he could not deny it. He did not know how to even begin to control the emotion, or what to do with it other than a pressing urge to make Chath feel the same way. He looked to his newfound knowledge of her to try and see what gift she would like to possess, which would, perhaps, turn her heart to him – just a little. He would not ask more –yet.
**
When everyone finally got some sleep, they met up again the next day at the Magic Box to put down the names of the possible Gods that Willow had called up. Spike and Buffy were patrolling the sewers, cautiously, with an invisibility spell they could activate with a word if they needed to get away. Dawn was in school, and Xander was, as usual, at his construction job.
Willow was quite certain that she had only ever called Goddesses, so it narrowed down the list a little, but not by much. Constantine mostly feigned sleep in a chair until Willow, occasionally helped by Giles, showed him her list, in which he would run critical eyes through it and suggest more names which she would find that she had accidentally missed. How much did this man know, anyway?
Eventually, they had a sufficiently complete list, and Giles excused himself from the customers to go to the training room with Constantine and Willow to call their awarenesses up one by one – a job that Constantine estimated could probably take the rest of the week, if they didn't rush it.
Willow carefully drew a protective circle, and then began to carefully summon the first on her list. Only the awareness, such that she could speak to her and ask her to name her terms – not the presence, which would be far too dangerous of the Goddess decided to get really angry. As it was, Constantine silently told Meri to keep watch in case that happened and they all had to bugger off.
The summoning spell was a standard one that mostly involved a lot of fawning and blanks for the names of the Gods. A bleedin' fill-in-the-blanks oral form, was John's opinion, but if it worked, he didn't care.
It did – the first Goddess, Aphrodite, chuckled when she heard Willow out, and then spoke in a voice not unlike a hundred nightingales singing – songs that seemed to meld into words. "Very well, but my price is this – none of my creatures the doves must you kill, none of my spells must you unmake, and find me… hmmm, a trifle – Godiva chocolates in the shape of hearts."
"Oh! Then the love spell… " Willow realized her mouth had run away again, and blushed.
"Love spell, mortal? You have done no love spells in my name." The Goddess seemed amused, as her awareness retreated from the room.
Willow gave Constantine and Giles a look of utter relief. "It wasn't a love spell!"
"You did somethin' to the elf, luv," Constantine pointed out.
"We might have been jumping to… to conclusions," Giles said, cleaning his glasses vigorously with relief. "Perhaps it was actually fear that she had managed to cast a spell on him, or… or perhaps the extra knowledge."
Constantine grunted, but did not disagree. Privately, he felt that Aphrodite, though probably speaking the truth, had hidden some of it as well.
**
Buffy and Spike had been wandering around the sewers for hours, and had not met the dark elf. She began longing for hot chocolate, a bubble bath and sleep, not necessarily in that order. Spike, by her side, was abnormally silent, and the situation was beginning to remind her of patrols with Angel. A bit of violence, some stolen kisses, then good-byes, most of those with nothing said at all. At that time, she'd thought that maybe it had been because their love had been beyond words – or something suitably romantic – but now she wondered if it was actually because they had nothing to say to each other.
While patrols with Spike – up to now, at least – usually were just one unending conversation of insults and banter. She'd taken it for granted – such that now the silence was getting unbearable. "Say something, Spike!" She stopped and turned around, hands on her hips.
Spike blinked, the puppy-like expression of melting adoration turning into surprise. "What?"
This seemed to remind her of this morning's conversation with Dawn. She'd complained of Spike's one-track mind to Dawn, and Dawn had, after making up some horrible puns based on Buffy being Spike's 'world', said something about Spike's reactions to her were totally based on her own one-tracked attitude to him. Buffy protested that she didn't have a one-tracked attitude to Spike. Dawn said well yes, other than acting like he was an evil master vampire who was only being nice to her to try and get into her pants, what else was there?
Buffy had responded by asking Dawn if there were any other ways to treat an 'evil master vampire who wanted to get into her pants'. Dawn, predictably, had defended Spike, saying he wasn't 'evil', reminding her what the Judge had said of him, that Spike 'reeked of humanity'. Relentlessly, she'd gone on to say that only Angelus had been the one who had been pure evil.
Buffy had said well, if you trust the opinion of a demon on what was evil. This was an old argument, so they managed to get it over with quickly, then Dawn had asked her to try surprising Spike by changing her attitude. Frequently, if she wanted to. Which would be, Buffy admitted to herself, rather fun. It was like twisting the knobs on a machine to see what the machine would do… Rather cruel, perhaps – but she didn't have to act different attitudes in front of Spike. Perhaps she should just reveal to him more of her own attitudes – those she presented to other people, or just, in the darkness of dreams, to herself.
