Seven Year Slayer chapter 2
Story outline: Seven years is a long time to slay. Something's gotta change!
Timeline: Somewhere a few months into an imaginary season 7; Spike is back with a soul; Willow learning to be a good witch; Giles in Sunnydale
Spoilers: rumors of season 7
Summary: More about the manuscript / Slayer lore
Disclaimer: All ME
Buffy was dreaming. Always the same one, lately. She woke up in her own bed, warmly cuddled from behind by her boyfriend. She felt completely at peace, safe and loved. But then she turned around, and saw it was Spike. The mood changed abruptly: instead of safety and sleepy contentment there was want and challenge. They had hot violent sex all over her bedroom, as they'd had so many times in alleys and his crypt. But then they climbed back in bed, and the mood changed again, back to love and tenderness. Buffy fell asleep again, curled against Spike's back.
Then she always woke up for real. Hot and sweaty, bedclothes tangled. Since Spike's return the dreams had become more frequent; they happened every night now. Buffy didn't know what to make of the dreams. When she met Spike on patrol, he was distant and uncommunicative. It annoyed her, but she had no desire to reinitiate a relationship. So why dream about it all the time? Was it good or bad? The future? A warning?
Buffy and Dawn were walking, arms linked, to the Magic Box, to the meeting Giles had called. Dawn was skipping with excitement.
"Whaddya think, Buffy? Is there a new Big Bad in town?"
"Maybe… Giles said he'd translated part of the scrolls I found…so I'm thinking prophecies, end of the world, that kind of thing."
They were the last in. The rest of the gang was already seated around the big table, except Spike, who was leaning against the ladder as usual.
"I'd better kick off, shall I?" Giles said, with a glance all around. "I've translated the first of the scrolls Buffy and Spike found…"
"Hey! I found them. Spike was having fun with a couple of his fellow vampiresses! " Buffy interjected.
"Spike! Vampiresses? Back to basics? " Xander said with glee.
Spike refused to bite.
"May we continue? "Giles' voice took on an irritated edge. "You can have your little spat some other time. As I was saying, I've translated the first book of the scroll. It has something very interesting to say. Apparently, a Slayer who has managed to stay alive for seven years, can, under certain conditions, transcend to a higher level of existence. She may even become immortal, that's not quite clear yet."
"Whoa, Buffy! " Willow said with shining eyes, her enthusiasm making her seem like her old self for a moment. "Immortal! "
"Immortal? You mean I'd have to go on slaying for the next umpteen thousand years? A big no to that! " Buffy said emphatically.
Giles coughed. "There's more, please try to hear me out first. The said Slayer will then transfer her burden to another Slayer, referred to as the Sacrifice. She will be free of her daily Slaying duties. There is also mention of an Eternal Champion. It seems he and the slayer must or will ascend together. Apparently, they will travel the worlds together, living to see their children and their children's children grow up. They will be called on now and then to perform a service to the Powers of Good."
For once Buffy was silent. Free of Slaying duties! It sounded wonderful. Not dying young…seeing the world… having children someday…
She was jerked out of her reverie by Willow's voice." Who gets to be the Eternal Champion? Sounds like it must be a human guy?"
"Well, I'm hoping to find more details about him in the next scroll. In this one, there is also mention of a ritual, with several more participants beside the Slayer and the Champion. The Sacrifice, The Spirit, Mind and Heart, which we'll all still remember from our Adam-defeating spell. There is also mention of a great work the Slayer must accomplish, similar to the masterpiece a journeyman had to complete in olden days."
"Hey, I did any number of great works! The Master, The Mayor, Glory, you name it. Wouldn't that cover it?"
"It certainly sounds plausible, Buffy, but I'm still in the first stages of understanding all this. But since you play such a central role, it seemed a good idea to let you in on it as early as possible…"
"I feel it puts a completely different perspective on Slayer lore," Willow said thoughtfully. "It's always been claimed so far, that Slayers ought to be solitary and so on. Now it seems that all our roles are a necessity to a… a journeyman Slayer, who wants to be a Master Slayer!"
"I agree, Willow, the Slayer lore the Council puts out is defective somehow. This knowledge must have been lost."