"What?" Spike repeated his question, breaking through her thoughts.
She decided to get back on him for all the jibes he had ever launched in her direction by pushing him so far off his mental rails that he'd never only have 'one attitude' to her any longer. "Nothing!"
As she expected, this only caused Spike to get even more curious. "Say something? What do you want me to say?"
"You've already said something," Innocent-Buffy said ingenuously. "We can go on now." She turned to go, but he closed the distance between them with vampiric speed and spun her around to face him. Eyes wide, so close to him, the realization of how gorgeous he was hit her harder than ever.
He was saying something. "Look, if it was about last night, I'm sorry if I… "
"Shh," Buffy said, reaching forward and pressing her forefinger on his lips. Immediately, he froze.
Now what?
Mischievous-Buffy came into play, due in part to her need for destressing, frustration at Willow's problems, and too little sleep last night. Letting a wicked smile arc her own lips upward, she rubbed her finger on his mouth, dipping her painted nail into the soft incline of his lips to the mouth, then to the end of the mouth and pressing lightly.
"Slayer… "
Splaying her hand on his cheek, she pulled down his head insistently. His lips parted, begging for a kiss, and for a moment she was extremely tempted, but remembered that she was supposed to do something he didn't expect. So at the last moment she raised her head and instead, licked the bridge of his nose like a cat. Spike growled in frustration, and tried to move to capture her mouth with his, but she dodged with a giggle and licked the end of his mouth instead – then the other end when he turned. When he tried to use his hands to hold her in place, she swatted them away, scratching him, and ran her tongue over his upper lip. Spike's response, another growl, ended in a whimper when she did the same to the lower lip.
Okay, this was probably getting too cruel. Buffy was beginning to feel sorry for the vampire, and besides, she could feel he was going to snap soon. She pushed him away, and he looked disappointed, as if he'd thought that she was having second thoughts and was about to launch into a tirade about how it was 'wrong'. Before he said anything, she smirked at him, then blew him a kiss.
That was going a bit too far, even in her opinion. Spike lunged at her, and she dodged out of the way instinctively. Something made her laugh in his face and run. Buffy heard his snarl of frustration behind her, and ran faster.
Was it wrong that she felt so elated now?
At least she had something new to tell Dawn later. Though she had a feeling that if Spike caught her in his current mood, then it'd quickly turn into a tale that would not be suitable for a fifteen-year-old, impressionable girl.
**
"What's our shoppin' list so far?" Constantine asked. He wanted to go and eat something, and Willow had shown no signs of stopping.
Willow gave him a piece of paper that Giles had told her to write the items down on.
"One box of heart-shaped Godiva chocolates for Aphrodite… an obsidian statuette of a cat for Bast – eh, no surprise, that… an owl feather for Athena – like she can't get it herself – a white-gold pendant of a dolphin for Yemana… a friggin' cherry blossom sapling for Ukemochi. A black hound for Hecate, to wear a bleedin' collar with her name on it in ancient Greek alphabets." Constantine shook his head. "All this is crap!"
"They might be listening," Willow grinned at him.
"Good." Constantine said nastily. "Well, luv, so far you haven't seem to have called on anyone actually associated with black magic."
"I didn't dare to dabble in that," Willow agreed. "Though if you hadn't become my mentor – I… I might have, eventually."
Constantine looked relieved. "Luck, luv." He made a show of looking at the clock outside. "Is it lunchtime already?"
Willow started. "Oh! I forgot all about lunch!" She stood up quickly and smiled sheepishly. "My treat."
His objective accomplished, Constantine followed Willow as she led him out of the Magic Box. When they'd walked just a short distance down the road, they were met by Buffy, approaching on a run, who smelled slightly of sewers and was laughing to herself. She subsided into giggles when she met them.
"Buffy! Weren't you patrolling with Spike?" Willow asked her friend, mystified.
Buffy stared at her, then began to laugh again. Finally, she took Willow by the arm and led her a little farther away from Constantine, then began whispering into her ear. From the delighted exclamations like "You didn't!" and "Buffy, you are so evil!" from Willow, Constantine guessed that this was something he wanted to know.
: Snoop, : Meri accused.
: Who was the one who looked through all my memories without askin'? :
: Buffy just teased Spike unmercifully for a short while, that's all. : Meri seemed rather smug. : Spike is extremely confused now. Hah! :
: Why are you feeling happy for her? : Constantine rather sympathized with the lovesick vampire. He watched as Willow and Buffy dissolved into giggles.