"Or suppressed?"
" Maybe, " Buffy joined in, "there weren't Watchers before; and the Master Slayer trained and watched over the Journeyman and Apprentice Slayers. So maybe it isn't normal that most Slayers live only a few years or less after they were called; maybe that happened because the system broke down somehow."
"Exactly, Buffy! Good thinking!" Giles sounded faintly surprised.
"Hey, I do have a brain, even if I never use it! " For some reason, Buffy glanced at Spike as she said this, and was just able to catch an expression of amusement on his face. She hastily looked away again. Better not go there…
"So? " Buffy went on, " I really want to know about my Forever Knight -"
"Eternal Champion!"
"- whatever. Does it say what he looks like, and how we find him?"
"No, the information on him is very sketchy, as I said. I hope to find more in the next scroll. However, common sense and knowledge of the rules of magic can tell us a lot: my guess is he would have to be a warrior in his own right, be human, perhaps have supernatural powers, and be dedicated to the forces of good."
"No one like that in the room, " Xander said.
"No one like that in Sunnydale! " Buffy countered. "I would have met him long before now."
"Nothing known in the Demon and Vampire world about a bloke like that. Word would've got round, " Spike said.
" We can safely conclude that he would have to be from outside Sunnydale! " Giles interjected
.
"Hey, how about Batman? Which one would you pick? I'm betting not the Beetlejuice guy, whatsisname?" Xander joked.
"Definitely George Clooney, " Buffy said. "Those brown eyes…"
"And here I'm thinking you preferred blue ones!, " Willow teased Buffy.
"Please concentrate! We're not done yet!"
"Okay Giles, concentrating right now!" Willow answered hastily. "How about LA? Don't you think the description sort of matches Angel?"
Buffy made a face. Spike tried to look neutral at the mention of his grandsire.
"Great, let's bring Dead Boy back here! You could be eternally worried about him turning evil again!"
Giles ignored Xander.
"I don't imagine, Willow, that the Champion could be a vampire, even if he has a soul and fights on the right side."
"Thank god, Angel and Spike are out! " Xander muttered.
Suddenly Dawn spoke up. "Why are you saying this eternal guy already has to have all these powers? Couldn't he just be an ordinary boy, and then the ritual would turn him into this hero? Wouldn't that make more sense? That the Slayer would get the guy she loved as a reward?"
Everyone turned and looked at Dawn. She became nervous and started backing out. "Okay, okay, I'm sorry I said anything. What do I know, huh?"
"No, no, Dawn, on the contrary! You made a valid point! " Giles said quickly. "There is actually no reason why our theory would be better than yours, since we don't know anything with any certainty yet. Yes, why not the mundane lover? Love might be an important factor!"
"A what lover? " Buffy, Dawn and Xander said simultaneously.
"Ordinary, non-magical, " Willow explained.
"Yeah, well, I'll say what you're all thinking: there is no boyfriend, and since my non-luck with the guys is legendary, let's not even think about finding someone for eternity in a couple of months, " Buffy said morosely.
Willow sneaked a look at Spike. He was staring at the floor. Shoulders hunched.
"But," she tried again, "if an ordinary guy can be transformed into a superhero by this spell, why couldn't, say, a vampire, or a demon be turned into a human?"
"You still on the Angel track, Will? You want him back here?" Xander said.
"Not necessarily Angel, " Willow persevered, "it could be any vampire or demon!"
Everyone looked at Spike.
"Don't look at me! " Spike said defensively. "I'm not applying!"
"I should hope not, " Giles said. "I don't know why you're focusing on vampires, Willow, they don't seem the most likely option to me at all."
"I give in to peer pressure! " Willow said. " Come on, I'll help you with the next scroll."
*
*
"Hey Spike."
"Hey Willow."
"You speak lots of demon languages, right?"
"Yeah, why?"
"Wanna help with the translation?"
"Why not?"
"Spike?"
"Yeah?"
"You alright? You know, the soul and everything?"
"Not really. Thanks for asking though. You?"
"Sort of hanging on… barely… sort of lonely…you know?"
"Yeah."