: You wouldn't understand… male. : Meri too, began to giggle.
Constantine sighed.
**
Willow went upstairs to her room, humming to herself. She felt as though she'd seen the first gleam of hope for the first time in a while, and it was making her feel light-headed. Constantine was downstairs, muttering darkly about girls and their wicked pranks – Dawn, Willow and Buffy had formed a conspiracy on Spike. Though privately, Willow thought it was rather cruel…
Spike's invitation to the house had been revoked. Predictably, when he'd shown up later, he'd gotten angry – though the anger certainly turned into something else later. Willow didn't particularly want to know what Buffy had said or done when she was in her room and he was in the tree overlooking it, but the resulting snarls of frustration had grated on Constantine's nerves. His "friggin' cut out the friggin' music of the friggin' night! Some people are tryin' to get some bleedin' beauty sleep!" had caused the three girls to collapse into laughter.
Spike, if he was still there, was quiet now, at least. Willow snickered as she opened the door. The vampire was really going to suffer.
She frowned as she saw something on her bed – a bouquet of twelve long-stemmed champagne roses, deep red in hue, their small blossoms only just beginning to open. With trembling hands she picked up the card that had been attached to the roses with a maroon ribbon. It was blank, save for a beautifully drawn picture of a dragon in black ink, the wings outstretched as if to fly.
Willow dropped the card in shock, backing away from the roses, then fairly leaped for the door. "Constantine!"
--
Notes and References:
Rose and Doctor Occult: These are friends – actually, acquaintances – of John Constantine. Since I still can't locate issue two of Trenchcoat Brigade, I don't know very much about them other than they're quite powerful, and they share the same body – i.e. only one of them can appear at once, while the other one goes somewhere else, due to some sacrifice they made sometime. Hence, though they are in love, they can never meet physically. Doctor Occult – not his real name, of course – is part of the Trenchcoat Brigade, a group of four who wear trenchcoats – the Phantom Stranger, Mr. E, John Constantine, Dr. Occult – who are sort-of minding Tim Hunter of the Books of Magic.
Phantom Stranger: He's 'Mister Tall 'n Dark in a white turtleneck'. Black trenchcoat, mysterious origins – some say he was an angel who fell from the Silver City due to refusing to choose between good and evil. He likes to show up unexpectedly and talk cryptic – sort of like Angel, come to think of it. To quote Constantine in Books of Magic 1 in reference to a misjudgment on the Phantom Stranger's part – "there are beds of kelp smarter than you!"
Faerie: Faerie is one of the many dimensions, or worlds, that are tied to this one. Ruled by Queen Titania and King Oberon. Mostly they make appearances in the Books of Magic. I dislike Titania. William Shakespeare did appear in Faerie in one of the Sandman books, but I can't remember much about it – only flipped through that one.
The Dreaming: For those who still don't understand, the Dreaming is the place where everyone goes when you sleep, ruled by the current Dream King (Dream), Daniel, one of the members of the Endless who wield a lot of power and have their own tasks. Destiny, the oldest, in his gardens, reading the happenings of the world in his book which is chained to his arm. Desire in her flesh-and-blood capital, her twin Despair in her world of mirrors. Delirium, who used to be Delight, a girl who speaks in many-colored speech bubbles and sometimes turns into fishies. Destruction, who abandoned his duties to wander the worlds. And the second oldest, Death, cheerful, who looks like a pretty girl with pale skin and black hair, a tattoo of a spiral under one eye, and who wears a pendant of a silver ankh. Go read Neil Gaiman's Sandman series, or the two Death Books – the High Cost of Living or Time of your life.
Spider Queen: Sigh, I think I shouldn't actually put in so many crossovers into this. Heh. Okay, a crash course on Forgotten Realms dark elves. Basically, according to the books – as well as standard Dungeons and Dragons - they are one of the evil races, who were forced into the huge maze of tunnels and caverns of the Underdark when they were defeated by the surface elves. There they basically follow either one of a few Gods – the most popular ones are Lloth, the Spider Queen, Eilistraee, Vhaeraun and Ghaunadaur.
Lloth-worshipping cities are female-dominated – i.e. females have all the power and males are treated as an inferior species. All females – noble-born, at least – are priestesses. Lloth society is chaotic, destructive and yes, evil. There are three classes – fighter, mage, priestess, and a clear line between nobles and commoners, noble Houses and non-noble Houses. The House of Do'Urden, which Nalfein belongs to, is a noble House.
The Judge: End of Season 2 Buffy – this demon who touched people and if they were not evil, they died. The only one who managed to withstand his touch – being 'pure evil' – was Angelus.
